Candice says that  The Word On the Street is...................
by Candy (a local babe)

September 1999 - MEAT ME ON MANHATTAN - I know that we're all trying to cut down our cholesterol, but it seems a bit drastic when a couple of well know meat places start closing down on the Avenue

September 1999 - BOOM TOWN USA - Busy Bee Builders are at it with 3 new buildings going up on Jackson Street and 1 on richardson. It's looking like the Taj Majal on the corner of Frost Street ... and some activity across from the Feast! Kiss them deeds dudes.

September 1999 - A BAD WEEK ON MANHATTAN AVE - On Sunday, A 23 year old guy was stabbed in the chest during a dispute on Manhattan Avenue ..... then Tuesday, a fella was hit by a truck on Meserole and Manhattan. Hate to hear this kinda stuff here.

September 1999 - ALOT OF GARBAGE - According to the knowers:

-50% of all NYC garbage (53 tons per day) is now being
transported and processed through this neighborhood
-10,000 Garbage trucks and 18 wheel garbage trailers
barrel down our local streets 24 hours a day
-2.5 Million garbage truck trips per year release 2 million
pounds of asthma causing pollution into our air.

This ain't good

September 1999 - TANKLESS TOWN - According to BUG/LILCO the landmark red and white tanks on Vandervoort Ave will be slowly removed in the next 18-24 months. They actually did an inspection of those red and white tall boys in July and found that the coatings of both tanks were in poor condition and the surface coating was peeling. The tanks will soon be gone forever and the area will be decontaminated.

September 1999 - SOUNDS LIKE GREENPOINT - I just took a listen to the new WGPT Radio station and it seems to me that I've heard some of these bands around town fa sure. Nice job webbie.

September 1999 - NEW CONSTRUCTION - Looks like there is some new "apartment" construction going on near Norman around Russell Street.  Are we condo'ing in Greenpoint again?

August 1999 - GREENPOINT WEST TO EAST - Not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer planning this neighborhood construction. From Driggs to Greenpoint Avenue, there was only one and a half streets open to get from the West side of Greenpoint to the East side. Nassau, and Norman were closed (near McGuinness) going East bound, and Greenpoint Avenue is usually a nightmare anyway. Bet you Calyer and Leonard Streeters were good and mad.

August 1999 - CHATTIN & GABBIN - I stopped into the new (and sexy) Greenpoint chat the other eve. It's now known as the SYBA STOOP, but in my books it's the hot tub .... see you in their one night.

August 1999 - EAT IT - Looks like there are major renovations at a certain neighborhood landmark eatery on Lorimer near Conselyea ...... and we hear that they're keepin the name.  Maybe they'll even see this and put their menu up at GREENPOINTUSA.COM.

August 1999 - IN FASHION & YET THE SAME: Yes that was me bar hoppin' in the hood. Although I wasn't part of the fashion show in a certain Neighborhood Nite Club, I was part of the same old crowd in a Manhattan Avenue watering hole that recently changed names --- even though the label has changed on the Heinz bottle, the content is still the same.

July 1999 - DRIGGS AVE CHANDELIER: Somthin's brewin' on the corner of Driggs and Manhattan.  Looks like there's a big chandelier hanging above lots of tables and chairs. A Middle Eastern eatery perhaps? Another Awning? A bowling alley or movie house ..... wishful thinkin on the latter.

July 1999 - CELEBRITY DONUTS: hey why not be proud of a great product. Did you see that big sign in the window of Meserole Donuts about how they were featured on News Channel 4 NY......how come they didn't put a sign up when we featured them ... oh well.

July 1999 - YA' SEE, WE TOLD YA': OK so maybe our Manhattan Avenue info was off the mark, but the new McDonalds on Kingsland and Meeker (see March 1999) has announced job openings. I don't believe that Buffalo is on the menu (see next).

July 1999 - BUFFALO IN GREENPOINT: Speaking of burgers, looks like a certain restaurant with a "Greek" name (oh what the heck, Socrates)  has added Buffalo Burgers to the menu. Yum...I think. There's gotta be a Chinese food joke in here somewhere.

July 1999 - AWNING TOWN: Manhattan Avenue is turning out to be a great place to walk during a rain storm. Everybody's got an awning lately. And how about the newest of awnings a quarter block long near Gerkes ...... with names like THE IMPERIAL PALACE, and EURO BAR printed on them. "Beneath it all" seems to be Gerkes, now the Euro bar; The Imperial Palace, said to be an upcoming "party hall"; A new "sports clothing" store ..... oh yea, and Doctor Dennis (does great feet ... makes you feel like dancin' after a treatment ......... maybe that's why the party hall was opened)

July 1999 - DEATH TO THE TREES: There were 75 trees planted last year in an area bordered by Box Street, Java Street, Franklin Street, and Provost Street. They were planted by the Department of Environmental Protection to replace the trees uprooted during the construction of an electrical substation in 1994.  Well 7 of the trees have kicked the bucket and were replaced as required.

June 1999 - DE-MAPPING NORTH HENRY: Remember when B.U.G. de-mapped Varick Avenue many years ago? Well a portion of North Henry Street has now been de-mapped to accommodate the Newtown Creek plant's upgrade. But first, there will be the widening of Kingsland Avenue (near Greenpoint Ave) scheduled to begin in the Fall. The lowest bid for the gig was submitted by Tully Contractors (now working on McGuiness). According to DEP, the reconstruction will be done in 2 phases. The first involves creating 3 new lanes on the south side of Kingsland on the property that used to be home to the Mobil tanks.

June 1999 - THE TACO THAT ATE THE PIZZA PLACE: Looks like Prima Pizza, that was located in the Keyfood "mall" is gone? It figures, a new eatery moves in, and another moves out. Oh well.

June 1999 - NEW REP FOR FISHER: Councilman Ken Fisher appointed Greenpoint Native Thomas Haines to keep the connection between Greenpoint/Williamsburg and the Councilmans Office. Tom can be reached at 718 875 5200.

May 1999 - DON'T GET SMACKED: Looks like there's some bad dope in the Streets. Two guys were found dead with their "works" all layed out next to them. One 35 year old  guy was found dead in his room at the "Y" on Meserole, and another was found near Rodney Street by the BQE. Cops found others dead from bad dope in Manhattan - they're not sure if the Greenpoint deaths are related but that's 6 this week who kicked over from high octane street heroin and coke.

May 1999 - THEY'RE WATCHING YOU ON GRAHAM AVENUE: Someone has been peeking at you as you drove down Graham Avenue from Conseleyea to Meeker Avenue. They even watched you as you mounted the sidewalk and collided into the Community Board office's gate with your speeding car.  Well their watching has sort of paid off - Some new Traffic control devices will be installed around Withers and Frost.

May 1999 - TAKING A DUMP: One of our local council people got his hands on a report prepared for the Department of Sanitation.  Seems that the report has ruled out converting the Greenpoint Marine Terminal transfer station into an intermediate garbage unloading facility as part of the plan to close the Fresh Kills landfill. Lets not take this personally - but they found that this neighborhood is unsuitable for holding garbage that is to be shipped out on barges.

May 1999 - ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL: If you had any memories stuck in the old brick wall at St Cecilia's schoolyard on North Henry - or maybe you were hiding your smokes in the cracks of the wall - or maybe the voice of Louie Gee was echoing in the old mortar ...... forget it now.  They are in the process of tearing down the wall to replace it with a new one.

April 1999 - GREENPOINTERS SPEAK OUT: Looks like the WTG interview with Joe Lentol yielded some direct results. Alternate side of the street parking, and traffic problems on Van Dam and Monitor Streets are promised to be dealt with by Lentol in response to some of the questions asked by the locals during the interview. Wow ...... this really works --- I dig that

March 1999 - THEY COUNT ON RINGING YOUR BELL: Wow .... the Government is looking for us? It's confirmed that the Census folks are attempting to count all of us Greenpointers again. Seems that we've been so under counted in the past, that we don't get our fair shake of the pie. As for myself, I'm gonna stand out on my stoop and wait for these folks because it's real important for us Greenpointers to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!! --- Maybe then we'll get lots of new goodies, and business's (like a Movie House Maybe) interested in opening up here.  STAND UP GREENPOINT - LET 'EM COUNT YA!

March 1999 - MORE MICKEYS IN THE POINT: Can't confirm it, but we keep hearing about McDonalds opening up new joints from Manahattan Ave (Near Russ's Pizza) to Kingsland and Meeker Ave's.

March 1999 - THE FEDS ARE LOOKING THROUGH GREENPOINT TRASH: Looks like the Feds are investigating to see if Greenpoint is being dumped on again. The White House council on Environmental Quality paid a visit to the hoods hot stinky spots and found out that Greenpoint handles more than half of the City's trash.  Even folks from the Department of Justice took the tour that the City's own Housing, Sanitation, and DEP declined to show up for. By 2001 the City signed a contract with some Stinkers on Varick Avenue to haul nearly 2500 TONS of trash through Greenpoint --- PU!  Well I think that I'm starting to glow already from RADIAC, the only low level radioactive storage joint in the entire USA located in Williamsburg...

March 1999 - DON'T MESS WITH GREENPOINT LADIES: A certain city Cop was sentenced to 4 - 8 years in the can for messin' with two ladies out for a stroll in Greenpoint...... Keep your hands to yourself dudes!

March 1999 - LIGHTS OUT: Ooh-Wee are the people on McGuinness between Nassau and Driggs PO'd ---- The street lights are completely out on one side of the Street --- although it makes for a nice spot to make out, it don't seem to cool for walkin' at midnight.

March 1999 - A FOREIGNER IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD: By no means is this comment racially motivated - it is based on principle -  BUT WHY DO I FEEL LIKE A FOREIGNER in my own hood? There are signs posted all over the place with peoples faces and some detailed text. Is it for an election? Is it for a plan to kick butts if  wearing the wrong clothes? Is it for some sort of Greenpoint event that I wasn't invited to? I HAVE NO IDEA BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. What is the story? What do these signs say? Am I in danger?

March 1999 - TRUCKIN' IN A KINGS-LAND: A few neighbors of Kingsland Avenue are in an uproar after an informal survey was taken on how many trucks pass through the "No through Truck Traffic" Street.  They counted an average of 42 trucks in one hour between the hours of 7 AM - 6 PM. Looks like it's time to dispose of one of my favorite 70's expressions (Keep On Truckin') --- not that I'm that old that I remember the 70's .... or maybe I was there, but just don't remember ---- oh right, that's it.

March 1999 - $30,000 PAYDAY ON GRAHAM AVE: Wow.... not one, but TWO neighborhood people are each $30,000 richer after buying a scratcher game at Napolitano Pharmacy. I'm no expert on odds, but its got me scratching my head

March 1999 - TANKED AGAIN: Seems that certain Greenpoint politicians are pushing to have the "red & white" BUG tanks located on Vandervoort Avenue removed. These "landmarks" visible from everywhere are empty now ----- I suppose that the Leaning Tower of Pisa picture in the WHAT IF section of GREENPOINT MAGAZINE might soon be a collectors item!

March 1999 - GREENPOINT ON THE PEOPLES COURT: It's confirmed that a certain Greenpoint Restauranteer was seen on Judge Koch's PEOPLES COURT. He seems a bit shy to tell the details --- but there was more than the usual take-out order in the court.

March 1999 - A NEW FRUIT IN GREENPOINT: Seems that the fruit and vegetable stand on the corner of Norman and Manhattan has sold out to --------- you guessed it, ANOTHER fruit and Vegetable stand.  We hear that the new owners are from Jersey.

February 1999 - WE'RE SO COOL LATELY - A house on Manhattan Avenue recently sold for $240,000 ------- two days later, the buyer was offered $340,000 ------ oh how those hipsters just wanna be here.

February 1999 - NOT AS TANKED AS WE USED TO BE:  If you've driven down Greenpoint Avenue toward the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, you may have looked to your left between N Henry and Kingsland and noticed something missing. All of the tanks, formerly owned by Mobil Oil but now owned by the NYC DEP have been demolished! Although they'll soon be replaced by several egg-shaped sludge digesters about 125 feet high. Tanks? Eggs? Oh Well......

February 1999 - YOU HAVE MY HEART: I thought that it was very nice that all of the waitress staff was wearing a red carnation on Valentines Day ---- Was that your idea George??

February 1999 - TRI-PLEX?? So we've been waiting and waiting for the old Dunkin donuts to open as something new ------ well as most of you already know, it's BLIMPIES, TACO BELL, and some COFFEE DELIGHTS kinda joint openin' soon in this Tri-Plex maneuver! What's next, maybe a Tri-Plex Movie theater??

February 1999 - BE CAREFUL ABOUT YOUR BLIND DATES: Long before they had a special on TV about "past dated food" at your grocer, I received an e-mail about a well know supermarket chain having outdated products on the shelf.  I sort of ignored the e-mail  because it was a Manhattan branch of the Supermarket Chain ------ well let me tell ya', this same chain in Greenpoint has proven it to be true in this neighborhood as well!! Three weeks in a row: First it was COLUMBO YOGURT, then it was LENDERS BAGELS, finally it was LETTUCE!!! All outdated, bad, or simply bad news.   CHECK YOUR DATES GREENPOINT.

January 1999 - J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS: With all of this football in the air, we hear that there is a new/old football box scam around the hood again. It goes like this: "...hey ya wanna buy a box at ____, bar -- there's only a few left...I'll put your name in for ya" After you give up the Tenski, you can't get a-hold of "the guy" until after the superbowl - he then tells you , "....oh, so and so won ... your numbers were real close though...."

January 1999 - THE FED AIN'T THE FED NO MORE: I'm far from a financial wiz, and I bet that this news has been in all of the financial papers already - but my sources are even better because they come from "inside".  Seem that FINANCIAL FEDERAL BANK on Manhattan Avenue is being taken over by "another bank".

December 1998 - IF YOU'RE ON DRUGS: They just won't admit it, even in the Pharmacy (you know that Victor the Pharmacist from the old Roband Drugs now works in Genovese)... but they just won't confirm what everyone is saying on the street - that Genovese is being taken over by a subsidiary of JC Penny.

December 1998 - BARNES & RUMORS: The webmaster passed on an e-mail from a neighborhood person claiming to be the one who started the Barnes & Nobles/Starbucks rumor in Greenpoint.  Is it true?? ----- who cares as long as this neighborhood is still cool enough to spread a rumor quickly... keep posted

December 1998 - FAST & FURIOUS: Seems that one of the construction workers on the McGuinness Blvd project was run over and killed.  We've heard complaints about how fast the cars go on the Blvd even with all the construction going on - this sort of proves it.

December 1998 - THE GOOD DOCTOR: There goes our pearly whites --- we hear that Doctor Edelstein is retiring on December 12th. I wonder if he'll take the hand written signs that were on the wall in his old office: "Please don't write on the Walls" & "Please don't put garbage in the plants" ----- stock up on your sweet air Greenpoint.

November 1998 - BAD NEWS: Greenpointers are just too tough - seems that about 67 pages of the Sunday News (11/15) were either blank white or just totally screwed up....... I asked 10 neighborhood folks what they did about it and they said THEY RETURNED IT FOR A FULL REFUND.......... one even completed the crossword puzzle first...... I just love this town!

November 1998 - HELENAS GIFT SHOP: rumor has it that Helenas gift Shop on Nassau Avenue, across from Winthrop Park, requested that TD Marlo stop on down to do a book signing for his new release "Welcome To Greenpoint" - I like these kind of rumors....just shows how nice some of the Greenpoint merchants are......... JAMS, CINDERELLA SHOPS, YOU'RE UP NEXT!

November 1998 - HERE COMES STARBUCKS: We hear that the big open lot across from the Turkeys nest (N12th and Bedford) is going to become a BARNES & NOBLES......and ala it's arrived.....a STARBUCKS on the same site..............Will this overshadow the Grand opening of BLIMPIES in the Keyfood "Mall"??

November 1998 - NOTHING BUT BAD NEWS LATELY: I'm very much the lively type for sure so it bums me out to be the bearer of bad news but........we heard that someone was held up and killed in McCaren Park.......a store was also held up on Nassau Avenue where another person was killed.....and there was a fire on Norman Avenue and Newell Street!!!.

October 1998 - DONUTS, & ART:  Lets all make a run for it - there's some sort of art gallery up on Manhattan Avenue near Greenpoint Avenue and a donut shop called Twin Donuts too (although nobody stands a chance against the old Meserole Donuts.....At least it's not a Starbucks.

October 1998 - MCGUINNESS FLOOD: So you think it's hard driving up McGuinness with all that construction? How about having your basement flooded because some guy on the construction team decides to leave the Johnny Pump valve open after they shut the water service off.  Of course when they restored service, the pump starts spewing full force onto the sidewalk and into your basement.  We're thinkin that Keth Ballis (attorney) will have a pretty good case load by the time all of this construction is over in the neighborhood.

October 1998 - THE GREENPOINT BOOK: I seen that TD Marlo fella lurking around the hood with his digital camera, and a pencil behind his ear. From what I understand, this Greenpoint Book that he's been talkin' about will be up for grabs in a week or so. It's the first book published about Greenpoint in over 45 years.....which means it's gonna be pretty cool...I'm keepin' my eyes peeled on the main page of this site for the announcement........HEY MARLO, why didn't you ask me to add a passage!

October 1998 - DUNKIN DONUTS:  I heard, from a very reliable source that in a few weeks  that the new owners of the old Dunkin Donuts will establish their new business. I know what it is but I am sworn to secrecy!

October 1998 - THE GYM:  I get this vibe that folks living around the Calyer Street area near the new Gym (old Odd Lot site) are getting pissed off by all those healthy folks taking up all of the parking in the area. Hell...I even work out there....but I walk to the gym.

October 1998 - COFFEE SHOP: Looks like the coffee shop on Norman and Manhattan (the old Royal) has changed owners again. The original previous owner is back. We hear that the last guy "had it up to his gyros" with the business.....yelling at customers, flipping out and pretty much emptying the joint.

October 1998 - STREET LIGHT: Although I've been sittin' in the sun on vaco, one of the first things I noticed when I got back to the hood was a new traffic light on Greenpoint Avenue and Humboldt Street.....you know the place where you hook into Greenpoint when coming off the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge.

September 1998 - GERKES: Yea sometimes I'm a fly on the wall at Gerkes, and as I was buzzin around and tossin' a few back I heard that Gerkes is gonna sell out soon enough......through my mug I hear that an Indian Restaurant is lookin' to move in.

September 1998 - MCGUINNESS BLVD: Seems that merchants on McGuinness are having a hard time with the construction. Gerald Esposito (CB#1 District Manager) is writing letters to the City to see what kind of relief is available.

September 1998 - PS34 MESS: All that scaffolding around the building just a few weeks before school starts....what's up with that? Well they've been working on the bathrooms and the exterior of the joint for a while now......but the best part was that big RAT hanging from a stick! Most folks thought it had something to do with rodent infestation....I hear that there were non-union workers on the job site, and that just don't fly in this working class neighborhood....Big bait, catches big rat!.

August 1998 - NO DAMN PARKING!: There's a certain new yellow painted curb on Lorimer Street that has a few Noble Streeters up in arms. The yellow curb takes yet more parking away from the area, and the tickets keep coming. It's amazing how when we asked the Traffic brownies why they don't ticket cars on Lorimer between Meserole and Norman, they told us that they "don't police that block". We hear that there is a petition goin' round to solve the Noble Street thing.

August 1998 - MORE MOVIES: Looks like Faye Dunaway, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, and Steve Lawrence were hangin' out where the Donnie Brasco folks were shootin' down on West and India (Franklin, Huron, etc).  It's a movie called "The Yards". At least they got to eat good here in Brooklyn.

August 1998 - ROBAND DRUGS: Walking down Manhattan Avenue to get some donuts, I see that ROBAND DRUGS (Manhattan & Norman) is out of business! There's a big sign in the window that says "CLOSED - FOR RX GO TO GENOVESE". We hear that they were asking for $6000 a month for rent - that's what took them over the edge.   Man, they were the only place that used those black bags so you could hide your personal purchases - Damn!

August 1998 - MOBIL TANKS: Looks like in early September they're going to get rid of the tanks formerly owned by Mobil Oil (around Greenpoint Avenue near Kingsland and N Henry). The neighborhood strong armed them to set up air quality monitoring points near and around the demolition.  They're also forcing them to send out mobile monitoring trucks around schools, playgrounds and churches.

July 1998 - NASTY FIRE: A real bad fire on Withers, between Humbolt and Woodpoint, took out 2 and 1/2 houses.

May 1998 - ICE CREAM: A little redecorating in the cig and candy store on the corner of
Manhattan Ave and Norman. They have installed an "ice cream counter". They tell me
that soon they'll have the best malteds in town. I offered some advice by telling them to find out how the candy store that used to be on Driggs Avenue (near St. Stans Church) used to make their malteds....they were the best (at least in the 70's).

May 1998 - MUZAK IN KEYFOOD: Looks like the Key Food chain got themselves a new music service. You think I'm kidding??- Take a listen!! They shifted from the old MUZAK to
some sort of 'B sides' 50's thing. I asked the manager about the new service, and he said "we sure did. Ain't it great". I also confirmed this with a Key Food shopper from park Slope - they have it there too!!! I distinctly felt my "backbone slip" as I passed the meat aisle!!!

May 1998 - HATS ON THE NORTHSIDE: Hey, is it me or "what's up with all the hats on the North Side??". Derbys, Fedoras, all kinds of hats. Must be another trend in "The New
Village" - but I must say that all of the vintage cars spotted lately in the neighborhood are pretty cool - everything from a blazing blue early 70's Pacer, to an old 1950's Red Ford Falcon.

April 1998 - BIG BUCK BUILDING: Just heard that a building on the North Side (N7 at Bedford) is going for $400,000 bucks. Rents in the area, including this end of Greenpoint have been up to $1000 to $1400 clams a month. My My, looks like its time to invest in the area, regardless of the oil spill. Rumor is that the Pizza place guy on the corner of North 7th and Bedford is gonna buy the $400K building.

April 1998 - MORE STORE CLOSINGS:  WEISS & WEISS, the hardware store on MANHATTAN AVENUE is gone. We also noticed that the wedding photo joint on NASSAU AVENUE (EMOTIONS) has also closed its doors.

March 1998 - MUSCLE CARS ON MCGUINNESS: Really Hot MUSCLE Cars are the talk of the town on McGuinness Blvd (near the car wash on Engert). Really MINT '68 Camaro (rumor has it it's going for over $10 grand). A lot full of unique cars worth a curious look even if you're not buying. We heard that the cars are from a Stock Car track upstate, and that they're all original and come with papers. Word is out that one of the Pinto brothers (Steve) runs the joint.

February 1998: MINI MART: Looks like Mini Mart on Manhattan Avenue has sold out to new owners. The store is still open as a 24 hour joint. The last we heard is that the original owner recently married Pizza Daves sister (Dave works in Original Pizza on Norman Avenue).

February 1998 - DUNKIN' BLIMPIES: Surprising enough, it looks like Dunkin Donuts, in the Keyfood "mall", has closed up shop. Last we looked there was a sign on it for "COFFEE &
DONUTS", but not Dunkin Donuts. The rumor is that they will open up a Blimpies in its place.

November 1997 - ST FRANCIS CHURCH:  Just had to comment on the large billboard standing in the GARDEN OF ST FRANCIS CHURCH ON HUMBOLT STREET AND CONSELYEA. The Billboard proudly says: “........COME ON IN AND TRY ONE OF OUR SUNDAYS...........”.  Also seen another one recently that says: "ON THE WRONG ROAD? GOD ALLOWS U-TURNS". Now that’s progressive religion.

October 1997 - SMOKERS DELIGHT: There’s rumor that the eatery on the corner of Manhattan and Meserole (used to be Chesters Fried Chicken) took down one or two tables in an effort to fall below the parameters of the non smoking laws. This is sort of a nice gesture to accommodate the smokers in Greenpoint who enjoy a puff with their coffee.

September 1997 - NICKY THE BARBERS old place is once again occupied (KINGSLAND &
HERBERT). Since the passing of NICK, the store was recently occupied by the “guys from the club” on WOODPOINT ROAD and FROST STREET. For those of you who remember, the club was in GILS old store on WOODPOINT ROAD across from “The Projects” and Dannys Gas Station.

August 1997 - PIZZA WARS on THE NORTHSIDE seem to be kicking up. Without mentioning any names, but referring to the area around Bedford and North 7th, we hear that one of the joints approached a competitor in an attempt to “organize prices” between them. The competitor refused and never got back to him. You can now find a “slab” going for “a buck” as the Pizza Wars flare up.