The Pumpkins Go Up (One Last Time) in Cobble Hill

The Great Annual Pumpkin Impaling went on as scheduled at the Cobble Hill corner of Kane and Strong Place, with dozens of tiny Jack-'O-Lanterns finding their private cast-iron spike in the afternoon hours of Oct. 31, just prior to trick or treating hours.

As reported earlier, this will be the last year the impressive gourd display will occur. I spoke to Jane Greengold and her husband, the people who live in the corner brick building, about their decision to end the local tradition. It turns out they are not moving away. When asked why they chose to stop mounting the smiling squashes, they said, "It's complicated." Mysterious.

Talking to the couple, I also learned a few tricks of the trade. In order to light up the many small pumpkins, they drill holes in the back of the vegetables and then thread miniature Christmas lights into the holes.

Anyway, I took the Greengolds up on their invitation to contribute a Jack-'O-Lantern this year. That rather large one above is my contribution. A great many locals took part and, as you can see from these pictures, they got rather creative in their carving. I will be sorry not to see these double rows of autumnal cheer next Halloween.

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Rat-Squirrel House Gets Windows

The once infamous Rat-Squirrel House of Cobble Hill is close to looking like a structural citizen. The plywood that has covered the windows for a couple years has been replace by actual windows—sure the first set of new windows that once-scandalous building has received since it was built more than a century ago. Now it just needs a new door and a paint job on the first level, and its like its former life as a squatter's, trash-strewn haunted house never happened.

And Now, a Brief Rat-Squirrel Update

Half of the window lintels are complete on the slowly-but-surely back-from-the-dead Rat-Squirrel House in Cobble Hill. The one-time haunted house now has some sharp new lintels to match its new cornice. Still no glass in those windows, though. And, ironically, the renovation of the house next door—which is considerably less in need of a redo—is speeding along at a far more rapid pace.

Two Nice Cobble Stores Replaced by One Nice Store

I was upset last fall when two lovely, vest-pocket, side-street shops in Cobble Hill—an antique shop and an old dry cleaners—were pushed out at a moment's notice. If they had been replaced by a Dunkin' Donuts or Pinkberry, as I suspected they would be, I could have been hopping mad (as usual). But instead they have been supplanted by Idlewild, a French-Spanish-Italian book store. They also teach those languages. How can you be angry about that?

Sadie's, a Kitchen Full of Mac and Cheese

Sadie's Kitchen, the latest restaurant to occupy a small (and up til now doomed) space on Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, quietly opened this week. It's an intentionally cozy place, resembling an idealized version of a 1940s kitchen. The culinary focus is mac and cheese, including varieties that feature bacon, crayfish and smoked duck. But the owner is anxious to make clear that the place serves other things, such as biscuits, sandwiches and pies. She also wants the people to know that they will soon be serving breakfast as well, and will also be accepting credit cards in time.

Two Cobble Hill Gems Close

On Warren Street in Cobble Hill, between Court Street and Smith, are two tiny shops. They have been there for as long as I can remember. One was an antique chop called "Past and Present." The other was an archetypal New York dry cleaner. They existed cheek-by-jowel, eeking out an existence in their narrow spaces, which were part of a larger apartment building that dominated the corner. I loved the two shops, and enjoyed walking by them as I made my way to the Bergen Street subway stop. In their economic presence, they reminded my of the kind of stores you'd find on a tidy side street in London.

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Rat-Squirrel House Loses Its Cornice

The Rat-Squirrel House—once the decrepit, derelict, haunted wonder of Cobble Hill, now just another fixer-upper—is getting some work done.

The landmarked, but distressed, red brick home has been covered in scaffolding and netting for more than a year now. Every now and then the newly installed metal door (which replaced the old wooden one after the joint was raided by official like a crack den in 2009 and the crazy owner sent packing) is opened and some workers could be seen bustling about. But other than gutting the rotted interior, the building's look didn't change much. It looked, as it always has, like it was about to fall down.

But this week, workers have been up to serious business. Bit by bit, they removed the ancient cornice. In past posts, I've wondered aloud when the dropping wooden cornice would finally fall and kill someone. It never did, though it hung lower and lower with each passing season. Now its gone. Will the workers continue on down, brightening and sprucing up the facade? Wait and watch.

"Dogs" and "Burgers" Come Down from Degraw Storefront

The Degraw Street store that briefly contained Ultimate Burgers & Dogs is now rid of the small signs that said "Burgers" and "Dogs." (See below.) Thank God. Hated those things.

As locals know, Ultimate's main claim to infamy was to take down the wonderful old "Grocery and Deli" sign that had been there for decades. (See below.) They claimed the old sign was hurting their business. Which was bullshit. Because just weeks after they put up the new signs, they closed anyway.

The change must have been made by Ted & Honey, the Clinton Street cafe that is taking over the space. So is it too much to ask for them to put the Grocery sign back up? That is, if the Ultimate doofuses didn't throw it away.

I apologize for my immoderate words. Whenever I think of that sign coming down for no good reason, my blood boils.

Cobble Hill Convent Gets Big Clean-Up

The former Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor/Congregation of the Infant Jesus, the old convent buildings at the corner of Henry and Kane in Cobble Hill—sold a little while ago for $5.4 million—is getting a major renovation as its being converted into apartments. The tall, wooden front doors are being sanded and stripped and repaired. The long, cast-iron fence around the property is being stripped of all rust. But, most important, the back yard, which for many years has been filled with weeds and appalling array of junk, is being cleared. A mini-bulldozer was busy leveling the brush and dumping loads of crap into a nearby dumpster. (See below)

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Golden City Now Happy Garden

The Golden City Chinese takeout joint on the Cobble Hill corner of Henry and Baltic has always stood out, not just because it's the only Chinese takeout joint in the area, but because it is situated picturesquely among a forest of brownstones where almost no other businesses can be found.

It recently changed hands, and is now Happy Garden. That's fine, I guess, but why couldn't the new owners keep the old name? If they had, they could have kept the old school signage, which was much more appealing than the garish new yellow one found below. (I stupidly never took a picture of it, but you can still see it on Google Maps here.)

Kooky Cobble Hill Convent Is Sold

Brownstoner unveils the interesting news that the two buildings at the corner of Henry and Kane in Cobble Hill—a longstanding obsession of Lost City—have been sold for $5.4 mil.

These properties, long in disrepair, are old, old South Brooklyn. I uncovered a lot about them last year when I began posting about the old cement wall that surrounds the land. The building were part of a convent called the the Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor/Congregation of the Infant Jesus, an order which began in France. They devoted their time to caring for the sick, looking after their homes and giving them medicine. The nuns used to hold dances to raise money. According to my records, the buildings were built in 1906. The wall was built in 1913. (Note the cross carved into the cast iron door.)

In the late '60s-early '70s, the building was used by the Int'l Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Many of the windows have been broken for a long time. I've often wondered if anyone lived in there.

Neighborhood Sandwich Shop in Cobble Hill

This primo corner spot, on the Cobble Hill corner of Kane and Henry, has been vacant for a good five years, since the Bonafide Deli went bust. It's been under construction for about four months now and will open as a sandwich shop run by the owners of Angry Wade, the Smith Street bar. It looks so good because the Landmarks Commission has been on the builder's back, making sure the space is in keeping with the Brownstone surroundings. Supposedly, the handsome storefront, windows and cornice follow the design of a tax photo from the 1940s. Also, the cast iron beams inside have been saved and incorporated.

One of the old cornices, on the side of the building, is pictured below. Looks fairly close to the new work.

Keeping It Straight

Somebody, I don't know whom, snuck out one night and spray-painted stencils saying "Cobble Hill" and "Carroll Gardens" on either side of DeGraw Street, along Court Street, to designate where one Brooklyn neighborhood began and the other ended. DeGraw, of course, is the dividing line between the two nabes, though not everyone knows that.

"Cobble Hill" is painted on the northwest corner of the intersection, "Carroll Gardens" on the southwest. I love exact neighborhood demarcations, so whomever did this act of random street art has won my support.

Staubitz Market Changes Sign

Staubitz Market, the 93-year-old butcher in Cobble Hill, recently changed their sign. The old one had been there as long as I can remember. The new signage is OK. Very spare. Dignified. Probably no surprise to anyone out there, though, that I liked the old sign better. A friend took the below photo of it lying on the sidewalk after being taken down.

Strong Place Church Rings a Bell

The Strong Place Church in Cobble Hill began its conversion into a condo complex sometime well before Obama became President and the only Tea Partys in America were held by little girls in pink dresses. Today, it's near completion, with the wooden fencing around the property finally disassembled and the cast iron fence around the 1853 church back in view.

That fence is currently being restored by a crew of workman, who are busily sanding away years of rust and corrosion, and then painted the fence, well, a kind of rust color. The lawn to the west of the church has been re-sod and looks in fine shape. The whole building, in fact, is remarkably handsome.

But most intriguing is the sudden site of a humungous cast-iron bell, which must have sat in the belfry at one time but now rests at the edge of the lawn. I wonder what is to become of it. I assume it will stay where it is, functioning as a large lawn ornament.

I zoomed in on the inscription printed on the side of the bell. It says the bell was presented to the Strong Place Baptist Church in 1853, the same year the church was built. So it's original. The bell hails from Meneely's in West Troy, New York, the birthplace of many bells across the nation, once upon a time. Which means this bell is actually two years older than this Meneely's bell in downtown Manhattan.

I found this old testimonial from Rev. Dr. Taylor back in the 1850s: "The bell you recently placed in the tower of the Strong Place Church, I am happy to inform you, is giving the most entire satisfaction, both to the generous donor and the citizens generally. It is universally admired for the richness and fullness of its tone, which are unsurpassed by any other bell in this or our adjacent city. [Ed. note: That would be Manhattan, i.e., New York.] The perfection of your arrangement for hanging has excited alike our surprise and admiration."

I wish I could have heard it.

Court Street Landmark No Longer "Discount"

At some point recently, the indispensable Cobble Hill notions and sundries store Winn Discount changed its name, and its sign, to Winn Home & Beauty. Thankfully, they have retained the general design spirit of the old sign, even if the "Winn" is a bit more fancy and curvy now. Otherwise, the change is, I feel, unfortunate. "Winn Discount" was easy to say. The name had a lovely assonance to it. It fell trippingly off the tongue, as in "I'm going to the Winn Discount." No one's going to say, "I'm going to the Winn Home and Beauty." I suspect the neighborhood will continue to call it Winn Discount.

Ultimate Burgers & Dogs Puts Up New Sign

Last week, there was a localized brouhaha when Ultimate Burgers & Dogs, a restaurant on Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, took down an old, longstanding and beloved grocery sign from their storefront. Their claim was that the old sign confused patrons. To which claim I noisily clear my throat.

Now they've started putting up a new sign, which does not improve the situation in the least. Not terrible, but nowhere near as charming. I suppose the word "Ultimate" is going in the middle.

I still want to know if they broke the law by altering the facade of a landmarked buidling.

Put. The. Sign. Back. Up.

Unbelievable.

Of all the boneheaded moves. Ultimate Burgers and Dogs has taken the old "Grocery & Deli" sign down from its Degraw Street storefront in Cobble Hill because it felt the signage was confusing folks. Reports Eater: "A call confirms: a worker there say some people in the neighborhood have complained because the sign has been there for over 20 years. But too many people came in wanting smokes and lighters."

I do not think I exaggerate when I say that bit of old signage was beloved in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. It's been there for decades, ever since the small space actually was a grocery and deli. Italian grocery and deli. Call Louis', I believe. It was still there when I moved to the area in 1994. When the deli decamped, the old sign stayed, with its great retro Coca-Cola logos. It stayed through several new businesses, mainly restaurants: Whim, Chicory, etc. They all appreciated the sign. And the neighborhood appreciated them appreciating the sign.

I like Ultimate Burgers & Dogs. The owner's a good guy. He make great burgers, great dogs. But I don't  believe him when he says people still come in the space looking but a pack of butts. Everyone in the area knows it hasn't been a deli for years. And how many strangers walk down that stretch of Degraw looking for cigarettes? He may be imagining that the sign is losing him business. But if business is slow, it's because that block has always been a challenge. There's not much traffic. It's out of the way and no other stores are near that store.

Just put the sign back. If you need to put out a big old banner saying "Ultimate Burgers and Dogs," do it. But keep the sign. You've inadvertently de-charmed your restaurant.

Also, there is this: That building is part of the Cobble Hill Historic District. Did they have permission from the Landmarks Commission to take down the sign and alter the building's facade. Hello?

Hopeful Fixers Bust Into Rat-Squirrel House

Last we heard from Cobble Hill's notorious Rat-Squirrel House, the sealed-up ruin was being newly draped in netting and scaffolding, with the hope put out that the 109-year-old landmark townhouse—until recently the home of a woman who willingly let it go to rack and ruin and termites and garbage—might actually be saved.

Today, there was a lot of activity around 149 Kane Street. A small army of hard-hatted workers showed up in a van from a brownstone restoration firm (Captain Waterproofing and Contracting).

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Cobble Hill Landmark Destroyer John Quadrozzi Gets Sued by City

The Landmarks Commission is doing right by Cobble Hill landowner John Quadrozzi.

They're suing him.

Anyone who's ever walked down Henry Street in Cobble Hill has seen Quadrozzi's good works. The owner of a few landmarked brownstones, he has willfully let them fall into disuse and disrepair. The disaster he owns at the corner of Henry and Congress (above), built in 1852 and ever in danger of crashing down, has been in scaffolding and netting for forever, blighting the intersection.

According to the Daily News, Quadrozzi claims "unwieldy city bureaucracy has delayed his renovation efforts for years." "It took me over a year and buckets of money to convince them [a wall] might collapse," said Quadrozzi, who bought the buildings in 2000. No doubt, the red tape surrounding landmarks is a pain, but 10 years and you couldn't figure it out? Doubtful. I've talked to Quadrozzi's neighbors over the years, and they always told me similar stories of a neglectful and absent landlord.