OUT OF CONTROL CAR ON SEVENTH AVENUE IN PARK SLOPE
At approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, a silver Dodge sedan with Pennsylvania plates went barreling down Seventh Avenue near Third Street and hit the scaffolding on the building on the north-east corner of 2nd Street.
It then continued underneath the scaffolding past two trees in front of Met Foods before going back onto the street and veering back onto the sidewalk where it flattened a parking meter and ended up in front of Maggie Moo’s with a tree in its fender.
The driver, apparently, was asleep at the wheel. He is resting at Methodist Hospital according to the owners of Met Foods. Miraculously no one was hurt, including the man who sits on a milk crate in front of the store collecting money.
Met Food’s awning was destroyed as were all the fruits on display outside.
Info for this article: Diaper Diva was walking by and saw the aftermath of the accident. She iPhoned Hepcat, who went over and took pictures. We both spoke with the owners of Met Foods. We pieced it all together looking at Hepcat’s photos.
MIKE DALY OF THE DAILY NEWS REACTS TO BROUHAHA ON BROWNSTONER
In today’s Daily News, Mike Daly reacts to the recent brouhaha on Brownstoner when a Clinton Hill resident used paint on his brownstone. Daly, whose column I enjoy, has a good story on his hands. And some wonderful quotes from the longtime Clinton Hill resident, who DARED to use paint.
The photo was sent in response to an urgent posting by Brownstoner.com late Friday morning, a message right out of a Brooklyn yuppie’s nightmare.
“We just got a tip that someone just started painting one of the brownstones on Grand Avenue between Gates and Putnam white this morning. … If any readers are nearby, we’d appreciate a photo asap.”
The photo was posted minutes later, and sure enough the portal of the building was being painted white. As in not brown.“ILLEGAL PAINT JOB ON LANDMARKED BLOCK OF CLINTON HILL,” the headline read.
The photo triggered 145 postings, the first of which was entirely reasonable.
11:38 a.m.: “Are you sure it’s not primer?”Reason was joined by humor.
11:51 a.m.: “I hope it’s primer and they go with GOLD.”
12:09 p.m.: “Gold and fuchsia horizontal stripes.”Then came sterner voices, ones that belong more to some gated suburb than to Brooklyn…
A TOMATO GROWS IN OSFO’S GARDEN
Small tomatoes are growing in OSFO’s garden, which is just a large plastic terra cotta colored window box in the front yard. She planted them about two months ago and we finally have a harvest. A baby sitter, who works in this building, donated roots of thyme leaves, as well. The flower pots are filled with healthy looking flowers that brighten up the yard.
OSFO doesn’t like tomatoes. But Hepcat and Diaper Diva said that the tomatoes were delicious.
TODAY IN THE CITY: NICE ARTICLE ABOUT CLINTON HILL/FORT GREENE
In the City section today, there’s a piece about the small-town feel of Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene by Jennifer Bleyer (I did a double take there because the author of the Brooklyn blogging piece in the City section was Greg Beyer).
Architectural details like cornices, cast-iron columns, and brownstone sills and lintels have always spelled class in a city like New York. And now these small touches are being installed — or reinstalled — on a stretch of Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, a once-shabby strip that was a magnet for sailors and shipbuilders during the height of activity at the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard.
A. CHENG: A NEW PARK SLOPE SHOP HAS MY VOTE
A. her name is Alice.
And she’s a very nice woman. I felt comfortable shopping in her shop. She designs clothing that fits me. Alice, the owner/designer has a nice way about her when she comments on how a customer looks in the clothing. She’s enthusiastic and helpful without being overbearing.
Everything in the shop is so, so pretty. The print fabrics, especially, are lovely. There’s a beautiful skirt with a bird print and a skirt with Andy Warhol-esque faces on it and a beautiful floral dress. The colors are unusual and striking.
Alice obviously likes prints for summer but she also does simple, more minimal looks as well.
It all feels very fresh, very well made, very smart. A. is obviously a talented designer.
And the jewelry is lovely, too. If you see something grab it. It may be one-of-a-kind. Or at least Alice only carries one of its kind. I saw a double-heart necklace that said “friendship” and I shoulda grabbed it last week. Somebody else did. : (
Alice has nice bags, shoes, and wallets, too. The shop looks great. Tres chic. Tres simple.
Check out her website. She’s been written up in Lucky, Real Simple, Teen Vogue, Nylon, WWD, InStyle, and Glamour and her clothing is carried in other stores, including Barney’s NY.
When I was leaving she said:
“Are you the one who writes the column?”
I was shocked that she knew about the column.
“I always read it,” she said. “It gives me little insights into things,” she said.
I love that she said that and it made me want to go back in and buy the denim skirt I tried on.
A.Cheng
152 Fifth Avenue
Park Slope
t.718–783–2826
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
EDIBLE BROOKLYN: AIN’T IT GRAND?
I’ve started to look forward to every new issue of Edible Brooklyn. It comes out quarterly and keeps getting better and better (and it was pretty cool to begin with). Reading this magazine nmakes me feel like Brooklyn is the epicenter of the epicurian universe.
Maybe it is.
The magazine, edited by Gabrielle Langholtz, is really finding it’s voice. It’s gorgeous, too.
Find out what’s in Jonathan Lethem’s fridge.
If you’re really interested, go to an old issue to find out what’s in David Yassky’s fridge.
I absolutey LOVE LOVE LOVE the Brooklyn Fridge feature and want them to do ME. They’ve done Dan Zanes, Jonathan Ames, Mark Morris, David Yassky, and now Jonathan Lethem. What women don’t have fridges?
Find out about a new general store that’s going in to the Picnic House in Prospect Park.
Find out about great burgers at The Farm at Adderly and The Flatbush Farm.
Find out about meat balls Frankie’s on Court Street.
Find out what’s in season, what local and wonderful recipes to boot.
Find a great listing of Brooklyn’s fabu restaurants from Greenpoint to Coney Island.
WE LOVE TEMPO PRESTO ON SEVENTH AVENUE
The food is delicious and interesting. The ingredients are FRESH. The service is very friendly and fast. We are so lucky to have TP on our corner.
5 OTBKB’s for TEMPO PRESTO
10 Reasons to Love Tempo Presto
The Greek salad
The snickerdoodle cookies
The roast beef with horseradish mayo sandwich
The caesar salad
The green salad with chicken
All the grilled sandwiches (the veggie lasanga looks great, too).
The ruben
The self-serve soda machine
30% off on left-over salads and sandwiches after 5 p.m.
CUP CAKES!
ALTERNATIVE FILMS FOR KIDS
It’s summer and sometimes that means too much TV and DVDs.
But there’s an alternative to TV crap.
Check out my friend’s blog, Alternative Films for Kids, a browser’s guide to some independent films, world cinema and animations that will add welcome variety to a Disney-based diet.
Not all were produced with children in mind, but all may be enjoyed by children. If your store doesn’t carry it, ask them to order it! Quick searches should lead to online rental options.
There are recommended age ranges here, but please pre-screen for your sensitive young viewer!
STEVEN BERLIN JOHNSON GOES TO THE WALT WHITMAN MALL
…and buys an iPhone for a friend. I like Steven’s blog a lot. He’s also the founder of Outside.in.
A DISABLED RIDER’S MORNING COMMUTE
What happens when the head of the TA and a Brooklyn Assemblyman join Michael Harris, head of the Disabled Riders Coalition, on his morning commute?
They traveled from Michael Harris’ home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn to Manhattan. Their nearly two-hour-long trip involved a long walk to a bus stop, a bus ride to an accessible subway station, and travel on five subway lines.
The same trip would take any other person about a half-hour. Both Roberts and Harris see today’s trip as the beginning of an new dialogue between disabled riders and the TA.
BYSTANDER STOPS ABDUCTION AT BROOKLYN AQUARIUM
Police are searching for a man who they say tried to abduct a nine-year-old girl from the New York Aquarium Thursday evening.
Police say the man approached the girl in the aquarium’s parking lot in Coney Island as she was walking to her family’s car, grabbed her hand and then started to walk off to another area. He was disrupted by a bystander and the girl was able to run away unharmed.
The suspect then ran off. Police are describing him as being between 18 and 23 years old, 5’6” tall and weighs 135 pounds.
They say his hair was in dreadlocks, and he was last seen wearing a red shirt, black jeans and a red earring.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
A LA MODERN BOOK CLUB AT THE COMMUNITY BOOKSTORE
Josh Millstein, who runs quite a few of the book groups at the Community Bookstore, sent an email about the store’s “A la Modern” book group:
The suspense is building and building…. People are waiting in line, dying to find out…. Strangers are stopping me on the street, cornering me in the subway car, and they have only one question on their minds….
What will the à la Modern book club be reading next? The answer: Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. We’re planning to discuss it on August 29th at 7:30. Perfect beach material, no?
We had another really lovely meeting last Wednesday. Some new faces were there, too, which is always nice to see.
I’ve also been thinking about adding a certain structure to the group, in the sense of creating a broad “curriculum” that we can use as a reference guide. Of course I’d only be thinking about doing this if the group wanted it. But I’m curious about what facets of literary modernism you may be interested in exploring; whether your interests are geographical (i.e. do you want to study European modernist literature, or perhaps just the novels from a particular country), chronological (a certain time-period) , or thematic. If you are interested in thinking about developing a curriculum, please email me your responses to the questions above or anything else you are thinking about. My email is: joshua.milstein@ gmail.com. You could also just save your responses for our next meeting.
SMARTMOM: POST-VACATION RE-ENTRY IS BRUTAL
Here’s this week’s Smartmom from this week’s Brooklyn Paper, which is chock full of Brooklyn news and views.
Caution. Do not spend eight days alone on Block Island at the idyllic Sea Breeze Inn with its sunrise view of the ocean and salt ponds, a hammock, and a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit and muffins if you ever plan on coming home.
Re-entry is brutal.
The Sea Breeze’s manager, Gabby, had to peel Smartmom out of there.
“Should I call you a cab?” Gabby asked when it was close to time for Smartmom to catch the ferry to the Connecticut mainland.
“I guess,” Smartmom said, wanting her to do anything but.
Smartmom prayed, “Maybe the cab won’t come. Maybe I’ll miss the boat. Maybe I’ll have to spend another night. Maybe…”
But it wasn’t to be. The driver showed up promptly and delivered Smartmom to the New London high-speed ferry dock.
Standing on the ferry’s top deck, the wind blew Smartmom’s hair in all directions and none of the other passengers could tell that the tears in her eyes were tears of regret for having to leave her island paradise.
The Amtrak station in New London was just steps from the ferry. Smartmom lifted her heavy bag onto the train and spent much of the ride deep in thought about the delicious week she spent in utter solitude, finishing her novel holed up in a room right out of an Edward Hopper painting.
On the train, Smartmom daydreamed about riding her rented Raleigh seven-speed bicycle to the tip of the island.
She daydreamed about her daily four-mile run to the Southeast Lighthouse on a hilly road next to the ocean.
She daydreamed about writing daily postcards to OSFO at camp and Teen Spirit at home.
She daydreamed about the hours she spent reading, meditating, eating fresh seafood at Eli’s Restaurant and walking on the beach.
Mostly Smartmom daydreamed about being beholden to no one. She didn’t have to answer to anybody, she didn’t have to make dinner or pick up after anyone.
When the conductor called out, “New York–Penn Station,” Smartmom’s stomach clenched as she braced for her return to real life.
With her big suitcase, computer and gifts for the family, Smartmom hailed a cab to Brooklyn, which took practically as long as the train ride from New London.
No kidding.
The cabbie took the longest and most-inane route to Brooklyn that Smartmom has ever seen.
He took the FDR.
“Took much traffic in Manhattan,” he told Smartmom, mistaking her for a clueless tourist on her first trip to Brooklyn.
There was congestion a-plenty on the FDR, and the cab was stopped dead in its tracks on the Brooklyn Bridge ramp while a work crew slowly packed up.
Arriving on Third Street, the meter read: $36, an unheard of fare from Penn Station to Park Slope.
Smartmom tried to be very Zen about the whole thing; she tried to summon come of her Sea Breeze calm and joie de vivre.
The site of her beloved Hepcat waiting for her at the Third Street Café (the so-called umbrella table in front of their apartment building) was cheering.
She was very touched by his “Welcome Home” sign and the Clay Pot bag waiting for her.
Sadly, things got worse before they got better. Smartmom snapped when she saw that he’d added a new table to his office in the living room for his flat files and photographic equipment.
“So I guess, we’re just living in your office now,” Smartmom screamed, her eyes smarting with tears. “Why don’t you just take over the entire apartment?”
Smartmom is known for hyperbole.
She yearned to be back in that husbandless white room of her own with its view of the ocean.
There was some yelling. Mean things were said. Smartmom even walked back out of the apartment with her suitcase, fully intending to…
Standing in the hallway, contemplating a return to Penn Station, Smartmom wondered if Gabby had a room at the Sea Breeze.
She breathed in and out deeply and sheepishly wheeled her suitcase back into the apartment.
The living room didn’t look THAT bad. What had she gotten so crazy about? Hepcat looked depleted sitting on the red chair in living room.
Smartmom lay down on the couch. She had a bad case of Block Island withdrawal, but she was also sitting across from the man she loved the most in the world.
Still, she understood something about her own need to be alone from time to time.
That night they had dinner at the Stone Park Café. Afterwards they brought a blanket and a bottle of Chardonnay to J.J. Byrne Park and watched Mae West and Cary Grant in “I’m No Angel,” on the big outdoor screen.
Watching Mae West felt like a spirited validation of Smartmom’s need for independence. She reveled in all the great one-liners by this strong and sexy heroine.
Block Island was starting to recede into the distance. Mae West’s guttural growl was beginning to replace the sound of the ocean waves.
“Beulah, peel me a grape,” Mae West says famously to her on-screen maid. Smartmom knew she could love her husband and miss her solitude on Block Island.
“When I’m good, I’m good and when I’m bad I’m better,” West tells a very young Cary Grant.
Smartmom will always be Hepcat’s wife and OSFO and Teen Spirit’s mother. But she’s also a self that needs nurturing and time alone.
HELLGATE HARMONIE:
Brooklyn’s Hellgate Harmonie, which recently delighted audiences with their production of the opera, Cosi Fan Tutti at the Brooklyn Lyceum, will be playing 18th and 19th century middle European wind music at a cafe in the East Village called Imagine starting at 1pm today.
Imagine is located at 112 First Avenue, between 6th and 7th Streets. We’ll be in the backyard garden. We
can’t resist gardens.
Stop by for brunch, frozen margeritas, coffee.
Peace!
HIPPIEFEST AT SEASIDE: BROOKLYN BEAT WAS THERE
Brooklyn Beat attended the HippieFest at Seaside (Asser Levy Park) in Coney Island on Thursday night and decided to cover it for OTBKB. Brooklyn Beat writes: “As a former Sloper, current Fiske Terrace resident, I still find the Slope appalling/appealing but I love your blog which is the Omnibus for all things Brownstone Brooklyn (if not quite yet “All Things Brooklyn”). Hope you and yours are well.When we arrived at the Seaside Summer Concert Series, I immediately sent a text to my kids who were at home recovering from day camp and summer jobs: “At HippieFest. Must be a mistake, everyone here is old.”
The free Seaside Concert Series at Asser Levy park featured “Hippiefest”, an excellent if unfortunately titled, creatively packaged, rolling festival of star acts from the wonder years: Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, The Turtles with Flo and Eddie, Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone leading The Zombies, Wings’ Denny Laine, Melanie, and Country Joe McDonald. http://www.brooklynconcerts.com/hippiefest.html I hate the word “nostalgia” (the 60s and 70s weren’t a fantasy, it was a period of struggle and change that had worldwide ramifications after all) but it was good to be at an event where “60s” wasn’t someone’s looming birthday.
Country Joe, especially, who also served as host, reminded us that the Sixties weren’t just about the music and the funky clothes, bringing a strong thread of political consciousness to the proceedings with songs about “Support the Troops” and “Save the Whale..Save Ourselves”. Melanie, who reported that she had just arrived from “Brooklyn, Maine”, strong of voice, worked through some of her hits and did an excellent cover of Ruby Tuesday by the Stones. Accompanied by her son on guitar she said “I needed a sideman so I grew my own”. Denny Laine got things off to a rousing start with Wings’ “Band on the Run” , answered a call to “Where’s Paul?” with “Paul Who?, but clearly the affection for Paul (and Linda) is there..
To the Mrs and me, the Zombies featuring Rod Argent on cosmic keyboards and soaring vocals by Colin Blunstone, really set the crowd in motion with “Time of the Season” and other hits plus Argent’s anthemic “Hold Your Head Up”. They were rather awesome. The singer noted that Brooklyn held special affection for them as they first appeared in America in 1964 (ahem) at the a Murray the K show at the Brooklyn Fox http://cinematreasures.org/theater/602/.
The Turtles, featuring the delightfully manic Flo and Eddie (Mark Vollman and Howard Kaylan), reminded us of why, post-Turtles, Flo and Eddie fit in so well as vocalists for Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Their great humor and energy made their brief set seem even briefer. The show closed with Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals. Cousin Brucie, formerly of CBS-FM now on Sirius Satellite, who served as series host Marty Markowitz’s musical alter ego, noted that the Rock n Roll Hall of Famer Cavaliere had recently become a grandpa. Oy-vey, maybe so, but close your eyes, and he is still that soulful keyboardist and singer who created those rock radio classics : “Groovin’,” and “People Got to be Free”.
The series in its 29th year of free shows with major acts is in itself a work of art (produced by the Slope’s own Debby Garcia http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.com/the_park_slope_100/ ) Beep Markowitz who created and has hosted the event in white dinner jacket & jeans for lo these many years, holds court, thanking sponsors, welcoming show biz and political luminaries (including, last nite, Sid Bernstein, who brought the Beatles to America in 1964, and was in da house) along with other neighbors and just plain folks. I also saw Sopranos’ Steven Schirippa (aka”Bobby Baccala”) doing a little spot coverage for someone with a microphone. Still, at Seaside, it is Marty’s world and we just get to live in it. Without getting into the inevitable heat that surrounds Markowitz (he is a politican after all), the free concert series at Coney and Wingate Field are cool institutions and 29 years isn’t a bad legacy. But last night, the 1960s took center stage and reminded us that, at least while the boomer demographics are still prime, the zeitgeist was with us and the music will never die. Iraq may have replaced Viet Nam, but freedom and most of all love may still hold the key..
Peace Out.
–Brooklyn Beat
NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD
SUPERSTITIOUS DAY
Terrible things happened to a friend of mine on July 27th for three years running. It was many years ago when we were both teens. But I still think of her every year on that day. No matter where we are. She’s always in my thoughts on that day.
This year she is in the south of France, one of her favorite places to be. You can bet that she’s taking it easy. After the third incident all those years ago, she vowed never to even move on July 27th; I’m sure she doesn’t take it that far any more. But I’ll bet she doesn’t fly on airplanes or do anything risky. I just have a feeling. The day has that kind of power over her. And me, too.
The first incident occurred on a hosteling trip in Camden, Maine. The group was hiking when the group-leader fell off a mountain to his death. That’s all I know. The teenagers had to find their way out of the park to get help. I remember she told me about it a few weeks after it happened and I was stunned that something so dramatic, so real could have happened to her. And it seemed unspeakably sad.
The second incident came a year later. She was also on a hosteling trip. A friend of hers fell into a glacier lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. He couldn’t get out for more than an hour and nearly died. Fortunately, he was saved and lived to tell the tale.
The third incident occurred in a national park in Washington State. Again she was on a hosteling trip. This time the group was poncho sliding down an icy pass. My friend went flying into a tree and broke both of her legs. She had to be helicoptered out of the park (strapped to the outside of the helicopter) to a hospital in Port Angeles where she was wrapped in body cast; she couldn’t leave the hospital for three months. Eventually, she was able to fly back to New York having missed three months of eleventh grade.
The year after that, we were together on July 27th, which felt sort of exciting and scary, too. We didn’t do anything on that day and joked that we were just going to sit very still. Afterall, the day was cursed. We were in a summer arts program in North Carolina feeling far away from home and family and spent the day in a local park having a picnic, swimming, taking it very easy.
When I was a teenager, I really looked up to this friend (and still do) for her sense of adventure, her fearlessness, her drive. Some people might say that going on hosteling trips three years in a row was pushing it a bit. Strange to say, I think I actually envied her these disasters: they seemed so dramatic even if they were tragic. Isn’t that what teenagers live for: drama, the real stuff.
I imagined losing someone I’d only known for a few weeks but had grown quite attached to and even called by a cute nickname. I pictured her trying to save her friend who nearly died in that icy Colorado lake. And her stories about the park ranger who visited her at the Port Angeles hospital…It was all so…grown up and, dare I say it, exciting. My life paled in comparison.
Ah, the strange logic of a teenage girl. But that’s how I thought about things then. And I still take it easy on July 27th, try to anyway. I wouldn’t want my life to take a dramatic turn. Not now anyway.
RUNS BROOKLYN HANGS UP HIS RUNNING SHOES
Runs Brooklyn is hanging up his running shoes and ending his ambitious quest to run every street in Brooklyn.
The final tally was 872 unique miles, or just over half of the total. I’ll leave it up to my loyal readers — all three of you — to work out whether the glass is half empty or half full, but I figured it was time to own up to the fact that I’m simply not going to run the other fifty percent.
It certainly was fun while it lasted, though. I got to see just about every neighborhood in the borough (okay, I didn’t actually run in Brooklyn Heights or Dumbo, but I’ve been to those places on other occasions), and ride almost every mile of subway. Along the way I also took over 2000 photos (some of which came out pretty cool, if I do say so myself), and met some great people. When I started this, one of my stated reasons was to “get to know the place a little better.” Well, I think I did. You could probably blindfold me, drop me off anywhere in the borough, and I’d know (well, within a minute or two) where I was and how to get home. I might not have accomplished everything that I set out to do, but I can’t complain, either.
ARTISTS BAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT RESTRICTIONS ON STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Some of my favorite artists have banded together to fight restrictions on street photography in New York. Albert Maysele (Grey Gardens, hello?), Patti Smith, Amy Arbus (daughter of and a good photographer in her own right, REM’s Michael Stipe, Jem Cohen (who photographed Teen Spirit when he was one week old for a REM music video: REALLY). On Friday, July 27, 2007, there will be a First Amendment Rally with Reverend Billy north end of Union Square Park. That’s TODAY>
NEW YORK CITY: Picture New York WITHOUT pictures of New York. The most
photographed city in the world is about to be shut down visually by
proposed regulations which would basically make it illegal to film or
tape in NYC without a permit and a million dollars of insurance.An overnight, massive grassroots fight against these proposed
regulations has sprung up under the name ‘Picture New York.’ Fighting
back with YouTube videos, petitions, handwritten letters, a website,
Flickr space and a rally and press conference this Friday in Union
Square, this ad-hoc group of working artists, photographers and
filmmakers vow to stop the regulations going into effect as scheduled
in September from the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and
Broadcasting (MOFTB).Albert Maysles, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and Amy Arbus are among the
celebrated artists who have already signed on to demand the MOFTB
extend the period of public comment, currently ending August 3, and
eliminate the proposed regulations: 11 pages of single-spaced rules
where none existed before.Jem Cohen, the critically-acclaimed filmmaker whose alarmed e-mail
prompted the first formal meeting of concerned filmmakers, says,
“Because street photography is, by its very nature, inextricably born
out of free and random movement through the city, street photographers
cannot know exactly where and when they intend to work, or for how
long. One cannot regulate an art form or activity by negating its very
premise. The proposed rules, in refusing to recognize the spontaneity
which is at the core of street photography, are untenable for that
reason alone.”…
MORE INFO:
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Lisa Guido (917) 573-2282
Julie Talen (through July 31) (212) 226-4651
www.picturenewyork.org
info@picturenewyork.org
THREE DAYS LEFT TO SEE GREY GARDENS: GO!!!
Whoever’s idea it was to turn the groundbreakingly weird and wonderful 1970’s documentary Grey Gardens by Albert and David Mayseles and others into a musical is a genuis.
It works. The show is amazing and weird and strange. And it’s closing on Sunday. So if you are motivated: get thee to the Walter Kerr Theater to see it.
I saw it last night and am very happy that I did. Hepcat’s aunt and uncle were in town from California and they had tickets so I decided to join them.
Sometimes it takes visitors to force you to do something fun in New York.
Now I can’t wait to watch the documentary again. They were selling it with another video for $50. at the theater. I was very tempted.
Grey Gardens won three 2007 Tony Awards. It was recently announced that July 29 would mark the end of the show.
This statment by the lead producer of Grey Gardens, Kelly Gonda, president of East of Doheny, spells out the reasons their reasons fro closing:
“Grey Gardens is a great work of art that will have a long life beyond this Broadway run. Everyone in the Grey Gardens family is proud that we were able to bring this unique show to Broadway – the first-ever musical to be made from a documentary. We are honored and thrilled to have received rapturous reviews, ecstatic audiences and award recognition. We’re happy the show was preserved with a new cast album and filmed as the subject of a soon-to-be released documentary by the legendary original filmmaker, Albert Maysles himself.
“We always knew that Grey Gardens faced an uphill challenge during the summer months. And so we made the difficult decision to end our run on July 29 with our incomparable original cast. Still basking from the glow of our Tony Award wins and the recent surge in attendance, the show is able to go out on top.
“This production of Grey Gardens is a tribute to the Beales themselves, and we’re especially proud of having helped make their dream come true. At long last these two incredible, indomitable women have been celebrated as the performers they always wanted to be. And while we’re all sad to see this beautiful production close, we’ll look forward to keeping their dream alive with future productions and the new documentary. Finally, I must say that it was a real pleasure, both personally and professionally, to work with everyone involved with the Broadway production of Grey Gardens, including the creative team, the cast, the crew and everyone else responsible for the welcome we enjoyed at The Walter Kerr.”
NEW ORGANIC FOOD STORE IN SOUTH SLOPE
Here’s a tip from an OTBKB reader, who lives in Windsor Terrace.
There’s a new health food store just opened in South Slope, right across the street from the new wine bar, Vine Rouge, which you wrote about. The store is called Balance Life and it fills a HUGE void. News is spreading entirely by word of mouth and business is good. The reason may be this little book on the counter where customers scribble requests. The owners actually follow through on them! It’s amazing.
Popular items: kambucha, scoop-your-own granola, specialty breads and pastas (gluten-free, yeast-free), organic vegetables, fine chocolates and ice creams, fruit chips (banana, apple). They also sell environmentally friendly cleaning and beauty products. And they are locally owned, by a really nice couple.
the info is:
Balance Life
624 5th Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11215
718-768-1091
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE OPENS AND MARGE SIMPSON IS NESTER OF THE WEEK
That’s right. The Brooklyn Nester has selected the great Marge Simpson as “Nester of the Week.” Check it out. And while you’re out it, check out the movietimes for The Simpsons at the Pavillion.
Yes, I love the Simpsons. Everything Teen Spirit knows about western civilization (and he knows a lot) he learned from the Simpsons.
Alright. I’ll just post the movie-times here:
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (PG-13) at the Park Slope Pavillion.
Friday 11:00 AM 1:35 3:35 5:35 7:40 10:00
Saturday 11:00 AM 1:35 3:35 5:35 7:40 10:00
Sunday 11:00 AM 1:35 3:35 5:35 7:40 10:00
CREATIVE TIMES GOES TO TAKASHIMAYA
She had a yen to go to Takashimaya, a Japanese department store on 5th Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan. And she wrote about it. I, too, went in there once because it looks so lovely fromoutside. As CT writes, ” There’s a calm, peaceful feeling in that place. The merchandise is minimal, so there’s plenty of room to walk around…”
GOWANUS LOUNGE HAS MORE PIX OF BROWNSTONE BRIDE
A GL reader sent them to him. Check it out.
SAVE HEPCAT’S RIGHT TO TAKE PICTURES OF NEW YORK CITY
I got news of this from PICTURE NEW YORK. It’s nuts. Save Hepcat’s right to take pictures!
You can make a movie on a cell phone, but what if you want to use a tripod, or stay in the same spot for more than 30 minutes? New regulations from the Mayor’s Office on Film set absurd restrictions that would require even casual photographers and filmmakers to have a permit, and a million dollar insurance policy. No doubt it would be selectively enforced, AND who needs that kind of law on the books in the first place?
Not you, not us, not anyone that wants to take some pictures at any random time they have a few hours. We bet not even the Mayor’s Film Office actually wants to process thousands of requests from shutterbug tourists, wedding photographers, and school groups.
Yes, the rules are written THAT broadly. A film school grad standing on a corner with a camcorder, four friends and a dream will now have to pay as much as HBO or Fox to make anything that takes more than two people and lasts half an hour. The new Bernice Abbott or Diane Arbus or WeeGee might not ‘get the shot’, because they were forced to move along, or were arrested for refusing to leave until the light was just right.
That’s nuts. A love affair with New York City happens in pictures. The history of the city – its summer hydrants, its rainbow children, its aching splendor – is etched in our minds by images so vivid we no longer know whether they’re photographs or our own memories – or perhaps they’re our own memories of photographs.
The Daily News and The NY Sun have both written editorials ridiculing the new regulations. You can read the eleven page brick of regulations here.
We need to fight back. With enough public outcry we can stop these regulations from becoming law. There’s a recent precedent: a ban on photography in the subways was successfully fought off in 2004-2005.
The all-too-brief period for public comment ends Aug 3. Please make your voice heard now:
1) Click here to sign our petition.
3) Make a Video or Photo Public Comment.
Post videos or photos commenting on this issue to YouTube or Flickr.
+ Tag the video or stills “”PictureNewYork”” and “”CameraWars””.
+ Send the links to jcho@film.nyc.gov and to us at info@picturenewyork.org
Spoken word artist Juliana Luecking has already posted her response to the proposed rules.
Picture New York is an ad hoc group of working artists, photographers and filmmakers joined together to fight these dumb rules.
http://www.picturenewyork.org
SHAKESPEARE EXTRAVAGANZA IN JJ BYRNE PARK
Kim Maier, Director of the Old Stone House, tells me that “Hamlet is really, really good — well beyond student
production if you get a chance to see it’s on Saturday at 8 pm.”
Kim, I’ll be there. But look: They’re doing Shakespeare all day.
This Shakespeare thing at the Old Stone House is INCREDIBLE!!!. John P. McEneny, who’s one of the Park Slope 100, is the drama teacher extraordinarie at MS 51 and the founder of the Piper Theater a professional, a repertory theater troupe, whose homebase isnow JJ Byrne Park/the Old Stone House.
Piper with the Old Stone House runs a Shakespeare program, a dramatic summer program for kids in JJ Byrne Park.
The performances are all FREE. John P. McEneny, directed the student prodcution of “Hamlet.” He is a legend in these parts.
July 28
Piper Theatre Students at OSH
Shakespeare Extravaganza!
Twelfth Night: 2:00 pm
Romeo & Juliet: 4:00 pm
Macbeth: 6:00 pm
Hamlet: 8:00 pm
Free.
BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE AT CELEBRATE BROOKLYN
I missed it. How was it. Do tell.
PARK SLOPE OPERA GUY
An OTBKB reader wrote in today about the Opera Guy of Park Slope. I’ve heard about him and think I saw him once on Eighth Avenue. There used to be (maybe still is) an Opera Guy who stood on the sidewalk near Carnegie Hall and sang all day. And I’m not talking about Moon Dog, who dressed as a Viking and stood on the corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street — a truly great New York street fixture for years. Apparently, he was an experimental music composer.
Have you ever heard some strange man singing Opera while roaming the streets of Park Slope at night? I live on 8th Ave & 3rd St. I hear him walk by at night every few weeks. He BELTS out and the best part is…his voice BLOWS. He just walked by and was a singing like crazy.
A few months back, I had to go to work early and I actually walked to the F train behind him him. He was singing all the way there and then settled down when he got on the platform. I couldn’t help but follow him into the subway car to see what kind of crazy stuff he would do. It was in the winter and he had on two jackets and a sweater. He took all of them off before sitting down and while he was doing so, the train took off. He fell back a few steps and belted out a few notes in fear. It was AWESOME.
Please tell me that other people have seen this guy. He is a walking Saturday Night Live skit!