Fruit and Veg Stand on Court Street Gets X-mas Present

Union Market on 288 Court Street has opened by Christmas as promised. The former Blockbuster space was vacant for several years before the Park Slope-based gourmet grocery store moved in. The meat selection may just undersell Staubitz's and the vegetables are very reasonably priced. Who knows if it's the old bait and switch and prices will rise once they've priced out the mom-and-pop vegetable stand across the street. They also have a cheese selection to rival Stinky Brooklyn.

Park Slopers like to protest when a Starbucks pushes out the independent cafe owners, but what happens when the protesters become the pushers? Is all fair in a free market society or should the echo-friendly franchise be wary of mom-and-pop businesses whose customers they are recycling?

Strong Pl. Church Bares Its Bones Once Again

The scaffolding has finally come off the Strong Place Church on the corner of Degraw Street and Strong Place in Cobble Hill, where developers are converting the 156-year-old edifice into 24 resdential units. There's still plastic on the windows, but interior walls are in place. The turret has not yet been covered. It would make a nice patio if they follow the design of the renovated church on Clinton Street and First Place. No word yet on when the apartments might go on the market. Hopefully, they have salvaged some of the original stained glass. The property also has some outdoor space on the side that would make a nice yard, but more likely it will be private parking spaces.

The steel and wood scaffolding had been a fixture on Degraw Street for over 2 years. Its fence was thankfully brightened by the paintings of the children at local PS 29. The uneven sidewalks, with slate thrown at jagged angles by unruly roots, may prove unpassable for strollers. Perhaps the developers will set their sights on that next. The building was a daycare center for a number of years and last held regular mass in the 1960s. It suffered a lot of water damage, but has been restored beautifully to it's mid-19th century facade. We'll be very jealous of the new residents if any of the original internal details are kept.

Turns Out Map of Roach Sightings Pretty Much Follows Real Estate Values

The New York City Department of Health and Hygene launched a new portal where you can see the percentage of households that are estimated to have seen cockroaches on a daily basis in the last 30 days. It's estimated that less than 17% of housholds in the Upper East Side see cockroaches each day, while areas like Washington Heights, Flatbush and Brownsville are estimated above 50% with daily sightings. No surprises here. With the exception of residential outlying areas of Queens, Brooklyn, and suburban Staten Island, the bugs are reported more often in less expensive neighborhoods. Although the Upper East Side may have the least bugs, they also have the worst air, according to the Daily News. The map may also be useful as a blue print for the new cradle of civilization after the bomb drops and roaches are all that's left.