The Ocean Avenue News - oceanavenuenews.comBrooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez announced that a man was sentenced for a 2022 shooting in broad daylight in Sunset Park that left a man injured.
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R&B singer Cassie testified that ex Sean “Diddy” Combs trapped her in abuse by threatening to leak videos of sex acts he arranged.
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A bitter truth: Putin wages war because the West showed weakness, not resistance. For 20 years, he met words—not consequences. Now Ukraine burns. And if he’s not stopped there, he won’t stop at all. Appeasement isn’t peace. It’s permission. Stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦—before tyranny…
U.S. REP. DAN GOLDMAN’s HEROES Act would expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to volunteer firefighters and EMTs.
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Police arrested a 36-year-old Queens man on Tuesday who allegedly stabbed to death a passenger on a Brooklyn shuttle bus in a horrific daytime attack on Sunday.
Kareem McCalla of Richmond Hill was arrested just days after fatally stabbing 41-year-old Alvin Francis of Queens following an argument that took place on the J90 shuttle bus temporarily replacing J train service at Crescent Street and Cypress Place in Cypress Hills.
McCalla is charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police sources said.
Police said the deadly incident unfolded at around 2:30 p.m. on May 11. Following a heated argument, the dispute became violent, with the suspect stabbing Francis multiple times in the abdomen.
Officers from the 75th Precinct arrived at the bloody scene, but McCalla had already fled. EMS rushed the victim to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Witness interviews and photos played key roles in helping detectives track down the suspect. According to an article from Eyewitness News 7, authorities said surveillance video recovered from the bus, which provided a clear image of the suspect, was instrumental in the apprehension.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office told amNewYork that McCalla was arraigned on Wednesday afternoon. He is currently held in custody without bail and due back in court on Friday.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and 13 Brooklyn-based Asian American small businesses received a financial boost to help modernize their digital marketing strategies.
On May 11, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, alongside Asian Americans for Equality and the Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, announced the recipients of $2,000 microgrants during an event at Lady Chow Kitchen in Bensonhurst.
The financial stimulus is part of Reynoso’s partnership with Asian Americans for Equality, a nonprofit that promotes racial, social and economic justice. Reynoso first announced the collaboration during his 2024 State of the Borough address, allocating $30,000 from his Fiscal Year 2025 budget to support small businesses and provide multilingual resources.
Jesse Lee, managing director of the Renaissance Economic Development Corporation — a small business affiliate of AAFE — told Brooklyn Paper that many entrepreneurs lacked a digital presence and that a strong online marketing strategy is essential for small businesses to grow.
“A lot of [small businesses] are still relying on foot traffic, and I think by using digital marketing, they can attract new business to Brooklyn and their business,” Lee said.
To qualify, businesses had to be based in Brooklyn and demonstrate a loss in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owners were also required to attend a workshop on how modern digital marketing strategies can help transform their online presence and drive growth.
“We want them to spend the money wisely, so they had to go through our classes,” Lee said. “Now they’re getting to implement what they want to do.”
Reynoso’s father owned a pizzeria and bodega after immigrating to the United States from the Dominican Republic. The Beep noted that small businesses are the backbone of Brooklyn’s economy and a gateway to the middle class for immigrant families.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Brooklyn’s economy, and in a time of economic uncertainty, it is imperative to provide them with the infrastructure to succeed,” Reynoso said. “As people increasingly shop online, our small businesses need all the resources they can get to compete in a digital market. I am proud to partner with AAFE to provide these microgrants and cannot wait to see how these 13 neighborhood businesses will thrive in the digital marketplace.”
Thomas Yu, executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, thanked Reynoso for helping make the microgrant program possible.
“When our small businesses succeed, jobs are created and retained, communities are safer and stronger, and our communities thrive,” Yu said.
Among the recipients were Eunjoo Yi, owner of Nostrand Ave Inc., a Korean deli, grocery and flower shop; nail salon owner Young Kim; and Aiqin Zhou, owner of Lady Chow Kitchen.
Yi told Brooklyn Paper she plans to invest the funds wisely in her digital marketing strategy to help grow her business.
“In order to grow, I need to have advertisements,” Yi said.
Kim, the owner of Y2 Nail Inc. in Williamsburg, told Brooklyn Paper that receiving $2,000 cheered her up.
“The $2,000 microgrant helps to modernize my digital marketing strategies,” Kim said.
Zhou thanked Reynoso, Asian Americans for Equality and the Renaissance Economic Development Corporation for believing in small businesses like hers.
“Renaissance gave me the capital and guidance to grow — first in Chinatown, and now in Brooklyn. With the Brooklyn Digital Marketing Grant, I’m excited to take my marketing to the next level,” Zhou said.
Additional recipients included J&Y Dak Inc., a Korean restaurant; Bon Voyage USA Inc., a luggage wholesaler; Emerly Custom Bridal Corp., a custom clothing tailor; Metalmania Sheet Metal Works Inc.; SoGo Home USA Inc., a home retail goods supplier; Art to Ware Fashion LLC, a fashion designer and retailer; R&D&B Goods LLC, a gourmet grocery store doing business as R&D Goods; Kang Li Trading Inc., a wholesale health supplements company; Karepango LLC, a clothing retailer; and Hayoung Corp., a beauty supply store doing business as Michelle Beauty. 4o mini
The Wonder Years frontman Dan Campbell doesn’t consider the band’s acoustic “Burst & Decay” series just stripped-down versions of their catalog. To him, it’s a full reimagining — a way to “highlight the emotion behind the songs” and let the lyrics breathe in a new, intimate space.
That’s exactly what the Philadelphia six-piece plans to do when they tour the latest version at Greenpoint’s iconic Warsaw this weekend — trading amps for atmosphere in a room known for its old-school charm, creaky floors and Polish roots.
“It’s cool to see how much people have connected with this version of the show,” Campbell said of the group’s 2017 string-backed performance in Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge — a similarly intimate space that inspired the latest “Burst & Decay” tour. “We bought a lot of stage props. Normally we’re just, you know, give me the guitar and let’s go. But this time we wanted something cozy, something special.”
Known for their emotionally-charged pop-punk anthems and deeply personal lyrics, The Wonder Years debuted “Burst & Decay Vol. I” in 2017 as a way to showcase their songs in a new light. “Vol. II” followed suit in February, 2020 — but its tour was cut short by COVID. Campbell hopes the shows for “Vol. III” — released Friday — can pick up where they left off, and then some.
“We want to create a show that is unforgettable,” he told Brooklyn Paper.
Campbell called the series a “playground” for the normally high-octane band.
Produced by Steve Evetts and the band’s guitarist Nick Steinborn, “Vol. III” stays true to the series’ spirit of transformation. Tracks like “Wyatt’s Song (Your Name),” a tribute to Campbell’s older son, are reworked with a lo-fi sensibility — this time using Wyatt’s in-utero heartbeat as the metronome.
“That song, the first lyric is, ‘I recorded your heartbeat. It’s 133.’ I had that recording, and I sent it to Nick and he turned my son’s in-utero heartbeat into a beat behind the song,” Campbell said. “We did this kind of lo-fi bedroom version of the song with a rubber bridge guitar — the kind of Phoebe Bridgers guitar sound.”
The track has intentionally raw elements, he said, including a distorted demo vocal captured through blown-out speakers and a rattling snare — an unrepeatable moment they decided to keep as the final take.
“That’s the one take,” Campbell recalled them saying. “That’s it.”
Since forming in 2005 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, The Wonder Years have built their music around themes of vulnerability, growth, and emotional reckoning. The band — made up of Campbell, Steinborn, Casey Cavaliere, Matt Brasch, Josh Martin and Mike Kennedy — has always had a knack for capturing the emotional chaos of adulthood.
Their lyrics often wrestle with mental health, grief, identity, and the ongoing challenge of making peace with who you were, who you are, and who you’re still becoming.
“Burst & Decay Vol. III” closes with a sweeping new version of “Doors I Painted Shut” — the opening track off their most recent studio album, “The Hum Goes On Forever” — elevated by Campbell’s powerful delivery and guitarist Steinborn’s cinematic production.
Campbell said the arrangement — which trades traditional instrumentals for haunting, vocoder-heavy vocal layers — was inspired in part by Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek,” a left-field influence that helped shape the song’s ethereal tone. The result is a bold, experimental finale he says may “puzzle” some listeners, but that he hopes pushes the “Burst & Decay” series into a new space, while staying rooted in the band’s signature sincerity.
“I think that we took some of the biggest swings we’ve taken on any of the songs and any of the reimaginings on this one,” Campbell said of the album.
And much like their live shows, “Burst & Decay Vol. III” is rooted in community. Guest appearances from Knuckle Puck’s Joe Taylor, Sweet Pill’s Zayna Youssef, and Origami Angel’s Ryland Heagy breathe new life into fan favorites, including “Came Out Swinging,” “Oldest Daughter,” and “I Don’t Like Who I Was Then.”
For the first time on a “Burst & Decay Vol. III,” fans get a new track in “Junebug” — a song about Campbell’s youngest son, Jack, and an emergency surgery he had at just about two weeks old.
“I had been working on it for a long time and I thought, I really do love this song, but it’s just not going to make sense on a Wonder Years record. It’s too ‘Burst & Decay,'” he laughed.
That ethos — where what’s old feels new again and what’s new fits seamlessly into the fold — carries over to the tour.
“We’re doing a lot of special, interesting places,” Campbell said, noting stops at unconventional venues like The Caverns in Tennessee — “literally a cave in a national park” — and the fully seated Keswick Theatre in Philly. “Where we could, we tried to put it in places that were a little non-traditional or non-traditional for us.”
In Brooklyn, they’ll play Warsaw — a Greenpoint landmark. Housed in the Polish National Home, dating back to 1904, the venue has long served as a cultural hub for the neighborhood’s Polish-American community. Today, it’s one of the city’s most beloved indie venues, and its tagline, “Where pierogies meet punk,” is a perfect fit for The Wonder Years’ New York City stop on the tour.
For the first time, they’ll be joined by a live string section for the entire run, with musicians from Little Kruta, an all-female orchestra led by their friend Kristine.
“We want the show to feel theatrical and dramatic,” Campbell said. “We’re really excited about the stage setup. We’re really excited about the lighting setup. We’re really excited about the flow of the set list — the way the show is going to start and end and the way we can use the stage.”
Also joining them on the tour is longtime friend and “Brooklyn Boy” Kevin Devine.
“I’ve been a fan forever — he’s put on some of my favorite live shows in all kinds of rooms,” Campbell said. “He’s the kind of guy that can command a crowd in any space.”
Devine’s one-man setup fits perfectly with the intimate, emotionally charged vibe of the tour.
“If you’re going to put one guy with one guitar up before us, it has to be Kevin,” Campbell said, adding that he hopes he’ll play some of his favorites, like “Ballgame,” “Safe” and “Now: Navigate!”
But even with a dream lineup, pulling off a show of this scale comes with its challenges.
“It took literally days to make and organize [the set list],” Campbell said, citing complicated guitar switches, tuning changes, and logistical hurdles. The payoff, he hopes, will be a performance that feels immersive and intentional.
“We wanted to do something special and unique for our fans. What can you do that gives them a new experience? That shows them something you haven’t shown them before?”
At the end of the day, the series — and its shows — are a continuation of what Campbell sees as the band’s most meaningful offering: honesty, crafted into something that can help others.
“I take my personal pain, break it down into its component parts, rebuild it into a tool and hand that tool to people,” he said. “And it turns out that a lot of people have found that tool useful — and that’s a pretty special thing.”
The Wonder Years play at Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave. in Greenpoint, on Sunday, May 18, at 7 p.m.
Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic mayoral campaign recieved support from the Tenants Political Action Committee (PAC), amNewYork learned on Wednesday — a decision that adds to the long list of progressive organizations backing the Democratic socialist’s City Hall bid.
Tenants PAC told amNewYork ahead of its May 14 announcement that it would back Mamdani while encouraging voters to rank “tenant-friendly” candidates in the four remaining spots on their ballots, instead of formally backing any other contenders. However, the group is urging voters not to rank former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the current front-runner in the mayor’s race, who resigned in 2021 amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations that he denies.
Tenants PAC Political Director Esteban Girón said the group is supporting Mamdani because one of his core campaign pledges is freezing the rent for the city’s roughly one million stabilized tenants.
“Since the start of his campaign, Zohran is the only candidate who has consistently advocated for a rent freeze,” Girón said in a statement. “His bold, progressive vision for renters is exactly what this city needs. In an existential moment for tenants — who are fighting tooth and nail to afford to stay in the city we built — it’s imperative we elect a fighter like Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor.”
Mamdani has already picked up support from other pro-tenant groups including the New York State Tenant Bloc, which ranked him first, and Churches United for Fair Housing Action.
“Tenants are the majority and it’s time we had a Mayor who acted like it,” Mamdani said in a statement. “That’s why I am so proud to receive the endorsement of Tenants PAC who have been leaders in the fight for safe, affordable, dignified homes for each and every New Yorker.”
The group will hold a rally with Mamdani, Tenants Bloc, and the latter group’s other endorsed candidate — city Comptroller Brad Lander — at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Thursday.
Mamdani was the first major Democratic candidate to call for freezing rent increases on stabilized tenants. If elected, he said he would accomplish this through the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB); all nine members of the panel are appointed by the mayor.
He has also successfully pushed other candidates, including Lander and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to warm up to the idea of a rent freeze — though they have not yet committed to implementing one as mayor.
Mayor Eric Adams’ RGB appointees have opted to increase rents during each of his last three years in office. It raised rents by 2.75% for one-year leases last year and 3% the year before.
Mamdani also appeared to take aim at Cuomo, whom progressive pols and tenant advocates have painted as beholden to moneyed real estate interests, given the large influx of donations from industry honchos to a super PAC supporting his campaign. They argue that Cuomo will prioritize the whims of landlords over working-class tenants.
“Together, we will defeat the candidate of the real estate titans and deliver the housing justice our city deserves,” Mamdani said, presumably referring to Cuomo, who has called freezing the rent a “politically convenient posture.”
Progressives also charge that Cuomo’s actions over his 11 years as governor, including defunding a rental assistance voucher program in 2011, drove rents through the roof and fueled the city’s homelessness crisis.