Photo Wednesday 07/22/11: #1 Candy Rush Edition

Candy Rush!, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

So a few weeks back I mentioned the opening of "Candy Rush" a store specializing in Candy and Ice Cream, especially long forgotten treats like those hard candy drops that come on a role paper and (even though they are new versions) the Dip Stik ! (pictured above, and called "Fun Dip") Basically Dip-Stiks were a pouch with two or three sections, each with a powdered koolaid like mix of flavor and suger. The pack also had a white oblong hard candy wand which you used to scoop out the powder and eat it.

Definitely unhealthy, totally fun, especially when as 5 year olds we learned that liking the candy stick made the powder easier to harvest.

We were like little (Chimpanzees!)

Photo Wednesday 06/22/11: Candy Countdown Edition

Candy Land Bk Style, The candy colored interior of the shop. originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

"Lemme take you to the Candy Shop..." like most 50 Cent lyrics I find even thinking this in the tune of his jams both catchy and inappropriate, plus this post is supposed to be my "Photo Wednesday": Candy Shop centric post and so far I have you thinking bout a over-hyped rapper instead of a new entrepreneurial venture on Franklin Avenue, which is, ta da: "The Candy Shop"!

But I guess that's to be expected, my blogging habits have been sporadic which is no way to cover the Brooklyn Spring just concluded, in which I saw more than a few new businesses blossom.

For now I'll spill guts on Candy Shop, it is what it sounds like, no hipster ironies here, not recreational medicine hub, but in fact a story selling candies of various sorts including the kind of giant lollipops usually found on Coney Island or Oz.

In fact I was recently informed that the Candy Shop had intended on opening sooner than this and was held back because they didn't have a license to sell candy in jar. Who knew you need a license in NYC to have candy in a jar?!? Is that mind-boggling to you? It is to me, I mean you can put a fish in a jar with no permission or regulation and that's a living creature, but trying putting Swedish fish in a jar, liable to get written up.

Anyway the proprietors of the Candy Shop are the same gents who brought us the "About Time" store across the street from Candy Shop's location on Franklin Av between Park and Sterling. As many in this edge of Crown Heights (or Crow Hill) know these young men are very active in supporting community events and progress.

The Candy Shop from what one of the owners told me, will also serve as an exhibition space, so have your proposals and what-not ready.


Candy Countdown, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

This photo of the countdown to Candy Shop's opening was taken on Tuesday so in fact there are 3 days to go, with opening day being this Saturday 6/25

The details on the shop as reported on the "IloveFranklinAveBlog" (note the blog refers to the name of the store as "The Candy Rush") are as follows:

The scoop on “The Candy Rush”

The Candy Rush is a vintage Candy Land and Ice Cream shop by day and eclectic event space by night. The founders, Kevin Phillip and Garnett Alcindor, are on the quest to deliver the ultimate treat experience with their vast candy selection and fresh organic ice cream, delivered by Blue Marble Creamery. The Candy Rush will offer thirteen of Blue Marble Creamery’s best tasting flavors. Customers will be able to customize their ice cream selections by adding their favorite fruit and candy toppings. The candy store also offers homemade juices, root beer floats, milkshakes and fresh brewed coffees topped with your favorite ice cream.

The 1200 square foot dessert spot showcases handmade countertops, tabletops and a candy-coated bench, built with actual candy. Guests can eat out doors on the beautiful deck.

At The Candy Rush, a container of ice cream can range from $2.50-$4.00. Homemade juices made by Chef Shani Porter, will be $2.50 for 12 ounces, and $2 between 3pm-5pm on weekdays. The candy store is stocked with an assortment of candy, including hard-to-find vintage candy and modern day favorites. Customers can choose to purchase various candy combinations starting at $8.00/lb.


The candy store will also sell made-to-order candy gift baskets, great for any occasion.

Grand Opening Event

Lets get the confetti and sprinkles; ice cream lovers of all ages are invited to come celebrate! The grand opening celebration will officially kick off on Saturday, June 25^th at 10am. The first one hundred scoops of ice cream will be FREE for attendees.

Creditable press and bloggers will receive an all-access pass, in which they receive free samples and gift bags.

The Candy Rush Announces Grand Opening Event

Grand opening (open to the public)

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

733 Franklin Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11238

Free Entry 10am-10pm

Now if I can only get some creditable  press credentials for my anonymous blog... Dare I say it's gonna be sweet... (couldnt resist)

Board in Brooklyn, new on Franklin : Photo Wednesday 03/09/11

So, Board over the Bridge on the Subway, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

there've been a lot of good images pass my eyes lately so this week it's three photos for Wednesday. 2 showing the interest boarding is enjoying in Brooklyn these days...

the photo below has nothing to do with boards (except maybe the boards on te windows) but it does speak to new goings on Franklin Av. I've been too busy to research beyond staring at construction workers and for all I know the "ilovefranklinave" blog probably covered this already. Anybody know what it is?

alls I knows is if it services and enhanced the hood, I'm with it.

Photo Wednesday: 08/18/10 You can take the cat out of the jungle...

You can take the cat out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the cat.

Franklin Ave, Crown Heights

A Tree (is ripped off) in Brooklyn

Seriously, what's up with the trees?

A several weeks ago I had the serendipitous experience of seeing some torn down tree limbs (generally small ones) and then minutes later going online and finding photos of the same trees on the blog "IloveFranlinAve".

"ILFA" concluded it to be vandalism and I wanted to take the time to write clearly about what I though was a different reason the branches might have come down, I thought it was "Citizen Pruning".

As is oft the case lately, I don't have much time to blog, (least of my worries) so I made a mental note, but no actual post. To expound on Citizen Pruning, it does require training and certification before you can go ripping down branches like an urban Tarzan, but my opinion based on need and Barcelona (photo below), was that this was the logic behind the fallen branches.

See a friend in Spain once pointed out that the beautiful trees lining their famous Barcelona landmark "LaRambla"
(think Eastern Parkway with the center road saved for pedestrians, cafes and the prerequisite annoying mime) consisted mostly of the same trees we have here in Brooklyn.

Big difference? Nope not their chain smoking and infeasible midday naps, the difference is the trees over there are pruned.
(Photo source:http://www.barcelonapoint.com)

Just in case you're not a garden variety geek and you don't know a well pruned tree grows better fuller and with more balance, let me tell you to it does. Here's more about that.

So that was my thought when I saw branches over Franklin Ave. Also I personally think alot of the trees that have been recently and thankfully planted (I assume as part of the 1 Million Tree plan) are set too deep in the ground, causing some branches on these saplings to be just a few feet above ground.

So all that an more was my opinion which I meant to respond with to ILFA's original and first on the scene posting. And I woulda got to it later if I hadn't seen this on Bedford and Park on Tuesday:

And these on Park Pl. Between Franklin and Classon:

And this on Eastern Parkway between Franklin and Classon:








All in the same morning! I was out the night before and not a leaf on the ground, by 9am there was that damage.

I saw this one the next day also on Park Pl:




Now I'm still not 100% convinced that it's not an misguided attempt at citizen pruning, cause yeh a lot of trees in the area like this one:


could use some Sprucing up (awwww....yeh I had to) but this one was ignored.

Then on the other hand I saw this:


It's an evergreen tree! Is there really a need to rip a limb out of that! c'mon son?

So what is it? School kids/teens? (maybe that would explain the Eastern Parkway trees which were clearly ripped more than cut. Lots of school age kids mess with trees on Eastern Pkwy, I did at that age) If not kids is it perhaps a Brontosaurus or just a disgruntled Meatasaurus? Of course Brontosaurus don't exist but there's definitely something manic and serial going on with these tree trimmings.

I've put out a question to some local authorities asking if this is a city led thing, maybe the city has picked the wrong "Groundskeeper Willie" for the job. So far no word back.

What do you folks think?

Photo Wednesday 02/24/10 : Burger & Shaun White-less Edition

To paraphrase Bizarro,"the internet am so funny!" I'm talking about what I assume is a surge in Olympics inspired internet searches, that can be the only reason why this photo I took last spring:

suddenly received a burst of new views last week, after laying around for months unnoticed.

Despite the title, "Park Delicatessen 2009 edition - Shaun White stunt double" the young man featured in the photo is of course, not Shaun White. Although I didn't ask him... and anyway that didn't stop many web searchers from sniffing it out.

Which leads me to my next and more current photo. Whereas this pic shows off Park Delicatessen (featured in this blog last spring) which is run by very cool people with a just as cool mix of Skate gear and home gardening wares. As a new biz in the Prospect becomes Crown Heights neighborhood I thought Park Delicatessen so cool I felt inspired to write about my long history with an earlier incarnation of the store and locale, and I summarized by saying despite my issues with the dreaded beast, gentrification, Park Delicatessen is the kind of gentrification I can believe in. I'm always down for new people with good ideas in under utilized spaces.

Along those lines I was all ready to add this newcomer to that list:


Dutch Boy Burgers, which takes it's name from the fact that it was once housed a Dutch Boy franchise paint store. In fact when the current renovations to the space revealed that the very cool and original Dutch Boy Paint sign was still present under a newer sign, the finding garnered excited blogger responses about the significance and rarity of the sign so much that you'd a thought Noah's ark had been found sitting pristine on Franklin Av near the corner of St. Johns where Dutch Boy is located. And for those in the know it's said to soon be connected to Franklin Park the bar around the corner.

For the record, that Dutch Boy Sign was a beauty,(great pics on I Love Franklin Ave's Blog) and did date back to at least the 1940's but... it was visible in the 'hood for years, at least into the early 80's if not later. A fact many excited newcomers would have known if they weren't...well, so new.

Anyway despite that intro, and the uber original naming scheme (fine why not) I've been waiting for the burger joint to open because I love burgers and frankly, Franklin Ave has a lot of useful spaces and not a enough useful businesses (although there are these good folks) and let me say for the record, Franklin Ave which was rough edged in a bad way when my parents were young, has been blossoming but could still use a little more gentry in my mind.

However lo and behold, before I could continue my bourgeois burger dream (with Root Beer Floats! no less) I couldn't help but notice this notice:

Considering the stop work order extends to, "the ENTIRE site" Dayum! It seems Dutch Boy Burgers is gonna need more time in the pan before we can dig in. Well I'll think happy thoughts or keep hope alive or whatever cliché will get this place open faster, cause Brooklyn, she needs good burgers.