Found this story on the Brooklyn Record, too. And it hits hard. Mr. Souvlaki was our favorite place when Hepcat and I lived on  Montague Street back in the 1980’s. That was before Teen Spirit and the Oh So Feisty One. It was me, Hepcat, and all his computer equipment squeezed into my cozy studio apartment. That was back in the day. It was all completely romantic and fun and we loved eating at Mr. Souvlaki. In fact, at the time it was the only place on Montague we liked other than the diner that was on the corner of Hicks.

Hepcat and his mother grabbed a bite at Mr. Souvlaki a few weeks ago – I forget what they were doing over there. And I’ve been back, too. Our pediatrician is located a couple of blocks away so it’s been a fun lunch stop after doctor appointments. Oh, Mr. Souvlaki, we will miss your lamb roasting on the skewer, your falafel, your gyros, your babaganoush. Good bye and happy sailing.

After 33 years of serving moussakas, spinach pies, and gyros, wwners
Harry and Anna Kilimitzoglou have closed Mr. Souvlakitearful goodbyes to their many loyal customers. The couple
plans to spend their retirement relaxing on their boat and traveling to
Greece.
Famed Greek Restaurant Closes Doors [NY Daily News]

Looks like Brownstoner is EXPANDING. Today they launched: Brooklyn Record, a more comprehensive Brooklyn site covering arts, restaurants, events, politics, and more. Looks like OTBKB may have to do a little revamping, too. Good luck to Mr. B.

As Brownstoner has grown in size and scope, we’ve come to realize that
there’s a need for a blog that covers a broader range of Brooklyn
topics and that incorporates a broader range of voices. So we’ve put
together a new site called the Brooklyn Record
that will cover Arts, Restaurants, Events, Politics, etc. while
Brownstoner stays focused on Real Estate, Renovation and Architecture.
(We’ve got two new reno blogs coming down the pipe.) Brooklyn Record
also has a Drudge-like section of links to daily hard news in the
borough. We’ve got a group of seven or eight writers and bloggers who
will be contributing the lion’s share of posts, but we hope the site
will evolve to incorporate even more voices over time. We’ve been
publishing in stealth mode for a couple of weeks so there’s a backlog
of items to check out in addition to today’s fresh daily content. Like
Brownstoner, the Brooklyn Record will be exponentially more fun and
useful if readers contribute ideas and tips. We look forward to your
suggestions and feedback as the site and its writers get their sea
legs. Enjoy.
Brownstoner
Homepage [Brooklyn Record]

one: party in Prospect Park
two: party at the Third Street Playground
three: party at home
four: Puppetworks party
five: party at the Prospect Park Carousel
six: Wonder Camp on 23rd Street
seven: Beatles party at home.
eight: Harry Potter party at home
nine: Who Wants to be a Millionaire? party at home
ten: Videomaking party at home
eleven: Lazer Park
twelve: The Matrix Reloaded at the Pavillion
thirteen: a virtual bar mitzvah
fourten: Museum of Comic Book Art and Cartooning Arts Festival in the Puck Building
fifteen:

Birthday week will be over tomorrow. That is, the week of June 6-June 12 is birthday week in our family because we’re always busy, busy, busy with the brithdays of Hepcat, Manhattan Granny, and Teen Spirit.

Hepcat’s birthday was an impromptu dinner at Black Pearl on Union Street thrown together on Tuesday afternoon. To all those we didn’t contact: trust me, it was really thrown together.

The Black Pearl was unbelievably accomodating when we walked in needing a table for 15. They created a long banquet table in the back and treated our party very, very well (a Tuesday night bonanza for the waiters, as well).

The menu, a mix of Italian seafood, pizza, and other specialties is beautifully presented and delicious. The seafood risotto and the grilled tuna, are especially good.

Next up was Manhattan Granny’s big birthday luncheon for 16 family members, at the Gramercy Park Tavern. Without revealing the number, suffice it to say, it was an important one and she was feted in an appropriate and quite extravagant way: a party worthy of its guest of honor.

Teen Spirit’s birthday is Monday June 12th and, well, it’s a surprise. After Manhattan Granny’s party, Hepcat and I went down to the West Village to shop for his gift. Can’t say now, but he should like it a great deal.

Here is the poem I read at my mother’s luncheon (her maiden name was Edna Mae Wander and  childhood friends would tease: Edna may wander but not very far…). Other family members also spoke beautifully about my mom.

Edna Mae wander
and sometimes quite far
wherever she went
she followed her star

She knew what she wanted
It was always the best
her discriminating eye,
her passion, her zest

First she wandered to camp
where she danced and much more
she made lifelong friends ,
it was called Camp Lenore

Then to New London she traveled
that small Coast Guard city
she studied, she read
she always looked pretty 

Next stop Greenwich Village
conventional she was not
she ate hot chocolate pudding
right out of the pot

In Nantucket she found him
He was smart, fun and wordy
they wed at the Savoy
she was just over thirty

Then they crossed the great ocean
bought a small English car
they traveled through Europe
they wandered quite far

Then her stomach got big
she always felt full
she gave birth to girl twins
in the French Hospital

She wandered some more

to the Upper West Side
where she found 8 beautiful rooms
on Riverside Drive

Her wanderings continued
on the Queen Mary, the France
The family traveled to Europe
in ocean liner elegance

As her daughters grew older
she faced the big "D"
she reinvented herself
at the great I.C.P

Edna still wanders
to San Francisco, Italy
She goes to Park Slope
on the old IRT.

To visit her children
and grandchildren, too
she always brings Zabars
for Henry, Alice and Hugh

And Sonya, the baby,
is Edna’s new muse
for whom she buys Petit Matin
and Elaphaten shoes

Edna still wanders
she takes classes and learns
at Columbia, at Barnard
the passion still burns

So at the Gramercy we gather
for our mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend
Our best wishes are yours
and love without end

Always good to hear from my friend Howard Dean, who sent this missive  this morning.

Hurricane season has arrived — and two fresh studies point to a
link between global warming and an increase in the number and power of
storms like Hurricane Katrina.

What are Republicans doing about it? They’re smearing former Vice President Al Gore.

One right-wing pundit compared Gore to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi
propagandist. Another right-winger, who’s been on the payroll of
corporate special interests, likened Gore’s pursuit of solutions to
global warming to Adolf Hitler’s pursuit of genocide.

I’m sending Al a note this week telling him to keep fighting, to
keep standing up for the truth no matter how vicious the attacks. I
thought he might like to hear from you, too. Sign on to this note of
thanks, and add your own note of encouragement here:

http://www.democrats.org/keepfighting

Facts are facts. Global warming is happening, and it threatens our
very existence. But it also presents a historical opportunity to rise
above politics and act boldly. Despite right-wing efforts to silence
him, Al Gore has articulated one of the great moral challenges of our
time and tried to move people to act.

This should not be a political issue. We need a conversation about
climate change and its consequences. But special interests in
Washington have a tight grip on the Republican leadership, and an
entire network of corporate-funded front groups has emerged to deny
reality and attack the messenger.

They hope that scorched-earth political tactics will cover up the
reality that the scientific debate is one they’ve already lost.

Vice President Al Gore deserves our thanks for his courage and
leadership. Let him know you appreciate his stand by signing on to this
letter of thanks before this week is over:

http://www.democrats.org/keepfighting

Did you know the National Academy of Sciences joined academies in
the other G8 countries last year by concluding that global warming
requires "prompt action"? Or that insurance companies are fleeing
coastlines and charging huge premiums to avoid taking more losses from
massive hurricanes? How about the fact that climate researchers have a
new worry: that we could cross a tipping point that sends sea levels
rising by 20 feet by the end of the century?

If you didn’t know, that’s by design. Corporate special interests
are deeply invested in keeping us hooked to the status quo — high gas
prices, inefficiency, and dependence on foreign oil.

That’s why last year, in the middle of a record-breaking hurricane
season, Republicans in Congress and the White House gave oil companies
$6 billion — even as those companies ran away with the largest
corporate profits in American history. And that’s why we still have yet
to see the Bush administration stand up and do anything to stop global
warming.

Enough is enough, and people know it. Al Gore is demonstrating
exactly the kind of courage and moral clarity that Democrats will bring
when we take back Congress and win elections up and down the ballot
this year.

The inconvenient truth is that global warming exists — and thanks
to Al Gore, it’s now more likely that America will come together and do
something about it.

Sincerely,
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

A reliable source on Third Street says that the "For Rent" signs have been removed from the Mojo/Carvel storefront. That means, says Reliable Third Street Friend, that someone has signed on to do something with the place.

And that is?  I’ll be interested to hear. Good guesses are also welcome.

Maybe instead of a Complaints Box, Smartmom should walk around with a Suggestions Box. If you’ve got something constructive to say, just write it down on a small piece of paper and put it in.

Yesterday’s postcard, "Complaints Box" was a pithy exercise in self-flaggelation. Thank gawd for those kind readers who could dredge up something kind to say.

The most WONDERFUL thing that happened was this. I told Teen Spirit about the comment left by an M. Fairfield:

If I was your son I don’t think I’d feel much like confiding in you
either. The thought that any "newsworthy" quirk is fodder for
tomorrow’s blog is a great reason to keep you out of the loop.

And you know what Teen Spirit said. He said, "Tell him to go fuck himself." And I will just leave it at that.

Thanks Teen Spirit. You are the best!

Continue reading SUGGESTION BOX →

Do you ever feel like everyone in your life is finding fault with you?

It’s an awful feeling. Sometimes I think I should walk around with a "Complaints Box" around my neck so that people can write down their complaints and put them in the box.

I feel like shit.

This morning Hepcat made me feel like a terrible mother because  I told OSFO four times this weekend that I was going to smack her.  (Just an expression by the way, as in: "If you don’t stop whining I’m gonna smack you!" I really had no intention of hitting her. Too hard. Her whining and "I want, I wants" were driving me out of my mind).

Diaper Diva thinks I’m a fair weather sister. That I’m a user. She says I only call her when I need her to watch OSFO or do something for me. When she needs me I am, apparently, nowhere to be found, or incredibly distracted.

Let’s see, who else is finding fault with me.

Last night at bedtime, OSFO regaled Hepcat with all the reasons she wishes Diaper Diva was her mother and not me. She had quite a list in addition to all the times I told her I was going to smack her.

What else?

Being "snubbed" by the PTA didn’t make me feel too great. Especially since I am so involved with that organization. I feel that I can be part of it even if my opinions are different from theirs. I certainly didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Anything else?

My mother hates my blonde hair. My son doesn’t want to confide in me anymore and makes me feel like an annoying bug.

Do you ever feel like you should wear a "Complaints Box" around your neck so that people can register their complaints about you?

If you have any complaints, feel free to mention them here. (Oh boy I can’t wait…)

Mr. Kravitz bought the building a new Weber yesterday just in time for our first barbecue of the season. We’ve had two stolen: he bought a lock to lock it to the gate.

A new Weber: we’re not sure how many ways we’re going to split it. It doesn’t really matter. It’s for  everyone’s use. And for all the barbecue we’re gonna have this summer.

And if it gets us through the summer, we’re ahead of the game.

"We’re getting very Slopey," Phized said watching over the shrimp kabobs, the Chilean sea bass kabobs and the Fairway meats that were cooking on the grill.

Clearly, this is not a hamburger and hot dogs crowd. Come to think of it, there were no burgers last night. None. Though Hebrew National franks were in good supply. We’ve been doing these potluck barbcues for a few years now and we is getting fancy.

It’s amazing how quickly we pull these barbecue together. It started Sunday afternoon. "Anyone wanna do a Memorial Day barbecue?" A sign went up on the the front door, neighbors from other buildings were invited informally. Bowls of salad, guacamole, hummus were prepared. Corn shucked. Chicken microwaved in advance because everyone is squeamish about undercooked childen. There’s always lots of wine, exotic beers, lemonade in the big red cooler.

Most importantly, the kids make sure their parents bought marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars for S’mores.

Who says you can’t make S’mores in the front yard of a Brooklyn apartment building?

Fofolle brought blue and pink straw cowboys hats for everyone to wear. Mrs. Kravitz made a joke about "Brokeback Brownstone," which everyone thought was pretty funny.

You had to be there, I guess.

Every chair in the basement was brought upstairs. It’s an odd assortment: dining room chairs, folding chairs, office chairs, beach chairs. Whatever. There was nothing even vaguely Martha Stewartish about this event. It couldn’t have been less tasteful in its chaotic mish-mash of bowls, chairs,  paper plates (leftover from birthday parties), white paper cups, less than artful presentation of meat hot off the grill.

But it was perfect. And the food was delicious. Especially the Chilean sea bass kabobs, which were prepared by a 13-year-old boy who lives across the street, an aspiring chef. A friend of Ravi, our resident sitar player, he wore a white chef’s coat and watched over the kabobs carefully as they cooked on the grill.

Mr. Kravitz started cooking at around 4:00. The party was done by 10 p.m. The clean up went pretty quick. Everything returned to the basement. The Weber cleaned and locked up. The kids, who were still racing their bikes, trikes, and scooters up and down Third Street, were sent to bed.

Everyone went back to their respective apartment buildings on Third Street. Those who came from farther away took car service chariots home.

Afterward, a quiet moment sitting on the stoop, talking and taking in the cool night breeze.

From NY 1:  The subways are a bit funky so check out which are running and which are not.

The Memorial Day holiday means most New Yorkers will have the day off, but it also brings some service changes.

Alternate side of the street parking rules are suspended on Monday, as well as garbage and recycling pick-ups.

The courts, and federal, state and city offices are all closed. Financial markets, banks and post offices will also be closed.

City subways, buses and ferries will be running on a holiday
schedule, as well as the Long Island Railroad, Metro-North and PATH
trains.

New Jersey Transit will be operating on a Sunday schedule.

To check service changes before heading out on the holiday visit www.MTA.NYC.NY.US.

The Third Street Cafe is open again. 

No, no, no. There’s no trendy new establishment on Third Street where the Mojo used to be.

I’m talking about the green metal table in the front yard of our limestone apartment building. Currently we have two green plastic chairs (one mysteriously broken on the seat) and two metal chairs Hepcat found on the street last week.

But the cafe is in full swing. Last night, an assortment of neighbors feasted on whatever was in the fridge; cold Sake, German beer, an assortment of cheeses, cherry tomatoes, and green grapes.

Quite a spread.

Neighbors sat and stood around the green metal table for couple of hours while the kids staged bike, trike and scooter races down Third Street. Our 13-year-old neighbor, Ravi, sat on the stoop and played ragas on his beautiful sitar. He’s only been playing since last summer but he’s gotten really good.

Beaming Bride and Groom, who live down the street, stopped by on their way home from "X-Men" at the Pavilion. They were married quietly  last week at City Hall, a cause of great celebration for all those who have been wishing her nothing but the best since her divorce nine years ago. They met on an Internet dating site (yet another sauces story and I know of so many) and they look really happy together. This is the second marriage for her and the third for him. If anyone else says:  "Three is the Charm," like the woman at City Hall and many others (including me)  he will probably swat you.

There was talk of another romantic coupling, a "Yours, Mine, and Ours" type of relationship on Third Street. Neighbors offered their theories. Were they still together or had things cooled off a bit?

We laughed at ourselves even as the gossip spilled out of our mouths. Stoop sitting and gossip seem so intricately in-twined. You can’t have one without the other. Or can you?

JUNE 22, 2006 at 8 p.m. BROOKLYN BLOG FESTIVAL

ONLY THE BLOG KNOWS BROOKLYN PRESENTS: The First
Annual Brooklyn BlogFEST 2006.
Join all your favorite Brooklyn bloggers for an evening celebrating the
Brooklyn blogging and its emergence as a major community source of
information and comment.

There will be short talks/readings by bloggers, displays of
photo blogs and more. Also awards and live blogging. Door
Prizes. This event is for those who have blogs and those who read them
and especially for those who haven’t a clue what blogging is.

This is the first gathering of Brooklyn bloggers.  EVER. See what
these people look like. So come to this historical event – the FIRST
ANNUAL BROOKLYN BLOG FEST.

A Brooklyn Life. Daily Slope. Joe’s NYC. Design Sponge,
Dope on the Slope,  Lex’s Folly, Brownstoner, Callalillie, Lost and Frowned, Only the Blog Knows
Brooklyn, Develop Don’t Destroy, and more, more, more

JOIN US AT: The Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets in Park Slope. Contact: Louise Crawford: 718-288-4290. Free. Refreshments. 

We had a moth infestation in our basement. Turns out they really, really, really like rugs. In the last couple of days I have spent hours in the basement packing things up and throwing them away.

It feels so god damn good to throw stuff away. Especially stuff I’ve been hanging onto like the car seat we brought Teen Spirit home from the hospital in (in June 1991) or dozens of OSFO’s tiny onesies (from spring 1997).

Hepcat refuses to throw out old computer and photography magazines. But he was willing to throw away an empty computer box he’s been hanging onto for years. "I guess we’re keeping that computer," he said. 

I found boxes of books that belonged to someone who lived here more than 15 years ago — an interesting assortment of bestsellers: The Shining, Papillion, The Art of Loving, lots of Stephen King.

There were many books on shorthand and other secretarial skills, as well as child development books.

OSFO and friends are having a giant book, lemonade, and donut holes sale today. There’s been quite a bit of traffic on Third Street. A Mr. Softee truck guy stopped by for some lemonade. So did the postman.

The moths seem to be gone now. But they inspired this incredible purging. Thank you moths. Thank you.

The fact that few of us learned math seemed to be a recurring them at the reunion of the Upper West Side Progressive High School That No Longer Exists (UWSPHSTNLE) And that fact continues to inform the post-reunion emails.

Hedge Fund: I just calculated the monies, and I have some good news to report. We spent approximately $6,260. We took in approximately $6,200. A number of folks did make slightly larger contributions, and that more than covered those who couldn’t. So despite all of our rudimentary math skills, we even managed to run a balanced budget.

Executive Producer: How much is 6260 minus 6200?

Corporate Lawyer: Looks like $60 to me.  More beer.  (The idea is to pitch in, except for Hedge Fund, until his $60 is paid back…)

School Director: Now that’s impressive! Maybe you know all the math you need to know…

This just in from BKLYN Magazine. It’s a letter to the subscribers from the publisher. I for one was glad to hear that they hope to resume publication in the fall.

With great regret, I write to tell you that BKLYN magazine
is entering a hiatus.  Due to cash flow problems, we will not publish a
summer issue.  We are seeking additional financing and hope to resume
publication in the fall.  You may check our web site occasionally for
up-dates.

Sincerely,

Joseph M. McCarthy
Publisher

The new Apple store opened on Friday. Hepcat went over there on Sunday but there was a huge line of people just waiting to get in.

It’s
just an empty glass box now, but this site will become the world’s most
powerful nerd magnet tomorrow. Expect to see geeks flying through the
air towards it, whoosh! over Manhattan, like steel dust drawn to a neodymium disc. Many thanks to literary uber-agent John Brockman for the photo. Link to full-size (jpeg). Steve Jurvetson has some thoughts about it here.

Alexis Robie on the opening of Fairway in Red Hook last Wednesday,

This is an enormous day for Red Hook. Fairway opens. For nearly six years, I have heard the arguments for and against this store. I went to community meetings and had late night chats at Sonny’s about development and traffic. I spoke to longtime residents who said it’s about time. I spoke to teenagers who now have their first jobs.

I watched as the old sleeping bricks at the end of Van Brunt were eased awake with a tenderness that all our architectural treasures deserve. True, the structure was not adapted for maritime use. True, the process was plagued with questionable practices on both sides. But let us Red hook residents give thanks that it is not a gigantic blue and yellow pimple on our glorious waterfront, but a resource for the community in terms of smart preservation, good jobs, and urgently needed fresh food.

Alas, I am at work, so I will miss the actual opening. But my lovely wife will be among the first to sample their wares.

Do I need to mention that I looking forward to dinner?

It looks like they did a good job and used an existing beautiful structure.

(photography by Alexis Robie)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

On May 18th at 8 p.m., BROOKLYN READING WORKS at the OLD STONE HOUSE presents members of 808 Union Writer’s Group, a writer’s group that has been meeting just about every Tuesday night for ten years.

808 was started by Marian Fontana, the author of the recently published memoir, "A Widow’s Walk."

In a structured yet unobtrusive way, the group members try to help one another strengthen and sharpen the work they bring in, which includes fiction, poetry, memoir, screenwriting, playwriting and non-fiction. The mix of styles and genres enhances the group and keeps it interesting.

So don’t miss the reading on May 18th at 8 p.m. with:

Louise Crawford (AKA Smartmom and OTBKB) reading poems from "Five Ten on Tuesday."
Marian Fontana reading new work.
Kevin McPartland reading "The Old Neighborhood," a short story about Park Slope in the early 1960’s.
LaCanas Tucker reading poetry.
Wendy Ponte reading fiction.

Pencil Photo by Wes@flickr

Callalillie discovered a treasure trove of photo negatives on the streets of Red Hook. they belonged to a man named Arthur. I’m not sure how Callalillie figured that out. Maybe she named the man who is pictured in most of the scenes. Now she is reprinting them and trying to figure out the story that lies within them. I think it’s a very interesting project.

Whoever it was that took these photographs probably did not think of
them as diptychs. Most likely, the negatives were cut this way to save
space. Still, we found the images in sets of two and, since the moment
we scanned and developed them, cannot help but read them like short
vignettes.

A lake and mountain meld as one behind a foreground of greenery. At
right, a man and woman pose. They are at the edge of land. It is as if
they are the only living souls amidst the faint blur of nature.

What is the story here?

–Callalillie

Joe’s NYC is a "Photobloggies" finalist. He’s in great company with Travis Ruse, daily subway photographer and Brooklyn blogger. Congrats to Joe and Travis.

Thanks to all of your support, joe’s nyc is one of five finalists in the 2006 Photobloggies as Best American Photoblog. Thank you so much for your votes.

The other nominees are four of my favorite photoblogs, wonderful photos taken by really nice people:

• http://www.durhamtownship.com/
• http://www.travisruse.com/
• http://orbit1.com/
• http://www.joesnyc.streetnine.com/
• http://www.notraces.com/

The vote is now up to the panel of judges, the editors behind photo magazines AK47.tv, Bending Light, File Magazine, Gomma Magazine, Hamburger Eyes, JPG Magazine, Light Leaks, Making Room, Mooncruise, Photoblogs Magazine, and U&I Mag.

The winners will be announced in Toronto over the weekend of May 20.

Thanks again for your tremendous show of support.

Check out the Develop Don’t Destroy website. Not only is full of information about the fight against Ratnerville, but their new advisory board is a veritable who’s who’s of interesting people in Brooklyn. For every name, there’s a link.  If they’re real famous, they’re on Wikipedia, (Rosie Perez, Buscemi, Jonathan Safran Foer). Others are on Women Make Movies (Jo Andres), The Saatchi Gallery (David Salle), their own blogs (Jenifer Egan.com, francismorrone.com), etc.

Also get tickets for Dan Zanes DDDB benefit show. Should be a great gig for Brooklyn. Children’s/family music icon Dan Zanes,
      in a rare Brooklyn performance, will headline a benefit concert for Develop
      Don’t Destroy Brooklyn on June 3rd, at 11 AM, at Hanson Place Central United
      Methodist Church, 144 St. Felix Street at Hanson Place, Brooklyn. Tickets
      can be purchased online at www.dddb.net (TicketWeb)
      and can be bought on the day of the event. Tickets: $12 for children (13
      and under), $15 for adults. All ages welcome, babies in arms enter free.
      Doors will open at 10:15 AM.
      

Dope on the Slope posted a comment to my "I Like Frank Gehry But.." piece.

I agree that some of Gehry’s work is beautiful and even inspiring. I
think the museum at Bilbao will stand the test of time and remain an
icon long after many of his other buildings are razed or forgotten.

The man obviously has talent, but he was overreaching in accepting
the assignment for Atlantic Yards, the footprint of which is bigger
than the WTC site. You don’t "design" neighborhoods. You might "plan"
them, but you don’t design them. The superblock is a failed concept,
Frank should know better.

What disappoints me most, however, is his condescending attitude
toward local residents who are skeptical of the project that will
change their quality of life forever – a change they did not ask for,
nor have they been consulted since the proposal was announced. His
remarks concerning legitimate criticism of his concept seem at once
both defensive and elitist. Many of the most vocal critics are
architects, urban planners, designers and experienced activists for
smart development. He may dismiss armchair pundits like me as
uninformed philistines, but he can’t hide from the truth – His design
won’t create the vibrant urban space that FCR is promising everyone. It
will in fact dampen the revitalization that is already occurring in the
area.

We need a catalytic project, not a wholesale recreation of the neighborhood in the image of Jersey City.

Hopefully Frank will see the light. He should be worried about his
legacy. This project is the biggest he’s ever tackled, but the results
will be far below the standards of his best work.

Walking out of Possibilities, that chotchka and card emporium on Seventh Avenue, I saw a father and son walking in.

"This is a woman’s store," the father said. "It is?" the boy asked. "Yes, my son. You see there are only women in here…"

The sexist implications aside.  I knew
that the two of them were about to embark on an important mission:
buying a  Mother’s Day gift.

Ah, the pressure. The agony. The thump thump thump heart beating anxiety to locate a gift for mom.

As you can imagine, Mother’s Day is a big deal around here. On Saturday will be hordes of fathers with children making the pilgrammage to
the Clay Pot, which will be filled to the gills with clueless
men and kids struggling to find the perfect gift.

More than once, when shopping for a gift for my mother, I’ve been
tempted to steer a particularly clueless man toward what I knew would
be a more appropriate gift. But I resisted. It was not my place. If I
did, however, run into a friend’s husband, I might make a small
suggestion. But hey, it was all in the name of friendship and karma
(and she could thank me later for the Lisa Jenks necklace).

While there are now more good stores to choose from (Living on
Seventh, Loom, Bird, Nest, Shangri La) on Seventh Avenue. And too, too
many places to name on Fifth Avenue (Diane Kane, Matter, Flirt, Cog and
Wheel, Eidolan and on and on…), the Clay Pot is still, symbolically,
the destination of choice, the holy grail of Mother’s Day gifts.

For one thing, they have a comprehensive selection of the best in
contemporary jewelry design (at a variety of price points) and they
feature an eminently tasteful selection of the best in contemporary
home and gift items. As they say on their web site:

"The Clay Pot was established in 1969 as an urban ceramics
studio by Robert and Sally Silberberg. Thirty-five years ago Park Slope
was hardly the enclave for young professional families it is today, but
it was always a neighborhood, and The Clay Pot is essentially a
neighborhood store. Joined by their daughter Tara in 1990, the store
now reflects her passion for jewelry and has developed into a
nationally recognized source for America’s premier jewelry designers."

Plus, they make it so easy for men to find a gift that will make
their wives swoon. The window is chock full of great ideas, as is the
store itself. But more importantly, their long-time employees are the
best at giving advice on gifts at every price range and style. They ask
all the right questions (price, personal style of the recipient, likes
and dislikes) and take the time to work with you. From hand crafted,
simple and tasteful, high design or even something a little Blink,
there’s something for everyone’s taste.

That brown Clay Pot gift box with a black ribbon is the de-facto
Park Slope equivalent of the blue Tiffany box. To many a woman it means
that her husband has done his job, that he’s reached to the sky and
pulled down a star. Good work.

Some men even venture into the vaulted and expensive wedding ring
department. Oooooooh. Now that’s a guy who really knows how to buy a
gift.

Big day in Brooklyn. There was a high security press conference. New models, new pictures, revisions to the original design. Overall – not big changes. Daniel Goldstein of Develop Do’t Destroy has already countered with: "SAME AS THE OLD PROPOSAL: New Design is 16 Skyscrapers of window dressing…"  But there are fewer buildings and a half-million square feet smaller. New York 1 had this to say about the revised plans

Developers unveiled new designs Thursday for a scaled back plan for the
Atlantic rail yards complex in Brooklyn aimed at winning over critics
of the project.

The plans are almost the same as the original, but the buildings
are smaller and the project is about a half-million square feet
smaller.

The change is intended to end an on-going feud between the
developers and residents who say the $3.5 billion project will only
increase congestion. They’re also concerned about the look and feel of
the borough.

Famed architect, Frank Gehry, says the borough inspires his vision for the area.

"We’re trying to understand what is Brooklyn, what is the body
language of Brooklyn and trying to emulate it without copying it,” said
Gehry. “Copying it would trivialize it."

Supporters say the sports complex will bring jobs to the borough and revitalize Downtown.

Some buildings are already being demolished at the site.

Plans call for the arena to be open by 2009.

Members of the North Brooklyn Allliance are calling for an independent investigation into what cause the big fire that tore through a warehouse a week ago. This from NY1

The fire has been labeled suspicious by the Fire Department. Now
members of the North Brooklyn Alliance, one of the groups behind the
redevelopment of Greenpoint, are calling for an independent
investigation into what caused the fire.

They also want the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the clean-up of the site.

"It doesn’t matter what the cause of the fire was, whether it was
vandalism, was it poor storage of material, was it electrical? We need
to know the cause of this,” area resident Peter Gillespie said
Thursday. “We need to make sure this investigation is ongoing, we have
to make sure that it is not swept under the rug, and we need to make
sure that the community participates in this investigation and we’re at
the table every step of the way."

"Whether or not arson is the cause of this disaster, we have lost a
great deal, and we are asking as a unified coalition of Brooklyn groups
that the city step in and take the absolute necessary measures to
protect us and our families," said Dewey Thompson of the North Brooklyn
Alliance.

Residents also say they are concerned about what will ultimately go
up in place of the warehouse. The current plan is for residential and
commercial development on the site, while residents favor more open
space.

Check out the New York Observer’s real estate blog for info and pictures from today’s big Forest City Ratner high-security press
conference.  "There was ittle news but lots of images: fewer crooked
buildings and more straight lines, more titanium siding and less Las
Vegas. This is all about how it looks, so take a peek inside…"

BKLYN DESIGNS™: May 12 — 14, 2006
                   

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that BKLYN
DESIGNS™ 2006, NY’s hippest design show, will return to DUMBO,
Brooklyn, May 12 – 14, 2006. The annual three-day exhibition will
kick-off NY Design Week, and feature the borough’s top established and
emerging designers of contemporary indoor and outdoor furniture, rugs,
lighting and accessories.

The show, founded in 2003, has steadily grown to
fill multiple venues and attract thousands of architects, designers and
design-savvy consumers from around the country.  St. Ann’s Warehouse
will once again serve as the show hub but this year the entire DUMBO
neighborhood will be alive with events, gallery openings and parties.

BKLYN DESIGNS™ exhibitors are selected by a jury,
which includes prominent designers as well as editors from leading
design and shelter magazines.  All exhibitors will show their newest
made-in-Brooklyn collections.  For many, it will be their very first
trade show exhibit.  This gives attendees a chance to be among the
first in the world to see the new design trends as they are being set.
The complete exhibitor list, which will top 50 firms this year, will be
posted in the coming weeks.

The show will also feature inspiring design events
and consumer demonstrations that are all free with admission.
Pre-registered professional members of the design trade can attend free
all day on opening day (Friday, May 12).  Please click here for trade registration.

BKLYN DESIGNS will be offering a free shuttle bus service between Union Square, DUMBO, and State Street, where blockparty, an offsite exhibit of art and design in the new urban home, will be held. 

Love the sound of this book. It’s on my Mother’s Day Shopping List. Tonight,  writers
Anne Burt, Kate Christensen, David Goodwillie, and Sheila Kohler read
from the new volume of essays, "My Father Married Your Mother: Writers
Talk About Stepparents, Stepchildren, and Everyone in Between" (W.W.
Norton). Tonight, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 4 Astor Place at
Broadway, 212-420-1322, free.

I didn’t send out any Mother’s Day cards this year because I will be with my mother, my mother-in-law, and my stepmother at various points during this Mother’s Day Weekend.

I can just give them out in person.

Call me lucky. I have a great set of mothers. Sure, all the relationships are not without their complications. But it’s a pretty stellar group of women.

It feels nice to say that and mean it. And I do.

This year, Diaper Diva celebrates her first Mother’s Day. WOW. My sister has waited a long, long time for this. She deserves the world’s BIGGEST Mother’s Day card. H U G E.

Or maybe, her red-haired Ducky IS the world’s largest Mother’s Day card. Yesterday Diaper Diva reported that Ducky is so coordinated, she’s the star of her baby gymnastics class. She is also adorably busy at home dressing herself, putting on shoes (and buckling them), pushing her stroller around, enjoying BooBah (her generation’s Teletubbies), beginning to speak…

I will pick out my Mother’s Day cards today: it’s a yearly ritual I enjoy. Picking out Diaper Diva’s will be the most fun of all. If I can find one that’s BIG enough that is.