Have you ever tried to slice an apple in half with a plastic knife? It ain't easy, chickadees. Anyway, lookie here! It's my latest installment of Dollar Grub: Brighton Beach edition. I look like an utter fool and nearly toss my cookies and pickles on the Cyclone. Then again, when do I not look like a fool?

Brighton beach is situated in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York. During the pre independence era this beach was a part of the town known as Gravesend. The beach is situated between Coney Island’s Coney beach on the western side and the posh Manhattan Beach on the east. The north side is flanked by the city and the south of the beach is the Atlantic Ocean.

One of the things that amuse a lot of people visiting Brighton beach is that you never know when you cross over from Coney Island Beach to Brighton beach unless you see the crowd. While on Coney island you’ll see a lot of children playing around in colorful swimsuits. On the contrary you’ll find lots of Russian men and women on the beach playing or lying around in their swimsuits or bikinis.

Brighton beach and the area surrounding it is flanked by loads of Russian and Slavic restaurants, cafes, bakeries, fruit shops and fish market. The restaurants serve excellent Russian cuisines and often people are found sitting there before or after their visit to the beach. If you happen to visit Brighton beach you must visit Mrs. Stahl’s, it is a knish restaurant and serves some of the finest kasha and cherry cheese knishes.

Brighton beach is also a favorite spot of many a people who like to make sand castles. The sand is suitable for it and adults and children alike in their colorful and often designer swimsuits are found enjoying their time making sand castles and sculptures.

Brighton has been quite a favorite location for many a Hollywood movies and also various novels. Requiem for a Dream, 2001 has scenes shot in Brighton, Nicholas Cage starring Lord of War is shot on the Brighton beach, Robin Cook’s novel Vector is based on a Russian living in a Brighton Beach house.

Brighton beach is also ideal for swimming and has a few areas surrounded by rocks which offer complete privacy to those looking to lie down on the beach in a sexy bikini and you wont have to worry about wearing your cover up. The rocks not only provide a good private space but also allow people to swim safely by calming down the waves.

For the latest in Designer Swimwear, Bikinis and other swim attire visit modbeach.com

Excursions to the other boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island can be rewarding and it comes as a surprise to some that, for example, you can take the subway to the beach from midtown in about 45 minutes.

A trip to Brighton Beach (Little Odessa) is like a day out to a Black Sea resort. A series of four restaurants including Tatiana and Volga line the boardwalk serving smoked fish, vodka, brandy and borscht and Brighton Beach Avenue itself is a strip of stores, bars, clubs and most fascinatingly food stores in which non-Russian speakers are the odd men out.

The International Food Store at 249 Brighton Beach Avenue and 2nd Street is the outstanding example and an incredible source for deli, fish, pastry and pickles and a clientele and staff population out of central casting. The signage is mostly in cyrillic but the stuff will indulge you and explain most things that you can take home to serve with a side dish of Lipitor.

It's enough to make you remember just to what extent New York is a city of immigrants and adds real texture to a visit to Ellis Island by making it clear that immigration is a living phenomena that continues long after the isalnd closed to its real business.

This somewhat-spontaneous performance on the boardwalk put the 'B' back in busking.

In other news, we've made GO magazine's "very best of nyc comedy and variety" and the erroneous information on their website (and print!) event listings has been ably corrected: while it's a lovely, tidy space, we're not at the Cherry Lane, so please don't go there asking for the lanky clown, you won't find her there.

Thanks to Mike and Kate for being great hosts.

Also, thanks to the kid who pointed at me and commented "Have you ever seen chinese people like that???? Look at their eyes!!!". Awesome.

CB and myself. My A-Alike. No homo.

Beef tongue. Yum. Not quite as tasty as pork head though.

They are like perogies. Except they swim in butter.

Russian poutine.

We walked to Coney Island later. Their Polar Express has a mural of Tupac and Biggie and the DJ sounds like he should be spinning a mix show on Hot 97. Everyone was amped. Girls were hollering. Thugs were throwing up sets. One dude even took off his shirt during the fast cycle of the ride, and started waving it around in the air. Yup, BK is in the house.

Photos courtesy of Alam.

Its just a thought
But Ive noticed somethin strange,
Gettin harder to explain;
All the years are passin bye and bye,
Still I dont know what makes it go;
Who said to wait and youll see?

Its just a thought
But I wondered if you knew
That the song up there is you.
They cant take it from you
If you dont give it away;
Dont give it away; ooh (its given away.)

Its just a thought
But the word has come too late
That a bad idea will take
Just about a lifetime to explain,
And dont you see,
Good ones gonna be much longer;
Whos gonna wait, just to see?

It's Just a Thought - Credence Clearwater Revival

Conheço Credence há pelo menos 18 anos, mas aí resolvi conhecer realmente baixando a discografia deles. Enfim, não sai do carro. Se não quiser baixar a discografia toda, acho interessante baixar pelo menos os 36 hits e o Best of contidos no torrent. Genial.
Segue o Torrent: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1379664

Every time I visit Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, I am constantly amazed by how un-American, let alone non-NYC it really feels being in the area.

Many years ago, Brighton Beach was dubbed "Little Odessa" by the locals, since many of its residents had come from Odessa, Ukraine. Largely populated by a huge community of Jewish immigrants who left the Former USSR 1970's onwards, the locals are probably more culturally similar to Russians and Ukrainians than to the earlier Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn.

You will hardly ever hear an English-speaker in the street, and most of the stores and restaurants (if not all of them) are strictly Russian-oriented. I remember a couple of years ago I accidentally bumped into an elderly lady on Brighton and apologized to her in English (we are in America, after all, or are we not?) - she looked at me like I had just landed from Mars and told me to go get a life (in Russian, of course.)

Easter being one of the main Georgian family-gathering celebrations back in the former Soviet Union, I desperately tried to get real "red" Easter eggs this year and called one of the Georgian restaurants in Brooklyn, hoping I could get my dozen eggs for take out. Indeed, they did have the authentic Easter eggs, but because I asked the first question in English and not Georgian upon calling the restaurant, the owner immediately told me off and threatened that because of my non-Georgian attitude, he'd never sell me anything, including the Easter eggs! I took it as a joke initially, but as it later turned out, he meant it with all his heart and patriotic soul!

Although, there are times when I feel so nostalgic, it's actually quite nice to be able to drop by, purchase a few Russian books and perhaps even some russkiy CDs and DVDs for "some good times", accompanied by delicious snacks from one of the local stores - can't go wrong with the food in the area, that's for sure!

But to live there.... I don't know. It seems pointless moving all the way to the US and A from USSR to create a local Russian Republic of Brighton Beach in New York. As a dear friend and a writer/journalist I have immense respect for, Ian Williams, once put it: "If you immigrate the country, you need to keep your language yet acquire the skill and knowledge of the culture in a country that you have moved to, yet you do have to maintain your own roots, as well."

There is a healthy balance of course, but the question is: where does patriotism end and assimilation begin?

- Deckchair Striped Playsuit, Topshop, £45.00.

Ms. Judy Pink.

If you are a native New Yorker, you have been to the famous Kosher-style eatery many times.

Out here in the Midwest, I can't get a goddamn knish!

So my wonderful wife got on-line and searched out a deli in New York (Copiague to be exact) and had them deliver the knishes to us. We ordered a ton!

Thank heavens for Gabila's out on the island! What a fine selection they have. Here is their website if you would like to order them.

I haven't stopped eating them since they arrived. (Thank God I workout!)

Many people reading this blog have no idea what a knish is - pity those poor souls, they don't know what they're missing.

Here you go in a nutshell...A knish is a snack that is very popular in the jewish community (but not limited because the Irish and Italians eat 'em too). It's fried dough filled with mashed potato. When cooked, you would slice it open and pour brown mustard on top of it. (My mouth is watering and I'm staring over my right shoulder at the freezer)

Many hot dog stands' in Manhattan carry them. I'm sure the supermarkets also have them in stock.

I recall the days as a youngster lying out on the hot dry sand at Brighton Beach and there was that guy who always walked around carrying brown bags in both hands with handles shouting, "HOT KNISHES, ICE COLD SODAS...HOT KNISHES ICE COLD SODAS!"

The dude had to be melting! He had long pants, black shoes and socks! Plus he was lugging a few bags.

When she felt like we deserved them, my mom would splurge and buy us one each but most times we brown-bagged it. I didn't like eating them on the beach because pebbles of sand always found their way on the knish.

In my late teens and early 20's I would travel on my mountain bike down to play basketball at Manhattan Beach with guys like Glenn, Turk and Jackie Ryan.  After running for a few hours we would head over to a deli in Brighton Beach and grab a couple of knishes and wash it down with a forty-ounce!

A knish with mustard, there's nothing like it and thank God for UPS and Fed-Ex!

Tenho ouvido um pouco de The Doors every now and then, e, sempre que escuto, noto algo diferente...não é a toa...mas estou falando do disco Soft Parade. Não sei o ano, ou se foi feito antes ou depois "daquele" album deles, mas acho esse album simplesmente genial. Tem um que de "Disco Seventies" absurdo....se quiserem ouvir, segue o torrent:
http://www.mininova.org/tor/93045

When I was back there in seminary school, there was a person there
Who put forth the proposition, that you can petition the lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer, petition the lord with prayer
You cannot petition the lord with prayer!
Can you give me sanctuary, I must find a place to hide, a place for me to hide
Can you find me soft asylum, I cant make it anymore, the man is at the door
Peppermint, miniskirts, chocolate candy, champion sax and a girl named sandy
Theres only four ways to get unraveled, one is to sleep and the other is travel, da da
One is a bandit up in the hills, one is to love your neighbor till
His wife gets home
Catacombs, nursery bones, winter women, growing stones
Carrying babies, to the river
Streets and shoes, avenues, leather riders
Selling news, the monk bought lunch
Ha ha, he bought a little, yes, he did, woo!
This is the best part of the trip, this is the trip, the best part
I really like, whatd he say? , yeah!, yeah, right!
Pretty good, huh, huh!, yeah, Im proud to be a part of this number
Successful hills are here to stay, everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play, welcome to the soft parade
All our lives we sweat and save, building for a shallow grave
Must be something else we say, somehow to defend this place
Everything must be this way, everything must be this way, yeah
The soft parade has now begun, listen to the engines hum
People out to have some fun, a cobra on my left
Leopard on my right, yeah
The deer woman in a silk dress, girls with beads around their necks
Kiss the hunter of the green vest, who has wrestled before
With lions in the night
Out of sight!, the lights are getting brighter
The radio is moaning, calling to the dogs
There are still a few animals, left out in the yard
But its getting harder, to describe sailors, to the underfed
Tropic corridor, tropic treasure
What got us this far, to this mild equator?
We need someone or something new
Something else to get us through, yeah, cmon
Callin on the dogs, callin on the dogs
Oh, its gettin harder, callin on the dogs
Callin in the dogs, callin all the dogs, callin on the gods
You gotta meet me, too late, baby
Slay a few animals, at the crossroads, too late
All in the yard, but its gettin harder, by the crossroads
You gotta meet me, oh, were goin, were goin great
At the edge of town, tropic corridor, tropic treasure
Havin a good time, got to come along, what got us this far
To this mild equator? , outskirts of the city, you and i
We need someone new, somethin new, somethin else to get us through
Better bring your gun, better bring your gun
Tropic corridor, tropic treasure, were gonna ride and have some fun
When all else fails, we can whip the horses eyes
And make them sleep, and cry

Soft Parade - The Doors

Arnaldo Jabor em 29/04/2008 em O Globo

A crise mundial terá seu lado bom
Vivemos à espera de um `crash´que não chega nunca
A final de contas, quando começa a crise mundial, o novo crash, anunciado e garantido, o tal crash nos mercados, a inflação mundial de alimentos, o caos, a recessão? Quando? Falam, falam, e o capitalismo bombando... E se o crash, a grande crise, vier, que será de nós? Bem... a crise pode ser um thriller em nossas vidas. Como chamá-la? A pós-pós-modernidade? O pós-apocalipse? A “desglobalização”? A única coisa que não será “pós” é a burguesia, claro. Não há pós-burguesia.

E, como dizem os chineses, (que podem até deflagrar este novo crash), “toda crise tem o seu lado bom”. Um crash pode ser bom para nos iludir e dar a sensação de que a vida muda, de que a História anda. Pode nos ensinar que não há sentido no progresso, nem “eterno retorno” nem lógica alguma; o mundo se move em pinguepongue eterno e injusto. O crash (ou crise) mostrará que nada tem fim. Nem começo. Pode nos acender brios e estimular a luta pela sobrevivência, em vez desta pasmaceira abobalhada em que vivemos. Pode nos ensinar a ver a verdade de cabeça para baixo, pelo que perdemos. A crise poderá desmoralizar a ópera-bufa em que vivemos e trazer a tragédia real.

Para o Brasil, poderá ser o contato com um caos mais explícito. Há anos que falamos nele sem saboreá-lo. Se bem que o caos é mais anglosaxônico. O pântano é mais Brasil. Temos o pântano, o brejo (para onde a vaca vai), coisa mais nossa, mais “saudades do matão”, com sapos coaxando. A crise pode acabar com as ilusões do povo e estimular maior vigilância crítica. Uma bela crise mundial poderá acabar com o nosso delírio de “futuro” e nos trazer o doce, o essencial presente. A crise ensinará que muito mais importante do que estudar a miséria do país é estudar a “riqueza” do país. A miséria nasce de nosso tipo de “riqueza”. Nossa crise nasce nos intestinos das classes altas.

Uma crise mundial nos ensinará que ninguém é “revolucionário” ou “herói” ou “comandante supremo” ou “companheiro” ou outros falsos caracteres; o que há são narcisistas, compulsivos, agressivos, paranóicos, invejosos, fracassados, com problemas sexuais. A crise ensina mais Freud do que Marx. Uma bela crise ou um magnífico crash poderá nos revelar muitos tipos humanos. No desespero do drama, veremos as galerias de personas, de máscaras, de bonecos de engonço, de mamulengos, teremos um reality show sobre o Brasil, teremos o desfile de caras e bocas retorcidas, de mãos trêmulas, de risos e choros constrangidos, teremos as vaidades na fogueira, os apelos à razão falida, teremos os clamores de honradez mentida, os falsos testemunhos, os tratamentos arcaicos, teremos as vossas excelências murchas, as vossas sujas senhorias, veremos os alicerces do país apodrecendo, a lama debaixo das dignidades, veremos nossos pés-de-barro, os nósnatripa, veremos os apêndices supurados, os miasmas que nos envenenam aparecendo sob a barra da saia de juízes e desembargadores, as sujeiras escorrendo sob as frestas da lei. E tudo nos diplomará em Ciência Política. O crash é bom para o contato com o absurdo.

Nesse sentido o crash é filosófico. Ficaremos mais espiritualizados com o crash. Ocrash vai apagar um pouco o sorriso dos colunáveis sorrindo nas revistas. O crash vai provocar uma onda de suicídios milionários diante dos olhos calmos dos miseráveis vingados. Com menos importação de BMWs, vai melhorar o trânsito em São Paulo. O crash vai instalar humildade nas almas yuppies. Vai acabar com suspensórios floridos e gravatas de pintinhas... Num primeiro momento, o horror: bolsas caindo, grana sumindo. Depois, a paz inevitável, a calma da desgraça assumida — vejam o rosto pacífico dos famintos do Sudão. A fome traz uma paz desesperançada. O crash trará uma súbita revivência de faquires. O crash vai mostrar que a voracidade consumista não é a única maneira de viver. Vai nos fazer mais magros e mais frugais. Ficaremos mais elegantes com o crash. Crash chique.

O crash é bom porque vai reviver a poesia, a arte, mortas pelo mercado. O crash se rá uma renascença. Haverá uma estética do crash. Os filmes americanos ficarão felizes e musicais como no tempo do crash de 29. Fred Astaire vai dançar com Ginger Rogers de novo. O crash vai acabar com os “Titanics”, graças a Deus. O crash vai nos livrar dos grandes shows de rock, das bandas revoltadas, vai nos livrar dos World Trade Centers, dos best-sellers, das supercervejarias, dos fashion weeks sem fim. Com a nova guerra fria entre russos e americanos, indianos e paquistaneses, Oriente e Ocidente usando antraz contra Tomahawks, teremos a restauração da beleza da morte e não mais sua banalização pelos Van Dammes e Stallones.

O crash vai criar escolas filosóficas: o “pirronismo” absoluto, a escatologia escatológica: “a merda está no fim da História” (uma espécie de Hegel de marcha a ré). Sem consumo, o crash vai estimular o sexo... já que não teremos nada a fazer. O crash vai parir babycrashers, os filhos da crise. E também vai justificar broxadas: “Minha filha...

desculpe... é o crash”. O crash vai acabar com o grande movimento em aeroportos e diminuirá sensivelmente o número de barrigudos falando alto em celulares. O crash fecha Miami. O crash vai acabar com palavras como globalização, livre mercado, competitividade, desregulamentação, qualidade total, neodarwinismo. O mundo terá um downsizing. O crash vai restaurar o amor ao simples, ao possível, ao carrinho de carretel, à pipa, ao pião, em vez dos blueber ries. O crash é retrô, delicioso. O crash vai nos trazer a sadia tristeza, vai nos tirar desta ansiedade cansativa e nos dar finalmente a repousante depressão.

Fotografia: Tony Lindner

All alone not by myself
Another girl bad for my health
I've seen it all through someone else
And I (love a girl bad for my health)

Celebrated but undisturbed
And serenaded by the terror bird
It's seldom seen and its never heard
I'm (serenaded by the terror bird)

Never in the wrong time or wrong place
Desecration is the smile on my face
The love I made is the shape of my space
My face, my face

Disintegrated by the rising sun
A rolling black out of oblivion
And I'd like to think that I'm your number one
(I'm rolling black out of oblivion)

I wanna leave but I just get stuck
A broken record runnin' low on luck
There's heavy metal coming from your truck
And I'm (a broken record running low on luck)

Never in the wrong time or wrong place
Desecration is the smile on my face
The love I made is the shape of my space
My face, my face

We could all go down to Malibu and make some noise
Coca Cola doesn't do the justice she enjoys
We could all come up with something new to be destroyed
We could all go down

I love the feeling when it falls apart
I'm slow to finish but I'm quick to start and
Beneath the heather lies the meadowlark
And I'm (slow to finish but I'm quick to start)

Never in the wrong time or wrong place
Desecration is the smile on my face
The love I made is the shape of my space
My face, my face

Never in the wrong time or wrong place
Desecration is the smile on my face
The love I made is the shape of my space
My face, my face
Yeah...

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Desecration Smile

"By the deep sea, and music in its roars;
I love not man the less, but nature more."
[Lord Byron]

~~~~~~~~~~~

New York City winter sky ~ 24th December 2007
(Top of The Rock Observation Deck ~ Rockefeller Centre)

"With the birds I'll share this lonely view..."
[Red Hot Chili Peppers]

So as you can see, I've decided to post a photo or two up here every now and then. (I just typed "hear" instead of "here". This never happened before! Oh, the horror!) You know, to spice it up a bit. A quick glance at some popular blogs and it seems that most of those bloggers are also admirable talented photographers. I'm not one, no matter how much I wish I was. Nor do I want my blog to get "big". It's more of a little platform for me to vent off sometimes, and to read back in a few years, or decades, so I can get all nostalgic remembering "those days". Hence the "soap box" title.

But it's only human nature that we're drawn to anything visually pleasant, or thought-provoking, or controversial. (I have to confess, that as much as it confuses & disturbs me, I can't stop staring at photos of that pregnant man who's made headline news the last few weeks, and wondering how it is to be him.) Anyway, so a long page full of words, words, and more words, isn't very appealing, even to its own author (i.e. me). Plus I've got a few nice photos up my sleeves that I've been itching to show off. So there they go.

Just a little note though. The fact is, I can't take a proper photo to save my life. I'm forever admiringly staring with my mouth agape at those beautiful pictures taken by others. Especially the ones where the focus is on the object at the foreground, while everything else in the background is all blurry. And all these amazing contrasts of light, views from different angles, depth-of-fields, etc., they can make even your toenail clippings look interesting. Me, the most I can do apart from pointing-and-shooting, is changing the exposure on my ancient camera, or switching to Black & White. That's pretty much it. So it gives me such a buzz each time I accidentally come up with a nice photo. As the old Vietnamese adage go, "Chó đớp phải ruồi" (which literally translates to a dog catching a fly in his mouth by mere luck, maybe while yawning?), it must have been my brief encounter with Lady Luck.

Well, I'll dig up a few more later.

~" Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes. And she's gone."~

The BBI's heart is colder than Nancy Grace's vagina. If he silently slit your throat, he would do so without raising his pulse by even one beat. Though he would not waste his time with "civilians" like you.  Jobs like this are made easier to the BBI because he considers the concepts of "love" and "pain" as entirely imaginary, created by women and Malchiks (ie. any man who experiences this "love" or "pain").

As he sips vodka out of his machine-gun bottle and eats pickled balls - which could be your balls if you don't play your cards right (or just stand in the way of his tinted windowed 2009 Mercedes-Benz on Brighton Bch Ave.) - the thought of showing signs of weakness - like a smile - never ever cross his mind. In fact, the BBI cannot push past a certain smile threshold (see diagram to the right) as he would suffer a Subconjunctival hemorrhage. But even if he did wouldn't hurt because, again, there is no such thing as pain.

While violence can occur without intercourse, intercourse cannot occur without violence. It is as necessary as an erection. It is important to note that violence carries no negative connotations whatsoever. It is simply the natural progression of most life situations. A prominent BBI known as "Igor" explains the reasoning for violence quite distinctly here: "Ven you're Kone-stipated vat do you do? You must push!"

When you see BBIs yelling in the middle of a -10 degree February night street - engulfed in cigarette smoke stenching of dead fish babies  - rest assured it is not "joy" that they are feeling inside . What they are experiencing is brutish release and nothing more - again, much like a constipated bowel movement. At that moment the drinking and yelling is the most convenient method. At another, a bullet to someones head may be more appropriate.

On special events - like a utilitarian wedding or the severed tongue of a weak compatriot - BBIs will congregate at one of 5 Brighton Beach Dinner Cabaret Halls located on Brighton Bch Ave. Here, BBIs spend a magnificent evening in a space resembling a cheap Atlantic City hotel circa 1985. Sequined-dress wearing platinum-blond former prostitutes, with makeup in the spirit of Tammy Faye Baker, and men, in fitted black suits and eighties sunglasses (with the yellow neon sides), sing renditions of Beat It and Happy birthday - all while a projector screen backdrop reminds you that the space is available for weddings and Bar Mitvahs. All "the Class" a BBI needs is concealed on his person - in the form of clean cash rolls of 100 dollar bills and a dull black Tokarev pistol.

Many BBIs operate nonprofit "Community Commerce Advocate" organizations which, if you own a business in the neighborhood, should really join.

Especially if you have a wife and children.

Starting March 24th get a taste of some of the best Brooklyn has to offer with three-course prix-fixe menus for just $23 and 2 for 1's at more than 175 participating restaurants during Dine In Brooklyn.

There are a ton of restaurants, just glancing over them I can see a few that have been on my list of places to go such as Belleville in the slope, Zenkichi in billyburg, and anything in Brighton Beach.

That being said, there are some people who are hesitant to take advantage of the week, citing limited menus and overcrowding. This is a valid point. I usually go out anyway, so this is just another option. But for expensive restaurants, this may indeed be a steal.

Links:
Visit Brooklyn Homepage
Complete list of participating restaurants
A few recommendations
Brooklyn-usa.org page with complete list

Bay Ridge

101 Restaurant & Bar (L/D)*
10018 4th Avenue
718-833-1313

Anise Asian Bistro (D)*
8608 4th Avenue
718-833-8891

Areo Restaurant (L)*
8424 3rd Avenue
718-238-0079

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar (D)*
8814 4th Avenue
718-238-9880

Austin's Steakhouse (L)*
8915 5th Avenue
718-439-5000

Bally Bunion Restaurant (D)*
9510 3rd Avenue
718-833-2801

Canedo's Restaurant (L/D)*
7316 3rd Avenue
718-748-1908

Cappuccino Café (L/D)*
7721 3rd Avenue
718-238-8700

Casa Calamari Pizza & Pasta (L/D)*
8602 3rd Avenue
718-921-1900

Casa Pepe Restaurant (L/D)*
114 Bay Ridge Avenue
718-833-8865

Cebu Bar & Bistro (D)*
8801 3rd Avenue
718-492-5095

Chadwick's Restaurant (D)*
8822 3rd Avenue
718-833-9855

Chianti Restaurant (D)*
8530 3rd Avenue
718-921-6300

Colandrea New Corner Restaurant (L/D)*
72-01 8th Avenue
718-833-0800

Elia Restaurant (D)*
8611 3rd Avenue
718-748-9891

Embers (D)
9519 3rd Avenue
718-745-3700

Fushimi Japanese Cuisine & Lounge (L/D)*
9316 4th Avenue
718-833-7788

Gino's Restaurant (D)*
7414 5th Avenue
718-748-1698

Goodfella's Restaurant & Bar (D)*
9606 3rd Avenue
718-833-6200

Greenhouse Café (L/D)*
7717 3rd Avenue
718-833-8200

Hunter's Steak & Ale House (L/D)*
9404 4th Avenue
718-238-8899

J.T.'s Restaurant (D)*
9703 3rd Avenue
718-238-8781

La Maison Du Couscous (L/D)*
484 77th Street
718-921-2400

Mambo Italiano Restaurant (L/D)*
8803 3rd Avenue
718-833-3891

Nouvelle Restaurant (L/D)*
8716 3rd Avenue
718-238-8250

Pazzo Restaurant (D)*
10007 4th Avenue
718-238-4747

The Pearl Room (L/D)*
8201 3rd Avenue
718-833-6666

Pietro's Trattoria (D)*
8727 4th Avenue
718-238-8600

Ristorante Vaccaro (L/D)
6718 Fort Hamilton Parkway
718-238-0606

Saint Germain (L/D)*
8303 3rd Avenue
718-745-8899

Sancho's (L/D)*
7410 3rd Avenue
718-748-0770

Sofia Ristorante Italiano (L/D)*
8406 3rd Avenue
718-680-4242

Tanoreen (L)*
7704 3rd Avenue
718-748-5600

Tuscany Grill (D)*
8620 3rd Avenue
718-921-5633

Vesuvio Restaurant (L/D)*
7305 3rd Avenue
718-745-0222

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Soule Restaurant (D)*
920 Fulton Street
718-399-7200

Bensonhurst

L & B Spumoni Gardens Restaurant (L/D)*
2725 86th Street
718-449-7556

Shiki Japanese Restaurant (L/D)
1863-67 86th Street
718-837-1586

Villa Paradiso Restaurant (L/D)*
1969 Bath Avenue
718-837-2696

Bergen Beach

Il Posto Ristorante (L/D)*
7409 Avenue U
718-241-4317

Boerum Hill

Apartment 138 (L/D)*
138 Smith Street
718-858-0556

Bacchus (D)*
409 Atlantic Avenue
718-852-1572

Brawta Caribbean Café (D)
347 Atlantic Avenue
718-855-5515

Downtown Atlantic Restaurant (D)*
364 Atlantic Avenue
718-852-9945

Jolie Restaurant (D)*
320 Atlantic Avenue
718- 488-0777

Lunetta (D)*
116 Smith Street
718-488-6269

Mai Restaurant (D)
497 Atlantic Avenue
718-797-3880

Stan's Place (L/D)
411 Atlantic Avenue
718-596-3110

Borough Park

China Glatt (D)*
[Glatt Kosher]
4413 13 Avenue
718-438-2576

Brighton Beach

Tatiana Restaurant and Tatiana Grill (L/D)*
3152 Brighton 6th Street
718-891-5151

Brooklyn Heights

Caffé Buon Gusto (L/D)*
151 Montague Street
718-624-3838

Eamonn's Irish Bar & Restaurant (D)*
174 Montague Street
718-596-4969

Le Petit Marche (D)*
46 Henry Street
718-858-9605

Queen Ristorante (L)*
84 Court Street
718-596-5955

Shinjuku Japanese Restaurant (L/D)*
177 Atlantic Aveune
718-935-1600

Taze Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant (D)*
142 Montague Street, 2nd Floor
718-875-2211

Waterfront Ale House (L/D)*
155 Atlantic Avenue
718-522-3794

Bushwick

Northeast Kingdom (D)*
18 Wyckoff Avenue
718-386-3864

Canarsie

Footprints Café (L)*
5814 Clarendon Road
718-451-3181

Carroll Gardens

Alma Restaurant (D)*
187 Columbia Street
718-643-5400

Chestnut (D)
271 Smith Street
718-243-0049

Crave (D)*
570 Henry Street
718-643-0361

Hana Café Japanese Restaurant (L/D)*
235 Smith Street
718-643-1963

Korhogo 126 (D)*
126 Union Street
718-855-4405

Marco Polo Ristorante (L/D)*
345 Court Street
718-852-5015

Panino'teca 275 (D)*
275 Smith Street
718-237-2728

Patois Restaurant (D)*
255 Smith Street
718-855-1535

Petite Crevette (D)
144 Union Street
718-855-2632

Provence en Boite (L/D)*
263 Smith Street
718-797-0707

Clinton Hill

Il Torchio (L/D)*
458 Myrtle Avenue
718-422-1122

Autour du Monde (D)*
860 Fulton Street
718-398-3500

Five Spot Restaurant (D)*
459 Myrtle Avenue
718-852-0202

Maggie Brown Restaurant (D)
455 Myrtle Avenue
718-643-7001

Mojito Cuban Cuisine (L/D)*
82 Washington Avenue
718-797-3100

Tamboril Restaurant (D)*
527 Myrtle Avenue
718-622-5130

Yamashiro (D)
466 Myrtle Avenue
718-230-3313

Cobble Hill

BarTabac (L/D)*
128 Smith Street
718-923-0918

Bocca Lupo (L/D)*
391 Henry Street
718-243-2522

Café on Clinton (D)*
268 Clinton Street
718-625-5908

Hibino (D)
333 Henry Street
718-260-8052

Miriam (D)*
229 Court Street
718-522-2220

Quercy Restaurant (D)*
242 Court Street
718-243-2151

Columbia Waterfront District

Mazzat
208 Columbia Street
718-852-1652

Teeda Thai Cuisine (L/D)
218 Columbia Street
718-643-2737

Coney Island

Footprints Café South (L/D)*
1521 Surf Avenue
718-265-2530

Gargiulo's Restaurant (L/D)*
2911 West 15th Street
718-266-4891

Ditmas Park

Picket Fence (D)*
1310 Cortelyou Road
718-282-6661

Downtown

Archives Restaurant (L/D)*
333 Adams Street
718-222-6543

Junior's Restaurant (D)*
386 Flatbush Avenue Extension
718-852-5257

Shinjuku Japanese Restaurant (L/D)*
177 Atlantic Avenue
718-935-1600

DUMBO

Bubby's Brooklyn (D)
1 Main Street
718-222-0666

Five Front (D)*
5 Front Street
718-625-5559

The River Café (L)*
1 Water Street
718-522-5200

Water Street Restaurant & Lounge (D)*
66 Water Street
718-625-9352

Dyker Heights

Mama Rao's (L/D)*
64-08 11th Avenue
718-745-2269

Fort Greene

Caffe e Vino (L/D)*
112 Dekalb Avenue
718-855-6222

Chez Lola (D)*
387 Myrtle Avenue
718-858-1484

Chez Oskar (D)*
211 DeKalb Avenue
718-852-6250

Epoca Ristorante (L/D)
773 Fulton Street
718-596-9070

iCi (L/D)*
246 Dekalb Avenue
718-789-2778

June Restaurant (D)*
229 Dekalb Avenue
718-222-1510

Los Pollitos III (L/D)
499 Myrtle Avenue
718-636-6125

Loulou Restaurant (D)*
222 DeKalb Avenue
718-246-0633

Luz Restaurant (L/D)*
177 Vanderbilt Avenue
718-246-4000

Madiba Restaurant (L/D)*
195 Dekalb Avenue
718-855-9190

Mullanes Bar and Grill (D)*
71 Lafayette Avenue
718-797-7606

Olea Mediterranean Taverna (D)*
171 Lafayette Avenue
718-643-7003

Scopello Ristorante & Bar (D)*
63 Lafayette Avenue
718-852-1100

Thomas Beisl (L)*
25 Lafayette Avenue
718-222-5800

Greenpoint

68 (D)*
68 Greenpoint Avenue
718-389-6868

Park Luncheonette (D)*
334 Driggs Avenue
718-383-0925

Marine Park

Buckley's Restaurant (D)*
2926 Avenue S
718-998-4222

Michael's (L/D)*
2929 Avenue R
718-998-7851

Salvi Restaurant (L/D)*
4220 Quentin Road
718-252-3030

Midwood

Burtoluccis Ristorante (Kosher) (D)*
1969 Coney Island Avenue
718-382-5559

Grille De Paris Restaurant (Kosher) (L/D)*
904 Kings Highway
718-336-1588

Taci's Beyti Restaurant (L/D)*
1955 Coney Island Avenue
718-627-5750

Mill Basin

Mill Basin Kosher Deli & Art Gallery (D)*
5823 Avenue T
718-241-4910

Park Slope

12th Street Bar & Grill (D)*
1123 8th Avenue
718-965-9526

200 Fifth Restaurant (D)*
200 5th Avenue
718-638-2925

Alchemy Restaurant & Tavern (D)*
56 5th Avenue
718-636-4385

Anthony’s
426A 7th Avenue
718-369-8315

AOC Bistro (D)*
259 5th Avenue
718-788-1515

applewood (D)*
501 11th Street
718-768-2044

Aunt Suzie’s Restaurant (D)
247 5th Avenue
718-788-2868; 718-768-1846

Bar To To (L/D)
411 11th Street
718-768-4698

Belleville (D)*
330-332 5th Street
718-832-9777

Black Pearl Bar and Grill (D)*
833 Union Street
718-857-2004

Blue Ribbon (D)*
280 5th Avenue
718-840-0404

Blue Ribbon Sushi (D)*
278 5th Avenue
718-840-0408

Bogota Latin Bistro (D)*
141 5th Avenue
718-230-3805

Cafe Tapeo (D)*
52 5th Avenue
718-638-1066

Canaille Bistro (D)
78 Fifth Avenue
718-789-8899

Elementi (L/D)*
140 7th Avenue
718-788-8388

KitchenBar
687 6th Avenue
718-499-5623

Long Tan (D)
194-196 5th Avenue
718-622-8444

Los Pollitos II (L/D)
148 5th Avenue
718-623-9152

Magnolia Restaurant & Bar (D)*
486 6th Avenue
718-369-4814

Maria's Bistro Mexicano (L/D)*
669 Union Street
718-638-2344

Melt (D)*
440 Bergen Street
718-230-5925

Miriam (D)*
79 5th Avenue
718-622-2250

North of New Orleans (NoNo Kitchen) (D)*
293 7th Avenue
718-369-8348

Palo Santo (D)*
652 Union Street
718-636-6311

Peperoncino (D)*
72 5th Avenue
718-638-4760

Piramide (D)*
499 5th Avenue
718-499-0002

Rose Water (D)*
787 Union Street
718-783-3800

Sakura Café (D)*
388 5th Avenue
718-832-2970

Santa Fe Grill (L/D)
62 7th Avenue
718-636-0279

Scottadito Osteria Toscana (D)*
788A Union Street
718-636-4800

Sette Enoteca e Cucina (D)*
207 7th Avenue
718-499-7767

Sotto Voce Restaurant (L/D)*
225 7th Avenue
718-369-9322

Stone Park Café (L)*
324 Fifth Avenue
718-369-0082

Tempo Restaurant & Wine Bar (D)*
256 5th Avenue
718-636-2020

Tonio's Restaurant (L/D)*
306 Seventh Avenue
718-965-4252

Trattoria Mangia (L/D)*
119 5th Avenue
718-636-5259

Sheepshead Bay

Baku Palace (L)*
2001 Emmons Avenue
718-615-4700

Clemente's Maryland Crabhouse (L/D)
3939 Emmons Avenue
718-646-7373

IL Fornetto Restaurant (L/D)*
2902 Emmons Avenue
718-332-8494

Liman Restaurant (L)
2710 Emmons Avenue
718-769-3322

Osaka Japanese Restaurant (L/D)*
2805 Avenue U
718-891-6200

Sunset Park

Maria's Bistro Mexicano (L/D)*
886 5th Avenue
718-438-1608

Williamsburg

A'shay Restaurant (D)*
229 South 4th Street
718-384-8014

Aurora (L)
70 Grand Street
718-388-5100

Baci & Abbracci (L/D)*
204 Grand Avenue
718-599-6599

Bamonte's Restaurant (L/D)
32 Withers Street
718-384-8831

Brick Oven Gallery
33 Havemayer Street
917-627-6786

DeStefano's - Dee Brooklyn Steakhouse (D)*
89 Conselyea Street
718-384-2836.

Fornino - The Art & Science of Pizza (L/D)*
187 Bedford Avenue
718-384-6004

Giando On The Water (L/D)*
400 Kent Avenue
718-387-7000

Lokal Bistro (L/D)
905 Lorimer Street
718-384-6777

My Moon Restaurant (D)*
184 North 10th Street
718-599-7007

N6 enoteca.Wine Bar (D)
263 North 6th Street
718-384-1311

P.T. Restaurant (D)
331 Bedford Avenue
718-388-7438

Shachis Arepas (D)
197 Havemeyer Street
718-388-8884

Zenkichi (D)*
77 North 6th Street
718-387-8875

Windsor Terrace

Da Vincenzo (D)*
256 Prospect Park West
718-369-3590

2-for-1 Restaurants

Bay Ridge
The Bay Ridge ChipShop (L/D)
7215 3rd Avenue
718-748-0594

First Oasis Restaurant (L/D)*
9218 4th Avenue
718-238-4505

Bedford-Stuyvesant
Food 4 Thought Café (L/D)
445 Marcus Garvey Boulevard
718-443-4160

Solomon's Porch (D)*
307 Stuyvestant Avenue
718-919-8001

Brooklyn Heights
The Atlantic ChipShop (L/D)
129 Atlantic Avenue
718-855-7775

Dhaka Indian Restaurant (L/D)*
148 Atlantic Avenue
718-858-4340

Clinton Hill
Café Martino (L/D)*
559 Myrtle Avenue
718-636-3966

DUMBO
Rice (L/D)
81 Washington Street
718-222-9880

Fort Greene
Rice (L/D)
166 Dekalb Avenue
718-858-2700

The Smoke Joint (L/D)*
87 South Elliot Place
718-797-1011

Greenpoint
Karczma (D)*
136 Greenpoint Avenue
718-349-1744

Krolewskie Jadlo (D)*
694 Manhattan Avenue
718-383-8993

Park Slope
Cantina Restaurant & Bar (L/D)*
494 4th Avenue
718-369-5850

Luscious Food (L)
59 5th Avenue
718-398-5800

Mulino Ristorante Italiano (D)*
133 5th Avenue
718-398-9001

The Park Slope ChipShop (L/D)
383 5th Avenue
718-832-7701

Prospect Heights
Bombay Masala (L/D)*
678 Franklin Avenue
718-230-7501

Joy Indian Restaurant (L/D)*
301 Flatbush Avenue
718-230-1165

Williamsburg
Zipi Zape Tapas Bar (D)
152 Metropolitan Avenue
718-599-3027

Date: -Not Available-

Camera: Nokia 6288, 2 MP

All stuck up

Originally uploaded by |Nick Rigby|
]]> http://nickrigby.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/take-me-to-a-place-i-wanna-be/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:10:31 +0000 Nick http://nickrigby.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/take-me-to-a-place-i-wanna-be/

Take me to a place I wanna be

Originally uploaded by |Nick Rigby|
]]> http://nickrigby.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/eye-spy/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:51:47 +0000 Nick http://nickrigby.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/eye-spy/

Eye Spy

Originally uploaded by |Nick Rigby|
]]> http://goingcoastal.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/n-train-from-34th-street-to-coney-island-stillwell-avenue/ Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:35:27 +0000 goingcoastal http://goingcoastal.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/n-train-from-34th-street-to-coney-island-stillwell-avenue/ Something about Coney Island still inspires the imagination. It’s a place with a history of fantastical happenings, not least of which is the ability of Astroland, the amusement park, to remain alive and open for business even after dire announcements of its buyout and imminent shutdown.

Heading out from 34th Street on Wednesday evening, the call of tzatziki reached out to me from the train’s Queens terminus in Astoria, but for this commute I headed south to Brooklyn, away from delicious Greek food and toward delectable Russian.

The express train was packed as it traveled without stopping from Union Square to Canal Street, where several passengers got on and off, transferring to other lines. Then the train rattled across the Manhattan Bridge, passing an iconic New York view — Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty — before sloping down the tunnel that once shuttled hordes of the city’s sweaty tenement dwellers to cool seaside breezes.

Unlike other commutes that have been filled with more nine-to-fivers, this particular train seemed to be a younger crowd, who focused less on how much they hated their train ride and more on their random impressions of life in New York.

A few minutes past Canal Street, I talked to a man wearing a scruffy beard and a wool cap. He stood out because of the old Polaroid camera he was carrying and the small photos he was flapping. This amateur photographer, who did not want to give his name, was an architect. He had found the old camera in a closet at work and was spending his ride home taking pictures of anything that caught his eye.

He told me he had once taken out a video camera at 34th Street, but before he could shoot anything, three cops converged on him as if he’d pulled out a cop magnet. Last night, he had no such troubles, and was just experimenting with the new camera.

I tried talking to a couple of middle-aged commuters, who had the look of people who endured this haul every night, but most told me — in broken English with heavy Russian or Chinese accents — that they didn’t want to talk.

A few minutes later, I heard the soft strumming of a guitar coming from the other end of the car. The young man playing was sitting on the floor, next to the door that goes between cars. There was no hat out for money; it was on his head and it said, “Ben’s,” as in the deli where he works. Alfred, 23, who lives in Alphabet City (his words), was on his way to Bay Parkway to visit his girlfriend.

Everything he said was mildly philosophical in the way that everything recently graduated college students say is mildly philosophical, but that I didn’t notice until I turned 30.

I asked him about his girlfriend and why she lived so far out in Brooklyn, expecting a story of hipsters moving to cheaper neighborhoods, but it was a more practical explanation: she lives with her parents. Alfred, observing that the neighborhood in Bay Parkway is mostly Russian, Italian and Chinese, mused, “And I guess most people try to find their niche in life.”

His guitar was unusually shiny. “I used to bring it everywhere but that was ill-advised,” he said. “Because ideas are precious, and you never know who is listening.” I asked if he thought his musical ideas had ever been stolen on the train. He smiled and lightened up. “Well, since my style is a compilation of influences, it’s probably me who’s stolen them.”

Back at the other end of the train, I sat down next to a man who looked Alfred’s age but was dressed in a suit. Daniel, 25, moved to Coney Island four months ago from Manhattan Beach to be nearer to the train. Though he commutes to Canal Street every day, he didn’t even consider relocating in that direction. “I get 1,100 square feet in a brand-new condo for a quarter of the price as the same apartment in TriBeCa,” he said with the confidence of someone who is not getting ripped off in TriBeCa.

His old commute was on the B train, and he admitted that he found that line slightly more agreeable. “There’s more trouble on this train,” he said with a conspiratorial laugh. “More people talking smack, at least at Coney Island. But they usually get off by 36th Street.”

Daniel — who always gets a seat, he said — was born in Russia, moved to Sunset Park as a child, and recently returned from a stint in Japan. “I’ve lived in several cities and with all its faults, New York still has the best transportation,” he said with pride.

Then, in an impressive feat of memory recall, he rattled off the times of the last nightly trains in London, Paris and Tokyo. It was a parlor trick perfect for Coney Island.

Commute Time From 34th Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue

51 minutes

At a Glance

As the name implies, the“Broadway Express” runs express in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but stays local in Queens. Though not as famous as the 7 train, the N also feels like an international express — traveling through Chinese, Russian, Italian and Jewish neighborhoods.

Where It Goes

Starting in Astoria, the N passes through Long Island City before snaking into Midtown. It roughly follows Broadway and then, at Canal Street, heads over to Brooklyn on the Manhattan Bridge. Once across the river, it hits downtown Brooklyn, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Borough Park and Coney Island.

Strategies

Like on most trains, mornings between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. are the most crowded. If your job lets you out closer to 6 p.m. or later, you won’t have any trouble getting a seat, especially after the principle Brooklyn exchanges at Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street and 36th Street in Sunset Park.

Trivia

From 1967 to 1968, there was a short-lived train called the NX, a speedy offshoot of the N that shuttled commuters between Brighton Beach to 59th Street in Sunset Park. It ran on an express route called the Sea Beach tracks, which had been in use from the 1920s to 1950s to rush beach-goers to Coney Island.

The exterior illuminated signs on the N trains now say “Sea Beach Exp”.

By BILLIE COHEN

NY Times

As Diesel mentioned, we had no intention of celebrating New Year's going through a long security line and being corralled with four million plus strangers in Times Square for several hours with little room to move and no possibility to go to the bathroom (those who know me know that my bladder has a mind of its own).

Instead, we made our way to Brighton Beach, where DB and his wife Misha were throwing an intimate New Year's Eve party. But wait, there were "rules" to this party, as you can see from the following Evite excerpt:

The rules are as follows:
1. Dresscode: neck wear for boys and no jeans allowed.
2. You must bring a gift for exchange ($10 to $20 bucks).
3. You must wear slippers (high heeled slippers are ok).
4. If you bring alcohol it must be a chocolate liqueur.
5. Sleepover is optional (blankets, pillows, and socks will be provided)

With such specific instructions, what was a good guest to do but to comply?

Before I continue, I must preface the core of this story by explaining two things: 1) The amount of walking in this city has forced me to always go out wearing my Puma walking shoes, which upon arrival are promptly replaced by whatever too tight, too tall or too small cute shoes I bring for the occasion, 2) Earlier that day I had bought one of those very in sequin tops but never bothered trying it on due to time constraints.

Anyhow, as soon as I put the new top on, I realized that it made me all itchy. I figured it was a price I had to pay...at least for that night. Diesel and I packed our overnight items, including the slippers, put our walking shoes on and made the 45-60 trip to Brighton Beach.

When we arrived, several of the guests were already munching and mingling. Apparently , all guests had followed the dress code impeccably, looking spiffy and glamorous, but all of them had completely ignored the "slippers" part. GREAT. Now I was all itchy AND self-conscious about being the only one wearing ugly shoes. I mean, I was one of the only two people wearing ugly shoes, and it didn't help that the other fashion perpetrator was my own husband. This wouldn't have been so bad if the party hadn't included at least two people who worked at Prada and several other people who obviously were very much into fashion.

But all that was forgotten once the food started rolling--and there was plenty of delicious dishes!--and the vodka toasts started coming. We were, after all, in Brighton Beach, aka Little Russia by the Sea. When in Little Russia, do as the Russians do, right?

DB and Misha had an eclectic group of friends, and Diesel and I talked to almost all of them. At midnight, we all held our glasses high in what would be the first toast of the year, and one of the many more toasts of that night. The drinking and mingling continued. Pretty soon it was 1:30, and as expected, Diesel fell into the abyss of drunkenness. He was the first one to pass out, but that seemed alright with everybody, as they decided to play a few rounds of Twister. One by one people started passing out, and DB and Misha's living room turned into a big sleepover.

Strangely enough, we were the first ones of all guests to wake up at 10am on January 1. Whispering and tiptoeing to the bathroom, Diesel and I waited for the others to get up. We thought we'd wait for everybody to get over their hangovers and go as a caravan to get brunch. An hour passed and nothing. We sat there looking at each other before summoning the courage to leave without saying good-bye to anybody (but what were we gonna do? Wake up everybody?).

By the time we got home it was past noon. I don't think I've mentioned that there is a McDonald's one block from where we live. It has been a great source of temptation, and at least a couple of times I got as close as the front door, but so far had been disciplined enough to resist. Not that day. Not with an accomplice like Diesel. The two of us walked straight into McDonald's and got ourselves burgers and fries. It tasted damn good as expected. Also as expected, it made us feel incredibly sick afterwards.