Coney Island: The Italian landlord of Coney Island’s Boardwalk has seen the light, and will let Brooklyn-born businesses like Ruby’s, Paul’s Daughter, and Tom’s Diner take part in the re-birth of the People’s Playground. Comments (3).

Brooklyn Women of Distinction

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011

The joke’s on you! Carmine’s got some knee-slappers

By Carmine Santa Maria

Sunday Screech: Back by popular demand, The Screecher’s favorite one-liners! Comments (1).

Pedulla Tile

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011

The Brooklyn Paper mailbag is back!

Letters: Our letters column returns — online! — with missives about our coverage of Assemblywoman Joan Millman, bugs on crucifixes and residential parking permits. Comments (2).

Your weekend reads — from three booksellers

Books: Once again, the ladies of BookMark Shoppe, Greenlight and Word give us their hot books of the week. Comments (2).

Finally, food at the Brooklyn Brewery

By Bill Roundy

Bar Scrawl: A legendary beer factory tasting room gets even better. Comment.

The weekender! Here’s what you should do on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Weekender: Once again, the invaluable Brooklyn Paper is back with some tips for a great weekend. Keep hustlin’, Brooklyn! Comment.

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011

Porn to be mild! Come for the smut, but stay for the classics

By Eli Rosenberg

Midwood: At Cinema Kings Highway, you can watch “Shaving Ryan’s Privates” and then hop upstairs to watch the adult classic’s inspiration. Comments (8).

Beat it! Williamsburg Hasids chase party space out of neighborhood

By Aaron Short

Photo by Christopher Thomas

Clinton Hill: The Brooklyn artist collective, Rubulad, is leaving its Flushing Avenue warehouse after six years of throwing late-night reveries — pushed out by their ultra-religious Hasidic neighbors. Comments (31).

Call her the ‘Safe Sex’ Easter Bunny!

By Gersh Kuntzman

Brooklyn Angle: Heights woman has started making gift baskets — of condoms! With video … Comments (5).

Gil Hodges: Hall of Famer or near miss? The debate rages

By Daniel Bush

In the days after the baseball poohbahs snubbed the Brooklyn Dodger great, fans and historians weigh in. Comments (1).

CB1 now requires bars to have full kitchen if they want outdoor space!

By Aaron Short

Nightlife: Call it the “nutritional mandate.” Comments (1).

Fix the BQE!

Editorial: Our editorial board slams Gov. Cuomo for pulling the plug on the long-overdue repairs on the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway. Comments (13).

Exhuming Xmas! Weird art fair specializes in curiosities

By Kate Briquelet

Event: Deck the halls with skulls and insects — fa la la la la lala la la! Comment.

The art of noise from Amy X Neuburg

By Alfred Ng

Music: Who says you need instruments to make music? Comments (1).

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011

Lander report: Call it the B61 bomber

By Natalie O’Neill

Photo by Bess Adler

Brooklyn Is Angry: The main bus out of transportation-starved Red Hook arrives too late or doesn’t stop at all, according to a scathing new report. Comments (3).

Today’s mystery: Why did Park Slope’s Chamber of Commerce prez resign?

By Natalie O’Neill

The head of Park Slope’s main merchants group has abruptly resigned — and abandoned his job at a popular gym — leaving behind a fog of speculation and a temporary leadership crisis amongst neighborhood businessfolk. Comments (7).

‘Bubble’ has burst! Pier 5 rec fields move forward without year-round element

By Kate Briquelet

Bridge ‘Park’: Brooklyn Bridge Park is moving forward with three soccer fields and a picnic area on Pier 5 — without leaving room for a year-round sports bubble. Comments (3).

How easy is it to get fake — but potent — weed? Our reporter had no problems at all

By Dan MacLeod

Bay Ridge: In Bay Ridge, it’s easy to get legal drugs that may be eight times more potent than pot. Comments (8).

Talk about mixed doubles! Ping pong club seeks beer license

By Aaron Short

Nightlife: There is nothing better than free table tennis and cheap beer. Comments (3).

Thief steals headphones right off a man’s head!

By Colin Mixson

Fort Greene: Plus more relentless crime from Fort Greene and Clinton Hill’s 88th Precinct. Comments (4).

Check, mate! Reporter collects mega-cash for dogging Vito

By Moses Jefferson

Brooklyn Paper veteran reporter Aaron Short received his award from the Manhattan watchdog group New York Civic last Friday, a tribute to his dogged pursuit of shenanigans inside Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s office and its charity spin-off. Comments (4).

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011

Bridge too far? Squibb-to-Bklyn-Bridge-Park footpath costs soar

By Kate Briquelet

Bridge ‘Park’: The cost of a proposed footbridge from Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 — a key amenity for residents seeking quick access to the world-class park — jumped 26 percent after park officials upgraded the design then failed to find a contractor who could meet the original budget. Comments (12).

Snubbed again! Hall of Fame committee passes on Dodger icon Gil Hodges

By Daniel Bush

Midwood: A legend of the game has become the Rodney Dangerfield of baseball. Comments (8).

Update! Brooklyn Paper saves ‘non-Christmas’ artwork at Downtown gallery!

By Natalie O’Neill

Art: Con Edison has decided not to pull the plug on a holiday art show featuring “pagan”-themed pieces by a Park Slope artist, changing its corporate mind after a BrooklynPaper.com article highlighted the censorship. Comments (9).

Catholics save relics from out-of-business W’burg church

By Aaron Short

Williamsburg: The Brooklyn Diocese has sold a 150-year-old Williamsburg church — but grabs its historic bell before it becomes housing. Comments (13).

Downtown in chains! Two expensive national eateries to fill Adams Street eyesore

By Kate Briquelet

Dining: Panera Bread isn’t the only chain eatery moving into the decrepit former city office on Adams and Willoughby streets. A chichi barbecue and beer joint and touristy dessert emporium are slated to open next fall. Comments (5).

Report: Hit-and-run trucker must have known that he’d killed cyclist!

By Aaron Short

Mean Streets: The Williamsburg cyclist killed by a truck driver last month was not cruising in the driver’s blind spot, but was actually rear-ended by the trucker, a just-released bombshell accident report reveals. Comments (18).

All tied up! Jacko-themed Puppet festival comes to Bushwick

By Aaron Short

Bushwick: Who needs the Muppets when you can check out the Michael Jackson-inspired Band of Puppets Fest? Comments (1).

Mac attack: Sadie’s Kitchen opens in Cobble Hill!

By Sarah Zorn

Dining: Can Sadie’s Kitchen — a Southern prepared foods shop-slash-gourmet mac and cheese parlor with a 1930s diner-meets-country kitchen interior (oh, another one of those!) — beat the curse of 243 Degraw St.? Comments (9).

Secret’s out! Under pressure, Bklyn Bridge Park reveals hotel selection committee members

By Kate Briquelet

Bridge ‘Park’: Brooklyn Bridge Park has released the names of the city officials who will ultimately decide which hotel and luxury condo complex is built on Pier 1 — succumbing to pressure after locals slammed park officials for a lack of transparency. Comments (5).

Teens beat up man at Buttermilk Channel

By Thomas Tracy

Carroll Gardens: A diner has a smoke outside a fancy restaurant — but that’s not how these local teens “roll.” Plus all the crime from Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook’s 76th Precinct. Comments (7).

Sugar shack: Six storefronts transform into an erotic candyland

By Juliet Linderman

Dining: This art exhibit is food porn — literally. Comments (1).

Monday, Dec. 5, 2011

Hodges snubbed again!

By Daniel Bush

Midwood: Hall of Fame’s ‘Golden Era’ committee passes on Dodgers icon Gil. Comment.

A new ‘Under the Bridge’ record — under the bridge

By Kate Briquelet

Photo by Alice Proujansky

DUMBO: Seventy-three locals made world history last week, standing in the Manhattan Bridge Archway in DUMBO and belting out a 1990s anthem. Comments (2).

Trail cold, cops transfer Josh Rubin case to ‘Missing Persons’

By Eli Rosenberg

Ditmas Park: The case of the vanished Ditmas Park cafe owner has been transferred to the NYPD’s “Missing Persons” division, a sign that cops no longer believe that the disappearance is a criminal matter, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comments (1).

Trucker arrested for mowing down 90-year-old man in Williamsburg

By Aaron Short

Mean Streets: Police arrested a trucker who they say was drunk when he nearly killed a senior last Thursday. Comments (5).

New owners say MTA’s Smith Street shaft will be an eyesore no more

By Natalie O’Neill

Boerum Hill: A team of luxury condo architects will morph a much-bemoaned Smith Street monolith into a posh mixed-use building. Comment.

Spin cycle! Major League Dreidel returns to Knitting Factory

By Colin Mixson

Let’s get ready to dreeeeeeidellllllllllllll! Comments (1).

I love the middle school application process!

By Stephanie Thompson

Fearless Parenting: Far from being a drag, our columnist has good things to say about how the city assigns kids to middle schools. Comments (16).

Colson Whitehead’s hilarious angst on display at St. Joseph’s College

By Colin Mixson

Fort Greene: The acclaimed author puts it all on the line at a reading at the Fort Greene school. Comment.

Friday, Dec. 2, 2011

Bikelash! Cops say they’ll crack down on speeding cyclists

By Natalie O’Neill

Mean Streets: After two serious accidents in the park, a major enforcement offensive seems on the verge of starting. Comments (132).

Gunman robs delivery driver in daylight heist

By Dan MacLeod

Bay Ridge: An armed goon robbed a delivery driver who was dropping off pies and cakes at a Fifth Avenue deli in a brazen daylight heist, then left the driver tied up in the back of his truck, according to witnesses and the victim. Comments (4).

The weekender! Here’s what you should do on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Weekender: Once again, the invaluable Brooklyn Paper is back with some tips for a great weekend. Keep hustlin’, Brooklyn! Comment.

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011

Clean slate for Navy Yard as Council approves demolition of Admirals Row

By Kate Briquelet

Fort Greene: The City Council unanimously approved the redevelopment of Admirals Row on Tuesday — giving the Brooklyn Navy Yard a clean slate to build a major supermarket after years of battling preservationists, a tug-of-war with the feds over ownership of the historic site, and losing its original developer to a bribery scandal. Comments (12).