The Downtown Brooklyn Thread

went to the new hot bird bar this weekend. seems nice tho there were a lot of families for some reason.

so bummed that the new hot bird is just a bar.

yeah i was bummed too. there is apparently a korean food truck that hangs out there sometimes.

btw Sharlene's anniv party is Friday, as I found out after walking 20 mins from Slope to get there.

I didn't stay, but the movie round was the 1967 Casino Royale, which i've only sat through once.

and tomorrow's movie subject is E.T. (I think I've got the hard questions on that)

It's not in downtown Brooklyn, but there is a 24-hour Read-In at the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library this Sat. from 5 pm to Sun. at 5 pm. Come to support your public libraries!

http://savenyclibraries.org/2010/05/29/24-hour-read-in/

are there any open-air screenings of the us/england game in brooklyn tomorrow? (or anywhere else in the city?)

the few places i saw were booked up already

ah voila

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57919

nice!it's gonna be an awesome clusterfuck out there

I know Sharlene's Bar (indoors) has the games. Wish I gave a damn.

I may go out on Vanderbilt Ave. for a while. Woodwork bar on Vanderbilt is gonna be a zoo, they were turning people away at the door a couple weeks ago for Berlin vs. Milan so I can't even imagine what World Cup Fever will look like.

I just want somewhere to sit

was amazed at the amount of people at woodwork this morning for sa-mex. for most of the weekend games you have to buy an adavanced seat

buy?? a seat at the bar? lol

i guess officially it's a reservation with a drink minimum, but yeah

whew, good thing soccer is so boring

every man has his reasons

vanderbilt thing was fun, though like an hour before the game there was hardly anybody there and we got seats no problem...people showed up eventually tho

I mostly just was thinking "if this is the soccer audience in BROOKLYN I can't imagine the game has actually made inroads elsewhere in this country"

i came for 2nd half, it was fun

i think the bars took a lot of the crowd actually! soda, woodwork and plan b all looked packed

why you'd watch indoors vs. brown baggin a beer from the deli and watching in the street is kinda beyond me

seriously! not sure why a bar would be more fun

and that cornerstore on bergen and vanderbilt had v. reasonable beer prices

30 dollars to watch a match at a bar = ack

So Mazzat on Columbia Street is really good if you're into flavors that'll shock your tastebuds. Sour feta cheese dip with sumac, heavily herbed stuffed zuchini, etc. Really fucking good.

Wait was too long at Frankie's again but Prime Meats delivered.

Also we recently got the Frankie's cookbook and it's very nice
http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/2010/07/frankies-spuntino.jpg
http://www.itlooksgoodtome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pasta.jpg

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/man_stabbed_during_early_morning_u1casI14SfLzOR0wotz7mM

that bar looks awful btw

wtf that is awful

Dear god

Are people moving to Nostrand-Kingston Aves yet? I'm into that -- anything to get further away from what Vanderbilt is turning into.

wow the comments are worse than the story.

Laurel, that seems idiotic, frankly.

Really? I was thinking about it before I got shanghied to this crummy borough. It depends on where, on those avenues, obv. But it's not all some kind of lawless, burned-out shell of a neighborhood, it's very quiet and familial for quite large stretches.

Ugggh. You sort of have to ask yourself what chance anybody has if a former fucking karate instructor can't defend himself against a dude like that.

nostrand is great, tons of stuff going on, but its too far away from friends who live on washington & underhill & yes even vanderbilt

I can see that. A bike takes the edge off but it's harder for two people.

esp. cause the only part of the hood i wouldnt want to do too much walking in late at night are those long warehouse filled stretches btw franklin and classon and washington

Yeeeah those are weird blocks. You'd think they're right in the middle of the next big thing, but they remain almost completely deserted except for that fancy fucking converted warehouse green roof architecture magazine building with the green certification on Dean St.

And yes, I'm just jealous.

wow the comments are worse than the story.

yeah otm. congrats to the Post for a perfect score of 100% racism.

anything to get further away from what Vanderbilt is turning into

I dunno Vanderbilt's got a long way to go before it's Bedford Avenue. it's not that raucous even on the weekends

on the other hand maybe I shouldn't defend it since apparently it's a good place to get stabbed to death

i wish that better bars were opening than "branded saloon" which seemed sort of lame and fratty

though i dunno the neighborhood is kinda fratty for some reason

unrelated but they were gonna open a pawn shop on franklin but it looks like that plan was abandoned

perhaps vanderbilt is not the next bedford ave but the next 81st st

No, you're right! Wasn't thinking about raucousness, precisely, more like being shocked by the number of truly airheaded, over-protected, precious little snowflakes with hyper-affected accents and that sorority girl "up-talk" thing at the ends of sentences (boys and girls both) doing their "grocery shopping" in the organic foodz bodega or w/e and being completely oblivious to anyone around them, and thinking I needed to live further east*. And that was on Franklin! Vanderbilt otoh is a lot older and has its own money instead of its parents', I guess, but I couldn't say I enjoyed drinking anywhere on that strip.

*Or maybe further south, because they might be Pratt spillover.

xp I don't know what 81st St is known for?

being fratty

I kind of assume Vbilt is like Park Slope at this point, honestly. I'm surprised at this stabbing thing mostly for THAT reason.

it's pretty much like Park Slope. I don't really drink on Vanderbilt tbh. Soda Bar is ok. most of the restaurants are pretty good though.

i dunno the neighborhood is kinda fratty for some reason

don't know if I'd call it fratty but none of the bars are particularly hip or even a-dive-with-personality. ok Plan B is pretty fratty.