Williamsburg Photo Du Jour: Student Driver

February 18, 2009 ·
Filed under: Williamsburg 

studentdriver

From Union Avenue.

Miss Heather

An East Williamsburg Public Service Announcement

February 17, 2009 ·
Filed under: Williamsburg 

houseonunionave

This house (which is located on Union Avenue between Ten Eyck and Stagg Street) is not— REPEATNOT for sale.

That is all.

Miss Heather

Presenting “Rapey Alley”

February 17, 2009 ·
Filed under: Williamsburg 

rapeyalley

After hearing about the armed robbery down at North 11 Street and Union Avenue that went down last weekend I have been jonesing like a lab rat to get down there and behold the scene of the crime personally. More specifically, I wanted to take in the splendor that is what my colleague Bad Advice calls “Rapey Alley”. On February 16, 2009 she writes:

Call me a wuss, but scaffolding is creepy. At least they’ve finally added lights to ours, but so far I have found lurking: a sofa (okay, not creepy, just large), a man’s jacket (obviously torn off his body), and a backpack that someone had helpfully emptied of its contents. Maybe it belonged to the jacket-owner, who knows. But by far, the creepiest thing I’ve found in Rapey Alley lurks after the jump

panties

Not only did I manage to locate the underwear which accompanied the bra Bad Advice found but I happened upon a lot more neat stuff (like the freshly painted but inoperative call box gracing the beginning of this post). Follow are some highlights.

leftovers

Somebody’s leftover sandwich.

scaffolding

Scaffolding which appears to have been rammed by a motor vehicle.

electricalwires

Some loose electrical wires.

cross

This. Whatever the hell it is.

hitlerwasright

Evidence of Williamsburg Nazis.

blight1

Of course if you want to see some old school developer blight you should head over the North 9th Street between Roebling and Havemeyer.

progress

I like to call this shot “Progress”.

noparking

No parking.

nomorecondos

The graffiti on this fence reads:

No more condos. Fight gentrification.

blight2

blight3

blight4

blight5

Mission accomplished.

Miss Heather

More Fun From The New York Shitty Inbox

February 14, 2009 ·
Filed under: 11211, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

hydrant-on-union

You know what that they say about trouble: it comes in threes. It would appear this holiday weekend (and it ain’t over yet) is proving to be a busy one for our very own 94th precinct.

M writes:

Hey Miss H – I witnessed an armed robbery early Friday morning around 1 AM at the corner of N. 11th & Union across from the Royal Oak bar in Williamsburg. A twenty-something couple that lives in the area got held up at gunpoint for their belongings. The assailants were both wearing hoodies: one grey and one black.  The whole thing happened very quickly of course – when I first turned around to see the commotion, it almost looked as though the group knew each other.  The robbers didn’t take their cell phones so the couple both called 911. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could offer other than “one in grey and one in black” from my vantage point across the street. One of the robbers held a gun to the male’s head as they grabbed their bags and told them to “give it up.  I found out afterward that the woman’s bag contained a laptop full of research for her work.  There were several squad cars on the scene within minutes of the robbery and they started scouring the area.

I gave the guy my card in case I could help remember anything more specific, but alas, I didn’t get a view of the two robber’s faces before they took off and rounded the corner onto Roebling.  The couple hopped into one of the squad cars to take a look around, but as I got a call from the police about 2 hours later asking if I had seen the robbers’ faces, I doubt they turned up anything in their search of the area. Pretty scary considering how it wasn’t that late and the area there isn’t exactly bereft of foot traffic. It would seem that criminals are getting bolder in the neighborhood, so people should be extra cautious when you’re walking around late at night in less trafficked areas. It could have just as easily been me on that side of the street with my laptop (which I happened to have on me at the time) so this has me thinking twice about the safety of our area.

Here’s a link to the google map of the corner where the robbery took place .

sorry this isn’t a fun tip to pass on your way, but people should know what’s happening out there after hours.

I agree. While not “fun” it is important that my fellow citizens know about this kind of thing, hence why I am posting this item. Be careful out there G & L trainers. Seriously.

Miss Heather

P.S.: Lest anyone reading this wants to voice their concerns about crime in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area, the next Community Council meeting for the 94th Precinct will be on February 17, 2009 starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Greenpoint Savings Bank (AKA: Capital One):

807 Manhattan Avenue (Entrance on Calyer Street)
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Williamspoint Photos Du Jour: Yes We Did!

January 20, 2009 ·
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg 

dumbanddumbernys

From Driggs Avenue, 11222.

some-other-aholenys

From Lorimer Street, 11222.

wediditnys

From Union Avenue, 11211.

Miss Heather

Meet Lithuania Square

December 15, 2008 ·
Filed under: Williamsburg 

Sunday was the first day in the better part of a week that the weather was not absolutely miserable so I decided to take a “short walk”. This “short walk” (It was a very beautiful day yesterday after all.) gradually evolved into a trek from Greenpoint to Flushing Avenue. Tired, I decided to take the G train home from Metropolitan. The intersection of South 2nd, Hewes Street and Union Avenue is where I found “Lithuanian Square”.

Perhaps “found” isn’t the right word. “Rediscovered” might be more appropriate. I have walked by this park on a number of occasions. This time, however, I had the time and inclination to see what this monument is about.

“Lithuanian Square” as it is called (and for the record it is shaped more like a triangle but I’m not going to argue semantics) was created in 1935 (the monument came later in 1957) to commemorate the 1933 trans-Atlantic flight of Stephen Darius and Stanley Girenas —Lithuanian immigrants both— from Floyd Bennett Field in New York City to Kaunas, Lithuania. This in and of itself seemed interesting enough (especially to yours truly who is part Lithuanian*) until I got home and did a little research. That’s when I learned this monument is in fact only half correct: Mr. Darius and Mr. Girenas did make it across the Atlantic Ocean in an aircraft they christened (patriotically, if not very imaginatively) the “Lituanica“. They did not, however, make it to Kaunas. Their airplane crashed 400 miles short of its destination in what is now Pszczelnik, Poland. They died instantly.

Despite the grim outcome of the Lituanica’s quest, the story behind it is a fascinating and uplifting (no pun intended) tale. Unlike Richard Branson, Darius’s and Girenas’s intercontinental jaunt was very much a grassroots effort. As you will learn from this article in the July 18, 1933 edition of the New York Times. LinksminkitÄ—s!

For those of you who are wondering, two years later another Lithuanian made a jaunt across the Atlantic Ocean. His name was Feliksas Vaitkus, the year of his flight was 1935 and he too did not complete his itinerary as planned: instead of making it to Kaunas, his craft crashed in Ireland. Mr. Vaitkus, however, was lucky enough to walk away. He was the sixth person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an aircraft.

Miss Heather

*As my Polish friends here (upon seeing my surname) in Greenpoint like to remind me. No worries, they’re very nice about it. They reserve their rancor for Russians and Ukrainians.

East Williamsburg Photo Du Jour: Know Parking, Know Peace

December 15, 2008 ·
Filed under: Williamsburg 

From Union Avenue.

Miss Heather

A Few Thoughts About Shoplifting

December 15, 2008 ·
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg 

The one thing I find myself marveling over from time to time are the articles some people consider worth stealing. I’m not talking about iPods, cell phones, bicycles or other items that can be filched and fenced in a snap for cash. Rather, I am talking about items of a more esoteric (and less valuable) nature. To better illustrate what I am talking about follow are a few things that your fellow Greenpointers have attempted (and on occasion succeeded) to pinch from the junk shop:

  1. Lace hankerchiefs
  2. An issue of Architectural Digest
  3. A box of Christmas lights
  4. A dozen or so old photographs
  5. An ashtray and my personal favorite…
  6. A bookcase (When questioned as to why he was carrying a bookcase clearly priced at $60.00 down the street our inventive thief said that he thought that since it was on the sidewalk it was free. No kidding.)

The above-listed point number six brings me to another aspect of the petty chiseler’s chicanery: the utter ridiculousness of some of the ruses they use in order to get something for nothing. For example, The Thing recently got a number of boxes of old Christmas ornaments. Each box contained nine ornaments. In their naivete the price was established at $3.00 a box. Little did the management realize that he had made a substantial error. This was discovered soon enough. I know this because I had the pleasure of bringing it to the Manager’s attention via a customer who had managed to stuff one such box with as many ornaments as it could possibly contain. And then a few. Mind you, no trouble was taken to fill this vessel with similar merchandise. Hands down this was the most simple-minded, flagrant and yes, insulting, attempt at duplicity I have ever experienced.

I cannot wrap my head around the trouble some take to steal something whose value is (for all intensive purposes) negligible. If time is indeed money wouldn’t it be better to pay the asking price of $6.00 for a selection of merchandise instead of haggling incessantly or stealing? Perhaps this is where I am making my mistake; I am employing reason. Which brings me to the purpose of and image gracing this post. This grocery store is called Sunac Food and it is located on Union Avenue just a hop-skip away from the L and G trains.

Let’s play petty thief for a minute. If you were to steal something would you:

  1. Do so where large numbers of police are present?
  2. Do it a stone’s throw from your employer while wearing your uniform?
  3. Elect to boost a single can of Red Bull?

If you are a certain employee of MTA the answer for all the above questions is (albeit allegedly): YES. Yesterday I popped into Sunac Food to purchase a few groceries before hopping on the G train. As I negotiated my way into the store their rogue’s gallery caught my eye.

and my jaw dropped. Lest you are having trouble reading the above missive, here it is:

This shows you that you NEVER trust any city employee. She works for the MTA and had her uniform on when she decided to steal Redbull. She must have been working overtime. If you see her call 911 for trespassing.

Naturally they have documentation of the purloined beverage in question as well.

I don’t know about you, but as a G trainer this act of theft casts the cutting-service-while-raising-fares ploy by the MTA in an sinister new light. Our providers of rapid transit are not interested in balancing their budget: they’re creating a slush fund for the acquisition caffeine-laden energy drinks!

Miss Heather

A Revue Of Williamsburg Pay Phones

April 4, 2008 ·
Filed under: 11206, 11211, Williamsburg 

It has been awhile since I indulged my fixation for maltreated public pay phones. Today I will usher in the weekend with a few new finds from Williamsburg.

South 4th Street

I am quickly learning that this is a pretty common example of pay phone abuse, e.g; the receiver is broken into two pieces. I like to call these “danglers”.

Union Avenue

The person responsible for this devious bit of pay phone chicanery has presented us with a poser. Those who are lucky enough to approach this pay phone from the north can quickly ascertain its lack of functionality. Everyone else is not so fortunate. Caveat emptor.

Metropolitan Avenue

I am fascinated by the number of pay phones whose receivers are simply ripped off. Are these collectible? Is there an underground community of public pay phone receiver fetishists in New York City? If so, I hope they use plenty of disinfectant.

Speaking of prophylaxis, be sure to pack a little protection before you give this person a ring. From your cell phone, of course.

Miss Heather

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