Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Goodbye, Goldscholle & Garfinkel
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff That Makes Miss Heather Happy, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad, Urban Artifact
A very nice fellow named Matthew writes on March 21st:
I spoke to the gentleman who owns and operates Goldsholle and Garfinkel Hardware on Manhattan Ave today (I believe his name is Steve), and found out that he’s closing the store and retiring after 30 years. He told me the store has been family owned since the 1920’s. I do not know the man well, but he has always been friendly and helpful whenever I’ve gone into the store. I thought people might like to stop by and wish him well in retirement. He likes dogs and has always been happy to give my dog a treat when I’ve brought him in. Canine-centric bon voyage?
As it would happen I am friends with Steve. I can attest that he is not only a very nice fellow, but a gentleman as well. His establishment has long been a community cracker barrel of sorts. The panels vary, as do the subjects discussed. The latter usually are sports, local events, news and whatnot. Today’s “subject matter” would fall under the lattermost. And being a gentleman, Steve wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. No worries, that’s where I come in.
I have met a number of wonderful people at Steve’s. One of them is a fellow who is a landlord hereabouts. For reasons which will soon become clear he did not want his name used. It’s not really important anyway. Those of you who are familiar with this blog are well aware that I feature landlords quite frequently and it is usually not for “good” reasons. In the interest of “equal time” I will now endeavor to feature one of the “good guys”. A fellow who, upon discovering a tenant had left something of— how shall we say— a highly personal manner, has seen fit to store it in his basement for safe-keeping. Before I proceed I offering the following observations/caveats:
- If you find stuff like this offensive, do NOT watch the following video.
- Measures were taken to ensure no one who finds such accoutrements offensive was not present at the, um, “unveiling” of this item.
- If you are at work, you should probably not watch this unless you want a visit from the HR Department.
- It was quite fortuitous the following came to pass at a hardware store as a tape measure was required so as to establish its size. All I’m sayin’ is a woman knows.
Without further ado on with the show!
Thanks for the memories, Steve. You will be missed!
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: Water Tower
Filed under: 11222, Asshole, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
March 15, 2014
March 20, 2014
As you can see, gentle readers, something has come to pass in the last few days. Follows are a few thoughts:
- This is one of my favorite landmarks in Greenpoint. In fact one of my all time favorite photos I have ever taken is of this water tower.
- This pisses me off. Big time.
- I suspect a number of the folks reading this list agree with the previous two points.
- Some may find prodigal penises (penii?) hanging from telephone lines offensive. I respect their opinion. However, let’s face facts: a. it does not entail destruction of property b. it is not taking a crap on someone else’s culture.
- I do hope an effort will be made to restore this flag to its previous state.
- I want each and every one of my fellow north Brooklynites to remember this the next time certain pillars of our community extoll upon the benefits of the tourism economy. Straight up: vandalism of this variety is not perpetrated by folks who live hereabouts. Rather, it is the handwork of those who reside outside the community and as such do not treat it with the same level of care and respect as residents do. Or at least this is the only plausible reason/excuse I can find for this.
- Any/all “news outlets” which see fit to run with this news item: remember to cite www.thatgreenpointblog.com!
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Memorial
Filed under: 10009, East Village, East Village Manhattan, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
Taken by Scoboco.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Going Out Of Business
Filed under: 11222, Gentrification, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
Taken February 20, 2014.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Sailor Is Lost!
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
First I saw the flyers, then Sailor’s “person” contacted me via email. Ron writes:
Dear Miss Heather I’ve been a long time reader and just recently lost my dog as his leash slipped from my hand. I was walking him on Box St. And Manhattan ave when he took off running up Manhattan ave. he’s a white Jack Russell terrier with a dropy right ear and pointed left ear, he has a black spot just in front of his curled tail. He was wearing a blue harness connected to a black leash. His name is Sailor but also comes to Buddy. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
If you have seen “Sailor” or know of his whereabouts please contact Ron ASAP via telephone or email at: skaterron (at) gmail (dot) com
And spread the word! Thanks!
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: On The Waterfront
Filed under: 11222, Bloomblight, Crazy Cat Lady, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff That Makes Miss Heather Happy, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad, Urban Fur
See that grey stuff? That’s Manhattan.
Yup.
Once again: Yup.
One more time: Yup.
The good news: the feral felines which North Brooklyn Cats (lovely ladies all) trapped, neutered and released appear to be doing well!
The bad news: the park bench* and fence** gracing this piece of much-needed “open space” are still submerged.
What’s more, they now have a most unusual urban artifact to give them company.
A safe.
Make that an EX safe.
Welcome to Greenpoint.
Repeat after me:
Graffiti— not landlord neglect; definitely not a lack of investment and especially NOT enforcement of the law by our fair city— is ruining the neighborhood…
*Aquatic since at least November 3, 2013.
**Wrecked since at least October 8, 2013.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Homeless At The House Of Suds
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
Laura (who took the above-depicted photos today, January 1st) writes:
Hi Heather!
Mike went across the street to the Bodega and came across a homeless guy passed out in the cold in the doorway of House of Suds. He couldn’t quite bend to help the guy. Mike was astonished that other people were out on the street and hadn’t called for help. After all it’s 26 degrees out there. He hurried upstairs to call 911. We heard the ambulance in a matter of moments, but Mike also used some key words. He said “I don’t want to see another one of these homeless guys dead in this precinct.” And then whatever was asked, he said “94th”.
Well said. Yes, the Bloomberg era may be over— but we will be dealing with the consequences of it for some time. Let’s face facts: our former Mayor’s “record” when it comes to the issue of homelessness is dismal. Thus it has been and will continue to be our responsibility as citizens to look out for those who may not be able to look out for themselves. If you see someone who may be unconscious on our city’s streets— especially now that winter (replete with storm warnings) is upon us— call 911. We have already had one homeless person die of hypothermia in this community so far. This is one too many.
New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: Stop & Frisk
The latest in my snow globe series commemorating the (blissfully) soon-to-be over Bloomberg Era. NEXT UP: Santacon!
On a (somewhat) related note, I would like to take a moment to thank the Metropolitan Transit Authority for— wittingly or unwittingly— scheduling a suspension of the Crosstown Local the weekend of this lovely act of “philanthropy”. I strongly suspect this did preclude these miscreants from “spilling over” here.
Thanks guys (and gals)!
H/T to EVGrieve for bringing the above gem to my attention.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: Much Ado About Nuhart
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad, Wow
Kim of Save Greenpoint writes:
Hi Heather,
I would like to direct your attention to a plume map provided by the DEC which clearly shows the Superfund site contaminants sitting at the school site’s door. Despite reassurances that remediation efforts will be done before a school will be built, NO alternative sites were explored b/c it would make GPL’s construction costs higher.
The school site is located on the bottom left corner with the navigation star. The numbers represent the depth of the liquid phalates. In some cases, it goes 5 ft deep.
This new info should be circulated. Regardless of what Steve Levin’s press release says, the approval of these projects is not a victory for Greenpoint residents. Nothing is affordable if the lives of children and adults are at risk b/c they have no choice but to go to a school so close to toxins because developers want to shave their bottom dollar. It’s deplorable that no other school sites were investigated. This land is undeveloped. GPL could have placed that school anywhere else. A through clean-up does nothing to address this fact. Also, the remediation set forth is not a full guarantee. Under the current language, if a property owner had that designation, they would not be able to plant a garden b/c the plants would die. This is the protection City Council approved.
Here is a link to the School Construction Authorities published RFP that states why they never explored alternative sites. Attached you will find the map.
http://www.nycsca.org/Community/NewSchoolSites/Dist14/Dist14-NewSchool-NOF.pdfThanks again Miss Heather for getting the word out. This ugly truth needs to get out…
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
It would appear 161 Huron Street— including its trash can container— has become ad hoc sleeping quarters for our local homeless population.
(Taken December 9, 2013.)
NYS Flickr Pool
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