The Week
Rainy Memorial Day Edition
Neighborhood Stuff
The Boerum Bulletin Classifieds (free, but must register for “no scams & no creeps” purposes) are slowly populating with items and users. Featured listings: the parking spot for rent on Willoughby, a near-mint Peloton, and a 1933 copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Full disclosure, that last one is me. When our renovation1 is finished you better believe there will be a flood of items fresh out of storage.
Sophia Porotsky, a talented local attorney who insists on washing her hands in cold water and mercilessly attacking her unsuspecting husband with ice hands, was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States2 last Wednesday. The Boerum Bulletin is very proud of her.
One of the shows that filmed extensively in the neighborhood last year, dark comedy Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, premiered on Apple TV. Not one for the kids.
Between spending most of last week in Philadelphia, in D.C.3, stuck on a stopped Amtrak near Aberdeen, Maryland, or heading upstate for the long weekend (I am gatekeeping every single thing I like upstate), I did not get to spend much time in the neighborhood. I’m going to fill some inches by throwing out a few unsolicited, non-sponsored4 recommendations for goods and services. I’m evaluating ways to put out useful lists for the neighborhood in a way that won’t be...co-opted? Sure. That euphemism seems cordial enough.
Parkside Auto Care - for all my general auto inspections/maintenance. Call ahead, they get busy.
M&N Auto - for body/collision repair (thanks, 60th Precinct Auxiliary van5). Down in Coney Island. Extra good if you speak Russian.
Aside: Does anyone know a place/program for Russian lessons?
Metro Finest Deli - for bad hangovers. I usually prefer bacon on a breakfast sandwich, but this spot has link sausage sliced in half that, as of last order, was much higher quality than required for the job. If necessary, you can throw a hash brown (patty-style) on there too. Mid-block on Schermerhorn between Hoyt and Bond.
CHANCES WITH WOLVES - for music you don’t have to select. I’m an advocate of always having an AM/FM radio in the house, but even terrestrial radio can be algorithm-driven these days. This is decidedly not (think WFMU but streaming). https://www.chanceswithwolves.com/
Dad Books - for lovers of an allegedly declining segment of nonfiction:
Grant by Ron Chernow
The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury
A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James
The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan
The Power Broker is already on the shelf, right?
Fun Stuff
The Memorial Day sales at the Industry City outlet locations are worth braving the crowds — this is where/when we got about half of our furniture.
The Mets, Cyclones, Ferryhawks, and Liberty all have homestands this week. Knicks can close out the Cavs on Wednesday night, which would book their first trip to the finals since 1999. The city will be electric.
No matter what corner of Boerum Hill you’re in, there is a farmers market close. Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene, Downtown, & Grand Army. This may be the last week get ramps6.
The Bergen Street Block party is Saturday, June 6.
Brooklyn French Bakers has a new location on Flatbush next to the UPS store. That will make the “baby can you return this” trips a little more pleasant.
Also on June 6, vintage trains courtesy of the Transit Museum down south. Steps from Tashkent and a block from the beach.
Alison Roman is opening a cafe and grocery in Brooklyn Heights, allegedly in the former location of the old shoe store at 144 Montague. I hope the building’s new owner didn’t rip out all the crown molding and charming details of the street level retail space like he did to the apartments upstairs.
Civic Stuff
CM Restler ran an op-ed in City & State along with Althea Stevens from the Bronx about the Council Progressive Caucus’ call for $170M to expedite vacant unit repairs in NYCHA. With a backlog of over 6,000 vacant units, the City currently prepares apartments at a rate of just 390 a month.
The Department of Sanitation is expanding its revolutionary Big Dumpster program (aka Empire Bins) to all of Brooklyn Community District 2 (that’s us) this fall. All buildings with more than 30 units will be required to have designated on-street bins, and buildings with 10-30 units will have the option to enroll from July 1 - July 31.
Norman Oder7 of all people got called a NIMBY for observing real-world conditions re: street redesigns. Acknowledging complexity is not reactionary opposition, gang. I think all parties can agree that enforcement of double parking, bike lane parking, and commercial loading zones will be crucial to making the Flatbush redesign or the Bergen/Dean bike lanes viable.
Transit Stuff
Subways are on Sunday schedule for today (Memorial Day).
No overnight 4 between Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall and New Lots, Monday-Friday.
Tuesday through Thursday, from 9:45 PM to 5:00 AM, there will be no G between Bedford/Nostrand and Court Square.
And of course, from Friday at 9:30 PM to Monday at 5:00 AM
there will be no G between Bedford/Nostrand Avs and Church Ave
Should you find yourself choosing the expensive millworker because they’re fast and good, try to remember that “fast” relative to millworkers is still slow enough to induce stress headaches.
I met Brett Kavanaugh. I have thoughts.
I hadn’t been to D.C. since March 2024. To say that the Vibes Are Off would be a profound understatement. Just dug up a note from that trip: “Brilliant tacticians and masters of process in service of middling or incomplete strategy.” I’ll give you one guess on who I was meeting with.
All recommendations are unsolicited and non-sponsored.
Another story that will not be told on the public internet.
Make ramp butter and freeze it. You’re welcome.
For those that aren’t familiar, Norm has been covering what is now called Barclays Center and Atlantic Yards almost daily since 2005.
Very much respect unsolicited recs. Is there a way to solicit a rec for our volunteer BH tree care group?