Bushwick
May 12, 2008
Garden of the Day: Bushwick 'English Garden'
Here's a garden report from the Bushwick front:
We moved to Bushwick in early '04. The backyard had been in shambles for years, from what we could tell. Broken down chainlink mended with shoelaces and bbq grills. Seriously. Rubble everywhere. And a 'yard' that was basically a giant weed factory. And as you can see from the before shot vs. the recent shots, part of the old pathway had been covered in a dirt slide. That was a fun discovery: I was planting something and hit concrete. I felt like an archeologist.
Besides a few key elements worth keeping: giant old hydrangea, big old rose bush, a rose of sharon bush and the center concrete planter full of a sedum variety, everything was DIY. Except installing a simple wood fence. We built the yard bit by bit due to the usual budget constraints after buying a house. Pretty much everything you see in the 'after' pictures was either bought online in bulb form (Brecks, etc.) or purchased at Home Depot. There were a few cool plants we got at the Gowanus Nursury, but a good 95% of the yard is simple, straight up plantings and varietals found at your local HD. We also prepped the soil (half assedly) and seeded grass. It's far from perfect but 100% of our own making. Our goal was to create an overrun english garden, of sorts. and by planting bit by bit over the first 2-3 years, we've really seen the garden and yard come to life.
Check out more photos in the slideshow above and in the Flickr set linked below.
Bushwick Garden Photo Set [Flickr]
Garden of the Day: Another Greenwood Heights Goodie [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: HGTV Does Greenwood Heights [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: PLG Make-Over [Brownstoner]
Submit Your Garden for 'Garden of the Day' [Brownstoner]
April 2, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Ethiopian cuisine at Ghenet's original Manhattan location. Photo by Tien Mao from Gothamist.
Opening This Week: Ghenet
348 Douglass St at Fourth Ave, Park Slope; (718) 230-4476
"Mother-and-daughter team Yeworkwoha Ephrem and Sosinna Degefu open a Park Slope spin-off of their Nolita Ethiopian restaurant this week. The menu will skew lighter than Manhattan’s, with grilled meats and fish replacing sautéed dishes." [Time Out New York]
Smoke Joint Owner to Take Over Petite Basam Space
393 Lewis Avenue, Bed-Stuy
"I was surprised to come home from work today and run into the owner of the Smoke Joint out in my neighborhood, outside the recently shuttered Petite Bassam on Lewis Avenue. Apparently, Ben (the Smoke Joint guy) is setting something up there to start 'soon.' We chatted a bit, and he said he wanted something cheaper than Petite Bassam (which was a good place, but always seemed a bit expensive for the neighborhood) and a little 'different' from the Smoke Joint." [EaterWire]
The Best Coffee in Bushwick
This week, NY Press hits up a couple of neighborhood coffee shops. Potion Café (248 McKibben Street), which is "by far the most aesthetically pleasing café in Bushwick" serves "strong coffee, good pastries, mid-range bagels," $3 Red Stripes, and sandwiches, such as the recommended cheddar and pesto croissant. Archive (49 Bogart Street), on the other hand, is "devoid of personality" and serves "prepackaged paninis and salads and soup." On the plus side, the baristas are friendly.
After the jump: A new cooking show is looking for sexy Brooklyn singles, and the L Magazine reviews Beer Table...
March 19, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Now Open: Toby's
6th Avenue and 21st Street, South Slope Greenwood Heights
Last Tuesday, Toby's opened its doors with a menu of brick oven pizzas, such as the Margherita ($12), four-cheese ($14), and white ($13). They're also serving up salads and antipasti, like a selection of "artisan Italian cured meats" (prosciuitto, sopressata, Italian ham) with focaccia. Customers can wash it all down with wine by the glass, booze, or beer — they've got a well-chosen selection, with Hofbrau seasonal brews on tap. But over on the Brooklynian boards, folks are already complaining that the pizzas are overpriced and griping about the "No Strollers" sign in the window. Check out an interior photo after the jump.
Now Open: Moxie Spot
81 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn Heights
As we reported last week, the Moxie Spot is finally open and serving up its family-friendly menu. But according to one Chowhound, some parents on a local list-serv are complaining about their "small portions, and out-of-synch serving (tables getting there plates 1 at a time)." On the bright side, the small portions are offered at low prices (burgers cost a mere $4.75), and Brooklyn Heights Blog is singing the praises of the place's creative entryway, which features an adult-sized door, with kid-sized and pet-sized doors built into it.
Roberta's: "Pizza as Art"
261 Moore Street (at Bogart Street), Bushwick; (718) 417-1118
"The 12-inch pizzas ($7 to $15) are the focal point of the short menu. Roberta’s offers a margherita and a tomato-only rosso, but the restaurant is not a destination for anyone looking to stoke memories of Napoli: the heretically creative pies are the thing to get... Roberta’s take on a Hawaiian pizza comes topped with paper-thin sheets of ripe pineapple, shreds of ham, sliced jalapeños and dabs of ricotta cheese." [NY Times]
After the jump: A peek inside Toby's, Brooklyn's first "occasional restaurant," Trois Pommes Patisserie's hamataschen how-to, a look inside the Hideout and the Habitat, and the official details on Brooklyn Restaurant Week '08...
March 7, 2008
Rentals of the Week: Bushwick
Shareable, non-bank breakers abound in the 'Wick. Left to right:
1. 2-BR, low floor, track lighting, $1,400, Cornelia at Evergreen.
2. Newly renovated, furnished 3-BR w/yard, $2,000, 505 Hart Street.
3. 4-BR w/ new kitch, big common area, $2,300, Wyckoff at Suydam.
4. 2-BR w/ carpets, EIK, $1,200, 466 Central Ave.
5. 3-BR duplex, h/w floors, exposed brick, $1,950, Covert at Broadway.
February 19, 2008
A Sign That Bushwick Has Officially Arrived?
BushwickBK’s got a post on the impending opening of the neighborhood’s very first Thai restaurant. The blog calls it “a major point in the evolution of modern Bushwick…We all know that the Thai restaurant is the ultimate harbinger of Hipsterdom. Soon, we’ll have 7 within a 60 second walk of each other.” The restaurant is supposed to open soon at 214 Knickerbocker Avenue.
Watershed Moment: Bushwick Gets Thai [BushwickBK] GMAP
Photo from BushwickBK.
February 8, 2008
When The Music's Over, Turn Out the Lights
While existing homeowners have received most of the attention in the media's coverage of the sub-prime mortgage fallout, there's another effect that's going to haunt neighborhoods like Bed Stuy and Bushwick for years: The spectacularly ugly and cheaply built spec homes that short-sighted developers slapped up on in-fill lots. Take this pair of three-family homes, one for $739,000 and one for $629,000. Who's gonna buy this crap? No one. They'll just sit there and atrophy, gradually attracting trash, loiterers and probably worse. Huge bummer.
$739000 Gordeous 3 Family Bldg in Bushwick [Craigslist]
$629000 Great New Construction 3 Family in Bed Stuy [Craigslist]
January 28, 2008
Report: Subprime Foreclosures Rampant in Brooklyn
On Friday the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released data listing how many subprime loans there were in New York state in October (broken down by zip code) and how many of those loans were in foreclosure. Bottom line? Bad news for Brooklyn, especially in the zip codes that include Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Williamsburg, and Bushwick. As reported in the Daily News, there were foreclosure proceedings under way for 25 percent of homeowners with subprime mortgages in 11233, which covers Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. That subprime foreclosure rate is almost four times the national average of 6.89 percent. As the chart above shows, subprime foreclosure rates were also high in other Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights codes (11212, 11213, 11216, and 11238). The data also shows that 435 homes with subprime loans in East New York were in foreclosure. Foreclosure rates on properties in the zip codes covering Williamsburg and Bushwick, meanwhile, were also high (though the total number of subprime loans in those Zips was smaller than in Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and East New York): 22 percent of homes with subprime loans in the 11221 Zip code were in foreclosure.
Brooklyn Neighborhoods Top Subprime Foreclosures in Nation [NY Daily News]
New York Fed Releases Zip Code Level Data on Nonprime Mortgages [NY Fed]
January 22, 2008
StreetLevel: Fruits and Veggies in Bushwick
A poster on BushwickBK calls the opening of Mr. Kiwi's, a new grocery store on Broadway and Myrtle, "probably the most exciting new business to open in our little corner of Bushwick in the three years we’ve been here." The store is stocking a decent, well-priced selection of fresh produce, which many folks on the site say is in short supply in Bushwick. The city backs up those claims: A study by the Department of Mental Health and hygiene found the neighborhood has a low supply of fresh produce and low-fat milk, according to an article in Crain's.
A New Option for Fresh Produce in Bushwick [BushwickBK] GMAP
Photo from BushwickBK.
December 5, 2007
Closing Bell: Beautiful in Bushwick
We went for a little driving tour around Bushwick a couple of weeks ago. The highlight of the day was undoubtably this little two-story brick treasure that feels like a carriage house but, judging from the original arched windows and arched lintels (is that the right term?), it never was. A Google search suggests that it's currently the headquarters for an elevator company but the building appears to be part of a larger parcel that includes an empty lot to the left of the building. According to PropertyShark, the property was purchased a year ago for $1,600,000, a price that suggests the new owners are going to do more than just sit on it. If that's the case, let's hope they have they have mercy on this building. GMAP P*Shark
November 20, 2007
Closing Bell: Makeover for Irving Square Park
Iriving Square Park, which is bordered by Halsey, Wilson, Knickerbocker and Weirfield in Bushwick, has been getting a full makeover courtesy of the Parks Department. In March 2006, the city embarked upon the first stage of a capital project, a $1.57 million renovation of the northeast portion of the park. That was completed back in January. Now, judging from this photo, another stage is well underway. The impetus for the overhaul could have something to do with the fact that the park received a letter grade of "F" in a 2006 review by New Yorkers for Parks. GMAP