Sunset Park Chronicled » food

In the News: Rights for Nannies, Churches Fight for Immigrants and Stinky Tofu

lisa.riordanseville — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:25:20 +0000

Sunset Park peddles in hot tacos. Photo by Carnade, from Flickr

Annnnd, we’re back. After a long absence, there’s lots to catch up on. Here are some of the highlights:

Recent(ish)ly in the news:

*New York Mag did a long piece on domestic workers in New York City, many of whom live in Sunset Park. The piece on “nannies” (I’ve just never really liked that term) featured Domestic Workers United.

*The American Prospect also had a piece on the domestic workers’ legislation up in Albany.

*City Limits yesterday wrote on how churches are fighting on immigrants’ side, lending a hand in defense and immigration proceedings. An organization tied to Our Lady of Perpetual Help manages 3,000 cases at a time.

*And before we leave this topic, the Supreme Court just handed down a ruling that automatic deportation of those with drug charges was meant for traffickers, not petty possession. It’s still unclear how this will play out, but it could have a huge impact on a lot of lives.

*Dennis Holt puts in his two cents about the Future of Fourth Avenue plan at the Brooklyn Eagle.

*I love the “skate kid” shot at Sunset Park Stills. I was just wondering the other day what looks will define this era (which is one of my favorite pastimes in Sunset Park.) This is one for the look-book.

Those of you who have come across stinky tofu know it’s not for the faint of heart. The intrepid Sarah DiGregorio jumps in head first for the Village Voice.

More to come, so stay tuned…

In the News: Going Green in Sunset Park, Cheap Eats and Some City News

lisa.riordanseville — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:21:56 +0000

Local News:

*The only man convicted of Malcolm X’s shooting was released from prison this week and went home to Sunset Park, The Brooklyn Eagle reports.

*This blog did a piece about “going green” in low-income communities. Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE spoke about some of the problems that crop up in Sunset Park.

Local Eats:

*Folks at Time Out New York got hungry, and, armed with a dollar, came to Sunset Park to get its fill.

*In other foodie news, a “chowhounder” (yes, I said it) tells us that if you time it right, you can see those dim-sum rice noodles made down on Eighth and 61st.

City News:

*The MTA is looking to make some major cuts, the Daily News reported, cutting about 750 jobs, mostly from the bus division.

*The Bloomberg administration has announced plans to overhaul the city’s special education system. The plan hopes to downscale the number of special education classrooms, shifting from a decades-long approach that separated children with learning disabilities into their own programs.

In the News: Schools, Park Play Areas, Questionable Pastors and Noodles

lisa.riordanseville — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:40:24 +0000

*There’s been quite a look at Sunset Park schools of late. Yesterday, the New York Times did a story about P.S. 172, the little elementary school that could. Despite challenges that tend to stymie efforts to score high on tests (low-income students, English language learners and kids with learning disabilities) the Fourth Avenue school regularly outperforms its neighbors in Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.

*This follows the recent Daily News story on the long waiting list at P.S. 105.

*Things are happening in Sunset Park proper. The Community Board last week announced plans to revamp the “big slab” that serves as a baseball/soccer field. Stay tuned for a more detailed post this week.

*The Times last week also chronicled one of more than one hundred Latino evangelical Christians who appear to have been scammed by a Red Hook pastor.

*Sarah DiGregorio of the Village Voice has been on the eat again. Check out her piece on the new hand-cut noodle shop in Sunset Park.

Sunset Park CSA Is Now Selling Shares

lisa.riordanseville — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:15:04 +0000

A bit belated, but here’s another piece of community news that came my way. Sunset Park Community Supported Agriculture is now accepting new members. Below find a little info on what a CSA is, and how exactly you might go about joining the neighborhood group if this strikes your fancy. I know several people in the neighborhood have, including Sunset Parkour. From the press release:

CSA’s have been popping up in neighborhoods around the city recently and Sunset Park is no exception. Last year a handful of neighborhood residents got together and worked with Just Food to establish a CSA right here in Sunset Park. After a great first year with MimoMex farms the Sunset Park CSA is ready for their second year and is now selling shares for the 2010 season.

The Sunset Park CSA runs for 22 weeks from mid-June through early November. Members can choose either a Weekly or an Every-Other-Week vegetable share. Members pick up their shares on Wednesday’s from 5 to 7:30 at St. Michael’s Church on 4^th Avenue between 42^nd and 43^rd Streets. The Sunset Park CSA is a volunteer organization and the members also set up and break down the distribution site each week.

Here are the share prices for the 2010 season. Note that there are two different pricing options based on household income – Plan A and Plan B – for the vegetable share.

Weekly Share

Veggie

Share

Fruit Share

Egg Share

Plan A

(household income over $30,000)

$475

$160

$110

Plan B

(household income under $30,000)

$315

$160

$110

Every Other Week

Plan A

(household income over $30,000)

$245

$80

$55

Plan B

(household income under $30,000)

$165

$80

$55

More questions? You can shoot an email to SunsetParkCSA@yahoo.com.

In the News: Sunset Park Greenway, Waterfront Snapshots and the NY Times Tour

lisa.riordanseville — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:48:51 +0000

Sunset Park Chronicled is overdue for a news update. Below are a couple of links to the latest news about Sunset Park, but it’s just a teaser. Stay tuned for more in the next few days:

*There has been talk for a while about the 14-mile Green way slated to connect Greenpoint to Sunset Park. The Department of Transportation this week announced that it will hold community workshops in conjunction with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and the Regional Planning Association to educate the neighborhoods about the bike and pedestrian path. Sunset Park gets its own, which will take place Thursday, April 8 at 6:30pm at St. Michael R.C. Church on Fourth Avenue and 42nd Street.

*Images of the Sunset Park waterfront featured in a show in February called Gentrification: The Pink Elephant Speaks, a recent art exhibit at The Museum of African Diasporan Art. You an read about the show at the Indypendent, and others that capture the lesser known sites in New York City.

*The New York Times took a tour around Sunset Park. Anything you didn’t know? Anything left out?

Sunset Park Eats: The Village Voice Reviews Gourmet Maylin on Seventh Avenue

lisa.riordanseville — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:30:34 +0000

Fishballs from Gourmet Maylin on Seventh Avenue. Image from the Village Voice.

Fishballs!

The Village Voice’s stalwart Sarah DiGregorio is back on the eat in Sunset Park. She does yeoman’s work covering the food scene in the neighborhood. Her most recent post featured dishes from Gourmet Maylin Inc., a Fujianese restaurant at 6124 Seventh Avenue.

DiGregorio proclaims Maylin’s round orbs of springy dough stuffed with pork and tucked into broth some of the best fishballs in the city.

What To Do In Sunset Park: Eat Cheap, Re-Sole and Sing Karaoke

lisa.riordanseville — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:13:12 +0000

There’s not too much you can do with a dollar these days, but one threadbare George Washington will go the distance in Brooklyn’s Chinatown, on the southwest side of Sunset Park. The N train is best way to get there–ride it, as locals say, until you see blue sky–aka the Eighth Ave. stop. That’s become a nickname for this area, and the inspiration for Blue Sky Delicious Corporation (whose tasty steam cakes and fluffy frosted treats you can find at 4518 8th Ave.). Then make your way north, past the well-stocked fish shops clustered around 58th Street, fresh tofu vendors (keep an eye out for a huge stockpot in a cart) and sidewalk cobblers.

One of the best ways to enjoy explore the neighborhood is to arrive hungry, and snack your way home. Seventy cents is the going rate for oyster cakes from Red Apple Fast Food (4817 8th Ave.). Oysters, scallions, rice, flour and pork mingle in these thick disks of briny fried deliciousness topped with a few crisp peanuts. The best way to get your hands on one is to hang around making bivalve motions until they emerge piping hot from the kitchen.

The 70-cent pumpkin steamed buns from Noodle Station on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 52nd Street are another under-the-radar treat. Slightly sweet, these are an unusual alternative to the shop’s savory chicken bun and the sugary red bean. This bakery has a range of bready sweets, as well as toast sandwiches and noodle soups.

No list would be complete without mentioning Ba Xuyen, makers of Sunset Park’s best bánh mì. In this unadorned shop, crisp baguettes filled with pate, ham, butter, pickled carrot and diakon (the classic) or BBQ pork will reward the trip, all for under $5. Add to it a thick taro milkshake, and finish with a much-needed cup of fierce Vietnamese coffee.

Serious noodle lovers should head to Lan Zhou for a bowl of hand pulled beef noodles or noodles with dumplings (about $5). Wong Wong Noodle Shop offers “peel” noodles (flat, hand-cut strips) in addition to the stretched. Then there are the meaty concoctions at Yun Nan Flavor Snack (best name ever). The man behind the counter in the tiny shop will tell you proudly that the flavors of the Yunnan Province in Southwest China set these rice-noodle soups ($4.25-5.50) apart. (For more food destinations, see Brooklyn Based’s Grocery Guy Field Trip.)

When it comes to shopping, it’s easy to wax poetic about the condiments, the custard cakes, the pieces and parts of fish, beast and fowl at Hong Kong Market, right off the Eighth Avenue N stop. But it’s also a great place to go searching for lovely blue-and-white patterned soup bowls ($3.50 per), cooking implements, multi-colored sponges, and other home necessities. You can find an even wider array of kitchen products at Eversun Kitchen Products, which has every kind of rice cooker, tong or spider strainer you could desire.

Competing 99-cent stores dot Eighth Avenue and wares spill onto the sidewalk–a rainbow of plastic bins, bowls and plates, cleaning supplies, hair ties, clips, gels, decorations and a few inexplicable but enticing objects all at cut-rate prices. Brokelyn has recession-appropriate list of dos and don’ts when shopping at these bargain basements.

The cobbler stationed daily outside Happy House Seafood Restaurant (5014 8th Ave.) will resole your shoes in about 10 minutes, for about $10. In warmer weather you can just sit in stockinged feet and wait–during the winter months it’s advisable to bring an extra pair of shoes in hand. He can re-stitch and polish, too. He’s not the only cobbler who sets up a cart along this stretch, but the crowd around his stand speaks to his popularity.

After you’ve filled your belly and fixed your shoes, there’s the nightlife. For a taste of times past, when the neighborhood was populated by Northern Europeans, Irish and Poles, head to the Soccer Tavern for a pint before you hop back on the N train. If you prefer to get your sing on, 100FUN (932 60th St.) offers private rooms, food (including BBQ) and drinks. The Chinese song catalog is large, the English less organized, but they have the jams if you’re willing to take the time to page through. A four-person room runs $40 per hour, one that fits 30 goes for $100. The newer Crown KTV (848 64th St.) has similar offerings, and just got a license to serve hard alcohol. They’ve apparently run with it–you can score a room with Hennessey bottle service for a mere $400, which trust us, will do wonders for your Cher impersonation.

This article first appeared in Brooklyn Based.

What to Do in Sunset Park: Feast on Fourth Avenue

spadmin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:55:31 +0000

Sunset Park is best explored via the stomach and foot. From the park on the hill to the rugged waterfront, this neighborhood features some of the best views in Brooklyn, and waves of Latino Asian residents have transformed the area into one of the tastiest trips in the borough, rich with tacos, tamales and tortas.

For a savory breakfast option, grab a tamale from the lady who sells them on 45th St. and 4th Ave. For something sweet, Mi Mejico Pequeno II (4513 5th Ave.) has sugary pan dulce, crispy cookies and soft rolls that between emerge from the ovens hourly, and café con leche to wash them down with.

Breakfast in hand, find a bench in Sunset Park (44th St. and 5th Ave.) and take in the incredible view of the Statue of Liberty and the Upper New York Bay.

A few loops around the park to check out the handball court, skater kids practicing ollies and the Chinese fan dancers should help make room for a lunch of some of New York City’s best Mexican food. Tacos Xochimilco (4501 5th Ave.) offers grilled chicken, steak, and pork al pastor tacos topped with onions, lime and cilantro. The spare taqueria also sells tortas and rich mole enchiladas, but regulars love the Pambazo, a roll stuffed with chorizo, potato, cheese, lettuce and finished with gooey crema.

Across the street, Tacos Matamoros serves up $5 margaritas to wash town succulent chorizo tacos. The large space is packed with families during the day and early evening; artists and cinephiles join on evenings when Light Industry hosts an event.

For more unusual flavors, wander south for the tacos arabes (lamb) at Tulcingo Deli VI (5520 5th Ave). The salad with avocado rounds out the meal with buttery deliciousness.

Or, you could make a meal simply walking down 5th Ave–freshly grilled corn from the vendor near 49th street, pastelillas (empanada-like turnovers) from the stand on 5th Ave and 54th St., elote from myriad stands and the aguas frescas sold outside El Comal (4711 5th Ave). For those healthfully inclined, nearly every corner in the 40s offers fresh-cut fruit (add some lime, chili and salt to your slices of mango and cucumber to spice things up).

If tacos and tortas don’t bring on an afternoon nap, try a scenic loop to some of the neighborhood’s incredible churches. St. Michael’s is the Fourth Avenue church whose iconic spire defines the neighborhood, and the monumental Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 5th and 60th, which is one of only 60 basilicas in the United States.

If you prefer the rougher edges in a neighborhood, wander west under the Gowanus expressway to the largest industrial waterfront remaining in Brooklyn. The cobblestone streets, tall brick warehouses and curved tracks have been immortalized by local photographers like Digenger and Shooting Brooklyn. If you’re lucky, you might catch some local anglers at the pier off 53rd St.

All that air warrants a pint of fresh, cheap Guinness at Irish Haven, (you may recognize it as the backdrop for several scenes from The Departed). Old-timers there might point you towards Johnny’s Pizzeria (5806 5th Ave.), whose slices and baked ziti do for Sunset Parkers what madeleines did for Proust. Or, if you haven’t gotten your Mexican fix yet, visit to Tacos el Bronco, a taco stand that sits at the corner of 5th Ave. and 43rd St. from 8pm until the early morning.

As you wind down your day, make a last visit to La Gran Via for a slice of the pan de zanahoria or a piece of their coconut cake, and another café con leche to bookend the day. With that sweet memory, you’ll be back to Sunset Park soon.

Originally published in Brooklyn Based

The Mapping Project: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

lisa.riordanseville — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:16:16 +0000

View Cheap Eats in Sunset Park in a larger map

Thanks to readers for the recommendations on popular spots to grab a bite in the neighborhood. Click map above or here to find favorite places to eat tacos, have a slice, grab a sweet treat for breakfast and slurp hot noodle soup. Have we missed any of your favorites? Leave a comment and I’ll add it to the map.

Gentrification or Just Good Taste? Measuring Change One Taco at a Time

lisa.riordanseville — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:24:45 +0000

When people want to track a societal shift, they turn to statistics. But signs of the times also come in less quantifiable bites.

The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC has since the recession began asked readers to write in their stories for it’s “Uncommon Economic Indicators” series. One listener wrote to tell of the skaters who have settled in by the planters outside the glassy, under-occupied Richard Meier building by Grand Army Plaza. A few noted consumers pass around more rare joins these days, a sign that people have cracked open piggy banks to make ends meet.

Nostrand Park picked up the Lehrer show’s idea, with a twist. A recent post on the Crown Heights blog has “uncommon gentrification indicators”–a demographic shift measured in coffee shops, local blogs and affordable housing forums.

In Sunset Park, the recession has coincided with a neighborhood rezoning, the opening of a Duane Reade, an uptick in murders, a downslide in pizza sales and, recently, headlines touting the local fare. The New York Times, the Brooklyn Eagle, the Huffington Post and the Village Voice have all in recent months guided hungry New Yorkers to Sunset Park.

What do you think? Is it the recession, gentrification or just long overdue recognition that if you want tender, chewy hand-pulled noodles or melt-in-your-mouth pork tacos, Sunset Park is where it’s at?

Where do you go to get your bellyfull? Leave a comment. I’ll make a map.