Aug 19, 2013

By Elyssa Goodman “What are you doing today?” my roommate asked me. “I’m going to Brooklyn to eat pie,” I said. I love my job. I’m sure a sane person doesn’t travel an hour for a slice of pie, but that’s not really an adjective that’s been used to describe me. Besides, if you’ve ever had a slice of pie from Four & Twenty Blackbirds,...

By Elyssa Goodman   Originally from South Florida, I grew up a little spoiled by my proximity to the beach (30 minutes on a busy day). But when I moved to New York, I knew things would be different. I knew I needed a beach relatively close (which, by New York standards meant the shortest commute of 1.5 hours), that I could get to with my MetroCard, and that...

Jun 27, 2013

By Elyssa Goodman The mermaids had been in trouble. For thirty years, they had been rising up from the ocean to flaunt their glittering scales and seashells, leaving a trail of seaspray and seaweed across the hearts of hundreds of thousands of onlookers at the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. But this past year the mermaids’ resources were threatened by...

By Elyssa Goodman Once a month, Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden in Crown Heights is flooded with literature groupies sipping happy hour beverages, waiting to listen to lush poetry and prose. The space is home to the Franklin Park Reading Series, curated by writer and editor Penina Roth. Roth has been hosting readings at the bar since 2009, and it seems like...

May 13, 2013

By Elyssa Goodman “I could be working or I could be photographing ballerinas at Chez Bushwick!” Oriana Leckert laughed, when I interviewed her about her website Brooklyn Spaces last month. Her statement took me by surprise—what? Ballerinas? In Broo Walking down Boerum Street, just off the Morgan stop on the L train, the eye is caught by a wealth of neon...

Apr 15, 2013

Oriana Leckert Chronicles Past and Present Underground on Brooklyn Spaces By Elyssa Goodman Oriana Leckert arrives at El Beit on Bedford Avenue on her bike. She rushes in in a tizzy, her curly hair short and swinging past her ears, a messenger bag made of recycled materials swung over her shoulder. Her cheeks form two perfect circles when she smiles and sits...