Brooklyn

A few months ago, director Daniel Goldstein and scenic designer Dane Laffrey went prowling around the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, peering in windows like a pair of peeping Toms. They deliberately set out at night so they could see inside the elegant townhouses in the tony neighborhood, which is known as much for its opulence as for its family-friendly environment. They tried to keep a low profile as they cased the area and stole glimpses of the rarefied artwork and the exquisite furnishings inside other people's homes.

It's 1974. A well-to-do but down-to-earth Jewish couple, the Fines, are moving from Brooklyn to New Orleans. The husband wants to be closer to the garment factory he owns there. They have two teenage daughters. The situation offers several directions to go in: period piece, culture clash, generational clash, coming-of-age story, and there's always character study. The father, Joe, is a hustler and charmer, but with serious anger-management issues. The mother, Stella, was a war refugee who spent two years hiding from the Nazis — "like a real-life...

A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour 212-209-3370 (for reservations) www.bknypizza.com Monday and Friday 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Adults $45, children $35, includes pizza and soft drinks. Book through Zerve at number above, or at www.zerve.com/bknypizza/bknytour. Grimaldi's Pizza 19 Old Fulton St. 718-858-4300 Large plain pizza $14, small $12, toppings $2 each. No slices, no credit cards, no reservations. Daily 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. L&B Spumoni Gardens 2725 86th St. 718-449-1230 Large Sicilian pizza $18, slice $1.75.

Re the new Presentation School Foundation Community Center (" An old school reborn ; Community center rises from '05 closure," Metro, May 11): the PSF story is an example to other similar communities (and neighborhoods, like the one where I live in Brooklyn) that sustained civic engagement, with support from local government and private investors, and the determined efforts of local residents, can turn properties such as the former Roman Catholic Church school in Brighton into new community anchors for the present and future.

Brooklyn Was Mine Edited by Chris Knutsenand Valerie SteikerRiverhead, 229 pp., paperback, $15 "You are a New Yorker," Colson Whitehead announces in his magnificent oddball guidebook "The Colossus of New York," "when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now. " Brooklyn, both centuries old and in recent years reinvented as a bohemian paradise for Manhattan expats, is in the full flush of its own apotheosization, and...

With the Knicks out of town, Spike Lee is attending the Northeast Conference championship game at Long Island University in Brooklyn. Lee, who grew up in Brooklyn, strolled into the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center about 30 minutes before tip-off between the Blackbirds and Robert Morris. The winner earns an NCAA tournament bid. Wearing a Knicks baseball cap, an orange hooded sweatshirt and black vest, the diminutive director took a seat in the front row behind the basket, right next to three young fans who spelled out LIU on their painted bare chests.

When Mark Wahlberg was in town last month for the opening of his family's fast food restaurant, Wahlburgers, in Hingham, he told us that he was sporting a patchy, fuzzy beard for an upcoming film. But the Dorchester-bred actor was clean-shaven when he was spotted (above) in Brooklyn this week filming "Broken City," in which he'll star with Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones . Wahlberg was on the "City" set with his director, Allen Hughes , who's best known for "The Book of Eli" and "Menace II Society.

This is Rucola, a small, new, very sweet little Northern Italian restaurant in Brooklyn , where I dined last weekend. We passed by, it looked inviting, and in we went. Not a single click on any hand-held device to see what anyone else was thinking about it. We ate so well! Warm cauliflower salad with grapes and pumpkin seeds was so complex, we wondered how they thought of it. Bronzino crudo, very thinly sliced raw fish with pickled green tomatoes and toasted sunflower seeds, and lots of good olive oil, was divine.

THE ASTRAL By Kate Christensen Doubleday, 311 pp., $24.95 Meet Harry Quirk, the aging, fallen protagonist of Kate Christensen’s accomplished sixth novel, “The Astral.’’ At the story’s onset, the 57-year-old poet’s life has taken a precipitous turn for the worse: His longtime, Mexican-born wife, Luz, has kicked him out of their Greenpoint apartment after she becomes convinced that he is having an affair with his...

At El El Frijoles (no connection beyond the pun to L.L. Bean) husband and wife Michael Rossney and Michele Levesque serve taquería takeout or sit-down from a barn in their backyard. "Maine is a state with some pretty gnarly Mexican food, pretty terrible stuff," says Rossney. "We're trying to do a little bit better. " The couple starts with ingredients from close to home. They buy handpicked crab from Rossney's mom's next-door neighbor on Deer Isle, eggs from a farm down the road, and harvest chard, squash, tomatoes, and strawberries from their raised-bed...

The Brooklyn Nets are open for business. The team's formal attire will be black and white. The Nets began settling into their new neighborhood Monday, unveiling new colors and logos at a sporting goods store on Flatbush Avenue, across the street from its soon-to-be-completed home arena, the $1 billion Barclays Center. "Hello Brooklyn,"' center Brook Lopez said. "I've been waiting a long time to say that. It's very exciting. " Lopez was joined by coach Avery Johnson, General Manager Billy King, Bruce Ratner, the real estate developer and minority owner who was the catalyst behind...

NEW YORK - Four New York police officers were wounded but expected to recover after a shootout with a man barricaded in a Brooklyn home with a number of weapons, police said Sunday. The man was also wounded. The encounter began Saturday night when authorities received a 911 call about a man with a gun arguing with moving company employees, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Sunday. Authorities arrived at the building and determined the man was in his sixth-floor apartment with his girlfriend and their infant son. The woman and the child got out of...

A slate board from Brooklyn Slate Co. makes a stunning platform for a spread of cheeses. With a textured surface and ragged edges, the rustic slate ($25 to $32 for 10 by 14 inches, about $33 for 5 by 18 inches) is appealing. Designers Kristy Hadeka and Sean Tice started the business three years ago. Each distinctive piece of stone is sourced from the upstate New York quarry Hadeka's family has owned for three generations, hand-ground at the quarry, and finished by hand in the couple's Brooklyn workshop.

With the Knicks out of town, Spike Lee is attending the Northeast Conference championship game at Long Island University in Brooklyn. Lee, who grew up in Brooklyn, strolled into the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center about 30 minutes before tip-off between the Blackbirds and Robert Morris. The winner earns an NCAA tournament bid. Wearing a Knicks baseball cap, an orange hooded sweatshirt and black vest, the diminutive director took a seat in the front row behind the basket, right next to three young fans who spelled out LIU on their painted bare chests.

Julian Boyd scored 21 points and Long Island University-Brooklyn sank just enough free throws down the stretch to beat Quinnipiac 78-75 Sunday night in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinal round. Boyd laid in the basket that put the top-seeded Blackbirds (24-8) ahead for good, 71-69, with 3:38 to play, but they couldn't convert all their free throw chances in the final two minutes to get comfortably ahead. But while the Blackbirds went 1 of 2 from the line five different times in the final 1:46, their defense also stepped up. LIU forced five Bobcats misses from the floor...

Jamal Olasewere led five players in double figures with 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds as LIU Brooklyn beat Sacred Heart 80-68 on Thursday night. Julian Boyd had 16 points while Brandon Thompson and Michael Culpo chipped in with 11 apiece. Jason Brickman finished with 12 points and 13 assists for the Blackbirds, who advance to the Northeast Conference semifinals on Sunday against Quinnipiac. LIU led by just one, 21-20, after Louis Montes converted a layup for Sacred Heart.

Re the new Presentation School Foundation Community Center (" An old school reborn ; Community center rises from '05 closure," Metro, May 11): the PSF story is an example to other similar communities (and neighborhoods, like the one where I live in Brooklyn) that sustained civic engagement, with support from local government and private investors, and the determined efforts of local residents, can turn properties such as the former Roman Catholic Church school in Brighton into new community anchors for the present and future.

WHO: Dan Zevin WHAT: Formerly of Cambridge and a onetime humor columnist for the Boston Phoenix and Boston Magazine, Zevin, 47, moved with his wife to the hippest place on earth: Brooklyn. Then he had two kids and moved to the suburbs and became the most unhip and blissfully happy dad. He blogged recently about his love for all things fleece. His new book, ‘‘Dan Gets a Minivan," comes out in May and was recently optioned for a TV series by Adam Sandler. Q. You were blogging about fashion during New York Fashion Week.

WHO: Dan Zevin WHAT: Formerly of Cambridge and a onetime humor columnist for the Boston Phoenix and Boston Magazine, Zevin, 47, moved with his wife to the hippest place on earth: Brooklyn. Then he had two kids and moved to the suburbs and became the most unhip and blissfully happy dad. He blogged recently about his love for all things fleece. His new book, ‘‘Dan Gets a Minivan," comes out in May and was recently optioned for a TV series by Adam Sandler. Q. You were blogging about fashion during New York Fashion Week.

Julian Boyd had 25 points and 10 rebounds and C.J. Garner added a season-high 25 points as LIU Brooklyn rallied to beat Quinnipiac 99-89 Saturday for the Blackbirds' seventh straight win and 16th in their last 17. Jason Brickman had 10 points and a career-high 16 assists while Michael Culpo chipped in 17 points for LIU, which won its 24th straight at home while hosting its final regular-season game. The Northeast Conference-leading Blackbirds (21-7, 15-1), who trailed by eight at the 10:13 mark, tied it at 36 and led 47-43 at halftime, After Ike Azotam's jumper...