Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
The Word On The Street, Part II: Nostrand Avenue Free Verse
Today yours truly went on a five hour photo walk/drive with the fabulously talented Chris Arnade. Although I have many treats in store for you, gentle readers, I feel this missive deserves its own post. I realize it is a bit difficult to read so I will transcribe it for you:
My dad is a rat.
Me mother is a roach.
I’m a turd.
So I put my garbage here.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Starter: Do The Reading
Filed under: 11216, Bed-Stuy, Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, Culture War, The Word On The Street
From Nostrand Avenue.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: A Rather Nifty Urban Artifact
(Or: Much Milder)
Lest the Bed-Stuy heavy content on New York Shitty has not clued you in already, yours truly whiled away this beautiful day in Bedford Stuyvesant. I found the above advertisements at the intersection of Madison Street and Nostrand Avenue. While the subject matter might be objectionable to some, it was rather neat to see a vestige of the old New York!
Miss Heather
P.S.: This post goes out to the guys at the corner of Halsey Street and Nostrand Avenue. One of whom told me:
I like small white women walking around my neighborhood. It makes me feel safer.
A rather lively (and downright funny) discussion ensued. Follows is a synopsis:
- After laughing my ass off. Hard. I tell this chap I like him too.
- I also add that I like everybody.
- He said he liked me.
- His friend said he liked everyone as well.
- I wrapped up this tete a tete as follows: So, EVERYONE on this corner of Halsey and Nostrand likes EVERYONE!
After, of course, testifying that it has been my personal experience that white women— especially those of the “small” variety— are among the most formidable people I have ever met.
CASE IN POINT: My grandmother who clocked in at a whopping 4′ 9″ in height. I have yet to meet a more terrifying person than her in this mortal coil. The fact her name was Daisy is pure gravy. My new friends found this tremendously entertaining.
Thought Of The Day
My initial reaction when I saw this was:
Some people really should have their ad copy checked before bringing in the sign maker.
Then I thought about it some more and concluded that in this case (which I presume to be accidental) the outcome is far superior to whatever “vision” the owner of this establishment might have had. What a difference one single letter makes!
Miss Heather
Name These Kittens: The Bed-Stuy Quartet
Filed under: 11216, 11222, Bed-Stuy, Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, Crazy Cat Lady, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Queens
Yesterday I had the blues so I went for a walk. I’m glad I did. It was on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg that I learned things could always be worse. For example, I could be this guy— or worse yet, his ex-girlfriend. So it goes. Today I met some little ones who had an even rougher life… and they’re only six weeks old!
When Jay of Dog Habitat told me last weekend that they just got in a litter of kittens rescued from Bed-Stuy naturally I had to make their acquaintance.
Here they are!
These two are definitely the more outgoing of the bunch. The “crouching tiger” is the solitary boy of the litter. I nicknamed him “Biggie Smalls” because he is the biggest of the “smalls”. His more defiant companion (who Jay has nicknamed “Smudgy”) appears to be the leader of this crew, as you will see.
These two are much more shy. Especially the one on the left. The one on the right is the runt of the litter. Given she is little…
VERY LITTLE and hails from Bed-Stuy I nicknamed her L’il Kim. Not that these kittens have names per se: they don’t. But more about that later. Here’s Jay telling us how these Bed-Stuy beauties came to be (albeit temporarily) Greenpointers.
Then Jay left me alone to get acquainted with them. We started with an ice breaker I like to call “watch the hand”.
Then we upgraded to a cat toy.
Then we had a little lunch.
But back to the purpose of this post: these kittens do not have names! For this reason Jay and I decided a contest is in order. Do you have names for this winsome quartet of cuties? If so, please tender them via comments or email at: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. Otherwise, you can see more pix and videos of these cuties by clicking here.
In closing, here a little something for the dog lovers out there. The above lovely lass, Abby, was recently found wandering around Jackie Robinson Parkway in Queens. Luckily a good Samaritan picked her up. And by the previous I mean lucky for her and us: she’s a sweet gentle thing!
As I have (often) written before: anyone who is interested in providing a loving home to any of these lovely (and loving) furkids should contact Dog Habitat via telephone at (347) 601-8678 or via email at: rescue (at) doghabitat (dot) org. Tell ’em I sent you.
Thanks!
Miss Heather
Great Moments In Abjectecture: Quincy Street
Filed under: 11216, Abjectecture, Articles of Fedderization, Bed-Stuy, Bed-Stuy Brooklyn
Many of you have noticed I have been pounding the pavement in Bed Stuy a lot lately. There are a number of reasons for this. Among them:
- I am trying to assemble a nice selection of photographs for my upcoming show at Creek & Cave.
- I simply like Bed Stuy.
If these is one word I would use to describe the topography of the Stuy it would be this: heterogenous. Nowhere else (in north-ish Brooklyn, anyway) will you see a more diverse selection of architecture. On any given block one will find meticulously restored brownstones, derelict construction sites, foreclosed properties, slick new condos and, of course, Fedders Specials. Which brings me to Quincy Street— and the subject of this post.
To the right we have your standard run-of-the-mill three story rowhouse. These are a dime a dozen. On the left we have a Fedders Special. These too are a dime a dozen. But there is a something more going on here than the usual air conditioning boxes, disproportionate balconies, exposed electrical meters and copious use of cement.
Instead of being embedded in the building proper, the mailboxes have been affixed to the front door. This may seem trivial, but I want you to consider this: what is going to happen if you have someone checking his/her mail and another tenant wants to exit the building? Of course this is not only poor engineering, it is also quite ugly.
Miss Heather
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