As we enter yet another episode of Celebrity Rehab, from one downtown Brooklyn dude to the rest of the county.
Tonight we had a couple rounds of Scrabble at Zombie Hut where you had plenty of people wishing they were funny but instead spouting off ridiculously offensive stereotype jokes. There was also a who's balls were bigger discussion about American whiskey; they were making ignorant fun of the wonderfully awesome Tuthilltown distillery and questioning its brilliance while acting as if they knew everything about liquor without the earnest inquisitiveness that real connoisseurs would exude.
I managed "apex" and aimed for "moxie" on the board gameness but was overturned on the latter due to a bad fit. All this greatness on Bookworm leaves me a terrible Scrabble player still.
Anywho, there was a man who was both Italian and Asian. His obnoxious friends tried to determine whether he was "hairy" which in a public venue, one person should probably never ask another person. Couple that with some INTENSE cologne/perfume coming from another group coming in and you know I had to switch to PBR to keep it real. At least Scrooged was playing on the projector screen. Bill Murray is always a good distraction right?
Anywho, as we walked through the neighborhood on such a brisk night, we passed two men by Bar Great Henry where one said to the other, "Dude I don't know if I want to go over to that girl's place". So many contexts to this one but I guess he's shy.
Shopping in Downtown Brooklyn is down and dirty (at least for now). One would never think that there would be enough to warrant a nice sheen when it comes to a little press and marketing; the charm is that it's a microcosm that isn't neatly packaged.
However, surprisingly the Metrotech BID, who is trying to champion the neighborhood that alternately is the hottest neighborhood in Brooklyn and one of those areas where nobody knows really where/what it is, has fashioned a sort of organized flow chart for the holiday season. So if you know you can get your family something at Macy's or Jimmy Jazz, or any sneakers to speak of, maybe you'll take a look and enter the Holidays in the Heart of Brooklyn sweepstakes. This includes 2 nights in the Sheraton awkwardly situated among scaffolding currently; dinner at Morton's (which is the kicker for me), and a nice discount at the TKTS.
So the microsite is nice and the Facebook page is really well done considering it just started and they invested into a little creative work and some decent messaging/copy even with only 92 likes. You enter the sweepstakes on Facebook (although Wildfire's application can be used on the microsite as well but they chose to funnel traffic I'm guessing) and take a look at their shopping guide.
Two things about this guide: one, it's nice that all the local businesses I see are getting holiday cheery with small discounts across the board, whether dining, apparel, etc.
The other thing is though; how do we ask for the discount? Do we just print out the section where they are listed? Do half of these businesses know they are doing discounts? It's not like Tanger outlets or Woodbury Commons where everything is name brand and part of a larger real estate structure. I know that's what this shopping guide is supposed to do, organize into a bigger marketing picture, but I'm just a little skeptical that I'm actually going to get "10%" at Jack's Barber Shop down the street. 10% of what? 10% of a haircut? 10% of the barber's mind?
Exciting stuff but not quite there yet. Although I did 'like' the Facebook page and would love to see it develop from a good digital strategy. Until then, there's always the scrappy Downtown Brooklyn Facebook page...
Downtown Ale House has taken over the former spot of Taino Soleil and this is good news for DoBrah folks who still feel like they need just a little extra something to get their options flowing. I see a new nabe spot although Taino Soleil had a spirit all its own.
So here we go, there's a slightly full range of scrumptious food including 3o cent Sunday wings and reasonably priced apps and burgers. An ale house should mean some selection which it does have currently listed on the site. There is plenty of space and some TVs leftover from the previous incarnation so I see a bright future ahead with sports involved maybe. Anywho, the space is needed to help build some sort of nightlife surrounding the Fulton Mall. This plus the Shake Shack, although miles away in terms of hype, constitutes some place for people to go and eat or drink after hours and should draw some attention due to the proximity to an important piece of real estate in the area. The actual block this is on isn't the best but it's a good space and from the photos it seems like they were able to put a lot of materials from Taino to use.
I will definitely stop by at some point! Oh did I mention Tuesday Karaoke? Tuesdays are always the new Thursdays...
I always wondered which bar has the tiniest bathroom in New York. Vittorio's in the West Village has a bathroom the size of a pea and it's kinda hilarious.
The Sackett I don't think is the smallest, but I was pleasantly surprised at the proximity of everything within a forearm's distance. There are two different kinds of pros with large and small bathrooms. Large bathrooms make you feel like it's a sanctuary, where you get away from the hubbub of socializing or looking at anyone but yourself (if they have a mirror).
The small bathrooms are just kind of funny to me, it's like they shoved a bathroom into a space where it wasn't really meant to be. You could probably wash your hands while doing whatever. Turn one way, your nose is to the wall. Turn the other way, you're kissing the mirror. Turn a third way, you notice the small details and nicks and chips of the door.
I know this is quite a bit just discussing bar bathrooms, but hey it's early Saturday afternoon.
Anywho, I've been wanting to hit up the Sackett for a hot second and finally got the chance to grab a drink there with the better half while walking down 4th Ave. toward the Union R stop. It's very unassuming with little fan fare and the space feels immediately intimate. We were both into it for sure, although there was a lot of "totally"s taking up the adverbage between these two women at the bar and I couldn't figure out what exactly they was referring to. It's neatly laid out, small, cozy, wonderful jukebox, and ripe for casual conversations (but not encounters I don't think). It's a great place for pairs, triples and quads, as you sit and talk about your favorite movies and stuff.
The best word to describe The Sackett would be compact; there are no frills and everyone kind of keeps to themselves. The prices are reasonable, and like Abilene, Genny Cream Ale exists in the gullet of their selection.
I have a hankering to compare it to bars such as Buttermilk or 4th Ave. Pub or Black Sheep Pub but it's got it's own thing going for sure. Perfect for a nightcap from Union Hall (depending on how you're feeling).
Favorite bathroom songs has to include this right?
I was walking with my girlfriend this evening down Jay/Smith Street north of Atlantic and we passed by the jail vehicle entrance.
Now whoever lives at 75 Smith or the Nu Hotel sitting there (they managed to put out a chalkboard stand harping on 5 dollar martinis even though nobody is ever in the first floor bar) must either feel uneasy watching buses of handcuffed persons come in across the street or totally fascinated that in the middle of a yuppified neighborhood there's still a reminder of the county courts a couple blocks north, holding all the anger, frustration, and fateful legal discourse of one of the most dynamic areas in the country. Was that a run-on sentence?
Anywho, a man quietly approached us and said, "Excuse me buddy, but could you spare a quarter, I just got out of jail." I unfortunately did not even have any change on me as we were just escorting a friend a few blocks to Atlantic. He was wearing a classically ugly holiday sweater, which reminded me of a wonderfully hideous sweater I have in my closet that I cannot wait to wear. I wondered how long he had been lingering around the jail; I'm assuming a few hours if he was processed during normal work hours but I could be completely wrong.
I wondered what his next step was along with what he could have possibly done to land in jail. Hopefully he gets where he's going. It isn't superbly cold tonight, but to exit an unfamiliar (or maybe familiar) environment with nothing on you, I can't imagine the numerous things that go through your mind. Since I'm assuming nobody was there to greet him upon his exit, the feeling of being alone and out there in the night has to be a little crushing. His explanation that he was in jail probably would turn people off but it was meant to grab a little sympathy I think.
Then again, he could have been dangerous. I apologized anyway and passed him on the corner as he slowly walked without a sense of direction, searching for another sympathetic ear.
Conan is better than ever by the way, or if you want SEO-optimized I guess I should say Conan is the funniest late night show on TV.
Nope that dog run for Downtown Brooklyn might not get going until there's a little more oomph in the petitions, however, ever since the Metrotech here in Downtown Brooklyn decided to open up to vehicles (if there was a hospital in there and your wife was going into labor they STILL probably wouldn't let you in) I'm curious to see how traffic patterns will change.
The B54 bus that bobs and shakes to Ridgewood in Queens but also travels down Myrtle will be cutting across the Metrotech Center, part of a diversion and also part of a future revamped Jay Street-Borough Hall subway station. You know, because the areas a changin'.
What's awesome is that there is so much good stuff happening on Dekalb and Myrtle in general. I could cross over Flatbush in about 3 minutes but it's pretty awesome to add yet another transportation arm; it's what makes this area really fantastic, given we have all the subway lines except 3 (not including shuttles) and a gazillion buses at Fulton.
In more news, Filene's Basement is coming to the Fulton Mall, as well as a long-awaited Shake Shack. All that hubbub over the changes is definitely starting to come to pass. CityPoint is setting up shop online with a new One Dekalb retail center (in the old Albee Square about two blocks away), which actually will be close enough to the point where the quiet blocks of the Metrotech are probably going away over the next couple of years.
That was the most interesting thing about the B54, starting to see more traffic through the Metrotech, I gotta make sure I look both ways again. It was nice to have a super quiet block, serene next to the mall. It's still quiet for sure, but I definitely want to not only see the changes, but feel them as well.
NY Perks will always trump whatever you're doing. Kevin Barry's probably does as well during the eve, but what's great about NY Perks is that it's been there for years probably giving a big middle finger to Bar Tabac (hell I would anyway). Actually Ceol is probably giving a big middle finger to Bar Tabac too. Anywho, Perks has some scares lined up for Halloween Eve tonight with 2 for 1 Grey Goose drinks from 9 to 11 which is a good way to scare any embarrassment you MIGHT have about your costume. Ladies are free before midnight and men probably aren't but you knew you were paying dude, Halloween and New Year's are the easiest reasons to do covers at the door.
You know it's going to be serious. It's like the Van Wilder Halloween party, not the lame Richard Halloween party. You wouldn't want Tara Reid in any case.
For more, go to NY Perks official site and additional info from here.
There have been a couple of well meaningarticles on The Fulton Mall lately, with the stiff-as-morning-wood Wall Street Journal and the less dreamy New York Observer putting for their respective thoughts on how the strip will come about in the next few years. WSJ says, well big chains and big money are signalling a "rebirth" happening next to the religious squawking by Hoyt and the NYO says, well if you look at your facts, the Other Kings Plaza is already cream of the crop in terms of sales and general foot traffic (although the Arby's shutting down in a matter of months is kind of a shame).
What bothers me is that everything is seen from a perspective of upscale is better. Big developers are better. Gentrification is better. Shifting the overall "populace" in the area is better. "Catering" to the new residents literally a block or two away is a better, brighter future. Who comes up with that bullshit? I'm not saying an H&M is a bad thing; functionally they provide affordable clothing with a little style to boot. Although Aeropostale is totally lame. As the NYO points out though, there's nothing actually wrong with the Fulton Mall, and what's more frustrating, it's actually comparable to the best shopping the city has to offer. Living a block from the mall actually reminds me of Fulton Street in the city where I lived around the corner from 3 million dollar bonuses in suits as well as low end clothing/fast food with a heavy immigrant population.
Brownstoner's reader comments on the article are spot on and probably articulate what I want to say better. What the WSJ is missing (and what I was hoping the NYO was more fiercely vocal about, although hey, this isn't blogging right, it's journalism?) is a sense that The Fulton Mall serves a much greater purpose that they failed to realize. They also treat the strip as if it needs a total overhaul because well, it's not gentrified enough. As the NYO pointed out, whatever dirtbag wrote the WSJ piece is not writing it from the perspective that the mall is a viable, competitive, and highly sustainable economy for working class and middle class folks (with a decidedly disheveled and quite awesome Macy's) equal to strips in the city, it's from the perspective that it needs to be cleaned up and upscaled, using the new "type" of resident as part of the reasoning. It's just so dismissive and it bugs me; that's how powerful words can be, one way or the other. I guess causing me to blog isn't exactly mindblowing but hey I could be shopping for Halloween candy so the kids in the building don't think we're trolls.
As a person who is part of a new community settling into the neighborhood, I wholeheartedly, except for welcoming an H&M and stores that would fit well into the current state, reject this way of thinking about the Fulton Mall. I stand behind the fact that I can get a much better selection of what I want at the Fulton Mall than the Atlantic Center (although I do love me some Pathmark). I stand behind the fact that I can foster a newfound interest in snazzy kicks at Foot Action, Foot Locker, AND Finish Line. I stand behind the fact that there are stores that sell DVDs, jewelry, shoes, and cell phones AT THE SAME TIME. I stand behind the fact that you have the easiest selection of fast food joints ever for those who eat fast. It's like, when did the idea of good shopping (read: affluent) get in the way of the naturally existing economy of the past several decades?
Does the article add to the long list of excitable press surrounding the area? Sure. Is it an interesting outlook? Certainly, considering the development of the area. Yet, does it take into account anything beyond appearances of white it could be? No. The half-assedness of it is the most blatant diss.
Am I the exception rather than the rule when it comes to new residents wanting a gentrified mall? I hope not, but if I am, I'm at least urging people to really not shop at Aeropostale. Seriously.
