Quote of the Day
I didn’t love Patois, but am feeling nostalgic. Boerum Hill Food Company last month; Patois this month. Those two, plus Smith Street Kitchen and Halcyon, are the first places that I remember getting excited about on Smith Street. Oh well, things change — but its clear that the neighborhood’s exciting stage is done. — by…
I didn’t love Patois, but am feeling nostalgic. Boerum Hill Food Company last month; Patois this month. Those two, plus Smith Street Kitchen and Halcyon, are the first places that I remember getting excited about on Smith Street. Oh well, things change — but its clear that the neighborhood’s exciting stage is done.
— by aishling in Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
prodigal son, you have been known to be a little holier than thou in your posts but I’m not referring to you, it’s just been a snarly pissy day on this thread and others.
I guess the recession is beginning to bite ass.
pacifico while their margs are great, food is total sloopy cheesy gooey greasy dreck. NEXT!
sam-
Its you. Who are you to talk about being pissy? Seriously…
Is it me or has today been a really pissy-post day?
benson and bk4life-
pardon my hyperbole.
Of course Harding is not singlehandedly responsible for Smith St and Brooklyn’s gentrification. But on a commercial and cultural level, he is certainly in the pantheon.
It could have been Mickey Mouse or Adolf Hitler. The point is no one set up shop in this area before him with an outreach to new customers who eventually brought new people, and higher property values to the neighborhood. His influence brought followers and imitators.
Is he a savior? The point is, HE brought it, if only on a commercial level.
I’ve been here since 1983, Am I enough of a “native” to have an opinion?
Smith St Kitchen was really really good.
Patois is ok but more important for historical significance than food.
PS;
While I don’t doubt that Harding made a big contribution to Smith St, it is a stretch to say that Smith St.owes its gentrification to him, and it is WAY out there to say that Brooklyn’s gentrification is also due to him. Cobble Hill and Carrol gardens have been in the process of residential gentrification for more than 30 years, well before he showed up on the scene. Commercial gentrification always lags behind the residential scene but it inevitably catches up.
If I had to name one entity that was a key player in the gentrification of these areas, it is one whose contribution is all but forgotten: the Brooklyn Union Gas company and their “Cinderella” program. Back in the depths of the 70’s, when Brooklyn was at low tide, it was BUG who saw the value in the then-abandoned brownstone areas, and embarked on the Cinderella program to buy them, fix them up, and resell them to private owners.
One place I miss was Carlito’s Way, the bar that occupied the spot where Wades is now. THey use to have a hot tub where the pool table was and they sold blow out the back window.
now that was quality smith street!!!
bkm4life is right. The reconstruction of Smith Street along with the new historic streetlights and nice sidewalks miraculously accomplished just what it was supposed to: it transformed and reinvigorated the commercial life of the street. For once the public/private thing worked, and how!
Long live Smith Street!