Atlantic Yards: Each week, award-winning cartoonist Cristian Fleming gives us his take on the issues of the day. This week, Fleming points his rapier pen at Bruce Ratner’s false promises at Atlantic Yards. Comment

Podcast: Our Eye of the Storm team takes you back to a great performance by former Cyclone closer — now New York Met — Eddie Kunz! Comment

Page 1: We know you’ve been enjoying our daily updates, but everyone also loves our weekly print-only edition. In this week’s copy of “Brooklyn’s real newspaper,” you’ll find stories about new delays and new legal challenges to Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-project, the stunning cancelation of the long-awaited soapbox derby, a salt-water-spewing killing machine/public art project and our columnist’s counter take on the “Greenest Block in Brooklyn” contest. And there’s lots more news, features, arts and culture inside, so join us every week! Read more…

Atlantic Yards: Lawyers for a declining number of holdout residents of the Atlantic Yards footprint may have found the silver bullet in their ongoing battle against state plans to condemn properties for developer Bruce Ratner: the state Constitution. Comments (7)

Editorial: Our editorial board weighs in on the city’s new anti-flier law — one that will create more trash than the pamphlets and menus it seeks to prevent. Comments (3)

Nightlife: As the morbidly obese performance artist struggled mightily to tug his (her?) girdle over nearly nude acres of cellulite, the crowd at the newly opened Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO sat in rapt fascination on Tuesday night. Comment

Brooklyn Angle: I came to compost Eighth Street, not to praise it. Yes, I was there on Wednesday, when the gray expanse between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West was named the “Greenest Block in Brooklyn” by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Comments (1)

Shopping: Our borough’s newest outdoor bazaar — the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market — proved that it could weather any storm when its cabanas survived the wind and rain of its opening day in Clinton Hill last month. In fact, the resilient organizers, vendors, shoppers and musicians of this unique Myrtle Avenue market are determined to return on Aug. 10 with more of the same original, handcrafted wares that set them apart from Kings County’s other flea markets. Comments (1)

DUMBO: The city’s hottest new public art project is killing trees at Brooklyn’s internationally beloved River Cafe. Comments (5)

Park Slope: They spent four days and nights on line outside a Fifth Avenue store to buy the hottest sneakers ever to be designed in Brooklyn, but six kids went home on Tuesday with nothing but a newfound sense of bitterness and the same shoes they came in. Comments (9)

Brooklyn Heights: Alleged Busy Chef scammer Dan Kaufman’s lawyer says his client was just a “patsy” who fell victim to a shadowy Brooklyn Heights lawyer who makes a career out of repeatedly opening, closing and reopening restaurants in the same locations. Comments (9)

Fitness: On Saturday night, Lola Staar’s Dreamland Roller Rink in Coney Island threw an opening extravaganza that drew a crowd attired in nothing less than their finest sequins, day-glo wigs and retro attire. And the pageantry continues on Aug. 9, with “Flashdance” night. Comment

Nightlife: A Greenpoint nightclub recently condemned by its local community board has now been shut down by the Department of Buildings — but club lawyer Ken Fisher says the club has fixed alleged fire safety violations that led to the failed inspection. Comment

Brooklyn Heights: A veteran state Senator is under fire during a heated re-election campaign for calling for massive raises for Albany lawmakers if they’re willing to do what most voters are already forced to do: work full time. Comment

Cobble Hill: If Long Island College Hospital goes through with its plan to close its maternity ward, other Brooklyn facilities may not be able to handle the resulting baby boom, a Brooklyn Paper investigation revealed. Comments (9)

Coney Island: This weekend, more than 500 visitors came out for the opening of the Coney Island History Project’s latest show, “The Astroland Archives Photography Exhibit: Back to the Future.” Comment

Crown Heights: A Smooth-Leaf Elm, severely injured and clinging to life for four years at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, was cut across its trunk and finally put to rest. Comments (1)

Music: This summer, Sunset Park-based band The Mumbles are playing everywhere from Coney Island to Williamsburg in support of their new EP, “Once EPonymous.” Comments (2)

Cyclones: The Cyclones needed a win on the road — and they got one, thanks to a stellar performance by Pedro Martinez (no, not that one!). Comment

Breaking Chews: We’re dishing up Brooklyn’s latest food news! Comment

The city’s new regulations to help homeowners stem the tide of unwanted menus and fliers from their doorsteps and vestibules may unleash an entirely new round of paperwork and red tape. Comments (2)

Art: Ellis Marsalis and his son, pianist Jason Marsalis, are just two members of jazz society featured in “Kindred Cool: Portraits Inspired by the Jazz Friendship of Ralph Ellison, Romare Bearden and Albert Murray” on display through Sept. 14 at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Fort Greene. Comment

Event: All the fun you could be having with your family! Comment

All the important meetings you should be going to. Comment

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner has pushed back the New Jersey Nets’ move to Brooklyn again — now saying that the basketball team he owns might not play its first game in an Atlantic Yards arena until the 2011–2012 season. Comments (6)

Brooklyn Heights: A 42-year-old Brooklyn Heights man stabbed himself to death in a bathtub on Hicks Street on Tuesday afternoon, cops said. Comment

Brooklyn Heights: A man broke into an often-attacked Remsen Street synagogue early Monday morning — but this time, it was common thievery, not anti-Semitism that appeared to be on the crook’s mind. Comments (1)

Park Slope: If it’s Wednesday, it must be “Police Blotter” day in at BrooklynPaper.com. Find your neighborhood below, or click above for all the crime news from Park Slope’s 78th Precinct, where there were lots of really vicious gang attacks. This was a very busy week for Slope gumshoes. Comment

BAM District: Rent-stabilized tenants of a Lafayette Avenue apartment building say their new landlord is trying to harass them from the building so the company can raise rents to market levels. Comments (1)

Brooklyn Heights: The writer behind the Brooklyn Heights Blog tries to help Busy Chef Dan Kaufman’s fired employees. Comments (2)

Ups & Downs: It was quite a weekend for Brooklyn fans who root for former Cyclones to make the majors as Brooklyn alumni Dan Murphy and Eddie Kunz made their debuts with the Mets. Comment

Brooklyn Heights: A Brooklyn Paper Exclusive! The organizer of the annual soapbox derby on Columbia Heights explains why he cancelled this year’s race. Comments (6)

Park Slope: Miss USA drops by New York Methodist Hospital in Park Slope — and The Brooklyn Paper is there. Of course we were there! Nobody covers ribbon cuttings with Miss USA like The Brooklyn Paper! Comment

Politicrasher: We met with Council Speaker Chris Quinn at Junior’s — and all we got was a cup of joe and praise for her work leading the Council. Comments (2)

Cyclones: With a chance to move just one game behind the first-place Yankees, the Cyclones coughed up a certain win. Now the team is three games back and staring down into the abyss. Comment

Smartmom: If it’s Tuesday, it must be Smartmom day on BrooklynPaper.com. This week, Park Slope’s uber-parent delves into that most sensitive of topics: the birds and the bees (and, no, this ain’t a nature column!). Comments (3)

Podcast: Gersh Kuntzman takes you inside the Eye of the Storm and meets with some of the resurgent Brooklyn Cyclones before the team’s back-breaking Monday loss. Well, so much for those optimistic pre-game interviews! Comment

Cyclones: The Cyclones are surging and are back in contention, thanks to taking two of three from the first-place Yanks. Comment

Red Hook: IKEA’s shuttle bus problem has now expanded to two locations in Gowanus and Park Slope, where residents have joined their Brooklyn Heights comrades in complaining that the buses are a nuisance. Comments (7)

Shopping: It was that most odd of businesses — an equestrian shop next to the Gowanus Canal. And now, Debbie’s Reins is no more. Comment

Awesome: Peter Frampton came alive at Coney Island’s Asser Levy Park on Thursday night, belting out some of the live hits that made his “Frampton Comes Alive” LP the greatest live album ever (with the possible exception of “Cheap Trick at Budokan”). Comments (2)

Politics: City Councilman David Yassky dropped by our DUMBO offices to give us a proclamation and to give us his rendition of Starship’s immortal hit, “We Built this City (On Rock and Roll.” How did the “Singing Councilman” do? Let’s go to the videotape! Comments (1)

Bensonhurst: Congressional hopeful Steve Harrison blasted a city plan for proposing to put a garbage-transfer station in Gravesend — smack in the middle of the congressional district he wants to represent. Comments (1)

Greenpoint: A Banker Street nightclub that some have likened to a mini “Sodom and Gomorrah,” should not be allowed to expand its repertoire to include dance parties, a community board panel ruled last night. Comments (3)

Williamsburg: Zebulon was not my intended destination. I left my house at 8 p.m. this past Saturday to catch the last hour of HQ gallery’s one night show “Why and Wherefore” – a show that was advertised as an international event that shouldn’t be missed. The press release that was emailed to me described the show as one of many that were happening simultaneously in galleries all over the world. “Why and Wherefore” was supposed to incite contemplation on collective worldwide action as each show was to include works dedicated to the theme of “how digital work can be infinitely and exactly reproduced.” Comment

Letters: I have to applaud Shavana Abruzzo’s “A Britisher’s View” column on the “MTA not going your way” for focusing on the arrogance and indifference of the MTA board to the daily plight of New York City commuters (“MTA not going your way,” 6-26 issue). Comment

Letters: Re: “Who needs manuals? Just give me the pictures,” “Not For Nuthin’” by Joanna P. DelBuono, 7-3 issue. Comment

Letters: Re: “Not for Nuthin” column by Joanna P. DelBuono. Comment

Letters: We, recently, witnessed the “official” closing of Victory Memorial Hospital when the state removed the facility’s operating certificate. Comment

Letters: Re: “Not for Nuthin” column by Joanna P. DelBuono. Comment

Williamsburg: The August 2 ‘Multi-Anniversary Tour of the IRT’ is the final in the New York Transit Museum’s Summer Nostalgia Train Excursions. Comment

Williamsburg: A bloodthirsty crocodile emerged from the beach in Coney Island, drawing a large crowd to the shore’s famous boardwalk. But it didn’t come alone. From the sandy scene also sprang a dinosaur, a race car and Jesus Christ. Comment

Williamsburg: Come to the park for Movies With a View 2008, featuring great films, plus Brooklyn Radio setting the scene each night with pre-movie mood music from some of New York City’s best DJs. Comment

Williamsburg: July cultural events at Tillie’s include art, readings and music performances. Tillie’s is at 248 DeKalb Avenue; call 718-783-6140 or visit www.tilliesofbrooklyn.com for more information. Comment

Williamsburg: Brooklyn’s Micro Museum presents, as a part of Big Ideas 2008-2010 National Visual Artists, Raging Against The…, on Saturdays, 12-7 p.m., July 26-September 20. An opening party is slated for July 26 from 8-11 p.m. Comment

Williamsburg: Human Landscape Dance will stage free performances of “Rituals of the First Year,” an innovative modern dance concert, in Prospect Park, July 27 from 12-2 p.m. Comment

Williamsburg: When people refer to wildlife in New York City, most folks may conjure up images of New York’s striving nightlife culture or perhaps some of the colorful parades that gallivant up and down the streets of the five boroughs. Comment

Williamsburg: The circus is coming to town. Comment

Williamsburg: The art scene in Brooklyn will be officially hot this summer, twice, with double-barreled events sponsored by the city’s largest artist-run organization. The fifth annual Summer Show, “Hot!” of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) will open July 26 in its historic Civil War-era warehouse galleries in Brooklyn’s booming Red Hook section. Comment

Williamsburg: A fresh breeze of West Coast air courtesy of five female pop surrealist artists will be blowing through Ad Hoc Art on July 25, as the gallery will open its new show, “5 Identities 5 Destinations.” Comment

Williamsburg: The Brick Theater Film Festival may be drawing to a close, but there are still several exciting productions to experience before the month is out. Comment

Podcast: Brooklyn Paper Senior Reporter Mike McLaughlin headed to Bensonhurst, where congressional candidate Steve Harrison blasted his Democratic rival, Councilman Mike McMahon, for supporting a waste-management plan that calls for a transfer station along the Bensonhurst waterfront. Comment

Letters: The desperation that Shavana Abruzzo and people that share her mindset now feel is palpable. Comment

Letters: The only title worthy of Shavana Abruzzo recent column (Questions loom about Bam’s blood ties”) would have been “Guilt By Association On Steroids.” Comment

Letters: Editor’s Note: The following letters are in response to “Questions loom about Bam’s blood ties,” by Shavana Abruzzo’s “A Britisher’s View,” 7-3 issue. Comment

Letters: Re: “Who needs manuals? Just give me the pictures,” “Not For Nuthin’” by Joanna P. DelBuono, 7-3 issue. Comment

Letters: “The United States of America” Comment

Williamsburg: My grandmother always intoned, “Darker than midnight it can’t get.” Comment

Williamsburg: Another great American loss — Tony Snow — Age 53. The following are quotes from some of the accolades heaped upon the committed conservative the day he passed away. Comment

Williamsburg: In bartering five Lebanese prisoners for two of her kidnapped soldiers who, unbeknownst to her, were dead on arrival, Israel has shown grace and humility under extreme provocation. She can be proud of that. Comment

Bay News: If there was ever a ‘Night of Decision’ in Coney’s urban renewal, it came the night of the slaying of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Comment

Crime: Bag grab Comment

In the days to come, Republican Congressional candidate Robert Straniere will be hitting the streets of Brooklyn. Comment

The cast of the Lifetime cable network drama “Army Wives” graced the red carpet at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, to help kick off the July Fourth week and salute service-members’ often-forgotten spouses. Comment

Brooklyn Native Col. Richard “Flip” Wilson, left, is pictured discussing the problems facing the Taji Qada, northwest of Baghdad, with a sheik from the area. He spends hours ensuring every possible means of support is given to the Iraqi leaders so they can take full control of the area. Wilson is the commander of 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment “Wolfhounds,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. Comment

Lutheran Medical Center’s blood donor room is encouraging community members to donate blood. Walk-ins are welcome; the blood donor room is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. Comment

The wind blows hot and harsh across Forward Operating Base Sharana, pushing a wall of dust in front of it. Flags whip in protest to the treatment, and soldiers across the base squint behind their eye protection and pull caps down lower as dust devils spawn to brief, chaotic life around them. Comment

The summer may be coming to an end but the excitement has only just begun at Brooklyn Public Library. There are tons of activities, programs and events that the whole family can enjoy. All programs are free and open to the public. Comment

Hundreds of residents who rented space from a Carroll Gardens storage facility could be in danger of losing their most prized possessions, city officials said this week. Comment

This July, Debbie Zlotowitz, head of the Mary McDowell Center for Learning, will travel to South Korea as a participant in the Korean Studies Workshop for American Educators. Comment

It doesn’t appear that this year’s big political shake-up in Albany is going to trickle down to its representatives in Kings County. Comment

More than 50 U.S. sailors rendered a salute as their nation’s colors were raised over Camp Eggers in Kabul Afghanistan, in honor of America’s Independence Day. What made the ceremony so special was the American flag had only 48 stars. Comment

Years of preparation by US Army South, Brooke Army Medical Center, Northrop Grumman Corp. and family members finally came to fruition the night three American civilian contractors set foot in San Antonio. Comment

Reflecting a troubled economy, the sales of residential properties borough-wide dropped nearly 44 percent this quarter compared to the prior year’s quarter, according to a recently released study. Comment

Brooklyn’s Federation of Italian American Organizations (FIAO) can soon break ground on their planned community center thanks in large part to the recently passed 2009 fiscal year city budget. Comment

Residents from across the borough are about to mark the longest-running war in the nation’s history. Comment

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will “calendar” the Prospect Heights Historic District, the first step toward protecting one of Brooklyn’s finest — and most endangered — historic neighborhoods. Comment

While the newly crowned Miss New York, via Miss Brooklyn, may not actually be from the borough, she has planted some roots here and expressed gratitude for being allowed to represent Brooklyn. Comment

With the delivery of two large truckloads of medical equipment, hundreds of mothers-to-be will benefit from the opening of a refurbished maternity hospital in western Baghdad’s Karkh district. Comment

City employees called to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq will now receive a little more financial security thanks to a recently signed state law. Comment

In celebration of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s (AAADT’s) 50th anniversary and its mission of making dance accessible to everyone, Ailey will present a special series of free performances and dance classes in Brooklyn, August 7. Comment

Bring a blanket, pack a picnic dinner, and have some fun during the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum’s free Thursday evening events, now to August 28 from 5-7 p.m. There will be lots of hot colonial cooking and games, so relax while gardening and re-discover the oldest structure in New York City. Comment

The sumptuous flavors of a rich heritage – complete with a whirling dervish, pulsating music and henna tattoos – drew curious visitors like bees to a honey pot to Shore Road Park where the sprawling green played host to the annual Arab-American Bazaar. Comment

Parents: you can tell the city Department of Education (DOE) how to spend $63 million. Comment

A Bay Ridge councilman wants to know just what Con Edison is doing with all the money the new “excessive” rate increases are providing them with. Comment

Shirley Fineman, executive director for the Bensonhurst Council of Jewish Organizations, doesn’t need to look far to know that Brooklyn residents’ bottom line is getting thinner. Comment

Cops in riot gear converged on 13th and Ovington avenues last week in a high-stakes search for a former Dyker Heights resident responsible for a terrifying night time break-in. Comment

Brooklyn Children’s Museum On-The-Go takes a walk on the wild side in August. Comment

A Coney Island immigrant is on a one-man crusade to help young amputees crippled from the “Blood Diamond” Civil War in Sierra Leone, Africa. Comment

Leaders from Multinational Division Baghdad, the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government broke ground on July 5 for a project to revitalize the road from Baghdad International Airport to the heart of the Iraqi capital. Comment

On a sultry July day, passersby sauntering in the vicinity of Third Avenue and 76th Street might have noticed something a bit unusual — a fleet of slightly humpback trucks, each emblazoned with the Graffiti Free NYC logo — parked curbside, as a group of workers, clad in orange, milled about. Comment