The City Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday on recommendations to decrease the size of the project. Ratner says he’s on board. What does this mean? This from NY 1.

Developer Bruce Ratner says he’s on board with a scaled-down plan for his Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

The project has sparked many protests in the past but Wednesday’s vote went off with little fan fare. That does not mean everyone is happy with the plan.

"Because it is located at the intersection of three of the borough’s major commercial thoroughfares, a level of density is appropriate," said City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden. "It will bring vitality, investment, energy and excitement to this great borough."

"The adverse impacts of this proposed project outweigh all of the social benefits. They include traffic mitigation. They include the displacement of a significant number of poor people and people of color," said Brooklyn City Councilmember Letitia James. "It will result in instant gentrification."

The panel has recommended that developer Bruce Ratner reduce the size of three towers, eliminate an estimated 382 apartments and add an acre of open space.

However, the proposed building known as "Miss Brooklyn" would not be scaled down, making it the tallest building in the borough.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says even with the changes, it will be impossible to make everyone happy.

"There are some groups that under any circumstance will never support this, either because they’re against eminent domain, which will be very modestly used in this project, extremely modestly," he said. "There are those that are against major developments and they are not going to be swayed."

Critics say even a scaled down project is too big and, ultimately, the City Planning’s recommendations won’t matter because the project still needs approval from the state Public Authorities Control board, which includes Governor George Pataki, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

"City Planning has no say in this project. It’s a recommendation," said Daniel Goldstein of Develop-Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. "I think that it’s a sad day yesterday for city planning and urban planners in general, because what we have is a massive plan with no urban planning going on, just recommendations."

A spokesperson for Forest City Ratner says the company will work with the planning department to ensure the success of the project.

There’s a new restaurant called FARM where St. Marks Bistro used to be. It has a great big bold black sign with RED letters. I like the look. Anyone know what farm is? It’s off of Sixth Avenue near Flatbush.

Also: Prospect Perk, my sometime coffee hang, is about to change ownership. Always seemed like a nice place. Wonder what the new owners have in mind. Any news?

I enjoyed last night’s PBS broadcast of SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY, a documentary by Hollywood director, Sydney Pollack. While the documentary is mostly about Gehry’s architectural process, I saw it as an interesting conversation between two middle aged friends  with tremendous drive, ambition and personal demons, who are also hugely successful in their chosen artistic professions.

It even includes a fascinating interview with Gehry’s psychiatrist, who speaks frankly about some of Gehry’s personal and artistic struggles. He says that he’s been credited with making Frank Gehry a great architect (by FG, by whom?). He, of course, denies this. He does admit to helping Gehry unleash his creative freedom (note: his genius, his huge ego). Other architects have come to him because of that but he turns them away.

The interviews conducted by Gehry’s friend Oscar winner Sydney Pollack are personal and frank, — a fascinating conversation between good friends. Pollack drives in Gehry’s car and they talk about his childhood, his influences, marriage, working with clients, being a professional artist and the compromise that entails.

Gehry takes him in buildings, inside his design office. At one point Gehry says that his biggest disappointment is not being a painter. But he admits that he would never dare to paint a painting. Too hard, he says.

The film shows how, beginning with Gehry’s own original sketches for each major project, Gehry and company turn these drawings into finished
buildings of titanium and glass, concrete and steel, wood and stone.

Gehry works very closely with his design assistants, who quickly transform his sketches into three-dimensional models. He works in various scales, he says, so as not to become too enamored of the model itself.

He says: "We
constantly go back and forth between the models and the drawings,
because (pointing to the drawings) if this doesn’t work, that doesn’t
work!"

These models are scanned into an  unbelievably sophisticated computer and rendered into working drawings. These computer programs have made it possible for Gehry to render and build the strange and eccentric shapes he imagines. This would never have been possible without these CAD programs. Gehry himself is completely computer illiterate.

Various clients are interviewed, who describe the process by which Gehry’s buildings are developed: the give and take, the back and forth. Clearly, Gehry is a very smart guy, with a big ego, who is constantly listening, revising, and enhancing his vision.

A rule-breaking architect, he strongly disagrees with the notion that architecture should fit in and not be noticed, Gehry’s work stands out, sometimes glaringly, often beautifully, in contrast to the cityscape around it.

Gehry’s approach is sculptural with a strong understanding of shape, contour, materials and light. 

The film made me think that it will be exciting to have Gehry building in Brooklyn. It is too bad that the Atlantic Yards site is so controversial. If it had been connected with the BAM development zone it probably would have been a no-brainer. His Barry Diller building went up on the west side highway with almost no hoopla as far as I know.

I’m willing to bet that Gehry sees all the public opposition as just a lot of noise — just part of the usual chaos and insanity that goes into any architectural project in NYC. I don’t get the sense that he thinks a lot about the social impact of his work. He obviously thinks about what it means to be in and outside of one of his buildings — the  experience of the light, the shadows, the shapes, the flow.

But I’m not sure if he really cares about city planning and urban issues.

And he did admit to sometimes being embarassed by the scale and
audacity of his work. "Who let me do that?" he says at one point.

The issues of urban flow and city planning really belong to the developer after all. The idea of planting sixteen high rise apartments in the Atlantic Yards belongs to Ratner not Gehry. Gehry might be a very interesting architect to do it but he’s not going to be the one who will speak to  the issues that concern Brooklynites.

If the stadium works for Brooklyn the way it works in Bilbao – seamlessly contradicting and merging with its surroundings in a mesmerizing way – that would be wonderful. The matter of too many apartments, too little urban flow, and too little infrastructure need to be addressed so that quality of life is insured.

SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY is worth seeing. Even just to see Gehry’s shrink talk about his client in such an open way.

Why are so many old Honda Civics being stolen. As a former owner of a Honda Civic, I am  curious. This person on Daily Slope is looking for theories. Anyone got a theory?

Hepcat, you who know everything car-related, care to weigh in?   

My dented 17-yr-old Honda Civic was stolen Thursday night from
Garfield Place (bet 8th & PPW). It had only 82000 miles and ran
great, so I’m mourning its loss this weekend.

I just read the Police column from this week’s Brooklyn Paper and see
that 8 other Hondas, most of them 2000 or earlier – two 1991s – have
been stolen in the past week alone. My loss was too new to have been
listed in this item.

I don’t know that much about car thefts to figure out what’s going on.
Does anyone have a theory? For parts? For export to a third-world
country? Teenagers joyriding?

Last year on this day there was a murder and suicide in the Delores Beauty Shop on 11th Street in Park Slope. Here’s my story from a year ago:

Another crime of passion in Brooklyn.

In a tiny beauty shop on 11th Street between Fifth and Fourth
Avenue, a man killed his ex-wife (or girlfriend) and then killed
himself.

It was a crime of jealousy and revenge: he was angry because she was dating another man.

The woman, one of the owners of Delores’ Beauty Shop, was rushed to
Methodist Hospital. But she died enroute. The man died immediately.

The shootings occurred at 11 a.m. Soon after, the street was closed
off as a crime scene. Police and news helicpopters were seen flying
over Park Slope.

The beauty shop is right next door to the tiny Cafe Regular, a favorite local spot.  `

At 4:30 when I came by on my way to see my therapist, the block was
closed to traffic. A big crowd of onlookers stood in the rain. But I
wasn’t sure what was going on. A commercial, maybe a movie. Then I
realized that there was a crime scene  on my therapist’s block.

I was determined to get to my appointment so I walked under the
police line and walked toward Fourth Avenue. Then I was stopped by a
group of four policemen with the words "Crime Scene" monogrammed on
their blue uniforms.

I told them that I had an appointment on the block. They looked at
me like I was crazy.

"This is a crime scene. Get off the block. Didn’t
you notice the police tape?" One of the cops rolled her eyes.

They advised me to walk down 10th Street to Fourth Avenue and come
around the other way. I arrived a little late for my appointment. My
therapist had heard about the shooting from an earlier client. He
hadn’t had a chance to go outside.

When the session was over, I was able to walk up to Fifth Avenue
from his building. Locals standing under umbrellas crowded across the
street from the beauty salon were waiting for the body to come out.
There were news cameras and a sprinkling of reporters with notepads and
press passes. A man asked me if the woman killed was named Delores.
"She used to cut my hair." A reporter asked if she was from the
Dominican Republic and he nodded yes, looking sad. 

There were rumors that the woman’s boyfriend had been murdered, as well. "That depends what side of the block you’re on."

Another woman heard that the woman’s boyfriend had also been sent to
Methodist. "My friend works there and that’s what she told me."

One of the reporters had the police report. He held it in his hand and said there was just one man killed, a suicide.

Crime scene policemen worked for hours marking up the small beauty
shop with chalk and police tape and taking photographs. I saw a
policeman wearing blue rubber gloves. I left before the body was
removed from the beauty shop.

Later my daughter said that she and her classmates had noticed the news and police helicopters flying above them in the school playground. They stared up
at the sky, she said. "It hurt my eyes."

-posted September 26, 2005

My twin nieces left for college this week and my heart goes out to my sister-in-law (SIL) who will face the empty nest when her older daughter, who just graduated from college, starts a new job and moves away.

Hard to believe the twins are in college already. I remember the day a routine sonogram revealed that my SIL was having twins "Either your baby is two-headed or you’re having twins," the doctor is said to have said.

I remember the day they were born and many days after that we spent together on the farm in California. They’re such cool people: good natured, smart, funny and fun to be around. I am very proud of them and very impressed with their decision to go into engineering. I can’t wait to see the adults they become.

The girls have always been great friends with Teen Spirit — from the moment they attached a black and white mobile to his portable crib (when he was three months and they were three). Email and instant messaging have sealed that bi-coastal friendship and I expect them to all be close forever. I hope so.

Being a twin myself, I have always felt a special kinship with my twin nieces. I am fascinated by their relationship and the ways they are—and are not similar. I always find it so annoying to be confused for my twin so I made a special effort to tell them apart. Sadly, even I made mistakes from time to time.

Although identical, my twin nieces are very different people and they have chosen to go to different colleges. This is the first time they’ve even been in a separate school (and they have often been in the same class). This is the first time they’ve ever been separated except for a few days here and there. This will be a big change for both of them and probably something of a challenge. I am so curious as to how they are doing.

My sister and I always went to different schools from second grade on up. We always had different friends and never even considered going to the same college. But I visited her college frequently and got to know the campus and her friends. It’s like attending two colleges at once when you have a twin (I hope my twin nieces enjoy that aspect of being a twin).

As for my SIL, she has a lot to be proud of. Three highly motivated girls – two in college, one on her way to an interesting career. But it must feel strange to have them out of the house — kind of lonely and sad. She sent out an email yesterday to fill the family in:

E has been having a very busy first week of orientation. She’s been touring the campus, meeting her department, bowling, kayaking, hot tubing, maybe even a little karaoke and belly dancing??? She’s made lots of new friends and found out that there will be one other girl besides her in the Materials Engineering class of 2010. After fifteen years of uniforms we’re curious what she will decide to wear…. probably t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, the new uniform….

We just dropped off A off yesterday so she has had less time to acclimate to college life. Luckily she went second off to college as she had more stuff and there wouldn’t have been room for E in the van. (A had a micro-fridge, and a bicycle, plus everything E took. The school —a campus of the University of California—has an extra 900 freshmen this year that they guaranteed housing to so lots of rooms came with an extra roommate.

In the meantime, the recent college grad is at home waiting to hear about a new job that will take her far from home. Much excitement in that household: nerves, tears, chaos, change.

Lots of change.

The New York Times’ interviewed Jean Nathan, an authority on Jewish food.

I always braise my brisket long and slow to tenderize it. Since
brisket comes from the grainier forequarters of the steer, slow cooking
is required to tenderize the meat, even more so these days with
pre-trimmed, young, or "select" meat. I start with a whole brisket and
leave the fat on – I cut it off after cooking. If you want a very
savory brisket try My Favorite Brisket in my "Jewish Cooking in
America." It includes red wine, tomato sauce, and, of course, lots of
onions. I never make a thick gravy with flour but reduce the juices
from the brisket after cooking and pour them over as a gravy. I also
make my brisket a day ahead, refrigerate it, trim off the fat and slice
it against the grain. Then I put the sliced pieces back in the pan with
the sauce and fruit, to be heated up at dinner. Here is a favorite:

Fruited Brisket with Apricots and Apples

Adapted from "The New American Cooking," (Alfred Knopf)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 chopped onions

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon dried ginger

1 five- six-pound brisket

Salt and pepper to taste

2 apples, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup dried apricots, halved

1 cup dried plums, pitted

½ cup dried cranberries

1 – 2 cups apple juice

1 – 2 cups canned beef or chicken broth

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Brown the onion, the garlic, and the ginger in the remaining
oil until the onion is golden. Then scatter the onions in the roasting
pan.

3. Season the brisket with salt and pepper and gently lay on
top of the onions. Add the chopped apples, chopped apricots, dried
cranberries, chopped pitted prunes and enough apple juice and beef or
chicken broth to almost cover the brisket. Cover the roasting pan with
a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 3 hours.

4. Remove the brisket, cool, and refrigerate overnight.

5. Just before serving, reheat the oven to 350 degrees. While
the brisket is still cold, skim off any fat that has accumulated on
top, and slice off the excess fat. Slice the meat against the grain,
place in a baking dish with the reserved juices, cover and reheat for
about a half hour. Remove from the pan to a platter, surrounded by the
fruits and the sauce. Serve this with potato pancakes or noodles.
Yield: 8 – 10 servings.

I learned last night at the first PTA meeting of the year at PS 321 that PS 321 and over 300 other schools in NYC, is an EMPOWERMENT SCHOOL.

This designation is part of a new Department of Education Initiative. It means that the school has more authority in terms of decision making and budget. The school is also held more accountable for student performance. PS 321 was allocated additional money through this initiative, and that funding is helping the school in many different ways, from support in the school yard to intervention teachers to materials and programs in the arts.

PS 321 is also piloting some assessments that they are developing in concert with other schools that slign with their instructional approach. “For us one of the attractions of becoming an Empowerment School was the idea of having some input into new systems that the Department of Education will be putting into place for all schools next years,” writes Principal Liz Phillips in a letter to parents.

At the end of the school year, the school will be grade with a letter grade. “I don’t expect to get less than a B,” she said.

The first PTA meeting is usually the most well-attended of the year and is full of parents new to the school. The PTA discusses their fundraising initiatives and reports and reaches out to the parent body for financial support and volunteer help. There is a volunteer fair after the meeting.

This year’s PTA leadership is a highly skilled, organized group led by Amy Bender and Wesley Weissberg. The team is made up of fundraising dynamos and parents whose concern is for the entire student body and not just their own children.

There is even one male member of the team. He urged other men to get involved. “It’s not as scary as it looks,” he said. The PTA is traditionally mostly made up of women.

PTA MENTORING: It occurred to me that perhaps this team could offer mentoring to another school’s PTA. They have so much to offer in terms of ideas, organizational practices, templates, materials and approaches to fundraising and academic enhancement that could be a real contribution to a school that doesn’t have the same level of parent support.

Go to Atlantic Yards Report for a thorough analysis by Norman Oder of yesterday’s third and final public meeting on the Atlantic Yards plan,
held by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC):

It was in several
ways a rerun of the points raised at the epic Aug. 23 public hearing and the barely-attended Sept. 12 community forum.

The
forum at New York Tech’s Klitgord Auditorium drew a somewhat larger
crowd than the one Sept. 12—about 200 people—but the expressions of
support from union members and minority residents differed little from
previous testimony in favor of jobs, housing, and opportunity. The
meeting, scheduled to last from 4:30 pm to 8 pm, broke at 7 pm,
reconvened a half-hour later, and continued for another 45 minutes.

Besides
the void in the 800-plus-seat room—especially after the sizable union
contingent left at 6:15 pm, having fulfilled their obligation—there
were two other voids. Though there’s been much testimony about the 2250
units of affordable housing, nobody spoke for the unmentioned 4610 (as
of now) households that would move into the market-rate rentals and
condos that would be the financial engine of Atlantic Yards. The
development would include 16 towers and an arena for the basketball
Nets, built in two phases, and the market-rate units would be
frontloaded in the five towers of Phase 1.

Also, though a representative of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN)
did testify, experts commissioned by the organization (thanks to
city/state grants) are preparing hundreds of pages of testimony that
will be submitted by the Sept. 29 deadline for comments. In other
words, because of the swift pace of the environmental review and the
length of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and General
Project Plan (GPP), some of the most and cogent commentary has yet to
be heard.

Here’s a story. Only in Brooklyn…

NEW YORK — Two dozen athletes have followed in the massive footsteps of an escaped circus elephant by putting on their trunks and retracing the bizarre swim it took more than 100 years ago.

In June 1904, an elephant named Fanny wandered away from a circus in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and swam about 5 miles to the New Dorp neighborhood in Staten Island. The elephant was captured by fishermen, was called a vagrant on the police blotter and was returned to the circus by boat the next day.

On Sunday, 29 athletes retraced a mile portion of Fanny’s return trip by swimming from Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, organizers said.

The event, called Fanny’s Return, was held by the Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers.

The swim took place Sunday afternoon, when tide and current conditions were best, organizers said, and only strong swimmers were allowed to participate.

Swimmer Patrick Spearing said he was motivated by a challenge as big as, well, an elephant.

"It was satisfying to take on a major personal project like that," said Spearing, who finished the swim in 43 minutes.

"When we think of the word investment, we think of stocks, bonds, natural resources and business. Yet, the greatest investiment in our future is made every day, not by traders and business moguls, but by mothers. It is essential that we as a socity begin to see them as a precious resource, one worth our investment."
                                                                                        –One Percent for Moms

A group of Brooklyn women are joining together to form a giving circle. Their aim: to invest in the future, one mother at a time. One Percent for Moms is a giving circle dedicated to helping mothers who have recently become homeless due to domestic violence.

Domestic violence is the major cause for homelessness among women and children. One Percent for Moms will partner with a battered women’s shelter to assist these women.

This giving circle is based in the Red Hook/Park Slope/Flatbush area of Brooklyn. The second meeting of this evolving group is coming up in October.

If you are interested in attending a meeting to find out more about One Percent for Moms, or would like to start one in your area contact Marianne Gunther at mgsb317@earthlink.net.

Photo from the Flickr page of Neil R. Smith

An Open Forum on the environmental impact of the proposed Atlantic Yards Project:

Monday, September 18, 2006 – 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
      at the New York City College of Technology (Klitgord Auditorium)
      285 Jay Street, Brooklyn

COMMENTS TO THE ESDC MUST BE SUBMITTED BY:

Written comments must be RECEIVED by the ESDC no later than 5:30 PM, Friday,
      
September 22, 2006. Send your comments (delivery receipt and signature requested)
   

      Atlantic Yards c/o ESDC
      Empire State Develpment Corporation
      633 Third Avenue
      New York, NY  10017

      Email your comments (delivery receipt option selected) to:
      atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us

**PLEASE NOTE:
      Please Email a copy of your DEIS submissions to:
      cbrookynneighborhoods@hotmail.com.
      Hard copy to:
      Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods
      201 Dekalb Avenue
      Brooklyn, NY 11205.

Libety Heights Tap Room’s Rockin’ Teens Showcase is beginning its third straight year. After the big article in New York Magazine in August highlighting the venue and Fiasco and Care Bears on Fire, the season got off to a rollicking start with an interesting line up of bands, in various stages of their evolution.

As the kids get older it’s less "isn’t this cute" and more… "wow this is a burgeoning rock scene." Did you know: Red Hook = the new Athen’s Georgia.

We missed:

Baby Battleships and Magnolia.

We heard:

–Fiasco sounding a lot like Tom Verlaine’s 1970’s band Television. Very tight, very much in control of their wild improvised sound.

–Too Busy Being Bored, a big group from Sag Harbor, New York with a punky Rolling Stones vibe. The drummer was top drawer.

–David Pollock Band. Melodic music with conga drum and good musicianship.

–Cool and Unusual. In their first gig in six months, the band was trying out new material and a new, very comfortable, funny stage persona. The new songs, including Odyssey and Procrastination sounded great. TS’s busted bass string was a bit of a bummer. But hey, the show must go on.

UP NEXT: October 14th Teens for the  Phillipines, a benefit concert by COOL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT RAPR, TETSUWAN FIREBALL, a sitar and tabla ensemble, and Baby Battleships. Only $10 to help build a home for Manila street children.  Five bucks for kids. Snacks and more.

NOV 11: Teen Showcase at LHTR: Good to Go and Kane Balser and Julia Harris.

The Brooklyn Book Fest was quite an eye opener. And big. Brooklyn’s book culture is so much more than just a bunch of top-of-the-line writers who happen to live in Brooklyn. There’s a whole book and magazine culture out here, too. And much of it was new to me or I just wasn’t familiar enough with it. I went around wearing my "Brooklyn Reading Works" hat and introduced myself to a lot of people at the tables and came up with some great names for future readings.

Who I spoke with: I will blog that tomorrow when I’m in my office and can go through all the business cards and catalogs I took.

Who I heard read: I don’t know. But I loved the portable Parks Dept. stage and the way the steps of Borough Hall became an  amphitheater of sorts; a big, huge, outdoor reading. Loved that. But only had two hours and had to keep on moving…

I missed Gersh Kuntzman’s panel of food authors. The stage near the farmer’s market was lively with writers and musicians.

WHAT HC BOUGHT$$$$$

The Destruction of Lower Manhattan by photographer Danny Lyons. HIs
mid-1960’s photos of the area that got torn down to make way for the building of the World Trade Center. Powerhouse Press

Tugboats in Manhattan photographs by George Matteson

On the Ledge A memoir of life as a window washer by Ivor Hanson.
Two Dollar Radio Press

You Can Never Find A Rickshaw When it Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon A Day
by Mo Willems

WHAT OTBKB BOUGHT $$$$$

I Have Not Been Able to Get Through to Everyone. Poems by Anna Moschovakis. Turtle Point Press.

Daybooks 1970-72 by Jonas Mekas. Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs

Chrismakah by Gersh Kuntzman. Succatash Press.

a copy of Ballyhoo, an interesting looking Brooklyn literary magazine.

An issue of Gulf Coast, a literary magazine out of Houston, Texas.

What panels I went to: None. We didn’t even have time to go inside Borough Hall.

TOMORROW: What I saw and didn’t buy. Who I met.

I’ve got a press pass so I plan to catch some of the Brooklyn Book Fest (it sounds so much like the Brooklyn Blogfest — ah well — no bloggers asked to participate). There is so much to do tomorrow—such a BIG SHINDIG. Some of the events sound interesting and I bet the crowds are gonna be HUGE.  They’re gonna have all the Brooklyn biggies at this thing. It’s just incredible. If you can get anywhere near Brooklyn Borough Hall Courtroom on Saturday from 11 am onward, the panels should be cool — PAULA FOX, Lethem, Krauss, Lahiri, Barton…

HERE ARE OTBKB’S PICK HITS FOR THE BROOKLYN BOOK FEST

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
The Streets Are Talking. Jonathan Lethem (Fortress of Solitude), Emily
Barton (Brookland), and Paula Fox (Desperate Characters) discuss the
relationship between their writing and Brooklyn and read from their
work set on the borough’s streets. Q & A. Introduced by Jay Kaplan,
Brooklyn Public Library. Borough Hall Courtroom

3:00–3:30 p.m.
A State of Mind. Aaron Naparstek reads from his book Honku: Zen and the
Art of Road Rage.Michael Robbins reads from Brooklyn: A State of Mind. Outdoor Non-fiction Stage

3:00–3:30 p.m.
Only the Dead Know Brooklyn. Actors Ashlie Atkinson, Hazelle Goodman
and Roger Guenveur Smith and members of the Troupe Theatre Company
celebrate Brooklyn’s literary legacy with readings from poets,
novelists and pulp fiction masters including Walt Whitman, June Jordan,
W.H. Auden, Richard Wright, Truman Capote, Stanley Ellison and Mickey
Spillane. Introduced by Suzanne Youngerman, BAM. Main Stage Borough Hall Plaza

4 p.m. CATCH MY FRIEND, Barbara Ensor, author of: Cinderella (As if You
Didn’t Already Know the Story at 4 p.m. at the Target Children’s
Pavillion.


BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL COURTROOM

11 a.m. – 12:00p.m.
Under One Brooklyn Roof: Carson McCullers, Gypsy Rose Lee, and W. H.
Auden. Actors from Troupe Theater Company and author Sherill Tippins
(February House) read from the work of authors who lived at the famed
Middagh Street house in Brooklyn Heights.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
The Streets Are Talking. Jonathan Lethem (Fortress of Solitude), Emily
Barton (Brookland), and Paula Fox (Desperate Characters) discuss the
relationship between their writing and Brooklyn and read from their
work set on the borough’s streets. Q & A. Introduced by Jay Kaplan,
Brooklyn Public Library.

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
The Soul of a Bestseller. Nationally best-selling authors Pete Hamill
(The Gift), Colson Whitehead (The Intuitionist), and Jennifer Egan (The
Keep) talk about a major literary figure who inspired their writing,
then read passages from their work that reflect this inspiration.
Q&A. Introduced by Johnny Temple, Akashic Books.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
City on the Edge. Readings by groundbreaking New York writers whose
work reflects the quirky and unpredictable spirit of the city: Gary
Shteyngart (Absurdistan), Jonathan Ames (I Pass Like Night), and Ben
Greenman (Superworse). Q&A. Introduced by Charlotte Abbott
(Publishers Weekly).

3:00–4:00 p.m.
Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution and American Democracy. Political
dialogue and discussion. With Katha Pollitt (Virginity or Death)
Patricia J. Williams (Open House) and US Representative Elizabeth
Holtzman. Moderated by Laura Flanders, Air America. Organized by The
Nation magazine. Q & A.

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Of Chaos and Fiction. In an era of war and global political trauma, how
do writers maintain their artistic equilibrium and stay focused on
their craft? Does reality intrude? A panel discussion with Nicole
Krauss (The History of Love), Jhumpa Lahiri (Namesake), Jaime Manrique
(Our Lives are the Rivers), and Elizabeth Nunez (Bruised Hibiscus).
Moderated by WNYC’s Leonard Lopate.

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
History Matters. New York City’s most insightful and adventurous
literary historians discuss their work. Q&A. Phillip Lopate
(Getting Personal), Edmund White (The Flaneur), Rich Cohen (Sweet and
Low), Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss (Brooklyn by Name).

Continue reading BLOGGING THE BOOK FEST →

The Atlantic Antic is this Sunday. It’s supposed to be a sunny day.  This from NY1.

Rain or shine, the annual Atlantic Antic Festival will be in full swing in Brooklyn Sunday.

It’s one of the city’s biggest and liveliest street fairs, drawing thousands to Brooklyn Heights every year.

This year marks the 32nd consecutive year of the festival, which
dots Atlantic Avenue with a multi-cultural array of food, music and
activities.

Vendors, local businesses and restaurants are already busy preparing for the event.

"I’m looking forward to all the fun,” said owner of Gumbo Karen
Zebulon. “It’s a great event. It will be a lot of work but it will also
be a lot of fun."

"People that you know are traveling around the Atlantic Antic who
didn’t know we are here, it’s an opportunity for us to introduce them
to our food," said Stir It Up owner and chef Sonia Gordon.

Some talented kids are fine tuning their performance. A troupe from
the Upbring Dance Company will perform at the festival. A professional
story-teller will also help entertain the audience.

The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information – visit www.atlanticave.org.
            
            
       

I just got an email from the owner of the bistro formerly called
Little Dishes on Seventh Avenue near 13th Street. Oy for them having to
change their name. It's a great place and the food is wonderful. I don't
think the name change will be much of the problem. LITTLE D EATERY IS CUTE. 
And it's a good story...


We wish to inform you that as of September 1, 2006, Little Dishes has 
been renamed Little D Eatery. However, there has been no change in 
ownership at our restaurant. The name changed was forced upon us due to 
legal action taken by Uncommon Grounds, Inc.. They own the federal 
trademark rights to the word Dishes�, which is the name of their 
establishment(s) in Manhattan and elsewhere in the US. According to 
their lawyers, having �Little� in our name was not sufficient to 
forestall customer confusion between our two businesses. As a new small 
business, we did not have the resources to fight to keep the �Dishes� 
part of our name, and we have agreed to make a change.

Again, there has been no change of ownership and our mission remains 
the same: to provide our diners excellent food and service.

Mira Friedlaender & Colin Wright
718-369-3144 � info@littled-eatery.com
www.littled-eatery.com

The name of the restaurant is NO NO. They’ve got the French doors painted white. To me that says New Orleans or French bistro. Well, HC has the scoop:

"It’s a French bistro, southern-style hybrid restaurant called No No" going in where that awful Indian place was (Seventh Avenue between 7th and 8th – next to Michael’s Hair Salon).

"It  looks nice. The interior looks pretty much done. There was a huge flurry of activity there on Thursday. Obviously they were in some sort of "panic" about an opening deadline. A real big crowd of people working on it."

No No – stands for New Orleans, New Orleans  (that’s conjecture). "North of New Orleans (that’s a fact). "That’s all I could glean when I was coming home late last night wanting to get home to my lovely family before they bite me," says HC.

Seeing Green, sorry to hear about Cleopatra. Too bad the vet and his employees were so, shall we say, insensitive. Losing a pet is a big deal and it should be handled in a kind and gentle manner.

Why is it that in New York (or is it Brooklyn) one has so many bad experiences in the "service" sphere?

You’d think a vet about to kill a cat wouldn’t say, referring to the
difficulty of finding a vein: "This isn’t much fun for me either."

You’d think the receptionist wouldn’t say "Maybe you should pay now so you won’t have to be bothered later."

You’d think further that she wouldn’t say in reference to state law "well, we can’t just bury her in the backyard, can we?"

Maybe we should’ve.

Rockin’ Teens show at Liberty Heights Tap Room this Saturday September 16 at 1 p.m.:

Liberty Heights Tap Room

s34 Van Dyke St. (Corner of Dwight)
Red Hook, Brooklyn , NY , Ph: 718-246-8050

This Sat. Sept. 16th 1:00pm

ROCKIN’ TEENS CONCERT

Cool & Unusual Punishment (pictured above)

Tuesday night, workmen installed two TEMPO PRESTO neon signs – one on the Seventh Avenue side of the store, one on the Third Street.

Brings back memories of when the Mojo neon sign was installed — neighbors complained that the bright neon was making it difficult to sleep.

The Homeless Entrepreneur and his temporary department store have disappeared. So has a part of the fence.

Wonder when the new place will open. In the meantime, Sweet Melissa’s opened yesterday — and would you believe: I didn’t even walk by. Too busy doing other things yesterday. Yes, I do have other things to do besides checking on the grand opening of Sweet Melissa’s. But I forget what.

Wish I’d been there.

At 11:30 p.m., I went with a friend who volunteered for David Yassky today to the  post-election Yassky party at 200 Fifth. 

The mood at the sports bar on Fifth Avenue was subdued and glum. A friend of a friend, who is a friend of Yassky’s walked out saying, "It’s over for Yassky. This may be the end of David’s political career."

There’s no doubt Yassky is a good, trustworthy guy; he’s a smart, political wonk, who, at least at election time, gets things done for his constituents. He may have waffled on the Atlantic Yards issue, but he does seem to support a reduction in its size.

Yassky still has two years left on the City Council. Some said that he’s alienated his fellow City Council members. But what do I know.

Yassky wasn’t conceding.  He thanked his campaign workers, his extended family, his mother and father, his children and most effusively, his wife.

But it looks like Yvette Clarke is the winner – at midnight the numbers were : 31 % Clarke to Yassky’s 26%. Chris Owens is in fourth Place. That was a big surprise to me.

Personally, I think Yassky ran for the wrong congressional seat, a seat
long held by black politicians.  It was a tough, contentious race from the start.  I  didn’t believe he could win for that reason. 

Activists who oppose the Atlantic Yards put their votes behind Chris Owens, which may have cut into Yassky’s percentage points in some neighborhoods.

At 200 Fifth, Yassky said to the crowd of campaign workers, family, friends, newsmedia and bloggers: “I almost wish it were over. But we owe it to the voters to make sure every vote is counted.”

He was referring to the absentee ballots and affidavit ballots. My friend who volunteered as a poll watcher today said there were problems with a few voting machines in Prospect Heights and some at PS 321.

It started when a Yassky supporter accidentally voted for Carl Andrews. Apparently, the alignment was off on some of the voting machines, which made it hard to tell which name went with which lever. My friend said the Yassky campaign contacted lawyers and representatives of the Board of Elections.

There were no such problems in my voting booth at John Jay High School. 

The unofficial returns, with all precincts reporting, showed Councilwoman Yvette Clarke led with 31.2 percent of the vote to Mr. Yassky’s 26.2 percent.

State Senator Carl Andrews and Chris Owens, the son of the incumbent, Representative Major R.
Owens, who is retiring, received 19.6 percent.

–1 a.m. September 13th

Opponents
of Brooklyn’s proposed Atlantic Yards project wanted to send a big, loud message to pro-Ratner politicians today.

In a New York minute, we go from somber 9/11 memorializing to Tuesday primary day (who can forget that 9/11 was primary day. Who can forget?)

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE (REGULAR NO SUGAR).

Okay: mourning’s over. Time to VOTE.  It’s so New York, so speedy, so crazy. But that’s New York whiplash.

The patriotism of the fifth anniversary really got to me — ENOUGH WITH THE AMERICAN FLAGS.  For me the anniversary is that most New York of days, where we all come together and mourn for our city, our friends, our fellow New Yorkers.

It’s a New York kind of blues.

The patriotic part of it never appealed to me. And Bush’s attempt to use the anniversary to support HIS war in Iraq: that was beyond the pale.

But what’s more patriotic, more New York than a rough and tumble, low voter turnout New Yawk primary election. In our small town of Brooklyn, all day long: Didja vote? Who’d ya vote for? =Did you vote yet?

I went into the voting booth with OSFO; the auditorium at John Jay was empty at 4 p.m. (par for the course for a primary, I think). Standing in that voting booth, she is experiencing democracy in action. Sort of.

I let her pull the big red lever for me.

Listened to the incantation of names; watched the spouses and partners on television. Later, caught a few minutes of Bush using the day as an opportunity to justify his war; watched ABC’s  fictionmentary about real events, real people,

It was already 12:15 a.m. on September 12th when I took a walk down Seventh Avenue to see the light.

The light was shooting up from the top of PS 321 in the midnight blue sky. Above Key Food, Old First Church. The light walked with me down the Avenue (shopping list:  Spoon size Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, ballpoint pens for TC, orange juice).

The beam of light was sharp, beautiful (there may be two, but out here in Park Slope it looks like a single beam).  I wish it was here every night and of course I do not.

Presence. Absence. It speaks of loss, while introducing something dramatic and new to the city night.

The shop lights were on at Sweet Melissa’s, where a crew was busy getting the shop ready for  its grand opening on Wednesday. Paper covering counters, tools everywhere, the name being stenciled onto the front window. Something new.

Except for the Korean Market on Garfield, Key Food, Pino’s, nothing was open on Seventh Avenue; it was desserted. A few stragglers at Snooky’s (for a moment I thought I might go in and order a scotch, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do). Workers standing outside of Starbucks waiting for a car; voices inside the playground; a dog walker or two.

Back on Third Street the light comes out from behind the limestone buildings. Blue television light illuminates a checkerboard of windows;  time to go upstairs. Wanting: to stand outside; to be the only only there at that moment; quiet, alone.

Tuesday is Election Day.

Dueling openings.

The former Mojo is set to become Tempo Presto; a chic Italian cafe, gourmet take-out and gelateria.

It’s a constant drama over there. They finally put up a fence. A homeless entrepreneur had set up shop there: a veritable department store. Clothing hanging in the back, dirty, used books, kitchenware on a dirty blanket. He slept there, too; his big belly sticking out of his shirt as he snored.

They finally took down the Mojo sign (the Carvel sign went sometime ago). They painted the exterior wall green.

Part of the fence is now down; the Homeless Entrepreneur is on a dirty white blanket by the curb; no sign of him in the last day or two. Work seems to continue inside the shop but they are nowhere close opening that’s for sure.

Across from PS 321, Sweet Melissa’s looks tidy, elegant, pretty; just about ready to open. Workers work late into the night preparing the cafe space for the curious crowds on Wednesday. The front window is papered with reviews of its Cobble Hill sister.

My bet: Sweet Melissa’s will be up and running on Wednesday as promised (on a chalk board sign board outsie the shop). Tempo Pesto: I give ’em until early October.

No people are uninteresting.
Their fate is like the chronicle of planets.

Nothing in them is not particular,
and planet is dissimilar from planet.

And if a man lived in obscurity
making his friends in that obscurity
obscurity is not uninteresting.

To each his world is private,
and in that world one excellent minute.

And in that world one tragic minute.
These are private.

In any man who dies there dies with him
his first snow and kiss and fight.
It goes with him.

There are left books and bridges
and painted canvas and machinery.
Whose fate is to survive.

But what has gone is also not nothing:
by the rule of the game something has gone.
Not people die but worlds die in them.

     — Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Aidan, love is the only thing that lasts forever, and even though
Daddy’s gone, I hope you will remember how much your daddy loved you
and keep that in your heart for the rest of your life.

I have tried hard to find the good to come out of losing the love of my
life. This summer, Dave insisted on buying a hat that he saw his friend
Jerry at the firehouse wearing. It read "Life is good" and for Dave it
truly was, especially in his last months.

Dave strove to live his life
fully, to love his family and friends, to feel his feelings and be an
honest and good man. I think he accomplished that. I hope everyone here
will use Dave’s life as an example. I know I will. So tell the people
around you that you love them, mend grudges, don’t stay angry with
people, and be kind. Dave did these things. His heart was as large as
his frame and I feel privileged to have called myself Dave’s wife.

-Excerpt from Marian Fontana’s eulogy for her husband, David Fontana, who died on 9/11. On September 11 at 5 p.m. Dave’s neighbors on Fourth Street will be dedicating a new plaque in honor of Dave. Fourth Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Park Slope.

Bargemusic
hosts a memorial concert featuring works by Scriabin, Chopin and
Bottoms. 7:30 pm. Fulton Ferry Landing, Old Fulton Street at the East
River. (718) 624-2083.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is waiving its fees today for visitors
to The Liberty Oaks, on the Cherry Esplanade, a living memorial to the
heroes of 9/11.10 am-6 pm. 900 Washington Ave. (718) 623-7200.

Information for the ceremony at the World Trade Center site

Photo: flickr.com/photos/midweekpost/240212623/

taken from Third Avenue and 16th Street in Brooklyn

Written on September 10, 2005: The last couple of nights the Tribute in Lights has been my reminder that the fourth  anniversary is upon us.

Those bright white twin lights shooting up in the night sky: a reminder to remember what we never can forget.

The last couple of days, the sky has been as bright blue as it was on that Tuesday.

And here it is four  years later and our lives are the same and not the same.

That morning, as always, I was listening to WNYC on the radio. Brian
Leherer reported that a small plane had crashed into the south tower of
the World Trade Center. I, along with many others, imagined a Cessna or
something. Not a jet or a terrorist attack.

Strange to say, I didn’t think much of it. But then it happened
again. Another plane — "What is going on with Air Traffic Control?" I
thought to myself. "We’re being attacked," someone said.

Attacked? A feeling of utter dread ran through me – that thing I’d
always feared was happening. Where were my children? My daughter, only
5 years old, was in the kitchen. My son was at school…

I wasn’t thinking straight. I couldn’t fathom what was going on.
What was happening to all those people in the building, on the plane.
Were they going to be okay?

Listening to the radio, I put nail polish on my daughter’s toes.
Anything to maintain a sense of normalcy. Anything to keep her from
knowing that I was afraid, that there was something very scary going
on.

Unthinkable. I heard a siren in the distance and thought of my
friend, Firefighter Dave Fontana, who was probably on his way downtown.
Squad One would be among the first to be called in the event of an
emergency like this. Somehow I knew that though I knew nothing at all.

I ran to PS 321. Many parents were there, hovering in the lobby,
talking to the principal who was figuring out what to do…Some parents
were pulling their children out of classrooms. I decided to keep my son
there. He was safe, afterall. Unless something else happens. That’s
what we were afraid of. Something else might happen and what would it
be. Still, at school he was safe from the television set. Safe from the
panic of his parents, of the grown ups in our apartment building.

I ran over to my friend Marian’s  apartment. Somehow she knew, though she
didn’t know for sure, that her husband Dave was gone. She knew it in her
heart. It was tragic to see. I told her that of course he’d be coming
back. Of course he would. He always did. But she knew. Strangely, she
knew. I left her smoking a cigarette in her garden.

Running back to the school, I did a quick accounting of everyone I
knew. My father, omigod, he and my stepmother are in their Brooklyn
Heights apartment with its view of New York Harbor and the World Trade
Center…

My mother was with my sister who was in Manhattan having her first
insemmination. She must get pregnant, I thought. On this day when so
many people are dying, she will create a new life. Of course she will.
On this sad, sad day, a new life will begin.

It didn’t work out that way. The procedure didn’t work and she
didn’t get pregnant that day. She had many more medical prodedures –
insemmination, in Vitro, ovum donation. She did finally get pregnant
but miscarried soon after; her fallopian tube was removed due to an
ectopic pregnancy.

This evening my sister and I sat in the back garden of The Chocolate
Bar, drinking white wine, and watching one-year-old Sonya fall asleep
in her stroller. Adopted from Perm, Russia nearly three weeks ago, she
is a treasure.

Sonya wasn’t alive four years ago, untainted is she from the memory
of the 11th. She may have been put up for adoption at birth, but now
she is beloved beyond compare. Wanted. Cherished. Adored.

Walking home I saw the Tribute of Lights above the storefronts on
Seventh Avenue. A reminder to remember that which we never can forget.
3000 mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, husbands,
wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and friends.

Gone but not forgotten.

This year we go about our lives, even the day before the day, It’s
almost like  we’re back to normal — I ride the subway without fear,
don’t jump everytime I hear a helicopter fly above, have stopped
worrying about bridges and tunnels.

But I am not the same. And never can we be. I’m really not back to normal at all.

–September 10th 2005, Brooklyn