Honoring MLK in Brooklyn
Josh Guttman | January 21, 2008
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Several events are scheduled to honor Martin Luther King today. BAM is hosting a tribute with several local politicians, including Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg and Yvette Clark, at an event that begins at 10:30a. OTBKB posted a day-long series of events at Old First Reformed Church in Park Slope that includes meditation, prayer and yoga.
His "I have a dream" speach is as inspirational today as it was in 1963:
Brooklyn writers donate anthology proceeds to fight Ratner’s Atlantic Yards
Josh Guttman | January 8, 2008
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Media Bistro broke the story today that the contributors to the anthology Brooklyn Was Mine (Brooklyn-based writers Jennifer Egan, Lara Vapnyar, Jonathan Lethem, Darcey Steinke, and Darin Strauss) plus fifteen others decided to donate all the book’s proceeds to the non-profit organization, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Full disclosure: four of the writers are on the DDDB advisory board. This is a great gesture towards Brooklyn and one which I personally support. Opposition to Forest City Ratner’s proposed $4 billion Atlantic Yards development remains as strong as ever and even seems to be growing in recent months. These writers characterized the Atlantic Yards project as "overwhelmingly dense, grossly out-of-scale with its surrounding neighborhood," and disruptive to longstanding communities. The development is currently held up in court. Incidentally, DDDB published The Unity Plan for Vanderbilt Yards yesterday as an alternative to Atlantic Yards. The rendering looks nice and certainly, much more in scale with the surrounding area. What do you think about Atlantic Yards?
Mulchfest 2008!! - Saturday and Sunday, January 5-6
Josh Guttman | January 5, 2008
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All that agonizing waiting can stop. Mulchfest is back, held today and tomorrow. Bring your dried out Christmas trees down to Verandah Place at Cobble Hill Park and watch as the Cobble Hill Tree Fund grinds them up into fine pine mulch. While your there, take a bag of mulch for your favorite trees and plants. Mulchfest provides hours of entertainment, all free of charge. What fun!!
More info on the Union-Clinton Block Meeting + Change of Time
Josh Guttman | December 7, 2007
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Reminder — Please join your neighbors for our 1st Union-Clinton Block Meeting, and hopefully the start of an official Block Association.
When: Sat. 12/8 @11:30AM-1:00PM (perhaps not the full 90 minutes)
Where: Clinton Street branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, downstairs meeting room
PLEASE PASS ALONG THE WORD TO OTHER NEIGHBORS NOT ON MY LIST….and please RSVP if you plan to attend so we can get a sense of who will be there.
Discussion topics so far include:
1. Sharing knowledge/facts of development plans for the Court-Union-Sackett corners
2. Discussing prospective role for a block association in influencing the scale, aesthetics and safety monitoring of the development site
3. Defining objectives and structure for a block association (anyone know how to do this officially???)
This being our first meeting, nothing is set in stone - so please email any suggested agenda topics to add to the list. All ideas are welcome!
Looking forward to getting all of us together for a lively discussion and constructive planning.
Donna Schneiderman
donna.schneiderman [at] verizon [dot] net
Sphere: Related ContentHear ye Hear ye - Announcing the formation of Union St Block Association
Josh Guttman | December 7, 2007
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"I’m writing to let you know that we are forming a Union Street Block Association. We have reserved a room at The Public Library on Union Street on Saturday, December 8th from 11:00am to 12:30pm. We are also trying to get a representative of our Community Board to attend. I hope you can make it." Please save the date and spread the word!
From what I hear on the inside, hot topics for discussion are rumored to include:
- ILA building development (International Longshoreman’s Association)
- New lamp posts
- Block parties
- Parking policies and ticketing
A neighborhood love story and brief history of Carroll Gardens
Josh Guttman | December 5, 2007
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Our friends over at Into The Box put together this touching neighborhood love story of Chris and Lydia and while doing so, found time to give a brief history of Carroll Gardens, touching on several neighborhood hot buttons - 360 Smith, Gowanus development/pollution and Smith/9th subway stop. Well done guys!!
Ask Mario: on parking in the neighborhood
Josh Guttman | November 30, 2007
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Happy Friday! Just when you thought the cheery holiday season was upon us…. This is a classic episode of Ask Mario, in which he waxes and wines on the horrible parking situation in the neighborhood. As usual, in a way only Mario can deliver, he shares some of his unique New York experiences on the topic.
Sphere: Related ContentCoffee BrewHaHa in the blogosphere - what’s your opinion?
Josh Guttman | November 28, 2007
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There’s been some chatter on local blogs about the new coffee houses opening in the Boerum Hill area. Gowanus Lounge posted about the new Brooklyn Bean that is opening at Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street. Brownstoner also posted about it, saying it’s an offshoot of Cuppa Cuppa in the East Village. Gowanus poses the question “is Brooklyn big enough to have two Brooklyn Beans or is an Espresso War brewing?” The real question, in my mind, is how many coffee houses can the neighborhood sustain? By my estimation, there is nearly a coffee house on every other block through Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and into Park Slope. It seems that I’m alerted to someone’s new fav weekly. I enjoyed The Tea House on Court for a while, before it became over-run with mommies and strollers. Sweet Melissa’s a block away is a nice spot for dessert after a movie. Some of my friends make up part of the cult following of Victory over on State and Hoyt. The Flying Saucer on Atlantic has a certain ethos that I enjoy from time to time, and it’s a nice place to work with free wi-fi. Mule is another one on Fourth Ave that provides a nice atmosphere. D’Amicos is a perennial local favorite. And there are several others I’m not mentioning. Which of the bunch is your favorite and how many more do you think the neighborhood can support?
Sphere: Related ContentThanksgiving special: Ask Mario waxes Court St retail
Josh Guttman | November 23, 2007
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Happy Thanksgiving guys. Today, in a Thanksgiving special Ask Mario, he waxes on Court Street retail, move-ins, move-outs, neighborhood rumors and a promising business concept!
Sphere: Related ContentBLKN 2.0 Meetup, tonight at 7pm
Josh Guttman | November 20, 2007
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This week before Thanksgiving is just full of local events. Tonight, BKLN 2.0 is meeting at Mooney’s at 7pm. From the organizer:
Some of the best networking I’ve ever done is while walking my dog, Henry, in Prospect Park. This morning, after I had just met yet one more person who works on web projects, I thought, we all take the train to Manhattan to attend Web meetups.
Why not have a Web oriented Meetup in Brooklyn?
So I decided to start Brooklyn 2.0, a Meetup with a ‘big tent’ approach to Web 2.0 for all of us who take the train to the city to attend Meetups. Anyone with an interest in or occupation related to Web 2.0 is invited. The focus, initially, is more on informal socializing/networki ng than formal presentations.
Come hang out with BKLN bloggers, designers, programmers, video bloggers, users, social media experts, entrepreneurs.
Tonight’s meetup is at Mooney’s, 353 Flatbush Avenue, and starts at 7pm.
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