Claireware Holiday Craft Show with Guest Artists:
Susan Steinbrock, Handpainted silk scarves (pictured left) and
Rebecca Rothman, Jewelry
The Where and When
Claireware
543 Union Street, 1st floort
Saturday, December 6th, 10-6
Sunday, December 7th, 11-5
Photograph by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas
Apologies to the late Borough President JJ Byrne. The park, located on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, formerly known as JJ Byrne Park, has been officially renamed Washington Park, restoring the park to its true place in history as the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.
The playground, however, will now be called JJ Byrne Playground.
In the shadow of the Novo, the new Fourth Avenue high rise condo, Brooklyn politicians, officials and locals gathered to commemorate the renaming of the park and to cut the ribbon on the completion of the first phase of work, which includes a new skate park, two new basketball courts, six handball
courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping.
I arrived just as Borough President Marty Markowitz was about to speak. That means I missed the welcome from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and the Pledge of Allegiance led by second graders from PS 321
"Borough presidents don’t get no respect. Borough President JJ Byrne had the whole place to himself. But I think he would understand our naming it for the father of our country. If he had to yield, he would yield to that," Markowitz told the crowd.
"About Kim Maier [the executive director of the Old Stone House] you can’t say no to her when she flashes that smile. There’s not a public official who can say no."
City Councilmember Bill De Blasio, who was up next, spoke to the historical significance of the day.
"The renaming of this park helps us to think about the history of this place and what it means. What happened on this historic site is important for the whole world to understand. To the children of PS 321 I ask: if the the Maryland 400 had not held off the British here we’d all be talking with a British accent. What a sacrifice people who fought made. It was a make or break moment in American history. An inspiration…"
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, a lively master of ceremonies, then introduced Kim Maier, who was beaming. Today was truly a dream come true for the executive director of the Old Stone House, who has, with the board of directors, reinvigorated the Old Stone House and the Park.
"It such a special day for us and such a beautiful park," she said.
Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel, dressed as George Washington, had this to say:
"I have a newfound respect for our forefathers. It’s painful to wear these boots. And how do you keep the hair out of your mouth?"
After the speeches there was a countdown, led by Commissioner Spiegel in hearty Brooklyn accent, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. And then a skateboarder, dressed in Revolutionary War gear, came roaring down the ramp and broke through a banner that said, Washington Park.
Now that was cool.
Later there was groundbreaking for the next phase of the
project, which includes a synthetic turf green, new fencing,
landscaping and the plaza area opening the view of the Old Stone House
to Fourth Avenue.
I was reading Old First, Reverend Doctor Daniel Meeter’s blog, and came across this post by Heather Johnston about Karen Rothman-Fried’s memorial service at Beth Elohim on November 19th. Here is an excerpt:
A young 3rd grade teacher at 321, Karen Rothman-Fried, died
suddenly on Sunday of what might have been a cerebral aneurism (note: an autopsy revealed that it was not an aneurism). She was
6 months pregnant and her unborn son died as well.PS
321, with Principal Liz Phillips at the helm, responded beautifully.
Should you ever doubt the spirit and leadership of that school, don’t.
It is an extraordinary community I am proud to be part of.I
attended the service at Temple Beth Elohim today (November 19). She
never taught my girls, but because it is a small world, my mother is
quite friendly with Karen’s mother in Florida. They play bridge several
times a week. Mrs. Rothman was so excited about her daughter’s recent
marriage and pregnancy, they were over the moon with joy. I just wanted
to share how perfect I thought the service was.Your
collegue, the rabbi of Beth Elohim, did a wonderful job in sheparding
the family and the mourners. As a Christian, I found the service
particularly comforting. It’s a wonderful thing to feel comforted by
another’s tradition. We are all connected. When her brother-in-law
raged at the injustice of her death and then pivoted so quickly to the
meaning of her life, I felt so gratified.Karen was a passionate, free spirit and committed teacher. He
reminded us to honor her memory the next time we are offered the
blessing to do something spontaneous.Karen’s
husband, Andrew Fried, was devastated at the service. This was the love
of his life, and his first child. He comes from a strong and good
family, as does she. They will need each other. But when Andrew Fried,
broken and in tears, delivered the W.H. Auden poem, Stop All The Clocks, at the end of the service, it was a moment like I’ve never seen.
Times are tough, ladies and gents, but such as times are, we’re
all in ’em together. So lets keep it close to home, and enjoy it all
together, too.Stay tuned for more news. And yes, Virginia, the bookstore will have snow machines again.Lotsa love,Catherine.PS. Don’t forget the Tree Lighting ceremony on Saturday December
6th, 5 pm at J.J. Byrne Park (aka: Old Stone House, corner of 3rd
Street and 5th Avenue), which threatens to feature yours truly and Tod,
dressed as elves (or, to be strictly truthful, Elf and elf-dog).
Festivities and refreshments abounding!
A sad and disturbing incident on the B46 bus in Bed-Stuy. Edwin Thomas was the first bus driver murdered in NYC in more than 27 years. Here’s an excerpt from the story in the New York Times:
A New York City bus driver was fatally stabbed in Brooklyn on Monday after refusing to give a transfer to his assailant, who had not paid his fare, the police said. Witnesses said the killer jumped off the bus, slipped the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head and ran away.
New York City Transit officials said it was the first slaying of a city bus driver in more than 27 years, although from time to time subway token-booth attendants have been attacked, some viciously. It was also the 476th homicide of the year in New York, 29 more than at this time last year. In 1981, there were more then 1,820 killings.
Investigators said the victim, Edwin Thomas, 46, driving the B46 route, was attacked at a bus stop on Malcolm X Boulevard at Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant shortly after 12:30 p.m. by a tall, thin black man about 35, who had boarded the northbound bus about half a mile away.
The police said the man inserted an invalid MetroCard into the fare box two or three times, and, despite its rejection, walked back and took a seat beside a woman. The driver, following rules to avoid confrontations, said nothing. But when the man came forward and asked for a transfer at Gates Avenue, the driver refused, saying he had not paid his fare and was not entitled to one.
Enraged, the assailant punched Mr. Thomas twice in the head, witnesses said. He then stepped off the bus. The driver was about to close the door behind him when the man suddenly turned, stepped back onto the bus, pulled out a knife with a slashing motion and drove the blade repeatedly into the driver’s chest and torso.
Issue Project Room presents a free preview reading by Elliott Sharp and Jack Womack of Binibon
Deborah Harry, William Gibson, Robert Longo, Tony Conrad, Toni Dove,
Jonathan Lethem and ISSUE Project Room invite you to a special free
reading of excerpts of BINIBON, the new music-theater piece by Elliott
Sharp with text by Jack Womack and direction by Tea Alagic that will
premiere at The Kitchen in May 2009.
BINIBON is a work of both musical theater and alternative history based on
the 1981 murder by Jack Henry Abbott of Richard Adan. Richard was a waiter
and the night manager at the Binibon, a cafe and 24-hour hangout on 2nd
Avenue at 5th Street in the East Village, a nexus for artists,
musicians,neighborhood characters and bohemians true and faux. It was a
place that E# spent many an hour drinking bottomless cups of terrible
coffee during 1979-81.
The Where and When
December 9 at 8 p.m.
Free
Issue Project Room
232 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY
.
Participants marking World AIDS Day process through the West
Village to Judson Memorial Church as part of an event titled, "Out of
the Darkness."
I’ve been hearing about this Brooklyn co-housing group for quite a while. I’ve even announced info sessions on this blog. Well, it sounds like they’ve made a lot of progress in a fairly short amount of time.
So what is co-housing? A group of utopian Brooklynites have pooled their money and bought a nice piece of real estate in Fort Greene (a former church that was set to be transformed into condos). They plan to turn that property into a cooperative housing situation sort of like a kibbutz. Actually, it’s more like Food Coop but it’s a life coop—a village where neighbors share meals and hang out together and let their children roam wild and free. They also have to make decisions about just about everything together. This will be the first co-housing project in NYC. Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times:
They envision an
arrangement called “cohousing,” a place where neighbors sit down to
share meals several times a week, where children roam freely from home
to home, and where grown-ups can hang out in a communal living room.
They plan, in short, to create a village within a single development,
and their chosen site is in the middle of a tree-lined brownstone block
in Fort Greene.The group, which has been incorporated as
Brooklyn Cohousing L.L.C., is in contract to buy an unfinished project
known as Carlton Mews, whose developers had planned 40 high-end
condominiums. The developers drew up plans for apartments surrounding a
common courtyard, with the units to be built in an long-abandoned
Episcopal church, its former rectory and a new building with a facade
that mimics the stately town houses on the block.Brooklyn
Cohousing has bought the rights to the site, the plans and all the city
approvals that the developers spent two years amassing, including a
go-ahead from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The group hasn’t
settled on a project name yet, but it plans to build more modest
apartments than the original developers intended and to fill them with
families whose lives revolve around the courtyard and 6,000 square feet
of common space where residents can cook together, play together, do
woodworking or take an art class together.
Paula Tarzian-Ciferni, Harry Tarzian, and John Ciferni are owners of Tarzian Hardware. John is also
President of the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce. Tarzian Hardware will be
participating in the Snowflake
Celebration during the first two Thursdays in December (12/4 and 12/11)
by offering 15% off of everything in the store, raffles for children’s toys,
and holiday refreshments.
Q: When did you open for
business and why did you choose Park Slope?
A: The store was opened by my grandfather, Charlie Tarzian, and his brother
Marty in 1921. They had apprenticed for their brother-in-law in his store
on Fulton Street. When it came time for the brothers to open their own
store, they recognized the diversity and potential in Park Slope. The
original location was at 203 7th Ave. After 15 years the
brothers moved to the store’s present location at 193 7th Ave.
Then my father Harry expanded next door to 195 7th Ave in
1972. In 1999 my mother Paula completed the expansion and redesign into
our current layout.
Tarzian Factiod:
During WWII, Charlie volunteered to become an air-raid warden. Going
door-to-door, Charlie would ensure that each house had proper air-raid
equipment. If they were out, luckily he could recommend a dependable
store for supplies. This service kept the store afloat in the early 40’s.
Q: Which of the Sustainable Business Network NYC’s "Top
Ten Reasons" to shop locally resonate most with you & your business?
A:
Reason #2: "Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of Brooklyn’s
distinct character." In the 1960’s there were six hardware stores open on
7th Ave b/w Flatbush and 16th Street. With the
continued expansion of big box and chain retailers, our numbers have dwindled
to one. Tarzian Hardware has remained viable by focusing on our
customers, community, and fellow merchants. Over the years we have been
approached by many large retailers interested in our space. Although
these offers were fair, we take pride in our relationship and position in the
community. As long as there is a family member to run things, Tarzian
Hardware will remain a fixture on 7th Ave.
Shop
Local Factoid: Shopping at local businesses will help maintain Brooklyn’s
unique landscape. Residents have a "social contract" with local businesses — they
help define their sense of place, yet communities often forget that their survival depends on local patronage.
"Why Shop Local?" is a communication initiative of the Buy in
Brooklyn team. To learn more about Park Slope’s Buy in Brooklyn campaign, visit
their website at http://www.buyinbrooklyn.com/ The site, with its ever-growing list of participants and partners is updated regularly.
Interview conducted by Rebeccah Welch
In the following letter, New York Methodist Hospital responds to a discussion on
Park Slope Parents about the quality of care in their emergency room,
as well as the attitude of some staff members. The Park Slope Advisory
Board shared these posts with a representative from Methodist and invited a response.
In the following letter, Methodist Hospital responds to a discussion on Park Slope Parents about the quality of care in their emergency room, as well as the attitude of some staff members. The Park Slope Advisory Board shared these posts with Methodist and invited their response.
December 1, 2008
Dear Park Slope Parents:
We at New York Methodist Hospital understand that there has been a recent discussion
about the service in the Emergency Department at NYM on the PSP listserv and that
several people have posted messages that express significant concern about the care they
have received and/or the attitude of the staff.
The Hospital has been invited to respond by the PSP Advisory Board and we are grateful
for the opportunity. We take community comments very seriously and were especially
disturbed that, in many cases, there was a sense that the staff of the Emergency
Department did not seem to care about the feelings of the patients or their family
members. That is inexcusable and, to the extent that it is the case, we will make every
effort to address it.
In the past few years, partially in response to a flurry of postings on the PSP listserv in
2005, we have made many changes in our ED. Chief among these was the renovation
and expansion of the entire facility, which opened last year. The new ED has a dedicated
Pediatric Emergency Room and a private suite for women with obstetric or gynecological
problems and is 50 percent larger than the previous ED.
We also added ED physicians and ED staff in our Patient Relations Department and
implemented an ED patient survey, administered and analyzed by an independent market
research organization. This has allowed us to focus on specific complaints and to
monitor our progress. When letters of complaint come in to me or to the director of
patient relations, the chairman of emergency medicine or the senior vice president for
nursing, they are shared with all involved and thoroughly discussed before a response
(both in the form of an answer to the letter-writer and a possible change in policy,
procedures and/or counseling of an individual staff member) is determined.
That said, the readers of this listserv need to be aware that emergency rooms, especially
those in a city like New York, do best when the care needed is for a condition that is truly
emergent—life threatening. We have had some wonderful letters of thanks from
individuals whose lives were saved in our ED. Often, those lives are saved because
doctors and nurses divert their attention from other patients, some of who may be
extremely uncomfortable, but who are not in life-threatening situations.
This kind of
decision is often necessary and appropriate in an emergency room. Judging an
emergency room by the amount of time that you wait on any particular visit may do it a
great injustice.
Sometimes we don’t know whether our symptoms are life threatening. Or, we know that
an acutely painful condition is not life threatening, but still go to the ER because no other
medical care is available. The ER is there for cases like this as well, but anyone not in an
emergent condition needs to understand that, while we try to avoid long waits, they do
sometimes occur.
It may also be helpful for you to know that alternative help may be available and
accessible—for example, it may be much more expeditious to take a child with a need for
stitches on the chin or forehead to a neighborhood plastic surgeon or to take one who may
have a broken foot directly to an orthopedic surgeon. However, because of liability
issues, once you come to an ED, neither the triage nurse, nor any other staff member can
direct you out of that ED to a private doctor.
A physician referral service (accessible by area of specialty) is available at 718 499-
CARE or at www.nym.org. In addition, we have a pediatric urgent care center, staffed by
a pediatrician, that is available weekday evenings between 6 and 11 p.m., at 263 Seventh
Avenue (between Fifth and Sixth Streets).
In the fall of 2005, the Hospital hosted a session for interested parents at which members
of the ED staff (in particular, our chief of pediatric emergency medicine) spoke about the NYM Emergency Department, and at which parents had the opportunity to ask questions,
voice concerns and tour the ED. Clearly it is time for us to schedule another meeting at
which the Hospital and interested community members can come together to listen to
each other. We will schedule our “listening session” shortly after the holidays.
In the meantime, I hope that you will feel free to contact me (lhill@nym.org) if there is
any way in which I can assist you or if you have any questions you would like to ask.
You may also want to contact Joanne Lagnese, Director of Patient Relations, at
jor9006@nyp.org.
Sincerely,
Lyn S. Hill
Vice President of Communication and External Affairs
and Mother of two children who grew up in Park Slope (one born at NYM!)
More from Michael Nolan’s Brooklyn Memoir.
I notice that one of the things that drew President-Elect Obama to
choose Timothy Geithner as his Secretary of Treasury was their common
experience of growing up in various parts of the world. For Geithner,
it was Zimbabwe, India and Thailand. Timothy’s birth in polyethnic
Brooklyn in 1961 might have been a contributing factor, too.
"Foreignness"
can be a wonderful thing growing up, seeing people who look different
and talk funny. I was raised in Brooklyn with Yiddish spoken in my
home. It was my mom’s "mama loshen" or mother tongue. Just to say,
"mama loshen" warms "mein hartz". No wonder so much Yiddish endures in
English today. I smile with appreciation when my "goyishe" friends say
"chutzpah" or "kvetch" (it’s one syllable, denks, not two.)
I
heard a lot of numbers in Yiddish – "finniff und fertzik" —
eavesdropping from the top of the stairs as my Grandma Yidis, Aunt Etta
and my mom would argue about money.
My Tante Yitka, Yidis’
younger sister, moved from the Lower East Side to Bridgeport, CT, and
gained a certain Yankee inflection to her Yinglish. I stayed at her
home on Wayne Street during the summer. "Michael, you vant piece
vaterMalone?" she would say, offering me a piece of fruit.
Her
husband, my Uncle Herman Ostrofsky, was a Ukrainian-born cattleman and
butcher who would take me to his place of business. In a legendary
postcard, I wrote home to my mother about visiting the "shlaughter
house" with Uncle Herman. Must be why I’m such a superior speller today.
The
highest and best usage of Yiddish in my boyhood was my Mom’s uncanny
ability to translate popular American tunes into Yiddish and make them
rhyme. My Irish-American Dad had a great ear for languages and with his
lilting tenor would deliver these songs at Jewish family reunions and
bring the house down. They are etched in my memory. Ask me, and I’ll
sing for you, "Si du a kretchma en dem shtetl" ("There is a Tavern in
the Town") or "Oy, Kim a Heim, Bill Bailey."
I’m grateful for my bilingual upbringing and the study of English as a Yiddish dialect.
Here is a snapshot of the sustainability issues that faced the borough and city this past November.
The links were compiled by Rebeccah Welch, Senior Associate Director of
Communications at the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE). To learn
more about CUE, visit www.thecue.org.
Bird Fight Paths in Prospect Park [AYITP]
The Great White Way Tries to Turn Green [New York Times]
New Bike Lanes for the Willy-B [Streetsblog]
Center for Urban Future’s Report On Coney Island ‘Visions" [Kinetic Carnival]
Now, City Wants Red Hook to Follow ‘Maritime Roots’ to Revinention [NY Times]
Blue Plate Special: Bay Ridge Bluefish, Yummy or Deadly? [Gowanus Lounge]
How Trash Becomes Green Space [New York Magazine]
Yes, Virginia, There Are Parrots in South Slope [Brownstoner]
Environmental Movement’s Grandchild, Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Grows Up, Turns 30 in Brooklyn [Huffington Post]
Bushwick Looms as the ‘Next Big Place’ for Art [Washington Post]
Bloomberg to Push for Infrastructure Investment [Am New York]
Blue-Lit Cranes Near Ikea [Fading Ad Blog]
Red Hook Bike-Friendly Design Competition Winner & Finalists [Gowanus Lounge]
Next Victim in Crashing Market: Affordable Housing [Brownstoner]
State Says Concrete Company Polluted Newtown Creek [Queens Courier]
It’s Not Easy Being Green [New York Times]
Locals Want BQE Covered Over [Brooklyn Papers]
Cash-Strapped City Cancels Leaf Collection Program [Flatbush Life]
City Proposes Bike Parking Rules for New Buildings [Associated Press]
Saving Jamaica Bay’s Disappearing Marshes [City Limits]
City Reaches Agreement With State on Sewage [NY Times]
New Bike Share Program Coming to New York University [AM New York]
Q&A With CUE’s Director Sandi Franklin [Gowanus Lounge]
Photograph by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas
I’m just getting to know Fucked in Park Slope (Embrace the Hate), a new Park Slope blog, serving Park Slope since the Great Depression of 2008.
Here is their about page:
Fucked in Park Slope (FIPS) is written by Benjamin and Erica (and sometimes some other people too).
The videos are all shot and edited by Greg. Also he gathers the weekly craigslisting roundups.
You can read some other stuff written by Erica here or here.
We
all *really* do live here in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Sometimes we love it
and sometimes we hate it, but I guess mostly we love it because we’re
all still here and don’t have any immediate plans to move.Benjamin is married and has kids, and Erica doesn’t. Greg doesn’t either, which is convenient, b/c he’s married to Erica.
None
of us belong to the food coop, are organic gardeners, vegans,
lovocores, or any of that other bullshit. Greg-n-Erica have a dog.
Continue reading New Blog on the Block: Fucked in Park Slope
Who knew Barrio was going to become a mini-empire in Park Slope? Turns out they’re the folk behind the new restaurant Playa, which is on President Street and Fifth Avenue, the site that used to be Night and Day, Biscuit and something else. It was fast looking like a doomed restaurant spot to me. Maybe the Barrio/Playa folks can break the spell.
Now it’s got a very cheerful, summery vibe (love those paper lanterns and the yellow paint). The folks over at Fucked in Park Slope, a new Park Slope blog, are giving it a big fat thumbs up. And just like Barrio, Playa is offering a 15% discount to all during their first weeks.
Here’s an excerpt from the FIPS eview:
Greg
and I checked out Playa, Barrio’s new younger, flirtier Latin American
sister space, on Sat night, and it totally rocked. I give it a (mostly)
big, fat, thumbs up.Spencer Rothschild and partner/chef Adrian Leon are the boys slash brains behind Park Slope fave Barrio on Seventh Ave, and Playa (along with the adjoining Cabana Bar) seem to round out their Latin lovin BK empire handily.
Best of all, while the restaurant is in "previews," everyone enjoys a 15% discount that’s automatically applied to your bill!
–Monday, December 1 at 7 pm: World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project organized by the Gay and Lesbian Ministry of
Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church at 7:00 pm at Park Slope’s St.
Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places.
—Wednesday, December 3 at 11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting and Dedication in Washington Park (aka JJ Byrne Park) Fifth Avenue and Third Street.
—Thursday, December 4 at 7 pm until 10 pm: Snowflake Celebration sponsored by the Buy in Brooklyn initiative. Local merchants throw open their doors to stay open late and
create a holiday atmosphere, enabling you, the people of Park Slope, to
do your holiday shopping . . . here!
Each participating business will stay open until 10pm, and offer some special promotion—could
be a sale, could be a giveaway, raffle, carolers, snow machine (it’s
been done!), mulled wine, special hors d’oeuvres, etc. etc. The
listings of participants grows daily!!!
—Saturday, December 6 at 5 pm: Park Slope’s BID First Annual Tree and
Menorah Lighting Ceremony. At 7 p.m. a reading of The Christmas Carol
at the Old Stone House.
On WNYC radio now (10:54 am)
At a news conference in Chicago, Barack Obama announced his new national security team: Hillary Clinton for secretary of state; Robert M. Gates, the current defense secretary, who will remain in that
job; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, will be national
security adviser; Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona will be homeland
security chief; Eric Holder will be attorney general; and Susan Rice,
ambassador to the United Nations.
“The team that we have assembled here today share my pragmatism about the use of
power, and my sense of purpose about America’s role as a leader in the
world," Obama told the audience.
Announcing his nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, Obama said, “I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton is the right
person to lead our State Department.
Hillary thanked President-elect Barack Obama for the chance to serve her country and thanked her fellow New Yorkers for 8 years of a job she loves. "You’ve prepared me well. New Yorkers aren’t afraid to speak their minds and they do so in every language."
Here’s the press release from Bill and Marty. They were on 9th Street and Fifth Avenue this morning at a B75 bus stop, one of the routes the MTA is proposing to cut service on. Like we really need fewer buses in Brooklyn. Come on. They’re already too few and far between as anyone who has ever waited for the Seventh and Fifth Avenue buses knows!
Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Marty
Markowitz and community members held a rally to protest the MTA’s
recent proposal to eliminate numerous subway and bus lines serving
Brooklyn. The rally was held at the B75 bus stop on Fifth
Avenue and Ninth Street in Park Slope – one of the routes for which the
authority is proposing to cut weekday and weekend service. Elected
leaders also called on the Ravitch Commission to recommend reinstating
the commuter tax, rather than placing tolls on the East River bridges.
"The
solution to the MTA’s financial crisis is not nickel and diming the
working families who depend on the subway and bus system to get to work
everyday. We must look toward creative solutions, like
reinstating the Commuter Tax, that will not disproportionately burden
outer borough New Yorkers, as fare hikes, service cuts, and placing
tolls on the East River bridges undoubtedly will," said Councilmember
Bill de Blasio.
I just heard from the folks at BKLYN Designs and they want OTBKB readers to know that they’ve extended the exhibitor application deadline to December 12th. Here’s more info about the event:
BKLYN DESIGNS 2009 is taking shape with a hot panel of celebrity jurors eager to select the crème-de-la crème of the borough’s emerging and established talent to showcase at this annual event presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. The 2009 show will take place May 8 – 10, 2009.
Producers are concentrating the show in one select location to create a rich mélange of designers at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The group of 40 winners that will be chosen by the celebrity panel of jurors will make up this edition of the show which is already rumored to be a can’t miss event for the spring.
In addition, the BKLYN DESIGNS celebrity jury will return to further study the work of the show’s artisans and choose up to five finalists to represent "The Best of BKLYN DESIGNS 2009" at the world-renowned International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) one week later. These finalists head to ICFF as representatives of the BKLYN DESIGNS scene and put their pieces on the world stage with exhibitors from around the globe, including Denmark, Italy, Thailand, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The 2009 celebrity jury panel includes: Wendy Goodman, New York Magazine is interior design editor, as well as the contributing style editor of Departures magazine, and a contributing editor at Elle Décor.
Arnold Lehman, Brooklyn Museum, is director of Brooklyn Museum, the second largest museum in New York City.
Stephen Treffinger, The New York Times, is currently a writer for the Times, a contributing editor for Domino Magazine and Lucky Magazine, and a freelance journalist for Home and Abroad.
Grace Bonney, Design Sponge, editor, and freelances for House and Garden, New York Home, Food and Wine, Better Homes and Gardens, CITY Magazine, Time Out New York Kids, Architect, The New York Post, Everyday with Rachel Ray and others.
Peter Barna, Pratt Institute, Provost, is also the principal of Light and Space, a New York City lighting design firm with a client list that has included AT&T, Xerox Corp., Marriott Corp., Guggenheim Museum, NBC, GE, Samsung, IDSA, and PE.
David Aldahaff, The Future Perfect, owner, contemporary furnishing stores in Williamsburg and Los Angeles.
Karen Singh, Interior Design Magazine, market editor.
Christopher Coleman, Interior Design Specialist, based in DUMBO, Brooklyn who combines substantial practical experience with imagination and energy.
Christina Yang, Guggenheim Museum, senior manager of public programs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Jill Fehrenbacher, Inhabitat, founder of Inhabitat.com, as well as a freelance designer and green design consultant based in New York City
BKLYN DESIGNS 2009 is sponsored by Pratt Institute, Two Trees Management, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, Benjamin Moore & Co., Con Edison, AIA, ASID and IIDA. This year’s official media partners are Interior Design Magazine and New York Magazine. BKLYN DESIGNS(TM) receives support from Speaker Sheldon Silver and the Brooklyn Delegation to the NYS Assembly, Speaker Christine Quinn and the Brooklyn Delegation to the NYC Council and the New York City Department of Small Business Services.
For more information about BKLYN DESIGNS, "The Best of BKLYN DESIGNS" or for an application visit www.bklyndesigns.com. Interested companies can contact auster*events at 718-243-1414
The new blog, Fucked in Park Slope, features Blog Nigger today. Whoa. Here’s an excerpt from latest post: Do Stay At Home Really Work That Hard? As always, he manages to insult and offend everyone, including himself.
Fantastic question! Sorry I let it rot in my inbox
for 5 months, but such is the prerogative of a mostly-black male living
under the Obama Administration-Elect: I can do WHATEVER I WANT all the
time with zero accountability. Hopefully you’re not already divorced,
and I’ve still got a shot at helping you out here.The answer to
your question is that it depends on a bunch of factors- For example, as
far as net difficulty of daily tasks is concerned, there’s a huge
difference between:
- an upper-east-side mink jewess who stays at home with her full-time nanny and takes breaks from her craigslist casual-encounters surfing to teach her kid which president’s face appear on which dollar bills.
-AND-
- some
poor jewish woman with 10 kids in crown heights who is gonna get
face-slapped if Moishe gets home and one of the male children hasn’t
finished his chicken-liver or has accidentally touched a female human.
This from Eliot, an OTBKB reader:
A number of things are making this a bad week for parking in the
neighborhood. Tomorrow the City will be repaving 5th Street from 6th
Avenue to Prospect Park West starting at 6 AM (might go further west
than that but I didn’t feel like walking around in the rain to check it
out).If that’s not bad enough, Ugly Betty will be doing a shoot on
7th Avenue from 1st Street to Union Street which will eliminate parking
on both sides of that stretch of 7th Avenue starting at 7 PM on
Thursday through Friday. The signs just say "all day" Friday, so I
can’t tell if the shoot ends at 6 PM or at Midnight. President Street
has been dug up as well, so it could also be in for some repaving this
week. If your car isn’t garaged, it might just be the right time to
start that cross country trip you’ve always thought about.
This was written by a neighbor of mine. She sent it into the Brooklyn Paper and I just found it a couple of days ago.
Just got around to checking out your Dylan story. Since I was raised on Dylan and spent many years on the road, mostly through Western Europe—my parents being the ex-pats and all…my mom had like 3 cassettes she played in the car-Blonde On Blonde, Blood On The Tracks and a homemade compilation (of scratchy, static ,off the radio from b4 we left America) songs by Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Joan Baez, The Kinks, Janis Joplin, Boz Scaggs and of course MORE Dylan!
They were warped and scratched and she knew every syllable and intonation and like a mantra holding on for dear life murmured his phrases to a T for several of my formative years–I hardly knew where Dylan ended and my Mom began.
Years later when I was in HS, someone popped these tunes on the box and I began singing along with it and people were amazed at my Dylan impersonation and the fact I knew by heart Sad Eyed Lady, in its entirety–there have been times I am torn up about Dylan, not knowing if it’s a brainwash of state of mind impacted by my mom’s obsession like a genetic predisposition for wailing out his electric poetry or my own exploration and discovery of his profound effect on my life’s struggle and euphoria (which I find to be the case–for me it runs the gamut on how intensely Dylan has grounded me, instilled insight, intelligence, help to form my values, my art, my psyche is etched indelibly with Dylan’s meth-amphetamine Ginsbergian, messianic cult-loving germs)…
I have already begun to cultivate this process with my own children but not to the extent that my mother’s obsession did — my children are obviously not trapped in a car going across desolate roads through Morocco without any other choices of listening tunes.
I have a deeply singular, private experience of Bob Dylan wrapped in childhood memories and later on as I gained ground throughout my adolescence to register the effect on how I saw the world at large, it made me strong and guided me through the whirlwind back roads of my mind– when I see him in a public venue it fractions out the prism of his profound effect on my life and since i already am deeply satisfied not to have to share him with a throng/mass of other folks that may baulk or wonder at him, as if he is hard to nail down and they can’t relate–I enjoy Dylan as illusive as he is and his public appearances shatter the myth and the legend into fragments that dilute my inner soul’s pang.
Maybe I just feel lost in the crowd and uncomfortable coming to terms with what might be the destruction of my ideal–as if i might be misunderstood by the celebrity of Dylan’s persona–this whole time, practically my whole life has to answer to the man up on stage as a patriarchal figure, as if being my mother’s lover-in a strange Oedipal effect, I must evaluate that dynamic..It does become a complex and woeful tale for me to ‘go there’. I can hardly enjoy one of his concerts , albeit i am unhinged and forever at his mercy when I hear his voice and lulled by his songs as if from an ancestral calling –fills me up , makes me whole again. I realize who I am and where I come from when I hear Dylan sing.
Constant Couple
Dick Cheney’s depicted as a heartless man
In the media’s cruel song,
As well his crony behind the war–
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Before they leave the D.C. scene,
On the day of final bows,
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush
Are renewing their holy
vows.
Tonight the Gay and Lesbian Ministry of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church holds its second annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project.
The Candlelight Service will take place tonight at 7:00 pm in St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places in Park Slope, Brooklyn and will
feature a talk by designer and teacher Jim Morgan co-founder of Friends
House in New York City, which offers housing and support to persons
with AIDS, and Kisangura Friends Secondary School in Tanzania for
children orphaned by AIDS.
The exuberant and inspiring Gay Men’s Chorus of Manhattan, a group
of choral musicians dedicated to educating through song, who use the
gift of voice to promote tolerance and acceptance for GLBT and all
peoples, will perform.
The Where and When
Monday, December 1 at 7:00 pm
St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church,
116 Sixth Avenue,
between Park and Sterling Places
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Michael Nolan returns with this installment of his Brooklyn memoir.
For me it was Miss Melsha, my 4th grade teacher at PS 99 who taught me
my enduring love of trees and maps. Out the window from our classroom,
on the other side of the schoolyard fence, stood a row of stately
Lombardy Poplars. Poplar’s Latin name is "Alamo" from which we derive
the place names of Los Alamos or Alameda, a grove of poplar trees.
Credit here to Mr. Humbert, my French-Canadian Latin teacher at Midwood
High School from whom ("preposition takes the objective case") I
learned English grammar, etymology, plus a passion for palindromes,
crossword puzzles, Anagrams, Scrabble, and writing.
In Miss
Melsha’s class, we made spatter-prints of leaves collected on field
trips in the neighborhood: a leaf pinned down on construction paper, a
bottomless cigar box with screen mesh placed on top, green India ink
spattered across the screen with a toothbrush, then lift the box and
the leaf, and voila a lovely outline of the leaf.
In front of my
house was a Norway Maple which I could climb by age 10. We made
"pug-noses" from the winged seeds. Mother Nature pre-scored an easy
break point containing the sticky white glue to attach the decorative
up-turned wing on your nose. Across the street was a tall Sycamore,
identified by its broad leaf, chipped bark, and "itchy ball" seeds,
which we would mischievously drop down the backs of our buddies. These
were tree applications not taught by Miss Melsha but learned through
the inherited folklore of East 10th Street.
In geography
homework, I remember diligently drawing (not tracing) the Hawaiian
Islands by hand while looking at an Atlas. I suppose I could have
chosen Wyoming, but savored a challenge. I spent hours drawing the
boroughs of New York City until I figured out how the index finger of
northern Manhattan fit under The Bronx at Spuyten Duyvel. What a fine
feeling of accomplishment. I marked the location of the Polo Grounds at
Coogan’s Bluff on the Harlem River where my beloved Willie Mays played
centerfield for the New York Giants.
Two days ago, I was in my
backyard digging up the remaining bulbous root of a dying black cherry
tree (Prunus serotina) as my booming pine (Pinus ponderosa) claimed
unrivaled prominence in the garden. Thank you, Miss Melsha. "Ave" Mr.
Humbert!
