The Q had a hard time getting out of the house for the 2:30 meetup with Senator Adams, arranged by local powerhouse Carmen C-B. Little Miss FlatBed took an extra long nap, and I feared to rouse her lest she awaken on the wrong side of the crib. But "Rudy on Winthrop" swung by the castle, and together we marched up Flatbush and caught the good Senator and his minions at the tail end of their meeting with local PLGers. Way to go Carmen! Way to bring out the big guns!
Councilman Eugene was out too, and we took the opportunity to stroll with him down Parkside. We had a chance to tell him about our concerns about the block, many of which I've chronicled herein. I was frankly shocked when he came up with a suggestion that we put in a bid to buy out Moses Fried's flophouse...and turn it into affordable housing or a community center. Hey, man, if you can pull that off, you might earn yourself a lot of votes. But of course, talk is cheap. (Unless said jibber jabber is coming from Sarah Palin. Did you know she earns $100,000 per speaking engagement, and has earned $12 million since July of last year alone? Dang! Who knew losing an election and quitting your job could be so lucrative! Maybe I should try that.)
So the wheels are in motion, folks. Rudy led a fantastic initial meeting of the so far unnamed Parkside Avenue Improvement Network (I'd call it P.A.I.N. but some in our midst are allergic to acronyms). A group of more than a dozen came out to the (aptly acronymmed) ICH (Internet Coffee House) for a lively discussion on ways the area around our hometrain could be beautificized. And Senator Adams, disguised in a Mushmouth stocking cap, made an appearance and encouraged us to meet next time at his office. Thanks Eric!
Ideas abounded. Green roof and new duds for the subway station. Can the Canners. A proper cheese-grater for the Woodruff Q exit. Mural on the side of the godawful Duane Reade building. A proper BID for the area. A one-way bus ticket to NJ for that dude who gets people to buy his baby some $15 formula because he (so he claims) has a case of the AIDS. (That last one, I'll admit, is my idea alone.)
Stay tuned for more as the story unfolds.
5 comments:
Thanks so much for this blog. I am your neighbor and read it daily. Very excited that P.A.I.N is in action. Please keep us posted on when the next meeting will be held.
"I was frankly shocked when (Mathieu Eugene) came up with a suggestion that we put in a bid to buy out Moses Fried's flophouse...and turn it into affordable housing or a community center."
The Sarah Palin reference is so very apt. This tactic comes right from the tea party playbook: Blabbing on about stuff that's outright economically impossible to achieve but you know your supporters love to hear.
The baby formula dude tried soliciting me (again) for a can the other day. It turned out it wasn't a good day to approach me 'cause I not-so-kindly caused a bigger scene than I intended and the dude got yelled at by several people who overheard what was going on.
Two days later he solicited me again and this time I wasn't so nice. Instead of sending him to Jersey, we should send him to Park Slope. Oh, and while we're at it, maybe Park Slope should give us their garbage bins that they no longer need since getting a whole bunch of those fancy schmancy solar powered compacter types. Just a thought...
Whatever happened to the interview with our beloved jibber jabberer??? Wasn't El Q supposed to go all Mike Wallace on Mathieu Eugene's ass?
Reskedded for this Friday, April 8 at 10AM. Keep the questions coming! (and FYI, I have no intention of involving the good Councilman's "ass" in the interview - unless of course he brings it up first. only good manners, mind you.)
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