Loogieman Identified - Spitting Image of Description

The cops say they found the loogieman who's been spitting on neighbors. A lot of questions have come up about the legality of spitting in people's faces. And while it might not be a common enough crime to warrant special penalties, it's still a public nuisance of the highest order. The Q thinks that giving the guy a good talking to and evaluation was the right move. Talking to the Family sounds about right too. Hopefully that's enough to make him stop. If not, you could always take it to the D.A. and see what they want to do. But no, it's not okay to spit in faces. That's one thing I think we all can agree upon?

Earlier this week the 71 Precinct brought in an individual we believe was responsible for spitting on several members of the community. During the investigation we determined that all the crimes he had committed were violations and were not subject to arrest. These crimes were documented under Harassment violations and are not arrest able offense's unless witness by a Police Officer. The individual was referred to Kings County Hospital for psychological evaluation.  We are in contact with the family and will be provide any additional assistance that may be needed. 

Learn All About the Neighborhoods Current Zoning - Tonight!

Yep. Mr. Richard Bearak, he of the Borough President's office, the Brooklyn Bard of Zoning, will be on hand to discuss, describe and answer questions about zoning, what it is, what it could yield.

And If All Else Fails...Thursday Night!

The Q's always been suspicious about Landmarking for some reason. Why that, he asks, but not this? Why yours, not mine? Some things seem obvious. The Taj Mahal shouldn't get torn down, or the Pyramids. Maybe best to hang onto the White House and Mt. Rushmore. I guess the whole 7 Wonders thing and World Heritage Sites are sort of the world's landmarking system. Some things just shouldn't be susceptible to the vagaries of the free market, I guess. Closer to home, the old Penn Station shouldn't have come down. So I hear. That was the demolition heard round the world, and set in motion the effort to preserve our cherished icons. Let's keep the Met, and the Empire State Building, as long as they're inhabitable anyway. The Brooklyn Bridge. Central Park. Greenwood Cemetery (actually, that's still not landmarked...but soon).

But when it comes to individual neighborhoods or buildings, privately owned and occupied, a lot of it comes down to the petitioners hard work and perseverance. And taste. It was never a lock that brownstone neighborhoods would stand the test of time and deserve their own historic status. They were, after all, houses like any others. And yet they became iconic. I'd argue that Sesame Street had a lot to do with it; plus the tantalizing veneer of sandstone and all the nifty shapes that could easily be carved into it. A lot of people don't know that these houses are made of brick. I didn't til I moved into one 13 years ago and saw some of the stuff falling off the walls. I assumed, not being a builder myself, that the whole house was made of the soft stuff. Except for the super high-end homes in the toniest neighborhoods, brownstones and limestones are brick row houses with what could arguably be called the vinyl siding of its day. Some people hated them, especially when they were grouped in tens and twenties. It's not that they're not nice - of course they are, that's why they're so damn costly. But in the case of brownstone neighborhoods, there is a certain Victorian allure that doesn't really gibe with reality. Read Osman's "The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn" if you're on the fence. It's like we want to believe there was a gloried past devoid of greedy developers and displacement, when the middle class lived easily and comfortably in a rarefied world and passed each other to the tip of a hat and eloquent repartee. Phrases like "the Manor" or "the Heights" or "the Slope" suggest an air of flippant superiority, and it's all very well and good and cute and harmless. After all, we must have a roof over our heads and it might as well be a "historic" roof. Plus, some have grown mighty rich investing in these cookie-cutter houses.

But what makes a grouping of homes, or of blocks, historic enough and elegant enough to be "designated" a landmark? The Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Historic District is a terrific example of neighbors identifying the singular beauty of their neighborhood and petitioning the City for the right to remain "as is." You can't designate the whole City of course...there'd be no room for growth or renewal and frankly the City wouldn't be the City if it were a museum. But keeping parts of the City off-limits to the whims of commerce means you can walk through history even as you revel in its constant reinvention. It's modernity, but with a side of old comfort.

At this moment in our neighborhood's history one wonders what will become of the non-landmarked areas. My block, for one, is a Neo-Victorian Shitshow. How's yours? Recent landmark successes like "Chester Court" and the group of townhouses along Prospect Park called "Ocean on the Park" give a clue to what might win over the good folks at Landmarks Preservation Commission. Check out that link. Lots of cool places have been landmarked through the years, and the City should be grateful for the work of the individuals on the ground who get the process rolling and then persevere. Are you one of those sorts who's ready to roll up her sleeves and get busy? You'll need patience and great organizational talents to herd your neighbors into a common cause. Unless of course you're planning to landmark just one building, like say the little Pentecostal church on the north side of Clarkson I (that is, Clarkson btw Flatbush to Bedford). I have absolutely no idea what about it is landmark-able, but what's the harm in trying? I'm planning on submitting an application just for giggles.

As anyone within buckshot will tell you, the Q's been trying to get folks to rezone the neighborhood so we can protect the lowrise character of the inner blocks and focus new residential development on the avenues - Nostrand, Flatbush, Empire etc. Made tons of sense to me, rather than the herky-jerky stop-start tear-down attitude currently all the rage. The City was warm to the idea and willing to make concessions in order to build responsibly where possible. And look at infrastructure and schools and...but no matter. Cabia Doily (it's an awkward anagram) saw to it that no such conversation happened in time to preserve the inner blocks. Heck by now we could have limited height and demanded a certain amount of affordability towards the neighborhood's future. But sigh. What's left? Landmarking. And a prayer.

Come out Thursday night and hear all about it. If you have a dream to make sure your neighbors can't sell out to a tall skinny middle finger apartment building, here's the way it's done.  

Celebrate Martin Luther King Right Here

150 Sterling Street Gets Visit From Grinch

Apparently Christmas was cancelled at 150 Sterling Street, when The Grinch, dressed as narcotics officers from 71st Precinct, removed all the presents, tinsel and holiday goodies from the home of Richard Ramos:

Thx to Rachel from DNAInfo for the story.

All the Latest From Your Councilman. And I Do Mean All.

When he's not fighting the good fight, staying abreast of local issues, taking on unscrupulous landlords and organizing constituents around major points of interest, your Councilman has other things to worry about. Apparently, a homeless man has threatened him, meaning that his master black belt in karate (true - he offers that detail on meeting) has been augmented with tax-payer paid security detail. Apparently, the scary homeless man who expressed verbally abusive behavior also knows the Councilman's black Mercedes by sight. Which is not really a surprise, since it has vanity plates announcing that it's his. More from The Daily News.

I guess when you're a bold champion of the people, sometimes you're gonna ruffle some feathers. Just a question: the security detail around "his home." That's the one out in Canarsie, correct?

CBS Cites Sinister Serial Spitter

Viewer Discretion is advised. The story of the serial spitter has been known to excite the gag reflex. WCBS on Serial Spitter. Local activist Seth K created a map of the alleged attacks:

The police have finally begun to take the issue seriously. And while it's been determined that this is not a "serious" crime, it would strike the Q that the reason to arrest the man would be tell him that we're onto him and will be very, very disappointed if he continues to hawk loogies.

Cell Phones & Pistol Whips

The Q would never make light of a violent crime. His curiosity alarm went off though, when the NY Post noted the brands of cell phones snatched in an armed robbery down the Flabenue near Church. Read on:

Three gunmen robbed a Flatbush tax company over the weekend, police sources said. The robbers ordered two male employees and a female customer at Liberty Tax Service on Flatbush Avenue near Church Avenue to get on the floor just before 10 a.m. Saturday, according to police sources. The crooks took $475 and a Galaxy cellphone from one 40-year-old worker. The 43-year-old manager of the store was pistol-whipped in the head before the thieves also took his Galaxy cellphone and wallet. The customer, 21, handed her iPhone 6s to the thugs, who then fled, police sources said. No shots were fired and the manager refused medical attention.

Interestingly, the iPhone 6s was handed over voluntarily, while the Galaxy's (no model number) were taken forcefully. Does this mean there has been a wholesale change in the value of the company's products? Stock investors, take note.

It Happened in 2015

Like any blowhard - sorry blogger -  the Q loves to recap and reassess at the end of the annum. I'm told the Q is considered a guilty pleasure by some, as in "the blog you hate to love and love to hate." I pay the critics no mind. I have no advertisers, nor electorate to please. Even my wife stopped reading. But to those who've been bored and sick enough to lend your ear, I must note that I'm fully aware that I take a hard tone and cast a nasty line in order to catch a slug or two. It's intended as good fun, the old fashioned fork-tongued gadfly thing, the kind of muckraking thoroughly unprofessional ranting that aims to take no hostages and tell it like it is. Though throughout I hope to share my love for humans and the very real struggles of life in the modern age. I don't actually HATE anyone, and despite the tough talk, I wish no ill will on my fellows.

To further frustrate myself and others, I often take a firm position, then infuriate by changing my mind. This, I'm told, is what blogs are for - wanton infuriation, Bloviation, navel-gazing and jaundiced analysis, followed by introspection and contrition. And silliness. The hope is that every now and then I hit the mark, and it feels right enough that it sticks, and suddenly I can put into words that which used to baffle me. On issues of class and race my brain is constantly awhirl, as if I were a beginning Physics student staring at the world's most sophisticated theorem and wondering if it will ever make sense. So here we are. Another year, another waste of nearly 50,000 words.

Now to the recap. The best and worst of the neighborhood crowned at roughly the same time, like sinister fraternal twins. Two swell local guys opened Brooklyn Greenery and my colon rejoiced. Then, Veggie Castle, became an iHOP in a terrificly hideous piece of half-ass development on Church Avenue. The Q was preoccupied and disillusioned with fighting for smart planning and contextual zoning, while some had decided the City was to blame for everything and couldn't be trusted for so much as a building permit. Meanwhile, "she who cannot be named" and a few others  made it nearly impossible to go forward with a reasonable approach to affordable housing and development by choice and design. The City had (and sadly HAS) nearly written us off as incorrigible and unreasonable. (Actually I think I'll merely rearrange the letters of our nemesis' name, like Lord Voldemort. So from here on out I'll refer to Alicia Boyd only as her anagram, Cadia B. Doily. It's all best summed up by Cadia's extraordinary attempt to:

Keep Empire Shitty

Thank You Paul G. for this. Had I a car...

• Things started ugly as Cadia B. Doily calls her neighbors Uncles Tom . 
• The floodgates opened on "giving you the finger" style development. Tall and Skinny Comes To Lefferts. 
• Things worsened for longtime residents, as there was a frightening Consolidation of Apartment Buildings by A Very Few Unscrupulous Owners
• Who you may ask? Try Robert Durst and Others No Boy Scouts
• The "Berserk Eclectic" Clarkson classic went From Haunted House to Ho-Hum Homes
• We wondered, in all this talk of City growth, Who's Moving To NYC Anyway?
• The Q got bored and wandered out to note the tons of "soft spots" in our current zoning, as The Q Makes His Case For Rezoning - In Pictures
• Hudson won a Hail Mary lawsuit and the neighborhoods tallest building shot up as 626 Flatbush Wins Lawsuit Doesn't Have To Tear It Down Or Move It To Downtown Brooklyn Where It Belongs
• Mediocre LPT became mediocre Nacho Mother's Tacos (rather I wished they'd've called it that)
• An adorable lass opened an adorable shoppe on Rogers called Pels Piess
• My favorite discount store became a Rainbow, which my daughters love, but the Q Cried Like Baby As Gem Dies
• A Hoo(kah) Dunnit is told, as Ali's Roti Gets Complaints, Answers Complaints, Then Hosts a Murder
• The new CB9 Chair Can't Take It Anymore - Resigns
• One of many Fuck You Finger Buildings comes to Lincoln Road
• Myspace Realty, the Gentrification Accelerator, Opens on Flatbush
• The Q April Fooled You, and I'm sorry to say that Mario Batali is NOT Coming To Flatbush Ave
• After years of trying to rouse attention, finally it's the NY Times On the Insanity of 60 Clarkson and Scattersite Housing
• Jim Mamary branches out from Bluebird Cafe with Mexican Burgers
• A major real estate conglomerate swoops in, and Scoops Gets New Landlord
• More goodies as IM Pastry Opens On Nostrand
• Our favorite rabble rouser Diana Richardson Takes It All 
• There is something wrong with the numbers in this buying spree, so the Q ponders whether To Ponzi Or Not To Ponzi
• From "discovered," to "hot," and Now We're a Brochure
• Yes! The Trees Finally Get a Makeover 
• Leave the carbs behind, as Silver Shi Shi Sushi Comes To Flabenue
• The Botanic Garden reopens an entrance and ruins its cafe as Food at Botanic Garden Now Officially Sucks 
• The Q heads to Miami and learns firsthand how Nationwide the Topic Is Gentrification
• Once again, as clear as a bell, Your Councilman Is An Idiot
• Outstanding newcomer, The Food Sermon Blows Minds
• Ever in the shadow of the "other side of the park? No, It's Not Always A Conspiracy Against Us. But it sure helps to get organized - finally folks are waking up about what it takes to get shit done.
• That nasty intersection gets another tweak, as Improvements Come To Parkside Ocean - Again
• Barry Hers is going to hell, and 60 Clarkson Tenants Are Given One Day To Get Out
• Jim's Joint American Tacos or Burger Mexicano, take your pick.
• The Parkside Farmers Market Arrives! So Turnip the Volume (Rakim I Say Peas)
• The Q Reads An Actual Book, as Ta-nehisi Goes To Vermont
• The bold new wave barberess of Nostrand - Cut Lola Cut
• More Game Changers On Nostrand - IM, Allen & Starliner
• Tragedy strikes Ali's Roti
• Another sweet mural as Killer Clarkson Block Holds Killer Party: The Hood Love Mural
• The Q Hearts J'ouvert in Mas To Do About Everything
• More Lola opens around the corner
• Tonic redux as Owl Music Parlor Bloedows 'Em Away
• Michael Allen Opens; chocolate lovers shed tears openly
• GMACC is doing the work the cops can't and they need funding and support
• Cynthia's Final Toush is the jam for dresses and island themed accessories
• House of Juice Opens and does fruits and veggies proud
• Burger Truck Coming, or let's hope it's still happening at the BP station
• Erv's and Blessings Now Neighborhood "Institutions" at One Year
• Damn Good Falafel Invasion as Kalushkat opens on the Flabenue
• During the most crucial time to quit squabbling and "do the work," CB9 DM Pearl Miles Ousted By Resentful Board
• Now we're talking, as Caton Market Becomes Huge Affordable Apt Building because the City actually owns the land.
• Terrific newcomers, as Park Side and Zurilee Add Upscale 'Za Bars to the Flabenue
• Greenlight Bookstore Moving Into 626 Flatbush (Maple Street School Too)
• Big Flatbush Cleanup Day and the Q wasn't invited, and he couldn't be happier about that
• PLGNA & PPEN To Start Independent Needs Assessment which of course turned Cadia B. Doily into a Tazmanian Tsunami claiming MLK Day has been usurped by whites in bizarre rant
• Little Mo' Wine A Big Hit On Nostrand - winos with credit cards rejoiced openly.
• The Q Continues To Squawk Against the Wind, decrying The Lunacy of Saying NO To Housing - all types
• C'mon dammit, you Should Have Rezoned - Ridiculous 20-story Building Going Up on Linden exactly where Councilman Eugene's Offices are.
• Then as if to shove it in my face, the Q gets Fucked By My Own Community, which could have been signing the ink on a zoning plan by now, saving countless blocks from shitty development and encouraging residential market and affordable on Empire Blvd and other wise corridors. Keep Empire Shitty indeed.
• Fresh Face To Take On Indumbent Mathieu Eugene and no, that's not a typo
• Big changes south of Wendy's, as Brooklyn Commons and Jack Srour Take Phat Albert's Into the Current Millenium 
• The Q writes another long essay that no one will read about how Segregation Is Alive and Thriving in the South and just about everywhere, while here we're practically paving the way for a wealth-only future by missing the opportunity to plan for a mixed-income future, Tenants advocates continue to do the good work...the rest of us squabble over things the City has already told us it refuses to do, like downzone the whole neighborhood at a time of housing crisis.

Enough. 2016 will undoubtedly be...who the hell knows? Economic meltdown? Terrorist shitstorm? Trader Joe's? All three?

The Flabenue Turns '16

Why do we say "Happy New Year" anyway? It's as if it's a demand, or we've already decided. "Have a Happy New Year" sounds optimistic, but not overly assured. There's still a pretty good chance you'll have a shitty new year, but let's hope for the best, shall we? Anyhow, Happy New Year. I mean, why the hell not.

Setting aside the much ballyhooed controversies around residential development of the neighborhood, it's instructive to see just how much has happened on the commercial corridors. Both Rogers and Nostrand showed tremendous signs of vitality, with everything from pastries to coffee to wine to Mexican and pie and juice. But Flatbush Avenue is still main street to the Q, so I walked Empire down to Clarkson to take in some of the changes. Seen in one viewing it's quite remarkable how many options have popped up, with many exciting ventures on the way. The big question remains; how many of the long-running shops will be able to afford the high-price short-term leases being offered these days by the  new landlords, or by old landlords who've woken to the new reality. After all, they ain't running charities. They're trying to make or save a buck like everyone else, and I do mean EVERYone else, not just the greedy landlords, I say after one-clicking on Amazon Prime and checking the thermostat and cranking up the boiler, then plugging in the HP Laptop and drinking seltzer from my Soda Stream wearing clothes that NEW cost nearly nothing. You probably get where I'm going with that, so I'll switch to the pics.

Phat Albert Losing Weight

Phat Albert owner Albert Srour turned over the reins to son Jack. Brooklyn Commons, Planet Fitness and maybe a chance for the anchor business? On the other side of the abandoned Car Wash, you can now get growlers, do hot yoga, go to boot camp and co-work without leaving the building, and in whatever order you choose. Showers not included.

Wow. Talk About Location, Location, Location

New cafe, new Jim Mamary joint, and more cellular flim-flam ma'am

Love this Place and it's packed ALL the time

Next to new-standby Midwood Flats, here comes Shi Shi Sushi Shoppe Silver Rice

Great Pumpkin! Cinnamon Girl. And a few places that are likely to change soon.

Abdo on Parkside Is Still My Man For Computer Repairs, But Who Knows?

I fear for the stores in the below building, the one next to 626 Flatbush. The building just changed hands for gazillions of dollars, meaning the new landlord needs to start producing big numbers. Scoops & Nykkis would be devastating losses. Not feeling hopeful for (at least one of the) pharmacies and the Botanica neither.

Always exciting stretch, this one. Plus Joyce David is there in case you need to fight that felony.

The Dominican place and D Avenue going through big changes.

One too many deli's I guess. Note - they dozen or so delis are almost all on the East Side of the Flabenue. Hmmm.

This joint and Zurilee add pizza pizazz

Of course I forgot to click the now one-year-old soon-to-expand cocktail place, Erv's. Tugboat's been there foreEVER (two years) so they don't count as new. Oh and Kalushkat! What a brilliant felafel! fallafel! falafal! Whatevs, it's delish. And while we're at it, it's quite likely we'll see new stuff in the commercial chunk of this building as well.

And remember neither of the two new big residential buildings have opened yet - on Lincoln and 626 Flatbush. Which, as I'm sure you know, will be home to both Greenlight Bookstore and the Maple Street School's expansion, and more to come. Is the Tafari Cafe going to open to the public? The awesome pop-up shop this past month shows just what a terrific space Sandra's created. Let's hope so.

Ask around. This is by far the most changeover and new economic activity since, I dunno, probably the Korean War. Economies are delicate things, so who knows what the future holds? See you next year, same time, same URL.