Just to the north of Prospect Park is a small neighborhood named Prospect Heights. While it has long lived in the shadow of its more famous neighbor to the west (Park Slope), Prospect Heights has started to come into its own in the past few years. Once a poverty-stricken area in the 70's, Prospect Heights has become hot bed for new real estate. With the shiny new real estate has come new shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars crowding the main streets - Vanderbilt and Washington Avenues. The neighborhood is near landmarks such as Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Museum, the... Continue reading

If you've ever watched a Wes Anderson film, liked Phantom Planet or Coconut Records, have been watching the new Brooklyn-based HBO show Bored to Death, or plan on seeing the new adaptation of Scott Pilgrim, read my interview at Heeb with Jason Schwartzman and golden boy of the Brooklyn literati, Jonathan Ames. Continue reading

Some might say he's lucky, but John Liu and his hard working staff might say that luck had nothing to do with it. On November 3rd, Liu made history by becoming the first Asian-American to be elected to New York City comptroller. Liu will take office in January after a series of hard fought primaries and run offs. Born in Taiwan, Liu moved here at the age of five with his parents and two brothers. He attended New York City public schools and graduated from Binghamton College. He has served on the City Council for District 20 and was Chairperson... Continue reading

Out of the many landmarks in Brooklyn, Prospect Park is one of the largest and most famous. In the interviews below, residents reflect on the park and it's place in their lives. Since being revitalized in the 80's and 90's, the park has seen continuing restoration projects as visitors return to the park. Designed by Calvert Vaux and Frank Olmstead, construction began in 1886. Prospect Park boasts 585 acres of land and thousands of visitors each year. Prospect Park Continue reading

The showcase project I'd like to do is on the up and coming neighborhood, Prospect Heights. In the past few years the neighborhood has changed a lot and it's continuing to change quickly. Being so close to Park Slope, it's often overshadowed by the larger and more famous neighborhood, but lately it's making a name for itself in the papers. Numerous newspapers have done stories on the area, usually about the real estate and the main shopping avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue. Vanderbilt has been compared to what happened on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens a few year ago. Despite the economic... Continue reading

One of the most controversial land development projects in New York City is the proposed Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, near Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and what is known as the Atlantic or Vanderbilt train yards. The video below gives an overview of the controversy. Continue reading

This past summer I wrote a few stories for a news web site called Brooklyn Today. One of my favorite stories was about dogs in Brooklyn and Prospect Park, one of the more dog-friendly parks in Brooklyn. With a few left over photos from the story I created the slide show below: Continue reading

New York City's government system is a never ending maze of titles, red tape, and public offices that seem to serve very few purposes beyond confusing the citizens they supposedly serve. Take Betsy Gotbaum, the latest subject of our reoccurring feature, "What Does This Politician Do?" She is New York City's public advocate, which speaks volumes about our system seeing as how the city has to actually employ someone to advocate for the public. The public advocate, according to the official web page, is a publically elected office also known as the "ombudswoman, or go-between[.] The Public Advocate answers complaints... Continue reading

Although this is a complaint that is often heard echoing around many New York neighborhoods, it's an important complaint. One that everyone in the neighborhood produces, sees, and deals with. It's everywhere - the streets, in our homes, in front of our buildings, and overflowing on our street corners. It's trash. And for someone reason, these can't make it into here: It's everywhere, and it's disgusting. While there are many beautiful tree lined streets in Prospect Heights, Lincoln Place is not one of them. It's not for a lack of trying - there are small unhealthy trees attempting to grow... Continue reading

As my blog title might explain, I'm from the deep south. Now I live in the biggest, baddest city in the north and as active a voter as I was in the south, I've yet to vote in a local election here in New York City. This is largely because my political vocabulary has not adjusted to public offices with names like "comptroller". What is a comptroller? Does it have anything to do with trolls? Is your office under a bridge? In order to vote, must I answer a riddle? If elected, are you required to dye your hair hot... Continue reading