Crescent Street station (BMT Jamaica Line)

 

For the demolished station actually at Crescent Street and Liberty Avenue, see Crescent Street (BMT Fulton Street Line).

The Crescent Street station is a station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Crescent and Fulton Streets in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, it is served by the J train at all times and the Z during rush hours in the peak direction.  

History

This station was opened on May 30, 1893 as part of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad's four stop extension of the Lexington Avenue Line to Cypress Hills.^[2]

Joint service with the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch existed between Norwood Avenue and Crescent Street stations with a connection built at Chestnut Street in Brooklyn. This allowed BRT trains to access the Rockaways and Manhattan Beach while affording the LIRR a connection into Manhattan to the BRT terminal located at Park Row over the Brooklyn Bridge (this service predated the opening of the East River Tunnels to Penn Station). This service ended in 1917 when the United States Railroad Administration took over the LIRR, and classified different operating standards between rapid transit trains and regular heavy rail railroads such as the LIRR.^[4]: 59 The ramp was taken down in 1942 for World War II scrap. A tower continued to stand west of the station to control trains using the incline until it was taken down sometime after 1970.

This station was renovated in 2007. As part of the station renovation project, the stairs were rehabilitated, the floors were renewed, major structural repairs were made, new canopies were installed, the area around the station booth was reconfigured, the platform edge strips were replaced, walls were replaced, and a high-quality public address system was installed.^[5] The renovation cost $8.43 million.^[6]

This elevated station has two tracks and one narrow island platform. An arched canopy covers the eastern half (railroad north) of the platform.

An artwork called Wheel of Bloom – Soak Up the Sun by Jung Hyang Kim was installed in this station during a 2007 renovation. It consists of stained glass panels on the platform's sign structures showing subway train wheels lit by sunlight.

A sharp S Curve moves the line from Fulton Street to Jamaica Avenue immediately north of the station. The first turn, from Fulton Street onto Crescent Street, ranks as the sharpest curve in the B Division, and second sharpest in the entire New York City Subway, second only to the City hall loop on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.^[7] From the late-1950s into the 1960s the New York City Transit Authority had a proposal to realign the BMT Jamaica Line from this station (actually from Grant or Nichols Avenues) northeast to 80th Street and Jamaica Avenue, west of the 85th Street station. This would have also included an express track. The realignment was never carried out.^[8]

Exits

The station's small, single station house is on the extreme eastern end of the platform. It has a turnstile bank, token booth, and a single staircase going to an overpass below the tracks that splits into two staircases going down to either side of Fulton Street between Crescent and Pine Streets.^[9]

 ^-Wikipedia 

^{-Untapped New York} 

Literary Pick (***)

 If I Live Until Morning: A True Adventure, Tragedy and Transformation

-Jean Muenchrath

 

Poltergeist "You only moved the headstones!!!"

 

Literary Pick (****)

 The People Look Like Flowers At Last

-Charles Bukowski

 

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

 

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of Edward Albee's 1962 play of the same name. It stars Elizabeth Taylor as Martha, Richard Burton as George, George Segal as Nick, and Sandy Dennis as Honey. The film depicts a late-night gathering at the home of George, a college history professor, and his wife Martha, the daughter of the university's president. The guests are Nick, a new biology professor at the school, and his wife, Honey.

The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mike Nichols. It is one of only two films to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards (the other is Cimarron). All four main actors were nominated in their respective acting categories, the first time a film's entire credited cast was nominated. The film won five Oscars, including a second Academy Award for Best Actress for Taylor and Best Supporting Actress for Dennis.

In 2013, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[2]

Literary Pick (***)

 A Cheaters Guide to Love

-Junot Díaz

 

Tony Sirico, Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos”, dies at 79

  Actor Tony Sirico, best known for playing Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos”, died at the age of 79 old.

This was confirmed by his family on Friday in an official statement (via Deadline) which states the following: “It is with great sadness, but with so much pride, love and fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony ‘Tony’ Sirico inform you of his disappearance on the morning of 8 July 2022”.. The cause of death was not disclosed, but Sirico’s health had deteriorated in recent years.. The actor died in a retirement home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Sirico is a familiar face on the screen thanks to the role of Peter Paul Gualtieri, affectionately known as Paulie Walnuts, in “The Sopranos”. Paulie is one of Tony Soprano’s (James Gandolfini) loyal henchmen and appears in all six seasons of the series. Sirico would return for the 2021 prequel ‘Holy criminals’, but his health conditions prevented him from doing so. In addition to “The Sopranos”, his filmography includes titles such as Martin Scorsese’s “One of Us”, “Cop Land” or “Mickey Blue Eyes”, as well as He was a regular visitor to Woody Allen’s films (‘Taking Harry Apart’, ‘Bullets Over Broadway’, ‘Mighty Aphrodite’, Café Society, etc.). In the 1970s he also appeared in series such as “Kojak” or “Miami Vice”. In recent years he has lent his voice to the animated comedies “Family Guy” and “Father Made in the USA”. Before being an actor, Sirico was a real mobsterwhere he served under Carmine ‘Junior’ Persico, and he had been arrested up to 28 times, spending several periods in prison for his criminal activities (assaulting a Brooklyn nightclub, possession of weapons, drugs). It was in prison that he became interested in acting thanks to an acting group made up of former inmates. During her stint on “The Sopranos”, she shared two SAG Awards for best ensemble and received seven nominations. Farewell to “The Sopranos” After the news of Sirico’s death, the cast of “The Sopranos” wanted to express their condolences through Deadline. According to Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti in the acclaimed HBO series, “There was no one like Tony: he was tougher, more loyal, and had a bigger heart than anyone I’ve ever met. I spent a lot of time by her side: in good times and bad times. But above all good. And we laughed a lot. We have found a rhythm like Christopher and Paulie and I am proud to say that I have done my best and most fun job with my dear partner Tony. I will always miss him. It was irreplaceable “. 

  The creator of “The Sopranos”, David Chase, calls Sirico “a gem, in the Buddhist sense: supernatural and teacher. But certainly not a Zen master”and adds: “He was so outrageous, funny and so talented. I’m so glad he found out in his 50s or 60s just how talented and loved he was.”. On the other hand, Steven Van Zandt, who plays Paulie’s best friend Silvio Dante in the popular gangster drama, describes the actor as “legendary” Y “a great character both on and off the screen”. 

Lorraine Bracco, psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on “The Sopranos”, who also worked with him on “One of Us”, says: “I loved him. A legal uncle who always had my back and loved my children and my parents very much. I have a lifetime of memories with Tony. I hope he’s in heaven making everyone laugh. I love you friend”. Jamie Lynn Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano, the daughter of the protagonist, remembers the day she met him: “I met him when I was 16 and He made it clear to me from day one that he would be my protector forever, and he did.. I will remember him for his enormous talent and his energy impossible to ignore. “ Finally, Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri in the series), calls Sirico “unique in the best possible way. A loyal friend with a knack for making people fight. We will miss him very much.”.

-FashionVibes

The Voice of WBLS - The Quiet Storm

Vaughn Harper

Vaughn Harper (March 7, 1945 – July 9, 2016) was an American broadcast announcer and DJ. In 1976, Harper became a nighttime Radio DJ for WBLS (107.5 FM) in New York City. He was known for his soft voice so he was nicknamed "the Quiet Storm". He was an active basketball broadcaster for small teams.^[1]

Harper died from complications of diabetes on July 9, 2016 in Syracuse, New York, aged 71.^[2]

^Wikipedia

Literary Pick (**)

Love With A Chance Of Drowning

-Torre DeRoche 

 

James Caan

To Truly Appreciate James Caan, You Have to Watch “Thief”

Caan, who died on Thursday, was best known for "The Godfather," but the 1981 Michael Mann film is the true testament to his talent.

James Caan died yesterday at the age of 82. If you know movies, you knew him. He was probably best known for playing Sonny Corleone, the eldest son in the crime family at the center of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy — mostly in the first film, but with a cameo in the second and an unseen ghost in the third (his illegitimate son becomes a major character). His Godfather character, combined with his weathered physicality, made him a go-to for crime pictures, especially later in his career, when his face alone offered easy tough-guy shorthand. This meant he could slip easily in junky action movies like Bulletproof or Eraser (both in 1996), or comedies like Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Elf (2003). The best of these later-period roles is probably his hilarious work in Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket (1996), where he plays a landscaper and criminal dabbler who indulges the caper fantasies of Dignan (Owen Wilson) in order to further his own illegal activities. 

Before he became character-actor fixture, though, Caan was a leading man in a number of dramas, including The Gambler (1974), Comes a Horseman (1978), his directorial debut Hide in Plain Slight (1980) and — after an extended break in the ’80s — his somber Coppola reunion Gardens of Stone (1987). These days, the most-watched entry from this period of his career is probably Thief, a Michael Mann crime drama from 1981. It’s currently streaming on the free ad-supported service Tubi, and for anyone who knows Caan primarily as a working-actor archetype, it’s a revelation. For Caan himself, it’s a concise tribute to his talent as both an actor and a movie star.

Thief owes its lofty reputation to Michael Mann cultists, and it’s easy to see why: It has his signature masculine procedural professionalism, richly visualized in images that sometimes resemble a series of paintings: portraits, landscapes, occasionally abstracts. Caan plays Frank, an ex-con and current jewel thief who owns a bar and a car dealership as a front for his more lucrative, illegal operations. He embarks, of course, on one last job, intended to finance a new life with his girlfriend Jessie (Tuesday Weld). 

Yet despite his slick professionalism and well-ordered cover story, Frank is rougher around the edges than most of Mann’s subsequent protagonists. Off the job, he can be short-fused and coarse. Hoping to adopt a child, he tries to bribe an adoption caseworker. An earlier date scene with Jessie is hilariously unpleasant, with Frank impatiently haranguing her about what he does for a living. “Let’s cut the mini-moves and the bullshit,” he says, “and get on with this big romance.” The conversation moves to a coffee shop overlooking the highway, and they’re still brusque with each other, but as they exchange information about their personal hardships, both of them soften slightly. As they open up, the scene starts to resemble an early draft of the famous coffee-shop détente Mann would later stage for fellow Godfather players Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat. Weld is good in the scene, but it’s Caan who leads, as Frank tells the story of his prison time in a way that somehow projects bravado, stoicism and wounded regret all at once. He’s pleading without quite admitting it. 

In some of his later roles, Caan had more presumed authority: a glowering figure who needs to be impressed or avoided. There’s some of that here, including a memorable scene where Frank barges into the office of someone who owes him money: “I am the last guy in the world you wanna fuck with,” he says, and it’s a line that could belong to any number of less memorable Caan characters over the years. It may well have, in fact; who can remember what the bad guy from Bulletproof says? (Whatever he says, he’s also named Frank, so there’s a start.) Thief is slicker than many of Caan’s crime pictures while zooming in on a character whose slickness has the same limits as so many working people: opportunity, temper, time.

When an actor becomes such a constant, familiar presence across a hundred or so movies, it’s easy to forget about those limits. It’s not that James Caan seemed like he could play any character in any time period; rather, he often seemed immovable, even in lighter fare. Think of Honeymoon in Vegas, where goofball-everyman Nicolas Cage must run a strenuous gauntlet just to romantically out-maneuver a Caan character who firmly knows what he wants: Cage’s fiancee. Despite his position as the conniving heavy of the picture, Caan has moments of gentleness, even politeness; Thief, then, is far from the only movie with vulnerability beneath his tough exterior. But it may be his most striking balance of character-study detail and crime-movie iconography. It’s no accident that the way Caan holds his gun in that office scene became a signature image for the film’s advertising. Frank’s skills and instincts ultimately take over; at the end of the film, he moves through the home of an enemy with coiled precision, after he’s lost much of what he’s worked for. As with a lot of Mann’s criminal characters, the badassery has undercurrents of tragedy. Back in that diner scene, Frank lays his personal urgency on the Formica table: “I have run out of time… I can’t work fast enough to catch up, I can’t run fast enough to catch up.” Frank has his personal failings, but this isn’t one of them; Caan worked fast enough, and time still caught up.

 -InsideHook