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Civics and Urban Life

Michele Somerville: Cathie Black’s Best Credential

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Poet and Park Slope resident Michele Madigan Somerville didn’t sign a petition to deny Cathy Black a waiver. She writes: “It may be that her lack of credentials is Cathie Black’s best credential for leading the DOE schools out if the darkness.” Somerville is the mother of three adolescent children, who have all attended NYC public schools. Two do so at present. She is a former educator with 14 years of classroom experience. She writes: ” I have no problem with the fact that the new chancellor of schools, Cathie Black, is not an educator.” Click on Read More to read an excerpt from her post featured on the Huffington Post yesterday.

Continue reading Michele Somerville: Cathie Black’s Best Credential →

Civics and Urban Life

Principal Responds to Millenium 2

Jill Bloomberg, principal of the Secondary School for Research (SSR) responds to news that Millenium 2 will be joining the other three schools at the John Jay High School Complex. She refers to news that the arrival of the new school will mean that scanning (i.e. metal detection) may be removed from that building.  Click on read more to read the text of Bloomberg’s article.

Continue reading Principal Responds to Millenium 2 →

arts and culture

OTBKB Music: Keren Ann and Dayna Kurtz at The Bell House Tonight

Tonight’s bill at The Bell House, with Keren Ann and Dayna Kurtz looks to be quite an interesting one.  First up will be Brooklyn’s Dayna Kurtz.  Tonight’s set will be made up of songs from a forthcoming album from Danya consisting of mid 20th century r&b, jazz and/or blues songs which have not been previously covered or covered only once.  Then, Keren Ann, who last toured in 2007, will be playing a set which will include some material from her album titled 101 which is completed and scheduled to be released in March.

Get all the details about this close to home show at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.

–Eliot Wagner

Civics and Urban Life

Reaction to Millenium 2 by Student at Secondary School for Research

In an article in her school newspaper, Cheidy Perez, who is currently a student at the Secondary School for Research (one of the schools in the John Jay High School building in Park Slope, Brooklyn ) reacts to news that Millenium 2 is going into the John Jay building in the Fall of 2011. Here is an excerpt from her remarkable article. You can read the rest at Spirit Gazette.

Our teachers heard about the 4th school not even six months ago, and you would think that making a new school takes time, and it does, but this seems like it’s been confirmed long before any information got out to our teachers, students, or parents. Rahsan Williams, an ELA teacher at the Secondary School for Research,was asked how she felt about the changes.. She stated that “the building is in such bad shape and is need of repairs. This should happen without a 4th school coming in.Students here deserve to have those improvements and it is a slap in the face to our current black and brown population if it takes a new school to get these improvements.”

There are many negatives to this so-called “proposal” but some positives. When M2 does arrive, the building will get the repairs it needs. However, the majority of the money will be given to M2 because they are a new school and need that money to start up. This also includes an extra $120,000. That extra money will be used for their purposes only. This also goes deeper than money. Think about the feed back that this school will be getting from this neighborhood. They are obviously going to prefer this “elite high school” (as said in the Daily News) than the schools that have been here for many years with a “checkered reputation”.

The reason that is given as to why our building is chosen to be put into this situation is because our building is currently “under-utilized.” Currently, we have 1477 students enrolled in all 3 schools. The Department of Education lists a target building capacity, or “Footprint,” of 2,104 students. Because we are 627 students short, the DOE decided to put a new school in John Jay Campus.  Even if by fall 2011 we get 627 students enrolled, M2 will still come in.

There might be a better reason or a more accurate reason as to why this is happening in the John Jay building, but it seems to be happening. It’s not the incoming students fault, so let’s not blame them. Let’s show them that we’re not as bad as they make us seem.

Instead of sugar coating it, lets call it what it is: An attack on under-privileged students. Let’s fight back, and prove the DOE wrong.

arts and culture

Dec 16: Food, Poetry & Prose at Feast at Brooklyn Reading Works

Are you hungry for some stir fried fiction, fresh baked poetry and deep dish prose? On Thursday, December 16 at 8PM come feast on a succulent bounty from writers who use food as metaphor, motif and mnemonics of meaning. Bring an appetite for good writing and real snacks by Chef Ame Gilbert, who will be preparing tasty treats for you to enjoy.

This event is a benefit for the food pantry at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope. You are invited to donate what you wish. Suggested donation is $5, which includes snacks by Ame Gilbert and wine. Feel free to give more for those in need.

The writers on the literary menu include: Greg Fuchs, Jim Behrle, Louise Crawford, Michele Madigan Somerville, Peter Catapano, Sophia Romero, Amy Gilbert and Jake Siegel.

The Old Stone House is located at Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope. For more information go to theoldstonehouse.org or brooklynreadingworks.com

Civics and Urban Life

Tonight: Snowflake Celebration on Seventh Avenue

Tonight and next Thursday, December 16, 2010: Snowflake Celebration: A “No Sales Tax Xmas” event. Shop on Seventh Avenue for two evenings of merriment, late night shopping & community spirit!

In addition to tax free shopping and discounts, stores will have free food, wine and special treats for shoppers who come in.

I know I’ll be out there. At the Community Bookstore, author Keith Greenberg will be reading from his book, The Day John Lennon Died.

So get on out there: buy some holiday gifts, enjoy discounts, special treats and wine AND support your neighborhood businesses.

arts and culture

OTBKB’s Weekend List: Thursday – Sunday

It’s Thursday night and the weekend is starting to heat up. Here’s a list of some fun stuff to do. Tonight you can catch author Keith Greenberg at the Community Bookstore reading from his book, The Day John Lennon Died. It’s also a night for late night shopping at the Snowflake Festival on 7th Avenue.  Click on read more to see the whole list with all the details you really need like time and links and more.

Continue reading OTBKB’s Weekend List: Thursday – Sunday →

Civics and Urban Life

Coming on Monday: 2010 Park Slope 100

You love it. You love to hate it. It’s the 2010 Park Slope 100: 100 stories, 100 ways of looking at the world, 100 inspiring people, places, animals and things. The list is in alphabetical order.

There’s still time to submit a nomination though the list is already too long. But if it’s a good one, someone or something can always be displaced.

Stay tuned…

Shop Local

Good Morning: Parking and Laundry

I’m getting off to a late start today because I had to move the car. And that, as always, took longer than expected. I also  dropped off the laundry at the drop-off place I now use on Fourth Avenue near DeGraw (across the street from Sheep Station). The prices there beat center Slope prices by a lot. And I really like the woman there. When I get the name of the place I’ll let you know. They charge 60 cents a pound, which is an excellent price for this sort of thing.

Civics and Urban Life

Emily Lloyd to Head Prospect Park & Alliance

Looks like Emily Lloyd will be taking over for Tupper Thomas, who is retiring from her job as Park Administrator and President of the Prospect Park Alliance.

Talk about big shoes to fill. Thomas is credited with transforming Prospect Park and creating a model for parks conservancies everywhere.

It was announced today by Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Prospect Park Alliance Board Chairman Albert H. Garner that Lloyd would begin the job in January 2011.

Lloyd, a longtime Brooklyn resident, has served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation, as well as an Executive Vice President at Columbia University and most recently Chief Operating Officer at Trinity Real Estate..

“I am honored, and enormously excited, to be joining the Parks Department and the Prospect Park Alliance as part of the team that cares for such an amazing public green space,” Lloyd said today.

“In my years in city government and the private sector, I have visited almost every nook and cranny of New York City.  Each time I visit Prospect Park I’m always delighted to see how much people love being out in the Park.  I look forward to working with the Department of Parks & Recreation, the Alliance board, staff, volunteers and the community to make sure Prospect Park has the resources it needs.”

Civics and Urban Life

Commemoration of 50th Anniversary of Airplane Crash at Green-Wood Cemetery

On December 16, 1960, 134 people tragically lost their lives when United Airlines flight 826 and TWA flight 266 collided over the skies of Staten Island.  The United aircraft crashed in Park Slope, at the intersection of Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue.

On December 16, 2010, Green-Wood Cemetery will honor these individuals who perished, both in the sky and on the ground in Park Slope, by unveiling a new eight-foot memorial on December 16, 2010, fifty years to the day of the tragic crash.  The granite monument will stand sentinel near the gravesite where the unidentified remains of victims have rested for half a century.

This special unveiling ceremony and memorial service is sponsored by  Green-wood Cemetery and are free to the public.  Please R.S.V.P. with Isabella Vlacci at 718-210-3024.

Civics and Urban Life

Last Chance To Send In Your Park Slope 100 Nominations

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In the next few days I will be publishing the 2010 Park Slope 100. Please send your nominations in as soon as possible. You can just send the name and a little bit about the person, place, animal,  thing, or event that you think belongs on the PS 100. Feel free to write the blurb. I LOVE when people do that.

In case you don’t know about the PS 100:

The Park Slope IS 100 people, places and things that make Park Slope Park Slope. 100 Stories, 100 ways of looking at the world. This is the fifth year of the Park Slope 100 so if you combine all the lists there will be 500 people on this ongoing list, which is, in a sense, a micro-history of Park Slope from 2006-2010.

arts and culture

OTBKB Music: Tom Waits, The Madison Square Gardeners, Harper Blynn, Taurus and Lucius

Louise has already taken a look back of the awful event of December 8, 1980.  So I’ll take a musical look at December 7th.

A friend reminded me that yesterday was Tom Waits‘ birthday.   I guess that makes today as good a time as any to take a look back at the lead off track from, Small Change, which despite its age, remains my favorite Tom Waits album.  The song is titled Tom Traubert’s Blues, but it incorporates the Australian song, Waltzing Matilda.  You can see a vintage video of it at Now I’ve Heard Everything by clicking here.

Last night was the first of three Tuesday nights at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 featuring The Madison Square Gardeners, Harper Blynn and Taurus.  Because a private event earlier in the evening went way over time, the night either kicked off late or you got an extra band, Lucius, thrown in. Photos of all four bands, 18 in all, are ready for your viewing by clicking here.

–Eliot Wagner

arts and culture

He Heard the Shots That Killed John Lennon

Joshua Mack, a Park Slope resident, grew up in an apartment building across the street from the Dakota. One December night he heard the shots that killed John Lennon. Here is an excerpt from his essay, which was originally published on Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. Mack is a digital executive, who works with media companies as a product creator, marketer, and strategist

Did you hear that?” My sister asked as she burst into my room after the five quick popping sounds had just drifted into my room. “Did you hear those gunshots?” I gave her a look. I told her they were firecrackers. It was late and she was bothering me. I was sixteen, a sophomore in High School and she was fourteen. Therefore she often bothered me.

A few minutes later a siren began to fill the air, quiet and then louder. Then it stopped somewhere on the street below my window. My sister wandered back into my room as more sirens swelled in the distance, got louder, stopped downstairs, beneath out window. We looked at each other and after putting on some warm clothing, met at the door to our terrace, binoculars in hand.

Outside it was a nice December night, crisp and windy. A police car had pulled up and more were on the way. I remember seeing Lennon’s body or at least people standing around in a tight circle. Then several more police cars pulled up. There was movement and one of the police cars drove away. Later news trucks pulled up, though many fewer and smaller than the ones that gather at events today. After awhile we left and when we turned on the television we learned who had been shot…

Read more at Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood.

arts and culture

Tomorrow: “The Day Lennon Died” Author to Read at Community Bookstore

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Thursday at 7PM Keith Greenberg, author of  December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died (Backbeat Books), will be reading at the Community Bookstore on the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.

Greenberg, who lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, is a producer for American’s Most Wanted and has also produced for VH1, 48 Hours, MSNBC Investigates, the History Channel and Court TV. In his downtime, he has authored more than 30 non-ficti0n books..

This book is a minute-by-minute chronicle of that terrible day juxtaposed with well-told biographical sketches of Lennon, Ono, the other Beatles, Mark Chapman and all the other players in this tragedy, a must-read for the Lennon-obsessed—and those who remember or are curious about those grief filled days and weeks after Lennon’s death.

New York City itself is a character in the book as it was the city where Lennon felt most at home and where he created a safe cocoon with Yoko and their son, Sean, in the Dakota.

Lennon felt he could be himself here and that he could walk the streets, enjoy Central Park with his son,  eat in restaurants and not be overwhelmed by his cult of celebrity.

Sadly his end came in the city that cradled him during a wonderful time in his life, after he became a father and found his voice musically with the Double Fantasy album.

Civics and Urban Life

Survey Shows Support for PPW Bike Lane and New Traffic Configuration

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I heard it on NPR this morning and I just got the email from Rachel Goodman, City Councilmember Brad Lander’s press representative,with news that the Bike Lane survey has been released and the findings are positive for supporters of the new traffic configuration and two-way bike lane on Prospect Park West.

The survey will be presented at a public meeting of the Community Board 6 Transportation Committee on Thursday, December 16th at 6:30pm at New York Methodist Hospital Auditorium, 506, 6th Street in Park Slope. Copies will also be available at the City Council’s hearing on Cycling in New York City on Thursday, December 9th, at 250 Broadway, 10am.

The 13-question survey was collected online and in-person October 15 – 30, 2010. According to Lander’s press release: “It was not a randomly-sampled public opinion poll, nor was it intended as a referendum on the project.  While it was used as an organizing tool for active supporters and opponents of the project, responses reached far beyond organized advocacy networks.”

Here are the stats on the survey itself. It was completed by 3,150 Brooklyn residents (828 living on Prospect Park West or the blocks immediately adjacent to the street; 1,137 elsewhere in Park Slope; 1,185 elsewhere in Brooklyn ).

According to Lander, “The responses show deep interest in the project, with over 2,000 respondents answering open-ended questions (in addition to the multiple-choice questions), and over 1,000 respondents voluntarily providing contact information.”

And here are the actual results:

Among the 3,150 respondents overall, there is broad support for the project:

* 54% (1,522 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 24% (688 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 22% (633 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration

Among all respondents living in Park Slope (2,210 respondents):

* 49% (888 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 22% (408 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 29% (530 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration

Among the 272 respondents living on PPW, there is a roughly even split between those wishing to keep the bike lanes and those wishing to go back to the previous configuration:

* 31% (85 respondents) wish to keep the configuration as-is
* 18% (50 respondents) wish to keep the configuration, with some changes
* 50% (137 respondents) wish to go back to the previous configuration

Detailed findings from the survey (including methodology) are available at http://www.bradlander.com/ppwsurvey

Civics and Urban Life

Markowitz Wants Apple Store in Municipal Building

A huge space in the municipal building in downtown Brooklyn is for sale and Borough President Marty Markowitz has made it clear that he wants Steve Jobs to buy it for an Apple Store.

An Apple Store in Brooklyn? Sounds like an excellent idea for Apple. Surely it would be hugely popular in a borough that has many Apple users and a huge pool of potential customers.

Downtown Brooklyn is filling up with many high profile national stores like Barney’s Co-op and Trader Joe’s. Panera Bread, H&M, Aeropostale, Filene’s Basement, and Danny Meyer’s  Shake Shack will all be Brooklyn-bound soon.

So what is the rent on the space in the Municipal Building? Something to the tune of $20 million says the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (in the Brooklyn Paper).

Neither Steve Jobs or anyone at Apple has gotten back to the Borough President who bought an iPad and instantly sent Jobs a message about an Apple Store in Brooklyn (that was a few months ago).

A dis or does Jobs have too much on his mind to bother with Brooklyn? Maybe he doesn’t get what’s going on in this borough. Maybe he doesn’t care. Your guess is as good as mine.

Food and Drink

What Kind of Take Out Food Would You Like To See in Slope?

An OTBKB reader and fellow Park Sloper wrote to me yesterday about her desire to open a food establishment in the Slope. She wants to get feedback from neighbors about what they’d like to see:

“Good morning my fellow Park Slopers. I am opening a new food spot in the Slope and I wanted your opinion. I want to make a place that you will definitely want to come back to. I am looking to open up on 7th Ave (can’t give you an exact location yet, but it will be below 10th Street).

“What is something that you want to see eating wise? I am doing this for you so any and all ideas are welcomed. The spot will not be a full blown restaurant, but rather a grab and go spot with some seating areas.”

Note: Respond here or you can send me an email at louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com and I’ll get it to her.

Civics and Urban Life

Bklyn Bloggage: neighborhoods

MTA deploys vintage buses, trains for holidays: Sheepshead Bites

Marine Park community says no to high school plan: Gerritsen Beach

Shadowplay: NY Shitty

Remembering Henington Press: Here’s Park Slope

Weekly culture picks: Bushwick BK

Dumbo links week of 28 Nov: Dumbo NYC

Holiday inflatables: Pardon Me for Asking

New spin cycle studio to open in Slope: Effed in Park Slope

Is your rent too damned high?: The Local

Illegal dumping reaching epic proportions: Hawthorne Street

Ditmas Park Craft Fair on Dec 12: Ditmas Park Blog

Civics and Urban Life

Tom Martinez, Witness: Wedding Called Off, Brooklyn Church Benefit On

Talk about a silver lining.

Robin Rogers, a Greenpoint, Brooklyn resident, and her fiancee called off their engagement. They had a lovely wedding reception planned at Dressler Restaurant in Williamsburg. Instead of calling off the party, the couple decided to turn the reception into a fundraiser for the Greenpoint Reformed Church’s Food Pantry.

According to the Brooklyn Paper, Rogers, who is 40-years-old and the mother of two, called off the wedding a few months ago. The break up was devastating and expensive as she had paid more than $9,000. in non-refundable deposits for the restaurant, a dress and invites. That’s when Rogers decided to turn the event into a public service.

The public was invited to this swanky benefit where there was delicious food and drink. Five local do-gooders, who have helped the soup kitchen throughout the past year were honored:  Rami Metal, Greenpoint/Williamsburg Liaison for Councilman Steven Levin; Taylor Erkkinen and Harry Rosenblum, The Brooklyn Kitchen; and Christine Onorati, WORD Bookstore

The church’s pastors were, understandably,  thrilled. Quite a few politicians showed up for the festivities. A good time was had by all and money was raised for an exceptionally good cause. The bride was glowing. “I guess I’m married to Greenpoint,” she said during her toast.” Cheers.

Photos top down:

The bride, Robin Rogers, being interviewed by a TV reporter.

Pastor Ann Kansfield

Lincoln Restler (District Leader)

The bride making a toast

City Councilman Steve Levin (33rd District) talking with Pastor Ann Kansfield

Civics and Urban Life

Jezra Kaye: How Not to Connect to an Audience

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Speaker coach, keynote speaker and speechwriter Jezra Kaye writes on her blog about chancellor-to-be Cathie Black’s first speech to parents on Monday. Here’s an excerpt from Kaye’s blog:

This morning, the local news is playing a clip of  “Chancellor-in-Waiting” Cathie Black’s comment about housing small charter schools in the same buildings as large, “underutilized” (read: poor, since no middle class school in NYC has extra space; and isn’t it great that we have a two-class public school system?) school buildings.  This policy saves the system money, but has concerned many parents, who’ve spoken up.

Black’s comment was (get ready), “Most of that screaming and yelling is staged.  But some of it is just fear of the unknown.”

Oh, yeah, she’s gonna connect real well with an audience of New York City public school parents!

No wonder Bloomberg wouldn’t let her talk.