That Road in the Park We Call The Loop? Apparently, It's A Bike Track.

On Friday, we recevied this epic screed from a pissed off Park Slope cyclist:

Spring has sprung and my list of to-do's for my return to the bike track in Prospect Park starts with a  tune up and new cycling shoes yay. Imagine my anger when a breeder on the Park Slope Parents community board posted a petition to keep me and other cyclist from using the bike track as a training and racing apparatus..Here is the post.

"Have you had a run-in with racing cyclists in Prospect Park? It's cycling season again just this weekend I had a spandex-wearing cyclist yell at me and refuse to stop because I was trying to cross the ring road--at a crosswalk, with the light, with a stroller carrying a toddler.

Some other moms, park volunteers and I started a petition to try to get some better enforcement and signage. If you've got a small kid (or even dog), odds are you had a similar experience.

Could you sign the petition and maybe pass it along?

http://www.change.org/petitions/eric-landau-stop-rogue-cyclists-in-prospect-park


Whaaaa.......... I said. So like any other law abiding cyclist in this city I tried to explain why I use the bike track and how it fucks up my train of thought when i have to constantly stop to let a Bugaboo cross the road or clueless dog owner with their fluffy on a six foot lead. I also told her that I can no longer afford the 65.00 per month for my membership at the Y on 9th st.

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FIPS JUICY: BEST STORIES OF THE WEEK

In case you spent all week putting your winter clothes in boxes, then taking them out again, then putting them away, then taking them out again, then cursing the fucking weather gods for being so fucking indecisive, here's a round-up of juicy FIPS news that graced the pages of our blog this week:

* Sir Patrick Stewart Has A Sense of Humor. Why Don't You?

* Steve's C-Town Covers Up Union-Market-Wannabe Stars on New Signs

* Dead Body Found in the Gowanus Canal

* Cool or Not Cool? Partying in Hot Tubs with Strangers

* Judy Chicago's Lady Parts Will Light Up The Brooklyn Sky

* Who Gives A Shit? Leaving A Baby Alone in A Car

Gowanus…A Look Beyond the Stink

Image via fromedome.com Oh, Gowanus. You used to be East Carroll Gardens, or West Park Slope, or that no-man's land with not much but a toxic superfund site. But, now! You are well on your way to being just as gentrified as the rest of saps living in this part of Brooklyn. You have Whole Foods! And a hipster/normcore Shuffleboard venue! And kick-ass entertainment venues like the Bell House and Littlefield! Still, you've had kind of shitty week, and nobody can seem to write about you without mentioning that stinkin' canal.

Luckily, your friends at Brick Underground have worked up a list extolling your virtues by getting current residents to give visitors and potential new Gowanus-dwellers the skinny on what it's really like to live there:

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WHASSUP: Home Sick Edition

Good day, FIPsters. Today I write from the comforts of the sick ward—my bed. There's something going around and it has taken a giant bite out of my ass and left me with a 102 fever to show for it. I apologize if this post is completely nonsensical and lacking any good recommedations for the coming days. I promise that I'll be firing on all cylinders by next week. 

In the meantime, hit me up with some recommendations, review some events, and let me know what you like. You know, I get off on that shit.

And now, WHASSUP? Eh, I'm going back to sleep:

Friday, 4/25, The Feelies, The Bell House: After a 19-year hiatus, the Feelies are bringing you a new album, which promises to tie together their old groove with new musical themes. This is gonna be a good one. $25, Doors 8pm, Show 9pm

Saturday, 4/26, Friends of Park Slope Book Sale: I remember fondly the book sale from elementary school at which the “Book Lady”, as she was affectionately known, would peddle paperbacks such as Superfudge and The Hardy Boys.  I can only imagine that this event will be exactly the same. Park Slope Branch Brooklyn Public Library, Free Admission, 11am-4pm

Saturday, 4/26, A Butterfly for Brooklyn, Prospect Park: Who’d have thought that Fireworks can be inspired by vaginas?  As I close my eyes I can picture just what the skies over Prospect Park are going to look like on Saturday—and to be honest, I’m a little excited. FREE, 7:30pm

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Who Gives A Shit?: Leaving A Baby Alone in The Car

Image via thinkstock.com

Yesterday we received the following message from a FIPS reader:

Twice in the last month, I've stumbled upon babies in cars...alone. The first time, I was walking up 2nd street and I saw two teenage boys (maybe 14?) looking into the backseat of a car. As I got closer, they pointed at the window and asked me, "Is this okay?" I peeked in myself and saw a baby sleeping in a car seat. I looked around to see if perhaps the parent had hopped out to quickly pick up an older kid from 321 or something, but there was nobody looking rushed trying to get back to the car. After a few minutes, a woman opened the door to a brownstone ACROSS THE STREET and yelled, "Oh, is he awake?" The second time, I was picking up my kid at Textile Arts Center on Carroll Street. There was a car parked out front with the alarm going off, then stopping, then going off, then stopping. As I passed by, I saw that there was a baby in the car. A very awake baby, who somehow kept setting off the car alarm, while some unseen force kept hitting the remote to make it stop. The car also had one of those "baby on board" signs hanging in the back window.

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