Volume 59, No. 17 FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 www.brooklyneagle.com Two Sections 50¢ BROOKLYN TODAY Bus Route Spurs Controversy MAY 3 Good morning. Today is the 123rd day of the year. On this day in 1896, the Brook- lyn Daily Eagle published a “Map of the Brooklyn and New York Area.” Interest- ingly, only railroads and ele- vated lines were shown on the map, not roads. In those pre-automobile days, roads were generally in poor con- dition, and even in the city, many were still unpaved. In Brooklyn, the map showed the steam railroads that were the ancestors of today’s F, D, B and N trains, along with the old Fulton Street, Myrtle Avenue, Lex- ington Avenue and Broad- THE BLACK LINE REPRESENTS THE MTA’S PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE B67 way elevated lines (portions of the Myrtle Avenue and bus route through DUMBO, while the red line represents an alternate plan Broadway lines still survive proposed by the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance. The BQE is shown in green. as part of today’s subway See story, page 3. Graphics by Mary Frost system). What is now the LIRR’s Bay Ridge Freight RIGHT: DICK ZIGUN, FOUNDER AND ORGANIZER OF CONEY ISLAND’S MERMAID Line but was then a thriving Parade, bangs the drum during a recent parade. Due to financial problems passenger line was also shown on the map. caused by damages from Superstorm Sandy, this year's parade may have to be canceled. See story, page 3. Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo A Young Star at Third Base RIGHT: SAINT ANN’S SCHOOL coach Teresa Schirrippa knew from the first time she saw her pick up a glove and a bat that freshman Nina Premuti- co would be a special player for the Steamers. For more high school sports, see page 9. Photo by Leslie Marshall LEFT: ESTEEMED AUTHOR David Sedaris will appear in DUMBO on May 11 to dis- cuss his latest collection, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.” See story, page 12. Jay-Z Joins Nassau Courts Coliseum Pitch Celebrate From Associated Press Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z, who was an early investor ‘Bring Your in the new Barclays Center, is now part of a group trying to renovate Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Child to Work...’ The rapper and music mogul attended a meeting Thurs- DYLAN SCLAFANI (CENTER); day on Long Island, where the media was briefed on four proposals to renovate the arena and surrounding property. his mother, Jacque Sclafani, Nassau County officials have been trying to come up a court attorney; and his fa- with a plan to redevelop the 40-year-old arena for many ther, Vito Sclafani, take part years. The New York Islanders are its primary tenant, but in the Brooklyn Supreme the team is moving to Barclays Center in 2015. Court’s “Bring Your Child to Jay-Z heads Roc Nation Sports, a sports agency. He took Work Day.” Between 40 and photos with Nassau County officials but did not speak dur- 50 kids participated. See ing the 30-minute presentation. story and more photos, County officials are expected to decide on a plan this page 19. summer. Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo May 3, 2013 • Brooklyn Daily Eagle • 1 EVIEW AND COMMENT RThe Resurgence of Vinyl Records: Why Analog Lives On By Jim Sollisch Christian Science Monitor My son Max, a 24-year old indie singer-songwriter, just released his first full-length album. Yes, I said “album.” His record label released it on vinyl, not disc. (It does come with a free download card.) Vinyl sales were up 16 percent last year while CDs continue their down- ward slide. At first blush, this sounds either like fiction or a miracle. What’s next, the return of rotary phones? But it’s true. If you’re in the midst of middle age, and you want to im- press a twenty-something, get a turntable, dig out your Led Zeppelin al- bums, and invite him over to listen to some music. Yes, it really is a miracle: Analog lives. And not just in the world of music. I work in advertising, and every hip- ster is carrying a sketchbook or blank book. They all have digital tablets, of course, but this seems to be their way of saying, “I’m paying attention.” Ei- ther that, or the sketchbook is just too cool an accessory to give up. Organic gardening – the analog version of buying produce at the su- permarket – is back, too. And while e-book sales are rising, print books are showing remarkable staying power, according to a recent Nielson report. Same with music. Buy the vinyl and get a download card, and you’ll also get a half a pound of vinyl that says, “This music exists.” You’ll get a 12-by-12- in. piece of art. And lyrics you can actually read. You’ll even be able to find out what musicians played on what tracks. And most importantly, you’ll hear music the way it was supposed to sound – warm and rich and breath- ing – not as if you were in a sterile studio, surrounded by a thousand tiny speakers, but as if you were right there in the room with the band. Like most boomers, I hauled my last turntable to Goodwill back in the ’80s and hooked up my brand new 20-disc CD player. I thought I had en- tered the future, having no idea the future would take me back to my own basement, where, 25 years later, I would uncover my collection of vinyl al- bums, stored in the stolen milk crates of my youth, some neglected and si- lenced for almost 30 years. A few months ago, I bought a turntable to hear my son’s new album, an experience which ranks right up there with watching him take his first steps. After the album ended, I watched the arm lift and glide back to its cra- dle. I hadn’t seen that choreography in years. I wanted to see it again. So I hauled the milk crates up from the basement. The first album I pulled out was Cat Stevens’s “Teaser and the Firecat,” an album I had bought back in 1971, when I was 13, and had last played some time in the ’80s. It was strange the way the album fit my memory. I could anticipate every jump and pop. I knew which song was coming as soon as the last song started its fade. This was my album, marked and scratched by me: an audio fingerprint. Vinyl becomes personal in a way that digital music never does. Despite Apple’s use of the personal pronoun in naming its products, there is noth- ing personal about digital music. It’s everyone’s music, identical copies with no personality. I spent the day listening to my old albums. I kept thinking, since I last heard this album, my parents had died, my children had been born, I lost a marriage, found a career – and somehow I was the same person who had listened to this album in a dorm room late at night, memorizing every word, searching for meaning and for clues to who I would become. Jim Sollisch is creative director at Marcus Thomas Advertising. Is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and Federal Holidays by Everything Brooklyn Media, LLC (USPS 971380), located at 16 Court Street, Suite 1208, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Subscription price is $130 per year, $65 for six months. Periodicals Postage paid at Brooklyn, NY. (POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Circulation Office, 16 Court Street, Suite 1208, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Telephone: 718-643-9099, ext. 103 FAX: 718-858-3291. Publisher - J.D. Hasty: [email protected] Managing Editor - Raanan Geberer: [email protected] • Legal Editor - Charisma Miller, Esq.: [email protected] Features Editor - Samantha Samel: [email protected] • Sports Editor - John Torenli: [email protected] Community Editor - Mary Frost: [email protected] • Religion Editor - Francesca N. Tate: [email protected] Consulting Editor - Chuck Otey: [email protected] • Consulting Editor - Sam Howe: [email protected] 2 • Brooklyn Daily Eagle • May 3, 2013 DUMBO Preservation Group, BID Clash Over ‘Tech Triangle’ Bus Route By Mary Frost to be at the expense of our The MTA’s proposed Brooklyn Daily Eagle neighborhood,” said DNA route, an extension of the ex- While an MTA propos- spokesperson Doreen Gallo. isting B67, would extend from al to extend the B67 bus line Make “a slight adjust- Downtown Brooklyn through through DUMBO as part of a ment to the existing route, DUMBO to the Brooklyn new “Tech Triangle” bus line which would result in keep- Navy Yard. It would connect has garnered praise from lo- ing the buses just out of to the York Street (F train) sta- cal businesses, a neighbor- DUMBO proper,” the group tion and the B62 bus (Wythe hood preservation group requested. Avenue). The bus would op- says the route will add need- The DUMBO BID (Busi- erate every 30 minutes on lessly to traffic and noise on ness Improvement District), weekdays only, beginning in DUMBO’s already congested representing local business- September. streets. The group is asking es and cultural organizations, MTA spokesperson Kevin the MTA to move the route a supports the MTA’s proposed Ortiz said the agency is still block or two east. route. “Jay Street has become reviewing comments. At a meeting held on the main retail corridor of the “We appreciate the in- Monday, April 29, at Borough neighborhood,” said Alexan- put from the communi- Hall, the DUMBO Neighbor- dria Sica, executive director of ty during the public hear- hood Alliance (DNA) pre- the BID.