This is one of two similarly adorned doorways beneath the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. The interior of the arch was once open to the public, and was recently home to a puppet library, but it's currently off limits and in need of repair.
The two massive sculptures on the left and right sides of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch are entitled The Army: Genius of Patriotism Urging American Soldiers On To Victory and The Navy: American Sailors At Sea Urged On By the Genius of Patriotism, respectively.
Honoring the Civil War general derisively known as "Slow Come" (and the man for whom the ill-fated General Slocum was named), this statue, much criticized around the time of its dedication, can be hard to spot amidst the dense foliage of June.
This mural is accompanied by a quotation from Hodding Carter: "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings."
"One day in 2001 I went outside and started gluing things to the front of my house. I have not stopped yet. My hope was to make a celebratory statement that would cheer and amuse."
Those are the words of Susan Gardner, whose house has even earned a mention in the "authoritative, encyclopedic, opinionated and constantly consulted" AIA Guide to New York City. You can see more photos on her website; check out Street View for the big picture. And, for what it's worth, a fellow Wyckoff Street pedestrian told me that nothing beats seeing this place in the snow.
I believe the last election for which ballots would have been cast here at PS 5 was this doozy back in late March.
Unlike its Franklin Avenue counterpart, this painting contains (an approximation of) a full-on infinite regress.
They don't quite compare to wild blackberries, but I'll take what I can get.
Like our friend Rubel, Mr. Dietz dealt in coal and ice. He's featured in this history of the neighborhood's ice industry, a wonderful window on the days when the ice man still made his rounds.
I thought today was finally going to be my day, but this kid just horsed around for a while without ever inserting a quarter.
Each year, during the lead-up to the massive Puerto Rican Day Parade on Fifth Avenue, Tony sets up a little store outside his house here in Bushwick. Miles from the parade route, he sells flags, t-shirts, and other memorabilia (there was much more stuff on display to the right of this photo) to neighbors and passersby.
That was the greeting I received from Mr. Williams as I passed by his house here in Bed-Stuy. I asked him how he knew I was a knucklehead. His reply: "Because I am the Son of God." By the end of our subsequent conversation — of which I remember very little; I suppose that's what happens when you're in the presence of the SoG — "knucklehead" had become a fond term of endearment, and Mr. Williams insisted we perform a thug hug ("like they do in prison") before I departed.
Wandering the streets, playing Bob Marley tunes (among others)
Mounted to a plywood wall on a dead-end street about half a block from the notorious Gowanus Canal, this painting has seen better days.
Despite its reputation, the Gowanus Canal hosts a fair number of recreational boaters, most notably the Gowanus Dredgers, who refer to the waterway as "Brooklyn's coolest SuperFUNd site".
This is the so-called "wondrous blue bridge" we saw a few days ago. What's so wondrous about it, you ask? It's the city's other retractile bridge (link includes a diagram explaining how retractiles work), and the oldest such bridge still in existence in the US, having been opened in 1889. In addition, there are a couple other adorable features: the roadway surface (made of wooden planks), and the delightful sign posted above the bridge (playfully installed during a late-1980s rehabilitation): "Any Person Driving over this Bridge Faster than a Walk will be Subject to a Penalty of Five Dollars For Each Offence".
This system allows the Carroll Street Bridge (which operates just like the Borden Avenue Bridge) to slide open.
The eye-catching hue of Park Slope's famous not-so-brownstone may not be long for this world.
UPDATE (Dec. 3, 2012): The pink is gone!
Congregation Beth Elohim, where Sukkot is celebrated in high style
You'll probably have better luck with a larger version of this photo.
Hint: You can only see its head.
