Frankenstein’s Mad Scientist Bar brings spooky science to NYC

Keep your pets clean and healthy with these expert grooming tips

City would buy frequently flooded homes in 'The Hole' through pilot program   

NYCDOT motorcycle training event aims to curb fatal crash stats    

Former Vatican chef brings CasaSalvo to SoHo

Artist behind official Ryder Cup poster reveals its secrets

brooklyn

Brian Heyman

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This week we explore an area of Rockland County where roots of American history run deep, and news tells Nikita Ramos is taking us there in this week's road trip close to home. Crucial pieces of American history make up the fabric of Rockland County. Orangeburg sits about 20 miles north of Manhattan, home to Camp Shanks. Last Stop USA, the now Museum was once the largest staging area for the US Army during World War II. You'll notice a lot of recreational items here like cards, coins, and this really represents what Camp Shanks was to soldiers who passed through here. This was more of an R&R type situation. They were to rest here and be ready to go fight the enemy. You can step into a piece of their reality. The museum is a learning experience we're trying to do here is educate the people on what actually happened. During those times and Hudson Valley history goes even further centuries earlier. We are dining in America's oldest tavern. The old 76 house was established in 1686, and it shows the front room, as we call the taproom, all the structure, the beams, the walls, the floors are all original. This 300 year old building continues to thrive as a community hotspot. It's like having a meal in a museum. Most of the items on the menu. Related to that time period, so we do a lot of braising, we do a lot of roasting, we do a lot of very slow cooking. It's a carefully curated menu bursting with flavor across the board. Adventure through the ages of American history right here in Rockland County on this road trip close to home. Nikita Ramos, News 12. Thank you, Nikita. And from the past, we're to bring things to the present with some great places to check out. Oh yes we are. That's why you have to check out tonight's half hour show because we are taking you to the heart of Duchess County, to a small town with big city energy. You can walk down its vibrant Main Street, check out unique businesses and shops, all while seeing beautiful river views. We're talking about Beacon, so check it out and so much more tonight at 7 and 9:30 on road tripp close to.

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On this week's road trip close to home, news tells Shakti Dennis taking us underground right to the basement of City Point Mall in downtown Brooklyn, where the DeKalb Market Hall is serving up flavors from around the world. The call Market hall isn't your typical food court. It's a foodie's paradise. It's very stimulating, lots of options. It's got something for everybody. It has a lot of diversity and culture, and that's exactly the goal, says the market's owner. 25 nations are represented down here. For first timers and regulars alike. It's hard to stay away. This is my 3rd time now. This is actually really the first time I've been here and I was blown away. It's amazing. The hardest thing about this market is. Choosing which place to eat at because everywhere looks so delicious. I finally landed on this tiny bun from Babies. The menu is minimal, but the flavors are Thai, so they're really potent. They're really vibrant. They're very dynamic. Babies is run by three sisters who are putting a modern spin on their family's traditional recipes, so we kind of wanted a marriage between like Thai and American, and while you'll find dishes, you won't get anywhere. What truly makes this market special are the stories behind them. I came to this country 3 years ago, like this Ecuadorian spot where tradition blends with creativity. Our big extravagant dishes are different from what everyone else offers. That's what helped us grow. With nearly 40 restaurants, the Cal Market Hall is a microcosm for the flavors that make New York City one of a kind. In downtown Brooklyn, Shakti Dennis, news to Brooklyn.

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We'll get ready to embark on the intrepid journey through history. The Intrepid Museum has opened a new exhibition with World War II aircrafts and never before seen artifacts. News Twelve's Angelica Truno gives us a tour. Wow, it's incredible. The exhibit opens with a dramatic first view of this corsair, and while it is a site that stops you in your tracks, it's only the beginning to an amazing exhibit. The entire exhibition is all one family piece, so everything comes together to complement the next artifact, to complement the next thing that you encounter. The Intrepid Museum is unveiling artifacts that have never been seen by the public until now. So. You can hear firsthand stories from crew members themselves. He was a Corsair pilot who was downed in the waters off of Japan, and they never found him. And they never found his plane, so they thought. And then they found a bit of wreckage and we actually have those fragments, Mission patches, uniforms, and recovered pieces from original aircrafts all on display. The wings are folded up so. Introduces you to the space that you're standing in, which is the hangar deck where you'll have aircraft that are stored or maintained during the war at that point. This design made it easier for aircraft carriers to transport these legendary fighter bombers. handled the 4 month restoration process. It was just a huge honor to work on this airplane. This image has been used to sell things from blue jeans to coffee beans. It's just that recognizable, you know. So anyways, it was a huge honor for not just me but my team of volunteers. This powerful addition to New York's mighty carrier continues the mission to bridge the past to the present. Aboard the Intrepid Museum in New York City, I'm Angel Katrina.

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It's a structure that stands tall right on our south shore. Of course, the Fire Island Lighthouse was once a lifeline for lost ships. Now it shines as a symbol of history and resilience. Newsall's Antoinette Briori has this week's road trip close to home. On this road trip close to home, we're taking you to the Fire Island Lighthouse where this has been a guiding light for boaters for nearly 200 years. And now its rich history is on display here inside the museum. Fire Island Lighthouse executive director Jonathan Gaer says the museum showcases the beauty of the lighthouse, the storms, it's weathered, and the financial struggles it had to overcome. And through all the turmoil, it's still. Stands today as a beacon of light for visitors, but the best part of the road trip is still to come. So we're about to go to the top of the lighthouse. How many steps are we going up? Yeah, there's 182 steps we're about to go up and we're gonna get the best view on Long Island. All right, Jonathan, let's go. It's made up of 800,000 bricks, and it was built in one year. As we make our way to the top, all right, we finally made it to the top. Let's go see what's outside. And you can see it was definitely worth the climb, seeing the Fire Island communities close by, looking out to the Great South Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and even catching a glimpse of the New York City skyline. The lighthouse remains one of the region's most beloved landmarks, and now it can be on your list of your next road trip close to home. On Fire Island, Antoinettetebiorti, News 12.

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All right. With over 1300 pizza restaurants in Connecticut, how do you make yours a cut above the rest? In this week's road trip close to home, News 12 photojournalist Laurie Goliath takes us into the kitchen of Mina's on State Street and shows us how one viral Instagram post has helped their New Haven pizza take off. We love New Haven. We love the pizza scene, all the people involved in it. It's like it's only community. Michelina's on State Street, New Haven, Connecticut. We've developed pizza flights. We have 12 specialty pizzas that you could order. They come in 6 inches and they come on a paddle of 3. Well, we've seen this on Instagram with the uh the flights. Did you know you could get pizza flights in the pizza capital of the US? We can't figure out why, but it caught on 441,000 views. We have 22,000 shares and 5700 saves. We want to give it a try and uh you heard great things about it. It's amazing because as soon as that came out it was packed. I like to call it a blend between New Haven style and Neapolitan. It's not New Haven and it's not Neapolitan, it's our own special recipe. We have the bar, we have Dollar wing night. The wings are the best in the city. We have a good crowd. The vibe is great. We have a full menu. It's a little of everything. It's a little Italian, it's a little Spanish, it's a little American. We have empanadas. Our cheesy meatballs. And we love to feed people. We have everything from uh fried pasta which is rolled with smoked mozzarella, fresh tomatoes. You know we uh like to try different things, so that's why we've seen this we want to, you know, give it a try. This is our sexy yuca. It's a crispy yuca tossed in a sweet chili sauce, fresh herbs. We have dessert plates as well as soon as we saw the pizza plates take off one we call the apple pie pie, the Belgium, and we also serve the Nutella pizza on that plate. A lot of people choose New Haven to come to. They choose to come for the pizza. There's plenty of great pizza places in New Haven and in the area. We're not them, we're Michelena's. We're a little different. Definitely come check it out, huh? Got to give it a try. Alright, 12 varieties of pizza are available to choose from for the pizza flights. Now chef Ray Gennaro mixes up the menu weekly, so there's always something new to try. Check out how to visit, head over to news twelve.com.

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Everyone experience the feeling of jumping without the fear on this week's road trip close to home. Amanda Eustace and photojournalist James Crow defy gravity working out at Bungie Fitness Forever in Roxbury. What is bungee fitness? It is a phenomenal workout. It's something that I started about 3 years ago and um it is all over the United States at this point, but we are the very first exclusive bungee studio in the state of New Jersey. You primarily work your core, your legs, and even your arms. We strap you in and we have to extend everybody and basically you can jump, skip, run and exercise while this is actually picking up each and every movement that involves your joints suspended from the ceiling, strapped into a harness and attached to bungee cords, let's see how much sweat we can work off 12. Listening. Once they do it, they absolutely love it. I say something to each and every one of my members here, and I'm only asking the same question too. When was the last time you worked out without looking at the clock? Yeah, I, I don't know. I'll ask you at the end and you'll see and flies because you're flying. It is a unique workout. It's something that we incorporate dancing, aerobic, and um it's for every age. It is something innovative that no one has seen before and um everybody should try it. Well boy did I work up a sweat, and now you can too and come and have some fun on this week's road trip close to home. I'm Amanda Eustace. 123. I think Crow did the best job there, the photographer in that shot. All right, you wanna see more, you can watch the full episode of Road Trip Close to home tonight at 7 and 9:30 only on News 12.

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Well, New Haven is definitely famous for its pizza. But another food has a city to thank for its claim to fame. Back in 1900 a man walked into louis' lunch and told propriety Louis Louis Lassen that he was in a rush in an instant. Lo placed his own blend of ground steak between two slices of toast and sent the man on his way and just like that, the most recognizable American sandwich was born in this week's road trip. Close to home news. 12 photojournalist, Laurie Goliath takes us there. Just a sense of going back in time. It's all about the experience. We are Louis Lunch and we made the first hamburger sandwich in the United States in the year 1900. We go back with a lot of families and two and three generations that have been eating in here. Sometimes four. I really love the vibe in there. It's super cool. The fact that they keep it really old school. It's just so old timey and sweet. And then once you walk in and you see all the carvings in the wood, I love the set up the seeds. Everything just makes you feel like you're in a different time. What's very unique about it? I think the fact that it's well over 100 years old or 100 and 20 years old, but still run by the same family, which I find absolutely amazing. It goes back a long ways and we're quite proud of what we do and how we've done it and where we are today it was the best burger I've ever had. I'm not kidding. I think it's super cool that you don't get condiments. You can't pick anything. It's just, here's how we do it and here's what it is. We offer cheese, tomato onion, put it right on top. They don't have all the fancy stuff of sauces and toppings. That's not the type of place that is, you know, I think that that's ok because I think that's what makes the burger, the burger. There's uh five different blends and that's why we prefer you to have it. Try it our way. The true purity of the hamburger comes out when you have a quality beef that's obstructed by other flavors that combined into it. And they're normally cooked medium rare and we use Pepper farm white bread and that's the way they were done in the beginning. And that's why we stay true to our forefathers today. I think it's really nice that you get to taste the pure meat of the burger and especially with how it's cooked in such a cool way, put it in the rack, we cook vertically as opposed to on a flat grill. The uh, antique broilers, they're dated 1898. They are the originals. So, if you were to have a burger today, you usually cook and be cooked in the same stove as the very first one was made in. And the toasters from 1929. That's also original. I don't know, there's just something about Louis. It's the charm of the restaurant and it's just simply the most unique and delicious burger. You can get, you can get potato chips or house made potato salad. It's so good. We try to keep it the same and small and simple, just like us if you're in the area or you live in this area and never came. I highly encourage you to come. Definitely come and see us. We'd be happy to see you and it would be a pleasure to serve you and hopefully you enjoy. You gotta come and try it. Louis lunch gotta come.

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