The Brooklyn Standard

This article appeared in the 24 July issue of The Canarsie Digest.

How does sautéed tilapia with a side of grilled zucchini served on a bed of fresh Bibb lettuce and arugula sound? Imagine then that it was all grown organically and purchased locally right here in New York. Sounds tasty, right? So tasty, you wouldn’t even know the secret ingredient is fish poop.

Aquaponics is a fast growing field of sustainable, organic farming where the entire entrée is fed nutrient-rich fish waste in a closed hydration system. To put it in terms New Yorkers can understand, it’s like a highfalutin dirty water frank, and it may be coming to a restaurant or farmers’ market near you.

Martin Schreibman grows basil, lettuce and echinacea with a fish-fueled, closed hydration system at his Brooklyn College lab.

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Watch the 60-second crash course in aquaponics at Cabbage Hill Farm.

This article appeared in the 24 July issue of The Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier .

A bloodthirsty crocodile emerged from the beach in Coney Island, drawing a large crowd to the shore’s famous boardwalk. But it didn’t come alone. From the sandy scene also sprang a dinosaur, a race car and Jesus Christ.

The motley spectacle could only mean the annual Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest and Unity Day Celebration and this year’s event is just around the corner.

A lizard emerges from the sand at last year’s Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest.

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This article appeared in the 24 July issue of The Canarsie Digest.

You wouldn’t think anything was wrong with little Jewel Sulker when you first meet her, but her mother and a state senator have been desperately scrambling to save her life.

“Her doctors never saw a case like this,” said Senator John Sampson, who was approached by the girl’s mother, Dianne Brown, for help. “Any adult would have given up on life by now. Today I am asking for the medical community and the public to get involved and give this girl a better life,” he said.

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Senator John Sampson and Dianne Brown plead for the medical community to help Brown’s 10-year-old daughter, Jewel Sulker.

This article appeared in the 17 July issue of am New York.

For better and for worse, Howard Beach, Queens, has long been a neighborhood on the periphery and an area defined by sharp contrasts. It’s where tradition is confronted by modernism, and old and new stand side by side on the borough’s border with Brooklyn.

Houses lining Hawtree Basin in Howard Beach keep their boats parked out back. (Katya Pronin / amNewYork)

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This article appeared in the 17 July issue of The Canarsie Digest.

Simon Belsky says he gets no respect. And he may just have a $200 ticket and the pictures to prove it.

Though he sports an uncanny resemblance to late comedian Rodney Dangerfield (with the voice and shtick to boot), Belsky isn’t laughing about the summons he received over a year and a half ago, which he has been fighting ever since.

Sheepshead Bay resident Simon Belsky shows where he got the $115 ticket on Ave. U. “Even my dog can’t find the hydrant they’re looking for!” he said. (Steve Solomonson)

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This article appeared in the 17 July issue of The Williamsburg Courier.

Kings Highway ice cream truck driver is serving up more than just sweet treats this week by hosting an indulgent fundraiser for a sick Brooklyn teen.

Maria “The Ice Cream Girl” Campanella will throw the 2nd annual Famous Ice Cream Eating Contest in Manhattan Beach to raise money for Ciro Patalano, an 18-year-old diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Maria “The Ice Cream Girl” Campanella organized a fundraiser ice cream eating contest for a sick Brooklyn teen.

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This article appeared in the 3 July issue of The Williamsburg Courier.

Though Brooklyn’s concert venues have been struggling in recent years, a new program by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy is music to their ears.

Music at the Bridge is a free summer concert series with a twist. Each week, a different Brooklyn venue will showcase three hours of hand-picked music from the best bands in their genre.

Las Rubias Del Norte, comprised of Emily Hurst, Olivier Conan and Allyssa Lamb (left to right), kick off Music at the Bridge on July 9th.

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This article appeared in the 3 July issue of The Greenpoint Courier.

It is alleged that an aide at a Greenpoint junior high school repeatedly behaved inappropriately — and in several cases made sexual advances — toward at least 10 students over the past year and a half, an investigation has found.

The nine-page report, filed this week by the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) Richard J. Condon, recounted months of allegedly inappropriate advances by 28-year-old Johnathan Williams toward children at J.H.S. 126, John Ericsson Junior High School (424 Leonard Street).

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