The peculiar smell of the bar at Maple Lanes Bowling Alley bar might be as old as the memorabilia, but arguably adds to the nostalgic feeling. The decorations lean toward baseball (before those bums went west), and are dominated by the logo man from Coney Island’s Steeplechase Park, but what catches my eye is the [...]
Archive for June, 2009
House of the squid
Posted in Food, tagged brooklyn, photography, pizza, neon, bay ridge, calimari, italian food in brooklyn on June 29, 2009 | 2 Comments »
They make pizza in many varieties. That, the neon, and the alliterative name are what Casa Calimari have going for them.
On the waterfront
Posted in Misc, tagged brooklyn, coffey st, photography, red hook, seagull, summertime on June 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A fine early evening at the Coffey Street Pier in Red Hook. Days are warm, evenings cool, school is finally out – late June in Brooklyn is looking pretty good. This seagull was even behaving, not begging or stealing food from picnickers or fisherman.
More police and fire call boxes
Posted in Misc, tagged brooklyn, firemen, photography, police, police and fire call box on June 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Compare and contrast two more old-style cast iron police and fire call boxes. What stands out is the torch on the one on the right. While it references fire, it’s completely decorative, like a miniature version of what the Statue of Liberty carries.
The latest in hybrid restaurants
Posted in Food, tagged brooklyn, chinese-mexican, cuban-chinese, fifth ave, greasy chinese take-out, neon, photography, take-out on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Cuban-Chinese immigrants brought their cuisine to the city decades ago; the latest round of multi-cultural latin-Asian fusian, the Chinese-Mexican restaurant, is an totally different phenomenon. It’s a business decision – Chinese take-out is waning in popularity and small restaurants are trying to get in on a new trend. The food is not purely Mexican or [...]
One of the boxier cars seen in these environs lately
Posted in Misc, Transportation, tagged bmw, brooklyn, nyc parking, park slope, photography, v8 engine on June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This BMW is like two pieces of balsa wood with the edges sanded down and then glued together. Far from being a fanatic, I judge cars based on their age, condition, color, shape, how much space they take up on the road. This car dates from the 1960’s (I think), and was one of BMW’s [...]
Checking in on my doughnuts
Posted in Food, Transportation, tagged brooklyn, donuts, doughnuts, ft hamilton pkwy, gas station, on the run, photography on June 24, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I stopped by one of my favorite places to take pictures, the Krispy Kreme corner of the On the Run gas station convenience store. (The last picture of this scene I put on the blog in December; I’m practicing restraint.) Today, the trays were put in willy-nilly and have no correlation with the labels. That [...]
Rooftops at dusk
Posted in Misc, art & photography, tagged blue sky, brooklyn, dusk, humidity, photography, rooftops on June 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The views out my windows are pleasant but not terribly exciting, but I like to be prepared when the light does something unexpected. Maybe the humidity turned the sky blue.
Work on the elevated
Posted in Transportation, tagged brooklyn, photography, fourth ave, smith and 9th, f train, nyc subway, g train, trackwork, elevated subway on June 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This is why there have been service changes on the F and G Trains lately. Work is being done on the elevated section around Smith and 9th and Fourth Avenue, and to protect the outside tracks, panels of screens (seen here, stacked) are being erected. Can’t yet tell what the real work is going to [...]
No lofting the bowling balls
Posted in Misc, entertainment, tagged borough park, bowling, bowling alley, brooklyn, maple lanes, photography, rainy weather on June 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The bowling alley beckons periodically, especially when you’ve already done every other rainy day activity you can think of. Not too many people had the same idea yesterday, surprisingly.
Maples Lanes has been around since the heyday of American bowling, the 1960’s I’d guess. They have leagues for all ages, a lunch counter, video games, and [...]
