I’m getting off to a late start today because I had to move the car. And that, as always, took longer than expected. I also dropped off the laundry at the drop-off place I now use on Fourth Avenue near DeGraw (across the street from Sheep Station). The prices there beat center Slope prices by a lot. And I really like the woman there. When I get the name of the place I’ll let you know. They charge 60 cents a pound, which is an excellent price for this sort of thing.
Yearly Archives: 2010
The Last Line: jacobs
“Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves.”
From The Life and Death of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Emily Lloyd to Head Prospect Park & Alliance
Looks like Emily Lloyd will be taking over for Tupper Thomas, who is retiring from her job as Park Administrator and President of the Prospect Park Alliance.
Talk about big shoes to fill. Thomas is credited with transforming Prospect Park and creating a model for parks conservancies everywhere.
It was announced today by Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Prospect Park Alliance Board Chairman Albert H. Garner that Lloyd would begin the job in January 2011.
Lloyd, a longtime Brooklyn resident, has served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation, as well as an Executive Vice President at Columbia University and most recently Chief Operating Officer at Trinity Real Estate..
“I am honored, and enormously excited, to be joining the Parks Department and the Prospect Park Alliance as part of the team that cares for such an amazing public green space,” Lloyd said today.
“In my years in city government and the private sector, I have visited almost every nook and cranny of New York City. Each time I visit Prospect Park I’m always delighted to see how much people love being out in the Park. I look forward to working with the Department of Parks & Recreation, the Alliance board, staff, volunteers and the community to make sure Prospect Park has the resources it needs.”
Commemoration of 50th Anniversary of Airplane Crash at Green-Wood Cemetery
On December 16, 1960, 134 people tragically lost their lives when United Airlines flight 826 and TWA flight 266 collided over the skies of Staten Island. The United aircraft crashed in Park Slope, at the intersection of Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue.
On December 16, 2010, Green-Wood Cemetery will honor these individuals who perished, both in the sky and on the ground in Park Slope, by unveiling a new eight-foot memorial on December 16, 2010, fifty years to the day of the tragic crash. The granite monument will stand sentinel near the gravesite where the unidentified remains of victims have rested for half a century.
This special unveiling ceremony and memorial service is sponsored by Green-wood Cemetery and are free to the public. Please R.S.V.P. with Isabella Vlacci at 718-210-3024.
Last Chance To Send In Your Park Slope 100 Nominations
In the next few days I will be publishing the 2010 Park Slope 100. Please send your nominations in as soon as possible. You can just send the name and a little bit about the person, place, animal, thing, or event that you think belongs on the PS 100. Feel free to write the blurb. I LOVE when people do that.
In case you don’t know about the PS 100:
The Park Slope IS 100 people, places and things that make Park Slope Park Slope. 100 Stories, 100 ways of looking at the world. This is the fifth year of the Park Slope 100 so if you combine all the lists there will be 500 people on this ongoing list, which is, in a sense, a micro-history of Park Slope from 2006-2010.
OTBKB Music: Tom Waits, The Madison Square Gardeners, Harper Blynn, Taurus and Lucius
Louise has already taken a look back of the awful event of December 8, 1980. So I’ll take a musical look at December 7th.
A friend reminded me that yesterday was Tom Waits‘ birthday. I guess that makes today as good a time as any to take a look back at the lead off track from, Small Change, which despite its age, remains my favorite Tom Waits album. The song is titled Tom Traubert’s Blues, but it incorporates the Australian song, Waltzing Matilda. You can see a vintage video of it at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.
Last night was the first of three Tuesday nights at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 featuring The Madison Square Gardeners, Harper Blynn and Taurus. Because a private event earlier in the evening went way over time, the night either kicked off late or you got an extra band, Lucius, thrown in. Photos of all four bands, 18 in all, are ready for your viewing by clicking here.
–Eliot Wagner
Bklyn Bloggage: food & drink
Yoo hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, want some coffee cake?: A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn
Dinner at Lokal: Eat It
Desk Set Biblioball Happy Hour: 2 Cooks in the Kitchen
Signature Mac and Cheese: A Kitchen in Brooklyn
Looking for old Brooklyn? Nosh this way: NY Times
Pan-Asian Vegan on Fifth: Here’s Park Slope
Tom Martinez, Witness: Cafe Madeline
The newly opened Cafe Madeline serving coffee, tea, desserts, sandwiches and soups located at 1603 Cortelyou Road at 16th Street in Ditmas Park.
He Heard the Shots That Killed John Lennon
Joshua Mack, a Park Slope resident, grew up in an apartment building across the street from the Dakota. One December night he heard the shots that killed John Lennon. Here is an excerpt from his essay, which was originally published on Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. Mack is a digital executive, who works with media companies as a product creator, marketer, and strategist
Did you hear that?” My sister asked as she burst into my room after the five quick popping sounds had just drifted into my room. “Did you hear those gunshots?” I gave her a look. I told her they were firecrackers. It was late and she was bothering me. I was sixteen, a sophomore in High School and she was fourteen. Therefore she often bothered me.
A few minutes later a siren began to fill the air, quiet and then louder. Then it stopped somewhere on the street below my window. My sister wandered back into my room as more sirens swelled in the distance, got louder, stopped downstairs, beneath out window. We looked at each other and after putting on some warm clothing, met at the door to our terrace, binoculars in hand.
Outside it was a nice December night, crisp and windy. A police car had pulled up and more were on the way. I remember seeing Lennon’s body or at least people standing around in a tight circle. Then several more police cars pulled up. There was movement and one of the police cars drove away. Later news trucks pulled up, though many fewer and smaller than the ones that gather at events today. After awhile we left and when we turned on the television we learned who had been shot…
Read more at Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood.
Tomorrow: “The Day Lennon Died” Author to Read at Community Bookstore
Thursday at 7PM Keith Greenberg, author of December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died (Backbeat Books), will be reading at the Community Bookstore on the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.
Greenberg, who lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, is a producer for American’s Most Wanted and has also produced for VH1, 48 Hours, MSNBC Investigates, the History Channel and Court TV. In his downtime, he has authored more than 30 non-ficti0n books..
This book is a minute-by-minute chronicle of that terrible day juxtaposed with well-told biographical sketches of Lennon, Ono, the other Beatles, Mark Chapman and all the other players in this tragedy, a must-read for the Lennon-obsessed—and those who remember or are curious about those grief filled days and weeks after Lennon’s death.
New York City itself is a character in the book as it was the city where Lennon felt most at home and where he created a safe cocoon with Yoko and their son, Sean, in the Dakota.
Lennon felt he could be himself here and that he could walk the streets, enjoy Central Park with his son, eat in restaurants and not be overwhelmed by his cult of celebrity.
Sadly his end came in the city that cradled him during a wonderful time in his life, after he became a father and found his voice musically with the Double Fantasy album.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Last Line: maugham
“He smiled and took her hand and pressed it. They got up and walked out of the gallery. They stood for a moment at the balustrade and looked at Trafalagar Square. CaRs and omnibuses hurried to and fro, and crowds passed, hastening in every direction, and the sun was shining.”
Survey Shows Support for PPW Bike Lane and New Traffic Configuration
I heard it on NPR this morning and I just got the email from Rachel Goodman, City Councilmember Brad Lander’s press representative,with news that the Bike Lane survey has been released and the findings are positive for supporters of the new traffic configuration and two-way bike lane on Prospect Park West.
The survey will be presented at a public meeting of the Community Board 6 Transportation Committee on Thursday, December 16th at 6:30pm at New York Methodist Hospital Auditorium, 506, 6th Street in Park Slope. Copies will also be available at the City Council’s hearing on Cycling in New York City on Thursday, December 9th, at 250 Broadway, 10am.
The 13-question survey was collected online and in-person October 15 – 30, 2010. According to Lander’s press release: “It was not a randomly-sampled public opinion poll, nor was it intended as a referendum on the project. While it was used as an organizing tool for active supporters and opponents of the project, responses reached far beyond organized advocacy networks.”
Here are the stats on the survey itself. It was completed by 3,150 Brooklyn residents (828 living on Prospect Park West or the blocks immediately adjacent to the street; 1,137 elsewhere in Park Slope; 1,185 elsewhere in Brooklyn ).
According to Lander, “The responses show deep interest in the project, with over 2,000 respondents answering open-ended questions (in addition to the multiple-choice questions), and over 1,000 respondents voluntarily providing contact information.”
And here are the actual results:
Among the 3,150 respondents overall, there is broad support for the project:
* 54% (1,522 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 24% (688 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 22% (633 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration
Among all respondents living in Park Slope (2,210 respondents):
* 49% (888 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 22% (408 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 29% (530 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration
Among the 272 respondents living on PPW, there is a roughly even split between those wishing to keep the bike lanes and those wishing to go back to the previous configuration:
* 31% (85 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 18% (50 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 50% (137 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration
Detailed findings from the survey (including methodology) are available at http://www.bradlander.com/ppwsurvey
Markowitz Wants Apple Store in Municipal Building
A huge space in the municipal building in downtown Brooklyn is for sale and Borough President Marty Markowitz has made it clear that he wants Steve Jobs to buy it for an Apple Store.
An Apple Store in Brooklyn? Sounds like an excellent idea for Apple. Surely it would be hugely popular in a borough that has many Apple users and a huge pool of potential customers.
Downtown Brooklyn is filling up with many high profile national stores like Barney’s Co-op and Trader Joe’s. Panera Bread, H&M, Aeropostale, Filene’s Basement, and Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack will all be Brooklyn-bound soon.
So what is the rent on the space in the Municipal Building? Something to the tune of $20 million says the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (in the Brooklyn Paper).
Neither Steve Jobs or anyone at Apple has gotten back to the Borough President who bought an iPad and instantly sent Jobs a message about an Apple Store in Brooklyn (that was a few months ago).
A dis or does Jobs have too much on his mind to bother with Brooklyn? Maybe he doesn’t get what’s going on in this borough. Maybe he doesn’t care. Your guess is as good as mine.
What Kind of Take Out Food Would You Like To See in Slope?
An OTBKB reader and fellow Park Sloper wrote to me yesterday about her desire to open a food establishment in the Slope. She wants to get feedback from neighbors about what they’d like to see:
“Good morning my fellow Park Slopers. I am opening a new food spot in the Slope and I wanted your opinion. I want to make a place that you will definitely want to come back to. I am looking to open up on 7th Ave (can’t give you an exact location yet, but it will be below 10th Street).
“What is something that you want to see eating wise? I am doing this for you so any and all ideas are welcomed. The spot will not be a full blown restaurant, but rather a grab and go spot with some seating areas.”
Note: Respond here or you can send me an email at louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com and I’ll get it to her.
Bklyn Bloggage: neighborhoods
MTA deploys vintage buses, trains for holidays: Sheepshead Bites
Marine Park community says no to high school plan: Gerritsen Beach
Shadowplay: NY Shitty
Remembering Henington Press: Here’s Park Slope
Weekly culture picks: Bushwick BK
Dumbo links week of 28 Nov: Dumbo NYC
Holiday inflatables: Pardon Me for Asking
New spin cycle studio to open in Slope: Effed in Park Slope
Is your rent too damned high?: The Local
Illegal dumping reaching epic proportions: Hawthorne Street
Ditmas Park Craft Fair on Dec 12: Ditmas Park Blog
Tom Martinez, Witness: Wedding Called Off, Brooklyn Church Benefit On
Talk about a silver lining.
Robin Rogers, a Greenpoint, Brooklyn resident, and her fiancee called off their engagement. They had a lovely wedding reception planned at Dressler Restaurant in Williamsburg. Instead of calling off the party, the couple decided to turn the reception into a fundraiser for the Greenpoint Reformed Church’s Food Pantry.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, Rogers, who is 40-years-old and the mother of two, called off the wedding a few months ago. The break up was devastating and expensive as she had paid more than $9,000. in non-refundable deposits for the restaurant, a dress and invites. That’s when Rogers decided to turn the event into a public service.
The public was invited to this swanky benefit where there was delicious food and drink. Five local do-gooders, who have helped the soup kitchen throughout the past year were honored: Rami Metal, Greenpoint/Williamsburg Liaison for Councilman Steven Levin; Taylor Erkkinen and Harry Rosenblum, The Brooklyn Kitchen; and Christine Onorati, WORD Bookstore
The church’s pastors were, understandably, thrilled. Quite a few politicians showed up for the festivities. A good time was had by all and money was raised for an exceptionally good cause. The bride was glowing. “I guess I’m married to Greenpoint,” she said during her toast.” Cheers.
Photos top down:
The bride, Robin Rogers, being interviewed by a TV reporter.
Pastor Ann Kansfield
Lincoln Restler (District Leader)
The bride making a toast
City Councilman Steve Levin (33rd District) talking with Pastor Ann Kansfield
Jezra Kaye: How Not to Connect to an Audience
Speaker coach, keynote speaker and speechwriter Jezra Kaye writes on her blog about chancellor-to-be Cathie Black’s first speech to parents on Monday. Here’s an excerpt from Kaye’s blog:
This morning, the local news is playing a clip of “Chancellor-in-Waiting” Cathie Black’s comment about housing small charter schools in the same buildings as large, “underutilized” (read: poor, since no middle class school in NYC has extra space; and isn’t it great that we have a two-class public school system?) school buildings. This policy saves the system money, but has concerned many parents, who’ve spoken up.
Black’s comment was (get ready), “Most of that screaming and yelling is staged. But some of it is just fear of the unknown.”
Oh, yeah, she’s gonna connect real well with an audience of New York City public school parents!
No wonder Bloomberg wouldn’t let her talk.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Last Line: hemingway
“A large white yacht was coming into harbor and seven miles out on the horizon you could see a tanker, small and neat in profile against the blue sea, hugging the reef as she made to the westward to keep from wasting fuel against the stream.”
Tom Martinez, Witness: Mural-in-Progress by Cece Carpio
Artist Cece Carpio is working on a new mural in the outdoor courtyard of Quathra (Arabic for tear or drip as in coffee), a new cafe on Cortelyou Road. Martinez will be following the progress of this mural in the days to come.
Born in the Philippines, Carpio is an illustrator, painter and muralist, who likes to visually tell stories about the communities she is part of. She has produced and exhibited work in the Philippines, Fiji Islands, Italy, Norway, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, California and New York.
OTBKB Music: The Madison Square Gardeners
Tomorrow (and the following two Tuesdays as well) Brooklyn-based The Madison Square Gardeners will play The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2. For now, you will find a video of The Gardeners shot just a few weeks back in NYC with two songs, On the Run and the anthemic Young and In Love here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.
–Eliot Wagner
Give the Gift from Local Shops This Holiday Season
Over the last few days I have walked three main shopping arteries – Seventh Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Smith Street – for various gift guides that I am working on and I can tell you that there’s just about everything you need on your shopping list right here in Brooklyn.
Truly, it is amazing how much gorgeous stuff there is around here. For one thing, there’s plenty that’s made and designed in Brooklyn. But there’s also an excellent selection of the best of the best from elsewhere in jewelry, accessories, home design, toys, food items and more for your holiday gifting.
For me it was fun to check out Smith Street. I haven’t been there in a few years. It was very nostalgic for me to go into Refinery, which opened 14 years ago, and was surely one of the first of the new shops in the “groovy reinvention” of Smith Street that slightly preceded the “groovy reinvention” of Fifth Avenue.
Refinery was the first shop to design and carry 718 t-shirts. She also was one of the first to do beautiful handmade purses carryalls, pouches, etc. out of gorgeous fabrics (see photograph above). Refinery’s bags were definitely THE Brooklyn bag for many years, well-designed, attractive, sturdy (great for city life). I know it was MY bag for a few years.
It was great to see that the shop is still alive and well and filled with great stuff including colorful clogs, lithograph pendant necklaces, loads of bags, beaded bracelets and toys.
Winning Design for Third Street Entrance Competition
We have a winner. The Park Slope Civic Council has selected a winning design from their competition for the entrance to Prospect Park at Third Street (now closed to traffic).
Jordan Yamada and Peter Zahatros of Manhattan came up with the top pick, Stone Garden, which consists of a variety of stones set on a pair of bronze roller bearings that can be repositioned for emergency vehicle passage.
It’s kinda hard to describe but the illustration is a big help. The city will have to approve the design before construction begins. You can see the other designs that were considered on the PSCC website.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
OTBKB Weekend List: It’s Sunday!
Happy Sunday. After my Weight Watchers Meeting, I’m heading to Claireware’s annual Holiday Craft Show (with hand-painted fabrics by Susan Steinbrock (see below). Don’t forget about PS 29’s Eat Pie and Shop benefit all day today. At 4:40 PM trek on over to hear Honor Moore and Rosemary Moore read at the 440 Gallery. Tonight at 6PM there’s the opening of art show called Serious Whimsey: A Collection of Inevitable Objects opens at Littlefield. The artists in the show are: Gail Rothschild, Justin Gignac, Kit Warren, Lisanne McTernan, Mark DiBattista, Stephanie Homa, and Sztuka Fabryka.
Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Don’t Be Shortsighted: Shop Local in Brooklyn
Yesterday I went “window” shopping on 7th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope for the various gift guides that I’m working on. It’s a real deja vu experience because I’ve done these holiday gift guides many times before.
Shop owners welcome me, remember me from years past, show me their favorite wares, talk.
In some cases, we spoke about the difficulties of the past two years. “After 2008, sales really dropped,” one clerk shared with me. “A lot of our vendors went out of business.”
It’s sobering to hear from local businesses about the economic travails of the last few years. One local business owner told me that he had changed his merchandise since last year. “The high end items seem to sell better. The middle range. Nah.” The tough times have definitely taught many lessons.
At one store, the owner told me that he is convinced that Internet shopping has irrevocably changed the way people shop. What he’s noticed is that people come into his shop to try clothing on for size and color. Then he watches them notate the correct size, color and item number. He’s sure they’re going home to save money by buying that item on the Internet.
“That’s immoral,” I screamed out. It really made me angry. Indeed, people would rather save $10 than reinvest in their community.
“That makes me so mad,” I told him. I could tell it made him mad, too.
This store owners anecdotal observation definitely meshes with statistics and news reports that shops were crowded on Black Friday but sales were flat (though up from last year). Cyber Monday, however, was a breakthrough day for Internet sales.
The above-mentioned store owner has determined that brick and mortar shops must carry items that are so unique you could never find them on the Internet. It also helps to sell items that have price regulations (same price everywhere).
Sad to say, even in Park Slope people don’t get how important it is to reinvest in the community. Spending money in the neighborhood is a great way to support the quality of life around here. If people keep shopping on the Internet, the only stores that will be able to afford to be here are national chains. And then we’ll be sorry because all of the character, local color and uniqueness of our neighborhood shopping experience will be gone.
Here’s what I think: spend a few dollars more to keep our shopkeepers in business.
*note: store owners generally don’t like to be quoted about hard times so all quotes are anonymous. Sorry.
OTBKB’s Weekend List: It’s Saturday!
Good morning everyone: I’m heading over to the PS 321 Holiday Craft Fair to buy a scarf for my mother-in-law from that wonderful scarf guy. Then I’m going to Claireware’s annual Holiday Craft Show (with hand-painted fabrics by Susan Steinbrock (see below). I hope to stop by Barbes to catch Soul Power, a doc about the Ali/Foreman fight in Zaire in 1974 (read more below). Did anyone make it over to Red, Hot and New Orleans last night? Tonight’s the special Chanukah Concert at the Jewish Music Cafe with The David Ross Band and special guests. Also don’t forget: On Sunday, December 5th at 6PM, an art show called Serious Whimsey: A Collection of Inevitable Objects opens at Littlefield, with an opening reception (that usually means white wine and snacks and lots of people). The artists in the show are: Gail Rothschild, Justin Gignac, Kit Warren, Lisanne McTernan, Mark DiBattista, Stephanie Homa, and Sztuka Fabryka at
Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
