Canadian Picked to Run Huge Ikea in Red Hook

The job of managing the massive Ikea in Red Hook has gone to a Canadian who has worked for the multinational retailer for 14 years, according to a press release issued yesterday, which notes that the massive store will open this summer (August has always been mentioned as the most likely date). Ikea is hiring 500 people to join its “Swedish family” at the store although it’s not clear how many will be Red Hook residents or Brooklynites. Many of the management jobs are expected to go to non-Brooklynites. The new top person is named Mike Baker and started with Ikea in North York, Ontario. A big part of Ikea’s public relations strategy was promising large numbers of jobs for Red Hook and Brooklyn residents. It gave Red Hook residents a two-week head start in applying for jobs, although it’s not clear how many applied and how many will be hired. If the news is good, there will no doubt be many press releases; if it is not, expect that the breakdown will be hard to get.

Things Get Crappy at the Bergen Street 2/3 Station

If you are averse to stories about mounds of crap or if you are eating breakfast, lunch or dinner, stop reading and move on to the next item. If, like us, you find such tales of shitty misfortune compelling in a weird sort of way, read on. This comes from the Park Slope Forum on Brooklynian, where it was labeled a “horrifying, gross story.” Here goes:

This morning, I stepped in a huge pile of SH*T on the subway platform at the Bergen Street station. MAN! I was so freaked out. The worst thing is there was no way to clean it off my foot! I left the station and found a puddle but it wasn’t sufficient, trust me.

And I’m pretty sure it was human sh*t! AARRRRGGGH! I’m assuming it was from some homeless dude. The crap pile was right by the garbage bin, and I was stepping up to it to through out my coffee cup. Someone was squatting there defecating, trying to keep out of view obviously.

This reminded me of the discussion we had about peeing in public, and on the subway platform. Trust me, this is much worse!

Some demands for photographic evidence produced this follow up:How about go to the Bergen Street station, and look next to the garbage can on the Manhattan bound platform, and you’ll see all the evidence you need. . . . a pile of crap with a footprint in the middle . . . wasn’t in the mood to whip out my phone and take a pic. It didn’t occur to me someone would want to see that . . . .

Always look down.

Park Slope Friday #7: Red Hot Death Scene Revealed

And, now, the last in our special Leap Friday focus on Park Slope retail & restaurants.

Whatever happened to Red Hot Szechuan, the latest restaurant on Seventh Avenue to kick the bucket, appears to have occurred very quickly. (As in, everyone took off running for their lives.) A look inside reveals menus still stacked on the counter and cables where computer equipment was disconnected. The “specials” sign is still in the window as are the Chinese New Year’s decorations. In a related development, Hunan Delight on Union Street has added three delivery people and a satellite kitchen on Seventh Avenue. Just kidding.

Bklink: Cops Vs. Museum?

“A cop-bashing art exhibit at a taxpayer-funded museum in Brooklyn portrays the city’s Finest as trigger-happy racists who have put bull’s-eyes on the backs of black New Yorkers. Police abuse victims, including African immigrant Amadou Diallo, are depicted as shooting targets in the ‘The Blue Wall of Violence’ exhibit at The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts.”–NYDN

Park Slope Friday #6: Laila is Turning Japanese

South Slope Middle Eastern Laila closed suddenly a month or so ago. We can now report, based on our keen powers of observation, that it’s going Japanese. The new place appears to be called Ten Japanese. We are certain the appearance of yet another Japanese restaurant in Park Slope–which has its share of them on Fifth and Seventh Avenues–will induce many shrieks of delight in the neighborhood.

Construction Site Du Jour: Busted on Bayard

The site of the former Beauty Addiction Building, which had been the one lone holdout on Karl Fischer Row in Williamsburg, has been cited by the city for a problem again. We last featured 14 Bayard as a Construction Site du Jour in late January. Since then, the construction fence has been padlocked closed again, yet, the curious missing side of the fence remained. Hence, the Yellow Slip from DOB. As Burg construction sites go, it’s a benign one. For instance, this is only a couple of blocks away and hasn’t been cited recently.

Bklink: Brooklyn Ghostbusters

Having trouble with supernatural issues? Got a pesky ghost in your condo or coop or apartment? Need the place blessed? Call Sal at Brooklyn Ghost Investigators. Seriously. –Pardon Me for Asking

Park Slope Friday #5: Behind the Second St. Cafe Paper

A big “for sale” sign is now gracing the window of the defunct 2nd Street Cafe on Seventh Avenue. The space on the market via Brenton Realty, which doesn’t appear to have an online listing up for it. In the meantime, some of the paper has been peeled back, allowing a glimpse into the former Park Slope restaurant.

You Can’t Photograph That, Continued

Photographer Tracy Collins, who is creating an important photographic record of the Atlantic Yards footprint and project, had a bizarre encounter of the finest kind while taking photos of the closed Carlton Avenue Bridge. He calls it another episode of “You Can’t Photograph That.” This time, the photo vigilante wasn’t a police officer, but could well have been an employee of the developer developer or a public agency, although there’s a possibility she was just a private demented person. Here’s a sample from Mr. Collins’ blog, Not Another F*cking Blog:

so, yesterday, while taking my usual (almost) daily stroll around the Atlantic Yards footprint, i notice that the gate to the recently closed Carlton Avenue Bridge has been left partially open. seeing this as an opportunity to snap a few unobstructed photos of the soon-to-be-demolished bridge, i walk to a spot just outside of the gate, being careful to remain outside of the fenced-off area, and begin to shoot. ["soon-to-be-demolished" is subjective. it's been closed for over a month with no visible signs of demolition] i manage to take about a dozen shots when i hear a shrill woman’s voice yelling:

“You can’t photograph that! It’s private property!!”

There is more and it makes fascinating reading. Mr. Collins’ flickr sets are available here.

[Image courtesy of Tracy Collins]

Park Slope Friday #4: Bank Space Goes Red

The temporary wooden front at the former D’Agostino’s/Gothic Cabinet Craft space at Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street has acquired a coat of red paint. As we first noted last April, part of the space is becoming a branch bank. At the time, we were told it would be a Bank of America. The identity of the new bank hasn’t been revealed, but there is only one bank that we know that uses a red color scheme: Bank of America. Unless the red paint is a coincidence or they couldn’t get standard issue construction fence blue because the paint store was out. There is no work going on in the other one-third or so of the space, and a “for rent” sign is still in the window.