Astoria: Got some genius idea for something fun to do in the waterfront park? Don’t hold your breath for a MacArthur … but apply for one of these mini-grants to bring your brainstorm to life. [Joey in Astoria]
Bay Ridge: Looks like knowing the future really confers the business edge: These days, fortune-tellers are the only storefronts hanging in there. [Brooklyn Paper]
Bedford-Stuyvesant: An entrepreneur’s poll of what new businesses are needed has unleashed a flood of pleas for nice groceries and wi-fi–enabled cafés. What new digs would you like to see in Bed-Stuy? [Brownstoner via Brooklyn Record]
Crown Heights: Gentrification chatter! Everybody’s buzzing that Starbucks and Washington Mutual are poised to supplant fried-chicken joints on gritty Eastern Parkway. [Brooklynian]
Dumbo: Not in my light-industrial backyard! Locals pressure city to landmark the area before old brick is dwarfed by shiny new glass towers. [DumboNYC]
Harlem: Hancock Place Apartments are under construction, and 44 rental units will be for households making at or below 60 percent of the area’s median income. So that’s, at most, $37,680 for a family of four. [Uptown Flavor]
Upper East Side: Pauper literati, get your asses over to that used bookstore on Lex between East 89th and 90th Streets. They’re closing, and last night they had tables groaning with free books! [Upper East Side Informer]
