We’re selling naming rights to subway stations now?
If a $4 million deal is approved on Wednesday, the nexus of subway stops at Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn will add an additional name to its already lengthy title: Barclays.
This may seem odd, since Barclays is a bank based in London with offices in Manhattan, and the only Barclay Street on the city map is not even in Brooklyn. (It’s in Manhattan, in the financial district.)
Oh, but guess who’s behind this little deal?
There will, however, soon be a Barclays Center, the sports arena planned as the focal point of the Atlantic Yards project, and the developer, Forest City Ratner, has agreed to pay the transportation authority $200,000 a year for the next 20 years to rename one of the oldest and busiest stations in the borough.
I might have known. The MTA and Forest City Ratner are awfully cozy these days. And the Times blithely rolls along with cute little gosh-that’s-a-mouthful jokes and largely uncritical coverage of the massive boondoggle that is Atlantic Yards.
I’ve been wondering why the plants in Windowbox #2 are thriving while the ones in Windowbox #1 are kind of sparse and yellowed. Then, this morning, I heard a lot of water running and saw that the upstairs neighbor was tossing water or something out the window. Luckily, it’s just water, but it does mean my plants have been getting overwatered without my knowledge. She’ll stop that, and with luck, the plants in that box will rally.
Published at June 14, 2009
in Food.
It’s summer, which means that cool, refreshing beverages are in order. And while water’s great, it can get a little monotonous. It’s good to switch it up sometimes.
I’ve had the hibiscus cooler at Angelica Kitchen, and thought I’d like to try it at home. But I wasn’t sure where to get dried hibiscus flowers other than in Red Zinger teabags. And, well, I can get those anytime. I wanted the real thing. And then this weekend, some friends and I were at Sahadi’s — and there they were, with the pre-packed bulk spices. So I bought some, and I got some candied lemon peel because why the hell not, and I put them together. To about a gallon of cold, filtered water, I added about a tablespoon of the lemon peel, a good handful of the hibiscus flowers, and a squeeze of agave nectar. Then I turned the flame on low and walked away for a while. When the water was good and deeply colored and just about to simmer, I shut off the heat and let it cool, then strained and stored in the fridge. To serve, fill a glass (with or without ice; I prefer without) about 2/3 of the way with the cooler and 1/3 with seltzer. Garnish with lime and enjoy.
Seems that there are many ways you could enjoy this; next time, I’ll probably use lime zest and skip the sweetener, though I might add some freshly sliced or grated ginger. Speaking of ginger, fresh ginger juice is DIVINE in lemonade.
It’s been a rainy week here in Brooklyn (like, EVERY DAY), so I’ve barely peeked at the garden. But today, I decided to follow some of the suggestions in the thread below and pull out the flowers from the tomato boxes, mix a few coffee grounds into the soil, and pull off any dead leaves.
So far, so good. The cilantro plant’s still being a diva, though. How this thing can sit in the rain for a week and STILL have dry soil is a mystery.
More tomatolettes on the Early Girl and Mystery Variety plants. One tomatolette on the Jersey Devil plant, which is amusing because it’s a plum-shaped tomato and therefore pointy. Not a thing on Green Zebra.
The basil in Box #2 is doing much better than the basil in Box #1, as, really, are the tomato plants. I think the petunias were sucking the life out of the other plants in that box. Hopefully, that will be remedied now that the flowers are gone.
My god, I’ve successfully grown something!
Windowbox #1:
Windowbox #2:
Tomatoes from windowbox #1:
Tomatoes from windowbox #2:
So far, the winners are the Early Girl in #2, and the one whose tag I lost in #1. Or never had a tag. And the other two plants — the Jersey Devil and the Green Zebra — have flowers, which looks like the precursor to actual fruit-bearing.
The basil’s doing nicely, but the cilantro’s being a little fussy. It gets a lot of yellow leaves, but it seems to be a water issue, so I just have to keep on top of that. None of the flowers except for the one in the ceramic pot in #2 are doing that well; all have yellow leaves and dead flowers. I can’t tell if they’re getting too much or too little water, or what, but they’re annoying me enough that if they don’t shape up soon, I’m just going to pull them out and let the tomatoes take over their space.
I went to the reading of Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby’s book on Friday night at Re/Dress, a plus-sized vintage/resale boutique in Brooklyn. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of shopping, in part because at my size, it’s difficult to find *anything,* let alone anything fashionable and at the same time age-appropriate* or suitable for my body type (please let the tyrrany of the Empire waist come to an end). But I also get grumpy in stores, which makes vintage shopping kind of a trial (and when you add in the musty smell that is inevitable among vintage clothing and which also turns me off used bookstores, well), because you kinda have to look at EVERYTHING because everything is one-of-a-kind.
Not my idea of a fun way to while away the afternoon. And it’s not like I can even get into shoe shopping, because of my big feet. I do have jewelry, though! Which is important when you wear the same drab old outfit nearly every day. Continue reading ‘It’s good to have skillz’
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