Ever notice that there are a LOT of locks on the fence of the BQE bridge/overpass between Carroll and Summit St.? I snapped this picture while walking over it tonight. There are even more than what appears in this picture.
A small temporary park that offered a preview of one of the state's most highly contested projects – the Brooklyn Bridge Park -- was a surprise summer hit with 192,675 people visiting from around the world.
The 26,000-square-foot park at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Heights saw visitors from 440 different ZIP codes during a 13-week run that ended Sunday to make way for construction of the larger, 85-acre park project, according to data released yesterday.
The temporary park was a major draw for out-of-towners with 79 percent coming from outside the immediate area of Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and DUMBO.
In fact, 25 percent of all visitors came from 52 different countries, and another 17 percent came from outside New York City.
"I think this will put an end to debate that Brooklyn Bridge Park is nothing but a fancy back yard for the rich," said Mariana Koval, president of the waterfront park's conservancy.
Koval was referring to criticism of a feature of the park plan - luxury high-rise condos to be built in the park to offset maintenance costs.
The temporary park featured a massive sandbox, sprinklers and games for children, wine and beer, food and spectacular New York Harbor views -- including the temporary waterfalls display.
Photo above from Brooklynbridge.org.
In the middle of the California desert, about 2 hours from the coast, you’ll find twin cities straddling the border of California and Mexico. The city on the Mexican side is called Mexicali; the one on the California side is called Calexico.
Everything about the place is a mix of California and Mexico – especially its food. Equal parts Mexican taqueria and American Barbecue Pit, Calexico’s cuisine is down-to-earth and full of flavor, familiar and unique at the same time.
When we came to New York City we were blown away by the food. But for all its great restaurants, we couldn’t find anything that quite matched the flavors of Calexico. So we took it upon ourselves to introduce New York to Calexico style cooking.
We make everything from scratch with the freshest ingredients. We hope you like it.
Thanks,
THE CALEXICO BROTHERS
Jesse, Brian and David Vendley
Here's a little history for those who don't know about this century-old sport. It was invented in 1910 in La Ciotat, Provence, near Marseilles. It is a game of "boules", the goal being to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called "cochonnet" (literally "piglet") or jack, while standing with your feet together (which is where the name comes from, les ped tanco in Provencal dialect literally means "feet together").
According to sources, it is played by 17 million people in France. Pétanque is also taken very seriously - so much so that conflicts created by the game have been known to break up friendships, families and sometimes whole villages for generations.
