Tonight at Dancing Under the Stars: Tom Moran (Daddy Rocker)

"With many comparing his voice, lyrical content and production to such mega hit-makers as John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Sting, Tom Moran is now ushering in his very own style of country & rock-n-roll music."

Check out his video, above.

As always, the festivities will start at 6 with kids programming. Tonight's kid performer will be Jason Rabinowitz. The adult, dancing portion of the program will begin at 7 and continue till 9.

See you there!

Crain's: Focused on Small Business

Over the past week or so, Crain's New York has been reporting on the challenges faced by small businesses and entrepreneurs in the city. City rules and regulations on stores, bars and restaurants are known to be archaic and difficult to understand and the enforcement of these rules by city agencies has often been described as "arbitrary" by those most affected.

Luckily, there appears to be a new focus on the needs of struggling small businesses by the Bloomberg Administration and the City Council. However, although the initiatives were launched 8 months ago, Crain's and many local business owners are skeptical that anything will change. In fact, there appears to be a lack of metrics on whether this effort is succeeding, prompting Crain's to publish their own.

So, Fifth Avenue, what do you think? Is the enforcement of city rules a difficult burden and, if so, are you hopeful that things will change for the better?

By the way, Crain's also published a nice, supportive article about the upcoming The 3/50 Project: Building Business From the Ground Up lecture with 3/50 Project founder Cinda Baxter (August 18th). Get your tickets at ibrooklyn.com. Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District members get in free, as the BID is a sponsor!

New Round-Up

12 NYC Bars That Allow Dogs [Huffington Post]

More Toys "R" Us Pop-Ups In Store [Brownstoner]

Young man savagely beaten to death by mob in Park Slope attack Daily News]

Steve Jobs Isn't Planting an Apple Store in Brooklyn Any Time Soon [NY Racked]

McBrooklyn Eats at Blue Ribbon Sushi Brooklyn For the First Time [McBrooklyn]

Have Laptop, Will Annoy?

This week, the first shots in the "free wifi" war may have been fired by New York Times technology blogger Nick Bilton, in a piece about some new restrictions he has found on computer/ipad/ereader use in coffee shops throughout the city.

The "sandwich shop in Brooklyn" referenced in the post (which is withholding tables from laptop users between 12 - 3 pm, aka lunch time) is none other than Fifth Avenue's sNice. In defense of their new rules, an owner of sNice wrote to Effed in Park Slope and said:

Here’s how it went down about a year and a half ago: noontime rolls in and nearly every freaking table is occupied by a single person on a computer (there’s fourteen of them—I counted!). My capacity is cut in half because they don’t want to sit with anyone else and no one wants to sit with them. A family comes in who wants to eat and I spot a single empty table so I ask the woman on her computer at the next table does she mind moving so this family can sit together and she says yes she does mind! I was flabbergasted. And that evening my husband and I decided that we needed to do something about this.

It's hard not to notice that a lot of Park Slope residents use Fifth Avenue establishments like sNice, Gorilla Coffee and Ozzie's as their office away from home. Sure, they are paying customers who are often loyal to the establishment they visit. But, in these difficult times, are they overstaying their welcome? Is this the beginning of a new trend? A new community rift like the stroller wars? Or, is it much ado about nothing?

Let us know what you think.

Photos of Dancing Under the Stars

Here are some photos from the past few weeks of Dancing Under the Stars, taken by Michael Cohn-Geltner. They were taken from week one on and you can see the size of the crowd growing over time. Don't miss it, next week!

Tonight at Dancing Under the Stars: Sonido Costeno

"Sonido Costeño is a modern day Latin New York City band. Their creative fusion of Latin music with other world music is enticing and the high energy in which they transmit it transforms their restaurant and club audiences into dance hall performances."

Check out a video of one of their performances, above!

As always, the festivities will start at 6 with kids programming. The adult, dancing portion of the program will begin at 7 and continue till 9.

See you there!

Shop Brooklyn - the Summer Edition

Yesterday, we received a Facebook event invite to: "Shop Brooklyn -- Summer Days!" We thought you would want to know about it, as we suddenly find ourselves in the month of August (can you believe it?):

August 11 - August 22

Shop Brooklyn, a borough-wide initiative of Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, is pleased to present Shop Brooklyn--Summer Days!

Partnering with Brooklyn Business Improvement Districts and merchants associations, and retailers we present you another exciting opportunity to champion our independent businesses that make Brooklyn so unique.

A Brooklyn Bonus will be offered by participating retailers that may include deep discounts, freebies, or a special experience.

Help support our Brooklyn "mom-and-pops" and take advantage of Shop Brooklyn--Summer Days!

Check out the soon-to-relaunch iShopBrooklyn.com for more information and participants.