The Brooklyn Ink

The Brooklyn Ink is a project of Michael Shapiro's students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. It is a place to turn for the compelling and oftentimes overlooked stories that Brooklyn has to offer.

Each week, The Big Story will focus on a particular aspect of living (and dying) in Brooklyn, beginning with a day in the borough's life.

The Snapshots section presents the moments and small dramas of Brooklyn. There are also profiles of people you might have never met but whose lives help give Brooklyn its heart, soul and spine.

Then, there are Enterprises, which chronicle the businesses of Brooklyn, be they large or small, on their way up or on their way out.

Finally, there are Dispatches on neighborhoods, controversies, events and conflicts — the stuff that journalism has always been about.

So welcome to The Brooklyn Ink — our apologies to refrigerators everywhere, should these stories find their way there, tucked under magnets.