Want to taste the best bagel in New York City? Then head to Bagel Hole at 400 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope.
Food Web site Serious Eats, http://newyork.seriouseats.com, conducted a taste test of bagels from the city’s most famous joints and determined that Bagel Hole is the best of the best. The local shop beat out H&H, Ess-A-Bagel, Murray’s and Brooklyn Bagel.
One of the testers gushed about the winning bagel, saying, “Bagel Hole’s plain bagel had just about everything I look for in a bagel. It made a satisfying crunching sound when I bit into it, the exterior actually required the use of my teeth, it was a lovely dark brown color, it was moist and almost light on the inside, and it wasn’t absurdly large. No sign of bagel elephantiasis on this puppy.”
Bagel Hole’s Phil Romanzi credited the great taste of his award-winning bagels to “just doing it the old fashioned way.”
Army Spc. Kevin O. Hill of Bushwick died Oct. 4 of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms and indirect fire in Afghanistan, officials confirmed last week.
Hill, 23, was assigned to the 576th Mobility Augmentation Company, Fort Carson, Colo. Before going to Afghanistan, he served in Iraq and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon.
At press time funeral arrangements were still pending.
The city wants to name a Manhattan public school after Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced a proposal to create a small, selective high school bearing McCourt’s name on Brandeis campus in September 2010.
“Frank McCourt was a remarkable writer, but I believe he achieved his greatest impact as a New York City public school teacher for 29 years,” Klein said. “I’m pleased to announce our intention to honor his legacy through creation of a new public school that will nurture the academic and creative talents of New York City students for generations to come.”
McCourt was born in 1930 in Brooklyn to Irish immigrant parents. His parents struggled to find work during the Great Depression so they returned to Ireland. McCourt recounts his childhood growing up in poverty in his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir “Angela’s Ashes.”
Upon returning to the United States in 1949, McCourt maintained a series of odd jobs, including working as a houseman at the Hotel Biltmore. He later attended New York University and became an English teacher. He chronicled his 30-year career teaching New York City high school students in “Teacher Man: A Memoir.”
New York has adopted a crime bill dedicated to the memory of Nixzmary Brown.
With a flick of a pen, Governor David Paterson signed a piece of legislation that would give prosecutors the option of giving life without the possibility of parole to offenders who have tortured and killed a child.
The legislation was dedicated to the memory of Brown, who was tortured and killed by her parents in 2006. According to published reports, Brown was beaten to death, but not before she was tied to a chair and forced to go to the bathroom in a litter box.
“The entire city was horrified by the story of Nixzmary Brown and what was done to that beautiful child before she died,” said Williamsburg Assemblymember Joe Lentol, who sponsored the legislation. “The fact that her parents, who were supposed to protect her, tortured that little girl before killing her and could some day be walking the streets again, made me think that the law is incomplete. It made me realize that in the worst cases of the killing of a child, in cases where the child is tortured, the criminal justice system needs a way to ensure that the perpetrator is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Businesses and homeowners with old Environmental Control Board (ECB) fines can get off a bit more easily if they pay them by December 21.
The city has kicked off an amnesty program whereby those with ECB violations in default can clear their record by paying the base fine, without having to pay any penalties, late fees or interest, though if the violation was issued for a condition that is considered “correctible,” the condition must be corrected in order to take advantage of the amnesty program.
The program, which began on September 21st, relates to violations whose hearings were scheduled prior to May 1, 2009.
Among the violations that are eligible for the program are dirty sidewalks, illegal postings of a handbill or notice, vending in a restricted area, vending without a license, illegal curb cuts, failure to post permits properly, sidewalk obstructions, un-permitted street closings, improperly sorted recycling and unlicensed mobile vending.
“It’s a really great program,” Charles Glover, the Brooklyn coordinator for the mayor’s Community Affairs unit, told members of the Midwood Civic Action Council earlier this month.
With over $700 million in fines owed to the city, Glover said, the program gives the city an opportunity to collect some of that revenue, while giving business and residents “a break.”
Homebound Brooklynites can get library books, as well as DVDs and CDs, without leaving their residences thanks to a Brooklyn Public Library outreach program.
Called Books by Mail, it’s available to anyone who qualifies by submitting a note from a doctor or medical professional explaining the situation, along with an application that can be requested by phone or downloaded from BPL’s website.
The books %u2013 which are from a separate collection that is not accessible at branch libraries — are sent out in pouches in which they can be returned, postage paid, to BPL.
Those who are eligible for the program can request types of books %u2013 mysteries, science fiction or non-fiction, for instance %u2013 or specific books, said Luz Acevedo, from BPL’s Service to the Aging department, who attended a recent meeting of the Midwood Civic Action Council. They can also get books on tape and large-print books, she said.
To download an application, log onto http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/seniors/services.jsp.
To request an application by phone, call 718- 236-1760 or TTY 718-232-6849.
It takes about 10 days for the service to start once the completed application has been submitted, said Acevedo.
As part of a Department of Transportation initiative, Brooklyn’s community boards are taking feedback from residents regarding intersections and street improvements for the city’s Safe Streets for Seniors Program.
The city’s population of seniors may only be 13 percent, but they account for a whopping 33 percent of pedestrian injuries and fatalities citywide.By 2030, New York will experience a 44.2 percent increase in the population of adult residents 65 and over.
Some of the suggested improvements may include longer pedestrian crossing times, neckdowns and curb extensions, and curb cuts, in areas as indicated by local residents.
“We’ve had a program funded by DOH in 2003 called Safe Routes for Seniors, which basically served as a model for the program the DOT launched in 2008,” said Transportation Alternatives spokesperson Wiley Norvell, who is monitoring the new program, including one in Brooklyn’s Community Board 1.“We have identified 20 to 30 areas around the city, conducive for study.”
For more information about the DOT program, visit http://www.nyc. gov/html/ dot/downloads/pdf/safestreetsforseniors. pdf.
Ran Ortner, a Williamsburg-based artist last week won the $250,000 top prize offered in an American Idolesque art competition in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ortner and his painting “Open Water No. 24” topped the voting among ten finalists competing for a total of $449,000 in prize money in the first ArtPrize event.
The winners, selected from a field of 1,262 artists, wereannounced Oct. 8 in Grand Rapids by Rick DeVos, the 27-year-old creator of ArtPrize.
Judging for the competition was open to anyone who registered in person; about 33,000 people cast more than 334,000 votes during the 16 days of the competition by text message and online at ArtPrize.org.
“All of a sudden, those who know nothing about art have an opinion that matters,” Ortner said, according to a report. “It really has a life larger than anything anybody anticipated.”
Ortner, born in 1959 in San Francisco,exhibits at the Causey Contemporary Gallery, 293 Grand Street in Brooklyn.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler last week cheered the passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was included in the Defense bill, while registering his strong reservations on the military commissions provision also included.
Nadler, a conferee on H. R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, said the legislation will expand the resources of state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes of violence committed against individuals on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
“It is remarkable that, at this late date, hate crimes legislation should remain a controversial idea,” the lawmaker said.“The idea that someone could be singled out for a crime of violence due to his or her actual or perceived race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability is simply repugnant.Hate crimes are real, and they are all too frequent.This hate crimes legislation will protect all Americans from the scourge of violent hate crime.”
To send in tips, e-mail editorial@cnglocal.com attn: Borough Briefs.
