Even though Labor Day began as a New York City tradition, lots of us like to get out of town over the holiday. If you were off soaking up the last days of summer outside of the lush tropical paradise that is North Brooklyn, catch up on local news here!
Those who stuck around Greenpoint this holiday weekend had the opportunity to sample some unusual eats during the first annual Brooklyn Bugs Festival, “NYC’s first festival dedicated to edible insects.”
Meanwhile, at Mingstar Liquor (598 Grand Street) they were in a decidedly less festive mood on Monday night when a man in a Chicago Bulls cap held up the store, and walked off with $1,500.
School doesn’t start until after Labor Day, but parents in Greenpoint were gearing up even before the weekend began. Last Thursday night, moms, dads and caregivers went full rock-concert and came out with folding chairs and tents, ready to stake out a spot in line to register their children for the Early Childhood program at the Greenpoint YMCA (99 Meserole Avenue).
The Y is right across the Street from the 94th Precinct, and NYPD officers came out with buckets of cement on Friday to cover up an 8-inch Swastika that had been etched into the sidewalk on Kingsland Avenue near Nassau Avenue. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force documented the symbol, and began an investigation last week, but some members of the community said the symbol had been on the sidewalk for decades.
Speaking of a decades-long process, Mayor Bill de Blasio is following through on a promise to redevelop the Greenpoint Hospital complex off Morgan and Maspeth Avenues as at least 500 units of affordable housing. The Hospital closed in 1982, and plans for its redevelopment have been proposed and stalled over and over again since 1983.