Sweeet

Every once in a while in this flip-nutty world, you still hear something that’s got a good old neighborhood feel to it. In Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, there’s this guy Jimmy Jackson who has a watermelon stand that’s been going for more than 50 years. It’s still a local favorite, especially on a hotter-than-hell summer day.

 

People show up on bicycles, electric scooters, cars, and the shoe leather express to grab a cup of sweet, sliced fruit. This bird is a local institution. During the fall he sells pumpkins and gourds. In December he’s moving miniature Christmas trees. Jimmy loves meeting people, talking things over, and making their day. It’s all about the banter.

Coupla things. Malcom X and Jackie Robinson were from Bed-Stuy. Also Spike Lee, Notorious B.I.G., and Chris Rock. A lot of population shifts have happened in the neighborhood in recent years, but it don’t mean a thing to Jimmy. Jason Roberts, a social worker who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life, says, “The watermelon stand is ensuring people still have a way to come together and look out for one another.” Then he says, “There was a time when your neighbors were like an additional parent. The watermelon stand is a reflection of that.” Whoa Jackson, when we were kids, we had a neighbor who made it a practice to always tell our parents about all the mischief and troublemaking we were up to. She was so bad we nicknamed her The Buzzard. Old Buzz thought she was an additional parent. Ain’t that somethin’.

Keep your dukes up.


 

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It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s A…Blimp!