Best Dessert in Park Slope?

Where is the best dessert to be found in Park Slope? You’ve done Two Little Red Hens, and admired their pig stool (thanks, Ranjit). What’s the alternative, Jane asks in the Park Slope Message Boards?

Daniel says the Opera cake at Cousin Johns (7th Ave + Berkely) is “incredible… Most of the baked goods there are great – we had a chocolate ganache cake (as they were out of Opera cake, and we forgot to pre-order) for my birthday …”

When it comes to baked goods in South Brooklyn, however, Court Street is the place to go, according to Jack: “The Slope simply does not have anything that comes close to the goodness of the stuff over there… It depends on tastes, but it’s yuppie-ish and good and it’s called Sweet Melissa has some great stuff. You defiinitely pay a little more, but it’s very much worth it.”

“If you want Cannoli and some great Italian pastries, Court Pastry is great as well. Not too heavy when it should not be too heavy. And just the right balance of richness all around. These are Italian baked goods exactly as they should be…”

More ideas: Park Slope Message Boards

Park Slope Single


Park Slope single.

Originally uploaded by gak.

From the photostream of gak: “… Skipped 2 of the open houses and passed by the locations of 2 others to see this gem in Park Slope. Barrels of light and space, close to 7th Avenue and Prospect Park yet very quiet, the possibility of a lower rent for only one occupant…”

More Public Sex in Park Slope: 1st St. & 6th Ave.

From the New York Post: “a couple’s romantic stroll along a leafy Brooklyn block turned into a randy romp on the sidewalk that was abruptly interrupted when a cop caught the woman bare-bottomed and her boyfriend sprawled on top.”

“Officer Talat Awad spotted the obliviously passionate pair at 4:50 a.m. Thursday on the pavement in front of a classic brownstone stretch of First Street near Sixth Avenue in Park Slope.”

“‘People make mistakes,’ [24-year-old Philip] Clonan [of Williamsburg] told The Post … ‘This is the biggest one I ever made.'”

LINK: Public Lovers Nailed [New York Post]

PREVIOUSLY: Monday Night Sex (on a Filthy Mattress the Neighbor Girl Threw Out) [Daily Slope via Gawker]

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Manhole Fire!


Fire From Manhole

Originally uploaded by MsAnthea.

MsAnthea writes: “A little over a week ago, there was an electical fire beneath the street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The fire eventually burst out of a manhole 5 houses down from me … I was without a phone for more than 24 hours, without DSL for over a week & my lights were flickering off & on as though the house were possessed…”

Park Slope Parents: “Do You Want Your Child to Be Uncomfortable or Dead?”

In the New York Times: “For more than a decade, doctors have advocated putting babies to bed on their backs as a precaution against sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS… however, some new parents are finding that the benefits of having babies sleep soundly – more likely when they sleep on their stomachs – outweigh the comparatively tiny risk of SIDS.”

“‘Do you want your child to be uncomfortable or dead?’ asked Vanessa Saft, the mother of a 2-year-old, Ramona, and an early childhood educator … Ms. Saft said she was baffled by some of the permissive discussions she read on the e-mail list of the Park Slope Parents, where Brooklynites share their advice on vaccinations, sippy cups, schools, nannies and, also, sleeping.

“But Ms. Saft said she refrained from chiming in with an unpopular viewpoint, even one in line with the medical mainstream, because, ‘I always get in trouble.'”

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Food Co-Op Will Buy 100% of Electricity from Wind Farm

The Park Slope Food Co-op just announced that it be switching to 100% wind-generated electricity from New York and Pennsylvania. The co-op board voted 66-0 in favor of the switch.

This is the largest private purchase of wind power in Brooklyn to date, and the first purchase of wind by a food co-op in the Northeast, according to Community Energy, which markets “NewWind” electricity around the country.

General Coordinator Joe Holtz: “We want to do our part to lessen U. S. dependence on foreign oil, reduce our emissions of CO2 and harmful pollutants, and raise people’s awareness” which apparently will include encouraging co-op members to make the switch, too.

The 920,000-kilowatt-hour purchase saves 800,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, comparable to taking 58 cars off the road, according to Community Energy.

You can buy wind power, too. One route is to go though Con Edison. Purchasing “25% NewWind Energy®/ 75% Small-hydro” will set you back an additional 1/2 cent per kWh on all usage, according to this Community Energy page.

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Cattyshack in the New York Times

2005_5_cattyshack.jpgFrom the New York Times: “On a still-industrial strip of Fourth Avenue, just beyond the leafy residential quiet of Park Slope, this welcoming bi-level club is both bar and clubhouse, populated by diverse crowds of lesbians and their friends. The welcoming space is bigger and more polished than owner Brooke Webster’s previous venture, the now-defunct Houston Street dive Meow Mix…”

“…Many varieties of the Sapphically inclined were visible on a recent night: boyish girls in Carhartts and their male friends, middle-aged couples, a bartender with a mohawk. The countercultural and the traditionalist should both find a place to feel at home here…”

Cattyshack | 249 Fourth Ave., Brooklyn, NY. 718-230-5740

LINKS:
Top Pick: Cattyshack [New York Times]
Meow Mix Owner Lands on Her Feet [Curbed.com]

Discuss: [Park Slope Message Boards]

Naked Woman Deemed Inappropriate for Kids

flashdancers-news101905029.jpgFrom the New York Post: “Brooklyn parents, who were hot and bothered by a billboard featuring a naked blonde across the street from an elementary school, have won their fight to have the sign taken down. A spokesman for FlashDancers, a Manhattan ‘gentlemen’s club,’ said the billboard across from PS 133 in Park Slope would be removed…”

“He blamed society for a double-standard on adult material: ‘That sign is less risqué than the ads on city busses.'”

“… the stiletto-wearing woman … offers a come-hither look as she stares down at kids in the school playground.”

Councilman David Yassky … called it ‘totally inappropriate’ …”

“‘Wow, look at the hot lady,’ said one 9-year-old boy…”

LINKS:
Ad to be Stripped [New York Post]
A Young Audience for an Explicit Ad [New York Times]

Discuss: [Park Slope Message Boards]

Lorentzen: To Wed and To Fail

SquidWhale.jpgChristian Lorentzen sent us a link to his take on Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and The Whale:

“People over age 50 are signally absent from Park Slope, Brooklyn. It’s a neighborhood where members of the ‘creative class’ move during their breeding years to mate, spawn, and keep housepets. The elegant brownstones are spacious and just barely affordable, grocery stores and veterinary clinics abound, the streets remain fairly safe, and a majestic park sits atop the hill. What better place to fall in love and raise a family?”

“But here comes the paradox. No zone – besides perhaps a college dormitory – could be more hostile to monogamy… The density of the Slope’s educated, attractive, liberal-minded population translates… into a practically limitless array of analogous sexual options within walking distance. The lonesomeness of the uncoupled, or the isolation of marital strife, can be assuaged without difficulty. Someone else will always be thirsty too, and chances are he or she is pretty good-looking, attended a respected college, holds a really interesting job, has an intriguing ethnic background, and there’s always the thrill of seeing the inside of someone else’s apartment…” Read more…

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Bollards: Will Pedestrian-Hostile NYC Join the Rest of Western Civilization?

Must read: Aaron Naparstek’s lengthy treatise on Bollards, the hardened steel, concrete or stone posts buried into the pavement of city streets and sidewalks:

corner.jpg-762414.jpg“In Northern European cities, you see bollards all over the place. They are used to make sure that if a motor vehicle accidentally jumps up on to a sidewalk, pedestrians are protected. Bollards are a kind of urban preventative medicine. They stop crashes before they happen.”

“We have bollards in New York City. But … rather than using them to protect people, we use them to protect things — fire hydrants, pay phones and important buildings into which we believe terrorists might want to drive car bombs.”

“…There is often a sense in New York City that motor vehicle traffic is akin to a natural phenomenon… we’ve become conditioned to motor vehicle carnage as the natural order of things … It’s no wonder. In the same week that the Reyes family was run over there were at least three incidents of vehicles jumping up onto the sidewalk and doing serious damage to people and property in Park Slope, Brooklyn, my neighborhood.”

“Bollards are cheap and easy. Even some of the most run-down and industrial parts of East Berlin have pedestrian bollards … We could afford this if we wanted. We could show they are successful and worth it …”

GAPtraffic.jpg-730043.jpg“This sad state of affairs on NYC’s streets is slowly beginning to change. Last year, a group of Park Slope advocates, myself included, teamed up with the Prospect Heights Parents Association and Transportation Alternatives and successfully lobbied DOT to install protective bollards around the intimidating traffic island in the middle of Flatbush Avenue between Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Public Library.

“It’s not ideal. The traffic signals are still timed in such a way that they trap pedestrians on the island in the middle of Flatbush. They could have done much better.”

LINK: Making NYC’s Streets Safe for Hydrants & Pay Phones [naparstek.com]

DISCUSS: Park Slope Message Boards

Tempo is a “Top Newcomer”

As reported on MSNBC: Zagat has listed TEMPO as one of the “Top Newcomers” in its annual New York City restaurant guide, which was just released. Here’s what they say:

03tempo.jpgTEMPO, 718-636-2020. “Manhattan-style dining comes to Park Slope, [Brooklyn],” via this “terrific” new Mediterranean offering “robust flavors” in “big, airy” “SoHo-like” digs. Though “service is Brooklyn friendly,” locals better “be prepared to spend” like they were in the city.

FOOD 25 | DECOR 23 | SERVICE 23 | COST $49

MORE COVERAGE:

New Park Slope Restaurants: Tempo [The Food Maven]

Tempo Starts To Go Service [Eating For Brooklyn]

Lisa J. Curtis Reviews Tempo, Chef Michael Fiore’s new Park Slope Restaurant [go-brooklyn.com]

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Rare Device

designsponge-raredevice.jpgDesign Sponge reports on Rare Device, a new design boutique opened by Rena Tom, a jewelry designer, on 7th Ave. between 15th and 16th Sts.

Design Sponge’s picks include “cards from one good bumblebee, jezebel and pancake and franks, j mendicino pottery, tonfisk designs, sharon spain anything, paperdolls creations, and ona’s beautiful tea bowls.”

Links:
Rare Device Review: Design Sponge
raredevice.net
RARE DEVICE Blog

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Mugged by Fresh Direct Delivery Guy?

Tessa writes on NYC Metblogs: “…The guy put his foot in my door and would not let me close it, demanding his tip. I tried to close it, my heart beating faster realizing I’m a single female who lives in a studio with all my neighbors out already for the night. I think by the third time, he realized it too, pushed his way into my apartment and demanded I give him money.

“I gave him all the cash I had which amounted to only about $10 … I immediately closed my door, shaking violently (still currently at this moment), locking all three locks and then got on the phone to Fresh Direct…”

Read more: Tessa on NYC Metblogs

Discuss: Message Boards

Co-Op “Cell Rage” Could Perpetuate Lousy T-Mobile Coverage in Park Slope

Today in the New York Times: “Like many shareholders in his 72-unit co-op in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Jay Joe Jakubowitz was furious in July when he received a letter from the building’s board of directors announcing that cellphone antenna equipment would soon be installed on the roof above his eighth-floor apartment.”

“… a civil war of sorts has raged in the building at 130 Eighth Avenue, one that started with basement meetings full of shouting and culminated last week with the decision by a group calling itself Concerned Shareholders to hire a lawyer to try to stop the project, which was authorized by the co-op’s board … the opposition group … represents 25 apartments. A board member also quit in protest.”

“At issue are three radio base stations and six antennas. Tomorrow, T-Mobile USA plans to begin installing them atop the co-op, an eight-story red-brick building on Carroll Street and Eighth Avenue, within the Park Slope Historic District. The equipment will weigh more than seven tons, and its 15-inch-tall antenna panels will be bolted to the parapet. In exchange, the co-op will receive $1,800 a month from T-Mobile USA.”

Link: Cell Rage Roils a Co-op on a Historic Block [New York Times]

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Leaning Tree Falls, Crushes Car

carcrushestree.JPGOnly the Blog Knows Brooklyn reports:

“Wednesday at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Berkeley Place (btw 6th and 7th Aves.), a London Plain tree fell on a red car that was parked on the street… The tree, like many trees on the block, had been leaning dangerously for a long time. The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, which has jurisdiction over all trees growing in the public right of way including trees along streets, had been notified about the problem by block residents…”

LINK: Tree Crushes Car [OTBKB]

Time to Retire the “Hipster” Epithet

Godfather.jpg

chippenziedeutch pontificates: “‘hipster’ is sooo 2003… Nowadays, it’s Whatever-You-Are-Currently-Into + ‘mafia’.”

Examples:

“I went to the Tea Lounge last night, but couldn’t get past the Toddler Mafia.

“Going to see the Portastatic and John Vanderslice show at Southpaw? It’s sure to be filled to the brim with the Horn-Rimmed Glasses Mafia.

“I stopped going to Great Lakes once it got overrun by the Hipster Mafia.[Please note acceptable use of “Hipster” in modern “Mafia” context – Ed]

“I went to 2 Toms for dinner last night. It’s an old standby for the Mafia Mafia.

_______________

SOURCE: chippenziedeutch in the Park Slope Message Boards

Bucolic Bistro or Beer-Stained Bar?

Bern-200fifth.jpgIt’s joshb day in NY Press. After you are done reading his “little treatise about Prospect Heights and psychosis”, check out Diplomatic Fanaticism, a tribute to everyone’s favorite split-personality bucolic pregentrification-era eatery/beer-stained sports bar:

“I hail from southwestern Ohio, land of chili-topped spaghetti and the Cincinnati Bengals. In their own unfortunate ways, they’re both horrible. Yet for the first time since Home Alone was a hit, it’s October and the Bengals are undefeated. Where do I watch this Halley’s Comet season?”

“Park Slope’s 200 Fifth. It’s like Ellis Island for the sports-fan Diaspora. Vikings rooter? Texans supporter? Chargers cheerer? No problem. Every game is broadcast every Sunday. This makes for a jersey-clad, backward-baseball-hat-wearing melting pot of men and the occasional woman—not so unusual, given that this is Park Slope.”

200 Fifth | 200 Fifth Ave. (btw. Union St. and Sackett St.), Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY. 718-638-2925.

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Brooklyn Superhero Supply

bklynsuperhero1.jpgRecently on Forgotten New York: “When I passed this storefront at 372 5th Avenue near 5th Street, I assumed it was an elaborate movie set (Spiderman III?) or an expensive joke, but it turns out “Brooklyn Superhero Supply” is a spiffed-up tutoring center for neighborhood kids, known as 826nyc, that opened in June 2004.”

“Why 826? It is an offshoot of an original center on 826 Valencia Street in San Francisco; it has a Pirate Supply Store, at which September 19 must be a big day. The whole thing was started by belles-letterman Dave Eggers of mcsweeneys fame.”

Walking Tour: Street Scenes, 5th Ave. [Forgotten New York]
Article: Bruce Wayne is on the Mailing List [Gotham Gazette]

Park Slope Message Boards

The Squid and the Whale

The family drama set in 1980s Park Slope. Who’s seen it?

Here’s a good trailer.

Also good is the New York Times review, which starts out like this:

“One of the ruling assumptions of American popular culture – or at least of American independent movies – is that everyone’s adolescence is uniquely miserable. Once we’re safely afloat in adulthood, though, we can begin to recognize the universality of our earlier experiences, and we can be grateful when, amid all the prurience and sentimentality that attend representations of adolescence, someone manages to get it right.”

Discuss: Park Slope Message Boards

Image: ozbird.net

Two Men in “Sex Act” Shot and Robbed

In today’s Daily News: “Two men were shot and robbed by a gunman clad in dark clothes early yesterday morning in a gay meeting spot in Prospect Park … The gunman shot a 29-year-old in the thigh about 5:30 a.m., then pumped a slug into the chest of his 28-year-old companion and swiped a gold chain from his neck, police said.”

The men were engaged in a sex act when the trigger-happy thug pounced on them in the wooded Vale of Cashmere, a gay hangout dubbed Boys’ Town, police sources said…” Read more…

Link: 2 gays shot in Prospect Park [Daily News]

Discuss Park Slope Message Boards

Montauk Club / Open House New York Weekend

Photos of Open House New York 2004 in Brooklyn: whatisee.org

openhouse-bk-4.JPGJessicaSophia writes in the Message Boards:

“The thread about Open House New York got me to thinking about Montauk Club. When my fiance and I were looking for a site for our wedding, we toured the Montauk Club and actually considered becoming members (partly so we could say haughtily, “You must dine with us at the club!”

“…is anyone here a member? Please dish! It seems like a cool concept to be part of a social club.”

Links:
Montauk Club Members? [Message Boards]
Open House NY (Discussion)[Message Boards]
Open House NY official site [ohny.org]

PS. What is Open House NY? daveb explains: “for those who don’t know, this weekend (Oct. 8-9) is Open House New York. I can vouch that the electrical plant tour at Pratt is freakin’ amazing. Here’s some close-up photos from last year: http://flickr.com/photos/davebgimp/tags/pratt/

Cocoa Bar Chided for Improper Capitalization

From lowercase L, a Park Slope blog dedicated to William Levin’s obsession/annoyance with hand-written signs with letters in all-caps, except for the letter L (“It looks like an uppercase i … WHY DO PEOPlE WRITE lIKE THIS?”):

glassofpino.jpg“This chalkboard menu sits outside the new Cocoa Bar, a coffee, chocolate and wine lounge around the corner from me on 7th Ave. in Park Slope, Brooklyn. What makes this sign extra special is not just the GlASS, but the GlASS of PINOT BlANCO … or is it BIANCO?! See, Pinot Bianco is the Italian term for a varietal pressed from the family of Pinot grapes, and Pinot Blanco is the Latin term. So is this a case of double lowercase L’s, with GlASS and the Latin BlANCO? And then there’s that GIANDUJA Chocolate …

William concludes: “I am reluctant to patronize this establishment, at least until they fire the employee who wrote this menu.”

Check out this Discussion of Cocoa Bar in the Park Slope Message Boards.

Frank Bruni takes on Seventh Ave’s Sette

sette7th.jpgFrank Bruni, restaurant destroyer for the New York Times, weighs in on a topic that’s been burning up the Daily Slope message board: is new(ish) Seventh Ave restaurant Sette worth your while?

Overall, Bruni seems to have a gentler hand than our Daily Slope posters.

Compare Bruni:

An appetizer of roasted asparagus was distinguished by the Parmesan fondue on which the spears rested. It was satisfyingly rich without being heavy, and scattered here and there were crisp bits of pancetta, needed and appreciated less for their salt than for their crunch. The contrasting texture lifted the dish a notch.

With an anonymous and savage Daily Slope poster:

I had an asparagus appetizer that came with a tepid, watery cheese slurry. It congealed somewhat into a more edible consistency, but it was pretty icky.

Read Bruni’s review at the New York Times
Read “Sette on 7th – Ick” in the Park Slope Message Boards
Image credit: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times