In Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel The Bonfires of the Vanities, the main character takes a wrong turn in the South Bronx and all hell ensues. This Tuesday, I took a wrong turn in Flatlands, Brooklyn and I was fortunate to come upon yet a new collection of decorated planters.
5309 Avenue I
Heading down Avenue J, I came across adjoining houses with the beach pebble planters at 1293 and 1297 East 52nd Street. These six flower pots were consistent with what I’ve seen to date. And that’s a good thing as it demonstrates a favored pattern.
5311 Avenue I
As I drove down East 52 Street, I encountered four houses on Avenue I—5309, 5311, 5315, and 5324—with the familiar mosaic work. One different was that the outside surface of the urns at adjoining 5309 and 5311 were completed covered with the larger cobbles, as opposed to being divided with vertical lines into sections of smaller pebbles. A minor but perhaps not insignificant artistic choice.
5315 Avenue I
I’m developing a map of Brooklyn’s decorative planters and will be making that available soon.
saw the nyt article, had to check this out
When I was a kid in DC, I remember women making these to sell at the annual bazaar for my parochial school. That, the macaroni art crosses, the crocheted toilet paper covers shaped like hats, earrings made from sea shells or feathers hooked on skimpy silver loops from the craft store (hello, 1975), and an array of cookies that beggared the imagination, kept our small parish school afloat.
in DC
These women actually working with flowerpots? Joseph