Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
Williamsburg Photos Du Jour: On The Waterfront
Filed under: Williamsburg
Kent Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue
River Street
Grand Ferry Park
Miss Heather
Attention All Urban Photographers & Street Art Enthusiasts
If you happen to be on River Street do not take a picture of this.
And sure as hell don’t shutterbug this.
Why, you ask? Because if you do it might result in you (and your husband) being questioned by New York’s Finest as to what you are doing. This is what happened to the Mister and I this evening.
Hello there, we see you’re taking photographs— why?
Miss Heather: I think the shadows and diagonals are visually pleasing.
We saw you take photographs of graffiti back there.
Miss Heather: Yeah, someone spray-painted the word “meat” on the wall and I found it interesting.
Because it’s sort of “beefy”?
Miss Heather: Exactly. I happen to be a vegetarian.
Seeing where this conversation was headed (nowhere good— and soon) the Mister jumped in and after some more “dialoging”, they left us to go about our business. Inasmuch as interfacing with the NYPD can be amicable it was: tense, but polite. Still the experience left me wondering:
Why?
Perhaps these chaps have been instructed to watch photographers— especially those who happen to document “graffiti”? The only logic at work here I can think of is the presumption that when people (such as myself) document this stuff it is going to somehow encourage the people responsible for it to continue their nefarious work (and, in so doing, lower everyone’s “quality of life”). I suppose this is possible. BUT…
it’s been my experience that derelict buildings (of which north Brooklyn has many— such as the one above example which is located around the corner) do more than their fair share of lowering my quality of life.
Nice, eh?
The above can be found on the front door of this Kent Street deadiface. Call me subversive, but I don’t really see how this could possibly be construed as making this building an eyesore. It has achieved that very readily on its own. Rather smashingly, I will add. One piece of street art graffiti isn’t going to make any difference; if anything the above bit of mischief adds some sorely needed “value” to this turd. It certainly makes me smile, anyway.
Speaking of which, a building doesn’t have to be old and decrepit to elicit social commentary, oh, I mean graffiti.
CASE IN POINT: Northside Piers.
Miss Heather
Williamspoint Photos Du Jour: Question Of The Day
Manhattan Avenue
Wythe Avenue
Nassau Avenue
Kent Avenue
Maujer Street
QUESTION: What do you call a municipal government (and the people who elected it) when a year’s worth of rent on a two bedroom apartment in north Brooklyn meets— if not exceeds— the median income for family of four?
ANSWER: A disgrace.
Although quite a fuss has been raised over the glut of “luxury” apartments in my community (and the high vacancy rates which have come as a result), no one seems to have noticed the visible increase in homelessness that has come with it. Among the “benefits” Greenpoint was promised as a result of the new zoning were park space and affordable housing. As of April 22, 2009 we have received neither. Instead we have been saddled with a colossal number of empty lots, vacant properties and half-finished “nondos” while more people and more people are finding themselves on the streets.
Am I the only person who is angered by this?
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: Adoption Event & Benefit
Tomorrow, April 11, the folks at Empty Cages Collective have not one but two events lined up. Firstly, they will having an adoption event from noon until 5:00 p.m. at NYC Pet Supplies:
241 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11211
Later that evening there will be a benefit at the Rockstar Bar featuring Nathan Carpenter, Morgan O’Cane, Sturgeon, Zhenia Golov, Hipster Holocaust, and DJ Marvelous Hagler with proceeds going to Empty Cages Collective. Doors open at 9:00 p.m. and admission will be determined on a “sliding scale” (think anywhere between $5.00 – $10.00— either way that’s pretty cheap!).
Empty Cages Collective Benefit
April 11, 2009 starting at 9:00 p.m.
Rockstar Bar
351 Kent Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11211
For more details about either of these events head over to Empty Cage’s web site.
Miss Heather
Williamsburg Photos Du Jour: A Sampling Of Street Art
Metropolitan Avenue
North 9 Street
North 10 Street
Bedford Avenue
Kent Avenue
Miss Heather
Willamspoint Photos Du Jour: People In My Neighborhood
Bedford Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue
Grand Street
Franklin Street
Kent Avenue
Maspeth Avenue
Manhattan Avenue
Miss Heather
A Girl And Her Blog
It would appear that politicians (and the developers to whom they are beholden) have done a smashing job of removing “urban blight” (READ: the working class/poor) from north Brooklyn. Who needs nuclear bombs when re-zoning, complicity and bureaucratic incompetence/apathy will do the job? Nonetheless the end product is more or less the same: a community whose quality of life has been compromised.
Follows is a revue of developer-induced blight in north Brooklyn I captured yesterday, April 5. I have entitled it After The Gold Rush.
The sad reality is re-zoning, tax bennies, and easy credit have done little to benefit my neighborhood. There were once businesses that gave people decent, well paying jobs. Affordable rental property was once in abundance in Greenpoint as well. No more. Thanks to our city’s leadership much of my wonderful neighborhood has become a wasteland peppered by vacant lots, failed condominiums cum overpriced rental property, illegal hostels and super-sized tourist destinations operated by and for the affluent.
The time is long overdue for north Brooklyn to be developed in a manner sensitive to the needs of the people who constitute this community, not the ones Mayor Bloomberg’s rich cronies envision living here.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Miss Heather
P.S.: This one’s for you, Bob.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Monday, Monday
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
From Bushwick Inlet.
Miss Heather
Southside Photos Du Jour: Under The Rails
Filed under: Williamsburg
From South 6th Street & Kent Avenue.
Miss Heather
Crosstown Local Photo Du Jour: Fashion
The missive comes courtesy of the Smith – 9th platform at Greenpoint Avenue’s very own G train. On a semi-related note Williamsburg’s Fashion Weekend kicks off today. Maybe they can teach these reality television fucktards a few things about style? Or not. In any case here’s a snippet from their press release:
Williamsburg Fashion Weekend!
See where up-and-coming Brooklyn designers are taking fashion. The presentations are anything but ordinary or predictable, with show-specific live music scores and artist performances.
When: Friday, February 20th, and Saturday, February 21st, 2009.
– Featuring the collections of eight Brooklyn designers.
– Four collections on Friday. Four collections on Saturday.
Where: At Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Williamsburg Fashion Weekend
February 20 -21, 2009
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11211
For more details click here. No kid should be forced to wear a candy-ass outfit like this. Do it for the children!
Miss Heather
NYS Flickr Pool
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