Save the Underground Railroad
May 1: Duffield St. Hearing

City Hall

10AM, Press Conference on the City Hall steps with Councilmembers
  and supporters of the Duffield Street owners.

11AM, Hearing

Come out for the hearing to help save the Duffield St. homes from
seizure by eminent domain. The City is planning to condemn 227 and 233
Duffield Street to build more parking in Downtown Brooklyn, despite
evidence that these historial homes were part of the Underground
Railroad network and that the firm hired to evaluate these claims,
AKRF, lied and withheld evidence.

AKRF is the same firm that wrote the Atlantic Yards Environmental
Impact Statement, which dozens of neighborhood advocacy and
public-interest groups found to be flawed and incomplete.

The hearing is being held by the NY City Council’s Landmarks
Subcomittee, chaired by Councilman Leroy Comrie, and will cover the
AKRF’s report on the Underground Railroad findings.

More information can be found here: http://nyprotest.flactivist.org/?p=7262.

May Day is May 1 and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on May 1 today, such as the Maypole.
While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day
of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now the 22nd) was
"midsummer."

In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary’s month,
and May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In
this connection, Mary’s head (in works of art, school skits, etc.) will
often be adorned with flowers. Another May Day tradition (fading in
popularity since the late 20th century) is the giving of May baskets,
small baskets of candy and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on
neighbors’ doorsteps.

In the United States, May Day is officially observed as Loyalty Day.

May Day also refers to various socialist and labor movement celebrations conducted on May 1, unrelated to the traditional celebrations to commemorate the Haymarket martyrs of 1886 and the international socialist movement generally. The latter event is an important holiday in Communist and Socialist countries.

In recent years, London based group the Space Hijackers have held events on May Day. These include Mayday Anarchists vs Members of Parliament Cricket in 2005, and a Police Victory Party in 2006. In 2007 the group planned a "Suited and Booted" [1] party in the City of London, the financial centre of London.

In addition, May Day in the United States is commonly regarded — at
least by certain groups — as a commemoration of the execution of the Haymarket martyrs who were arrested after the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, Illinois, which occurred on May 4, but was the culmination of labor unrest which began on May 1. The date consequently became established as an anarchist and socialist holiday during the 20th century, and in these circles it is often known as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day. In this form, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the working class and labor movement.

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, as in the Celtic celebration of Beltane, and the Walpurgis Night of the Germanic
countries. Although the pagan-oriented celebrations faded as Europe
became Christianised, a more secular version of the holiday continued
to be observed in the schools and churches of Europe well into the 20th
century. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of
dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May. Today many Neopagans, especially Wiccans, celebrate reconstructed versions of the old pagan holidays on May 1

Does anyone know the whereabouts of Andy, whose fruit truck was on the corner of President Street? He and it are a veritable landmark. I am pretty sure I saw his truck a few weeks ago.

One reader thinks he’s retired from his corner this year because of a health concern. That’s what a school crossing guard told her.

"He’s been an important figure for my daughter, now seven, having provided some solace in the wake of her own grandfather’s death when she was four.

"Now she’s distraught at the thought of not seeing him again and wants to write him a letter. But we don’t even know his last name. Would a business like his require a license, and could he be traceable that way?"

This reader thought that the readres of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn might be able to help.

No, it’s not a new cafe on Third Street. It’s just the front yard, which in the warmer months becomes a defacto cafe, dining spot and playspace: it’s an epicenter for social activity.

Today neighbors and friends gathered down there for the first time in a long time. Mrs. Kravitz bought a bottle of white wine. Smartmom ordered Chinese food. A Pino’s pizza was ordered as well.

A green plastic Little Tykes car provided hours of fun for some of the kids who zoomed up and down the street. There was a 3-legged race but that ended when the ice cream truck parked down the street. The kids begged their parents for money and raced over for toasted almond, sandwiches, even milkshakes.

A game of Clue was played in the hour or so before dusk. "It’s Professor Plum. In the kitchen. With the…"

Conversation reached far and wide. Mrs. Kravitz bobbed her hair. A neighbor saw Jonathan Lethem on the subway. Word has it that a children’s store is going in where the Laundry Center is on Seventh Avenue and 7th Street.

A woman on the block has an essay in a new book called, The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly about the Extrordinary Highs and the Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs.

Nobody sees anybody in the winter. Bundled up, in a rush, in and out of buildings, no time for conversation. But come the warm weather it’s hi, how are you, hello, good to see you.

The Third Street Cafe is open for business again. Just need to get some new chairs…

Look. The Brooklyn Blogfest on May 10th at 8 p.m. at the Old Stone House, has a nifty poster.

Local blogger, Lisa Di Liberto, is a very creative woman. Her blog, Urban Seashell: a collection, features small businesses, artists,
independents and upcoming events from cityline to shoreline.

With
access to an amazing pool of talent, urbanseashell: a collection was
created by Lisa di Liberto, a Brooklyn based designer. Looking for
consultants, designers, eateries or the latest independent film
release? Then welcome to urbanseashell — a collection, your source.

A talented designer, Lisa created this beautiful poster for the Blogfest. Her husband, John Sabasteanski, made  the drawing of the water tower and Lisa did the rest.

Thank you so much, Lisa and John. I look forward to seeing you both at the Blogfest.

Would you be willing to pick up some Blogfest posters and tape them on a wall or a bulletin board in your fave local spots in your nabe? Or you can tape them on a lamp post, a brick wall. Anything.

Your picture on OTBKB if you do it. Please let me know. Email: louise_crawford@yahoo.com

New from the Park Slope Civic Council, the folks that bring you the Halloween Parade and the Park Slope House Tour: STOOPendous, a block-by-block celebration of the summer solstice on June 23rd, 2007.

Save the date and celebrate the beginning of summer with your neighbors and friends on the stoops and sidewalks of Park Slope.

Mark the day with a simple, fun event on your block (your building, or your stoop). Try one of these or invent your own: a stoop sale, a BBQ, an astronomy activity, a hopscotch tournament, a solstice teach-in, a talent show, an art activity, a lemonade stand, a sidewalk café. Morning, afternoon, or evening: whatever time works for your neighbors and friends.

At sunset (8:31 p.m.) there will be an All-Slope-Solstice-Shout-Out, a chance to make a lot of joyful noise. Blow a kazoo, a whistle, bang on some pots and pans, play an instrument.
.
How-to information will soon be available on STOOPendous.org.  In the meantime, email me at louise_crawford@yahoo.com.

Jimmy Carter — former president and Nobel Laureate, author and global
humanitarian — speaks of his born-again faith with a directness that is
striking even in today’s political culture. He reflects on being
commander in chief while following, as he says, "the Prince of Peace";
on upholding the law while privately opposing abortion; and on his
marriage of 60 years as a metaphor for the challenge of human
relationship both personal and global on Speaking of Faith on WNYC today. Check their website for time. Podcast available.

Another old Smartmom haunt is closing. The Moondance Diner, which in the 1980’s was a cool diner not far from the Film Forum when it was on Watts Street.

The Moondance was a fave spot for dinner before and/or after a silent flick or a film noir at the Film Forum.

Ah yes, in their dating days, they used to catch many a movie at the Film Forum. A Girl with A Hatbox and Lulu with Louise Brooks, The Wind with Lillian Gish, Children in Paradise, Kiss of Death and Kiss Me Deadly (what a double-bill), Pigs and Battleships, The Man Who SHot Liberty Valance…

The Moondance Diner, which was under different management then, was candle-lit at night and a cozy and cool spot by day. Seeing the fabu neo sign always inspired her to hum that fabulous Van Morrison song. And boy was that a great neon sign.

Sadly, the landlord refuses to allow the current Moondance owner to move the diner to Queens.

Looks like it’s the old wrecking ball for Moondance. How sad. Look for a high-rise condo. Just what this city needs.

Au Revoir, Moondance. We won’t forget you.

Lisa Garrigues’ new bookfrom Scribner, Writing Motherhood  helps moms who want to write about their experiences.

She recommends spending 15 minutes a day setting down your thoughts in a special notebook. That’s all it takes.

A mother, writer, and English teacher, Garrigues believes that it’s never too late to start writing about being a mother. You don’t have to do it when your child is a baby. There’s plenty to write about as they get older.

 The book has a list of 99 writing “starts," ways to help moms get started in their journals.

Catch Garrigues at the Barnes & Noble in Park Slope at 267
Seventh Avenue (at 6th Street) on Friday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. For more
information, visit “www.writingmotherhood.com”.

I got a call today from Heidi Singer at the New York Post and she wanted me to comment on the finding by Outside.in that Brownstone Brooklyn is the busiest blog zone in the country.

Park Sloper Steven Johnson,
founder of outside.in, studied location and subject
matter of more than 100,000 posts. From that he determined the Top 10 Bloggiest.

While Park Slope and other brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods are quite bloggy, Clinton Hill is apparently the bloggiest. 

Harlem, ranked No. 8, after Newton, Mass., Chicago and
Portland, Ore.

Mr. Brownstoner (aka Jonathan Butler) told the New York Post:  "Brooklyn in
general lends itself to blogging because it’s a borough of
neighborhoods."

A Yelp executive from San Francisco and a Yelp representative from Manhattan came to Brooklyn the other day to have coffee with me and Hepcat. They were in from San Francisco to do research and to attend the montly New York shindig for elite Yelpers.

Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

Yelp is an online community — a really interesting and growing one that was started by two former Pay Pal execs in San Francisco.

You may have happened upon a Yelp when you were googling a restaurant or store. Yelp users post recommendations and reviews on everything from restaurants to dentists. Information Week Magazine thinks they could be the next You Tube.

Think you can pick the next big thing on the Internet? Online traffic
analysis site Hitwise thinks so and it has just predicted which
up-and-coming Web 2.0 companies you’ll be using next.

Based on an extensive filter of 25 million Internet users and some
860,000 Web sites, Bill Tancer, the general manager of Hitwise, said Yelp, StumbleUpon, Veoh, WeeWorld, Imeem, and Piczo have the potential to be the next YouTube, Wikipedia, or Flickr.

"These sites are ones that attract a certain kind of user and have the
best chance of crossing the chasm between early adopters and the
mainstream media," Tancer said during a keynote presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this week.

Tancer said the six companies are ones that have yet to "pop" or break
out into the Web’s popular consciousness — similar to sites like
MySpace, Twitter, and Digg, which were relatively unknown a few years
ago and now have massive amounts of users.

We had coffee at Naidres in Carroll Gardens. Stepanie and Sam were already on that side of town so we decided to leave the Slope. We had a really interesting and far reaching conversation about  blogging in Brooklyn. A good information exchange. Stephanie had never been to Brooklyn but she loved it. As everyone knows, it is the bloggiest neighborhood in the US and I’m sure Yelp is interested in making in-roads here.

There seems to be a code of conduct at Yelp that makes for a mostly good-natured reviewing system. It’s more about which places you recommend rather than which places you want to flame. And it’s not a personal ‘here’s my love life’ kind of site either. It’s really about lifestyle and what you do with your time, where you like to eat, drink, socialize, and shop.

Obviously it’s for a young urban crowd — those who have time to go out and about.

Stephanie seemed quite in-the-know about OTBKB, which she found on outside.in. We both agreed that for a blog to form a community of interested readers, the writing style is very important as it must communicate the sensibility of a real personality with likes, dislikes, and a palpable POV.

In the “a friend of PAUL LESCEHN’S is a friend of mine” category, this post relates to OTBKB’s one-time restaurant critic, the supremely talented Paul Leschen. I still miss his restaurant reviews he did because they were smart, well-written, and witty and added immeasurably to the site. (To find those reviews got to the category column on the left hand side of this page and click on Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn Restaurants.)

It was fun to sit with him at the Old Stone House while he sampled their hamburger for his “Best Burger on Fifth Avenue” round-up. Stone Park was right up there with Bette’s Grill and Cocotte. Not only does Paul know restaurants, he knows music. Big time. Paul’s name pops up every now and again when it comes to interesting musical theater. And here he is again in conjunction with a show by Brian Charles Rooney, who, I am assuming he lives in Brooklyn.

My name is Brian Charles Rooney. I am a Broadway
actor, and I am working with Paul Leschen on my first
concert in NYC.

You put up publicity for a show I was in called TWIST,
for which Paul composed music. Here is a

Postcard from the Slope

MATHIEU EUGENE IS VOTED IN, AGAIN

April 25, 2007 louise crawford

This from NY1:

Two months after residency
requirements kept him from claiming a seat on the city council, Mathieu
Eugene won Brooklyn’s 40th District city council seat in a special
election Tuesday.

As of Tuesday night, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting,
Eugene had 51 percent of the votes, defeating Harry Schiffman and
Wellington Sharpe, who split the remaining votes with about 25 percent
each.

In February Eugene won the election but could not be sworn in
because he failed to show documents proving his residency in the
district at the time of the election.

Eugene, who is taking the seat vacated by Congresswoman Yvette
Clarke, will become the first Haitian-American to hold a City Council
seat.

Just over 5,000 people turned out to vote.

 
            
            
       
   
 
 

On this warm, bright, and beautiful Sunday, Smartmom, Hepcat, OSFO, Divorce Diva and her daughter decided to visit Coney Island in the park’s final season before a major redevelopment plan destroys much of what’s there now.

Thor Equities plans a $2 billion amusement with retail and
residential developments planned along the Boardwalk. From the sounds of it, they’re thinkin’ Las Vegas at the edge of New York City, with loads of new rides, a family hotel, indoor water park, retail, condos and timeshares.

Oy Vey.

While the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump will survive the transformation, the Astro Tower, the best ride at Coney will be torn down, 

Say it isn’t so. The Astro Tower  is located in Astroland along with other more mundane rides like bumper cars, swirling teacups and a water coaster, that OSFO enjoyed immensely.

But Smartmom, OSFO and Divorce Diva were entranced by the Astro Tower, a chance to rise high above the park hundreds of feet in the air and enjoy a 360 view of the amusments, the surrounding neighborhood, Keyspan Park, and the ocean as the tower swirled slowly.

Needless to say, No Words_Daily Pix snapped lots of shots.

The ride of the twirling view was created for the 1963 World’s Fair and was moved to Coney Island after fair just like the Parachute Jump was created for the  1939 World’s Fair and moved to Coney in 1941. 

This is the stuff of history. At the 1963 World’s Fair the Astro Tower had an upper level and Hepcat was sorry to see that it’s not open anymore. In fact, it’s been painted over.

He did ride on the upper level in 1963 when he came east from California to visit the World’s Fair. It was his first trip to New York City — a cross country drive he’d never forget. The trip would leave an indelible mark on Hepcat and inspire him to go Eastward young man when it was time to go to college.

After college, New York City beckoned and as they say, the rest is history.

Before it’s gone, take a ride on the Astro Tower. It would be fun to have a party up there riding up and down over and over — drinking cocktails, enjoying the view, basking in the glory  that is the Coney Island of not much more.   

“New York is on a collision course with the environment.”

“I’d like to suggest that we face up to those challenges, not tomorrow, not in the future, not when it’s too late, but right now,” Bloomberg said at the American Museum of Natural History.

“I will not spend my last 984 days in office pretending that all is fine and leaving these challenges to the next mayor,” Bloomberg vowed.

Regina McBride’s Inner Lives, Developing Characters Writing Workshop was wonderful and the good news is this: she plans on doing more in Park Slope.

The day-long intensive workshop was an exciting day of relaxation and sense memory techniques combined with  writing exercises. Participants connected in new ways with the characters they’re working on in their fiction or memoir.

Regina McBride, author of three novels, is planning on coming back for another workshop in in Park Slope in May or June.

In the workshop, McBride used relaxation, sense memory, and emotional memory (Stanislavski
acting techniques transformed for the writer) techniques and a variety of exercises, which enabled the writers to make a deeper, richer
connection to the character he or she is creating.

Exercises were followed by writing periods, and opportunities for
people to read and share their work. The atmosphere was safe, with
the focus on exploration.

For those of you interested, please leave a comment or email me at louise_crawford@yahoo.com.

I think this sounds like a great idea and a great way to fight congestion. And it’s worked in other cities like London. This is from the Daily News.

Mayor Bloomberg defended his plan to charge motorists $8 to enter the most congested parts of Manhattan – laying the groundwork yesterday for a fierce battle with Albany.

“You know, it sounds like a lot of money, but you go to a movie, it’s $12,” Bloomberg said on his weekly WABC-AM radio show. “So, let’s, you know, put some of this stuff in perspective here.”

Bloomberg said motorists who drive into Manhattan tend to be the “people who can afford it,” and he suggested he would “fight like heck” to get the Legislature to approve the plan before he leaves office in December 2009.

“Using economics to influence public behavior is something this country is built on,” he declared. “It’s called capitalism.”

London has a successful congestion-pricing program in place.

Tomorrow, during a major policy address at the Museum of Natural History, Bloomberg will officially roll out more than 100 initiatives aimed at preparing the city to handle a projected population increase of a million people by 2030.

The congestion-pricing proposal – charging $8 for motorists to enter Manhattan below 86th St. from as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 6 p.m. – has already outraged some drivers and a slew of elected officials.
Told how Bloomberg compared the $8 charge to the price of admission to the movies, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall replied, “A lot of people are not even going to movies because they’re $12.”

“This is an unfair tax on people who are paying the price of having a poor public transportation system,” said Marshall, referring to residents of her borough. “Our mass transit system is already overloaded.”
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan and state Sen. John Sabini, both Democrats from Queens, said the mayor’s proposal has little to no chance of winning support from either chamber in the Legislature.
Sabini said congestion pricing is one of the rare issues that will “unite the outer boroughs and the suburbs” in opposition.

But several elected officials, including Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, said they would keep an open mind. Both said they wanted to ensure the plan wouldn’t hurt working families.

“I’m not going to slam it, but I’m not going to open up the corks of the champagne,” said Markowitz, predicting the proposal will be substantially “fine-tuned” if it moves forward.

Environmentalists and civic leaders showered Bloomberg with praise.

“For New York to maintain quality of life, healthy air for all of us, especially our children growing up here, and for us to tackle the challenge of climate change, we need to do congestion pricing to slow the growth of traffic congestion,” said Andy Darrell, regional director of the Environmental Defense group, a nonprofit organization.

Bloomberg acknowledged that he faces an uphill battle.

“Most elected officials – not all, but most – are unwilling to champion unpopular causes,” he said. But he added it’s disingenuous to complain about environmental problems and then fight against remedies.

“What we need are people to get ahead of the curve,” he said. “I would describe it as leading from the front.”
msaul@nydailynews.com

Here’s a bit of biographical information about theater artist, Mike Daisey, who lives in Park Slope.

Mike Daisey has been called “the master storyteller” and “one of the finest solo performers of his generation” by the New York Times for his monologues, including 21 Dog Years, Great Men of Genius, The Ugly American, Monopoly!, Invincible Summer, I Miss the Cold War, Wasting Your Breath, and Stories From the Atlantic Night Cafe which he’s performed Off-Broadway, across the country and around the world. He’s been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, and his work has been heard on the BBC, NPR, the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and his groundbreaking series All Stories Are Fiction is available through Audible.com.

Currently he’s a commentator for National Public Radio’s Day To Day, a contributor to WIRED Magazine, Slate, Salon, a web correspondent for Vanity Fair and Radar Magazine, and his writing appears in the anthology The Best Tech Writing 2006. His first book, 21 Dog Years: A Cubedweller’s Tale, was published by the Free Press and he is working on a second book, Great Men of Genius, adapted from his monologue about genius and megalomania in the lives of Bertolt Brecht, P.T. Barnum, Nikola Tesla and L. Ron Hubbard. He lives with his director, collaborator and co-conspirator, Jean-Michele Gregory, in Brooklyn”> Mike Daisey, who lives in Park Slope.

Thursday night’s Brooklyn Reading Works was really special. One of the writers, Kristina Chew, writes on her blog about that special evening. She has also written quite a bit about the news circulating in the wake of the Virginia Tech murders that Cho Heung-Sui might have had an autism diagnosis.

It was past midnight when we got home from Brooklyn on Thursday, after MothersVox’s and my reading with Brooklyn Reading Works at The Old Stone House. She has written up a lovely summary of what she read and what I read. Thank so much to all who came—I would like to sit down with each of you (with coffee, perhaps) and just talk, and just listen. Thank you.

There is always time to describe the kind of good feeling and warmth that emanated from the second floor room of The Old Stone House, of the immediate connections—the bonds—I feel when I meet parents and relatives of autistic persons. I will be writing more about what was said, and about the whole adventure of the evening (Charlie had a lot of subway rides). When I came home, though after getting Charlie into his pajamas and then bed, and when I sat down to write, what I felt I had to post about was this. After reviewing the headlines in the news sources this morning, it is clear that a lot of speculation, rumor, and very charged worry is spreading around the internet, and will continue to do so; that the word “autism” and an “autism diagnosis” are being associated with some things that all of us would rather these not be associated with. I hope we can proceed to respond to all this carefully. I hope we can try to steer clear of hopelessness, and of hysteria.

Here is something hopeful.

Charlie attended part of the reading last night and, in particular, the part when I was reading. Jim and I have a policy of not talking about him in his presence and—seeing him sitting in the front row looking at me out of the sides of his eyes and trying not to make a sound—everything I was reading sounded very different; I kept glancing over at Charlie. How, in particular, should I read my renditions of Charlie’s speech

As ever, Charlie helped me out. A few sentences into me reading Translating Sappho, Translating Charlie, he said “Mom!”

I looked up. “Yes, Charlie.”

“Mom!”

“Yes?”

“I want!”

“You want…..”

“I want. I want. I want, Mom, I want!”

Or something like that—MothersVox and I are working on putting up a podcast, so you can test my memory against what Charlie really said. Jim and Charlie went out for a walk (and a snack, and one of those subways rides) and I continued to read, in the echo of Charlie’s own voice.

Which I hope you’ll be able to hear, very soon.

This from CBS News/AP:

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK A baby whale that died in a remote backwater of New York Harbor was a female, experts said after an examination. But they remained unsure why the animal died.

“Unfortunately, I can’t say, ‘Okay, this is what happened,”‘ said Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Long Island-based Riverhead Foundation for Research and Preservation.

The whale’s belly had shown a number of bloody scratches, as though she had scraped herself on the bottom or underwater obstacles. But no signs of significant trauma were found during a seven-hour necropsy, researchers said Friday.

They planned to send tissue samples to pathologists for more tests.

The 12-foot-long minke whale was first spotted Tuesday in Gowanus Bay, a small estuary off industrial south Brooklyn. The animal swam aimlessly in the bay until Wednesday evening, when she died after suddenly thrashing in the water and attempting to beach herself on a pier at a Hess Oil Co. facility.

Durham estimated the whale was about a year old — still in the nursing stage and unable to survive without her mother.

Minke whales are a subspecies of baleen whales, common in northern Atlantic waters, and feed on plankton and krill.

This from New York 1:

A necropsy will be performed today on the baby whale that died in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Bay.

After some problems, the 12-foot-long minke was hoisted onto a boat
this morning and taken to Jersey City where marine biologists will try
to determine the cause of death.

A tow line fell off the whale this morning, sending the body 30
feet below the surface. Police divers were able to reattach the line.

The 15-foot whale died yesterday, after breaching itself near Clinton Street.

The whale was first spotted earlier this week off the piers near 22nd Street and was seen swimming in circles.

Members of the Riverhead Foundation originally hoped the whale
would swim out to sea, but they say the animal had numerous cuts and
bruises and was swimming in an altered pattern.

They say it may have come in contact with the pier or other submerged objects.

As I attempt to process the savage details of  the massacre at  Virginia Tech, I find myself feeling angry that two hours after the first shootings many students and staff had no idea that a shooter was on the loose. 

Many organizations will now be rethinking the way they function in an emergency. In this day and age, it must be possible to notify large groups of people during an  emergency in order to warn them of danger. Our lives depend on it.
Even low-tech solutions like alarms and sirens need to be reconsidered.

Full Disclosure: Hepcat consults for a company called Send Word Now, that provides a service called SWN ALERT SERVICE to contact people during emergencies and in everyday, time-sensitive situations.

In the two years that Hepcat has worked with Send Word Now, emergency situation after situation in the news has demonstrated to me the need for a service which provides on-demand alerting and response.

During an emergency, communication is so vital and it saves lives.

The founders of Send Word Now began developing SWM Alert Service after 9/11 when they recognized the necessity of such a service to inform large groups of people during a terrorist attack. They knew it would also be significant for a wide range of emergency or time-sensitive situations like hurricanes and other weather and health emergencies.   

Send Word Now’s service communicates critical information in real-time so that people can be informed about what’s happening when it’s happening so that people will know what to do; so that people won’t put themselves in deeper danger; to reduce the risk of death. 

But technology is not the only answer. Low-tech solutions like emergency preparedness training, sirens, bullhorns, alarms, code words, and phone chains must be updated.

Sadly, institutions need to know in advance how they will deal with an emergency.
It’s definitely something none of us want to think about but what would we do if we were in a critical situation and needed to contact other members of our community?

As reported in the New York Daily News, the cause of Sludgie’s death won’t be known until a necropsy is performed today, but experts said Sludgie was probably younger and smaller and more vulnerable than originally thought.

The whale appeared in the Gowanus Canal on Tuesday. He became disoriented during the weekend’s nor’easter. He also became a cause celebre in NYC and around the country.

Marine biologists were monitoring Sludgie’s breathing and behavioral patterns.

On Wednesday at 4:45 p.m., there was some splashing in the water, and scientists saw that he was dead.

NYPD and preservation experts from Riverhead, LI used a dinghy, ropes and grappling hooks to stop the 5,000-pound whale from sinking to the bottom.

The Army Corps of Engineers will tow Sludgie’s carcass to a pier in Jersey City for the necropsy.

RIP Sludgie

I took a walk with a news photographer today. He was looking for a very Slopey location. I suggested Seventh Avenue. But Union Street between Seventh and Sixth Avenues is really the most Slopey of streets. There you’ll find the Tea Lounge (free wireless and strollers), the Park Slope Food Coop (socialist organic shopping)  and Squad 1 (9/11 heroes).

It’s the Park Slope Triangle — three iconic spots that say a lot about Park Slope. Run a string from the Food Coop east to Squad One then across the street to the Tea Lounge and then back across the street to the Coop.

A triangle.

The Tea Lounge is a gathering place for moms and kids. But let’s not forget that free wireless makes it a mecca for neighborhood bloggers, writers, and freelancers.

The Food Coop, the nation’s largest, has 10,000 working members and is a haven for organic produce, food products, and strange internal squabbles that achieve national notoriety.

Squad One lost eleven firefighters on 9/11. But they’ve always been beloved members of  the community for their hospitatlity toward local children and their fire safety presentations to school groups. Not to  mention all the fire and rescue work they do. We love them,

This just in from the office of City Council member CM Liu:

In response to concerns from community members, CM Liu is organizing a
prayer vigil for victims of the recent Virginia Polytechnic Institute
shooting incident. The vigil will take place today (Wed, Apr 18) from
4:30PM to 5:30PM on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan. You are
welcome to participate and invite others who may be interested.

A photo-ID is required for entry into the City Hall area. You are
encouraged to take public transportation (the A, C, E, R, W, M, Z, 2,
3, 4, 5 subway trains all stop at City Hall and Chambers Street). Let
us know if you have any questions. Thank you.

Sylvia Moore
Office of Council Member John C. Liu
The Council of the City of New York

I am listening to an album called "Zero Church" by Suzzy and Maggie Roche.

There’s a song on it that feels relevant.  The author of the lyrics is unknown. The Roches were told that this prayer was written by Mother Teresa and
inscribed on the wall of her orphanage in Calcutta. However, Sister M.
Nirmala M.C. at the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta wrote to us and
said that she did not write this prayer. Another source said that this
poem was found by Mother Teresa’s bedside when she died, written in her
own handwriting. It remains a mystery.

The CD is a collection of prayers, which were composed during a residency at the
Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue founded by Anna Deavere
Smith at Harvard University, which was funded in part by the Ford Foundation. (OTBKB Note: Anna Deavere Smith happens to be one of my heroes).

"The
Institute focuses on artistic collaboration and discovery while
exploring issues of race, identity, diversity and community."

The Roches spoke in depth to many people from different cultural and religious
backgrounds about their thoughts and feelings about prayers. They were "not focused on an academic or historical study of prayer, we were
simply interested in working with anyone who wished to share a prayer
with us.

"We
hoped to let our music reflect our conversations and experiences at the
institute. These songs are, for the most part, a collaboration with a
community," The Roches wrote album’s liner notes.
.

ANYWAY

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway

Author unknown

music by Maggie and Suzzy

THIS FROM Newsday:

A young whale lost its way in New York harbor, discovering a playground in an area hemmed in by docks and a large oil depot near a polluted canal.

Marine biologists were standing watch on Tuesday over the animal, described as a juvenile minke whale about 15 long, that was cruising around Gowanus Bay, the outlet from the mile-long Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

The foundation, based in Riverhead, N.Y., specializes in cases involving whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles.

Durham and other experts were dispatched to the scene after the whale was spotted early Tuesday. A television news helicopter videotaped it leaping out of the water, a behavioral trait common to whales of the baleen species.

In spite of the whale’s choice to roam in waters near the canal _ notorious for industrial pollution _ Durham said she was not unduly concerned that it would be affected in the short term by anything in the water.

Durham said she was glad to note that the whale was not swimming in tight circles or exhibiting other behavior that might be indicative of disease. She said the whale would be monitored overnight, with the hope that it might decide on its own to leave the area and swim out into the harbor, where the water is deeper.

"My main concern is not what it is doing but simply why it is here," Durham said in a telephone interview. "This is not really an environment conducive to its good health."

Robert Guskind, founder of Gowanuslounge.com, a Web site that cover the canal, told the Daily News the recent storm probably sent sewage into the canal.

"It’s probably the worst time to wander in there," Guskind told the tabloid in Wednesday’s edition.

The U.S. Coast Guard and a police harbor patrol boat were standing by but didn’t plan to take action unless it was necessary.

Whales are a rare sight in New York harbor, and it was not immediately known when a previous sighting of a live whale last occurred.

A New York Aquarium official, Fran Hackett, theorized that the whale followed a school of fish into the Gowanus area.

"It’s just swimming around in there, and reasonably well," she said in a telephone interview.

"He might be all sludgy and gloppy but he’s going to wash off in the ocean," a hopeful 6-year-old, Erin Young, told the News after going to watch the whale with relatives.

The Gowanus canal, named for a native American group that once lived in the area, runs about a mile from picturesque Boerum Hill in south Brooklyn to the bay in Red Hook, a quaintly rundown harbor community where grain ships once loaded cargo for Europe and shipyards turned out ferry boats and fancy yachts.

The last reported incident involving a whale was the discovery in 2000 of a dead whale floating in the harbor between Brooklyn and Staten Island, apparently the victim of a collision with a ship.

In 1993, an ailing whale was recovered off the north shore of Long Island Sound and was nursed back to health during eight months at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island.

Park Slope pediatrician, Dr. Amy Glaser, has compiled and published the first complete listing of summer activities for teens. 125 fascinating programs for every interest and pocketbook.

For many parents and their teenage children, the thought of finding worthwhile summer programs throughout New York City is a challenging and stressful endeavor.

SUMMER IN THE CITY FOR TEENS is a welcome resource which lists over 125 summer projects for teenagers in the New York area.  Screened and tested by young adultsand their parents, this is the Zagat of summer programs.

If you are interested, call Dr. Glaser’s office at 718-636-0999. You can pay by credit card and they will send you a copy.

Sounds like an odd combination: pickles and oranges but the two child-oriented stores seem to be co-existing quite well on Lincoln Place along with Stitch Therapy.

Come check out the new store and celebrate Orange Blossom’s first anniversary. Saturday April 21 all day.

Lincoln Place just east of Seventh Avenue.