 We are late coming to all of these, but we're going to blog them all the same.
First of all, there is word (again) that the city is going to provide funds for the refurbishment of the grand Loew's Kings Theater on Flatbush and Tilden. The $70 million renovation project being undertaken by Houston's ACE Theatrical Group (which apparently doesn't have a website?) is expected to be completed by 2014 and, when completed, host 250 events a year. If you don't want to wait until 2014 to see a show, however, Midwood Street resident Jeremy Shamos is currently appearing on Broadway in Clybourne Park at the Playwright's Horizon Theater. Of particular relevance to PLG, the play covers the issue of gentrification in the neighborhood where Raisin in the Sun took place. Jeremy himself scored an interview in Playbill, where he gave a shoutout to PLG.
(UPDATE: The New Yorker gives the show a rave, including a shout-out to the "delightful" Jeremy Shamos. Congratulations!) Finally, much to our embarrassment, we forgot to blog about the performance of Lefferts Avenue's Gwynne Watkins musical Tea With Chachaji, which was at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center earlier this month. There is still a chance to see the show, as Stanford Lively Arts is having three shows on February 28th.
It wasn't exactly Armageddon but there was a 6-alarm fire at 57 Lincoln Road on Friday night, destroying much of the top floor of the 84-unit building and causing 25 injuries, none of which at this point appear to be serious.
Over 200 firefighters were on the scene attempting to subdue the fire, and 23 of the injuries came from their ranks. It is currently believed that the fire was the result of faulty wiring.
Kate Daisley posted photos of the fire (including the one seen here) and a short video filled with the sound of windows being broken and onlookers cursing in wonder, here. Tara Fire Ball posted photos here.
Hawthorne Street wishes a speedy recovery to those injured and a rapid resettling of the families displaced by the fire.
We recently got a tip that "superdelegate" Rep. Yvette Clarke was going to be attending a Clinton information session/fundraiser in Lefferts Manor.
We received more detail than we are willing to share — it seems unsporting to inspire a protest outside a neighbor's house for their political leanings — but mention it only to note that despite heading a district that had a higher percentage of voters choose Obama than chose her, Clarke clearly intends to stick with Clinton at the convention.
Our neighbors to the south have been some enviable projects in the works, including a day of short lectures, demonstrations, and workshops called "Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are."
Details:
Sunday, February 24, from 1:30 to 4:30pm
Brooklyn Public Library (Flatbush Branch): 22 Linden Boulevard.
The event is free, but space is limited. To register, email greeningflatbush@gmail.com.
As it becomes increasingly clear that the President of 9/11 Rudy Giuliani won't be the President of the United States, it is probably rubbing salt on the wound of the discovery that they don't like him in Florida, to add that he wouldn't even win an election in his childhood home at 419 Hawthorne Street (near New York Ave).
The NY Times City Room blog has a post about his childhood neighborhood. Though the current resident of his old homestead thinks Ruby "was a good mayor," she prefers Hillary for President.
(Thanks, Daniel McDermon!)
What does the City have against independent food stalls? First, they go after the self-sustaining and (by all accounts, awesome) Red Hook food vendors. Now, following a renovation of the Flatbush - Caton Vendors Market, the food vendors have been kicked out of there also. The City claims that the food vendors have been attracting vermin. The food stalls have been a part of the market from the early days when it was housed in a vacant lot, and then moved inside when the market got a roof.
The food vendors have a defender in Councilman Mathieu Eugene, who is trying to get the vendors allowed back inside. I'm glad to see him weighing in on something local, and on behalf of his least powerful constituents. The manager of the market is also looking into getting heated tents for the food vendors which would, theoretically, both give the vendors a place to sell their wares and keep the rats out of the indoor market.
I admit that I've never been to the Flatbush - Caton Vendors Market - but that's because I didn't realize that they had people selling roasted corn! As of today, instead of merely not shopping at the market, I am protesting the exclusion of the vendors. But if they let them back, I promise to walk down to Caton Street, grab myself a cob and wander the stalls.
 Veggie Castle—the vegetarian joint on Church housed in a former White Castle building—is closing. According to the New York Press article,
the restaurant's 10-year lease is up and renewing isn't an option. The
landlord plans to demo the building and develop a new commercial space
there.
The place had a great reputation; New York magazine called it one of the five best vegetarian restaurants in Brooklyn. Still, this flexitarian won't be shedding any tears. I ate at Veggie Castle three times and, while the food was indeed very tasty, it certainly wasn't worth the explosive diarrhea I suffered after two of those three meals. (For what it's worth, Charles, normally the gassy one, shared two of those meals and had no problem...)
If Veggie Castle never made you violently ill and you need your jerk tofu fix, you can still go to their other location in South Richmond Hill. (Via New York Press)
If you were wondering if complaining about the noise in PLG is a gentrifier thing, it isn't: Flatbush leads the city in noise complaints. So to the people who think that complaining about loud music late at night is a form of cultural oppression, we say Shhhhhhhhhh!
In our little corner of PLG, we've been very lucky with respect to noise and rarely find any reason to complain. Last summer, we called 311 to report an outdoor party after it continued hopping past 3 am. But once isn't so bad, is it?
In an email announcing a telephone town hall meeting, Rep. Yvette Clarke describes her district as
Borough Park, Brownsville, Brooklyn Heights, Caroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, South Crown Heights, Cobble Hill, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Kensington, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Weeksville, Windsor Terrace & Wingate
Are we "Flatbush" again? Or are have we become part of "South Crown Heights"?
In all seriousness, the telephone Town Hall Meeting is on Wednesday, December 12 at 6:30PM 7:30PM (thanks, anon). Call in to 1-866-447-5149, PIN# 13319 if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions.
The email says that she is focusing on "federal issues," so this may not be the time to ask about speed humps (though one could argue that it is never the wrong time...). Topics that she specifically refers to are Iraq, the environment, ENDA (a proposed federal law to outlaw sexual orientation discrimination), No Child Left Behind, immigration and gun violence.
Until recently, when people would ask me what neighborhood I live in, I'd say Flatbush, or North Flatbush. Though the name traces to the 1960s, "Prospect Lefferts Gardens" sounds like a name white people would use to set ourselves apart from the larger nabe. But it looks like the white people have won: most current maps of Flatbush have the northern boundary set at Parkside Avenue. Instead of being a part of Flatbush, then, we're now our own thing. Or, as the Times, put it this weekend:
The borders of Flatbush are ambiguous; neighborhoods once considered part of it have reclaimed their more specific names.
In commenting on the Times story, Flatbush Gardener points to this 1873 map of Flatbush, which includes the area now known as PLG. Pretty cool.
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