All posts by louise crawford

Postcard from the Slope

Civic Council Releases Report on Feb 7 Community Workshop on Livable Streets

Following an event called the Livable Streets Brunch/Workshop on February 7, the Park Slope Civic Council has released its interesting and
informative report. I assume it will be posted on their website by next week if not sooner.

It was an interesting workshop for sure.

Members and non-members of the Civic Council gathered for bagels and discussion in an upstair's room at the Park Slope YMCA.

At the meeting I learned that the Livable Streets Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council takes action on a wide range of issues affecting how the streets are used by all from mass transit service to the Civic Council’s semi-annual Civic Sweep and Clean Walk to School programs, to traffic and pedestrian safety, to the quality of life on our streets. 

Small groups of 5-10 sat at separate tables and discussed their "Livable Streets Hotspots," areas of concern in the Park Slope area.

Each table presented their "Hotspots" to the larger group (more than 50 people were in attendance) and later each table presented some forward-thinking ideas about how to solve traffic, pedestrian and other types of vexing quality of life and environmental issues in the neighborhood.

Quite a few participants suggested that Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West be made two-way avenues.  Conditions on Eighth Avenue, Prospect Park West, and Union Street are linked inextricably to traffic patterns at Grand Army Plaza, the subject of separate efforts by the Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo), NYCDOT, and others.
 
It was all very democratic and there was quite a bit of "out-of-the-box" thinking that emerged from the event.

I was impressed with the group and their ability to speak openly, succinctly and without getting bogged down in personal issues or argumentative gripes. This was a very constructive exercise in community democracy and I loved being part of it.

According to planners of the event, "the workshop was aimed explicitly at ordinary citi-
zens, not transportation or planning professionals or members of advocacy groups.  The output of
the workshop would be a set of priorities that would inform the Livable Streets Committee in its
future activities and advocacy, which would be shared as well with City agencies and elected of-
ficials."

The following is from the introduction to this impressive report.

 This report includes approximately 120 individual findings of “hotspots” by members of the
community.  Most are transportation-related, but the Civic Council was gratified at the number
of “hotspots” that had to do with quality of life and environmental issues.  The concept of Liv-
able Streets goes far beyond transportation.  Livable streets are safe streets, but they are also
quality places.
 
The findings in this report are divided into seven groups:
 
• Group “A” – Eighth Avenue/Prospect Park West/Union Street Corridor
• Group “B” – Grand Army Plaza
• Group “C” – Fifth Avenue/Sixth Avenue/Seventh Avenue
• Group “D” – Third Avenue/Fourth Avenue Corridor
• Group “E” – Cross Streets
• Group “F” – Flatbush Avenue
• Group “G” – Issues not specific to a single location
 
The single biggest set of concerns reported by the workshop participants deals with conditions on
Eighth Avenue, Prospect Park West, and Union Street.  The first two, being one-way avenues,
are widely seen as being speedways, unsafe for all users.  Union Street is a bottleneck of traffic
going toward Grand Army Plaza.  Over the years, the New York City Department of Transporta-
tion (NYCDOT) has added traffic signals at unsignaled intersections in this corridor and has
worked on signal timing, all in an effort to make conditions on these avenues safer.  The consensus from the workshop is that much more needs to be done, and many participants argued forcefully that Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West be made two-way avenues.  Conditions on
Eighth Avenue, Prospect Park West, and Union Street are linked inextricably to traffic patterns at
Grand Army Plaza, the subject of separate efforts by the Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo),
NYCDOT, and others.
 
Vehicles moving at high speeds through the neighborhood were a particular cause for concern. 
Traffic calming was a major item of discussion in the workshop, and there was a consensus that
lower speed limits would signal the residential nature of our streets and would improve safety for
pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike.
 
The participants noted problems at places such as Bartel-Pritchard Square, Middle School 51,
and along Fourth Avenue. Some of the issues on Fourth Avenue concerned the intersection at
Ninth Street.  One possible solution was very well received by participants; the October 2008
resolution by the Civic Council recommending re-opening a long-closed entrance to the elevated
subway station at this location, in order to reduce vehicle-pedestrian conflicts at this busy inter-
section and better serve passengers living east, i.e. uphill, of that station.  The Civic Council’s
proposal also included improvements to lighting and security, and introduction of a retail com-
ponent in the same location.  MTA New York City Transit has advised that the plans for rehabili-
tating the Fourth Avenue station had been completed and could not be changed, though the sta-
tion rehabilitation does not appear in the MTA’s 2009 – 2013 Capital Plan.  The Civic Council
continues to advocate for this solution.
 
Participants also touched on abandoned buildings, unkempt sidewalks and gutters, threatened
reductions in service on the B69 and B75 bus routes, unloading zones for both commercial and
residential deliveries, and physically separated bike lanes.  Some participants provided drawings
to accompany their proposed solutions.  One, a proposal for a traffic-calmed Bartel-Pritchard
Square, appears on the last page of this report.
 
This report presents a very comprehensive portrait of the streets of Park Slope, as painted by its
residents – the people who know them best.  It does not cover every street and every block, but
the points raised can be generalized.

If this interests you, there's a way you can get involved. The Livable Streets Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council meets every Wednesday of every month, except July and
August, at 8.15 AM at Ozzie's, 5th Avenue at Garfield Place.  To the group that assembed on February 7th, they wrote: You gave
a lot of good ideas and great energy at the workshop; now let's all
work together to bring them about. 

"You need not be members of the
Civic Council to work with us, although we hope you will join!  Go to http://www.parkslopeciviccouncil.org for details and on-line membership."

Smartmom

Unthinkable: Smartmom Catches a Bad Cold

Smartmom_big8
From this week's Brooklyn Paper:

It was highly unusual; the moms of Park Slope almost never get sick.

But last Tuesday, they were dropping like flies. Smartmom got a
cellphone call from Divorce Diva, who had such a bad case of laryngitis
that Smartmom could barely understand her tortured whisper. But she did
manage to decipher the following.

Apparently, she’d been on vacation with her daughter, her fiancée
and his children and she felt so sick that she had to sleep in the car
while they were enjoying themselves at a skating rink in Philadelphia.

Later that day, Warm and Funny e-mailed to say that she too had fallen sick while on vacation.

Then, the unthinkable: Smartmom developed chills during her
Alexander Technique session at Alexander Junction. Afterwards, she
ordered hot water at ’Snice and sat sipping it in her coat, hat, gloves
and scarf.

But nothing seemed to warm her up

When she got home, she crawled into bed — under three blankets and one patchwork quilt. But still: brrrrrr.

When the Oh So Feisty One got home from school, she was in shock. She couldn’t remember the last time her mother was sick.

Of course, it did happen. Once. It was back in January, 2005, when
Smartmom had a runny noise, sore throat, vertigo, an earache, body
aches, and dizziness.

In other words, she felt like the list of symptoms on a cold medicine package.

The times when Smartmom has been sick have been few and far between,
but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get headaches, stomachaches and other
fleeting ailments from time to time.

It’s just that she either soldiers through or ignores what she’s feeling.

Don’t worry. She’ll just sit here in the dark, as the old Jewish mother/light bulb joke goes.

Last Tuesday was an exception. Feeling alternately feverish and cold
with a host of flu symptoms, she got into bed with “Wings of the Dove,”
the long Henry James novel she’s been trying to finish for weeks. She
tried to read, but all she felt like doing was sleeping.

And that’s what she did, off and on, for the next five days.

Every morning, she woke up and thought she felt better. Every day,
she realized that she was still sick and had to get back into bed.

How did the family react?

Teen Spirit sounded sincerely concerned when he breezed through the
apartment every 20 hours or so on route to his internship at Showpaper,
a band rehearsal, or food with friends at Donuts.

OSFO was willing, here and there, to leap up to get Smartmom cups of
hot water, Advil and Theraflu. Thank Buddha that someone raised that
kid right.

Hepcat seemed a little vexed by the whole thing. (He’s really bought
into Smartmom’s martyr act, no doubt.) It’s not like Smartmom waits on
him hand and foot or anything — they have a very modern marriage, which
means they eat too much takeout, allow their apartment to have that
post-tornado look, and go weeks without clean clothes.

But still, no one can deny that Smartmom makes the family’s world go ’round.

Holy granola, if Smartmom is sick, who’s going to wake OSFO so she can take her 5:30 am shower?

Who’s going to keep the house stocked with milk, orange juice and breakfast from the Met Food?

Who’s going to take the dirty clothes all the way down to the
washer/dryer in the basement and bring them back up when they’re done?

Who’s going to fill and empty the dishwasher?

Who’s going to remind Hepcat to make dinner?

Who’s going to clean up after dinner?

Who’s going to…?

OK, so Smartmom feels indispensable. Sometimes she even feels like an underappreciated domestic slave (just like her friends).

But this time, Smartmom and her gang had no choice but to succumb to this ruthless bug.

Most of all, they were glad to be able to commiserate with each
other by phone, e-mail, text, Facebook and even comments on The
Brooklyn Paper’s Web site during their time of need.

Divorce Diva called, laryngitis and all, with hourly reports about
her condition. What seemed like a common cold morphed into full-blown
strep.

Then her eyes were swollen shut and she rushed to the doctor.

“You won’t believe it. I have strep in my eyes!” she told Smartmom hoarsely.

Warm and Funny, meanwhile, texted Smartmom that she received a diagnosis of bronchitis.

Later, she texted to say that the antibiotics did nothing to alleviate her symptoms.

Her fiancée was traveling, and she had to think of all sorts of creative ways to get her son to and from school.

Smartmom even posted on Facebook about how she was feeling, and got a bunch of nice responses from friends:

“Stop trying to work, etc. surrender, spend a few days in bed, with
periodic baths, a lot of fluids, chicken soup and some occasional
gentle stretching,” said Charlie. “Empty your head. Take two Advil at
9:30 and go to bed (large glass of water at bedside).”

Smartmom was very moved by his words. She also appreciated all the
Facebook friends who told her to order spicy Thai soup from Lemongrass
Grill.

Strangely, Smartmom’s flu, like the economy, seemed to get worse
before it got better. On Sunday, she dragged herself to St. Ann’s
Warehouse to see “Mabou Mines Dollhouse,” an avant-garde rehashing of
Ibsen’s classic play.

In this version, all the women are played by actresses over 6-feet and the men are all played by dwarfs.

Much as she enjoyed Ibsen’s feminist masterpiece, she started to
have the chills again and had to leave at intermission. When she got
home she had a fever of 101.

Back to bed she went. But first, she texted Divorce Diva and Warm and Funny.

“Relapse. Fever is 101. This thing really lingers on.”

Once again, Smartmom lay under three blankets and a patchwork quilt.
Once again, she had give into it big time and stop fighting.

Maybe it was a good lesson for all. Moms need to get sick every now
and again. It’s not good to model too much stoicism (martyrdom is so
unattractive).

Moms need to show the kids that it’s OK to break down. Otherwise,
the next generation will have weird expectations of women. They’ll
expect them to be superwomen when it’s perfectly fine to be the real,
flesh and blood human kind.

So what if nothing gets done? Maybe it’ll teach their spouses and their kids to do things for themselves.

Civics and Urban Life

Good Morning: It’s An Hour Later Than You Think It Is!

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Guess what? You lost an hour last night. It happened while you were sleeping. But that's okay: it's only daylight saving time. Nothing to be too worried about. But don't forget to turn your clocks one hour ahead. 

Whatever time it says on your stove clock, your alarm clock, your watch, that obscure clock on the high shelf: it's actually one hour later.

Chances are the time on your computer is correct. Those contraptions seem to always know the correct time. You friends on Facebook will probably be posting about this all day. 

Still, if you're not careful you may find yourself running a little behind schedule. You might even show up an hour late for brunch at Rosewater—or wherever you do brunch around here.

Daylight Saving Factoid from the Edmonton Sun: Daylight saving time, which requires participating regions to turn
their clocks one hour ahead in the spring and one hour back in the
fall, was introduced by the U.S. as an energy-saver in 2005. The idea
was, shifting an hour of daylight from early morning to late evening
would be more in sync with waking time and reduce residential energy
use.

Civics and Urban Life

Don’t Forget to Spring Ahead on Sunday

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You're going to lose an hour. But that's okay: it's daylight savings time. Don't forget to turn your clocks one hour ahead at 2 a.m. tomorrow for daylight saving time.

It'll feel like 2 a.m. but it'll be 3 a.m.

DST Factoid from the Edmonton Sun: Daylight saving time, which requires participating regions to turn
their clocks one hour ahead in the spring and one hour back in the
fall, was introduced by the U.S. as an energy-saver in 2005. The idea
was, shifting an hour of daylight from early morning to late evening
would be more in sync with waking time and reduce residential energy
use.

Civics and Urban Life

Time for Fair Weather Friends

Winter. And everyone is so bundled up in their cold weather outerwear, you barely recognize them. No one stops to say hello because they're rushing to do whatever they're rushing to do. 

And then comes a spring day and it's time for stoop sitting. I saw the people who live in the building next door sitting on their stoop for the first time in ages. One woman, who I speak to often in good weather (I guess you'd call her a fair weather friend) got a new dog, a Maltese; she calls him Maximus. 

Maximus is only five months old. But what a white, fluffy duster of fur he is. How do you spell adorable? While we were out there someone walked by with two grown Maltese and there was all kinds of oohing and cooing. 

I ran into another Third Street friend on Seventh Avenue. She looked fetching in a bold brown and black striped Marimekko shirt and we talked for a good half hour about this and that and this. 

Best and Oldest called first thing this morning to see if I wanted to walk around the park. "It's 50 degrees," she said when she heard hesitation in my voice. 

Walking around the park was lovely.  

Back at home,  I heard music wafting up from our front yard. 

"What is that?" I queried Hepcat.
"I think it's Ravi's sitar," he said. 

Indeed. OSFO looked out the window and said that Ravi, our second floor neighbor, was playing the sitar. He sounded one year better than the last time he was in the yard a year ago. And he sounded pretty great back then. He's only 16.

On the first springy day just five days after "the biggest snowstorm of the season" everyone is in such a good mood in the Slope. Barrio opened their French doors and are letting the fresh air in. Lisa Polansky has tables of shoes and boots out in front of her store. 

A man selling books on Seventh Avenue called out to me: 

"You know I buy used records." he said. 

"How did you know I have records," I said. 

"I just took a guess," he said. "Dylan and Beatles. Some Beatles LP's fetch $10,000." 

"Well, my dad died and he was a record collector," I said. 

"Sorry to hear that," he said. 

"And I do have Dylan's Blonde on Blonde with the photo of the woman on the inside…" I said. "My dad collected 78's."

"There's a Robert Johnson 78. Cracked in half it went for $10,000." 

And by then I was half  a street away. 
Civics and Urban Life

Clinton Hill Restaurant and Family To Raise Funds for Two Children Suffering from SanFilippo Syndrome

This story brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it's my mood. But this kind of thing is so lovely. A family is having a birthday party for their son. In lieu of presents, they are asking for donations to a charity called A Hundred for a Home for two Brooklyn children who are suffering from Sanfilippo Syndrome.

Autour Du Monde, a Brooklyn restaurant
serving all natural and organic French eclectic fare, has teamed up
with a local family, the Heiser-Muddell’s to raise funds for Waverly
and Oliver McNeil, two children suffering from MPS III or Sanfilippo
Syndrome. L
The occasion is the Heiser-Muddell’s son, Navi Sam’s, first
birthday party, which will be held at Autour Du Monde, 860 Fulton
Street, Brooklyn, on Saturday, March 7 from 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm.
In lieu of gifts for Navi Sam, the Heiser-Muddell’s are asking that
their invited guests instead make donations to A Hundred for a Home, a
charity for Waverly, 5 and Oliver, 2, the children of Matt and Shannon
McNeil, friends of the Heiser Muddell’s.  Autour Du Monde, will also
donate a portion of the bar proceeds to the charity.  

When planning the party
for Navi Sam, the idea of the charity came to mind.  “We feel so lucky
to have a healthy and happy little boy,” said Erin Heiser-Muddell.  “We
felt it would be wonderful to honor him by helping some children who
haven’t been as lucky.  We are so grateful to Olivier and Pauline
Jimenez, owners of Autour Du Monde, for their generosity and
willingness to help.”   

Sanfilippo Syndrome is a
genetic disorder seen in children who don't have an essential enzyme
needed to break down long sugar chains. The disease goes undetected in
children until sugars build up in their bodies around the age of two,
after which symptoms appear in stages and progress rapidly. Life
expectancy varies from child to child, but generally children do not
live past their early teens. Learn more about A Hundred for a Home by visiting their website at www.ahundredforahome.com.   

Olivier and Pauline Jimenez
opened Autour Du Monde in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood in
December 2007.  The restaurant will be open to the public during the
party.  Visit Autour Du Monde’s website at www.restaurantautourdumonde.com.  

Postcard from the Slope

Jessica Stockton: Lessons Learned About Lent from a French Cookbook

My friend Pastor Daniel Meeter has a guest post about lent from Jessica Stockton, blogger of The Writtern Nerd, on his Old First Blog.

I was interested to read that she is blogging for the  New York Times' new Local blog project for Fort Greene/ Clinton Hill.

So she's the literary blogger over there, which means, she'll be writing once every couple of weeks about the literary life of the neighborhood,
past and present.

.Here's an excerpt and a link from Old First Blog.

I've realized this year how much I look forward to Lent. I didn't
grow up observing it – it wasn't much emphasized in the California
Mennonite Brethren Church, and I think I learned about it from my
Catholic friends. It sounded a little weird to me, as it probably does
to most people.

It was actually a French cookbook that deepened
my understanding. Amid the decadent recipes for Easter cakes and meats,
the author mentioned that in traditional French and European culture,
Easter was following on a long cold season where no one had eaten meat,
eggs, or milk. This was a kind of medieval detox, she suggested, that
made the spring Easter feast all the more enjoyable.

I hadn't
thought before that about how seasonally appropriate Lent is, or was in
a culture more connected to the seasons. Food was scarcer as stores ran
out, so we tightened our belts. It's not doctrinal, but it's a wise
strategy of the church, to deal with of the most difficult time of year
and use it as a way of understanding sin and suffering.

Coming
from the mild weather of California, this part of the year in the
Northeast has always been especially difficult for me. It's been so
cold for so long, and it seems to be getting colder, and it seems
there's so much more winter still to come. I chafe against the weather,
frustrated and angry and indignant. Lent is a way of accepting the
darkness and the cold as right and appropriate for its time. I look
forward to Lent because it makes sense of the darkness.

Civics and Urban Life

Dine in Brookyn Details to be Announced on Monday

I am so doing this because it's like lunch at Brooklyn Borough Hall with a great group of restaurants. And Brookyn Brewery is introducing its new beer, Local 2. Come on. It's a no–brainer. I'll take Hepcat. marty that'll be two more for lunch, please.

On Monday, March 9, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz
will host a press “tasting” featuring some of Brooklyn’s top
restaurants and announce details of the sixth annual “Dine in
Brooklyn” to be held March 23 – April 2. Three-course prix-fixe
dinner, lunch and brunch menus will be offered at nearly 200 participating
restaurants—and the list keeps growing.

Scheduled to participate in the press “tasting” and kickoff
are baci & abbracci, Back to Nature (kosher), Barrio (Cabana and Playa),
Bussaco, Café Buon Gusto, Chip Shop (Park Slope), Dougie’s BBQ and Grill
(kosher), The Fish and Chip Shop, Green House Café, The Grocery, Kenny’s
Trattoria, Kif, Korhogo 126, Lokal Mediterranean Bistro, Marco Polo Ristorante,
Morton’s the Steakhouse, My Moon, Palo Santo, Pearl Room, Petit Oven,
Piramide, Provence en Boite, Scopello, Sotto Voce, Tavern on Nostrand, Water
Street Restaurant & Lounge, The Woodburning Pit and Yellow Hook Grille

Brooklyn Brewery will also be on hand to unveil its new beer, Local 2.

Postcard from the Slope

Saturday: Making Brooklyn Bloom 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Makeapplecidersign
I heard from Kate Blumm from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and she reminded me to shout out about this. So here it is. I'M SHOUTING: 

Making
Brooklyn Bloom tomorrow at BBG from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s presented
by GreenBridge, the same folks who run the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest.

It's a free all-day event featuring plenty of
workshops, exhibitors, short films and more. This year’s theme is
“Growing Up Green: Guiding Youth From Gardening to Green-Collar
Jobs,” and it’s dedicated to informing Brooklynites about ways to
green their neighborhoods by mobilizing youth towards gardening and
growing fresh food. Highlights include:
 

·        
16 workshops, including Kitchen Botany
and Rain Gardens for Beginners

·        
interactive exhibits including miniature solar
cars, granola-making, and worm composting

·        
an Emerging Green-Collar Jobs Panel
(featuring folks from Sustainable South Bronx, MillionTrees NYC, Added Value
Community Farm and more)

·        
a presentation called “A Brooklyn
Girl’s Food Voice: Three Generations of Growing Food” by Annie
Hauck-Lawson, author of Gastropolis: Food & New York City

 
More information (and a flyer guaranteeing free admission)
 is available here.
I’ve attached a media advisory too; hope you find it post-worthy (even at
this late hour). Thank you!

New York Times

Brooklyn DA Sets Up Real Estate Crime Squad

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This caught my eye. It's in today's New York Times. Real estate crimes are up in Brooklyn: This is a job for Super Real Estate Crime Fighters!  Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes has set up a 12-member unit to battle crimes like fraud and deed forgery. Who knew it was so rampant?

With an array of real estate crimes, ranging from deed forgery to mortgage fraud schemes, adding to foreclosure rates in Brooklyn neighborhoods, the borough’s district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, says the time has come for a specialized unit to investigate and prosecute them.

The
need for such an office has been building, Mr. Hynes said, announcing
the new unit on Friday. As foreclosure rates have sharply risen in
central Brooklyn neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Mr. Hynes’s
office, with limited resources, has been forced to turn down real
estate investigations, and instead has referred victims to civil court
or relied on federal prosecutors, who generally concentrate on larger
schemes.

Mr. Hynes said the new 12-member unit would be
financed for two years with $875,000 in federal money and would help
people like Levi Latham, 75, a Brooklyn retiree whose house was, in
effect, stolen by a woman who took Mr. Latham’s personal information, a
prosecutor said. After executing and recording a false deed, the woman
is now listed as the owner of the house.

Civics and Urban Life

Pattterson Proposing $1.3 Million Cuts to Brooklyn-based Non-Profit for Homeless

Great time to be cutting services to the homeless. This just makes no sense. I know wer're in an economic nightmare. But what are people to do if services dry up? Below is the PR blurbage I just got from CAMBA and it really makes me MAD. Here's an excerpt and a link to CAMBA.

Governor Patterson has proposed to
eliminate the $5 million Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), of
which $1.3 million of would be cut from CAMBA, a Brooklyn-based
nonprofit organization that has kept more than 30,000 families in their homes in Brooklyn since 1991.

Patterson’s cuts follow the New
York City’s Department of Homeless Services report that the city has
recorded the highest number of homeless people since 1982- 9,720.   At
a time when the government is trying hard to keep people in their homes
while maintaining if not providing jobs and when the need for
homelessness prevention is spiking, the New York State proposed budget
eliminates the Homelessness Prevention Program and leaves families
vulnerable with no place to turn.

These vital programs, run by 5
community based organizations, including CAMBA, are the only way that
the majority of families at risk of eviction can apply for the Family
Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS), the rental subsidy program that
replaced Jiggetts.  Last year the citywide HPP prevented 6,680 families
from losing their homes and
CAMBA’s HPP prevented more than 2,000 evictions.  Should these
programs be cut, CAMBA projects that 2,000 families will be affected
and the organization would lose 27 positions.  The projected citywide
job loss would be 90 positions.

 

Civics and Urban Life

These Two Lab Pups Need a Home

2 Comments

Lab_Puppies
A friend just wrote in to say: "Dog’s
owners lost home and can't afford to move on with the dogs. They are
heartbroken and are looking for a home for these two beautiful Labs."

Email me if you are interested in one or both of these adorable puppies. Don't show OSFO. She's desperate for a puppy and we're not allowed to have one in our building.

Louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com

 


Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Last Night: Park Slope Civic Council Forum Dedicated to Guskind

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The Park Slope Civic Council met last night at Old First Dutch Reformed Church on Seventh Aveue for a forum on expanding the Park Slope historic district. The event called, A Question of Character: Expanding the Park Slope Historic District, included architectural historian, Francis Morrone and  Kate Daly, an executive at the  New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Ken Freeman, president of the Park Slope Civic Council, decided to dedicate the meeting to Robert Guskind, founder of the popular blog, Gowanus Lounge. I asked him why:

"Bob was a friend of mine. He was a friend of the Civic Council, a friend of the neighborhood, a friend of Park Slope…His was an observant voice with a critical eye. He was a Brooklynite's Brooklynite. I think we're going to miss him. I dedicated the session to him because when he received my email announcement about it a few weeks ago he called and told me he'd like to help. 'I'm a huge believer in historic preservation,' he told me. He said he was a huge supporter and happy to help in any way."

The forum was the culmination of months of work, research and outreach into the viability of expanding Park Slope's historic district, which was originally landmarked in 1973. Freeman said there is the sense among the Civic Council and other civic groups that significant portions of Park Slope were left out and may merit additional protection.

Freeman explained that there is no specific proposal on the table as to where and what areas should be protected. At this stage, the Council has been spending a lot of time and effort to meet with neighborhood leaders to sound them out. They've also  launched an informative web site called, Save Park Slope.

The purpose of last night's forum was to spell out the issues and bring the public in so that could air their questions and concerns.  Approximately 100 people gathered in the sanctuary of the church.

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Huffington Post: We Lost A Man We Never Fully Realized We Had

Huffington Post Blog Editor David Weiner wrote in to say that he wrote a piece about Bob Guskind "and It's now on the front page of the Huffington Post, so hopefully those
outside of New York will get a chance to discover Bob, if only too late." I include a link and an excerpt.

Here it is:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-weiner/the-death-of-a-blogger_b_172406.htm

I'm about to sound like a member of my parents' generation, but here
it goes: I'm constantly amazed by the blogosphere. I work at a blog
(the one you're currently reading), so I really shouldn't feel this
way. After all, I see the inner-workings, the behind-the-scenes
maneuvering and the unpolished beginnings — the process, so to speak,
that should remove any and all sheen from the finished product. And
I'll admit, oftentimes I do miss the larger picture and I do forget
just how stupefying a "thing" all this really is. But then something
clicks, some event unfolds or some action takes place that reminds me
that blogs, and bloggers, are… well, simply incredible.

Unfortunately, what reminded me this time around was not some genius
piece of writing or some clever mashup of videos. No, sadly this is one
of those moments that could only come to be out of profound loss. The
type of moment that can only be marked by death.

Bob Guskind, a journalist and the man behind the popular Brooklyn blog Gowanus Lounge, was found dead
in his apartment on Wednesday. Now, I know for the vast majority of
people reading this, that means nothing. Just another death on another
day. And I know for those who knew him well, who, I'm sure, are too
busy mourning his death to read this, it means everything. But then
there are the people like me, who lost a man we never fully realized we
had.

We were his faithful readers, his web compatriots, his audience, his
collaborators, and his neighbors, in our real and virtual lives. We
were touched by him, learned from him, and grew with him. Yet most of
us would never have recognized him if he were sitting across from us on
the train or behind us at the movies.

Indeed, I read Bob's work nearly every day, and I barely even knew his name.

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Gowanus Lounge Site Is Back Online: It Brought Us Great Joy

Gowanus Lounge is up again:

With great sadness, a few of Bob’s friends, who were given access to his site, will try to update Gowanus Lounge with:

1) An obituary and other links

2) An announcement of a memorial service

Meanwhile, comments and questions are welcomed. They will be moderated. Please give us time.

For a current list of links and tributes, go to Flatbush Gardener

Bob Guskind's last post on Gowanus Lounge was the Street Couch Series with a photograph of a brown leather—or as Bob says, a pleather couch on the streets of Brooklyn. As always it was written in the editorial we.

Before the snow there was his mangificent pleather spsecimen (sic) on the streets of north Brooklyn. It brought us great joy.
Postcard from the Slope

Brooklyn Revealed: The Origins of Street Names

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There's a new website on the block. Brooklyn Revealed provides a historic tour of Brooklyn neighborhood and explains the origins of more than 100 street names.

Produced by the New York Historical Society with the help of City Councilmember David Yassky, it looks like a fun—and informative—place to spend some time.

The origins of street names is a subject close to my heart. Years ago my father wrote an unpublished book called, Who Was Major Deegan? For that project he set out to research the origins of street names all over New York City.

This site is just dedicated to Brooklyn street names. But hey, it's a great borough. Here's the blurbage from the site:

This website would not exist without the enthusiasm, inspiration and generous support of New York City Councilman David Yassky. It was his idea to create a virtual experience through which users would not only learn about how the streets of Brooklyn got their names, but could also share with the world their knowledge of Brooklyn’s streets and neighborhoods.

Joseph Ditta and Susan Kriete, Reference Librarians at the New-York Historical and skilled researchers, selected the photographs, researched and wrote the text. Nina Nazionale, Director of Library Operations, shepherded the project from its start to completion, assisting with the research and writing as needed. Web Designer Ryan McCarthy brought everything together in a website that is visually appealing, easy to navigate and fun to use. Without Ryan, our text and images would still be flat and unconnected, spread out on a table in the library.


Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

The Wanderer: Maybe People Live On and On…

My daughter is reading The Wanderer, an adventure-filled young adult book about a brave girl's journey across the sea.

This Newberry Honor Book by Sharon Creech, tells the story of 13-year-old Sophie, a girl who sails across the Atlantic with her three uncles and two cousins. When they get to England she will see her beloved grandfather.

The book is told through the alternating journals of Sophie and her cousin, Cody, who is considered a "knuckleheaded doofus" by everyone but is really so much more. Sophie and the crew go through a lot of tough and scary times; there are near death experiences and gigantic waves that nearly kill them.

In this passage, Sophie writes about death.

Last night Cody and I got into this very serious talk about Life. We wondered if maybe people never die, but simply live on and on, leaving other planes behind. When you come near death, you die on one plane—so to everyone you are with, you are dead, but you—the you in you—doesn't stop existing. Instead, you keep living the same as always and it just seems as if you've had a close call. We wondered if maybe we're not just one person, but many people existing on millions of different planes, like a line that branches off and branches again and on it goes, it always has one central trunk.
I was getting a headache from so much thinking, and then Cody said, "At night on the ocean, a person thinks strange things. Let's not think anymore. Let's juggle."

So we did. We juggled wet socks.

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Bob Guskind and Coney Island: Tears and Heartache

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DSC02875
Robert Guskind's reporting on Coney Island, a subject he was passionate about, may turn out to be his greatest legacy.

Members of that community who are actively fighting to save that historic part of Brooklyn from short-sighted developers are mourning the loss of this blogger/ journalist who cared deeply about that vital and historic area.

This morning I heard from Tricia Vita, who works for the Coney Island History Project. She would frequently email Bob with information abut Coney Island "and would of course hear back from
him in the wee hours of the morning."

She doesn't have a blog but she does post regularly on the Coney Island USA messsage board as "electrica." They now have a GL thread on the board; Tricia added this, which includes an email from Bob.

In everything he
wrote it was clear he cared very deeply about what was happening here.
 After the press conference on 1/28 announcing the Astroland Rocket
would be donated to the city, I sent out a release to the media.  Bob
replied:
Thanks,
Tricia. I'm happy to know it will be in Coney. I'm almost afraid to ask
if the city plans to put it back on display, uh, soon.

Somehow,
even happy Coney news makes me want to cry these days because I see
disaster looming for years to come and no plan to keep things vibrant
and it just breaks my heart.

In my writing it comes out as anger and rage, but in me it just comes out as tears and heartache.

But I am glad the rocket is staying.

Bob

During
the “deconstruction” of Astroland, GL's frequent “destructoporn” posts
about the dismantling of Astroland annoyed a few idiot readers, who
would post something like give it a break, enough is enough. Coney fans
would break in with, well no one’s forcing you to read it, it’s his
blog he can post about Astroland all day long if he wants etc

Since
Gowanus Lounge is down for now, we can’t revisit GL’s coverage, but
Bob’s videos– His user name is writerman000—are still up on YouTube.

He went to Astroland on the park’s last day, Jan 31, and made some vids, including one titled Astroland Snuff Film Final2  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKuLYBJcWaQ

And there’s his visit with Jimmy Prince from Feb 12… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz5b8MLfcX8

Bob’s vid of  the Astroland Memorial Shrine that Spidora & I started on the park gate is still up  too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-s826XG_fk&feature=related

I
last heard from Bob on Friday. He said he’d try to make the CB 13
meeting, but I didn't see him there. That day GL was down, no reply to
my email.

RIP, Bob. Coney Island, or what’s left of it, will miss you this season.

 
Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Some Brooklyn Bloggers Outraged Over Brooklyn Paper’s Coverage of Guskind’s Death

7 Comments

Xris Kreussling, the blogger who runs Flatbush Gardener, left the following note in the comment section of the Brooklyn Paper's article, The Death of a Blogger, about Robert Guskind's death. Kreussling, like quite a few other bloggers was outraged by the tone of the article by Mike McLaughlin. 

"This is the snarkiest, most disrespectful obituary I've ever read. You
are lowered to NY Post status by this article.

"If you were not his friend, you have no right to speak of him this way.

"If you were his friend, you would never think of doing so.

=====

"If you haven't read the article, it's god-awful garbage. The Paper is
a piece of trash."  — Xris Kreussling

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Brooklyn Bloggers Respond to the Death of One of Their Own

2 Comments

Thanks to Chris at Flatbush Gardener for compiling this list:

New York Sh*tty
Video by Miss Heather and Robert Guskind, 2009-03-01

In alphabetical order
66 Square Feet
Art in Brooklyn
Bad Advice
Best View in Brooklyn
BRIC Community Media
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Heights Blog
Brooklyn Ron
Brooklynometry
Brownstoner
Bumpershine
Clinton Hill Blog
Cobble Hill Blog
Crazy Stable
Curbed (Bob worked at Curbed until this past January)
Dope on the Slope
Dumbo NYC
Fort Greene-Clinton Hill, The Local, New York Times
Gothamist
Living the American Green
New York Magazine
Not Another F*cking Blog
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn
Pardon Me For Asking
Plasticblog
Pretty in the City
Reclaimed Home
Self-Absorbed Boomer
Vanishing New York
Washington Square Park
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-weiner/the-death-of-a-blogger_b_172406.htm

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Bob Guskind: I Am Not A Fan of the Looming Manhattanization of Brooklyn

I just found Bob's introductory post on Gowanus Lounge, when it was on Blogspot.com, the free blog platform originally used by Bob. In his own words, he talks about his career in journalism and his plans for his blog. It is dated April 27, 2006.

Welcome to the Gownanus Lounge (Beta).
Gowanus Lounge is the culmination of months of rumination, if not
planning. It will seek to cover, through words and pictures, whatever
moves me, with a particular focus on New York City as it is today and
is becoming. The focus will be Brooklyn–and particularly Gowanus, Red
Hook, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Williamsburg and
Dumbo–with frequent excursions into Queens, especially Long Island
City. Manhattan, too.

Up front: While I am a realist about what
cities need in order to survive and thrive, I am not a fan of what is
happening in our communities, and particularly of the looming
Manhattanization of Brooklyn and of the ongoing Theme Parkization of
Manhattan. The blog side of Gowanus Lounge will be joined, some months
down the road, by a literary magazine intended to feature the work,
especially, of Brooklyn-based writers, and stories that feature a
strong sense of place.

At least, that is the plan.

For
now, Gowanus Lounge is in its beta version. I put it up with the
intention of getting feedback from my girlfriend and friends, but it is
together enough for those who click a link or stumble upon it.
Hopefully, you'll be curious enough to come back.

Although
I've got plenty of mainstream journalism experience under my belt, I've
edged into blogging, learning from my some of my favorite blogs and
sites: Curbed, Gothamist, City Rag, Daily Slope and others. Ironically, my photography and my postings on flickr, which were turning into an ersatz photoblog, nudged me into finally taking the plunge.

For
many years, I worked at National Journal in Washington, writing serious
policy and political stories before life took me in a different
direction. I learned at the side of Neal R. Peirce, the founder of the Citistates Group
and one of the great urban writers of our time. Neal is the smartest
and most thoughtful person writing about planning and development
issues that I know.

These days, I run a small community newspaper, and write short fiction which appears monthly at Cherrybleeds and creative non-fiction drawn from a previous chapter of my life, also monthly at Underground Voices.
I also take a lot of pictures. If I were to spend time with a writing
psychiatrist, he or she would likely tell me that I have several
personalities and that they are not well integrated.

I don't take myself as seriously as all this might make it sound.

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Bob Guskind, You Had Brooklyn’s Back. And For That We Thank You

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the summer of 2007 Bob married his longtime girlfriend. I was very happy for him when he told me that they were honeymooning in Hawaii.

In the fall of 2008, he alarmed the Brooklyn Blogosphere by taking a sudden hiatus without any warning. He left a cryptic note on his blog that few understood. Readers and fellow bloggers were concerned. He did, however, return a few weeks later seemingly rejeuvantated and ready to blog on. He added a roster of contributors as well, which seemed like a good sign.

And now this. Yesterday Susan Fox of Park Slope Parents emailed to ask me if I knew why Bob’s blog was inaccessible. Last night Hugh checked out the address of Bob’s main server and discovered that it wasn’t online. He concluded it was not a matter of a malfunction but that the server had been turned off (the IP address was not on the net).

And then this morning, I got word, later confirmed by the Medical Examiner’s Office, that Bob died on March 4th. That’s all they would tell us. No cause of death was mentioned.

It is too soon and sudden to write about the significance of Gowanus Lounge and the lasting influence he has already had on other bloggers, blog readers, activists, and those who are passionate about historical preservation, contextual architecture and affordable housing. Bob’s contribution to reporting on the Atlantic Yards, the building boom in Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Greenpoint, Fourth Avenue and the destruction of Coney Island is vast.

Much will be written about the pioneering influence of Bob Guskind and Gowanus Lounge.

So let me simply say: This is a sad day for all who love Brooklyn and cherish its neighborhoods and the spunky, historic charm and faded beauty of places, like Coney Island, that loom large in the American imagination.

As a journalist, Bob was looking out for this borough and trying to protect it from the forces of money and development that have swept through these parts in the last few years like a reckless tornado.

Bob, you had Brooklyn’s back. And for that we will always remember you. Thank you for you hard work and your belief that change is possible in the form of good reporting, a well-crafted blog post, and photographs that speak volumes.

Robert Guskind and Gowanus Lounge

Robert Guskind 1958 – 2009: Founder of Gowanus Lounge Dies

15 Comments

Bobguskind
Rumors have been swirling around for the last 24 hours about the whereabouts of Bob Guskind, the journalist who runs Gowanus Lounge.

I found out yesterday that his immensely popular blog, which focuses on real estate and development issues in Park Slope, Gowanus, Williamsburg and Coney Island, was non-operational.

Readers and fellow bloggers were concerned that their phone calls, emails and texts were not being returned.

This morning, Susan Fox of Park Slope Parents received an anonymous text that Bob was dead.

His death is now confirmed. A communications official at the Medical Examiners Office told me  that he died on March 4th, 2009.

This is very sad news for the Brooklyn Blog community. My condolences to his wife and loved ones.

This picture was taken by Hugh Crawford at last year's Brooklyn Blogfest. I know the year of his birth because we talked about the fact that we were both
born in 1958.

New York Shitty posted an incredible video that she and Bob made one day in Greenpoint; an interview with a fascinating woman with great stories to tell.

Civics and Urban Life

Brownstone Voyeur: Classic Modern in Cobble Hill

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This is the first in a regular Thursday series that will take you behind those pretty Brooklyn facades to see what’s inside (admit it, you’re curious).

Brownstone Voyeur is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.

We’ll walk you through the interiors and gardens of brownstones, brick row houses, pre-war apartments, Victorians, carriage houses, lofts, and other Brooklyn abodes to see the colorful, creative, clever, cost-conscious ways people really live in New York City’s hippest borough.

Steal their ideas, and enjoy.

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Ccexterior
1850s house, 1950s furniture. Who would guess the combination could be so natural?

Brownstone Voyeur’s first foray finds us in Cobble Hill, at the home of interior designer Julia Mack
and her husband John, an architect. They live on three floors with
their son Jeremy, 14, daughter Alison, 11, and French bulldog, Trixie.

The Macks bought the ‘neglected dump’ in 2002 and spent a year upgrading the mechanicals.
The 20′x40′ building had been used as rental apartments; the first
order of business was pulling out four nasty kitchens and four baths.

Happily, the house’s original moldings, panel doors, wide-plank floors, and turned stair balusters were intact, along with a spectacular carved marble mantel in the front parlor.

11

Now, clean white walls form the backdrop for mid-20th century furniture classics. Some were handed down by Julia’s parents and grandparents; others are re-issues, many from Herman Miller for the Home.

Lots of items come from budget-friendly stores like Bo Concept (the living room credenza), Room & Board, and Modernica (the spacey ‘Ellipse’ chair).

12

Love that shag rug! The quirky metal wall art, below, is made out of bedsprings.

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The vintage mahogany dining table and teak console, above, are perfectly sympatico with an  ultra-contemporary glass light fixture from Artemide. The paintings are by Cobble Hill neighbor Noel Yauch, represented by Atlantic Gallery. (Catch a glimpse of Julia in the mirror.)

The kitchen, designed by the homeowners, is super-sleek. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets of book-matched walnut veneer provide a ton of storage.

3-kitchen

To see more fabulous photos of this classic modern in Cobble Hill go to CasaCARA.

Civics and Urban Life

Coming To You This Morning: Brownstone Voyeur

Brownstone Voyeur is a joint project of casaCARA and OTBKB.

This morning will be the first in a regular Thursday series that will
take you behind those pretty facades to see what you’ve strained to
glimpse through windows in the past (admit it, you have).

We’ll walk you through the interiors and gardens of brownstones,
brick row houses, pre-war apartments, detached Victorians, carriage
houses, lofts, and other Brooklyn abodes to see the colorful, creative,
clever, cost-conscious ways people really live in New York City’s
hippest borough.

Steal their ideas, and enjoy.