New York

Thank You Franny

We thank Franny's, NYC's premier pizzeria, for opening up an additional establishment where we can blow even more of our hard-earned paychecks (that is, when we get paychecks at all). You can now, for instance, get Franny's chocolate sorbetto by the pint, which you should do, since Franny's chocolate sorbetto is one of the most intense things you'll ever put in your mouth. You can also get a fine selection of cheeses, charcuteries, pork jowl bacon, breads, etc. etc. Every neighborhood worth its salt has or should have a gourmet market, and even though it's not on Vanderbilt in the heart of Propsect Heights, it's close enough that we think Prospect Height-ers should adopt it as their own. If they haven't already.

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Shopping • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

2009 Tour: 11 Homes

The Prospect Heights biennial house tour will be held this Sunday, October 18th from noon to 5 pm. The self-guided tour will include 11 wonderful homes and apartments. As one of Brooklyn’s premier brownstone neighborhoods, Prospect Heights' historical and aesthetic significance was recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on June 23rd when it created the expansive Prospect Heights Historic District. From restored Victorian brownstones and limestones, to stylish new row houses and apartments, to the impressively modern and controversial "On Prospect Park" by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier, Prospect Heights is indeed an architectural smorgasbord. Tickets may be purchased at Forest Floor Antiques for $20 prior to the day of the tour and for $25 on the day of the tour. Tickets, as well as additional information, may also be obtained be calling 718-393-7653. Visit www.phndc.org/house-tour for more information. Prospect Heights is easily accessible by either the 2/3 Train to Grand Army Plaza or the Q/B Train to Seventh Avenue.

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Events • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Atlantic Antic: October 4

Everyone knows street festivals in New York are pretty lame--it's always the same crappy food and boring tchotchkes. They almost never reflect the real character of the neighborhood. But there are a few exceptions. And at the top of the list has to be the Atlantic Antic, New York City's largest street festival. The 35th Atlantic Antic is scheduled for Sunday, October 4th, from 10 am to 6 pm. Spread along 10 blocks of Atlantic Avenue, from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue, the Atlantic Antic has become a beloved Brooklyn tradition. Antic goers can indulge in a wide variety of international delicacies found on the avenue including Middle Eastern baklava and hummus, Spanish paella, Caribbean oxtail, and Parisian crepes. You'll also  find everything from handmade jewelry and eco-friendly clothing to photography and exotic plants. But mainly it's just a big old fashioned block party with thousands of people hanging out and having a good time. With tons of live music, entertainment,and multiple beer gardens, there's no better way to spend an early Autumn Sunday.

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Events • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Beast of a Brunch

Hot, sunny summertime Saturdays are a glorious gift, unless you're hungover with a San Andrean headache and ferocious appetite. People of that state will instead prefer Beast. A dark cave for den-like drinking and dining by night, Beast welcomes the weekend's vampires and zombies by keeping the coffee coming and the lights off. Though it's been called a Spanish tapas bar, Beast feels more like a medieval kitchen with walls bedecked in Brooklyn-required kitch. Beast's brunch has vaguely Iberian tendencies --frittatas, chorizo hash--but the focus is on reparation and recovery: eggs, potatoes, caffeine, hair-of-the-dog. There are a few non-breakfast options and a handful of sides, something everyone could live with whilst pondering the birdhouse with a cat's-mouth opening mounted on the back wall. Brunch at Beast is not earth-shattering, but at least it will keep your head from shattering.

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Nightlife , Restaurants • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

The Gong of Gowanus

With The Bell House now hosting live music several nights a week, you could do a lot worse than spend a good portion of your time hanging out in what is likely to be officially rebranded "Gowanus" at some point: namely, the area east of Carroll Gardens and west of Park Slope, between Hoyt Street and 5th Avenue. Besides its huge performance space, The Bell House bosts a killer front bar, complete with plenty of seating (including a few perfect make-out couches). Then there is also Issue Project Room not too far away, Australian and Ethiopian cuisine on 4th Avenue, more bars on both 4th and 3rd Avenues, excellent subway access, and, of course, free birth defects for your children if you're planning to procreate. Ah well, who said life is perfect, anyway?

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Nightlife • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

The King of Ethiopia

Now that Ghenet's Manhattan location is now closed, I'm pleased to announce that they've clearly brought the "A" team over from Mulberry Street. Consequently, Ghenet Brooklyn is now NYC's top Ethiopian destination, hands-down. Start with the great "Kategna" appetizer, which is crispy toasted Ethiopian bread (injera) soaked in berbere spice and cheese. Definitely order the Sega Wett main course to see what Ghenet does with beef; the Misir Wett (lentils) are also a taste sensation. For the more adventurous, the Kitfo (chopped raw beef) is excellent when sprinkled with (of course) more berbere and cheese. Wash down with one of three Ethiopian beers on the menu, then stumble out the door on your way to catch a live gig at Issue Project Room or the Bell House. Ghenet Brooklyn: long may you reign.

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Restaurants • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Intimately Weird. In a Good Way.

Seating no more than 25 or so, Aliseo takes the concept "intimate" to a new level; especially when the owner comes over to chat about the various salumis he's got on the menu tonight, or whatever else you'd like to ask him about. Of course, you're mostly too busy stuffing yourself on perfectly cooked octopus, fresh seasonal pastas, excellent branzino, a lovely farro and arugula salad, wine, bread, etc. etc. to spend too much time chatting with him. And the decor reminds me of my grandmother's basement in West New York circa 1970. Weird. In the best possible sense of the word, of course.

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Restaurants • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Wednesday Night Groovin'

Simply one of the best combination bar/live music joints in all NYC, Barbes serves up a tantalizing menu of world music in its insanely small back room (maybe it fits 35?). In the front room, 70% of the space is taken up by the bar itself, so maybe another 35 people can fit there, max? Anyway, the point is it's small, intimate, and groovy. Very groovy, especially on Wednesday nights at 10 for the Mandingo Ambassadors, a great African group that expands to as many as 10 musicians. Last Wednesday there were 10 musicians and about 22 patrons--now that's a great musician-to-audience-member ratio.

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Nightlife • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Celebrate Brooklyn 2009

Celebrate Brooklyn kicked off its '09 season last night with a funky performance from David Byrne. Sadly there was no surprise visit from Brian Eno, but the thunder clouds did stay at bay through FOUR encores! Even with the cold damp Monday evening air, there was a HUGE crowd  (if you can imagine Prospect Park feeling like a sardine can, then you can get a sense of the turnout.) Could it have leaked that the dancers and entire band would perform the classic "Burning Down The House" in white tutus? Celebrate Brooklyn's line up, as usual, is amazing. All shows are free of charge, but come very early if you have any hope of seeing something other than the back of people's heads...or you could become a "friend" and bypass the grueling lines. The ever-amazing Transportation Alternatives has set up a valet parking system for bicycles this year and limewire has set up a free compilation of the '09 season for download. Celebration indeed.

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Landmarks • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Food in a Pocket

I was halfway through my hummus sandwich before I thought to take a picture of the garbanzo-explosion I'd been voraciously consuming. Blinding hunger attenuates all higher-order priorities except, at least in my case, extreme frugality. Enter Pita Hut of Park Slope. An oasis of affordable fare on a stretch less congested with strollers but priced in expectance of their arrival, Pita Hut is not a neighborhood destination nor does it compete with more established or authentic Mediterranean eateries. But when the thought of paying $6 for a cup of organic free-range goat yogurt or a $15 mini-quiche makes even an empty stomach heave, a $4 sandwich positively exploding with hummus and tomato (couldn't taste the tahini they claimed to add) will satisfy the emptiest stomachs and wallets.

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Restaurants • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Not Just For Grandma

How do you become an instant Park Slope success? Take a former Laundromat, add mismatched couches and tables, play a wild mix of indie hits and serve good coffee. The Tea Lounge brings together the variety of Park Slopers that populate the surrounding area--scruffy freelancers, new mothers with toddlers in tow, and the usual coffee-bar crowd of laptop users. As for the namesake, it's available by the mug, individual pot, or satchel for home brewing. And while at times it can feel like a hybrid office/playdate space, the Tea Lounge is a great place to grab a beer or glass of wine in the early evenings, thanks to a full bar area. With that said, don't expect a hot pickup scene: most people here are probably too enamored with their Macbooks to take note of you.

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Coffee • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

littlefield Opening Weekend

NFT recently trekked out to Gowanus to take a sneak peek at a promising new performance and art space. Housed in an old, 6,200-square foot warehouse, littlefield merges the Gowanus' industrial past with an organic, eco-friendly future. They've installed a state-of-the-art sound system especially designed for live music, film screenings, and art installations. To further maximize sound and promote intimacy, a moveable wall was built so when the partition is fully closed, the performance space can accommodate up to 200 people while the bar/courtyard can hold up to 50. For larger performances, the partition can be moved aside and the entire space can accommodate up to 250 people. Trust us. This place is gorgeous and will probably quickly become another good reason to explore Gowanus at night. Future NFT party location perhaps? Stay tuned.

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Nightlife • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Neer & Far

This is, by far, one of the most essential pieces of information you will need if you are about to become a Brooklyn father. Need diapers or Children's Tylenol at 2 am? No problem. Neergaard is here. And it's been here for a while, and still seems to be going strong even though TWO different unnamed asshole pharmacy chains put up outposts within 100 yards of Neergaard. But neither is 24-hour. So they can both go fuck themselves.

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Shopping • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

The Unknown Church

I've always wondered about this large church on Pacific Street, right off of Vanderbilt. So I looked it up in both of my NYC "building" bibles, the AIA Guide and 1000 New York Buildings. Nope. Not in either. So I just walked in on Saturday afternoon--church wide open, church completely empty. Cornerstone states it is from 1912. Great tile work, huge barrel vault, large organ above door. A little dilapidated, but some scaffolding is up, so clearly they are doing some restoration work. Check it out.

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Landmarks • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Too Good To Be True

Joyce Bakeshop: $2 for a large coffee or tea. Nice staff. Fabulous small ham & cheese croissants. Wi-Fi. Open 7 days. Conveniently located on the main retail strip of Prospect Heights, Vanderbilt Avenue. Always good but not-too-interruptive music playing (at least in the mornings, when I'm there). Nice photos on the walls, especially a few of the black-and-white ones. Stuff like pies and cakes and tarts (pictured) and quiches baked specially for catered events. Simply put, everything a neighborhood coffee shop/bakery should be it won the coffee shop war with the now-departed Muddy Waters across the street. Now it will hopefully win the war with the recesssion as well.

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Coffee • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Girls Girls Girls

Editor's Note: Cattyshack is now closed. Sorry ladies.

If there's one thing I know, it's ladies. Ladies on poles, ladies taking the floor, ladies lining up to pay $10 cover charges. I have known them all already, known them all. Out of the dusty 4th Avenue wilderness, a gaggle of girls of variegated physical factions comes: They are lithe and limber, vengeful and light. Cattyshack knows no stylistic boundaries, for Cattyshack is artfully sleazy and encourages ill behavior amongst all its females. When last I regarded the depravity, my good pal SV Secunda indulged herself in every way a pal may indulge. As she luxuriated, I reconnoitered. I looked upon the proceedings, but refused to pay $7-$10 for a drink. I inspected the hip-hop dance floor downstairs, the '80s dance floor upstairs, the smoking terrace, the giant pool table and go-go poles, and then left, violently, through the rain-sopped streets of Slope leaving a trail of tears, soot, and sequins in my wake. I had seen enough to last me a lifetime. I roved my way o'er to the 4th Avenue F.

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Nightlife • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Show-Offs

Sushi restaurants, oftentimes, can be so stuffily mannered in the structured, fishy, Zen sense that it makes my perpetually agitated self want to scream, shout, consume my fish and toss about. Blue Ribbon Sushi, the best sushi this side of my wildest fantasies, is no exception. In fact, it is calm enough to give rise to insanity. Unscientifically (since I only ate there once) I can categorically declaim that few patrons at Blue Ribbon Sushi actually partake of the foodstuff, instead preferring to ostentatiously relax, read newspapers and chatter. Sake for one was $20. The miso soup arrived in parts. But don't get the wrong idea: I liked this place! I won't go again 'cause I like cheap fish, saving my money and causing a ruckus and not feeling bad about it, but I'll still check out the bakery variant on Sullivan, of course.

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Restaurants • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Educate Yourself

Before Wikipedia and Perez, before Google and Gawker, there were books. To learn about a person, a place, a historical event, one had to scour one or (gasp) several reference books. In most modern libraries, the plethora of computers would seem to indicate that these tomes of information have disintegrated from collective neglect and digital dominance. But they do exist en mass and at your touch-type weary fingertips on the serene second floor of the Brooklyn Library. On a recent afternoon, sunlight streamed through the library windows over no more than a handful of readers deeply engrossed in selections from the reference stacks. The dust, the smell, the overwhelming Dewey-decimal variety of the room is thrilling. One floor above the din of the popular library, there's something singularly thrilling about the search for non-hyperlinked information. And if the Central Library in Manhattan feels like a museum, its Brooklyn brother is more a petting zoo: just you and the books, no stuffy intermediary. Get your facts and gossip the old-fashioned way: check it out.

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Landmarks , Libraries • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

Reinventing Grand Army Plaza Exhibit

Did you know there's a fountain in the middle of Grand Army Plaza? And that it's really cool? I didn't--I was too overwhelmed by kamikaze drivers and the complicated criss-cross crosswalks to attempt exploring the elusive tree-lined island. So when I heard about the contestto reimagine the traffic hub crowning Prospect Park, I figured any design had to be less frenzied than the current one. Showcasing the top 30 entries on Tyvek cubes ringing the fountain, the exhibit details the Plaza's history and envisioned futures. Imagine Flatbush Avenue running under a raised park, or 'stripes' of space for shops, cafés, outdoor markets, and reflecting pools. Changes both practical and fantastical have been presented to the Design Trust for Public Space, which sponsors the exhibit as well as the People's Choice Award for the most popular design (text your vote!). In a borough largely lost to heavy traffic and self-isolating cultural enclaves (that means you, Slope-mommies!), these designs glimpse at pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented public space. It's worth the terrifying trip into the plaza to see how different Brooklyn's future could be.

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Landmarks • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace

One of Many

Let's face it: despite the addition of new bike lanes in the city, biking is still incredibly hazardous to your health and your wallet. During the one week stint that I tried biking to work, I felt as if I was in a video game with only one quarter and no extra lives. Even worse, on the last day I biked to work in Midtown from Brooklyn, I was pulled over by a cop for not being in the bike lane around 34th St (ummm, officer, why aren't you going after the bike messengers who are speeding thru lights and clipping pedestrians on the sidewalk?). Then, because my stupid company at the time wouldn't let me bring my bike inside, it got stolen. Thanks Kryptonite Locks, thanks a lot. While groups like Critical Mass are helping to raise awareness of biker's rights, there's no more sobering reminder of the challenges urban bicyclists face than The Ghost Bike. If you're in Park Slope around 5th Avenue and Prospect Place and see this white bicycle, take a moment to pay your respects to Liz Padilla who was struck and killed by a truck while biking to work back in 2005.

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Landmarks • Park Slope / Prospect Heights / Windsor Terrace