Large windows make for an interesting viewing area on the Highline, the elevated
walkway and public space running along 10th Avenue.
The main walkway
proceeds to the left of the space pictured above and looks out over the
Hudson to the west.
Photo by Tom Martinez
OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, August 2, 2009
1 pm – 3 pm
For this beautiful house in Kingston that I posted about the other day.
There's so much to love about Block Island and it's the kind of place that deepens with time spent there. Here are some of my recommendations:
WHERE TO STAY:
The Sea Breeze Inn: Quietly considered one of the best Inns on the island, it is idyllically situated overlooking a wildflower meadow, perennial gardens and a swan pond. It is at the crest of Spring Street Hill with great views of ocean and coastline and is a five-minute walk from the Old Harbor, the ferry, shops and restaurants.
My favorite room is #5, which is in a cute cottage with 5 rooms and two bathrooms (in other words you share the bathrooms with others) #5, a huge room with ocean views, is great for a writer or anyone who wants to spend a lot of time in the room.
Room #4, where I stayed this year is somewhat smaller but also very lovely. On the first floor there are three smaller room that are also quite nice.
The Sea Breeze also has quite a few large private rooms with their own bathrooms. #10 is the very deluxe cottage and it gets reserved months if not years in advance. Gaby, who runs the Inn for the owners, is absolutely a pro at what she does. Marlene, who is the housekeeper and breakfast maker, is a wonderful person, too. Mary Newhouse, who owns the Inn with her husband, is an abstract painter of some repute. Her paintings grace the walls of the Inn and add beautiful color and gesture to the rooms.
The Rose Farm Inn and The Atlantic Inn also come highly recommended. There are also B&Bs on High Street that people like. My mother once stayed at the Narragansett Inn at New Harbor.
WHERE TO EAT
My favorite place to eat on this trip was a good old family seafood restaurant called Fin's. They serve fantastic steamers and a really good broiled fish sandwich that is very simple and to the point. They also have Blue Moon beer on tap and it comes with a slice of orange.
On this trip, I also fell in love with Ernie's Restaurant, a breakfast place that is only open from 6am until around 11. They make a great egg and cheese sandwich.
Rebecca's was Alice's favorite place to get caesar salad, onion rings, fried fish sandwiches, wraps, burgers, french fries and milkshakes.
Eli's is a place for foodies who like a friendly, casual atmosphere with fresh and flavorful dishes. Their bread with garlic and sun-dried tomato spread is a great starter as are the Tuna Nachos, with sushi grade tuna, creme fraiche, scallions and Asian chips. The lobster and scallop lasagna, also a mixed metaphor, works big time. The service is great and prices are on par with everywhere else on the island, which is to say pricey but not insane. And you can just have the Arugula and Goat Cheese salad at the bar if you're not that hungry.
Harry's Cafe is also wonderful. They serve a wide selection of flavorful food including seafood dishes, sandwiches and Pad Thai, which seems to be their specialty. What's great is that you can sit outside and take in the harbour view.BYOB.
Three Sisters is the go-to sandwich place that is actually run by three sisters who work hard in their tiny kitchen making sandwiches and wraps with funny names like the Twisted Sister (a turkey sandwich with a bunch of other stuff) the Hippie Sister (a veggie wrap with hummus) and others. You can eat in their great yard with a hammock and picnic tables.
Froozie's is another good sandwich place with a tofu and portobello mushroom vibe. They also serve breakfast and it all tastes very fresh and homemade and is on the porch of the National Hotel.
Juice 'N Java is an Internet Cafe that also serves the best coffee in town. I spent a lot of time there on this trip and they play great music and are open from 6am until 6 p.m.
WHERE TO DRINK
On this trip I tried the Veranda Bar of The Spring House Hotel, the classic old hotel at the top of Spring Street Hill. I always avoided it like the plaque because it gets crowded and noisy on Thursday's, which is Martini Night complete with a live band and hundreds of people crammed onto the porch. It rained on the one Thursday night I was there so Martini Night was a washout. That said, I did try the Espresso Martini that someone told me about and it's a crazy contradiction in terms but tasty like a White Russian on steroids. Most weeknights it's pretty quiet at the Veranda Bar and you can sit on the porch or on the lawn in a white Adirondack chair and admire the breathtaking view.
ENTERTAINMENT
Friday nights belong to Adrian Hibbs, who performs his original funk jazz at the bar inside The Spring House. His voice is a cross between Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway and he improvises blissfully on a jazzy Wurlitzer organ. Catch this guy before he becomes too famous. He lived in Brooklyn for years and played at the just closed Black Betty, but has since moved to New Orleans, where they really get what he's up to.
Nick's is the bar where everyone goes for two dollar Naragansett beers and to mix, mingle and dance. It's not really my cup of tea but a Rolling Stones cover band, The Blushing Brides, was pretty convincing, raucous and fun last Friday and Saturday nights.
WHERE TO BUY
The Glass Onion on Water Street carries tasteful vintage meets India meets John Derian meets quasi-Victorian items, featuring interesting jewelry, bags, shoes, books, home items, clothing and more.
Lazy Fish is another fun place that has vintage and new items, books, jewelry, collectibles, lamps made out of kitchen strainers and toasters, antique postcards, small, beautiful beach paintings and Claireware, the wonderful pottery by one of Brooklyn's own.
Island Bound Bookstore: And yes, there is a good bookstore on Block Island. Between the Post Office and Harry’s Café, this full-service
bookstore offers lots of room to relax and browse. Island Bound stocks
the island's widest variety of fine literature for all ages. Readers
will find New York Times best sellers, current pulp and hard-bound
fiction and a generous offering of nonfiction, including titles on
Block Island, boating, cooking, gardening and more. An inviting
children's section offers fun activiites for rainy days. Special orders
welcome.
RENT A BIKE
You can rent a bike just about anywhere on Block Island but we liked the bikes from Rose Beach Bicycle at the Rose Farm Inn.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The Mohegan Bluffs: Going down to the beach via extremely steep steps is fun; going up is great exercise. The view is energizing and breathtaking.
North Lighthouse: The bike ride to this lighthouse is one of the island's great rides.
Southeast Lighthouse: A really special place with a view.
Monument Beach: Great beach, great swimming
The Farmer's Market: On Saturday morning from 9 am until 11:30 there's local produce, gorgeous flower arrangements, hand- made items like sweaters and quilts, jewelry, abstract paintings and homemade goodies. All while bluegrass duo serenades the crowd.
The Block Island Free Library: Great for a rainy day and Internet access.
The Zoo: Near the Atlantic Inn; they've got a llama and a camel.
GETTING THERE
It's easy to get to Block Island from NYC. You just take the Amtrak train to New London, where you can get the ferry to the Island. The ferry dock is just across the tracks from the station. Voila: You don't need a car and can walk to the Sea Breeze and other B&Bs from the ferry on the Block Island side.
There is almost constant ferry service to Block Island from Pt. Judith, Rhode Island.
You can also get a ferry in Montauk, Long Island but they run less frequently.
THE DOWNSIDE
The island is full of day and overnight tourists in the summer. People rent mopeds and and that can be annoying. That said, tourism is the lifeblood of the Island. For a quieter stay try September or the Spring, both said to be great times to visit and take in the natural beauty of the Island.
Monday, I was at a table at The Living Room with my friend John, waiting
for Jonatha Brooke and her band to take the stage. The place was
pretty crowded and a woman comes over to the table, looks at the
remaining empty chair and asks if we mind if she sits there. "Not at
all," I said.
John and I continue to talk and at one point I mentioned my column here
in Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. A very short time after that, the
woman at our table asks me if I'm a music writer. I say that I am, and
then she hands me CD; her CD. We talk a bit. I learn her name is
Eleanor and that she uses just her first name professionally. It turns
out that she knows one of John's relatives. I tell Eleanor that I'll
listen to her CD. Then Jonatha Brooke comes to the stage and starts
her excellent and rocking show. When the show ends, John, Eleanor
and I all go our separate ways.
When I got home Monday night, I put Eleanor's CD, which is titled Us,
into my computer and listened to it. It's just an EP with four tracks. But
there's a lot to like on Us. Eleanor's voice is smooth and quite
melodic. Her songs are jazz based and remind me just a bit of Sasha
Dobson's earlier songs. The mood on Us is mellow, but an interesting
form of mellow.
Eleanor will be playing a few dates in Brooklyn and Manhattan starting
towards the end of August, and I plan on following up on
her.
(Photo by Todd Chalfant)
–Eliot Wagner
Brooklyn Arts Council invites musicians and songwriters to submit an original song about September 11th, the event itself, its aftermath or its effects to the September 11th Memorial Sing Project. A selection of songs will be performed live on September 11th, 2009 at 5pm at a location in DUMBO to be announced in mid-August. All songs submitted will be archived on disc/tape in the Brooklyn Arts Council Folk Arts Archive.
Every year since 2005, BAC Folk Arts has presented an annual September 11th memorial project. Past projects include film screenings, symposia and photo exhibitions all demonstrating the way New York artists, and especially Brooklyn artists, respond to and memorialize September 11th.
The invitation to submit a song is open to musicians anywhere. The invitation is aimed at singer/songwriters, but other kinds of composers should certainly send material. Primary consideration for the performance on September 11th will be given to Brooklyn artists, then to others in the New York Metro area, and beyond. Approximately 30 songs will be chosen for live performance on September 11th, 2009. Deadline for submissions: August 20th, 2009
Visit www.brooklynartscouncil.org for more information, including submission guidelines and the application form.
Even when I'm on Block Island, Scott Turner, the Pub Quiz man of Rocky Sullivan's I've never met comes through with his weekly missive. This one travels far and wide and promises to be quite zany. Brought to you as always by Miss Wit, the great t-shirt designer of Red Hook. CHeck out her site why doncha. The tees are wonderful.
Maybe it's the middle of summer. Maybe it's the odd weather – May's chilly winds, June's washouts, July's nearly-every-day thunder rumbling over us. Maybe it's the economy, which continues to slip-slide away despite forecasters offering tiny tidbits of hope, the way kids tug at their parents sleeves on rainy days and say "isn't there some way we can still have the picnic? Please?!!"
Or maybe, just maybe, it's Ugly Bat Boy, a cat so unremittingly weird looking, so disconcerting, that all things bizarre seem destined to be his doing.
When good cats go Joan Rivers…
Ugly Bat Boy, lives in a New Hampshire veterinary clinic. He was brought to my attention by Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz attendee James Bowers. He's the animal world's version of portraits in thunder-and-lighting mansions, the ones whose eyes follow soon-to-be-victims.
According to the piece James forwarded, Ugly Bat Boy "has a nice disposition and real inner beauty." Which is what separates Ugly Bat Boy from, say, Mayor Bloomberg.
Channeling the mayor: "If I spend enough money running for mayor, people will forget how rich I am."
I'm not saying Ugly Bat Boy is the reason for the Apex of Weirdness currently coursing through everyone's consciousness. But after this bulleted list, we might have to revisit the perfidious effect of those barely moving eyes on the very core of human existence.
As Ugly Bat Boy has emerged onto the national stage, so too have these oddities erupted:
if only Reggie White could be here to see this.
Minaya, Rubin. The scapegoater,. and goat being scaped
(left) Jim Bunning, the only man to toss a perfect game at Shea Stadium
(right) Jim Bunning, demonstrating how much a wrist needs to move to not be "limp"
![[AKMGSM.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mJPzxRaCL64/SmhBSPMldyI/AAAAAAAAHwg/LVd6E3yVdpw/s1600/AKMGSM.jpg)
Atlantic Yards needs to be sunk. Because it would provide few, if any, affordable apartments, newly-created jobs and union jobs, because it would cost taxpayers (i.e. you and me) billions of dollars, because it's been such a scam and corrupt process it makes Boss Tweed look like Walter Cronkite, and because it's the Ugly Bat Boy of real-estate developments. That's why Atlantic Yards has to be stopped, now, and replaced with a plan that makes good on the promises Ratner can't and obviously won't.
If you head to Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's website, you'll get all the info you need for Wednesday's big meeting, as well as incredible clips from last week's community board meeting. Want more info? Head to No Land Grab and Atlantic Yards Report.
which side are you on, folks, which side are you on? Brooklyn's, you say?
So there you have it. Ugly Bat Boy's Pageant of the Weird. As at any juncture in the march of humanity, this has been a tip-of-the-iceberg exercise.
Thanks to James Bowers and Ugly Bat Boy aiding and abetting Weirdsville U.S.A.'s journey from the ether to your e-mail box.
Even money odds that it's even toastier next week.
I'm in extra innings here on Block Island. Adding a night and two days to my stay was an inspired idea and I am getting close to the home stretch of a decent second draft of my novel.
Yesterday was a good day of writing. The weather was gorgeous and I took a long ride on the Mohegan Trail swelling with joy at the many gorgeous views.
It was with great sadness that I returned my 24-speed bicycle to Rose Beach Bicycle Rental. I'd had it out for a week and that bike was becoming a very good friend and perfect means of transportation.
The one thing that's not great about Block Island is the less than stellar Internet service. For me that's been a blessing AND I always have my iPhone. But it's also been a source of some anxiety.
Yesterday I had much aggravation connected with trying to email my Smartmom column to Gersh and an article I'm doing for the Associated Press to my editor there.
When I finally gave up, I treated myself to an Espresso Martini on the veranda of the Spring House at sunset. No, I'm not becoming one of those Hemingway-eque alcoholic writers. It was an Espresso Martini for christ's sake—a dessert drink that is sort of relaxing but also enervating. But boy did I have a tough time falling asleep last night.
How many shots of espresso were in that thing?
But glory be what a special island this; I have so enjoyed my time here.
Stay tuned for an Only the Blog Knows Block Island style list of all the go-to spots on the island that I've discovered in my three summers here.
iPhone pix of my writing desk at the Sea Breeze on Block Island
Nice double bill over at The Living Room tonight. First up at 8pm is
Israel Gripka. You may remember I included Israel's album, New York
Town in my faves for the first half of 2009. He's a talented
songwriter who despite his youth, has taken in the best that the 70s
has to offer. Although great with a band, he may be in solo or duo
formation tonight. Whatever formation he's playing in, he's really
worth your while to catch.
Jonatha Brooke follows at 9pm. Although I've only seen Jonatha once
(in Chicago at that), I found her music to be enjoyable and her to be
an engaging performer. Jonatha's currrent album, The Works, contains
songs she crafted from Woody Guthrie's unpublished lyrics. I suspect
that she'll be playing stuff from that record as well as other material.
Israel Gripka (8), Jonatha Brooke (9), The Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street (F
Train to Second Avenue; use the First Avenue exit).
–Eliot Wagner
I had breakfast with Tony Avella, NYC Councilman and mayoral candidate, at Donuts in Park Slope. and will be running my profile of him on Thursday.
I also got a press release from him saying he has accepted Bill Thompson’s call for a debate on education issues. I'll keep you posted on that.
In the meantime, read my Breakfast-of-Candidates with City Comptroller and mayoral candidate, Bill Thompson.
Also check out the Public Advocates Candidates Forum toight. There's post about it today on OTBKB.
I wish I could be at this forum. The race for public advocate is an interesting one. If anyone wants to report on this please do.
In this spirit, two organizations, Brown Memorial Baptist Church and Brooklyn for Barack, are teaming up to host a Public Advocate Candidates Forum. Brown Memorial Baptist church under the dynamic leadership of Reverend Clinton M. Miller continues to develop its community organizing program, working within Central Brooklyn on issues of affordable housing, jobs, education, and senior issues. Reverend Miller says: “The Public Advocate has an important role to play in helping to solve some of our community’s most intractable problems. We believe that this forum will make clear that this community expects the next Public Advocate to be active and engaged around social issues and to be front and center in helping to solve critical problems that have resulted from the economic crisis”.
Brooklyn for Barack continues to provide opportunities for people who were activated by last year’s election, hosting two community service forums and canvassing around the issue of healthcare. Jordan Thomas, co-founder of Brooklyn for Barack says: “ 600 people showed up at our first post-election event, looking for volunteer opportunities among 65 organizations. It’s clear that people are still hungry to participate. What we hope and expect is that folks who attend the candidate forum will not only walk away with a sense of who they are going to vote for, but also a sense of who they will actively support.”
Moderated by the distinguished Jonathan Hicks, formerly of the New York Times, the event will present an exciting opportunity for community leaders, grassroots activists and the general public to hear from an impressive array of candidates. In addition to a question and answer segment, the program will also include a brief overview of the Office of the Public Advocate.
3 of the 4 candidates are confirmed to attend. Each candidate will remain for the full 90-minute program. Please join us for what will prove to be an informative and interesting evening in New York City politics.
WHO: City Council Member Bill de Blasio
City Council Member Eric Gioia
Attorney Norman Siegel
Moderator Jonathan Hicks
Reverend Clinton M. Miller
Brown Memorial Baptist Church
Brooklyn for Barack
WHAT: PUBLIC ADVOCATE CANDIDATES FORUM
WHEN: MONDAY, JULY 27th, 7:00-8:30pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)
WHERE: BROWN MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH
484 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216
(Entrance on Gates Ave between Washington and Waverly)
(Subway: C,G to Clinton/Washington)
NYC officials have taken to salting their
comments with Yiddish words. –news item
KOSHER CORNER
Meshuga here and yenta there
–New Yorkers using Yiddish–
Although the heartland's apt to plotz
Wondering if that's Briddish.
Smartmom pulled a Skenazy. Big time. She let the 12-year-old Oh So Feisty One and her friend, Luvbud, who is just 11-1/2, take the F train to Coney Island.
Alone.
Take that, Lenore Skenazy! Smartmom let her 12-year-old daughter ride all the way from Park Slope to Stillwell Avenue. To paraphrase Talking Heads, “This ain’t no party. This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no fooling around on the 6 train from Bloomingdale’s.”
This all goes back to when newspaper columnist Lenore Skenazy became Parent Public Enemy Number One when she let her 9-year-old take the subway from Bloomingdale’s to their Upper East Side home.
By himself.
She dared to write about it, and the ensuing hysteria landed Skenazy on all the talk shows defending her seemingly indefensible position. She even got a book contract — all because she let her little baby (just a few years out of Mommy and Me classes!) ride the subway. She must be chastised! She’s worse than that woman who drowned her kids in the tub!
Until Smartmom, that is.
On this glorious July day, Smartmom was already in Coney Island visiting her friend at a rehabilitation hospital on Surf Avenue when she arranged to meet the girls at the subway station. It all went perfectly well: the girls arrived without incident and, with Smartmom, they walked to the Boardwalk.
The girls wanted to ride the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone and do whatever else girls like to do in Coney Island. And of course, they didn’t want Smartmom around. So Smartmom told them that she’d “disappear” for an hour so that they could be by themselves.
“We’ll meet in front of ‘Shoot the Freak’ at 4:15,” she told them.
Smartmom sat in a Peruvian chicken stand on the Boardwalk, ate an avocado salad and read “Crime and Punishment” while the girls lollygagged around what’s left of Coney Island.
At 4:15, Smartmom met up with them at “Shoot the Freak” and did Skenazy one better. She told them that they could stay in Coney Island until 5:30 and that they were allowed to take the F train home.
All by themselves.
“And remember, don’t talk to strangers — even ones who seem really nice,” she said.
Smartmom went back to Park Slope for her weekly therapy appointment. She kept checking her cell phone to see if there were any texts.
Nada.
When she came out of therapy, she texted OSFO, “Are you coming home now?”
No text this time, just a call.
“We missed our stop,” OSFO said.
“Where are you?” Smartmom asked with growing panic.
“I don’t know,” OSFO said.
“Well, read a street sign or something,” Smartmom said with agitation in her voice.
“We’re at East Broadway and Rutgers Street,” she said.
“You’re in Chinatown in Manhattan. Get on the train going back to Brooklyn,” Smartmom told them.
“We only have one ride left on the Metrocard.”
“Explain what happened to the person in the token booth!”
Smartmom patted herself on the back for that one — that is, until she heard from them a couple of minutes later.
“Can someone pick us up?” OSFO asked.
Smartmom figured that they were probably too shy to ask the token person for a free ride. The girls were standing outside of the East Broadway F-train station. They didn’t sound scared. There was no crying or fear in their voices.
“I’m really proud of you. You’re handling this situation very well,” she told her girl.
Luvbud called her mom, who drove into the city to pick them up.
Later, Smartmom asked OSFO how they missed their stop.
“We were very distracted,” OSFO told her. “And then we realized that we’d been on the train for a long time and we got off at East Broadway. It’s good we got off there, wasn’t it?”
Smartmom knew that the whole thing was a good experience — a teaching moment as they call them. They experienced one of the many “worst-case scenarios” of the New York subway system and lived to tell the tale. They’d missed their stop and realized it wasn’t the end of the world — if you’ve got a cellphone and a bunch of parents willing to pick you up, that is.
Still, Smartmom was proud. Her daughter and her friend were real troupers. They didn’t panic, they didn’t freak out. They used their cellphones and some common sense. Next time, they’d pay closer attention to the subway stops. And now they were ready to conquer the world. By subway or otherwise.
Smartmom was pleased in the end — pleased at her daughter and pleased that she’d given Skenazy a reason to be a bit jealous of her free-range city kid.
I got this email from Save Coney Island:
watch much of Sunday's press event at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbZ2Ued1kpE&ap=%2526fmt%3D22
presented by Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse. 25 min.
I'm still on Block Island. The Internet connection as been very spotty so this has been a getaway from blogging, as well as Brooklyn.
My Inbox is full of events and tips in Brooklyn, cultural and poltiical, but for much of the week I couldn't post because of the shoddy connection.
In nearly five years, I haven't taken a break from the blog for more than a day or two. It's a strange feeling not to blog. It's been my daily routine for so long. But it feels like a much-needed break, I guess.
I decided yesterday to spend an extra night on Block Island because I've been getting a lot of writing done here and my new mantra is: finish the book.
Finish the book!
My ability to write here is Pavlovian. My room at the Sea Breeze is a wonderful place to spend days and days. I never get bored of the view out back of the ocean and the salt ponds.
There's been weather galore this week from glorious blue sky days to tropical depressions; great walks and bike rides; interesting conversations with the other guests here and people I've met on the Island. My daughter and her friend were here all last week and they loved para sailing, biking, kayaking, swimming, and the independence that this island affords kids.
Early morning Block Island. I see there's sun today. I will be changing rooms later today and working. Maybe I'll get some steamers at Fins and ride my bike to the Mohegan Bluffs. There's much to do here.
And write. Because today my mantra is: Finish the book!
Bikers in the Saturday morning race that take place weekly in Prospect Park (6:30 'till about 8:30AM).
Photo by Tom Martinez
Amenities: Cozy sun room with hearth, overlooking peach tree. Rainbow fairy staircase realm, favorable flow from room to room, wall-gliding sunlight panels, forehead-cooling marble mantelpieces. AAA hide-and-seek rating. Squirrel antic observation corner. Breakfast with birds. Airy mansard attic fit for future majestic master bedroom or eccentric artist’s playground or use your imagination. Seat 16 for Thanksgiving. Backyard foraging for raspberries in summer.
Old friends of OTBKB are selling their beloved house on Fair Street in Uptown Kingston, where they’ve been very happy the past seven years, making energy retrofits and restoring the plaster walls and ceilings (a much-blogged project, when there was time). It’s a comfy house with a great spirit, and they’d love to place it in good hands.
Here’s the full MLS listing.
They left Park Slope to raise their kids where they could run barefoot in a big back yard, yet still walk to everything (and on the same bluestone sidewalks we have here in Brooklyn—both were sourced from quarries in Ulster County.)
There will be an open house August 2, 2009, 1 pm-3 pm, but if you’re interested, this is a great weekend to get to know Kingston (for a viewing of the house, call realtor Jennifer Lewis Bennett at 845-679-7321, X127 or email jenniferb@westwoodrealty.com).
Tomorrow evening, July 25, 4 pm-7 pm, you can mix with local digerati, many of them Brooklyn transplants, at the meet-up of the Kingston Digital Corridor at Keegan Ales, just a few blocks from the house on Fair Street. The Kingston Digital Corridor is a local effort to assist technopreneurs in relocating to Kingston and networking once they get there. No car? No problem. Uptown Kingston can be explored on foot right off the Trailways bus.
Business Week named Kingston One of the top ten Best Places for Artists in America, 2007. The New York Times recently touted Kingston’s real estate deals for weekenders: “The New Country Squires”, The New York Times, July 2,2009. Those with elementary-age children might be interested to know that the public school two blocks from this house recently adopted a Montessori approach to teaching that just got a green light for more funding and rave reviews from parents. The annual Artists’ Soapbox Derby, coming up in August, is a must. The town is going nuts with gardening and other green initiatives. And one of the best things about Kingston is the ease with which you can bop to neighboring towns (Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Bard College, Red Hook, High Falls, Stone Ridge, Rosendale, New Paltz), ski resorts, and boat-launch spots.
From the outside, The Lakeside Lounge on Avenue B and 10th Street looks
like a nondescript dive. Two stores joined in the back in a 1930s'
vintage apartment building, the southernmost store looks like a bar
with some signs in the windows advising of which musician is playing
the place when. The other store is a mostly empty room with a bench
against the left wall and a few tables and chairs in front of that. If
you look a bit closer, you'll also see a stage area in the front. It's
hard to really see that it's a stage because it's only raised about
three inches from the floor.
What you can't really see, though, is the spirit of the place. Owned
by
musician Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (even if you don't know him,you've heard
him; he
does the lead parts in Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'N' Roll), the Lakeside
is very musician friendly. And the one musician who seems to feel that
vibe the most is Amy Rigby.
I've seen Amy play at a number of places in New York City over the
years. But the one thing that became apparent to me was that Amy's
shows at the Lakeside were invariably her better ones.
So Wednesday night I made my way over to Avenue B for the NYC
appearance of Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. Last year Amy married
Wreckless Eric, one of the performers on the old Stiff Records back in
the 70s. After that marriage, they also married their careers and
started recording and performing as a duo.
And I have to say that the old Lakewood magic was evident once again.
Eric and Amy have meshed their sound well. Eric's lead guitar and bass
were quite pleasing and Amy's rhythm guitar anchored the songs. She
also played keyboard on a few songs, and a what looked to be a brand
new electric guitar, which she should think about playing more. Their
songs for the evening reached back into the catalog of both Amy and
Eric, came from their duo album from last year, logically titled
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, and included a few cover tunes as well.
And there were the zingers: Eric looked at the people looking through
the window at the show and noted that they were too cheap to come
inside to see a free show. Amy told us about how she went to the bar
where her daughter's band was playing and saw the kid playing bass and
rocking out, smoking and drinking beer. Amy said she was very proud of
her, but only for the bass part.
Yes, the Lakeside is a nondescript dive. But it has heart and
Wednesday night it was a great place to be.
–Eliot Wagner
This sounds like fun!
This coming Saturday, July 25, the Long Island Rail Road will celebrate its 175th
anniversary with a one day excursion that will depart from LIRR’s Atlantic
Avenue station at 8:12 A.M. and return at 8:42 P.M.
The special train will
travel the entire length of the main line to Greenport, on the North Fork, with
stopovers there and at Riverhead to enjoy local attractions. According to the
LIRR’s press release:
Rail and history buffs will certainly enjoy this LIRR Getaway as will the
casual rail rider. The “175th Anniversary Train” will travel along the Main
Line of the LIRR from the urban and suburban areas of Queens and Nassau
Counties to the rural, farming areas of Eastern Suffolk County’s North Fork.
Knowledgeable docents from the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter of the
National Railway Historical Society will be onboard the train to answer
history-related questions.Stops will be made at the Railroad Museum of Long Island in Riverhead and
Greenport. At the Railroad Museum in Riverhead, there are various exhibits,
locomotives and rolling stock on display along with a gift shop. The Railroad
Museum in Greenport is housed in a restored LIRR freight house including
exhibits highlighting the human side of working on the railroad.Tour participants can get lunch on their own and stroll around scenic
Greenport Village and check out the sights including the nearby East End
Seaport Maritime Museum (housed in the former LIRR ticket office) and the
restored 1920’s era carousel. There’s also time to take a trip from Greenport
to Shelter Island and back on the ferry.
Tickets for the excursion, which include round trip rail fare and museum
admissions, are $40 for adults and $30 for children 5-11. They must be purchased
in advance at an LIRR ticket office. More information is available at the LIRR’s website.
There is also an exhibit celebrating the LIRR’s 175th anniversary at the New York Transit Museum's entrance at Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street. The
Museum is open Tuesday through Friday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. and Saturday and Sunday
noon to 5 P.M. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and children 3-17.
Take a guess. The right answer gets you a prize.
Photo by Tom Martinez
Once again a missive from Scott Turner, who runs the pub quiz at Rocky Sullivan's, graces this blog. As always, these greetings are brought to you by the Red Hook t-shirt queen, Miss Wit.
Greetings, Pub Quiz Appalachian Trail and Argentinian Explorers…
There
are a lot of comets flying through our sky. They don't trail tails
made of ice particles and dust, but rather tales made of vibrant
emotions and dark matter.
Hence, this week's Pageant of Short-Shrifted Wonderments…
Frank McCourt died this week. He was a great writer and a better teacher, and he gave life and dignity to a lot of peoples' least favorite Irish city, Limerick. (Frank did nothing, though, to stop the preponderance of "there once was a sailor from Nantucket" giggles. And that includes last week's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz — see below.) Gave a lot of life to that other Irish city, New York. His three books — Angela's Ashes, 'Tis and Teacher Man — was a triptych that didn't just talk to us, it talked with
us. Frank McCourt was a man who inspired kids one on one, enthralled
pub patrons circled around him, and reached readers in 30 languages.
Frank McCourt, who outlived a lot of people before writing Angela's Ashes
Mayor Bloomberg whined this week. The most recent tantrum from His Holiness is a broken promise from Albany lawmakers
that they'd vote for his city schools/mayoral control law before
breaking for the summer. They didn't — because of the mayor's
wealthy. entitled bullying, because under Bloomberg city school
teachers have been coerced into teach-to-test formulas rather than
actually teaching, and because Albany is a dysfunctional hornets nest
of idiots. Not all of them, but a lot –including the ones actually
holding sway up there.
The whining reached a fever pitch when Bloomberg stamped his feet and yelled at Governor Paterson
to use state troopers to bring everyone back to Albany. To effect
democracy? To serve the people? To vote on a wide-ranging collection
of bills and laws? No, no and no. Just to vote on Bloomberg's mayoral
control bill.
The mayor produced a letter signed by top Dems saying they'd
have a vote. You know what, Mike? You're the king of broken
promises. Ask parents, union workers, poor people, parks advocates,
hospitals, small-business owners — all the people you vowed to side
with and instead have left in the lurch these last seven years.
Hey, minions, remind me again — who's this chick?!
Certainly everyone fighting overdevlopment in this city — Atlantic Yards, the West Side Stadium, new Yankee Stadium, new Shea Stadium, Greenpoint/Williamsburg rezoning, Coney Island, Columbia expansion, 4th Avenue Brooklyn upzoning, Willets Point and a thousand other points of darkness. We have an East River's worth of broken promises from you.
You have a letter with a broken promise? Boo frakkin' hoo.
The North of Ireland blew its lid this week. Well, in the Ardoyne neighborhood of Belfast, anyway. The still contentious issue of Orange parades wreaked havoc. In Ardoyne and dozens of other places, the Orange Order and its offshoots march through nationalist Irish
neighborhoods. When this happens, there's no way around the
triumphalism and taunting the marches inflict of local residents. The
six northern counties still have sectarian issues, no-go zones, "peace
walls" that divide communities, mistrust and a political vacuum that
the British government refuses to address. Downing Street's
intransigence in Ireland makes the gang in Albany look like the
pinnacle of responsibility, progressiveness and accomplishment.
The Ardoyne anger, and one of the reasons they're angry. It goes beyond bullyboy bands.
Walter Cronkite
also died this week. He was great. Cronkite came from a time before
focus groups, marketing consultants and newscasters who spent more time
on their hair than the story. He spoke out against Vietnam when it was hard to. He showed emotion when handed the flash bulletin of JFK's death, and giddiness when the Eagle landed on the moon.
Cronkite was "America's Most Trusted Man." (Apparently, trustworthy women weren't even on the radar for the polling company back then.) Diane and
I talked about this last night. We challenged each other to come up
with someone today we thought qualified for this colossal honorific.
We couldn't. Not a one.
Uncle Walter lookin' mightee trustworthy, announcing a president's death, on the radio
Henry Louis Gates got arrested this week. Gates is the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He'd just returned from China. He and his driver were trying to force open the jammed front door. Big, nice yellow wooden house in Cambridge. A neighbor — Gates' neighbor
— saw two Black men trying to break into the house. Cops are called,
arrive, and arrest Gates even after he'd proved he lives there. Cops'
reason for the arrest? Uppityness, apparently.
The charges have since been dropped. The cops? Maybe they were
doing their job, and maybe they weren't. The neighbors? Not exactly Welcome Waggon mettle. The Cambridge police and Henry Louis Gates' neighbors didn't get the memo about the glories of post-Obama America because no such memo exists, and there's no one to send it just yet.
the more things change…
Finally, there's a meeting in Brooklyn tonight. It's about Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards
project. Yes, that thing, which still lurks and still needs to be put
down. Ostensibly it's an informational meeting for the community. Come see Bruce's latest designs! Come learn why this time — no, really, THIS time it's gonna be great for Brooklyn! Ratner's people will be there, as will officials from government agencies aiding and abetting Ratner.
Of course, the community won't be allowed to actually speak
with these people — all questions must be submitted in writing before
the meeting starts. Pretty neighborly, huh? It's like Ratner lives
next door to Henry Louis Gates. Look — if Atlantic Yards isn't
stopped, if something better isn't built there, then Ratner's gonna be
every one of our neighbors.
Join Brooklyn Community Boards 2, 6 & 8 at an Informational Meeting to hear
an updated presentation on proposed modifications to the Atlantic Yards Development
General Project Plan. At this meeting proposed modifications to the plan will
be presented by representatives for the New York State Empire Development Corporation
and Forest City Ratner Companies. Following the presentation there will be an
opportunity for questions (to be submitted in writing) and answers.
Meeting will be held 6:00-9:00pm on July 22, 2009
at Long Island University's Zeckendorf Health Sciences Center, Room 107
(enter Dekalb Avenue, off Flatbush Avenue)
If you wanna ask questions, I suggest you do it with actual human talking. Works better than index cards.
All of these comets colliding. It's been that kind of week. Maybe next week I'll take John Yearley's advice and submit for your approval all the things I like about today's baseball. John thinks I can't do it. I think I can.
It's only one comet, and its tail will be bright and effervescent.
There are many reasons beside the music to head over to the Lakeside
Lounge on the Lower East Side tonight to see Wreckless Eric and Amy
Rigby. Here are just a few:
Historic: Wreckless Eric is one of the original crew over at Stiff
Records back in the 70s, who hit the airwaves with Take the Cash, Whole
Wide World and Hit 'n' Miss Judy.
Romantic: Eric and Amy met on night in England when the local
promoter, knowing that Amy was performing Eric's Whole Wide World in
her show, invited Eric to be there.
Geographic: Amy lived here, first on the Lower East Side and then in
Williamsburg, for more than 20 
years. She's one of our own and has the
outlook on life to prove it.
Bloggistic (yeah I know that it's not a word, but maybe it should be):
When not writing songs, Amy is a fantastic blogger about the usual
things, which in her case not only include life, love and family but
also the trials and tribulations of an American musician living with
her English musician husband in rural France. And I'll note for the
record that Amy's blog, The Diary of Amy Rigby, has a link to this very
blog.
So this two person rock 'n' roll band will be pulling into The Lakeside
tonight. Expect the songs to be a combination of yours, mine and ours. The show starts around 9:30, but this show will probably fill
the tiny place quickly so get there early.
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, Lakeside Lounge, Avenue B and 10th
Street, 9:30 (F Train to 14th Street, transfer to either the 14A or 14D
bus, exit at 10th Street (14A) or 11th Street (14D) and walk to Avenue
B). No cover.
–Eliot Wagner
I liked Marty Markowitz's remembrance of Frank McCourt:
