Open Thread Wednesday 5/26/10

By on May 26, 2010 12:29 am in Brooklyn Heights
BHB Photo Club pic by fkuffel via Flickr

BHB Photo Club pic by fkuffel via Flickr

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Share this Story:

,

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →
  • cobble

    “No, I think it’s more like we have 100 comments in the queue waiting to be reviewed.”

    They review each and every comment? Yikes, that’s gotta be pretty time consuming.

  • daveinbedstuy

    cobble, you’re back!!!! :(

  • cobble

    “cobble, you’re back!!!! :(”

    Yep, and badder than before!! LOL!

    Sorry to disappoint you, DIBS! : P

  • cobble

    dona, You bring up a really interesting subject re: stores in the Heights and what is supported and what fails. Two points that I hear over and over. 1. It seems that the larger portion of revenue comes from Court Street workers not the local residents. 2. Larger retailers don’t like the small spaces in BH.

  • Biff Champion

    Cobble, that makes sense. Was Montague ever thriving with mom and pop type stores or was there always a mishmash of chains and owner-managed places?

  • cobble

    Biff, Well…when I was a kid, eons ago, there were ZERO chains on Montague Street, and it was all small individually-owned places. There was a Women’s Dept. Store where Banana Republic is, called Nettie’s. Perelandra was in one of the upstairs spaces. There was a lending bookstore called Womrath’s where Bentley shoes is. Then in the early 70s, Burger King moved in, but not before the neighborhood protested mightily. They came in anyway. They were the first chain store.

  • cobble

    Oh, and the Burger King was in the Banana Republic Space, between the time of Netties and BR.

  • Biff Champion

    Thanks Cobble. As many chains as there are now, I think the relatively small spaces to which you alluded before is what’s preventing even more chains from moving in.

  • cobble

    Lots of neat places that used to be up there. Summa Gallery, now a realtor, I think. Leaf & Bean, a great coffee/cafe. The Community Bookstore was in an upstairs spot then. [I think there is an asian restaurant there now.] It was just homier. Although I like some of the stores, I don’t shop there as much as I used to. And I never eat there.

  • GHB

    Sadly, Summa Gallery on the UWS is closing in June. Too bad they had to leave the Heights. That’s what we need more of on Montague!

  • petebklyn

    don’t forget the gay bars of Montague.

  • cobble

    I’m pretty sure he [his name is John] owns the building. Yes, I’ve been tempted to offer to help him organize it, for free. He’s a good guy, and I think he makes “enough” money to live the way he wants to. He closes for like 2 months at a time, and does as he pleases. I’d love to have that! I think it’s empty upstairs, but I’m not sure, I’ll look at it next evening I go by.

  • cobble

    Pete, If you figure he bought the place in the early 80s, then you have to also figure he’s paid off any mortgage by now, and so doesn’t need to earn much off the store.

  • my2cents

    WTF? it’s like I am reading an entirely different website. Or like reading someone’s g-chat window. Who are all these people out of the blue? I am glad to see new commenters, but jesus you guys are chatty! :-P

  • jessibaby

    my2cents – we are creatures from the planet Brownstoner. We like to explore open threads.

  • Biff Champion

    It’s kind of like one of those Web-organized deals where a ton of people decide to meet up at some pre-determined location, all scream and act like fools and then disperse.

  • cobble

    It’s like those tweets where people are told to gather at some random spot, and make a big crowd for an hour. There’s a real name for that.

  • jessibaby

    Flash mob?

  • cobble

    Pete, Think of it. Say you own your building outright, and you only have to pay for taxes and basic services/minimal upkeep. Then most of what you make you keep. He doesn’t strike me as someone who needs the finer/fancy things, so he’s probably comfy. I bet he owns a summer place somewhere that he bought in the 70s for a song, and just goes to hang out there.

  • cobble

    Right! Flash mob! Thanks, jessi. This is just the ‘virtual’ version! The beta, if you will.

  • anon

    Pozzo, Pozzo, is that you? Guildenstern, are you there,help?

  • ET

    Finally some excitement for Brooklyn Heights.
    Too bad it’s just viral.

  • cobble

    Pete, He’s friendly enough once he knows you. He always gives me ‘the nod’ when I walk by. But he’s known me for my entire life. My mom used to shop in his store, and he used to special order books for her. I think he still does special orders. Oh, and he takes your old books, if you want to get rid of them, but he doesn’t buy them anymore. So he’s got no overhead on that segment of his inventory that he MUST sell to make the outlay work for those books. I think he’s got a decent thing going. And when/if he ever sells that building, he’ll be set for his retirement.

  • cobble

    Or maybe it’s just paper backs that he doesn’t buy anymore.

  • Biff Champion

    “Pozzo, Pozzo, is that you? Guildenstern, are you there,help?”

    That’s too intellectual a reference for we PLUSAs.

    Do you have something equivalent from Beavis and Butthead, perhaps?

  • cobble

    ““Pozzo, Pozzo, is that you? Guildenstern, are you there,help?””

    No, but Rosencrantz just called and said he’s going to lunch and he’d back later.

  • jessibaby

    calling all cars, 11217 in restaurant thread.

  • ET

    “calling all cars, 11217 in restaurant thread.”

    I’ll be damned, this site has other threads!?

  • cobble

    “I’ll be damned, this site has other threads!?”

    No, Expert, back at “home”.

  • jessibaby

    ET, no. He’s in food and drink round up back on our own planet.

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →