Alpine Theater to Close?

--Business was better in 1946. ( Click on the photo image to make it larger ) Few cars, no tv. See women and ( tugging ) child waiting for the trolley. And Neilsen's Furniture, which lasted into the 1970'S or later. And katty-korner across the intersection, the " Haddon Hall " sign on the candy store ( which of course is still a candy store. ) --

Say it ain't so.

The NY Daily News reports that the Alpine Theater is for sale for $10 million . The seller has no restrictions on the future use of the building, so the Alpine Theater could soon be no more.

This would come less than a year after the death of the Fortway Theater

Like the Fortway, the Alpine was chopped up into a multiplex years ago, and lost its magic as a theater.

Neighborhood theaters all over America suffered a big wound with cable tv/HBO/VCRs/etc and most have probably suffered a fatal blow with DVDs/Netflix/etc. Ask not whom the bell tolls, theaters of America--it tolls for thee.

Mournful dialogue in Cinema Treasures

See a movie at the Alpine when you can. Maybe I'll see " Walk the Line " again there.

" Bag Search " at Bay Ridge Avenue

Four or five policemen at Bay Ridge Avenue R station this morning. I walked by them with a laptop bag. They only stop some of the passengers with bags. Even though I would have missed the next train if they had stopped me, I wish they had. This policy is just for show. Almost nobody gets searched.

74th Street

74th Street, below Colonial Road, sun about to set.

Key Food Supermarket

Loading up after some Sunday shopping at Key Food supermarket, 95th Street and Third Avenue, Bay Ridge. This is my favorite supermarket in the neighborhood.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

It has stood on the northeast corner of Ovington and Fourth Avenues for a long time. I went to a wedding there once.

A scene from an awful movie called The Guru , was filmed here. I saw the production trailers parked on 69th St.

Marisa Tomei was in the movie, Malachy McCourt played the role of a priest conducting the ceremony. This movie came and went so fast in 2003, I'm not sure anyone ever saw it.

Bethlehem Church has a website

bayridge.com is lame

I remember a number of years ago, seeing a bumper sticker for bayridge.com . I barely understood the internet's www at the time, and could not believe that our little neighborhood had its own internet site! How exciting!

Now, well over seven years have passed, and...there's not a lot to bayridge.com.

There's

• an event calendar that does have some school information on it.
• A Guestbook which seems to be populated by a lot of people who moved to Jersey years ago and who write in to say that they remember the Alpine Theater
• a This Day in History thing that tells me that Oklahoma became a state 47 years ago
• Click onto news, news, news, and you see...nothing
• There are ten old pictures of the neighborhood, which are ok.
  
  That's it? That's it.

Bayridge.com I believe is connected to the Home Reporter newspaper. This newspaper, though small, has some resources and should be able to put out a better website than this. Bay Ridge is a good neighborhood, and it deserves a better website than bayridge.com Even this stinking web site is better!!

Brooklyn Parrots, continued

My man John S drives a route in Brooklyn and advises that the parrots are " all over " his route in Bensonhurst. " If you're interested there's one spot on the corner of Bath Avenue and 15th Avenue. I think the other spot is a couple of blocks away. "

Might have to go on a reconaissance mission this weekend. John's comments are in sync with this map on the Brooklyn Parrots website