Monthly Archives: April 2005
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Sour Grapes
I had a really sour taste in my mouth from those sour grapes I’d been eating. So I went for a run in Prospect Park yesterday around noon.
Oh the utter pleasure of running around the park on a sunny spring afternoon. Heart beating fast and limbs moving through air, many thoughts coagulated in my brain.
I found myself dwelling on the $6.75 million house that Jonathan Safran Foer bought (see Postcard April 28) as I was still struggling to put my finger on why everyone (including myself) is making such a big deal about it.
Sour grapes is definitely part of. That is, the natural tendency of New Yorkers (and other humans, too) to disparage what they cannot attain. The term comes from an Aesops Fables called "The Fox and the Grape:"
"One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard
till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which
had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench
my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and
a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a
One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again
and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to
give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I
am sure they are sour."
But I digress. My run, as it always does, managed to cleanse my mind of all negative thoughts and real estate regrets. I am at the top of my world – in my own private Richard Meier glass apartment (as it were), when I run around Prospect Park alone.
Ah the mastery, the sense of power, the feeling that I am joyfully alive.
After one lap of the park, I ran out of the park on Third Street and ran past the Foer/Krauss residence. And guess what? I saw Jonathan S. Foer standing in the yard talking to a workman who was cleaning the limestone house next store. I gathered that Jonathan was urging the workmen to use more plastic covering so as not to spray debris into the Foer/Krauss garden.
I backtracked a bit and made quick eye contact with JSF who is a small man with dark curly hair and eyeglasses. Not tall, he looks like a hundred brainy guys I grew up with on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Standing there in his voluminous backyard, he looked oblivious to the fact that all of Brooklyn blogdom is a-quiver about his multi-million dollar purchase. And of course he didn’t have a clue that the runner who’d just run by was…
…OTBKB!
When I got back to the apartment, I told my husband and he suggested we bring the Foer/Krauss’ a box of sumptuous chocolates from The Chocolate Room on Fifth Avenue. Send out the old Park Slope welcome wagon. Because none of this is really about them. Personally, I’m glad to have highly literate and interesting people in our midst.
It’s sour grapes, that’s all. And a healthy dose of anger at the rich person’s neighborhood that Park Slope has become.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_In the Red Room
There was a nice vibe at Brooklyn Reading Works last night. Twenty or more people filled the cafe at Fou Le Chakra as two talented writers read from a make-shift podium in the candle-lit red room.
It was cozy and atmospheric just the way I hoped it would be and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
Pam Katz read two excerpts from her book AND SPEAKING OF LOVE (Aufbau-Verlag), her novel that alternates between the fictional voices of Lotte Lenya, Lenya’s mother, and a an American newspaper reporter. It is the vividly imagined world of 1930’s Berlin, the first performance of "The Threepenny Opera," and the complicated marriage of composer Kurt Weil and Lotte Lenya that jumps off the pages of this beautifully written first novel.
Michele Madigan Somerville, read from her book-length poem, WISEGAL (Ten Pell Books), a language-driven, street-smart piece about teaching Shakespeare at a Brooklyn high school, that was not only hilarious but powerful and poignant too. Other work included "Bodies of Water," a poem dedicated to her bother, one about motherhood infused with the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and a translation of a Sappho poem that she sang in Greek and English. Somervile is a poet with great stories to tell and a passionate way with words.
As the organizer of the event, I was thrilled to pair up these two literary lights and to hear them in action.
Now I am looking forward to next month’s event on Thursday May 26th at 8 p.m. when Marian Fontana reads from her memoir, "WIDOW’S WALK" (Simon and Schuster) about life before and after the death of her firefighter husband on 9/11, and Susan Karzowska debuts an excerpt from her work-in-progress novel, "THE RIVER FROM NOTHING."
– Louise G. Crawford
SCOOP DU FRIDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: Tuesday through Saturday April
26-30 alternate-side-of-the-street-parking is suspended due to
religious observance (Passover). All other parking regulations in
effect.
CITY NEWS: Revised plans for the Plaza Hotel were unveiled on Thursday. The hotel will now be turned into a mix of guest
rooms and condos during the 18-month renovation. Originally, the hotel going to be converted entirely into condos, but the owners and the employee’s union reached a compromise. Now spaces like the Plaza’s Grand Ballroom, Oak Room and Palm Court will be preserved. Eloise will have a special suite dedicated to her. Will this suite be open to the public – or will it be a super expensive hotel room? Probably the latter. And what are they doing with Eloise’s portrait?
_The cab driver who caused Times Square pile-up wakes up from coma. He says there may have been something wrong with his car. He said he was glad that no-one died in the accident. Read more about it at NY 1.
_With state aid falling $1 billion short, MTA voted to cut subway repairs and froze major expansion. Read more about it at NY 1.
_Police are searching for a robber who has hit 21 beauty salons citywide. Read more about it at NY 1.
_New York’s air quality is deteriorating. The American Lung Association says that more than half the residents of New York face health risks just from breathing. Read more about it at NY 1.
_The NYC Department of Health is warning New Yorkers to use window
guards and to make sure they are installed properly after a 2-year old
boy named Jonathan Sanchez died falling 6
stories when the window guard, which were improperly installed, gave
way when he leaned against the window.
BROOKLYN BEAT: A man’s body was found on Plum Beach near Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Police are trying to figure out who dumped an unidentified body wrapped in a blanket and plastic bags.
_Two bystanders attending a funeral were hit by a stray bullet intended
for someone else. Police are searching for the shooter and the
intended target. One of the bystanders, a 14 year old girl, was seriously wounded. Read more about it at NY 1.
_The family of the 7-year-old Brooklyn
boy who died after crossing street to buy ice cream, died in the hospital on Wednesday is urging the hit-and- run driver to turn himself in. Charles Santiago, 7, was crossing Milford
Street in East New York around 7:45 p.m. when a 1997 white Chrysler
slammed into him, police said. Charles was taken to Jamaica Hospital in
Queens with multiple head injuries and two broken legs. Read more about it at NY 1.
You already knew about it but now it’s in the New York Post: "Architect Richard Meier has been hired to design a new residential project in Brooklyn that promises some of the city’s best viewsThe 15-story, 200,000 square-foot project will be called One Prospect Park. By the time it is ready in two years, prices should be well above $1,000 a foot. It will rise on the airy corner of Eastern Parkway and Plaza Street that is currently a vacant lot used for parking by the Union Temple. ‘It’s got Manhattan, it’s got the bay, it’s got the [Prospect] park, it’s got the Brooklyn Museum and the library,’ said developer Mario Procida. ‘You pick the direction and you got the view.’ Procida, a principal of GPG Equities, said he and partners Louis Greco and Sheldon Gordon bought the site earlier this week, and have commissioned a building similar to the Meier "triplets" ‘Being the fourth one, it will be even better.’"
From the New York Daily News: "A daylight sicko walked into the kids’ reading
room at a Brooklyn library yesterday and flashed his privates to a
13-year-old girl, police said. Then the perv began touching himself."The guy masturbated and the girl
saw him," said Detective Bernie Gifford, an NYPD spokesman. Police said
the girl was sitting at a computer about 12:30 p.m. when
the man slithered into the first-floor reading room at Flatbush Ave.
and Linden Blvd.
IT’S FRIDAY: Mommy Matinee at the Brooklyn Heights Pavillion. Friday at 12:30. Call the theater for information. (718)596-5095
-Jean-Luc Godard : Before and After the New Wave at At BamCinematek
_Don’t miss the new French film "Look at at Me" now playing at At Bam. I saw it at the New York Film Festival (ooh la la) and LOVED IT.
_St. Ann’s Warehouse: Filmmakers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman present "Theater of the New Ear," a
reading of two original radio plays set to music. Actors include Steve
Buscemi, Hope Davis, Peter Dinklage, Marsha Gay Harden, Meryl Streep. Call for dates and times. 38 Water St. (718) 254-8779.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: Sakura Matsuri: The Cherry Festival in the Botanic Gardens is this Saturday April 30.
_Walking tour of Whitman’s Brooklyn offered by the Brooklyn Historical Society. Meet at 128 Pierrepont Street at 2 p.m.
_First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum is Saturday May 7, 2005.
_Barbes is turning three. "We do feel much older. We can’t be thankful enough to all the musicians who have help us build the space and its reputation – and have made it possible to maintain a level of quality that still manages to astonish us. We’re lucky. To celebrate, we’re throwing ourselves a party this Saturday." The festivities will be broadcast from Barbes, live on WFMU from 8 to 11pm and will be hosted by Irene Trudel and Rob Weisberg. Music will be provided by The Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar, One Ring Zero, Las Rubias del Norte, Bebe Eiffel, Stephane Wrembel’s HOt Club of NY. $10.
_Brick Theater presents "Tupperware Orgy," a feminist play for chauvinist pigs. $10. 8 pm. 575 Metropolitan Ave. (718) 907-3457.
_"Around the World in 80 Days" at Puppetworks. 378 6th Avenue.
Saturday and Sunday. 12:30 and 2:30. Reservations advised: 718-735-4300.
_Got a guitar? Compete in the Brooklyn Battle of the Bands on June 5th at Grand Army
Plaza. Ten music groups of any genre will be selected to perform. Five judges
including Danny Simmons and Adam Shore will pick a grand prize winner
and runners ups. Sponsored by CMJ. Go here for information. Sign up
deadline is May 15th.
_On Sunday, May 15th, join Shorewalkers
on a six mile walking tour from Bed-Stuy to Brooklyn Heights.
Highlights include: Junior’s Restaurant, Fulton Street Mall and the
Brooklyn Promenade where you’ll break for lunch. After lunch, explore
Brooklyn Heights, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge and quaint
carriage houses. Take the J train to Gates Avenue in Brooklyn and walk
one block to McDonald’s. Meet at noon in front of McDonald’s. Leader:
Lauri Hewie (718) 455-3050.
_On Tuesday, May 25 from 7:00- 8:30 pm Marcie G. Roth, Esq. of Freedman Fish & Grimaldi LLP will present a Workshop on legal planning for parents with young children.
Ms. Roth will address the legal and emotional aspects of preparing your
Will, the New York and Federal estate tax, how to name a guardian,
trusts for minor children, avoiding probate, and living trusts. This
workshop will also cover planning for your disability including Powers of Attorney, Living Wills and Health Care Proxies.
To register for this important workshop, call Families First (718)
237-1862. The fee for the workshop is $10 for members and $15 for
non-members. Please register by May 15. Families First is located at
250 Baltic St., Brooklyn, N. Y. 11201
WORTH TAKING A LOOK: OTBKB Daily Pix
photographer, Hugh Crawford, has a show of portrait work on view at Fou
Le Chakra 411 Seventh Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets until May
16th.
HEAR/SAY:
You were never a water wimp.
Even at Orchard Beach,
you were good to go. A natural swimmer,
graceful and strong. All of us were.
Natural swimmers, that is.
In water, that is.
But I was afraid to be out over my head
afraid to swim at dawn with you
and Brutus out on 95th Street
when the lifeguard chairs were still
overturned in the sand
on the Irish Riviera
where we learned to tread
water. You always went way out.
You were never afraid
to get your ass kicked
by a wave. There was no fear
of losing control, cramping up,
no fear of water rushing to displace
the spirit of your lungs. No fear
of the Earth’s humors, the protean
green–the wet scary
unknown, no fear of the curvaceous
machine of the tides.
And how you love baths!
"Tropical Rain Forest:"
smoke a joint, fill the tub
with aromatic bubbles,
darken the room, put music on,
pull the curtain, turn the shower on
and float away down the Nile
in your vessel.
– From "Bodies of Water" by Michele Madigan Somerville
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Space is Power
My post, "The House That Jon Bought" and Hugh Crawford’s photo of the Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss’ backyard-to-be seem to be making the rounds in blogland.
I just discovered that Curbed the New York Times’ real estate blog, reprinted Hugh’s photo and an excerpt from this blog about the house having great bones and a block deep backyard.
Brownstoner, a Brooklyn real estate blog, was the first to pick up the two photos and my comments. All this attention meant that nearly 1000 people have stopped by OTBKB in the last 24 hours.
Wednesday afternoon, I got an e-mail from Meghan Clyne, a staff writer at The New York Sun: "I’m working on a story about Jonathan Safran Foer and his new house, and I read your blog about it," she wrote. "I’m wondering whether we could talk by phone. Could you give me a call as soon as you get a chance? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks much, and look forward to talking with you soon."
Meghan and I finally spoke Wednesday evening by cell phone. "You’ve been there," she said. "is it, like, a really huge house?" I explained that I’d seen it many years ago on a house tour and that I didn’t have a good recollection of the layout but I did remember that it was a big, wide house. More like a mansion than a typical brownstone.
Judging by her questions, Clyne seemed to be working a very specific angle for her story. She wanted to know what the Park Slope literati was thinking about Jonathan and Nicole’s purchase. "Are the writers of Park Slope angry and/or envious that this young writer has the money to buy this big house?" she asked (I am paraphrasing here as I wasn’t taking notes).
Truth is, I really have no idea how the other writers of Park Slope feel about the Foer/Krauss purchase. I heard a non-writer today say, "What do they need with such a big house?" But I haven’t actually talked to any writers about it.
But I’m sure envy is a factor. Envy makes this city go round. And writers can be an envious lot. But that wasn’t really my beef with the whole thing. Personally I’m not that high and mighty about the art and commerce thing. I don’t believe that true artists have to be starving in garrets.
But a part of me feels bad (but not that bad) that these two serious artists are going to be known as the couple who spent $6.75 million on a house in Park Slope. The timing seems really odd: they both have new novels out AND they decide to buy this mega house. Plus Nicole’s publicity photo is way too sexy, her blouse way too low.
I’d fire their publicist. It’s too much at once. If it were me, I’d want people to focus on my literary accomplishments and not how much money my in-laws have or how much Jonathan has stocked away from his bestsellerdom or how gorgeous Nicole is.ou thi
Could it all be a marketing ploy?
God knows, it’ll probably sell books. And in this day and age, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The hokey pokey that is.
I did tell Clyne that their reputations as serious writers may get blurred a little bit by this media frenzy. Clyne seemed excited when I said that. "You think their reputations are going to be blurred?" she repeated. It was probably the only thing I’d said that meshed with her story.
I hastened to add that I think Nicole Krauss is a really talented writer and that the excerpt from her new novel, "The History of Love," published in the New Yorker last year was absolutely spellbinding. Jonathan’s "Everything is Illuminated" was also a powerful work (I haven’t read the new one). Not only are they a real estate power couple, but they’ve got bucket loads of talent, too.
For me, what’s irritiating about the price tag on that house is that it epitomizes the state of real estate in Brooklyn right now. I’m probably not the only one who feels completely marginalized by what’s going on out here; the sense that this is becoming a rich person’s neighborhood. I will never be able to buy a house and that was always my dream. Being priced out of your own community feels very lonely and very sad.
It seems to me that Brooklyn has moved beyond gentrification into the realm of big-money development (and possibly corruption). Just look at the condos on Fourth Avenue and everywhere else, the coming Whole Foods, Ikea, the Atlantic Terminal Mall, the proposed stadium and on and on. It’s all about money and politics now. Maybe it always was.
Space is power in this city. Most of us are crammed into too-small apartments. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was jealous of all that space Jonathan and Nicole are getting. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was jealous of all the acclaim and money they’re receiving for their work. It’s a writers dream to be well-reviewed, read by the public AND paid the big bucks for what you do.
And to have a big, big house to do it in: that’s making it in my book.
From the sidelines, we gawk, we gossip, we kvetch. Our ambition is fueled by envy. Our satisfaction mitigated by the desire for more. And then we take the moral high ground when somebody actually makes it to the top and gets the perks we want.
That’s the way it is in this town. At every level, I might add. At every level.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Brooklyn Reading Works.
Tomorrow is the first episode of Brooklyn Reading Works, a reading series curated by me at Fou Le Chakra.
Brooklyn Reading Works is just a little thing I threw together at the urging of Mary Warren, owner of that tiny shop and cafe at 411 Seventh Avenue between 13th and 14th Street.
Ms. Warren had the inspiration to turn her new cafe/clothing shop into a sometime salon. A salon!
Whoo hoo: We were off and running with that concept: literary readings, art shows, portrait sittings, musical performances, stand-up comics, new age workshops, trunk shows…
We were down with that idea.
And so Brooklyn Reading Works was born. Immediately I had a vision of what I wanted it to be: a cozy evening once a month for stories, memoir, and poetry in a candle-lit atmosphere with music, wine, tea, and succulent sweets.
And I knew I wanted it to be a place for all the "underground" writers of Park Slope to come out of their writing rooms and share what they’ve been doing. It seems that there are plethora of readings by the usual suspects. And by usual suspects I mean our media-adored and much-esteemed literary neighbors like Paul Auster, Jhumpa Lahiri, Siri Hustvedt, Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Elissa Schappell. Love them all as I do, I wanted to make a space for all the others.
Because there are so many other writers in our midst that nobody ever sees, that nobody even knows are here. So I started making phone calls. And before I knew it I had a full roster of really interesting writers with published work or work-in-progress through July and a list of writers ready to go for next fall.
I even heard through the grapevine that Elissa Schappell is interested in doing a Brooklyn Reading Works and is wondering why I didn’t ask her. Go figure.
Of course, the first call I made was to the writer I’ve know the longest: Pamela Katz is my great friend and creative co-hort since fifth grade at the New Lincoln School in Manhattan. We even interviewed children’s science fiction writer Madeleine L’Engle in her office at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine when were in 7th grade.
We’ve been putting on shows of one kind or another, running around town, makin’ michief, producing films, talking, talking, talking, and being the best of friends for 36 years now.
A few years back, she wrote AND SPEAKING OF LOVE (Aufbau-Verlag) that was called by Jay Parini " a compelling and beautifully rendered novel about the astonishing life of Lotte Lenya." She is now revising it for its American publication. She also wrote the screenplays for the films "Rosenstrasse" and "The Other Woman," both directed by Margarethe von Trotta and shown at the Museum of Modern Art and on German television.
When I told my very readerly and knowledgable friend Adam that I was doing this reading series, the first name that came to his mind was the poet and fiction writer Michele Madigan Somerville. Her book-length poem, WISEGAL (Ten Pell Books) was described by poet Thaddeus Rutkowski as "a post-beat odyssey through present day New York…full of joy and
wonder at the sheer saltiness and sexiness of life." I was thrilled when she accepted with great enthusiasm my invitation to be part of the first show of Brooklyn Reading Works.
It should be a great night. Come on down.
-Louise X. Crawford
SCOOP DU Wednesday_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: Tuesday through Saturday April
26-30 alternate-side-of-the-street-parking is suspended due to
religious observance (Passover). All other parking regulations in
effect.
<>
CITY NEWS: The Daily News reports: suspicious material on a United Airlines
flight from New York to San Francisco prompted the pilot to make an
emergency landing Tuesday at O’Hare International Airport. The material turned out to be wires, an MP3 player and homeopathic
medicines, said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann
Davis.
_11 injured in multi-car crash involving a taxi in Times Square.
_City murder rate on track for 40-year low.
_The NYC Department of Health is warning New Yorkers to use window
guards and to make sure they are installed properly after a 2-year old
boy named Jonathan Sanchez died falling 6
stories when the window guard, which were improperly installed, gave
way when he leaned against the window.
_In a
talk at the Tribeca Film Festival (which is in full swing), Actress
Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of a new flick
about the aftermath of 9/11, said that the U.S. "is responsible
in some way" for the devastating terror attacks. She is getting a
beating from the local press (Daily News, Post) for saying it. Slow
news weekend, I guess. Her new movie "The Great New Wonderful" has a plot centered on
the destruction of the World Trade Center – premiered Friday.
"I think what’s good about the movie is that it deals with 9/11 in such
a subtle, open way that I think it allows it to be more complicated
than just, ‘Oh, look at these poor New Yorkers and how hard it was for
them,’" Gyllenhaal told the NY1 cable channel.
BROOKLYN BEAT: CHERRY BLOSSOMS ARE IN BLOOM IN THE BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDENS. The garden has 200 trees – the most cherry blossom trees outside of Japan. The Sakura Matsura Festival is this Sunday.
_Jewish leaders in Williamsburg lash out at FDNY for slow response to fire that killed three boys.
<>
_A hit-and-run driver yesterday critically injured a 7-year-old Brooklyn boy as he crossed the street to buy ice cream, witnesses said. The boy, identified by his family as Charles Santiago, was crossing Milford Street in East New York around 7:45 p.m. when a 1997 white Chrysler slammed into him, police said. Charles was taken to Jamaica Hospital in Queens with multiple head injuries and two broken legs.
_Three boys died and
four other people were
injured in a fast-moving fire. Flames broke out shortly before 6 a.m.
on the second floor of
104 Ross Street, a six-story apartment building near Bedford Avenue in
Williamsburg, according to fire officials. Investigators say the fire
likely started in a gas stove, by
accident, but they don
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_The House that Jon Bought
I’ve actually been inside the house. The house that authors Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss are buying for $6.75 million. It was on the Park Slope House Tour years and years ago. As everyone knows, those house tours are a form of real estate porn. You get to be a voyeur, to see what it looks like inside those houses you walk by day after day. Fantasies abound as you pass. Ah the envy, the longing, the sense that such wonderful lives are lived beyond the stoops of those brownstone and limestone glories.
It’s a nice house the house they’re buying. And not only that: the yard goes from Second Street all the way to Third Street. That’s right. It includes the empty lot you pass when you’re walking to Prospect Park on Third Street (close to PPW). The current owners keep their SUV in the vacant garden lot and they have a fancy wood playground set there. Every time we walk by, my daughter invariably says: "I really, really want to try that playground one day. There’s no-one ever in there." And then I have to explain that it is not a public playground but a private yard for a boy and a girl who never use their fantastic playground equipment.
The thought just baffles my daughter’s mind. I figure they’re at their Hamptons beach house most weekends so they just don’t have the time to use that glorioius playground that my daughter wants to try.
The house on Second Street that the Foer-Krauss’ are buying is super deluxe; a to-die for brownstone. The decor, however, is ugly, ugly ugly. Overdone wall treatments, expensive appliances, bad art. Way too much money combined with way too little taste. That was my feeling, anyway. But the house has what you call great bones. Really fantastic bones, I would say and lots of historic detail. I would be MORE than happy to live there. And so would you.
But that yard. It’s a yard where a house might be. It is so super duper luxurious to have all that space. In Brooklyn. What a garden it could be. What flowers. Trees.
I’m kind of excited about Jonathan and Nicole moving there. I bet they’re going to do wonderful things to that house; big, comfortable writing rooms, a library or two with shabby chic sofas, no doubt. A voluptuous living room, an inviting kitchen with a view of their gigantic backyard.
I’m glad that place is going to a couple of talented writers – maybe they’ll even use their gigundo backyard. It’ll be great for daydreaming, star gazing the Brooklyn sky, and hours and hours spent reading on a hammock.
That’s what I would do.
*Monday night Hugh Crawford went out and shot those pictures of Jonathan and Nicole’s backyard-to-be from Third Street. This and all the Postcard from the Slope pictures are by Hugh Crawford in case anyone was wondering.
SCOOP DU TUESDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: Tuesday through Saturday April 26-30 alternate-side-of-the-street-parking is suspended due to religious observance (Passover). All other parking regulations in effect.
CITY NEWS: 11 injured in multi-car crash involving a taxi in Times Square.
_Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, to tour Grand Central Terminal on Monday with local officials.
_City murder rate on track for 40-year low.
_The NYC Department of Health is warning New Yorkers to use window guards and to make sure they are installed properly after a 2-year old boy named Jonathan Sanchez died falling 6
stories when the window guard, which were improperly installed, gave
way when he leaned against the window.
<>
_In a
talk at the Tribeca Film Festival (which is in full swing), Actress
Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of a new flick
about the aftermath of 9/11, said that the U.S. "is responsible
in some way" for the devastating terror attacks. She is getting a
beating from the local press (Daily News, Post) for saying it. Slow
news weekend, I guess. Her new movie "The Great New Wonderful" has a plot centered on
the destruction of the World Trade Center – premiered Friday.
"I think what’s good about the movie is that it deals with 9/11 in such
a subtle, open way that I think it allows it to be more complicated
than just, ‘Oh, look at these poor New Yorkers and how hard it was for
them,’" Gyllenhaal told the NY1 cable channel.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Three boys died and four other people were
injured in a fast-moving fire. Flames broke out shortly before 6 a.m. on the second floor of
104 Ross Street, a six-story apartment building near Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, according to fire officials. Investigators say the fire likely started in a gas stove, by
accident, but they don
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Brooklyn Backlash
As I usually do, I read with interest Bob Morris’ weekly column in the Style section of the New York Times: "The Age of Dissonance." This week’s really hit home. Titled, "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" he opened with the revelation that local literary luminary (a dime a dozen around here) just sold one Park Slope House for more than $3 million and bought another one for $6.75 million.
"Maybe Brooklyn can finally stop the need to promote itself as some kind of hip equal to Manhattan. Here is a loaded celebrity author who could afford to buy anywhere – who doesn’t have children who would need extra bedrooms and a yard – and he has chosen Brooklyn over Manhattan."
He goes on to say: "Paying $6.75 million to live a half-hour subway ride from Greenwich Village. That tells the world that you’re not an outskirt. You’re a mecca."
At this point in my reading, my blood pressure was rising. And the quote from Marcellus Hall, the illustrator of the New Yorker cover that got Marty Markowitz spritzing all over the letters from readers page of that tony publication, really pissed me off: "It’s all just insecurity."
Who says that Brooklynites would rather be living in Manhattan? I’m a born and bred Manhattanite – grew up on Riverside Drive no less and I chose to be here. Granted, I was priced out of Manhattan back in 1991 – but that’s besides the point. I didn’t know better. I thought I was settling when I was actually doing something better. And that doesn’t come from insecurity.
Every choice comes with a price. Sure, we’re a half-hour away from the village, forty-five minutes to Chelsea, and an hour door-to-door to the Upper West Side. But so what?
As Morris says, Brooklyn has become a world-class mecca, a destination not a place to escape from (as it was for my mother’s generation). She always said, "Growing up in Brooklyn makes you an over achiever. You have to cross the bridge."
Our kids aren’t itching to escape from Brooklyn the way my mother’s generation was. They love it here and they know it has a great deal to offer. They don’t feel gipped that they’re not in Manhattan. They know they’re living in one of the great communities in America.
And that doesn’t come from insecurity, Marcellus Hall. That comes from a wholehearted appreciation of a really special place.
SCOOP DU MONDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: On Monday April 25 alternate-side-of-the-street (ASOTS) parking will be suspended for religious
observance (Passover). Also: Thursday through Saturday April 26-30 ASOTS
parking is also suspended. All other parking regulations in effect.
CITY NEWS: Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, to tour Grand Central Terminal on Monday with local officials.
_City murder rate on trace for 40-year low.
_A 2-year old boy named Jonathan Sanchez, died after falling 6 stories after the window guard, which were improperly installed, gave way when he leaned against the window.
_In a
talk at the Tribeca Film Festival (which is in full swing), Actress
Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of a new flick
about the aftermath of 9/11, said that the U.S. "is responsible
in some way" for the devastating terror attacks. She is getting a
beating from the local press (Daily News, Post) for saying it. Slow
news weekend, I guess.
Her new movie "The Great New Wonderful" has a plot centered on
the destruction of the World Trade Center – premiered Friday.
"I think what’s good about the movie is that it deals with 9/11 in such
a subtle, open way that I think it allows it to be more complicated
than just, ‘Oh, look at these poor New Yorkers and how hard it was for
them,’" Gyllenhaal told the NY1 cable channel.
BROOKLYN BEAT: "Bullets in the Hood: a Bed Stuy Story" directed by two Bed Stuy filmakers, is being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Different From All Other Nights
Passover is definitely my favorite Jewish holiday. What’s not to like? Matzah, gefilte fish, chorosis – a mixture of apples, walnuts, almonds, and wine – and chocolate covered macaroons.
And then there’s the seder itself. Every family has its own approach. The more orthodox seders last many hours. The children sit bored and hungry, while they wait for the adults to finish reading from the Hagadah so that dinner can begin. Certainly, there are a few bright spots in the long service: the four questions, the search for the matzah, the wine glass for Elijah.
While our reform Jewish seders are a bit shorter, I can still remember the hunger I felt as my grandfather led what felt like an endless seder in our Riverside Drive dining room. That was back when my parents were still married, back when we got together every year with my grandparents, my maternal aunt, uncle and cousins.
For a family of Upper West Side and Westchester Jews, Passover’s message of "Let my people go," was all that we needed to draw a progressive and humanistic message from the holiday. Often, the seder took on a political dimension – it was the 1960’s and 70’s afterall. Political discussion added a spirited element to any family get-together.
After my parents split up, some years we did the seder with my father and his wife, some years we did it with my mother. I would often find myself the leader of the seder, as I have a reputation in my immediate family as the most Jewish of us.
Leading the seder is a job I absolutely cherish at it affords me the opportunity to channel my inner rabbi. And it’s a chance to teach my children, the offspring of an inter-faith marriage, an important piece of their Jewish history. I also get to exercise my directorial instincts, figuring out who reads what, and which parts of the ceremony end up on the cutting room floor.
Tonight the seder is at my father’s apartment in Brooklyn Heights, with it’s spectacular view of New York Harbor and lower Manhattan. My cousin on my mother’s side and her family will be there, too. My sister is in Palm Beach sedering with her mother-in-law and my mother, My stepmother, no doubt, will cook a delicious and imaginative meal.
In the next few hours, I will pull together this year’s readings. I will probably use my favorite Hagadah, it’s actually a children’s book called "The Four Questions" with text by Lynn Sharon Schwartz and paintings by Orin Sherman. Toward the end she writes:
"At the Passover Seder, we remember that terrible and then wonderful time and in the remembering, the terror and the wonder happen to us. We were once slaves, now we enjoy freedom. Together we wish that by next year’s Seder, all people living in slavery any place in the world, will pass over to freedom."
We will all take turns reading from this book and a more traditional Hagadah. And we will sing. It is a night different from all other nights. And that’s the point.
SCOOP DU WEEKEND_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
TIP: See you at 1 p.m. at Fou Le Chakra for your free portrait sitting. Come on down: it only takes a minute. 411 7th Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets. Also, scroll down to see everything that’s going on today in Brooklyn. See the Grab-bag, too.
FYI: On Monday April 25 alternate-side-of-the-street (ASOTS) parking will be suspended for religious
observance (Passover). Also: Thursday through Saturday April 26-30 ASOTS
parking is also suspended. All other parking regulations in effect.
TONIGHT IS THE SECOND NIGHT OF PASSOVER.
CITY NEWS: In a talk at the Tribeca Film Festival (which is in full swing), Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of a new flick
about the aftermath of 9/11, said that the U.S. "is responsible
in some way" for the devastating terror attacks. She is getting a beating from the local press (Daily News, Post) for saying it. Slow news weekend, I guess.
Her new movie "The Great New Wonderful" has a plot centered on
the destruction of the World Trade Center – premiered Friday.
"I think what’s good about the movie is that it deals with 9/11 in such
a subtle, open way that I think it allows it to be more complicated
than just, ‘Oh, look at these poor New Yorkers and how hard it was for
them,’" Gyllenhaal told the NY1 cable channel.
_Staten Island Ferry officials plead guilty in 2003 crash.
_A city sanitation worker was charged with murdering his girlfriend who was eight months pregnant. Her body was found April 3rd in the Hudson River. The suspect, Roscoe Glinton of Sunset Park, was arrested on Friday night. He faces second-degree murder charges.
_Columbia Presbeyterian Hospital admitted Friday that it treated patients for Legionaire’s Disease, which they contracted at the hospital. Two of the patients died.
_FDNY is concerned about New York City’s emergency response plan now that the NYPD has been given primary responsibility.
_For the first time ever, the Department of Homeless Services counted the number of homeless persons in the five borough. THey found that there are approx. 4,400 homeless people in New York City. Homeless advocacy groups say the estimates should be much higher.
_NYC unemployment down 30% from last year. It is the largest one year drop on record.
-According to the "Schumtz Survey " conducted by the the NY
Straphangers Campaign, the subways are getting dirtier. The group
inspected 2,200 cars on 22 lines in the city between September and
December. The 1 and 9 trains were rated the dirtiest, while the N
train was found to be the cleanest.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Brooklyn-born general nominated to be chair of Bush’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
_Raphaelina
Smith, the girl that was shot in the back on Sterling and Ralph Avenue
in Crown Heights on the way home from school last week left Kings
County Hospital today with the bullet still in her back. A neurosurgeon
involved with her case said that it would be more dangerous to remove
the bullet than to keep it in.
From Curbed a blog sponsored by NYtimes.com Real Estate: "We all know that Brooklyn will be another front in the coming gourmet
food war. In Park Slope, Whole Foods is opening a 42,000-square-foot
store to take on the Coop. The secret weapon? Around 220 parking spaces–meanwhile the hippies strike back with a new (and already neglected) product blog.
In Red Hook, Fairway is taking a 19th-century warehouse and converting
it into another huge supermarket, opening in the fall. It’s all old
news, yes, but adding fuel to the fire is the report that Trader
Joe’s–reigning king of the food-related rumor mill–also has its eye on the borough. As much as we’d like to see the tofu fly between these fine retailers, we’re sticking to our original story.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Total Wine Bar
We were on the wrong Fifth Avenue and walked right past the Total Wine Bar at first. When we were practically at Flatbush we backtraked, finally finding it near St. Marks/
It is, quite simply, a completely charming place: elegant, cozy, dark. I felt like I was walking into the perfect small party: beautifully lit, friendly people, intense conversations, welcoming hosts offering glasses of good wine…
Perfect.
Our friends weren’t there yet and my husband kept joking, "Are you sure her birthday party is tonight? Are you sure this is the place."
"Stop doubting me," I said."
But it didn’t really matter. I was blissed out to be in my new favorite Park Slope bar. Because it’s not really a bar – you’d never order a Cosmopolitan there – it’s a wine bar with an interesting list of wines from all over the world and wine, cheese, sausage and pate supplied by Blue Apron Foods.
Need I say more?
At first we sat at the bar. The bartender, a friendly fellow with punky platinum hair asked what kind of wine I like. He seemed really interested. "I like red but not a really deep, heavy wine. Something on the light side."
He gave me an organic Pinot Noir from Chile and it was delicious. Just my style.
Then he asked my husband: "You know what she just said. Well, I want the complete opposite. I like a wine that’s big and loud." And he poured him a big, loud Argentinean wine. Perfect.
When our friends arrived later, we were sitting on banquettes near the front window with a view of a tree in white flower bloom. In front of the banquettes there are low table cubes that are lit from within. The wine glasses are egg shaped without a stem.
We shouted "Surprise!" when the birthday girl arrived and she glowed with her newly dyed reddish hair. It wasn’t really a surprise but it was most special way to be feted by friends on your birthday, at this most special place on Fifth Avenue on a rainy night in April.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Real Estate Blues
It keeps coming up again and again. In conversations on Seventh Avenue, on the radio, in the local media. It’s definititely on my mind: the reality that New York City has become a rich person’s town. If you don’t make a gazillion dollars a year, you can’t live here anymore. Well, you can live here – but you can’t buy a house or an apartment where you wanna be. Those of us who have chosen career paths far away from Wall Street – in the arts or in the non-profit sector – are being squeezed out of this city.
I find myself feeling marginalized even in my own neighborhood where real estate is on everyone’s lips. It hurts to have been one of the early settlers in Park Slope and to feel like there’s no place left for me.
Back in ’91, when we moved here, we were priced out of Manhattan. I, for one, had to be dragged kicking and screaming to our first apartment on Fifth Street. You see, we needed three bedrooms because we had a new baby, a boy who is now nearly 14 years old. Our needs exceeded what we could afford and find on the other side of the river. We didn’t buy because we weren’t sure we’d even like it here. It was
Brooklyn afterall.
But Brooklyn enchanted. The red brick, the brownstone, the afternoon light on the dogwood-lined streets really struck a chord with me. I fell in love with the scale of the neighborhood, its architectural integrity, its beauty.
So here we are all these years later: enthusiastic members of this community. We’ve had our financial ups and downs and downs but we’ve still managed to make a satifactory life for ourselves. Our kids are in the local public schools, we’re card-carrying members of the Park Slope Food Coop, and we buy most of our books at the Community Bookstore.
But times are a-changing here: Brooklyn is, once again, in transition. Only rich refugees from Manhattan can afford to buy a gorgeous limestone, or fill all those new condos along Fourth Avenue. Everything is up for grabs: Sunset Park, the Atlantic Rail Yards, Kensington, Fourth Avenue, that crazy garage on First Street and Fifth, the Gowanus. Everything that made this neighborhood special is now just a real estate developer’s dream. It’s a land grab out there and everyone’s got a price, an offer they can’t refuse.
I wish we could say that we’d had the foresight to invest. Wish we had good real estate karma. But we don’t and I guess it wasn’t meant to be. And that makes me sad…
I never thought I’d say it, let alone think it: but even I, diehard New Yorker born and bred, may be getting fed up with this town. Even I am losing my taste for a city that’s built on greed.
SCOOP DU FRIDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: On Monday April 25 alternate-side-of-the-street (ASOTS) parking will be suspended for religious
observance (Passover). Also: Thursday through Saturday April 26-30 ASOTS
parking is also suspended. All other parking regulations in effect.
Saturday April 23rd is the first night of Passover. It is also Earth Day.
EDITOR’S NOTE: NEWS FROM YESTERDAY (AND THE DAY BEFORE) WILL NOW BE
PRINTED IN ORANGE. THE MOST CURRENT NEWS WILL BE, AS ALWAYS, IN BLACK.
CITY NEWS: NYC unemployment down 30% from last year. It is the largest one year drop on record.
-According to the "Schumtz Survey " conducted by the the NY Straphangers Campaign, the subways are getting dirtier. The group inspected 2,200 cars on 22 lines in the city between September and December. The 1 and 9 trains were rated the dirtiest, while the N train was the cleanest.
_Subway service returned to normal on the A and C lines after January fire.
_City will tighten security for
Passover holiday. There will be more foot patrols and heavily armed
units at synogogues around the city. Mayor Bloomberg also asked
citizens to report any price gouging of kosher food items.
_New York City population down although not as many people are
leaving the city as expected. Last year, 5,500 left the city, the
largest number since 1991. The latest census numbers put the city’s
population at 8.1 million with Brooklyn and Queens being the most
populous borough with a population of 2.4 and 2.2 million
respectively. City officials challenged the accuracy of the figures.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Raphaelina Smith, the girl that was shot in the back on Sterling and Ralph Avenue in Crown Heights on the way home from school last week left Kings County Hospital today with the bullet still in her back. A neurosurgeon involved with her case said that it would be more dangerous to remove the bullet than to keep it in.
From Curbed a blog sponsored by NYtimes.com Real Estate: "We all know that Brooklyn will be another front in the coming gourmet
food war. In Park Slope, Whole Foods is opening a 42,000-square-foot
store to take on the Coop. The secret weapon? Around 220 parking spaces–meanwhile the hippies strike back with a new (and already neglected) product blog.
In Red Hook, Fairway is taking a 19th-century warehouse and converting
it into another huge supermarket, opening in the fall. It’s all old
news, yes, but adding fuel to the fire is the report that Trader
Joe’s–reigning king of the food-related rumor mill–also has its eye on the borough. As much as we’d like to see the tofu fly between these fine retailers, we’re sticking to our original story.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Giddy Spring
There’s a different rhythm to life now that the warm weather has hit Park Slope. For the past two days, we’ve eaten dinner past nine. I know that must sound shocking. But we find ourselves enjoying the weather, the sunlight, and the general feeling of giddiness that comes over the Slope when the magnolias are in bloom.
Yesterday, on the way home from my office I bought a cold bottle of Italian white wine at Shawns. When I got to my building my downstairs’ neighbors were eating dinner on the stoop. "Can you bring out your corkscrew and some plastic cups," I asked. We drank the entire bottle of wine (with our husbands) while our children made chalk portraits of themselves on the sidewalk.
It was after eight before we went upstairs, made a quick dinner, and rushed through homework, baths, and bedtime reading.
Tonight, my daughter and I went out at five to check out the new children’s store that took the place of Fidgits. We even managed to buy a really cute black skort and top there. We then found ourselves in the PS 321 playground and discovered that there was a special event at the school in honor of "Annual Turn Off Your T.V. Week," an event that featured charades, hopscotch, chess, science experiments, and a wonderful sing-a-long in one of the kindergarten classrooms.
Afterwards, we hung out in the playground again; in the dark, I talked to a mom while my daughter played on the slide. We then went to Pinos for take-out pizza and to Met Food for breakfast basics. It was 9 p.m. before we were home. Again a speedy dinner, homework, and to bed.
Yup, I’ve just outed myself: on these first warm days I’m letting the routines slide. We’re doing things a little bit differently, infused as we are with the wayward spirit of spring.
SCOOP DU THURSDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
FYI: On Monday April 25 alternate-side-of-the-street parking will be suspended for religious
observance (Passover). Also: Thursday through Saturday April 26-30 ASOTS
parking is also suspended. All other parking regulations in effect.
EDITOR’S NOTE: NEWS FROM YESTERDAY (AND THE DAY BEFORE) WILL NOW BE PRINTED IN ORANGE. THE MOST CURRENT NEWS WILL BE, AS ALWAYS, IN BLACK.
CITY NEWS: Subway service returns to normal on the A and C lines after January fire.
-Al Sharpton will not endorse any of the democratic mayoral candidates.
_City will tighten security for
Passover holiday. There will be more foot patrols and heavily armed
units at synogogues around the city. Mayor Bloomberg also asked
citizens to report any price gouging of kosher food items.
_A female aid worker from the
East Village was killled in a Iraq bombing. Marla Ruzicks, 27, founded
the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, a humanitarian group
dedicated to helping families of civilians killed in Iraq. Through
relentless lobbying, she was able to secure millions of dollars for
Iraqi families.
_New York City population down although not as many people are
leaving the city as expected. Last year, 5,500 left the city, the
largest number since 1991. The latest census numbers put the city’s
population at 8.1 million with Brooklyn and Queens being the most
populous borough with a population of 2.4 and 2.2 million
respectively. City officials challenged the accuracy of the figures.
BROOKLYN BEAT: The owner of the land used by Kensington Stables just sold one of the two buildings that make up Kensington Stables, near the southern tip of Prospect Park. This sale, no word yet as to who the buyer is, threatens to disrupt life in the area. The stables’ owner, Walter Blankinship, said he would have to vacate that building, called the Little Gray Barn, by May 1, forcing him to keep all 45 horses that he owns or cares for in the other building, which he owns.
Besides the stable space, Mr. Blankinship will also lose the use of a pen outside the barn and parking for several horse trailers.He said finding room in the one remaining building for all 45 horses would be a struggle. The lack of space means that he will have to cut back on many of the programs Kensington Stables offers, especially the ones that bring children in close contact with the horses. Story reported by the New York Times
_Charges were filed yesterday against a female math teacher at a middle school in Brooklyn who kissed one of her students. She is one of 5 teachers in the city school system who have been accused of criminal or inappropriate behavior.
_Man charged with threatening a federal judge in Brooklyn and threatening to blow up a Brooklyn courthouse.
_Sgt. Angelo Lozada, Jr., a soldier from Brooklyn, was killed in
Iraq along with two other soldiers yesterday. That brings the total
number of American soldiers killed: 1558. How many Iraqis?
_A Bensonhurst boy was struck after car runs red light in Brooklyn
on Tuesday. The 5-year-old-boy was taken to Lutheran Hospital in
serious condition.
_A Brooklyn boy was raped by his pastor in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
_As reported on New York 1, a Brooklyn man was arrested for
harassing a family of dwarves. He painted a yellow line in front of
their house and wrote: "Follow the yellow brick road." He also taunted
them for three weeks. Before the incident began, the dwarf and the
Brooklyn man were friends.
_Princess and Cunard cruise lines have signed a deal to make Pier 12
in Red Hook their new home. The city is building a $30 million complex
at Piers 11 and 12 as an alternative to the New York Cruise Terminal on
the west side of Manhattan. The Queen Mary II will be one of the ships
to dock in Red Hook.
_A shopping mall developer has been buying up properties in Coney
Island planning on building an indoor mall there. "Our dream is an
amusement, entertainment and adventure destination," says Joseph Sitt
of Thor Equities. Thorr refused to comment on what would happen to the
vintage amusment park rides and games. Residents of Coney Island are
worried about a mall on the boardwalk signaling the end of Coney Island
as we know it.
_The New York Times reported that the new Richard Meier apartment
building going up on Grand Army Plaza with views of Prospect Park would
be 30 stories not 15. The Times’ issued a correction about this
mistake. However, Dailyheights.com reported yesterday that the Times’
may have been right after all. The developers are apparently looking to
buy air rights from other buildings. Sucessfully buying air rights
would permit the developer to build up to 30 stories. According to the
Eastern Parkway Block Association, who have discussed the condo
development with Councilwoman Lettitia James, the building will be
glass, white and curved to fit the street shape. The Eastern Athletic
Health Club’s pool will lose some of its view. Meier building will
will 150 feet or slightly higher than Union Temple.
IT’S THURSDAY: Poets Hettie Jones and Mark Doty read at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Grand Army Plaza. Thursday April 21, 7
Brooklyn Underground Film Festival features 100 films from 12 countries. A rare screening of "Indianna Jones: The
Adaptation" is on April 23rd. You’ve probably heard about the kids who
made the shot-for-shot copy of Raiders back in the ’80s. Well, this is
it. at 9:15 p.m. April 21-23. 227 Fourth Avenue at Union
Street. For info and schedule go to
_Jean-Luc Godard : Before and After the New Wave begins at BamCinematek on Thursday April 21th with British Sounds, a 1969 film. 7:30 p.m.
PEN World Voices. The New York Festival of International Literature,
a confluence of 118 writers from more than 40 countries are coming
together this week: April 16 – April 24 for seven days of discussions,
tributes, reading and conversation "that will expand the literary
horizons of American audiences." For more information, visit
www.pen.org/festival. A five borough Battle of the Bands will be on June 5th at Grand Army Plaza. Ten music groups of any genre will be selected. Five judges including Danny Simmons and Adam Shore will pick a grand prize winner and runners ups. Sponsored by CMJ. Go here for information. Sign up deadline is May 15th.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: Got a guitar? Compete in the Brooklyn Battle of the Bands on June 5th at Grand Army
Plaza. Ten music groups of any genre will be selected to perform. Five judges
including Danny Simmons and Adam Shore will pick a grand prize winner
and runners ups. Sponsored by CMJ. Go here for information. Sign up
deadline is May 15th.
Cool for Shul: Festival of Contemporary Jewish Music. Various artists at The BAMCafe. Weekends in April.
Mommy Matinees at the Brooklyn Heights Pavillion. Call for
info about the one Friday April 22nd. 718-596-5095. Kids run wild, moms
get to watch first-run movies. What about the Park Slope Pavillion?
_"Tupperwear Orgy," a play in Williamsburg. Stay tuned for more info.
_UniverSoul Circus, the first circus to be owned and operated
by African-Americans, is in town. Saturday and Sundays through April
24th. Noon, 4:30, and
8 p.m. Near Wollman Rink in Prospect Park. Follow the smell of the
elephants from the Prospect Park.
_"Around the World in 80 Days" at Puppetworks. 378 6th Avenue.
Saturday and Sunday. 12:30 and 2:30. Reservations advised: 718-735-4300.
_Brooklyn Reading Works. Curated by Louise G. Crawford. APRIL 28 at 8 p.m. Pamela Katz reads: And Speaking of Love (Aufbau-Verlag) "a compelling and beautifully rendered novel about the astonishing life of Lotte Lenya," and poet Michelle Madigan Somerville reads from Wisegal
(Ten Pell Books) and newer work: "A multilingual hardrock
reverie…going upside your head to whisper whipsmart secrets about
cracked-out big-city survival.
NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford
POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_It Was Enough
After a weekend spent channeling Isadora Duncan, swimming like a dophin and yelping like a whale at a Berkshires retreat called "Coming Home to Your Heart," I took away a simple message
"All along I had what I needed. It was enough."
These words came out of me almost unconsciously as I recorded my thoughts on paper after waking from a dream. I wrote about the sense of scarcity that I feel in my life; it’s a primal feeling I’ve carried with me for years. But it also connects to my fear of not being able provide for myself and my family – now and in the future. A common fear many of us hold at this stage of life.
The anxiety, the sense that there isn’t enough – money, time, space, talent, love, things, attention, goodness, nurturing. In so many ways I focus on what I don’t have.
Back in Brooklyn I’ve been thinking about those words over and over. It’s become my mantra as I go about my business in the Slope – walking to my office, to the school, to meetings, to the gym, to the Park. What does it mean really? Or to be more exact: how many things does it mean?
"All along I had what I needed. It was enough."
This morning in the shower, I felt some of the fortifying solitude I felt during the silent breakfasts in the Berkshires. Revelation: I could wake up just 15 minutes earlier each morning and be alone, shower luxuriously and meditate. I have the time that I need. I just need to use it.
On leaving for school with my daughter, I couldn’t find my keys. The usual panic set in. And no, they were not on the handy key hook that’s right by the door. An hour later our neighbor called, "I have some keys, they may belong to you…" They were in her apartment all along, I’d left them on the stoop. All along I had what I needed…
And now, facing a congested day, I made some calls, moved some appointments around and now I feel like I have enough time to get done all the things that need to get done today.
"All along I had what I needed. It was enough."
I can’t wait to discover all the things that means.
-Louise G. Crawford
SCOOP DU WEDNESDAY_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
BROOKLYN WEATHER: What’s it gonna do today? Check here for Brooklyn weather.
CITY NEWS: City tightens security for Passover holiday. There will be more foot patrols and heavily armed units at synogogues around the city. Mayor Bloomberg also asked citizens to report any price gouging of kosher food items.
_A female aid worker from the
East Village was killled in a Iraq bombing. Marla Ruzicks, 27, founded
the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, a humanitarian group
dedicated to helping families of civilians killed in Iraq. Through
relentless lobbying, she was able to secure millions of dollars for
Iraqi families.
_New York City population down although not as many people are
leaving the city as expected. Last year, 5,500 left the city, the
largest number since 1991. The latest census numbers put the city’s
population at 8.1 million with Brooklyn and Queens being the most
populous borough with a population of 2.4 and 2.2 million
respectively. City officials challenged the accuracy of the figures.
BROOKLYN BEAT: Man charged with threatening a federal judge in Brooklyn and threatening to blow up a Brooklyn courthouse.
_Sgt. Angelo Lozada, Jr., a soldier from Brooklyn, was killed in Iraq along with two other soldiers yesterday. That brings the total number of American soldiers killed: 1558. How many Iraqis?
_A Bensonhurst boy was struck after car runs red light in Brooklyn on Tuesday. The 5-year-old-boy was taken to Lutheran Hospital in serious condition.
_A Brooklyn boy was raped by his pastor in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
_As reported on New York 1, a Brooklyn man was arrested for
harassing a family of dwarves. He painted a yellow line in front of
their house and wrote: "Follow the yellow brick road." He also taunted
them for three weeks. Before the incident began, the dwarf and the
Brooklyn man were friends.
_Princess and Cunard cruise lines have signed a deal to make Pier 12
in Red Hook their new home. The city is building a $30 million complex
at Piers 11 and 12 as an alternative to the New York Cruise Terminal on
the west side of Manhattan. The Queen Mary II will be one of the ships
to dock in Red Hook.
_The police are searching for a man who kidnapped a 15 year old girl
on her way to school in Crown Heights. He forced her into his SUV at
gunpoint and raped her last Tuesday morning.
_A shopping mall developer has been buying up properties in Coney
Island planning on building an indoor mall there. "Our dream is an
amusement, entertainment and adventure destination," says Joseph Sitt
of Thor Equities. Thorr refused to comment on what would happen to the
vintage amusment park rides and games. Residents of Coney Island are
worried about a mall on the boardwalk signaling the end of Coney Island
as we know it.
_The New York Times reported that the new Richard Meier apartment
building going up on Grand Army Plaza with views of Prospect Park would
be 30 stories not 15. The Times’ issued a correction about this
mistake. However, Dailyheights.com reported yesterday that the Times’
may have been right after all. The developers are apparently looking to
buy air rights from other buildings. Sucessfully buying air rights
would permit the developer to build up to 30 stories. According to the
Eastern Parkway Block Association, who have discussed the condo
development with Councilwoman Lettitia James, the building will be
glass, white and curved to fit the street shape. The Eastern Athletic
Health Club’s pool will lose some of its view. Meier building will
will 150 feet or slightly higher than Union Temple.
IT’S WEDNESDAY: PEN World Voices. The New York Festival of International Literature,
a confluence of 118 writers from more than 40 countries are coming
together this week: April 16 – April 24 for seven days of discussions,
tributes, reading and conversation "that will expand the literary
horizons of American audiences." For more information, visit
www.pen.org/festival.
Last night of Dine Out in Brooklyn. Go out and eat a three-course meal. It’ll cost you $19.99.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: Brooklyn Underground Film Festival features 100 films from 12 countries. A rare screening of "Indianna Jones: The
Adaptation" is on April 23rd. You’ve probably heard about the kids who
made the shot-for-shot copy of Raiders back in the ’80s. Well, this is
it. at 9:15 p.m. April 21-23. 227 Fourth Avenue at Union
Street. For info and schedule go to
Too Cool for Shul: Festival of Contemporary Jewish Music. Various artists at The BAMCafe. Weekends in April.
Mommy Matinees at the Brooklyn Heights Pavillion. Call for
info about the one Friday April 22nd. 718-596-5095. Kids run wild, moms
get to watch first-run movies. What about the Park Slope Pavillion?
_Poets Hettie Jones and Mark Doty read at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Grand Army Plaza. Thursday April 21, 7 p.m.
_Jean-Luc Godard : Before and After the New Wave begins at BamCinematek on Thursday April 21th with British Sounds, a 1969 film. 7:30 p.m.
<>
_"Tupperwear Orgy", a play in Williamsburg. Stay tuned for more info.
_UniverSoul Circus, the first circus to be owned and operated
by African-Americans, is in town. Saturday and Sundays through April
24th. Noon, 4:30, and
8 p.m. Near Wollman Rink in Prospect Park. Follow the smell of the
elephants from the Prospect Park.
_"Around the World in 80 Days" at Puppetworks. 378 6th Avenue.
Saturday and Sunday. 12:30 and 2:30. Reservations advised: 718-735-4300.
_Brooklyn Reading Works. Curated by Louise G. Crawford. APRIL 28 at 8 p.m. Pamela Katz reads: And Speaking of Love (Aufbau-Verlag) "a compelling and beautifully rendered novel about the astonishing life of Lotte Lenya," and poet Michelle Madigan Somerville reads from Wisegal
(Ten Pell Books) and newer work: "A multilingual hardrock
reverie…going upside your head to whisper whipsmart secrets about
cracked-out big-city survival.