CHB Presents: HAUNTED!

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Last October, I did a fun little Haunted House of the Day series.  It was a big hit, so I'm doing it again.  This time, though, I am going to start TODAY, October 1, and feature one haunted house per day (even on weekends) until Halloween.  This is because I love Halloween, and also because it will likely be harder next year to find 31 haunted houses in Clinton Hill, with the rate of change and renovations and whatnot. As a child, I loved all things haunted.  What makes a house haunted, you ask?

  • Padlock on door, keeping humans out
  • Cemented-over windows, keeping ghosts in
  • Broken windows
  • Unattended trash and mail
  • Graffiti
  • On occasion, bad design/decor

OK then, let's get started!  Bed-Stuy Blog will also be playing along, though not as frequently.

Desolate Fort Greene Corner

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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.

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UPDATE: Restaurant on Waverly and Greene

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A few weekends ago, I ran into Josie Smith-Malave, one-time Top Chef contestant and Clinton Hill regular, standing outside the in-the-works restaurant opening in the former bodega space on Waverly and Greene.  She told me the space was slated to serve "global comfort food," and was aiming to be "a real neighborhood place - one you'll eat at three times a week." Since then, there's been a lot of activity.  The newspapers are off the windows now, and I spotted some stuff being moved in on Friday night:

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I'm going to do a little interview with Josie in early October to coordinate with the restaurant's opening.  Stay tuned...

Haunted Church Update

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The Haunted Church (447 Clinton Ave) has been covered in a black shroud the last several weeks.  Now the plywood barricade facing Clinton holds an interesting announcement: dscf1812.jpg

According to a comment on Brownstoner way back from 2005, it sounds like "Clinton Rising, LLC" has owned the building since January '05.  If they're responsible for all that nasty trash sitting outside for the last 2.5 years, I'm worried.  Then another 'Stoner post says it was sold this past April.  Wait, now I can't find that post from 2005!  Am I hallucinating?  This is certainly one of the most confusing situations in the nabe.

I couldn't find any info about the project on the architect's site, and a Google search for Living Space Design on Ryerson yields nothing.

Wonder how this reno will turn out...

311 Issues in CH

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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."

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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?

Grand Ave. Gossip

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Reader Ashley sent me some juicy gossip on some Grand area developments... So, I was passing by an empty storefront on Greene today, the one next door to the next incarnation from the neighborhood tastemakers at Choice Market. This empty space used to be a salon. Anyhoo, I asked the guy working on the space what was going in there. He said a yoga studio! Happy freakin' day! Oh, and Namaste.

ALSO, I was passing by the ever mysterious "Mirrors on Grand" space on Labor Day. It appeared that someone (presumably the owners) were hosting a private holiday party inside the not yet finished, but very promising space. There was a bar, and lovely exposed brick walls It looked nice even though there's clearly more work to be done before they can open anything.

This neighborhood is hoppin'!

Wow -- maybe Mirror's on Grand might actually be decent (someday).

Cool Clinton Hill Tees

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This note just in from a reader: I've noticed in the past couple of weeks lots of people walking around the neighborhood wearing these t-shirts that say in large fancy cursive italics "Clinton Hill Chill." Some with white script on blue t-shirts, some blue script on white. These t-shirts are awesome and I would love to get my hands on one, but I have no idea where they come from (a cursory google yielded nothing). Have you seen these? I'd love to know where to get one.

I saw one last week on a teenage girl and it looked great. Someone help! How can we get our hands on these?

I also put up a post on Brooklynian in the hopes of finding the answer.

In other clothing-related news, there's a cool-looking store selling BK t-shirts on DeKalb near Skillman called D Train Couture. I haven't been in yet - anyone have a review?

(Maybe) Retail Space Available for Rent?

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dscf1533.jpg Nearly a year ago, reader Houseowax tipped me off to a potential new storefront renovation on St. James and Greene Gates. The building's taken on some questionable window guards, but little has happened on the parlor floor level.

Until now.

There's a "for rent" sign in the "window," but I couldn't find any info on the Brooklyn Properties website. What's up here?

311 Photo Project

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Received this request yesterday for photo contributions: My co-blogger Steve Lambert and I are looking for reps in various Brooklyn neighborhoods to help us launch "People's 311," a flickr photo pool documenting 311 conditions around the city.

To give you a rough idea of what we're going for, click here.

We don't yet have someone from Clinton Hill and could really use some help there. Would you all be interested in participating -- or at least posting about it?

In order to launch this right, we need to get a lot more photos up. Here's what we're looking for:

* street potholes * dead or dying street trees * illegal outdoor advertising * peeling paint in public places (subways) * damaged or open fire hydrants * missing or dangling traffic signs * sidewalk hazards * fallen over newspaper boxes * illegal dumping

...and the like. We'll also be doing a web page describing the project and what it's about.

P.S. For background, this is a sort-of crowd-sourcing response to Bloomberg's 311 Scout program, which he announced on last week. He'll be sending city workers out to "drive every city street on a monthly basis" to report 311 problems. Seems like something citizens could help with. His press release can be read here.

Thanks for your consideration,

Carrie McLaren Editor, Stay Free!Feel free to contribute to the pool and represent CH in this project!