All posts by louise crawford

Civics and Urban Life

Shocker

I almost fell over this morning when I saw the words: GOOD BYE on the window of Fidgits, a children’s clothing store that’s been on Seventh Avenue longer than I have.  According to Charlotte Maier, the owner is moving to Georgia where she has family.

Fidgits was the best and longest-operating kid’s store in Park Slope. God knows, I’ve  spent plenty of money there on boy’s corderoys and striped shirts, girl’s dresses, shorts and underwear.

Fidgits was also the first Slope store to stock "Groovy Girls," the now-ubiquitous Barbie alternative: rag dolls with style and attitude. 

In the old days, Fidgits was located in the tiny Fratelli Ravioli storefront. But even then, the owner carried all the best and the coolest styles and brands. She’s always had her hand on the pulse of Slope kid’s fashion. 

GOOD BYE Fidgits. It’s the end of an era, alright. The end of an era.

Food and Drink

Heard it Through the Grapevine

2 Comments

Olive Vine Cafe is coming back!

The middle-eastern eatery located on Seventh Avenue between Union and Berkeley that was destroyed by a fire in August 2004 is moving to 54 Seventh Street.

Seventh STREET?

Yup, that’s what it says on a sign posted on the window of the burned out store.

But that doesn’t make any sense. So OTBKB made a quick trip to 54 Seventh AVENUE and found the future home of delectable salads, pita, lentil soup and falafel.

Olive Vine is going IN and Prints Charming, a small framing and print shop, is moving OUT. In all her years in the Slope, OTBKB has never once set foot inside the shop. And now it’s too late: oh well. They always had lovely framed floral prints, and labels from orange crates displayed in the window.

OTBKB heard that the August fire began in the kitchen in Olive Vine. It spread to Zuzu’s Petals to its south and the large Korean market to its north. The demise of the beloved Zuzu’s Petals inspired a neighborhood campaign to save the store. 375 Fifth Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets is the new home of abundant floral arrangements and plantings.

So far, nothing has been done to clean up the severely damaged one-story building that used to house the three stores. One hopes that the landlord will tidy up the mess so that stretch of Seventh Avenue can be returned to its former glory.

One hopes.

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_newblog

1 Comment

WHAT is Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, you may ask.  And WHY am I doing this?

ANSWER: Not sure just yet.

It remains to be seen what this needs and wants to be. In the meantime, I will continue to be the all-eyes, all-ears, all-around-the-Slope interested busybody; a social anthropologist, if you will.

Observing, being alert to the details, passing on important information, I want to give  you a wiff of the neighborhood zeitgeist, the mood that’s in the air.

Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn will also include vital links to information about: schools, services, parking, retail, food, books, movies, local artisans, writers, artists, activists, friends and neighbors.

Down the line there will be advertising about stoop sales, school, community, and cultural events in the neighborhood. Don’t be surprised if you see shops and services advertised, as well: I need to pay the rent (email me advertising information).

Keep reading as things evolve. And please send your observations and YOUR notes about what makes the Slope tick.

I’d LOVE to hear from you.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Civics and Urban Life

Love Your Face

A friend and local entrepreneur posted the following on Craig’s List about what promises to be a love-ly event:

Why wear your heart on your sleeve?

Put your best face forward with a portrait that is sure to make the object of your affection swoon.

FOU LE CHAKRA, men

Civics and Urban Life

Literary Fundraiser

On Wednesday February 9th at 7 p.m., Brooklyn-born author Frank McCourt will be reading at MS 51 on Fifth Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets.

A fund raiser for the talent programs at Park Slope’s illustrious Middle School 51, McCourt will be reading excerpts from his new book about teaching english at Stuyvesant High School, “Tis,” and “Angela’s Ashes.”

A reception will follow at the Stone House in the Park at Third Street and Fifth Avenue.

Food and Drink

Miracle on Third Street

3 Comments

Here’s a tip for those of you just dying to know what’s going into that corner storefront on Third Street and Seventh Avenue that used to be a Peruvian chicken place with a gigantic mural that looked like a rock climbing wall.

Well, OTBKB knows!

Miracle Grill, a popular and well-regarded southwestern eatery in the East Village, is opening an outpost in the hungry borough. Bobby Flay, the first chef at Miracle Grill back in the 1980’s, went on to open Mesa Grill, Bolo and other hot restaurants. The First Avenue Miracle Grill continues to be a well-run, attractive, and delicious place to go for unusual Mexican food and drinks. It should be a tasty addition the Slope’s dinner and brunch scene (eggs benedict with cornbread and chipotle hollondaise), not to mention take-out.

Books

It’d Take a Guy a Lifetime…

1 Comment

Curious about the name of this new blog. Here’s an excerpt from Thomas Woolfe’s masterful short story called: “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” written in thick Brooklynese:

Dere’s no guy livin’ dat knows Brooklyn t’roo an t’roo, because it’d take a guy a lifetime just to find his way aroun’ duh goddam town.

“So like I say, I’m waitin’ for my train t’ come when I sees dis big guy standin’ deh — dis is the foist I eveh see of him. Well, he’s lookin’ wild, y’know, an’ I can see dat he’s had plenty, but still he’s holdin’ it; he talks good an’ is walkin’ straight enough. So den, dis big guy steps up to a little guy dat’s standin’ deh, an’ says, ‘How d’yuh get t’ Eighteent’ Avenoo an Sixty-sevent’ Street?’ he says…”

and

“Jesus! What a nut he was! I wondeh what evah happened to ‘m, anyway. I wondeh if someone knocked him on duh head, or if he’s till wanderin’ aroun’ in duh subway in duh middle of duh night with his little map! Duh poor guy. Say, I’ve got to laugh, at dat, when I t’ink about him! Maybe he’s found out by now dat he’ll never live long enought to know duh whole of Brooklyn. It’d take a guy a lifetime to Brooklyn t’roo an’ t’roo. An even den, yuh wouldn’t know it all.”