And this is how you know that you are in a Russian neighborhood. Manhattan migh have Caviarteria, but this store under a Brighton Line train overpass on Kings Highway is something special indeed. It’s not yet open it seems, so I’ll let you know when I have the chance to sample their wares.
Kings Highway at 16th Street.
I came across this postcard recently and could not pass it up even at $16. It shows Kings Highway from the elevated subway platform of the Brighton line. Unfortunately I could not get the same viewpoint because a huge ugly advertising billboard is blocking the view.
The picture clearly (well, maybe not so clearly) shows the Avalon Movie theater, which history you can learn at http://www.cinematreasures.org . Now that building houses a CVS pharmacy on the ground floor and Touro “College” on the upper, windowless floors.
The water tower, cool streetlights, Cafe Avalon, Modern Beauty Shop, Kings Highway Realty and Mortgage Corp, the soda fountain which name I can’t make out, the cool cars — all gone. Parking is still a problem though.
Beaux Arts Of The Brooklyn’s Mother Road
Starting out as a dirt road that was named after King George III more than 200 hundred years ago, Kings Highway had a very rich history. You can still see remnants of it’s former glory in the dilapidated remnants of it’s buildings.
How would you like to enter your apartment building every day under the gaze of two titans and two griffins?
Caw, caw!
How the hell is Beaux Arts pronounced anyway?
YASR! – Yet Another Subway Rant.
Here I am again on a train with the conductor who spews wisdom out of the loudspeaker. Guess what – bulky packages and bikes are prohibited from all train cars except the last one. An it’s a law. Not only a state law, but also a federal law – he says.
Speaking of laws. You know that little tag attached to the mattress, that says “don’t remove under the penalty of law”? The one that gave so much material to untalented comedians? Well, it only applies to the salespeople and the manufacturer. The current tags even say “except by the consumer”.
Holy crap, there is a whole industry for making those tags, and they even have an official name – “law and care tags”!
Memorable Quote: “We keep abreast of the latest bedding laws to answer any questions our customers may have in regards to the various state or Canadian laws.
“
Heh, heh :)
MTA cops are much more serious than the mattress police though. And they some things they’ll ticket you for are not advertised. For instance, smoking on an open air platform will cost you a $50 ticket. I’ve read in a book that MTA repeatedly denied requests of consumer advocates to put up “no smoking” signs there. Why would they spend money and loose an important revenue stream? From the frequency with which I see people getting these tickets on Kings Highway, I think it’s more profitable than the metrocard sales.
I bet tema is going to get a ticket like that when he’ll visit New York.