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So who were among the 27,000+ runners signed up for the Airbnb Brooklyn Half Marathon this past Saturday? What were the newsworthy stories that ran (excuse the pun) at the largest half marathon event of America 2017? So popular was the event that it sold out in a staggering 26 minutes. The 27,440 who completed the point-to-point race started by the Brooklyn Museum and ended in Coney Island at the boardwalk. Participants included Karlie Kloss (fashion model for Vogue, Victoria Secret and Taylor Swift’s music video ‘Bad Blood,’ among others), filmmaker Casey Neistat and more. Those running for a cause included the Team For Kids (TFK) supporting NYRR Youth Programs, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Fred’s Team (for children with leukemia), and many more. And then there were the fun runners. The man and woman who began the race single and sprinted through the finish line as a married couple. Having been running buddies for the last half-decade, Krissa Cetner and Alexander Salazar tied the knot at around six miles in at Prospect Park. As Salazar noted, “Marriage is like a marathon, it’s not a sprint. There’s a lot of years ahead of you in a marriage and sometimes you’re both really into it and can push each other and sometimes the other partner has to help pull you through whatever challenge lies ahead. You both have to keep each other motivated in a race and in a marriage.” And for those who needed a bite to eat after the event, the good news was that they could do so in the reopening of a former Childs restaurant, which has been transformed into a huge food hall with “locally sourced” wholesome choices and plenty of Coney charm. Any runners who decided to try out the new eatery got a voucher for 21 percent off of the next time they...
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Now there is yet another reason to head down south to Coney Island. Within the historic walls of a sprawling Spanish revival building along the boardwalk, five restaurants are competing for customers in a creative new take on dining called Kitchen 21. The five eateries are Parachute Bar, Community Clam Bar, Test Kitchen, The Café and Boardwalk & Vine. As can be deduced by the names, there is quite a variety within the premises. Four of the restaurants are situated on the huge ground floor, offering casual café dining, a traditional bar, an oyster bar, and full meals. If you’ve come for the view of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean, that can be afforded upstairs on the rooftop deck. According to general manager of Kitchen 21 Jim Coughlin, the upstairs will be used as the VIP space for events taking place right next door at the Ford Amphitheater. When not hosting VIPs the roof becomes Boardwalk & Vine, a wine bar with eight types on tap, also serving beers and other forms of alcohol. “Kitchen 21 has something for everyone to enjoy, with year-round dining now and the wonderful local Brooklyn energy,” said one observer. The establishment is scheduled to open on May 21st, just in time for the Brooklyn Half Marathon, whose finish line is traditionally in Coney Island, at the...
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Last Friday was a rough day in New York due to flooding caused by almost non-stop rain at the end of last week. Among the various incidents around town, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn a railing fell as well as a large part of a retaining wall. The collapse occurred right below the Gowanus Expressway, closing much-used 17th Street. Engineers were quickly brought to the scene to make the needed repairs. Luckily there were no injuries associated with the incident. “I pass here at least three to four times a day, and I’m amazed. I can’t believe how lucky we all are by someone not passing by there and getting hurt at the time that it fell down,” said a Gowanus resident. “It looks ridiculous. It’s rusted out. It was an incident waiting to happen.” Hamilton Avenue took up the slack with the closure of 17th Street, causing major traffic slow-downs. The Office of Emergency Management said that they expected the road to re-open by late Friday evening. In Staten Island the rain caused damage to some private residences, with flood waters flowing on Bay Street rushing into the street’s storm drains. Midtown Manhattan was not immune to flood damage, with large puddles accumulating on street corners, and high water levels found on the West Side Highway. In one case a school bus filled with students had trouble navigating the watery road. Again, no one was hurt. Another incident involved a FDNY truck, which ended up taking assistance from helpful citizens who stood in the rain directing traffic around the disabled truck, getting soaking wet in the process. It was a very bad day for one motorcyclist whose wheels ended up under water. Help for this biker simply came too little, too...
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In order to perfect their roles in an upcoming play, Yeshivah of Flatbush students are paired with survivors willing to recount their experiences during World War II. The annual Witness Theater program brings several of the high school’s seniors together with one of eight Holocaust survivors in order to conduct research for their end-of-year performance. The students and the witnesses meet once a week, and it benefits the students, the survivors, and ultimately the audience watching the play. Survivor Ernest Biederman lost his brothers and sisters during the Holocaust, and his wife of 68 years just last year. “I lost my wife this last year, and it was very sad for me,” Biederman said. “I came here and feel like I’m alive again.” The students portray those survivors’ stories more vividly as a result of their personal connection with them. “I have brothers and sisters that I lost when they were their age,” Biederman added, referring to the students he mentored. “It’s been more than 70 years, and I never forget them.” The Witness Theater program is organized by Selfhelp Community Services, and will culminate with a performance at the Museum of Jewish...
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You can’t be from Brooklyn and not love pizza. So it is only logical that a local pizzeria is in the running for Best Pizza in America. According to the Daily Meal, a food blog that has already published “The 101 Best Pizzas in America,” New York’s best pizza place is Di Fara Pizza in Midwood, Brooklyn, run by restaurateur Dominco DeMarco. “Domenico DeMarco is a local celebrity, having owned and operated Di Fara since 1964,” the Daily Meal writes. “Dom cooks both New York- and Sicilian-style pizza for hungry New Yorkers and tourists willing to wait in long lines and brave the free-for-all that is the Di Fara counter experience.” “Yes, it’s a trek, and sure, Dom goes through periods when the underside of the pizza can tend toward overdone, but when he’s on, Di Fara can make a very strong case for being America’s best pizza,” the site says. Di Fara is named on the blog’s latest list: “The Best Pizza in Every State.” The intro to the list explains that the American pizza scene is becoming more competitive and of higher overall quality. “There are plenty of states with pizzerias that have never found their way into the ranking, including Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wyoming,” the site says. “Today, those states are finally getting the credit they deserve.” Want to try a slice of “The Best Pizza in New York?” Trek down to Avenue J and East 15th Street and get yourself a part of the...
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New York City is one of the chief centers for cancer care, not only in the United States, but all over the world. With world-renown research hospitals specializing in cancer research and care, such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center, New York Presbyterian, and New York University’s Langone Medical Center, it is not surprising that some of the country’s top doctors, and most advanced treatments are found here. Cancer specialists, such as hematologist Kenneth D. Nahum, ophthalmic oncologist David H. Abramson, and dermatologist David Polsky, are experts in their fields, and up-to-date on the latest research, medications and technologies available for treatment of a large variety of cancers and related ailments. For instance, at New York Presbyterian, new treatments are constantly being developed for blood-related cancers, which, as a hematologist, would be of great interest to Dr. Kenneth Nahum. There are new treatments being developed now which could treat any of the three main types of hematologic cancers: Leukemia, which is a cancer of the bone marrow cells; Lymphoma, which effects lymphocytes which help to fight infections; and Myeloma, which is a cancer of the plasma cells which are also part of the immune system. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, where Dr. David Abramson practices, there are several studies now underway to assess a new technique called photodynamic therapy for patients with prostate, esophageal, breast and bladder cancers. The therapy involves a compound derived from chlorophyll, which is found in plants and bacteria, and its activation with light. So far, the trials have shown much promise, with little side effects and relatively fast results. At the Langone Medical Center, where Dr. David Polsky specializes in melanoma, mole and skin cancer, new gene-based blood tests to identify skin cancers are being developed. In a report from the Center, two new blood tests have proven to be reliable in the detection of hitherto unidentifiable forms of skin cancer. The tests take only 48 hours, and were developed in partnership with Rio-Rad Laboratories in Hercules, California. Currently, the...
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Some of Brooklyn’s high school girls are already getting set for prom night, which usually occurs sometime in June, as the school year comes to a close. For many girls in the city, prom is not a happy occasion, but one fraught instead with alienation and disappointment, simply because they cant afford the hundreds of dollars needed to dress and otherwise prepare for the momentous event. There is an organization that has taken much of the sting out of paying for prom night, “Operation Prom Giveaway.” This generous and innovative program has over 3,000 dresses available for the 230 girls who pre-registered for the event at UAI Math & Science for Young Women in Brooklyn Heights. With such a large number of dresses available, no wonder each girl can find her perfect dress. “My dress represents me,” said one of the girls, a senior at the Young Women’s Leadership School of Brooklyn. “It’s a nice shade of peach, and it’s long and it has sequins and gold. I was skeptical of prom, but I’m super-excited now.” Not only do the girls get to take home some gorgeous dresses, but make-up, shoes and other accessories are also given away. Boys are also outfitted with suits or tuxes, to make prom night special for them as well. “Unfortunately, too many of our students cannot afford all the costs associated with such an event, forcing them to sit on the sidelines and miss out on an important life event,” Public Advocate Letitia James said. Two students of the FDNY High School received a dress and a suit for their special night. “Just to see everybody get a prom dress, feel beautiful, the smiles on everybody’s faces, is amazing,” one of them said. “It feels so good to help and see everyone so...
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There are many locations across America where technology start-ups and centers have been thriving. Locations that come to mind include San Francisco, Los Angeles, DC and Boston. One that doesn’t readily come to mind…but might soon…is Arizona. When ZocDoc executives wanted to find another location in America due to employee growth, it made sense to scout out a location on the West Coast to operate during local hours. Entrepreneur Cyrus Massoumi once said in an interview about ZocDoc operations that when they were looking to expand out West from their early New York offices, they “did an assessment of all the various markets that [they] could expand into that were Mountain and Pacific time zones and the Phoenix-Scottsdale area came out head-over-heels above everything else.” Since Massoumi had already spent time in Arizona and was impressed with its “vibrant and high-tech talent pool,” the move made sense. He explained that “Arizona has a lot of great universities, it’s got great weather, and a lot of people want to be there. The people were happy and I could see that it was a growing community.” That was three years ago. Today, ZocDoc is thriving in Scottsdale. Others have seen the benefits of Arizona as well. The following observation was made in an article written by Conor Cawley in Tech Co. “Phoenix, Arizona is not messing around when it comes to their tech ecosystem. The numbers are undeniable and the weather isn’t too bad either. If you’re wondering why this desert city is able to compete with the big dogs when it comes to tech, it should be fairly obvious.” Chris Camacho, CEO and President of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to Tech.Co., echoed this sentiment when he said “The Greater Phoenix market is not only attracting leading tech companies from the bay area, but is home to a new generation of tech with Arizona-based companies. There is a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region, and companies are able to access in-demand talent, thanks to the numerous area community colleges and universities.” This buzz around Arizona as a tech...
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