Looks like ti might not be a great idea to go to Fairway in Red Hook on Monday. If the storm hits NYC, Red Hook is just one of the areas at high risk for flooding. 370,000 people in NYC live in ;ow-lying areas including Red Hook, Coney Island and other areas around the East River in Brooklyn, the Rockaways, Broad Channel, the Staten Island coast line, City Island, Battery Park City, stretches of the West Side waterfront, the Lower East Side and the East Village.

The map above is from the NYC.gov website, which contains a lot of information. 

RED: Residents in Zone A face the highest risk of flooding from a hurricane’s storm surge. Zone A includes all low-lying coastal areas and other areas that could experience storm surge in ANY hurricane that makes landfall close to New York City.

YELLOW: • Residents in Zone B may experience storm surge flooding from a MODERATE (Category 2 or higher) hurricane.

GREEN: • Residents in Zone C may experience storm surge flooding from a MAJOR hurricane (Category 3 & 4) making landfall just south of New York City.

Here’s what New York State and City are doing to prepare for Frankenstorm as reported by The Weather Channel.  There is also a lot of helpful information at WNYC.org

 Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared a State of Emergency for the entire state.

New Yorkers have been filling sandbags and crowding into stores for flashlights, water and other supplies in advance of a predicted major coastal storm.

Buildings Commissioner Robert Limandri has ordered all construction work in New York City to be suspended starting Saturday, and will be suspended until further notice. Additionally, officials are discussing the possibility of evacuations and a closure of the subway system. According to a Bloomberg Businessweek story, if sustained winds exceed 39 miles per hour, service will be shut down.

Gov. Cuomo directed the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to closely monitor the progress of Sandy and prepare for potential storm impacts. Although the storm track is still uncertain, Sandy has the potential to affect many parts of New York State with a variety of threats, including heavy rain, high winds, flooding, tornadoes, coastal surges, and widespread power outages.

The governor cautioned New Yorkers to pay close attention to TV and radio for the latest information on the storm and especially for Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages that carry local emergency orders, such as evacuation or travel restrictions.

A storm emergency kit should include items such as non-perishable food, water, cash, filled prescriptions, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, first aid kit, flashlights and extra batteries.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said city agencies have begun distributing plans for possible evacuations in low-lying areas if there is severe flooding. “We’re going to make sure we’re prepared,” Bloomberg said in a WNBC report.

To paraphrase Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of fourth grade girls can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Here’s a case in point. A group of 4th graders at PS 107 were inspired by the story of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl who was recently shot by a Taliban member in Pakistan, for standing up for the rights of girls to go to school.

In solidarity, they are organizing at Read-a-Thon to benefit Developments in Literacy, a group that educates and empowers underprivileged girls in Pakistan (a representative of DIL will be at the read-a-thon). Girls in grades 1-5 are especially invited to join (but boys & girls, older & younger are welcome too!), and ask family & friends to donate 10 cents or more for every page they read at the read-a-thon.

The event will begin with a short talk by Yalda Atif along with some girls from Women for Afghan Women.  After that, the kids will spread throughout the library to read for as long as they like (they can bring their own books, or pick them up at the library), record the pages read, and then follow up to collect the funds.

Here are the deets:

Girls Read for Girls – Read-a-Thon inpsired by Malala Yousafzai

Saturday, November 3rd * 1 – 4 p.m.

Brooklyn Public Library – Park Slope Branch (6th Avenue & 8th Street)

 Registration, pledge forms & more info at http://girlsreadforgirls.blogspot.com:

Contact: brooklyngirlsreadforgirls@gmail.com

Alison Pennell (Brooklyn Breeder) just tweeted this photo of a house down the street from the Pepto Bismol House on Garfield Place in Park Slope that’s in the pink.

She wonders if it’s being painted pink or if that color is just a primer. What do you think?

OMG. Is it possible that there’s going to be another pink house on Garfield? Actually, the other pink house has new owners and probably won’t be pink for much longer.

Long live the pink.

I must say, the new pink house is a sweeter shade of pink. Not so Pepto Bismol, more baby girl pink.

Still it is pink.

Just when Park Slope locals were beginning to get used to the idea that  there will be noise and traffic in and around the Barclays Center due to Nets basketball games and concerts, the game changes again.

Literally.

Yesterday the New York Islanders owner Charles Wang announced that the team will move to Brooklyn once their lease at Nassau Coliseum expires after the 2014-15 season. That means that locals can expect 15,000 hardcore fans per game. Hopefully, the Long Island fans who attend the games will use the Long Island Railroad and NOT their cars.

Bruce Ratner may have had dreams of a hockey team at the arena, but nobody asked the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. It just shows you that once a stadium is built, the owners (and the city) can do anything they damn please with it without consulting the community.

Mind you, the Barclays Center was not designed with a hockey rink in mind. When games are played there many seats will be left empty to accommodate the playing area, which is larger than a basketball court.

In fact, the Barclay’s Center will be the smallest arena in the NHL, holding about 14,500 fans. Now they’re trying to figure out how to squeeze in 500 more people.

It wouldn’t be Halloween week without the Halloween Haunted Walk in Prospect Park. I went a couple of times, despite the long lines and waits, back when my kids were younger. And now I go with my niece Sonya, who will be dressed as a mummy.

High on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park expect zombies, wolf men, headless horsemen, good and bad witches, and other creepy characters.

While the Haunted Walk is suitable for children accompanied by parents/guardians or older siblings it can be very frightening for very young children. A few years back there were good witches on the Walk happy to comfort children that got too scared.

That said, most kids get a BIG kick out of it even if it does scare the bejesus out of them.

For the after-Walk, there’s a carnival in the Nethermead featuring all kinds of fun, games and seasonal treats. Begin at Prospect Park Southwest and 16th St. The Haunted Walk and Carnival is open to all and free ($1 suggested donation).

For more information about Halloween events in Prospect Park go here. 

Ellen Freudenheim, who writes the About.com Brooklyn feature reports that the Park Slope Halloween Parade is apparently the largest children’s Halloween parade in the United States. She writes:

Who knew? How great! Kudos to the dedicated event organizers, the local Park Slope Civic Council. They’ve made it possible for generations of Brooklyn kids to have incredible memories of Halloween, right here in the Big Apple.

Whether or not it’s the biggest children’s Halloween Parade or not, it’s our’s and since 1986 the Park Slope Civic Council’s Halloween Parade has been an integral and looked-forward to part of neighborhood life.

This year, the 2012 Civic Council Halloween Parade is on Wednesday Oct. 31, starting at 6:30 p.m. at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue

As usual, two ambulances will lead the parade followed by Civic Council trustees, elected officials, giant puppets made over the years under the direction of the Puppeteers Cooperative, and volunteers from Park Slope Parents and local schoolchildren.

Next the rank and file of Park Slope locals in costumes, mysterious roller skating ghouls, marching bands, and other experiences top off the experienc e.

The parade end at the Old Stone House and Washington Park on Fifth Avenue between Third and Fourth Streets.

Seems that the New York Islanders will be moving to the Barclays Center—the home of the Brooklyn Nets.

It’s not gonna happen until 2015. Still. The Islanders will say goodbye to Long Island and hello to Flatbush Avenue.

I bet some Brooklyn hockey fans are excited.

Crown Heights is really coming out for President Obama. There have been more than four Obama fundraisers in connection with local businesses in the Crown Heights/Franklin Ave corridor since September 30th.

Yay team.

They’ve already had an ice cream and cupcake fundraiser at The Candy Shop, two debate watch fundraisers at Bar 739 Franklin and Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden, a coffee fundraiser at Little Zelda’s and door-to-door efforts to engage local merchants, some door-to-door fundraising to engage locals, particularly the elderly who want to give but don’t want to do it online.

Now the folks in Crown Heights are taking it up a notch with Thirst for Obama, a chance to donate to the campaign while drinking wine at Thirstbaravin Wine Bar on Saturday night from 7-9PM. More information here:

https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/grassrootsfundraisinghouseparty/gsthhw

In Crown Heights, they like their fundraising face to face. Indeed, much of Obama’s fundraising efforts are online. However, the Internet can be a tad cold and it doesn’t give people a reason to get together, to discuss, to share opinions, and meet each other.

All that warm and fuzzy stuff.

The Crown Heights approach marries grassroots organizing with fundraising efforts and brings people together for a  goal while making moolah for the president. Some of the sums are quite small; some give as little as $3 dollar…

But it’s all good.

In Crown Heights, they’re taking fundraising to the community at an affordable price point so that all residents in the community can get involved.

Have you ever wondered what that green building at the corner of Hoyt and Union Street is. I drive by there all the time and I always see a vintage truck out front with beautiful flowers. At night, the room looks really pretty. Sometimes I think it’s a film set, sometimes I think it’s a wedding or a party space.

It’s really cool.

Well, it’s called the Green Building and it’s an “elegant multi-use space located in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood.”

Once a brass foundry, The Green Building is now a 4,000 square ft. raw space with brick walls exposed beam ceilings, fabulous chandeliers, and a kitchen.

Mystery solved.

Here’s an excerpt from a letter from Michael Sinatra, Public Affairs Manager of Whole Foods, to Craig Hammerman, District Manager, Community Board 6, that should answer some questions you may have about the progress of the Whole Foods store going into the lot at Third Street and Third Avenue in Park Slope.

There’s also an update of what’s going to happen to the landmarked (and curious) stone mansion on Third and Third, the Long Island Coignet Stone Building.

“After many years of hard work by our development team—and with the support of so many community members—we are now finally under way with the construction process and look forward to bringing Brooklyn residents their first Whole Foods Market next year! Since we’re sure you’re likely getting questions from area residents about construction timing, next steps, etc.

Remediation/brownfields cleanup of the property officially complete: While we had actually completed the physical remediation of the property some time ago, we were awaiting the final step in the cleanup of this brownfield site, which was the receipt of our official “certificate of completion” from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

We received the certificate earlier this year and therefore the site is completely and “officially” remediated and ready for construction.

Site preparation now under way: As our neighbors may have noticed, our contractor has completed demolition of the remaining deteriorating structures that were on the property and is now preparing the site for construction.

This first phase— including site surveys and test pile driving—should be completed in the coming weeks.

Construction to begin later this fall: Once the site preparation is complete, we anticipate beginning work on the foundation in late fall, with the store’s steel frame expected to start going up around the beginning of the year. Construction will then move ahead steadily toward our expected Fall 2013 grand opening.

Renovations to LI Coignet Stone Building: As you may recall, as part of our development plan we have committed to undertaking repairs to the landmarked Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building that is located adjacent to our site at 3rd and 3rd. Our architects are currently working on drawings for the renovation of the façade, which will then need to be approved by New York landmarks officials. Once approved, we will be able to move forward on exterior repairs to the building in conjunction with the store’s construction.

As questions are frequently asked, it’s important to note that while this building will be repaired and remain adjacent to our property, we do not actually own the building and it will not be utilized by Whole Foods Market.”

To see  more of this letter in PDF form you can go here. Thanks to Craig Hammerman for sending.

The following is information I gleaned from reading a PDF available on the Department of Education website. about the planned changes to the zoning in District 15, the school district that serves parts of Park Slope.

The map to the left shows the exisitng zones for PS 321 and other local schools with black lines showing the new cutoffs.

According to the Department of Education, P.S. 321 and P.S. 107 are over-utilized schools. Enrollment trends (i.e. lots of new residents in high-rise buildings on Fourth Avenue and elsewhere) are expected to further exacerbate the overcrowding conditions at these schools.

To address growing demand and prevent, reduce waiting lists and cap class size at P.S. 321 and P.S. 107, re-zoning will enable locals to take advantage of a NEW kindergarten through   5th grade chool and additional capacity at P.S. 10 :

Yes, a NEW SCHOOL. The DOE plans to open a new zoned K-5 elementary school in building K763, St. Thomas Aquinas, located at 211 8th Street (on Fourth Avenue)  in 2013

Because the St. Thomas Aquinas building is located within P.S. 39’s zone, the DOE is also proposing a modest change to P.S. 39’s zone lines, but no change inenrollment is planned for that school.

 Alexis Swerdloff, the executive editor of Paper Mag, had this to say about Park Slope’s Pepto-Bismol pink house. Photo by Tom Callan.

The new owners of one of our favorite quirky buildings in New York, the Pepto Bismol-pink brownstone on Garfield Place in Park Slope, are going to paint it brown. This is like if someone bought the leaning tower of Pisa and straightened it. NOT COOL. [via Brooklyn Paper]

Today the Prospect Park Alliance hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the dedication of Chaim Baier Music Island & the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade at Lakeside. The event was a celebration of the recreation  of what is considered the most formal area of the Prospect Park, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1867.

Lovely.

The original Olmsted and Vaux landscape was dismantled in 1960 for the construction of the former Wollman Rink. The recreation of Music Island and the Esplanade is the first phase of a restoration project that will include, in the second phase, a new 25,000-square-foot facility and two skating rinks to be completed in late fall 2013.

Can’t wait for the  new skating rinks.

Who’s paying for all of this? The first phase was funded by a $10 million grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, with additional funding from other sources.

Music Island is being named in honor of Ms. White’s father, Chaim Baier, and the Esplanade is in honor of Ms. White and her late husband, Mr. Leon Levy.

Yup, Marty Markowitz was, of course, at the ribbon cutting: “Prospect Park is an urban emerald—a crown jewel—in our city’s park system, and I am thrilled that Music Island and the Esplanade have been restored to their original glory. The northern shoreline of Prospect Park Lake will be an oasis and gathering place for not only local residents, but visitors from around the world.”

Emily Lloyd, President of Prospect Park Alliance, said, “The completion of the Chaim Baier Music Island and the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade marks a transformative milestone in the restoration of Prospect Park. For the first time in over fifty years, Prospect Park will have the gathering spot of extraordinary beauty that was central to Olmsted and Vaux’s vision for the Park as both a great gathering place and a place to reconnect with nature. Countless Park visitors will benefit from Shelby’s vision and the Leon Levy Foundation’s generosity for decades to come.”

Nice.

For years I’ve been wondering how PS 321 would manage to fit in all the new families moving to Fourth Avenue.

Do the math.

PS 321 is already overcrowded with over 1,400 students in six grades (pre-school through fifth grade) and bulging class sizes. With all the new buildings on Fourth Avenue that are currently in the catchment, it was obvious that PS 321 would need a new building or District 15 would need a new elementary school.

According to the New York Times, the Education Department is talking about a major rezoning which would determine who goes to PS 321, 107, 10 and a new school to be built on Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street.

This is, you might say, very big news in the neighborhood of Park Slope where parents are determined to send their kids to PS 321 or PS 107.

 “The DOE has not revealed which blocks would be rezoned, but in general, the proposal involves transferring the western end of P.S. 321’s zone, where Park Slope turns into Gowanus, to a new school to be opened on Eighth Street and Fourth Avenue. Some of P.S. 107’s southernmost blocks would be shifted to P.S. 10. The siblings of students already at the affected schools would probably be allowed to register at the same schools. The proposals were reported Monday by the news Web site dnainfo.com.”

Needless to say, people are a in a tizzy about this. I don’t know a thing about this new school on Fourth Avenue. Jim Devor, who runs the Community Education Council, had this to say about the situation.

“I don’t know how else you’re going to meet the needs of those children, unless we put saltpeter in the drinking water to prevent conceptions. Real estate brokers are going to go ballistic, but the alternatives we’re considering placing these children in are not exactly chopped liver.”

Liz Phillips, principal of PS 321, shared these thoughts about the rezoning.

“In the interest of maintaining the high-quality education we are committed to providing our students we are going to need to do something to keep our school from becoming so large that we are forced to have very high class size.”

The much-anticipated second presidential debate with President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney will broadcast from Hofstra University at 9PM. The showdown will be watched by tens of millions of people.

But where will you watch it?

According to DNA Info, Drinking Liberally Downtown Brooklyn is hosting a debate-watch party at Pacific Standard on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. There will be a pre-party at the 4th Avenue Pub next door at 7 PM before the main event. 82 Fourth Ave at 7PM.

You can also watch the debate at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. This could be a fun place to see it, ase project the debate. onto a giant 14-by-12-foot screen for your viewing pleasure. Free. Doors open at 8 p.m.

I woke up at  6AM in California and checked Twitter to find out what the folks in Brooklyn were saying about last night’s debate.

Well, that was pretty predictable. Most everyone thought Biden killed it (as did I) except for the rare conservatives on my Twitter feed who thought Ryan was well-informed and persuasive.

Fair enough. You see what you want to see.

But there were more than a few tweets about the traffic patterns outside the Barclay’s Center, where Barbra Streisand performed her first Brooklyn show since singing for her mother in the living room of the apartment she grew up in.

“Traffic after Streisand concert made 11:40 seem like peek rush hour with angry honking…” read one tweet.

Norman Oder on Atlantic Yards Report said there was no carmageddon, his term for the traffic apocalypse, he expects the arena to create. However, there was  “lots of idling limos and noisiness/mess as crowd exits.”

Pretty much what you’d expect after a stadium show. And that’s not a good thing so near a residential area. This was Oder’s report:

Brooklyn native Barbra Streisand made a triumphant return to Brooklyn last night for the first of two concerts, bringing the boldface names out in force (as the Barclays Center Twitter account was sure to tell us).

Celebrities included Katie Couric, Woody Allen, Rosie O’Donnell, Sting, Calvin Klein, Barbara Walters, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The Daily News’s pop music critic was enthralled, as was the Times reviewer, who wrote: “Like few singers of any age, she has the gift of conveying a primal human longing in a beautiful sound.” (More coverage: NY Post, Associated Press, NY1, USA Today, WSJ).

While Oder admitted that traffic, did, for the most part move with ease. there were problems. ”

But–and this surely had something to do with the boldface names–there were an enormous number of limos looking for riders, idling and parking illegally in the streets around the arena, parking in the arena lay-by lanes, and double- and even triple-parking on adjacent streets like South Portland Avenue in Fort Greene.

In Tracy, California, the small city that used to be the small town where my husband grew up on a walnut farm, when you need to go shopping you go to the mall.

It wasn’t always like that. As in a lot of American towns, there was once a robust downtown: a main Street with stores, restaurants, hardware stores, a stationer, even a hotel.

Well, the Tracy Inn, a Spanish style hotel built in 1927 is still here, though it lacks it former grandeur. There is even the Grand Theater of the Arts that has actually revitalized the downtown quite a bit and offers some adventurous programming (as you can see, they’re having a haunted house there for Halloween).

The downtown is also the site of the annual Tracy Dry Bean Festival, a full day every summer of bean ice cream, bean chips, & of course chili beans.

Still, the shopping life of this community is at the mall, the West Valley Mall. And that’s where we went today to try to find a simple black skirt for my daughter to wear to her cousin’s wedding on Sunday in Monterey.

Well, many stores and four hours later we FINALLY found a nice black skirt at J.C. Penny’s. And I must say, it was a good find. Somehow, miraculously, this black skirt was marked down to $5 dollars.

Yes, you read that right. It’s better than Beacon’s Closet .And you know what? She looks like a million bucks.

My girl.

Here we are in Hugh’s hometown in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. One of our nieces, the one who was the flowergirl at MY wedding, is getting married on Sunday.

Time flies, time flies.

We were dropping off some suits at a local dry cleaner called (and I’m not kidding) Park Avenue Cleaners, when Hugh ran into his history teacher from Tracy High School. They talked a bit, reminisced dropped names. Then Hugh told him we live in Brooklyn…

“You don’t live on Flatbush, do you?” he said.

Somehow that led to a quick discussion about the Barclay’s Center, the Brooklyn Nets. He’d heard about the Nets and he knew about the Dodgers and the pain their loss caused to Brooklyn. He is a history teacher, after all.

One never feels far from Brooklyn. Even on the other side of the country.

Tonight Only the Blog at Two Moon Presents: Emma Koenig, author of the F*uck I’m in My Twenties tumblr and book (and sister of indie-fave Vampire Weekend frontman, Ezra) has immortalized the experience of overeducated, underemployed twentysomethings. Reading from the recent print release of her best LOL-inducing scribbles, graphs, and charts from the blogosphere, the former struggling New Yorker returns from LA to explore the post-grad woes in public. With Special Musical Guest Small Wonder

–Elana Leopold, Flavorpill

This Thursday night at 7PM, Park Slope’s Community Bookstore will offer a 30% discount on all books in the shop to teachers. As part of this special teacher appreciation night, the store wishes to lavish any teachers who show up (with teacher I.D.) with wine and refreshments.

A children’s books representative from Random House will be on hand, along with other educational professionals.

The 30% discount is one night only. The store does, however, offer 20% off at all times for classroom purchases.

You gotta love The Park Slope Civic Council. Think about it: House Tour, Halloween Parade, Clean-Ups, Civic initiatives. They really are the civic heartbeat of this community and a vital organization in a strong and growing Park Slope. But guess what? They’ve never had a fundraiser.

So why now?

In recent years, the Civic Council, like so many other organizations, has been affected by our economic downturn. This fundraiser will insure that their numerous projects and initiatives throughout the community continue.

Which brings me to Food for Thought, their fundraiser. Tonight. Yes, tonight! Wed., Oct. 10, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.at the beautiful Prospect Park Picnic House (enter the Park at Third and go towards Long Meadow. It’s hard to miss). Forgive me friends for not posting about this sooner

Interestingly, the event will feature a new video created by StoryKeep for Food for Thought. Tonight, I’m guessing, will be fun night out because guests will be able to  sample an array of delicacies and beverages from popular local restaurants while they mingle with their neighbors and learn about the Civic Council’s many contributions to the community.

In addition to the food tastings, there will be short presentations made by top chefs, food critics, writers, and movers and shakers in the local farm-to-table food movement. If you appreciate fine food, fine dining, and are passionate about supporting your community, this event it not to be missed!

I wrote this back in 2009: It’s about the Pepto Bismol House at 233 Garfield Place that just got sold for a cool $2 million bucks. To paint or not to paint: that is the question.

You know the Pepto Bismol house, the pink brownstone on Garfield Place? Well, my sister walked by this morning and it’s for sale.

Now that’s a tip!

The Pepto Bismol house is the house people either love to love or love to hate. It’s been painted that shade of pink since before Park Slope was a historic district. That means its right to be pink is grandfathered in. If someone buys it they will have the choice to keep it pink or return it to its Brownstone grandeur.

Recently I was interviewed by a graduate student from the Netherlands who is studying Fifth Avenue and Park Slope for her thesis in urban planning. She asked me about the pink house and said that everyone she talks to brings it up or has an opinion about it. Many feel quite negatively about it.

I kind of like the Pepto Bismol house for its outsiderness, its expressivity, its wild and open uglinesss.

Just heard via Brownstoner that the Pepto Bismol House aka the pink house at 233 Garfield Place has been sold. Many of you will remember that the house was first listed in 2009 for $2.5 million but was swiftly pulled off the market. There was even a story on OTBKB. 

Last January it went back on the market for a cool $2.3 million. The new owners paid $2.075,000 and must now decide whether to keep it pink or repaint.

What do you think? Please leave your color ideas for the Pepto Bismol House in comments.

Bernie Henry is the man who painted his classic Park Slope brownstone salmon pink in the 1960s. I don’t know if he is still alive. He put the house on the market and then pulled it off back in 2009 because, as a real-estate source told The Brooklyn Paper, Henry’s grandson was under investigation for forging key documents that have put a cloud over who has legal ownership of the building.

At the time, Henry said he couldn’t speak about the matter because his ailing wife had just died.

Now that the house has sold, it is truly, the end of a Park Slope era. The era of the Pepto Bismol House. I wonder if the new owners will get tired of explaining the history of that house.

Or will they?

This morning there was a nice story on WNYC about the Brooklyn Creative League. At the WNYC website, there is also a map of many “coworkin” locations around the city. In Park Slope alone there are many “coworking” locations, a place where you can rent a desk and have a place of work.

These spaces are ideal for the freelance writers or telecommuters or budding entrepreneurs, who don’t feel like setting up shop at the Tea Lounge.

Places like the Brooklyn Writers Space, Montauk Office and the Brooklyn Creative League offer individuals the advantages of an office job with a lot more flexibility. Perks like conference rooms, kitchens, companionship can make the working day that much easier for freelancers and the self-employed.

Beautiful, beautiful toys.

Norman and Jules, a new toy shop named for the owners’ grandfathers, has opened on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. It’s the kind of shop you don’t know you need until you walk in and wonder how you ever existed without it.

It’s that nice. Sadly, my kids are too old for the toys they sell. But I did buy a bottle of Norman and Jules Soap Bubbles and a special beaded wand for my 15-year old daughter. She loves it.

I will admit I wondered why Park Slope needed another toy shop. With Little Things and Area, Park Slope has more than enough in the way of toys. But Norman and Jules is something quite different and something quite special.

Courtney Ebner and Avi Kravitz, the couple who own the shop, are parents to an adorable little girl named Charley, who was born 15 weeks early.

“We spent a lot of time in the hospital — and for five-and-a-half months we researched child development,” the couple told Park Slope Patch. “She had a lot of early intervention therapy and we learned how important it is to provide certain kinds of toys and even art to create an environment that helps them learn and expand their imagination at an early age.”

After her birth, Avi and Courtney decided to open a shop that would feature the kinds of toys they discovered, beautiful toys from artisans and companies who offer products that are carefully crafted from sustainable materials.

The shop itself is beautifully designed. The space used to be Slope Florist and it now looks much bigger, the space better allocated for the public and for its elegant display of exceptionally attractive toys. The inventory at Norman and Jules includes wooden kitchen sets, a wooden Noah’s Ark, lovely framed artwork for a child’s room, as well as fairy capes and fairy wands.

They also carry toys and instruments made by Fair Trade Federation companies — supporting artisans in developing countries with fair wages. The goal: to sustain long-term trading relationships in order to create economic stability in those places.

Clearly, a well-meaning mind-set accompanies the aesthetic and educational mind-set of Avi and Courtney’s shop. It’s worth mentioning that they are also co-owners of Casa Ventana, the restaurant on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Third Street that used to be Barrio. It now serves delicious Puerto Rican style food.

And to top it all off, a  percentage of Norman & Jules’ sales will be donated to the March of Dimes.

Nice.

Norman & Jules will be open every day from 9 AM until  7:30 PM.

This is really Park Slope: The Next Generation.

Captain Picard, the character played by Patrick Stewart on Star Trek: The Next Generation, will be living in Park Slope. Or should I say Patrick  Stewart who played Picard on Star Trek…

The rumors are true and we offer our most heartfelt welcome to Patrick Stewart. May you be very happy here.

According to Rumor Fix, the English-born actor, who is 72, spent $2.5 million for a three-bedroom converted carriage house.

The house, which was on the market for six months has  two wood-burning fireplaces, a laundry room, a chef’s kitchen and a master suite. From the picture I can’t tell where the house is from the picture on Rumor Fix, but I await word from Eliot or some other person in the know to inform me.