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Nov. 23–29, 2018
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GOT HIS GOAT: Jack Costas reigned victorious in the contest to name Prospect Park’s new weed-harvesting boat with his suggestion, the “Floating
Goat.” Photo by Colin Mixson
FIRST MATE!
Windsor Terrace boy wins Prospect Park’s boat-naming contest
wouldn’t be anywhere to play,
because it would be covered in
weeds,” he said.
Costas’s “Floating Goat”
moniker was one of some 300
that locals suggested to the
Alliance for its quasi-democratic
process, in which green
thumbs whittled down the
hundreds of options to a short
list of nine they could live
with, according to a spokeswoman
for the park keepers.
“We didn’t want to be copy
cats of Boaty McBoatface,”
said Lucy Gardener, referencing
the popular, but overruled,
crowd-sourced moniker for a
British ship offi cials asked the
public to name in 2016.
Alliance leaders then asked
locals to vote for their favorite
of the nine fi nalists — which
included such inspired names
as “Weedzilla” and “Chompy”
BY COLIN MIXSON
This kid is the greatest of all
time!
A Windsor Terrace tyke
suggested the winning name
for Prospect Park’s recently
acquired fl oating weed harvester,
which green-space offi
cials offi cially christened
the “Floating Goat” at a Nov.
16 ceremony near the Boathouse
in Brooklyn’s Backyard.
Eight-year-old Jack Costas
joined leaders of meadow
steward the Prospect Park
Alliance and local offi cials
at the naming event, where
the youngster stressed the
importance of the vessel that
sucks up unwanted plants on
the surface of Prospect Park
Lake and spits them out as
mulch .
“If there wasn’t anything
to clean up weeds, there
Continued on page 16
Zaytoons
closes in
C’Gardens
BY COLIN MIXSON
A Carroll Gardens restaurateur
this week shuttered his
beloved Middle Eastern eatery
on Smith Street after 20
years in the neighborhood.
The owner of Zaytoons
served his last meal at the establishment
between Sackett
and Degraw streets on Nov.
20, before closing its kitchen
for good in an attempt to wind
down after decades of feeding
hungry locals, he said.
“I’m just trying to simplify
my life,” said Faried Assad.
“It really came down to, I got
tired.”
But Assad didn’t quit the
local culinary game entirely
— he will still be whipping up
delicacies at Zaytoons Vanderbilt
Avenue outpost in
Prospect Heights, which he
said is larger and more profi table
than the Carroll Gardens
fl agship due to its outdoor
garden, and proximity to ice
cream.
“If you’re living the
same distance between Carroll
Gardens and Prospect
Heights, they go to Prospect,
because they can fi nd seating,
there’s a garden, and Ample
Hills Creamery is across the
street,” he said.
And the entrepreneur,
who owns the Smith Street
building his restaurant occupied,
is keeping the spot in
the business by leasing it out
to the owners of burger joint
Nature’s Grill.
Assad claimed he could
have raked in gobs of cash
by renting the space to a bar
or an Italian restaurant instead,
but said the area is already
lousy with those establishments,
so he chose to
Continued on page 16
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