Members of the Perez family, who are seeking help from Go Fund Me donations

Now that the benefit concert is done and Hurricane Sandy is fading from the news cycle, it’s easy to forget that there are still plenty of people in need of help. Enter Go Fund Me, a Kickstarter-like service that allows users to solicit donations for all sorts of projects. Unlike Kickstarter, recipients get the money they’re seeing immediately, whether or not the campaign meets its goal. Here are a few people rebuilding in the Rockaways, but keep in mind there are plenty out there. (more…)

This is how much Bruce wants you to give

If the scalpers have priced you out of going to tonights 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert but you’re still looking to rock out (or see if any of those #NirvanaBeatlesSongs jokes come true) we’ve got you covered. There are plenty of other ways to be able to watch and listen to the show without having to pay $10 for a plastic cup of beer, even if that beer goes to a good cause. (more…)

Life just isn’t the same when you’re missing your glasses.

As Brooklyn rebuilds after Sandy, people are starting to focus on smaller things they may have fallen behind on or lost after the storm. After all, what’s a pair of glasses to you when all it will help you see is a bunch of destruction? Now though, it could be a good time to get a new pair of specs if you lost one, and you can, thanks to VSP Vision Care. (more…)

Hey Hollywood: Brooklyn Heights vants to be alone [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
In areas hit by Sandy, victims now have to worry about other New Yorkers [Daily News]
Brooklyn neighborhood named #1 place in US to see Christmas lights [Bensonhurst Bean]
Cuomo’s Christmas tree tweet laughed out of Albany [NY Mag]
2,500 apartments are made available to Sandy victims [Curbed]
Your new cable box will spy on you, try to sell you condoms [Beta Beat]
5 lame things about the Nets. Just 5? [Ball Don't Lie]
Some good news in Red Hook, as a key lime pie bakery reopens [NY1]

A little rain never hurt a laptop. Wait… via Apathetic Thursday

Something like losing your house or your business can really inspire some feelings in a person. And not some bullshit millenial version of feeeelings after your friend with benefits but you want more, said no, she doesn’t want to go get brunch with you. It’s important to deal with tough stress like in a constructive, healthy way, like for instance writing about it. So the New York Writers Coalition has stepped up to provide anyone who needs it space in one of two weekly writing workshops. (more…)

“Quirky” t shirt shop in Brooklyn doesn’t really buck trend [Brooklyn Paper]
Park Slope brownstone gets less gay [Brooklyn Paper]
Hurricane damage leads to one landlord to sell instead of repair [NY1]
Coney Residents pissed about landmark [Brooklyn Daily]
Wendy’s worker strikes, gets fired, rehired. YGG! [Daily News]
Bearded men spending time with other people’s kids not creepy at all [DNAinfo]
Gross. Did you do it at your parent’s house? [Howaboutwe]
Verizon tries to become your Big Brother [Consumerist]
Weird things to push your baby in [FiPS]

Last year, New York’s DIY music scene took a hit when venue and studio space Silent Barn faced the double whammy of getting robbed the day after being shut down by the fun police (real police). But, like true New Yorkers, the folks behind the venue have picked themelves up, dusted themselves off and started anew. Leaving rough and tumble Queens behind for the much safer environs of Brooklyn, the Silent Barn is now ready to accept applicants for their studio space in Bushwick. (more…)

He knows if you’ve been naughty. via Startling Stories

The holiday season (War on Christmas alert!) is a time of togetherness, good will towards man, hope for the future and family. For some people though, the holidays don’t conjure up images of warm hearths and good times. Instead it summons memories of suicidal thoughts, ungrateful gift recipients, drunken arguments and constant questions at Christmas dinner about why you aren’t married and giving your mother some grandchildren already. If that’s your holiday experience, that’s pretty rough, but at least now you can win someone money from it, courtesy of Moleskine and The Strand. (more…)

After years of keeping people out, communities want to let aid in [NYT]
One man’s quest to save an overlooked scenic view [Brooklyn Paper]
Sweet tooth leads to sour crime spree [Brooklyn Paper]
Brooklyn residents have money from FEMA but no apartments to spend it on [Daily News]
First Sandy hit Red Hook, then Crowe [Post]
Greenpoint chamber of commerce returns after 33 year hiatus [DNAinfo]
Forget Tatum, China knows who the real sexiest man is [NY Mag]
It’s a golden age for writers, which is why we’re all rich [Esquire]

How about this bottle opener?

You’re going home for Thanksgiving or for Christmas, and if you’ve been living here trying to make it as a designer and haven’t quite broken through yet, you get to play the joyful game of your friends and family shrugging or staring when you tell them your plans. No, it’s not easy trying to make it as a maker in Brooklyn, but a new contest created by the New York Economic Development Corporation, New York’s Next Top Makers, could turn those shrugs into high fives next year. (more…)