Six months ago, President Obama signed into law the historic health care reform law. Starting today some provisions go into effect, including the provision that all plan must allow young people to remain on their parents’ plan up to their 26th birthday (this protection is limited to young people who do not have access to their own employer-sponsored coverage.)

These reforms will hopefully improve the coverage people get through their employers and individual health insurance policies, that they buy from insurance companies. That’s the idea anyway. The following information is from My Word: Patients’ Bill of Rights Starts Today by Representative Pete Stark in the Oakland Tribune

–All insurance plans must stop the practice of “rescissions” — dropping people’s coverage when they get sick.

–All employer plans and new individual plans are prohibited from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.

—All plans must allow young people to remain on their parents’ plan up to their 26th birthday (this protection is limited to young people who do not have access to their own employer-sponsored coverage).

–Other reforms will prevent consumers from getting stuck with sky-high medical bills, and improve the quality of insurance:

–All insurance plans are prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on coverage — so people with costly diseases won’t see their coverage evaporate when they hit a certain spending cap.

–All employer plans and new individual plans are restricted from setting low annual limits on coverage.

–ll new plans must have an effective internal and external appeals process — so that if you want to appeal a decision your insurance company makes, your appeal isn’t lost in corporate bureaucracy.

All of these provisions take effect for the next plan year starting on or after today. That means that they’ll be in effect the next time you purchase a new plan or during your next open season.

Assemblyman Vito Lopez, considered by some to be the Darth Vader of Brooklyn politics, is really under fire. He is the subject of two federal investigations and one by the city’s Department of investigation. Here’s an excerpt from an article by William K. Rashbaum in the New York Times:

Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, a long-serving Brooklyn Democratic leader who is widely viewed as the borough’s patronage king, is at the center of two separate federal investigations, according to several people briefed on the matter. A third inquiry, by the city’s Department of Investigation, those people said, is focused on a network of nonprofit groups Mr. Lopez controls.

All three investigations focus to some extent on the nexus of politics, nonprofit groups and real estate developers in Brooklyn, the people familiar with the inquiries said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

In more Vito news, the Brooklyn Paper takes on the Brooklyn pol in a recent editorial, Vito Power Play Crosses the Line.

On September 23rd at 7PM, Brooklyn Reading Works presents the second annual Young Writers Night, fiction, poetry and song by New York City teenagers. “In planning this event, I looked for artists with fresh insight, candor and guts.” writes curator Jill Eisenstadt, author of From Rockaway and Kiss Out. Young Writers should be an exciting night and a preview into the next generation of published writers.

Young Writers is an all ages event at the Old Stone House. Third Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. Suggested donation of $5 includes refreshments.

Readers include Hananh Frishberg, Maria Robins-Somerville, Noah Miller, Julia Banks Harris, Lily Konigsberg, Gussie Roc, Luca Balser, Charlie Dore-Young and MORE.

Click on read more for the bios of the young writers:

Continue reading Tonight at 7PM: Young Writers Night, An All Ages Event →

The most contested race in the recent primary elections has been decided. Finally.

Lincoln Restler of New Kings Democrats is the declared winner in the race for State Committee in the 50th Assembly District in North Brooklyn. After leading with 50.2% on primary night, Restler fell behind in the initial recount. But the final recount found him leading by 120 votes.

FYI: His new job as District leader is a part-time, unpaid position. It is powerful nonetheless. Here are some of the District Leaders’ responsibilities as I understand them:

–They hire poll workers and election inspectors for the primary and general elections.

–They help pick judges and the party chairman.

–They attend party meetings and events on behalf of the district

–They organize meetings and events in the district.

–They work closely with the district’s city, state, and federal elected officials.

–They help elect party members to public office in the district.

–They provide  info to the district’s voters about poll site locations, election results, and general information about party candidates.

Read more about the importance of District Leaders at the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

This win is being viewed as a blow to Vito Lopez’s Democratic Party machine. Lincoln Restler had this to say: “For the first time in 28 years the voters of the 50th Assembly District have had the chance to elect an independent, reform-minded State Committee member, and I am proud to represent their voice. We, the growing reform movement in Brooklyn, intend to hold accountable the corrupt party machine and deliver a better brand of politics. Brooklyn deserves no less.”

Restler beat his opponent, Warren Cohn, 3,639 to 3,519.

Restler joins newly elected State Committee member, Chris Owens (AD 52) and long time reformers Jo Anne Simon (AD 52), and Joanne Seminara (AD 60) in the fight for the reform of Brooklyn politics.

This sounds interesting and important:

Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Brooklyn Borough Hall
209 Joralemon Street (at Court Street)

Representatives will be present from Forest City Ratner Companies to brief interested residents on plans for the public plaza in front of the arena. There will be a Q&A session.

Good timing I’d say. The recent Park Slope tornado got us all thinking about what to do in an emergency.

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, Spoke the Hub (STH) is presenting a FREE program, sponsored by the American Red Cross in Greater New York, on emergency preparedness, to be held at the STH Re:Creation Center at 748 Union Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in Park Slope. The program will last one hour, from 12:30-1:30pm. RSVP required.  Reservations for the free event can be made by calling Spoke the Hub at (718) 408-3234.

It is certainly prudent—and essential—for individuals and families, especially in New York City, to prepare for possible disasters and other emergencies. Both natural and human-caused crises can strike suddenly, anywhere and at any time.  This free workshop will provide participants with the crucial facts they’ll need  – before, during, and after a disaster or emergency situation. Attendees will learn how to create a family disaster plan, build and maintain a supply kit, and keep loved ones safe and informed.

Click on read more to see the topics that will be covered…

Continue reading Emergency Preparedness Workshop at Spoke the Hub →

Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their local weather tower.

Yesterday on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall prior to the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s biennial meeting, elected officials, government advocates, and members of New Kings Democrats called for Vito Lopez’s resignation as Party leader. The reform-minded group outlined a 4 point platform for reform:

1) Eliminate unelected at-large State Committee Seats

2) Open up meetings to press

3) Cease the practice of mass proxy voting

4) Hold County Committee meetings twice a year, at least

The group, which included State Committee member Jo Anne Simon (AD 52) and newly elected State Committee member Chris Owens (AD 52), marched to St. Francis College and rallied against the closed door meeting.
Sounds like things got interesting.

Apparently Lopez relented under pressure and for the FIRST TIME EVER,  reporters and non-invited individuals flooded the biennial meeting.

Lincoln Restler, candidate for State Committee in the 50th AD said in a press release from New Kings Democrats: “Three of Brooklyn’s past four Democratic Party bosses have been indicted on charges of corruption, and if the recent news about current Party Boss, Vito Lopez, is any indication, he is likely to meet the same fate. Brooklyn deserves a better brand of politics.”

Speaking of Restler, they still haven’t figured out whether he or Warren Cohn is the winner in the District Leader race in the 50th AD in North Brooklyn. Cohn was Lopez’s hand-picked candidate.

Last I heard Restler was ahead by 85 votes in the recount but the race, the most contested race in Brooklyn, has yet to be decided.

Stay tuned.

It’s important that bike riders know and observe the rules of the road so that our streets are safe for bikers, motorists and pedestrians.

That’s why a workshop like this sounds great.

Information on the October 2 Bike Like a Driver clinic and event as well as Bike to School Day information can now be found on Bike New York’s website here: http://www.bikenewyork.org/education/classes/bike_to_school.html.

Anyone interested in having their kids attend the Bike Like a Driver clinic should email their kids’ names and ages to classes(at)bikenewyork(dot)org.

The latest installment of Brooklyn’s hot new storytelling series, You Went to College for That,  with all new stories and great new storytellers, will be back at Union Hall October 6 at 7:30 PM. The second semester will continue on November 3 and December 8.

“You Went to College for That?” is an opportunity for New York’s best storytellers to present stories about their college days — love, classes, booze, experiments with drugs, experimenting in organic chemistry, growing up and being young. The stories can focus on any part of their lives, but each storyteller must teach the audience something that they learned in their major. We hope that the show will become part of the community of great storytelling in New York.

The show is hosted and curated by acclaimed standup comic and storyteller Ophira Eisenberg, (B.S., Anthropology, McGill University). Selected as one of New York Magazine’s Top 10 Comics, Ophira has appeared on Comedy Central, Fox, VH-1 and NBC. Her writing has been published in five anthologies, including I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America’s Top Comics and Heeb Magazine’s collection Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish. She is also a regular contributor for Us Weekly’s “Fashion Police” and YourTango.com. Her debut stand-up comedy CD As Is is available on iTunes.

Continue reading You Went to College for That? Returns to Union Hall in Park Slope →

My neighbor, who is an assistant principal at a NYC international high school, feels passionately about The Dream Act. She wrote me this letter yesterday about improving the lives of immigrant students.

As you know, I feel very passionately about improving the lives of immigrant students through education. It is possible that after years of stalling, the Dream Act, which would open a pathway to citizenship for undocumented students who graduate from college will be voted on tomorrow or Thursday. I urge you to take five minutes out of your day to send a letter to your federal representatives via this link: <http://capwiz.com/nacac/issues/alert/?alertid=13099226>.

Please make it possible for students like Angel, who was brought to the US at age ten by his parents, to live up to their potential and contribute to our society.  In bald terms, taxpayers spent close to 100K on his education and society is not reaping his potential.  In human terms, Angel’s story is a painful reminder of what can happen to undocumented students. Angel graduated from Brooklyn International High School a number of years ago, scraped together the means to attend and graduate from Hunter College. This in and of itself is an extraordinary accomplishment given the statistic that fewer than five out of one hundred Latinos graduate from college.  Angel was offered a position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the strength of his work as an intern there, which he could not accept, because he was undocumented.  Angel now sells flowers by day in midtown Manhattan and delivers take-out Chinese dinners in Park Slope by night.

When Angel came to me years ago to say he didn’t think going to college would be worth it, I told him about the Dream Act. I told him it would be a gamble, but if it never got passed, noone could ever take his education away from him and he would serve as a powerful example to his community and future children.

Let’s just say, my heart breaks every time I bump into Angel on his delivery bike.  Please, for his sake, and for the sake of all the Angels out there all over the US, please take a moment out of your busy lives to insure that we tap into the potential and hold out hope for the students who really do believe in and work for the promise of the American Dream with an ardent fervor even as many of our children, who have the birthright of American citizenship purely by chance, take for granted.

Please, also send this out to all of your friends and family.

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time to walk around Brooklyn blog by blog:

Street art: NY Shitty

B&Q subway disruptions: Sheepshead Bites

Happy 4th Birthday: Gerritsen Beach

Diving into the Gowanus in 1979: Pardon Me for Asking

I survived tornado t-shirt: Effed in Park Slope

Park Slope cameo in Boardwalk Empire: Here is Park Slope

Champion of bridezillas: Bushwick, BK

Out of context at 11 Broadway: Brooklyn 11211

First Brooklyn Heights dog show: McBrooklyn

Review of Chestnut Market: Bed-Stuy Blog

Yeah, right.

Technically the recession might be over but what does that really mean?

The unemployment rate hovers at 9.6% and economic growth is slow but according to the National Bureau of Economic Research the longest recession since WWII is now officially over.

Sounds like it’s time to send my resume all over town: hire me, the recession is OVER, hire me.

But I think businesses are still too shaky to start hiring again and the conclusions of the NBER aren’t  much consolation to struggling small businesses, unemployed individuals and those whose home values have gone down.

I’m glad to hear that the recession is over but I want to see evidence (other than the rising stock market) that thing are really getting better for most Americans.

In other words, it ain’t over till it’s over.

Fortune Magazine discovers the Park Slope Food Coop and thinks that “traditional supermarkets should pay attention.” Okay.

It turns out that one of the most successful grocers around by some measures isn’t really in it for the money. The Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC), the largest consumer-owned single-store coop by sales in the U.S., had $39.4 million in sales during its last fiscal year, raking in more than $6,500 per square foot annually. “Anyone would salivate at that,” says Ann Herpel, a general coordinator at PSFC. In our recent story on Trader Joe’s we noted that the successful Monrovia, Calif.-based chain outdoes it competition with an average of $1,750 in sales per square foot, more than double those of Whole Foods (WFMI, Fortune 500). Traditional supermarkets should pay attention, and not just to those stellar financials. Under the coop model, the owner and the consumer are one in the same. “A coop has to make money but also has to have the best interest of its owners, who are also its shoppers, at heart,” says Robynn Shrader, CEO of the National Cooperative Grocer’s Association (NCGA).

New report alleges fraud at Vito Lopez’s non-profit: Gothamist

Democrats circle wagons for Rep. McMahon: Brooklyn Paper

Lincoln Restler is leading, again: Brooklyn Paper

Vito’s charity shake-up: Brooklyn Paper

Staten Island’s Cedar Grove next chapter in city’s eminent domain saga: Noticing New York

Historical error at the Brooklyn Historical Society?: Atlantic Yards Report

Proposed Brooklyn trolley route: McBrooklyn

Renee Dinnerstein, who has over 40 years experience as an early childhood educator, has started a blog called Investigating Choice TIme and it should be an interesting and illuminating blog about education and how children learn, important topics in these times of budget cuts and constant academic assessment.

Dinnerstein has taught both in Italy and the United States and has spent eighteen years as an early childhood teacher at PS 321, one of New York City’s leading elementary schools. She was the teacher-director of the Children’s School early childhood inclusion annex and worked also as an Early Childhood Staff Developer in the New York City Department of Education, Division of Instructional Support, where she wrote curriculum, led study groups and summer institutes, and helped write the New York City Pre Kindergarten Standards.

When I taught kindergarten and first grade, the most exciting part of my day was Choice Time, when children had time to pursue an inquiry topic, explore materials and ideas and, of course, have space and time to play.  If you would have asked any of the children what the most exciting time of the day was for them, I would not have been surprised if they would have also named Choice Time as the best part of their school day.

Continue reading New Blog on the Block: Investigating Choice Time →

Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their local weather tower.

Referring to Thursday’s tornado, Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim started out his sermon at the Kol Nidre service of Yom Kippur with the words “We almost died.”

Here is an excerpt from his sermon which included a prop. You can read the full text of his sermon at his blog, Water Over Rocks.

On the 8th Avenue sidewalk near Union Street I saw a satellite TV dish (Direct TV, RCA) that had blown off someone’s roof in the tornado and lay, neglected, on the ground.  In a moment of inspiration I picked it up and realized that I had a prop to begin the sermon.  I immediately ran into my in-laws, who remarked that they had seen it, too–I think if not blown off the roof it served to symbolize for many who walked past it in the storm’s aftermath as a kind of metaphor for our time–the dynamic between the human need for continual connectivity and God or Nature’s powerful potential to call the shots and “connect” at will…

Here’s Park Slope has many photos of the damaged trees in Park Slope called The Great Tree Reckoning. Here is an excerpt. Go to the blog to see the pix:

Walking outside after yesterday’s tornado (technically a “gust front” but I think we can all agree to call it a tornado) was like emerging after a snowstorm: it was nearly impossible to not stop and look around in wonder. Leaves and branches covered nearly every inch of street and sidewalk, and it seemed as if every block had a downed tree or destruction of some sort. Here are some photos of the aftermath, as well as a few from this morning.

Sunday in Park Slope, the streets are filled with stoop sales and fallen branches from Thursday’s tornado. There’s much to do and see today and tonight, including this film and discussion at  Zora’s Space at 7:30 PM: Border crossing and migration are issues that confront societies worldwide, both rich and poor. Author and professor Behzad Yaghmaian (Embracing the Infidel) leads a program of film and discussion on the topic. And for other events…

Continue reading The Sunday List: Sept 19 →

Lefty Lucy won the annual Miss Coney Island 2010 Burlesque competition.

The Thumbs of Somes

“All thumbs” has become high praise.

Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their local weather tower.

Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Community Board 6, just wrote to say that if you have storm related damage, report it to the City by calling 311. Here’s his note:

Thankfully yesterday’s storm did not take a greater toll on human life, but its impact on our neighborhood’s trees is another story altogether.  If you suffered any storm-related damage, please take a minute to report it to the City by calling it in to 311.  Please encourage your friends and neighbors to do so as well.  The more accurately the City can report the extent of the damage, the more likely we will qualify for resources to help make our communities whole again…

And here’s the message from the City:

Friday, September 17, 2010 – Report Home and Business Damage to 311

Call 311 to report any damage to your home or business sustained from last night’s storm. In order to qualify for disaster relief assistance, New York City must estimate the storm’s total effect on city residents and employees. Be prepared to answer questions about the extent of your property’s damage.

Like many good things, Park(ing) Day, an annual event that inspires city dwellers to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good, started in San Francisco.

The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco design studio, turned a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco.

Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals creating new forms of public space in urban settings.

The reason: to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!

Today there’s a space in Park Slope on Seventh Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street. There are benches (donated by Tarzian) and plants. You can just sit there for a few minutes if you wish.

There’s also a space in Ditmas Park on Cortelyou Road. Report back if you know of any others.

Yesterday a friend, whose 8th grade daughter is applying to public high schools, called in a panic because she’d heard a rumor that the students who score into the specialized high schools (Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, etc.) get their pick of the other high schools and the rest of the students get their left-overs.

My friend’s daughter isn’t planning on taking the specialized test because she isn’t interested in attending Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Latin, etc. Still, my friend was concerned that not taking the test would put her at a disadvantage for getting into the high school of her choice.

I knew it couldn’t be true that kids who didn’t take the test were in this way penalized so I called Joyce Szuflita of NYC School Help, who is something of a public high school admissions guru in these parts. We spoke on the phone for an hour and then she said she’d do a blog post on the subject. I was relieved because my notes were a mess and I was a little confused about the whole thing anyway — all the talk of algorirthms, etc. Here is an excerpt from her very informative blog post called, “Don’t shout “algorithm conspiracy!” in crowded middle school.”

It has been brought to my attention that there is a belief among 8^th grade parents that the students who score into the specialized HS get their pick of the high schools and the rest of the students get their left-overs.

To the best of my knowledge this is untrue. I have been chasing the details of this process for years, and here is what I understand from talking to the people who understand the algorithm, the timing of the running of the algorithm and the people at the DOE who work in the secret magic cave where the computers do their work.

First, just to throw a trickle of water on this fire, the DOE can be accused of a lot of things but no one can doubt that they go to crazy lengths to try to be fair and whether they succeed or not (and often they don’t), the conspiracy theorists can calm themselves knowing that this is one of the DOE’s first mandates…

Read more at NYC School Help.

Here’s the latest from the Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Project on Brooklyn Bridge closures (Note: “contraflow” means the re-routing of eastbound, or Brooklyn-bound, traffic onto the north–normally Manhattan-bound–side of the Bridge):

Friday, September 17th [and early morning Saturday, September 18] will be the last eastbound contraflow operation for approximately three weeks. Ongoing work will occur on two of the three lanes of the south roadway, but one lane will remain open for Brooklyn-bound traffic. Manhattan-bound traffic will be on the north roadway, as it was pre-construction, and will not be diverted to the Manhattan Bridge.

The eastbound contraflow is happening tonight [Thursday, September 16 and Friday morning, September 17] (11:00 pm to 6:00 am) and tomorrow night (12:01 am Sat until 7:00 am Sat), and then will stop completely on weekends and weeknights for approximately three weeks. There will still be some lane closures on the bridge, but the eastbound contraflow will not occur.

The National Weather Service still doesn’t know whether to classify last night’s storm, which spread through Brooklyn and Queens killing one woman whose car was hit by a tree, as a tornado.

Those of us who were on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when the storm twisted through the neighborhood and wreaked havoc, have no doubt. And the damage, according to the NY Times, “bore many of the hallmarks of a tornado, with the tops of countless trees sheared off and roofs blown off houses, but National Weather Service were still analyzing data to determine whether it should be classified as one.”

One thing is for sure:  those winds of 60 to 80 miles an hour caused widespread damage, including downed trees, smashed vehicles, homes and power failures in Brooklyn and Queens.

It looked like a tornado, it felt like a tornado, t acted like a tornado, it damaged like a tornado

Sounds like a tornado.