and a YouTube sensation) during the storm.
What a croc!: A man dropped off a two-foot-long baby crocodile at the 88th Precinct stationhouse in Fort Greene, claiming the he found the reptile at a nearby park. Cops tossed the scaly beast in the back of a squad car and drove it to the Center for Animal Care and Control.
Trolley comeback: The city said it would finally consider returning trolleys as a form of mass transit. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said experts are “Looking back to the future.” No word on flying cars just yet.
Ring ding: A Florida man was proposing to his girlfriend on the Brooklyn Bridge when he dropped the .6-carat diamond engagement ring onto scaffolding far below. Transportation workers recovered the ring, returning it to the happy, but stressed-out, couple.
Gersh goosed: Yom Kippur meant bottoms up for our intrepid Editor Gersh Kuntzman, who added a caffeine suppository to his Day of Atonement, investigating what has apparently become a fast-day fad in Orthodox Williamsburg.
October
Welcome to the club: Polluted Newtown Creek joined the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site, proving true the age-old chestnut, “Polluted waterways come in pairs.” The designation is the first step in a decade-long $500-million clean up.
Supersize me: A Barneys Coop opened on Atlantic Avenue, but our normal-sized gal reporter wasn’t too impressed by being dubbed “too fat” for the fancy clothes that are clearly targeted to a select — and apparently gaunt — clientele.
Guitar hero: Donovan Dwyer is the greatest 8-year-old guitarist playing in Brooklyn, who we know of.
Windy city: Red Hook could be home to the borough’s first modern windmill, potentially transforming the neighborhood into a “New Holland.” (Which sure beats the neighborhood’s original name: “New Holland.”)
Groovy pot-ential: A community theater troupe in Park Slope revived the marijuana play, “Reefer Madness,” a spoof on the anti-weed propaganda film of the same name. We don’t know about the play, but those Reese’s peanut butter cups sold during intermission were amazing, dude.
Silent beep: Borough Hall went silent — mercifully, some may say — for a week after Borough President Markowitz lost his voice after a throat operation. The prolix pol regained his prodigious pipes in no time.
And now, the most romantic story ever: A Park Slope bodega owner renamed his Seventh Avenue store The Bad Wife — but he insisted that his dearly beloved is quite the opposite. “She’s the queen,” said Jim Lee. Local feminists were appalled.
November
Grimm day: Republican Michael Grimm bested one-and-done Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon to become Bay Ridge’s next congressman. We welcomed Grimm — whose piercing blue eyes were the talk of the office — with a warm editorial. He takes off just after the new year.
Fur is murder — unless you’re a hipster: Brooklyn designers and artists teamed up to stage Nutria-palooza, a fashion show and wetlands benefit in Bushwick. The creatures are described as “an invasive pest” — just as Bay Ridge’s beloved Quaker parrots once were dubbed.
Thank you R.J. Reynolds: The tobacco giant must hate hipsters as much as everyone else — they’ve launched a “Williamsburg” version of Camel cigarettes, a brand it says is not about hip, but rather, “breaking free.”
Pizza to go: Manhattan burger shrine Shake Shack is coming to Downtown, and that means Tony’s Famous Pizzeria — a quintessential greasy slice joint — will be getting the boot.
The descent: Greenpoint resident Philippa Kaye was passing Flatbush and Fifth when she encountered a hole in the sidewalk so huge she just had to climb in. The city fixed the chasm after we published our pun-filled (“sinking feeling,” “lowdown shame,” “the hole truth,” we could go on) story.
Smokin’ warehouse: The St. Ann’s Warehouse theater company was awarded the contract to renovate the vacant Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, converting it into a $15-million mixed-use performance hall and plaza.
Exxon gassed: The state reached a settlement with ExxonMobil, forcing the energy giant to shell out $25 million for projects to improve the area near the Greenpoint spill, which it is liable. But critics say that the energy giant should pay more.
Farewell, bird: The beloved cockatoo of community activists Leslie and Miriam Lewis cast off his avian coil, making earth a slightly less interesting place. The bird was a living link to history, having once been owned by an aide to Henry Kissinger!
December
Green thief: Smartphone uses were shaken to the core when at least four women had their fancy iPhones stolen across three precincts by a thief on a bicycle — a chilling reminder of a crime wave cops thought they pitted last year.
Bank on it: A low-rent hostel chain paid $4.5 million for the iconic Williamsburgh Savings Bank branch on Driggs Avenue, and already, there’s talk of its transformation into a high-end lodge, restaurant or retail shopping center.
Tunnel vision: The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel will be renamed for Brooklyn legend Hugh Carey — the Park Slope congressman who as the governor is credited with rescuing New York from fiscal ruination. By comparison, a tunnel seems a bit shabby.
Parker’s plight: A jury acquitted state Sen. Kevin Parker of felony assault charges arising from a 2009 tussle with a New York Post photographer. The pugnacious pol was found guilty of two misdemeanors, could be sent to the slammer for a year, but will — after all that — probably get to keep his office.
Two-wheeled fury: Borough President Markowitz remains so angry about the Prospect Park West bike lane that he sang his vitriol at a City Council hearing, a version of “My Favorite Things” called “The Borough of Lanes” that he later used in his annual tongue-in-cheek Christmas card. He hadn’t cooled down by Christmas, when he even refused a gift bike from cycling advocates.
Apple pitch: The city moved forward with a plan to convert part of the Municipal Building in Downtown to a retail store or restaurant, and Borough President Markowitz hopes to attract an Apple store to the austere locale. Maybe he’ll sing to Steve Jobs?
Gowanus made whole: After years of false-starts, Whole Foods finally announced it will indeed open on its formerly toxic site at Third Avenue and Third Street.
