Yugoslav Musician Opens Women’s Apparel Shop in Park Slope

Even before I walked into Fashion East, a new casual women’s clothing shop on Lincoln Place in Park Slope, I heard the strains of an electric guitar. When I opened the door I saw that the owner was actually practicing on a cool looking yellow electric.

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Lulu’s Gently Used for Kids Coming In

Walking up Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue on our way home from BAM last night we noticed that a new Lulu’s is going in. Not hair cuts and new toys but children’s resale and I assume that will include “gently used” toys, clothing, furniture and strollers…

Just a guess.

Lulu Cuts and Toys, which started on Fifth Avenue and 2nd Street, is really building herself an empire on that northern end of Fifth Avenue.

Petco Coming to Seventh Avenue in Park Slope

The commercial space that used to be Zuzu’s Petals (before their fire and before they moved to bigger digs on Fifth Avenue near 6th Street) is finally going to be occupied. By Petland Petco. Used to be every vacant storefront became a real estate firm. Now it’s pet supplies.

Sign of the times, I guess.

The new Petco will be on Seventh Avenue between Union and Berkeley Place.

May 29: Pop Up Swap in Gowanus

On n May 29, BKLYN Yard presents “Score! Pop Up Swap, a gigundo swap meet.

But what exactly is a swap?

Well, you bring items you want to get rid of and, for a small admission fee, you can take home whatever you want.

Okay.

More than 1,600 showed up last year. This year they’re adding an electronics boutique run by Alpha One Labs and a crafts section managed by Etsy.

Lyceum Spring Food & Craft Market: Vendor of the Week

OTBKB is a proud sponsor of the Lyceum Spring Food & Craft Market on May 1 & 2nd at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and President Street. This year, the market is taking up two floors of the Lyceum and it should be quite a show. There will be a boatload of high quality artisanal craft and food items, as well as workshops. It should be a fun event.

My pick for this week’s Vendor of the week is: Hammeronsteel: Hot iron & Forged Steel Elements for the Home. They make earring stands, bottle openers, lamps and more. Here’s what they have to say on their website.

Hot steel moves me. So I move hot steel.

Every object I produce is one of a kind, and while there may be some thematic similarities, no two pieces are ever exactly alike. I take great pleasure from creating custom work, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have something in mind that you don’t find here.

Fifth Avenue News and Reminders

There’s lots going on on Fifth Avenue this spring and the Fifth Avenue BID sent out some reminders of important events along that illustrious Park Slope avenue.

Logo and Slogan Contest: Just a few more days left in the BID’s logo and slogan design contest. Help rebrand the organization and avenue and win prizes:

FIRST PRIZE: $1,000. SECOND PRIZE: $300. THIRD PRIZE: $100. Submit all entries by email to ParkSlope5AVBID@aol.com by April 5, 2010.

Fifth Avenue Family Festival: Puppetry Arts and the Park Slope 5th Avenue BID are teaming up to bring a
new family event to the neighborhood filled with crafts, games and giveaways. The 5th Avenue Family Festival will be hosted on 4th Street at 5th Ave next to the Old Stone House on Saturday April 24 from 11am-4pm.
Games, Food, Fun…and Free!

Films on Fifth 2010: The Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District is hosting “Films
on Fifth” from April 30 – May 9th. There will 20 films shown in 10 days in restaurants, bars and boutiques along the avenue. Stay tuned for details! Oh, and if you are a film maker or know one, there are still some slots left
to fill. Please drop off three copies of each film at Aunt Suzie’s Restaurant (247-5th Ave, Between Carroll & Garfield) to be considered.

And don’t forget:

Fabulous Fifth Avenue Fair: Save the Date: Sunday, May 16th!

Community Shoe Store?

The Community Bookstore has reinvented itself as the Community Shoe Store. I kid you not. They’ve spray painted the window and the awning. And in the window there’s an odd and motley assortment of shoes: rain boots, Doc Martins, used sneakers, high heel sandals.

No books. Only shoes.

Once inside, however, it’s the same old store. Books, books, and more books. The shopkeepers are wearing funny hats that say April Fools.

No kidding.

Brooklyn Flea All Over NYC

The Brooklyn Flea is a multi-platform enterprise. This spring and summer, it’s showing up all over NYC. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But the Flea is procreating like a pop-up chain. Here’s an attempt to outline all their iterations.

Bishop Loughlin HS: Brooklyn Flea kicks off its third season Saturday, April 10, at its Fort Greene flagship location at Bishop Loughlin H.S. with 140+ vendors of vintage/antiques, crafts/art/design, and delicious food. The Flea will also extend its residence at Skylight One Hanson at the historic Williamsburgh Savings Bank for the rest of the 2010 outdoor season, on Sundays only starting April 11. (Both markets are open 10am to 5pm.)

Summer Stage: The Flea is also taking over the food and beverage concession at the City Parks Foundation’s Central Park SummerStage concert series, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Five popular Flea food vendors—AsiaDog, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Pizza Moto, Red Hook Lobster Pound, and Soler pupusas—will join renowned Brooklyn butcher shop Marlow & Daughters to provide delicious, fresh, affordable, and distinctive meals and snacks, with the goal of establishing SummerStage as a top entertainment and culinary destination. Flea food will be available at all 40+ SummerStage events from late May through early October.

Fort Greene: In 2010, the Fort Greene outdoor market will feature an expanded food section, with 25+ vendors of prepared and cooked food. All unique to the Flea, all local, and all curated for quality and professionalism, these vendors have come to embody the Brooklyn artisanal food movement. Newcomers this season include Porchetta (the East Village Italian pork sandwich shop); The Good Fork (the Red Hook restaurant serves dumplings at the Flea); Salvatore Bklyn’s new imported olive oil (the ricotta makers will dispense their new house brand from a giant metal “fusto”); The Good Batch’s Dutch-style stroopwafels; Brooklyn Soda Works (carbonated beverages featuring 50%+ juice); and new Boerum Hill Montreal-style delicatessen Mile End (hand-slicing smoked salmon and sable with Ben’s cream cheese and fresh Montreal sesame and poppy bagels).

One Hanson: One Hanson market will continue to take over the gorgeous landmark bank space every Sunday, with 100+ vendors, including several top new vintage clothing, antiques, and furniture dealers, who prefer the indoor setting. Starting April 11, the market will spill over to the building’s back parking lot, where 25 vendors, including food, will be located, along with table seating and music to create a unique indoor-outdoor setting. (The main bank space is easily accessible from the parking lot.)

Both markets will feature dozens of new vendors for the launch of the new season—from antique rugs to stitched owls to starfish jewelry to Brooklyn watches to Swedish clogs to Mr. Potato Heads to a Greenpoint used-record shop.

Barneys Co-op Coming to Atlantic Avenue

First there was the Park Slope Food Coop and now there’s the Barneys CO-OP.

As reported in Racked NY and the Brooklyn Bugle, Barneys CO-OP is coming to Atlantic Avenue between Court and Clinton right next door to  Trader Joe’s, near Urban Outfitters and across the street from Brooklyn originals, Sahadi’s and Damascus Bakery. Soon the western end of Atlantic will lead to an entrance of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores based in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.

It’s fancy fancy. Brands sold include Giorgio Armani, Manolo Blahnik, Fendi, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Jil Sander, Dries van Noten, Diane von Furstenberg, and Ermenegildo Zegna, as well as Barneys private label.

Barneys CO-OP is designed for the younger and hipper crowd with an emphasis on beauty products, bags, jewelry, shoes and clothing by young designers. It originally began as a department within the larger Barneys New York stores, but is now a freestanding store located throughout the US. CO-OP stores average around 8,000 square feet.

The New Yorker: Shopping in Brooklyn

Somebody at the New Yorker has been keeping close tabs on what goes on in Brooklyn. And it ain’t Eustace Tilley. It’s shopping writer, Patricia Marx, and she has her fun with Brooklyn. But in the process she mentions a host of stores that we hold dear.

Here’s the “abstract” of the story which is all I could get from the New Yorker website. To read more you’ve got to read the magazine or have a subscription to Newyorker.com

In terms of square miles, Brooklyn is New York’s second-largest borough, after Queens; in terms of population, it is first. If Brooklyn were a city, it would be the fourth most populous in the United States. If Brooklyn were a country, its chief exports would include artisanal pickles, eco-friendly yoga wear, Red Hook Saipua soap, and books written by men named Jonathan. Writer surveys a number of Brooklyn neighborhoods. Park Slope is where parents recently won the right to bring kids in strollers into a local bar. Mentions Beacon’s Closet. Fort Greene (a designated historic district) is “an urban fantasyland” with some superb shops: Stuart & Wright, Cloth, and Marcus Malchijah’s hat studio as well as the Brooklyn Flea. Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill is now one of the best shopping districts in town, with such stores as Eva Gentry, Darr, Hollander and Lexer, Layla, Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store, and the Acorn, a toy shop. In Carroll Gardens, there is a remarkable degree of D.I.Y. cottage industry going on. Writer mentions Caputo’s mozzarella (made fresh hourly), Cozbi Cabrera’s linen dolls, Ruby Moriarty (where clothes and other oddities can be bought alongside occasional performance-art shows), Proteus Gowanus, and Swallow, a gallery on Smith Street. In Williamsburg, cheap frame houses suggest a New England mill town, but hipsters can no longer afford the rent. Writer mentions C.B. I Hate Perfume, The Future Perfect, Moon River Chattel, Honey, Sweet William, Malin Landaeus, Fille de Joie and Red Pearl. In Greenpoint, the new destination for hipsters, writer mentions Alter and Pip-Squeak Chapeau. In Dumbo, there is hand-crafted chocolate at Jacques Torres Chocolate, Danish furniture at Baxter and Liebchen, and prewar and mid-century Czech avant-garde furniture at Prague Kolektiv. In Red Hook, writer mentions Erie Basin. Brooklyn boosters will swear everything is a short walk from the subway, but don’t believe them. Get a car.

The Chair Man Moves to Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue

The Chair Man, that gift shop on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope right near Starbucks and The Clay Pot is moving to Fifth Avenue between Degraw and Sackett.

The Chair Man has been on Seventh Avenue for two decades so it’s definitely the end of an era. Like the Clay Pot, which used to be a pottery shop and studio and Little Things, which used to be a doll house furniture store, I am guessing that the Chair Man, back in the day, used to sell chairs.

You know the shop though you probably don’t know its name. It’s a gifty/ knick-knacky shop that sells earrings, incense, ambient music CDs, bags, scarves, stuffed animals, ornaments, odd Japanese string figurines, Buddha objects, clothing…you never really know what you’ll find in there.

I’ve been in there dozens of times because my daughter loves it. We bought a music box for her piano teacher there, those Japanese string figurines, stuffed animals, earrings…

Good luck to the Chair Man on Fifth.

Park Slope’s Brooklyn Kitchens & Bath Under Fire

According to the Brooklyn Paper, the owner of a local Park Slope kitchen renovation shop is being sued by eight very unhappy customers who paid him money and didn’t get what they paid for. Here’s an excerpt from the BP article:

Is he a con artist or just a contractor caught in a down economy?

At least eight irate customers think Brian Ackerman, owner of Brooklyn Kitchens and Baths in Park Slope, is a rip-off artist — a Bernie Madoff of home repair who runs a Ponzi scheme that dupes clients into paying up front and in cash for work that does not get done.

The eight victims say they’re owed around $60,000 for incomplete or shoddy renovations — and they’re pursuing a legal case.

“We’re considering a multi-pronged attack through criminal actions, the Better Business Bureau and the Department of Consumer Affairs, while also reaching out to more people who have had same issue,” said lawyer Audrey Roth. “We’ll show this is his regular way of doing business.”

Ackerman does not deny that he hasn’t completed work on some clients’ houses, but insists he was not trying to screw anyone over — he’s just going through tough times.

Valentines & Mardi Gras on Fifth Avenue

The Fifth Avenue BID (Business Improvement District) is busy organizing all kinds of Valentine’s week and Fat Tuesday specials and promotions.

Starting Monday, Feb. 8th through Sunday, Feb. 14th, stores along the avenue will have special Valentines Week sales and many will have special treats for shoppers! In addition, on Valentines Day, there will be strolling violinists going in and out of Fifth Avenue stores and restaurants from 6:30 to 8 PM!

Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID is celebrating MARDI GRAS! There will be jazz musicians walking and playing and giving out bead necklaces, starting from both 18th Street and Dean Street. They will meet up at Washington Park (3rd St & 5th Ave). Some some restaurants will feature special New Orleans or pre-Lent meals!

Mr. Falafel’s Egyptian Hot Sauce

If you love their falafel, gyros, tabouli, babaganush, hummus, and especially the statue of the Egyptian outside their shop as I do, you’ll be glad you can finally purchase (online and in the shop)  Mr. Falafel’s much celebrated Egyptian hot sauce.

Mr. Falafel’s, a family business on Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets in Park Slope, opened 28 years ago. The statue was purchased by the owner during a vacation in Egypt. A few years back, a customer tied his dog to the statue. While the customer was waiting for his order inside, the dog bolted and dragged the statue behind him down Seventh Avenue.

The customer and owner found it in pieces on Garfield Place. The owner tried to replace it but could not. Finally he had it repaired and repainted.

The secret to our proprietary recipe is thousands of years old, from the days of Nefertiti. The subtle blend of flavors perfectly compliments, never overpowers your food. Hot sauce aficionados, make way for a new favorite. Buy a bottle, buy a case!

Oh the Flea, Oh the Williamburgh Savings Bank Building

I nearly bought a chair for my living room at the Brooklyn Flea today. Instead I bought a Scottish beret, which reminded me of something I wore as a girl.

While there’s a lot to see at the Brooklyn Flea, the star is, of course, the space itself. Now that’s when banks were banks. What a room. The Williambsurgh Savings Bank building (One Hanson Place) built in 1927 reminds me of the Central Savings Bank on the Upper West Side, where I had my first savings account as a first grader at PS 166. Our teacher took the whole class to the bank to set up accounts.

I think I had $8 dollars in there.

To call it a grand room is a vast understatement. It is the kind of architecture that cities used to be about: on par with Grand Central Station, the old Penn Station, the Central Post Office, the main branch of the New York Public Library.

It’s a friggin awesome space that makes you feel exalted. And what a blast to have the flea there for 8 weeks this winter.

The Flea takes ups so many neat spaces. The food is in the vault downstairs, there are vendors on the mezzanine and the majority of the vendor booths are in the grand bank space with windows that will make you swoon. And at 2 PM or so when the light starts to pour in…

Ahhhhh.

As for the goods: it’s a mixed bag. I found things to consider buying: groovy old valentines (dang I shoulda got them, cool lamps, the chair I considered for the living room from a vendor based in Hudson, NY).

Finally I bought that Scottish beret from a dealer who calls himself, jokingly, Sea Hair. Apparently it’s a construction worker’s obscene joke. The guy stands on a box and plays the guitar while selling his assortment of wares.

So you must go to the Brooklyn Flea. Meet a friend there. Have coffee from the pastry and coffee vendor near the front (or something tasty from the vault downstairs) take in the soaring architecture, browse around, feel exalted for a few hours one of these winter weekend days.

Jan 23: Brooklyn History Lesson at the Brooklyn Flea

Preeminent New York City and Brooklyn historian Prof. Ken Jackson (Columbia Univ.; The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed.; The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn, co-author) will join Prof. Stuart Blumin (Cornell Univ.) at the Brooklyn Flea at One Hanson to provide a freeform public talk on the history of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building and its relationship to Brooklyn as a borough, and formerly as a city unto itself.

The approximately 45-minute talk will take place at the kiosk at the main entryway to the Flea/bank, starting at 3:00pm this Saturday, January 23. The event is free and open to the public. Directions are available at www.brooklynflea.com.

Brooklyn Flea has moved into the beautiful bank space—now managed as an event space by Skylight One Hanson—for 12 weekends, through March 27/28, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 5:00pm, with 100 vendors on three floors: the main-floor bank space, mezzanine, and lower-level vault. The market has attracted nearly 10,000 visitors each of the first two weekends at One Hanson, and the Flea is building on its activation of this public space by highlighting the special significance the landmark skyscraper holds in both Brooklynites’ imaginations and the borough’s compelling history.

Professors Jackson and Blumin will delve into the building’s architectural details—from the giant golden mosaic map of Brooklyn on the bank’s back wall to the wrought-iron depictions of artisans and skilled workers in the stained-glass windows—while linking them to the broad narrative of Brooklyn as a longtime capital of the American working class. They will also answer questions from the public.

Scaredy Kat & Diana Kane: Holiday Sales Better Than Expected

A quick chat with Damond, one of the owners of Scaredy Kat, a neighborhood card & gift shop located on Fifth Avenue area that has catered to the Park Slope community since 1999, revealed that holiday sales for 2009 were their best ever.

“Our sales were good,” Damond told me. The shop recently moved into a larger space, which enabled the owners to have more merchandise and more space for shoppers to move around in. All a win-win for this shop, which is now frantically setting up for Valentine’s Day.

Diana Kane, owner of the shop Diana Kane, which sells jewelry, apparel and lingerie,  told OTBKB that “sales were better than last year.”Jewelry designed by Kane and small items like socks and gloves were big sellers this year.

“For the first time I had inexpensive impulse items like $10 bracelets. Those sold well,” Kane told me.

“Everyone freaked out about the snowy weekend before Christmas but we did better in the snow than we did that weekend last year, which was terrible,” Kane told me.

Brooklyn Frugal Family: How To Find Coupons

Sunday: Lululemon Self-Treatment Technique to Heal Injury

Jan 9: Wedding Crashers at the Bell House

Talk about buy local. Brooklyn Based is throwing a wedding fair at the Bell House this Saturday and it sounds like a must-attend event for the Bridezilla in your life.

In one spot brides to be can meet the exceptional designers, caterers, photographers, bands and DJs who make Brooklyn a wedding capital of sorts.

This might be a good moment to mention that jewelry designer Rebecca Shepherd (one of the designers at Urban Alchemist) is rolling out a floral design company called Rebecca Shepherd Floral Design. Her flowers (like her jewelry) are GORGEOUS. FYI: her jewelry makes great bridesmaid gifts.

Brooklyn Based has handpicked 30+ original, Brooklyn-centric vendors to help you plan your wedding locally, or take a piece of Brooklyn with you wherever you tie the knot. Top caterers including Naturally Delicious, The Cleaver Company, Red Table Catering, AVEnts and Frankies Spuntino will be passing delicious hors d’oeuvres. One Girl Cookies and Nine Cakes will display and serve confections and cake. Brooklyn Brewery will be pouring its Belgian-style ales, Local 1 and 2. Wedding bands Michael Arenella & his Dreamland Orchestra, The Lascivious Biddies and The Engagements will perform along with DJ Small Change, popshop! DJs and DJ Lady J.

Other wedding vendors on the guest list include floral designers Root Stock and Quade, Rebecca Shepherd Floral Design and Denise Fasanello, jewelry designer Blanca Monrós Gómez, Bario-Neal Jewelry, Sesame Letterpress, Lion in the Sun custom invitations, calligrapher Paperfinger, Mélangerie Inc. custom paperie and gifts, Shootbooth photobooth, Hello Super 8 and Seth David Cohen videographers and photographers Daniel Krieger, Radhika Chalasani and 3 Photographers, Jesse Hendrich, M.Div., Small World Terrariums, Heights Chateau Fine Wines & Spirits, Added Value Farm, Real Honeymoons and Gap Adventures.

Saturday, January 9, 10:30 AM until 5 PM. The Bell House 149 Seventh Street

Local Shops: How Was Holiday Business?

According to the Brooklyn Paper, “it was a lousy year for mom and pop.” Writes the Brooklyn Paper:

A spot check of a dozen retailers from Williamsburg to Bay Ridge revealed that business is so bad that they’re struggling just to match their horror show numbers from 2008.

But I want to know the local details: how did shops on Seventh Avenue and Fifth Avenue really do this year. What sold, what didn’t and what was the general mood of the shoppers?

I’m going to be calling around to some local spots like the Community Bookstore, Hog Mountain, Diane Kane, Zuzu’s Petals, Cog and Pearl, Eric’s Shoestore and more to check the pulse of local retailers.

My fear is that if sales were as bad as some are saying, we’re going to see more closures on Seventh and Fifth Avenues. Let’s hope not.

That would be so depressing.

Top Five Park Slope Holiday Shopping Picks for Today 12/19

Bklyn Larder: Great gifts for your favorite foodie.

Lulu's Cuts & Toys: All the stocking stuffers you could hope for.

Cog and Pearl:   Decoupage
paper weights and dishes by John Derian; "Things to Make & Do" a creative journal and
"Revive" calendar both by Nikki McClure, "A Year of Mornings" (Princeton
University Press) by Maria Alexandere Vetttes; and hand soap that looks like hands.

Scaredy Kat: In
their new location, the store is chock full of fun gifts, stocking stuffers and more. They've got some of the vintage toys you grew up with by Fisher-Price:
Clock Music box, Bouncy Bee,
Chatter Telephone; a huge assortment of holiday cards.

Lion in the Sun: Moleskin notebooks in all sizes. Acme pens. Great place to find gifts for the writer in your life.

Go here to see the entire 2009 OTBKB Park Slope Holiday Gift Guide

 

Top Five Holiday Shopping Picks for Today (12/16)

Flirt, has clothing, accessories, jewelry and more for those who are creative, individualistic, unpredictable, and
up for anything! I love the $40 "gold" necklaces with hearts that say the funniest things: Really Fuckin' Cute, Stuff my Muff, Fuck Buddy, Wiling & Able, Balls to the Walls, Lucky Bitch, XOXO, Kiss Me Where I Pee, Wonder Buns, Taken, etc. Pick one for someone special in yr life.

Trois Pommes Patisserie, a lovely bakery owned by
Emily Isaac, a graduate of
the French Culinary Institute (1997) she has worked at some of New York
City¹s finest restaurants including Arcadia, Aquavit, Picholine and
Esca. In addition to pies, tarts, cookies, cupcakes and even hors d'œuvres for parties, Issac has reinvented junk pastry like Twinkies, which are almondy fabulous, Hostess Cup Cakes (called Mostess Cup Cakes) and Ring Dings (in red devil, chocolate or pumpkin).

Lululemon's shop on Bergen Street has high quality yoga inspired athletic apparel for women. They've got reversible yoga pants (black on one side, patterned on the other), shirts and jackets great for the active woman on your list. Somewhat pricey but very nice stuff.

Area Yoga and  Baby on Fifth Avenue at has a HUGE selection of funky, colorful, stylish kid's clothes including Kitano pajamas in many fun patterns.

Bergen Street Comics is a sleek very literary looking comics shop that is part of a new wave of contemporary comic book retailers. The owners are inspired by the brilliant comics being created today, and by other great retailers we’ve seen around the country.

Top Five Holiday Shopping Picks for Today

Sweet Charity for the sheer volume of cool items for just about everyone on your list: homegoods, accessories, jewelry, paper goods and MORE.The store donates to charity a small part of their profits.

Hog Mountain , a General Store for Men, for its interesting variety of guy stuff, including clothing, bags, books, tools and skincare products.

Otto for its great sense of design in clothing, hats, scarves, gloves, snow globes, jewelry and lingerie.

 Community Bookstore because books make such good gifts. "Storefront: The Disappearing Face of NY" is my pick for a nice coffee table photography book.

Urban Alchemist for its special somethings for those special someones was conceived as part store, part gallery and part artisan salon, Urban Alchemist has an eclectic mix of emerging designers as well as carefully selected vintage and modern home goods, accessories and furniture.

Rose Water: They’re Giving Away Gift Certificates Tonight!

As you probably know by now, tonight is the first Thursday of the Third Annual Park Slope Snowflake Celebration, brought to you by the tireless folks at the Buy in Brooklyn campaign! 

The weather is going to be great so you should take advantage of the promotions that many of the local shops and restaurants are offering the next two Thursdays.

Rose Water Restaurant has "decided to skip the "free cup of mulled wine" approach and take the "damn the torpedos, let's dive off the deep end," route with a huge GC Giveaway that was fabulously successful on every level (except, perhaps, for our bank account).  Color us crazy, but we're gonna reprise our own P-Slope restaurant stimulus package!"

Zuzu Says: Get Your Thanksgiving Flower Orders In

Zuzu Petals looks great this week! The store is dressed up with lots of flowering plants and gorgeous fresh cut flowers. And they want you to get your Thanksgiving orders in soon!

Here's the news from Zuzu:

Just in from the nurseries:
Huge selection of Baby Phaelenopsis Orchids $25.
Thanksgiving Cactus (Zygocactus) full of buds in 6" pots and 2 size hanging baskets…$24-$55
4" Cyclamen in hot peachy pink  and red violet…$12.
4" Kalanchoe in seasonal colors …$9 (a bit boring but cheery,reliable and long blooming)

Pottery:
The new collection of Happy Cups, Mugs and Bowls is in from our favorite potter in New Jersey.$20-$25
The zuzus love polka dots …and these colors!

Seasonal Pick Up Bouquets
The seasonal pick-up bouquets of razzle dazzle mums, painted solidaster, st. johnswort and buplorem are running $8-$27.

Here’s Comes the Bride Zuzu’s-Style in Time Out

Time Out asked Zuzu’s Petals to make a well-priced bridal bouquet for their wedding issue. 

Zuzu outdid herself: Amelia roses, cool water roses, Saint-John’s-wort,
scabiosa, thistle and nigella create a lushness of textures within a
simple color palette, at $175. 

See the link: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/weddings/78984/bridal-bouquets.

Zuzu’s Petals: 374 Fifth Ave between 5th and 6th Sts, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-638-0918

Thurs. Night: The Park Slope Restaurant Tour

The Park Slope Restaurant Tour sponsored by Buy in Brooklyn is this Thursday night from 7-9 p.m.

Remember last year? It was like trick or treating for grown ups.

Over 500 people lined up at 35 restaurants and food shops for the chance to get a taste of what they had to offer.

This year there will be even more participating restaurants and other special deals.

Restaurants include all our favorites and probably quite a few that we haven't tried, including Brook-Vin, Athena Mediterranean Cuisine, Cafe Grumpy, Flipsters, Fonda, Gialeti's Cafe, Istanbul Park, Provini and more.

Go here for all the information you'll need, including the tour map and the list of participating restaurants and shops.

Click on the poster to the left to make it BIGGER.

Back By Popular Demand: The Peacock Dress From Dalaga

Dalaga, a 2-year-old boutique on an interesting stretch of Greenpoint's Franklin Avenue, is owned by designer Michelle Mangiliman. The shop features an affordable selection of designer women's and men's clothing, shoes and
accessories.

Back by popular demand is the peacock dress, which is $65 and available in black, white and turqoise. They also have pretty floral dresses, black linen shorts and coin medallion necklaces.

The shop is located on 150 Franklin Street in Greenpoint (718-389-4049). And it's open on the fourth of July.

Merchants Furious Over Department of Labor Raids

Here is a letter written by a longtime Fifth Avenue merchant to other Fifth and Seventh Avenue merchants. This merchant is fed up with being 'bombarded by seemingly endless government agencies with inspections, fines and
audits."

 

 Is it government's mission to put us out of
business instead of trying to help us stare down the worst recession since
the 1930's?  Every statistic indicates that the single
greatest  source of jobs is small businesses !  Our BID district
represents thousands of jobs which add to the economy.

 

In the last two years, since the rats in KFC in the Village, the Dept.
of Health has been out of control. Multiple inspections, record breaking closings and fines we cannot
afford, all in the guise of protecting public health. Government is
hurting, not  helping small business face economic
difficulties. The system  is broken and as long as the DOH
 is a profit center for the city, no one is interested in fixing
it.

 

The State Labor Dept charged onto Fifth Avenue hitting several
restaurants  during business hours.
They corralled  employees together and questioned them and in
other cases they  actually followed waiters and bus persons around
asking them questions while they were trying to take care of customers.They
are requesting three years of records and the audits have not really
started, so we do not at this point know how financially damaging this will
be to our neighborhood businesses.

 

The last outrage (May 6, 2009) is that Sanitation  Police,
the ones with guns, went into several stores and went through the
garbage that was behind the counter, not trash that was on the
streets, and issued fines for not recycling. As an American
citizen this seems a violation of several rights.  When I called
and questioned DOS, they of course said THEY INDEED HAD THE RIGHT to do
this.  I am not a lawyer, but I find it difficult to believe this
would hold up in court. 

 

The above does not include tickets from Consumer Affairs or Parking
Violations Tickets where agents use no discretion  and make it almost
impossible for to take packages in and out of our stores in our
private vehicles and onerous to put sale items on the street as agents
walk around with tape measures.  

 

Time to take my blood pressure medicine.

Hoping for better days

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