Not Very Blissful

After watching "Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares" last night, and seeing moldy food and colonies of cockroaches that infested the midtown restaurant he turned around, I started to wonder how our own neighborhood places have fared in the health department inspections, which Wesley has blogged about before.

Turns out that shortly after Bliss on 46th and Skillman underwent new management, their inspection ratings took a steep nosedive. On 8/22/07 they were given a disgusting 50 rating (anything over 28 constitutes a failure and requires a follow up compliance inspection). Their previous rating back on 5/1/07 was a somewhat high, but still passing 17. In contrast, Quaint, just down the block from Bliss on Skillman, received a very respectable 2 score (though that was back on 11/8/06 - let's hope they've kept it up).

When will the health department start requiring restaurants to post their scores? And why did it take a reality TV show to expose the filth that the former Dillon's (now rebranded as Purnima) was shoveling?

Touch Football for Fun & Charity

Got this in my inbox:

This fall, ZogSports expands to Queens with Touch Football in Queensbridge Park and Outdoor Soccer in Elmhurst. ZogSports, the charity-focused, social, co-ed sports league for young professionals in their 20s and 30s, is coming to Queens for the first time.

ZogSports has spent the last four years helping young New Yorkers break the monotony of the typical day – work/gym/bar/home - by offering sports leagues, trips, social events, and volunteer opportunities. To date, they have brought together 33,000+ participants and given more than $290,000 to charity.

Participants can sign up as an entire team or as an individual/small group and we’ll place them on a team. Teammates get to know each other at the organized post-game happy hours at local bars.

As a philanthropy-focused organization, ZogSports donates a portion of all proceeds to charity, and helps all participants Play For Your Cause by making donations to winning teams’ charities of choice. Teams have the opportunity to win both on the field as well as off, with awards given for Best Team Name, Best Team Spirit, and Best Happy Hour Team. ZogSports also partners with local charitable organizations to promote/co-sponsor their events, and organizes charity events of its own.

Sounds fun, if you consider yourself a team player and like meeting new people under physicall demanding circumstances, that is. Me, I'll sign up when they add Scrabble to their roster of activities. (Fact: I played ZLOTYS on a triple word score when Wesley and I were on our honeymoon in Spain. We didn't have a dictionary with us, and he threatened to cut off my supply of Rioja if I continued to insist that it was a real word. I chose Rioja over what I knew in my heart was right. I am still upset over what I consider to be the play of a lifetime.)

In Denial Over El Comelon

I kept telling myself that the busy signal meant that they were having phone troubles. I finally walked by there today and confirmed that my favorite purveyor of rice and beans and fried plantains is gone. Seriously, I'm devastated. They could carmelize an onion like you wouldn't believe. Unless you've had the grilled chicken and onions, in which case I know you're salivating right now. And we never even blogged about it.

So where do I go now? I know there are tons more options on Greenpoint, according to the New York Times and the Department of Health. What have I been missing thanks to my obsession with El Comelon?

108th Precinct Hosts Forum on Safety

PUBLIC MEETING:
108 Police Precinct Community Council
Tuesday 7pm, September 25, 2007
Sunnyside Community Services
2nd floor
43-31 39th St.
betw. 43rd Ave. & Queens Blvd.
(Usually lasts less than two hours. Council Pres. Diane Ballek urges all to attend and to arrive at 7pm sharp.)

NATURE OF CRIMES: The attempted and completed alleged break-ins appear to be crimes of opportunity, where a back window has been left open. Another common and more alarming feature in most of the alleged home attempts is that they occur at night when the houses are occupied with sleeping residents. The site of entry is sometimes in plain sight from the other side of the courtyard.

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND: If your residence has been broken in or an attempt was made, or you want to know how to try to prevent a break-in, please take this opportunity speak directly to 108 CO Captain Thomas Kavanagh, his team, and the specific special NYPD units who have been asked to attend. Everyone needs to hear your story. Community Affairs P.O. Juan Toro noted today (9/10/07) he finds only ³one break-in has been reported in the Gardens in the last 28 days,² which means we are not speaking up in an official matter. Criminals concentrate on an area until it becomes more trouble than it is worth. The police cannot discourage them with no information and if we do not show we care.

SQUEAKY WHEEL: Please report your crime to 911 and file a report, no matter if the attempt on your premises was successful or not. When such an attempt has been thwarted on the spot, one¹s main emotion is to try and forget about it. But if you do not file an official report, we will not get the attention we need from the NYPD. NYPD personnel are put where data exists suggesting a need, which is one reason NYPD policing is so effective. It is a hassle to file a report if you lost nothing, but getting the data in the system will protect you and your neighbors in the future. We don¹t want word to get around among lawbreakers that the area is an easy target. If you are told that you cannot file a report because no crime was committed, please note the time and place of attempt and time and name of whom you speak to -- obviously, police resources must be allocated to events with more serious priority, but down the road at the the council, such information might be invaluable to both you and the 108.

PRECAUTIONS: Please lock your doors and windows, particularly the ones facing the common areas. If you wish to have them remain open, wedge them open with pipe or wood so they cannot be opened from the outside. Secure air conditioners or fans so that they cannot be pushed into your premises to gain entry. Better information will be forthcoming 9/25 and your questions answered to the best of experts' ability regarding efficacy of alarms, lighting, locks. Get to know your neighbors and report anything suspicious in progress to 911.

LOCAL NYPD TEL. NUMBERS:
911 for a crime in progress, and that includes graffiti in progress
(Since our emergency calls to 911 are routed immediately to the precinct, call 911 rather than circumventing a good system by calling the precinct.)
311 for non emergencies
718 784-5411 - 108 precinct front desk ­ might ring awhile
718 784-5426 - 108 Com. Affairs --This # has a machine (PO's Juan Toro, and Marco Youseff)
718 784-5404 - 108 Crime Prevention Officer: Lou Chimento (free excellent, on-site advice)
If you wish to speak to Diane Ballek about becoming more involved in the Council, she may be reached at 718-784-3194

The (re)Cycle Plays: Call for Volunteers

We posted info about this event, and it turns out they could use some help:

As many of you already know, Confluence is producing a 1-day festival next Saturday called THE (re)CYCLE PLAYS. I can't tell you how rewarding this experience has been for me, the other producers, and all of the artists involved. Running a festival like this is not an easy task for a small non-profit like Confluence, which means we rely on volunteers to make sure that everything comes together and will run smoothly on the day of the event. We are still in need of some more volunteers to help us in the days leading up to the event distributing cards, hanging posters, and running errands. We also need some more volunteers on the day of the festival (Saturday, Sept. 15) to help us load in, set up, assist with the maintenance of our artist area, man the Confluence info table, assist with park clean up, and strike and load out at the end of the event.

If you are able to help us out over the next week or by signing up for a 1 or 2 hour shift on Saturday between 10am - 7pm, we would be extremely grateful for your help. Please email gabriel -at- recycleplays -dot- com.

If not, I hope that you are able to make it out to Socrates Sculpture Park to check out what promises to be a great time! All of the festival details can be found at www.recycleplays.com

THANK YOU!
Adam

Buy Raw Local Honey

A local honeybee farmer is selling honey to our CSA!
It's from Waldemar Galka who has a farm in Long Island.

To purchase honey:
- 1lb jars are $7, and 2lb jars are $13

- Choose Spring Honey (lighter) or Summer Honey (darker)

- Bring a check payable to: Waldemar Galka to the CSA pickup this Thursday 9/13 or next Thursday 9/20 Sunnyside Community Services, 2nd Floor between 5-8pm.. Please don't leave cash in the envelope.

- Put it in the HONEY MONEY envelope (just ask the volunteers for it)

- Print your name and phone number on the list that is attached
to the envelope, and indicate whether you want Spring or Summer honey.

- Honey will get delivered either during the last week of Sept or
first week of Oct.

About the honey (from Waldemar):

What is important is that the honey raw and local. The bioactive nutrients are not destroyed by pasteurization and the honey contains local pollen [said to help allergy sufferers].

The other important aspect is that I don't use any 'hard chemicals' to control varroa mites (honey bee parasites) so there is no risk of them getting into the honey even at low PPM. I produce healthy honey for my family and sell the surplus to the public. The honey is not organic since there are no organic areas in the vicinity of NYC sufficiently large - at least 6 miles in diameter, the extent of honey bee foraging - to certify an organic product.

1-lb jars are $7 each. 2-lb are $13 each.

The lighter jars are honey that's mostly from the black locust blossoms (spring time) and the amber jars are honey that's mostly from linden/basswood blossoms (summer time). This year's autumn honey is being collected by the bees at this time and, if all goes well, will be harvested in early October.

Las Senoritas de Avinon at Thalia Spanish Theater

I don't know how to add the proper accent marks onto that title--ever so sorry.

THALIA SPANISH THEATRE, celebrating its 30th anniversary, presents

the BILINGUAL AMERICAN PREMIERE

(WORLD PREMIERE in English)

THE “LADIES” OF AVIGNON

LAS “SEÑORITAS DE AVIÑÓN

in celebration of the Centennial of the masterpiece by

PABLO PICASSO

by

ONE OF SPAIN’S MOST IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY PLAYWRIGHTS
JAIME SALOM
English Translation by CHARLES PHILIP THOMAS
Produced, Designed & Directed by ANGEL GIL ORRIOS

Associate Director HECTOR LUIS RIVERA

Starring
SOLEDAD LOPEZ, KATHY TEJADA, COCO NUÑEZ,
IVETTE OLIVERAS, ANGELA PEREZ, LORENA JORGE

and introducing as Young Picasso RAUL JULIA

Young Pablo Picasso, a struggling and as-yet unknown artist, finds love, comfort, and inspiration in the company of the “ladies” of a brothel in Barcelona. As he creates his masterpiece, the nude “ladies” from the canvas come to life. The great Spanish genius and his creation as you’ve never seen them before! DON’T MISS IT!

THE STORY OF THE MOST FAMOUS BROTHEL IN THE WORLD [thanks to him].
SIX WEEKS ONLY
OCTOBER 5 TO NOVEMBER 11 2007

alternating performances in ENGLISH and SPANISH

IN ENGLISH: FRIDAYS at 8 PM & SATURDAYS at 3 PM

IN SPANISH: SATURDAYS at 8 PM & SUNDAYS at 4 PM
TICKETS $25 STUDENTS & SENIORS $22

Special group rates

At THALIA SPANISH THEATRE

41-17 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside (Queens)

Subway # 7 Local to 40th St. Station. Buses Q60, Q32 to Queens Blvd & 41st St.

INFORMATION & TICKETS (718) 729-3880

At Least a Cop Was There

School's back in session, which means at certain hours of the day the streets are swarming with teenagers. I've generally found them to be tolerable--they do form large crowds that block the sidewalk, but if you say "Excuse me" they move out of the way.

The 7 train platform is another story.

I was on a train that arrived at 40th Street at 4pm. As soon as the train stopped, each door was mobbed by a large group of teenagers, who were not at all interested in letting anyone off the train.

Right in front of me, a poor woman lugging a very heavy-looking parcel on a wheeled rack and carrying a large portfolio-sized parcel was KNOCKED TO THE GROUND by the crowd.

To their credit, a few reached out to help her up and to pick her parcels up. But most of them just climbed over her, making it even more difficult for the rest of us to exit the train. She was shaken up by it, and rightly so. It hurts to fall down. I'm not even going to get into the heebie jeebies it gave me, 7 months pregnant, contemplating what could've happened if it'd been me.

There was one cop on the platform trying to manage the situation, but he was woefully outnumbered and most of them were ignoring him. This girl fell only three doors from where he was standing.