Reader Richie spotted this on a car on East 23rd Street. It’s hard to read, but it says “Please don’t be an asshole. Use 1 space for 1 car.”
I think we need a whole series dedicated to “Please don’t be an asshole” signs. Here’s one I made for the commenters:
Coming soon to 2612 East 14th Street: Sagdiana Restaurant. A culinary feast of Uzbek, Caucasian, Russian and French cousins. I, personally, don’t have any French cousins that I know of, but I sure do hope that, if I do, Sagdiana hunts them down, kills them, and serves them to me with a fancy-shmancy cream sauce.
The above sign appeared this week at 2612 East 14th Street, the former home of Cafe L’Azur, confirming our suspicions that the 2.5 year old restaurant is closed. It’s cut off in the photo, but the sign notes Sagdiana will have all new management. No word yet on when they’ll be open, but we took a peak inside and it seems just about fully furnished. We’re looking forward to our new neighbors.
I go to real estate companies all the time when I need a professional suit. When I need a casual suit, I go to a pharmacist. My zoot suits are ordered exclusively from cell phone stores.
Oh, 1702 Avenue Z, how I love you so. The incompetence of the various people around you never fails to provide content for me. Today it’s this sign for professional suits – surely you meant suites – but there’s a whole history of fumbles that leaves me bewildered… and amused.
Sure, most recently it was the “Whoops! We forgot to build a garage!” that led to some impromptu sidewalk destruction and the removal of freshly planted trees. But you were screwing up long before that. There was the time we got locked in during your not-so-open open house, and that was just the first run of the new realtors – Dreamlife. And, of course, we can’t forget how bigger brokers abandoned you after a botched deal caused a prospective tenant to call it quits.
Thanks for the latest laugh. We’re looking forward to your next boondoggle.
Some time last week this street corner changed. Something that was there isn’t now. Can you spot what it is?
To make it easier, we’ve included a couple of signs you should look for. Not to advertise the fact, but they’re there, staring you in the face, like bills on a board.
The old sign.
Roy’s Sheepshead Bicycle Shop (2679 Coney Island Avenue) put up a new sign recently, giving a more modern look to the longtime storefront, which first opened in 1931.
News like this is always mixed in my book. On the one hand, investments like this mean the business owner is looking to stay around a while longer – and with a staple like Roy’s, that’s a great thing. On the other hand, Roy’s old sign was an awesome relic of a bygone era, and had a lot of kitsch value.
Regardless, with bike lanes installed and public attitudes shifting, we stand at the dawn of a new bicycle era, and Roy’s Sheepshead Bicycle Shop – one of the city’s oldest and most respected cycling establishments – is retooling to fit the times. Good for them.
By the way, Robert Fernandez, who took the photo, pointed out that some of the trappings of the old school Roy’s remains. And we hope they keep it that way.
Photo by Erica Sherman
Hundreds crammed a Midwood street on Thursday to witness the renaming of East 17th Street and Avenue L as “Saul Bruckner Way,” in memory of the beloved founding principal of Edward R. Murrow High School.
The uncontained crowd, not only wanting to be a part of Brooklyn history, but to witness the hopes of thousands come to fruition, sprawled as far out as Bay Street and Chestnut Avenue near Avenue M to listen to current and former teachers and administrators, as well as area politicians, pay tribute to the educational visionary, whom Borough President Marty Markowitz called “The last of the educational Mohicans.”
Photo by Corey K.'s unnamed friend
Will Smith is again saving a slice of Southern Brooklyn history… sort of.
You may have thought we saw the last of Zig Zag Records when they closed down in December, after 35 years in business as a Southern Brooklyn cultural staple. But no. The store is getting ready for its close up, and will soon be immortalized on the silver screen in Men in Black III.
Find out the story and see more photos, including of the original signage.
I thought it would be at least a few weeks before the first screw-ups came to light regarding the new anti-smoking measure, which bans smoking in parks, beaches and other Parks Department property. I thought we’d hear about tickets mistakenly given to old men smoking on a sidewalk next to a park (legal), or on a Parks-controlled bike path next to vehicular traffic, like Ocean Parkway (legal), or to an actor smoking in a theater production in the park (legal).
But I overlooked the little things. Or maybe I just over-estimated Parks Department employees. Because it took literally two days after the bill’s implementation for a reader to spot the above sign, which was probably installed on Monday.
Can you guess what’s wrong with the sign? Can you? Well, nothing, I suppose, except for where it’s placed.
This sign, which reads “No smoking on beach and promenade,” went up at Bill Brown Park, at Avenue Y and Bedford Avenue. That’s right, Bill Brown Park, which has no beaches or promenades. Though there is a sprinkler that I’m not sure is ever actually turned on. And some handball courts. They’re putting down turf, too. But certainly no beaches or promenades.
I’m pretty sure this is a regulation I can comply with. I vow not to smoke – ever – on Bill Brown Park’s beach or promenade.
Edward R. Murrow High School's founding principal, Saul Bruckner, will have a street renamed in his memory. Source: Cac.ophony.org/
There has never been a question in anyone’s mind that Edward R. Murrow High School — a consistently high-achieving academic institution and producer of notable alumni such as director Darren Aronofsky, actress Marisa Tomei, Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch, and Councilwoman Yvette Clarke — is one of the finest public schools in the country.
However, even as the designated School of Excellence “received a grade of ‘A’ on the 2009-10 Progress Report, and a rating of ‘Well Developed’ on the Quality Review for the same period,” if you were not a student at Edward R. Murrow High School during its 30-year heyday, in which founding principal, Saul Bruckner, held the reins, you simply cannot comprehend the understated greatness of this truly awesome educational pioneer. His standing room only funeral, a little over a year ago, brought out hundreds of teary-eyed teachers, staff and students weeping openly over the man whom thousands of graduated teenagers over the course of three decades recalled as always knowing their name.
THE COMMUTE: New beachgoers getting off the bus at Manhattan Beach have been lugging their beach gear down the 600-foot ocean block of Ocean Avenue for 50 years only to discover when they get to the end of the block, both entrances are permanently closed and they then have to walk all the way back or hop the fence. That has finally changed. Two new signs (pictured above) will greet them this summer when they get off the bus, but why has it taken so long?
