Hellooooo Boerum Hill?

Hi... The very short history of the Boerum Hill board is as follows: It was created about 2 weeks ago at the request of a Daily Heights regular. (and I haven't seen him around here much since then... ) That's why this board is "quiet" - it exists, but it's not really activated, per se. It's here if anybody feels like contributing to it.

The Prospect Heights board has a critical mass now because it's been active since February. And because people from the neighborhood are continually posting new and great stuff about the neighborhood.

The best way to kick-start this board is for you to post some messages yourself, apollonia666. New people are finding this site every day, through Google searches and word-of-mouth... but mainly Google searches. Without any good posts specific to Boerum Hill, this page is not going to show up in Google.

So... what's new over there?

Where's a decent bar around here for dates (Hank's is too grungy, Kili is nice but sometimes the music is far too loud for conversation...)?

My favorite bar in Boerum Hill is the Brooklyn Inn, on Bergen and Hoyt - it's really nice inside, plus they've got some nice beers on tap. It's one of the oldest bars in Brooklyn - I've been told that most of the interior was actually brought over from France in the mid 1800's - not sure how true that is, but from the looks of the place, it seems believable. They've also got a great selection on the jukebox, which, unlike the bars on Smith Street, is kept at a decent level. It's a great place to sit at the bar, have a few drinks, relax and talk.

daniel wrote: The Brooklyn Inn is sort of hard to notice - I don't think it has any signage at all. Boerum Hill is a great neighborhood - it's beautiful with all of its tree-lined streets, there are a ton of great restaurants and bars on Smith St, and increasingly so on Atlantic, it's close to BAM, to a ton of subway options - what more could you want?

It's the best mass transit hub in the city (probably in the world).

apollonia666 wrote: Does anyone know the story about what's going on with the renovation at Flying Saucer?

Okay, this might sound confussing, but here it goes. According to what I have heard, the ownership of the place has switched hands back to the original owners.

1) First, there were the original owners.
2) Then there were the last owners who were the ones to last run it. And do a bad job of it.
3) And now the original owners are back (See number 1).

The original owners are doing renovations to bring the place back to it's former glory--and more--since the previous owners really did a bad job running the place. It was quite a mess to say the least. And those not-so-great owners seemed to do as much as possible to redo the place to alienate the neighborhood core crowd of people who patronized the place from the beginning.

But the place looks quite nice inside, but my guess is that with the high-heat of the summer months it makes little sense to rush to open a place that's main reason to exist is to sell hot beverages, so they are most likely taking their time and might reopen when the weather cools down a bit.

Where's a decent bar around here for dates (Hank's is too grungy, Kili is nice but sometimes the music is far too loud for conversation...)?

As far as local bars go, I would recommend O'Connors over Hanks. Hanks is spotty at best. As far as 'date' bars, there is a place on Hoyt called Kili that is more of a lounge... But you know that already. Brooklyn Inn is good as well. And if you don't mind crossing over into Fort Greene Frank's and Moe's are a short walk and decent.

The strip of Atlantic between Hoyt and 3rd Avenue could definitely use a casual bar. Heck, I would welcome something on 3rd Avenue or 4th Avenue nearby.

Carnivore wrote: Don't knock Hanks! I know dives aren't for everyone, but Hanks is a great dive bar. I haven't been to O'Connors, but I've heard it's a cop bar, which makes me really not want to go there.

Hank's is beyond a dive. It's not bad, but it's not the greatest either. It's more of an 'old man and people who live at the SROs nearby' bar. O'Connors has not been a cop bar for years. I think it's a good balance between dive and something a tad more 'pub like' such as 'The Gate'. Even on off nights there's a good balance.

Also, the phenomena of 'cop bars' started to die off when cops started living more and more outside of the neighborhood. Freddy's on 6th Avenue in Prospect Heights was a HUGE cop bar back about 10 years ago. Nowadays it's what it is... A neighborhood bar... You'll find more cops at Bergen Bagels in the middle of the day than you'll ever find at the bars.