GET FREE TICKETS – SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS Yo u r NeighborhoodYo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r — News Yo u r ® News® BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2010 BROOKLYN HEIGHTS–DOWNTOWN EDITION AWP/14 pages • Vol. 33, No. 49 • December 3–9, 2010 • FREE INCLUDING DUMBO This means war! American Revolution shrine burglarized By Gersh Kuntzman Police say that the fiend- $200 that had been in a safe The Brooklyn Paper ish Redcoat entered the his- bolted to the floor. One of America’s most- toric museum — a recreation The colonial-era mu- important Revolutionary War of the famous stone farm- seum — a repository on in- sites — the Old Stone House house where Maryland sol- formation about the Battle of in Park Slope — was burglar- diers held off the British so Brooklyn, the first major en- ized by thieves who stole two that George Washington and gagement in the War of In- computers, cash and a cere- his troops could flee to Man- dependence — was closed monial colonial sword over- Lord Stirling — fake hattan — and helped himself at the time of the break in, night on Nov. 21. sword swiped. to the two computers, plus See HOUSE on page 11 Courtesy of Whole Foods Whole Courtesy of LOVE BIRDS A smaller Whole Foods — with a smaller parking lot and a rooftop garden — is now slated for the grocer’s site on Third Avenue and Third Street in Gowanus. Jake & Taylor hit the Slope By Natalie O’Neill ling Place townhouse. for The Brooklyn Paper The story went global, thanks to Celebrity lovebirds Taylor Swift and People.com’s obsession with celeb- Photo by Paul Martinka Jake Gyllenhaal put Park Slope behind rity caffeination, but locally, people a velvet rope over the Thanksgiving were just worried about Maggie’s lit- WHOLE HALVED weekend — and the neighborhood fa- tle brother. mous for not caring about A-listers is “He’s a regular with great energy,” suddenly caring about the dating prac- said Seija Koski, the chef at the vegan Market really coming, but with less parking tices its favorite adopted son. restaurant Sun in Bloom on Bergen Twenty-four hours of relentless Street and Fifth Avenue, where Jake By Andy Campbell five years after touting its plans to build proposal is even cleaner: the park- buzz started — appropriately enough regularly shows up on his Trek bike The Brooklyn Paper along the contaminated waterway. ing plan was reduced to a standard — at Gorilla Coffee on Thanksgiving and spends $9.50 on 14-ounce bot- Whole Foods is officially coming Still, Whole Foods has a lot to show 248-space lot, and Whole Foods reps re- day, when the country music prin- tle of parsley and collard green juice. to the Gowanus Canal! for the years of delay that stemmed vealed that 10 percent of the store’s pro- cess and her new boy toy were spot- “Brooklyn’s a good place for him; After years of false-starts , the high- from cleaning its toxic plot of land and duce will come from a 20,000-square- ted canoodling in the java joint, steps he’s down to earth.” end grocery chain announced on Mon- fielding criticism over its proposed two- foot greenhouse on the roof. How’s away from Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Ster- See JAKE on page 11 JAYLOR: Jake and Taylor. day that it will indeed open on its site story 420-space parking garage. that, locavores? at Third Avenue and Third Street — The site is now clean, and the new See HOUSE on page 2 and “unworkable.” But the Go- rilla owners’ suit griped that they “sustained a loss of reputation and Gorilla crew gets legal eagle a decline in business” due to the Times article and the two weeks By Andy Campbell April’s mass staff exodus. nation letter posted on the Fifth “Retaliatory, anti-speech law- til victory.” that they were out of business due The Brooklyn Paper Litigator Martin Garbus will Avenue coffee shop’s door — and suits like the one from Gorilla Scherer and McLaughlin’s Oc- to a lack of employees. It remains unclear how much A celebrity lawyer is scoffing defend a handful of ex-Gorilla the Times reporter is being sued Coffee have the potential to both tober court filing didn’t clearly employees and Times reporter Ol- for reprinting it . harm innocent people who choose address what was legally defam- business, if any, has been lost to at a defamation lawsuit brought iver Strand, whom shop co-own- But Garbus — who has rep- to speak out and chill the speech atory about the workers’ letter, the media coverage of the mass on by the owners of Gorilla Cof- ers Darleen Scherer and Carol resented the Old Gray Lady and of others who would like to make which claimed that the co-owners walkout. The Gorilla Coffee law- fee, who accused their former em- McLaughlin are suing. The for- taken on stars as big as hip-hopper their voices heard,” Garbus said. created “a perpetually malicious, yer, Stephen Finkelstein, did not File photo by Bess Adler ployees and the New York Times mer workers are being sued for Eminem — claims that the roasted “This lawsuit is without merit and hostile, and demeaning work en- get back to us by our caffeinated It’s still bitter at Gorilla Coffee. of defamation stemming from defaming the owners in a resig- roasters don’t have a case. will be defended vigorously un- vironment” that was “unhealthy” deadline. Drink in a Powell nets park view a book deal By Thomas Tracy The Brooklyn Paper History isn’t always Pier 6 to get restaurant written by the winners, af- By Andy Campbell “I want [the restaurant] to sym- ter all. The Brooklyn Paper bolize the borough’s surging cu- Kevin Powell, the for- mer MTV “Real World” star Brooklyn Bridge Park is about linary reputation,” said Brook- to give The River Café a run for lyn Bridge Park President Regina turned frequent Congressio- nal candidate, has bounced its money. Myer, who was criticized a few Park Bridge Brooklyn back from his three electoral Park officials announced on months ago after selecting two BOOZE WITH A VIEW: Brooklyn Bridge Park planners predict a hot cool new restau- Manhattan-based eateries to run failures by landing a book Monday that they are seeking an rant space atop Pier 6 at the foot of Atlantic Avenue. operator for a new, high-profile the four food stands on Pier 1 at deal with Simon and Schuster to publish a memoir and an restaurant inside the waterfront the foot of Old Fulton Street on File photo by Michael Lipkin park and development — an eat- the northern end of the sprawling 1 am — when the park closes — Street. “I want everyone to pros- new challenges when the new authorized biography of rap ery with sweeping views of the waterfront greenspace. and host music and events. per. I don’t want to be the only restaurant comes in, depend- legend Tupac Shakur. “The memoir’s going to Gaphattan skyline next to a con- The winner of the Pier 6 bid will Nearby restaurant owners are one down here.” ing on its atmosphere. River But in a clear case of re- end in the year 2000,” he said. sistently packed playground. have the opportunity to open a food excited to welcome other food Still, restaurants like the Café owner Michael O’Keeffe dacted history, Powell’s mem- “In the late 1990s, I was in a The space and its adjacent cart on its own small outdoor ter- ventures in the park, despite the River Café — which rests at didn’t return calls for comment oir won’t highlight his bun- deep depression and was do- outdoor terrace, both expected race (and serve booze inside to all new competition. the foot of Water Street on the by press time. gled bids to unseat Rep. Ed ing a lot of drinking, but by to open next fall, will put the park those thirsty parents at the adjacent “I’m from the neighborhood, East River and had unrivaled Park documents show that the Towns (D–Fort Greene), he 2000, I had decided to change on the foodie map in Brooklyn playground!). The restaurant could too,” said Peter Thristino, owner dinnertime views of the wa- restaurant that offers the most rent told this paper. See POWELL on page 11 Heights and Cobble Hill. be open year-round from 6 am to of Pete’s Downtown on Fulton ter — will certainly face some See VIEW on page 11 GOOSEWATCH 2010 Longtime Rep. Solarz dead at 70 By Gary Buiso His biggest moment on the interna- He was also hurt by scandal, fingered The Brooklyn Paper tional stage became an iconic moment by a House ethics investigation that de- Stephen Solarz, the tough-talking, in American foreign policy: During termined that he and his wife wrote hun- 173 nine-term Brooklyn congressman who a 1986 hearing on the Philippines, he dreds of overdrafts at the House bank. was as comfortable blasting a for- demonstrated that the island nation He was never charged with a crime eign leader as he was negotiating a had abused foreign aid by revealing — just 743 overdrafts — but his wife landlord-tenant dispute in Brighton that First Lady Imelda Marcos had a pleaded guilty to writing a bad check GEESE IN Beach, died on Monday of esopha- collection of 3,000 shoes. and stealing money from a charitable PROSPECT PARK geal cancer in Washington. He was “Compared to Imelda,” Solarz group she ran, and was sentenced to quipped, “Marie Antoinette was a probation.