Clinton Hill Chill Blog

Now most of you who live in the neighborhood will recognize this triangular “island”, which is located where Putnam starts and splits off from Fulton Street. What some of you might not know is that there used to be a triangular shaped building in the same exact location. Looking at the picture from 1959, it appears to only have been two stories but in my recollection I thought it was a bit taller(maybe it was because I was just smaller!). It’s unfortunate that my memories of this building are not good and when it was demolished in the late eighties or early nineties, most of us felt like “Good Riddance!”.

I noticed today on the way to work all the camera crews on fulton street. They’ve started shooting for the movie “Notorious” and I snatched a few pics of the rapper Gravy who wil be playing Biggie. Also in the cast will be Angela Basset as Biggie’s mom Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke(the lead from Antoine Fisher) who will be playing Puffy. I think the short young lady in the pics by the door is playing Li’l Kim. I give it to them, they’re definitely trying to keep it authentic with the old store signs and even stripped down the wall around the corner to show the old graffiti!

Here’s a few pics I took while hanging with my kids at the playground recently. I love the spring time!!

The next entry in this series was shot in the winter of 1994 I believe. I was in Savannah, Georgia visiting some family when it came out and seeing this video with shots in the neighborhood, made me extremely home sick. The song is called “Renee” and in Hip Hop circles this song would referred to as a “storytelling track”. I guarantee you will recognize specific locations watching this video…Enjoy!

P.S. Please excuse the shot of Toni Braxton in the beginning, this was the only one I could find on youtube or dailymotion.

On my way to work today a feeling of nostalgia hit me as I came upon Fulton street and St.James place. The awning from the pharmacy was removed to reveal the old sign from when it was a liquor store. I’m assumming this is for the movie being filmed about Notorious B.I.G. It would be interesting to see them transform the whole block to give it the 80’s-’90’s feel.

EDIT- I added a picture of Notorious B.I.G in front of the liquor store.

As mentioned previously my father played and continues to play in Fort Greene Park religiously. Here’s some throwback pictures of myself hitting the ball around as we waited for a court on the sidelines. I’m between 3-4 years old, which would make the year either ‘78 0r ‘79. I’ve been kind of slacking, while I handle some things but there will more to come soon. Thanks to all that have left comments, I hope you continue to enjoy this blog!        

Mirrors on Grand will be hosting a fundraiser on Thursday April, 24th for The Paul Robeson Theater which is located on Greene ave between Carlton and Adephi avenues. The Paul Robeson Theater is the only  black theater in Brooklyn and it needs everyone’s efforts to keep it open and maintained. Please don’t miss out on the oppurtunity to make a difference and preserve culture through art. Mirrors on Grand’s address is as follows:

284 Grand ave. (between Lafayette and Clifton place)

Brooklyn, NY 11238

The event time is from 6-9pm

For more info contact: Joy-718-974-5981 or Melva J.Bailey-917-971-5030

 Please pass along to as many people as possible and come out to support the cause!!

This video here was done by the one and only Lauryn Hill. The album that this song is featured on is a certified classic!!

Here’s a class picture of my nursery/pre-k class in 1979. As you can see it’s like a human kiddie crayola box. The Childrens Community of Clinton Hill nursery school, located on waverly between dekalb and lafayette, was very diverse and a reflection of the neighborhood at the time. You had black, white, east asian, latino and mixed kids. The teachers were great and really involved with the children as well as the community as a whole. They would throw events like roller skating, kiddie discos(it was the 70’s!) and various others. I still keep in touch with a few people in this picture and one of the teachers also taught me in Junior High School.

This friday April 11, 2008, celebrity DJ/model Beverly Bond will be spinning at LOX Bar and Ultra Lounge, located on Putnam ave between Cambridge pl. and Grand ave . DJ Beverly Bond has deejayed for everyone from Sean “P.Diddy” Combs to the Republican National Convention(I won’t hold that against her lol). I caught one of her sets at Joe’s Pub before and the lady does her thing! I also had a chance to go in LOX recently and the interior is really nice. Kudos to the owner for doing such a great job, especially considering what has been there over the years.  Here’s the flyer for fridays event: bump-and-grind2