Two kids and three layer cake: A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn
Night of Riesling at Knitting Factory and seasonal farm stand at Robertas: NY Times
Brooklyn food & drink round up: Brownstoner
10 ways to beat the heat: Serious Eats
Roman pizza on the way: All About Fifth
When I moved to Brooklyn (Windsor Terrace then) in 1986, my answer to the question “what’s the night life like in Brooklyn” was “there isn’t any.” Clearly things have changed a great deal. Over the years Park Slope has acquired a number of places to see live music: Southpaw, Barbes, Union Hall, The Bell House (technically Gowanus but I can still walk there from my place in the center Slope), Bar 4 (which being on the south side of 15th Street is probably Windsor Terrace) as well as Perch and Two Boots.
Tonight, The Rock Shop (their website is still under construction, check them out on Twitter here), a club which opened a few months back on 4th Avenue, begins presenting music. The booker for the club is Skippy McFadden, who until recently was the booker for Union Hall and The Bell House. Tonight The Rondelles and friends show up to play. There will be a “Grand Opening” on August 2nd with a band whose name will not be announced until that day.
–Eliot Wagner
On this very, very hot day, here’s the latest info on equipment problems and reduced voltage in parts of Brooklyn from Con Edison:
Because of problems on electrical cables supplying power to eight Brooklyn neighborhoods, Con Edison has reduced voltage by 8 percent to that area.
• The neighborhoods are Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill.
• The affected area is bounded by the East River on the north and west, South Oxford Street and Fifth Avenue on the east, and Third Street/Fourth Street on the south. The area includes approximately 51,500 metered customers.
• Last night, the company announced voltage reduction in a number of other neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.
• Company crews are working now to repair the problems. Con Edison has asked customers in the affected areas to turn off electrical appliances to help reduce electricity usage until equipment problems can be resolved.
• The equipment problems in the affected areas have no effect on the rest of the Con Edison system. Con Edison will provide updates to affected customers both directly and through the media as the situation warrants. The company is in constant communication with the New York City Office of Emergency Management.
Zora Space on Friday, July 9th at 7:30PM will be celebrating jazz on a summer night with:
Jay Rodriguez, saxophone & flute( Two-time Grammy nominatee)
Teruo Nakamura, bass (Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, Roy Haynes, Steve Grossman.)
Warren Benbow, drums (Betty Carter, Nina Simone, Whitney Houston, Mary J Blige.)
Jimmy Sibuy, piano (Junior Cook)
The Gate, Park Slope’s very popular indoor/outdoor beer bar on Fifth Avenue and Third Street. has joined the No Stroller brigade. On weekends and holidays at least. Here’s what the sign says:
NO STROLLERS FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY & HOLIDAYS
Sorry Friends, owing to severe stroller and chair overcrowding as of late, we are now enforcing a NO STROLLER policy on WEEKENDS & HOLIDAYS at The Gate
Effed in Park Slope has the pictures.
Brownstoner responds to the Times’ article comparing the cost of living in the Slope with Orange, NJ. Here’s an excerpt:
New York has a reputation for being an expensive town, which of course it is. But the high housing prices and rents don’t tell the whole story. You see, New Yorkers don’t necessarily need cars. And our property taxes are pretty low. Which is why a Times story this weekend comparing the cost of living in Park Slope versus Orange, NJ found that a family of four with a household income of $170,000 could actually live more inexpensively in Brooklyn than Jersey.
It’ll be two nights in a row with Ann Miller. Last night we watched Mulholland Drive directed by David Lynch and tonight we’ll be in the park to see Kiss me Kate at 8:30PM on the turf behind The Old Stone House in Park Slope (3rd Street between 5th and 4th Avenues).
Kiss Me Kate (1953) – A witty take-off on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, this fabulous Technicolor musical stars Ann Miller, with music by Cole Porter, directed by George Sidney.
Brought to you from the Feldman Family weather tower in Park Slope.
Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn ponders frying an egg on the sidewalk. Here’s what he had to say:
The Times City Room threw caution to the wind and tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk. I have to give the reporter Andy Newman credit for venturing outside on a day when only Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the kebab and felafel carts venture out. While the experiment resulted in some lightly cooked tuna, the eggs proved less than satisfactory. Based on our extensive Google research, the Library of Congress reports that, yes, it is theoretically (damn their eyes – there is that word again) possible to cook an egg on the sidewalk, but it is unlikely that the sidewalk would get hot enough.
LoC reports: An egg needs a temperature of 158°F to become firm. In order to cook, proteins in the egg must denature (modify), then coagulate, and that won’t happen until the temperature rises enough to start and maintain the process.
The City Room was on the right track using a frying pan, since metal is a better conductor of heat than just plopping the egg on the concrete. But wo-be-tide to we New Yorkers should it ever approach that chilling temperature. But standing around trying to fry an egg at 103 degrees Fahrenheit just ain’t gonna cut it.
Once, when our kids were younger, I amused them on a long car ride home from upstate by making nachos: melting little bits of cheese on Doritos using the car cigarette lighter. Now that’s entertainment! (My Better Half was suitably unimpressed.)…
Rosanne Cash played Governors Island on July 4th. With the exception of her and John Leventhal (her husband), all the members of the band were from Brooklyn. You can read a mini review and see some pictures of the show today at Now I’ve Heard Everything.
–Eliot Wagner
I’ve been keeping cool with these cool, interesting movies. All films and TV shows are available at Video Forum (except Clean, which I got on Netflix) on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope (which is a cool, fun place to spend time on a hot day):
Avatar: Loved it more than I expected to!
The Flower of my Secret: Pedro Almodovar at his sweet, funny, visually gorgeous best!
The Chung King Express: Wong Kar-wei’s film about a Hong Kong policeman and his relationship with a zany woman who works at a fast food shop.
In the Mood for Love: An exquisitely elegant and mysterious film by Wong Kar-wei set in 1962 Hong Kong. With Maggie Cheung.
Summer Hours: A beautiful and poignant film about a french family and their country house by Olivier Assayas.
Clean: Another film by Olivier Assayas. This one about a drug addict/mom and her journey to become “clean” with the great Maggie Cheung (not at Video Forum).
Irma Vep: An Olivier Assayas film about the making of vampire movie with Maggie Cheung and Jean Pierre Leaud.
Did I mention that I’ve been obsessed with these TV shows on DVD:
Mad Men: Of course.
Breaking Bad: Awesome TV. About a chemistry teacher who, desperate to make money, operates a crystal meth lab.
Big Love: Chloe Sevigny, Bruce Dern, Grace Zabriskie, Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Kay Place, Ginnifer Goodwin, Bill Paxton, Amanda Seyfried are all part of a great cast in a great series about a polygamous family in Utah.
Double D Pool: a public pool at Nevins Street between Degraw and Douglas Streets in the Park Slope/Gowanus area.
Coney Island: Take the F train all the way to Stillwell Avenue
The Movies: at BAM or the Pavilion
Shop at Target at the Atlantic Mall: It’s air conditioned
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is open Tuesday–Friday: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed Mondays
Brooklyn Public Library is always cool
It’s too darn hot,
It’s too darn hot.
I’d like to sup with my baby tonight,
Fulfill the cup with my baby tonight.
I’d like to sup with my baby tonight,
Fulfill the cup with my baby tonight,
But I ain’t up to my baby tonight,
‘Cause it’s too darn hot.
It’s too darn hot,
It’s too darn hot.
I’d like to coo with my baby tonight,
And pitch the woo with my baby tonight.
I’d like to coo with my baby tonight,
And pitch the woo with my baby tonight.
But sister you’ll fight my baby tonight
‘Cause it’s too darn hot.
It’s too darn hot,
According to the latest Report
Ev’ry average girl you know
Much prefers her lovely doggie to court
When the temperature is low,
But when the thermometer goes ‘way up
And the weather is sizzling hot,
Mister Adam
For his madam.
Is not,
‘Cause it’s too, too
Too darn hot,
It’s too darn hot,
It’s too darn hot.
It’s too darn hot,
It’s too darn hot.
It’s too darn hot.
Thursday, July 8th at 8:30PM on the turf behind the Old Stone House: Piper Theater presents: Nocturnes, a chilling new play inspired by the otherworldly tales of John Connolly, one of mystery’s most important new voices. Directed by Piper’s Artist in Residence, Scottish director Nigel Williams.
Best Chills on a Hot Night! says the Daily News
The Brooklyn Paper interviewed Kim Maier of the Old Stone House about why Piper Theater, the al fresco theater company in summer residence at the Old Stone House, decided to ditch Shakespeare this summer for contemporary voices like David and Amy Sedaris.
The Park Slope-based Piper Theatre made a conscious decision to move away from Shakespeare this summer — and it couldn’t have found a better opposite to the Great Bard than the Sedaris Family.
Amy and David Sadaris — one known for her quirky television show, “Strangers with Candy,” the other for his hilariously autobiographical essays — joined forces some years ago to write plays.
One result of that collaboration — “The Book of Liz” — comes to the Old Stone House this month.
“Piper has been doing Shakespeare up until this year, but wanted to move into more contemporary theater,” said Kim Maier, director of the historic Park Slope venue. “The Sedarises are two interesting voices that seemed like they would appeal to a Brooklyn audience.”
That is, if you’re interested in a few choice “-isms,” specifically absurdism and satirism. In “The Book of Liz,” the Liz in question is Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, whose two main character traits are she perpetually perspires and makes fantastic cheese balls — which happens to be the livelihood of her community, the Amish-esque Squeamish. When her cheese ball-making duties are taken from her and given to a sanctimonious new arrival, she decides to leave the comfort of Squeamish and venture out into the “real world.” Once there, she befriends Ukrainian refugees with Cockney accents and gay recovering alcoholic waiters, and finds employment at a Pilgrim-themed restaurant, where they serve items like “I Hate the English Muffins” and “Williamsburgers” (that’s the other Williamsburg).
Wednesday, Jul 7th at 8:30 PM: Kiss Me Kate in Washington Park (AKA JJ Byrne Park, the turf, the Old Stone House) on Third Street between 4th and 5th Avenues:
Kiss Me Kate (1953) – A witty take-off on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, this fabulous Technicolor musical stars Ann Miller, with music by Cole Porter, directed by George Sidney.
Hear Ann Miller sing Cole Porter’s classic heatwave song: It’s Too Darn Hot (which opens the film).
7:30 tonight at Greenlight Books in Clinton Hill: New York author Jennifer Belle (author of Going Down and High Maintenance) reads from her new noe, The Seven Year Bitch, the story of a New York City girl who finds herself in a matrimonial rut.
According to Jessica, Greenlight Bookstore co-owner and Written Nerd blogger: “Belle’s novel delivers a dead-on, raw, and hilarious account of motherhood and marriage, and discovering that the life you have is exactly the one you wanted. Join us for Jennifer’s reading, and discuss the SYB phenomenon over a glass of wine.”
The Daily News picked up a story from Ink Lake via Gothamist but neglected to attribute the story. Here’s an excerpt from Ink Lake about what happened:
When I wrote on Wednesday about the missing shoe on the Upper West Side, I was glad to see the story was picked up by Gothamist. That night, I got e-mail from Moshe Billet, the shoe-finder, saying the Daily News must have read my blog, because they had contacted him. I wrote back, saying that I was sure they had first seen it in Gothamist.
So the next day, I was happy, and not surprised to see the story in the News, and on their web site. But I was kind of surprised to see nothing mentioning that this was in fact, my story.
I called the News’s City Desk, and asked to be connected to Bill Hutchinson, the reporter whose byline the story ran under. I got his voice-mail, and left a message.
After a couple of hours, I hadn’t heard back from him, and was getting more and more annoyed. I called Hutchinson again. This time, he picked up…
Read the rest at Ink Lake
Oposums in Carroll Gardens: Pardon Me for Asking
Furniture Mattress closing: NY Shitty
In spite of not being able to see fireworks…: McBrooklyn
McB is back from vacation: McBrooklyn
Bike billboards: yay or nay: Sheepshead Bites
Quad crazies: Gerritsen Beach
Park Slope cheap eats: Effed in Park Slope
Those huge bikes: Clinton Hill Chill
While Williamburg may be considered the current indie-rock capital of America, there are other nabes in Brooklyn, where you can find great music. Black Book has a list of bands from places like Astoria, Queens, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn and the West Village. One of the artists mentioned is Park Slope’s Michael Roi.
Artist/Band Name: Michael Roi
Hood: Park SlopeWho you are: I’m a singer/songwriter from Jupiter, Fla., influenced by Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and George Jones.
What drew you to Park Slope?: I never thought of Park Slope as a musical hotbed. I was drawn more to the culture, the artist community, the lack of noisy tourists and especially the tap water. While I live in Park Slope, I enjoy crashing on couches all over Brooklyn. Some friends asked me to write a parody Beatles tune that paid tribute to Sheepshead Bay. While it’s probably as far from the epicenter of the indie music scene as you can get, it’s one of my favorite places to hang and play music. I guess inspiration is where you find it.
Brought to you from the Feldman Family weather tower in Park Slope.
URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
506 AM EDT TUE JUL 6 2010
…HOT AND INCREASINGLY MORE HUMID…
.A WARM RIDGE ALOFT AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE MID
ATLANTIC STATES WILL KEEP HOT AND INCREASINGLY MORE HUMID
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MID WEEK.
NYZ072>076-062315-
/O.CON.KOKX.HT.Y.0002.000000T0000Z-100707T2300Z/
NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-
KINGS (BROOKLYN)-QUEENS-
506 AM EDT TUE JUL 6 2010
…HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EDT WEDNESDAY…
A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EDT WEDNESDAY.
THE COMBINATION OF TEMPERATURES AROUND 100 DEGREES AND GRADUALLY
INCREASING HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES OF
100 TO 104 DEGREES TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HIGH TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO REACH IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S…WITH
HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 95 TO 99 DEGREES. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE IN
THE LOWER 80S TONIGHT AND TUESDAY NIGHT.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
When I was a young mom I fantasized about a house with a backyard. I believed that my children would be happier and healthier if they had outdoor space to run wild in, a garden lush with hydrangeas and home grown tomatoes, and a playroom big enough for all their toys and even a ping pong table.
Yes, a ping pong table.
I thought about this last night at my apartment building’s annual fourth of July barbecue.
As usual, Mr. Kravitz set up a make-shift serving table with boards from the basement placed artfully on top of three garbage pails covered by an orange plastic table cloth.
When Mr. Kravitz fired up the grill, neighbors brought wine, beer, and platters of meats, vegetables, and salads downstairs as if on cue and the serving table was filled with a veritable potluck feast
It was a hot night and Mr. Kravitz’s face was turning deep red as he turned an assortment of grilled lamb burgers, Hebrew National hot dogs, turkey burgers and corn on the grill.
By 7PM the front yard was jammed with an enthusiastic group of adults and children from the building and nearby buildings busily eating, drinking and talking.
I have been to so many of these barbecues. Not only have I lost count but they all blur together. The children sort of blur together, too.
In my mind’s eye, I could see a young Teen Spirit and his best friend who moved away standing by the Weber carefully wrapping graham cracker sandwiches of marshmallows and Hershey chocolate in Reynolds Wrap and tossing them into the fire.
In my mind’s eye, I could see OSFO and her best friend standing at the Weber carefully wrapping graham cracker sandwiches of marshmallows and Hershey chocolate in Reynolds Wrap and tossing them into the fire.
Last night I watched the latest generation of young children standing at the Weber carefully wrapping graham cracker sandwiches of marshmallows and Hershey chocolate in Reynolds Wrap and tossing them into the fire.
I imagined it as a black and white movie—faces and hands dissolving one to the other—symbolizing the passage of time and the continuation of childhood traditions and skills.
During the barbecue Teen Spirit and a friend stopped by. At 19, he looked tall and handsome in a red and white striped shirt and his grandfather’s wing tip shoes.
“Hey, do you want to have something to eat?” I asked Teen Spirit and his friend hopefully.
“No thanks. We just came from a barbecue and are on our way to another,” he said.
Teen Spirit and his friend disappeared into the apartment building. He has a busy and complex social schedule that takes him to other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan. In August he will leave for college.
I felt a pang. I never gave my son a house with a backyard. This patch of concrete was his yard, his childhood yard…
From time to time I hear from Brad Lander, who is in his first months as City Councilmember for the 39th District. He even has an interesting blog. Here Brad discussing the recent passing of the NYC budget.
Yesterday, the City Council passed the $63 billion, Fiscal Year 2011 budget for New York City. Considering the difficult fiscal circumstances we are facing, and the deep cuts the Mayor had initially proposed, the final budget is much better than it might have been. We were able to substantially restore many critical services – libraries, pools and parks, firehouses, adult literacy, cultural institutions and many important social services – while keeping the City on sound fiscal footing. I am especially pleased to report that we were able to restore essential day care slots that hundreds of families in our community rely on, and that the “Double-D” pool on 3rd Avenue will remain open. In each of these cases, we heard loud-and-clear from so many of you how important these services are. Of course, the news is not all good. There are substantial cuts across-the-board – to senior centers, affordable housing, legal services, parks, and public schools – cuts that will have real and painful impact. And we will face even greater challenges next year, with larger deficits and a still-shaky economy … long-term challenges that will require hard choices about how to achieve the right balance. As we move forward, I’ll continue to remember that 89% of the nearly 2,000 people who responded to our budget survey would prefer a “fair share” plan that asks for a bit more from those with the most ability to pay, before we risk the core services and institutions that keep our city strong. Still, given the circumstances, and so much budget dysfunction elsewhere, I’m proud of what the City Council, working with the Mayor, was able to do – both of the very democratic and inclusive process (thanks to the thousands of people who contacted us), and of the strong results we achieved for our city in trying times.
As part of his job, Lander has officiated at quite a few local graduations:
Amidst the sometimes-frustrating scrum of City budget negotiations last week, I had a great counterweight that served as a profound reminder of the value of local democracy: public school graduations. I was honored to speak at several 5th & 8th grade graduations, and one kindergarten stepping-up ceremony.
My teary-eyed takeaway is this: public education is the crown jewel of local democracy.
There is simply no comparable way of living up to our core democratic values – that everyone is equal, that the future can (despite everything) be better than the past, and that by acting together as citizens, we can achieve extraordinary things.
Yesterday we spent the day with two remarkable sisters: my mother Edna and my Aunt Rhoda.
Born in Brooklyn’s Methodist Hospital, Edna and Rhoda grew up in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Rhoda attended Madison High School, where she met her future husband. Edna was in the first class of Midwood High School.
Their father, Sam, owned a plumbing chemicals company and was called “the Mayor of 24th Street” for his friendliness and concern for his neighbors. He was a kind and generous man, always beautifully put together with a warm, memorable smile.
Their mother, Anna, was a skilled housewife, loving mother/grandmother, working woman and avid reader. She grew up on Westminister Road in a green house with a billiard room on the third floor.
Here Rhoda remembers the Great Depression (quoted in a Time.com feature, Remembering the Great Depression):
In 1932, we lived in a two-family house in Flatbush, Brooklyn. I remember seeing well-dressed men on bread lines, selling apples on the corner of Canal and Broadway in Manhattan, near where my father had a factory. He owned a chemical company, and had to let his employees go—both the workers and the salesmen. He would go out during the day to try to get orders for his plumbing and heating products and come back with one worker. They’d work most of the night on the third floor of the walk-up to package the chemicals.
I remember my mother walking down 24th Street in Flatbush, collecting clothing and shoes for a refugee family. [And I remember] I was going to have a birthday and my mother said, “Don’t expect any presents, because the banks have closed.” It scarred me for life. It made me very conservative in my spending. I’m concerned for my grandchildren having this debt that’s going to be passed on to them.
Rhoda married her high school sweetheart and raised three children in Westchester. She still lives there, though her husband died three years ago. Always a socially conscious and politically involved individual, for many years she worked as a district office manager for Representatives Richard L. Ottinger and Nita Lowey.
Yesterday, we visited Rhoda in the airy, light filled apartment she now lives in. On a shelf there is a photo of her with Hillary Clinton and Nita Lowey alongside a plethora of photographs of her children and grandchildren. There is even a arty photo of OSFO on the subway (taken by Hugh Crawford) in Rhoda’s bedroom.
She is now a District Leader, which is an un-paid elected official who performs a set of duties on behalf of his or her political party. Each district gets to elect two district leaders, one male and one female, with the same responsibilities. The district leader serves a two-year term. Currently she is collecting signatures for a ballot petition.
We spent a lovely day with the two sisters. Rhoda, dressed in a red and white striped shirt, looked absolutely fantastic. Edna, dressed in her signature black t-shirt and white pants, looked elegant as well. Both move with grace and ease and are up to date on all the news and culture that’s fit to print (in the New York Times and more).
We ate lunch at a local gourmet shop and spent the day talking about politics, family, friends and books. While Ducky and OSFO took a dip in the apartment building’s rooftop swimming pool, I heard stories about my grandparents and my grandfather’s business, which at one time was located in a loft building on Canal Street. My mother, Hepcat and I took a stroll in Rhoda’s local Target.
It was a pleasure to spend the day with these two remarkable sisters.
Governors Island
On Sunday, July 4 at 2PM (the beach opens at 10 AM) Roseanne Cash performs a free concert on Governors Island. And…
On Sunday, July 4 at 4PM there’s a free show by She and Him with Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) and MWard.
Coney Island
On the fourth: Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Get there early. Needless to say it’s a popular event.
Film
I Am Love, Winter’s Bone, Cyrus at BAM; Toy Story 3, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse at the Pavilion
Sunday, Jul 4 at 9:30 PM at BAM: Eldridge Cleaver directed by William Klein (1969) 75min. Under pressure from FBI’s counterintelligence program, Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver and his wife Kathleen left the United States for Algeria. There, he set up the International Section of the Black Panther Party which quickly became the hangout of revolutionaries from the Vietnamese and African liberation movements. Klein’s moving interview follows up with Cleaver during the Pan-African Cultural Festival in Algiers, where he expounds upon the Vietnam War and Black Power during a time when “revolution was the main theme of the day.”
Shopping
On Sunday, July 4: The Brooklyn Flea, a source for for top antiques, vintage furniture and clothing, handmade goods, jewelry, design objects, and locally grown and prepared foods, will remain at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank in Fort Greene on Sundays only.
If you’re a betting man, head on over to Willie’s Dawgs instead and sign up for the Park Slope spot’s hot dog eating contest lottery pool, with the spoils (a $100 discount at Park Slope Veterinary Care) going to whoever correctly predicts the amount of hot dogs it will take to win Coney Island’s fabled event (last year it was 68, and everyone knows that Chestnut will eat 74 this year). The hot dog joint plans to donate all proceeds from the lottery to the Sean Casey Animal Rescue organization, which helps keep man’s best friends safe.
Later, head to Floyd Bennett Field for a Fabolous day. That’s no misprint: the Brooklyn MC will co-headline the third annual Brooklyn Music Festival at Aviator Sports. He’s joined by the infamous Shaggy, whose hit song “Wasn’t Me” lit up the charts in the late 1990s, and B.O.B, the young budding rap star from Atlanta who topped the charts in 2010 with his soulful ballad “Nothin’ on You.” Other acts include Tony Matterhorn and Lady Saw, two Jamaican dancehall deejays who plan to ignite the dance floor, and Jamaican crooner Barrington Levy.
For those looking to move, put on your Fourth of July dancing shoes and head out to Bushwick for a patriotic powwow of massive proportions. The Sunday Best crew is at it again with its self-proclaimed “best doggone backyard barbecue in Brooklyn,” at its new home at Brooklyn Fire Proof. Burgers, corn on the cob and, of course, hot dogs will be on the grill, while special DJ guest Rich Medina will keep the tunes pumping from 3 pm into the night — but ending early enough for you to catch some fireworks.
And for a good old-fashioned picnic, head to Bay Ridge for state Sen. Marty Golden’s third annual gathering. Blues Circus, the Groove, High Tides, Piranha Bros., The Ridge, and Frank Marra and His Band will provide the tunes, while hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage, drinks and ice cream will be available.
Fireworks: Although the Hudson River once again plays host to the Fourth of July Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular, you can still enjoy the patriotic pyrotechnics from numerous waterfront parks, as the shells will reach heights of up to 1,000 feet, creating more than a mile of dazzling fiery joy visible from the Brooklyn shore.
North Brooklyn parks like East River State Park, Grand Ferry Park and the lesser-known Transmitter Park in Greenpoint offer the clearest views of the fireworks, set off between W. 24th and W. 50th street across the river. Financial district skyscrapers partially obscure the view from Brooklyn Heights Promenade and the new Brooklyn Bridge Park, but southern Brooklynites can flock to the 69th Street Pier in Gravesend for a straight peep up the river.
The 26-minute show starts at 9:20 pm, so pack some watermelon, head over to watch the sunset, and make a night of it.
Brought to you from the Feldman Family weather tower in Park Slope.