BoroBeat: The Brooklyn Dance Center performed its holiday show, “Illuminations of Christmas,” to a sold-out crowd at IS 281 in Bensonhurst. For highlights of the performance, see our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: Councilman Mathieu Eugene’s annual holiday toy party in Flatbush drew a big crowd this year when kids, parents and Santa gathered at PS 92 to celebrate Christmas. For more on the fun, see our slideshow. Comment

Park Slope: Flames, smokeeaters and heroes in Park Slope — and we’ve got the pictures! Comment

Dyker Heights: Like the lighting of the Menorah at Cadman Plaza, getting a Christmas card from Marty Markowitz, or getting wasted with Santa Claus at Sunny’s in Red Hook, cruising Dyker Heights during the holidays and gawking in awe at the incandescent splendor of the neighborhood’s Christmas decorations is a Brooklyn holiday tradition. Comments (1)

BoroBeat: Holiday shoppers dispelled their big-box blues by heading to Williamsburg for an Asian night market-styled souk. Comment

BoroBeat: Students — and some faculty — performed at the Nostrand Avenue school’s talent show on Dec. 8 and 9. See the talented school in our slideshow. Comment

Meadows of Shame: At least one double-crested cormorant is thankful that Anne-Katrin Titze always travels with her trusty needle-nose pliers. Comments (10)

BoroBeat: The city co-named Brighton First Place in honor of community activist Fran Kaplan during a ceremony on Dec. 1. See our slideshow for more. Comment

BoroBeat: The “Fantastia on the Loose” campaign acquainted visitors with one of the world’s largest — and prettiest — serpents. Comment

BoroBeat: Pint-sized freedom-lovers at the Gravesend school showed their appreciation to area war heroes with a red, white, and blue salute. Comment

BoroBeat: The riding club held its 23rd annual Christmas Toy Run in Coney Island, delivering early holiday gifts to kids. Comment

Bridge ‘Park’: Here’s a first look at the exciting (and not-so-exciting) designs that potential hotel and condo developers for Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 have proposed to the city. Comments (1)

BoroBeat: Pie-eyed Ridgites showed up for the second annual Bay Ridge Pie Social on Sunday to show off their baking skills, sample the sweet treats, and raise money for a good cause. Comment

BoroBeat: Read, set, GO! Runners storm the site of the Battle of Brooklyn for the first-ever borough marathon at Prospect Park. Comment

BoroBeat: Students, staffers and supporters mixed business with pleasure when they dressed up in costume for their third annual benefit walk. Check out their costumes in our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: Snazzy seniors put on the glitz during a fall frolic at the Ditmas Park center. See all the fun in our slideshow! Comment

Art: The Brooklyn Navy Yard’s new museum and visitor’s center is as much about the history of what was once the center of American shipbuilding as it is about its even-brighter future. Comments (3)

BoroBeat: Heroic freedom fighters — past and present — were the men and women of the hour for grateful patriots eager to show their true colors. Check out our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: Dancing, drinks and awards mark the Nov. 10 event. Comment

Nightlife: Brooklyn’s newest craft distillery is churning out the hooch with the spirit of a Prohibition-era bootlegger. Comments (3)

BoroBeat: Students at the Sheepshead Bay school gave vets a star-spangled tribute on Nov. 10. Comment

BoroBeat: Elder lovelies show that age is merely a number as they strut their stuff during the 10th annual contest of glamor and grit in Brighton Beach. See all the coverage in our slideshow! Comment

Williamsburg: There’s more to this elusive tempress than just soaking neutral spirits in juniper berries. Comment

Protesters decry “crony capitalism” at Atlantic Yards, Albee Square and other locations. With a slideshow, even! Comments (12)

Brooklyn Paper: Beautiful Avenue H station reopeneds — $48-million later. WITH SLIDESHOW! Comment

BoroBeat: Students and teachers celebrated the opening of their new play space at the Gravesend school on Monday. Comment

BoroBeat: Mom, Dad and the kids welcomed the golden season with a harvest festival at the John Malone Community Center in Bergen Beach on Saturday. See all in the fun in our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: Have you noticed how Mermaid Ave. between Stillwell Avenue and W. 33rd Street looks spiffier? Thank Astella Development Corporation, the Coney Island Board of Trade, and area residents, who joined forces for a clean-up day along the commercial corridor. See all in the fun in our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: NOBODY cheers louder and better than Brooklynites — and the marathoners received their fair share of rah-rah-rah as they cruised the borough on their way to Queens. See all the action in our slideshow. Comment

Brighton Beach: Firemen were able to pull three construction workers from a pile of rubble when a portion of an under-construction building on Brighton Fifth Street collapsed on Tuesday afternoon, but one of the workers later died after suffering a heart attack during the ordeal. Comment

BoroBeat: Brooklyn-based artists had a close brush with admiration when they were honored at Pier 41 for helping to shape our vibrant, creative community! Comment

BoroBeat: There’s nuthin’ meek about soup, according to celebrity judges who picked the cream of the crock during a bisque, broth and bouillion festival in Carroll Gardens. Comment

BoroBeat: Kids — and adults — came decked out in their finest Halloween costumes on Monday for the Trump Village Apartments’ third annual holiday bash. Comment

BoroBeat: Kings Plaza howled with Halloween spirit on Saturday as children donned their freakiest glad rags and strutted their spooktastic selves for prizes and bragging rights! See it all right here in our slideshow. Comment

It was a delightful dog’s life for triff tail-waggers at the ninth annual mutt costume contest along the promenade! Comment

BoroBeat: The unpretentious art patron and area merchant showcased the works of internationally-acclaimed African-American artists — now, his legacy will live on at the corner of Rogers Avenue and Fenimore Street. Comment

Park Slope: Here’s our slideshow from the annual Halloween Parade — featuring our editor as a bike lane! Comments (4)

BoroBeat: Kids decked in Halloween costumes danced the afternoon away at IS 211 during the 69th Precinct Community Council’s holiday party. See all the fun in our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: A-listers to D-listers, they were all there at the Brooklyn Public Library’s benefit Halloween masked ball at Brooklyn Bowll, where merrymakers were no crankers when it came to having phant-tastic fun! Comment

Contestants at the seventh annual casserole cookoff in Williamsburg really took the cake this year. Comments (15)

BoroBeat: Ridgites do-si-doed during a rootin’, tootin’ family hoedown at Owls Head Park on Saturday. See all the fun in our slideshow. Comment

BoroBeat: The art-smart showed us how it’s done in Williamsburg by devilishly decorating orange beauties for the zaniest day of the year! Yes, that’s Osama and Saddam. Comment

Mean Streets: Locals mourn rising star Mathieu Lefevre — and we join the tribute with a slideshow of his amazing work. Comments (33)

BoroBeat: Reaching-Out Community Services found a friend in the community, which teamed up with clients and others to raise money for the cash-strapped soup kitchen. Comment

BoroBeat: For eight years, this devilish decorator has been terrifying Bath Beach with his homage to Halloween. Comment

BoroBeat: It was a spooktackle — and then some — when the Narrows Botanical Gardens held its annual Halloween canine costume contest and harvest festival. Read on for more on the wag-nificent fun! Comment

BoroBeat: Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy? Check it out in this photo essay! Comments (2)

Park boosters “topped off” a new recreational and educational facility at Prospect Park, trumpeting the completion of the building’s frame as a milestone for one of the park’s biggest projects ever. Comments (1)

Park Slope: About 100 people — including Borough President Markowitz — gathered to fight greed. Did they succeed? Not initially, but we did get a great photo spread out of it. Comments (7)

BoroBeat: These guys went from being the scourge of the subways to the toast of the art world. Comment

BoroBeat: Many tried out, but few were chosen for next week’s finals in hopes of being the voice of the Brooklyn Nets. Comments (3)

BoroBeat: The Brooklyn Stickball Old Timers’ 43rd annual tournament pitted younger players against their older counterparts for a series of stickball matches on 80th Street between Third and Fourth avenues. Comment

BoroBeat: Brooklyn’s canaries and larks sang up a sweet storm in Bay Ridge for the fifth annual elder song competition, proving that the borough’s golden crooners are neither old nor cold when it comes to exercising their vocal chords. Comment

BoroBeat: Fun was the word around town as lads and lasses got gussied up and put a festive foot forward for the area’s premier tot parade. Comment

BoroBeat: Brooklyn group lauds members and others for helping to improve our quality oif life. Comment

BoroBeat: They were dancing — and eating — in the streets! Comment

BoroBeat: The Knicks legend wowed students during a hoops clinic at a Bensonhurst school. Comment

BoroBeat: The 10th annual race was more celebratory than mournful as tens of thousands of runners put their best foot forward in memory of 9-11 firefighter Stephen Siller, who worked in Park Slope. Comments (2)

Park Slope: Parks officials set free a once-injured hawk in Prospect Park on Thursday, trumpeting the release as a symbol that the city aims to make parks “friendlier” to urban wildlife. Comments (6)

BoroBeat: The Jewish New Year arrived in Brooklyn with a food distribution by the Shorefront Jewish Community Council, proving that charity begins at home. Comment

BoroBeat: Brooklyn’s first “Teen Idol” is a 13-year-old warbler from Park Slope! Comment

BoroBeat: The fight against breast cancer soared to new heights on Sept. 26 as members of the Pennsylvania Avenue Radio Control Society held a unique fundraiser in Floyd Bennett Field — where flying aficionados got to take model airplanes up for a spin while helping an important cause. Comment

BoroBeat: An area group lauds seven honorees for helping to improve the neighborhood. Comment

BoroBeat: The second annual Brooklyn Heights Dog Show brought canines big and small, but only one Goldendoodle stole the show! Comment

BoroBeat: Dozens of pooches — and their masters — flocked to Marine Park on Saturday for the seventh annual competition. Daisy the pit bull took home her third gold medal. Comment

BoroBeat: What would you do for your 150th birthday? Comment

They put the “park” in “parking.” Comments (1)

BoroBeat: Volunteers once again collected dozens of pounds of broken glass in Fort Greene Park this Saturday — the second weekend in a row that locals had to clean up a park that they say is increasingly neglected. Comments (9)

Dining: Appetites were conquered, thirsts were slaked, and dreams were realized at the annual food fest. Comments (1)

Forgetting which trains run to Coney Island is impossible when they’re tattooed on your calf. Comments (3)

More than 800 book lovers defied the supposed death of print on Saturday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Community Bookstore, a fixture in a neighborhood that has changed, but still loves the printed word. Comment

Hurricane Irene came and went, and Brooklyn is cleaning up the small mess it left behind. We tell you all about it, with a slideshow! Comment

Tread lightly folks, it can be a little messy out there. We’ve added a slideshow of images from around the borough. Comment

Brooklyn Heights: Hurricane Irene mostly spared the city, but it destroyed a beloved and controversial 80-year-old tree that Brooklyn Heights residents once battled a co-op board to save. Comments (9)

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on Brooklyn, and Mayor Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of low-lying areas, including all of Coney Island and Brighton Beach, and a huge swath of Sheepshead Bay. Comment