[UPDATE May 2011: Choice Market has a new owner. It is now called The Gallery. Therefore the reviews/comments are no longer valid.]

Choice Market is now open until 11pm every night. Also, the cheese & charcuterie and wine & beer are now available. Free delivery from 9am-10pm.

Choice Market
108 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 718.797.1695
Fax: 718.797.1914
Courtenay@choicemarkets.com

(PDF of menu here (632kb))

Previously:
More photos on the Flickr site here.
{Choice Market (Dumbo) Open for Business, 18Feb2010}
{Choice to Open this Week, 09Feb2010}
{Choice Market Opening Soon?, 15Jan2010}
{April Dumbo Food Tidbits, 01Apr2009}
{Choice Market to Occupy J Condo Location, 22Jul2008}

(Photo from Curbed)

Remember the issue we posted on the potential carbon monixide issue last year for 133 Water Street? According to Curbed, the building next to it (18 Adams Street (photo) extended the chimney by 5 stories so the noxious fumes are not entering the apartments next door.

There’s a new food truck option in Dumbo. They will be on Front and Main Street every Monday through Fridays during lunch. Menu items include gyro (lamb), chicken gyro, chicken with rice and vegetables, chicken cutlet, Philly steaks, falafel, hot dogs, hot sausages. Most dishes are $4.99.

This is in addition to the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck (Twitter @rickshawtruck) every Mondays, Schnitzel & Things every Fridays, and others that stop by on occassion. Look for more trucks as the weather gets warmer. Can we say food truck wars?

Previously:
{Wafels & Dinges in Dumbo, 08Dec2009}
{Taiwanese Cravings Truck Visits Dumbo, 12Aug2009}
{Schnitzel Fridays in Dumbo, 07Aug2009}
{Schnitzel & Things Truck Lands in Dumbo, 27Jul2009}
{Rickshaw Dumpling Truck in Dumbo, 16Mar2009}
{Ice Cream Trucks in Dumbo, 12Jun2008}
{Treats Truck at Pearl St. Triangle, 19Jul2007}

Champion eater Takeru Kobayashi (Google Translate) broke the world record of 26 meatballs eaten in 1 minute this afternoon at Fulton Ferry Landing. He finished eating 29 meatballs in one minute. Japanese television Fuji TV covered the event.

Officials from the Guiness Book of World Records were there to make it official. After weighing the meatballs (minimum weight of 14 grams is required per meatball), and stating the rules (must eat one at a time, yes to water, cannot use hands), Kobayashi quickly downed the 29 IKEA meatballs. Kobayashi told us that the world record didn’t seem that much initially, but it’s more than he thought in 60 seconds. “Want to grab pizza?” Says Kobayashi, “No thanks, I’m ok now, but I love NY pizza!”

(Sign behind is translated as “Guiness World Record for Meatball Eating”)

More photos in Flickr set.

(Photo courtesy of ohpoppycock)

The following are selected links from this past week on blogs and websites with discussion about Dumbo (and its neighboring areas):

• Beyoncé Opens Cosmetology School in Brooklyn, 06Mar10, VV
• Artist Richard Silver Showing at Baco Cafe, 27Feb10, tiltshiftblog
• Dumbo Snow Pics, 27Feb10, fortheloveofbrooklyn.com
• Preservation Society, 02Mar10, Metropolis Mag
• Birmingham:Digbeth as Brooklyn:Dumbo, 02Mar10, Digbeth
• Artist Diana Heise, 02Mar10, NY Arts
• Photo: Actress Leighton Meester in Dumbo, 02Mar10, Buzzfoto
• Dumbo & Dumber, 24Feb10, NYPress
• Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Names Nancy Webster Executive Director, 05Mar10, BBP
• Pic: Mayor Bloomberg/Beyonce in Dumbo, 05Mar10, NYCMayorsOffice
• Beyonce Unveils Cosmetology Center In Brooklyn, 05Mar10, NY1
• Sid’s Hardware Files for Chapter 11, 04Mar10, Brooklyn Eagle
• Living in Vinegar Hill, 03Mar10, NYT
• Vinegar Hill Slide Show, 03Mar10, NYT
• Beyonce Opens Cosmetology Center, 05Mar10, Just Jared
• Shorty Awards by Dumbo’s Sawhorse, 02Mar10, mediabistro
• Discover Dumbo, 01Mar10, Damascus Bakery
• Brooklyn needs census workers, 02Mar10, Brokelyn
• What to Buy in Brooklyn, 08Mar10, The New Yorker
• City Seeks Food Options in BBP, 05Mar10, Eater

(Photo courtesy of three2photo from the DumboNYC Flickr Pool. If you have your own pictures related to Dumbo, please feel free to drop them there.)

As mentioned in a previous post, Beyoncé opened the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center, which will teach students the theory and practical skills they need to pass the NYS Cosmetology Licensure Exam.

Press release from the Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Beyoncé will be in Dumbo today to speak at the opening of her Beyoncé Cosmetology Center at the Phoenix House Career Academy, 50 Jay Street, according to Stephen Witt of Courier-Life Publications. Phoenix House runs the Career Academy, which is a residential substance abuse treatment program that offers vocational training programs. Beyonce’s new venture will allow men and women in treatment to prepare for careers in the cosmetology field after a seven-month training course. (ref: k-litefm.com) Glad to see Beyoncé contributing back to the community.

Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z have reportedly been looking at condos in Dumbo and looked at the $25mil 1 Main Street Penthouse. Jay-Z is familiar with Dumbo and filmed a commercial with Spike Lee this past August.

(Beyoncé and Jay-Z photo from 2009, courtesy of The Media Girl)

1st Thursdays DUMBO Gallery Walk is tonight in Dumbo Brooklyn from 6pm. Also, a few select events happening around the neighborhood below:

1) Tara Dixon Art Exhibition at Journey Dumbo

Journey is proud to feature local artist Tara Dixon for our first Art Opening. Please visit us when attending Dumbo’s first Thursday Gallery Walk from 6 to 9pm March 4, 2010.

Journey (Journeydumbo.com)
72 Front St., Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 718-797-9277

2) Harinezumi Video Art Screening Night
Thursday, March 4, in conjunction with the 1st Thursday DUMBO Gallery Walk, the powerHouse Arena and Powershovel present a special curated Harinezumi video art screening night!

Featuring works produced with the digital Harinezumi 2 video camera, avilable now at our Powershovel Pop-Up Shop or online boutique.

Huge simultaneous projections, music and complimentary beverages will be provided 7—8:30PM. No rsvp required.

PowerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

3) Ignite NYC

Thursday, March 4, 2010, DOORS: 6:30pm ($10.00 donation) | SHOW: 7:45PM
Galapagos Art Space Dumbo (galapagosartspace.com)
16 Main Street, Brooklyn NY

In talks that are exactly five minutes long, Ignite NYC presenters share their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. Ignite NYC VIII goes global to join O’Reilly’s Global Ignite Week. from March 1-5, 2010, 50+ Ignites will take place in cities around the world. Upwards of 10,000 entrepreneurs, technologists, DIYers, creative professionals, and enthusiastic knowledge-seekers will gather in local pubs, theaters, and other convivial venues for an evening that is a unique blend of networking, information, and fun, encapsulated in the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.” www.ignitenyc.org

4) Original Picture Book Art Exhibition
March 2010 WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION:
Brooklyn Honors Local Artists and Literature.
6 Author-Illustrators, 3 Bookstores and a Gallery.

Opening Reception March 4, 6-8pm
Superfine, 126 Front Street, Dumbo Brooklyn
Tel: 718-243-9005

Original Picture Book Art Exhibition – Selina Alko, Miriam Cohen, Pat Cummings, Melanie Hope Greenberg, Aileen Leijten, Meghan McCarthy. Books will be available for autographing. *Miss Brooklyn 2009, Keelie Sheridan is joining us*

Celebrating Brooklyn’s professional women who leave an historical record in the field of children’s literature and the merchants who bring their books to the community.
* ALL EVENTS ARE FREE *ALL EVENTS ARE CHILD FRIENDLY
Book Court * Greenlight Books * P.S. Bookshop * Superfine.
A part of Dumbo’s First Thursday Art Walk open gallery night

Full Schedule of All Bookstore Events
Miss Brooklyn’s Blog (missbrooklyn2009.blogspot.com
www.melaniehopegreenberg.com

5) Brooklyn Filmmakers Meet Up

Co-hosted by Brooklyn Arts Council and IFP

Thursday, March 4, 6-8pm
BAC Gallery, 111 Front Street, Suite 218, Dumbo

Calling all Brooklyn filmmakers for our first Meet Up event of 2010. Meet and mingle with local filmmakers at BAC Gallery, drink free beer from Kelso Brewery, and learn about the programs and support available for filmmakers through IFP and Brooklyn Arts Council. And while you’re here, be sure to check out all the great gallery openings and cultural events going on in the neighborhood for Dumbo 1st Thursdays.

Scene: Brooklyn’s spring Filmmakers Meet Up, co-hosted by IFP, this Thursday from 6-8pm at BAC Gallery. This is also your opportunity to see the exhibition Glitch Generation after hours during Dumbo 1st Thursday.

There was an apparent robbery at the Dumbo branch of Sovereign Bank at 40 Washington Street at approximately 12:45pm today. Initial reports emailed to us and speaking with people in the area say that they were robbed of $35,000. Police have surveillance photos and are reviewing them and fingerprinting the bank for clues. If anyone has any info that may lead to clues, please call 311.

[UPDATE 2: The robber got away with $400.00, not $35,000 as first reported. And he has been arrested thanks to the doorman at 84 Front St.]

[Update: Some people have pointed out that there have been other Sovereign Bank heists lately, according to a story by the Brooklyn Eagle. "According to police sources, the two robbers typically enter the banks, pass a note to the teller demanding money, then flee on foot once bank clerks hand them the money."]

Previously:
{Bank Branches in Dumbo, 26Sept2006}