Check out Brooklyn Flea today. Here are the ‘tails:

Brooklyn Flea will take place every Sunday from 10am to 5pm—rain or shine—starting April 6, 2008, at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Ave. The Flea will feature 200 vendors of vintage furniture, clothing and antiques alongside new designs by local makers of everything from jewelry to textiles

Here’s Brownstoner’s blog post from Friday:

Garbage cans? Check. Orange “Flea Staff” caps? Check. Insane amounts of media attention? Uh huh. (Signore Flea is about to do an interview with an Italian journalist for La Repubblica’s weekly magazine, D. Molto bene!)

So a few things before ze Flea takes flight. The food court we’ve been touting so highly will be only halfway complete by this Sunday. Choice Market and Wafels + Dinges will be in the yard, plus all the cookies, cupcakes, and ricotta cheese. (OMG alert: Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta will be debuting their heavily researched cannolis on Sunday.) And we’re hopeful that within the month our BBQ dude, soup gals, Mexican ices chica, and Cuban empanadas hombre will join them. (A little red tape has held us up ever so briefly.)

Bring dough. There are ATMs within a block or two, but not at the Flea itself. We’re not set up to take credit cards (yet), although many vendors can handle them manually, or by Paypal via wireless internet. But for the first few weeks it’s safer to assume you’ll be paying cash. And finally, enjoy yourself.

I want reports. I want pictures. Did anyone go? What’s it like. What did you buy?

Hepcat read about it on Radar, which may not be the most reliable source. But here’s the story anyway:

Our Borough’s first lady, Jamie Snow (the wife of Marty Markowitz), attended Thursday night’s fancy, $1,000-a-plate dinner and ball at the Brooklyn Museum (where Bruce Ratner was being honored and protesters were demonstrating outside) and is said to have swiped eight valuable placemats designed by the artist Takashi Murakami, meant as party favors for the guests (one per customer).

Radar had this to say:

Without a doubt, the person who got the most out of Thursday night’s Takashi Murakami retrospective opening at the Brooklyn Museum of Art was Jamie Snow, the wife of Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz. She grabbed eight of the limited-addition Murakami technicolor fiberglass place mats that were being given out as gifts to party-goers—mats that fetched up to $1,000 on eBay after similar events. And she was wasn’t about to give even one of them up.

If the story is true: shame on you Jamie Snow.

Did you think you were at a wedding where it’s sometimes okay to grab the flower arrangements at the end of the night?

Or were you being like greedy kid at a birthday party, who takes more than one goody bag. I mean, what were you thinking? As far as I’m concerned, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.

According to Radar:

The mats were intended to be taken by seated guests, but after wolfing down dinner, the enterprising Snow, perhaps sensing a business opportunity, rounded up eight of the mats and rushed over to Murakami to have them signed. When party-goers who ended up placemat-less asked her if she would kindly relinquish one, Snow snidely remarked, “You guys really should have acted faster. This is Brooklyn,” and skulked away.

This is Brooklyn?

And what did you mean by that? Your husband may be Brooklyn’s number one booster, but you’re giving the borough a bad name.

“Just try being married to her,” was all Marty Markowitz would say.

I noticed the other day when I was having coffee with Rachel of the Center for the Urban Environment that there was new art on the walls at ‘sNice, the new vegan sandwich, salad, soup, dessert, tea and coffee shop on Fifth Avenue at Third Street in Park Slope

Gone were the wild graffiti style paintings on the walls. Instead there was a mixed bag of artwork by various artists.

Turns out it is a group show of affordable art sponsored by the Think Gallery. The opening is Saturday night.

Barrio, the new restaurant on the corner of Third Street and Seventh Avenue was captured on camera by OTBKB reader, Eliot.

Brooklyn Flea opens this Sunday in Ft. Greene. And I am really excited. Reclaimed Home will be there as well as a host of great Brooklyn vendors. I am so PSYCHED!

Since the subways are so screwed up this weekend, walk over to Ft. Greene and enjoy this major new shopping attraction.

Brooklyn Flea will take place every Sunday from 10am to 5pm—rain or
shine—starting April 6, 2008, at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and
Vanderbilt Ave. The Flea will feature 200 vendors of vintage furniture,
clothing and antiques alongside new designs by local makers of
everything from jewelry to textiles.

It’s an unbelievable list. Starting with vintage furniture and architectural salvage. Go to the continuation of this post to see the entire list. I am impressed with the stellar group that Brownstoner has brought together here.

ama home

Baby Goes Vintage

Bilu Business

Birch Vintage

Build it Green! NYC

Colonia

DecoDecor

Demolition Depot

Joseph Heidecker

Eddie Hibbert

Humble Beginnings

IndependentActor NYC

Journey Home

Kevin McGeary

Olde Good Things

Prague Kolektiv

Rand Furniture + Design

Reclaimed Home

RePOP

Sharon Barnes + Friends

Silver Fox

Silver Nest

Dana Voehl

Continue reading A New Brooklyn Destination: Brooklyn Flea →

Leon Freilich just sent me word that there are no 2 or 3 Trains this weekend. Yeesh. This is straight from the MTA Weekend Advisory. There is no F Train Service in Park Slope either.

2
No 2 trains between Atlantic Av and Chambers St
Uptown 2 replace the 5 from Bowling Green to 149 St
Uptown 5 replace the 2 from Chambers to 149 Sts
Apr 5 – 7, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon
For more information click on the mta.info link in this e-mail, pick up
a brochure, and read station signs.
3
No 3 trains running, take the 2, 5, or bus instead
Downtown 2 replace the 3 from 135 to Chambers Sts
Uptown 5 replace the 2, 3 from Chambers to 149 Sts
The M7, M102, and free shuttle buses replace the 3 between 148 and 135 Sts
Apr 5 – 7, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Monwhen

Another closure on Seventh Avenue. This from an OTBKB reader:

I was walking down 7th Avenue (btw 11th & 12th) and I noticed that
Cafe Eleven’s windows had paper over them.  I got a little closer and
there was a sign in the window saying that they had closed.  Even
though I preferred Naidre’s, I still liked going here to do some work
and drink coffee since they had a lot of space and it wasn’t the Tea
Lounge. They also had a great outdoor area in the back.

Develop Don’t Destroy is plannin a protest in front of the Brooklyn Museum Thursday evening as partygoers enter the Brooklyn Ball, where Bruce Ratner is being honored with the museum’s highest honor, the Augustus Graham aware for his generous support of various activities of the Brooklyn Museum. From the DDDB press release:

But the Museum’s $1,000-a-plate Annual “Brooklyn Ball”, in celebrating its honoree Bruce Ratner, conveniently ignores Ratner’s divisive and abusive 4-year old campaign to promote his Atlantic Yards development proposal, and the disastrous effect it would have on Brooklyn’s neighborhoods–the very same neighborhoods which the Museum calls home. While the Museum has stated that their award to Ratner does not suggest support for the Atlantic Yards proposal, by celebrating Bruce Ratner, the Museum explicitly ignores the community’s sentiment about the developer and his proposal, gives tacit support and acceptance of Ratner’s public actions in pursuit of the project, and implicitly supports it.

A Public Demonstration protesting the museum’s decision to honor Bruce Ratner will begin at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Brooklyn Museum.

Leon Freilich found info about the Little League Parade and Opening Day in Prospect Park on About Brooklyn. Thanks Leon and Kristin Goode.

If you’re looking forward to warm spring days spent picnicking in Prospect Park, then you’ll be happy to hear that the park’s official Opening Day is this Saturday, April 5.

That means that spring, my friends, is on its way! Little League is back, the historic Carousel is up and running again, and the park is once again offering electric boat tours of its waters.

The day will kick off at 10am with a traditional Little League Parade through Park Slope. The parade, which starts at Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street, will end at Prospect Park’s Bandshell, where Little Leaguers (over 2,000 are expected to be a part of the 2008 baseball season) will participate in opening ceremonies.

If baseball isn’t your bag, there are other ways to get involved in Opening Day. Head to Lefferts Historic House from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday or Sunday for “Spring Wash Day,” and you’ll learn how Brooklynites cleaned their clothes before the days of laundrymats (and electricity!).

Those interested in keeping Prospect Park clean and green might want to join the Opening Day Clean-Up, on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Volunteers should meet at the Tennis House.

All of these events are free. For more information on Prospect Park, call (718) 965-8999.

Other movies at BAM Rose Cinema, include Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant, Snow Angels, and The Counterfeiters, which I hear from a reliable source is great.

Love in Hard Times is also there

Songs from The Capeman
Apr 1—6

Under African Skies
Apr 9—13
Under African Skies may be sold out, but you still have a chance to see the show at the 2008 Spring Gala. Tickets start at $100! More…

The Graduate
Apr 12

American Tunes
Apr 23—27
Tickets may be available for select performances. Call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100 for more information.

BAMtalk
Paul Simon & Philip Glass: A Conversation
May 5

Scott is the quizmaster at Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook. I don’t know him nor have I ever been to one of his quiz nights but I do, however, enjoy his emails about those quiz nights. Tonight he’ll be at the demo and will then scoot back over to Rocky’s for the quiz.

Why the demo? Because they’re giving their highest award to Bruce Ratner. Yeah, the same Bruce Ratner who’s torn Brooklyn’s heart asunder, plundered the public coffers, abused eminent domain, exploited poor peoples’ fears about housing and jobs, and turned our borough into a sickening shouting match that only people as aloof and disconnected as the Brooklyn Museum’s directors could fail to notice.
The musical performer at tonight’s $1,000 a plate event? Kanye West. Hey, Kanye…I thought you didn’t like the ones that don’t care about Black people.
A lot of us are gathering in front of the Museum at 6:30 to protest. We of the Pub Quiz Nation will leave at 8:00 pm to head over to Rocky’s to slake our thirsts, answer some questions, get dinner and blow off steam in a fun-filled, boisterous atmosphere.
Hope to see you at the Museum, and later on at Rocky’s…
Scott M.X.
Rocky’s Quizmaster

Does Brooklyn really have the best pizza in the world? Go on a tasting tour withA Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour, the only guided bus tour that covers pizza…and Brooklyn…from one end to the other. Not just for tourists. It sounds fun even if you’ve lived in Brooklyn for evah!

From Grimaldi’s and their award winning Neapolitan style pizza in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn to L&B Spumoni Gardens and their award winning Sicilian style pizza in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and everything in between including Coney Island!

The tour also includes an audio-visual historical tour of many of Brooklyn’s diverse neighborhoods, landmarks, points of interest and famous movie locations including Saturday Night Fever, Goodfellas, Annie Hall, Scent of a Woman and many more.

Since its debut, A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour has received local, national and international press from such outlets as CNN, the New York Times, the London Times, the Associated Press, Crain’s New York Business, the Lonely Planet guide, USA Today, SAVEUR, Food Arts as well as appearances on NBC’s Today Show and the YES Network’s “Ultimate Road Trip”.

This isn’t really a Brooklyn story; it’s a NYC story. Yet, so many from Brooklyn listen to and call into the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC that I had to mention it:

WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show has been recognized with a George Foster Peabody Award for broadcast excellence in 2007.

Here’s what the judges had to say: “Lehrer’s talk show is a wide open yet shrewdly managed forum in which every sort of political, social and cultural issue is considered and where New Yorkers, in all their diversity, can get to know each other.”

How true. I am an avid listening of his show. Why, I listen to his show at least three times a week. And his election coverage has been fantastic, too.

As a blogger, I have also been on Lehrer’s radio show, as well as his CUNY television show. So I’ve met Brian Lehrer!

According to the press release I received from the WNYC publicist, David Bukszpan:

“Segments from the show submitted to the Peabody Committee centered on the theme “Radio That Builds Community Rather Than Divides.” Topics included conversations on gentrification and the black middle class; a recurring series of eye-level reports from Baghdad by Time Baghdad bureau chief, Bobby Ghosh; efforts to find a middle ground in the Middle East; “Democracy’s Living Room,” the show’s listener call-in segments on the politics of citizenship; a debate on branding the Bronx with the tagline, “Yes the Bronx”; and the program’s innovative crowdsourcing initiative, a form of citizen journalism that asks listeners to report on a single issue from their own perspective and then analyzes the overall results

The Brian Lehrer Show airs weekdays from 10am-noon on 93.9 FM and AM 820, and is available for on-demand streaming and downloading at www.wnyc.org.

Dolls and doll videos will be on view. These are dolls made by artists in a collaborative exhibition curated by video artist Kristin Brenneman Eno.

In her own right Brenneman Eno runs something called the Digital Story Workshop for documenting children’s imaginative play. This is a fascinating project. I met her when she was receiving a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council a few years ago. Here’s what has to say about the doll project, which is also supported by the BAC.

Dear Friends,

You are invited to the opening of Doll Neighborhood this coming Friday evening, April 4, from 6-9 p.m in Prospect Heights/Clinton Hill.

This collaborative exhibition features dolls made by Ellie Balk and myself (co-curators), along with thirty other artists from around the city, installed in a cozy space called Gureje that has been donated for this event by two lovely friends, Jimi and Karen.

From 6-9pm, all of our dolls and two doll videos will be on view, a range of unique raffle prizes will be given out, and food and drink will be served.

The dolls are hoping to meet you . . .

Gureje
886 Pacific Street (Washington/Underhill)
C train to Clinton/Washington

I wish this program was around when I was teaching Teen Spirit and OSFO how to ride a two wheeler. This is a great idea. And did you know that May is Bike Month. I didn’t.

WHAT: Ready to toss the training wheels? Take your kids to a free Bike New York class to learn the basics of biking in a safe, social setting. Best of all there’s no running behind the bike, strained backs, scraped knees, or frayed nerves. Last year, more than 600 kids and their parents learned this method, and the program received the 2007 Best of Parks Best Partnership Award. Classes listed below are offered in association with City of New York Parks & Recreation.

WHO: Children with their parents. Bikes and helmets required. Pre-register at http://www.bikenewyork.org/education/classes/teach_child.html.

WHEN/WHERE:
Choose from four sessions in Brooklyn during Bike Month (May):
* Saturday, May 3, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., McCarren Park ( Nassau Avenue , Bayard, Leonard and North 12 Streets), Williamsburg
* Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., J. J. Byrne Park ( Fourth Street and Fifth Avenue ), Park Slope
* Saturday, May 17, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., Crispus Attucks Park ( Fulton Street and Classon Avenue ), Bed-Stuy. While supplies last, DOT staff will distribute free NYC bike helmets. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to receive a helmet.
* Saturday, May 24, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., Carroll Park (Court and Smith Streets), Carroll Gardens

She started the shop in Cobble Hill ten years ago yesterday. And tonight she’s having a book launch party, and that if anyone has a book they’d like me to sign, or wants to stop by for a glass of Champagne…

The book looks fantastic, complete with her recipe for her magnificent bread pudding. And there will probably be Sweet Melissa sweets at the party.

At the shop in Park Slope on 7th Avenue near 1st Street.

A stroller bar is set to open in Park Slope this summer. The Boo Bar named for the infamous Bugaboo stroller, will serve food and drink for adults in a kid-friendly environment with all-organic kiddie cocktails, indoor and outdoor play areas, and, most importantly, an employee in charge of stroller parking.

“It’s a project we’ve have been working on for awhile, and the recent stroller ban at the Union Bar really just confirmed what we found in our research. Parents in Park Slope want a family-friendly watering hole,” says the owner who asked that her name not be used at this point.

Parents will be able to find anything they would at a normal bar plus all the little things that make life easier like sippy cups and a full children’s menu. There will be a special changing room with a diaper vending machine, as well.

Thursday thru Saturday nights after 10 p.m. there will be a weekend cabaret for adults. “We haven’t booked any acts, yet,” says the owner. “But I can say there will definitely be music and performance.”

The owner was reluctant to divulge the location of the Boo Bar but I am guessing it will be on Fourth Avenue.

A member of the Brooklyn Museum is angry that the museum’s Board of Trustees is honoring developer Bruce Ratner at their annual Brooklyn Ball. He wrote a letter to the board of trustees that was sent to me yesterday and is posted on the Develop Don’t Destroy Website:

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York 11238-6052

Re: Inappropriateness of the Brooklyn Museum’s “Honoring” Bruce Ratner

Dear Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustees:

I write this as an open letter to the Brooklyn Museum.

My wife and I came home on Wednesday, March 12th, opened our mail from the Brooklyn Museum, an institution important to us, and were dumbfounded and aghast to discover that we were being invited to a Brooklyn Museum Ball “honoring Bruce Ratner.”

It is uncomfortable to step up and point out why it is inappropriate for the Museum to be “honoring” Ratner, but it is crucial. If it helps that I am not only a longtime Museum supporter but also a lawyer, an urban planner and have had a long career in government with the State Finance authorities, then it is probably all the more incumbent upon me to speak.

I do not believe it is appropriate for a respected public institution like the Brooklyn Museum to be honoring Bruce Ratner. To many of us this is obvious but I will explain the many reasons why.

A museum should be a good neighbor to its community. You cannot be a good neighbor by promoting the activities of someone who is a bad neighbor, and worse, to the community.

Where I come from in government, garnering public subsidy via influence and sidestepping a proper bid process can wind up with the perpetrators going to prison. Using influence and sidestepping a proper bid process is exactly the way that Bruce Ratner is proposing to develop the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment. As a lawyer, I could almost certainly make a distinction between what Mr. Ratner is doing and what sends people to jail but it would be so technical I am not sure most people would understand or regard it as important. And I am not sure if there would be an accompanying moral distinction. Nor could I assure you that, if the facts were fully known about Mr. Ratner’s influence and access, that there would be a legal distinction. I leave it for the people who want a special distinct status to set Bruce Ratner apart to explain what and why that should be. I will point out the main appreciable difference: Ratner’s proposed no-bid subsidy grabbing is on a sheer magnitude of scale that is incomparable. The proposed no-bid subsidies Ratner intends to collect from the public are easily in excess of $2-2.5 billion. That far exceeds anything I am familiar with in other analogous situations.

You can read the rest of this long, detailed letter here.

Last night, the City Council approved the plan to charge most drivers $8 to enter a zone below 60th Street by a vote of 20-30, with no abstentions and one absence.

Next the vote goes to Albany. According to the Times’ Governor Paterson and Joseph Bruno are supporters but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver hasn’t stated his preference.

City Council President, Christine Quinn, was quoted in the New York Times as saying that this vote would send a message to the Legislature that “the people who were elected to represent the New Yorkers who live in our five boroughs are sick and tired of our streets being clogged with traffic, we’re sick and tired of the children who live in our city literally having to fight to be able to breathe, and that we see congestion pricing as a solution to this problem.”

Streetsblog has a list of the roll call.

I was having trouble last night, too. Hepcat was on an on-line discussion group and found out that other Yahoo users were also having trouble. Here’s a solution for now:

If you are getting an error message that says: “Your requested url was not found.” You will also see this in the address bar: mg2.mail.yahoo.com

add: us.
so that it reads: us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com

and you should get yahoo mail.

Say it isn’t so, Brenda.

I just called Brenda Chan Casimir, owner of the PS Coffee Tea and Spices on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, to get her reaction to Jake Mooney’s article yesterday about her closing down her lunch business.

Today at noon, her lunch service did not sound closed down. In fact, it sounded very hectic in there and she told me to call back later, which I will do in the hopes of getting the real story from Brenda.

Mooney’s story said that Brenda’s shop, PS Coffee Tea and Spices, will no longer be serving lunch to hungry middle schoolers at MS 51. This is a big lunchtime loss to the kids at MS 51, a school that has a small lunch room, where the kids are allowed to go outside for lunch.

But have no fear. The Times’ story was a tad misleading. By the end of the article, Brenda is quoted as saying that she might rethink the whole idea of closing it down.

I certainly hope so as I was hoping that if OSFO goes to MS 51 next year that she’d get her lunch there just like so many kids do.

I remember hearing that Brenda’s lunch business started by accident. One rainy day years ago, she saw some MS 51 kids standing outside in the rain and she invited them in for some soup.

That evolved into a nice weekday business selling soup and a homemade chocolate chip cookie. The kids line up outside of the store. Once inside, they love the smell of the fresh baked cookies.

It’s certainly one of the best and the healthiest lunch options around. There’s also the pizza place across the street, the bodega and the Bagel store all across the street from the school.

But Brenda’s place is awfully special. Sadly, Brenda may have grown tired of being the lunch lady to  the kids from MS 51. At least some of them. From the Times:

"Some rowdier children were mussing up the store and sometimes stealing,
Ms. Casimir explained. She had always liked the students, but she was
feeling stressed. “If I get an inspector who comes in unannounced and
finds half-eaten pizza stuck behind boxes,” she said, “I’m done for.”"

Brenda’s shop is the last of a breed. Filled floor to ceiling with spices, teas, condiments and more, it has a real country store vibe and is a special neighborhood gathering place. A cracker barrel setting, it’s the kind of place where people can leave their keys, have packages dropped off, or just grab some warm conversation.

It is the real thing. One of those places that takes the bite out of the big city and makes Park Slope feel like a small town.

For those who don’t know, fifth graders have to apply to public middle school in New York City. There are no zoned middle schools so kids must go on tours, fill out applications, do interviews, auditions and more. You heard me right, fifth graders. That’s 10 to 11 years old.

Kinda crazy, right?

You don’t expect to get a good impression of a school on the day when hundreds of stressed-out parents and kids show up for their admissions interview at a hot public middle school.

But we did.

On Saturday morning, everything went very smoothly at New Voices on 18th Street near Seventh Avenue. The principal, staff and PTA parents were incredibly welcoming and friendly.

A PTA bake sale with coffee and hot chocolate was a really good idea.

Hepcat, OSFO and I got to the school at 9 a.m. and after waiting a few minutes the principal called the kids to follow him to the auditorium.

OSFO and her friend went nervously but by the time we saw them a half hour or later they were already feeling very comfortable in the school. OSFO had “auditioned” for music by playing her piano recital piece. Later she “auditioned” for art, wrote a writing sample and was interviewed by a very nice teacher, who asked OSFO what her teacher would say about her.

OSFO came up with a good answer but she could have said more. “But that would have been bragging, Mom,” OSFO said.

That’s the point, I guess.

The New Voices audition isn’t really an audition. I’m told that they just want to make sure that the kids really do like the arts and want to be in an arts-oriented middle school. The arts are very important at New Voices and in 6th grade the kids are required to take drama, studio art, graphic design, dance, and music.

OSFO was actually really excited and optimistic after her morning at New Voices. Wow. That makes a parent feel good.

OSFO has two more interviews to go. Then she’ll be a pro at interviewing for middle school.

You better be sitting down when you see what the Toll Brothers, a huge real estate development firm, have in mind. Last week at a Community Board 6 meeting in Carroll Gardens, they revealed the full scope of their plans to condo-ize a large swath of the Gowanus area.

This is not my Gowanus.

Those of us who love the historic, industrial quality of the Gowanus always hoped that the factory buildings might be preserved and renovated for reuse as housing, artist space and retail. We hoped that the Gowanus would be cleaned for canoeing and other waterfront activities. That the whole thing be approached in much the same preservationist spirit as the Highline.

This is New York history and we want to keep it this way.

Ask Hepcat. He’s not kidding when he talks about the light in the Gowanus being like Venice.

The Gowanus is a special New York place that ought to be preserved very carefully so that people can enjoy the history in our midst: the Carroll Street Bridge, the old factory buildings, even the smelly Gowanus Canal.

There’s history in them there hills and I don’t want the Toll Brothers to mess with it.

Last week there was a community board meeting where the plans were revealed and local residents were asked to submit their comments. Those who love the historic, industrial quality of the Gowanus area are up in arms. They don’t want to see the condo-ization of that area for a variety of reasons. As reported on Curbed (where the pictures are also from):

The project would include 577 units of housing, 2,000 square feet of retail and 2,000 square feet of community space on three acres, among other things. The property between the Canal, Bond Street, Carroll Street and Second Street. Buildings would be 4-12 stories in height, with the tallest structure (125 feet) being near the canal. The project would total 605,380 square feet and include 260 underground parking spaces. There would be .6 acres of “publicly accessible waterfront” and 130 of the units of housing would be affordable.

Pardon Me for Asking had this report:

David Von Spreckelsen, of the Toll Brothers came to the C.B. 6 Land Use/Landmark Committee last night to present the plans for the 450 Unit development the company has planned for the shores of the Gowanus Canal. Mr. Von Spreckelsen brought along his crew of professionals to back him up: attorneys, engineers, an environmental consultant, an architect and a landscape architect, to name just a few.

Listening to them speak enthusiastically about this project and looking at their pretty pictures, it becomes clear that these people are good, very good, indeed, at the hard sell. Oh, it all looks so good and sounds so wonderful. The architect used phrases such as ” the flow of the canal,” “the feel of the street,” and ” the rhythm of the townhouses.”

How can we resist? Why wouldn’t we beg the Toll Brothers to build this development? Please, please…

And then, the landscape architect presented his drawings of “Canal Park” and talked about Bond Street being treated with “grace” and “celebrates the history of the place” at which point my husband turned to me and said: “This guy is so full of s–t, it’s unbelievable,” and I am thrown back into reality.

Yes, these guys are good. They have done these presentations before. They have dealt with skeptical Community Boards before. They have faced hostile residents. And they know how to gloss over minor details like where will all that flood water by the canal go and how much the 130 affordable apartments will rent for.

Gowanus Lounge has more pictures of what the Toll Brothers are talking about.

Brownstoner also has great coverage.

An OTBKB reader came to the Brooklyn Reading Works reading on Thursday night. Today she wrote me this interesting note. I am hoping to serialize the Park Slope portion of her novel, “The Influence of Absence.”

Who knew, when I was going to William Alexander JH51 in the J.D. era, sneaking cigarettes in the lee of the sunken stone house, that many years hence I’d be attending a literary event there??

It was so generous of you to offer to serialize the Park Slope portion of my second novel, “The Influence of Absence,” whose first few chapters take place in 1950’s Park Slope.

If I had to pitch the book in 25 words or less–It’s a bildingsroman, a prolonged-coming-of-age story wherein the heroine finally finds love in all the right places.

The first chapter is called Third Street, where it all began….

Speaking of Third Street, my mother once told me that the mystery house on the corner was once owned by witches, satanists! A young married couple that befriended her and took her to a Black Mass somewhere downtown (circa 1941).

She believed they put a hex on the house, which we called “the jinxed house on the corner” when I was growing up. (She did have an overactive imagination….)

The video shoot for the Brooklyn Bloggers video is tomorrow. Here are some video tips for participants from video producer, David Castillo, of Blue Barn Pictures. Email me if you don’t have a time slot for your interview (see below):

So you’re going to be filmed; there are a few things you will need to know in advance.

The Date: Saturday, March 29th ( This Saturday)

Please refrain from wearing:

1.White clothing
2. Shirts with logos (Mickey Mouse, Rolling Stones, Nike, I love Dick Cheney or anyone who will sue). If you have a shirt with your blog’s name on it, please wear it.
3. No clothing with tight striped lines ( New Yorkers remember Crazy Eddie, we don’t want you looking like his blazer)
4. Please bring a spare shirt.
5. If you wear makeup, please do not apply it until you arrive, HD does not like make up. You can apply some make up here.

Directions to Blue Barn Pictures’ studio
F train to York station
Walk one block down Jay st
Make a left on Front St
The first door on your right 147 Front
Walk up one flight of stairs past the coffee shop
There will be someone to greet you at the lobby.

To confirm (if you haven’t already), change, or back out of this amazing project and be hunted down to the Queens border email louise_crawford(at)yahoo.com

Contact on the day of the shoot:
If you get lost, are running late, or just need a soothing voice please contact: Louise G. Crawford
cell: 718-288-4290

We look forward to seeing you all and having a lot of fun.

This Saturday March 29: The Yossi Piamenta Band plays at the Jewish Music Cafe. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. Reserve now at the JMC website.

Not familiar with the Jewish Music Cafe? Elie Massias, one of the 2007 Park Slope 100, started the Jewish Music Cafe at at 401 9th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) because he thought the Slope needed a place where people who can get an ice cold bottle of He’ brew Beer, a slice of Mrs. Selter’s famous Cheese cake, a Kosher Cappuccino and enjoy great bands playing Klezmer, Sephardic, Avant Garde jazz, Hassidic rap and Israeli trance in the heart of one of NY’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood.

And who is Yossi Piamenta? Here’s a bio from his website.

Yossi is a self-taught musician who would turn on the Jerusalem radio and play along. That’s how he learned how to play. He used money from gigs to buy the best audio equipment, international albums and music magazines. Yossi’s self-acquired education led him to become one of the most skillful and original guitarists on the Jewish and secular music scene. Yossi’s original style is best described as a hint of jazz, a drop of blues, and a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll filtered through a purple haze of Oriental funk.

After finishing boarding school, Yossi joined a “Top 40” cover band as their lead guitarist. Then he joined the army, and played in the Army Band. After completing his army service, Yossi became a full time musician. During the Yom Kippur War Yossi, together with his 15-year old brother Avi, now an international acclaimed flutist, played for the soldiers. After that, Yossi and Avi immediately formed “the Piamenta Band.” The rest is history. The band went on to play with the most prestigious Israeli musicians. They were dubbed the “Mizrahi Rockers.”

In 1976 Stan Getz discovered the Piamenta Band. 3 weeks later Getz sent Yossi a ticket to America, where Yossi was introduced to the crème de la crème of American musicians. Getz was so impressed with Yossi’s music that he cancelled his schedule for 3 weeks to cut an album with Yossi. The album was so successful that Getz tried hard to sign a lifetime contract with the Piamenta’s but when Yossi saw what went on in the showbiz industry… he declined and ran towards his Jewish roots.

With 6 official studio albums and appearances at the most distinguished venues in the world, the Piamenta Band is the most requested name in Jewish events. Piamenta Management is planning a tour of colleges and universities. As far as plans for the near future, the Piamenta Band will be working on producing an album with Eddie Kramer, the engineer who cut albums for Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, KISS and more. Piamenta will soon be a household name, God willing.

Every day when I receive Google Alerts: Park Slope, there are more and more stories from all over the country about the hate crime attack on a rabbi by a group of Arab teenagers. Today Wicked Local Wellesley reports that one of those teenagers is being charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime

Here’s the story: Rabbi Uria Ohana, a 25-year-old rabbinical assistant at the Chabad Center in Wellesley, Mass., was attacked by a group of Arab teenagers at the 4th Avenue and 9th street subway station in Park Slope on March 18th.

When he felt someone grab his yamulke, Rabbi Ohana turned around and, he says, saw a Arab teenager running down the stairs. He gave chase in order to get his yarmulke back. Running through the station, they passed a group of the boy’s friends who began chasing Ohana and screaming, “Allahu Akhbar!”

Ohana chased the boy, identified as Ali Hussein, 18, of Queens, outside, where he ran into the street and was hit by a car. Hussein’s friends caught up with Ohana and began shouting, “you see what you do?” punching him in the head, and screaming “Allahu Akhbar.”

Though the literal translation is “god is great,” Ohana said, in Israel, where he was raised, “it’s the expression of suicide bombers. When you hear ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ you should run.”

There were numerous witnesses outside the crowded subway station, he said, and many of them pulled out cell phones to call 911. Before police arrived, a black SUV pulled up, and two of Ohana’s attackers jumped in the car and drove away, leaving Hussein at the scene.

Hussein was transported to Lutheran Medical Center to be treated for a fractured leg, according to a police spokesman. He was later arrested. At this point, no other arrests have been made in the case, which police said is still under investigation. Ohana sustained no real injuries beyond minor cuts and bruises, though he said his head is still spinning from the incident.

“What bothers me is that 48 hours after this hate crime, no second or third [boys] were arrested,” he said; it was clear to him that the other young men were friends of Hussein.

The rabbi, who has been in the States for two years and spends half his time studying in Brooklyn, and the other half working at the Chabad center in Wellesley, wants to draw attention to the case “for the police to see that it’s something serious,” he said.

“Attacking a Jew just for being a Jew — it’s important that this doesn’t happen. This kind of hate crime, it’s important to me that it doesn’t occur.”

Written by Madeiline May Kunin, Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, sounds very interesting. I heard her on WNYC today and am now inspired to run for office. Just kidding. But read this quote:

We have been bystanders to history for too long. We have no more excuses; we are educated, we care, and we are ready to enter the arena. Times have changed since I was first elected governor of Vermont in 1985. When nine-year-old Melissa Campbell visited the Vermont State House in 2006 and saw my portrait, she exclaimed, “Finally, a woman, it’s about time!”

It is about time. We have seen two women serve as secretary of state, Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice; one woman as U.S. attorney general, Janet Reno; and two women justices in the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. For the first time in our history, we have a serious, qualified woman candidate for president—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. On January 23, 2007, we saw the portrait of political leadership change in the Congress with the election of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During the State of the Union Speech, when the camera focused on the triumvirate of the president, the vice president and the speaker, it was as if someone had torn down the scrawled sign nailed to the tree fort that read “Girls Keep Out,” and replaced it with “Women Are Welcome.”

We see more strands of pearls, flower-printed scarves, and red jackets in the Congress and in corporate boardrooms, but the lineups remain predominantly muted in black and gray. We can no longer wait for incremental change; it has been too slow. Parity will not be achieved by patience. To arrive at equal representation, we must mobilize both our anger and our optimism: anger at what is wrong in America and optimism that it can be changed for the better.

And we have to take risks—risks that we don’t have all the answers and risks that we may be rejected. The risk that we can no longer afford to take is the risk of continuing to accept things as they are—a country divided, governed by people who do not reflect the face of America. Bella Abzug made the case for women’s participation in public life in 1977: “We can no longer accept a condition in which men rule the Nation and the world, excluding half the human race from effective economic and political power. Not when the world is in such bad shape

Rachel, a moderator on Park Slope Parents, recognized the need for a list serve for parents of teenagers and decided to do something about it. .

While Park Slope Parents is a great resource for parents of younger children, there isn’t much on there about teenagers.

That’s why Rachel started Parents of NY Teens as a way to connect parents of teens. She writes:

There are currently over 150 members and recent discussions included summer programs for teens and teen depression. The board is open to all parents – citywide – with kids 12 – 20 years….

If you think that you’d benefit from this information and support list serve, just send an email to
parentsofnyteens-subscribe@yahoogroups.com