Brooklyn Eagle to 370 Jay Street: You Ugly

Photo courtesy of Brownstoner.

Some numbers are indeed crunched in the Eagle's report on 370 Jay Street as a not so heralded point of conversation and central hub above the Jay St. - Borough Hall stop. I guess it's vacated but nobody has done anything with it and the article focuses on since the rest of downtown is trying to get in step (although you really won't notice for a while still, example Willoughby and Duffield), this MTA building should do something with it's life. It's like the one friend who doesn't get his act together.

The Eagle reports several opinions that are positive on how to turn around the building and the space would be ideal for firms and agencies that are heavy in DUMBO currently but could stand to go one stop further and check it out.

It all goes toward the MTA who has the dibs on this structure and who as we all know needs some funds. The F train wasn't even running this past Saturday evening. Lamesauce.

In a larger sense, what is downtown really going to look like? What is it moving toward? Geo-wise, it's like a sandwiched neighborhood (if you call it that) having access to all trains without really having a core space. Would it become the next DUMBO as buildings like 370 Jay are bred into a higher scale of business and use? Do I really like DUMBO? Sure, with the exception that it really doesn't have a busy, working sense; I still want my neighborhood to have bodegas and stuff. On top of that, with BAM buying out space in the Forte condos and the Atlantic Yards project finally kicking off, just what exactly is this going to turn into?

Speaking of restaurants: I might have an actual restaurant down the block? GTFO

Photo by Brownstoner. Sign by restaurant.

Judging by all the shit that gets tossed around about Downtown Brooklyn, I'm surprised any life can be sprung from the mounds of figurative poop that suffocate this area.

Brownstoner is concerned that there won't be enough business huddling in this particular spot; I say if the food is good (also, depending on what the hell it is) I could probably eat enough to keep it afloat. If they have liquor it'd be a nice walk across the Metrotech and slightly less depressing than Harry O's. Hey, a Starbucks is doing just fine in the area. There's enough gullible college students that will want to do happy hour and then stumble onto the wrong stretch of Flatbush.

You can't really find this building; which can be a good thing and a bad thing. Bridgeview Tower has a terrible set of directions, so maybe I won't make it to this restaurant after all. I'm still psyched though. Maybe this is the real secret restaurant via can't-find-it.

Which reminds me, Mr. Bean and his shenanigans!

DUMBO the new SoHo? Alright, Brooklyn Heights Blog

Art is fascinating, but the art culture, being at a gallery, that has to be even more fascinating, a hodge podge of people watching, liasons, posers, and a shallow veneer of understanding. I revel in the posh cloak that surrounds the hippest of hip, the haute-est of haute.

Anywho, I don't think DUMBO is necessarily the new SoHo, and somewhere in there parts of Chelsea has to grab some acknowledgement if we're looking for similarities. I would still like to go to Re Bar, which looked nice.

You're going to want to get your art fix though with a variety of pieces that will be displayed at the BoConcept DUMBO Art Show, which runs from March 5th to April 1st right on Front Street (number 79 to be exact).

A special reception will be held from 6pm to 9pm on March 5th to kick things off, and if you click on the flyer photo and enlarge, you see that you can RSVP for a special discount at RSVP@boconceptny.com. There will be wine and food, and a little preview of some new furnishings. Coolio.

Here are the top billings:
Mireya Acierto
Daniel Krieger
Yazmany Arboleda
Danny Lowit
Deborah Freeman
George K George

They all sound like artists to me, especially that last one. George K George. Really?

Somewhat Mindless Purchases at The Brownstoner Brooklyn Flea in Dumbo

So, I trekked to the Brownstoner Brooklyn Flea, winter style, on Front Street in DUMBO to check out the indoor scenery. I was treated to some great soul music which you could purchase, and I ended up with two things: a very old, 1937 Popular Science issue which is fun, and part of a tobacco cutter patented on May 7, 1889 (I can't imagine how they used it, but the man said it was a very interesting piece to grab at a flea). It also said The Victor, and it looks like it's from Albion, NY with the name C.M. Mallory on it. If anyone can explain it to me, that would be awesome. Here are pictures:

Cobblestone Streets - Really, Really, Like Them

DUMBO is getting a little facelift, and with that, I might trip over to Superfine more often to see what an artsy fartsy party looked like in the movie Tough Guys with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas...in the 80s. Owning that movie on VHS is a wonderful, fun addition to any VHS library. Jake from Body by Jake, Darlanne Fluegel, and Dr. Ruth? AND Charles Durning? AND Eli Wallach? AND Dana Carvey in a serious role? Get outta town.

Anywho, everyone is reporting from this past week that a 20 million+ project by the city to restore, level a bit, and make a little less treacherous, the streets of DUMBO (Water and Washington) by redoing the cobblestone streets (I can see the horse carriages now stopping in front of Pete's or something and people saying "indeed" a lot more).

It'll take two years but if I stick with it my heart may just melt. I really enjoy cobblestone streets; they automatically put words like 'quaint' and 'lovely' and 'charming' into my head. The cobblestone streets are the reason why I walk around DUMBO in the first place really. It's old school. Now could millions of dollars go to something else (check out the whole scoop on this DUMBO Walentas building) but hey, for this neighborhood, it's a particular characteristic and would make it more accessible (considering that you have to walk at least a few blocks to really get into the area from the F stop at York, or if you're walking north from Brooklyn Heights).

I like the word cobblestone as well. It chugs well. Below is a picture of a cobblestone street in Estonia. It's not DUMBO (or should that be the other way around), but you get the idea.