A Good Sign: Senator's Dinettes Bedding

Don't look for this charming throwback in Bay Ridge for much longer. Senators Dinettes is out of business and the space is up for rent.

There's a world of cultural history in this unassuming placard, though. The old phone number with the lettered prefix. The sweet emphasis on "All Name Brands." The prominent advertising of the very-1950s "Dinettes." The owners apparently never changed a word. One mystery: what exactly, I wonder, was "recovered." Part of the sign has fallen off. Sofas, perhaps? Or, in a more Proustian vein, maybe Time.

Four Flags Over Bay Ridge

Found this on a wall in Bay Ridge, lost among the surrounding dung heap of auto body stores and spare tire outfits. The flags surround the Stars and Stripes are, clockwise from bottom left: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Stumped? Well, before "Saturday Night Fever" made everyone think Bay Ridge was full of Italians and nothing but, the nabe was home to a huge Scandinavian population. More Norwegians than Oslo at one point, they said. Mostly gone, now, of course. But this wall gives passersby a silent reminder.

Reason the Swedish flag is bigger than the other two? Could be because the still-hanging-on Swedish Social Club is just next door, to the right.

Horses Put Out to Pasture

One of my longest-lived life goals is to learn how to ride a horse. With every year, I become more convinced this will probably never happen. Still, my heart leaps up a bit whenever I see someone who's good in the saddle.

Living in New York, I only have two opportunities to view such beings. One group is the mounted police, the sight of one of whom is enough to restore my respect for the uniform. The others are found in Central Park, elegant equestrians riding steeds from the Claremont Riding Academy. My parents used to thrill when they spied riders and horses resting through the glass walls of Tavern on the Green's Crystal Room. I did, too.

Well, the thrill is gone. Claremont, Manhattan's last public riding stable, closed for good yesterday. The owner, Paul Novograd, who has said he's gone into debut supporting the place, finally gave up the fight. He will not tell folks what will be done with the landmark property, but, according to the New York Sun, "it has been widely rumored that he is selling it to a real estate developer who will build condominiums atop the four-story building." Swell.

As for the homeless riders, seems they'll have to go and canter in The Bronx or Brooklyn (gasp!), where there are yet public stables.

What of the horse? Well, the owner said "some would be sold, while others would go to his home Upstate, to his other riding academy in Gaithersburg, Md., and to a riding program at Yale University, his daughter's alma mater." Hm. Home Upstate? Other riding academy? Yale? Dude seems to have some money.

Invisible Landmark Disappears

Now, here's a lost treasure whose destruction no one would have missed if not for the vigilant blog Queen's Crap.

Above is what's taken the place of the house below, which used to be the house even further below, which was once the clubhouse of the long-gone Richmond Hills Golf Course, now present-day Kew Gardens. You've got one guess as to which is the uglier of the three.

I'll never understand McMansions. They've received nothing but barrelloads of bad press from day one. Yet people still order them up. What malfunctioning part of their brains tells them these things are beautiful or prestigious? Can this be chalked up to our nation's over-interest in mobster life? Have we come to think that goodfellas' unerring bad taste is actually good taste?

Chumley's Fans Now Have Own Website

Someone, on April 26, posted the first item of a new blog called Saving Chumley's, which is dedicated to the cause of, what else?, saving Chumley's, the one-of-a-kind former speakeasy that is in danger of extinction due to a collapsed chimney and a ruthless landlord.

Now, I love this person, whoever he or she may be, and I wish them well. Their heart is in the right place and, God knows, they're fighting the right fight.

BUT, I hope they'll put some teeth in the blog real soon. Either they are naive in the extreme or do not wish to make waves, but early on they express their belief that
"it is going to re-open" (I wish I was so confident). Then they send out some words of sympathy to the landlord: "This is obviously extremely financially taxing to the owners." They may be referring to the owners of Chumley's. I don't know. But I think it's fair guess that the owners of Chumley's are not the ones laying out the dough to fix the joint. That would be the owner of the BUILDING, Margaret Streicker Porres, a landlord of bad reputation and the one who let the building fall into disrepair. As far as how much this is financially taxing her, I'd say she's holding up under the strain. Her dad is Richie Rich and she is a chip off the old block. She has the money to do this fix-up job ten times over, and, what's more, she should have done it ages ago. It's not a burden. It's her duty!

So, Save Chumley's, if you really want to help, know what your fight is, and who you're fighting. She's a Goliath and you won't beat her—and thus save Chumley's—until you land that rock right between her eyes.

Now—get out there and post!!!

Latest Brooklyn Inn Update: Pool Table, No; New Brews, Yes

Recent posts here and elsewhere have apparently provoked the rapid devotion some bear for The Brooklyn Inn and its cherished Old Time Taverniness.

New info furnished to Eater.com claims the the new owners of the Inn are those same who own the Tile Bar(s) and the Magician. According to the tipster:

They're getting rid of the pool table and putting more tables in, but other than that it shouldn't change too much (some staff turnover, maybe different beers/specials/prices). We were at the Tile Bar in 1st Ave. last night and asked the bartender there and she confirmed this to be true.

Well, that doesn't sound too bad. Although, the red velvet pool table, tucked into the dimly lit back room, does present an stirring portrait of Hopperesque urban loneliness not to be missed.

Chumley's Reopening: Six Months and Counting

Perhaps come Thanksgiving 2007, we'll all have something to be thankful for.

Curbed.com is reporting that work dismantling the historic speakeasy's collapsed chimney has begun, brick by wearisome brick. After that is completed, steps will be taken to stabilize the structure, which, to the eye, looks to tumble at any moment.

The time frame for the work: six long months. It's gonna be a long dry summer.

Bloomberg Sez: Fix That Pool, Fix That Bridge

While I'm not so crazy about the news that The Brooklyn Inn is going from beer joint to bistro, I like this report on Curbed.com. Mayor Bloomberg, who's got Green on the brain, plans to fix up some outer borough landmarks that need some fixin' up.

Reports Curbed.com:

First up is the High Bridge, the pedestrian walkway that connects Manhattan and the Bronx, which has been closed since the '60s. Starting in 2008, the High Bridge will get a $65 million facelift in advance of a reopening. Very cool, but not as shocking as what's in store for McCarren Pool. Two years from this summer and $50 million later, McCarren Pool will be a pool again, albeit at one-third its current size.

Good moves, both. Can you imagine swimming in McCarren? And walking from the Bronx to Manhattan? Mind-blowing.

How to Brighten Up Your Blight

This building on DeGraw offers a charming solution to how to sunny up that boarded-up feeling. I'm touched by the effort. Very Mondrian.

Brooklyn Inn Update

Alarmed by reports on the web that The Brooklyn Inn, the classic wood-tin-and-mirrors tavern on the corner of Bergen and Hoyt in Boerum Hill, was shuttering, I dropped by the place last night.

Turns out there's more to the story than a simple closure. The bartendress told me the tavern is not closing, but is changing hands. What's not clear is if the new owners plan to keep the Brooklyn Inn the Brooklyn Inn, or keep it going as a bar under a different name, or convert the whole thing into a different business, such as a bistro. (Ugh.) The woman also said the two owners are trying to make sure the bar isn't closed for the period of time during the handover. It's all pretty murky.

The building is within the Boerum Hill Historic District, so that may protect it from serious renovation. And a bistro would at least mean you could still go in and view the fabulous oak woodwork and the 20-feet-high tin ceiling. Still, the place feels like what it is, a bar, and would be ill-served by repurposing. The scene last night was heartening in its lack of pretense. Thirty-something and Forty-something Brooklyn schlubs being Brooklyn schlubs. One young couple getting to know each other better over several beers. A guy in the back room trying to impress a leggy blonde with his pool prowess. Guys regularly going out to smoke on the corner. Some musicians piling their instruments in the corner and grabbing a drink after a local gig. These guys don't need another hot brunch place on Sundays.

UPDATE: (1 PM April 26) A tipster who seems to be in the know has written into Eater.com confirming that The Brooklyn Inn will be a bistro, serving omelettes and the like. Also, that the owner of the Inn also owns the building. The motivation for the change: Mr. Owner wants more MONEY.