It’s in the space that used to be Pizza on the Park. Right across from the illustrious JJ Byrne Park on Third Street west of Fifth Avenue. Right around the corner from the Stone Park Cafe and the new Bird.
I don’t know what it’s called. If you do please write me or leave a comment. I saw something about it somewhere…
I guess I could get up off my almost 50-year-old BUTT and walk over there.
Maybe there’s something about it on Gowanus Lounge
The Community Bookstore may have inspired this blossoming of community activism on behalf of another independent bookseller.
In this case, the store doesn’t exist yet but people in Ft. Greene are rallying behind Jessica Stockton Bagnulo (aka The Written Nerd) to help her open a shop soon. They’re even planning this bookstore Kickoff Event on September 16.
It’s a movement. Not only do Brooklynites organize to protect and support a beloved literary institution but they also organize to make a new one happen!
Last year the Fort Greene Association’s retail committee surveyed 380 locals about their shopping preferences. 75 percent of respondents (281) cited bookstores as a category in which they wanted more choices.
To meet this need, the Fort Greene Indie Bookstore Initiative (FGIBI) embarked on a campaign to find an independent bookstore. After months of talking with Brooklyn-based bookstores, the group met Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, a Brooklyn entrepreneur who won the 2007 Brooklyn Public Library PowerUp! Competition for her business plan to open a bookstore in Fort Greene.
To raise community awareness and rally support for Jessica’s independent bookstore, FGIBI is hosting an event in Fort Greene at the Cumberland Greene (237 Cumberland Ave) on September 16, 2008 from 7pm to 9pm. The event will feature local Brooklyn authors. Complimentary beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres from local businesses will also be served. RSVP required; email rsvp_fortgreeneindie@hotmail.com to be added to the guest list.
Garlic On Her Mind
My wife’s convinced
It’s good for the heart–
She’s welcome to it
Till breath do us part.
There will be several scenic rest stops as the ride follows mostly
calm streets with some light vehicular traffic. Several Bike Marshals
will travel alongside the group, guiding the ride. Bike Marshals will
also be prepared to handle any urgent bike repairs needed. Light snacks
and water will be provided but riders should be prepared with sunblock,
plenty of water, and ready for a light pace that will include some
cobblestone streets in Red Hook and the 9th Street hill in Park Slope,
with an option to also ride hill within Prospect Park’s car-free loop.
Got this email from a loyal reader of OTBKB about brunch at Sette.
Sette on Third Street and Seventh Avenue.
Went for first time Sunday. Brunch. It never looked that inviting to me.
Took a long long time (but I think it was because there was a big party of
12 demanding birthday revelers…) Anyway, it turned out to be lovely and I
thought it was a good deal.Also went to Willie’s Dawgs again. Delightful on a end-of-summer day.
Unsolicited dining tips!
An OTBKB reader wrote in to tell me about these Barack Obama t-shirts.
Hi Louise. I saw these cool Obama Tee Shirts made by a local NYC
woman. Given that we Brooklynites are politically minded I thought I’d
pass this site on for you to blog about.
As reported in the Daily News, a Park Slope grandfather of 12 was mowed down by a car on Fourth Avenue. Here’s an excerpt from the article.
A grandfather of 12 – and a beloved fixture of his Brooklyn neighborhood – was killed Monday while crossing the street near his home.
Antonio Torres, 86, a Park Slope resident since 1960, was crossing Fourth Ave. at about 7:20 a.m. when Hyundai driver Edgar Marrero, 28, slammed into him, police said.
The
impact sent Torres flying into the air before landing underneath a
Dumpster. Medics rushed Torres to Lutheran Medical Center where he died
five hours later, his family said.His legs were nearly severed. His heart nearly split in two, relatives said.
"It didn’t look like him," said Torres’ eldest son, Jaime Torres, 61, after leaving his father’s deathbed. "The only way I could tell it was him was by his hands. We have identical hands."
It
appeared that Torres jaywalked, witnesses said. But his family insisted
that a delivery van sat doubled park on the street blocking the sight
of traffic from the always cautious Torres, a World War II vet known
for feeding the local homeless and helping sickly seniors with their
groceries.
My friend, Henry Lowengard, is author of the newly-released SrutiBox,
an application for the iPhone that simulates an Indian harmonium, used
as a base tone in Indian music and in droning and chanting. You can
also use it to tune an instrument. Handy!
If you have an iPhone or have friend(s) with one, I hope you will check
this out and forward these links in case they are interested in it—a
steal at $2.99.
The link below takes you Henry’s development blog where
SrutiBox fans can read further and find out how to buy one. Also feel free to email him with
feedback.
New Gadget Madly In Hope blog: http://www.jhhl.net/nucleus/InHope.php
Here’s a direct link into iTunes’ App Store for SrutiBox
.
That’s right. The new store going in where Seventh Avenue Books used to be (Seventh Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets) is Eric, a shoe store I’ve been to on the Upper East Side. It’s a mini-chain and this, I’m guessing, is their first outer borough shop.
Interesting how many Manhattan shops and restaurants are coming to the Slope. Barrio, Carmen’s Kid Rx, S’Nice. I guess the rents are a bargain here compared to what they’re used to. Here’s something abotu the Eric shops from New York Magazine:
Upper East Side moms and their downtown-minded daughters trek to this
footwear mini-chain–a neighborhood mainstay since 1976–for their fix
of traditional and contemporary shoe styles, like demure heels perfect
for a jaunt to the Hamptons and trendy wedges made for the school
semi-formal. Founder Eric Mudick stocks his small, pastel-painted
boutiques with a good sampling of designer styles, including Cynthia
Rowley’s red leather slingbacks, called the Runway Wedge, and her
Grecian-style Tabitha flats. There are also plenty of more conservative
offerings, like Enrico Antinori’s sensible pumps in seasonal prints, as
well as Mullen’s classic kitten heels. Younger girls gravitate toward
the swank, Indian inspired slippers by CYD and Eric’s own line of
ballet flats.
With three days to go until the big Five Oh, I had one hell of a day:
Spending the day in the ER at Mt. Sinai Hospital with my dad waiting for a room brings up a lot of thoughts about life, death and everything in between.
Small moments of kindness mean everything. They’re enough to make you cry. Life feels heavy, hard, murky and dark.
One finds illumination where one can.
Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the award-winning Brooklyn Paper.
Smartmom did not go to the Bob Dylan show in Prospect Park last week. Instead, she was dining on grilled salmon, fresh corn and arugula salad in the backyard of a Sag Harbor summer rental while the world’s greatest songwriter was singing “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35.”
It’s not like she didn’t want to be there. When the tickets went on sale in June, she was quick to type “Tilden,” the special code that she read about on BrooklynPaper.com that enabled her to charge two $85 tickets to her credit card before the rest of the Dylan-loving masses could buy them.
Expensive, yes. But it was Bob Dylan in her own backyard. Who could resist?
Smartmom could tell that Hepcat was dubious about the purchase.
“That’s an awful lot of money,” said Hepcat, ever frugal. “Besides, aren’t we going to be in Sag Harbor that week?”
Well, yeah. But that didn’t matter. They could always Jitney back to the city for the night.
“It’s Dylan, after all,” she said.
“It’s Sag Harbor, after all,” he said.
In the end, Smartmom gave the tickets to Teen Spirit, a huge Dylan fan. In a sense, she was passing on the baton. Just like she’d given him her old acoustic guitar.
“You got tickets? Wow. Of course I want to go,” he yelped when she gave them to him. Clearly, he was expecting a life-changing experience. First, he had to choose whom to take. Then he decided that he was going to bring his guitar to the show.
Afterwards, he wanted to play Dylan one of his songs.
Smartmom and Hepcat did little to disabuse Teen Spirit of this wacky idea. A boy can dream. Besides, he never listens to them anyway.
In some ways, Teen Spirit is just like his mom.
Smartmom and Dylan go back, way back. Not only was he the voice of her generation, but he’s been the soundtrack of her life.
When Smartmom was 11, her parents gave her a vintage leather jacket (from Ridge Furs on Eighth Street) and a Dylan songbook.
Boy, did Smartmom love that aviator jacket. But that songbook was her bible for so many years. She was a budding singer/songwriter, after all. And he was her hero.
Smartmom saw Dylan at Madison Square Garden, in upstate Binghamton, at Madison Square Garden again during his Born Again phase when he sang with those great back-up singers. She saw him with Tom Petty and later with GE Smith and again at Madison Square Garden in concert with Joni Mitchell.
She even ran into him once on Eighth Avenue in Park Slope across the street from the Montauk Club on June 12, 2000, Teen Spirit’s ninth birthday. The musical legend was wearing a white cowboy hat and walking with a photographer.
“Omigod,” she screamed. “That’s Bob Dylan.”
“Who?” Teen Spirit asked.
Boldly, Smartmom asked Dylan for an autograph. He obliged and signed his name on the back of an American Express billing envelope she had in her bag. Luckily, she didn’t mail it.
That envelope, now framed, sits on the bookshelf in her and Hepcat’s dining room.
A few years ago, Teen Spirit bought Smartmom “The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook” for her birthday. He dropped hints for days, “You’ll probably start to cry when you open my gift.” And he was right.
So fair is fair. Smartmom has had plenty of Bob Dylan in her life and last week was Teen Spirit’s chance to revel in the legend. He knows that Dylan can barely sing anymore. He knows that you can’t recognize the songs because Dylan changes the tunes; it’s a veritable game of “Name That Tune” when he starts to play.
Still, Teen Spirit was ready for anything (though he was, fortunately, talked out of bringing his guitar by a friend).
In Sag Harbor, Smartmom thought about her son at the show.
But she was there in a way. Through her son’s eyes and ears. Plus, she got to hear about it in the morning.
“He can’t sustain a note,” Teen Spirit said. “He basically just yells the words.”
And that was worth it all.
So the other day I walked up Fifth Avenue from Third and I missed the REALLY BIG NEWS. Bird, the much loved, very stylish women’s clothing shop that started in the South Slope is now on Fifth Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets. It was actually a pioneer in the South Slope and is now an iconic Brooklyn brand I’d say.
Well, they’ve closed their South Slope shop and are concentrating on Fifth Avenue, Smith Street, and an upcoming shop in Williamsburg.
The Fifth Avenue shop will sell men’s clothing as well as Green Bird, their line of green clothing. I haven’t been over there yet but I am chomping at the bit.
For me the shop is on the expensive side and the sizes aren’t always to my body’s liking BUT they do have Petit Bateau t-shirts, great shoes, accessories and jeans. And lots, lots MORE.
Y’know, I don’t even know which storefront that is. I’ve been very out of touch with that particular block lately. Watch out every one, the storefront that was Lulu’s will also, finally, get occupied now.
316 Fifth Avenue
between 2nd and 3rd Streets
"How can he be sorry when I was the, I understand, the 12th victim?" said Lilian France at a press conference. Cornelius Abson, The man allegedly responsible for the attack is being held without bail.
Four more days. Here’s today’s thought:
Life gets more complex the older you are. There’s more to deal with. More to think about. One longs for the carefree days of one’s twenties. Trouble is: you never know how carefree you’ve got it until you don’t got it no more. And no matter what your age it’s always something.
With just four days to go until the big Five Oh, I am trying to get used to my new number. It’s like a new black t-shirt that doesn’t really fit. I could just put it back in the shopping bag or put it on, stretch it out a bit, add an accessory and wear it anyway.
I guess I have to wear it anyway.
2:10 a.m. Saturday morning: Teen Spirit just woke me up to tell me the news. Senator Joe Biden is Obama’s choice for VP.
The Brooklyn Paper has the story and there’s an excerpt below. Turns out that the Park Slope flyer remover—the person who has been removing stoop sale signs and other signs from area lamp posts – has a very caring sister who urges the community to be sensitive to her brother’s issues.
“The public needs to understand my brother, that he does this
because he is autistic,” said the sister, who requested anonymity
because there have been threats against her brother as he’s walked his
flier-removal beat throughout Park Slope and nearby Prospect Heights.The Brooklyn Paper got in touch with the woman after she responded to a story last week
about the activities of the so-called “Ripper.” That story recounted
that some people in the neighborhood are angry that he is pulling down
signs, which are actually illegal, though others defended his
activities as a public service.She also posted a long letter on the Web site Brooklynian that asked her neighbors to “please leave him be.”
She signed it, “Concerned Sister 11215.”
In a subsequent interview with The Brooklyn Paper, the sister said
her older brother’s sign-removal campaign started about five years ago
and is directly related to his autism.“He’s not doing this to be an a—hole or a killjoy or to
inconvenience people,” she said. “It is something that his mind
believes he absolutely must do. My mother often describes that he
thinks of it as his job, his mission. He is compelled to do it.”She said the family has long tried to get him to stop — mostly out
fear that someone who has posted a sign will harm him — but he
continues to keep his daily schedule of tidying the neighborhood.“He has been confronted many times,” she said. “He gets upset and
comes home and relates the incidents to my mother and to me. There’s a
specific group of people from a moving company who have threatened him
physically. But people have to understand that he is absolutely not
violent and not a threat to anyone.”
I just got this email from the very talented James Braly. Just 10 more performances of his acclaimed Life in a Marital Institution at the Soho Playhouse.
The Off Broadway run of LIFE in a Marital Institution will end as scheduled, on Sunday, August 31. Meaning, there are only 10 more performances of the New York Times and Time Out /NBC Critic’s Pick that inspired a woman in the front row last week to cry out, “Jesus Christ!” It was a special moment, in a summer full of them:
— The New York Times Reader’s Favorite Shows currently lists LIFE as #9 Off Broadway, a follicle AHEAD (!) of Hair.
— NPR’s Brian Lehrer interviewed me on his show recently, as did New York media institutions Joe Franklin and Joey Reynolds, where I was paired with sex therapist Dr. Judy for a discussion about female anatomy, albeit she did most of the talking.
— Producer Anna Becker’s hilariously repulsive “Got Breastmilk?” ad campaign was rejected by Facebook–at the start of National Breastfeeding Week, no less. Evidently, the tastemakers at Facebook are not Lactivists.
But I digress. LIFE must end in New York City (a national tour is being planned), so now is your last chance to catch the show Off Broadway. Details at www.jamesbraly.com. Use discount code SEB for $15.00 off tickets to remaining performances.
It’s been a great run, and if you haven’t seen LIFE–or if you haven’t seen it at Soho Playhouse–please come. Director Hal Brooks joined me on this adventure almost two years ago, and his work has been nothing less than transformational.
Shed
The years of unreflective eating
Were mirrored in my middle
And showed as well in how I shuffled
From gawky twaddle to twiddle
Till finally I found a diet
To banish longtime blight
And shorter portions were effective–
I lost eight inches in height.
Oh. It’s an art project! Still, I’m not sure what this is about. If you figure it out let me know.
ADOPT/LE-FONT is looking for participants throughout Brooklyn
to adopt and temporarily house a simple fountain. The
fountains will become available for hosting on September 1
and will remain available for consecutive week-long intervals
throughout the month. Adoption is free and open to the public.Please contact us at 646.309.6031 or adoptlefont@gmail.com
A quick walk on Fifth Avenue from Third Street to Save on Fifth on 7th Street revealed the following.
–The space that was Pizza By The Park on 3rd Street west of Fifth Avenue is going to be another restaurant.
–A new WINE shop is going in on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets in the space that previously housed Living on Fifth.
–Work is being done in the space that used to be Cocotte on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 4th Street. It will be a restaurant.
–The Drama Cafe building between 4th and 5th Streets is for sale. The Drama Cafe is closed.
–The Bagel Shop on the corner of 4th Street and Fifth Avenue is renovating.
–Get Fresh on Fifth Avenue between 5th and 6th is adding a cafe to its take-out food concept.
They’ve got it all at BAM:
Elegy, Vicki Christina Barcelona and Man on a Wire. Go to the spiffy new BAM website for the schedule.
In just five more days. Here is today’s thought:
I don’t feel depressed today. Something has lifted. And I am starting to think about what I want to do on the big day. Meditate, run around the park, drink a beer sitting outside at The Gate, hang out with friends, watch Obama’s acceptance speech, have a good dinner with Hepcat and the kids.
These last gorgeous days of summer have me thinking about the busy Fall ahead. There’s lots of writing to do. A new school for OSFO. Senior year for Teen Spirit. Much to think about; much to do.
So there is life after August 28th: Loads to organize and plan…
You would be too if you were a blend of Chihuahua and Greyhound. He belongs to Hepcat’s sister and her husband.
The Brookyn Book Festival will be here before you know it. Brought to you by Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Literary Council and Brooklyn Tourism, the Brooklyn Book Festival, a huge, free event presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today is on September 14th.
The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of America ’s premier literary and literacy events—a hip, smart, diverse gathering attracting thousands of book lovers of all ages. The festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions. The inclusion of top national and international authors and new partners has expanded the festival’s reach while continuing to celebrate and enhance Brooklyn ’s contemporary and historic literary reputation
Confirmed authors include Joan Didion, Richard Price, Jonathan Lethem, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, A.M. Homes, George Pelecanos, Terry McMillan, Jonathan Franzen, Susan Choi, Esmeralda Santiago, Thurston Moore, Paul Beatty, Jacqueline Woodson, Chuck Klosterman, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, Nikki Turner, Elizabeth Nunez, Ed Park, Pico Iyer, Gail Carson Levine, Cecily von Ziegesar, Chris Myers, Jane O’Connor, Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems and many more.
“These days, Brooklyn is indeed the Creative Capital of America. We’re home to many of the world’s renowned writers and a thriving reading audience—as well as a destination for culture-seeking tourists worldwide,” says BP Markowitz. “The Brooklyn Book Festival is as diverse as our borough itself, and it’s only fitting that it’s now become a must on the national and international literary circuit. How sweet it is!”
The festival boasts five outdoor stages in Borough Hall Plaza and Columbus Park , as well as “Reading Rooms” inside beautiful, historic Borough Hall and nearby at the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Francis College auditorium. An outdoor literary marketplace will include more than 140 booksellers, publishers and literary organizations.
Young adults and young adults at heart are in for a special treat. The Brooklyn Book Festival caters to the facebook set with hip panels on topics from graphic novels to fantasy and wildly popular teen “glamour fiction” at the “Youth Stoop” stage. Children of all ages will also be entertained at the Target “Children’s Area,” whereby kingpins of children’s lit like Mo Willems and Jane O’Connor will read from their work.
Again this year, beautiful, collectable Brooklyn Book Festival bookmarks will be available at all branches of the Brooklyn Public Library and most independent bookstores.
The 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival is an initiative of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz presented by Brooklyn Tourism and the Brooklyn Literary Council. Target is a major sponsor of this year’s Festival and Time Out New York will once again serve as the event’s media sponsor. NYC and Company Foundation is a cultural partner.
Following is a complete list of confirmed authors to date. As programming information becomes available, check www.visitbrooklyn.org. Also visit myspace.com/brooklynbookfestival and the Brooklyn Book Festival Official Site on facebook
Friday, August 22 at 6 p.m.
Battle of Brooklyn Neighborhood Walking Tour
Meet at Grand Army Plaza Arch, Brooklyn
6:00 pm. Ends at The Old Stone House @ 8 pm with light refreshments
$12/$10 OSH members. For more information call 718-768-3195