BROOKLYN Your Neighborhood – Your News Now Including Park Slope Courier, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier, Brooklyn Heights Courier & Williamsburg Courier July 19-25, 2013 SERVING GOWANUS, PARK SLOPE, PROSPECT HEIGHTS, WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, DUMBO, METROTECH, BOERUM HILL, CARROLL GARDENS, COBBLE HILL, RED HOOK, WILLIAMSBURG & GREENPOINT Gowanus Brooklyn’s The boro’s Spice girl biggest ultimate sing-along booster classified See 24Seven See page 24 section Jumaane’s call for SLOW IT DOWN! rave police Park Slopers BY DANIELLE FURFARO say OK to A push to require house-party planners to notify the police in advance of ragers has ruffl ed the feathers of Brooklynites who say ‘calmer’ 4th they will fi ght for their right to party. BY NATALIE MUSUMECI Councilman Ju- A Park Slope panel has changed maane Williams course and approved the city’s (D–Flatbush) said controversial plan to radically he will introduce redesign a dangerous stretch of a bill that would Fourth Avenue after it shot down make it manda- a slightly different proposal last tory for people month . planning par- Last Wednesday night, Commu- ties of more than 40 nity Board 6 voted 21 to 3 in favor people to alert the police ahead of of a traffi c-slowing plan that re- the event. duces car lanes in both directions But pro-party people say such from three to two to make room a law would clamp down on their for wider parking spaces and fatter right to get down. Vive la France! pedestrian islands. The approved “That’s hideous,” said Larisa plan addresses a 1.4-mile stretch Fuchs of event promotion com- From left, Blair Turoff of Manhattan, Brooklynites Emily Gordan, Ashley Kuehne, Chris Valle, Lizzie Rippe, Queens where 53 people were killed or se- pany Gemini & Scorpio. “The idea resident Molly Rippe, and Lauren Valle of Brooklyn Heights kept cool at Smith Street’s Bastille Day party with verely injured between 2007 and that you would have to check in ice-cold drinks. For more on the fun, see page 4. Photo by Elizabeth Graham 2011, according to the city. The plan Continued on page 14 Continued on page 14 A CNG Publication Vol. 33 No. 29 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT BROOKLYNDAILY.COM CATS For MAYOR A New Yorker for all New Yorkers cats2013.com Paid for by Catsimatidis 2013 2 INSIDE NNN%9IFFBCPE;8@CP%:FD GL9C@J?<;9P:E>(D<KIFK<:?:<EK<IEFIK?('K?=CFFI9IFFBCPE#EP(()'( UNHAPPY ENDING CIRQUE DE 19-25, 2013 19-25, MACABRE Edward Gorey-inspired ULY performers join circus party The circus is back in town: Vau De Vire, a troupe that By Danielle Furfaro thing Gorey. is behind the magic of San t’s as if a steampunk circus wasn’t And these artists who like to dress in Francisco’s famous Edwardian weird enough. black are headlining this year’s Gemini Ball, will bring elements I A Gowanus group known for its and Scorpio party for a good reason of the ball to Gemini and wacky parties is holding its latest themed — it’s the Gowanus group’s tenth anni- , J Scorpio’s Lost Circus. spectacle with special guests who also versary. love to perform with a twist — that is, Other special guests include the imaginative world of artist Edward Debauche, a New Orleans Russian mafia Gorey. band who play rocking gypsy punk, Musicians and performers who draw Desert Sin, a troupe that specializes in their themes and metaphors from Gorey’s a neo-tribal, exotic fusion of dance and IFE work — macabre stories and surreal theater, the Armored Combat League, illustrations of sullen skulls, winged who hold exhibition matches of medi- creatures, and hapless children — are eval armored combat, and DJ Joro Boro, joining Gemini and Scorpio’s annual whose delirious rhythms combine Slavic L steampunk party called the Lost Circus, circus with Burning Man. where jugglers and silk rope dancers As with previous year’s renditions mingle with the costumed crowd. of the Lost Circus, the whole thing is a “It’s a sort of a pagan lounge ensem- mix of performance and participation. ble,” said Justin Katz, bandleader of Ticket holders have to dress according to FOR RIDGE ‘SPAS’ Rosin Coven. code, which is elaborate as it is inclusive “We enjoyed being a theatrical band — “dark cabaret, traveling circus, steam- and did what we could in terms of creat- punk Victorian,” are among the guide- ing characters. Now we are co-creating lines — and artists will expect audience story lines.” members to be more than standing and The musicians of Rosin Coven and staring. the acrobats and dancers of Vau de Vire “We have a beekeeper’s drinking Society are like the Gemini and Scorpio song that fosters an animal rebellion,” of the west coast. They’re most famous said Katz. “We’ll see what the audience OURIER shindig is the Edwardian Ball, a huge does with that.” costume party based in the gothic world The Lost Circus at the Irondale of beady-eyed creatures and characters. Center, (85 S. Oxford St., between The band and the performance troupe Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in C started out as two separate projects, but Fort Greene, geminiandscorpio.com). they realized they were magical when Aug. 10, 9 pm–4 am, $30, $40 VIP seat- they joined together to celebrate every- ing, $15 after 1 am. Ten years of freaky fun : Looking back on Gemini & Scorpio’s parties Cops shut 12 massage parlors after our story By Danielle Furfaro hen Gemini & Scorpio launched 10 years ago, it Wwas intended to be a web- site dedicated to listing creative out- ing ideas for those dipping their toes sª#ANTINAªATªTHEª%NDª sª&AIRYª&ORESTª&ROLIC sª 3WINGª (OUSEª a sª &IREFLY a movie sª2USSIAN "ATHHOUSE into the world of online dating. OFªTHEª5NIVERSE a an intimate, playful, jazz and swing speak- practically made for a dance party in a Then the company started to throw pan-alien adventure and erotic costume easy brought straight the steam punk loving Coney Island Avenue parties for singles and since then, party where ewoks party where faerie love from the 1930s to the Gowanus group, this banya had a live gypsy the company has thrown increasingly mingled with paranoid songs filled the air and electro-funk era. The all night screening of band and Balkan unusual — and sexy — parties. androids serenaded by druids, witches, and party featured bur- the hit sci-fi series was music on the turntable. Here are some of the most unusual an alien monster pup- enchanted animals lesque acts, vintage a lovely blend of cos- There’s nothing like parties the company has thrown. “We know people in Bay Ridge have pet band. enjoyed Valentines clothes, and plenty of play and socializing. swim suits, pierogies, BY WILL BREDDERMAN Day in the forest. dancing. and open vodka bar. Cops raided 12 Southern Brooklyn spas back pain, but we don’t think that’s enough Your entertainment and arrested 19 people on July 10 for an ar- to sustain 19 massage parlors,” said Police guide Page 25 ray of charges including p r o s t i t u - Commissioner Ray Kelly. DT tion. Hynes declined to com- Authorities noted that Parlors worry Ridgites mment on why so many spas the businesses — fi ve in hhad opened in the area, Police Blotter ....................8 Residents wonder what happens behind ‘spas’ closed doors BY WILL BREDDERMAN Bay Ridge, six in Dyker These massage parlors bbut a police source said are making people anxious! Well, their neighbors, cently drove past the anyway. spa late at night and Letters ...............................18 Bay Ridge residents and saw a man zipping up civic leaders say that spas of- his pants as he exited Heights, one in Benson- fering underhanded services ttheh masseuses had merely the place. — and advertising them in the seedier corners of the In- “It was disgust- ing,” the resident ternet — are popping up all said. over the neighborhood. A worker at Jia Li Standing O ......................24 Neighbors complain that hurst — had rubbed some claimed nothing il- oobeyed the law of supply more than half a dozen mas- licit was happening at sage parlors with dark win- her business. dows and late hours have popped up in the neighbor- “It’s all legal,” the woman said. hood in the last six months, residents the wrong way mainly on Fifth Avenue — Community lead- an ers said that they and demand. Sports ...............................35 and that the joints seem to have heard the public primarily serve men seeking outcry over the spas, special treatment. and they’re deeply Some who are fearful of concerned. giving their name say that for months, despite pre- they don’t understand how “We all see the “They went where the same thing — more so many could stay in busi- andmoreplacesad senting themselves as le- n cucustomers are,” the New gitimate relaxation ther- FLASHBACK YoYork Police Department in- apy centers . sidsider said. Of those in custody, Brooklyn’s top lawman authorities identifi ed three as spa owners, said his offi ce was looking into whether any and the remainder as workers and manag- of the accused were victims of human traf- ers. Charges range from prostitution to vio- fi cking, being manipulated or held against lations of New York State Worker’s Compen- their will. He also raised the possibility that sation law, to practicing massage without a single organization secretly ran all of the a license. Buildings Department offi cials spas, since the women in custody all gave HOW TO REACH US said that all of the structures housing the nearly identical stories of having a child in Mail: spas were in dilapidated and even danger- Asia they needed to support.