My Life In Brooklyn

Ever-changing Flatbush Ave.  Directly to the left is Associated.

In December I mentioned 653 Flatbush Avenue, a retail space, was an available rental.

Managing my own expectations, I was resigned to the thought of  (yet another) beauty related business. Please don’t criticize me, I do enjoy seeing and documenting them, however I have been eager to see different types of businesses move into the area.

So, imagine my surprise to see the space not only rented, but with new signage.  Admittedly, it isn’t on my short list of retail high-hopes, but hey — it isn’t a beauty salon.  So I welcome Stones Casual Wear and wish them the very best!

Below I have two images, taken the same day by my spouse.  Purely by chance he happened to catch the first image on the way to work yesterday morning.  Late last night, I happened to notice the new sign, which is not a surprise really as it can’t easily be missed.  Could it be any more ostentatious?  The full effect of this sign is not represented in this grab shot – it is huge, and all of it is pretty much bright red and white (lower sign says “park with us”) — and there is considerably more light generated than can be seen from this image.  Location Fenimore and Flatbush.

Not that there is too much cause for complaint.  When we first moved to the area, the parking lot was simply a wide driveway with a chain link fence.  The building over the garage driveway is a newly built extension as of this year.  Anyway, at that time (five years ago) they had a loud, irritating high-pitched alarm that was set off by a motion detector — needless to say the sound bounced all the way down Fenimore street and was the topic of more than one block association meeting.  Many people in this neighborhood like loud.

I am assuming this may be the finishing touch on the building.  As far as I know, it is completely devoid of tenants.  The space on the ground floor, to the left of the garage entry was a health center that moved to Clarkson on April 1.  The second floor is newly built, and there is additional retail space on the ground floor to the right of the garage door. I haven’t seen any tenant activity yet.

It’s ugly construction, made worse with the sign.  But, so far it remains quiet.

I’ve seen a lot of street vendors I’ll dub as “interesting” during the five years I have lived in the neighborhood.  I’ve seen guys walking around with plastic garbage bags full of ukuleles ($5) and little concertinas (different guy, but also $5).  A number of times I’ve seen an assortment of vehicles, including one with T & LC tags, suddenly pull over to the west side of Flatbush, near the Fenimore intersection, pop the trunk and pull out goat carcasses.  And out of seemingly nowhere, people appear and collect the goats, loading them into their own cars.  It is typically a two-minute transaction.  The first time it was observed I was a little surprised, but it is far from unusual.

This Saturday afternoon I headed over to Associated on Flatbush to pick up a couple of items.

Something was happening that was Different.  I could see a couple of guys approach pedestrians as they headed toward Associated, and while my first thought might have turned to panhandlers, these guys were wearing what appeared to be white lab coats.  The medical center located at that very location had moved to Clarkson already, so this was curious. 

Approaching them, I heard the pitch.  They were selling meat.  Out of the back of a large maroon van.  No one appeared to be interested in looking at the meat in the back of the van, and as I got closer I rather hoped they would ask me, because I wanted to see what the deal was. But no one did, and instead, I just went to the store and picked up what I needed.

On the way home, no more than 10 minutes later, the guys in the white lab coats — excuse, me I think they were meant to be butcher’s coats — approached me

You like meat?” one guy asked me.

What are you selling?” I asked.

Come here and have a look,” white jacket said, ushering me to be back of the van.

He opened the van.  Inside was the largest Styrofoam cooler I have ever seen.  It filled the back of the van, the top was off and, indeed, it was filled to the brim with meat.

What are you doing selling meat on the street?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, I have a permit,” white coat told me.  “You like lamb chops?”

“Where did this meat come from?” I asked white coat.

“Omaha Steaks” white coat told me.  “You know that meat that you get in the mail?  You know that meat?” 

I nodded.

Why do those cardboard boxes say Burlington, NJ?” I asked him. 

White coat didn’t flinch.  “Because Omaha Steaks owns that plant in NJ, they actually OWN Omaha Steaks”, he added emphatically.

“Okay, so what about the lamb chops,” I asked. 

White coat lifted up a package and showed it to me. “They come in packs of 10,” he said.

“How much does it weigh?” I asked.

“Here,” you hold it and you can tell.  White coat handed me the package.  I held it for a few seconds.  Clearly no one knew the weight of anything packaged in that cooler.

“So how much?” I asked.

“Only $25,” White Coat said.

“Way too much,” I said.

“You know how much these cost?” he said.

“I was just in the store, I know how much they cost,” I told him. White coat immediately countered with $20 for the package.

“Still too high,” I said, looking in the cooler.  “What else have you got?”

Turns out they had quite a variety.  Fish, steaks, and pork chops that I was able to see.  All conveniently priced at $25 a package, though I am confident $15 would have been possible with very little effort.

“Don’t think this is going to work for me today,” I told him.  But it didn’t matter because someone else had shown some interest and White Coat was no longer paying any attention to me.  Perhaps it was too obvious I wasn’t a paying customer.

So a new one for me.  I can’t imagine they had a permit to sell meat on Flatbush Avenue out of the back of a van.  Who knows the origin — Omaha Steaks is unlikely.

I do, however, give them major points for the butcher/lab coats.  Good for the credibility factor. Nice touch.

On 31 July, ATP posted a RIP to the Fireside, a Flatbush Ave restaurant that didn’t last very long.  Yesterday evening on my way home I noticed the gate on the former Fireside slightly raised and a certain amount of activity suggesting perhaps a little reno. 

So are there any plans we know of for this place?  I almost always have my camera with me, so here is a pic.  Stack of tile to the right in the doorway, though not so easily seen here.  Something is going on.  We can only hope it will be of non-beauty genre and offer some appeal to the community.