Open Thread Wednesday 7/16/08

By on July 16, 2008 6:00 am in Brooklyn Heights

flickr photo by listen missy

It’s another OTW, what’s on your mind? Comment away!

Flickr photo by listenmissy

,

38 Responses to Open Thread Wednesday 7/16/08

  1. Curious July 16, 2008 at 9:50 am #

    Does anybody know what’s going on with the old Thai Grille space on Henry St. between the church and Clark’s Restaurant? There wree workers going in and out on Monday, but they didn’t seem to know what was going on.

    Also, any news on the opening of Spicy Pickle?

  2. clarknt67 July 16, 2008 at 11:28 am #

    They look much nicer at night, as the darkness obscures the scaffolding and the light highlights the water. I saw them from the “Movies with a View” and also from a night harbor cruise I took Sunday. It completely changed my mind. They must be seen at night to appreciated.

    I’m still curious what’s up with 101 Clinton, the building across from Packer on the northeastern corner that is rumored to be slated for demolition.

  3. AB July 16, 2008 at 11:34 am #

    Does anyone have some REAL info on–yes–Gristedes reopening?

    I stopped by their pharmacy about a week ago and quizzed its manager, who told me that the store would reopen sometime “in the fall.” But he didn’t sound convinced.

    Meanwhile, no work is being done on the site–or none that I can see, and I pass the store daily.

  4. UWSNYCFEM July 16, 2008 at 11:38 am #

    word on the street is that dan kaufman is no longer affiliated with busy chef and those other establishments he ran.
    any word on what happened?

  5. Andrew July 16, 2008 at 11:50 am #

    IIRC, The Thai Grille space has had signs offering leases for office/professional space for a while, so this may be work converting to office space. (It’d be nice to have a good restaurant in there, though.)

  6. Jazz July 16, 2008 at 11:58 am #

    @uwsfem – NO ONE CARES.

  7. Pete July 16, 2008 at 12:16 pm #

    Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge last week, I took a moment to peek between the floor boards to get a unique view of the waterfall from an above-view … definitely a cool perspective.

  8. nabeguy July 16, 2008 at 12:26 pm #

    Gristede’s ownership is more than likely still waiting fo the insurance check (or haggling over its size) In other words, you shouldn’t expect to see a single outdated container of yogurt before that issue gets resolved.

  9. AliG July 16, 2008 at 1:10 pm #

    Saw William Hurt having dinner at Jack the Horse this past Saturday. Is he filming something in the area?

  10. GHB July 16, 2008 at 1:42 pm #

    AliG, I don’t know but I saw him a couple of weeks ago at Eastern Athletic.

  11. AB July 16, 2008 at 1:55 pm #

    Nabeguy, I neglected to mention that I asked the manager if the insurance dough had been received–and he said it had.

    But perhaps your right about “haggling”….

  12. hickster July 16, 2008 at 2:05 pm #

    Blue pig is no longer an artisenal shop. Ice cream now comes from taste of the tropics which I have had in stores in flatbush and the bronx. not bad though texture is kind of weird.

    http://www.tastethetropics.com/

  13. Cranky July 16, 2008 at 2:12 pm #

    @uwsfem – NO ONE CARES.
    speak for yourself Jazz. I’m curious. I wouldn’t say I care exactly but I’m always up for a bit of schadenfreude with re: Mr. Kaufman….

  14. nabeguy July 16, 2008 at 3:49 pm #

    Well, Gristede’s had better get on the stick or some of their valved customers are going to blow theirs if they keep having to walk up to Keyfood

  15. CJP July 16, 2008 at 5:41 pm #

    1) That picture of the falls actually makes it look pretty good.

    2) Just wondering. Why does Key Food get special parking/unloading privileges on Montague? I see the workers “holding” spaces for delivery trucks hours in advance. Yes, even though I don’t like the store, I like the idea of trucks delivering food. But are any other businesses extended the same courtesy and are their workers as free to “hold” spaces?

    3) Thai Grille. I’ve seen workers coming and going from that space for months now!

    4) Spicy Pickle: Saw a big Spicy Pickle truck there the other day delivering stuff. (And no, the workers weren’t holding a space…) My wife said she saw sidewalk interviews going on.

    5) Still not sure I love the “open space” idea on Sunday’s on Montague. If I want a piazza I’ll go to Venice, Mexico City or Europe. New York City does cramped, closed spaces pretty well. For better or worse it’s New York and closing a street doesn’t do much to help the problem.

  16. RG July 16, 2008 at 5:54 pm #

    Saw the waterfalls from the Staten Island ferry today. Great view as all four waterfalls were visible at once. The Brooklyn Heights waterfall looked exceptionally elegant.

  17. cait July 16, 2008 at 8:34 pm #

    I don’t know if I could ever eat at a restaurant in the Thai Grille space. Before they started cleaning it out I saw a serious rat party in there.

  18. Fcat July 16, 2008 at 10:03 pm #

    Any idea why the workers in the Blue Pig on Henry are always so rude/disgruntled but the folks in Busy Chef on court are almost overly nice?

  19. HDEB July 17, 2008 at 8:13 am #

    The last time I ate at Thai Grill a large waterbug crawled across the table mid-meal.

  20. CJP July 17, 2008 at 9:30 am #

    I stand corrected on the Key Food trucks. I checked the signs and it’s basically their delivery area: No standing, except trucks. So Key Food is perfectly legal in holding those spots for delivery.

  21. cormac July 17, 2008 at 10:22 am #

    I would be rude and disgruntled too if I was serving ice cream all day to a bunch of fatties. However, I haven’t found them to be rude and disgruntled at all. I find the Blue Pig’s ice cream a little too rich though.

  22. ace July 17, 2008 at 10:53 am #

    Here’s an experience I just had with the Shell Station at Atlantic and Henry. I took my car there to be inspected. They called and said that it had failed, needing new rear brakes–”down to the metal!”–and windshield wipers. Oh, and also the coolant was dirty and needed to be flushed and it needed a tune-up. All of this was strange, because the car had been serviced at the dealer just two weeks earlier. So rather than have the work done, I took the car back to the dealer for a second look. Somebody’s wasn’t giving me the straight story. The dealer’s service department told me that the brakes, wipers, coolant and engine were all fine, and my car passed the inspection with no work needed. Word to the wise: The Shell station’s overpriced gas seems to work fine, but I wouldn’t have work done there.

  23. Jo July 17, 2008 at 11:08 am #

    Just curious how many of you have been “double-ticked”, meaning you arrive to your car and find two tickets for the same infraction given within hours of each other by different agencies (NYPD (10:30 PM and traffic 6:50 AM), although the car never moved. This has happened to me twice and the first time I had to fight it 3 times (by Web) for them to toss the “extra” ticket, and am now doing the same. My guess is that they don’t look to see that you already have a ticket and/or maybe the person writing the ticket doesn’t really care. I wonder how often this happens and how many people/businesses pay twice? The practice needs to be stopped.
    And please dont’ tell me I shouldn’t have parked illegally in the first place, I know and my wallet knows. :)

  24. yo July 17, 2008 at 11:58 am #

    should’ve towed your ass for remaining illegally parked for so long

  25. nabeguy July 17, 2008 at 12:51 pm #

    Ace, try Excell Motor on Old Fulton Street. The owner, Joke (no, that’s really his name) has always been a square shooter with me (and he even turned a blind eye when I used to bring in my ’68 Mercedes, which practically needed to be towed to him for the inspection) That Shell has always been a rip-off, both for gas and service.

  26. elvisIII July 17, 2008 at 1:03 pm #

    Jo- there are a few options…(1) sell your car (2) move somewhere where there is more parking (3) suck it up and deal with the tickets. I bet they double ticket knowing full well that some people won’t find it worth the hassle of fighting. Too me, that’s fine. I wish they’d tear down the BQE and impose a massive car tax on all parts of the city.

  27. HDEB July 17, 2008 at 1:10 pm #

    Cars stink, ride a bike : )

  28. jw July 17, 2008 at 1:54 pm #

    shell station on atlantic did the exact same thing to me 3 years ago….luckily I didn’t buy it and went elsewhere – they are crooks!

  29. No One Of Consequence July 17, 2008 at 2:28 pm #

    I’ll go to the Mobil station on the far side of Flatbush Avenue Extension (just off Gold St. I think, by the 84th precinct.) It’s a bit of a pain to get to, but they do decent work. Gas is also “reasonably” priced, especially for all full-serve.
    For real work, I take my car to my old timer in Hastings. He’s got a terrible potty mouth, but it adds to the authentic experience. He’s up to date with recent models and technology, too. Worth the drive.

  30. Andrew Porter July 17, 2008 at 4:07 pm #

    There’s nothing going on at the Gristede’s. They’ve also put paper over the windows on the Pineapple Walk side of the store, so that view is closed off. Though if you had a stepladder, someone could get some good photos of the inside.

    And, nabeguy, you’re right about “valved” customers! Apparently they’re going after the crustacean and bivalve crowd. It *couldn’t* be a typo, now, could it?

  31. AliG July 17, 2008 at 4:29 pm #

    What’s up with the Bossert? Has it been sold? We live right across the street and never see the lights on in any of the apartments anymore.

  32. nabeguy July 17, 2008 at 5:15 pm #

    Actually, AP, I was referring to the heart-valve kind of customers, as in the “triple bypass” folks for whom the extra steps they have to take to Key Food may prove their last. Kidding aside, it is a major pain, especially in this heat to have to go from my end of the nabe on Middagh all the way to Montague for my victuals. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Gristede’s.

  33. GHB July 17, 2008 at 5:51 pm #

    Not to be overly sensitive, but that was one stupid f#%&!ng comment…

  34. brooklynkid July 17, 2008 at 7:35 pm #

    The heat must be getting to people—touchy! Anyhow—the Shell station is notorious, we had a similar situation and now use a place on 4th avenue, live and learn.

    Weird how the Heights has so few supermarkets right now; I grew up in the Heights in the 60′s and ’70′s, and there were literally at least a dozen, plus bakeries, greengrocers (including an Italian man who had a cart drawn by an ancient horse wearing a straw hat, there were mounds of apples, bananas, etc. and housewives in curlers and sleeveless housedresses would come out and haggle over vegetables. It was a “bohemian” neighborhood, then, mind you. Seems like another lifetime.) We are such a foodie culture in NY now, that you would think the good food markets would be proliferating, instead Lassen and Henning’s hasn’t changed their selection much since 1972 and the larger markets keep closing. Fairway is wonderful but inconvenient, and there Key Food is OK but not exciting. Trader Joe’s? Whole Foods? Union Market? Where art thou? Garden of Eden, I have to say, opened magnificently and is still decent, and of course Sahadi is mecca. Still, it seems the Heights could and should support so much more diverse shopping—not just for food, the shops in general are kind of a yawn. I am definitely one of those tiresome people who will yarn on and on about how great it was way back when; it was! Though of course I will concede we had no greenmarkets or unlimited-ride Metrocards.

  35. Hannah July 18, 2008 at 12:27 pm #

    Yes, a Whole Foods would be great, but I doubt they’d look to the Heights for a foray into Brooklyn. I can still dream though….

    Wanted to second the rat party in Thai Grille – walked by every day, 2x a day to and from the metro and there were some serious Rat Festivities going on in there….ugh.

  36. Andrew Porter July 18, 2008 at 12:44 pm #

    Yeah, I miss the great breads they had a Norman’s — now, after so many incarnations, home of the double dipper (and we’re not talking about ice cream scooping, are we?). I understand that where Blue Pig etc were (Su Su’s a million years ago now) there was an Associated Supermarket in the early 1960s. You used to be able to get victuals at the store that’s now [Jabba the] Hutt middle eastern eatery on Hicks Street.

    Or maybe I’m getting old, and don’t want to walk to Montague from the north Heights for the simple things in life.

  37. brooklynkid July 20, 2008 at 2:16 am #

    Norman’s! I hadn’t thought of his place in years, People used to call it the hippie store but it really was one of the early foodie places. He left because of high rent and a broken heart, I gather.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Brooklyn Heights Blog » William Hurt Walks Among Us - August 12, 2008

    [...] imagination I thought. So after a little googling I was led to our own website, where commenter AliG had mentioned seeing Hurt having dinner at Jack the Horse in July.   Hurt is reuniting with his Big Chill co-star Glenn Close and joining the cast of FX’s [...]