Open Thread Wednesday

By on January 11, 2023 12:12 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Andrew Porter

    Had this weird dream last night that a film crew was in the north Heights and they’d put new facades on all the buildings, closed off streets. I was taking photos with my old camera, and vowed to myself to return with my newer Nikon and better lens.

    They liked what I’d shot and in return for access, I offered them free use of anything I’d shot.

    Just weird.

    Reminded me of when “Motherless Brooklyn” was shot here and all the facades along Henry Street were changed, here:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6cd557d2b7e8977bb2c8121751cefef1a2b9b9fd6acd21471e2bd4e5b6dee4c1.jpg

  • Andrew Porter
  • Mike Suko

    Love that photo! Where is it?

    It would be very “stock”-like were it not for that tree. Anybody know (or care to speculate) who the trunk came to zig & zag?

    A “media” suggestion – doubt that many will follow it; doubt even more that anyone will comment here, but if anyone sees it and just “shrugs,” that’d surprise me:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/opinion/transgender-mexico-victoria.html

  • Jorale-man

    With the holidays over, a good time to check in on the state of the pandemic in 11201. NYC’s community level is ranked high, based on cases and hospitalizations; the test positivity rate is considered very high. #MaskUp.

    ZIP Code:11201
    Dates: January 2-January 8
    7-day percent positive: 14.06%
    People tested (reported to date): 512
    https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page#maps

  • Banet

    I’m pretty sure that’s the west side of Columbia Heights just north of Pierrepont.

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    Huh. I wonder if that red and gold “4 HOUR CLEANING” graphic was a real sign a long time ago — say, the 1920s. And if Pennsylvania artist Charles Demuth saw it and said, “I can do that striking sign one better.”

  • Cranberry Beret

    For those of you in DUMBO or the north Heights who enjoy having your personal drugstore needs broadcast over the store PA while the staff summons someone with a key to unlock one of the shelves where about 95% of the merchandise is now kept behind bars, good news: CVS is opening soon on Jay St

    https://therealdeal.com/2023/01/11/lidls-nyc-invasion-claims-brooklyns-two-largest-retail-leases-of-2022/

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    As for the zagging trees in this week’s photo (and what better season to view architectural details than dead of leaf-gone winter), maybe (I speculate ferociously) the need of a heavy but fast-growing (?) tree to dominate a light-deprived urban space while keeping a reasonable center of gravity, all while in competition with other trees’ leaves and in response to pruning, yields the crazy 3-D branching we see?

    I would ask my old tree guy, Sid, but ever since Sid died, I am de-Siduous.

  • Mike Suko

    Good one, that!!

  • Mark C

    “NYU: Air quality much worse in NYC subway stations near river tunnels” – https://gothamist.com/news/nyu-air-quality-much-worse-in-nyc-subway-stations-near-river-tunnels

    Not great news for us! High St, Borough Hall, and York St were all in the top 10 stations with the highest PM2.5 concentration. Court St was a little further down, ranked 27 of the sites they sampled and with concentrations still very high but less than half the PM2.5 concentrations of the other three. Clark St wasn’t measured since they didn’t sample from the 2,3.

  • B.

    And that’s just the people who report their cases to the CDC or need to go to hospital. Cases among my family and friends have, I’m glad to say, been mild, and I haven’t asked whether they have informed anyone who matters.

  • Jorale-man

    It boggles the mind why the mayor isn’t taking more steps to try and rein in the current surge, like instituting a mask mandate on transit or a work-from-home option for city employees. If he’s so eager to get the local economy running again, you’d think having a healthy workforce would be top of mind.

  • Effective Presenter

    What mind?

  • Effective Presenter

    95% of everything will be locked up at the CVS on Jay Street just like it is locked up in DUMBO.

    Merchandise remains locked up until shoplifting becomes illegal again, at this time shoplifting is ignored.

  • Mike Suko

    I’m not sure I’d go that far, but if they invested in security equip. & staff (obviously, easier & cheaper to install locks), they MIGHT reduce the “shrink,” but they’d be even pricier.

    But NY’ers are a resourceful bunch. Ordering for a same-day front-desk pickup isn’t as effortless as just going in, but it’s a time-saver, and waiting for crime to diminish doesn’t look like a viable approach…. And those who eschew online purchases are like those who get seltzer deliveries – “God bless ’em,” but most people are right to shake their heads at tiny minorities who refuse to adapt. (It’s hardly Don Quixote stuff; more like someone’s nutty relative.)

  • Andrew Porter

    A few days ago, they were starting to take down the sidewalk shed outside of 124 Columbia Heights. Maybe there will be actual people moving in soon?
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3ed43030ee3b0b0698f7a9725384fa6944977c514aeba841b7237874bdcf74b3.jpg

  • Linda Bechutsky

    Does anyone have info on the new nail salon on Henry Street? It used to be Diva (associated with the salon further down on Henry and now on Pineapple Walk) and is now called Marigold. I wonder if it is new owners or just rebranding.