Just got this email from the Community Bookstore about their unique Valentines Day celebration.

Come to the Community Bookstore on Thursday, February 14th @ 7:00 p.m. for a Lonely Hearts Club Party!
Whether you have a special someone or not, please come celebrate Valentine’s Day with us.

It’ll be a Potlucky/red-foodie/pink-drinks/sappy-movie Love Fest! Wear red (or pink), and bring food (and drinks) that are red (or pink). We’ll have a gay old time, indulge in theme-appropriate activities, perhaps, like reading Nathaniel West out loud, and watching great love stories, like Love Story, perhaps, on our brand new DVD projector’s maiden voyage! (We’re also considering Jules et Jim, among other things.)

Both of these good times are of course free and open to everyone, and we really do hope you’ll come.

Community Bookstore
143 7th Avenue
Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 783-3075

Joe Lovell is a terrific writer with a piece in the February 11 New York Magazine that I just love. Really love. It’s called “The Upside of the Downside” and in it he really tells it like it is about this money and real estate obsessed community called Park Slope.

“Here’s to bad times,” Lovell writes. “May they restore the city that many of us moved here for.”

Lovell is a Park Sloper. He and his wife arrived in PS in the mid-1990’s and they live somewhere above 9th Street somewhere between 7th and 5th Avenues. They now have three kids and they feel like the poorest people they know.

That’s easy in Park Slope with all the multi-million dollar brownstones and everyone’s obsessive fixation on real estate and designer kitchens.

Lovell had me at hello with his reporting of this crazy scene on the F-train. You see, the train is stopped between York and East Broadway (a sick passenger or something) and a stroller kid is pitching a fit while his mom tries to take off his snow suit.

An older, gray-bearded guy next to him, who also had a seat, turned and nudged the well-groomed guy and said, “Why don’t you give her your seat?” The well-groomed guy looked up from his iPhone, a little befuddled and irritated, and replied, “Why don’t you?,” then went back to caressing his little device. Gray Beard leaned in real close and looked the guy straight in the face. “Why don’t you stick that thing up your ass,” he said, loud enough for everyone in the near vicinity to hear, and before the well-groomed guy could respond, he added, even louder, “You Wall Street dick.”

But that’s not even the final punch line.

True, Gray Beard was obviously a total crank, and who knows if the other guy had anything to do with Wall Street, or if he was even all that unlikable (though he did have a look about him)? I just loved it as a pure expression of class rage, a small rebellion, as I’ve come to think of it, against the ethos that has dominated the city in recent years. A couple of other passengers laughed, and Gray Beard looked up. I was smiling right at him, but rather than locking eyes in solidarity, as I thought we would—me and him and the struggling young mother and child allied against this latest American Psycho and all the aggressive wealth-hunting he embodied—he said with complete disdain, “What’re you smiling at? You’re a dick, too.”

Lovell goes on to confess his own class envy. But he also portrays the Slope zeitgeist pitch perfectly. He asks, “I’m amazed at how poor we feel in relation to our surroundings. When did we move to Beverly Hills?”

My question exactly. When did we move to Beverly Hills?

Sure, I’ve covered some of the same ground on my blog with my posts about Jennifer Connelly’s limestone and Jonathan Safran Foer’s brownstone, and my nasty case of house envy.

But this guy Lovell really writes Park Slope like he knows it; and like he knows me so well.

What I’m mostly struck by now is how much poorer we feel in relation to our surroundings than we did then, though we make about five times as much money. We have another baby, and when I walk with her at night, I still feel the wonders of parenthood, sure, but I don’t experience nearly the same connection to the people around me. The neighborhood now seems like a colonial outgrowth of Manhattan money culture, and I tend to feel envious and critical and, if I’m really being honest, even fairly hostile toward many of my neighbors. (And then, of course, I’m soon full of self-loathing for comparing my life—my things, really—with theirs, and for thinking I’m anything but absurdly lucky and comfortable.)

Like Lovell, I’ve watched the world of Park Slope change. And I too have much self loathing about not being richer, not having more. I thank Lovell for putting into words this culture of Wolf ranges, and Sub-Zero refrigerators. For Buddha’s sake, if I hear one more Park Slope mom complain about her kitchen renovation or which private school she’s sending her kid to I’ll just burst.

Thanks Lovell for this, too:

But it’s not just real estate. It’s everything, or near everything, and it’s ratcheted up even more in the last few years. As the value of homes and stocks and salaries has spiked, there’s been a kind of arms race of acquisition that has touched every little facet of our lives. You don’t just go to the store and buy groceries, like a regular person; now you fetishize the meat at Fairway and the fish from Blue Moon and the organic greens and the Greek yogurt and the cheese, always the cheese. The place that became a cigar bar in the late nineties, now it’s a Union Market, where among other preciously presented items there’s a loaf of raisin-walnut bread that isn’t quite as fresh and delicious as the raisin-walnut bread the Lopezes used to bake. But it is three times as expensive.

Lovell calls for a mythical return to the New York City of Bob Dylan and Basquiat. I think I am somewhat older than Lovell and I grew up in Manhattan so I can attest that New York City has always been about money and real estate—it’s just that the stakes are so much higher now. Still, I know what he means. It’s the West Village of the folk revival, the Soho of the real artist’s lofts, the Tribeca of Art on the Beach, and the Collective for Living Cinema, and the Park Slope of the Lopez Bakery, Al’s Toy Store, Book Link, social workers and Legal Aid lawyers and the Upper West Side of the Famous Dairy Restaurant, the Tip Toe Inn, the New Yorker Bookstore, the New Yorker Theater, the Thalia, Herman’s Toy Store and the original Liberty House that we long for.

That’s what we miss.

So despite Lovell’s overly romantic picture of what New York used to be, I love his honesty about himself and the world he sees around him.

It’s about time someone got it right. Thanks Lovell. You did just that.

Always good to hear from our pal Ben at Second Avenue Sagas, where he blogs the Subway from A to J/M/Z:

A few Brooklyn pols and business leaders want a free transfer between the G at Fulton St. and the Atlantic/Pacific Hub.

A woman on Park Slope Parents posted that her husband was mugged on their doorstep on Thursday night. She didn’t give the name of the street that she lives on.

She did say that he was coming from the Seventh Avenue F stop,
walked
home,
opened
the
two
doors
to
the
house and
when
he
turned
to
pull
the
outside
door
closed
he
realized a
man
was standing
directly
behind
him.

Creepy.

The
man
tried
to
come
in
the
door and then he pulled
out
a
knife.
The
two
of
them
struggled,
pushing
from
either side
of the
door.
The
mugger
didn’t
say
anything
during
the
attack. The woman’s husband came further in the door and the mugger grabbed his bag and
ran
up
the
street.

He
was
seen
by
a
number
of
people
going back
onto
the subway.

The
police
tried
to
follow
the
train
he
was
on,
but weren’t
able
to catch
him. She noted that her  husband had
earphones
on
as
he
got
off
the
subway but
he
had taken
them
off
as
he
walked
down
our
street.

Note to self: stop wearing earphones on the street at night.

It was almost like being a VIP. We were whisked inside by an escort and seated with the other “Speech Guests.”

Here’s how it came about. Marty’s office emailed me the other day to see if I would be interested in Marty mentioning me (among several others) in his “Brooklyn Characters” section of his State of the Borough Address Thursday night.

“Brooklyn characters” are people who, according to Marty, exemplify Brooklyn and do something to promote the borough in unique ways. If you attend (and you have to attend to be mentioned) you just stand when he mentions your name during the section.

Needless to say, I said yes. I knew I was just a prop for Marty’s speech but I was eager to be there and see who else was chosen.

I was told to show up at the Red Hook Cruise Ship Terminal, Marty’s pride and joy, on Thursday night. There was a reception at 6 p.m. and the show started at 7:15.

Governor Elliot Spitzer was there, as were most of the local politicos, I was seated in a special section to the left of the stage. We were near the VIP section where I saw, among many others, David Yassky. Tish James, Mark Green and many more.

In 2006, Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report described the event very well:

A State of the Borough Address is many things–a chance for fellow politicians to pay homage, a shout-out to various neighborhoods and ethnic groups, a recounting of achievements, and a chance to honor those who’ve “done Brooklyn proud.” (A particular favorite last night was Keith Beauchamp, the filmmaker whose documentary helped reopen the investigation of the murder of Emmett Till.)

Prior to and interspersed with the speeches, there were performances by the amazing Streb extreme dance troupe, as well as Jammin’ Jumpers, double dutch champs from Bed-Stuy, a tap dancing group from a Fort Hamiliton senior Center, Care Bears on Fire, the dance troupe, Creative Outlet and the chorale from Brooklyn College, who will be performing at the Beijing Olympics.

All the performances were super duper. Good choices all.

The crowd stood twice for Eliot Spitzer’s entrance. The first time he didn’t come out. It was some kind of weird miscommunication, I guess. He loved the Care Bears and told the crowd. “If those kids don’t have a record deal they should get one and I’ll be their manager.”

Maybe if popularity continues to tank he’s considering getting into the music business.

City Council president, Christine Quinn thanked Marty for his support of the Brooklyn wing of the City Council. “Everyone knows that Marty has spirit and energy and that he makes us laugh. But he is also one of the most focused politicians I know,” she said.

Spitzer and Marty did the mutual admiration thing.

Up next was Marty’s Deputy Borough President, Yvonne Graham, who is strong advocate for health issues, especially in the Caribbean community. I really liked her.

Prior to Marty’s speech, there was a video of people all over Brooklyn saying “I am Brooklyn” in a variety of languages. THe fact that there are 136 languages represented in Brooklyn was a large part of Marty’s message.

The Borough President went on for more that 70-minutes. Luckily, he can be depended on to deliver a funny, well-written speech at an event like this one surrounded by his fans.

The theme of the speech was Brooklyn Stories and Marty expertly wove the Brooklyn characters into the narrative so that the speech had the feel of a shout-out for local heroes rather than a classic political rant.

He barely mentioned Atlantic Yards, although he did say that the Nets were having a terrible season “But that’s because they’re not Brooklyn’s team, yet.” The crowd was quite tepid when he did mention AY.

For a more thorough analysis of the speech, read Norman Oder today on Atlantic Yards Report.

Marty announced his support of the Kahlil Girbran International Academy and emphasized the importance of students learning Arabic for jobs in the State Department and elsewhere.

He also announced the formation of a High School of Advertising and Marketing that will open in September Canarsie High School.

In other news, he told the crowd that Grimshaw Architects will design the city’s first amphitheater, the Coney Island Center, at Asser Levy/Seaside Park for the summer concert series sponsored by Marty.

A strong moment in the speech was when Marty announced that the NY Aquarium needs new leadership and “a whale-sized budge rather than a guppy sized one.” He called for the mayor’s office to consider a Brooklyn-based board of directors. The aquarium is currently operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which sends most of it’s funding to local zoos.

He talked a lot about Brooklyn’s renaissance, about tourism in Brooklyn, the number of hotel rooms now here, Will Shortz’s Crossword Tournament, which is moving to the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott from Stamford, CT, the redevelopment of Coney Island, and his desire to get the Parachute Jump up and running. “If the Giants can beat the Patriots, then we can get the Parachute Jump working again,” he said.

Other highlights were Marty’s recognition of childrens author Mo Willems, the owners of the Hotel Bleu (with much joking about a hotel on the banks of the Gowanus), the animal psychic, the owners of the Little Cup Cake Cafe in Bay Ridge; someone dressed as a giant walrus during Marty’s call for new leadership of the Brooklyn Aquarium.

The Daily News had this to say about the other shout-outs:

It’s impossible to catalogue all the people and places Markowitz saluted, but here’s a partial list: the new LGBT Center; the Carlos Lezama Cultural Center; the Italian Community and Cultural Center; the Kahlil Gibran International Academy; the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Tournament; Dine in Brooklyn Restaurant Week; the Brooklyn Book Festival; Coney Island redevelopment; Ikea; IHOP; Trader Joe’s; Noble Drew Ali houses; Atlantic Terrace; Polytechnic University

Also: Dressler/Dumont founder Colin Devlin; Mukhesh Patel and Roberta Gaeta of Hotels Le Blue and Jo-Lee; children’s book author Mo Willems; someone in a walrus suit representing the Aquarium’s new baby walrus; “green” bakery operators Luigi and Massimo Lo Buglio; Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE, on the PlaNYC task force; Joe Chan of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership; Bill Howell of the Downtown Brooklyn Advisory and Oversight Committee; education advocate Wendy Gilgeous; Brooklyn Public Library Director Dionne Mack-Harvin; animal medium Christine Agro; Elisa Zuritsky, who gave away her wedding dress after it wasn’t ready in time; Keith Belvin, who turned in his daughter after seeing her on a video that showed a harassment attack on the subway; and Hassan Askari, the Muslim who intervened in a subway attack on Jewish passengers.

He also saluted some prominent Brooklynites who died in the past year, including developer Harvey Schultz, former Deputy Borough President Jeannette Gadson, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Judy Zuk. A list of some 35 others scrolled on screen, including that of Heath Ledger. And perhaps the most heartfelt applause came for the families of the service members who died in Iraq, as well as local firefighters and a police officer who lost their lives on duty.

A blogger

Near the end of the speech, Markowitz noted that, “as the bloggiest place in America, our guest list wouldn’t be complete without a notable blogger.” His guest: Louise Crawford of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, whom he saluted as “the Cindy Adams of Park Slope.”

As to whether Marty is planning on a mayoral run. “Too soon to tell,” said the slide on the speech support screen. Marty wished us a safe trip home and we were lucky enough to get a ride from the former owner of the Liberty Heights Tap Room, Steve Deptula and his wife.

Thanks guys.

OTBKB friend and fave, Joe Holmes of Joe’s NYC has a new series out called the Work Space Series.      Artist Shawn Dulaney who is pictured in the series, sent me the link. Joe, who was selected for the Park Slope 100 in 2006, is a wonderful photographer.  

Yet another fun cultural event at the Old Stone House , that old stone house located at Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street. OTBKB friend and fave, Kim Maier, executive director of the OSH emailed me about this not-to-be-missed new Friday night series:

Come join us for the kick-off of our NEW Friday night Jazz series which we’re presenting with Park Slope Music.  TONIGHT:
    
    Stephanie Rooker, vocals
    Ray Parker, bass
    Mark Josefsberg, vibes
    And every set, Charles Sibirsky on piano
    
    8 pm.  $12 at the door.  Drinks and snacks available.  It’ll be fun, informal and we hope to see lots of you here!
    
    Old Stone House
    JJ Byrne Park
    3rd Street at 5th Avenue
    718-768-3195
    www.theoldstonehouse.org

Finally

It’s a must-have for my library, of course. But for some reason I was dragging my feet even though some of the profits go towards Develop Don’t Destroy legal fees.

So last night I made the big purchase and am looking forward to some time on the green leather couch and reading it.

Quickly browsing through, I found myself wishing that they’d asked me to write something but I’m not famous or anything.

So maybe there was some sour grapes on my behalf. But come on, girl. Brooklyn Was Mine is an anthology of Brooklyn superstars: Lethem, Egan, Colin Harrison, Alexandra Styron (daughter of William) and more.

So it is with excitement, envy, sour grapes, and great interest that I open this book…

P.S. it’s available at the Community Bookstore.

Waiting on line at Connecticut Muffin I overheard a conversation between two people about how hard, if not impossible, John McCain is to beat. “He’s unbeatable,” the man said as he took his coffee from the barista.

An early email from a friend announced that the only county in New York State that carried Obama was Tompkins County, which includes Ithaca.

“What about Brooklyn?” came a swift reply-all. I don’t think that was the case with Kings County though Park Slope and Crown Heights were Obama’s.

I conversed with a friend who voted for Obama, who told me that he has huge reservations about Obama’s health care policy. He believes that Clinton’s plan, which is mandated for all unlike Obama’s, is far superior. That worries him. But he voted for Obama anyway.

Another friend said he found Obama’s speech on Tuesday night uninspiring.

Others contemplated the idea that the fight would go all the way to the convention for the first time in so many years. All day people mentioned super delegates.

Two words of the day: Super Delegates.

“Many people I encountered in Park Slope said that they feel comfortable with both Democratic candidates. While Brooklyn Beat voted for Hillary Clinton he wrote on his blog, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn,

“I am totally prepared to vote for Mr. Obama should he be the eventual Democratic candidate, whether he runs again Messrs. McCain, Huckabee, or Bloomberg. The Democratic Party needs to be returned to the White House. We cannot stand even one more term of the Republican Party, regardless of who that candidate is. They have made a muck of it and must pay the price.”

At a cocktail party I attended last night, someone fantasized that neither Clinton or Obama would be nominated and Al Gore would emerge at the convention as the democratic candidate.

Interesting.

You’re not alone if you think the new buildings on Fourth Avenue are uninspiring. I thought there would be some effort to make the avenue a livable street, a place you’d want to walk and shop. But the new developments seems to discourage street life. Here’s an excerpt from what Streetsblog has to say on this topic. Check out the photographs and story at Streetsblog.

When the City Planning Commission upzoned Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue in 2003, it was hailed by some as a breakthrough. Borough President Marty Markowitz trumpeted Fourth Avenue as “a grand boulevard of the 21st Century.” Residential development would reshape this urban speedway, the thinking went, from a pit-stop for cabs to a stately corridor of mid-rise residences — Brooklyn’s answer to Park Avenue.

In the past two years, as the dust cleared from disputes over building heights and provisions for affordable housing, Fourth Avenue’s transformation has sped along. The first wave of new residential construction has hit the market, and dozens more properties from Flatbush Avenue to 15th Street are in various stages of development. But the early returns are discouraging for anyone who hoped to see a walkable, mixed-use district take shape here

One new apartment building, the Novo, looms fortress-like over the playground next door, while another, the Crest, greets passersby with man-sized industrial vents. A new hotel, Le Bleu (“a haven of style, elegance and fine living”), meets the sidewalk with a parking lot fit for a suburban dentist’s office.

Welcome to the new Fourth Avenue — the future of Brooklyn.

An OTBKB reader wrote to say:

I was wondering if you’ve heard anything about Ellis Bar? It’s on 5th
ave between 17th and 18th…i think they’re going to serve southwestern
food but was wondering if you know any more information…i live on 6th
and 20th and would love a new place to hang!

Okay. OTBKB did some quick googling and I see that Ellis Bar is a bar/restaurant right near Eagle Provisions. It’s not open yet. I used to have an office space up there and I can attest that a nice restaurant would be much appreciated by many.

Here’s the menu from the website. I’m hungry right now so it all sounds good. The brunch looks good, too. Funny, I don’t see any dinner entrees. The website doesn’t say the place will open. I don’t get up there much anymore but let me know when you do.

* Soup of the Day
    * Beth’s Spanish Onion Soup Topped with Blue Tortilla Strips and Pepper Jack Cheese
    * Four Bean Corn Chili with Navajo Fry Bread

Salads
    * House Salad with Baby Romaine, Carrots, Golden Raisins, Bleu Cheese, Sunflower Kernels, Orange Slices and a Grapefruit Honey Balsamic Vinagarette
    * Sonoran Caprese Salad With Roasted Bell Peppers, Goat Cheese and Cilantro with Balsamic Reduction and Pepper Coulis

Appetizers
     * Avocado Crabemeat Aioli Stuffed Tomato Wedges
    * Grilled Chipotle Marinated Chicken Wings or Shrimp
    * Seared Polenta with Pecan Crusted Goat Cheese, Chive Oil and Corn Salsa
    * Roasted Stuffed Portabella Mushroom, Shallots and Poblano Pepper with Jalapeno Balsamic Reduction
    * Zucchini Cakes topped with Corn Salsa
    * Nachos topped with Melted Goat & Cheddar Cheeses, Jalapenos, Black Beans, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo and Guacamole
    * Corn Meal Crusted Catfish with Blueberry Salsa
    * Navajo Fry Bread Pizza with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Sunflower Kernels and Parmesan Cheese
    * Goat Cheese Red Pepper Jelly Bruschetta
    * Navajo Fry Bread with Powdered Sugar and Organic Honey

Continue reading ELLIS BAR IN THE SOUTH SLOPE: ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING? →

You probably knew that. But Andrea Bernstein on WNYC just reported it. She also said there was some griping from New York Hillary supporters that she could have done better in New York City, she could have gotten more delegates. Apparently, there weren’t that many volunteers, electioneers, and Hillary enthusiasts out on the streets.