“Madame de Rênal was faithful to her promise. She did not try in any way to shorten her life, but three days after Julien, she died while hugging her children.”
From The Red and the Black by Stendhal
All posts by admin
Petition to Provide Better Alternatives for F/G Station Closures
As EVERYONE knows by now, north-bound F/G-train platforms at the 15th St. and Ft. Hamilton Parkway stations will be closed for the next 5 months (with south-bound closures to follow afterward).
No one denies that major track work on the F local tracks is necessary but F/G train users and losers believe that the MTA should provide service alternatives.
Many want the MTA to extend B68 bus (which runs along Prospect Park Southwest and Coney Island Avenue) past its usual terminus at Bartel Pritchard Square (at the 15th St/PPSW Station), to 9th St and 8th Ave, where riders could pick up the F train. Brad Lander has set up a petition and urges straphangers to demonstrate their support.
Already 1000 F/G subway riders have signed a petition for better transit alternatives.
If you are interested you can sign a petition to the MTA for better service alternatives.
Context at Beth Elohim: Rescheduled
Due to today’s (Wednesday, January 26th ) snowstorm, the Information Session for the Context program has been postponed to next Wednesday, February 2nd. The location and time are the same: Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215, at 7:15 p.m. We hope to see you there to learn about this wonderful community-wide educational opportunity. RSVPs are strongly encouraged: April Mellas: (718) 768-3814 or april.mellas@gmail.com
This free event will provide an introduction to a two-year Jewish studies program that is being co-sponsored by four Brooklyn synagogues, including Congregation Beth Elohim, East Midwood Jewish Center, Kane Street Synagogue, and Park Slope Jewish Center, as they partner to offer Context in Brooklyn.
The information session will consist of a mini-class with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser, who is the first semester instructor of the Context Program. Click on read more learn more about this interesting program.
New in February at the Bklyn Museum: Adult Programs on Thursday Nights
Now check this out: something new and exciting at the Brooklyn Museum in February: adult programs and conversations every Thursday at 7PM free with museum admission.
As a component of this series, the Museum is partnering with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and PBS’s award-winning independent film showcase POV. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe will present poetry and performance every third Thursday of the month and POV will present Brooklyn-related films every fourth Thursday.
Click on read more for all the essential details:
Continue reading New in February at the Bklyn Museum: Adult Programs on Thursday Nights
March 4: Benefit for ISSUE Project Room at 110 Livingston Street
The morning after ISSUE Project Room board member Steve Buscemi won the Golden Globe Award for his role as Nucky on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, I spoke with Ed Patuto, the new Executive Director of the acclaimed art and performance space currently located in Park Slope.
“We have a great board which now includes a Golden Globe winner,” Patuto told me.
It was certainly a thrill to watch Buscemi receive the Golden Globe, but it was also a thrill to talk to Patuto, who has relocated to Brooklyn after 25 years in San Francisco to run ISSUE, which lost its founding director, Suzanne Fiol, to cancer in 2009.
Indeed, Fiol left big shoes (or rather gorgeous knee-high boots) for Patuto to fill. Issue Project Room was a labor of passion for Fiol, who was a noted photographer as well as a director at numerous art galleries. In 2003 she opened ISSUE in an East Village storefront.
But that was just the first stop in ISSUE’s early nomadic journey. In 2007 Fiol moved ISSUE to a picturesque silo along the banks of the Gowanus Canal. Later she moved it to its current home in the Old American Can Factory on Third Street and Third Avenue in Park Slope.
Continue reading March 4: Benefit for ISSUE Project Room at 110 Livingston Street
Attempted Bank Robbery at Fifth Avenue Chase
There was an attempted bank robbery at the Chase bank on Fifth Avenue and 14th Street. For more details, read all about it on Park Slope Patch with reporting by Kristen V. Brown.
OTBKB Music: Freebies from Melody Kills
Brooklyn’s Leslie Mendelson‘s new project is called Melody Kills. Leslie’s finished with the new record and is offering some tracks from that album to you absolutely free. Nowhere Slow is the track I want to focus on. It’s a totally infectious hook-filled piece of adult pop perfection. For a link to get your own free and legal copy, click here. Leslie is also playing a solo set at The Rockwood Music Hall this Saturday.
Mondays: Open Mic at the Brooklyn Lyceum
Each week the Brooklyn Lyceum hosts an open mic. Currently hosted by Elizabeth Rex, the Lyceum Open Mic is a forum for budding singer-songwriters, performers, spoken word enthusiasts and, on occasion, comediens.
An added bonus is that the Lyceum has begun a curatorial process where we will look to the Open Mic in search of openers for some larger music events planned for the fall.
Mondays from 7-8PM
Signups @ 6:30PM.
Bklyn Bloggage: food & drink
Superbowl special: turkey chili: A Kitchen in Brooklyn
Hot cross buns…in January?: A Cakes Bakes in Brooklyn
Simple winter breakfast pleasures: 2 Cooks in the Kitchen
Mable’s Smokehouse & Banquet Hall: NY Times
Upcoming restaurant events: All About Fifth
Current Weather in Park Slope: Snow
Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their local weather tower.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Last Line: shelley
“He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.”
From Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Yay and Nay on the DOT Bike Lane Report
So the Department of Transportation says that the bike lane is a good thing—and they’ve got the stats to prove it while opponents of the bike lane accuse the DOT of trumping up the stats.
This is getting fun—or nasty—depending on your point of view.
Last Thursday, the New York City Department of Transportation yesterday released an updated study on the effects of the redesign of Prospect Park West. They found that crashes were down by more than 15% on Prospect Park West, while crashes with injuries were down more than 62%, and total injuries declined by more than 20%.
Even better: there were zero reported pedestrian injuries during the six months following the redesign, and no reported injuries from pedestrian-bicycle crashes. According to Eric McClure: “While the absolute numbers were relatively small, the trend is unmistakable – slowing cars down has reduced the incidence of crashes, and made the street safer.”
The DOT also has several enhancements in store: replacing the textured, at-grade pedestrian-refuge areas with raised, planted islands; installing low-profile “rumble strips” to alert cyclists when they’re nearing intersections; relocating signals for better visibility; and narrowing the buffer zone, with a corresponding widening of the vehicle travel lanes, at the north end of Prospect Park West, to facilitate the roadway transition from Grand Army Plaza. It’s clear that they’ve listened to community input, and acted accordingly.
According to the report, there was also a huge drop in speeding, and a big increase in cycling and to many this report supports the claim that the Prospect Park West project is a win win.
Not so fast…
Then there are the nay sayers. Borough President Marty Markowitz, who is one of its biggest opponents, questions the DOT stats saying that there must be an independent assessment of these changes because the DOT is too invested in the bike lane.
He told Park Slope Patch: “The DOT has to justify the Prospect Park West bike lane, so I question the validity of any data coming from the very agency that installed the lane.”
Markowitz believes that the bike lane disfigures majestic Prospect Park West and is problematic for drivers on PPW.
After-School Art Classes Taught by Local Artists
Art in the House: A ten-week winter session of this after school course taught by my friend Debby Albenda starts January 31 so you better sign up NOW. Set in the light filled upstairs room at the Old Stone House, students have lots of FUN creating HISTORY inspired art projects, learning art technique and working in mediums like painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, comics and more. The program includes pick-up at PS 321 and The Children’s School. For more info contact artinthehouse(at)gmail(dot)com or call The Old Stone House: 718-768-3195.
Art in the House meets Mondays 3:30 -5:30 for 2nd through 4th graders and Tuesdays 3:30 – 5:30 for 3rd through 5th graders.
Art Classes with Bernette Rudolph: A talented Park Slope artist, Rudolph has been an art teacher and art therapist for over forty years. She offers wonderful small art classes for children ages five and up. Classes follow the school calendar and there are only five children to each class. Basic mediums and skills are explored through varied art materials.
The class meets on Tuesdays 3:30 to 4:30. Class fee is $25 per class, which must be paid one month in advance. There is a $35 material fee paid once for the term paid the first month.
Your child is invited to a trial class for $25. If the child joins the class the fee will be added on to your first month. Classes meet in the Art Studio/Gallery of Bernette Rudolph in central Park Slope (very convenient).
For information and to sign up email: Bernette(at)earthlink(dot)net
I Met Jack LaLanne by Paul LaRosa
Park Slope’s Paul LaRosa writes on his blog, Here is New York, about meeting Jack LaLanne. That’s Paul on the right with Jack. He calls it one of the thrills of his life and on his blog he shares his recollections of his day with the exercise pioneer who died at the age of 96 on Sunday.
I met Jack Lalanne when he was much younger — 82!
It was one of the thrills of my life to produce a television segment about him back in the ’90s. Along with then-correspondent Bill Lagattuta and a camera crew, I headed out to Lalanne’s home in Morro Bay, California, to watch his two-hour morning workout.
Lalanne began by jumping in his pool and swimming and doing special exercises. It was 5:30 a.m. and even in California, it was cold. While the cameraman videotaped Jack swimming his octogenarian head off, Lagattuta and I watched in amazement.
“This is one of the best things about this job,” Lags said. “I grew up watching this guy on TV.”
I agreed. It’s not so often in life you can visit a legend in his home. After the swimming, Jack hit the gym. It was his own gym of course and it was fully outfitted and as big as any sports club.
Brooklyn Free School Presents: Little Shop of Horrors
I’m always interested in what goes on at the Brooklyn Free School, which started in Park Slope and now resides in a brownstone in Clinton Hill.
The school, founded by educator Alan Berger, started in early fall of 2003 with a mission: offer a real educational alternative to traditional public and private schools in New York City.
What’s neat about the school is the way in which it incorporates freedom and democracy into the learning process. It truly is a free school without homework and traditional classes, though lots of learning goes on there. They encourage students to “develop naturally as human beings in a non-coercive educational environment where they are empowered to make decisions affecting their everyday lives and that of their community.”
Whoa. It’s an ambitious and adventurous idea for a school.
Every year they put on a show and this year it’s Little Shop of Horrors, which will staged at the Greene Hill School, 39 Adelphi Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Wednesday, February 2 at 1:30 pm, Monday, February 7 and Tuesday, February 8 at 7 pm. Admission is by suggested donation: $20 for adults; $5 for young people.
Directed and adapted by Corinne Goodman, the show features a diverse cast of 23 students, ages 5-19 with choreography by Amy Kurzweil, piano accompaniment and arrangement by Aya Kato.
Greene Hill School is an independent elementary and middle school that serves the need of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and surrounding Brooklyn communities for affordable and progressive education.
Catina’s Haircut from Park Slope’s Paola Corso
Park Slope author, Paola Corso, has a new book out, Catina’s Haircut (published by the University of Wisconsin Press), her first novel and it’s already gathering acclaim for its portrayal of the Italian American immigrant experience, its keen insight and haunting beauty.
The book, which Corso calls a novel in four stories, spans four generations of a peasant famiy in the poverty of post-Unification southern Italy and in an immigrant neighborhood in Pittsburgh.
The women in Corso’s book dare to cross boundaries by discovering magical leaps inherent in the landscape, in themselves, and in the stories they tell and retell of family tragedy at a time of political unrest.
Paola Corso grew up in the Pittsburgh area. She is a Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award winner, a John Gardner Fiction Book Award finalist, and author of a book of poems, Death by Renaissance, and a collection of stories, Giovanna’s 86 Circles. She lives in Park Slope Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.
Bklyn Bloggage: neighborhoods
Leaking sewage pipe spurs Army Corps repairs: Sheepshead Bites
Not quite a reporter but raking muck and reaping wrath: Gerritsen Beach
Something neat: Past Objects: NY Shitty
Sounding off on Walmart: Bushwick BK
Suspect in Bishop Loughlin shooting arrested: The Local
Silicon Beach: Dumbo NY
Support a local student: Bed-Stuy Blog
Is 333 Carroll Street’s monstrous addition coming down: Pardon Me for Asking
Area Kids moving into Super Saver place on 7th Avenue: Here’s Park Slope
Millenium Part Deux: I’m not a racist, I love Obama: Effed in Park Slope
Wed: Judaism in Context at Congregation Beth Elohim
Context, an adult education project of the Jewish Theoglogical Seminar, is holding an information session this Wednesday, January 26 at 7:15 PM at Congregation Beth Elohim.
This free event will provide an introduction to a two-year Jewish studies program that is being co-sponsored by four Brooklyn synagogues, including Congregation Beth Elohim, East Midwood Jewish Center, Kane Street Synagogue, and Park Slope Jewish Center, as they partner to offer Context in Brooklyn.
The information session on Wednesday will consist of a mini-class with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser, who is the first semester instructor of the Context Program.
Context is designed as an intellectual journey—a four-semester program conducted over two years—guided by leading Judaic Studies scholar-teachers from various academic institutions. The curriculum explores the span of Jewish civilization and focuses on two major themes: Jewish Text and Interpretation and Jewish Cultures and Communities.
The program offers adult students “a context within which to understand the Jewish past, refine their personal approach to the challenges of contemporary Jewish life, and develop their unique and informed outlook toward the Jewish future.”
They are asking people to RSVP (though they won’t turn anyone away!). RSVP to April Mellas, (718) 768-3814, april.mellas(at)gmail(dot)com
Annual Report From Brad Lander
City Council Member Brad Lander has just released his annual report to the community. The report is broken down by issue, and by the various neighborhoods in the district and you can read it here. There is going to be a conversation about the report, some of the issues it raises, and where things are headed in 2011 on Thursday, January 27 at 6:30 PM. The public is invited to participate via community conference call. You can RSVP for that here. In the introduction he writes:
As a deep believer in democratic accountability, I believe it is essential toreport back to the community.One year into my tenure in the City Council,I’m pleased to share this first annual report onsome of what we accomplished in 2010, what we learned, and what we’re hoping to do inthe year to come.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Last Line: rushdie
“Yes, they will trample me underfoot, the numbers marching one, two, three, four hundred million five hundred, six, reducing me to specks of voiceless dust, just as, in all good time, they will trample my son who is not my son, and his son who will not be his, and his who will not be his, until the thousand and first generation, until a thousand and one midnights have bestowed their terrible gifts and a thousand and one children have died, because it is the privilege and the curse of midnight’s children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace.”
From Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
OTBKB Music: Martha Wainwright Live; Harper Blynn and The Jayhawks on Video
If it’s a Monday in January, it must be Martha Wainwright at The Rockwood Music Hall. If you were at The Rockwood during Martha’s last two shows, you know that Martha will play some new songs, some old songs, and perhaps a cover or two. Get all the details about tonight’s show here at Now I’ve Heard Everything.
If you’d rather stay home, here are two music videos for you. The first is from Harper Blynn,a four piece rock band with a pop sensibility and terrific harmonies. They play New York City a good deal and have a large following here. I used to see Pete Harper on 7th Avenue all the time (not lately though). The video of This Is It shows the one of the songs which I think shows off what this band can do; just click here to see it.
Next up are The Jayhawks, a band from Minneapolis formed in the mid-1980s. Members Gary Louris and Mark Olson formed the core of the band until Mark left the band in the mid-90s. The Jayhawks have reformed with their classic lineup and have a new record in the works. In this clip, from about six months ago, The Jayhawks cover Bad Time which appeared on their now classic album, Tomorrow the Green Grass, and originally was a Grand Funk Railroad song. Just click here to see this video at Now I’ve Heard Everything.
–Eliot Wagner
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
It’s really frigid out there. According to the Feldman Family’s weather tower, it’s, like, 10 degrees or something out there. And with the wind chill. I don’t even want to think about it.
Better to sing or watch Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone sing this song to images from Elf (sorry). Here are the lyrics by Frank Loesser.
I really can’t stay – Baby it’s cold outside
I’ve got to go away – Baby it’s cold outside
This evening has been – Been hoping that you’d drop in
So very nice – I’ll hold your hands, they’re just like ice
My mother will start to worry – Beautiful, what’s your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor – Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I’d better scurry – Beautiful, please don’t hurry
Well maybe just a half a drink more – Put some music on while I pour
The neighbors might think – Baby, it’s bad out there
Say, what’s in this drink – No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how – Your eyes are like starlight
To break the spell – I’ll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir – Mind if I move closer
At least I’m gonna say that I tried – What’s the sense in hurting my pride?
I really can’t stay – Baby don’t hold out
Ahh, but it’s cold outside
C’mon baby
I simply must go – Baby, it’s cold outside
The answer is no – Ooh darling, it’s cold outside
This welcome has been – I’m lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm – Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious – Man, your lips look delicious
My brother will be there at the door – Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt’s mind is vicious – Gosh your lips are delicious
Well maybe just a half a drink more – Never such a blizzard before
I’ve got to go home – Oh, baby, you’ll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat – It’s up to your knees out there
You’ve really been grand – I thrill when you touch my hand
But don’t you see – How can you do this thing to me?
There’s bound to be talk tomorrow – Think of my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied – If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can’t stay – Get over that hold out
Ahh, but it’s cold outside
Health Tips: IntenSati and Weight Watchers
Since December I’ve been taking IntenSati at at Ellie Herman’s 4th Street Annex (Wednesdays at 7:15, Friday at 6:45AM and Saturday at 2:30PM).
I am now, officially, really hooked. Taught by Chantall Brachmann-Scott, it’s one hell of a workout and worth its weight in therapy. I mean, I walk out of there feeling like a million bucks. $20 bucks a class – no problem.
IntenSati is a fairly new exercise method that combines yoga, martial arts, aerobics and new-age affirmations. A high-energy cardio workout created by Patricia Moreno, author of “The intenSati Method, 7 Principles to Thinner Peace,” the technique is based on “mindfulness, positive psychology and the law of attraction.”
The vocal affirmations required of the participants, is, in my experience, what gives intenSati its added kick.
A year ago, Chantall Brachman-Scott, a popular local Pilates instructor at Ellie Herman, completed the intenSati leader training with its founder and decided to bring this body sculpting workout and method of creating awareness and intention to Park Slope.
The music, a key element of the experience, included vintage hits like Queen’s, “We are the Champions” and Olivia Newton John’s “Xanadu” with more contemporary sounds from the South African inflected soundtrack of “Invictus.”
“I like bringing awareness to my clients, students,” Brachmann-Scott told me. “Awareness of how wonderful our bodies are, how they function and that we can truly be in control of this body physically and mentally.”
Every month the routine changes. January’s was called Champion and it consisted of a kick-boxing inspired routine. We shout out phrases like: “Yes, this I must achieve. And I will not rest until I succeed” as we jump kick dance and sweat. Lots of sweat. February’s will be based on the serenity prayer ( I can’t wait).
About the affirmations, apparently that turns people off when they hear about it but it actually helps you remember the routines and helps with the breathing. So bite the bullet folks and come on down.
Weight Watchers: I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since just after Thanksgiving and going to meetings at the Montauk Club on Sundays at 9AM and 10:30AM.
So far I’m 5 pounds down. Yay me.
Melanie, the leader, is one of the most empathic, friendly, smart and FUNNY leaders I’ve ever had at Weight Watchers. She is seriously gifted at public speaking, teaching the program to newcomers, and keeping the crowd motivated to keep going. The day I restarted Weight Watchers was the day they switched to the new points plus system, which is a much improved approach to weight loss with a long list of healthy, fresh power foods that are encouraged over all. I have NEVER heard Melanie even mention the Weight Watchers frozen and packaged products (though they do sell some interesting WW snacks at the meetings).
Melanie lost something like 65 pounds on the program but it’s hard to imagine her with all that weight. But that’s the point. She continues on the program to maintain her weight loss and to inspire others.
And boy does she inspire me. Yay Melanie.
Melanie and Chantall: It’s a power punch.
New on Seventh: Bagel Market & Da Nonna Rosa
Bagel Market, on Seventh Avenue near Union Street in Park Slope, first. They really know what they’re doing over there and their instant popularity is a testament to that. The service is friendly and fast. The bagels are good—though not as good as La Bagel Delight IMHO. I’ve had the corned beef on rye, the egg whites and cheese on a roll, a biali with cream cheese and coffees and it’s all good.
I love to sit in there. I think it has a cozy atmosphere with its nice lighting and brick walls, and nice tables by the windows (windows on Seventh).
I find myself going in a lot and knowing that the service will be fast and the quality high. What more can you ask for?My only complaint: too many strollers and sometimes there’s nowhere to sit. A good problem to have—if you’re the owner.
Da Nonna Rosa on Seventh between Carroll and President: I went in on Saturday to order Baked Ziti for my daughter. We’ve tried that dish, her favorite dish, all over the neighborhood (La Villa, Pino’s, the pizza place across from Washington Park on 3rd Street) and it’s good at best, serviceable at worst. I mean it’s pasta, sauce and a ton of mozzarella cheese. Sometimes there’s a sprig of basil thrown in for good measure.
I thought the Baked Ziti at Da Nonna Rosa was delicious and very fresh tasting. The take-out service up front was extremely friendly and fast.
I checked out the back dining room. It’s got a really authentic, “we’ve been in the neighborhood forever” kind of look. Nothing fussy, not even that pretty. But it looks like a pleasant place to sit, especially in one of the booths. And I’m guessing the service is friendly. One of the waiters, an extremely nice, enthusiastic man, took me upstairs to see the bar/lounge and the party room.
I have to say: It’s such a great space up there and a PERFECT place for a party. My sister and I were going to do our birthday party there a few years ago when it was Elementi but had to cancel. One third of the floor is a very comfortable bar/lounge area, an excellent spot for drinks and appetizers before dinner, and the other two thirds is a party space that can fit 75-100 people at tables.
The upstairs bar/lounge is open to the public when there’s no party in there.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
The Last Line: price
“Morning, Milo said. Then they both looked up to the lifting sk. Lois followed their eyes and found they were right. It was morning (clear, cloudless, the oldest gift), would be morning oh six hours yet.”
From A Generous Man by Reynolds Price
OTBKB’s Weekend List: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Good Sunday afternoon to you. Today’s big news is Climate Awareness Day at Congregation Beth Elohim with keynote speakers and activities for kids is on Sunday.
About the subway: there is no Brooklyn bound service on the 2,3,4 trains at Grand Army Plaza. and no R service between 95th Street in Brooklyn and Whitehall Street. Riders on the 4th Avenue line are advised to use the N train instead. And to top things off, there will be no D service between Pacific Street and 34th Street.
Yeesh.
Also today: Django a Go Go at Barbes. Click on read more for all the essential details…
Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
