Christmas in the Hood 2015

 

 Sunset Park may not be as fancy as Dyker Heights when it comes holiday displays or as elaborate as Shore Road in Bay Ridge, but we do have the holiday spirit. Here some random shots of the nabe signifying the holiday spirit..

 

A recent mural on 4th Avenue

 

Three brownstones all decked out...

 

Selling trees by Key Food on 5th..

 

Selling plastic trees on 5th..

 

In the Christmas spirit near the park..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closings : Milan's Restaurant Brooklyn's only Slovak Eatery

Milan's Restaurant on 5th Avenue and 22nd street in the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park is closing after the holidays. It was the only Slovak Restaurant in Brooklyn serving home made Slovak, Czech and Polish fare on it's menu and served with imported Slovak and Czech beer. Owner Milan Franko opened it's doors in 1995 with his wife as the cook for a 20 year run. The place had an old world air and atmosphere but fell victim to the changing makeup of the neighborhood as well as economics. His lease expired and the landlord raised his rent making it difficult to keep the place open and make a living. e was one of the  first to occupy our cybermall on our website when we started it back in 1998. Milan said he might stay open a few more weeks after the new year. If you haven't been there I highly recommend a visit before it closes it's doors. Milan is planning on moving to Florida after this where his children currently live. It will be sad to see him go. If there is one constant in Sunset Park it is that change is a constant.

Homeless in Sunset Park

It appears the powers that be in our city are running roughshod over Sunset Park again. Just now a story has broken that  the above hotel is being converted into a homeless shelter that will house up to 150 homeless people. Councilman Menchaca made the announcement of his facebook page. The neighbors around the location have been concerned for some time over the developments  but their pleas apparently fall on deaf ears. This is reminiscent of the time when Giulianni and his administration dumped all the city porno shops in Sunset Park without consulting the neighborhood. 

At the same time it was announced that our esteemed Mayor De Blasio (AKA Kaiser Wilhelm) with the consent of the rest of the crew at our city government have decided that there will be no housing whatsoever built in the part of the neighborhood that has been designated an industrial zone. Apparently this will apply to all "industrial zones" throughout the city. It has been the dream of city administrations as far back as I can remember to bring back manufacturing to New York City. If politicians had any brains they would figure out why manufacturing left the city in the first place. Industrial manufacturing needed land, lots of land and cheap. When manufacturing efficiency  meant that the manufacturing process was transforming from vertical factories to horizontal ones the dye was cast. The idiots need to understand that manufacturing in general is NOT coming back to New York. Nobody I know of except government is in business to lose money. My advice is to give it up already. If we continue on this fantasy we will have empty warehouses and undeveloped areas. We should focus instead on businesses that make sense and small specialized manufacturing which is still viable in the city and open up the area to housing development as well. Whatever makes economic sense will occur. It's called a free market, but that is beyond the understanding of the primitive socialist progressives running our city. We keep electing the same cretins to office over and over and term limits does not seem to help. The professional political class on either side of the spectrum hasn't got a clue what they are doing. The last thing they seem to be doing is serving the interests of the residents of our communities..

Some Alternate Supermarkets to Steve's C Town on 8th.

With the closing of Steve's C Town on 8th Avenue and a year to go before it resurfaces on the Avenue again I decided to explore some alternatives to go food shopping while we wait with baited breath for the reopening of the new C Town. The first on my list of recommendations is Steve's other store located on 9th street just off 5th Avenue in Park Slope. You can get there either by train via fourth Avenue or by bus via 5th Avenue. the store has been recently renovated  and is state of the art to serve the more upscale clientele of that neighborhood.  Steve has promised to deliver to Sunset Park from that location to his customers in Sunset Park. You can view his sales flyer for that location here...

The second location I recommend for cleanliness is the renovated and more upscale C Town on 25th street and 4th Avenue in the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park. Comparable in size to Steve's on 8th it has the advantage of having a parking lot and is accessible by car. You can find their circular here...

The third store on my list is the newly refurbished and still undergoing upgrades City Fresh Market  which took over from Associated Markets and is located on 6th Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. The store is about 2/3 the size of Steve's but they pack a lot inside as the aisles are narrower. The meat department is currently undergoing an upgrade but the store is generally clean and includes a deli section and a small buffet section with fresh cooked food. They don't have an online circular but you can visit their page here.

The next store on my list is the Bravo Supermarket on 4th Avenue between 48th street and 49th streets. This store has also recently undergone some renovations. It is clean and well kept inside and is comparable in size to City Fresh Market above. You can visit their page  here as well as access their circular.

The last store on my list is the Key Food on the corner of 44th and 5th Avenue. The store hasn't been modernized in some time but it is large and well kept. There are of course other supermarkets in the neighborhood. They are all in need of renovation and modernization and in many cases new management that at least would keep them clean. I really can't think of any that deserve honorable mention. But you are all welcome to post any suggestions in the comments section below...

Hollywood on Fourth

Fourth avenue turned into a little bit of Hollywood as a crew was filming a series for NBC called "Boss" on Fourth Avenue and 50th street By the Del Rio Funeral Home. Other locations in the neighborhood are being used as well so it seems that Sunset Park is a prime location for filming Movies and series TV productions. For those who might be interested in such things the filming was being done with an Arri Alexa 4K digital camera... Keep those film productions coming....

Some Good News! RE: C Town on 8th Ave.

I stopped by C Town earlier today and had a good conversation with Steve the owner. Steve, who grew up on 43rd street in Sunset Park  announced that he is working on a prospective location on 8th Avenue and that if all goes well he will reopen a better, newer and upgraded C Town on the avenue by the end of next year assuming all goes well. In the meantime he still has the store on 9th street and said he will deliver to the area from there. His circular and delivery information can be seen here at the C Town Website including contact numbers.   

Steve's 9th Street C Town store..

In the meantime, I am working on a piece to alternative stores nearby while Steve's relocates. All suggestions are welcome and you can drop me a note at FRANK413 AT AOL DOT COM and if it's somewhere I haven't visited or thought  about I will include it. 

In the meantime, this is the number one location alternative if you are determined to shop at a C Town and the closest nearby. (The other C Towns on 5th Avenue haven't been renovated since the stone age). Below is a picture of the relatively new upscale C Town located in The Green Wood Heights section of Sunset Park on the corner of 25th street and 4th Avenue. The store is less than 5 years old and caters to the slightly more upscale clientele of the area. It also has parking which is a plus. If you have access to a car it is definitely worth the visit. You can access their circular online HERE..

C TOWN on 25th street and 4th Avenue..

Steve's C Town on 8th Avenue Closing

 

I can confirm from reliable sources that Steve's C-Town Supermarket at 4511 8th Avenue will be closing it's doors within a month. The property which had been bought by a Chinese developer a year ago has allowed the lease for the Supermarket to run out. C-Town has been at that location for well over 40 years and was the last remaining American supermarket on 8th Avenue. What will replace it is unknown at this time. With the closing of C-Town the Avenue will almost exclusively become a haven of Chinese businesses with a few bodegas left on the Avenue. As the demographics of the neighborhood change we may very well see them gone as well.

CLOSINGS: Next Level Going to the Next Level

 

Next Level Arcade which moved into Sunset Park after relocating from Chinatown is soon to close. It's next relocation is said to be somewhere outside the neighborhood.  The arcade moved into Sunset Park in 2011 and lasted four years in the nabe. As with everything else the one constant is that the neighborhood is subject to change, constant change. During the period that it was open Film maker Calvin Theobald has been filming the goings on for a documentary. Below is the brief preview on Youtube.

Calvin Theobald is also responsible for the documentary "King of Chinatown" which follows the goings on of a gamer who frequented the previous incarnation of Next Level as the Gaming Parlor "Chinatown Fair". The documentary below is from YouTube.

Openings: Healthy Dumpling Cafe In Sunset Park

 

A new food place has opened up on 8th Avenue. Healthy Dumpling Cafe is more than a dumpling place or cafe. It offers a full fledged menu of Chinese food and they deliver too. While their specialty is dumplings, either boiled, steamed or fried, you will find a full fared menu on their brand new page on our website. It is also newly refurnished and the place is set up to be more welcoming than the other dumpling places in the neighborhood with a slightly more upscale clientele in mind.  The prices are quite competitive   and the quality of the food is high. What more could you ask of a new restaurant in the neighborhood? Visit their web page on our website and check out their menu and offerings..

Store of the Day: Baba's Deli and Coffee Shop

 

Baba's Deli is located right over the border from the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park in Park Slope on 5th Avenue and Prospect Avenue.  The store was started 25 years ago by Stephen the owner who is an immigrant from Guyana. The original name was Baba's Indo/Pak West Indian Grocery. As the neighborhood changed it went through several makeovers becoming Baba's Convenience Store in 1974 and as the neighborhood underwent a wave of gentrification it materialized to it's current version Baba's Deli and Coffee shop 9 years ago. It's one of those immigrant success stories that hear quite often in New York City. He started the business borrowing money from his mother in-law whose nickname is Baba, hence the name of the store. Stephen also has a degree in architecture and also runs a small construction company and owns EZ Laundromat on 4th Avenue and 14th street. He has been on our website for some years now and just added a new Menu to his Deli. Yes he delivers check out his Menu and give him a call if he's within delivery distance.

Weir-McGovern Greenhouse Finally Getting a Makeover

 

The Weir-Mc Govern Greenhouse which has been a landmark in the neighborhood since it was built in 1879. Owned by the Mc Govern  family until they could no longer make a profit, they sold it to the Green Wood Cemetery in 2011 and it is finally seeing it's renovation phase. Located in the Greenwood section of Sunset Park on 25th street the location is today covered in tarp and fenced in for renovations. The signs indicate that the construction and renovations will be completed by December 2015 and will become a visitors center for Green Wood Cemetery.