Quicklink: And Now A Word From The New York Times

April 17, 2017 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Spring is here and with it— not unlike the swallows returning to Capistrano— the New York Times lavishes attention on my humble community. This being Greenpoint, of course. My colleague at Queens Crap found this interesting and saw fit to bring this tome to my attention as follows:

The Times discovers Polish people in Greenpoint.

To wit, I replied:

That pharmacy they have a photo of has a fierce selection of sex toys.

It’s true. This pharmacy does sport such items. To prove my point I strolled over there bright and early on this Smigus-Dyngus Day so as to get photo documentation. I feel it is my responsibility as a citizen journalist with “street level” knowledge of such things. Without further ado, here is what awaits you at the Murawski Pharmacy which, it should be noted, is the only establishment which sells such wares. “Just For Fun”, also a Polish-owned and operated, used to sell sex toys but it has closed. The owner, a lovely lady named Barbara, has retired and moved to Florida. The storefront has since become a CitiHabitats office. But I digress. Bring on the photos!

Here we are.

Welcome to the Wall of Sex. It is proving to be Wet Monday indeed. Hallelujah!

I rather like how stickers, including a price tag, have been employed so as to conceal the “naughty bits”. While I am on the subject of stickers…

Even the penis pumps hereabouts are purporting to be gluten free nowadays. If that ain’t a sign of gentrification I honestly do not know what is. And, yes, the New York Times made sure to conjure up the golem which is the “G word”. Among other things:

As in other parts of our city, conversations in Little Poland often turn to gentrification. Faced with higher rents, many residents are leaving the neighborhood for other Polish enclaves in Ridgewood or Maspeth, both in Queens.

I already knew this. A lot of people know this. But I suppose if one’s targeted “readership” are people who actually enjoy the Time’s “The Hunt” column— and not just for the gallows humor it provides— this would be “news”. The previous having been written, let’s get back to the topic. This being things Polish in Greenpoint. You see, Mr. Lee was not the only one walking around Greenpoint yesterday, I was too! And at McCarren Park I saw something quite compelling. So much so I took photos of it!

This is what greeted me upon arrival at Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square. It would appear a mishap of some kind has come to pass. I would hazard to guess this mishap involved a motor vehicle. Folks are always driving into things here. Pedestrians, fences, buildings, trees, more pedestrians, if you can think of it, chances are an automobile has hit it. Not even Newtown Creek is safe, as we learned on July 9th, 2013 via Gothamist.

Which brings me back to what I beheld at Jerzy Popieluszko Square yesterday. I found the manner, “style” if you will, eerily reminiscent of the “treatment” the Manhattan Kayak Launch has received “post injury”.

Save of course the “caution” tape.  I am guessing the powers-that-be (the Parks Department? Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn?) saw fit to appoint Jerzy Popieluszko Square with the tape (which costs $9.95 plus tax for a 1,000 roll of the stuff) because it is part of McCarren Park and as such is part of the “flagship park” of Community Board 1. Prestige is at stake, my friends.


Which brings me to the above photo. I wanted to make sure everyone is aware the photos of the Manhattan Avenue Kayak Launch in this post were taken today, April 17th, 2017. Yes, gentle readers, we are closing in on four years of this fence being in this state of disrepair. This begs the question as to how long the fence at Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square will remain in its present state. If the Manhattan Avenue Kayak Launch is any indication, I’d say the prognosis is not good.

The state of repair (or disrepair) of facilities in any given community speaks volumes about how the city and its various agencies views/”values” said community. Let’s apply this to Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square. Here you have a park dedicated to a fellow who is highly revered by the Polish community. As the New York Times has ascertained, Greenpoint has a rather substantial Polish community.

Let’s do the math. The premises have been damaged and a “make do” solution in the manner of two barricades and approximately 7-8 yards of caution tape. I am not sure what the barriers cost, but at 1 cent a foot the tape used cost 24 cents.  As for when this will be repaired, maybe someone in the “mainstream media” will ask the proper “authorities”? Perhaps even someone at the New York Times! You know, “watchdogs acting as guardian of the public interest” kind of stuff. I will leave you now with a few shots of the McCarren Park women’s comfort station. These too were taken yesterday, Easter Sunday.

(Insert “Wet Monday” joke here.)

UPDATE, 4:12 pm: Apparently the fence at Jerzy Popieluszko Square has been in this state for few months. Amazing how McCarren can get a tennis bubble, but basic shit like a fence languishes. Of course fences do generate $55.00 per hour in revenue.

Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Brooklyn’s Own

October 13, 2014 ·
Filed under: 11222, Gentrification, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Brooklyns Own nys

On a related note— and rounding posts on this “Columbus Day”— I would like to give a big New York Shitty salute to Business Insider for publishing what has to be one of the finest takedowns of the New York Times yours truly has ever read. Well done!

And The Advertisement Placement Award Goes To…

September 12, 2013 ·
Filed under: New York City, Wow, WTF 

OMFGnys

the New York Times. Here’s the deal:

  • I have a very strong stomach. One has to have one in order to live in north Brooklyn (or New York City, for that matter).
  • The declining quality of the reporting featured on the “Grey Lady” nowadays is bad enough.
  • Do we have to be visually assaulted by a foot which appears to belong to the Crypt Keeper as well? I really do not think this is too much to ask.

Now if you do not mind, I am off to procure more eye bleach…

Quicklink, Part I: Gothamist Takes On The Times

The patchouli oil of Gen Y gentrification is scenting the air. A two-bedroom three-bath garden duplex on Russell Street recently sold for $772,000.

Is this because people who spent $700K on a duplex can’t afford to wash themselves with soap? You know, like people who use patchouli? And can we borrow some of it? (Not patchouli, money.)

Thank you, Christopher Robbins.

Parting shot from yours truly:

David J. Maundrell III, the president of aptsandlofts.com, the marketing agent for the 149 Huron Street Loft Condos (where perks include Brazilian teak finishes and a Zen garden), gazed approvingly at 200 Franklin Street, a two-story storefront that camouflages a set-back 12-story apartment tower jutting into the air like a solitary exclamation point. “This is what’s coming to Greenpoint,” he said. “This is the future.”

Well, the “future” not only merited its own poster (as seen above) but it won Curbed’s “Greenpoint Ugly-Off”  by a rather handsome margin.

P.S.: You can view the Times tome by clicking here. Those of you who are feeling impish might want to point out that the “new” five story building on Freeman Street (158 Freeman Street, to be precise) of which Mr./Ms. Finn writes is not exactly new…

and its ethically-challenged creator, none other than Robert Scarano himself, can no longer file plans with the Department of Buildings due to the creative license he took there. But who cares about ethics when there’s money— $3,500 a month for a one bedroom apartment— to be made! Nonetheless, it might behoove Mr./Ms. Finn to read/reference her own employer’s site.

She might learn something— I certainly did!

Quicklink: Telling The Stories Of Hunts Point, One Portrait at a Time

Roxy: Hunts Point Bronx

Many who have followed this site are familiar with the work of Chris Arnade. He is not only a frequent (and incredibly talented) contributor to my photo pool, but he is also a good friend. His latest series of photographs documenting life in Hunts Point (after dark) has put a very human face on individuals this city seems to have forgotten. One such example is Roxy, about whom he writes:

Roxy, 23, has been walking the streets for six months, turned out by a pimp she met. “I am in school. I got tuition, food, housing, all that to pay for. This is just a way to get by. I got turned down for student loans.” When I asked her about the dangers, she said, “sure, its not easy. I’ve been kidnapped once and raped twice.” Over the summer she got into a car with a john. Another man was hiding in the backseat. They drove her to Yonkers, tied her up and raped her. “Now I am friends with the other girls. We all lookout for each other, because no one else will.”

Five minutes after we spoke the police arrested her best friend. Fifteen yards away, undeterred, the johns continued to pick up girls…

Mr. Arnade’s portraiture and accompanying anecdotes of life in Hunts Point are at turns disturbing, outraging, sad and yet curiously hopeful. The people who pose for his camera face adversities the likes of which many of the readers of this site (including me, the author) cannot begin to fathom— but instead of simply taking photos, going home and posting them, Chris follows up. Most importantly: he listens— and we should as well. These people are not “statistics”; they are our fellow New Yorkers and as such deserve our compassion and respect.

Thus, as both a friend and colleague, I was very pleased to learn he has garnered (yet more) recognition for his work. This time via the New York Times. Please take a moment to read this article. It is good read.

In closing Chris will be having a show of his photography next month—- albeit closer to home: the Urban Folk Gallery in Cobble Hill. Check it out.

Portraits & Pigeons: Photographs by Chris Arnade
Opening Reception: Friday, March 9, 2012 7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
Urban Folk Art Gallery
101 Smith Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201

New York Shitty Day Ender: Fowl Play

June 11, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Yes folks, it would appear that the New York Times has (once again*) become aware that there is a poultry slaughterhouse adjacent to a luxury apartment building in Greenpoint! Special thanks goes out to Jen Chung of Gothamist for this reminder. The previous props having been tendered, yours truly is especially fond of this passage:

While I am certain Franklin Avenue is animated (I have walked it) exactly how this thoroughfare pertains to Greenpoint is mystery to me. This is because Franklin Avenue is located elsewhere in Brooklyn. I’m going to take an educated guess that this reporter is referring to Franklin Street. I suppose in closing I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that one of the chaps they interviewed is being evicted because he has not paid rent in months. Whoops. Perhaps moving forward when the New York Times “sources” my site without crediting it they will go to the trouble of actually reading it?

Miss Heather

*The image gracing this post comes from an item I had written on the subject on January 27, 2009. Clearly the New York Times was paying attention because they wrote an item about this very subject on February 15, 2009 and took the liberty of culling a quote from my site’s comments section:

…To some, the juxtaposition of a slaughterhouse and a new residential building where condos sell for up to $675,000 is an amusing effect of gentrification. To others, it is grotesque. Several local residents have complained about seeing blood and bird parts on the sidewalk, along with feathers floating in the breeze. Calls to 311 have been numerous, and on a Greenpoint blog, a commenter described the smell emanating from the slaughterhouse as a mix of “death and ammonia.

Don’t believe me? See here for yourself! Reading is truly believing.

Quicklink: As “Quoted” In The New York Times

This morning started on anything but an auspicious note here at Chez Shitty. You see, on top of (still) having no heat the Mister and I have been doled out the further indignity of having no hot water. Being the kind of people who engage in regular hygiene (READ: take showers) this did not go unnoticed. As a result yours truly was awakened by stream of profanity authored by the Mister which was— by even my jaded standards— rather impressive. He ended up heating water on the stove in order to bathe himself. It was like something out of the Great Depression. But I digress.

I reluctantly got out of bed, checked my inbox and found the following missive from my buddy Evan. He writes:

You get quoted on page A32 of today’s NYT.

As you can imagine I found this of tremendous interest— especially since I have not in recent memory been contacted by a reporter from said newspaper. I asked for more information. I got it:

As you can see I am or more accurately— my web site-is— in fact quoted in the New York Times. What seems to be missing is a link to the blog post in question. The deal is (and at the expense of flogging a dead horse) this: if the Times can see fit to print a quote from yours truly the least this august institution can do is acknowledge the post from which it originated. I am not accepting “we can’t link to that profane url” for an answer, either. I have erected a mirror site with a less objectionable url for just this reason. Lastly, if St. Stanislaus Kostka— a church— can throw me a link, I see no reason the Times cannot follow suit.

Miss Heather

UPDATE, 12:10 p.m.: I would like to take a moment to thank a very nice Greenpointer for offering access to his/her shower. He/she writes:

Hi, Heather…I have an extra bathroom and I’m generally gone by 7:45.  You and your husband are more than welcome to shower at my place on Eagle St if you wish.  Yeah, I know it’s weird, but I like to think I live in a community and neighbors are supposed to help each other.  So, there ya go.  If you need a last resort, I’ll help out.

Not only is this offer greatly appreciated, I am seriously mulling it over!

  • NYS Flickr Pool

    The One CrewSnowy SeagullsWalking the Dog in the Snow
  • Ads