Whiskey Sunday dies, gives birth to Fly Fish

Whiskey Sunday is no longer. The BBQ joint at 49 Lincoln Road is transforming overnight into Fly Fish, a BBQ and fried fish joint. We could speculate as to the reasons for the change, but the two reigning theories are thus: 1) The restaurant was never particularly good. 2) It's an effort to hew more closely to local tastes; ie, there are a lot of pescetarians around here.

We also heard it rumored that the trademark whiskey list will be replaced with frozen rum drinks. I guess this would support theory #2.

Anyway, the soft opening for Fly Fish is Saturday, August 15. If it's anything like the previous soft openings, there will be some free food, so check it out...

Save the date - Sept. 12 - for the Hawthorne Street block party

Planning for the Hawthorne Street block party (for Flatbush to Bedford) is in full gear. The next and last planning meeting will be on Wednesday, August 26 at 7 pm at the Church of the Evangel (Bedford at Hawthorne). If you live on Hawthorne, do try and make it. The group is also talking about starting a block association, and it's a great chance to meet neighbors.

Block party activities will be geared to kids, including organized games, a dance contest, free food for kids, and a puppet show by Alphabet Arts.

Art opening at K-Dog tonight

Lefferts artist Sylvia Maier is kicking off her show at K-Dog (43 Lincoln Rd.) with an art opening tonight, from 7 to 9 pm. Food and drinks provided. Check it out.

On Location near PLG

Don't be surprised if you see Tracy Morgan or Bruce Willis hanging around at K-Dog. A crew is shooting scenes for the Kevin Smith movie A Couple of Cops (or A Couple of Dicks, depending on whether or not Smith wants to advertise in prime time) near the Lullwater bridge by the Prospect Park boathouse. Or, in any event,  they were setting up yesterday. Also in the cast, Michelle Trachtenberg, Seann Willam Scott, Jason Lee, Kevin Pollak, Adam Brody and Fred Armisen.

Image via Fused Film

Beer warehouse now selling the fancy stuff

As part of our never-ending effort to document the gentrification of PLG, it is my duty to point out that the beer store on Lefferts (bet. Flatbush and Washington) is now selling microbrews. 

Reader Murray Dwertman writes:

In the last two weeks they have multiplied the selection 20 fold adding many local NY beers, singles, and high end selections that could keep a microbrew lover occupied for quite some time...  I picked up a bottle of Hennepin by Ommegang brewery that would sell in most Brooklyn bodegas or Whole Foods at $9-11 for just $6.19. 

Charles and I picked up an Ommegang bottle, along with our old standby of Newcastle (which they've been selling for a couple of years now) for $6.59.

Lincoln greenstreet still unloved

Last year we wrote about how the green triangle at the intersection of Lincoln, Flatbush, and Washington had been sadly neglected. At the time, I wondered out loud who was responsible for maintaining the space. (The plot is part of the City's Greenstreets program; and such spaces are maintained by local community groups or other residents.) The Lefferts Manor Association? A block association? We never found an answer, but the triangle was brought back to life shortly thereafter.

Sadly, the plot is once again looking pretty grim. The plants are still alive, thanks to all the rain we've been having, but weeds have taken over. 

So we'll ask again: does anyone know who's in charge of this plot? Perhaps if they're unable to maintain it, someone else would be willing to volunteer. After all, it's prime real estate!

New York Times highlights the greenest block

The Times calls our neighborhood Flatbush. Now if only we could convince our neighbors to do the same...

Anyway, here 'tis: A Flatbush Block Is Named Brooklyn’s Greenest.

NY Daily News highlights the "greenest block"

A sampling:

Lincoln Road between Bedford and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens took home the title for the first time - after 10 years of trying.

"This block has been really developing its green thumb for the past two decades," said block association President Tolonda Tolbert. "We finally pulled down the big one."

Read more.

PLG block wins "Greenest Block in Brooklyn" contest

After years as runners up, the block of Lincoln Road between Bedford and Rogers has won first place in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest. Apparently, there's been a bit of controversy about the block getting short shrift in previous years. 

Congrats to the R&B Block Association for getting its due. In previous years, the block has won numerous honorable mentions; in 2005, it tied for third place.

Traffic calming in effect on Empire Blvd.

Back in June, we wrote about the Department of Transportation's traffic calming proposal for Empire Boulevard. Good news: that plan has come to fruition. From Bedford to Utica Avenue, Empire now has one lane in each direction (previously, there were two). Bike lanes have been put in along that stretch, and left turn bays have been added to intersections. 

Over time, the DOT hopes to solidify the changes, adding protected pedestrian islands and landscaping.

These changes won't have much of an impact on PLG: the territory they directly affect are outside and on the border of the neighborhood. But, thanks to public input, the DOT has decided to go back and revisit the stretches of Empire most critical to our nabe, including the intersections and Ocean/Flatbush, and Washington.

According to DOT rep Hillary Poole:

We went back out and collected more data and have someone working on design. Things like this take a while, but we hope to get this approved as a 2010 project. 

So who knows, maybe we'll be seeing some much-needed safety improvements in the next couple of years.