Game On!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, good people of Crown Heights, come one, come all, and join your neighbors in playing what I am dubbing - with no authority whatsoever - the official game of Franklin Avenue for the summer of 2009. That’s right, it’s Cornhole (and there's a chartered organization to promote it, so don't knock it)! Brought north to the streets of Brooklyn by a pair of fun-loving southerners (does Texas count as the south? I’m going with yes.) and set up every evening this past week on the Avenue between Sterling and Park, Cornhole is a distilled version of every addictive carnival game you’ve ever burned ten bucks playing down at Coney Island, only it doesn’t cost anything, and you can play it as long as you want (provided you let the rest of us get a few throws in, too). The rules are simple: place a pair of boards, with holes towards one end, at a slight angle about 20-30 feet apart, grab some beanbags, and try to toss ‘em through your opponent’s hole. If your bag sticks on the board, you've scored one point, and if you land it in the hole, you've got three. Games are to 7, 11, or any other number you agree on. Doubles work like shuffleboard, with one player from each team at each end. Boards are easy to make, but if you get the urge, you can order official models here.

A note on the pictures: they're awful, but it was almost too dark for my barely-a-single-megapixel cellphone camera. I like to think their blurred, fuzzy nature captures the fleeting joys of a fading summer evening, but that's, well, just not the case. Thankfully, the lady just got me a new Kodak digital, so I'm back in business with decent photos starting next week!

Blog titles notwithstanding, it can be hard to love Franklin Avenue every minute of every day. I don't love shootings on my corner, I don't love worrying about people groping my girlfriend and female friends, and I don't love the crime rate that necessitates the Skywatch. With rents dropping all over the city, it's easy to start wondering whether it might not be time to seek greener pastures. But then, every so often, I come home on a perfect summer evening to a scene like this: kids and adults, all races, no drama, just hanging out, playing a game and chatting away without a care in the world as the sky gets bluer and bluer until it turns to night. Throw in a spinach pizza from the Slice for dinner, and there's no other place for me.

Now Nobody's Going to Believe Me

Still, I swear I didn't write it! Nor did I edit in the "K" or the ".blogspot.com". A thousand thanks to whoever did. And now, some links:

- After the city made waves a few weeks ago by renting unsold units and effectively turning a newly-developed building at the eastern end of Crown Heights into a homeless shelter, council speaker Christine Quinn unveiled a plan to build on this model by converting up to 400 units in vacant condo building into affordable housing. And to think, I joked about this back in December. For those who would prefer to see the market run its course, I argue not against your logic but merely the pace of it--by the time the developers went bust and the market corrected the price of these units, the damage done to communities with unfinished buildings would be even greater that the perceived impact of mixed-income conversion.

- Speaking of housing, foreclosures in Brooklyn (and the rest of NYC) made news again today, not on account of any new development but rather because artist Damon Rich is using the mini-city at the Queens Museum of Art to document them visually. For an even better visual, take a look at the NYT's interactive map.

- Check out a Franklin Avenue institution, the Brooklyn Ink Spot, in action here, where tattoo artist Maria Boehm is documenting her apprenticeship.

- A journalist buddy of mine is trekking around the Middle East, and he takes a mean photo.

- My other journalist buddy has an excellent, idiot-proof guide to the power struggle playing out at Coney Island here.

Happy clicking!

The Skywatch Strikes Back

In an attempt to capture the rebel fort deep within in the ice planet that is Nam's frozen food section, the Galactic Empire has deployed its evil beast machines to storm the bodega and leave no one alive! Flee down Franklin Avenue, ye freedom-loving rebel sympathizers! This explains the child I saw on a skateboard with a lightsaber earlier this week.

Ludicrous nerdery aside (though I did see a kid on a skateboard with a lightsaber yesterday, and it was awesome), that's the Skywatch, aka the NYPD's Mobile Surveillance Unit, making an appearance at St. John's and Franklin after a rash of shootings and other crime in the area (it was set up sometime during the day on Monday). The officer on the ground when I went by this morning was very friendly and informative, and told me that the location of the unit was a direct response to the shooting on this block a few days ago (which poster laveye noted on the Brooklyian thread about the Nostrand murder). He said that the Skywatch will be there for at least a few more days, accompanied by increased street patrols, with the goal of averting any retaliation or further violence. The corner is also somewhat notorious as a hangout for dealers and their affiliated gangs (one of whom, shouting "Franklin Soldiers," grabbed all the ice out of the cooler in front of Nam's and threw it across the street at some kids the other night), so their activity should be curtailed in the near future as well.

For those concerned about crime in the neighborhood, Nostrand Park has some prevention tips and advice posted, along with links to some local data and stats. The New York Times, in what appears to be their annual "crime increases in the summer" article (they ran one 102 years ago, in 1907!), linked to a very detailed map of homicides since 2003 that they intend to update regularly. If you're really concerned, you can wait for a rainy day to do your errands on the Avenue.

Finally, if you'd prefer to think of Brooklyn as a beautiful place to live, check out this great slideshow and article on Gowanus photographer Jose Gaytan, whose work is on display at the Brooklyn Library's Central Branch through August 29th.

I didn't write it, I swear!

Spotted this morning on Franklin, just north of Lily & Fig. They could use a K, but I'll take it.

I'm a lover of community gardens, so in lieu of any news, check out this great piece on the subject from the NYTimes Mag. Brooklyn gets a shout near the end.

Lily & Fig Open

It's been nearly a year since a poster on the Crown Heights Forum noticed their signage going up, but as of yesterday afternoon, Lily and Fig Bakery and Tea Shop is finally open! The proprietors, Lily and Ike, have been doing a mail-order and web-based business for some time now, but their cute little spot on Franklin between Sterling and Park is their first location, and they're very excited to be there. It was construction delays, and not the economy, that held up their opening, but now they're ready to go and will open daily at 7:30 AM.

If you're in the neighborhood this afternoon, swing by for a free sample Russian tea cookie, which was crisp and buttery and did not disappoint. Neither did a strawberry profiterole, which I purchased for the very reasonable price of $1.50. They have an assortment of cakes (Lily recommended the carrot and the chocolate fudge), muffins (banana white chocolate comes with high marks), cupcakes, and cookies in the display case, and tea and coffee available behind the counter.

The space itself is light and airy, with ample seating at tables for four. As of right now, they're just offering baked goods and drinks, but they're open to feedback and have the space to develop more of a restaurant-type menu if they so desire. Even with their current wares, they'll be a welcome addition to the morning walk to the 4 train, so check them out on your way to work tomorrow.

Who Needs a TV Anyway?

I've seen a few of these sad little reminders of the DTV revolution around Brooklyn in the past few weeks, languishing on street corners with their mid-90s stickers (Weezer! Mean People Suck!) fading as they wait for the sanitation trucks to consign them to history. Time was when a kid who just moved to the big city could bring the TV/VCR combo from his parents' basement and be all set for entertainment, but that time has passed, and now I'm hanging on to mine only because I don't want to replace my VHS collection (Breaking Away and A Muppet Christmas Carol are the highlights). But then again, maybe my inability to tune into network TV with a UHF/VHF tuner will force me into more productive, stimulating pursuits (like blogging).

Forget the tube, I say! Instead, come sit in the glow of Brooklyn's literary lights at the monthly Franklin Park Reading Series, coming up next on Monday, July 20th. I went last week and was treated to a great hour's worth of readings that were neither dull nor pretentious, but hysterical, thoughtful, and touching. Alabama comedian Dan Fontaine kicked things off with a bit of autobiographical standup, which lead nicely into Rachel Shukert's reading of a riotous tale of European travles and trials. Felicia Sullivan closed out the evening with a chapter from her memoir of growing up in Borough Park, The Sky Isn't Visible From Here, a beautiful series of Coney Island scenes with her single mother. Attendence was good, but there's plenty of room for more, so make sure you don't miss the next event!

A Rough Couple of Weeks

Some pretty awful things have happened in my little corner of Crown Heights over the last couple of weeks: pair of shootings, a subway suicide, and the fire that destroyed the apartment block above Homage (and from what I've seen since, Homage too). I don't have any analysis, but there are a lot of people hurting right now, and my heart goes out to them.

Thankfully, there are a lot of good people in CH too: Nostrand Park had a very successful day of service (thanks to all their volunteers and community pillars Bristen's and Tish James, among others), and the folks on the Brooklynian Crown Heights message boards are talking about pulling together something to help those who lost their things and livelihoods in the fire. Thanks to all of them, both for their work and for being reminders that there's a lot of good living to do in the midst of rough times.