Neighborhood Threat

I will start by saying that one of my resolutions is to be better with updates, and if my update is less informational and more chatty, so be it.

Last night was a very Greenpoint night. I ran out of work to get back to Brooklyn for my shift at the soup kitchen at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. As I said at the volunteer party this week, getting to the soup kitchen to volunteer is neither easy nor convenient for me, but I always walk out feeling a million times better than when I walked in. Please, if you have the money, donate. Even $5 or $10 can help. Or drop off some food. Or things like sponges, ziplock bags, aluminum foil, dishtowels, cleaning products, paper products, plastic cutlery - those were just the things that I noticed last night that we needed.

Then I walked down Milton, which is probably my favorite block in Greenpoint (yes, I like it better than Kent Street) to Franklin and over to Casa Mon Amour, to say goodbye to Beatrice and Alex. It is breaking my heart that they are closing. It was the only place in the entire neighborhood with anything resembling actual service. And I felt bad, because while I used to get dinner there all the time back in the Dominican days, the French food didn’t lend itself to that as much, combined with the fact that we were trying very hard to cut down on eating out for budgetary reasons. Apparently, so is everyone else, and as a result, businesses are going to start to close.

I am still trying to work up the nerve and patience to try out Casa’s neighbor, River Barrel. Every single review of this place complained about the service. I am conflicted, because I want to support commerce in Greenpoint. I am conflicted, because they moved in right next to Beatrice, who is leaving. I am conflicted, because I cannot abide poor service, which is why I have never tried Kings Hideaway, is why Lamb & Jaffy are on temporary ban, is one of many reasons I do not set foot into Brooklyn Label any longer.

What’s an amateur neighborhood activist to do?

My solution to my conflict was to walk back up to Manhattan Avenue and get take out from Sakura, which is thriving, and with good cause: good food, fast service, great location and they stay open late. Even in the snow, they were open.

I draw the line at going into Alaskan Sun Tanning, however.