This from Brooklyn Paper:

Spy magazine used to have a popular segment called “Separated at
birth” that featured pictures of celebrities who bore an uncanny
resemblance to each other. Forgive real-life twins Paula Bernstein and
Elyse Schein if they fail to find humor in the photographic
juxtaposition — after all, “Separated at birth” is their life story.

The
twins, adopted by different middle-class Jewish families in the 1960s,
were the victims of a New York adoption agency’s bizarre — and since
repudiated — theory that identical twins would flourish if raised
separately.

Atlantic Yards Report reports on  “Is New York Losing Its Soul?” the first in a series of public programs connected to the  Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York
exhibit and sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Read more at AYR.

The panelists at the
Donnell Library auditorium, facing an audience of some 250 people,
expressed varying degrees of dismay over homogenization and rising
rents, as well as feelings of impotence in a developer-friendly city.
And Atlantic Yards was again the poster child for unwelcome development.

Leading
off, moderator Clyde Haberman, a New York Times Metro columnist,
brought up the relentless march of chain banks and chain drugstores. “I
suspect history will smile on the Bloomberg administration,” he said,
but “it has yet to meet a developer to which it will say no.” (That’s
not quite true, given the administration’s posture
toward Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities in Coney Island.) The one example he
referenced—noting that panelist Alison Tocci of Time Out New York
wanted to discuss it—was Atlantic Yards.

Wonderful Things Are Sprouting at the Community Bookstore!!!

GROW, WATERMELON, GROW author Charlotte Noruzi will visit the
Community Bookstore as part of our ongoing Sunday Children’s Reading
Series this Sunday, October 7, at 3:00 p.m.

The book is beautifully
illustrated (by Noruzi herself) and very funny, and is about a girl
and her patience (or impatience) at planting a watermelon seed and
watching (and watching…and watching…) it grow.

So park your strollers this Sunday at the Community Bookstore, and
pick up a signed copy of Grow, Watermelon, Grow. As always, this event
is free and open to the public.

Seed-spitting contest to follow.

Sunday, October 7th
3:00 p.m.
Community Bookstore
143 7th Avenue, Park Slope
(718) 783-3075

The New York Post reports that Department of Education is looking for applicants to serve as
permanent principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy.

People are wondering whether the school’s former principal, Debbie Almontaser, is going to apply for the position at the school, which she helped to develop. She resigned from the position, which pays $120,000 a year, after a controversy over "Intifada NYC." t-shirts, in August. Just weeks before the start of the school year.

Fluency in Arabic is preferred, but is not required

October 13: INNER LIVES, DEVELOPING CHARACTERS is Regina McBride’s monthly writing workshop in Park Slope. 10 am until 5 pm. To register: nightsea21@nyc.rr.com.

Using relaxation, sense memory, and emotional memory (Stanislavski
acting techniques transformed for the writer) a variety of exercises
will be offered to enable the student to find a deeper, richer
connection to the character he or she is creating.

Exercises will be followed by writing periods, and opportunities for
people to read and share their work. The atmosphere will be safe, with
the focus on exploration. The class is designed to help the student
break into new territory with the character, and with the story itself.

October 13: TEENS FOR DARFUR, a benefit concert at the Old Stone House
with Cool and Unusual, Dulaney Banks, Post No Bills, Banzai, and the
newly re-formed, The Floor is Lava. 6 p.m. $10 for adults. $5 for kids
and teens. All welcome. Funds will go to the American Jewish World Service  Refugee Relief Effort in Darfur. Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

Octobter 18: Centennial Celebration for Ladder 122. 11 am. In front of the firehouse on 11th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

October 18: BROOKLYN READING WORKS
at the Old Stone House presents Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn. Several
poets from this great collection of Brooklyn poems will be on hand at
the Old Stone House: Phillis Levin, Andrea Baker, Patricia Spears Jones, and Tom Sleigh.  Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

October 20: JAMIE LIVINGTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY 1979-1997. 6,697
Polaroids, dated in sequence. Exhibition runs from October 13-28, 2007.
Bard College. Bertelsmann Campus Center. Sponsored by the Bard-St.
Stephens’s Alumni/ae Assocationor more information, contact
info@photooftheday.net

October 20: BOB KLEIN AND THE ANCESTORS at the Cutting Room. 7 p.m.  19 West 24th Street.

October 21: BROOKLYN BLOGADE ROADSHOW in Bay Ridge. Location and time to be determined. Organized by Luna Park Gazette.

I took a quick look at the Food Coop website to see if there was any news about the debit machines (hah) and I followed a link to their product blog. That’s where I saw this list of fabulous produce, another reason to coop.

Bunched arugula
Mei Qing Choy
Loose and bunched spinach
Broccoli rabe
Turnips loose and Japanese bunched
Parsnips
Celeriac
Loose Carrots
Fennel
Mustards
Watercress
Blue and Fingerling potatoes
Acorn, Buttercup, Butternut, Carnival, Delicata, Kabocha, Spaghetti, Sweet Dumpling, and Sweet Mama Squash.
Pumpkins

October 13: TEENS FOR DARFUR, a benefit concert at the Old Stone House with Cool and Unusual, Dulaney Banks, Post No Bills, Banzai, and the newly re-formed, The Floor is Lava. 6 p.m. $10 for adults. $5 for kids and teens. All welcome. Funds will go to the American Jewish World Service  Refugee Relief Effort in Darfur. Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

October 18: BROOKLYN READING WORKS at the Old Stone House presents Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn. Several poets from this great collection of Brooklyn poems will be on hand at the Old Stone House: Phillis Levin, Andrea Baker, Patricia Spears Jones, and Tom Sleigh.  Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

October 20: JAMIE LIVINGTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY 1979-1997. 6,697
Polaroids, dated in sequence. Exhibition runs from October 13-28, 2007.
Bard College. Bertelsmann Campus Center. Sponsored by the Bard-St.
Stephens’s Alumni/ae Assocationor more information, contact
info@photooftheday.net

October 20: BOB KLEIN AND THE ANCESTORS at the Cutting Room. 7 p.m.  19 West 24th Street.

October 21: BROOKLYN BLOGADE ROADSHOW in Bay Ridge. Location and time to be determined. Organized by Luna Park Gazette.

 

Ever thoughtful, here’s an excerpt from a post called, Not Me But Who’s Next on  Rabbi Andy’s blog.

I hurt my knees this summer, which meant that the ability to run in
Israel was reduced to nothing and it’s taken most of August and
September to climb back to a point where a few times a week I can pull
off a loop or two in the park.

At 44, I’m feeling it.

Mortality all around.

In
Philip Roth’s Exit Ghost, he pursues aging and mortality, yet again,
better than anyone I know; and this time around, I coupled his
meditations with a reading of Dr. Sherwin Nuland’s the Art of Aging.

Taken
together, they make an enlightening diad about the inevitable breakdown
of our physicality and how the literary and philosophical/existential
can provide a bulwark against despair and decay.

Here’s her report from her weather tower in Coney Island.

"Same like yesterday. Cloudy and on the cool side. 61 degrees now. In the low 70’s later. Tomorrow it’s getting warm again. In the 80’s."

Brooklyn Heights Blog has the word.

Today they will be filming a crash scene in Middagh Street for the film, Burn After Reading with George Clooney, Francis McDormand, Brad Pitt, and John Malkovich.

Here’s the word from insideschools.com. From what I can tell, the timetable for tours and applications has changed a bit. Thanks to Inside Schools for providing this information.

This year, the central office of student
enrollment at the Department of Education has begun to revamp the
process. While there is to be “no sweeping reform” this year according
to a department official, there will be a standardized application
calendar citywide. It’s designed to “bring it [admissions] into
alignment in one calendar,” Sandy Ferguson, the official in charge of
middle schools admissions told Insideschools, noting that in the past
middle school applications have been due as early as November in some
districts and as late as May in others.

Putting an end to rumors which have been
circulating in elementary schoolyards, Ferguson said that the choice
process will not change, and the districts will still be determining
the criteria for enrollment. “The eligibility rules aren’t changing,”
he said, “and there won’t be huge changes at any level.”

Directories in December; fairs & tours in January & February
      

For those districts with middle school choice –
mainly in Manhattan and Brooklyn – the central office will issue middle
school directories in December. District fairs, with representatives
from each middle school, are to be held in January and February, as are
school tours.

The change came as a surprise to some Manhattan and Brooklyn schools which had already begun booking fall tour
dates for prospective parents and students. “We were told to hold off
on booking more until the process gets sorted out,” a Manhattan parent
coordinator told Insideschools. A memo sent to principals last week
said: “While schools are encouraged to offer tours prior to the
distribution of the Middle School Directories, they are expected to
offer them in January and February.” The memo said that applications
will be delivered to elementary schools in January and will be due in
February. Students will learn where they have been accepted in May.

This should make for a more leisurely fall for
parents of 5th graders. However the late date of notification – not
until May – will be problematic for parents considering private schools
which expect a decision – and a deposit – months earlier.

Stay tuned – there are sure to be more details forthcoming. And check out our blog. As the middle school process heats up later this fall, Liz Willen  will chronicle the middle school search from a mom’s point of view.

Sometimes you find out in New York Magazine what’s going on a few blocks away. Here’s a new store to know about: and it’s owned by the owners of the acclaimed, Applewood Restaurant.

Applewares
   
548 10th St., nr. Seventh Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn 718-576-2484
 
  To
save themselves a trip into Manhattan for every new kitchen gadget,
Applewood’s David and Laura Shea opened a tiny kitchen-supply shop last
week, stocking everything from side towels to “a cheap plastic peeler that really works.”

Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper:

The Oh So Feisty One didn’t forget her pencil. But that didn’t stop Smartmom from stealthily following her to school last week like a maternal James Bond.

You see, OSFO left the house at 8:15 am, walked around the corner to pick up a schoolmate, and walked to school.

All by herself.

It was quite a moment for Smartmom and she didn’t quite know what to do. First, she got back into bed with Hepcat and they snuggled a bit. But, alas, Hepcat had worked all night and went to bed at 5 am; he was in no mood for that voodoo that they used to do.

Smartmom did tell him about OSFO’s amazing feat. “Can you believe it? She got herself dressed, ate breakfast, did her hair, and left the house.

All by herself.

Zzzzzz. Hepcat was too tired to appreciate the milestone. Smartmom felt euphoric, but also a little unsettled. She threw on some jogging clothes and sauntered, yes, sauntered up Third Street toward Seventh Avenue.

No, she wasn’t going to make sure that OSFO and her friend arrived at school. That would be so tacky. Of course they got to school.

All right, it did occur to Smartmom that something COULD happen to a couple of 10-year-old girls on their way to school.

Was OSFO properly trained in self-defense? Would she know the difference between a nice adult and an adult who, say, wanted to kidnap her?

You can’t blame Smartmom for being worried. OSFO’s her little girl and it’s a parent’s duty — and right — to worry about the safety of her child.

Take Smartmom’s dad, Groovy Grandpa. He was a little worried the first time that Smartmom (then Smartgirl) took public transportation all by herself to elementary school.

Smartgirl was only 9 years old and New Lincoln, a private school, was located on Central Park North and 110th Street. The trek from West 86th Street to East Harlem is a long one for an innocent tween.

And don’t forget: this was back in the late 1960s, when New York really was dangerous. Still, Smartgirl was super-excited about going to school all by herself. Boy, did she feel independent. Boy, did she feel like a big kid.

Understandably, she was more than a little annoyed when Groovy Grandpa decided to follow the 86th Street crosstown bus through the Central Park transverse on his three-speed (which he often rode to his job at the advertising agency).

Grrrr. Smartgirl smoldered in the back seat of the bus as she watched her dad in his tweed jacket and jeans steer his bike behind the bus.

At Madison Avenue, she got off the bus to switch to another bus that would deliver her within steps of her school.

“Well, I guess I’ll head downtown to the office,” her father said nervously.

Smartgirl was relieved. She couldn’t wait to be rid of her hovering dad so she could really do this getting-to-school-on-her-own-thing already.

“Remember, you take the 2A, 3, or 4 bus,” he reminded her.

“I already know that, Dad. Bye,” Smartgirl said rolling her eyes.

Smartgirl couldn’t contain her excitement (mingled with fear) as she watched her father head downtown on his bike. Riding the bus uptown was a dream come true. She stared out the window as the neighborhood changed from elegant Upper East Side apartment buildings and stores to the high rises of Mt. Sinai Hospital and housing projects. Finally, the bus arrived at the corner of 110th Street and Fifth Avenue. Smartgirl got out with all the other schoolkids and walked into the building.

Mission accomplished. Smartgirl had succeeded in getting herself to school on not one, but two city buses. What a high.

While Smartgirl waited in the lobby until it was time to go upstairs, she heard a slight racket at the front door. Turning around, she saw her father carrying his bike into the building.

She was mortified.

“You forgot your pencil,” he said sweetly while holding a pencil in his hand. Face flush red with embarrassment, Smartgirl ushered him out the door as he told her that he’d found the yellow #2 in the basket of his bike.

She could see through his pathetic ruse. Oh the nerve.

Smartmom thought of this moment the other morning as she spied on OSFO in the PS321 backyard where the third- through fifth-graders line up.

What a nice surprise: there was OSFO and her friend standing on line. They looked so cute, but when OSFO spotted Smartmom, she made an angry “get out of here gesture” with her hand. Her facial expression said: Scram.

As Smartmom well knows, hell hath no fury like a child, whose independence has been questioned by a parent.

But Smartmom was relieved to see her little baby safe and sound. As she exited the school’s backyard, OSFO ran up to her.

“What are you doing here?” she screamed.

“I have a PTA meeting,” Smartmom lied. “I have to be in the lobby at 9 am.”

OSFO was dubious. She was right to be!

Forty years later, Smartmom and Groovy Grandpa still laugh about the You-Forgot-Your-Pencil incident. Even Hepcat and the kids know the story backwards and forwards.

In Smartmom’s life, “I forgot your pencil” has become shorthand for the love-infused worry a parent feels for a child. That bit about the pencil may have been a ruse, but it was Groovy Grandpa’s way of trying to protect Smartmom’s burgeoning sense of independence.

But that doesn’t let Groovy Grandpa (or Smartmom) off the hook. Groovy Grandpa lied to Smartgirl about the pencil, just like Smartmom lied to OSFO about the PTA meeting.

Sadly, Smartmom couldn’t come up with anything as clever or memorable as his line. Then again, she’s not the award-winning advertising copywriter who came up with slogans like: “Aunt Jemima, what took you so long?”

Sure, parents do screwy things. But most of the time they do it out of love.

You forgot your pencil. Now that’s something Smartmom will never forget.

Upcoming this weekend, your chance to go inside places you can’t normally go inside. Check out the OpenhouseNewYork listings.

Discover new neighborhoods, explore with
friends and family, and experience NYC’s architecture and design in all
five boroughs through special talks, tours, performances and
family-friendly workshops – all free of charge!

.

It’s been an eventful week at New York Shitty, a terrific Greenpoint blog. And this is the opening weekend of the “Newtown Creek Nature Walk, a new park at the sewage treatment plant. More deets here from NYS.

What a week! First I was on the Leonard Lopate Show. Then it was Poles without pants. After that I discovered the CRACK PROS. And last— but not least, I finally got a photo of Greenpoint’s very own Jeep-riding Doginator.
How can I possibly keep up this kind of momentum?

Up next for Brooklyn Reading Works: Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn edited by Michael Tyrell and Julia Kasdorf. OCTOBER 18th at 8 p.m. The Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope. Directions here.

Brooklyn,
crouching forever in the shadow of Manhattan, is perhaps best known for
a certain bridge or for the world-renowned tackiness of Coney Island.
When it comes to literary history, Brooklyn can also seem dwarfed by
its sister borough-until you take a closer look. As unlikely as it may
sound, for more than two centuries Brooklyn has inspired poets and
poetry. Although there are plenty of poetry anthologies devoted to
specific regions of the United States, Broken Land is the first to focus exclusively on verse that celebrates Brooklyn. And what remarkable verse it is.

Edited
by poets Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Michael Tyrell, this collection of
135 notable poems reveals the many cultural, ethnic, aesthetic, and
religious traditions that have accorded Brooklyn its enduring place in
the American psyche. Dazzling in its selections, Broken Land
offers poetry from the colonial period to the present, including
contributions from the American poets most closely associated with
Brooklyn-Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, and Marianne Moore-as well as
memorable poems from Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence
Ferlinghetti, George Oppen, and Charles Reznikoff. Also included are a
wide range of contemporary works from both established and emerging
poets: Derek Walcott, Galway Kinnell, C.K. Williams, Amy Clampitt,
Martin Espada, Lisa Jarnot, Marilyn Hacker, Tom Sleigh, D. Nurkse,
Donna Masini, Michael S. Harper, Noelle Kocot, Joshua Beckman, and many
others.

Several poets from this great collection of Brooklyn poems will be on hand at the Old Stone House: Phillis Levin, Andrea Baker, Patricia Spears Jones, and Tom Sleigh.

Details: October 18 8 p.m. at the Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope.

Editor Gersh Kuntzman sent me an email with the sad news. Reporter Ariella Cohen is leaving the Brooklyn Paper for greener pastures in New Orleans.

Here’s Gersh’s sorrowful note:

And so it has come to this: After two years of outstanding service
to the borough of Brooklyn and The Brooklyn Paper, long-suffering
reporter Ariella Cohen will leave The Brooklyn Paper to singlehandedly
restore New Orleans to its prior greatness.

The best thing — or perhaps the only
good thing — that can be said about Cohen’s departure is that it gives
us all an excuse to go to Retreat and order "The Gersh," the bar’s
intoxicating mix of ginger vodka, grapefruit juice and grenadine.

I am sitting at the Tea Lounge with Gersh Kuntzman, editor of the Brooklyn Paper, who pointed my attention to an interesting (and quite prudent) disclaimer in this week’s Brooklyn Paper about what comments they will and will not post on the website.

"Our invitation to posters in our editorial is just that. An invitation. Let’s hear it. But try to keep it clean meaning this: the most important thing is we don’t want to discourage unpopular thoughts. Unpopular thoughts are out there and need to be debated.  We just want people not to abuse that."

I’m thinking about doing a disclaimer, too. Here’s an excerpt from the editorial in this week’s Brooklyn Paper.

The Brooklyn Paper has started inviting its readers to add their
comments directly below the articles that appear on our Web site.

And now, the deluge.

Certainly,
we would not be opening up our Web site to public comment if we were
not fully committed to encouraging a free and open exchange of ideas.

At
the same time, eagle-eyed readers will notice a disclaimer embedded
into the comment box compelling commenters to not post any “abusive,
obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually oriented
material, or any material that may violate applicable law,” on the site.

Not really sure what this is about but it sounds like fun. OSFO says there will be dog adoptions there. Saturday from noon until 6 p.m in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue and Third Street. Sponsored by the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network.

The Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow is this Sunday in Bed Stuy. For more information go to Bed-Stuy Blog.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to RSVP for the Brooklyn
Blogade event by sending an
email to thechangeling AT bedstuyblog DOT com.

Additional information
on the blogade can be found here.  We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Marc Kaminsky, one of the Park Slope 100, will
be reading at Teachers and Writers Collaborative on November 9 at 6 p.m, in celebration of the publication of his new book of poetry and fiction, Shadow Traffic, from Red Hen
Press.

2020 Visions: Marc Kaminsky
November 9 at 6:00 PM

Marc Kaminsky is a Brooklyn-based poet, essayist, editor, and psychotherapist in private practice. The author of A Table with People and The Uses of Reminiscence,
he developed a model for writing and reminiscing groups for older
adults that has become a standard practice in gerontological settings.
The poems and stories in Kaminsky’s new book, Shadow Traffic,
offer a sustained meditation on living in the aftermath of trauma.
Migrating between disparate countries and memories—America and Eastern
Europe, Yiddish and English, language and trauma—the pieces in Shadow Traffic
constitute a shadow passport that allows readers to journey with
Kaminsky from the Bronx of his childhood to his Brooklyn office, with
multiple stops between.

Heard it on NPR.

Queen Latifah (real name Dana Owens) has recorded a cover of Phoebe Snow’s great song, Poetry Man. And it’s a gorgeous version. Onetwoonetwo.com writes:

Trav’lin’ Light is Latifah’s second foray into the realm of jazz, soul,
and blues. Once again, she embraces a sultry and saucy mix of fabled
female vocalists who’ve inspired her. Exploring the songbooks of
PeggyLee, Etta James, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, Carmen
McRae, Roberta Flack, Mary Wells, Phoebe Snow, and more, Latifah adds her warm vocals and
playful personality to a hand-picked mix of familiar classics and
forgotten jewels.

1. POETRY MAN
(Words and Music by Phoebe Snow)
QL’s mom’s favorite song. QL sought and received her mom’s blessing
before recording it. Top 5 Pop hit, #1 Adult Contemporary hit in 1975
for Phoebe Snow.

Painter Joan Snyder of Park Slope was awarded the coveted MacArthur Award yesterday. This so-called "Genius" award is given out every year to unsuspecting artists, scientists, authors,  researchers, educators, and policy makers who receive $500,000 distributed over five years.

It’s the phone call people dream about. Can you imagine. Hello: We want to give you $500,000 to continue doing the great work that you do….

The New York Sun writes:

"It is generally considered one of the most prestigious
intellectual and creative honors. The leadership of the MacArthur
Foundation is notoriously reticent to disclose nomination and selection
criteria, but they cited Ms. Snyder’s "fiercely individual approach and
persistent experimentation with technique and materials."

Ms. Snyder, 67, while not a household name, has been a familiar face
among the New York artistic elite for four decades. A product of the
1960s and ’70s abstract painting movement, her evolving career —
featuring work that has progressed from formal grid-based "stroke"
paintings to layered creations incorporating text, found objects, and
papier-mâché — has been more of a slow-burn than a flash in the pan.
While her paintings may not enjoy prime real estate at MoMA, she has
had a career retrospective at the Jewish Museum in 2005, a book
published by Harry N. Abrams that same year, and more than 50 solo
exhibitions.

This from the New York Sun:

A Brooklyn council member, David Yassky, has entered the race for the city comptroller in 2009, increasing the list of council members vying for the seat. Mr. Yassky, a Democrat who represents parts of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and downtown Brooklyn, has filed papers with the Campaign Finance Board for the citywide office.

Bed-Stuy Blog has ALL THE INFO about this Blogger meet-up in Bed Stuy on Sunday September 30th at 1 p.m. She’s organizing it and it should be a great opportunity to eat in and explore Bed Stuy with a bunch of Brooklyn bloggers.

If you’re a blogger, or thinking about becoming one, join us at our monthly gathering at the French African restaurant, Le Toukouleur. You’ll get a chance to enjoy wonderful food and great company in the largest neighborhood in Brooklyn. Spouses and significant others are welcome! Meet and mingle with the cool folks who blog all over our borough. Please RSVP

Come spend the afternoon in Bed-Stuy and experience the many personalities of the neighborhood. You can take a walk along the southern section of the neighborhood with its beautiful brownstones and gorgeous architecture or you can soak up the industrial, ever-changing landscape of the northern part of the neighborhood.

You’ll find that there’s no other Brooklyn neighborhood quite like it!
Sunday, September 30th
1:00 p.m.
Le Toukouleur Restaurant
1116 Bedford Avenue @ Quincy Street
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Cost: $10 per person

To RSVP: Please send an email to thechangeling@bedstuyblog.com with your brunch selection (Menu is on bedstuyblog.com) and the number of people you are bringing (and their brunch selections too).

OR you can post your RSVP in the comments.

Check out the photos over there. SF writes:

This neighborhood is full of greenery — majestic old-growth trees and beautiful landscaping — but it’s all private property. We are seriously lacking in community gardens, all-age recreational facilities, and public parks closer than the Parade Ground and Prospect Park (more than a mile away for many of us). The Tot Lot on Argyle Road is popular with kids and parents (as one parent mentioned to me yesterday, it’s so full that “the kids are on top of each other”), but there are very few options for older kids or unaccompanied grown-ups. So Park(ing) Day — an international event, co-sponsored in NYC by Transportation Alternatives, The Open Planning Project, and the Trust for Public Land — seemed the perfect opportunity to create a public park for everyone.

We built it, and they came: a public space with real grass, trees, art supplies, games, wi-fi, and live music.

After 23 years of working together as Brooklyn Parents for Peace, the group has  chosen a new more
inclusive name: Brooklyn For Peace. And don’t forget to capitalize the For.

Our concern for future generations continues to unite us.

Please note: For is spelled with a capital F! We want to emphasize the
positive, what we are FOR.
Abbreviate to BFP, rather than to BP. To help maintain our name
recognition and respect for 23 years of work in Brooklyn, please
identify us as: Brooklyn For Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace.)

Tina Barry reviews Sidecar, the South Slope restaurant I noticed for the first time last week, in the Brooklyn Paper. And she likes it. I may try it for brunch tomorrow.

They mean classic New York at its swanky best; in their dark wood,
brick-walled dining room, booths are set up for cozy canoodling and
bartenders put the happy in “happy hour” when they start mixing retro
drinks like the signature “Sidecar” and “Pimm’s Cup.”

John’s in
the kitchen shucking oysters again, (he serves these with a house made
cucumber mignonette sauce), and serving up bowls of “BLT soup” (bacon,
escarole, tomato and chicken stock), a “Sidecar burger” with fries, and
the popular buttermilk fried chicken.

Alice Waters came to Brooklyn recently to make lunch in that apartment of Kim Severson, who writes for the New York Times. They shopped at the Union Square  Greenmarket and cooked in a Severson’s brownstone kitchen. I wish she’d visited the Food Coop. Here’s the New York Times’ article.

Did anyone see Alice, the great restaraunteur slow food/local ingredients revolutionary, who owns Chez Panisse in Berkeley, when she was here?

Also, read Alice Waters’ first blog post on the Times’ diner’s journal.

WHEN Alice Waters is coming over to cook lunch, the first thing you do is look around your house and think, I live in a dump.

Then you take an inventory of
the pantry. The bottles of Greek and Portuguese olive oil, once a point
of pride, suddenly seem inadequate. And should you hide the box of
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran and jettison those two cans of Diet Pepsi?

At
the end of the afternoon, when the last peach was peeled and my kitchen
was stacked with dirty pots, it didn’t really matter. Ms. Waters was
either too polite or too distracted to mention what was in my cupboard.
It turns out she travels with her own olive oil, anyway. And homemade
vinegar. And salt-packed capers.

Ms. Waters had agreed to spend a
hot September day shopping with me at the Union Square Greenmarket and
schlepping back to my first-floor apartment in brownstone Brooklyn to
make lunch.

I found these insightful words on Andy Bachman’s blog. He is the rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope. 

Be kind and honest in how you look at yourself. The Fast is enough
inflicted punishment for one day. Allow the Fast to allow you to focus
on what truly matters: your actions in the last year; your intentions
in carrying out those actions; and what you may do to improve (not
miraculously solve) those relationships in need of healing in the year
ahead.

May each of you have a Meaningful Yom Kippur Fast and
emerge at Havdalah tomorrow evening with Eyes Wide Open and Hearts
Prepared to bring more justice and peace to our World.