Status Q

My apologies for the lull in posting. I have been super busy lately, too busy to even play pool, let alone think about it. Just a quick post about a nice pool hall I came across during my visit to Bay Ridge a few weeks ago. It's a small pool hall, which is refreshing. They have 10 tables total, two of which are bar tables. It's called Status Q and they have a myspace page which you can visit here. They've been in business since 1990 and have league nights on Wednesdays and Thursdays. More about the Brooklyn pool league in a future post.

A Level Playing Field

One thing that anybody who's ever played at Sophie's knows is how slanted the floor is. I've never measured, but the foot rail (near where the balls are racked) is easily two or three inches farther from the floor than the head rail is. To offset this, there are what appear to be blocks of wood under each of the legs at the foot end. But since the floor is sloped in two planes, under one of the legs there's also a stack of beer coasters or pieces of folded cardboard. I've even seen part of a phone book used and a vicious Jack Russell Terrier gnawing away at it. The difference in height is most pronounced when the cue ball is up against the foot rail and you're shooting toward the opposite end of the table. It can really mess with your stance and stroke. The table gets bumped a lot when people are playing, especially when it's crowded. Every few weeks it needs to be re-leveled. I've helped out many times, typically on a slow Sunday night after a weekend of heavy abuse or on a Tuesday before a visiting team arrives.

Lately, I've noticed another problem. I don't know the specifics of how a table is resurfaced, but I am pretty sure this problem is the result of some sort of adhesive underneath the felt. For example, when a ball is rolling at a certain speed it'll come to the edge of a corner pocket and appear to have enough momentum to roll in–and on any other table would, in fact, roll in–but will stop ever so slightly and sort of roll back, away from the pocket. It's as if there's a one-millimeter ridge of glue underneath the felt at the corners that acts as a speed bump. It's maddening when it prevents a crucial ball from falling. But I've also seen it prevent countless scratches. Just last night I saw a guy in a futile stalemate situation. His 8 ball was trapped on the lip of one of the corner pockets, frozen to one of his stripes, which was surrounded by a dense cluster of other stripes. He kept nudging away at them, gently trying to break the pack apart and the 8 ball would rock a bit but just wouldn't budge. I knew it was that ridge that was keeping it there. He wasn't able to get out of that situation but it was funny to see how long that 8 ball stayed out of the pocket.

Hall of Fame Billiards

This weekend I was out in Borough Park, Brooklyn for an assignment. When I was finished I decided to walk over into Bay Ridge to check out Hall of Fame Billiards. It's a nice place to play. And cheap. I practiced for what felt like an hour and then went over to pay and the cashier said "That'll be $3.25." With 50 pool tables (split among two floors), it's among the largest pool halls in the city.

In my many internet searches about pool in NYC, Hall of Fame Billiards has frequently come up, along with the name Jean Balukas (above). Jean's family runs the place, and just inside the entrance to the building is a wall covered with photographs and news clippings of her and other athletes and celebrities. Jean is the youngest-ever BCA Hall of Fame inductee (age 26). She entered her first US Open at age nine and came in seventh place. She won it three years later and went on to dominate the sport. But by 1988 she had nowhere to go. Click here to read an excellent 1991 article about her retirement. Apparently she keeps in touch with the professional pool community, as there were many recent photos of her and other top players. The trip to Bay Ridge is worth it, just for the wall of history. I'm told she runs a 9-ball tournament there every Thursday.

Sophie's in Metro NY

Here is a clip from the recent March 23-25 weekend edition of Metro NY. The pictures were taken on Tuesday the 20th, when Sophie's was hosting a team from Barfly. Photographer Steve Meyer came in with his camera on a tripod and set up in the back near the pool table. I got a little worried that he might distract the players. So I went over as friendly as I could to suggest he consult with the players before shooting, not to use flash, etc. A few other pleasantries were exchanged afterwards and that was that. About 10 days later Yvonne sent me a text message saying somebody had seen us in a photo in one of the free daily newspapers. Intrigued, I went to Sophie's for confirmation. Two people there had seen it, but neither had saved a copy. By this point I couldn't remember if the photographer was with AM New York or Metro, so I made some phone calls. AMNY's photo editor said it didn't ring a bell. Thus, I went down to Metro's office, at 44 Wall Street, and the receptionist gave me a stack of back issues to search. Lo and behold in the very last issue of the bunch I came across the image, with Seneca Burr taking aim at a shot as Yvonne and I are seated nearby, me with clipboard in hand. The caption reads "A customer works the Sophie's pool table, the centerpiece of any respectable neighborhood bar." A fun little clip to send the folks. Click on the image to enlarge, you should be able to read the story.

111 Fourth Avenue

This is an image I submitted to Michael Kadosh of CB Richard Ellis as a proposal for an exhibition in the vacant retail space at Fourth Avenue and 12th Street. I'd long admired that space when it was Gallagher's Art & Fashion Gallery and would often go in and check out the books and prints. I even visited Gallagher's sprawling basement archive around the corner. Walking down Fourth Avenue a few weeks ago I snapped a picture of the empty space and wrote down the contact info for the broker. I played around with the photo, added some other elements and came up with this montage. I called up Kadosh and we spoke briefly, but he never did get back to me regarding my pitch. I figured it would be a no brainer to drop in a pool table and put up some prints, even if only for a month. Think it's a good idea? Then let him know.