From The New York Shitty Inbox: Shrooms

When I arrive home after an afternoon of knocking around the Bronx to find the following in my inbox (courtesy of A Perfect Bag), well, I simply must pass it along.

shroomsAPERFECTBAG

So this is what happens when I leave our fair burgh for a few paltry hours: ritualistic vegetable abuse! As some of you might recall something very similar to this happened a couple of years ago on Bedford Avenue. It would appear our perpetrator has since progressed from tomatoes to mushrooms. What’s next— chard? Potatoes? Rutabagas? Only time will tell. In any case no one cannot pin this one on me— I have an alibi!

Miss Heather

Photo/Discovery Credit: A Perfect Bag

New York Shitty Day Starter: Dog Days Of August

dog

Grattan Street

2dogs

Morgan Avenue

3dogs

Manhattan Avenue

Miss Heather

Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Hasta La Vista, Venus

August 29, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

aphrodite

From Green Street.

Miss Heather

From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Dispatch From The Viridian

August 28, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

It’s been a while since I have paid attention to my good friend 110 Green Street. My buddy Larry da Junkman recently struck up a conversation with the doorman. Apparently they’re asking a much more reasonable $1,800 for a one bedroom at this, Greenpoint’s most famous, nondo. While still outrageously over-priced at least it is a step in the right direction.

But the Viridian is much more than a poorly planned and executed six story testament to the folly of the north Brooklyn real estate boom (and bust). I learned this when I checked my email last night; it can now list “bird killer” to its list of dubious achievements as well.

sidewalk

deadbird

deadbird2

deadbird3

Jay Lombard of Unleashed Brooklyn/Dog Habitat writes:

Ugh. I was walking by the Viridian around noon today and saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks  three dead birds – all were the same species with beautiful yellow feathers. It took me a few seconds to figure out what happened… It appeared that all three died from broken necks from a sudden impact. When I looked up it became clear what happened to these three. I wonder how many more birds will meet the same fate…

viridian

This is directly above the bird carcasses (which were removed with 30 minutes of my discovery). My guess is that the birds were fooled by the reflection in the glass. I’m sure this happens all over the city… And probably very little that can be done to avoid this type of collision.

Indeed.

Miss Heather

P.S.: Apparently these are Cedar  Waxwings. (See comments). Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them.

UPDATE, 2:55 p.m.: Crickey, it would appear someone is moving in!

Uhaul


Adoptable Cutie Cavalcade!

I imagine if you’re reading this you’re not one of the fortunate many who are headed out of town for vacation this upcoming week— or you’re taking a vacation from your vacation. Either way I cannot think of a better way to while away this evening than to watch some very cute (and adoptable) kittens from none other than north Brooklyn!

wirekittensNYS

Meet The Wire Kittens. First up, the ladies in the cast:

RhondaNYS

Rhonda.

KimaNYS

Kima.

zenobiaNYS

Zenobia.

Here’s some footage of them in action.

Rhonda was shy around me when I paid her a visit— but she was not so coy with Tigger! As you will see in the following video.

Lisacat writes:

Rhonda, Kima and Zenobia were named after characters from the HBO series “The Wire” – see insets. I hope my next litter of bottle-babies are boys because there just aren’t that many prominent women on the show! These tricolor sisters were rescued as part of a TNR project in downtown Brooklyn and will be up for adoption soon.

Sure enough, this came to pass. Meet D’Angelo Barksdale

and Russell “Stringer” Bell.

These two boys hail from Bushwick. They were found at two days of age helpless and covered in flies. They have since been nursed back to health (hence the fat tummies— they just hit the bottle. Of milk, that is.)

And last— but hardly least— Greenpoint’s very own quintet of cute: “The Bountys”.

Toytime

Although I have written about these fetching felines before I had never had the pleasure of making their acquaintance until recently. I was not disappointed.

Bounty and Hunter

By far the real show stoppers in this crew are Hunter (as seen at left) and Bounty. Do not let Bounty’s diminutive stature fool you: dynamite comes in small packages.

Anyone interested in giving any of the wonderful kittens the life-long vacation of a loving home can contact their foster mom, Shawn at: shawnandkenny (at) earthlink (dot) net

Other details:

  1. All these kittens have been vaccinated, treated for parasites and test negative for F.I.V. and feline leukemia.
  2. Upon adoption they will be spayed or neutered before going to their new forever homes.
  3. Lastly, these kittens will be adopted out in pairs unless there is already another cat in the home. That way they will be less lonely (and likely to get into trouble) when you’re not home!

You can see more photographs and video footage of these kittens by clicking here and here.

Miss Heather

New York Shitty Day Ender: What A Difference A Stop Work Order Makes!

August 26, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

239bankerDOBBIS

foodiej81 writes (in regards to this post):

This weekend as we were walking by 239 Banker my partner and I noticed that the door was unlocked so we decided to take a stroll through our new neighborhood “hotel”. Well there are definitely people living there, there is mail being delivered and I saw a man taking his dog out for a walk. The “apartments” are still under construction though. We have an acquaintance that put money down on an apartment but is now waiting for a refund because they were told the place will not be ready for another month. Word is they are renovating one dwelling at a time because they have run out of money and won’t be able to finish the project till 70% are rented.
I also saw two men waiting outside the building at around 730 on Monday night; two traditionally dressed Jewish men pulled up in a minivan and met them to show an apartment. I don’t know if anyone has been there recently but the message on the door is asking for “max” to get them a real front door

Regardless I called 311 yesterday and sent in 3 anonymous complaints regarding the building at 239 Banker. It’s a ridiculous project and I wish the DOB would be more proactive in following up on the stop work order.

He (or she) is not the only who feels this way. Follows are a few photographs I received just this evening (in an email entitled “Stop Work Order In Action!) from an anonymous tipster which show just how seriously Max and his funky bunch are taking their recent visit by the Department of Buildings (and the $5,000 fine they were issued as a result).

bobcat

cans

Note the numerous residential garbage cans at left. I wonder what they’re doing?

drywall

Installing and patching drywall— silly me.

breaktime

Workers taking a breather at the freight elevator. It’s a tough job working after hours and violating a Stop Work Order!

Miss Heather

New York Shitty Day Starter: Summer Love

East 20 Street, Manhattan, 10010

dou

North 1 Street, Brooklyn, 11211

lovelight

Leonard Street, Brooklyn, 11222

emily

Miss Heather

New York Shitty Day Ender: 211 Huron Street

August 24, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

211huronstreet

On August 10, 2009 I wrote:

…Anyone care to bet on how many stories will be completed before the Department of Buildings issues a Stop Work Order?

211huron82409

They’re well on their way to floor #3. They’re even built a stairwell to it!

Miss Heather

P.S.: They still have no valid permits.

screencap

From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Archives: John Alexander’s Fence

Today was the first day of Mister Heather’s two week vacation. Upon waking up I quickly got dressed and left Chez Shitty for a walk. Two weeks is a lot of “quality time” and it has been my experience that such “togetherness” it is best enjoyed in small doses. This ended up being a good decision as:

  1. It gave the Mister an opportunity to play video games and listen to NPR all afternoon without driving me crazy.
  2. I was reminded of a post I have long been meaning to write.

As I was walking down Manhattan Avenue I noticed an older gentleman taking a photograph of the entrance of 905 Manhattan Avenue: one of the many four story, eight apartment tenement buildings that grace the Garden Spot’s landscape. The object of his interest was not the doorway. His sights were set lower. Much lower.

I learned this after striking up a conversation with him; he was interested in iron manufacturing. Among the items on his itinerary (to this end he had an annotated map in hand to guide his journey— one has to admire that level of organization) was a manhole cover on Clay Street and a former factory on Monitor Street. What had attracted this chap’s attention when I encountered him was a cast iron pilaster not unlike these— which can be found on Greenpoint Avenue between Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street.

DDboyce

atlanticiron

There are a great number of these to be found in north Brooklyn. What’s more, a fair number of them were manufactured here as well!

ED

Take this example at Grand Street. I cannot make out the manufacturer’s name but its place of origin is “Brooklyn E.D.”. In the days before Levitra and Viagra “E.D.” stood for Eastern District— which included what is now Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick. But let’s head a little closer to home, shall we?

171 Greenpoint Avenue, 11222

171gpt

1035 Manhattan Avenue, 11222

1036man

quay-stTHUMBWho was “J. Alexander”, you ask? Well, his name was John Alexander and he was the founder of one of the numerous iron foundries in Greenpoint of old. Mr. Alexander’s facility was located on Quay Street between Franklin and Washington Street (now known as West). This is now the site of the MTA’s (delightfully named) Mobile Wash Unit garage.

It should also be noted that Alexander’s foundry had a pretty famous neighbor: the Continental Iron Works. If this name rings a bell it is because this facility assembled and launched what is now America’s best known iron clad: the U.S.S. Monitor.*

QUICK ASIDE: the next time you walk past Bushwick Inlet, look carefully for the American flag stationed across from the Bayside Tanks. This was where the Monitor was launched.

launchsite

But let’s get back to Mr. Alexander— and the site of one of the Garden Spot’s more colorful land grabs. It’s a classic tale of man versus machine. Or in the case of this article from the April 9, 1878 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle: a man’s fence versus a locomotive. The results are pretty predictable but that doesn’t make this tome any less fun to read. Enjoy!

491878BDE

So the next time you walk around the Garden Spot keep in mind that history is all around you. All you need to do is look for it. And sometimes the neatest things can be found not by looking up— but looking down.

Miss Heather

P.S.: This post is dedicated to the incredibly cool dude I met on Manhattan Avenue— and his love of the more esoteric points of New York City’s history.

*Those of you who are interested in learning more about the Continental Iron Works will be hard pressed to find anything better than this great memoir written by the great grandson of one of the co-founders. Check it out!

New York Shitty Day Starter*: Dupont Street

August 24, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

menagerie

This menagerie (which is located just off of Franklin Street) just keeps getting better. Note the addition of stuffed animals and Christmas lights to the tree truck. Very nice.

Miss Heather

*Yes, I know it is after 1:00 p.m. After celebrating two friend’s birthdays this weekend (Saturday and Sunday respectively) and the Mister’s being tomorrow I have been a little busy.

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