As the year comes to a close, let's take a look back at the top 10 original stories that readers enjoyed the most. Topics ranged from the sudden opening of an emergency shelter for asylum seekers, to the demolition of a local jail and the opening of a new Lebanese taco joint on Atlantic Avenue.
1. Second Migrant Shelter Quietly Opens in Clinton Hill, Next to One of Brooklyn's Largest
As asylum seekers flooded New York City, the city scrambled to assemble temporary housing, which included erecting tent complexes and converting hotels and empty commercial buildings into emergency shelters. Residents in Clinton Hill were already up in arms with the influx of thousands of migrants living at 47 Hall St., when the city opened up another shelter just a block away in April.
2. Beloved Prospect Heights Eatery Fears Closure Due to Open Streets Program
The pandemic brought a lot of changes to the city, including the adoption of the Open Streets program, where vehicular traffic is stopped for several blocks and turned into a public space. Although many Brooklynites loved this additional space to stretch out, many did not. On Vanderbilt Street in Prospect Heights, residents are still at odds.
3. Brooklyn Gets 7 New Schools, Including Dyker Heights Elementary Named After Slain Detective
Education is always a hot topic, and the city added many new schools in the borough.
4. Atlantic Avenue Jail Demolition Rattles Residents
As the city tries to reconfigure its jail system, a lot of the focus is on the largest and most problematic complex: Rikers Island. But there's a huge city jail smack in the middle of Downtown Brooklyn, where the demolition of the old building irked residents for months.
5. Atlantic Avenue's Newest Entry Serves up Lebanese Tacos
It's hard to keep up with all of the new restaurants and bars that open up, but its uplifting to know that the culinary scene continues to shine in Kings County. Readers loved a restaurant review of El Cedro on Atlantic Avenue, which melds Lebanese and Mexican cuisine.
6. Brooklyn High School Scores Bittersweet Basketball Championship After Eligibility Controversy
For Brooklynites who follow high school sports, the Public School Athletics League seemed to suddenly enforce grade qualifications for a variety of teams this year, including basketball.
7. Maimonides Set to Evict Workers from Hospital-Provided Housing
After years of working for the Borough Park hospital, almost two dozen employees from Maimonides Medical Center faced eviction from housing controlled by the hospital.
8. City Declares War on Illegal Evictions
A BK Reader writer followed city employees as they knocked on doors to spread the word about the city's outreach effort to educate and support renters at risk of illegal eviction.
9. Flatbush Avenue Buses Remain a Nightmare For Many
Everyone hates the B41 bus!
10. Battle Lines Drawn Over Mount Prospect Park's Proposed Skatepark
Local skaters and concerned residents clashed in Crown Heights over the proposed Brooklyn Skate Garden in Mount Prospect Park.