Brooklyn Today March 25: Brooklyn Today: Are DUMBO’s ‘cobblestone’ streets disappearing?

The Lede

Good morning! Newsletter editor Scott Enman is happy to be back. If you have an endless appetite like myself, you’ll want to head over to Greenpoint for some authentic Polish food. At Polka Dot Café, you can eat pierogies, pork cutlet and sweet cabbage. For dessert, order Polish doughnuts called paczki, or walk across the street to Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop, a bustling bakery where Polish expats, hipsters and cops break bread each day. It was named best donut shop in the city by Zagat Guide. Jedzmy! (That’s “Let’s eat” in Polish.)

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The Rundown

BIKE BUMMER: MTA DISMISSES VERRAZZANO BRIDGE BIKE PROPOSAL

The plan would open one of the lower Staten Island-bound lanes of the bridge for bicycle and pedestrian access on weekends in July and August.

THREE BROOKLYN SENATORS HESITATE ON BAIL REFORM BILL

State Sens. Andrew Gounardes, Roxanne Persaud and Diane Savino represent nearly 1,400 constituents who were stuck in city jails on misdemeanor charges and unable to afford bail.

EAT LIKE YOU’RE POLISH IN GREENPOINT

Pierogis, anyone? We went on a food tour of Manhattan Avenue, which is dotted with delicious Polish bakeries, butchers and restaurants.

ARE DUMBO’S HISTORIC ‘COBBLESTONE’ STREETS DISAPPEARING?

Yes, they are. The hand-cut Belgian block paving DUMBO’s historic streets — often mistakenly called cobblestones — are vanishing, either patched over with asphalt or dug up by utility contractors and carted away.

GREENPOINT GALLERY THE BOILER IS CLOSING. THE THEME OF ITS LAST EXHIBIT? DEATH

After 10 years and roughly 75 exhibits of large-scale sculptures, paintings and installations, the Williamsburg gallery is moving out.

More Brooklyn News

A sheep is found tied to a tree in Coney Island Creek Park. (Daily News)

Major League Rugby is coming to Coney Island’s MCU Park. (Brooklyn Paper)

A Brooklyn man has a mug-shot museum in his Prospect Heights apartment. (Gothamist)

Staff Picks

READ:

One writer admits that “there is no reason to cross the U.S. by train,” but she does so anyway, traveling on Amtrak from New York City to Los Angeles. (NYT)

EAT:

Here are the 17 best chicken sandwiches in New York City, including 11 in Brooklyn. (Our favorite, the Commodore in Williamsburg, deservingly makes the cut.) (Grub Street)

LAUGH:

Birds are chirping and noses are blowing. (The New Yorker)

LIVE:

The pros and cons of patients being treated by robots. (Time)

⌛ ON THIS DAY:

In 1868, the Eagle reported, “The East River Tunnel bill has been defeated in the Senate. Whatever advantages the tunnel plan may present, it is more than probable that to have authorized such an undertaking at this time would have resulted in impairing rather than improving the chances of establishing some permanent connection between [New York and Brooklyn].”

📔 IMPRINT:

American actress Elle Fanning poses by the pool on the March cover of Porter Edit.

👑 ROYAL WATCH:

Here’s why only certain members of the royal family can wear tiaras and crowns. (Insider)

🏀 SPORTS:

“The pregame fruit smoothies fueling the Brooklyn Nets’ playoff push” (Sports Illustrated)

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Bonnie Bedelia, Anita Bryant, Paul Michael Glaser, Mary Gross, Elton John, Avery Johnson, Lee Pace, Sarah Jessica Parker and Gloria Steinem!