Project Minka. Hmm. Sounds...intriguing, no? Is it a codename? Does it mean anything to you? Do tell. Here's what the Q has learned during minutes upon rigorous minutes of painstaking and ruthlessly detailed research and analysis using just a single window of Firefox, the Google and (not) a hell of a lot of elbow grease. Apparently Minka means "house of the people" in Japanese, and the term refers to various modest house styles of the artisan class. So, what does this have to do with the price of latte in Latvia?
A group called "Project Minka" is renting out a bunch of space in the building that houses the beverage retailer on Lefferts 0, actually 507 Flatbush, or Lefferts between Flatbush and Washington, or better yet the building under the giant Apple billboard, wherein a yoga studio is moving as well and perhaps the excellent Ifetayo dance and music education powerhouse. Here's the dang link already, or for the click-averse, the text from the ad below:
Come work with us! Buildout is underway for Project Minka's - Compound CoWork. This innovative concept in co-working will offer private offices available for 1-4 workers, semi-private spaces with locked cabinets, and open office options, at low prices with flexible arrangements. Space will offer fast internet, comfortable conference rooms equipped with presentation and screening technology. The space will integrate state of the art co-work and conference space with an environment structured toward healthy working, personal growth, health and wellness. With a lovely new yoga studio next door, the building promises to be an inviting vibrant hub. Individuals and small businesses looking for office or cowork space, our opening is scheduled for early 2014. Come work with us! Contact us to discuss our build out plans! Opening in Feb/Mar 2014.P. S. As far as I know, they are not a cult, though these "co" spaces always make me a little suspicious. Project Minka sounds very L. Ron Hubbardian. I'm reading "Going Clear" right now about Scientology, AND "The New Jim Crow" AND the mind-blowing book "Crack in America" all at once, so everything makes me suspicious right now. And after watching the "Central Park Five" recently. Heck, tonight I just watched the excellent doc "The House I Live In" about the War on Drugs. I wish I had a copy of "My Brooklyn" just to go off the deep end into paranoia and outrage. I haven't felt this amped up since "Gasland." And while we're on the subject of cults, did you ever read the Q's exposAY (sorry I'm too lazy to figure out how to do the accent aigu) on the actual cult on Woodruff near Flatbush, you missed a doozy a couple years back. Here 'tis, and be sure to read the comments that former cult members tacked on. You'll never look at that damn building at 162 Woodruff OR that damn truck parked on Parkside near the Parade Ground - Olde Good Things - the same again.
Which begs the question...is it bad form to plug one of your own posts on your own blog? It would be quite a stretch to say that the CoBU post relates to the current post in the slightest. And yet, I really do want you to read that one. Is that so wrong? Am I thinking this or typing it? Damn it. I was trying to keep that thought to myself. Like the fact that I didn't eat that Shake Shack burger today that I really wanted, and felt like I was some kind of Edwardian Hero for passing it by. Actually I ate a hero instead, which wasn't exactly the healthy alternative I had in mind when I "Just Said No" to special sauce. Am I doing it again? I didn't just type that did I? I can't tell what's blog and what's real anymore. It's happening again. Doctor? Reverend? Rabbi? Little help please?
7 comments:
Your body, your mind, your blog. Cult fears aside, anyone who has ever wanted to take the next step from being a lone freelancer to an employer knows how stinking expensive office space is in this city. Having a low cost alternative here in dear old PLG is a great start. As one who spent many years commuting more than two hours a day, being able to have an office close to home is a luxury that few enjoy. Drawing business from that place over the river is essential for the economic growth of Brooklyn. Yoga studios, restaurants, and retail are nice start, but they are not an ideal employment option if you have a mortgage. On a larger scale big employers are moving here, look at Verizon. More jobs for Brooklyn, great! Now if Google would just move here.
-Frankie the Yankee
Between the beer distributor (formerly downmarket, now microbrew central,) the pawn shop, Phat Alberts, Planet Fitness, the yoga studio and now this avant-garde co-working space, the Bond Bakery block is shaping up to be the Stalingrad of the gentrification wars. It's going to be a room-to-room fight.
Anon at 9:08, I don't know who you are but this is my pick for most prescient neighborhood prediction of 2014. Personally, I hope it's a room-to-room fight, and I hope it goes on for a while: I relish living in a neighborhood that can still have something for everyone. As for the Snob Family, as long as Hot Pot stays, we're sticking around.
Then De Hot Pot will be PLG's Alamo. They will pry my doubles and aloo pie from my cold, dead, deliciously greasy fingers.
"I relish living in a neighborhood that can still have something for everyone." I agree with you Q. There's a place for everyone in this community, and I would like to continue seeing the mom and pops operations as well as the fancy places. The diversity is what makes us different from other communities and I don't want to see us become another Park Slope or Fort Greene for that matter.
I love the discount stores of Flatbush and the diversity of offerings here too, as much as I'm excited about the newcomer businesses. But I just had to weigh in as somebody who does shop local and happily roams Flatbush checking places out, and say at Phat Albert prices have gone up the last few years while quality of merchandise went way down. It will not be a tragedy if and when the place finally closes. Putting relatively high prices on cruddy junk is taking advantage of and hurting low income people not helping them.
Looks like they have a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Compoundcowork
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