the pool as a concert venue in 2008 via mk

The city has issued a call for proposals to turn the McCarren Park pool into an ice skating rink to operate annually from October to March.

mccarren park pool 1937 via nyc parks department

I got my hands on on the RFP, published two weeks ago, “for the development, operation, and maintenance of a seasonal ice rink at McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn, NY.” The city is accepting proposals until March 15th and the contract will be for twelve years.

The pool opened under Mayor La Guardia in July 1936 and operated until 1984, when the local government and residents decided against renovating the facility because, according to the Parks Department, it had started to attract vandals and drug dealers and had fallen too far into disrepair. The site re-opened in 2005 as a summer concert venue, which it remained until 2008 when the city announced plans to pump money into the project and make it usable for swimmers once again. Renovations began in 2009 and the new facility will include a recreation center, among other amenities.

You may have thought that the season’s biggest commercials all aired during the Super Bowl, but Mexican food chain Chipotle saved its best for last night’s Grammy Awards. The commercial, which actually debuted on YouTube in late August but hadn’t aired on television until last night, features a farmer raising pigs that get plumped up with pills and shipped off on big trucks, until he has an epiphany and tears down the walls holding the animals. The ad consists of stop motion animation and presents the story in a single, two and a half minute long shot. Willie Nelson’s cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” plays throughout. (The spot aired right after Coldplay’s performance.)

The ad, officially called “Back to the Start” has over four million views on YouTube. “The film and the soundtrack were commissioned by Chipotle to emphasize the importance of developing a sustainable food system,” Chipotle’s website states. The response from viewers has been mixed, however. While the chain has publicly promoted sustainable and humane farming practices, it is was once owned in part by McDonald’s, which no doubt is guilty of participating in the factory farming system that the clip eschews.

If you really like the ad, check out the fascinating “making of” below.

As intense as the ad is, apparently more people who watched the Grammys are just wondering who Bon Iver and Paul McCartney are.

Update: Several commenters were quick to point out that Chipotle and McDonald’s parted ways in 2006. Nevertheless, it’s surprising that a food chain once connected to McDonald’s would attempt such a significant re-branding by coming out as anti-factory farming.

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Looking for an early-morning Valentine’s Day date that’s sure to impress leave an impression on your special someone? The sewage plant located on the beautiful famously disgusting Newtown Creek is offering special tours for the holiday.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant – which is the city’s largest wastewater facility and processes 1.3 million gallons each day – is opening its doors on Tuesday for a special tour of its “digester eggs” (ew that name).  Monthly tours are available from its 2-year-old visitor center, but Tuesday’s tour will be an added date and will end in a Hershey’s kiss for each attendee (seriously).

Like the fancy restaurant where your date is expecting is expecting to go, the plant requires reservations. Email events@dep.nyc.gov. The tour begins at 10 a.m.

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The Super Bowl is hours away and you need a place to watch it. Luckily for you, The Greenpoint Gazette published a list of 18 bars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that will be airing the game. I cut that list in half, narrowing it down to my top picks of which bars and specials sound best. Descriptions by the Gazette.

- Full Circle Bar (318 Grand Street, 347-725-4588): Giving out free Bon Chon Bowl wings, showing the game on three 40+ inch HD TV’s, and selling 24 ounces of Genesee Beer for $10.

- Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand Street, 718-218-8555): Serving up chili nachos ($7) and chili dogs ($4), $15 buckets of Budweiser and Bud Light (5 beers in each), and projecting the game onto the wall.

- Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, 347-529-6696): Showing the game on a 12-foot projection screen in the main room and on two 48-inch screens in the front bar, providing free snacks, and offering a food menu complete with pizza, wings, and party food. Reserve a party package and get seated before everyone else. The packages are First Down (12 beers, 1 pizza and a reserved table for $45), Field Goal (24 beers, 2 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $85), and Touchdown (48 beers, 4 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $150).

(more…)

lana pic via flickr

Is that Lana Del Rey on the cover of a fictional magazine in MTV’s I Just Want My Pants Back? No, probably not, considering the network shot that first episode in September 2010 when Lana was still Lizzy. But wouldn’t you readers have hated it if it was?

But seriously though, Lana did travel back in time to appear in the John Hughes classic Sixteen Candles.

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Williamsburg and Greenpoint have a unique homeless problem because most of the individuals speak little to no English. While there are resources for some of New York City’s non-English speaking homeless populations, there are far fewer, if any, for those people who speak only Polish.

So what happens to them? Sadly, many fall into depression and alcoholism and camp out in McGolrick and McCarren parks. It’s in these parks that five homeless people have died in the past fifteen months. At least two of those were suicides, the most recent one happening in October.

Now, the New York City Department of Homeless Services is stepping in, offering Greenpont’s churches $100,000 to give the local homeless population a place to sleep for the night. Currently, St. Anthony of Padua on Manhattan Ave. opens its doors at night, but only when temperatures drop below 24 degrees.

But it seems that $100K isn’t enough for local churches to take on the responsibility. According to one paper, the money has been on the table for six months, during which time seven churches have rejected the offer. Officials at the various churches have cited limited space and fear of theft and vandalism as reasons for not accepting the money.

Meanwhile, local residents have been fighting a 200-bed homeless shelter planned for McGuinness Boulevard since 2010. Greenpoint’s city councilman Steve Levin complained that the neighborhood is “inundated with services that we provide to the rest of the city [...] on a level that no other neighborhood has to do.” Last May, Levin hosted a “Rally to Stop The Proposed Homeless Shelter,” which drew significant community support.

According to the Department of Homeless Services’ statistics for 2011, Brooklyn has 242 homeless individuals on its streets.

As a few blogs are pointing out today, an article in the January/February issue of Arrive, Amtrak’s “onboard magazine for business and leisure travelers,” refers to Williamsburg as a borough. It thinks SoHo and Harlem are boroughs too.

“Forget Williamsburg or Soho,” the article states in big print. “New Yorkers are taking notice of Harlem’s new restaurants, cultural landmarks and neighborhood vibe. Now’s the time to (re) visit one of the city’s most exciting boroughs.”

The article’s writer, Jason Clampet, is from Hoboken. Come on!

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The big news from Bushwick this morning is that 29-year-old police officer Kevin Brennan will live after getting shot in the skull last night. Brennan is currently at Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition. The officer had responded to a call at the Bushwick Houses, a housing project bordered by Moore Street, Humboldt Street, Bushwick Avenue, and Flushing Avenue.

The shooter fled the scene at around 9 p.m., prompting a full fledged manhunt through the area that necessitated hundreds of police officers, dogs, and helicopters.

Twitter users knew something was wrong. “yeah I heard sirens all night, i guess there were hundreds of cops looking for the dude,” tweeted @hamm3r_time. “DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. There is a massive manhunt,” wrote @GunGirlNewYork. “Hostage negotiation team just rolled up, SWAT surrounding the building #bushwick” posted @uncleguito.

Police eventually caught and arrested 21-year-old Luis Ortiz, who was also wanted for a January 1st murder.

The Bushwick Houses was constructed in 1960 and consists of eight buildings that house 2,962 residents.

More amateur photos of the scene here.

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While Occupy Williamsburg hogs most of the media attention – especially this week following Saturday night’s “Occu-Party” – the movement has an organized neighbor to the east that’s worth knowing about. Occupy Bushwick holds frequent General Assembly meetings and other events, with one happening tonight at KAVE in Shops at The Loom. According to the group’s official website, tonight’s event will start at 7 p.m. with a meet and greet and a technology teach-in, followed by the GA meeting at 8. The Loom is on Flushing and Knickerbocker.

Occupy Williamsburg and Occupy Bushwick are both busy preparing for the national “General Strike” on May 1st.

Event Poster, via Buzzfeed

Details are just now emerging about Saturday night’s Occupy Williamsburg “Occu-Party.” According to NY Daily News, fifty protesters set up camp at The Bedford, a vacant residential building on N. 8th and Driggs, where they threw garbage cans and spray painted anti-police slogans. When police arrived at 11 p.m., one protester pepper-sprayed an officer, while others threw bottles that injured five other officers. Police arrested four protesters and charged them with obstructing government administration, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and inciting a riot.

Village Voice staff writer Nick Pinto was on the scene that night and tweeted continuously about the action as it unfolded. Here’s Pinto’s perspective of how things went down, in chronological order:

At 207 N 8th in Williamsburg, an “Occuparty” — squatting in a half-finished luxury apartment — is getting underway. #OWS

Maybe 50 people in the ground-floor apartment. Whole building seems vacant, 75% renovated. Many hope this lasts past tonight.

Police are here, with flashlights. “Guys drop all the beers, that’s it.” not clear they get the scope of the invasion.

Glass on the front door just got smashed. Cop has his nightstick out. “I swear to god, get out of here!”

First arrest, a young woman. Bottle thrown. Cops badly outnumbered. This is getting crazy fast.

Police calling in backup as they push the crowd down 8th. Two cruisers here now.