stacey posted a notice about the meeting of the Prospect Heights Parents Association’s traffic-calming committee, tonight at 267 Park Place: “We will be discussing our efforts to work with the borough president’s office to include Prospect Heights in the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Blueprint as well as to propose a fundamental redesign of Vanderbilt Avenue. We will also discuss ways to put further pressure on the DOT to make safety improvements at Grand Army Plaza. All are welcome …”

Get details on the meeting here.

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…

About that new Mexican place “coming soon” on Flatbush (chronically “3 to 4 weeks” from completion, if you ask the construction crew), Medusa asks:

“I live right near what was once City Lighting and we’ve all discussed how it’s allegedly going to be a mexican place and that we’re dubious about its ability to succeed but I’d like to open the topic up to what bits of decor are currently available for viewing. From what I see, there’s a neon ‘open’ sign with a peace sign in the ‘o’ and some pictures of Jimi Hendrix on the walls and some pink lighting fixtures that look tacky. Also, some primary color things on the back door ramp.”

“I was kind of hopeful when the new windows went in that the place might at least look good, but now I’m losing hope. It looks tacky. 80’s-esque maybe. It’s looking like it’s going to be yet another San Francisco-summer-of-love burrito joint. Is it going to try to compete with the Taqueria?”

lovemynabe2 says: “Too much money is being spent on this place for it to look cheesy. I think this place is going to be one cool joint. Spoke to the owner, Gregory, who owns a restaurant in the City. He appeared to be a sophisticated guy. Can’t wait for the place to open.”

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*Cringe*… who came up with that headline? The Daily News, that’s who. Today in the Daily News: “For many years, what came to New Yorkers’ minds if you mentioned ‘Crown Heights’ were riots and racial strife… But these days, New Yorkers have something altogether different in mind … and that’s real estate.”

“With demand surging, a two-family limestone at 1266 Carroll St. recently commanded a $740,000 sale price, though kitchen and bathroom renovations are needed. Two years ago, similar houses went for $400,000 to $450,000. Eight years ago, the prices were $200,000 to $225,000.”

“‘people used to have to wait 30 years for this type of appreciation,’ said Camille Logan of the real estate firm Fillmore, who brokered the sale. The houses are spacious and full of original architectural details …”

“Crown Heights wouldn’t be a hot real estate market if it had continued to be torn apart by racial strife. But the neighborhood has mended - thanks to efforts by religious leaders, civic coalitions and even a group of Jewish, African-American and Caribbean-American women called Mothers to Mothers…”

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