Walking Is Transportation

WELCOME (BACK), PIER 76

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Rumorama

Coming soon, a rumor come true--the new Pier 76, 76 Bay Street, St. George, offering "Darts, live music, sporting events, specialty pizza, fresh seafood," according to the signage on the awning above the entrance.

AN OLD NAME GETS AN UPDATE

When we arrived in St. George in 1977, there were a  handful of small, independently owned restaurants on the North Shore that didn't survive beyond the early 1980s.

These were middlebrow eateries that served straightforward meals with no pretensions, frills or highprices. Among others, there was the Brighton Lounge on Brighton Avenue and the Lido on lower Victory Boulevard, both Italian restaurants; the Kopper Cettle (cute, huh?) on Cary Avenue near Clove Road; and Pier 76, then a seafood restaurant on Bay Street near Slosson Terrace.

Interestingly, Pier 76 was one of the first to close its doors in the early 1980s and now appears to be the first to return. I've been following the rumors surrounding the ongoing renovation of the space, which now appears close to completion.

A DESTINATION DEVELOPING?

When I took this picture--on a hot Sunday afternoon in late July--I had just passed Steiny's, a small, recently refurbished bar on nearby Hyatt Street, where there were smokers congregated outside and people strolling up and down nearby streets. You could hardly have described the street as crowded, but it wasn't the usual Sunday ghost-town, either.

With the Every Thing Goes Book Cafe, Cargo, Pier 76, Karl's Klipper, Steiny's, Beso and Ruddy & Dean open, It's at least possible that a small weekend scene may be able to develop, fueled by tourists off the boat, shoppers at the various Every Thing Goes stores, and local diners and imbibers.

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Walk-deprived.

For a long time after I stopped smoking, I had a recurrent . . . what my Aunt Harriet would have called a 'yen' for something. But what? The what, of course, was a cigarette. Once I realized it (and it happened, again and again), I would dive straight into the fruit bowl, the candy dish, or the refrigerator. On the theory that it was better to have love-handles than a round of chemo at Sloan-Kettering.

This week I've been shadowed by just that kind of 'yen.' Except there's no mystery about what it is I have a yen for. Simply stated, I need to be on the road, any road, anywhere, now. But landlordly, grandparental and volunteer duties have grounded me and will continue to ground me till the weekend, when I hope to get back on track. Literally.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

AN UNABASHED PLUG

There's a lot I miss about a city increasingly dominated by real estate development and national brands, the only tenants who can afford today's outrageous commercial rents.

Two of the things I miss most are (1) used book stores run on a tiny margin by people who love books; and (2) independently owned coffee shops--not franchise operations--where you can spend the morning over a cup or a conversation and the person who serves you is likely to be the person who owns the place.

Here in St. George (Staten Island), we're lucky to live close by just such an establishment, the ETG Book Cafe and Neighborhood Stage--that serves Fair Trade coffees and a variety of teas and fresh baked goods, and has a really large and interesting used book selection, vintage LPs, and a small stage used for all kinds of performances, including an open mic night.

Even in my short time as a volunteer book-shelver at ETG, I've developed an appreciation for the quality of its inventory. If you like friendly, slightly shabby used bookstores where there's enough to keep you browsing for a while, this is the place. The coffee's pretty good, too. And it's only three blocks from the ferry. (I'm the one with the buzzed head standing on a ladder in the back, squinting at a book jacket.)