Quite by chance, here I was again on 21st Street, a few days before spring. Two years ago this yard was packed with a hoard of cars & toys, & divers other items. Even a boat.
How different the double lot looks now. It's bare but for the boat - the faint remains of Dock War painted on the side - and three remaining cars. The house is boarded up, & its small size, set against bigger buildings, is more apparent. The setting is almost rural.
While I was taking pictures a couple of lovely ladies came to see what I was doing. They thought there might be some action happening at the site. We chatted for a good while. Well, one of the ladies talked, and the other was mostly quiet. Apparently an elderly woman (not the owner) had been living in the basement of the house until a vacate order was served last fall. My new acquaintance said the lot encouraged raccoons, coming over from the cemetery close by. She was hoping it would get built on.
We talked about the changes in the neighborhood, and swapped block stories from earlier years. It was quieter, safer now, but local dramas were always better than TV. By far. With no prompt from me, the topic of neighborhood names came up. These days, the lady said, it was South Slope to 23rd, & Greenwood Heights to the mid 30s, but when she was growing up it was Park Slope straight to Sunset Park. This was Park Slope.
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