A Developer Is Mourned and Vilified in Brooklyn.

A Developer Is Mourned and Vilified in Brooklyn - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
“He was a person who was always giving, he was a community person,” added Mr. Schlesinger, who was a neighbor of Mr. Stark’s for several years. “It didn’t matter which organization, where you belonged.” Though the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population of south Williamsburg is divided between two Satmar sub-sects, the Aroynem and Zaloynim, Mr. Stark gave generously to both groups, Mr. Schlesinger said.

But the developer, who often went by Max, had become a lightning rod for fuming tenants and neighborhood activists across north Brooklyn, where Mr. Stark had owned more than a dozen residential properties. Such dealings landed Mr. Stark on the cover of The New York Post on Sunday, with the headline “Who didn’t want him dead?”

Brooklyn: The place to be, if you can find the space

Brooklyn: The place to be, if you can find the space | Crain's New York Business

Corporate heavyweights and fast-growing startups are searching for commercial space, and turning up empty.

Chase, Verizon, MakerBot and other boldfaced Brooklyn employers find themselves in a quandary.
Spurred by cheap and roomy offices or visions of waterfront warehouses within biking distance for their youthful workforces, corporate heavyweights and fast-growing startups alike are casting about Brooklyn in search of commercial space. And they're turning up empty.
"We're in a crisis mode," said Christopher Havens, a commercial real estate broker with AptsandLofts.com. "Everything's in shortage, from townhouses on down."
The search for office space in the borough is likely to be a major plotline in the story of its economic health in 2014. There are more than 100 tenants in the market in Dumbo—already bursting at the seams with 500-plus tech companies—and downtown Brooklyn that can't find space, Mr. Havens said, adding that it is the tightest office market since World War II.

Brooklyn Man Charged With Hate Crimes for 7 'Knockout' Attacks on Jewish Women

Brooklyn Man Charged With Hate Crimes for 7 'Knockout' Attacks on Jewish Women

By JTA
Published January 05, 2014
A Brooklyn, N.Y. man was arrested and charged for his involvement in seven so-called knockout game attacks.
Barry Baldwin, 35, was charged with six counts of assault as a hate crime, six counts of aggravated harassment as a hate crime, and other crimes, including menacing and endangering the welfare of a child for the attacks that occurred between Nov. 9 and late December in Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York police said Saturday, according to New York media.
Baldwin was arrested on Dec. 28 by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
The victims were all Jewish women, ages 20 to 78. One of the women was holding a small child, who she fell on top of during the attack.
“This arrest is welcome news to all of us, but I continue to urge caution. No one in our community should live in fear, but prudence is always advisable,” New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind said in a statement.
In the so-called knockout game, attackers try to knock out someone with one punch. Other incidents of knockout attacks have occurred in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., as well as other U.S. states, according to reports.
A Long Island man was arrested in mid-December in connection with four other knockout attacks that date back as far as April.

Vintage Film of Brooklyn Trolleys Circa 1930s

Video of Snow Friday 1/3/14

Storm Slams East Coast, Leaving a Trail of Havoc - NYTimes.com

Sledding, Hot Cocoa, Snowball Fights & More At Prospect Park's Snow Day On Saturday | Kensington BK

From Kensington BK
Sledding, Hot Cocoa, Snowball Fights & More At Prospect Park's Snow Day On Saturday | Kensington BK

If you haven’t already, it’s time to dig those sleds out! NYC Parks has announced that Saturday, January 4, is an official Snow Day.

Kids (and kids at heart) are invited out to Prospect Park for “supervised safe sledding (there will be sleds available at each snow day site), snowman building contests, best snow angel contests, friendly snowball fights, music, and complimentary hot chocolate.”

The fun takes place from 11am to 3pm near the Tennis House (enter at 9th Street and head toward the Long Meadow). For more information, including other Snow Day locations around the city, visit the NYC Parks website.

Sledding, Hot Cocoa, Snowball Fights & More At Prospect Park's Snow Day On Saturday | Kensington BK

From Kensington BK
Sledding, Hot Cocoa, Snowball Fights & More At Prospect Park's Snow Day On Saturday | Kensington BK

 If you haven’t already, it’s time to dig those sleds out! NYC Parks has announced that Saturday, January 4, is an official Snow Day. Kids (and kids at heart) are invited out to Prospect Park for “supervised safe sledding (there will be sleds available at each snow day site), snowman building contests, best snow angel contests, friendly snowball fights, music, and complimentary hot chocolate.” The fun takes place from 11am to 3pm near the Tennis House (enter at 9th Street and head toward the Long Meadow). For more information, including other Snow Day locations around the city, visit the NYC Parks website.