To NoMi Is To Love Me...Neighborhood Promotion Ideas Are Being Kicked Around!

Photos By John Hoff 

Some weeks ago, there was some brief, intense discussion among movers and shakers in the Hawthorne Neighborhood about promotional possibilities involving the old railroad bridge near Broadway Pizza.

I see this bridge as a de facto "gateway to NoMi" and I thought how it might be painted up with the phrase (very much in common currency right now) "Get To NoMi" or possibly "To NoMi Is To Love Me."

I'm told one of the "elder statesmen" in the neighborhood said various ideas had been kicking around for many years, ideas about painting something on the old railroad bridge. Well, I thought time to kick the ideas around a little harder. 

Geez, at the very least the bridge could be painted the original green color instead of left to rust.

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Community Gardens Are Popping Up All Over NoMi!

Yet another community garden has appeared in rapidly-revitalizing North Minneapolis, (NoMi) this one at the intersection of 22nd Ave. N. and Bryant Ave. N.

The vacant lot in question was for sale for quite a while. In fact....

...I called the seller of the lot, some large and impersonal bank, and made inquiries about the price. I seem to recall being quoted a figure of $25,000. To which I responded, "You understand I can buy a decent HOUSE in this neighborhood for around $17,000? Why would I pay $25,000 for a vacant lot?"

They were willing to take my contact info in case the price dropped to my preferred offer of "maybe a couple grand." But some days ago, piles of fresh soil appeared, then this weekend eager tillers of the soil were seen making the lot into a garden. I learned from one of the participants that this effort is not connected to the Hawthorne Neighborhood association, it is an independent effort. I presume somebody actually BOUGHT the lot but, well, who knows?

The sign which advertised the lot is for sale is knocked down, yet still remains. One wonders if the lumber could be made into a decent compost bin?

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Saturday, Saturday, Saturday is COMMUNITY GARDEN DAY At 2123 6th Stree North!

Photo By Kevin

The Hawthorne Neighborhood's newest community garden is moving forward. Kevin K. writes as follows:

Well, it's time to start construction of the raised beds for our community garden at 2123 6th Street. Mike Klick, Brian Kallioinen and I went shopping this past weekend and picked up all the supplies and lumber we should need. The first steps involved include: staining the wood and attaching plastic sheeting to one side for water protection.

We plan on meeting this Wednesday evening, 6:30 pm at 411 25th Ave North to begin the staining. Since we can only do one coat that evening, we would also need a body or two during the day on Thursday to do the final coat.

We don't need a huge number of people and it shouldn't take a huge amount of time, but we do need help.

We also plan on moving all the lumber for the beds to the garden site on Saturday. That's going to be a huge work day, so once again we will need a lot of help.

To contact Kevin, email kdkusche@mninter.net

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A Child's "Big Wheel" Where Notorious "Big Stop" Once Stood

Photo By Kip Browne, Peace

By God



Some recent discussion over whether public figure Ben Myers is a public figure or not included mention of the old "Big Stop" store, once the pain and bane of the Jordan Neighborhood until Don Samuels, et al, made a push to get it shut down, torn down, and the earth where it once stood sowed with grass seed, but not THAT kind of grass.



Here is a photo that shows...



...the former site of Big Stop, notorious open air drug market and source of quality snack foods for the busy money-making gangster on the go.



Prior to to the destruction of this building, there was a push by (former JACC vice chair) Ben Myers and (former JACC executive director, now reportedly applying for unemployment) Jerry Moore to SAVE THE BIG STOP BUILDING.



Why, you might wonder? WHY TRY TO SAVE A BUILDING WITH NO HISTORICAL VALUE AND A LONG HISTORY OF BEING A HAVEN FOR DRUG DEALING? At the time, there was talk coming from the Myers/Moore clique of turning the old Big Stop into a headquarters for JACC.



Of course, we all see what high regard somebody like Jerry Moore has for the headquarters of JACC: he tried to shut off the power at JACC in the middle of winter after the "New Majority" ousted him.



But the question remains: why were Ben Myers and Jerry Moore trying so hard to save that nasty little structure, even posing in front of the building in a Star Tribune news photo, mafia style, their body language seeming to say, "Don Samuels, if you want to tear down the old Big Stop, you have to get through US, first!" (The article is still easily found online, adding to the "public figure" status of Ben Myers)



According to speculation by somebody in the Jordan neighborhood--and I emphasize it is purely speculation--the whole point of that little fiasco was to simply oppose Don Samuels in preparation for a city council campaign by Ben, Jerry, or somebody else. It didn't matter what position Samuels stood for...the point was to stand for the OPPOSITE thing and try to paint Samuels as out of touch with the grassroots.



(Which grassroots, I always wonder? The ones actually SELLING grass?)



If Don Samuels had said: let's find a way to save that building and maybe use it for some kind of neighborhood organization, then the position of Ben and Jerry might have been: ARE YOU CRAZY? After all that drug dealing? For goodness sakes, TEAR IT DOWN!!!



Well, in any case...here is a picture of peace on earth. It may not look like much. After all the struggle to drive out the drug dealers and tear down the stark symbol of neighborhood disorder, one might expect a choir of heavenly angels celebrating the salvation of that particular vacant lot.



No, it really doesn't look like much. All the same, this is what we fight for up in NoMi: a place a child can leave his/her Big Wheel tricycle, and play in the grass, and not have to see drug deals going down day and night, not have to rub elbows with crack heads while trying to buy an orange Push-Up ice cream treat at the corner store.



One day, something might be erected at that controversial spot again.



Personally, I hope it's a swing set, monkey bars and merry-go-round.

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WARNING!!! City Inspectors & Hawthorne Neighborhood Puts Wannabe Slumlord's Severed Head On A Pole, An Object Of Horror And WARNING!!!

Photo By Jeff Skrenes

It happened over the Easter weekend: a wannabe slumlord (or possibly one of his employees, though we think it was Mister Slummy himself) started digging a massive hole behind 2515 3rd St. N.

Not just ANY hole, mind you. This was...

...a "dig to China" hole. This was a "oh, my word, is he looking for DINOSAUR BONES?!" kinda hole. This is when you wonder--you seriously worry and wonder--whether the earth will give way and the house will fall (ass over china hutch over tea kettle) into the earth's gaping maw.

Pictures will follow. YOU WILL SEE.

Real estate agent, housing preservationist, and Hawthorne's newest, arguably HOTTEST resident, Constance Nompelis (No-bell-iss) was our Paul Revere, sounding the alarm on her "Over North" blog with cell phone pictures. Discussion took place on an unrelated chat thread of THIS blog while Housing Director Jeff Skrenes was on vacation in the "UP" of Michigan, with Jeff saying he was ON IT--very seriously ON IT--the red hot second he got back.

Dyna Sluyter was on the issue as well, absolutely LIGHTING UP the e-democracy forum while the incident was still ongoing.

In the meantime, voice mail and email inboxes of public officials slowly filled up with the frantic cry for help from the Hawthorne neighborhood, where very involved, very wired, very communicative NoMi citizens were rallying like MINUTEMEN to face off the red coats.

But it was Jeff's crystal clear digital pictures and the office of Council Member Diane Hofstede which sent city inspectors to the site POST HASTE, ripping off the adhesive from the order to STOP WORK IMMEDIATELY. Yet long before those inspectors arrived, Jeff Skrenes PERSONALLY confronted the slumlord.

The slumlord got out of what Jeff called his "Baby Backhoe of Doom" and walked rapidly toward Jeff. It was clear the slumlord was getting pretty tired of citizens standing at the edge of his beautiful hole with cameras and horrified expressions. He tried to tell Jeff he had all the proper permits to do this.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Jeff said, and he said it LOUD. Jeff said he'd called the city and the slumlord DID NOT have an excavation permit, and that was clearly what was happening HERE: not mere demolition, but EXCAVATION, like "TELL ME WHEN YOU HIT MAGMA" excavation.

The slumlord was clearly digging a hole to put in a basement, expand the house, and pack in as many renters as he could. KEEP IN MIND this house is zoned R2-B, which means it can't have more than two units without a special zoning variance, which this house--what's left it--DOES NOT HAVE.

(Jeff, who is a Star Wars geek, also noted "R2-B" might be an R2 unit whose primary language is Bocci)

"I AM THE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING DIRECTOR!" Jeff said, facing down the slumlord. "YOU DO NOT COME TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

I'm not sure if expletives were thrown around. If they were, I wouldn't quote 'em. This is the true grit it takes to protect our neighborhood, and it's a good thing we have a Housing Director who is also something of a body builder, because it's moments like this you need a big, muscular guy from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to face down a slumlord armed with a "Baby Backhoe of Doom," most likely a "Bobcat."

HOW MANY TIMES will this need to happen before the slumlords figure it out? It happened on "Desolation Row" near Fairview Park, the first place I ever saw what a "STOP WORK IMMEDIATELY" order looks like. It happened at 3001 6th St. N., when I personally called it in to the Department of Inspections, and blogged about it here. This very thing has happened other places in Hawthorne, too.

Slumlords obtain a property dirt cheap, and then come into the neighborhood thinking North Minneapolis is a place where nobody cares, where permits can be ignored, where it's pretty much the wild west and the only law is renters need to pay money by the first of the month or they'll be out in the street.

But that's NOT how it is. You pull up with a truck in front of a house, and neighbors approach. They make inquiries. And if the inquiries do not meet with satisfactory answers, they start making calls. LOTS of calls.

Today there was an article in the Star Tribune talking about how properties held by absentee homeowners (quite possibly wannabe slumlords) are outpacing those held by the people who give a rip about making the neighborhood a nice place to live and raise a family.

So let the word go forth to those who are thinking of buying property in North Minneapolis, and to those who have already bought property and are thinking, gee, should I renovate it? Or should I pack it with renters and ignore as many rules as I can to maximize revenue? Let them look here, and let them know:

SLUMLORDS, FLY-By-NIGHT OPERATORS, SCAMMERS OF EVERY TYPE AND STRIPE:

WE WILL PUT YOUR BLOODY, SEVERED HEAD ON A POLE!!!!!!!!!

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Stripping Hardwood Floors In North Minneapolis (PHOTOS)

Photos by John Hoff, top to bottom: 

Connie changing a sandpaper disc on the edger, Connie running the edger, cheap Chinese-made hammer suitable for pounding nails, but not for pulling them.

Connie with the bag of sawdust; so much sawdust the room must have been bigger after sanding. 

A "before and after" area of the floor. Thresholds always seem to be especially tough with staples and, sometimes, linoleum glue. 

Connie changing the roller on the "big boy" sander; the big sander is actually a lot less difficult to change than the little one. 

Next, look at Connie's arms. After Connie worked on the floors all day, Connie's roommate was jealous of Connie's toned arms. The next picture shows all the dust in Connie's hair, producing a momentary vision of young Connie as an old woman...who still looks good, by the way.

Incredibly, Connie did all this sanding in two-inch heels. Very seldom was so much honest work done in two-inch heels. 

Next, my hand holding the .22 caliber high-velocity round I found near the edge board in the closet. Also found: wheat pennies and marijuana seeds. 

Connie "settling up" at Pete's Hardwood Floors in St. Paul. As you can see, she washed her hair. 

The last picture shows the t-shirts sold at Pete's. I am looking forward to the free t-shirt I've been promised for submitting photos and a narrative! 

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