Surviving is Your Business,
Thriving is Everybody’s

By Lisa Dowda

Outside the 45th Street stop on the R line, there is a man begging, usually during the evening rush hour. I don’t routinely get off at this stop, but whenever I do, rain or shine, he is there. And he’s no slouch. • “Please can you spare a nickel? I’m hungry,” is his English pitch for the white people passing. In the same sing-songy lilt, to the Latino commuters, he wails something that always ends in “hambre.” And it sounds like an earnest plea, and he sings it out to every third or so person crowding up the stairs. And he doesn’t give up. • And I think, this man has adapted to his market. The bilingual begging man knows his customer. He is consistent. He is persistent.  And that damned sing-songy “I’m hungry” starts ringing in my head even before I’m within earshot of his perch on 4th Avenue. Somehow he’s figured out what jingle-makers are also underpaid to create. • Another hungry man observed long ago, “Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation.” The bilingual begging man is a mega-study in the simplicity of Brooklyn survival. In a society convinced that only the strong survive and the well-connected thrive, this man stands strong in the face of his resistance. • Open in the middle of a housing crisis and a self-diagnosed recession, and a bilingual begging man can mooch a dime or two off of me that…well, that which sustains its-own-damn-self, adapts. Of course, it helps if you got a little fight in you, an ounce of friendliness, some ego, a willingness to share your story, sometimes sell your story, are a whole lotta delusional that this world is big enough for even your crazy dream, and a couple of friends to subsidize your hangovers. • So surviving is your business. Thriving – well, that’s ours. That is, if you can sell it to us in words we can understand.

Lookout Hill

Every now and then, my Memphis roots are really useful -in reading between the lines of an Obama speech, in cooking for a party of 60 in a one-bedroom Chicago apartment, and in sitting across the table with a fellow Memphian to judge harshly a Northeastern attempt to serve up BBQ. Lookout Hill (formerly Biscuit BBQ) does all the right things – Mason jars, mac and cheese and meat. There’s a simplicity to their presentation – which makes us Memphians a little suspicious, because there’s little about the Fried, Greasy Nation that we come from. But we shrug and give it a chance, sharing mac and cheese appetizers, RC and Victory Prima Pils while looking over the menus that brag about their Meat-By-The- Pound and 27,000 some-odd bourbons and beers. Smoked and saucy. Lamb, pork, chicken, ribs, brisket. Quarter pound, half pound, sampler of it all.  Coming from the Land of Competitive BBQ, all we could come up with was: “it’s a little like Corky’s but nothing like Little Porky’s. A sentimental hint of Leonard’s, but thicker than Gridley’s. Definitely not as bland as Tops, but not as confident as Rendezvous’ dry rub.” Whatever you know of BBQ, Lookout Hill offers a respectable rib. Lookout Hill, where you can use your tongue as a Wet Nap. 230 Fifth Avenue at President.

There are Cool Moms…

…that want to raise shoe-gazey rock stars, irrepressible activists, ceiling-busting speech writers, quirky painters, heavy-handed fiction writers and gonzo journalists. For them, there’s Boing.  These moms are comfortable with their offspring seeing life in saturated colors and hope that their kids overthrow a commodity-driven America without having to live as pariahs. Boing carries the sustainable, organic stuff of kids clothes, of course. But a black skull cap with ABCD sewed in AC/DC font?? A book pushed to the front of the store titled “Baby’s First Tattoo”??  Walk a little further and you’ll find the von Furstenberg answer to publicly nursing moms of anarchy – black, cotton wraps with “Mother” silk-screened down the sleeve. If pastels and clouds and rainbows make you balk, Boing, 461 7th at 16th (not to be confused with Boing Boing on 6th).

Pound for Pound

I’m full-on into gaining my summer weight. Heading out of the apartment on a hot humid, swampy summer day? Well, Guantanamo Bay starts to look chic and respite, I’ll tell ya. So there are several new choices nearby to keep your, my, his metabolism churning so you don’t have to spend thousand of hours doing the same old boring routine of thinking about it and not doing anything about it.

Fitness Collective: They’re stressing group exercise with classes in kickboxing, stretching and baby mama classes. There’s an 8-week Extreme Body Challenge, if all you need is a little boost from some people who have heard it all before from an overachiever. No membership fees. Classes paid for individually or by the month. Call them up and see what kind of package they can put together with whatever compromises you need. Don’t let all those biceps on their websites fool you – they’re going for a neighborhoody vibe. Find them downstairs at 366 7th Avenue or their new location at 42 5th Avenue, opening soon. 718.499.1849.
www.fitnesscollective.com.

Pongo Health & Fitness: Elizabeth Pongo is a trainer committed to teaching you that form is everything. Not just routine and commitment but a conscious knowledge of what your body is doing and how that affects your on-going alignment and ability to build and maintain strength. She’s trained in psychology and kinesiology – the perfect blend of mind and body, no? She offers family and office group sessions, as well as New York and Park Slope rates! If you’ve never had a trainer or any guidance before, a few sessions with someone like Elizabeth will equip you for years to come in keeping your exercise routine fresh. It’s worth a call – just to see if she’s your thing. Pongo Power, 917.207.3588. www.pongopower.com.

And if you and your kids would rather be learning AND exercising …

Spoke the Hub has more classes than your average state university. For the whole family, there’s Wake Up Yoga, Modern Dance Technique, Tap, Pilates, Ballet, Arts and Crafts, Kids Fitness, CardioDance and Yoga and about 48,000 other choices, starting in September. They’re wrapping up renovation and are celebrating all the folks who donated time, energy and dough to the STH Re:Creation Center’s Re:Novation on September 13. Reportedly, there will be a full day of free sampler classes concluding in the evening with an open bar (always grateful for these!), food, and dancing to live music by Art Lillard & his Heavenly Big Band. They’re at 748 Union Street and www.spokethehub.org. A neighborhood artistic staple, just remastered. Ask for Sarah - 718.408.3234.

On Bergen Betwixt Flatbush & 5th:

Always in the Shade

A vegan world is no longer the stuff of supermodels, monks and reclusive hippie substitute teachers. Nope, across the street from the Park Slope Volunteer Ambulance Corp. which is probably a reaction to the next door High Stakes Cheesesteaks, Organic Heights has finally opened! The long-awaited, much anticipated vegan eatery is one long exhale for this little piece of the neighborhood. With a big phew from the owner, he shows me around to the lasagna and tempeh BLTs and roasted portabello specials, while I’m looking over a respectable selection of supplements and natural mints, gum, soaps and lotions. This spacious storefront provides me an oatmeal cookie, an iced tea and an easy bench for this New Waver in desperate need of just taking a load off in the shade. A great place to watch your neighbors taking care of errands, walking to and fro with spinning wheels, or dogs, or camcorders, or lovers in hand.  Organic Heights - some things aren’t born overnight. 460 Bergen Street, right off the 2/3 train.

And then, there are Hot Mamas.

What used to be toys are now accoutrements to the modern Park Slopian Feminus. Now, I’m thinking what you’ll find at Babeland is not sustainable or organic, but will provide a man or woman with a certain hand-up in educating him/her back to what used to be an entirely organic experience – before the kids, before the 4-year boyfriend, before the trip to India on a whim. Not many of us who aren’t written that way know how to embrace with grace the Samantha or Miranda within us. The owners of Babeland quietly opened on that sleepy spate of Bergen to those women and men who need a place to coo and cackle over sex accessories. So if you think about it – they’re really into sustainability. Think of it as a salient, trendy way to recycle your sex, to sustain and grow your lustlife back into vitality, instead of throwing it completely away. Always Sustainable, Always Organsmic. Babeland, 462 Bergen Street, 718.638.3820. www.babeland.com.

Over there on 4th Avenue:

A Natural Convenience

Now here’s a new idea – a healthy bodega. I mean, what’s really so hard about it? You’ve got your milk – all percentages of fat. Ya got your soy, ya got your gum, Mentos and your one dosage packets of Tylenol PM and Benadryl. And you got your Burt’s Bees and Kiss My Face lotions and fair trade soaps. It’s perfect, really, genius. I can go for cigarettes, a Twinkie and some blue corn chips and organic salsa. And since cigarettes and Burt’s Bees are sold in the same store, somehow I feel righteous buying either. Sure, I’ve got black lungs but I’m well-moisturized the way God intended. The guy behind the counter said of the previous store – “Oh, it was gross, yeh, so now, you know, it’s, like, nice,” as we both turn and look at the guy painstakingly arranging the milk cartons in the display refrigerator. Since Entemann’s mass-produced its low-fat word-of-mouth into our minds, we’ve had little choice other than that fraud snack for late night food cravings. Now if the suits at 7-11 negotiate with a new generation of distributors and manufacturers, we can hope for a Godspellian day of the New Bodega. Just don’t go expecting a teeny Whole Foods. It’s still a bodega. Cigarettes are still gonna give you cancer, one $6 at a time. Natural Plus, on 4th at 7th.

Gentrified Dining 

I have an Italian friend born and raised in Bayonne, NJ that actively boycotts Mexican, Italian, Thai, Indian repackaged and regurgitated restaurants. He says, “I refuse to pay premium price for cuisines based in poverty — i.e., Mexican, Chinese, Sicilian, Thai, Indian” — his list goes on and on. But where would New Yorkers be without their poor people’s food all clean up and served back to us? His vengeance is mainly focused on the Buca di Beppo’s of the world, which are so amped up on corporate camp for the Red Staters that you can’t find a real tomato anywhere.

But new to the ‘hood are a couple of eateries that I challenge my pal to criticize. Barrio, the new corner spread, is a Mexican-born fine dining establishment with gorgeous presentation, friendly — and I mean it — warm and friendly staff and the type of taste experience that has you staring at your empty plate wondering where did your meal go. I’m a huge fan – probably because I miss the Mexican food I could find on any corner in Southern California. Barrio has a complete wine list and was ka-ROWDED on a cool and breezy Mother’s Day when I was there. One basic enchilada and some salsa and I swear to god, put me in the grave, I’m done. Come for afternoon margaritas, Yucatan shrimp, red wines from Chile, and sit outside and make fun of uptight Park Slopers. 210 7th Avenue.

For your group of pals eating around a short wooden table, Ghenet brings its Manhattan glam to 4th Avenue. My friend’s probably most opposed to this type of restaurant, since we come from the generation of junior high Ethiopian jokes based in typical American arrogance of overabundance. But Ghenet offers a chance to get a taste of what’s the best about this flavor and presentation, even in the face of a world food crisis. Just go in knowing you’re not patronizing an ethnicity - you are PATRONizing an ignored culture and a vibrant people. Try the Doro Wett (chicken dish in a flavorful sauce) or the Kitfo, which is described as “finely chopped prime beef seasoned with mitmita and nitir kibe, served raw like steak tarter.” I know I’ve heard Oprah say that the most beautiful people in the entire world are from Ethiopia – we used to say that of Sweden and now what we know about them is the big blue and yellow furniture we can’t pronounce. So certainly Ghenet Brooklyn has a fighting chance at surviving in our over-educated community? It’s gorgeous from the outside — and wasn’t opened when I got by there but I’m obsessively checking their online menu and scheduling my pals for a night out around someone else’s table. Ghenet, 348 Douglass Street at 4th Avenue. 718.230.4475 www.ghenet.com.

Also on the Summer Menu…

Brooklyn Bread Company: I.S.O. The Perfect Loaf? This corner bakery keeps its glass clean and its foot traffic curious. Desperate for a new muffin? ME TOO! Here’s hoping that by printing they’re open and I’m situated comfortably with my laptop and new breakfast pal. Probably opened already when you’re reading this. 5th Avenue at 6th.

Plan B: Sports Bar for the Scrabble-Challenged? Juicy burgers, garlic fries, Wii bowling leagues?  Check ‘em out 626 Vanderbilt, Prospect Heights, www.planb626.com (under construction)

Carmen’s Exclusives for Children: Opening where Park Slope Books used to be. On 7th Avenue between 2nd and 3rd.

Also on 7th at 6th:

Where the Franchises Hang Out:

A small, yet growing gaggle of franchises are gathering safely amongst their own. This is conspicuous behavior, as Park Slopers have managed to stave off the corporate scourge with some success (and the recession’s picking up our slack. Go figure because there’s a Bank of America coming in too. Isn’t there one just a stone’s throw north and south of here???). Nevertheless, let’s keep an eye on that corner. There’s still a church there – well, that’s co-opted by God, but who really knows…

Mule: Your Coffee’s Coming – Please Be Patient. Re-opening next to the Cherry Tree. Keep an eye out – the owners of Cherry Tree are hoping to make a go of it again, as a reinvented coffeehouse. Give ‘em some time to get their ducks in a row. In the meantime, take the edge off across the street at Pacific Standard or 4th Ave. Pub. Find Mule butt-up against the Cherry Tree at 67 4th Avenue.

And stretching over there to Red Hook….

New Wave would be remiss if I didn’t give a nod to the big Blue and Yellow with its Swedish warehouse doors swung wide open. Ikea has opened this summer in BK and with a slump of the shoulders, post-grad furniture for everyone who’s not already ordering it online with their Blackberries. A friend of mine in her 50s shot me an email of glee and joy this week about it. Something about that is weird to me. But Craigslist shoppers in six months to a year will at least have a new selection of ‘bought new, barely used’ stuff. Ikea. 1 Beard Street. They do profess to using wood from only “forests certified as responsibly managed” and supports the Rainforest Alliance by educating stakeholders on what “responsibly managed” really means. I’ll still probably drop by to skulk about the kitchen utensils area, scowling and buying anything under $10.

Changing Faces, Old Spaces…R.I.P.:

With the recent loss of the newly opened Be Crafty and long-enjoyed Cocotte, more room is being made for you residents with a wild hair up your skirt fo entrepreneurism. Go peer in. Think about your crazy scheme and your lousy commute. Talk to your family. Do the numbers and give us a chance to buy whatever you’re selling. Crazier things have happened. Did I mention the bilingual beggar?

As always, thanks for shopping local.

If you have a new business opening in the Park Slope, South Slope or Prospect Heights area, contact Lisa at lisad31@juno.com or the PSR at office@psreader.com.