Hey, Monday. Happy Columbus Day and hope some of you are enjoying the tail end of a long weekend. As for me, this weekend found me on a mission to sit still and think about next moves coupled with some much needed chill time. I'm happy to report I did not leave my beautiful Brooklyn neighborhood for a second this weekend- I've literally been hanging in the BK since Wednesday and I can't tell you how much joy and peace I find in this little neck of the woods
I live in Cobble Hill, a neighborhood that was once fairly middle class and is now less than fairly upper class. I lived at Smith and Bergen back in the 90s when my heart was healing from a bad breakup, and as I've mentioned before, this neighborhood, with its charming brownstones and leafy streets healed me. And it still continues to do so, whenever I need it. It's true that Rag and Bone and Barneys have moved in to service the retail needs of the affluent, but the charm remains as does all of that lovely oxygen provided by those trees. And though the skyline is no longer a four story one with buildings going up sky high, I can still see said sky and breathe and relax.
Saturday was kind of crappy, the kind of day when a hangover feels ok (I did not have one ps) because there's not much to do in the gloom and you can slink around town in a sweatshirt and sunglasses and not give one single f. I met a friend for a coffee on Court Street at D'Amico, an old school Italian coffee place down in Carroll Gardens which still thankfully retains an Italian flavor. Over strong espresso and Pellegrino, we sat and talked about life, love, and work, punctuated with the cacophony of old neighborhood types conversing about life, love, and work themselves. And food. Chicken cutlets specifically. If you know me, you know I am a wanna be Italian and feel a real connection to the culture, so it's no surprise I feel completely at home at places where the banter is less about organic kombucha and more about chicken parm. Sure there were a few newborhood peeps around, but for the most part the place still had that old moxie I adore.
If you've been in New York a while, you're well aware that the "old" New York is fading away like an old snapshot, and when I hear that Brooklyn accent spoken loudly while espresso cups clink and hands are clapped for emphasis, I feel happy. There's something so magical to me about the patina of this city, this neighborhood, this life. Although I've got my foot firmly in new ventures, a big part of me loves the not so distant past, when I was young in Brooklyn mending my heart and taking great solace in neighborhood banter. I still do. And even though the hipster moms and dads and their kids named Eden and Ryder are sipping coffee and organic milk down the street at Pedlar and Blue Bottle, I'm more drawn than ever to that authenticity that is slowly going out of focus in New York and America- it's not nostalgia really- it's more like the way a favorite old sweater feels- like the navy scratchy that I wear on a regular basis that is filled with holes but more comfortable and pleasant than my whole wardrobe combined. And really, that's how I feel about my little slice of heaven here in the BK- albeit a little less itchy.
My friend and I joked about setting up shop at this local haunt- taking meetings over caffeine while big Italian men sat watch over us and whispered in our ears as deals were made and our adding machine tape would happily buzz as we closed deals the old fashioned way, punctuated by clicks on our rotary phone, courtesy of the house. Which brings me to the realization that the whole shared work space is not really my jam- you can have your Soho House/WeWork/whatever, but if you need me, I'll most likely be at D'Amico, thinking about how my past can very much inform my future and what's to come. Just wanted to share one of my favorite spots in the mavenhood- if you want to meet for an espresso or a biscotti or whatever else, I'm happy to hang with you. Read all about D'Amico in this piece in the NY Times back in 2015. It's a special spot for a special neighborhood and I feel lucky to remember the way it was, and be here for the way it is. Come visit and I'll take you there.
And that's what's up this Columbus Day in the 718. Yours, in thinking big thoughts but staying close by. XO