I thought for sure this scary guy with wide eyes was about to pull a gun on me. He came up with the “excuse me sir can I ask a question” thing and then stuck his hand in his pocket. He said something like “I’m on my way to 5th Ave.” and I took a step back and pointed “it’s over that way” and he said “yeah yeah I know,” something about going to Long Island, and something about his medication, at which point he pulled an orange prescription bottle out of his pocket, and at that point I lost track of the narrative, because I was thinking “OMG, that’s the guy that panhandled Isa today, I have to get a picture” and I fished around in my pocket for my Treo, going “uh huh, uh huh” to stall him, then I said “sorry I can’t help you” and he said “you ain’t got any change?” and started walking away as I managed to squeeze off this picture (click to enlarge).

Link: This Crazy Guy I Just Gave a Dollar To [Isa in DAILY HEIGHTS forums]

(That’s Park Place between Underhill and Washington Avenues.) This is the annual Block Party and Plant Sale of the Park Place/Underhill Ave. Block Association. From what I understand, it starts around noon.

What to expect: Free games, pony rides, live jazz and other performances (”A stage will be set up and your neighbors will be showing off their talents!”); plant sale, tag sale, book sale, bake sale

What you can do: Volunteer to cover shifts at the various stands; sign up to “sing a song, recite a poem, do a dance or tell a joke” on stage; or donate used household items, books, and baked goods. Also, “the Block Association requests donations of $15-$25 from neighbors who have private stoop sales the day of the party.”

The NEXT MEETING of the PP/UA Block Association is next Wednesday, Apr. 20, 8 pm, at 155 Underhill Ave. On the agenda: block party final planning; Brooklyn Planning Department meeting regarding Atlantic Railyards.

Taken at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Click here to enlarge). Thanks to Jose C. for the submission! “Love the site! Been in pros hts for 7 years and just came across it via friend of mine, Chris (uffish.com).

CHERRY BLOSSOM ALERT! It’s about that time again. Check out the action, nearly live, on the CherryWatch Blossom Status Map (updated whenever there is a noticeable change in the status of the blooms).

Now is the time that DAILY HEIGHTS engages in the time-honored tradition of pandering to advertisers and pretending it’s unbiased editorial content:

In my opinion, the proper response to the phrase “Open Mic Night” is to run in the opposite direction, screaming. So it was with great trepidation that I accepted an ad from Muk, a ProHo resident and self-described quasi-alt-country- insurgent-folk-americana artist who was once in a band that shared the stage with both the Dead Milkmen and Phish (different shows).

Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that Muk is actually a talented musician and songwriter–in fact, I can honestly recommend a visit Muk’s elegantly simple, no-nonsense website (see ad links, to your right) to download some absolutely free MP3s from a man who has “carefully honed his craft of marrying folk and Americana melodies to evocative lyrics.”

It didn’t hurt that Muk said some very flattering things about our non-blog: “I am true to the site’s name, reading it on a daily basis, usually a few times a day, actually … I have never bought ads anywhere, and thought why not give it a shot where the money at least goes to something that I want to support.”

APPROVED.

Finally, it was surprising to discover that this was the same Muk we met about 2 months ago at Soda Bar when we crashed his baby’s 1-year birthday party.

Small world. But that’s the point of Daily Heights, right?