Brooklyn Today December 6: Driver of Overturned Truck on BQE Arrested for Drunk Driving

The Lede

Happy Thursday! A drunk driver overturns his truck on the BQE, we share the latest Brooklyn Heights house prices, and Squibb Bridge is set to be replaced completely. Plus, ice cream is staying in Brooklyn Bridge Park, we learn about the cartel’s ruthlessness, and the demand for Williamsburg rentals decreases. Finally, Carlos Menchaca slams the BQX, and we recommend the best restaurants in Gowanus.

Imprint

Singer Ariana Grande graces the December cover of Billboard as the “Woman of the Year.”

The Rundown

PROBLEM-PLAGUED SQUIBB BRIDGE TO BE REPLACED COMPLETELY:

Come 2020, the Squibb Bridge will hopefully have a new spring in its step — but this time, not the kind that invites a lawsuit. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, which oversees Brooklyn Bridge Park, announced that the long-troubled pedestrian walkway extending from Columbia Heights to the waterfront park is slated for an almost complete replacement. BBPC said that though the concrete support structure would remain, the pedestrian crossing itself would be replaced with a steel-and-aluminum upgrade. Completion is scheduled for the summer of 2020. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

DRIVER OF OVERTURNED TRUCK ON BQE ARRESTED FOR DRUNK DRIVING

A truck driver was arrested by highway police after overturning his flatbed truck, toppling a large volume of scaffolding planks into the roadway at Tillary Street on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The crash occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday during the start of the evening rush hour. Traffic was rerouted onto Park and Flushing avenues, causing near gridlock conditions. No one was injured. When officers administered a breathalyzer to the driver, they found the man was well over the legal limit for alcohol. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

WANT TO KNOW THE LATEST BROOKLYN HEIGHTS HOUSE PRICES?

Brooklyn’s most expensive houses are here — on the Heights. Of course you remember actors Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany’s widely reported $15.5 million Brooklyn Heights Historic District rowhouse purchase, which they made in May. This deal is tied with photographer Jay Maisel’s 2015 acquisition of 177 Pacific St. in Cobble Hill as the highest-priced house purchase in the entire borough. In recent months, there have been other big-ticket landmarked Brooklyn Heights house sales, too. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

AMPLE HILLS CREAMERY TO REPLACE THE BROOKLYN ICE CREAM FACTORY

Brooklyn Bridge Park announced on Tuesday two new food concessions at the Historic Fireboat Station at Fulton Ferry Landing. The fireboat house and its surroundings, occupied since 2001 by the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, will now be shared by Ample Hills Creamery, which will offer an “ice cream scoop shop” on the ground floor. On the second floor of the fireboat building, Ample Hills will collaborate with the Brooklyn Historical Society to create a public exhibit space honoring the history of the Brooklyn Ferry and Fulton Ferry Landing. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

EL CHAPO CONSORT OPENS UP ABOUT CARTELS’ RUTHLESSNESS

A key government witness at the trial of notorious Mexican drug lord “El Chapo”spelled out the bloodshed and other cold realities of drug-trafficking Tuesday without expressing regret or making excuses. Former Colombian kingpin Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was asked by a lawyer for El Chapo whether he ordered scores of murders, whether he kept a ledger that showed how much hit men were paid, and whether he repeatedly lied to and bribed Colombian authorities. Among the matter-of-fact answers he gave: “Totally correct.” ”Obviously.” ”At the time, of course I lied.” ”That’s how it was, sir.” (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)

DEMAND FOR WILLIAMSBURG RENTALS DECREASES DUE TO L-TRAIN SHUTDOWN

The availability of Williamsburg rental apartments on the market is up, and the demand for them is down – almost certainly because of the looming shutdown of the L train’s East River tunnel scheduled for April. A study from StreetEasy said that the demand for Williamsburg rentals is down 1 percent since last October. Williamsburg is the only neighborhood in the city that has experienced a decline in rental demand since last year. (Curbed via Brooklyn Eagle)

MENCHACA SLAMS BQX

City Councilmember Carlos Menchaca slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $2.7 billion plan for the BQX streetcar, calling it “an example where the emperor has no clothes.” Menchaca later punctuated his remarks by tweeting a video of a cartoon with an emperor marching in his underwear before a shocked crowd. At a City Hall hearing, Menchaca further ripped into the BQX proposal, calling it an idea that “no one likes except the developers.” He added that “one singular person” likes the idea, and he “happens to be the mayor of New York.” (New York Post via Brooklyn Eagle)

Staff Picks

LONG READ

The Last Curious Man: The enormous life of Anthony Bourdain, according to those who knew him best.” (via GQ)

ANOTHER LONG READ

Since starring in “Atlanta,” Brian Tyree Henry is in high demand, and he’s still getting used to his newfound stardom. “Acting is my only power to use to get back at those naysayers and those people who feel like I don’t belong here,” Henry said. (via GQ)

EAT

From Korean barbecue to Cuban food, here are the 12 best restaurants in Gowanus(via Grub Street)

CARTOON

Melania Trump shows off her new “Christmas trees.” (via The New Yorker)

NATIONAL BULLETIN

A 9-year-old boy decriminalizes snowballs in Colorado…Only 15 percent of merchandise in the Trump store is made in America…And California’s wildfires released 68 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air. (via AP, Quartz and NBC News) 

FOREIGN FLASH

Cuba will give its citizens full internet access on their phones…A magnitude 7.5 earthquake erupts off the coast of New Caledonia…And rich people around the world aren’t content with their own wealth. (via Time, Al Jazeera and The Atlantic)

ROYAL WATCH

Here’s how the members of the royal family stay so fit.(via Vogue)

EAGLE SPORTS

Barry Trotz described the Islanders’ long-awaited return to the renovated Nassau Coliseum over the weekend as “Saturday Night Fever.” Following his team’s short trip back to Barclays Center two evenings later, New York’s head coach was feeling the “Tuesday Night Blues.” The playoff-hopeful Isles allowed two goals in a 22-second span of the third period, leading to an eventual 3-1 loss to the red-hot Winnipeg Jets. “I thought the crowd was fine. The building is a lot different. It’s not going to have the “Saturday Night Fever” that we had the other night,” Trotz noted. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

MILESTONES

Happy birthday to Andrew Cuomo, Johnny Manziel, James Naughton, Craig Newmark, Sarah Rafferty, Janine Turner, JoBeth Williams and Steven Wright!