It’s happening before our eyes: Fourth Avenue is changing and it’s changing fast.

New construction and more people means there’s a growing need for better services. These changes will be among the issues to be discussed at the Park Slope Civic Council’s upcoming annual public forum, The Future of Fourth Avenue.

This forum, which is open to the public, will be held on Thursday, March 4, 7:00 P.M. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street.

A panel of experts will talk to the community about Fourth Avenue – what has been happening, what challenges we face, and the opportunities we have to create a great community here.  These authorities will make insightful presentations, discuss the issues, and give thoughtful responses to questions. Panelists include: Craig Hammerman, District Manager, Brooklyn Community Board Six; Ethan Kent, Vice President, Project for Public Spaces; Ryan Lynch, Senior Planner, Tri-State Transportation Campaign; David Sweeny, Developer; and Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE.

Continue reading Public Forum on The Future of Fourth Avenue →

Porch season approacheth: CasaCara

Tel Aviv artist known for striking graphics: My Coney

Stefanie & Luke’s Brooklyn limestone: Apartment Therapy

Master of my (bathroom) domain: A Brooklyn Limestone

Reading about sandstone: Brooklynometry

Park Slope rec room: Brownstoner

After 80 exhibitions since 2001, Julian Jackson and Rene Lynch have announced that they are closing Metaphor Contemporary Art, their gallery located at 382 Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn. The final exhibition, Black and White will  run through March 6, 2010.

Gallery directors, Jackson and Lynch, both artists themselves, will continue to curate on a project basis and continue to be available for art consulting and lectures. In their own words: here is their farewell note:

Dear artist colleagues, and supporters,

We have been so gratified by the many critics, museum curators, collectors, and art consultants who have appreciated and supported us, and most critically the brilliant artists who have lent their work to our vision. Metaphor’s varied curatorial program highlighted exceptional underrepresented mid career and emerging artists and placed them in dialogue with contemporary social and aesthetic ideas.

Continue reading Innovative Brooklyn Gallery To Close in March →

The Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) has announced a “Logo and Slogan Contest”!

The current logo is an orange five and the slogan is: 5th Avenue: The Pulse of Park Slope

They need something better and they’re looking for designers to design a logo and slogan to reflect the uniqueness, diversity and excitement that is 5th Avenue in Park Slope.

FIRST PRIZE: $1,000
SECOND PRIZE: $300
THIRD PRIZE: $100

Please submit all entries by email to ParkSlope5AVBID@aol.com.

To learn more about the BID and their current branding, check out their website: ParkSlopeFifthAvenueBID.com.

Deadline for submissions is April 5, 2010

The Rockefeller Foundation is opening the public nominating process for the 2010 Jane Jacobs Medal – awarded to two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City.

The nominations can come from anyone and should be made from today through March 1, 2010.

Submit Nominations

The Jane Jacobs Medal was created by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2007 to honor activist, author and urbanist, Jane Jacobs, who died in April 2006 at the age of 89.  The Foundation’s relationship with Jane Jacobs dates back to the 1950s, when it launched an Urban Design Studies program that helped foster the emergence of the new discipline of urban design and theory.  As part of this initiative, one of the Foundation’s first grants was to the then-obscure writer from Greenwich Village, for the research and writing of Jacobs’ seminal book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Continue reading Who Deserves The Jane Jacobs Medal? →

Better than sex cake?: A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn

Two writers on everything edible: Bklyn Foodie

Crispy pork sandwich at Bark: Serious Eats

The Costello Plan, new wine bar on Cortelyou Road: NY Times

Clever household hints: Undomesticated Me

Bar of the Day is Bell House: Brokelyn

Moutarde Closed for renovations: All About Fifth

Marion McCleneghan the 40-year-old south Park Slope woman who has been missing for weeks, was last seen on Monday, February 8th not Saturday night, February 6th as previously reported.

Last week a friend of  mine was told by the owner of the deli on Seventh Avenue and 14th Street, that McCleneghan, a regular customer, told him: “You won’t be seeing me anymore.”

But I didn’t know that it was on February 8th.

Barbara Sullivan, McCleneghan’s mother, who is leading the search for her daughter, told the Brooklyn Paper that Mike Haden, the owner of La Dolce Vita deli at the corner of Seventh Avenue told her that that the 40-year-old woman was in tears when she came into the shop on Feb. 8 at around 7 pm.

“She said to him, ‘Goodbye — you won’t be seeing me anymore,” McCleneghan’s mother, Barbara Sullivan, told The Brooklyn Paper.

“She said she was headed to Long Island.”

This contradicts reports that McCleneghan was last seen at a 14th Street party on February 6th.  It was also originally reported that she had had a fight with her boyfriend, Richard Eric Sosa, who has been cooperating with police.

According to the Brooklyn Paper, family and friends admit that McCleneghan was having emotional problems. But her ex-boyfriend claims that she had just started a new job and was generally happy.

Two trusted sources have confirmed that Jennifer Jones Austin, the Park Slope woman stricken with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, has found an umbilical stem cell donor.

Thanks to this match, Austin, a legal advocate, wife and mother, has seriously improved her chances of survival. Prior to finding this donor, Austin’s prognosis was very dire.

The very potent and stem cell rich blood found in the umbilical cord has proven effective in treating the type of Leukemia that Austin has.

More good news: umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants are less prone to rejection than either bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells because the cells have not yet developed the features that can be recognized and attacked by the recipient’s immune system.

Umbilical cord blood lacks well-developed immune cells, there is less chance that the transplanted cells will attack the recipient’s body, a problem called graft versus host disease.

Austin is not out of the woods yet as there is a long road ahead in the transplant process. But thanks to this donor match, this extraordinary woman is likely to survive a terrible isease.

Rabid raccoon found in Boerum Hill: Cobble Hill Blog

Spec Boogie: Bed-Stuy Blog

Brighton Beach Reality Show: Sheepshead Bites

Sheepshead Bay schools may be saved by UFT: Gerritsen Beach

Chez Shitty Critter Watch: NY Shitty

What she got at the United Methodist book sale : Fucked in Park Slope

Clinton Hill in the news: Clinton Hill Blog

Giuliani skips endorsement of Bay Ridge Republican: Brooklyn Paper

City says build less, preserve more: NY Times

Public hospitals fear big loss in subsidies: NY Times

Christine Quinn’s State of the City Address: Gotham Gazette

VP Biden and wife dine at River Cafe: NY Daily News

It’s a New York story: growing up with friends in an apartment building.

That’s how it was for me. My best friend lived in 9B, we lived in 9A right next door.  That is, until the family moved to the 3rd floor.

What a trauma. But we adjusted.

But even when she moved to 3B it seemed we were constantly in and out of eachother’s apartments. We baked together and put on shows. We loved to perform scenes from “Hair”, “Cabaret” and “Fidler on the Roof” lip synching and dancing our own original choreography for an audience of only parents.

When I was younger, we played endlessly with the kids in 8C. We ate with them, bathed with them, watched TV with them, even spent the Blackout of 1965 with them.

It was 5:28 PM on November 9 when the city went dark. My mother, sister and I were in 8C, our downstairs’ neighbors apartment. The fathers were at the office in mid-town and the women and children were on their own. Candles were lit and, after the initial panic, it was the adventure of a lifetime.

Dinner in the dark, spooky games, looking out the window and seeing an unilluminated city, staying up well past bedtime. Ah what a night that was.

Members of a group called Carroll Gardens CORD (Coalition for Respectful Development) are irate that the Hannah Senesh School, wants to expand their new school building by developing their front garden. The letter mentions Richard Butts,  a surveyor in the 19th Century, who carefully designed the garden enhanced blocks of that Brooklyn neighborhood.

The recent request of the Hannah Senesh School to make an exception to our 160 year old law protecting our public, front gardens, in order for them to expand their new school building by developing the front garden on First Place and Smith Street, is an absolutely AWFUL idea for Carroll Gardens.

Such a development would destroy yet another signature, front garden block in Carroll Gardens, stand kitty corner to one of the very few streets in Carroll Gardens in our historical district, and set a very dangerous precedent for more of the same in our future!

Our front gardens, which are public, have been protected from development for all these years for a very good reason!
Carroll Gardens’ sense of ‘sunny, airy, openess’ is a direct result of the far-sighted planning of Richard Butts, a surveyor in the 19th Century who carefully designed the blocks we now inhabit.  His work and the legacy he left us in Carroll Gardens must be protected, for it is this legacy that sets us apart from being just another brownstone neighborhood. Carroll Gardens is UNIQUE!

Granting Hannah Senesh their wish would set a very dangerous precedent for the future of our community in Carroll Gardens, diminsihing its appeal and value as a one of a kind historical, front-garden, architecutural treasure that can not be found anywhere else in NYC or the USA!  We must defend ourselves against inititiatives which are not in the best interests or our own neighborhood.

We need to stop this now!  And, we ask for your help!

It is also imperative that we let our Councilman, Brad Lander, know that we need to protect our unique history and heritage and that our front gardens can NOT be developed and destroyed.  Period!

Yesterday our old downstairs’ neighbors dropped by for a visit. It was a blast from the past, a trip down memory lane…

Who can forget the day the F’s moved into our building. It must have been around 1995 or so.

Kathy and Jay had two children at the time, Eddie and Mary. They’d lived in Park Slope before Eddie was born. And they stayed until Eddie was 1 or 2. When Kathy got pregnant with Mary, they moved to New Rochelle, but they never adjusted to suburban life.

So they came back to the Slope, to Third Street, to regain what they’d lost. Life in a big city small town.

Teen Spirit was thrilled when he  found out that a little boy was moving into the building; he could hardly wait for the day when they would move into the apartment right below us.

On the day they moved in, I remember telling Teen Spirit to wait until they’d been in the apartment for at least an hour before going down for a play date.

Finally I told Teen Spirit he could go downstairs and introduce himself and from that moment on, 5-year-old Teen Spirit and 6-year-old Eddie were the very best of friends. And Mary, who must have been about 4 at the time, was always on hand because wherever Eddie went Mary was close behind.

Mary was very quiet at the time with the world’s biggest, darkest and most inquisitive eyes, but she just loved to watch Teen Spirit and Eddie play.

“I’m going down to Eddie’s,” became Teen Spirit’s constant refrain. If Teen Spirit was home he wanted to be with Eddie and visa versa.  And Mary was never far behind.

Action figures, video games, board games, imaginary games. Eddie, Mary and Teen Spirit played and played. It was a childhood’s worth of playing. And a childhood’s worth of fun.

Indoors. Outdoors. In the front yard. In Prospect Park. The families even vacationed together one July, quite by accident, in Wellfleet, Mass. Unbeknownst to the other, both families made plans to spend the same week in the same town.

“What a coincidence,” I said when the accidental vacation was discovered.

“We really can’t get away from each other,” Jay said mostly in jest.

Understandably the kids were ecstatic about going on a vacation with their apartment building friends and they boogie boarded at the ocean, swam at the bay, played mini-golf and barbecued burgers in rented backyards.

In general the kids  got along unusually well, as did the parents. Sure there were  disagreements, some rocky moments, it wouldn’t be a friendship without that.

One time Teen Spirit had to write, “I will not put my hands around Mary’s neck” 100 times on a piece of paper.

Mostly it was easy, seamless, a god-send to have such good friends in the building…

To be continued

FILM

Feb 19-24: The Africa Diaspora film Festival at BAM

Shutter Island and The Last Station also at BAM

MUSIC

Feb 20 at 8:30 PM: Jewish Music Cafe Ayreh Kunstler Band, The Aboriginals, Aural Law

Also Feb 20 at 8PM: Andy Statman, Klezmer genuis at Barbes

Feb 21 at 5PM at the Bell House: Several local record collectors (including Billy Miller of Norton Records and Michael McMahon of Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., more to be named later) have agreed to share the sounds contained within their favorite 78s at this event, which will be hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus (The Wang Dang Doodle, Subway Soul Club).

ART

Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt at the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years on the Street at the Brooklyn Public Library (Central Branch) through Feb. 21

Her name is Marion McCleneghan and she’s been “missing” since Februray 6th. Fliers have gone up on lamp posts all over Park Slope and her relatives and police are frantically trying to track her down.

How does someone disappear?

Was she murdered? ? Abducted? Amnesia? Did she do herself in?  These are the questions that come up again in again in conversations around the Slope.

People go missing every day of the week in a big city like New York. But in Park Slope it’s a rare occurrence so people are, of course, taking heartfelt notice.

Who can ignore those lamp post pictures of the beautiful woman with her dog?

Rumors, information, a jumble of both abound: She was at a party the night she disappeared in the South Slope (on 14th Street to be exact). She was drinking. She was fighting with her boyfriend. She told someone: “You won’t be seeing me anymore.” Her journals and computer are missing…

Rumors. Hearsay. The curiosity thickens as the days pass. With magical thinking, optimism I surmise: maybe she decided to change her life, to move somewhere new, to start over, to reinvent herself.

Hasn’t everyone had that fantasy more than once?

In darker moments I see her on the Staten Island Ferry taking the leap unable to go on in this life, the pain and desperation too much to bear.

In darkness I see her as the victim of an unspeakable crime…

Then there are the things I can’t even imagine.

Her name is Marion McCleneghan. People go missing every day of the week but not in the Slope.

Where oh where can you be?

If  anyone has seen or has information about Marion please contact the 78th Detective Squad at 718-636-6483, Case #109, Complaint #445, Detective Gibbons assigned.

I just got this interesting email Cindy Hwang at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in reaction to an article in this month’s Atlantic:

In this month’s Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan condemns school gardens as “cultivating failure” with the claim that learning to grow crops doesn’t teach kids how to pass tests – the only path to success and health according to Caitlin.

She writes in opposition to the local food movement made popular by Alice Waters.  Her piece here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden/4

Jeez, is nothing sacred?

The Children’s Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has been doing a pretty good job of raising crops of vegetables and good kids for 96 years… it’s the world very first children’s garden and the prototype for all the others around the world, operating uninterruptedly since 1914 – almost as long as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden itself, now celebrating its centennial year.

So, relax Ms. Flanagan.  Below are some pix of New York kids who’ve gardened at the Brooklyn Botanic – some who’ve even learned a little math and science along the way.

Best,

Cindy Hwang for Brookyn Botanic Garden

A spontaneous approach to painting and printmaking: Art in Brooklyn

Wide shot of Long Meadow: Joe’s NYC

New  looks for Kosciuszko Bridge: City Room

Christina Hendricks says “Haters, lay off my body”: Women & Hollywood

More dusting: A Brooklyn Bachelor

E/F – The glass of knowledge: Truth & Rocket Science

Book plates for your little reader: A Child Grows in Brooklyn

What Canadians Like: Bumper Shine

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris: The Written Nerd

The Heights in prints: Bklyn Hits Blog

Remember when Whole Foods was going to build on Third Street and Third Avenue in the Park Slope/Gowanus area. ? Well, a whole lot has changed since then, including possible Superfund status for the Gowanus Canal.

But aren’t you still curious how Whole Foods views the situation and what they plan to do in the future with that site?

Answers may be forthcoming.

The public is welcome to attend the Feb 22 6:30 PM meeting of Community Board 6’s Public Safety/Environmental Protection/Permits/Licenses Committee, which will feature representatives for Whole Foods on the resumption of environmental remediation activities at 210-230 3rd Street and 370-384 3rd Avenue (southeast corner 3rd Street/3rd Avenue).

Other items on the agenda: Presentation and consideration of a letter of support for an application for a Gowanus Watershed Initiative grant that proposes various Combined Sewer Overflow reduction measures for the Gowanus Canal.

PS 32 Auditorium
317 Hoyt Street
(between Union & President Sts)
Brooklyn NY 11231
6:30 PM

The Brooklyn Paper reports that there is a woman missing in Park Slope.

Her name is Marion McCleneghan and she disappeared after leaving a party at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue on February 6th and hasn’t been heard from since.

Weird.

Family and friends say this is totally out of character.

An NYPD detective told the Brooklyn Paper that McCleneghan’s case is a priority. She’s described as 5-foot-10, 150 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

I knew that it was inevitable that there would be store closures after the holiday season. In a bad economy, the holidays are often the last gasp of revenue before a long hard winter.

Still, I am sorry to see Matter close. Matter, which features classic and adventurous contemporary design items for home, has a location in Manhattan, which will remain open.

All About Fifth had the letter to Matter’s customers that is on the window of the shop. FYI: their entire Brooklyn inventory is now on sale for 15 – 90% off.

Dear Friends of Matter,

After six years here we have decided to close up shop in Park Slope to focus more of our energy on developing the Matter Made collection. Our Manhattan location will remain open and there are future plans for an expansion to include many of the great products you’ve come to love from our store.

Our entire Brooklyn inventory is now on sale for 15 – 90% off. Check back often as discounts will increase leading up to our closing at the end of March.

There are no words to express the deep gratitude we have for your loyalty and patronage over the years.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in Manhattan.

Matter

Crazy morning. Running around. Everything is FINE. Just busy.

Work it Brooklyn is a networking event on February 24th from 7 – 10 PM, at the Arsenal (170 North 4th Street between Driggs and Roebling  in Williamsburg).

What exactly is Work it Brooklyn?

The aim is to connect inspired creatives working independently within the creative fields. Graphic designers, dancers, musicians, tech gurus, painters, and others are welcomed in this evening of productive debauchery.

How does it work?

WIB is devised as a forum to connect folks working from home without the benefit of a network support system, opening up the opportunity to meet and forge partnerships, fine and create work, instigate healthy competition, and encourage the exchange of ideas and potential collaborations, all the while having a whole lot of fun.

The evening will be held in two parts. The Arsenal will be divided into six field-related stations, providing a hub for folks to gather within and outside their primary concentration. At the center of the space there will be Speed Networking.

Sounds a bit like musical chairs.

Exactly. Think musical chairs meets speed dating, where attendees get to meet and speak through this spunky and time sensitive activity. We will also be raffling off tickets for a chance to win prizes provided by our proud sponsors, local businesses and organizations that believe that WIB rocks as much as we do.

There will also be a projection screen with a presentation of any attendants who wish to submit a page with a portfolio sample and contacts. That way if someone likes what they see in what you do on this screen, they can contact you once the evening is over, or serendipitously meet during the event and start what could be a beautiful collaboration between creative minds. Download the instruction details on submitting templates for the presentation, due Feb 19th Any questions, you can contact the organizers at workitbrooklyn@gmail.com

So, do you have to register?

Yup. This is a free event and pre-registration via eventbrite is required. Registration closes Feb 19th or whenever they reach 100 attendees. workitbrooklyn.eventbrite.com

Mommy Poppins has ideas.

From the Brooklyn Paper:

“The first phase of Mayor Bloomberg’s overhaul of Coney Island into a major amusement park took shape on Tuesday, with Hizzoner unveiling 19 new rides that he said will be in full-swing by Memorial Day in what is being called “Luna Park.”

“The ride operator, Central Amusement International, also announced it will open the “Scream Zone” in 2011, another amusement area that will feature two roller coasters, a human slingshot, and a go-kart track.

“Coney is coming back, big time,” Bloomberg said at Tuesday’s announcement at the New York Aquarium. “It will be more fun than ever.””

Sad news at Broken Angel: The Local

Beware Belt Parkway projects: Sheepshead Bites

Businesses putting grafitti artists to good use: Sheepshead Bites

Roommate Belt: Kensington Prospect

The history of 3 of Bklyn’s entertainment districts: Kinetic Carnival

The future of Fourth Avneue: Brooklyn Bugle

How to make a nice Kosher pickle: Brooklyn Hts. Blog

The phantom toll booth: Bed-Stuy Blog

The Great Williamsburg Fugfest: NY Shitty

Family dog is back home: Fucked in Park Slope

Greenpoint poet loses cafe table: Brooklyn Ink

Brooklyn Based, of course, has all the hipster, cool Mardi Gras stuff in Brooklyn listed on today’s e-newsletter. But here’s an excerpt:

We’ve always thought that celebrating Mardi Gras in Brooklyn seemed sacrilegious in some way–even more so than Bastille Day or Chinese New Year’s. Like, if you’re going to do it, do it right and go to New Orleans. This year though, there are so many festivities taking place (even in the snow!) we’ve changed our tune to a Cajun rhythm. You know, it makes a certain amount of sense that a rowdy, slightly mystical, food-filled holiday should find a northern home in Brooklyn.

The biggest, newest Fat Tuesday party this year is the L Magazine’s parade and show. The sure-to-be-over-the-top affair kicks off at the southern end of Driggs and North 12th at 7pm and will go down Driggs, up Bedford and end up at the Brooklyn Bowl. Burlesque performers Angie Pontani, Helen Pontani, Darlinda Just Darlinda, Akynos, The Maine Attraction and Lil Miss Lixx are confirmed for the parade and bicycles, costumes and gorgeous oddities of all varieties are encouraged to join.

St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights is hosting a symposium called Journalism in the Age of the Internet with Diana Williams (WABC), Ben Smith (Politico), Robert George (New York Post) and other notables.

Where: St. Francis College – Founders Hall

180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201

When: Tuesday, February 23

6:30pm – 8:30

A distinguished collection of journalists and media experts will come together at St. Francis College on Tuesday, February 23 at 6:30pm in Founders Hall for the symposium: Journalism in the Age of the Internet, co-hosted by St. Francis and the Manhattan Institute.

The panelists, who will seek to answer the question of how the rise of online reporting and commentary is transforming the business of journalism, include: WABC anchor and reporter Diana Williams; Politico Lead Reporter and Columnist Ben Smith; New York Post Editorial Writer Robert George; WABC Director of Community Affairs Saundra Thomas; Politico Editor Harry Siegel and Hunter College Professor of Economics Lisa George.

The panel will be moderated by Manhattan Institute Vice President of Communications & Marketing Lindsay Young Craig.

Feb 18     Transportation Committee
Old First Reformed Church
729 Carroll Street
Brooklyn, NY
6:30 PM

Feb 22     Pub Safety/Environmental Protection/Permits/Licenses Committee
Washington’s Birthday (U.S.)
Cobble Hill Community Room
250 Baltic Street
Brooklyn NY 11201
6:30 PM

Feb 22     Econ/Water/Comm Dev And Housing
Long Island College Hospital
339 Hicks Street
Brooklyn NY 11201
6:00 PM

Feb 24     Youth/Human Services/Education
If needed

Feb 25     Landmarks/Land Use Committee Meeting
Cobble Hill Meeting Room
250 Baltic Street
Brooklyn NY 11201
6:00 PM