Day 516


Day 516

315 Washington Avenue

May 29th, 2013



Once home to Brooklyn's first chess club, founded in 1869

Day 516

The Kosher Café

May 29th, 2013



This fine-dining establishment calls to mind that mysterious shack known as Klein's.

Day 516




So reads a sign just out of frame at the top of the photo. I was attempting to capture both the sign and the face of Dashi the dog in a single image, but I failed to get either, thanks to an enthusiastic hunt for affection on the part of a certain canine friend of ours.

Sitting up there on the steps above Dashi is Scott Witter, the proprietor and curator of B.O.M.B. The tiny museum, contained inside this row house, is only officially open from 7 PM to 9 PM on Tuesdays, but before I knew it — I don't think I had said much more than "I like the name" — Scott was heading next door to fetch the keys (and his last two cold Budweisers) so he could show me around the place (and give me a cold Budweiser).

A "discordant but impassioned love song", the museum consists in large part of artifacts that Scott has dug up, pulled out of dumpsters, spotted on the beach of Coney Island Creek, salvaged from demolition sites, or, in the case of a military practice bomb perched above the stairwell, found in the Utah desert. He once, on the spur of the moment, bought the front 20 feet of an architecturally distinguished meat market that was about to be torn down so he could dismantle it himself and save it from being trucked off to the landfill or the scrap yard. He also purchased 60 tons of the facade of the Long Island Rail Road's old Flatbush Avenue Terminal after losing a battle to keep the building from being razed. His dream is to find like-minded buyers interested in reassembling these structures, but he comes up with other uses for his relics in the meantime — an ornate concrete oculus window from the rail terminal's post office once served as his daughter's kiddie pool, for example.

Scott's current mission, also reflected inside the museum (and, more visibly, on the sidewalk outside), is to keep the city from destroying 9 of the 11 buildings on Admiral's Row to make way for a giant supermarket and some other commercial and industrial spaces. He's authored a piece for an NY Times blog about the importance of preserving the 19th-century naval officers’ quarters, and he's also written his opinions on the side of a nearby building in blue painter's tape. The latter form of expression tends to be more inflammatory in its criticism of the development-minded Mayor Bloomberg, referring to him alternately as Mayor Moo Moo ("because he milks his constituency") and Pirate Mike ("because he is stealing our national, state, and local heritage").

After an hour or so, Scott sent me on my way with a handful of materials promoting the fight against the demolition of Admiral's Row and an invitation to stop by any Tuesday for "Museum Night". I'd recommend dropping by yourself if you're in the area. Scott's a one-of-a-kind guy with an endearing appreciation for the overlooked. And judging by the collection of empty beer cans in the bathroom and the well-used pool table that stands in the middle of the cluttered exhibition room, I'd say Museum Night must be a pretty good time.

Day 516

The Pratt cannon

May 29th, 2013



Cast in Seville, Spain in 1720, this cannon now sits on the campus of the Pratt Institute. The giant head looming behind it is Leucantha by Philip Grausman.

Day 516

Welcome II

May 29th, 2013



This set of sculptures by Raphael Zollinger was the most arresting piece I saw on the grounds of Pratt. According to the artist, this 2006 work was "a commentary and protest on recent events". The figures, their hands bound, are archetypal images, "symbols of the abuse humans visit on one another". The original installation featured an additional element: a neon sign proclaiming "Welcome".

Day 516

The Children’s Portico

May 29th, 2013



This 1912 structure (more photos here), an "accurate translation of the 12th century Norman porch and staircase at King's School, Canterbury Cathedral", originally served as the entranceway to the children's reading room (the first library room for children in the US) at the Pratt Institute Free Library (the first free public library in Brooklyn). In 1982, Pratt was planning to tear down the portico to allow for an expansion of the library when — who else? — our new friend Scott Witter, a Pratt alumnus, stepped in and led a group of neighbors in relocating the 140-ton structure to a spot on the other side of campus. They had to do it all on a shoestring budget, and Scott sunk a fair amount of his own money into the project, because Pratt was only willing to pay them the $3000 it had budgeted for demolition.

Day 516



Day 516




At first glance, this dim, grimy space beneath the rumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway seems like a weird home for a grand piano from the Sing for Hope project (which wasn't yet underway when I took this photo, hence the bolted-down tarp and locked-up keyboard), but it starts to feel more fitting when you realize the piano is parked next to Soundwaves, a muralized visual representation of nine local pianists playing Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata.

Day 516

Portal of the day

May 29th, 2013


Day 516

Siesta

May 29th, 2013


Day 516

RAE

May 29th, 2013



Always glad to stumble across his work, and always glad to re-read this interview with him.

Day 516

Gertel’s Bakery

May 29th, 2013



After shuttering its famous Lower East Side retail shop several years ago, Gertel's hauled its neon sign to Brooklyn and opened up a wholesale operation here on Steuben Street.

Day 516

PS 157

May 29th, 2013



No surprise here — designed by Charles B.J. Snyder.

Day 516

La Madre Tierra

May 29th, 2013



by Lisete Alcalde

Day 516

More RAE

May 29th, 2013


Day 516

Fish head

May 29th, 2013


Day 516

Circling

May 29th, 2013



Another rooftop pigeon coop

Day 516

St. Barbara’s

May 29th, 2013



Again. Better light this time.

Day 516

New York wildlife

May 29th, 2013



The dangerous Snappling turtle

Day 516

Peephole peeper

May 29th, 2013


Day 516

Solid biblical advice

May 29th, 2013



unless thou art riddled with self-loathing

Day 516



Day 516

Walkin’ the dog

May 29th, 2013



at the 1891-92 Boys' High School, whose notable alumni include, among many others, Isaac Asimov, Norman Mailer, Man Ray, Aaron Copland, and Max Roach, his "hands shimmering on the legs of rain". The architect of this "monumental example of the mature Romanesque Revival style which became popular in the United States in the last quarter of the 19th century" was James W. Naughton, Brooklyn's superintendent of school buildings for almost 20 years. (My photo doesn't begin to do the place justice; it is truly monumental.) After the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898, the school came under the purview of our friend Charles B.J. Snyder, the city's chief school architect, who designed a couple of early 20th-century additions to the building.

Day 516

Plant thieves beware!

May 29th, 2013



This message
for that person
who STOLE the
most beautiful
plant from my
garden. God
saw you!!!
You will be judge
SHAME ON
:( YOU