Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Sixth Avenue Walkdown - Shut cafe; Sink hole; Lost Brownstone update

So today, on my way to Three Guys from Brooklyn, I walked down Sixth Avenue from the park to 59th Street. Boy oh boy was there stuff to ponder.

First, I noticed this yesterday, but two days in a row makes me curious. Why has Miguel's Cafe been closed up? There's no sign about a vacation or violations. When I called the number, there was no answer. Anyone know what's up?




I was also interested in the development of the Demolished-Brownstone-turned-orange-brick. This is what it looks like as of today:


No work was going on, and it doesn't look like a lot of work has been done inside the building. Just orange brick jutting out from the front, so far. The description on the fence says that the first floor will be commercial, but neither of the stores that flank this building knew what kind of business would be joining them. Of the five brownstones on the block, only two have been un-contaminated with storefronts. There is a grocery, a laundromat, and now a mystery store. Perhaps it will be a beauty salon? That seems to be the third prong in storefronts for Sixth Avenue.

Then, as I continued along, I noticed a decent-sized sinkhole in the middle of Sixth Avenue at 56th Street. It is already filled with a garbage bag and several pieces of jetsam, including chunks of a book. It breaks my heart to waste reading material. The barrel left there for safety is now crushed, and the cones look like they're on their way out as well. At least it's in the middle of the street, I suppose. Drivers were using it as a chance to make very illegal moves around the intersection. In the 90 seconds I stopped there, I saw two almost accidents involving drivers who all knew THEY had the right of way. This particular location has had a few fill-in jobs already. I wonder how long it will be before a sink-hole large enough to swallow up a van will open up. Bay Ridge has had a few already.

In more positive displays, the most pleasant windows of Sixth Avenue are in full bloom. There are also two bright green planters with additional flowers/plants in front of this house. The person responsible has kept this display up for many weeks now. The photo doesn't do it justice, and the flowers are a lovely way to get over the sink-hole and orange-brick feeling.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

the interesting thing about that brownstone is they tore everything down including the entire back end and took the walls right to the brick, but they left the staircase!
the owner is chinese.that seems to be the trend around here, buy a place for about a million, tear out all the original 108 old wood work, tin,etc..... and put in a million+ into it. who knows, it will probably be another laundromat ?

BestViewInBrooklyn said...

Since the brickwork is identical to the laundromat next door, they might be thinking about expanding. The woman working in the laundromat didn't speak English, and I don't speak any dialects of Chinese, so she couldn't tell me anything.

The Real said...

miguel's has been closed for a while now (at least a month and a 1/2)

BestViewInBrooklyn said...

Thanks for the info, V. I guess I saw the gate up a few times and figured it must be open for business. Too bad. I'd heard good things about the dinners, and location is decent as it's across from the school.