Happy Monday in New York, where one little 78-ton hero named Shoofly is keeping Queens and Brooklyn warm during this historic cold spell.
The importance of New York’s waterways are rarely more apparent than during a prolonged freeze. Not only do people rely on ferries to commute and piers to import goods, but just about 8 million residents require laden barges to deliver the heating oil and other fuels required to heat their homes. With the temperature hovering below freezing for the last week, the waters around New York have filled with mini icebergs, making it impossible for most boats to pass.
That’s where the icebreakers come in — steel-reinforced boats built to plow through the ice sheets so more fragile vessels can get through. Along the Hudson River and in New York Harbor, the Coast Guard has been working around the clock, deploying its heavy-duty tugboat icebreakers to keep ferries, cargo ships and fuel barges running through the freeze.
According to reporting from THE CITY, only Shoofly, which at 64 feet long is puny by icebreaker standards, keeps critical waterways into Brooklyn like Newtown Creek clear for ships. The salty waters of the East River freeze more slowly, requiring less maintenance than the fresh waters of the Hudson, so Shoofly can manage the river itself.
Thanks to Shoofly, Brooklynites can escape the bitter cold for the warmth of their homes. Then again, what if we just forget about heat altogether and turn the East River into a giant ice skating rink?
Power outages disrupted parts of Boerum Hill and Park Slope through the weekend after melting snow mixed with road salt damaged underground electrical equipment. Approximately 1,800 customers are still without service.
About 500 Brooklyn Tech students, yelling “Melt the ICE!” walked out on classes Friday to protest the violent actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday proposed legislation to prohibit local law enforcement from being deputized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for federal immigration enforcement.
Lynwood Wilkerson, age 65, was killed on Sunday while riding an e-bike after a collision with an ambulance near the Barclays Center.
City officials were warned weeks before a car-ramming attack at a Crown Heights synagogue that security bollards and other hardening measures were needed.
Investigators are working to identify dismembered human remains discovered Sunday morning inside a NYCHA building basement in Bushwick.
A party boat that lost power on the East River last fall and slammed into the waterfront at Domino Park caused an estimated $40,000 in damage.
Our World In Photos
Photo: Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP
FLORIDA — Ice protestors become violent: Jameson Thomas, left, and Kyle Hill bash and kick ice formations on blueberry plants at Southern Hill Farms in Clermont, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
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Inaugural War of the Wings event provides an opportunity to highlight local businesses and their culinary prowess
From left: Allison Greaker, Marianne Fezza, Chrisie Canny, Ilene Sacco and Danielle Jabour. Brooklyn Eagle photo by Arthur De Gaeta
Wing Wars, a wing-tasting competition and fundraiser featuring wings from 15 local Bay Ridge eateries and bars, took place on Saturday, Jan. 24.
The “Lord of the Wings” was Bar Chuzo, located at 9324 Third Ave. Owner Ronny Jaramillo called the victory “an absolute honor.”
Other participants included the Bean Post Pub, Al Sham Restaurant, Bay Ridge Pizza, Skinflints, Istanbul Bay, Mancini Wood Fired Pizza, Pipin’s Pub, House of Wings NYC, Cebu Bar & Bistro, Kettle Black, Ho’Brah Taco, The Corner, Salty Dog and Mussels & More.
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For the Road
Lunar New Year celebration: The Brooklyn Museum is hosting a family-friendly celebration of the Lunar New Year in February to ring in the year of the horse. Guests can enjoy lion dance performances by the Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club, and learn at hands-on workshops, including on needle felting, circuitry, citrus experimentation, paper lantern design and more. Learn more on our website.
Happy Birthday to“Hips Don’t Lie” singer Shakira!
On This Day in 1935, the Eagle wrote, “This is Candlemas Day in the church calendar, but to you, and you, and you it is groundhog day, and those citizens who are given to worrying about inconsequential matters are waiting with bated breath for Ol Man Woodchuck to dodge out of his hole and give the public the annual wrong steer about the weather for the next six weeks.”
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