Open Thread Wednesday 4/7/10

By on April 7, 2010 12:20 am in Brooklyn Heights
BHB Photo Club pic by Pat Bianculli via Flickr

BHB Photo Club pic by Pat Bianculli via Flickr

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • wannadineout

    Now that the weather is warming out, can we get a post about outdoor eating in the heights? I can always think of only heights cafe. Any suggestions?

  • T.K. Small

    Does anyone know when Verizon FiOS is going to get to the neighborhood? Although I successfully negotiated a 15% reduction with Time Warner earlier today, I cannot stand them and cannot wait for competition.

  • jorale-man

    Tazza on Henry near Atlantic has some nice outdoor seating… Siggy’s on Henry… Teresa’s on Montague. But there definitely needs to be more.

  • Nabe Girl

    I ate at Tenda on Montague today. They have a nice garden. Sushi’s not bad. Fresh but not terribly interesting..

  • C.

    @ Harry on Hicks

    Wait. The bridge from squibb park to pier 1 is no longer happening? That sucks! Why would that get axed?

  • x

    Teresa’s and Tenda are our favorite restaurants on Montague.

  • nabeguy

    ABC, is there any explanation for why they segregated the playgrounds by age group over such a large area? Couldn’t they have created mixed-age playgrounds at either end? I don’t relish the idea of having to walk all the way to Pier 6 to keep my 8-year-old entertained. But if the the comments regarding the Pier 1 playground are any indication, that will probably only be a one time event. Given the number of children in this area, it seems like such a waste of money that the concept of a real playground that excites the imagination of our kids while simultaneously challenging their bodies seems to be a concept that was completely missed by van den Bout.

  • Homer Fink

    Van Valkenberg , you mean nabe.

  • ABC

    segregating playgrounds by age is pretty typical. and really the pier 6 is the BIG playground.. taking up nearly the whole pier. the pier 1 playground is just a little thing, relatively. I assume the thing of the middle piers with their fields, etc as “mixed age”.

    I’m not sure why he didn’t take your long walk into consideration;)

  • soulman

    ratNYC: I have used Robert’s Car Care on Douglass off 4th Ave since it opened in the 70’s. He’s super-honest and we won’t go anywhere else.
    718 875 1254. You’ll need an appointment.

  • Hicks-ter

    So does the warm weather speed up the spring blossoms? Seems like the magnolia tree on Cranberry went from bare to blossoming to regular leafy green in about a week.

  • Monty

    @nabeguy, as the parent of a toddler, it can be dangerous to take her to mixed-age playgrounds. The playground at Fulton Ferry is mixed with a big pirate ship for older kids and little tugboat for babies and no barrier between them. My kid loves to play there, but we always have to rescue her from getting trampled by older kids. We can give her free reign at Harry Chapin. Pierrepont is great because it is mixed, but has locking fences to keep kids safe.

  • Daddy Dearest

    @T.K. – If you don’t mind sharing, how did you negotiate Time Warner down? I too want to switch to FIOS when it’s available, and can’t stand how TW continually creeps their rates up.

  • AEB

    Daddy D., I too have negotiated TW down. I had come to the end of an “introductory” period and the new price asked for was substantially higher than the original one.

    I called and told the rep that I couldn’t afford the increase, and asked what could be done, short of removing services (I am a triple-play kind of human). I purposefully didn’t threaten a bail-out.

    Said rep said that nothing could be done. I called back, and told my tale of woe to rep two, who found a way to sustain the introductory rate for “at least” six months. Better than nothing, and I took it.

    One thing that seems imperative is, if you don’t get satisfaction the first time around, try again. At TW there are various levels of knowledge, helpfulness/willingness to keep the customer. Sad but true.

    Hope this helps.

  • T.K. Small

    Daddy D., basically I did something similar to AEB. The representative started with “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do” and kept offering me different packages. When I told her that Time Warner could clean my bathroom, my apartment and provide a number of other services but I would still leave them, she finally offered a $13 reduction. I tried to get the rep to admit that she could have done this 15 minutes earlier, but she wouldn’t budge. I think just being persistent is the key. Good luck!

  • my2cents

    RatNYC, I use Pep Boys on 4th Ave. to inspect my car. I would never let them work on it, but to have the inspection done, get the sticker, and know they won’t try anything shady I think they are good to use.

  • Daddy Dearest

    Thank you T.K. and AEB. Hopefully I’ll have similar luck with TW.

  • ratNYC

    @Soulman, @m2c – thanks for the info guys.

  • Matthew Parker

    @ratNYC:

    I second Jok at New Excel on Old Fulton. Big plus that you can walk back and forth after drop off and when you pick up. Especially easy if you live in the N. Heights.

  • bhmom3

    Sorry, but I seem to have missed the older kids’ Pier 6 playground. How do you get there. I checked out the park last weekend, saw the tiny one with the baby swings, walked all the way south until I could go no more, and didn’t find any additional playground. Could someone explain exactly where this is?

  • PJL

    I also highly recommend Joke/New Excel.

    Have FIOS tv in N. Heights and recommend it as well… so happy to have escaped Time Warner and their terrible service….

  • Monty

    @bhmom3, pier 6 isn’t open yet. It was recently announced that it is being fast-tracked to be open later this year, but don’t hold your breath.

  • soulman

    oops – it’s Roberto’s on Douglass St. Note the second ‘o’. I bet he does.

  • T.K. Small

    PJL: I’m on Pierrepont Street which is roughly the center of BH. Hopefully FiOS will be available soon.

  • HeightsDiva

    Dear guy at Gristedes last week:

    Lifting every egg out of the container,holding it up to light and putting it back in is FREAKY. People are waiting behind you to get eggs too.

  • Andrew Porter

    HeightsDiva, if you were paying those insane Gristede’s prices, you’d be a member of the Egg Police, too!

  • Sticky

    @PJL you have fios? I am in the North heights and they stated that it will never get wired. I am right around PS8.

    And for car repair. Excel is pretty good. If you want a quick inspection I believe the shop all the way down Old Fulton still does them on site.

  • brookie

    I miss the pistachio ice cream from Blue Pig. We need an independent ice cream shop!

  • brooklynheightzer

    Anyone had any experience with Holy Land Auto Repair shop. I am looking for a good mechanic. My mechanic sold his shop and went to Vegas. Now I am at a mercy of people like New Excel on Old Fulton who are clearly overcharging. For what they charge I can go the Toyota (I own Camry 2007) dealership and they will do all the work for less. I went to New Excel a couple of times they misdiagnosed the problem and kept charging me for the unnecessary work so I ended up going to the Toyota mechanic – it was not cheap but they found the problem and fixed it. Looking back Toyota people cost me much less than the Excel. If you know any good foreign car mechanic or are familiar with Holy Land Auto Repair please let me know – will appreciate.

  • Soulman

    Robert’s on Douglass St. Been going there since the 70’s

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