Sunset Park site gets makeover and sister In Bay Ridge

 

Our Sunset Park site  online since 1998 has gotten another do over and upgrade. The old chat room has been replaced by a more functional and updated one. In addition we have added a working chat room as well for our users and visitors. Our traffic has also started to rise again as a result. A similar sister website for our neighbors to the south in Bay Ridge has also been launched and BayRidgeMall.com will follow the same successful model that our current Sunset Park site enjoys.

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New Sunset Park Hotel on 39th street doing quite well.

 

A new hotel that has been opened a little more than a month on 39th street appears to be doing quite well. It is the latest addition to the flurry of hotel building that has made Sunset Park the center of the hotel industry in Brooklyn.

 

Considering the miserable economy it is a miracle that they kept it as a hotel at all. The flip side is that because everyone is trying to save money Sunset Park hotels are benefiting from those who would rather have that extra 30 minutes from midtown that a Sunset Park hotel can afford them. The hotel is ideally situated from the  36th street subway station where you can catch the D,N,R trains. The D train is a mere 25 minutes from midtown on a good day during rush hour. Time will tell if Sunset park continues to survive the economic depression that we are in. We seem to be doing a bit better than our neighbors and I suspect that may have more to do with the local culture than the fact the hotels appear to be booked well in advance and are bringing outside money into the hood.

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Sunset Park Greenmarket

 

It's time to start blogging again and it might as well start with the beginning of Summer  and the return of the Sunset Park Green Market which this year runs from June 25 till November 19. Since my last blog post a lot has been happening in the neighborhood and we hope to fill people in about it.

You can find more about it here at this site http://www.grownyc.org/sunsetparkgreenmarket

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We're back

It's as good a time as any to return to the fold.My last post was last September and then it got busy in my life. The period was also punctuated with severe colds. It was either different variations of viruses or one heck of a long cold. In any case, just as well. My mind really wasn't into too many things. We might as well start the New Year right.

Of course we in Sunset Park were part of the snow removal fiasco. I suppose there will be investigations and the blame will fall somewhere. It's good to know we were not ignored. Even if it was by union thugs and our lousy mayor. The consolation is that Sunset Park survived the bad economy and we can give thanks that we haven't collapsed. Even during the great depression people were working and making a living.


We have a new Hotel which appeared 6 weeks ago on the corner of  26th and 4th avenue. We are becoming the Hotel center of Brooklyn and with that comes more visitors hopefully with cash. Now that I feel much better I will be out and about. But the Flu season isn't over, so we hope there are no other strange viruses that will put me under the weather.



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Closings: Parker & Megna Pharmacy

It's always sad to have to report another closing. A long time fixture in the neighborhood has closed it's doors. The pharmacy located at 52nd and 5th not too far from the Duane Reade super store that opened recently obviously could not withstand the competition from the large chains. The only constant in life is change..





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Openings: Bruce Lee Restaurant

The Chinese invasion of 5th Avenue continues. I spotted this new awning while at the washed out street fair last week. Located on the corner of 50th street the sign appears to be targeted to the areas' Hispanic population as opposed to the eateries on 8th Avenue. We wish them the best of luck and success. Hope it's not just another fast food Chinese joint offering the usual fare. We have plenty of those already.



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Store of the Day: Dragon Bay Bakery

One thing that 8th avenue has a lot of is chinese style coffee shops. In many ways I think they are superior to Starbucks. However, they don't have the much needed wifi that some of us crave. These places are fast moving and it's a get in have your coffee and get out kind of place. Dragon Bay is a a chain and has at least four of these places along 8th Avenue. I am not familiar if they have any others in other chinatowns. They do have some pastries that beat anything Starbucks carries by a mile. My favorites are French Toast, the fillet of Chicken and cream coconut bread. Their coffee is not bad either. This one is located on 8th and 58th. The tables are stainless steel, but if you're thinking of hanging out there while sipping a coffee, this isn't the place. Drop in and give them a try anyway, you may like some of their stuff.


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Meet The Candidates Night Tonight 7 PM

We may not get many opportunities to see the candidates near our nabe.

The Memorial Baptist Church is holding a meet the candidates night and hope to have many of the contenders on hand.

The Church is located on the corner of 16th street and 8th Avenue. Yes it's Park Slope but it's only a few blocks away from the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park so folks in the northern part of the nabe can walk to it. The event occurs tonight at 7 PM and is expected to last until 10 PM. 






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Store of the Day: Reef Aquarium on 55th and 8th

One of the most fascinating things about the Chinese arriving in Sunset park is their fascination with aquarium fish. In particular large carps known as Koi. Sunset Park can therefore boats the largest concentration of aquarium fish stores in the borough. For starters is the above store located near Pacificana Restaurant. No they don't sell fish for eating, though we have plenty of edible  fish stores as well.  The place is a trip to visit. unlike Petland on  5th these stores only have fish and not merely Koi but other collectibles as well. You could spend a good couple of hours inside just gazing at all the different tropical fish (both salt and fresh water). The pictures below might entice you to visit them. They are on 8th Avenue near 55th street. Of course they're not the Brooklyn aquarium butt for a local stop, well worth the visit. Who knows? Maybe you'll buy a tank and little fishies :-).

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Store of the Day: Veko Wireless

There are a lot of affiliated cell phone shops in Sunset Park. And some of them are quite good and after a while pick up a reputation. The guy who runs it is a young entrepreneur who gives his customers a fair price, puts in long hours and provides personal customer support on the products he sells. Try him out, drop in and visit and say hello. Tell him you saw his store on this blog. He's on the corner of 58th and 5th Avenue.





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Store of the Day: EuroMex sports soccer shirts and paraphenalia

A rather colorful and unique sign. They sell mostly soccer stuff and not just Mexican. Want an Italian team shirt? How about Argentina? Spain? Soccer shoes? Here's the place to go. It's on 58th street on 5th Ave.




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Happenings: Sunset Park 5th Avenue Street Festival Sept. 12, 2010

The Sunset Park BID will hold it's annual street fair this coming Sunday September 12. It will be from 44th street to 59th street on 5th Avenue. There will be the usual things you see in every street fair in Brooklyn year after year. Tools salesmen, Italian sausage trucks, russian binocular salesmen, sunglasses galore, che guevara t-shirts etc.. I suppose it's worth a visit for about 15 minutes just to see if anything different appears. If you're new to the area you might as well go. I really can't get enthusiastic about it. I would like to see more ethnic foods, more local merchants selling stuff. More entertainment and fewer politicians.




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Pre GED classes at our local library starting Sept 22, 2010

Our local library branch here in Sunset Park is offering pre-GED classes for 17 to 24 year olds. You can find more information at their website GED page. If you want to start earlier some other branches begin by Sept. 11, you can download a PDF format schedule here. The next round of GED classes won't start until January 2011. Our Sunset Park Branch is located on the corner of 51st street and 8th Avenue., Read the instructions at the page and plan to devote at least three hours of your time. Incidentally all library branches offer free wifi.




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Sanitation cops undercover fighting crime in Sunset Park

So here I am, minding my own business after having made a deposit at the Chase bank on 55 and 8 and I see a crowd gathering a few stores down. Turns out that the poor woman had gone into a cellphone store and was pursued by the above public servants and apprehended. Her crime? She had just posted a handwritten notice on the corner lamppost. Probably a notice looking for a job or looking for a room to rent or something like that. They are all over the place on 8th Avenue and the people in the community use them like a bulletin board. If you are going along the avenue it's part of the ambiance of the neighborhood. The avenue would look naked without all those notices. In other places I suppose it would look out of place and be a nuisance but not on 8th. You could tell the old woman was scared shitless. She spoke no English and had no clue was was going to happen to her. Having come from a dictatorship myself where cops are given godlike abusive authority like in China I can imagine what was racing through the poor woman's head. I suppose some high up somewhere in city government has decided that it's time to crack down on little old ladies posting notices on 8th avenue. I frankly think their energies would be better spent elsewhere like going after the commercial pasters who put stuff on cars and end up on the floor. Common sense should play a role on what these idiots do, but apparently there is no common sense class in any of these bureaucracies. I am curious to see how these undercover sanitation crime fighters will do when the electioneering comes around and they start putting posters on lampposts and flooding the area with those crappy brochures that end up on the floor.  When was the last time that you heard of a campaign being cited for that? Practically never,. unless it happens to be a politician on the outs or some minor party candidate.

So, what have these two civil servants achieved? Probably a bad name for the sanitation police and a well deserved bad reputation as human beings. This is what is making the city unlivable when these people have but one function, raise revenue for the city and harass citizens to death. No wonder people are abandoning New York as soon as they can.





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Closings: King Star Restaurant

Accross the street from Hong Kong Supermarket it appears that King Star Restaurant has closed it's doors. It appears that the building will undergo some major renovations according to the permits pasted on the wood boards. What made the place distinctive besides it's sea food and dim sung cuisine was the two Chinese style lions at the entrance. It has undergone a number of changes and ownership over the years. For quite some time it was called Jade Plaza and then eventually changed to the short lived Diamond on 8th and finally King Star Restaurant. In all of it's different resurrections it got fairly decent reviews. Time will tell if the restaurant name will remain the same or whether it has changed owners yet again. It's difficult in this economy for restaurants as people cut back and more frequently find eating at home a lot cheaper. Hopefully the economy will improve even if all signs seem to indicate otherwise.







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Store of the Day: Hong Kong Supermarket

When Hong Kong Supermarket first opened I think about ten years ago on the corner of 61 street and 8th Avenue it was the only one on the East Coast for the young and expanding Hong Kong supermarket chain based in Los Angeles, California. Now there are four other  locations in New York City and the supermarket chain still keeps on growing at a fast pace. The sign on this location are a bit faded, some of the letters don't light up at night. I expect at some point they will either fix it or renovate it. I remember the first time I went inside and the novelty of the fact that very few goods it carried were American. It is still a kind of cultural experience going in there and I still occasionally go n there and try out some new product once I find out what is in the box. It's a great place to get ginseng, green tea or royal jelly at a discount. The amazing thing for us non Chinese is that sometimes we feel like tourists in our own neighborhood. But that's OK. Drop them a visit if you haven't been inside.




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Still not too late to plan attending Sunday's commemoration of the Battle of Brooklyn

You can still attend the commemorations this Sunday August 29th at Green-Wood cemetery. You can get details from my previous post 2 weeks ago. You will learn a bit abo9ut American history and what took place here. It will be fun especially if you are someone who recently moved into the neighborhood.




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Municipal Art Society Plans Walking Tours in Sunset Park’s Chinatown

The Brooklyn Eagle reports that the Municipal Art Society is doing a walking tour of the two Chinatown's outside of Manhattan. Here in Sunset Park and in Flushing this Sunday August 29. From the article.

Chinatown Tour Requires Reservation Compiled by Linda Collins Brooklyn Daily Eagle The Municipal Art Society (MAS) plans the following two walking tours that will feature Brooklyn neighborhoods: . • Sunday, Aug. 29, “Three Chinatowns,” 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (includes Sunset Park in the all-day event). Since the 1965 change in the immigration laws, the Chinatown in Brooklyn (Sunset Park) and the one in Queens (Flushing) have developed in different ways and with different demographics than Manhattan’s.  Tour leaders Joe Svehlak and Jack Eichenbaum, natives of Sunset Park and Flushing, respectively, will lead walks focused on the transformation of these neighborhoods. Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, will lead a walk in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Participants will begin the day with an optional dim sum meal in Flushing at 9:30 a.m. The tour begins at 10:30 a.m.  The cost is $49 for MAS members, $59 for non-members, including transportation from Flushing to Manhattan to Sunset Park by Chinatown van. The Dim sum meal is not included. Reservations are required.  To reserve a space, please call (212) 935-2075 by Thursday, Aug.26. The meeting place will be provided after reservation.

Store fo the day: Red Apple Fast Food

Buffet style food is not my idea of fast food. Red Apple Fast Food has a sign that sticks out in the middle of the block. I suppose it's the red and dayglow green sign that they hoisted. It does catch the eye. I didn't get a chance to step inside as I was on my way somewhere. Maybe a reader can post a review of the place and let us know if there is anything edible by western standards besides chicken feet and other unmentionables that one finds in some of these places that cater to a strictly chinese crowd. They're located on 8th between 48 and 49th streets.

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Stores of the Day: Wah Fung Mall

With the success of Good Mall it stood to reason others would follow. Among them is Wah Fung Mall. When they firs opened two years ago most of the spaces were empty and unrented. Today it sports more than forty booth size stalls selling a variety of products and services. Many of the booths sell woman's apparel and costume jewelry as well as handbags etc.. Some booths sell expensive jade jewelry and there is a table where you can purchase health plans. It is a regular hive of activity in there. These malls are quite popular and numerous in places like Hong Kong and make maximum effective use of limited space. It is the total opposite of American mega malls that are cities in themselves. It will be interesting to see how many more of these will be sprouting in the neighborhood. Once someone sees they're making money you can bet your bottom dollar there will be more of them.

The 8th Avenue strip is soon running out of space for stores and some of the activity is spilling over to 7th Avenue. In time it too will be full of stores. If you  haven't been to Hong Kong and can't afford the plane trip drop by Sunset Park and you'll get a general idea what Hong Kong is like..



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