One of six outside 979 Park Place

Part of a mural entitled "The Holy City of 'On' / 25,000 B.C. / Congo"

Another fading mural

is the rather bland name of this otherwise imaginative mural.

Crown Heights was once known as Crow Hill.

Park Place overpass

And take this, too!

The only Arts and Crafts houses in the Crown Heights North Historic District

Vacated in 2003. The Housing Authority has plans to demolish the three remaining towers, but that obviously has not happened yet. Take a look around in Street View.

The Catskill Aqueduct is one of three aqueduct systems that supply water to NYC. I would guess that "blow-off" refers to a valve that allows water to escape the pipeline if the pressure in the system exceeds a certain threshold.

Overshadowed by the 3 train from beginning to end

One of the leaders in the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk campaign

Here's a much better photo taken by someone else.

Shuttered in 2005. The hospital once looked like this.

Another Curbside Haiku

(APPRECIATED)

I assume it's the property of the building owner, and not a municipal streetlight.

The adjacent storefront, which I assume is the location of Mom's Living Room, was shuttered, sadly. There was, however, a second mural hereunder, and, if I were allowed to conclude an opinion, I just might conclude the opinion that it is the greatest mural ever painted. Are you ready? Here it comes...

Mother Africa vs. The Real Devil

A slender croquet court abuts the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.

That's St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in the background.

Brooklyn Academy of Music

A local grocery man

on the natural gas line regulator vent? (The previous thing-sticking-out-of-the-sidewalk mystery has been solved!)

CORRECTION: It's a subway vent! More info here.

Trying to eat the last of the Doritos crumbs without dropping any?

In case of a fire in the subway system, the FDNY can pump water through the standpipe for use in fighting the blaze.

It's been a while.

Thanks to the efforts of the magnificent Hattie Carthan, this magnolia tree (the taller one) is an official city landmark, the only tree that can claim such an honor.

NYC is not known as a great mailbox town, but I knew I'd find one of these sooner or later.

He had no direct connection to New York, but was beloved enough nationally for the Parks Department to name this playground for him. Much of his story (told more fully here and here) is omitted from the usual Owens-shames-Hitler narrative. His response to the media focus on Hitler not shaking his hand:

"When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I couldn't ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?"

In searching for the meaning of "VAS" on a New York license plate (it stands for "volunteer ambulance service" — implying the driver is an EMT, I believe), I found another post about this same vehicle!

come by way of Aztec yoga.

Those are fish and air bubbles in the distance. By this point I shouldn't need to tell you that this is a Henry Stern creation.

I think that's what this is, anyway, based on the solution to a previous mystery.

Killed by a car on the Belt Parkway while fleeing a racially motivated assault in 1986. This is the incident that first brought Al Sharpton into the national spotlight.