2023-05-25. Best of Brooklyn

Rich, how you doing?

I'm doing real good. How you doing? How you doing?

I so thank you for that. The way you just pronounced. That is perfect for where I'm taking us.

where you taking it?

I was walking in today. I took a picture. I shared it with you on WhatsApp and with your brother. Uh, there was a, a fruit delivery truck by the bodega on the new Kirk Avenue stop when I was headed over here.

Okay, cool. lots of food delivery trucks

This was, this was the fruit company? Yeah. Okay. And it was, um, it just a big, I love the era we live in, in which people just are able to print four colored giant posters of everything. It's like when you go by the bodega name of the picture of all the sandwiches.

there's an excellent Twitter account. That's just art from that

I love it. I love it. I love the sign. If, if, if I really was given over to Fun and frolic, I would buy a sign store in Brooklyn and just go live out of it.

Oh, it's just like, oh, where's the roast beef? It's like literally flying sandwiches, ba slamming into each other and it just says, you know, 14th Street Deli.

Oh yeah, the bodega. I've seen some good ones too. I, I, there was one store where for about a week it said you could get cigarettes and beagles. That was good. Uh, and the one near my house just pronounced, ha, they, they didn't pronounce, they just spelled Hamburger Hamburg. So that, that's good too. I love the misspellings, but. The banana truck, the the fruit store

Yeah.

Big picture on the back of the truck, like the whole thing is taken over a picture of fruit and we're right in very fancy type in memory of Johnny Bananas. r i p r i p, Johnny Bananas. It's just a great moment and

that is an extremely Brooklyn, potentially Staten Island moment.

just, yeah, exactly. It's just, there's just this, there's something that happens only here where it's actually both hilarious and touching. And it really is. In memory of Johnny Bananas,

it really, you know, just let's, can we take five seconds of silence for you know what I love about Brooklyn?

I love a lot about Brooklyn, frankly.

It's anti assimilation.

Yeah. It, it, it's, it's,

it's just like you want to go to Pakistan, get in a cab for eight minutes.

It's true. I live, I live next to little Bangladesh.

It's just this wild

Haiti isn't far away either.

Yeah, and look, there's, there's a bit of that in the other boroughs. Let's be honest, Queens's, probably the MO like runs a close second. Maybe Bronx, Manhattan is annoying. Manhattan is like, okay, I got my master's degree and I'm coming back into the city to work for kpmg. Nothing against kpmg. We are, you know, they did

we'd love the demo aboard to

We'd love to demo board to you, but look, it's a little, it's a little homogeneous and it's, you know, it's a lot of the, you know, where'd you go? Oh, Michigan. Congrats.

they, you get into those giant apartment buildings where everyone is exactly the

Yeah. and you know, I am an immigrant. Uh, I came to

You don't say

I am, and, and, and the funny thing about, you know, Brooklyn is why do like people create these sort of concentrated pockets of different nationalities? It's because when they come here, they're like, go there

Yeah.

asap. Like, go there. You're, you're Arabic, go to Bay Ridge, you're. Greek go to Astoria Queens, like they're told to go where it is a little familiar to them.

I can't remember what it's either little Pakistan or little Bangladesh, but in there is a na, the neighborhood I'm in. Has little, lots of little

Yeah.

One of them is simply because there was a dam that was built.

Okay. And

And it it wrecked a lot of communities. And so the people who whose lives were disrupted by the dam were brought, came over.

I see.

And they all settled in this one neighborhood. And

and they tend to stick together. Like

And you can get an amazing like curried goat dish to this day.

Right, exactly. And, and, and I think what happens is when people find that sort of pocket of culture, they can sort of slip right into, cuz it's familiar to them. They don't shed it, they shed it when they move, like, I got a job in, in, in Charleston, then they start to shed it and it gets weird.

Then the kids are named James.

Yeah. And look, that's all fine. That's not a bad thing, but GR Brooklyn is, you ever see those like little pads you put out for like bugs? It's very sticky. Yeah. Like if you get it on your hand by mistake, you gotta have to like war Rin, like you have to run warm water.

You know what's funny that we should, we should be clear. Like I went, I went by, there was this huge street fair. And it was not for the white people, it was for the mostly Pakistani community. But everybody was there. Right. And I, and I got, I bought some samosas and like hung out for a while. Like it's not, when you say non assimilationist, and I think when people think about New York City, they're gonna think about like a Spike Lee film. Yeah,

yeah.

reality is like you're just kind of riding your bike or walking around and you're like, oh cool, you guys are having a good

I might be using the word wrong. What I mean by assimilate is like shedding some of your past

No, no, I think you're totally right.

It kind of can't be, we're too jammed together. Seeing an old Polish couple walk around Williamsburg. Confused is still a funny thing to this day.

what is this? Why are they selling a mink ottoman with coffee? Like, I don't I wanted Pirogi

and, and I think that's what it's beautiful about Brooklyn. Uh, you can't, I mean, look, there are all kinds of Brooklyn, uh, in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a

Well, and, and the Brooklyn that is now the global brand of Brooklyn Yeah. Is. Actually a very large city unto itself, but a very small part of Brooklyn.

That's a, I live in the global brand of Brooklyn. I live in a neighborhood called Park Slope in Brooklyn, uh, which is connected to Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights, which are these really, really sort of, I, I'll say the word gentrified, gentrified pockets within Brooklyn. That changed a lot. Like Smith Street in Brooklyn used to be a

This is like, you're on like four layers of, of gentrification over

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there are po

like you're at a point now where when you move in, you're kicking out lawyers.

Yes, Yes, yes, Which, you know, people are, some are in favor of, um, but you still have, you know, neighborhoods like Bay Ridge, which were, is where I grew up, which is still extremely Italian and extremely cannoli like

like it is. It is Bay Ridge oi. Can you get a good Greek meal? Oh my, oh my

beautiful restaurants there, but it's truly, it really has not changed that much. It hasn't changed.

Cops and firemen still live there

And, and you like, to your point, you know, along the Coney Island Avenue corridor, it hasn't changed that

I always, I always felt that there, well, Coney Island Avenue is Mi miraculous street. If you're ever in New York City and you want a real New York City and not even little like, hey, the insiders New York City, but the one that no one will show you. Yeah. Go to Coney Island Avenue

the one the New Yorkers don't want to take you

Yeah, just walk down Coney Island Avenue as long as you can. Yeah. And it is like, Oh, I'm in Aer Baja. Oh, I'm at a tire store. Like I'm, I'm in the, the cultural shifts that happened on that block. I absolutely love that block. So, or that, that street, um, I always felt that there should be a neighborhood because, you know, as my career was moving along, I'd go meet people at places like Conde Nast and they'd be like, Oh, you live in Brooklyn and they might know like one or two neighborhoods.

I mean, that is still relevant today.

Yeah, they know where you are. They know the slope. They know the heights. They know Cobble Hill and Carol Gardens. Anywhere that like Maggie Gillen Hall might be found, they tend to be aware

I think it's Gillen Hall

Is it Or a scars guard? They like a good scars guard. I

think it's scars. Gerd, no, I don't know about, I don't know the right answer for either

But I live in way falbo. I go to Coney Island or to the Rockaways on the weekends. I don't go into the city.

Right. You go the other way. Yeah, and I know Mill Basin and Keni, I lived there for a bit too. These are like,

are not good. Mill Basin is if you want to be, if you want a guy in a forerunner to get out and punch you in the face, that's Mill Basin. So look, what are some of the best things in Brooklyn, Richard? What are what? Let's, let's each name like three or four things we absolutely

minute per,

And I'll tell you while we did this, the funniest thing happened is we were just gonna do this as regular old content. And this is where it gets marketing ready for some marketing.

Yeah, go ahead.

and I have a product that we are co-founders of. We've been building for a while.

Yes. It's called a A board.

Very good. Thank you for getting there. I almost forgot. And, uh, a board lets you organize your passions, lets you put stuff together into cards and you stack them up and now you can share them with anybody. Yes. So while we were talking and I was saying like, well, here's some content we could create. You looked at me and you went and we could use our own product here to organize the things that we like about Brooklyn. Totally.

Yeah. And look, we're not Brooklyn experts. If you are in Brooklyn and you have things to add to, uh, our space, uh, let us know. Email us at [email protected] and we'll invite you in.

in. Okay? Yeah, that's right because anyone can be part of this board. Yeah. So, alright. I'm gonna start with, I'm gonna, I'm gonna actually knock out you,

a minute. I'm gonna make my We can talk one per minute and we're gonna share five of the cards on the board. And there it may have a lot more by the time you see it.

Okay, I'm gonna start with a downer, but it's not really a downer. Greenwood Cemetery. You ever been there?

That sounds like a blast.

Greenwood Cemetery is this deeply historic and it's about 150 plus years old. It's founded in 1838,

Okay.

it is one of my favorite places in Brooklyn. It is the size of Prospect Park,

Is that right?

close. Yeah, it's not quite as big, but it is big. Okay. It is the site of a Revolutionary War battle.

Oh boy.

has the highest point in Brooklyn, and it is historically important, filled with Wild Mausoleum, some of which were designed by Tiffany,

Whoa.

Tiffany Glass, and it's one of the actually most beautiful settings and environments in the fibers,

but it has a lot of deceased people

yeah, but I'll tell you what, that's Oh, okay. What's, do you got one or you want me to keep going?

I've got one full disclosure. Uh, it is a landmarked location. Uh, well, full disclosure. Well, I'll do the full disclosure

Yeah. You,

It's in Brooklyn Heights, which is one of the most expensive, exclusive, fancy neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Uh, and they make a good sandwich. And there's a really salty proprietor named Frank who runs it, who just yells at actually some of the most important and influential people in New York City because they want more mayonnaise on their sandwich. He just yells at everyone, and it's actually pretty hilarious. It's called Brooklyn Heights Deli.

Mm-hmm.

Full disclosure, um, Frank is my uncle. I've known him my entire life. He's actually a big teddy bear, which is why I think most people love him, uh, even though he yells at everyone, like it's on the same physical block as the, uh, The education commissioner's home. Sure. When you become Commissioner of Education in New York City, you, you live in like a mansion, like a mayor's mansion and they, I guess they probably have this for other.

Little story about that place, even though we're gonna run outta time, but it's a good story. Um, my twins were born at Long Island College Hospital. Right around the corner, From the Brooklyn Heights

That's right.

So when you have kids, you, it's not like they're gonna cater, you don't get hospital food. Like you don't, they don't bring you anything.

Go to Brooklyn Heights Deli.

I went, that was my first sandwich after I got my, the twins were born. I went and got a sandwich and uh, I told the guys like, yeah, I just had kids at the hospital. And he was like, oh hey, congratulations. And I gave him a good tip, but I don't think it was Frank, but

probably wasn't Frank. He wouldn't have said congratulations. He was like, welcome to hell buddy. All right. You're up.

Um, well, you know, I'm gonna keep it real with sandwiches. This is a place you don't know this place.

I don't.

Red hook, red hook down, down

Red Hook is,

Yeah, you keep going, you keep going until you get to the water off. You start at the Brooklyn Heights Deli and you actually just keep walking down Court Street.

What's it called?

it called? Devonte's. It's a sandwich shop.

Okay.

And it's just, there is a, a good Brooklyn sandwich is a is a hell of a thing.

It's a, it's a thing.

The deli sandwich is one thing. And Frank Frank's place makes amazing deli sandwiches. Yeah. These are kind of the next level full on chicken parm, like everything's hot, the meatball sub, that kind of thing. Sandwich

you It's hard to finish it. It's so freaking

It's a medically difficult sandwich. Since I went on Manjaro, I don't actually want to go there very much. Um, it's

an experience. Red hook's a weird part of Brooklyn. So if you're coming into Brooklyn, check out Red Hook.

Correct. All right, rich, back to you.

All right. Um, alright, well we're on restaurants. I'll do one more restaurant and then you do one more and we'll call it a day here.

Well wait. That was 1, 2, 3. Okay. Yeah. Four, five. There we go.

There we go. Um, so I grew up in Bay Ridge for many of my years, uh, and there is an Italian restaurant there called Ponte Vecchio that is named after Ponte Vecchio probably, which is I think a bridge.

It's a famous bridge in Venice, or one of those things. Yeah.

Anyway, if you want an absolutely authentic, un ironic, just. An excellent Italian dinner with like a real, like deep in Brooklyn vibe. You kind of can't beat Ponte Vecchio. I'll, I'll, I'll, I'm gonna imitate one of the waiters, greeting someone that walked in with one word and you will get

okay. Ready? I'm ready.

So the guy walks in, the waiter sees him from across the restaurant and he goes, Jimmy, And that was it. And then you're like, okay, let's, let's have some linguini and white clam. All right, so Paul, you've got number five,

Jimmy. Uh, it's real. It's, it's, um, uh, number five is, Not exactly one place, but it is this, it's, you go, you can ride your bike down the beautiful and well maintained bike path on Bedford Avenue

Uh huh

And you can, you get to, um, you can either keep going to sheep's head Bay, but you can actually use this and you can. Kind of go down, go to Chief Tab Bay, take a left. There's more and more bike paths until you get to the Rockaways. And the Rockaways is one of the best beaches in the world. I, I will argue for that. It is an open public beach. It's vast, and it is filled with humans. I mean, if you're looking for, like, I'm gonna walk quietly on the beach in a linen sweater, and, you know,

this might not be for you.

rich people, thoughts, that's, that's not this beach. But this is like, I want to see everyone in humanity, everyone.

Everyone's coming

and I kind of want to go swimming and it should be pretty like, like nice to go swimming.

Yeah. It's wor it works

there's a toilet like that. That's the Rockaways. Rockaways are great. So that there, there's just good public infrastructure to get you out to the beach and everybody's going. So that's, it's summer's coming. Uh, do it.

I'm gonna throw a bonus one out there and only take 20 seconds for

Okay. I'm ready. There's

a ridiculous, uh, fast food place that you would think had hundreds of locations, but I think has one.

Oh, it's not too fast though.

It's not too fast. It's called Roland Roaster. in sheep's head bay. I kid you not, if you turn the lights out and look at the sandwich, and if you got the roast beef with cheese, the cheese glows so brightly that it could light the room you're in.

I think everyone who can tolerate roast beef should go to roll and roast, right? It is truly one of the most fantastic experiences in Brooklyn. Look up the commercial online. yeah, it, it hasn't changed. So let me ask you something. Did our product help us get this podcast together?

It did. It did it. It it, it's funny we went into product mode. We were like, oh, it didn't parse correctly, but yes it did. And I think what's interesting about it is, um, the idea of letting others sort of share their insights. Cuz Brooklyn is 5 million people

Yeah.

and there is probably something I should know about in some corner because someone else who knows it and it's near where they live or they grew up there can share it out. So, A, a board is very much about letting others fold in. Um, and we're still figuring that out, but it is, it is a place to, to sort of share things that you, you have knowledge about with others and, and, uh, ultimately you hope that it's a useful tool that others can use.

I will say that objectively the way we did this, now we are users, number one and two of this tool made it easier for us to get a podcast done.

Absolutely. So check it out aboard.com.

All right, so if you are already checking out a board.com, but you need more websites to check out, check out z ford.com. Check out at z Ford on Twitter. Uh, give us five stars. Do all the regular things. Send us email and give us, uh, some thoughts and feelings, criticism questions, things you want us to cover. We are here to help. Have

have a lovely week.

Bye.