Venues include Zombie Hut (273 Smith Street), Knit Lit (253 Smith), People’s Republic of Brooklyn (247 Smith), BookCourt (163 Court Street), Last Exit (136 Atlantic Avenue) and the After Party at 8 p.m. at 61 Local (61 Bergen Street).

Special events include: * Armchair/Shotgun enacts a live old-timey radio show. * The Liars’ League NYC acts out the latest story by Mark Haddon, author of “The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime.” * The Cambridge Writers Workshop presents Literary Cabaret.

The inaugural NYC Lit Crawl took place in September 2008. Last year’s event in Manhattan drew more than 1,200 crawlers, enjoying 70+ authors at some 20 events. This is its first extension into Brooklyn. The full schedule is here, with all info here.

“Brooklyn is so literary, it seemed like a no-brainer,” founder Suzanne Russo tells the Brooklyn Paper. “There’s so many friendly venues and so much going on in the literary sphere there, we thought it’s really the place we should be. The venues are smaller, there’s an energy in Brooklyn, a creative spirit that’s more of a go with the flow, we’ll-do-whatever kind of thing.”

The event’s assistant producer Deborah Monlux tells CHB, “It’s like a visit to NOLA followed by some Acadiana without leaving Brooklyn. Bring your dancing shoes!”

Also featured: The Bayou-born sounds of Louisiana native and fiddler of the year winner Al Berard; young rising star Forest Huval; former File’ Darren Wallace; Brooklyn’s own Catahoula Cajun Band and Doctor Zsa’s Powdered Zydeco; Creole fiddler Cedric Watson teaches a tune or two on the fiddle; and on Sunday at noon, Offshore Aces, a rousing mix of twin fiddle, accordion, guitar, bass, frottoir and the opportunity to join in and play. In addition, 2012 event “Cajun Mom” poster artist Eric P. Richardson will feature his humorous paintings along the music hall walls.

The Cajun & Zydeco Music Festival also showcases dancehall bands, workshops, Culture & Community Jam sessions and Gumbo dinner.

Day passes are $15 or $35 for all three days. Children under 12 are admitted free. Workshops are $25. Festival pass includes all night dance hall bands, community jam sessions, art show and “Un-Written Stories” culture session.

The festival is sponsored in part by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Louisiana Culture, Recreation & Tourism, celebrating 200 years of Louisiana.

For more info and to pre-order tix, click here.

The webbie bases its “walk scores” on the amount and accessibility of amenities, including restaurants, movie theater and schools. New York City is the most walkable out of 50 cities surveyed, with a score of 85.3 out of 100, which The L Word notes was knocked down by “unwalkable” Staten Island.

In Brooklyn, Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights had scores of 98. Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn scored 97; DUMBO, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus and Park Slope tied with 96. The least walkable Brooklyn neighborhoods are all in the south: Bergen Beach with a score of 58; Mill Basin with 62; Gerritsen Beach with 71; Canarsie with 74; and Manhattan Beach and West Brighton at 77.

Once again, The L Magazine provides the primary info, with supplemental info linked in the article.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

The website offers access to maps and hand-written info about every known address in all 48 states in the Union, allowing you to find census maps and descriptions to locate an enumeration district, browse census images to locate any household interviewed in the 1940 Census and then save and/or download images. The Search page is here.

Warning: The site is slow, if not clunky, as hundreds of thousands are discovering this fascinating window to the past all at once. It’s also a bit unnerving to navigate. The best tutorial I found is at Gawker.com here.

Happy hunting! Be sure to share anything revealing with all your friends here on the Cobble Hill Blog. We’ll also be scouring for tidbits over the next several weeks.

(Image: Gawker.com)

Aptsandlofts.com’s founder and president David Maundrell says that the new office is part of his plan to double the size of the 45-agent firm, with room in the Cobble Hill location for around 40 agents.

“Court Street is amazing. It is a good central location and is a busy street with a lot of foot traffic,” Maundrell told Crains.

The firm joins a growing crop of brokers along the neighborhood’s Court Street corridor. Last month, Prudential Douglas Elliman announced it would be moving into a bigger storefront on Court Street. Its new 1,500-square-foot space at 327 Court St. will be twice the size of its current location at 189 Court St.

Maundrell says he had been eyeing the street for some time for Aptsandlofts.com and “jumped at the opportunity to lease 236 Court St. because of its unobstructed frontage. Because there is a fire hydrant right out in front, no cars can park and block the view from the street.” As well, “The office will be an advertisement for the company in the neighborhood. There’s marketing value in having a lit up storefront.”

In the last five years Aptsandlofts.com has sold $260 million worth of real estate, mainly units in new condominium developments in Williamsburg, downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights. Recently, the decade-old firm has expanded into townhouse sales.

There have been numerous calls to the precinct inquiring as to whether or not they need to evacuate their homes. As the mayor has stated repeatedly if you live in “Zone A” you are in a mandatory evacuation zone. Much of the RedHook area is in “Zone A”. If there are any questions as to what zone you reside in go to nyc.gov and click on hurricaine info.
Inquiries can be made to the 76 Precinct at (718) 834-3211, if that number is busy try (718) 834-3231. The mayor has requested that evacuees ride out the storm with friends or family. For those requiring shelter, the nearest evacuation centers are NYC Technical College located at 300 Jay Street, John Jay HS located at 237 4th Avenue , Brooklyn Tecnical HS located at 29 Fort Greene Place and Cobble Hill High School at 347 Baltic Street.
There will be increased patrols by the 76, to deter crime and aid those in need thoughout the duration of the storm.
Those requiring routine Police assistance are asked to call the numbers above, as well as utilizing the 311 system. As always, emergency situations should be called into 911. Be safe.

Don’t know if you’re in a flood zone? Check the interactive map after the jump.

FairWay Market
480 Van Brunt Street
Van Brunt St and Reed St

Bring your Bicycles, Laptop Computers and/or Electronic Devices
(Cell Phones, I-Phones, I-Pads, I-Pods, etc.) to Fairway parking lot
anytime between 12PM and 6PM and the 76 Precinct Crime Prevention Officer will enroll your devices – at no cost to you!

PS 29 is a highly regarded local school that offers many extracurricular activities funded through the PTA. To Cobble Hill parents, what do you think could have been provided with this extra $100,000?

Not sure if you guys are already aware, and I haven’t seen anything online anywhere mentioning it, but the tennis bubble at the NYSC Cobble Hill appears to have collapsed under the snow.

DEVELOPING…

The class ran drop-in style. From 2pm to 7pm, participants could stop by and tune in to presentations every 30 to 60 minutes. All ingredients were provided, but if you wanted to bring your kimchi home, you had to BYOC (bring your own container).

Missed today’s class but want to learn from Brooklyn Brainery too? Sign up for the next class– “Bee Night,” complete with a movie, Q&A session, and honey tasting on January 25th at 7pm. For more details, visit this link.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 7-8pm : The ABC’s of Mixing Drinks

Saturday, February 5, 2011 4-5pm : American Whiskey

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 7-8pm : Gin and the Winter

Saturday, February 12, 2011 4-5pm : Cocktails and Love Potions

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 7-8pm : Rum, X2

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 7-8pm: PUNCH

Saturday, February 26, 2011 4-5pm: TBD

Don’t need repairs, but want to learn how to make your own original jewelry? The Beginners’ Bead and Wire Work Course starts on Thursday January 27th. The program includes 6 classes– on Thursdays through March 10 (no class on February 3) from 7pm to 9pm, for $150. Students will make earrings and earring wires, create both delicate and old beaded chains, and engage in a variety of other projects. If you’re interested, email or call 718-462-5607.

The Hungry Cat Cafe Jewelry Studio is located at 455 Argyle Road.

At Brooklyn Bead Box, classes are small, with only 4 students per class. If you learn best one-on-one, private lessons are also available. All purchases are 10 percent off on the day of your class for an added bonus! Call 866-504-2702 for more information, or visit their website. Start early and sign up for one of these classes in the first week of January:

Crimping (Necklace/Bracelet): January 2, 2011 at 2pm, $35

Earrings Level 1: January 3, 2011 at 5pm, $35

Wire Wrapped Rings: January 1, 2011 at 2pm, $35

Peyote Stitching: January 8, 2011 at 2pm, $40

With a title like: Giant Icicle Terrorizes Cobble Hill one immediately thinks of a 1950s horror film or something from “The Onion”.  But as they say… “You can’t make this stuff up!”.  The New York Times has definitely lived up to their motto of providing “all the news that’s fit to print”.

Rooftop Films recently created an underground film screening in the tunnel, with a tour hosted by “tunnel aficionado” Bob Diamond. When Rooftop Films discovered just before their event that it would be shut down, they released this statement:

“This came as a complete surprise to us, as we had every reason to believe the events were entirely legal and sanctioned. While we believe that the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel is a valuable and historic New York City landmark, we also have a strong commitment to safety, and hope that arrangements can be made to reopen the Tunnel safely and legally so that it can again be enjoyed by all New Yorkers and visitors.”

Will we ever see below Atlantic Avenue again?

Bring your safe, unopened toys to the councilman’s district office at 410 Atlantic Avenue t Bond Street from 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday to benefit an underprivileged local child ages 1 to 12 years old. For more details, contact Betty Lester at bejay919@yahoo.com or 718-243-1252.

There will be a Gift Fair highlighting local artisans and merchants selling jewelery, toys, clothing and other items.  Rooftop Films will be on hand showing short films for children throughout the day.  Tickets to the films will be $2.  There will also be free crafts for kids throughout the day.  Proceeds will support the school’s PTA.

Full details, including a list of vendors can be found here.

The next showing is Buggs Bunny Cartoons Monday November 29th at 4pm, and then on Monday December 6th at 4pm see Meet me in St. Louis.

Big Movies for Little Kids is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC). Check out the Big Movies for Little Kids website for more details and show times.

What do you think?  Is it a good idea, or just a dream?

The full story, and more renderings, can be viewed on Curbed.

All photos by Mark Hayes

New Italian eatery, Sosta is now open at 145 Atlantic Ave. between Henry and Clinton Streets.  The menu focuses mainly on pizzas, with a selection of appetizers, salads and panini (lunch only).  Sample selections include the Valdostana (mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano & gorgonzola) and Umbria (tomato, mozzarella, pancetta and prosciuto).

The interior has a cozy, modern feel, with wood floors and an open kitchen.  There is also a large bar stocked with wine and beer.  Take out is available and delivery service will start next week.  The pizza man, Giuseppe (pictured below), said that  Happy Hour and specials begin next week.  Daily pizza, pasta and dessert specials rotate and add to an already extensive menu.  The restaurant is open Tuesday-Sunday 12-11pm.

More photos after the jump.

Conveniently located right next to Cobble Hill Park, the neighborhood eatery Ted & Honey was the subject of a glowing review by the NYTimes entitled, “Coffeehouse Cool Amid the Stroller Scene“.

The NYTimes reports: “The cafe serves lunch (paninis, smoked wings) and will soon stay open into dinner; but it achieves its fullest bustling bloom at breakfast, when moms guide their toddlers around laptop jockeys at communal tables, past Manhattan-bound professionals toting coffee toward the F train.”

Brooklyn Eagle: Andrea Wenner, executive director of Out2Play, a non-profit that plans and oversees playground construction in city schools, assured the Eagle that the garden at P.S. 29 will be back, and better than ever.

“The garden will be replaced with nice new planter beds in a whole new enclosed area. It will be a little bit bigger than it was,” she said.

The garden improvement, however, is just a small part of the bigger picture at P.S. 29. Work has finally begun on a makeover of the bleak asphalt play space surrounding the vaulted garden. The old-fashioned blacktop is being replaced with a colorful new playground, which will include a large open area for sports, a running track and jungle gym equipment.

Rachel Ray and Mayor Bloomberg visited the garden earlier this year.

Reader photo by Steve Julie

What’s on your mind? Have an event to plug? News tip? Something on your chest that needs to jump off? Comment away!

Yournabe.com: South Brooklyn has been around for a long time; long before the real estate names of Red Hook, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens divided it into essentially three different zones. These neighborhoods survived the Great Depression and the red-lining in the 1980s. Carroll Gardens has survived as essentially an Italian neighborhood with a strong mix of Hispanics, Irish and other groups and also with a good spectrum of incomes, occupations and backgrounds. Recently when buildings over six stories were being built and proposed in our neighborhood, zoning restrictions were introduced to prevent these oversized buildings from destroying the feel and fabric of our neighborhood.

However, that scare has restarted the movement to broaden the Historic District to include from Degraw Street to Hamilton Avenue and from Hicks Street to Hoyt Street. When you ask why, the answer is usually to keep the tall oversized buildings out. When you point out that this has been prevented by zoning already, then the answer becomes, We do not want ugly buildings like what can be found on this block or that block.