Downtown Farmer's Market

One of the interesting juxtopostions of my neighborhood is that in the midst of bustling businesses and court houses you find a bit of an oasis. During the summer a couple of days a week, and always on Saturday their is a small farmer's market that sets up right in the shadow of Borough Hall.



Like just about everything here in Downtown Brooklyn it is easily accessible by subway.



Although compared to the work-week it is relatively uncrowded here, the farmer's market always attracts a good crowd of people looking to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, bread; you name it. Looking down the stretch of vendors you can just barely make out the Manhattan Bridge in the background.

The Brooklyn Bridge is right next to it and the adjacent area is now known as Dumbo, another stupid name dreamed up by a developer. In this case it stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Nobody, to my knowledge, ever referred to the Manhattan Bridge and an overpass before. Oh well, the name must work, the real estate prices in that area are some of the highest in Brooklyn now.

You can just pop out of the subway, buy a fresh loaf of bread, and pop back down again if you choose to do so.



The flowers were particularly colorful on the sunny Saturday morning and I probably should have bought some for the Mysterious Chinese Woman. I failed to do so, however, and now feel remorseful. Oh well, I will buy her a hotdog and a beer at the Yankees game tomorrow. The flowers would have been cheaper though.





The vegetables and fruit were also looking particularly colorful.



As early as it was, they were already being picked over by hawk-eyed old women.



If you like tomatoes, but dislike the insipid, flavorless things you get in the supermarkets now, this is the place to go.

I took one last picture on the way back home that captured the lovely fountain in the very small Columbus Park that is right in front of Borough Hall, home of Marty Markowitz, our charismatic Borough Presdent who now has his eye on the exhalted title of Mayor. Watch for a run in 2010.



Tomorrow I head out to a Yankees game and, although it isn't in my neighborhood, I will try to take a few pictures and post them for your amusement.

My Neighborhood

I am no longer visiting bars on as regular a basis as before, who could. However I still visit interesting places on occasion, and I live in an interesting neighborhood. Well, it is interesting to me, at least. I thought I would change the direction of this blog a bit and start posting more on things and places that I find to be interesting, mostly in the area around where I live, Downtown Brooklyn, and the surrounding neighborhoods. Of course if I do visit a new bar I will certainly post on that as well. Let me know what you think about this idea.

Gowanus Yacht Club



While out for a morning walked I passed by the Gowanus Yacht Club prior to its opening for the day. This is a decent place to pop into for a cold beer and a hamburger or a hotdog. They have cheap PBRs and a decent selection of more exotic brews, all served in plastic cups. You can get pitchers too. They also have trivia contests for your amusement and enrichment.

The Specials



You can find this outdoor on a cement slab with picnic tables and umbrellas place at the corner of Smith and President Streets. You can get there on the F or G train (there is a stop right next to it) or just take almost any train to Boro Hall and walk up the ever entertaining Smith Street. This neighborhood is Carroll Gardens although there is a move underway to rename it BoCoCa for the three adjacent neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens. Resist the urge to use this name at all costs. It is absolutely stupid and unnecessary.

Not too far away, but far enough away so you can't smell it while sipping your beer, is the infamous Gowanus Canal. One day this may be a very upscale neighborhood itself. You could have a marina and boats can get out to the ocean from it. Right now it is still pretty industrialized and smelly at times. There has been talk of dredging it out, but there is so much chemical waste and stuff that there is a concern about how safe dredging would be.

The Gowanus Canal used to be a creek but it was made into a canal and became a major commercial waterway used to transport cement, oil and coal during the 1800's. A number of cement factories and coal and oil depost still line it. A flushing system was installed but for many years it didn't work and there is no natural outlet to the canal other than the one into the ocean. Supposedly the flushing system is now working again and water is clearing up somewhat. A study is underway to decide weather or not to do a major upgrade to the system down the road a bit.

Views From The Bridge

Looking South Towards Red Hook


Looking North Towards Downtown



There are a few art galleries opening up along here and at least one performance place, Issue Project Room at 400 Carroll Street between Bond and Nevins. This evening and tomorrow evening the School of Hard Knocks dance troupe is putting on a 7 hour piece along the banks of the canal. You could join or visit the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club if you wanted to get a more up-close look.

Mentos and Cola

Ah, the day started out serene enough with a quiet stroll across the bridge between Callicoon and Pennsylvania. From the tranquil look of the Deleware river you would hardly know that a week ago a lot of this town near the river was covered in water.

Scenes From The Bridge





But, as is often the case, serenity doesn't last. Over breakfast I mentioned the recent craze involving mentos and diet cola. Surprisingly enough, this was not common knowledge amongst my companions so, of course, we had to buy a couple bottles of Diet Coke and try it out for ourselves.

Our first attempts, using one liter bottles, did not produce the spectacular results that we had hoped for.

Steven Dropping A Load



Less Than Spectacular Results



Not to be deterred, we decided to restock our supplies and use the larger two liter bottles.

The Gang Gathering



As is natural for a group such as this, we chose the youngest member be our volunteer for the new attempts.

Andy Decked Out For Duty



Our first attempt started slowly enough.

Slow Start



However, we hadn't counted on Andy's conjuring skills.

Andy Doing His Stuff



The final results were most gratifying indeed.

Lift Off



Of course we weren't satisfied with doing this just once so we had to try it out with Diet Pepsi too, and that worked just as well if not better. We also captured the often talked about, but seldom seen, double.

The Elusive Double Geyser



Finally, exhausted from our efforts, we were able to retire for our cake and to continue to celebrate Shirley's birthday.

Happy Birthday Shirley

A Slow Start

I headed up to Callicoon, New York today to visit friends and celebrate the birthday of Shirley Stabbert who wouldn't want her age mentioned but looks mighty good for turning eighty.

Birthday Girl Shirley Being Crowned



Unfortunately I got of to a bit of a slow start due to problems with the Enterprise Car Rental in my neighborhood. I originally planned to pick up the car at 9:00 A.M. and had made reservations over a week ago to do so. I was going to pick up a friend of mine, Shirley is his sister-in-law, before heading up. He was going to be running a bit late because he was coming in from Florida so I called Enterprise at 9:10 A.M. (they open at 9:00 A.M.) to tell them I would be picking up the car at 10:30 P.M. instead. I was informed that they might not have a car available at that time. I said I didn't understand that, I had the car reserved for 9:00 A.M. and would pay for it from that time, just hold it until I got there. I was told they couldn't do this. I then asked to talk to a supervisor.

The supervisor heard me out and said there wouldn't be a problem, there would be a car waiting for me at 10:30 A.M. Well, you can probably guess where this is going. I got to Enterprise at the appointed hour and was told that they had no car available but that I could be driven to another location to pick up a car. I asked what happened to the car I had reserved for 9:00 A.M. and that they were going to hold for me and after a bit of hemming and hawing they admited that they had rented it out. I said I didn't want to go to another location, that they advertised that they could deliver a car to your residence, how about if they just delivered it here and I would pick it up at noon (Enterprise is only a few blocks from where I live). They said that would be fine.

As you can imagine, shortly before noon when I arrived there was still no car. They did call and have someone drive one over though and I finally got my car at 12:30 P.M. To add insult to injury, it only had about 1/8th of a tank of gas so the first thing I had to do was stop at a nearby gas station in downtown Brooklyn where the price of gas was $3.40 a gallon.

Luckily an Avis dealership has opened up nearby so in the future I will probably be doing business with them. Or at least I will check them out to see if I have better luck. Avis also lets you return your car on Sunday whereas Enterprise is closed on Sunday.

I will say that in the past I have never had any problems with Enterprise, except for there policy of sometimes giving you a car with almost no gas in it. And even throughout this set of intereactions everyone, except for the first person that I talked to on the phone, was very polite and friendly. I just don't understand the reasoning behind not having a car available that you have reserved in advance if you can't pick it up on time when you let them know in advance that you are going to be late. I would never use Enterprise at an airport. I imagine if your plane was delayed you could be completely out of luck in terms of having your car waiting for you.

By the way, if you are wondering why I didn't just pick the car up on time and keep it at my place until I needed it, there is absolutely no place to park a car during the week where I live in Downtown Brooklyn. Even the parking lots are filled up by 9:00 A.M.

Eating Ethiopian

Makeda's



The Fourth of July weekend will find me smoking ribs and chickens and a duck or two at my sister-in-law's house in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed out on Friday to do our shopping and decided to have lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant not far from the train station. Luckily there was a very nice bar in the place where I was able to have a pre-lunch beer.

Bar Man and Erica At The Bar



Erica was very friendly and I had a Magic Hat #9, nicely refreshing on a hot day with that hint of apricot that sets it apart from most other beers. I sat next to a friendly couple, Chris and Kim, and chatted with them a bit.

Chris and Kim



Chris is a systems ecologist for the Environmental Protection Agency. He works in the Water Quality Branch and has a Ph.D. in whatever it is you study to get a job like that.

After finishing my beer and conversation I headed into the adjacent dining area where I scooped up my lunch with that spongey bread.

The Dining Area



The food was good and the service was friendly and the bar was friendly so if you are in New Bruswick and want to do something a bit different, do drop in. I have been here in the evening, and it does pack up.

A Trip Abroad

Well, perhaps a trip abroad is a bit of a stretch, but we did move to another island, Staten Island. By the way, for those of you who might not know, where we were earlier today, up in The Bronx, is the only piece of New York City that is not on an island.

We took the Staten Island Ferry, always a fun trip, and free as well, and said adios to Manhattan:



And goodbye to Brooklyn too:



And, as the ferry took us by the Statue of Liberty we had to take the obligatory photo which is basically a big head with a tiny Statue of Liberty in the background.

Donna And The Lady



After landing we took a bit of a walk to a place that Donna had read about, the Cargo Cafe.

Cargo Cafe



This is an unpretentious place with a lot of interesting art hanging, and painted, on the walls. There is a pretty decent view of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and there is a bit of a view of Manhattan and Brooklyn interspersed with views of three large apartment buildings, two of which are still being built. The view from them must be quite nice indeed.

Bruce and I decided to have a pre-dinner Martini at the bar, of course.

Bruce And Bar Man At The Bar



After our drinks we headed for the back room, which had the best views, and had our meal under the watchful eyes of some of old friends.

The Pack



Our drinks were very good as was the food. I had a nicely spiced skirt steak and the ribs were a big hit too. The portions were more than generous and they came with large portions of mashed potatoes with onions and stuff mixed in. Very good, and they most certainly were not the instant kind.

Even though this place is out of the way, and that is putting it mildly if you live in Brooklyn, I will return. And I will have the steak again too.

We didn't pay attention to the ferry schedule, kind of assuming they ran every half an hour or so. Well, they do, from Manhattan to Staten Island. They only run every hour in the other direction, at least late on the week-ends. To make matters worse, we missed one by just a couple of minutes so we had a fairly long wait.

Bruce, Donna And The Mysterious Chinese Woman...Waiting



Despite the wait we counted the adventure a great success and were very pleased with the Cargo Cafe.

A Fishy Fish Festival

Don't believe everything you read in the papers. The Daily News had a major article touting the Seafood Parade that supposedly is the Bronx's answer to the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. It is held in Hunt's Point in the Bronx close to where the Fulton Fish Market relocated. The article said "...they're cooking up fish dishes, crafting fancy fish costumes and building homemade fish floats for a mile-long march through their neighborhood." Well, see for yourself.

First of all, on week-ends the subways never run as advertised so we had to take a somewhat convoluted route to get to this grand parade. We made an erroneous transfer at 125th because the Mysterious Chinese Woman done steered us wrong.

Bruce And Donna At The Wrong Station



The Mysterious Chinese Woman Abashed



Ah, but it was so worth it when we finally arrived. Despite getting a bit lost we did arrive in time for the start of the grand parade.

The Parade Starts



Floats, I don't think so. There was only one, and it would be a stretch to call it a float. The whole parade had maybe 30 people max, most not in costume, and lasted all of five minutes.

The One And Only Float



The crowd trembled in fear though when the local toughs showed up on their tricked out, ah, bicycles.

The Local Bikers And Their Rides





Ah, but the fish, that is what it was all about, Right? After all, "...they're cooking up fish dishes..." Well, there wasn't a single stand that was selling fish. In fact there weren't any food stands at all except for Moe Gridder's Famous BBQ trailer. Well, you have to do what you have to do, so I had a pulled pork sandwich.

Bar Man And His Pulled Pork



The Fish Festival certainly wasn't what I expected but it was kind of worth going to just for the humor of it. The irony was that they were having a street fair a block from where I live that was about ten times the size and where you could get fish. No mile-long parade though.

Show Time At Showman's

Showman's



You may remember that I visited this place one afternoon last November with my friend Bernie during my 1000 Bar adventure. It is located at 375 West 125th Street up in Harlem. At that time I heard about their Thursday Night Tap Dance Extravaganza. Well, Extravaganza might be a bit strong, but they did have tap dancers.

It wasn't too crowded when we got there so we got seats at one of the four small tables, although in retrospect we should have sat at the long bar. There isn't any cover charge here, just a two drink minimum per set. They also had free hors'doeuvres which consisted of pasta with peppers and sausage. Mona, the manager, assured me she made it herself.

The opening act was Joey Morant, a trumpet player who regularly headlines at Showman's on Thursdays. That is when he is not touring. He said he just returned from Paris and was about to head out to Europe again for another tour that would also take in Russia but said he would be back for the first Thursday in July. He was quite personable and came over to talk to us and really got the crowd going with his band that included a great sax player, guitar, drums, and an organ player. Showman's claims to be the only Jazz Club in New York with an organ (but it is kind of a small one).

Joey Morant And His Two Trumpets



We were enjoying our drinks at our table when a large group came in from Wachovia and crowded the front of the bar pretty much blocking our view and making it hard to get to the restrooms. They weren't being obnoxious or anything, just a bit inconsiderate. There was plenty of room at the back of the bar where nobody's view would have been blocked.

Bruce And Bar Man At Our Table



Did I mention tap dancers? The had tap dancers that seemed to range from an Australian sheepherder to someone who looked like a Japanese manga character.

Tap Dancers












Showman's is a fun place to visit for good jazz every night of the week except Sunday. You can easily get there by subway, the 1 train stops about six blocks away and the A train is right around the corner. Just get off at 125th.

My Favorite Italian Restaurant

Armando's At Dusk



This is one of the first restaurants that I ever visited in Brooklyn, a few years before I even thought about moving into the neighborhood. Now I live just a few blocks away and it remains my favorite Italian restuarant. It is located on Montague street that used to be "the street" for restaurants in Downtown Brooklyn before Smith Street, just a few blocks away, took over the title. Armando's, however, gives proof to the adage that older can be better.

The usual bartender, Paul, knows your name and what you drink. He makes a mean Martini and Armando's serves them in the appropriate sized glasses. The are large enough but not so large that your drink gets warm before you can finish it. A lot of bars use those over-sized glasses so the bartender doestn't have to work so hard. Why make two smaller drinks when you can get by with making one big one (and charge more for it).

Bruce and Bar Man Enjoying Our Martinis With Paul Looking On



The food here is delicious as well and the service is both friendly and efficient. They have the best linquini with clam sauce (I prefer the red, the Mysterious Chinese Woman leans towards the white) that I have ever had. The filet of sole in a lemon sauce is also fantastic. I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal here.

Bar Man, MCW, Bruce and Donna With Xhavit Attending



Xhavit has been working at Armando's for as long as I can remember and is fantastic, as is the whole staff. I still remember one warm December day when they had their Christmas tree up and they moved a table and chairs outside for the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me so we could enjoy our lunch in the sunshine.

Bruce And Donna, Happy With Their Meal



Because, as I said, they make their Martinis small enough so you can have two cold ones, I stopped at the bar and had another after dinner drink before heading on home.

Xhavit, Paul and Bar Mat At The Bar



Paul wasn't getting his due in the pictures so I managed to lure him a bit closer to the camera for one last shot.

Paul and Bar Man



Back in the 1950's when Marilyn Monroe was married to Arthur Miller they used to frequent this place and there are pictues of her adorning the walls along with pictures of other old-time movie stars who may, or may not, have eaten here as well. Pictures of Italian landscapes also hang on the walls and there are nice floral arrangements too. It is a very lovely and friendly place to have your lunch or dinner and it is usually bustling. The bar isn't just a service bar either and a regular crowd can usually be found enjoying a drink or two. Paul will make sure you feel welcome, as will everyone in the place. I hope Armando's stays around forever.