More than half of the city's school buses are out of commission during the ongoing strike by Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. These picketers seemed less than enthusiastic about the cause, however. One guy with a megaphone was trying desperately to conjure up a lively show of union spirit, but to no avail:

"C'mon people, let's go! Just one time around the block! One time only! C'mon, let's go!"

Almost everyone totally ignored him and carried on with their conversations as if he weren't there. He eventually managed to convince a dozen other strikers to join him on a single, rather languid lap of the block. Let's take a look and a listen...

This building is a remnant of the old East New York brewery that produced Piels beer from the late 1800s until 1973. Piels is probably best remembered for its Bert and Harry ad campaign from the 1950s — starring Bob and Ray, it was "among the first and one of the most celebrated attempts to use humor to sell a product on television", and the spots were so popular that newspapers would print schedules of when they'd be airing on TV — but I personally prefer this terrible Jimmy Breslin commercial from the late '70s, after the Piels name had been purchased by the Schaefer Brewing Company.

MAXIMUM PLOW SPEED 5 MPH

SET BLADE 4 INCHES HIGH

Emerging from the demise of the long-running Aqueduct Flea Market, which was evicted from its home of 30+ years — the parking lot of Aqueduct Racetrack — in late 2010 once construction commenced on the adjacent Resorts World Casino, the Aquaduck Flea Market occupies an entire square block in an industrial section of East New York.

The Linden Houses

I'm not the first to notice this van around town. (Here's a closer look, in case you want to read some of the window signs.)