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

An OTBKB tipster just wrote to say that there’s a chance that the Kensington Stables may be closed down by the Department of Health due to new regulations.

It seems that the Department of Health has created new rental horse codes that will require 5 week furloughs; 8 x 8 box stalls for horses and ponies; and will require that a $35,000 sprinkler sysytem be installed by next year.

The owner cannot afford these changes and he thinks some of them are ” just plain wrong for the horses!” he wrote on the Kensington Stables’  Facebook page.

There was a hearing on February 3 at the DOH, which was attended by City Councilmember Brad Lander, representatives of the Prospect Park Alliance and approximately 50 staff and friends of the Kensington Stable.

According to the OTBKB tipster, the pending new health regulations are meant for the carriage horses, which is something fairly new offered by the stables. However, these regulations will be very bad for the stable as well.

Kensington Stables, located near the southwest corner of the park, offers a variety of equestrian activities and services, including lessons, guided trail rides, and pony rides.

The barn was built in 1930 at 57 Caton Place as the last extension of the riding academy at 11 Ocean Parkway,w hich was built in 1917. The first extension was torn down to make the foot bridge over Ocean Parkway. The original riding academy closed in 1937 and is now a warehouse.

The stable has exclusive use of The Shoe in Prospect Park for lessons. The Shoe is accessible from the Park’s bridle path, which runs from Park Circle to the southwest corner of the Long Meadow.

Follow me on Twitter and get the latest updates, breaking news, info on OTBKB, Brooklyn Reading Works, the Blogfest and a special treat, as requested, the daily location of the No Words Daily Pix.

Here’s my Twitter pad.

From the Real Deal:

Aiming to deter a type of crime he says is becoming “epidemic,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes today announced the indictment of 12 people in mortgage and real estate scams.

The cases are the result of investigations by the DA’s new Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crimes unit, created in February 2009 by an $875,000 grant by Sen. Charles Schumer. The unit is part of the DA’s Rackets Division.

At a press conference announcing the indictments this morning, Hynes said the arrests “should send a strong warning to all those who think they can come up with some new scam. It ain’t gonna happen anymore. We are fully staffed and ready to go.”

Hynes described real estate crime as “an epidemic” that “demanded an innovative response,” which prompted the funding of the new unit.

Continue reading 12 People Indicted in Brooklyn Mortgage Scam →

Fifth Avenue’s 3R Living is closing. How sad that a wonderful local shop with an imortant environmental mission is closing. In September 2004, Samantha Delman-Caserta and Mark Caserta opened 3R Living, a home decor and lifestyle store, dedicated to ““Future Friendly Products.” In October 2007, they opened their second store in Maplewood, New Jersey, with Samantha’s sister.

The products in the shops are selected with the principles of reducing waste, reusing unwanted or discarded materials, and recycling in mind. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. The store was also a recycling center and a great place to find eco friendly gifts and beautiful things.

Rebeccah Welch  transcribed the following note for the readers of OTBKB.

Dear Customers, Friends and Neighbors –

We are very sad to announce that at the end of February, 3r Living will be closing our Park Slope store.

When we opened this store in April of 2004, it was a dream come true. Over the past five years we have been honored to provide the community with greener, healthier and safer options, as well as a much-needed community recycling center. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the customer and friends we have made over the years

This is not an end, but rather a new beginning. Look for us online at www.3rliving.com and 3rliving.blogspot.com.

We hope that your shopping experience with 3rliving.com is a pleasurable one. Thanks for going green with 3rliving!

Also, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help us to make sure that this does not happen to other businesses in the area. Eat, drink and shop local! Supporting restaurants, boutiques and bars on 5th Avenue , even just a little, can go a very long way.

Sincerely,

Samantha and Mark Caserta

One of the exciting things BP Marty Markowitz announced at his State of the Borough Address on Wednesday at the brand new Park Slope Armory Y: the Loew’s Kings Theater on Flatbush Avenue will be restored.

The announcement was leaked to the NY Times early on Wednesday.

The rusting, dirt-caked marquee that hangs outside the Loew’s Kings Theater over a bustling commercial stretch of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn last promoted a film in 1977. Years of neglect have left the interior rotted by time, stripped by thieves and desecrated by vandals and pigeons.

New York City, which seized the building decades ago in lieu of back taxes, has long teased the neighborhood with proposals to restore the lost luster of a local movie palace. But this time, the city says, it is for real.

A developer has signed an agreement, made a down payment on a $70 million renovation and plans to turn the building back into a functioning entertainment site, this time presenting live performances, city officials said Tuesday.

“We’re on our way to making that dream come true,” said Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn borough president, who is to formally announce the restoration in his State of the Borough address Wednesday.

Our bedroom windows face the backyards of Second Street. It’s usually pretty quiet back there. The worst noise in our life right now is the clanging of the bedroom radiator that sounds like some kind of avant-garde piece of music.

But the noise on Tuesday night. Oy. And it was really late.

According to Hepcat, Verizon has been hard at work underground, which caused them to close Second Street between 6th and 7th Avenues on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Brownstoner a tipster says it’s repairs of underground utlities that’s causing all the racket. To make matters worse, no one had any warning that this was coming.

I mean, like,we coulda gotten some ear plugs.

I’ve been noticing these hideous anti-smoking posters wherever cigarettes are sold. Apparently, if  you sell cigarettes and you don’t post one of these signs, you risk a $2,000 fine.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle via Brooklyn Heights Blog, a bagel shop on Montague apologized to its customers from having to post the poster.

“We are sorry, but by order of NYC DOH we are required to post the sign or face a fine a $2,000 fine,” the notice explains. That was confirmed by Joseph Aceto a partner at Montague Street Bagels, in an interview on NY 1 News.

Customers have complained that the ugly anti-smoking poster is out of place in a deli, he said. It’s in color and approximately 20 by 19 inches in size.

Scott Turner is set to move to Seattle. This is his last Greetings for a while. He can write whatever he wants.

Greetings Pub Quiz Friends…

Sure, it’s a mawkish way to begin this last Quizmail of the Scott M.X. Turner era.

It’s my last one.  I can write whatever I want.

Well, that’s misleading.  I always write whatever I want.

Sitting here now, on a scrappy and, by noon tomorrow, already-forgotten snowy night, I stare at the keyboard.  Then the screen.  Then my blackboard here at Pub Quiz Actual a half-block from Green-Wood Cemetery.  See, Homeland Security, you don’t need to triangulate nuthin’.  Just keep reading.

Here’s the first thing I can report: The E, A, S, K, O, L, C, N and M keys are really wearing down — N, especially.  Without the touch-typing Mrs. Nichols taught in my junior year at W.H. Page Senior High in Greensboro, NC, the ruler-whack-across-the-knuckles-every-time-I-looked-down-at-the-keys school of touchtyping instruction — I wouldn’t know what any of these keys are.

Thank you, Ms. Nichols, you brutal mean-spirited toad.

Here’s what else I can report.

I love Brooklyn.

I hate Brooklyn.

Is it any wonder these battling eternities go hand in hand?

I love Brooklyn for the following reasons: Freddy’s Bar, Rocky Sullivan’s, MissWit T-Shirts, the dead-and-gone Gage & Tollner, Ebbets Field, The Usual on Vanderbilt Avenue, Tom’s Restaurant on Washington Avenue, Coney Island without Thor or Bloomberg and definitely including Ruby’s, the craggy streets, the countless mom’n’pop stores, Neergaard’s on 5th Avenue, Has Beans on 5th, Red Hook, Floyd Bennett Field, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, FUREE, The Spunk Lads, John Pinamonti, Plastic Beef, Seanchai & the Unity Squad, Michael Patrick MacDonald, The Larch, Robin Aigner, the John Sharples Band, Wombat Studios, The Magpies, Alex Battles, Karen Sorenson’s LOVE Project, the Ditty Committee, artists Conor McGrady and Kevin Noble, Paul Lukas’ Uni Watch website, Green-Wood Cemetery and, most favorite of all, Henry Chadwick’s grave and helping Minerva wave at her French sister in the harbor, Sunset Park, the parts of Park Slope that — well, you know which parts those are, Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn, Manson Family Picnic, Norman Oder’s Atlantic Yards Report, No Land Grab, Puzzling New York, Diane and Sirius and Tikkanen and Connolly, Men & Cats, the Knit-A-Jig crowd, Melody Lanes, Tony Avella — yes, he’s from Queens, but over the last five years he’s come to Brooklyn’s defense more often than most Brooklyn pols, the Atlantic Yards Photo Pool photogs (Tracy Collins, Adrian Kinloch, Jonathan Barkey), the Brooklyn Paper before it its editorial independence got swallowed whole by new owner Rupert Murdoch, Chrysalis Archaeology, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, The Kennel Studio in East Williamsburg, Michael O’Keeffe and the Daily News’ sports I-Team, The Battle of Brooklyn, Joe at John Hlad Plumbing, Chris Owens, Josh Skaller, Bill Batson, the neighborhood interface areas where Orthodox Jews meet Asians meet Caribbeans meet Africans meet Irish meet Latinos/as meet Italians meet WASPs meet African-Americans meet Laplanders meet Orthodox Jews meet…, amazing artist Alyson Shotz, amazing videographer and producer George Lerner, John Costelloe, Roger Paz even though he’s out in Detroit, BCAT, Teddy’s in Williamsburg and the Charleston’s pizza/beer combo, the Fifth Avenue Committee, Park Slope Neighbors, the Brooklyn Greens, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, the Navy Yard, the Brooklyn parrots, the Red Hook vendors, the B77 bus, everyone who’s fought Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards, the F train’s view of the harbor on summer afternoons, Tuniserve Deli — my morning newspaper joint, Critical Mass, Brooklyn Vs. Bush, Mazzotti Music — the kindest and best musical instruments store and now the kindest and best out-of-business music store, Prospect Park and its timelessness any time of day time of year, my dear friends on the DDDB staff — Dan, Candace, Eric, Gloria and loud’n’proud Lucy, and most germane to this dispatch, the crowd for two-and-a-half years that has been coming to the Rocky Sullivan’s Pub Quiz.

My grandfather once warned me that hatred is a dangerous tool.  But, unlike most Lutheran men born in 1899 who worked their whole lives at the YMCA, he didn’t say “don’t hate.”  He said “don’t hate if you don’t know what you’re talking about.”  Thanks, Poppo.  Here’s that list: Bruce Ratner, Marty Markowitz, Roger Green, BUILD, the local chapter of ACORN, the Atlantic Yards monstrosity, the local construction unions whose myopic embrace of Ratner has condemned countless working-class people — many in sister unions throughout the city — to a worse and not better life, Joe Sitt, Coney Island as envisioned by Michael Bloomberg, the 4th Avenue rezoning plan, Joe DePlasco, Bruce Bender, Barclays Bank, Mikhail Prokhorov, the hypocritical Brooklyn Brewery, Williamsburg/Greenpoint/Bushwick hipsters — yes, an easy target but you don’t get to be an easy target unless you are, simply, a target, the Atlantic Terminal Mall, the Atlantic Center mall, MetroTech, the endangered species that is small-business in this borough, Greenpoint/Williamsburg rezoning, Marty Golden, Carl Krueger, Joe Chan, and most germane to every dispatch I’ve written since I’ve lived here, Brooklynites who’d rather sip expensive coffee and resort to today’s stick-their-heads-in-the-sand —  their laptops and iPhones while every class and community is run roughshod over by the worst mayor this city has ever seen, Michael Bloomberg.

Continue reading Greetings from Scott Turner: I’ll Never Love A Place As Much As Brooklyn →

You’ve probably noticed that every day there’s a different theme on BKLYN Bloggage. Here’s the schedule:

Monday is Neighborhood Day on BB

Tuesday is Politics Day on BB

Wednesday is Food & Drink Day on BB

Thursday is Home & Design day on BB

Friday is Arts & Culture Day on BB

There is no BB on Saturday & Sunday. If your blog reports on any of the above themse let me know about you.

Not a lot of surprises with the Oscar nominations announced this morning. but the Academy did a tremendous job of making the expansion of the Best Picture nominations count.

With the 10 slots (up from 5 previously), the Academy recgonized certain films that have been overlooked in years past.  The Pixar animated blockbuster Up, the critically and commercially successful sci-fi District 9 and the red state mentality of The Blind Side are all the types of work that have been overlooked by the Academy in recent years.

Arguably, the biggest surprises are District 9’s Best Pic nomination the Best Original Screenplay nomination for In The Loop, a script that is highly regarded, while the picture has had a low profile here.

Tuesday is Politics Day on BB:

Did NYC Planning Officials Sidestep Looking at the Bigger Atlantic Yards Picture: Noticing New York

MTA budget cuts a mixed bag for neighborhood: Bushwick BK

FDNY Braces for cuts: NY Times

While city and state fight no new parks: Gothamist

Population density in Sunset Park: Sunset Park Chronicles

Untangling the street closing mystery: Atlantic Yards Report

The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks: MOCADA

Painting by Tim Okamura, Stay Strong, 2009. Oil, spray paint on canvas, 76 X 84 from Brooklyn Gentrification show at MOCADA.

Thanks to Richard Grayson who went to yesterday’s press conference at Congregation Beth Elohim. Brooklyn politicians and religious leaders came out to decry the anti-semitic flyers found on Sixth Avenue Park Slope last week. Grayson posted this report on his blog, DUMBO Books of Brooklyn and was gracious to send it my way:

We were one of the first people at the Temple House of the Reform synagogue and were greeted outside by Rachel Goodman of Councilmember Brad Lander’s office, which organized today’s press conference responding to the incidents.

Like Rabbi Andy Bachman and a couple of others, Rachel asked us, “Who are you with?” and too embarrassed to say, “Dumbo Books,” we just said we were some schlemiel alerted by the post on OTBKB. News12 Brooklyn cameras were there, and maybe other channels, along with real print reporters and probably more articulate bloggers.

Detective Adam Barish (in the camel overcoat) was there to represent the NYPD.

Both Councilmember Lander and Rabbi Bachman, good guys from way back, came over to say hi as we tried to make ourselves unobtrusive in a middle row, sitting there as the various speakers and others came in, although there weren’t many regular people in the audience. The big machers were waiting for Marty Markowitz, and just when Brad Lander said, “We’ll give Marty another minute,” the borough president entered the sanctuary.

Brad Lander spoke first and then introduced the other speakers. Lander said that all the elected officials and their representatives and religious leaders were there to stand up united against hatred, not only in this instance directed toward Jews: “There is no room for hate speech and intimidation against any group in our community…to show our united front against those who would try to divide us.”

Rabbi Andy Bachman welcomed everyone to Beth Elohim and spoke out against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and homophobia. He noted that the congregation was founded in 1861 during a war fought to end slavery of one oppressed group, and said the inscription over the entrance to the synagogue’s main sanctuary, built in 1909, said, “Mine house shall be a house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7).

Read more at Richard Grayson’s blog, DUMBO Books of Brooklyn.

On Rabbi Andy Bachman’s blog, Water Over Rocks, he’s been writing “19 brief meditations on the 19 blessings of the Amidah.” The Amidah is the core of every Jewish worship service. It literally means “standing,” which refers to a series of blessings recited while standing. Every Amidah is divided into three central sections: praise, petitions, and thanks. This is the 11th:

Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are you, Eternal, who gathers the dispersed of his people Israel.

This blessing reminds us that danger is ever-present. Just this week, the Brooklyn Paper reported that our neighborhood was hit with a call to “Kill Jews,” a sick expression of anti-Semitism that demonstrates the continued existence of a well-developed and long-standing hatred of the Jew. It brings to mind the idea that we actually are in exile–geographic or virtual–when one’s home neighborhood can be the seat of expression of such hatred. But Brooklyn, thank God, is not Tehran, or Ethiopia, are parts of Russia–where a real, palpable danger still lurks for those who are Jews. This blessing reminds us daily that in our dispersion there is risk and that despite our distance from one another, all Jews are connected to one another.

But this blessing also reminds us more generally that all of humanity is dispersed; that the measure of our character as human beings is the degree to which we acknowledge, as Judaism also teaches, that the human is made in the Divine Image. That is to say, we are all connected: regardless of where we are born, of the color of our skin, and of the God we do or do not worship.

Continue reading Andy Bachman: Sound the Shofar →

Mark your calenders. This Park Slope Civic Council community forum should be fascinating—and a good chance for you to add your two cents to the discussion about the future of Fourth Avenue.

The PSCC’s March meeting, traditionally a public forum on a topic of great interest to the community, will focus this year on the many issues and opportunities on 4th Avenue. The forum begins at 7pm at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on the corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street,w ho are hosting this important event in their Church Hall (entrance on 4th Avenue).

The forum will feature a panel of experts and a lively discussion on what is needed and what is possible to transform 4th Avenue into a great destination, while considering the many hats it wears. Come listen and contribute your ideas. After the meeting, a working group will be formed to continue the conversation and to help shape the future of 4th Avenue.

I’m sorry I had to miss today’s press conference at Beth Elohim where local pols and religious leaders denounced anti-Semitic flyers found in areas of Park Slope, Brooklyn last week. Wow: what a gathering it was. I am awed by the solidarity of these representatives of our community and the shared sense of outrage expressed here. The following are quotes from a press release sent to me this afternoon.

Brad Lander: “There is no room for hate speech and intimidation against any group in our community…”We are here today to speak out against these kind of anti-Semitic actions, and more importantly to show our united front against those who would try to divide us.”

Representative Yvette Clarke: “I am deeply concerned about reports of anti-Semitic literature found in my district. These hateful messages are meant to bring fear and division among our community and are totally unacceptable.  I stand firm with the 11th Congressional District in decrying this heinous act of prejudice and bigotry.”

Assemblyman Jim Brennan: “Anti-Semitism, which unfortunately continues to persist in our community, obviously has no place in Brooklyn. I stand in solidarity with other elected officials, religious leaders and members of the community to say that not only will such hateful behavior not be tolerated, but strong, united action is required to denounce it, stop it and apprehend the perpetrators.”

Councilman Steve Levin: “I am appalled by these notes. They are hurtful and unacceptable.

State Senator Daniel Squadron:  “The distribution of hateful, anti-Semitic tracts in Brooklyn is becoming a borough-wide problem, and we must put a stop to it. Today I join my colleagues and our community to send a clear message that threatening hate speech will not be tolerated.”

Borough President Marty Markowitz: “Brooklyn is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel so it’s particularly disturbing that we are still seeing despicable incidents of intolerance such as the cowardly, anti-Semitic words of hate found in Park Slope. Brooklyn ’s diversity is our strength, and ultimately there is more that unites us than divides us. So we must remain vigilant in condemning hatred and discrimination against anyone—not only in Park Slope and Brooklyn , but around the world.”

Rabbi Bob Kaplan of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York: “Statements, symbols or acts of hate are simply unacceptable as they tear at the very fabric of our society. We need to insure the voices of inclusively and understanding are our guides in face of those that seek to destroy our American values.”

“Reverend Daniel Meeter from Old First Reformed Church:  “Hatred against one is hatred against everyone. Because we hold each other sacred, we have no room for this in our community.”

Mohammad Razvi, the Executive Director of the Council of Peoples Organization, a local Pakistani Group: “We stand here united against all hate crimes. A crime against one is a crime against us all.”

Rabbi Ellen Lippman from Congregation Kolot Chayeinu: We learn from the early sage Hillel that ‘if I am not for myself, who will be for me?’ Therefore I stand with my colleague rabbis and other concerned Jews to make this anti-Semitic hatred public and to strongly condemn it. Hillel also taught, ‘If I am for myself alone, who am I?’ We call on all who condemn such hatred in our neighborhood to stand with us in determined opposition.  And Hillel asked, ‘If not now, when?’  The time is now, without delay, to make public this outrageous display of cowardice and hatred, and to call for immediate investigation into its origins and perpetrators.”

Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim: “These recent statements of ‘kill Jews’ are deeply troubling. Hatred of this kind, against anyone, anywhere has no place in our neighborhood, our city, or our country. It only strengthens our resolve to build a tolerant and peaceful world.”

Today at 2:30 Park Slope City Councilmember Brad Lander, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, other local elected officials, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York City and local religious leaders will gather on Monday to collectively condemn the anti-Semitic flyers that said, “Kill Jews” that were found distributed on 6th Ave in Park Slope last week.

It seems that similar flyers have been found in other parts of Brooklyn in past weeks, and the leaders believe this to be part of a growing problem.

WHEN: Monday, Feb 1 at 2:30pm
WHERE: Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Place, Brooklyn, NY

I just heard from Rachel, one of the organizers of a Park Slope Parents of Teens group about a meeting tonight.

We’re having a spur of the moment meeting tonight at the Old Stone House at 7:00PM It’s a first time meeting so if you have a teenager and would like to chat with other parents dealing with some of the same issues that you are … come join us!  Bring a snack and some stories to share!

Where: Old Stone House, which is in the park on Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope.

When: Tonight, Feb 1 at 7:00pm

Who: Parents of Teens only (no kids)

Why: To chat, support, vent

RSVP:  to Rachel: rachelfran(at)yahoo(dot)com

Plans are underway to meet regularly so if you cannot make this meeting but are interested in future meetings on a better day, let me know.

I saw this story about a suspicious fire that swept through a Bensonhurst tenement building killing five people on the local TV news last night and was very moved. Here is an excerpt from the story in today’s New York Times:

In Brooklyn, a Guatemalan immigrant grieved for his wife, killed after their tenement apartment burst into flames as they slept. His eyes red from sobbing, his hand stitched and bandaged beneath a new black funeral suit, the man could do no more than console his toddler son while waiting to see if his infant daughter would live.

Back home in the mountains of western Guatemala, three sisters who had heard about the fire on Saturday steeled themselves for the worst. By late Sunday, the worst seemed all but certain: Their three husbands, who had made their way to America together last year in search of work, all appeared to have perished in the same Brooklyn blaze.

Sign up here for The Sixth Sense, the informative CB6 newsletter, that is the brainchild of CB6 District Manager, Craig Hammerman. Here’s an excerpt from this month’s issue:

One of the unique mandates of the community board is to disseminate information to the community about government policies, programs and projects that may affect daily life in the district. No other City agency or elected official is tasked with this role. You can imagine how challenging a job that is having access to very limited resources. Our newsletter is one way of introducing, involving and inviting you in the ongoing work of the board.  An engaged community ensures that the community board continues to be truly representative; the more people who get involved – make a phone call, report a service complaint, write a letter or email, circulate a petition, attend a meeting, organize a group or join the community board – the more attention we receive. Certainly, there is no shortage of activism in our communities!

Now is the time of year to apply for community board membership.  Community boards are not self-appointing bodies. Our 50 Board Members are appointed by the Borough President, half of them at the recommen-dation of a local City Council Member. They serve voluntary 2-year staggered terms. Becoming a member is a serious responsibility that requires a commitment of time and interest. If you’ve ever thought about getting involved in the community you can start today! Then consider escalating your level of commitment as your interest piques and personal circumstance will allow. When you’re ready to apply you can call the Borough President’s Office at (718) 802-3700, visit their website, or contact your local Council Member. Deadline for 2010 applications is February 22.

On Thursday, February 4th at 7 PM, the community is invited to attend the Park Slope Civic Council’s February Trustee’s meeting in the Executive Dining Room of New York Methodist Hospital. Of special interest will be reports from representatives of the NYC Transit Authority (talking about construction on the F Line and other issues) and Prospect Park Alliance (telling us about the new skating rink, among other things). In order to accommodate the public who might not wish to stay for the duration of the meeting, the guest speakers will be placed at the top of the agenda.

March 4 Community Forum: The Future of 4th Ave.

The PSCC’s March meeting, traditionally a public forum on a topic of great interest to the community, will focus this year on the many issues and opportunities on 4th Avenue. The forum begins at 7pm at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on the corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street,w ho are hosting this important event in their Church Hall (entrance on 4th Avenue).

The forum will feature a panel of experts and a lively discussion on what is needed and what is possible to transform 4th Avenue into a great destination, while considering the many hats it wears. Come listen and contribute your ideas. After the meeting, they will be forming a working group to continue the conversation and to help shape the future of 4th Avenue.

Monday is neighborhood day on BB:

Brooklyn Headhunter: McBrooklyn

Stabbing outside of Salahi Deli: Ditmas Park Blog

Chase Bank spreading like a virus through the city: Sheepshead Bites

Village Voice calls this blog one of Gotham’s Best: Gerritsen Beach

DUMBO Links: Dumbo NYC

Train in vain: Bed-Stuy Blog

Coney Island Afternoon Video: Kinetic Carnival

Here is a letter from Assemblywoman Joan Millman, State Senator Daniel Squadron and City Councilmembers Brad Lander and Steve Levin that went out to Helene Banks, chair of the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, urging the board to reconsider their plan to close the Little Room, a nursery program for children with language delays.

In the note, they suggest transferring the Little Room to the YAI network of programs. I’m not sure what those initials stand for but it’s an organization that helps people of all ages with disabilities and their families. Their organization includes more than 450 programs and services and serves more than 20,000 people every day.

January 27, 2010

Ms. Helene Banks
Chair, Board of Directors
Brooklyn Heights Montessori School
185 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Dear Ms. Banks:

When the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School decided in December 2008 to end its long and mutually beneficial relationship with the highly acclaimed Little Room Program, the Board established a deadline that ultimately proved to be an insufficient amount of time to find a suitable location for the program.

BHMS originally discussed the possibility of transferring the Little Room to YAI’s network of programs last spring.  However, it was not until late October that YAI was seriously considered as a possible organization to operate the Little Room.  This left YAI only a matter of weeks to locate a space, negotiate a lease and begin a build-out for a September, 2010 opening.  YAI Chief Operating Officer Steve Freeman and his team worked tirelessly to accomplish these goals as quickly as possible, but unfortunately the only feasible location proved to be problematic.  Specifically, the landlord of this space declined to include a clause within the lease allowing YAI to opt out should they not receive necessary government approvals for the opening of the Little Room.  Without this clause, YAI was forced to request that the New York State Education Department (NYSED) depart from its standard protocol and provide a pre-approval of YAI’s Little Room application.  Our offices worked hard to obtain this pre-approval, but ultimately NYSED rejected the request.

Continue reading Two Options for Saving The Little Room →

The future of the Little Room, a nursery program for 3- and 4-year-olds with speech and language delays in Cobble Hill, hangs in the balance.

Hopefully, help is on the way.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Councilmembers Steve Levin and Brad Lander sent a letter to officials at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, asking them to rethink their decision to close the school.

Here from the New York Post:

The pols in their letter to Helene Banks, chairs of the BHMS’ trustee board, said this left potential sponsor YAI Network insufficient time to cut through legal hurdles with the state’s Department of Education to locate new space, negotiate a lease and begin a build-out for a September opening.

The letter suggests two options for saving the school.

One calls for BHMS to extend the deadline for closing Little Room to August 2011. This, the elected officials said, would give YAI Network “ample time to complete all of the necessary paperwork and to identify and properly prepare a new home” for Little Room beginning in September 2011.

The second option is for BHMS to allow YAI to operate Little Room in its current location at the Montessori school next academic year. YAI would rent the space and use the extra time to find a permanent site.

BHMS, however, is not budging.

I saw this note from a reader on  Fucked in Parked Slope:

I was disappointed that I had to learn about the new Almondine Bakery in the Slope all by myself [ed. note: hangs head in shame]. They have homemade, cheese stuffed pretzels and what just may be the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.  I kinda want to keep the secret of it to myself, but I love FIPS enough that I think the secret should be shared.“

I’m so glad that FIPS shared the secret of Almondine on 9th Street where Minnow used to be (remember Minnow?). Yes there’s a new patisserie just west of 7th Avenue on 9th Street. I have yet to go inside but I will make a point of having a hot chocolate over there this week. And maybe a croissant… Anyone want to meet?

Hey FIPS, wanna meet?

Sure, you had every right to take it. It was probably in a box or bag with a bunch of other books someone wanted to get rid of. But look at the anguish it is causing this woman, whose husband put this one out without her knowledge. Hell hath no fury like a woman who’s book has been thrown out. Here is her plea, which I found on Park Slope Parents:

I know this is a long shot… but I have to ask. My incredibly stupid husband put a box of books out in front of our apartment building for anyone to take. Of course it never occurred to him to ask me to look through the books before he thoughtlessly gave them away.  When I realized what he had done an hour later, I panicked and unfortunately learned he included a Jodi Piccoult book “Handle with Care” that was signed by the author. It was a very special gift from my cousin who waited hours on line to get the signed copy as Jodi Piccoult is one of my favorite authors. Of course you can see my anger in this posting because the book was taken; as I expected.

Since this was a very special and thoughtful gift from someone I”m very close with; I am sending out a plea in hopes that someone on this list picked up the book.  If I”m lucky enough to have found the person who picked up the book. I would be so incredibly grateful to you; as would my husband who isn’t exactly sure how to respond to my hurt and fury.

To insure the privacy of this individual, email me and I will get in touch with her.  louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com.