photo by Homer Fink
More photos from Sunday's Doggie Halloween Parade
Archive | October, 2006
20 Henry Street on Landmarks Commission Agenda
The Bridge Harbor Tenants Association posted this notice today. It says that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has "hastily" added 20 Henry Street to its agenda Tuesday (10/31) morning. The issue at hand is the destruction of the historic garden on the site by its owners the Praedium Group. Without regard for the character of the neighborhood, the company intends to build a 10 9 story building over the lovely and well maintained garden. Construction of such a behemoth would be a nightmare for residents for years to come, the handout claims.
The leaflet encourages all Brooklyn Heights residents to show up at the hearing, eventhough it unlikely anyone will be permitted to speak.
If anyone has additional information or comments, please post below.
Thanks to epc for the tip and the photo.
Nabe Pooches Dress Up for Halloween
The Hillside Dog Park's annual Halloween Extravanganza took place yesterday. Matthew Parker sent us some shots of his dog, Giuseppe (the hippie) and others in their parade day costumes.
Veni Vidi VICTORY!
The curse is broken! Homer Fink's Brigate Bocce was victorious today over Veni Vidi Bocce in Week 5 of competition in the Floyd NY bocce league. The team swept their opponents in straight sets 7-4. 7-2.
"Verso tutto la girata, girata, gira," team capo Homer Fink told reporters after the match. "Non solo era quella una canzone fredda, ma li aiuta ad avere sesso con le ragazze del hippie anche. Ma seriamente, questa vittoria è stata combattuta duro ed i nostri avversari erano abbastanza tenacious. Inoltre apprezziamo il loro senso dell'ironia."
Fink and Qfwfq were aided in their win by Dr. Mark and Naked Idiot's Dan. "Musica del garde di Avant e medicina chiropratic, ché combinazione," Fink added.
Next week, Brigate Bocce faces North Brooklyn. "I heard a rumor that Walter O'Malley bought the team and was going to move them to South Central," Fink said in a failed attempt at humor.
All Along, The Watchtower
Robert Frost's Mending Wall is the origin of the oft-quoted "Good fences make good neighbors", a phrase that has been subject to interpretation for decades. On one hand it's an ode to xenophobia (i.e. Bush's latest plan to curb illegal immigration) or an homage to knowing one's boundries. We prefer the latter interpretation. Good manners start with knowing just how far to go with your neighbor.
That has been the case with Brooklyn Heights and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society for many years, before BHB moved into the neighborhood. It's been an unwritten code to some that we'll be great neighbors as long as you're not ringing our doorbell early in the morning with "good news" for us "worldly" folks.
Which is why we were surprised on Saturday morning to find a neatly enveloped brochure about THE END OF RELIGION left for us by a doorbell ringing bearer of "Good News". (PDF of leaflet: 1, 2, 3, 4)
This is America, where we enjoy the four freedoms — of religion, of speech, from want and from fear — we're more than able to find the belief system that's right for us. That includes being members of "false religions" or tolerating or engaging in "immoral sex".
Are we telling Watchtower not to actively seek out new members? No, we are in America and it's their right. However, our neighborly fences are in need of some repair.
Gourmet Dinners in Tiny Nabe Kitchen
As we're about to renovate the BHB kitchen, nothing catches our attention more than a story on great kitchen makeovers. And when it's in the New York Times, about someone in the nabe who is the executive chef at The Harrison in TriBeca, it sends us into a Snoopy Dance of home improvement/foodie joy.
New York Times: 4 Star Dinner Conjured from a 1 Star Kitchen: For the last 12 years, Brian Bistrong and Chieun Ko-Bistrong have rented the parlor floor of a Brooklyn Heights town house. It’s a nice place, though not a marvel of brownstone Brooklyn like many of its neighbors on Remsen Street. It has a small kitchen, which is peculiar, given that food — well prepared, fresh, local and organic, if possible — is a primary bonding agent for this couple.
The kitchen, which is six feet wide from backsplash to wall, is the only part of the house that Mr. Bistrong and Ms. Ko-Bistrong, who are both 38, have lavished any attention on. Four years ago, they transformed what was a typically forbidding New York City rental nightmare kitchen into a graceful 10-foot-long space with Ikea cabinets, butcher-block countertops and a stainless-steel refrigerator tucked in the corner behind a column.
The large kitchen window opens onto their charming block just a short walk from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It’s a cheerful space.
Today’s Open Houses
160 Columbia Heights #2C (map)
1 BR 1 Bath coop
$629K
Broker: Brooklyn Heights Real Estate Agent: Danielle Mosse
Open House today 12 PM – 4 PMNEW ON THE MARKET:800+ sqf one bedroom ,in prime Brooklyn Heights with fabulous views of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, overlooking the Promenade and the East River. Huge Living Room with 4 big windows,and potential for corner office.Raised platform dining room, adjoining a redone kitchen. Spacious bedroom with ample closets, and new bathroom.(The sliding glass doors are specially made and imported from Italy!) Original Art Deco details, apartment in mint condition.Maintenance just over $ 1,000, includes all utilities. Landmark Building, on the Promenade, in excellent physical & financial condition, live-in super, partime doorman, new laundry room in the basement, pet friendly and so much more.
145 Hicks Street # A-25 (map)
Studio 1 bath coop
$399K
For sale by owner 718-541-6135
Open House today 1 PM – 3 PM
This spacious studio, which functions as a one bedroom, has a separate sleeping alcove and boasts 625 S.F. It is located in the heart of Brooklyn eights in one of the most desirable buildings, The Mansion House, which is a pre-war, doorman building.The apartment has been gut-renovated with attention to details such as luxurious granite counter tops over custom cabinets and crown moldings to compliment the 9ft ceilings. The kitchen is a true working kitchen complete with microwave and a full sized dishwasher. There are hardwood floors throughout, 5 closets and a maint. fee of $437 per month.
BHC Owner Vies For PoTown Theater
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that Brooklyn Heights Cinema I & II owner Norman Adie is in contract to buy the long-vacant Beacon Theater located on the city's Main Street. While Adie reportedly has competition for the property, the paper reports that the BHC owner is in better financial shape than other bidders. Adie recently sold his Park Slope theater for $16 million.
Adie would split the circa 1930s art deco buliding into four theaters.
Nabe Residents No Fan of Connecticut Politician
Greenwich Time reports that Connecticut State Senate hopeful Frank Farricker (pictured here with family from his campaign's website) has found himself the target of anger of many residents in Brooklyn brownstones operated by The Penson Companies where he serves as director of acquisitions.
The company has filed papers with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal asking the agency's permission to not renew rent stabilized leases and/or evict those tenants.
One of the brownstones in question, according to the paper, is 118 188 State Street (map) where disabled senior citizen Barbara Callender is a tenant. She points out that Farricker — who in his campaign for State Senate has said, "We can't let the spiraling cost of housing cost us some of our best residents" — is saying one thing but "doing something else."
The candidate/landlord tells the paper that neither he nor his company intend to evict rent stabilized tenants saying "I have no option other than to extend them their rent-stabilization rights."
The paper also spoke to Bennett Baumer from the Metropolitan Council on Housing. His opinion is that Farricker is twisting the truth. "This is a mass eviction that he's applied for, so his intention is to have everybody out on the street…he says one thing in Connecticut and does another thing in Brooklyn."
Farricker's website describes the candidate as, "a principal in a real estate development company in New York, specializing in historic renovation and affordable housing."
Not So Spooky — Joralemon Jem Renovation
Brooklyn Papers: The Real Ghost Stories of Brooklyn: Not all ghost stories have scary endings. Nestled between two brick buildings worth millions, the abandoned, 178-year-old wood-framed house on Joralemon and Sidney Place that has long haunted tony Brooklyn Heights is finally getting renovated. “I am restoring the interior and keeping the exterior that is landmarked,” said the house’s owner. “I’m not sure if I’m going to sell it or keep it. “The last restoration to this house was in the 1930s,” he added. “It was previously abandoned — no one has lived here since December, 2004.” Neighbors say the renovation couldn’t come soon enough. “I absolutely hope they can restore it because it’s really a beautiful house,” said a woman who lives across the street. “It’s a shame it wasn’t taken care of properly. It’s such a gorgeous house with a lot of character. I’m looking forward to seeing it once it’s finished.” The curse of 133-135 Joralemon Street, it seems, has lifted.
Slice Covers Atlantic Chip Shop
Slice: Deep-Fried Pizza: Yes, that's right. Deep-fried pizza, long the exclusive domain of the Scots, has landed Stateside. Slice noticed it on the menu of the Atlantic ChipShop a little over a month ago. After some pestering on our part, chippie owner Chris Sell allowed me and Matt Jacobs into his kitchen to film the process. Matt shot the footage above while ChipShop kitchen manager Randy Carpenter fried up a couple slices for us…Deep-fried slices at the Brooklyn Heights restaurant are $3 each and begin their lives as plain pies from My Little Pizzeria on Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
We're all about Atlantic ChipShop, it's the official post-loss game eatery for Homer Fink's Brigate Bocce. We can eat tons of chicken curry, fish n' chips and meat pies — deep fried pizza, not so much. We did like the video Slice shot at ChipShop documenting the birth of a deep fried slice however.
Doggie Halloween Parade
This Sunday (10/29), the Hillside Dog Park will stage its annual Dog Halloween Parade Extravaganza at 3:30 PM. It will start on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade at Remsen Street with dogs and owners in costume and will continue up the Promenade to the Hillside Dog Park. Judging of costumes will happen at the entrance of the park at about 4 PM.
Brooklyn Heights pooches must register at Perfect Paws (102 Hicks Street, tell them we sent you!).
This year DUMBO dogs are also welcome and they should register at the Sweeney Building (30 Main Street, front desk). The DUMBO parade's starting point will be at the flagpole at Brooklyn Bridge Park's entrance. (Water St. @ Plymouth).
There is an entry fee/donation of a minimum of $10 per pet with all proceeds going to Hillside Dog Run and Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition. A portion of proceeds from any costume purchased at Perfect Paws will also go to those organizations.
Photo by Matthew Parker of his pooch Giuseppe as "Sherlock Hound" followed by a canine Devil Wears Prada from the 2005 Extravaganza.
Oscar Winning Couple Headed to Nabe?
Brooklyn Record is deducing from local property sales records that Oscar winners Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon may be headed to Brooklyn Heights.
Brooklyn Record: Tim Robbins Buying in Brooklyn Heights?: First there was Jennifer and Paul, then Michelle and Heath, and now Susan and Tim? Maybe so. According to public real estate filings, The Timothy Robbins Self Declaration Trust closed on the house at 5 Doughty Street for $1,351,000 on October 5. The property is near the waterfront just a few steps south of Old Fulton Street, which is Brooklyn Heights, not Dumbo, in our book. So is this really the Tim Robbins? Hard to be sure, but the fact that the trust's address is in Los Angeles makes us think it just might be.
However, we're thinking that this may just be some income property for either "the" Tim Robbins or another "less famous" person of that name, so don't roll out the Welcome Wagon yet.
Any lawyers want to discuss why "self declaration trusts" are set up?
UPDATE (11/2): Brooklyn Papers has confirmed that Robbins has purchased the property(albeit without noting that "self declaration trust" is a legal term and not a "veiled comment"): “He bought it as an investment,” said the actor’s spokeswoman,Jennifer Turner. According to the legal paperwork,the house on DoughtyStreet was bought by an entity called “The Timothy Robbins Self Declaration Trust.” Turner would not comment on speculation that Robbins’s“self declaration trust” is a veiled comment on the state of his union to Sarandon. “I only know that this is an investment,” Turner said. “I don’t discuss my client’s personal livesand/or details of their investments.”
Palmira’s to Host Benefit
Palmira's Italian Restaurant (map) will host UCanspeakup's 2006 Benefit Award Dinner for the Awareness and Prevention Child Abuse on November 9 from 6:30 – 10 PM.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's Appointee and Executive Director of Just Tell Vivian Farmery will be the Keynote Speaker at the event.
Sponsorship packages range from $250-$1,000, and tickets are $125.
The Brooklyn based organization, UCanspeakup, was started by 12 year old author Zykeya McLeod (pictured) after she wrote her first book, An Inner Child Speaks, as a class assignment.
The group's goal is to raise over $1 Billion dollars over the next ten years to provide scholarships for 10 thousand children.
Choppers!
Our friend "Standpipe" (not his real name) has been complaining about the mysterious choppers outside his window for months. They don't bother us at the BHB Metroplex as we've been more focused on thugs robbing people on our block and the army of hobos rifling through our garbage bins every morning. However, these flying objects seem to be ruffling some feathers in the nabe as our pals at Brooklyn Record report:
Brooklyn Record:Obnoxious Helicopters in Brooklyn Heights: "In the past 6 months the number of helicopters hovering over/near Brooklyn Heights has increased tremendously," a tipster tells us. "They seem to sit near the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, also somewhere between the helipad and the Promenade, and also patrolling up and down. Some days flights start before 6am! During the day the noise is becoming more and more constant. Any idea who I could contact that might actually be able to do something about this? Calling 311 obviously doesn't help." (photo by wseltzer)
Links & Logos
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Brooklyn Bugle
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander
- #BackintheDay: The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique
- March Forth: CFAF Offers Heights “Family Walking Tour”
- Missed Connections at NY Transit Museum on Valentine’s Day
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Stranger’s Child” by Alan Hollinghurst
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson
- Transit Museum Introduces New Discussion Series “Problem Solvers” with guest Sarah Kaufman
- Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Thorn and the Blossom” by Theodora Goss
- Transit Museum Plans Day for Special Needs Kids January 22
- "(AHK-TOONG BAY-BI) COVERED" REVIEWED
Movie Preview
The Brooklyn Bugle presents Heather Quinlan's If These Knishes Could Talk (work in progress) screening at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema on February 9.
- Open Thread Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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214/216 Hicks Street Carves Out Space For Larger Tenant
- Lost Dog: Lili, a Shiba Inu
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Morton’s Steakhouse On Adams Street Is Cooked
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Downtown BK’s Historic Offerman Building At Last Gets New Life Via TJ Maxx
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Montague Street, Meet Your New Starbucks
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Le Pain Quotidien Taking Shape
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Damascus Bakery getting some competition
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Downtown Skyscraper District: He Said/He Said On Landmarks Approval
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UPDATE: Shiba Inu “Lili” Is Home!
Nabe Chatter