Open Thread Wednesday

By on January 8, 2019 11:59 pm in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Andrew Porter

    I noticed that the urgent care place on Court between Remsen and Montague closed at the end of 2018. I never ever saw anyone in there.

  • Andrew Porter

    Of all the streets in the Heights, none has suffered as much change as Clinton between Pierrepont and Cadman Plaza West (formerly Fulton Street). Here’s an Old Postcard showing what used to be on the east side of the block:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a04597cd9d0bddf664f1bc3400869f461bb14ecbdb578ebd9b1fba7fae6fab81.jpg

  • Andrew Porter

    And here, courtesy the Municipal Archives, is 44 Clinton Street, next to the former Crescent Club, now St. Ann’s School:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e27afc401582552d9983436946014b0cc17aa84221d519447a982acdab0d031.png

  • Andrew Porter
  • Herman on Henry

    “Open Thread Wednesday” has become “Open Thread Old Postcards”. I like the postcards. Just an observation of what’s on OTW every week.

  • DIBS

    Very nice ’36-37 Packard

  • Local_Montague_Man

    Anyone going to the rally on the Promenade this weekend (Sat. @ 11am)?

  • Cranberry Beret

    Anyone know the story with the little planted triangle at the end of Middagh Street? (At Columbia Heights…across the pedestrian path from Chapin playground…the part of Middagh that got filled in after DOT closed the street following the BQE bridge accident some years back)

    Who’s responsible for maintenance? Parks Dep’t, DOT…?

    This was always an innocuous area that seemed well-tended, but recently looks like someone attempted to turn it into a rogue community garden, and since the onset of winter has just turned into a garbage-strewn plot

    See picture
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63626bace90699ddc085fcd3d695582bcb788804d283aa2859ec989a070c6312.jpg

  • Cranberry Beret

    I don’t condone this but nevertheless was appreciative of the historically accurate graffiti which briefly appeared in newly-poured concrete in front of 23 Cranberry Street last week (former home of artists John & Richanda Rhoden). Since has been re-poured.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6cc1f17d6a2fb78590db62effc9c916022ba2921879652f05ba0e031a305e0d5.jpg

  • http://members.brownstoner.com/gwc gwc

    Yes. At the Pierrepont St entrance to the Promenade.

  • Jorale-man

    Wow, it looks like something out of Bavaria or Switzerland. What a shame – it’s now a post-war apartment building.

  • JDF

    Any updates on the North Heights retail spaces?
    It looks like the storefront that shares an address with Heights Falafel has an awning that says “Brooklyn Only Foods”. Any info?
    Also, any update on the old Great Wall space? Someone on OTW said it was to become a poke place, but that was some time ago. Seems like a long build out for that.

  • gcarl

    Does anyone else have a problem with the new Key Food check out process? I am somewhat disappointed to see less actual human cashiers, with whom I have always enjoyed interacting and who have come to know me over the years, It made for a nice neighborhood shopping experience. I am not against progress, but I miss the human touch. And the new machines seem to never work as they should. Buying vegetables and fruit (and other items without Barcodes) is harder, not easier, for the customer. And I am concerned about the loss of jobs. Even large stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have not eschewed the human approach; they have just developed a better model.

  • Jorale-man

    The Key Foods on Atlantic still has a bank of cashiers (some nice, some surly). The store, though, is a trip back to the shopping experience of the 1980s.

  • redlola

    So now that Cuomo singlehandedly stopped the L train shutdown, hoping he can help with this insane BQE situation.

  • Andrew Porter

    I think there are or were homeless people there, throwing their trash around. I was going to call 311, ask that the Parks Dept. clean it up, but never got around to it. I’ll do it today!

  • Andrew Porter

    We’ve talked about this elsewhere. I will never ever use those automated lines, and I bet the human cashiers hear those scripts in their sleep.

  • Andrew Porter

    I looked into the window of The Chip Shop on Atlantic, now closed, and everything, including the liquor, is still inside. I ran into the owner a few weeks ago and he said he was out of the booze biz, and is undecided about his future plans.

  • Brixtony

    Georgia driver’s license – initials C.E.R..Found this morning at about 9:30 in the north field of Cadman Park. Probably lost by someone walking a dog. Message me to pick it up.

  • Brixtony

    A very nice woman was maintaining it, but with the coming of winter, all the pots, etc (and garbage) is exposed. She is the only entity who has taken care of that space for a while.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Court Street R station. Someone is really into grassroots canvassing. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/987e180dea2703f2c869f8bc0b33da77e370539b6acdd86c149911342c39708a.jpg

  • Sen. Bob Forehead

    Bring back KFC!

  • Herman on Henry

    Don’t forget the Nathan’s Hot Dogs that was in there too. However, they have a street cart in the area.

  • Jenna Coviello

    My husband found a men’s yellow gold wedding band last night at the corner of Clark and Columbia Hts – has an inscription and wedding date inside. If it’s yours, please tell me what it says and I would love to return it to you!

  • Andrew Porter

    I think there’s a lot more trash than her care would indicate.

    Here are the details of my 311 call:

    Service Request #: C1-1-1668130242
    Date Submitted: 01/10/19 10:56:53 AM
    Request Type: Maintenance or Facility
    Details: Garbage or Litter

    I also spoke to the BHA about the space.

  • Andrew Porter

    Excellent article, “The Story of Brooklyn’s Grand Stage, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade,” on Brownstoner.com, with several photos I’d not previously seen:

    http://tinyurl.com/yabzhysc

  • Andrew Porter

    Have you notified the 84th Precinct about it?

  • gcarl

    I posted the following on Facebook today:

    The Brooklyn Heights Association held a rally on the Promenade of Brooklyn Heights today to save the Promenade. For those of you who don’t know, the Promenade is on the western edge of Brooklyn Heights, a park with the most beautiful views of Manhattan and a playground for children. The Promenade is cantilevered over two elevated roads of highway, the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway). The infrastructures of both the Promenade and the highway are in desperate need of repair. The New York City DOT has issued a plan that will close the existing highway and the Promenade for six years, replacing the Promenade with a SIX LANE HIGHWAY, REDIRECTING MORE TRAFFIC THAN EXISTS NOW UP TO THE LEVEL OF AND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OUR HOMES AND STREETS, SPEWING EXHAUST, GASES AND TOXINS INTO OUR HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD. Local businesses will suffer as well, as the Promenade is a huge tourist attraction. Mayor Bill De Blasio and the DOT have been presented with alternative plans, at least one of which is quite viable but one which may go against the interests of recent high rise developers of condos on the new waterfront below, that would not destroy the health of our neighbors and children. We, the residents of Brooklyn Heights will not allow this to happen without a fight. The mayor and the DOT must be forced to listen to us and act in the best interests of the citizens of this city. To all New Yorkers out there, this can happen to your neighborhood too. Please join us in this protest, and write to or call the mayor’s office.

  • Andrew Porter

    Here are the architect’s plans for 186 Remsen Street, on YIMBY:

    http://tinyurl.com/y85qcuzu