We’re in a tough time to give tours, amid the colder weather, the dark, the general gloom around the world (and here in our city, where even though we comfortably beat back an increasingly hateful and grim campaign, it got a little hairy for a moment there). Every autumn singes with the business of sadness and all that. And yet we’re entering one of my busiest periods for tour-giving, moments of metaphorical and literal light amid the darkness. So it goes.

Coming Up Next

To reference another song:

🎶It’s coming on Christmas,
they’re cutting down trees,
Dyker Heights residents are putting up lights
(or more often hirees)
And I wish you bought a ticket
To upcoming tours I’m leading🎶

With apologies to Joni Mitchell, here’s what’s up next:

November 2025

• November 28, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights (this, and all times below, with Dyker Heights Christmas Lights LLC)
• November 29, 2:00 p.m.: Bridges of Gowanus: Rezone Remix
• November 29, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
• November 30, 1:00 p.m.: Lower East Side History and Foodways

December 2025

• December 2, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights

• December 4, 6:30 p.m.: Quenching Brooklyn’s Thirst (special indoor lecture edition, with Brooklyn Brainery)

  • (I may also have another special project in the works for 12/4; stay tuned)
  • December 5, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 6, 2:00 p.m.: Lower East Side History and Foodways
  • December 6, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 9, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 12, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 13, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 14, 1:00 p.m.: Lower East Side History and Foodways
  • December 16, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 19, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
  • December 30, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights

January 2026

• January 2, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights
• January 3, 7:00 p.m.: Dyker Lights

Something from the Archives

In preparing to convert my Quenching Brooklyn’s Thirst tour to a talk, I’m going through the material that went a little further afield of what we could cover geographically, or in the two-hour-ish timeframe of the walk. And one of the more esoteric dots I placed on the map were the old printing presses that published the pamphlets and reports chronicling the history of Brooklyn water, a kind of tour-within-a-tour which has thus far remained embryonic.

There was I. Van Anden’s Steam Press at 30 Fulton Street, the press-for-hire at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (which Van Anden owned and published). L. Darbee and Son of 92 South First Street (“at the corner of Fourth Street”, which I think is now Berry Street — Williamsburg scholars, please correct me if I’m wrong), owned by Levi Darbees pere and fils, owners of the Williamsburg Gazette. Stevenson & Marsters, of 391 Fulton Street, which would later be under the Fulton Elevated, and eventually (after a lovely set of buildings were in situ) torn down to build Cadman Plaza. John W. Heighway & Co., in the Morning Journal offices of 21 Court Street, which also met the same fate of demolition. And of course, the Brooklyn Daily Times press, not in Times Plaza but in the Eastern District at 12 South 7th Street (now Broadway). They all just showed up as names and addresses on some half-titles, but they too tell a story of a city on the make in this period.

Some Sensory Stimuli

When El Puente Taqueria on 5th Avenue and 93rd Street suddenly closed a few years back, Bay Ridge was left without a decent burrito place for a little while. El Toro (now Las Margaritas Express, 7302 3rd Ave.) filled the void for a bit, and 2022 saw the arrival of Café Tacos Por Favor, the subject of this week’s feature. The folks behind the Mandato restaurant (7218 3rd Ave.) and adjoining/constantly-venting-out-the-smell-of-cinnamon bakery (7220 3rd Ave.) took over a corner spot that was home to one subpar pizzeria after another, an especially cursed storefront, and turned it into a gem.

The Veracruz-style burritos, split in half and with cheese griddled on the outside of the tortilla, are indeed very good (no replacement for the wet burritos from El Puente, but a solid successor), and their chips of various starches (tortilla, potato) are well-fried, I am including TPF as Some Sensory Stimuli for a potentially surprising, but timely, reason: they make a remarkably good bowl of soup. Their cream of poblano is savory with a punch of spice, and the short rib, lentil, and brussels sprout soup is a flavorful stick-to-your-ribs bowl, a destination soup in the borough (that’s a phrase never uttered before, probably, but it should be a thing). Specials abound throughout the year in the liquid mealtime variety, but the mainstays (especially that short rib!) are worth it on their own.

Café Tacos Por Favor is located at 8125 5th Avenue, and is accessible via the R train (86 St), along with the B1, B16, B63, B70, and S53/S93 buses, and (at long last) via Citibike.

A Cat

Oh, Keko. The girl got adopted a second time, it didn’t take, and she’s back at Meow Parlour for the time being. Chrisinda and I got to see her (at separate moments) in the VIP suite facing Essex Street, where she can sleep in the sun and await that third time that will hopefully be the charm. (Maybe that someone can be you?)

Hope to see you in the streets soon! I’ll be back in touch in the new year (maybe sooner if that other 12/4 thing comes through). Until then, consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend, and stay safe out there.