E S I D U • Brooklyn’s only complete S L I N P Nightlife Guide — 35 venues Brooklyn Bites • Writer-director Peter Hedges Your essential guide to BROOKLYN EATS • Inside Red Hook’s new nightclub 2003 NATIONAL BROOKLYN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AWARD WINNER Including The Downtown News, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper and Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Paper Published weekly by Brooklyn Paper Publications at 26 Court St., Brooklyn, NY 11242 Phone 718-834-9350 © Brooklyn Paper Publications • 20 pages including GO BROOKLYN • Vol. 26, No. 42 BWN • October 20, 2003 • FREE Basketball Vandals hit pros: Move Slope ‘shul’ Graffiti, broken windows at Nets here B’nai Jacob in Park Slope By Deborah Kolben to find a job.” By Deborah Kolben The Brooklyn Papers “Brooklyn Nets, let’s go,” added Free, who grew up in The Brooklyn Papers Some of Brooklyn’s greatest Brownsville and retired in 1989 Vandals attacked stained glass basketball stars gathered with after 13 years in the NBA. windows and spray-painted graffi- real estate developer Bruce But no one seemed quite as ec- ti at a Park Slope synagogue over Ratner at Junior’s restaurant static as Borough President Marty the weekend during the Jewish Tuesday afternoon to promote Markowitz, who has been trying holiday of Sukkot. his bid to bring the New Jersey to bring a professional sports team At a news conference Monday after- Nets to Brooklyn. to the borough since the day he noon in front of Congregation B’nai Ja- “We are going to fulfill the took office. cob, an Orthodox synagogue on Ninth dream of all Brooklynites,” said “My lifelong dream will be ful- Street at Seventh Avenue, Rabbi Shi- Ratner, who seemed to be having filled,” Markowitz said. mon Hecht called the vandalism “heart- the time of his life as he joked Not so fast, Marty. breaking” and said he believed it was with basketball greats including Ratner is among a group of bid- an act of anti-Semitism. Connie Hawkins, World B. Free ders making a play to purchase the Hecht said he found the act particu- and Albert King. Nets from YankeeNets, the parent larly hurtful on a holiday when “Jews Taking the microphone, some company of the team. don’t just pray for themselves, but pray Mango / Greg of the stars, many of who hailed New York Islanders hockey for all mankind.” from Brownsville and Bedford- team owner Charles Wang also Sukkot celebrates the fall harvest and Stuyvesant, touted the importance submitted a bid to bring the Nets commemorates the desert wandering of of having an NBA team in the to Long Island. And only real es- the Jews during the Exodus. Borough of Kings. tate mogul Charles Kushner and Made in Red Hook “Unfortunately people don’t respect Papers The Brooklyn “I hope this happens,” Hawkins Sen. Jon Corzine, who also made On Beard Street Tuesday, “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini (left) with actors Frank Vincent and one another,” Hecht said of the incident. Rabbi Shimon Hecht points to dam- said, adding, “I would come back See ARENAon page 6 Steve Buscemi, of Park Slope, take a break during the filming of the popular HBO mob drama. See SYNAGOGUE on page 8 aged stained glass window. Hynes: Norman stole Dem bucks CB6 SLAMS DA charges Clarence treated party as ‘personal piggy bank’ By Deborah Kolben symbolic last meal at the Park Plaza Diner PIER PLANS The Brooklyn Papers on Cadman Plaza West, where many of the Brooklyn Democrats’meetings are held, be- By Deborah Kolben A grand jury investigation into the fore walking with a cadre of supporters to The Brooklyn Papers sale of judgeships in Brooklyn brought the district attorney’s office just before 9 pm As a consulting firm prepares a proposal that will the county’s Democratic Party boss on Oct. 9. before a judge of his own this week. Norman arranged for his own highly pub- determine the fate of the Red Hook-Columbia Street The chairman of the Kings County Demo- licized perp walk from the diner to District piers, Community Board 6 has issued a scathing rebuke cratic Committee, Assemblyman Clarence Attorney Charles Hynes’office at 350 Jay St. to the firm, charging it has ignored community input, Norman Jr., was indicted on charges of steal- He spent the night there, was fingerprint- rushed the study along and failed to give hard facts ing $5,000 from his own re-election commit- ed, handcuffed and released on $25,000 bail about the port’s operations. tee and submitting 76 fraudulent vouchers after turning over his passport and entering a The community board also advocated for continued maritime for reimbursements for travel expenses total- not-guilty plea at his arraignment Friday use of the piers and requested a copy of the draft so it can weigh ing more than $5,000. morning. in on the final version. According to Hynes, the Democratic Par- Hynes called a press conference immedi- As for community input, the board, which represents Car- ty picked up the tab for Norman’s gas and ately after where he outlined the charges roll Gardens, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Street Waterfront tolls, but Norman allegedly double-dipped, against Norman and accused the Democratic District, Gowanus, Park Slope and Red Hook, called the pub- by filing for reimbursement from the As- boss of using the party as his “personal pig- lic participation process “crucially flawed” and said residents sembly. gy bank.” Hynes said more charges against were being left in the cold in the actual decision-making If convicted, Norman could face up to party officials could be in the offing. process. seven years in jail. “The train is leaving,” said Hynes, noting Jerry Armer, chairman of CB6, fired off a letter to John This week, Norman called the charges that those who want to avoid prosecution Alschluer, a principal in Hamilton Rabinowitz & Alschuler “ludicrous” and told The Brooklyn Papers should come forward. (HR&A), the consulting firm hired to lead the study. the travel expenses were an allowance, not a Jeffrey Feldman, executive director of the Callan / Tom “We are absolutely dissatisfied with the public participation / Tom Callan / Tom reinbursement. Kings County Democratic Committee, was process both in terms of how the process was structured and Norman accused Hynes of using the in- not indicted by the grand jury. He is still un- how the public was engaged,” Armer wrote in a letter accompa- dictment as a political tactic to insure his der investigation, sources said. nying the board’s statement of position. own re-election. Norman has responded to Hynes’indict- In that statement, the board called for “waterfront dependent” “He came up with nothing,” Norman said. ment with a charge of his own. Papers The Brooklyn uses for the piers and rejected “residential, ‘big box’or other or- The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn “We’re going to win this battle.” In a letter this week to Brooklyn Chief Indicted Assemblyman Clarence Norman dinary commercial activity.” District Attorney Charles Hynes announces Joined by supporters and almost all of the Judge Ann Pfau, Norman’s attorney, Roger walks to DA’s office on Jay Street last “There has been no attempt whatsoever to have the commu- the indictment of Clarence Norman on Friday. borough’s 42 district leaders, Norman took a See DEM BUCKS on page 2 Thursday. nity actively and demonstrably participate in the deliberative process,” read the CB6 statement. The statement was approved by the board at its monthly meeting on Oct. 15. The future use of Piers 6-12 has been debated for months as the Port Authori- Construction irks ty of New York and New Jersey decides Dean’s whether or not to renew the lease of Sal Catucci, who operates his American Stevedoring company out of all but one of those piers. ‘Law’ neighbors Catucci’s lease is up for renewal in ‘artist’ April and there seems to be no shortage of interest from both the private and By Deborah Kolben alarm after a crane hook smashed public sector. The Brooklyn Papers through a woman’s eighth-floor window Advocates for everything from af- Downtown Brooklyn residents con- at 96 Schermerhorn St. fordable housing to luxury condomini- cerned about the surge of construction in The woman was not home at the time and tagged ums to continued maritime use have their backyards may have reason for the damage was minimal aside from shattered come up to bat for their cause. glass and frayed nerves, but the To determine the best possible use incident has spurred a Depart- By Deborah Kolben See PIERS on page 8 ment of Buildings investigation The Brooklyn Papers into possible safety violations at A graffiti scrawler hired by presiden- the Boerum Place and State Street site, where a controversial tial hopeful Howard Dean to pen a INSIDE THE PAPER backdrop for an August campaign rally 22-story Brooklyn Law School Classifieds . GO 9-11 dormitory is being built. in Manhattan was nabbed by police last GO Brooklyn 12 pages . Section 2 Caroline Herron, said she Monday for his part in vandalizing sub- Home Improvement . GO 10 was shocked when she returned way cars four years ago. home the night of Oct. 1 to find The arrest delighted Bensonhurst Council- Health, Mind & Body. page 6 her window missing and ply- man James Oddo, who along with the mayor Parent . Back page wood in its place. While Herron and borough president had roundly criticized Police . page 3 / Tom Callan / Tom has kept her cool about the inci- Dean for giving the impression that New Real Estate .