Sneak Peek: Uncle Barry's

When Flight 001, a store on 5th between Bergen & St. Mark’s that specialized in fancy travel products, closed down in May of 2009, the neighborhood uttered a collective "meh."

Then New Style, a largely insignificant clothing store, moved into the space. It lasted under six months before closing this past March. I'm pretty sure you'd have trouble filling a Dixie cup with the amount of tears shed over its demise.

Time for the next incarnation! Since we can always use more places to drink, this November the space at 58 5th Ave will become Uncle Barry's, the latest addition to the ever-expanding legion of North Slope bars.

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GET READY, PARK SLOBS: "STYLISH" BAR OPENING VERY SOON

Sometime in the next few weeks, South Slope will get a new place to get tanked. 

Mary's Bar, located on 22nd Street and 5th Avenue, is a new project from Stephanie Markowitz (formerly of Employees Only) and stylist Sylvia Holden.  

Holden gave up the goods an an interview with Above the Fray magazine, saying the bar "will feature a classic décor juxtaposed with a rugged urban edge."  So, unfinished wood and chandeliers?  Maybe. 

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BEST OF PARK SLOPE 2011

A million years ago we asked you kind folk to weigh-in on your favorite bars and food joints in the nabe. Well the results are in (insert Griswold family tongue drumroll from that one scene in Christmas Vacation)! We spent hours going over all of your embittered comments and begrudged votes, and somehow we still came up with a great group of winners. Herewith are the very best joints in Park Slope to get drunk and get fat (accourding to YOU...so if you disagree, yell at each other)!

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Drunken Nets Fans Are Totally Gonna Pee All Over Your Stoop

If you're like me, you're SUPER PSYCHED about the impending opening of the Barclays Center. It's going to be awesomesauce, right?!!!

Just think of all the countless jobs it's going to pump into the Brooklyn economy. You'll be able to get a sweet job serving beers & pretzels & whatever other hip modern cuisine they add to the menu to all the Barclays Center patrons! OR you can have a bright future in the exciting field of event security! I'm pretty sure you don't even have to waste precious hundreds of thousands of dollars on college degrees to get either of those jobs. WIN WIN for you, Jones!

Will the arena bring crime & traffic & hooliganism & whatnot to the area? Fuck yeah it will. Enraged Park Slope Resident Joe Imadehimup was quoted as saying, "Blah blah blah. Ruining the neighborhood. Robert Moses redux blah."

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Drunken Monkeys: Union Hall

In late 2009, a few days after my 35th birthday, I was up visiting the parents in Southern NH for the Thanksgiving holiday. A few days into my stay, I was reflecting on my middle age status & thought to myself "what ever became of George, my beloved childhood stuffed gorilla?" In between the holiday's familial obligations, I hunted through the house from the attic to the basement, trying to find George.

By the time I'd departed back to NYC at the end of the weekend, I hadn’t been able to locate him. The following week, my mother called me to inform me that she'd found George & would be sending him down to Brooklyn via the postal service. A few days later, after a few decades apart, we were finally reunited.

Since that time, George has sat on shelves & bookcases in my apartments, observing what I've become since we were last together. A few days ago, we were talking & decided that, after decades indoors, it was high time that he got out & started meeting people again. On Sunday, I was heading out to meet a few folks at Union Hall, so George tagged along.

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