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NEW BLOG ON THE BLOCK: BRKLYN STORIES
Just heard from a brand new blogger. Her blog Brklyn Stories is today’s “new blog on the block:”
I started Brklynstories.blogspot.com a week ago from my neighborhood located at the foot of Prospect Park and was wondering if my blog could be cross-listed on yours.
Although I intend my site to be resourceful, I am basically a roving eye that captures cultural and social issues that occur both in Brooklyn- and city-wide, contextualizing these effects upon the area in which I live.
As a writer, I never thought that I would get involved with online publishing. But thanks to a good friend, whose focus is literally underground, I jumped into the blogosphere.
When I moved to Kensington in 2001, the area was bleak – an extreme margin of New York City. The Brooklyn Museum was very run-down and there was no cultural center except for bars and cafes in Park Slope. In addition, friends in Williamsburg either had no idea about the F-train or were too afraid to come this far out. The recent developments in Kensington have been almost unreal.
As the petition for the F-express subway line boomed in early Summer, Fresh Direct expanded its coverage into our area. I waited nearly 3 years for this service, which I have to say is close to white-glove. Granted, I’m not sure if they’re servicing all of Kensington but you might as well key in your address to check. If not, there are two great organic food stores along Cortelyou that deliver anywhere in Brooklyn: the Flatbush Food Co-op and the Natural Frontier Organic Market.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AIR CONDITIONING LAST NIGHT?
An OTBKB reader just wrote in with a question:
Just wondering if you knew anything about a plan/campaign to have restaurants in Park Slope be air conditioning free last night.
My fiance and I tried to go to dinner, but every restaurant we walked into was sweltering with the doors and windows open. Among those we tried, Brooklyn Burger Bar, Park Slope Ale House, Belleville, Rachel’s Taqueria.
We sat down at the bar at Brooklyn Burger Bar before realizing how hot it was, and when we apologized to the bartender and told her it was to warm for her, she turned to the hostess and said with some obvious frustration, “We lost another customer.” Any idea?
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI: ANOTHER CINEMATIC GREAT GONE
What is going on? Antonioni died on the same day as Ingmar Bergman. This great Italian filmmaker, who’s body will lie in state in Rome, is the directorial genuis behind: Blow Up, Zabriskie Point, Red Desert, L’Avventura, L’Notte and more.
“My subjects are, in a very general sense, autobiographical. The story is first built through discussions with a collaborator. In the case of “L’Eclisse,” the discussions went on for four months. The writing was then done, by myself, taking perhaps fifteen days. My scripts are not formal screenplays, but rather dialogue for the actors and a series of notes to the director. When shooting begins, there is invariably a great amount of changing. When I go on the set of a scene, I insist on remaining alone for at least twenty minutes. I have no preconceived ideas of how the scene should be done, but wait instead for the ideas to come that will tell me how to begin.” — Michelangelo Antonioni
There is a very detailed obit in today’s New York Times.
TOM SNYDER IS DEAD
Hepcat and I used to watch Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show, which was replaced by Dave Letterman’s “The Late Show” on WNBC back in the 1980′s.
Tom Shales has a nice piece about Snyder in today’s Washington Post with this quote from a CBS colleague. “The big man is gone,” said CBS News Vice President Steve Friedman, 60, who knew Snyder for 37 years. “Tom used to say, ‘Writers write, producers produce, and stars star,’ ” Friedman said, “but he only said that to make us feel better — because he was a better writer than any of us, a better producer than any of us, and the biggest star in our universe.”
Dan Ackyroyd did a hysterical impersonation of the talk show host on SNL. He really got the Snyder’s cadences just right. According to Lorne Michaels, producer of SNL, Snyder loved it.
Snyder interviewed everyone: John Lennon, Spiro Agnew, Marlon Brando, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotton. Defending himself against charges of pomposity and abrasiveness he told the New York Times:
“I’m a human being, I have opinions and biases and beliefs and standards and I have to inject them into that program. Otherwise we might as well have an empty chair and give the gues a list of written questions.”
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FROM THE CITY IN OUR DISTRICT
Some Requests for Proposals from Craig Hammerman at Community Board 6:
During the past few weeks the City has issued a series of Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) for 3 distinct, major contracts affecting our district:
1) Park Slope Armory Indoor Athletic Facility and Community Center, 1402 8th Avenue, Brooklyn. RFP for operation, management and maintenance of facility issued July 9, 2007, responses due September 27, 2007.
Click here, or use the following link for more information:
http://www.brooklyncb6.org/announcements/#6
2) Public Place development, southeast corner of Smith & 5th Streets, Gowanus, Brooklyn. RFP for design and construction of high-quality mixed-use development issued July 12, 2007, responses due October 11, 2007.
Click here, or use the following link for more information:
http://www.brooklyncb6.org/announcements/#7
3) Degraw Street Firehouse Redevelopment, 299 Degraw Street, Brooklyn. RFP for the development of the firehouse issued July 27, responses due September 17, 2007.
Click here, or use the following link for more information:
http://www.brooklyncb6.org/announcements/#8
Given the open, competitive nature of the City’s RFP process please do feel free to proactively steer this relevant information into the hands of anyone you think might be interested and eligible to respond.
Your assistance may be the best way for us to ensure that the City gets a variety of proposals from the best and brightest respondents who will hopefully embrace our community’s values and vision.
YVETTE CLARKE TAKES A 6-WEEK MEDICAL LEAVE FROM CONGRESS
Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke announced Monday that she is taking a six-week medical leave from Capitol Hill.
Clarke’s staff told the New York Times she’s recovering from surgery to treat uterine fibroids.
Aides say Clarke will be back in Washington when Congress reconvenes in September.
The former city councilwoman was elected last year to the 11th Congressional District.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PROSPECT PARK DUCKLINGS?
An OTBKB reader wrote in today about the dukcs:
Thanks for posting about the guinea fowl.
I know you linked to the piece about the Prospect Park Ducklings -
but I am still trying to figure out what happened to them. Would you consider running a photo?Here is the full story:
http://luma.typepad.com/photos/hudsonjane/index.html
There are more photos at the Gallery at the bottom
GUINEA FOWL DO NOT BELONG IN PROSPECT PARK
Someone by the name Wildlife Helper left a comment about the Guineafowl in Prospect Park, which I found interesting.
[Guinea fowl are] NOT indigenous to the Park and probably dumped/abandoned like the ducklings I encountered recently. People get these animals as ‘pets’ and then grow tired of them. “who knew” is right! Not me…
They have many predators to these guinea fowl: dogs, raccoons, oppossums, more. According to a wildlife rehabilitator I asked, they are like regular domestic chickens.
Should be brought to a sanctuary. If you see again, please email me: giveducksachanc (at) gmail dot com.
Thanks
PICTURE NEW YORK WITHOUT HEPCAT’S PHOTOGRAPHS
Picture New York Without Pictures of New York
Thousands of New Yorkers who love both their city and their cameras may face exactly that if the cumbersome, costly and unconstitutional regulations from the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting go into effect this August as scheduled.
Picture New York is an ad hoc coalition of working artists, filmmakers, and photographers who’ve joined together to fight the proposed rules. These rules can be seen not only as a blow against New York as a place that welcomes and inspires art-making and documentation, but are part of a broader continuum of attacks against civil liberties and free expression
They have set up an online e-action form to make it as easy as possible. Just click here to submit comments to the Office of Film and to the City Council Committee that oversees that office. There’s a sample letter there, and you can add your own comments, then hit send. Voila!
REMEMBER THE PARK SLOPE BORDELLO?
Well Brownstoner has the word on the latest incarnation of what was the Park Slope brothel, which was in operation until a few years ago.
It’s a big hunk of house and it recently sold for five million. The developer is converting it into condos or market-rate rentals.
The building on Lincoln Place is pictured in all of its glory on Brownstoner.
COLE BROTHERS CIRCUS COMES TO CONEY ISLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1938
This from New York 1:
The circus has all the most popular attractions with them, including clowns, animals, jugglers, acrobats and trapeze artists.
“We have performers from the Ukraine, from Brazil, from China, you know we have it all here,” said Cole’s Bros. Ringmaster Chris Connors. “Different cultures – we are a giant melting pot on wheels, just like new York City, and that’s what makes us so perfectly wonderful here.”
“A lot of people see elephants and all sorts of animals on TV, like on all the animal stations and everything, but when they actually see them in person, it’s like an overwhelming experience,” said Cole’s Bros. elephant trainer George Hanneford III. “It’s a sensation.”
The circus will be in Coney Island until August 5th
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31 DAYS IN AUGUST: CIRCUS AND THEATER FOR STARTERS
Well, I’m doing it again. A guide to every day in August. (And I’m not even going to be here much in August.) Still, I toiled for OTBKB readers, wanting to bring them the best and the brightest events during those 31 HOT days.
Here are two great ideas for this week: Circus and Theater.
August 1: Cole Brothers Circus in Coney Island. Three shows per day. Check website for times and prices. Shows August 1-5.
August 2: Brave New World Repertory Theater: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry / Jenny Scheinman. The dynamic Brooklyn-based company follows last summer’s Bandshell production of “The Great White Hope” with an adaptation of Walt Whitman’s love song to the borough “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” that fuses poetry, projections, music, rap, and dance. Commissioned by Celebrate Brooklyn.
DUCK SOUP AT BROOKLYN FILM WORKS
This outdoor movie stuff is getting to be quite the fad in New York City and Brooklyn Film Works is still an undiscovered gem.
Did you see the piece in the Friday Times’ about outdoor movies all over town. They even listed Brooklyn Film Works.
What fun it is to watch movies under the stars. Not that you can see too many stars in Brooklyn. But it’s still idyllic.
Especially now that Hepcat, OSFO, and I don’t have to help put up the screen and lean it against the Greg’s Express truck and break it down after the movie and put everything away. A great team is taking care of it this year and we’re IMPRESSED. Thanks to all.
We’re just too old for all that heavy lifting.
So this year we’re enjoying the fruit of last year’s labors. “I’m No Angel” and “What’s Up Doc” were hysterically funny and fun to watch.
“Duck Soup, showing this Tuesday, is one of the GREAT GREATS. It’s at 8:30 p.m. in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue at 3rd Street. You can buy popcorn, drinks, chips, and hot dogs. Or bring a picnic.
This is the final show of the summer. Can’t wait until next year.
WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK: PETER LOFFREDO
Our pal Pete hasn’t written a book. But if he did write a book it would be called The Truth About Everything. And here’s why he’s going to write it. So here’s the book he’s thinking about writing.
I hold these truths (among others) to be self-evident: that sexual repression and emotional numbness are the roots of all evil; that neediness and greediness are flip-sides of the same psychological coin; that parents are the least qualified adults to raise children; that all opinions and beliefs are based on a lack of true knowledge; that self-sacrifice and commitment are the ruination of all relationships; that what you eat is less important to your health than how you eat it; that the body never lies; that there is no inherently self-destructive force in human beings; that being in-love is always mutual.
Introduction
I am going to say some things in this book that some people may find provocative, radical or outlandish at best, offensive, immoral or ludicrous at worst. I will say these things with no claim of moral authority. I will merely claim that the statements I make will be true on the face of it, in and of themselves. Although I have a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master’s degree in social work, post-graduate clinical training in several different psychotherapies, and I am a board certified, licensed practitioner in my field, this is not going to be a professional book. I am not going to back up anything that I say in this book with scientific research or statistical studies of my own, nor am I going to reference or footnote those of others. You and I do not have time for that, and besides, after having read such studies voluminously myself, all I have encountered are a few “facts,” but rarely any truth.
In this book, I am simply going to tell the truth as I have learned it – as I have learned it not just from the nearly three decades I’ve worked as a psychotherapist exploring the inner lives of other people, people of all ages and backgrounds, not just from the over two decades of personal self-work, self-work of a deeply psychological, emotional and spiritual nature, not just from the five-plus decades of being alive here on Planet Earth. I will be telling the truth as I have learned it from gaining access… to the truth – access available to anyone willing to know it.
GUINEA FOWL IN PROSPECT PARK
An OTBKB reader sent this in.
Walking the dogs this a.m., I came across a male Guineafowl in the shrubbery at the north end of the long meadow to the left of the Endale Arch if you are going toward the Grand Army exit.
I have never known guineafowl to be an indigenous species in the park. Who knew?
INGMAR BERGMAN DIED
An OTBKB reader kindly sent me this. I didn’t see it and I am stunned. Stunned and sad that one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live has passed. He was 89. A very informative obituary is in the New York Times.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died Monday, the president of his foundation said. He was 89.
”It’s an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally,” Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which administers the directors’ archives, told The Associated Press.
Bergman died at his home in Faro, Sweden, Swedish news agency TT said, citing his daughter Eva Bergman. A cause of death was not immediately available.
CONEY ISLAND SAND CASTLE CONTEST
More than two dozen teams got their hands dirty Saturday for the 17th annual Sand Sculpting Contest.
Sculptors from across the city came out to build creations depicting everything from animals to Coney Island’s iconic Parachute Jump. The winner of the $200 top prize chose mermaids as his theme.
“They gave us some cash and we’re going to go have some hotdogs now,” said Tony Saunders, winner best solo adult sculptor. “And my sculpture was the sleepy mermaid. She’s still on the beach, and she had a hard night last night, so she’s sleeping today.”
“I like to put my hands in the sand and ground myself out and all the problems disappear,” said contestant Artie Knapp. “I’ve been doing it a long time, and it works. It makes me very happy, very calm, mellow.”
The city’s parks department delivered 50 mounds of sand for the event, which also included music and games.
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OUT OF CONTROL CAR ON SEVENTH AVENUE IN PARK SLOPE
At approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, a silver Dodge sedan with Pennsylvania plates went barreling down Seventh Avenue near Third Street and hit the scaffolding on the building on the north-east corner of 2nd Street.
It then continued underneath the scaffolding past two trees in front of Met Foods before going back onto the street and veering back onto the sidewalk where it flattened a parking meter and ended up in front of Maggie Moo’s with a tree in its fender.
The driver, apparently, was asleep at the wheel. He is resting at Methodist Hospital according to the owners of Met Foods. Miraculously no one was hurt, including the man who sits on a milk crate in front of the store collecting money.
Met Food’s awning was destroyed as were all the fruits on display outside.
Info for this article: Diaper Diva was walking by and saw the aftermath of the accident. She iPhoned Hepcat, who went over and took pictures. We both spoke with the owners of Met Foods. We pieced it all together looking at Hepcat’s photos.
MIKE DALY OF THE DAILY NEWS REACTS TO BROUHAHA ON BROWNSTONER
In today’s Daily News, Mike Daly reacts to the recent brouhaha on Brownstoner when a Clinton Hill resident used paint on his brownstone. Daly, whose column I enjoy, has a good story on his hands. And some wonderful quotes from the longtime Clinton Hill resident, who DARED to use paint.
The photo was sent in response to an urgent posting by Brownstoner.com late Friday morning, a message right out of a Brooklyn yuppie’s nightmare.
“We just got a tip that someone just started painting one of the brownstones on Grand Avenue between Gates and Putnam white this morning. … If any readers are nearby, we’d appreciate a photo asap.”
The photo was posted minutes later, and sure enough the portal of the building was being painted white. As in not brown.“ILLEGAL PAINT JOB ON LANDMARKED BLOCK OF CLINTON HILL,” the headline read.
The photo triggered 145 postings, the first of which was entirely reasonable.
11:38 a.m.: “Are you sure it’s not primer?”Reason was joined by humor.
11:51 a.m.: “I hope it’s primer and they go with GOLD.”
12:09 p.m.: “Gold and fuchsia horizontal stripes.”Then came sterner voices, ones that belong more to some gated suburb than to Brooklyn…
A TOMATO GROWS IN OSFO’S GARDEN
Small tomatoes are growing in OSFO’s garden, which is just a large plastic terra cotta colored window box in the front yard. She planted them about two months ago and we finally have a harvest. A baby sitter, who works in this building, donated roots of thyme leaves, as well. The flower pots are filled with healthy looking flowers that brighten up the yard.
OSFO doesn’t like tomatoes. But Hepcat and Diaper Diva said that the tomatoes were delicious.
TODAY IN THE CITY: NICE ARTICLE ABOUT CLINTON HILL/FORT GREENE
In the City section today, there’s a piece about the small-town feel of Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene by Jennifer Bleyer (I did a double take there because the author of the Brooklyn blogging piece in the City section was Greg Beyer).
Architectural details like cornices, cast-iron columns, and brownstone sills and lintels have always spelled class in a city like New York. And now these small touches are being installed — or reinstalled — on a stretch of Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, a once-shabby strip that was a magnet for sailors and shipbuilders during the height of activity at the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard.
A. CHENG: A NEW PARK SLOPE SHOP HAS MY VOTE
A. her name is Alice.
And she’s a very nice woman. I felt comfortable shopping in her shop. She designs clothing that fits me. Alice, the owner/designer has a nice way about her when she comments on how a customer looks in the clothing. She’s enthusiastic and helpful without being overbearing.
Everything in the shop is so, so pretty. The print fabrics, especially, are lovely. There’s a beautiful skirt with a bird print and a skirt with Andy Warhol-esque faces on it and a beautiful floral dress. The colors are unusual and striking.
Alice obviously likes prints for summer but she also does simple, more minimal looks as well.
It all feels very fresh, very well made, very smart. A. is obviously a talented designer.
And the jewelry is lovely, too. If you see something grab it. It may be one-of-a-kind. Or at least Alice only carries one of its kind. I saw a double-heart necklace that said “friendship” and I shoulda grabbed it last week. Somebody else did. : (
Alice has nice bags, shoes, and wallets, too. The shop looks great. Tres chic. Tres simple.
Check out her website. She’s been written up in Lucky, Real Simple, Teen Vogue, Nylon, WWD, InStyle, and Glamour and her clothing is carried in other stores, including Barney’s NY.
When I was leaving she said:
“Are you the one who writes the column?”
I was shocked that she knew about the column.
“I always read it,” she said. “It gives me little insights into things,” she said.
I love that she said that and it made me want to go back in and buy the denim skirt I tried on.
A.Cheng
152 Fifth Avenue
Park Slope
t.718–783–2826
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EDIBLE BROOKLYN: AIN’T IT GRAND?
I’ve started to look forward to every new issue of Edible Brooklyn. It comes out quarterly and keeps getting better and better (and it was pretty cool to begin with). Reading this magazine nmakes me feel like Brooklyn is the epicenter of the epicurian universe.
Maybe it is.
The magazine, edited by Gabrielle Langholtz, is really finding it’s voice. It’s gorgeous, too.
Find out what’s in Jonathan Lethem’s fridge.
If you’re really interested, go to an old issue to find out what’s in David Yassky’s fridge.
I absolutey LOVE LOVE LOVE the Brooklyn Fridge feature and want them to do ME. They’ve done Dan Zanes, Jonathan Ames, Mark Morris, David Yassky, and now Jonathan Lethem. What women don’t have fridges?
Find out about a new general store that’s going in to the Picnic House in Prospect Park.
Find out about great burgers at The Farm at Adderly and The Flatbush Farm.
Find out about meat balls Frankie’s on Court Street.
Find out what’s in season, what local and wonderful recipes to boot.
Find a great listing of Brooklyn’s fabu restaurants from Greenpoint to Coney Island.
WE LOVE TEMPO PRESTO ON SEVENTH AVENUE
The food is delicious and interesting. The ingredients are FRESH. The service is very friendly and fast. We are so lucky to have TP on our corner.
5 OTBKB’s for TEMPO PRESTO
10 Reasons to Love Tempo Presto
The Greek salad
The snickerdoodle cookies
The roast beef with horseradish mayo sandwich
The caesar salad
The green salad with chicken
All the grilled sandwiches (the veggie lasanga looks great, too).
The ruben
The self-serve soda machine
30% off on left-over salads and sandwiches after 5 p.m.
CUP CAKES!
ALTERNATIVE FILMS FOR KIDS
It’s summer and sometimes that means too much TV and DVDs.
But there’s an alternative to TV crap.
Check out my friend’s blog, Alternative Films for Kids, a browser’s guide to some independent films, world cinema and animations that will add welcome variety to a Disney-based diet.
Not all were produced with children in mind, but all may be enjoyed by children. If your store doesn’t carry it, ask them to order it! Quick searches should lead to online rental options.
There are recommended age ranges here, but please pre-screen for your sensitive young viewer!
STEVEN BERLIN JOHNSON GOES TO THE WALT WHITMAN MALL
…and buys an iPhone for a friend. I like Steven’s blog a lot. He’s also the founder of Outside.in.
