Category Archives: Postcard from the Slope

Landmarks Preservation Commission Under Fire in NY Times

So why does it take forever for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to take action on historic neighborhoods and buildings?

Historical preservationists and pols have long been frustrated with the agency, which is meant to preserve the city’s architectural heritage, because of
its slow response time and lack of accountability

Today the New York Times presents the first in a series of articles examining how the famously mysterious commission works and details about a recent Supreme Court ruling that the agency’s inaction is "arbitrary and capricious."

The New York Times conducted its own six-month examination of the
commission’s operations. They discovered "an overtaxed
agency that has taken years to act on some proposed designations, even
as soaring development pressures put historic buildings at risk. Its
decision-making is often opaque, and its record-keeping on
landmark-designation requests is so spotty that staff members are
uncertain how many it rejects in a given year."

Yay. Maybe this will help bring about change to the commission, which is in desperate need of an  overhaul. Here’s an excerpt from the Times’ article.

For years, preservation advocates have pleaded with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider enlarging its protective mantle in Park Slope, one of Brooklyn’s most scenic brownstone neighborhoods. In 2000 they proposed that the commission extend the 44-block Park Slope Historic District eastward and southward, preserving 19th-century residential architecture like the handsome houses on Garfield Place, with their two-sided bays and original stoop ironwork.

The initial response was encouraging: in a June 2001 letter to the Historic Districts Council, the commission said, “We will review the material and keep you informed of the process.”

And then the preservationists waited. And waited. This month — seven years later — a State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan decided that they had waited long enough.

Ruling on a lawsuit filed in March against the landmarks commission’s top officials by a preservationist coalition, the judge called the agency’s inaction “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered it to start making timely decisions on every designation request. To allow such proposals “to languish is to defeat the very purpose of the L.P.C. and invite the loss of irreplaceable landmarks,” the judge, Marilyn Shafer, wrote.

Why Foundation Rwanda for Karen Rothman-Fried

Newsgraphics2007_650215aYesterday I got a note from Andrew Fried, the husband of Karen Rothman-Fried, the PS 321, teacher who died suddenly and tragically last week. Andrew Fried wrote that while Karen did not have a connection with Foundation Rwanda, they had recently been  speaking about becoming involved with
philanthropies.

According to Fried, Karen indicated that she wanted to support something that
was directed to helping women/girls in underdeveloped countries.

Foundation Rwanda, which pairs that desire with her love of teaching and
education, was, therefore, a perfect choice.

For information and donations in Karen Rothman-Fried’s name:
www.foundationrwanda.org
Foundation Rwanda
241 Avenue of Americas 14C
New York, NY  10014

Photo of a Rwandan woman with her daughter by JonathanTorgovnik.


Thurs at 9 am: The Turkey Trot in Prospect Park

 The Prospect Park Track Club sponsors the 5 M Turkey Trot beginning at 9 am on Turkey Day, to benefit the Bishop Ford Track Teams

You can register Tuesday and Wednesday after 4 p.m. at Jack Rabbit on Seventh Avenue between Garfield and President.

Walkers Welcome. Medals to all registered finishers.  Race souvenir guaranteed to first 1200 registered entrants!

Click here for a map of race start, parking, registration, etc. Race begins and ends near the
    Oriental Pavilion in Prospect Park. Same day registration is at the Wollman Skating Rink
    from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.  Race begins at 9 a.m. SHARP

Just Confirming Registration?
Click here for the Confirmed Entrants List, as of November 21, 2008.

Please note, the list will be updated every couple of days.

 
The Course
    The race starts and finishes near the Oriental Pavilion, off the Park’s Lincoln Road entrance.
    One lower lake loop then a full loop of the park.

Danny Hoch: Giving Voice to Gentrificaiton

 Sounds like a must-see for those interested in the social, economic, and psychological implications of gentrification in this borough.

Hip-hop theater pioneer Danny Hoch takes over the Public Theater stage, presenting a one-man show of characters who have experienced gentrification in Brooklyn first hand.

Blazing through a fierce spectrum of New Yorkers, Danny gives voice to
everyone from the developers evicting locals to make way for lofts, to
the bar-hopping career hipsters who buy them, and those left in the
wake of both. True to Danny’s signature style, Taking Over is a raw, explosive, hilarious, and heartbreaking study of the impact of our obsession with economic expansion.

Performance Schedule:
Friday, November 7 – Sunday, December 14
Tuesday at 7pm
Wednesday – Saturday at 8pm
Sunday at 2pm

Paper Love Coming to Lincoln Place

Here’s the latest on continuing adventures of the three shops just east of Seventh Avenue on Lincoln Place (between 6th and 7th Avenues). At the moment there’s Stitch Therapy at 176 Lincoln and One of a Find, a resale and vintage clothing shop.

Now Paper Love, a lovely looking shop that sells cards, wrapping paper and other paper good is set to open on Lincoln Place in the shop that used to be Pickleboots, the children’s bedding and toy shop.

Pickleboots, which sells "unique and groovy custom bedding for kids" has moved to Maggie’s Threads for Kids. 411 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope between 13th and 14th Streets.

The building is owned by a lovely older man who spends a lot of time making customized wood planters for each of the shops. He paints the planters with special designs related to each shop. He’s a real master and takes great pleasure, it seems, in his craft.

We wave at each other most days. Here’s something I wrote about him in May of 2008:

White hair, ruddy face; he wears
green Wellington boots when it rains. He looks handy; happy with tools.

He seems like a very nice man. Just the other day, he was trimming
the magnolia or some such blossomy tree he’s got in front of his red
brick building over there.

He makes nice painted signs for the stores. He helps fix their
places up. He seems very involved in the day to day running of his
building.

 

In Lieu of Flowers: Donate to Foundation Rwanda in Karen Rothman’s Name

The family of Karen Rothman, the third grade teacher who died suddenly on November 16th in a Park Slope restaurant, requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Foundation Rwanda, a
non-profit organization established to fund secondary school education
for children born from rapes committed during the genocide in Rwanda
and links their mothers to existing psychological and medical services.
 

The cause of Rothman’s death is still not certain. Someone familiar with the situation told me that the autopsy was inconclusive, but it was clear that Rothman did not die of an aneursym.

I’m not sure if Rothman had a direct connection with Foundation Rwanda, but it sounds like they do very valuable work.
         
Rothman, who grew up in Brooklyn Heights, taught at PS 321 since 2007 She received her master’s degree from the Bank Street College of Education and taught at the Lycee Francais de New York prior to PS 321. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle quotes PS 321 principal Elizabeth Phillips:

“She wanted to do her best for her kids; she worked very hard at that. She took work home, and she was always thinking and planning how to do the best possible job she could. “She had just written report card narratives for most of the kids. Reading them, you can see how well she knew her students, how dedicated to moving them forward. I gathered the kids together to talk about this tragedy, and they spoke about their memories of Karen. One child talked about how much he loved learning French from her. There were 23 kids; we went around the room, and each spoke something in French they learned from her. It was very moving. It’s something that will stay with them forever.

A memorial service was held at Congregation Beth Elohim. One friend who attended said that the room was packed with relatives, friends, and colleagues. Rabbi Andy Bachman presided over the service. Just last August he married the couple at the Picnic House in Prospect Park.

Rothman and her husband Andrew Freed were expecting their first child. Her son was delivered by emergency caesarian section, but died later.

To donate:
www.foundationrwanda.org
Foundation Rwanda
241 Avenue of Americas 14C
New York, NY  10014


.
 

Dec 4 & 5: Observing Brooklyn, Encountering Change Docs

Observing Brooklyn; Encountering Change

The Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival
in partnership with the Brooklyn
Historical Society
will present a Brooklyn-focused documentary series
that illustrates past and present, social and cultural changes in
Brooklyn.

The Observing Brooklyn; Encountering Change documentary
series illuminates a broad range of Brooklyn life. Viewers will
explore a recently rediscovered, century old tunnel beneath Atlantic
Avenue; a sporting reunion of Brooklyn stickball players; a 1969 family
outing in Coney Island; period Brooklyn footage; Brooklyn senior
citizens engaged in some combative reminiscing and several other short
films.

This program is the second Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival screening
of Brooklyn documentaries in partnership with the Brooklyn Historical
Society

The Where and When

Dec. 4 Thursday & Friday Dec. 5
Films begin at 6:00 pm both nights
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights

Some in Park Slope Unhappy with Emergency Room Service at Methodist

There’s an intense discussion going on at Park Slope Parents about the emergency room at Methodist Hospital. Some local blogs have picked up the story. I’m wondering if Methodist’s ears are burning.

A member of PSP, a local list-service, had a bad experience there recently when her husband was experiencing acute dizziness.

According to her story, her husband signed in at the front desk and waited for two hours in the waiting room and was never called to triage. After two hours he couldn’t take it any more and had to go home. Luckily, he felt better a few hours later; it was probably vertigo.

A few others have written in with complaints.

One member of PSP, an emergency room physician, made an interesting point about the many factors that influence how quickly a patient is seen in any emergency room. According to her, the ER  physicians know exactly who is waiting to be seen and what condition they are in.   

She asserts that it may not seem to the patient that he or she has been "triaged" but in fact the physicians inside the ER know about him/her and have made the decision that that patient can wait to be seen. "People who arrive in the ER are not seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.  They are seen in order of acuity," she adds.

Certainly some days are worse than others in any ER. I’ve had mostly good experiences at the Methodist ER, especially the time OSFO’s head was bleeding because she ran into a gate at the 9th Street playground. Probably because she looked so awful and there was so much blood, they triaged her immediately and took care of her injury very quickly.

Another time, Hepcat went in with breathing difficulties after a severe allergic reaction to some bed sheets. Again, he was seen quickly.

Still another time, Hepcat was having arm and chest pains and he was immediately taken in. Both times with Hepcat were during the day.

But I’ve also waited hours in emergency rooms. The night before our wedding Hepcat was experiencing acute neck pain following an auto accident and we waited 6 hours at Beth Israel’s emergency room.

I tend to avoid emergency rooms whenever possible. When OSFO ran into another child in the sprinkler in JJ Byrne Park a stranger was able to stop the bleeding and I took her to a plastic surgeon in Manhattan to do the stitches on her mouth.

The question is this: is Methodist’s emergency room getting worse and why? Is it worse than other local emergency rooms. If so, which are the preferred emergency rooms?

Are there certain times of the week that are really untenable at Methodists like Friday and Saturday nights and holidays?

Are there other options? When Teen Spirit sprained his ankle our doctor told us to go to Urgent Ortho, an emergency care orthopedic facility that is part of Beth Israel Hospital. It’s a great place to go with any kind of sports injury.

Some one on PSP reccomended Park Slope Pediatrics Urgent Care right across the street above Barnes and Noble. A pediatrician named Dr. Bialik has opened this for care from 6pm-11pm.

That sounds good to know about. 

First Year Blues: Earth Tonez To Close

An OTBKB reader sent this farewell note from Earth Tonez, the vegan cafe on Fifth Avenue near 5th Street.

    Greetings,

    It is with sadness that Earth Tonez Cafe will serve its last customer today Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 4 PM.

    A miraculous intervention (hey you never know) aside, Earth Tonez will be forced to close its doors. While we loved serving you delicious, meatless food, our beloved cafe has fallen victim to the first-year blues with tremendous help from a deepening recession.

    We will spend the next week trying to work on a plan to re-open, but alas, it looks grim. We welcome any suggestions or comments from you.

    We want to thank you for the time you spent with us. It made even the tough times a little more bearable.

    We wish everyone a happy holiday and a lifelong spirit of peace.

    Peace and Love,

    Earth Tonez Cafe
    www.earthtonezcafe.com

The Oh-So-Prolific-One: Leon Freilich/Verse Responder

A Homemade Christmas

Paper, crayons, scissors, glue–

Make a card that’s wholly you,

For the stores that once were cluttered

You may find this year are shuttered.

                               

========================================================
An incomplete list of closing stores:
Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine’s to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores mo re to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closi ng down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Loews to close down some stores
Dillard’s to close some stores

Yorkshire Terrier Stolen From Key Food on Montague Street

Here’s a story from Brooklyn Heights. If anyone can help please let me know.

Tonight, walking down Montague Street around 6pm, I heard a woman
scream outside Key Foods. She was screaming for her missing Yorkshire
Terrier, Midnight, whom she has tied up to the post while she went in
the store.

I walked around the corner to Remsen Street, where the woman lives,
and spoke to a man that was helping her during this crisis. He told me
that the Yorkshire Terrier is female, black with tan feet and her name
is Midnight. He also said that the stock boys that were unloading a
truck in front of the Key Foods when her dog was stolen said that a
medium build man wearing a green hat took her.

This is not quite as important, but I also have to note that I was
standing across the street watching as the woman was in panic. She got
very little help from the workers outside of Key Foods. After she went
away in shock, one of the boys started laughing and actually fell down
in some sort of performance for his co-workers.

This is all I know and just want to share this story to help this
woman find her dog. I don’t know what you would do with it but I feel
its important for the community to know that this has happened.

MS 88 Student Missing

Got this email on Friday from a local parent:

I was reading the newspaper today and saw this post about a missing
child 12 years old who attends MS88. I thought it would be a good idea
to post this to the group. I am not related in anyway or even know the
family. I just spoke with the grandfather who is her guardian. His last
contact with her was about 25 minutes before he got home around 5:30
and discovered she was missing. They have contacted the police.

One thing that is very scarier about this situation is that she was on
My Space and the grandfather feels she meet someone more than likely a
a male online. The subject online predators is so disturbing and a
reality for anyone

Missing since 11.14.08  named Julianna aka (Julian)
12
years old, 5’8, 125 lbs, long brown hair, caucasian, braces top and
bottom, last seen at about 5:30 getting into a black car at 604
Vanderbilt Street in Windsor Terrrace.

Four Sundays in Ft. Greene: Gifted Holiday Market

Looky here: For 4 Sundays: Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14 + 21, Brooklyn Flea (partnering with Time Out New York) will take over the Brooklyn Masonic Temple at 317 Clermont Ave. (at Lafayette Ave.), Fort Greene (across from the Flea) from 11 am to 6 pm. www.brooklynflea.com. Here’s the word from Eric Demby, one of the founders of Brooklyn Flea.

Brooklyn Flea has partnered with Time Out New York to present Gifted: A Holiday Market, featuring 40 vendors curated by Flea co-founder Eric Demby and Time Out Seek Editor Erin Wylie. Gifted will take place inside the majestic auditorium of the Brooklyn Masonic Temple—a historic, gorgeous building located directly across the street from the Flea—on the 4 Sundays Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14 + 21, from 11am to 6pm. (The “regular” Flea will continue at the schoolyard during this time; Dec. 21 will be the last date of the season.)

The mix of vendors at Gifted is similar to the Flea: stuff you can only find there; folks selling beautiful, unique items they made themselves; vintage/antique objects that are distinctive and affordable; snazzy jewelry; cool, quality art; and of course yummy foodstuffs. Our tagline is “Edited + Eclectic for Everyone"–dudes, dames, dads, diaper-clad, discerning, doddering.

Highlights include: Layla, the gorgeous jewelry and Indian textiles shop in Boerum Hill; Acorn, the classy toy shop on Atlantic Ave.; Els Walleyn’s beautiful mohair teddy bears—all the way from Belgium!; Flea regular David Sokosh, who will be featuring amazing antique clocks (“the gift of time for Christmas”); Jezebel Stationery, Moontree Letterpress, Perch! Design, and Mollie Dash’s Brooklyn-made cards, necklaces, and ceramics; Ornaments + Objects’ mid-century jewelry and design pieces; I Lampe’s recycled lights made from found Saarinen designs and the like; Pop Judaica’s “Shlep” totes and subway-map menorah cards; The Flubber Gallery’s vintage toys; Reiter8’s totes made from recycled sails; and Fine + Raw’s scrumptious raw chocolate gift packs. (The full lineup is below; visit www.brooklynflea.com for images and weblinks.)

DJ Moosaka will provide holiday tunes from the stage, and surprise holiday-theme events will pop up every Sunday, like on December 7 when artist Davina Feinberg will set up a "My Fantasy Portrait" booth for children to be photographed in their princess dresses or football uniforms. (Prints can be ordered at a later date.)

Gifted is a local one-stop holiday-shopping alternative to, say, big boxes or, gasp, Manhattan. Make a connection with the person you’re buying from; support someone who lives in your neighborhood; give a gift there’s only one of. That’s what 2008 New Yorkers want, right? Right.

.

Michael’s Brooklyn Memoir: The Block Party

Here’s more from Michael Nolan:

  I love street life. There was more of it growing up in Brooklyn than I can find in my adopted city of San Francisco. Certainly, front-stoop architecture, warm evenings, less TV-addiction were contributing factors. And my mom, bless her heart, didn’t call me in from a tough game of Ring-a-Levio or Hide-and-Go-Seek to do my homework. She knew I would get to it and do it well and excel at school.

And yet the yearning is there to connect. We had a wonderful block party on Elsie Street – the 2nd annual – last month here on Bernal Heights. Featuring a bouncy house for the kids (and then us adults), a bake-off contest (Liz’s lemon tart won), salsa lessons, a hula dancer, and a clarinet-flute-accordion trio of neighbors. We relocated our cars, and officially closed the street to traffic.

We have abundant commmunity glue, or "social capital", here on Elsie Street and yet the demands of daily life, two-income households, childcare, long commutes, the convenience of automated garage-door openers, remodeled homes that face more to the back of the house, make casual and frequent serendipitous encounters and conversation difficult.

At the age of 7 in Brooklyn, I could walk around the corner, buy a quart of milk for my mom, a pickle for myself, or at the corner of Coney Island Avenue, have a lime rickey or a chocolate malted at Phil & Jack’s, and then wait at the trolley stop for my Dad to come home from work. I pressed my ear against the pole to hear the rumbling sounds of the approaching trolley.

Pie Demo at Brooklyn Public Library by Sweet Melissa

2526489709_1e3905fdfd_m
Just got this note from Melissa Murphy, owner and baker of Park Slope’s Sweet Melissa’s:

Hi Louise, I was googling for an event I’m doing at the Brooklyn Public Library, and
I came across your Park Slope 100 list for 2007. I had no idea I was on
it!  Thank you: I am thrilled!  These mentions from my customers and
neighbors, mean more to me than anything else.

So I am doing a baking demo at the Brooklyn Library this Sunday, the
23rd at 1:30 p.m. Here is the link
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/events/culturearts/. 

I am going to do PIE DOUGH!  And my Pear Cranberry Pie with Gingersnap Crumble. 

There will be a tasting, demo, and audience participation.  It was
in the Times yesterday, and I think it will go into Time Out New York
this week, but there are 200 seats to fill, and I am scared to death
that I won’t fill them! 

The Where and When

Sunday November 23, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Public Library (Grand Army Plaza)
Dweck Center

Photo by qmchenry’s photostream

Tonight: Girl Guides Info Session

Girl Guides USA announces its inaugural Brooklyn Company!  Come be a part of a unique Girl Guiding program, launched in Brooklyn.

Girl Guides USA is an exciting new Scouting organization for
girls in grades 4 through 10, emphasizing youth empowerment, teamwork
and environmentalism.  Girl Guides provides girls with an
enlightening and empowering social education based on the principles of
Scouting and Guiding.  Girl Guides is a year-round program, with
meetings during the school
year that prepare Guides for a two-week camp in the summer.  Girl
Guides meet twice a month on weekends for afternoons, day trips and
overnights.  As long as the weather permits,
meetings involve outdoor activities including games, hikes,
canoeing, and more.  The grand finale of the year is camp, where Girl
Guides spend two
weeks each summer living in nature together and having tons of fun.
Girl Guides programs provide hands-on practice in using
teamwork, cooperation, creativity and ingenuity to solve problems and
achieve goals together.

Girl Guides USA is launching its first American program this
December in Brooklyn.  Come learn more about how to get your child (or
yourself!) involved in the inaugural Company.  Girls of all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Where and When

Wednesday, November 19
6:30 p.m.
Park Slope Library
(431 6th Avenue at 9th Street)

For more information on Girl Guides USA, please go to www.girlguidesusa.org.

On the Horizon at Congregation Beth Elohim

Look what’s going on at Congregation Beth Elohim:

Music Mogul Danny Goldberg, Dec. 4, 7:30 pm, CBE Chapel

Rock critic, record producer, and former manager to Kurt Cobain will speak about thirty years in rock ‘n’ roll.

Professor Moustafa Bayoumi, Dec. 7, 11:00 am, Rotunda
Professor
Moustafa Bayoumi (Brooklyn College) will discuss his new book, "How
Does It Feel to Be Problem: Being Young and Arab in America."

David Kaufman, Dec. 14, 7:30 pm

The Young Scholars Series continues with a discussion of historical and
imagined encounters between Jews and Native Americans, from the
discovery of the New World to the 19th Century.

Winter After School Begins Dec. 8
Registration
has begun–classes include ice skating, swmming, art, and much more!
Please contact Bobbie Finkelstein at bfinkelstein@cbebk.org

Yoga

Beginning in January, past Beth Elohim member Jennifer Brilliant will
offer beginning and intermediate yoga classes every Tuesday in the CBE
Social Hall.  Classes begin January 6 and will run for 8 weeks.  To
register please contact Benjamin.Resnick@gmail.com.

Black Friday Renamed Brooklyn Friday

Marty Markowitz,
along with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Brooklyn Economic
Development Corporation, local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs),
elected officials and others are launching the “Shop Brooklyn”
initiative today at the Fulton Mall.

So what is Shop Brooklyn?

“Shop Brooklyn” is an awareness campaign highlighting the uniqueness
of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods and thriving shopping corridors,
re-introducing Brooklyn to Brooklynites and inviting tourists and
visitors to experience this cultural and shopping destination—not just
during the holidays, but year-round.

Not only will there be holiday discounts borough-wide as
part of the “Shop Brooklyn” campaign, many Brooklyn retailers,
restaurants, bars, and other service providers will offer special
“Brooklyn Bonuses” on November 28 (“Black Friday”—now renamed “Brooklyn
Friday”) and each weekend from November 23 through December 21.

Sounds to me like a borough-wide version of "Buy in Brooklyn," which was started right here in Park Slope.

The program will feature a website aggregating information from all
participating BIDs, merchant organizations, and local development
corporations. The site will be designed by the creative team at
Brooklyn- and Manhattan-based NPower New York, an information
technology nonprofit that provides other nonprofits with high-quality
and affordable technology assistance.

Look for a Shop Brooklyn” logo in the window of participating stores.

Michael’s Brooklyn Memoir: When Fanny Met Itsche

Here’s the latest installment of Michael Nolan’s Brooklyn Memoir:

One of the joys of genealogical research and the enormous amount of original source documents now on-line is the ability to check the veracity of family legends. One story often heard when I was growing up was that my Uncle Itsche (pronounced Itch-eh) would secretly meet his wife-to-be, my aunt Fanny, on the fire escape that connected their apartments on Rivington Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. How quaint. A Yiddish version of "West Side Story" – music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomashevsky.

Well, I found Itsche (nickname for Itzhak later Irving) Porgoman in the 1920 US Census living on Rivington Street with my mom, Lena, and aunt Etta, and in the very next entry was Frances Hirschkopf.

So, it’s very likely that they romanced there as teenagers and married quite young. And, come to think of it, since Itsche’s boat (the USS Grant, if you’d like to know) arrived in 1910, he probably expressed his words of love in Yiddish. Oy, I’m kvelling at the very thought of it.

Today, we live in an era of "play dates" and "on-line dating". I prefer the Proximity of Yore and love affairs blossoming on a fire escape.

Third Grade Teacher at PS 321 Dies of Aneurysm

An OTBKB reader and parent at PS 321 wrote me with this sad news. Karen Rothman, a third grade teacher at PS 321, died Sunday night of an aneurysm. She was recently married and six months pregnant. Sadly, the baby didn’t survive.

One can only imagine the scene at PS 321 on Monday morning. The principal told the children of their teacher’s death. Undoubtedly the staff and administration were devastated by this sudden tragedy and worked quickly to provide the children with the support they needed.

Rothman was described by one parent as "very creative, very intuitive, and someone who really got what each child was about. She did some wonderful things with the children."

Condolences to the family and friends of this extraordinary teacher.

Is Hair Concern Closing?

I got this email last night from an OTBKB reader concerned that Hair Concern, upstairs on Seventh Avenue near Third Street, is going out of business.

Is Hair Concern going out!?? The hairdresser above the candy store on seventh ave between 2nd and 3rd Streets.

I started going there when I first moved to Brooklyn in
1982 when they were all the way down by flatbush on seventh. i called
sunday for an apptmt, left msg, no one called back, i walked down and
saw big for rent sign in
window.

A guy from dentist’s office who works in same building said one of the stylists is still coming in but that the owner was sick? He called him Mike but the guy i was thinking of was Peter.

Sad sad sad! I went there all these years because they had a
great motto: Haircutters who listen. Desperado for a trim, I went to Medusa Hair Salon and must say i got a wonderful cut – the girl who cut my hair
said medusa was started by someone who once worked at hair concern.

I
was worried they might try to dye my hair purple or something since the
girls in there are all very cooleo but they totally tuned in to me and
did a great job. I guess if i have to lose my old fave hair concern,
it’s good that i have a good new option.

Annual AIDS Day Candlelight Service and Ribbon Project at Park Slope Church

Red_ribbon_2
The Gay and Lesbian Ministry of Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church announces its second annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Service and Memorial Ribbon Project.

The Candlelight Service will take place on World AIDS Day December 1, at 7:00 pm in St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 116 Sixth Avenue, between Park and Sterling Places in Park Slope, Brooklyn and will feature a talk by designer and teacher Jim Morgan co-founder of Friends House in New York City, which offers housing and support to persons with AIDS, and Kisangura Friends Secondary School in Tanzania for children orphaned by AIDS.

The exuberant and inspiring Gay Men’s Chorus of Manhattan, a group of choral musicians dedicated to educating through song, who use the gift of voice to promote tolerance and acceptance for GLBT and all peoples, will perform.

The Ribbon Project will installed beginning in mid-November through World AIDS Day 2007. "It is our hope that the red ribbons bearing the names of some who have died of AIDS lining the iron fence that surrounds Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church will serve as a stark and reverent reminder of the continued need to strive to improve AIDS/ HIV education, support all who live with HIV and AIDS and press for a cure," writes one of the events founders.

With an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 HIV- positive individuals living in the U.S., and approximately 40,000 new infections occurring every year, the U.S., like other nations around the world is deeply affected by HIV/AIDS. On December 1, World AIDS Day, it is fitting to reflect on the way that the pandemic of HIV and AIDS affects us on local, national and international levels. The World AIDS Day 2007-2008 call to "Keep the Promise" brings emphasis to the importance of holding individuals, religious leaders, faith organizations, international and national governments and agencies accountable for the commitments they have made to fight HIV and AIDS.

The church invites all those who wish to do so to take part in their Ribbon Project by submitting names of loved ones who have died of AIDS. Send names, with or without last names — informal or ‘nicknames’ are acceptable — and dates of birth and death if these details are available.

This information may be mailed or hand-delivered, through the mail slot, to the St. Augustine Church Rectory (at 116 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn; mark envelopes: “Ribbon Project”) or sent by email to staugustinegay@gmail.com. Names inscribed on the ribbons will be read aloud as part of the prayer service. (deadline: November 28)

For further information please call St. Augustine Church (718 783 3132), write to staugustinegay@gmail.com or visit www.brooklyngaycatholics.blogspot.com .

DOH Says No To LICH Closing of Maternity Dept.

Brooklyn Paper had this breaking story about Long Island College Hospital:

The state Department of Health has turned down Long Island College
Hospital’s request to close its maternity, pediatrics and dentistry
divisions in what the hospital’s management company portrayed as a
last-ditch effort to stave off financial ruin at the 150-year-old
medical center, The Brooklyn Paper has learned.

“[The] plan is not acceptable at this time,” James Clyne, the
state’s deputy commissioner for health systems management, wrote on
Monday to the hospital’s overseers, the Manhattan-based Continuum
Health Partners.

“There is insufficient capacity in the hospitals immediately around
LICH and in much of Brooklyn to clearly demonstrate that women will
have appropriate access to obstetrical and maternity care if LICH closes these services," he continued.

Sandi Franklin: Citizen of the Year

Sandi Franklin, Executive Director of the Center for the Urban Environment, which is located in the Park Slope/Gowanus area, was awarded Citizen of the Year by the Executive Council at its sixth annual “New York Ten Awards.” 

The award represents a selection of ten companies and individuals in the greater New York business community that display extraordinary innovation and leadership in their industry and beyond.   The competition for the award was strong, with over 130 nominees. “The energy in the room was palpable. But I was particularly honored to share the stage with one of my heroes,” said Franklin of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  who delivered the keynote address for the evening.

In accepting her award, Franklin underscored what she saw as an exciting era of innovation and opportunity and lauded her peers in the business community for their ability to recognize the importance of supporting nonprofit organizations and join with them “to lead our world towards a more sustainable future."The next day, Franklin joined fellow awardees to open the NASDAQ.

One of only a few nonprofit leaders awarded, Sandi Franklin’s relentless style and unwavering personality has allowed her to build an organization, inspire advocacy, and touch lives in communities across New York City.

The Gowanus Summit

Today New York City Councilmembers Bill de Blasio and David Yassky will endorse the "Gowanus Summit." These are, apparently, principles for responsible development of the Gowanus Canal area. 

Just in time for City Planning Commission Chairperson Amanda Burden’s visit to the neighborhood it seems.

The Gowanus Summit, a coalition of community organizations, labor unions, and advocates for blue-collar jobs.  The principles include guarantees for affordable housing, to preserve space for artists, artisans and light manufacturing, to create good jobs, to require responsible contractors, and to maintain high environmental standards.

The endorsements will come shortly before City Planning Commission Chairperson Amanda Burden comes to the neighborhood to present City Planning’s proposal for rezoning the area to the Land Use Committee of Community Board 6.

Councilmembers and Gowanus Summit groups welcome the presentation, as many aspects of Commissioner Burden’s proposal align with their responsible redevelopment principles. 

They will ask City Planning to work with them to insure that their remaining goals are addressed as the rezoning process moves forward.

Happy Birthday: The Center for Urban Environment is 30 Years Old and Going Strong

Who says you can’t trust anyone over 30? The Center for the Urban Environment (CUE), a group that collaborates with with schools and offers tours of neighborhoods and parks, is turning 30.

Happy Birthday CUE.

They also recently underwent a name change. They were Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. They are now: Center for the Urban Environment because they now sponsor programs throughout the city.

And CUE is also having a 30th anniversary shindig honoring Sarah Beatty of Green Depot; Ronald Chalusian of New Visions for Public Schools; Helena Durst of the Durst Organization; and Marcel Van Ooyen of the Council on the Environment of New York City.

The Brooklyn Eagle provides some history in an article in today’s edition. 

The organization, originally known as the Prospect Park Environmental Center, was founded in 1978 in the living room of founder John Muir, who served as executive director until 2002. Muir, then a geography teacher, realized that “the students didn’t know much about their own city, and he had visions of taking them out and introducing them to the city,” says Ruth Edebohls, coordinator of Urban Tours.

Those were the days when Prospect Park was poorly maintained and crime- and trash-ridden. Many of its attractions, such as the Boathouse and the Carousel, were closed, and the Prospect Park Alliance was not yet on the scene.

The center first attracted attention with a walking tour called “Getting Acquainted With the Park.” Soon, another tour, of nearby Park Slope, attracted more than 200 people. Nowadays, the organization holds tours in four of the five boroughs.

In 1981, the organization hired its first director of education. Today, it sponsors many types of educational programs.

One is Urban Design, which helps students develop an awareness and appreciation of the environment through hands on programs.

The Picnic House (from 1984) was the original home for the Center. Then they moved to the Tennis House (from 1989). Now they’re in a LEED designed building: 168 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the Gowanus neighborhood.

For the last few months, OTBKB has been pleased to collaborate with the center on monthly blog posts like Eco Lens and the Sustainability Beat, a snapshot of the sustainability issues that face the city.

What a win win for this blog. And I hope those posts are making even more people aware of the great work that’s being done by CUE.

Pink Olive: East Village Transplant on Fifth Avenue

An East Village boutique has opened its second location in Park Slope. Owner Grace King chose Park Slope for, you guessed it, its family friendly vibe.

Yes, Pink Olive has baby but they also spotlight the arts, indie designers, vintage finds, and home décor. Original artwork will regularly be exhibited, with the first being the whimsical work of Los Angeles-based painter Marisa Haedike of Creative Thursday.

The new Park Slope space captures the essence of Pink Olive, with exposed brick, wooden floors, and original high ceilings. Inside the 700 square foot space, Pink Olive will carry an array of new designers, including Cocoon Couture from Australia, Pink Chicken, Dwell Studio, Kamibashi, Me! Bath, Nantaka Joy, and Blissen by Jill Bliss. For baby, Pink Olive carries brands BlaBla, Catfish, Jelly Cat, Trumpette, Amy Tangerine, Giddy Giddy, Zid Zid, and more. For gifts, selections from Erica Weiner, Beth Mueller, Leather Zoo, Knock Knock, Jenny Sweeney Designs, Snow & Graham, and My Favorite Mirror. For home & spa, Pink Olive features Matta, Lollia, Geodesis, Gianna Rose Atelier, and Soapylove. Pink Olive is also collaborating with Soapylove to be their US flagship store, carrying their entire line of Soapsicles in both boutiques as well as online. Another draw is vintage jewelry and accessories handpicked by Grace that will create a homey feel for the new store.

“My vision behind Pink Olive has always been to have little pink olives in different locations where local residents as well as visitors can find something unique for themselves and for gift-giving,” said Grace, previously a buyer for Barney’s New York and Bloomingdale’s. “The concept will continue to promote unique gifts for happiness and home.”

The Where and When

Pink Olive
167 Fifth Avenue
Park Slope, Brooklyn

Gomez, the Lizard at Community Bookstore is Dead

Photo_2Gomez, the resident lizard at the Community Bookstore died last month. That’s my niece Sonya staring into her cage on October 5th just a few weeks before Gomez expired.

I overheard Catherine telling another customer. I told her I wanted to do an obit but she said she had one on the store’s website already.  Here it is:

Dear Friends,

It’s with deep sorrow that I write to report the death on Sunday, October 27th, of Gomez, the Bookstore’s Resident Iguana.

She came to live with us when a desperate young man appeared in the
Bookstore one day.  He rushed in the door, attacked the counter and
said “I don’t even know why I’m here, but I have to find a
home for my Iguana, I’m moving in five days, and I haven’t been able to
find anyone to take her.”  A friend and co-worker took one look at him,
snorted and said “Boy, did you walk into the right place.”
Confusing Iguanas with Geckos, I agreed to take her — how much trouble
could one little Lizard be?  Imagine my surprise when she turned out to
be a four-foot long, 11-year old Diva.

It was already too late to back out.  We took Gomez on knowing next-door to nothing about keeping lizards, nothing about
lizards, but from the moment I went to her apartment to meet her and
she climbed onto my leg and fell asleep while I stroked her back, it
was love.  She was an amazing creature.  Iguanas make no
sound and have few of mammal’s tricks of communication at their
disposal.  They speak with their bodies, with their color, and most of
all, with their eyes.  And Gomez did.  With her beautiful beautiful eyes, most of all.

Knowing Gomez was an education.  She was not a mammal.  She
wasn’t warm, or built to be cuddly, and yet she did cuddle.  She
distinguished between people, recognized us as individuals.  She had
moods, and made demands, and found ways to communicate with us from the
distance of her difference.  I learned from her that there is some sort
of truth to, a character of, being alive — that there are certain
universals.

There were two occassions, when she was living in my apartment, on
which I returned home in tears, having been through some horrendous
personal loss.  On both occassions, Gomez watched me carefully through
the glass of her cage, then beat patiently on the door until I stood up
from the chair where I was sitting and crying, and slid open the door
to her kingdom.  I went back to my chair, and carried on crying.  Gomez
dropped four feet to the floor, then crossed the room, sat at my feet
peering up at me, then climbed slowly, gently, up my legs, across my
lap, and climbed up to rest her head on my shoulder, spreading her body
across mine.  She comforted me.  Her choice.

She was a profound and mysterious creature.

When I brought her to live in the bookstore because I was almost
never at home and, with nothing to watch, she was bored, I thought the
neighborhood would revolt.  I thought people’s fear of the strange and
unfamiliar would  make having her in the store a liability.  To my
amazement, the people of Park Slope — you — fell in love with her.  For
the last four years, it has amazed me to hear small children who can
barely speak, lisping out “Ig-WANNA!”  I have watched beautiful women
stroke Gomez’ spines with delight.  I’ve seen with amazement this slow
and ancient, mysterious creature become the beloved mascot of the store.

I watched impatiently, as she grew older, and became slower.   For the last year or so, she didn’t even want to leave her house (except to gobble up cat food), just wanted to lie basking under the warmth of the light.

Slower and slower, and skinnier, and perhaps sadder . . . .  this
weekend, when we suddenly realized what was happening, and scrambled
round to try to pull her back from the brink of where she’d already
gone . . . she was blue — deep turquoise blue, which was always her
happiest color.

I think she suffered a great deal, in dying.  I know we suffered,
watching her, and trying to help, and failing.  And yet, she was blue —
the richest most beautiful blue she’s been in ages.

It’s a mystery.  Maybe not even a very nice one.  More lessons, from Gomez.

Thank you all for loving her so much.  We will not see her like
again.  Gomez is dead.  Long live Gomez.  And long live what she taught
us.  What she taught me. 

We’ll keep her house in the bookstore.  We’ll keep it ready, for the
next creature who needs help.  If we’re very lucky, we may even meet
another such . . . Grand Diva.

The Obama Promise

A few times a month I give money to Jake, the panhandler who stands in front of Ace Supermarket on Berkeley Place and Seventh Avenue. I’ve written about him before. I like his face, his personality, his joie de vivre despite his circumstances.

Over the years I’ve been quite generous to him. We’ve had nice conversations. He always looks expectantly when I walk by.

Certainly that becomes a pressure. Especially when I feel low on the dough. But I can be frank with Jake. I tell him when I don’t have any money to spare.

He’s always very understanding. But still.

One time we talked about the state of the economy.

"Maybe with a new president. Obama…" he said. "Things will be better."

I liked his optimism.

A day or two before the election we spoke. I didn’t have any money on me. He understood. But then I told him this:

"If Obama wins I’m going to give you twenty dollars."

Jake smiled his warm wide smile, He’s got quite a few teeth missing.

I saw Jake a few days after the election opening the door at Citibank. He ran outside when he saw me and gave me a big  enthusiastic hug:

"I never thought I’d live to see the day," he said.

"Isn’t it wonderful?" I said.

We continued to hug and then he popped the question:

"Can you spare anything now?"

But I didn’t have anything on me. Still, he knew I was good for it. When I saw him yesterday back at his spot outside of Ace I handed him a ten dollar bill decisively.

"That’s for our man," I said.

Jake smiled. He knows I’m good for the rest.