Brighton Beach

Before the Italian-American exodus from Bensonhurst, only Italian food vendors participated in the annual 10-day Feast of Santa Rosalia--Brooklyn's version of Little Italy's San Gennaro Festival--in honor of the patron saint of Palermo, Sicily. But lately "The Feast," as it is dubbed by locals, has become less a nod to what was once Bensonhurst's most populous demographic group than a multi-ethnic smorgasbord.

At this year's Santa Rosalia, which ended Sunday, Middle-Eastern shawarma vendors and Mexican arepas booths were sprinkled among dozens of Italian sausage stands lining the neighborhood's main commercial artery of 18th Avenue. The seven-block strip from 67th to 75th streets was festooned with red, green and white flags, but a gyro stand demarcated the fair's boundaries.  read more »

State and city comptrollers say no to the MTA's plan to put a platform over its West Side rail yards, but suggest they might put the development project out to bid. That of course was what the MTA more-or-less did this winter, but presumably, without the Jets stadium looming, new and deep-pocketed developers would feel freer to show up.

And the Jets haven't disappeared. Today Jay Cross meets with Queens officials to discuss the team's plan to put a stadium in Flushing Meadows. They should have just listened to Anthony Weiner and saved themselves months of disappointment and millions of dollars in lobbying and promotion.  read more »

The outer boroughs are perfectly nice, anyway. Which is why Steve Cuozzo asks, why take the Jitney to the Hamptons when you can take the Q train to Brighton Beach?

- Matthew Schuerman

On a balmy summer afternoon in 1991, Shelly Friedman was strolling the boardwalk in Brighton Beach w  read more »

"Svoboda is not your typical East Village haunt," reads the press release.  read more »