The Ocean Avenue News - oceanavenuenews.comA judge sided with MSG, saying that the former New York Knicks All-Star Charles Oakley had not proven he was assaulted.
The post Judge sides with MSG against Oakley, says the former Knick couldn’t prove he was assaulted at game appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.
The weaponization of the fish did not last long into World War II; Studies suggest Imperial Japan’s sardine catch declined drastically.
The post How Imperial Japan turned to the sardine to help build a war machine appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.
Smoking and vaping continued to decline among middle school and high school students in 2025, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The post US teens are smoking and vaping less than their peers abroad appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.
When the lights go out in Bushwick’s Aliume Art Gallery, the artwork is only just beginning.
Paintings glow beneath ultraviolet light, colors appear to shift and kinetic sculptures spin into hypnotic geometric patterns. Then, when the lights are shut off completely, the work changes again, revealing an otherworldly landscape created from phosphorescent materials.
For Alex Aliume, the Ukrainian-born artist behind the gallery, the transformation is the point. Located at 41 Porter Ave., near the Morgan Avenue L-train stop, the gallery is designed less as a traditional white-walled exhibition space and more like an experience. Aliume describes his practice as an investigation into how light, color and motion shape the way people perceive the world.
“Luminescent experiential art is one of the styles, and I am the pioneer in that specific non-conventional artistic practice,” Aliume said. “Luminescent means different spectrums of light. Every single artwork I make glows under ultraviolet light, and it also completely transforms and glows without light, which is true glow-in-the-dark.”
His work combines painting, sculpture and kinetic art with ultraviolet-responsive and glow-in-the-dark materials. The result is art that looks dramatically different depending on whether it is viewed in ordinary light, under UV illumination, through 3D glasses or in complete darkness.
“Every single artwork I make glows under ultraviolet light, and also completely transforms and glows without light, which is true glow-in-the-dark,” Aliume said. “When people visit, they definitely do not expect what’s coming.”
That shift in perspective is something Aliume wants visitors to experience for themselves. When guests arrive, he guides them through the gallery and asks questions before eventually inviting them to signal when they’re ready for the lights to go out.
“I meet hundreds and thousands of people over the years. I meet students and kids to quite famous scientists,” Aliume said. “People come with different types of emotions and ideas. I guide them through the space and they explore the art, they ask questions, they engage with it, they connect with it, they reflect.”
The darkness can turn a familiar painting into something entirely new.
“People usually experience a sense of awe when the lights turn off,” Aliume said proudly. “It’s something they’ve never seen before.”
Visitors also receive Chromadepth 3D glasses, adding another layer to the experience. According to Aliume, the glasses alter how viewers perceive the colors and depth of his two-dimensional works, making the visual experience feel more dimensional.
The gallery’s kinetic sculptures take that idea of perception even further. Created from wood, the motorized pieces rotate at different speeds, revealing geometric patterns and faces that can be difficult or impossible to see while the sculptures are moving quickly. The works are programmed to spin, slow down, stop and reverse direction, repeatedly changing the visual experience.
Aliume said that the process can feel almost meditative for viewers.
“The point of kinetic art is standing in front of it and focusing — you choose the one that you feel most connected to,” he said. “You start noticing a pattern, which only appears when the object reaches a certain speed. That pattern is kind of invisible when the objects are in motion. That could be an extremely meditative process, and it can be very powerful as well.”
He added that the wall-mounted sculptures are particularly labor-intensive. Each design begins with Aliume before being laser-cut, handcrafted, motorized, painted and installed.
Aliume’s fascination with light and perception began somewhat unexpectedly. He said his first encounter with fluorescent paint happened by chance, but quickly became a turning point.
“It was accidentally divine; spontaneous,” he said. “When I first laid my hands on a canvas, and dramatically enough, I accidentally picked up fluorescent paint, the one that glows under ultraviolet light.”
He added that “Accidents don’t exist, of course.”
The discovery led to a larger realization about what he wanted to do with his art.
“I started playing with it and realized that I loved it so much,” Aliume said. “The more I was doing it, the more I realilzed I wanted to do it every single day.”
Aliume’s artistic philosophy draws from both science and mysticism, interests he said have followed him since childhood. Geometry, physics, natural patterns and questions all find their way into his work.
“I am the experimentalist,” he said. “I love to combine the uncombinable. I love revealing the invisible.”
That desire to reveal what normally goes unseen is also at the center of what Aliume believes art can accomplish.
“Art is magic and is supposed to real a sense of great mystery, or one of the faces of it,” he said.
For Aliume, art does not have to exist separately from science and mystery. Instead, he sees those ideas as parts of the same conversation.
“Since the beginning of my artistic journey, I felt like art is the place to discover the sacred magic. It’s an alchemy combining things that inspire awe.”
His ambitions extend beyond the walls of the Bushwick gallery. The Aliume Temple Project envisions a permanent light environment combining painting, sculpture, kinetic systems and architecture into a space designed for contemplation and public interaction.
For now, visitors can experience Aliume’s evolving world in the Bushwick gallery.
“Art is the portal into higher dimensions, mathematics, dream world subconsciousness and more,” he added. “Art can be a tool and the key for rediscovery of yourself, the world around us.”
Visitors can book an experience at Aliume Art Gallery through aliumeart.com.
The state Department of Health said it may be able to fill gaps left by the federal cuts through its own community-based projects.
The post New York loses millions in sex ed money after uptick in teen pregnancies appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.
Police are on the hunt for a killer after a woman was brutally stabbed to death inside a Brooklyn park early Tuesday morning.
According to police sources, cops from the 77th Precinct were called to Lincoln Terrace Park at around 12:41 a.m. after a 911 caller reported an assault in progress. When cops arrived, they found a 30-year-old woman with stab wounds in her chest, back and head.
EMS rushed the victim to Brookdale Hospital, where her wounds were too severe, and she was pronounced dead. Her identity is being withheld pending proper family notification.
The victim and her attacker were last seen having a verbal dispute just prior to the fatal stabbing. He is described as being shirtless and wearing gray pants. He fled the scene on foot.
Scattered belongings, including food and picnic items, could be seen left surrounded by police tape.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this murder can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
The lawsuit filed by police reform advocate Dana Rachlin alleges that the NYPD allows untraceable “ghost access” to sensitive files.
The post Activist’s case against NYPD survives challenge, alleges leak of sex assault details appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.
The days are numbered for an impressive Romanesque Revival church that has commanded the corner of Schermerhorn Street and Third Avenue Avenue in Boerum Hill since the late 1800s. Brooklyn developer Tankhouse is in contract to buy the site for $28.25 million and plans to tear down the fire-damaged structure, court documents show.
Last week, the court approved the sale of Next Step Community Church (formerly First Baptist Church) at 360 Schermerhorn Street. Tankhouse founders Sam Alison-Mayne and Sebastian Mendez, through 360SSP LLC, entered a contract to buy the 1890s Romanesque Revival building in August last year. (The state attorney general or the court is required by law to approve any disposition of church or nonprofit assets.)
The pair plan to raze the structure, which was damaged in a 2010 fire, court documents show. It’s unclear what Tankhouse intends for the site, but given its location in an area that has been dramatically transformed by glassy apartment towers, luxury condos or rentals are likely. Tankhouse is working with Lonicera Partners on the project and plans apartments, according to the Commercial Observer.
Just across the street is Alloy Development’s massive block-long development known as Alloy Block (formerly 80 Flatbush) whose two skyscrapers aroused intense opposition from locals who said it was inappropriate for Boerum Hill’s historic row house blocks.
Tankhouse is behind a number of creative Brooklyn developments, including 144 Vanderbilt Avenue in Fort Greene, 9 Chapel Street in Downtown Brooklyn, and 450 Warren Street in Gowanus. Brownstoner reached out to the developer, but didn’t hear back by publication.
The 2010 fire caused structural damage to the church’s entry vestibule of the main sanctuary, which would need demolition, as well as smoke and soot damage to the main sanctuary, the court documents say. A Mancini Duffy Architects report commissioned by the church says the cost to repair the historic structure would be upwards of $33.986 million, which the church says is an “insurmountable hardship for current ownership” in its petition to sell.
The petition says the church “made the difficult decision” to sell the building in order to fund the purchase of a new location. It would also use proceeds from the sale to set up an endowment fund to continue its work in the community, and fund church expenses.
Since the fire more than 15 years ago, the church has held regular services and programming in the building’s cellar meeting rooms, saying in its petition it supports “low-income, vulnerable, and marginalized individuals in the Downtown Brooklyn area.”
In 2025, it operated a large food pantry and soup kitchen, donated clothing, hosted a Thanksgiving meal, distributed toys, gave out essential childcare supplies, helped vulnerable people through its social services desk, provided space to nonprofit Imani House, and held a weekly 12-step recovery program, according to the church, all of which it will continue at a new location. After costs such as broker and legal fees, the church anticipates making $26,933,875 from the sale.
The First Baptist Church has a long history in Brooklyn as the oldest Baptist church in the borough, founded as the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn in 1823. Before settling on the site at 360 Schermerhorn Street, the congregation had lost two prior buildings to fires.
Designed by Weary & Kramer, the imposing corner church was constructed in 1893-94 and rebuilt after a 1917 fire. The sizable complex has a bold, simple design, with little ornamentation, and is clad in rusticated brick, brownstone, and terra-cotta. It has “impressive gabled pavilions and is anchored by three corner towers,” as laid out in its 1995 National Register of Historic Places registration form.
The design includes a prominent central gabled entrance pavilion, large rose window, and two corner towers. Among the building’s features are round-arched openings, stained-glass windows, corbelled brickwork, and Spanish-tile pyramidal roofs.
Following the 2010 fire, the congregation has put the church on the market multiple times. At first, it hoped to partner with a developer to restore the building and set aside space for the congregation, but pivoted to sell the site in 2014 without protecting the building and with a much higher price tag.
While the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is not individually landmarked by the city or within a New York City historic district, meaning it can be demolished without needing approval from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The church sits at the intersection of three neighborhoods — Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, and Downtown Brooklyn — that have seen dramatic change over the past decade. In the latter two, especially, fistfuls of tall glittering towers, including Brooklyn’s first supertall and a 54-story apartment tower on Schermerhorn Street, have replaced low-slung storefronts and historic row houses. The LPC recently greenlit a skyscraper on top of a landmarked Fort Greene church and a tower in the backyard of the early 19th century Duffield Street Houses in Downtown Brooklyn.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner