I saw this chicken walking on the sidewalk near 6th Ave and 1 St. Being the city-boy that I am, I was a little taken aback. Then I heard a few more clucks, and I looked over a the fence into the nearby back patio and saw a few more chicken happily pecking away.
I know it looks like a big pigeon, but trust me, it was a big gray chicken!
My question is, what’s the etiquette? If it were a cat, I would have ignored it. A dog, maybe knock on the door. But a chicken?Should I let them know their bird flew the coop? Or is it just an urban free range chicken?
Are you even allowed to have a chicken in New York City? Apparently hens are (but not roosters, because I guess roosters crowing at the rising sun would be more annoying than the garbage trucks, whinos, or car alarms that usually wake me at dawn.)
Just another reason I wish I had some outdoor space with our apartment, forget bar-b-cue or dining al fresco, FRESH EGGS! (although I’m not sure I’d want the eggs from a hen pasture raised in 1st St and 6th Ave. sidewalk.)
Tomorrow is my first Father’s Day that I’ll celebrate just as a father, and not for my father, and I’m finding it very sad.
It makes me sad to receive thanks for something I asked to do. “Father” is a moniker I asked for. It can be incredibly difficult, but so emotionally rewarding, that getting thanked for doing it seems hypocritical.
It makes me sad, because I can and should be a better father. I make mistakes every day, I can be a terrible role model, I am often a lazy and inattentive dad, yet my son just adores me regardless. It kills me.
A year ago we took my father out to Fish Camp for Father’s Day, it was the last time I went out with him to a restaurant. He was a deeply flawed man, and made mistakes as a father everyday and when I was young, I adored him, and even after I’m old enough know that he should have and could have been a better father, I still adore him…and miss him.
My father loved that Father’s Day dinner, he loved to adored. Although he would never admit it, he loved to be appreciated, to be the center of attention, I think he got something out of Father’s Day.
I don’t.
Not yet, anyway. Maybe, if after years of being under appreciated, I’ll learn to enjoy the attention of Father’s Day, even if I’m still a far from perfect father. Something to look forward to I guess.
We finally visited the playground this past weekend. I was reluctant to buy into the hype, as I was sorely disappointed by the playground at Pier 1 (aka the scalding spheres of doom!) But I was blown away by the scale and design of the Pier 6 playground. Nate made a beeline to “slide mountain” and the giant Tee-Pee slide, which reminded me of the rocket jungle gym I used to play at as a kid, (it was later deemed a huge risk to children.) The biggest problem I see with it is kids climbing up, and then afraid to go down the slide, and it is tight quarters for an adult to rescue a tyke. Nate scrambled up to the top like sherpa and after a little trepidation went down the slide, and loved it. It was only after I saw the sign “ages 5-9.” Nate will be 3 in August. There is also a long mountain slide and a crazy rope jungle gym.
now THIS was a dangerous slide from MY childhood!
The”The Water Lab” was next, which is a boulder strewn winding stream with sprinklers, sluice, and an Archimedes’ screw. It really is a small water park with a Myst-like quality. Really beautiful with lots of things for kids to play with, and lots of spots for parent to sit just far enough away not to get wet.
We hit “Sandbox Village” next, which claims “may well be the largest park sandbox in Brooklyn, if not New York City.” I might not be the biggest anymore, as we took a lot of the sand home with us sticking to Nate (I don’t recommend going to the sandbox after the water lab.) We were a little tired to take advantage of “Swing Valley” but it looked awesome as well, (although the name sounds a little too much like a sitcom about ’70’s wifeswapping.)
Go early, as this place gets packed by noon on weekends
Watch the street crossing at Atlantic and the BQE (that crossing can be pretty hairy)
Bring swimwear for the kids (if you don’t let them in the water park they will go ballistic)
Don’t be paranoid about your DS or DD hurting themselves. A child could just as easily get a skinned knee on the sidewalk running to get in the park as they could on one of the Biv’s ominous boulders.
This playground really is incredible, and with the current economy, I don’t think we’ll see anything like it for years. So enjoy now before they run out of money to keep it up, or some over-protective nervous nellies ruin it.
The NY Times article “An Apartment Building Where Babies Reign” talks about a building in Brooklyn where four of the six new buyers had babies when they closed on their apartments. I assumed there would be some interesting sub-context or a twist in the article. Maybe the area has great public elementary school (it has two, PS 146 and PS 129) or that the neighborhood, along with Park Slope, has grown into a magnet for families in recent years (it has), or at least say that the building owner had a fetish for pregnant ladies or something (I can’t confirm that one). But no, the best we get from nearly a thousand words in the New York Times is, that’s a lot of diapers. Couldn’t they have at least said that the building was built on the remains of an ancient Indian playground? Throw me a friggin’ bone here, other than stating the obvious, there are a lot of babies in Brooklyn!
News flash, a lot of new parents are moving to the 718! In other news “Traffic Terrible at Rush Hour” and “New Study Finds People Think Weekends Go By Too Fast.” This is not a news story.
UPDATE 8/9/2010:
Since the pool was “saved” we were able to take a dip this past weekend. It is a nice pool, and it is not too crowded, but my initial assessment still stands, it is a dicey area. We go there 20 minutes before the pool opens at 11AM, so we decided to kill some time at the playground next door. There were no children at the playground but there were two gentlemen sleeping on benches, and a third standing nervously in the corner. I couldn’t determine if he was waiting for his “business” day to start or end. And this was all in a PLAYGROUND!
None-the-less, nice pool, crummy neighborhood.
(ORIGINAL POST 6/10/2010)
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I’m not so upset about the Douglas and DeGraw pool in Gowanus closing. My wife loves the pool, as it has a 1′ deep wading pool that the nearby Red Hook pool does not. And a lot of locals were bummed when the city said it would not re-open the pool this summer due to budget concerns. A number of people have even started campaigning to keep the pool open. But I’ve never been the NIMBY sort, and if a pool has to go, I really think it should be the D & D.
I don’t object to the Draconian measures required to enter the pool (must have swimsuit, towel, nothing else is permitted) or the fact that there is not a lick of shade or that it is located 300 feet from one of the most polluted and contaminated waterways on the eastern seaboard.
I’ll be honest, going to the pool with my wife and son, we walked by a prostitute on the corner of Douglas and Nevins. Perhaps, she was actually a lovely lady, who just happened to be dressed… how can I put this as politely as possible…skankily, and she was merely looking for pleasant conversation with gentlemen in their cars. But I stand by my initial prostitute assessment.
Granted, I have not seen any tricking in subsequent visits, but it always left me a little uneasy. It is a nice pool, but the industrial neighborhood west of the pool does have an unsavory under-belly. I did not get this impression from some of the other city pools I’ve been to. Red Hook is usually crowded, but very wholesome, and the Astoria Pool is really breathtaking, and if you haven’t seen the mini Vesuvio Playground pool on Thompson Street in Manhattan, check it out, its adorable.
I wish the city didn’t have to close any pools (or firehouses or libraries.) But one of the main draws of the Double D is that it isn’t as crowded as other pools, and maybe there is a reason for that.
Hooray! They are finally building the bike lane on Prospect Park West. I’m not sure why something that will make streets safer, and reduce pollution is controversial, but apparently the Brooklyn Paper and Marty Markowitz are doing their best to make it appear controversial.
The dedicated bike lane will take away one lane of traffic from Prospect Park West. This will slow down speeding traffic and give bike riders a safe place to ride on a major road.
“It will slow down traffic!”
They are correct, taking out a lane will slow down traffic, but that’s the point! Traffic needs to slow down. PPW is like a drag race! Try taking a dawdling 2 year old across PPW, hoping you’ll make it across in time before the cars speeding from the Grand Army Plaza starting line make it to your light.
“There’s already a bike lane in the park!”
There is a meandering road in the park (filled cars at rush hour.) It is great for a nice scenic ride, but terrible for commuting.
“We will lose parking spaces!”
True, a few parking spots will be taken by the bike path entrance ramps, but the coincidental elimination of the B69 bus will make up most of those lost spots.
When I wrote Marty Markowitz about this issue, and his resistance to the PPW bike lane, he did respond promptly, but he really doesn’t get it. Here is what he said:
“Like our DOT Commissioner, whose professionalism I respect, I too support cycling in this city and have not only supported bike lanes like the ones on 9th Street in Park Slope and Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, but have also been a major proponent of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile on-and-off street bike lane that connects Greenpoint to Sunset Park. Without my office’s support and advocacy the Greenway would not be happening. What I am opposed to is bike lanes on Prospect Park West, which will both take away needed parking for residents and park-goers and interrupt access of pedestrians to the park during peak usage in summer and on weekends. There are better options to explore that would meet everyone’s needs—such as adding traffic lights to calm traffic, and adding another bike lane to the park itself. By the way, as borough president I advocate for bikers, and also for those who do not live near public transportation, those who cannot bike for various reasons, and yes, those families and residents who chose to own a car in this borough.”
Like a true politician, Marty practically breaks his arm patting himself on the back regarding Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. (And I’m not even going to mention how crazy it sounds when tries to make car owners seem like an oppressed minority?!?) Although the real disconnect is that Marty and other opponents think the bike lanes are for recreational cyclists. But the new push for bike lanes like the one on PPW is that they are not being made for cyclists on their weekend tool around the park. They are creating an environment for bicycle commuting and transportation. These bike lanes are trying to get New Yorkers to use alternatives to cars to get around, like they seem to ba able to do it in the rest of the world.
Take a look at the rush hour commute in Utrecht Holland-
A number of years ago, my wife and I looked at an apartment on Hicks St. in Brooklyn Heights, which we affectionately refer to as “The Rabbit Hutch,” very cute, and very small. Like most of Brooklyn Heights, it was still too expensive, but the real reason we rejected it was the lack of green space and parks in the area. If you live in a rabbit hutch, your going to have children, and they need parks.
I kid! The PG looks awesome, and I’m really looking forward to Nate putting it through its paces.
Look at an interactive map of all of Brooklyn Bridge Park here, or check out the live camera of the construction of the pier one park, it may serve as a guide to the sure to be huge line at Blue Marble.
I’ve heard good things about the new restaurant in Park Slope, Fornino, where their Williamsburg location supposedly has the best pizza. But as it is with anything in the Slope there has been a bit of a kerfuffle, there is no children’s menu! They have since added one, but I’d hardly call the owner’s attitude welcoming of kids, “I’m not looking to turn this into a romper room,”Michael Ayoub says adding, “children should act accordingly,” (he then bit the head of an Elmo doll, so I’m told.)
Gramercy Park restaurant, I Trulli, has no children’s menus and owner of, Nicola Marzovilla, doesn’t believe in them, “Children’s menus are the death of civilization.” But apparently they are welcoming to children, Mr. Marzovilla thinks children’s menus “aim too low” and wants to broaden the little ones’ pallets.
I don’t take any offense to either attitude, but mainly because Nate pretty much gave up on children’s menus at 2 and a half, not enough food! We regularly get him a full entree, and he usually eats all of it.
Although Nate can be a demanding diner, flagging down the waitress for more water or napkins, or food! So I’m looking forward to seeing if they will treat Nate like any other diner.
But the real head-scratcher is why Mr. Ayoub would open a restaurant in Park Slope if he was so opposed to catering to children? Was he opposed to tattooed hipsters at his Williamsburg location?
And for what it’s worth, I’ve had more meals disrupted by loud drunks than kids, and I’ve yet to hear any say restaurants shouldn’t serve booze.
I went to my first circus at Madison Square Garden when I was 6 years old. I still have vivid memories (Gunther Gebel-Williams, terrifying clowns, and awesome souvenir flashlights, which I was not allowed to get.) Last week took Nate to the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey’s Circus at MSG. All in all, it was fun. Nate definitely enjoyed it, as did his parents and grandma!
Pre-show was fun. Up close to clowns and elephants. But it is really crowded, so I ended up carrying Nate the whole pre-show.
The theme “Funnundrum” seems really tacked on, as did the songs (Cirque du Soleil this is not.) But the spectacle of most of the performers was great!
The high-wire act was disappointing, and slow, especially for a toddler (or a 40 year old with an attention span of a 4 year old.) And the tiger tamer was lame. I’m sure being in a cage with 10 tigers is something, but just making them occasionally stand on their hind legs, and not eat you…I’ll just say I was rooting for the tigers.
The trapeze artists were going for a quadruple sommersault…they missed…they missed the quad at my 1976 circus as well!!!
But the acrobats made up for everything. The “Asadullin Troupe” of acrobats dressed as pirates jumping from the “Russian Bar” was mesmerising. And the Trupe Fantasy teeter-board act were very exciting. The Barnum bouncers trampoline troupe was a surprising highlight, I kept trying to expain to Nate thet there were just like Q-Bert! I’m not sure why a 2 1/2 year old would get a Q-Bet refference.
Clowns were nothing to write home about, but they weren’t nightmare inducing, so I chalk that up as a win.
Torres Family Motorcycles spinning in steel sphere with black lights- psychedelicly- awesome!
Johnathan Lee Iverson was a good ringmaster, but did we really need a “little person” sidekick? Really?
But what did Nate like the best? The flashlight that his grandmother bought him!
It broke as soon as we got home. But to their credit, they claimed it had a 2 year warranty, and I called them on it and called their 800 number. 2 weeks later, we got a new flashlight!
Hooray! They are finally building the bike lane on Prospect Park West. I’m not sure why something that will make streets safer, and reduce pollution is 
doesn’t believe in them,
Brooklyn Brood 
