This from New York 1:

Several Jewish organizations banded together Wednesday to announce a
reward to help find the person behind several anti-Semitic messages
found in Brooklyn Heights earlier this week.

The American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League and Jewish
Community Relations Council are offering $10,000 for information
leading to an arrest and conviction.

Police say a total of 19 locations were plastered with swastikas,
some were spray-painted on cars, others were found on sidewalks and
houses.

Despite an increased police presence, there have yet to be any arrests.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Because of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, there is no alternate side of the street parking on Thursday or Friday. Here’s some information about Sukkot from the Jewish Virtual Library:

The festival of Sukkot begins on the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a transition from one of the most solemn holidays of our year to one of the most joyous. The festival is sometimes referred to as Zeman Simkhateinu, the Season of our Rejoicing.

Sukkot lasts for seven days. The word Sukkot means booth and refers to the temporary dwelling that we are commanded to live in during the holiday. The name of the holiday is frequently translated as "The Feast of the Tabernacles."  If weather, climate, and one’s health permit, one should live in the sukkah as much as possible, including sleeping in it.

In the "Karma is a boomerang" department, Poly Prep Lower School, which just completed construction of its new building on First Street, should invite neighbors in for a thank-you-for putting-up-with-the-construction party and tour.

That would go a long way in easing tensions on that block.

People are trying to like the new building just as they are getting over memories of a year’s worth of noise, garbage, and general construction mayhem.

Construction isn’t easy on anyone. Nor is a brand new modern school building on a beautiful block of landmarked brownstones and limestones.

Poly Prep should at least have a tour and welcome party for the neighbors. It would definitely be a nice gesture.

On Saturday September, 29: The Dance Studio is having a big Grand Opening Bash with a ribbon cutting ceremony, open house, politicians, a legendary musical group…

A legendary musical group? That’s right. The Persuasion are going to be there. The Persuasions? The acapella group, whose albums I listened to non-stop when I was in college? 

Yup.

That’s pretty cool and a great way to inaugurate the new space on Sackett Street.

Until June of 2007, The Dance Studio was located at 808 Union Street for umpteeen years. Then, the landlord raised their rent big time and would not renew their lease. A familiar story in these parts.

Now Kidville, a high-end children’s activity space (the fun place for little city people) is in the location that used to be the Slope’s favorite spot for dance and gymnastic classes for kids and adults.

Longtime owner Jennifer Kliegel searched for a new space closer to her Park Slope client-base but the prices nearby were "through the roof." Then she found the space on Sackett Street, which she spent the summer renovating. It is now a state-of-the-art, air conditioned, and much improved home for the Dance Studio.

Sometimes good things come from bad situations. This is a welcome change for the Dance Studio and a chance to bring even more Brooklynites into the fold.

New Location: 630 Sackett Street, 718-789-4419

12-1: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

1-3: Open House

A painter, a playwright, and a forensic anthropologist: Brooklyn wins big in this year’s Macarthur Foundation awards.

In addition to Park Slope’s Joan Snyder, playwright Lynn Nottage got the call (and $500,000) as did Mercedes Doretti, a Forensic Anthropologist, working in Brooklyn and Buenos Ares. Her work, according to the foundation,  "unearths evidence of crimes
against humanity and seeking justice on behalf of populations whose
immense losses have been omitted from the historical record."

Here’s what the foundation had to say about Lynn Nottage:

Lynn Nottage is an original voice in American theater, a playwright
whose entertaining and thought-provoking works address contemporary
issues with empathy and humor.  Her ambitious, expressive early works,
including Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Mud River Stone, and Por’Knockers,
reveal Nottage’s rich poetic imagination as she portrays periods of
American history from unexpected vantage points and crafts complex
characters of a kind that have garnered little notice among other
writers and historians.  Her more recent works, Intimate Apparel and Fabulation, are considered to be her most accomplished thus far and represent major artistic achievements.  Intimate Apparel,
a prize-winning drama, is the story of a young black seamstress in
early 20th-century New York, a woman working her way through the social
confines of her time – predicaments that continue to haunt us today.
Nottage’s imaginative exploration of history, her ability to find
resonance in unexpected moments in the past, and her sensitive
evocation of social concerns have made her a powerful voice in
theater.  She is a dramatist who will continue to provide us with
provocative plays in which her characters confront some of society’s
most complex issues.

This from the Daily News:

That’s because recently-appointed Brooklyn Public Library Executive
Director Dionne Mack-Harvin views libraries as community centers –
places where people are expected to talk to each other, not sit in
silence.

Mack-Harvin is so determined to end the shushing that librarians
from all 60 branches have been attending training sessions to get the
word out about her approach.

"We’ve moved away from what some consider the ‘shushing library’
model of the past, from being a sterile, educational place that’s
somewhat elitist," she said, "to being a community space where everyone
walking in the door can find a place for themselves."

Mack-Harvin’s no-shushing policy will be further backed up next
Sunday with the opening of a new auditorium at the Central Library.
With seats for 200, the auditorium will host performers from the Big
Apple Circus as its opener.

I got this note from filmmaker Adam Zucker, an old friend of mine — from college days and days in the film business.

I’m excited because he’s made a documentary called GREENSBORO: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH playing on Thursday
October 18, at 6:30 pm at Lincoln Center in the Walter Reade Theater.

It’s part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Human RIght’s Watch Film Festival. Here’s Adam Zucker’s note to friends and colleagues.

For those who plan ahead, I wanted to
let you know that my new documentary GREENSBORO: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH
will be having its New York premiere next month. The film will be
screening at Lincoln Center in the Walter Reade Theater, Thursday
October 18, 6:30pm.

The screening is a production of the Film Society
of Lincoln Center and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
GREENSBORO’s 83 minutes long, and there’ll be a Q & A after the
screening. For more information about the film, check
out the website

Here’s your chance to go to the top of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Grand Army Plaza. We’ve been meaning to do it for years. I just go this press release from Eugene Patron of Prospect Park, who always keeps me posted on great events there.

Brooklyn, NY – Three of Prospect Park’s architectural treasures, the Litchfield Villa, Lefferts Historic House and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, are included in America’s largest architecture and design event: the Annual openhousenewyork Weekend (OHNY), October 6 & 7.  All OHNY programs at Prospect Park are free. For directions and information see both www.prospectpark.org and www.ohny.org.

The Litchfield Villa is a stunning example of mid-19th century romantic Italian architecture.  Designed by renowned architect A.J. Davis, the Villa was built in 1857 for prominent railroad pioneer and real estate developer Edwin Clark Litchfield.  Less than a decade later, the City of Brooklyn acquired the Villa for inclusion in newly constructed Prospect Park. Today the Villa houses borough headquarters for City of New York/Parks & Recreation, as well as the offices of the Prospect Park Alliance.  Current restorations of the Villa’s interior have been funded by a generous grant from a Litchfield descendent.

On Sunday, October 7, there will be two special guided tours of the Litchfield Villa lead by Ralph Carmosino, AIA of the Prospect Park Alliance, who has overseen the current restorations. These tours at 2pm and 3pm are limited to 20 people each, and are on a first-come basis.  Visitors not able to join these tours may view the lobby and second floor rotunda of the building from on Sunday, from 1 – 4 p.m.

One of the oldest structures featured in OHNY, the 1783 Lefferts Historic House will host three special tours showcasing areas of this Dutch-American farmhouse not ordinarily open to the public.  Times for these special tours are: 11 a.m. Saturday; and 10 & 11 a.m. Sunday.  Call (718) 789-2822 x10 for reservations.

The imposing Sailors and Sailors Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza was built to commemorate the victory of the Union forces in the Civil War. Guided by the Urban Park Rangers, visitors can climb to the top of the arch and take in 360-degree views of Prospect Park, Park Slope, and the Manhattan skyline.  Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last tour at 3:30 p.m.).

Here is StreetFilms coverage of PARK(ing) Day, a day when people turned parking spaces into parks. You can read more about it on the Park(ing) Day website. I think the original day was organized in San Francisco but this year it was a national event.

More than 70% of most cities’ outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle while only a fraction of that land is allocated to open space for people. Around the nation, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel, and more pollution. It’s time to rethink the way streets are used!

A metered parking spot is an inexpensive short-term lease for a 10’x20′ plot of land. Imagine what you can do in a space usually dedicated to private vehicle storage. Parking Day began in a single metered parking spot in San Francisco and then spread around the world. People who want more open space, less traffic, and safer streets have joined together.

Clarence, from Streetfilms, got footage of the event in and around NYC. You can watch his 6-minute video on the Streetfilms site. Here’s what he had to say about yesterday’s happening.

This was a wonderful event, congrats to all the groups who participated. I wish I could have
gotten all the groups in, but gotta call it quits at some point and
get it up.

Anyway, enjoy. The film has just been published at www.streetfilms.org

Be sure to leave feedback on the site :)

Weight Watcher’s meetings are the coolest. There is so much wisdom in a room of people who have struggled with weight their whole lives. There is also pain, anger, disappointment and hope. You wouldn’t be at a meeting if you didn’t have hope and motivation to improve your predicament.

The meetings are about so much more than numbers on a scale. They’re about the meaning of food in your life, self-esteem, goals, getting in shape physically and emotionally.

I am so inspired when I look around at the diverse group of people that show up at that meeting. All colors, shapes and sizes, the people speak their minds honestly and openly because they feel very safe and comfortable there.

Yesterday’s meeting was especially verbose. A lot of people spoke; a lot of interesting things were said. Here’s a sampling.

“I have begun to think of food as a very high interest credit card.”

“I don’t have to eat every meal like it is my last. It’s not like I’m on death row.”

“I don’t look in the mirror and say I’m a fat pig anymore.”

“I learned from a friend who is a food critic. You only tase the first three bites.”

To which the leader added: “The first bite is good. The second is decadent. The third is enough. You no longer need to eat the whole thing.”

Some people begged to differ. But it’s an interesting idea.

As for me, I’ve lost 13 pounds since June. Next week I hope to receive my 3rd 5-pound star. The meetings keep me motivated and give me something to aim for.

There are Weight Watcher meetings on Saturday and Sunday mornings at the Montauk Club (8th Avenue at the corner of Lincoln Place). Just show up. You can see what it’s all about. There are also meetings on Wednesdays at around 5 p.m. at the American Legion on 9th Street near Third Avenue in Park Slope.

Gowanus Lounge has the word on this but I’m going to put it up here because Gowanus In Unity Tutoring needs VOLUNTEERS.

This group provides individual tutoring at the Gowanus Community Center in the Gowanus Houses.

Read more about it at Gowanus Lounge. If you are interested, please give a call to Steve Shooman at 718-522-5746.

The Yard, formerly the site of Issue Project Room, is shaping up to be quite the site for community happenings. I just got word of this October event.

Here’s the press release about  Party for the People, an event on Saturday, October 6, 2007  1pm-9pm at The Yard located at 388-400 Carroll Street (between Bond & Nevins) in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn:

Brooklyn, NY – Party for the People, a celebration of community empowerment designed to build community awareness and engagement, will take place at The Yard in Gowanus on Saturday, October 6, 2007.  Free to the public, this Brooklyn-based event will feature workshops covering various modes of community participation as well as performances by socially active musicians and spoken-word artists.  Prominent activists and local community leaders will give presentations on different elements of social involvement.  Throughout the evening, a wide range of Brooklyn-based community service and activist organizations will maintain involvement opportunity displays. 

Party for the People employs a unique approach to community organizing which brings together social activists and service organizations from various geographic areas of Brooklyn, as well as different fields of social service, to celebrate in the name of community development and social progress.  Participants will include featured speaker New York City Councilman Charles Barron, performers such as M1 of Dead Prez, Stephanie McKay, Judah Tribe, Mental Notes, the Readnex Poetry Squad, Blitz the Ambassador, Vocab, American Hero, Safahri, and Head-Roc.  Organizations such as Brooklyn For Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace), Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Red Tent Women’s Project, Brooklyn YWCA, Idealist.org, Innocence Stolen Innocent Still Foundation, Trees Not Trash, Center for Anti-Violence Education, the Audre Lorde Project, Groundwork* and others will be present to provide information about their programs.

This event offers the opportunity for newcomers to Brooklyn as well as long-time residents to become more socially informed and active in their communities.  Workshops will provide information about current local issues and initiatives.  The showcase of speakers and performers will serve to inspire and empower people to become involved.  The exhibiting local organizations will give people direct access to ongoing programs in Brooklyn. 

Party for the People is produced by a collective of grassroots activists and organizers working together toward the common goal of triggering community awareness and deepening people’s connections with and contributions to one another.  The organizers of Party for the People believe that the revival of community values on a local scale sets the stage for greater societal progress.  Party for the People aims to create a space for the acknowledgement, development, and celebration of community participation.

To join forces with the Party for the People organizers, participate in the event, or simply obtain more information, contact:  Chief Organizer Stephanie Rooker at stephanie.rooker@gmail.com or 917-623-4388.

This may be old news, but one million cribs have been recalled from Graco and Simplicity. Since there are so many babies around here I thought it prudent to post this from MSNBC:

WASHINGTON – About 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs have been recalled after three children became entrapped and suffocated.

The
recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on
Friday, more than two years after a California lawyer says he alerted
the federal agency about a 9-month-old who died in a faulty crib.

Hepcat said it and it’s really true: "It’s like Times Square out there."

He was referring to Third Street between 6th and 7th Avenues at 3:40 a.m. in the morning on a Saturday night. It’s the non-stop noise of loud people walking east toward Seventh Avenue after the bars close.

What time does The Gate close?

Truthfully, I kinda like the noise. Especially if I’m up late writing or something. It’s lively. Sort of. Our bedrooms are in the back so it doesn’t wake up the kids. And we’re already up. It’s the sound of tired people having fun. They’re not doing anything wrong really other than talking loudly: bar conversations taken out on the street.

Sometimes there are fights or rowdiness. But not often.

How do other people feel about it?

Sustainable Flatbush is organizing an event in conjunction with National Park(ing) Day, where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform parking spots into “PARK(ing)” temporary public parks. TODAY.

Interesting concept. Sure to infuriate the parking-obsessed here in Park Slope. Like, it’s all well and good to be anti-car but don’t mess with my parking space.

But in Flatbush, Sustainable Flatbush is bringing Park(ing) Day to
Cortelyou Road, between Argyle and Rugby (that’s Brooklyn, baby)! Her park will have grass, plants, seating, and games! Hours will be
approximately 10am – 6pm.

And she’s inviting everyone: Musicians (bring instruments!), artists (bring
paints!), kids and their parents, pets and their owners, picnickers,
bloggers (we’ll try to find a spot with wi-fi),
crossword/sudoku/backgammon/yahtzee players … you get the picture. Hang
out and keep us company as we create a new neighborhood park for the
day.

Above left: That’s the blogger and activist behind Sustainable Flatbush wearing the black t-shirt that says: Fl@bush. She’s a real Brooklyn hero and a great blogger.

With photographs by Seth Kushner and essays by Antony LaSala, The Brooklynites is a nice coffee table book about Brooklyn residents famous and unknown.

Kushner and LaSala, both born and bred Brooklynites, have created a portrait of the borough that they love, featuring Paul Auser, Spike Lee, Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez, Sufjan Stevens, John Turturro, Casey Spooner, Steve Schirripa, Matisyahu, and Jonathan Lethem and regular folks too.
 

They also visited the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden,
Peter Luger’s Steakhouse, the Coney Island Aquarium, Brooklyn College,
the Prospect Park Zoo, Totonno’s Pizzeria, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the
Coney Island Freak Show, or the Brooklyn Museum.

Looks like fun.

When Hepcat walked home this evening from the Seventh Avenue  F-train station around 7 p.m., he saw fire trucks and various pieces of equipment parked along Seventh Avenue from 4th Street to 7th Streets (Squad 1 and 122 were there).

He said, there seemed to be a lot of water going into the building on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets.

Another eye witness saw a crane near the roof of Sette.

A reader wrote in that he thinks Sette may have had a fire. Does anyone know anything?

I must have been in a bubble today. Well, I was in Prospect Park all morning (running and walking) and then at home so I totally missed the news on Gowanus Lounge.

A "suspicious package" was found around 11AM this morning at the
Seventh Avenue F Station in Park Slope, leading to the closure of the
station and surrounding streets. Several blocks of both Seventh Avenue
and Ninth Street were sealed off as was the station…

Read more HERE.

What’s all this about those planters on Union Street?  Gowanus Lounge has the scoop.

It looks like the city is saying no to several
planters on Union Street in Park Slope. The concrete planters near
Seventh Avenue contained small evergreen trees…

I heard this from my stepmother who told my dad: "You won’t be seeing too much of me in the next few days…"

She saw signs on Hicks Street about a movie shooting on location there with GEORGE CLOONEY AND BRAD PITT.

Brooklyn Heights Blog reports that the film is called Burn After Reading and it will be filming in Brooklyn Heights Thursday night. 

Wonder how the Maynard and Jennica reading at Barnes and Noble in Manhattan went last night.

Bet they didn’t have cheese from the Food Coop with labels and really good wine.

Bet Benjamin Kunkel, co-founder and co-editor of N+1, didn’t read an excerpt from the book.

Bet the room wasn’t filled with quirky Brooklyn book types.

Bet it wasn’t in a Revolutionary War historic site, like, the site of the Battle of Brooklyn?

Bet Community Bookstore wasn’t selling books there.

See you tonight when Rudy and friends read from Maynard and Jennica and party afterwards.  Brooklyn Reading Works at  the Old Stone House on 3rd Street between 3rd and 4th Streets in Park Slope. 8 p.m. 

The Landlord was filmed in Park Slope in the 1970’s. It was directed by Hal Ashby and stars Lee Grant. She will be introducing the film at Film Forum at the 7:45 showing tonight.

Look at all the critical raves:

“The Landlord deserves attention and not just because it’s a terrific film.  Its one-week revival at Film Forum in Manhattan, is a chance for audiences to see a pivotal moment not only in the career of Mr. Ashby, but also in the histories of American film and, coincidentally, of New York real estate… ONE OF THE BEST EARLY PRODUCTS OF THE NOW-HALLOWED AMERICAN MAVERICKS OF THE 1970s.” – Mike Hale, The New York Times.

“ONE OF THE FUNNIEST SOCIAL COMEDIES OF THE PERIOD, as well as the most human…At once broad and nuanced in its characterizations.”
– J. Hoberman, The Village Voice.

“RECOMMENDED! An endlessly fascinating entry in the ‘Loosen up, whitey’ genre of seventies American filmmaking.”
– New York magazine

“FULL OF SHARP ABSURDIST HUMOR. Hal Ashby’s debut is one of his best.
Diana Sands gives probably her finest screen performance…
The dialogue is crisp and often quite startling, the picture has originality and depth.”
– Pauline Kael

“LIKE A BLAXPLOITATION MOVIE MADE BY BUNUEL! An outrageous debut, a film that,
34 years later, still feels daring, both stylistically and politically.”
– Darren Hughes, Senses of Cinema

“To put it plainly and succinctly as the rent bill, The Landlord is a honey, a wondrously wise, sad and hilarious comedy. Leaves an almost eerie tonic effect of truth and laughter, with some of the sharpest, funniest dialogue in a long time.”
– The New York Times

“Vibrant! Delightful comic touches combined with perceptive sidelights on black experience.” – Leonard Maltin

Craig Hammerman of Community Board 6 sent this email this morning about a meeting Thursday night at MS 51 about the Mayor’s congestion pricing plan.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the Mayor’s Congestion
Pricing plans, directly from City officials, is encouraged to attend. 

TO:MEMBERS OF THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: TRANSPORTATION

DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

TIME: 6:30 PM

PLACE:
MIDDLE SCHOOL 51
350 5TH AVENUE
BROOKLYN, NY 11215
AUDITORIUM

A G E N D A

–
Briefing by representatives for the Department of Transportation on the
Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 Transportation initatives, which includes a
proposed Congestion Pricing pilot program. The Transportation section
of the plan can be reviewed in advance and is available at:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/plan/plan.shtml

– Update
from representatives for the Department of Transportation on the
Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Plan initiatives (Capital project
HWK1153) already underway, and discussion of further needs for 4th
Avenue corridor and environs.

LOUISE FINNEY, CO-CHAIR

JOANNE C. FOULKE, CO-CHAIR

Continue reading COME TO MEETING ON CONGESTION PRICING PLAN →

Benjamin Kabak’s blog, Second Avenue Saga, is about the New York subway. He is a native New Yorker and a huge subway buff. He’s one of those people who is obsessed with trains. He likes riding them, reading about them and writing about them.

Kabak, like many of us, was dismayed by Gersh Kuntzman’s recent editorial in the Brooklyn Paper against an F Train Express. I think it’s a perfectly good idea and a legitimate use of train tracks that already exist.

While the F Train Express may do little to help those in Brownstone Brooklyn it will be a service to those who live farther out on the line. What’s wrong with that?

This morning, Kabak sent me this note about a letter to the editor that will hopefully be in the Brooklyn Paper this week. I won’t print it here because I don’t want to jeopardize its being in the Paper.  You can, however, read it on Kabak’s blog.

I always thought everyone supported the F Express Plan.
Who wouldn’t want more train service and express train options for
underserved and overcrowded parts of Brooklyn? It seemed like a
no-brainer to me. Boy, was I naïve in this thinking.

Last week, Gersh Kuntzman’s Brooklyn weekly The Brooklyn Paper ran a scathing (and, in my opinion, very short-sighted) editorial entitled “Who needs an F express?”
As you may have guessed from the non-too-subtle title, Kuntzman,
supposedly a champion of Brooklyn, isn’t in favor of this added train
service on tracks that have existed since these subway lines opened in
the 1930s.

In response to this outrageous editorial, I wrote a letter to the
editor. The letter, co-signed by the other two major proponents of the
F Express Plan, Gary Reilly, the driving force behind the F Express and
author of Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens, and Jen from Kensington (Brooklyn), disputes every contention made by The Brooklyn Paper in its editorial. While we hope the letter will appear in an upcoming issue of the paper, here it is in its entirety:

Certain residents of Park Slope might have noticed that Community Bookstore was closed two Sunday mornings ago for a film crew. 

Well, it seems that Rudy Delson and company were busy making a little video to promote his new book, Maynard and Jennica. Rudy does viral marketing.  If you like the video,  you’ll love his Brooklyn Reading Works reading on September 20th at 8 p.m. at the Old Stone House. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9RLLYbsNoM

We’re voting for Kings County Surrogate Judge today among other things. Gotham Gazette has lots of info about today’s races. Thanks Gowanus Lounge for telling us that we’ll be making history today by voting for the first African-American surrogate judge  (both candidates are African-American).

What excactly is a surrogate judge? I checked the Surrogate Court website (handily linked to by GW) and found this: "The Surrogate’s Court hears cases involving affairs of decedents including the probate of wills and the administration of estates. It also handles adoptions."

For what it’s worth: the New York Times’ endorsed Shawndya L. Simpson for Surrogate Judge.

Did you read the one about Manny Howard, the urban farmer guy, in New York Magazine? You know, the guy who wanted to test the idea of the locavore movement by growing a garden in his Ditmas Park backyard? 

He wanted to see if he could eat off the land for a month by growing vegetables, raising rabbits, and making homegrown whiskey (which he never got around to).

In the process, he spent $11,000, did some things right and others wildly wrong, and really seemed to piss off his wife. Part of the farm was destroyed by the Brooklyn tornado of 2007. Serves him right: the whole thing was for a book deal, right?

I have to say, it made for a good story. I liked the way it was written. The whole thing was such an interesting fiasco. And very informative, too.

Apparently New York Magazine was barraged with letters from annoyed readers. But sometimes those New York Magazine articles are intended to incite readers. Right?

I think it was sincere in a New York Magazine kind of way.

Someone wrote in to say that Manny should have scrapped the whole idea and given his $11,000 to a local CSA. But what about the rabbits? He wanted to eat meat, too. I wonder if he will now join the local CSA. Or is he writing this whole fiasco into a book.

My guess is look for it in bookstores in about a year or so.

Maybe you can help these people from Vermont identify the name of an artist they bought a painting from in the 1960’s.

I found your blog on Google and wonder if you could steer me in
identifying the artist of a painting we have hanging on our wall here
in VT.

My wife, originally from Brooklyn, bought a very wonderful oil
painting on masonite of jazz musicians back in the 60’s. The artist
never signed the piece but a good clue would be that he had his home and
studio in what had been an old funeral parlor and she thinks it was near
5th Ave.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any leads would be
much appreciated.

Diaper Diva has been telling me for days and I keep forgetting to post about it. I see that Gowanus Lounge has the story today.

Starting September 17th, the Third Street Playground will be closed for renovations. Back in 1991, they closed for almost a year when they first transformed the playground from an old style NYC playground (wooden see saws, metal jungle gyms, etc) into what you see there today.

That was when we first moved here and I had a newborn baby and I was so MAD. One of the reasons I’d moved to Park Slope was that playground! When it reopened all the caregivers complained because there was hardly any shade and the black rubber made the space so hot in warm weather.

I guess it’s in need of some changes and upgrades again.

Last week, Diaper Diva, Ducky, and I were wandering around Long Meadow and saw large groupings of caregivers, parents and children in the meadow like refugees with nowhere to be. The playground was closed that day, too.

Where will all these people go?

There’s always the Tot Spot at Garfeld just inside the park but that’s tiny and is designed for small children. There’s alwaysthe 9th Street Playground and the playground in JJ Byrne Park and the one on Berkeley Place between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Gowanus Lounge has more.

Thanks to Eliot, who sent me this tip about grapes on Third Street. He also took the picture.

I’ve attached a cellphone picture I took this afternoon of  the Third
Street organic grape harvest (south side of the street between 7th and
8th Avenues, closer to 8th).  I’ve seen this harvest for the past few
years.  Yes, I’ve sampled the grapes and they are really good, but they
do have pits.