golden hour in the south slope

This evening before I left my office for the night, I got an urgent message from Kruger. He urged me to get home and grab my camera because the sunset was looking promising. When I got outside, I remained skeptical; it was still overcast in DUMBO and the cold spring wind was cutting through my fleece jacket.

But once I stepped off the train in Park Slope, it was obvious that his prediction was about to come true. The light on the train platform was radiant, and all along my walk down Fourth Avenue the sun’s last rays were showing off. Though I didn’t have a proper camera with me, I couldn’t pass up the light. Out came my trusty iPhone.

I know there are dozens of communities and art projects devoted to the art of taking iPhone photos, but this is a whole new world to me. Check out below for some shots of tonight’s golden hour from the South Slope!

may meet-up: brighton beach!

We’re really excited to announce the details of the next For the Love of Brooklyn meet-up, and this time we’re heading south to the shore! Our May meet-up will be in Brighton Beach, thanks to the great suggestions of several members. The plan is to meet up at L&B Spumoni Gardens, the famous 71-year-old pizza joint in South Brooklyn.

After a slice (or three or four!), we’ll head south past the Coney Island railyards to the bungalow community in Brighton Beach. If bungalows and footpaths in Brooklyn sound crazy to you, check out Nathan Kensinger’s blog for a fantastic photo essay of what to expect. Still unconvinced? Check out this map and try to pull up a street view of all the little courts and lanes! See?!

We’ll likely end up strolling along the boardwalk at the golden hour since Saturday’s weather forecast looks gorgeous. Can’t wait! Hope everyone has a fabulous week. Check out the details below and some total eye candy from Lyouba Assadourova!

Date: Saturday, May 1st
Time: 2:30pm
Location: L&B Spumoni Gardens (map)
Via MTA: D to 25th Avenue, N to 86th Street – Gravesend
Alternate: If you can’t join us for pizza by 3:30 or so, but would like to catch up afterward near the beach, send us a note and get in touch!

“Soaking the Sun,” by Lyouba Assadourova:

“Brighton Beach Boardwalk,” by Lyouba Assadourova:

“Paperback Reader,” by Lyouba Assadourova:

on the waterfront: domino sugar factory

Last Friday night, I got a heads-up text that the Domino Sugar Factory on the waterfront in Williamsburg would be open to the public on Sunday from 12-3pm. Of course I immediately double-checked to make sure the event was on, and then made the rounds on Twitter since I’d (strangely) seen zero publicity about the opening. The factory has been subject to some media controversy recently, as real estate developers hope to take over the partially-landmarked compound and turn it into 2,200+ new mixed-income apartments and condos, along with a public esplanade along the waterfront. Aspiring plans in an economic downturn, to be certain. For more about the political aspects of this project, this article from the New York Times is a good primer and this post at PlanNYC is a good read, too.

As expected, community activists were out in full force distributing pamphlets alongside the large event staff. And the developers made the whole shindig into a family affair: there were stations of free hotdogs, cotton candy, and drinks galore. But of course, we came for the photos. Someday, I dream of getting inside and touring the old factory, but for now these exterior shots below will have to do. What a gorgeous location with a beautiful view of the city!

For more photos from the Domino Sugar Factory, make sure to check out these awesome shots from Lucy Aboytes or this article over at Gothamist!

flickr faves: cherry blossoms!

Though the Sakura Matsuri cherry blossom festival is still a week and a half away, the blossoms aren’t waiting for anyone. In an article I read today, visitors to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden have been treated to the peak displays of gorgeous pinks and whites for a couple of weeks now, and festival organizers doubt that the window will continue through until the fest.

If you haven’t gotten to the BBG for the display, it sounds like this weekend’s weather promises to be gorgeous. For a guide on where to see the fullest blooms, check out the BBG’s map here, or meet up at 3pm at the Visitors Center for a free guided tour!

Check out some of the inspired shots from our Flickr pool below, and for more coverage, check out Brooklyn Botanic Gardens’Flickror this lovely post over at 66 Square Feet by Marie Viljoen!

“Cherry Allee, BBG,” by Marie Viljoen:

Untitled, by Lucy Aboytes:

“Brooklyn Botanical Garden,” by Natalie Behring:

Untitled, by rsb816:

“Cherry Blossom,” by steffiekeith:

sunset on the south slope

Recent buzz in the NYC blogosphere was all over the NY Mag article which ranked Park Slope, Brooklyn as New York’s ‘most livable neighborhood’ against a number of criteria. Statistician and data mastermind Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight was brought in to do the evaluation, and the gold star was awarded to the Slope thanks to its good schools, low crime, active nightlife and restaurant scene, and a wide array of other marks.

As a South Slope resident for the last 5+ years, I feel a mix of pride and skepticism; any effort at ranking relies on assumptions and generalizations. But there’s one thing I can agree with Nate on: the neighborhood truly is superlative, at least for photos. On a recent walk home, I brought my 35mm along to check out the sunset.

Looking west on Ninth Street: is it all downhill from here?!

Skipping home from school with Mom.

One stop shopping for all your tattoo, banh mi, and vintage houseware needs.

A walk in the park with the family…

Along Seventh Avenue in the South Slope.

Sunset reflecting in the windows of a new art gallery on 17th Street just east of 5th Avenue.

it’s on: the brooklyn pizza challenge!

If there’s one thing I hope we can all agree on, it’s this: NYC is obsessed with pizza. There’s the hilarious Slice Harvester, whose lofty mission it is to review all the slice joints in NYC. There’s I Dream of Pizza, who has embarked on a 30-day diet of all-pizza-all-the-time. There’s an entire blog at Serious Eats devoted to the art of the slice. And there’s hundreds of other professionals and hobbyists alike who devote countless hours to seeking out the perfect trio of sauce, cheese, and crispety-crunchety crust.

So we here at For the Love of Brooklyn are hungry. Hungry for photos. We’re launching our first ever photo challenge and we’re looking for photos in three categories: The Pizza, The Pizzaiolos, and The Pizzeria!

Of course we’ll be trolling the Flickr group for your best shots, but you’ll definitely get bonus points for creating a photo essay of your favorite pizza joint and telling us why we should make the trek to try it out. If you do create an essay (or you don’t use Flickr), contact us here so that we can feature your work and salivate at our desks. Check out the shots below and on Flickr for some examples of your competition.

You have until 11:59pm on Friday, May 7th, so get outta here and go grab a slice!!

“Tasty Pizza,” by Matt Nedbalsky:

“Final Drizzle of Oil,” by SpecialKRB:

flickr faves: gettin’ low

Today’s group of Flickr faves are all about perspective control. While I can’t say with any certainty that these photographers took a tip from this kid, these are all fun (and colorful!) examples of when it pays to get down low. I can’t wait to see more examples filter through the Flickr group — and submit your favorite low shot in the comments below for us to oooh-and-aaah over!

Also: stay tuned tomorrow for an exciting announcement about our very first contest.

It’s about time we had a little friendly competition…

“Racks,” by Ian T West:

“Baby Got Back,” by Lyouba Assadourova:

“NYC Marathon,” by joannabethpdot:

“High Power,” by Joel Zimmer:

“Rainbow,” by Sheska U:

photos: the brooklyn blogger meetup!

Last night, we joined hundreds of other bloggers at the Bell House for a Brooklyn Blogger Meetup, which was a smashing success! The place was packed, there were cupcakes and lobster rolls a-plenty, and we had a great time meeting other folks doing loads of very cool things. Check out the slideshow below for a few candid shots from the event, and if you spot yourself in a photo — do us a favor and tag yourself on the Facebook album! We want to know who you are!

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did, and thanks so much to Brokelyn, Brooklyn Based, and Fucked in Park Slope for putting the event together.

filming on greenpoint ave

Anyone living in Brooklyn is familiar with this scene. Wires strectched out across the street, Haddad trailers up and down the block, neon “No Parking” pamphlets on every tree, street sign, and lampost, up and down the block. Ask any of the locals “What are they shooting?” you get back the response “Who cares.” Brooklyn is fairly inundated with commercial, tv and film shoots. Seems like most people don’t pay it any mind.

I guess spotting Jason Schwartzman in your neighborhood cafe is kinda exciting, and it’s supposed to be good for the local economy…but driving around for 5 minutes for parking in Greenpoint, what gives?

I finally found parking and also a sweet sunset on Greenpoint Ave last night before getting some amazing pizza at recently opened Paulie Gee’s. They serve Neopolitan style pizza made in an oven the owner brought over from Italy. Staff was super friendly and attentive and the pizza was amazing.

flickr faves: black and white brooklyn

While my last Flickr Faves post celebrated all the colorful things cropping up in our pool, I gotta hand it to today’s photographers who are kickin’ it old-school with their black and white beauties. Check out below for some high-contrast eye candy!

“Man and a Buick on the Sidewalk,” by two3twophoto:

Untitled, by Vitaliy Piltser:

“Kentile Floors,” by Joel Zimmer:

“Honky Tonk,” by Adam Lerner:

“空に向かって,” by SwedishFury:

Untitled, by Barry Yanowitz: