louise_crawford@yahoo.com
Everyone wants a list of the bloggers at Blogfest. I haven’t gotten around to that yet. Still recovering from a crazy week.
All I can say is this: If you were at Blogfest, please email me so that I have your email. There were many more people than those who signed the guest book with Listen Missy.
Dope on the Slope wants to set up a monthly “social” — so he needs emails for invites.
This too is from last year:
Walking out of Possibilities, that chotchka and card emporium on Seventh Avenue, I saw a father and son walking in.
"This is a woman’s store," the father said.
"It is?" the boy asked.
"Yes, my son. You see there are only women in here…"
The sexist implications aside. I knew
that the two of them were about to embark on an important mission:
buying a Mother’s Day gift.
Ah, the pressure. The agony. The thump thump thump heart beating anxiety to locate a perfect gift for mom.
As you can imagine, Mother’s Day is a big deal around here. On
Saturday, hordes of fathers with children will make the pilgrammage
to
the Clay Pot, which will be filled to the gills with clueless
men and kids struggling to find the perfect gift.
More than once, when shopping for a gift for my mother, I’ve been
tempted to steer a particularly clueless man toward what I knew would
be a more appropriate gift. But I resisted. It was not my place. If I
did, however, run into a friend’s husband, I might make a small
suggestion. But hey, it was all in the name of friendship and karma
(and she could thank me later for the Lisa Jenks necklace).
While there are now more good stores to choose from (Living on
Seventh, Loom, Bird, Nest) on Seventh Avenue. And too, too
many places to name on Fifth Avenue (Diane Kane, Matter, Flirt, Cog and
Wheel, Eidolan and on and on…), the Clay Pot is still, symbolically,
the destination of choice, the holy grail of Mother’s Day gifts.
For one thing, they have a comprehensive selection of the best in
contemporary jewelry design (at a variety of price points) and they
feature an eminently tasteful selection of the best in contemporary
home and gift items. As they say on their web site:
"The Clay Pot was established in 1969 as an urban ceramics
studio by Robert and Sally Silberberg. Thirty-five years ago Park Slope
was hardly the enclave for young professional families it is today, but
it was always a neighborhood, and The Clay Pot is essentially a
neighborhood store. Joined by their daughter Tara in 1990, the store
now reflects her passion for jewelry and has developed into a
nationally recognized source for America’s premier jewelry designers."
Plus, they make it so easy for men to find a gift that will make
their wives swoon. The window is chock full of great ideas, as is the
store itself. But more importantly, their long-time employees are the
best at giving advice on gifts at every price range and style. They ask
all the right questions (price, personal style of the recipient, likes
and dislikes) and take the time to work with you. From hand crafted,
simple and tasteful, high design or even something a little Blink,
there’s something for everyone’s taste.
That brown Clay Pot gift box with a black ribbon is the de-facto
Park Slope equivalent of the blue Tiffany box. To many a woman it means
that her husband has done his job, that he’s reached to the sky and
pulled down a star. Good work.
Some men even venture into the vaulted and expensive wedding ring
department. Oooooooh. Now that’s a guy who really knows how to buy a
gift.
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Luke is the name of one of the tenents who lost everything in the Pizza Plus fire. He sent me a note this morning. I found his My Space page and listened to his music and see that he has an album out called "After Dark."
Thank you Luke for getting in touch. Please send me your email. For now, if anyone wants to donate to the Help Luke Fund or knows of ways to help him out, email me: louise_crawford@yahoo.com. Here’s some info about Luke from his My Space page.
"I am 19 years old and moved to New York from the deep woods
& shallow waters of Brunswick, Maine in August, 2006, staying on
his brother’s couch deep inside the upper burroughs, before moving into
the darkness of the Charlie Pineapple Theater Company on North 8th, an
abandoned theater loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He’s since left for
higher ground and has been living in and around Brooklyn ever since."
Here is an excerpt from the email he sent me this morning.
"I am the writer/songwriter who lost all his stuff in the fire,
unfortunately it was not backed up, and I am homeless now.
It is a
shame because our landlord has refused to help out in any way, telling
me to "go to the Red Cross." I have gone back to the apartment a couple
times but don’t feel like going back anymore, (my room is literally a
bunch of rubble, I can see through the floor to Pizza Plus).It is a
shame that the Park Slope community doesn’t know who I am, as I feel
for Pizza Plus and they’re lapse in business that results, but as you
said, there was no renter’s insurance to our apartment, and where Pizza {lus can rebuild – I am left with everything destroyed and no clue what
to do. as far as I know, without the ability to hire a lawyer I am
simply left struggling to find places to stay.I do not want to go to
homeless shelters, because I hear they’re dangerous – for now I am
bouncing around, but I hope people take heed of renter’s insurance…"
This was written in 2005: My sister flies to Russia next Saturday to meet her daughter, Sonya. Svetlana was her given name and what they call her at the orphanage.
But Sonya Rose is the name my sister and her husband have chosen for
her.
Ducky is her nickname around our house. The Oh So Feisty One came up with
that. The only picture we have of Sonya is one taken when she was five
months old and she was swaddled within an inch of her life in a blue
receiving blanket with little ducks on it.
So Ducky it is. I wonder if it will stick?
Today we spent this day before Mother’s Day at Target getting the
remaining items on the list of things that adoptive parents must bring
to the orphanage. This includes new baby and toddler clothes for the
other children, art supplies, educational toys, and gifts for the
caregivers.
My sister picked out a cute outfit for Sonya, a host of drugstore
items, rice cereal, soy based formula and a baby book where she can
document everything about their life together. After much ado, I
selected two board books for her. "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Daddy
Kisses,"which begins "Daddy wolf gives his pup a kiss on the nose."
It was a surreal day. A sweet one, really. Pushing a big red
shopping cart around Target knowing that in just one week my sister
will be with her nine month old baby. What a long road it has been
through infertility, medical prodedures and the arduous process of
international adoption.
Unfortunately, next week is not the end of the road. They will have
to return to Russia in early July to pick up their Sonya and bring her
home. It’s all part of the adoption game. One can’t help but wish that
they could swoop her out of the orphanage next week and bring her home
to Brooklyn. But they can’t.
I can’t wait to give my sister her first Mother’s Day gift tomorrow.
Even if she has never met her daughter who is thousands of miles away,
she is already a mother full of love and attention for her little
girl.
Happy Mother’s Day, sis.
Note: Ducky lights up the world with her smile. She will be three in August. My sister is now a seasoned mom with her red-headed wonder.
HERE’S WHAT WE DID ON MOTHER’S DAY 2005. Diaper Diva was Mamainwaiting then. My, how things have changed.
What did the women of Park Slope do on Mother’s Day 2005?
I caught my downstairs’ neighbor hiding out on a bench outside the
Mojo reading "New York Magazine," while her husband prepared a Mother’s
Day feast. She looked blissed out and serene. "I’m afraid to go
home," she said. "Afraid there will be something I’ll have to do."
A mother I know dug joyfully into the dirt of her Third Street stoop
garden planting geraniums and flats of other annuals. There was dirt
beneath her fingernails and a look of utter contentment on her face.
Wherever
I went, women wished one another, "Happy Mother’s Day," looking pleased
that some attempt was being made to indulge them, to give them a break
from the usual routine.
We had a late mother’s day brunch at
the Stone Park Cafe, where more than one table had a young baby
strapped onto a dad while a mom ate her brunch undisturbed — happy to
be allowed to finish her food without stopping to appease baby.
There were many multi-generational parties: toddlers, mothers,
grandmothers, even great grandmothers smushed together at tables in
that crowded restaurant that recently earned two stars from the New
York Times.
The staff looked exhausted, eager for the day, considered by many to
be one of the busiest restaurant days of the year, to be done. The
restaurant was chaotic with loud rock ‘n roll blaring: the music an
obvious ploy to get people to eat quickly and leave.
At our table, a fast fight broke out between my mother and sister:
something silly, no doubt. Probably a perceived slight. It threatened
to escalate like wild fire but something intervened: god, the universe,
common sense. Maybe it was just the drink order. Civility was restored
before everyone was even aware of what had gone on.
Mamainwaiting appreciated my gift of a newly revised version of Dr.
Spock’s famous, "Baby and Child Care:" a little light reading before
her trip next week to Russia, when she and her husband will meet their
nine month old baby girl for the first time.
When Teen Spirit saw the book he thought it might have something to do with Spock from Star Trek.
Bro-in-Law made a toast to all the mothers at the table,
including Mamainwaiting, "The mother to-be." To which my mother added:
"Mamainwaiting, as the blog says!"
Here, here.
Late in the day, Mamainwaiting and I drank Chardonnay in her living room
and looked through a box of her photographs. There were pictures of my
son, now a big teenager, as a newborn, a toddler, at his sixth birthday (a
Beatles party), and my daughter, now eight, as a newborn, at her first
birthday, naked on a Cape Cod beach, and on and on…
"It all goes by so fast," I said sounding like every other mother in
the world. "Enjoy it while it lasts," again stating the obvious cliche.
But in that moment, clutching a handfull of fantastic memories, it felt
unbearably true.
These kind words from my friend, Mary Warren (aka Mrs. Cleavage). I published it last year but heck I can use it again.
Mothers… this love is for you who should be celebrated every day.
I want to wish you all a warm and wonderful Mother’s Day. I don’t
know of any group of women who deserves to pat themselves on the back
more than you do, ladies. Every single day you are in the trenches,
doing for your kids what they can’t do for themselves, sacrificing so
that their needs are met, and, in general, kissing the boo-boos and
making them all better, and keeping the bogeyman at bay.This is not an easy task that we mothers must undertake. Oh, no.
The instruction manuals were conveniently tossed out when our adorable
packages arrived in the delivery room. What we got were crying, needy
and hungry babies who grew into sweet-faced tikes with potty mouths,
and tyrannical teenagers (some of us even have annoying adult children
who still won’t do what we tell them to). But they were our kids and
like Play-doh, we got to shape them into whatever we wanted. Of
course, that didn’t always take, but who’s stopped trying, right.And let’s face it, kids are selfish. It’s what they do. I know. I’m
a kid. My mother has had to put up with my nonsense for some time
now. I am sure she would be delighted if I’d grow up and quit causing
so much ruckus. Some day I plan to grant her that wish.The fact is my mother — just like you and just like me — wouldn’t
have it any other way. She loves me from the tip of my flawed head to
my toes. And I am the better person for it. I have learned so much
about goodness and truth from my mother; I only hope that i am
one-tenth of the mother to my son that she has been to me. If so, my
son will be one lucky kid.A mother has to wear so many hats and they all have to look good,
d*mnit. A mother is chief cook and bottle washer. She is a medic, a
banker and a handyman. A mother is a mechanic, an artist, a technician
and a teacher. She is a fixer-upper, a picker-upper and a
giddy-upper. What can’t a mother do?You, ladies, my friends, my sisters, my mothers, you are all that and a bag of chips. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I love you all. I’m proud to be one of your club. And I hereby
commend you for doing your duty, doing it well, and doing it with love
in your hearts and smiles on your faces. You’re the best.–Mary Warren
Sorry if people didn’t notice my posts about RSVPing for the Blogfest. A few days before the event, I got scared that too many people would show up and I just wanted to avert a crowd control disaster.
We tried to fit as many people in as the Fire Code would allow. The person at the door, who happens to be the esteemed director of the Old Stone House, had the tough job of turning people away.
No, this was not an exclusive club. Not by a long shot. It was just an attempt to not exceed our space limitations.
I couldn’t help but post a comment on Empire Zone, the New York Times blog. Hey, that’s what blogging is all about.
Fortunately I’ve got a pretty thick skin after more than 3 years of blogging (otbkb.com) and life as a weekly columnist in the Brooklyn Paper (brooklynpaper.com)
But hey, I agree with much that has been said. The Blogfest was south-Brooklyn-centric, there was too much development talk, we do need a larger venue, we do need to do wider outreach. Lack of diversity was addressed by me as was the hope that next year will include more and more people, more and more neighborhoods (including members of the journalism class I lectured to at Baruch College last week).
I may be a visionary to have invented this thing but I am only one person putting it together limited by my limitations.
I think I originally dreamed up the Blogfest in much the same spirit as my blog, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn: if I’m interested maybe others are too.
This blogging (and Blogfest) stuff is new territory for me and everyone else. Learning by doing, that’s my motto. Put it out there, and over time you can only hope to get it right.
Nice piece in the Empire Zone, the New York Times’ blog by Sewell Chan about the Brooklyn Blogfest He included a abbreviated list of the new bloggers who joined the shout out and included their URLs. I met Chan briefly last night. There was another New York Times’ reporter there who said he’s working on a piece about Brooklyn Blogging.
I didn’t catch it Thursday night or Friday morning. But here is the link for the WNBC local news story about the Blogfest. For those who weren’t there, you will get a sense of how crowded it was.
Here’s a link to the story: http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=103107 if the link doesn’t work just put that URL into your browser.
I heard this morning that there was a fire at Pizza Plus, a favorite south slope pizza restaurant. The fire, which is on Seventh Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets, destroyed the restaurant and all the apartments in the building.
The restaurant has insurance, the renters did not. Pizza Plus is concerned about paying their ten employees during the time it takes for them to rebuild.
The owner and her daughter are overwhelmed by the show of support and kindness. The reality of the fire hit the owner at 2 a.m. this morning. It’s a pretty awful ordeal, as Fonda at Zuzu’s Petals can attest. Her Seventh Avenue store, along with Olive Vine and a Korean market, was destroyed by fire three years ago. Within a year, they opened a new shop on Fifth Avenue, thanks to the emotional and monetary support of this community.
Standing outside of Pizza Plus with Roz and her daughter, the smell of fire was disgustingly real. I was with a woman, a member of the Park Slope Civic Council, who suggested that Roz call Fonda, owner of Zuzu’s Petals. “She more than anyone will know what to do.”
One of the tenants was a writer and he/she lost all their work (hopefully it’s backed up somewhere). That really resonated with me. If anyone has more details please let me know. Maybe there’s something we can do for them, too.
When I got home there was already an email in my inbox from Fonda. Turns out she broke her leg and is staying home for a few weeks.
Louise…i just got a call from my shop that someone from the civic already second hand news just called to say there was a fire last night on 7th avenue between 10th and 11th.
The woman who owns it, roz, is a fabulous community minded person, hard working merchant of the mom and pop variety, and I was asked to contact her and offer some comfort or advice. If there is something the community can do to reach out to her…please confirm this to be true, as I aid, I have this second hand, but that is also called word of mouth.
Fonda now knows that there was indeed a fire at Roz’s pizza shop. And she’s already been in touch with her according to Lorraine, the manager of Zuzu’s Petals.
If you’d like to make a contribution to the employees fund at Pizza Plus please let me know. Louise_crawford@yahoo.com
Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper.
For the first time in 10 years, Smartmom and the Oh So Feisty One are going their separate ways.
That’s
right, the umbilical cord has finally snapped and Smartmom and her
beautiful girl are spreading their wings and flying off to different
locations for two weeks in July.
Well, it’s not like they’ve never been apart.
OSFO
does go to school every day and Smartmom goes to her office. OSFO goes
on playdates, to day camp in the summer, to birthday parties. Likewise,
Smartmom has had dinners with friends and did spend a weekend at a
Goddess retreat in the Berkshires.
But this is different: OSFO is
going to a sleep-away camp in Vermont and while she’s away, Smartmom is
planning a solo trip of her own.
It’s a scary thought — it really
is — but it’s also an unbelievably exciting one. Smartmom hasn’t been
on her own in years and years. And she’s looking forward to it with a
thrill that verges on the orgasmic.
To be specific, Smartmom has
booked a room on a top-secret island off the East Coast, where she
plans to finish writing her book [Dumb Editor note: This is the first I
hear of a book? I’d better be in the acknowledgements!]. She’ll also
run, ride a bike and meditate. And then work on her book some more.
She
plans to spend so much time alone she’ll probably get completely bored
with herself. But, still, she wants to pursue her little writerly dream.
If
you’re wondering about Teen Spirit, don’t. He’ll be home with Hepcat,
but, Buddha knows, that kid barely needs his momma anymore. Besides, he
and Hepcat did just fine 13 years ago, when Smartmom went away on a
business trip. He was only 3 then. And Smartmom made it up to them by
bringing Teen Spirit a really cool pirate sword and hat (Hepcat got a
duty-free bottle of Scotch whisky).
No guilt-filled present will
be necessary this summer. Teen Spirit has so much stuff lined up he
probably won’t even notice that Smartmom is gone. Hepcat’s a big boy
who can make it after all — not that he likes it, of course. And he has
that typical male dysfunction whereby he forgets to eat, sleep, make
the bed or do anything but work. Smartmom knows the apartment will look
like a Greg’s Express jobsite when she comes back from her island
getaway. But she’s willing to take that risk because OSFO is going to
sleepaway camp.
Sleep-away camp? It seems incomprehensible: OSFO
rarely has sleepovers and she still likes to fall asleep in her
parent’s bed from time to time. She’s a homebody who loves the
apartment, the stoop, the sidewalk on Third Street with a passion.
Truth is, she can still change her mind.
She
certainly was dubious about camp at first. After Smartmom registered
her for the two-week session, OSFO told her, “I was praying that they
wouldn’t have room for me.”
But
they did. And for months after, she didn’t want to talk about camp. It
was becoming the giant chartreuse elephant with polka dots that no-one
wanted to mention.
The big C.
Then last Friday night, out
of the blue, OSFO asked Smartmom to read her the entire Parents’
Handbook from start to finish and when they were done, OSFO asked her
to read it again.
Maybe it was the description of the baby farm
animals they have at this camp. Little piggies, goats, calves, but
whatever, she been excited ever since.
So for the first time in
10 years, Smartmom and the Oh So Feisty One are going their separate
ways. They’ve ordered a hot pink duffel bag. Manhattan Granny is
starting to iron nametags into her clothes. They’re going to Eastern
Mountain Sports next week to buys a backpack and sleeping bag. Before
you know it, they’ll be putting OSFO on the bus.
Is this really
happening? Is it possible that OSFO is old enough to go to summer camp?
Will she like her bunkmates? How will she feel about the composting
outhouses and the lack of electricity? Isn’t she going to freeze at
night in those open-air cabins? How will she handle the silent Quaker
meetings every morning?
For that matter, will Smartmom enjoy so
many days alone on an island facing her keyboard, trying to write. What
if she gets writer’s block? What if there’s a big thunderstorm and
she’s scared? What if she gets lonely?
What if she gets homesick?
Smartmom
usually goes to bed with her little OSFO purring beside her and her big
Teen Spirit playing his guitar in the next room. Her Hepcat is almost
always at the computer desk in the living room. She watches one or two
episodes of “Scrubs” (love that nasty Dr. Cox), sets the alarm, and
drifts off to sleep.
Chances are everyone will do just fine. Even
if they do get homesick and sad, Smartmom and OSFO are both certain to
have an interesting time (like the old Chinese curse).
I just got this note from a Pizza Plus customer. Seems that she’s one of the few who saw the story of the Brooklyn Blogfest on WNBC. She also had this to say:
Saw you on NBC last night! We also read your piece on Pizza Plus just now. My kids and I are very fond of Pizza Plus and Roz’s kindness to us whenever we go in means a lot. Do you know how we can contact them or send a note of encouragement? The kids want to offer a (very) small contribution, but I’m not sure how far it will go toward the employee fund.
To those who want to help or get in touch, please email me: louise_crawford@yahoo.com
Found this on Park Slope Parents. And then another friend sent it to me:
Can’t believe I’m adding another comment to the Maggie
Moo’s thread
but I can’t help myself. My husband and I crack up over the
"punk
rockers" who hang out in front of Maggie Moos in the warm months.
We
like to imagine them talking to eachother on the phone "Dude,
we’re
meeting at the Moos at 9:00", really wanting to say "meet us
at
Pino’s" but knowing too well that the boys at Pinos would
tolerate
their presence for all of five minutes before rolling up their
sleeves
and politely (ahem) asking them to move along. So Maggie Moos it
is.
I guess with the real estate prices being what they are, I
shouldn’t
be surprised that an ice cream joint with a giant cow waving in
front
of it passing out coupons is about as edgy as it’s going to get
for
the tough crowd in this nabe.Joey Ramone would not be
impressed.
Overwhelming. A room packed full of people — bloggers, neighbors, friends, curious people, press.
It will take a few days to decompress from the event. To synthesize what happened there. So many people. So many ideas. Such passion. Such creativity. So many margaritas.
No Words_Daily Pix’s musical slide show was a great start to an evening of many words. The first scheduled reader, Rabbi Andy Bachman, was nowhere to be found (turned out that he had a rabbinic emergency) so Pastor Daniel Meeter of Old First Blog graciously sanctified the event with words of prayer in Dutch.
Writer and visionary Steven Berlin Johnson, author of "Everything Bad is Good for You" and "Ghost Wars." spoke about what inspired him to develop Outside.In, a way to access neighborhood blogs by zip code.
Lumi Michelle Rolley, whose blog No Land Grab is a portal to and a repository of vast amounts of information about the Atlantic Yards controversy spoke with passion, energy, and humor about traditional media’s neglect of Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn in general.
Robert Guskind of Gowanus Lounge spoke movingly of his 17-hour days spent trekking from the Gowanus to Williamsburg to Coney Island to report on and photograph the latest development news.
Brownstoner’s Jon Butler came as he is. No longer is he the incognito blogger with the Wall Street job. He spoke about quitting his day job and the ways in which his blog unexpectedly created a community of like-minded readers and tipsters, who he keeps up with daily.
Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report, was awarded a superhero cape for his heroic efforts to cover the Atlantic Yards comprehensively. He disputed Outside.In’s finding that Clinton Hill is the bloggiest neighborhood. With characteristic rigor, he analyzed the survey and found that it is actually Prospect Heights that deserves that title.
Finally, Eleanor Traubman of Creative Times told of her desire to report on the creative people in her midst who inspire her. She spoke of tracking down 100-year-old Eve Zeisel, the legendary ceramic designer, and meeting with her in her apartment. Creative Times, Eleanor said, is an attempt to inspire others to be creative and to think outside of the box.
The open mic was perhaps the evening’s best invention. More than a dozen new bloggers (blog names to come) got up and described their blogs for the crowd. A really fun ending to a great line up of interesting speakers.
In addition to the crowd of more than 140 people, the event was quite the media sensation. WNBC News was there. A story aired on the 11 pm news and will be on the morning news, as well. Gersh Kuntzman, editor of the Brooklyn Paper sat in the front row. The New York Times sent a reporter, who is doing a story about Brooklyn blogging. A reporter from the Daily News, who is starting a Daily News blog about Coney Island was also in attendance. A representative from the Washington Post was in town and made a point of being there.
Teen Spirit was at the Highline Arcade Fire concert at Radio City (organized by David Bowie for the High Line Festival). "The security people were assholes," Teen Spirit told OTBKB. "One guard elbowed the crowd of people that tried to get closer to the stage." Turns out Gowanus Lounge was at the show. Here’s an excerpt from his account. There’s much more over at GL.
What they could do, it turned out, was rush you, jump you, beat you and drag you from Radio City in a headlock.
We apologize upfront for not having photos or video. (The photo below
is of security staff several minutes after the fisticuffs. We know the
woman on the right was not involved. The woman barely visible in the
background is a supervisor who arrived on the scene. We don’t know the
role for certain of the gentleman on the left.) There were people who
shot video and photos of the altercation. Perhaps someone will YouTube
it. The action kicked off between Rows AA and GG in the aisle between the 300 and 400 section of the orchestra
when someone took Mr. Butler at his word and pushed past ushers. This
is not a wise thing to do at Radio City. At that point, about a
half-dozen employees descended on him, trying to stop him. They pushed
him into the seats and we saw at least one (and possibly more) of the
Radio City security employees punching the concert goer.
The concert goer may have struggled with them–either to get to the
stage or to escape the beating–but that’s beside the point.
I just got wind of the fact that Baby Bird (428 Seventh Ave between 14th and 15th Sts is closing). Time Out Kids sent me a link to their blog: Cry it Out. Doesn’t suprise me. It was a very expensive, very high-end children’s shop. I never thought they’d make it here. But the real reason is that they lost their lease:
“They were tripling my rent and I just couldn’t afford
it,” the owner told Time Out Kids. . “Plus, right now I only have half the commercial space
in the building, and the new owner wants the tenant to lease the whole
space.”
Youi will, however, be able to find the goods online. Shopbabybird.com
is coming soon. Needless to say, Baby Bird is having a huge sale.
Amy Sohn in this week’s New York Magazine. Don’t miss her (or the momtini’s) at the Edgy Mother’s Day Event with other edgy moms: Smartmom, Susan Gregory Thomas, Alison Lowenstein, Tom Rayfiel, Michele Somerville Madigan, Judy Lichtblau, Sophia Romero (After-Hours Mom) and Mary Warren (Mrs. Cleavage).
In the frenzy to land a preschool spot, some parents have found God. Area churches and synagogues that offer early-childhood programs are swelling with new families that have joined to help gain priority school admission for their kids. Brooklyn Heights’ Plymouth Church, for instance, has had “a surge of growth in young families,” reports the Reverend David Fisher. “We’re not sure if there is a direct relationship between the school and our congregation’s growth—though we strongly suspect there is.”
Not that it always works. When one Manhattan mother applied to a Jewish preschool, she was urged to join the affiliated synagogue. She paid the $1,500 fee and attended the odd service, but her kid was wait-listed anyway. “Then we applied again, and he still didn’t get in,” she complains. On the other hand, a Carroll Gardens mother who volunteered at a Brooklyn church event will be sending her daughter there in the fall. “Now I am going to be more involved in the church because it could help with a kindergarten recommendation.”
Some institutions are growing wise to self-interested joiners. “I laugh when people tell me, ‘I joined Temple Emanu-El in June and I’m applying to the preschool in September,’ says Amanda Uhry, owner of Manhattan Private School Advisors. “I say, ‘Do you think Emanu-El isn’t hip to what’s going on?’” Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Day School prefers two years of membership and participation to be eligible for an admissions advantage, while the East Side’s Christ Church United Methodist limits preschool priority to congregants who actively worship and give money. “The Day School office sends to the church office the list of people seeking admission, and we go over it to make sure that the criteria are being met,” says Christ Church’s the Reverend Javier Viera.
Other religious leaders, though, are happy to see new faces—no matter what the reason. Andy Bachman, rabbi of Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim, sees a membership bump in early November, when preschool applications are given out, and another in January, during tour season. That’s okay by him. “People approach affiliation from a variety of motivations,” he says. “The same people who say they joined just because of the preschool are the ones who can’t stop eating the chocolate-covered matzo at the children’s Seder.”
Kahlil Gibran International Academy, the city’s first Arabic language school, has found a temporary home in the building that houses Math and Science Exploratory School, one of hottest local middle schools, and the Brooklyn High School for the Arts.
The two schools will have to share common spaces like their cafeteria and may have to give up three classrooms.
Plans to put the Gibran Academy inside P.S. 282 in Park Slope were scrapped after parents said there would not be enough room.
Is there anyone out there who would be willing to record the Blogfest tonight? Please email me if you are willing: louise_crawford@yahoo.com
The Blogfest is tonight! Those who plan to attend please arrive promptly. Over 100 people have RSVPed. They will be given preference for entry if they show up. At 8:05, those who didn’t RSVP will be allowed in. Sorry to have to do it this way, but it’s a small space and we can’t allow in more than a certain number.
The program will begin at 8:20 or so. Here is the tentative program. There will be plenty of time to meet and greet your favorite Brooklyn Bloggers.
Welcome: Louise Crawford (OTBKB)
Rabbi Andy Bachman (Notes)
Outside.In
Lumi Michelle Rolley (No Land Grab)
Robert Guskind (Gowanus lounge)
Jonathan Butler (Brownstoner)
Norman Oder (Atlantic Yards Report)
Eleanor Traubman (Creative Times)
Open-mic shout-out for new blogs
After-party sponsored by Partida Tequila
Is there anyone out there who is a podcaster or a sound recordist who could record the blogfest? on Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Please let me know by commenting or sending an email to: louise_crawford@yahoo.com
Second Street Cafe spent much of Tuesday without a front wall — therby exposing the renovation going on within.
They must be spending a pretty penny on this gut reno. Off with the wall art, off with the front windows, off with the floors, the walls, the everything.
Looks like they’re completely rebuilding. Well, it’s been ten years. Time for a change.
OTBKB delivered a guest lecture at Baruch College about neighborhood blogging to two classes of undergraduate journalism majors.
She has this to report: the students were very interested and they asked good questions. Quite a few seemed to have personal blogs. Some even asked about advertising and building a readership. Many seemed to appreciate the interactive aspect of blogging and enjoy commenting on their classmate’s blog posts.
These classes, of mostly black and hispanic college students, have been developing a class blog. Students are required to post from their neighborhoods all over the city.
OTBKB’s prognosis: look out for a whole bunch of interesting neighborhood blogs from neighborhoods that are now underepresented by blogging. These bright and very engaged kids have great stories to tell and are learning how to tell them. It may be a while because these kids are busy with course work and college life. But in the future…
Professor Bridgett Davis, a Park Slope resident and PS 321 parent, was recently honored for "excellence in education" by the New York
Association of Black Journalists. She invited OTBKB to come to the college after overhearing her discuss blogging with Bklynmama at Sweet Melissa’s in Park Slope. Clearly, she is excited by the challenge of introducing blogging to her students.
Professor Davis and her colleagues are trying to instill journalistic principles of ethics and credibility into the blogging process. They understand that blogs and citizen blogging are the wave of the future. But they want to insure that it’s not at the expense of journalistic professionalism and craft.
I’m not sure if their class blog is open to the public. I will find out and let you know.
Neighborhood powerhouse Kim Maier may be one of the most important people in Park Slope. As director of The Old Stone House, she’s responsible for turning that small museum into a hotbed of cultural and educational events. Her Summer Arts Festival, about to begin its second season, brings movies, Shakespeare and blues to JJ Byrne Park.
Kim’s a mover and a shaker all right. An active PTA member at MS 51 and PS 321 (at one time) she knows everybody and is a great connector of people and ideas.
Know Kim. Know Park Slope.
Now Kim is teaming up with Mindy Goldstein, another neigborhood powerhouse, people connector and advocate for special needs children, to host a BBQ for city councilmember, Bill DiBlasio. There is no minimum contribution to attend, but attendees are asked to bring their check books and use them. They sent this email this morning…
Mindy Goldstein & Kim Maier invite you to join them at a Barbeque for Bill
Sunday, May 20, 2007
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.For more information and to RSVP by May 16 contact Kim at 718-788-1281 or email her at kmaier@sprynet.com
About Councilman Bill deBlasio:
Bill deBlasio was elected to the New York City Council in 2001, and overwhelmingly re-elected in 2003 and 2005. He has been a terrific supporter of education and parks, much to the benefit of our community. Please join us to help support Bill as he begins planning for 2009.
A friend emailed me about this:
HELP SAVE ENGINE 204(299 Degraw St.)
Without your help this historical building could be lost forever!
Join your neighbors and City Councilmember Bill de Blasio on the steps of City Hall to protest the sale of the former Engine Company. Ask the City Council to send the application back to the City Planning Commission and demand that it stay in city hands.
Date: May 15th, 2007
Time: 12:30PM
Location: Steps of City Hall (R to City Hall Stop)
Contact: Tom Gray 718-854-9791 or Tagray1@gmail.com