Author Archives: dailyheights

Effusive FCR Exec: We Like “Radical” ACORN

In case you never made it past the jump in that Brooklyn Papers article …

Forest City Ratner executive positively gushes: “We like working with
ACORN. They have that radical feeling, they really fight for what they believe
in. We just love their history, how they started, and feel it really
represents what we’re working to do here."
[PR tip-of-the-day: don’t say “trying to do.” Say “working to
do.” It makes you sound like a go-getter!]

“Forest City Ratner has been working in conjunction with the
New York City chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now (ACORN), to establish an affordable housing scheme for Atlantic Yards.”

“Talk is cheap,’” [ACORN’s] Lewis said of the Ratner
executive’s announcement …" Read the whole thing… (DIAL-UP WARNING:
3.24MB PDF of the entire paper)

HOOPS – for kids

BballFort Greene Sports has spaces available in its 12 &14 year old basketball program. Contact Bob Byer or sign up in person at the Brooklyn School For Career
Development
gymnasium (510 Clermont Avenue, btw Atlantic & Fulton) Timeslot for the 14-year-old division is 3-4 pm Saturdays. Fee for the remaining 8 weeks of games and coaching is $90.   Players who show "tremendous skill" will play for a travel team.

Stand-up: Standing Room Only on Washington Ave.

ElonjamesIn New York Press, Lionel Beehner writes on the Brooklyn Comedy Company (BcCo), a weekly stand-up at the Ripple Bar, on Washington Ave. between St. John’s Pl. and Lincoln Pl.: "A comedy scene grows in Brooklyn … the brainchild of a 26-year-old Bed-Stuy native, Elon James White … Since (November), he’s hosted a weekly stand-up show at the Ripple Bar in Prospect Heights … recent shows have been standing-room only."

"… larger comedy clubs in Manhattan operate on the bring-your-own-crowd
rule. ‘Here’s there’re no weird policies … [We’re
just] here to do comedy for comedy’s sake.’"

"The audience at the Ripple Bar is mostly young and African-American
(when I entered, one of the comedians pointed at me and said, ‘Don’t worry, no one’s gonna…’
then made his hand into a gun and pointed it at his head)."

[this is offensive] [and unfunny]

Wow. Am I the last person in Brooklyn to hear about the Hot97 Tsunami Scandal? Here’s an MP3 of "USA for Indonesia" as played on the air. Give thanks to Angry Desi. I’m not even going to speculate on what the yelling
is all about. But if you want to see wall-to-wall coverage of this
scandal, go here:

"Racist Hot 97 Skit Mocking Tsunami Victims: … For the last week Hot 97 has been running a hideously offensive and unfunny skit named "Tsunami Song," that ridicules the victims of the
Tsunami as "ch*nks" whose children will now be sold into child slavery.
It’s being played on the station’s morning show, hosted by Miss Jones."

Complete lyrics are at Gothamist. Forget offensiveness for one minute, and notice that it truly is probably the most un-funny parody song ever recorded and played on a major market radio station. It’s stupid. Like, fifth-grade-kids-riffing-at-recess stupid.

Seniors Lash Out at World Leaders, Transportation Alternatives "Terrorists"

AngerAha… I knew I was saving this Jan. 10 copy of the Park Slope Courier for a reason. Highlights from the Jan. 10 Letters to the Editor:

72-year-old Barbara Sheeran of Flatbush fumes that Prospect Park does not belong to the "Transportation Alternatives terrorists": "I will tell you why cars belong in the park … because it was built for all people to enjoy, not just those who live near the park." Later: "Since when did [the park] become the private property of those close by?"

-82-year-old Cornelius U. Morgan of Baltimore, Md. blows the whistle on the "Evildoer" in the White House who is ready to "give the bankers the assets in the Social Security Trust Fund": "George W. Bush is evil personified but because of his grand nature, a child of God, I love him as a brother and I pray that he will abandon his evil ways… "

Secret Batcave Under Library, Built in 1912, will Become Underground Auditorium

Histplaza1910s(ed. note: Not really secret. Also, not actually the Batcave.)

From the DAILY NEWS: "Within the next two months, construction will begin on an underground auditorium that was planned when the Grand Army Plaza Library was built in 1912 … ‘The hole for the auditorium was dug,’ Ginnie Cooper, executive director of Brooklyn Public Library, said. ‘They poured the concrete for the entire building – and then they stopped.’"

"… the $16 million project … also includes a new plaza … The auditorium will seat 200 and will have a sloped floor, a fixed stage and a video screen.

Cooper envisions conversations with authors, panel discussions and small music presentations … The entire project will take 18 months to complete…" Read it…

Also, check out this amazing construction photo from the 1910s, courtesy of our new best friends at the Brooklyn Public Library.

[Car Service] ProHo to UES: Name Your Price

Following up on last week’s car service thread: 7th Ave. Car Service quoted me a 45-minute wait, so I took a chance on International (Wash Ave., 718-230-8484). Got picked up, as promised, in about 5 minutes, by a beat-up (and still not warmed-up) minivan. I asked how much to 70th. My Ecuadorian driver said, "how much do you usually pay?" Hmm. $28? "OK." No wait, that’s the JFK rate. How about $25? "OK! No problem." Also, this guy really knows how to work the exits.

ProHo car service reviews and war stories are taking place in this discussion thread.

Here is a listing of car services that will pick you up in Prospect Heights (and some opinions on them).

WOW, SNOW

Wea00972_photo_creditus_national_oceanicYou think you had it bad. CLICK VINTAGE PHOTO to see what Park Place looked like on March 14, 1888.

Can anybody pinpoint the block? Someone should go out and take "now & then" photos.