Finally! The empty yet appealing space above Academy Diner has been filled! The new boutique is called Fitted by the Best.
Looks like there's a turntable up in the space, and they also offer personal shopping services. Could be cool, but where does one enter the store? Through the door next to the diner? The problem with second-floor boutiques is that they seem intimidating.
Fitted by the Best 69 Lafayette Avenue 718-858-0050 http://fittedbythebest.com/
Thanks to the commenters on Brownstoner who were able to identify the exact address where the Notorious B.I.G. grew up: 226 St. James Place, Apartment 3L.
Looks like a well-kept building, at least today.
Anyone remember him from back in the day?
I bet there weren't any little white dogs dressed in fleece coats back then...
Maybe he hung out in Bed-Stuy, but this address is clearly in the Hill. Holla!
Little House on Clinton150 Clinton Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205 (718) 237-7780
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Chicken and Waffles.An odd combination that's oh so right.
And oh so good.
I was first exposed to them in California at the famous Roscoe's House of Chicken' n Waffles. It was love at first bite.
So obviously I was SUPER EXCITED when Little House on Clinton advertised that they would be serving Chicken and Waffles. When they finally opened I couldn't wait to give them a try. So plans were made with my friend 1UP and, of course, Lesterhead, and off to dinner at Little House we went.
Upon entering you are very warmly and robustly greeted making you feel immediately at home and comfortable. As Little House is quite small, 3 booths and 2 small tables, we had a bit of a wait but was treated to a couple of mini waffles for our troubles. Mmmmm...
We decided to look over the menu and order our food in hopes that we'll be seated by the time the food arrives. (We were.) The menu consists mainly of breakfast type fair, some burger selections, Quesadillas (???) and, of course, Chicken and Waffles - all at pretty reasonable prices.
1UP ordered Little House Meal number 2 (4 mini waffles, 1 chicken leg and 1 chicken thigh for $7.49) while Lesterhead ordered the Little House Meal number 1 (4 mini waffles, 4 chicken wings at $6.99). I opted for 12 wings at $7.49 so that I could try serveral of the sauce choices. I chose Jerk, Buffalo and Teriyaki leaving House BBQ and Honey BBQ for next time.
(I know, I know. I didn't order any waffles. BUT I knew 1UP was gonna hook me up with some of her's so that I could write up a fair evaluation. Food Review 101: Rule 153 - you've got to know your dining companions.)
And, of course, we had to get a side order of (Freedom) Fries.
The Waffles were light, golden brown and DE-licious! A nice fluffy interior with a crisp exterior that holds up to the syrup so that it doesn't get soggy before it's time.
The chicken wings were extremely crispy, well breaded and seasoned and very flavorful plain and as is. As for the sauces the Teriyaki was good, the Buffalo was good, the Jerk was better but the best sauce was...maple syrup.
Really.
Maple syrup. Squeeze a little on...oh my. Crunchy, sweet, salty...yum!
It's honestly the best way to eat them and probably what makes Chicken and Waffles such an awesome combination.
The regular chicken pieces were just larger versions of the wings.
The only disappointment was the fries. They were just eh. I think they could've been a bit crispier and SALTED. I've gripped about this before but I hate it when they don't salt the fries while they are HOT. Ugh. Salting after the fact...the salt just never sticks to it. Who's with me on this? Another minor grip is the lack of an easily accessable bathroom. After eating sticky waffles and greasy chicken you wanna be able to easily wash your hands and...you can't. I hope they clear that up soon.
So, overall, an awesome addition to the nabe. Good fair at a good price. If you go and plan on eating there plan on waiting a bit as it's pretty small inside but as a place for delivery or pickup - AWESOME.
Chicken and Waffles. Yum. Who would've Thunk It?
You asked, and we deliver: a detailed neighborhood map so you can see how far you are from everything cool and noteworthy. It's not interactive, but a reader (anonymous clinton hill fan) has really gone out of her way to create something well-designed and comprehensive. She's also included adjacent neighborhoods in case you find yourself straying across the CH borders. (I know there are still a few things missing, Tessan Boutique for example. Hopefully we can do regular updates!)
The map is linked on the right (In + Around CH, Clinton Hill Map) for easy regular access (and so you can enlarge!).
I did a little snooping yesterday, and have heard from various brokers in the area the following: --the Pratt Area Community Council recently showed the Bodega's space to North Fork bank. (Why not Commerce? The world's greatest bank?) --the store above the Academy Diner on Lafayette will become a clothing store (will I be able to afford anything more than a T-shirt? Doubtful.) --the old French Cleaners on the corner of Lafayette and Cumberland will become a cafe, not a 7/11 as has been rumored.
Tonight, I did something I never thought I'd do. I went to a Community Board #2 meeting... The big news, of course, was that the 150-year old Italianate Villa at 70 Lefferts Place was granted landmark status yesterday by the Landmarks Preservation Commision. I must have been hiding under a rock, because I had no idea it was once owned by followers of a Reverend Jealous Divine. You can read more about the house, the victory, and the man here. Brownstoner also posted a detailed update yesterday. However, I still don't understand how the condo developer can build on that site...
I stayed only long enough to get minutes of the last meeting, and hear the community board recommend that the state liquor authority grant a liquor license to this mysterious "Boiling Kettle LLC" that's taking over Gardens on Myrtle. Sounds like a place that will serve kettle chips, or perhaps have a wicca theme (with hors d'ouvres like fried eye of newt). The manager of CB#2, Robert Perris, said that reviewing liquor license apps is fast becoming the Health Environment and Social Services' committee's biggest task--they've reviewed 20 in the last month.
And in the minutes, I read that the LPC is tussling over "207 DeKalb Avenue, a.k.a. 262-272 Adelphi Street" and its plan to convert those last three bays of a five-car garage into a bar/restaurant. 207 DeKalb is Sushi D, and the project architect who presented the plan is named Kojo Simpson. Methinks Sushi D wants to expand. Does anyone have any dirt on this?
And if I heard correctly the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill rezoning proposal to limit new construction to 50 feet btwn Myrtle and Fulton with be reviewed by the Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) in late Jan/early Feb.
I recently met Todd Lester (no relation) for coffee at Outpost, after a reader tipped me off to an interesting volunteer opportunity in the neighborhood. Todd heads freeDimensional, a non-profit group that provides assistance for exiled artists in danger. They also work with Bed-Stuy teenagers, providing lots of volunteer opportunities for those interested. From Todd:"The goal of freeDimensional is to partner socially progressive residential artist communities with human rights and freedom of expression organizations in order to facilitate rapid response, tactical placement of human rights defenders in exile. The network provides administrative support to art and media centers worldwide that seek to create a web of flexible, short-term safe havens for human rights defenders working at the intersection of arts and journalism. Residential Artist Communities benefit from this unique collaboration through enriched community, youth and environmental programs and by using their physical space to counter marginalizing issues at the local, regional and global levels."
1. How/when did you first conceive of the idea for FreeDimensional? In addition to being a student (and now a teacher) of community development and urban policy, I have been influenced by the dedication of – and obstacles faced by – individual artists, activists and citizen journalists during my work in more than 20 countries with a range of organizations and initiatives that include Reporters Without Borders, FilmAid International, International Rescue Committee, United Nations, Carter Center, CARE, Population Services International, World Social Forum, Rwanda Film Festival, Conflict Prevention in the Southern Caucasus, and Vera List Center for Art and Politics. Based on these experiences I began to convene a group of volunteer professionals to launch the freeDimensional network in 2005.
2. How did you come to establish the organization's HQ here in Clinton Hill? freeDimensional was searching for an office space at the same time that the Pratt Center for Community Development (in Clinton Hill) was helping the community of Bed-Stuy write its 197-A zoning plan to the city of New York (sort of a love letter or wish list for what it would like to see itself become in the ensuing years). The city had just reverted to the Pratt Center on the culture section asking them to make it more concrete. The Pratt Center then offered us an office space (incubation space) and targeted introductions in the community in exchange for us considering a location in Bed-Stuy for our second-phase office and artist workspace.
Our search for a suitable office and artist workspace has been complicated by the typical real estate constraints in a metropolitan area. However, in early 2006, we were introduced to the Magnolia Tree Earth Center. By joining hands with select community partners, we will be able to cover the rent to occupy the space starting sometime in 2007, but more importantly we will be able to create a public facility and equipment for use by local and international artists working in a variety of media. To date, the Daylight Community Arts Foundation has donated a complete darkroom set-up and we have been granted membership in Materials for the Arts, which provides a wide range of free supplies. This new artist resource will be called the Center for International Art & Community (CIAC).
Read more on the Magnolia Tree Earth Center here. freeDimensional responds to Bed-Stuy community interests by internalizing objectives of Community Board #3 in all aspects of program design. The 197(a) Zoning Plan highlights these objectives:
To provide the necessary supportive service facilities, cultural and recreation facilities... [To] build upon the already strong social, economic, and cultural based of Bedford-Stuyvesant through a sustainable agenda that would reinvigorate this ethnically and culturally diverse community... [To] make Bedford-Stuyvesant a Cultural Tourism Destination... [To] establish an ‘arts incubator’ in the district...[To] develop and support after-school programs, and... [To] promote Bedford-Stuyvesant’s cultural assets.
Our partner, the Pratt Center for Community Development serves as the facilitating agency for the 197-a Plan.
3. What about you personally? How did you come to settle in the neighborhood? My partner, Bethany, and I had been looking for a fixer-upper with another couple for some time. We had looked in Harlem and several Brooklyn neighborhoods when the building we live in now (near the intersection of Grand and Greene Avenues) came on the market. Having spent some years working in Africa we liked the proximity to a (then) new Senegalese restaurant called Le Grand Dakar as well as other great eating spots and neighborhood institutions, such as the Corridor Gallery.
4. Tell us about the programs your artists assist with at local schools? Syndicate 19 is the youth program of the Center for International Art & Community (CIAC), an artist residency initiative in Central Brooklyn and the administrative office of the freeDimensional Network.
Syndicate 19 is a civic digital journalism initiative that partners with the Bedford Academy - a public high school in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn, NYC) - to create an outlet for community media managed by local youth.
5. How do you find artists to participate in the program? How long do they remain in residence, and what do they usually do after their time with the program has ended? CIAC is freeDimensional's office and the site from which we provide housing, workspace, and an exhibition area for visual, performing, literary and new media artists communicating on human rights issues for periods of 4-6 months. Resident selection is based on the urgency of individuals’ situations (need of temporary safe haven); achieving a diverse professional range (discipline/media); potential to contribute to a collaborative project; and achieving a diverse age, gender and regional make-up. As we plan for expansion of facilities, we are looking for ways to collaborate with the North American Network of Cities of Asylum, in hopes that Central Brooklyn can eventually join this important network.
See also www.cityofasylum.org
After their stay with us at CIAC or one of our other partner centers around the world (SEE MAP), artists may either return to their home country if the situation has calmed or be linked to longer term resources for artists in need of assistance.
6. It sounds like FreeDimensional offers some intriguing volunteer opportunities, and I know several readers are interested in offering their time and talents to the community. What types of assistance does your organization need, and how can people get involved? We are always needing volunteer assistance with our Bedford Academy youth program as well as for issues of artist accommodation and hospitality. More specifically, we are currently looking to fill the following crucial role:
Specifically seeking 1 committed volunteer/intern to contribute as a full team member to the holistic development of a social justice and critical arts organization. The applicant may be a graduate student seeking internship credit who wishes to apply innovative strategies for growth within an emerging non-profit organization. The position will be called ‘Outreach Coordinator’ and the person that fills it will assist in the scaling-up of freeDimensional’s model for creative safe haven across 20+ international partner sites.
7. Speaking in more general terms, can you provide some tips for finding the right organization to volunteer for? The options seem overwhelming! How can you increase your chances of finding a good match for your skills and time available? I personally like www.idealist.org, but understand that it can be a bit overwhelming from both the volunteer and organizational perspectives. Also, try Community Connections, a service of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
8. Any tips on starting one's own nonprofit organization? What resources are available in Clinton Hill for nonprofits? That's a tough one. Well, you first need a supportive family and friends, b/c you will certainly have to ask a lot of the people you are close to. Let me give a shout out to Ashley French (a great friend, volunteer extraordinaire) who suggested this interview to both of us:-)
Make sure that the community is involved and that you are responding to a need that the community has expressed no matter if that is a geographic, demographic or otherwise defined group. That said, there are lots of resources that a dedicated individual can use to start an organization:
NonProfit Coordinating Committee of New York (http://www.npccny.org/)
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (http://www.vlany.org/)
New York NonProfit (http://www.nynonprofit.com) ... and its dynamic leader, Nancy Konipol
The Taproot Foundation (http://www.taprootfoundation.org/)
9. FreeDimensional is based in Clinton Hill, but has close ties with organizations in Bed-Stuy. What do you feel these adjacent neighborhoods have in common, and how does FD bridge the gap between the two? Well, the two neighborhoods are right beside each other geographically speaking, but there are drastic differences in household income levels and education provision levels.
Our perspective is that international social justice and local community development have a strong relationship. This project seeks to better define that relationship by working with community members to create an arts and multi-media center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, an economically marginalized community in Central Brooklyn.
"The program for the development of Bedford-Stuyvesant will combine the best of community action with the best of the private enterprise system. Neither by itself is enough, but in their combination lies our hope for the future," stated Senator Robert F. Kennedy on December 10, 1966 as ground was broken for the nation’s first community development corporation, Restoration Plaza. It is precisely because of this rich history of community development - and the remaining need - in Bedford-Stuyvesant that we first looked to this community to host a new process for organizing by engaging youth media and artist residency as tools for social change.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Central Brooklyn is a community of 300,000 residents, 70% of which are African American and Caribbean. Figures from the 2002 census show the population of central Brooklyn as approximately 84% Black, 9% Latino, 3% Caucasian, and 4% other. Youth make up one-third of the population. At least 33% of residents receive public assistance, while approximately 20% are dependent on Social Security income. Unemployment stands at 30% for men and woman, twice the national average. The poverty and disenfranchisement in this neighborhood has had severe ramifications on education in Bedford-Stuyvesant. According to the 2000 US Census, only 13% of Bedford-Stuyvesant residents have a college degree, and over 10% of youth between the ages of 16 and 19 have dropped out of high school and neither have nor are actively seeking a GED.
10. If you were a flavor of ice cream, what would you be and why? a sharp fruit sorbet – lemon, melon or raspberry – mixed with chocolate ice cream. It reminds me specifically of Vienna, which was the first place outside the US that I lived for more than a brief stint.
Interested in volunteering? Contact Todd: 917-952-4933 www.freedimensional.org inquiry@freedimensional.org
This is just such an incredible cat story, I have to share it. You may remember the "Have you seen Giuseppe?" post earlier this week. Well, Giuseppe didn't come home because I posted his picture on CHB, but he came back nonetheless, and this is my friend's tale of the story. Abi, fyi, is a woman who responded to an email from Amy Barta of Amy's Kitty Sitting (917-517-8912). She's my cat sitter, a wonderful one, and she forwared the missing Giuseppe message to her clients. One responded, saying she'd seen my friend's cat. So then my friend called and this is what happened... Alright, so here’s the story, not long but not short…yesterday morning I called Abi, who had sent the email. She then sadly told me that the cat she saw the night before had been hit and killed by a car that morning. She said she had a gut feeling that this was my cat because it fit the description perfectly. She said it was a gruesome sight and wouldn’t recommend looking at the body because it was run over so many times that it was virtually unidentifiable. So needless to say, I was an absolute wreck all day and unfortunately couldn’t leave the office early because of meetings.
So I had a friend come join me after work to look at the ‘remains’. I desperately needed closure and thought that perhaps the tail was still intact and I could see if it was him. Once there, we couldn’t find any evidence of the body. At this point, my friend who is full of ‘tough love’ told me that I should let it go and accept that my cat was gone. At that very moment, we spotted a black cat across the street. With high hopes, went to check it out. Not Guiseppe. Alas, I sadly took myself home… trying to come to terms with my loss. Once home, I fed Chief and then went out to feed two feral kittens my neighbor and myself have adopted out in front of my bedroom window. I decided to hang out with them until they finished eating. One of them got spooked by someone walking by and ran around the neighbors stoop. I walked around too because I didn’t want him to miss his supper (his brother is a big pig). And lo and behold there was Guiseppe. For a split second, I really thought I went crazy and was hallucinating. But thankfully it was the real deal…he’s back and he’s staying. It would be two weeks today that he was missing.
Now that is a heart-warming holiday story...
Hello! Welcome to our new design! I apologize for the recent aesthetic crappiness, but as you can see, it was worth the wait! As part of our new design, we will be selling ad space beginning January 2007. I hope to make sure it looks nice and in-character with our design.
If you are interested in advertising with us, email clintonhillblog-at-gmail-dot-com.
(Fort Greene Park)
Don't forget to take the CHB survey - thanks!CHB SURVEY!
Sorry, all, for this delay and the crappy template. Turns out Wordpress is kind of harcdore, but in a good way. We're working on the new design.
In the meantime, I am going to start putting the archives into categories.
I also hope to incorporate as many ideas as possible provided in the survey- thanks!
CHB IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE. CHECK BACK IN THE MORNING.
Hi all- If you love us and have 2 minutes, please visit the CHB Reader Survey here:
We're using it so we can cater more effectively to our readers.
I'll leave it open for two weeks or so, and create a link on the side.
Gracias.
So we didn't switch to Wordpress yet, but I will give you a heads up when it happens. Also, please bear with me while we make a few other site changes. We'll have a new layout soon, which will look supernice.
I'm also going to start putting ads on the site. Don't worry -- I want them to be in the vein of one of my favorite blogs, design*sponge, who incorporates them tastefully. Interested in buying an ad? I'm working up pricing now, so just drop me a line.
Later today, I'll post a short reader survey. I'd be thrilled if you would all participate.
Gracias.
In case we do migrate to wordpress this weekend, the RSS feed for the site might change. Please double check on Monday -- I don't want anyone missing out on any CH goodness :) Web address will stay the same.
xoxo- CHB
Blogger has been effed up!! So sorry.
We know it's last minute, but we here at Olivino are hoping you can join ustomorrow, Thursday, from 6-8pm. Diego from Farmer Wines will be pouring 1 white and 3 red wines, all from Italy, all very interesting!
The white, Greco della Basilicata is a full, crisp, minerally and round white.
Also from Basilicata Diego will open Cabanico, a 50/50 blend of Cabernet and Aglianico.
Molise Rosso is a blend of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Tintilia, a grape variety that Diego assures is in this bottle only in the United States!
Finally we will have open a Rosso di Montefalco from Umbria. This wine is a blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Merlot straight from the heart of Italia.
Join us after work! And, while you're here, enjoy the artwork of renowned neighborhood artist John Spinks. Perfect for Halloween, these skeletal characters decorate our wall as little windows into the activities of the afterlife. Boo.
Cheers, Olivino
905 Fulton Street (bet. Clinton and Vanderbilt) Tel. 718-857-7952
I have just begun replacing old archive photos in all posts. Be patient- it's going to take awhile. But in the end, it'll be even better than before.
Clinton Hill Blog published from 2006 - 2010. Please enjoy these archives - a love letter to the neighborhood.
