MotherSister Brooklyn

The Scamp and I have established a summer Saturday morning constitutional that usually includes a walk through Fort Greene Park and the farmer’s market for bread and eggs. Along the way today, we stumbled across this cute little cafe, Bidonville, on Willoughby between Carlton and Adelphi.

When we stopped in, I immediately recognized the (gorgeous, French-speaking) woman who greeted us from around the neighborhood; she and her husband own the cafe, which just opened on Wednesday and still seems to be coming together. So far, they have a small selection of croissants, muffins, and pastries, tea, and coffee; Sefu, the manager, said they plan to offer sandwiches and focus on the coffees. A good thing, too, because for all the cafes in the neighborhood, not many serve coffee worth the trip. (I used to work in an espresso bar — when that was a new concept, however pretentious — and my best girlfriends are Italian and half-French, so I’m admittedly picky about what constitutes good coffee and espresso.) The Pillow Cafe and now the very “French Greene” Bidonville — nice to have options.

[ETA: Apparently I missed Dana Rubenstein’s Brooklyn Paper column from a couple of weeks ago — yet another new cafe on the horizon, on DeKalb Avenue. What on earth is going on with Fulton Street that for all the new business development in the nabe, precious little of it is happening on the southern edge (except for ugly, overpriced condos)? Is it the Atlantic Yards? Or, um, the methadone clinic?]

I swear I’ll blog about something besides books again soon, but I couldn’t resist mentioning The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, due to be released on July 10. (Yes, I linked to an online bookseller based in Oregon, but try to buy it from your local, OK?) With all the new interest in carbon footprints, I’ve idly wondered what would happen if humanity just went “pouf” — how would the earth repair itself, and what life forms would flourish and evolve in our place? I’m really excited that someone with a keener scientific mind than mine has addressed this question. There’s an interview with Weisman at ScientificAmerican.com; be sure to check out the accompanying sidebar articles and video.

Friday, June 29 (through Saturday, July 7)
Afro-Punk Film Festival at BAM
Tickets $11 adults, $7.50 students/children/seniors

Sunday, July 1
Afro-Punk Block Party, Clinton Avenue btw Willoughby and Myrtle
From noon to 5pm
Free

Wednesday, July 4
31st Annual 4th of July Fireworks
From 9pm
Free

I’ve had two deadlines in my cross-hairs, hence the less personal postings. A few random bits:

* I’m a sucker for a rambling rose. Stevie Nicks, my aunt Jerdine (3 husbands, 5 boys, and countless jobs later), Sula (the Toni Morrison character), any woman who has lived it and lived it well. I’ll sit and listen to the details of their lives any day of the week. So of course I found this New York Times article on writer and Fort Greene resident Susanna Moore engrossing. I just wish they’d shown more of her apartment!

* Two local musts for the hot, hot summer: The cucumber lime juice at Urban Spring on DeKalb Avenue, and the fatoosh salad at Zaytoons on Myrtle Avenue.

* I have very little time to read, and yet I have subscriptions to the New Yorker, Granta, Wax Poetics, and The Economist. (Yeah, I’m crazy.) But I’ve been putting them aside to read Shirley Chisholm’s Unbought & Unbossed, the true story of a Brooklyn-raised Barbadian woman’s political ascent. Chisholm, who died in 2005, was plainspoken and hard-headed and had the stones to run for president in 1972 (I’ll have to pick up a copy of The Good Fight, too) — and 35 years later, that’s still a stunning thing. (Which says a lot about how far we haven’t come.) If you have a chance, check out Shola Lynch’s documentary about Chisholm or dig up a copy of the books.

Shortly after The Hub and I started dating in 1999, we noticed that each of our local hardware stores — for me, Octagon on DeKalb Avenue (now closed), for him, an unnamed store on Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy — was owned by a black woman. About a year or so after we moved in together on the southern edge of Clinton Hill, Sister’s Community Hardware opened; not only do they have the nuts ‘n’ bolts for urban living, they also have a friendly, helpful staff and perpetually good music playing in the store. The owner, Ms. Bakr, wasn’t in when I stopped by, but Mr. Bob gave me a MotherSister Minute.

OPENED: 2002.

WHY IN FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL: We did a survey, and this area needed a hardware store most.

BESTSELLING ITEM: Benjamin Moore paints.

MIKE’S COFFEE SHOP OR PRATT COFFEE SHOP: The other diner — what’s the name of it? (Laughing.) I’ve lived here 20 years and I don’t know the name. I prefer Pratt — a little more anonymity, and not so rushed.

TIPS OR SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Black people need to be aware of what’s going on and put a plan together.

Sister’s Community Hardware Store is at 900 Fulton St. (at Washington Ave.; 718/399-7023). Open Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 8am-7pm, and Sun 10am-3pm.

As with Dare Books, I’ve walked past the storefront at 763 Fulton (btw S. Portland and S. Oxford sts.) more times than I can count, but I haven’t often seen it open. Today was my lucky day, and I popped my head in to get the scoop on the tidy window display of black Americana.

I was greeted by David Day, who told me that his 10-year-old storefront was known as Lady Day at Demu Gallery (”The ‘lady’ is gone now,” he noted). It’s apparently a storage space for Demu Services, and David sells art, secondhand furniture, and the proudly displayed black Americana from the very front of the store. The segregation-era signs (”No dogs, no Negroes, no Mexicans”; “Help wanted - No Irish need apply”; “Coloreds served - Carry out only”) sell for $10, or $20 framed. I’m admittedly a little conflicted about this particular niche of black memorabilia, but it is compelling to see. David collects his items from all over the United States; he gestured to a nearby van that, he says, has clocked over 400,000 miles.

And what’s up with his hours? “When you see me here, I’m open. When you don’t see me here, I’m open,” David riffed. “If you call me at 3:30 in the morning because you see something you need — or, y’know, bad things will happen — I’m open,” handing me his number (718/596-8484). Now that’s what I call customer service.

Friday, June 22
Pierrot le fou screening (new 35mm print) at BAM
4:30, 6:50, and 9:15pm (through Tuesday the 26th)
Tickets $11

Saturday, June 23
Big Apple Convention (comics) in Midtown Manhattan
From 10am to 7pm (also Sunday)
Admission $11 (free for kids under 12)

Mermaid Parade (with Lady D’Arbanville herself!), Coney Island
From 2pm
Free

“Racial Dynamics in France” panel discussion, Brooklyn Central Library
From 3 to 5pm
Free

Monday, June 25
Bad Brains at Rocks Off Boat Cruise, World Yacht Marina
From 8pm
Sold out, suckas!

Tuesday, June 26
Manu Chao at the Prospect Park Bandshell
From 6:30pm
Tickets $30 (sold out, too?)

Wednesday, June 27
Günter Grass and Norman Mailer at NYPL
7pm
Tickets $15 ($5 seniors/students)

Thursday, June 28
Afro-Punk Festival: Discussion with Bobby Seale at BAM
From 7pm
Tickets $15

Maybe it was too much unexpectedly uncomfortable sunlight, maybe too many pre-storm positive ions in the air today, but I find myself with a pocketful of peeves to share with you like so many marbles.

Dear 67 Burger:
I love your salty, crisped-edge beef patties; The Hub loves that you understand the words “medium rare”; The Scamp is all about your french fries. We don’t even mind that you don’t deliver; it’s worth the walk. However, if you are indeed going to make us walk to fetch our own 67 Burger goodness, can you please consider packing the food in recycled paper bags with handles? ‘Cos walking 12 blocks like this

while managing a stroller on bumpy sidewalks is pretty lame. And it makes me feel like my bag oughta have a McDonald’s logo on the side. Let’s kick it up a notch, ‘kay?

Dear Maclaren:
Love the lightness of the Volo. You understand how I’m living. Except for this:

A see-through panel at the top of the hood would surely add nothing to the weight of the stroller, and it would save me from constantly flipping or craning around the hood to see if The Scamp has stuck a Cheerio up his nose. Let’s work it out, ‘kay?

Dear New York City retailers:
There’s a modern concept known as customer service that you should bone up on. (Brooklyn retailers especially.) You see, there are magical places where a doctor’s office receptionist will actually take 30 seconds to make your appointment rather than put you on hold three times after picking up your call and then tell you to “call back in 10 minutes ‘cos we’re really busy right now.” Places where you can call a business to see if an item is in stock, and the operator doesn’t ring the necessary department eight times (yes, I counted) in vain because no one on the floor will be bothered to pick up the phone even after the operator pages them on the store intercom to tell them to pick up the damn phone. Places where once you’ve gotten someone on the phone, the response isn’t, “Hmm, I don’t know, I’ll see, call back in 10 minutes.” Places where, if the business is closed, they’ve been so kind as to have an answering machine pick up and give useful information like store hours and location. Places where store clerks actually stop gossiping for two minutes with their co-workers to acknowledge your existence, conduct your transaction with eye contact, and bid you a good day. I could go on — really, I could go on and on — but you get the idea. Let’s get real, ‘kay?

Dear Fresh Direct:
You may tout the eco-friendliness of your recycled boxes, but until you stop doing this

you are still a bit of an environmental disaster.

No love,

MotherSister Brooklyn.

So this is what goes down at the Masonic Temple on Lafayette Avenue!

Who knew?

I can’t count the number of times I’ve passed Dare Books on the way into BAM (right across the street) or Thomas Beisl (and New City before it, right next door) and thought, “Hmm, I wonder what they sell in that bookstore and how, in this age of bookstore closings, they’re hanging on?” A stroll with The Scamp during brunch forced me to slow down my hustle today, though, and this time I finally poked my head into the store.

I should’ve done it sooner. As Desmond A. Reid, the Jamaica-born owner who’s been a Brooklynite for more than 40 years, says, “I educate from the cradle to the grave.” Indeed, his shop has a full range of great books, including general fiction and nonfiction, a terrific selection of children’s books, materials for teachers and parents, and African, African-American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies.

Despite its central location at the very heart of what’s being dubbed the BAM Cultural District, Reid says the foot traffic isn’t what he expected when he opened the store, as people (including teachers with school groups) are usually rushing into BAM to catch their show and then rushing off afterwards. Instead, a cadre of loyal clients who prefer to touch and handle their books and buy them from someone they know have kept the store going for nearly 20 years.

OPENED: I began the business in April 1982, working from home, and then on Pacific between Flatbush and Fourth. I opened here in February 1989.

WHY IN FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL: I thought being across from BAM would be advantageous.

BESTSELLING ITEM: Right now? The bestselling walk-in is Medical Apartheid.

MIKE’S COFFEE SHOP OR PRATT COFFEE SHOP: I haven’t eaten there. I don’t eat out a lot. I use Sally’s [on Flatbush]. I go to Brawta sometimes. Golden Krust, sometimes.

TIPS OR SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The only recommendation I have is to make sure you have a lot of money. [laughs]

Dare Books & Educational Supplies is at 33 Lafayette Ave. (btw St. Felix Street and Ashland Place; 718/625-4651). Open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 6:30pm and Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

So I guess I should finally get rid of my old Veliis menu: Epoca, an Italian restaurant, has opened in its place (773 Fulton St., btw S. Portland and S. Oxford sts.; 718/596-9070). The Hub brought back copies of the menu — no, they’re not delivering yet — and nothing leaps off the page as being especially unusual or must-try. But if they really nail what’s listed, including a house lasagna and spinach risotto, it will be nice to have a solid Italian option in the nabe. (Yes, I know there’s Locanda Vini e Olii. I love their bread soup, but they don’t use butter or salt, people. That’s for a special mood and a better person than I am on a regular basis.) The inclusion of a burger as one of their two beef dinner entrees gives me pause, however. Oh, and it’s yet another cash-only spot. (Why, why?)

Saturday, June 16
Artisan Market at Fort Greene Park
From 9am to 6pm
Free

Juneteenth Arts Festival in Cuyler Gore Park (at Cumberland/Greene)
From noon to 6pm
Free

Renegade Craft Fair, Lorimer St. (btw Driggs/Bayard), Williamsburg
From 11am to 6pm
Free

Backyard Kids Disco at Beezu, 221 DeKalb Ave. (btw Clermont/Adelphi)
From 3 to 6pm
$10 adult, $5 child

Sunday, June 17
Edible Plant Walk, Central Park (at corner of 79th St. and Fifth Ave.)
From 2pm
$5

Clowns Without Borders Fundraiser at Brooklyn Lyceum
From 4 to 7pm
$10

Thursday, June 21
The Great NYC Sing, citywide
7pm sharp

The Hub and I have all but given up on buying a place in the city; not only do we not want to leave Clinton Hill, but I’m guessing we’re also priced out of Prospect-Lefferts, Victorian Flatbush, Midwood, and the Rockaways anyway. If only I’d bought that seventh-floor, $110K studio at The Griffin when I had the chance!

Instead, we began to consider buying an inexpensive cabin, where we could let our design and control-freak fantasies run amok and give The Scamp someplace to play nature boy. The search lead us to the discovery of bungalow communities, which are generally co-op or leased land deals. They’re in the woods, like the Buffalo Colony, as well as on beaches in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and (gasp) Long Island. There are even communities that give the term “trailer park” a new spin, though that wasn’t really what we were after. A lot of the ones in upstate New York seem to be Orthodox Jewish, though I did encounter one that (as the cottage’s owner made a point of telling me) is inhabited by people of Italian and Irish descent. (For those of you who know my RL name, perhaps he innocuously thought this was simply a selling point.) Hippie/artistic communities are around, too, though they seem hard to find. And to my surprise (given that both blacks and Jews were compelled to create their own vacation options during segregation), I didn’t find any black vacation communities.

The cohousing aspect of these cottage communities is attractive; it’s also nice to leave the maintenance largely to someone else for a reasonable annual fee. Of course, there’s risk associated with the fact that you don’t own the land on which your cottage sits, as one community on a Connecticut beach has discovered. But considering that the cottages typically cost $20K to $100K (which I would argue is really too much to pay for this kind of arrangement), they also seem to be one of the last few ways for solidly middle-class folks with a little cash to spend to regularly vacation in areas that increasingly seem to be the preserve of the rich. I dig the idea so much that I’d love to gather some like-minded folks and start one of our own.

OK, so the sign — featuring a Bollywood icon (Aishwarya Rai?) and a couple of misspellings (including a hastily corrected “tattoo”) — doesn’t inspire confidence that this is a place where you want to have someone ripping unwanted hairs out of your body by the roots with a string. But fear not, hirsute sisters (and brothers, actually)! Threading Place can take care of you.

Frankly, I’m mostly thrilled that I no longer need to hustle to make it to Shobha, a fabulous spot a 20-minute train ride away in SoHo that charges twice as much for what I have done. (You don’t think I’m specifying, do you? Here, too, Threading Place has your back: Their slogan is “Your beauty is our secret!”) I’ve been to Threading Place a couple of times since they opened in late May, and although there’s a little too much up-selling pressure (with prices ranging from $3 to $8 for threading alone, my little bit isn’t going to keep them in business), I was in and out of there within 2 minutes, with The Scamp patiently strapped in his stroller. It may not have the charm of the Rastas who used to occupy the space, but I hope they get the business. How else can a time-pressed young mom stave off the Frida Kahlo effect?