Missing Mailbox!

This morning, I headed to my local blue mailbox (Clinton and Lafayette) to drop off my payment for the $60 parking ticket I received last week in BK Heights (GRRR), only to find THE MAILBOX WASN'T THERE!

Where did it go?! WTF???

UPDATE: The mailbox was taken out by two cop cars who collided at that corner Saturday morning. A reader did email me about it, but I was taking my eight-hour written exam at school, so I didn't get to see it. Back to the topic of cops pulling illegal traffic maneuvers in the 'hood, I saw one last week drive in front of a car at a red light from behind, look both ways and drive through it, no sirens. Just couldn't wait for that pesky red to change! I'm curious to know what the circumstances were on Saturday. If they were rushing to an emergency, OK. But if this happened because they were breaking traffic laws for no reason AND they ruined my mailbox, I am gonna be PISSED.

Still No Mirror's on Grand

Not a peep out of this place. Are the plans for whatever it was supposed to be off the table?

(Grand, south of Lafayette)

D+ for G Train

One of the LAST train lines to be evaluated by the MTA (shocking, I know), the results are in. The G train received a stellar D+:

For some reason, I thought the G train extension would take a few years, but according to Second Avenue Sagas, it's actually scheduled for next year (!!). Hopefully this means improvements.

(Thanks to SAS also for this graphic!)

Problems at the CH Library?

I recently received this email from a reader: Hey there,

I consistently have trouble with the Clinton Hill library branch. I'm not too bothered by the poor customer service, which is on par with out Post Office, but I'm bothered that they don't process my books when I return them. I should try returning one to Clinton Hill and one to the main branch to prove the lapse in time of return.

I usually get a $.50 late charge every time I return it there, but I currently owe $25 on a travel book that I returned in August. I'm curious to know if any other CH residents and blog readers have had any problems.

Personally, I haven't had any problems with them. I enjoy having a library close by, and I often request books online and have them sent for free to the CH branch. The facilities are horribly dated, but otherwise I haven't run into any annoyances. Anyone else had issues there?

(FYI, the library is located at 380 Washington Ave. bt Lafayette and Greene)

Perhaps these problems will be remedied once the library is rebuilt!  Brownstoner did a post about it last month here.  Though I suspect while they rebuild it'll mean we're without a library.

Lame Reno on Irving

Look at this plastic-looking awning on Irving bt Putnam and Gates:

EW!

Stinky Berries

Has anyone notices the trees, especially on Clinton Ave, that produce those foul-smelling berries?!

Once they burst, they smell like ass.

Traffic Light Needed!

Is it just me, or is the corner of Waverly and Myrtle getting more and more dangerous to cross?  Both on foot or driving, with the two-way traffic and packed street parking, it's really becoming difficult to get across. I've emailed Leticia James, and she said she'd get the DOT to conduct an analysis.

311 Issues in CH

Received these response to the call for 311 documentation photos: I was trying to post on your blog but had some difficulties- it is about that photo problem 311 post! here is what I wanted to add:

What about illegal trucks cutting through the nabe, especially on Washington and Vanderbilt? Their economic gain is a blight and pollution to our area. There are designated truck roads, and any truck that is not local delivery, is a violation. It easy to document! Let's take some photos of 18 wheelers on Washington during morning rush hours. Recently I started to do it, but I would love some help. Another idea would be to convince DOT to install proper no truck signs -- maybe we could get some signatures of local residents and send it to them? Anyway I wanted to work on this issue for awhile now, but I am kind of too busy, maybe someone is willing to help? thanks.

And another:

This is a complaint about the idling ambulances below my window - the corner of Clinton Avenue and Myrtle Avenue, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

Today, Sept. 9th, it was Truck #3502 from Brooklyn Hospital, idling from 9am - 2pm, parked on the sidewalk. I asked the driver to move off the sidewalk and he got confrontational with me telling me "this was his spot". I'm sure the sidewalk is not "his spot". I had to knock on the passenger window to wake up his partner so she could get him to move to the street, which they did.

On a daily basis, they park on Clinton Avenue, next to the fire hydrant, sleeping with the diesel fumes coming right into our apartments in the complex above. I have attached a pic because he made me so angry - talking on the phone, leaning into a friends car and telling me to leave him alone and call 311 if I didn't like it. I had called 311 but the Department of Health was not open on Sunday and they told me to call back on Monday. Very Frustrating.

According to the Dept. of Health Website:

"While ambulances are considered emergency vehicles under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, allowing these vehicles to idle for excessive periods of time in non-emergency operation is not permitted."

"Unless in emergency operation, ambulances and first response vehicles ARE NOT exempt from the provisions of these environment conservation laws. The penalties for violation of these laws may include fines ranging from $250 to $15,000."

I never noticed this, but today when I walked past with my dog, sure enough, there was an ambulance (FDNY this time) idling right there. Why do they need to keep the vehicle running?

Tamboril: A Quickie Review

I dined at Tamboril last Friday!  I'm waiting for BrooklynJay to go and write up his traditional review, but I'll share some preliminary thoughts.

First, the space looks great.  Warm colors, nice furniture and a cool use of what could have been an awkward space.  The wait staff was exceptionally friendly and prompt as well.  I had a special coconut shrimp appetizer special with a fried chicken dish, plus shared the bread pudding for dessert.  Everything was really flavorful, and the place got pretty full later in the evening.  They'll start serving brunch this weekend- yay! Now, here are my gripes, which seem to apply to ALL new restaurants in the 'hood.  Tamboril does not have its liquor license yet, nor are they accepting credit cards.  I assume both of these conditions will change in the next few weeks, but it's still a major inconvenience to the customer!  The plus side to the BYOB is that is makes dinner exponentially cheaper, and Tamboril isn't charging any corking fee (ahem).  However, the credit card thing really pisses me off.  This likely means you must depart the restaurant for an ATM and then deal with getting change and splitting up small bills between friends later in the evening.  I just don't understand why these places can't wait another week or so to open until they have that stuff in place.  I've definitely walked away from a place I was about to dine at when learning they didn't take cards.  Yes, accepting credit cards is an expense for businesses, but when you have a huge space to fill with customers, it's necessary.  Dear restaurants yet to open: get your ducks in a row, and then open! Tamboril 527 Myrtle Ave.

Pet Peeve

I HATE when people refer to Clinton Hill as "Clinton Hills."  This happens all the time, especially on Craigslist rental listings.  Uh, do you not know where you live?

Selective Parking Rules

Received this note last week from a reader: I live on Grand Avenue at Lexington, and for the past nine months or so, I've been parking a car on the street. This has been a headache, of course, but certainly easier than a lot of other Brooklyn neighborhoods, despite the twice weekly street cleaning (why?!). One thing that makes it easier in the mornings for street cleaning: no one seems to mind, including the cops an metermaids, if you double park on the opposite side of the street for an hour and a half to avoid the street sweeper. Its very common to see a row of cars all double parked on Grand on any given morning. At 11:30, the owners park them again. I've seen ticketers ignore these cars while doling out tickets to street cleaning violators. Everyone seems okay with it, the neighbors and the cops.

But this morning I got a $115 ticket for being double parked! What gives? Any ideas about the arbitrariness of this system?

Since I'm at work most days, I had never heard of such a thing. Yet yesterday, when I stayed home in the morning nursing an ear infection (yes, apparently I am a 4-year-old), I noticed the same phenomenon on Waverly Ave!

Personally, I'd guess whoever ticketed said reader needed to fill a quota or was feeling particularly dickish that morning. Does anyone do this regularly, and if so, is there indeed an unspoken guarantee that you'll avoid a ticket if you double park? Also, what if someone parked at the curb gets shut in? Perhaps the cop ticketed that day because someone was inconvenienced?

And as a side note, double-parking seem to be a major problem in the 'hood. Just because you have your flashers on doesn't make it OK to double park up and down Clinton Avenue all the damn time. Now and then, OK, you need to pull over to pick someone up. But if I had a dime for every SUV double-parked on Clinton with flashers on, I could have paid off my mortgage and then some. (This is a separate issue from avoiding street cleaning tickets, and occurs mostly on weekend afternoons.)

Another Poo "Situation"

Dearest readers, I have reason to believe the neighborhood fecal situation has gotten out of control. Check out this note I received over the weekend: I'm a big fan of the CHB and as such and very aware of the dog crap problem around the neighborhood. This morning my husband Sean and I were walking our pooch up Clermont between Greene and Lafayette (on the east side of the street), and we saw something so disturbing on sidewalk that we immediately knew we had to report it to you...unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us, so there's no shot attached.

It was...a used colostomy bag. EWWW! Of course, our dog found it first, but even she knew it wasn't something to be messed with.

Thank goodness they didn't have a camera! I don't even know what a colostomy bag looks like, and I hope I never have to find out. Anyone else seen one lying around? How did it get out onto the street???? I love that even the dog wouldn't mess with it.

The Only Decent Place to Get Flowers

I bitch and moan about the lack of a nice flower shop in the area. Greene Farm, on Greene near Fulton, is the closest I've found to acceptable flowers. The selection is small, but they always have a nice in-season collection. Last weekend, I bought two bouquets of hyacinths, but then promptly left them behind at Who's Your Doggy while buying wee wee pads. Bah!

Waverly Poo, cont.

Miss Heather of New York Shitty read my rant about all the poo on Waverly and asked for some photos.  So I sent them, taken on the west side of the street on just a two block radius, before this latest storm. Check it out here.

(I am filing this under "crime," since it IS illegal not to pick up your dog's crap.)

Poo Avenue

I know I've written about how much crap sits on the sidewalks of Clinton Hill (literally and figuratively), but I think Waverly Avenue takes the cake. I'm not sure what it is about it that makes pet owners completely ignore their dogs crapping and walk on without picking it up. Last week, I counted 25 separate piles of shit on Waverly between Myrtle and Lafayette! 25!!! I'm sure I could have doubled that total by walking all the way down to Atlantic. Seriously, what's going on here?

Parking is a Pain

/>When I inherited a car this past summer, I tried to park it in the Armory garage on Vanderbilt. Despite a sign outside saying they had monthly spots available, I was told that wasn't so when I actually drove the car over there. The sign's still up, and prices have gone UP from around $170:

WTF?

Other area garages include DMK on Waverly between Myrtle and Park for $190/mo, Central Parking garage near that Applebee's off the DeKalb subway stop (which I hear is slightly cheaper and offers the first month free), and some guy who owns a bunch of private garages on Vanderbilt between Greene and Gates and is asking almost $300 a month per garage.

Head Over Heels Cafe: Does It Actually Exist??

Back in September, Jay and I attempted to try out a new cafe in Bed-Stuy called Head Over Heels Cafe. When we arrived at the alleged location, we couldn't find it. Now five months later, we found ourselves wandering one morning and decided to see if it was actually there. This is what we saw:

This "cafe" is allegedly located where that gate is pulled down and there is NO SIGN. The website's still up, and claims that they open at 10am. This photo was taken around 11:30 am on a Sunday morning.

Seriously, this is SO unprofessional! Even opening 10 minutes late isn't cool. That was my second attempt to check them out. NOT good business practice.

(Allegedly located at 525 DeKalb Ave.)

Peeve

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing references to "Clinton Hills." This mistake appears often on Craigslist in the apartment rental/real estate section, even when posted "by owner!" Do they really think the nabe is called Clinton Hills?

Mystery of the Missing Plants

Brooklyn Record recently posted a story about landscaping in Clinton Hill being stolen. I hadn't heard about this before, but regular commenter 'houseowax' confirmed that he, too, has been a victim: SOMEONE actually STOLE the tree out of our planter yesterday afternoon! While we were home and in broad daylight!! Apparently ( according to my neighbor) there was a rash of flora pilfering a few years back; people were reluctant to plant anything! GRRRRRR. If you see our tree, a topiary cypress around 4 ft tall- gimme a shout. Someone needs an asskicking!

WTF?

BTW, according to Google Images, a topiary cypress could look something like this Here is an actual photo of the stolen tree:

Drama at 11205

I'm at a loss for words right now as to how annoyed I am with the Pratt Station PO. So, I need to rent a PO box. The thought of heading to 11238 made my head spin, so I settled on the Myrtle PO. I'm on Myrtle more then I'm on Fulton anyway, and people seem to think 11205 is far superior.

I left early this morning to make sure I had time to take care of my postal business before work. I know how long the lines are at 11238 all hours of the day. So imagine my surprise when I arrived at 11205 to find NO LINE! My pleasure was short-lived once I realized window service didn't begin until 9:30. Wtf? The antithesis of convenient.

I arrived around 9 and weighed my options. What were the chances that if I left right away for 11238 and waited in line that I'd be done by 9:30? Very slim. So, I stayed in line for 30 minutes. Others joined the line and grumbled about how the staff will hide until 9:30 exactly. It's like they take pleasure in the bad service!

At 9:32, the first window opened. When it was my turn (I was second in line), I handed over the PO box rental application that I had printed online and filled out. The woman asked, "Where's the original?". Huh? "This IS the original. I printed it out online.". "Well," she responded, "We can't do anything with that. You have to fill THIS out." I took the form, which was the same as the online form but on different paper, and stormed out.

Why even have the form available online if it can't be used? I was curious, so I called USPS directly. When I finally spoke with a human (I had to babble about something not an option in the menu they provided, which finally sent me to a living person), I asked if the PO had to accept the online form. She said:

"I can't comment on that. Each post office does things differently."

Really? Is this 1904?

Who besides me thinks we need to bulldoze both existing POs, rebuild modern facilities and hire a whole new staff?