Thursday Night in Dumbo: New York Festival of Light at the Manhattan Bridge Archway

(Videos courtesy Zerina Phillip)

Sunday Afternoon in Dumbo: Dumbo Arts Festival 2014 in Various Locations

(Video courtesy Ai Ling Loo)
(Videos courtesy Zerina Phillip) (Video courtesy Gammablog)

Sunday Evening in Dumbo: Watching World Cup USA vs. Portugal under the Manhattan Bridge Archway

(Video courtesy LeerInBK)

Late Saturday Afternoon in Dumbo: The International Street Cannibals present "Mozart's Inside Game: An Educational Concert" at Gleason's Gym

(Video courtesy Sandi Bachom)

Thursday Night in Dumbo: The Sharp Things at Galapagos Art Space

(Video courtesy The Sharp Things)

Thursday Evening in Dumbo: Great Small Works 10th International Toy Theater Festival presents Jenny Romaine and Roberto Rossi's "Sandy Sandy Sandy" at St. Ann's Warehouse

(Video courtesy Trudi Cohen)

Tuesday Night in Dumbo: UNPLAY Festival presents Tristan Perich's "qsqsqsqsqqqqqqqqqq" for Three Toy Pianos + Three-Channel One-Bit Tones performed by Han Chen, David Friend, and Conrad Tao at powerHouse Arena

(Video courtesy the brilliant musician Conrad Tao)

Friday Afternoon in Dumbo: Bosco Delrey and Werebears at DUMBO Summer Friday under the Manhattan Bridge Archway

Since we were otherwise engaged tonight, we decided to stop in this afternoon at the start of DUMBO Summer Friday, a free evening of music, art and technology underneath the Manhattan Bridge Archway, a 2 p.m.-9 p.m. event sponsored by Northside, The DUMBO Improvement District and The O Music Awards Unboxed.

There, we got to see two fine sets by the bands Bosco Delrey and Werebears.

Friday Night in Dumbo: The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series with Danielle de Niese, Dimitri Pittas and John Del Carlo at Brooklyn Bridge Park

We had the pleasure tonight of being in the large audience on the grass of Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park to catch this year's fabulous Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series, with tonight's program featuring three Met stars: soprano Danielle de Niese, tenor Dimitri Pittas, and bass-baritone John Del Carlo, as well as pianist Dan Saunders.

Sunday Morning in Brooklyn Heights: Breakfast at Brooklyn Bridge Park and a Look at the New Pop-Up Pool

e At 8 a.m. today, before it got too hot and humid, we left home, took the J train over the Williamsburg Bridge one stop to Essex, went downstairs and got an F train two stops back into Brooklyn for York Street, walked down Front Street to the Dumbo Starbucks and got a venti iced tea and a multigrain bagel, and kept walking until we got to our breakfast destination: a bench at the waterfront at Brooklyn Bridge Park. We read the Sunday Times, as we have been doing for, oh, 48 years, and at 10 a.m., we walked over to see the cool new and popular Pop-Up Pool,

which can hold sixty people, although only one or two seemed to be in the water at such an early hour.

It was so beautiful we walked all the way down to Pier 6 and walked along Atlantic Avenue until we started getting sweaty enough to want to go home. We're grateful for Sunday mornings when we don't have to work, especially when they are this pleasant.

Thursday Evening in Dumbo: Brooke Allen and "The Other Side of the Mirror: An American Travels Through Syria" at powerHouse Arena

At the powerHouse Arena, down the block from the rocking Tobacco Warehouse, we got to see most of the presentation by the brilliant Brooklyn author Brooke Allen about her new book, The Other Side of the Mirror: An American Travels Through Syria,

which our friend Tom Bissell has called "a hugely welcome piece of travel literature. . . Anyone with a curiosity about this fascinating nation will be well served; anyone with a desire to see Syria for themselves will be inspired."

The slide show of stunning photographs from her journeys, with Brooke's fascinating commentary, made us want to learn more from this writer whose work we've always found incisive. Afterwards, Brooke signed books for a number of us in the large crowd.

It's great to be able to move between this interesting program and a great night of Latin music and dancing. Only in Dumbo, kids. Only in Dumbo.

Thursday Evening at Brooklyn Bridge Park: Celebrate Brooklyn!'s Tropical Dance Party with La Excelencia and Que Bajo?! at the Tobacco Warehouse

We dropped in on Celebrate Brooklyn!'s Tropical Dance Party under a huge tent in the Tobacco Warehouse this evening for some great salsa music.

Due to the week's constant rain, the Brooklyn Bridge Park event was moved indoors (sort of -- the Tobacco Warehouse is normally roofless) from Pier 1. We got there in time for a salsa lesson with Jose Rivera of Salsa Salsa Dance Studio.

The dance party featured the hard-driving sounds of revolutionary salsa dura ambassador

La Excelencia

and the awesome tropical bass of Que Bajo?! with DJs Uproot Andy and Geko Jones. (Check out the fine video at the great Brooklyn Heights Blog.)

We're grateful we got to spend some time at this great Latin dance party.