INSIDE: PAGES AND PAGES OF COUPONS TO SAVE YOU CASH! Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2014 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn and Williamsburg AWP/10 pages • Vol. 37, No. 5 • January 31–February 6, 2014 • FREE THE WAR ON CARS BEHIND THE CITY’S NEW CLAMPDOWN ON DRIVERS Yield to the shield Park Slope police stage crosswalk sting By Megan Riesz camping out near crosswalks to The Brooklyn Paper watch for the countless infrac- Cops in Park Slope are MEAN tions that occur in a given hour, doing something seldom at- the precinct had undercover tempted by the New York Po- Streets cops pose as hapless walk- lice Department — enforcing The battle for Brooklyn’s byways ers. However they did it, the traffic laws. car crackdown is a step in the Undercover officers with ting drivers with the rarely right direction, road safety ac- Photo by Elizabeth Graham the neighborhood’s 78th Pre- enforced charge of failure to tivists say. yield to a pedestrian, accord- “Drivers are supposed to Drivers beware. That guy taking his time crossing the cinct went on a ticketing blitz Photo by Stefano Giovannini street could be a cop. last Thursday and Friday, hit- ing to police. Only instead of See STING on page 8 Sammy Tunis shows off Egg’s beloved country ham biscuit with grits. Clinton Hill Kent Avenue at BQE exit HASH FLOW Reducing Narrowing streets A popular W’burg brunch spot By Danielle Furfaro on Wilson Avenue. One Williamsburg The Brooklyn Paper resident praised the changes. cannibalizes its upscale offspring speeds The city plans to narrow several “It will cause inconvenience, but if would like it to be,” said Egg chef it saves lives, it is a good thing,” said By Danielle Furfaro blocks of Kent Avenue to keep drivers The Brooklyn Paper Evan Hanczor of his current accom- By Matthew Perlman from speeding after exiting the Brook- James Planert, who often walks along modations. “People have to wait for the avenue. Egg is about to get a bigger car- The Brooklyn Paper lyn–Queens Expressway. ton. a long time and there is not enough Clinton Hill drivers will soon be hit- The traffic calming proposal for the The proposed tweaks include mov- The owner of Egg, the wildly popu- room for prep. It will be great to have ting the brakes. stretch of road between Williamsburg ing the Williamsburg Bridge–bound lar Williamsburg breakfast and brunch more room.” The city plans to set up a traffic-calm- Street West and Clymer Street was bike lane off the sidewalk to create a spot, plans to move the operation into Parish Hall opened two years ago ing “slow zone” for the area bounded by Photo by Jason Speakman. prompted in part by the March deaths two-way bike path on the East River the larger digs that currently house on N. Third Street, serving lunch and Washington, Lafayette, and Bedford av- Clinton Hill could soon get of Raizy and Nathan Glauber, newly- side of the road. his other eatery Parish Hall, which dinner, but it never gained the popular- enues, and Fulton Street. The proposal more speed humps like this weds who were driving down Kent Av- The bike highway would be sepa- he will shut down. ity of Egg, which has consistently had See CLINTON on page 8 one on Washington Avenue. enue when a speeding cabbie hit them See KENT on page 8 “This space is smaller than we See EGG on page 9 Priest reads Pussy Riot Act Says ‘satanic’ Russian band not welcome at Barclays Center By Megan Riesz are making them into heroes,” The Brooklyn Paper he said. “Anyone who desecrates Turn off that devil music! a church, synagogue, or mosque Members of the Russian pro- is not a hero.” test punk group Pussy Riot are International civil liberties or- set to make their first post-prison ganizations, including Amnesty appearance in the United States International, say the two years at the Barclays Center in Feb- Nadezhda “Nadva” Tolokonnik- ruary, but one local priest does ova and Maria “Masha” Alyokh- not want those heretics anywhere ina spent in prison in Mordovia, near his flock. a Russian colony, were an un- “This is satanic,” said Arch- just attack on political speech. Not Lukianov. priest Serge Lukianov of the Or- Press Associated Russian Orthodox Church Abroad thodox New Martyrs and Con- (Left) Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova made “They have their own opin- fessors of Russia Church in this devilish gesture in a Mordovian court halfway through ion, but to desecrate the holiest Bensonhurst. her two-year prison bid. (Right) Archpriest Serge Lukianov of holy churches is completely The anarchist rockers made wants the band to steer clear of his borough. out of line,” the priest said. headlines in 2012 when the Rus- Another prominent Russian sian authorities arrested three of took a more tempered view. Photo by Paul Martinka them for filming a raucous anti– trial and imprisonment on hoo- in Prospect Heights. But Luki- Pussy Riot has the right to Vladmir Putin music video in a liganism charges. Two are now anov says their message of pro- protest wherever it wants, but Russian Orthodox Church ca- fresh out of the pokey — the third test against the church and its probably should not have picked thedral in Moscow. The group was released in 2012 — and plan- role in government is nothing a beloved cathedral for their now- East shiver became a cause celebre over the ning to say a few words at the Feb. to celebrate. famous performance, according to The latest blast of Arctic weather sent gigantic ice chunks flowing along the East Riv- course of the trio’s subsequent 5 Amnesty International concert “It is appalling that people See RIOT on page 9 er’s Brooklyn shoreline last week. Swans are latest target Coney beer co. State: Elegant waterfowl fouling ecosystem By Colin Mixson plans to eradicate the menace nation of the per-swan-a non gra- plots big return The Brooklyn Paper by 2025. ta’s free-ranging population in What does an ugly duckling The state’s Department of En- the state. By Will Bredderman create a space where you can grow up to become in New York? vironmental Conservation’s re- “This plan supports actions The Brooklyn Paper drink beer there on the prem- by DEC to eliminate free-rang- A dead swan, that’s what — if cently released “Mute Swan Man- The People’s Playground’s al- ises and where we can supply beer the state gets its way! agement Plan,” labels the bird an ing mute swans from New York cohol content is about to rise! to the New York City area,” said Albany has declared the mute invasive species that hurts the en- by 2025,” the department’s web- The Department of Environmental Protection has The company behind manager Mike Sheehan. swan an enemy of the state and vironment and calls for the elimi- See SWANS on page 9 marked the beautiful mute swan for extermination. Coney Island Lager will The brewery could include a soon debut a full-scale bar and will definitely feature a brewery in the beer’s tasting room, he said. namesake neighbor- Coney Island Lager began as hood. an offshoot of San Francisco’s Eminent domain — for good The craft-brewer Shmaltz Brewing Company, Alchemy — a subsid- and operated out of Sideshows iary of Boston Brewery, by the Seashore at the corner W’burg pol pitches seizure as solution to senior center woes which produces Sam of W. 12th Street and Surf Adams — said that Avenue from 2011 to 2012. By Danielle Furfaro bid to keep open the Swinging plans are underway to The freakshow’s owner, The Brooklyn Paper Sixties Senior Center, which is start mixing the bar- Dick Zigun, let the com- A Williamsburg official is fighting an eviction notice it re- ley malt and hops at pany make its micro-mi- ceived on Christmas Eve . The pol an as-yet undecided cro-brews by the one-gal- pushing a law that would let lon batch in his building the city seize a building from said he understands why people spot near Surf Ave- nue and the world-fa- rent free. its owner to save the embattled would hesitate to give officials But Hurricane Sandy that kind of power, but said in mous amusement dis- senior center inside. trict. The fermenting swamped the property, this case it is justified. Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D– facility should be mak- and the brewers moved Photo by Elizabeth Graham Williamsburg) is planning to in- “There are reasons for the ing suds by summer, out . Shmaltz sold the Assemblyman Joe Lentol troduce a bill to allow the gov- city to shy away from eminent in time to refresh the label to Alchemy in announces his bill to make ernment to yank private property domain, but this is one they crowds thronging the Aug. 2013, Sheehan it easier for the city to take from its owners using eminent Photo by Elizabeth Graham should embrace,” said Lentol. beach and the rides, a said. The lager will re- control of spaces like the domain without the normal re- Four-year-olds show their support for the Small World “It is not raining on anyone’s pa- sales manager said. main as a legacy brand Swinging Sixties Center. view process. The proposal is a Daycare Center, down the hall from the senior hub. See SWINGING on page 4 “We’re looking to See BEER on page 8 Henry Street DONATE FOOD TODAY Food Pantry First Presbyterian Church Drop off food items Mon.– Fri.