FiPS Cares: Help The Catskills!

Photo via WNYC

Hurricane Irene might have been anti-climactic for those of us in Brooklyn, but we were waaaaaaay luckier than people in the Catskills. YOU might only go there on weekends, but I have it on good authority that some people actually live there -- like, all the time. And those people need your help.

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John Turturro has no "Passione" for Brooklyn

John Turturro might live in Park Slope, but he doesn't want to sleep with us. He recently premiered his new documentary about Naples, entitled Passione, at BAM. Filmmaker magazine describes it as A “musical adventure” that chronicles the world of contemporary Neopolitan music from top to bottom, Passione is that rare film in our cynical times that embraces large gestures, outsized emotions and the lure of melodrama and sentimentality. It features performances from a seemingly never ending assortment of Naples’ most vibrant acts, traversing myriad genres and styles, the film’s big heart and bold sound stay with you long after the credits roll."

When asked whether he'd ever consider making a similar film about Brooklyn, JT announced that New York is no longer "dangerous and sexy." Pfft.

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Notorious PHD: A real life Park Slope rapper!

 Dr. Phd, Center / Photo via Gothamist

...And the beat goes on.

Imagine, if you will, that you're an unreconstructed liberal white dude who teaches African-American Studies in the Bronx, but lives in Park Slope.  You take public transportation, of course, which is a bitch of a commute. But you don't care, because you use the time to grade papers, plan your lectures and, most importantly, to figure out how to make your lessons relevant to students. 

When you first moved to Park Slope, there was nary a kick-ass frozen yogurt shop to be found.  Sackett Street was colloquially known as Crackhead Street. You were there before the first lesbians arrived. Maggie Gyllenhaal hadn't even been born yet.  Life was good.

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Park Slope is the Epic Epicenter of Epicurean Sustainability

Photo Via Rose Water

If you're like me (I know I certainly am), you can't get enough of that slow food, locavore, farm-to-table, sustainable eating, foodie hoo-haw stuff.  Lucky for us, Park Slope is the center of the frickin' universe when it comes to that, according to Off Manhattan's recent survey of Top Green Restaurants in Brooklyn and Queens. 

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NYC's Most Annoying Pedestrians: A Call To Action

Photo via Picasa user Wiktor WojtasRecently, the Village Voice Blog featured the 15 worst kinds of pedestrians in New York City. Some of their picks are totally obvious ("The Creeper," "The Abrupt, Indiscriminating Stop-and-Gawker").  Others are incomprehensible.  ("The Singer?"  Really?  People walk around the city and sing? When did that start happening?). And yet, they left off the most egregious type of pedestrian of all: The dude who thinks it's appropriate to carry a golf umbrella on an urban sidewalk. 

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