A reader writes:

I live on union near the St. Carmel festival. People are parking in front of hydrants, on the sidewalk and in no standing zones. I confronted cops on the street as well as cops in cars from the 94th. I was told by both that because it was a church function they turned a blind eye. How fair is this? When I brought up separation of church and state and reminded them who they worked for I was told my priorities were off. Williamsburg cops are too local! My cat [sic, lol] was towed on Saturday on union because of the farmers market.. It was my fault entirely and I paid my dues. What about everyone else?

Sent from my iPhone

I gotta agree with the cops here, bro. The St. Carmel festival has been going on here in Brooklyn for over 100 years. 123 years to be exact. You can put up with a few misparked cars. To bring up separation of church and state is a tad sillypants. To angrily bang that out on your iPhone is even sillier! The amendment was initially created to keep the government from imposing religion on the populace, and to keep congress from creating any laws requiring one. It wasn’t created to force the NYPD to ticket cars parking illegally during a church festival.

And sorry about your cat being towed but you really gotta keep them indoors. They hate big crowds.

This sucks. After playing an amazing show last night with Dawes, a van was stolen in our ‘hood filled to the brim with custom and vintage gear of the lovely Brooklyn crooner. From Phosporescent’s management:

Last night, after an amazing show at Pier 54 in New York City, Phosphorescent’s rental van -along with all of their equipment – was stolen from outside a residence in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Last night’s show was the first night of their scheduled six-weeks US Tour.  Among the stolen items was Matthew Houck’s custom, irreplaceable 1955 Gibson ES-125 guitar, vintage amplifiers, and a vintage pedal steel with losses totaling around $40,000.  If anyone has ANY information or leads on what might have happened, or if you see any of this gear in pawn shops, on Craigslist, etc, please call the NY Police Department, Vector Management, or anyone you think might be able to help recover this gear.  The van rental company is insured – they are covered for their van and are therefore not greatly concerned with recovering it.  Phosphorescent DOES care though, greatly, about recovering any of this gear possible, and figuring out how to rally up and make this US Tour happen.  Anything anyone can do to help would be simply amazing.  We have set up a Paypal account for anyone wishing to donate funds to help replace gear – anything helps.  We will be sending updates about the upcoming tour dates ASAP.  Thanks in advance for any goodwill and assistance and thank you for your support over the years.

“Because I was so into you for a minute.”

Thanks, Leigh!

The writer who created ThunderCats and SilverHawks was murdered last month in Florida, and police have now identified his roommate as a potential suspect “after learning he bought two bottles of bleach in May, just before one of the comic book author’s limbs was found in the bin of a Tampa motel.” Thundercats, Ho!-ly shit.

A tipster and fan of silly animal-based Tumblrs writes:

There’s a new tumblr in town. I guess with all the hipster blogs its time to choose another meme name and now we have EMO PETS. Its just like Hipster puppies, instead they have emo puppies and the captions are pretty funny as well.

Internet, meet Emo Pets.

Now that the “Breaking Bad” season finale has come and gone, this may have to be my replacement show. [via]

According to the NY Post, a Federal judge ruled last week that masturbating in a federal park is fine, as long as no one’s watching:

“Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes Jr. found that an ex-cop who exposed himself to an undercover ranger in a remote section of a federal park off the Belt Parkway was not guilty of public lewdness because his naughty bits were obscured by waist-high vegetation.

The defendant in the case, retired Detective Joseph Tesoriere, was arrested last August after he allegedly beckoned an undercover Parks Service ranger into a remote area at Plum Beach — a tiny sliver of Gateway National Park known for horseshoe crabs and gay hookups — and fondled himself.”

While this ruling won’t affect Williamsburg residents directly in the neighborhood — there are no national parks here — it should certainly make you think twice the next time you find yourself surrounded by waist-high vegetation.

[via]