Just like our hearts

1. Go to the Gowanus Yacht Club, because summer (Friday)

2. Head to Brooklyn Fireproof, will they will take you back in time, to the 19th century. Steampunk attire encouraged (Friday)

3. You might think this reading at Unnameable Books is like any other reading, but there’s a twist: it’s outdoors

4. Brooklyn Skillshare will teach you anything from reclaiming vacant public land to making your own ricotta cheese, and it’s all free (Saturday) (more…)

We’ve never been so excited to see benches

There are plenty of markers popping up on the road to summer: dance parties, movies, concerts. But the true mark of summer is always when the Gowanus Yacht Club throws open it’s gate and welcomes people to it’s magical Shangri-La of outdoor drinking, pierogies and cheeseburgers. And guess what? THAT WHEN IS TOMORROW! (more…)

Brooklyn Buschenschank
320 Court Street (at Sackett)
Carroll Gardens
(718) 237-0325

What it is: German-inspired Italian beer hall with prime bar food (fondue, wurst, brick oven pizza), fireplace, romantic basement venue with live music, and, of course, das boot.

Why we love it: The fireplace and communal tables fulfill our medival drinking fantasies while the open windows during springtime brunch soften our hedonistic guzzling habits. (more…)

P.J.’s in happier more cash rich times. via Facebook

Brooklyn has a long and proud tradition of alcohol. Either as a haven for brewers or with tons of divey bars, some of whom seem to have existed since before time began. But because time marches on, or people mismanage things, occasionally those bars that have existed forever fall on bad times and face existential threats. In the case of P.J. Hanley’s, it was mismanagement that’s causing the existential threat, which is bankruptcy. (more…)

Cute, if you ignore the whole plague-spreading thing. via Flickr user artmonstergirl

If you’ve noticed the friendly family of rats living in your recycling bin has added a few extra members lately, you’re not alone. It seems Hurricane Sandy sent rats running amok all over the city, and they’ve been particularly intent on making new homes in waterfront neighborhoods like Greenpoint, Coney Island, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook with 311 complaints about the little guys skyrocketing over the past few months. We assumed we’d just have to open up our hearts, homes and trash cans to them, but it turns out City Council has a plan to stop the rats from overthrowing city government and ruling with an iron fist spreading. (more…)

A sneak peek at Wednesday’s action

Brooklyn has become a hot shooting location for TV and movies, to the chagrin of some people. We can see why, since losing parking or not being able to walk down your block freely can definitely be annoying. But, sometimes Brooklyn’s popularity in the movie business can get us awesome perks, like seeing a GIGANTIC FIREBALL for free, on Wednesday evening in Carroll Gardens. (more…)

Room for one more….

We’ve been talking abut New York’s apartment scene a lot lately, because it’s always fun to do that, but also because it contains so many absurdities. Never is this more apparent than when you’re desperately checking Craigslist to find a sublet that is affordable and not one of those “seeking a quiet foreign non-smoking student” ads. A tipster dropped off something off in our email that she came across while looking for a place. It’s a dream in price and location (Carroll Gardens! $500/month!) but is not-so-much a dream in every other way. (more…)

Have they offered to pay in burritos? Photo via Pardon Me for Asking

Oh hey, look at that, we talk about what debt collectors can’t do while collecting a debt and a real-life example just pops up in front of us, thanks to Pardon Me for Asking. Unfortunately for the tenants of the California Taqueria, this carvertisement is legal as far as we know, although it probably makes people side more with the Taqueria since who the hell even does this? (more…)

Wondering whether your apartment is haunted? Check out this map to find out.

The long history embedded in Brooklyn means that there are always going to be stories behind the interesting looking places in your neighborhood. It’s what gives Brooklyn its charm. New Brooklynites Jonathan and Melissa Motzkin, recently moved here from San Francisco felt that vibe, and, not knowing much about our ‘hood, did what any good San Franciscans would: they made an app.

(more…)

Photo courtesy of Arancia Project.

Here’s the next installment of our sporadic “what’s on your laptop?” series, in which we obnoxiously interrogate the wifi mainliners who populate Brooklyn cafés. It’s 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 29, and we stopped into the Fall Café on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens to find out who was occupying (and sharing, seemingly congenially) the tables and what they were working on: (more…)