I just saw The Dinner Party, the landmark 1970’s feminist art piece, at the Brooklyn Museum’s new Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. It was a press viewing with a walk-through with artist,  Judy Chicago.

I am, suffice it to say, blown away.

The piece depicts place settings for 39 mythical and historical famous women throughout history. It was produced from 1974 to 1979 by a collaboration of many individual women and first exhibited in 1979.

"The Dinner Party was meant to end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record," Chicago is quoted as saying. 

The table sits in a large, dark room with large canting glass walls and dramatic lighting. The table is triangular. Each place setting features a placemat / tablecloth with the woman’s name and artworks relating to the woman’s life, along with a napkin, utensils, glass / goblet, and a plate.

The plates all feature a butterfly- or flower-like sculpture, that looks like a vulva.

A collaborative effort of many female artists, The Dinner Party celebrates traditional female accomplishments such as weaving, china painting, embroidery, and sewing which have historically been thought of as craft or domestic work.

The white floor of triangular porcelain tiles is inscribed with the names of 999 other notable women.

1038 women in all. We are blessed in Brooklyn to have this incredibly inspiring, scholarly and artistic work on view. This means a lot to the children of Brooklyn, who will walk past these 39 places settings (and read the names on the tile floor) and begin to learn about the who these women are — diminished and/or erased no more.

I know I can wait to take OSFO.

I am impressed with the media blitz that has accompanied NO IMPACT MAN DOT COM in the last couple of days. Wooo. Buzz. Buzz.

I heard him this morning on NPR and saw the article in the Home section of the New York Times.

This guy, Colin Beavan, has a good story at the right time (global warming has reached the tipping point). A writer of historical fiction, he is, of course, writing a book about his year doing without. His wife is a writer at Business Week. He’s also blogging about the experience.

What he is doing is quite fascinating. Inspiring. My friend Red Eft is doing something like this a couple of days a week. Sunday is Power Off Day and Tuesday is No Driving Day.

Here’s what in and out at their West Village apartment a reported in the New York Times:

WHAT’S IN AND WHAT’S OUT

IN: Straight-edge razors, charades, scooters, bikes, string bags, worms, hand-me-downs.

OUT: Toilet paper, spices, olive oil, incandescent bulbs, disposable razors, newspapers, magazines, television, planes, trains, automobiles, elevators, plastic bags, anything new.

No Impact Man describes his project thusly: "A guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle Nazi, turns off his power, composts his poop and, while living in NYC, generally turns into a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catatrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four-Seasons-loving wife along for the ride."

From his blog:

First, I’m going to be on WYNC’s The Brian Lehrer Show live at 10:06 AM EST today, March 21, 2007 (you can also listen to the recorded show if
you missed it live). We’ll be taking calls (212-433-9692), so please phone in! I
will not be nervous…I will not be nervous…Well, that’s not working.

Second, there’s a New York Times story about the No Impact
project on the front page of today’s House and Home Section. It’s the result of
reporter Penelope Green following us around for a few days asking all manner of
personal questions about our No Impact lifestyle. 

(One thing I wish I could change in the story is
this idea that we are doing this project  because it "was the only one
of four [book ideas] his agent thought would sell." If I could change
that bit, it would read, "Mr. Beavan had decided that with so many
urgent problems in the world, writing more history books felt
irrelevant. He decided to change the course of his career. When he
presented ten ideas about the environment to his agent, Beavan was
surprised that his agent most liked Beavan’s personal favorite–the No
Impact Man idea.")

Two must-see films at BAM.  I am so there this weekend.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS: an intelligent, absorbing
thriller has garnered critical raves and numerous award
nominations—winning the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Set in East
Germany in 1984, The Lives of Others captures the atmosphere of
tension in the East German government near the end of the Cold War,
through an exceptional script and superb performances. The film
revolves around the loyal, stone-faced Stasi agent Capt. Wiesler as he
bugs an apartment shared by a prominent playwright and his actress
girlfriend—two people about whom the Party harbors suspicions. Filled
with plot twists and nerve-shattering suspense, the film’s political
critique, conspiracy themes, and images of surveillance recall classic
paranoid precursors such as The Conversation, Blow-Out, and The Parallax View. In German with English subtitles. 

THE NAMESAKE combines the intimate pleasures of a family saga with a finely
sustained inquiry into the difficult balance between separation and
integration that shapes the lives of first-generation immigrants and
their children in crucially different ways.
—The Village Voice

The family drama The Namesake
begins in Calcutta with the arranged marriage of Ashoke Ganguli (Khan)
and Ashima (Tabu) then follows the couple to New York where they start
a family and learn to adapt to their new home. In the vein of Mira
Nair’s previous culture-clashing films Mississipi Masala and Monsoon Wedding,
this adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel presents an immigrant
experience that many people can relate to. In particular, Kal Penn’s
assured performance has earned critics’ accolades; as Gogol, the
Ganguli’s Americanized son, he captures his character’s ambivalent
feelings as he struggles to balance the expectations of two cultures. The Namesake is a touching film about different generations of the same family, and a delightful combination of humor, drama, and romance.

This from New York 1:

Family and friends gathered in Sunset Park Wednesday morning to bid farewell to a Brooklyn soldier killed in Iraq.

Twenty-two-year-old Army Specialist Michael Rivera was one of three soldiers killed March 7th by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

Army officials awarded Rivera a bronze star and purple heart and posthumously promoted him to sergeant.

Those close to Rivera remembered his good nature.

"He liked to cook, he’d play, and always helping people, always at
something in the neighborhood," said Rivera’s uncle Augustine Rivera.
"That’s why everybody loved him."

"There were a lot of great testimonials given in Iraq by his
friends,” said General Todd Semonite. “They wrote back and said ‘boy
this guy was a hero, he was out there in front. He was leading the
way.’"

The pall bearers included Rivera’s brother and three cousins who are all serving their country in the military.

"That’s all he did was help people out, my little brother, that’s
all he did. He was always looking to do something right. So I’m gonna
miss that a lot," said Rivera’s brother Lance Corporal Alfredo Burke.

"He was definitely my rock, between all my hard situations he was
always there for me,” said his cousin, Army Specialist Edward Rivera.
“And he always knew what to say."

Rivera’s wife brought the couple’s daughter, Joycelin, who was born in Korea, to New York for the funeral.

"Michael was a very big part of our lives, and there is nothing
that can replace that,” said Carlos Figueroa, Rivera’s cousin. “But the
good thing is that he has his daughter here with us, and she can live
on his legacy."

Rivera received a 21-gun salute before being buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Contest for photographers and writers:

The Brooklyn Public Library invites photographers or writers of all
ages to describe what Brooklyn means to them in its sixth annual photo
and essay contest. You can see last year’s winners here and 2005’s winners here. They include some really, really good photos like this one.

Prizes include a $500, $300 or $100 U.S. Savings Bond and the
opportunity for the winning work to be exhibited at the Brooklyn Public
Library.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, March
30, 2007, midnight, or hand delivered by 5 p.m. to the Programs &
Exhibitions Department located at the Park Slope Branch – 431 Sixth
Avenue.

Electronics Recycling Day

4/21/2007 – JJ Byrne Park, Park Slope Brooklyn
Recycle your electronics at J.J. Byrne Park, 5th Ave at 4th Street in
Park Slope Brooklyn, from 10am – 3pm. Acceptable Items: Working &
Non-working Desktop and laptop computers, keyboards, mice, cables
Printers, Copiers & fax Machines, MP3 Players, and Cell phones. A
contribution of a few dollars is asked for if you drop off more than 4
items. For more information visit www.perscholas.org

This music video, created by Peter Shapiro, for the band, Bob Klein and the Ancestors will help you take a break from this icy winter weather to the inviting blue water of the Caribbean. While you’re at it, enjoy the cool, fresh music of Bob Klein and the Ancestors, who are performing at The Cutting Room on April 13th. Location: 24th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue. In Manhattan. See you there.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-431997359553433039&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

This note was sent to me by Rawle Jackman, a parent of a first grade student at PS 282. When I asked if it would be okay for me to post his email he wrote, "Sure you may. Anything that can help to keep this from becoming a very ugly situation."

Hello Ms. Crawford,

As
a parent of a first grade Lead student at PS 282, I would like to
reassure you that the basis for the parents’ opposition to the Khalil
Gibran International Academy is and has been purely relating to the
logistics and perceived educational hits that the currently high
achieving school may undertake. It is truly disappointing to see that
such a hateful message, the MIM link, could be infused into this
already very serious issue. It lowers, greatly diminishes and diverts
the attention from the concerns that we as parents really have.

As many parents have asserted, our quarrel is not with the
Khalil Gibran International Academy, many have met and spoken to the
the principal of that school, Ms Debbie Almontaser, there is no reason
to believe that her school will not be successful. In fact many such
schools in today’s America, may indeed be necessary. But as the New
York Times article stated, these "New Schools" are slated to be placed
in low performing schools throughout the city. PS 282 is by no stretch
a low performing school. Our concerns are with the compromising of
curriculum, where the focus of the Dept. of Education, should be on
improving and not diminishing, inadequate facilities, the overcrowding
of the school, it’s bathrooms, classrooms, stairwells, also used by
Pre-Kindergarteners, etc. The improving of the computer labs, science
labs, music rooms etc. Oftentimes it seems that when it comes to
education in NYC, the decisions on where and on what to spend money seems seriously inequitable.

I thank you for your time.

Rawle Jackman
PS 282 1st Grade Parent

The Park Slope St. Patrick’s Day Parade is fun and all but yesterday on the way home from Rehoboth Beach it was just a major hassle. Major.

Yesterday’s was OSFO birthday party and I had to get home at 1 p.m. SHARP. We made great time from Rehboboth Beach except for that little speeding ticket thingy.

Zoom, zoom, zoom it was quick up the Jersey Turnpike. Zip, zip, zip: even Staten Island wasn’t too bad. Same with the Verrazano Bridge and the BQE.

But then we hit 8th Avenue in Park Slope and it was bumper to bumper. MAN THIS SUCKS WE SAID. And then I saw them: the bag pipers walking west on 15th Street.

"Damn, it’s the St. Pat’s parade," I said feeling like an idiot because I posted about it last week. I could see the headline: Park Slope Parade on Sunday. How had I forgotten? DUH. DOH. DAMN.

No one was moving. Eighth Avenue was at a gridlocked standstill. It was a mess. Cars were turning on 16th Street toward the Park. I told my friend to make the turn and I’d get out.

"I’ll get my bags from you later. Tomorrow. Whatever. I’ve got to bolt."

"What about your computer?" she said.

"OMIGOD," I pulled my computer out of the back of her hybrid but couldn’t get my duffel bag full of all the gifts I gotten for family members at the Beach.

I walked down a congested Seventh Avenue to the F Train. Party time…

Tired.

Getting a speeding ticket on the highway is a cultural experience for a not-very-often driver like me. Actually, I wasn’t even driving. My friend was. But still, it was one of those classic moments and while it meant a $40. ticket for my friend I was just soaking it up.

We were driving along on Highway 1A from Rehoboth Beach to Wilmington area, when my friend saw some police lights in her rearview mirror.

"Shit, is this guy stopping me. Was I speeding?"

She pulled over and waited for the police officer to get our of his car and tell her what was going on.

"Do you know how fast you were driving?"

Not really. I was following the car in front of me. Certainly not going any faster than anyone else" she said.

"Do you have any idea what the speed limit is around here?"

"No I’m not sure. We were gabbing and I guess I lost sight of that too," he said.

"Well you were going quite a bit over the speed limit. Where are you two from?"

"We’re from Brooklyn."

"No," he said. "Where in Brooklyn?"

"Park Slope," I said.

"No," he said again. "I’m from Park Slope. I grew up on 17th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. My parents still live there. Where do you live?  he asked me.

"Third Street," I said.

"No." he said. 

I tried to milk it for all I could. We both did. Have you been to Park Slope lately. It’s really changed. Have you heard about the high rises on Fourth Avenue?

"I heard there are condos across from the armory.

Yup. We tried to keep the conversation going. You never know when you’re going to run into someone from Park Slope. He actually did get a lot nicer after that. But he did give my friend a ticket. $40 bucks.

"Drive safely. The speed limit speeds up a little up the way," he said.

And off he went.

This is from the Writers at the Beach website:

Many of you know the story by now, the one about how “Writers at the
Beach: Pure Sea Glass” came into being. It started as a whim, a
half-formed longing on my part, to raise money for the United
Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), the organization devoted to
research of this incurable and often terminal disease that severely
afflicted my then 7 and 12 year old nephews, Sam and Zachary. In
October 2004 when the idea for this “Writers at the Beach” first
occurred to me, I conceived of it as a one-time event, never never
imagining how the writers, participants and sponsors would forever
alter my life.

In that first year, our authors came from
Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. They now hail from these states as
well as from California, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, and West Virginia. All of them come here on their own dime
for a cause many had never before heard of. Their generosity has
allowed us to donate to UMDF over $10.000 each year while still keeping
the cost of this event substantially lower than any comparable writers’
conference, especially one boasting a line up of authors such as ours.

At
this year’s “Writers at the Beach,” you will have a choice of twenty
workshops in four different genres—including, for the first time,
songwriting; you’ll have an opportunity to dine with an author of your
choice on Saturday evening, as well as an opportunity to have your work
evaluated ahead of time by an author, then discussed one on one. You’ll
hear readings throughout the weekend by some of our country’s best
writers; and you’ll have the chance to listen to Keynote speaker,
Marion Fontana, author of Widow’s Walk, a 9/11 memoir about
the loss of her firefighter husband, Dave Fontana, talk about why, more
than ever before, stories are essential. 

Enjoy looking
through the amazing choices of workshops and conversations that the
authors have made unique, compelling and challenging. I know it won’t
be easy to choose. Take a moment, too, to appreciate the sea glass
image, the use of which has been donated by artist and photographer
Celia Pearson, as well as the work of Franklin Parrish of Franklin
Parrish Design Systems, who has worked tirelessly these past two
months, at his own cost, to design this web site.

For
those of you returning, all of us–the authors, the volunteers, my
family and I–look forward to seeing you again. For those joining us
for the first time, we are eager to meet you, to welcome you to an
event that will remind you that your story is important, that it should
be told, that writing, in a world that increasingly seems to devalue
words, still matters to us all a great deal. 

I want to thank the readers who responded to yesterday’s post about Hepcat needing a job. I am  just thrilled—and so is he. All leads are being followed up on. What a great bunch of LEADS. How can I thank all of you? In the off chance that you didn’t see yesterday’s post, I am running it again in the hopes of getting even more responses. You can never have too many — it’s so competitive out there.

It’s hard to do justice to the many skills of Hecpat (No Words_Daily Pix). But we’re gonna try.

The new-fangled word for what Hepcat does is SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT.
I like the sound of that. In old style language: he’s a brilliant IT
guy with skills, brains, and computer know-how up the wazoo. And he
needs a job. He’s a creative and expert problem solver with top notch
an analytical skills and much experience in the world of computing.

Resume and references available on request.  Send inquiries to louise_crawford@yahoo.com

Any headhunters or HR people out there?

I’m in Delaware attending the Writers at the Beach writer’s conference rooming in a slightly faded  mid-century modern hotel with a good friend.

It’s kinda like a slumber party. Fun to be sharing a room, talking, listening to music. Laughing a lot.

Dreary, dark rainy morning but it’s fun to be doing this — getting out of the normal routine — living the groovy writer’s life. At the beach in winter.

Something about being at the beach in winter. I’m thinking of Louis Malle’s "Atlantic City" or "Julia" with Jane Fonda as Lillian Hellman.

Last night, after dinner at an ultra-Victorian style restaurants with fringed lampshades, pink velvet and teacups on dispaly, we took a walk on the dark, empty beach until the rain starting coming down.

I love the moodiness of this place. In the summer, I hear it’s quite the hot spot.

Last night there was a ‘meet and greet’ in the hotel restaurant but the band — kind of a funky, New Orleans style group — was too loud. You couldn’t really talk and my friend got a sore throat. We drank Bailey’s Irish Cream and talked to a English teacher from Baltimore, who spends summers at the beach.

Sounds like Rebobeth Beach has quite a writer’s community — a writer’s guild, writing groups, etc. The Browsabout Bookstore seems to be the epicenter of activity on the boardwalk.

This morning: registration, lunch and opening remarks, a reading and  a three-hour workshop. Most of the workshops are sold out so we don’t what we’re gonna do.

Maybe go to one of the town’s multiple outlet malls and do some shopping. Or not. 

Saw this on Park Slope Parents.

For any one who has or is going through a divorce in Brooklyn, you may be interested to know that the Judge Gerald Garson is finally on trial in Brooklyn. 

Jury selection is taking place this week and the trial will go on for several weeks.

It is open court and a number of concerned citizens are attending the
trial to show that we will not tolerate corruption in the Brooklyn Courts.

Garson is charged with accepteing bribes to fix a number of divorce and
custody cases, often with detrimental outcomes to the children.  Google
the name and his cousin will come up, too.  Seems it runs in the
family.

There will be a number of concerned citizens there but we are hoping
that more people will attend.

Supreme courthouse
at 320 Jay Street
the new tall supreme court building

2nd floor – use escalators…Special Courtroom 1

M-Th 9am-4:30pm , no Fridays

Judge Berry  has asked for no cell phones..so please…..don’t bring
them

NOTE–  the DA has made it clear that a protest would be fine……they
would be very happy with plenty of attention on this case.  So lets
bring it!

Continue reading DIVORCE JUDGE ON TRIAL →

Park Slope says NO to changing 7th and 6th Avenues to one-way streets. The big DOT hearing is tomorrow night at 6:30 at the Methodist Hospital Auditorium. Entrance on 6th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. Be there and let your voice be heard. Or  just come to show your support. It should be quite a meeting…

Read Pastor Meeter’s fascinating thoughts on the moral issues surrounding the Atlantic Yards controversy. Meeter, the pastor of the Old First Dutch Reformed Church, evokes the Tower of Babel, the Garden of Eden, and Naboth’s Vineyard. Read more at Pastor Meeter’s blog, yes he’s a member of Park Slope’s blogging clergy (see Andy Bachman,too).

The moral issue is what kind of country do we want? What kind of
concentrations of power? What protections of private property? Who
determines the public good, especially when the differences in scale
are so great, and the government is drawn to the interests of the
economically powerful? In the Torah, the public good is determined by
the interests of the small piece of private property.

The second Biblical image is the Tower of Babel. It’s in Genesis 11. The Torah is pretty clear on this. God was against it.

Not
because God is against big buildings and skyscrapers as such, but
because of the concentration of power which the Tower represents. Such
concentrations always require hierarchies, and bosses, and dictators,
and centralizations, and the sublimation of the individual to the
vision of the leadership.

The second reason that God was against
the Tower is because it represents the refusal to accept our limits. We
don’t know when to stop. We don’t know how to say No, Enough.

It’s not wholly different from the original sin of Adam in the Garden. The chance to not
eat the fruit is what made Adam a human being, and the opportunity to
say no to the fruit is what gave him wisdom. He had to use his
judgment. He had to accept his limits.

Park Slope Neighbors, has launched a petition drive to oppose the plan to make Seventh Avenue
and Sixth Avenue one-way streets.

"One-way avenues are
unfriendly to neighborhood life" and that "changes like these should
only be considered as part of a comprehensive, multi-modal, area-wide
transportation plan." The full petition can be viewed online and signed here. Volunteers have also been out in Park Slope gathering signatures."

BIG MEETING AT METHODIST HOSPITAL AUDITORIUM ON MARCH 15 at 7:30 p.m.:

Park Slope Civic Council meeting on proposed NYC Dept. of Transportation changes to Park Slope traffic patterns on 6th and 7th Avenues. Check out the Council’s website www.parkslopeciviccouncil.org for details and links.  All are welcome. New York Methodist Hospital Auditorium, 506 Sixth Street between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenues.

BROOKLYN MATTERS: Film Screening on March 14th at 8 p.m.

No single event will have a more drastic and more long-lasting impact
on Brooklyn than the proposed development of Atlantic Yards by Forest
City Ratner. This uncommon proposal, however, is mostly misunderstood.
Brooklyn Matters by Isabel Hill is an insightful documentary which reveals the fuller
truth about the Atlantic Yards proposal and highlights how a few
powerful men are circumventing community participation and skirting
legal protections to try to get the deal done.

Joining Gowanus Lounge and Kinetic Carnival in their coverage of Coney Island, there’s a new blog on block called, Coney Island Reporter, "One lonely grad
student has set out to learn everything there is to know about this
bizzare stretch of beach."

About the blogger: Brian
Childs is a fiction writer nd freelance reporter. Currently, he is pursuing a
masters degree in magazine journalism at New York University. He is
author of The Evening Rolled on like a Tank Being Driven by a Zombie:
Short Stories by Brian Childs and The Coney Island Reporter, a blog and
research resource on Coney Island.

Velvet Sea has the story. I think it’s a good thing.

Donations for the families can be sent to:

Magassa-Soumare Family Foundation 
C/O Islamic Cultural Center
271 East 166th Street
Bronx, NY 10456

Mosques throughout the metropolitan area are also collecting money for funeral 
services for the victims of the fire.

The African Services Committee is also accepting donations to
support both families displaced by the fire. For more information, call
212-222-3882 or go to www.africanservices.org.

Taxi drivers are collecting money for Soumare. To help, send a
check made out to Mamadou Soumare, care of the New York State
Federation of Taxi Drivers at:
5811 Fourth Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11220
(718) 492-7680The 


  

This from the FDNY website.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta joined other fire officials at Engine 68 in the Bronx on March 9 to announce the Department will be distributing more than 100,000 free batteries for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the City.

It is an effort to urge New Yorkers to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they change their clocks this Sunday, March 11.

“In the wake of Wednesday night’s tragic fatal fire, the message couldn’t be clearer – change and test the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are required by New York law in all residences. They should be placed outside each bedroom or sleeping area and on every floor of the home – and they should be tested once a week.

Statistics from the National Fire Protection Association show that 70 percent of all fatal fires occur in homes without working smoke alarms.

“Our aim is to reduce fire fatalities in the city by ensuring that as many people as possible hear our message that smoke detectors save lives,” said Commissioner Scoppetta. “Most fires are preventable, and so are fatalities from fire when you have smoke detectors.”

Nine-volt batteries will be given out by members of the Department’s Fire Safety Education Unit and the FDNY Foundation, a non-profit group that supports many of the Department’s initiatives and fire safety education-related programs.

The Mayor and Fire Commissioner also urged that New Yorkers to follow these other simple fire safety tips in the home:

Develop an escape plan and review the plan with all members of the family frequently. Be aware that children and elderly people may need special assistance should a fire occur. Establish a meeting place outside the house for all members of the family to ensure that everyone gets out safely. When a fire occurs, get out of the house and use a neighbor’s telephone to notify the fire department.

Space heaters need space. Portable space heaters need a three-foot (one meter) clearance from anything that can burn and should always be turned off when leaving the room or going to sleep.

Never overload electrical outlets. Never run electrical extension cords under rugs. Replace old or damaged cords.

For information about how to keep your home fire safe, visit our fire safety information page.

A local parent posted on Park Slope Parents recently about her despair and anger after her child was rejected from two pre-schools.

I see that the PSP community reached out to help. Here is her latest post thanking those who came forward.

Thanks to everyone for your super supportive emails. I was really
overwhelmed by all the encouragement and empathy. I think I received
24 emails in total.

Here are some helpful suggestions that may be useful to others:

1) Call the admissions director near the end of summer since there are
job relocations or other factors that affect the admissions list

2) Call daycares and not preschools for openings 

3) Wait another year since our generation didn't go to preschool till
4. In the meantime, enroll him in classes like art, music and gym so
he can get the socialization and class structure. There were several
parents who chose this route and in some cases it was an active
decision on their part to hold off another year.

4) I even had a parent who emailed to DIY--teach your child at home. 

In this eco-friendly community of Park Slope, tell me we’re not going to make a radical change to our cherished Main Street to appease those who insist on driving.

What about those who ride buses north and south?

What about the pedestrians who enjoy the leisurely pace of walking down and across the Avenue?

What about the merchants who benefit from the "congestion," the sense of vitality on the Avenue.

I would sooner make Park Slope a car-free zone than cave into the needs of drivers and/or the Atlantic Yards traffic that is expected.

Understood, cars and trucks are needed to supply the stores and restaurants and to ferry children and other living things into the neighborhood.

But why change the flavor of what is basically a pedestrian strip. Why turn it into a speed zone like 8th Avenue or Prospect Park West. Those Avenues are so decidedly unfriendly to bikers and pedestrians. And scary. 

Long live the Avenues that cater to the walkers. Walking is good exercise, environment-friendly, a good way to connect with one’s community, a boon to merchants, who rely on the foot traffic, and a perfect pace for all of us.

Changes like this make you wonder, whose Seventh Avenue is it? And whose problem are we trying to fix?

We’ve even got a slogan. The big meeting is coming up on Thursday March 15th at METHODIST HOSPITAL. at 6:30 p.m.

Important Public Meeting organised by Brooklyn Community Board 6 at New York Methodist Hospital Auditorium, 506 6th Street, (7th & 8th Avenues).

Presentation and discussion of a proposal by the Department of Transportation to convert 7th Avenue (between Flatbush Avenue and Prospect Avenue) from a two-way street to a one-way southbound street and 6th Avenue (between Atlantic Avenue and 23rd Street) from a two-way street to a one-way northbound street.

Presentation and discussion of a proposal by the Department of Transportation to eliminate one northbound and one southbound travel lane from 4th Avenue (between Dean Street and Prospect Avenue) and replace them with improved left-turn turning lanes.
FMI:Streetsblog.org or BrooklynCB6.org or call CB6 at (718) 643-3027.

I attended the Park Slope Civic Council’s brunch/meeting last Saturday. The PSCC is a publically supported organization with a membership of more than 700 families. The approximately 30 trustees are drawn from this membership. Organized as the South Brooklyn Board of Trade in 1896, the Council is one of the oldest civic associations in Brooklyn.

It was the first Civic Council meeting I’ve ever been to but I saw a lot of familiar faces, including Fonda Sara, Bernie Graham, Lumi Rolley, Eric McClure, Susan Fox, Dave Kenney aka Dope on the Slope, and many other people whose faces I know but not their names. I also met a few people for the first time like  Lydia Denworth, who leads the PSCC and was on the Park Slope 100, whose name I knew but didn’t know her face.

The special brunch was really a brainstorming session, a way to drum up ideas and initiatives for 2007. For me, the experience was an exciting and unusual exercise in local democracy. 

The group met in a social room on the roof of the 9th Street YMCA. I got there a little late but people were already seated at eight round tables where small group discussions were taking place.

I was intrigued by the process — the way the meeting worked. At each of the tables, people were asked to come up with 1 or 2 ways to improve the quality of life in Park Slope. Each person presented their idea(s) to the table.  Afterwards, the table voted and came up with the two most popular ideas to present to the room.

Then a spokesperson from each table presented the table’s ideas. Afterwards, the meeting moved outside on the roof, because it was a gorgeous day (ah, remember last Saturday?). The eight top ideas were written out on big pieces of paper and participants were asked to vote using dot stickers.

Thanks to Nica Lalli of the Brooklyn Paper, who was at the meeting, here are the seven initiatives for 2007 that came out of Saturday’s brainstorming session/ brunch. Atlantic  Yards, Whole Foods are on-going initiatives for the PSCC so they are not included here.

• Stop the transformation of Sixth and Seventh avenues
to one-way traffic, as proposed by the Department of Transportation.

• Identify locations for more bike racks.

• Host the first Annual “Stoop Night” on June 21 (to celebrate the summer solstice).

• Form a study group to investigate tax breaks and grants to encourage more “green” action in Park Slope.

• Clean up commercial areas.

• Sponsor a “Buy Local” campaign.

•
Install new newspaper kiosks to eliminate clutter on area street
corners.

The idea that excited me was the Summer Solstice Stoop Night on June 21. Stoop sales, music, food, celebration all over the Slope. That was a hands-down favorite.

If any of the
initiatives interest you, volunteer by calling the Park Slope Civic
Council at (718) 832-8227 or by emailing mail@parkslopeciviccouncil.org.

This from New York 1 about the continuing brouhaha about Mathieu Eugene, the winner of last month’s special election for City Council in Brooklyn, who still can’t take office under the current rules. Now he’s calling for a second shot at the seat.

"I will not enter [the City Hall] door behind me  under this cloud," said Eugene.

Following questions about his residency, Eugene is now calling for a second special election in the 40th district.

"I won’t be able to properly serve the community under these
conditions,” he said. “We will not bog down this body with a lawsuit
that challenges its authority. That is not how I choose to enter
elected office.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn applauded Eugene’s move and a
spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg says once the mayor has received
a written request from Eugene, he will call for a special election.

According to the Board of Elections, the first available date for a
new special election would be April 24th. Another election would cost
about $400,000.

Excerpts from a public letter from Kevin Burget, a local filmmaker, about changes to 6th and 7th Avenue traffic and THE NARROWING OF FOURTH AVENUE, which may be the real reason behind the DOT’s proposal. Here he lays out his objections to the proposed DOT changes.

A summary of the proposed changes follows, but in even more of a
nutshell:  The proposal is to turn 7th and 6th avenue into one-way
streets to handle the traffic overflow from a proposed NARROWING of 4th
avenue, the main route into Park Slope and much of Brooklyn
from outside the city.  This will do so much to erode the local nature
of our neighborhood I can’t begin to express it.  Park Slope will
become a drive-through neighborhood host to traffic trying to ride the
green carpet of one-way traffic lights on their way to and from
destinations such as Atlantic Yards.  If you agree with the assessment
that follows please try to get the word out.  I know that you steer
clear of things political, at least as a bookstore owner, but I do
think the neighborhood is effectively about to be steamrollered by
these proposed changes, and that does something to addle my own life of
the mind.  It’s not simply a matter of old stodgy Park Slope being
unwilling to welcome new neighbors.  I am all for changes that make
sense and continue to promote community.  I think you’ll find these
don’t.  Let me know your thoughts if you can.  The most important
upcoming moment to confront this is:

New York Methodist Hospital      

506 6th Street

(7th & 8th Avenues)

Auditorium

Thurs. March 15

ANYWAY, if you don’t know it already…. here’s the rap that I’ve
posted to Park Slope Parents.  The Park Slope Civic Council and Park
Slope Neighbors Group are in agreement:

 

The plan: 

 

The NYCDOT’s forthcoming proposal to reinvent Park Slope’s streets is to me big news and very worrisome.

 

  http://www.streetsb log.org/2007/ 02/28/dot- to-propose- radical-new- traffic-plan- for-park- slope 

 

It
seems to play transparently right into the hands of the developers
putting up new buildings along 4th avenue, as well as those developing
Atlantic Yards, while running roughshod over Park Slope in a way that
will forever change the character of the neighborhood, making it in
effect a runway or service road for these new developments.

 

  The proposal is to do three things:

1) Narrow 4th avenue 

2) Make 6th avenue run one-way north

3) Make 7th avenue run one-way south 

 

As to 1) narrowing 4th avenue:  4th
avenue has always been one of the main industrial arteries into most of Brooklyn
from outside the city.  As such it carries an enormous amount of
essential traffic, much of it heavy trucks providing goods and
services.  The decision to NARROW 4th avenue by eliminating 2 out of
its 6 lanes (1/3 of its capacity) could not be more wrongheaded. A
stadium hosting sports events is going up and tens of thousands of new
rental units.  Narrowing the one barely viable conduit into Brooklyn
from the outside beggars belief.  The only possible winners here are
perhaps thought to be the new tenants in the buildings along 4th
avenue, because they will have a little less street under their noses.
But that street will be like a clogged artery guaranteed to be filled
round the clock with smog and traffic. 

 

Which
brings us to 2).  Any incoming trucker in his right mind faced with a
NARROWED 2-way 4th avenue will of course want to get OFF 4th avenue at
the earliest opportunity, which according to this plan will be about at
23rd street at which point the trucker will turn up 2 blocks to 6th
avenue where he/she will be able to ride the green carpet of one way
traffic lights all the way to Flatbush. So 6th avenue, now a very
local-oriented tree-shaded residential avenue will be turned into a de
facto truck route.  Most of Park Slope will suffer here from swift and
hurtling truck and car traffic trying to ride the green lights.  This
has historically made such avenues more forbidding, less local, and
much more dangerous.  A comparison has been made to 8th avenue or PPW,
which some feel are not so bad for the character of their traffic, but
these avenues have never been tasked with a fraction of the kind of
traffic that this plan will bring to 6th and 7th avenues.

 

7th avenue, under this plan, will become the exit route of choice for all heavy traffic leaving much of Brooklyn
and Atlantic Yards.  Again, given the choice of 2-way traffic lights or
1-way, any experienced driver, whether of a truck or car, will opt for
the express.  7th avenue will become the route of choice.  Its existing
character will be decimated as a result. Doing this to Park Slope’s
historical main street will make it so much more noisy and less
friendly for pedestrians that I predict store and restaurant owner’s
will suffer. Pedestrians will want to flee the noise and frenzy, and
cars won’t want to stop or even linger because of the crushing momentum
of the traffic they find themselves in.  Its character will be more
akin to Flatbush, say, (although even Flatbush is 2-way…) 

FOR READERS OF OTBKB: free tix for BabyLove this Sunday March 11th @ 5:30pm. 
Email for tix: christen@christenclifford.com

WHAT:
BabyLove
What happens when your infant son becomes The Other Man?

WHEN:
Saturday, March 10th @ 1pm
Sunday, March 11 th @ 5:30pm (free tix for this show).
Tuesday, March 13th @ 7:30pm
Friday, March 16th @ 7:30pm

WHERE:
part of FRIGID New York at The Kraine Theater
85 East 4th Street
(between 2nd and 3rd Aves)
first floor, no wheelchair access

DISCOUNT!
SmartTix CODES (regularly $14):
BBYLV  $9.00 any show
2FOR1  $7.00  March 7th @9pm only
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=BAB4

Infants on laps welcome! Sex toy giveaways!

Written and performed by Christen Clifford
Directed by and developed with Julie Kramer
Choreography: Julie Atlas Muz

WINNER!!! BEST OF FRINGE! 2006 San Francisco Fringe Festival

"Comically provocative! …revelatory and a comfort to other new parents….The uninhibited Clifford delves into some taboo topics with uncommon frankness and disarming charm. It’s daringly personal and, in Clifford’s unabashedly generous performance, as engaging as it is provocative."
– San Francisco Chronicle

"An extremely gifted talent!  One of the most original new voices to come out of New York City in years.   Her warmth, intelligence and killer wit …bring out the humanity in even the most outrageous situations."
-Catherine Burns, Artistic Director, the Moth

"BabyLove is the most important piece of feminist theatre since The Vagina Monologues."
-kulturevermitterlin

"Smart, sexy and funny!  Clifford is a wonderful storyteller and she performs with such truth and authenticity that by the end everyone in the audience wants to be her little one."
-Mladina (like the Eastern European Village Voice)

"Christen Clifford is a fabulous writer and performer! BabyLove goes to places about motherhood that few would dare explore. Speaking the unspeakable is one of my favorite art forms and Christen has the guts to put BabyLove on stage, outing another one of society’s dirty little secrets."
-Betty Dodson, PhD, author of Sex for One

ABOUT THE SHOW: Clifford’s true stories expose sex and motherhood with refreshing candor and humor; by exploring the intimate, she illuminates the universal.  A solo play with choreography by burlesque star Julie Atlas Muz and directed by Julie Kramer (Best of Fringe for Give Me Shelter, It’s a Hit!), BabyLove had its world premier in Ljubljana, Slovenia and was SOLD OUT and won BEST OF FRINGE at The San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2006.  Developed in part through Hourglass Group’s Solo Lab.

ABOUT CHRISTEN CLIFFORD:  Clifford has performed at Classic Stage Company, The Culture Project, The Public Theatre and been a mainstage storyteller at The Moth. She has published in Salon.com, Nerve.com, Blue, and Everything You Know About Sex Is Wrong (Disinfo).  Clifford is a member of The Association for Research on Mothering as well as The Society for Scientific Study of Sexuality and is the winner of the 2006 New School MFA nonfiction writing competition.  More info: http://www.christenclifford.com