Group looks to revitalize historic Brooklyn theater

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A rundown theater in Brooklyn that was at the heart of the city's civil rights movement in the 1980s is now the focus of an aggressive fund-raising campaign.

The New Brooklyn Theater Group envisions a performing arts center that will revitalize the neighborhood.

The Slave Theater on Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant has a long a storied history. But for more than a decade, it has fallen into disrepair. Now, some determined visionaries want to create a new future while honoring its past.

Beyond the Slave Theater's tattered marquee and crumbling exterior is a rich history. It was built as the regent theater in 1910. Then, Judge John Phillips bought it in the 70s and converted it into a place to celebrate black history.

In the 80s, the Reverend Al Sharpton held weekly meetings there and organized marches in the wake of the Howard Beach attack.

Now, the New Brooklyn Theater Group wants to buy the building, renovate it and turn it into a performing arts center.

"There are audiences here," the theater group's Jonathan Solari said. "There are members of this community that want a place to gather, a cultural center here in Bed-Stuy. Because if you walk down the street at night, you hear jazz music. You see people rehearing. It's alive here, but there's not a place to showcase it."

The plan calls for a newly-renovated three-stage theater. The lobby would be converted into a cafe and art gallery. But the issue is money. The estate of the late judge is willing to entertain offers to sell, so the New Brooklyn Theater has opened a kickstarter campaign.

"Two hundred thousand dollars is our kickstarter goal," the group's Sarah Wolff said. "But we have been receiving phone calls from other people who are interested in partnering with us. They're very interested in our project and potentially seeing how we can all work together to bring this building back to life."

Local residents like the idea.

"It'd give the young people a place to go," Mary Green said. "And it also might give the young people an opportunity to show their talent."

The New Brooklyn Theater Group is meeting with Community Board 3 to go over their plans and try and garner more support for the project.

For more information, visit NewBrooklynTheater.com.

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new york city, bedford-stuyvesant, brooklyn, new york news, lisa colagrossi

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City looks to ban large, sugary drinks in obesity fight

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- If Mayor Michael Bloomberg has his way, New York City could have the toughest anti-soda laws in the country. Big, sugary drinks would be illegal.

The proposed first-in-the-nation ban would impose a 16-ounce limit on the size of sweetened drinks sold at restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts. It would apply to bottled drinks as well as fountain sodas.

The ban, which could take effect as soon as March, would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks or alcoholic beverages. Nor would it include drinks sold in grocery or convenience stores. Food establishments that don't downsize would face fines of $200.

Bloomberg said Wednesday that he "thinks it's what the public wants the mayor to do."

A spokesman for the New York City Beverage Association, Stefan Friedman, criticized the proposal as "zealous." He said officials should seek solutions that are actually going to curb obesity.

"There they go again," the Association said in a statement. "The New York City Health Department's unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top. The city is not going to address the obesity issue by attacking soda, because soda is not driving the obesity rates."

The proposal requires the approval of the city's Board of Health, which is considered likely because its members are all appointed by Bloomberg.

Under the three-term mayor, the city has campaigned aggressively against obesity, including outlawing trans-fats in restaurant food and forcing chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus.

The Bloomberg administration has tried other ways to make soda consumption less appealing. The mayor supported a state tax on sodas, but the measure died in Albany, and he tried to restrict the use of food stamps to buy sodas, an idea federal regulars rejected.

City Hall's latest proposal does not require outside approval, although public hearings will be held.

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new york city, obesity, michael bloomberg, new york news

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Looks Like a Strawberry, Tastes Like a Pineapple

By Lauren Torrisi

Pineberries, also known as white strawberries, are shown here. Wikipedia

Forget the hassle and mess of cutting open a pineapple.  Pineberries, a white strawberry with red seeds that tastes like a pineapple, are predicted to be the new “it” fruit of the summer. 

Compared to the large strawberries Americans are accustomed to, the pineberry is very small.  They are in season for about five weeks, starting in the beginning of April.  They have limited availability in the United States, but their popularity could dictate otherwise.

The pineberry originated in South America and was then later brought over to France. Recently, the fruit was found and then revived and grown on a commercial basis.

Have you tried this new fruit?  Are you going to look for it at your local market this April?  Let us know.

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