Who wants to do lunch with me? It made New York Magazine’s Cheap Eats list, too.

Flatbush Farm
76–78 St. Marks Ave., nr. Sixth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-622-3276
If the interior seems too stark and somber, head straight back to the spacious garden, shared jointly by the separate-entranced bar and dining-room components of this latter-day Brooklyn gastropub. The concept, hackneyed as it’s gotten to be, is “seasonal, sustainable, and local,” and that extends to the New York–centric beer list. The food is comforting and hearty—sometimes unseasonably so—and often adopts a southern accent, as in the eggs and grits at brunch. We can’t imagine a time of year, though, when the French dip wouldn’t hit the spot.

Today is the Second Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow. These montly events are a way for bloggers to connect, reach out to new bloggers and encourage others to start blogging. We’re going to hit every nabe in Brooklyn. Today’s meet up, hosted by Miss Heather of New York Shitty, is in Green Point. The $10 fee gets you a delicious lunch at the Casa Mon Amour. If you have questions, shoot Miss Heather an email.

–The meet-up will be held on Sunday, July 22 at Casa Mon Amour, which is located at 162 Franklin Street.

–From 2-2:30 I’ll be meeting and greeting people.

–At 2:30-ish we’ll get settled with our vittles and Kevin will give a presentation about north Brooklyn. After that, we’ll have shout-outs, chat, mix etc.

–Since the weather looks like it will be rather pleasant, I am going to throw together a little neighborhood map. That way those of you who are interested in doing a little sight-seeing/picture taking afterwards
will have a handy reference to the neighborhood.

If any of you have any questions or need directions, do not hesitate to shoot me an email.

Thanks.

Look forward to seeing you there!

From: Miss Heather missheather@newyorkshitty.com

There’s a new blog in town Amy Melson runs Brooklynometry. She writes about buying panties for her 2-year-old or the weird things she finds in her garden. It’s a fun, eclectic mix full of personality and place.

Found a little green dope bag in the front garden, wonder who tossed it there? I put it on our kitchen table hoping my husband would ask me why I had started shooting up, but he was preoccupied and never noticed. Plus the table is covered with junk so the bag doesn’t really grab attention. It’s a really small bag, I wonder what was in it. My friend found a bullet in her tree-pit garden, brought it in, somehow left it lying around the house so her husband found it and naturally asked “what’s this bullet doing here?” It’s interestiong to find evidence of vice in the garden. If I were to find evidence of virtue instead, what would it be? Maybe gold coins tossed in by a really generous person. That always happens here in Brooklyn, someone drives down the street throwing money out of the window of their car. That’s why were all so rich her

OSFO is coming home from camp today. We are so EXCITED. Can’t wait to hear all about it since she never wrote us one single letter. No one.

We think that means she had a great time.

It was last night. It didn’t rain. Do tell. I’m dying to know all about the show.

I walk past the Gate many times a week. The Gate on Third Street at the corner of Fifth is Park Slope’s premiere outdoor watering hole.

In the summer it looks like such fun. A real beer garden, people sit outside and drink, smoke, talk, laugh.

I’m never in a position to stop. Running here, running there. Errands. Walking with OSFO. Going to Hollywood Video.

There’s never time to stop.

But last night we said, WHY NOT. Let’s go to the Gate.

"I could go for an Arrogant Bastard," Hepcat said.

So that’s what we did. They were out of Arrogant Bastard, Hepcat’s favorite beer on tap so he had something else which he said was hoppy. I had a Diet Coke but I shoulda had a beer and took many sips of his, which was cold and delicious and just perfect after the parched scenes in Rescue Dawn.

WE DID IT. We sat in the open air patio and were just like all the fun-looking people I see day and night when I walk past the Gate.

But this time I was inside, I was inside the Gate. Not outside looking in.

BREAKING NEWS: Sounds like Steve Deptula has sold Red Hook’s famed Liberty Heights Tap Room to the owner of Rocky Sullivan’s in Manhattan.

I’ve heard about Rocky Sullivan’s over the years. In addition to being a bar, it’s thriving literary showcase, as well as a music club.

The Manhattan location of Rocky Sullivan’s  will be closing.

The location of Rocky Sullivan’s Tap Room is 34 Van Dyke Street at Dwight in Red Hook.

Steve will stay on to run the Rockin’ Teens Showcase about to begin it’s fifth season. Here’s the news straight from Steve.

I’m writing you today to tell you that I have passed LHTR on to new owners. I am now enjoying my new role as landlord only. The new name of the establishment is Rocky Sullivan’s Tap Room. The new owner is Chris Byrne formerly of the Irish rock band Black 47. He has a bar/music venue in Manhattan also called Rocky Sullivan’s that will close in August and Rocky Sullivan’s Tap Room will take over. Not much at all has changed with transfer of ownership as the menu is still the same and RSTR is still family and kids friendly, and will be open six days a week with a vibrant live
music scene. Even better news is that I’ve been asked to stay on as organizer and conductor of the monthly Rockin’ Teens events resuming this September 15th for an unprecedented 5th season!

Those of you that want to play the Sept. 15th show please let me know ASAP.
Have a great summer!

I got this email from Hillary, my favorite blue haired cashier at Shawn’s Liquors. She is one of the Park Slope 100 and a passionate lover of animals.

I’m sending out a mass email to everyone I know who has pets or
doesn’t but loves animals. A new pet store at 255 Flatbush right before
6th Ave (where Yaba used to be) has just opened.

Most people know that
pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills or backyard breeders.
These dogs are kept in deplorable conditions, no genetic testing is
done to ensure healthy puppies which leads to sick puppies. It came to
the attention of some members of Brooklynian.com,
after much debate one member went in to speak to the owner.

She
approached the owner very politely and was treated terribly. The owner
told her he didn’t care where the puppies came from and she didn’t look
like she could afford to buy a dog anyway.

He also told her he already
called the police about the "harassment" of people discussing his store
on a public forum. There is much more information on the Brooklynian
website, I’ll put the link below. I’m hoping to get the word out to as
many people as possible about this store. Ethical breeders do not sell
their puppies to pet stores. I’ll include a few links that I posted on
the thread so everyone can see why I (and many others) have a problem
with a pet store selling puppies. Thanks for reading, you guys are all
great!

Take care,

Hillary

(Blue/purple haired cashier)

 

P.S. Hope no one thinks I’ve crossed the line by emailing, but I
think you all know how crazy I am about animals. Sorry if it’s not cool!

Dear Friend.

I am writing to you today  to ask your help in establishing a permanent
home for ISSUE Project Room. In its brief history, ISSUE Project Room,
has become one of the most respected  art and performance spaces  in
New York City. Programs like Theremin Society,  Points in a Circle, The
Independents, and Littoral, have earned us a reputation of presenting
new and artistically challenging work. Our programming is our greatest
strength.

After two years of performances in its silo on the Gowanus Canal, ISSUE
is ready to move  to larger, centrally-located permanent home.To
successfully undertake such a move, ISSUE’s board has recently
announced a $350,000 capital campaign.,

I am asking for your support! I want to stress the urgency  of my
request, with the hope that you will write a check or make an online
donation as soon as you receive this letter. The urgency stems from a
unique  and  wonderful opportunity for ISSUE to move into a new, rent
free space in one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Brooklyn.

ISSUE is one of two finalists for this architecturally significant 
property, but it must demonstrate the financial capability to develop
the space if it is to secure the lease.

To meet  this goal we are raising money by several means: donor
solicitations, grant requests and fundraising benefits, To kick off the
campaign, there will be a drive to meet a generous $25,000 matching
grant made by an anonymous donor.

In support of this opportunity to secure the best possible space  for
experimental performance in Brooklyn, this  donor has made a $25,000,
one -for- two matching grant to be met by August 1st.  For every dollar
we raise, up to $50,000, between now and August 1st, ISSUE Project Room
will receive 50 cents.  If we raise $50,000 by August 1st, ISSUE will
get the entire $25,000 match.  Following announcement of the match last
week, ISSUE has already received $10,000. My goal is to raise another
$25,000 this coming week.

ISSUE will be meeting with the property’s developers on July 24th. It
is crucial to our success that we have this money in hand in time for
this meeting. Nothing could better help ISSUE in making its case to the
property’s developers than to be able to walk into the meeting saying
we have met the match!  Successfully closing this first phase of the
campaign before the deadline will inspire large  donors, corporations
and foundations.

I know  you understand the importance of helping places like ISSUE
Project Room, one of the few vibrant spaces supporting experimental
performance.  I am particularly appealing to you because you are our
artistic community. It’s especially important that our audience and
supporters who have participated in helping to make ISSUE the
outstanding place that it is show their support at this time. If
everyone who has enjoyed ISSUE over the last 4 years gives  just $25 we
will raise over $15,000. Write a check for whatever you can as soon as
you receive this e-mail.  Every bit  helps, and we want ISSUE’s new
home to be a place infused with the love and energy of many supporters,
whatever their financial capability.

I’d also like you to call five friends, send them copies of this
letter, and ask them to support ISSUE as generously  as you have.  If
you or your friends would  like to know more  about ISSUE, I’m happy to
speak with you. You can contact me at 718-812-1129, or
suzanne@issueprojectroom.org. What would New York City be without 
experimental art?  I’d rather not think about it!  So, please become an
ISSUE donor, and  help us meet our match today.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Fiol
Founder and Artistic Director

It happened on 4th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. On Sunday morning around 9 a.m. A friend lives on the block. She happened to be away but she heard the story from her neighbors.

A woman, dressed in a beautiful and elaborate bridal gown, sat on a ledge above the door an old house on 4th Street.

It wasn’t her house. She owners are elderly, from what I understand.

She just sat there and refused to leave. She was holding a box (a wedding gift?) She was asked to leave repeatedly. The police were on the scene, as were reporters from the Brooklyn Paper and many neighbors, some taking pictures.

I believe the Fire Department finally had to take her down on a ladder .She resisted and screamed at this point. But did come down.

These are the details I have pieced together from my friend’s account. She wasn’t even there Do you know more? Do tell.

Continue reading PARK SLOPE BRIDAL DRAMA: NO GROOM ON 4TH STREET →

I had to change rooms at the Inn where I am staying so I lost the wireless I was stealing from someone in the house next door.

I tried and I tried to get it in the other room — but the room just wasn’t oriented right. But I took it as a sign.

No Internet for a few days. It’s always a good thing.

Then the old room was vacant for a few hours, so I snuck back in. Checking email. Checking on the blog.

How it everyone? Do tell.

Flatbush Gardener reports that today there is a garden walk in Ditmas Park that you won’t want to miss. Rain or shine.

Ditmas Park Garden View on Sunday, July 15. The strolling tour is from
4-6 pm, rain or shine, and will feature approximately a dozen gardens
in private homes along East 16th to East 18th Streets, between Newkirk
to Dorchester. The final garden stop will also include drinks and
refreshments. A raffle drawing for three hand-held, battery operated
sprayers (hot weather essentials) completes the event.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Blackout of 1977. I emember it like it was yesterday. Except I wasn’t even in New York City. I was in Paris reading about it in the Herald Tribune.

I was on a two-month cycling trip through England and France with a friend. It was an amazing trip through gorgoues scenery. What an experience.

We’d finally made it to Paris and were living it up in a modest hotel near the Luxemborg Gardens. Food. Art. Walks around the city. It was my first time in Paris and I was enthralled.

But when word hit Paris of the Blackout, I felt conflicted, I felt split. I felt like I should be back home with my family and friends.

The pictures in the French  newspapers of the city of my birth were frightening and strange: the city was exploding with looting and rage. It was a defining moment, something I wanted to witness for myself. There is something exciting about a crisis in New York; the way people come together and come apart.

I was a kid during the blackout of 1965. My sister, mother and were visiting friends in another apartment in our building when the lights went out. We waited with our mothers for the
fathers to walk home. The apartment lit by candle light was magic. As kids, it was a night of play in the darkness with an undercurrent of: Will everything be alright?

The City Room has amazing pictures of that day in 1977 when the lights went out and the city sunk into darkness and mayhem.  Take a look. It will take you back to a completely different and time.

Thirty years ago tonight, the lights went out: building by building,
block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. Officially, the 1977
blackout lasted only 25 hours. But it left devastated neighborhoods and
hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. It quickly became a symbol
of New York’s malaise, arriving as it did when the city was just
starting to climb out of near-bankruptcy.

I also missed the more recent blackout a few summers ago. I was in a dentist’s office in Modesto having emergency root canal. The dental surgeon said: "Do you know what’s going on in New York City?"

My heart took a nose dive. This was just a couple of years after 9/11 and my thoughts went immediately to Ground Zero and the devestation of that day.

If you have recollections of the blackout of 1977, do tell. I will post them.

The film is called Interview and it is based on a film by Theo Van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic extremist in Holland in 2004.

In the film Buscemi plays a political journalist who is asked to write a fluffy profile of a movie star played by Sienna Miller.

Steve Buscemi co-wrote and directed this film, which had a staged reading at Issue Project Room a couple of years ago.

“Interview,” opens today at the Landmark
Sunshine, 143 East Houston Street and Lincoln Plaza
Cinemas, Broadway, at 62nd Street.

An OTBKB reader informs me that there’s a new wine bar on 17th Street and Fifth Avenue (right near Eagle Provisions).

It’s called Vin Rouge and according to the reader it serves fine wines and finger food.

Anyone know more. Do tell.

Our friends at Gowanus Lounge tells us that his friends at Racked have the goods on the annoucement by Trader Joe’s of their first ever Brooklyn store (their second in New York City).

Hep and I are big Trader Joe’s afficianados out in California. We eat nothing but bean chips, ginger granola, and other TJ specialties when we stay at Hep’s mom’s place in Northern California. We always stop there on our way to the farm from the airport.

Great as this is, I don’t think our friends at Sahadi have a thing to worry about. Brooklyn is getting big enough for everybody, it seems.

Neither did Virginia Woolf. This room of my own on this island where I am is just PERFECT. I never want to leave. I already told Hepcat that. "I’ll send your things," he said.

I want to move here. The light is beautiful from the first light of dawn to the late afternoon glow. Twilight. Sunset.

And then the fog moves into making for dramatic, foggy nights. Something out of "Wuthering Heights." 

Who could ask for anything more than this room? I could LIVE here. Simple antique furniture. A table for a desk. A fan. Beautiful art on the walls. A deliciously comfortable bed.

Out my window: the ocean in one direction, a garden in another. Down below: two ponds and tall beach grass, reeds.

What more could I need? I rented a Raleigh 7-speed. I’ve got my trusty computer. There’s wireless on the island. A good Internet connection. An outdoor shower. Adirondack chairs. A hammock. A kayak. Many beaches just biking distance away.

A restaurant that serves amazing tuna and monk fish. Eating alone, I sit at the bar and don’t feel funny at all.

Even a movie theater (a huge mob of teens and tweens are lined up for the 9:45 Harry Potter screening).

I am in HEAVEN. Remember that Talking Heads song. "Heaven is a place where nothing, nothing ever happens.

I highly recommend going away by yourself. You can indulge all your idiosyncrasies. You don’t have to ask nobody what to do. You can do whatever you want. Eat whatever you want. Spend the whole day writing if you want. Take a bike ride, go for a run, meditate, read a book.

The Emperor’s Children is very good.

Go to sleep whenever.

Which isn’t to say that I don’t miss OSFO, Teen Spirit, and Hepcat a lot. I do I do. I’m just saying.
I’m just saying.

This from New York 1:

The federal government blocked a second attempt to purchase Brooklyn’s Starrett City housing complex Monday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied Clipper Equity’s request to buy Starrett City for a second time.

Clipper Equity submitted its proposal back in March, but on Monday,
HUD stated in a letter that it does not believe the buyer has the
financial capacity to keep the complex affordable.

Clipper Equity was looking to buy Starrett City for $1.3 billion.

It’s currently the largest affordable housing project in the country.

Sidecar (560 Fifth Ave., between 15th and 16th streets, Brooklyn, 718-369-0077) opened last night in Park Slope, serving contemporary American fare. The liquor license is "coming soon," according to restaurant staff, but for now this restaurant and bar is B.Y.O.

Susan Leone needs help locating the owners of the dry cleaner on 1st Street and 6th Avenue so that she can locate her wedding dress. The shop closed about two weeks ago. If anyone has information, do tell.

I am not sure if this blog could be helpful in my pursuit but I thought that I would try.  This is my story:

There is a dry cleaner that used to be on Fifth Avenue at 1st Street , called Jordan Malachi cleaners.  This store closed down very quickly about 1-1/2 weeks ago.  They closed down without leaving any contact information. 

The problem is that they have my wedding dress!  I brought it to them last November to be cleaned.  The man behind the counter said that it would take about 6 weeks.  I went back at that point and he told me that it was not ready yet. 

Needless to say, I went back about 4 times, each time he said that it was at his other store and that he would bring it over.  Then he closed down.  I have talked with business owners on the block and they don’t have any information on what happened or where he went.  I even spoke with the mailman (such a sweet man!) who said that they did not leave a forwarding mail address. 

So I thought that I would try to reach out to others in the neighborhood to see if they are in the same predicament or have any contact information.
Thanks for reading and please let me know the best way to get the word out so that I can hopefully track down my wedding dress!

All the hoopla about Greg Beyer’s article on Brooklyn Blogging and the other article about Park Slope in Sunday’s Times, Park Slope Parent Trap, practically fell under the radar.

Except it didn’t.

Even up here in Connecticut — and I don’t mean Connecticut Muffin. Diaper Diva called to tell me to read the article in the City section.

I finally got to look at it in a wireless room at the lovely "George Washington Slept Here" inn we’re staying at in Connecticut.

Love the photo — a stroller mom pushing up the Slope past Two Boots. Classic.

The article is by Samantha Storey, a long-time Sloper who became a mom in January. She’s finding out the truth about Park Slope. And it ain’t always pretty.  She writes.

I hated that my neighborhood was living up to its cliché of being chock-full of “annoying parenting types.”

Once her baby was born, it was time to write another "reasons to hate Park Slope" article. Well, having a baby does give you a new perspective on Park Slope.

Joining the scores of 30-something couples who seemingly move to
Brooklyn to breed, I discovered a whole new dimension of Park Slope.
With my son’s birth in January came three months of maternity leave,
and I got to see the neighborhood on weekdays.

I wasn’t surprised by the gangs of mothers, but I was shocked by the sheer numbers  — they were everywhere.

It’s true. There are sooooo many mommies. Back in 1991 we used to joke about stroller gridlock. But what were we complaining about? Comparatively it was so minimal.

But now….

I love Storey’s description of a breast-milk-klatch at Two Boots. To some it will sound weird. Barbara Walters would find it disgusting. Storey herself seems a little uncomfortable with it. But if you’ve ever breast fed, you might appreciate the open minded attitude toward breastfeeding that exists in Park Slope. I for one was grateful for it.

I had stumbled upon an assembly of breasts, mine
included, as I nursed my own baby. While I struggled to manipulate my
son’s head to cover as much of my breast as possible, these women took
their comfort with nakedness to a whole new height.

One woman had
her shirt completely unbuttoned, her pretty pink, lacey maternity bra
on display. Another had one breast lopped over the top of her tank top.
The third had twins. She wasn’t wearing a shirt — or a bra for that
matter — just a hoodie sweatshirt unzipped with a baby at each breast.
She walked around the restaurant with them in her arms, her body
swaying in a comforting dance.

If only I was a 14-year-old boy!
I admired their lack of self-consciousness but had to admit I was
uncomfortable — it was as if I had landed in a private living room, and
it felt as if I were privy to their intimacy unbeknownst to them.

First posted in October 2004:

SMARTMOM IS GOING TO CALIFORNIA to attend the wedding of Hepcat’s
cousin Sarah. Hepcat is already there, grabbing a few day’s with his
mom on the family’s walnut farm in the San Joaquin Valley just 80 miles
east of San Francisco. Smartmom travels Thursday morning on Jet Blue
and will be out of The Slope for five days. She is flying alone.

Five days.

That’s the longest Smartmom has ever been away from Teen Spirit and
OSFO. Sure, on their anniversary in July, Hepcat and Smartmom annually
hole up at the Paramount Hotel for a night of amour. But that’s just
one night, barely a 24-hour leave from their obstinate offspring.

The last time Smartmom actually went anwhere alone was when she
went to Tortola, British Virgin Islands on a business trip back in
1994. And there have been other quick trips: a wedding in upstate New
York, a memorial service in California, a weekend in Washington D.C. But that’s about it. When Smartmom and family travel, they travel
together. Together.

So sprinkle some separation anxiety into the mix. On all sides. 

OSFO is pretty strung out by the whole thing. She’s been dreading
Sarah’s wedding ever since the invitation arrived last summer. When she
found out that no kids were invited — she was completely mystified. I
mean, who loves weddings more than OSFO? Really. OSFO longed to be
Cousin Sarah’s flower girl and a talented and experienced flower girl
she is. But nope, flower girl at Sarah’s wedding was not in the stars.
And OSFO was PISSED. Plus she doesn’t like to be too far away from her
loving mama. I mean, they are practically conjoined twins so close and
loving are they.

Teen Spirit was a little harder to read. Although he seemed mostly
cool and collect about Smartmom’s leave taking, he was awfully tender
last evening saying that he wished Smartmom wasn’t going away. When she
asked him if he was going to miss her he said, "I don’t know. Maybe."

Smartmom leaves her cherished brood in the loving care of Beautiful
Smile (their beloved babysitter), Groovy Aunt and Groovy Grandma. The
refrigerator is packed full. Smartmom thinks she’s thought of
everything.

Smartmom spent most of yesterday in a Manhattan beauty salon
getting dolled up and glamorized for Saturday night’s wedding. But she
found herself feeling sad, even tearing up during the hair coloring,
highlights and killer haircut. She looks like a million bucks, but
feels like a dime as she gets ready to leave the Slope. It’s hard to
cut the umbilical cord and go three thousand miles away.

Her children will survive, but tell me, dear reader, will she?

Someone told me that Richie Havens will be at Celebrate Brooklyn tonight. He’s a real hero of mine though I haven’t lisented to him in years. In fact, I am trying to remember the song that he sang at Woodstock. It was incredible. What was it???

Okay, I foudn his bio on the Richie Haven’s website. The song was "Freedom" but he also did a mean version of "Just like a Woman." Here’s an excerpt from the bio on his website. He was born in Bed Stuy, the oldest of nine kids.

At the age of 20, Richie left Brooklyn to seek out the
artistic stimulation of Greenwich Village. "I saw the Village as a
place to escape to in order to express yourself", he recalls. "I had
first gone there during the beatnik days of the 1950’s to perform
poetry, then I drew portraits for 2 years and stayed up all night
listening to folk music in the clubs. It took awhile before I thought
of picking up a guitar". Nina Simone was a key vocal influence early
on, and Fred Neil and Dino Valenti were among the folksingers who had
an impact on Richie during this period.

Richie’s
reputation as a solo performer soon spread beyond the Village folk
circles. He recorded two albums worth of demos for Douglas
International in 1965 and ’66, though none of the tracks were released
until his first two albums caused a stir. After joining forces with
legendary manager Albert Grossman, Richie landed his first record deal
with the Verve label, which released Mixed Bag

Something Else Again (1968) became Richie’s first album to hit the Billboard chart, and also pulled Mixed Bag
onto the charts. That same year, Douglas International added
(unapproved) instrumental tracks to his old demos and released two
albums, Richie Havens’ Record and Electric Havens. Less than a year later, Richie’s first coproduction, the two-disc Richard P. Havens, 1983

It was, in fact, as a live performer that Richie first earned
widespread notice. By decade’s end, he was in great demand in colleges
across the country, as well as on the international folk and pop
festival circuit. Richie played the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, the
1967 Monterey Jazz Festival, the 1968 Miami Pop Festival, the 1969
Woodstock Festival, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, and the first
Glastonbury Festival in 1970.

Richie’s Woodstock appearance proved to be a major turning point in his
career. As the festival’s first performer, he held the crowd spellbound
for nearly three hours, called back for encore after encore. Having run
out of tunes, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual
"Motherless Child" that became "Freedom", a song now considered to be
the anthem of a generation. The subsequent movie release helped Richie
reach a worldwide audience of millions.

He’ll be at Celebrate Brooklyn Friday night.

A bit of drama on Third Street. And it’s all because we got a new barrister bookcase that came in a large box this morning.

This evening just as it started to rain, a very drunk man decided to use a large piece of the box as shelter.

He took it and himself down the exterior stairs to our basement and slept there. Out cold.

Mrs. Kravitz was going down to do her laundry when she was completely startled by the site of this sleeping man.

She flagged down the 17-year-old boy who lives in the house next door. He spoke Spanish to the man who was too drunk to move.

Mrs. Kravitz called 911:

"Is this 911 or 311," she asked when she got someone on the phone. "This isn’t an emergency but help is needed."

They sent a police car and an EMT ambulance. 

"The guy urinated all over the box," Mrs. Kravitz me. It was more than I wanted to know but I did help Mrs. Kravitz move the large piece of box over to the garbage for Friday recycling pick up. It was my box, afterall.

A bit of drama on Third Street. And all because of the barrister bookcase that came in a big box.

Ready New Yorker of the Month Contest

The Office of Emergency Management nvites
New Yorkers to share stories of how they have prepared for emergencies
through the Ready New Yorker of the Month contest. Each month,
residents may submit their preparedness testimonials to OEM and the
winner will be named the Ready New Yorker of the Month and receive two Go Bags, backpacks with basic supplies residents should have on hand for use in an emergency.

Apply online
Download the application

Let me know if you’re interested. One post a day. A post here, a post there. 100 words will do the trick.

Hepcat will be holding down the fort while I am away. If you’re interested email me; louise_crawford@yahoo.com

I will be out of town — somewhere with unreliable Internet connections. A blessing. I am taking a break from OTBKB and focusing on some other writing.

Louise

You can see it from my dad’s window in Brooklyn Heights. He said it wasn’t that crowded yesterday but who knows when he was there.

The Neptune Foundation website has lots of info.

Even if it is gross. And it is. A hot dog eating contest. Gross. But’s SO Brookyn. So here goes:

 The Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot-Dog Eating Contest has a new champ: Joey Chestnut. The six-time champ, Takeru Kobayashi, has been beaten.

It was a world record for Chestnut, who ate 66 hot dogs in the 12-minute contest. Kobayashi finished second in a field of
17 eaters. He ate 63 hot dogs.

According to the City Room, there was some debate, however, as to whether, at the end of the 12 minutes, the frankfurters that  were partly in and partly out of his
mouth would count or not.

The joke at Groovy Grandpa and MiMa Cat’s annual fireworks party in their 27th floor Brooklyn Heights apartment is that they arrange the fireworks just for us to enjoy.

It’s our very own private fireworks show.

They have the most incredible from their living room and bedroom. Windows face the river and the Manhattan skyline in one direction and Coney Island in the other.

In the half hour or so before the Macy’s fireworks began we ask, "When are you going to pull the switch, dad? When do the fireworks begin?"

The Macy’s barge is parked in the harbor right in front of his windows. The fireworks literally fill those windows with color and light. Last night was better than ever.

Two-and-half-year-old Ducky sat on a stool near the window.

"Fireworks. Fireworks. They’re PRETTY!"  she exclaimed over and over.

OSFO kept telling Ducky to try and catch one. "Reach out, reach out," she’d say. Ducky and OSFO pretended to eat them.

YUM.

Teen Spirit told Ducky that Grandpa had told them to spell her name. "See," he told her. "Those are the letters of your name."

Ducky was enchanted.

Hepcat took pictures. All of us drank cold white wine. We complimented my father constatnly. The fireworks are GREAT. There were some new effects we noticed: a tall white waterfall.

"That’s NEW. Love the new ones, Dad," my sister exclaimed.

After the show, my father accepted the compliments like it really was his show. That’s part of the joke.

"Just a little fireworks for the party," he said. "Hope you liked it."

 

How’s
this for irony? The day my book comes out—a book celebrating the
streets of New York—I am run down in the streets of New York. Crossing
the street around noon last Thursday, I was struck and knocked over by
a minivan. The worst appears to have been averted: The X-rays in the
emergency room didn’t show any breaks. But I won’t take up space
discussing my injuries and aches, since I’m here to write about the
aforementioned book: Walking Brooklyn.

Because of the accident, it was Saturday before I went out and finally
got to see it in a bookstore. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in Brooklyn, as
the first bookstore I passed that day was the Borders at Penn
Station—where I was thrilled to see not only that Walking Brooklyn
is centrally displayed on a wall of NYC travel books and that it’s a
display you can see through the window when you’re outside the store.
This is my first book, so that was indeed a thrill! So there’s Walking Brooklyn
on the shelves—twenty months after I received an email from an editor
at Berkeley, Calif.-based Wilderness Press, who’d gotten my name from a
mutual friend after he heard Wilderness was looking for an author for
the next destination in their urban walking tour series, Brooklyn.

The
email said they were looking for a writer who is “an active walker and
urban explorer, who’s curious and appreciative of the urban
environment…” Sounds like a personal ad I might have written! After
submitting proposals for the book, I was hired and my journey to get to
know Brooklyn better than ever commenced. By then, it was early 2006.
That winter I did book research, and in April began the legwork.

Now,
just over a year later, the result is in the stores. Thirty walking
tours, each created by me. In all, over forty neighborhoods are
represented. It’s the only guidebook I know of that covers such places
as Bushwick and Cypress Hills and Mill Island—places that guidebooks
would call “off the beaten path”—in such depth. All the old favorites
are there too, like Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Park, Fort Greene and,
of course, the Slope. There are walks across bridges, along the bay and
ocean, into cemeteries, and through streets lined with posh residences
of the late 1800s and the early 2000s. It’s a book I hope Brooklynites
and other New Yorkers will enjoy as much as tourists.

To be continued….