Kingston ave + Pacific st

Subject: Re: Kingston ave + Pacific st

We've lived one block away from that intersection (towards Fulton) for almost four years.

To be honest with you, the corner of Kingston and Pacific seems a little dodgy to me, especially at night when the restaurants close (there is a soul food place nearby). There is a payphone on the corner across from the liquor store that seems to have regular activity, if you know what I mean. So there are men hanging out (not just the nice guys in the barber shop).

Which side of the street will your niece be on? One night I went into a few of the buildings on Pacific, on the north side of the street, between Kingston and Brooklyn Avenue. (I was trying to find the person responsible for a cat that had kittens in a yard adjacent to mine.) One building seemed fine, with friendly families hanging around outside, but the very next was a bit scary, with filthy hallways and trash under the stairwells and a man staring as I walked past... The whole thing seemed a bit tense to me. I don’t know if it would bother her (it doesn’t bother me) but some of the guys on a stoop were smoking pot. I think that if your niece makes friends with her neighbors it will be okay. Is your niece the confident type?

In years of living there – and coming home after midnight several nights per week during a few of those years – I haven’t had any real trouble. Once I had a guy pretend he was going to punch me (he wound up, thinking I’d flinch), and on the subway I once had people tell me that I was in the wrong ‘hood because I sat down too close to them (in case you hadn’t guessed, I look white. Most of the people in that area are black, African- or Caribbean-American). People have been friendly or indifferent towards me. I see a lot more younger, hipster types getting off of the C train (and the A at Nostrand, one station away) in the past few years than before, but generally there seem to be a lot of families around. Most of the streets are tree-lined and lovely (on Pacific towards Brooklyn I’ve chatted with people about the rose bushes in their front yards).

She'll be really close (just two short blocks) to Fulton, where there is a vegetable stand and the C-train subway station (the Manhattan-bound trains are across Fulton one more block over, near the McDonalds). There are lots of take-out restaurants, patty shops, pizza stores, and Chinese food/fried chicken places around. There is a roti place that delivers (when the delivery guy is on duty). Just a few blocks more (towards Brooklyn Avenue) there’s Restoration Plaza where there's a nice, big grocery store, a Baskin Robbins, a Duane Reade, a cute (but not cheap) home decor place, (and an Applebees), etc. King's Pizza (on Fulton near Brooklyn) delivers. My sister and her boyfriend have gone to a BYOB club right there on Fulton that has live jazz music – the place is unpredictable (sometimes they close early if it’s not busy and the food is just average and difficult if you’re a vegetarian). There is a bar (called Essence) a few blocks east, on Atlantic, that is friendly and they have a good jukebox (some rock alongside classic and new soul).

Do you have any specific questions? Is that an okay start?

Subject: what about for a single mom and toddler?

I'm actually considering an apt. right on Dean St. off Kingston for myself and my 18-month-old and my dog. I'm a woman of color, so I don't know if that makes a difference. But I'm being priced out of Carroll Gardens (surprise, surprise), and I've looked high and low for six months. This seems the only area in my price range. And oh, I need to decide by tomorrow. Can you say high anxiety???