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WitStream Oscar Party at the Bell House

oscarsNot interested in who wins at this Sunday’s Academy Awards, but feel the need to watch? Watch the awards show at the Bell House (149 7th Street) with WitStream, the comedy microblogging website. The event is free and begins at 7pm for the red carpet.

Gabe Liedman (Big Terrific) and Jenny Slate (Saturday Night Live) will serve as your MCs, entertaining during commercials with their hilarious analysis. Meanwhile, WitStream will run it’s LIVE feed of clever asides and scathing Oscar commentary from over 200 of the nation’s funniest comedians and writers PLUS we’ll have ballots and prizes for those who wish to predict the evening’s big winners.

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Manhattan Milk delivered to Brooklyn this weekend

This weekend, Manhattan Milk expands their delivery area to include certain parts of Brooklyn - DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, and Cobble Hill. You can order the glass-bottled, organic milk, along with yogurt, butter, cheese, and other milk products at 917-388-2713 or online at manhattanmilk.com.

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Breaking News: Gowanus Canal officially named Superfund site

This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would declare the Gowanus Canal a federal Superfund site. Read NY Times coverage here.

The Brooklyn Paper: The controversial designation sets into motion a half-billion-dollar, decade-long federally overseen clean-up of the polluted waterway, which cuts a sclerotic artery through the gentrifying heart of Brownstone Brooklyn. But it also raises questions about whether developers, who currently yearn to build residential housing in the canal zone, will ever exhibit quite the same ardor now that the area has been deemed one of the most polluted places in the country.

“This site has a very long legacy of toxic pollution that plagues this urban waterway,” said Judith Enck, the EPA’s regional director. “And because of that, the EPA is saying it is adding the Gowanus Canal to the federal Superfund list. We believe it will get us the most efficient and comprehensive cleanup of this waterway.”

Enck started her statement by declaring that taxpayers should rest easy that the feds went with a Superfund designation, which sets into motion a process of getting restitution from responsible polluters.

“The goal of Superfund is to ensure that polluters pay for cleanup, not the taxpayer,” she said.

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CHA Happy Hour this Wednesday

cha-happy-hour

As the first Wednesday of the month approaches, so does another monthly Cobble Hill Association Happy Hour. Stop by Watty & Meg (corner of Court and Kane Streets) this Wednesday from 6-9pm, where there will be reserved tables and drink specials, including $5 glasses of wine and $3 beers.

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Get your fresh Montreal bagels on Saturday

Photo, the New York Times.

Photo, the New York Times.

Mile End (97A Hoyt Street) will begin selling bagels from St-Viateur Bagel bakery in Montreal this Saturday. The bagels have been served since Mile End opened, but now they’ll be fresh out of the oven- driven down from Montreal on Friday night by two of the owner’s friends. Previously, the bagels were delivered via FedEx, and were missing some of  “that gooey awesomeness that Montreal bagels can have when they’re super-fresh,” says owner Noah Bernamoff. The bagel imports will cost $2.50 for one, $12 for a half-dozen and $22 for a dozen. They’ll probably go as quickly as the smoked meat, so your best bet is to pre-order them here. I’ll be picking up an order of half sesame, half poppyseed myself, if the snow doesn’t stop me (honestly, I can’t imagine a bagel being more delicious than one from Avenue N in Mill Basin). The New York Times put up the Montreal Bagels against New York’s very own – check it out here.

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Enthusiastic showing for Jeff Garlin

jeff-garlin

There was a large turnout for Jeff Garlin’s reading from his new book, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World, last night at BookCourt. Local writer Jonathan Ames introduced him, recounting a story of their time at a Russian bath. There’s no greater way to appreciate Garlin’s new book than to hear him read from it himself, so it was truly a treat. After interrupting his reading to take a phone call from Richard Kind (he put him on speaker phone to talk to the audience – picture after the jump), Garlin welcomed any and all questions from the audience. He said there’s a 61% chance that there will be an eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm- as long as Larry David comes up with enough material he finds humorous enough to pursue. Fingers crossed!

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Jeff Garlin at BookCourt tonight

jeff-garlinCurb Your Enthusiasm’s Jeff Garlin will be reading from his book, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World, at BookCourt tonight (163 Court Street) at 7pm. According to Amazon.com, the book documents Jeff Garlin’s hysterical journey to lessen both his physical and carbon footprint. On yesterday’s The Daily Show with John Stewart, Garlin spoke about his food addiction in the least serious way possible.

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Il Cuntuccio brick oven pizza coming to Smith & 9th

Photo, Pardon Me For Asking.

Photo, Pardon Me For Asking.

PMFA reports that Il Cuntuccio brick oven pizza will be opening at 478 Smith Street, on the corner of 9th Street. The location was formerly home to an Uncle Louie G’s.

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Whole Foods starts Gowanus cleanup

At last night’s environmental committee of Community Board 6 meeting, John Bogdaski, an environmental consultant for Whole Foods, reported that site preparation work for cleanup of the proposed two-acre Whole Foods site at Third Avenue and Third Street began earlier this month. The site should be decontaminated and ready for future development by the end of April.

NY Post: The problem is Whole Foods is still trying to salvage the store-part of the project by finding development partners, although Bogdaski said the chain “is still committed” to building the supermarket.

He said in the coming weeks contaminated soil and three leaky underground storage tanks containing benzene and other cancer-causing substances would be removed and trucked away.

The cleanup of the site was originally supposed to be done in conjunction with construction of a new store. Instead, Bogdaski said the site would be covered with two feet of clean fill in preparation for potential development.

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Norah Jones window update

Photos from Lost City & Brownstoner.

Photos from Lost City & Brownstoner.

In case you were curious, Norah Jones now has three windows on the side of her townhouse on Amity Street. Four more to go to make the seven (reduced from her original request for ten).

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