Susan Steinbrock Design: Brooklyn Garden and Floral Beauty

 

Just when I was feeling really fatigued by  winter, Susan Steinbrock Design sent me an email about her new garden and floral design website. The  photographs on the site of arrangements of colorful wild flowers grown in a Brooklyn lot made my day.

Spring is afoot and I am grateful to Susan for reminding me.

Brooklyn-based gardening business, Susan Steinbrock Design will plant and maintain perennials, annuals and flowering shrubs. SSD will select plants to create a continuously blooming garden, from spring bulbs through fall asters, yielding personally designed bouquets, directly from your garden to table.

“I believe in environmentally sound practices, using compost to enrich soil that is often depleted of nutrients. I choose flowering perennials native to our region as well as other plants that encourage pollinators and benefit the overall health of our Brooklyn neighborhoods,” Susan writes on the website.

Whether you are looking for a complete design and renovation of your current garden space, a new window box or container, or just advice in choosing plants that will thrive in your garden’s light and shade, Susan can work with you to make something beautiful.

And that is beautiful.

Chris Owens: Volunteer in Red Hook!

Today on Facebook Chris Owens, Democratic State Committeeman, 52nd Assembly District, urged friends and neighbors to volunteer in Red Hook, which is walking distance from Brownstone Brooklyn. He is suggesting that people send Carlos Menchaca a message on Facebook.

My good friend Carlos Menchaca will be the lead organizer for volunteers for the Office of Emergency Management’s relief efforts in Red Hook, Brooklyn. If you have some time in the next few days or weeks, send him a message and he’ll hook you up with a task. A lot of people and businesses in Red Hook were devastated by the hurricane and need our help.

For those of us who live right up the hill in the Park Slope area, which was fortunately spared by the storm, this is a volunteer opportunity that is within walking distance.

A Synagogue Pitches In: 600 Sandwiches, 3000 Eggs, Dry Goods

Volunteers at Congregation Beth Elohim pitched in yesterday to prepare food for the Park Slope Armory, which is housing evacuated elderly patients from flooded nursing homes in South Brooklyn.

600 sandwiches (peanut butter & jelly and turkey) were prepared in the kitchen of the synagogue.

On his blog Water Over Rocks Rabbi Andy Bachman reflects on the day, which also included an event with esteemed authors Paul Auster and Don DeLillo. Writing at 5AM this morning, volunteers have already prepared breakfast.

 Hundreds of pounds of dry goods, batteries, flashlights and candles sent over to Red Hook in several shifts, continuing through the weekend; the gym, social hall, pool and basketball court open for restless kids and families; placing orders for food to prep for hundreds more throughout the weekend; Jonathan Safran Foer introducing Paul Auster and Don DeLillo at the end of the night. But then a call for volunteers with eggs–800 eggs that became 3000 eggs. And then someone from the Department of Homeless Services asked if we could be a drop-off center for clothes for the now homeless residents of Breezy Point (yes, of course.) And then at around 8:30 pm a truck from Masbia showed up with hundreds of pounds of carrots, potatoes, squash, onions, green beans, bread, eggs (more eggs), and sliced kosher turkey…

Today breakfast is already served–dozens showed up at 5:15 am to prepare bagels, cream cheese, butter and yes, eggs.

Today lunch for 600 again. And then Saturday lunch and Saturday night dinner…

The human capacity to love, to work together, to draw meaning from the seemingly inexplicable, is truly an awesome power.

 

News Helicopters Overhead

You probably heard them, too.

News helicopters are flying over Park Slope this morning as they circle over the Atlantic Center capturing aerial images of the morning commute on the second day of minimal subway service in New York City.

Yesterday, commuters waited on extremely long lines to catch buses at the Atlantic Center and Fulton Street to ride across the Manhattan Bridge to working subways in Manhattan. So the Brooklyn commute is this morning’s news.

Those news helicopters have been circling since five or six in the morning (or earlier) which seems awfully early. It certainly woke me up earlier than I wanted to be.

A friend writes on Facebook: “Relentless helicopters overhead…reminiscent of another apocalyptic event.” I know what she means.

Helicopters hovering overhead.

 

Help Victims of Sandy: Donate to Red Cross

You can do it on your cell phone:

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and tornadoes.

Or you can go to the Red Cross website.

Red Hook Houses Without Water: Bring Donations to PS 32

The Red Hook Houses are without power and running water. Donations are being accepted at PS 32, on Hoyt Street between Union and President.

Donations of bottled water, paper towels, and toilet paper. are needed.

 

Bikes

We’ve learned during the after-Sandy that New York is a shadow of itself without our magnificent subway system. We’ve also learned that cars are not the answer. What with gas shortages and gridlock insanity.

Will Sandy be a wake-up call about bikes and limited access to NYC by cars? I think that would be a good thing.

When Bloomberg said three to a car on bridges and tunnels, I remembered  CONGESTION PRICING.

A lot of people I know are taking a good long look at their bikes. Suddenly bikes are the solution to getting around in a city with a limited subway system. Sure, it’s not for everyone, not everyone can ride a bike. But those who can should do so.

Remember the transit strike?

Eric McClure of Park Slope Neighbors wrote in today about the morning commute: “There are lots of people riding bikes today who have happy stories about their commutes.”

And Kerry, an OTBKB reader wrote: “I decided to bike from Williamsburg to Mid-town. I had a ton of company and it was actually kind of nice to commute among fellow bikers and walkers. Everyone was kind to each other and we all got a little sunshine on our faces. Hang in there everyone!”

Ah, what we know now. Going forward, we’ll have D-cells and flashlights, our Go Bags will be poised at the front door, and our bikes will be ready for action (tires full, well-maintained, keys for the locks).

Our bikes can get us where we need to be.

 

The Difficulties Set In

Oh Superstorm Sandy.

First we were curious with a dash of anticipatory anxiety. There was panic, of course, but also excitement  as we obssesively prepared for the hurricane (it was  a hurricane then) on Saturday, Sunday and much of Monday.

Bottled water. Go bags. Batteries. Flashlights.

We didn’t know what to expect. Denial led some people not to heed evacuation orders. Memories of Irene made  some dubious about dire warnings.

Then there was shock as we watched Manhattan go dark, Breezy Point burn, Lower East Side transformers explode and millions go without electricity and water. For the first hour or so we wondered if we were next. So we waited tremulously. But then the worst of it passed as gusty winds and rain continued through the night.

At dawn, we weren’t sure what we would see by the light of day.

Then there was the relief. At least here in Park Slope where we dodged Sandy’s bullet for the most part. We felt grateful and lucky not to be without power and water.

However, the devastation in other parts of the  City and State pained us. We stared at the TV all day taking in the scope of it.

As each day passed, we learned of losses related to Sandy and began to mourn. Jacob, a 24-year-old  son of Park Slope died during the storm with his friend, Jessie. There were more than forty deaths in NYC alone.

As we wandered around the Slope we saw trees down, long lines at the bank, queues at the grocery stores and gas stations. Seventh Avenue was crowded with children unable to go to school, adults unable to go to work.

By Thursday, as the city tried to get back to normal, subway service was extremely spotty and there was no easy way to commute to Manhattan jobs from Brooklyn. Long lines formed for Bus Bridges, available at Atlantic Center and elsewhere, a way for Brooklynites to get to a working subway in Manhattan. Crossing on bridges and tunnels is limited to those with at least three to a car.

Waking Thursday morning, news helicopters were hovering above, reporting on the morning commute. That was this morning’s story. As the day  progressed the need for gas became a new narrative.

Now, the longevity of the aftermath is getting on everyone’s nerves. People nearby in Red Hook, Staten Island and elsewhere are without power and water. The suffering continues.

How long will this go on? Will the gas lines get shorter, will the subway work again, will the tunnels ever dry? When oh when will our city get back to normal.

 

Halloween Without the Park Slope Parade

Despite the absence of the beloved Park Slope Halloween Parade, Halloween in Park Slope post-Sandy was actually quite charming.

Seventh Avenue was packed with trick-or-treaters and parents at 5PM or so. Parents were advised to do the bulk of the outdoor trick or treating before dark and that seems to have been the case. Everyone I saw seemed to be in a good mood, including shopkeepers who distributed candy until they ran out. As always, the Community Bookstore was the place to be. This year, a giant green puppet (alligator, dinosaur) was suspended over the front counter. At least that’s what it looked like to me.

It was great to see the kids enjoying themselves after being cooped up at home for days.

Third Street, which is usually the final stretch of the Halloween Parade, was Halloween central nonetheless. Hundreds of parents and children streamed down our block for hours as candy was distributed by good-natured adults.

I must say, Halloween had a very quaint, small town feeling without the parade. The parade, I might add, started in a very casual way and has become quite a production, which takes months of planning. Yesterday was a reminder that Halloween can be just as fun without the parade. In fact, it felt like Park Slope of olde, a real back-to-basics Halloween.

That  said, the parade is a community building spectacle we’re probably not willing to do without.

A benefit of no parade to parents: Halloween wasn’t nearly as exhausting as it has become with hours of trick or treating followed by a parade that goes until 9PM or so.

Message from Brad Lander: Picking Up From Sandy

Here is an update from City Councilmember Brad Lander who also serves Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park and Kensington. He included the photo above by Conor O’Donough.

I hope you and your family made it safely through the storm. Mercifully, the damage in the neighborhoods in this City Council district was not too bad. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and heard about the heartbreaking fires and widespread flooding elsewhere the city.

Volunteers Needed

I was heartened by all of the emails I got yesterday from people who wanted to help. There are two shelters in the 39th Council District, John Jay High School and the Park Slope Armory, that need volunteers. You need to be willing to work an eight hour shift and cannot bring your children. The Armory is sheltering people with additional medical needs, so volunteers should be comfortable working with the elderly, disabled, or others who may need extra support.

While those are the two shelters in my council district, there may be other shelters closer to you. Enter your address here to find the closest shelter to you and reach out to see if they are also in need of volunteers.

You can sign up to volunteer during future emergencies at the City’s service website.

Reporting Damage

If you see any downed trees or other debris from the storm, your first call should be to 311 (If there is an immediate danger to life, call 911 right away). Make sure to write down the tracking number from your 311 call.

We should remember that the effects of this storm are being felt across New York City, and agencies will rightly be prioritizing trees on power lines and other especially dangerous situations.

My office is also recording damage in the district and following up directly with City agencies. You can report storm damage on my website (make sure to include the 311 tracking number).

More News Coming Soon

Mayor Bloomberg is expect to give a press conference shortly with updates on the City’s response to the the storm and updates on transportation and agency closures. I will send out another email later today with additional updates.

Gowanus Canal

Many of you contacted me yesterday with concerns about the Gowanus Canal, a highly polluted waterway, which flooded neighboring streets. I have communicated with EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck and NYC Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland. Thanks to both of them for making the time, and communicating quickly (with each other, and with me) about our concerns at the canal.

If you live near the canal, do not touch standing water in the area, or any sediment or debris left by Gowanus flood-waters.

After the storm, the EPA and DEP are committed to work together conduct any sampling needed to address potential issues of toxicity created by the flooding.

Prospect Park

We checked in with Prospect Park staff this morning and learned that the park was hit hard. They are still assessing damage, but will be reaching out in the coming days for donations and volunteers to help put the park back together.

I look forward to seeing many of you – and working with you – in the coming days as we clean up from the storm.

Brad

PS: If you are looking for something inspiring after this brutal storm, check out this picture of an amazing rainbow above the Gowanus Canal this morning.

Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park Submerged by Sandy

An Instagram by Ana Andjelic is making the rounds among my Facebook friends. The image above is of the submerged Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

It’s a sobering image of a carousel that usually brings much joy in Brooklyn on a devastating night we will never forget. Image below is of Jane’s Carousel before Sandy.

 

Gowanus Badly Hit

Pardon Me for Asking has pictures of the Gowanus area at 9PM Monday night. A friend of the blogger took the picture above and wrote: “the water down the street was a few feet deep, and very toxic. It smelled like oil and sewage.”

A Week of Obama in Brooklyn

The week began with Baracklyn, a Monday night fundraiser at the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg with New York Senator Chuck Schumer, White House staff member Valerie Jarrett, Newark Mayor Corey Booker, Mass, Governor Deval Patrick and singer/songwriter extraordinaire Steve Earle. More than 500 Obama supporters were in attendance and the event raised $300,000 for the President’s campaign.

On Wednesday at ArtObama, more than 100 artists donated their artwork to benefit the President’s re-election campaign. The event on Atlantic Avenue was packed and fun. A great crowd, good wine, tasty snacks, terrific conversation. The space, a former art gallery called Metaphor and now a studio, looked stunning with its walls covered with really interesting art by the likes of David Konigsberg, Julian Jackson, Margaret Neill, Ann Agee, Tom Chambers, Hugh Crawford, Phong Bui (print of Obama above) and more.

Later that night Obama debated Mitt Romney. I listened to some of the debate in the car service on the way home from ArtObama (the Internet streaming we hoped to see at the auction didn’t work). Once I got the television on, it was obvious that Obama was having an off-night and Romney was, uncharacteristically, very on.

I missed Rommney’s comment about Big Bird but it was all over Twitter during the debate and after.

“I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”

Those were fighting words. Twitterers went wild defending Big Bird and worrying about the future of PBS. Even PBS got in on the act with a statement:

“Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation.”

The Twitterverse was unanimous in its sense that Obama look tired, unprepared and even depressed. Some blamed it on the fact that it was his anniversary; others said it had to do with his strategy and staff directive to be low-key and presidential.

Letterman on Thursday night showed a hilarious fake Cymbalta ad that inserted images of Obama during the debate.

Friday night there was a cmall package in my mailbox from my 89-year-old Aunt Rhoda in White Plains. She sent me an O necklace. “O for Obama,” she wrote on her business card, which said Aging in Place, an organization she is actively involved with.

Aging in Place “refers to living where you have lived for years, typically not in a health care environment, using products, services, and conveniences which allow you to remain home as circumstances change.”

Thank you Aunt Rhoda for a beautiful gift and a perfect ending to my Obama week.

Get Fleeced at the Fiber Arts Festival in Park Slope

On Saturday, October 8 from 10AM until 6PM, Stitch Therapy and the Old Stone House (Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope) present the Kings County Fiber Arts Festival this weekend at The Old Stone House, a festival of natural fibers for spinners, knitters and crocheters, offering handspun and painted yarns and rovings of many varieties. Handcrafted knit, crocheted and woven clothing, hats & scarves for the family.

The following artisinal fiber artists will be on hand at the festival: Artikal Handcrafted Millinery, Bay Haven Short Tails, Bittersweet Ridge, Brooklyn Crochet Collective, Cobblerock Ridge Farm, Compassioknit, Crochet shirret Rag Rugs, Decadent Fibers, Fish Hollow, Full Moon Farms, Hellomello Handspun, Humdinger Alpacas, Juliet Martin Designs, Lilac Hill Farm, Looliemom Fiber Arts, Loop of the Loom, Okos Farm Fiber, Pollywogs, Queen Bee Fibers, Utopia Bath, Winter’s Past Farm

Here’s a schedule of activities to expect:

11 am: Pop-Up Yoga NYC: An Ergonomic Stretch for Crafters

12 pm: Finger Knitting Demonstration for Children

12pm – 6 pm: Fabrications, an exhibit by Gail Rothschild in the OSH Great Room

1 pm: Finger Knitting Demonstration for Children

2 pm: Spinning Wheel and Drop Spindle Demonstration by NYC’s Spin City

3 pm: Music by the Famous Accordion Orchestra

4 pm: Fleece Talk – identification and Characteristics w/ Kris Brynes, Winter’s Past Farm

6 pm: Exhibit Reception: Fabrications by Gail Rothschild

PHOTO FROM PARK SLOPE STOOP!

 

If You Had a Million Bucks What Would You Do?

Councilmember Brad Lander truly wants to know: What would you do with $1 Million?

Tonight in Park Slope, residents are coming together to tell City Councilmember Brad Lander how to spend $1 million of City funds on projects in their neighborhood.

Next spring, their votes will choose the winning projects. The process, called “Participatory Budgeting,” gives New Yorkers a chance to vote on how some of their tax dollars are spent.

WHAT: Participatory Budgeting Neighborhood Assembly

WHEN: Wednesday, October 3rd, 6:30 – 8:30 PM

WHERE: Greenwood Baptist Church, 461 6th Street (at 7th Avenue), Brooklyn

Last year’s ideas ranged from the kooky to the sublime: a Gowanus Canal Gondola (aka a “Gowandola”), filling potholes, renovating schools, and building parks. I wasn’t there, but I hear that the conversations were sometimes heated (what do you expect?) but creative and inspiring.

Participatory budget meetings are going on all over the city. This meeting is one of five in Councilmember Lander’s district in September and October, and one of more than fifty city-wide.

The Hundred Story House in Washington Park

Heather O’Donnell has a sweet story on her blog Honey & Wax Booksellers about the Hundred Story House, which was in Park Slope’s Washington Park yesterday.

The Hundred Story House is the brainchild of Julie Marchesi and Leon V. Reid IV (illustration at left is a rendering) who organized a Kickstarter campaign to get the project off the ground and managed to raise an impressive $13,502 last March.

The One Hundred Story House is a miniature lending library and installation that was designed for Cobble Hill Park but is evidently going to other parks, too .

In  fact, the House opened in Washington Park in Park Slope on September 8th. I guess it’s going to be there for a while (I will check with Kim Maier at the Old Stone House for further information).

Marchesi and Reid wrote on the Kickstarter site: “Brooklyn is very bookish. If you walk the streets on a fair weathered weekend in certain neighborhoods, you will notice a system of informal and anonymous book-sharing. You will see piles of paperbacks and hardcovers lying on sidewalks or stacked on brownstone steps, available to any passersby looking for a good novel, or a cookbook from 1972.”

Ah yes, I did find Secrets of La Bonne Table a 1970′s French cookbook by Jeannette Seaver on the street once. Marchesi believes this tradition speaks to limited space in our too-small apartments ” but also to the distinctly Brooklyn spirit of small-scale community interactivity that can be possible in a huge metropolis. It also speaks to a shared love of the written word — as do our many bookstores, public libraries, and coffee shops filled with famous (or soon-to-be) writers at work.”

Lovely idea. I can’t wait to see it.

 

My Schedule: Young Writers, Bookends, Einstein, Brooklyn Book Festival

It’s a busy week. There are things to do, people to see, High Holy Days to celebrate, as well as Brooklyn Book Festival Book End events to attend all week.  For a full schedule go here.

On Thursday, September 20, at 7PM, Brooklyn Reading Works is hosting Young Writers Night, a Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event presenting fiction, poetry and song by teenage writers. The event was curated by high school senior Hannah Frishberg who will be introduced by Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang. One Teen Story will also be on hand to distribute free copies of that new magazine.

On Friday, September 21, I will be at BAM for Einstein on the Beach, an opera created by Philip Glass, Robert Wilson and Lucinda Childs. This will be the third production of Einstein at the Beach I’ve seen at BAM, the first without choreographer Lucinda Childs dancing.

 

 

On Sunday, September 23, I will be at the Brooklyn Book Festival with Honey & Wax Booksellers. I will also be talking up Peter Matthiessen Wheelwright’s “gorgeous debut novel” As It Is On Earth (Fomite).

 

 

Nice Profile of Park Slope’s Honey & Wax Booksellers

Leslie Albrecht, a reporter for DNA Info, wrote a lovely profile (with a great slide show) of Park Slope’s Heather O’Donnell, who runs Honey & Wax Booksellers. Albrecht sure knows a good lede when she sees it.

“Heather O’Donnell isn’t the type of rare book dealer who puts on white cotton gloves before she handles her precious volumes. She’s fine with plopping an 1881 edition of Henry James’ “Washington Square” — which sells for $2,000 — on the kitchen counter next to a plate of marinating chicken.”

Okay, let’s not get carried away. I’m sure O’Donnell doesn’t often leave her rare and valuable books in the kitchen. But she does, for the moment, run her business out of the attractive dining room of her historically detailed Park Slope apartment.

O’Donnell is a true book lover who believes books should be well loved and well used. She is also a client of my new company Brooklyn Social Media. Full disclosure there.

“She launched her rare book business Honey & Wax Booksellers in that spirit earlier this year. To her, rare books shouldn’t be locked away in cabinets like specimens. She likes that books can be used to form relationships when they’re passed between people. Her favorite part of the business is uniting appreciative collectors with long-sought books.” writes Albrecht in her DNA Info piece.

Next week Honey & Wax will be the first rare bookseller at the Brooklyn Book Festival, an open-air celebration of, well, books. In fact, it is the largest literary event in New York City. This year there are more than 280 authors, more than 104 panels confirmed and something like 45,000  visitors expected.

Wowza.

O’Donnell will be there with an astonishing selection of rare books, first editions and special signed copies. She’ll also be giving out tasty honey sticks. She is excited to showcase some of her best stock, and to field questions from festival attendees about the books they have and the books they want.

O’Donnell is uniquely qualified to answer those questions.  A lifelong book lover, she moved to NYC in 1989 to study English at Columbia. She received a doctorate from the Yale English department and worked as a curatorial assistant at the Beinecke Library, where she developed an eye for rare books. For seven years, she was a bookseller in the flagship New York gallery of Bauman Rare Books, dealing in a wide range of material, from Shakespeare to Audubon to Churchill. O’Donnell’s desire to make her mark in the borough she calls home inspired her to launch Honey & Wax Booksellers earlier this year, and she’s eager to make her Brooklyn festival debut on September 23.

Photos by Leslie Albrecht of DNA Info

 

ArtObama: Artists to Auction Work on October 3

They raised $54,000 in 2008, and the team that brought you ArtObama is doing it again.

On October 1, ArtObama will auction works by 120 American artists to support the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Auction proceeds will benefit the Obama Victory Fund 2012 as well as ActBlue, a political action committee that aids progressive House and Senate candidates nationwide. Space is limited, and preregistration for this event is strongly recommended. In 2008, ArtObama raised more than $54,000. Their ambition is to greatly surpass that contribution in 2012

 

Paul Ryan’s Playlist: What’s the A-Z of Your iPod?

Last night at the Republican National Convention, GOP Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan compared his iPod playlist to Mitt Rommney’s.

“We’re a full generation apart. And, in some ways we’re a little different. There are the songs on his iPod that I’ve heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He’s actually urged me to play some of those songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it’s not a deal breaker, Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC and ends with Zeppelin.”

I looked at my playlist this morning. Mine starts with Adele (and then Adrian Hibbs) and ends with The White Stripes and Yo La Tengo.

What’s the A and Z of your playlist? And what does or doesn’t it say about you?

80 Park Slope Artists Participating in Go Brooklyn

There are 1,814 artists participating in the Go Brooklyn Arts massive open studio weekend on September 8-9, 2012. Eighty of them are in  Park Slope.

That’s a bigger number than I expected. There are a lot of artists in and around Park Slope but most of them don’t have their studios in Park Slope, a neighborhood made up mostly of apartment buildings and brownstones. We don’t have much in the way of loft or industrial buildings.

Go Art Brooklyn is a crowd -curated, crowd-sourced open studio extravaganza backed by the Brooklyn Museum. As an art appreciator, you can sign on as a visitor and actually vote for the artists you like best during your studio visits.

Of the eighty Park Slope artists, I know a few including my husband Hugh Crawford, who will open his photography studio right here on Third Street. “The last few years I have been making photographs I describe as “tangles”. They are of rose bushes, ocean waves, the banks of the Gowanus Canal, amusement park rides, trees, and distressed ground. What I am trying to capture is “the act of seeing.” Since mid-2011, my work is multiple exposures reassembled into single compositions with some of the work printed as large as 20 feet long,” he writes in his Go artist statement.

Also, Bernette  Rudolph (above), whom I consider the elder goddess of Park Slope artists, will be showing her prints and mixed-media work in her Third Street studio, as she’s been doing since 1985. “I work in my art studio with music or silence depending on what I am creating. I have been a working artist over fifty years exhibiting in museums and art galleries thru the United States. My current inspiration is photographing the people I see on the streets of New York City and the vast variety of people who ride the New York subways. I use photo shop to turn the photos into works of art,” she writes in her Go artist statement.

Read more

Legend Massimo Vignelli, Designer of Subway Map, to Speak at Transit Museum

Few people probably know the name of the designers who designed the subway map many of us look at every day. Few imagine ever getting a chance to hear them speak.

But on on September 12th, Massimo Vignelli and his design partners Beatriz Cifuentes and Yoshi Waterhouse will speak at the New York Transit Museum with Michael Beirut about their famous and controversial 1972 New York City subway diagram and its new appearance in the MTA’s Weekender.

At this special Transit Museum event, Beirut will lead a discussion with Vignelli, Cifuentes and Waterhouse. This will be followed by a brief Q and A. Signed and numbered subway diagrams (limited edition of 1,000) will be available for purchase for $500 each. You can get tickets here. 

This promises to be an interesting and exciting discussion with a design team respected worldwide and hugely influential on the city of New York .

In 2008 and 2012, Vignelli updated his diagram to account for changes in station names and toned down the color scheme, adopting uniform colors for each line Vignelli will discuss this in addition to change she made to the map in response to one of the largest criticisms leveled at the 1972 diagram and that was the deceiving square shape of Central Park.

Vignelli simplified the new version by removing parks entirely. Take that.

Paul Auster’s New Memoir Out Tuesday

Last week I reported that Amy Sohn’s new book was out in bookstores. And now for something completely different. Park Slope’s elder literary statesman has a new book coming out

Did  I just call Paul Auster an elder literary statesman?

Well, he is probably one of the best known authors in the neighborhood and certainly one of the most important in the world. Some of his books are considered the most influential books of the late 20th century. It must be said: the  man has major cred.

On Tuesday, his new memoir, Winter Journal will be coming out. Today there’s an interview in Salon Magazine where he shares his thoughts on his work, writing and the political climate in America.

He and Salon executive editor David Dailey met in Park Slope: “We met at a Park Slope cafe not far from his Brooklyn home on a recent rainy afternoon, where the conversation skipped easily from his new book to the New York Mets, and from literary politics to the presidential race,” Dailey writes.

The interview is very interesting and you should definitely read it. Auster talks  about his decision to write another memoir. He’s already written three: The Invention of Solitude, the Red Notebook and Hand to Mouth. Now this one. Auster is only 64 and he looks wonderful when I see him on Seventh Avenue. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been seeing him in the neighborhood for twenty-one years, since he was in his forties.

Sure he looks a bit older now, but very dignified. He walks with the weight and intensity of someone who writes every day. He always looks lost in thought. Deeply. Every time I see him I wonder, what has he written today in his writing studio? In the Salon interview he talks about why he felt compelled to write this book:

“I don’t know. As I’ve said, I can never answer why. I wanted to do it, so I did it. Was it the idea of, you know, reaching the age I’ve reached? I don’t know. I’m not sure. I do know that, oddly enough, all these 40th anniversaries that were taking place in the last few years have been throwing me back to the old days a lot. I’ve been speaking about things that haven’t been preoccupying me a lot, and maybe haven’t spoken about. “Invisible” really goes back to Columbia in the late 1960s.

“So, you know, I’m living in the present, thinking about the past, hoping for the future. And then too, there’s another thing I’d like to say: Most of the time, the way I seem to generate books is to bounce off the one I’ve done before, so to negate it, to do the opposite, to reinvent it. The book that came before it ["Sunset Park"] is the first book that consciously I wrote in the now, capital “N,” and it was also immediate, all so much about our present moment, that the impulse was to go back afterwards.”

Pork Slope Offers Tasty Food and Fun for Good Prices

Last night I ventured into Pork Slope, Top Chef Dale Talde’s new classic American restaurant on its opening night and found it to be fun, friendly and inexpensive. It’s so not kosher and it’s so not P.C. It’s actually a welcome—if  bawdy and slightly unhealthy—change from the vegan/veggie/healthy/locavore sanctimony of  many Park Slope restaurants.

Saturday night, opening night, was noisy and crowded and everyone was in a good mood. Strangers at the bar talked to each other: What do you think? Did you ever go to Aunt Susie’s? We’ve been waiting for this to open. Do you mind moving one seat so my husband, who’s waiting on line, can sit next to me?

A young woman even offered me tastes of her tater tots. Friendly!

Oh, and for the opening, you had to stand in line for twenty minutes or more to order your food.

But it was fun.

I think that was just an opening night thing. I’m guessing there will be waiter-service in the future. The man taking orders at the end of the bar was friendly and eager to explain the sandwiches like the Porky Melt, which is a pork patty with cheese on pumpernickle/rye bread.

Remember pumpernickle/rye bread?

While standing on line, the bartenders were friendly and helpful.

“Hey, can I get a drink for anyone standing on line,” I heard one of the bartenders say.

“I know you left an empty drink glass on the bar. You want something else?” a friendly bartender said to me.

“How much is a PBR,?” I asked a female bartender using the acronym for Pabst Blue Ribbon.

“Three dollars,” she said.

Sold.

Read more

Best Window Boxes Says Greenest Block in Brooklyn

Pop quiz: What’s the best window box in Brooklyn?

Now, that’s a tough call. There are many thousands of them. Too many. And so many pretty ones. There’s definitely an art to it. Some people have the touch (or the green thumb plus the color/design sense).

So how do you win such a contest. First, you’ve got to enter the contest to be considered. It helps to belong to a Block Association but I don’t think it’s essential. Still, it’s not like some judge-person is going to check out every window box in the borough.

These window boxes created by the Arky’s at 487 10th Street in Park Slope are very pretty indeed. Sadly, they’re trapped behind the window bars. And they tied for First Place. Check out the other winning window boxes and other categories at the Greenest Block in Brooklyn website. 

 

Pork Slope Officially Opens on Saturday

When Pork Slope officially opens on Saturday, you just might get a chance to taste what all the hype is about. Dale  Talde’s new Park Slope outpost with the truly great name is more fun and folick than Talde, his elegant, delicious and somewhat pricey “Asian-American” eatery on Seventh Avenue.

With 25 beers on tap and more than 100 whiskeys, Pork Slope is ready for the Fifth Avenue crowds. And the crowds, I’m guessing, are ready for it. There’s brisket to be had, as well as ribs, po’ boys, pulled pork sandwiches, country ham ‘n biscuits, and fried chicken.

The price point? I’m hearing that most dishes are below $15. Pork Slope is located on Fifth Avenue between Carroll Street and Garfield Place. Heck, it’s in the space that used to be Aunt Suzie’s, Park Slope’s red sauce Italian powerhouse, co-owned by Irene LoRe, president of Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID.

 

Scottish Travel Reporter Loves “Buzzing Brooklyn”

In Sunday’s Scotsman, a Scottish news website, Lee Randall, a travel journalist travels to Brooklyn and lives like a native. His father was born in Brooklyn and the reporter found plenty of things to love about the borough, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Park Slope’s Al Di La.

“Forget hotels and live like a native in buzzing Brooklyn, suggests Lee Randall

“Wandering around Williamsburg, the hipster capital of Brooklyn, brings to mind my late father, who was born in this borough, which was an independent town before its engulfment by New York City in the late 19th century. Dad wouldn’t recognise the place. In fact, even I don’t recognise it. The last time I ventured to this part of my native city was in the 1980s, when we’d joke that you needed to pack heat to get in and out alive. Now – all joking aside – I’d advise you to pack a Mac computer, a trilby, and a refined palate for artisan beer and coffee, else die of shame.”

“Also notable was lunch at Al Di La Trattoria (248 Fifth Avenue; www.aldilatrattoria.com), where they offer a local, organic, sustainable take on Italian food, in a sweet little room overlooking a Park Slope corner.”

Aug 16: Dolly Parton Cover band at Union Hall

Doll Parts calls itself Brooklyn’s premiere Dolly Parton cover band. I think that probably desribes them to a “T”. I don’t think there are any other Dolly Parton cover band in Brooklyn but I could be wrong.

I’m psyched because I happen to love Dolly Parton’s songwriting (Coat of Many Colors, Jolene). A lot of people probably think of Dolly as an icon of country kitsch but I think there’s a lot more going on.

The five member band will play Union Hall on Wednesday at 7:30 PM. Gentleman Callers is also on the bill.

Motherland Vs Triburbia: The Buzz Begins

Amy Sohn’s Motherland will be out next week but already the buzz begins. Today in the New York Times, Ginia Bellafante’s article For a Spicier City, Turn the Page?, bundles Sohn’s sequel to her bestselling Prospect Park West with a first novel by Karl Taro Greenfield called Triburbia.

According to Bellafante, “each of the two books revolves around the broader community of a highly ranked public elementary school: P.S. 321 in Park Slope and what is obviously P.S. 234 in TriBeCa, places so readily linked to an image of concerned liberal affluence that to a certain kind of New Yorker they hardly require annotation. Here the image of family wholesomeness gives way to a picture of acute marital anomie and rampant infidelity. Stereotypes endemic to the city populate: the entrepreneurial chef, the yearning screenwriter, the drifting vintage clothier, the gay father desperate for a second child, all of them sharing an aversion or mounting indifference to the partners with whom they’ve purchased their co-ops, renovated their kitchens and shared the enervating burdens of modern child rearing.”

A book that will surely inspire conversation, debate and even secret late night reading Motherland comes out on August 14th. Mark your calendar.

You’re Nothing Special: Tales from a Generation Unfulfilled

Yesterday, I met blogger Daniel Levin at the Tea Lounge, which was full of people staring at their laptops, sipping coffee and, ostensibly, working or trying to get work. We were introduced by my friend Paula Bernstein, author of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.

Truth be told, Levin is nothing special. In fact, he writes a blog called Nothing Special(Tales from a Generation Unfulfilled) dedicated to people who suffer from “specialness,” something he deems akin to a long-term medical disorder. “We are bitter, jealous people with few practical skills and lots of gold stars. There is no known cure. But this blog is the first medically proven* site to help sufferers,” he writes.

Levin, a graduate of Yale University, a playwright and lyricist, ponders what happens to all these special people? Do they go on to fabulous jobs or are they sitting in the Tea Lounge trying to get ahead in the world?

Nothing Special is a blog for people who believe what they’ve been told all their lives by parents, teachers and college acceptance letters. When they finally go out into the world, they realize that the world is actually filled with a lot of special people (and not all of them went to Yale).

“Our parents thought we were special and saved all of our artwork,” he writes on Nothing Special. “Our teachers told us we were highly verbal. Our movies told us we could win a karate tournament from six months of training with a handyman, and make our family hot by going back in time. From Mr. Rogers to Stuart Smalley, we were assured that always, no matter what…we were…(stage whisper) special.”

 

Next Page »