The Park Sloper

The Park Sloper

Issue #2 · June 4, 2026

Park Slope this week: Celebrate Brooklyn opens with Sheila E., the Gowanus sewage fight, and the weekend's best

Summer turns on Thursday night. The Lena Horne Bandshell lights up for Celebrate Brooklyn's free opening, Sheila E. on the drums, and the season of free music in the park is officially on.

It was a heavier week otherwise. Two women were killed in a Park Slope building Saturday night, nurses at Methodist held a vigil over workplace violence, and the long fight over Gowanus's sewage is back. We cover it plainly below, then get to the good part.

With the window units going back in, this week's vetted pick is an electrician from our verified guide. And the weekend is loaded: Smorgasburg's back, the dogs get their coffee, and there's a free trolley through Green-Wood's LGBTQ+ history. Here's the week.

Victor, founding editor

01 · This week

  • Two women were killed in a Park Slope building Saturday night

    Two women were found stabbed to death the evening of May 30 in an apartment building where the NYPD's 78th Precinct responded to a 911 call. The same building was the scene of a domestic murder-suicide two years ago.

    Brooklyn Paper · May 31

  • Methodist nurses rallied over workplace violence

    Nurses held a candlelight vigil outside NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist on May 26, pressing management to negotiate a contract that addresses a rise in violence against emergency-room staff.

    Brooklyn Paper · May 28

  • The fight over Gowanus's sewage is back

    As Gowanus redevelops, residents and city agencies are clashing over how to fix the canal's combined-sewage overflow, and whether billion-dollar holding tanks are the right answer.

    Park Slope Pulse · Gowanus

  • Apapachó, a Mexican spot from the Alma Negra team, is headed to 191 Fifth Avenue

    Two owners of Alma Negra, the modern-Mexican standout on Fourth Avenue, are striking out on their own with Apapachó, a housemade-tortilla spot headed to 191 Fifth Ave between Berkeley and Union. A liquor license went in June 1; no opening date yet.

    Park Slope Walk · 191 5th Ave

02 · Worth a visit

Thu Jun 4 · 6pm ET · Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park · Free

Celebrate Brooklyn opens with Sheila E.

The city's longest-running free outdoor festival kicks off Thursday night at the Lena Horne Bandshell, with the Queen of Percussion Sheila E. headlining, plus Leon Knight and DJ Spinna. Free, outdoors, and the unofficial first night of summer in the park.

03 · One vetted pick

Best for small jobs to full gut-renos · from our electricians guide

Blaze Electric

The most Park-Slope-local electrician on our list: a South Slope shop right on Fifth Avenue that handles a ceiling-fan swap as readily as a full gut-reno rewire. Francis Caporale holds an active NYC Master Electrician license (#10968), and the shop turns up on both Park Slope Parents and the Brownstoner forum.

Summer is when Park Slope's old wiring meets a new window unit, so this week's pick is an electrician from our verified guide. License confirmed, no money changed hands.

See the pick →

See all four vetted electricians

04 · The calendar

  • Sun Jun 7 · 11am-6pm ET · Breeze Hill, Prospect Park · Free

    Smorgasburg is back in the park

    Sixty-plus food vendors on Breeze Hill, the Sunday food crawl that doubles as a neighborhood reunion.

  • Sat Jun 6 · 10am ET · Prospect Park · Free

    Introduction to Birdwatching

    A guided walk for new birders in the park, slow pace, no experience needed.

  • Sat Jun 6 · 7:30am ET · Long Meadow, Prospect Park · Free

    FIDO Coffee Bark

    The off-leash dog crowd's Saturday-morning coffee in the Long Meadow, before the 9am leash hour. Very Park Slope, in the best way.

  • Sun Jun 7 · 11am-1pm ET · Green-Wood Cemetery · Free

    Green-Wood's LGBTQ+ history by trolley

    A free trolley tour through the cemetery's queer history, part of Green-Wood's America250 series. Ninety minutes, no walking required.

  • Sun Jun 7 · 2pm ET · Park Slope · Free

    Street tree care on Fifth Avenue

    The Fifth Avenue BID and Big Reuse on keeping a young street tree alive through a Brooklyn summer. Bring questions about the one outside your stoop.

See the full Park Slope calendar

— The Park Sloper

Got a question about the neighborhood? Ask us. Good ones get answered in You asked.

Forwarded this? Subscribe here.

The Park Sloper · Brooklyn, NY · parksloper.com