The vagabond Nets — denizens of Newark, late of East Rutherford, N.J., and Long Island —
will settle in downtown Brooklyn next year with a new identity but a familiar name.
"We named the New Jersey Nets the Brooklyn Nets," Jay-Z, the music mogul and part-owner of the franchise,
announced Monday morning in a ceremony that was brief and anticlimactic.NY Times
West Indian-American Day Parade & Carnival 10AM — 6PM, Monday, September 5th, 2011
Parade Route: Schenectady Avenue to Grand Army Plaza on Eastern Parkway,
then south on Flatbush Avenue to Empire Boulevard.
Getting There:
Take the Subway! Do Not Drive!
#2, #3, or #4 train to Grand Army Plaza or
#3 or #4 train to Nostrand Avenue, Kingston Avenue, or Utica Avenue.
NO trains stop at Eastern Parkway / Brooklyn Museum today. Trains are on a SUNDAY schedule.
Franklin Avenue station is very crowded. Avoid it.
#4 Trains will make local stops in Brooklyn today.
Movies with a View at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Thursday nights info
SummerScreen movies in Williamsburg on Wednsday nights info
Flicks on the Beach at Coney Island on Monday nights info
Red Hook Films at Valentino Pier on Tuesday nights info
Tonight,
Sunset is at 5:16 PM
Giglio Sunday 2011
During July, Williamsburg hosts the annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and San Paolino, which includes the famous Dance of the Giglio (pronounced "GEE lee oh"), a tradition that stretches back to the fifth century A.D. in Nola, Italy and 1903. Giglio Sunday takes place on the first Sunday after the July 4th holiday.
During the dance, a 65- to 85-foot-tall monument, mounted on a platform that also carries a 12-piece brass band, and weighing up to 5 tons, is lifted by over 100 men and paraded through the streets of Williamsburg.
You can watch the rest of this 28-minute long video documentary about the Dance of the Giglio for free on
Folkstreams.net
Festival events on Sunday, July 10th take place between 1PM and 6PM on North 6th Street between Havemeyer Street and Meeker Avenue (here's a map).
There is a "Night Lift" on Wednesday July 13th (8PM), and another lift next Sunday the 17th at 2PM. And it's not just a lift -- they lift and parade the monument all afternoon (and yes, the guys have a lot of bruised shoulders when it's all over).
For more info and the full schedule for the Williamsburg festival see the official website
Born to Giglio by Stephanie Trudeau in the NY Folklore Society Journal has more info.
Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest July 4th High Noon (Women's Division at 11:30AM, ESPN3 only)
WOMEN'S RESULTS: Sonya "the Black Widow" Thomas from Alexandria, VA won first ever women's division contest, eating 40 hot dogs & buns.
MEN'S RESULTS: Joey "Jaws" Chestnut wins his 5th straight Mustard Yellow Belt of Hot Dog Eating Supremacy, eating 62 hot dogs & buns.
Corner of Surf and Stillwell, Coney Island
And LIVE on ESPN and ESPN-3
Sponsored by Pepto-Bismol
Held every year since 1916 (except 1941 and 1971), 20 competitors chosen from national and international qualifying runs
face off for this (some would say horrifying) 10-minute (formerly 12-minute) contest to eat as many delicious Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and buns
as they possibly can. Defending champion Joey "JAWS" Chestnut is a favorite again in 2011, after consuming 54 hot dogs at last year's competition, in
what he called a "disappointing peformance" (his record is 66 hot dogs in the 2007 contest, when he won the title from 6-time champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi).
Top right: Joey Chestnut with the Mustard Belt,
photo by EKavet on flickr. Bottom: a whole pile of hotdogs, photo by Jeffrey Tastes both used under Creative Commons License.
40th Annual International African Arts Festival
From Friday July 1st through Monday July 4th, the International African Arts Festival returns to Brooklyn.
(map).
The Festival is held at Commodore Barry Park in Downtown Brooklyn just north of Fort Greene.
Each year the Festival brings world-class music, dance and dance workshops, and a huge outdoor arts and crafts market to the heart of Brooklyn.
Anniversary Day was created by the New York State Legislature in in 1959 in commemoration of the organization of
Protestant Sunday schools. This was originally connected to "Rally Day" Parades held by Sunday Schools in Brooklyn, dating back to 1829. Queens was added to the
celebration in 1959. In 1902, over 90,000 children from 225 Protestant Sunday Schools in Brooklyn participated in the parades. The New York Times reports 150,000
participants in the 1908 parades.
Today, Brooklyn-Queens Day is a day off for students in ALL New York City public schools; it's scheduled as a Chancellor's Conference Day. In
2011, the day off will fall on Thursday, June 9th.
In 2011 the holiday falls on the SECOND Thursday in June, because of the
wording of the State law, which states that the day off will be on: "the first Thursday in June in each year, except in those years when the first Thursday in
June occurs in the same week with Memorial day, and in such years the second Thursday in June
Brooklyn, New York. Anniversary Day parade of the Sunday school of the Church of the Good Shepherd, June 1944
Photographer: Howard R. Hollem, Office of War Information
From the American Memory Collection, Library of Congress
Saturday and Sunday, April 30th and May 1st, 2011
10AM-6PM
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Rain or Shine
Featuring traditional Japanese music and dance, taiko drumming, martial arts demonstrations, bonsai pruning workshops, Japanese Manga
art, tea ceremonies, and workshops for all ages, the 29th annual Sakura Matsuri festival has a new feature this year: the Sakura
J-Lounge, featuring some of the country's hippest DJ's spinning Japanese pop sounds.
Since at least 1841, Brooklyn has born the nickname
"City of Churches" (later, of course, just "Borough of Churches"). The first regularly-stationed minister to the Dutch on Long Island
was Johannes Theodorus Polhemus, who came to New Amsterdam in 1654. Polhemus' services were so in demand that he ministered twice every
Sunday: the first service was in Midwout (today's Flatbush) and the second service was held alternating Sundays
between the villages of Breuckelen (now the area of Brooklyn Heights) and Amersfoort (Flatlands).
Brooklyn, The City of Churches photo pool on Flickr
Aretha Franklin star photo by Thomas Hawk, used under Creative Commons License, on Flickr
