The Brooklyn Paper: SNA Newspaper of the Year, 2007

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Perspective

Vito must step aside

Editorial: The Brooklyn Paper calls for Rep. Vito Fossella to resign now rather than drag his constituents through the ongoing scandal over his drunk-driving arrest and extra-marital affair. Comment.

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the Fossella drunk-driving arrest. Comment.

‘Vino’ Fossella: The people speak

Vox Pop: What do Bay Ridge residents think of Rep. Vito Fossella since his May 1 drunk driving arrest? We hit the streets to find out. Comments (5).

Jen and Paul: We hardly knew ye!

Smartmom: Smartmom weighs in on actors Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany’s move from Park Slope to, gasp, Manhattan. Comment.

Yards foes: Let’s set the records straight

Letters: Here are this week’s letters, with missives about Atlantic Yards (what else?!), the Green Church in Bay Ridge, Rep. Vito Fossella’s drunk-driving arrest and our recent story about the Microsoft store. Comment.

May 3, 2008

Grand Theft Auto comes to Bklyn

Perspective: Our columnist drives a fictional car through a not-so-fictional Brooklyn in the hot new video game. Comment.

City: We’ll get Coney land without eminent domain

Letters: The mailbag is filled with missives about the city’s Coney Island plan, “old” Brooklyn, generic development around town, Atlantic Yards and Rep. Vito Fossella’s flirtation with Dick Cheney. Comment.

A fight worth having

Editorial: A community board hearing about a supposedly menacing Park Slope bar offers a chance to debate the future of our neighborhoods. Comment.

All drawn out

Bridge ‘Park’: Our artist’s weekly take on the issues of the day. Comments (1).

Miley and Teen Spirit shed things

Smartmom: Smartmom knows all about the Miley Cyrus debacle. After all, she has a 16-year-old with a self-induced crewcut. Comments (2).

Psychic RV is right on target

PS … I Love You: Our columnist gets her palm read — from a woman in an RV! Comment.

April 26, 2008

Our man in Baghdad

Brooklyn Angle: Tucker Reed, who spent the last two years fixing potholes, handing out energy-efficient lightbulbs and keeping the peace between DUMBO’s warring factions, is heading to Iraq to do, basically, the same thing. Comment.

Remember Dick Cheney

Editorial: Rep. Vito Fossella — the city’s lone Republican congressman — called in a much-hated vice president to help him raise money. He’s banking on two things: Cheney’s pull with billionaires and voters’ short memories come November. Comments (2).

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

Facing smoke on the water

Brooklyn South: Our man floats down the Gowanus Canal (in a man-sized condom!). Comments (1).

Schumer endorsement makes Squadron a loser

Letters: The mailbag is filled with letters about Sen. Charles Schumer’s endorsement of state Senate candidate Daniel Squadron, judges who park in a park, the anti-Ratner protesters at the Brooklyn Museum and Frank Gehry’s forgotten “Urban Room.” Comment.

Smartmom’s hankering to cook

Smartmom: Smartmom sees a recipe book — and it reminds her of her ever-tenuous feminism. Comment.

How YouTube sees the Slope

PS … I Love You: Our columnist laughs, cries and laughs again at how her neighborhood is depicted on YouTube. Comment.

April 19, 2008

‘Naughty’ Brooklyn gets porn party

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist is appalled — and excited — by news that Brooklyn is the “naughtiest place” in America. This column is definitely PG-13. Comments (6).

A good Coney compromise

Editorial: The future of Coney Island looks brighter than ever, thanks to a deal between the city and Joe Sitt — an agreement that The Paper long advocated. Comment.

Is the OSFO ready for a cellphone?

Smartmom: With some parents letting their 9-year-olds on the subway — the subway?! — Smartmom considers getting the Oh So Feisty One a cellphone. Comment.

Are we still racist?

Vox Pop: Former Communist and Black Panther Angela Davis says that racism is “no less overt” than it was in the 1950s, when it was very overt. We hit the streets to find out if anyone agrees with Davis. Comment.

Regina Myer, Brooklyn Bridge Park president

Checkin’ in with: She was hired to get “shovels in the ground” at Brooklyn Bridge Park — and now, Regina Myer, the new president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, speaks exclusively to The Brooklyn Paper. Comments (6).

Ratner and the Brooklyn Museum: Perfect together

Letters: The mailbag is filled with letters about Atlantic Yards, Khalil Gibran International Academy, congestion pricing, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and Frank Gehry’s supposedly naughty design for “Miss Brooklyn.” Comment.

All Drawn Out

Cartoon: Our cartoonist’s take on the issues of the day. Comment.

I’ll drink to that

Brooklyn South: Local bar-restaurant pioneer Jim Mamary wins his battle with his Hoyt Street neighbors. Our columnist has one word: Good! Comment.

April 12, 2008

Checking in with … Christian culture chronicler Daniel Radosh

Checkin’ in with: The Windsor Terrace writer has a new book out — and he talks to The Brooklyn Paper about being Jewish yet writing about Christian pop culture. Comments (2).

Smartmom outsmarts Skenazy

Smartmom: It’s a parenting columnist smackdown: Our Smartmom vs. Lenore Skenazy of the New York Sun. Comments (1).

Homework havoc at home

PS … I Love You: Our columnist confronts the homework menace. Comment.

Cut Ratner off

Editorial: He’s already getting $2 billion in public subsidies — and now Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner “wants more”? The Paper’s Editorial Board offers a handy place to put that request. Comments (2).

Readers: What are kids doing in bars, anyway?

Letters: The mailbag is filled with missives about our ongoing kids-in-bars coverage; our recent story about pet adoptions; our humorous “field test” of new biodegradable lunch trays; a Prospect Lefferts Gardens development; the death of Bertha, the sand tiger shark; and the failure of a plan to but a power plant on the Williamsburg waterfront. Comment.

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

I paid $3 for this coffee!

Brooklyn Angle: Finally, a place to get a $3 cup of coffee on Fourth Avenue! Comment.

April 5, 2008

Protesting Ratner’s honor

Editorial: The Brooklyn Museum has every right to give Bruce Ratner an award. But the institution should not be shocked when its neighbors get angry about it. Comments (3).

Judge for yourself — Abe speaks

Brooklyn Angle: Nobody likes a bad review. So when former City Councilman Abe Gerges — now the newly minted administrative judge at the Adams Street courthouse — read our recent editorial slamming judges for parking on a walkway in Columbus Park, he did what any former show-business performer would have done. He called me to complain. Comments (2).

We need a real supermarket!

Brooklyn South: Our columnist discovers that the fastest way to strengthen a neighborhood’s heart is to feed its stomach. Comments (1).

Readers respond to Bruce Ratner’s Yards failure

Letters: The mailbag is filled with letters on Bruce Ratner’s no-longer-mega mega-project; The Paper’s bias in favor of Styrofoam trays and against Williamsburg 311 users; film crews; and even a letter from Broken Angel creator Arthur Wood. Comment.

Footnote: Editor of Year’s ankle mending slowly

Brooklyn Angle: Gersh Kuntzman’s bones are proving slow to heal, nearly 11 weeks after his Jan. 11 slip-and-fall in a Vermont parking lot. Here’s an exclusive update on this breaking story. Comment.

No one has dibs on ugly red chair

Smartmom: Smartmom has to get rid of the big red chair — but, o, the memories! Comment.

All drawn out

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner will lose $200 million in public money if all lawsuits are not concluded by the end of 2009. Our artist’s take! Comment.

March 29, 2008

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

Take back the rail yards!

Editorial: Atlantic Yards is officially dead. Now, the state must grab the corpse from Bruce Ratner and save the project. Comments (1).

Permits not the solution to parking problem

Letters: The mailbag is filled — as always. Comment.

Smartmom’s tears to flow

Smartmom: Smartmom still isn’t crying over the Oh So Feisty One’s imminent fifth-grade graduation. Oh wait, yes she is! Comment.

March 22, 2008

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

It’s a crowded house with our rockers

Smartmom: Smartmom has a full house, thanks to all of Teen Spirit’s rocker pals sleeping over all the time. Comments (1).

He’s the new Weatherman: Quirky Slope storm chaser breaks silence about hobby

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist gets the first interview with the keeper of the “Park Slope weather” Web site — the Internet’s biggest hit since the Obama girl. Comments (1).

Judges out of order

Editorial: The Parks Department has moved to evict a few dozen judges from parking in Columbus Park — and The Paper cheers. Comments (1).

Readers go batty over our dog adoption story

Letters: The mailbag is filled — as always. Comment.

A Park Slope homesteader

PS … I Love You: Tip O’Neill used to say that all politics is local. Who knew it extended to food? Comment.

March 15, 2008

All drawn out

Cartoon: The Red Hook food vendors are saved – and Sen. Chuck Schumer, a supporter, is overjoyed! Comment.

Character does count

Editorial: The personal is political. That old 1960s-era women’s movement mantra comes to mind anew, thanks to the abrupt resignation of Gov. Spitzer. Comments (1).

Paper’s bottled water story is drink for thought

Letters: The mailbag is full as usual. Comments (1).

The tropic of Williamsburg

Beside the Point: Save Henry Miller’s boyhood home! Comment.

Sex: It was always thus

PS … I Love You: The latest sex scandal reminds our columnist of a classic Slope affair. Comment.

What are Smartmom’s dealbreakers?

Smartmom: Eliot Spitzer’s alleged prostitution habit has Smartmom wondering what it would take before she left Hepcat. Comments (1).

March 8, 2008

Adrift on the Canal

Editorial: The Gowanus Canal is a national disgrace — and here’s how to clean the toxin- and sewage-filled corpse of water. Comments (3).

Nothing for Nader

Brooklyn Angle: Call him a Nader Traitor — but the only Brooklynite to contribute to Ralph Nader’s inept 2004 campaign has bailed on the twice-failed presidential hopeful. He’s not alone. Comments (1).

Voters to Rep. Clarke: Listen to us and back Barack

Letters: The mailbag is filled — as always. Comment.

Is Club Loco too loco?

PS … I Love You: Our columnist takes you inside the kid’s only night spot, Club Loco. Comments (1).

My copycat neighbors

Greene Acres: Fort Greene is becoming Park Slope — and it’s intentional! Comments (3).

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

Plastic on their minds

Vox Pop: Park Slope Food Co-op-ers speak out on the proposed bottled-water ban. Comments (1).

March 1, 2008

Ratner’s shell game

Editorial: It is becoming clearer and clearer that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner will not be able to build much of the below-market-rate housing at his mega-development. Comments (2).

Jed Walentas answers his critics

Letters: DUMBO’s major developer fires back. Plus letters on Gersh’s doctor and the Toll Brothers Gowanus Canal project. Comments (1).

Cast away! I’m finally free — sort of — after accepting my award!

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist discovers that there is only one thing better than being named “Editor of the Year” by a major national newspaper trade association: Getting the cast off his broken ankle! With video … Comment.

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

February 23, 2008

Being a good mom means being more than just not bad

Smartmom: Britney Spears is guilty of one egregious act of bad mommydom after another, yet we can’t get enough of her. What makes a good mom, anyway? Comment.

Scandal! Beep accepts our check, but says auction was a fake!

Brooklyn Angle: Our photo appears to show Borough President Markowitz accepting a ceremonial check for $500 for his Camp Brooklyn charity — but is it really a picture of him stabbing our Editor-of-the-Year in the back? Comment.

Vox Pop

Vox Pop: New York University’s proposed takeover of Polytechnic University in Downtown Brooklyn appears to be moving ahead. But before the Manhattan-based institution devours one of our own, we asked people on campus what they thought of the NYU-Poly deal. Comments (2).

February 16, 2008

Ratner’s naked ploy

Editorial: He’s played the race card, he’s lobbied and he’s out and out lied. But now Bruce Ratner is doing something he hasn’t done in years: buying off our elected representatives in Albany. Yes, it’s ugly. Comments (3).

Cast party! Local councilman wins gigantic bidding war for my ankle brace

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist’s cast auction goes well — with two councilmen in a bidding war! Comments (1).

Private schools, public chatting

Smartmom: Last week, Park Slopers were obsessed over which kids got into local private schools. Smartmom had this thought: Who cares? Comments (1).

City’s pay-to-park proposal fills The Paper’s mailbag

Letters: Our mailbag is filled with letters about the city’s residential parking permit plan, subsidies being doled out to Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, and plans to demolish a historic Bay Ridge church. Comment.

John McFadden, legendary Staubitz butcher

Checkin’ in with: The recent “vegetarian week” was a good chance to check in with one heckuva butcher. Comment.

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comments (1).

February 9, 2008

Gersh’s ankle goes on vacation

Brooklyn Angle: Despite an ankle injury that would deter lesser men, our Editor of the Year hit the beach in Mexico this week, cast and crutches be damned! Comment.

Ankling for recovery

Letters: After a reader was seriously injured in a hit-and-run, he went to Gersh’s new ankle man — and all was right with the world. Comment.

All Drawn Out

Cartoon: Our cartoonist’s take on Bruce Ratner’s lies. Comment.

When the Hepcat’s away, Teen Spirit will play

Smartmom: Our favorite son would never try such shenanigans if Hepcat were home. But Teen Spirit know that Smartmom is a world-class pushover. Comment.

Pols must hit Ratner in wallet

Editorial: It’s time for legislatures to open their eyes and put an end to Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards subsidies. Comment.

February 2, 2008

State of the Union: Kids are back in the ‘Hall’

Smartmom: The owner of Union Hall, the Union Street bocce bar popular with hipsters, rockers and new moms, has changed his mind after a week of criticism for his hastily announced “No kids allowed” policy. Comments (11).

My ankle is having an affair

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist is cheating on his doctor. No wonder! The doctor didn’t even call him back when he complained of “considerable pain.” Comments (1).

Builder of rejected ‘mews’ plan now seeks ‘Amity’

Letters: Our mailbag is filled with letters about a failed development plan on Amity Street; a proposed tower in DUMBO; bus routes through the Battery, Brooklyn Bridge “Park”; Patrick Stewart, the actor; and PrattStore’s new framing business. Comment.

January 26, 2008

Not a waste of time

Editorial: Lawsuits against Atlantic Yards are not a delay tactic, but a legitimate search for the truth about this shady back-room deal. Comment.

Yes, the pain is exquisite, thanks

Brooklyn Angle: Chapter two in our columnist’s series about his broken ankle. This week: His doctor blows him off! Comments (4).

All drawn out

Perspective: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comments (1).

How Jacobs would view Yards

Perspective: What would Jane Jacobs have thought of Atlantic Yards? Now we know. Comments (1).

The waffles are here!

PS … I Love You: Our Park Slope columnist explores the soon-to-explode Belgian waffle scene. Comments (1).

Sympathy for Gersh’s ankle, congrats on Paper award

Letters: Our mailbag is filled with sympathy for our hobbled editor in chief, plus letters about immigrants, the aborted plan to put a middle school in the House of Detention, and the Navy Yard’s supermarket plan. Comments (2).

An Old Mom Friend stirs mom nerves

Smartmom: Smartmom runs into an old mom friend — and the anxieties come back to her. Comment.

January 19, 2008

A weak court ruling

Editorial: Before Bruce Ratner follows up his victory in state Supreme Court by bringing in construction cranes, it’s worth one more attempt to make some sanity of the ongoing misinformation campaign that state officials continue to conduct at Atlantic Yards. Comments (1).

School in a jail plan sparks mail — from city

Letters: Letters are pouring in about the city’s middle-school-in-a-jail idea, David Walentas’s Dock Street tower, Flatbush traffic, Old Brooklyn, illegal parking, District Attorney Hynes, and our Editor of the Year, Gersh Kuntzman. Comment.

Oh So Feisty One reaches ‘middle’ age

Smartmom: Smartmom’s kid is shopping for a middle school. This ain’t easy, folks. Comments (1).

Freak accident fells Editor of the Year

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist breaks his ankle — but lives to write about it. Comments (1).

All drawn out

Atlantic Yards: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

January 12, 2008

No to jailhouse school

Editorial: Our editorial blasts a city plan to put a middle school in the soon-to-reopen Brooklyn House of Detention. Comments (2).

Our Brooklyn (Iowa) coverage earns accolades

Letters: Our mailbag is filled — even during the holiday week! — with letters about our coverage of the Iowa caucuses, Atlantic Yards, Rep. Yvette Clarke’s “anti-Christmas” vote, poor bus service, rats in Brooklyn Heights, the declining quality of Peter Luger steak house, and plans to create a Fort Greene Food Co-op. Comment.

Fifty is nifty if you’re ‘Smart’

Smartmom: Now that she’s 50 (yes, 50), Smartmom can either complain or take action. She’s choosing, well, both. Comments (2).

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

January 5, 2008

Inside the Brooklyn caucus

Brooklyn, Iowa: Our columnist takes you inside an actual Iowa caucus room: “What I saw was the most basic form of democracy in action. I was proud to be an American.” With video … Comment.

Absinthe makes his heart fonder

Heights Lowdown: Absinthe is now legal (yippie!), so our man goes on a vital fact-finding mission. Comments (1).

Tell them what you want

Greene Acres: This is the time to put your wants and needs on paper and take the Fort Greene-Clinton Hill shopping survey. Comment.

Is Ridge out of business?

Yellow Hooker: Now that the people of Bay Ridge are done opening their presents, maybe they can open some new stores. Comments (1).

New Year’s pre-memories

PS … I Love You: At this time of year, it’s impossible to walk around without feeling those memories come flooding back. Comment.

Smartmom gives from the wallet this holiday season

Smartmom: Smartmom learns to stop worrying and love panhandlers. Comment.

All drawn out

Cartoon: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.
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