Crown Heights on foot, May 1, 2011 Herbs, Cloves, Spices

Inspired by the beautiful weather, and a desire to get my garden going, Andy and I took a walk to King's County Nursery in Crown Heights (the new hood) to get some containers and extra seedlings.

We took off down Nostrand toward Empire Blvd. having decided to try and find the remnants of Old Clove Road, the first Dutch road that once linked Greenpoint and Canarsie when brooklyn was nothing but fields and farms and forests.  The road appears in maps through the last several centuries, but was all but totally covered up by the modern grid system by the late 1800s.  Only one block of the original "highway" remains . . . a confusing alley-like section we found at an angle to the grid here:

Old Clove Road (the block that remains)

The Belgian Block paving from the 1800s

Labeled with NYC street signs as "Clove Rd.", it seems to be an actual city street, and is half-paved, but impassable due to a city street light's being placed directly in the center of the access to Montgomery St.  It seems like you can get your car onto this lost road by Malbone St. (another historical remnant only 1/2 block long).  Malbone St. and Nostrand Ave. (my street) is where a saloon brawl (at Nealy's Saloon) led to the death of one Thomas Lennon in 1896.  Francis J. Hamlin was one young man detained in the murder investigation, and he lived in MY HOUSE.  See below from the NYTimes:

It's all coming together.  But on to the nursery.

For a carless New Yorker like me, King's County Nursery is a MAJOR find.  In the heart of Crown Heights, it is a family owned and operated (I'm pretty sure the son lugged our soil, the dad found our buckets, and the grandad rang us up) full-service nursery within walking distance!

I had started some seedlings inside the house, and after a few thoroughly enjoyable hours on my fire escape with soil, buckets, and water, I had sun-smacked shoulders and this:

"Balcony" garden day one

Ariel view

Looking forward to beans, peppers, tomatoes, celery (we'll see), basil, rosemary, and lavender . . . and the fun and challenge of gardening in a world of rats, pigeons, and lugging six gallons of water out the window every day . . . gotta devise a  watering system for that.

You'd think that would round out the day nicely, but after all that soil lugging, and planting and climbing in and out of windows, a man gets hungry.  And wants  . . . wings, of course.

Enter our new favorite Sunday pleasure:  SUPER WINGS  I have no idea how this woman does it, but this joint has the BEST wings I have ever had.  Ever.  

Super Wings.  Go here.

We waited about 25 minutes (and met some great people) and then carted three pounds of them home where they looked like this:

We got:  Ginger Buff, Trini Tamarind, and Spice Island Rubbed, and they were "Shut your mouth" good (with sides of corn salad, chick pea fritters, and spinach balls, and lots of ohmygoding)

Later (like 12 minutes later):

There are like eight other flavors left to try, but I'd be happy with Spice Island Rubbed as my desert island only choice.

So, in summation, Herbs in the garden, Old Clove Road, and Spice Island Rubbed.  A fine day, the first of May.  Hope you all had an equally beautiful one.

Trolleys coming back to Brooklyn?

Now this would be a great thing!  There is talk of using an unused $300,000 appropriation to look into putting light rail or trolley into Red Hook.  It would open up a part of Brooklyn that is under-served by the current MTA system, and could prove a model for other above-ground mass transit in the city.  (may I suggest cross-town trolleys on 23, 34, 59, and 86th Streets, and several lines linking Brooklyn and Queens?)  Trolleys once crisscrossed the entire borough.  Full article HERE.
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Levity with Sleeves.

Move over Snuggie Slanket, I've got something with fingers.  How hilarious is this?  Apparently everyone in Brooklyn has bad circulation.  I guess if it gets you to turn your heat down to a reasonable level at night, then it's a good thing.  I just think your laundry bill will go up.  Also, what happens when one suddenly decides to lie on one's side?  Douchequake!!!!
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Don't Cram the Pram -or- A little fresh air never hurt anybody.

Scandinavians have a WONDERFUL habit of leaving their babies in their prams OUTSIDE thier chosen gathering places.  Even in winter.  It looks funny to us:

[more + picture after the leap]

Notes on the Williamsburg bike lane scandal and ARRESTS?!

A quick update on the scandal I posted about EARLIER from gothamist:

"According to tipsters, the neighborhood's volunteer community watch group responded to reports at around 4 am that two men were using spraypaint to recreate a section of the bike lane, which the Department of Transportation controversially removed from a 14-block stretch of Bedford Avenue last week. Police arrived at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Rutledge Street and arrested two suspects, sources said. That story lines up pretty well with this posting by Twitter user WMSBG, which went online about two hours ago: "Police arrested this night two goiyem for re-painting the bike lane on Bedford ave with the help of Shomrim."

This small act by the city has sparked such a lively and occasionally informed debate about shared urban living, that you kinda can't look away.  Shomrim are the community-appointed security detail that the Hasidic community has created to patrol their neighborhood. They have a much debated efficacy and history in the area, as the long and entertaining "comments" section after the gothamist POST reveals. . . a sample of the community outrage HERE.

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Borough Quiz Answer! [drum roll]

IT's BROOKLYN!!! Williamsburg, to be exact. That's probably why it looks so Queensy and why Queens was the number one answer with 37% of the vote. No one was fooled that anything this . . .um . . . artistic and, specific? could have occurred in Manhattan.  So I guess you're all pretty savvy.   However, as a group you failed. So sad.  Better luck next week. 

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14 blocks of biking fall under pressure from a few.

UPDATE!! IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING

Bad news HERE. 14 blocks of bike lanes DESTROYED in Williamsburg. Some neighborhoods just can't take the horror of cyclists. Outrageous. This FIGHT has been going on too long.

"The Department of Transportation's decision to eliminate a section of bike lane from the borough's longest street is a surprising move, considering the agency's recent efforts to bolster the city's cycling network under the leadership of bike-loving Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan."

Recognizing the city as a whole, diverse, interconnected entity is important, and communities who wish to wall themselves off should purchase and gate communities away from terrible threats like green transit and progress. If you ask me.