Bklink: Day in a Life

Check out this photo record of a day's travel from Sheepshead Bay through Coney Island via subway to Bay Ridge. There are photo galore and they say something.--Erica's Blog

Brookspring: Bay Ridge Blooming

[Image for GL courtesy of Deborah Matlack/Matlack Photography]

This is Ft. Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge brought to us courtesy of GL Photo Contributor and photographer Deborah Matlack, who send many wonderful images our way.

Bklink: Tanoreen Expansion Making Progress

Bay Ridge's amazing Middle Eastern eatery Tanoreen is making progress toward expanding to a new, bigger space down the block from its current Third Avenue location. The restaurant is one of the city's most amazing Middle Eastern places and its tiny space is constantly jammed.--Left in Bay Ridge

Disconnected in Brooklyn on Craigslist Bonus: It (Could Have) Happened on the D

We have no idea what this is (other than short fiction), but we came across it and we liked it, so here it is:

It all happened on the Queens bound D - m4w (Bay Ridge)

It all happened on the Queens bound D. She was searching for a minimally invasive emotional relationship and he had Jerry Orbach's eyes. Literally. Jerry was an eye donor when he died and as a result saved two people from blindness. This guy was one of them. The other, well the other doesn't matter to this story. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the very, very beginning.

I guess it all started in Maui. Used to spend the weekends there. Right off La Perouse Bay. And I really got into it. I even had a giant mural of Queen Liliuokalani hanging over my California King. I'd had a late night with some friends and my head was throbbing like a digital clock yet to be set blinks 12:00. I was up until the sun rose talking over macadamia nuts, papaya and a whole case of Taittinger rose champagne and now I had the headache to match. Now my better half was up making coffee and I was trying to make out what record she was blasting in the living room. I was on the second floor and it was muffled but it sounded like Motown and the coffee smelled like home, like Brooklyn. Temptations maybe? I could only really make out the bass and the drums from upstairs. Martha and the Vandellas perhaps? I knew it was something classic. Something iconic. I heard that famous Holland-Dozier-Holland rhythm. Gladys Knight? The Marvelettes?! A-ha! It was The Supremes, "My World Is Empty Without You"! Of course! We both loved this tune. I'd even gone fishing once with a few of the remaining The Funk Brothers up in Woodstock. I knew if baby was playing this song it meant I had to get out of bed and go downstairs to be with her. She had gone to sleep long before I did the night before. I stayed up late smoking R & J Hill's with the locals. She probably wanted to know what had happened to the case of Taittinger.

Back home I'd instructed our cleaning lady, Vienna, to line the birdcages with whatever newspapers came over the weekend; Financial Times, The Journal, The Times, The Observer, whatever. I liked the idea of our two budgies shitting on the Financial Times while we were in Maui. It just felt right. Vienna was good. She had the keys to everything and her own debit card linked to my account in case of emergencies. We trusted Vienna with our world. So when the phone rang in Maui I knew it was bad. "Honey", she said in that sugary voice, "Vienna is on the phone. She sounds confused". I didn't even know we had a phone in the Maui house. I'd never heard it ring. We had two red Dobermann's as doorbells and that’s all we really needed.

"Hello, Vienna. What's up?", I didn't give her the Hollywood "this had better be good", because I knew it was. Vienna would never call otherwise.

And that's when it all came crashing.

We await the next installment.

Signs of Spring: Bay Ridge Edition

[Image for GL courtesy of Deborah Matlack/Matlack Photography]

This is the spring gorgeousness in Owls Head Park in Bay Ridge as captured by frequent GL Photo Contributor, photographer Deborah Matlack. Many more such scenes to come Brooklyn-wide in the next couple of weeks by the look of trees starting to bloom.

GL Photo Du Jour: Outside the Bay Ridge Window

[Photo courtesy of Charles Andrisano]

The photographer, Charles Andrisano, emails to say, "Spring is in the air, and I took advantage of our ever present sparrows. This shot was taken from my living room window in Bay Ridge two days before Easter Sunday."

Signs of Spring, Part I: Bay Ridge Edition

[Courtesy of GL's Carroll Gardens Correspondent]

Our Carroll Gardens correspondent ventured to the far off corner of Brooklyn called Bay Ridge over the weekend and found that spring is even more far advanced there than it is in Carroll Gardens or Park Slope or environs. Excellent.

Brookbit: Bay Ridge Loses a Blog

We were sad to get an email overnight from the person behind the Right in Bay Ridge blog announcing that the blog is being suspended. The email said, "After much reflection and a shift in priorities, I have decided not to continue running the Right in Bay Ridge blog any longer...Should I be able to revitalize this blog later on, I will let you know." Right in Bay Ridge was one of the strongest and most reliable blogs coming out of that neighborhood. It will be missed.--GL Inbox

Gowanus Lounge Photo Du Jour, Part I: Bay Ridge Edition

[Photo courtesy of Charles Andrisano]

Local photographer Charles Andrisano sent us this gorgeous shot of Wednesday night's lunar eclipse as seen from a rooftop in Bay Ridge. The streaks in the photo are the lights of a commercial airliner that he says "had crossed under the moon just as I tripped the shutter." We love the light.

Disconnected in Brooklyn on Craigslist: You Almost Killed Me, But You're Hot

When a man notices a woman, it doesn't matter that she almost ran him down when fleeing a bar. Attraction is attraction. The evidence is right here in our Brooklyn Missed Connection of the week, which comes to us from Bay Ridge:

You almost ran me over!!! - m4w - 38

I noticed you last night, I was sitting a couple of tables down from you with my friends...you were the prettiest girl at the bar, too bad your friends got you angry and you stormed out. I came out to talk and perhaps buy you a drink, but you ran to your SUV and drove off, almost running me over. Your night was ruined, I felt so mad, what an injustice to a beautiful brunette!!! I'm 5'8" Dark Hair/ Dark Eyes half Italian / Half Brazilian, perhaps you noticed me too.. I know I can make you forget about whatever got you angry. Please tell me which Bar it was, so I'll know its you. Ciao Bella, and I hope you have a happier Valentine's Day!!!

The near miss vehicular homicide clearly wasn't directed at the poster, so maybe he does have a chance with her, as long as uses mass transit on the first date.

Bklink: Radioactivity

A building on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge succumbed to the deadly combination of high winds and an unsupported cinder block wall built on the building's roof. The building was once the site of the Leading Edge Radiation Oncology Services Center, and some residents wondered "about spillage of radioactive material following the collapse."--Right in Bay Ridge

Bklink: Funeral Home Condos

"What had once been the site of the Hollywood-connected Bay Ridge Funeral Home is now nearly a half-block long hole in the ground, easily providing passersby a glimpse into their neighbors' side-street backyards from the rare vantage point of Fourth Avenue - for now." It will become a seven-story condo. Earlier excavation unearthed a time capsule 47 years before it was due to surface.--Right in Bay Ridge

Bklink: Putting Cut on the Stink

The city can't seem to put enough cut on the stench that is making resident of Bay Ridge on Fort Hamilton Parkway between Marine Ave. and 99th Street a little sick to their stomach. The smell, they say, is coming from a former sewer pipe project. The city has tried tossing pine-scented deodorizer down there, but residents say the stench is worse than ever. The problem started after a $6.9 million city sewer project. "Residents are nauseated--and confused."--NYDN

Bklink: Bay Ridge Pharmacy

The suicide of the owner of Lowen's Pharmacy, who was caught up in a steroids scandal was reported yesterday. "I've shopped at Lowen's many times over the years. This business has long roots in the neighborhood - Kenny was telling me how he remembers their old location, and the real life Mr. Lowen, pharmacist ,who ran it, near 68th and Third, right next to Three Jolly Pigeons. When the neighborhood's other small pharmacies --including Alpine Pharmacy and Physicians & Surgeon's, both on Fourth Avenue, quietly expired, Lowen's actually expanded. It moved to 69th Street and took over I think three stores. This gave it some degree of size, so that it actually prospered while competing against Rite Aid and the ohter mega-chains that invaded Bay Ridge and all of America. Now a suicide. I took some comfort in knowing that it didn't happen in the store...Lowen's Pharmacy has been a beloved part of the neighborhood for 30-40 years or more."--Bay Ridge Blog, Photo, Soup Flowers/flickr

Bklink: Fireworks

Sunday night was supposed to be a spectacular showing of royal majesty in New York Harbor as the Cunard line's Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2, and the brand-new Queen Victoria rendezvoused by the Statue of Liberty for a Grucci fireworks display before sailing through the Narrows into the open sea - but a delayed sail-past coupled with the cold pouring rain and strong winds of an impending Nor'easter spoiled the fun for many viewers along Bay Ridge's Shore Promenade.--Right in Bay Ridge

Bklink: Hanging Around

"Construction workers frantically scrambled to secure a lift after a rope apparently slipped from the roof of a Bay Ridge apartment, sending one side of the platform hurtling down with a worker inside." There are many photos, although in the end, no one was hurt.--Right in Bay Ridge

Forgotten NY Goes Back to Bay Ridge

The inimitable Forgotten New York returns to Bay Ridge this week with a new feature offering dozens of pics and tidbits of that neighborhood. Here's a sampling of the info about Shore Road, some of whose homes appear in the FNY photos above:

Shore Road is as old as Bay Ridge itself. The neighborhood was originally a country resort for Manhattan financiers and bigwigs in the early to mid-1800s; its remoteness made it bucolic, but its wonderful water views made it catnip for those who could afford to build massive mansions by the water. Shore Road shows up in its undulating, curving route, following the shoreline, as early as 1870s maps.

Changes came in the 1940s after the Belt Parkway and accompanying landfill moved Shore Road away from the actual shore. Many of the old mansions disappeared to be replaced by high-rise apartment buildings. However, around 80th-82nd Streets, some of the flavor of the past is preserved, with opulent private homes, both new and old.

Definitely head over for the full read.

Bklink: Chips Up in Bay Ridge

The British are coming. The Chip Shop, of Park Slope and (more recently) Atlantic Avenue fame, is opening up a Bay Ridge branch on Third Avenue. "But will the chips hit the fan for this expanding English eatery empire as it opens its doors in traditionally Irish Bay Ridge?"--Right in Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge Turns 154

One of the neighborhoods that has seen a blogging boomlet this year is Bay Ridge, with three relative new blogs bringing news every day from that corner of Brooklyn. Yesterday, Right in Bay Ridge--one of the new crew blogging away there--noted the neighborhood's 154th birthday with a great post reviewing its history. A sample:

Like so many facets of this neighborhood even till today, the naming of the area "Bay Ridge" in 1853 had as much to do with a real estate deal as anything else.

The original Dutch settlement of this neck of the woods, going back long before the 1800s, was called Geelen Hook (Yellow Hook in English) due to the yellow soil here. Just dig a few inches in your back yard and you'll understand how fitting this name was. Similarly, our neighbor to the north - Red Hook - earned its name for such a reason as well.

By 1853, however, a variety of circumstances would conspire to lead to the re-naming of the area. Local businessmen and civic leaders in Yellow Hook had wanted to divvy up the vast, rolling farmland here and begin plotting for a future, densely populated residential area. However, around the same time there had been a horrible outbreak of Yellow Fever across the country. Many were concerned that the name "Yellow Hook" might be associated with the disease and subsequently spoil the planned real estate development. (Imagine, for instance, trying to sell houses today in a place called "Aids Town," "Tuberculosis City," or "Gonorrheaville." It wouldn't be easy).

And so, after some discussion, Yellow Hook was renamed Bay Ridge. Read the full story at Right in Bay Ridge, which has become one of our required daily reads this year along with the other Bay Ridge news blogs, The Bay Ridge Rover and The Bay Ridge Blog.

Bklink: Santa Looking for Bay Ridge Steroids?

Santa Claus is coming to Lowen's in Bay Ridge. It is unknown if he is looking for steroids or will get tied up in the Mitchell Report, as Lowen's became caught up in some alleged steroids trafficking a few months back.--The Bay Ridge Rover