Brooklyn Today January 17: Brooklyn Today January 17: Tense Emergency MTA Board Meeting Called to Discuss L-Train Reversal

The Lede

THE LEDE: Happy Thursday! An emergency MTA Board meeting grows testy, a man attacks a Sheepshead Bay restaurant with a hammer, and a construction worker wins a $3.4 million lawsuit after losing a finger. Plus, Indochino is coming to the former BookCourt space in Cobble Hill, Japanese food grows in popularity across the borough, and we go on a tour of the restaurants featured in the “Sopranos.” Finally, we have news about Coney Island’s Shore Theater, and the Islanders stay red hot.

Imprint

IMPRINT: Model Chrissy Teigen poses in pajamas on the latest cover ofGood Housekeeping.

The Rundown

TENSE EMERGENCY MTA BOARD MEETING CALLED TO DISCUSS L-TRAIN REVERSAL

An emergency meeting of the MTA Board was anything but friendly, according to reports. Crain’s New York said that “collateral damage” from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “abrupt reversal” of the infamous 15-month L-train shutdown unraveled Monday during what news outlets referred to as a “long” and “testy” emergency meeting of the board. The meeting was called so that WSP — a leading engineering services firm which worked on the previous shutdown plan and has since backed the new one — could answer questions about the new plan’s safety and efficiency. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

HOTEL MAKEOVER FOR CONEY ISLAND’S SHORE THEATER HEADS BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

Coney Island’s long-abandoned Shore Theater is going to be fixed up and adaptively reused, and that’s cause for rejoicing. But not quite yet. The city Landmarks Preservation Commission decided on Tuesday that Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ proposed redesign of the old movie palace and office building at 1301 Surf Ave. is “timid” and “generic.” Several commissioners used these words in critiquing the plan during a hearing at the preservation agency’s Manhattan headquarters. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

ONE DEAD, TWO CRITICAL AFTER HAMMER ATTACK INSIDE SHEEPSHEAD BAY EATERY

One person is dead and two are critically injured after a hammer-wielding attacker smashed his way through a Sheepshead Bay restaurant on Tuesday night. A 34-year-old man entered Seaport Buffet brandishing a hammer, which he used to strike three employees. Three victims — all men, ages 60, 50 and 34 — were rushed to NYU Langone-Brooklyn. “I heard a bunch of people screaming ‘He’s killing people! Lock all the doors!,’” restaurant manager Samantha Randazzo told the New York Post. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

CONSTRUCTION WORKER WINS $3.4 MILLION LAWSUIT AFTER LOSING FINGER

A construction worker from Brooklyn was recently awarded $3.4 million in a lawsuit after a workplace accident nine years ago forced him to have the ring finger on his right hand amputated. Leslie Smith, the then-61-year-old plaintiff, was mixing cement at a construction site for a three-story building in 2010. Smith was waiting for coworkers who were positioned on a scaffold to signal to him to send up the next bucket of cement using a rope and pulley system when an unsecured plank came crashing down on his right hand. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

INDOCHINO TO OPEN IN PLACE OF BELOVED COBBLE HILL BOOKSTORE

Men’s clothing purveyor Indochino is slated to open its first location in Brooklyn this week. The company — which prides itself on “custom clothing for the modern man,” according to its website — will take up residence in the former BookCourt space at 161 Court St. The former wooden storefront has been replaced by a new modern 2,500-square-foot one. The beloved Cobble Hill independent bookstore closed its doors after 35 years at the end of 2016. It sold for $13.6 million. Opening day is set for Friday. (Brownstoner via Brooklyn Eagle)

JAPANESE FOOD TAKES ROOT IN BROOKLYN

Japanese food is becoming more popular in Brooklyn, and two shops in Park Slope and in Sunset Park illustrate this fact. In the first, J+B Design in Park Slope, which has been selling Japanese home goods for about five years, has expanded its food line. Now, the store has a wall of Japanese packaged snacks, soup mixes, teas, spices, condiments and other ingredients. The initials in the store’s name stand for “Japan and Brooklyn.” In the second, Japan Village, which contains food stalls, an izakaya restaurant and a grocery store, opened in November inside Industry City in Sunset Park. (NYT and Eater via Brooklyn Eagle)