All posts by louise crawford
Phtotography by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas: You Better Watch Out…
Santa Claus at the Atlantic Mall.
Photo by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas.
Dec 3: Ribbon Cutting and Dedication in Washington Park (formerly JJ Byrne Park)
On December 3rd, there will be a ribbon cutting and dedication to mark the completion of the first phase of the work being done on JJ Byrne Park, on Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street, which was funded by Boymelgreen Developers. The project includes a new skate park, two new basketball courts, six handball courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping.
There will also be a 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. Much of this work is being paid for by the Parks Department I believe.
On this day, the park is also being renamed Washington Park, because of the park’s connection with the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The playground will be renamed JJ Byrne Playground.
This Week in Park Slope…
–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.
—December 3 at 11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting and Dedication in Washington Park (aka JJ Byrne Park) Fifth Avenue and Third Street.
—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!!!
—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.
Turkey Trot Results are Up
The results are in for Prospect Park Track Club’s most challenging event of the year, Thanksgiving morning’s Turkey Trot in Prospect Park.
Nearly 2000 runners of all levels gathered for a great race on a great day. For the results: go to the PPTC’s web site.
JJ Byrne Park in the New York Times
Here’s an excerpt from Jake Mooney’s piece in the New York Times City Section about the changes in JJ Byrne Park:
I a way, the fall of 2004 was a more innocent, more trusting time
around the handball courts at J. J. Byrne Park in Park Slope. The
construction site next door on Fourth Avenue, which would years later
sprout a 12-story condominium building, was still a fresh hole in the
ground.Yes, the work there digging the building’s
foundation had destabilized part of the park, closing two of the eight
courts and an asphalt field. But the building’s developer had agreed to
fix them. The repair work, a city parks department spokesman said at
the time, would most likely be done by April — April 2005.Fall
turned into winter, and to spring, and soon April 2005 came and went.
As did April 2006, 2007 and 2008. The building, by Brooklyn-based
Boymelgreen Developers, grew taller, and along the way it got a name —
Novo Park Slope. People moved in. And through it all, the repair work remained unfinished, the handball courts and asphalt field fenced off.
Tom Martinez, Witness: Fun with Darts
This Thanksgiving I’m especially thankful for protective eyewear.
Shown here: twelve year old Aidan Fontana preparing to fire at
point-blank range.
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Crown Heights Blog: Remembering Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg
Here is a remembrance of Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, who were murdered at the Chabad house in Mumbai yesterday. This excerpt, written by By Benjamin Holtzman of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, is from the Crown Heights Info blog
I lived in Mumbai for six months last year, and would go to the Beit
Chabad with friends for a Shabbat meal about every second week. Over
the course of six months, we got to know the rabbi and his wife quite
well.They were wonderful people: warm, inviting and
engaging. Gabi would get visibly excited to have so many guests for
Shabbat; you could tell it really made his week. He would have a grin
on his face almost the entire meal, including during his dvar Torah. He
was always so eager to create a communal feeling that he insisted
everyone go around the table and say a few words to the group, giving
guests four options: either delivering a dvar Torah, relating an
inspirational story, declaring to take on a mitzvah or leading a song.As most of the guests were Israeli backpackers and other
passers-through, they might have found this quite novel. For us
regulars, it was just Gabi’s shtick. I can still hear him reciting
those four options to the group now, as if he had discovered some
miraculous way to make everyone involved in the Shabbat with no escape,
impressed by his own genius week in and out. He had a devilish smile;
you could really see the child still in him, just beneath the surface.Gabi was also exceptionally thoughtful. Though most of the guests were
Israeli, Gabi would give his dvar Torah in English for the sake of the
few of us English speakers there with sketchy Hebrew, so we’d
understand. Sometimes he spoke line by line first in English, then
Hebrew. Gabi would start discussions and made it his personal mission
to get everyone talking, to make a group of disconnected Jews feel like
a family. It worked. That was Gabi.Rivki was a certified sweetheart. She’d generally sit apart from Gabi,
to spread herself out, and usually sat with the girls. She too relished
Friday night dinners — I think she needed her weekly female bonding
time. She’d talk to the girls about the challenges of keeping kosher in
India and share exciting new finds at the market together.You could tell she was far from home, in this dense Mumbai jungle, but
she was tough and really made the best of it. She would balance Gabi’s
presence, occasionally making comments to people at her table while
Gabi was speaking — not as a sign of disrespect, but to keep the people
around her having a good time. That was Rivki: brave, fun-loving and
super sweet.Perhaps the greatest testament to their character was simply the fact
that they lived in downtown Mumbai for years on end. Having lived there
for just six months, I understand how incredibly taxing just existing
in the city is. Even when trying to relax, the city still seems to suck
the life out of you. Living as Westerners in modest conditions in the
thick of Mumbai, with the restrictions of kashrut and Shabbat, is
certainly no small feat.I’m not sure if they were thrilled with their placement in Mumbai, but
they certainly made a good go of it. They were only a few years older
than me, in their late 20s, and despite being far from friends and
family and perhaps not in the most exciting Chabad placement (compared
to Bangkok, Bogota or Bondi), they kept positive and built a beautiful
bastion of Jewey goodness.They chose a life that demonstrated such altruism and care, in the
truest sense. The Mumbai Chabad really made a difference to my time in
India, and made me feel that much more at home in such a foreign
country.It was at Gabi and Rivki’s where I met Joseph Telushkin, the famous
Jewish author. It was at Gabi and Rivki’s where I randomly bumped into
friends of friends from back home. It was to Gabi and Rivki’s where we
brought our non-Jewish Indian friends who became curious in Judaism. It
was at Gabi and Rivki’s where a girl I would later fall for first
developed feelings for me, when I brought her some water while she lay
sick on the sofa from Indian food poisoning. She was being nursed by
Rivki.
Community Bookstore Moves Into the 21st Century With Cool New Website
I’m not being snarky. That’s Catherine’s line about moving into the 21st century (and I thought it was apt). Here’s the latest from Catherine at the Community Bookstore. And guess what. As reported here a few weeks ago they have a brand new website that is delightful. The best news is that they have their own, easy to remember URL: communitybookstore.net. Cool.
But even better: You can order books from the store online if you go to the Get Books section. Now that is cool. But you won’t get to step over a dog walking into the store. Your loss.
Hello everyone out there in Munchkinland! (Or do I mean, hello, from in HERE, being pretty much certain that Munchkinland is where I live?)
ANYHOW! This is it! This is the official news that our website
is up, functional, and doesn’t have too many embarassing corners (it’s
actually been up since August, but had . . . well, embarassing
corners). Since then, we’ve gotten used to it, so it seems a little
funny to send out word, but . . . although quite an amazing few of you
have found it already, NO! THIS is the official news!!!!!Please step in, and take a look: www.communitybookstore.net.The information is current and accurate. The events listings are
up to date (thank you Rebekah), and the "Messing About" section is full
of whatever tickles our fancy . . . . but probably the best and most
important part of it is that you can now Order Books from us, on line.
If you go to the "Get Books" section, you can troll through, search and
peruse Books in Print — if you want to order something, you can choose
to have it sent to the bookstore for pickup (or if you add a message,
free delivery — we do that, don’t forget!), or have it sent to you at
home, or to you on vacation, or to your aunt in Muncie.This is big! This is huge! This actually works! And anyhow, we spent a lot of time and thought on it, so please indulge us, and check it out!Every single order placed is routed through the bookstore
(although orders placed to send to someone else ship directly from the
distributor’ s warehouse — hugely efficient and zippy!) so we’ll be watching out for you as always (Hold on, did you want the hardcover, when there’s a paperback available?)( Are you a school? Should you be tax exempt?)Coming soon is our Holiday Newsletter, full of what we think are
the best and most exciting books published this year. And, yup, it
will all be tied to the website, to make ordering (and sending) a snap.This is our big move, into the 21st Century. (oh golly, is it the
22nd, by now? Hold on, I lose count . . . .anyhow, it’s us trying
manfully to be here, and now, and I think it’s actually a pretty good shot . . . . ) So join us, won’t you?
World AIDs Day in Park Slope: December 1
The Gay and Lesbian Ministry of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church
announces its second annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and
Memorial Ribbon Project.
The Candlelight Service will take place on World AIDS Day December
1, 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 Ribbon Project will installed beginning in mid-November through
World AIDS Day 2007. "It is our hope that the red ribbons bearing the
names of some who have died of AIDS lining the iron fence that
surrounds Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church will serve as a stark
and reverent reminder of the continued need to strive to improve AIDS/
HIV education, support all who live with HIV and AIDS and press for a
cure," writes one of the events founders.
With an
estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 HIV- positive individuals living in
the U.S., and approximately 40,000 new infections occurring every year,
the U.S., like other nations around the world is deeply affected by
HIV/AIDS. On December 1, World AIDS Day, it is fitting to reflect on
the way that the pandemic of HIV and AIDS affects us on local, national
and international levels. The World AIDS Day 2007-2008 call to "Keep
the Promise" brings emphasis to the importance of holding individuals,
religious leaders, faith organizations, international and national
governments and agencies accountable for the commitments they have made
to fight HIV and AIDS.
The church invites all those
who wish to do so to take part in their Ribbon Project by submitting
names of loved ones who have died of AIDS. Send names, with or without
last names — informal or ‘nicknames’ are acceptable — and dates of
birth and death if these details are available.
This information may be mailed or hand-delivered, through the mail
slot, to the St. Augustine Church Rectory (at 116 Sixth Avenue,
Brooklyn; mark envelopes: “Ribbon Project”) or sent by email to
staugustinegay@gmail.com. Names inscribed on the ribbons will be read
aloud as part of the prayer service. (deadline: November 28)
For further information please call St. Augustine Church (718 783
3132), write to staugustinegay@gmail.com or visit
www.brooklyngaycatholics.blogspot.com .
December Cheat Sheet: Loads to Do in Park Slope
–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.
—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!!!
—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.
–December 11 at 7 pm until 10 pm: Snowflake Celebration (see above).
–December 11 at 7 pm: An Evening with architectural historian, Francis Morrone: a reading and discussion of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s newly published Park Slope Neighborhood and Architectural History Guide at the Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street.
—December 18 at 8 pm: Brooklyn Reading Works presents Feast (Writers on Food) to benefit a local food pantrym featuring Sophia Romero, Jill Eisenstadt, Tom Rayfiel, Sharon Mesmer and more. Curated by Michele Madigan Somerville. The Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and Third Street.
Markowitz: Statement on Murders in Mumbai
Statement from Marty Markowitz on murder of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg of Brooklyn and his wife, Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi of Virginia,
“We join the Brooklyn Lubavitch, Volove, and Satmar communities and all Brooklynites in expressing our outrage over the senseless and cruel murders of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi of Virginia, and all of the innocents murdered and wounded in Mumbai. The monsters responsible for these attacks are attempting to undermine democracy in peace-loving nations everywhere, but this savagery only strengthens our resolve to eradicate terrorism and such atrocities against innocents of all faiths, wherever they exist.
The Holtzbergs could have lived a simple and quiet life in Crown Heights, where Rabbi Holtzberg grew up, but their sense of religious duty took them to India to run Mumbai’s Chabad House, which, under their stewardship, became a comforting home away from home for thousands of Jews. Rabbi Teitelbaum, the son of the Volover Rebbe from Boro Park, was in Mumbai as a kosher food supervisor. We are inspired by their commitment to others. The prayers of Brooklynites, New Yorkers and the global community are with the family and loved ones of Rabbi Teitelbaum, as well as those of the Holtzberg family, especially their 2-year-old son, Moshe, in this tragic time.
Newsday: Daytrip to Park Slope
Leon Freilich, the Oh-So-Prolific-One/Verse Responder, brought an article in this weekend’s Newsday to my attention, a guide and loving tribute to Park Slope with more than 100 photographs. See if your house is pictured or your favorite store or restaurant. The dining out section includes 45 photographs. Quite a few restaurants pictured are no longer in business, including Beso, Bistro St. Marks, Minnow, Cocotte, The Red Cafe, Surreal Cafe, Two Little Red Hens and Mirimam. It’s actually a great record of extinct restaurants. Complete with pictures.
Park Slope
is a fine mixture of late 19th century elegance and 21st century cool:
Brownstones and limestones complete with bow windows, bay windows,
turrets and cupolas vie for space along its tree-lined streets with
up-to-the minute bistros and bars.Built to compete with the upscale neighborhoods of that borough across
the river, its own version of Fifth Avenue — Prospect Park West — was
meant to be every bit as opulent as its more famous competitor. It
never quite succeeded on that level, but it did draw its own plutocrats
and merchant princes.The main difference is that, even today, many of those mansions remain
while much of Fifth Avenue has long since been turned into faceless —
if internally lavish — apartment houses.
Richard Grayson: Black Friday Shopping at the Malls of Brooklyn
A Black Friday (or "Brooklyn Friday) shopping trip to Brookyn Junction is a trip down memory lane for Richard Grayson. Here’s an excerpt.
As a pre-teen in the Kennedy
administration, "going to the Junction" was a big treat for us, though
it usually meant getting glazed donuts and comic books and
window-shopping around what was the closest thing to a shopping area we
could get to from Flatlands on the B41 bus.By the end of the
1960s, we were jaded by our every-weekday trips as a student at Midwood
High School and Brooklyn College, and these days we make the trip twice
a week from Williamsburg to teach classes in creative writing and the
short story, not to shop.Passing a dozen or so Jehovah’s Witnesses ladies at the train station,
we made our way to the new Triangle Junction Mall between Nostrand and
Flatbush Avenues on what used to be municipal and private parking lots
where we kept our gold ’73 Mercury Comet when we couldn’t find a meter
or a legal space anywhere else.The mall’s main store is Target,
the fourth in Brooklyn, opened just last spring. Of course, the Circuit
City in the same mall, which opened later, is already closing as that
company, bankrupt, is forced to liquidate. Three people with big signs
announcing the end of Circuit City, if not the world, are strategically
placed on different corners, including in front of the elevator to the
subway station.
Dec 6: Pre-School Round-up Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights schools
If you are looking for a pre-school or program for your toddler or pre-school aged child, c ome to this Preschool Round-Up for Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights schools on Saturday, Dec 6th, 2008 12:00 – 3:00
So what is this?
An afternoon event in which local preschools and programs for the toddler and pre-school aged children will provide materials and information about their programs. Many parents are unaware of the rich and varied choices in our community. Come and learn about some of these choices and ask questions.
Who is invited?
All parents in the community.
Cost? Nope. The event is free but no day care will be provided.
The following schools have been invited to participate (more are being added)
The Brooklyn School
Carousel Children’s Center
The Dillon Child Study Center
Fort Greene Clinton Hill Cooperative
Green Hill School
Hanson Place Child Development Center
International School of Brooklyn
Maple Street School
Montessori Day School of Brooklyn
My Babies Footprints Child Care
Prospect Kids Academy
TriloK Preschool
Union Temple Preschool
The Where and When
Saturday December 6th from 12 – 3 p.m.
105 Lexington Avenue
between Franklin and Classon Avenues
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Park Slope BID: First Fifth Avenue Holiday Tree, Menorah Lighting and Reading
On Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m. Park Slope BID will hold the first annual holiday
tree and menora lighting at 5 pm on the corner of 3rd Street and 5th
Avenue.
Later, Broadway actor and Park Slope resident Kevin Hogan will perform a reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol on Saturday, December 6 at 7 pm at the Old Stone House, 5th Avenue at 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY — appropriate for ages 12 and up. Enjoy hot cider and other beverages and snacks during the performance in OSH’s lovely Great Room, which currently has an exhibit of artwork by Barbara Ensor. Tickets are $10.
The Old Stone House is in JJ Byrne Park, between 3rd and 4th Streets,
just off Fifth Avenue, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. For more information,
please call 718-768-3195, or visit the Old Stone House website at
www.theoldstonehouse.org
Crown Heights Info: News About Chabad House in Mumbai
Crown Heights Info, a blog devoted to the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights, is full of information and photographs about the situation at the Chabad house in Mumbai.
The parents of Rabbi Gavriel
Holtzberg, who with his wife Rivka, is being held hostage in the Chabad house, live in Crown Heights Brooklyn. They flew to Israel yesterday to be reunited with their 2-year-old grandson, who was released with his babysitter from the Chabad house.
The fate of the rabbi and his wife is as yet unknown (as of 10:09 am on Friday morning).
Why Shop Local?
Scott Carney and Melanie Kozol are the owners of Bussaco. They will be participating in Buy in Brooklyn’s Snowflake Celebration during the first two Thursdays in December (12/4 and 12/11) by offering hot mulled cider to passers-by.
Q: When did you open for business and why did you choose Park Slope?
A: We opened our restaurant on October 3, 2008. We love Prospect Park and have many friends in the neighborhood.
Bussaco Factoid: Their communal table is made from a fallen white oak tree from Prospect Park.
Q: Which of the Sustainable Business Network NYC’s "Top Ten Reasons" to shop locally resonate most with you & your business?
A: Reason # 3: Our one-of-kind businesses are an integral part of Brooklyn’s distinct character. Businesses in general are spirited outgrowths of the people that create them. Our home-grown enterprises deserve local support to further the wonderful array of choices we now enjoy in all corners of our borough.
Shop Local Factoid: The unique character of Brooklyn is what brought owners here and what will keep them here. Shopping at local businesses will help maintain Brooklyn’s unique urban landscape.
Interview conducted by Rebeccah Welch
Brooklyn Couple Among Dead in Murbai Hostage Crisis
Sadly, it was confirmed by the Chabad-Lubavitch, headquartered in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg (who was raised in Brooklyn) and his wife, Rivka Holtzberg (raised in Israel) were killed in the hostage crisis in the Chabad house in Murbai. Their 2-year-old son, Moshe, was smuggled out of the house by an employee and is with relatives in Israel.
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his wife Rivka, 28, arrived in Mumbai six years ago as official emissaries [shluchim] of Chabad.
Gavriel, who was born in Israel and grew up in Kiryat Malachi, moved with his family to New York at the age of ten. He has dual citizenship.
Thinking Things Through on Thanksgiving
Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper:
Running has been Smartmom’s best friend in these months since her father died.
The feelings of deadness, lethargy, and deep sadness that come with the
loss of a parent are temporarily soothed by the endorphins produced
during strenuous exercise.
So when she needs a lift, Smartmom puts on her black nylon running
outfit, her Lulu Lemon running jacket, and her purple and white running
shoes and heads for Prospect Park.
The natural beauty of Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece is also a
consoling salve. The autumnal trees, a patchwork of yellow, orange, red
and brown, are uplifting, as is the cumulative energy of so many others
exercising at the same time.
A few weeks back, Smartmom listened to Bob Dylan singing “Sad Eyed
Lady of the Lowlands” on her iPod as she ran. She remembered that it
was her father who introduced her to “Blonde on Blonde” back in 1966,
when she was only 8-years-old.
The tears came as she remembered her father’s passion for music.
What a gift he left behind: the memory of him in music of all kinds.
What a curse. Every time she listens to music, she thinks of her father and gets sad.
Thump. Thump. Thump. During a recent run, Smartmom thought of her
sister spending many hours recently trying to find a home for their
father’s collection of jazz 78s, which he collected as a teenager in
1940s Los Angeles. Ever resourceful, Diaper Diva checked with the
Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University and even Phil Schaap,
the legendary WKCR jazz DJ, but no one wanted them.
Finally, a good friend came forward who collects 78s. He will house
them in his upstate home where Smartmom and Diaper Diva are welcome to
visit and listen to the music.
This kind of problem solving is how Diaper Diva is dealing with her grief.
Running around the park has always been a kind of therapy for
Smartmom; it’s where she does her best thinking. So it’s no wonder that
during these tough times, she finds that the steady thump of her
running shoes inspires her to come up with solutions to problems of all
kinds.
Will Teen Spirit have all his SUNY and CUNY applications done by Nov. 29? She makes a mental note to ask him how that’s going.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
What about the Oh So Feisty One? Her room is so small and she’s been
pining for a loft bed for so long. Maybe it’s time to go to Ikea and get that damn Tromso loft bed even if it does come in 1,000 pieces and Hepcat will probably come undone putting it together.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
What about Hepcat? He’s been experiencing all kinds of joint and
muscle pain. He did see an internist, but he’s still not feeling
better. He needs to start exercising. He’s put his body on the
back-burner for too long.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Smartmom breathes in and out, taking in the majesty of her park, the
memory of her father, the faces of her family, and her heart’s elevated
rhythms.
When she runs, Smartmom feels enormous gratitude to her body and its
ability to transport her at running speed from Third Street, past the
lake, Wollman Rink, the Audubon Center, the Zoo, Long Meadow, Grand Army Plaza and finally back to Third Street.
On Thanksgiving morning, Smartmom was set to run the Turkey Trot in Prospect Park, a joyful gathering and a highly energetic and exuberant way to begin Thanksgiving Day.
It also means guilt-free eating later in the day as in, “Hey, body, I just ran five miles I can eat what I want. Got it?”
This Thanksgiving, as she runs, Smartmom will give thanks to her
wonderful and supportive community; Dr. Gruenstein, her father’s
oncologist; and, yes, she will give thanks to her favorite park, a
place to be soothed, a place to remember, a place to run.
Michael’s Brooklyn Memoir: My Sandy Field of Dreams
Here’s the final installment for now of Michael D. Nolan’s Brooklyn Memoir: Proximity: What can happen when we live, work and love close together.
Day before yesterday, I admired the newly rehabbed Day Street Rec Center, with its beautifully manicured baseball diamond surrounded by a verdantly lush outfield. The urge was still there. Wanted to jump off the bus and hit fungo to any available kid who might chase after my high fly balls. Back in my Brooklyn days, my buddies and I would have been all over a place like this, every day during baseball season, playing until sunset, sometimes later.
Where are the San Francisco kids? I see these gorgeous fields and no one on them. No more pick-up games and practice, only league games? Kids don’t go anywhere unless mom or dad drives them there?
Wingate Field was my sandy field of dreams, just a six-block walk from my house. I played centerfield for a local Babe Ruth League team called the Black Sox, #13. And then as a teenager in the Parade Ground League, #44. I usually batted third or fourth in the line-up. I had a good arm and fairly accurate peg to third or home. But Wingate’s turf was stony and sandy, not grassy, and an outfielder learned to deal with bad hops or bounces right over your head.
I probably learned humility there. I started out with a fairly simple Rawling’s mitt. To cushion the hard drives, I sewed a cloth thumb slot on the backside of the glove. I must have been about 10. At that age, very often the only action you got in centerfield resulted from an infield error. But one day a high fly ball lofted in my direction and I caught it. In an exuberant moment of bravado, I flexed my biceps in a victorious pose. My teammates watched in dismay as an opposing player on third tagged home before I could hurl the ball to my catcher. I don’t believe The Coach said anything to me as I came in at the end of the inning. His look of disappointment was sufficient.
More than anything, I loved to hit fungo, (batting the ball without pitching for practice.) I’d call for double-plays from the infield, alert the lonely rightfielder that the next shot was coming his way. Became quite adept at sending a high fly straight up above home plate. If there was no catcher, I’d grab it bare-handed. We often fetched lost balls from behind the stadium bleachers and repaired them with thin strips of white adhesive tape, making them extremely live and long-flying.
Charles Anderson managed and maintained Wingate Field. I wrote a song about him and his daily ritual titled "Haul Down the Flag, Charlie and We’ll All Go Home." That’s what Charlie did. He’d bring down the flag from the high pole signaling it was time for us to leave our sandy lot. We sang our anthem. We followed Charlie out the gate, which he locked, and drove off. Then we climbed back in through stretched bars in a side fence and kept on playing till dark.
Thanksgiving: A Feast of Conversation
Hepcat always says that one of the reasons he married me is because of my family. And that’s everybody: mother, father, sister, stepmother, aunts, uncles, cousins…you get the idea.
He said it again last night as we were driving home in the Subaru after my family’s large restaurant Thanksgiving on East 22nd Street. This time he said it to Teen Spirit and OSFO in the back seat.
"As I always say, I liked her family. And I liked her, too," he mused.
I should hope so was my reply.
But it pleases me that Hepcat feels this way about my large, interesting family because he lives far from his own family and that is difficult.
Especially on holidays when the heart pines for connection with one’s loved ones. Hepcat’s enthusiasm always makes his inclusion in our family events such a joy.
On the ride home, Hepcat recalled some of the conversational high points of the night. Indeed my extended family is a rapturously interesting group and their conversations can cover quite a bit of territory.
Last night was no exception.
The meal began with a toast from my first cousin, who reminded the group that there were two huge losses to our family this year: my uncle and my father. My sister and I were deeply moved by this and tears quickly filled our eyes.
And then the feast commenced. From the first course to the last (popovers and butternut squash soup to pumpkin pie and coffee and lots of turkey, prime rib, stuffing, mashed potatoes, risotto, brussels sprouts, carrots and green beans in between) conversation swirled around each of four tables like a content-filled tornado.
In between courses, family members circulated bringing with them news and views from their table of origin and great curiosity ("what’s going on over here?").
I can only account for the conversation at my table but it looked like loud and lively table conversation was the rule. Here are just some of the topics touched upon:
Obama’s foreign policy. The remarkable skinniness of Teen Spirit’s jeans. Post-college aspirations and living in Beijing. Turquoise hair. Election night in Providence, Rhode Island. A novel about the Thai/Cambodian border. The Turkey Trot in Prospect Park. Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Kansas City jazz. The delightful theatricality of one red-headed four-year-old. Skinny ties. Mashed potatoes. Empty nests. Working as a social worker in the South Bronx. Synecdoce, New York. Educational policy in Baltimore. Skinny ties. "The Jewish Century" by Yuri Slezkine and The Pity of it All" by Amos Elon. Memories of 131 Riverside Drive, the building I grew up in, "Rock and Roll" by Guy Ritchie. Google…
And yes there was food and wine and plenty of it. But it was the alternating and non-stop conversations that were the most nourishing (and filling) of all and the reason that Thanksgiving is such a joy with this group.
Something to be thankful for.
Brooklyn Couple Caught in Mumbai Attacks.
A Brooklyn couple is caught in the cross fire in Mumbai. They moved to India to manage a Chabad house, run by the Lubavitch. Their 2-year-old son was released
This from the New York Times:
In 2003, barely out of their teens and newly married, Rabbi Gavriel
Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, moved from Brooklyn to the coastal city
of Mumbai, India, to manage a mix of educational center, synagogue and
social hall known as a Chabad house, one of about 3,500 outposts around
the world run by the Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
The place
soon became a year-round magnet for Israeli backpackers and the Jewish
businessmen and tourists who flock to Mumbai, as well as for the Iraqi
and Indian Jews who live there. Mrs. Holtzberg served visitors coffee
and homemade kosher delicacies. Rabbi Holtzberg always offered a
helping hand to someone who was sick or stranded, often calling worried
parents or spouses miles and miles away to calm them.
On
Wednesday, the Holtzbergs’ Chabad house became an unlikely target of
the terrorist gunmen who unleashed a series of bloody coordinated
attacks at locations in and around Mumbai’s commercial center.
Firing
grenades and automatic weapons, the men also took the Holtzbergs and at
least six other people hostage in the Chabad house, according to
friends of the Holtzbergs. The couple’s 2-year-old son, Moshe, and a
cook managed to escape about 12 hours into the siege, the friends said.
The boy’s pants were soaked in blood when he emerged. By late Thursday
afternoon in New York, there was still no news of his parents’ fate.
Homeless Clothing Drive at Old First and Beth Elohim
The Park Slope Coalition for the Homeless seeks winter clothing for our homeless New-Yorkers.
Winter Jackets and Parkas, adult size L and XL
Sweaters, Sweatshirts, Cardigans, etc. adult size L and XL
Adult winter boots
Adult winter socks
Knit caps, cloves, and scarves.
Other clean adult clothing in good repair
(no dresses please)
For distribution on December 11, at our second "Home Team" day for the
homeless, at Old First, 6 am to 2 pm.
Please bring your donations by December 10 to Old First Reformed Church,
business hours Mon-THurs, or Congregation Beth Elohim, business hours Mon-Fri.
Also needed: volunteers to help sort clothing on December 9 and 10.
Contact the church or synagogue office.
Holiday Open Studio with the Dinnersteins
Come to a Holiday Open Studio at the home of Simon and Renee Dinnerstein, Park Slope’s first family of creativity. They sell the fruits of their artistic bounty:
Artwork: Eight new giclee prints of works by Simon Dinnerstein
Music: The Berlin Concert and Bach’s Goldberg Variations CDs by Simone Dinnerstein will be available
The Where and When
Saturday, December 6, 1pm – 6pm
Sunday, December 7, 1pm – 6pm
Home of Simon and Renee Dinnerstein
415 First Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) | Brooklyn , NY
Please RSVP to pturtle58@aol.com or 718.788.4387
Visit www.simondinnerstein.com/prints.html to preview available prints
Screening and Benefit for National Disaster Search Dog Foundation at OSH
Here’s an email from Willie’s Dawgs, Park Slope tasty special hot dog place on Fifth Avenue.
The good folks at Willie’s have a favorite customer, local Park Sloper, Peter Taft, who is an EMT with an exquisite search and rescue dog Cassius.
There is no government agency that trains or provides these amazing working dogs, it is all done by private work and donation. It takes about 10K to train each one.
Having lived through the World Trade Center Disaster I can personally attest to the absolute essential life saving and heroic services these dogs provide.
Willie’s is having a great benefit for The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. Spread the good word!!
The Where and When
Come to our benefit short film screening 12/4 Thursday 7:30 pm
Hotdogs, beer, popcorn, free stuff, all for $20.00
Proceeds to benefit The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
