Open Thread Wednesday 4/14/10

By on April 14, 2010 12:13 am in Brooklyn Heights

Flickr photo by **viv**


What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Share this Story:

,

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →
  • mike

    @ jonny: i am 27 and happily live here. You should be glad that a) there are not drunk people wandering screaming through your neighborhood, but you have great places a short walk / bike ride / subway / cab away in which to drink (smith st is my pick), b) that you have escaped from that horrible place called the upper east side, and c) that you have found one of the few neighborhoods in Brooklyn not ovverrun by hipsters.

    I moved from the UES 3 years ago and never looked back. Embrace the peace and (relative) quiet and do your drinking in other neigborhoods.

    @ dotti: DUMBO, really? i cant think of one good place to eat in DUMBO besides Almondine, and that is just breakfast! Jack the Horse is my favorite in BH.

  • HeightsDiva

    I am 26, and also feel like there isn’t a very young crowd around here -minus the super annoying trashy college dorm kids.

    Try a weekend night at Roebling Inn or Floyd it’s pretty much the only youngish scene nearby.

  • Teddy

    Yeah dotti, we should force all of the old people in the Heights to move to Florida or something. After that, we can make families with children in “diapers” move to Park Slope or Jersey. If you’re young (or not so young), want to live in the Heights & have fun, you have plenty of options, just by walking a few more blocks or taking the train. I’m young and know where to go. Besides, anyone who lived on the UES should have no problem adjusting to life in the Heights.

  • kipped

    @jonny, mike, heightsdiva, dotti, teddy, etc… I say we stage an “under 35 night” at the Roebling Inn. That place is huge, fun, cheap, (clean), and from what I see every time I go in there, in major need of some action. Maybe there are just enough hip (young/single?) people in our little neighborhood to make it a scene. Hmm, maybe I should amend that to a “25-35 night.”

    That said, while there are some little gems in Brooklyn Heights or close by (Henry Public), I’ve basically adopted places in Carroll Gardens as my neighborhood bars. Try Brooklyn Social or Abilene.

  • nabeguy

    Embrace your inner wrinkle before they become outer ones. No doubt, this neighborhood tends to skew old, as in those-who-can-afford-it. As for the younger trustefarians who have chosen our little slice of heaven to reside in, your legs are in much better shape than most of the other residents…take a walk.

  • jessibaby

    Kipped, if you organize, I will be there and will bring roommates!!

  • nabeguy

    Hey, what about us over-35’ers? I suggest a Metamucil Mixer at Brooklyn Historical Society. BYOS (bring your own spoon)

  • http://bivforbrooklyn.com Doug Biviano

    I worked summer relief at 160 Columbia Hts (today’s photo) in late ’80s and early ’90s…

  • Matthew Parker

    If anyone thought about trying the new Italian restaurant at 7 Old Fulton Street, here’s my 2/5 star Yelp review reprinted for your reading convenience:

    It was promising when we walked in. This restaurant has a classic old upscale Italian feel with rococo paintings, a nice bar, Romanesque ornaments and a few touches such as a portrait of G. Washington nestled in between the fake white marble caryatids on either side of the fireplace. Charming in a cozy slightly kitchy Italian American restaurant way.

    Promising, until the food came, which reneged on the promise. We ordered the 4 course dinner, which would be a great deal at $22, but frankly, it’s just not very good. The apps were mediocre, the soup was bland with overcooked vegetables, the pasta course lacked flavor and (cardinal sin) was not cooked al dente, the entrees were meh.

    The over enthusiastic waiter overcharged us by $4 on the tax. I suspect this was a ploy to get a bigger tip, since most people often just double the tax. I suppose this place will try to milk the unsuspecting tourist trade that’s overflowing from Grimaldis down the block and from Pete’s next door.

  • kipped

    @nabeguy I’m proud to say that I grew up with neither a trust fund nor a penny saved, but I worked my way into a healthy career and a great apartment (that I love and in which I live alone) in Brooklyn Heights. I knew what I was getting into when I moved here. I wouldn’t trade this neighborhood for another. And I’m always happy to take the walk to Carroll Gardens! (I also like to think that I embrace my inner wrinkle quite well… what with my devotion to nightly news and the occasional CBS program.)

    @jessibaby My friends would also be on board! Maybe we should take this idea more seriously… haha.

  • WillowSt.

    ABC’s comment about going from UES to Brooklyn Heights to Palm Beach made me laugh OUT LOUD. Thank you!

  • bornhere

    Jonny – What an odd post. You moved here for better subway access, but you don’t say to what — unless it was your friends in Manhattan; but you were already there, so I’m confused. I also can recall being your age, and one of the benefits was that I had the mobility to leave my neighborhood for socializing, and I was really happy that I could actually “go somewhere” and then come back home. The freedom of being old enough not to have to limit my circle to kids around my block was a positive thing. And back in the old days, we had the Village as the go-to place, but not much else. Today, people your age have buckets of options, and you should take advantage of “beyond your front door” while you have the freedom and time. And age and wrinkles are really in the eye of the beholder, which you’ll realize when you blaze through your 30s and beyond. You won’t believe how your world view will change. But you are right — this neighborhood is beautiful, which is why I’ve been here since my Day 1. And the eye of this beholder sees a lot people around who are way younger and way older than I am. You know, kind of like a neighborhood.

  • Jonny

    ok ok folks I was just joking about the wrinkle ranch thing, hence the “:)”

    All your feedback is well taken. I absolutely use my youngish legs to take me to places all over the 5 (well 4… sorry Staten Island) boroughs. I just feel like that if there were more young people in BH, there might be stores open past 9:30. I’m a night owl and still pine for the 24-hour Duane Reade by my apartment in the UES. And if I was out late at night, there were still plenty of people on the streets. If I come back to BH at 2 or 3 am, the streets are absolutely dead, and that’s obviously unsettling, especially considering the recent robberies.

    @mike – it’s not that quiet here. I work from home and the choppers are driving me loco!

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    nabeguy, you made my morning. I have missed your biting sarcasm, your caustic commentary, your satiric phraseology, your sardonic chronicling of current events. In short, I missed ya.

    Yes, I remember the old days of 1980 when I moved into this wonderful neighborhood. I was 26 and didn’t even know there was a promenade. I was so busy with work in the financial district, Bankers Trust, that I was oblivious to the architecture and history of the Heights. For me, it was just a great place to get to work in the shortest time.

    Back in those ancient days, I partied after work in Manhattan mostly on the upper East Side on Second Avenue with my youthful buddies from work. The best part was, back in those days, expense accounts were the rage and we had a ball on the bank’s dime. Yes those were the days. It seems like yesterday.

    Even at my ripe old age of 57, I still like hanging out with the youth by playing trivia pursuit at Bar Great Harry on Smith periodically during the summer. I’d like to suggest at this time that we form a team of 5 (max players per team) with both old timers and youngins. My old age is appreciated whenever a question comes up about old movies and history questions. The questions represent the gamut from contemporary rock to movies in the 50’s. If someone is good at geography, you are worth your weight in gold.

    Anyway, just an idea where multiple generations can get together and kick some butt over a few beers and represents the Brooklyn Heights blog. (See Link)

    I’ll remind all when the next contest comes along.

    http://www.bargreatharry.com/blog/?cat=7

  • mike

    Nabeguy, the trustefarians live in Williamsburg, they typically do not set foot in BH (thats where some of them grew up!). I work for my money, which I am painfully reminded of today, as I give a large portion of it away to my silent partner, the US Government.

    I second (or third) the idea of getting a 35 & under night somewhere.

  • WillowtownCop

    Jonny- why are you only interested in meeting young people? I’m under 35 but most of my friends are not. Older people tend to be more interesting than younger people. Actually, the last people in the neighborhood I would want to suffer through a conversation with would be the college dorm dwellers on Clark St.

    I’ll come to an under 35s night but I like the idea of the trivia game better.

  • Jonny

    @WillowtownCop – I wasn’t merely talking about meeting young people. In fact, I will be celebrating my birthday this weekend with friends ranging in age from 25 to 46. My point is that any neighborhood is made better with a diverse makeup of people both young and old. I can’t say I agree that older people are more interesting, or younger people for that matter. I actually find that those who come from the grittier areas of the city have the best stories to tell, no matter what their age!

  • RamonaQ

    kipped, it would be great if you organized a “25-35 night”– it sounds like we all could use some friends in the neighborhood.

  • jessibaby

    Kipped! Set it up!! I think Henry Public would be a good spot.

  • tb

    Vast Generalization Day here on BHB.

  • aliG

    Are people older than 35 invited provided they put their false teeth in and leave the Depends at home?

  • jessibaby

    aliG, so long as you are good looking, you may join.

  • RamonaQ

    Karl–I love geography! Seriously.

  • jorale-man

    How about 36? I don’t look a day older than 35. Just say when and where!

  • nabeguy

    jessibaby, you have to be young AND good looking? Any other pre-conditions? I’m 53, but dyslexic…do I qualify?

  • nabeguy

    BTW, kipped, I threw in the”trustefarian” line as a deliberate device to separate the earners from the yearners. Glad to see that you understood the difference and called me out on it. And you’re spot on about Roebling’s. I love that space, but it definitely could use an infusion of…well, just about anything that could tap into its full potential.

  • Dan

    There are people here in BH who influence the culture of the US and beyond. If little Jonny would open his eyes, maybe he would realize there’s more to life than hanging with your drinking buddys. Say hello to an older neighbor. You never know who you’re going to get.

  • karl Junkersfeld

    RamonaQ that is perfect. I’ll keep you posted. I assume you are in the 26-36 demographic since you were interested in the 26-36 get together. That is an added plus. Ideally, the group of 5 members should be of different generations to cover all years of popular culture.

  • Atlantically

    Last night around 4:20am or so, we we awakened by someone screaming painfully down Joralemon, starting at least around Hicks and continuing past Columbia Place. About 10m later, a cop and an ambulance shot down there.

    Anyone hear anything, or have any info?

  • RamonaQ

    Karl–I’m 31, but I’m sorry to say, pop culture is my weak point. I did not watch enough tv growing up. I do, however, know the difference between Togo and Tonga.

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →