WHAT A SHAME

TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES REPORTED THAT IT COST THE U.S MINT 1.67 CENTS TO MAKE A PENNY AND 9.5 CENTS TO MAKE A NICKEL. DO THE MATH WE LOSE $50 MILLION EACH YEAR BY MAKING PENNIES AND $55 MILLION MAKING THE NICKEL. NO ONE IN WASHINGTON CAN COME UP WITH A BETTER WAY TO SPEND $105 MILLION A YEAR? LET'S FEED THE HUNGRY, BUILD SOME HOSPITALS,HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE. GUESS CONGRESS IS BUSY WITH BASEBALL.

A BROOKLYN KID

DID YOU KNOW THAT GREGORY HINES WHO WAS BORN IN MANHATTAN BUT WENT TO LIVE WITH HIS GRANDMOTHER IN BROOKLYN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1946.LIVED ON NOSTRAND AVE CLOSE TO BROOKLYN COLLEGE AND EBBETS FIELD.HIS HERO'S WERE JUNIOR GILLIAM AND GIL HODGES.WE HAD SOMETHING IN COMMON I ALSO LIVED WITH MY GRANDMOTHER.

ST.VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE

FEB. 14TH 1929 10 YEARS AFTER HE LEFT BROOKLYN AL CAPONE SETTELED A DISPUTE WITH MEMBERS OF THE BUGS MORAN GANG BROOKLYN STYLE. THE MOST FAMOUS AND FEARED GANGSTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAILS FROM BROOKLYN.

FEB.14TH 1846

HARBOR PILOT THOMAS FREEBORN DURING A STORM HAD HIS SHIP THE JOHN MINTURN RUN AGROUND NEAR THE JERSEY SHORE.FREEBORN WAS BURIED IN MANHATTAN BUT WITHIN MONTHS FELLOW HARBOR PILOTS ERECTED A MONUMENT TO HIM IN BROOKLYN'S GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY AND HIS BODY WAS MOVED THERE.....WORKING ON A GREEN-WOOD TOUR...... STAY TUNED.......

2 NEW LANDMARKS

CONGREGATION TIFERETH ISRAEL (1911) THE OLDEST SYNAGOGUE IN QUEENS AND THE JAMAICA SAVINGS BANK BUILDING (1898) WERE DESIGNATED HISTORICAL LANDMARKS. PRESERVE DON'T DESTROY.

BROOKLYN NEXT

FROM FEB. 15TH -24TH BROOKLYN WILL BE ROCKING WITH 175 SHOWS FROM 17 VENUES. AT BAM AND AROUND THE BOROUGH. VISIT BAM.ORG FOR BANDS AND SCHEDULE. GOOD STUFF.

GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT FEB15TH-18TH

THIS WEEKEND PEOPLE ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA WILL BE COUNTING BIRDS AND SUBMITTING LISTS FOR THIS SURVEY.LAST YEAR OVER 80 THOUSAND LISTS, 613 SPECIES AND OVER 11 MILLION BIRDS WERE COUNTED.GET OUT YOUR BINOCULARS,MAKE A LIST,SUBMIT IT.LETS SEE IF WE COULD TOP LAST YEARS COUNT.