Location: St. James at Gates
This is definitely one of the MOST haunted spots in Clinton Hill. This place looks just about ready to collapse into a pile of dust. Wonder who owns it, or if there are squatters inside. If someone had a LOT of money and a LOT of time, this could be a great project.
I've noticed this intriguing art gallery-esque space on Washington between Park and Flushing several months ago. I haven't been past it in awhile, but it certainly looks like an awesome space. Hopefully it'll be open to the public sooner than later.
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Location: Washington between Lafayette and Greene
People definitely live in here, but won't fix the peeling paint or rotting porch. I'm afraid if someone doesn't fix it up soon, it'll be at risk for being knocked down and replaced by a Fedder's eyesore. It's across from the library -- maybe inhabited by the ghosts of former librarians?
(note: I promise to diversify the locales next week -- I just need a weekend to catch up on neighborhood stuff)
Location: Waverly between Greene and Gates
This one's haunted by the ghost of bad taste.
A neighbor walking two adorable pugs saw me photographing this "beauty," and stopped to chat about it. She said it's been tacky for at least as long as she's lived in the area (10+ years). She also heard that the owner just passed away, so I'm expecting some major de-haunting on this place in the coming months.
Many months ago, I was taking a car service to a party, and we drove past Reign. I was shocked to see what appeared to be a nightclub in this otherwise sleepy/desolate area.
From what I've heard, Reign attracts the Escalade crowd, and that patrons party until the wee hours of the morning. Still seems like an odd locale for a crazy hip-hop club, but then again, industrial areas are probably more conducive to loud music late-night.
I've also heard that the bartenders have been opening the club early for neighborhood happy hours, catering to the chill lounge set (ie. people like me who are too tired to go out and shake it at 1am on a weeknight) and hoping to attract locals.
I'm set to go sometime this week! Has anyone ever been inside? This is as close as I've come:
Anyone live nearby and had any very good (or very bad) experiences?
Reigh even has their own MySpace page (and a ton of friends to boot).
Reign 46 Washington Ave (between Park and Flushing)
Location: Washington between Greene and Gates
I'm shocked at how many contenders exist on Washington Ave! You'd think they'd be scooped up by now and renovated.
This place'll make a gorgeous home someday, once you pry the plywood off the windows and the siding off of the house. The yard is horribly overgrown and full of trash. But look at the detailing along the very top! There is potential here, oh yes. Someone just needs to evict the ghosts.
That area north of Park is usually a mystery. What goes on up there? Do people live there? What the hell is Wallabout? This week, we'll explore some of this uncharted territory and let you know what's new, exciting and intriguing.
As it turns out, this week is going to be quite pivotal for the area. Clintoncentric, one of our favorite 'hood bloggers, has decided to help us out here as she hasn't had enough time to keep CC as updated as she'd like. Turns out, she knows lots about Wallabout!
Here's her first contribution:
On Thursday, October 19th, the Historic Wallabout Association will present the latest developments on creating a Historic Wallabout District for the 22 blocks north of Myrtle Avenue and south of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, between Carlton and Classon Avenues. I pulled up an old pdf from a past HWA meeting and skimmed through it for interesting factoids:
The neighborhood is named after its original settlers, the Walloons, French-speaking Protestants from what is now Belgium, who in 1624 settled along a bay on the East River and named it Waal-bogt. Later, as the area became a major industrial center, it also attracted a major produce mart in the 1880s called the Wallabout Market. This is a pic from 1934, and according to this man's blog, it was the second-largest market in the world at one point:
(If only it was still there! Then maybe we would all be eating better!)
To this day, the Wallabout area has the largest concentration of pre-Civil War frame houses in New York City.
The HWA's general meeting is from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Benjamin Banneker Academy, 71 Clinton Avenue.
*** Crap! That meeting time conflicts with the SCH meeting, and I can't attend either. Poo. Hopefully another CHB contributor can check it out.
Location: Eastern Greene Ave.
This place is so haunted that someone had to cement the ghosts inside! Who would do such a thing -- covering over doors and windows with cement blocks?
The upper half of this place looks absolutely gorgeous and detail-filled. Even the upper windows look nice and new-ish.
This place must have seen some very bad times. Anyone ever been inside? God, I'd love to know what's inside those walls.
Location: Clinton Ave, bt Greene and Gates
To help set the mood for Halloween, I thought I'd feature a few spooky Clinton Hill houses. Here's today's, which can be found on Clinton Ave between Greene and Gates.
I know someone lives here, as I sometimes see him on his stoop. Why he won't maintain his yard is beyond me, and it's such a gorgeous house!
Anyone ever been inside?
(sorry for the absence - i was in texas for work, and now i'm home with the flu!) Every now and then, I pass this "hotel" on Washington Avenue.
It looks pretty junky to me - boarded up windows, skanky curtains, etc, but it looks to be open and operating. Anyone know exactly what this is? Is it really a hotel? Or apartments? Or furnished apartments? Anyone ever been inside? What are the rates?
On Grand, just south of Greene: two new storefronts! They look fairly nice -- I like the doors. The window sign only references a permit for fencing. No visible clues as to what'll go in there.
Looks like an amazing roof deck thing on top. (insert jealousy)
Tips?
Yesterday morning, there was a man playing the violin on the Clinton-Washington Smith St-bound G train platform. Normally you only encounter this in more crowded stations, where the music gets mixed in with loud conversations and train noise. It just seemed so out of place in the G station. But in a good way. The G platform is normally fairly quiet, and it was nice to hear the music echoing through the station. A peaceful way to start the morning.
I wanted to talk to him, but didn't want to disrupt his performance. Know him? Send him our way so we can chat with him.
He wasn't there today. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to more violin serenades. Come back, violin man!
BklnJay wondered aloud one day whether Clinton Hill has more churches or Chinese restaurants. After chuckling about it, we realized that it would be a fun project.
What we need now is your help! Explore your own block and take photos of all churches and Chinese restaurants. Then email them to us, and let us know what areas you've covered.
Here's what we've completed so far:
All church-esque places are accepted (especially storefront churches!). Also acceptible are Chinese-Mexican combo takeout places.
Let's be inclusive -- Vanderbilt to Franklin.
(I considered adding bodegas to the mix, but that's just insane.)
After BklnJay wrote about LaFu, I decided I needed to check it out for myself. When I first moved to CH, I spent quite a lot of time around that corner. It didn't hurt that I had friends who lived across from Moe's, and CH wasn't home to quite as much as it is today. However, in the last year I've been down there less and less. So I was surprised to see all the new stuff with my own eyes!
It seems that only male bloggers have mentioned the new Stuart & Wright boutique in Fort Greene, which led me to believe that it only carried men's apparel. But NO! I peeked inside, and definitely saw lots of lady-tops, high boots and peep-toe shoes!
SWOON! I love that they kept the old sign up outside.
Um, when did Fillmore open here?
And now for Mullanes. Well... I like the outside design a lot. The inside looks like... any Murray Hill pub. Here's the menu and the hours:
I do like that they're serving food. How many times have you been at Rope and gotten superdrunk because you haven't eaten dinner first? Um, OK, maybe just me (and a few other readers -- you know who you are).
On the OTHER side of the LaFu intersection, next to Academy, is THIS:
This looks cool. The exterior kind of reminds me of HK, in my former neighborhood.
I still haven't tried Le Bagel Delight. They're soooo witty!
At first, I assumed S&W was in the former cleaners closer to CH at Cumberland and Lafayette.
But no. Instead, there's a 7-11 moving in there!!!
Not sure how I feel about this. I'm sure it will be cleaner and bigger than any bodega in the area, and probably less smelly and stocked with more practical stuff (ie it won't have that entire aisle dedicated to those religious candles).
Looks like I'm spending my weekend in LaFu.
Jay and I drove past this unmarked spot on Park Ave at Kent, and noticed some minivans parked inside. We u-turned it around and passed again. Looks like a hasidic car dealership!
The Hasidic community of South Williamsburg seems to be making an aggressive expansion into Bed-Stuy along Bedford Ave and onto the western side streets. Is this causing any friction in that micro-nabe?
UPDATE: There is now a sign on the exterior - this pic is a few weeks old.
Over the weekend, I took a walk down Waverly past those boarded-up skinny houses. Eureka! One of them has been opened up and is being worked on!!
Like any good neighbor, I did what I had to do: snoop inside the barricade:
Looks like the entire place has been torn open. Also evident, at least Saturday morning, was one of the foulest smells to have ever reached my nose. I'm thinking it was related to this building. I mean, just imagine the things unleashed when tearing open a building like this, boarded up for who knows how many years (vermon, rotting stuff, ghosts, etc).
I can't wait to track its progress! If you own this place, please let us know! Or at least hit up Brownstoner so he can set you up with a reno blog.
i walk through the intersection of greene ave. and classon ave. nearly every day. and about 8 out of every 10 days, it smells...incredible. like fresh-baked, sugary, buttery goodness. and it isn't some delicate "oh, my neighbor's baking cookies again" smell -- it's serious. like someone is mass-producing something luscious. but the thing is, there's nothing at that intersection that screams "pepperidge farm" (or even "little debbie's"). let's take a look at what's on the corners.
one:
ummmm, no.
two:
though the h.t.n.s. is one of my favorite neighborhood fixtures, i don't think they're cranking out the baked goods.
three:
as catherine malandrino said to vincent: no. no. no. no. (though, come spring, this will be a fabulous latin restaurant (but that's another story altogether...).)
four:
they could be shipping out cookies in those trucks, but i don't think so.
could it be that the
or the
both a half-block south on classon, are supplementing the collection plate with some intense bake sale activity?
if not, i'm stumped.
can anyone solve this puzzle? anyone? anyone?
*** This post contributed by hey mama, who will now be a more regular contributor- yay!
Thanks to all on sharing your personal stories on the neighborhood pig! We finally established contact with the owners, Jason and Kelli, and were able to see it with our own eyes.
Kelli answered some questions for us:
1. So, what is PIG's name? PIG's actual name is Emmett. We did not give him that name until we had decided to keep him which was after he had lived with us for about three months. In an effort to not form any real attachment, we had been calling him by Pig or Little Pig. In the end, he answers to anything with Pig in it, thus PIG, a fast bastardization of Little Pig, Piggers, and so on.
2. How long have you had him? How did you come to own a pig? Pig has had us for nine years now, being 4-5 months old when we acquired him, makes him approx. 9 1/2 years of age. I found him in the gutter of a four-lane busy street in the center of the city on a November evening, city being Louisville, KY. After stopping and discovering what I was seeing was in fact a tiny little black pig, the only thing to do was take him home. We tried to find a home or a rescue for him, already having two large dogs and not being in the market for a pig at the moment, but the rescues were full or flat out nasty to us and he was returned to us by the family who thought they wanted him. At that point Jason decided he was going to commit to taking on Pig as his own.
3. Did you know how big he would get? We had no idea how big he would be, only that because of his tail and his ears, according to our vet, he definitely is a miniature pot-bellied pig. He is not really a big boy. He is 19 inches tall and 36 inches long, exactly. So he is about the size of a large lab, with a pot-belly and chubby cheeks of course, that has super short legs.
4. Do you take Emmett to the vet? Does he have any special health needs? Yes, PIG goes to the vet. He is seen by Dr. Lischin at Hope, here in Brooklyn in conjunction with Dr. Gagnon in Louisville. He goes to Louisville to have his tusks cut once or twice a year. Reason being, we not only adore Dr. Gagnon, but the procedure in Louisville is 1/5 the cost of what it is in New York. Both of his vets normally do not see pigs, so we are more than grateful that they are dedicated enough to help him and us, so, if there is any major problem we take him to Cornell Animal Hospital in Ithaca where there are pig specialists.
5. How long do you expect him to live? We are by no means pig experts, but what we have read is 15-20 years.
6. Does he know his name? Does he come when called? Absolutely, he responds to a wide variety of words. And yes, he comes when called unless he is perturbed then he purposely turns his back to us refusing to acknowledge we are speaking to him.
7. Does he play with toys or do tricks? He used to play with toys, but now he mainly likes to nose my shoes around the apartment. Pig games are a little different than dog games. He is very fond of pushing around a plastic 2-liter bottle with small holes in it to release kibble, but it has to have larger more noisy objects in there as well.
8. Is he affectionate? Does he crave being petted and cuddled? PIG is extremely affectionate. He loves to snuggle and spoon, as well as being petted. Being petted by people on the street is one of his favorite things.
9. Does he ever go off-leash in Ft. Greene Park? No. He does occasionally go to the Farmers' Market on Saturdays for apples and then spend a little time at the park, but not off leash. This is not because he would go anywhere or do anything bad or destructive, it is because I am protective of him. I stay pretty close. Also, they sometimes spray the grass in the park and it is really hard to keep PIG from eating it.
10. What does he eat, and how much? His diet consists of a miniature pig kibble, 1 1/4 cup in the evening, and a mango or apple in the morning. On the corner of Dekalb is a place where they sell coconuts, sugarcane, and mangos. They are very kind to PIG and give him the mangos when they are not quite pretty enough to sell. He is pretty spoiled.
11. Are there special pig harnasses, or do you use a dog harnass? I do not know if there are harnesses just for pigs. Dog harnesses have always worked fine for us, although not all of them fit properly.
12. How much exercise does he need? Can he navigate stairs easily? He is supposed to walk around the block at least once a day. He prefers to lie on the sidewalk, sunbathe, and be with his favorite neighbors. We do take him out twice a day to go to the bathroom but he stays out usually for about an hour or so socializing.
13. How do your neighbors feel about Piggers? Everyone seems to really like him. He is kind of a showboat and wants to greet everyone who passes. So often we here, "He has really made my day." or "Now I have seen eveything." I could count on one hand the number of negative reactions and they are always fear of the unfamiliar.
14. How long have you lived in the neighborhood? What brought you here? We first moved to Fort Greene in 1999. Then spent sometime in Seattle while I was in Grad school, but returned to Brooklyn in 2002. Originally, we moved here because of a job I acquired.
15. What's your favorite place to eat here? And does Piggers sit outside if you eat at an outside table? Jason is partial to the garden at Castro's. Red Bamboo, on Dekalb, is also a nice atmosphere. I have been a vegetarian since I was 19, and Jason became one after ordering a pepperoni pizza one night shortly after finding PIG, and felt unable to reconcile consuming pork while living with a pig. Pig likes to hang out in front of Tillie's, on Dekalb, while we have coffee. We rarely take him to restaurants, but when I have he justs sits by my feet.
16. What do you both do for a living? What do you do with PIG when you go out of town? Jason is a musician and I am finishing my Masters in architecture. When we go out of town we almost always take him with us. If he is unable to go we take him to a friend's kennel, which he loves because of all the barking. Growing up with dogs and having never been around another pig since we have had him, PIG thinks he is just like them.
17. Does PIG like being out in the rain and snow? No! To our chagrin, he despises the rain. Snow is a little different, very fun to eat but cold on the trotters.
18. Does PIG like car rides? Pig does ride in the car alot. Spends his time with his head between the seats or sound asleep, and usually seems to like it.
Stuff we learned when we met PIG in "person:"
Thanks lots to Kelli and Jason for letting us meet their unique pet!
A reader tipped me off to some new stuff going in on Grand, just south of Lafayette. Of course, I checked it out (after a stop for an iced coffee and scone at the beloved Choice Market!). I've been looking at the intriguing storefront across from the late Karrot for awhile now. Finally, there's some signs in the window!
Grand Avenue Workshop
I wasn't lucky enough to find someone inside, so I gave them a call.
After 24 hours of phone tag, I connected with Carl, the owner.
Grand Avenue Workshop does restoration and finishing on antiques and newer pieces. His clients consist mostly of architects and designers/decorators. Neighbors are often dismyed to find that he doesn't work on weekends when they might be around to stop in.
However, he doesn't do much work for local area residents -- that is, unless they've hired an architect to renovate for them. He works when the professionals work, and describes his business as "a strange hybrid that only resides in NYC."
Carl has been in business for twenty years, and has lived in the neighborhood for that long, too -- he's a "Pratt Kid who never left." His shop on Grand Ave has been there for the last five years.
He says that lots of people will pop in on their way home from work if they see him in the office to find out what exactly he does. He seemed pretty jovial about that, but warns, "I am NOT the neighborhood fix-it man! I will not hang your cupboards for you!"
Then, there's this:
(sigh)
I'm a bit of a grammar hound, and stuff like this sends me into a tailspin. Do they mean "mirrors," plural? Or the name of the store is "Mirror," and the store belongs to it?
PLURAL WORDS DO NOT GET AN APOSTROPHE.
Who knows -- maybe they'll actually sell cool mirrors at reasonable prices. Personally, I've been wanting a floor mirror for some time. If they're going to call the store "Mirror's on Grand," I don't think I can patronize. But I hope you will, and report back. (Sorry, personal quirk.)
Still confused? Check out the Apostrophe Protection Society.
Clinton Hill Blog published from 2006 - 2010. Please enjoy these archives - a love letter to the neighborhood.
