Jane O'Meara Sanders (Bernie's wife) is a Crown Heights native

Jane Sanders, Crown Heights native. Photo: AP via Burlington Free Press

Our nation's next first lady, Jane O'Meara Sanders (okay, I can dream a little), just revealed that she's a neighborhood girl on WNYC's Brian Lehrer this morning. In a long interview with the local interviewer, she talked about growing up in Brooklyn some 40+ years ago. She said she grew up in Flatbush, at "Eastern 7th and Avenue D," which presumably means East 7th Street and Ditmas, but before that at New York Avenue and Prospect Place, just around the corner for this old blog (though she called the neighborhood Bed Stuy, not Crown Heights, but by today's neighborhood names, it's certainly the latter.) Her husband Bernie is, of course, also a Brooklyn native, from Midwood.

Crown Heights NYPD brings the Easter Bunny to Interfaith Medical

The Easter Bunny and the 77th NYPD and NYPD Brooklyn North visit kids at Interfaith Medical Center

Follow NYPDBklynNorth and the 77th precinct on Twitter.

Free egg hunt, bounce house, this Saturday at PS 289

Corner of Kingston and St. Marks.

What's become of 1000 Dean Street, the old Studebaker building?

Photo: Crain's NY

We were wondering what had become of the renovated space at 1000 Dean Street, the big white building just west of Franklin labeled "Studebaker" on top (from when it was a service station building for the classic car brand in the 1920s). A few years back, Jonathan Butler, co-founder of Brooklyn Flea and Brownstoner, put together a deal with developers BFC Partners and Goldman Sachs to renovate the space and make it available for multi-purpose creative work space.

Christmas season 2014, Brooklyn Flea took residence there, and it was glorious. The massive ground floor of the building served well for a labyrinthian sprawl of Brooklyn's finest artisans. Right down the street from our house. Seemed too good to be true! Alas, come Christmas 2015, it was not repeated. Since then we hadn't seen signs of life.

Glad to see this news from Crain's NY that San Francisco-based co-workspace provider The Vault has signed a 10-year lease for the 20,000 square foot downstairs. Around back of the same building is the already thriving hip beer hall found court Berg'n in the already ridionkulously hip Franklin Avenue scene.

Mayor de Blasio: 'This City Needs a Better Conversation About Gentrification'

I caught this piece the other day on WNYC radio with the mayor talking to Brian Lehrer, talking about the city's new affordable housing plan. I found it an interesting dialog. I see here also NY Times coverage of the same topic.

NY Daily News profiles Brooklyn basketball culture, shouts out Robeson High

Brownsville Recreation Center gym. Photo by NY Daily News

NY Daily News does a long feature on Brooklyn high school basketball culture. The piece includes a point about limitations in facilities in old buildings with an anecdote from Robeson High, on Albany between Dean and Kingston:

Coaches must move around if they want to know the time and score when they visit Crown Heights. At Robeson High on Albany Ave., there is a basement “gymatorium.” The court is laid out in a way that a theatre stage and curtains serve as the backdrop for fans watching jump balls at midcourt. Coaches have to view a scoreboard partly obstructed by the curtains. Some walk out to midcourt to do so.

“Everything in Brooklyn is 100 years old,” Robeson coach Todd Myles says.

The piece doesn't note it, but Robeson High houses a magnate school, Pathways in Technology Early College High School, which President Obama visited in 2013 as a backdrop to announce new education initiatives.

Crown Heights Travel Guide: Coolest Spots in Hottest Neighborhood

Or something like that.

Nostrand Ave. Photo from amNY

amNY offers a Crown Heights visitor's primer with some recommended neighborhood activities including dining, drinking and shopping.

New Brooklyn gentrification podcast from WNYC & The Nation

Photo from WNYC.org

WNYC and The Nation magazine have launched a new 10-episode podcast focused on gentrification in Brooklyn called "There Goes the Neighborhood." Crown Heights gets a shout out first episode, needless to say.

Crown Heights, PLG rents rise ~8% since last year

Citing a report by MNS Real Estate, DNAinfo claims that Brooklyn rental prices overall remained relatively steady in the last year (surprising!), but that Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Garden saw average market rises of nearly 8%.

The report cites these average rental prices for Crown Heights:

• Studios: $1,681
• One-bedrooms: $1,940 
• Two-bedrooms: $2,430 

Kosher bakery opening on Albany

Photo from DNAinfo

DNAinfo reports on a new kosher bakery opening on Albany and Sterling Place this summer. Named "Bakerie," it is owned by the owners of Basil, the popular kosher pizzeria on Kingston and Lincoln.

Profile of the kosher foodie restaurants on Kingston

Photo from Crain's NY

Crain's NY profiles the kosher restaurants moving north of Eastern Parkway on Kingston, the longtime Basil pizzeria and the newer artisanal kosher burger place Boeuf & Bun. Oddly, the article never mentions Kingston Avenue by name. It also neglects to mention what is common knowledge in the neighborhood that a new kosher steakhouse called "Meat" is destined for the space on the northeast corner of Bergen and Kingston (kitty-corner from the old Kingston Lounge).

Non-profit targets Crown Heights & Bed Stuy to assist with solar setup

Photo from DNAinfo

DNAinfo reports on the Central Brooklyn Community Solar Campaign, a partnership between local organizations and not-for-profit network Here Comes Solar, to assist residents in setting up solar panels on their homes. The initiative is specifically targeting Crown Heights and Bed Stuy with resources.