The L Magazine just posted its best Brooklyn blocks. I was on the lookout for one near my home and found it at 23. Best Block for Wild Parties
Morgan Ave between Maujer and ?Scholes Streets
3rd Ward, House of Yes, Rubulad: trapeze artists and homemade absinthe do, in fact, mix.

This is indeed a good block for crazy parties, and is where I intend to spend my Halloween. And just one block away, the L was kind enough to name Meserole St., Best Block for Urban Detrital Discoveries (by day), Lynchian Encounters with the Unheimlich (by evening), and Profound Malaise Bordering on Fear (by night. Best Block for Street Art was also nearby.

Certainly there were many of the best blocks that were in Williamsburg (cheap eats, drinking, dive bars, classy bars, and coffee), as is to be expected by a magazine of the L’s demographic. But that’s forgivable. Their five best blocks to live on include a nice smattering of neighborhoods besides Williamsburg, such as Greenpoint, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn Heights, and Cobble Hill. Their props for best gallery hopping went to Dumbo, and as you can see for yourself, all of the other rankings are fairly accurate.

As a writer, it’s important to know your trees. When I bike or walk through the city, I always look at them, especially at this time of year, noting their color, leaves, and branches. Here are a few of the more common trees in our borough:

Continue Reading

Yea, the parade in the city is fun. If you’re coming from Long Island or Jersey, or you’re an NYU freshman. Continue Reading

Well, CMJ 2010 is over. It was good while it lasted.

I saw mostly local and small bands this year, although with all the press I did discover some cool new bands that I didn’t get a chance to see due to their already sprawling fanbase.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.is one of my new favorites. Braids, from Montreal, also sounds great. And the hundreds of other bands that played over the past few days that I might not see again for a while, including Battlehooch, Soundhouse, The Static Jacks, SHAPES and Reckless Sons all did a great job.

And to think that just a few years ago I was so disheartened about the state of the musical world. Today, indie music is a full fledged genre and not just an alternative aberration. Lyrics are not any less important than they used to be. The conflation of electronic, rock, pop, hip-hop and indie and every other genre out there is exciting. I’m most stoked to see which of the bands I saw this past weekend make it big over the next five years.

The interesting people I met, the cheap (and more expensive) beer I drank, and the unforgettable music will stay with me for a while. Now I don’t know what to do until SXSW.

I was coming down the mountain here I come this morning after I had biked from Stuy-Town in Manhattan down Bedford and noticed, to my delight, that Bedford Avenue had been repaved. Oh, how beautiful I thought. I could skateboard to work on road like this. If it’s like this all the way to Avenue D, I might even make it my new bike route. But alas, the stretch of road over which I could have thrown a hockey puck soon ended, and I was left with split road bumps and the shaking of my bike fenders.

I was also somewhat dismayed at how already, after not even three months after being paved, the Williamsburg Bridge rides so poorly. The bumps slowed my bike down, but I wasn’t even going that fast to begin with. In any case, I arrived to work on time, and what Google Bike Maps called a 56 minute journey, was for me only 40ish, not to brag or sound arrogant or anything.

Maybe you’re thinking about getting a bike for the city. Don’t be scared – you don’t have to ride a fixie to pedal well in BK! Here are the top five tips for biking around Brooklyn.

Continue Reading

Greenpoint is like Williamsburg’s older sister. She’s cute, warm, and kind of does her own thing. But that doesn’t mean she has nothing  to offer – you just have to tap into her.

Part of why she’s so removed is that she’s on the G train (sigh). Another is she retains the kind of ethnic diversity you nowadays find only in Queens. That, however, is part of her allure. Polish restaurants like Karczma are killer and Krolewskie Jadlo Inc ain’t bad either. The former has authentically dressed Polish babes, the latter, full suits of armor – take your pick.

There are also lots of fun places to visit and walk around off Manhattan Ave. Towards the water is the historic district, where Charles Pratt, who founded the eponymous university, built his natural oil factories after the Civil War. You can easily glimpse the Manhattan skyline by sitting on the rocky industrial shore without being disturbed by the  hipsters and now yuppies who live in Williamsburg.

Word has a much wider selection of nicer books than bogus Spoonbill on Bedford. And just across the street are tons of clothing boutiques and hidden bars.

When you visit Greenpoint, you may wind up surprised at how flirtatious this northern beauty of a neighborhood can really be.

God I am hungry. And when I’m hungry and I don’t want to go home and spend an hour making dinner, I go to cheap eats. But if browsing through the internet to find restaurants that sell a meal for $6.95 just isn’t satisfying, you’ve come to the right place.  I’m thinking about one cheap eat in particular.

Mexican food is the cheapest, and sure there are lots of places that serve a good taco. But Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos (271 Starr St, between Wyckoff Ave & St Nicholas Ave) off the Jefferson L stop is killer. This is indeed a tortilla factory, and auto body shop, and cafe.  Go inside, they speak English.

Here’s the lowdown: the quesadillas are what to get, carnitas, especially.  They’re not what you’er expecting. The puffy soft taco shell is loaded with meat, lettuce, salsa, and a couple of avocado slices. Ask for the hot sauce, they’ll take it fresh from the refrigerator. Load it on and pay $3.50. This “quesadilla” fills me up until at least 10 o’clock, but if you really want to pig out, go ahead and get another one.

Gullet-stuffing for $7? That’s my kind of cheap eat. And this place is still low enough under the radar that you won’t face any snooty hipsters. Does it get better? Check for yourself.

It looks like the newest trend in Brooklyn is inclement weather. About a month ago, a tornado hit, and last night there was huge hailstorm. Little bits of ice rained down from the sky (along with actual rain), thunder clapped and lightning ransacked the skyline. Check out the pretty amazing photo Arvind Grover got last night.

It looks like the weather’s supposed to be pretty calm for a while (10 days at least), but then, I don’t know how many people were expecting a freak hurricane last night.