Community Design Workshop: TONIGHT

This sounds cool! MYRTLE AVENUE STREET FURNITURE INITIATIVE TO HOLD FIRST COMMUNITY DESIGN WORKSHOP AT PRATT INSTITUTE

Project is a collaboration between the Pratt Design Incubator and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership

BROOKLYN, N.Y., November 13, 2007 – The Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation, Pratt industrial design students, and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will hold a community design workshop tonight, Tuesday, November 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Pratt Institute’s Higgins Hall as part of the Myrtle Avenue Street Furniture Design Initiative. The workshop, during which designers will present preliminary concepts for seating, bike racks, tree guards, and other possible street elements, is open to the public and members of the community are encouraged to attend.

The Pratt Design Incubator, Pratt industrial design students, and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership are working together to design innovative and artistic street furniture elements for Myrtle Avenue. The workshop will introduce the background, goals, process, and timeline of the project, share preliminary design concepts, and invite participants to join topic tables to discuss and/or sketch concrete ideas as well as general topics. The goal is to create street furniture concepts over the next year that ultimately will lead to prototypes of off-the-shelf designs for artistic, sturdy, multipurpose, and cost-effective streetscape furniture and amenities. Prospective participants are asked to pay close attention to design elements in New York City streets, particularly Myrtle Avenue, in order to provide specific information in describing what works and what does not.

The Pratt Design Incubator is a cooperative of interdisciplinary designers committed to creative products and services that respect the environment and humanity. It is run by Deb Johnson, academic director of sustainability at Pratt, who organized a team of industrial design students to survey and study Myrtle Avenue’s existing conditions. The team is being led by research coordinator Samantha Razook-Murphy. The initiative started in September when the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC hired the Pratt Design Incubator to develop street furniture designs. Funding for this initiative comes from an award from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District. The workshop will be held at Higgins Hall on the southeast corner of Lafayette at 61 St. James Place. Informational signs will direct participants to the workshop room. Please RSVP to Mr. Vaidila Kungys at vkungys@myrtleavenue.org or by phone at 718.230.1689

More Thanksgiving Fare

(Was out of town yesterday -- sorry!) The Greene Grape and Jive Turkey are teaming up to offer a complete Thanksgiving package, delivered to your door! They're hosting a free tasting this Thursday:

Click, Uncork and Gobble!

The Greene Grape and Jive Turkey are excited to host their Third Annual Thanksgiving tasting on Thursday, November 15th from 5 to 7pm at The Greene Grape at 765 Fulton Street between South Oxford and South Portland and at The Greene Grape Downtown, 55 Liberty at Nassau in the Financial District of Manhattan. We’ll be pouring six American wines recommended to go with Thanksgiving dinner and serving a Jive Turkey with all the fixings. The event is FREE and is a great way to try before you buy! For more information, please visit www.greenegrape.com.

The Greene Grape and Jive Turkey are also proud to continue a New York Thanksgiving tradition by offering a full Thanksgiving meal – a deep-fried Jive Turkey and all the fixings – plus a Six Pack of American wines specially selected by The Greene Grape to complement the Thanksgiving meal. The total package is $249.95 plus tax and includes delivery any day the week of Thanksgiving – November 19-22. Quantities are limited and orders must be placed by Friday, November 16. This offer created an absolute frenzy last year – it’s never too soon to sign up! For more information or to order, please visit www.thejiveturkey.com or call (718) 797-1688.

The Greene Grape features offers from individual producers with integrity, skill and pride. For more information, please contact Amy Bennett at amy@greenegrape.com, by calling (917) 412-5901.

Jive Turkey features deep-fried turkey that has been called “a tender, juicy bird so perfectly cooked, with skin so crisp and tasty, you might never roast again.” For more information, please contact Aricka Westbrooks at westbrooksa@aol.com or (718) 797-1688.

New Store on Myrtle: Barking Brown

Informants have told me that there's a new fashion shop on Myrtle next to Polish Bar called Barking Brown. I'll check it out this week. Is the leather goods store opened by Pratt grads that was mentioned on Myrtle Minutes? Ah, yes, and it seems the store will be fully up and running as of Friday!

(Word has it there are some cute knit hats in the window.)

Laundry on Myrtle

Dragon Garden on Myrtle at Hall closed a short while back, making me wonder what new, trendy restaurant would open in its place. Turns out it'll be a laundromat. What do you think? Do the neighbors nearby need one? (And as an aside, could we pass a law that requires all laundromats have card machines so I can stop buying rolls of quarters? Just saying.)

Gossip Roundup

Received this tip-filled email from a reader: I was at a town hall meeting with tish james and heard from the pres. of pratt that they have taken over the kentucky fried chicken spot!!! It is going to be a 6 (or more) story building with retail on the ground floor. The space is actually still owned by the person that owned the KFC, but pratt worked some deal where they get the land and the owner gets the building... Don't quote me on that, I'm super tired and I definitely didn't give them enough attention. : ) The other bit of gossip on this front is that the owner wants some kind of pharmacy on the ground floor. Although I really hate box store pharmacies, this is something that area does need.

More gossip...

The bodega on the corner of grand and clifton is interviewing chefs for a brick oven pizza joint! I will probably be close to a year till they open, but worth the wait.

Terri, of Choice fame, is on hold with the spot on greene bec. of permit issues. They hope to open in the next few months.

The 6-story building sounds promising and not too tall. It IS amazing how much unused space exists on Myrtle (more on this later).

Move With Grace - New Classes!

Myrtle Gossip

This just in from a reader: Not sure if you've heard this one before or not but according to my favorite waitress at Kum Kao, the space across the street from them (the one they own on the corner) will become one of the following: Either a pet supply store or (drum roll please)...a Starbucks!

Take it however you like, I thought it was potentially good gossip.

I believe the original gossip was that it was slated to be some sort of health food store or restaurant. Hmph -- there goes the neighborhood.

Haunted House 10/11

Location: 549 Myrtle bt Emerson and Steuben

Looks to be a former church, now cemented shut.

White Castle Robbed!

From the NYT: Brooklyn: Pair Sought in Two Robberies By MICHAEL WILSON Published: October 8, 2007

Two robbers armed with a handgun held up a storage facility in Prospect Heights and a fast-food restaurant in Clinton Hill yesterday, the police said. The first robbery occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m., when two men, dressed in dark clothes and caps, entered Storage Deluxe at 945 Atlantic Avenue and stole cash, the police said. The amount stolen was not disclosed yesterday. About 15 minutes later, a pair believed to be the same two men robbed a White Castle at 531 Myrtle Avenue of an undisclosed amount of cash, the police said.

Gnarley Vines: OPEN

A few of you have mentioned this in the comments, and I haven't yet stopped by. BUT, they're hosting a FREE wine tasting tonight! Please join Gnarly Vines for the first of many free winemaker tasting events: Wednesday, October 3rd from 6-8pm at Gnarly Vines, 350 Myrtle Avenue (between Carlton and Adelphi). Chrystal Clifton of Brewer-Clifton and Palmina Wineries will be pouring the following spectacular, handcrafted, small-production wines made by her, her husband Steve and their partner Greg Brewer:

2006 Palmina Malvasia Bianca, Larner Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley (187 cases produced) 2005 Palmina Dolcetto, Santa Barbara County 2005 Brewer-Clifton, Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills (576 cases produced) 2005 Melville, Estate-Verna's Syrah, Santa Barbara County (2864 cases produced)

Their grand opening party is slated for November, and they hope to have several events lined up, including wine-food pairings with local restaurants. Welcome!

Myrtle Minutes has a great article about Gnarley Vines here.

History Shots

Local photographer Geralyn Shukwit has been in the 'hood for awhile. Recently, she posted some "Then and Now" photos on her blog that really highlight the changes we've seen in the last decade: Cumberland at Myrtle: Then (1998)

Now:

Candy Store on Myrtle near FG Park: Then (2000)

Now:

For more of Gerayn's photos, click here. Her professional website is www.eyemaze.net.

Autumn Mani/Pedi Special at PBB

The Polish Bar of Brooklyn 470 Myrtle ave. @ Washington (718) 622-5363 www.polishbarbrooklyn.com

Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Polish Bar of Brooklyn

The Polish Bar of Brooklyn is once again raising money for Breast Cancer awareness, research and treatment!  Stop in for a mani/pedi, pick up the latest O.P.I. color and purchase a card in honor of someone you've lost to the disease.

The Polish Bar of Brooklyn 470 Myrtle ave. @ Washington (718) 622-5363 www.polishbarbrooklyn.com 

Desolate Fort Greene Corner

The corner of Myrtle and Flatbush is such an incredible eyesore. I know it's WAY out of CH, but I notice it every time I come home late-night in a cab. Everything save for a check cashing place is shuttered and ready to fall apart. Wonder if the same person/company owns the whole block and is just waiting to raze it in favor of more condos.I know this is right near the projects, but it does seem odd that such a prime locale is sitting in decay.

One Step Ahead

MARP is already on that traffic light thing at Myrtle and Waverly! Thank god, because the latest clusterf*ck up there was a nightmare - construction in the middle of the intersection, with not a soul directing traffic:

The End for Gourmet Kitchen

Back in December, hey mama told us that Gourmet Kitchen's days were numbered (Myrtle at Vanderbilt). Looks like the end is finally near:

Thirty years on Myrtle Ave, and just a few days left. The original rumor was that a high-end grocery store would be moving in. Any more gossip out there?

Friday Photo

(Myrtle Ave.)

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.

Stairwell Art Gallery

This looks intriguing...

A FOUR STORY STAIRWELL GALLERY ON THE TALL AND NARROW MAY NOT BE A SPACE YOU'D EXPECT A VERNISSAGE, SO WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY?

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE 'FIRST' ART SHOW IN THE STAIRWELL (THE DOOR NEXT TO CHEZ LOLA BISTRO 387 MYRTLE AVENUE) OF SUPER SUPER FRESH SKAINTINGS (SKETCHED PAINTINGS) BY CHARLOTTA JANSSEN.

THE THEME IS AMERICANA 1900-1940S AND THE PIECES ARE NOT SMALL AT ALL AND OFTEN PIECED TOGETHER BY SEVERAL CANVASES. FOR A PREVIEW OF ARTWORK LOG ON TO WWW.CHARLOTTAJANSSEN.COM

PAINTINGS AND LIMITED EDITION PRINTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ...

TO RSVP PLEASE EMAIL TO: STAIRWELLKEEPER@CHARLOTTAJANSSEN.COM

Manee Thai: Best Comment Ever

I haven't eaten at Manee yet, but reader Jessica has. Here's what she had to say: Yes. It is Thai. It is greasy. And it is damn good. And much better than Thai 101 and Myrtle Thai. Actually the interior looks like the two other places mated.

HA!