Smiling Support Pillar at 25th Street Station

Where: 25th Street Station, southbound platform. Third pillar from the back. He smiles at every R and M train as it passes by.

Tell him the Phantom sent you.

Sunday Music: " Sunny " by Bobby Hebb

( below from the great wikipedia )

Hebb's parents, William and Ovalla Hebb, were both blind musicians. Hebb and his older brother Harold performed as a song-and-dance team in Nashville, beginning when Bobby was three and Harold was nine. Hebb performed on a TV show hosted by country music record producer Owen Bradley, which earned him a place with Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff. Hebb played spoons and other instruments in Acuff's band. Harold later became a member of Johnny Bragg and the Marigolds. Bobby Hebb sang backup on Bo Diddley's "Diddley Daddy". Hebb played "West-coast-style" trumpet in a US Navy jazz band, and replaced Mickey Baker in Mickey and Sylvia.

On 23 November 1963, the day after John F. Kennedy's assassination, Harold Hebb was killed in a knife fight outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by both events and sought comfort in songwriting. Though many claim that the song he wrote after both tragedies was the optimistic "Sunny", Hebb himself says otherwise. He immersed himself in the Gerald Wilson album, "Would You Believe", for comfort.

"All my intentions were just to think of happier times – basically looking for a brighter day – because times were at a low tide. After I wrote it, I thought "Sunny" just might be a different approach to what Johnny Bragg was talking about in "Just Walkin' in the Rain".

"Sunny" was recorded in New York City, after demos were made with legendary producer Jerry Ross. When Hebb toured with The Beatles in 1966 his "Sunny" was as wildly received as any Beatles tune, as evidenced by tapes of the concerts. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".

"Sunny" has been recorded by, among others, Boney M, Cher, Georgie Fame, Johnny Rivers, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, the Electric Flag, The Four Seasons, two different versions from Frankie Valli, the Four Tops, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Les McCann, Dusty Springfield, Classics IV and The Alex Trio featuring David Wise. One cover, a disco version called "Sunny '76" was a hit for Hebb in that year. In 2000, Musiq did an updated dance version retitled "Just Friends (Sunny)," which went to #31 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Landlord Refuses to Shovel Snow

Photo taken on Wednesday morning, but the conditions are the same Thursday morning. Click to enlarge.

The owner of the building at 386 68th Street almost never shovels the snow in front of his property.

NYC law requires that landlords remove snow from the sidewalk in front of their property within four hours of the end of snow, or the next morning if the end of the snow is at night.

The most recent snowfall ended Monday in the daytime. It's now Thursday, and the sidewalk at 386 68th St is still unshoveled, and is now hardpacked and dangerous.

Note that Fourth Avenue in the background ( and every other street in the city ) have been clear since Monday night. Not this sidewalk.

NYC does not enforce the snow removal law.

The worst offender? New York City itself. Take a good look at the overpasses over the highway up on Seventh Avenue. They're owned by the City. And the City has never shoveled any of these walks, not for the past fifteen years anyway.

Hail to the Chief

I did not vote for Barack Obama, and I'm sure that I'll disagree with many of his policies.

But, tomorrow at 12 noon, he'll be sworn into office. He will be my President, and I will wish him great success.

Obama's already off to a good start, having selected a strong and largely centrist cabinet.

More importantly, he has set a bipartisan and respectful tone that seeks to end the Gingrich/Pelosi etc hyperpartisanship/sore losing mantra that bedeviled both Clinton and Bush.

The political tone in Washington has been dreadful for 16 years. I want this to change.

Hail to the Chief. And lets resume the tradition of the "loyal opposition"

Sunday Music: Gary Moore and Eric Bell - Whiskey In The Jar

Is there a better song than this? Not a bad version either.

By Gary Moore and Eric Bell, both from the mighty city of Belfast, both formerly of Thin Lizzy.

Believe that this is from an outdoor concert in Dublin, on the occasion of the unveiling of a statue of Phil Lynott.

Play it loud.

More Photos from " Bay Ridge " book.

Picking up from yesterday's post, discussing the photo book " Bay Ridge" , by Peter Scarpa and Lawrence Stetler, for the Bay Ridge Historical Society, which is released this Monday...

When you first look at this photo, it doesn't seem that impressive, but bear with me here. This photo was taken in 1915, near the corner of 68th Street and Fourth Avenue ( which is narrower than it is today. )

The thing that looks like a railcar is a piece of construction equipment that will be used in the building of the Bay Ridge section of the Fourth Avenue subway, which will open in 1915. Just past the third telegraph pole on the left hand size is a still under construction Bay Ridge High School.

A young boy and a dog are to be seen on the ( trolley? ) tracks running down the avenue.
Click the photo for much greater detail.

What looks like a lovely summer day in the 1890s, on Third Avenue and 75th Street. See two horse drawn carts and a trolley cart. Blow up the image and you can see " Brooklyn City RR Co." on the trolley.

Just love all those trees. Brings Paris or Berlin to mind.








It's 10:30 in the morning in seventh grade class in PS 102. Photo taken in 1901. Boys are in jackets and ties and the girls are in dresses and big bows. Math on the blackboard to the left, penmanship on the one to the back? But what's that thing on the ceiling?





This photo was taken in 1932. That healthy baby you see is Marion , in her wicker pram, along with her mom Mary Alice, in front of their home on 77th Street, near Fourth Avenue. The book has another photo from today- of Marion Sinnott, in the doorway of the same house, where she still lives. How great is that?

The authors of Bay Ridge will be at a book signing at Barnes & Noble, 106 Court Street, Brooklyn, at 7pm on Monday January 19 ( Take R train to Borough Hall or take the Third Avenue ( B37 ) bus to Court and Livingston Streets. )

This is a fine little book, and anyone who loves Bay Ridge should get themselves a copy.

More pictures available here and on Left in Bay Ridge.


Photos printed with permission from Bay Ridge, by Peter Scarpa, Lawrence Stelter and the Bay Ridge Historical Society. Available from the publisher online at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling 888-313-2665.
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I went past the site of the proposed new Key Food supermarket on 69th Street today. There is a new Electric Construction permit dated January 7. Hopefully, things are moving along. Behind schedule, but moving along.

" Bay Ridge " Book to be released January 19, 2009

The old Bay Ridge Theater( the book says the late 1960s, but I suspect its a bit later) before the marquee came down. Click to enlarge. Note Ro Val car service vehicle in foreground.

I've spent the last few days reviewing a copy of Bay Ridge, a 96 page quality paperback that will be available on January 19.

Most pages have two photos - one of a Bay Ridge scene from the past, the second a current or near-current image.


The contrasts in some cases are wonderful.

Some of my favorites include-

• an image from 1894 showing a rural 76th Street with houses with turrets, then called "witches hats", and another showing that house today
• a shot at Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street ) and Fourth Avenue in 1913 showing construction machinery for the construction of the Fourth Avenue Local and Bay Ridge High School under construction in the background ( the block I type this from is visible, and is largely an empty lot here)
• a photo taken of Marion Sinnott as a baby on 77th Street in 1932. A photo taken by Marion Sinnott after a big snowstorm from the same buiding in 1947. And a third photo of Marion Sinnott -today! She still lives there!

The book is filled with little treasures like this. I've picked it up a number of times, only to discuss wonderful new details and points of history.

Bay Ridge, one of Arcadia Publishing's " Then and Now " series, is written by Peter Scarpa and Lawrence Stetler along with the Bay Ridge Historical Society. Mr. Scarpa is the president of the Bay Ridge Historical Society. This is his second title on Bay Ridge, his personal gift to the neighborhood.

The authors will be at a book signing at Barnes & Noble, 106 Court Street, Brooklyn, at 7pm on Monday January 19 ( Take R train to Borough Hall or take the Third Avenue ( B37 ) bus to Court and Livingston Streets. )

Unfortunately, Bay Ridge does not now have a book store in which a book signing could be held.

Bay Ridge is available at area bookstores, independent retailers, online bookstores or direct from Arcardia Publishing.

This building as it stood on the Northwest Corner of Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street) and Third Avenue in 1891 when ( one of the streets ) was known as Bennett's Lane and " Yellow Hook Road " and when the intersection was known as " Pope's Corner". Bay Ridge Family Eyecare shop there now.

Photos printed with permission from Bay Ridge, by Peter Scarpa, Lawrence Stelter and the Bay Ridge Historical Society. Available from the publisher online at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling 888-313-2665.

Will post more images from this fine little book tomorrow.

See article on the book and more images from it on Left in Bay Ridge
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An Our Lady of Angels blog has been created by concerned Bay Ridge residents who want to help save the school. I support this move, and have linked to that site.