none of the other brooklyn restaurants, including dressler, al di la, frankies, et, etc, etc. are anywhere near as good as diner and marlow. I realize that comes off as a big claim, but i have tried all the others and I keep on coming back to those two. fresh food, great combos, fantastic music, decor, vibe, great ownership. The other places just don't hit all those high notes at once and these guys do. We went to al di la for the first time recently, berating ourselves for always heading over to williamsburg to go to diner, and it was fine, but it just wasn't as good. (by the way, all of the above applies to manhattan as well...)

Posted by: miss priss at November 10, 2009 6:10 PM in response to Martha's Brooklyn Show Wrap

you guys are cranky! I think this is great for renters and I'll be passing it on to all those young folks I know who keep on thinking it's cool to move here...

Posted by: miss priss at October 7, 2009 7:34 PM in response to New Rentals Site Tries to Cut out the B.S.

i hear you and I love those places mentioned above, but the drug trade, methadone addicts and what that brings with it inhibit retail growth. Despite a big police presence in 06 (i believe) all the dealers just came back. the biggest problems are the buyers of the drugs, who then roam up and down the streets around grand and putnam and do their business on stoops or harrass people living there. my neigbor's sitter and 4 year old son were followed by one guy who had just scored and he kept yelling at the little boy, "Am I your first nigger? ever seen a nigger?" run with that...

Posted by: miss priss at September 17, 2009 9:28 AM in response to Money Starting to Flow to Fulton Street

the stretch from washington to downing - it's pretty dismal...

Posted by: miss priss at September 16, 2009 2:40 PM in response to Money Starting to Flow to Fulton Street

I don't want to seem debbie downer, but I'm feeling very skeptical about the possibility for change. I've lived here for almost 5 years and there has been no change on fulton. I think as long as you have multiple methadone clinics (one is fine) and the extended community doesn't care, there's no chance for a great retail mix. add to that the drug trade that shows no signs of abating...
we also only have the c train, where fort greene is closer to more subways. their stretch of fulton has a better mix of old school and new. we have endless nail salons, bodegas, and laundromats...
If I were a retailer, I'm not sure I would take the risk...

Posted by: miss priss at September 16, 2009 2:25 PM in response to Money Starting to Flow to Fulton Street

I'm sorry, but from the beginning he's annoyed me by having no sense of the neighborhood and blindly championing the project just because it was gehry. I don't think he even lives in brooklyn, not that that's a prerequisite, but it definitely made him completely tone deaf about the impact on the neighborhood.

Posted by: miss priss at September 10, 2009 11:32 AM in response to Ourousoff Weighs In On Barclay's Center Design

bxgirl, take a chill pill. it was an interesting discussion, but you kind of overreacted, don't you think, if look over your escalations? Anyway, as I said, I'm not a twitterer, but am thinking of becoming one now with this local application. I think it's cool and interesting, but I can also completely understand why people wouldn't like the phenomenon. sometimes the world does feel too noisy these days, but that's the great thing about opting in or out of something...If I didn't like being in touch with old friends, I'd be certain to close down my facebook site - it can get really annoying...

Posted by: miss priss at July 27, 2009 4:27 PM in response to BK.LY Launches

I'm not a big tweeter (?), but I do understand the benefits and the appeal. I've always enjoyed reading people's tweets about the flea - it's like an experiential and verbal snapshot that approximates art precisely because of the imposed brevity. I agree that it's scary when misinformation is spread that way, but so far it seems to correct itself because of the sheer numbers of people filtering any given tweet. I like this added local layer too because it brings it closer to an experience of our varied and diverse neighborhoods. We can grumble and we can choose not to partake, but I don't view it as a danger. Thanks, brownstoner for taking a crack at it. Maybe I'll get a twitter account...

Posted by: miss priss at July 27, 2009 12:20 PM in response to BK.LY Launches

I don't usually care either way, but he is actually pretty delicious...

Posted by: miss priss at July 15, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Brooklyn Heights Streets Clogged With Twilight Fans

i live right around the corner and have many friends on grand and it's a gorgeous block. There were problems with drug dealers down on putnam and grand, but whenever I'm on the rest of the block it seems really family oriented, with a mix of old and new who even, gasp, seem to like one another. This seems really well priced - but no clue as to what the status on c of o, or work needed is...
anyway, it is a great block - lots of creative people too. Spike lee's sister lives there i think, and of course for those who care, adrian grenier...
Also, people tend to claim that we have few amenities in this corner of clinton hill and that's no longer true; we have choice, choice greene, the c train, good dry cleaners, vet, great pharmacy, etc...even the new tatto parlor!

Posted by: miss priss at June 17, 2009 2:34 PM in response to House of the Day: 385 Grand Avenue

so excited about this next flea - will there be food?

Posted by: miss priss at June 13, 2009 10:26 AM in response to Closing Bell: Brooklyn Flea Launches Under the Bridge!

uh uh...nice house, but not at that price...

Posted by: miss priss at June 4, 2009 1:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 143 Amity Street

what, you're the one sitting in your house if you haven't seen mr. b walking around. he blogs from outside of the house, as we know. I live in the neighborhood and I see him everywhere, on his bike, walking with his kids, sitting on his stoop. I'm so sick of hearing your bs - you clearly have some brains - why not spare us your ridiculous, spoon fed rhetoric about covert race war. why would there be so many different kinds of people living here if the white ones had an agenda as nefarious as you describe. it's almost as if you want it to be so. that if it weren't, you would lose your raison d'etre, you would suddenly have to face your own self loathing realizing that the whole race thing is over for most people, especially people who move here.
I also have to agree w/ brownstoner; since when is not wanting crime a race thing or gentrification thing? anyone I've spoken to on my block, black or white, doesn't care for it.

Posted by: miss priss at June 1, 2009 12:30 PM in response to Teen-on-Teen Shooting on Downing Street

i live near the clinton hill stretch of fulton, and I have to say that someone must be pissing in these people's ears, because it is dismal. there are junkies hanging around all the time at st. james street, drug dealers openly dealing drugs at grand and putnam, and so on...
I don't know enough to know if a BID is the answer, but something has to change. As far as there being fear of gentrification, get over it already. good grief.

Posted by: miss priss at June 1, 2009 12:14 PM in response to Fulton BID Opponents Threaten Not to Pay

so cool! thanks for posting this...

Posted by: miss priss at May 14, 2009 10:32 AM in response to The Synagogues of Brownsville

i was in choice greene today and it was doing good business. They're doing something really smart - they are selling some of the pre-made lunch/dinner stuff that they usually have at choice, but without the lines...! the sushi is also delicious and cheaper than sushi D.
ps. I think that all those people who said we NEEDED stuff like this in the neighborhood need to make sure they pick up their stuff there, instead of freshdirect, fairway, etc - the prices are totally competitive, contrary to what some would say who on principle are opposed to "gentrifying" types of shops.

Posted by: miss priss at May 12, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Black Lotus Revealed

very excited about this - i'm probably past my prime for a tattoo, but maybe my husband will be inspired to get that miss priss tattoo he's been ruminating over for years...

Posted by: miss priss at May 12, 2009 9:50 AM in response to Black Lotus Revealed

A: give me an f-ing break.
B: I'm white and I greet all my neighbors and frankly, very few of the old timers will look me in the eye and greet me back, so all this drivel about how newcomers just parade around with no sense of community is bunk. Shortly after we moved in, I was walking past what I now know to be Rosie's house and saw her bitching out a guy who was slipping supermarket circulars into her gate. Since that's something that drives me nuts as well, I, not realizing who she was, interjected, "yeah, it drives me crazy when they do that!" She turned, looked at me like I was dirt and went inside.
C: I'm also a woman and while this is slightly off topic, it's come up in past posts, so I'd like to address it. All those people who talk about white women crossing the street or averting their eyes when they see a black man - are you f-ing kidding me? In Fort Greene? Would any of these women have moved here if they trembled in fear of merely passing a black man? Get your head out of the 40s, my friends, and stop flattering yourselves that you're so big and scary. This is your kneejerk response and you're so wedded to it because it fuels your sense of injustice. there is injustice and it should be addressed, but don't take away from it by talking smack. I and at least all the white women I know (some of whom are married to black, asian, native american, etc men) don't have an issue with you and just because we don't look you in the face doesn't mean a thing. I don't look random white men in the face either.
stop calling race when it just isn't the issue, so that we can better deal with it when it IS.
thanks.

Posted by: miss priss at May 8, 2009 10:04 AM in response to Rosie Revisited

REALLY? come on, people, let's just move forward. good grief. It's a FLEA market. people are having fun eating, bumping into friends, buying weird old things. There's noone stopping anyone from entering the gates based on race. If the majority of the black people in the neighborhood aren't interested in that then let it be. I saw plenty there. they were, much like their white counterparts, primarily artsy/hipster types, but there were exceptions, just as with the white people. give it a break already. My kids go to schools with white kids and black kids and none of this comes up.

Posted by: miss priss at April 20, 2009 3:45 PM in response to Sunny Skies Grace The Flea's Opening Day

loved this - my children were awestruck and we watched this for a long time.

Posted by: miss priss at March 23, 2009 10:15 PM in response to Closing Bell: Balancing Slabs on Dumbo Beach

is there anyone who's a real NYer who really thinks bodegas are cheap??? I love it. also, went to the pioneer on lafayette and grand recently b/c some friends said it had cleaned up and didn't smell like urine anymore. that was true, but their prices for organic products were staggering. I compared a few items afterwards to freshdirect and fairway and in some cases DOUBLE, i.e. pasta sauce 10oz - 10.99 at pioneer, 4.99 at freshdirect. talk about gouging...

Posted by: miss priss at March 19, 2009 1:27 PM in response to The Myrtle Miracle?

this thread has actually been great for me. for a long time, I felt that the What got away with his bs. today truly intelligent people finally called him out with truly intelligent comments. What we saw was actually poignant - I didn't find myself cheering at his demise - I found myself genuinely sad and concerned for someone who's clearly not well and maybe very lonely. I hope that he can see through his own rhetoric and maybe take some of the truth that people, jewish, black, white put out there today. the only thing i worry about is that he may be so unstable that this much real would put him over the edge...

Posted by: miss priss at March 17, 2009 8:31 PM in response to ODB Defaced in Bed Stuy

really looking forward to it!
to the church member above, are you guys going to do something about the double and triple parking that your members have always perpetrated on sundays (even pre-flea days)?

Posted by: miss priss at February 24, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Brooklyn Flea Re-Opens in Fort Greene on April 18

we have a kitchen with a freestanding garbage can and almost daily i dream of in cabinet recycling and garbage...never dream about garbage disposal...

Posted by: miss priss at February 19, 2009 4:28 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 72

i used to go to 26th street every weekend. I've gone to the outdoor 26th street flea now since it opened and i love it as much - the winter pop up indoors is a wonderful filler for the cold weather. I never expect bathrooms at a fleamarket, so that's just plain whining...
thank you brownstoner for making our borough and the city at large a better place!

Posted by: miss priss at February 9, 2009 12:09 PM in response to Closing Bell: Daily Candy Sweetens The Dumbo Flea

number one reason why we should all have motion activated flood lights over the stoop area. they look bad and can be annoying, but they are preventative. My heart goes out to the victim and shame on anyone who uses this as an opportunity to grandstand. We should be working together as a community to protect each other and our visitors from crimes like this.

Posted by: miss priss at January 23, 2009 9:45 AM in response to Sexual Attack on St. Felix Prompts Press Conference

I've met shahn and all your descriptions of him are ridiculous - he is always around walking in the neighborhood with his kid and is INCREDIBLY friendly. people who call him smug are the types of people who are afraid of a cogent argument that is at odds with their own view of something. can't you all grow up? can't you enjoy a dialogue with someone who may be as smart or smarter than you are? you remind me of the people who voted for george bush because they thought they could have a beer with him. Also, the What, I guarantee you that you probably have the worst taste around - I can just picture the proudly purchased black leather couch from jennifer convertibles or worse...ugh.

Posted by: miss priss at January 7, 2009 1:40 PM in response to Broken Angel Up For Sale

loved this beautiful structure - my children called it the pirate ship in the sky and when arthur woods walked by our house, they would always whisper excitedly, "there's the captain pirate, mommy!" thank god for that kind of whimsy and creativity in our world and I can only hope and pray that some philanthropist who didn't invest with madoff will swoop in and rescue the project!

Posted by: miss priss at January 7, 2009 12:04 PM in response to Broken Angel Up For Sale

sorry, what, a little late in responding. simply said, you're a loser. and a dork. you've been right about some things and I've sometimes enjoyed reading your posts, but when you go off about this stuff and then start to threaten violence to brownstoner, you lose all credibility. if you would just stay on point and not go cuckoo, I think you'd find that you have more in common with many of us than you think. Nobody loves it when new people move in to a neighborhood and drive up prices - why do you think brooklyn got "gentrified" in the first place. people got priced out of manhattan, but wanted to stay in New York. That's not some evil, racist plot, that's just NYC for you. I think you bring race to the table most of the time. I don't know of a single person in a majority who's sitting there thinking evil thoughts about black people every time a crime in brooklyn is reported. I think there are some crazies who might - sounds like you do - but there are crazies in every group who hate another group for silly reasons. I think most people just feel concerned, sad, afraid, motivated. People are aware of class issues, but I just don't think the readership of brownstoner is necessarily your enemy. seems like a pretty liberal crowd, with the obvious exception of yourself. What would be your REAL solutions to the issues - I mean it. Not just ranting and raving and calling names. step up, let us know what you would do.

Posted by: miss priss at January 6, 2009 3:57 PM in response to Another Mugging in Fort Greene

montrose morris, i liked what you said, although I don't agree that posting about crime is race baiting. It seems that the people who react to it as such are reacting out of a place of personal discomfort or defensiveness. I can understand where that comes from, but it doesn't make it useful or help anyone move forward. I think any blog about real estate in NY should have information about crime in the neighborhoods - both crimes by developers who don't have secure work sites and crimes by "punks", be they black or white.
Should we all do the see no evil, hear no evil thing just because some people can't handle a discussion about crime without turning it into a fight about race?
If brownstoner is writing about the exciting and fun aspects of life in brooklyn, i.e. events, dining, stores opening, then why is it against the rules to talk about crime?
It always cracks me up to hear people like the What strut around like a ridiculous rooster about how everyone should go back to ohio if they don't like it...I've gotten to know many old timers in my neighborhood (clinton hill) and none of them want crime, embrace it, or accept it. They've worked hard to get it out of the neighborhood, worked hard to get PS 11 to be better, etc.
So, to those of you freaking out, I would recommend a little soul searching or therapy at least to see what it is you actually reacting to and that perhaps it has more to do with your own perceptions and fears than with some villainous conspiracy to race-bait.

Posted by: miss priss at January 3, 2009 5:11 PM in response to Another Mugging in Fort Greene

we've had one for over three years. we have 2 small kids and cook. it's been completely fine- a few chips here and there, but to me it looks good and less precious. after everyone's warnings about staining, we haven't had a single one and we drink and spill red wine, make salad dressing, etc...

Posted by: miss priss at December 28, 2008 5:27 PM in response to Marble Counter Top - Practical?

me three! I got great veggies there too and flowers, which is an amazing thing to be able to get for decent prices. Speaking of local, between this place and provisions, I've been doing a lot more shopping day to day which has amazingly made me spend less than when I do the big shopping at fairway or costco, because I invariably buy things I don't need there, whereas staying in the neighborhood has me buying what I need for the next day or so. Many, many thanks to the people who brought us this and choice - both are such a wonderful addition to our community. (they're nice people too!)

Posted by: miss priss at December 16, 2008 12:52 PM in response to Choice Greene in Full Gear

I think skimming the fat is never an entirely bad thing. that said, with the school budgets being cut, you're going to see a sharp drop in quality offered there, no matter which kids and their parents are entering the ps system. it's a simple matter of resources and overworked teachers who end up having to cater to the lowest common denominator. kids are going to lose out in these transitions. Private schools have gotten MUCH too expensive and even the progressive ones have attracted some painfully elitist families. unfortunately those families will be the ones who can stick around. All of this is just another nail in the coffin of the choices and opportunities of the shrinking middle class.

Posted by: miss priss at November 19, 2008 10:55 AM in response to Life During Recession Time: Schools

I really hope they do well! The construction there has really isolated that stretch of Fulton, as well as the sketchy meth clinic attendees and the crack dealers on grand - I hope this place can bring some good vibes to our area...

Posted by: miss priss at November 3, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Bakery in Clinton Hill

i'll second that, although I get why it wouldn't be kosher...based on the NYT photo of you this summer, you'd certainly be the cutest...

Posted by: miss priss at October 21, 2008 1:44 PM in response to Brooklyn's Top 50 Most Influential No. 31 - 40

what made you go for the green tile?

Posted by: miss priss at September 30, 2008 5:58 PM in response to Master Bath roughing in

something like marlow and sons in williamsburg...

Posted by: miss priss at September 17, 2008 1:22 PM in response to It's Official: L'Epicerie Est Morte

uff, MM and others...are you kidding me? You are the one race baiting and, much like a seasoned spindoctor, changing the conversation to YOUR talking points, not to the issue initially put out there. Being residents of Brooklyn means that we are interested in quality of life issues. We've all seen bad behavior by black and by white teenagers and when it crosses the line to violence in the community, it is important information. One can choose which aspects of it to dwell on, people can be so narrow minded that they would judge a group based on others' actions, people can reach out to those injured, or they can get involved in getting better after school problems - all of these scenarios are open to us as members of a diverse and complex community. You cannot be the resident thought-police and try to control what is reported on to block out possible negative connotations. The more you do that, the less your salient points and perspectives can be taken seriously.

Posted by: miss priss at September 16, 2008 4:47 PM in response to More Troubles with Teens

Hi, I was the one who e-mailed Brownstoner about this. Montrose Morris, to answer your question, they were african american teens and the manager who was assaulted was white. The manager kept his cool and actually very politely asked the group to leave. The security guard stood next to the event and did nothing (I hope he's fired). The young man who attacked the manager was yelling "you can't talk to me, I'm 18" - good for him...now he could go to jail...There were a lot of kids who were clearly schoolmates in the store. Some of them were just hanging out there and not pulling down books and being rowdy. I heard one express regret over the incident, lamenting that now his place to hang out wasn't going to let him in anymore.
I have seen large groups of teens hanging out there before and I don't think it's quite as MM describes - they're not hanging out in the aisles perusing literature. I think it's great for all school kids to hang around after school with books and many, if not all of the public libraries in the city have great after school programs for teens. When I (white) was a teen, no store wanted groups of us hanging out there after school - the only place that would have us was mcdonalds, and that was only because we kept coming back for more fries...
Finally, I really want to commend the manager for how he tried to defuse the situation and I hope he's alright.

Posted by: miss priss at September 12, 2008 4:11 PM in response to Wild Teens Trash Court Street B&N, Assault Manager

I love gateway plumbers - they are the best. the guys are always ready to go and seem like they all have phd.s in plumbing and philosophy or something...they're good to have an ongoing relationship with, for when you need them for an emergency...

Posted by: miss priss at September 9, 2008 3:04 PM in response to license plumber

In my neighborhood, Clinton Hill, there is a very palpable hostility from some people to whites moving in and none at all from others. Recently, a (white) neighbor found a woman passed out with her skirt up above her waist and naked below. he tried to wake her up and when he could not, he called 911, afraid that she may have OD'd and was dying. When a (black) old time neighbor heard him do that, she railed against him and told him that he'd had no right to do that and was now just going to make the police come. On my block and a few surrounding blocks this is where we tend to see hostility the most - when the old timers feel that the white newcomers are reacting to the crime and the drugs on some of the blocks with alarm, when they should just be minding their own business. I have to agree with one of the posters that generally there is no animosity from the middle and upper class black residents, but that it is a class issue and it simply becomes race related because that's the easiest signifier. In Clinton Hill, most gentrification over the years has been by young black professionals and families, but it is easier for the potentially displaced to place it on the shoulders of the white gentrifiers. While I don't always enjoy that, I can understand it.
Before we moved to this neighborhood, I was reading Brownstoner.com, probably in the first year it existed and read from one commenter that the reason this animosity existed had something to do with how the white people never say hello. I grew up partly in the South and loved that we were moving into a neighborhood where this was commonplace. So, when we moved here, I said hello. Well, some nice people responded in kind, but by and large, my black neighbors keep their heads down as they pass, or pretend they haven't heard. Maybe some of you have ended up on more friendly blocks than mine, but I would not exactly say it's the rule of thumb.
I keep doing it because it feels good and there are those few who seem to like it, but I think there are unfriendly black people just like there are unfriendly white people and ultimately, we're all going to just have to find a way to realize that most of this stuff boils down to class.

Posted by: miss priss at September 8, 2008 4:09 PM in response to Do Generalizations About Harlem Hold for Brooklyn Nabes?

CH Chill - since when is diversity for one group only? Fulton Ave needs more balanced commercial activity and not just nail salons and laundromats. I've heard people from all walks agree on that. It feels like to have a limited and kind of reverse snobbism view of this stuff.

Posted by: miss priss at August 14, 2008 1:52 PM in response to Choice Greene Coming Into Focus