Grand Recycling

Maybe the most epic recycling is that of the sea floor where it melts under the weight of continental shelves, but the revamping of the armory for use as a neighborhood sports complex is very impressive. As proponent of adaptive reuse Dave Burney suggested, check out those trusses. If this was built today it's pretty hard to imagine the product wouldn't be a nightmare along the lines of the Atlantic Center. No trusses to speak of. By the people, for the people, 7 years in the making, the Park Slope armory represents an inspiring community enrichment. I wonder what's in the works with all those other Brooklyn armories?

corner nimbus

My Conscience on 8th Avenue

Getting off the train at the 7th Avenue stop last Friday I hadn't walked half a block before I saw a ten spot lying on the ground a few feet in front of me. There didn't seem to be any obstacle to snatching it up and slipping it in my pocket, no one in my way, so I swooped down for it, vaguely aware of someone to my right a few feet behind me who must have witnessed my dive to the sidewalk. I was also vaguely aware of a man about a half a block ahead of me who was carrying a suit bag, and who I'd seen taking things in and out of his pockets as he rushed along madly, too fast for a Friday afternoon, but you know how it is with summer weekends, places to go, people to see.

I snuck a peek at the woman on my right, medium brown hair, neat as Nancy Drew, a slight curve to her lips which told me she was taking it all in. So I started talking to her, saying I'm not sure who might have dropped this, blah blah blah. She said, well that man up there was just taking things out of his pocket so it might be his. I protested, you know, he's walking really, really fast. I am not going to run up and catch him. And I'm not going to yell, he'll never hear me. I suggested if she felt like running she could take it up to him.

So she did. I handed her the sweaty bill and off she went, running in her skirt. How often do you see a woman so well put together just start running down the street. There was something very beautiful about it. She caught up to Mr. Speed and they started talking. I saw him taking stuff out of his pockets to discover that yes, his money wasn't where it should have been. And that was it. Their talk was over too quickly. I was hoping for something more romantic. It seems like when an elegant woman runs up to you and hands you your lost money you should at least spend it on a drink for her, and maybe some schnitzel. But of course, places to go, people to see. Maybe he was on his way to get his tuxedo pressed for his own wedding, he did have the distracted air of a nervous groom.

My conscience went left on 11th, I took a right on 12th, and the guy took his suit bag into the dry cleaners. Halfway down the block someone had set a book about Fellini out on top of their trashcan. They should have just put it in the trashcan because it was completely waterlogged, it's warped pages foul with mildew. But they couldn't quite bring themselves to dump it in with the rest of the garbage. I'm glad they didn't, there was something compelling about the way colonies of whitish mold growing on the book cover's film still complemented the frilly parasols and frocks of the characters as they rushed up the hill towards the biplane. No free money for me this time, but at least I got to witness the miracle of mold blooming like Queen Anne's lace on an Italian hillside. I took a picture.

Lovely Lindens

They are Linden blossoms aren't they? Whatever they are, they look but good against hot red that fades to blue.

Man Behind the Counter

He said I could take his picture, but I'm not sure he thought I was serious when I told him I was going to put his picture on the internet. How could I resist?

Sign Troubles at Royal Supermaket

I noticed the new electronic sign installed in the window with dismay because it hits the quiet corner of 8th Avenue and 15th Street in South Slope like a swatch of Times Square. It's small, but it moves light and pattern with a degree of intensity you don't want to go near if you're an epileptic. It lets you know without a doubt, if you had any, that you can in fact buy BEER and LOTTO tickets in that store. The words turn cartwheels, dissolve into animated patterns and reappear as another choice vice designed to jackhammer it's presence into your brain.

The other day I was in there and asked if they thought the sign was helping business. They said yes. Then I asked them if they were sure. This is a new skill I've developed, planting seeds of doubt in unsuspecting store owners. Wouldn't it be great to know for sure? If they could only turn it off for a week and see if it changes anything.

But they won't have to do that because it looks like the sign's been going on the fritz. Last week I noticed that the circus of light seemed to have unwanted streaks going through it. According to the shop owner, the lines had appeared, and when they went to take the sign in to be fixed, they disappeared. Later, they were back. Haunted sign, cool.

Today the only thing happening with the sign was a small vertical line on the right side and one little dot in the middle flashing red and green. I kept looking at it to see if I could figure out what it was advertising. Not lotto, not beer, not today. Looks like something fairly nonconceptual. Did God take over the sign to advertise spaciousness? Did Buddha take over the sign to advertise the emptiness and bliss at the root of all things? Maybe Kali, in her impassioned mission to kill every demon in existence, hacked at its wiring with her blood-drenched sabre. Who is controlling that sign now? I don't know but looking at the disabled thing is a huge relief.

So run, run in people, go see the miracle sign. And be sure to tell the cashier that the reason you decided to shop in their store today is because that damn sign is broken. Unless you loved it, in which case, I'm sorry.

UPDATE: Yesterday morning, the sign was unplugged. Nevermind...

Window Kitty

Another 8th Avenue house. But this one looks like it could be in France for some reason, maybe because that cat obviously has a very European schedule. Wish we could all slow down and watch like you, Kitty. It would save many lives.

Pigeons on 8th Avenue House

Thanks to the Bed Stuy Blog I for one am better versed on brownstone architecture. But I can't say for sure what you would call this South Slope house beyond "frame" or if that window is a bay, hanging bay, or whatever. Does anyone else care? This house is probably around 13 feet in width. Many would avoid that, but a house that size can be very cozy, just enough. And as you see, the pigeons don't seem to mind it. They haven't flown off to roost on McCondo. They may be flying rats to some, but they can't be called narcissists.

Brooklyn Royals

On the corner of 15th and 8th you find the Royal businesses, the Royal Deli on the South East side of the intersection and the Royal Supermarket on the North East.

The Royal Supermarket was just gutted and revamped, it is now brighter, cleaner and more spacious inside. The people who work their seem a little more cheerful, I hope they are enjoying the overhaul.

The new awning went up recently. I'm not sure how it is that the Royal Supermarket crown looks like a chef's hat and the Royal Deli crown looks like a really nice crown I would like to wear if I were the Queen. Or is it a king's crown, I don't know the difference. Was it on purpose that the newer one looks like a chef's hat?

I wonder who Nida is. That's a nice name. There's an eyeball sticker affixed to the pinnacle of the crown that says Nida's, perhaps to ward off evil. Curiously, that eye faces the armory directly, as if they are seeking protection from some of the energies carried by the more desperate people living in the shelter. I was in the deli once when some of the armory denizens started fighting with each other. My kids and I hunkered down in the back of the store until they craziness ended. (cue giggles from PS mommy haters)

But fights happen all over the place. Even in my hometown of Arlington VA you can get beaten up at the 7 Eleven if you are there at the wrong time. I'm hoping the Royals get the protection they'd like and the desperate people find whatever support they need so they don't have to act like that. I wonder if that would be possible.