As part of the Brooklyn Heights Association’s Celebrating a Century yearlong series of events, the BHA will be presenting a two hour workshop on Saturday, March 27^th at 2pm. Held at the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), this workshop will help you discover the intriguing history of your house using BHS’ images, records and documents.

Attendees will be introduced to the library collections as well as essential tools for house and building research, allowing them to piece together the architectural and social history of any Brooklyn home or block. At this event participants will be given time to use their new skills to begin research in BHS’ Othmer Library. Admission: $10

Brooklyn Historical Society: 128 Pierrepont Street

Space is limited, to confirm attendance please call 718-222-4111 x250 or email vservice@brooklynhistory.org.

Visit  www.thebha.org to learn about all of the events in the BHA’s Celebrating a Century series. For questions regarding the BHA and the Celebrating a Century series please contact BHA at 718.858.9193 or info@thebha.org.  Follow them on Twitter:www.twitter.com/BKLYNHeights.  Fan us on facebook: www.facebook.com/BrooklynHeightsAssociation.

PS 107 and PS 39 are presenting a special evening of stories for families, featuring storyteller Bill Harley, winner of two Grammy Awards,the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, the Storytelling World Award and others.

Bill’s stories and songs are funny and insightful and, best of all, appeal equally to children and adults.

Thursday, March 25, 2010
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
John Jay High School 237 7th Avenue

Tickets are $10 per person or $30 per family (up to six people)
Tickets can be bought at www.ps107.org or at the door.
Questions? Email stuart.miller6@verizon.net

All ticket and bake sale proceeds benefit the PS 107 PTA and PS 39 PTA. Here is a link to a Youtube clip of Bill Harley.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RoundRiverProduction#p/u/5/yB0Wm7CsDv0

Neighborhood bloggers are celebrating the decision by the EPA to put the Gowanus Canal on the Superfund list:

Found in Brooklyn

Pardon Me for Asking

The City Room has a photo feature called “The Gowanus, In All Its Gooey Glory”

I wrote this on March 5th, 2009:

I’ll never forget the day that a perfect stranger by the name of Bob Guskind emailed to say that he was starting a blog. He told me that he was a seasoned journalist and a reader of OTBKB—and that he planned to focus on real estate and development issues in Brooklyn.

He was calling his blog, Gowanus Lounge, named after a shuttered bar on Union Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

I met Bob a few weeks later at the First Annual Brooklyn Blogfest at the Old Stone House. That was June of 2006 and I was very impressed with him. Serious, funny, he had a hearty laugh and a radio announcer’s voice. He told me that he’d worked at the National Journal in Washington for years. It was obvious that he was really excited about this blogging thing.

Clearly, he was smitten by the promise of the Blogosphere because it offered him the chance to pursue a lifelong dream: to be the publisher, editor, and star reporter of his very own Internet newspaper.

In the months that followed I was amazed at the scope of Bob’s reporting. At the time he had a day job at community newspaper in New Jersey and a freelance job with Curbed, a real estate blog in Manhattan. But somehow he managed to put out numerous blog posts every day. How, I wondered, did he have the time for all the top-notch reporting he was doing in and around Brooklyn?

And, boy, did he get around: Gowanus, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Coney Island. Bob was an old style newspaper reporter. He walked the walk, made the phone calls, drove his car from one end of the borough to the other doing the real face-to-face reporting that few bloggers are willing or able to do.

Later he worked full-time for Curbed.com and he still managed to create a wonderfully dynamic blog that had its own distinct editorial voice and hard-hitting reporting.

I especially enjoyed Bob’s frequent Street Couch series, photographs taken by Bob of derelict couches that were abandoned on the streets of Brooklyn. Those posts exhibited a whimsical and creative side of Bob that I found compelling.

Last summer we were both interviewed on Brian Lehrer’s television show. It was a nice experience and Bob and I spoke afterward about the myriad ways that blogging had changed our lives. That’s when he told me that Gowanus Lounge was the best thing he’d ever done professionally because it was a dream come true to invent his own “newspaper.”

Many of us knew that Bob worked too hard. That, like many journalists, he had “workaholic” tendencies. He worked until he dropped. He would often regale me with tales of work days that began well before dawn and took him till the wee hours of the morning. It seemed that long hours were the rule not the exception for Bob, who obviously loved what he was doing.

Continue reading Robert Guskind, You Had Brooklyn’s Back and for That We Thank You →

The post below was sent to the Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development (CG CORD) from Phil DePaolo, a Carroll Gardens resident and community activist in Williamsburg. CG CORD writes: “He reminds us that we lost a dear friend and incredibly passionate Brooklyn community activist, Bob Guskind, author of the Gowanus Lounge Blog and writer for Curbed, among other things.  There is not a day that goes by that we at CORD do not think of Bob…We often say that we have no idea where CORD would be today had it not been for the compassionate, listening ear and and superior journalism instantly provided for us by Bob Guskind.  Rest in Peace our friend.  We miss you each and every day! ”

Today is one year since the passing of Bob Guskind. I miss him so much and I wonder what Bob would be saying about all the developments since his passing. I know he would be thrilled and very proud of the residents of Gowanus who won a Superfund designation yesterday over the objections of the Mayor. This was very important to Bob. I know he would also be very happy that the Newtown Creek has also received Superfund designation.

Bob would not be happy about what has happened at Coney Island or Atlantic Yards.  The loss of historic structures, the loss of amusement space and the overwhelming density and limited scope of the Coney plan were issues we often spoke about.

The recent ruling by Judge Gerges regarding Atlantic Yards would have angered Bob. He was a strong supporter of protecting residents from Eminent Domain abuse. He also saw through the fake “Affordable Housing” and the impact of the proposed density on the existing community.

He would be all over the new Domino proposal in Williamsburg. Bob was a strong advocate for the preservation and protection of the Domino site. The proposed density and lack of true affordability would have him up in arms!

Bob would be proud of some of our bloggers who have done a great service to our communities discussing important issues that for the most part are ignored by mainstream media. But he hated hack bloggers who simply cut and paste information or were just lazy. I remember one of Bob’s first post explaining why he started Gowanus Lounge. “Up front: While I am a realist about what cities need in order to survive and thrive, I am not a fan of what is happening in our communities, and particularly of the looming Manhattanization of Brooklyn and of the ongoing Theme Parkization of Manhattan. The blog side of Gowanus Lounge will be joined, some months down the road, by a literary magazine intended to feature the work, especially, of Brooklyn-based writers, and stories that feature a strong sense of place. I don’t take myself as seriously as all this might make it sound”

I can’t believe it has been a year since Bob passed away. But going forward I have wonderful memories of a great friend. I hope you can take a second to remember him. You can still see his writing and thoughts at

www.bobguskind.com and http://gowanuslounge.blogspot.com/

I just got this tip about census jobs from an OTBKB reader.

I don’t know if this would be of interest to you and your readers, but I am currently working for the 2010 Census. The region that includes DUMBO to Clinton Hill & Prospect Heights, Red Hook to Sunset Park (and everything in between) is currently facing a shortage of applicants for Enumerating jobs.

We are so short on applicants that everyone in our database will be offered a job within the next 6 weeks, and due to refusals and not being able to reach some people we probably won’t be able to fill all of the jobs that we have.

This is a great opportunity for people in this area to make some quick cash. The greatest number of jobs that will be available pay $18.75 an hour, but there will be positions available that pay from $14.50/hr. to $20.25/hr. and offer flexible part-time and full-time schedules including evening and weekend hours. The job also includes a paid training period.

All people have to do is call 718-360-5150 to schedule to take the test. Or, show up at the Big Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza between 1:30 and 1:45 this Sunday, with two forms of ID (Photo – Passport, License, State ID plus a Social Security Card, or Birth Certificate.) It’s that simple. Due to the shortage, just about any passing score will net a job.

I have been working with the 2010 Census off and on since the address canvassing operation last spring, and it’s an interesting job. I highly recommend it, especially for people that are interested in Brooklyn and people.

Pardon me for Asking has a round-up of responses from local politicans in response to Tuesday’s announcement that the EPA has added the Gowanu Canal to the Superfund. Here’s what Brad Lander had to say. Go to PMFA to hear from other loca pols.

“I am very enthusiastic to hear about Superfund designation of the Gowanus Canal, which was announced today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Previous EPA studies have confirmed that the Canal is highly toxic and requires comprehensive cleanup. I am convinced that Superfund designation is the best approach for getting it done – to bring the substantial resources necessary, provide for optimal coordination between all interested parties, and best insure that the community is well-informed and involved. Over time, I believe that Superfund designation will turn the Gowanus Canal area from a toxic remnant of mistreatment of the environment into a sustainable community resource for decades to come.

“Starting today, I am eager to begin working with the full range of stakeholders toward a comprehensive cleanup of the Canal and the surrounding area. For supporters and opponents of Superfund designation, it is now time to come together and work collaboratively toward our shared goals of a comprehensive cleanup and a revitalized community.

“Citizen involvement in this project will be critical for years to come. The EPA has done a great job with community outreach, information, and involvement thus far, and I am optimistic they will continue to do so. Toward this end, I also want to express my strong support for the prompt creation of a Community Advisory Group (CAG) for this site, to facilitate broader community involvement. I hope that the CAG will not only look at the dredging of the Canal (the focus on the Superfund project), but bring people and public agencies together to better address sewage overflow into the Canal, brownfields around the Canal, bulkheads, and other related issues.

With Superfund designation in place, it is time for everyone to come together, roll up our sleeves and get to work!”

I just heard from Craig Hammerman of Community Board 6. So I guess it’s decided.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it has officially placed the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY on its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites…

Full copy of the EPA Press Release is available by clicking here, or as a download the following link:
http://www.brooklyncb6.org/neighborhoods/?a=detail&content_id=58

Everyone’s talking about yesterday’s decision by a State Supreme Court judge approving Ratner’s use of eminent domain and giving him the go-ahead for land grab.

It’s the legal go-ahead he’s been waiting for as the Judge rejected a challenge by local homeowners to the state’s use of eminent domain.

This is not good news for all those who oppose the building of the Atlantic Yards Project. Here’s a news round-up of coverage of this decision.

Atlantic Yards Report

No Land Grab

New York Times

Brooklyn Paper

Brit in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Eagle

Develop Don’t Destroy

Former transit brass critiques cuts: Sheepshead Bites

If a tree grows in a path do we walk around it?: Gerritsen Beach

Photos of Bed-Stuy: NY Shitty

Three buildings on Sackett Street evacuated: Pardon me for Asking

Tracing federal dollars: Bushwick BK

Creative women’s networking salon on March 5:  Ditmas Park Blog

Climate Awareness Day in Park Slope: Brooklyn Green Team

Fort Greene Shopping: The New Yorker

Pondering Love Lane: Brooklyn Heights Blog