Don't Fade Away

13th Avenue, Borough Park—home of the faded, hand-painted sign.

The one above says "Becky's," in case you can't read it.

Brach's, below, appears to have stolen Sym's slogan.

The Coat Gallery

The Coat Gallery of 13th Avenue in Brooklyn has a swingin', mod, '60s look not seen very often in New York anymore. The large, oval front windown, bisected by the over glass of the door, just kind of, you know, blows my mind. And the sign's an oval, too! No harsh corners at this corner business.

Carroll Gardens Get a Little More Christmas Spirit

Last year, I blogged briefly about my disappointment with the Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill holiday lights displays. Whereas in the past, Court Street was fairly strewn with decorations, in 2008 the street bore only two strings of lights—both on the block between Union and President.

Things have improved a little this season. There are what looks to be a total of four strings of lights (maybe five), hung at wide intervals between 1st Street at the south end of Court and maybe Congress at the north. (The one above is at Court and Union. If you squint, you can see the string at DeGraw.) Still pretty skimpy, but a better showing. And the lights appear to be brand new.

Maybe next year it'll double again and we'll get eight strings!

Pants, Shirts, Shirts, Pants

Pants. Shirts. Everyone needs them. You'll find them at Wallach's of 13th Avenue, in Borough Park. Also jackets. And, yes, slacks.

Pizza Too Expensive, Says Pizza Man

It was something I never expected to hear.

Walking down Essex Street around 10 PM, hungry, I stopped into the decades-old Roma Pizza at the corner of Delancey. I ordered a slice of pepperoni and bacon.

The man behind the counter was having a friendly argument with a hipster customer who was blithely gnawing on a plain slice. He was complaining about a rent hike of some sort, and bitterly blaming the landlord and Mayor Bloomberg for his plight. "Since 1964, I been here," he said. He seemed to be the proprietor of Roma Pizza. Who's the landlord, the hipster and I asked. "I don't know who owns it. He's friends with Bloomberg. He's got big connections. It's crazy."

He then gave me my slice on a place. "Four dollars!" he said. "Four dollars I charge for that slice! It's not right. Too much!" I was stunned. Was he actually admitting that pizza has become too expensive? I mean, everyone knows how flour and cheese and everything has gone up in price, and slices aren't the cheap meals they used to be. But a pizza guy saying it?

Of course, he was really lamenting that economic circumstances had forced him to charge more for his pizza than he would have liked. "Hey, I'm happy to pay it," said the hipster. The owner waved him off. "It's too much!"

I left. The slice, by the way, was excellent.

Mazzola Bakery Christmas Tree Watch: Night Scene

Here's how the Mazzola Bakery 2008 Christmas Tree, at the Brooklyn corner of Henry and Union, looked it's first night on the job.

East Broadway Rats Are Some Tough Rats

Behold, the rats of the East Broadway F line subway station!

They are tough. They are bold. They don't give an F who you are. furtive around down on the tracks for them. This is their subway platform and you're just a guest.

I stood not 10 feet away from these two rats for a good five minutes. They barely budged. I stared at them. I moved towards them. I took pictures of them. (Obviously.) They did not flinch. They are the baddest rats I've even met in New York.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

J.J. Byrne Park is no more. [City Room]

Not for Tourists' NYC first edition liked a lot of places that just aren't there anymore. [EV Grieve]

Some pretty little house numbers. [Forgotten NY]

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree gets lit tonight. Hey, it's not Mazzola Bakery Christmas Tree, but we'll take it. [Gothamist]

It's Caffe Reggio. And why not? [Greenwich Village Daily Photo]

The New York Post, after encouraging Bloomberg to go for a third term, now doesn't like him so much. "When Mayor Bloomberg deployed his vast personal and political power to overturn the term limits law, he began to demystify the public relations image he had purchased at considerable expense.vIt was only then that New Yorkers began to recognize the danger of making Gotham's wealthiest man its chief executive." I realized that back in 2001. [New York Post]

A Good Sign: The Brooklyn Diner

The Brooklyn Diner, just off Times Square. It's a newish place, but with this jazzy signage, it would have fit right into a 1945 newsreel of New York.

O, Credit Card, O, Credit Card

We as a City just get more modern and sophisticated and just plain swinging with every year. Now, the old Tannenbaum can be had with a swipe of plastic.