All posts by louise crawford

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford

4282841_stdFor some reason, I always seem to know what’s happening.  It’s just the way I am: I’m a good listener, I read a lot, and pay attention to what’s going on around me. That’s why I started "Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn."

I’ve always been a culture hog. I get it from my Dad. Like him, I compulsively check the listings in The New Yorker, Time Out, the Village Voice and the New York Times because I NEED to know: who’s playing music in town; what movies are around; what’s in the museums, in theater, performance art, spoken word… 

It’s not that I do all that much. I just like to know that I have the option, if I should choose to  exercise it, to see this, that, or the other thing. While most nights evaporate into the ether of dinner, homework, and read-aloud before bed, there’s always the fantasy of catching a show somewhere in town.

So keeping you readers abreast of stuff to do comes naturally to me. And it’s a way to vicariously enjoy all the kultcha this city has to offer. I am continually amazed at how much is going on. Whether it’s a community meeting, an early morning bird walk, a performance by the Wooster Group, a reading by a poet, or a documentary at Barbes – there’s so much to do – if you have the time to do it.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN: Sun with clouds. High 40 degrees.

THIS JUST IN: The White House approved a press pass for a blogger. Other blogger news: A lawsuit filed in California by Apple Computer is drawing courts into
the question of whether bloggers should be considered journalists and whether they have to reveal their sources.  

CITY NEWS: Proposed stadium may bring the Super Bowl to town. Joy.

_A study published in "Public Health"  says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city.

BROOKLYN BEAT: At Brooklyn College, a protest against lack of diversity in the Fire Department is planned prior to the graduation ceremony for new cadets also at Brooklyn College.

_Come on! State Senator
Marty Golden along with some Brooklyn residents called for the removal
of  posters advertising Showtime’s new series, "The L Word" on city bus
shelters. The ad features nine of the show’s characters in the nude.
"We have community standards," says Golden. "And I don’t think they are
being met." 

_Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer W
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn." See Monday below.

_Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor last week. Read all about it.

_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations.  It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building. 

MONDAY:  Hear what the Ratner project could mean to Brooklyn in terms of displacement of residents, impact on schools, police and fire services, and transportation issues. P.S. 9. 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James

_This evening and every Monday at Barbes through March: the Traveling Cinema Series takes a look at the American labor movement through documentary and fiction film.
"Harlan County USA," Barbara Koppels’ award-winning film, is at 7:30 p.m. 276 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue.

_Times Square Centennial Film Festival: From the Streets and Stage to
the Screen. Tonight and every Monday through mid-April at the Loews State Theater. 1540
Broadway. On 3/7: "Midnight Cowboy" 1:20, 7 p.m., "Fame" 4:00 and 9:30
p.m. On 3/14 "Vanya on 42nd Street" and "All About Eve."  For movie titles, times and information.

WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT:  The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.

_Check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter, the Reader’s Digest of real Brooklyn news.

_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. for critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.

_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights

THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf

Civics and Urban Life

Brooklyn Thinkers_by Oswegatchie

Applause_1ON SPRAWL AND OUR HEALTH

Sprawl Sucks. It’s ugly. Its architecture appeals
to no one no how. Parking lots are accident-prone concentrations of car
exhaust. Driving around wastes gas, is expensive, forces parents to sit
with their backs facing their children, which doesn’t help in the
eye-contact department, and like OTBKB said, is a great way to make
sure you get NO exercise. Where I live, people drive to their fitness
club, which is one of those places I draw the line. I do drive my
daughter to the YMCA for swim lessons, and feel icky doing it. On the
other hand, my husband and I have upheld our commitment to being a
one-car family, and we have found ways of living a life on foot, less
than in Brooklyn, but more than in your average "suburb" (remembering
that many suburbs are now urbs in their own right, just not The Urb).

One
of the reasons I moved up the Hudson to Kingston was to get us closer
to trees, hiking, water, mountains and beauty, and farther from the
dense traffic that spewed out of Grand Army Plaza into my children’s
faces as they sat in their strollers while we waited to cross the
street. Car exhaust pipes are right at a two-year-old’s eye level.

Granted,
Prospect Park is great, and so is the Botanic Garden, but in neither
place could my children gambol barefoot. In the Park there was too much
glass; in the Botanic Garden, the guards wouldn’t allow it, so my
outlaw children, who were always encouraged to remove their shoes and
feel the grass, were always being told to get them back on by garden
authorities. Not that it’s so safe to go barefoot in a place that
sprays pesticide

Civics and Urban Life

CONTENTS_6 Feb 05

NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford (pictures will soon be available for purchase).

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_By Louise Crawford

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
Wildman Bill in Prospect Park, Good Bye to Eloise and CBGBs, Community Meeting about Ratner’s Stadium and MORE

BROOKLYN THINKERS_SPRAWL AND OUR HEALTH by Oswegatchie

Civics and Urban Life

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Going Down the Tubes

3 Comments

Ds012175_std_1Manhattan is really going down the tubes. It’s impossible to live there unless you’re rich, in a rent stabilized apartment, or someone who bought years and years ago.

Even Eloise can’t live there anymore. Starting April 30th when The Plaza Hotel begins its transformation into condos, a mall and a small boutique hotel, Eloise will be just another unemployed children’s book character. Maybe she should move out to Brooklyn.

Sure, Manhattan still has lots to recommend it: stellar institutions like the Guggenheim, the Met, the Rainbow Room, MOMA, the Metropolitan Opera and now Jazz at Lincoln Center. But that’s not enough to make a city interesting. A city needs its landmarks (official and unofficial) and its historical places to give it that well-worn feeling of texture and depth.

It also needs its low rent stomping grounds for musicians; its funky downtown theaters for actors and directors; its hole-in-the-wall screening rooms for avant garde film.

Recently I learned that CBGB’s "the home of underground rock since 1973" may soon be closing its doors. So many legends of 1970’s punk rock have graced its dilapidated stage: Television, Talking Heads, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie to name a few. The New York Press writes,  "As the Bowery becomes increasingly unappealing for
anyone who’s lived here more than six months

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN WEATHER: Partly sunny in the morning. CLoudy and chance of drizzles in the afternoon.   More Brooklyn weather here.

CITY NEWS:  The Plaza Hotel, home of the spunky Eloise, will be no more. After April 30th, construction will begin to turn the legendary hotel into condos and malls with a far smaller hotel on the West 58th Street side. Will wonders never cease.

_This just in from The New York Times: A study published in "Public Health"  says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city.

_Martha Stewart left prison Friday after a five month vacation stay.

_The New York Public Library has opened a digital gallery of images.
Check it out: the NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000
images digitized from   primary sources and printed rarities in the
collections of The New York Public   Library, including illuminated
  manuscripts, historical maps,
vintage posters,
rare prints and
photographs,
  illustrated books, 
printed ephemera, and more.

BROOKLYN BEAT: Come on! State Senator Marty Golden along with some Brooklyn residents called for the removal of  posters advertising Showtime’s new series, "The L Word" on city bus shelters. The ad features nine of the show’s characters in the nude. "We have community standards," says Golden. "And I don’t think they are being met." 

_Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer W
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn." See Monday below.

_Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor earlier in the week. Read all about it.

_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations.  It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building.

TODAY: Join Council Member Letitia
James and Senator Velmanette Montgomery in response to the recent
"Memorandum of Understanding" on Atlantic Yards:

City Hall Steps, Manhattan; Today (Sunday), March 6, 2005, 2 pm

WHO: Council Member James, Senator Montgomery,
Congressman Major Owens, Council Member Charles Barron, Pratt Area
Community Council, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn
Leadership Coalition, Bob Law, Darnell Canada of Rebuild, Brooklyn
Vision, Prospect Heights Action Coalition

HOW TO GET THERE: 4, 5, 6 or J, M, Z trains to
Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall; 2, 3 train to Park Place;
N, R to City Hall; A, C to Fulton. Entrances are on Broadway at Warren,
and at Center Street & Brooklyn Bridge. You will need to go through
a security checkpoint.

SUNDAY: Wildman Steve Brill hosts his "Wild Food and Ecology Tour" of Prospect
Park. Meet at Grand Army Place entrance to Prospect Park. 11:45 a.m. $5
for kids under 12, $10 for adults. 

"The End of the Moon." Last performance of Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. 2 p.m. Information here.

_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." Through April. 8 p.m.

MONDAY:  Hear what the Ratner project could mean to Brooklyn in terms of

displacement of residents, impact on schools, police and fire services, and transportation issues.

Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM; P.S. 9, 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James

WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT:  The second grade art show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.

_Check out Brooklyn Bomb Shelter, the Reader’s Digest of real Brooklyn news.

_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. for critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.

_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights

THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf

Civics and Urban Life

BROOKLYN THINKERS_by Oswegatchie

Applause_1ON SPRAWL AND OUR HEALTH

Of course, without "a study" common sense is totally meaningless, but I
have to concur with the "scientists" at Public Health (I’m so sorry my
bias is showing; however, in the unlikely event that my children grow
up to be scientists, I hope they won’t spend all their time
scientifically proving what is patently true to anyone inhabiting a
body).

Anyway. Sprawl Sucks. It’s ugly. Its architecture appeals
to no one no how. Parking lots are accident-prone concentrations of car
exhaust. Driving around wastes gas, is expensive, forces parents to sit
with their backs facing their children, which doesn’t help in the
eye-contact department, and like OTBKB said, is a great way to make
sure you get NO exercise. Where I live, people drive to their fitness
club, which is one of those places I draw the line. I do drive my
daughter to the YMCA for swim lessons, and feel icky doing it. On the
other hand, my husband and I have upheld our commitment to being a
one-car family, and we have found ways of living a life on foot, less
than in Brooklyn, but more than in your average "suburb" (remembering
that many suburbs are now urbs in their own right, just not The Urb).

One
of the reasons I moved up the Hudson to Kingston was to get us closer
to trees, hiking, water, mountains and beauty, and farther from the
dense traffic that spewed out of Grand Army Plaza into my children’s
faces as they sat in their strollers while we waited to cross the
street. Car exhaust pipes are right at a two-year-old’s eye level.

Granted,
Prospect Park is great, and so is the Botanic Garden, but in neither
place could my children gambol barefoot. In the Park there was too much
glass; in the Botanic Garden, the guards wouldn’t allow it, so my
outlaw children, who were always encouraged to remove their shoes and
feel the grass, were always being told to get them back on by garden
authorities. Not that it’s so safe to go barefoot in a place that
sprays pesticide

Civics and Urban Life

CONTENTS_5 Feb 05

NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum, Dance Don’t Destroy at Galapagos, Health Risks of Suburban Sprawl, Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson and more…

Civics and Urban Life

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Scientific Proof

2 Comments

5282853_stdFINALLY, something to tell my friends who are considering a move to the suburbs. DON’T DO IT! IT’S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!

It seems there’s finally "scientific" proof why Park Slope is a better place to live than say, Montclair, Hastings, or Maplewood. A study published in "Public Health" journal found that urban sprawl living is unhealthy.

It makes total sense to me. People get more exercise in places like Park Slope because they’re not in their cars all day. We walk all the time from one end of Seventh Avenue to the other and think nothing of walking to Prospect Park, the Botanic Gardens or The Brooklyn Museum.

Suburban sprawl may even age people by four years. The researchers also emphasize the importance of what they call "utilitarian walking": the exercise we Brooklynites get walking to and from school, up and down the subway
stairs, or to Met Food for replenishments of milk and orange juice.

People don’t usually think of that kind of thing as exercise but it is. According to the study: "It makes a huge difference. Just the 10
additional minutes a day that you go to the store and back easily add
up to a couple of pounds a year in terms of body weight."

I am so loving this.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN WEATHER: Sunny and a little warmer than yesterday.   More Brooklyn weather here.

CITY NEWS:  This just in from The New York Times. A study published in "Public Health"  says suburbanites are more likely to report chronic health problems, like high blood
pressure, arthritis, headaches, migraines and breathing problems than
people who lived in the city (for more, see today’s Postcard from the Slope).

_Martha Stewart left prison Friday after a five month vacation stay.

_The New York Public Library has opened a digital gallery of images.
Check it out: the NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000
images digitized from   primary sources and printed rarities in the
collections of The New York Public   Library, including illuminated
  manuscripts, historical maps,
vintage posters,
rare prints and
photographs,
  illustrated books, 
printed ephemera, and more.

_A temporary art museum is to open at Pier 54 in Greenwich Village.
The Nomadic Museum is made up of 148 multi-colored shipping
containers.  Inside is a multi-media exhibit by photographer, Gregory
Colbert.   

_For those who don’t already know, a MTA fair hike went into effect last weekend.
The price of a $70 Metrocard rocketed up to $76. A weekly pass from
$21 to $24. The cost of a single ride remains: $2.00. Read all about it.

_A survey about the preferences of food deliverers featured in the
New York Time’s revealed that "New York’s delivery rules are pretty
basic:
Watch your dog. Have your money ready. Tip well, and do it in cash. And
wear your nicest boxers."

BROOKLYN BEAT: Forest City Ratner just cleared another major hurdle. The New York Times reports today that "the city and the state have signed an agreement with the developer Bruce
C. Ratner to build a new home for the Nets basketball team and at least
4,500 apartments as part of a $2.5 billion project at the Atlantic
Yards in Brooklyn." See Monday below.

_Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor earlier in the week. Read all about it.

_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations.  It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building. 

SATURDAY: Early morning get-together for dogs and their owners in Longs Meadow, Prospect Park. 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Free.

Miriam Cohen, author of "No Good in Art" "Will I have a Friend?"
and "Down in the Subway" reads for kids and adults and answers
questions about writing at Freebird Books. 123 Columbia Street. 11 a.m.
Free

_First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. The museum is free and open
until 11 p.m.  There’s a one-act play about growing old in 1970’s
Brooklyn, short films, and "Weimar Cabaret" performed by members of the
Brooklyn Philarmonic. Dancing begins at 9 p.m. in the rotunda. Cha cha
cha. 200 Eastern Parkway.

_Dance Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Fundraiser and dance party in Williamsburg at Galapagos Artspace. 70 North 6th Street. Between Kent and Wythe, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

_"The End of the Moon." Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. Tickets and Schedule here.

_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." 8 p.m.

TASTINGS: "Sideways" face down. Pinot
Noir from Castle Rock in Monterey goes against Merlot from Waterstone
in Carneros. Make up your mind which you like best. Saturday 3/5. Big
Nose Full Body. 382 Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. 4-6
p.m.

_And on Saturday 3/12: Pinot/Merlot face off Part Deux. From France, a
Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a Merlot from Bordeaux. Same time, same
place as above.

MONDAY:  Hear what the Ratner project could mean to Brooklyn in terms of:

  • displacement of residents
  • impact on schools, police and fire services
  • effect on small businesses
  • transportation issues

The presentation will also include a discussion of the project’s
claimed community benefits as well as its financial impact to city and
state taxpayers." Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM; P.S. 9, 80 Underhill Avenue (between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.); Invited officials: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James

WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT:  Second Grade Art Show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and
Garfield Place. The children’s Romare Bearden-esque cityscape collages
will be up all month.

_Design Sponge’s DIY
Contest, the best in do-it-yourself design. Design Sponge, who lives in
Williamsburg, knows ALL about great furniture, housewares, paper
products, graphic design, jewelry and MORE.

_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. Critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.

_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights

THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf

Civics and Urban Life

CONTENTS_4 March 05

NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_Louise Crawford

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
Saturday Bridge to Bridge Run, Get-together for Dogs and Owners, Preferences of Food Deliverers, Free Saturday at Brooklyn Museum, Clean Your Closets for a Good Cause and MORE…

BROOKLYN THINKERS_Moving and Shaking by Laments of the Unfinished

SIDE PANELS_An ever-expanding list of links to Brooklyn essentials including Brooklyn Rail, Daily Heights, and other cool Brooklyn sites

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford

Ds011122_stdMarch is hitting me like a sack of potatoes. Now that the fun of
February is over and everyone has gone home, I’m feeling kinda…blah.

It’s
"the February blahs" transposed onto March: they
can’t be avoided, can’t be missed. February’s blahness is cathartic and essential.

But I thought I’d escaped "the February blahs" this year, what with The Gates, the
guests, and all that. There was just too much to do and such good weather.

Monday’s
snowstorm, despite its beauty, made me tire of winter –
the way I usually feel in February. And in a more general way, I am weary and worried; moving blahfully through these first days of March.

February’s eupohoria was real, I think. It seems so
long ago now. I’ve got one of Christo’s orange fabric swatches – a reminder of carefree days with friends and
family. I caress it in my hands to remember the frivolity of those
walks in the Park. Was that just last Saturday?

It had to happen. These blahs. They’re to be expected, even necessary. Yes.

So
maybe everything will be a month off now. The usual hopefulness of
March will be in April, the springiness of April will be in May…etc.

I am on seasonal delay. And that’s why I’m feeling so…blah.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN WEATHER: Sunny and cold. Snow flurries on Saturday. Maybe.  More Brooklyn weather here.

CITY NEWS:  Martha Stewart leaves prison today after a five month vacation stay.

_The Madrid bombing suspect is said to have had
pictures of Grand Central Station on his computer. But there is no
information about a specific plot to bomb Grand Central.

_The New York Public Library has opened a digital gallery of images. Check it out: the NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000 images digitized from
  primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public
  Library, including illuminated
  manuscripts, historical maps,
vintage posters,
rare prints and
photographs,
  illustrated books, 
printed ephemera, and more.

_A temporary art museum is to open at Pier 54 in Greenwich Village.
The Nomadic Museum is made up of 148 multi-colored shipping
containers.  Inside is a multi-media exhibit by photographer, Gregory
Colbert.   

_For those who don’t already know, a MTA fair hike went into effect last weekend.
The price of a $70 Metrocard rocketed up to $76. A weekly pass from
$21 to $24. The cost of a single ride remains: $2.00. Read all about it.

_A survey about the preferences of food deliverers featured in the
New York Time’s revealed that "New York’s delivery rules are pretty
basic:
Watch your dog. Have your money ready. Tip well, and do it in cash. And
wear your nicest boxers."

BROOKLYN BEAT: Jackie Robinson, former Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball, was given a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor earlier in the week. Read all about it.

_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein; a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations.  It’s Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building. 

FRIDAY: Second Grade Art Show at Starbucks. Seventh Avenue between 1st and Garfield. Opening party from 5-6 p.m. Show will be up for all of March.

_"The End of the Moon." Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. Tickets and Schedule here.

_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." 8 p.m.

SATURDAY: Early morning get-together for dogs and their owners in Longs Meadow, Prospect Park. 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Free.

_Miriam Cohen, author of "No Good in Art" "Will I have a Friend?"
and "Down in the Subway" reads for kids and adults and answers
questions about writing at Freebird Books. 123 Columbia Street. 11 a.m.
Free

_First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. The museum is free and open
until 11 p.m.  There’s a one-act play about growing old in 1970’s
Brooklyn, short films, and "Weimar Cabaret" performed by members of the
Brooklyn Philarmonic. Dancing begins at 9 p.m. in the rotunda. Cha cha
cha. 200 Eastern Parkway.

_Dance Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Fundraiser and dance party in Williamsburg at Galapagos Artspace. 70 North 6th Street. Between Kent and Wythe, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

TASTINGS: "Sideways" face down. Pinot Noir from Castle Rock in Monterey goes against Merlot from Waterstone in Carneros. Make up your mind which you like best. Saturday 3/5. Big Nose Full Body. 382 Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. 4-6 p.m.

_And on Saturday 3/12: Pinot/Merlot face off Part Deux. From France, a Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a Merlot from Bordeaux. Same time, same place as above.

WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT:  Design Sponge’s DIY
Contest, the best in do-it-yourself design. Design Sponge, who lives in
Williamsburg, knows ALL about great furniture, housewares, paper
products, graphic design, jewelry and MORE.

_Check out The Brooklyn Rail. Critical perpectives on arts, politics, and culture. Especially the piece by Patricial Spears Jones.

_Check out Daily Heights about life in Prospect Heights.

THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music
in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf

Civics and Urban Life

CONTENTS_3 FEB 05

NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford
Thursday_2More thoughts on a space for teens.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
Congressional honors for a Brooklyn Dodger, Dance Don’t Destroy Brooklyn Bash, First Night at the Brooklyn Museum, Poetry by Elizabeth Bishop and more.

BROOKLYN THINKERS_by Laments of the Unfinished
Be Still My Soul: Moving and Shaking

SIDE PANELS_What you need to know about life in this borough. Scroll up, scroll down, scroll and click. You’ll learn a lot.

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford

1656599_stdIn Park Slope, few would argue that a community needs playgrounds for its children – a space where they can run around, climb, swing, slide, and have fun. 

It should stand to reason, then, that a community like this would also understand the importance of a playspace for adolescents: somewhere to call their own where they can meet other teenagers and be their noisy, effusive and creative selves.

Sometimes I think we, as a culture, are in denial about the needs of our teenagers. We spend huge amounts of money and time thinking about every last item for the newborn and toddler set. But when it comes to teens there’s just a lot of fear and misunderstanding. Fear that comes from memories of our own behavior as teens. And fear of the kinds of dangers they are capable of getting themselves into.

But instead of dealing with it we ignore them by pushing them out of sight or on the street where they are probably most at risk of getting into trouble.

A friend and I discussed this at a party the other night. A mother of two soon-to-be-teen girls, she is concerned that this neighborhood’s message to their young adults is: Get Out! Very few places on Seventh Avenue allow large groups of kids. The owner of the Mojo is sick and tired of having them hang out in his patio; and there’s a big sign in the window of Pino’s that says: No Loitering.

It is, of course, completely understandable that these store owners don’t want the noise and fuss. It’s not really their responsibility to supervise these kids. And they’ve got businesses to run. But whose responsibility is it?

First, it is the responsibility of parents to set limits for their kids and keep a tight watch on their whereabouts. We must, of course, keep them out of harm’s way. But it is also our job to help them develop into confident, creative, socially responsible human beings. And to do that, they need space to spread their wings and play just like our toddlers did. As my friend wrote the other day, "a good community center with
movies, a cafe, a place for garage bands to perform, goings-on, and
space to just hang — away from parents and other pesky authority
figures — would go a long way toward preventing the kind of excess that was in the 321 playground on Friday night."

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN WEATHER: Periods of clouds and sun. High 34 degrees. More Brooklyn weather here.

CITY NEWS:  The Madrid bombing suspect is said to have had pictures of Grand Central Station on his computer. But there is no information about a specific plot to bomb Grand Central. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that the information "is not particularly threatening." 191 people died in that incident on March 11, 2004.

_A temporary art museum is to open at Pier 54 in Greenwich Village. The Nomadic Museum is made up of 148 multi-colored shipping containers.  Inside is a multi-media exhibit by photographer, Gregory Colbert.   

_For those who don’t already know, a MTA fair hike went into effect last weekend.
The price of a $70 Metrocard rocketed up to $76. A weekly pass from
$21 to $24. The cost of a single ride remains: $2.00. Read all about it.

_A survey about the preferences of food deliverers featured in the New York Time’s revealed that "New York’s delivery rules are pretty basic:
Watch your dog. Have your money ready. Tip well, and do it in cash. And wear your nicest boxers."

BROOKLYN BEAT: Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodger second baseman and the first black player in Major League Baseball was given a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor yesterday. Read all about it.

_Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal
structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge
is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is
the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein — it’s a
rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm
Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with
thousands of color combinations Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State
Building. 

_Slope Kids Bash American Soldier, was
the headline in our local "Park Slope Paper." The article goes on to
say that sixth graders at MS 51 sent so-called "demoralizing letters"
to a soldier stationed near North Korea as part of a social studies
assignment. Several of the letters sent to Pfc. Rob Jacobs by students
"attacked soldier for participating in the war in Iraq." writes Park
Slope Paper reporter Jotham Sederstrom. Deputy Schools Chancellor
Carmen Farina said on Tuesday that she will personally issue an apology
to the New Jersey soldier and his family. The teacher, Alex Kunhardt,
was reprimanded by Principal Xavier Castelli, who said that he plans to
add a letter of reprimand to Kunhardt’s teacher’s file.

_Two con artists robbed the Park Slope Food Co-op of a money bag containing nearly $5,000 on February 16.

_The ASPCA arrested Hearts and Homes Animal Shelter founder Carmello
Salamone, who  is charged with overdriving, torturing, and injuring
animals and failure to provide proper sustenance for animals, says  the
district attorney’s office. He could face up to 11 years in prison. 

THURSDAY: The Mila Drumke Band. plays The Living Room. TONIGHT. 154 Ludlow Street between Rivington and Stanton. A friend writes: "She is the voice of the angels who sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at David Fontana’s funeral service. She has a new CD coming out and she ROCKS." March 3. 8 p.m.

_"The End of the Moon." Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. Tickets and Schedule here.

_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." 8 p.m.

SATURDAY: Early morning get-together for dogs and their owners in Longs Meadow, Prospect Park. 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Free.

_Miriam Cohen, author of "No Good in Art" "Will I have a Friend?" and "Down in the Subway" reads for kids and adults and answers questions about writing at Freebird Books. 123 Columbia Street. 11 a.m. Free

_First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. The museum is free and open until 11 p.m.  There’s a one-act play about growing old in 1970’s Brooklyn, short films, and "Weimar Cabaret" performed by members of the Brooklyn Philarmonic. Dancing begins at 9 p.m. in the rotunda. Cha cha cha. 200 Eastern Parkway.

_Dance Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Fundraiser and dance party in Williamsburg at Galapagos Artspace. 70 North 6th Street. Between Kent and Wythe, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

WORTH TAKING A LOOK:  Design Sponge’s DIY
Contest, the best in do-it-yourself design. Design Sponge, who lives in Williamsburg, knows ALL about great furniture, housewares, paper
products, graphic design, jewelry and MORE.

THIS SOUNDS COOL: The Fourth Annual Planet XX: Women in Music in honor of Women’s History month. BAMcaf

Civics and Urban Life

CONTENTS_2 March 05

Wednesday_1NO WORDS_Daily Pix by Hugh Crawford

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise Crawford

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.
Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State Building, Jane Jacobs quote, Winners of Design Sponge’s DIY Contest and more.

BROOKLYN THINKERS_Syracuse Links by Oswegatchie

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE

1 Comment

I am glad to hear that Walmart backed away from its plans to build a big box store in Queens. For now anyway.

Richard Lipsky, a lobbyist with the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, a coaliltion of small supermarkets, bodegas and Korean markets, knows how to fight the big guys. He told New York Magazine: "You have
to identify the little mayors, the caretakers of localized customs and
traditions who are agressively protective of their neighborhoods. Your
message can’t just be about jobs. That gets labor on your side, but the
key is combine a left-wing populist message with a conservative
populist one about neighborhood character. That’s the music that makes
the elected officials want to dance."

There are so many of these battles going on in Brooklyn right now — the Atlantic Yards, Ikea, Fairway, and others. And like Lipsky said, it takes a small group of peope

Scoop Du Jour_Weather. News. Events.

SCOOP DU JOUR_Weather. News. Stuff to Do.

Secrets_2

BROOKLYN WEATHER: Brisk and windy. Cloudy too. Highs around 30 degrees.  More Brooklyn weather here.

CITY NEWS: The snow was no big deal!

_Monday’s annual count of homeless persons was been cancelled
because of the snow. It will be rescheduled for next Monday.  The
Department of Homeless Services says the count helps them plan for
better ways to assist the homeless.

_Workers began taking down the 7500 gates that have graced Central Park for 16 days. But there is still much to see. Check it out!

_According
to a survey out this week by software security company Pointsec, in the
last six months alone, it’s estimated more than 11,000 laptop
computers, more than 31,000 digital handhelds and around 200,000 cell
phones have been left behind in taxi cabs throughout the world. New
York City cabbies aren’t surprised in the least. The Taxi and
Limousine Commission estimates in the last seven months nearly 9,000
electronic devices were lost in Big Apple cabs.

_For those who don’t already know, a MTA fair hike went into effect this weekend.
The price of a $70 Metrocard rocketed up to $76. A weekly pass from
$21 to $24. The cost of a single ride remains: $2.00.Read all about it.

BROOKLYN BEAT: Have you been wondering what that crazy/cool looking trapezoidal structure on top of the  building right next to the Manhattan Bridge is? Well, you ain’t the only one. Dubbed the Jetsons building, it is the work of a 32-year-old architect named Dedy Blaustein — it’s a rooftop addition to the building that houses the architecture firm Scarano and Associates. And there’s even cool LED lighting with thousands of color combinations Brooklyn’s answer to the Empire State Building. 

_Slope Kids Bash American Soldier, was
the headline in our local "Park Slope Paper." The article goes on to
say that sixth graders at MS 51 sent so-called "demoralizing letters"
to a soldier stationed near North Korea as part of a social studies
assignment. Several of the letters sent to Pfc. Rob Jacobs by students
"attacked soldier for participating in the war in Iraq." writes Park
Slope Paper reporter Jotham Sederstrom. Deputy Schools Chancellor
Carmen Farina said on Tuesday that she will personally issue an apology
to the New Jersey soldier and his family. The teacher, Alex Kunhardt,
was reprimanded by Principal Xavier Castelli, who said that he plans to
add a letter of reprimand to Kunhardt’s teacher’s file.

_Two con artists robbed the Park Slope Food Co-op of a money bag containing nearly $5,000 on February 16.

_The ASPCA arrested Hearts and Homes Animal Shelter founder Carmello
Salamone, who  is charged with overdriving, torturing, and injuring
animals and failure to provide proper sustenance for animals, says  the
district attorney’s office. He could face up to 11 years in prison. 

WEDNESDAY: "The End of the Moon." Laurie Anderson’s one woman with violin show at BAM. Check Brooklyn Arts on the left side panel.

_The Wooster Group at St. Ann’s Warehouse performing "House/Lights." 8 p.m.

SATURDAY: Miriam Cohen, author of No Good in Art, Will I have a Friend? and Down in the Subway reads for kids and adults and answers questions about writing at Freebird Books. 123 Columbia Street. 11 a.m. Free

WORTH TAKING A LOOK: Check out the winning entries of  Design Sponge’s DIY
Contest, the best in do-it-yourself design, on the blog. Design Sponge lives in
Williamsburg and knows ALL about great furniture, housewares, paper
products, graphic design, jewelry and MORE. If she does it again, I’ll
give you a heads-up about the contest.

CLEAN YOUR CLOSETS FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Comb those closets and toy bins and save the good stuff for the Winter Carnival Rummage Sale. Children’s clothes, toys, games — all must be in good condition. Collection bins will be in the main lobby at PS 321 beginning Mon 3/7.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Kathleen Edwards’ latest. "Back to Me."  Zoe Records.   

NEW SNEAKERS: Jack Rabbit’s beginner and intermediate running
workshops are starting up in March. Great coaches, great people, great
motivation: the course will, without
a doubt, improve your running. Think about it. See Brooklyn Fitness on
the side panel.

Registration for the Brooklyn Half-marathon on March 19th is now open.

HEAR/SAY: "New York still has so much pizzazz, because people make it new every
day. Like all cities, it

Civics and Urban Life

DANCE DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN

News of this dance was sent to my e-mail and the graphic just grabbed me. Also the prospect of dancing for a decent cause seemed like a great idea. Here’s what the Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn folks have to say:

"It

Civics and Urban Life

BROOKLYN THINKERS_by Oswegatchie

LINKS TO SYRACUSE 

I was born in Syracuse, and my Dad grew up there, and his Dad, who was
an obstetrician and family doctor, and worked at Syracuse General
Hospital. Though we moved when I was five, I went back for a year in
college, to study at Syracuse University, and I’ve always been kind of
attached to the place.

Yesterday I found this great website about Syracuse:

Syracuse Then and Now

There’s
historical stuff, stuff about urbanism, renewal, redlining, and a great
section on historical preservation with advice for the old home-owner,
which is me.

On days when it hits 10 degrees and I’m feeling
personally guilty for the geopolitical oil problem, it’s helpful to be
reminded that old homes are not just fossil fuel guzzlers. As a rule,
we are actually better insulated than homes built from the 40s to the
70s. And, as one document on the website reminded me, old windows are
not just sieves. They are only slightly less efficient than vinyl
windows, which can warp and crack over time. (And with some fresh air
blowing through now and then, we don’t have to worry about radon and
other toxins!)

Every city needs a website like this and a place
to discuss the truth about whether our short-term livelihoods depend on
the continued proliferation of sprawl, architectural ugliness and
obsessive consumerism. Our cities need us, they need to keep us. One
reason we bought this old house is I felt it needed us to take care of
it and honor its history.

I sometimes wonder if my children will
stay connected to the town where we’re raising them, or run off for
greener pastures. Provocative article along these lines at Syracuse
Then and Now: The Rise of the Creative Class

Postcard from the Slope

POSTCARD FROM THE SLOPE_by Louise G. Crawford

Crw_1111Sunday’s Postcard from the Slope about the teens who had to be hauled off in ambulances Friday night because they’d consumed too much alcohol seems to have struck a nerve with some OTBKB readers.

A friend wrote: "I think this kind of stuff happens more than it should because there
aren’t enough places for these kids to hang out, to call their own. I
know this sounds ridiculous in a place like NYC, but the truth is that
many establishments — coffee houses, etc, discourage big groups of kids
from entering and/or hanging out. I think a good community center with
movies, a cafe, a place for garage bands to perform, goings-on, and
space to just hang — away from parents and other pesky authority
figures — would go a long way toward preventing the kind of excess you
saw in the 321 playground the other night. How about the building on
the corner of 2nd Street and 7th Ave.? Or the abandoned house next to
Carvel?"

I agree with my friend that the slope’s teens would really benefit from a place to call their own. The center could also have chess tables, games, a stage for performance art, stand up comedy, plays, poetry readings and more. There could also be plenty of art supplies and lots of space for creative activities.

Setting up something like this is a tricky proposition. How do you create a space  that it is safe and well-supervised without it feeling intrusive, restrictive and, well, uncool. Maybe the people at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store have some suggestions: they seem to have figured out how to create the kind of place kids really want to be.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB

Serving Park Slope and Beyond