I clearly don't fit the market niche of Overflow, " a quarterly magazine geared toward the overeducated and the underutilized ... comprised of young adults" (of South Brooklyn) "who strive to break away from the stagnant ennui of extended adolescence, which New York City tends to perpetuate".  The readers of the magazine, its mission statement declares, are" interested in fashion, nightlife, real estate, and other trappings of modern urban life, but they do not seek cultural validation from any outdated or oversaturated institutions".  What a lofty tribe. Look in the current edition, & see what you think of South Brooklyn Slaughter, an article on some of the "bizarre and horrifying" murders that have taken place in the area over the last half dozen years.  Hmm.

On Brighton Beach Ave.

Beach in Winter

Brighton Wear

New Wing Fat at Dusk

Remembering Adam Purple's Garden of Eden (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Baroque Goings On at Fourth

This structure has just got a lot weirder.  What's with the two sets of stairs, leading to ... well, to an elevated view of the tracks?  It almost looks as if it's designed for some VIP address - perhaps a Papal blessing of the temporary platform?

Breeze

Those Crappy MTA Changes? Hardly a Surprise

Plenty of people seem surprised by the upcoming transit changes on the F line, which start in January, and will mess up service for many commuters until spring of 2012.  This is old news however.  The MTA announced back in October 2007 that the Smith & 9th St. station would be closed for up to a year, for repairs to be made to the Culver Viaduct and to the station itself. Then, in early 2009, future service disruptions at 15th Street & Fort Hamilton Stations - also a consequence of repair work - were outlined.  It's going to be a pretty disheartening time for the F train riders at 15th & Fort Hamilton, but at least they can detour in the opposite direction to get to their destinations.  A pain certainly, but not an insurmountable problem. The people who are really screwed are riders who use Smith & 9th, many of them coming from Red Hook. From January to May of 2011 they'll have to rely on the G train to detour to the F (bad enough), and then for at least a year (May 2011 to the vague & not terribly reliable sounding Spring of 2012) the Smith & 9th Street station will close completely. For Red Hook residents, who these days have just one bus service left in the neighborhood, getting out of the Hook to a train will mean either taking the 61 all the way into the Slope, to 4th Avenue, or in the other direction (even further) to downtown Brooklyn trains.  This is shameful.

Changes

The soldier of 11th Street is no more.   Queen in Bazaar goes back into hiding. 

Trial by Tabloid

If you follow the British press at all, you'll be aware of the ongoing investigation into the tragic murder of Joanna Yeates, a landscape architect living in Bristol.   Yeates' body was found on Christmas day, over a week after her mysterious disappearance.  While many murders in Britain get minimal exposure from the national press, the timing & circumstances of this one, and the demographic of a young, attractive, middle class victim, has turned it into a huge story. The primary suspect at this point seems to be her landlord, Chris Jefferies, a retired English teacher.  Last week Jefferies was arrested by the police on suspicion of murder, and released on bail a couple of days later.  He is now in hiding. While it's quite possible that Jefferies is guilty, any possibility of an impartial trial is being severely compromised by a torrent of sensationalist, speculative reporting, with lurid and frankly absurd references to his "wild hair", his interest in avant-garde films, and a taste for "morbid" poetry (penned by those moral reprobates Christina Rossetti and Oscar Wilde).  Of course the clear mark of his guilt, we are led to believe, is his status as "a bit of a loner".  If you Google this case, you will find a slew of wild allegations about Jefferies appearing by the hour, with even the so-called quality papers getting in on the act.  There are a few dissenting voices though. Brian Cathcart, writing in Index on Censorship, and  Robert Chesshyre, in First Post, discuss the weaknesses of & disregard for Britain's Contempt of Court laws, as they affect this case and others.  Craig Brown, in the Mail (surprisingly?) defends that stock character, the eccentric teacher, and finds eccentricity to be far more pedagogically effective than plodding, everyday cramming.

Video: Exploring New York's Tunnels, Sewers and Bridges (Gothamist)

What mystery in those small artefacts placed -so specifically, it seems -  in spots around the city streets.  Next to the 9th Street fence where the rice bag is hanging, you can also see this photograph.  It's sort of a sad little shot.  A memorial of some sort, or part of a missing person notice?

Very different in tone from these small domestic icons are the mural militiamen knocking about the place, courtesy of some local artist(s).  On a side wall of the American Legion building off Third,, abutting the same empty lot where you can find the rice bag and photograph,, is the much more flamboyant figure of a rifleman, installed here a while back.  Given that this general vicinity is the burial site of the "Maryland 400", the regiment that fought off the British in the Battle of Brooklyn (see the commemorative plaques outside the Legion hall, & find out more about this & more of the area in the Forgotten NY 3rd Avenue tour), he seems fitting.

Did the same artist paste this guy on 11th Street some time ago? 

Asturiano Pinxto

I was back at Despana today.  Best discovery - the sensational Asturiano Pintxo, with morcilla (blood) sausage, piquillo peppers, and aioli.  This is a knockout.

Down by the Water