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The Brooklyn Angle, by Gersh Kuntzman

Monday, Dec. 29, 2008

Bad breaks: The year when everything fell apart

Brooklyn Angle: There was no more important story in the borough this year than the double-fracture of my ankle — not because of its news value, but in the way it predicted a horrible year of bad breaks all around (including my broken heart over the death of Ayveq, the masturbating walrus). Comment.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

The man who lost to Obama! A Brooklyn Paper exclusive!

Brooklyn Angle: It is no small thing to say that a Park Slope lawyer named David Goldberg is one of the most important figures in American history. Comment.

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008

Average ‘Joes’

Brooklyn Angle: The nation now knows that “Joe the Plumber” is a myth. But Joe the plumber is real. Comment.

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008

Anxiety on Main Street

Brooklyn Angle: Who knew that the “Main Street” that all those congressmen have been talking about is right here in Brooklyn? Comment.

Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2008

Beer bust man fights back!

Brooklyn Angle: Exclusive: The guy who got the ticket for drinking a beer on his stoop may not be able to fight City Hall, but he is going to burp right in its face! Comments (1).

Thursday, Sep. 4, 2008

Park goes to pork

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist loves barbecue, but not at the expense of Prospect Park, which saw a massive spike in illegal grilling this summer. Comments (1).

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

Buzz off!

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist makes a big discovery: the mosquito population is booming. Comments (4).

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Two Dylans show up at Prospect Park

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist gives his review of the event of the season: Bob Dylan in Prospect Park. Comments (11).

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008

It’s the pits! ‘Greenest’ block contest mired in muck

Brooklyn Angle: I came to compost Eighth Street, not to praise it. Yes, I was there on Wednesday, when the gray expanse between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West was named the “Greenest Block in Brooklyn” by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Comments (1).

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Our man grills the commish

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist went to the official “Welcome Back” ceremony for the Red Hook vendors — but found himself getting nauseus from all the politicians taking credit for “saving” the vendors from the very bureaucracy they set up to ensnare them! With video … Comments (3).

Monday, July 21, 2008

Tell Mr. Guinness! Man breaks Shakespeare show record in Red Hook

Brooklyn Angle: OK, so maybe the one-man sword fight in “Macbeth” left too much to the imagination. And maybe the 16-comedy ferry ride felt a little rushed. And, yeah, that 25-second “Julius Caesar” lost some of the angst of Brutus’s existential struggle, but you try doing 31 Shakespeare plays in three hours. With video … Comment.

Friday, July 4, 2008

The Greatest! Chestnut beats Kobayashi in historic playoff

Brooklyn Angle: Joey Chestnut, the greatest eater in modern history and, perhaps of all time, outdid even himself on July 4 at Coney Island, tying former six-time world champ Takeru Kobayashi with 59 hot dogs and buns in the 10-minute contest — and then shoving down five more HDBs in an unprecedented one-on-one stuff-your-faceoff to beat Kobayashi by mere seconds. With video … Comment.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Thief of bad bags: Park Slope Food Co-op bans plastic bags

Brooklyn Angle: In one of the most lopsided votes since the re-election of Chairman Mao in 1954, members of Brooklyn’s famously progressive supermarket, the Park Slope Food Co-op, voted nearly unanimously on Tuesday night to stop making plastic shopping bags available at the checkout counter. Comments (6).

Saturday, April 12, 2008

I paid $3 for this coffee!

Brooklyn Angle: Finally, a place to get a $3 cup of coffee on Fourth Avenue! Comment.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Gersh’s outrage!

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist was so angry that tickets to Bob Dylan’s Aug. 12 concert in Prospect Park were not available to the general public that he took Dylan’s celebrated relationship screed, “Positively 4th Street” and gave it a few new lyrics. Comments (5).

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008

Freak accident fells Editor of the Year

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist breaks his ankle — but lives to write about it. Comments (1).

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Footnote: Editor of Year’s ankle mending slowly

Brooklyn Angle: Gersh Kuntzman’s bones are proving slow to heal, nearly 11 weeks after his Jan. 11 slip-and-fall in a Vermont parking lot. Here’s an exclusive update on this breaking story. Comment.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Cast away! I’m finally free — sort of — after accepting my award!

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist discovers that there is only one thing better than being named “Editor of the Year” by a major national newspaper trade association: Getting the cast off his broken ankle! With video … Comment.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Nothing for Nader

Brooklyn Angle: Call him a Nader Traitor — but the only Brooklynite to contribute to Ralph Nader’s inept 2004 campaign has bailed on the twice-failed presidential hopeful. He’s not alone. Comments (1).

Saturday, March 22, 2008

He’s the new Weatherman: Quirky Slope storm chaser breaks silence about hobby

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist gets the first interview with the keeper of the “Park Slope weather” Web site — the Internet’s biggest hit since the Obama girl. Comments (2).

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Judge for yourself — Abe speaks

Brooklyn Angle: Nobody likes a bad review. So when former City Councilman Abe Gerges — now the newly minted administrative judge at the Adams Street courthouse — read our recent editorial slamming judges for parking on a walkway in Columbus Park, he did what any former show-business performer would have done. He called me to complain. Comments (2).

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008

My ankle is having an affair

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist is cheating on his doctor. No wonder! The doctor didn’t even call him back when he complained of “considerable pain.” Comments (1).

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Banned! Food Co-op no longer bottled up

Brooklyn Angle: Water, water everywhere — but there’s no longer a drop of the bottled variety at the Park Slope Food Co-op. Comment.

Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008

Yes, the pain is exquisite, thanks

Brooklyn Angle: Chapter two in our columnist’s series about his broken ankle. This week: His doctor blows him off! Comments (4).

Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008

Cast party! Local councilman wins gigantic bidding war for my ankle brace

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist’s cast auction goes well — with two councilmen in a bidding war! Comments (1).

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Mo Willems bails on our borough and heads north

Brooklyn Angle: The beloved kids author and Brooklyn fixture has moved to Massachusetts from Park Slope, the neighborhood that served as his creative font for more than 15 years. Comments (1).

Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008

Scandal! Beep accepts our check, but says auction was a fake!

Brooklyn Angle: Our photo appears to show Borough President Markowitz accepting a ceremonial check for $500 for his Camp Brooklyn charity — but is it really a picture of him stabbing our Editor-of-the-Year in the back? Comment.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Thief of bad bags

Brooklyn Angle: In one of the most lopsided votes since the re-election of Chairman Mao in 1954, members of Brooklyn’s famously progressive supermarket, the Park Slope Food Co-op, voted nearly unanimously on Tuesday night to stop making plastic shopping bags available at the checkout counter. And our columnist was there! Comments (1).

Saturday, May 24, 2008

This green toilet doesn’t stink!

Brooklyn Angle: Talk about a crappy assignment! Our columnist gives his review of Clinton Hill’s solar-powered outhouse. And, like Bette Davis might have said, “What a dump!” With video … Comment.

Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008

Gersh’s ankle goes on vacation

Brooklyn Angle: Despite an ankle injury that would deter lesser men, our Editor of the Year hit the beach in Mexico this week, cast and crutches be damned! Comment.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

‘Naughty’ Brooklyn gets porn party

Brooklyn Angle: Our columnist is appalled — and excited — by news that Brooklyn is the “naughtiest place” in America. This column is definitely PG-13. Comments (6).

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Splitsville: Brooklyn divorces up 30%

Brooklyn Angle: All our exes live in … Brooklyn? Yes, divorce cases are soaring in Kings County — up a whopping 30 percent since 2003. Comments (2).

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Our man in Baghdad

Brooklyn Angle: Tucker Reed, who spent the last two years fixing potholes, handing out energy-efficient lightbulbs and keeping the peace between DUMBO’s warring factions, is heading to Iraq to do, basically, the same thing. Comment.

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008

Inside the Brooklyn caucus

Brooklyn, Iowa: Our columnist takes you inside an actual Iowa caucus room: “What I saw was the most basic form of democracy in action. I was proud to be an American.” With video … Comment.