(Photo: Bruno J. Navarro)
You may have been shocked to hear, yesterday, that the NYPD raided an unassuming Bushwick bodega and uncovered what appeared to be a massive heroin operation.
But one Brooklyn resident told us he was “totally not surprised.” More than a year ago, Bruno Navarro posted the above photo of the Gates Candy & Grocery to Yelp with the caption “Get your fresh…candy?!”
(Photo: Talya Galasko)
President Obama officially declared the Stonewall Inn, long recognized as the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, a national monument this morning, making it the first monument to the struggle for LGBTQ equality.
The Stonewall became the center of a new movement for gay rights in June of 1969, when patrons at the well-known gay bar fought back against one of the NYPD’s periodic raids. The ensuing riots and their aftermath inspired many to act and organize in support of LGBTQ rights, creating the first movement of its kind in America. The Stonewall Inn became a national landmark in 2000 and a city landmark almost exactly a year ago.
Vincent Greany in white shirt. (Photo: Mary Reinholz)
Capt. Vincent Greany, the 9th Precinct’s freshly minted top cop, was peppered with complaints last night about persistent quality of life offenses ranging from noisy rooftop parties to an excess of rats. In turn, he asked East Villagers for help finding someone who shot a 24-year-old in Alphabet City early yesterday morning.
Elected officials and neighborhood activists brought the contest over the long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park to the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront this morning when they publicly posted their ultimatum notice for the developer hanging onto the would-be parkland.
(Photo by Kavitha Surana)
An opening for the Chinatown Working Group’s rezoning proposal may finally be on the horizon. Last night, Community Board 3’s chair, Gigi Li, presented a new development to the Land Use Committee– after two years of sending resolutions supporting the plan to the Department of City Planning, its director, Carl Weisbrod, responded on June 7th expressing willingness to engage in discussion. Still, some community groups remain frustrated that the rezoning process isn’t moving fast enough to keep up with the quickening pace of high-rise development, while board members warned that unity from various stakeholders would be key to achieve comprehensive changes.
The mayor, governor, and thousands of members of New York’s LGBT community and their supporters gathered around Stonewall Inn yesterday evening for a vigil to mourn the 49 killed and dozens more injured during Sunday’s attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Last June, Stonewall was the site of a celebration for the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide gay marriage. (Photo: Talya Galasko)
There will be a formal vigil tonight at 7 p.m. at the Stonewall Inn for the victims of yesterday’s mass shooting in Orlando at the gay nightclub Pulse. Speakers including governor Andrew Cuomo and mayor Bill De Blasio as well as leaders and activists from the LGBTQ community will address mourners and “call on Congress to stop standing in the way of reasonable gun control laws.”
via Wikimedia Commons
via Off Track Betty
With the streets of the Lower East Side reshaping themselves faster than any of us can keep track, it’s easy to become a wistful piner for the “good old days,” when a storied building with a 100-year-old storefront was your neighbor instead of all these fresh new high rises. (A teaser site for the Essex Crossing condo building on Broome Street was just released today; the first of its 10 buildings is expected to be finished in the fall.) One longtime resident, Clayton Dean Smith, decided to channel that urge to preserve the neighborhood into an artistic outlet. Maybe he couldn’t save all the buildings he’d come to love over his 16 years in the area, but he could use some of them for the backdrop of a short film that serves as a living time capsule of the neighborhood as it currently exists (or existed, only a year and half ago).
Rising rents and changing neighborhoods got you down? Tonight head over to Bushwick’s main-squeeze community space, Mayday, for an art and music fest to commiserate on our supremely “gentrifucked” city.
The show (which, let’s be honest, will be less misery and more party) is organized by Buendia Brooklyn, a collective of local rappers, graffiti artists, and MCs operating out of Sunset Park– a neighborhood that’s still (somewhat) insulated from twee cocktail bars and doggy spas. (They even have a non-ironic bowling alley!)
When you’re out picking up groceries for the week, ever wonder what recipes the other shoppers have up their sleeves? If you shop at Trader Joe’s you’re probably too busy elbowing people out of the way and fighting over the last jar of coconut oil to really get a good look at your neighbors’ shopping lists. (Wait, does anyone handwrite those things anymore?) But if you live near the sleepy old-school Essex Street Market, you’ve surely got a little more time to poke around and wonder about the diverse cast of vendors and shoppers rubbing shoulders amid the fruit and vegetable sellers, Japanese specialty items and fancy cheeses. If there’s anywhere you’d shop to whip up something unique, it’s here.
Photo by Nina Lo Schiavo
It’s the time of year again, when the venerable Essex Street Market marks its anniversary with an all-out block party, taking over the stretch between Delancey and Rivington with pushcarts, astroturf, outdoor DJs, and delicious food galore. It’s been 76 years and as the longest-surviving market from the La Guardia era, it deserves to celebrate. (To get the full deets on its history, check out our deep dive into its roots. You can also get a free market tour at the party, from Turnstile Tours).