Wafels & dinges, the food truck, will be parked in Dumbo on Mondays this summer! Per their Twitter message, @waffletruck says: “In a moment of mental clarity, we have decided. DUMBO Mondays for the summer (Front & Washington from 8am-5pm, Front & Adams from 5pm-10pm).”

(Photo by brandontonio)

Look for them on Mondays in Dumbo from 8am-5pm at Front and Washington Street and 5p-10pm on Front Street at Adams Street. For their menu, go to wafelsanddinges.com/menu.html

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

• Real Time Digital: Digital Dumbo & Gregory Galant, 09Jun10, JAR Group
• Opening of Park’s Pier 6 Is Applauded, 06Jun10, BK Eagle
• Blogfest Bashed Over Booze Sponsor, 09Jun10, BHB
• NYC Needs More Water Taxis, 04Jun10, NYT
• Our Visit to Alexis Bittar’s Jewelry, 09Jun10, Fashionista
• Photos: Dumbo at Twilight, 08Jun10, Julia Kinnunen
• Absolut Brooklyn Party Pics, 11Jun10, cwhateyec.com
• 84th Precinct Police Blotter, 08Jun10, BHB
• World Science Festival: The Science of Star Trek, 07Jun10, Discover

 [+ click for larger]

We love maps, so when we saw this one from AD:60, a small digital advertising agency in Dumbo, we thought it would be useful to post AD:60′s “Top 10 food & drinks places” in Dumbo for people. Of course, if you work in Dumbo, you’re familiar with these.

1. reBar
2. Choice Market
3. Rice
4. Miso Sushi
5. Food cart on Pearl/Water St
6. 68 Jay Street Bar
7. Bridge Coffee Shop
8. Superfine
9. Galapagos Art Space
10. Pedro’s Bar

What’s your top place to eat or drink in Dumbo?

What: Vinegar Hill Flea Market & Open Studios
When: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 10am – 5pm
Where: Front Street, Gold Street, Water Street, Hudson Ave and Little Street in Vinegar Hill

Multi-family with lots of furniture,clothing,books, and more!

Download the Vinegar Hill Flea Market flyer (1MB jpg file)

Past:
{Annual Vinegar Hill Flea Market 2007}
{Annual Vinegar Hill Flea Market 2009}

Last night was the Brooklyn Blogfest, run by the event’s organizer, Louise Crawford of Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn and sponsored by ABSOLUT Vodka. We attended a few in the past and met some cool people but we didn’t go to last night’s event. However, for full disclosure, we did participate in the “Stoop life” project by posting how stoop life takes place in Dumbo, kind of. Feel free to bash us. But we did find relevance because we’ve started to partner with community non-profits to donate so they can stay in the area. We liked that Spike Lee and Absolut, or whomever is making a donation to the community (though Spike doesn’t live in Brooklyn, but in a ridiculous UES townhouse, according to blogs). We were offered one of those flip cams, but we declined it. Yes, we were sent a bottle of ABSOLUT Brooklyn vodka, and shared with some people in the neighborhood. The bottle is a cool nod to Brooklyn.

But is this type of PR appropriate at Blogfest? Evidently not. Atlantic Yards Report calls it a shillfest for a drink rather than a meeting of bloggers, which is too bad since the point of the blogfest is to get the Brooklyn blog community together to discuss whatever topic is on our minds. Brownstoner says the event has “run its course”. Brooklyn Heights Blog requested access to interview Spike Lee and Brooklynite Lemon Anderson, but never got a response. Found in Brooklyn probably says it most eloquently:

“was so shocked at the corporate branding and the blogs being secondary to the whole event that I just had stay to watch this corporate love fest. In the past the actual bloggers were given a face to their blogs and that was the whole point, you got to finally meet the people behind the blogs. At this year’s blog fest, an actor did the “shout out” and if you didn’t know the blogs, or were into hip hop style poetry you wouldn’t really know what the hell he was saying.”

It’s too bad that the core reason for Brooklyn bloggers to get together is to meet, but will no longer be at the Brooklyn Blogfest.

The Dumbo Improvement District is seeking proposals from local artists to paint a public mural that will be mounted on the NYC DOT fence on the south side of Front Street between Adams and Pearl Streets in Dumbo. The winning artist will be awarded $5,000 for an “artist fee and marterials to aid in the production of the mural.”

From February 2008 to August 2009, a mural titled “Nature Matching System” by artist Tattfoo Tan was displayed.

Deadline for the application is June 23, 2010 at 5pm. The winning designer will be announced in late July and the mural will be on the fence by late September. To download a copy of the RFP, click here (pdf file).

Filming on Washington Street yesterday: shooting a cheesy Chinese video in front of 70 Washington Street. Didn’t see filming permits, but no one was worried.

[UPDATE: We were sent a bottle of liquor (and nothing else) and promptly shared it, so therefore this is a sponsored post. Here's why we posted about stoop life and its relevance to Dumbo.]

Tonight is the annual Brooklyn Blogfest at The Brooklyn Lyceum in Park Slope. This year, Spike Lee will make an appearance to kick off the summer with the new, very limited edition of ABSOLUT Brooklyn. Spike Lee designed the bottle in a way that represented Brooklyn the best, a photo of his Brooklyn stoop with a Spike Lee enhanced cap on the logo of the bottle. The stoop step represents the place where Brooklynites meet, hang out, sell stuff, and sometimes drink, which is what unites the community. While stoop life defines Brooklyn, Dumbo doesn’t have any stoops. Its large former factories and warehouses, Belgian block streets, and views of the two bridges and Manhattan skyline define Dumbo’s old world feel (think Once Upon a Time in America). What unites this historic Dumbo is the creative community (artists of all types- painters, sculptors, and the digital type), the dynamic entrepreneurs who navigate their business worlds with will power and hard work, and the new residents. Dumbo’s online presence in social media, websites, and services is our version of the stoop life.

This is why we’ve partnered with groups in the digital world (offline) to help foster a community that supports area artists, entrepreneurs, and residents to sustain the creative community Dumbo is known for. DumboNYC co-sponsored the last Digital DUMBO, and raised nearly $1000 for the Brooklyn Community Foundation at the May 26 event. We felt that partnering with area non-profits that benefit the community goes along with the Dumbo stoop life.

Spike Lee sent us a bottle of ABSOLUT Brooklyn, and naturally thought to share it with the good folks at Carrot Creative and the New York Digital District (NYDD). On the bottle, there’s a quote from Lemon Andersen’s spoken word poem “Somewhere in the world Brooklyn in da house and you know we won’t stop spreading love cause that’s our way.” The NYDD in Dumbo shows the world how it’s done, and glad to see the Brooklyn community is supported by way of a $50,000 donation by ABSOLUT Vodka to the NYC Habitat for Humanity.

Cheers!

From the Dumbo Improvement District:

On Saturday, June 12th, the Dumbo Improvement District brings a little bit of the action from the 2010 World Cup South Africa to the borough of Brooklyn!

Start your weekends off with fellow soccer enthusiasts in The Archway, under the Manhattan Bridge, for Saturday matches, as well as the tournament final. Bring your coffee, kids, family and friends to stakeout your space and picnic in The Archway; World Cup coverage begins at 9:30AM.

For those not “in the soccer-know,” the World Cup is the most exciting and anticipated global sporting event, held every four years, featuring 32 teams. DUMBO’s opening day promises exciting match-ups of Argentina v. Nigeria from Group B and England v. USA from Group C.

Don’t miss the action, the saves and the game winning goals! All viewings are FREE and Open to the Public.

Special thanks to Time Warner Cable, the City of New York, NYC Department of Transportation, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s Office, NYPD’s 84th Precinct, New York City Council, Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association: fifa.com
Full Tournament Match Schedule

Get fit for the summer. From Tanya, who runs the Boot Camp Challenge:

The next Boot Camp Challenge launch in DUMBO is on June 7 – July 16, 2010. Get Fit The Healthy Way! Find out how much your body can change while you are guided in Cardio & Strength Conditioning, Flexibility & Nutrition. Classes on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. outdoors in the park.

To join or for more info, call or email 917-373-3721 / bootcampnyc1@aol.com.

www.BootCampChallengeNewYork.com