See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, Bishop Loughlin’s postseason was spiraling downward after Christ the King handed the team a 13-point loss, but instead of entering this year’s playoffs with a whimper, the Lions are rushing in roaring. On Feb. 13, Loughlin routed the Royals 69–56 — the same deficit it lost by a year ago. The Loughlin squad clinched the win by using its biggest strengths — depth and athleticism — with a touch of sheer will and determination.

“Their desire and their will to win is stronger than it’s ever been,” said an emotional Loughlin coach Chez Williams. “I feel our early schedule prepared us for the games right now. I’m so proud of the way they played for me today. If they can continue to play like that, it will be an interesting end of the year.”

Sure Christ the King was visibly tired playing its fourth game in five days (and on back-to-back days), but it’s how the Lions pounced on the sluggish play that matters.

Loughlin never gave the Royals a chance to breath, swarming them on defense, pushing the pace, and capitalizing when coach Bob Mackey went to the bench in the second quarter in an attempt to keep his starters fresh. There was never any panic or infighting when things got tough, just troubleshooting and results.

“Whatever wasn’t right, we made it right,” Williams said. “We didn’t argue. That is the sign of a team that is learning how to win.”

Four separate Loughlin players scored in double figures. Guards Ellease Billings-Harrison (16 points) and Lynette Taitt (15 points) took the pressure off star Milicia “Mimi” Reid (15 points), allowing her to close the game in the final quarter instead of carrying the load for four.

“We all have to be on the same page,” Taitt said. “Last year everyone was on a different page.”

Billings-Harrison echoed the sentiment that a full year under their belts and a tough early season schedule is the reason why things are falling into place at the right time — now the team is more experienced, more composed, and more determined to win.

“It got us ready for this game today,” she said.

And it’s a better note on which to enter the playoffs.

The score was same – the outcome totally different.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

68th Precinct

Bay Ridge—Dyker Heights

Tool thief

A lousy looter broke into a car parked on Oliver Street on Feb. 9 and stole a set of tools, police said.

The owner left his car parked near Shore Road just after noon and came back a couple hours later to find someone had broken the lock on a rear door, police said. The thief stole a saw, mud mixer, hammer drill, and a handful of other tools, police said.

Easy hit

A scoundrel made away with a wallet left in an unlocked car parked on Senator Street on Feb. 12, according to a police report.

The owner parked the car between Fifth and Sixth avenues at 3 pm and returned around 7 pm to find his wallet and all of his credit cards and licenses missing, police said.

Ransacked

A cat burglar broke into a home on Ridge Boulevard on Feb. 12, according to police.

The victim left his home near 92nd Street for work around 2 pm and returned around 4 am the next day to find his apartment was completely ransacked and his rear window’s lock was broken.

The intruder stole some jewelry and a smartphone, authorities said.

License and registration, please

Someone cleared out a man’s car parked on 71st street on Feb. 13, according to police.

The victim parked his car between 10th and 11th avenues at 8 pm and came back the next morning to find everything in his car was tossed around, and both his glove box and center console open, police said.

The bandit stole his wallet containing not only his credit cards, but registrations for his car, truck, and motorcycle as well.

— Dennis Lynch

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joanna DelBuono

Brooklyn Daily

Marine Park

Students at James Madison High School took conservation to the next level when they constructed Brooklyn’s longest plastic-bag chain, drawing attention to environmental issues.

Special Education students wrapped the record chain around the perimeter of the school building in an attempt to heighten awareness of the growing plastic crisis in our nation.

“Plastic is strangling our planet,” said one budding greenie.

The project grew after teachers Brian Schoenfelder, Jeanne Quarto, and Renee Kaiser asked conservation-minded students in their environmental science and botany classes to research an environmental issue and potential solutions. Students were also challenged with designing an event that could heighten awareness of the issue and prompt their peers to change a behavior that was adversely affecting our world. They began collecting plastic bags for recycling and repurposing, creating the record-breaking chain.

The students will now distribute reusable fabric bags to their peers in hopes of breaking their ties to plastic.

Borough President Adams showed his support, digging right in and helping the students wind the chain around the school.

“This event is so important because it helps kids shine, and take pride in their work and accomplishments,” he said.

Principal Jodie Cohen agreed.

“Every student has such great potential,” she said. “The secret is tapping into their unique skills or interests.”

Students broke the chain at the end of the day to symbolize breaking the plastic habit and saving our environment.

Standing O says, “Recycle, reuse, re-purpose.”

James Madison High School [3787 Bedford Ave. at Avenue P in Marine Park, (718) 758–7200].

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

It was a supreme celebration.

The cast of “Motown the Musical” rolled into Maimonides Medical Center for a Black History Month performance on Feb. 9. The priest who gave an invocation before the singing and dancing praised the hospital — named for a Jewish thinker — for embracing multiple cultures.

“Maimonides was a great Jewish philosopher who respected the dignity of others,” the Rev. Eddie Alleyne, rector and dean of St. Luke’s Deanery. “The center does such a fantastic job every year in celebrating Black Heritage Month in such a cultural experience.”

Local justice of the court and lawyer Sylvia Hinds-Radix gave the keynote address.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joanna DelBuono

Brooklyn Daily

Borough Wide

Just say no!

Standing O is taking a deep breath and cheering for Paul Gammarano. The health and wellness guru was honored by Tobacco-Free Staten Island at New Dorp High School in Staten Island for his work in educating hundreds of young people each day on the dangers of smoking.

Paul’s wisdom extends to instructing his students on the manipulative methods used by the marketing execs who push tobacco on young people, and how today’s youth can change the habit and develop a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle.

The Standing O pal teaches sage advice on both sides of the bridge. He shares his knowledge with students at Kingsborough Community College as well, encouraging them and community members to live a healthy, tobacco-free life, and educate others on the dangers and lack of knowledge on current products.

Standing O agrees and says, “Thank you Paul for teaching us all how to enjoy taking a deep breath.”

Kingsborough College [2001 Oriental Blvd. in Manhattan Beach, (718) 368–5000].

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joanna DelBuono

Brooklyn Daily

Bay Ridge

Put your hands together for Rose Marciante. The lovelier-than-roses Rose turned 105 years young on Feb. 12, and helping her celebrate the great day was grandson Micheal Marciante.

Micheal planted a big kiss on his glorious grandma, helped her blow out the candles on her red frosted cake, and thanked his lucky stars for having such a remarkable relative.

“I’m very thankful and truly blessed to have such a strong, loving, and cheerful nana at the age of 105,” said Micheal.

Standing O is sending out 105 b-day shout-outs to Rose, and wishing her an Italian toast, “Cent’ anni.”

Borough Wide

Save the date

Come to this very important double header on March 15 (3–7:30 pm) and be prepared to give.

Public School 102 will hold a blood drive in memory of Mathiew Johnson, and a bone marrow drive for 6-year-old John Faro Vitale, who is suffering from a rare blood disease.

Roll up those sleeves and donate a pint or two, and be tested for a marrow match. Enjoy snacks, coffee, and tea; some really great raffles; and leave with the wonderful knowledge that you helped to save a life.

What are you waiting for? Don’t forget to bring a photo or signature identification — you can’t donate without it.

PS 102 [211 72nd St. at Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge, (800) 688–0900]

Hip, hip, hooray!

The Innovation Awards named Brooklyn Public Library its “Tech Mission Organization of the Year” for having the biggest impact on inclusivity, education, or access in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, thrilling administrators.

“Brooklyn Public Library’s staff and volunteers provide creative, educational S.T.E.M. programs to young people of all ages and to the adults who teach them,” said chief librarian Lisa Rosenblum.

Brooklyn Public Library offers free access to technology to Brooklynites and is one of the borough’s largest providers of free, wireless internet access.

Brooklyn Public Library (www.bklynlibrary.org).

Save the date part deux

Temple Sholom and Hatzolah of Mill Basin volunteer ambulance corps is hosting a blood drive for Maimonides Hospital on Feb. 28 from 10 am to 5 pm in memory of Marvin Master.

A glatt kosher buffet and gifts will be provided for donors, who must be in good health, between the ages of 16 and 76, and weigh at least 110 pounds. Donors who are 16 years old must have parental consent and supply a parental consent form.

Temple Sholom [2075 E. 68th Street between Avenues T and U in Mill Basin, (718) 283–7657].

Scouts honor

Boy Scout Troop 76 and Cub Scout Pack 76 will hold its annual “A Scout is Reverent” celebration on Feb. 28. with a Mass at St. Bernard Church, followed by brunch in the St. Bernard Parish Hall at 10 am.

Scout Sunday is one of the highlights of the Boy Scouts of America calendar year, and has been designated as the primary date to recognize the contributions of young people and adults to scouting.

Fifth-grade Webelo Scouts will take part in a crossover ceremony — from cub scouts into boy scouts — and become members of Troop 76. The event will also feature raffles and 50-50 drawings.

The Mass is open to all. Tickets for the brunch are $20 for adults, $10 for children 8 years and older, and free to children under 8.

St. Bernard Church (2055 E. 69th St at Avenue T in Mill Basin, info at troop76brooklyn@gmail.com).

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Lauren Gill

Brooklyn Daily

David Bowie covers are a dime-a-dozen, but only a few float high above the world. Ahead of this weekend’s Bowie tribute concert at the Jalopy Theatre, we compiled a list of some of the most memorable takes on his otherworldly catalogue:

“Man Who Sold the World” by Nirvana, 1993

Nirvana’s stripped-down acoustic cover of the 1970 song, recorded just months before Cobain’s death, introduced Bowie’s work to a generation of kids watching Music Television’s “Unplugged.”

“Let’s Dance” by M. Ward, 2003

Folk singer M. Ward scored one of his biggest hits with by putting a charming, acoustic touch on the dance hit.

“Heroes” by Aphex Twin, 2003

Not a cover, but a remix of a remix. Aphex Twin spins a version of composer Phillip Glass’s minimalist take on Bowie’s 1977 anthem, which often threatens to swirl out of control.

“Space Oddity” by Chris Hadfield, 2013

Astronaut Chris Hadfield created one of the most appropriate covers of all time while floating in a tin can — the first music video ever recorded in space. The video has racked up more than seven million YouTube views, which makes sense — it is out of this world.

“Bowie’s in Space” by Flight of the Conchords, 2012

Instead of doing a simple cover, the New Zealand musical comedy duo delivered a riff on several different eras of Bowie music, especially the Ziggy Stardust years and the “Let’s Dance” video.

“Rebel Rebel” by Bruce Springsteen, 2016

The Boss paid tribute to Bowie with a rousing rendition of “Rebel Rebel,” the most covered song in Bowie’s catalogue.

Comment on this story.

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

By Lauren Gill

Brooklyn Daily

They can be heroes, just for one night!

A team of musicians will put a down-home twist on the tunes of David Bowie at country and roots-music stalwart the Jalopy Theater on Feb. 20. The organizer of the tribute concert said it was important to pay homage to an artist who influenced so many of their careers.

“He was so formative on my musical upbringing,” said Feral Foster. “It was necessary to do something that would remember his music and artistry and give to a cause.”

Foster — who also runs the theater’s weekly Roots ‘n’ Ruckus night — started working on the tribute shortly after he heard about the singer’s death on Jan. 10. Booking the night was easy, he said, because musicians were itching to hit the Ziggy Star-dusty trail.

“All of a sudden people came out of the woodwork,” he said. “I really wasn’t expecting this kind of enthusiasm.”

The lineup has 18 singer-songwriters performing their own interpretations of the Thin White Duke’s oeuvre. The mega-hit “Let’s Dance” will get an autoharp re-imagining from Elizabeth Devlin, while the Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues is set to perform “Uncle Arthur” from Bowie’s 1967 debut album.

The group of songwriters, who usually perform their own material, were still eager for a chance to cover music from Bowie, because he was one of their own, said Foster.

“He was a great songwriter — I think people get this otherworldliness in his songs that translates to people,” he said. “There’s a certain longing for something that’s not even real.”

“It’s lot of people who I’ve seen play their own material before,” Foster added. “He’s something we shared such a love for and it will be interesting to see everyone’s take on a musician we all love.”

All proceeds from the night will go to WhyHunger, an organization aiming to end child hunger — a donation Foster hopes would make Bowie proud.

“I knew he was a very charitable person, so I looked for what charities he gave to and one of them was hunger,” he said.

“Moonage Daydream! NYC Songwriters Sing The Songs of Bowie: A Benefit for WhyHunger” at Jalopy Theater [315 Columbia St. between Hamilton Avenue and Woodhull Street in Red Hook, (718) 395–3214, www.jalopy.biz]. Feb. 20 at 9 pm. $10.

Comment on this story.

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

By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

He got the message.

Mayor DeBlasio is backing off an unpopular plan to build a pre-K facility next to a Gowanus Expressway off-ramp, Hizzoner announced at a town hall meeting at Fort Hamilton High School on Feb. 16, assuaging concerns a bevy of local leaders had with the noisy and busy locale.

“I am here today to announce that we will not use that site, because we heard your community’s concerns and they were very valid concerns about the safety of our children,” DeBlasio said to a roar of applause in a packed gymnasium.

Both Community Board 10 and School District 20’s community education council came out in force against the proposal for the 108-seat facility in January and even urged the School Construction Authority to nix the plan before it spent any taxpayer money on air-quality and traffic studies at the site.

Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) promised he would oppose the siting if and when it came up for a vote in the Council.

The site — at the corner of 86th Street and expressway off-ramp Gatling Place — housed Sanitation Department offices and Community Board 10’s offices from the 1970s through the late 2000s. Board members told personal anecdotes about the acrid air floating over from the neighboring highway, the piles of trash drivers tossed near the site from the expressway’s exit, and its frightening rodent infestation at a Jan. 20 meeting education officials regarding the site.

Others raised concerns about safety at the intersection, where there was roughly one accident per month over the last few months.

“It’s very hard to cross the street, we used to have our meetings there, and when you left, you’re looking here and looking there — it’s an awkward spot,” board member Barbara Germack said at the meeting. “It is really an inappropriate site, especially for young children and mothers.”

During the same Feb. 16 town hall, DeBlasio promised his administration would pursue “aggressive enforcement” against the Prince Hotel on 93rd Street, a hotbed of alleged illegal activity a stone’s throw from a pre-kindergarten facility the city filed permits to build in December.

He also apologized that a task force he assembled last year to take on the Prince Hotel failed to stop shady activity there after community leaders panned the city’s plan for the pre-K down the block.

Comment on this story.

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

By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

They want a prince’s ransom!

Sheriffs raided Bay Ridge’s Prince Hotel and plundered its royal treasury late on Feb. 17, a day after Mayor DeBlasio promised enforcement against the maligned and fine-derelict flophouse at a town hall at Fort Hamilton High School. The reputed drug den’s owner owes the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for illegal construction and unsafe building conditions. The hotel remains open for now, but the city aims to keep a hand in the till until the debt is paid, a local pol said.

“It is officially open, but the sheriffs were sent in to crack down on outstanding violations,” Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) told this paper. “I believe they took all the available revenue from the register and are posting two sheriffs on premises to collect whatever revenue is collected from here on out,” Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) told this paper.

Outstanding fines total around $400,000, he said.

Neighbors say they’ve been complaining for years that the 93rd Street hotel near the corner of Third Avenue was a hotbed of drug use and prostitution, and demands for enforcement grew last year when the city announced a plan to build a pre-kindergarten fewer than 500 feet away.

Some local leaders predicted the hotel’s eventual fall after the pre-K announcement, citing increased attention from DeBlasio’s administration.

Hizzoner opened a special investigation into the hotel in March after push-back against his pre-school proposal, but took little visible action, locals complained during the Feb. 16 town hall, where DeBlasio apologized for not being more aggressive against the alleged den of vice.

“I have to take responsibility for that and apologize to you and the community,” he said. “I guarantee you now — and I’m making a very personal guarantee and all those cameras are running — that there will be enforcement and action on the Prince Hotel.”

Folks living in the hotel-cum-boarding house have claimed that everything there is peachy and said owner Moses Fried is on the up and up, but the city shuttered his hotels in Clinton Hill and Downtown in the aughts for buildings violations and prostitution.

A judge could halt the cash grab, but garnishing the Prince’s income is only a first step to cleaning up the place, Gentile said.

“It’s subject to a court injunction, so I’m not sure how long it will last, but it is the beginning of a process to tell the owners that we’re not joking around,” he said.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The dogfight for Brooklyn is back on.

Thomas Jefferson boys’ basketball coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard and Morton, the Abraham Lincoln headman continued their battle for who is Brooklyn’s “big dog” after the Railsplitters’s 87–77 victory over the top-seeded Orange Wave in the Public School Athletic League Brooklyn borough final at York College on Feb. 14.

“I might be the big dog again,” Morton yelled to Pollard with 30 seconds to play. “I might be.”

The jab was a reference to Pollard’s proclamation he was “the new boss in town” after the Orange Wave upset his top-seeded Lincoln team in the Public School Athletic League Class AA semifinals two years ago.

Morton down-played his comments after winning the borough crown — it was just another well-timed barb in the city’s best boys’ basketball rivalry.

“I feel if Bud thinks he can talk to the media about me, I can do it back,” Morton said. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just jabs.”

Pollard claims he didn’t hear what Morton said from across the bench — others told him. He wasn’t surprised by the comments, joking that his counterpart has been waiting two years to say that.

“Today he is — he is the big dog,” Pollard said. “He’s been waiting to say that a long time. That goes to show you how much that loss hurt him a couple of years ago. Two years later he came back, he can’t sleep at night. It is what it is.”

Lincoln and Jefferson have been dueling for supremacy in Brooklyn and New York City after Boys & Girls won its third straight city title in 2012 against Jefferson. The Railsplitters beat the Orange Wave for the crown a year later at Madison Square Garden. Jefferson returned the favor by winning the next two postseason meetings — that included last year’s borough final with now-Orange Wave assistant coach and longtime Morton assistant Kenny Pretlow as the Railsplitters’ head man.

Things only heated up when Pollard chose to sit his stars Shamorie Ponds and Rasheem Dunn to rest them for the playoffs in the team’s season finale in Coney Island. Morton, who has beaten the Orange Wave twice this year in three contests, called it “kind of disrespectful” and said his players were happy to beat Jefferson at full strength.

“It’s a great win for coach,” said senior guard Cahiem Brown, who scored 30 points in the victory. “Everyone is on his back doubting him about everything. I feel he proved he is still the best coach out here in the PSAL.”

Pollard acknowledged this round went to Morton, but knows this year’s battle is far from over with the city playoffs set to begin.

“Today I guess he was the big dog,” Pollard said. “He won the chip, but there can only be one big dog — know what I’m saying?”

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Shavana Abruzzo

Brooklyn Daily

She gigged on “Saturday Night Live” as a bar jerk named Val. She let “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon tug teasingly on her helmet head. She dished like a pimply teen with “Girls” boob Lena Dunham about singer Lenny Kravitz’s pants splitting at the crotch.

Hillary Clinton’s attempts to be liked are as incredible as her compulsive whoppers and multiple federal probes — four at last count — torpedoing her Democratic presidential campaign down the toilet. Count the ways she is soiled goods:

• She was a cuckolded First Lady who trashed her hubby’s lovers.

• She was a New York senator who introduced just three bills into law in eight years.

• She was a secretary of state who visited 112 of the world’s 196 nations and clocked 956,733 miles over 401 days, but helped to make the world a worse place and demote America’s standing.

• She was an incompetent public servant who used her private e-mail account to conduct state business and let a flaky firm run her e-operations from a loo in a loft, then professed ignorance about the classified and top-secret correspondence.

• Her work at the State Department may have crosscut into her hubby’s lucrative speeches, resulting in trade-offs involving national policy.

But Clinton’s worst crime is lying to the Benghazi families and then stomping on their broken hearts. She was among the first cabinet members to blame an anti-Islam video for the 2012 attacks on the American embassy in Libya that killed four Americans, but denied saying so to the victims’ relatives, although they claim otherwise. She then compounded her deceit with an indignant “not me” when news editors asked her in December who was lying.

Clinton’s tap dance over the truth has become a full-blown can-can since the lowly fib she told this columnist during her 2000 Senate stump in Canarsie, claiming to my face she took questions when she had not.

Lying Hillary for president?

Not on yer nelly!

Follow me on twitter @BritShavana

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

They really brought in the heavy-hitters!

Fort Hamilton High School alums inducted four former Tigers — including a fallen firefighter and Jets safety Jaiquawn Jarrett — into their Hall of Fame at El Caribe in Mill Basin on Feb. 13. This year is the school’s 75th anniversary, and the booster club fielded some seriously high-profile honorees, one grad said.

“We picked very special inductees,” said alumni association president Valerie Hodgson (‘73). “Jaiquawn is so down to earth. He is really the most amazing gentleman.”

The association drafted Jarrett (‘07), firefighter Joseph Graffagnino (‘91), funeral director J. Peter Clavin (‘71), and multi-athlete who died too soon Kristi Kvalheim (‘95).

Iron man Jarrett led the Tigers’ offense and defense before playing for Temple University. The Philadelphia Eagles lifted him into the National Football League in 2011. He credited the school with launching his football career — but also with making him a well-rounded person.

“That was a stepping stone for me in life that got my career started,” he said. “I’m very appreciative of Fort Hamilton and for honoring me in such a way. Some teachers there truly helped me grow over the years. They taught us not only about football but life after football, and they groomed us into becoming men.”

Hall-of-Famer and 1977 graduate Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) scored big as emcee, and the whole night was a win, Clavin said.

“I enjoyed myself immensely,” he said. “I was truly honored.”

Clavin owns and operates Joseph P. Clavin Sons funeral home in Bay Ridge. The Salvation Army’s Brooklyn Advisory Board named him Man of the Year in 1999.

Mia Rose and Joseph Graffagnino accepted their late father’s award in his stead. The elder Graffagnino — an eight-year veteran of New York’s Bravest — died responding to a Manhattan fire that exposed the city’s negligence with a 14-story office building damaged in 9-11.

Kvalheim’s family accepted on her behalf. The varsity volleyball captain, tennis ball volley-er, and basketball alley-ooper dreamed of coaching for her alma mater but tragically died of leukemia just months after graduating. The ceremony was beautiful, said Kvalheim’s mother Janet, who attended with her husband and son.

“It is a memory that we will cherish forever,” she said.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

Hops on over to Sanders Studios!

The city’s annual celebration of suds, New York City Beer Week, will flow into more than 400 beer-centric events across all five boroughs on Feb. 19. And the highlight of the eighth annual beer-tasting festival — New York City Brewer’s Choice — will take place right here in Brooklyn, at Sanders Studios in Clinton Hill on Feb. 24.

Brewer’s Choice is a celebration of craft beer that brings together brewers and beer-lovers for a night of quality food paired with craft beer, says the event’s co-founder and producer.

“It’s kind of an amazing evening. If you love beer,” said Jimmy Carbone, host of the event, and also of the radio show “Beer Sessions.”

Visitors to the beer feast will easily spot Carbone, who will sport a pink-striped seersucker jacket, an outfit he reserves for special events, he said.

This year’s Brewer’s Choice will feature more than 40 breweries, including six from Kings County, including Brooklyn Brewery, Threes Brewing, Greenpoint Beer and Ale, Keg and Lantern, Other Half, and newcomer Strong Rope brewery. The rest of the beer producers mostly come from the New York City area.

A ticket to the event will allow unlimited samples from the beer vendors, with many of the brews poured by the brewers themselves. Visitors can also sample food from an eclectic group of chefs and food purveyors, including Boerum Hill’s Mile End Deli and Park Slope’s Palo Santo.

“It’s our favorite night of the year. We put a lot into it,” Carbone said.

Brewer’s Choice at Sanders Studios [525 Waverly Ave. between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, (646) 232–8857, www.nycbrewerschoice.com]. Feb. 24 at 6 pm. $80.

Beer in sight

Kelso Beer Company, located right next door to Sanders Studio, will host “Brewpiphany,” a special sampling of home-brews on the night before Brewer’s Choice. In early January, Kelso’s brewmaster Kelly Taylor gave about 50 homebrewers an un-hopped, un-fermented beer, so each could put a unique spin on it by fermenting, aging, or souring the beer as they saw fit. Visitors will sample each of the options and choose a winner.

“The event is all about celebrating the beauty and quality of craft beer,” said Taylor, who is also president of the New York City Brewer’s Guild, organizers of New York City Beer Week.

Brewpiphany at Kelso Beer Company [529 Waverly Ave. between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, (718) 398–2731, www.kelsobeer.com] Feb. 23 at 7 pm. $27.37.

Shmaltz malts

Shmaltz Brewing Company, a kosher brewing company from Clifton Park in upstate New York, will throw a party to launch the fifth iteration of its annual barrel-aged sour ale Funky Jewbelation. For this version, founder Jeremy Cowan blended together several Shmaltz beers, including its Messiah Nut Brown Ale, its Rejewvenator 2014, and Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer, which was aged for an appropriate eight months.

The Well [272 Meserole St. between Waterbury Street and Bushwick Place in Bushwick, (347) 338–3612, www.thewicknyc.com] Feb. 27 at 9 pm–midnight. Free.

Old enough to drink

At the 21st birthday party for its Black Chocolate Stout, the Brooklyn Brewery will serve up 10 different vintages of the seasonal imperial beverage. Visitors can taste the differences between different stouts while listening to a play-list of songs paired to the year of each version.

Brooklyn Brewery [79 N. 11th St. between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 486–7422, www.brooklynbrewery.com]. Feb. 22 at 6 pm. Free with RSVP.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

Good news, Bay Ridge! It is going to be a (relatively) warm weekend and there are plenty of ways to get out there.

Friday night you should rest up, because the rest of the weekend will be jam-packed, as well as packed with jams!

It starts early on Saturday with cover band the Social Zoo, which will have a “laid-back jam session” to audition new bass players at No Quarter Tavern (8015 Fifth Ave., between 80th and 81st streets) starting at 1 pm. The playlist-by-request outfit will ask the audience to vote for which four-string slapper should ask join the band, so show up and do your part for democracy.

Or celebrate Mardi Gras — the Scandinavian way! Have a Fat Tuesday party on Saturday afternoon at the Danish Mardi Gras at Vesuvio (7305 Third Ave. between 73rd and 74th streets). The Scandinavian East Coast Museum and Lodge Brooklyn-Sons of Norway have a slew of traditional festivities for you, including “hitting the barrel” (a pinata-like game), decorating spring branches, and chowing down on traditional fastelavensbolle sweet buns — you know you love them! The party starts at 1 pm and costs $35 ($20 for those aged 7–17, $15 for kids age 6 and younger.

You can’t always get what you want — unless you want to rock out to the Stones all Saturday! Rolling Stones tribute band Sha-Doobie hits the stage at Red, White, And Brew (8910 Fifth Ave. between 89th and 90th streets) from 4 pm until 8 pm. For those four hours, you get all-you-can-drink wine, beer, and well drinks for $40.

Then you have enough time to make it to the Leif Bar (6725 Fifth Ave. between 67th and Senator streets) to catch Tiberius, a band covering the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. Tiberius goes on at 9 pm and will play two full sets.

Football season is over, so there are no more excuses for spending Sunday afternoon on the couch. Bar circuit vet Max Christopher is playing at Schnitzelhaus (7319 Fifth Avenue between 73rd and 74th streets) on Sunday at 4 pm, so grab a pint and liverwurst a little.

Last but not least, for a relaxing and classy evening you can catch Brooklyn Senior Idol winner Nunzio singing the oldies at the dinner hour at Greenhouse Café (7717 Third Ave between 77th and 78th streets), starting at 6 pm.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

Brooklyn Daily

The greatest Cyclone to don the uniform and never take the field is back.

Tom Gamboa will helm the Clones for his third-straight season, team officials announced on Feb. 17. The take-no-bull headman admitted the squad’s lineup is up in the air, but said he’s excited to get to work.

“We have no idea who our players are going to be, of course, but I’m looking forward to it,” Gamboa said.

The Cyclones organization is coming off its first losing season in franchise history — an anemic offense scraped together a 33–43 record in 2015.

The team struggled, but straight-shooter Gamboa never minced words about his group’s performance in post-game interviews, and fans can expect the same candor from the 67-year-old skipper, he said.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, there’s no better way to be than honest,” Gamboa said. “I was never one for the bull---- stuff.”

Fan-favorite Edgardo Alfonzo once again split duties as coach and club ambassador for the Mets — roles he has played for the last three years. Alfonzo was an All-Star in 2000, when the Mets won the National League pennant for the first time in 14 years.

There are some new faces on the staff, too. Pitching coach Bill Bryk Jr. is relieving the retired Dave LaRoche, and Gamboa said he is itching to teach the new trainer.

“It’ll be fun mentoring him,” Gamboa said.

Bryk Jr. coached hurlers in the Independent League’s Frontier Greys the last season and was a special-assignment scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2013–2014 season.

Sean Ratliff is the new hitting coach. The former Clone notched seven homers playing for Brooklyn in 2008, but a freak injury took him out of play on the cusp of his major-league break.

Gamboa is the second manager to lead the Cyclones for three straight seasons. Rich Donnelly led the team during the 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons.

Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer play their home opener against the hated Staten Island Yankees on June 17.

Tickets at the box office, online, and over the phone [1904 Surf Ave., brooklyncyclones.com, (718) 372–5596].

Comment on this story.

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

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The Nets can finally practice like they play — in Brooklyn.

The former New Jersey team finished relocating to the Borough of Kings — more than three years after the team’s first tip-off at Barclays Center — when the organization opened its training center at Sunset Park’s Industry City on Feb. 17. The squad’s owner was glad to finally leave the so-called “Garden State” behind for good, he said.

“At last, this day has come,” Mikhail Prokhorov said. “The Nets are 100-percent a part of Brooklyn.”

The facility, a little larger than a football field, occupies the top floor of one of Industry City’s waterfront buildings and houses two full-length basketball courts, a weight room, therapeutic pools, a rooftop entertainment space, and a players’ lounge with an 18-seat movie theater. The practice court also features a panoramic view of Brooklyn and distant Manhattan, which even wowed the team’s towering, 7-foot center.

“Look at that view,” Brook Lopez said. “You got to love the view.”

The eight-season Net couldn’t wait to hang out in the lounge and play arcade games such as NBA Jam and NFL Blitz, he said.

“It’s a great day — it’s like Christmas,” Lopez said. “I know I am going to be staying hear a lot. It’s kind of like a second home for me.”

The Nets squad — which is 14–40, second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, and whose head coach just got the sack — doesn’t plan on hogging the training center. The organization plans to host basketball clinics, business-development functions, and offer internship opportunities for Sunset Park students, officials said.

Comment on this story.

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

Brooklyn Daily

Word’s pick: “What is Not Yours is Not Yours” by Helen Oyeyemi

I finished this collection and could not stop thinking about it! The first couple of stories seemed so simple, but I found myself thinking about the characters and events for days after. Oyeyami is good at getting these quiet stories under your skin. After reading one particular story, I want desperately to be a part of the Wenches — you will have to pick up the book to see what that means.

— Katelyn Phillips, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].

Community Bookstore’s pick: “The Child Poet” by Homero Aridjis

Memoir can be a leaden form, encumbered by fact without fancy — but in the best of hands, a life’s story can rise up off the page with the buoyancy of fiction. Such is the case with “The Child Poet,” beautifully translated by author (and daughter) Chloe Aridjis. A literary light in Mexico, Aridjis is largely unknown in the United States, which is a great loss for us. His memoir explores the moody textures of childhood with a keenly Proustian sense for the shimmering quality of novel experiences.

— Hal Hlavinka, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.communitybookstore.net].

Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “The Feminist Utopia Project” by edited by Alexandra Brodsky and Rachel Kauder Nalebuff

This collection bursts at the seams with visions for a future, some radical and some so reasonable. This book contains multitudes: an island where only women live; childcare centers at high schools; increased hourly wages for restaurant workers; a walk through the desert at night alone and unafraid; twelve-year-old musicians who refuse to be labeled a “girl band”; and sex-positive, body-loving conversations. The book’s 57 written and illustrated visions are informative, intentional, and laugh-out-loud fun. Reading this book, I felt a little closer to a utopia of my own.

— Stormy Budwig, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Lauren Gill

Brooklyn Daily

The city may have to build new bridges across the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek to accommodate the streetcar system Mayor DeBlasio wants to construct along the borough’s waterfront, officials revealed on Friday.

Planners factored in funds for the brand-new spans in the trolley’s projected $2.5-billion price tag in case they can’t run tracks across existing bridges, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen told reporters during a press briefing touting the scheme.

“We took a very conservative approach and ensured even new bridges could be accommodated,” said mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell after the meeting, at which journalists were instructed not quote anyone verbatim.

The city still hasn’t announced the tram’s exact route from Sunset Park to Queens, but it will have to traverse both toxic waterways while coming in and out of Red Hook and Greenpoint.

Press materials show a mock-up of tracks going over Greenpoint’s Pulaski Bridge — where the city struggled for years to balance the weight of new bike paths with the drawbridge mechanism — but Glen acknowledged that may not actually be possible.

The new crossings could include bike and pedestrian paths, she added.

In the weeks since the mayor announced his so-called Brooklyn-Queens Connector project, critics have slammed the scheme as a boondoggle designed for the real-estate industry rather than to move people around efficiently, and officials attempted some damage control at the closed meeting.

They claimed the streetcar would have “right of way” for 75- to 80-percent of the path — pushing back against skeptics who are predicting the system will be a glorified bus on rails that will get bogged down in traffic.

They also encouraged reporters to reject the characterization of the streetcar — a plan first created by businesses and developers along the proposed route — as a service designed for yuppies, stressing the 40,000 public-housing residents who live along the path and the connections to transit-starved industrial hubs such as the Navy Yard and Brooklyn Army Terminal. The city claims 50,000 straphangers will ride the rails once the system is up and running some time after 2024.

But the honchos could offer few assurances on fears the tram’s ticketing system will not work in concert with subways and buses. They estimated half the streetcar’s riders will use it in conjunction with the state-run system, but couldn’t guarantee any free transfers for riders switching between modes on their daily commutes — echoing the mayor’s recent admission that discussions with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are in their early days.

Comment on this story.

See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Tom Allon

Brooklyn Daily

Dear Gov. Cuomo,

Like you, we are the parents of three daughters. Walking the streets of New York, they tell us they are catcalled, leered at, and objectified. Last year, one of them was groped by a stranger on the street. In high school and college, they are highly likely to experience unwanted sexual advances.

The New York City subway system is no joke either, but we never expected the train itself to objectify our daughters.

There are three ads currently on display from Doctor’s Plastic Surgery — one more offensive than the other.

In one of these ads, a young woman making a sad face holds two oranges in front of her breasts. Next to her stands the same woman, but this time she is beaming ear to ear. Why? She is now holding two grapefruits in front of her breasts — she is the happy recipient of breast augmentation surgery by the crass medical group that paid for this public ad seen by millions of subway riders.

Would you and the MTA allow an ad with a young man making a sad face while holding a pickle in front of his penis next to the same man making a happy face while holding an eggplant there?

We think not.

I doubt we are the only parents in New York whose blood boils every time we’re standing in a cramped subway car in front of sexist “breast augmentation” ads. Most men in New York either have daughters or nieces or sisters or wives or girlfriends whose daily commute is subject to this body-shaming image.

Gov. Cuomo, we know this situation has upset you in the past. In April 2014, your former aide, Howard Glazer, sent a pointed note to MTA Chairman Tom Prendergrast on your behalf objecting to a similar ad. “Made in New York” (which was emblazoned across a woman’s oversized breasts) was another augmentation ad that featured oversized cleavage as a desirable outcome.

Your aide’s letter to the MTA read: “In response to a query from our office, the MTA advised that such ads fall within the MTA’s written standards for advertising. With all due respect, we suggest those standards need to be revisited … Tens of thousands of children ride the subway every day to get to school … The public has a right to expect that the MTA will strive for a family-friendly environment.”

MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said then that the agency would look into the governor’s request.

“The MTA understands the concerns that Gov. Cuomo and others have raised about this advertisement and about maintaining a family-friendly environment on our trains and buses. We will revisit our standards and our process for reviewing them.”

That was almost two years ago.

When we recently wrote to the MTA to complain about the offensive “breast augmentation” ads, an MTA employee wrote back that “because of the First Amendment” the state agency cannot make guidelines to reject ads that are offensive or demeaning unless it would “imminently incite or provoke violence.”

Really?

Gov. Cuomo, you have the power to change this clearly mistaken MTA policy.

If an ad demeaning to men was posted in New York City subway or bus, we have no doubt that it would wisely be rejected by the MTA.

Why are ads demeaning to women any different?

Your instinct two years ago, when you had one of your aides question this sexist ad campaign, was absolutely correct. We are not sure why you backed down so quickly.

We know that in 2014 you were busy running for re-election and starting the Women’s Equality Party, which delivered more than 50,000 votes in your victorious campaign.

Now it is time to stay true to your beliefs and do the right thing. Tear down those sexist ads on the subway.

We know you can do it, Governor. If nothing else, do it for your daughters. And ours.

Sincerely,

Tom Allon and Rebecca Cohen

Tom Allon and Rebecca Cohen are domestic partners living in Brooklyn. They have three teenaged daughters between them.

Comment on this story.