Brooklyn Today August 30: Friendship Archway Coming to Sunset Park
Weather, Brooklyn (NWS): Day 89°, Night 71°, Chance of Showers and T-Storms
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THE LEDE: Happy Thursday! A first of-its-kind in New York City friendship archway is coming to Sunset Park, controversies brew in the Brooklyn primaries and Pig Island pork festival is coming back to Red Hook. Plus, an alcoholic seltzer company gives out free bikes for the L-Train shutdown, developers want to build with higher density along the Gowanus Canal and Democratic state Senate candidates face off in a debate. Finally, we take you on a ferry ride up to Greenpoint where McGolrick Park’s playground is reopening.
IMPRINT: Actor Jake Gyllenhaal smiles on the 2018 cover of GQ France.
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The Rundown
~FRIENDSHIP ARCHWAY COMING TO SUNSET PARK: The wait is finally coming to an end. Borough President Eric Adams held a ceremony that cemented a formal agreement that will bring the long awaited Friendship Archway in Sunset Park, making it the first of its kind in New York City. The archway is slated to be installed across Eighth Avenue between 60th and 61st streets in the neighborhood’s Chinatown. The archway will be 40 feet tall and 12 feet wide, and the name of NYPD officer Wenjian Liu, who was killed in the line of duty in 2014, will be inscribed upon it. Although there is no set date for when construction will begin, Adams stressed the significance the future landmark will have. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
~CONTROVERSIES BREWING IN BROOKLYN PRIMARIES: State primary elections take place on Sept. 13, and some of the races are getting downright weird. In the District 18 (Greenpoint, Bushwick) state Senate primary, for example, Democratic incumbent Martin Malavé Dilan is facing self-proclaimed progressive Julia Salazar. Salazar is much in the news recently after creditable reports revealed she is not actually Jewish and not really an immigrant, as she has claimed. Nor has she always been a liberal, apparently, according to a Tablet article outing her past as a right-wing, anti-abortion, pro-Israel evangelical Christian, which brings us to the subject of the importance of doing your research before voting. Here’s a good place to start. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
~TAKE A FERRY RIDE TO GREENPOINT AS AN ANTIDOTE TO ANGST: Are you angst-ridden because summer’s ending soon? A ferry ride to Greenpointis a fine antidote. Start your ride in Brooklyn Bridge Park and get an eyeful of the former headquarters of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As the ferry heads up the North Brooklyn shoreline, it travels past Instagram-worthy landmarks such as the DUMBO Clocktower and Jane’s Carousel before you get a glimpse of the fabled Brooklyn Navy Yard. Williamsburg’s landmarked Domino Sugar Refinery and newly opened Domino Park will soon welcome you as you continue north. All too soon, you’ll arrive at the Greenpoint ferry dock. See photos of the journey here. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
~MCGOLRICK PARK PLAYGROUND TO REOPEN, BUT WITHOUT THE WHALE: The playground at McGolrick Park in Greenpoint is slated to open in mid-September. It’s been closed for reconstruction since September 2017; and when finished, it will include new play equipment, spray showers, benches and plantings. The revamp is costing more than $2.6 million, with more than $1 million coming from Councilmember Stephen Levin and Borough President Eric Adams. However, some neighborhood residents are upset because the playground’s beloved, blue-painted cement whale, which includes a slide for the kids, is being removed. (Greenpoint Post via Brooklyn Eagle)
~SPIKED SELTZER COMPANY GIVES OUT FREE BIKES IN PREPARATION FOR L-TRAIN SHUTDOWN: SpikedSeltzer, a company that makes exactly what its name suggests (alcoholic carbonated beverages) wanted to come to the rescue of those facing the imminent L-Train shutdown. So the brand is hosting one more out of three giveaways where they will be giving out free bikes to residents. They’re setting up shop at 96 Wythe St. in Williamsburg, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. tonight in front of a massive SpikedSeltzer billboard that reads “Pour Some Out For the L.” The first 20 residents (who can prove they are over 21) that stop by will leave with a free bicycle. (Bushwick Daily via Brooklyn Eagle)
~BARKAN, GOUNARDES BATTLE OVER CAMPAIGN FINANCING:Democrats Ross Barkan and Andrew Gounardes sparred over campaign financing and other issues at a Bensonhurst debate as each man sought to portray himself as the candidate with the strongest grassroots support heading into the Sept. 13 primary that will determine which of the two will be the party’s standard bearer against Republican Marty Golden in the 22nd state Senate District. The winner of the primary will run against Golden in the Nov. 6 general election. The 22nd District runs from Bay Ridge to Marine Park and includes parts of Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Gravesend. Get the details of the debate here. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
~PIG ISLAND PORK FEST RETURNS TO RED HOOK: The Pig Island pork festival is coming back to Red Hook for its 9th year running next weekend. The lineup of chefs this year includes Danny Mena and Luis Jimenez from La Loncheria in Bushwick and Matt Fisher from Fletcher’s Brooklyn BBQ in Downtown Brooklyn, among others. Each chef will serve up their own take on a pork dish (made from an entire local hog) for a panel of celebrity judges. The festival is scheduled for Sept. 8 at Erie Basin Park. (Eater via Brooklyn Eagle)
~DEVELOPERS WANT TO BUILD WITH HIGHER DENSITY ALONG GOWANUS CANAL: In June, the Department of City Planning released guidelines for rezoning the Gowanus Canal area. And while these proposed rules mentioned green spaces and affordable housing, they didn’t mention the density levels the city would allow along the canal. The issue is far from settled, as several developers are lobbying for the right to construct larger buildings than are currently allowed. These developers are concerned that the city’s plans might not allow enough density to offset the cost of erecting new buildings on canal-area sites. The city has said that it wants buildings of moderate scale, or about eight to 10 stories in height, along the canal. (Curbed via Brooklyn Eagle)
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Staff Picks:
LONG READ: A man who was abandoned as a child and raised by wolvesfinds living with people to be more difficult than his upbringing. (via The Guardian)
ANOTHER LONG READ: Deadly chemicals prove to be a growing threat for Africa’s wildlife. (via National Geographic)
CARTOON: President Trump has a delivery for a Times Square hot dog vendor. (via The New Yorker)
TECHNOLOGY: “How Technology is Changing the Way we Love” (via Wired)
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: The Farmers’ Almanac predicts a particularly cold winter this year…A lost World War II photo is returned to its owner…And President Trump warns of violence if Republicans lose the upcoming midterm elections. (via USA Today, Fox 4 and The Guardian)
FOREIGN FLASH: Scotland becomes the first country to provide free sanitary products to students…Hundreds of endangered sea turtles are found dead off the Mexican coast…And Iran arrests tens of spies allegedly working for foreign governments. (via The New York Times, CNN and Al Jazeera)
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ROYAL WATCH: “75 Photos of the Royal Family as Kids That Will Make Your Heart Melt” (via Harper’s Bazaar)
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BROOKLYN TONIGHT
6:30PM – 8:30PM — Seasonal Spirits: Wild and Wood at Museum of Food and Drink. Details.
7:00PM — Drake at Barclays Center. Details.
7:00PM – 9:00PM — Film: Basquiat: Rage to Riches at Brooklyn Museum.Details.
7:00PM – 9:00PM — Exclusive Watercolor Workshop with Justine Wong at Court Tree Gallery. Details.
7:30PM — The Kingsborough Musical Society Chorus Auditions at Kingsborough Community College. Details.
7:30PM – 9:00PM — Afrodance by Nado at Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance. Details.
8:00PM – 10:00PM — The 10 Minute Set at Thursday Jones. Details.
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EAGLE SPORTS: Having already committed a season-high four errors for the second time in three nights, the Cyclones looked like a team that was about to give away a ninth-inning lead and its tenuous hold of the New York-Penn League’s final wild card spot. But with two runs already in and the tying run on base Tuesday night in Vermont, the Baby Bums pulled a great escape thanks to reliever Ryley Gilliam and catcher Nick Meyer, holding on for a much-needed 8-6 victory over the playoff-hopeful Lake Monsters in front of 1,013 fans at Centennial Field. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
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MILESTONES
Happy birthday to Elizabeth Ashley, Lewis Black, Timothy Bottoms, Michael Chiklis, Bill Daily, Cameron Diaz, Jean-Claude Killy, Peggy Lipton, Michael Michele, David Paymer, Andy Roddick and Thom Tillis!
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