Open Thread Wednesday 4/1/09

By on April 1, 2009 12:46 am in Brooklyn Heights

Flickr photo by otterteen

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • davoyager

    I’m gonna get me some chickens.
    Hope the neighbors don’t mind.
    Chickens eat bugs and I hate bugs.

  • Publius

    Just passed a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk on the Middagh St. side of Harry Chapin playground, right next to the red carriage house that has all the graffitt tags on the side.

    I flashed back to Brooklyn in 1977. Hopefully we’re not heading in that direction.

  • PJL

    Governor Paterson has proposed to allow the sale of wine in food stores throughout New York State.

    A recent statewide poll shows that more than 70 percent of all New Yorkers support the idea of selling wine in food stores. The availability of wine in food stores provides greater convenience to consumers. It also supports the $1 billion a year wine and grape growing industry in New York, which, in turn, employs thousands of New Yorkers. This proposal will provide $105 million this year to the state’s revenue fund – obviously important in this difficult budget year – and more than $150 million over a two year period. And, all of this will happen without significant impact to the liquor stores throughout the state.

    This year — more than ever — it is time for wine.

    http://www.voteforwine.com/

  • http://instaputz.blogspot.com ts

    Can anyone recommend a good, local couch cleaner?

  • Andrew

    Has anyone eaten street meat from the cart that’s now parking outside of the Clark St. subway station? Did it cause severe gastrointestinal distress or was it edible? Tasty?

  • fletch

    My friends and I from work went to eat at Ignazio’s Pizza‎ soft opening. It was fantastic! So fresh tasting and great atmosphere (good lighting and view of the BK bridge).

  • Nelson

    Well, I’ll probably be blasted for this …but I really think having a meat cart, smoking away, in a residential neighborhood is a rather tacking thing. Midtown, fine, but when I get off the subway in the Hts, I’d rather not have to seen one. Just my opinion

  • AEB

    I sort of like the cart, Nelson. Adds a bit of heterogeneity to the nabe, if you get my drift.

    Whether I’d avail myself of the merchandise is another matter….

  • joe

    I’m not sure I’ll be partaking of any street meat considering my nanny got deathly ill eating a kebab on court street.

    Glad to hear Ignazio is good and finally opening. I would love to give my business to them considering I can’t stand Grimaldi’s attitude, service and food quality.

  • John

    I hope Grimaldi’s losses 50% of their
    weekly gross this summer. It won’t matter
    since the all cash business has been raking it in for
    years. almost tax free! wink wink !!

  • ratNYC

    I disagree with the idea of selling wines in food stores. Just another step towards wallmartization and destruction of mom and pop specialty stores which bring character to the neighborhood. Liquor stores are specialty stores and Key Food is no expert in wines. The quality and variety of the wines would suffer as a consequence of this stupid idea and therefore ultimately affect the consumer.

  • ratNYC

    I do not defend Grimaldi’s, but any business which has a line outside 24/7 and the only customers it gets are tourists who are stupid, probably rude, don’t know what to order, who they’ll never see again and who couldn’t care less about the food quality since their only point of comparison is Domino’s, would eventually become a tourist trap with attitude, poor service and questionable food quality. I agree Ignazio’s will eventually be overrun by tourists and so we’ll have to reinstate the pilgrimage to Luzo’s in the E Village to get a decent pie.

  • jiker

    grimaldi’s is so overrated. they messed up our order once. Another time our pizza was all burnt on the bottom. people working there gave such attitude and full with obnoxious tourists.

  • nate

    I want to say that nabeguy’s 9:45 post last night on the “Marty Connor” thread was not only offensive but also personally threatening.
    I do not believe this kind of extremely coarse and ugly language should be allowed on this blog.
    Nabeguy is a blowhard and a bully but he crossed over the line last night. I want his future posts to be carefully checked.
    I assume he is a personal friend of the blogger and that as such he gets away with insulting and threatening other posters.
    I want to formally protest this blog’s tolerance of Nabeguy’s profanity and vulgarity.

  • Publius

    The NYT ran a good/balanced piece on the David McCullough visit and demonstration today at the Dock St/DUMBO site:

    http://tinyurl.com/dbl4jt

    Compare this balanced reporting to the local Brooklyn “papers” handling of this ongoing story.

  • Teddy

    I saw a mother let her little boy pee on a parked car’s tire today on State St. I was just glad it wasn’t my car.

  • Me

    Im confused, how can selling alcohol in supermarkets not impact liquor stores? Is it believed that there will just be lots more drinking simply because it will be in supermarkets? and if so I’m not sure that sounds like a great idea. Also not clear how they can assume people are drinking NY wine!

  • http://brooklynheightsblog.com Qfwfq

    “nate”: “nabeguy” isn’t a personal friend of anyone running this website, and while his 9:45 comment was rude, it was a rude response to rude remarks by you, and isn’t any more coarse than the history of comments you have left on this site.

    While we all wish for vigorous yet civil discourse on BHB, sometimes emotions (combined with the freedom of anonymity) get the better of people. Those of us running this site have to balance trying to maintain civility while respecting people’s thoughts and opinions. This will always be an imperfect balance, on this or any site that accepts comments. There will be some which you may not agree with, a few which you may find offensive. All I can say is we’re monitoring the best we can.

  • Monty

    Go to Grimaldis in the fall or winter when the crowd is thinner. They can be inconsistent, especially when the crowds are huge, but when they don’t have to rush, the pizza is the absolute best. The service is usually a bit curt, but always snappy and I’ve never had an order missed.

  • Just a Neighbor

    To “Me”: the clear answer is that it will impact neighborhood stores..it’s been estimated that approximately a third of the 2,700 wine and liquor stores would have to close. They simply would not be able to compete with grocery stores who would be able to take advantage of the discounts on huge quantity drops. I’d hate to see unemployment numbers increase because the state is looking for more revenue at the expense of people’s livelihood.

  • Teddy

    Popularity comes with a price. The last time I had a pizza there was in the 90s when it was mostly locals eating there. The pizza was very good. It’s a different place today and probably more like winning the lotto if you happen to visit them on a “good day”.

  • Keith

    Does anyone know the latest on the wine bar? I remember way back when it was rumored to open as a restaurant for breakfast/lunch by late February… any updates?

  • PJL

    I’m all for local/small businesses, but would think with regard to wine that grocery stores can only compete on a price basis (by buying in larger quantity) which would clearly result in better prices for the consumer (for lower end wines only) while preserving Liquor stores’ monopoly on selection and service (not to mention liquor sales).

    It seems apparent that the liquor lobby’s reaction to this proposal is indicative of their % mark-up and how they’ve taken advantage of the consumer having no other options. BTW, liquor stores continue to exist in the 35 states that do not have this remnant of Prohibition as current law.

  • Terri

    There is massive jack-hammering in the streets this morning. A mom (with child strapped in stroller) stops to school her baby on what the men are doing to the road. Mom is at least seven feet away doing “show and tell”. All I can think about is “A Fish Called Wanda” — the piano and dog scene.

    Bits of gravel, rock and debris are flying all over the place and the hammer is roaring away. The crew is wearing headgear to protect their eyes and ears.

    All street work comes to a halt. The lead construction guy walks over to tell mom to explain that she is not in a safety zone. She gets offended, jerks the stroller back onto the sidewalk and marches off into the morning.

    I am now convinced more than ever: having a kid doesn’t make you a good parent.

  • CB Photography

    ratNYC et al,

    I support the idea of allowing supermarkets to sell wine, because it benefits the consumer (i.e., me). Supermarkets tend to be open longer hours and — as you say — can potentially offer products at lower prices. I totally agree that supermarkets won’t be able to offer the selection, service and expertise that liquor stores can, which is why liquor stores will still have an important role to play.

    I envision a future when I can drop by a supermarket to pick up a cheap bottle of everyday wine, and go to a liquor store when I want real advice and guidance. That would be a good thing. I think it would be a bad thing to artificially protect liquor stores from competition, inflating consumer prices and restricting availability.

  • RatNYC

    CB Photo: I respectfully disagree. It is an illusion that large chains bring benefit to the consumer with lower prices. Large chains are businesses too and in the long run they will make money by squeezing their suppliers, driving away competition and then lowering the quality of what they sell. By the time you turn around and realize you are buying lower quality there is no place to turn because the mom and pops and specialty stores had to shut down. Wine in the end is about value, not price, and a good liquor store will always find the wine which gives a good price/quality ratio to the everyday wine drinking client. “Excuse me, could you please recommend a good bottle of red in the $15 range? and, could you please tell me which aisle has the toilet paper?”

  • AliG

    Nate – Nabeguy actually apologized for his comments to you at 10:05 on same thread. And threatening?? You’re a moron. I won’t apologize for that.

  • http://chucktaylorblog.blogspot.com/ Chuck Taylor

    HEIGHTS CASINO SCAFFOLDING: April 1 is the posted expiration date on the scaffolding that has marred the nabe at the Heights Casino beside 65 montague street. I’d like to know if the owners are the building are going to be dealt with the serious fines they deserve in light of the fact that they have missed yet another deadline. Enough already….

  • Andrew Porter

    The sidewalk shed at the SE corner of Clark and Henry, which has been up while they redid the brick on the building, is finally down. My impossible dream: a BH without any sidewalk sheds in it.

    My candidate for oldest shed in the neighborhood: the one in front of St. Ann’s church, on Clinton just north of Montague.