Yanin Sreang Eng is the Arts & Entertainment editor at The New York Herald. Born in Prey Veng, Cambodia, she is now based out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She enjoys checking out new places and discovering hotspots around town.
Broke but in love? Bowling at the Gutter in Williamsburg might be your best cheap date move for Valentine’s Day. At least Time Out NY thinks so:
Early (love) birds have a better chance of scoring thanks to the retro rates at Williamsburg’s first bowling alley in nearly half a century, The Gutter (200 North 14th St between Berry St and Wythe Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-387-3585, thegutterbrooklyn.com). Before 8pm, don rented lace-ups ($4 for two pairs) and hone your stance at one of eight ’70s-style lanes ($6 per game)—snapped up from a Midwestern factory—all while swigging $5 Genesee Cream Ales. Treat the night’s winner to a pizza party at Fornino (187 Bedford Ave between North 6th and 7th Sts, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-384-6004), seven streets away. Nosh on a large bianca pie ($19), draped in ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, and chug Peroni beers ($10 for two) before gamely asking for a rematch.
Lady Gaga didn’t win the best new artist award last night at the AMAs but it looks like her influence is spreading faster than H1N1. “Brooklyn and Atlanta, Houston to New Orleans..” smart girl that Beyoncé.
Cormega is one of our favorite rappers from the old school. He’s still doing his thing and as part of the promotion for his new album, “Born and Raised”, he breaks down his classic ‘The Realness” track by track, courtesy ClassicRhymes.com. Below that is a video for “Journey” off his latest.
Word is spreading fast around the ‘hood that the Jelly Pool Party, originally, famously held at McCarren Park, and unceremoniously moved to the redeveloped East River State Park, is now in danger of happening at all next summer. This according to the organizers themselves in a sky-is-falling email to their subscribers. They write:
The future of the Pool Parties at the East River State Park could be in jeopardy. After a very successful 2009 season with 8 weeks of free performances including Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, The Black Lips, Dirty Projectors, Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, No Age, Mission of Burma, Beach House, and Simian Mobile Disco, news came from the New York State Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance that the East River State Park may not be available to JELLY for the 2010 season. This will ultimately put an end to the flourishing free summer series.
Senator Schumer rallies the folks at the Pool Party, photo Tim Griffith
Like a good blockbuster, there’s a hero emerging and he’s got juice. It’s Senator Schumer, a native of Brooklyn who’s already been quoted by the ‘Times with kind words for the pool party and a promise he’ll try his darndest to have it return to the waterfront in 2010. He also apparently rides his bike through Williamsburg.
“I happened to pass by the Jelly concerts when I was riding my bike through Williamsburg and was amazed at the thousands of people who lined the streets to come to the concerts,” the senator said on Wednesday. “People from every part of the country who had made their way to Brooklyn, enjoying music and one another’s company – it’s the best of New York. When I heard that the concerts might be canceled, I couldn’t understand why, given that this is exactly what our parks are supposed to be for, and I am going to do everything I can to see that they continue.”
If you’ve been a fan of the pool parties at both McCarren Park and most recently East River State Park, you owe it to yourself and your fellow music lovers to remind the good Senator how much fun it is to have that music blasting all summer.
Leading design candidate for the future Kosciuszko Bridge
Arguably the ugliest bridge in the five boroughs, the Kosciuszko Bridge is still great for getting from Williamsburg/Greenpoint to Water Taxi Beach and much of Queens. Long-discussed plans to replace it by 2017 has materialized and the price is skyrocketing from the $700 million price tag from last Spring to $1 billion today.
There are three looks being reviewed, and the render above is the leading contender. Spending this kind of money for a bridge during the Great Recession seems a bit excessive to us, but for a 1.1 mile span, a cool billion is “the going rate,” says Adam Levine, spokesman of the State Dept of Transportation.
Fun features of the future Kosciuszko Bridge will include 9 lanes, a boat launch, as well as the usual pedestrian and bike lanes. The current Kosciuszko carries 160,000 vehicles a day and like gramps is very accident prone – about six times the statewide average. Construction is set to begin in 2013.
Getting a bit of buzz is the opening of Brooklyn Kitchen Labs, and it’s butcher counter aptly called Meat Hook. Perhaps its the DNA, the guys behind the counter are from Marlow & Daughters (Tom Mylan and Brent Young) and their angle is similar – locally sourced, house-aged cuts. Wait, there’s more, the place is an alter to meat and cooking, with an artisanal oil dispensary, cookbook library, classes, cookware and all manner of curious new customers.
Brooklyn Bowl (map)is a gem of a venue for Williamsburg, what with the Blue Ribbon chicken, live music and top shelf bowling lanes, but sheesh, it can get expensive fast. That’s why we’re pysched to pass along a tweet they made offering free bowling Monday-Thursday 6p-7p, yes, happy hour. By the sound of it, the promo won’t last forever (through November) so get it while its hot. Here’s the tweet:
FREE BOWLING ALERT! All November, Mon – Thurs :: 6pm-7pm :: It’s a Very Happy Hour at Brooklyn Bowl! :: Come Early, Stay Late.
The long awaited and fought after Bushwick Inlet Park may finally be moving into the reality phase as TransGas Energy Systems, which has fought for seven years to build an energy plant on the site, had their appeal thrown out by Appellate Court judges, it was revealed in New York Daily News. TransGas had proposed a 1,100 megawatt powerplant off North 12th Street, and according to the paper has revised their plans twice in response to the community uproar.
In its place are stunning plans by the Parks Department for a major “green” overhaul of the industrial brownfield into a 28 acre park, complete with soccer field, performance space, a scenic overlook, and in some renderings, a beach. Community organizers are elated, and are hoping construction of the Bushwick Inlet Park could begin as early as next Spring.
Chef Jacqueline Lombard hard at work in Greenpoint photo: PSE
Chef Jacqueline Lombard ( http://jacquelinelombard.com ) graduate of the French Culinary Institute, a former sous-chef of Mario Batali’s Otto restaurant, and a private chef to celebrities, shows you how to prepare a fabulous lamb dish for a few friends, for under $100, including wine!
