Fall=Festivals

Fall equals festivals in NYC. I left my apartment on Saturday morning and was hit with a crisp breeze, warm sunshine and a buzz on the street. Folks on Clark were setting up for a tag sale. On Cranberry, neighbors were setting out cupcakes, pumpkins and fun activities for the whole family. Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, Matt and I headed to Ulysses' Oyster Festival on historic Pearl Street. (Great fun until the food poisoning hit!) Union Square was also abuzz, full of paruzers, honey crisp apples and mums of every color.

Today, the smell of grilled meat and sounds of kids and music filled Atlantic Ave. at the 33rd annual Atlantic Antic festival. That will have to be on my list to see next year as I spent the day at Jacob Riis state park playing the par 3 (lovely time, the same can't be said of my putting!)

I am already looking forward to next weekend: Open House New York. Hundreds of buildings, companies and artists open their doors to the public this coming Saturday and Sunday. I was looking forward to the Ellis Island tour that shows participants the unrenovated hospital on the south side of the island. The Woolworth building and the train tracks that will be Highline Park were some of Matt and my other top choices. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea and those tours are already booked.

But there are tons of locations that don't require reservations and some places that still have time slots available.
In Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Wallabout houses in Ft. Greene, 6 Point Ale and Pier Glass Art Studio in Red Hook and Barzel Iron Works in Williamsburg all sound like fun choices.

Governor's Island is also open for the weekend and the old US Customs house in Manhattan looks spectacular.

Choices choices! I'll bring my camera!

Movie update

There were movie trailers set up on Cadman Plaza W this morning near the High Street subway station. I can only imagine what the neighborhood will look like tonight! According to the comments on the Brooklyn Heights Blog, there is a giant grill/smoker and other food services on Clark Street. I will be really irritated if my apartment smells like a pig roast when I get home tonight!

P.S. it is odd to read about things that might be happening outside my window when I am not home.

Burn After Reading

As was first reported on the Brooklyn Heights Blog last week, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are going to film a movie in my neighborhood this week. The movie is called "Burn After Reading" and is about two gym employees who come across a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent and attempt to sell it. Apparently the movie takes place in Georgetown but the producers didn't want to leave NYC and decided that BH has a Georgetown feel (I agree!)

This sign is taped to the tree right outside my front door.

I would offer Brad and George use of my apartment, but I am sure the trailers that will soon appear on the street will be much larger that my pied-a-terre:-)

Unfortunately George was injured in a motorcycle accident a few days ago, so one could surmise that filming might be delayed.

I hope not!

I am on a full out cutie patootie watch!

Corner of Cranberry and Henry

Location: Corner of Cranberry and Henry Street

Time: slightly after a reasonable bedtime

Incident: not quite sure, but it involved a man hanging from a tree trying to remove a locked bike from a street sign. His cohort in crime had the bike lifted over his head so the tree hanger could slide the bike lock over the top of the sign. There were 4-5 others standing around to provide moral support. By the sound of the cheer as I continued to walk towards Clark Street, I think they were successful. I don't expect to see the bike on my walk to the subway tomorrow.

Was the bike being stolen? Was it owned by the tree hanger? Was it owned by tree hanger's friend, who is in for a big surprise tomorrow?

Your guess is as good as mine!

"Only in New York kids, only in New York"

Anchors Away

Are deck shoes for women in style? I don't know about that, but I've seen 2 modern looking women wearing them in the last two weeks.

Can anyone confirm that this is a trend?

I think I might be able to get with this trend a lot easier than I adapted to the idea of skinny jeans (wait, I never adapted to the idea of skinny jeans.)

Deep thoughts for Friday;-)

Have a great weekend. I'm heading home for Dad's b'day.

Anniversaries

Today, the world commemorated the 6th anniversary of 9/11 and I marked my one year anniversary at work. After a stormy day, New York saw a beautiful sunset and touching memorial this evening. May the sunset represent a new beginning and my second fantastic year in New York; and may the memorial serve as a quiet reminder that we never forget those who died on 9/11/2001.

Here are some views from the Promenade.















as the sunset, the beams of light quietly emerged from lower Manhattan

Any old Saturday

As we quickly approach the 6th anniversary of 9/11, the first anniversary to happy on a Tuesday just like 9/11/2001, I spent some time yesterday thinking about how similar Saturday, September 8, 2001 probably was to September 8, 2007. Many people probably ran across the Brooklyn Bridge, just like I did. The weather was nice on both days and tourists visited the World Trade Center site, albeit for different reasons.

I headed down to the site yesterday to walk all the way around the giant pit, reflect and see what preparations are looking like for Tuesday. At first glance, the hole does now just look like a construction site. But giant American flags hung on adjacent buildings, memorials on the side streets, a substantial police presence and a couple remaining decrepid buildings are all erie reminders of what was.

Here are some pictures:
I think that is World Financial Center












view from the northern pedestrial bridge

















there were probably 40-50 motorcycles lined up on the side streets south of the site. All of the helmets said something similar.








The FDNY Memorial Wall: "Dedicated to those who fell, and those who carry on"












small memorial on one of the southern side streets









Ladder Co. 10 is literally in the street immediately south of where the towers once stood.

I've caught the bug

During my apartment search last year, my boss would always tell me about things she saw or read in the New York Times real estate section. I would sheepishly have to admit that I didn't read that section of the paper and she would look at me with a "you are clearly not a New Yorker" look on her face.

At the time, I thought it was a bit odd, but now I have the bug too. After taking a quick look at the front page to make sure there is no breaking news I need to know about, I flip right for the real estate section and devour the articles each Saturday morning. Last weekend there was an article about how two architects could transform a 200sq foot studio into a space with a bed, kitchen area with dining table and living room area. They raised the living room and slid the bed under the low platform, trundle style. Apparently architect redesign articles appear monthly. My favorite weekly feature is the story that follows one person/couple in their apartment search. How much does the person want to spend? How much do they actual spend? Do they find a gem? Do they have to readjust their expectations? I feel their pain!

NYC real estate boggles the mind. In a country where housing markets are popping faster than children’s bubbles, the New York market is still hot, hot, hot. Will I ever be able to buy a condo and do a super renovation that could appear in the Times? Who knows, but it's fun to dream. At the very least, reading about real estate is a very New York thing to do:-)

Par 3

Take a trip down Flatbush Ave., filled with ethnic food stores, dollar stores, dollar vans (another NY phenomenon) and people crossing the street at will. Keep on going past the old National Guard station until you reach the shore and you’ll find the location of my latest outing: the par 3 golf course at Jacob Riis State Park.

6 days after playing 18, Matt and I are still talking about how much fun we had. The course is very well maintained, especially for a public course that likely sees lots of use during beach season. It wasn’t crowded and the staff was friendly. The ocean is just a few hundred yards away, making the conditions a bit more challenging at times.

When we weren’t swinging, there were other sights to keep us entertained. Two groups who wheeled small coolers instead of their golf bags (filled with water for hydration, I am sure!) The girl in a baby doll dress and flip-flops was also quite a sight!

The course is open until November. I’ll be back!


p.s. I made good on my bet last night and went to see Superbad. Funny funny stuff! This is DEFINITELY NOT a movie to see with your parents, but there were a couple of scenes that had me in tears I got laughing so hard. Best of all, there is actually a good moral to the story! I can’t leave you with any quotes from the movie because most of them involve profanity or other words that I don’t use. But trust me, if you are looking for a no brainer that will leave you laughing, go watch Superbad!