Red Hook: There are just a few more weeks left until Swedish home furnishings superstore IKEA opens its first New York City location on Beard Street in Red Hook. GO Brooklyn couldn’t wait for the June 18 opening (or the June 16 sneak peek promised on the IKEA Web site), so we took off for the Paramus, NJ store — which insiders say was the model for the Brooklyn store — to see what 20 bucks can get you. With video … Comment.

Cobble Hill: The city has halted construction of David Walentas’s Atlantic Avenue apartment building saying the developer violated the height limit of the Cobble Hill Historic District. Comment.

Cobble Hill: A developer who wants to build housing on a parcel that includes a historic Beaux Arts edifice on Amity Street must retool his project a third time in order to shore up public support. Comment.

Carroll Gardens: A man plucked a diamond necklace from a woman on Second Place on May 15. Plus all the other crime news from Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill’s 76th Precinct. Comment.

Music: Country music fans are left to cry in their beers now that Sean Kershaw and The New Jack Ramblers have announced plans to leave their weekly gig at Hank’s in Boerum Hill — after seven years. Comment.

Music: The Yard’s second season on the banks of the Gowanus Canal kicks off Saturday, May 24, with a concert featuring jazzy spoken word artist Mike Ladd, as well as singer-songwriter Grey Reverend and Bushwick’s No Surrender, an electronic dance group. Comment.