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Subway Coming to PLG
Last week we posted about a vacant storefront that we misidentified as being on the corner of Flatbush and Chester Ct. It is actually on the corner of Flatbush and Beekman, one block closer to Lincoln Rd. A commenter, who spoke to the workmen in the space, confirmed that the storefront will soon be home to a Subway.
After pondering the imminent Subway for a day or two, we've come to think that having a Subway in the nabe won't be such a bad thing. At first we were disappointed that a big chain was coming in, but we'll admit it: we like Subway. The veggie burger thing thing that they have is quite good, and some Subways even have full blown salads. For us, Subway is not a bad option when in a pinch.
Subway will not be an addition to the nabe along the lines of K-Dog or Enduro, but anything that's not a nail or hair salon is a welcome addition.
Bomb Scare?
Sometime last week someone left a suitcase on the corner of Washington and Lefferts.
NYPD took the incident seriously. As you can see from the attached photo, the intersection was roped off. People were not permitted to approach Washington from any direction.
Once NYPD determined that the suitcase posed no threat, life went back to normal. And, if the suitcase had a tag on it, NYPD probably returned it to the owner.
Ray Kelly to make local appearance
We just received this message from a reader:
The 71st Precinct would like to invite the people of PLG to a Community Outreach with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, on Thursday, Dec 13th at 7:00 PM, in the auditorium at DownState Hospital (450 Clarkson Ave., just East of New York Avenue).
Enjoy.
Carribbean Sweet Hand - Indeed
When we last posted about Carribbean Sweet Hand, a kind reader helped mitigate our confusion surrounding the name. Turns out that telling someone that they have a sweet hand is the same as telling them that they can cook well.
Schooled us.
We tried CSH a couple of times and found it to be run of the mill Carribbean. But then we ducked in the other day when we were really in the mood for doubles. Though CSH does not yet have doubles, we were pleasantly surprised when we tried a cheese roll (or was it a cheese stick? If you ask for it they'll know what you are talking about).
It's a baked (or maybe fried...) thing of pastry-ish bread that has cheese on the inside - the consistency of the cheese is similar to provolone. But the cheese is seasoned with curry and other good stuff. It's quite delicious.
Also available are beef sticks - the same thing but with beef instead of cheese. We can only vouch for the cheese stick, which was damn good. Well worth the $2.
185 Ocean Ave. One Step Closer to Biting the Dust
A construction fence went up around 185 Ocean Ave. last week, indicating that the house is slowly moving towards its demise. Still, we have received very few details about what will be built in its place - as we've said before, it had better not be some ugly piece of shit.
In case the new owner of 185 Ocean is reading, it would be wonderful if you could share what you have in mind to build on this lot. Yes, we'll scrutinize, but if you can lend any assurance that your building will not look like this - but more like this - we would greatly appreciate it.
Parkside Ave Sprouts Internet Coffee House
Because the security gates were down, we were unable to gather any additional information on this place but for its name, "Internet Coffee House," which we assume will sell coffee and internet. It may not be open yet, or it may just not be open on Sundays (which would be strange).
Very interesting.
Could this place be competition for K-Dog? That will ultimately depend on whether Internet Coffee House can offer a quality product. We enjoy K-Dog and cannot see ourselves becoming disloyal unless ICH offers something really stellar.
Anyone know anything about ICH? Check it out on Parkside between Flatbush and Ocean.
Traffic Calming PLG Style
There's been lots of chatter lately on the Lefferts Yahoo! Group about a possible Lefferts Manor Association plan to add speed humps to certain LM streets. Some observe cars traveling down their streets at high speeds and hope that traffic humps will alleviate the problem.
Arguments have also been made against speed humps, including the possibility that they could lead to increased noise.
Either way, there's only one thing in the whole string of emails we've read that makes sense: traffic calming initiatives need to take place across the whole neighborhood, not just a few streets in the Manor. Adding speed humps to one or two streets will only push traffic off onto another street.
In addition, ATP things that PLG has MUCH bigger fish to fry as a community when it comes to traffic calming. Take, for example, the intersection of Lincoln Rd. and and Flatbush Ave (pictured). If you haven't had a near death experience at this intersection, then you don't live in PLG and you've never visited. Drivers never know where to go and seem completely blind to the fact that pedestrians actually use crosswalks.
Calming traffic on Flatbush Ave. (and possibly the superhighway that is Rogers Ave.) would have a greater impact on the neighborhood as a whole than adding speed humps to a few blocks. We're no traffic engineers, so we have no suggestions on how to fix Flatbush and Lincoln, but perhaps LMA could expand the scope of their traffic calming initiative to the broader PLG communty. Doing so would be a tremendous boon to quality of life in the neighborhood.
Flatbush Shines in NYT
Sunday's NYT Real Estate Section includes an article on Flatbush, Brooklyn's "catch-all" neighborhood. Says Lenny Linksker, a real estate investor, "If it's not definitely a different part of Brooklyn, it's Flatbush."
That's a tad broad, Lenny. But we digress.
What's interesting about the article is that the sentiments of newer Flatbush residents mirrors that of those of us who were new to PLG three to four years ago:
In 2002, the couple bought a one-bedroom co-op on Glenwood Road with an eat-in kitchen and spacious foyer for a price that Ms. Simkins, a 39-year-old art director, would not reveal, except to say “nobody could or would believe” it.
If Flatbush real estate trends like PLG, new co-op owners will see their investment double in value in just a few years. Real estate agents quoted in the article also claim that a single family home can be had to $450K... sounds mythical to us, like a real estate unicorn.
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