Nostrand Avenue Restaurant Row - Updates
Another Month of Businesses for Books
Last month the Businesses for Books program supported the Toy Drive that Krystal DeVille has conducted for many years. Thirty businesses put an update on their laminated poster, and we found ten more businesses to join the program. It is now a gratifying experience to walk on Nostrand or Franklin Avenue and see the signs designed by Maddie Partner of the Friends group. Also as the program has spread there are more and more friendly people to meet and chat with. On Franklin Avenue I am glad to see Lydia the manager at Food Garden Market, Ken at the Outlandish clothing store, Norman at Drinks Lounge and Cafe and Alex and Noel at Canela Cafe and Bar. On Nostrand it is always a pleasure to see Francisco at La Napa, Carlos at Rosalia, Lauren at Nostrand Avenue Pub, Keith at Yummy's, and Rosa at Naye African Braiding. There are signs and friendly people at other locations as well. Andrea and Regis always give me a hello when I go to Pando's on Kingston Avenue, and Tanya and Marcus give me a big welcome when I go by Power Moves Personal Training on Classon Avenue.
Photo: King Tai, new member of Businesses for Books
As in the past we ask our readers to look over the list we have assembled below and go to these businesses that have shown a concern about the community. The updates and the new posters now contain a QR code that will lead one to the monthly calendar of the Brower Park Library, and next month we will be picking an event off the list for February. This event is Teen Takeover at the Brower Park Library, which is being managed by Maddie Lane The idea is that a teen council is being created by inviting teens to join who are known to the library. That council will then meet and devise a program just for teens. That program will go on for one day in the afternoon and engage in some fun activity. It might be an art activity, playing games, creating and acting in a short play, playing music or dancing. It is the teen council that will create the program, and then they will invite as many teens as possible to come and be a part of it. This is a good way of teaching teens to be responsible for carrying out their own ideas, and also making connections and friendships that will draw the community closer together.
So this will be the event for February and when we are done, there will be forty businesses that promote this event and we will add another ten to bring the total up to fifty. Any of our readers who have teens in their family or know neighbors who are teens should let them know about this event so they can get in touch with Maddie Lane and find out how to get involved. Especially with social media having such a large impact that sometimes leads to bullying, membership in gangs and unpleasant remarks, it is good to know that teens can go to something productive that brings them into the library, where they can find a place to do homework and engage in the many programs the library has created.
Below are the thirty businesses that are now members, separated by the product or the service they provide for ease of reference. They are:
Restaurants
Coffeeland, 718 Franklin Avenue
Crabby Shack, 613 Franklin Avenue
Rosalia Cafe, 615 Nostrand Avenue
Taqueria Milear, 752 Nostrand Avenue
Love Lane, 674 Nostrand Avenue
Pando's Creperie and Cafe, 227 Kingston Avenue
Meme's Healthy Nibbles. 707 Nostrand Avenue
Canela Cafe and Bar, 800 Franklin Avenue
Akara House, 642 Nostrand Avenue
Hair Salons and Barber Shops
Jack the Barber at E-Kutz, 705 Nostrand Avenue
Park Place Hair Salon, 821 Park Place
Naye African Braiding, 736 Nostrand Avenue
Real Estate
Belinda Realty, 160 Rogers Avenue
Flowers
Barbara's Flowers, 1096 Bergen Street
Park Deli Flowers, 722 Classon
Wines and Liquors
Simple Syrup, 810 Nostrand Avenue
Hardware
Nostrand Hardware, 778 Nostrand Avenue
Health, Fitness, Remedies and Pharmacies
Body Politic Acupuncture, 843 Sterling Place (in Urban Asanas)
Zola's Herbs and Remedies, 734 Nostrand Avenue
Rehab Haven Occupational Therapy, 237 Brooklyn Avenue
Complete Care Pharmacy, 723 Nostrand Avenue
Power Moves Personal Training, 835 Classon Avenue
Clothing
Outlandish, 722 Franklin Avenue
Mailing and Post Office Box
Lincoln Postal, 463 Lincoln Place
Deli
777 Nostrand Deli, 777 Nostrand Avenue
Cleaners
Merritt Cleaners, 687 Nostrand Avenue
Theatre, Events and Art Galleries
Crown Hill Theater, 750 Nostrand Avenue
Haiti Cultural Exchange, 558 St. Johns Place
Super Markets
Food Garden Market, 608 Franklin Avenue
Having updated the businesses above, we then went out and got ten more businesses to join the program, bringing us up to a total of forty. These were
King Tai bar, 1095 Bergen Street
La Napa restaurant, 656 Nostrand Avenue
9 Round kick boxing, 656 Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Avenue Pub, 658 Nostrand Avenue
Yummy's, 706 Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Beauty Supply, 742 Nostrand Avenue
Smash n Grill, 762 Nostrand Avenue
Puff's Jamaican Patties, 812 Nostrand Avenue
Zuri Cuts barber, 824 Nosrand Avenue
Drink Lounge and Cafe, 768 Franklin Avenue
We now have the platform to continue the program next month. If any of our readers have businesses to suggest that we should approach, please write to nisalojo@mindspring.com. Also we are open to suggestions from residents in the community or from the businesses that are members about other events or issues that we should deal with in March and beyond. We want Businesses for Books to be a vehicle for strengthening Brower Park Library and the community that it serves.
- John DeWind
