BAMkids FILM FESTIVAL
March 12-13
Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Monthly Archives: March 2005
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_11 Feb 05
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: Passing rain. High 41 degrees
CITY NEWS: Bill Clinton is recuperating from surgery to remove fluid and scar tissue, complications from his quadruple bypass operation six months ago. Read all about it in The Daily News.
_Teacher’s Union warns of prolonged contract battle.Read about it in the Daily News.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Jury convicts two Brooklyn men of funding Palestinean terror group. This and more Brooklyn news at the New York 1 web site.
IT’S FRIDAY: SLEEP AT THE AQUARIUM. Kids 6 – 12, and one parent are invited to spend the night with the
fish at the NY Aquarium (in Coney Island). $145. 7 p.m. until 10 a.m.
Saturday. West Eighth Street and Surf Avenue. (718) 265 – FISH.
CARNIVALE: PS 321’s WINTER CARNIVAL is on Saturday! Games for the kids and amazing craft projects. Hair braiding, great food and MORE. The kids’ll love it and so will you until the noise level hurts. Seventh Avenue between 2nd and 1st Street.
WORTH TAKING A LOOK: The SECOND GRADE ART SHOW at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: This Saturday afternoon: BOLLYWOOD MOVIES suitable for kids and adults at the Brooklyn Musuem!
_DAN ZANES sings sea shantys, Carl Sandburg poems and more at the Kane Street Synogogue. Sunday March 13. 3 p.m.Go here for information about Dan Zanes and info about the show.
_MAKING BROOKLYN BLOOM 2005. Saturday March 12th: Brooklyn GreenBridge’s 24th annual community spring gardneing kick-off day. Workshops, displays, and notable speakers. Learn Practical tips. Free and no registration required. But you must arrive by 10 a.m. at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
NEW SNEAKERS: Jack Rabbit’s beginner and intermediate RUNNING WORKSHOPS are starting up in March. Great coaches, great people, great
motivation: the course will, without
a doubt, improve your running. Think about it. See Brooklyn Fitness on
the side panel.
Slope Sports sponsors a
weekly group run on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the Grand Army
Plaza entrance of Prospect Park. They will be running the
Bridge-to-Bridge Run, which goes over the Brooklyn Bride to Chinatown.
And back to Brooklyn by way of the Manhatttan Bridge. This scenic route
is approximately 9-10 miles
Registration for the BROOKLYN HALF-MARATHON on March 19th is now open.
TASTINGS: At the South Slope’s Big Nose Full Body wine shop: a PINOT/MERLOT FACE OFF. From France, a
Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a Merlot from Bordeaux. 382 Seventh Avenue. 4 – 6 p.m. Saturday March 12th. "
HEAR/SAY: "I believe in music as a shared family experience. Not that kids have
their music and adults theirs. I hope to inspire people to go out and
make their own music. It’s easy, it’s fun, and we can all do it
together.
HAND-PICKED_Don’t Miss:
THE ORCHID SHOW at the New York Botanical Garden . Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road. Through March 27th, 2005. Easy to get to by car or Metro North.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_10 Feb 05
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
HAND-PICKED_Don’t Miss…
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford
The big news around here is that my son’s band is going to have their first gig. And that’s not all. Their first gig is going to be at CBGBs.
You heard me. CBGB’s: the Bowery birthplace of punk rock. Just days ago I penned a love letter to that endangered New York City landmark on this very blog. Who knew my son was going to get his big break there.
Seems that the drummer’s math teacher has an "in" at the club. A bunch of bands from the drummer’s Lower East Side high school will be performing there in April, including Cool and Unusual Punishment, my son’s band.
The band has a lot of work to do to get ready for their first gig. But they are pumped. There’s nothing like a gig to get you practicing. They’ve only been playing as a group for a couple of months
My son swore me to secrecy that I
would not reveal what three songs his group is going to play. "That would ruin the fun, Mom," he said. "That would give everything away."
Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: Chilly. Clouds and sun. High temp is 36 degrees
CITY NEWS: New York City’s 311 Information Hotline celebrates it second anniversary. Since it began in 2003, the hotline has received 18 million calls. The most popular topics include heat and hot water complaints.
_It appears that the knitted poncho that Marthat Stewart wore as she left prison on Friday is all the rage. "There is so much demand for that poncho. Everyone wants to make it," says "Stitch and Bitch" author, Debbie Stoller. The poncho was a going away present from a fellow inmate who knits 12 hours a day. She told Martha: "Wear it in good health." This and more city news is in the Daily News.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Drunk driver hits crowd at school. A man charged with drunk driving after he plowed into a group of people outside PS 10 in Park Slope Tuesday morning, police said. A mother, her son and two other children were injured in the accident, just before 9 a.m. Witnesses say the driver, Jose Gonzalez was trying to pull out of a parking space when he backed into the small group. None of the injuries is considered serious. This and more Brooklyn news at Brooklyn Bomb Shelter.
IT’S THURSDAY: Tonight: "Eat Drink and Be Literary:"
Dinner and a Reading at the BAM Cafe. Author Walter Mosley and moderator
Wendy Wasserstein. $38. includes dinner and wine. 6:30 p.m. 30
Lafayette Avenue (718) 636-4100. It may be sold out. But please check the box office.
CLEAN YOUR CLOSETS FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Comb your closets and
toy bins for the PS 321 Winter Carnival rummage Sale. Children’s
clothing, toys, games — must be in good condition. Collection bins
will be in the main lobby at PS 321 beginning Monday 3/7.
WORTH TAKING A LOOK: The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: The New York Public Library has opened a digital gallery of images.
Check it out: the NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000
images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the
collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated
manuscripts, historical maps,
vintage posters,
rare prints and
photographs,
illustrated books,
printed ephemera, and more.
NEW SNEAKERS: Jack Rabbit’s beginner and intermediate running
workshops are starting up in March. Great coaches, great people, great
motivation: the course will, without
a doubt, improve your running. Think about it. See Brooklyn Fitness on
the side panel.
Slope Sports sponsors a
weekly group run on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the Grand Army
Plaza entrance of Prospect Park. They will be running the
Bridge-to-Bridge Run, which goes over the Brooklyn Bride to Chinatown.
And back to Brooklyn by way of the Manhatttan Bridge. This scenic route
is approximately 9-10 miles
Registration for the Brooklyn Half-marathon on March 19th is now open.
TASTINGS: At the South Slope’s Big Nose Full Body wine shop: a Pinot/Merlot face off Part Deux. From France, a
Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a Merlot from Bordeaux. 382 Seventh Avenue. 4 – 6 p.m. Saturday March 12th.
HEAR/SAY: "Business wasn’t brisk, but it paid the rent and utilities. And
all day long I could do the thing I loved best
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_9 Feb 05
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford
One of the first things I do every morning is turn on WNYC radio. While making my daughter’s jelly sandwich lunch or pouring my son’s Lucky Charms into a bowl, I listen to yesterday’s body count in Iraq or news of another car bomb attack.
These tragic reports are background to the foreground of my life in Park Slope. While getting my kids out of bed, dressed, and ready for school, the world comes into the kitchen through the radio.
Intermixed with the nagging, the cajoling, the "get your socks on please," I hear about lives cut short by war and unfathomable destruction. These casualities represent real people just like us: people who had hopes and dreams for their children and themselves.
Often, the radio feels like a downer – a dark juxtaposition to my daughter’s quest for the perfect outfit, my son’s search for his eyeglasses.
I know people who won’t listen to the news anymore because "it depresses them." But I believe it’s important to stay connected, despite, or perhaps because of, the sadness it evokes. I don’t want to cocoon myself and be oblivious to the horrors that exist even if I feel helpless in the face of them. It’s a split-screen life — the pleasure of our walk down Third Street to school, my daughter’s hand in mine — and the pain and destruction far away. Elsewhere.
It’s a split-screen life.
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: Icy conditions on the sidewalks and streets. Cold and windy. High termperature 30 degrees. Feels cold out there.
CITY NEWS: US scolds city officials and Coast Guard for Staten Island ferry crash. Read all about it.
BROOKLYN BEAT: "An out-of-control van drove up on a sidewalk, outside a school, hitting five people, including children at 8:30 a.m. this morning outside PS 10 at Prospect and 7th Avenues. The
driver of the van, say witnesses, had just dropped off his son in front
of the school and when pulling away, ran into a parked car, yet
proceeded up toward the corner. The van slammed into five people, four children and one adult, before hitting a fence on the perimeter of the school. The driver, 45-year-old, Jose Gonzalez of Brooklyn, was charged with driving while in toxicated. For more check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter
_Brooklyn Babysitter charged in murder of toddler. Read all about it.
BLOGS IN THE NEWS: The White House approved
a press pass for a blogger on Monday legitimizing blogging as a form of journalism. Other blogger news: A lawsuit filed in
California by Apple Computer is drawing courts into
the question of whether bloggers should be considered journalists and
whether they have to reveal their sources.
IT’S WEDNESDAY: On the Subject of War." Smack Mellon Studios. 56 Water St between Dock and Main Sts, Dumbo (718-834-8761). Subway: A to High St; F to York St. Wed-Sun 1-6pm. This show is dedicated to the late Susan Sontag, who considered in her writing the dilemma of depicting war in the arts, this show includes work from anonymous WWII photographers and Eve Sussman’s video
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_8 Feb 05
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford (prints will be available for purchase soon)
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
HAND-PICKED_Don’t Miss: Jean-Michel Basquiet at BMA, The Nomadic Museum on Pier 54, New album by Clem Snide, Jenkins and Rosen at Joe’s Pub and The Orchid Show at the NYBG.
Postcard from the Slope_by Louise G. Crawford
Today I am supposed to teach my daughter’s second grade class how to meditate. And I’m terrified. Will they pay attention to me? Or will they just get bored, jump around and ignore me?
Who, you’re probably wondering, came up with this hair-brained idea in the first place. Well, it was my idea, but it grew out of a conversation with my daughter’s teacher. Seems that the kids get a little out of control from time to time and she thought this might help to settle them down. "I could use it too," she said.
I told her that I’m no expert but that I’ve been meditating for two years and I find it extremely helpful – a wonderful way to slow down, breathe, and focus on the present moment. She loved the idea and we quickly scheduled a date.
Last night, I did a quick run through with my daughter. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to say but boy am I coming prepared: I’ve got Indian music, a visualization tape, and a story to read to them called "The Worry Tree" that should help them calm down. I’m also bringing my meditation pillow and a singing bowl. My daughter is a pretty tough critic but she thinks the kids will like what I have to say.
I have to admit that I’m a little bit nervous. Facing a class of 24 second graders — who wouldn’t be scared? Keep ya posted…
Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: Winter weather again. Rain changing to snow in the morning. High 45 degrees and then it gets much colder. And slippery.
CITY NEWS: Last night, 2000 volunteers participated in a midnight count of the city’s street homeless and for the first time the count included Queens, which is considered to have the largest homeless population. The city’s Department of Homeless Services says the project helps them plan better how to assist the homeless in the city.
_A study published in "Public Health" says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city.
BROOKLYN BEAT: At Brooklyn College, a
protest against lack of diversity in the Fire Department is planned
prior to the graduation ceremony for new cadets also at Brooklyn
College.
_Come on! State Senator
Marty Golden along with some Brooklyn residents called for the removal
of posters advertising Showtime’s new series, "The L Word" on city bus
shelters. The ad features nine of the show’s characters in the nude.
"We have community standards," says Golden. "And I don’t think they are
being met."
_Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reported last week that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer W
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn."
_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations. It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building.
BLOGS IN THE NEWS: The White House approved
a press pass for a blogger. Other blogger news: A lawsuit filed in
California by Apple Computer is drawing courts into
the question of whether bloggers should be considered journalists and
whether they have to reveal their sources.
IT’S TUESDAY: Writers Jonathan Lethem and Colson Whitehead take part in "Reading on
the 4th Floor," a reading series with proceeds beneifiting the creation
of a new school library at PS 107. $10. 7:30 p.m. 1301 Eighth Ave.
CLEAN YOUR CLOSETS FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Comb your closets and
toy bins for the PS 321 Winter Carnival rummage Sale. Children’s
clothing, toys, games — must be in good condition. Collection bins
will be in the main lobby at PS 321 beginning Monday 3/7.
WORTH TAKING A LOOK: The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.
_Check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter, the Reader’s Digest of real Brooklyn news.
_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights
THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_7 Feb 05
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford
For some reason, I always seem to know what’s happening. It’s just the way I am: I’m a good listener, I read a lot, and pay attention to what’s going on around me. That’s why I started "Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn."
I’ve always been a culture hog. I get it from my Dad. Like him, I compulsively check the listings in The New Yorker, Time Out, the Village Voice and the New York Times because I NEED to know: who’s playing music in town; what movies are around; what’s in the museums, in theater, performance art, spoken word…
It’s not that I do all that much. I just like to know that I have the option, if I should choose to exercise it, to see this, that, or the other thing. While most nights evaporate into the ether of dinner, homework, and read-aloud before bed, there’s always the fantasy of catching a show somewhere in town.
So keeping you readers abreast of stuff to do comes naturally to me. And it’s a way to vicariously enjoy all the kultcha this city has to offer. I am continually amazed at how much is going on. Whether it’s a community meeting, an early morning bird walk, a performance by the Wooster Group, a reading by a poet, or a documentary at Barbes – there’s so much to do – if you have the time to do it.
Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN: Sun with clouds. High 40 degrees.
THIS JUST IN: The White House approved a press pass for a blogger. Other blogger news: A lawsuit filed in California by Apple Computer is drawing courts into
the question of whether bloggers should be considered journalists and whether they have to reveal their sources.
CITY NEWS: Proposed stadium may bring the Super Bowl to town. Joy.
_A study published in "Public Health" says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city.
BROOKLYN BEAT: At Brooklyn College, a protest against lack of diversity in the Fire Department is planned prior to the graduation ceremony for new cadets also at Brooklyn College.
_Come on! State Senator
Marty Golden along with some Brooklyn residents called for the removal
of posters advertising Showtime’s new series, "The L Word" on city bus
shelters. The ad features nine of the show’s characters in the nude.
"We have community standards," says Golden. "And I don’t think they are
being met."
_Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer W
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn." See Monday below.
_Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor last week. Read all about it.
_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations. It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building.
MONDAY: Hear what the Ratner project could mean to Brooklyn in terms of displacement of residents, impact on schools, police and fire services, and transportation issues. P.S. 9. 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James
_This evening and every Monday at Barbes through March: the Traveling Cinema Series takes a look at the American labor movement through documentary and fiction film.
"Harlan County USA," Barbara Koppels’ award-winning film, is at 7:30 p.m. 276 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue.
_Times Square Centennial Film Festival: From the Streets and Stage to
the Screen. Tonight and every Monday through mid-April at the Loews State Theater. 1540
Broadway. On 3/7: "Midnight Cowboy" 1:20, 7 p.m., "Fame" 4:00 and 9:30
p.m. On 3/14 "Vanya on 42nd Street" and "All About Eve." For movie titles, times and information.
WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT: The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.
_Check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter, the Reader’s Digest of real Brooklyn news.
_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. for critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.
_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights
THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf
Brooklyn Thinkers_by Oswegatchie
Sprawl Sucks. It’s ugly. Its architecture appeals
to no one no how. Parking lots are accident-prone concentrations of car
exhaust. Driving around wastes gas, is expensive, forces parents to sit
with their backs facing their children, which doesn’t help in the
eye-contact department, and like OTBKB said, is a great way to make
sure you get NO exercise. Where I live, people drive to their fitness
club, which is one of those places I draw the line. I do drive my
daughter to the YMCA for swim lessons, and feel icky doing it. On the
other hand, my husband and I have upheld our commitment to being a
one-car family, and we have found ways of living a life on foot, less
than in Brooklyn, but more than in your average "suburb" (remembering
that many suburbs are now urbs in their own right, just not The Urb).
One
of the reasons I moved up the Hudson to Kingston was to get us closer
to trees, hiking, water, mountains and beauty, and farther from the
dense traffic that spewed out of Grand Army Plaza into my children’s
faces as they sat in their strollers while we waited to cross the
street. Car exhaust pipes are right at a two-year-old’s eye level.
Granted,
Prospect Park is great, and so is the Botanic Garden, but in neither
place could my children gambol barefoot. In the Park there was too much
glass; in the Botanic Garden, the guards wouldn’t allow it, so my
outlaw children, who were always encouraged to remove their shoes and
feel the grass, were always being told to get them back on by garden
authorities. Not that it’s so safe to go barefoot in a place that
sprays pesticide
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_6 Feb 05
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford (pictures will soon be available for purchase).
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_By Louise Crawford
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
Wildman Bill in Prospect Park, Good Bye to Eloise and CBGBs, Community Meeting about Ratner’s Stadium and MORE
BROOKLYN THINKERS_SPRAWL AND OUR HEALTH by Oswegatchie
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Going Down the Tubes
Manhattan is really going down the tubes. It’s impossible to live there unless you’re rich, in a rent stabilized apartment, or someone who bought years and years ago.
Even Eloise can’t live there anymore. Starting April 30th when The Plaza Hotel begins its transformation into condos, a mall and a small boutique hotel, Eloise will be just another unemployed children’s book character. Maybe she should move out to Brooklyn.
Sure, Manhattan still has lots to recommend it: stellar institutions like the Guggenheim, the Met, the Rainbow Room, MOMA, the Metropolitan Opera and now Jazz at Lincoln Center. But that’s not enough to make a city interesting. A city needs its landmarks (official and unofficial) and its historical places to give it that well-worn feeling of texture and depth.
It also needs its low rent stomping grounds for musicians; its funky downtown theaters for actors and directors; its hole-in-the-wall screening rooms for avant garde film.
Recently I learned that CBGB’s "the home of underground rock since 1973" may soon be closing its doors. So many legends of 1970’s punk rock have graced its dilapidated stage: Television, Talking Heads, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie to name a few. The New York Press writes, "As the Bowery becomes increasingly unappealing for
anyone who’s lived here more than six months
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: Partly sunny in the morning. CLoudy and chance of drizzles in the afternoon. More Brooklyn weather here.
CITY NEWS: The Plaza Hotel, home of the spunky Eloise, will be no more. After April 30th, construction will begin to turn the legendary hotel into condos and malls with a far smaller hotel on the West 58th Street side. Will wonders never cease.
_This just in from The New York Times: A study published in "Public Health" says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city.
_Martha Stewart left prison Friday after a five month vacation stay.
_The New York Public Library has opened a digital gallery of images.
Check it out: the NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000
images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the
collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated
manuscripts, historical maps,
vintage posters,
rare prints and
photographs,
illustrated books,
printed ephemera, and more.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Come on! State Senator Marty Golden along with some Brooklyn residents called for the removal of posters advertising Showtime’s new series, "The L Word" on city bus shelters. The ad features nine of the show’s characters in the nude. "We have community standards," says Golden. "And I don’t think they are being met."
_Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer W
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn." See Monday below.
_Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor earlier in the week. Read all about it.
_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations. It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building.
TODAY: Join Council Member Letitia
James and Senator Velmanette Montgomery in response to the recent
"Memorandum of Understanding" on Atlantic Yards:
City Hall Steps, Manhattan; Today (Sunday), March 6, 2005, 2 pm
WHO: Council Member James, Senator Montgomery,
Congressman Major Owens, Council Member Charles Barron, Pratt Area
Community Council, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn
Leadership Coalition, Bob Law, Darnell Canada of Rebuild, Brooklyn
Vision, Prospect Heights Action Coalition
HOW TO GET THERE: 4, 5, 6 or J, M, Z trains to
Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall; 2, 3 train to Park Place;
N, R to City Hall; A, C to Fulton. Entrances are on Broadway at Warren,
and at Center Street & Brooklyn Bridge. You will need to go through
a security checkpoint.
SUNDAY: Wildman Steve Brill hosts his "Wild Food and Ecology Tour" of Prospect
Park. Meet at Grand Army Place entrance to Prospect Park. 11:45 a.m. $5
for kids under 12, $10 for adults.
"The End of the Moon." Last performance of Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. 2 p.m. Information here.
_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." Through April. 8 p.m.
MONDAY: Hear what the Ratner project could mean to Brooklyn in terms of
displacement of residents, impact on schools, police and fire services, and transportation issues.
Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM; P.S. 9, 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James
WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT: The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.
_Check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter, the Reader’s Digest of real Brooklyn news.
_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. for critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.
_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights
THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf
BROOKLYN THINKERS_by Oswegatchie
Of course, without "a study" common sense is totally meaningless, but I
have to concur with the "scientists" at Public Health (I’m so sorry my
bias is showing; however, in the unlikely event that my children grow
up to be scientists, I hope they won’t spend all their time
scientifically proving what is patently true to anyone inhabiting a
body).
Anyway. Sprawl Sucks. It’s ugly. Its architecture appeals
to no one no how. Parking lots are accident-prone concentrations of car
exhaust. Driving around wastes gas, is expensive, forces parents to sit
with their backs facing their children, which doesn’t help in the
eye-contact department, and like OTBKB said, is a great way to make
sure you get NO exercise. Where I live, people drive to their fitness
club, which is one of those places I draw the line. I do drive my
daughter to the YMCA for swim lessons, and feel icky doing it. On the
other hand, my husband and I have upheld our commitment to being a
one-car family, and we have found ways of living a life on foot, less
than in Brooklyn, but more than in your average "suburb" (remembering
that many suburbs are now urbs in their own right, just not The Urb).
One
of the reasons I moved up the Hudson to Kingston was to get us closer
to trees, hiking, water, mountains and beauty, and farther from the
dense traffic that spewed out of Grand Army Plaza into my children’s
faces as they sat in their strollers while we waited to cross the
street. Car exhaust pipes are right at a two-year-old’s eye level.
Granted,
Prospect Park is great, and so is the Botanic Garden, but in neither
place could my children gambol barefoot. In the Park there was too much
glass; in the Botanic Garden, the guards wouldn’t allow it, so my
outlaw children, who were always encouraged to remove their shoes and
feel the grass, were always being told to get them back on by garden
authorities. Not that it’s so safe to go barefoot in a place that
sprays pesticide
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
CONTENTS_5 Feb 05
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford
SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum, Dance Don’t Destroy at Galapagos, Health Risks of Suburban Sprawl, Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson and more…
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Scientific Proof
FINALLY, something to tell my friends who are considering a move to the suburbs. DON’T DO IT! IT’S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!
It seems there’s finally "scientific" proof why Park Slope is a better place to live than say, Montclair, Hastings, or Maplewood. A study published in "Public Health" journal found that urban sprawl living is unhealthy.
It makes total sense to me. People get more exercise in places like Park Slope because they’re not in their cars all day. We walk all the time from one end of Seventh Avenue to the other and think nothing of walking to Prospect Park, the Botanic Gardens or The Brooklyn Museum.
Suburban sprawl may even age people by four years. The researchers also emphasize the importance of what they call "utilitarian walking": the exercise we Brooklynites get walking to and from school, up and down the subway
stairs, or to Met Food for replenishments of milk and orange juice.
People don’t usually think of that kind of thing as exercise but it is. According to the study: "It makes a huge difference. Just the 10
additional minutes a day that you go to the store and back easily add
up to a couple of pounds a year in terms of body weight."
I am so loving this.
Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB