I went into a wonderful little shop this weekend called Obscura. A treasure trove of bizarre and wonderful things. Open in their new location at 280 East 10th St. I highly recommend a visit. Their captivating wares are constantly coming and going with new things in all the time.
I’m drawn to lights, bright colors and fun.
So when I walked down my usual path on Orchard Street between Stanton & Rivington, I was shocked to see that amidst the historic raw New York buildings and one of the more quieter blocks in that neighborhood a brand new store had opened that was the flame to my moth-like nature.
The weirdest thing is that the store primarily carries clothing for women (they are soon to start carrying jeans for men which will probably fall way out of my budget) and yet I still wanted to enter. It was recently featured in Elle Magazine apparently and also promoted by some costume designer that worked for Sex & the City.
The store is the brainchild of a DJ who happens to be of Egyptian origin; S. Hamady. The name literally means “house of light.”
The bright colors, buzzing lights, plush pleather cushion in front of the register are just a few of the treats you get by visiting the store. Even if you don’t purchase anything, be sure to check it out for sheer awesomeness. The store prohibits photography within the premises and it’s understandable why.
It should be experienced, not seen.
An email pops in today from Reaghan Roper at MWW Group. It is a press release. This was in response to my post about FreshDirect. One of criticism was that FreshDirect was selective in which neighborhoods it delivers to.
And the press release continues to say
Leading Online Grocer Now Delivering to Residents in Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Red Hook and More
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz Welcomes FreshDirect Delivery
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY – April 17, 2008 – FreshDirect, one of the nation’s leading online gourmet grocers and prepared food purveyors, announced today its plans to heed growing customer demand and expand its delivery services to reach the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant (“Bed Stuy”), Crown Heights, Red Hook and more. The new delivery areas are now open for delivery service, giving residents a whole new way to shop for the best in fresh produce, competitively priced groceries, and mouthwatering prepared food.
Communities in these neighborhoods can now choose from FreshDirect’s extensive product offering, featuring fresh foods and groceries, bulk items, local and organic produce and chef-prepared 4-Minute and Ready-to-Cook Meals. These neighborhoods add to a growing number of Brooklyn communities currently serviced by FreshDirect. In addition to Brooklyn, FreshDirect successfully operates throughout Manhattan and Queens as well as select areas in Staten Island, Westchester, Nassau County, and New Jersey.
It took a long long time for FreshDirect to correct its “social” injustice. Well better late than never. Welcome FD to BS….
PS….here you can see pics [1] [2] of Marty Markowitz sucking up to FD officials.
Well only for a short while, till the next consignment from commieland lands up on US shores.
More than 20,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike sneakers, as well as fake batteries, baseball caps and Louis Vuitton handbags, were among $25 million in goods seized in raids in New York City, on Long Island and in New Jersey, the authorities said on Wednesday. Two men, called “midlevel warehouse runners,” were arrested this month on federal counterfeiting charges. [link]
What I have always wondered is…does suppressing the counterfeit market really bolster the sales of the originals. 99% of people who buy the 20$ knock-offs at Canal Street, will never buy a 1500$ original. So its not really affecting the sales of Vuitton. In the same way, a fake is easily identifiable. It fools no one. So why spend all the time and effort going after them. I know my arguement is not wholesome. Comments welcome.
Image copyrights
Today was the first Sunday of the Brooklyn Flea for the year 2008. Brooklyn Flea is a flea market that meets every Sunday at Lafayette Avenue at the corner of Cleremont in Clinton Hill. From the pictures below you will see that the fair was packed today, the gusty winds not withstanding.
This is Brooklyn’s largest flea market in its hippest neighborhood. Its definitely worth a trip for all the non-brooklynites.
Check out more pics at Clintonhill
No, not the one that you have for breakfast, the Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair.
After work, I headed over to the Design Within Reach Studio in Flatiron for the 50th Anniversary Event.
Before I go on, I should mention that I have this “thing” for furniture - especially chairs. If I had a choice, I think I’d get rid of my couch (since I don’t really sit on it) and just fill my room with Modern Retro chairs. Then, someone mentioned that if I ever decide to date again, I might want to lay on a couch with someone. Hm. Guess I wasn’t thinking ahead.
Anyway, I was really excited to see what DWR had planned for the event. When we arrived, they had about 4 Egg Chairs set up in the middle of the room with Swan Chairs in between and a few more Egg Chairs displayed in the windows. They served Deviled Eggs, Prosecco, Buffalo Wing and Chocolate Golden Eggs. Interesting Combination - but fun.
The excitement ended there and maybe I expected too much. I thought we’d be greeted at the door by someone welcoming us to the event, I thought the store would be a little more festive, I thought there would be more mingling, a give-away… nope. People walked into the store and didn’t realize they were at an event! An hour into the event, 3 people got up to speak very briefly about the history of the chair and that was it.
One hour, one glass of Prosecco and about 6 Deviled Eggs later, we left. We skipped the Buffalo Wings - not something you want to eat while sitting on an Egg Chair.
Disappointing, but any opportunity to spend quality time with my favorite chairs is still worth it.
The first weekend of March my fiancee and I were wandering east on 22nd street between 7th and 8th Ave. after visiting a far west side boutique. We came upon a store that caught our eye immediately and we were sucked inside. We didn’t catch the name of the place at first, as the mid century treasures had our minds occupied. We were transported into a Hollywood prop house from the 50’s! We ended up walking out with a 1930’s sign that read “TATTOOING”. A wonderful addition to our love of tattoo art. The gentleman behind the counter let me take a few photographs (using a Leica M6 with 21mm Zeiss lens) and handed me a card so I could share some of the treasures from Mantiques Modern.
I did a post about the car free shopping days in London. I have been thinking about what areas might good candidates for the idea here. As much as might like it, I think doing it on Fifth Ave around Rockefeller Center or in Times Square would likely cause more trouble than it’s worth. One area that I think would be a good candidate would be Soho. The pedestrian crush there is solid, the area is very well served by transit lines and the narrow streets there are hardly usefull for anything beyond local traffic. It’s an area in which cars can truly be considered a nuisance. There is a critical need for delivery vehicles but I think that the idea of having a few special shopping days without cars would be something a lot of people would like. I’m not proposing this as some government mandated thing but just an idea for the local business owners and residents to consider. The idea for car free days has also been kicked around for Bedford Ave in Williamsburg and I think that’s a great idea. Something like this could also be a plan for the midtown shopping areas on the weekend but this runs into the simple fact that off hour subway service is pretty poor.
A while ago I had written about Freshdirect and their not-so-green policies.
Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from them stating
Going green. By early next year, 100% of our delivery fleet will use clean, renewable biodiesel, cutting emissions and our use of fossil fuels. Our boxes are currently made of 100% recycled material, and within the next 3 years, we’ll eliminate nearly all of our cardboard boxes, replacing them with recyclable totes and bags.
All I can say is, better late than never.
My local grocery store in Astoria, Key Foods, has started selling reusable grocery bags! This makes me very happy. I know plenty of larger stores, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, have had these green items for a while, but it’s good to see them trickling into smaller stores.
