Thursday, September 07, 2006

Coney Island Cyclones

MurphGuide, one of my favorite sources of information about goings on in New York, offered a special deal today; a ticket to a Cyclones game, free beer, hotdogs, and hamburgers at Peggy O'Neill's before the game, and a free post-game drink to send you on your way afterwards. And all for just twenty bucks. Needless to say I couldn't pass up such a deal.

It is a bit late in the season so on a lovely Thursday afternoon there really wasn't much going on.



I headed towards the beach from the subway and was presented with this teaser.



Of course the answer was yes but, sadly, the place I wanted to stop into was closed.



I think the Freak Bar is still open on the weekends though so I may try again one of these days.

I headed to an old reliable though to find solace.



How much longer Rudy's will be here is questionable. All the land that it sits on has been sold and more than likely any new development will not take into consideration the historical significance of Rudy's. If it was up to me it would be declared a historical landmark.

I wanted to buy a tee-shirt in case the place wouldn't survive into next year. The manager Sam assured me that it would have at least one more year to go though. He was out of tee-shirts for sale but had an old one with some kind of a stain, mustard, probably, that he couldn't quite remove. He said I could have that tee-shirt for free.



Hey, this was better than just buying a souvenir, this had an authentic stain.

As I headed toward Peggy O'Neill's I passed by Cha Cha's and the Shoot The Freak game.



Cha Cha's is another favorite of mine but it too, is probably doomed. As I have said before, I love the concept of sitting in a dark dive bar having a beer and looking out on a beautiful beach.



After another quick beer I did head down to Peggy O'Neill's which is built into the Keyspan Stadium complex, so it is handy.



I got there a bit early so I stopped inside for a beer before the festivities begand to have a beer which was cheerfully served up by Paul, the bartender.



Soon enough though the free beer began to flow as well as the hotdogs and hamburgers. I had one of everything.



They even had live entertainment.



We headed into the game and it was a beautiful evening. You can see the old parachute jump that has been repainted and relit, but not reopened, in the background.



We stayed until the moon rose high before heading home.



The Cyclones were losing when we left but managed to pull out a win in extra innings and clinched a playoff berth. Maybe we should have stuck around.

On the way back to the subway Nathan's was tempting, but the temptation was resisted.



I didn't even stop in to pick up some hotdogs to go.



The subway terminal here has been totally remodeled and it looks more like you are entering an opera house than a subway station.



The subway home was almost empty, but very clean. The Mysterious Chinese Woman decided to ride with me instead of poofing tonight.



All in all it was a very fun night and I want to thank Sean Murphy for putting this together. Check out his website, a link is on my blog here, and try to attend some of the events he puts together. They are always a good time and usually a good deal as well.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Riverfront Park

Not too far from where I live is a hideously named neighborhood, DUMBO, that is fast becoming one of the most expensive in Brooklyn. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, a stretch if ever there was one. At least they have taken down the huge picture of an elephant that they once had up on the side of a building.

Not too far away, however, is a lovely little park that is, one day, going to be the north end of a larger park that will stretch all the way to Atlantic Avenue. It is really kind of nice to be so close to downtown Manhattan and still be able to experience a bit of wilderness. One of the entrances to this park requires a bit of faith to walk through, however. It kind of looks like you are walking down a somewhat dangerous alley.



However, the views are well worth it.



There is even a little beach where you could have a picnic. I wouldn't recommend swimming though, the East River is notorious for its dangerous currents.



There are a number of interesting sculptures in the park which is kind of a plus and a minus. Some of them complement the natural setting such as this one.



Some of them, though, just seem a bit out of place.



And some seem downright out of place and are more of an eyesore than anything else. In a city where the streets are full of trash, do we really need to see a pile of discarded sinks in a lovely little park?



And when I came upon this I actually thought it was just a pile of refuse that had been raked up and was awaiting removal.



But no, it actually is a "work of art." At least in someone's eyes.



I guess this one must be a commentary on vandalism. It looks like someone knocked down and carried off most of the statue.



Walking home I caught this interesting juxtaposition, the massive Brooklyn Bridge and a small lighthouse that now houses an ice-cream shop.



A little bit further along the stretch that will one day be a part of the larger park I came across this.



In a way it is kind of sad. The year after the World Trade Center came down this field was planted with two patches of sunflowers in the shape of the fallen towers. The sign proudly proclaims "After Winter, Spring." Sadly, interest didn't last long and after the first year the field has been taken over by weeds. It would, in my opinion, be better to take down the sign because it certainly seems inappropriate now, all things considered.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Heartland Brewery, HUH?!

Things that make you scratch your head. In today's Daily News in another article about how New York is going to support New York Breweries, there is a section titled "On Tap In The City." It says "Here is a look at some of the top breweries in the city." They list, appropriately enough, Brooklyn Brewery, Chelsea Brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales, and Greenpoint Beerworks Inc.

However, and this is the kicker, they also list Heartland Brewery with the comment "No longer produce their own beers, buy it from Greenpoint Brewery." Now, if they don't produce any beer but buy it, they certainly aren't a brewery, so why is it even listed? Could it be because they are a co-sponsor of the New York Beerfest this Friday that kicks off the launch of this campaign?