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FIOS heading to the nabe

fios

The above photo was sent in by a tipster, who reports:

Verizon was all over Court Street during Saturday’s frigid weather, installing cable underneath the streets to allow for FIOS. According to the techs, FIOS should be available to parts of Cobble Hill in about six months. Adios, Time Warner!

Will you make the switch? I’m not sure how this will work for those of us with landlords, because I’m under the impression that it will require a lot of new wiring in and around buildings. Thoughts?

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CHA Happy Hour tonight

cha-happy-hour

Stop by the Cobble Hill Association’s second Happy Hour of the year tonight, happening the first Wednesday of every month from 6-9 pm at Watty & Meg (corner of Court and Kane Streets). There will be reserved tables and drink specials, including $5 glasses of wine and $3 beers.

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The Concierge of Court Street

NY Times.

NY Times.

Check out the New York Time’s piece on Tom, the “Concierge of Court Street,” and a neighborhood fixture. Unbeknownst to me, Tom wasn’t homeless. Care to share any memories or stories?

Tom was the guy who held the door as you walked in and out of the Super Deli, outside of which he was a daily fixture, on Court Street between Baltic and Kane Streets in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. He was the guy who offered to carry your shopping bags, or simply offered a bit of conversation. Tips were welcomed but not required.

“Tom was genuinely friendly, even to people who never gave him money,” recalled Ursula Alexander, who lives nearby. “He was good-natured, one of those people in the city who have a big impact, even though we never get to know them.”

So when word spread on Court Street that Tom died last month, he was honored with a sidewalk memorial of posters, flowers and photographs. It was stomach cancer, somebody heard. How old was he? Somewhere around 50, it seemed. Supposedly he lived with his mother in nearby public housing projects: Wyckoff Gardens, was it? Or maybe Gowanus Houses. And what was his last name, again?

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The Little Room fights to stay open

brooklynheightsmontessorischool150The impending closure of the Little Room has brought about several efforts to keep it open  long enough for it to find a suitable new home. A petition can be signed at Save the Little Room to ask the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School (BHMS) to keep the Little Room open for the next year, in order to give it more time to find a new sponsor. A letter from Senator Daniel Squadron and Assembly Member Joan Millman to the Chair of BHMS’s Board of Directors urges the Board to take one of two paths: to extend the Little Room’s termination date from August 2010 to August 2011, or to allow YAI (the organization that is currently trying to take over the program in the face of many prohibitive obstacles) to operate the Little Room beginning September 2010 in its current location at BHMS. For more information, read the recent coverage from the New York Times and the Post.

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LICH/Downstate merger approved

The plan for SUNY Downstate to take over the financially troubled Long Island College Hospital as a second campus that has been discussed since last year is almost finalized. The merger would transfer management of LICH from Continuum Health Partners to Downstate. Read more at Brooklyn Heights Blog.

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Brooklyn Taco Experiment this weekend

brooklyn-taco-experiment

Check out the Brooklyn Taco Experiment at the Bell House (149 Seventh Street) this Sunday, from 1-5 pm. Taco chefs will create tacos that range from savory to sweet, and a culinary judging panel along with the audience will choose their favorites for prizes. Want to enter? Fill out the form here.

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Open Thread Wednesday

What’s on your mind on this snowy final Wednesday in January? Anything you want to see more of the blog?

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Benefit for Haiti tonight at the Bell House

Tonight is Strenght Through Unity, a benefit for the victims of the Haiti earthquake at the Bell House. The Bell House website is reporting that the event is sold out, but tickets are still available online. Scheduled to appear are Jimmy Fallon, Eugene Mirman, AC Newman, and more. All of the proceeds will be split between Save The Children and Partners In Health.

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“A View From the Bridge” opens on Broadway

Photo from the New York Times.

Photo from the New York Times.

Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge” opened on Broadway this week, and the New York Times has a review of the play starring Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber. The story focuses on an Italian American family in 1950s Red Hook, made up of a longshoreman and his immigrant relatives.

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Mile End opens today

The long-anticipated Mile End Montreal Jewish Deli opens today at 97A Hoyt Street, according to Canada’s The Globe and Mail. Something I do not appreciate published alongside the story: a video entitled “American Ignorance Extends to Montreal Smoked Meat.” C’mon, like we really need to be bothered with knowing about Canadian meat? Note to Mile End owner Noah Bernamoff: poor choice associating yourself and your new venture with this video/media outlet.

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