Recently in Downtown Brooklyn Category

Here's some exciting news. Brooklyn's very own TKTS booth opens at MetroTech Center (outside of Jay Street-Borough Hall subway station) in downtown Brooklyn on Thursday. You'll finally be able to pick up discounted tickets to Broadway, off Broadway, music, dance and Brooklyn performing arts events without leaving the borough. The booth will be open Monday through Friday from 11am to 6pm. The same deal applies, it'll be same-day evening performances and next-day matinees. Credit cards, cash and travelers checks will be accepted.

Get your Os on Friday 6/6 as Bethany, Adam, Dennis and Kenny spin all your favorite techno, electro, disco, italo and house.

Suspiria is our bi-weekly DJ night at Club Deity on Atlantic Ave. Don't leave Brooklyn to get your kicks, stay in the 'hood!

According to the sign in the window, the New St. Clair Restaurant (at the corner of Atlantic and Smith streets) opens for business tomorrow. I can't actually say I went to the old one, but the new one sure looks nice.

Looks like the already excellent Nicky's is adding a feather into its excellence cap with the addition of pho on the menu for the cold weather months. From Jon, our pho-loving correspondent:

It seems that Nicky's Vietnamese is expanding their menu for the winter with the addition of Pho. This will only be available for dine-in customers as they feel that Pho loses something in the delivery and they don't want to sacrifice quality. Being among the first customer, they gave me a bowl of the beef Pho on the house, and it was as good as or better than any I have ever had. Their version is somewhat light on the star anise but is altogether an excellent, beefy noodle broth accompanied by the standard plate of basil, sliced chile peppers, bean sprouts and a slice of lime. While I only sampled the beef version, they mentioned having chicken and pork chop pho available as well. Hopefully they will just decide to keep it year round as it is quite tasty and as far as I know the only place in the neighborhood that serves it right now.

According to Racked, Target is planning another store in Brooklyn at Albee Square Mall. Never heard of it? Me neither, but it's apparently just off Fulton Mall. Why two Targets within walking distance? Maybe the folks at Target headquarters have experienced the empty shelves and piss-poor customer service over at the Atlantic Center Target and decided to start fresh.

This Sunday from 10am to 6pm, you can experience the wonder of the Atlantic Antic (check out the food map). Sadly, we will be missing due to a trip to Texas, but I'm convinced ABL readers will drink Sixpoint's specially made beer (Atlantic Antic Amber) in sufficient quantities so our absence  will not be noted.  As for food, my favorites last year were from Stir it Up, Soul Spot, and Nicky's. As for decor, I'm wondering if there will be the same abundance of personal tiki bars on the streets as last year. Never have I been so tempted to buy a leopard print bamboo tiki bar ...

Sixty-nine events. Eight hours. The Brooklyn Book Festival is back.

Certainly, borough president Marty Markowitz does enough trumpeting for all of us, but I can't help but do a little extra promotion myself. Most impressive is the broad range of offerings—whether you are a writer, reader, publisher, comic geek, poet, wannabe or just someone who likes festivals, yep, there's probably something you're interested in. Everything is free, even the ticketed events—just pick up tickets an hour before the event.

Kick off the festival on Saturday evening with a free screening in Borough Hall Plaza of Paul Auster's film Smoke.

This weather has me feeling a little gloomy (as does the postponement of ballfield chow), but what better way to kick a funk than a movie by the pluckiest of plucky Golden Age actors: Barbara Stanwyck. She's pretty much my favorite actress of all time--tough, smart, down-to-earth, and funny as hell. Now until May 6th, BAM is doing a retrospective of some of her best flicks. If I had to choose two favorites, I'd go with the gangster's moll vs. uppity professors comedy, Ball of Fire (Saturday), and her last movie, the Night Walker (Sun, May 6), a so-bad-its-great William Castle quickie about a woman haunted by her dead husband.

Finally made it to the Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn, and along with all the cool old trains and the history of the city's subway system--one of the more exciting museum history lessons I can remember--were tons of great old ads in the trains. Loved this one for Barbarella! (Fun fact: Did you know that that cut-out Y tokens we're all used to seeing actually collected lint from people's pockets and mucked up the works?)

No matter what your take on the Atlantic Yards project, you gotta love a walkathon. I have such fond memories of walkathons: going door to door with my little envelope and then following the yellow line around the school playground and getting my punch card punched. Ok, it wasn't really that exciting, but this one should be, as John Wesley Harding is playing. I frankly didn't know he was still around, but he was once a pretty crafty songwriter. Also, let's face it: the Atlantic Yards project sucks, and anyone who walks around in a circle to raise money against it is A-OK in my book.