Food & Drink
All the way out there
Yeah, that place. Flickr photo courtesy of jag9889.
You know that lobster joint you pass, all the way down on Flatbush Avenue, when you’re riding your bike to Far Rockaway? You think I really ought to check that place out sometime but that time never actually comes because, how are you gonna get there and who’s gonna pay? Tomorrow’s today’s your day: that place, which is called Nicks, is giving out free, full-size portions of their lobster slider, a close cousin to the crabcake, from noon to 2. It even comes with fries, but the beer’s on you.
Nick’s Lobster & Fish Market, 2777 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn 11234, (Btwn Ave U & Shore Pkwy)
Shopping
All the way out there
Falling prices landing soon?
Like professional soccer, Budweiser American Ale and turning off your car alarm, megaultrahyper retailer Walmart has never really caught on in New York City. But don’t think they’re sitting there in Arkansas saying to themselves: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Target Town.” News came out this week that Walmart is planning yet another New York City invasion, and this time they could land on the shores of Jamaica Bay at the new Gateway II shopping center, reports Crain’s New York.
Walmart (whose total square footage of its stores is larger than Manhattan, btw) has attempted a few other incursions into the city before. But every time they try to crack the city, community and labor groups rise up in protest and block the way. Community leaders in Jamaica Bay are already vowing a fight too, but maybe they should save their energy. Because even if Walmart does come to Brooklyn, that doesn’t mean Brooklyn will come to Walmart. 
Outings
All the way out there
The author surfing in Rockaway
The equipment isn’t cheap, but the ocean is free. Hurricane season means bad swimming but good surfing, and the city’s prime surf spot is just a subway ride away. Take the Far Rockaway A Train (not Lefferts) to Broad Channel, then transfer to the S shuttle to Beach 90 Street. The surfing beach is located a few blocks from the Beach 90th Street subway stop on 91st.
There you’ll find weekend escapists, pre-work warriors and weekday shredders hitting the surf, along with a handful of shops offering lessons, board rentals and loaner wet suits to the sport’s newest practitioners. If you’ve been considering trying this one-time outlaw pursuit—legal only since 2005, when the non-profit SurfRider Foundation defeated the laws prohibiting surfing at Rockaway—here’s an idea of the costs, along with a few other basics.
Outings
All the way out there
The Flashwalk, a 40-mile, on-foot trek from Brooklyn to Staten Island (via Manhattan and New Jersey) that we wrote about a few weeks ago here, has been rescheduled for this Sunday, July 12. You might think the original rain-out would have been a sign to, you know, maybe not walk, but apparently 50 people have expressed interest in the 14-hour trek that will leave Grand Army Plaza Sunday at 7 a.m. and wind up in Staten Island. There’s still room for more. Learn more and rsvp here.
Outings
All the way out there
Waterfront Barge, photo by Timothy Vogel.
You’ve been to Prospect Park 271 times already, done the once-a-year loop of Coney Island and Brighton Beach and spent way too many Sundays at Fairway. Another summer weekend is just four days away (Monday’s kinda fun when you think of it like that). So where’s that dang list of all those wonderful Brooklyn places you said you were going to visit this year, for real? We found it for you.
Services
All the way out there,
Bay Ridge/ Bensonhurst,
Ditmas Park/ Midwood/ Flatbush
Prices at New Hair. Photo by Charna Meyers.
Admit it, venturing as far south as I live (Bensonhurst) only happens once (Mermaid Parade) maybe twice (Siren Festival) a year for most northerners. But would you make the trip if you knew that the subway stops which immediately precede the famed Stillwell Avenue station could save a ton of money on haircuts, blowouts, massages and facials?
I’ve been in this area for most of my 30 years and in that time I’ve found primpatoriums a-plenty. OK, they’re not exactly Bliss, but this is the South, and we aren’t as interested in the calming faux paint technique used on the walls as we are with the small amount of money coming out of our fake-Coach wallets.
News
All the way out there
Great Kills Park photo by Andy Cross.
Reason number 32,643 to love Barack Obama—one of his Recovery Act-funded jobs is a “community planner” for the Gateway National Recreation Area. That sounds like one of those plum gigs you can only get in, like, San Francisco. But through June 30, you can actually apply for a position paying up to $98,777 a year doing this (and presumably other things) for the National Park Service:
“Become a part of our mission to unite our past, our cultures and our special places, to establish important connections to the present and build a rich and lasting legacy for future generations… ”
Services
All the way out there,
Downtown,
Park Slope/ Prospect Heights
Choosing a summer camp for your kids strictly on the basis of price might not be the best idea. Other factors to consider: How cute are the t-shirts? How cute are the counselors? And is there a bus that adds immeasurable convenience while magically extending your kid’s day by an hour at each end? We’re kidding of course (except for the bus part), but the point is that we’re not TripAdvisor here—we don’t review the camps, we just check how much they charge. And these five came up as the least expensive in our price survey of dozens of Brooklyn day camps, including every one listed on the Park Slope Parents web site or advertised in Brooklyn Family magazine.
Services,
Shopping
All the way out there,
Bay Ridge/ Bensonhurst,
Bed Stuy/ Bushwick,
Park Slope/ Prospect Heights,
Sunset Park/ Greenwood Heights
While doing the morning rounds we came across a series by Daily News reporter Denise Romano on bargain shopping in various Brooklyn neighborhoods, covering pharmacies, dry cleaners, grocery stores, barber shops and the like. We’re naturally skeptical of any list with a C-Town on it, but there look to be at least a few good tips on these pages. Click on your neighborhood and judge for yourself:
Sheepshead Bay, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Bay Ridge, Flatbush, Greenpoint, Prospect Heights, Sunset Park, Bushwick.
Outings
All the way out there
We’re pretty sure this travel deal is solidly outside of Brokelyn’s budget, but we like the spirit of it anyway. Transracial blog reports that starting today, two “ultra-luxe” resorts in the Maldives, the Soneva Gili and Soneva Fushi, are offering guests two free extra weeks if they 1) pay for a minimum of two weeks and 2) agree to do community service jobs like thatching roofs, making brooms, teaching English to kids or working in the local clinic. Two free weeks in the Maldives just for immunizing some babies? Does the new $9 airline go there?
