Celebrating Community
Columbia Street runs south all the way to Red Hook Farms. Then, before the street meets Halleck Street, a piece of it branches off to the left. The street continues, stretching alongside the Gowanus Bay, before making a tight right. At this point, you can follow it another 750 feet or so until you come to a tall metal fence. […]
On September 28, despite drizzling rain, the Miccio Center was packed at midday for a meeting about the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Red Hook residents, members of the press, and elected officials scrambled into the senior center’s gym to: grab a coffee and a pastry or sandwich (provided by Brooklyn Bread); grill members of the NYC Economic Development […]
This morning I enjoyed a special benefit of my impersonation of an art critic when I attended the press opening of the Brooklyn Museum’s 200 Anniversary Celebration exhibitions, “The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition” and the extensive reimagining of the museum’s ” American Art” collection. The “Brooklyn Artists Exhibition” includes over 200 artists and occupies the ground floor galleries which once held the magnificent American Indian collections. […]
In old black and white photos and movies, office workers were always depicted in huge rooms containing multiple desks, where they manned (or womanned) telephones and typewriters. There were no barriers between them and I’m sure while doing their assigned tasks they would interact with each other. At a certain point in business history, to maximize efficiency, it was decided […]
In the late 1980s, Brooklyn wasn’t cool yet. Most hipsters did not live in Brooklyn — their center was the Lower East Side. Coney Island and Downtown Brooklyn were considered dangerous. Then, a cultural oasis sprung up on Prospect Avenue in South Park Slope — a rock club called Lauterbach’s. It became home to a group of bands who played […]
There’s no such thing as a bad seat at the Brooklyn Ice House. The two picnic tables in front of the bar provide views of passersby. In the bar’s spacious back patio, wooden tables and benches are sprinkled among rusty chairs—nothing precious enough to cause concern if you have a little spill, nor dirty enough to fear sitting on. Inside, […]
The first few “walking with coffee” columns were interviews with Millennials, in which we discussed their views of “boomers.” One common complaint was that the post-war generation refused to let go of jobs, culture, politics, and basically everything. It brought to this boomer’s mind a novel by Aldous Huxley, “After Many a Summer Dies the Swan.” Written in 1939 it […]
On Prospect Park West, just south of Prospect Avenue sits a small outpost of flavor and coolness Dog Day Afternoon. The shop, opened by Joe Boyle, a Chicago native, and his partner Jay Kerr, serves up a top-shelf version of America’s national food, the hot dog. I started eating hot dogs at Nathan’s in Coney Island when they were 25 […]
A Tale of Two Kiddies Ok, full disclosure: I grew up on a block in Brooklyn during the 1950s. In the age before playdates, I was let out at the age of 5 to roam one side of the block between 4th and 5 avenues. (just for the record I have no issue with parents using playdates in a post-Etan […]
On June 5, at 7:30 pm, Carroll Park was filled, as usual, with children playing and parents catching up, but on the eastern side of the park, twinkly lights were strung from the back of the Park House and a stage, painted to look like a pool deck, was surrounded by folding chairs. It was Smith Street Stage’s first preview […]