166 N 7th St
(at Bedford)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-599-1596
http://stationnyc.com/

via Urban Daddy

Introducing Station, an antiqued-up gem of a French-South-African-Thai date spot in Williamsburg, now open for dinner and brunch.

You’re going to pick up an old-European-train-station vibe here. Which may be because it’s two steps away from the entrance to the Bedford L stop. And this being Williamsburg, the whole train thing is given a sort of handlebar-mustachioed old-timey-ness.

Gaze in through the French doors into the white-tiled, cherry-wooded dining area. Look, the kitchen is wide open. They even want you to talk with the chefs. Now stop gazing and enter. Yes, that was a 17th-century antique Columbia door handle on the entrance. Note how it opened the hell out of that door.

Now be seated. If yours is a post-work kind of get-together, pull up a two-top, preferably one next to an orchid (for mystery). Order up some African-chili mussels and getting-to-know-you peanut butter spinach. If it’s later—say, after 11pm and before 2am—grab a seat at the bar right up next to where the culinary magic is happening. You’re in the chef’s hands for the evening.

Read more: http://www.urbandaddy.com/articles/print/18502#ixzz209v32A1b

Via Grub Street

“I’m a huge fan of crappy food,” says Matt Lang. By which, we might add by way of clarification, he means delicious crappy food as opposed to crappy crappy food. The former Fette Sau pit-master is a Baltimore native and so, by definition, a fan of that city’s favorite fish, the fried whiting, which is known there for some inexplicable reason as “lake trout.” That’s the name Lang has taken for the fried-whiting shop he opens next week with business partner Joe Carroll that celebrates the fast food of his Baltimore youth.

On the menu, you’ll find not only the namesake specialty of the house served with white bread and housemade hot sauce but also fried shrimp, chicken wings, and a cheese fish sandwich (fried pollack on a Martin’s potato roll with a Velveeta-based cheese sauce that you could certainly describe as falling under the heading of “delicious crappy”). Lang also aims to redeem what he considers the sorry state of the crab cake by employing the little-known crushed-Saltine-cracker method he learned at the knee of his grandmother.

To wash it all down, there will eventually be beer (Schaefer, Ballantine, and Genny Cream in cans, of course). And the décor follows the direction of the food with bright-orange plastic chairs built into the cafeteria-style tables and some blown-up Baltimore Orioles baseball cards from the seventies hung on the walls.

Lake Trout, 160 Havemeyer St., nr. S. 2nd St., Williamsburg; no phone yet

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A Walk in the Park

Today marks a week that the newly renovated McCarren Park Pool has been open and boy oh boy what a week it’s been. In response to the attacks on lifeguards, assault on police, and theft –  not to mention the bad press – police have moved in with full force. A Walk in the Park reports that twenty officers were on site on Tuesday, as well as more park security personnel.

Despite Tuesday’s increased police presence, two more lockers were broken into that day. Tensions also flared when certain individuals were denied entry.

While we doubt the rocky start will mar the $50 million project, we can’t help but think back to the violence that caused the pool’s shutdown in 1984. Here’s how The New York Times described the site in 1990 after it had been closed for some years:

“Now it sits crumbling, a huge and lonely bulwark against the Manhattan skyline, devastated by neglect, vandals and drug addicts who regularly breach its walls since the pool was closed seven years ago…

Renovation was to have begun in 1984, but was halted by the objections of residents living near the pool, who wanted it closed for good. They contended that the pool had become overrun by thousands of teen-agers and had become a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes.”

There were also at least two drownings, one in 1969 and one in 1977.

A Walk In The Park

On Sunday we told you about how the McCarren Park Pool was off to a rocky start, including an incident in which teens attacked a lifeguard who told them not to do backflips. Well it looks like that was only the beginning. Another fight went down yesterday and this time the NYPD was called in and two officers were sent to the hospital.

According to Gothamist, police responded to a call around 5:15 p.m because of another dispute between lifeguards and bathers over doing backflips. A brawl ensued and one officer got punched in the face and another injured his/her wrist.

Sources speculate that the M8-13 MS-13 gang may have been involved. The police arrested three people and charged them with assaulting an officer, disorderly conduct, and inciting to riot. According to city parks blog A Walk In The Park, there are just two police officers per shift for 1,500 swimmers. Four lockers were also broken into on Monday and at least one woman’s purse was stolen.

People, please follow the rules and be nice to the lifeguards. Or maybe just avoid the pool all together.

Brooklyn Vegan's Instagram

It’s been four days since the McCarren Park Pool’s big reopening and things have gotten off to a rough start. Thursday’s event featured a well-intentioned ceremony by Mayor Bloomberg, but he kept referring to the park as “McClarren” and only mentioned its location in Williamsburg, not Greenpoint. The pool should have opened at 11 a.m., but reports say it didn’t open until 1:30 p.m. Lines stretched forever and were excruciating because of the heat and small children.

Perhaps one could have expected Thursday’s opening to be chaotic with everyone wanting a piece of that first swim. But conditions on Friday grew even worse when teens attacked lifeguards over a dispute about doing back flips. The incident resulted in an early closure for the pool.

Things seem to have quieted down this weekend, but we’re guessing that once people see the rules for the pool (the same for public pools all over the city), they may think twice about going. Here are some of them:

-Only bathing suits can be worn on the pool deck (white tee shirts over suits are ok)

-No one with bandages is allowed in

-You must shower in the locker room before swimming

-No electronic equipment - including cell phones – is allowed on the pool deck (you must lock in a locker and bring your own lock)

-No alcohol

If you’re ok with ditching the alcohol and iPhone for a few hours – which might not be the worst thing – check out our McCarren Park Pool site for more info.

The Diamond

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The long-awaited reopening of McCarren Park pool has arrived. The 37,950-square-foot pool will be open daily 11am-3pm and then from 4pm-7pm.

Best of all, it’s FREE!

HOURS: 11am-3pm and 4pm-7pm
PRICE: Free

Today, the pool will be open from 2-3pm and the from 4-7pm.

For more information, visit mccarrenpark.com

In case you can’t wait for McCarren Park Pool to open on Thursday. Via Daily News

For swimmers who don’t mind water with a lot of salt, a Williamsburg hotel has just opened the city’s only saltwater pool to its patrons. Brooklynites are flocking to King & Grove on N. 12th St., where admission to the 20-foot-wide, 40-foot-long, 4-foot-deep pool is ordering something off the hotel bar’s menu.

“I don’t know why people don’t know about this,” said sunbather Bridget Balliett, 24, as she sipped a $7 Blue Moon ale while lounging on one of the five poolside daybeds with three friends. All work at a nearby Bedford Ave. clothing store, and had come over on their lunch break to eat, drink, and tan.

“It’s better than a rinky-dink public pool,” said Balliett’s pal Katie McDermott, 19.

The King & Grove lodging chain acquired Hotel Williamsburg earlier this year. Shortly afterward, staffers found saline and chlorine filters attached to the outdoor first-floor swimming hole, which sits just a few feet from the lobby bar.

Management decided to open up the pool to the public during Memorial Day weekend, turning the deck into a full-blown serving area that can accommodate up to 149 visitors. Besides beds, patrons can book a seat at one of the 10 tables or on one of the 18 bleachers.

“We want to be part of the neighborhood,” said food and beverage director Christopher Dorsey. “We don’t want to be pretentious.”

Still, Dorsey said officials are debating whether to charge a $45 cover as the pool’s popularity grows.