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ishing you a erry hristmas W M FROMC THE BROOKLYN PAPERS ! SATURDAY • DECEMBER 25, 2004 Including The Brooklyn Heights Paper, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper, DUMBO Paper, Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Paper and Downtown News Brooklyn’s REAL newspapers Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington Street, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2004 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 14 pages • Vol. 27, No. 50 BWN • Saturday, December 25, 2004 • FREE POWER BROKERS Community groups seek inside track to Ratner bucks By Jess Wisloski nity Organizations for Reform Now) — which The Brooklyn Papers both support the Forest City Ratner plan — say they are already providing to the developer serv- Two organizations that have been meeting ices for which they could later be hired, acting as with Forest City Ratner officials over a com- community gateways to jobs and housing. munity benefits agreement tied to Atlantic Ratner plans to build Atlantic Yards on 24 Yards may be rewarded with jobs if the bas- acres of public and private property bounded by ketball arena, office skyscraper and apartment Dean Street and Flatbush, Atlantic and Vander- high-rise plan gains government approvals. bilt avenues in Prospect Heights. Members of both BUILD (Brooklyn United James Stuckey, executive vice president of For- for Innovative Local Development) and the New est City Ratner, announced at a public meeting on York chapter of ACORN (Alliance of Commu- Nov. 29 that he hoped to bring ACORN on as the community’s sponsor once the city Department of Housing Preserva- tion and Development (HPD) grant- ed his company tax abatements connected to the construction of af- fordable housing on the site. Carol Abrams, an HPD spokes- Library to woman, said her agency requires a community sponsor in any cases where developers receive tax abatements or relief that is paid for by city taxpayers. That group, she said, is chosen at the developer’s get $16M discretion. HPD entrusts the chosen com- munity group with marketing and leasing the project’s housing com- ponent, but still monitors the admin- makeover istration of the lottery-style applica- tion process through which tenants By Jess Wisloski are selected for the affordable hous- The Brooklyn Papers ing. As proposed, Ratner’s project would include 2,000 units of tax- The Brooklyn Public Library is undertaking a abated housing and 4,500 units in $16 million, 18-month reconstruction of its Cen- total. tral Branch at Grand Army Plaza. But at the Nov. 29 public meet- Library patrons, be warned. As soon as January, read- ing, the motives of both ACORN, a Mango / Greg ers arriving at the library on Eastern Parkway at Flatbush nationwide organization of low- and Avenue may find looming construction equipment sheds moderate-income families, and obscuring the grand entrance. BUILD, a community group But although the library may look off-limits, it will be formed for the express purpose of open during normal hours, despite commencement of the finding jobs from the Atlantic Yards Papers The Brooklyn project, which includes construction of an underground au- project, were called into question. ditorium that has been in the works since 1912. An audience member asked if On Dec. 16, library directors and trustees gathered to members of the two groups were host a community forum addressing concerns local resi- getting paid by Forest City Ratner Piano man, all dressed in red See LIBRARY on page 11 See POWER on page 4 In Dyker Heights, where Christmas always seems a little bit brighter, Santa takes a turn at the piano for this display at 1054 82nd St. Park Sloper’s slice of life The spot, which he claims has no name, no is near Bay 50th Street and Avenue X. site staffers hope to parlay the site’s early suc- Weblog seeks sign and no advertising, serves until the “I can’t find it,” he said. “I don’t know if cess into a franchise of sorts. That endeavor, dough runs out, usually about noon. it’s even for real.” he said, could come to include online travel But the locale has proven elusive for Kuban, Real or not, it is Quixotic detours like those guides (with directions to the best pizza the perfect pie creator of SliceNY.com, a Web site that bills it- that have transformed SliceNY from kitschy joints) and maybe even a coffee table book. self as “America’s favorite pizza weblog.” curiosity to a resource of Zagat-sized propor- Until then, however, Kuban’s biggest contri- By Jotham Sederstrom Indeed, in three sojourns to an area not far tions, at least where pizza is concerned. It has bution to pizza remains something he calls the / Greg Mango / Greg The Brooklyn Papers from the Marlboro Houses in Gravesend and become something of a must-read for anyone “piPod,” which allows lovers of cheese, sauce the Coney Island rail yards, Kuban has come in search of a great slice. Since Kuban put the and dough to download a list of some 35 pizze- About a year ago, Park Sloper Adam to think of the elusive pizzeria as his very site online last October, it has grown to include ria reviews onto their iPods. The invention is Kuban received a tip about an out-of-the- own white whale. nearly 500 pages and gets about 600 hits a day. free on the site, he said, and is updated regularly. way pizzeria in Gravesend, where, as he “They said it’s under the train tracks and Besides embarking on a mission to review “Most of my really good friends know not The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn was told, a customer could order what it’s this weird little shop with no name or a parlors outside of the city (thanks to contribu- to get me started,” said Kuban, 30, of his Adam Kuban, who operates a Web site called SliceNY.com, enjoys some was described to him as a cross between sign,” Kuban said of the person who tipped tor Ian Ritter, SliceNY’s “foreign correspon- predilection for pizza. “But sometimes even I brick-oven pizza at Franny’s on Flatbush Avenue at St. Mark’s Place. a calzone and a particularly savory slice. him off to the pizza place, which he believes dent”), Kuban said that he and two other Web See PIZZA on page 11 NORMAN’S CRY Sources: Capano to ‘Hynes wants to make politics illegal’ By Jotham Sederstrom at a pretrial hearing in Supreme Court, Down- The Brooklyn Papers town, on Monday. quit Boro Hall post Characterizing two former judicial candi- “The politics of Brooklyn is a complicated business,” said Mark Baker, an attorney for By Jotham Sederstrom Markowitz’s predecessor, Howard Under Markowitz, who took office dates as “a bunch of disgruntled losers,” Callan / Tom Norman, during a Dec. 20 pretrial motion re- The Brooklyn Papers Golden, in 1999, told The Brooklyn in 2002, Capano was promoted to the attorneys for Assemblyman Clarence Nor- questing that the court drop an indictment Papers this week, “The answer is I position of senior advisor for communi- man Jr. maintained that when the party boss against Norman on the basis that the Brooklyn Sources say a Republican City haven’t resigned.” ty relations and legislative affairs, a role demanded both nominees either ante up for Democratic Party boss’ conduct is constitu- Council hopeful from Bay Ridge But a Markowitz spokeswoman in which his responsibilities include favored campaign vendors or forget the tionally protected. will resign from his position as a Jocelyn Aframe said, “We understand overseeing the borough’s 18 communi- party’s nomination, he was only engaging in “It may not be nice,” said Baker. “It’s hard- senior advisor to Borough Pres- Bob is exploring his options. In the ty boards while acting as a liaison to its run-of-the-mill “hardball” Brooklyn politics. ball, but it’s not illegal.” Papers File The Brooklyn ident Marty Markowitz. meantime, he will continue to fulfill elected officials and civic groups. And that much is still legal, the lawyers said See NORMAN on page 11 Clarence Norman Robert Capano, who was hired by his obligations here at Borough Hall.” See BEEP AIDE on page 11 E I D Choose from S BROOKLYN THIS WEEK: I N 47 venues — More than New theater festival in DUMBO Nightlife 165 events! GO Brooklyn begins on page 5 ©The Brooklyn Papers. Established 1978. Phone 718-834-9350. Celia Weintrob, Publisher (ext 104) • Neil Sloane, Editor (ext 119) • Lisa J. Curtis, GO Brooklyn Editor (ext 131) • Vince DiMiceli, Senior Editor (ext 125) • Ed Weintrob, President (ext 105) Barney’s is 2 BWN THE BROOKLYN PAPERS • WWW.BROOKLYNPAPERS.COM December 25, 2004 Moving! Pratt area celebrates The Baseball Card Barney’s will reopen DUGOUT Check out our website: in Jan. 2005 www.joerockscards.com VISIT BARNEY’S SMOKE SHOP new and emerging biz Comics • Sports Cards • Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Huge selection of fine cigars including: Magic the Gathering Cards Opus-X • Fuente • Partagas By Jess Wisloski We Buy/We Sell Macanudo • Romeo & Juliet The Brooklyn Papers A new shopping district Open 7 Days! 66 Schermerhorn St. is becoming a destination Mon-Sat: noon to 8pm (at Gamesman Barber Shop) (718) 875-8355 on the eastern end of Sundays: noon to 5pm Clinton Hill. On Friday, the Pratt Area 453 Court St. Frank Community Council (PACC) (corner of 4th Place) an celebrated three store launches sm is that signified the turnaround 718-624-2527 es of a commercial strip on m BACK Callan / Tom Ga hop Grand Avenue between r SSh Clifton Place and Lafayette rbe Avenue that Melissa Lee, the Bar The finest haircuts manager for PACC’s Com- in Downtown Brooklyn mercial Revitalization pro- T ice gram, said was blighted when Papers The Brooklyn P erv AIRPORT PLUS HOT shaves and manicures the organization bought the Carlos Aquila, Councilwoman Letitia James, Radhames Villalona, Felicia Fonrose and Barry M o S SPECIALS: building from the city in 2001 O m The lowest prices on Friedberg at Dakar restaurant, 285 Grand Ave., to celebrate the revitalized commercial strip.

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