Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
Williamsburg Pay Phone du Jour: The Lobotophone
Filed under: Williamsburg
Looks like someone saw fit to give this Grand Street pay phone a lobotomy.
Miss Heather
Fear And Loathing On The Southside
Filed under: Williamsburg
Last Friday The New York Observer made the following wry observation about my latest installment of violence against public pay phones:
Evidence would suggest Williamsburg pay phones have become the target of twenty-something angst.
I mulled this theory over for a moment and came to the conclusion that they may very well be right. It also begs the question as to how the neighbors of these 20-somethings vent the frustration that invariably arises with living elbow to elbow with the young and the privileged. Yesterday on Driggs Avenue at South 3rd Street I finally learned their secret.
Step 1: Get a door, preferably one that is light weight and of low quality
Step 2: Secure an X-Men 2 poster and some duct tape.
Step 3: Affix the aforementioned poster to door with duct tape.
Step 4: Give your doorman a “body” and slug away.
Looks like this guy needs to work on his aim.
Miss Heather
Williamsburg Photo du Jour: Bedford Avenue
Filed under: Williamsburg
Yes, it would appear that there are people in this borough (real estate agents mainly) who think flogging the Fischer brand will attract business. Where is this Maple Street masterpiece, you ask? It’s here.
Miss Heather
Brooklyn Photos du Jour: Dreaming of Spring
Pulaski Street, Bedford Stuyvesant.
Lorimer Street, Williamsburg
Miss Heather
Borough Of Lost Toys, Part III
One thing I really love about Brooklyn is their love of toys. As I walk our borough’s streets I never know when I will find a tug boat perched atop a quonset, a leopard hiding in a shrub or a dapperly dressed plastic duck. But enough with the words, let’s see some toys!
Myrtle Avenue, Fort Greene
Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg
Stuyvesant Avenue, Bedford Stuyvesant
Boerum Street, “East Williamsburg”
Putnam Avenue, Bedford Stuyvesant.
I got into an interesting discussion with a gentleman (and Marine Corps. veteran) who lives across the street from this planter. That’s one thing I have noticed about Bed-Stuy; the people who live there are incredibly friendly and LOVE to talk.
Neighbor: I saw the guy who put the leopard in that planter.
Miss Heather: Really?
Neighbor: Yes, it was around midnight. I thought to myself “You know, if he wants to do that kind of thing he should do it on his own property. Someone’s liable to walk by this at twelve hundred or thirteen hundred, you know, in the morning, drunk, and think, Hey it’s a kitten!”
Did I mention Bed-Stuyers also have a wicked sense of humor?
Miss Heather
A Revue Of Williamsburg Pay Phones
It has been awhile since I indulged my fixation for maltreated public pay phones. Today I will usher in the weekend with a few new finds from Williamsburg.
South 4th Street
I am quickly learning that this is a pretty common example of pay phone abuse, e.g; the receiver is broken into two pieces. I like to call these “danglers”.
Union Avenue
The person responsible for this devious bit of pay phone chicanery has presented us with a poser. Those who are lucky enough to approach this pay phone from the north can quickly ascertain its lack of functionality. Everyone else is not so fortunate. Caveat emptor.
Metropolitan Avenue
I am fascinated by the number of pay phones whose receivers are simply ripped off. Are these collectible? Is there an underground community of public pay phone receiver fetishists in New York City? If so, I hope they use plenty of disinfectant.
Speaking of prophylaxis, be sure to pack a little protection before you give this person a ring. From your cell phone, of course.
Miss Heather
Fedders Friday: The Gruesome Twosome
Yesterday I had a epiphany. One of those fleeting moments when one stops what he (or she) is doing, takes a few steps back and asks him (or herself):
This is my life?!?
This moment came to pass while I was sorting through my rapidly expanding collection of substandard architecture for this week’s installment of Fedders Friday. I shit you not, this process took one full hour of my time. During which I found myself sizing up the virtues of one pile of prefab shit or another. Exasperated (and coming to the realization that I am in dire need of a vacation) I decided to showcase a couple of beauties from East Williamsburg. Here they are.
Maujer Street
This thoroughfare is rapidly becoming a veritable Fedders paradise. Believe it or not, this is one of the more attractive offerings to be found here.
As you can see this building is lavishly appointed with all the luxury trimmings we have grown to expect in north Brooklyn: surveillance cameras, exposed gutters and, lest we forget, Fedders boxes.
It also sports a nice cement front yard from which one can contemplate the finer things in life, such as overflowing garbage cans.
Lorimer Street
I have been watching this monstrosity cutting edge piece of architecture with a mixture of horror, confusion and fascination for months.
I spent ten whole minutes trying to decipher the seemingly random placement of Fedders boxes on this wing. Then I came to the conclusion there are some mysteries in life one simply will never comprehend. As Donnie Rumsfeld so sagely stated:
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
Add to that: There are things we know we don’t want to know.
I wonder which street gang this chap is referring to? Crips or Bloods. Given the copious use of red brick on this building, I’m going to say Bloods.
Whoever they are, I am certain they will make their new neighbors feel right at home.
Miss Heather
P.S.: I’d like to give a special Fedders Friday honorable mention to this property on Stockton Street.
Newly constructed homes for sale.
Make that a lot of newly constructed homes for sale.
It’s like a dream come true! Where’s the grass?
Williamsburg Photo du Jour: Grand Street
Filed under: Williamsburg
I am guessing the author of this advertisement meant to say railroad apartment.
If this is not the case I wonder exactly what constitutes a “subway type apartment”? Does it come furnished with some big dude who will sit on your couch with his legs spread as widely as is humanly possible? Do you have a doorman whose job is sticking his foot in your front door open long enough to let all his friends in? Crazy homeless folk shouting to people only he (or she) can see immediately comes to mind as does having your personal space violated six ways to Sunday due to over-crowding. And lest we forget, there’s always the ubiquitous “stinky person” whose malodorous presence makes his (or her) fellow passengers bolt to the next car gasping for air.
$1,200 a month seems like a lot of money to pay for such amenities when one can pay $81.00 for an unlimited ride Metrocard and experience all the previous…
and much, much more. No deposit necessary.
Miss Heather
News On The Bed Bug Front
HPD will be visiting Greenpoint May 6 to give a two hour seminar about the pernicious vermin afflicting a lot of people in New York City: bed bugs. The purpose of this gathering is as follows:
- What are bed bugs?
- Are bed bugs dangerous?
- How do you know your home is infested with bedbugs?
- How can you get rid of bedbugs safely?*
- What are some bedbug myths?
Points #1-3: As my comrade to the south piquantly stated:
Hm, I thought the idea was to avoid infestations.
BushwickBK is entitled to his opinion. As am I— and I politely (and rationally) beg to differ. One cannot avoid infestations if he/she does not know what to look for— and the sad fact of the matter is most people don’t.
Which brings me to point #5: Bed bugs do not care about your socio/economic/ethnic status. Gay, straight or bi, they’ll happily dine upon anyone who gives them the opportunity. Even if you own a condo and speak English as a first language.
The HPD bed bug workshop in Greenpoint will be conducted May 6, 2008 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m at…
The Greenpoint Reformed Church
136 Milton Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222
R.S.V.P: (212) 863-8830
In closing there’s a new bed bug wailing wall online. It is called New York vs. Bed Bugs. Last week I was asked by a reporter why I cared so much about the bed bug problem in my neighborhood. My answer was a very simple (and selfish) one:
I do not want to get them.
I know far too many people who have (and continue) to go through the utter hell of exterminating these creatures. An ounce of prevention is worth several months (and hundreds of dollars) worth of cure. Call and R.S.V.P. today.
Miss Heather
*Point #4: Yesterday evening I listened to two men on the G train (at the Clinton-Washington stop) discuss bed bugs. One advised spraying them with Lysol because (and I quote):
That slows them down.
His counterpart said he found one on his mattress, sprayed it with alcohol and then applied heat with a blow drier.
Um, that sounds kind of dangerous.
Williamsburg Pay Phone du Jour: Division Avenue
Filed under: Williamsburg
Sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please get another roll of packing tape and try again.
Miss Heather
NYS Flickr Pool
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