We were walking home at dusk last night after some pizza and espresso at Fortunata’s and planned to turn off Knickerbocker onto Troutman as usual, but were detoured at Starr by the blazing display of Christmas lights on this house. It’s clear someone who cares lives at 105 Starr Street — it’s always festooned with flowers and ivy of all kinds, and the first floor has one of those Fiberama awnings (“cawwwl Foi-buh-rah-muhr, yewel be pleeeezed“).
Anyone else seen any good holiday decoration in the hood? Why not put some photos on the BushwickBK Flickr pool and link them below?
Mario December 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
An aesthetic abomination.
Brian H December 8th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Posing as a public spectacle is en vogue in Bushwick.
miked December 8th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
who cares what it looks like? it’s better than darkness
FormerRidgewoodite December 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I believe the house to the left of this is where Maria Hernandez once lived, who the park is named for.
Matt December 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
hah. Every night I walk by, I mentally rearrange the string of white lights hanging between the top floors. Either center that one piece or get enough to stretch across the entire building! Other than that, festive good times.
CamilleTaccarelloChristie December 8th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I lived very close to Starr Street and never saw anything like this. I’m amazed how people in the building co-operate.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 2:46 am
actually the house that is “festooned” is where the late Mrs. Hernadez lived and died.
Jeremy Sapienza December 9th, 2008 at 9:56 am
How lazy of me not to have followed through with a few seconds of googling yesterday when I was wondering if it WAS MH’s building. Thanks Nuri!
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4DE113EF933A0575AC0A96F948260
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I detect an air of facetious which is slightly inappropriate. I did not have to google anything. Perhaps instead of blogging about your neighbors one day you will develop (um, what’s that really hard word for you) balls, yeah that’s it (BALLS) and you will leave the safety of your gentrified urban dwelling and interact with the neighbors you so gleefully insult on a public forum. As a professional, literate, certified mac tech, film directing native brooklynite I find that attitudes like yours are the direct cause of the unweaving of our national fabric. Get a clue
Jeremy Sapienza. Or get some balls.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
facetiousness (excuse me).
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
And honestly your initial photo and article were moderately intelligent. However, your response to my posting reveals your true nature.
neopirate December 9th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
DEFEND BROOKLYN
Armstrong December 9th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Yes, Maria Hernandez lived on the first floor of 105 Starr St. The killers shot her windows out and managed to hit their target, who was getting ready for work on 8/8/89. I believe the park was renamed for her by that year’s end. Her killers were convicted and her husband remained active in the community as recently as 2001, though he no longer lives at this residence.
I think it’s great that it’s all gussied up for the holidays. The owner might want to consider a memorial plaque for the building at some point as the building is hugely significant to the history of the neigborhood.
Jeremy Sapienza December 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Nuri, I was not being facetious, I was genuinely thanking you for the info and and castigating myself for not following through on what for me would have entailed a simple google search. And then I displayed the NYT link so that others could read about it. So fuck you, you nasty, hypersensitive, suspicious bitch.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I feel slightly horrible about my stern response to Jeremy as usually I read his posts and enjoy them. But you must understand that any holiday decoration in a neighborhood that has survived the blight and lack of social reform & extreme poverty and joblessness and lack of education alternatives and homelessness of the 70′s and 80′s ( during which time I was an infant) as well as major crack and heroin epidemics is pure magic. In earnest would you prefer holiday cheer or holiday gunplay. The truth is people here have not entirely been exposed to abundant holiday cheer and community caroling.
Maria Hernandez was targeted and executed, it is particularly important that as a wanton journalist you fact check and show some degree of professionalism. Otherwise you are engaging in (bonchinche) gossip as it were and not very informed gossip either. I have been silently observing for many moons the talk of too many Puerto Rican flags and lack of this and that. Honestly, instead of poking fun at the families fiberama awning, why don’t you set out to raise money to place a nice plaque there and build them something more to your liking.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
First of all I am a guy 6’3 as it were. Second of all your comment was ripe with condescension. Third of all, you do not want to mess with me dude. I like the fact that a little strong language spurs you to name calling (bitch). I was simply implying that you might want to knock on the door before you post your story.
You may be thinking that we new yorkers are easily subjugated by limited verbosity and random threats. Um, this is New York homie. You really need to mind your manners. I believe I have a right to be hypersensitive, I also believe that if I were poking around in the shit hole you apparently crawled out of you would be just as if not more hypersensitive. Just wondering, where are you from? Because it certainly is not here.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
OK Jeremy I am really disgusted to see we share the same birthday.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Oh, Miami. That figures.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Honestly, I do not want to go back and forth. I’m just not a fan of putting positive spins on the fact that you are slumming.
Jeremy Sapienza December 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
In comment #9, you say several times that I have no balls. In #11, you imply that I am an idiot. Maybe I should have taken the higher road after realizing you were simply mistaken about my intentions and prone to (rather hysterical) overreaction. But I’m not good at being the bigger man.
Don’t worry, I won’t mess with you — you’re clearly unstable. I am not engaging the rest of the psychotic irrelevant shit you posted.
Jeremy Sapienza December 9th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
If you don’t like the site, don’t read it. Bye.
ricmac01 December 9th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
nuri bell’s fabric has apparently come completely unwound. There is nothing in the initial Jeremy post to prompt such a weird response.
The reference to the Fiberama TV commercial was hilarious by the way.
nuri bell December 9th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I will continue to read the site. It’s my right to do so. It is also my right to comment on anything I feel like. A blog is a dialogue. If people can’t voice perspectives that differ from you what’s the point of putting it up? Why describe someone’s christmas cheer as “blinding” if it is suppose to be a positive article. Maybe i was too strong in the way i took the offensive but my only point was people in that building and all over the neighborhood have suffered unspeakable loss to bring this neighborhood up from a place where you would have been shot for living here ten years ago. Google that. They are showing their pride and if you think my response is so outrageous than you are being ignorant. I still feel that you were poking fun at them. And if you weren’t maybe you should leave sardonic comments to your culture and your lifestyle. Cynicism is offense when people direct it at things they don’t understand.
chillinoncentral December 9th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
I used to live at 97 Starr and 105 used to have similar lighting back then… I wonder if its currently the doings of someone in the building who never left. It was really cool to see the pic and read about a neighbor’s efforts to cheer up the hood… brought a little cheer to me. Thanks, Jeremy. Merry Christmas everybody =)
pixie December 10th, 2008 at 2:12 am
There’s a whole stretch of homes on DeKalb between Central and Evergreen that are decorated. It makes me very happy on my walk home
Ingo Hart December 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am
It’s nice to see this kind of thing it does show that someone cares no matter what we think of the “asthetic”.
Matt December 10th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
nuri bell, I usually don’t care cuz it’s blogland and all…but just shut. the. fuck. up.
You are by definition, a blogtard.
nuri bell December 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
y’know that ship has sailed matt. Honestly you were not involved in the initial argument. the argument has been resolved and if you really are feeling yourself why dont you come to where i live (you can have my address) and shut me up. you have no idea how long i’ve been blogging (two days), who i am or why I was upset. Fuck you, you shut the fuck up. If you did not care you would not have blasted me online, so obviously jerky you do care. Jeremy and I have already made amends. And I was in a pissy mood yesterday. Get over it.
For the record, I mistook some comments from someone else as Mr. Sapienzas. I apologized for the comments that were inappropriate and I’ve have moved on. And, by the way if you can shut me up. I would consider it, but I doubt that you can either intellectually or physically. You are welcome to try though.
Matt December 10th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
blah blah
nuri bell December 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
wow, what a loser. I’m donating my time to saving Silverback gorillas and your still harping on the past. Get a life. you are so not worth my time.
nuri bell December 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
“God bless us all everyone”. (even you Matt).
tiny tim
alexalive December 11th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
i think the lights are beautiful, i luv passing them everyday.
alexalive December 11th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Nuri, i’m just curious, how did you know that you have the same birthday as Jeremy?
chantilly December 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
no disrespect for the late maria hernandez, but walking back from the train or associated, it’s always reminded me of a used car dealership. i’m always half expecting a neon “on sale now!!” sign whenever i look up to see it.
Peter December 12th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
What a waste of energy, what a wanker