In response to yesterday’s story about a 60-year-old man being carded at Park Slope’s Union Hall, Leon was inspired…

Union Hall: Park Seniors in Alley

Come one, come all

To Union Hall.

Unlimited fun

For the under-31.

The Celebrate Brooklyn fun begins at 7:30 at the bandshell n Prospect Park.

Three of Chaplin’s greatest shorts—The Rink (1916), The Immigrant (1916), and The Adventurer (1917)—will come alive as never before with new scores by the highly sought after UK based composer
CARL DAVIS (London Philharmonic Orchestra), performed live by the
dashing 16-piece pickup NY chamber orchestra THE KNIGHTS. Brooklyn born
Davis returns home to conduct. With the charming local violinist and
singer CHRISTINA COURTIN, whose fearless delivery recalls “performers
as diverse as Janis Joplin and Antony.” (Time Out)

Illustration by Dwinning on  Flickr

The New York Moon is a very interesting Internet-based publication that describes itself this way:

The New York Moon is an internet-based publication adhered to
the lunar phases of the real waxing, waning moon. It is collection of
experimental, reflective, and imaginative projects that unfold in any
medium.

This month the theme is the desert. Suffice it to say that it has multi-media features called The Singing Sand, Journeys Through Barren Lands and Desert Day: Live Without Running Water. S

Photographer Tom Martinez, who is also Pastor of All Souls Bethlehem Church in Kensington, took this picture on Wednesday after an accident on Ocean Parkway in which a pedestrian was struck and killed while crossing the street.

In this shot, a special Orthodox response team attends to bloody remains following the accident.

A hospital that doesn’t deliver babies? That’s a bad sign. Clearly LICH is in big financial trouble slowly selling off assets to get themselves out of the mess they’re in. Hospital representatives say that by closing their obstetrics department and selling the buildings, they’ll be able to keep bankruptcy at bay.

For those who didn’t see the article in the New York Times yesterday,
this turn of events will come as news for people who had their kids at this hospital.  In 2007, according to the New York Times, 2,700 babies were delivered there.

According to quotes in the New York Times article, LICH may be shooting itself in the foot by closing their obstetrics division.

Stanley Brezenoff, president of Continuum Health Partners, the
parent company of Long Island College Hospital, said Wednesday that the
obstetrics service was being closed and the two buildings sold in an
effort to pay off tens of millions of dollars in operating and capital
debt that might otherwise force it to declare bankruptcy.

Mr. Brezenoff said that delivering babies was the biggest money loser at the hospital, as at many hospitals,
because of low reimbursement rates and high premiums for malpractice
insurance. “Our decision to take this step is not a happy one,” he said.

While
the financial concerns reflect those surrounding obstetrics at
hospitals nationwide, some doctors said that the closing could be
shortsighted, since maternity wards often bring in patients in
surrounding communities who will return when they or their children
need medical care.

“I think it’s well understood that obstetrical
services are a portal into the hospital,” Dr. John P. Brennan, an
obstetrician who has delivered babies at Long Island College Hospital
for 19 years, said Wednesday. “In many families the women, the mom
makes the health care decisions. If she’s had a baby there, when her
husband needs a procedure 5 or 10 years later, he’ll often go to the
same hospital. So obstetrics feeds all the other services.”

Hepcat and I went to Movies with a View last night in Brooklyn Bridge Park to see Ace in the Hole, a dark, funny, cynical Billy Wilder film about a tabloid reporter, played by Kirk Douglas (who was nominated for an Academy Award), stuck at a small New Mexico newspaper, who hooks a big story and makes a lot of trouble.

The Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park has to be one of the greatest spots in the world to see a movie on a gorgeous night. You’ve got views of lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Elliasson’s waterfall, and the old and very dramatic-looking factory buildings next to the park.

You could just sit there and not watch the movie and have a great time.

The Screen: They’ve got a very cool blow up screen that has good visibility from lots of directions. It did cut off some of the picture. But hey. 

The Sound: Not so great considering the roar of the two bridges and the sound of boats on the river.

The Food: They’ve got Mexican style food from Rice, which confused me because I thought it was a Thai place. Hot dogs, corn on the cob, too. And a very tasty ginger lemonade. Not too expensive.

The Speeches: A host of politicans (supporters of the park), ncluding State Senator Eric Adams, a made speeches before the show.  I thought I heard Marty Markowitz’s voice but it was a different Marty, Marty O’Connor, another State Senator.

The event was a little long on the speechifying about development of the park. But I guess that’s what Movies With A View is all about. I thought it was interesting that they never mentioned the name of next week’s movie. It’s Pleasantville, by the way.

The Movie: Absolutely fantastic on a lot of levels. Kirk Douglas’ performance is over the top, hammy, intense, serious, and very funny all at the same time. Amazing. It’s so in your face!

The script, co-written by Billy Wilder, is just jam packed with great lines of dialogue about tabloid journalism, New York, and the lengths newspapers will go for a good story. The movie, made in 1951, is unbelievably prescient. It predicts everything that has happened in the subsequent years in print and television journalism and the public’s appetite for certain kinds of stories.

The Experience: Priceless. I am always so pleased when I actually do one of the things that I blog about.   

Let me just say, I want to go back again. Today. For lunch. The food was that well prepared and fresh. I get hungry just thinking about it.

Two friends and I met for lunch yesterday at Scalino’s on Seventh Avenue and 10th Street. I’d heard it was a great place from Diaper Diva and she did not lie. It is a great place.

Diaper Diva had the pasta, which she raved about. Since it was lunchtime we had lighter fare. And seafood at that. But it was fantastic. Here are the delicious entrees we tasted:

Grilled calamari with onions and red pepper

Grilled scallops over green salad and white beans

Another table was having swordfish, which looked fantastic, too. I believe our waiter was the owner and he was very friendly and helpful. He was the only one there so the service is leisurely. He said they’ll have a liquor license starting next week. Great news for all. The corner location is extremely pleasant with its lively view of Seventh Avenue street life, Red Hot II and the now  shuttered Tea Lounge. They even have dining al fresco on 10th Street.

Scalino
347 Seventh Avenue at 10th Street in Park Slope
Hours: 11 am until 11 pm Monday through Saturday. 11 am until 10 p.m on Sunday.

718-840-5738

Reclaimed Home was inspired to create her own Brooklyn Trivia quiz after seeing the one I posted about on about.com yesterday. This one is not for amateurs. I think this Brooklyn Trivia quiz thing could become a fad. Or a TV show. Brooklyn Jeopardy, anyone? Have fun!

"After breezing through About.com’s Brooklyn trivia quiz linked by OTBKB,
I decided to create one of my own. I spent hours building a lovely
scored, wrestling with the html, one only to discover it wasn’t showing
up at all in Explorer. So, you’ll have to guess at these and I’ll post
the answers later. In the meantime, feel free to leave your guesses in
the comments section…but no cheating!"

It was a night of great music in Park Slope’s JJ Byrne Park, featuring local performers, as well as a group that harked from the far reaches of Jersey City.

The night also marked the near-end of a culture-filled July in that ever-so-lively park.

The month included: Midsummer’s Night Dream by Piper Theater, Opera on Tap, the Democracy in Action film series (Manchurean Candidate, The Candidate and 1776) and more.

Kudos to the energetic and innovative Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, for organizing the Shakespeare camp, the Piper Theater performances, Brooklyn Film Works, Music on Tuesday nights and MORE. Props to all the actors, theater tech, A/V tech, and other staff and volunteers who sold popcorn and water night after night.

On Tuesday night’s bill: Hank Crawford, Calamity Sam solo and with and his band (pictured above) and the tuneful and introspective Lily Konigsberg.

The 2-piece Jersey band, Plush Interior, a drummer and 10-string bass player, wowed the crowd with improvised, trippy jazz. Their music reminded Hepcat of Deodato, an Arabic jazz player from the 1970’s.

Perhaps most importantly, photographer Richard Gin was on the scene and he grabbed this lofty shot of Calamity Sam and the band. Gin is working on an impressive photo essay about the youthful Brooklyn music scene. You can see many great shots of local teen bands on his blog. His work as a professional photographer is equally impressive.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Here’s some good news for parents at the overcrowded PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights. Hopefully the Schools Chancellor will address overcrowding at other Brooklyn schools as well. This from NY 1:

The city is annexing a Brooklyn school to help ease overcrowding.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says an addition will be built on P.S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights by 2011.

Local officials applaud the move as a testament to the success and growing popularity of the previously underperforming school.

The expected costs for the project are included in the current
capital plan, and funding for the construction will come out of the
next five-year budget, which begins next year.

Blog At Your Own Peril

You sit at the computer
For hours on end
And when at last you get up
Find you can’t bend.

You blog away on this
And that and such
And suddenly your neck
Cries out for a crutch.

You click away until
Paralysis
Sets in and vital heartbeat
Goes amiss. 

You type till blood pours out
From all your fingers
And breathing comes in spurts
And painful zingers.

You know of course your health
Is
off the  charteries
And the diagnosis is:
Blogged arteries

Eugene Patron, who tells-all about Prospect Park, sent word yesterday that the Prospect Park website has just added a great new feature: a “tour” of the Park’s notable trees. Accordingto Patron, "14 of the Park’s rarest, most unusual, oldest, and tallest specimens are displayed on a simple, clickable map. Each click triggers a window with more information and three beautiful images." Now, doesn’t that sound like a cool way to learn about the great trees in our midst?

Check it out here: http://www.prospectpark.org/trees

The online tree tour was the brainchild of Jeroen “Haffy” Shiran, an arborist, and his colleagues in the Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management Office (LMO).  Haffy researched and wrote the text accompanying the tour.  The photos were taken by Paul Blutter, a volunteer who has been working with LMO over the last few years.  An amateur photographer, Blutter spent much of last year photographing the Park’s trees.  The online tour itself was designed by Jesse Adelman, Director of New Media for the Alliance.

“It was great to collaborate with LMO on this feature – they’re really passionate, and they are experts on the subject,” Adelman explains.  “It’s nice to grow our web site with features that are educational and fun to use.  Plus this is also an opportunity to support the expansion of our Plant-a-Tree program. “

More than 1,500 trees have been planted in Prospect Park over the last two decades as part of the Park’s Commemorative Tree Program.  Hundreds of the Park’s existing majestic and beloved trees have also been adopted by people through the Commemorative Tree Program.  Planting or adopting a tree is not just a wonderful way to honor a special person, but also helps the Prospect Park Alliance care for arboriculture in Brooklyn’s great landmark Park.

The Prospect Park Alliance’s Office of Landscape Management works with donors wishing to plant a new tree to select an appropriate type and an optimal location.  Donors are then welcome to attend the planting of their tree.  Planting is done in spring and fall.  August 15 is the deadline to make a donation in time for fall planting.

Continue reading An Online Tour Of Park’s Notable Trees →