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Is it legal? Is it binding? Is it discriminatory? What’s going on here? sloper111 writes on the Park Slope Message Board:

“I just signed a lease for an apartment in Park Slope… I know the Slope is liberal, and we don’t like that fucking Bush and his fucking war. But I can separate the asshole in Washington from supporting the troops. The landlord made me sign saying I wasn’t in the military and wouldn’t join the military. Now, I need an apartment… I can’t look for another now, so I signed.”

“This landlord won’t rent an apartment to someone in the military for fear of losing rent if they end up in Iraq. Am I the only one bothered by this?”

This may actually be pretty common. sarajean8 writes in reply: “Come to think of it, my lease had a whole page concerning this military topic…”

Read more on the Park Slope Message Board

Hello!

My name is Sarah. I go to Parsons and I have to do research of an area in New York City. Our area is Park Slope.

What we have to do is ask residents of Park Slope:

*How do they feel about living there?
*If there was anything they could change (a.k.a problems with graffiti) what would help the community?

The second one is very important to our class! So if anyone could help out that would be great!

It has been real fun visiting the area and it is absolutely gorgeous. Especially with it’s architecture and nature. Plus everyone is so nice and friendly.

Thanks for reading,
Sincerely,
Sarah

Hey! Original Drunken Guest is back with, well, another round of bar crawling advice for Park Slopers. Here are some excerpts:

Great Lakes — it is not the best bar in Park Slope… it’s just not, so get over it. It’s small, dark and crowded…

Sheep Station (4th Ave and about Sackett or so) — A really nice new place with limited Austrialian-esque menu. Lesbian-owned and friendly to all. A bunch of beer and a big back area.

Brooklyn Inn Not in Park Slope, but for a $7 cab ride, it’s worth the money you’ll save on drinks. $5 Jamesons, nuff said.

Patio — pretty good place. Sangria, if you like that shit… nice bartenders and a decent crowd.

Total Wine Bar first let me say Sample on Smith Street is where you really wanted to go … As for Total – it can be pricey, however … I like the 30 and over crowd for a change of pace, and the mac and cheese is amazing. And I don’t even like mac and cheese …

That pool hall place — A real gem. 5th ave and 13 or 14th… 8 ball over the door… downstairs opens into a huge, HUGE pool hall… over 20 pool tables and two ping pong tables…. a ten-seat full bar in front with an old school TV…. a barely dressed 18 year old Latina woman waiting the (pool) tables… great crowd, tons of seating for non pool players… the most welcoming pool hall around… Best example is when I saw a foursome of gay hispanic guys there… nobody looked twice or cared… the place leans slightly ghetto but is in no way feux ghetto fabulous.

BAR CRAWL: Read more about Buttermilk, Bar 4, 12th Street, Loki, Puppet Jazz, Lighthouse, Living Room, Commonwealth, Catty Shack, Blue Ribbon, Barbes, The Gate, Bar BQ, Union Hall, and more in the Park Slope Message Boards

Oh, and FYI — Maria’s Mexican Restaurant now has a bar…

Poor Guest. The post “I Am Not Messy” on the slope boards raised some blood pressure and concerns for the locals. Apparently, having some leaves and a candy wrapper on your sidewalk earns you a ticket– despite how windy it was last weekend when the trash mingled its way over to your property line.

The people living off of 5th ave. are cranked after their whole block got ticketed. And it doesn’t stop there. Marie says,” It’s a ridiculous scam and a ticketing blitz to meet their f#%$ing quotas. Check out this very recent article (10/23) about the Dept. of Sanitation scam in Bensonhurst…Fight it and cite their quota system!!”

Have you been ticketed? Did you fight and win?.”
Get a word in, edgewise, on the boards.

Some bright soul threw out a poll on where the best hoods are to see sexy people walking by. Brilliant. On looks alone, Williamsburg is pulling ahead. Way ahead. But Erikka doesn’t agree with the standings, adding “Williamsburg did nothing for me. Eye candy wise they were interesting but not always in a good way. The girls…well, all I could do was think about how bad their feet must smell from wearing cowboy boots in the summer and wondered why they looked like they were wearing Geranimals.”

Ouch. IMHO, the guys over there are always looking drunk and as if their converted loft doesn’t have a shower.

The Park Slope poll numbers are similiar to that of the Republicans running for the House…Rose says, “I agree about Park Slope. There are very few good-looking people over here. Though, I do think people over here are making more of an effort at basic hygiene and fashion than they used to. Ten years ago there were so many moms in the playground in mom jeans and awful wash-and-wear hair…”

Where do you think the boys are? the girls?
Tell us on the Slope boards. Ah, surveillance.

First apartment, Park Slope taken by dividedby.

BrooklynPotter writes on the PS message board: “is it really that wrong for a parent to buy their child an apartment?” A good question indeed. Is it okay for parents to use their financial power to give their children an advantage in the competitive NY housing market, especially in the coops and condos market where there’s often a long wait for qualified applicants looking to buy? One building adjacent to NYU has made it harder for students to buy, no matter who’s writing the mortgage check, emphasizing that it takes more than a chunk of change to be a co-op resident. Some brokers have followed suit since it can be hard to find a building that allows third party buyers. Concern have been raised on how responsible a grown child who needs (or wants) a parent to pay for their apartment would behave as a tenant–especially if the unit is bought primarily for long-term financial investment. Despite setbacks, the trend is on the rise.

linusvanpelt makes a good point on real estate investment, stating, “[It’s] not as exceptional as people think. Yes if you bought NYC property in 1995 and sold it in 2005. Not if you bought it in 1988 and sold it in 1995. Over the long run, historically, it’s not bad and beats renting, but it’s not as good on average as, say, the stock market.”

For those with $300,000+ to invest, Cisco is trading at nineteen times their expected 2007 numbers, showing great momentum and huge potential revenue growth. Could you say the same thing about your kid?

8thandPrez writes on the Park Slope Message Board: “Took a walk down 5th Ave. last night. A two-block stretch of 5th has developed into the Land of Mystifying Cafes:”

Drama Cafe: Completely empty. Suffers from being on the diciest block of 5th Ave, across from the school. Totally incoherent concept and the most unfortunate name ever.

ComfortZone: Crazy name. Have no idea what this place is. again, totally empty. (jennitrixie adds: “Comfort Zone is the worst name ever. It reminds me of Jerri Blank’s stretch pants.”)

Ugly Neon Burger Joint: So forgettable I can’t even remember its name. Overly lighted, neon overload, shiny metal.

LINK: How do these PS businesses stay open? [Park Slope Message Board]

What’s the deal with high-speed internet in Prospect Park now? They were awful quiet about the launch. Is free internet such old news that nobody blinked?

Here’s a quick piece from the Oct. 7 edition of Brooklyn Papers (with a very odd sidebar about spam):

http://www.brooklynpapers.com/…..9wifi.html

Also coming soon: wireless internet in Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Fort Greene parks.

Nice timing, guys. I’ll have to practice typing with gloves on.

LINK: Wifi in Prospect Park [Park Slope Message Board]

Oh, get down, turn around, go to town… What draws loserdom more than a grown man veering around on a Segway scooter? How about a man passing out promotional brochures for a Park Slope bank on his Segway scooter?

What sort of attention is the bank trying to garner?

Cheflady broke open the local case with her post on the Park Slope Message Board:“Those stand-up scooter things have moved to the neighborhood. A bank is using them to pass out fliers. Oh My.”

Full disclosure: The photo here isn’t local… it’s from yet another bank, in the DC area, that apparently has taken a similar promotional tack (This guy so loves his job!). I’m hoping our Park Slope Segway scootee was at least wearing a suit and tie… But, if you’re playing rock, paper, scissors with transit—the Segway trumps the Bug-a-boo every time.

Holler if you think Segways will have a longer shelf life than Slap Bracelets.

Contemplate two-wheeled transport on the PARK SLOPE MESSAGE BOARD

Planning to travel to atlanta cheap flights, or the denver cheap flights, the deals can just not beat the tampa cheap flights and the difference is clear when you are purchasing airline tickets.

News of Biscuit BBQ’s rebirth, found on the Park Slope Message Board, is very interesting. Opinion on the “old” Biscuit (on Flatbush Ave. near Grand Army Plaza) was deeply divided, and unusually so… Either you loved it or you hated it, as is revealed by the comments on this Daily Heights post.

Whatever you thought of the old Biscuit, there was big disagreement on whether their “NC BBQ” was anywhere close to approximating the real thing. linusvanpelt says: “Even assuming there is such a thing as NC-style BBQ ribs, Biscuit was not it. They heavily slathered their ribs in a sweet, thick, tomatoey sauce. If anything, that’s maybe KC-style, but frankly it was more like, baked-in-the-oven with-bottled-BBQ-sauce style. I didn’t hate Biscuit, it was better than no BBQ in the neighborhood at all, but their stuff had no smoke to it. I much prefer Bar B Q, whose stuff is much smokier, plainer and less sauce-y. Biscuit did, however, have far better sides … Oh, and credit where it’s due, I do miss Biscuit’s fried chicken.”

So… history is history. Time to move on. The new BISCUIT is “opening soon” at 230 5th Avenue (that’s the spot where Night and Day is now). Give it a fair shake, OK?? And let us know what you think on the Park Slope Message Board.

Are Brooklyn bedbugs close to achieving STD status? Infestations have been rampant throughout New York over the past year or two, and there are few other parasitic “infections” that are so persistent.

Crabs?? Come on… A quick shave and some 1% permethrin shampoo will take care of that. And forget herpes… nothing says “forever” like a Cimex lectularius colony setting down roots in your brand-new Tempur-Pedic pillowtop bed set. Oh… and those critters feast on human blood. You knew that, right?

The latest evidence on the Park Slope Message Board suggests that bedbugs are becoming the bedroom plague that yields to no prophylactic. idealist writes:

“My boyfriend had bedbugs at his apartment in Prospect Heights and I think he’s brought them over to my apartment. It could just be paranoia, but I am analyzing every black/brown piece of dust, etc. on my bed.”

“I stayed at his place before he realized he had bedbugs, and I got bitten really badly. 3-4 big welts that hurt for days. Yesterday I woke up with a tiny welt on my arm, and freaked out….”

“My boyfriend’s exterminator said that there had been a lot of bed bug incidents on 8th ave…”

How the *^%$# do you get rid of these things? … By reading the Park Slope Message Board

It’s called Palo Santo, it’s in the middle of a residential block on Union between 4th and 5th (near Maria’s), and it’s (apparently) still BYOB despite its billing as “Eclectic Latin Cuisine & South American Wine Bar.” and the reviews are pretty positive so far:

Sweetpea: We ate dinner there Friday night and really enjoyed the meal. The menu’s pretty eclectic … We shared a bunch of Latin-inspired small plates: a quesadilla with cojita, corn-coconut milk soup, seared tuna over a salad of apple and fennel, plantains and a delicious pumpkin bread pudding and key lime pie. The bill came to around $50, not bad! … ”

pitu: “They have good coffee and one of those hand-crank citrus juicers that is on every other street corner in Mexico. If you’ve got $3 and five extra minutes in the am, and the R train on Union is your stop, the world just got a little brighter…”

Finn: went in for brunch and had:

Bean & cheese pupusas ($7)
“The fanciest presentation of the bunch, a wide square plate with two little freshly-made corn pupusas topped with avacado and cabbage. The proportions were better in one of them, and the fresh corn flavor was something I’ve been missing…”

Tamales ($7)
“Regular ol’ pork tamales, served with two small dishes of guacamole (seemingly with lemon) and a salsa verde made without tomatillios I think. They are quite good, and completely blow away the version across the street.”

Corn chowder ($5)
“This was the star of our selections: it almost had a massaman curry flavor to it. A robust chowderiness, with a slow-growing, subtle heat.”

Read about the tortillas, coffee creme brulee, and more on the Park Slope Message Board

……….Erikka: “if a stranger ever asked me such a question, I would kick their ass all the way to Conneticut Muffin and run them over with a stroller. Since when did it become okay for an almost-stranger to be that rude and intrusive?”

How would you interpret this question?

……….You are all dutifully recycling FD’s ridiculously excessive packaging (brown paper boxes, pictured), so that helps. But what about those trucks idling all over Park Slope?

miriam asks: “Is anyone else bothered by the Fresh Direct delivery trucks sitting on the streets for half hour or more at times with their engines on??? Not only are they blocking traffic, but the polution and the noise! Is there something one can do about this??”

Simple answer: Yes. Just ask nicely. stacey says that she has approached the guys in the trucks and asked them if they could turn the engine off while they were unloading, and they always do.

But wait, isn’t their direct-from-warehouse model actually more environmentally friendly than traditional grocery logistics, that involve TWO trucks (distributor to grocer warehouse, grocer warehouse to grocery store) and a vast array of private vehicles? sweet tea says: “it is my uninformed opinion that FD gets more than its share of griping because it is a lot more visible than private vehicles or unmarked warehouse trucks. but i’d be open to some evidence that i’m wrong, so that i can have another reason to complain when they’re running the engine under my window.”

Ultimate Solution: Government subsidies to FreshDirect so they can buy airplanes and drop-ship to Park Slope rooftops: “they can charge us triple for the groceries due to the price of jet fuel!”

Fresh discussions delivered direct to your computer on the Park Slope Message Board

With increasing number of london hotels after the success of the paris hotel and the boston hotel once does wonder. Do we need another san diego hotel really?

……….stacy says:

“I worked with a guy once who was a bottle collector. He and his father would go to homes doing renovations or yard work and ask if they could dig.”

“He told me 99% of the time they found something. He explained to me that many people used to throw the garbage in the yard or down the outhouse holes. Then when the city started picking up garbage, most of these people just filled in these outhouse holes.”

“When my mother was selling the house, he asked if he could dig in our yard … He found 3 plain bottles, some sort of medical tonic, a beer bottle, and a child’s toy in the shape of a horse.”

“They used to sell these bottles at the street fairs and they always had a stand at the Atlantic Antic. Last time I saw the son he said that they pretty much sell their stuff at shows and on eBay. “

LINK: Can and Bottle Collectors [Park Slope Message Board]

Ah, that ol’ September 11 feeling, right on 7th Avenue!

steve writes in the Park Slope Message Boards: “has anyone else heard the planes flying low overhead? … I’ve only heard them, not seen them, 2x… and this morning I was sure something was going to crash.

Flexichick adds: “I heard them, and got the Sept. 11th ‘here we go again’ feeling. Immediately followed by ‘f*** it. I hope I die quickly’ and then back to sleep.”

Answers to all your questions in the Park Slope Message Boards

Keeping up with las vegas hotels is indeed tough than hotels anywhere else in the world, whether it is an orlando hotel or a san francisco hotel.

How many distinct signs can you make out?

Answer can be found (maybe) on Dope on the Slope.

4th AVE. goes from “Wasteland to Tasteland,” according to the Daily News: “Even as the rest of Park Slope sprouts bistros, Brooklyn’s Fourth Ave. stays a bit, well, scruffy. Things may change thanks to Mule, a cool new coffee shop at 67 Fourth Ave. between Bergen St. and St. Marks Pl. Right now, Mule has Seattle’s Caffe Vita coffees, snacks from Two Little Red Hens and other bakeries, a wrought-iron bar and a 16-foot communal table in the backyard. In the future, look for a lunch menu and a wine bar in back. …

4th Ave. chatter in the Park Slope Message Boards

On Slice NY: “…Anthony’s is turning out a great Neapolitan pie…”

“I went yesterday for a late lunch and opted for a margherita, a benchmark … With the exception of some tip sag, the pie was excellent. The remarkably light and airy crust exhibited a decent amount of charring and a very nice amount of oven spring, especially evident in the cornichone, the rim of the pizza…”

READ MORE: Slice NY

ANTHONY’S | 426A Seventh Ave. btw 14th + 15th. 718-369-8315

Drew wrote: “the other day i was in the mall and stores were playing christmas music. they were all on the overhead speakers like “christmas time is here! christmas! christmas time!” this is just blatantly not true. christmas time does not start until after thanksgiving.”

Photo: colorstalker documents holiday cheer in Park Slope.