Page 1: We would not be lying if we said this week’s Brooklyn Paper is a collector’s edition. From our comprehensive coverage of the ongoing debacle of Atlantic Yards to our exclusive interview with the man who lost to Barack Obama, we’ve got it all. And don’t miss regular features like our calendars, reviews and even Trey Dooley’s kids music coverage. Keep hustlin’, Brooklyn!

Atlantic Yards at 5: What went wrong?

By Sarah Portlock

Gehry Partners

Atlantic Yards: Where did Atlantic Yards go wrong? Let us count the ways. Comments (13).

Cops: The pizza deliveryboy did it!

By Mike McLaughlin

Brooklyn Heights: The boneheaded pizza deliveryman caught on security cameras scratching his cheesy tag into a Brooklyn Heights elevator has confessed to the vandalism, a police source told The Brooklyn Paper. Comment.

Making ‘Census’ of Brooklyn

By Zeke Faux

What are the trends in Brooklyn neighborhoods? New Census data gives us the scoop. Comments (1).

Lousy weather allows judges’ auto occupation to continue

By Sarah Portlock

Brooklyn Heights: If it would only get — and stay — warm for two days, city workers will get the judges’ cars out of Columbus Park. Comment.

Bizmen: Bloomy is squeezing us!

By Mike McLaughlin

A Clinton Hill pet store that got hit with 116 city summonses in one day has become the poster child for the excesses of an anti–small-business mayor. Comments (2).

Unreal! MTV invites us on the set of “The Real World”

By Sarah Portlock

TV: One month before the show starts airing on MTV, the music network gave us a tour of its “Real World Brooklyn” house, er set. With video … Comments (1).

Long live the ’90s!

By Ben Muessig

Music: The 1990s are back in Brooklyn, in a big way. Comment.

Walentas ready to ‘Dock’ with 18-story tower

By Sarah Portlock

DUMBO: Views of the beloved Brooklyn Bridge would be ruined forever — or DUMBO will get a much-needed middle school, depending on which side you believe in the heated debate over an 18-story residential building that will have its first public hearing next week. Comments (2).

This mob wants more green

By Evan Gardner

Park Slope: An environmental group has targeted a Park Slope hardware store for not being “green” enough — but don’t expect a boycott. Comments (3).

Pols back Hasids in bike lane fight

By Ben Muessig

Mean Streets: Several Williamsburg elected officials — some of whom fancy themselves as bicycle advocates — have joined a coalition of Hasidic residents and local businessowners in now demanding that one of the lanes be removed to restore parking on the east side of busy Kent Avenue. Comments (14).

At PS 27, school’s out forever

By Mike McLaughlin

Red Hook: The city will shutter a long-troubled Red Hook school next year — and parents said that a change was long overdue. Comments (3).

Noodle town

By Ben Muessig

Dining: There’s a new nightcap in Williamsburg, and — gasp! — it’s not alcoholic. Comment.

Corn meal! Beloved arepa joint opens

By Ben Muessig

Dining: Grand Street is about to get a whole lot cornier — thanks to the opening of Caracas Brooklyn — a Venezuelan restaurant specializing in stuffed cornmeal arepas. Comments (1).

Fingered! Billyburg building can rise again

By Ben Muessig

Williamsburg: The city gave a thumbs-up to Williamsburg’s notorious “Finger Building,” granting the owners of the unfinished structure permission to complete their North Eighth Street tower. Comment.

Tower wants free money

By Sarah Portlock

Downtown plan: A developer seeking to construct the borough’s tallest building will create more luxury housing in an over-saturated market if he is given millions in public subsidies, opponents charged this week. Comment.

They’re up in Armory

By Sarah Portlock

Park Slope: The much-anticipated Park Slope Armory won’t open at least until the spring — more than a year after local pols gathered for the official ribbon cutting, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comments (1).

Get your Gersh on

TV: Our editor, Gersh Kuntzman, donned his tuxedo to man the moderator chair for a very special year-in-review edition of Brooklyn Independent Television’s “Reporter Roundtable.” Joining Gersh was former Brooklyn Paper reporter Dana Rubinstein, now of the New York Observer, and two special guests! Comment.

Civic calendar

All the community meetings you should be going to. Comment.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

The man who lost to Obama! A Brooklyn Paper exclusive!

By Gersh Kuntzman

Brooklyn Angle: It is no small thing to say that a Park Slope lawyer named David Goldberg is one of the most important figures in American history. Comment.

Empty lot — and empty promises? — at Court St project

By Mike McLaughlin

The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

Carroll Gardens: The developers of a controversial residential project on Court Street have quietly halted construction for at least six months, raising anxiety that the empty lot will haunt the main drag of Carroll Gardens during this increasingly dire economic downturn. Comments (2).

Here they are — your Police Blotters

Link: If it’s Wednesday, it’s Police Blotter day on BrooklynPaper.com. Find your neighborhood below or click the link above to get a full list.

Tequila sunrise! A great booze is back in Park Slope

By Sarah Portlock

Dining: La Taqueria on Seventh Avenue is showing off its tequila collection. Who says no one likes a show-off? With video … Comment.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008

Warm weather could finally end judges’ auto occupation

By Sarah Portlock

The Brooklyn Paper / Kristen Joy Watts

Brooklyn Heights: Two warm days could be enough to finally get the judges’ cars out of Columbus Park. Comment.

Where in the world is Teen Spirit?

By Louise Crawford

Smartmom: If it’s Tuesday, it must be Smartmom day at BrooklynPaper.com. This week, Smartmom tries to help a friend with a troubled teen. Comment.

Randy Kaplan rocks Southpaw

By Thurston Dooley III

Dooley Noted: The world’s foremost authority on puppetry and mime reviews Randy Kaplan’s show at Southpaw on Sunday afternoon. Comment.

Monday, Dec. 8, 2008

From this House…to the jailhouse! Vito gets five days

By Mike McLaughlin

The Brooklyn Paper / Jeff Bachner

Bay Ridge: Rep. Vito Fossella was sentenced to five days in jail — but yes, Virginia, there is a Santa clause: the congressman’s appeal means that he’ll get a new trial before he gets packed off to jail. Comment.

It’s ‘Tuna’ har har at the Gallery Players

By Sarah Portlock

Theater: Our review raves about “A Tuna Christmas” at the Gallery Players in Park Slope. Comment.

Friday, Dec. 5, 2008

Mourning Mumbai

By Ben Muessig

The Brooklyn Paper / Rachel Batya Alintoff

Park Slope: Jews from around the borough gathered in Park Slope last night to mourn a Crown Heights rabbi and his wife — two “generals” in the Hasidic Jewish community — who were killed in the Mumbai terror attacks last week. Comment.

Something’s gotta give! Yeah — you!

By Makeda Dash and Liza Eckert

Vox Pop: The economy is in the tank — so our leaders are talking about either tolls on the East River bridges or higher subway fares (or both). So we hit the streets to find out whether Brooklynites think the bridges should be tolled or the fares should be hiked (or neither!). Comments (2).