May 12, 2007 / Park Slope / Perspective / PS … I Love You

Just say neigh at this stable

By Nica Lalli

The Brooklyn Paper

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Manhattan just lost its only public stable with the recent closure of the Claremont Riding Academy. The bridal paths in Central Park will no longer be used by equestrians, and a piece of history has been lost.

I don’t particularly like horses. But I would hate for them to disappear from the paths of Prospect Park. The horses sauntering by us in the park take us to the country for a moment. They make us remember that there is a world outside of the concrete, blacktop and brick grid of the city.

I had an odd wave of emotion about the horses leaving Central Park, so I went over to the Kensington Stables to meet the horses (and the people) who keep our park well hooved (in Manhattan they have a “Riding Academy,” but here in Brooklyn we only got a “stable”).

Owner Walker Blankinship, who grew up in Prospect/Lefferts Gardens and attended Brooklyn Technical HS in Fort Greene, said the 32 horses and seven ponies that live at his stable should be considered permanent residents of our fine borough.

Blankinship told me that he has over 100 students at his stable, including a few new ones from Manhattan. He has five riding instructors as well as stable hands and pony handlers. Last month, Gallop, the therapeutic riding program for people with disabilities, started using his horses.

After getting a “State of the Stable” address from Blankinship, I got the grand tour from stable employee Chris McClellan, a true urban cowboy (complete with Brooklyn accent).

I met the seven ponies, all named after desserts, thoroughbreds the color of roasted coffee, and smaller horses of every shade of brown, beige, and gray. None of them kicked me, for which I was grateful and relieved.

Back at the stable entrance, the noise from the construction site across the street had gotten louder. Blankinship once had a second, smaller barn across the street, but that site was sold by his former landlady is now being turned into luxury condominiums, complete with balconies that overlook the horse stalls.

“I don’t want to hear the complaints from the owners once they move in. Especially on the days we have the manure truck come in here,” he said. “This has been a stable since 1930. If you buy one of those units, you better love horses.”

I was relieved to hear that the development was not driving the stable out, partly because Blankinship owns the building his horses live in.

As I started to leave, Butterscotch was being groomed and loaded into the trailer for an afternoon birthday party, and two Orthodox Jewish men arrived for their ride through the park.

The Kitchen Sink

The words of the prophets are written on the bathroom walls? At Cafe Steinhoff, a poster promoting last week’s Useless Bastards show was defaced so that it read, “Useless Markowitz.” …

Maybe NBC should consider Stephen Colbert instead of Conan O’Brien to replace alleged funnyman Jay Leno on the “Tonight Show.” Indeed, the comic carrot top was drubbed by PS 107 parents at this year’s school auction. A pair of ducats to O’Brien’s show went for just $110, while four tickets to “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” went for $450 and two tickets to “The Colbert Report” went for $320. On a per-ticket basis, O’Brien finished last in the ratings. …

Neighbors of the 2nd Street Cafe were understandably miffed when the “Closed for Renovations” sign went up, given how many local businesses never seem to come back after their “repairs.” Good news, though: Workers were toiling through the night on Monday making repairs. You don’t do that if you’re going out of business, do you? …

What was with that bridal party at Union Hall the other day? All the bridesmaids were dressed in jungle attire and when our intrepid reporter went over to inquire about the celebration, the bride herself — dressed as a leopard! — carried the reporter around the bar on her back. “It isn’t usually like this, you know,” said Theresa, the bartender. If only!

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper