Looks like Tribe Called Quest likes to get down every once in awhile in Queens and Brooklyn, too.

Arena Bagels and Bialys has officially changed its name to… well, something else. I live directly above the shop, the sign for which immediately sent shivers through the neighborhood, spawning the great Brooklyn tea party… , no it didn’t.

Anyway, for something that hasn’t quite gotten approved, the selection of the word “Arena” was certainly a fatalistic choice. I applaud those who chose to organize and use this opportunity to make a statement about the Atlantic yards project, another friendly reminder that the arena and its mega-footprint is NOT A DONE DEAL.

From a Brooklyn Paper article about the bagel breakdown:

“Barring a victory in court, the opponents’ main strategy right now is to block anything that gives even the appearance that Atlantic Yards is inevitable.”

NOT A DONE DEAL!

Having already knocked out the 5-Boro Bike Tour(click here for one man’s account), I am seriously excited about riding around the city this year. I might even take in a Critical Mass event.

I sincerely hope we can avoid any major accidents here in Brooklyn this year. Check out Bike Commute Tips for helpful reminders on safety.

Knock on wood, but I think this is going to be the best biking Summer yet.

I truly do not know where John Tropea of Library Clips finds the time to unearth so much great stuff. If he is not sifting and categorizing the virtual waterfall of web 2.0 apps out there for us (I think there may be one for just about every singular function one can perform via http – see my comment made to Steve Rubel about the rise of Twitter), he’s out there waist high in forward-thinking commentary. I salute you John and I do not know how I would stay on top of this myself were it not for your important and excellent postings.

Today he has brought to light the effects of blogging on community. I am particularly interested in this as I live in Brooklyn, have my own Brooklyn-oriented blog, and just attended the Brooklyn Blogfest last week.

According to Outside.in, a neighborhood blog aggregator, Brooklyn is the bloggiest neighborhood in the country. Whoot whoot!! We can all thank Bruce Ratner and his grandiose Atlantic Yards scheme to make as much money as possible at one time for that, but I digress.

Sitting with my neighbors during the Blogfest, I couldn’t help but feel something important was taking place. There was genuine appreciation among everyone putting effort into their blogs, and it just felt right to come together in celebration. Many laughs were shared and margaritas poured.

How’s that for the act of blogging building community? And does it go the other way around, too? I know getting together got me thinking about blogging more. I am sure others felt the same. Perhaps Outside.in should sponsor meetups in each neighborhood. Why waste all that neighborhood-reviving goodness?

Oh, also… got a picture phone. I am totally addicted. If you want to see me in my current state of snappy goodness, I am periodically updating a photo album to the upper-left with a picture of meself, or, as you will see, pictures of whatever I may be consuming with my peepers.