More Bird-Guts-By-The-Lake Grossness

In a follow-up to the report of chicken entrails appearing next to the lake in Prospect Park, The Brooklyn Paper is reporting that it appears to be worse than previously indicated.

The death toll includes "Two dead opossums, one blackbird, the duck, one turtle and seven or eight dead fish" according to parkgoer Ed Bahlman. In addition, one of the Prospect Park swans, John Boy, appears to have been made ill - though I'm not sure that anyone with significant veterinary credentials has weighed in to show that the illness is anything more than coincidental to the appearance of chicken guts.

Putting aside the Brooklyn Papers' alarmist tone, I'm not sure there is anything to see here (other than some disgusting piles of guts). The article concludes with a spokesman from the park who notes that “Sick animals are pretty common after the long winter. It is very unlikely that the 60-acre watercourse, which is constantly flowing, is contaminated.”

Who Do I Have To Blow To Get a Bus Shelter Around Here?

Standing in the rain waiting for the B41 bus last weekend got me thinking: Why is it that only one of the B41 bus stops around here has a bus shelter? The B41, which goes up and down Flatbush, is one of most heavily used bus lines in Brooklyn. Yet Park Slope's B71, whose ridership is so low it's been slated for extinction, has new bus shelters in several spots along Union Street.

RIGHT: The bus shelters along Parkside Avenue have no shortage of customers. Yet the most heavily used bus lines in PLG lack such shelters.

The B41 isn't the only heavy-lifting bus line in PLG that doesn't have bus shelters. The B44 along Nostrand—which has the fifth highest ridership of any bus line in the city—has none within the PLG boundary either.

In fairness, the MTA/DOT may be waiting until after the planned bus rapid transit line is in to install shelters along Nostrand. And before launching into a conspiracy theory, I should check whether the site specs along Flatbush would even allow for a shelter. If B41 stops don't fit the specs, it would be because the sidewalk along Flatbush Avenue is too narrow. But if the sidewalk is too narrow for a bus stop, that suggests another kind of problem: passengers clogging the sidewalks as they wait for one of the most crowded buses in the city. (I can attest to this happening at the Parkside stop.)

One of two B41 express stops in PLG—at Empire Blvd.—has a bus shelter from a previous era, but there is no shelter at Parkside, nor are there shelters at Grand Army Plaza, an area with much wider sidewalks.

I asked Community Board 9 President Pearl Miles about this, and she responded with a request for suggested stops. I'm going to recommend Grand Army Plaza and Parkside for the B41, and the B44 stops along Nostrand and New York Avenues. The B49, along Bedford and Rogers, has less than half the passenger load as the other buses, and I haven't checked for shelters along these roads (though I'm pretty sure there are zero). So if anyone has any other suggestions for Ms. Miles, do let her know: bk09@cb.nyc.gov.

Prospect Park Carousel Opens This Weekend

Yes, spring is here, so for parents that means.... carousel time! My kid was too young for it last year, but we took him on the Central Park carousel last weekend and he kept screaming for more. A mixed blessing, I suppose, but we look forward to the new weekend diversion.

Also, let's not forget that Coney Island's rides open this weekend as well. Fun, fun.

(Photo: Wally G)

Want To See How Your Apartment Was Originally Marketed?

Columbia University Libraries has posted a collection of old real estate materials online and it gives a revealing look at how some of the buildings in our neighborhood were marketed in their early days.

Of the nearly 60 buildings in the archives, the brochure for Patio Gardens is the most lush. Where promotional materials for places such as 45 Hawthorne, 145 Lincoln Road, or Maple and Flatbush are 5-page, black & white leaflets with sample floor-plans and (in some cases) lists of amenities, Patio Gardens gets an elaborate package with ad copy, an elegant photo and spot color.

Of course, it's been a good long while since Patio Gardens' opening. The fortress-like entrance is a little foreboding today, but I suppose that's helpful if you're living on Flatbush Avenue. That said, I've been in one of the apartments and found it quite lovely.

Review: Gandhi Restaurant on Bedford

After a few orders, I'm ready to give a formal thumbs up to Gandhi, the new Indian restaurant on Bedford Avenue (between Parkside and Clarkson).

Over the course of three orders I've had the mulligatawny, vegetable samosa, chana saag, motor paneer, shrimp tandoori, chicken dumapakht and garlic nan. While the naan is only so-so, and I haven't had the opportunity to order anything really spicy because of my mild-spice-preferred dining companions, I've been very happy with everything.

The tandoori shrimp comes on a bed of spinach (not exactly saag, though I can't describe it any better than that), which is nice. The bread covering on the "dumapakht" was actually tastier than the nan, so that may be something to think about for bread options. The chana saag is very good as well.

I can't say I've made a decision about which of our local Indian joints is better but I can say I'm glad we have another good option.

The Case of the Mangled Chickens in Prospect Park

As much as I love Prospect Park, I am sure there is a lot going on there that I don't want to know about. Currently at the top of the list is the mysterious pile of entrails recently found at the lake. According to the Brooklyn Paper, people have found bloody and eviscerated chicken carcasses not once, but twice.

I suspect the entrails are part of a Santeria-like ceremony but I don't know enough about Santeria to be sure and I sure as hell don't want anyone bringing that hoodoo down on me.

Why You Should Bug Your Neighbors About the Census

Why are there nearly as many public elementary schools and health clinics in Park Slope as there are in Bushwick, a much larger and more populous neighborhood? There are a number of reasons, but according to a recent discussion on the Brian Lehrer Show, one is that a higher percentage people in neighborhoods like Park Slope fill out census forms. The result: more people counted yields more federal funds for things like schools and health care.

What's true in Bushwick is true in most any neighborhood with high rates of poverty: few people return the forms, depriving those people of federal funds for important services.

So here's a project for all of you block associations looking for something to do: how about making sure your neighbors return their forms?

(Photo: Rubin 110)

It's That Time of Year: Time To Spay the Feral Cats

You know those feral cats you see running around the streets? Now is the time of year that they start having babies. Two cats beget six cats who beget twelve, and pretty soon that bag of cat food you're using to feed them leaves a mess of cats hungry.

While I can understand wanting to feed feral cats, doing so without getting the cats spayed and neutered ultimately only leads to even more cats being hungry and miserable.

Fortunately, those who genuinely want to help the feral cat populations have an option: The NYC Feral Cat Initiative offers free Feral Cat Colony workshops. Once you take the class, you become a certified Trap & Neuter Release Caretaker and can borrow traps from the ASPCA.

The next class is this Saturday, March 20, from 9:30 am to 1 pm, at Queens Library. (Info here.) I took the class a couple of years ago -- it's painless and well worth doing, whether you love cats or just want to stop them from crapping in your planters.

This would be a great project for a block association to tackle. It doesn't cost much (the rate for spaying and shots ends up around $7 per cat) and responsibilities are easily divided.

Gandhi: New Indian Restaurant Coming to Bedford

King of Tandoor is about to get some competition. A flyer (a lot of flyers, actually...) showed up on my doorstep yesterday from Gandhi, a new Indian restaurant that opens tomorrow (March 10). Gandhi will be at 2032 Bedford Avenue, between Parkside and Clarkson.

Gandhi is operated by the same people responsible for Joy in Prospect Heights. I am a big fan of Joy and am glad to have them in the neighborhood. Gandhi will have the same menu as Joy but the prices in PLG will be a bit lower.

The website isn't up yet but should be soon. Gandhi will be open from noon to 10PM (10:30 on Friday and Saturday) and, of course, will have delivery (718-282-7012 / -7016).

Block Association Meetings This Week

There are two block association meetings this Thursday, March 11, one for Lincoln between Ocean and Flatbush, the other for Hawthorne Street between Flatbush and Bedford.

LinRoFORMA (Lincoln Road b/w Flatbush & Ocean Residents & Merchants Association) is meeting at 7 pm at K-Dog. The new group will be choosing leaders and upcoming projects. For more info, contact linroforma (at) gmail.com.

The Hawthorne Street Block Association is meeting at 7 pm at Church of the Evangel. At least 60% of residents are needed to sign a petition for the annual block party, so bodies are need to come by and sign. The block party will be September 11 this year. We'll also be discussing our first spring planting projects.

Got a block association meeting coming up? Let us know and we'll post about it here!