Not gone. Apparently knocked down by a car and it’s now under repair, according to lovemynabe.

Charles/ugarte says: “I can’t speak specifically to historical significance, except to say that attractive antique clocks on tall poles are rare these days, but used to be more common. Whenever we lose one, a bit of the city’s architectural history dies. We had one in our neighborhood, but no more.”

“I found a picture of the clock - when it was standing - on Forgotten NY; you have to scroll down to find it. It is designated as “Flatbush and Eighth in Park Slope,” but more accurately was at Flatbush and Park in Prospect Heights. It is a much better picture than my nighttime phonecam snapshot.”

Huh? What clock? Where? Crustythor says: “you probably would only remember it as one of the many public things to which Key Food ties their ridiculous, bootleg tarp ‘awning.’ ”

Discuss: Prospect Heights Message Boards

Photo: Forgotten NY

joncane has a special request in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “Whoever the anagram-happy vandals are, may I humbly suggest that they use:

OH NO INFERNAL GERMANS VANISHING FINE MARVEL

UPDATE: We would settle for this:

MAN OF NINE GROINS MARVELS IF HE HAVIN LAGER

Backstory: Van Helsing Vandals Strike [Prospect Heights Message Boards]

JessicaSophia writes: “I havent’ seen any signs for it yet, but the guy at Heights Coffee just mentioned that the Flatbush Street Fair was going on this Sunday.”

More details: Prospect Heights Message Boards

Away with your FILTHY, pre-owned items! We must have it new. New!

Here are the remnants of the National Council on Jewish Women (NCJW) thrift store on Flatbush - you know, the one that used to pile all sorts of treasures out on the sidewalk. Oh… wonder what they have today? … Well, you can forget about that, now. Happy?

Just a few weeks ago, Jack wrote on the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “Oh, no. Oh, no. I can’t believe they are gone! They were truly one of the last old school gems and they really had a nice selection of stuff… it seems all the cheapo places to shop in this city are fading fast.”

“One of the two sisters was there in the store with the other African American woman who worked there. They recognized me, and when I asked ‘So, you’re closed forever?’ they said ‘Sorry, yes, thank you for coming…’”

“… that place has been there virtually forever … Seeing it all cleared to the walls was just a shock. This city is changing in ways I just don’t understand anymore.”

This is just one of three notable Flatbush Ave. junque store closings recently. As marthajoy reported, “a lot of second-hand stuff on Flatbush has closed down … [including] that antique store [next to Franny’s]. I noticed that the Second Time Around furniture (also affiliated with Jewish Women’s thrift store) over behind Yummy Taco is closed too.”

Discuss.

Both EmilyM asked about a space on Flatbush Ave., next to Kombit, “undergoing a high-concept looking reno. Full length windows, one of which had a display of river stones in it {hard to explain}. Anyone know what that is?”

Turns out this Flatbush Ave. storefront is going to become a “full body” spa, according to one of the women who owns Kombit.

Looking through some old photos, I had completely forgotten that this used to be that computer store with the blue awning that was loaded with mounds of outdated junk and never seemed to have what I was looking for (cable? no. video card? no. storage media? no.)

Discuss: What’s up with the stones?

Wasn’t this a Goodwill district office just a few months ago? This building on Flatbush Ave. is going to be a franchise location of i-soldit.com, a company that will list your junk on eBay so you don’t have to. They will also field questions from eBay shoppers and take care of shipping.

Sounds great to me, but it’s a huge space in a prime location, so it’s got to be an incredibly expensive undertaking (and a bit of a strange business decision, since apparently there’s a similar “EAuction” start-up company about a block away in a smaller space…). I’m going to drop off a few boxloads as soon as they open (provided their cut isn’t ridiculously large), but it’s a bit of a new concept… I really wonder if they will make enough money to cover the rent.

UPDATES: EmilyM writes: “I walked by this morning and this ebay place appeared to be open. I didn’t go in though because I had a heavy bag. The space does look really huge–can’t imagine what the rent must be.” According to daveb, they charge a 30% fee for listing your stuff, which if true, sounds reasonable to me.

More details and discussion in the Prospect Heights message boards.

Around 9:30 this morning, the antiques store on Flatbush (the one a few doors down from Franny’s) was moving all its junque out on the sidewalk and into a moving van. Apparently the place was still “open for business” up to the very end… noisefootprint said one of the guys loading the truck (jokingly?) encouraged her to go inside and browse around.

Click here for updates and comments…

So… speaking of never blending in… how about that thing going up behind the billboard? It’s “145 PARK PLACE,” a new 95,000-square-foot, 50-unit luxury condo building under construction on Flatbush. This is from our friend Transfer:

This is from MIHAI RADU Architects:

What… You were expecting it to be “architecturally correct?”

Ha, ha. Nice one. Welcome to Brooklyn.

Jose checks in with a follow-up on that mysterious “Hispanic Shampoo” section on Aisle 4 at the Flatbush Ave. Duane Reade: “Some of the products are made in Latin America (the DR, Honduras, Panama, Miami). However, other so-called Hispanic products are made in Germany and–get this–by special decree of Her Majesty, the Queen of England. The products range from cod liver oil capsules, gel, tonic, ‘Hongo Killer’ athlete’s foot powder, and, yes, shampoo. Or as my mom used to say, champu.”

[“Hongo Killer”? qu’est-ce que c’est? Fa fa fa fa, fa fa fa fa fa fa…]

ALSO, we got this note from noisefootprint: “I was in there recently, and a couple of young [Latina] women got riled at that sign … they were in that aisle getting their hair-care products, and kept making loud remarks about how they were reduced to the ‘ethnic’ section. ‘The ETHNIC section! We have to shop in the ETHNIC section now’…”

Actually, the weird thing about the “Hispanic Shampoo” section is that it contains only ONE type of shampoo: Mirta de Perales (Lemon Fresh and Herbal Fresh varieties, along with Hair Conditioning Rinse and Oil Treatment).

Maybe de Perales lobbied Duane Reade to change their signage? After all, she is quite the entrepreneur… Somewhere out there, you can find a Miami Herald article from the early 1990s that profiles de Perales’s Algeresque rags-to-riches story. It begins like this:

“On July 15, 1987, President Reagan, speaking at the White House, pointed to Mirta de Perales at a special function honoring minorities and said: ‘That’s the American dream.’ … Perales, Miami’s undisputed exile cosmetics queen, smiled. Fifty years ago, she began her career in the beauty business charging a nickel for a haircut in her hometown. Today, she owns one of the 500 richest Hispanic businesses in the United States–her own line of beauty products.”

PICTURED: EKO VINO Beef and Iron Wine Nutritional Supplement, on the shelves NOW at the Flatbush Ave. Duane Reade

Go get some before it sells out! (Thanks to witro for bringing this to our attention.)

Sorry to be culturally ignorant, but was anybody aware that such a product category existed? Not us. So we conducted an extensive investigation consisting of typing the phrase “Hispanic-Shampoo” into Google.

The results were disappointing. The closest match was a porn site, entitled “TEATS”, that inexplicably contained the following text: “Ageless Coptic declare the elasticized pikestaff with Hispanic shampoo.“

So there you have it. Which Hispanic shampoo is best for your elasticized pikestaff? We have Jose of Left Field Lengua on the case. We eagerly anticipate his report.

ALSO RELATED:
Simply Natural - Latinos lead the way in development of holistic cosmetic and grooming products [Hispanic Magazine dot com]

PATRICK GALLAHUE writes in the New York Post: “A plan to bring the Nets to Brooklyn will have to go through a competitive bidding process — much like the Jets stadium deal — before the MTA grants its air rights to developer Bruce Ratner…” Read more…

TIP:Captain Marvelous

PHOTO: Nothing like a blurry camphone pic to liven your day.
here

A charming glimpse of
one of Prospect Heights’ foremost restaurateurs: Francine Stephens (of Franny’s brick-oven pizzeria and wine bar on Flatbush Avenue) practices banjo in the backyard of her restaurant before opening hours. She apologized for the disturbance on this particular spring day, calling herself a “beginner,” but it sounded pretty good to us. (Picture taken from my kitchen window)

Franny’s appeared in The New York Times earlier this month in “Honey, There’s a Fish in the Bathtub.”

The stoic pride of Mr. Mohammed and Chef Bashar is eclipsed by Borough President Marty Markowitz’s “thumbs up” enthusiasm in this detail from a fawning advertorial (click for larger image) posted in the window of Joy Indian Restaurant on Flatbush Avenue.

This week, the Joy/Marty connection continues as part of Dine in Brooklyn, now through Apr. 20, during which participating Brooklyn restaurants will offer special 1- or 2-person meals for $19.55 (”In the spirit of the World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers”).

You can see Marty’s website for the full list of participating restaurants (along with subway directions). Here’s the PH contingent:

Aliseo (Dinner); 665 Vanderbilt Ave. 718-783-3400
Gen (Lunch/Dinner) 659 Washington Ave. 718-398-3550
Hibiscus Café (Lunch) (2 for $19.55) 564 Vanderbilt Ave. 718-638-6850
Joy Indian Restaurant (Lunch/Dinner)(2 for $19.55) 301 Flatbush Ave. 718-230-1165
JRG Restaurant Bar & Fashion Café (Dinner) 177 Flatbush Ave. 718-399-7079
Kombit Restaurant (Dinner) 279 Flatbush Ave. 718-399-2000
Tavern on Dean (Dinner) 755 Dean St. 718-638-3326

Details awaited.

Details FOUND: TIVOs ready? As dirtgirl notes in the Comments below, Biscuit will be on “Roker on the Road” Episode #AR0302, airing again April 12, 2005 12:00 PM ET.:

Cereal & Cakes
“…Al digs in to some mouth-watering Carolina barbeque, by way of Brooklyn…”

Biscuit | 367 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-398-2227.

Cash only. And bring a lot of cash. A quick stop in Natural Land/Sea Land can easily go overbudget. But how much is too much? On a recent Chowhound Outer Boroughs thread there was some griping that they “often overcharge for even the cheapest products … They know they offer the best produce and groceries in the area and they abuse it.”

I may be wrong, but I think the price of these nuts just went up by $1 a pound… And just out of frame (click here for full image) you can see they are charging $12 for what looks like a pound of hazelnut-flavored coffee. Growing up, I was always told they’re called convenience stores, so you’re paying for the convenience. But too many times I walk away from the register, shaking my head…

“The thing is, the Haifa proprietor seemed pleased on 9/11. that was enuf for us, ok.”

Well, that settles it, then.

“Did you not, in fact, on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, whistle a jaunty, non-Western melody while pushing a broom past a case full of expired dairy products? Answer the question, sir!”

[Flatbush Ave. Bodega “Under Ban for Anti-Americanism”]

In this Chowhound Outer Boroughs thread about the former Peralta’s supermarket becoming a restaurant, area woman jen kalb dropped the bombshell–without further explanation–that the Flatbush Ave. bodega known as Haifa Halal is “under ban for anti-americanism, not to mention past-date dairy products.”

What could be anti-American about this modest family operation? DAILYHEIGHTS contributor Quig pointed out recently that selling postdated merchandise is a long-standing American tradition.

On the other hand, I’m sure the U.S. Processed Food Coalition is not happy with Haifa’s decision to dedicate nearly 14 feet of shelf space to Al Wadi-Al Akhdar products from Beirut, Lebanon. The occupation includes chickpea-dip-in-a-can, which costs only $1.00 and is currently under scrutiny as a potential Hummus of Mass Deliciousness).

But is there any actual freedom-hating going on here? Is it a misunderstanding? A reaction to Haifa’s shoddy, thin plastic bags that can’t even withstand 380 grams of Lebanese hommos tahina? Is it a widespread ban, or more limited in scope–say, limited to a few PH residents who, out of patriotism, are now walking an extra block or so to get milk for their coffee?

DH sought further explanation over at Chowhound, but there was no reply. As Matt Drudge would say, Developing…

Haifa Food Market, Inc. | 263 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217. 718-783-3346.

SEE ALSO: Former Peralta’s to Become Restaurant? [DAILYHEIGHTS]

[NEW “DEALS” CATEGORY on DAILYHEIGHTS: If you find a decent deal at a Prospect Heights business, let us know: whatsnew@dailyheights.com]

How cheap can digital photo developing get? If it seems absurd that you once paid 49 cents per print to those extortionists at Ofoto (who still want 25 cents per print and shipping $1.49 and up), consider that you can get 4×6 prints for 15 cents apiece at Mailboxes of Park Slope.

To get this deal, you have to upload your files to pephoto.com and then go pick them up at the store.

As for the quality of the prints: who knows? But for 15 cents each, it’s worth a try. If it’s awful, there’s always Winkflash, which offers very good film-quality prints for 16 cents a piece, and 99-cent flat-rate shipping.

Mailboxes of Park Slope | 326 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY; 718-857-5858.

[PHOTO: 1970 Can-o-Matic from the Canon Camera Museum]

Step aside, Home Heating Oil. Knitting is getting hot, hot, hotter than hot hot Vanderbilt Avenue.

Now, Mary writes in to remind you about the Knitting Circle at Prospect Perk Cafe (corner of Flatbush and Sterling Place), every Wednesday night from 8:00-11:00 PM: “Newbies welcome. Just show up. Very casual. Small group.” It’s in the DAILYHEIGHTS Events Calendar, which is filling out quite nicely and quite rapidly. Go add your event now.

Tony says of the Prospect Perk Knitting Circle: “The people in the group are a friendly mix of moms, 30-somethings and ‘dog people’.” We’re still waiting to hear when the Freddy’s Knit Night segment airs on NBC’s Jane Pauley show. Stay tuned…

[KNITTER PAINTING: nataliedee.com]

Here’s Kevin and Brendan Mooney standing in front of the pub (click photo to enlarge). I happened to be wearing my Mooney’s Pub T-shirt, so I stopped to say hello. The elder Mooney said he hoped this photo would help “sell papers,” and the younger asked if we would be interested in updating the Mooney’s website. That would be great, but I can’t find a Mooney’s website anywhere. Anybody?

Mooney’s Pub | 353 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn. 718-783-9085.

"Heights Coffee Lounge" is coming to 335 Flatbush, across the street from that little coffee shop that sells Krispy Kreme donuts, and a few doors down from Wing Fat (now Wing Fat, Inc.).

This is the storefront formerly occupied by Slope Heights Realty, which has moved a few doors down the street.

"11217" writes: "City Lighting has a sign up that says Closed for
Renovations. Why would you renovate a place that is so new? Looks closed
to me."

UPDATE 10:02 am: Out running errands, DH caught this crew "renovating" all of CL’s furniture into this moving van. Are they going to reopen? "No, just closed forever," one of the moving guys said. "I don’t know why."

UPDATE 1:50 pm: "Friend of a friend" confirmation from Stargirl: "They weren’t making enough money. Sad."

Never mind.

Found on Flatbush.