All posts by louise crawford

Today on WNYC: Street Shots Winner

The folks at the Brian Lehrer Show ask:

What does it take to capture the energy of New York City on film? We find out from WNYC Street Shots winner Joe Wigfall and writer/critic Luc Sante

.

Sante, author of ” Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York” was the judge and here’s what he told Brian this morning as to why he selected Joe Wigfall as the winner: “The best combination of skills, the best up-close, psychological, in-depth, on-the-fly portraits of people with great composition and a great sense of tone.”

Listen to this interesting show.

Want to Convert Your House To Solar?

The oh-so-energetic Anne Pope is wondering if you’ve ever considered converting your house to solar? If so, this incredible organizer and founder of Sustainable Flatbush wants you to come to a Neighborhood Solar Forum for single family homes. The next Solar Forum will focus on multi-family apartment buildings, including co-ops

Come to the…

Neighborhood Solar Forum
for single family homes

sponsored by Sustainable Flatbush

July 16th @ 8pm
Ditmas Workspace
535 East 17th Street (corner of Ditmas)
http://www.ditmasworkspace.com/

Peter Landy will speak about his experience converting his house to solar power.

Chris Neidl of Solar One will speak about current legislation and initiatives to make residential solar power affordable.

RSVP requested (but not required) to anne@sustainableflatbush.org
Special Thanks to Liena Zagare and Ditmas Workspace

*Spread the word to friends and neighbors!

A Brooklyn War Hero Dies in Kabul

DannyfReclaimed Home has a high school friend who was killed in Kabul on the fourth of July. His name is Danny Farkas and his funeral will be on Monday in Midwood. The following is an excerpt from Reclaimed Home’s story:

I didn’t realize that I knew a war hero. Who’d have thunk it, that among my progressive thinking, New York liberal, artsy fartsy high school buddies, one of us would go off to war? And get killed?

I didn’t know Danny Farkas all that well. He was the skinny kid who hung out with the production crew (my high school had a great AV program). He was a friend of a friend more than a friend of mine. When I saw him at our high school reunion back in 2003, I couldn’t believe how buff he was. “Where’s that skinny kid?” I asked him.

I received an email this morning from a fellow ex classmate that Danny was killed in Kabul on July 4th in a non-hostile incident that is being investigated.

Danny was a NYC Police Lieutenant in the 112th Pct. in Forest Hills and an Army National Guardsman. Funeral will be held Monday in Midwood, Brooklyn.

A Must-See for Park Slope’s Home Birthing Parents and Those Who Know Them

James_alone_blue_2Last night I went to see Life in a Marital Institution (20 years of monogomy in one terrifying hour), a laugh out loud one-man show by James Braly at the SoHo Playhouse.

At the core of the monologue is Braly’s tale of the marriage of his sister on her deathbed. At one point she asks him if he’d trade places with her. He counters, “Would you want to be married to my wife?”

The show is an unabashed, but loving, critique of his own marriage to the highly educated, highly opinionated, and very aggressive and progressive Susan, who would fit in well with various strata of far-left Park Slope parents.

Doulas. Homebirths, Placentas in the freezer. Organic food. Susan is a familiar Park Slope-style character as she is lampooned through Braly’s devoted eyes.

Conflict is an important component of their marriage and it seems to bring zest and even sexual energy to their relationship.

Braly’s musings on the difficulties of monogomy and even simply agreeing with the person he has decided to spend his life with is well worth a trip to this well-written, and well-staged show as directed by Brooklyn’s Hal Brooks.

A one-man show is a high-wire act and Braly rarely falters. Low key, appealing, articulate with a wicked grin Braly is a thinking-woman’s sex symbol no one would dare go out with after seeing this show. No doubt, he’d be fun to hang around with at a SoHo bar (or theater for that matter).

The show set on a simple stage with three plastic chairs and a venetian blind background moves quickly and is consistently entertaining. The transitions from one story to another are masterfully enhanced by lighting changes and the thematic progression of the show’s content. The stories build on each other and ultimately illuminate Braly’s need for psychic noise and chaos as a way to avoid that most fearful thing at all: the silence of his own brain.

Braly posits marriage as a creative continuation of one’s childhood and family dysfunction. Depressing, yes. But with Braly’s observational eye, everything is fodder for humor and virtuosic story telling.

What makes the show more than a “Take my wife, please” anti-marriage rant, is that Braly obviously feels deep love for his wife, his children and his sister, who died young of cancer. He is also willing, incessantly so, to make fun of himself.

What would his life be without the strange, exasperating, and interesting people that surround him. He certainly wouldn’t have a great show to deliver every night through August 31st.

The show which was produced by my old friend, Anna Becker, is at the Soho Playhouse. 15 Vandam Street between Varick and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

3epkano and Sunrise at BAMcinematek

We may do this for our 19th wedding anniversary next Wednesday night.

The Irish ambient rock group 3epkano perform an original score to accompany F.W. Murnau’s silent cinematic masterpiece at BAMCinematek on July 16th (the big day). This program is supported by the Goethe Institute New York and Culture Ireland.

Sunrise (1927) 95min
Wed, July 16 at 7:30pm*

–Original score performed by 3epkano and followed by an after-party sponsored by The Onion
–Directed by F.W. Murnau
–With George O’Brien, Janet Gaynor

Considered by many to be the zenith of the silent age, F.W. Murnau’s masterwork tells the tale of a married farmer from the country. When he falls for a sophisticated woman from the city, she manipulates him into the decision to kill his wife. Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Sunrise, which, with its strikingly expressive images, is a stunning example of pure cinema. “Simple, and intense images of unequalled beauty.”—Time Out Film Guide.

What’s the Hook? in Red Hook

2591501898_92d34b4542At a variety of locations, you can catch exhibitions of What’s the Hook?, a community-based photography project designed to document a single week in the life of Red Hook, Brooklyn, one of New York City’s most unique and rapidly changing neighborhoods. Last summer, What’s the Hook? asked people of all backgrounds—some professional photographers, most not—to submit images captured during the week of August 12th – 19th 2007.

Open to locals and visitors alike, What’s the Hook? encouraged submissions from photographers of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. Photographers ranged in age from 6 to 85. Local children, including a group from Good Shepherd Services summer program at PS 27 and seniors from the Red Hook Senior Center, were given single-use cameras.

In seven ordinary days more than 120 people produced over 1000 extraordinary photos of what Red Hook means to them. All these amazing photos – taken everywhere from the pupusa vendors at the ball fields to the deck of the Crown Princess in the Red Hook Container Port – can be seen online at
http://flickr.com/groups/whatsthehook/pool.

You can also see a representative group of images at the Red Hook Public Library and at the Beard Street Warehouse.

Red Hook Public Library
7 Wolcott St.
June 6 – August 2008

Brooklyn Waterfront
Beard St. Warehouse
499 Van Brunt St.
Artist’s Coalition (BWAC) July 26th – Aug. 17th

Photo on the http://flickr.com/groups/whatsthehook/pool by Ralphie

Feist Tonight in Benefit for Celebrate Brooklyn

FeistNeedless to say it’s sold out but you don’t need to be inside to hear the wonderful FEIST. I just love her. She’s wonderful!

I loved this singer/songwriter’s third solo album, The Reminder from the first moment I heard it. That album and her pop-radio hit, 1234 (used on an Apple commercial) propelled her to indie music super-stardom.

And tonight, she comes out to Brooklyn to benefit Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn series. We are thrilled!

But what if it rains? Dang.

I don’t have tickets but hope you do.

The Oh So Prolific One: Leon Freilich, Verse Responder

UNEXPECTED DIRECTIONS

Obama’s barging toward the center,

McCain is lurching to the right.

So tell me, please, political mentor,

Who’s the more presidential fright?

RAKE’S ACHES

Yesterday’s stud

Good in bed

Today’s dud

Good as dead.

DOUBLE TAKE

“On sale” gets my attention

Like nothing even resembling

But interest starts in flagging

On seeing “Needs assembling.”

HOPPING ON THE BANDWAGON

The stylish Piloti Prototipo Driving Shoes make driving less taxing. $85.
–Product review in AAA Car & Travel, July 2008

Do something for your feet,

Avoid toesy gruel

By buying these nifty shoes.

($5 surcharge for fuel.)

HALF-THOUGHT IN A HALF-EMPTY STARBUCKS

Expand too much

And you’re hardly the first

To see your balloon

Stretch and burst.

POOR RICHARD’S REVISION

Early to bed

And early to rise

Insures you’ll never

Be one of the guys.

Rats on President Street

At the Community Bookstore last night after the performance by Louis and Capathia and the reading by Nikki Giovanni, a friend told me that she wants to write a piece for OTBKB. My ears perked up as I am always thrilled to have new tips, new content for my readers. This person has many cultural interests and I figured she wanted to plug a wonderful musical event or something going on at the Brooklyn Library.

But no.

She wants to tell OTBKB readers about RATS. That’s right. There are so many rats in her backyard of her building on President Street between 8th Avenue and the Park she doesn’t know what to do.

Rats.

It sounds so gross. She says there are baby ones and big, big ones in her backyard. Yuck. I can barely stand to type the word rat. I’m really chicken that way.

Rats and waterbugs. They gross me out. But I’ll take waterbugs over rats every time. I look forward to this forthcoming report from President Street.

Guide To The New Street Parking

I am just posting this email as is. I am sorry to have disappointed this reader but grateful that she sent this information my way.

Yes, I have been remiss. Distracted. Wilted from the summer heat. Regrouping and getting ready for summer. Excuses all. But it’s true.

Plus, our trusty 20 year old Volvo Turbo stationwagon died during the winter (on the approach to the George Washington Bridge) and I guess the parking thing hasn’t been my main concern of late.

And yes, once again I’ve been bested by my friend and fellow blogger, Gowanus Lounge. Oh well.

I’m a big fan of your blog – I’m often discussing things I’ve learned on it with neighbors and squad members at the co-op. In fact, you’re the first place I turn to learn what’s going on in my neighborhood.
That being said, I was surprised you didn’t have a guide to the new street parking. I’m actually frightened about how to start planning moving my car, and whether this is going to be more difficult than it used to be. But I figure that knowledge is the best defense. Here is a guide I found (with a handy printable table) of the new regulations:
http://www.gowanuslounge.com/2008/07/02/a-guide-to-the-new-park-slope-alternate-side-regs/
I thought other fellow readers may be just as interested.
Thanks for all your hard work! Hope to see you around the Slope (just please don’t take my parking spot). :)

Brooklyn Food Not Bombs

Just heard from someone at Brooklyn Food Not Bombs about this benefit on Friday July 18th. Here are the ‘tails:

BFNB, which has been active in the County of Kings for several months
now, serves veg meals to the homeless and hungry on Saturdays at 3pm
in Fort Greene Park. Help them keep the grub going to those who need
it!

What: Benefit for Brooklyn Food Not Bombs

– Music performed by Joe Crow Ryan, Raygun, Brandon Barnett and the
Invisible Public Library

– Raffles for prizes from Food Fight! Vegan Grocery, V-Spot Café and
Herbivore Clothing

– $5 suggested donation

When: Friday, July 18. Doors open at 7; show starts at 8

Where: Vox Pop Café, 1022 Cortelyou Road (Q train to Cortelyou Rd.)

Tonight: Music at the Bridge Curated by Barbes

Matb_final_450pxLive music in Brooklyn Bridge Park tonight and every Wednesday through August 28th (my birthday). Major venues like Barbes, Zebulon, Issue Project Room, Jalopy, and Union Hall are guest curating the shows. Here are the ‘tails for two of the events (Barbes and Zebulon).

An evening of live music, video art, and other surprises curated by a different local Brooklyn venue each week. All free, all under the tent in the historic Tobacco Warehouse. Doors at 6pm, capacity is limited.

LOCATION: Tobacco Warehouse, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park section of Brooklyn Bridge Park
TIME: 6.30pm – 9.30pm
FREE!
INFO: www.brooklynbridgepark.org
TONIGHT: Wednesday, July 9
An evening curated by Barbes, featuring:
Las Rubias Del Norte
The Parker String Quartet
The Mandingo Ambassadors
Wednesday, July 16
An evening curated by Zebulon, featuring:
Stuart Bogie/Superhuman Happiness
Charles Gayle Trio
Colin Stetson
Sharon Van Etten

If You See Something Say Something

IyssthumbOn Monday I went to see a reading of a one-man show called “If You See Something Say Something” by Park Slope’s Mike Daisey at the Public Theater (it will be there in the fall).

In this new monologue, Daisey weaves together the story of the Department of Homeland Security, the story of the neutron bomb and his own trip to Los Alamos to see the Trinity, the site where the first atom bomb was detonated (the site is open one day a year for the public to see). He’s quite a storyteller.

I was amazed at how large a crowd assembled to see this free work-in-progress performance at Joe’s Pub on a Monday at noon. Mike Daisey must have quite an email list.

The piece is very powerful, very disturbing, very well told. I can’t wait to see it again in the fall when it’s at the Public Theater. I expect it will change quite a a bit before then. He is performing it this week at the Wooly Mammoth Theater in Washington, DC.

Happy Anniversary Park Slope Parents

070421_earth_day_sprint_fling_psp_0Park Slope Parents reached its 6th anniversary on July 8th. Wow! I can’t believe it.

What did we do before PSP? Where did we get information about schools, mosquito bites, raccoons, potty training, learning disabilities, airplane trips with children, concerts in the park, post-partum depression and so much more.

Oy, the information we’ve gleaned from the members of PSP. The power of a question. The power of so much collective experience. The power of a community willing to share with each other the process of raising children. I salute everyone at PSP for creating something so vital, so powerful and so informative. Susan Fox, founder of PSP had this to say on the occasion of their 6th anniversary.

It dawned on me tonight that today (July 8th) is Park Slope Parents’ 6 Year
Anniversary.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO PARK SLOPE PARENTS!

I would really love to hear people’s best / funniest / most poignant / most
educational / most helpful memories they’ve had on the list.

I hope that Park Slope Parents has helped ease the sometimes rocky road of
parenting for all of you. I know that your advice and insight (and humor)
has helped me (and my family) get through things such as “Candy Sneak,”
“Monster Scares,” “Baby Back Packs for us shorter folks,” ‘Transitioning to
2 kids,” “VBACs”, “Why Why Why Why !?” and “Leg Cramps.”

We’ve seen Happy Days, Fidgets and Go Fish come and go. We started when the
only available baby carriers were only the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder,
the Maya Sling, and a $5 Chinatown Mei Tie. Life is good here, and there is
a good reason that Park Slope has been ranked one of the top 20
neighborhoods to live.

Thanks for taking the ride with me,

Susan Fox
Founder, Park Slope Parents

It Wouldn’t Be Summer Without Alain Robbe-Grillet

Marienbadhead_02That’s right. Summertime and it’s time for some French cinema with a capital C. Enigmatic, dreamlike, baffling. The BAM Rose Cinema is presenting a series of films by the great French new novelist, Alain Robb-e Grillet. Here’s the blurbage from BAM:

A true career switcher, Alain Robbe-Grillet was a scientist until 30, when he began writing. After cementing his literary reputation (as a founder of the nouveau roman and an “immortal” of the Académie Française), Grillet changed gears again. We celebrate his final career move with four films he directed as well as his first screenwriting job—Alain Resnais’ enigmatic masterpiece Last Year at Marienbad. All new prints courtesy of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (except for Marienbad). All films in French with English subtitles and directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet unless otherwise noted.

The Declaration of Co-Dependence

Park Slope’s Blognigger has done it again. A great post about how annoying our children can be—and a list of rules for life with kids in the city. This one is for the record books. Oh, and Gawker picked it up, too.  I take exception to BN referring to the bar at Two Boots as "the
little shitty one." I love that bar, oh well. Here’s the gawkage:

The hilarious, unhinged, and angry man (and Park Slope parent!) we know only as Blognigger has gone ahead and drafted a long, detailed list of rules of how to live with your kids in an urban environment: "We the parents of Park Slope and the surrounding vicinity hereby declare our realization that we and our children can, at times, be annoying as FUCK." The Declaration of Co-dependence covers all the basics—sidewalk behavior, restaurant behavior, bookstore/movie theater/supermarket behavior, and subway behavior. It also unilaterally bans children from all bars—well, except for "the little shitty one in the front of Two Boots."

And here’s the beginning of the declaration:

WE THE PARENTS of Park Slope and the surrounding vicinity hereby declare our realization that we and our children can, at times, be annoying as FUCK. We are naturally compelled to value our children’s feelings and well-being above all else, frequently to the exclusion of our consideration for others, our capacity for courtesy, and our common sense.

Notwithstanding this concession, it is our observation that our Childless Neighbors are prone to aggressive and rude responses to our faux pas, which often far outweigh the damages caused by our initial slights of manners in the first place.

It is from this dichotomy, and for the inalienable truth that our two species must co-exist and co-depend on one another in this neighborhood, that WE THE PARENTS propose these official tenets of behavior, in order that we may ease relations through the removal of situational interpretation via the creation of the following standard operating procedures…

The Times Loves James Braly

James_alone_blue_2That means you should catch his show, Life in a Marital Institution, at the SoHo Playhouse. I’m going on Wednesday night if anyone wants to join me. Here’s the review by Jason Zinoman:

A gifted writer whose anecdotes build upon one another into a nice rhythm, he spun a self-deprecating and affectionate account of a rocky marriage to a woman whose peculiarities include keeping her placenta in the freezer and breast-feeding her 6-year-old boy. There’s also a beautiful other woman who tempts him. Without looking to score cheap attention-getting points, Mr. Braly zeroes in on the bizarre details of an otherwise ordinary life. And in so doing, he seems both easy to relate to and, frankly, just a little strange. Staged by Hal Brooks, who has several hit solo shows to his name (including "No Child"), "Life in a Marital Institution," which was successful enough to earn a second New York run at the SoHo Playhouse, never loses the casual feel of a chat at a local bar. Through Aug. 31, 15 Vandam Street, South Village, (212) 691-1555; $40 to $55.

Read the New York Times review here:

Tonight: Nikki Giovanni, Louis & Capathia

M_239abc70fe0f37a4f6a78f593907b1d_2Composer Louis Rosen wrote in to say:

Dear Neighbors, The wonderful poet (and my current collaborator), Nikki Giovanni, will join Capathia and me at Park Slope’s Community Bookstore (Seventh Avenue between Garfield and Carroll) this coming Tuesday evening, July 8, at 7 pm, to celebrate the release of our new CD, ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH: The Nikki Giovanni Songs on the PS Classics label.

Nikki will read a some poems; Capathia and I will sing some songs from the new record; the three of us will sign CDs and/or books; refreshments will be on hand and a good time should be had by all. Hope you can come Warm Regards, LR

Urban Environmentalist NYC: Histories Revealed

Cemetery
Here is OTBKB’s monthly feature from the Center for the Urban Environment. This post is by Margaret Stevens, an Educator at the Center.

Although the cemetery of Brooklyn ’s Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church is a beautiful, historic place, it receives few visitors. The last time I walked through the cemetery, I spoke to one of those rare souls who find themselves drawn to its bucolic green.   The woman had lived in the neighborhood for years, but had never been inside the cemetery before. She was struck by how beautiful it was.

"Why," she asked me, "are they letting the stones fall apart?" It was a good question, but I didn’t know the answer.

The first time I happened upon the cemetery myself, I was amazed to see Dutch inscribed gravestones from the 18th century, and was similarly puzzled by its stark disrepair. It seemed strange that such an historic and lovely place was being allowed to fall into ruin. When I looked the cemetery up online later, I found that there was almost no information about it. Googling yields only articles about the church to which it is connected. According to Brooklyn by Name, however, the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church is Brooklyn ‘s earliest church. The original church building, no longer in existence, was built in 1654 and Church Avenue , which used to be called Church Lane , is named after this building.

The cemetery lies in the heart of Flatbush, bounded by Church and Flatbush Avenues. In addition to being quiet, peaceful and green, it offers the New York experience of being in multiple worlds at once. You can sit and admire a gravestone decorated with crudely carved cherubs and skulls, and try to puzzle out Dutch words like “begraaven” and “huys vrouw”—and find yourself transported back in time. But a quick look across the street jolts you out of your reverie. Like much of the city, the old and new lie in close proximity to one another and your eye can just as easily lift to the bustle in front of Fabco Shoes or Wallgreens as to the rustling leaves and historic gravestones of its neighboring lot.

With juxtapositions like these, it is well worth a visit. Take the Q or the B to the Church Avenue Station, and walk East to 890 Church Avenue. – Margaret Stevens, Educator, Center for Urban Environment.

Richard Grayson: Ronnie Spector at McCarren Park Pool

Richard Grayson author of Who Shall Kiss the Pig: Sex Stories For Teens, filed this report about the Ronnie Spector show at the McCarren Park Pool. You can see pictures on his blog.

By Richard Grayson

As we walked the few blocks up Lorimer Street from Dumbo Books HQ to the McCarren Park Pool at 5:30 p.m. last night, we were thinking about a boy we knew who graduated Meyer Levin Junior High School 285 in East Flatbush on the last Monday in June 1965.

Richie had just turned 14. Since the boys in the sixteen ninth-grade classes marched in and sat down, as did the girls on the other side of the auditorium, in size place, he was first out of the 250 of so boys. Next to him was the second-shortest boy, a Negro he’d never noticed before, and he didn’t know what to talk about with him. In Richie’s experience, you were probably best off talking baseball or music with Negro kids, since they were things everyone had in common, though he knew enough not to talk about the Beatles or Herman’s Hermits.

There were fewer people than last week at the pool, and a few more people with gray hair. We don’t have gray hair, but we might as well since everyone assumes we dye it. An older man, seeing our maroon Brooklyn College T-shirt with gold lettering, says, “I used to go there too.” We talk to this elderly person and discover that when he was an undergrad, we were serving on the alumni association board of directors.

Getting some Fuze diet white tea at the booth near the dodgeball players, we notice the skinny sky-blue JellyNYC balloon figures are up again, swaying in the wind. They weren’t here last week. Or were they and we just don’t remember?

With nine members of the band already onstage, Ronnie Spector enters holding a mike. She’s shapely in a zaftig way, in a black pantsuit. All the nine band members are wearing black too. “I dream about the boys,” she sings. Her hair is a modified 21st century beehive. The song is “I Wonder.” Crowds move forward, and we go closer too.

Ronnie Spector, after the first applause dies down, says that when she woke up she was afraid of it being rainy: “But, no, not in Brooklyn. This is where I started.
The Brooklyn Fox with Murray the K shows. I’ll never forget them.”

And she starts singing again:
Why do they say that we’re too young to go steady?
Don’t they believe it, that I love you already?
Gee the moon is shining bright
Wish I could go out tonight
Why don’t they let us fall in love?

Town Hall Meeting on School Governance

Just got this note from someone at Council Member Bill de Blasio’s office.

Join Bill de Blasio and elected officials and education advocates for an informational town hall session on Mayoral Control. Come share your opinions and learn how to continue to have your voice heard as the City Council prepares to discuss the reauthorization of Mayoral Control.

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Brooklyn Borough Hall Community Room
209 Joralemon Street
(Between Court and Adams Streets)
Brooklyn, NY

-Parents, teachers, students and others in attendance will be asked to share their experiences and ideas, ask questions, and voice concerns about the current system of school governance.

-Elected Officials and Education Advocates will be on hand to answer questions and present information on Mayoral Control, Parental Involvement, and other crucial issues.

-Questionnaires will be available so that every voice can be presented to all city and state elected officials.

For additional information or to RSVP please call Evan Stone at 212-788-6969 or email
educationtownhall@gmail.com

Raccoons in Leafy Brooklyn Neighborhoods

Here’s a mid-article excerpt from the Times‘ about racoons in the city, expecially leafy nabes like Flatbush. They even mention Animal Care and Control, the guy who uses an old ambulance as a truck.

One thing seems clear. In the leafy neighborhoods surrounding Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery, residents have been flooding the Internet with raccoon stories.

Chris Kreussling, a computer programmer who lives just south of Prospect Park in Flatbush, posted pictures on his Flatbush Gardener blog recently of several raccoons in his backyard. It elicited a quick round of similar testimonies.

Another Brooklyn blog, the Gowanus Lounge, chronicled multiple raccoon sightings in recent days in Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace and Red Hook.

When contacted, many bloggers recalled raccoons rooting around in gardens and compost piles, traipsing into children’s wading pools and sometimes rearing up on their hind legs when startled. Many expressed awe at seeing the nocturnal mammals so close.

“People need access to wildlife in urban areas,” Mr. Kreussling said. “I consider it a bonus.”

Raccoons that appear to be a threat to public health or safety are taken by Animal Care and Control to a shelter and, if necessary, tested for rabies. This year, eight raccoons found in the city have tested positive for rabies…

Group Summoned for Open Bottle of Wine in Prospect Park

Over at Park Slope Parents someone posted that a group of picnickers got ticketed for drinking from an open wine bottle in Prospect Park. She says it happens to her friend. But I wonder. My advice to her friend: Transport your wine in something other than a wine bottle…

My friend got a ticket today in Prospect Park for being at a small 8-person picnic gathering
where there was one wine bottle out in the open. 4 cops came up and gave everyone a ticket
for alcohol possession. Does anyone know if this type of ticket is easy to fight? She wasn’t
drinking any wine nor does she drink in general.

Also, as a side note she is trying to purchase a co-op apartment and is soon going to be
reviewed by the co-op approval board. Should she worry about this citation?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Tragedy for Crown Heights Church

Rev. Timothy D. Wright, the founding pastor of the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Crown Heights nand an award-winning gospel singer, is in critical condition in a hospital bed in Pennsylvania after a car accident that killed his wife and co-pastor, Betty White. The couple’s 14-year-old grandson, D. J. Wright, who was also in the car, also died in the Saturday night crash. They were returning from a church conference in Detroit. Here’s an excerpt from Monday’s Times’ article:

Addressing the congregation during the midday service, Bishop James Gaylord said many church members felt as if they had been left “without sails, without oars, without direction.” But he urged them to unite and help the family through the difficult time.

“The world has been affected by what has happened,” he said in an interview before leaving the church to visit Pastor Wright, who remained in critical condition on Sunday evening at the Geisinger Medical Center’s intensive care unit in Danville, Pa. “His gift, his talent. He was a tremendous man.”

Pastor Wright, known to fans as the “godfather of gospel,” has recorded more than 10 albums of gospel music and has been nominated for several Grammy Awards. He started his own choir in 1976, and grew popular over the decades with hits like “Troubles Don’t Last Always,” “Who’s on the Lord’s Side?” and, most recently, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” which spoke of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Do You Have Waterbugs?

A thread on Park Slope Parents about waterbugs offered all kinds of interesting solutions to what can be a vexing and unpleasant problem:

Thanks to everyone for the advice about what to do with Gregor the Waterbug
and his friends.There were lots of suggestions, the most common being to
plug up ALL holes in the kitchen, get a cat, and remove any water source,
pretty much in that order.

The suggestions are pasted below. Following the suggestions are
recommendations from a very interesting website I found that has non-toxic
remedies for ANY pest, including bed bugs, ants, and even furry pests. I
pasted his suggestions for non-toxic baits for roaches, plus the link to the
website, as well. The site itself has more information than you will
probably ever need (and certainly ever want), but there were great ideas.
He does sell his own brand of non-toxic pest repellent but he has lots of
ideas besides his product. And at the very end is a recipe for roach bait
you can make yourself using boric acid. It is much less toxic than
pesticides but still can harm children or pets, so do be careful with that
one.

SUGGESTIONS:

–Buy some caulk and expanding foam sealer, and seal EVERY hole in your
kitchen. Plumbing cut outs, the hole in the wall to the stove, everything.
Then be sure never to leave puddles of water or wet sponges or dishes with
water in the sink. Mop up everything every night. They want water more than
food.

–An exterminator told us to pour bleach in our sink drains. This keeps them
from swimming up through the pipes. Also, I believe Diatomaceous earth can
be sprinkled around the floor. Apparently it abraids and dries their bodies
and kills them. The problem with it is it kills good insects too (like
spiders). It’s non toxic. You can buy it on line. I think Gardens Alive
has it.

–We also have a few of these dinosaur sized “visitors” each summer. Our last
one even took flight! I usually send the cat after them (if she’s not
already in pursuit), but apparently catnip and/or Osage orange both work as
roach repellent. The catnip can be placed in sachet bundles around target
areas, as can Osage orange halves. Neither is toxic, as far as I know, and
you can even make catnip tea for yourself if this issue has caused you to
have a nervous stomach! (I used to drink it before exams).

–If there’s any paper (newspapers, open recycling bin, in the kitchen, get
rid of it. They love paper.

–The small black, pepper-looking things are roach poo. If there’s a lot,
there’s a large colony in your house. Also, set your alarm for 4 AM and take
at look at your apartment. That’s when they are most active.

–I had a large infestation of waterbugs and roaches in my kitchen. They were
everywhere, especially behind the stove. We took everything – everything,
including the stove – out of the kitchen. Got non-toxic sealant in the
“grease gun” can and went to work. We sealed every hole and joint in the
room. It took almost three days (we had a kitchen with lots of cabinets),
but that effectively eliminated the roaches without poison. You may need
joint compound (comes in a tub of various sizes and is applied with a
trowel) for the larger holes. The exterminator won’t want to do this job, so
it’s best if you do it. It’ll cost less and you’ll do a better job.

–Years ago when I lived in Wash. Hts, I had many roaches. I learned to live
with them. Then one day I saw a mouse, too! That was too much. I bought
one of those sonar things to get rid of the mouse (ask at a hardware store.)
It worked, and, even better, it seemed to get rid of the roaches, too.

–Here is the website I found, and the recommendations for baits and
repellents:

http://www.stephentvedten.com/27_Roach_Control.pdf

–Make a roach dough by combining ½ c. powdered sugar and ¼ c. shortening or
bacon drippings. Add ½ c.

onions, ½ c. flour and 8 oz. baking soda. (Don’t forget to add some roach
droppings.) Add enough water

to make a dough-like consistency. Make balls of bait and put them wherever
you see roaches.

2. Mix one clove garlic, one onion, one tablespoon of cayenne pepper and 1
quart water. Steep for

one hour, strain, add a tablespoon of liquid soap and spray it around the
house for ant and/or roach control.

3. Place bay leaves or talcum powder or baking soda around cracks in rooms
or spray with diluted Safe

Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaners.

4. If you find a roach infestation in a computer, radio, t.v., etc., simply
place the entire item/appliance in a

sealed plastic bag for 1 month. The roaches will die from dehydration. Or
simply put in a black bag in the

sun on a 70o F. day for a few hours.

5. Mix 1 c. borax and ¼ c. black pepper and ¼ c. shredded bay leaves;
sprinkle to repel roaches. *Keep this*

*mix off all food and/or dishes.*

*Roach Bait Comment: *Virtually any roach bait will continue to secondarily
kill cockroaches as they cannibalize

those that have died, eating the poisoned baits. This chain can continue for
some time, so one properly

placed (boric acid) bait can kill several dozen roaches.

**Safe Solutions products may be purchased online at:*

*http://www.safesolutionsinc.com*