nycitybikeshare.com

This summer, New York City is rolling out a shared bicycle program, joining the ranks of cities like Washington D.C. and Paris. There will be ten thousand bikes for rent at six hundred hubs throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. A draft of the station locations, however, shows that Greenpoint is notably lacking.

streetsblog.org

According to local news site DNAinfo, a Department of Transportation draft has no stations east of McGuiness Boulevard. This is odd considering the neighborhood is known for its lack of Manhattan-bound stations and bikes could be an effective way to get people across the Williamsburg bridge, or at least to the L train in Williamsburg. (The neighborhood’s only two stations, the Greenpoint Ave. and Nassau Ave. G trains only go to Queens and south Brooklyn.)

The only map draft I found is from October, which indeed shows the proposed boundary at McGuiness.

The Roots

This week’s edition of “Most Blogged About Shows” falls on a leap day.  Much has changed since the last leap day.

On February 29, 2008:

-      George W. Bush was in the White House.

-      “Road margaritas” were readily available from Turkey’s Nest on Bedford Ave.

-      The domestication of dogs continued, unabated.

-      Zucotti Park was just some concrete slab.

-      Chillwave was nothing more than a twinkle in Ernest Greene’s eye

What was our MOST BUZZED artist, The Roots, doing in 2008?

Why, they embarrassingly cut a single with FALL OUT BOY lead singer Patrick Stump!  Sorry guys, we didn’t forget about that (even if you tried to make us by cutting it from the LP.)  Don’t let that dissuade you from seeing them on Tuesday at the Apollo Theater.  One thing has NOT changed; The Roots are an INCREDIBLE live act and one of the best hip-hop acts of all time.  Don’t miss out.

My personal CAN’T MISS shows this week are Cults, Writer and Mrs. Magician on Friday night over at Maxwell’s, and Tennis and Hospitality, Monday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg.  I’m all about the female-fronted acts this week.

If you can’t make it all the way out to Maxwell’s on Friday, Matthew Dear, Blondes and Helado Negro bring their electronic stylings to Bowery Ballroom.  Don’t end the night there – hop on the M for the after-party over at Glasslands, which features a DJ set by Dabrye.

Speaking of Glasslands, they have an absurdly good hip-hop show this weekend with Oakland’s own Main Attrakionz, with BBU, Greedhead’s Big Baby Gandhi and Beans of Antipop Consortium.  Also at Glasslands, shoegaze-revivalists Widowspeak front a Captured Tracks showcase Saturday night, with Mac DeMarco and Quilt supporting.

(more…)

flickr

The ongoing fight to keep a Whole Foods out of Gowanus, Brooklyn came to an end last night when a city panel approved construction for a facility five times larger than zoning rules allow. While this technically isn’t north Brooklyn news, the issues at hand are certainly relevant. Many local residents and businesses opposed the plan, fearing that it would change the character of the neighborhood and hurt local establishments. This will be the first Whole Foods location in Brooklyn.

According to NY Daily News, construction will begin in the spring and the store will open in the middle of next year. Since purchasing the site at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street in 2004, Whole Foods has had to clean it up (inspectors found the soil to be contaminated) and cut the proposed size of the facility by 25%.

While some local residents support the decision – one tweeted, “awesome, Whole Foods Brooklyn approved… I love this ‘hood, and now I may never move” – the opposition has been vocal. The Gowanus Institute, located in the Old American Can Factory across the street from the Whole Foods site, has voiced concerns about the supermarket taking away potential manufacturing spaces and jobs and in the area. “Gowanus Institute is disappointed by NYC Board of Standards and Appeals’ decision to grant Whole Foods Market the variance to build a large, suburban-style retail food market in an area that has been a haven for well-paying manufacturing jobs protected by New York City’s zoning law and economic policies,” the Institute wrote in a statement about the decision. “The retail development will indeed forever alter the essential manufacturing character of the Gowanus neighborhood.”

A change.org petition also opposes the project on the grounds that Whole Foods will demolish the Coignet Stone Building, a registered landmark. The petition has 357 signatures.

Gowanus, located between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, is known for its industrial past. In 2009, the city declared the Gowanus Canal, which runs up against the Whole Foods plot, an environmental Superfund site.

Five backwards halfwits living in their moms’ basements and drawing swastikas on their bedroom walls doesn’t really warrant a trend in our minds. Has anyone else noticed an upsurge?

It is at once a deeply-rooted Polish neighbourhood with industrial roots where immigrants still speak in their native tongue on the streets.

At the same time, Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighbourhood is a fast-gentrifying area of New York full of young families and working professionals who wish to live close to Manhattan.

But the northernmost neighbourhood in Brooklyn is also home to a group of Polish neo-Nazis, who walk the streets, just like anybody else, and are fiercely proud of their beliefs….

A Facebook group called Greenpoint Antifa was founded by activists in the neighbourhood who serve as vigilantes against what they say is ‘fascist, violent’ conditions.

In fact, there have been rumblings of unrest over the past few years. Only last month, earrings bearing the symbol were spotted at a store on Manhattan Avenue.

The swastika studs were nearly sold out at The Bejewelled shop, with only one pair left. ‘It’s totally outrageous,’ City Councilman Steve Levin told the New York Daily News.

In 2009, the Greenpoint Gazette noted that there was an upsurge of anti-Semitic and homophobic graffiti posted on mailboxes or sprayed on walls.

Last night the rocking boys of Fort Lean played their first headlining show. It was at Santos Party House. It was SOLD OUT. And it was supposed to be the celebration of the “Sunsick” single, their first physical release (because of an error, the 7″s were not available, but the single is still downloadable and still absolutely amazing).

There is something impressive about frontman Keenan Mitchell, who walks on stage already shirtless. Wild yellow hair flying all over the place. Entering right into “High Definition,” from last year’s EP (also available for free download!) They plowed through a high-energy set of songs from the EP, a few new songs and the song of the night “Sunsick,” along with the B-side “The Precinct.”

This band has the ability to perform these songs in a way that is both spot on compared to the recorded versions, and also infusing them with so much personality and captivating the crowd. On “Beach Holiday” for example, every single drum fill was perfectly recreated, Keenan swung his hair and body around wildly. Perfect.

Listen to the new, perfectly coupled one-two punch, “Sunsick” and “The Precinct” below. And be on the lookout for when the 7″ is released.

This month, we’ll be checking out the Andrzej Zulawski film retrospective at BAM.

Dubbed the enfant terrible of Polish cinema, Andrzej Zulawski is one of the most controversial and polarizing filmmakers in the world. BAMcinématek is proud to present the first US retrospective of the uncompromising auteur’s complete work in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute.

The series includes two rare, early shorts Zulawski directed for Polish television—Pavoncello and The Song of Triumphant Love—along with a new 35mm print of his first feature, The Third Part of the Night. A true cinematic agitator, Zulawski squeezed fervent performances from all of his actors in these films that rise to ecstatic heights yet dive deep into the nadirs of the human condition: birth, love, loss, death, and everything in between.

Here’s a taste of the campy hysterical excess to expect:

Possession (1981) – International Trailer

Audio Intention

The Google Spanish to English translation for “abanico” is a fan. In the music culture, Il Abanico is a glistening pop outfit from Bogotá, Colombia. The band consists of Nicolas Losada on a guitar, Julianna Ronderos on a microphone and supporting members on various experimental instruments. Il Abanico is music that shines beautiful rays across the room. One hear of Ronderos’ voice and you can grasp a distinctive allurement to their sweet melodic sounds. This band is currently residing in Brooklyn and playing many regular shows around Williamsburg. If you haven’t checked out their music, get a free download of their Crossing Colors EP on their bandcamp. Il Abanico will also be attending SXSW, so feel free to visit their facebook to stalk them at that love fest.

It’s rare that ‘Country Living’ has articles I’m interested in, but here goes. As a wise man once shouted drunkenly at The Bowery “I love you Neko!” [Thanks Colin]

According to her Twitter feed, Azealia Banks has a project cooking With M.I.A.

Following yesterday’s report that the debut full-length from Azealia Banks is called Broke With Expensive Taste and will be out via Universal in September (according to Nylon), Banks noted on Twitter today that she is currently working on a collaboration with M.I.A.

We’ve enjoyed what we’ve heard so far: