Results tagged “parkslope”

With recent recycling stats released by the Department of Sanitation, we now know which neighborhood gets a (100% biodegradable) gold star for cleaning up after themselves. The Daily News pits the top two, Bay Ridge and Park Slope, against each other — saying when it comes to recycling the former does it better.

Step right up, this beauty could be yours. Owner Bernie Henry coated his four-story brownstone on Garfield Place with this Pepto-pink color just three years ago (about 47 years after he moved in). The retired tailor told the Daily News, "I'm 92. It's time to get rid of it. It's a lot of money to keep it up ... I'm going to buy a smaller house around the corner." He says his new home will not get the same color treatment; in fact, he tells the paper he never meant to paint this one in such a garish hue, saying: "They sent me the wrong paint. It was painted this color accidentally."

The dog owners of the outer boroughs have oddly always seemed to have less outdoor space for their canines than those in Manhattan; or maybe they just speak up about it more. Either way, the Brooklyn Paper reports that dog owners of the South Slope "have commandeered a small park near the Prospect Expressway for a dog run" and are now angling to make it official.

Upon the release of Amy Sohn's new book, Prospect Park West, some Park Slope locals lashed out on the author (who also resides there with her family); but then again it isn't all that difficult to get the Brownstone dwellers riled up. Sohn's fictional tale, at points, holds a mirror up to the neighborhood, drawing upon the real life happenings there; from celebrity couples to sexless marriages to swingers to stroller-pushers. Last week she told us a little bit about it all, and confirmed that blow job prowess is indeed a fairly accurate measure of one's self worth.

Fighting families, aggressive, territorial behavior... yep, sounds like Park Slope! CityRoom reports that a pair of swans living in Prospect Park Lake have recently waged war on each other after they both started families.

Here's a nice sweet story for a change: Beth Elohim, the Park Slope synagogue targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church, will be holding its Yom Kippur services at Park Slope Old First Dutch Reformed Church. Apparently the synagogue had suffered a partial roof collapse on Thursday, and needed a place to go for Yom Kippur, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn tells us. Pastor Daniel Meeter of OFDRC offered Beth Elohim the use of his church for the holy day — even though it's a Sunday. Makes up a little bit for the harassment Beth Elohim is getting from those other "Christians."

The Brooklyn Paper reports that members of the Westboro Baptist Church — famous for their "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God For 9/11" signs — will be in Park Slope this Saturday to harass the Sabbath services at Congregation Beth Elohim. This isn't their first time in NYC— they visited the West Village earlier this year. The synagogue is being targeted as part of a concerted effort to begin protesting Jewish organizations for such sins as tolerance of homosexuality and of course, killing Jesus.

The stroller wars continue in Park Slope, and the frontline has moved from the sidewalk to the classy little romantic Italian restaurants, where everyone's a cry baby! Old man Loffredo recently paid a visit to the neighborhood's fairly new establishment, Provini, where he was encountered with a great wine list and a healthy portion of the "You'll never get to be an adult in Park Slope without tolerating my kids" crowd. Not a very good pairing! Indeed, one toddler even broke a wine glass in his presence; behavior that garnered eye rolls from the waitstaff and should clearly be reserved for less fancy pants places. Take it Chuck E. Cheese stroller pushers!

Eurotrash: In the old days, eurotrash did key bumps at Kokie's; now Eurotrash serves meatballs by the Levee (which replaced Williamsburg's aforementioned cocaine bar). Eurotrash isn't a restaurant, but when you're getting your drink on—either at the Levee or Radegast Hall across the street—a starchy bargain food truck in a parking lot sure beats a fussy restaurant, with all their RULES about keeping your voice down and calculating gratuities. Opened about a week ago in a lot next door to the Levee, Eurotrash serves Belgian fries ($3 or $4), Swedish Meatballs ($5) over rotini with gravy and cranberry preserves, Fish and Chips ($5) consisting of 4 oz. Corona-battered cod and Belgian fries, and Bangers and Mash (Irish sausages served over mashed potatoes with gravy). North Third Street and Berry, Williamsburg

Amy Sohn's tome on Park Slope parents, titled Prospect Park West, is officially out there causing a stir. Recently her "neighbor" and local blogger Louise Crawford trashed Sohn for fueling the cliches of the Bugaboo culture that thrives there, or maybe because she was jealous she didn't write the book... one of those. Now the NY Times takes a closer look at life in Sohn's portrayal of the neighborhood; any outbursts about that portrayal seems to be grounded in the paradox that Sohn says is “Every mother know[ing] what a Park Slope Mother is, but no one think[ing] she is one." (In fact, Susan Fox, the founder of Park Slope Parents, tells the Gray Lady she's “non-frumpy, non-cargo-wearing mom who actually has a good marriage, unlike PPW would have us believe”).

The argument over where New York's worst post office is could go on forever, since they are all pretty much the worst, but one tipster is tossing the 9th Street Post Office of Park Slope into the hat. So angered by the slowness of the establishment, this morning one local (we have our suspicions) turned to the chalk to take out their aggressions. Now, now, let's all take a deep breath and recall when residents rallied for the now-closed Prince Street Post Office, declaring: "The Worst Post Office is Better Than No Post Office!"

Aha! The mystery of why actors Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany fled from Brooklyn, leaving a beautiful Prospect Park West mansion to take up residence in a Manhattan penthouse was revealed last Friday night. Connelly was on the Tonight Show and told Conan O'Brien that frankly, the house, as much as she loved it, was spooky, "It was a little big...frankly, it was a little like Scooby-Doo, creepy, you know, like the haunted mountain mansion." Zoinks!

If you're a local news junkie, you've probably seen TV spots from Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio around his Park Slope home that prominently featuring his family, who in case you missed it, include his African-American wife and their two children. Well, now his fellow City Councilman Charles Barron accuses him of pandering to the black community with campaign ads.

Prospect Park West, Amy Sohn's new novel depicting (and picking apart) the people and places in that neighborhood, has fallen into the hands of Smartmom, Louise Crawford. In an incredibly breathy takedown, Crawford comes off as insulted, and maybe a little jealous of the neighborhood author.

Around the start of monsoon season summer, we heard from a couple Brooklyn moms who were outraged about Mr. Softee's mission to turn perfectly healthy children into sugar-addicted diabetic amputees. The ice cream truck backlash has only intensified since then, with anti-ice cream moms demanding death to Mr. Softee nationwide. In Chicago, ice cream trucks have been banned entirely from the 18th Ward, and here the group Asthma Free School Zone is urging principals to shoo the trucks away from schools. And then there's Vicki Sell, mother of 3-year-old Katherine and co-owner of the fish and chips mini-chain Chipshop, which doesn't exactly offer the healthiest cuisine in the world. She tells the Times, "I fall into the camp of parents who are irate...I want Katherine to have the full childhood experience and all. But it’s really predatory for them — two of them — to be right inside the playground like this." The "two of them" are the unlicensed pushcart frozen ice vendors who stalk the playground to seduce precious Katherine over to the sweet side. So now Sell calls 311 to defend her child from the peddlers. But still they come, and they've been driving Katherine to an "inconsolable meltdown."

Yesterday afternoon, a construction worker working outside a building on 12th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn fell four stories to his death. Henryk Siebor, 42, was supervising other workers and had been called over to inspect some scaffolding; the NY Times reports, "As Mr. Siebor stepped onto the scaffold, one of the lines holding it to the building gave way, sending the scaffold swinging against the building as he plunged to his death, landing on a first-floor terrace below."

Just after 5:30 p.m., some scaffolding outside a building at 7th Avenue and 12th Street In Park Slope collapsed. According to City Room, "A worker was killed, and two others were lightly injured, in an accident at an apartment building in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that is undergoing renovation work, the authorities said... The accident occurred at the Ansonia, a former clock factory that has been converted by various developers into residential apartments. The accident occurred at one of the buildings, at 438 12th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues."

The woman who is accusing two NYPD officers of raping her inside her apartment while she was intoxicated has filed a claim against the city and the two cops for $5 million. The woman, who remains anonymous, is seeking $3 million for personal injuries and $2 million in punitive damages. Officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata are currently awaiting trial for the sexual assault charges after being indicted by a grand jury in April. The Post has gotten a hold of "newly disclosed legal papers" from the suit whic bring to light new details which had not previously been made public:

Is there anything Facebook can't do? A Park Slope family has now used the social networking site to track down an adolescent bicycle thief. Beth Harpaz, an AP reporter and author of The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary, says a local teen used the oldest trick in the book to separate her 11-year-old son from his new BMX at the playground: He asked to "see your bike for a minute," then never rode back. (The trick even works on adults!) Harpaz tried filing a police report, but a beat cop discouraged her, saying, "If you file a police report, we'll have to arrest him. Just wait a few days. You'll get the bike back." And the policeman was right—though the BMX wasn't recovered thanks to NYPD detective work, but through Harpaz's dogged sleuthing. Long story short, some kids at the playground knew the suspect's first name and the Middle School from which he'd graduated, so Harpaz obtained a copy of the yearbook, identified him, and tracked him down on Facebook. After threatening to have him arrested, the unidentified thief revealed the bike's location, along with the combination for the lock. He also asked Harpaz, "Where do u live at?" but Harpaz knew better than to let him see her house for a minute.

A number of Park Slope residents have been up in arms over a developer's plans to build three townhouses in addition to a previously announced project. Brownstoner reported that owner Ashwin Verma's admission that he's "no Donald Trump" and blaming "his inexperience for not knowing there was a Con Ed substation on 580 Carroll's site" sent residents at a rally against his project into a frenzy. Various neighbors' homes have been damaged by the construction work—one said, "My foundation was cracked. My retaining wall was cracked," while another complained about the aesthetics of the future building, telling the Daily News the apartment building by noted architect Enrique Norten "is actually ugly, and what it's going to look like doesn't belong here. It belongs in New Jersey." In the meantime, the Board of Standards and Appeals has delayed its decision on whether to give Verma a variance to build the additional structures.

              

Yesterday afternoon the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company hosted an 826NYC benefit, in the form of an Honest Elimination Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament. Ira Glass, David Cross, and Michael Ian Black were all on hand, as well as ticket holders taking part and supporting the organization. We took the opportunity to head over to the storefront and explore their superhero goodies. The shop opened years ago, but incase you haven't been here's what you should know:

Organika: This new organically-oriented Mediterranean restaurant opens today next door to Sushi Samba in the West Village. Restaurateur and designer Marcello Assante (Boom, Bacco, Porta Toscana) promises "quintessential cooking with an emphasis on Italian cuisine, approached in the most sustainable way." Salads and appetizers range from $5-$14, pastas and pizzas from $13-$16, and the entrees are all daily specials determined by the local markets. The menu currently features pastas like Tagliatelle al Salmone Affumicato (Tagliatelle, Onion, Smoked Salmon, Chives, Cream) for $15 and Tronchetto (Rolled Pizza stuffed with Rocket, Fresh Tomatoes, Mozzarella) for $14. There's no liquor license yet, but cocktails will one day feature fresh juices, rotating to highlight seasonal fruits and vegetables. The kitchen stays open nightly until 1 a.m. 89 Seventh Avenue South; (212) 414-1900

Hey, pretend it's the '50s and you're reading this article in a newspaper titled "Who’s That With Baby at the Y? Why, It’s Daddy." Wait, shouldn't daddy be at the office with his briefcase while mommy is with the baby at the Y, or preferably in the kitchen making dinner and starching shirts?

Cafe Grumpy first opened the doors of its Greenpoint location in late 2005. A year later, they opened a store in the heart of Chelsea with an eye-catching Clover machine that gained them much more visibility and buzz for having some of the best coffee around. Grumpy began making a name for themselves as one of a handful of places around town (along with Ninth Street Espresso and Gimme! Coffee) that were bringing New York a serious coffee culture, the kind that the west coast has gained a reputation for over the years. Now the rep they've built themselves—recently having won Best Coffee in NYC in the Time Out New York Eat Out Readers Poll—is sure to grow even further with the newest store they've just opened on 7th Avenue in Park Slope.

The story of the Park Slope man who dressed like his dead mother for six years to cash her Social Security checks and collect other benefits has captivated the world, with Google showing the Thomas Prusik-Parkin Psycho tale popping up as far afield as Turkey and Russia. Perhaps there's something about the story that resonates with humanity's deep-seated Oedipal urges—or maybe Prusik-Parkin has just tapped into our universal fantasy to live on the dole without our moms' nagging us to get a job. Either way, it gets creepier: The Daily News reports today that Prusik-Parkin kept a casket in his living room.

A 20-year-old in Park Slope was picked up by police and arrested for making a false report after placing four prank calls to 911 last week. What was the hilarious line that he was trying to get cops to believe? That one of their fellow officers had been shot in the head, even giving the badge number of the "wounded" officer. Police would go to each of the locations where the supposed shootings was, only to find nothing, and contact the officer, who was all right. Investigators ultimately recognized the voice of Daquan Gardner, who was arrested for a similar call in 2007. Just two weeks ago, Gardner had been arrested for smoking marijuana at Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street, the same area he was placing the calls from on a street pay phone. An investigator told the Post, "He got locked up, he was mad at the police and he was trying to cause trouble." One of the calls last week was placed just hours before Officer Omar Edwards was fatally shot in East Harlem.

This is something you don't read about every day, unless it's in the Onion: a New York record store has managed to keep its doors open! The Daily News reports that Park Slope's only record store will remain open for at least another three years; "The legendary Fifth Avenue Record and Tape Center has found a new home just three doors down from its current spot at 439 Fifth Ave" where the owner will be evicted from by the end of June (despite never being late on his rent). 72-year-old owner Tony Mignone told the paper, "I'll give it another shot. I think it'll be good, because I could fix it up the way I want it... although this is nice over here. But the landlord is jerking me around." Opening 38 years ago and keeping loyal employees and customers since then, it's nice to see this story have a happy ending. One customer said, "They don't have these types of businesses anymore. All of them went out 30, 40 years ago. At least Tony maintains some of the splendor of the old days." Indeed.

No wonder the pent-up Park Slope parents don't want to pay a membership fee for their online ranting board, they need to save that cash for sex toys! Sweet, vibrating sex toys. Babeland in Park Slope is turning one year old (we talked to owner Claire Cavanah last year upon opening), and business is still booming—the shop told us, "We’ve sold 16,389 sex toys since last June. More than 15,000 customers have come in. More than 2,000 people attended a workshop or free event." Park Slope, are you blushing? The number one products are the Rabbit Habit and Gigi vibrators, but the men are getting into the action as well—also in the top 5 are the We Vibe (the only vibrator that can be worn during intercourse) and the Sonic Ring, which is worn by men but benefits the women. To celebrate the big day, and your loyalty, they're hosting a customer-appreciation party this Sunday (noon to 4 p.m.), where you'll get a 15% off coupon for discounts on all purchases made this month. There will also be raffles, beverages and gift bags for early birds. Just please leave the kids at home, 'kay?

Bar Tini, the third European-style cafe from restaurateur Peter Sclafani, is beginning to look like it'll be open soon. The paper covering the windows at the Eighth Avenue, Park Slope spot has come down and several interior details can be gleaned (if you cup your hands around your eyes like a creepy bastard and press your face against the front window, like we did). Mirrors and alternating low light sconces line the walls, there's an old worldish pressed tin ceiling and a long bar, hence the name.

In an Op-Ed in today's Times explaining his aborted mayoral campaign, Rep. Anthony Weiner explains that, unsurprisingly, Mayor Bloomberg's godly fortune had a little something to do with it: "The Supreme Court decision in 1976 in Buckley v. Valeo, which allows candidates to spend however much they want on their own races, makes it possible for billionaires to swamp middle-class candidates. In this case, a sports analogy is apt: If one football team has 110 players on the field, the team with 11 has a hard time getting through the blocking and tackling on the crowded turf."