you'd better shop around

Fifth Avenue, Sunset Park I lived near this strip for nearly three years. Actually, living on 31st ST. I was in a weird limbo between this one that starts around 40th and South Slope's that begins at about 16th. Both have many of the same stores, but Sunset Park has the Mexican amenities like tamale stands, mango ladies and lots of tacquerias. Plus, there's a big park (that I've always steered clear of because it was closed with chain link when I first moved in, and there were always ambulances around it) and it's only three avenues from the Chinese/Vietnamese strip, which is an excursion in itself (and home to the best banh mi in the entire city). This neighborhood is what I've seen realtors describe as "vibrant." Uh, yes, local color. It's a little crowded and rowdy, but not so much as my other favorite strip, Myrtle Ave. at the Bushwick/Ridgewood border. There was some Brooklyn/Manhattan face off (affiliated with Marty Markowitz, of course) not so long ago, where community figures touted the best of their borough (yes, Manhattan is merely a borough). There was a quiz where Fifth Ave. was mentioned, and Mario Batali didn't even know Brooklyn had a Fifth Ave. Lordy. When James and I saw him smoking in the outdoor lounge at Kittichai a few weeks ago, we made a point of standing inches from him and talking animatedly about FIFTH AVENUE in BROOKLYN. As much as I complain about New York, you've gotta have pride in your neighborhood (former or not). (8/7/04)
George Michael Mens Suit House has always been one of my favorite signs. Maybe George Michael's career would get a boost from a nice $78 suit.	Baby's Carousel is weirdly fascinating, mainly because it makes use of the term "juvenile furniture." I've never seen this phrase used outside of the city. It's right up there with unisex, in the words-long-lost-in-America's-lexicon-but-strangely-rampant-in-NYC category. I bet their idea of teenage furniture is nothing like PB Teen's.
Every strip has a Fabco, but not necessarily with signage this ancient.	Just so you know, you don't have to be pretty to shop here.
Mini Max is also a staple of shopping strips. There's another one, just a block away from this one with a black and yellow sign. What gives?	VIM is another ubiquitous shop. I'm not sure if it's an acronym or Vim, as in vim and vigor.
You probably won't find Potsie or Ralph Malph here. I'm saddened that the Happy Days on South Slope's Fifth Ave. strip has been turned into a Washington Mutual. They had a humongous, crazy sign.	Dee & Dee might possibly be the most prolific discount store in the city. They even still exist in Manhattan, but probably not for long. It was one of the very first stores in NYC that I ever set foot in (the Ridgewood, Queens branch). I snapped up a pair of $2.99 hot pink girdle panties with black trim that totally looked like they belonged in a bordello. I've been a fan ever since.
Who wouldn't want to look like a velvet peach? Or sue someone rottweiler-style, for that matter.	I'm not really familiar with Do It! Sportswear, but Jimmy Jazz is a classic. These young Arabic coffee guys that would always flirt with me on the way to work once saw me carrying a Jimmy Jazz bag (it wasn't even mine) and inquired in this coy, comically heavy Middle Eastern accent, "Oh...you like Jimmy Jazz?" I totally busted up. I still do when I think about it, and you would too if you heard the way they said it.
This brand new Guatemalan fried chicken joint is the shit. Lines are out the door in Sunset Park, and supposedly still are at the Corona location that opened about a month ago. I'd check it out, but sadly I'm watching my fat intake. It sucks that a place like this would never open in Carroll Gardens. If I have to see another mediocre Thai restaurant opening, I might get violent.	JFK Fried Chicken is most definitely not the shit. This place, and Kennedy Fried Chicken, another oddball NYC chain, baffle me. Was it a bastardization of Kentucky to Kennedy, then to JFK or is this presidential naming convention something else all together?