Meet Me For Cocktails at...Beekman Place?

The Q's spies are everywhere, and thank goodness! A full-time working father of two spastic lovebugs can't be pounding the pavement for small-town stories as big as this one. Remember when I noted a couple posts ago that the building at Beekman and Flatbush had been sold for $1.7m? Well, a Q reader reports she overheard a discussion at TotT about their opening a new cocktail bar (I thought that phrase went out with the Brat Pack) at that very corner, to be named, perhaps, Beekman Place. As early as summer. Cafe by day as well.

I know, I know. Sounds crazy, but probably no crazier than it sounded when people first opened upscale joints on Franklin or in Bed Stuy. And make no mistake, this is NOT the same place as the gastropub that's opening at Midwood and Flatbush.

Which reminds me of a funny story. When the Q was 16, growing up in Ames, IA, he wanted to go see a local rockabilly band called Boys With Toys. Problem was, they were playing at a 19-up club (the drinking age was 19). My friend Tim Rood and I decided to chance it. At that point, they'd usually only "card" you when you ordered, not at the door. We had a plan. When the waitress came to our table, we both ordered (get this) a Mai Tai. Yes, complete with the little umbrellas. It was the only proper cocktail we'd ever heard of, and we figured if we ordered something exotic we couldn't POSSIBLY be underage. Worked like a charm.

We drank many mai tais that night and the band was great. I intended to keep every single one of those little umbrellas, but accidentally left them in the bathroom in an alcoholic haze.

Next time, remind me to tell you the Adam Ant story...

The Great Salt Shortage of 2014

If you are the person responsible for keeping a sidewalk clear of snow and ice, you can probably commiserate with the Q. This has been a bitch of a year to keep the stuff at bay. Now, I grew up in a much colder & snowier climate, and I don't find this winter to be particularly anything. And I don't have a car, so the endless scenes of drivers trying to dig out of useless street parking spots barely registers on my radar - such is the reality of free parking on the street. But the strange mix of precipitations and suddenly frigid temperatures has made it incredibly hard to shovel at exactly the right time to avoid freeze-over scenes like this on Woodruff, just outside the mysterious community garden just west of Ocean Ave:

pics by Elizabeth C

Turns out it's the responsibility of the gardens' caretakers, a group identified by Community Board 14 as Woodruff Seniors. And who are they? We're investigating! (If you know, please post a comment or email the Q). I've talked here before about UMMA, the group Muslim-American neighborhood watch group responsible for creating the park (thank you Ed Powell!). But Woodruff Seniors? Granted you don't want to send gramps out there swinging and stabbing at the ice, BUT somebody's gotta do it. (Maybe grams? She always did the heavy lifting in the family anyway...)

We've all dealt with it...a barely passable sidewalk...and cursed the owners for their laziness. But there is basically NO ROCK SALT to be found in the stores, the stuff that magically melts the solid ice. For those like me who had to look it up, I'll save you the trouble and tell you that the salt creates saltwater on the surface of the ice, which freezes at a much lower temperature (seen a frozen ocean lately?).

Dang. Just as I was about to post this I see I better shovel again. Dang.

The Losers of Lefferts

The Alternate Enforcement Program. That's what the Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (HPD) uses to identify the worst rental buildings in the City in terms of violations. We have a bunch of them in our Community District, in fact, way more than our fair share. One that the Q pointed out in a previous post is 115 Ocean, as written up in the Daily News.

Then there's the gorgeous wreck known as 67 Clarkson, a rowhouse cum crackhouse down my block. Then there's 443 Rogers, which is just north of Lefferts. Anybody know anything about that one? Then of course there's 55 Winthrop, which I understand is a quickly gentifying building. I'm wondering if this is one of those situtations where the landlord is making life hell for some stabilized tenants in order to get them out and raise rent. And 45 Hawthorne next to that goofy contemporary building - what's the dealio there? 1159 President is not far away, between Rogers and Nostrand. 1059 Union is just up the road, off Franklin near Eastern Parkway. And while "Stoddard Place" may not ring a bell, it's the little street just north of Empire and just east of Bedford, behind the Rite Aid and where the new TD Bank is going up.

From back in 2010, a similar list went out and our then-neighborhood-watchdog Hawthorne Street had this to say:

I was psyched to see that the City has put its slumlord data to good use: a handy map allows web users to see the worst landlords at a glance. Here in PLG, two have earned the "worst" designation, Louis Bombart of 150 Lefferts Avenue (bet. Bedford & Rogers), and Jean Bernard Mode of 441 Rogers Avenue (bet. Lefferts and Lincoln). Congratulations, guys.

The program accelerates penalties and gives short windows to remedy the situation, or the City does it at their expense.

99 Cents Now Equals $1.7 Million

Recognize this?

That corner building just sold for $1.7 million, says a tipster. It has three stores - the 99-center, the laundry and the tailor/sew shop. It has two two-bedroom apartments and two three-bedroom apartments. Back of the playing card Q-estimate says the new buyer could, if he wanted to, renovate a bit, hit the Craigslist, and gross $15k a month easy. Is there any wonder that the smart money follows the gentrifiers? Or rather, the REALLY smart money LEADS the gentrifiers. Remembering that you live in NYC, home to some awfully smart people, the odds are stacked against the budget-conscious renter. Unless, of course, your version of budget conscious is another man's budget buster. Ah, life.

Saul Restaurant at The Brooklyn Museum

It's Valentine's Eve. Mrs. FlatBed and I used to make it a regular thang to go out the night or two before Heart's Day and therefore avoid the gouging and the crowds. We hadn't since the kids came on the scene, but just like the old days, it worked like a charm. Our wonderful regular babysitter Simba was available (since she's celebrating with her guy on V-Day) and there was like no one there at the restaurant we've been dying to go to. So we went to Saul. At the Brooklyn Museum of course.

Evan Sung took this picture for the NY Times

Now, there's a couple things you should know. One, Saul and family live on Chester Court, and the Q interviewed him awhile back and can't say enough positive about the guy. Here's the post. Two, Mrs. CFB and I enjoyed his first restaurant very much, the one and only time we went there, fifteen friggin' years ago. That Smith Street location ended up becoming one of the hottest tables in town, thanks to Saul and Lisa's homey touches, the delicious food, and a certain star from the Michelin Man. (Though how that chubby dude ever managed to squeeze into that old storefront I'll never know.) Three, the Q is NOT a culinary expert nor does he even go out to eat that often. The Q has two young children, and the Q spends most of his meals eating what they don't, then going back for late night bowls of cereal. Oh, and of course salads and diet cokes at lunch so he can kid himself that he's "watching" his weight. So take what I'm about to say with a grain of saul.

I LOVE this place. I felt totally cared for, not in a weird pampering kind of way, as if after applying thousands of diapers to children you really want to be "pampered" anyway. I mean, the service was always there when you need it, but not hovering or congratulatory. Saul came by to hang with the staff and greeted them fondly. He's not pretentious or pompous, just an ueber talented chef and solid local dad. He comes over to see if you want to chat and asks about the food. He's quick to note the pluses and minuses of moving into the belly of a gigantic institution that itself struggles to define itself. He and his team have done a great job carving out a decent space though, and it's comfortable, not showy. The windows look out to the Museum, but you're still inside the museum, so it's kinda mall-like in that way, like dining at the Piercing Pagoda. But it has those great Williamsburg Murals that were saved from housing projects, you know the ones that were done during the WPA back during the depression, and they look great in that room, though I doubt many people were eating THAT well during the Great Depression. Going to Saul at night is a trippy experience, since you're walking into the front of the titanic beaux-arts building's wacky 21st Century nose job entrance, then walking past security and the membership desk to an inviting restaurant within a closed Museum! You almost expect Ben Stiller to be the maitre d'.

We had two fish dishes - the bass and the monkfish. We had the beets and the charcuterie for starters. We got the chocolate concoction for desert. Did I mention to you that I know very little about haute cuisine? Hell I don't even know much about not-so-haute cuisine. But I'll tell you this. To MY tastebuds the food was extraordinary, and the shapes and colors and smells were divine. (Ruth Reichl, eat your heart out. And while you're at it, why not consider putting a vowel in there before the last "L?")

How much, you ask? Not that bad I'm told. A $30 entree ain't a slice a pizza. We got out of there for $150, $180 after tip. Now, I'm not saying that I can afford that more than a couple times a year. But we were there for a lovely three hours, that's $60 an hour for two, or $30 an hour per person. Like how I worked out the math? $30 an hour for a fantastic experience, away from the kids, with delicious things in your mouth a lot of that time.

I say go. Do it now. Before the word gets out that it's the best restaurant in SoCro or some nonsense.

115 Ocean - A Perfect Example Of Slumlord Cruelty

MOLUBA KOLLIE of 115 OCEAN
pic by Reuven Blau, NY Daily News

Below in itals is the story from today's Daily News by Reuven Blau about the sick joke of a building at 115 Ocean. Thanks Reuven! Btw, the scumbag landlord also owns 55 Winthrop Street. What do y'all know about THAT building?

Got two words buddy - for shame! And if he now decides to rent to only the "right sorts" tenants and kick out the longtime stabilized renters, don't be one bit surprised. The well-worn scheme is to focus on recent grads who don't mind a bit of squalor for (what for them is) cheap rent. Then the landlord fixes the place up just enough til they can get out of stabilization all together. We've got to create some sort of task force to take this problem on. Head on.

Toilets without water, flooding ceilings, leaky radiators and a front vestibule door that never closes top the list of complaints at Brooklyn’s worst apartment buildings.

The city has named 115 Ocean Ave. in Prospect Lefferts Gardens the borough’s most problematic slum building and has targeted the six-story apartment complex for repairs.

Situated across the street from Prospect Park, the complex boasts an astounding 444 open violations for everything from peeling lead paint, roaches and mold to broken sewer pipes and a wide open front door, city records show.

“The landlord just doesn’t care,” said Molubah Kollie, 30, a resident at the building his whole life. “When they come to fix something one month later it’s broken again.” That includes the toilet of one tenant who was forced to fill it with water from his tub for close to a year. “There are plenty of problems here,” said another resident who declined to give his name.

Last Tuesday, the building, owned by Lincoln Prospect Associates, was one of the 187 apartment complexes placed in a city program that tackles the most heinous slums in the city, including a whopping 103 in Brooklyn.

The Alternative Enforcement Program, created by the City Council in 2007, allows the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to complete emergency work and bill deadbeat landlords for the repairs.
The city has already shelled out $7,904 to cover emergency repairs at 115 Ocean Ave. since 2001, records show. Just $326 of that has been paid, according to online records.

Tenants say they frequently spot loiterers smoking pot and hanging out in the building’s vast entrance and hallways. “The door breaks two times a week,” said Jean Pierre, 18, another resident in the building. The building’s owner did not return calls for comment.

Besides 115 Ocean Ave., officials sited 84 Lawrence Avenue, 1059 Union Street, 55 Winthrop Street and 2 Stoddard Place as nearly as shoddy. Each had in excess of 300 violations. Citywide, the new list of the worst of the bunch includes 55 buildings in The Bronx, 19 in Manhattan and 10 Queens. “A severely distressed building puts the well-being of its tenants at risk and can act as a catalyst for destabilization with a community, and we are resolute in ensuring that does not happen,” said HPD commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-building-115-ocean-ave-king-squalor-article-1.1610464#ixzz2t7y9dbss

Lefferts Food Coop a-Happening

Read from Brooklyn Paper here for word of how Karen Oh and company have really moved things to the next level. Want to buy in? Head on over to their website now!

While I'm sure some will bemoan the location at 324 Empire Blvd, it's actually perfectly situated to draw in the wider neighborhood of Lefferts and Southern Crown Heights. One might even call it "central" to the greater neighborhood, given its location near Nostrand.

Colour me impressed. Way to go y'all!

And a big "clean-up" day is happening this Saturday! Come on out and meet your neighbors and find out what this cooperative thang is all about.

The indefatigable Karen Oh!

Co-op Clean Up
Saturday, February 15, 2014
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
324 Empire Blvd.
The co-op needs your help cleaning up and doing some repairs to the store. This is in preparation to renovations that we need to make. If you are a Park Slope Food Co-op FTOP member, you can bank hours working with us! Come see the space, get dirty, and share your vision for what it could be.

Major Bumsky Feburary - June on the Q at Parkside

Prepare to be inconvenienced. Starting February 21 you will no longer be able to get off or on the train heading south at Parkside Avenue. Phase II of the reconstruction project begins then and runs through a projected June 22.

And of course, keep your eyes open to various midday closings as well, 10am to 3pm. The MTA does not suffer an uninformed consumer.

Jaywalkers Take Heed

In yet another sign of vigilance to come, the 71st has issued an unambiguous statement on jaywalking, though it mysterious chooses not to name it as such. Let this be a warning...other precincts are cracking down, and we may be next. And let me tell you those little pink tickets are super-annoying. You have to go to Red Hook and get lectured about being a better community member. Trust me. I've been twice!

Guy Walks Into a Barbershop

The Q needed a haircut. It's 9pm. Problem? Not in Lefferts! I put on my jacket and walk up the Flabenue to see if Nelson is in (on Parkside just off Flatbush). He's out, stuck in Rockaway. Time to see if the doctor's in. Dr. Cuts, that is. Desmond Romeo is Dr. Cuts, and the new president of the Flatbush Merchant's Association, now known as The Flatbush Empire. He's a great guy, I've talked to him a bit and he always seems upbeat and welcoming, and the Q's always enjoyed looking in through the bright floor-to-ceiling windows and seeing guys laughing and jawing sometimes til well past midnight. As a white guy I figured it was sacred space, meant for Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer but not Clark Kent and Clarkson FlatBed (seen them in the same place at the same time? hmmm?) But my buddy Duane encouraged me to break down the wall and bust in on the yuck-fest at Nelson's, so why not try the Doc? My hair has DEFINITELY not been itself lately. You might say it be illin'

Desmond is a true blue philosopher-barber, who just happens to be heading into dentistry. He's finishing up his coursework now to enter dental school. But don't expect Dr. Cuts to turn into Dr. Teeth. He'll be running both practices, though only one will take insurance. Born in Trinidad, he's been a successful business owner on Flatbush for over a dozen years. He's been able to buy a place in his homeland that his mom lives in (must she be proud!) He's been part of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health's program to share information with men who are often much less likely to visit a doctor once a decade than a barber once a week. It's a brilliant idea when you think about it, and Desmond will launch into a treatise on prostate cancer while cutting your locks, and he'll school you just enough that you'll be heading to his colleague Dr. Jellyfinger for a yearly checkUP. That pic up and to the right is a picture of Romeo speaking at an AAIUH gala.

And if the question on your mind is, can he cut a white guy's hair, I'll let the pictures below be your guide, the first taken earlier this evening at an open mic night and the last taken just moments after returning home:

BEFORE

AFTER