Big Sky Brooklyn

Saturday

The Street Fair

The street fair was life itself, a vision of the community in its full efflorescence. The atmosphere was autumnal, but the weather was summery and gorgeous.

Junk shops along the route disgorged their items onto wooden tables: videotapes, porcelain figurines, steak knives, picture-hanging kits, a hamper full of American flag belt buckles. These cluttered cemeteries of commercial failure mostly served as diversions for the throngs strolling down the avenue. Yet some of these things had a history, animated by memories and invested with real emotions (not unlike the streets surrounding the grubby stores from which they came).

The siren song of pig meat was the dominant strain, drifting above the crowd and settling into an aromatic porcine cloud. One stand featured a pig on a spit. It was part of an odd homemade rig; fashioned from a 30-gallon drum and mounted on a small purple trailer . . . Isaac chewed the last of his sandwich and closed his eyes, savoring a moment of pure satisfaction. He was standing in front of the barbeque pit, drinking a beer and inhaling pork fumes, hypnotized by the rotating pig.

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Thursday

Song of Third Avenue

The part of Third Avenue that ran under the Gowanus Expressway was a ten-lane stretch, dominated by the slab overhead. It buried the avenue in shadow, and the surf-like roar of traffic was continual, punctuated by blaring horns and screeching brakes.

Third Ave./Gowanus Expressway & 60th St. (heading south, to junction) (Google Satellite Map)

Pedestrians were all but absent, with evidence of their furtive presence supplied by empty beer cans, filthy clothes, and the odd used condom, everything coated with a dusting of exhaust fumes. It was a blighted place, though it hummed with activity—commerce.

On one stretch the Gowanus was barely two stories high, a canopy over the wide cobblestone lane running down the middle of the avenue. The lane was unlighted and always wet, from the condensation on the pillars dripping constantly. The tight, dark space was an echo chamber for the traffic. Under the slab, the noise was infernal.

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Wednesday

The Wiseguy Songbook (Strains of the Maudlin)

His daughter smelled sweet, like flowers and fruits—a tinge of watermelon, some cherry and orange, lilacs and roses, lemon and peach. It was a smell unlike any he associated with humanity—body odors, animal functions. Angels would smell this way if they lived on earth, he thought. “Nancy (With the Laughing Face)” played in his head whenever he found himself close to Gina. No one but Sinatra could nail such a moment.

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Monday

The Dim Hollows Surrounding the Glittering Heights

Silverman’s vision sprang from an epiphany he had one beautiful spring day, as he walked through the lush streets of Park Slope: Use authentic local charm to transform Brooklyn into a world-class destination. That was what lured him across the water from his Upper West Side home, and he hasn’t looked back since.

"Brooklyn is poised for greatness, I’m just trying to speed things along.”
Morris Silverman, President, The Coleman Group

Welcome to the Brooklyn Heritage Festival

Calendar of Upcoming Events:
An Evening of Classic Children’s Stories
Columbus Park Concert Series (dates t.b.a.)
Jose Canseco Reads Howie the Kangaroo ("Read for Life" series)
Sacred Sites of Brooklyn Heights (visit to five 19th century churches)
Family Talent Show (all ages welcome)
The Gardens of Brooklyn (free 90-minute tour)
Ukrainian Movie Night
Canarsie Street Jubilee
Homecrest Flea Market
BK on TV: Tour of Famous Film & TV Locations
Waterfront Craft Fair (kids activities, music, face painting, plant sale)

All events brought to you by The Coleman Group

Always Changing, Always Brooklyn!

At this moment Brooklyn has never been hotter. Indeed, as a place to live, a state of mind, and a subject of popular interest Brooklyn is “all the rage.” The borough has been re-branded and transformed from Manhattan’s provincial cousin into a place with eminent cachet. [Excerpt from The Coleman Group’s Marketing Plan]

“Brooklyn’s neighborhoods are its greatest asset. Communicating the idea of Authentic Brooklyn Charm (ABC) is essential to The Coleman Group's long-term sales strategy.”

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Saturday

Cemetery Fringe

© Google Maps

© Google Maps

Sometimes he walked along the edge of the cemetery, looking up over the black iron fence. The tombstones entrenched in the hillside looked back like indifferent sentries. Their mute, unchanging presence had a powerful effect on the surrounding streets and the rare passersby.

Another side of Green-Wood bordered a sprawling train yard, contiguous with the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot. That edge was a no-man’s land. One time he walked the road between the two complexes—nearly a mile with no outlet, just tombstones behind one fence and transit gear behind another. He looked askance at the few cars that went by, and felt uneasy just thinking about what it must have been like at night.

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