Saturday December 6th: Don’t miss the Park Slope 5th Avenue BID Tree Lighting ceremony featuring the MS 51 Chorus and Opera on Tap & Goodies for All! It all happens in Washington Park at 3rd Street and Fifth Avenue.
3rd Street @ 5th Avenue at 5 p.m.
Afterwards: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens read byy Kevin Hogan at the Old Stone House.
appropriate for ages 12 and up. 7 pm. $10 suggested donation includes snacks & drinks.
There’s just so much interesting stuff at Brooklynometry I think you just need to go over there to read the following:
Blank keys: "This is not exactly a Key Party at Brooklyn Hardware Supply. The maiden
keys you see in the window are on extra good behavior like orphans
hoping to secure surveying parents, waiting for the grinder’s peaks and
valleys to make them unique, wondering what locks they’ll lock and what
cylinders they’ll roll."
Prospect Park acorns: "It’s a relief to have proof that at least some of our Brooklyn oaks
have produced abundant acorns this season after what I’ve been hearing
about the conditions in Arlington, Va (my home town) and other areas, where there’s some really hungry squirrels."
Chekhov at Lefferts House: "On December 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21, the Rebellious Subjects Theatre in collaboration with Lefferts Historic
House & the Prospect Park Alliance presents an unexpected
production of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Erin Gilmore directs Paul
Schmidt’s distinctly American translation, infusing both the play and
the house with the zeitgeist of the American 1950s."
I remember this movie (but not much about it). I think I saw it in 1972 when it came out. It’s playing as part of the BAMcinematek Paul Newman series on Mon, Dec 8 at 6:50pm
Directed by Paul Newman
With Joanne Woodward
(1972) 100min
“Newman
has gotten it all together here as a director, letting the story and
the players unfold with simplicity, restraint and discernment.” —Variety
Newman
helmed this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Paul
Zindel about a dysfunctional family struggling to get by on the bottom
rung of society. Joanne Woodward (Newman’s wife) plays Beatrice, a
self-destructive and abusive mother bent on destroying any chances her
two daughters might have to succeed. Despite this, the imaginative and
spirited Tillie, determined to overcome her mother’s tyranny, doggedly
pursues a love of science and stakes out her own identity
Brooklyn is CHANGING (and fast!)
From
Atlantic Yards to high-rise condos, the future of central Brooklyn is
under construction right now. Take a look—at eye level—at the people
and places that make this place what it is and what it will be. This
lively performance of theater, dance, and music takes its inspiration
from interviews with the real life players in the story of Brooklyn:
residents both old and new, community activists, developers, politicos
and others.
Brooklyn at Evey Level is a project of the
acclaimed theater company The Civilians in collaboration with Urban
Bush Women, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, neo-soul singer Grace Kalambay,
local youth from the Atlantic Terminal Community Center, Brooklyn Tech,
and more.
With:
Marsha Stephanie Blake
Melanie Nicholls-King
Gregory McFadden
Keith Randolph Smith
Joaquin Torres
Colleen Werthmann
The Where and When
Thu, Dec 4 at 8pm
Fri, Dec 5 at 8pm
Sat, Dec 6 at 3 & 8pm
Sun, Dec 7 at 3pm
The Brooklyn Lyceum
Pay-What-You-Can
227 4th AvenueLimited seating! Visit brooklynateyelevel.org to reserve seats or call 212.730.2019. For more information, visit thecivilians.org or urbanbushwomen.org.
Good question. And it’s an interesting thread on Brooklynian. Here’s one response. I can’t vouch for its accuracy. But the person who wrote it does seem to know a lot.
The answer is Neergard. But it’s interesting to
talk about the other old places. O’Connors bar has an awning which says
"Since 1931," although that would mean it opened during Prohibition. I
remember a NY Times article saying that the O’Connor patriarch came
over from Ireland to start up his bar in 1933. Triangle goes back to
the ’40s – but didn’t it used to sell dry goods? The Mega Glass space
has been a glass shop under different names since at least the 1930s.
Steve Belsito & Sons (plumbing/heating) claims "Est. 1925," but I
don’t think they’ve been in the neighborhood all that time. Great
Western Fine Foods goes back to the 1930s at least. Leopoldi Hardware
goes back to 1966 but before then it was Fazio Bros. Hardware (check
out the art deco "hardware" sign on the second floor). A&S claim to
go back to 1942. Jackie’s 5th is a relatively recent name, but the bar
was Costello’s in the 1940s and numerous other names in between.
Tarzian is very old indeed – 1920s at the latest. Smith’s Tavern has
been in business under that name since the 1930s, probably right after
Prohibition ended. Same goes for Farrell’s. Garry jewelers opened in
1951 according to their sign. Lenny’s Pizza (5th Ave. & Prospect
Ave.) dates back to 1954. I believe the oldest continuously open
restaurant in the Slope is El Viejo Yayo on 5th Ave. near Dean,
although it used to be called Blanco’s and it was owned by a Cuban
family before a Dominican family bought it; it supposedly opened in
1963.
In terms of owned-and-operated by the same person, we should
mention Tony at the Record & Tape Center on 5th Ave. & 9th St.
He’s been running that place since 1972 and it had a former incarnation
up the street a few blocks in 1968-1972.
Rain may have kept crowds away from Buy in Brooklyn’s Snowflake Celebration on Thursday night but those who came out to the buy local, buy late event on Seventh and Fifth Avenues were greeted with special treats, discounts and high spirits.
There was a lively crowd at Brooklyn Mercantile, on Fifth Avenue near 4th Street, where the store’s artisans were on hand and there was a paper snowflake making workshop with Barbara Ensor, as well as a demonstration of bookbinding.
Under the Pig, an antique store on Fifth Avenue near Fifth Street, had a crowd of late night browsers (and hopefully shoppers) as did Zuzu’s Petals, where owner Fonda Sera was dressed as a reindeer and shoppers were treated to delicious cheese, salami and wine.
It was the usual wild and crazy business at Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, which was also open late. And the Old Stone House was presenting Shorts 4 Dog, a fundraiser for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
Corduroy Kid, a children’s clothing shop with a nice selection of stocking stuffers deemed appropriate for older kids, and Diana Kane were open for business until 10 p.m. Diana Kane was offering delicious chocolate covered ginger and interesting nuts.
The Community Bookstore, epicenter of the Buy in Brooklyn campaign, had a snowflake machine (pictured in today’s No Works Daily Pix and Erica of Erica’s Rugalach was on hand to give out free rugalach and macaroons, as well as to show off attractive gift baskets.
Here’s hoping for better weather on Thursday December 11 at the second night of the Snowflake Celebration.
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A great gift idea from the Brooklyn Paper that shows the history of life according to Darwin:
Most people don’t want to take the Christ out of Christmas. But one
former Brooklynite wants God to share some space in the toy chest.
To do so, Kate Miller started Charlie’s Playhouse, which sells
evolution toys and fills the black hole between the Noah’s Ark toys and
dinosaurs.I was looking for toys for my kids,” said Miller, who now lives in
Providence, R.I. “There were dinosaurs, but there was nothing that
showed the history of life on Earth. So I had to start the company.”Miller’s central product is an 18-foot-long, heavy-duty,
creature-covered timeline (pictured, $49), a journey that spans 12
geologic epochs, six mass extinctions and 600 million years.Charlie’s Playhouse — the company name is a reference to Darwin —
also sells creature cards ($19) and T-shirts (“Product of Natural
Selection” is the big seller).
Thursday morning was an interesting morning on the Brian Lehrer show (hosted by Andrea Bernstein). I was listening but must have lowered the volume during all the following excitement. Luckily my pal, David Bukszpan, publicist at WNYC, sent me this transcript and a note:
So here it is: Marty Markowitz, Tom Suozzi, Kate Slevin & Caller Rosie Perez on the first segment of today’s The Brian Lehrer Show, guest-hosted by WNYC’s Political Director Andrea Bernstein
Highlights:
* Perez: bridge toll will “kill the commerce in downtown Manhattan, not Brooklyn”
* Perez & Slevin get into it on who’s more of a Brooklynite
* Suozzi: “It wasn’t me” who greeted Gov. Paterson outside a fundraising event, angling for Clinton’s Senate seatAudio at http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/12/04 (embeddable)
Here’s the transcript:
Andrea Bernstein: We have calling us Brooklynite, Rosie Perez. Are you taking it on the chin?
Rosie Perez: Um yes I am. You know, people say how can you talk because you know you make a lot of money, blah blah blah. Listen, just like the previous callers said, I have a lot of family members that have to drive into Manhattan. They do not, they’re not able physically to take the train so they have to drive back and forth to Manhattan. If you do the math, the drive in $5, they drive in and back $5. That’s $10 a day.
There are people…the woman who was saying she’s a Brooklynite, I would love to know how long she’s lived in Brooklyn. Because most new people in Brooklyn live in the downtown area and have no idea what it means to live in Red Hook – have no idea what it means to live in East New York in the Flatlands. In what Marty Markowitz was commenting on. And I can’t believe agreeing with Marty Markowitz here, but there is a transportation problem in Brooklyn where the trains don’t go to, the busses don’t go to. And every time they say they’re going to raise the prices on the MTA, and they’re going to benefit the boroughs, they don’t. So, here’s the problem.
And also – for the people that do make a lot of money in Brooklyn, what are you going to do at night when the taxis won’t bring you back because they don’t want to pay the toll. They’ll pay the toll coming into Brooklyn but they’ll charge you for the toll back. That means they’re going to be responsible for the toll back. It’s going to kill the nightlife, it’s going to kill the commerce in downtown Manhattan, not in Brooklyn. And people need to be aware of this. But also what really bothers me is what Marty Markowitz does say. Is that – why is the entire burden, well not the entire burden, excuse me. The majority of the burden is going to be replaced by Brooklynites. It’s not fair. And all these crazy people that have moved to Brooklyn say, Oh well I take the train, well I take the train. A lot of people do not take the train and do not live in the downtown area where a train ride is only going to be 20 minutes.
KS: well wait a second. You’re making assumptions about me that aren’t…I mean….
AB: Okay – Kate Slevin.
KS: I’ve lived in Brooklyn 10 years – I live in Flatbush – that’s a long time.
RP: I’ve lived in Brooklyn all my life.
KS: Okay that’s fine, that’s great. [lots of indiscernible voices]
AB: Okay I live in Brooklyn too, you know, so ah….A lot of people calling in live in Brooklyn
KS: I’m going off of the statistics which are that 57% of households in Brooklyn do not own a car. That means that they are on our transportation system. Households without a vehicle in Brooklyn make $32,000 a year versus households with a vehicle make over double that. That means that from an equity standpoint, tolling the East River bridges to reduce the fare hike is a smart thing to do.
AB: Hang on a second. Rosie Perez – if you can stay with us for just one sec, I know that Nassau County executive has to leave us, so I just want to see if you have any final response to Rosie Perez. Rosie Perez, if you can stay with us, I’d like to get back to you in one second. But what about what she said about killing the nightlife in lower Manhattan. Tom Suozzi.
Tom Suozzi: I don’t think that that’s a possibility. I think it’s so much of a draw that they’ll continue to be nightlife in downtown Manhattan.
RP: If you’re coming home at 3 o’clock in the morning, you’re not going to take the train.
AB: Okay hang on. Rosie Perez, let’s just let Tom Suozzi cause he has to jump off the phone. So we’ll get right back to you.
TS: There’s one thing I want to challenge about Rosie’s saying. The idea that the majority of the burden is going to rest with Brooklyn residents. Of course, I don’t have the statistic in front of me, the report is not out yet, but I’m reasonably certain that the majority of the burden is not going to fall on Brooklyn residents. It’s going to be equitably distributed based upon the fact that the corporate payroll tax has been proposed, based upon the fact that people use these bridges – all the bridges that are going to be tolled – from different parts of the region to enter into Manhattan. And we’ve got to distribute the burden. And right now, if you do think of it, we do have congestion pricing now in that people who take the midtown tunnel, and people who take the Triborough Bridge, must pay a toll. So they’re getting congestion pricing currently. And this will create a more equitable system that each of the different thoroughfares are treated equitably
Apologies to the late Borough President JJ Byrne. But JJ Byrne Park is Washington Park now. Got it? Located
on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, the park has been officially renamed, restoring it to its true place in American history as the site of the first battle of the
Revolutionary War.
The playground, however, will now be called JJ Byrne Playground.
In the shadow of the Novo, the new Fourth Avenue high-rise condo,
Brooklyn politicians, officials and locals gathered to commemorate the
renaming of the park and to cut the ribbon on the completion of the
first phase of work, which includes a new skate park, two new
basketball courts, six handball
courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping.
I arrived just as Borough President Marty Markowitz was about to
speak. That means I missed the welcome from Parks Commissioner Adrian
Benepe and the Pledge of Allegiance led by second graders from PS 321
"Borough presidents don’t get no respect. Borough President JJ Byrne
had the whole place to himself. But I think he would understand our
naming it for the father of our country. If he had to yield, he would
yield to that," Markowitz told the crowd.
"About Kim Maier [the executive director of the Old Stone House] you
can’t say no to her when she flashes that smile. There’s not a public
official who can say no."
City Councilmember Bill De Blasio, who was up next, spoke to the historical significance of the day.
"The renaming of this park helps us to think about the history of
this place and what it means. What happened on this historic site is
important for the whole world to understand. To the children of PS 321
I ask: if the the Maryland 400 had not held off the British here we’d
all be talking with a British accent. What a sacrifice people who
fought made. It was a make or break moment in American history. An
inspiration…"
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, a lively master of ceremonies,
then introduced Kim Maier, who was beaming. Today was truly a dream
come true for the executive director of the Old Stone House, who has, with her board of directors, reinvigorated the Old Stone House and the Park.
"It such a special day for us and such a beautiful park," she said.
Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel, dressed as George Washington, had this to say:
"I have a newfound respect for our forefathers. It’s painful to wear
these boots. And how do you keep the hair out of your mouth?"
After the speeches there was a countdown, led by Commissioner
Spiegel in a hearty Brooklyn accent, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. And
then a skateboarder, dressed in Revolutionary War gear, came roaring
down the new skateboarding ramp and broke through a banner that said, Washington Park.
Now that was cool.
Later there was groundbreaking for the next phase of the
project, which includes a synthetic turf green, new fencing,
landscaping and the plaza area opening the view of the Old Stone House
to Fourth Avenue.
Tonight beginning at 7 p.m. is part 1 of the second annual Snowflake Celebration, sponsored by Buy in Brooklyn. December 11 is part 2.
Y’know those snowflakes hanging from the street lights on Seventh Avenue. That’s why this event is called the Snowflake Celebration.
Oh yeah.
And the Community Bookstore will have a snowflake machine out in front tonight.
Cool.
Once again, local merchants throw open their doors to stay open late
and create a holiday atmosphere, enabling the people Park
Slope, to do their holiday shopping . . . here!
Each participating
business will 1). Stay open until 10pm, and 2). Offer some special
promotion – Could be a sale, could be a giveaway, raffle, carolers,
snow machine (it’s been done!), mulled wine, special hors d’oeuvres,
etc. etc. The listings of participants grows daily!!!
Last
year there were 150 participating businesses — who knows what will happen
this year!?! In the current and impending economic climate, it’s more
important than ever to keep our local economy strong and healthy, so
let’s get together and Keep it Local!
Commuters on a Manhattan-bound Staten Island Ferry taking advantage
of slightly warming temps.
Lights in the sky reveal that this shot was
taken on the inside of the glass doors/windows leading to the ferry’s outer deck.
Another installment of Michael Nolan’s Brooklyn memoir. This one, written 4 years ago, is about his daughter, who lives in Williamsburg.
Took the L Train to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn yesterday.
Walked along Graham Avenue, where my daughter Rosy now lives, to Lola’s
Cafe where she works the counter. It’s her "living room." Young artists
and musicians like herself drop by for coffee, some breakfast, a bit of
neighborhood chatter, and today to meet Rosy’s Dad. On the surrounding
streets, alongside her young creative crowd lives, works and prays a
devoted Italian Catholic community with their chapel to St. Mary of the
Snow, men’s fraternal associations and card clubs, bakeries, grocery
stores, funeral parlors and annual patron saint processions.
Rosanna
Lowery Nolan turns 26 this Friday. She was destined to live in my
hometown of Brooklyn, I muse. Among the staff of midwives at the
Alternative Birth Center at San Francisco General Hospital in the
summer of ’78 was a handsome African American woman, pregnant herself
at the time, named Sharon Robinson. It was Jackie Robinson’s daughter. The
prospect of having my daughter’s birth guided by the daughter of legendary Brookyn Dodger’s player was exhilarating. In the end, she was not on duty at
the time and the glory of Rosy’s birth trumped everything anyway.
Last
year, I ran into Sharon Robinson at a book signing at Stacey’s on Market Street
in San Francisco. We had a delightful chat about both our children born
in the same year. Sharon now works for the Major League Baseball
Commissioner in New York.
Rosy is named after her paternal Irish
great-grandmother who also lived in Brooklyn on E. 2nd Street and gave
birth to 13 children, only 6 of whom survived. Blessedly one of them
included Harold Francis Aloysius Nolan, her grandfather.
This
Friday is also the birthday of our Jewish cousin, Lena Eisenson
Koblentz, who at 94 exhibits extraordinary good health and mental
acuity. I publish her reminiscences of growing up on the Lower East
Side and distribute them to the "gansa mishpuchah" via our family
website. On Monday, I sought out the address of her home birthplace,
listed in the birth certificate she sent me. The building still stands
at 122 Allen Street, between Delancey & Rivington. A recently
discovered draft card from 1918 showed that her father lived at 530 E.
11th Street. That building survives as well between Avenues A & B,
next to a former public bath house, now serving as a film studio.
Later
Lena’s family moved to The Bronx and then Williamsburg where her father
operated a candy store. The Rosy Nolan Band’s most frequent venue is a
"Billy Burg" club named Pete’s Candy Store on Lorimer Street. Who knew?
Just might be the same place.
I just heard from Joseph M. McCarthy, the development director of Irondale Ensemble Project, an innovative theater group now located in the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene, Yesterday he sent out an email requesting donations for the theater but he created a bad link. He sent this follow-up email.
Ugh. I hate when I do this. It has come to my attention that the "donate"
link in yesterday’s email doesn’t work.Here’s one that does…
http://www.nycharities.org/donate/c_donate.asp?CharityCode=2260. Sorry
about that.Also, I heard from a friend that when she told another friend she was
going to see London Cries, the response was, "Oh, the one at
Joe McCarthy’s theater? We want to see that."I want to disabuse you of that locution. You can’t look it up in the Times
or The New Yorker or Time Out or New York. It
is the Irondale Center – and the company is the Irondale
Ensemble Project – much as I would like to have a theater named
after myself!
The next generation of samba soul!
Featured artists: CéU, Curumin, Bebel Gilberto, José González, Otto, João Parahyba (from Trio Mocoto)
Backing band: Kassin +2, Moreno, Domenico, Money Mark, Janja Gomes, Jorge Continentino, Carlos Darci, Zé Luis
Music Directors Kassin & Mario Caldato, Jr.
Video Design: Multiplicidade
An all-star benefit tribute to the music and culture of Brazil, Red Hot + Rio 2 salutes
Samba Soul, the post-tropicália movement of the 70s that merged
elements of North American soul music with Brazilian rhythms. Mixing
samba with R&B, soul with baião, pioneering artists like Jorge Ben
Jor and Tim Maia signaled a cultural awakening that changed the
direction of Brazilian music forever. The concerts at BAM bring
together the newest generation of Brazilian and international artists
who represent the legacy of this influential musical style.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit BrazilFoundation’s AIDS-related projects.
The Where and When
BAM
Red Hot and Rio
December 4&5
Hey everybody: the annual 2008 PS 321 Holiday Craft Fair Park Slope is this Saturday. That’s right. It’s this Saturday!!!
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
–Over 80 artists of
–Extraordinary hand crafted creative gifts and d
–Decorations for the holiday season
–Family fun –
–Gourmet food –
–Kids make-your-own craft area to
keep the little ones entertained while the big people shop
–indoors rain or shine
–Free admission
The Where and When
The 2008 PS 321 Holiday Crafts Fair
Saturday, December 6
11am-4pm
180 Seventh Avenue @ 1st Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn 11215
Contact tel: 347-446-8254
Closest subways: B/Q to Seventh Avenue, 2/ 3 to Grand Army Plaza, F to Seventh Avenue
Photograph by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas
Just heard from my friend Kathy Malone about a benefit the Brooklyn Indie Market is doing for St. John’s Bread and Life,the largest provider of emergency food services in this area. THey are one of the designated charities of the "Give Where You LIve Campaign."
Brooklyn Indie Market, a collective of fashion and product
designers based in Brooklyn, will donate 15- 20% of its proceeds from
sales (which will be doubled by a matching grant from Independence
Community Foundation) during the weekend of December 20th and 21st,
11-7pm. St. John’s Bread and Life is Brooklyn’s largest emergency food
provider. Members of the market gather to sell items each weekend at
Smith and Union Streets in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
The shopping event will be part of Bread and Life’s "Give Where You
Live Campaign," which seeks to involve the local Brooklyn community in
charitable programs. The organization provides meals to more than
1,500 people each day both at its location on Lexington Avenue in
Bedford Stuyvesant and via its Mobile Soup Kitchen which makes
deliveries throughout Brooklyn and Queens. In addition to sales at the
market, local designers, artists and merchants have donated prizes to
be raffled off during the December 20/21 weekend, including designer
clothing and accessories, art, dinners and bottles of wine. Donations
will help Bread and Life reduce poverty and hunger, which affects one
in five of every New Yorker.
Info about Brooklyn Indie Market
Brooklyn Indie Market is a collective of
fashion and product designers. Emerging Designers converge weekends
under the red and white striped tent on Smith & Union Street,
offering the public a first glimpse of the many new names in fashion
and product design. Visit Brooklyn Indie Market at www.brooklynindiemarket.com.
Info about St. John’s Bread and Life
Besides
serving more than 1,500 meals daily, Bread and Life also provides an
array of social services, including nutrition counseling, housing
referral services, medical support, education, support groups and a
legal clinic. You can learn more about St. John’s unique Digital Food
Pantry and other innovations by visiting Bread & Life online at www.breadandlife.org or calling a real person at 718-574-0058, ext 145 to speak with Dorothy Kellogg.
Earlier this week, I received an email from Andrew Fried, the husband of Karen Rothman-Fried, the young PS 321 teacher who died tragically on November 15th.
In it he thanked family, friends, and members of the community for their support during an exceptionally difficult time.
It is an amazing testament to the love for me and Karen that the amount of emails, notes, and telephone messages I received is so numerous I am unable to answer them all individually.I hope, therefore, you understand and excuse my use of this mass email. I will try in the coming weeks to email and call you all separately. I also wanted to take a moment and to tell you all a little more about what happened.
I emailed Andrew and asked him if I could put the letter on OTBKB and he said he needed to think about it. This evening, I got another email from Andrew. He told me that he decided to start his own blog called http://fryguysthinkings.blogspot.com
– "which has a long post I wrote about how Karen and me met/reconnected
and the events on the day of her death." He also said I could excerpt any part of it for OTBKB.
On November 15, my 37th birthday, Karen took me to a
matinée of Speed the Plow and then dinner at Aquvit in Manhattan. It
was a perfect evening. The next morning began as a normal Sunday. We
relaxed for a little while, read the newspaper, and then went to my
mother’s apartment to meet up with the family and say hi. We had a
little brunch and then went for a walk in our neighborhood. We had
dinner reservations for later that evening with my mother, brother, and
sister-in-law, but at around 2 we decided to grab a bite because Karen
needed to eat regularly through the day due to the pregnancy. There is
a little Columbian restaurant we’d passed many times and always wanted
to try. We decided this was the day for it. We shared a few small
dishes and it was wonderful. Karen enjoyed eating, whether it was haute
cuisine, like the night before, or just really great down home cooking,
like Cafe Bogota. At the end of the meal, when the waiter brought the
check, he also brought a comment/mailing list card. Karen remarked how
much she liked the meal – rating it a 10 – and asked the waiter for a
pen to filling out the card. This is when my life went from a dream to
an unimaginable nightmare.Karen had just begun writing when she
suddenly stopped, sat bolt-upright, and looked at me with wide open
eyes. I thought she was goofing around and asked what was wrong. She
said nothing, but kept her eyes fixed straight ahead and slumped
forward onto the table. I immediately knew something was wrong and got
up and went to her side. I took her head from the table and pulled her
to me. Her eyes were still wide open and unresponsive as she slide
lower into the chair. I began to scream for help as she fell against
me, out of her chair, and onto the floor with me. I continued to yell
for help as people came to assist and began dialing 9-1-1. She was not
breathing, nor was she struggling or moving at all as she lay on the
floor. The first police officers arrived within a matter of minutes,
with fire fighters and EMTs immediately following. I was ushered out of
the restaurant by the police officers as I heard someone call for a
defibrillator. My world was tumbling out of control.Time stood
still and accelerated all at once. I sat on the sidewalk with two of
the police officers as the EMTs continued working inside and was asked
questions intermittently – was she on any medication, any medical
history, etc. – but could not get any information in return. This was
obviously frustrating at the time, but in hindsight I understand that
the attention was on rendering aide to Karen and not to answering my
questions. I was then led to a police car and driven to the hospital.
The ensuing minutes/hours are a blur. I was ushered into a quiet room
with my entire family, who had been called by a bystander who took my
cellphone and asked if there was anyone she could contact for me.
Doctors initially came in to say Karen was being worked on still and
that James, our son, had been delivered by emergency cesarean section
and taken to the NICU. They had no word on either one’s condition.A
short time later the doctors returned, accompanied by the hospital
chaplain, and told me that Karen could not be revived, never regained
consciousness, and was dead. My life shattered as those words were
spoke. I fell to the floor in agony. Every muscle and fiber of my body
crying out in pain. Even now I can feel my chest constrict from the
memory as I type.My nadir was yet to be reached. After a little
more time passed the doctors came once more to tell me that although
they were able to get a pulse from James (with the aide of medication),
he could not be saved and died as well. The world’s collapse around me
was complete.My family, each one feeling their own devastating
grief, surrounded and supported me. They had all found such happiness
and joy in Karen, as an individual and not just the woman who meant
everything to me, and she had become an immediate and adored member of
my family.I was then taken to see Karen one last time and then
upstairs to see and hold my son for the first and only time – I never
held him while he was alive. As many of you I am sure know, to try and
put into words what I was feeling is an impossibility. It is a
devastation that literally transcends comprehension.It is still
impossible for me to believe what has happened; the horror of the day
plays over again and again in my head. An autopsy revealed no evident
cause of death, i.e., it was not a brain aneurysm, blood clot, etc. The
medical examiner is continuing its evaluation, but it could be weeks
until more is known, if ever. Indeed I am accepting the very real
possibility that a medical explanation for what happened might never be
known, just as there is no knowing what the metaphysical explanation
is. This reality is bearable only because I was with her when it
happened and can assuage my pain with what I saw for myself in that
horrible moment. I am 100% certain that she died instantly at the
moment she looked at me and before slumping to the table. She didn’t
struggle for breath or show other signs that she was in pain. It was,
as she said as recently as that morning when we saw the end of the
Godfather where Marlon Brando has a heart attack while playing with his
grandson, the way to go — quickly and doing something you loved. In
this case, Karen was with me, across the table from me, having just
finished a meal that she rated a 10 and described as sublime.
.
Kristin Goode is so good at her job as about.com’s Brooklyn corespondent. She always knows the coolest stuff.
Now she’s gone ahead and put together a selective list of things to do in Brooklyn in December.
It’s December, the holidays have officially arrived, and there are
plenty of ways to celebrate in Brooklyn. Below I’ve tried to give you
at least one great event for nearly every day of the month.
Check it out here. And here’s just one cool event she has listed. I’ve never gone.
Thursday, December 11
A Brooklyn Nutcracker
A Brooklyn holiday favorite
for ten years, this show’s cast is almost completely made up of
children. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids. Show runs
through Sunday.
7pm at The Brooklyn Music School, 126 St. Felix Street
(718) 638-5660
I just heard from Susan at Sage Spa about their unique way of giving back to those in need in the community.
I’m hoping you’ll help us get the word out. Sage Spa has
a charity program every year during the holidays. This year we are
giving free massages to needy persons and are asking everyone to submit
deserving candidates. These candidates can be people with illness in
the family, deaths, financial losses, etc.We hope to give back by
letting four people have a time to be taken care of here in our peaceful
environment.The Where and When
Susan Stratton, owner
Sage Spa
405 Fifth Ave. Brooklyn NY 11215
718 832 2030
s.stratton(at)sagebrooklyn(dot)com
www.sagebrooklyn.com
WFMU’s Webhamster, Henry Lowengard, offers his annual list of the Top 10 Imaginary Sound Events of 2008. He writes:
Hello Music Lovers!
It’s that time again – time to imagine what I could have been listening to (or composing) in 2008!
http://www.wfmu.org/~jhhl/Best/
All previous years’ lists are also there for your imaginary listening pleasure.
Apologies to the late Borough President JJ Byrne. The park, located on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, formerly known as JJ Byrne Park, has been officially renamed Washington Park, restoring the park to its true place in history as the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.
The playground, however, will now be called JJ Byrne Playground.
In the shadow of the Novo, the new Fourth Avenue high rise condo, Brooklyn politicians, officials and locals gathered to commemorate the renaming of the park and to cut the ribbon on the completion of the first phase of work, which includes a new skate park, two new basketball courts, six handball
courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping.
I arrived just as Borough President Marty Markowitz was about to speak. That means I missed the welcome from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and the Pledge of Allegiance led by second graders from PS 321
"Borough presidents don’t get no respect. Borough President JJ Byrne had the whole place to himself. But I think he would understand our naming it for the father of our country. If he had to yield, he would yield to that," Markowitz told the crowd.
"About Kim Maier [the executive director of the Old Stone House] you can’t say no to her when she flashes that smile. There’s not a public official who can say no."
City Councilmember Bill De Blasio, who was up next, spoke to the historical significance of the day.
"The renaming of this park helps us to think about the history of this place and what it means. What happened on this historic site is important for the whole world to understand. To the children of PS 321 I ask: if the the Maryland 400 had not held off the British here we’d all be talking with a British accent. What a sacrifice people who fought made. It was a make or break moment in American history. An inspiration…"
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, a lively master of ceremonies, then introduced Kim Maier, who was beaming. Today was truly a dream come true for the executive director of the Old Stone House, who has, with the board of directors, reinvigorated the Old Stone House and the Park.
"It such a special day for us and such a beautiful park," she said.
Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel, dressed as George Washington, had this to say:
"I have a newfound respect for our forefathers. It’s painful to wear these boots. And how do you keep the hair out of your mouth?"
After the speeches there was a countdown, led by Commissioner Spiegel in hearty Brooklyn accent, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. And then a skateboarder, dressed in Revolutionary War gear, came roaring down the ramp and broke through a banner that said, Washington Park.
Now that was cool.
Later there was groundbreaking for the next phase of the
project, which includes a synthetic turf green, new fencing,
landscaping and the plaza area opening the view of the Old Stone House
to Fourth Avenue.
Photograph by Rudolph Vernaz-Colas
Claireware Holiday Craft Show with Guest Artists:
Susan Steinbrock, Handpainted silk scarves (pictured left) and
Rebecca Rothman, Jewelry
The Where and When
Claireware
543 Union Street, 1st floort
Saturday, December 6th, 10-6
Sunday, December 7th, 11-5
Brooklyn ’s Independence
Community Foundation has created Brooklyn Gives to
encourage Brookynites to give where they live.
There are so many things to love about Brooklyn: our neighborhoods, our parks, our culture, and most importantly our people. But you may not realize it is the creativity, attitude and heart of our nonprofit community that really make a big Brooklyn difference in the lives of so many people and institutions. You can help these great organizations provide emergency food, care for the homeless, build affordable housing, educate our young people, green our neighborhoods, bring pleasure and insight through culture, and so much more.
As you consider your holiday and end-of year charitable giving, why not include a few of the outstanding non-profits working in and for Brooklyn.
Want to know more? Check out www.brooklyngives.org for a sample list of groups working to build a better Brooklyn for ALL of us.
Give where you live Brooklyn, and happy holidays to all.
Hey everybody: the annual 2008 PS 321 Holiday Craft Fair Park Slope is this Saturday. This Saturday!!!
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
–Over 80 artists of
–Extraordinary hand crafted creative gifts and d
–Decorations for the holiday season
–Family fun –
–Gourmet food –
–Kids make-your-own craft area to
keep the little ones entertained while the big people shop
–indoors rain or shine
–Free admission
The Where and When
The 2008 PS 321 Holiday Crafts Fair
Saturday, December 6
11am-4pm
180 Seventh Avenue @ 1st Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn 11215
Contact tel: 347-446-8254
Closest subways: B/Q to Seventh Avenue, 2/ 3 to Grand Army Plaza, F to Seventh Avenue
·
Kudos to Park Slope’s Randy Kaplan who was picked as one of NPR’s Top Ten in Music for Kids (and Moms, and Dads).
Artist: Randy Kaplan
Singer/storyteller
Randy Kaplan crafts a brassy, old-timey collection with subjects from
"The Fire Engine" ("It’s big, it’s red / It’s metal with water") to
laundry camp ("Clothes Dryer"). "The Ladybug Without Spots" showcases
Kaplan’s bluesy storytelling.
