 This morning's Wall Street Journal reports that initial demolition of the former Caledonian Hospital is underway and that construction on a 270 unit building - mixed condo/rental - will soon begin.
The developer of the property at 100 Parkside, Joseph Chetrit, is one of the owners of the Sears Tower in Chicago and involved in some very large development projects in New York as well. According to Karl Fischer, the project architect, "The rental units may come on the market ... within a year."
In walking past in recent weeks, I've seen lights on and evidence of activity inside the current building. I hope that this means that the building was being prepared for demolition but - given the time that I was walking by - I suspect that it means that there are squatters in the building. I hope that if there are squatters, the new development isn't impeded too greatly. It will be nice to have an occupied apartment building and the activity it would bring to that stretch of Parkside; it is creepy to walk past a large, charmless, vacant building late at night.
Thanks, Sam.
 Though very little else has changed, Exquisite, the steam table Jamaican place across the street from the Parkside Q (218 Parkside (gmap)), has changed its name to "People's Choice."
Actually, I can't say how much has changed inside - I haven't been in since the new sign went up - but I can tell you that nothing else is different on the outside. They better not have changed anything about the saltfish bake, once cited by the NY Times (and confirmed by me) as one of the top sandwiches in New York.
Thanks, Sam.
 On Sunday, December 12, Ditmas Workspace (535 E. 17th St., between Ditmas and Newkirk (gmap) will be hosting the Ditmas Park Craft Fair.
Local artists will have their wares for sale and a friend of Hawthorne Street will have a table for kids to make their own beaded bracelets and necklaces as well as an assortment of beads for sale.
Ditmas Park Craft Fair:
Lovely affordable gifts made by local artists
Sunday, December 12
11 am to 5 pm
Ditmas Workspace
535 E. 17th St.
Go check out ArtMart11225's younger cousin, just a short trip south on the Q.
Thanks, Sasha.
ClarksonFlatbed from The Q at Parkside has filed a report on the meeting between Moses Fried, owner of 205 Parkside, and a number of neighborhood representatives. His conclusion? Nothing good will come of this.
The lines that jumped out at me were these:
- "While legally he's bound to allow stays no shorter than 30 days, he was quick to add that he wouldn't turn people away for, say, a week (oops!)."
- "Construction starts in the next couple weeks and goes for 6 months to a year."
- "I'm sorry Mr. Fried. You have every legal right to build your fleabag motel. But we have every right to watch your every little move."
It really is a great write-up and I encourage you to read the whole thing. Bonus speculation: scroll to the bottom here and wonder, as I do, if Fried has found a way to get his insurance company to pay to renovate two of his properties at once.
 In better development news, ClarksonFlatbed also shares word of the low-income housing being developed at 97 Crooke Street, east of the Parade Grounds. CAMBA bought the lot and is building the 9 story, 53 unit building. You can read more about on CAMBA's website.
 The Q at Parkside is inviting the world to join them on Clarkson Avenue between Flatbush and Bedford this Sunday for their block party. Check out the flyer for all the details.
It looks like fun; we'll probably swing by in the morning. Keep your eyes posted to this space for more information about the Hawthorne Street block party, which is coming in September.
 The geniuses behind last year's Hawthorne Street Block party performances of City of Hamburgers are returning to the neighborhood as part of the Brooklyn Public Library's Make A Splash! Summer Reading Program Celebration. Alphabet Arts will be performing The Giant Squid and the Seagull, a shadow puppet show by Kali Therrien & Mandy Weiss at the Flatbush branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (22 Linden Blvd. btwn. Bedford and Flatbush (gmap)). The play is based on the children's book of the same name by Sgott Mackenzie, which I hope will be available at the show. The Giant Squid and The Seagull show
Wednesday, 8/18 at 2pm
Flatbush Branch, Brooklyn Public Library
***FREE!*** PLG-based nonprofit Alphabet Arts is thrilled to welcome Kali
Therrien and Mandy Weiss to its family of talented artists. Kali and
Mandy will present their shadow puppet show, "The Giant Squid and the
Seagull," as well as some other fun and surprises, at the BPL Flatbush
branch on Wednesday, 8/18 at 2pm to help the kids celebrate their
accomplishments in Brooklyn Public Library's Summer Reading Program.
Raffle prizes from Sesame Workshop; Electric Company; Penguin Young
Readers; and more...
Hand puppetry lessons, a sing-along, and other fun surprises with Kali and Mandy will follow the show. You can let them know you are coming by responding to their Facebook event. The Alphabet Arts crew will be back at the Hawthorne Street block party as well. When we find out what they'll be doing, we'll be sure to let you know.
 Is Mulberry Street too far for your bubble tea fix? Is the Sunset Park Chinatown too inconvenient since you sold your car? Not to worry - you can now get bubble tea as close as Caton Avenue.
Green Lake (795 Flatbush (gmap)) has bubble tea, homemade (?) flavored iced teas and smoothies. I don't know how long they've been selling these things but it is new to me, so it goes on the blog. I was in a hurry, so I judged a book by its cover - the menu seems to be pretty standard Chinese take-out. If, however, it has more of an authentic-Chinese / dim sum thing going on please tell me in the comments. (Seriously. Please tell me this!) Fact that may be interesting to only me: In Googling for a restaurant link, I learned that there is a town called Brooklyn on the shore of Wisconsin's Green Lake.
 I'd like to welcome The Q at Parkside, a blog for people "for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain," to the Brooklyn blogging family. The blog is run by Clarkson resident Tim Thomas, who has lived in the neighborhood with his wife (and now daughter) for 7 years.
The blog has hit the ground running, with a comparison of our four neighborhood grocery stores and a review of Melany, a Dominican restaurant on Flatbush and Lenox (gmap) that I wasn't aware of (and will now be checking out). He also beat me to joking about the DNA testing ads on the dollar vans, which I obviously waited too long to poke fun at.
In addition to blogging, the Thomases started the Clarkson FlatBed block association, which apparently kicked off strong: there will be a clean-up day on June 4 and a block party in August.
Welcome aboard, Q. Don't take too much of our traffic. (Image via The Subway Nut)
 Tim Thomas and Parker Lutz have announced the launch of Clarkson Flatbed, a new block association for Clarkson between Flatbush and Bedford. They're kicking things off on Saturday, with a block-wide beautification day. Anyone and everyone on the block is invited to come to an inaugural meeting this Saturday, May 15, at 4 pm. Items for the agenda include planting flowers in tree pits, organizing a block party, cleaning sidewalks, and setting up a Neighborhood Watch program.
Block associations are a great way of meeting people and building better neighborhoods, so get to it, people!
We're not exactly sure why police cars were backed up at Parkside and Flatbush this evening, but I have a hunch that it might be from this: Police in Brooklyn shot a woman after she refused to drop a knife.
It happened just before 7pm Monday on Parkside Avenue in Flatbush.
Police responded to the call of an emotionally disturbed person.
Once inside, they confronted the 31-year-old woman and told her to drop a knife that she was holding, and sprayed her with pepper spray.
(The article doesn't state a location on Parkside, though, so don't quote me.)
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