Williamsburg is Dead

Will Construction on Union Avenue Yield the Next Crane Disaster?

After yesterday's crane disaster in the Upper East Side the New York Times has posted a chart of crane violations in the city.  Most of the construction sites listed have one or two violations and there are a couple with three.  One massive construction site right here in the Burg, at 385 Union Avenue, has a whopping six violations. From now on I'm walking on the other side of the street when I walk by there, and since I live right off Union, I'm keeping 311 on speed dial--just in case. 

Izze Soda Promo Party Blowout at Crest, Free Stuff

It'll be like this, except outdoors, and with cheap eats instead of all that pretentious art stuff.

Celebrate the true, belated emergence of summer! Drop by the Crest Cafe tomorrow for a tasty BBQ, free schwag, and some all around good timery. There'll be Izze sodas galore, $2 quarter pound burgers, and a DJ spinning summery beats. See you there, my fellow seasonally readjusted brethren of the Burg!

(Crest Cafe, 438 Union--Right next to Dumont--from 3-7pm. Free!)

Gallery Openings: Friday, May 30th

Wore!, Heather Morgan and Ben Ward, May 30-June 29, at Jack the Pelican, 487 Driggs Ave. Opening reception tonight, May 30, from 7pm-9pm

Quote: To some it may seem problematic to juxtapose ghastly portraits of dead/dying Civil War soldiers with neurotic/erotic contemporary hipster girls, whose cosmopolitanism and ambivalence seem so very Weimar (that's Berlin at its most Berlin, between the wars). But somehow it works.

Brendan Fernandes, May 30-June 30, at Momenta Art, 359 Bedford Ave. Opening reception tonight, May 30, from 7pm-9pm

Quote: The work of Brendan Fernandes approaches the issue of culture as something endlessly deferred, with roots that may be pulled but never unearthed. The artist – whose family is Indian from the former Portuguese colony of Goa – grew up in Kenya then Canada before moving to New York and has never visited India. Within his own history are written the migrations of both colonial and post-colonial eras, begging the question of whether cultural authenticity is ever possible within the flux of history.

Yikes!

 

A man survived my greatest fear today when he fell under the G train at Metropolitan Ave after a night of drinking.  The train actually rolled over him but he's in the hospital and it looks like he's going to be okay.  Check out more details here.   

(More) Complete Pool Party Schedule

A somewhat full schedule for the McCarren Pool Parties is up on Brooklyn Vegan. Highlight? July 20th with Liars and Team Robespierre. Woooooop.

Plaster Casts of Everything - Liars

Slum it in Style!

Gothamist takes a look at new Brazilian spot Miss Favela on S 5th Street. For those of you who don't know what a favela is, think of the dangerous shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro in City of God. I trace part of my heritage to a shanty town-filled, third-world country myself, and let me tell you, there is nothing charming about rampant poverty and a sea of corrugated metal and plywood.

Unless you live in Williamsburg, that is. Then the word favela apparently conjures up images of caipirinhas and live samba music. [Gothamist]

Hungry Hungry Developers

 

Photo from SinSign

Housing prices might be dropping in other, more sane parts of the country, but here in BK they just keep going up; by 4 percent, actually, since this time last year to an average condo price of $656,784. From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Greenpoint. The average condo prices increased 40 percent to $560,947 in April, while the number of sales jumped from seven in April 2007 to 25 in April 2008.

North Williamsburg and East Williamsburg. The average prices for condos in these areas were each up 12 percent to an average price of $798,000 and $510,000 respectively. Overall, Williamsburg had 35 sales compared to 31 last April.

Um, the sales in Greenpoint went from seven in April 2007 to 25 in April 2008? Looks like all the Poles will have to move to Ridgewood ...

Tonight: Mike Wexler

Hey freak folkies, your time has come! Natalie Portman and Devendra Banhart are all lovey dovey, Joanna Newsom and Andy Samberg are cuddling at Rangers games. I guess everyone in Hollywood wants some of that precious folk ass. That's why you should catch Mike Wexler tonight, before he hits it big and photographs of him holding hands with one of the Olsen twins start appearing on the internet.

Tonight, Wed, 5/28, 9pm at Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave

Cipher - Mike Wexler

Big Ups to Bushwick

Apparently there is a new blog in my old 'hood called Bushwick Social Club. Not only do they have a spiffy looking site with music podcasts and shiz, they also host a party at Northeast Kingdom every third Saturday of the month. On a side note, Northeast Kingdom has some amazing mac and cheese, so even if you aren't into dancing and fun, you'll still have that.   

Another Reason You Are Better Than a Suburbanite

As a New Yorker, your carbon footprint is 30 percent smaller than the average american's (if you don't drive a car, that is). Also, lawnmowers emit 11 cars worth of pollutant per hour, compared to the 0 cars worth of pollutant you use to sweep the floor of your studio apartment. Suck it, suburban America! [Wired]