This came yesterday from Community Board 2:

PRATT STATION POST OFFICE CLOSING TEMPORARILY

LOCATION:
PRATT STATION POST OFFICE
524 MYRTLE AVE
BROOKLYN NY  11205-9997

Effective Monday, February 22, 2010, the carriers for Pratt Station Post Office have relocated to the Metro Station Post Office at 47 Debevoise St; 11206 until further notice.  Pratt Station Post Office needs to undergo emergency building repairs.  There is a building structural problem and it needs immediate attention.  Depending on the actual depth and severity of the problem, Pratt Station could be closed from 6 to 8 weeks, if not longer.

The retail windows may be kept open for a week or longer until Saturday, February 27, 2010.  However, there will be Mobile Units in front of Pratt Station to accomodate the community.

We will keep you posted as changes occur.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience during this transition.

USPS
Brooklyn Post Office

Why is there no mention of actual stuff like where packages will be?

Update: I have just emailed Councilwoman James’ office to ask about packages and getting news out to the community as to what will be changed during this time.

It’s that time of year once again to show your special someone how much you care.  If you’re going to participate in the holiday, here are some options for keeping it local:

FULTON

Greene Grape and GG Provisions:
Fondue tastings and wine tastings, Friday and Saturday

Aqualis Grill
773 Fulton Street (between S. Portland and S. Oxford)
$55/person four course and champagne and/or wine included

Dajeh Restaurant and Wine Bar
919 Fulton Street (between Clinton & Waverly)
Caribbean-Influenced, Wine-Paired Tasting Menu for Valentine’s Day.
5-course tasting menu $129 per couple. Each of the five courses is
paired perfectly with a different wine in collaboration with Wine
Consultant Veronique Fitzgerald, DWS. (the price without wine: $105.00
per couple).

Stonehome Wine Bar
87 Lafayette (between S. Elliott and S. Portland)
4 courses for $65 per person, with wine pairings add $40 per person.
Seatings at 6, 7, 9 and 10pm
For Reservations, call 718-624-9443

Cure Beauty Bar:
Valentine Special:  Basic Mani/Pedi/ 1 Dozen roses/glass of sparkling
wine – $90 or for couples $165 (which can be friends/Spouses/sibling
etc.) Runs from Feb. 12th -14th. Must make a appointment and pre-pay
by Feb. 11th 2010

Social Therapy Group
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Prepare for Valentine’s Day by getting better at loving.  Explore
where you are with love and friendship and create more intimacy in
your all your relationships. Come to a social therapy group and work
at making your Valentine’s Day more loving.  Come alone or bring your
loved one –whether it’s your friend, your partner, your mother or
lover.  We will help you get better at creating loving conversations.
Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11am – 1pm.  Fee: $30/person or
$50/couple or twosome.  Contact:  Ann Green, 718-797-3220 ext. 319 or
agreen@socialtherapygroup.com

DEKALB

iCi:
Brunch from 9am to 4pm and a $45 5-course-prix-fix Menu for Dinner from 5.30 to 11pm

Chez Oskar:
$36 Prix Fix menu Sunday evening

MYRTLE

Tamboril:
$25 Prix Fix 5:30-11 on Saturday
Jazz music at 7 and 9pm on Sunday

Chez Lola:
$32 Prix Fix menu Sunday evening



As we’ve reported before, the service road on Hall Street near Bergen Bagel has been selected by the NYC Department of Transportation as a public plaza site.  While the city gears up to build out a permanent plaza, Myrtle Ave Brooklyn Partnership will host a pop-up workshop displaying the ideas submitted for the project so far.  There will be an opening reception on Friday night from 5-8, and gallery hours this weekend.

It’s a really cool way to get involved in an urban planning project that will actually come to life right here in our neighborhood.

Here’s more info:

You are invited to view and comment on submissions received through our open call for ideas, along with best practices collected by our staff, at the upcoming “Designing the Myrtle Pedestrian Plaza – Pop Up Exhibition and Workshop” from February 5th – 13th.  Please come by to view and comment on the submissions, and contribute your own ideas on sustainable design elements, amenities (seating, public art, etc.), and programming for the Pedestrian Plaza that will be built on the Myrtle Avenue service road between Emerson and Grand.     Feel free to forward our invite (below) to your own email lists, friends, neighbors, etc.

I’m a huge fan of LOST.  So when I heard that Rope’s next monthly trivia night was going to be LOST-themed, I just had to know more.  I chatted with trivia host Jess Liese about her event, and what to expect on February 3.

1. How often does Rope hold trivia night?

Trivia happens once a month, usually on the first Tuesday. For February, though, we’re postponing it until Wednesday so that it won’t conflict with the Lost premiere. A good number of trivia regulars are avid fans, and I figured if President Obama can rearrange his schedule to accommodate Lost fans, so can I!

(…and okay, fine, I didn’t want to miss it either.)

2. What are the rules?  How many people per team, and what’s the prize?

Teams are typically 3-5 people, though we’ve had as few as 1 and as many as 8 playing on one team. Basically, there are four rounds of competition – two where I read the question and your team writes down the answer, a music round, and an “identify the pictures” round. After the second and fourth rounds, I tally up the correct answers and review the standings, share snarky wrong answers, and hand out a couple of prizes.

Prizes are many and varied. Everybody pays $2 each to play, and the winning team gets everybody’s money, with shots or rounds of drinks going to the runners-up. I offer bonus questions occasionally, which earn teams the chance to spin our Bonus Prize Wheel. Most of the wheel prizes are either free booze or free candy, but there are a number of really oddball things (mostly junk I find at the dollar store near my office) up for grabs as well.

At the last trivia night, I found so much cool stuff at the dollar store that I wound up giving a prize to every team.  There were some very awesome plastic robots and I should have just bought the whole lot. But part of the fun is coming up with stuff to give out, so I’m sure I’ll find something just as cool this time around. (I’m looking to stock up on Lost-themed stuff for February, so expect some polar bears, backgammon, and Virgin Mary statues.)

3. How did you end up running Trivia Night?  How long have you been at the helm?  What’s your “day job?”

I’ve been hosting trivia at Rope for about five months now. Years ago, a bunch of coworkers and I regularly attended a weekly trivia night in the west village, and after awhile I started hosting that on occasion. Eventually the bar closed, I changed jobs, and I never did find new trivia as awesome as that had been. Fast forward a few years and one of my ex-coworkers, now tending bar at Rope, heard they wanted to re-establish a trivia night there. She immediately thought of me. I was excited to get back into it, especially as they’ve let me design my own game and bring in theme nights.

By day, I work for an educational publisher, developing content and features for online reference databases. My trivia credentials are many and varied, though. In addition to previous hosting experience and basically getting to absorb useless facts for a living, I competed on Jeopardy about four years ago. (Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but I only missed one question!) I keep trying out for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and passing the test, but their contestant pool is a lot smaller. I guess I’ll stick to this side of the trivia podium for the time being.

4. How do you pick your questions?  Is it difficult to bring fresh material to quiz night on a regular basis?

Initially, I thought it would be. But actually, coming up with questions is the most fun part of the whole experience. Usually I have a theme night, and if not a theme night then theme categories. In November, I hosted a night devoted to my favorite trivia category, U.S. presidents, which brought a huge crowd of history teachers and assorted pedantic trivia nerds. It was so much fun, and came so naturally to me, that I’ve been coming up with themes ever since. It is far easier to come up with, say, ten questions about medically-themed TV shows than it is to come up with ten questions about anything at all in the world.

5. Where do you live, and how did you come across Rope?

Technically, I don’t live in the neighborhood. I’m a short G train ride away in Park Slope.  I’ve been hanging out at Rope on and off for about five years, though, and I love the area. I was coming to the neighborhood even way back when I had to take two trains and a bus to get there!

6.  Tell us a little more about Rope – the clientele, the vibe, etc.  What makes it a cool place to grab a drink?

Rope is exactly the kind of bar I have been wanting to hang out in since I was old enough to want to hang out in bars. Come to think of it, it’s probably good that I don’t live in the neighborhood, because I’d probably be an alcoholic if I did. It’s cool but not elitist, the drinks are thoughtfully prepared but won’t kill your budget, the music is listenable but not overwhelming. The crowd is basically a cross-section of local residents – not just hipsters and Pratties, but people who’ve lived in the area for decades, young professionals, regulars. It’s really the kind of place you can visit once or visit daily and you won’t feel out of place either way.

Also, they have DUB pies and there is nothing not awesome about that.

7. Give us the 411 on the LOST-themed trivia night in conjunction with the season premiere.  Can non-Losties participate?  And while we’re at it, who is your favorite Other?

The great thing about LOST, and one reason I’ve been so addicted to it throughout its often-infuriating five seasons of “let’s explain this one tiny thing you don’t care about while introducing six other new questions” and “let’s spend half a season focusing on characters that don’t further the plot only to kill them off when we realize you’re on to us” is that it pulls in so many elements of history, science, literature, philosophy, and pop culture in a way that adds to the suspense and mystery.  So if you’re into any of those things, regardless of whether or not you’re a Lostie, you’ll probably get a few questions right, as I do plan on exploring that in at least one round. (Although it may benefit you to have a rabid fan on your team!)

And I don’t know how anybody’s favorite Other is NOT Ben Linus. That dude owns the entire show.

8. Favorite restaurant in the neighborhood?

Big fan of Graziella’s and the General Greene (which I realize is about two blocks out of the neighborhood…hopefully it still counts!).

9. If you could change one thing about the nabe, what would it be?

It is perfect in all ways but one – it should be closer to a major train line. I’d move there in a heartbeat if I could be close to a number train or the Q.

10. If you were a flavor of ice cream, what would you be and why?

Raspberry basil with a vanilla-mascarpone swirl.

A note to CHB readers from Lesterhead- Bring your A game to this event.  I have been watching LOST since it began and my knowledge is no joke.  See you there!

Hey everyone, it’s Van and Tillie again, and making her first appearance of the new year, it’s Tillie’s mom, too! This time, we went out for a little family dining at Chinese restaurant Kum Kau on Myrtle Avenue.

Tillie and I were a little hard-pressed to make it out somewhere during the week as I picked up some freelance work out in the city for a few days. (LWT doesn’t pay all the bills!) Waiting for the weekend was good, though, as TM was able to come along. We all went out last Sunday afternoon, and as it was raining, we decided to find a place close to the homestead. That was really a necessity because we couldn’t find Tillie’s stroller cover to go traipsing around the neighborhood, so Kum Kau was duly elected!

Tillie’s mom packed up some blueberries and milk for the little one, whom we had to carry around in her backpack, and we were off. Kum Kau seemed to be a good choice as far as Tillie was concerned because greeting us in the entranceway was a huge tank of fish, just like at neighboring Sapolo. With that there we knew our entertainment options were in good hands – or fins, as the case may be!

Anyway, we were shown to the spacious dining room and were told we could sit anywhere as the waiter grabbed a high chair for Tillie.

The menu had more than enough to offer, but Tillie’s mom and I just ordered a few items that weren’t too out of the ordinary: She got the chicken with broccoli with brown rice and I ordered Singapore chow mai fun – rice noodles with curry, shrimp, chicken and pork – and fried chicken wings.

As we were waiting for the food to come out, we took turns walking Tillie around the place, especially as we couldn’t keep her pinned down in her high chair. I’m sure they weren’t made for standing in them! TM had her captivated by the walls with the water running down into what looked like a coin trough, while I took her back to her finny friends.

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Now that award season is over, it’s time to get back to business!
Hey everyone and welcome back to your regular Lunchtime With Tillie presentation. This time, yours truly and Lil T went to Thai 101 on Myrtle Avenue.

Now as shown by them receiving the coveted “Best Bang for Your Buck” honor at last week’s LWT Awards, it’s obvious we’re fans of Myrtle Thai at our homestead. As a matter of fact, I had never even tried Thai 101 before. I was always kind of leery about it – with its name and signage, it just reminded me of a place you’d come across in a mall or something. And the eating’s never really that great in a mall.

Anyway, Tillie and I went there last Friday, you know, when there was that wintry mix thing going on throughout the day. That necessitated us finding a place within a two-block radius from home, and as we’ve hit nearly everywhere else around for LWT, Thai 101 was duly elected. I packed her up some shells and cheese, just in case, and we were off.

When we got there, the waiter told us feel free to sit anywhere. The aisle separating the restaurant was kind of narrow and I didn’t want Tillie’s stroller to get in his way. I ended up sitting kind of close to the front door and he suggested that it might be too cold there for the baby with people coming and going. So we ended up getting settled in closer to the back of the place.

The waiter brought Tillie and me glasses of water, and I started going over the menu. I had an idea already of what route I was going to take: red curry with chicken. You see, when I go to a place I hadn’t been before, I like to order a dish that is or is comparable to my favorite at a similar restaurant. I figure if they get your staple dish right, then you can feel free to explore other menu options. What can I say? I’m just a staples-comparing kind of guy!

With my plans mostly set and the lunchtime options so affordable, I decided to delve further into the menu and see if I can sneak something else in for me and T. In addition to the red curry with chicken lunch special, which I got with a bowl of soup, I ordered the chicken curry puffs for an appetizer. Granted, a good amount of food, but as always, Tillie and I were up for the challenge.

As we were waiting for our first courses to come out, Tillie was pretty chill. She was savoring her water, which to you and me might not seem such a great drink option, but to her it was quite refreshing!

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I’m trying to come up with a catchy name for my recurrung series of checking up on other local blogs.  Anyhow, here’s what else has been going on:

Hello neighborhood, hope you’re enjoying your holiday season! Welcome back to Lunchtime With Tillie: We missed being around these parts! As Lesterhead mentioned last week, the family was felled by a stomach bug.  (Don’t worry, no local restaurants contributed to that!) Tillie and I are back now in fine eating form and would like to thank those who sent along get-well-soon thoughts. For our return, we decided to try and play it simple by going to the recently reopened Chinese and Spanish eatery Sapolo, located on Myrtle Avenue.

I say “play it simple” because of the fact that it’s directly across the street from our house! And this was a good thing because the day we went was that brutally cold and windy one we experienced last week, so a trip with little travel time was definitely appealing.

After all this time in the area, I had never gone to Sapolo, primarily because of the whole “two separate cuisines” thing that I’m always leery about, which I mentioned when Tillie and I went to Mexican and Italian restaurant La Stalla. Why, oh why, can’t these places just do one or the other? Or maybe they could just go all out and do some kind of fusion thing, I don’t know: The separate menus always present a frightening prospect to me.

I put aside my concerns and rationalized Sapolo was our best bet, with the weather and all. We got in and the place had the feel of one of those big, modern-type diners, which I found comforting in a way. Tillie and I were shown to a booth and instead of strapping her into the high chair right away, I walked around with her some. I’m sure it’s just in my head, but whenever she’s all bundled up in her winter gear I think she must feel a little claustrophobic. But what do I know about little kids, winter clothes and what they think? I’m from Alabama!

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The retail space on the ground floor of the Absolute on Myrtle is mighty large.  A source told me that a gym might be interested in the space.

Thoughts?  Do you want a chain gym, or a local gym?

Personally, I’m cool with the Bed-Stuy Y, although it’s become about 100xs more crowded this year.  And I’m not surprised, given the affordable pricing and the nice facilities (although I do wish they would separate the cardio machines from the weight machines, which are cramped in so tightly that it’s hard to move around when people are using the machines!).

I hope it’s not a NYSC, which I found to be way overpriced (at least last time I was a member).  It would be nice to have an option closer than the Y or the Crunch (which I hear is also super crowded).

Sapolo (Spanish and Chinese food) on Myrtle closed down recently, but rumor has it that they’re reopening.  What gives?