My Life In Brooklyn

[Note: Repost from my former blog, originally posted March 2006]

If you read my prior post on Associated Market here on Flatbush Ave., located just south of Fenimore Street on the west side of the street, you might recall I made mention of a number of problems encountered at that store. Among other issues in this market was the Problem of White Glue used to seal a five-pound bag of sugar. This, in theory, might not be the best method but it could have worked if the staff had the foresight to set it aside to fully dry overnight. Instead, it was probably applied and immediately placed on the shelf where my husband picked it up, purchased it and brought it home to sweeten his morning coffee. Only to end up with wet and dripping white glue on his fingers. It was pretty disgusting.

On Friday I purchased a few items from this very same Associated. It takes me forever to shop there because I feel compelled to look over each item with careful scrutiny. I bought maybe a dozen items in all, but as I entered the store I noticed what appeared to be a recent shipment of bananas, fresh and unscathed. These bananas, by the way, are packaged in plastic bags that are in part clear, but also marked. So the consumer is able to turn the package upside down to view the bananas, but not see the top with real clarity due to the packaging. I probably should have recognized it as a warning sign to move on when I picked up a small bunch of bananas and noticed they were quite hot. Maybe from shipment — sitting in a delivery truck all day could do that.

Ultimately I bought a modest bunch of five bananas in in what seemed to be decent condition and of normal temperature. Imagine my surprise on Saturday morning when I removed one to slice into the morning Total and saw what appeared to be a peculiar gash on one of the bananas beneath it.

Now, normally I would have just thought there was just a bad one in the bunch and maybe felt some minor annoyance that I had overlooked it, too bad for me. However something about this banana caught my eye, specifically the glossy area around the mark itself. Examining this area closer, it was clear there was some kind of coating covering the injured banana area. I suspect white glue.

The photo was taken in my kitchen with available light, no flash. You can see the transparent glossy coat of “something” covering the banana wound. Now is it me or is this just a little scary? Not knowing what efforts have been taken to “repair” broken food before you buy it bothers me. In other places where I have lived, slightly off or injured items were placed on the day-old rack and seriously discounted. Really, they saved how much with this effort? Probably pennies, and in return they have earned an even greater negative attitude from me. It makes me wonder what else is going on behind closed doors if this the usual procedure. Is this typical? I have never seen such a thing in any other grocery store, and I have been to plenty of different stores.

Just because — lots of talk about (finally) moving forward with a major renovation of the theatre. From the press release:

“The RFEI envisions a wide array of possible uses, such as a commercial theater, a not-for-profit cultural institution, a gallery and auction house, a television and motion picture production facility, residential units, a hotel, restaurants, a community facility and retail establishments. Development opportunities for the adjacent City-owned parcels may include decking over the parcels or transfer of surplus development rights from the theater to the parcels, or the parcels to the theater. Respondents may also plan redevelopment of the adjacent City-owned parcels, provided their submissions recognize and adequately address certain existing agreements.”

I have to say, the possibilities seem endless, lets hope whatever the outcome, it provides access the to beauty of the building, is good for the community, and is not just about lining the pockets of developers. 

This one is on Lincoln Road, south side, near Nostrand Avenue.  Two images here: one of the greater building, the second is a close up of the yellow X in the square, the condemed building mark (above), hidden behind the bush to the left of the front door and not easily seen.  Just as an FYI, a good part of the street is filled with buildings similar to this one – take a walk or drive by and you will see.  It just seems a shame it can’t be saved — even if a gut renovation.  It would still provide what appears to be 8 apartments and would maintain the look of the street.

I can’t resist mention of this.  It isn’t that I am negatively obsessed with Associated Market on Flatbush, after all there have been plenty of intermittent incidents of a bad product here and there in my many years of grocery shopping.  However, never so many within a relatively short span of time and at the same location.

Yesterday, I went to buy a salad mix for a last minute dinner, and there were lots of them available — a couple dozen at least.  However most of them had expired two days prior and everything else (maybe 25% of the total number available) had an expiration day of yesterday.

I found the manager and alerted him to the fact his entire stock of packaged salads were in fact outdated, or would be upon the closing of the store for the day.

“Ok, I told them,” was the response I received as he got away from me as quickly as possible. 

I bet if I walked over there this morning, these products would still be on the shelf.

Despite a Google search and a call to Buildings, I was unable to learn the meaning of the symbols I have seen drawn on buildings recently. (See my post of yesterday.) Luckily my neighbor Tom found the information (from squat.net):

“These squares are painted by the city government to indicate the status of the building. An empty square indicates that the building is abandoned. A square with a slash in it indicates that fire fighters should be cautious entering the building. A square with an X in it indicates that the building is condemned”

One point the writer at squat.net makes is the buildings are often far from the point of needing to be demolished, and judging from the exteriors of those I have seen, I have to agree there likely is a chance for them, given some money and TLC. 

This building is located on the north side of Lincoln Road between Rogers and Nostrand Avenues (quite close to Nostrand).  Looks like it may still have residents.  Note the symbol over the door.  I’ve been trying to call the Dept. of Buildings to learn what this means (no luck so far).  I have seen this mark on several buildings, plus a similar symbol — a square with an x through it  — on others.  This one may mean unsafe, the symbol with the x through it condemned.  I really do not know, just guessing here.  I forgot to write down the address, but I believe this is 249 Lincoln Road, will confirm later this week, year built estimated to be 1905.

To the right of the building is a garage also part of the property, I believe.  I think it is kind of cute, reminds me of my own house in some ways.  Will be sad if it gets demolished to make way for the new and ugly.

Living in Lefferts Manor (and therefore the historic district), provides a sense of comfort in knowing the overall look of the neighborhood will remain the same.

If there is anything I have learned from walking aound the neighborhood and environs a couple of hours daily, it is that the “Manor” and the “Historic District” are relatively small enclaves.  It only takes about 5 (or fewer) minutes walking from anywhere you live within the historic district, to an area that is not protected by rigid rules and regulations.

Honestly, this worries me.  Not as much for my own street, but when I see the many instances of demolition — houses being sold for the purpose of developing the lot — and ugly new contruction (I am guessing condos) taking place it bothers me.  Seeing what I believe to be houses and buildings that are in disrepair –but far from the point of needing to be condemned – slated for demolition is disturbing, because there are quite a few of them.  This methodolgy is not beneficial to the look and feel of the neighborhood in general.  I view the destruction of historic houses simply for land acquisition as a sad loss.  Replacing these houses by ugly new construction is a further transformation of the neighborhood into an area of tasteless architecture; geared toward contractor advantage rather than anything to benefit the current and future residents of the neighborhood.  Seriously, I do think we have plenty of very large apartment buildings here already.

While we all are deeply concerned about saving landmark buildings such as the Kings Loew’s Theatre, as well we should be, I truly wish there was a movement afoot to track some of the beautiful (wood frame especially) buildings that appear to be meeting a sudden demise via bulldozer to make way for modern brick boxes with Fedders slots.

I have been in some wood frame houses, and while they are not in so much demand as brownstones they are historic, detailed, have lots of woodwork, windows on all sides and frequently have a driveway and garage.  Well worth preservation efforts. 

If this demolition and rebuilding continues, Lefferts Manor and the PLG historic district will be maintained, but a few steps outside will look like a different world.  That is just sad.

[Note: this is a repost from my former blog, Dec. 2005]

Llewellyn and I were driving around Brooklyn one bright sunny afternoon last December.  I had promised an online acquaintance some photos of the former residences of his ancestor, one whom had started here in Brooklyn and ended up in Holyoke, MA, my hometown.

En route we stopped in Green-Wood Cemetery and though it was a very cold day, there was no snow.  So we walked around a bit.  I had it in mind to further enhance with a few photographs my online version of  the 1878 publication “New York and Its Institutions” – there are a few pages in this book devoted to Green-wood Cemetery.  Upon arrival, the sheer size of the cemetery was overwhelming, and not having a map with us, Llewellyn and I blindly wandered around, snapping pics here and there, ultimately unable to locate the monuments we has set out to find.

Just as we were preparing to head home, we encountered the tombstone seen in the photo below.  Llew took the photo, a grab shot, because it was interesting and unusual to see bear sculpture on top of what appears to be a relatively new stone.

In my ramblings through cemeteries I’ve seen lots of unusual tombstones, but this was the first bear I had ever seen, and it made me wonder why.  The deceased — named BEARD — made me think about pronunciation, and whether this name was pronounced (bîrd) (as in male facial hair) or if it was in fact pronounced (bârd) which is a Scottish name spelled BAIRD that is seen often enough.

The fact this animal sculpture is a BEAR and the decedent’s name being BEARD made my mind wander to many possibilities, including the frequent misspellings of names that have historically occurred as people were processed at Castle Garden and Ellis Island.  So in my mind I had it sorted out to represent this poor fellow who should have had the name BAIRD or perhaps it really was BEARD but should have been pronounced like BAIRD – and all his life had suffered with being called by the word which represents hair on a man’s chin, cheeks, and throat, BEARD.  I saw this large bear as a possible representation of an eternal clue to how his name should be pronounced.

Until today, that is.  This afternoon while editing some biographies from an 1888 publication, I came across William Holbrook Beard, the very person buried in this grave.  Beard was born in 1825 in Ohio, lived in Buffalo, trained in Europe and eventually resided in New York City when he soon was invited to join the National Academy of Design and became a noted painter and illustrator.  Beard died in 1900 and had no monument of any kind until October 2002.  To quote the bio: “He has painted some genre and allegorical pictures, but of late years has devoted himself almost exclusively to the painting of animals, whose habits he humanizes in a pleasing, satirical manner with much success.”  Bears apparently were among his favorite subjects and some of his paintings have cute and even whimsical titles such as: “Bears on a Bender” and “Bear-Dance.”

So while I silently laugh at my indulgent fantasy regarding the name and the sculpture on the monument, it is another reminder that — when it comes to history — you cannot make any assumptions.

You can see a couple of Beard’s pieces at AllPosters.com. I’d love to see “Bears on a Bender” but no luck in finding it

If you head south on Flatbush Avenue, past Caton Avenue, you see a notable difference in retail business compared to, say, PLG.  There is a greater variety of businesses, a few larger stores — it has an entirely different look and feel to it.

In the past I have been somewhat impressed by this, bolstered by the NY Times, who published a short article perhaps a year ago discussing the nearly 100% rental rate for retail space in this area.

Lately I have been walking in this area a lot.  Though I still remain impressed by the retail variety and the contrast to my own section of Flatbush,  I can’t help but notice there are plenty of buildings made ugly by the owners using cheap plywood to board up windows on the upper floors, or cover them entirely by signs that are way too large.  It really is too bad, it makes me wonder what the overall atmosphere in this area would be if this changed. 

Here is an example in the image below, 828 Flatbush (just south of Linden), you can see the plywood in most of the windows.  When I see a building with this overall look to it — ill-cared for – to me it impacts the merchant in the lower floor.  At least it makes me question the merchandise.  The building to the right (only a tiny bit of it shows in this pic) has blocked windows as well though look less shoddy due to the material being standardized.

When we lived in Manhattan, it was on a Park block in the 80s, on the west side.  Having invested many, many years in that rent-stabilized apartment, my husband was suddenly facing a possible eviction, the landlord claiming his parents wished to move in.

Now the landlord’s parents would occasionally stop by the building with various trades people, I suppose discussing renovation plans.  He drove a large SUV, she was in a trendy green new (at the time) Beetle.  They lived in Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn.

Suddenly to our great joy, the parental interest in our apartment waned.  Much later, we learned the interest disintegrated when the parents discovered that, unlike Brooklyn, the regulation of buildings is a bit more strict in Manhattan.  As it turns out, the parents had attempted to obtain a variance in order to excavate a garage / parking space under our building (an 1800s era brownstone).  This was, of course, denied.

At the time I was appalled that they would even consider making the attempt at such a variance.  There was one such garage on W. 90th St, but that is the only one I can ever remember seeing.

But then I moved to Brooklyn.  I have to say I find the amount of people who have makeshift parking spaces in their front yards appalling.  Thank goodness for the historic districts.  But just take a walk around Parkside from Flatbush (east) and some of the other side streets outside the district and you will see what I mean.  I have even seen one on Ocean Avenue, on the park block.  It really looks trashy to see cars snugged up to buildings in that way.  On my walks I have taken a number of photos of this but will not post them for issues of privacy.

I would love to see people who are using their front yards this way forced to park on the street, that is where cars belong.  I just cannot imagine this is legal.  I do believe if you choose to live in a city, such as this, you must buy into the rules — and if you wish to have the convenience of a car, you must also deal with the parking related issues.  Rules are made for everyone, not everyone except you.