The Brooklyn Paper

Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Gersh Kuntzman

The Brooklyn Paper

Developer Bruce Ratner appears to be bringing in an all-star team to Atlantic Yards — and we’re not talking about his pathetic Brooklyn-bound New Jersey Nets.

Legendary architect David Childs — the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill emeritus who was the lead designer of the so-called Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site — told The Brooklyn Paper that he met with Ratner earlier in the year to give the developer’s arena plans a “once over.”

And beyond that, Ratner and Childs discussed having the esteemed designer work on one of the 16 proposed residential buildings that form the bulk of the mega-project.

“First, he brought me in to look at the arena design, which I think is very good now,” Childs said, referring to the current design collaboration between Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects.

“And then we talked about working together on the residential buildings,” added Childs, who was celebrating the opening of his firm’s signature Brooklyn building, the 38-story Toren tower on Flatbush Avenue.

“Bruce wants to bring in different architects, good architects, to do each of the residential buildings,” Childs said. “That’s something I’d be very excited about. Talking to Bruce, it’s clear that he wants to do this right. He really does.”

Childs added that he was comforted by his chat with Ratner, given that the developer has a torturous history with architects. Before hiring Frank Gehry to design the Atlantic Yards mini-city, Ratner’s work in Brooklyn — such as the Atlantic Terminal and Atlantic Center malls — was pedestrian at best.

Gehry promised to change all that, but last year, he was fired by Ratner in a cost-saving move.

The redesign of the future home of the Brooklyn Nets, done solely by the Kansas City-based Ellerbe Becket, was reviled so loudly that Ratner brought in the Manhattan-based SHoP firm to repair the damage.

The resulting arena is sometimes mocked as a “George Foreman grill,” but it also has many supporters.

“It’s a good-looking design,” said Childs, who specifically cited the building’s “industrial” outer membrane.

Forest City Ratner Executive Vice President MaryAnne Gilmartin said that the developer and Childs talked about working together in some capacity at Atlantic Yards, but said it was “premature” to speculate on the identities of other Hall of Fame-quality who draftsman might also be brought in to work on the first residential buildings.

“This is about finding the right architects for the challenge,” she said. “There are many architects who could create a beautiful design, but this isn’t only about design. One has to add in the challenge of building a high-rise structure with union labor and an affordable housing component. Atlantic Yards is about cracking the code on this kind of challenge.”

Gilmartin said she was gratified by Childs’s kind words, considering that he is chairman of the Municipal Art Society, a design watchdog group that has a faction that is opposed to Atlantic Yards.

“David Childs is a man of stature who, speaking as an architect and a citizen, sees something positive and hopeful about the project,” Gilmartin added.

One architect who is sometimes mentioned as the kind of designer that Ratner might consider is Roger Duffy, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designer whose credits include the Toren, which is receiving substantial praise for its modern, clean lines.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Andy Campbell

The Brooklyn Paper

Community Board 1 rejected the $1.2-billion redevelopment of the old Domino Sugar factory on Tuesday night.

The 23-12 vote backing the board’s land-use committee vote last week is the second hurdle for the Community Preservation Corporation, which will need the support of Borough President Markowitz, the City Planning Commission and the City Council to build a multiple-skyscraper project along the Williamsburg waterfront that is larger than the zoning currently allows.

At the board meeting, CPC representatives continued their promise to price 30 percent of their 2,200 units at below-market rates. That 30 percent is higher than the required 20 percent set forth by the 2005 Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront rezoning, but CB1 members said they wanted more from the developers — including a pledge to help create better transportation around the growing western edge of Williamsburg; permanent affordability; reduced building density; and more open space among them.

Developers said that many of the board’s questions have been answered already.

“We’re working with a great project, and we’re committed to permanent affordability,” said Susan Pollock, senior vice president of the development company, which bought the site just north of the Williamsburg Bridge in 2004 after Domino shut down operations. “We’re going to continue fighting.”

The community board vote is merely advisory to Markowitz’s decision, which could come after his public hearing on Thursday. The borough president’s decision may simply be a suggestion, too, considering that the City Planning Commission just voted contrary to his rejection of the Rose Plaza complex, also on the Williamsburg waterfront.

Along with promising affordability, Pollock has been straightforward with her discussion of density — without the rezoning to allow for lucrative tall towers, the 30 percent affordability could not happen.

“The density of this project is required in order to make the entire program work,” she said at the land-use committee meeting last month.

She added that CPC is willing to make changes to the six-phase project if the system of housing and retail space in the first site — the refinery’s former parking lot on Kent Avenue between South Third and South Fourth streets — doesn’t work as planned.

But as for Community Board 1, the consensus followed the committee’s main question: will the Domino project actually benefit the neighborhood as a whole?

Comment on this story.

Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By the GO Brooklyn Eating Team

The Brooklyn Paper

Gentlemen, start your entrees.

On Monday, more than 200 restaurants from Greenpoint to Gravesend and from Red Hook to Bushwick will kick off the seventh annual “Dine in Brooklyn” week, a 10-day festival of three-course, (mostly) gourmet dinners for just $25. Lunches at participating restaurants are $20.10, which should be easy to remember.

“The culinary epicenter of America is right here in Brooklyn,” said Borough President Markowitz, who delights in his annual role as the city’s maitre d’.

But which restaurants are worth your time (and your dime)? The GO Brooklyn team fanned out across this great borough, sampling dishes that will grace menus next week. Our guide is by no means comprehensive, so for information on Dine in Brooklyn, visit www.visitbrooklyn.org.

Bamonte’s

32 Withers St. between Lorimer Street and Union Avenue in Williamsburg. (718) 384-8831

An institution in Williamsburg since the early 1900s, this old-school Italian restaurant will be serving up mussels marinara as part of its Dine In Brooklyn menu. Covered with a bold tomato sauce and a generous amount of parsley, the mussels are fresh and flavorful. The meatballs are excellent, too.

Bread and Butter

46 Henry St. between Cranberry and Middagh streets in Brooklyn Heights. (718) 858-9605

Opened in early January in the site that housed Le Petit Marche, Bread and Butter brings its Southern-fried goodness to Dine In Brooklyn. Sure, the Grey Lady from Manhattan recently panned the joint, but we had a more pleasant experience, chomping on a delicious macaroni and cheese (we went the extra mile and ordered the high-end version — with truffles, porcini mushrooms and aged parmigiano), and followed it with the burger, cooked to perfection and featuring carmalized onions, bacon and cheddar cheese. Tell the New York Times to eat it (no, we’re talking about the burger!).

Fonda

434 Seventh Ave. between 14th and 15th streets in Park Slope, (718) 369-3144

Less than a year in business, Fonda is already one of the most popular restaurants in Park Slope. And one of the best things on the menu (besides the Margaritas) will be featured next week: pork adobo. Our sampling revealed the myriad tastes embedded in this bowl of tender porcine goodness: there’s heat from the chiles, sweetness from the chocolate and the savory quality that only pork can provide. The duck zarape — two corn tortillas filled with shredded duck and a tangy tomato-habanero sauce — made for a delicious appetizer.

Madiba

195 Dekalb Avenue at Carlton Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 855-9190

This 10-year-old South African stalwart is much loved for its quirky, otherworldly menu featuring Indian- and African-influence South African food like samosas (called “samoosas” on this menu) and curries. But the standout dish are the sweet and vinegary baby back ribs, which fall off the bone in juicy morsels covered in a thick, fruity barbecue sauce.

Melt

440 Bergen St. between Fifth and Flatbush avenues in Park Slope, (718) 230-5925

Owner Muguette Siem A Sjoe will put two outstanding main courses on her special menu: a barbecued short rib of beef that resembles an NFL football in girth, and a delightfully juicy salmon with a crisp skin. Sjoe’s five-year-old eatery just landed “Top Chef” star Mark Simmons, who is continuing the restaurant’s success — and makes a nice molten chocolate cake (with sea salt and black pepper to cut the cliche).

Palo Santo

652 Union St. between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope, (718) 636-6311

If the pork tacos can speak for the rest of the three-course meal you’ll be served at Palo Santo, you’re in for a wild ride of Latin American flavors. We finally found some pork that actually has some taste and kick to it, and the homemade guacamole alone will send any avocado lover into a munching frenzy.

Pearl Room

8201 Third Ave. at 82nd Street in Bay Ridge, (718) 833-6666

Chef Anthony Rinaldi show off his food zeal best with his grilled tilapia and risotto dish. The tilapia — usually a flavorless fish — is given a sweet and salty zest with a smattering of sauces, all atop a creamy bed of cheesy risotto (with shrimp!), grilled asparagus and a beef ginger emulsion. Considering that this entree is $25 on a normal day, it’ll be a steal during Dine in Brooklyn.

Provence en Boite

263 Smith St. at Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens, (718) 797-0707

Jean-Jacques and Leslie Bernat’s country French joint is a lilac-scented treat. This year, the Dine in Brooklyn menu will feature the couple’s oh-so-traditional onion soup (yes, it’s covered in a thick blanket of Gruyere) and salad cosi, a stack that features a marinated portobello mushroom, a thick slice of tomato, and a cap of goat cheese atop garlic toast.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Andy Campbell

The Brooklyn Paper

Another oyPhone

A group of jerks attacked a man for his iPhone on S. Second Street on March 5.

The guy was near Keap Street at about 2:30 pm when a man came up and asked for the phone. The victim said no, and was subsequently attacked by a larger group of men who were hiding around the corner.

Most members of the group punched and kicked him while one of the thugs cut his wrist with a knife and another grabbed the phone. He was taken to the hospital where he refused further investigation.

Plastic thief

A dumb thief was arrested on March 3 after he held up a stroller-pushing woman on Division Avenue who had no money on her.

The victim was walking with her child at 9:32 am near Wilson Street when a man approached with a gun, partially concealed by a plastic bag. The thug demanded cash, but his would-be victim didn’t have any, so the thief grabbed her pocketbook and ran.

Police caught up with him later to find that the gun was a fake.

Phone or slug?

Three hooligans held up a man for two phones on Lynch Street on March 5.

The man told cops that he was near Union Avenue at about 8:40 pm when the three thugs loomed toward him — one of them wielding a handgun.

The gunman said, “Give me everything you have,” which turned out to be a wallet, two cellphones and a Metrocard.

Truck grab

A crook stole a parked Mitsubishi truck from Grand Street on March 5.

The owner left the car at a spot between Morgan Avenue and Waterbury Street at 11 am, and came at 1 pm to find his truck missing.

Fashion cops

Two ruffians stole a woman’s bag of clothes and laced her with pepper spray on Grand Street on March 7.

The woman was carrying her bag while unlocking her bicycle chain between Havemeyer Street and Marcy Avenue at around 10 pm when the two approached her.

One said, “We want your bag,” while the other hit her in the face with the chemical spray, leaving her choking on the sidewalk. The jerks made off with the clothes.

— Andy Campbell

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Thomas Tracy

Community Newspaper Group

Cell block

A thief was arrested on March 5 after swiping a cellphone out of a woman’s hand on Strong Place.

Cops say that the thief approached the 37-year-old victim from behind near Kane Street at around 1:50 pm, grabbed the phone and fled north.

But a witness and the victim gave chase to the corner of Clinton and Degraw streets, where Officer Patrick Barbato made the collar.

Bridge too far

A pack of thieves set upon a man as he walked over the footbridge at Henry Street and Hamilton Avenue on March 3, pulling a knife and getting away with $40.

Cops say that the victim was on the bridge at around 8:30 am when the thieves pounced.

Road rage

A driver claims that he was brutalized by two men in a road rage incident on West Ninth Street on March 2.

The victim told cops that he was driving westbound near Smith Street at around 11 pm when he was cut off by a gray Infinity four-door sedan. Seconds later, two men leaped from the fancy car, hurling threats. One man pulled a knife and the other grabbed a piece of metal off the street to threaten the man further.

After bashing the victim’s car with the implements, the men hopped back into their vehicle and drove off.

Welcome home

A woman returned to her Columbia Street apartment on March 2 to find that it had been ransacked while she was away.

The victim told cops that it’s unclear if anything was taken from the apartment, which is at Van Brunt Street, while she was away for four days.

Nothing gone

Another thief broke into a Sackett Street apartment on March 2 and also didn’t take anything.

The resident of the unit, which is between Court and Smith streets, said she returned home at 4:10 pm to find a rear window damaged, but nothing missing.

Car bust

A thief broke into a construction worker’s van on Union Street on March 5, taking tools and lots of cash.

The victim told cops that he had parked the truck between Court and Smith streets at around 11:30 am, but when he returned to the vehicle at 3 pm, he discovered that a door had been breached, allowing the thief access to a trunk-release latch that revealed the true booty: flooring tools, sanders, nail guns, a mitre saw and $3,500.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Andy Campbell

The Brooklyn Paper

Victim of dove

A heartless crook held up a Manhattan Avenue store for $24 and an iPod — then shot two doves before leaving on March 4.

An employee of Sastreria De San Miguel Tailoring told police that the peace-hating villain entered the shop, at Green Street, at about 2 pm, locked the front door, pointed his gun at the employee’s head and used his other hand to steal the cash and iPod.

The gunman then moved to a cage where two doves were being kept as pets, shot them execution-style, and threatened to kill the worker if he called police. The thief then fled, the blood of the innocents on his hands.

Drunk burglary

A villain took advantage of a drunken renter by stealing his stuff while he slept in his Manhattan Avenue apartment on March 1.

The victim told police that he had fallen asleep at his home, which is between Nassau and Driggs avenues, at around 7:30 pm after a long day of drinking. He woke up at 9 am to find that $40 had been stolen from his pants, and a number of other items were stolen from a locked drawer in his room.

State parked

Someone stole a man’s camera lenses and laptop from his car while he took pictures in East River State Park near N. 12th Street on March 2.

While the cameraman was taking pictures at around 10 am, the thief was pilfering the car, which was sitting Kent and Wythe avenues.

— Andy Campbell

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Stephen Brown

The Brooklyn Paper

Remsen robber

Two crimes went down in the same building on Remsen Street between Court and Clinton streets last week, and cops are investigating the possibility of a criminal operating solo.

In the first case, a thief snatched an office worker’s purse on March 2 while she had stepped away from her desk. The victim, who works for Premier Health Care, told cops that she’d left her purse in her office chair at around 2:30 pm. and returned 20 minutes later.

The next day, a thief snatched another officer worker’s purse while she was in a meeting. This victim told cops that she went to her confab at around 2 pm and returned 30 minutes later to find that her purse, iPod, cellphone, credit cards and $60 were gone.

Bank heist!

A grammatically challenged bank robber stole $400 from a Sovereign Bank on Washington Street in DUMBO on March 4.

A teller told cops that the perp approached his window at the bank at Water Street at around 12:30 pm and passed a note that said, “Give me $400 or nobody gets hurt.”

Apparently ignoring the inconsistencies in the demand, the teller handed over the cash and hit the alarm. The perp then demanded the note back and took off.

Busted

A thief was caught trying to remove cash from the register of the Victory Café on State Street on March 5.

Officer Sean Fielder said that he noticed a smashed window between Hoyt and Bond streets at around 10:30 pm, and investigated further to find a perp inside the café. That’s when he slapped the cuffs on the suspect, who had sliced his hand on the window he had busted.

Papa cons

A cunning thief swiped a man’s wallet from the counter at a Livingston Street Papa John’s on March 1.

The victim told cops that he was buying pizza at the eatery between Hanover Place and Bond Street at around 8 pm when the thief made his move.

The bandit struck paydirt: the wallet contained a whopping $325.

Rocky times

Two ladies left the Smith Street nightclub Perks together — but their friendship was short lived, as one robbed the other and stole her car keys on March 7.

The victim told cops that she and her friend left the club in a car at around 4:10 am. The pair got in an argument, and when they arrived at Third and Atlantic avenues, the driver snatched $600, a phone, car keys, and an ID from the victim. The rowdy driver then booted her passenger out of the car.

Unfortunately for the perp, she was quickly busted by Officer Hasnain Saief.

Cell snatch

A thief snatched a 13-year-old’s cellphone in the Atlantic-Pacific subway station on March 3.

The frightened youngster told cops that he was exiting from the Manhattan-bound platform at Pacific Street at around 7 pm when a shady character followed him up the stairs to the mezzanine. There, the thief made his move and fled out of the station.

Car jacked

A thug jacked a Chevrolet from the corner of Henry and Pierrepont streets.

The owner said that he last saw his beloved car at around 11 am on Feb. 25. When he returned five days later at around 2 pm, the car was gone.

Gym thief

A gym rat stole a wallet from a locker at the New York Sports Club on Court Street on March 1.

The victim told cops that he had worked up sweat at the gym between Remsen and Montague streets and returned to his locker at around 3:45 pm, only to find his padlock removed and his wallet, containing $20 and an assortment of credit cards, missing.

Beat down

Two thugs robbed a man at Willoughby and Pearl streets on March 1.

The victim told cops that he near the corner at 10 am when the pair approached from behind. One of the brigands grabbed him around the neck while the other rifled his pockets, taking two cellphones and $200.

Paydirt!

A thief broke into a car on Duffield Street and made off with a veritable treasure trove of goodies on March 4.

The victim told cops that he had parked his car at around 8:30 pm between Willoughby and Fulton streets. When he returned two hours later, he found that a thief had taken two iPods, an iPhone, an assortment of school books, a Blackberry, five credit cards, a fancy handbag and a Gucci wallet.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Thurston Dooley III

The Brooklyn Paper

“Eyes and ears are much respected, but the butt has been neglected.”

So says opening line of Artie Bennett’s astounding tour de force, “The Butt Book” — and, dare I say it, no truer words have been spoken in the children’s book world since a younger Mo Willems issued his cautionary warning against allowing a pigeon to drive a bus.

Bennett’s new work is a singular tribute to every parent’s least-favorite body part, the behind. No doubt, there are parents who will worry that Bennett’s endless repetition of the word “butt” in all its myriad forms — tuchas, fanny, bottom, heinie, rear — will encourage the youngsters to scream out “butt cheeks!” at inappropriate moments. But that fear is just poppycock!

Indeed, didn’t the ramblings of the wayward youth Bart Simpson once send the Puritans of public morals running to set up a bonfire into which to toss the “Eat my shorts”-spouting lad?

In actuality, “The Butt Book” will actually help remove the word’s lingering shock value. For starters, Bennett plays it all for laughs, suggesting that we, not our keisters, are the ones with the butt problem because we are the ones who have “neglected” the butt.

Instead of celebrating the butt, we hide it, condemning it to a life of shame. But there is no shame in Bennett’s mind.

“Butts can come in every size,” he writes. “Some will droop and others rise.”

And by putting the butt in its proper context in the animal kingdom, Bennett reminds us all that having a butt is as natural as, well, using it.

“Elephants have mighty ones, while hippos have untidy ones,” he writes. “Butts are vital body parts, important as our heads or hearts.”

There’s just no avoiding it: We all have one.

“Best in show or just plain mutt,” reads the page featuring a circle of canine behinds, “every doggy has a butt.”

Coupled with Mike Lester’s fun drawings, Bennett’s repetition of the various uses, shapes, tasks and accomplishments of the butt never get dull for the kids (of course not; Mommy or Daddy keeps saying, “Butt” whenever reading the book).

And as Bennett points out, we need to honor the butt — or else.

“Don’t undercut your butt, my friend,” he writes. “Your butt will thank you in … the end.”

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Thomas Tracy

Community Newspaper Group

Home firebombed

Gang members exacted their revenge by firebombing a 57th Street home on March 1.

Officials said that three people threw Molotov cocktails — liquor bottles with makeshift fuses — into the home of an 18-year-old Latin King member. The bombs set off a small fire in the house, which is near Fort Hamilton Parkway.

The 11:45 pm blaze was put out quickly and there were no injuries reported.

Investigators say that the attack was payback because the member violated a gang rule.

Not quick enough

A neighborhood woman nearly lost her cash during a confrontation on Fourth Avenue on March 7.

Police said that the woman was holding a sum of money near 86th Street just before 11 pm when a 22-year-old perp ran up and grabbed her hand in an attempt to get the money.

The suspect fled the area empty-handed, but didn’t get far before he was arrested for attempted grand larceny.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Andy Campbell and Justin McNeil

The Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn Heights residents remain miffed about an entire weekend of partying, fighting and rabble-rousing, allegedly by students in the St. George dormitories on Henry Street.

A neighbor of the student housing complex near the corner of Clark Street posted on the Brooklyn Heights Blog his account of a Friday brawl involving almost 10 students, who spilled out into Henry and Pineapple streets and caused a ruckus in an area known for its reserved peacefulness.

Now neighbors are saying that they can’t wait for the summer, when most of the college student go home.

“There used to be a problem with the homeless around here but now they’ve been swapped with the students,” said Joe Josepi, an employee at Michael Towne Wines & Spirits on Clark and Henry streets. “They both drink the same way.”

Other residents in the area said they’ve seen fights in the area before, and most blame the booze. They may have a point — a gift of about a dozen beer bottles was left on the sidewalk near the dorms on Sunday morning.

Still, for every college facility there’s one raging party waiting to happen at some point, and several workers in the area scoffed at the “concern” over mild hubbubs like these.

“There was another fight around 4 am on Saturday, too,” St. George doorman Louis Beltrez told The Brooklyn Paper. “It was just two guys scuffling around — it happens sometimes. One woman called to complain about the noise, but it was over quick and it’s really not that big of a deal.”

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Andy Campbell

The Brooklyn Paper

The City Planning Commission voted on Monday to approve the controversial Rose Plaza on the River, a mixed-use, 800-unit apartment complex along the Williamsburg waterfront — a decision that bucks Borough President Markowitz’s rejection in January.

The 7-5 vote was a rare close one, and reflects that the most-contentious issue — the amount of below-market-rate housing — must be solved before the project gets its expected approval from the City Council later this spring.

“The commission approved because [the project is] consistent with zoning requirements of density, height and 20-percent affordable housing,” said Howard Weiss, the attorney representing the would-be developers Abraham and Isack Rosenberg, whose riverfront property currently houses a lumber yard. “Even the opposition has no issues with the project itself.”

He may have a point — Community Board 1 and Markowitz rejected the project in January, saying that they want 100 more below-market-rate units than the 160 proposed, as well as more three- and four-bedroom units in the complex.

And today, the councilman for the district, Steve Levin (D-Williamsburg), reiterated his strong opposition to the project.

“In an area that has suffered many of the ills associated with gentrification, this development will only exacerbate, and not mitigate, the many pressures local families face,” Levin said. “The applicant’s dedication of only 20 percent of its units to affordable housing is entirely insufficient.”

Currently, the waterfront site — south of the Schaefer Landing complex and just outside the area that was rezoned for large towers, and 20 percent affordable housing, in 2005 — is zoned for manufacturing. If the site is rezoned, Rosenberg hopes to build a complex with three towers of 18, 24 and 29 stories.

Opponents also want put the brakes on the rezoning because Rosenberg’s towers are too high. But the developer has said that those towers would have to grow taller still to underwrite the cost of more affordable units.

That said, Weiss said Rosenberg and his team will continue studying how they can add more below-market-rate housing in the project before the City Council vote. Either way, he’s not worried.

“Rosenberg has done everything over the past six years to facilitate public amenities, open space and good design,” Weiss said. “City Planning approved the best project that the city has seen in years, and I expect the Council will do the same.”

Comment on this story.

Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Gersh Kuntzman

The Brooklyn Paper

The demise of respected eatery Bussaco in the heart of Park Slope appears to have been greatly exaggerated after a dishy feud with a chef who didn’t even last at the joint for two months!

Our online edition reported on Monday that the food world was abuzz with talk that the well-reviewed Scott-Carney-owned eatery on Union Street was bouncing checks after 1990s kitchen wondergirl Katy Sparks left the restaurant after an eye-blink tenure earlier this year.

Nothing is further from the truth, Carney told us today.

“My business is being endangered with gossip and lies,” Carney said. “Our short-lived relationship with Katy Sparks went sour, and someone is exploiting your medium in a malicious and libelous manner to destroy my family’s business.”

For her part, Sparks said she had no idea why Carney thinks that she’s the source of the anti-Bussaco item planted on the Web.

“Our business relationship didn’t work out, but I really have not spoken to the press until now,” she said.

Carney disagreed, saying that talk of declining sales was “all coming from Katy Sparks’s camp.”

“The restaurant is not closing,” he said. “Yes, we did bounce two checks, but they were both repaid.”

On the larger issue of why a seven-week tenure behind the stove led to such apparent bitterness from Sparks, Carney was uncertain.

“We wish her well!” he said, adding in a plug for his new kitchen team: Andrew Smith, formerly of Lupa and del Posto, and Pamela Woods, from PizzaMoto.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Gersh Kuntzman

The Brooklyn Paper

Potted plant

A dope-smoking thug beat up a man heading to a Laundromat near Fourth Avenue on March 7 — but the reign of hallucinogenic terror ended quickly, thanks to a fast-moving officer.

The victim told police that he was on Seventh Street at around 6:40 pm when a man rushed over and cut him on the leg with a mini lockblade, causing a slice on the leg.

The perp fled, but was collared within minutes by Officer David Mathura, who claimed he not only found the knife, but a bag of pot, too.

Car mania

Car thieves are back in business in Park Slope, hitting at least five vehicles last week. Here’s the bad news:

• A Volkswagen Passat was swiped off President Street on March 1. The victim said that he’d parked the car between Nevins and Third Avenue at around 8 am, but it was gone by 4 pm.

• A thief got a nifty BMW that had been parked on Carroll Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues at around 11:45 pm on Feb. 28. The next day at noon, it was gone.

• That most desirable of wheels — a 1993 Buick — was swiped off Prospect Park West sometime between 9:30 pm on Feb. 28 and 10 pm on March 1. The victim said that he’d parked the Century sedan between Second and Third streets.

• A music-loving thief stole a conga drum and a boom box out of a Jeep that had been parked in that quiet corridor of Flatbush Avenue near the zoo on March 6. The victim told cops that he’d left the car between Empire Boulevard and Grand Army Plaza at around 4:20 pm and returned to it three hours later to find the glass smashed and the fun stuff missing.

• A Staples shopper left his car for just a half-hour in the office superstore’s parking lot on Fourth Avenue on March 4, but returned to find his side door open and his cellphone and laptop missing. The victim said he was only in the store, which is at Third Street, between 8 and 8:30 am.

Bar grabs

There were at least two purse-snatchings inside eating and drinking establishments. Here are the details:

• A thief took advantage of an employee who had been working the night shift at Sugarcane on Flatbush Avenue on March 3. Cops say that a surveillance camera showed the thief enter at around midnight and start rummaging through coats until he found the victim’s wallet. The 34-year-old employee at the restaurant at Sixth Avenue didn’t notice the crime — and his stolen Green Card — until 4 am.

• A thief swiped a woman’s bag off a chair at the Flatbush Avenue Dunkin Donuts on March 5. The victim told cops that she had been enjoying a baked good at around 4 pm, but the nice taste in her mouth vanished at 5:30 pm, when she discovered that her purse, which contained credit cards and an iPod, had been swiped from the eatery, which at St. Marks Avenue.

Building baddie

A thug stole a woman’s bag as she tried on clothes at a boutique on Fifth Avenue on March 4.

The victim told cops that she was in a dressing room in the shop, which is between 11th and 12th streets, for just a few minutes at around 8:30 pm.

When she came out, her bag was gone — and with it her credit cards and transit worker identification.

He’s sick

A thief used the oldest trick in the book — pretending to have a sick mother — to steal an Eighth Avenue doctor’s laptop on March 3.

A surveillance camera in the office, which is between St. Johns and Lincoln places, spotted the victim enter the office at around 12:20 pm and tell the receptionist that he was waiting for his mom, who would soon show up for an appointment.

At some point, the receptionist went to the back of the office — and that’s when the thief went to work, first stealing a book of stamps.

Emboldened, he then took a laptop and left.

His mother, the police report said, “never showed.”

Cops are looking for a 6-foot-1, 230-pound man with black hair in braids.

— Gersh Kuntzman

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Deborah Manwaring

for The Brooklyn Paper

I moved here from Trinidad 21 years ago. I’ve lived in Brooklyn the whole time. The family I work for now has one baby whom I watch full time, everyday.

I don’t want to say what I make as a nanny, but it’s less and less. Everything is off the books. I’ve never talked about it with the family because I think it makes them uncomfortable. I try not to think about it. I got the job and it’s such a nice family, so I know that they know they should pay. I don’t want to bring it up if they don’t.

You know, with the economy how it is, I don’t want to be unemployed, so you have no choice and it’s really not worth talking about the taxes if it means being fired.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. Out of the seven families I’ve worked for only one ever discussed taxes with me. Parents are so worried about the cost.

I know I should be getting paid more. Maybe it’s just the problems with the economy, but I know they try to make it seem like they can’t afford to pay me more and then the next thing I know I’m out of a job because they’re moving to a bigger house somewhere. That’s what happened with the last family I worked for.

These people I work for now are so nice. They’re both professionals and are very busy, you know.

I’m getting older and I know you have to get Social Security, but I don’t. That sort of thing, and health care, are a real problem. I worry, and I know I should have those benefits. People here are obviously making money. I don’t understand it. It’s not right.

— interviewed by Claire Glass

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

The Brooklyn Paper

One of the most maddening aspects of the Oscars is that performers — already living their lives on a pedestal — actually exalt their peers even higher.

Rare is the touch of modesty in the face of excessive attention.

But that admirable quality is on full display in the St. Anne’s Warehouse production of “A Life in Three Acts,” a “This Is Your Life”–style retrospective accompanied by excellent photos of one the most significant and successful drag queens of the pre-RuPaul era, Bette Bourne.

Sure, Bourne may not be as famous as Sandra Bullock, but the former performer’s life is certainly more compelling.

“A Life in Three Acts” offers a window into Bourne’s remarkable life, which took him from professional (male) actor, to activist in the Gay Liberation Front, to the leader of Bloolips, one of the more successful gay performance troupes of the 1970s and ’80s.

Bourne, dressed not in full drag, but in a more restrained “Upper West Side drag,” as he puts it, shares the stage with Mark Ravenhill, the director of the show. It is Ravenhill’s lengthy interviews with the “gay icon” — a term Bourne uses with a smirk — which serve as the script.

In fact, both Ravenhill and Bourne actually have the scripts in their hands, but the show avoids feeling premeditated. Bourne, clearly a gifted actor, allows himself to become lost in his early — and amusing — sexual experiences, as well as the grimmer moments, such as his encounters with an abusive father.

Adding to the spontaneous atmosphere are Bourne’s occasional song-and-dance numbers, which are given an extra charm because given that he is 70 years old. Watching him tap dance is like watching an old burlesque performer go through a routine — something about putting on a show puts a sparkle in even the oldest of eyes.

But Bourne never becomes overly sentimental when remembering her youth — he avoids falling into the cliché of the gay teen filled with anguish about his identity. Instead, his first sexual experience results in a return visit a week later, and his romps with other teenage boys — as well as running from the cops when caught — were “great fun.”

His memories of life in a gay commune in 1970s London are strewn with stories of hard drug use and raids by cops — but the tone remains joyous. Bourne just isn’t that angry.

But Bourne’s face turns grim when recalling the terror of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, recalling the deaths of 100 people he knew, as well as the pain caused by British queen-icon Quentin Crisp when he infamously said, “AIDS is a fad.”

The second act of the retrospective — perhaps the titular “Three Acts” refers to Bourne’s gender-bending — focuses primarily on Bourne’s work with Bloolips, as well as in other mainstream theater.

At one point, Bourne recalls how he took command of the stage when playing a nurse in “Hamlet” at the Globe Theater. After the audience exploded in laughter at the first sound of his voice, he simply turned to them, rolled his eyes, and “got on with the play.”

Despite such moments of acceptance, Bourne disagrees that much progress has been made in terms of gay rights — “Any man here should put on lipstick and a dress and try walking down the street,” he says.

But someone without even a passing interest in drag and the history of gay culture in London and New York should still consider checking out “Three Acts,” because by its conclusion, many will find themselves wishing that this drag-queen/raconteur had more time to share a few more saucy tales.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

The Brooklyn Paper

If it weren’t for comic acting talents of the Heights Players, the cross-dressing farce that is “Leading Ladies” would have been a real dog.

Indeed, Ken Ludwig’s comedy about two Shakespearean actors who dress as women to gain money and love was already tired when it bowed in 2004 — a “Mrs. Doubtfire” retread that leaves little suspense to the action itself.

That left the job of keeping the audience engaged to the actors — who had good direction from Ed Healy — when the show opened on Friday.

After about 10 minutes of chuckling one-liners, the story truly kicks off on a train ride with the actors Leo Clark (Jere Williams) and Jack Gable (Steve Velardi), who learn about a dying woman’s effort to re-connect with her long lost granddaughters, who would share $3 million when she dies.

To Clark and Gable’s advantage, they’re professional actors (the reference to Clark Gable is lost in the story, but is probably some comment on the play’s recurring theme of actors and their apparent quest to be fake). But alas, they must gather their old costumes from former shows and dress up to prove they are two of the granddaughters — one of whom is deaf and dumb — from the sticks.

Still, the obvious plot twists and “antics” that ensue are overshadowed by great acting — Williams and Velardi are quick, sharp with their timing and pitch, and mesh to create a nearly seamless machine of ongoing crack-ups.

Most of the action takes place in the home of dying Florence (played by the sassy and youthful Sheila MacDougall) who is convinced she isn’t ill. She’s being taken care of by Doc (the funny uncle you sometimes wish never came to dinner, played by Michael Janove) her sweet granddaughter Meg Snider (a debut for Sarah Garza) and her older, straight-laced fiancé, the Rev. Duncan Woolery (Raymond Wagner), who argue throughout over Snider’s love of actors and theater.

Naturally, boring old Rev. Duncan is the only character who (rightly) suspects Clark and Gable when they arrive, dressed in horrendously funny outfits depicting Cleopatra and a fairy. Naturally (again!), the cross-dressing Clark falls in love with Snider, while Gable goes gaga over Snider’s dim-witted friend Audrey (Aubrey Antonsen). This forces the men to move in and out of drag in a predictable series of near-misses.

However tired the plot, the laughs keep coming in surprisingly quick succession. The Heights Players weren’t necessarily born for their roles, but they’re great at stand-up comedy.

Indeed, if this show is worth seeing at all, it’s because of Healy and his troupe, not because of anything writer Ludwig brought to the table.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Claire Glass

for The Brooklyn Paper

Moms and Dads in Park Slope are guilty of Nannygate.

The political scandal from a decade ago — which famously snared plenty of pols for paying their domestic help off the books — is rearing its head as a new survey revealed this week that close to 90 percent of all nannies in the famously liberal neighborhood work in a black market.

Only 14 percent of local parents pay their nannies fully on the books, according to the gorgeously laid-out survey of 806 families compiled by the Park Slope Parents Web site.

The hand that rocks this cradle is working illegally.

And it’s no surprise — or even a cause for concern — among the mostly women who are doing the dirty work.

“Out of the seven families I’ve worked for, only one ever discussed taxes with me,” said Deborah Manwaring, a nanny for 21 years. “Parents are so worried about the cost.”

And taxes aren’t the only disquieting element of Park Slope nanny culture, according to the survey. The International Nanny Association’s most recent study says that nannies in families with one child in New York City make an average of $777 a week. In Park Slope, the average is $548 weekly — and 86 percent aren’t getting benefits, the survey showed.

The earth-shattering survey also revealed that:

• the bad economy has taken its toll on nannies. Salaries are down from last year and fewer nannies have gotten a raise. Last year 55 percent got a raise, this year just 33 percent did.

•only three percent of nannies receive even partial health-care coverage.

• only 33 percent of nannies have written contracts with their employers.

• the difference in salary between nannies who are on the books and those who are paid off the books ranges from 16 cents to $2.18.

On the plus side, the survey also showed that the average full-time nanny gets nearly 20 vacation and holiday days off — paid.

But by far, the most-shocking finding is that so many Park Slope parents are pulling the Zoe Baird and choosing to keep their nannies as undocumented workers.

A whopping 77 percent of couples pay their nannies fully off the books and another nine percent said they pay partly on the books.

Of course, a majority have a perfectly reasonable rationale: Fifty-eight percent of off-the-book employers said that they believe their nannies prefer it this way.

Manwaring isn’t sure that it’s so simple; she’s simply afraid to broach the subject.

“I don’t bring up taxes because they might fire me,” Manwaring said. “With the economy the way it is, I don’t want to be unemployed, so I have no choice.”

The plurality of the 77 percent of parents that pays its nannies fully off the books gave this Rangel-esque defense: 44 percent said the process of paying extra taxes is simply too difficult. Another 38 percent said it would cost them too much money to maintain the nanny’s salary after taxes.

The director of Park Slope Parents, Susan Fox, said that the difficulty of filing taxes on nanny salaries can be intimidating and that paying those taxes can be prohibitively expensive. But the survey indicated that nannies paid on the books only cost about one dollar more per hour than nannies paid under the table.

And as for salaries this year, the survey showed that rates are already going down because parents aren’t willing to pay new nannies as much as they have in the past. Another Park Slope nanny, Mona Supersat, said she works two part-time jobs to maintain a decent salary.

“I’ve been a nanny here for 13 years and finding an employer to pay enough to make a good living wage has never been so difficult,” Supersat said.

Parent and former Park Slope Civic Council President Lydia Denworth was disappointed when she heard that paying off the books has become so common.

“I wasn’t aware that the percentage was that high, but I certainly knew that some people weren’t paying on the books,” Denworth said. “It tells you how much it already costs. Things have gotten tighter for everyone.”

It’s fine for the nannies, of course — as long as they never want to retire on Social Security.

Comment on this story.

Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

The Brooklyn Paper

His top aide allegedly beat up his girlfriend. He’s been charged with illegally taking free tickets to the World Series. He may have steered a state gambling contract to a bunch of crooks. And his cabinet members are bailing out like Puritans at a whore house.

So what did Gov. Paterson do on Monday morning? He held a dog-and-pony show at Borough Hall, of course!

OK, charitably speaking, the beleaguered governor was on hand to oversee a “Town Hall” meeting on the state budget — but it’s not much of a “public” hearing when the only advance warning anyone got was an e-mail sent out by the governor’s office to the press and Paterson supporters on Friday afternoon. (Even the MTA plasters signs all over its stations for weeks before it holds a hearing where its board members can ignore the public.)

This was a papered crowd.

But it didn’t matter, because no one showed up at Chez Marty to hear the governor talk about his budget plans. The 25 media trucks — and blood-smelling Andrea Peyser! — were there to keep houding the governor about his resignation plans.

The seppuku is still off, the governor said, dutifully. But maybe, just maybe, he hinted at something.

“The day of reckoning is here,” he said. “Many will have to pay the price.”

And later: “This is such a prohibitive situation that your suggestions may help us.”

Oh, too bad. He was talking about the budget — and its gap of $9 billion.

At that size, we might need a full-time governor and a state legislature that isn’t held hostage to whether another girlfriend abuser Hiram Monserrate wins his seat back in Queens.

Good luck to us all.

After the hour-long “hearing,” the governor emerged to meet his persecutors in the media. He had the nerve to spin his decision to remain in office, yet skip a re-election campaign, as a positive thing.

“The main hindrance to negotiating with the legislature is a governor that’s running for re-election,” Paterson said. There are other hindrances, though — namely a governor who could be behind bars before the end of his term.

Indeed, the governor isn’t making it easy for his few supporters, some of whom shouted, “Right on!” and “Run again” as the media asked its questions.

“I feel so alone supporting him,” added Rosalie Harmon of Canarsie. “People are really looking to take him down.”

One onlooker didn’t feel embarrassed, so much as disillusioned with Albany — a common theme in a state where a majority of people are so embarrassed that they don’t want to identify themselves as natives of the Empire State, a new survey shows.

“All the governors seem to try,” Evenly Valentine said. “But it never seems to work out.”

And whose fault is that?

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Louise Crawford

for The Brooklyn Paper

Diaper Diva has been stressing lately about where to send Ducky for summer camp. She just couldn’t decide — and there are so many choices (and they’re all so expensive).

As is often the case, she called Smartmom to meet for coffee at Sweet Melissa (Dumb Editor note: That is not a cheap plug for a fellow Brooklyn Paper columnist!), where they have most of their “there’s something I need to discuss with you” conversations.

Smartmom could tell that Diaper Diva had done her homework. She knew about all the camps in the area. She’d been online, read the mailers, and garnered a boatload of information from other parents, who were stressing about the very same thing.

“Scone-loving Mom is sending her daughter to Beth Elohim,” she said. “And Flirty Dad is sending his son to Park Explorers,” Diaper Diva told Smartmom.

The Diva was reeling with stories about what all the other kids are doing this summer. Buddha knows, she wanted the same for her daughter. It would be downright cruel to deprive Ducky of all that fun.

Would Ducky enjoy an arts camp? A drama camp? A traditional day camp with bug juice and lanyards? A daily trips camp? A tennis camp? A soccer camp?

The possibilities were limitless — but Diaper Diva’s budget is not. In these dark economic times, it’s not like money is growing on the trees in Prospect Park.

So Smartmom made a radical proposal: How about not sending Ducky to camp?

Diaper Diva looked like she might fall over. She was uncharacteristically speechless. Her face went pale, and Smartmom thinks she saw her head spin around. Twice. The Diva looked at Smartmom like she had just proposed sending Ducky to Fresh Kills landfill for the summer.

“What about the summer she’s entitled to?” Diaper Diva sputtered.

Entitled to?

Since when does a 5-year-old have to go to summer day camp? Sure, Diaper Diva and Smartmom went to day camps. But back in the 1960s and ’70s, you didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to afford it. And the truth is, they didn’t even like Hudson Day Camp and used to write musicals, yes musicals, which they performed for their parents, about how much they hated that camp.

So who’s got the entitlement issues? Smartmom thinks it’s the parents. Truth is, it’s perfectly OK to not spend money you don’t have on some inflated sense of what summer has to be. The kids will survive. They really will. But will the parents?

If she’s unemployed, Diaper Diva might be around in July, and she and Ducky can do Camp Mom (as one friend of Smartmom calls it) and go to local pools, zoos, museums and parks. If the Diva is working, their wonderful babysitter can take Ducky.

There was an odd moment of truth between the sisters. Then Diaper Diva went in for the kill.

“What about you? You always sent Teen Spirit to day camp,” Diaper Diva asserted. Clearly, she was looking for a loophole in Smartmom’s idea.

It was true. But they sent him to the inexpensive Park Explorers, which he loved, for years and years. The Oh So Feisty One hated day camp from the get-go. And that was that.

People complain that kids these days feel so entitled, but isn’t it the parents who set that up? Isn’t it the parents who, in an effort to outdo their own childhoods, insist that their children have an action-packed life filled with 24/7 activities that cost lots of money?

Diaper Diva thought about it. And then she thought some more. It was a radical idea. It was also, she realized, liberating.

There was no reason that she had to do exactly what all the other parents are doing. Sure, it would be fun for Ducky to go to that camp in Staten Island (which costs upwards of $2,500), but maybe this just isn’t the summer to do it.

And the kids will be just fine swimming at the Red Hook pool, touring around Central Park, visiting the Museum of Natural History.

It’s the parents who feel deprived if they have to say no; that’s the toughest word in the English language — for the parents, not the kids, though.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.

By Claire Glass

for The Brooklyn Paper

Bicycle bandit

The bike-riding bandit who preys on iPhone owners has struck again — this time in the heart of Fort Greene!

Once believed to be a Park Slope phenomenon, the bicycling thief stole a man’s iPhone out of his hand on March 7 just as he exited the G train near Washington and Lafayette avenues at around 6 pm.

The thief rounded the corner and disappeared with the device.

Apple snatch

A thief nabbed a Pratt Institute student’s Mac Book Pro from her locker on March 1.

The victim told cops that she may have left her locker unlocked when she went to class at around 4 pm in a building between Lafayette Avenue and Clinton Place.

More Target trauma

There were two more crimes at the Atlantic Avenue Target that came to light last week. Here’s a roundup:

• A thief stole a mom’s purse from the lobby of the building, which is near the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues, while she was folding her baby’s stroller on Feb. 28. The victim told cops that this mom menace must have grabbed her purse off the floor while she was busy with the child at around 1 pm.

• An employee turned conniving counterfeiter when he tried to pay for items with fake money on Jan. 23. The fake funds amounted to over $2,500, but the crime was not discovered until last week.

Transit snatch

A gang of five surrounded their 15-year-old victim on a subway platform and ripped his chain off of his neck on March 3.

The victim told cops that he was waiting at the Lafayette Avenue G-train station at around 3 pm when the troublesome tribunal surrounded him, and one of the thugs grabbed the chain.

The group then escaped.

Un-happy meal

A Dollar Menu debacle went down at the McDonald’s on Flatbush Avenue Extension when a perp stole a woman’s wallet on March 3.

The victim, who no doubt lost her appetite, told cops that the thief must have reached into her bag after she paid for her dinner at the fast food joint, which is at the corner of Fulton Street, at 6 pm.

Scholarly scandal

A bandit stole a student’s backpack off the gym floor at Long Island University, getting away with his iPod on March 3.

The victim told cops that he only left his bag for a few minutes, but when he returned to it at 6:40 pm, it was missing.

First dead

A man was found shot, and barely breathing near the corner of North Oxford Walk near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on March 5.

Police reported that the man was conscious when he was found behind a house, but he was pronounced dead at 8 pm that night.

His murderer has not been caught.

Statistics show that the crime is the first homicide of the year in the confines of the 88th Precinct.

Dinner dash

A money-hungry thief stole a wallet and cellphone from a diner at Just Taste It on March 4.

The victim told police that he had finished dining at the restaurant, which is near the corner of Clinton Avenue and Fulton Street, at around 11 pm when a man started a conversation with him on the sidewalk outside. During the conversation, the victim put his cellphone and wallet on a bench near the door and went back inside to get something he forgot. When he returned, the stranger and his belongings were gone.

Gunslingers

Six gun-toting assailants waved guns and threw glass bottles at their victims on March 6.

Victims told cops that the vicious gang approached them on the corner of St. James Place and Fulton Street at around 2:45 am. When the victims tried to escape, one of the perps picked up a glass bottle and slung it at one of the victims, hitting him in the back of the head. When he threw the bottle, the perp screamed, “Keep walking or we will beat you up and take your s–t!”

The victims followed directions, but the violent villains pulled out guns. When one of the gunslingers yelled, “I’m going to shoot you,” the victims started to run toward Franklin Avenue to escape the predators.

Officer James Christie later arrested four of the six assailants, cops said.

— Claire Glass

Comment on this story.