This week, it is my pleasure to present one of the first zine donations we received here at the Brooklyn College Library: Brooklyn! by Fred Argoff. We have received more than 20 issues from this prolific zinester. Fred is also the brains behind Watch the Closing Doors, a transit zine of which we have a few issues as well.

Brooklyn!, a local history zine, is packed full of historical nuggets and quirky factoids about our borough. Photographs, old and new, grace nearly every page. Many issues have themes such as graffiti, baseball, fables of Brooklyn, art, architecture, bridges, etc. One recurring column is a spotlight series on various neighborhoods such as Greenpoint, Midwood, and archaic neighborhoods such as Plum Beach and English Kills. There are a number of other recurring columns, such as book reviews, street name origins, and the “Brooklyn Lexicon and Pronounciation Guide,” in which Argoff interprets the mysterious language of Brooklynese, defining for newcomers such terms as “notsaposta” (issue 30), “blizzid” (issue 57), “yooj” (issue 61), and the beloved “fuhgeddaboudit” (issue 60). This informative, tongue-in-cheek zine is an invaluable addition to the locally-focused zine collection here at Brooklyn College Library!