July – 2012 – Brooklyn Bugle

Collegiate Housing At The St. George: Deluxe Living

July 3, 2012

If you’ve walked past the St. George Hotel outside the 2/3 subway stop on Clark or Henry streets and been curious about what the EHS collegiate residences there offer today’s poor, starving, overworked college students, I’ve got two words to describe it: luxe living.

“You’ll have the time of your life,” EHS suggests. “Our all-inclusive accommodations with fully furnished rooms, fitness centers, laundry facilities, study lounges and state-of-the-art everything will make you feel right at home.” Indeed. Access is available to an 8,300-square-foot student community center located on the building’s main floor, where “you can make dinner with friends in our bistro kitchen, hold a study group in the library, watch a movie in the screening room or play pool while catching a game on a flat screen TV.” There’s also an on-site laundry room and free membership to the Eastern Athletic Club next door.

Rooms are furnished with “designer beds, desks, wardrobes and dressers,” as well as free Wi-Fi, TV with cable, refrigerator/microwave and local phone service. Options: a single, double or triple room, all with private bathrooms.

An email to EHS inquiring about how much it costs to live the high life at the St. George has not yet garnered response. But I can only imagine that most hard-working Brooklyn Heights adults would be so lucky to indulge in such accommodations. And I must wonder: With so many leisure activities showcased, do they actually study, too?

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43512

From the Web

News, Real Estate

Carroll Gardens Building Partially Collapses On Carroll Street

July 2, 2012

Despite the collapse of about half of a three-story brownstone building in Carroll Gardens early Monday morning, miraculously, no residents were injured.

Much of the eastern wall of 241 Carroll Street (between Court and Smith streets) came down, exposing the interior of the regal brownstone. A gash extended from roof-to-ground, and included much of the home’s south wall as well, according to AP.

The collapse took place at 1:13 a.m. Monday, leaving six residents unable to return to their apartments. Two families on the first and second floors were on vacation. Police say work had been done in the building and that city building inspectors are investigating.
(Photos: DNAInfo.com)

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7487

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Downtown Brooklyn

Dekalb Market’s Grumpy Bert Launches ‘Plush’ Exhibition

July 2, 2012

Smiles, everyone! Over the weekend, BHB pal/BH resident Grumpy Bert in Brooklyn launched the new art exhibition “Plush Stories: These Plush of Mine.” The showcase of personal stories & photos of plush toys includes 50+ exhibits from the likes of Scotland, Trinidad & Tobogo, the U.K. and Australia. Stories run the gamut, from heartbreaks to reunions. Bert says, “Some plush are simply cute, others just strange.” The exhibit runs through August 5.

Bert’s shop and mini gallery is located at the DeKalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn at 138 Willoughby Street, and offers a collection of “cutesy, artsy gifts, designer toys, art prints, books, magazines and apparel.” Owner/operator Bert says, “We’re just a little mom & pop business surrounding ourselves with things we love.” Pics from the June 30 Opening Night reception below the jump.

(Photos: Grumpy Bert)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43470

From the Web

Oh, What A Relief It Is: Heatwave Breaks Monday

July 2, 2012

After weekend temperatures brushed the mid-90s, the forecast Monday calls for a high of 88 degrees, peaking at 2 p.m., and dipping to a cool & comfortable 67 degrees by this evening. It will be partly cloudy with not a drop of rain.

On Tuesday, we’re back up to 91 degrees by 1 p.m. in Brooklyn Heights, with late evening thunderstorms, as temps ease to 71 degrees. And for Wednesday, the 4th of July, a high of 90, low of 76 and a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43447

From the Web

Brooklyn Heights, Food, Health

B&B Empire Bagels Slapped With Health Violation—For Poppy Seeds On The Floor

July 2, 2012

Holy Sesame! A Health Department inspector has slapped B&B Empire Bagel Cafe in Brooklyn Heights with a $1,650 fine… because sesame and poppy seeds fell to the floor while bagels were being prepared during working hours. Owner Alex Gormakh appealed the decision and lost at two separate hearings.

“It is impossible to clean up after each and every bagel. A few seeds are always going to be dropped when you are dipping the bagel in the seeds. They don’t all stick like glue,” Gormakh told the New York Post. All of the code violations filed against the “Montreal style” bagel store at 200 Clinton Street were for such “incidental” grievances.

B&B uses a $60,000 wood-burning oven where bagels are baked smaller and chewier than New York-style goodies, then covered with poppy and sesame seeds. A Health Department spokeswoman told the NYP that the bagel shop was cited Oct. 23, 2011, for “a heavy accumulation of seeds in the same area that mouse droppings were found.” However, no mice were detected in an earlier inspection Aug. 1, 2011, and none in the latest inspection April 5, when B&B was awarded an “A” cleanliness grade.

Gormakh and his son, Max, have now invested close to $900,000 in larger stainless steel preparation tables in hopes of containing seed fallout, and an expensive water-filter vacuum to suck up seeds from the floor. “It is still not profitable, but it is close,” Gormakh said, who opened the store last June.

Gormakh tells the Post that he is now resigned to the higher cost of doing business in this city: “If you want to work you have to pay. In Russia, they call it corruption. Here they call it something else.”

(Photo: BHB)

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43433

From the Web

History, Real Estate

Boerum Hill’s Episcopal Church of the Redeemer To Be Demolished

July 2, 2012

The 150-year-old Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, a gothic revival building in Boerum Hill at Fourth Avenue and Pacific Street in a severe state of disrepair, is slated to be demolished in the next year, according to Rev. Christopher Ballard of the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, who is in charge of the site.

Ballard shared the news at a Boerum Hill Association general meeting on Thursday evening, as reported by DNAInfo.com. The structure was partially damaged by rumblings from subways that run beside it and because there has been little effort to maintain it over the last five-plus decades years, Ballard said.

It would cost the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, which owns the building, at least $8 million to repair the church enough for it to be inhabitable, and nearly $20 million to make it usable, Ballard said. The reverend admitted that the church has made no effort to raise money to make the repairs: “Our focus and attention has long been on keeping the walls up as opposed to serving humanity.”

In the face of declining membership and a crumbling building, the church closed down and the congregation has since begun worshipping at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, at 520 Clinton Street. Meanwhile, the Church of the Redeemer building has suffered an overgrown lawn and a leaking roof.

The Diocese did not believe the church was worth repairing because the congregation has dwindled over several decades, from a congregation of about 1,500 to about 200, Ballard added. Over the next 20 months, the church will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use building, he said, with residential, commercial and religious purposes.

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights

RIP Marilyn J. Beck, Local Actress

July 2, 2012

Marilyn appears in 2008 film "Rag Doll."

Marilyn J. Beck, a longtime Remsen St. resident and active member of the Heights Players, died at Long Island College Hospital Saturday night. She was 80. Marilyn hailed from Indiana, where she attended St. Mary’s College and Ball State University. She worked for many years as a New York City public school teacher, retiring in 1989, but devoted much of her time to studying acting at HB Studio, in addition to pursuing African dance and ballet. A member of the Screen Actors Guild, her credits included “Going in Style” (1979), “A Beautiful Mind” (2001), and a 2003 episode of “Chappelle’s Show,” in which she played the wife of Chappelle’s blind, white supremacist character Clayton Bigsby.

Marilyn kicks up her heels in "Waiting in the Wings" at the Heights Players. Photo by M. Hermann

Marilyn appears opposite Dave Chappelle in 2003.

As a literacy advocate, she organized a program of dramatized short story readings that toured local libraries and nursing homes in the early 1990s, and volunteered with the SAG BookPALS program. Local audiences may remember her collaboration with legendary jazz violinist Noel Pointer on the production “Loving Henry,” a musical based on the Henry Ward Beecher adultery scandal of the 1870s. Marilyn was a fixture at the Heights Players, appearing in countless roles over the years. Dedicated to her craft, in 2005 she collapsed backstage during a production of “The Women,” but insisted on finishing the show before being brought to the hospital. Despite failing health, she appeared on stage as recently as last month in a tribute to Heights Players founding member John Bourne.

Scene from independent film "El Delivery" in 2004.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43388

From the Web

Arts and Entertainment, Events

Theater 2020 Offers Another Chance to See a Work in Progress: Lady Susan

July 2, 2012

This past February, our friends at Theater 2020 presented a reading of playwright Lynn Marie Macy’s work in progress, Lady Susan or the Captive Heart, a Jane Austen Bodice Ripper at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Heights Branch, Cadman Plaza West and Tillary Street. Your correspondent attended, and filed this report. Since then, Ms. Macy has been refining her script, and now there’s a second opportunity to hear a reading of Lady Susan before it’s put into final shape and performed on stage sometime in 2013.

The reading will be at the same place on Saturday, July 14 (one week from this coming Saturday), from 1:20 to 3:30 p.m. Admission is free, as is the air conditioning.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43381

From the Web

Your BHB Correspondent Goes Birdwatching, Again

July 2, 2012

Yesterday morning I took my usual walk along the Promenade and down Squibb Hill to Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, where I joined the group assembling for the bird tour. Our guide was Carolyn (at left, in green top, in the photo) who began by regretting how hot it was and noting that this meant birds would be harder to find than usual. Nevertheless, our little expedition enjoyed some success. More photos and text after the jump.

We didn’t have to go far before encountering some birds of several kinds, including barn swallows, mockingbirds, a rock pigeon (not as common as before, Carolyn noted, because of the increase in the population of hawks and peregrine falcons in the city) and two different kinds of sparrows. Unfortunately for me and my little point-’n’-shoot camera, by the time I could aim and shoot they were gone.

There was a catbird in here a moment ago, I swear!

Our luck improved as we got near the water.

Here’s a mother mallard and two youngsters paddling past the pilings. Carolyn said the males leave in spring after the ducklings hatch. (No doubt they repair to a place where they can smoke cigars, drink beer, and watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.)

We also saw this gull perched on a piling as kayaks passed.

Another gull was soaring overhead.

A house sparrow glides to a landing.

Here he displays his black breast, marking him as male. House sparrows are an invasive species, brought here for sentimental reasons and because they have a prodigious appetite for insects. The story of how they were brought to New York and of their subsequent conquest of North America is told on a sign at the northwest corner of Hillside Park.

After the tour, Carolyn showed her feather collection.

All in all, not as productive of good photos as the tour I took last year, but very informative, thanks to Carolyn’s considerable knowledge.

This morning, I took an early walk down to Pier 1 and saw lots of birds, including this mockingbird pair perched on a park bench.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/43362

From the Web

There’s Water in the Pool

July 1, 2012

The Brooklyn Bridge Park “pop-up-pool” as seen from the Promenade Sunday afternoon, is filled with water and evidently ready for swimmers. It’s scheduled to open this week; there’s more information at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s website.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)