Open Thread

Benson was great. We started out early in the am and drove around all am, had lunch and hit Ditmas Park, Historic Flatbush and Midwood after lunch.

We first drove south through Sunset Park (saw the huge church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help) then drove around Bay Ridge in and out of the streets, with Benson pointing out interesting houses, schools, churches, monastery on 90th street. I actually SAW the fabled Fontbonne Academy on Shore Road, we saw that kooky house (gingerbread house they call it but it looks like a mushroom). We drove then down Bay Ridge Parkway through Dyker Heights and saw all the ‘former’ mob houses and decorations and tacky overbuilt houses with tons of statues and massive landscaping. Not all tacky, though, many were nice and then I finally saw the Dyker Heights golf course where I am going to play in the spring.

We went through Bensonhurst (saw all the streets and workingman’s brick houses, trattorias, shops, places to buy your mozzarela, little Italian restaurants) and then on to Gravesend/Bensonhurst border and we saw where Benson’s parents live, cute brick house. Then we went to Gravesend, the non fancy part and saw more Bensonhurst style ordinary houses, then on to bigger houses, to the very wealthy and cloistered Sephardic Jewish section, Syrian Jewish predominently with huge houses all with Mediterrean roofs.

We went to lunch at La Palina, a great Italian “red sauce style” restaurant. MM and I had the same thing — faboo eggplant parmiagiana.

We then tooled our way back driving through Midwood, Flatbush, Ditmas Park, Prospect Park historic district and saw plenty of great houses. As Benson mentioned, he gave us highlights of where mob guys were waked, where Tonto, the Long Ranger’s sidekick lived, tons of interesting stuff Benson showed us.

It was great.

hahaha I just looked it up, turns out Amy Chua used to be an associate at Cleary Gottlieb, which is totally lefty and park slope parentsy as compared to other big NYC firms.

pounding on cars or in cars??
Yep, that was me.

Did you come my way? What did you see?

Did they really cancel Sarah palin’s Alaska show???

Yea, Monday is a holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!