Work has begun on the Prospect Park West bike lane. Some say it will calm traffic, others are dead set against. Hey, a little Park Slope controversy. So what else is new?
On Tuesday new lane markings that were painted on. The two-way bike lane that will stretch from Grand Army Plaza to Bartel Pritchard Square, along with the four-foot buffer zone beside it.
This means one less lane for drivers.
Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their local weather tower.
From the Brooklyn Paper:
Brooklyn is pockmarked by a disproportionate number of abandoned development sites compared with the rest of the city, according to a report released last week by Eastern Consolidated, an investment services firm in Manhattan.
The boom years of 2005-7 went bust when the global financial crisis hit, causing financing for new development to dry up, leaving half-started brick husks and empty lots as a lasting reminder of the blind exuberance that characterized the boom.
As of May 25, there were 279 stalled sites in the borough out of 615 citywide.
North Brooklyn has been hardest hit by the downturn: Of the 264 stalled Brooklyn sites in April, 73 were in Williamsburg and Greenpoint — neighborhoods that were the stars of the boom, thanks to a 2005 rezoning that had facilitated new residential and commercial development.
Brought to you by the Feldman Family from their Park Slope weather tower.
On May 21, Daniel Meeter, pastor of Old First Church in Park Slope, participated with Eleni Zaharapoulos and some Fine Arts students from Brooklyn College in a ritual of blessing for the Atlantic Yards. Zaharapoulos led a small procession around the site with incense and music. She asked Rev. Meeter to do the Confession for reconciliation and to offer a blessing. Then a choir sang Alicia Keyes’ New York State of Mind. “It’s hard to imagine at this distance how moving and wonderful the whole thing was, and I consider it a privilege to have been asked. (Full disclosure: I am a strong and loyal supporter of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.)” he wrote on his blog. Here is an excerpt from his confession. You can read the rest here.
There were trees here once. There were woods and meadows and animals. They are gone, we removed them all. Once the native tribe of the Canarsees lived here. What form their violence and violations took we do not know, but we know that they died from our diseases and we removed the few who did survive. We took the land and we felled the trees and spread our pastures and our sweet little farms on the sandy soil, and we used the labor of our slaves. After some years we covered the ground with our houses and our streets, and the native animals were gone. Let their memory rest in peace. Requiescat in pace.
The railroad came and the streets were widened and we built our shops and factories and tenements. We paved the ground over to be hot in the summer and lifeless in the winter. The flowers and the fruits were gone, and the birds all fled. That’s what we did here, but we are the beneficiaries. If not for that we could not have come here. The loss of the land was in our interest, and the grief of the ground for our prosperity. We confess our complicity, and we ask forgiveness. Let the lives beneath us rest in peace. Requiescat in pace.
And then this city became despised and rejected, and it suffered the distresses of racism and poverty and violence, the long slow poisoning of the soil and the water and the air, the sadness of the buildings, the garbage on the ground, the evaporation of community, and the emptiness of love. And underneath it all a spirit of frustration, a spirit of bitterness and loss and unrequited grief, a simmering spirit of anger and resentment. These spirits have had their power here.
But then people came back with love, and people came back here with hope, and people came here with faith, looking for each other, looking for new life on this land, a city on a human scale, of small shops and of local enterprise and ownership, a city of people for each other here…
And then others came looking for power and prestige and wealth and fame. The Empire State Development Corporation had visions of empire. They wanted not community but evidence of empire. They used the power of empire over enterprise. They overpowered the small things that were growing here. What they did here was immoral, according to the standard of the laws of God. They coveted this neighborhood, and they coveted their neighbors’ houses, and they did not love their neighbors as themselves. There were spirits here at work. The spirit of possession took over here, and the spirits manipulation and deceit.
OPENING DAY AT LUNA PARK
Saturday, May 29th, 2010 the NEW Luna Park opens with a unique collection of state-of-the-art amusement rides and attractions.
THE STATE OF CONEY ISLAND ADDRESS
On Sunday May 30 at 4:30PM at the Coney Island Museum (1208 Surf Ave between Stillwell Ave. and West 12th Street) hear Dick Zigun, the Officially Unelected Mayor of Coney Island, give his annual overview of the current state of affairs in America’s Playground. Zigun is expected to highlight the launch of the New Luna Park, the excitement of the long-anticipated “rebirth” of the amusement area, and the remaining questions about the future of the important historic structures that remain intact in Coney Island’s historic district.
BROOKLYN MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
The 143rd Kings County Memorial Day Parade, the nation’s oldest continuously run Memorial Day parade begins at 11am on Monday, May 31 in Bay Ridge on 91st Street and Third Avenue and travels along Third Avenue to Marine Avenue, up to Fourth Avenue and concluding in John Paul Jones Park on 101st Street and Fourth Avenue. Immediately after the parade, a ceremony will be held in the park.
FILM
Babies, Please Give and Sex & The City 2 at BAM; Iron Man 2, Sex & The City 2, Shrek Forever After at the Pavilion
MUSIC
Monday, May 31, 2010 at 2:30: A Memorial Day concert at Green-Wood Cemetery by the ISO Symphonic Band, featuring select compositions by Green-Wood Cemetery’s permanent residents Fred Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Paul Jabara. Bring a folding chair, a blanket and a picnic lunch. Cookout food, snacks and drinks, as well as Historic Fund books and apparel will be for sale. Admission to this event is FREE. Location: The Grounds of Green-Wood Cemetery at The Gothic Arch of Green-Wood Cemetery.
THEATER
Sunday, May 30 at 7PM at Barbes: The Twenty-Five Cent Opera Company of San Francisco: theater slash performance slash entertainment brought to you once monthly. Featuring new works for the tiny stage by landscape artist Erin Courtney, theater architect Yelena Gluzman, & word contstruction worker Kristen Kosmas.
DANCE
It wouldn’t be Memorial Day Weekend in Brooklyn without DanceAfrica at BAM, presenting troupes from Zambia, Dallas, Philadelphia and Brooklyn’s own BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble will entertain at the Fort Greene venue, performing traditional dance and music to hip hop. The day will also feature film screenings, an art exhibition, and an outdoor bazaar, with nearly 300 vendors from around the world transforming the streets around BAM into a global marketplace offering African, Caribbean, and African-American food, crafts and fashion.
ART
Also part of DanceAfrica at BAM: an exhibition of works in BAMcafe by artists Bara Diokhane, Duhirwe Rushemeza, Francis Simeni and Ezra Wube, who all originally hail from various nations on the African continent, will be featured. Each will choose a piece from their oeuvre and pair it with a piece from BAM’s own collection of predominantly American artists. Organized by BAMarts and MoCADA.
FOOD & FESTIVITY
The BKLYN Yard in Gowanus is sponsoring PARKED, a festival of the city’s best food trucks, including traveling pizza vendor Pizzamoto, selections from the Greenpoint Food Market vendors, and Rickshaw Dumplings for the main event. For dessert, there’s almost too much to choose from, from Steve’s Key Lime Pie to Robicelli Cupcakes to Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream and the Green Pirate Juice Truck.
My father was a birdwatcher so I am fascinated not so much by birds as by the people who watch them. Truth be told, I was never any good at birdwatching, a pastime that requires a good deal of patience and steady hand/eye coordination. Even being the child of a birdwatcher required patience. From time to time in my Manhattan youth, my father would take me to the Ramble in Central Park where I would, patiently, watch him birdwatch and talk to other “birders.”
Occasionally my father would try to teach me how find a bird through the binoculars. “Find the bird with your eye,” I remember him saying. “And then quickly lift the binoculars to your eye.”
Again and again I’d try it. Again and again the bird would fly away before I got to see it magnified in those fancy Zeiss lenses.
I’d grow frustrated. He’d grow eager to use his binoculars for the serious pursuit of a seasonal bird. It just never added up to a strong lesson in birding I guess.
Those birders were a strange breed to my child’s eyes. We’d run into others of this breed in Central Park and their conversations with my father seemed to go on forever. Serious, somewhat dour, single-minded in their ways, they wore khaki vests and pants with black binoculars swinging from their necks.
But love it he did. My father was a birder through and through. That’s why this weekly class in birdwatching in Prospect Park caught my eye.
Maybe you’ll have more success than I did at the art of finding a bird. You can tour and learn about the 250 species of birds that call Prospect Park home. Meet at the Audubon Center. They meet every Saturday at noon.
Body found floating in Sheepshead Bay: Sheepshead Bites
A sweet vestige of Sicilian Bushwick: Bushwick BK
East Williamsburg Photo du Jour: NY Shitty
Bike theft on the increase in Carroll Gardens: Pardon Me for Asking
Birth of Luna Park: Kinetic Carnival
The end of Campus Road garden: NY Times
New Blog: The Q at Parkside
Proposed Lincoln Rd. development sparks controvery: Hawthorne Street
The Brian Lehrer Show’s Brooklyn edition of YOUR ANECDOTAL CENSUS airs this morning, May 25th at 10am. Borough President MARTY MARKOWITZ will be on the show to answer residents’ questions and concerns.
Residents of Broolyn were invited to submit their stories about the county of Kings at http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/bl/blogs/scrapbook/2010/may/04/your-anecdotal-census-schedule/.
Today you have an opportunity to call in and be heard by the Brooklyn borough president on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show airs on 93.9 FM, AM820 and www.wnyc.org.
I looked at No Words Daily Pix and said to Hugh: “Why did you put a picture up of fireworks on the Brooklyn Bridge ?”
And he told me that 127 years ago today was the opening.
“It’s on all the other Brooklyn blogs,” he said.
Has it really been 27 years since my father had that great party in his apartment, which faces the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate its 100th birthday?
That night the fireworks were unbelievably good — they poured off of the bridge itself like enormous streams of colored champagne. My father’s apartment was packed full of revelers, many of whom braved the subway to Brooklyn from Manhattan (the subway to Brooklyn!) to celebrate with my dad.
It’s hard to believe it was 27 years ago. Today is the 127th anniversary of the bridge that first connected Brooklyn to Manhattan.
The bridge’s designer, John Augustus Roebling, died during the bridge’s construction and his his son, Washington Roebling, took over the project. He was then injured on the job but continued to work from his wheelchair.
Today’s No Words Daily Pix picture was taken in 2008 during the 125th celebration. The apartment was filled with revelers on that day, too. It was just months before my father from cancer but he was in good spirits. You could see the fireworks right outside his window so we’d set up tall stools, drink wine and savor the private view.
We’d pretend on the Fourth of July (when there were also fireworks in New York Harbour) that it was his own private celebration. We joked on that night, too.
“When are you going to start the show,” we joked.
“Soon,” he said. “As soon as it’s dark enough.”
When the fireworks, spectacular as always, were over we’d thanked him profusely.
“We loved your show, dad,” I told him.
“Ah, it was nothing,” he said in return.
But it was wonderful. It really was.
Cuomo Announces run for governor: Wall Street Journal
Doug Biviano Strikes Back: Brooklyn Bugle
Rebuilding Haiti from Brooklyn: City Limits
Asthma in NY: City Limits
Anti-violence docs on location: NY Times
Prokhorov: The Book of Laughter & Forgetting: Atlantic Yards Report
Today’s weather from The Feldman Family Weather Station in Park Slope
BROOKLYN HALF-MARATHON
Feel like running 13 miles?
The Brooklyn Half-Marathon (sponsored by the New York Road Runners Club) is on Saturday. Starts at 7AM from Prospect Park to the Coney Island Boardwalk. On your mark, get set, GO. It’s gonna be hot so read up on dealing with heat conditions.
NIGHTIME WALK AT GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY
Bring a flashlight and you’re all set. This special nighttime walk, led by Cemetery historian Jeff Richman, features live accordion music, by Famous Accordionists Bob Goldberg and Carl Riehl, a visit inside Green-Wood’s Catacombs and the light (weather permitting) of the moon. From “Erie Canal” to “New York New York”, a stroll through New York’s history. In the dark, with flashlights No reservations necessary.
The tour is $20 / $10 for Historic Fund members. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. Reserve your ticket online today or call 718.768.7300.
Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 8:15 PM
BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL
May 21-23 at Jalopy, the Brooklyn Folk Festival presents the best in old-time music, blues, pre-blues, jug band music, New Orleans jazz, folk style songwriting, African folk music and Mexican folk music and dance. 7 pm–12:30 am.
ART EXHIBITS
American High Style: Fashioning a nation collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Opens May 22 through June 13: Lucky Gallery presents: “Made in Red Hook”, a traditional salon exhibition by Red Hook artists Todd von Ammon, Laura Arena, Maria Baraybar, Andy Vernon-Jones, Christina Kelly, Heather Phelps-Lipton, Nate Luce, Rachel Mosler, L. Nichols, Julia Oldham, Anna Ortiz, Joshua Ray Stephens, Eric Taylor, Elizabeth Tomasetti, Tonky and Beriah Wall.
MOVIES
Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, Letters to Juliet, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale at the Pavilion; City Island, Babies, Exit Through the Gift Shop at Cobble Hill Cinema.
DANCE
Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 3pm & 7pm, Sunday at 3pm: Elizabeth Streb and her superbly-conditioned performers are on a great, romantic adventure as they pursue, possess and exemplify pure action. Nowhere on earth will hardware, humans, extreme action and true grit combine in such an outrageous, explosive and shocking way. This is action magic for the masses! And it’s great for kids at the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics.
On Friday night, 400 literary revelers joined John Hodgman (the PC guy on those great Mac spots) for a BIG bash in support of and to celebrate the Brooklyn-based nationally acclaimed literary magazine, One Story, a pocket-sized magazine issued 18 times a year (and featuring only one story by a top notch emerging or established writer).
The event was organized and hosted by Maribeth Batcha, publisher of One Story and Hannah Tinti, the magazine’s editor at the American Can Factory in Park Slope.
One Story is a must-have, must-read for anyone interested in the art of the short story.
And that’s the truth.
At the party notables included aforementioned (and beloved humorist) John Hodgman, Michael Cunningham (author of “The Hours”), Colson Whitehead, (author of Sag Harbor), Elissa Schappell (Hot Type columnist for Vanity Fair and author of Use Me), Rob Spillman (editor of Tin House), Joshua Shenk (essayist), James Hannaham (author of God Says No), Victor LaValle (author of Slapboxing with Jesus and Big Machine) many other literary notables I am inequipped to name (or recognize).
The American Can Factory is such a cool space for a party. It’s the big room where the Meet the Makers craft market and green market locates every Sunday. The caterer was none other than Nana, the woman who runs a fabulous food concession in the back of the Meet the Makers market.
Kudos to Nana for great food and gorgeous presentation.
Fun was had all.
It was the magazine’s first-ever benefit and the idea was to celebrate One Story’s debut and emerging authors, with artists, performers, and filmmakers producing work inspired by issues of One Story.
Those original works were displayed at the ball and were auctioned off. There was also a cool “presentation” (a la a debutantes ball) of writers who have made their debuts in One Story.
Each writer was “escorted” by an established author. The presentation was announced by John Hodgman (The Areas of My Expertise, The Daily Show).
I went with my sister and we had a great time running into friends and meeting new people, too.
Cheers to One Story, a Brooklyn treasure that has made its mark on the world of literary fiction.
Stephanie, who writes the terrific blog Gold Star 4 Trying, has been giving out gold stars around Brooklyn and beyond for going on a year, just trying to add a bit of brightness to people’s days just for trying!
She writes: “I am a freelance writer, married mother of two and a would-be…lots of things, so I know what’s it’s like to need a gold star!”
Well, here’s a gold star for Stephanie for an awesome blog. Here’s an excerpt from a post called It Takes a Village:
I have been toying with adding pictures and names on my blog for a while, but had wondered if people would really want to be featured, focused upon? Turns out, some do, some really do and some don’t. But the simple act of imagining that people might actually be buoyed by the recognition has given me a renewed sense of the project, helped me understand how important it is–both for those that want to see themselves and those who don’t–that there is some acknowledgment of people’s efforts.
Because I am energized about the idea anew, believe wholeheartedly in the power of the gold star sticker to make someone’s moment, their day, their week, I am overwhelmed: shouldn’t I give a gold star sticker to everyone I see? Who am I to choose? Why is it just me?
Sitting in temple the other day, a rare thing, I was delighted and amazed by the Rabbi’s story of a little village whose citizens were told that someone among them was the Messiah.
“It could be any one of you that was brought here to save the world…” the story went.
The Rabbi told of how this powerful idea resonated throughout the village, how everyone started to treat everyone else with much more respect, how they started to treat even themselves with much more respect. The idea changed the village into a special place, far better than before, a place where people actually believed in one another’s power to raise each other up and, because they believed it, they actually made it happen.
I was so excited to hear the story. It is, I believe, the same message I am trying to send with my project. Each and every one of us has within us the ability to raise up another, to raise up ourselves, if only we believed we had been granted such a power, if only we thought it possible.
Due to my sprained ankle, subsequent pain in my neck and shoulder from realigning (misaligning my body) and a whole lot of other reasons, I won’t be running in this year’s Brooklyn Half-Marathon.
When I did run in 2006, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. What exhilaration? What a sense of accomplishment!
Back then the race started on the boardwalk and ended in Prospect Park. Now they’ve reversed the course: the race begins in our great park and ends in glorious Coney Island.
On the boardwalk, by the ocean.
The race starts at Prospect Park’s Well House Drive (directions and loads of information here). Turn left onto West Drive and complete two counterclockwise loops of Prospect Park. Exit the park at the southwest corner (the second exit), turn right onto Park Circle, and continue to the Fort Hamilton Parkway/Ocean Parkway entrance ramp. A fork to the left of the road will take you to the Ocean Parkway entrance ramp. Continue south on Ocean Parkway, turn right (west) on Surf Avenue, turn left onto the boardwalk entrance ramp near West Fifth Street (between the handball courts and the Aquarium), and then make an immediate right onto the Coney Island Boardwalk. The finish line is located on the boardwalk between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets.
Here’s the Brooklyn Half Checklist for those who are running. It’s what you need to know about the race.
* The race starts at 7:00 a.m. Runners should be in their corrals by 6:50 a.m.
* The weather forecast predicts a warm day. Read our heat tips.
* There are NO shuttle buses from Coney Island to the start. While parking is available at MCU Park in Coney Island, runners must take the subway to start. [Transportation Info]
* Make sure your scoring D-Tag is attached correctly. The D-Tag should be shaped like a D and looped through one lace only.
* Runners must use the clear plastic drawstring bag given to them at number pickup for baggage service. No other bags will be accepted. Runners are advised to check their bag by 6:30 a.m.
* Join us after the race for the Brooklyn Beach Party.
* And don’t forget to grab your Brooklyn Half coupon book and get beautiful, baby! Brooklyn rocks!
It’s Lenore Skenazy’s latest caper and she’s not kidding. Saturday is Take Your Kids to the Park and Leave Them There Day.” She’s getting plenty of publicity, some ire, some encouragement from the public. Ah, she’s used to it. Remember what happened when she let her 10 year old ride the subway?
From the Wall Street Journal:
Lenore Skenazy has declared Saturday “Take Your Kids to the Park and Leave Them There Day.” The former New York Sun columnist gained notoriety two years ago after writing about letting her then 9-year-old son take the subway home alone. She’s now campaigning for parents of children age 7 and older to give their kids a little freedom to play.
BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL
May 21-23 at Jalopy, the Brooklyn Folk Festival presents the best in old-time music, blues, pre-blues, jug band music, New Orleans jazz, folk style songwriting, African folk music and Mexican folk music and dance. 7 pm–12:30 am.
DEBUTANTE BALL
Friday One Story magazine hosts a fun fundraiser in support of their fabulous magazine issued 18 times a year that is a must have for those who follow the art of the short story. Tickets are $50, which includes drinks, hors d’oeuvres, the night’s performance by Wingspace, hobnobbing with some of New York’s finest writers.
ART EXHIBITS
On Friday: Brooklyn College’s Performance and Interactive Media Arts MFA Program are presenting a show about their semester long inquiry of the Atlantic Yards. It’s called: A Question of Domain: Art About Atlantic Yards” and the show begins at 6:30pm in the playground located on 6th Avenue between Dean and Bergen Streets in a U-Haul truck and then continues at Southpaw at 8PM.
American High Style: Fashioning a nation collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Opens May 22 through June 13: Lucky Gallery presents: “Made in Red Hook”, a traditional salon exhibition by Red Hook artists Todd von Ammon, Laura Arena, Maria Baraybar, Andy Vernon-Jones, Christina Kelly, Heather Phelps-Lipton, Nate Luce, Rachel Mosler, L. Nichols, Julia Oldham, Anna Ortiz, Joshua Ray Stephens, Eric Taylor, Elizabeth Tomasetti, Tonky and Beriah Wall.
MOVIES
Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, Letters to Juliet, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale at the Pavilion; City Island, Babies, Exit Through the Gift Shop at Cobble Hill Cinema.
DANCE
Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 3pm & 7pm, Sunday at 3pm: Elizabeth Streb and her superbly-conditioned performers are on a great, romantic adventure as they pursue, possess and exemplify pure action. Nowhere on earth will hardware, humans, extreme action and true grit combine in such an outrageous, explosive and shocking way. This is action magic for the masses! And it’s great for kids at the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics.
The glass of writing: Truth and Rocket Science
Group show at Lucky Gallery in Red Hook: Art in Brooklyn
The Singer’s Gun: The Written Nerd
The Godfather, The Big Chill, The Cutaway: Peel Slowly
Heartbreak House: Rhinebeck Theater Society
Pee Wee Herman to get Broadway Playhouse: NY Times
Bring a flashlight and you’re all set. This special nighttime walk, led by Cemetery historian Jeff Richman, features live accordion music, by Famous Accordionists Bob Goldberg and Carl Riehl, a visit inside Green-Wood’s Catacombs and the light (weather permitting) of the moon. From “Erie Canal” to “New York New York”, a stroll through New York’s history. In the dark, with flashlights No reservations necessary.
The tour is $20 / $10 for Historic Fund members. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. Reserve your ticket online today or call 718.768.7300.
Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 8:15 PM
Meeting Point: Inside the main entrance at 25th Street and 5th Avnue
Price: $20.00
http://www.green-wood.com/store.php/store/category/2/tour/107
Brought to you from the Feldman Family weather tower in Park Slope.
From May 30-June 13, the Toy Theater Festival, a panopoly of miniature productions, takes over St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO for theater on a small scale.
The festival begins with the Greatest Smallest Parade through Dumbo. Tiny floats. A full-sized marching band.
Over the course of two weeks, there are more than 20 productions from the silly to the serious.
Pictured above is “Kamp” (June 2-6), by Holland’s Hotel Modern
Brooklyn Reading Works presents the Fourth Annual Edgy Mother’s Day on May 20, 2010 at 8PM at The Old Stone House in Park Slope. It’s motherhood without sanctimony and an evening of maternal revelry, wisdom and irreverent fun.
This is not your mother’s Mother’s Day but a celebration of mommydom nonetheless that will shock, rock, and make you laugh ‘til your thongs snap!
Hear Brooklyn writers of non-fiction, fiction, memoir and poetry rant and rave about mothers and motherhood. They will shock, amuse, and entertain but won’t make you eat carrots before dessert.
Bring a friend. Or bring your mom.
Hosted by Louise Crawford and Sophia Romero, here’s the evening’s line-up (don’t panic everyone is under strict orders to keep their readings brief):
–Marian Fontana, author of A Widow’s Walk
–Rosemary Moore, author of Side Street
–Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl From the Left
–Jill Eisenstadt, author of From Rockaway
–Wendy Ponte, author of Mothering Magazine’s Having a Baby Naturally. She is also a life coach.
–Sophia Romero, blogger, The Shiksa from Manila and author of Always Hiding
–Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of Breaking the Bank
–Michele Madigan Somerville, poet and author of WISEGAL and Black Irish
–Allison Pennell, parenting journalist and writer for Effed in Park Slope
–Kayla, aka Kathy Fine, accidental poet and educator
–Nicole Caccavo Kear, writer of Dispactches from Babyville, a regular column in the Park Slope Reader and blogger for A Mom Amok.
On Friday Brooklyn College’s Performance and Interactive Media Arts MFA Program are presenting a show about their semester long inquiry of the Atlantic Yards. It’s called: A Question of Domain: Art About Atlantic Yards” and the show begins at 6:30pm in the playground located on 6th Avenue between Dean and Bergen Streets in a U-Haul truck and then continues at Southpaw at 8PM
Also on Friday One Story magazine is hosting a fun fundraiser in support of their fabulous magazine issued 18 times a year that is a must have for those who follow the art of the short story.
Tickets are $50, which includes drinks, hors d’oeuvres, the night’s performance by Wingspace, hobnobbing with some of New York’s finest writers (up-and-coming and bold names), and a chance to see John Hodgman ham it up as the night’s emcee.
So what makes her edgy?
For starters she is the author of the novel, Always Hiding which was published by William Morrow. She also writes the hilarious blog, The Shiksa from Manila AND and she is mom to Amalya and Eli and thorn in the neck to Dan Schwartz AKA the good egg.
Brooklyn Reading Works presents the Fourth Annual Edgy Mother’s Day on May 20, 2010 at 8PM at The Old Stone House in Park Slope. It’s motherhood without sanctimony and an evening of maternal revelry, wisdom and irreverent fun.
This is not your mother’s Mother’s Day but a celebration of mommydom nonetheless that will shock, rock, and make you laugh ‘til your thongs snap!
Hear Brooklyn writers of non-fiction, fiction, memoir and poetry rant and rave about mothers and motherhood. They will shock, amuse, and entertain but won’t make you eat carrots before dessert.
Bring a friend. Or bring your mom. Your sister. Your daughter. Your…
Okay. So the secret is out. Absolut is launching its “Brooklyn” vodka in collaboration with filmmaker Spike Lee.
So what does this vodka taste like. I don’t know yet but I hear its a blend of red apples and ginger and comes in its own specially- designed bottle featuring probably one of the most recognizable features of our lovely borough, the stoop.
Cool fact: Absolut Brooklyn is the fourth in the company’s US city-themed editions following New Orleans, Los Angeles and Boston.
It’s not Absolut New York or Absolut Manhattan. It’s Absolut Brooklyn. Got it?
The company is donating $50,000 of the proceeds to Habitat For Humanity New York City. They are also sponsoring this year’s Brooklyn Blogfest.
Cheers!
Lucas Fine Foods opening on Union: NY Times
The accidental black and white: A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn
Fornino adds kid’s menu: Brooklyn Paper
Third Ward’s food cart: Eater
Food news: The Brooklyn Food Blog
Brooklyn food & drink roundup: Brownstoner
So what makes her edgy?
Jill Eisenstadt is the author FROM ROCKAWAY and KISS OUT and has written for The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vogue among other places. She has three daughters Jane 15, Lena 13, and Colette, 7. Asked what qualifies her as an Edgy Mom she cited her ability to stick her hand into a kid’s mouth and yank out a loose tooth without blinking.
Brooklyn Reading Works presents the Fourth Annual Edgy Mother’s Day on May 20, 2010 at 8PM at The Old Stone House in Park Slope. It’s motherhood without sanctimony and an evening of maternal revelry, wisdom and irreverent fun.
This is not your mother’s Mother’s Day but a celebration of mommydom nonetheless that will shock, rock, and make you laugh ‘til your thongs snap!
Hear Brooklyn writers of non-fiction, fiction, memoir and poetry rant and rave about mothers and motherhood. They will shock, amuse, and entertain but won’t make you eat carrots before dessert.
Bring a friend. Or bring your mom.
Hosted by Louise Crawford and Sophia Romero, here’s the evening’s line-up:
–Marian Fontana, author of A Widow’s Walk
–Rosemary Moore, author of Side Street
–Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl From the Left
–Jill Eisenstadt, author of From Rockaway
–Wendy Ponte, author of Mothering Magazine’s Having a Baby Naturally. She is also a life coach.
–Sophia Romero, blogger, The Shiksa from Manila and author of Always Hiding
–Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of Breaking the Bank
–Michele Madigan Somerville, poet and author of WISEGAL and Black Irish
–Allison Pennell, parenting journalist and writer for Effed in Park Slope
–Kayla, aka Kathy Fine, accidental poet and educator
–Nicole Caccavo Kear, writer of Dispactches from Babyville, a regular column in the Park Slope Reader and blogger for A Mom Amok.
Clean out your closet, find new threads from your neighbor’s closet, and keep clothes out of landfills! Bring your clean and usable women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing to contribute.
reduce/reuse/recycle is *always* in fashion.
Clothes left over from the swap will go to the wonderful programs at Housing Works, which provide the highest quality services for homeless men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS in New York City and beyond.
Brought to you by Greener Gotham Events, founded by Green Party activists to create fun and social eco-events in the Five Boroughs!
On Saturday, May 22 from 11AM until 3PM at All Saints Catholic Church, located at 115 Throop Ave (basement entrance) at the corner of Thorton Street. Take the G and J/M trains to Flushing Avenue — or the L train to Montrose Avenue.
FREE with a contribution of clean, usable clothes to the swap. Email michael@counterpower.org or call 347-788-1646.