Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

BQE Admin on September 10, 2025

A new spot, Badaboom, brings ritzy rotisserie to Bed-Stuy

By Cole Sinanian

Take an evening stroll through eastern Bed-Stuy and you may happen upon an aggressively blue facade on the corner of Howard Ave and Bainbridge Street, lined with equally blue sidewalk seating and likely bursting with youngsters vying for a table.

This is Badaboom, a new chicken-forward bistro opened by Charles Gerbier of the nearby Frog Wine Bar and Henry Glucroft of the popular Henry’s wine shop in Bushwick. Despite just a few months on the block, the restaurant — open for dinner only — is generating some buzz. Its $38 steak frites, in particular, have cultivated quite the reputation— Brooklyn Magazine and The Infatuation both gushed about the seven ounces of marbled red flap steak and thick-cut fries.

But ordering steak at a place with doodles of chickens all over its walls seems like the wrong thing to do, particularly when, upon entry, one is confronted with a spectacular rotisserie oven stacked with roasting birds leaking savory juices everywhere. The open kitchen— placed where one might expect a bar to be — is an effective theatrical touch. Diners can marvel at the skeleton crew of just two cooks and a dishwasher holding it all down. They work in silence, slicing up birds with scissors or pouring butter emulsions from steel pots over haricot vert.

Badaboom’s signature offering is its rotisserie chicken, but it also grabs diners with the spectacle of its open-kitchen plan.

The spectacle is entertainment for the wayward lone diner, who may be feeling out-of-place in a room filled with what look like some of Bed-Stuy’s hottest second dates. They skew young, dressed in leather and salvaged denim, well-fitted pants and designer tees. Do they live around here? Or was it an Instagram reel that brought them? In the room’s center is a shared table, where two separate parties of four sit comfortably on either side, brushing shoulders with strangers. High bar chairs line a large window, from which pedestrians can be seen on the sidewalk, pausing to wonder the same thing that I did when I first walked by: why so blue?

Most of the wines, of which there are dozens, are French and available only by the bottle, which range in price from $68 to $120. As for the chicken, the waiter tells me it’s brined and marinated for two days in citrus juices, toasted peppercorns, rosemary and thyme before hitting the rotisserie. The citrus certainly comes through, but for the most part the meat is tender and savory atop its throne of roasted potatoes. The skin is crisp and umami-rich and comes sprinkled with fresh chives. The half-chicken is more than enough food for one. You can also get a full chicken, better for two people. But to get the best parts you may have to use your hands. So maybe not the choice for a second date. Although there’s something romantic about sharing a whole chicken, even if it is $58.

Location, Location, Location

BQE Admin on September 10, 2025

Borough president’s report highlights stark differences in access to education, health, and transit across BK nabes

The centerpiece of the “Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn” is a borough-wide access to opportunity index, the darker green, the better. One particularly dire example: if you live in Borough Park, you’re expected to live 20 years longer than someone in East New York. Graphic via the report.

By Cole Sinanian

The Brooklyn Borough President thinks New York City is driving blind.

As one of the world’s only major metropolises without a comprehensive plan to guide long-term development, the City’s lack of cohesive vision results in yawning gaps in transit access, health outcomes and general wellbeing across its diverse neighborhoods, argues BP Antonio Reynoso in his updated “Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn.”

Released last week, the plan draws attention to the stark inequalities between Brooklyn neighborhoods and offers potential solutions.

“For too long, NYC decision makers have been forced to make choices about development projects and resource allocations without this greater context,” Reynoso writes in the introduction. “We’ve seen time and again that planning issues do not occur in isolation, and we cannot solve entrenched problems on a site-by-site, or issue-by-issue, basis.”

Health and wellbeing — and the ways in which local infrastructure fails to provide it to many Brooklynites — feature heavily in the plan’s pages. Brooklyn’s average life expectancy of 80.7 years, for example, largely matches that of New York City, at 81.5, though life expectancies vary widely neighbor-to-neighborhood.

In parts of Brownsville, life expectancy at birth is 70.5 years. Meanwhile, a Borough Park native can expect to live nearly 92 years on average. Health data reveals a trend that quickly emerges over the course of the report: the lower-income, largely immigrant and nonwhite communities of Brooklyn’s southern and eastern quadrants are much worse-off than their fellow Brooklynites in the borough’s northern and western regions closest to Manhattan.

The highest rates of food insecurity, for example, can be found in Coney Island, Brownsville, and Gravesend, where 20-27% of the population is food-insecure, or lacking access to quality supermarkets and grocery stores. In Bed-Stuy and Sunset Park, fast food is overrepresented, with as many as 19 bodegas to a single supermarket.

Chronic diseases too more frequently plague eastern Brooklynites. The highest rates of adult asthma can be found in Brownsville, East New York, eastern Crown Heights, East Flatbush, and Canarsie, while the lowest are in northwestern Brooklyn and to the east of Prospect Park. Neighborhoods with large Latino populations like Ocean Hill, Cypress Hill, and Sunset Park, the report notes, have the borough’s lowest rates of health insurance coverage.

Some of the report’s health recommendations are in line with left-wing populist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s policy proposals, namely city-operated grocery stores that would provide reduced-cost, nutritious food items located strategically in food-insecure neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, Sunset Park, or East Flatbush. Local food pantries could also be partly supplied by the city, the report suggests, as many community-operated food pantries struggle to store and provide perishable food.

Environmental factors are related to local health outcomes, Reynoso’s report argues. In the south Brooklyn communities of Red Hook, Sunset Park, and East New York, a high concentration of last-mile delivery centers brings high truck volumes, which in turn leads to more traffic and local air pollution. Similarly, communities along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway like Williamsburg, Bushwick, Gowanus, Red Hook, and Sunset Park have the borough’s worst levels of air pollution.

As far as psychological health, residents of Brownsville, South Williamsburg, East New York, Sunset Park, Borough Park, and Coney Island were most likely to report two straight weeks of poor mental health. The City’s Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) sought to address this by routing mental health-related 911 calls to professionals better equipped to handle psychological crises than the NYPD, but, as Reynoso’s report details, B-HEARD has major gaps. It is not universally available, nor does it employ true mental-health professionals, instead relying on EMTs working for the NYPD and FDNY.

A central theme of the report is the relationship between community health, local transit infrastructure, and sustainability. More greenery, more bike lanes and CitiBikes, and new transit connections would help improve wellbeing in Brooklyn’s underserved neighborhoods. Despite its large park infrastructure, Brooklyn remains the borough with the lowest tree canopy coverage in the city, at just 18%. CitiBike infrastructure, while robust in north Brooklyn, is virtually non-existent in Coney Island.

Proposed projects like the long-delayed Interborough Express (IBX) would connect Broadway Junction and Sunset Park via the existing Bay Ridge Branch rail line, and provide a critical connection between Brooklyn and Queens. Other proposed transit developments include an updated in-system transfer between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, which currently can only be done by exiting and re-entering the subway, and a connection between the underground Broadway G train stop and the elevated J and M trains.

And infrastructure projects could bring jobs and renewed industry to Brooklyn’s underserved areas. Reynoso’s plan supports the controversial Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment (BMT), albeit with a focus on prioritizing maritime activity over housing. Potential for shipping and industrial jobs should be maximized, the report notes, with “no residential uses interfering with port and industrial activities…” Port activities at the BMT should be maintained, the report argues, as “the loss of Williamsburg’s industrial waterfront to housing development further underscores the need to preserve and expand Brooklyn’s remaining industrial waterfront.”

Brooklyn History: Was the BQE worth it?

BQE Admin on September 10, 2025

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway under construction in Brooklyn. Photo via the Brooklyn Heights Association.

By Cole Sinanian

In a 2024 interview with the Governor’s Island-based nonprofit, the Institute for Public Architecture, architect and Bay Ridge native John di Domenico recounted life in his neighborhood before the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway:

“The block was very important to you as a child growing up,” he said, “and when summer came along you played games in the street, you played stoopball, stickball.”

It was the basic unit around which urban life was organized. One could imagine, then, the strife brought by its utter destruction when the BQE came through Bay Ridge in the 1960s.

“I think its biggest effect to a 10 or 11 year old was noting at the end of a school year that some students didn’t return because they had to relocate over the summer,” di Domenico said.

The BQE was the infamous New York City urban planner Robert Moses’ magnum opus, a sprawling, highway designed to cut car travel times between Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan. Built from 1937 to 1964, there was scarcely a Brooklyn community spared from the BQE, which divided tight-knit neighborhoods and sent communities scattering— a demographic shift the borough has yet to fully recover from.

Now, decades after its visionary’s death, the highway is a noisy, crumbling relic of a bygone era. One particular section, the triple cantilever over Furman Street in the Brooklyn Heights, was at risk of collapsing under heavy traffic loads by as early as 2026, until the City reduced the number of traffic lanes from three to two. The City’s Department of Transportation has plans to spend $4 billion to rebuild it in 2029, although the project has brought up questions about the future of the BQE as a whole.

Part of the larger Interstate-278 route, Moses took charge of constructing the Brooklyn portion of the highway, beginning in Greenpoint in the 1950s. Construction passed through Williamsburg, then populated by mostly working class Eastern European, Italian, and Puerto Rican immigrants, according to architect and urban planner Adam Paul Susaneck in his blog, “Segregation by Design.”

After passing through the historic core of Downtown Brooklyn, the highway — cutting diagonally through the city’s grid-structured neighborhoods — dipped into South Brooklyn, where it severed the Red Hook Houses, then home to working-class Black and Italian-American communities, from the rest of the borough via what Susaneck calls a “massive, traffic-choked and exhaust spewing trench between it the rest of the city.”

All told, Moses’ projects from the 1920s-1960s would displace over 250,000 people. Although Moses promised to relocate displaced families to public housing projects, later studies found that the percentage of families actually relocated was minimal. As the BQE cut its way through Brooklyn, a pattern emerged, later identified by Robert Caro in his Moses biography, “The Power Broker.”

Caro writes: “If the number of persons evicted for public works was eye-opening, so were certain of their characteristics…Remarkably few were white. Although the 1950 census found that only 12 percent of the city’s population was nonwhite, at least 37% of the evictees and probably far more were nonwhite.”

It’s worth noting that Moses, the great champion of the highway, did not, according to Caro, have a driver’s license. Furthermore, he spent much of his time in the city being driven around in a “chauffeured limousine,” functioning as a sort of leathery, upholstered office.

“It was in transportation,” Caro writes, “the area in which RM was most active after the war, that his isolation from reality was most complete: because he never even participated in the activity for which he was creating his highways—driving—at all.”

All of this displacement and destruction for a highway that failed to make travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn quicker. In the modern era, traffic has only worsened, as variables that didn’t exist during Moses’ lifetime have stressed the 20th century structure. E-commerce has brought a surge in heavy delivery trucks and the pandemic led to a bump in car travel in the city. Traffic on the BQE, as New York Times reporter Winnie Hu explains in a 2022 interview, seems to be compounding on itself, making for ever-slower, more frustrating travel:

“There have been complaints about more truck traffic in neighborhoods around the B.Q.E. as trucks and cars have gotten off the highway, looking for alternative routes on local roads when the B.Q.E. was backed up.”

Was it all worth it? di Domenico isn’t so sure.

“All of this was the result of this notion that moving across the city was so important, and that the end justified the means,” di Domenico said. “That it was getting through New York that was really important, even if it meant destroying all these individual neighborhoods along the way.”

Yankees to Host Mets on 25th Anniversary of 9/11

BQE Admin on September 9, 2025

Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

The Mets and Yankees will meet in the Bronx on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 next season, five years after doing so for the first timez.

With the 2026 MLB schedule released at the end of August, the 9/11 memorial game is one of the most eyecatching matchups of the year. The two New York teams will face off in a high-intensity series that will take place during the final stretch of next season’s playoff race.

The 2021 meeting was the first time both took the field together in New York. It was an emotional affair featuring hundreds of FDNY, NYPD, EMT, and Department of Sanitation workers, survivors of the attacks, and of course the first responder baseball caps worn every year by both the Mets and Yankees on the anniversary of the attacks. Both teams stepped onto the field to shake hands and exchange pleasantries before the first pitch.

The game itself was an electric one, featuring an early 5-0 Yankee lead, a daring Mets comeback, and late lead changes. Two 8th inning runs gave the Yankees a 8-7 win, an important victory as they went on to claim the final Wild Card spot in the AL.

Next year’s matchup will be the first in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Citi Field edition of the Subway Series will take place from May 15 to the 17.

Mets Rookies Handed Trio of Losses

BQE Admin on September 9, 2025

By Noah Zimmerman

Three Mets rookie pitchers faced consecutive defeats over the weekend as New York dropped the last two games in Cincinnati and the opener in Philadelphia. Still, Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat, and Nolan McLean all showed prowess and potential in strong starts.

Tong only surrendered three hits in his second career game. Unfortunately all three were sent over the wall as the Reds scored four runs in the first four frames. The rest of the outing went smoothly for Tong, finishing with six strikeouts in six innings of work. He was handed the loss as the Mets fell 6-3.

The next day, Mets #5 prospect Brandon Sproat stepped onto the big league mound for the first time. Like McLean and Tong, the young righty made a strong impression in his debut.

The 24-year-old threw five innings of no-hit baseball, only allowing one run via sacrifice fly. In the 6th Cincinnati finally got to Sproat, with three consecutive hits to go up 3-1. Sproat struck out the next two Reds batters to end his night with seven K’s, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the loss.

Nolan McLean dazzled in Detroit but was finally handed his first loss of the year in Philadelphia. In 5.1 innings, McLean only gave up one run on seven hits with five strike outs. He displayed more masterful control of the breaking ball and the composure to survive busy basepaths.

Unfortunately the Mets were blanked by Aaron Nola and the Phillies bullpen. McLean was tagged with the decision in a 1-0 loss. It was New York’s sixth loss in their last nine games, a troubling trend as the Wild Card race continues to tighten up.

Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka Win 2025 US Open

BQE Admin on September 9, 2025

Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka both won their second US Open titles over the weekend as the final Grand Slam tournament of the year came to a close.

Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner in their third major finals matchup of the year. He defeated the Italian at the French Open but suffered his first ever major final defeat at Wimbledon. The Spaniard won each of his first six US Open rounds in straight sets, the first to do so since Federer in 2015.

Sinner looked lethal in the opening game, but Alcaraz came back in stunning fashion and finished with a break point. Sinner was finally able to respond and win the third game but couldn’t fight off Alcaraz, who won the first set 6-2.

In the second set, Sinner clawed his way back with the help of a break point and some acrobatic plays to level the final with a 6-3 win. It was the only set he’d take and the only one faced by Alcaraz, who won the next two 6-1 and 6-4.

In his third championship point of the final, Alcaraz beat Sinner on the backhand. The two congratulated each other with a smile and warm words before Alcaraz went to salute the star-studded crowd.

In the women’s final, Sabalenka defended her 2024 win and #1 ranking in straight sets over Amanda Anisimova. It was the first time since Serena Williams in 2014 that a women’s singles player defended a US Open title.

The #8 ranked Anisimova fought bravely in the opening game to force three game points but couldn’t hold off Sabalenka. After going down 2-0 the American fought back with three straight games won before Sabalenka took the next four to claim the set 6-3.

Up 5-4 in the second set, Sabalenka missed an overhead shot that would have set up championship point. Anisimova won the next point to take the game and went on to take a 6-5 lead. Sabalenka answered 50-15 to force a tiebreak and avoid a third set.

The defending champion was fierce in the finale, taking a 6-1 tiebreak lead. Anisimova survived two championship break points, but on her third attempt Sabalenka secured US Open glory.

The finals were fitting finishes to a thrilling tournament in Queens and a fascinating Grand Slam circuit. Time will tell if either Alcaraz or Sabalenka can claim a third US Open title in 2026.

Liberty battle Mystics, Mercury in Final Stretch

BQE Admin on September 2, 2025

Isabelle Harrison led New York with 16 points as she made her return to the lineup against Washington. (Photo: Brandon Todd, NY Liberty)

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

The Liberty are just a few games out of a top seed in the 2025 WNBA playoffs, but with injury issues in the final stretch of the season the results have been hard to come by. On Thursday night New York were able to outlast a young and hungry Mystics team, but their road trip started on the wrong foot two nights later in Phoenix.

Star guard Sabrina Ionescu missed both games with a toe injury that kept her out for three of the team’s last four contests. Natasha Cloud also missed Thursday’s showing against Washington, but returned with a bold facemask on Saturday against the Mercury.

Jonquel Jones was another player missing from Thursday’s lineup as the center dealt with an illness. The Liberty were short three starters and only had eight players suited up to play. Among them was Isabelle Harrison, making her return from injury. In her 20 minutes of action, Izzy led Liberty scorers with 16. She picked up some big baskets as NY pulled away late for a 89-63 win.

Standing in at the point was Marine Johannes. With a difficult task asked of her, the crafty French guard impressed with 14 points and 5 assists. She set a career high +/- with a net 26 points scored with her on the floor. Her most impressive play was a pass threaded through the legs of her defender for an easy Meesseman bucket.

Marine Johannes filled in at Point Guard with Sabrina Ionescu injured. She put up a career-best +26 with 14 points and 5 assists against the Mystics (Photo: Brandon Todd, NY Liberty)

After a tight first half against the Mercury, the shots refused to fall as Phoenix cruised to a 80-63 win. It cemented a season series win for the Mercury, which could prove costly as New York fights for favorable playoff seeding.

It’s been difficult for New York to have consistency with a constantly shifting lineup. When they’re able to outrebound and outassist opponents, New York has 10-3 and 17-3 records respectively. When they lose those battles they manage 12-13 and 6-13 records instead.

It’s no secret the Liberty are at their best with the ball moving and when limiting second chances. With so many games without their top rebounder and playmaker, it’s no wonder the team has struggled through the summer.

With only one home game remaining, New York is still within reach of the second seed. After Tuesday’s game against the Valkyries they’ll have three more chances to fight their way to the top of the East.

The final regular season game at the Barclays Center is Tuesday, September 9 against the Mystics. The team will celebrate Fan Appreciation Night as they prepare to defend their crown in the postseason.

The Kids are Alright!

BQE Admin on September 2, 2025

A Clean Start for Nolan McLean, Tong Terrific Takes Over Queens

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

A pair of Mets youngsters took the mound at Citi Field last week, injecting some life into a struggling rotation. Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, two of the most highly touted arms in the Mets system, made their MLB debuts in August. Most notably, both earned big wins in a pair of important division games at Citi Field last week.

McLean, a right-handed spin savant, took the mound in front of the Queens crowd for the first time against the Seattle Mariners earlier in the month. He delivered one of the greatest pitcher debuts in club history, striking out 8 and only surrendering 2 hits in 5.1 innings of scoreless ball.

In his next two starts, McLean continued to impress, becoming the first in franchise history to win each of his first three games. He punched out 6 in 7 innings in Atlanta before getting another 5 against the Phillies at home.

McLean became the first pitcher since Randy Johnson in the 80’s to win their first three games while pitching 20+ innings, striking out 20+, and holding opponents to a sub-.200 batting average. More importantly he displayed an ability to go deep into ballgames, something sorely missing from the Mets pitching staff.

The rookie’s 8 innings of work against Philadelphia were some of the most masterful from the Mets pitching staff all season. Only David Peterson has gone deeper in a game this year, throwing a complete game shutout against the Nationals in June.

On Friday night, another young Met arm was welcomed to Citi Field for the first time. Jonah Tong, carried youthful energy onto the mound just over a month past his 22nd birthday but kept nerves contained in front of a nearly sold out crowd. Tong didn’t have to worry about run support in his first Major League game as he was handed 12 runs to work with over the first two innings.

The youngster was just barely able to qualify for a win, throwing nearly 100 pitches over 5 frames. A pair of errors nearly cost Tong a chance at a decision, but he finished with just one earned run.

The 19-9 win set a record for the most runs scored at home as New York desperately tried to shake a groggy August. Despite their sweep of the Phillies, the Mets struggled last month with a 11-17 record even with impressive offensive numbers. With pitching struggles, it’s time to see what the new kids can offer in the season’s final stretch.

Nolan McLean’s 4th start was scheduled for Tuesday in Detroit. Tong is slated for a Friday night appearance in Cincinnati as the Mets look to earn some separation in the Wild Card race.

Osaka Duels Gauff in Round 4

BQE Admin on September 2, 2025

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

It was busy in Flushing this year as One million people attended the US Open!

Six years and six combined major titles since their iconic first matchup, women’s tennis stars Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff took the court at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. In one of the most riveting matchups of a thrilling tournament, the Japanese-born Osaka downed the world #3 in two sets, 6-3 and 6-2.

The Round of 16 win sends Osaka to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time since she won the Australian Open in 2021. Since her return to play last year she wasn’t able to escape the third round, making it that far at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Gauff made her fourth consecutive trip to the US Open’s fourth round which included a 2023 title. She also looked to build to a successful 2025 that saw her capture a second Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Unfortunately for the home favorite, Gauff was quickly overmatched by a hungry Osaka. She went after Coco’s forehand side and drew consistent errors for a quick lead. In the second set Osaka sent more of the same barrage as she made a statement with a straight set victory.

The head-to-head record now stands at 3 apiece with Osaka leading in slam matches 2-1. It’s a similar result to their famed 2019 third-round match at the US Open, with Gauff now the same age Osaka was when they first matched up at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

On Wednesday, Osaka’s US Open continued with a quarterfinal matchup against #11 ranked Karlolina Muchová. The winner would advance to take on #8 Amanda Anisimova or #2 Iga Swiatek in a semifinal match on Thursday. The women’s singles championship game will be held on September 6.

The Bully Yanks… Until Proven Otherwise…

BQE Admin on September 2, 2025

By John Jastremski

The 2025 New York Yankees just put together a recent stretch of baseball that sums up their season rather appropriately.

The Yankees got rather fat against three sub .500 teams. The Twins, Cardinals and Rays respectively.

They got absolutely smacked by the Boston Red Sox, one of the better teams in the American League.

It’s been a common theme watching this group play over the course of the season.

When the Yankees are going good, they’re going real good. The ball is leaving the ballpark, their starters are going deep into games and they find a way to hold down leads in the late innings.

When the Yankees are going poorly, a lot of the warts and deficiencies of the group are on full display for the world to see.

It’s a team that can’t win without hitting a home run. It’s a team that yucks up leads with shaky relief work.

Oh and don’t forget about the poor fundamentals in the field and the bases that continue to be a narrative around the franchise dating back to last season.

When the Yankees are going poorly, all of these elements come to play.

Here’s the dirty little secret regarding the 2025 Yankees: They will be playing October baseball.

The team faces a September schedule that is rather reasonable against a good number of sub .500 opponents.

More than likely, the Yankees will find themselves in the Wild Card round the first week in October with a series against a team that has owned them all season.

The only way this group is changing the current bully narrative about their season is two fold.

Stun the world by winning the American League East. Highly unlikely with a 5 game deficit and a month to play, but it would signal a whole lot of wins against both the Blue Jays and the Red Sox.

Two, flip the script in October against the better teams in the American League.

It’s hard to imagine the script changing in Yankees land, but if you’re not satisfied with the narrative, you have to change it.

We’ll see if this team can…

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts every Sunday & Thursday evenings. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite following Mets Postgame on SNY.

A Clean Start for Nolan McLean, Tong Terrific Takes Over Queens

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