A local resident has just purchased the lease on the corner store at Albermarle and McDonald. Previously, he operated a grocery in the Fort Greene/BAM area. Anyway, he is interested in hearing from the community about what we would find most beneficial to the area. Plans so far include gourmet coffees available by the pound, organic products like milk, cereals, juice, and eggs. We hear he is also expecting to have homemade soups, stuffed grape leaves, and cookies.
We think this is great news and would love to have a place to grab a healthy sandwich with some homemade sides. We really think this neighborhood would do well w something like an Olive Vine that would include falafel and Mediterranean salads even if it was only take out. We're sure if this new owner added easy lunch fare people would come in droves.
Monday, September 24, 2007
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Something in the way of vegetarian/vegan options would be great! I'd think with the student housing nearby I probably wouldn't be the only patron of that kind of stuff.
a deli that doesn't suck.
probably need to keep in mind that across the street will be a huge grocery store soon to carry many organic products. Therefore, on-the-go stuff for lunch and breakfast won't have competition. Decent muffins that don;t come wrapped in plastic.
oh man that would make my life - as someone who works from home right around the corner from there, i'm all about the breakfast and lunch items! love the ideas of soups.. maybe salads.. deli sandwiches.. pretty much anything that isn't thai or chinese or pizza would simply rule
Homemade soups and cookies/muffins would be fantastic!
When will it open????
I agree about Olive Vine. A year ago, I tried to ask them to come out here. They said they get more than enough business in Park Slope and didn't have any interest. But this sort of place would be highly welcome here... not to mention, mesh well with the muslim community.
Since its close to the subway i think making GOOD coffee for people would be a big plus. (and when i say good i don't mean expensive there are plenty of good cheap brands like cafe bustello or lavazza for instance). The place across the street from there which is where my husband and i share our morning cup is so bad i just wait until i get to work.
Which corner store on Albemarle and McDonald? NE corner or SE corner?
Ah, if we could only have anything promising up on Ft. Hamilton....
Living only a block away from that corner, I know I'd frequent a place that had a kind of "create-a-salad" thing going on. You know those places where you get a bowl of lettuce and choose 5 toppings.. It would be great to have access to something that would encourage me to eat healthy instead of always going to the corner to get a slice of pizza!
I think all those things you mentioned are great but would add that by-the-cup coffee and good bagels would be a plus!
How big is this space? With all the suggestions here and the KWT list, I wonder how much they'd even be able to fit.
Good bread!
thai food
OMGZ Kensington TOTALLY NEEDS A COFFEE SHOP!
Falafel and/or Shawarma.
I would love to see some type of coffee shop reminiscent of the neighborhood shops you see in the park slope area.
i'd like to see an artisanal cheese section along with a fine selection of wines from the bordeaux region of france - i believe this will help to speed along the utter destruction of kensington as a safe working class neighborhood and finally let us yuppies have everything our little white hearts desire.
I'd encourage the owner to check out "Chop Chop" on Smith Street in Cobble Hill for some ideas. How wonderful it would be to have some wholesome prepared foods to pick up on the way home. I don't think a Chop Chop is a realistic venture in our 'hood (not yet, anyway) but maybe looking at the store would give the new owner some ideas. But to start, good bread and cheeses would be great.
A nail salon
although we hate park slope, please make this shop exactly like park slope, cuz deep inside thats what we really want
and please allow adequate space for strollers
thanks
please make your shop an F-Express train stop.
thanks much
ok, 2:20, that was funny! well written.
Please leave race issues out of the characterizations. Many of the "old" residents are white and many of the "new" ones aren't.
Non-white people like coffee shops and fancy cheeses too!
Wow, the comments section of this blog is literally teeming with douchebaggery anymore.
How about a Halal meat store
Early hours, good coffee to go. Do'nt need latte's or any of that made to order coffee just a good strong quality cup of joe!
starbucks
...and maybe a nice muffin.I know Sullivan Bakery (soho) delivers out this way. They are fabulous!!!! Great breads too.
pawn shop
methadone clinic
methadone clinic
nice deli sandwiches, grilled chicken/cutlets, nice cheeses with a nice selection of beer
cortaditos porfavor y me provoka un ajiaco santafereno. good bialys and soup would be loverly......
Hvatit pro "staroe" i "novoe" naselenie, yuppies vs. oldies... Vse hotyat khoroshiy kofe! Good coffee and pastries, please!
1st of all...Kensington needs to wake up and smell a good cup of coffee coming from a decent establishment.
Why is it that this hood has NO decent stores to shop at:organic, starbucks, gourmet,restaurants..
Look at Church Avenue between McDonald & Ocean Parkway...what a horror!
It should and could be like 7th Avenue & 5th Avenue in the Slope or smith Street.
BUT?!
WHY?
i love that soup place on 4th ave in park slope closer to the f-train. they have the best vegetarian chili and fresh bread, i wish we had a place like that. i think a soup place like that would work well with a smaller place, and maybe they could have good hot and iced coffee, and maybe even some flavored coffee? i don't need fancy lattes, but some soy milk would also be nice!and healthy sandwiches? maybe some sushi too? i don't need fancy shit but some basic needs do need to be met here.
sushi is a basic need?
Sushi, now we're talking!!!! McDonald Deli sucked and I'm glad it's gone, there was always strange drunks hanging around outside- besides we all know the guys at the lunchenette rule.
That space would be good for a small asain market- bubble tea, sushi, and other asain ingredients and foods (Like poky sticks!). That space is too small for a restaurant or coffee shop - but not bad for some of these other suggestions.
crack house, you can never have enough crack
@ 11:33.. Yeah! One night some of those drunk kids were throwing water baloons at me and I called the police. What a bumch of jerks.. i'm glad that place bit the dust.
I'm thinking of other, more basic needs...
meth lab
halfway house
bottle and can redemption center
scrap metal collection point
feedlot
santeria supply house
live poultry market
gang dispute mediation facility
neighborhood probation office
sidewalk tire repair shop
chop shop
needle exchange
abortion alternatives center
radical madrassah
Hamas fundraising office
head shop
troubled teen dropout center
just not a Starbucks, please! (bad coffee)
Don't we already have all that? Actually, we do not have a sidewalk tire repair shop,needle exhange or santaria shop, sorry.
i want a deli that doesn't smell like sweat and feet.
anything organic! even though id love a coffee shop......
What's with the constant neglect of Ditmas Ave. ? It's gotten better over the past few years, and I LOVE Krakus, and one of the smaller grocers on the corner of Ditmas & E4 recently really stepped up their game (the produce is edible, and there are some organic options!) but I'd kill to have a nice, friendly cafe of some kind over here. Not a Starschmucks, but something that caters to everyone. There are a few vacancies on the block -- on the corner of Ditmas and E3. It's been empty for a while, and seems like the perfect place for something fresh and new.
I'd like a partridge in a pear tree.
starSCHMUCKS. OH MY GOD THAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE.
LOL Chris. Still bored I see
-SingingBitch
as many of these suggestions sound great, i think people are forgetting that this neighborhood is very diverse and is an area that people come to looking for a deal. kensington isnt ready for something too progressive, but something that is different from what is currently available would be really nice. i grew up here and have seen the many changes and right now i see lots of young people basically spilling over from park slope. thats great and i hope it continues to attract people that are looking for a smart alternative to park slope/windsor terrace. "if you build it, they will come"....what we really need here is a great, convenient little coffee shop with maybe some self-serve soups and some sandwiches....oh, and attitudes left at the door ;)
I agree with 10:01. Chop Chop and the like are too much for McDonald & Albemarle. Something like Maha's (6th Av near Flatbush and Bergen) but with faster service would work well at that corner. Middle Eastern food, soups, sandwiches, nice ingredients. Plus good, not overpriced coffee served quickly.
you can never have too many nail salons.
10-00 - Hi there, our singing brought out the cops !
bubble tea and pocky sticks??? unless there's a larger e. asian population here, that's pretty unlikely. that's something that comes after a place gets the basics it needs.
a store with just rows and rows of tampons in every conceivable size and shape, just as far as the eye can see.
Was it that or all of the *illegal activities*? har har!!
-Singing Bitch
Chris, you racist, classist s.o.b! In some non-western cultures the smell of sweat and feet is a sign of welcome.
Just last year I was changing flights in Damascus and as soon as I left my packed filthy Syrian Arab Airways plane, the welcoming smell of sweat and feet greeted me in the terminal building.
Middle Eastern food? Why would someone even suggest that? While we are at it, let's invite more Paki home contractors into the area also....we can NEVER have too many!
It's hard for a small local coffee shop to be successful unless they develop a good lunchtime business.
anon-1:02pm: Crossroads seems to be doing fine.
the contractors around here are from bangladesh fyi
a public restroom.
a blow job.
1:01 - Nice show of ignorance. Middle Eastern and "Paki" (as you so elequoently call them) culture are not even close to being one and the same.
I agree with 4:17, there are not very many place to get good head in Kensington
chris, dude, seriously, either get a job or a job that keeps your busier. you are an idiot. you're not even funny. i feel bad for you. if you are from kensington, please leave. if you are from somewhere else, please go back. or, plainly, just shut the fuck up.
Aww, 5:10!! Should we call the wahmbulance for you?
I think Kensington needs a Wal-Mart
ummm, chili basil/am thai used to actually BE a bubble tea place in its original incarnation 4-5 years ago - they obviously weren't making enough to pay the rent (could have told them that myself) and switched to serving hot food after about 3 months.
There used to be a bubble tea place on 7th Ave in the Slope. It folded and became a clothing store. Alas.
A botanica is what we badly need
I do wish there was a good Indian restaurant around. I haven't found one in all of Brooklyn.
How about a body piercing/tatoo parlor?
whambulance. i'm sure you've been saving that one. eat cock.
an old-school artery clogging kosher deli would be awesome. however, i heard that the cell phone store next to korner pizza is going to re-open as a falafel place.
That spot would make perfect hiring hall for the contractors looking to hire illegal aliens. Since most of the contractors seem to live here and the aliens now gather just outside of the area, at Ft. Hamilton and 36th, Coney Island and 18th, and 14th and 39th.
we need a place that can remove the sand out of 5-10's vagina.
10:17, "eat cock" is pretty darn clever! What a bright boy you are! And here I was thinking you were a crybaby moron...you sure showed me!
Here come the wahmbulance, tough guy!
1:01: "Paki" is a racist slur. I was thinking food from, say, Lebanon or Syria. Like, say, Bedouin Tent on Atlantic Ave.
Whatever opens in that space, I hope it does well.
how about a combo bar/santeria joint.or a new age library
HOW ABOUT A BIKER BAR?
the "eat cock" comment was rather a darn clever comment. you see, you bit right into it, you stupid nitwit. thats how fucking clever it was. i just said it & then you went & bit fucking right into it. oh glorious day!
there use to be a biker bar on church ave between ocean parkway & east 5th. it shut down because the only business this neighborhood supports is dollar stores, nail salons & anything else related to the dot heads which are ruining this area and keeping it from really developing. all they do is buy homes, chop down the trees & stink up the place. i liked it better when all you had to worry about was the puerto ricans hanging out on church avenue drinking malt liquor and beating each other up.
wow. I have only lived in kensington for about 15 months - being a transplant from overpriced Park slope - (an original transplant from the Lower East Side of Manhattan - which became severly OVERPRICED!)
I like Kensington very much. I am glad this store closed although the previous owner is a neighbor of mine. I feel sorry for him sitting outside now - passing time.
But I would agree we need a decent coffee shop that doesn't serve swill. And I think more helpful businesses would improve the area tremendously. Such as diner, more specialty food markets, maybe a spa/hair salon, and without getting too commercial - boutiques or shoe stores, pet supply store. A video/dvd rental place might spruce up the area. But overall I wouldn't want it too get too commercialized. Its so quaint as it is.
9:15, you seem a little obsessed with cocks and mouths. you should probably get out more.
Why not a gay bar?
laika, butch, you know you're a fat ugly hairy mustached lesbian. go kill yourself, please.
no gay bars here because there arent enough of them to support it. however, park slope is way overdue for one of those. however, the lesbians might start rioting.
A biker bar? Yeah. Makes sense. There's thousands of bikers in Kensington looking for a place to drink and tear up.
Or maybe in this new modern world of more elevated souls, you meant bicyclist bar.
Spandex and bright colors. Well, that beats sleeveless jean jackets and leather.
Do people read books in Kensington?
Maybe a bookstore is a good idea.
11:49, if you were right, it would come as something of a surprise to my wife and kids. you're wrong about everything, aren't you?
hmm i was thinking of moving to kensington
after reading this thread i am seriously doubting myself
IF THERE'S OPPOSITION TO A BIKER BAR, A GAY BAR - HOW ABOUT AN S&M JOINT? THAT WILL LIVEN THINGS UP.
not everyone in kensington is sophmoric 1:30 just a few cretins.
well surprise surprise laika. guess that glued on dildo fooled her for a couple of years. makes you wonder who your kids baby daddy really is.
hey newneighbor? if you're not from the ghetto, stay outta the ghetto....byatch!! p.s. pseudolasirena is wrong, we are ALL cretins here in kensington....respect that!!
5:13, you've chosen some strange obsessions...cocks, mouths, homosexuality, dildoes and now me. I'm flattered, honestly, but I don't like you that way. sorry, pally.
you really should get out more.
A topless bar would be great.
Pornshop, anyone? Anyone for some good ol' fashioned porn?
Cock? Porn? Where's Jake?
100 comments, we rule.
Chris is a deci-dick.
Not more Thai food!
i'm sure that the new store owner is very impressed with his/her new clientele after reading this thread
i'm sure the new owner doesnt read this blog.
Crap. Sorry I'm late...
a video store would be super. i suppose a deli to replace the german deli that use to be right next door to where to-b-thai is. this neighborhood is ripe for so many businesses. i hope someone steps up to the plate & the neighborhood supports the business. i find it strange that bushwick & parts of bed-stuy have progressive pioneering businesses that are doing well, yet this relatively safe neighborhood that is about 1 mile from park slope cannot come up with something other than super-ethnic shops.
no one in their right mind would open a video store these days with the whole advent of netflix and movies on demand. the days of anyone actually going out to rent a movie are nearly over!
Um yeah, video store? It'd likely cater to yr immigrants less serviced by Netflix fare. You? You get Netflix - until we plant that bar code on your taint.
BTw - all you Slope wanna be consumers - we don't have half their shit precisely because it's already only a mile away and supported by a large population of people owning expensive one bedroom apts and multi-million dollar brownstones.
FYI, there is a video/dvd store on Dahill Road off Church. One's quite enough in this day and age.
pet supply shop anyone? plenty of dogs in the neighborhood :)
a sushi/sandwich/food-to-go gourmet grocery?
Pet store is a good idea for the neighborhood, but probably not the best use for a store on that corner.
noisejoke, don't be so reactionary. i was making a point that video stores are on the way out and on-demand rentals and rental-by-mail services are on the way in and all of the sudden i'm some kind of orwellian consumer with a "barcode on my taint".
calm down dude. want me to hook you up with my weed dealer?
uh, "dude", I was agreeing with you. Netflix will likely rule until you get that barcode.
wow, you are a true douchebag. congrats!
you're all insane. Did someone really say hair salon? Because the six hair salons in the vicinity aren't enough?
Isn't someone opening a pet food place on e3rd and caton next to mr. tongs?
Maybe a juice bar type place- with sandwiches and soup to go.
and coffee? and wifi?
You're all welcome to sit on the sidewalk outside of my apartment and use my WiFi... but please leave a cup of coffee by my door now and then.
I'll bring my reactionary taint and douche bag. BTW I was formerly VHS accessible but my Videodrome hole has healed with lack of use.
Jake - I'll gladly sit on the curb and steal your grid access. Orwellian or Gibsonian? I prefer to think we have more faux freedom in the 21st Century.
note to Aaron S: I'll quote a friend. "Once again, what the fuck?" (Buddy, AGREED - video stores are dead).
not just any old hair salon....african hair weave!! thats what we need here....african hair weaaaaaaaaaaave!!
boston chicken market, dunkin donuts, mcdonalds/burger king. any of these sound interesting to anyone??
there's a dunken donuts on caton and ocean parkway. a burger king and a mcdonalds on fort hamilton parkway!
blech!
There was a video store that closed near the Luncheonette on McDonald where that nail salon or small pharmacy or dry cleaner or Halal market or 99-cent store or whatever is.
aaron, are you referring to the dunkin donuts in the gas station on caton & coney island avenue??
how about a boston chicken market? everyone loooooves chickens!!
we need some more cafe and coffehouse atmosphere around here. It would be nice to set up perhaps some outdoor space with tables for the summertime.
It's about time another food co-op opened.
It should be possible to operate a food co-op that knocks the Park Slope Food Co-op off its perch.
The Flatbush Food Co-op hasn't failed, and that should prove that you can sell a lot of overpriced "health food" to a lot of overweight people and never have to worry about your bottom line.
No More 99-cents stores
No More chineses
No More Nail Salons
No More Bodegas or delis
No More Middle Eastern shops of any sorts!
No More Low class-trash stores
Wake UP Kensington and get some CLASS!
Wake up Owners of these commercials spots!
Gotta leave this hood-nothing new and decent has come in to this area since I have lived here for 4 years.
By the way, it ain't getting better!
I disagree with 9:53. The neighborhood IS getting better. My neighbor just spent months looking for a decent one-bedroom to buy at a reasonable price. He looked all over Brooklyn, and ended up buying a unit right across the street. This area is safe, quiet, and filled with hard-working, decent people. Many of the stores are clean, convenient, and helpful. My wife uses one of the nail salons every week. It's true, we don't need more nail salons or 99-cent stores. But to say that nothing new and decent has come here in the last four years is wrong. 2B Thai is very good, as is El Gavilan. Not every neighborhood has to be Park Slope. I like Park Slope, too, but every day I wake up and count my blessings that I am able to live in an area as nice as ours. I have lived in neighborhoods, in NYC and elsewhere, where the crime was awful, or the streets filthy, or the hostility on the sidewalks palpable. I've seen SWAT raids, drug dealer shootouts, stabbings on the stoop, junkies passed out in the lobby with needles in their arms, crackhead mail ladies, all of it. Good neighborhoods are a fragile thing. This is a good one, and it needs care, not contempt, to stay that way. Patronize your local stores with a smile, because New York has never been as good as it is right now. As Carly Simon said, these are the good old days.
what we need is a weed-spot like we use to have on church & coney island. just walk into the jamaican grocery store, grab a can of soda, put it on the counter along with $11 and walk out with a can of pop & a dime bag. thems were the days!!
i miss them days 4:44
chris....tattoo chris??
9:53, this neighborhood is getting better and you can tell just by the comments on this blog. the fact that the people of this community are asking for coffee shops, gourmet foods, etc. says so. a decade back no one around here gave a crap....now, there are people who want something different than pizza & chinese and know exactly what they want. i think that indicates a change for the better. btw, if you dont like it here....move your yuppie ass to park slope, or better yet move to the cemetery condo's with the other shmuck who lived here & hated it so much that he needed to buy a really overpriced condo that will crumble in ten years to make himself feel that hes better than kensington....mcdonald avenue, whatta stretch.
I'd vote for a Coffee Shop only if it is overpriced, carried bowel cleansing artisanal bran muffins (organic, please)and had wi-fi. Basically I would like a clone of the Tea Room over on Union. Why? So all the people who like to hang out in places like that would have somewhere to congregate with their lattes, laptops and important/ serious expressions. I would be a great place to avoid.
I meant IT would be a great place to avoid, not I.
Kensington-UGH!
What is the neighborhood about?
I got off Church stop by accident and said to myself ...what a nightmare?
How can one shop on this strip and find anything decent.
Why is this street filled with such awful shops.
What area needs 10 nail salons?
8 chinese, numerous disgusting delis-bodegas?????????
welcome to our "nightmare" genius. who the heck ever said kensington was a shoppers paradise? people come to this neighborhood as a cheaper, better dollar per square foot, safer, housing alternative to park slope & windsor terrace. no one comes here for its wonderful shopping options. the area has the types of business' that are being supported by the neighborhood, not what you think makes a "cute" neighborhood. now go to your discussion group & tell all your friends how scary it was to get off at church avenue and how all the "darkies" were just roaming around like they do in the slope. later a-hole.
I visited the store first off all it is very clean, comapred to across the street. Its not a big store but they have so much stuff paclked in that place. The coffee is great but i spoke to the younger guy and tried to convince him to get a espresso machine and he is really considering it just needs a more people to bug him about it. I had a sandwich there it was great, and the soup is amazing and clean. The people across the street are not that nice. I ask the gentleman for a type of drink and it was there the next day. If people bug them about a espresso machine i know they will get one. I love coffee lol and there coffee is a buck for a large cup not bad. Anyways I hate the line in food town and we need a good store.
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