No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
August 7: Richie Havens at Metrotech Noon Concert
Who can orget Richie Haven’s incredible performance as the opening act at Woodstock. I wasn’t there but I saw the movie and have heard that song umpteen times. Freedom, freedom, freedom. Was that the opening of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child."
I’ve always loved Richie Havens. And according to Park Slope’s Ben Greenman in the New Yorker, he has a great new album just out called Nobody Left to Crown.
“Nobody Left to Crown” (Verve Forecast), Havens’s first
recording in four years, opens with a pair of originals, “The Key” and
“Say It Isn’t So,” which manage to address spiritual themes without
sounding overly earnest, a trick that sometimes eluded the artist in
his younger years. The centerpiece of the album is a majestic cover of
“Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Over his trademark open-tuned strumming,
Havens delivers a commanding vocal performance that fully restores the
revolutionary impulse of The Who’s original; he somehow gets blood from
a song that has been ossified for years. Nothing else quite rises to
that level, though there’s an urgent version of Jackson Browne’s “Lives
in the Balance” and several strong tracks in which Haven applies
Eastern-style enlightenment to Realpolitik—including the quietly
furious title song, which slyly quotes “Home on the Range.”
And he’s a Brooklyn boy to boot. Born in Bed-Stuy. Here’s the blurbage about BAM’s R&B Festival at Metrotech, where Havens will be performing on August 7 at noon. Marcus Carl Franklin, the incredible kid who played one of the Bob Dylan’s in "Im Not There" WILL BE THERE. Note to self: Don’t miss this.
Born in Bed-Stuy, Richie Havens is gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music—a fiery, poignant singing style that has remained ageless since he first emerged from the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. His blistering performance at Woodstock helped Havens reach a worldwide audience of millions, and for decades he has used music to convey messages of brotherhood and personal freedom. Joining him is teenage blues guitarist Marcus Carl Franklin, who portrayed a young Bob Dylan in the 2007 fictionalized biopic of Bob Dylan I’m Not There appearing in a telling scene with Havens.
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The Oh-So-Prolific-One: Leon Freilich/Verse Responder
News item: NYC high schools are adding double dutch as a varsity sport.
Ropes ‘N’ Rhymes
I used to watch the schoolgirls
As they did double dutch,
And I thought they’re so athletic
With the just-right touch.
So I’m overjoyed to find out
That they’ll finally have teams,
And new schoolgirls will be proving
It’s entrancing as it seems-seems-seems.
Bike Valet at Brooklyn Flea
Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby, who run the Brooklyn Flea are working double-time to keep the neighborhood happy despite heated gripes that came spilling out at a recent community meeting in a local church.
The complaints: The Flea is bad for parking. It’s noisy and disruptive to neighborhood life on a summer Sunday. There are also complaints about the large number of bikes locked up outside the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. So the latest innovation to keep the neighbors happy: valet parking for bikes.
Starting this Sunday, we are pleased to announce that bike parking
at the Flea just got a whole lot easier. Bike valet is coming to the
Flea! Even better, it’s free.We love folks to bike, walk, subway, bus, or blade-scooter to the
Flea–and now you can just hop off your bike, park it with our trusty
valet guy/gal right in front of the Lafayette entrance, get your
ticket, and pick up your bike on the way out. No muss, no worries, no
sweat.The fine folks at Transportation Alternatives
provide this service at a few spots around town, and we’re hoping that
this new partnership with the Flea will kick bike valet into high gear
as a viable option for cyclists around the city at big or small events.
New Editor/Writer At Brownstoner: Good Luck to Gabby, Who is Moving On
Good bye and good luck to Gabby, Brownstoner’s current managing editor and writer. Today is her last day at Brownstoner and she is leaving to pursue a freelance career. I ran into Gabby once on Seventh Avenue and we had a really nice chat.
Gabby, we wish you the very best in your new adventure. Jonathan Butler, publisher of Brownstoner, had this to say about Gabby’s excellent work on the blog.
Gabby’s coverage of real estate and retail
development in Park Slope and Gowanus, in particular, have been second
to none and her reliability at staying on top of the news has given us
a chance to step back a little from the day-to-day grind to focus on
the larger direction of the site and related new projects like The
Flea.
And to replace Gabby, Butler has hired writer Lisa Selin Davis, who will begin as the full-time managing editor and writer on Monday. Lisa covers real estate and travel for the New York
Times, Metropolis, Interior Design and This Old House.
I met Lisa when she read excerpts from her novel, Belly, a novel set amid horse racing set in Saratoga Springs, NY, at Brooklyn Reading Works a couple of years ago.
Good Luck to both Gabby and Lisa.
Keeping Those 60-Year-Olds Out Of Park Slope’s Union Hall
A friend, who is a tad over 60, had a little trouble getting into Union Hall last night. And you thought they just wanted to keep babies and strollers out of there.
Keeping the Thugs Out of Union Hall
Some people (maybe it’s mostly women) apparently like to be carded, especially when it’s obvious they’re well over the drinking age. I don’t, and I think it’s silly (a word I have since regretted) for someone of 60 and looks close to it.
Went to Union Hall, my neighborhood bar earlier this week and tried to saunter in. But was stopped by a voice growling "you have to see me first." Turning, I noticed a bouncer type who I hadn’t even seen as I walked up to the door; certainly a few weeks ago he wasn’t in evidence.
I need to see ID, he says
I laugh a bit (mistake #1) and say That’s a but silly (mistake #2) isn’t it?
There’s the rule on the door, he growls.
OK, I say as I fish out my wallet, but I do think it’s silly for a 60-year old guy to be carded. And I am, if not smiling, certainly not belligerent as I say this. By this time I had my license in my hand.
That’s it, he says, you’re not going in.
What?
You’re not going in. You refused to show your license and were arguing about it.
Hardly arguing I said, it’s called expressing an opinion, and since I have my license out right here, how is that refusing?
He wouldn’t budge. But did want me to do so, claiming I was "impeding traffic," in spite of several people walking in and out of the door I was not in front of. I demanded to see the manager, setting up a Catch-22 as I wasn’t allowed in to see him, and he obviously wasn’t going to do me a favor by calling for him. I considered calling Union Hall but the thought of using my cell-phone provider’s so-called directory service was too daunting.
He then grabbed my arm (admittedly, not forcefully,) and said I’d have to step off "private property." At which point I got…what…annoyed? and said if he touched me again I’d call the cops.
Go ahead he says. And so I made my first-ever call to 911 and said I was in trouble at the Union Hall on Union Street in Brooklyn, a combination that took some time to convey, leading me to believe that I were in real trouble, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the call.
My friend K who I was meeting showed up then. As I explained, he reluctantly went in to get the manager (nice of the bouncer to let him in, but then K was white and better dressed than I was) and came out after a few seconds and said that the bartender and the bouncer were mutually in charge.
Waited for the 911 response about 10 minutes, also mulling it over with K, who seemed to think I was in the wrong. I guess some people think that "arguing," (even if I didn’t do that,) with anyone in authority puts you automatically in the wrong.
So my question to Union Hall’s owners is: what exactly is that man doing there? Warding off the hordes of trouble-makers who are trying to storm Union Hall and terrorize the yuppies in there? Keep the homeless out? Or just harass an unassuming local guy who wanted a quiet beer with his friend and has a sarcastic manner?
Park Victim was Homeless Man
According to the Brooklyn Paper, the police are now saying that the corpse that was found in the park yesterday was the body of a homeless man. They did not release the man’s name because his family has not been notified.
The three-day old corpse was found by a Park Department worker on Wednesday morning near Lookout Hill. A reporter who actually saw the body said that the man looked to be Hispanic, 30-40 years old and was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The cause was probably blunt trauma to the head.
Lookout Hill: Site of Murder and Revolutionary War
A gaggle of TV and print news reporters gathered near the path to Lookout Hill in Prospect Park yesterday waiting for news from the Police Department about the man who was murdered there.
The TV journalists stayed in one area, the print journalists and photographers in another. It was an interesting scene.
The reporter from the Daily News announced that the area was called Lookout Hill. Reporters shot out questions to the cops that were guarding the path about the geography.
"The road over there is called Wellhouse Drive," one cop said referring to the path that goes south to north next to the Lake.
Most of the unconfirmed information about the body came from the reporters. One TV reporter, who was rushing off to edit her story, told me incorrectly that they found a skeleton under a pile of leaves and that it was probably an old murder. She was absolutely wrong about that.
A reporter who actually climbed up the hill before the police closed off the area saw the body and said he saw a male, probably hispanic, in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, lying in an area near Lookout Hill.
The reporters stopped runners, who slowed down to see why there were so many police cars, and asked them how they felt about a Homicide in Prospect Park. One reporter said something to the effect of: We need to fan the flames of tabloid-dom. One young photographer said to me: I’m supposed to stop people on the road and ask them how they feel but it’s embarrassing.
Bikers and runners did react to news of the crime. People kept walking up to me to find out what was going on. People looked shocked but not surprised that something like this could happen in our park. One person said, "I’m not going to tell my wife about this because she’s in this park every day."
Some wanted to know if Lookout Hill is a gay cruising spot—as if that would somehow explain a crime of this nature. One guy, a news photographer said, "Some guy was bludgeoned about a year and a half ago on the other side of the park. A known homosexual. It was in the Vale of Cashmere."
Others acknowledged that the inner paths of the park are dark and mysterious and not a place they’d want to go after dark or alone.
I overheard some policemen talking about the hill as the site of the Battle of Brooklyn, which was fought on August 27th 1776. I didn’t write down what they said so I looked it up today. Here’s Dalton Rooney:
The setting for the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. The
Continental Army lost the battle, but they held the British back long
enough for Washington and his troops to escape to New Jersey.
The reporters watched as the medical examiner’s van drove up the narrow path. Later four detectives in natty suits went up the hill. One looked like Liam Neeson and had a wide white tie.
Finally the van holding the body came down the hill. Someone, I think it was one of the cops said, "Hey guys, here’s your shot."
The photographers positioned themselves to get a picture of the van as it drove by. Later some cops,wearing plastic gloves and holding large brown paper bags, came down.
"No comment," they said brusquely.
When the well-dressed detectives emerged, some reporters asked for a comment but none was forthcoming.
The TV crews were waiting for permission to go up the path. "Can we go up to the tape?" the attractive news anchor asked again and again. But I don’t think anyone was allowed near the crime scene yesterday. Once most of the police left the scene, the reporters did, too.
The park was peaceful. In other areas no one seemed aware that a man was murdered in the park. They just went about their day at the playground, running the drive, in Long Meadow.
A humid and peaceful weekday in the park.
Photo of Lookout Hill taken by Dalton Rooney.
Take The Brooklyn Trivia Test
For readers of OTBKB the test will be a breeze. And if you don’t know the answers…What can I say? It was devised by Kristin Goode, About.com’s Brooklyn reporter. Take the test and let me know how you do.
Elliott Gould: We Love You
BAMcinematek presents Elliot Gould: Star for an Uptight Age August 1-21th. What a great idea for a festival. Brooklyn-born, Elliot Gould starred in a bunch of iconic films of the 1970’s: MASH, The Long Goodbye, Bob, Carol, Ted & Alice, California Split, I Love My Wife.
He was even in a 1971 Ingmar Bergman film called The Touch. Perhaps he is best known for his work with the great Robert Altman. Check the BAM website for the full schedule. Gould will do a Q&A after the 6:30 showing of Little Murders (written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Alan Arkin) on Friday August 8th. He will will also do a &A after the 6:30 showing of The Long Goodbye (directed by Altman) on August 9th. Here’s the BAM blurgage:
1970: the year of M*A*S*H,
when Brooklyn-born Elliott Gould became a full-fledged movie
star. Time Magazine christened him “Star for an Uptight Age,”
suggesting that the audiences of the 70s, with their own insecurities
and neuroses now reflected onscreen, were welcoming a new kind of
leading man who possessed a greater depth, complexity and a willingness
to go further as a performer. We are pleased to welcome Elliott Gould
to BAMcinématek with this special focus on his extraordinary work in
the 70s, including his three legendary collaborations with Robert
Altman and a rare screening of Bergman’s The Touch.
The Current Weather in Park Slope
Brought to you by The Feldman Family from their weather tower in Park Slope.
Dead Body Found In Prospect Park
A dead male body was found in Prospect Park this morning on Lookout Hill, which is on the South West side of the Park near the lower lake and Wellhouse Drive.
I got to the scene around 11:20 or so. There were at least twenty police vehicles, a fire truck and the medical examiner’s car along the drive near the lake.
A newspaper reporter on the scene actually saw the body before the police closed off the area. He told me that it was a male Hispanic man with short brown hair. He was 30-40 years old and was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans and was lying in a fetal-like position. He was found underneath a pile of leaves by the Parks Department (although that is not confirmed).
Lookout Hill is the second highest point in Brooklyn. There are three staircases that lead to the lookout area. The man was found just down from the top. The cause of death is "blunt force trauma to the head"
At 12:42 the Medical Examiner removed the body in a van and drove out of the park. Soon after, three detectives emerged from the scene. Reporters were waiting for representatives from DCPI but no one came and no one was allowed to view the crime scene.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Homicide Inside Prospect Park?
A friend just wrote in to say that he saw on the Gothamist Map feed: There’s been a homicide inside Prospect Park near Prospect Park Southwest and 16th Street.
Anyone know anything about this.
Open: Dreamland Roller Rink in Coney Island
Doesn’t it sound dreamy to roller skate by the ocean in Coney Island? Well, now it’s possible. Thanks to Lola Staar.
The Dreamland Roller Rink is open Friday nights from 7 p.m. until midnight and on Saturdays from noon until midnight and on Sunday noon until 9 p.m.
The admission is $10. And you can rent skates for $5.
I think I’m going to try to get Hepcat to join me on Friday night. I love roller skating. Coney Island? I’ and so there.
