Greenpoint Photo du Jour: HELLO

From Manhattan Avenue.

Miss Heather

Question Of The Day

This is the storefront at 881 Manhattan Avenue. As my colleague over at Brooklyn11222 noted earlier this year this delectable bit of early 1960’s style (and its neighbors to the north) have been vacant for some time. On May 27 she wrote:

…Tonight, getting off the G train, we ran into a local couple who were complaining about the same thing we were, and overheard them say, “And Duane Reade, here we come.” They confirmed that it was going to be a Duane Reade, taking over the candy store on the very corner, the upstairs and the downstairs of the building, and that the buildings between it and the corner of Milton (except for the bank-now-medical-clinic) were going to be torn down and a highrise was going in.

This explains the businesses moving around, and the continual empty storefronts – who wants to move in if you’re going to have to close up shop soon?

Confirmations and/or denials appreciated.

As you can see as of November 22, 2008 there is no highrise —and given the way the economy is going I doubt there will be one in the foreseeable future.

In the meantime this property has become a popular spot for the local homeless population to take a nap. It also serves nicely as an ad hoc garbage can and (as we have seen already) space to post advertisements. Which brings me to this.

It would appear that I am not the only person who finds the deplorable condition of this property irritating.

Miss Heather

Greenpoint After Dark

I was pleased as punch this week to discover that the Professor has posted some new snaps of Garden Spot taken long after dark. Follow are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Behold the Manhattan Avenue “Meat People”!

Methinks this might be the only time I have seen the C-Town without a checkout line a mile long.

Without out argument this one (taken of the Thai Cafe) is my favorite.

And how about a muffin (or two) for dessert?

You can see the above images and many more great nighttime shots of Greenpoint over at Kitchen Prof’s flickr page. Check ’em out!

Miss Heather

Stoop Sale Alert: 103 Greenpoint Avenue

Even though “prime” stoop sale season has since left us I felt this was worth passing along. Not only will free coffee be served but “good music” is also in the offering. Check it out!

SUPER STOOP SALE
Noverber 22, 2008 (no times given)
103 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Miss Heather

Need A “Warm Cozy Cheap” Room To Rent?

Or maybe your Aunt Tillie is coming to town over Thanksgiving and you need to find her a place to stay? If so I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Greenpoint’s got ’em.

The bad news: they are located at none other than the Greenpoint Hotel* which, correct me if I’m wrong, has been receiving a larger number of visits from the fire department and E.M.S. workers than usual lately. Perhaps this ad campaign this is their way of making up for attrition?

If you don’t believe the fkier gracing the beginning of this post is shilling rooms at this rather colorful establishment Google the above telephone number and see for yourself! Seeing is believing.

Miss Heather

UPDATE, 8:45 p.m.: Apparently the Greenpoint Hotel is making the rounds on Craigslist as well (see comments). Be sure to check out my screencaps of their HIGHLY amusing advertisements by clicking over to my flickr set. Here’s a sample of the hilarity which awaits you!

YUP. And believe it or not, it gets even better.

*Those of you who have not done so already should read this New York Times article entitled “Cheap Rooms, and ‘a Drug for Every Floor”. It is quite illuminating.

Cherry Point?

Unless you have been living under a rock you probably know the Kosciuszko Bridge is slated to be razed. Plans have been filed to replace it and objections from several Indian tribes which once called this area home have been aired. The fly in their collective proverbial ointment is the possibility artifacts might be found on the land designated for the new bridges. In all probability they’re right. Just like our Vice-President elect, the Delaware Nation didn’t necessarily originate from Delaware. They once called Newtown Creek home.

With imagery such as this it is easy enough to forget that Greenpoint was once a bucolic and remote bit of marshy farmland where oysters were plentiful and cherries and grapes were cultivated and rendered into (among other tasty things) cider and vinegar. This is probably what our fair burgh was once called— I shit you not— Cherry Point. Don’t believe me? Here’s an excerpt from the August 1, 1886 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Enjoy!

You can read the above article in its entirely by clicking here. That said, some of you might have noticed I underlined “History of Brooklyn”: the book this reporter referenced. This is because I not only find citing one’s sources sexy (and ethically mandatory), as it would happen I possess this tome.

And I ain’t talking about a reprint! You can read the passage the previous Brooklyn Daily Eagle article is referencing by clicking here.*

Does this humble piece of road gracing the southeastern side of the Kosciuszko Bridge pay homage to Greenpoint’s (decidedly greener) past? It’s a very distinct possibility; not only was Cherry Street in existence as early as 1855, but our humble ‘nabe also once sported a street called “Orchard”. This thoroughfare still exists to this day albeit under a different name. For the reveal click here.

Miss Heather

Map Credit: ragette.org. If want to see some really cool old maps of Greenpoint and Williamsburg by all means check out this site! You won’t regret it.

*CAVEAT: I would like to advise the more racially sensitive among you that attitudes/opinions of the author (Henry R. Stiles himself) do not reflect the attitudes of yours truly. It was a different time in 1884 than it is 2008. In 124 years we’ve gone from using florid racist language like “retinue of jolly negroes in field and kitchen” to electing our first African American president. We as a people have come a long, long way.If you ask me this couldn’t have happened soon enough.