The Brooklyn Ink

[VIDEO] This is How They Do It, Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Ink staff spread out across the borough and learned what people do and how they do it, every step of the way.

How They Do It – The Carpenter

By Joi-Marie McKenzie Jim Totten walks into City Journey’s workroom wearing construction boots. His shirt is tucked into his teal uniform. It’s important to keep your shirt tucked in, he says, so it won’t get [...]

How They Do It – The Brewer

By Ivana Kottasová When Drew Dewitt brews beer, he has many things to worry about, starting with the temperature of the water. It’s boiling in a big pot. Dewitt watches the thermometer closely. The water [...]

How They Do It – The Bartender

By Lillian Rizzo Linda Mcinerney must shake the silver mixer 15 times before pouring the chilled liquid that is to become the Heavenly Pomegranate.  She counts, “1, 2, 3, 4…” in her head as she shakes, [...]

The Story of the Nazi Human Skin Lampshade

Mark Jacobson, “The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans”, Simon  & Schuster 2010. By Alysia Santo. At a New Orleans garage sale following hurricane Katrina, a lampshade made out of human [...]

Book Reviews

Here are some picks from Brooklyn and Beyond.. Behind the Scenes with Evo Morales The extraordinary rise of the first indigenous president of Bolivia by Martin Sivak Reviewed by Manuel Rueda The handbook on how [...]

Behind the Scenes with Evo Morales

Martin Sivak, Evo Morales: The extraordinary rise of the first indigenous president of Bolivia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) By Manuel Rueda Shortly after being elected as Bolivia´s President in 2006, Evo Morales, an indigenous leader and [...]

The American Economy: a Byzantine Scheme.

Matt Taibbi, Griftopia (Random House 2010) By Stephen Witt. For many years, Matt Taibbi was the heir apparent to the gonzo tradition of Hunter S. Thompson. He called people names, took vicious potshots at his [...]

Deportable Goods: The Story of Pablo Airaldi

Small details hold Pablo Airaldi’s life hostage. He doesn’t speak any Spanish. He doesn’t know who the President of Uruguay is or the country’s national anthem.

Change May Be Brewing in District 13 Politics

By Beth Morrissey Michael Grimm’s election to the House of Representatives was a triumph for Republicans in the 13th congressional district, which spans Staten Island and southwest Brooklyn.  But the win may also bring a [...]