She asked my wife to come in yesterday and get her old extensions removed and also set up an appointment for today to put on the new ones.

Yesterday the lady who was removing them took an hour to remove them. So my wife paid 50% of the rate of 10$ and left.

Today morning the owner calls up and says that the removal took too long etc and now she will not offer the 50% discount.

When my wife told her that this is not an hourly rate job but a service provided and if her lady took an hour, she is not to be blamed for it.

The owner told her, to either pay full price today or cancel the appointment. My wife canceled the appointment. The money involved is not the issue here. Principle is.

To summarize

a) The owner of Polish Bar of Brooklyn did not tell my wife that you did not have the requisite experience and expertise to deal with her nail extensions. If you did not possess the technical know how, say so. Don’t lead her on a wild goose chase just to get her business.

b) If you agree to do a job, do it till the end. Don’t quit on the customer half way and tell them to find their own way after you screw up.

c) If you offer a discount, stick to it. The actual cost of the services is not the issue. The principles are.

The owner was obnoxious and for sure, my wife will never go to this place again.
As a note, my wife says that this place is way more expensive than its Manhattan equals.

And with that extra money you pay, you would at least hope to get a reasonable decent owner, who is interested in doing business and not shafting the customer.

Just last week and again today, I see someone parking their car bang in the middle of two open spots. In both cases I had to pull up and ask them to move their car back or front so I could also park. If I was not there at that instant, they would have just parked and gone away.

I realize there is no rule to force them to park so as not to take up two vacant spots, but isnt it the right thing to do.

The guy today who parked was already out of his car and then made a big fuss about getting back in. However I have a big SUV (ok ok I know!) and he realized that one way or the other I was going to try to squeeze in and would invariably bump his car. Only then did he get in his car and pull back freeing up one entire car parking spot.

Other than dismissing these drivers as assholes, is there something that can be done. Or does one just swallow it and move on ?

However this story on Gowanus Canal, shows us another seedier, murkier, darker underside of the justice system and the police in general. A woman was arrested because there was a warrant out for her for having a dog unleashed on the road. She sends in a detailed account

because she was horrified at the conditions at the Brooklyn Central Booking on Schermerhorn Street between Smith and Boerum Place.

The R word comes up in her account and frankly anyone who has lived in NYC has been either a victim or a witness to racial profiling over the years.

And more so in Brooklyn.

There seemed to be a giant amount of racial profiling going on — alot of woman in the cell were just picked up wrongly and booked for supposed violations. (Open bottle of alcohol.) It seemed that they wanted to put as many black folk in the system as possible. I grew up in brooklyn in the 70s . My dad grew up here. I am not a naive, knucklehead from a transferred suburban bubble. This “pick up anyone for anything and process them for it” as my lawyer informed me, was a Guiliani mandate. It is racist. It has divided this city and it is making this place a plasticized suburb that I don’t think I have the heart to remain in. It is disturbing to watch these rich kids prance around Smith Street, when 2 blocks away, there is a cell where you are held without communication, water, food and logic. The judge threw my case out in 2 seconds and was visibly irritated that i was locked up for a day for an offleash summons.

When I left the building 25 hours later, I realized that just one block away, there are $3 million townhouses. PS: the 16 year old that was in the cell for 2 and a half days…her case was also dismissed.

The contrast between the ugliness inside and privilege outside will be even stronger if the city goes ahead with plans to reopen the bigger jail complex and add luxe condos and retail.

Moral of the story is: If you ever have had to go to court for even the smallest incident, make sure that the follow up was thorough and there were no loose ends. It may otherwise land you in jail.

“A powerful documentary by a well-respected filmmaker, Brookyn Matters is a must see for all New Yorkers who care about the future of their neighborhoods and the role that public policy and process plays in determining that future.”

-Marilyn Gelber, Former Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection

“Brooklyn Matters is a remarkable film that slowly, quietly, calmly reveals the extreme ugliness at the heart of one of the most ill-conceived mega-development schemes in New York history.”

-Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian

“It wasn’t until viewing Isabel Hill’s film that I realized the true scope of what is at stake for the future of Brooklyn in proceeding with the development of the Atlantic Yards in its present form.”

-Carmi Bee, FAIA, RKT&B Architects & Planners

January 31 7:00 p.m. Belarusian Church-Atlantic Ave and Bond St, Bklyn (sponsored by Boerum Hill Asso).-RSVP-718-858-3822, ext 100, 917-868-5332 or suebrownstone@att.net

February 1 6:00 pm Pratt Institute, Higgins Hall Auditorium, 61 St. James Pl, Bklyn.

February 21 7:00 pm Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School on Clermont and Greene, Bklyn.( sponsored by Fort Greene Association and Society for Clinton Hill.

February 27 7:00 p.m.Fifth Avenue Committtee-621 DeGraw St, Bklyn RSVP-718-237-2017, ext. 162 or vrentz@fifthave.org

March 7 7:00 p.m.Two Boots Pioneer Theater (sponsored by the Historic Districts Council) East 3rd St bet Aves A & B, NYC, RSVP: 212-614-9107 Ext/ 10 or lbelfer@hdc.org

For more information check link below

http://www.brooklynmatters.com/

]]> http://clintonhill.us/brooklyn-matters-documentary-viewing/feed/ 0 http://clintonhill.us/is-freshdirect-good-for-you/ http://clintonhill.us/is-freshdirect-good-for-you/#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:11:19 +0000 arZan http://clintonhill.us/is-freshdirect-good-for-you/

Image Copyrights: The Gothamist

FreshDirect trucks plying all around the city is now a city staple. Like the yellow cab and the hotdog vendor it is part and parcel of New York life. When FreshDirect started out, it served Manhattan initially and slowly spread to the outer boroughs. This inspite of the fact that its warehouse and facilities are in Queens.

Since then it has followed an arbitrary pattern of opting neighborhoods into its delivery zone. Many parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx are not yet served by FreshDirect.

These are neighborhoods that FreshDirect deems underserved, or in plain terms…not worth the bother.

Bed-Stuy my old neighborhood is one such place. It borders Williamsburgh and Clinton Hill but FreshDirect wont go there. And this has riled a lot of residents, who are venting their frustration on this discussion board.

As one poster to the board writes

….they had the nerve to have a subway ad in the Myrtle-Willoughby train station and they don’t even deliver here!….And what’s more insulting is that I think some of the people around here actually WORK for Fresh Direct! Evil or Very Mad Fresh Direct can go directly to hell.

Having ordered from FreshDirect initially when they started out, I was baffled by the number of boxes they used to pack things. Groceries worth 40$ came in 5 boxes. And after I unpacked, I had to discard the boxes. There was no system of returning them to FreshDirect to be recycled.

Also the trucks park all over my neighborhood and are idling all the time. Each delivery takes about 10-15 minutes from the time the driver stops to the time he pulls out of his illegal double parking spot. Is an idling diesel engine good for the environment. I can understand that it is necessary that the refrigeration units stay chilled but that does not mean that I, living on the first floor breathe the exhaust directly aimed at my window. And all that because one of my neighbors wants to eat healthy.

As much as organic healthy food is necessary for a nation of people battling obesity and all kinds of related health conditions, FreshDirect may not be right answer. At what cost does one demand convenience ?

Shops in our neighborhood dont accept debit or credit cards. On the other hand they install ATM machines in their shops.

A case in point is Conneticut Muffins on the corner of Myrtle and Clinton.

They dont accept credit cards, and there is no sign informing one of that. I orderd a hot choclate and when i gave my card i got the retort back “No credit cards”. And the sick part is that it came with an attitude. I felt as if by offering a CC i was doing a guilty act. I just wanted hot choclate, not attitude.

Another such place is the Dry cleaners on the same block on Myrtle. To be fair though, the employee there said that everyone complains about it but the owner does not care and does not want to do anything.

What’s with this whole no CC issue.

I personally now don’t go to Conneticut Muffins, for that simple reason. I hate to carry cash around and prefer all expenses on my debit card which allows me an easy access to keep tabs on what I spend.

If as a customer I cannot be provided a service, I take my business elsewhere.

The scenario is the same at Macy’s Brooklyn, Office Depot at the Atlantic Avenue Mall and the Pathmark at the same location.

This post was inspired by an interesting discussion going on at the Brooklynian. Check it out and voice your woes

However in the last two days I encountered two restaurants that don’t accept credit cards.

The first one was Kum Kau Chinese on the corner of Washington and Myrtle. I ordered some take out and go to pick it up. Having always paid by card over there, I proffer my piece of plastic only to be told that they don’t accept cards after 10 pm. WTF. What kind of a policy is that. It was around midnight and I was in no mood to go to a bank and get cash and come back. So I just walked out and picked up food from Sappolo a couple of blocks down. What irked me was their unreasonable policy of not accepting credit cards after some arbitrary cut off time. I’d rather walk out then give my business to them.

The second such place is Rice. I had Saturday brunch there and just when I am about to pay, I am told “we don’t accept credit cards”. Again WTF !! Reluctantly I had to go to the deli next door and get some cash from the ATM. I find it really annoying that a restaurant that wants to be taken seriously does not even offer an amenity that is so standard in today’s life. Firstly their wait staff is a little weird and then they pull this fast one ! I don’t think I am going back to Rice till they change their card policy and hopefully their wait staff too.