Open Thread Wednesday

By on February 19, 2019 11:29 pm in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Still Here

    A friend’s backyard faced a neighbor’s wall of ivy similar to that pictured which subsequently came crashing down into her yard – what a mess.

  • MaggieO

    the wall or the ivy?

  • BrooklynHeightzer

    Both

  • Brooklynite

    That wall of ivy pictured crashed down a few years ago if I am not mistaken. And it looked like a huge mess to clean and repair.

  • Still Here

    1 foot thick mat of ivy the size of the wall and lots of mortar and other material. Not an easy cleanup.

  • CassieVonMontague

    Will the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District have any teeth? Or will we get another eyesore on Montague? Find out March 5!

    https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/02/21/demolition-of-landmarked-montague-street-building-wins-local-support/

  • Andrew Porter

    Courtesy the Municipal Archives, here’s 142 Clinton Street in 1940, which held a dress shop, and is now residential:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ac55d486bbf4e82e9e5641bfcf1a61739761d11d81d0c6154b83b756b3d887e.png

  • Andrew Porter

    Oops…

  • Andrew Porter

    The building next door, for rent it seems like forever. Back then, one of perhaps hundreds of small groceries throughout BH:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/26bbef8355bbf5686675697acb38d97d87aad638bffcddcb17e74649a93c9f92.png

  • Andrew Porter

    I’m waiting for the renovators of the former Towers Hotel, soon to be an assisted living place, to get around to removing the 6- or 7 stories-high ivy from the east and north sides.

  • Andrew Porter

    Was that on Hicks Street right near Poplar?

  • Jorale-man

    That’s been empty for at least a decade, and a real blight on the block. The owner doesn’t clean his sidewalk and it’s surrounded by empty planters which grow up in tall weeds every summer. The Aitken Place side is a hangout for druggies and people who don’t clean up after their dogs. I’ve called 311 multiple times but I doubt it will ever change.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    I frequently walk a dog past there (yes I clean up after mine!) and I just want to clarify your “druggies” remark with my experience. I have noticed individuals (random adults or high schoolers from either Mary McDowell or Packer) occasionally smoking weed under the scaffolding of the adjacent Catholic church, which does not extend as far as the Zimbardo-managed property in Andrew’s photo. This is hardly a situation one could confuse with junkies attracted to a vacant building.

    Do I long for a tenant on the corner? Absolutely. But that building has nothing to do with a few people occasionally smoking weed, and a few people occasionally smoking weed in one location does not constitute a problem last I checked. And I have yet to encounter someone smoking weed in that location who was also rude or hostile in any way.

    Side note to dog owners: clean up after yourselves! You make the rest of us look bad.

    Side note to smokers (whatever the contents of your inhalant): don’t throw your butts/roaches on the ground. Snuff them out and throw them in a proper receptacle. People who litter ARE trash and smokers don’t get a pass.

  • Anon

    Have you noticed all the derelict bicycles chained to the rack at the exit of the Clark Street Station (on Clark Street)? Please report it to the city:
    https://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/1191/bicycle-chained-to-public-property

  • Still Here

    No – between State and Joralemon st.

  • Jorale-man

    You’re right, I haven’t seen any hard drug users on that block but I still make a point of crossing the street there (smoke of any kind bothers me). And I suspect that between the scaffolding and the abandoned building, it creates a general climate of permissiveness. Once there was an old sofa dumped there, and one morning I walked by to see a bedraggled man passed out on it. It eventually was picked up by the city.

  • Jorale-man

    Yes, that’s another block that has seen better days. I think at least one of those bikes has an old ’80s-style banana seat and tall handlebars. Good idea for reporting it to the city.

  • Herman on Henry

    Packer should buy that building for administrative functions or store computers/network equipment. The building is landmarked and not much a developer can do with the property. I expect to stay vacant for sometime.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Packer just finished an expansion a couple blocks north. I’m sure it’ll be a while before they consider another such development. However, if we can get some common-sense legislation in Albany I see at least one good reason that site would be a great location for a marijuana dispensary.

  • fultonferryres

    Did anyone try Happy Fin Poké on opening day?

  • Andrew Porter

    For a while last summer it was full of milkweed plants, which I hoped would be left there long enough to flower and attract Monarch butterflies.

    But no, everything was cut down, leaving bare earth before that could happen.

    My photo from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00803e6eba6df6023e7a3c7af3351ec6d009c7a66e98adbaa23dcffb761f800e.jpg

  • Andrew Porter

    But there’s already one about to open nearby on Court Street.

  • Andrew Porter

    There’s an article and photos about Alice’s Teacup on Brownstoner. The café is expected to be open by April 1st:

    http://tinyurl.com/yyxyjdhe

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Ah yes that’s right. Sadly, only to serve the three or four people our corrupt leadership has deemed “medically” fit to consume cannabis.

  • Jorale-man

    I’d love to see a bakery or cafe open there that sells croissants and muffins and sandwiches. We’d have our own little corner of Paris there.

  • AEB

    For the record, the article is incorrect in stating that the space had been vacant for a number of years. Until “Teacup” took up residence, the space was used by two real estate operations, successively.

    There! The truth shall set you free!

  • Moni

    Anyone know a real barber in the neighborhood — one who can actually cut & style hair, not just mow it with an electric shaver thing? Our long time barber retired; his replacement died; and the last 3 cuts by incompetent barbers have each been a disaster in its own way. How about you, Andrew Porter? you recommended a great dentist not too long ago and seem to know what’s what in the neighborhood.

  • Andrew Porter

    Did you post that correction there, or only here?

  • Andrew Porter

    I go to Salon Van Sickel on Middagh Street, and have for over a decade. They do both men and women, and I know that Judy Stanton, formerly head [sic] honcho of the BHA, has her hair done there.

    See reviews (and contact info) on Yelp here:

    http://tinyurl.com/y37nxayl

  • Brixtony

    We did a couple of days later and were very pleased.