Open Thread Wednesday 12/3/08

By on December 3, 2008 2:00 am in Brooklyn Heights
BHB Photo Club pic by Fkuffel

BHB Photo Club pic by Fkuffel

What’s on your mind?  Have an event to plug?  Comment away!

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  • Maggie

    A great new salon opened in Boreum Hill on Atlantic Ave. Melissa gave me a great haircut and it was very reasonably priced. The salon itself is beautiful and very relaxing (its an Aveda salon). I highly recommend it.

  • beth

    Soooooooo I never posted about this but wondered if anyone else encountered this guy. A few weeks ago a man stopped me on Cranberry Street. He said:

    – His mom had just had a seizure while driving and hit two people on Columbia Heights and was now in the hospital.
    – He just moved to the neighborhood and lived over there down the block in apartment 5F.
    – He had been talking to a particular police officer (and named him) at the 84th precinct. This officer ended up calling him the N word.
    – This guy was also a cameraman for NBC-4 and this whole story was going to be on the 11pm news.
    – The car was in the shop and the bill was some amount, but he was $12 short.

    etc.

    Now I REALLY like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but this guy’s story just had too many details (I am forgetting some) and sounded fishy. So I did not help him.

    Just wondering if anyone else encountered him, or, you know, if you think I am a big jerk for not believing him.

  • Jen

    I posted about this before, but is anyone else hearing the banging noises around Clark and Hicks? It’s all hours of the day and all through the night, including Thanksgiving. On and off, it sounds like one hammer hitting one piece of metal or brick or something. I know there’s lots of construction in the neighborhood, but this is ridiculous.

  • Homer Fink

    Beth – this guy is perpetuating a classic scam… it’s a variation of the “Good Neighbor” / “Trapped Car” con . The added spice is “and can you believe they called me a _____ ” .

  • beth

    I know! I was really upset afterward about the N word part — trying to appeal to my white guilt or something. Sigh.

  • Homer Fink

    Best part is the guy who wrote the book on Cons was conned himself.

    His story about The Trapped Car scam (http://tinyurl.com/5h2s2h) claims that a beggar was so good at conning that he opened his own school in NYC in 1979. Trouble is that the guy who did that was Omar the Beggar aka Alan Able (http://www.alanabel.com/omar.php).

    Of course if you like pranks and scams, listen to the Homer Fink Show from August with my pal Joey Skaggs:
    http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/3313#more-3313

  • PJL

    I also recommend Joke @ Excel Motor Works auto repair on Old Fulton. Definitely honest/good work. Think I might try some of the haircut suggestions; thanks everyone.

  • henry & state

    Diva salon on henry near the fruit streets is good. Michael is the owner and does great hair as does Bella. But I heard van sickle is good too. Live trees should be found all over the place. Usually on Montague St infront of church and keyfood on atlantic just got some. Also the guy is usually on clinton st. across atlantic ave. wouldn’t be surprised if trader joes sold them too.

  • AliG

    Alex, Henry’s End is a great spot with good food but more on the casual side. River Cafe is great food with a lovely view of Manhattan..that might be your best option.

  • FeiFei

    Alex, I second Jack the Horse – awesome food and drinks. Sorry, AliG, I disagree about Henrys’ End. While its a more casual atmosphere, the prices hover around $25 an entree which is pretty high. I have only gone there once and within the past few months and will never go back. I tried the fried chicken and it was good. But the rest of the menu was so boring. They have duck three times on the menu and its cooked the same way, the only variation being the sauce it’s served with. Same could be said for the salmon. Same for the steak. Same for the veal. And then with every entree, you get this rice pilaf and steamed vegetable side which is just a thoughtless freebie. And the $12 shrimp appetizer only comes with three shrimp.

  • nabeguy

    Beth, you’re no jerk, but you probably should have figured it out when he said he was an NBC cameraman and that they were airing his story that night…not!

  • beth

    It’s so interesting to me, the little details he included.

    Like that one– that one was for “this can be verified!” (Uhm, just not RIGHT NOW. You have to watch at 11pm. Give me the $12 now though.)

  • T.K. Small

    I know someone that was hit with a variation of this con back in the 80s. It was down near battery Place near Broadway and the guy was allegedly a musician needing train fare to somewhere in Connecticut for a performance. He asked the person for seven dollars and promised to mail her the money. About two weeks later, he was still working the same corner and asked this person again for money with the same story. Anyway, the person that provided the original seven dollars was amused, but she figured that this guy needed a little scare. She informed the con man that she worked for a high-powered law firm and said that she was immediately going to contact the authorities.

  • E G

    Last time I gave money to a guy on the street was when he told me straight up he needed to buy a bottle. I appreciated his honesty and rewarded him for it. Anyone on the street that wants to tell me a story is a wasting of my time and their breath.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    “And the $12 shrimp appetizer only comes with three shrimp.”

    This reminds me of one of my favorite Yogi Berra stories. a reporter asked him about his memories of Joe DiMaggio, and he said he had once had dinner with Joe and Marilyn Monroe at a restaurant in Florida during spring training. “Wow,” said the reporter, “dinner with Joe and Marilyn. That must have been a memorable evening. What do you remember most about it?”

    “Well,” said Yogi, “You know how, when you order shrimp cocktail, they usually bring you four or maybe five? That night we each got eight.”

  • http://deleted paul

    i’d like to recommend a place not to go for auto repairs: cobble hill auto repairs on the corner of atlantic and henry. on three occasions i went in to repair a small thing and ended up paying hundreds of dollars. i have since taken my car to a dependable honest guy in bensonhurst and feel taken care of and never ripped off, but i will try the Joke guy on old fulton st. thanks for the tip.

  • .

    I’ve heard about that guy. Apparently he’s been using the same story all over Brooklyn for years

  • Propaganda Dept.

    Anyone check out the store front diorama/model/propaganda that appeared near the corner of Middagh and Henry in the Daily Eagle building?

    I was wondering why after many years the Daily Eagle took down the two way mirrors that I used to admire myself in everytime I passed.

    Tonight we all learn why: Mr. Jed Walentas, scion of DUMBO daddy fame is trying to pursuade the good people of Brooklyn Heights of the righteousness of his cause to obscure a magnificent view of the world famous and hometown precious Brooklyn Bridge.

    And of course all of us from this blog know of his carrot to the community of offering space for a public middle school.

    For those who either are so uncool that they don’t read this blog, or haven’t yet hear the developer’s side of the controversy, it’s all there for your Xmas window shopping pleasure as you pass Noodle Pudding. A small scale model showing the proposed Dock Street bohemoth looking harmless and unassuming.

    Of course, the other side of the story can be plainly seen in less favorable renderings on this site: http://www.savethebrooklynbridge.org

    If your name is Gunther, please don’t sign the petiton.

    I took some photos tonight with my CrackBerry and will email them to Homer to post if he sees fit.

    Let the shouting and talking past each other re-commence!

  • No One Of Consequence

    I find it strange that Walentas continue to push for this building when it is so widely unpopular and after all they’ve done to “create” DUMBO.
    I’m sure they have some great vision, but they need to listen to everyone else and not play Real Estate Bully (not that they don’t already).
    Sorta surprised that Boymelgreen hasn’t drummed up propaganda against it, especially as payback for that window-covering “sculpture” Walentas hit him with a few years ago.

  • since47

    Propaganda Department: I just went to the above link, and realize that having that behemoth of a building near the Brooklyn Bridge is even worse than I thought. Please ask Homer (beg on bended knee if you have to) to put the photos on this site, because everyone here should see them. Yes, a middle school would be lovely – but not that way.

  • north heights resident

    Thanks for the info on Joke and the body shop–I’ll definitely give him a try.

    Anyone with info on how to get off mailing lists? All of the, forever?

    Thank you.

  • Topham Beauclerk

    Has anyone noticed the appalling new awning for a computer store above Spicy Pickle? It’s made of plastic, with a fire-engine red ground, and far too many words on it. Doesn’t the BHA regulate this sort of thing?

  • No One Of Consequence

    It’s not a cell phone store, chain restaurant, eyeglasses shop… leave ’em alone.

  • Tim N.

    Body Shop: Superior Auto Care on 19th and 3rd. Go see Frank and Dom. Worth the trip.

    Barber: Another vote for Rocco

    Restaurant: Noodle Pudding. Avoid Jack the Horse, the owner/chef is a complete jerk.

  • PJL

    Always been a big fan of Noodle Pudding, but it seems that the service has deteriorated lately.

    Has anyone else noticed this or have I just been unlucky the past few times?

  • http://www.melaniehopegreenberg.com melanie hope greenberg

    I vote for Van Sickle.

    Another shameless piug for my upcoming book reading and signing on Sunday December 7 from 11:30 – 12:30 at the Moxie Spot 81 Atlantic Ave. I will read from MERMAIDS ON PARADE, GOOD MORNING DIGGER and A CITY IS poems by the late Brooklyn poet laureate, Norman Rosten. I illustrated all three books and wrote the mermaid book. There is also a mermaid tail making activity. I am long time local yokel in the Heights. Come on down!

  • http://BrooklynHeightsBlog Bonnie Burke

    Re: Mohammed and Key Food
    Thanks to the Brooklyn Hghts bloggers and Diane, the free lancer who wrote two articles on the blog about everybody’s beloved Mohammed at Key Food and all the mistreatment of workers there, there will be an article on Mohammed in this week’s Sunday Times — pictures and everything!

    Also, I spoke to a US attorney friend, who, it turns out, is also a great fan of Mohammed, about where to go to get somebody to look into what’s going on there, and he has vowed to help up find that person!

  • Andrew Porter

    Hey there Topham, you can call 3-1-1 and complain about it. Tell them it’s in the landmarked area of Montague Street, and provide a specific address. It’s up to all people who live here in the Heights to safeguard the physical appearance of this area. Unless you *like* vinyl siding on your brownstones….

  • Andrew Porter

    I was shocked when I read that Claudia Corwin, who was president of the Concord Village Co-op, died on November 25th. Claudia moved to CV in 1987 after living on Pineapple Street in the 1970-80s, and was a really nice person. Full story at this link:

    http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/48/31_48_sp_corwin.html

  • http://deleted paul

    in what section of the sunday times will the article on key food be in? do you know?

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