Last Brooklyn Graffiti

Clinton Hill
September 10, 2017

The Owl's Head

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

I passed The Owl's Head bar on my way home from work today and noticed its awesome facade.   I guess I should have gone in for a drink . . .

Public Art: Prospect Park Station

Near Prospect Park, Brooklyn

These two are in a mural just outside the Prospect Park station on the B, Q and S lines.

Snowzilla 2016

79th Street Playground
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

I've posted pictures of these frogs before, both on this blog and on my Tumblr blog of NYC playground frogs. But this time, it's different.  This time, Snowzilla has been here.  The official total at JFK airport was 30.5 inches, and Central Park logged 26.8, just 1/10 of an inch shy of the record, which was set in 1869.

Frog Graffiti

Wilson Avenue
Bushwick, Brooklyn

Playground Frogs

Dan Ross Playground
Bay Ridge Brooklyn

Winter storm Juno might not have been the snowmageddon they promised, but we got a snow day and finally took pictures of our local playground frog.

Christmas Visitor

We don't do it up quite like Dyker Heights, but folks in my neighborhood, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, really know how to decorate for Christmas.

Still, this was the best display I've seen all season.

Frog Graffiti

Metropolitan Avenue
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I'm not sure if this really counts as graffiti since someone was probably paid to paint it for Baked in Brooklyn--a sign of the times in Williamsburg.

Playground Frogs

Mother Cabrini Park
Red Hook, Brooklyn

According to the NYC Parks web site, Mother Cabrini Park was named for the first American citizen to be canonized:

This park honors Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), a Roman Catholic missionary, and the first American citizen to be canonized.  Cabrini was born in a small town near Lodi, Italy.  At the age of 30, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, dedicating the group to the ministrty of the poor.  In 1889, Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) sent Cabrini and her missionaries to the United States to aid Italian immigrants.  In Manhattan, Cabrini taught at St. Joachim's paris, the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, and the Transfiguration Catholic Church.  She also taught at St. Rita of Cascia in the Bronx as well as the Church of St. Stephen (now Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen's Church) in Brooklyn.

Playground Frogs

De Hostos Playground
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

We hit the jackpot!

Located on the edge of Williamsburg, as it turns into Bushwick, this playground was named for Eugenio Maria de Hostos (1839-1903), a Puerto Rican Reformer and Educator.  I'm not sure how the frogs connect, but there sure are a lot of them.

They leap across the fence:

There are spray showers (see my Tumblr blog for a series of these): 

Their lifecycle is embedded in the concrete:

And three of these little guys surround the flagpole:

Playground Frogs

Thomas J. Cuite Park
Windsor Terrace Brooklyn

Two years ago, I posted pictures of these frogs, which had become fairly derelict.  This year, someone has given them polka dots.

Playground Frogs

Heritage Row Playground (Pulaski Playground)
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Named for Heritage Row Houses across the street, a Habitat for Humanity project, Heritage Row Playground is part of the larger Pulaski Playground.

Playground Frogs

Marcy Playground
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Marcy Playground was named for William Learned Marcy (1786-1857), a governor of New York, Secretary of War under President James K. Polk and Secretary of State under President Franklin Pierce.  The original playground was located about a block away and was dedicated to Samuel Crews, a WWI veteran; the original flagpole was moved with the park.  Today, it's part of the Marcy Houses development.

                           

Playground Frogs

McCarren Park
Williamsburg, Brooklyn


Named after Patrick Henry McCarren (1847-1909), a State Assemblyman and gambler, McCarren Park (formerly Greenpoint park) was a "community showpiece" in the early 20th century with a 1/4-mile track, a field that could be converted to an ice rink, playgrounds, sports fields, and a farm garden for children.  During the Great Depression, the WPA built McCarren Park Pool (one of eleven in the city); it can hold up to 6800 people.  The pool closed in 1984 and reopened in 2012.  These frogs are in the playground adjacent to the pool.  They've seen better days . . .

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I looked around on Flickr and found a couple of pictures of these frogs from 2009, when they were freshly painted.  

Playground Frogs

Lincoln Road Playground
Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Public Art: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently host to a sculpture show sponsored by the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition entitled Perpetual Energy.   Included in the show is this sculpture, "Endangered Species:  Frogs Monument," by Ana Golici. 

  

Playground Frogs

Washington Hall Park

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

We take a lot of weekend drives around Brooklyn. Last week, we drove all the way to the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, where Brooklyn dead ends into the Newtown Creek, and happened on some interesting sculptures. On the way home, we found this guy in Washington Hall Park on Hall Street in Clinton Hill. There were also frogs etched into the concrete.