new year’s germans

Originally uploaded by xoxoryan.

Last Friday afternoon, the gate was down on Half Wine Bar, one of the first wave of “new” businesses to open Vanderbilt Ave., which just 2 or 3 short years ago was an underrented, undertrafficked, tumbleweed-strewn spoke off Grand Army Plaza.

So then we got reports in the message boards that there’s a sign on the door: it’s closed for “re-staffing” … that’s pretty much the same message we saw on the door of Flatbush Ave.’s City Lighting, just weeks before that ambitious venture was gutted and converted into the world’s most garish burrito bar.

A lot of people are hoping Half comes back soon, as it’s a pretty comfortable space that never quite found an identity… wine bar? lunch spot? coffee shop? “lifestyle store”? (come on, they never actually billed themselves as that, did they??)

Word on the street is that this came as a surprise to a lot of people… alafairnadia writes in the message boards: “I heard from one of my many nabe sources that Half didn’t even bother to inform their (former) employees about the restaffing. they allowed them to find out from the nice sign. pleasant, eh?”

LINK: Half Closed for Restaffing [Prospect Heights Message Boards]

PICTURED: One of the last known photos to be taken at Half Wine Bar. Featuring Germans.

Attention Landlords ("Sherita")

Originally uploaded by dailyheights.com.

Who is Sherita? An ostrich? A Dr. Seuss character?

… and where is my Home Heating Oil? Why is my apartment so drafty? Does my landlord know about this place? Is the price still right?

Photo taken on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Classon Ave., 1 block from the Lefferts Hotel.