Photo Wednesday 3/27/13 - Sometimes the Past Sees You Edition

Its been a while since the last "Photo Wednesday" so considering I didn't stop taking photos (everyday even!) I am stocked with visual moments to share from many points Brooklyn.

"M. H. Koski, Inc" was apparently a pawn shop, this Brooklyn Eagle link shows an advertisement for the business from 1946.

I wanted to post a shot from what I think is about as far away in Brooklyn as a person can be from everything and still be in Brooklyn, but for now this one I picked up wins the day. I know this corner intimately.

I recall being about nine and standing across the street from this corner waiting and desperate to leave. Standing next to my little feet was a box big enough to hold a starship and it did. The Millennium Falcon. My mother bought it from Mays' Department store (Corner of Fulton St & Bond) and we'd stopped off from the bus to meet a friend of hers. The only thing that made the wait tolerable was the thrill I got from each kid walking by who's wide eyes spied the classically 70's photo of the spacey plastic hunk of junk.

I was headed down Putnam (which I still can't believe no longer awkwardly flows into Fulton Street, when I noted this space of wall that had not been painted over since I'm guessing at least the 60's. That day as a kid there was a billboard covering that patch of wall. When I moved to my second adult Brooklyn apartment up the block on Grand a billboard still covered it. When I saw the painted old sign beaming waves of yesterday outward I had to take a shot of it.

 Brownstowner and Faded Ad Blog beat me to publishing the pic (steamed) so here's links to them as well: http://www.fadingad.com/fadingadblog/?p=10347 & http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2012/03/signage-archaeology-on-grand-avenue/ Brownstoner was kind enough to point out that corner of the expose sign was an open air drug market in the "70's and 80's" a commenter posted they should include the "90's, 00's & 10's" yeah... as mentioned I lived right up the block, and I swear a more industrious and consistently staffed drug spot I've never seen. Hell I've worked in corporations were people weren't at their station as often as these guys were (are?). My question has been and still is what kind of economic model were those corner hustlers working in the 90's? They'd have more guys on the corner than customer regularly, yet everyone seemed paid. That's Buffet math.

Also I'm going to include a little "Best of.." Photo Wednesday this one from February 3rd 2010 when the Lowes Kings Theater was featured. I'd taken a few cools shots of the exterior and meant to post it, when months later the new broke that the formerly palatial long since condemned theater on Flatbush was poised to be restored to greatness. A few months back the plans were confirmed. Here's a quick look back with a personal story to boot:

http://umbrooklynborn.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-wednesday-020310-retouched.html

Mirrors on Grand Av

Damn, so yesterday was hectic (if you were ducking shots on Fulton St) but didn't it just look beautiful out? Well today we get the funk wetness complete with megaton bombastic thunderclaps that make me wish I could see through clouds.

But enough about that, what I've been meaning to post is that two sundays past I was wandering around as I do on sundays and I saw a sign for ¢25 wings and cheap beer. So considering where they economy is headed I took it as sign of what I should get used to and walked in.

The place was Mirrors, on Grand (btw Clifton and Lafayette, Clinton Hill/BedStuy), the occasion was football watching, and the beer and wings were satisfying beyond their price points. According to the bartender the place has been open most of the year, and official since Aug.

Mirrors has the potential to be a cool lounge on sunday afternoons. I've passed by in the evening and it has a good crowd, but that sunday of two weeks ago was light. The game however was cool, flat-screen plasma crystal clear, Giants beat the Niners and the crispy wings beat the bar-b-que wings, I prefer salty to sweet.

I told a few peeps about the spot and happy to report last sunday the crowd was three times larger, but still there was room for more and wings to spare.

Anybody got an opinion of Mirrors?

photos whenever it stops raining.