Miss Mordred Readies Herself For Spring

Yesterday I had the pleasure of bumping into one of Greenpoint’s most stylish citizens. Yes, I am talking about none other than Miss Mordred.

She was busy doing a little shopping at the local junk shop and didn’t have the time or desire to model her fine fettle for me.

She was perfectly amenable to having her head scratched by Mr. Heather, though.

After a little cajoling we were finally able to get her to strike a pose.

Her dress sports no less than three bows! Tres chic!

Miss Heather

Smells Like Greenpoint Spirit!

Any Greenpointer new or old will recognize this building. It is the Greenpoint Savings Bank. Or more accurately, it was the Greenpoint Savings Bank. A few years ago it was bought out by North Fork. Most recently it became Capital One. Which brings me to a fantastic comment I received from a reader who has the pleasure of banking at this newly christened establishment. Rebecca11222 writes:

You know the economy is bad when the big banks are buying up the smaller ones. Greenpoint Bank became North Fork in 2005. North Fork is now owned by Capital One. You’d think that would mean they’d hire more tellers and improve service, but you’d be wrong.

I was in line last month when some elderly ladies came close to rioting because the bank was “all out of $100 bills.” One hip granny said:

Whadaya mean you’re out of money? You’re a bank, you ain’t the damn grocery store.

The guards were getting nervous. The situation was resolved when the eight to ten of us in line (2 tellers working) came to the woman’s aid and traded large bills for her small ones.

Nope, you can’t take Greenpoint. Or would that be Greenpoint grannies wont take you(r shit)?

Miss Heather

Some Fish For Friday

(Or, Greenpoint: 2, Philosophy Works: 0)

Shortly after writing this post I noticed Philosophy Works has seen fit to retool their advertising campaign.

And wouldn’t you know it, but some Crosstown local patron, marker in hand, was ready and waiting.

Anyone up for a little fillet of soul?

Miss Heather

1000 Manhattan Avenue, Revisited Yet Again

Yes folks, it would appear that the unthinkable has indeed happened. After a full year of citations and $20,000 worth of fines (all which are unpaid, by the way) this building owner is finally making much-needed repairs to this building.

I don’t know about you, but I think a block party should be thrown after this (admittedly hilarious) eyesore is removed from the sidewalk.

Miss Heather

Back At It At P.S. 110

It would appear that our nocturnal contractors have progressed from earth moving and now have taken to pouring cement at 11:00 p.m. on Monday night. My informant (who has the dubious pleasure of living next to this site) writes:

There was another episode — this time involving concrete pouring — last night (Monday) around 11. I tried to take some camera phone pictures, but they just look like blob montages.

Anyway, I am happy to report that I navigated the slings and arrows of 311 and made a successful noise complaint. However, I was advised that public schools enjoy a different set of permitting criteria, and so the off-hours-ness of the construction may be entirely legit, and blah, blah, blah, call some other people during business hours. Which of course I have as yet failed to do, other income-generating parts of my life having taken a higher priority.

So there have you. Public schools are (ostensibly and) legally allowed to do what many developers hereabouts do anyway: raise an unholy ruckus in the wee hours of the night. I for one am happy to know the city cares so much about our little ones getting a brand-spanking new elevator. I am certain this will make standardized test scores go through the roof. It would be nice, however, if the powers that be would take into account the quality of life for us adults.

Miss Heather

THIS WEEK: United Friends of McCarren Park

Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. the newly formed United Friends of McCarren Park will be meeting at the Automotive High School Library. Some items on the agenda for this event are as follows:

1. The “group structure” subcommittee will present a proposal for an ongoing structure and format for the group. It is going to change the way you think about democracy.

2. If the structure proposal is agreed upon, UFMP will vote on members of a Steering Committee. Those interested in taking a leadership role in this new group will be asked to introduce themselves and say a few words about their interest in the park, etc.

3. Ideas for continued outreach to other park users, etc.

Those of you who are not familiar with U.F.M.P. is about will find this synopsis from their latest announcement informative:

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP (Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning) wants to help kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods by helping to create (where one doesn’t exist) support (where one does exist) and unite (where, as with McCarren Park, several active groups co-exist) park-specific Friends Groups.

The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the park, the issues and needs of each park and, most importantly, establish a community representative (or two or six or twenty) of that park, acting as a watchdog and persistently (key word) pushing for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance (www.openspacealliancenb.org), neighbors, local businesses, grants…

We have an opportunity, with this particular Mayor and the promises made regarding the McCarren Park Pool, Ice Skating Rink and Skate Park, to push for real improvements in McCarren Park. We need to make sure we have a unified and coherent voice in the way the park is maintained and plans made for future developments. With the Pool reconstruction underway (design-wise at least) it seems the various user-groups of this potentially wonderful park have a shared purpose. Let’s use it to make the park better

Anyone who is interested in attending April 3rd’s meeting, has suggestions for the meeting format and/or agenda or wants to suggest other park user-groups who might wish to participate should contact Dewey Thompson at:

dthompson (at) pickerelpie (dot) com

In closing, I will leave you with some materials I recently acquired that hail back to the McCarren Park of yore. I am not too certain when they date from (my guess is the 1980s), but they bear testament that to the fact that the only way we, as residents of North Brooklyn, are going to effect any real and lasting change regarding our public spaces is to unite and hold our public officials accountable for the promises they have made.

The more eagle-eyed among you will notice closing Driggs Avenue to vehicular traffic is not such a new idea after all.

Comfort Station– in disrepair

Despite the radical changes Williamsburg and Greenpoint have undergone the last ten years I find it perversely comforting (no pun intended) that some things remain the same.

Miss Heather

P.S.: Be sure to check out the enlarged rendering of the old park plan which graces the beginning of this post. It is quite interesting.

Back In Business!

As some of you might have noticed, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory experienced an electrical outage this winter which required them to close to make repairs. Well, as of my latest walk down Commercial Street Sunday evening I noticed they are back in business. Just in time for a spring time scoop (or two)!

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
97 Commercial Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

All you sweet tooths out there should take note that this establishment keeps rather unusual business hours: Thursday – Sunday 3:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Miss Heather