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Dispatches from Babyville: Finding Space

September 21, 2021 By Nicole Kear Filed Under: Community, Dispatches From Babyville Tagged With: community, Dispatches from Babyville

My grandmother used to keep her pasta in the dishwasher. Her dishwasher hadn’t worked in decades, and it wasn’t necessary, anyway – she prefers to wash the dishes by hand. But it did take up precious space in her small Bensonhurst apartment. So she decided it would function perfectly as a storage unit for non-perishable goods, like lasagne, tagliatelle, rotini, farfalle, bucatini, penne and orecchiette. 

“Getta me a boxa pasta!” she’d call, and I’d walk over to her defunct dishwasher to select one. 

When you live in a city where one square foot of living space costs hundreds of dollars, you don’t let a broken dishwasher sit empty. You maximize every last inch of usable space, re-purposing and multi-purposing incessantly. Never has that been more true than during the past year and a half, when we were all in and out of shutdowns and quarantines, stuck at home. 

Last August, as our first Covid summer came to a close and my three kids faced a new year of school which we knew would be at least partially remote, I decided we needed to free up space in our apartment. If I made space, we could set up three schoolwork areas, and if I set up three schoolwork areas, we could have an orderly, productive remote school experience.

Let’s set aside the fact that I was delusional in believing any remote school could be productive or orderly. After all, hindsight’s 20/20. 

I started with an innovative brainwave: I’d make my youngest daughter’s bed into a loft, so we could put her dressers underneath it, thus liberating valuable square feet in the shared bedroom. This loft-bed project brought me to Ikea. Me and everyone else in the tri-state area. 

I selected a large quantity of home accessories I did not need, immediately undoing the de-cluttering I had undertaken the week prior. I loaded up on cinnamon rolls and Swedish meatballs and lingonberry soda. Then I headed to the warehouse shelves which were supposed to hold the dresser I’d selected to go in the loft area. When I found the shelves bare, I waited on a serpentine line to ask a women in customer service where I could find them. 

“You can’t,” she said. “We’re sold out.”


“What about in another color? Or at another Ikea?” I asked. 

That’s when she explained that it wasn’t just the Brooklyn Ikea that was sold out but every Ikea in the Eastern Seaboard. 

“The whole Eastern Seaboard?” I repeated. It was a strange expression to use at Ikea’s customer service desk. 

“Yep,” she replied. “Everybody’s fixing up their houses before school starts.”

Looks like I was not alone in my quest to make everything that was wrong in the world right with some light redecorating. 

The loft-bed was only the first of my home improvement projects. Freeing up those precious few square feet whetted my appetite for “finding” more space. This is a misleading term. It’s not as if extra space was hiding somewhere, like there was a trick wall that, when pushed on at the exact right spot, revealed a secret room. Still, I believed that if I planned thoughtfully enough, arranged furniture carefully enough, I’d make the little space we had go much farther. 

The challenge — a challenge shared by everyone — was that my apartment, which used to be just a home, now had to serve so many other functions. It was an elementary school, and also a middle school and a high school, too. It was an office for my husband and I, and a conference room. It was a gym. A music studio where my 14-year-old took piano lessons. A dance studio where my 9-year-old took ballet. An art studio where my 16-year-old learned how to use pastels and acrylics. It was an exam room for practice SATs. A vocal rehearsal space for high school audition tapes. It was a therapy office. 

No home can serve that many functions, and definitely not one that covers less than 1300 square feet. 

Still, I tried, the way we all did. What choice did we have? 

I maximized the use of our tiny balcony which Pre-Covid had never been used, because it overlooks Fourth Avenue and is loud, polluted and generally grimy. Now, the balcony functioned as a gym, housing the budget stationary bike my husband bought in the early days of Covid, when even bike riding seemed too dangerous. By happenstance one day, my 9-year-old discovered zoom school was much more tolerable when she did it while pedaling. Then the balcony because a gym/ classroom. Multi-purposing at its finest. 

The bathroom became an animal sanctuary, with two hamster cages stashed in the bathtub. 

“I need to take a bath,” my daughter whined one night. 

“Forget it,” I told her. “That’s the hamsters’ real estate.”

Another night, my teenage daughter complained there was no room quiet enough to record the original song she’d written on guitar. 

“Go play in my closet,” I told her, as if it was obvious. “The clothing will be a good buffer.”

And she did. Thus began the “Closet Concert” series.

Coordinating remote school was more difficult. When not riding the bike on the balcony, my little one preferred to do zoom school from the living room, which was where my older daughter liked to work too, So much for the special work stations I’d taken pains to establish in August. Most mornings, they’d get set up in the living room, which is also the kitchen, which is also my office, and so, while working, I’d be treated to a lecture on mitosis while simultaneously learning about the establishment of New Amsterdam while listening to my husband grind coffee. 

“Dad, stop!” the girls shouted in stereo. “We’re at SCHOOL!” 

“Where am I supposed to grind coffee?” he asked. 

“The balcony!” I replied, exasperated. “That’s where all grinding, blending and hair drying happens during school hours. When it’s not being used as a gym.” 

One night in late autumn, I was sitting on the couch surveying my living room, which had become impassable. The keyboard and chair blocked egress to the balcony. The exercise bike, dragged inside to avoid rain, blocked egress to the bathroom. You couldn’t sit at the dining room table because there wasn’t space enough to pull the chairs out, what with the desk I’d wedged in there for my husband and the lamp. 

“I wish we could put furniture on the ceiling,” I said wistfully to David. “Is that — are we sure that’s impossible?” 

“You are getting carried away,” he said. It’s not the first time he’s said this to me.

“The problem is there’s not enough space in this house!” I exclaimed. 

“The problem is a deadly pandemic is ravaging our world,” he said. 

He was, of course, right. 

There was nothing I could do about the complex, maddening, terrifying problem of Covid, so I focused with a deranged zeal on a problem that could be fixed. Except that solving one did not solve the other.

“No matter how inventive I was with my storage, or how many functions I could eek out of one toilet bowl (desk chair! salon chair! toilet!), it didn’t change the despair I felt every day over what my kids were missing, and I was missing, which was nothing compared to what so many had lost, and continued to lose. “

Then, in November, just after I’d maximized every nook and cranny of the apartment, I decided to add something entirely different to the house. The puppy who is now a member of our family is small but takes up plenty of square footage, racing around our small home at a breakneck pace, strewing his toys and chewys everywhere, dragging garbage across the floor, wreaking havoc. His crate and beds and gates and food bowls have made me admit defeat in the battle against clutter. Our house is absolutely overbrimming with stuff. But it is also overbrimming with delight. We can’t look at the pup without cracking a smile, or dissolving into coos, or squealing with laughter. He makes the house messy, and immeasurably happy. 

I couldn’t find any more space within the confines of the apartment, but I found plenty of breathing room in the expansive joy the puppy brought with him. 

Filed Under: Community, Dispatches From Babyville Tagged With: community, Dispatches from Babyville

The Free Black Women’s Library: A Space for Radical Ideas

November 15, 2020 By Sofia Pipolo Filed Under: Community Tagged With: Art, community, free black womens library, sofia pipolo

Back in 2015, visual artist, OlaRonke Akinmowo wanted to create an art project that empowered and honored Black women’s creativity, scholarship, education, and research. With a background in collage, printmaking, and decorating, Ola’s work brings different pieces together to create something new and unified. With this, she created The Free Black Women’s Library.

The Free Black Women’s Library is a literary social art project featuring traveling installations of over 2,000 books, magazines, and other material written by Black women. The program is simple: come to a library event, join the discussion, donate a book, and choose a book for yourself. Every event takes a different shape by taking on a different space. “Like a collage: poetry, horror, science fiction, romance, comic books, children’s books all written by Black women are being brought together in a way to create a library shape and community space.”

Nervous but excited and curious how the neighborhood would respond, Ola started the library one summer day off a front stoop in BedStuy, Brooklyn with just 100 books. With the forecast possibly showing rain, she remembers her main concern being the safety of her then small collection of books. She reminds us, “Books are precious objects.”

Over the next years, the library has grown and traveled to hundreds of locations around New York City, and outside to Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Each month there is a different theme, book, or writer that compliments the location. For example, this past March, for Women’s History Month, the installation at Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown heights focused on womanism within Black history. When it was at Concord Baptists Church, they focused on themes of humanity, spirituality, and love. Each installation brings new crowds, where everyone is welcomed to hang out all day, making new friends, reading, writing, and trading books.

The main goal is “to build a comfortable and creative space for radical ideas. Deep connections, vulnerability, joy, and pleasure… Visitors can come and find themselves in the space. I want it to feel like an inclusive space. Intergeneration. Always free.” The library has attracted young and old readers, families, and friend groups to visit and follow the program online. With a large collection of children’s books, classics, and contemporary literature, there is something for all interests, ages, perspectives, and reading levels. It’s a sustainable, ever-flowing, and connecting system where each individual’s participation influences the library’s collection.

By focusing on Black female authors, the library highlights the nuances of subjects, genres, and experiences of Black women. These vast distinctions and variety of voices are often disproportionately overlooked in traditional literary discussions. It works to share and give a platform to authors and ideas that may not be as widely recognized, especially in particular genres like fantasy or young adult novels. “The beauty of it is if you are a Black woman who has access to Black women writers it is very affirming to see yourself in art and literature. It’s humanizing.”

By inviting others to share in this empowering and humanizing art and activism, Ola strives to create a more positive world for her daughter (18). Motherhood has kept Ola constantly up, curious, and creating. It’s also one of her reasons for starting the Sister Outsider Relief Grant, a one-time cash grant for single community-working mothers. She states, “I want to make the world softer and kind.”

While recognizing how Black women deal with racism and sexism on an everyday basis, the library provides a space for Black women to express themselves and be seen as more than the archetypes they are too often boxed into. The Free Black Women’s Library asks more from visitors, readers, writers, and traditional institutions by exposing and bringing together the extensive works of Black women. Most importantly allowing them to be seen and be brilliant, imaginative, tough, funny, smarkt, and romantic. Anything one wants to be.

Everyone is invited to join the library community. Ola believes in the strong value of all genders, racers, ethnicities, and backgrounds to open and excite their minds to Black female authors. “It may take you out of your comfort zone and inspire you to think differently.” As an artists, activist, and educator Ola’s work invites and strives to open people’s minds. She advises, “Make sure your reading list is open and diverse. Read different types of stories. Not just stories that are written in this perfect Queen’s English, but slang and country English. And see the world through another woman’s eyes.”

While the COVID Pandemic had stopped the library from traveling and setting up installations, they have transitioned online, but it has been a challenge for a project that thrives on community. The library works best when people can come together with books in their hands, to meet face to face, and create a shared educational space. Now there are limits from internet access, to online devices, and scheduling. But the Free Black Women’s Library is still doing all it can by starting a YouTube channel, Instagram Live streams, and Zoom calls with readings, discussions, and writing prompts.

While they have been keeping people engaged, Ola has looked forward to when everyone can come together again and trade books, ideas, and smiles (even if it is behind a mask.) She will also be working towards some big long-term goals for the future of the library, including getting a vehicle for a bookmobile, creating an app, and establishing a full-time space and resource center.


Follow the Free Black Women’s Libary on Instagram @thefreeblackwomenslibrary and use the link in bio to learn more about how to support the program. Or visit their website here.

Support on Patreon.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: Art, community, free black womens library, sofia pipolo

Park Slope Pandemic Diary

April 2, 2020 By Julia DePinto Filed Under: Community, Pandemic Diaries Tagged With: community, covid 19, julia depinto, pandemic diary

To Our Readers and Park Slope Community, 

By now, you are familiar with the novel coronavirus. You’ve read about its emergence in Wuhan, China and watched it spread to South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. You’ve learned that President Trump restricted travel to China a few days after Italy detected its first coronavirus case. You’ve watched the Italian Prime Minister announce a nationwide lockdown, followed by chilling videos of panicked and quarantined residents. You’ve listened to their stories, a disturbing foreshadow of the inevitable. “Don’t say you weren’t warned,” they cautioned Americans. 

On March 11, The World Health Organization declared the rapidly spreading coronavirus a global pandemic. After learning this, you probably read the CDC’s recommendations for self-preparedness and researched ways to counter infection. You may have listened to “Ask the Mayor” segments on The Brian Lehrer Show, trusting Mayor de Blasio to keep a sense of normalcy while your world quickly began to unravel. Within a matter of days, your neighborhood was unrecognizable. Your neighbors have left indefinitely, playgrounds are empty, the windows of boutique shops are boarded up, and your favorite café is only serving drip coffee in a to-go cup. As a New Yorker, you’re used to sacrificing your privacy and coexisting in shared spaces, but now what? Now you are on “Pause,” and mandated to practice social distancing in all public places. Recently, you have probably read a headline in all caps: BREAKING NEWS–U.S. LEADS WORLD IN CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES. 

During this time of uncertainty, we at the Park Slope Reader are committed to continuing to serve our community. Please follow us each week as we catalog changes in our neighborhoods while providing the latest medical developments and valuable resources. Park Slope and adjoining areas are unique to the New York City landscape, and we will continue highlighting our neighbors through weekly editorials. This is a challenging and historic time; please know we are committed to getting through this together. 

Lastly, we want to know how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting you. If you have a story to share please contact us at office@psreader.com. 

In Solidarity,

PSR 

Filed Under: Community, Pandemic Diaries Tagged With: community, covid 19, julia depinto, pandemic diary

Spirituality, Social Activism and Spare Time

May 22, 2018 By Emily Gawlak Filed Under: The Reader Interview Tagged With: Brooklyn, community, congregation, interview, Jewish, Park Slope, Rabbi, Religion

A RABBI’S SEARCH FOR BALANCE

In 2015, Timoner relocated her family from Los Angeles, where she served as associate rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple, to take a position as senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform Jewish congregation that traces its roots to the late 19th century and, since 1910, has gathered on the corner of Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue. In her brief time in Brooklyn, the long-time progressive activist and grassroots organizer has become a central force in not only the spiritual but political life of Park Slope, making headlines for her arrest protesting President Trump’s travel ban in February of 2017 and kindling the resistance movement #GetOrganizedBrooklyn with councilmember Brad Lander, among many other actions both within the congregation and in the wider community. 

As we sat in her cozy, book-filled office tucked behind CBE’s sanctuary, the rabbi engaged with off the cuff eloquence about relocating from the west coast, following the teachings of the Torah, and what to do about millennials. A theme of our conversation was the complexity of the human experience, and how challenging it can be to not only live with but try to embrace contradiction.

Perhaps we can look to Timoner as a model for such duality. She is commanding yet compassionate, emotional and intellectual. She is endlessly active, yet — this struck me most of all — she listens, carefully, thoughtfully. When you speak with Rabbi Timoner, you feel heard. Understood. Though this writer’s spiritual search continues, I left my conversation with the rabbi — as I did last time we spoke about her work — emboldened by another dialectic: spurred on to action and anchored by the great wisdom that exists in our own backyard. 

 

What makes your congregation such a unique and special place, one that would draw you to Park Slope all the way from California?

There’s a question right now in the Jewish world about what the future of the synagogue is going to look like. A lot of a lot of young Jews think about the synagogue as something that their parents or their grandparents were part of, and there’s a question of like, can and will the synagogue reinvent itself? And how? This congregation has been engaged in that for some time and really is open to experimentation. To engaging the larger neighborhood, not just the Jewish community. To being right there and relevant on whatever the pressing questions are at the time. And that’s the kind of congregation that I most wanted to serve. One where we could be talking about what’s most important in our society and in our lives. And one where we are having a really open boundary, like just really open to the rest of the community and looking actively for partnerships across lines of race, across lines of faith. And also one that is willing to be bold, and willing to try new things and willing even to fail in the pursuit of the kind of change that meets people where they are. 

It seems that a huge part of your life is defined by your commitment to social justice. Do you ever feel that there’s tension between that role and your role as a rabbi? Or does anyone from the congregation ever give you the idea that there might be tension there? 

In any congregation this big, we have like 900-something households, there’s diversity there. And there are a lot of people who really prize the role that we’re playing around social justice. It’s one of their primary points of connection. And there are other people who don’t want to see that here. Who feel like a synagogue should be mostly a place that feels calm and peaceful, where we don’t really talk about political questions. Where we don’t talk about things that are upsetting. There are people who feel that way. Or who feel like the direction our country is going in is OK, there are those. It’s a very small minority of people here, but there are some people who feel that way. So, the way that I feel about that is when I am aware of somebody being uncomfortable with the direction we’re taking, I really want them to know that I want to hear from them and I want to sit with them. I want to hear what’s been uncomfortable and want to hear, you know, I want to hear their perspective. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m not going to do what I’m doing or that I’m not going to lead the way I’m leading because I do feel like this moment requires that of us. I actually feel, beyond this moment, I feel that Torah and Judaism requires of us that we take a stand on the moral questions of our time. And then we take the political questions. Torah is actually a political text. It’s about society. It’s about how to create a just society. That’s what Torah is. So in my eyes, if I were to be silent or inactive on the injustices of our time, I would be betraying Torah. In order to fulfill Torah and be true to it, I have to speak. I don’t have a choice. 

As a society, we want to move beyond this idea of, “as a Democrat, I could never be friends with a Republican” and vice versa, but it sometimes feels like we’re creating divisions that are insurmountable. But we have to be able to reach across and have a dialogue…

Because we have more in common than we realize. One of the things that we’ve been doing this year, actually for the last two years, is creating a dialogue series here specifically hoping that people will come who don’t agree with each other. This year our focus is Israel. Within the Jewish community, there’s a really big range of feelings about Israel, and within this congregation there are. So we have a 12-part series we’ve been doing this year in which each time we meet, one of the hours is study, where we actually learn some history about Israel and Palestine and Jewish history and get grounded in some knowledge. And then the other hour is dialogues. So we have trained a group of congregants to be facilitators, and we have small groups and people come together and really are encouraged to open up and talk about how they feel and what they think and to disagree with each other. And to grow our capacity to be uncomfortable, to grow our capacity to listen to views we don’t agree with, to take a deep breath, to stay open, to stay curious, to see if there’s something we might learn. None of us has the answers. To develop a humility that, I need you and you need me and we need each other to be able to create a society together. And so I think that what that requires is two parts of the whole. One part is being able to speak and act with clarity on the things we are clear about. You were asking about social justice. So there’s a lot of things that are very clear from Torah about what should happen in a just society. When we see injustice, we must speak about it, we need to protest it, we need to stand for what’s right. Meanwhile, we also have to have the ability to listen to people who don’t agree and to be humble in that conversation and to be open and to be curious and to expect that we might have something we don’t know. And that’s a very challenging combination. Two different modes of being. But I’m trying to make both those modes of being happen here, both myself and my own leadership and for the congregation to have opportunities to do both things at the same time.  

It wasn’t that long ago that you joined the rabbinate, receiving s’micha from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2009. Since then, how have you grown in your spirituality? In your idea of what it means to be a rabbi?

I feel like my growing edge, the part that I’m always learning about is the relationship between spirituality and social justice, between having an active relationship with God, the source of life. Having an active relationship with the aspects of being alive that are more subtle and internal and with the part of my leadership that has to do with crying out for the role that should be. And those in some ways really obviously dovetail with one another and other ways can sometimes feel far apart from each other. Sometimes the work we do, when we are advocating for policies or doing community organizing or protesting things, can feel really secular. Really, really secular. I think that the integration of those two things, always remembering where the motivation comes from. I don’t just care about this as an American. I care about this as a Jew. I care about this as a rabbi. Where does that come from? It comes from Torah. Where in Torah does it come from? And where does Torah come from? Where does that feeling in us that pulls us to say, wait, I believe in us as, as human beings, I believe that we can do better than this. I must speak about this thing that’s wrong. Where does that pull come from deep within us? My feeling is that that comes from something beyond us. It’s also in us, and so just always connecting those two pieces. I feel like it’s possible to be praying and not thinking about the world or be in the world and not be thinking about God, and I’m always wanting to reconnect those two things to each other and integrate them. That is, for me, it has always been a very present challenge for me, and it continues to be. 

You also aren’t afraid to put yourself on the front lines of social justice. I know you’ve engaged in civil disobedience and written and spoken about that work. I was struck by something in a piece you wrote about the Muslim ban. You said that civil disobedience is what privilege should be used for. Could you take me back to that moment and elaborate on that sentiment? 

There were a group of rabbis, 19 of us, who blocked the road by Trump Tower in Manhattan, the Trump hotel on Central Park West and Columbus Circle. I was aware that night about how safe I felt, sitting in the dark in the middle of the road. I knew that the cars weren’t going to hit me because there were police there blocking them. I knew that the police weren’t going to beat me up. I knew that I wasn’t going to get locked up for days with no one coming to help me. I knew that if there was bail I could pay it. I knew that I wasn’t going to get put in Rikers Island. Given that I was doing something risky, I felt remarkably safe. And that is because of a lot of things. I have white skin. I have lots of contacts, lawyers who could help me. We organized this in a way where we made sure that we had what we needed to be safe. I think one of the interesting dynamics as white people become more and more aware of our privilege and more and more aware of systemic racism is to think about what to do with it. Because it’s not useful to sit around feeling guilty that you’ve gotten a leg up on everyone, all people of color around you, that you’ve gotten advantages that other people haven’t gotten. It doesn’t do anything to feel guilty about that. So, ok, instead, I’ve got this privilege, I’ve benefited from this privilege. I would like to dismantle this system, but in the meantime, what do I do with this privilege and the power that it gives me? If I can put my body on the line in a visible way that gets media attention for people who might be behind bars or might be in detention, or might be at risk of deportation or are being barred from this country because of their religion, et cetera. If I can do that, that is a great way to use my privilege. Whereas if I didn’t have these privileges, taking that risk is something that I still might do, but it would be much riskier. And so I do feel like for those who have privilege, I think one of the questions we ought to ask ourselves is: what is this privilege good for? What can I use it for, given that I have it, and how do I use it with tremendous humility? How do I make sure that I am acting in a way that supports the leadership of people who are targeted and oppressed that never brings attention to myself at their cost or expense, but that is strategic and makes that privilege useful.

Given all that you do and these different roles you play, how do you not only find time for yourself, but also for your family?

I think that people who aren’t involved in synagogues or churches often don’t have any idea how clergy schedules are. 

And I imagine in many cases, people need you, they don’t just want to chat. 

Yeah. So my schedule, like I tend to be completely booked, you know, 10 to 12 hours a day without a break. I’m booked six weeks out, for six weeks solid. And then if you go six weeks ahead, you can find that opening. I right now have kind of found my groove. When I started in this job, it was overwhelming to me. When I started in my last job, it was overwhelming to me, but in time you kind of get to know the rhythm, the game of Tetris that is the calendar [laughs]. And in terms of time with my family, I don’t have enough time with my family. I don’t. I just was away with them this weekend and really, really soaked up that time and enjoyed it. But in general, I don’t have as much time with my family as I would like. We make sure to have Shabbat dinner together every Friday night and make sure to have, you know, little snippets here and there late at night and sometimes on the weekends. But it’s part of what I agreed to when I decided to be a rabbi. I took that on, and I hope, I think that my children and my family are getting what they need. But yeah, it’s definitely a lot to balance. In terms of not going crazy or not getting too exhausted, I do keep my eye on that. Like I definitely work hard to find ways that I’m going to get enough rest, have some time when I’m not here, have some time when I have some days off. Because I would love to be doing this work for a really long time.

To make it sustainable. Well, to come full circle, there are various reports that say millennials are less inclined to believe in organized religion. What you make of that? Do you notice that in your own congregation? 

Well, one thing that’s incredible here at CBE is that we have this thing called Brooklyn Jews, which is for millennials, and it is thriving. There are hundreds, hundreds, hundreds of people in their twenties and thirties who are coming to things and who are connected to each other and making community. I think the issue is, if it looks like the older generation’s thing, like, who wants to be part of that? If it looks like it’s willing to adapt to meet you where you are, then it starts to become intriguing. Brooklyn Jews has Shabbat services, it has Shabbat dinners, it has holiday parties. It has all kinds of different things out and about in Brooklyn and at CBE. Increasingly we are combining things, with Brooklyn Jews and the general congregation doing things together. And it turns out that a lot of the 

people in their twenties and thirties, they really want to be an intergenerational environment, as long as it’s not just that they’re supposed to fit into what the older generation wants. It should be about them also. And we’re ready to do that. And we do that. And it’s really incredible. I would say that the polling data about millennials, I am not seeing that. I think that it’s overstated. 

I’m someone who is still figuring out my own path, but we all need community. There also are statistics that people are lonelier than ever and more addicted to substances than ever.

Yes. Yes, I think that millennials are very much looking for community.

And in real time. 

Yes, with other people, laughing, talking, eating, singing, being together. You know, I think millennials very much are spiritual. They might not think of themselves as religious, but they’re spiritual. They’re curious about, they’re wanting to engage with questions of meaning and questions of life purpose. I think I’ve talked to a lot of people who feel that they kind of are connected to something larger than themselves, and it’s mysterious, and they don’t know what that is, but they want to be able to pursue that and explore it. And so I don’t think really fundamentally millennials are different than everybody else. 

We just have a lot more confusing content to sort through. 

Yeah. And our world is… looking at our world right now could lead one to despair. And I think coming of age in this time is harrowing. So having other people to do that with, having people to do that with who will also be willing to talk and think about what makes you hopeful and what we could do together and where we could come together and are willing to laugh. I think everybody needs that.

 

Filed Under: The Reader Interview Tagged With: Brooklyn, community, congregation, interview, Jewish, Park Slope, Rabbi, Religion

Slope Survey: Olivia Williamson

March 28, 2018 By Olivia Williamson Filed Under: Olivia’s Kitchen, Slope Survey Tagged With: Brooklyn, business, community, growth, interview, olivia williamson, Park Slope, Survey

The Slope Survey returns for its 7th installment with Olivia Williamson, owner of Olivia Cooks For You, Personal Chef and Catering Services as well as Olivia’s Kitchen, a regular column in the Park Slope Reader. 

—————————————————————————————————————–

What brought you to Park Slope? 

No surprises here.  We were starting to think about a starting a family and the 6th floor tenement studio in the East Village felt like not a great spot for it.  Plus, after  almost 25 years, I was wearing a little thin on the Manhattan pace and was excited to move to a more leafy and slower paced place.

 

What is your most memorable Park Slope moment?  

I don’t have just one, but I will say the group of friends and support I found after the birth of my first child I will never forget.

 

Describe your community superpower.  

I keep a close eye on new openings, restaurants and events so I’m great at making recommendations on these type of things.

 

If you could change one thing about the neighborhood, what would it be?  

I wish the commercial rents would come down so that more people have the opportunity to open small businesses.

 

What do you think Park Slope will look like in 10 years?

I think it will be pretty much the same.  It’s so well established now as the wonderful place for families that it is, and so close to the best park ever, I can’t see it changing too much.

 

What are you reading, would you recommend it?  

Ugh.  I haven’t read that much since the arrival of our very high energy 6 year old, but I did recently read Lincoln in the Bardo and loved it.

 

What is your greatest extravagance?  

Hah!  Restaurants, of course!

 

If you couldn’t live in Park Slope or in Brooklyn, where would you go?  

New Orleans.  I love the architecture and the energy.

 

Who is your hero, real or fictional?

Right now, it Jose Andres.  The work he is doing in Puerto Rico is nothing short of amazing.

 

Last Word, What’s is turning you on these days?

I’m going through a bit of a growing period with my business, which is exciting.

Filed Under: Olivia’s Kitchen, Slope Survey Tagged With: Brooklyn, business, community, growth, interview, olivia williamson, Park Slope, Survey

Dine Your Way Around the World in Park Slope – A New Restaurant Round-Up

March 6, 2018 By Katrina Yentch Filed Under: Eat Local Tagged With: community, diverse, food, food map, local, new, Park Slope

We’ve already come to know Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue as a mecca of international cuisine, whether you’re craving the soupy comfort of a bowl of Vietnamese pho or looking for the simple glutinous New York slice of pizza. From this boulevard and beyond, more and more hopeful business owners have recently decided to take the leap of faith and establish some (extremely tasty) roots in the neighborhood. For their dreams and your stomach’s delight, here are just a few of the many new restaurants that have opened within the last year. Have you indulged in any yet?

Saigon on 5th – Borrowing recipes from his Vietnamese-born grandmother, who also used to own her own restaurants in Manhattan and Queens, her grandsons are the owners of Saigon on 5th, who grew up learning her ways in the kitchen. The duo specializes in classic, savory Vietnamese dishes, and you’ll be able to get your hot pho noodle cravings satisfied, along with other sweet, sour and tangy dishes like papaya salad, spring rolls and grilled pork chops.

 

Bar Basic – Bar Basic stands as an outlier against the overwhelming amount of natural, organic and healthy options in Park Slope by providing some good old Southern comfort dishes. When you want to go back to treating yourself on a meal out, step into this comforting, rustic chic space for hearty plates of fried chicken sandwiches and jambalaya. A good 90% of Bar Basic’s ingredients are made in-house, and there’ll also be vegan options to come.

 

Maya Taqueria – For a little taste of the California taco scene, grab a few of them at Maya Taqueria. This no-frills joint has landed in both Park Slope and the neighboring Prospect Heights, and aims to provide an authentic super-size me California style of Mexican cooking, from massive burritos to decadently garnished tacos. Everything is made from scratch too, so savor that tortilla wrap a little longer than normal, and enjoy an extra fresh kick of cinnamon in the horchata.

 

Nargis Bar & Grill – This newly opened location has quickly become a 5th Avenue favorite amongst Park Slope residents, its original Sheepshead Bay location a hidden gem and mainstay with the locals. The authentic Uzbek restaurant offers an international escape, where dishes like samsa and oxtail stew provide an exceptionally unique dining experience in the neighborhood. The escape is not only evident in its dishes but within the interior too – A brick wall adorned with old plates and shelves of even older antiques suggests that you may have stepped into your Russian grandmother’s kitchen rather than a Park Slope restaurant.

 

Sushi Lin – If you’ve always thought that you’d never get to experience Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji Market without going there yourself, then you’re wonderfully mistaken. Chef duo Lins not only source their fish from this coveted market, they also bring in a range of stock from around the world. The goal is simple: Recreate the textures, freshness and flavors of omakase. The result: A traditional, elegant menu of artfully presented sushi, hand rolls and other savory appetizers like agedashi tofu and tempura.

 

Milk Bar – Now don’t get this Milk Bar confused with the Momofuku cereal hype. You will not be consuming pounds of sugary beverages, but rather enjoying a healthy, classic brunch experience. Its 6th Avenue location is the second addition to Brooklyn, with its nearby Vanderbilt location supporting them in Prospect Heights. Milk Bar has declared that toast is all the rage, and the menu’s stacked breads of wholesome fruits, meats and vegetables will leave you guilt-free and stuffed.

Filed Under: Eat Local Tagged With: community, diverse, food, food map, local, new, Park Slope

From Media to Mozzarella – Our Interview with WILD’s Marina Charny

March 1, 2018 By Katrina Yentch Filed Under: Eat Local Tagged With: community, food, local, Park Slope, pasta, pizza, Restaurant

It takes a lot of courage to completely change career paths. When WILD’s manager Marina Charny found herself frustrated with the PR business, she decided to take a 180 and dive head-first into the restaurant world, helping the small chain open a third location in Park Slope just last year. We chatted with Charny about the flip, how she found WILD, and what the South Brooklyn native loves about the neighborhood.

How did the company get started?

It’s all kind of random. So Miki [Agrawal] founded Wild 10 years ago. It was called Slice at the time. It happened all kind of organically. There was really no gluten-free options at the time and she was having a lot of stomach issues and health issues and she was finding that a lot of the food she was eating was making her sick, and pizza was her favorite food. So basically she’s really creative and an entrepreneur, and she was thinking, “I just wish there was an option for healthier pizza.” I don’t think she had celiac disease, but I think there was sort of a tolerance or something along those lines so she basically set out to create this great pizza. When she founded the restaurant it was called Slice and she opened it on the Upper East Side 10 years ago and it was just a regular over-the-counter pizza place. It was really cool for being one of the first 100% gluten-free places but there were other issues. She had never really run a restaurant before. So she ended up finding this great partner whose name is Walid Hammami, who’s still involved with the business, and they sort of rebranded, which took a couple of months. They changed some of the things that were going into the pizza dough. They actually simplified it. They made it what it is now, which is thin crust. There’s just a few ingredients that go into it. So yeah, long story short they basically rebranded, they changed the concept, they made it kind of the farm-to-table, sustainable organic simple from the earth ingredient type of place, which is what we do now. Changed the name. It’s not an over-the-counter pizza place anymore. It’s a full service restaurant. And then they moved downtown, so now Wild is open in the West Village. Together they opened another location in Williamsburg, and then shortly after that they came up with the idea to create a franchise.

Where did you come along in the journey?

I have no restaurant background, so a lot of people have asked me how I ended up getting involved. I was working with this journalist named Gail. She met Miki and I met Miki through her. It was like a little sort of connection and I was just really interested. She’s not even really directly involved with running the restaurant anymore. She founded this other company called Thinks, which is this period underwear company. So yeah, she’s kind of like this serial entrepreneur. She just starts companies and then moves onto something different. I was just really fascinated with her and was interested in all the different projects she was working on and when I went to check out the restaurant in the West Village I thought it was so cute and I’m from Brooklyn. All I had was this idea that the restaurant would be a nice fit in Park Slope. I just thought it was a good demographic for gluten-free, for healthy, for vegan. I saw that they had just started this franchise and that was nice because it was really small, not like a McDonalds type of situation where there’s a billion locations. I was like it might be nice to get to work closely together and just sort of pursue it, and I reached out to them and ended up getting in touch with her directly and they liked the idea of opening up a third location in New York because both she and her partner are based in New York. That was it. It was born after that. I immediately started looking for places and found this spot. It used to be a Spanish restaurant so it looks completely different. Fast forward 8 months and here we are.

What was it like building up a restaurant without any experience?

I did have it easier than it could’ve been because I had some assistance. Like I said, Miki is not directly involved anymore, her partner Walid…he still runs the other locations so I would say I had some assistance from him and we have the same menu across all three locations so the hardest part, which is designing and building a menu, that’s already been done. It was definitely difficult. I was sort of going off of my instinct and best thought process as far as designing the place, and… I don’t know. I just wanted it to be, because it has these harmonica doors, I just thought it’d be nice to have a sort of open vibe, like inviting and airy. I thought with the whole farm to table concept it might be nice to have plants and stuff like that.

Is it similar to the aesthetic of the other places?

No, all the other locations look completely different, which is funny. People comment on that. All three locations look totally different, and we’re the only location that has a full liquor license. The other ones only serve beer and wine, and then we also have the outdoor seating. So yeah, I was just navigating through the open waters as I went. I just thought I’ve been working in PR and just getting frustrated with that job and I wanted to do something different. I never owned a business before but I was thinking, now’s the time to try. You know, you get to a certain point in your life where you’re in your 40s and you have kids and you’re married and you have a house and all these responsibilities. You can’t just quit your job and chase a dream. That’s literally what I did. I quit the job I was working in and was like, let me just throw myself into this full speed ahead.

Do you live in Park Slope?

No, I live in the City on the Upper East Side. I grew up in Brooklyn. I lived in South Brooklyn my whole life. When I was finally ready to move out of my parents’ home I was like, I can’t wait to move to the city! And I lived in the city for two years before this whole restaurant thing happened and now I commute back, which is kind of silly. It’s nice to kind of distance yourself because I’m here a lot. So when I go home, I feel like I’m home. I kind of cut myself off a little bit. I think if I lived nearby I would never leave.

Do your parents come here?

They do! They always come. It’s funny because everybody knows they’re my parents but they always pay for their meals and they like to be waited on and they just want to be treated like regular customers. It’s really cute.

What’s your favorite thing on the menu?

Probably the pizzas. I mean, definitely the pizzas. They’re really good. I love pizza too. I’ve always tried to watch what I eat myself. I don’t have celiac or anything like that. I just generally try to eat healthy. I eat these pizzas almost every day and it’s nice to constantly be able to eat pizza and not feel guilty about it or feel like you’re overwhelming yourself with fat and greases and stuff like that.

Which particular pizza?

The local mozzarella is our basic margarita pizza is really good. The caprino pizza, which is our vegetarian option, is really good, and the pear gorgonzola, which is what we call our dessert pizza, those are my favorites. The wild truffle mushroom penne is really good. That’s probably my favorite pasta. The salmon is really good. I’m biased but the pizzas are definitely there.

What do you like about Park Slope as a restaurant owner?

A lot of things. We get a lot of regular customers. It’s really nice to see the same people over and over, especially the customers that have been coming here since day one. We get customers that are like, oh we were here when you first opened and now everything looks different! We were here when your bar was empty. We were here when you had a different chef and things tasted different. It’s nice that they’ve been here on this journey with us.

We’ve had customers that were like, “Oh it was a little rocky in the beginning but now everything is great and we waited it out with you and kept coming back.” We had a customer whose wife was pregnant and now she’s had the baby and it’s like you feel like you know them because they come in so often. There’s also a lot of events that happen on 5th avenue that all the businesses are invited to participate in. It’s very nice. I know that at the Wild in the city, there’s a lot of tourists so it’s busy because it’s Manhattan. It’s not like that here. It’s more community spirit, which is nice. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, and there’s so many different people.

It seems like the food scene changes here drastically? Some of which opened around the same time?

Some of those restaurants, within the time we’ve been here, which is about a year and a half coming up. Some of those restaurants have already closed, so I think two of them are already closed. It’s very competitive and it’s kind of nice that we’re slowly but surely building up our customer base and it’s nice. Challenging but rewarding.

 

https://www.wildparkslope.com

Filed Under: Eat Local Tagged With: community, food, local, Park Slope, pasta, pizza, Restaurant

Aiming for Adventure: Get Your Skills On

February 14, 2018 By Meghan Cook Filed Under: Park Slope Life Tagged With: activities, adventure, business, community, family, friendly, hobbies, local, neighborhood, Park Slope

In a neighborhood rich with leaders ready to help children grow, athletically as well as creatively, wintertime activities do not have to be confined to the walls of your home. With a variety of sports, hobbies, and live shows at its disposal, Park Slope has plenty to offer every kind of family in the cold stretch between fall and spring. By Meghan Cook


Rolando Balboa, Head Coach at the Brooklyn Fencing Center, is just one of many talented instructors in the neighborhood. Balboa stated that their mission is “to make the fun and excitement of fencing accessible to Brooklynites of all ages.” Like many of the activities listed, fencing is more than a sport. When it comes to educating children, a larger part of engaging their minds is offering them “shine on their own merits.”

John Finn of Birdman Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, who recently opened a new Brooklyn location just north of Park Slope, advocated for his business by emphasizing the importance of bolstering confidence in young students. Finn maintained that defensive martial arts provide great tools to combat bullying by helping students “develop a strong sense of flow through timing and technique, not speed and strength.”

Similarly, Gordon Wormser of Aikido of Park Slope spoke on the importance of teaching young children the art of self-defense through gentle measures with “smiles and safety.” Wormser went on to say that the atmosphere of their center is disciplined, yet fun. “It offers an environment in which your child can grow physically, intellectually, and emotionally,” explained Wormser.

Ora Fruchter of Yellow Sneaker, a local group that entertains young minds with music and puppetry, also focused on the importance of building a light, comfortable environment where kids can be themselves. “At our weekly Yellow Sneaker sing-alongs you’ll find a community of people and puppets who can’t wait to have some fun, make some friends and dance it out,” said Fruchter. “We create a cozy and welcoming space that is fun and laid back for kids and their caregivers.”

This winter, consider looking into the following children’s programs local to Park Slope and enjoy the dual benefits of supporting community businesses while encouraging your kids to take on new skills.

 

Brooklyn Boulders

Arm your kids with the bravery and self-assurance to tackle obstacles and climb new heights at Brooklyn Boulders. With a ratio of one belayer paired to five kids, children are always given the consideration and care they need to ensure their safety while rock climbing. Kids Academy is available daily, while Brooklyn Boulders Adventures offer full-week programs. Both are open to children aged 5-12. Prices range from $49-$709.

Website: https://brooklynboulders.com/brooklyn/youth/

 

Gotham Archery

Located just north of Park Slope in Gowanus is Gotham Archery, a recently renovated archery facility. Gotham Archery boasts 43 lanes, equipment rentals, and introductory classes for new beginners. This activity is mostly reserved for older children as only ten and up are allowed access to equipment, per safety concerns, though children as young as 8 can participate in the Junior Olympic Archery Development program.

Website: https://www.got-archery.com

 

Birdman Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Birdman Brazilian Jiu Jitsu boasts a brand new, state of the art facility just a few blocks up from Union St subway station. While they just opened their newest location in Park Slope on January 1st, instructor John “Birdman” Finn has been practicing and teaching the art form for many years, and offers experienced black belt instruction. Jiu Jitsu promotes team building, confidence, and dedication to technique. Open to children from ages seven and up.

Website: http://birdmanbjj.com

 

Pure Energy Martial Arts

Toronto native Tessa Gordon owns and operates Pure Energy Martial Arts, now a staple in the Park Slope Community. With a 6th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Master Gordon exhibits full command and knowledge of the Korean art form, and uses her school to share and teach that ability to her students. Gordon hosts kids programs for children as young as three and for teens/adults of all belts. Programs include: Juniors, Cage Fitness, Demo Team, and Birdman Brazilian Ju Jitsu. Free trial classes available.

Website: http://www.pureenergymartialarts.com

 

Brooklyn Fencing

Right at the top of Park Slope is Brooklyn Fencing Center. Fencing is a unique skill that fosters coordination and poise. For kids with a competitive streak, Brooklyn Fencing also hosts tournaments throughout the year. The center offers child classes for kids aged 7-9, junior classes for 10-17. Levels are inclusive to fencers new to the sport as well as for the more advanced: “New Beginners,” “Intermediate & Competitive Fencers,” and “Bouting.” Private lessons are also available. Beginner group rates start at $199 a month.

Website: http://www.brooklynfencing.com

 

Ice Skating

Can’t get enough of the cold? Consider taking the kids ice-skating in the LeFrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park. Lakeside offers two outdoor winter rinks to skate circles around your neighbors or hug the wall to your heart’s content. If you’d prefer a warmer activity, scurry inside for a hot apple cider at the Bluestone Cafe and pop on some rollerblades to skate indoors. Check back in the spring to explore Lakeside in new ways on boats and bikes. Admission to ice-skate is $7 on weekdays, $10 on weekends. Rollerblading: $6 on weekdays/$9 on weekends. Respective ice-skates and rollerblades are priced separately.

Website: http://lakesidebrooklyn.com/activities/

 

Aikido of Park Slope

Park Slope is also host to Brooklyn’s largest aikido dojo. Aikido is a Japanese martial art created in the 1900s that is protective, disciplined, and disarming; its aim is not to fight, but to neutralize opponents. Aikido’s children’s program is open to kids from ages five and over, for lessons which inspire problem solving and peaceful combat. Available at a monthly rate of $100.

Website: http://www.aikidoofparkslope.com

 

Puppet Show

For little ones with a creative spark, catch the Yellow Sneaker Puppet Sing-Alongs every Thursday at 10:30am at Sir D’s Lounge on Union Street. The musical group and their silly puppet friends join in song (both original and traditional) as they encourage children to clap and sing along. $10 for kids, $5 for each additional sibling.

Website: http://www.yellowsneakerpuppets.com

Filed Under: Park Slope Life Tagged With: activities, adventure, business, community, family, friendly, hobbies, local, neighborhood, Park Slope

Park Slope Reading: Our Winter Reading List

February 7, 2018 By Anna Storm Filed Under: Books, Local Literature Tagged With: community, fall, list, Literature, options, reading, season

The weather outside is frightful–and we couldn’t be happier for the excuse to stay inside and read. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Books with which to hibernate this winter. 

 

Eat the Apple

by Matt Young 

This formally inventive memoir by ex-Marine Young comes specially recommended by Community Bookstore’s Ezra Goldstein. Young had only recently graduated from high school when he joined the Marines back in 2005, a decision that would, as Publishers Weekly describes it, change him into a “dangerous and damaged man.” Sections written in the third person, in the second person, as screenplay, and as imagined dialogues, as well as with a host of other techniques, give this account from an ex-grunt-turned-creative-writing-professor a singular power.

 

What Are We Doing Here?

By Marilynne Robinson

A favorite of Community Bookstore’s Stephanie Valdez, Marilynne Robinson returns this winter with a collection of essays on the little things in life, such as culture, history, and human decency. Among other topics, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author writes eloquently on our political climate and the “human capacity for grandeur.” For those who like their ideas as deep as they are expansive.

 

Feel Free: Essays

by Zadie Smith

‘Tis the season for lady authors with formidable intelligences. This second collection of essays from celeb (one who is celebrated as well as a celebrity) author Smith includes her thoughts on cultural touchstones from Facebook to global warming. It is divided into five sections—In the World, In the Audience, In the Gallery, On the Bookshelf, and Feel Free—and is certain not to disappoint her numerous fans.

 

Sunburn

by Laura Lipmann

This highly anticipated novel is no. 23 from the bestselling Lippman. A former reporter and author of the popular series about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan, Lippman has written Sunburn as a noir in the vein of James M. Cain (of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity fame). A young mother up and leaves her husband and daughter while on a beach vacation. Who she is and just how many skeletons she is hiding in that closet of hers filled with items to complement her sexy red hair are just two of the questions that drive the twisty plot.

 

Madness is Better Than Defeat

by Ned Beauman

A Hollywood crew intending to shoot a film on the location and members of a New York corporation who want to ship it back to the U.S. simultaneously descend upon a Mayan ruin in 1930’s Honduras. Twenty years later, they’re all still there. This raucously comic novel from the Man Booker-nominated Beauman (for 2012’s The Teleportation Accident) is filled with the author’s trademark wit and features a host of colorful characters, incident, and a wrestling match with an octopus.

 

The Man of Mokha

by Dave Eggers

This is the sort of true tale for which the phrase “stranger than fiction” was invented. Eggers’ nonfiction story centers on Mokhtar Alkhanshali, an American raised by Yemeni immigrants in San Francisco. At 24 and unable to afford college, Alkhanshali was working as a doorman when he learned that coffee originated in his native Yemen. He traveled to the country determined to revitalize its coffee industry—and was still there when civil war broke out, leaving him unable to return home. A real-life hero’s journey.

 

The Children of Blood and Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi

This 600-page fantasy novel earned Adeyemi a hefty payday that included seven figures and a movie deal. Not too bad for a 23-year-old debut author. In this first installment of a planned trilogy we meet 17-year-old Zélie. She embarks upon a quest to retrieve the magic that has been banished from her homeland by an evil king. The Nigerian-American Adeyemi draws heavily upon the West African mythology she studied in Brazil after graduating from Harvard, and speaks to timely issues of race, power and oppression.

 

Jagannath

by Karin Tidbeck

WIRED calls this first collection of English-language short stories from the Swedish Tidbeck “weird in all the right ways.” Her influences range from Jorge Luis Borges and Ursula Le Guin to H.P. Lovecraft. Strange creatures lurking in the Swedish countryside, strange reproductive facilities operating inside the belly of an aircraft, strange happenings between sisters and the fairylike beings they encounter…For those who like their literature to transport them far off the beaten path.

 

Extraordinary People

by Michael Hearst

This latest from Park Slope local Hearst includes mini profiles of 50 fascinating and fairly off-kilter individuals. Curious about the man who agreed to jump Niagara Falls for a whopping $75? How about the woman who walked to the North Pole solo, or the guy who MacGyvered his own personal version of Up using helium balloons and a lawn chair? For the full effect, purchase the book-and-CD (called Songs for Extraordinary People) combo.

 

Unraveling Rose

by Brian Wray

In this children’s book by Wray of Windsor Terrace, a stuffed bunny named Rose loses interest in all the things she once loved when a tiny loose thread dangling from her arm becomes all that she can think about. The author hopes his book can help parents and teachers discuss with children the effects of obsessive thoughts, as well as be a helpful tool for kids who suffer from anxiety disorders. A charming and timely offering.

 

Filed Under: Books, Local Literature Tagged With: community, fall, list, Literature, options, reading, season

The Art of Bookselling • The Reader Interview

January 31, 2018 By Anna Storm Filed Under: Books, The Reader Interview Tagged With: bestseller, books, bookstore, community, local, selling

Stephanie Valdez and Ezra Goldstein of Community Bookstore

 

“You’re really catching us on quite a day,” said Stephanie Valdez when I met up with her and Community Bookstore co-owner Ezra Goldstein one afternoon early in December. Not only was the usual holiday rush upon them, there were last-minute children’s book fairs to coordinate (“it’s almost like setting up two more stores”), book orders to be completed without delay, and sniffles to be suppressed as best one could. (All sneezes have been omitted from the following conversation.) Yet the staff was in good cheer. When I arrived, Ezra was standing by the front register regaling several employees and a customer with a story. Stephanie laughed as she typed busily at the computer, while store mascot Tiny the Cat lounged with characteristic disinterest inside his basket in a corner of the window.

At the back of the store by several bowls of cat food Stephanie and I chatted before Ezra, busy with orders, joined us partway through the conversation. They spoke of current bestsellers, the books that should be selling better, that episode of “Louie,” the charm of Karl Ove Knausgaard, and a man, his chicken and Tiny the Cat.


To begin, it would be great if you could describe how you found the store when you first took over in 2011.

Stephanie Valdez: How we found it? In what condition?

Exactly, how you would describe the space.

SV: The store was much different then than it is today. Ok, how would I describe it. The owner, who’s a friend of ours, her name is Catherine, she’d moved to Albania, and she was going back and forth between here and Albania on a regular basis, and the store was being run by a couple of college students who were here trying to do their best under the very difficult circumstances. The store was in debt; it was filled with animals. We had two dogs, two cats, a bearded dragon, a bunny, and two turtles. Which made it chaotic. And physically, the store was sort of a labyrinth of shelves and nooks and crannies, and it was in need of some work. We actually bought it in 2011, but we took over in 2010, so we spent some time just fixing it up. And it was really wonderful, in a way, because the work that needed to be done was so clear. Every day you’d come in and you’d just tackle a corner. It was sort of like a fixer-upper project where you’re renovating a house, where every day you can tackle a project and turn it around and make it better. And that process was sort of a gift to us and part of why we decided to buy the store.

What would you say is the most interesting event that you have hosted?

[pullquote]We are very lucky because we are one of the few independents that we almost only sell books, we don’t have to entice people in with toys to get them to buy books. We just focus on books. We’re very lucky our audience is made up of very avid readers. We don’t have to convince them that books are a necessity[/pullquote]SV: That’s a really tough question. I’d have to think about that a little bit. Certainly our most packed ever was when we had Karl Ove Knausgaard. It’s when he suddenly got very famous, and we knew it would be packed, but it ended up being like, wall-to-wall standing-room-only for 200ish people. We’ve never hosted anything like that, before or since.

Was it in this space, in the bookstore?

SV: [Nods affirmatively] There was a line outside the door. To get him into the space we had to move people aside in order to go through. There’s actually a picture on The New York Times site of him parting the crowds to walk through this completely packed space. That was also very charming, because he ended up staying and hanging out with us for the whole evening in the garden, drinking cheap beer, which is unlike what most authors do.

What do most authors do?

SV: Especially touring authors, when they come to New York they have dinner with their agent or they go out with their friends that are local. It’s rare that they sit in the Community Bookstore garden and drink cheap beer.

Is there a writer whom you have never hosted that you would love to?

SV: I always wanted to host Marilynne Robinson. And then we actually did host Marilynne Robinson and I was judging a literary prize. And of all days, it’s the day we were hosting Marilynne Robinson that I had to be in another city, judging a prize. And I tried to make it work and there was just no way to be in two places at once, and so, I missed hosting Marilynne Robinson. Which was unfortunate. But I have hope that we will host her again.

 

 

Do you have a favorite Park Slope author?

That seems fraught.

It does!

SV: It seems like if I do, I shouldn’t say. [Pause] Probably Siri Hustvedt.

And why is that?

SV: I just love her books. They’re brainy and complex and feminist and brilliant.

Are you yourself a writer?

SV: I dabble a little bit, but I’ll say no, not currently.

I know you also manage Terrace Books. What are some of the challenges you face as you try to manage these two spaces at once?

SV: Time. Time is the biggest. Terrace Books is sort of my side-hustle. My husband runs that shop. But I do most of the book-buying. And I also do a bit of rare books out of that space, and so, that’s my side project. Bookstores require a lot of time. I mean, it’s a small space, you think, how complicated is it to run a bookstore? Somehow there are always new books and there are always new events. So, however much time we have, it doesn’t ever seem to be quite enough.

How would you describe a typical day at Community Bookstore?

SV: A typical day involves coming in, feeding the cat, turning on all the lights and the computers, and then, Ezra orders books every day, every weekday, so he works on book orders. And then the thing about working in a bookstore is that you never know what the day will bring. You never know who will show up and what questions they’ll ask and what conversations will ensue. There’s a lot of email in my job, between events and ordering books and all sorts of things. And tending the shelves, shelving books. I do less unpacking than I used to, but we get boxes and boxes of books, five days a week. So, this time of year, it can be 40 boxes of books.

Do you read all the new books that come in?

SV: Oh, I wish. We try to read as much as we can, but that just depends.

Do you try to set aside time to do so?

SV: Reading is not part of our day-job. It’s all extra-curricular. So, just like anywhere else, we have to fit it into our after hours’ time. I have a one-year-old, so, currently my after hours’ time is a little more limited than usual.

Are you reading any books to your one-year-old?

SV: Oh, yes. He’s a very avid reader so far. He’s now at the phase where he tends to want to repeat the same books.

Which can be both fun and a little maddening, I would imagine.

SV: Yeah, I’ve already memorized a shocking number of children’s’ books, which makes me realize I could have been memorizing all kinds of things all along.

Does he have a favorite?

SV: What’s his absolute favorite right now? He really likes The Quiet Noisy Book, by Margaret Wise Brown. She’s famous for Goodnight Moon. This is sort of a lost book of hers that’s been republished. And a book called Hooray for Birds [by Lucy Cousins]. Which is just about birds.

I know you mentioned [Tiny] the cat earlier as well. I’ve read a few different stories about him. Do you have a favorite?

SV: Well, my favorite was when I was hosting a story-time for an author and there was a group of toddlers sitting here on the floor and a man walked into the middle of the event and pulled out a chicken from under his coat, and put the chicken down on the ground. And within an instant, Tiny was chasing the chicken and we were chasing the chicken and Tiny to try and prevent disaster in front of this group of toddlers.

Why did this man bring a chicken to the store?

SV: I guess there was a chicken in the book and they thought it might be fun if he just showed up and brought a chicken. It was a show-and-tell type thing. But we weren’t warned about the chicken, and cats and chickens don’t really mix. And I guess he had a cat at home as well as a chicken, so, as far as he knew, cats and chickens cohabitated just fine. But our cat, Tiny, does kill birds with some regularity, so, this was not your average cat.

These were not characters from a children’s story.

SV: Exactly.

[Ezra joins]

What is your current bestseller here in the store?

SV: Is it Jennifer Egan?

Ezra Goldstein: It would be close between Manhattan Beach [by Jennifer Egan] and Sing, Unburied, Sing [by Jesmyn Ward], I think.

Are there books that you believe ought to be selling better than they are? 

EG: Well, there are a lot of books like that. But there are a couple of books that I’ve read recently that are really outstanding that didn’t make any of the best lists that should have been on the lists. One of which I’m reading now called Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor, terrific book. Another is Solar Bones [by Mike McCormack], really good book. But that’s up to us, because a lot of books that we think are really good don’t get the publicity that they deserve, because they come from small presses or they go under the radar. In general, small presses don’t get the publicity they deserve, so that’s why we exist, to put those books in people’s hands.

How do you try to find the smaller under-the-radar books?

SV: We talk a lot to those small publishers as well as talk to other readers, whether it’s other booksellers, customers who come in. We read reviews. You try to keep your ear to the ground for good things coming out.

EG: The book Reservoir 13, one of our customers told me I had to read it. And she was right.

Do you have customers coming in and asking you for books that are not currently stocked?

SV: Every day. We do a lot of books by special order, because we’re such a small store, and we can often get books within a day or two. So, yes. We often have people special-order books. And then we often take a look at them to see if that’s something we should carry.

EG: I think it’s also that it’s connected to our reputation, that we can get books and we’re really good at getting books. And also our clientele tend to be people who go very deep into backlist books, you know, books that came out 20 years ago or 30 years ago. Those are the kinds of readers that we have.

SV: Our customer base is filled with just great readers and they often recommend us books, so it is a two-way conversation.

Have you ever had a particularly unusual request?

SV: For a book?

Yes, for a book, something that was very difficult to find, that was very old, or very rare. Speaking of Terrace Books as well.

SV: Well, we don’t do rare or used special orders. So mostly, it’s just things that are out of print. I think the most frustrating thing is when there’s something that’s out of print that shouldn’t be. There have been various points in time when certain books are just out of print, and it seems like it shouldn’t be out of print.

EG: With some regularity we’ll track down a book in England that we order for people. It’ll take a month to get, but, you know, we’ll get it.

SV: We don’t really have a zany story. It’s mostly pretty prosaic.

EG: One of the great stories was that Laura Ingalls Wilder book, the original one that came from the South Dakota historical society. It got written up somewhere and became this surprise bestseller.

SV: In The Times, yeah.

EG: This poor tiny historical society in South Dakota was cranking out books. So I was calling South Dakota and we actually got—I think we got just about every copy they had. [Laughs]

What is the book that you’ve been recommending the most recently?

EG: Well, you know, it depends on who the person is. But, the Sing, Unburied, Sing, which won all the prizes, deserved them. It’s a very fine book. But it’s not for everybody because it’s a very grim and hard book. That’s the art of bookselling, is trying to match the recommendation with what people want.

I also saw that Community Bookstore was featured in an episode of “Louie” a few years ago. Have you had customers coming in and asking you about that?

SV: I actually haven’t had any inquiries lately.

EG: Not lately.

SV: Since the scandal.

EG: But a lot right after the show came out. A lot. People would come in and wander around and say, ‘Nah, this isn’t the store. It’s not big enough.’ [Laughs]

SV: It’s unfortunate. We weren’t necessarily fans of his, and a couple of years ago quite a few rumors were flying around about these allegations. So we haven’t really used that footage as publicity or anything and we met him in passing once. I don’t think we have anything especially interesting to say about him or the scandal.

EG: Although I did get to hang out with Parker Posey, so.

Is she cool in real life?

EG: Oh, yeah. She’s really neat. Yeah. She’s really nice. She was in the episode.

SV: And Chloe Sevigny as well.

EG: Yeah, Chloe Sevigny, that’s right. Both very nice.

SV: Both readers.

Did they buy anything?

EG: Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah. And the producer, who’s a wonderful woman, bought a whole big stack of books.

SV: We’ll probably continue to just keep our distance and move on.

You read a lot about the resurgence of independent bookstores nowadays, in spite of Amazon. To what would you attribute your continuing success here?

EG: A very loyal customer-base. And just being fortunate to live in a neighborhood where people like to shop small and like to see what they’re buying and like books, love books.

SV: Dedicated readers. We are very lucky because we are one of the few independents that we almost only sell books, we don’t have to entice people in with toys to get them to buy books. We just focus on books. We’re very lucky our audience is made up of very avid readers. We don’t have to convince them that books are a necessity.

 

 

Filed Under: Books, The Reader Interview Tagged With: bestseller, books, bookstore, community, local, selling

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