I knew today was going to be different, colder. Luckily I had my new bicycle gloves to keep me warm. But there was still a lot to discover. On Flushing Avenue, far east of the new bike lanes, the Bushwick Loom has built a veritable menagerie of shops. There’s a jewelry boutique, a jam co-op, a market, a chabad dinner party, a yoga studio, moped shop, vintage clothing stores and lots more to see.
All of this activity should make the industrial part of Flushing Ave. a little warmer this winter. There are still some open spaces in this minimall collective, so here’s hoping we have another cafe coming soon to replace the Archive.
What keeps me confused are the boundaries of this neighborhood. Bushwick is technically south of Flushing, so I can allow them getting away with calling themselves the Bushwick market being on the north side of the street, but technically it’s East Williamsburg. Then again, I tell people where I live (just north of the Market) and they say, so that’s what the realtor told you, huh?
This neighborhood is coming down with a case of split personality disorder – on one hand, it is a lot like Williamsburg; on the other it is five stops deeper on the L train. What do you think we should call it?
Last week was one of the first days when you can feel autumn in the air. The shadows get longer, the daylight is shorter, people are outside enjoying the warm weather because they sense that next month at this time, it won’t be the same. It was a Thursday evening, and I couldn’t bear taking the normal bike route home – I wanted to go where I’d never been before, I wanted to go to Red Hook.
This area of town is unreachable by Subway, but can be walked to from the G/F train in Gowanus. A bus also goes there. It’s full of old abandoned industry, dockyards, and warehouses. Looking down the cobblestone streets to the water, you really get a sense of old Brooklyn – before the bridge was built and before it was part of New York. It was desolate, and I was struck by a time transcending feeling. Down on the Fairway, staring out at the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island, and seeing the late summer light shimmer on the water, I didn’t even spend too long taking it in – I walked through and went to Diego’s, a nice Mexican fusion restaurant.
So there’s a ghost stroller on Union and 6th. Painted the color of my butt cheeks during the winter, this artistic endeavor has confused and confounded locals for weeks now. The New York Times just ran an article about it. And everyone wants to know what it means.
I think I know. 20 years ago, and even today, Park Slope was an ideal neighborhood for young, aspiring artists. Then the yuppies found out about it, and gentrification ensued. It’s close to downtown, right next to the Park, safe, what’s not to love? Let’s stake a claim here and raise a family. Right? So they did.
Now it seems the small remaining artistic community is fighting back. The ghost stroller is a mockery of memorial bikes painted white. No baby in a stroller was smacked by a moving car – it’s some Park Slope artist lamenting the loss of his hepcat community to the thriving papoose wearing yuppie moms.
Gentrification is a good thing guys. It’s what lead to the development and safety of other Brooklyn communities, like the newly coined South Park Slope, and East Williamsburg. And so is art. It’s provocative and makes people think, even if they attribute a different meaning than the artist’s intended one. That comes with the territory.
As for the artists, I’d say don’t despair. Move to Bushwick.
So I’m sure you know about the new ranking system of restaurant violations. The least violations earn the restaurant an A, and the more you get the lower the grade.
Needless to say, I was utterly shocked when one of my favorite restaurants, Note Thai, on Bushwich Avenue, was shut down. Not only did they have my picture and a few dozen other photos of locals on the wall, but they were the only Thai place in our neck of the woods, and they served a kick ass extra spicy chicken pad thai, the hallmark of a worthy Thai restaurant.
I lay in bed last night imagining what the straw that broke the Thai camel’s back looked like. Maybe they didn’t have soap in the bathroom. Maybe there were cockroaches in the corner. Maybe it was just a hundred little things. Any way, I’m still sad.
And I don’t despair about eating there even though it was dirty. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it probably was so good because it was dirty. Now, I’m out of luck. I can’t always eat falafel from the Pita Palace. I’m resentful about the ranking system in general. I don’t see the health rankings in window shops. I want Note Thai back.
The New York Times recently offered Bushwick, Brooklyn as one of the cooler neighborhoods for young artists and creative types—the “New Bohemia.”
While some argue that it’s an “up and coming” neighborhood that’s not quite “up” yet with lots of noise and a high crime rate, others note that rent is far more reasonable than other locales in the city and that it’s close to youth meccas like Williamsburg.
Cultural highlights in Bushwick include excellent bars like the Bushwick Social Club, Gotham City Lounge, and 280 Cafe & Lounge. For music lovers, there’s Silent Barn, Goodbye Blue Monday, and Cafe Orwell next to a little combination loft and hostel. Grab a bite to eat at Bushwick Pita Palace or The Archive, a sweet cafe right off the Morgan stop.
The neighborhood can be divided into roughly four sections: the industrial area on the border of East Williamsburg (also known as Morgantown because of its proximity to the Morgan Ave subway stop), a family-oriented area dominated by immigrant families and a rapidly gentrifying housing market, East Bushwick which is similarly family-oriented and serene (if lacking in bars and a cultural scene), and South Bushwick which is more dangerous and less populated than the other three areas.
Film director Spike Lee and Absolut Vodka have teamed up to bring you Limited Edition Absolut Brooklyn. A blend of red apple and ginger, this new vodka goes well with a light-colored soda, like Ginger Ale, Sprite, or 7-Up. Creating “city flavors” has been a habit of Absolut since 2007. Currently New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Boston vodkas are available.
The bottle, which features a summer-colored “stoop,” was designed by Lee, who is also filiming a love story in honor of the borough. The film is just one aspect of his much larger “Stoop Life” movement. (See the trailer to his new film below)
Absolut has also pledged $50,000 in sales to Habitat for Humanity, to assist with their rebuilding of affordable housing in Bed-Stuy. A bottle of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN can be had for just $24.99 at most local liquor spots.
After you ride a crowded subway and traverse a crowded sidewalk, stand at a crowded bar and wave your hands (amongst the crowd) for a dry martini, it’d be nice to have some elbow room, don’t you think? That’s why we love Berry Park, a neat-o bar in Williamsburg’s least insufferable quartile (i.e., the one close to Greenpoint).
Essentially, Berry Park is what you get when you close your eyes and imagine the opposite of a New York bar — plentiful seating, clean bathrooms, affordable prices, and room to smoke. (Or, um, enjoy some fresh air.) BP features a pleasant and affordable menu of apps, sandwiches and entrees, with weekend brunches from noon to 4 p.m. The bar — or should we say bars? there are two — has 16 beers on tap and everything else you might expect.
berry park
But the highlight, of course, is the rooftop “beer garden” — presented in quotes because said spacious arena lacks the degenerate vibe we associate with the term. That being said, if we could strip all of our preconceived notions of beer gardens away, and recognize the term as simply a garden with beer, perhaps said label is appropriate.
Check out Berry Park at 4 Berry Street at N. 14th Street in W-Burg. 718.782.2829.
I’ve lived in New York before (2002, 2004), but moved here again most recently in 2009 allured by the prospect of an apartment in Sheepshead Bay, near Coney Island. It was the former apartment of my uncle’s mother who passed away early last year. The apartment was empty and in need of a tenant.
My uncle’s brother quoted rent prices to me of “$500 per month” and “free.” I was living in San Francisco at the time, but both of those prices sounded very very right. Within two weeks I had given notice at my corporate marketing job, and two weeks later I had landed in Brooklyn with all of my worldly possessions in four boxes and a list of friends’ couches to crash on until the Coney Island apartment was renovated and ready for tenants.
Recent news about the City of Fire, however, leaves me feeling glad that that apartment has never worked out.
According to the New York Daily News, litter and garbage are piling up all over Coney Island. The turnout for the rides, sun, water, and fun attractions over Memorial Day weekend was so high that the Parks Department decided to remove all the garbage cans throughout the area so that people might traffic more freely.
But people still have garbage, and without garbage cans they’ve resorted to: tossing it on the ground. Coney Island now resembles the scene of a cyclone—not the famous roller coaster or the baseball team, but the kind that Dorothy knows and fears.
Trash cans are set to return within the next week when needed renovations are completed. Let’s hope they come through!
In an interesting form of protest, Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn’s Borough Prez, is threatening to — gasp — appear in a bathing suit in public unless Mayor Bloomberg reverses his decision to close the Gowanus “Double-D” public pool. Markowitz won’t be alone in his exhibitionism, as various city council members and other pro-poolers will be likewise suited.
The “Double-D” pool will take $200,000 to open, apparently. Is it worth it?
We’re just looking forward to all feeling better about our bathing-suit bods — seeing Markowitz in trunks is probably just as therapeutic as eating ice cream and watching The Biggest Loser.
Looking for a better way to cool down? We recommend Blue Marble, a purely Brooklyn ice-creamery with locations in Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, and (newly) Cobble Hill. Plus, they added soft serve to their menu, at lease in some locations.
I straighten my hair every morning to glossy perfection. So, whenever it rains, I usually prefer to stay inside. Where it’s dry.
But last night I decided to venture out in the Prospect Heights vicinity toward Dutch Boy Burger — or, as I call it, “That place with the bourbon milkshakes.”
Because, if one thing’s going to get me out in the rain, it’s bourbon milkshakes.
Said milkshakes arrived shortly after the food, but they quickly stole the show. Featuring smooth vanilla ice cream (Blue Marble!) and a spicy hint of bourbon, my Dutch Boy shake was a palatable experience I will not soon forget.
What else is there to say? The veggie burgers are good (and better than their meaty counterparts). The Caesar salad — spelled “Ceasar” on my receipt — is a perfect B-. As for me, my flats and lower pants were soaked, my hair de-glossed to tragic degrees. The Dutch Boy’s front doors remained illogically wide open, turning a chilly experience into an even chillier one.
But you know what? It was worth it. That was some milkshake, after all.
Formerly a Dutch boy-themed paint shop, Dutch Boy Burger is located at 766 Franklin Ave., accessible via the 2,3,4, and 5 trains, and the ever-resilient Franklin Avenue shuttle.
I knew today was going to be different, colder. Luckily I had my new bicycle gloves to keep me warm. But there was still a lot to discover. On Flushing Avenue, far east of the new bike lanes, the Bushwick Loom has built a veritable menagerie of shops. There’s a jewelry boutique, a jam co-op, a market, a chabad dinner party, a yoga studio, moped shop, vintage clothing stores and lots more to see.
