Tagged: Class War

Welcome to the Beginning: How I Learned About Brutal Cops

By Nicole Brydson

The brutal reaction of police towards #occupywallstreet protestors in New York City, of campus police at UC Davis to students, and in many instances around the country have only inspired thousands more to fill American streets with their voices. That inspiration, a reawakening within the spirit and mind, is contagious – in my case, it came at a personal cost many years ago.

Developer-Shelter Receives More Funding from City than Section 8 to House Homeless, Residents Plan Protest

By Nicole Brydson

With the recent controversy over a condo development turned homeless shelter on East New York Avenue in mind, I looked up the city budget for homeless families on David Yassky’s new site ItsYourMoneyNYC.com. On average, according to the budget, the city pays $32,400 per year to house homeless families.

That’s about the same as what the city has offered per family to Avi Shriki and HQ Marketing Partners for housing 67 families in their failed condo development on East New York Avenue in Crown Heights.

Police Commissioner Answers Questions at Medal Day Ceremony

By Nicole Brydson

The morning after residents of Crown Heights took the Police Commissioner to task for drug dealing, prostitution and quality of life issues in the neighborhood, Ray Kelly was awarding the Deputy Inspector of their local 77th precinct a unit citation at Medal Day ceremonies.

The same precinct where, according to department statistics, crime has plummeted 18%.

“If you look at statistics at this precinct, they are very, very impressive,” Commissioner Kelly had told the crowded basement of Berean Baptist Church. “If you’re the victim of a crime, you don’t want to hear about statistics, I understand that, one crime is one crime too many – but the numbers here are really an indication of the work that’s being done.”

With all the talk about statistics, it sounded like the crowd was watching The Wire.

City Discards Vouchers In Favor of Developer Bailout

By Nicole Brydson

Would you pay $2,700 per month to eat off granite counter tops on East New York Avenue? Mayor Bloomberg is.

123 Community Space Facing Eviction

By Nicole Brydson

The 123 Community Space in Bedford Stuyvesant is facing eviction from their landlord, who says he just doesn’t want a community space on his property. Huh?

The Under Report: Lesbians Beaten Up By Cops in Crown Heights

By Nicole Brydson

According to a report, two lesbians were allegedly beaten in front of a nightclub on Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights. Jeannette Grey and Tiffany Jimenez are alleging that NYPD officers used excessive force and hateful speech when they encountered the women outside of Ife Lounge on May 16.

Harvard vs. Bed Stuy: Nobody Wins

By Nicole Brydson

Chanequa Campbell, 21, grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant. The now-infamous Harvard senior, linked to a drug-related homicide on campus, is back in Brooklyn, awaiting the arrival of her possessions.

Whether Ms. Campbell’s involvement in the murder was criminal or not – the main story line in the coverage of this tragic event and subsequent charges of racism on Harvard’s part – is somewhat beside the point.

Urban Daddy Winks at White Guys

By Nicole Brydson

At some point, my email address (which is publicly available) was added to receive daily missives from Urban Daddy, a restaurant and nightclub advertorial list that operates in a few cities, including New York. I often delete them without reading, but today I opened their message to find something truly abhorrent, besides their claims of editorial integrity.

Go Have Fun With Mike Edison In Brooklyn

By Nicole Brydson

If the young hedonists of Brooklyn could have a cheerleader – one that works his mysticism in the form of a Marty Markowitz – it’s Mike Edison.

KRS-ONE to Launch New Imprint, Release Hip Hop Bible

By Nicole Brydson

Last Saturday afternoon, many Brooklynites happened upon Habana Outpost on Fulton Street in Fort Greene to find philosopher/rapper KRS-ONE preaching to his disciples.

Will Proximity To ‘Art’ Still Sell Condos?

By Nicole Brydson

Like the weather on a recent Thursday, the building at 542 St. Mark’s Avenue in Crown Heights couldn’t decide whether to be one thing or another.

D’Oh! ‘Vandals’ Make Art Again

By Nicole Brydson

The state has apparently removed part of a fantastical piece of work by design company Exhibitology in Dumbo.

Rosie Perez Not ‘Angry,’ Just ‘Bothered’ by Gentrification

By Nicole Brydson

At WNYC’s new Jerome L. Greene Performance Space today, on the ground level of their new headquarters on Varick Street, Rosie Perez moderated a panel called The Places that Bind: Examining Preservation and Culture in a Changing City.

Dead On Arrival

By Nicole Brydson

Around lunch time last Friday, 18-year-old Chad Wilkens was standing in China City, on the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Dean Street in Crown Heights, when he was shot. An ambulance arrived and took Mr. Wilkens to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The media was nowhere to be found.

This is How Magazines Don’t Pay Freelance Writers

By Nicole Brydson

Does writing for a fashion magazine sound fun to you? It did to me, until they decided not to pay me for it.

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: The View from Shrublick

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. In her final episode, the Oblivious Manhattanite needs a paper bag to breathe Into because she cannot see Manhattan from Shrublick.

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: Attack of the Cheese Grits

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. In part five she goes loft hunting with Kitty Jihad and is attacked by cheese grits.

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: Romancing A Self-Imposed Exile

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. In part four the Oblivious Manhattanite romances a self-imposed exile in the Other Borough.

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: WTF Train and the Quest for Bordeaux

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. In part three she goes zig-zagging through gruplets, awaits the faulty WTF train in a quest for bordeaux.

Trust… Art?

By Nicole Brydson

Apparently the only trustworthy investment left in New York these days is art. Or so say the folks behind, who are encouraging you to use your cold hard cash and social network to raise awareness and money for public art projects – a few of which will originate in Brooklyn.
Trust Art works like this. Ten artists have envisioned social art projects, which you, the money bags, can invest in. Once the projects are completed they will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be split between the artist and each project’s shareholders. They call it a “stock market for cultural renewal.”

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: Thirsty Frogs in a Snow Squall

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. In Part Two she goes exploring St. Gumbo and Cider Hill with some thirsty frogs in a snow squall.

Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite: St. Gumbo Awaits

By J.K. Van Tassell

The Adventures of the Oblivious Manhattanite in the Other Borough are true accounts of spontaneous excursions by a natural explorer distantly descended from a Montauk princess and an infamous Dutch family that helped settle New York. Here, in the vein of Diedrich Knickerbocker, J.K. Van Tassell shares her feral tales in the Brooklyn. Some names of Kings County’s charming burgs and establishments are misnamed because she is dyslexic and oblivious. In her expeditions she is always accompanied by Sophie Dulac, another oblivious character from France, and the sometimes present and much needed Frampton, their Brooklyn Sherpa. The Oblivious Manhattanite lives near City Hall and very rarely goes above Canal Street. Her view from this humble abode is of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges which beckon her constantly, along with a chorus of hyped up articles that appear in New York Magazine and the New York Times about rejuvenated places like Blowanus and Yellow-Blue Hook.

Is Atlantic City the New Williamsburg?

By Nicole Brydson

While Williamsburg has spent the last decade getting a face lift, Atlantic City did the same, with developers putting up towers on the waterfront. While Brooklyn got luxurious condos, Atlantic City got luxurious hotels: the Chelsea, the Borgata, the Water Club and, tallest of them all, Harrah’s. Crime and drugs are still busy in both, but hidden a few blocks in from the unsuspecting eye, and developers are falling over themselves to draw the young and the hip to the waterfront in both locations.

A Personal Wire

By Nicole Brydson

Apparently it’s quite controversial to discuss the experience of living in Brooklyn when it comes to the topic of race. A few weeks back, I dared to talk about it and received a lot of flack. But in my hood, Prospect Heights, and anywhere really, race, class and gentrification are heavy topics, and I’m not going to shy away from them.

Destined to Be Gentrified and Gentrifying

By Nicole Brydson

On a recent chilly night, I was bundled up and on my way to Boerum Hill to have dinner at a friend’s apartment. As I walked down Washington Avenue the B45 bus pulled up next to me, and I hesitated. “Which would be faster, the train or the bus?” I thought. Before I could make a decision, the bus doors had shuttered. Luckily, the light at Atlantic and Washington was still red and I approached the bus and knocked on the door. The driver, a middle-aged African-American man, refused to open the door, gesturing to the next stop, three street crossings away, even though his bus was still idling perfectly in front of a designated stop. It was 15 degrees outside and I’ll admit it, I felt like the driver was sticking it to me for being white.