A few months ago, I started noticing this beat up auto on Clinton Avenue. At first, it was just a crappy car. Then, it received a special paint job.
I'm assuming the owner did it, but I suppose it could also have been a cruel (yet funny) case of property defacing. I've never seen anyone driving it, or moving it. Yet it's always moved according to street cleaning rules.
Must be a bitch to parallel park this thing.
Do you own this car? If so, contact us and give us the story!
Last summer, a friend staying with me for part of the summer called me frantically while I was at work.
"Um, I think I just saw a pig? On a leash? Being walked like a dog? Outside your building?"
He asked, rather than told, in case he may have been hallucinating. That was the first I'd heard of the pig.
Since then, I've heard a few more reports. Recently, a neighbor and friend of mine caught pig and owner in the street and snapped the above picture.
At this point, the pig seems like the Loch Ness Monster -- more legend than anything else. Then again, the photographic evidence speaks well for its existence. I'd like to see the neighborhood pig with my own eyes.
Here are some of the rumors I have heard:
Then, there's this article - how have I never seen this?
Any of you ever seen, petted or played with the neighborhood pig? Can the pig go off-leash in Fort Greene Park? What is the pig's name? Does it come when called?
Better yet, are you the owners of the neighborhood pig? If so, contact us and we'll do a little interview/feature!
When I was little, I used to think all houses with boarded up windows were haunted.
This gorgeous old building's been boarded up for awhile. It appears to have been last used as a church, but I don't think it was built for that purpose. I remember it being for sale a long time ago, but haven't heard or seen anything since, aside from some brand-new "KEEP OUT" signs.
I wonder what it looks like inside.
Beautiful (or full of potential for being beautiful) buildings boarded up fill me with sadness, and a weird feeling I can't explain. Who lived here last? What did they leave behind on the other side of the padlocked door? Does no one want to cut the grass and clean away the trash?
For some history, check Brownstoner.
I've been puzzled by this building on Clinton Avenue ever since I moved to the neighborhood in 2004. I don't think I've ever seen anyone go in or out, yet the property looks open and well-maintained. A family friend who grew up down the block tells me that kids used to spray paint a "D" at the end of "CHALLENGE." Pretty basic, yet made me chuckle.
So what IS this place?
Per their website:
Working in the heart of New York City, Teen Challenge provides comprehensive faith-based residential programs for men and women seeking help to overcome drug addiction and other life-controlling problems.
Apparently, the program provides a live-in program for both men and women looking to get clean and stay that way. Ironically enough, they only take people 17 years and older. They also run an after school program for children in grades 2-6. (Why are they calling it Teen Challenge when few teenagers actually qualify for their programs??) Actually, other chapters of the organization, which was started in NYC in the 1950s, do offer live-in services and counseling for teens. The organization claims to have a very high success rate compared to other rehab institutions.
While they don't list the actual addresses for the men's and women's live-in homes, they do have photos. Both look familiar, but I can't place them off the top of my head. I think they also might be in Clinton Ave.
Since I've never heard a thing about them, or direct reports of the individuals causing problems in the neighborhood, it seems they're doing a good job. They do help those in treatment earn their GED, which I highly laud.
Anyone have any interactions with this place?
One of my other fav streets in the 'nabe is one I just recently discovered: St. James Place. I happened upon it one evening while walking Mallow and following a sign for an open house. The signs led me to this house:
Looks kinda crappy, right? Well, if they weren't asking close to a mil for it, I might actually try to scrape up the cash to see if I could buy it. While I've always had the pipe dream to someday own a brownstone, lately I've been pining for a unique-looking house to gut and really make my own. Look what these people down the street did with their narrow houses:
Love it.
Since I first happened upon this place, I've been walking there every few days. The buildings there are really unique and dynamic, and many of then are still in disrepair.
Take this beauty - who ever thought it was a good idea to put siding on urban homes? And let's not even analyze the 10 million awnings. With a total renovation, this could be a palace.
Or this home, with the gorgeous stoop that's been painted over a zillion times (but obviously not recently). Picture it with a little love and some modern planters or carved pumpkins at Halloween time.
There are certainly people who have begun renovating and restoring here, but it still seems quiet and under-the-radar. I always feel like I should be tip-toeing down the sidewalk.
Most ironically though, is the fact that this is the street where the Notorious B.I.G. illegedly grew up! I'm pretty sure this is still Clinton Hill technically. Either he wanted more 'cred' to his name, or the mad shadiness crept over into CH back then and it didn't matter where Bed-Stuy started.
Here I am, skinny white girl skipping down his street with my little white dog and digital camera. Poor man is probably rolling in his grave.
Love these archways:
Great fixer-upper:
BrooklynJay tipped me off to a postcard he found at Zaytoons for a new store called Repop.
Via the website, the place looked amazing -- the perfect place for picking up some random trinkets and vintage housewares. It looks like the kind of place only available in East Williamsburg. Not anymore! Yessssssss...
As discussed earlier, this place is technically NOT part of Clinton Hill. I suppose it would be considered Wallabout or Navy Yard. Either way, it's close enough to call our own. (Look for a post soon about that whole area between the BQE and the Navy Yard. The whole area is ripe for cool scenes like Repop!)
Partners/owners Russell and Carl moved to the neighborhood from Kansas City, where they worked for and owned similar shops. Repop, which just opened in mid-July, is eventually slated to become part bar, allowing patrons to shop while they drink. The shop is so great right now on its own that I hope they expand to a space next door for the bar.
Repop is the type of place you could spend hours in, literally discovering something new each time you turn around. Items big and small are packed in -- from furniture to dishes to buttons to ancient doll heads and dismembered doll parts, not to mention vintage frocks and owl-feather hats, plus religious statues.
Inventory is changing constantly. Best of all, the guys are super honest. BrooklynJay found a valuable camera for $20. When he politely informed Russell that the camera was worth a few hundred bucks, Russel shrugged and said, "Yeah. We only mark up 10-20% of what we pay for the goods."
The owners have a keen sense of humor as well. The back of the store features a small wall display unit filled with old Fisher-Price little people (you know, the smaller, swallowable ones from our youth, as opposed to the gigantic ones in stores now). You can't pass something without a chuckle.
Repop 68 Washington Avenue Bkln, NY 11205 718-260-8032 Wed-Sun, 11am-7pm
OK, this is Ft Greene fodder, but chances are you have the same questions. Most days, I walk my dog Marshmallow to Fort Greene Park.
1. I used to like to take Lafayette to Cumberland and then cut north to FG Park. I liked this route because I would pass a magnificent garden on the east side of the street the width of a house. Now that's being turned into luxury condos, but out of habit I still walk that way.
As soon as I turn right on Cumberland, I always pass this car service:
I am completely convinced this storefront is a front for something else. I mean, it looks like there are lights on inside, and it's never gated up. But have you ever seen anyone go in and out, or see towncars parked outside? Have you ever known anyone to take this car service? As the neighborhood continues to come up, this weird business seems more and more out of place.
Out of curiosity, I called them.
There was no answer at the first number.
The second one went straight to a voicemail. I'm sorry, but this is NOT a legit car service.
2. Change is afoot on DeKalb Avenue. Liquors is still closed, and the shoe repair place next door has become a cute-looking children's clothing store (Beezu?). On the block just east of the park, two storefronts have been under construction for months. One is slated to be a wine shop, while the other will be an organic juice bar!
I could have sworn this sign used to say "this spring." And even so, summer's half over. Open your damn juice bar already! I have high hopes for this place. I'm hoping it's nicely designed.
One of my favorite things about Clinton Hill is the variety -- people, places and things. I have two favorite streets in the 'nabe. One of them is Waverly Ave.
Back in the old days, the small buildings on Waverly served as carriage houses for the mansions on Clinton and Washington. Today, many of them have been turned into interesting homes.
Of course, it's not all clean and gentrified. There are still a fair amount of crumbling structures with plenty of potential. Plus, I've never seen a street with more un-picked-up dog shit.
Still, if I had the cash, I'd jump on something here, gut renovate it and make it a unique home.
Waverly up north lies beneath the BQE.
Not everything is pretty. For example, this "interesting" ornamentation:
However, there are several gorgeous homes here:
Really, Waverly has a lot of what exemplified the neighborhood: character.
Sometimes decay can be beautiful, if you look at it the right way:
Old and new juxtaposed:
I love to look at all of the garages, and wish I could magically inherit one. It's great to see garages marked "active driveway," yet be completely blocked by 10-year-old weed growth.
Hopefully, the abandoned weedy lots will someday be community green space:
Clinton Hill Blog published from 2006 - 2010. Please enjoy these archives - a love letter to the neighborhood.
