The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Where to Last Minute Shop on the Flabenue


More city-wide press for local fave Play Kids...a Daily News piece and this super cute pic of little Will. Only 3 more shopping days, so grab your wallet and head on down to the corner of Westbury and Flatbush. There's plenty of other fun shopping choices on the Flatbenue, like...


Enkunish Hailu's darling boutique Smile (for every sistah in you) is a sure thang for fashion knick knacks and paddy wacks. I have yet to purchase anything here - there is nothing remotely my size - but every time I peak in I'm amazed at the stylish curation of the collection. The yelpers love it! 581 Flatbush.




Tafari Tribe has fantastic jewelry and imported stuff you won't find at Crate & Barrel, which not for nuthin' is a place that gives me the creeps every time I walk in one. Them and Pier I Imports. And that Design Within Reach joint too. Eww. Not so Tafari Tribe, which by the by is a perfect spot to pick up homey Afrocentric items you can't get no wheres elses. 593 Flatbush.

Did I ever mention my mnemonic phrase I use to remember the street names from Parkside to Empire? Poor White Hippies Feign Rastafarianism Making Marijuana Life Look Simple. Empire. (For Parkside, Winthrop, Hawthorne, Fenimore, Midwood, Maple, Lincoln, Lefferts, Sterlinc. Empire) It's amazing how many times I need to use it, even after all these years. I guess it was the "Tafari" that reminded me. And for the reggae lover, don't forget The Original Struggs, but please tell them to clean up the trash in front of their business?)

Other good bets are Nykki's Boutique, the Gem for ridiculous ornaments, those two popular "street cred" stores just south of the Gem (Fly Boyz and Brooklyn Finest - but tell 'em to cut it with the nasty lyric rap - because you don't want to be walking your daughter by there and the speakers blast "so put my ____ in your mouth, ho" and she's too young to know but I dread the day when she asks), and the cell phone store next to that where you can buy pretty much every kind of gadget under the sun, just ask, and they're always open to negotiation.

I hear Jamaican beef patties travel well...just reheat and serve...if you're going somewhere un-Brooklyn for the holidays. Or for you elfish pranksters, why not wrap up one of those big hunks of saltfish that all the grocers sell? I'll bet that'll get a rise from Aunt Bea on Christmas morn!



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kidding aside, "Black Cake", a Jamaican holiday fruitcake that is way more delicious than traditional Anglo American fruitcake really is a great gift to bring or to send to non-Brooklyn places. Allan's bakery sells small and big containers of it all through the holidays.