For so many years, when you thought of the corner of Parkside and Flatbush you thought of and/or/either
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- Popeye's
- Manssob's Deli that became ParksideZ Deli
- The Driving School/Bill Pay/Money Order/Notary Public Everything Place
- The Duane Reade
- Absurd Traffic and Pedestrian Aggravation
- First Class Alcoholics Contemplating How To Get Their Next Drink From "First Class" Liquor Store
- Commuters to and from the Q at Parkside
It's practically a right of passage to become familiar and comfortable with the insanity here. My girls have grown up thinking that the Winthrop to Woodruff stretch of Flatbush is a perfectly normal happenstance of city design, though every once in a Blue Marble I'm struck by just how chaotic is this ode to Jane Jacobsian laissez faire urban coinkidink. Every sort of human, dog and Dollar Van makes its way through this intersection and 99.9% of the time the passage takes place without incident, though a compendium's worth of short stories could be compiled from the multitude of souls present at any given moment.
Lest you get too comfy, here comes the latest test to your nervous system:
More that one Q associate has noted how the ground floor retail space seems destined for a Starbucks. You really can't beat the location, location, location after all. It's "on the way to work" for a couple thousand people each morning. Though let's face it, S-bucks new "anyone can loiter or use the bathroom without paying" policies will probably get a good workout.
Or maybe we'll get a Hungry Ghost? Have you been to those snooty java joints are? Not the most welcoming of environments, I go say. And if big white male is feeling that way I can't imagine it seems warm and inviting to those who feel marginalized. Just saying. Pretty soon they'll be taking "cards only" like this place I went to in SoHo the other day. Is that even legal not to take legal tender? Seems pretty classist to me, but what does the big straight white male know about such things.
Which makes me think Starbucks is fast becoming the RIGHT sort of business for a neighborhood as diverse as ours. Used to be S-bucks meant gentrification pure and simple. But with solid employee benefits and progressive customer service, not to mention a wildly diverse clientele, I'm actually hoping for a Starbucks here.
That's right. To those of you who think Starbucks is the worst thing that could happen to the neighborhood, I beg to differ. The worst thing that could happen to this neighborhood? Building no more affordable housing. And Ms. Boyd and her evil step-sisters are doing their darndest to see that not a single new home for lower income working people gets built.
I'll drink a soy mocha latte to that.