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New York Shitty Slide Show Du Jour: Memorial Day In Morris Park
Filed under: Bronx
You know what they say: you can’t go home again. This is probably why yesterday’s trip back to my first digs in New York City didn’t affect me too much: it never really felt like home. This is not to suggest I do not like Morris Park. I do very much. I simply elected to live somewhere else.
The one thing that blew Mister Heather away was how nice this neighborhood is. This is not your grandmother’s Bronx. Or perhaps the argument could be made that it is: roses can be found in almost every front yard, trees provide ample shade and, save the odd stoop-side chat or radio playing, it is eerily quiet.
What surprised me was how little Morris Park has changed over the years. Sure, there’s a new Dunkin Donuts on Morris Park Avenue but all (or at least most) of the mom and pop businesses were still there. As a matter of fact, Patricia’s (which serves some of the most amazing Italian food you’ll ever eat— including a dish called spaghetti alla Frank Sinatra) was not only still around— but it was expanding!
I suppose you could say that what north Brooklyn lacks— or what some are endeavoring so hard to eradicate here— Morris Park has in abundance. It is in every conceivable sense a working class community. This probably why I find this neighborhood so interesting. Follows is a slide show I have assembled of my favorite photographs from this day trip. Not only do these images illustrate what I am talking about but I have to confess I am very pleased with a number of them. Enjoy!
Tomorrow we will continue our virtual trip to the Bronx by checking out Little Italy!
Miss Heather
Lost In Greenpoint: Tina Turner
You know, every now and then
I think you might like to hear something from New York ShittyNice and easy
But there’s just one thing
You see, I never ever do nothingNice and easy
I always do it nice and rough
So I’m gonna take the beginning of this postAnd do it easy
Then I’m gonna do the finish rough
This is the way I do lost cat named Tina Turner proud!
This weekend I had dinner with some good friends of mine at Casanova Restaurant. Located on the Garden Spot of the Universe’s answer to the Champs-Élysées (READ: 388 McGuinness Boulevard), it has been my observation that many will not give this sorely underrated eating and drinking establishment a whirl. This is a shame: the food is good, the price is right, the service gracious, the wait staff courteous and the rear dining room is fabulously decadent.
What does my previous effusive endorsement of an Italian restaurant have to do with a lost cat, you ask? My answer is very simple: pleasant surroundings are conducive to enjoyable conversations. And enjoyable conversation was the main course this particular evening. Upon hearing one person’s encounter with a “rat-sized” tea cup chihuahua named “Vinny” we aired our respective opinions about pet names. One person present said he was amused by pets who have “human” names ( “Vinny”).
I told him I found pets named after inanimate objects fascinating. Especially food: “Tortilla”, “Chocolate”, “Pickles” (who I was told was dumber than a bag of hammers) and Uni, my very own calico, are examples to name a few. When I adopted Uni from her college student “parents” (who were, not surprisingly, Japanese) they said I could change her name. I didn’t want to: it suited her purrrfectly.
For better or worse what we are trained to answer to is not our decision to make. Speaking for myself my mother picked “Heather” for me because she thought it was “unique”. 30-odd years of hindsight (and being mistaken for any one of another “Heathers”) proved her wrong. But I digress.
What’s in a name? Well, in this case, quite a bit.
If anyone has seen Miss Turner please contact her person at the above-listed phone number or email address. And before you judge this pet owner for his choice of pet names I’d like to remind you I have a cat named Frances. As in Frances Farmer.
She has always been “cantankerous”, this I will confess. Shortly after I had her spayed— 15 years ago— I decided to go out of town for the weekend. When I came back home she hissed at me, climbed atop my pile of laundry, looked me in the eye and took a shit. As a senior kittizen she has slowed down considerably— but Miss Frances (AKA: “Stinky”) gets her digs in when she feels like: two weeks ago she pissed on Mister Heather’s head. While he was sleeping, no less.
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet?
— Williams Shakespeare
Miss Heather
Memorial Day Wrap Up
Filed under: Bronx
I mentioned previously the Mister and I were going to revisit my introduction to New York City: Morris Park, 10461. This we did. And in so doing we walked by one of my favorite contradictions: Peace Plaza.
“Peace Plaza” hosts a number of monuments to those who have fallen in war. World I, World II, the Vietnam “conflict”, Gulf War 1.0 and the terrorist attack on New York City are all commemorated. But among the previous memorials the following is by far my favorite:
How many war monuments in New York City do you know of that employ a term occasionally (but not usually) used in reference to a female dog?* You can leave it to the Bronx and good ol’ L.B.J. to “keep it real”.
Miss Heather
*This is not to suggest I am offended by this. I find it amusing.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Dupont Street
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Dear Homeowner:
As you may be aware, your property is locateed within an area designated to be rezoned by the Department of City Planning and the City Council in the next few months. This rezoning, which includes restrictions on building size, will have a significant impact on your property (Investment) and will have an impact on your rate of return.
New York laws provide affected property owners with only a limited time to protest these changes. We encourage you to participate in the public hearing on Wednesday JUNE 3, 2009 @ 10AM at Spector Hall located at 22 Reade Street New York, New York.
Go the to the following web sites for more information:
Click to access zoning_proposed.pdf
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/luproc/calbeg.shtml
These zoning changes come 3-4 years far too late. Please, come and make a difference.
Protect you retirement investment.
Speaking as someone who thinks the previously mentioned proposed “downzone” doesn’t go far enough I’d love to know who the “we” behind this flier is! Somehow I can’t shake the feeling this missive was not the product of some local mom and pop landowner.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: Shadow Play
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
From Green Street.
Miss Heather
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Couples
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
From Manhattan Avenue.
Miss Heather
Street Seating Du Jour: Special Memorial Day Edition
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
I can think of no better way to kick off summer 2009 in the Garden Spot of the Universe than this comfy (if a bit worse for wear) recliner from Huron Street. As you can see it not only comes with a tree and sidewalk shed for shade, but is also appointed with its very own pylon. I give this piece of street seating two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Miss Heather
Williamsburg Photos Du Jour: Urban Jungle
North 6 Street
North 10th Street
North 11th Street
Driggs Avenue
Wythe Avenue
Miss Heather
Happy Memorial Day From New York Shitty!
To everyone in the Garden Spot of the Universe and beyond: have a happy and healthy holiday! Speaking for the Mister and I, we will be making a field trip to the very first neighborhood I ever lived in in New York City! I haven’t set foot there in at least twelve years so it ought to be very interesting to say the least! Needless to say I have charged up my camera and you can plan on reading about my trip down memory lane later on New York Shitty!
Miss Heather
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