Traffic is Slow but Steady
On the Road to a Carfree Bedford...
At a length of over 10 miles, Bedford Ave. is longer than any other street in Brooklyn. Though it is famously associated with its Williamsburg L train stop, it also cuts across the borough all the way to Sheepshead Bay, ushering thousands of cars across town everyday - but if Emil Choski of Carfree Bedford has his way, the area stretching from Metropolitan Ave to McCarren Park will soon be carfree (a spelling that Emil insists on).
The vision of Bedford Ave. as a pedestrian esplanade was news years ago, though -- and plenty of development has happened in the area since then, but nothing of the carfree sort.
So, what’s the hold up?
John Watterberg Speaks Louder Than Words
Local Bartender, Guerrilla Activist, Anarchist, Tony the Tiger Mascot
Our neighborhood has earned a serious reputation for its nonchalance toward all things socially engaged in exchange for all things primordially cool. Perhaps there is some truth to the accusations of indifference - but certainly not across the board of our eclectic cultural terrain.
In fact, one inveterate local bets to challenge any "hipster" label thrown his way, despite his fitting all the required, stereotypical criteria. John Watterberg does, indeed, play guitar in a band and works nights as a bartender. But he is also an engaged social activist whose brave deeds have earned him many accolades in activist circles, as well as many nights in jail...
Art Brut: Pushing the Boundaries of Body Art
This month in Williamsburg, local ink shop Tattoo Culture will host the French tattoo artist Noon, of Boucherie Traditionnelle. Noon’s style of tattooing has been dubbed the “Art Brut” of tattooing, which translates to “raw art” in French. “The stuff he does is similar to naïve-art, childish, and primitive, but a custom-made, sophisticated, stylized version of it,” says Dave Wallin, a Tattoo Culture artist and employee. “Noon uses muted colors and loose lyrical lines in his work,” explains Wallin, “ Other artists with this style tend to use simple lines and only black.”
A Chat with the Freshkills
State of The Music Scene
If Julia Child were to make a dish of Freshkills, she’d skip the roux and start with a base of the Jesus Lizard, throw in some Drive Like Jehu and the Birthday Party, then top it all off with a menagerie of stuff from the Dischord label. Even without the help of chef television personalities, the Freshkills have managed to whip up an incredibly satisfying musical meal...
Crime in Bushwick and Beyond
Incarcerating the Next Civil Rights Movement
That our criminal justice system disproportionately imprisons people of color is no surprise, but the statistics demonstrating this are staggering. According to a Human Rights Watch report, one third of all black men in their twenties were incarcerated, serving parole, or on probation. Thirteen percent of black men in America have lost their right to vote because of the felony disenfranchisement law.
Eric Cadora, director of the Justice Mapping Center, finds that neighborhoods that produce the most prisoners also have the highest rates of poverty, unemployment, and high school dropouts...
From Dive to Delicious
The Incarnations of Sweetwater
Sitting in the well-worn rich mahogany leather booths in the back of Sweetwater Restaurant, it's hard to imagine that only five years ago it was home to one of the dingiest metal/punk dive bars this side of the river.
Instead of pool tables, the back room is now lined with booths and bistro-style tables with just the soft light of candles and a warm glow from the kitchen that makes one feel like a guest in someone’s home. During warmer months, patrons lounge and eat in the back garden patio which, while spacious, carries out the intimate atmosphere that permeates indoors...
The 475 Kent Avenue Housing Crisis
From 'The Kibbutz' to The Sex Hotel
First, the FDNY and Buildings Department unexpectedly locked Rob Swainston out of his loft on one of the coldest nights of this winter. Then, the American Red Cross gave him a two-day voucher to stay at a motel known for prostitution and drug deals. Now, he’s being kicked out of even those accommodations, and he can’t get into his home-office to work at his print-making company, S11 Press. Homeless and unemployed, he can’t get anyone to answer why he’s been evicted from the building located at 475 Kent Avenue and what he should do next.
As reported in the New York Times, Swainston is one of the estimated 200 people who live and work in “the kibbutz,” the affectionate name residents give for the converted Williamsburg pasta factory populated with respected artists, photographers, journalists, and writers...
The Future is Grand
Keeping Community Character in Williamsburg
"While we're sitting here they're out pouring concrete." Those are the words of Tom Burrows, a deeply concerned Williamsburg resident whose sentiments echo those of the community.
Tom's words echoed the consensus at the January Community Board 1 public hearing, where the primary topic of discussion was the rezoning of thirteen blocks of Grand St. in Williamsburg...
The Devil’s Dictionary for Greenpoint Oil Spill
In The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce defined a “corporation” as “an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.” He earned that cynicism from working at a newspaper, The San Francisco Chronicle, for almost three decades, but he would probably reel from how corporate doublespeak and political cant has advanced since his death.
If you’re feeling confused about the lexicon associated with the Greenpoint oil spill, Block Magazine fortunately is providing a tongue-in-cheek guide to some of the terms appearing in mainstream press coverage...
A.P.C. Opens New Surplus Store in Williamsburg
The subtly understated yet ultra-chic label A.P.C. opened its surplus store in Williamsburg where it has until now maintained a warehouse location.
Occasionally, this location would hold giant warehouse sales of old-season items, and the line to enter would span several blocks from Kent to Wythe and around the corner. For some, creator Jean Touitou’s vision of minimal essence for maximum expression of style is devoid of excess but not of bold expression. For others, it's esoteric French “cool” that’s still just a little too expensive...
