What’s on your mind? Comment away!

BHB Photo Club pic by BrooklynBill via Flickr

BHB reader “Alex” sent us this photo of what appears to be a City Hawk hanging out over Pierrepont Playground this weekend.  Hopefully he’s more mellow than the big fella we spotted chewing up a pigeon last year and more like the laid back chap who came to visit in the snow back in December 2010.

BHB reader “Jesse” sent us this photo of architectural plans clearly for a Le Pain Quotidien at 121 Montague Street.  Our earlier report on the former Jennifer Convertibles space included an observation from another reader who also spied the plans.

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Photo by Homer Fink via finkgram

BHB reader “Jane” writes to us that her baby threw a shoe out of her stroller somewhere around Montague Street and Henry Tuesday afternoon. Considering our record of reuniting the lost and their owners we figured we’d give it a try. If you found the companion to the shoe pictured below email us (webmaster at brooklynheightsblog.com). We’ll give the finder a nice BHB prize package.

Update:As “Jane” comments below the shoe has been found and reunited with it’s other half and “Crazy Baby”!

BHB reader "Kendra" found the shoe, told us and left it on a window sill at 100 Remsen Street. Thanks!

No word yet on if this is simply a postponement or a permanent shift in plans.

DEVELOPING….

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

BHB Photo Club pic by epc via Flickr

So ask away newbies!

And if you’re interested in the great history of the area, watch our humble publisher walk through highlights of his Hidden Brooklyn Heights Walking tour as well as Heights Hero Martin L. Schneider and Karl Junkersfeld’s Battling for Brooklyn Heights.

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

BHB Photo Club pic by tscola via Flickr

A BHB reader sent us this comment and photo:

It’s interesting that someone mentioned on the open thread last week that our hood could use a Xmas tree composting station. I was going to suggest that the dead end at Middagh St. would be a good open space to set it up. Well, apparently the neighbors have agreed to xmas tree disposal here as well, but this was not exactly what i was thinking!

This news from the folks at Rocco and Jezebel [89 Pineapple Walk]:

Rocco
June 12, 2004 – January 5, 2012
We announce with heartfelt regret that Rocco of Rocco and Jezebel For Pets
lost his fight with bone cancer on January 5, 2012.

Rocco was found abandoned on the streets of Brooklyn in June 2004, weighing just 74 pounds. He had been starved, kicked and beaten down to a broken dog who could hardly keep his massive head off the ground. It took time for Rocco to feel safe, to not jump at every sound and run away. We worked every day with him to make him feel loved, secure and happy. Jezebel was his eyes and ears in teaching him to trust humans again, until he would lean on you to be petted, jump up on the bed and come to you when called. He became the most incredible, loving and gentle dog, even after all the torture he endured. We will miss him terribly.

Mrs. Fink snapped this photo of a sign on Henry Street near Clark requesting that someone “fix or disconnect” their “alarm system” as it is “violating the peace and quiet of the neighborhood continuously.” No word on if this is a store, home or car alarm in question.

The Brooklyn Bugle/Brooklyn Heights Blog is pleased to announce that we’ll be presenting a special preview of BHB contributor/filmmaker Heather Quinlan’s If These Knishes Could Talk on February 9 at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema (buy tickets).

Quinlan will host a Q&A before the screening of this special 25 minute version of her work-in-progress. All ticket sale proceeds will go to the completion of the full length version.

Homer’s pal/Brooklyn Heights native/The Who’s #1 fan Binky Phillips writes in his HuffPo column today about how he discovered his favorite band while growing up in here in the 60s:

Huffington Post: One day, I, along with a few live-on-the-same-block pals, were hanging out on my stoop on a dull nothing-to-do overcast day. I became aware of an approaching presence across our sleepy street. I turned to see who was walking north and it was… A Rolling Stone!

There is no other way to put it. This tall thin translucently pale guy was wearing a radical rust colored suede sports coat, bright red wide-wale corduroy pants, a green and orange paisley shirt, actual black leather Beatle boots, not Flagg Brothers’ facsimiles in brown suede. But, it was his hair that just blew us all away. It was wavy strawberry blonde, pulled behind his ears, and down past his collar by at least 8 inches. Simply the longest hair we’d ever seen on a guy, longer than any of the current Brit rock stars even. Almost like a man with Rita Hayworth hair. Best of all, this guy actually looked like a cross between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (and The Move’s fabulous Ace Kefford!), the same cartoon pout and craggy cheekbones. We couldn’t believe our eyes, floored! Did a guy this radically world-class cool actually exist in Brooklyn Heights?!

NYD: “It’s a fan system, in case there was ever a fire” in the subway tunnel, said Judy Scofield Miller, 57, who has lived next to the oddity at number 58 with her husband David and their two teen kids.

“I’ve never been afraid living next to it.”

In fact, the MTA house has been a perk for the Millers, who have lived in their house since 1991.

They lease 58 Joralemon’s backyard “way way way below market value” from the MTA and have turned it into a leafy paradise.

“It’s a shade garden,” said Miller pointing to the Trumpet Vine and Wisteria plants that cover the shaft house’s four-story back wall right by the 60-foot pin oak tree.

Its seems like only yesterday that the Bravo TV series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy amped up the era of the “metrosexual.”   Holy cripes that was some cutting edge stuff, what with the guys using “product” and “manscaping” and stuff.   But then the show sorta went off the rails of the crazy train and lost it’s zhoohz.  So just like a hi-top fade you’d think the whole metrosexual thing had run its course.  Yeah, no.

Enter this piece, featuring a Brooklyn Heights man, from the New York Times:

NYT:  “I have to take advantage of any way I can to look, if not younger, healthy,” said Mr. Sullivan, who is 43, lives in Brooklyn Heights and has a young daughter. “Working in the restaurant and film industry leaves little time for sleep or working out with any regularity.”

So, he started investing in some pricey skin-care products.

Today Mr. Sullivan can rattle off a half-dozen creams that make up his daily routine: StriVectin moisturizer, Kiehl’s Abyssine Night Eye Cream, Kiehl’s Facial Fuel, something called Hydra-Energetic Ice Cold Ball Roller from L’Oréal. All in all, he estimates that he spends about $600 a year on such products. “I feel this is a small way to compensate,” he said.  (Photo: NY Times)

Brooklyn Heights: A Modern Arabic Novel:

NYT: The central character in the book, “Brooklyn Heights,” is a single mother named Hend. She has one son and struggles with loneliness, exhaustion and depression. The award-winning book, recently released in English, weaves together a life in Brooklyn with a childhood in provincial Egypt.

The book was shortlisted for the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, also known as the Arabic Booker Prize. It also won the 2010 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.

“The writing was split between two worlds,” Ms. al-Tahawy, 43, explained last month, “the world I was coming from and which had become very sharp in my memory, and the place where I am living, with its contradiction and contract, variations and harmony.”

Brooklyn Eagle: Just this past year a rift was opened within the BHA membership, when the BHA leadership sued to block the conversion of the Tobacco Warehouse into a theater for St. Ann’s Warehouse — what many saw as one more move essentially directed at the Walentases. St. Ann’s has found a three-year refuge in another building, but the issue is likely to arise again.

Change is happening all around in Brooklyn. The challenge for the BHA in 2012 and beyond, as it protects the character of what [B. Meridith] Langstaff called “a spot that is healthful, high, cool and quiet; a spot that is withdrawn from the great traffic lanes and yet reached by every subway line in the City,” is to become a better partner with the rest of Brooklyn as the borough continues its climb from mid-century decay into perhaps the liveliest part of the city — to keep the Heights cool even as it welcomes the new “cool” of Brooklyn.

What’s your two cents on this issue?

NYO: Sugar Hill Capital Partners has purchased 50 Orange Street in Brooklyn Heights for $7.1 million from the Jehovah’s Witness-operated Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, brokers have revealed.
Sugar Hill, according to its website, is a real estate investment firm that focuses on Brooklyn and Manhattan assets with repositioning potential. A spokeswoman for the firm, Aliza Weinstein, confirmed the company had purchased the building but declined to comment any further.

Using the power of “Google” we’ve discovered that the founder of the company, Arie Genger, is a regular International Man of Mystery (errr sumthin’..):

For over three decades Arie Genger and Israeli Major General-turned politician Ariel Sharon and later Prime Minister of Israel, have been close friends. Arie Genger served as advisor to Sharon throughout the latter’s political career. After Sharon was elected Israeli Prime Minister in 2001, Arie Genger served as personal private emissary to the White House. Mr. Genger participated with PM Sharon in meetings with President George Bush V.P Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Collin Powel [sic]and Condoleezza Rice, the US Security Council Advisor.

What’s on your mind.  Perhaps you’d like to …. comment away!

Flickr photo by fredcamino

Brooklyn Eagle: “The house I bought in 1957, 59 Hicks St., to start my veterinary practice, was owned by an elderly bachelor: Joe Kaplan. Joe had a shop near the Brooklyn Navy Yard where he repaired and altered Navy uniforms. Having to leave that location because the building was to be demolished, he had bought 59 Hicks St.

“The ground floor had store windows and at one time held a chain grocery store. The walls and ceiling were covered in patterned pressed tin and all the pipes were exposed near the very high ceiling. It was built in 1822 by a man named John Rogers, who was a cooper…

…Mentioned in the book “The Great Bridge” by David McCullough was the fact that the house was used as the architectural office for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which I had been told by old-timers in the neighborhood who got the information via their parents.

Crain’s: The first of several properties in Brooklyn Heights that were recently put on the market by the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been sold. The price paid was $7.1 million, slightly under its asking price, according to Massey Knakal Realty Services, the brokerage that was retained to sell three of the Witnesses’ buildings valued at a total of $18.45 million in the neighborhood.
The five-story, 20-unit elevator building at 50 Orange St. was sold in an all cash deal, said Robert Knakal, chairman of the brokerage. The sale closed on Dec. 13. The Jehovah Witnesses’ business arm, the nonprofit Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, bought the property for an undisclosed sum in 1988 and used it as a residence for the members of its religious order. Last year, the group, which is thinking about moving its headquarters upstate, decided to sell the property along with seven other buildings, ranging from a carriage house to a seven-story apartment building.
The new owner of 50 Orange St. was not disclosed. A spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses confirmed the sale, but referred further comment to Mr. Knakal.

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 Both NY Times writer Sam Sifton (@samsifton) and BHB pal/Brooklyn Heights resident Teresa Genaro (@bklynbackstretch) tweeted today about a great piece by author Nancy Rommelmann called “The Queens of Montague Street.” For St. Ann’s alums of a certain age this serves as a trip down memory lane. But for anyone who grew up in New York City in the ’70s (such as your humble publisher) this piece rings very true.

Rommemlmann could very well be Brooklyn Heights’ answer to Jonathan Lethem. Only without the magic rings.

Nancy Rommelmann: There was Ronnie, a loud-mouthed, lisping Italian who lived right on Montague and who was sure to always be hanging out. There was Craig, a sly, adorable, fast-talking kid who lived with his mother and beautiful sister in a high-rise by the Brooklyn Bridge, and with whom I sang duets on the Promenade, memorably “Love Will Keep Us Together.”
There was Steve the Eskimo, quiet until he became violent, smart with no outlet for his intelligence, often in charge of his two-year old brother. (Rumors swirled around that his mom was a prostitute. I don’t know about that, but I do know she dealt pot, because one time I helped her roll joints from a kilo of Panama Red so sticky, my fingers were stained rust for days.) There was Nicky and Arnie’s little sister Titi, skinny and hyperactive, who taught Sarah how to Hustle and both of us the 16-Steps, and Lorraine, who Sarah and I met while she was working as a night-cashier at the King George coffeehouse, on another corner of Montague and Henry.

A few readers tipped us over the weekend to the fact that the Heights Veterinary Hospital at 59 Hicks Street has closed. A sign in the window refers pet patients to Dr. Greenberg at 85 Atlantic Avenue, 718-797-0070.

Each year, Brooklyn Heights Blog identifies ten people we feel have made a positive impact on the neighborhood. This year’s list is an eclectic mix of the fascinating personalities who make Brooklyn Heights a very special place.

And now the BHB Ten 2011.

Photo: Nation Parks Service

10. Lois Rosebrooks – Plymouth Church Historian: Since 2002, Ms. Rosebrooks has been the official historian of Plymouth Church. A self-taught historian, Ms. Rosebrooks single-handely keeps the church’s history alive – from the legendary Henry Ward Beecher, its role in the Underground Railroad to Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “American Dream” sermon.

9. The Lost (and sometimes found) –  From the abandoned yorkie who found a home thanks to a BHB reader to the still-lost Willowtown cat Beebop or the shaggy poodle a reader reunited with his owner or  that errant Blackberry  still looking for its owner, the Lost (and sometimes found) earn a spot on the BHB Ten.   And who can forget “Otis” the one-armed something lost in Brooklyn Heights. Thanks to two big hearted BHB readers he was reunited with Luna his loving owner who had posted fliers around the nabe in her frantic search (photo).

8. Joe and Mary Merz – Architects, Willowtown Visionaries :  In 2010, the Willowtown Association honored Joe and Mary (who we lost in 2011)  by dedicating its annual fair to the couple.  In its announcement of the event the association wrote:  ”Fifty years ago this year Joe Merz and his wife Mary started an architectural firm in their carriage house on Grace Court Alley in Brooklyn Heights. They met at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, from which they both earned degrees in architecture. They soon became the owners of four lots on Willow Place in the nearby Willowtown neighborhood. The city had razed the original deteriorated structures on the lots. The three new houses they designed and built there in “international style,” one of which became their own home, sensitively blended the new with the old while respecting the nature and scale of the historic community.

Throughout their meritorious careers Joe and Mary Merz pursued a similar vision even as they did the same for Willowtown and the wider community.”

7. Ron Chernow – Author:  Does winning a Pulitzer Prize get you on the BHB Ten?   Totally.  Mr. Chernow won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for biography for his Washington: A Life.

6. Tony Manheim – Activist:  Mr. Manheim a pioneer advocate of Brooklyn Bridge Park continues to jump into the moshpit decades after he began fighting for the park.  In 2010 he was  named to the Community Advisory Council of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.

5. Julie Feinstein – Urban Wildlife Expert:  A Brooklyn Heights resident for over 20 years, Feinstein is also a collections manager at the Museum of Natural History.  In 2011, she published A Field Guide to Urban Wildlife and gave BHB’s Julie Kanfer a super-fantastic tour of wildlife at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier One.

4. Dan Horan – Five Acre Farms: Montague Terrace resident Horan sells milk to grocers from farms within 275 miles of New York City with a personal touch. Each bottle is labeled with the name of the farm and farmers who produced the milk.   Read our profile of Horan here.

The Brooklyn Heights Promenade from Karl Junkersfeld on Vimeo.

3. Henrik Krogius – Brooklyn Heights Press Writer/Historian:  Like Martin Schneider and Otis Pearsall, among others, Krogius lived and fought through the battle with Robert Moses to save Brooklyn Heights.  Last year, Schneider shared his story in Battling for Brooklyn Heights.In 2011, Krogius writes about the twisted history of The Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

2. Kenn Lowy – Owner, Brooklyn Heights Cinema: After former owner Norman Adie’s sordid dealings came to life, it appeared that the Brooklyn Heights Cinema’s days were numbered. But the theater was saved by new owner journalist/computer guy/musician/activist Kenn Lowy. Under his watch, the theater is serving up a mix of important indie and major motion pictures as well as adding live music to the BHC calendar. Who knows what’s next – maybe some tasty snacks and bevvys?

1. Jerry Morin and Michael Davidson – Overtures: After 30 years, Morin and Davidson are closing their Hicks Street shop. Sad for all of us who loved shopping there but a very happy occasion for them. After decades together, neighbors familiar with the couple say they will marry (now that it’s legal in New York State) and travel the world. So, goodbye Mr. Morin and Mr. Davidson and thanks for all the gifts.

New York Times: Judy Stanton, the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, has battled with both David and Jed Walentas over numerous projects.

“I think Jed has better manners — which is not to say he is well mannered — than his father,” she said. “He does not come up to people out of the blue and say really crude, rude things.”

David Walentas, whose shirt cuffs bear not his monogram but his motto, “No Guts No Glory,” makes no apologies for the battles he has waged. “I was the lone ranger out there at war with everyone,” he said, noting that his success had allowed his son the luxury of patience.

But critics like Ms. Stanton still get under his skin. “They are up there on the hill, holier than thou,” he said. “But if it had been up to them, there would be no Dumbo.”

Kick-Off Party
January 4
5 – 8 PM
St. Ann”s Parish House at 157 Montague Street

Fun for the whole family. Enjoy a photo booth; jazz performed by the Lucas Dedmon quartet; and complimentary wine, hors d”oeuvres, and hot-spiced apple cider. Chess demonstrations and games for children from 5 – 6 PM.
The event is free and open to the public.

Karl Junkersfeld explores the sights and sounds of New Year’s Eve in Brooklyn Heights. Watch after the jump.

Karl Junkersfeld surveys the scene of last night’s shooting on Willow Street. Watch after the jump.
Video updated at 12:47 pm 1/1/12 with correct address of incident.