$2 million up for grabs for community use.

Mark the dates of the 16th, 22nd and 23rd on your calendars. Two million won't go far these days but if the money can be used to improve the nabe then it's a good thing. If we don't use it someone else will.

Here are my suggestions. Setting up a BID for 8th Avenue, it has become as economically important as 5th Avenue to the nabe and would help to control development on the Avenue in a positive direction. It would also limit the number of unsavory businesses on the Avenue.

How about some park benches for the 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue strips. I don't know about you but there are times when I wish I could find a spot to sit after walking for blocks. They have them on both 3rd avenues and 5th on the Bay Ridge side.

Expanding WIFI service beyond 5th Avenue to 4th and perhaps 8th Avenue.

Better traffic control to relieve the congestion on 8th and 5th Avenues. It makes for safer traffic when you don't have all those double parked cars everywhere and cars trying to go around them or cut into traffic etc. The tragedy this  last week on 5th may have been contributed to by the congestion. Maybe some of the money could go to a couple of NYPD cars to keep the avenues clear and traffic orderly and less dangerous for pedestrians.

How about some free language classes in English? This is an immigrant neighborhood and it would help people assimilate faster into the culture. I am tri-lingual. When we immigrated to America with my parents only my father spoke English (he had served in the US Army and spoke many languages). My mother learned her English at night classes that were being given for free at Erasmus High School in the ealry 60's (we lived near there at the time). 

Well, that's a few suggestions I have. Many out there can probably come up with more of them. Post them below or, go to the meetings..

 

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Changes on the wall...

A slight controversy arose at the painting of the Mural at Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. Apparently management at Rite Aid did not want any human faces on the wall (photos below) and asked that they be replaced by animals instead. The new version is the one that will remain. I managed to snap a picture of the wall before the changes so we can keep it for posterity. In any case, the walls are coming along just fine and will be a fine addition to the many points of interest in the neighborhood. Maybe it will entice our neighbors in Park Slope and Bay Ridge to venture across the frontiers of our neighborhoods to come take a look. Being as most people in this city according to one study I read, rarely venture outside a radius of 7 blocks from where they live. Part of the purpose of this blog is to cover the nabe from end to end as well as our neighbors who all have something to offer so we can appreciate the world around us beyond those seven blocks..

While speaking to who I think was the manager he told me they are considering doing the wall on the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd street. I suggested they could use a more local theme such as the entrance gates at Green Wood Cemetery or the statue of Minerva (sister to the Statue of Liberty, maybe perhaps a scene from the Battle of Brooklyn which took place on Battle Hill where the Delaware regiment sacrificed themselves to prevent the British from capturing Washington. There are a lot of themes one could come up with which are relevant to the nabe and it's history and it would be Brooklyn themed.

As it looks now.

Before..

Changes: New Cafe coming to old Podlaise location.

No sooner did I write last month of the closing of Polish Delicatessen Podlaise that the location appears to have been rented and construction has begun at the location. From the city permits we can tell that it is going to be a Cafe. As if 8th Avenue needed yet another cafe. Somehow I don't think it's going to be a Starbucks. Fat chance of that happening. But we can always hope. Actually I think a Starbucks would do well on 8th Avenue, maybe even on 5th where there are a lot of store fronts up for rent. At least it shows the vibrancy of the local economy on the 8th Avenue strip. Stores don't stay closed for long. If there is one constant in the neighborhood it is change and it's happening at a fast pace..

Last Month.

Art in the Hood: Groundswell Mural on 7th Ave and 63rd street

I took this and the following shots a while ago and never got around to posting them. But since my post yesterday highlighting another mural on 4th Avenue I figured I would post these. This mural known as the Groundswell Mural is on the overpass on 7th Avenue and 63rd street. It was painted over two years ago and you can read all about it here with accompanying links to a slide show. There are other murals I have shot as well. I will have to dig up the pics or go back and reshoot them. Sunset Park has a lot of art on it's walls..

Art in The Hood: Rite Aid on 4th gets a new paint job

One thing about Sunset Park is that it has a lot of murals and a new one is going up at the Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. The work is being done by urban artist "Angel VASE ONE Garcia and his assistant based out of the Czech Republic Dmitrij Proskin who goes by the tag Chemis. They still have a ways to go but it does seems as if the have quite a bit of it done already. Angel related to me that he has a contract to paint many of the Rite Aid Pharmacies' side wall and he has already completed a number of them. Maybe they will get to do the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd. That would be nice. They both have websites you can visit where they showcase their work. you can catch Jorge at VASEONEUW.COM  and Chemis you can catch at CHEMISLAND.COM . The entire thing is being coordinated by a guy who goes by the tag The Royal King Bee (They all have tags) whose website is KINGBEEUW.COM. Maybe I should do a series on all the murals that you can find in Sunset Park. That should keep me busy for a while. Walls have become the new canvas of the urban landscape and neighborhoods the new museums. It will be interesting to see what the wall will look like when they are finished.

Jorge Garcia AKA VASE stands in front of the section he was working on.

Dmitrij Proskin AKA CHEMIS in front of the section he was working on.

Some shots of the work in progress..

Revised 10-4-2013

 

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Reincarnation: Piramide Restaurant Becomes Camelia.

Piramide changed it's name and identity as well as their menu a few weeks ago. It is now Camelia.  The metamorphosis is still under the same management and owners. Located over the border in Park Slope it was host to a scene in the movie "Cop Out". The restaurant has been a successful Mexican cuisine venue since it opened and a popular hotspot. If you haven't been there it's worth a visit and a taste..

Related Post: Cop Out The movie is coming out on February 26

Motorcycles on 8th for St. Jude

Motorcycles were everywhere on 8th Avenue in front of Spartan Souvlaki Restaurant at 68th street for the 6th Annual St. Jude Children's Hospital fund raising drive.  It seems to be a yearly event attended to by motorcycle enthusiasts from all over Brooklyn. This year they picked the spot right on the border of Sunset Park and Dyker Heights. 

Tragedy on 5th Avenue

Makeshift memorial on the corner of 55th st. and 5th Ave. for little Kiko Shao.

There isn't much you can say about a senseless accident, especially when the victim is a 5 year old child. Life seems so tenuous at times and things like this bring back the reality that living is a risky thing. Everyday we all run the risk of being done in by the dangers around us. The girl had an entire life ahead of her and in an instant of carelessness she was taken away. Most of us survive these instants, she did not. I would rant about driving around with loud music that dulls our sense of hearing to what's around us. Or the fact some drivers step on the gas on the yellow light or race to the next red light. But that's for another day. It seems that most of the victims of these accidents lately have been children or elderly. Today we can only mourn. In a week or so it will be another accident in the back of our minds, except of course, to the parents and relatives of that little girl who will relive and remember for the rest of their lives. May God soften their pain...

More at The Gothamist, The Daily News

Visit our website, Sunset Park's oldest.

Openings: Sunset Fried Chicken & Grill

A new eatery has opened on the corner of 45th street and 5th Avenue. Featuring all kinds of regular fare as well as Mideastern Kebab and Gyro on their menu. It is part of the expansion of Arab owned businesses on the Avenue who have joined the Chinese spillover from 8th Avenue onto 5th. The signs are very similar to what you would find at a Kennedy's chicken place. Arab owned stores have been slowly making their way northward along 5th Avenue from Bay Ridge and bringing some of their cuisine with them. Part of the changes that one observes as 5th Avenue opens it's doors to new kinds of businesses serving our community.

Happenings: 5th Avenue BID turns on free WIFI on 5th

The 5th Avenue BID has started since last May to install routers and repeaters all along 5th Avenue providing free WIFI service to all those along the stretch of 5th Avenue from 38th street to 65th street. The entire avenue from those two streets has become a giant Hot Spot. From the looks of it it seems all completed. The process is on to provide free WIFI in the park itself. You can read all about it HERE. Now if we could somehow get it all over the nabe that would be a wonderful thing. But I think Time Warner might get a little bit pissed.

News Media Hits: Sunset Park's Brooklyn Army Terminal gets write up...

Recently the Brooklyn Army Terminal located at the southern edge of Sunset Park got a write up in the Daily News. Though the article was rather interesting with some great photos and factoids it left out a lot of stuff. But hey The Daily News was never known for scholarly journalistic tomes. It is however, good to see great write ups of the nabe that doesn't include sensationalist news of crime. Most of the troops that fought in the European theater during WW II passed through the terminal and embarked to Europe from this very spot. For some rather interesting pics and history you can visit the terminal's website..

Photo of the day: Last Bloom

Earlier this morning a white flower gives it the last shot on the first day of Autumn in Sunset Park. Can Halloween be far behind?

Happenings: The NYC Marathon is coming November 3rd.

The signs are up and many businesses are getting ready. The NYC Marathon has been a part of an annual event since it's early days. This year is no different. Sunset Parkers get some of the best views as the race winds up the "Strip" of three neighborhoods. Winding it's way up Bay Ridge and into fourth Avenue in Sunset Park and Park Slope. It's a great and colorful event to capture on camera. A month and a half to go. You can catch more details at their website. Mile 5 is designated as our nabe and you can read a brief description of our nabe there.. If you have running shoes and want to join in the agony of running it they have more information on registering there as well. As for me, I'll stick to riding a bike..

Photo of the Day: Brooklyn Baptist Church

Brooklyn Baptist Church originally built in 1915 as the Evangelical Lutheran Free-Church in Sunset Park. Brooklyn is known as the borough of churches with at least one church on every block. The change in denomination reflects the changeover when one congregation moves out and another and another one moves in. Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York..

Eatery Of The Day: Spartan Souvlaki Greek Food

Nestled in the southern end past the Sunset Park border in Dyker Heights on 8th Avenue and 68th Street is one of the best Greek restaurants in our area. A friend of mine once told me that if you wanted to know where the best food was in a neighborhood you watched where the local cops ate. The restaurant is of course run by a Spartan family. I am not quite sure if they number 300. Every Saturday weather permitting they have a tradition of roasting a couple of whole pigs out in the front. You can visit their page on our main website here and see more photographs and menu which I am told will change in a couple of weeks. If you haven't been there and like Greek food they are worth the visit. Of course, tell them I sent you...