A Good Sign: Mike's Donuts & Coffee

In Bay Ridge. Making homemade donuts on the premises since 1976. Still family owned.

Krispy Pizza of Brooklyn

I've been to most of the iconic pizzerias in New York at least once. Krispy Pizza is one I've missed. When I told a friend I was headed down to Dyker Heights the other day, she recommended I visit the slice joint on 13th Avenue.

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A Good Sign: Rick's Superette

Rick's Superette on glorious 15th Avenue in Dyker Heights has heros, catering, and no "E." A nice sign, too.

How New Corner Restaurant Got That Name

When I visited the old Brooklyn eatery Colandrea New Corner Restaurant for the first time a few weeks back, I thought the name odd. It obviously seemed to be the sort of name that a joint picks after it has been forced to move, or was in its second iteration of some sort. Yet all the evidence I could glean told me that New Corner had always been where it was. It wasn't a new corner. It was the same old corner.

And then this comment came in yesterday:

This is a quote from my mother who grew up on 74th and 10th: "Used to eat at the New Corner Restaurant all the time; a particular favorite of my Father's. Actually 'back in the day' it was called the Five Corners Restaurant, then they changed up the streets and a corner was lost. So, I guess the name needed to be changed to either 'Four' or 'New'..."

Now you know. I do, too.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

Gosh, the above buildings really do remind you of Tuscany, don't they? [Brownstoner]

Remembering Leshko's [EV Grieve]

Bloomberg, the Billionaire, owes us money, plus has sense of self-knowledge. [Queens Crap]

The Astroland Rocket is in danger, like the rest of Coney Island. [Kinetic Carnival]

The Bowery Boys went to Dyker Heights, past and present. [Bowery Boys]

Old White Horse Inn, New White Horse Inn. [Ephemeral New York]

They've got snow in Wisconsin. Why not here? [Lakemichiglog]

Homeless Snowmen, Stalking Elmo and the Santa Godhead

A adventurous friend and I, along with our assorted children, decided to hop in her mini-van the other night to explore Dyker Heights, the Brooklyn neighborhood so beloved by local news stations this time of year.

As you may or may not know, Dyker Heights has been bit by the holiday cheer bug for many years now. Locals decorate their domiciles to such an extent that Con Ed sets upon gnawing its fingernails and Disney execs send down their interns to take notes. As Christmas approaches, the streets in the 80s between 12th and 13th avenues become clogged with gawkers.



We were among those rubberneckers until the kids insisted we park the van, get out and take a closer look. And so we did, and what we saw! One lawn adorned with king-sized inflated likenesses of Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Scooby-Doo and SpongeBob, who, for some reason, have something to do with Christmas. A snowman made entirely of lights and as big as a house. Skating tots who endlessly spin on their platforms. And, as part of an elaborate decorating scheme entitled toyland, a Santa figure so big as to rank as a South Seas godhead. Scary, he was. The wife suggested we offer a sacrifice. The automated reindeer on the balcony, rearing up violently, appeared to agree.


Other houses offered live, full-blooded Santa stand-ins, who handed out toys and treats. One such was seated, eerily, next to a life-size Santa doll of similar appearance. It was hard to tell the two apart. While wifey and I were doping the thing out, a tall, red, furry figure lumbered down the driveway with two plastic buckets. Egad! It was Elmo! And he was headed our way!


Luckily, Elmo passed us by. His footing was uncertain and his intentions were unclear. He may have been collecting funds for charity, or to pay the electric bill. Either way, Elmo's World was never this bizarre.

Also collecting funds was a man in a very sad-looking snowman costume. He was standing with his plastic bucket not on the sidewalk but in the middle of the street, which made him seem vaguely homeless. In this same area was a suspicious figure trading Santa hats and light sabers from the back of his open van. WTF?

On one corner, a vast display was still under construction. Two men were busy hanging lights on trees. Judging by the nearby van, they were from DiMeglio Decorations, an operation whose logo features a particularly evil looking elf. Several of the layouts, in fact, appeared to be the work of professionals, not the people who lived in the house in question. Some lawns bore signs advertising the company at work. B & R Christmas Decorators was one I saw more than once.

Some houses had no decorations whatsoever. What Grinches these people much feel in such environs.