Born in Brooklyn?

From Gothamist:

"A Brooklyn woman gave birth in the back of her livery cab in the Battery Tunnel yesterday morning, slowing down commuters and "freaking out" her cabbie. Park Sloper Maya Polton said her water broke at about 7:30 a.m., but she and her husband waited a little while before calling a cab to take her to a Manhattan hospital. By the time they got to the tunnel, baby Jacob Max Handelsman wasn't waiting any longer." 

For the baby's sake, let's hope it's Brooklyn!

Sane Opinion: Superfunding the Gowanus

The New York Times professed an opinion

"The E.P.A. estimates that the cleanup will cost $300 million to $500 million and take 10 to 12 years. The city claimed that it could do the job in nine years and at a lower cost, but its financing was never guaranteed. It planned to ask for voluntary contributions from polluters. If these were not forthcoming, it would be forced to rely on federal allocations that, in turn, would depend on annual (and uncertain) Congressional appropriations.

Under the Superfund designation, the E.P.A. can compel polluters to pay. The agency has so far identified nine parties — New York City, the Navy, Consolidated Edison and six other private companies — as responsible for past discharges. It also is investigating the role of 20 other companies that may have polluted the Gowanus or bought companies that dumped toxic wastes in the water years ago.

The city feared that the word Superfund would scare away developers. But as Judith Enck, the E.P.A.’s regional administrator, correctly suggested, developers are far more likely to be frightened away by a smelly, filthy and unhealthy waterway. The point here is the cleanup, not the label."

Santa Maria! Addolorata!

For the Southern Italian Catholics (Bari, Napoli, Calabria and Sicily), marching through the streets with a band, dressed in black, is an annual tradition. In our neighborhood, it has been going on for years, with members of my family some of those who have marched over it's 100-year history. From the Brooklyn Eagle:

"The Good Friday Procession, which has its roots in the small towns of Italy, recalls the passion of Jesus Christ by way of symbolic statuary representing Jesus and Mary, traditional Italian hymns, a traditional Italian funeral band, and men, women and children who re-enact the last steps of Christ to his tomb, by candlelight.

The statues symbolizing both Christ and Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows, have been used in the parish procession for 60 years. The Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is made up of members from the town of Mola in Bari, Italy, just concluded its 60th Anniversary in the parish. In a scene only experienced by many in a movie, the two figures are carried on the shoulders of the faithful accompanied by singing and music as they pass through the crowded streets."

With the changing demographics in the neighborhood, it will be interesting to see how many people turn out this year.