Eating for Brooklyn rumor-mongers: “Word on the street is that Tavern on Dean of Prospect Heights is opening a restaurant on Stuyvesant Avenue (on the corner of Macon) in Bedford Stuyvesant where the McDonald’s Stuyvesant Heights Cafe used to be (no, not the fast food chain)… I haven’t been able to confirm the rumor, but it would most certainly be welcome news.”
Prospect Heights Resident Working Phones in Louisana
We were in touch with DailyHeights.com regular SterlingGuy, who’s working as a crisis counselor in Louisiana for the United Way. He’s not ready to talk about specifics, but gave us permission to post the following:
“I have one day left here … It has been one of the most difficult jobs of my life.”
“I am working at a call-in center trying to get people into shelters and to food distribution sites … I am beyond my limit and have heard too much suffering to really go into it.”
“There are still ways to volunteer … I would advise calling Lifenet (1-800-543-3638) and ask them for referrals to the Red Cross and other volunteer centers.”
“Overall, I will say this: the resilience and good spirit of folks in Louisiana are a testimony to the power of human survival. I have been consistently amazed at folks who have lost everything, but are able to remain calm and kind and even share a joke. I wish I had come here before these hurricanes.”
Look for SterlingGuy at the DH cigar meetup (coming soon): “As soon as I return, I am sure I will need a big fat stogie to dry me out after all this rain.”
Pictured: Malik Rahim, New Orleans Green Party activist, sometime after the hurricane Katrina. Huge photos of the New Orleans aftermath by Jacob Applebaum at archive.org.
MORE: SterlingGuy in [Prospect Heights Message Board]
UPDATE! Backstory on Lucky the Ghetto Poodle
Guest writes in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “i live right up the street from Lucky and Sampson (the bigger dog that ‘hangs out’ with Lucky) …”
“Lucky’s owner is named Allen, and he told me the whole story of how lucky went blind, so Allen got him surgery, and then a month later Lucky broke his back jumping up into a pick-up truck.”
“Some $6k later, the dog is still alive and constantly trying to get into the wrestling matches between Sampson and my great dane. Allen yells at him to get out of it before he gets hurt, and that all of his investments have been in Lucky, so he has to live to be very old.”
More: Lucky the Ghetto Poodle [Prospect Heights Message Boards]
"Burrito Bar": Decent Food Despite Toys-R-Us Signage
(This photo is pre-signage… if you have a more recent picture, please send it in or post it to the message boards.)
nikki writes on the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “My husband and I went to Burrito Bar & Kitchen last Saturday … The food was really good. Portions were exactly the size they should be, AND, most important, the food tasted like Southern California Mexican food–something totally missing in NYC and all along the east coast. The chicken was marinated perfectly and– for anyone familiar with southern California–the burrito could have been a high end Alberto’s burrito or from Las Olas. There’s not much that NYC can stand to adopt from so cal EXCEPT good Mexican food… We also had a pitcher of sangria…” Read more…
Munchkin writes: “My smoothie was small and fairly tasteless, but my husband’s chicken wrap was pretty damn tastie. It came with a bit of very good mango salsa and good guac on the side. Fresh, good, a bit pricey. I had fun watching a bartender trying to figure out how to get a frozen margarita out of the blender. Hey, the place is new…”
typograffiti writes: “We vote it is more Bar than Burrito. Food was mediocre. Why spend that much on bland uninspired Mexillence when you can walk a few more block to La Taqueria on 7th ave? …”
MORE: Burrito Bar & Kitchen–Good Review! [Prospect Heights Message Boards]
MORE: Ungodly Ugly Sign on New Burrito Bar [Prospect Heights Message Boards]
Use Drums, Not Drugs
OK, OK, it was an innocent typo…
PICTURED: Mamma Donna leads the crowd at the Autumnal Equinox event… thing… yesterday at the Grand Army Plaza fountain.
Click here for more Autumnal Equinox pictures by trevorbrkyln
TONIGHT: Celebrate Autumnal Equinox at G.A.P. with Kids, Drugs
trevorbrklyn posted this in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “Drumming in the Dark: An Autumn Equinox Celebration
with Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman & Co.
A sunset ceremony to center us as we enter the dark season
Bring kids, drugs, percussion & plenty of spirit [uh… kids and drugs??]
Thursday September 22
6:00pm Event Begins; 6:23pm Equinox Moment; 6:43pm Sunset
Free at the Fountain, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn (2/3 Train to Grand Army Plaza)
For Info: 718 857 1343
Mama Donna’s Tea Garden and Healing Heaven
According to Wikipedia, the autumnal equinox is “the moment when the sun reaches one of two intersections between the ecliptic and the celestial equator … the length of the day (and the night) is precisely 12 hours at an equinox.”
Call 311, Get a Fine
Dr. F reports on the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “A few weeks ago we called 311 because rats are nesting in our front yard … and then a few weeks later we got a citation in the mail from the Department of Health claiming that we had a garbage situation which violated the health code, causing the rat problem. The problem … was the apartment building next door …”
“Ridiculous–we call the City to report a health hazard, and end up geting a citation for it. (Actually, my wife was warned when she called 311 that if they came out they would probably give us a citation, but that seemed so ridiculous that we didn’t believe it.)”
TISH JAMES TO THE RESCUE: Read more…
Image: GotPetsOnline.com
Bake Sale: You Bought It!
A bunch of DAILY HEIGHTS regulars got together and had a bake sale to benefit a food bank in Houston that’s helping with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Total raised: $613. Thank you Prospect Heights!
Click here for photos.
Lucky the Ghetto Poodle
Every well-kept, pillow-ornament poodle secretly wishes they could lead the life of Lucky the Ghetto Poodle – running around all scroungy and scruffy, business flapping in the breeze, hanging out in a dingy (former) laundromat on the corner of St. John’s and Underhill. Some time ago, Isa told me that that his name is Lucky.
Pictured: Lucky investigates another small creature in the neighborhood. Moments later, Lucky jumped into a green Jeep Cherokee and was whisked off to parts unknown.
Residents Flee Ratner Wrecking Ball; Pause to Hold Stoop Sale
Residents of 475 Dean St. asked us to post this notice about a pre-emptive stoop sale before the entire building is evacuated: “The building (475 Dean) is actually in the Ratner footprint, so the sale is actually a purge/prep for the evacuation of the building in January.”
Believe in “Le Resistance” all you want — people are leaving, buildings are coming down, neighborhoods are going to be erased… it’s all becoming very real. Now. And it’s not Beijing. It’s the United States.
THEY’RE DEMOLISHING OUR BUILDING,
WE’RE SELLING OUR STUFF
The lovely and doomed 475 Dean Street is holding a building-wide sidewalk sale this coming Sunday, from noon til sundown. Expect a huge array of random stuff, including clothes, furniture, music and obscure tchotchkes. At least one yellow toboggan will be on sale.
Dean Street between Atlantic and 6th Ave, just down the street from Freddy’s.