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How come the people who run this check cashing store at 361 Court street can't seem to do what everyone else in the neighborhood has done: REMOVE GRAFFITI. For years, this Western Union store---owned by Davila Associates-- has allowed little street punks to spray paint the entire store and totally destroy the quaint look of Court street. Call them and tell them to clean up their act. 718-624-0688
Workers at Bloomberg L.P. in Manhattan are so fearful of being fired for smoking they've resorted to hiding in dark corners and warning their colleagues by cell phone that the big guy's in the building. One of our neighbors here in Carroll Gardens works for Bloomberg's information company and says smokers are afraid they'll be given the axe, if the former CEO spots them puffing away, not inside, but OUTSIDE the building. Many, we're told have resorted to phoning the smokers outside on their cell phones to warn them that the Mayor is coming down the elevator. Bloomberg was said to have fired a city worker because he was caught smoking in a newspaper photo. The Mayor's tough new smoking ban, which will prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants, is set to take affect in March.
State health inspectors have cited nearly a dozen Carroll Gardens area restaurants for having little bugs and critters running around their kitchens. Specifically, vermin was found in these 11 restaurants, according to the latest Health Department inspection reports.
This by no means that the little buggers were actually found IN the food and it's assumed that the restaurants cleaned up their act after getting fined for the health code violations. If you're looking for a pet rat or cockroach you can find them here: Zaytoons, Ting Hua Chinese , Red Rail, Sur, Su Su's Yum Yum, Ling Ling Young Young, Jakes, Halcyon, Buddies Burrito and the Banania Café.
Permits for this giant 17-thousand square foot supermarket were approved by the city's department of buildings without nary a second of public input. It's perfectly legal as well. Despite concern that the Genovese store may not fit into the urban environment of Smith street, Community board 6 has no jurisdiction over the permit process or whether the store should or can be built. Many commercial properties, except those in historic preservation districts, can get city approval without a public hearing or the approval of a local community board.
Brooklyn, it seems, has it's own version of the Soup Nazi, the semi-real character on Jerry Seinfeld's T.V. show. It's called JOYA, a new Court street Thai restaurant and bar that's been graded as one of Cobble Hill's new trendy hot spots. So, this guy walks in with his girlfriend, sits down and orders a meal. An hour goes by. Still no food, but he rates a visit from the owner. The customer's thinking, hmmm, he'll probably say…"Sorry, it's taking so long." Nope. Instead, the owner says, according to one of our spies, " What are you doing here. This table is reserved. Who do you think you are. As it turns out, they were regular customers, or at least he was. To that, he barked, "fuck you," and walked out. Just another Smith street area joint trying to be Manhattan. JERRY SEINFELD, PART II Jerry Seinfeld's building a new garage for his dozen-plus exotic and luxury cars on the Upper East Side. Thanks to one of Carroll Garden's best construction workers, we get a peak inside. The building features two levels for parking: ground level and basement level. The floors above feature game rooms and living space. An elevator, not a ramp will move the cars from floor to floor. The interior features funky looking metallic ceilings and the façade will resemble that of any other brownstone on 83rd street on the East side. Seinfeld's home is just around the corner.
It's not uncommon in Brooklyn or anywhere in the country to see large Christmas light displays over the holidays----but have you ever heard of Valentines Day lights. Check out the red and white lights going up at a handful of homes on First place between Clinton and Henry in Carroll Gardens. Each year, these families not only do up their properties with lights, but with giant cutouts of hearts, arrows and the Saint of Love himself. COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT Ever call in a
complaint to Verizon or the local cable company? Thousands do each
year, but we here at the CARROLL GARDENS COBBLER were kind of curious
just how many people complain. According to the New York state public
services commission complaints against Verizon top the list. They've
been busy installing DSL service to parts of Brooklyn including
Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. But, their on again, off again
installation has resulted in switched cables and disconnected service
to many folks. The state has received over 527 complaints about
Verizon in 2002. But, surprisingly, when it comes to slamming, that
is, the practice of automatically switching customers from one long
distance company to another, Verizon fairs well.
Why is that all good firehouses become the future homes of New York City yuppies? Luckily, last minute budget scrambling saved one of Gotham's oldest firehouses, Engine 204 at 299 Degraw street, between Court and Smith. The Bloomberg administration has put on hold closing eight city firehouses and the 133-year-old Engine 204 gets a lease on life. Back on September 15, 1869, The Brooklyn Fire department was born, a separate entity from those in Manhattan and neighboring communities. Brooklyn boasted 13 engines and six ladders and at the time the firehouse at 299 Degraw was Engine 4. It moved to 533 Hicks for a few years and then back to its original location where on January 1, 1913, it became Engine 204. It has remained ever since, occupied by just one truck and a couple dozen men and women. PROFILED: OUR NEIGHBORS Angela Starita knows a changing neighborhood when she see one. That got her thinking. How has the influx of new blood into Carroll Gardens, Red Hook and Cobble Hill affected their lives and that of the people around them.? With a little funding and a nosey neighbor attitude, she embarked on her Internet project: South Brooklyn Profiles. Starita pries into the lives of a dozen or so people, most of them Italian and with strong neighborhood roots to get their take on the modern day South Brooklyn. Check out her website at www.southbrooklynprofiles.org. TIPS & TIDBITS Got a tip, a wacky story, a neighborhood complaint, a secret? Send it to me and we'll likely print it for all of cyberworld to see. george@georgeweber.net |
URBAN
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LITTLE HISTORY---THE LITTLE FIREHOUSE THAT COULDa dosswerks development
