Day 752

Today’s route — 15.3 miles

January 20th, 2014

Day 752

Wartburg chapel

January 20th, 2014



This fenced-in, unlabeled old clapboard church belongs to the adjacent Wartburg Lutheran Home for the Aging.

Day 752

MEAT BUS

January 20th, 2014


Day 752

Our Lady of East New York

January 20th, 2014



The plaque beneath this sculpture outside St. John Cantius Catholic Church (a rare trace of the Polish community that once existed in East New York) reads:

OUR LADY OF EAST NEW YORK

PRAY FOR US
RUEGA POR NOSOTROS
PRIEZ POUR NOUS
MÓDŁ SIĘ ZA NAMI
PRAY FOR US

Day 752

Milk jug poop bag dispenser

January 20th, 2014


Day 752

Erstwhile portal of the day

January 20th, 2014



This former Coca-Cola bottling plant is now owned by Brooklyn Bottling, a beverage company that dates back to the 1930s. When Eric Miller, the founder's grandson, took the reins of Brooklyn Bottling in 1988, he introduced some highly successful new products and marketing strategies. Tropical Fantasy, a line of low-priced fruit-flavored soft drinks, was selling extremely well until the sudden appearance in 1991 of anonymous handbills claiming it was made by the KKK and contained "stimulants to sterilize the black man".

As the rumor spread across the city's black neighborhoods, sales of Tropical Fantasy plummeted by 70 percent. Fighting back, Brooklyn Bottling hired a public relations consultant and printed its own flyers stating that the FDA and the city's health department had declared the drinks safe for consumption. The company, whose work force was 80 percent black or Hispanic, met with community leaders and won the approval of some leading African-American activists. Mayor Dinkins, himself an African-American, even drank Tropical Fantasy at a news conference in a show of support. Sales eventually rebounded as people realized the rumor was bogus and once again began chugging down those harmless bottles of artificially flavored high-fructose corn syrup.

Day 752

BE ENTHUSIAST— eh, forget it

January 20th, 2014


Day 752

Sidewalk dripface

January 20th, 2014



A Paul Richard imitation?

Day 753

Today’s route — 14.6 miles

January 21st, 2014

Day 753

Portal of the day

January 21st, 2014



Heading in for a snowy stroll around Maimonides and Mount Hope Cemeteries, which occupy a small corner of the massive cemetery belt that stretches across the middle of the Brooklyn-Queens border.

Day 753

Middle

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

Marcus Loew

January 21st, 2014



Loew was the founder of Loews Theatres and MGM studios. This NY Times article offers a look at how he got started in the theater business.

Day 753

Snowy Sam

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

The Kops mausoleum

January 21st, 2014



Easily the largest tomb in Maimonides/Mount Hope

Day 753

A little overgrown

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

One-room Schoolhouse

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

Helpful ivy info

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

Barberz: Honorable mention

January 21st, 2014


Day 753



Day 753

Old name, new name

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

Piling up

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

City in flames

January 21st, 2014


Day 753

9/11 memorial #182

January 21st, 2014



Dedicated on November 11, 2001, this memorial in the middle of the Louis Pink Houses was, according to the NYC Housing Authority, the "first permanent national memorial" to those lost on 9/11. You can see the individual plaques here.

Day 753

A snowy path

January 21st, 2014



The continuation of Amber Street south of Stanley Avenue

Day 753

Hibernating sewer parts

January 21st, 2014



(Visible in the background of the previous photo)

Day 753

Ralph Creek

January 21st, 2014



in Spring Creek Park

Day 753

Left for dead

January 21st, 2014



I saw quite a few abandoned cars here in Spring Creek Park.

Day 753

Dang

January 21st, 2014



Losing control of your car in the snow and sliding into a wooden fence usually isn't that big of a deal, except when the fence conceals an immediate plunge over a retaining wall. I passed by earlier on the upper-level street, shortly after the accident, and a guy who seemed like the owner of the car was joking around with the police, so I don't think anyone was seriously injured. And the house beside the fence wasn't damaged either.

Day 753

Generic World War I memorial

January 21st, 2014



Now on the property of the Bhavaanee Maa Mandir, it reads:

THE WORLD WAR
1914 1918

IN HONOR OF THOSE
OF THIS COMMUNITY
WHO DEVOTED THEMSELVES
TO THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM
IN THE SERVICE
OF OUR COUNTRY

ERECTED
BY THE PEOPLE
OF
THIS COMMUNITY

Day 753

At the Bhavaanee Maa Mandir

January 21st, 2014



A shrine to Ganesha

Day 755

Today’s route — 6.6 miles

January 23rd, 2014

Day 755

Jesus on Schaefer Street

January 23rd, 2014


Day 755




(of which there are two dozen) that the church at left belongs to Pilgrim Assemblies. We saw nearly identical luminaires when we passed by the Pilgrim Renaissance Convention Center back in 2012.

Day 755

FDNY Squad 252

January 23rd, 2014



Originally Brooklyn Fire Department Engine 52. More photos here.

Day 755

Portal of the day

January 23rd, 2014



In Squad We Trust

Day 755

Handsome fella

January 23rd, 2014


Day 755

Our third encounter

January 23rd, 2014



with the A-Team van

Day 755

That’s a big bug!

January 23rd, 2014


Day 755

Craziest sidewalk oddity yet

January 23rd, 2014



What the hell is this??

Day 757

Today’s route — 13.7 miles

January 25th, 2014

Day 757

That don’t seem right

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

Barberz #90

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

Springfield Cemetery

January 25th, 2014



Established around 1670

Day 757

Long gone

January 25th, 2014



at Springfield Cemetery

Day 757

Honey Mustard

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

A Hindu take

January 25th, 2014



on Queens chrome?

Day 757

Barberz #91

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

Hard livin’

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

Candy-stripe fortress

January 25th, 2014


Day 757

Yellow, snow

January 25th, 2014