On Grand, just south of Greene: two new storefronts! They look fairly nice -- I like the doors. The window sign only references a permit for fencing. No visible clues as to what'll go in there.
Looks like an amazing roof deck thing on top. (insert jealousy)
Tips?
(RePop)2. The Great PUPkin October 28, Fort Greene Park: registration begins at 11:30 Who doesn't like to see a dog in a funny costume? The eighth annual doggie costume contest is slated to be serious business. People go all out for this competition, and the prizes are great. Look for "celebrity" judges as well, such as newscasters and political figures. Also, the PUPS calendar, featuring local pets and benefitting the poop bag dispensers in the park, will be available for purchase!
(Marshmallow dressed as a s'more in 2005)3. Fort Greene Park Conservancy Children's Halloween Festival October 28, Fort Greene Park Hay rides, free pumpkins, face painting and food, for children and parents
4. Decorations on Clinton Avenue (white mansion between DeKalb and Lafayette)
(Halloween 2004)If you've lived in the neighborhood for more than a year, you're well aware of the amazing spectacle produced at the gorgeous white mansion on Clinton Avenue. Owners Janna Kennedy and Randall Hyten create a decorative theme each year and go all out. Two years ago, they ever hired actors to perform scenes on the lawn! The NY Times did a feature on them last year, exploring their history in the neighborhood and their love (obsession?) with Halloween. Read it here!
(inside the house - taken on the 2005 house tour)5. Society for Clinton Hill Children's Halloween Walk October 31 A planned trick-or-treating walk for children and parents
Have info on other Halloween events? Send them in and we'll post. PS- would someone please host a pumpkin carving event?
One of the nice touches is a separate dining area so people can still go there for dinner and avoid the Sports bar scene.
So as a place to watch the game, it's not so bad. You'll get a good view from anywhere around the bar and I'm sure they'll get it together eventually and put the games on in HD.
As with any decent bar they offer a good selection of beers on tap. Magic Hat #9 isn't something that you find in a lot of bars. The Blue Point is also a very good beer that not a lot of places have on tap.
I was quite impressed by the selection.
Great place to grab a beer.
There also weren't very many of them. I'm counting like, maybe, a half a dozen in the picture?
Maybe it's me but when I want wings I want to be able to, if need be, make a meal out of it. You'd have to get like 10 orders of Wings here to make it a meal.
Very disappointing.
So why are there Chick Peas in with the Mussels?
Ugh.
The Mussels were good once you picked out all the Chick Peas.
burger 1
burger 2
burger 3
Still, you might catch me in there from time to time.
I'm just probably going to have to eat before I go.
(When are Smoke Joint and 67 Burger opening again?)
We need a vote on what to name that area.
LaFu - is short and sweet. TriFuLa - the triangle between Fulton and Lafayette is what Mr. Set Speed wants to call it. TriLaFu - adding the Tri to LaFu to gives it that TriBeCa feel and I can still claim ownership. (Which is important for royalty reasons once the realtors pick up on it.)
Cast your votes.
Wine Tasting TONIGHT @ OlivinoOlivino will host an exciting tasting this Friday, September 29, 2006 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Rudi, from Miskeit Wines will be tasting a flight of five German wines, three whites and two reds!
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn BAKE SALE The bake sale on Sat., 9/30, is sponsored by Fort Greene Kids, runs from 11 am to 4 pm, right near the children's park at Washington Ave. and Lafayette Ave. Great food at excellent prices. The proceeds benefit the DDDB Legal Fund.
Bad Postal Service in the News Here's the article in the New York Sun, focusing on the inconsistent and irritating mail delivery service in our area. The article sadly did not focus on the foul 11238 post office, but mail delivery is just part of the problem being generated there and at other area POs.
Yesterday morning, there was a man playing the violin on the Clinton-Washington Smith St-bound G train platform. Normally you only encounter this in more crowded stations, where the music gets mixed in with loud conversations and train noise. It just seemed so out of place in the G station. But in a good way. The G platform is normally fairly quiet, and it was nice to hear the music echoing through the station. A peaceful way to start the morning.
I wanted to talk to him, but didn't want to disrupt his performance. Know him? Send him our way so we can chat with him.
He wasn't there today. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to more violin serenades. Come back, violin man!
When I first moved to the Hill, Karen's Body Beautiful resided in a tiny storefront on Clinton Avenue north of Myrtle. I was thrilled to see her move to an exponentially larger site on Myrtle earlier this year -- the store is spacious, peaceful and warm, and really makes sense on our ever-changing Myrtle Ave.
The absolute coolest thing about Karen's store is the fact that she creates ALL of her products right there, on-site! A modern kitchen sits directly behind the front counter, allowing shoppers to watch her work her magic.
Getting to know Karen:
When did the store first open? I know it was originally in a different location. We opened the first store in February 2004 and the current location (our expansion) in Feb 2006.
How did you learn to make your own beauty products? My friends and I tried it once, and nothing turned out correctly. My husband and I spent our 2003 summer vacation (from teaching High School History) learning how to make personal care products. We bought books and ingredients and did lots of experimentation. We signed the lease on our original location on Clinton Ave in November 2003. Since we were still teaching at the time it took us 2 months to make enough products to stock the store and we opened in Feb 2004. It was very exciting because we taught at the same school in the history department, we would come home make shower gel, shampoos, body butters, etc. and drive them over to the store every day. Out of the experience making the products off site (at home) and hauling them to the store did we decided that it would be wonderful to put the kitchen in the store to streamline our production and we thought the customers would get kick out of actually seeing the products being made.
Do you live in the neighborhood? If so, how long have you been here? I live in Bed-Stuy. I've lived there for 2 years.
What have been some of the challenges in owning your own business in Brooklyn? On of the challenges is maintaining a daily production schedule to keep up the our internet and in store demands. Since we make all of our products from scratch in the store we have to be open daily making products in order to fill internet orders and keep the store stocked. It takes alot of work and time to hand-make and package thousands of soaps, lotions, candles, etc.
Favorite place to eat in the neighborhood: My favorite place to eat is ABistro* on Carlton and Myrtle. The Senegalese Fried Chicken and French Toast (on Sunday Brunch) are FABULOUS!
What would you love to see open in Clinton Hill? There are sooo many things Myrtle Ave needs! A few more restaurants (including a vegetarian one) and bars are necessary to generate more foot traffic to support businesses like a butcher shop, flower shop, clothing stores, gourmet fruit and vegetable grocery store and bakery.
Any insider info on what else will be opening on Myrtle? A new hair salon that caters to white hair will be opening soon on Myrtle between Waverly and Washington. I also know that several flower shops and a butcher are very interested in opening on Myrtle.
I see the shop is quite roomy. Do you ever offer classes, seminars or events? We have KBB Spa Days where a masseuse and an esthetician come in to do spa treatments, birthday parties, and seminars on health and beauty.
What's your most popular product? Our Body Scrubs are most popular. They are very moisturizing, they exfoliate, soften and leave you with brand new skin.
If you were a flavor of ice cream, what flavor would you be and why? Hmmm... I dont eat ice cream any more, but my favorite dessert is a mango, pineapple and strawberry home-made smoothie sweetened with agave and stevia with a dash of lemon essential oil.
KAREN'S BODY BEAUTIFUL
436 Myrtle Avenue
Between Clinton Avenue & Waverly Avenue
Tel: (718) 797-4808
Hours: M-Sa 12p-8p; Su 12p-5p
* When ABistro first opened, I visited several times and absolutely loved it! The service and food were both top notch. For some reason, I haven't been in awhile. Thanks, Karen, for reminding me!!
A new sign in the 67 Burger Window:
Not bad, and I'm liking their designed materials. Bravo.
Also, Stuart & Wright is... gorgeous!!!! Sadly, I could not afford the beautiful $600 coat I looked at, but it sure is nice for browsing.
67 Burger opening TBD Lafayette at S. Elliott
A local resident and Pratt graduate student has contacted me looking for information on an oral history project completed in the area a few years ago. She writes: Hi, I'm wondering if anyone who visits the blog remembers an oral history project about gentrification and Clinton Hill? I believe interviews for the project were conducted about 3 or 4 years ago. Would you post my question and any answers or links that come up about it? I'm working on a paper for graduate school. Thanks.
This is the first I've heard of the project, but I'd love to know more! Anyone out there have any information?
It would be fun to do an "oral history week" on the blog and talk to lifelong residents.
i was on bravotv.com the other day, feeding the gaping hole left in my life by the fact that there was no new episode of project runway last week, when i saw that the page for the new season of top chef was up, so i jumped over and started perusing the contestants. and one of them looked familiar:
i clicked on her, and, lo and behold, she's from brooklyn.... i racked my brain and it finally came to me: she used to be the chef at maggie brown's! she is also a former professional football player. you can read her full bio here.
i'm hoping that once the new season of t.c. starts, bravo will give us a way to contact the contestants and i can try to get an interview....
A reporter from the New York Sun has contacted me about our post office woes. She tells me that several Fort Greene residents are having major problems with their mail delivery -- mainly that mailmen/women are too lazy to climb up brownstone steps and are instead dumping all mail by the ground floor apartment, where it often gets destroyed in inclement weather.
I told her I would post a notice and ask for further comments on general mail problems in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill. Go to it, friends, especially if the post office/mail carrier has lost something valuable during delivery.
Want to file a complaint? Go here.
BklnJay wondered aloud one day whether Clinton Hill has more churches or Chinese restaurants. After chuckling about it, we realized that it would be a fun project.
What we need now is your help! Explore your own block and take photos of all churches and Chinese restaurants. Then email them to us, and let us know what areas you've covered.
Here's what we've completed so far:
All church-esque places are accepted (especially storefront churches!). Also acceptible are Chinese-Mexican combo takeout places.
Let's be inclusive -- Vanderbilt to Franklin.
(I considered adding bodegas to the mix, but that's just insane.)
I am happy to report that the porn store on Myrtle is CLOSED!
Would someone please open a (non-adult) bookstore in this space??
Speaking of space on Myrtle, this lovely renovated storefront is also for rent:
It's almost right across from PrattStore. I am praying this becomes something cool, useful and independent.
BklnJay found a flyer for a new cafe in Clinton Hill called Head Over Heels Cafe! Of course we decided to check it out immediately. First, I visited the website.
The first thing that stuck out to me? The flash intro shows almost all Caucasian people dining! There's one Asian and one potentially African-American. Maybe I'm reading too into it, but for one of the most diverse neighborhoods in NYC, it's an interesting choice. The music is mildly irritating as well, and there's no way to shut it off!
Jay and I hopped on the Vespa, eager to explore a new haunt.
As we drove east, I realized that we had passed into Bed-Stuy. No, not THAT far, but still (and the site definitely claims Clinton Hill).
(irritation is building)
We arrive at DeKalb and Skillman, and see... nothing!! A few shuttered Mexican restaurants, but nothing else. No cute cafe, no signs, nothing.
Now I'm highly irritated.
Neither the flyer nor the website indicate that the cafe isn't yet open. Thank god Jay has the Vespa, because if I walked all the way there... grrrrr.
The upside is that the menu, which looks fairly tasty AND reasonably priced. I really admire that they're going to offer several breakfast options under $10. I can only hope if/when this place materializes it offers tasty comfort-breakfasts in a cute atmosphere. Another bonus: the HOURS! Sun-Weds 10am-midnight; Th-Sat 10am-2am. Halleluia!!
UPDATE: I just called them, and the guy who answered said they're open! Hmmm... wonder where they were at 11am this morning.
Anyone been yet? The man on the phone sounded superfriendly, so I'm willing to give it another go.
Head Over Heels Cafe 525 DeKalb Ave. (bt Bedford and Skillman) 718-624-4224
(the inconsistent opening times is a pet peeve of mine in the neighborhood. i prefer to patronize local businesses, but if i come by and you're not open when you say you'll be... annoying!
this is sancocho:
he is the feline-in-residence at the bodega on dekalb between hall and washington, two doors down from mike's diner.
a "sancocho", in case you were wondering, is a meat-heavy stew that is the national dish of the dominican republic. the bodega owner's daughter told me that her dad likes to name their cats after food. works for me! (in my family we gave all our cats names that started with the letter m....) she calls him "ocho" for short, and says that he has a loyal following among their customers, some of whom have even brought him presents.
you can usually find him sitting on the big blue metal box outside the store, or in the bushes just beyond it.
ps - and if you want to whip up some sancocho, here's a recipe.
After BklnJay wrote about LaFu, I decided I needed to check it out for myself. When I first moved to CH, I spent quite a lot of time around that corner. It didn't hurt that I had friends who lived across from Moe's, and CH wasn't home to quite as much as it is today. However, in the last year I've been down there less and less. So I was surprised to see all the new stuff with my own eyes!
It seems that only male bloggers have mentioned the new Stuart & Wright boutique in Fort Greene, which led me to believe that it only carried men's apparel. But NO! I peeked inside, and definitely saw lots of lady-tops, high boots and peep-toe shoes!
SWOON! I love that they kept the old sign up outside.
Um, when did Fillmore open here?
And now for Mullanes. Well... I like the outside design a lot. The inside looks like... any Murray Hill pub. Here's the menu and the hours:
I do like that they're serving food. How many times have you been at Rope and gotten superdrunk because you haven't eaten dinner first? Um, OK, maybe just me (and a few other readers -- you know who you are).
On the OTHER side of the LaFu intersection, next to Academy, is THIS:
This looks cool. The exterior kind of reminds me of HK, in my former neighborhood.
I still haven't tried Le Bagel Delight. They're soooo witty!
At first, I assumed S&W was in the former cleaners closer to CH at Cumberland and Lafayette.
But no. Instead, there's a 7-11 moving in there!!!
Not sure how I feel about this. I'm sure it will be cleaner and bigger than any bodega in the area, and probably less smelly and stocked with more practical stuff (ie it won't have that entire aisle dedicated to those religious candles).
Looks like I'm spending my weekend in LaFu.
Hi all- It seems that as we moved from blogspot to our own server that the photos keep getting screwed up! My apologies - I promise it'll be fixed soon.
Jay and I drove past this unmarked spot on Park Ave at Kent, and noticed some minivans parked inside. We u-turned it around and passed again. Looks like a hasidic car dealership!
The Hasidic community of South Williamsburg seems to be making an aggressive expansion into Bed-Stuy along Bedford Ave and onto the western side streets. Is this causing any friction in that micro-nabe?
UPDATE: There is now a sign on the exterior - this pic is a few weeks old.
Lesterhead was too tired to attend last night's Society for Clinton Hill meeting after chasing down her graduate school textbooks for the second time at UPS after they've been held hostage for more than two weeks on various trucks and in various facilities. Sorry. If anyone attended and took notes, please email them to us to post!
Thanks.
Local musician Shawn Onsgard offers piano lessons to students of all ages in the neighborhood. Plus, he's about to "make it big" -- his music is slated to be available on iTunes very soon! Always been wanting to study piano? Start locally.
Here's more info: an interview with Shawn
How long have you been giving piano lessons in the neighborhood? I started teaching piano full time in 2001 when I finished grad school at Wesleyan University, CT, and really enjoyed it, so when I moved to the neighborhood in 2003 I started my little piano studio here.
What's the normal clientele? Mostly children? I teach a lot of families ... parents and children, which is nice, I like facilitating music in family life. A little over 1/3 of my students are adults, and my students range in age from 5- adult at all abilities from beginners to people with professional goals.
Did you take piano as a child? I grew up in a musical family and learned my first song at the piano, "Boogie Woogie," from my Aunt and Grandmother when I was 7. I signed up for piano lessons then, continued my studies at the conservatory in Milwaukee through high school, and just haven't stopped playing.
What kind of music do you write and perform now? My website www.Onsgard.net has a good downloadable selection of my music from the last several years and albums for sale. My own music is avant-garde, avant-jazz, new classical, experimental ... these are names people tend to to describe it. I have composed a lot for dance, film, media performance with lap-top, sound sculpture and installation. Right now I'm developing an improvisatory solo piano repertoire using 'home-made' scales that don't repeat at the octave and irregular rhythmic structures. Think Thelonious Monk picnics with Alexander Scriabin in Charles Ives' backyard.
How long have you been in the neighborhood, and what's your favorite aspect? I've been here 3 years, and have family who've lived on Vanderbilt Avenue for more than 30 years. I love the people here. I like the diversity in this neighborhood... ethnicity, income, religion, language, etc. Gentrification hasn't homogenized the place. I enjoy the small town feel I get here that I never got in any of the small towns I've lived in. Go to the farmers market on Saturday, any play ground anytime, the 5spot on Myrtle, you see what I mean. People know each other here.
What would you love to see open up nearby? Bookstore!
How do you feel about the neighborhood as a musician? Do you think it promotes creativity? There's a supportive network of successful musicians, artists, and freelance creative types here which is really supportive. I would like to see more local venues opening to live music performance. Does anyone but Parlor Jazz on Vanderbilt even have a piano in this neighborhood? Musicians I know are mostly performing in other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Also, the rents have got to slow down, or intentionally diversify, or something!
Favorite neighborhood place to eat: Too many. My local regular go-to is Cafe Martino (Tino's) for breakfast sandwiches and espresso. My all time favorite is ici on DeKalb any time. Also in my top seven are Pillow Cafe, Urban Spring, Graziella's, Ft. Greene Park on Saturday morning, and the 5 Spot. If I wasn't vegetarian, I'm sure Lou Lou's would be in there too. I haven't yet been there, but I suspect Kush on Fulton would be in there too.
***
Shawn does exclusively in-home lessons, and presently has time available on Saturday afternoons.
Shawn Onsgard www.Onsgard.net
Clinton Hill Blog published from 2006 - 2010. Please enjoy these archives - a love letter to the neighborhood.
