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Open Thread Wednesday 9/24/08
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September 26, 2008
[...] Open Thread Wednesday 9/24/08 [...]
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Brooklyn Bugle
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Discovery of Slowness” by Sten Nadolny
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander
- #BackintheDay: The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique
- March Forth: CFAF Offers Heights “Family Walking Tour”
- Missed Connections at NY Transit Museum on Valentine’s Day
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Stranger’s Child” by Alan Hollinghurst
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson
- Transit Museum Introduces New Discussion Series “Problem Solvers” with guest Sarah Kaufman
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Thorn and the Blossom” by Theodora Goss
- Transit Museum Plans Day for Special Needs Kids January 22
- Open Thread Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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UPDATE: Shiba Inu “Lili” Is Home!
- Lost Dog: Lili, a Shiba Inu
- P.S. 8 Middle School Approved
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Montague Street, Meet Your New Starbucks
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The Brooklyn Bugle’s Knishes Preview at Brooklyn Heights Cinema a Success
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Le Pain Quotidien Taking Shape
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Damascus Bakery getting some competition
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I Want Candy? 20 Henry Condos At Last Hit The Market
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Downtown Skyscraper District: He Said/He Said On Landmarks Approval
- Here’s Looking At You, Brooklyn
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The Brooklyn Bugle’s Knishes Preview at Brooklyn Heights Cinema a Success
- Pet Adoption Event Sunday
- P.S. 8 Middle School Approved
- Subway Service Alerts
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UPDATE: Shiba Inu “Lili” Is Home!
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TONIGHT! Preview of Heather Quinlan’s “If These Kniches Could Talk”
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I Want Candy? 20 Henry Condos At Last Hit The Market
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Downtown Skyscraper District: He Said/He Said On Landmarks Approval
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Le Pain Quotidien Taking Shape
Anyone else hear around 6am this morning what sounded like fighter jets ? I heard them a few times and saw red tail lights on the last run. Not exactly the way I want to wake up. Anyone know what it was about or hear them ?
The UN is in session. That might have something to do with it.
Could have been I’m a Dinner Jacket rocketing back to Tehran.
Anyone know anything about the Palmetto Garden on Columbia Place? I’ve sent a few emails requesting information about renting a plot but have never heard back…
Someone beat me to it. As of 10 am, there is still a lot of activity in the sky. I am entrenched with work, have not seen anything with my own eyes but the racket is annoying and unnerving. How much are we paying for this?
I must praise 311, which, I’m now convinced, will do virtually anything you request of it. (I wonder if it does windows?)
Anyway, there was a lamppost sans light at the SW corner of Hicks and Middaugh; I called 311 about it, and within three days the thing was fixed.
Also received a call from Con Ed telling me that power to the post had been restored.
Do you think Wall Street should call 311?
I called 311 months ago about 2 bicycle “skeletons” that have been chained to the fence near the Clark Street entrance to the Promenade for over a year! They told me they couldn’t do anything… to tell the cops, who will take care of it. I just never think to ask when I see them around the neighborhood.
GHB, you see cops around the nabe? Wow–I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.
Is this…discriminatory perception on my part?
Firemen are another story. In a number of ways.
Where did the fruit guy go? Was he chased away by the fog from the mass of smoking college students surrounding the Clark St. station entrance at all times?
I’m looking for a new primary doctor in the neighborhood. Can anyone recommend an internist in the nabe?
TRADER JOE’S ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve seen the fruit guy once in the last week or two. Is he on an intermittent schedule or was that just a blip between his absence?
I’d also love some recs for neighborhood doctors.
Anybody experience bad service at Noodle Pudding lately? My meals there have usually been great, but when I went there this past weekend, it was a disaster: Waiter failed to bring a glass of wine for 1/2 hour even after 3 reminders, had to ask to receive a bread basket, two entrees came without the third…asked several people, but nobody could explain where it was…when it finally came 20 mins later, the other people in my party were finished eating.
I know it’s a busy place, but I’ve never seen it this bad before. Do you think it’s just a fluke?
The PS 8 crossing guard is whistle happy.
Service is never that good there. It’s definitely their achilles heel. My pet peeve is that every single time I go there, it takes like 10 minutes before someone even comes up and says “how many?” By that point I am steamed, and almost ready to walk out. Their hosting needs some major help.
Henry and State,
I heard the jets also around 6ish (though I could barely hear anythign over the stupid jackhammer). I also think it had to do with the UN.
Ditto with the initial wait at Noodle Pudding. Service is generally OK, but you arrive there and are generally ignored.
Same thing happened at the one and only time I tried the new Tazza. Stood at the host stand for several minutes, totally unacknowledged; was finally seated and given a menu, and literally ten minutes later, I walked out when not a single person acknowledged my presence. Haven’t been back.
First rule of Front-of-the-House Decorum 101: greet the arriving customer.
Doing so is what separates the rube operations from the real thing.
That no-one’s-in-charge-here feeling, often exacerbated by waiters, can wreck s dining-out experience pronto.
What is with the new Tazza and service? Can’t stand the table service either. Why tip for a coffee and muffin?
Can anyone tell me how I get my name on the “do not mail” list? I went to a direct marketing website and was required to put in a credit card number in order to get my name on the list–which made no sense to me.
Any postal addresses/phone numbers/websites would be appreciated; I am all of a sudden subject to an onslaught of junk mail, after of keeping myself off all of those lists.
BKBS, this is a pretty exhaustive article about getting yourself off of mailing lists. This one is good as well.
Yes, AEB. You are right on. Greeting the guest when they arrive is absolutely critical. Failure to do so is like refusing to shake hands with someone. Leaves you pissed off the rest of the evening. I think they are just plain old TOO CHEAP to hire a proper hostess, and rely on the head waiter to do it. Which is absurd. Hosting and serving should be done by different people in a restaurant that busy.
And at “Pudding,” My2, it’s not even the head waiter who does the seating, however haphazardly.
In my experience it’s ANY waiter who happens to have .0000002 of a second to spare.
Pas bon.
Thank you bhmom for your criticism of Tazza! I mean it to! Seems everyone just loves Tazza! Tazza can do no wrong despite being shut down by the health department for a billion violations. Seems like rats could be nibbling on their whole grain muffin and slurping from their lattes and people would continue to praise this place all the while.
The above isn’t the real substance of my issue with Tazza. The real issue for me is that one needs to make a special request for a condiment w/t a sandwich or a little dressing for their salad. You ask them and they seem somewhat surprised by this request. WTF is up with these women? My guess is hypoalbuminemia!
Noodle Pudding used to be sooo awesome. I’ve noticed that their portions have shrunk…and they weren’t that big to begin with.
EG – I hear you about Tazza. They look at you like you’re nuts if you want brie instead of swiss on a sandwich. And then they charge you extra $$. I might just pack a picnic and eat it on their outdoor patio.
The host at Henry’s End should give lessons at Noodle Pudding. He’s phenomenal.
For those who asked for Dr. recos – Dr. Charles Berk has been my GP for almost 12 years now, even during those brief periods when I’d changed health insurance to something he didn’t accept I continued to see him out-of-pocket. He used to be on Schermerhorn but moved to Montague St a few years ago in order to expand his practice. I can’t say enough wonderful things about him. His contact info is:
Charles Berk, MD
185 Montague St, 3rd Flr
Brooklyn NY 11201
phone: 718-624-6185
I had the same experience at Tazza when they first opened and stayed away for a few weeks. Went back a few days ago and they had suddenly shaped up quite a bit. I’m guessing the owner reads this blog and whipped that crew into shape.
Does anyone know if Taze and Aerosoles are ever going to reopen? It didn’t seem that the fire or water damage were so extensive as to knock them out of business for this long.
Thanks, keefer…big help.
Laurie:
Do you know if he takes GHI and how long the average wait is to get an appointment?? I have had a dr. in mind, but it takes forever to get a first appointment.
Tazza has the most counter-intuitive set-up ever. I don’t understand why they placed the register where they did, forcing people to line up/walk between the tables and a huge pole. Also wish they would put milk out for customers to use themselves. Half the time my coffee has the wrong amount of milk and there are 7 people in line behind me. I asked one of the waitresses about this and she said they used to leave milk out but people would steal it. Seriously? Maybe because of the stupid layout.
Has anyone else heard the dogs howling in the Clark Street area? I can’t pinpoint the building – but it’s one of them in the area of the 2/3 subway. Very sad reminder that it is great to have dogs, but you have to be responsible and think if it is fair to keep them cooped up in an apartment. These poor creatures sound like they are in pain.
bornhere, since Aerosoles entire stock was ruined, Taze no longer has anything to cook.
I second Laurie’s recommendation of Dr. Berk. I have been going to him for about 6 years, including 2 years in the middle when I was living in Manhattan, but I would come back to BK to see him. He gives all his patients the time they deserve. More doctors should be like him.
Thanks Laurie and Amy.
I second all of the comments about Tazza. Went there only once when they first opened and did not have a good experience. Haven’t been back since.
I don’t understand why the Tazza near Atlantic is nice and the one here is so annoying? Order a sandwich and wait a half hour. And the tables are empty whenever I’m there. Wish they’d just give up the table service idea.
Does anyone know how to find the thread with the eye doctor recommendations, please?
I have never had a problem at Noodle Pudding, Ari (who I assumed was the owner, but maybe I am wrong) always goes out of his way to greet me when I go there. Love the food and the prices too. Sorry to hear that service has been poor lately, I guess I have only been there one time in recent months. Hmmm.
Just a Neighbor: That’s a great question. I tried the site’s “search” with “ophthalmologist” and then with “deutsch” (a Remsen Street doc who was recommended), but nothing came up.
Homer: Is there some special way to use the “search element” here?
bornhere: I think the problem is that the search engine only searches the texts of top posts, not comments. My recommendation of Dr. James Deutsch, at 110 Remsen, can be found in my comment (you need to scroll down a ways) on this post, where, you may note, I misspelled “opthalmologist”.
Right ABC, not only do you wait 1/2 hr. for a sandwich, but you get served at 2 different times (especially annoying if you come with a less than patient child. I also feel that if you are paying for table service, they should at least serve you something extra with a sandwich or some bread with a salad, like they do in other places.
Thanks, Claude. And, by the way, I second the recommendation of Jim Deutsch (and I also think the first “h” in “ophthalmologist” makes for ridiculous and invariably confounding spelling :)
Now that the Pickle has been up and running for a month or so, any word on how they are doing? It always seems completely empty when I walk by…but then again, I am not their lunch crowd target market….
Thanks for the Deutsch recommendation Claude (although it will probably be impossible to get an appointment now!) Can’t second your recommendation of Friedman, however. I went there to replace a pair of bifocals that I lost at sea (long story), and was wearing an old non-bifocal pair at the time. Despite their tests and my telling them that I required bifocals, they blew it and gave me another pair of single focus lenses. I’ll go back to Grants, where I got my first glasses at the age of 10.
Sorry, that should have been Grand’s (must have had Foster Grants on my mind)
I received this email from a Paulson guy, do you think its some sort of a scam?
—–
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Pure genius, rat.
Anyone noticing a particularly rank odor around 180 Montague. Hits you about the time you reach the Hallmark Shop/Eamonn’s and is pronounced up to around the doors of Garden of Eden. I know there are grates along the sidewalk, and perhaps it’s something down there. Latest theory is it’s a dead body in the trunk of a Zip Car down in the parking garage. Certainly isn’t Maple Syrup… Anyone?
Yes, Berkeley. I also notice, even though it’s getting a bit cooler, how not great Montague Street smells in the morning (at least the North side, Henry to Clinton).
So glad someone else has noticed that disgusting smell! I walk by it every day on my way to the subway. I keep hoping someone at Garden of Eden will take care of whatever the problem is… It can’t be helping their business.
Does anyone know the story with the homeless gut who hangs around the clark street station. he is yound, brown hair beard, always walks around smoking a cigarette stub with look of pure enjoyment (like he is savoring a cuban). I am intrigued by him. Lately, he has been looking cleaner and changing outfits so I am thinking he might just be disturbed not necessarily homeless…
Also, just wondering..how does Tango stay in business given the high rent and the exorbitant prices. You;d think they’d have as much trouble as a high end bar on Montague…
Lastly, the fancy lobster roll at Sea Asian rocks
If I’m not mistaken, the proprietor of Tango owns that building.
Dumpster outside of the Wine Bar today…anyone see any activity?
Thanks all, for the help with the eye dr.
Jodie, there’s a guy who can be found there nearly every day who seems to have the lowdown on the owners cleaning the place out. It was shut down so suddenly that all the food was left to go bad. If you people want to smell what nasty smells like, the old Busy Chef space takes the cake on a bad day. Oof.
I think that dumpster may actually be a back-up for the one in front of the building undergoing a gut-renovation at 67 (?) Cranberry. I think it’s going to take quite a while to unravel the legal issues with the CoC spaces, so I woulldn’t expect anything to move on that front soon. Although of the 4 in question, Wine Bar would probably be the first to turn over; as it hhas a better landlord than the others.
After nearly a year of 7AM jackhammering, peeping toms and shouting, I am in absolute awe at how quiet and peaceful my strip of Brooklyn has become since the Love Lane Garage construction men were suspended.
I know that the suspension is temporary, but the quiet times are like a fine wine. It has been a blessed joy that I hate to see come to an end.
To those of you who have never experienced this type of invasion, be grateful.
A little Google Fu for those of you having trouble with site search. You can ask Google to search a specific web site by prefacing with site:URL. So try this in Google: “site:brooklynheightsblog.com opthamologist”
On my way to the R train this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the horrible smell, yet again, on Montague Street; but this evening is the first time I’ve really noticed it at night. I know this is not in the Parole Office category of significant issues, but what’s the deal? And I was amazed to see people dining outside at Buon Gusto and other haunts, somehow enjoying the “night air.” Feh.