Streetlevel: Nigerian, Not Thai, for Lafayette
As Easy Being Greene noted last week, the storefront at the corner of Lafayette and Cumberland Avenues is slated to become a Nigerian restaurant, not Thai as originally posited last Spring or the 7-Eleven that almost happened a year ago. Will the new restaurant, to be called En of Africa, strike a chord with local…
As Easy Being Greene noted last week, the storefront at the corner of Lafayette and Cumberland Avenues is slated to become a Nigerian restaurant, not Thai as originally posited last Spring or the 7-Eleven that almost happened a year ago. Will the new restaurant, to be called En of Africa, strike a chord with local diners? If you believe one commenter from the thread last May, there’s little reason to be optimistic: “The owner of [this] building is an old timer who really has no ability to understand the new neighb[orhood]. His dry cleaner services sucked as well.” We’re not holding our breath but let’s hope the new place can exceed expectations.
Thai Food for Vacant Fort Greene Corner? [Brownstoner] GMAP
Fort Greene Takes a Big Gulp [Brownstoner]
9:27
Uhuh…very pleasant. And anyway, there were a bunch of comments, not just the one big obvious “I can’t believe he said that” one. Let’s see…”Chinese HJ parlor”…LOVELY…”ideal spot for a methadone clinic”…also charming…
And, please, desist with immature online bravery and vulgar, ungenerous comments. It’s a bad reflection on you (even as a “guest”) and a bad reflection on this site. Why do you start your comment trying to sound reasonable and then devolve into Archie Bunker two breaths later? Shoots the whole reasonable human being out of the water…makes you sound like a drunk.
Thank you 7:04.
Now, Brownstoner Blogowner, don’t you think it’s time you really “managed” this site a little better? There are downright lewd comments on the threads and discussions fall apart. I know it’s easy not to have any obvious rule and not to have to read all your threads, but I’m tired as well of having to cull through some really vile entries to get through a simple discussion. The value of this site is damaged by the “bad apples”. Maybe I’ll stop visiting the site too.
8:23
I think you misinterpreted what 7:04 and a number of others were getting at. I don’t think these discussion participants are taking issue with discussing “how viable a restaurant serving a little known and therefore little appreciated cuisine is going to fare in this location”. The issue is that there are some obnoxious, juvenile, one-liner comments that are racist. The writer of these comments probably thought he was being cute but came off being a bigot.
1. I wish we had a Nigerian restaurant–or any other African food-in Park Slope. Would enjoy some Ethiopian and Senegalese too. Hope this place does well.
2. It is not racist to question the viability of an African restaurant or to say anything less than positive about a neighborhood where black people live. Other than 7:13’s obnoxious comment, if you really think the rest of this thread was too “racist” for yoou to visit this blog, then go find a nice gentle support group. And don’t let the door hit you on your candy ass on the way out.
I don’t think it’s racist to wonder how viable a restaurant serving a little known and therefore little appreciated cuisine is going to fare in this location. In my experience, most people are not particularly open-minded about trying new foods, even in New York City.
I have been an regular reader of brownstoner for sometime now, and i have watched the comments on this site go from somewhat enlightend to absolute garbage and more recently racist as demonstrated with some of these coments. as with all good things i think it time to bid this site adieu.
I wish somebody can explain to me how this landlord got away with these brand new, ugly gates when he is on a landmark block? Doesn’t any other city entity take that in to account when giving him permits to open a restaurant or do renovations or anything. We all seem to have to pay a fortune for landmark windows in the area and landmark brownstone work and this is just plain ugly on a main drag. I know landmarks didn’t approve these big, ugly gates.
Thank you 7:59. There were some ignorant and racist comments in this thread. I wasn’t going to comment on this thread because I know too much about the address in question but I simply had to after seeing 7:13’s flip, nasty comment.
DITTO 7:36 With a ignorant comment like that, he should stick to reading DC comics because this conversation is OVER his HEAD.
7:13
That comment was tasteless to say the least…anyway, Nigerian food is, yes, a bit heavy and oily (palm oil)sometimes, but I think a lot of people will like trying it if they’re not familiar with it. If it’s prepared well, it’s really tasty. Check out the wikipedia link on this thread for more info on the cuisine.
And PS to the person who wrote the landlord is greedy: no, the landlord is not greedy. The landlord got screwed by the bodega owners across the street who begged to take over the shop when the landlord decided to retire and close the dry cleaning business. The bodega guys signed a proper lease with a good number of stipulations, and at a very reasonable rent. They then went in and did unsupervised, unpermitted and unapproved demolition work that nearly collapsed the building (they cut out the central beam). Needless to say, there was a HUGE amount of work to undo the damage. The landlord really pulled through and we should wish them nothing but the best of luck with this new tenant.