This week’s Brooklyn Reading Works at the Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 19th.

Richard Grayson will read from his collection of short stories called, AND TO THINK HE KISSED HIM ON LORIMER STREET.

Leora Skolkin-Smith, author of EDGE: O ISRAEL, O PALESTINE, will also read.

Here’s what Kirkus Discoveries had to say:

"The dynamic Brooklyn cityscape serves as the backdrop in this beguiling collection of short stories. Grayson’s tenth volume of fiction introduces a multicultural multitude of characters, including a teen lesbian from Uzbekistan who works as a Brooklyn Cyclones hot-dog mascot and a gay black student whose Pakistani roommate’s pet monkey helps him find acceptance on a mildly homophobic campus.

In other stories, like ‘Branch Libraries of Southeastern Brooklyn’ and ‘The Lost Movie Theaters of Southeastern Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach,’ the author maps out memories against the geography of his beloved Brooklyn, with excursions to Los Angeles and South Florida. Grayson’s low-key, conversational prose is injected with flashes of wry wit…A funny, odd, somehow familiar and fully convincing fictional world." – Kirkus Discoveries, 4/13/06

Park Slope Writer Jill Eisenstadt and her sister, filmmaker Debra Eisenstadt have made a film and it’s called THE LIMBO ROOM.

THE LIMBO ROOM has been invited to 
The Avignon/New York Film Festival
www.avignonfilmfest.com

screening  at Hunter College:   
Kaye Playhouse  at 6:15pm on Saturday, NOVEMBER 18.

There are other screenings of THE LIMBO ROOM

Oct. 29th @ 8pm at TRIBECA CINEMAS (Vision  Fest)

Nov. 17th @ 7pm – THE MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (part of THE  QUEENS FILM FEST)

The authors of The Case Against Homework, Park Slope writers, Nancy Kalish and Sarah Bennett Holmes. will be at Barnes and Noble on Seventh Avenue at 6th Street tonight at 7:30 p.m.  Here’s what people are saying about this ground breaking book:

"Parents of America, unite! You have nothing to lose but your frustration. The Case Against Homework is an important book that takes on the 500-pound gorilla—homework overload—long ignored by educational policy makers. Every parent of a school-age child should buy it and follow the authors’ excellent advice in order to protect their children from an educational system gone haywire.” —Dan Kindlon, Ph.D., author of Raising Cain, Too Much of a Good Thing, and Alpha Girls

“A wonderful book that is not just about homework but about the sadness and futility of turning children into drudges who learn—if one can call it learning—without passion, without love, and without gaining independence. Every educator, every politician, and every parent should read this book and take it to heart.” —Mary Leonhardt, author of 99 Ways to Help Your Kids Love Reading

“Most parents have experienced the negative effects of homework on family harmony, family time, and play time, but they accept it as a necessary evil. Bennett and Kalish reveal that the homework emperor has no clothes; there is no good evidence to support piling on homework, especially in the younger grades. They  follow through with practical advice for managing homework meltdowns, negotiating with teachers, and advocating for policy changes.” —Lawrence Cohen, Ph.D., author of Playful Parenting

“The Case Against Homework sends a critical message about how to improve the health and well-being of our children by cutting back on busy work and focusing on meaningful assignments, a good night’s sleep, and the value of free, unfettered play time.” —Denise Clark Pope, author of Doing School,  Stanford School of Education lecturer, and founder of SOS: Stressed Out Students

“Bravo to Bennett and Kalish for having the courage to say what many of us know to be true! This book serves as an indispensable tool for parents who want to get serious about changing homework practices in their schools.” —Etta Kralovec, associate professor of teacher education, University of Arizona South, and coauthor of The End of Homework

“This very important book makes a powerful case that excessive homework is hurting family life and children’s full development. What’s more, the book does something that is very rare: It gives parents solid practical advice on how they can deal with teachers and schools to produce significant change. The authors care deeply about children and have a special understanding of what children and childhood are all about.” —William Crain, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the City College of New York and author of Reclaiming Ch

8 p.m. OCTOBER 19, 2006 at The Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. 

It’s a good one:

LEORA SKOLKIN-SMITH will read from her book, “EDGES: O PALESTINE, O ISRAEL” published by “Glad Day Books” "Edges is an elegantly written,  quite moving novel that has a lot to say about love, identity, history and the meaning of nationality. The book is worth reading alone for its superb language, but it is gripping and unforgettable as well in its story telling and evocation of place and emotions. It is a wonderful novel by an author with a quite accomplished voice and style, one well deserving a wide and receptive audience. —
    Oscar Hijuelos, author of Pulitzer-prize winning novel, "The Mambo King Sings Songs of Love"

RICHARD GRAYSON reads from his new collection of short stories, "AND TO THINK HE KISSD HIM ON LORIMER STREET AND OTHER STORIES."

Get your TIX for the Louis and Capathia show at Joe’s Pub, where they’ll be performing the premiere of Southside Songs.

Both from Brooklyn: he’s an award-winning composer. She’s on Broadway in the new Martin Short musical. Tickets available at The Public Theater box office or By phone at 212-967-7555 Joe’s Pub Tickets.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                              
The team of outstanding Broadway vocalist CAPATHIA JENKINS and award-winning songwriter/performer LOUIS ROSEN returns to Joe’s Pub with their new band for three exciting concerts to celebrate the launch of their debut CD, SOUTH SIDE STORIES, a suite of songs of youth, coming of age and experience. The concerts will also include selections from the acclaimed TWELVE SONGS on poems by Maya Angelou, which debuted at Joe’s Pub last year in two sold-out concerts; and a preview from Rosen’s newest work for Ms. Jenkins, GIOVANNI SONGS, with words by the acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni.

Ms. Jenkins’ is currently appearing on Broadway in "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me," and has also been seen in "Caroline, Or Change," "The Civil War," and Bacharach and David’s "The Look of Love." Louis Rosen’s songs and theater music have been performed in concert halls, cabarets and theaters in New York and around the country. He was recently awarded a 2005-2006 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Music Composition.

"Something quite magical can happen when a composer has a specific voice to serve as his muse. Consider the case of Louis Rosen, the Chicago-bred, now New York-based songwriter, and his songbird of choice, Capathia Jenkins…performing songs set to the poetry of Maya Angelou…and Rosen’s nostalgic, romantic, guilt-laced, emotionally charged song cycle, South Side Stories” – Chicago Sun-Times
                         
                                                 

Hepcat didn’t bring his still camera to the TEENS FOR THE PHILLIPPINES show on Saturday—too busy shooting video of the show. Two of Teen Spirit’s friends brought  cameras—film cameras—and they took lots of pictures thank goodness.

One of them, Chloe Dietz, has a really good flickr site and I found this picture of TS there. I love it.

Jane Walentas, wife of DUMBO real estate mega developer, David Walentas, purchased a
1922 carousel at an auction in 1984. After years of restoration
work on the 48 carved horses, the carousel was  unveiled
during the DUMBO Festival this past weekend (pictured at left).

It wasn’t open for the public to take rides. That’s all I know because I can’t get onto Gowanus Lounge today — there seems to be a technical glitch over there and I’m thinking it’s connected to all the video he’s got.

I found this picture at FLICKR

Robert, what’s up at Gowanus Lounge? Anyone know more about the carousel?

I got this in my in-box:

In the 70’s a major explosion and fire happened in Sheepshead Bay , East 16 Street  Avenue U. Many died in that event. I’m trying to help a woman who lost her husband in that fire.
I’m looking for the exact date of the fire and a list of those killed that day. I would be greatful for any help you could give. Please send info to: amcgee3478@earthlink.net

Here’s the word from NY1 on today’s Manhattan Bridge commute, first since they closed the lower level for repairs. BIG FUN. DOT is advising alternate routes.

Drivers headed to the Manhattan Bridge this morning are being urged to
take alternate routes, because the lower level of the bridge is closed
for repairs.

While traffic ran smoothly for the first day of the closure
yesterday, today is the first time rush hour commuters will have to
deal with the change, which is expected to last for a year.

The Department of Transportation is urging drivers to use alternate
routes and roadways, even though the upper level of the bridge will
remain open during construction.

The work is part of an overall upgrade that should be complete in time for the bridge’s 100th anniversary in 2009.

Pedestrians and bikers are now sharing access along the bridge’s south walkway. The north walkway is closed.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Bridge is going under the microscope starting today.

The State Department of Transportation will begin a three week
inspection of the bridge starting today, with a complete look at the
bridge’s masonry towers.

The DOT says this is a routine part of a plan to inspect every bridge on a two-year cycle.

PICTURE BY ALTHEA ON FLICKR

THE SHOW: Teens for Phillippines

Set-up started at 4 p.m. just as the Harvest Festival in JJ Byrne Park was packing it up. As the  bands brought their instruments upstairs, there was still a fenced in area for ponies, a llama, a goat, as well as a group of bunnies in a big cage in the green outside the house. Apparently, more than one hundred kids took pony rides during the day.

After the set up, there was a sound check with Tomas, the uncle of a RATR band member, who did sound and ran a tight show. Food and soda tables were set up, as was an information table and slide show about the Manila street kids the concert was benefiting.

At 6 p.m., the crowd began to pour in: more than 140 people showed up eventually. Plenty of friends of the bands, parents, grandparents, siblings, even two teachers from Winston Prep, there to support their student in the band, RATR.

First up: Zachary Fine and Aman Modak, on sitar and tablas. The 13-year-olds dressed in beautiful Indian robes performed a stunning, improvised raga that lasted for 20-minutes or so and  thoroughly impressed the crowd.

Artful music.

Next up was RATR, a really fine band that describes itself this way: "David Pollack outa Manhatten writes the songs Donker from 125th gives
it soul and Tim from The Slope in Brooklyn gives it Heart. We all come
together to kickass on occassion."

The crowd loved ’em.

Somewhere There’s a Fix was up next up and talk about kick ass. They screamed, they wailed, the singer even took off his shirt. They were also really goooood. Here’s their My Space blurb: "Forming in 2005 and including current/former members of Calibre, Cool
& Unusual Punishment, and Butcher The Bridesmaid, Somewhere There’s
A Fix is made up of a bunch of awesome dudes playing music that’s
pretty melodic, yet tastefully brutal and in no way generic.

Tastefully brutal.

Cool and Unusual Punishment, the band that organized the show, played a great set, one of their best. Their tight musical sound, entertaining stage presence, and awesome songwriting abilities, make for a great trio that’s developing a very unique sound. To describe themselves the band put it like this: "While we all share the influence of bands such as Queen, Bright Eyes, and Arcade Fire we also have a wide range individually."

Heart throb.

Tetsuwan Fireball, who play under the influence of Television, Gang of Four, The Pixies, The White Stripes, and The Pillows, capped the show with power and panache.

Rock out.

A good night for a good cause. The audience was well-behaved, polite, and very supportive of this great effort by local teens to support teens in a place very far from Brooklyn.

Berkeley Place’s annual block party celebrated a five-year-old neighbor who recently recovered from childhood leukemia. A big banner: Congratulation Aidan, signed by all the kids on the block, hung between two trees in front of Aidan’s brownstone. There was also a pizza and cake celebration in his honor.

Dan McMann, a local teenage circus sensation, who walks on stilts, juggles, and rides a unicycle, thrilled the kids with his entertaining antics.

A woman who travels with a  traveling reptile zoo introduced the kids to an alligator, a lizard and a host of other fascinating reptiles.

Back by popular demand, Hepcat and his photography-studio-in-a-box—a back drop, a strobe, and a digital camera—took group and individual portraits.  Many subjects from last year’s shoot came back for a brand new picture. Picture of OSFO and Teen Spirit from last year. My how they’ve grown. New pictures will be posted in the days to come.

Perfect weather made for an idyllic day on this particulary beautiful leafy brownstone street.

On Thursday, join me at BROOKLYN READING WORKS  at the Old Stone House. Fiction. Non-Fiction. Memoir. Poetry. Drama. Curated by me, the series is at the Old stone House, located in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Street. 8 p.m. $5.00 includes light refreshments. Books are sold at all readings.

COME SEE OUR BEAUTIFUL NEW POSTER!!!

LEORA SKOLKIN-SMITH will read from her book, “EDGES: O PALESTINE, O ISRAEL” published by “Glad Day Books” a small literary house founded by GRACE PALEY and Robert Nichols. Ms. Paley was the editor of “Edges” . The novel has recently been nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award. It was also,  selected by The Jewish Book Council for a National Tour and will be featured at this year’s Virginia Festival for the Book.

RICHARD GRAYSON reads from his new collection of short stories, "AND TO THINK HE KISSD HIM ON LORIMER STREET AND OTHER STORIES."

Tonight’s the night.

What: Benefit concert for street kids in Manila

Where: The Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets

When: 6-9 p.m.

Who: Cool and Unusual Punishment, Tetsuwan Fireball, Somewhere’s There’s a Fix, RAPR, and Zach Fine and Aman on sitar and tabla.

Cost: $5 dollars for kids. $10 dollars for adults. Feel free to donate more.

Today on Until Monday, a newish Brooklyn blog, there’s a post about Brooklyn Reading Works. One of the editors of the blog interviewed me online and the results are there.

Until Monday is a beautiful new blog on the Brooklyn Blog block: it’s the fancy new house with the gorgeous paint job. I plan to stop there every day on my way to the blog.

Welcome to the neighborhood Until Monday and thanks for the call out!!! And here’s what’s going on next week at BRW next week:

OCTOBER 19, 2006 at 8 p.m.

LEORA SKOLKIN-SMITH will read from her book, “EDGES: O PALESTINE, O ISRAEL” published by “Glad Day Books” a small literary house founded
by GRACE PALEY and Robert Nichols. Ms. Paley was the editor of “Edges”
. The novel has recently been nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award. It
was also,  selected by The Jewish Book Council for a National Tour and
will be featured at this year’s Virginia Festival for the Book.

RICHARD GRAYSON reads from his new collection of short stories, "AND TO THINK HE KISSD HIM ON LORIMER STREET AND OTHER STORIES."

What a brouhaha. Brooklyn Papers put that rather lewd pix of Maggie G. from the film "Secretary" on the cover of last week’s paper and boy did they take the heat for it.

People around here went CRAZY. And the Papers got a whole bunch of letters from angry readers, who said that the BP went too far. They even heard from a former editor of the paper who said she’d never do something like that on her watch.

All week I heard from people who were P.O.ed about it. Most said they thought it was downright unneighborly, unfriendly and a cheap shot.  A man, a parent at PS 321, said to me today: "Do you write for that paper that put that cheap shot of Maggie Gyllenhaal on the cover. I couldn’t believe it. Not very neighborly I’d say."

For all the people who were flabbergasted, there were probably some who enjoyed the picture. I found it interesting myself because I’ve never seen the movie.

It’s based on a brilliant short story by one of my favorite writers, Mary Gaitskill, about a secretary and her boss, a demanding lawyer, and the sexual, sadomasochistic relationship that ensues. It’s from a short story collection called "Bad Behavior," works of short fiction that are as bold and provoking as that picture of Maggie.

On Monday October 16th I have tickets to see Mary Gaitskill at the 92nd Street Y, where she’ll be reading and discussing her acclaimed new novel, Veronica. Maybe I should bring a copy of the Brooklyn Papers.

Anyway, I’ve wanted to see the movie and when I saw the picture instead of going bonkers I said to myself, "Oh that must be a still from that movie she made called "Secretary."

I also noticed that by Tuesday morning there were NO copies left at Key Food. Now Key Food receives something like 3000 papers every Friday. So I thought that either that was one popular issue of the Brooklyn Papers or someone decided to get rid of them.

I think the latter may be the case.

Well, Brooklyn Papers published a very nice apology today and the whole thing should just evaporate.  Be gone. Shoo. Shoo. Bye Bye Brouhaha.

Somehow I doubt that.

This is the DOT press release:

The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that beginning Sunday, October 15, the lower roadway of the Manhattan Bridge will be closed for the next year. During these twelve months all three lanes of the lower roadway will undergo a complete rehabilitation.

While the upper level of the Manhattan Bridge will remain open, DOT recommends that motorists use an alternate route to cross the East River during this closure. During the rehabilitation there will be no access to the lower roadway from either end of the bridge. All traffic will be directed to the upper roadways where two lanes will be maintained in both directions at all times. Pedestrians and bicyclists will share access along the Manhattan Bridge’s South walkway since the North bikeway will be closed. New York City Transit service on the bridge will not be affected. To help distribute traffic amongst the other East River crossings, the North Outer Roadway on the Williamsburg Bridge will be open to truck traffic.

My friend Shawn Dulaney is one of many DUMBO artists whose studio will be open to visitors this weekend during the DUMBO: Art Under the Bridge Festival

Go here for more information and map

Next weekend, it’s the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour. More on that next week.

Painting by Shawn Dulaney

The Old Stone House presents "TEENS FOR THE PHILLIPINES," a benefit for homeless street children in Manila.

Here’s the blurb from Cool and Unusual Punishment’s My Space page:

This
is a benefit for Phillipine teenagers who have no money for food (OR
GUITARS!) they have to do horrible things such as prostitution and drug
dealing just to make a living! This show will be just as awesome as the last OLD STONE HOUSE show,

If you don’t remember how cool it was, you
probably weren’t there. Come hear: Zack Fine and Aman on sitar and tabla, RAPR, Somewhere There’s a Fix, Tetsuwan Fireball, and Cool and Unusual Punishment. So come.

SEE YOU THERE: October, 14, 2006 at the Old Stone House

Fifth Ave. Between 3rd and 4th Street in JJ Byrne Park at the Old Stone House
Cost: $5.00 for kids $10.00 for adults

The northern end of the airspace over the East River where Cory Lidel and his flight instructor were flying on Wednesday is said to be a fearsome, narrow corridor. This from the NY Times.

The northern end of the airspace over the East River is a
treacherous, narrow corridor often filled with helicopters ferrying
tourists, business people and traffic reporters along the edge of
Manhattan. Small planes like Mr. Lidle’s are allowed to fly through the
area at low altitude, but several pilots said they did not dare because
it could be crowded.

The spot where Mr. Lidle’s plane, a
single-engine Cirrus SR20, struck the apartment building on the Upper
East Side is near the end of the “uncontrolled” corridor at the edge of
the airspace governed by La Guardia Airport. Inside that corridor,
small planes and helicopters can fly below 1,100 feet without getting
clearance from air-traffic controllers. Using what are known as visual
flight rules, or V.F.R., they assume responsibility for watching out
for other aircraft and structures and avoiding them.

Mr. Lidle’s plane was traveling north before it crashed into the
north side of the building. Officials said they did not know if the
plane had been turning around when it crashed.

To continue
north beyond Roosevelt Island around 86th Street, pilots must radio the
La Guardia control tower and seek permission. Controllers usually allow
pilots to do so, and the Cirrus would probably have received such
permission, said William S. McLoughlin, head of the La Guardia tower
chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

But
many pilots choose to make a U-turn instead, several pilots said
yesterday. Still, they said, reversing direction there , which normally
involves a turn to the left, can be challenging. Yesterday afternoon,
according to the National Weather Service, the wind was blowing from the east at 14 miles per hour, conditions that would have made the turn wider.

Yesterday, Bush dismissed the findings of researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Al
Mustansiriya University in Baghdad derived from a
door-to-door survey, conducted by doctors, of 1,849 households in Iraq.

In a speech a few months ago, Bush said he thought the Iraqi death toll was 30,000.

Johns Hopkins and Al Mustansiriya researchers took the number of deaths reported by household residents, they
extrapolated to a nationwide figure saying that the war has resulted in the deaths of nearly 655,000 Iraqis as of July.

The researchers, reflecting the inherent uncertainties in such
extrapolations, said they were 95 percent certain that the real number
lay somewhere between 392,979 and 942,636 deaths.

They Might Be Giants will grace the stage of Southpaw. All ages are invited to join in the fun. December 19th at 4:30 and 9 p.m.

pix by Iggy Sodashell at Flickr

More on the alleged racial profiling by a New York Police Department Captain from New York 1:

Officers from Transit Bureau 30 in Brooklyn said that during roll
call last week, Captain Michael Vanchieri instructed them to stop and
frisk all black males in certain stops along the F-line in the Park
Slope area.

Members of the organization 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care
and the National Latino Officers Association say they are outraged and
they are calling for Vanchieri to resign.

They also want a federal probe into the matter as well as a full investigation by the NYPD.

"It should be obvious to all those who respect the Constitution,
who respect the laws and regulations, that there are some serious
violations that occurred as a result of that direction," said Marq
Claxton of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement.

"It can’t be done,” added Anthony Miranda, of the National Latino
Officers Association. “It’s a violation of people’s civil rights. It’s
something that as a community the people are already outraged. And what
they’re doing is putting police officers in a position of
endangerment."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly maintains Captain Vanchieri was misunderstood.

"He gave a description of those individuals and asked if anybody
sees them, if anyone matched that description, to stop and speak to
them,” said Kelly in a statement. “All indications are that there was
some sort of misunderstanding as to what his directions were."

Postings by Dope on the Slope have been spotty of late.

The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. I may have gone a little nuts, but I have not been consumed by rodents. However, I have
been consumed by business travel and work…

Dope did, however, take the time to take his own Croissant Test at Colson’s Patisserie and Sweet Melissa’s, two new, hihg quality pastry shops in the slopeshere.

So I decided to
give both establishments the croissant test. In my opinion, the standard by
which one should judge any patisserie is the quality of their croissant. I
admit that this standard is flawed given that what constitutes the
"perfect" croissant is ultimately a matter of taste, but the
variables that matter for me are: flakiness, butteriness, and
"weight." A doughy, leaden croissant with not a hint of butter flavor
is a zero, while a light, ultra-flaky butter bomb is Nirvana. By this measure,
Colson is the clear winner. The Sweet Melissa croissant is decent (3 out of 5), but it can’t
compete with Colson’s (4.5 out of 5). The
difference is service was evident on my subsequent visit as well. The counter
at Sweet Melissa was in complete disarray, while the service at Colson was
delayed but adequate. For more go to Dope on the Slope.

So OSFO and I concluded our stint as weekend cat sitters. And for our final appearance, both cats, Jethro and Phoebe, made themselves visible.

Phoebe sat in the master bedroom bed as regal as ever. Bathed in the late afternoon sun, she exuded a golden glow. And Jethro, the skittish one, stayed under the bed. He does have a strange meow though we didn’t think it sounded like he was saying "batman" or "mommy."

Once downstairs again, we heard a ringing — it sounded like the phone but it only rang once. Then it rang again a half minute later. OSFO ran to the window and said there’s someone there. " We’re not expecting anyone, let’s ignore it," I said. "Are you scared," she asked. "No, I just don’t want to answer it," I said.

We stayed in the kitchen until the ringing stopped. Then OSFO went to the front door. "It was a delivery, mom," she said. "There’s one of those stickers on the door."

We opened the door and signaled the UPS man. "We didn’t hear the doorbell ring," I said sheepishly. "I can sign for the package."

We went upstairs one last time and checked on the cats. More importantly we checked on the gate to make sure it was secure (Don’t let the cats downstairs, they’ll wreak havoc," the cat owner said).

It was hard to imagine Phoebe, that elegant cat languorously splayed out on the master bedroom bed, wreaking havoc. It was hard to imagine her breaking a sweat.

Now Jethro, the feral one, he’s the one to watch.

Everybody’s talking about Paul Goldberger’s piece in the New Yorker about Frank Gehry. According to Goldberger:

GOOD GEHRY: Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp bldg in Chelsea

BAD GEHRY: Atlantic Yards Proposed Design

ON DILLER’S PLACE: Frank Gehry may be the most famous architect at work today, but, like
so many of his peers, he has found it nearly impossible to build in New
York. Twenty years ago, he designed a tower for the site of Madison
Square Garden which never got built, and in recent years a number of
projects—a redesign of One Times Square, a downtown branch of the
Guggenheim, a hotel for Ian Schrager—have all foundered. Now, at the
age of seventy-seven, Gehry has completed his first freestanding New
York building, a headquarters for Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp, in
Chelsea. It is only ten stories tall, but you can’t drive down the West
Side Highway without seeing it—a white glass palazzo that looks less
like a building than like a computer-generated image of one. On a
cloudy day, it appears to fade into the mist. Gehry has likened the
billowing forms of the façade to sails, and from a distance it seems to
be made of some kind of plastic or fibreglass. All-glass buildings
often feel stiff, but in Gehry’s hands even glass is relaxed.

ON ATLANTIC YARDS: It’s a shame that this quality hasn’t been more in
evidence in Gehry’s other New York venture, the Atlantic Yards
development, in Brooklyn. This cluster of skyscrapers extending
twenty-two acres around a new basketball arena for the Nets is the
biggest project he has ever undertaken, and it has been the subject of
bitter controversy for months. (Last month, following recommendations
from the City Planning Commission, the plans were scaled back by eight
per cent, but the project remains enormous.) Opponents complain that
the sixteen residential towers will create a wall between the
neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Prospect Heights. So far, they have
cast the developer, Bruce Ratner, as the villain, suggesting that he is
cynically using Gehry’s name to add prestige to an ill-conceived
scheme. In an open letter to Gehry published in Slate,
the novelist Jonathan Lethem wrote, “I’ve been struggling to understand
how someone of your sensibilities can have drifted into such an
unfortunate alliance, with such potentially disastrous results.”

Yet
Gehry’s design is a large part of the problem. He told me that he
accepted the job in part because he has never taken on this kind of
urban challenge, but his talents hardly seem suited to it. Gehry’s
great success has come from architectural jewels that sparkle against
the background of the rest of a city—the Bilbao Guggenheim; the Walt
Disney Concert Hall, in Los Angeles. In Brooklyn, the task is to create
a coherent cityscape that relates comfortably to its surroundings.
Gehry tried to do this by grouping some understated towers around a few
very elaborate ones. (The six-hundred-and-twenty-foot-high main tower,
foolishly named Miss Brooklyn, is full of self-conscious Gehryisms.)
Rather than giving a sense of foreground and background, the
juxtaposition of plain and fancy just looks like a few Gehrys bought
for full price next to several bought at discount.

As you can see, businesses advertise on OTBKB. The ads are in the upper right hand column of this blog.

There is no better way to reach the computer savvy, highly literate, educated, creative, information obsessed, money-spenders of Brooklyn.

PUT YOUR NAME ON OTBKB. It’s only $500. for six months of advertising. But I’m flexible. One click on your OTBKB ad and the reader lands at your website. Talk about direct marketing.

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

Move over, Smartmom. There’s a new mom on Seventh Avenue and she’s
taking over your turf. And guess what? It’s Diaper Diva, your very own
twin sister.

That’s right. Diaper Diva — and her incredibly well-dressed
2-year-old, Ducky — are finding their way in Mommyland, even taking
over Smartmom’s bench at ConnMuffCo, and making mommyfriends at Music
Together, Tots on the Go, and swim class at Eastern Athletic.

As a result, Smartmom is beginning to feel left out and a little old
(even if she is actually two minutes younger than her twin sister).

Just the other day, Diaper Diva introduced Smartmom to one of her
new friends. “This is my sister,” she told her friend. “She has a
9-year-old and a 15-year-old.”

“A 15-year-old!” exclaimed Bubbly Mom, Diaper Diva’s new mommyfriend. Like, how could anyone have a child THAT old?

Smartmom wanted to be offended, but she quickly noticed that every
time she opened her mouth, she said something that reminded her of the
know-it-all jaded parents she used to hate.

To another of Diaper Diva’s new mommyfriends, whose 2-year-old just got a chic new haircut, Smartmom blabbed:

“You’re lucky your kid still listens to you about his hair. My son
only lets his friends cut his hair and it’s always in his face.”

Open mouth, insert Elephanten shoe. No mother of a 2-year-old wants
to hear about the trials and tribulations of life with a teen. That’s
too much information, thank you.

Diaper Diva smoothly steered that conversation back to toddlers. A
discussion ensured about the comparative merits of Lolli’s versus
Orange Blossom — two Park Slope stores that Smartmom never had when SHE
was a young mommy!

Later, strolling down Seventh Avenue, Diaper Diva ran into three
(count ’em, three) new friends on one block. In the same amount of
time, Smartmom ran into no one. Nada. Not even one vaguely familiar
face from the PS 321 PTA. In her heyday, her record was 10 friends per
block from Third Street to Union.

In front of Joe’s Pizza (which will forever be known as Big Pizza
Cafe to true Slopers), Smartmom waited impatiently, while Diaper Diva
chatted with yet another new friend. This one had just gotten word that
her kid had been accepted into the Beth Elohim Early Childhood Center.

“What days?” Diaper Diva asked excitedly.

“Mondays and Tuesdays.”

“We’re in the same class!”

Smartmom wanted to say: Your kids are in the same class, not you.
But she tried to be civil. She couldn’t think of anything to add to
their sidewalk squeal: it’s been five years since the Oh So Feisty One
was in pre-school. Smartmom was fairly certain they didn’t want to hear
about the fourth grade city-wide tests.

Clearly, Diaper Diva is excited about everything having to do with
Ducky — and the first experience in pre-school is one very big deal for
both of them. Not since college do you make as many friends as quickly
as when your kid starts pre-school. In the months to come, Diaper Diva
will probably know more people in Park Slope than she ever imagined.

Maybe even more than Smartmom.

Lately, Smartmom is feeling threatened. She wonders if Diaper Diva
will have time for her and her brood as her focus shifts to her own
nuclear unit. After years of being the world’s most loving aunt and
supportive sister, Diaper Diva is a mommy now.

Despite being identical twins, Smartmom and her sister have led
different lives. Smartmom got married when she was 30, while Diaper
Diva played the single scene for another 12 years.

Teen Spirit was born when Smartmom was 33, and Diaper Diva devoted
herself full throttle to her career in the film business. She married
when she was 42 and endured years of infertility. Ducky, who was
adopted in Russia, arrived on U.S. soil on Diaper Diva’s 47th birthday
(Smartmom’s birthday, too, because, remember, they’re twins).

So now it’s Diaper Diva turn: her adventures in Mommyland are just
beginning just as Smartmom is on the verge of sending Teen Spirit to
college (hopefully).

A few years later, OSFO will go. Then what? The empty nest? Retirement? Golf?

Not likely — and let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

While Smartmom is fretting about teenage sex, marijuana use and PSAT
scores, Diaper Diva is trying to figure out how to assemble that
ridiculously complicated Playmobil farm set that Ducky got on her
second birthday.

But she figured it out (with OSFO’s help). Alas, Diaper Diva doesn’t
really need Smartmom’s help anymore. Truth is, she’s way more efficient
than Smartmom ever was and always remembers to bring a Tupperware
container of Goldfish crackers to the playground AND a first aid kit.

She also knows all the songs on Dan Zanes’s “Rocket Ship Beach” by
heart; she stares lovingly at Ducky like she’s the Second Coming; she
thinks nothing of leaving her stroller blocking the baby wipes aisle at
Met Food.

And now, she has no time to be Smartmom’s shoulder to cry on. Worse,
the twin sisters can barely have a five-minute kvetchfest at ConnMuffCo
without Diaper Diva running into a half-dozen mommy friends (and
interrupting Smartmom’s monologue). Sigh.

But Smartmom should not despair as Diaper Diva makes her way as a parent and mommyfriend to half of Park Slope.

Eventually, when the chips are down, Diaper Diva will still rely on
her almost-over-the-hill, slightly jaded sis every now and then. She
will, right?

A benefit for homeless younth, Teens for the Phillippines gets underway in just eight days. Put it on your calendar, type it into your PDA. 

The show is on October 14th from 6-9 p.m. Here’s the line-up: Zach Fine on sitar, RAPR, Tetsuwan Fireball, Somewhere There’s a Fix, and Cool and Unusual Punishment.

TICKETS ARE $10 dollars for adults and $5 dollars for kids. The Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. For info and directions go here.

There will be food for sale as well as information about St. Martin de Pores, which is a home for kids and teens rescued from the
streets of Manila. Though many of them are not technically orphans,
they effectively are as living on the streets is often safer than
living at home. Many are abused by their parents, who more often than
not are crippled by their own addictions to drugs and inability to deal
with the pressures of extreme poverty. So at very young ages, children
head out to the streets to beg, collect plastic garbage to sell, shine
shoes, and scrape out a very meager living. They sleep wherever they
can and eat by scavenging through the garbage at outdoor markets and
picking through the dump. Not surprisingly many end up falling in with
gangs, resort to petty thievery and prostitution, and sadly many don’t
survive past their teens.

To help these kids, a priest born in the Philippines, Father Boyet,
has founded a home for them outside Manila, which my foundation, the
John D.V. Salvador Foundation, is raising money to expand. Not only did
he create a safe loving place for them to live, he and the house
parents and volunteers transport them to a local school, where they are
all learning and acquiring skills that will allow them to break free of
the cycle of homelessness and poverty. The proceeds from Teens for the
Philippines would go toward the construction of a dormitory for the
home’s teen boys, who have been sleeping in a former Manila city bus
that’s been outfitted with bunk beds. The dormitory is nearly completed
and construction set to begin in the spring on the girls’ dorm.

To buy tickets or donate even if you can’t make it go here:

http://www.nycharities.org/event/event.asp?CE_ID=736