No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Phtotography by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas: You Better Watch Out…

Santa Claus at the Atlantic Mall.
Photo by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas.

JJ Byrne Park in the New York Times

Here’s an excerpt from Jake Mooney’s piece in the New York Times City Section about the changes in JJ Byrne Park:

I a way, the fall of 2004 was a more innocent, more trusting time
around the handball courts at J. J. Byrne Park in Park Slope. The
construction site next door on Fourth Avenue, which would years later
sprout a 12-story condominium building, was still a fresh hole in the
ground.

Yes, the work there digging the building’s
foundation had destabilized part of the park, closing two of the eight
courts and an asphalt field. But the building’s developer had agreed to
fix them. The repair work, a city parks department spokesman said at
the time, would most likely be done by April — April 2005.

Fall
turned into winter, and to spring, and soon April 2005 came and went.
As did April 2006, 2007 and 2008. The building, by Brooklyn-based
Boymelgreen Developers, grew taller, and along the way it got a name —
Novo Park Slope. People moved in. And through it all, the repair work remained unfinished, the handball courts and asphalt field fenced off.

Turkey Trot Results are Up

The results are in for Prospect Park Track Club’s most challenging event of the year, Thanksgiving morning’s Turkey Trot in Prospect Park.

Nearly 2000 runners of all levels gathered for a great race on a great day. For the results: go to the PPTC’s web site.

This Week in Park Slope…

–December 1 at 7 pm: World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project organized by the Gay and Lesbian Ministry of
Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church at 7:00 pm at Park Slope’s St.
Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places.

–December 3 at 11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting and Dedication in Washington Park (aka JJ Byrne Park) Fifth Avenue and Third Street.

–December 4 at 7 pm until 10 pm: Snowflake Celebration sponsored by the Buy in Brooklyn initiative. Local merchants throw open their doors to stay open late and
create a holiday atmosphere, enabling you, the people of Park Slope, to
do your holiday shopping . . . here!

Each participating business will stay open until 10pm, and offer some special promotion—could
be a sale, could be a giveaway, raffle, carolers, snow machine (it’s
been done!), mulled wine, special hors d’oeuvres, etc. etc. The
listings of participants grows daily!!!

–December 6 at 5 pm: Park Slope’s BID First Annual Tree and
Menorah Lighting Ceremony. At 7 p.m. a reading of The Christmas Carol
at the Old Stone House.

Dec 3: Ribbon Cutting and Dedication in Washington Park (formerly JJ Byrne Park)

On December 3rd, there will be a ribbon cutting and dedication to mark the completion of the first phase of the work being done on JJ Byrne Park, on Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street, which was funded by Boymelgreen Developers. The project includes a new skate park, two new basketball courts, six handball courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping.

There will also be a groundbreaking for the next phase of the project, which includes a synthetic turf green, new fencing, landscaping and the plaza area opening the view of the Old Stone House to Fourth Avenue. Much of this work is being paid for by the Parks Department I believe.

On this day, the park is also being renamed Washington Park, because of the park’s connection with the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The playground will be renamed JJ Byrne Playground.

Tom Martinez, Witness: Fun with Darts

This Thanksgiving I’m especially thankful for protective eyewear.
Shown here: twelve year old Aidan Fontana preparing to fire at
point-blank range.

Photo by Tom Martinez

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Dec 6: Pre-School Round-up Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights schools

If you are looking for a pre-school or program for your toddler or pre-school aged child, c ome to this Preschool Round-Up for Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights schools on Saturday, Dec 6th, 2008   12:00 – 3:00

So what is this?

An afternoon event in which local preschools and programs for the toddler and pre-school aged children will provide materials and information about their programs.  Many parents are unaware of the rich and varied choices in our community. Come and learn about some of these choices and ask questions.

Who is invited?

All parents in the community.

Cost? Nope. The event is free but no day care will be provided.

The following schools have been invited to participate (more are being added)

The Brooklyn School

Carousel Children’s Center

The Dillon Child Study Center

Fort Greene Clinton Hill Cooperative

Green Hill School

Hanson Place Child Development Center

International School of Brooklyn

Maple Street School

Montessori Day School of Brooklyn

My Babies Footprints Child Care

Prospect Kids Academy

TriloK Preschool

Union Temple Preschool

The Where and When

Saturday December 6th from 12 – 3 p.m.
105 Lexington Avenue
between Franklin and Classon Avenues

Richard Grayson: Black Friday Shopping at the Malls of Brooklyn

A Black Friday (or "Brooklyn Friday) shopping trip to Brookyn Junction is a trip down memory lane for  Richard Grayson. Here’s an excerpt.

As a pre-teen in the Kennedy
administration, "going to the Junction" was a big treat for us, though
it usually meant getting glazed donuts and comic books and
window-shopping around what was the closest thing to a shopping area we
could get to from Flatlands on the B41 bus.

By the end of the
1960s, we were jaded by our every-weekday trips as a student at Midwood
High School and Brooklyn College, and these days we make the trip twice
a week from Williamsburg to teach classes in creative writing and the
short story, not to shop.

Passing a dozen or so Jehovah’s Witnesses ladies at the train station,
we made our way to the new Triangle Junction Mall between Nostrand and
Flatbush Avenues on what used to be municipal and private parking lots
where we kept our gold ‘73 Mercury Comet when we couldn’t find a meter
or a legal space anywhere else.

The mall’s main store is Target,
the fourth in Brooklyn, opened just last spring. Of course, the Circuit
City in the same mall, which opened later, is already closing as that
company, bankrupt, is forced to liquidate. Three people with big signs
announcing the end of Circuit City, if not the world, are strategically
placed on different corners, including in front of the elevator to the
subway station.

Newsday: Daytrip to Park Slope

Leon Freilich, the Oh-So-Prolific-One/Verse Responder, brought an article in this weekend’s Newsday to my attention, a guide and loving tribute to Park Slope with more than 100 photographs. See if your house is pictured or your favorite store or restaurant. The dining out section includes 45 photographs. Quite a few restaurants pictured are no longer in business, including Beso, Bistro St. Marks, Minnow, Cocotte, The Red Cafe, Surreal Cafe, Two Little Red Hens and Mirimam. It’s actually a great record of extinct restaurants. Complete with pictures.

Park Slope
is a fine mixture of late 19th century elegance and 21st century cool:
Brownstones and limestones complete with bow windows, bay windows,
turrets and cupolas vie for space along its tree-lined streets with
up-to-the minute bistros and bars.

Built to compete with the upscale neighborhoods of that borough across
the river, its own version of Fifth Avenue — Prospect Park West — was
meant to be every bit as opulent as its more famous competitor. It
never quite succeeded on that level, but it did draw its own plutocrats
and merchant princes.

The main difference is that, even today, many of those mansions remain
while much of Fifth Avenue has long since been turned into faceless –
if internally lavish — apartment houses.

Markowitz: Statement on Murders in Mumbai

Statement from Marty Markowitz on murder of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg of Brooklyn and his wife, Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi of Virginia,

    “We join the Brooklyn Lubavitch, Volove, and Satmar communities and all Brooklynites in expressing our outrage over the senseless and cruel murders of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi of Virginia, and all of the innocents murdered and wounded in Mumbai. The monsters responsible for these attacks are attempting to undermine democracy in peace-loving nations everywhere, but this savagery only strengthens our resolve to eradicate terrorism and such atrocities against innocents of all faiths, wherever they exist.

    The Holtzbergs could have lived a simple and quiet life in Crown Heights, where Rabbi Holtzberg grew up, but their sense of religious duty took them to India to run Mumbai’s Chabad House, which, under their stewardship, became a comforting home away from home for thousands of Jews. Rabbi Teitelbaum, the son of the Volover Rebbe from Boro Park, was in Mumbai as a kosher food supervisor. We are inspired by their commitment to others. The prayers of Brooklynites, New Yorkers and the global community are with the family and loved ones of Rabbi Teitelbaum, as well as those of the Holtzberg family, especially their 2-year-old son, Moshe, in this tragic time.

December Cheat Sheet: Loads to Do in Park Slope

–December 1 at 7 pm: World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project organized by the Gay and Lesbian Ministry of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church at 7:00 pm at Park Slope’s St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places.

–December 4 at 7 pm until 10 pm: Snowflake Celebration sponsored by the Buy in Brooklyn initiative. Local merchants throw open their doors to stay open late and
create a holiday atmosphere, enabling you, the people of Park Slope, to
do your holiday shopping . . . here!

Each participating business will stay open until 10pm, and offer some special promotion—could
be a sale, could be a giveaway, raffle, carolers, snow machine (it’s
been done!), mulled wine, special hors d’oeuvres, etc. etc. The
listings of participants grows daily!!!

–December 6 at 5 pm: Park Slope’s BID First Annual Tree and Menorah Lighting Ceremony. At 7 p.m. a reading of The Christmas Carol at the Old Stone House.

–December 11 at 7 pm until 10 pm: Snowflake Celebration (see above).

–December 11 at 7 pm: An Evening with architectural historian, Francis Morrone: a reading and discussion of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s newly published Park Slope Neighborhood and Architectural History Guide at the Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street.

–December 18 at 8 pm: Brooklyn Reading Works presents Feast (Writers on Food) to benefit a local food pantrym featuring Sophia Romero, Jill Eisenstadt, Tom Rayfiel, Sharon Mesmer and more. Curated by Michele Madigan Somerville. The Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and Third Street.

World AIDs Day in Park Slope: December 1

The Gay and Lesbian Ministry of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church
announces its second annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project.

The Candlelight Service will take place on World AIDS Day December
1, at 7:00 pm in St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places in Park Slope, Brooklyn and will
feature a talk by designer and teacher Jim Morgan co-founder of Friends
House in New York City, which offers housing and support to persons
with AIDS, and Kisangura Friends Secondary School in Tanzania for
children orphaned by AIDS.

The exuberant and inspiring Gay Men’s Chorus of Manhattan, a group
of choral musicians dedicated to educating through song, who use the
gift of voice to promote tolerance and acceptance for GLBT and all
peoples, will perform.

The Ribbon Project will installed beginning in mid-November through
World AIDS Day 2007. "It is our hope that the red ribbons bearing the
names of some who have died of AIDS lining the iron fence that
surrounds Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church will serve as a stark
and reverent reminder of the continued need to strive to improve AIDS/
HIV education, support all who live with HIV and AIDS and press for a
cure," writes one of the events founders.

With an
estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 HIV- positive individuals living in
the U.S., and approximately 40,000 new infections occurring every year,
the U.S., like other nations around the world is deeply affected by
HIV/AIDS. On December 1, World AIDS Day, it is fitting to reflect on
the way that the pandemic of HIV and AIDS affects us on local, national
and international levels. The World AIDS Day 2007-2008 call to "Keep
the Promise" brings emphasis to the importance of holding individuals,
religious leaders, faith organizations, international and national
governments and agencies accountable for the commitments they have made
to fight HIV and AIDS.

The church invites all those
who wish to do so to take part in their Ribbon Project by submitting
names of loved ones who have died of AIDS. Send names, with or without
last names — informal or ‘nicknames’ are acceptable — and dates of
birth and death if these details are available.

This information may be mailed or hand-delivered, through the mail
slot, to the St. Augustine Church Rectory (at 116 Sixth Avenue,
Brooklyn; mark envelopes: “Ribbon Project”) or sent by email to
staugustinegay@gmail.com. Names inscribed on the ribbons will be read
aloud as part of the prayer service. (deadline: November 28)

For further information please call St. Augustine Church (718 783
3132), write to staugustinegay@gmail.com or visit
www.brooklyngaycatholics.blogspot.com .

Community Bookstore Moves Into the 21st Century With Cool New Website

ANYHOW!  This is it!  This is the official news that our website
is up, functional, and doesn’t have too many embarassing corners (it’s
actually been up since August, but had . . . well, embarassing
corners).  Since then, we’ve gotten used to it, so it seems a little
funny to send out word, but . . . although quite an amazing few of you
have found it already, NO!  THIS is the official news!!!!! 

 

Please step in, and take a look:  www.communitybookstore.net.

 

The information is current and accurate.  The events listings are
up to date (thank you Rebekah), and the "Messing About" section is full
of whatever tickles our fancy . . . . but probably the best and most
important part of it is that you can now Order Books from us, on line.
If you go to the "Get Books" section, you can troll through, search and
peruse Books in Print — if you want to order something, you can choose
to have it sent to the bookstore for pickup (or if you add a message,
free delivery — we do that, don’t forget!), or have it sent to you at
home, or to you on vacation, or to your aunt in Muncie.

 

This is big!  This is huge!  This actually works!  And anyhow, we spent a lot of time and thought on it, so please indulge us, and check it out!

 

Every single order placed is routed through the bookstore
(although orders placed to send to someone else ship directly from the
distributor’ s warehouse — hugely efficient and zippy!) so we’ll be watching out for you as always (Hold on, did you want the hardcover, when there’s a paperback available?)( Are you a school?  Should you be tax exempt?)

 

Coming soon is our Holiday Newsletter, full of what we think are
the best and most exciting books published this year.  And, yup, it
will all be tied to the website, to make ordering (and sending) a snap.

 

This is our big move, into the 21st Century.  (oh golly, is it the
22nd, by now?  Hold on, I lose count . . . .anyhow, it’s us trying
manfully to be here, and now, and I think it’s actually a pretty good shot  . . . . )  So join us, won’t you?

Next Page »