I usually take the bus or train to downtown Brooklyn or Ft. Greene except at night when I drive.

I am fearful of bike riding; sorry but I just don't want to go splat. I'm a single mom. My daughter wants to bike-ride but I am inclined to say no. (She's 13.5.)

I travel against the rush hour traffic so it's pretty easy with very few traffic jams. If we are running late, I drive my daughter to middle school (20 min vs. 35 min. on the train and on foot: A train from Nostrand to Borough Hall; F train to East Broadway; walk 5 blocks south on Madison to Catherie, 2 blocks east on Catherine) on the Lower East Side then to Delancey to the Williamsburg Bridge, then to the BQE, etc. When we lived in Clinton Hill and she went to school in central Chinatown it took 15 mins in the car and 40 mins on the train.

After many failed experiments, I can now get off the highway and make my way through the streets from any exit but it usually takes longer that way. Coming home I get off at Metropolitan Ave. and go down Union Ave. to Harrison to Tompkins to Hancock to Marcy. But it took a long time before I could find my way through Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

Posted by: rf at November 7, 2009 11:44 AM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

RF -- Did you even touch a highway to go between Bed-Stuy and Jackson Heights? Sounds like you're creating a beautiful red herring here....

Posted by: tybur6 at November 6, 2009 11:10 PM

Marcy Ave. to Monroe St. to Classon Ave. to BQE (past Williamsburg Bridge merge then over Kosciusko Bridge, past LIE interchange) to Broadway/37th Ave. exit; 37th Ave. to 85th St. to 34th Ave. to 86th St.

I can take Marcy to Madison St. to Bushwick Ave. to the Jackie Robinson Parkway to Grand Central Parkway to Northern Blvd. to 86th St., but it takes longer.

Posted by: rf at November 7, 2009 6:09 AM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

OK, Epiphany, if you agree to wake my daughter up and make sure she leaves for school on time, and then come home and make her dinner, I would love to have 140 minutes to read on the subway and bus, vs. less than an hour in the car.

I do miss my subway reading time. And yes, I read a lot of NY Times, novels, and I even did plenty of Sudoku waiting for the G train.

Posted by: rf at November 6, 2009 9:55 PM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

I used to take the bus and train between Bed Stuy and Jackson Heights to and from work. It took about 70 mins. 20-25 mins in the car.

Posted by: rf at November 6, 2009 5:07 PM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

It is not just a bridge over a creek; it also includes the interchange between the Long Island Expressway just east of the Midtown Tunnel and the BQE just north of the Williamsburg Bridge. Do any of you ever drive to Queens???

Most of the backups on the current bridge are related to the interchange and related merges.

If there were no bridge, gigantic trucks would be driving through many Brooklyn neighborhoods at street level.

Posted by: rf at November 6, 2009 11:03 AM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

That is lovely and if we manage to see it completed before I'm retired I'll assume Guliani became Gov and managed to clean up albany.

Posted by: DeLepp at November 6, 2009 9:14 AM

Will that be before or after Kerik gets out of jail?

Posted by: rf at November 6, 2009 9:21 AM in response to New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

I was once at the corner of Baxter and Hester (1 block north of Canal St.; between Broadway and Bowery). Got into a cab and asked the driver to take me to Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge and he had absolutely no idea where the bridge was.

Posted by: rf at November 5, 2009 6:28 PM in response to Mrs. B Side-Swiped In The Heights

They don't turn on the siren until they leave the block.

Posted by: rf at November 3, 2009 8:31 PM in response to 11th Street Firehouses

the rental market is awful

Posted by: bitter_bubble_buyer at November 3, 2009 4:50 PM

That means you're charging too much!

Posted by: rf at November 3, 2009 8:29 PM in response to Rental Renovations

Get off the FDR at the exit before, for the Manhattan Bridge. Proceed on the service road past Pathmark, past the housing projects (past my daughter's school on Catherine St.), and just past the last project, until you see the bridge above. Make a right. Go to the light, make a left, and a right onto the bridge.

Get home 10 mins earlier.

Posted by: rf at November 3, 2009 10:35 AM in response to Squadron Helps Drivers Get Off (The FDR)

the best marathon party ever. Every single year.

http://fort-greene.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/dancing-and-running-in-the-streets/#more-24373

Look at the second video.

Posted by: rf at November 2, 2009 4:39 PM in response to Open Thread

fron the website:

Bedford Corners Historic District Phase I

Arlington Place - Macon to Halsey; Halsey Street - Bedford to Marcy; Hancock Street - Bedford to Tompkins; Jefferson Avenue - Nostrand to Tompkins

Posted by: rf at November 2, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Landmarking Efforts In Bed-Stuy

In Clinton Hill, you walk through the subway station--either Clinton Washington or Classon Ave. on the G line.

Posted by: rf at November 2, 2009 11:31 AM in response to Open Thread

The Bed-Stuy (Clinton Hill) house is on a very nice block. But the price does look kind of steep. It's pretty close to Fulton St. which is finally moving toward gentrification.

Union St. is the dividing line between District 13/PS282 and District 15/PS321).

Posted by: rf at October 30, 2009 5:04 PM in response to Open House Picks

Take expired metrocard to a token (Metrocard) booth and they will trade it in for a new one.

Posted by: rf at October 30, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Open Thread

How much to add to your metrocard to make an even number of rides:
http://www.metrocardbonuscalculator.com/

Posted by: rf at October 30, 2009 12:20 PM in response to Open Thread

It's not fair to compare suburban (some suburban; white suburban) test scores with urban Brooklyn test scores. If you control for parents' education, city kids do fine.

And Rob, it's totally bogus to think that PS middle school and high school kids get beat up every day when they leave the neighborhood. My daughter goes to a Lower East Side middle school where half the kids live in the projects. No danger whatsoever.

Reminds me of the people that told me in 1989 that they wouldn't take the C train to Clinton Washington; they'd get killed for sure. I did it for years and here I am. My daughter takes the A train Nostrand Ave. every day and she's fine too. She even walks from the train to home when it's dark outside.

(knock wood of course)

Posted by: rf at October 21, 2009 8:10 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 153 Lincoln Place, #3C

So Dittoburg, if someone gets killed over a parking spot, it's not a tragedy???

Posted by: rf at October 20, 2009 8:27 PM in response to Closing Bell: Another Curbside Memorial

they are going to fit 48 apartments in THAT? is it bigger in person than it looks in the picture? the projects comment is stupid, almost anywhere in the city youre a stone's throw away from some project or another. and people in the project have feet you know!

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at October 19, 2009 12:09 PM

The permit says:
>

I think the key is "ENLARGEMENT".

Posted by: rf at October 19, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Church Conversion Underway on Bedford Avenue

And/or you can pray with the Satmar Hasidim right up the block.

Posted by: rf at October 19, 2009 12:03 PM in response to Church Conversion Underway on Bedford Avenue

Brooklyn Academy High School is also known as the grand terra cotta temple of learning, the old Boys' High School building. Worth the trip!

Posted by: rf at October 16, 2009 3:28 PM in response to House Tour Double-Shot This Weekend

My mother was born in Danzig which was Germany before WWI, a free city between the wars, and now Gdansk in Poland.

Posted by: rf at October 12, 2009 2:05 PM in response to Columbus Day Open Thread

Veal? Doesn't that come from a baby cow?

Posted by: rf at October 12, 2009 12:33 PM in response to Columbus Day Open Thread

Rob, there's a doctor's office on Flatbush at Plaza St. on the Prospect Heights side of Flatbush. It used to be Dr. Kurz' office, but he retired. (The address is on Plaza St. but the door is on Flatbush.) There are 2 docs who are good for regular stuff and they are cheap. I think an office visit is $60 and they will write prescriptions, take health insurance, etc.

Here's the phone number:
718-638-2551

Posted by: rf at October 12, 2009 11:04 AM in response to Columbus Day Open Thread

Dave is right - as per google maps, walking directions say it's .5 miles in 10 minutes to go from 786 putnam to utica/fulton

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 24, 2009 2:52 PM

DIBS said it was a 6-minute walk in his original post.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 3:18 PM in response to House of the Day: 786 Putnam Avenue

No, things are NOT that much worse. Crimes by strangers against children are not more common, just more publicized (especially if said children are white, in which case they go on 24-hour rotation on cable).

My daughter takes the subway alone all the time; started doing so in sixth grade when she was 11.5.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 3:14 PM in response to The City Spurs Grocery Stores to Underserved

Chinatown, while affordable, can be hard to navigate for the uninitiated--incredibly crowded with little English spoken. I imagine it's overwhelming for many non-Chinese--and has been for me at times.

Posted by: tinarina at September 24, 2009 12:53 PM

tinarina, there's a street market of veggies on Mulberry just south of Canal.

Lots of fresh fish places (and fruit-veggie stores) on Mott between Hester and Grand, starting a block north of Canal.

No problem for a non-Chinese and/or non-Chinese-speaker. Close to the B/D at Grand or the N/Q/6/J/M/Z at Canal and Centre St.

The Hong Kong Supermarket on Allen and East Broadway burned down but the former Dynasty supermarket on Hester and Elizabeth is now part of the Hong Kong chain. (Gee I wonder about that fire!) There's another huge supermarket, with better fruits and vegetables, just east of East Broadway under the Manhattan Bridge, not far from the East Broadway stop on the F train.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 3:07 PM in response to The City Spurs Grocery Stores to Underserved

Mopar, it's about the same distance to the A/C at Utica.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 1:58 PM in response to House of the Day: 786 Putnam Avenue

It's a hike to the train. Dave, you must be a fast walker! And this is definitely further.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 1:49 PM in response to House of the Day: 786 Putnam Avenue

bxgrl, US asians also have the highest average educational attainment of any racial group according to the last census. I think there are a number of sociological things to be learned from the achievements of US asians as a group.

Posted by: dittoburg at September 24, 2009 10:57 AM

Not, by and large, the US asians who live in Manhattan's and Brooklyn's Chinatowns.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 12:31 PM in response to The City Spurs Grocery Stores to Underserved

I thought they were promoting the expansion of street vendors with carts for veggies & fruits?? We could use one in Fulton Park where I get off the subway.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 24, 2009 9:59 AM

There's one of those carts at Macon or Halsey and Nostrand a short block or 2 from the Nostrand A/C stop, which competes with the Bravo supermarket (small fruit/veggie section, but it's there, complete with weekly specials) and a fruit and veggie market right around the corner on Fulton St. Plus Foodtown is just another block and a half away with another fruit and veggie market across the street.

There are so many places in Bed Stuy that are blocks and blocks from any food retailer besides bodegas that have no or virtually no fresh fruits and veggies (maybe a few onions, bananas, potatoes) and no frozen veggies either.

Posted by: rf at September 24, 2009 12:28 PM in response to The City Spurs Grocery Stores to Underserved

Townhouse lady,

The h1n1 vaccine isn't available yet. But if you are pregnant you should definitely get the h1n1 shot--I read somewhere recently that pregnant women had 1 percent of the cases of h1n1 and 10 percent of serious complications.

I think the shot will be available by the end of Sept.

try the flu.gov website.

Posted by: rf at September 21, 2009 11:48 AM in response to Open Thread

everyone citing education reforms: do you have a child in nyc public schools? Lots of smoke and mirrors in the "improvement." Did you see the article in the Times about how 7th graders passed the test with 44 percent of the answers correct?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/education/14scores.html

If you make the test easier every year and require fewer right answers, the scores will go up. Do you really believe that 97 percent of NYC public elementary and middle schools deserve an A or B? I don't! 84 percent got A's! Where's the curve?

Posted by: rf at September 17, 2009 5:19 PM in response to Democratic Primary Results

Crooklyn is gone, per mr. b

Posted by: rf at September 10, 2009 6:23 PM in response to Open Thread

bye bye crooklyn

Mr. B. threw him out.

Posted by: rf at September 10, 2009 6:12 PM in response to Community Groups Sue City over Broadway Triangle

For several months, there were signs there that a restaurant named Dalia was going to open there last fall. Hope this fall brings something great.

Posted by: rf at September 9, 2009 5:30 PM in response to Streetlevel: 95 Halsey TBD

He lives on Mr. Brownstoner's block, in a house whose renovation was observed here.

Posted by: rf at August 31, 2009 9:25 AM in response to Open Thread

The specialized high schools use only one factor for admissions--the test. It's not an easy test by any means. There's a sample in this booklet:
http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/D6C3C010-DD6B-4B04-BFFB-3A9C240F27C9/0/SHSAT_Hndbk_0809_toDOE.pdf

The first sample test starts on page 26.

Posted by: rf at August 27, 2009 4:20 PM in response to Sunset Park Finally Getting Its Own High School

The specialized high schools, especially the big 3--Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science--are majority Asian.

Posted by: rf at August 27, 2009 3:34 PM in response to Sunset Park Finally Getting Its Own High School

Park Ave. is the border (pretty much) between Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy. I assume this is running north from Park into Williamsburg? For what it's worth, Nostrand in Bed-Stuy (from where it emerges from Lee Ave. in Hasidic Williamsburg to Atlantic Ave. is bone-jarring, a zillion times worse than Bedford. Although there isn't a bike lane, there are plenty of bikers, plus trucks and buses.

Posted by: rf at August 27, 2009 10:25 AM in response to Ripping Up Bedford Avenue

Dave,

I was just responding to Mopar who said that rents are still cheap in Bed-Stuy. Not for a working, median-income family.

And yes, I have seen families of this description move out of Bed-Stuy while more upscale singles and childless couples and couples with little babies move in, just as I saw it in Clinton Hill when I lived there from 1989 to 2007.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 9:21 PM in response to Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?

Rob,

How much do you know about Bed-Stuy? You live in Park Slope!

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 9:05 PM in response to An Italian's New York Dream

actuallyworksinfinance = sock puppet
shillstoner = sock puppet

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 9:04 PM in response to Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?

If Bed Stuy gets more nice restaurants like Peaches, Bread Stuy, and Saraghina, and starts attracting young professional singles (of any color) who can afford high rents, Bed Stuy may go the way of Fort Greene. But for now, rents are low.

Posted by: mopar at August 24, 2009 5:30 PM

Remember last week's Bed-Stuy rentals? When a family size apartment costs twice what a family-size median income family can pay for rent, families (the descendents of the old-timers who own brownstoners in Bed-Stuy) can't afford the neighborhood. And that's what happened in Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 9:04 PM in response to Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?

Cornerbodega
Brickoven
Prezanon
Bklplebe
What
BHO

discuss.

BHO and WHAT are the same--he may not remember but he acknowledged it a while ago after he posted one name under the other login.

I have my suspicions about Shillstoner.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 6:00 PM in response to House of the Day: 141 Quincy Street

There are 3 more photos--click under the thumbnails where it says page 1.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 5:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 141 Quincy Street

"Prices needed to come down to reality so residents that have a been a positive influence turning the neighborhood around can afford to stay."

Crooklyn, I get the sentiment, but not the finance. If you bought your home in 1975 for 20k, what does it mean 'afford to stay?' The current price means nothing to the original pioneers except that they can either stay or sell and move somewhere else and have enuf money to live on for the rest of their lives.

Posted by: denton at August 24, 2009 3:59 PM

It's the kind of thing that keeps old folks in rent-controlled apartments that are way too big for their needs--older people would love to downsize and stay in the neighborhood but they can't. And their kids, unless they want to share the brownstone with mom and dad or grandma and grandpa, can't afford to move in.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 4:34 PM in response to Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?

Marcy is in Bed-Stuy.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 4:15 PM in response to An Italian's New York Dream

The Lafayette Houses start east of Classon Ave., the dividing line between Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 4:14 PM in response to An Italian's New York Dream

Clinton Hill is surrounded by housing projects at the north end but none inside. There are plenty in Ft. Greene but it doesn't seem to have impeded the surge in prices.

Bed-Stuy is so big that there are lots of areas that are as far from projects as anywhere in Clinton Hill, which is tiny.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 1:50 PM in response to An Italian's New York Dream