Brooklyn Today February 8: Brooklyn Today February 8: 5 Must-See Pieces at Brooklyn Museum’s Frida Kahlo Exhibit, Opening Today

The Lede

Happy Friday! A Gowanus zoning meeting gets fiery, a man is arrested during the El chapo trial, and we get an early look at the new Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Plus, a fire destroyed Hotel Margaret 39 years ago this week, bulls, udon and yerba mate come to Williamsburg, and we interview the designer of the BQE “parallel highway” plan. Finally, we recommend the 13 hottest restaurants in the borough, and the Metropolitan Detention Center’s dark past comes to light.

Imprint

IMPRINT: Entertainment Weekly’s star-studded February cover featuresCameron Diaz, Julia Roberts, Rupert Everett and Dermot Mulroney.

The Rundown

5 MUST-SEE PIECES AT FRIDA KAHLO'S BROOKLYN MUSEUM EXHIBIT, OPENING TODAY

Welcome to Frida Kahlo’s world. At the Brooklyn Museum, you can see photos of the famous artist at age 4. Her cosmetics. Her clothes. Film footage of her at home, which was the Casa Azul, in Mexico, with her husband, painter Diego Rivera, caressing her cheek. And there are Kahlo self-portraits that will take your breath away. The blockbuster exhibition, “Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” opens today. We got a peek inside the exhibition. Here are five things you have to see. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARC WOUTERS, DESIGNER OF BQE ‘PARALLEL HIGHWAY’ PLAN

No recent issue has gripped Brooklyn Heights more than the upcoming reconstruction of the BQE. The city’s favored plan would temporarily replace the Promenade with a temporary six-lane bypass. The BHA has come up with an alternate proposal that would spare the Promenade. Dubbed the “Parallel Highway,” the plan was designed by Marc Wouters Studios. It would move traffic to a temporary two-level structure west of the existing triple cantilever. Marc Wouters, an award-winning architect, urban planner and Brooklyn Heights resident, spoke to us about the project. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

ANGRY GROUP AT GOWANUS ZONING MEETING DEMANDS MORE INPUT

A Department of City Planning presentation on the Gowanus Draft Zoning Proposal unfolded like a “science fair,” with no opportunity for community feedback — so attendees took matters into their own hands. Inside the gathering at P.S. 32 on Wednesday, blown-up pages from the draft proposal released to the public last week were hung around the gymnasium. Employees of the DCP, which sponsored the event, mingled with the crowd, engaging with them in conversation. The crowd, however, indignant over the lack of a question-and-answer style forum, broke off from the group and staged their own meeting-within-a-meeting. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

MAN ARRESTED IN COURTHOUSE AS EL CHAPO JURY DELIBERATES

Jurors at the U.S. trial of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman contemplated their case for a fourth day on Thursday while some colorful action erupted, presumably out of their earshot, in the adjacent courtroom. As the anonymous jury toiled away, a man, Rene Rivera Martinez, showed up in the federal courtroom in Brooklyn claiming to be a Guzman relative and trying to use seating for family members. Martinez was arrested on multiple outstanding warrants and turned over to ICE, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)

BULLS, UDON AND YERBA MATE: WILLIAMSBURG RESTAURANTS OFFER UNIQUE FEATURES

Three new restaurants in North Brooklyn hope to make a name for themselves by offering features that generally aren’t available elsewhere. The first is Viva Toro, which features a mechanical bull. The second is Hanon. What makes Hanon stand out is its focus on udon noodles, a type of thick wheat noodle. The third restaurant is Portenas, a new cafe dedicated to yerba mate, which is slated to open today. Yerba mate, an herb, is used to make a drink that is extremely popular South America. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

FIRE DESTROYED HOTEL MARGARET 39 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

The storied Hotel Margaret, which Brooklynites such as famed etcher Joseph Pennell called home, pre-dated the Great Consolidation of Brooklyn into New York City. Sadly, the hotel was destroyed in a fire 39 years ago this week. And it was not the only fire in the history of the Hotel Margaret. That first fire, on Nov. 23, 1923, drove out about 200 guests into a heavy rainstorm. The Brooklyn Eagle reported that the city’s highest water tower still could not reach the top of the hotel. The fire decades later that destroyed the Margaret was sparked on Feb. 1 1980 during renovations to the building at 91-99 Columbia Heights. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

NO HEAT, NO POWER IN SUNSET PARK JAIL SHINES LIGHT ON CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

A corrections officer was impregnated by an inmate. Another took a roughly $4,000 bribe to smuggle in an iPhone. From raping inmates to threatening others with solitary confinement, the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park has a long history of abuse. This is a prison that is “pretty atrocious,” said Eagle reporter Rob Abruzzese. “One judge refused to send female inmates to this prison because of the horrible conditions,” he added. On this week’s episode of Brooklyn This Week, we go inside the jail’s dark past, plus we interview criminologist David Pitts about the mental and physical strains of solitary confinement. (via Brooklyn Eagle)