A Park Slope Storefront is Rented: Two More Available
There’s action in the vacant storefronts on Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 2nd Streets. Someone has rented the Mark Ravitz storefront, the space that housed Park Slope Books.
We used to think of that building as the house of the dripping cows. Now it’s the house of the dripping cyclops/octopus/suns.
For a month or so the neighborhood was treated to Mark Ravitz’s whimsical creations while he waited to fill the storefront.
I wonder what’s going in. I saw the sign company truck yesterday. The 2nd Street Cafe space and the Seventh Avenue Books space are still, alas, vacant.
But I’m guessing there will be action in those spaces, too. Barrio seems to be busy and successful! It should bring more to this vacated slice of Seventh Avenue.
Make Dreamland a Reality: Coney Roller Rink Needs Help
As reported on Gowanus Lounge, Lola Staar’s Coney Island roller rink, Dreamland, needs a little financial help to get going. There’s info on Dreamland’s website on how you can help make Dreamland a reality.
Lola has been working night and day to reopen the Dreamland Roller Rink.
She has overcome many obstacles in the labyrinth of obtaining permits
and insurance for the rink. These obstacles have added exorbitant costs
to the reopening of Dreamland! Costs that we simply cannot cover with
the budget in our business plan. After some generous donations we are
very close to being able to reopen…. but we aren’t quite there yet!
Hence, we need your help to reopen the fabulous Dreamland Roller Rink.
Times: Painful Budget Cuts to City’s High Performing Schools
The Times delivers some pessimistic news to New York’s public school parents and kids. We’re bracing to find out how District 15 schools will be affected. This is bad news for schools all over New York City, which are already reeling from earlier budget cuts this year.
Some of New York City’s highest-performing schools could suffer
“painful” budget cuts as high as 6 percent next year, Schools
Chancellor Joel I. Klein said on Wednesday, blaming state rules that restrict how the city can spend state education money.Calling
on Albany to loosen the rules, Mr. Klein said that if he had more
flexibility, he would cut school budgets uniformly, by 1.4 percent, so
as not to “destabilize” any schools.“This is an effort to treat schools equitably,” Mr. Klein said at a briefing.
But
state lawmakers, as well as education advocates whose historic 1993
lawsuit is resulting in billions of extra state dollars for the city’s
underfunded schools, instantly attacked the chancellor’s proposal,
suggesting that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
use city money to fill any shortfall from the state. They said the
restrictions were designed to ensure that more money would go to
schools that were labeled by the state as failing or with high student
poverty rates. Under the current rules, some of those schools could see
their budgets grow by as much 4 percent.
Mental Floss Discovers Jamie Livingston’s Photo-of-the-Day Website
Somehow Mental Floss (Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix) uncovered Photo-of-the Day by Jamie Livingston, the not-yet-public website Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid created for Jamie Livingston’s 6000+ Polaroids. Because it’s a work-in-progress site (a Beta site), there are no names on it, no credits. No contact information. Nothing.
It took Chris Higgens at Mental Floss some time to figure out Jamie’s name. Or to learn that it was Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid who spent years putting the site together after Jamie Livingston died.
“Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There’s no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found.”
Higgens did some impressive Internet detective work to find out more about Jamie. He discovered OTBKB and learned the story.
What started for me as an amusing collection of photos — who takes photos every day for eighteen years? — ended with a shock. Who was this man? How did his photos end up on the web? I went on a two-day hunt, examined the source code of the website, and tried various Google tricks. Finally my investigation turned up the photographer as Jamie Livingston, and he did indeed take a photo every day for eighteen years, until the day he died, using a Polaroid SX-70 camera. He called the project “Photo of the Day” and presumably planned to collect them at some point — had he lived. He died on October 25, 1997 — his 41st birthday.
After Livingston’s death, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid put together a public exhibit and website using the photos and called it JAMIE LIVINGSTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997, 6,697 Polaroids, dated in sequence. The physical exhibit opened in 2007 at the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College (where Livingston started the series, as a student, way back when). The exhibit included rephotographs of every Polaroid and took up a 7 x 120 foot space.
Because of that post (and others), thousands of people are visiting the Jamie site and OTBKB to find out more about Jamie Livingston
Apparently a bunch of Spanish language newspapers picked up the story today and the volume of visitors caused the Jamie site to crash in the middle of the night. That problem is being remedied as we speak.
I heard Hepcat speaking loudly on the telephone at 3 am and it woke me up. Turns out he was on the phone with the people from Host Monster, trying to get them to restore the site. It should be up and running soon. We hope.
There are so many interesting comments on Mental Floss and other places that have picked up the story. Over and over people are saying that it’s one of the most moving things they’ve ever seen on the Internet.
Indeed, the story of Jamie’s life and work is an incredible one. Here’s an excerpt from the post I run every October 25, the day Jamie died, which happened to be his birthday. Every October 25th is Jamie Livingston Day at OTBKB. This post was originally called, On Polaroids and Lasting Friendship.
When Jamie Livingston, photographer, filmmaker, circus performer, accordian player, Mets fan, and above all, loyal friend, died on October 25th (his birthday) in 1997 at the age of 41, he left behind hundreds of bereft friends and a collection of 6,000 photographs neatly organized in small suitcases and wooden fruit crates.
Jamie took a polaroid once a day, every day, including his last, for 18 years.
This photographic diary, which he called, “Polaroid of the Day,” or P.O.D., began when Jaime was a student at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. The project continued when he moved to apartments in New York City including the incredible circus memorabilia-filled loft on Fulton Street, which he shared with his best friend Chris Wangro.
That loft was the site of many a Glug party, an “orphans thanksgiving,” a super-8 festival of Jamie’s lyrical Super-8 films, and a rollicking music jam.The picture taking continued as Jamie traveled the world
with the Janus Circus, the circus-troupe founded by Chris Wangro, and later when he became a much-in-demand cinematographer and editor of music videos back in the early days of MTV. He contributed his talents to the ground-breaking Nike “Revolution” spot and many other commercials, too. Through it all he took pictures, made movies, and loved his friends. And the Polaroids reflect all of that: a life bursting with activity, joy and sadness, too.Jamie brought his camera wherever he went. As one friend said, “It probably helped his social life because everyone wanted to be in a photo of the day.” It was always interesting to see what Jaime deemed worthy of a P.O.D. My husband remembers his own 30th birthday party in his photo studio on Ludlow Street: “Hundreds of people filled my loft and the party snaked down Ludlow Street to Stanton. But what did Jamie take a picture of? A potato chip or something. It was a gorgeous shot, though.”
But more often than not, the photos were of friends, family, himself, special places he had visited, or just something that caught his discriminating eye. And if he’d been to a Mets Game that day, that was it — a Mets game was always a worthy P.O.D.
And the pictures are utterly gorgeous miracles of photographic artistry. The color, the light, the time lapse swirls, the unerring composition. Whether it was a still life of what he’d eaten for dinner, an unblinking shot of his beloved grandfather (Pops), or swooningly romantic portraits of his beautiful wife or ex-girlfriends, any one of these photographs should be in a museum collection. But perhaps more importantly, Jamie’s friends and the world need access to these pictures, which is why his devoted friends have been talking for years about ways to exhibit this massive body of work.
The fact that so many people are discovering the life and work of Jamie Livingston via the Mental Floss site is unbelievably gratifying to Hepcat. Yes he’s a little overwhelmed at the moment and is trying to figure out how to resuscitate the Jamie site, all of this attention is a great way to honor a beautiful man and artist who died at the age of 41.
The Cyclones Really Do Love Park Slope
The Brooklyn Cyclones really do love Park Slope. This is from their website. I’m sorry for thinking it was a joke. It’s just that there have been a lot of jokes about Park Slope recently.
Dear Ms. Crawford,
This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article that didn’t
paint a very rosy picture of Park Slope. I was hoping you could pass
along word to your readers that the Brooklyn Cyclones are taking a
stand and proclaiming their love for Park Slopers everywhere! On
Sunday, July 27th, the team will host "The Cyclones Love Park Slope
Night" at KeySpan Park in Coney Island, and celebrate the things that
have made the neighborhood famous.
paint a very rosy picture of Park Slope. I was hoping you could pass
along word to your readers that the Brooklyn Cyclones are taking a
stand and proclaiming their love for Park Slopers everywhere! On
Sunday, July 27th, the team will host "The Cyclones Love Park Slope
Night" at KeySpan Park in Coney Island, and celebrate the things that
have made the neighborhood famous.
As part of this special event, the Cyclones will:
. hold "stroller olympics" events in-between innings
. offer free valet stroller parking outside KeySpan Park
. host a pre-game "Gymboree" class in centerfield
. accept "brag about your kid" submissions to be displayed on the video scoreboard
. highlight some of Park Slope’s most famous people and places
. allow strollers onto the field after the game to run the bases
. offer free valet stroller parking outside KeySpan Park
. host a pre-game "Gymboree" class in centerfield
. accept "brag about your kid" submissions to be displayed on the video scoreboard
. highlight some of Park Slope’s most famous people and places
. allow strollers onto the field after the game to run the bases
For one night, we will join the two to create … KeySpan Park Slope! For more information, log on to www.brooklyncyclones.com.
Anyone wishing to participate in the evening’s Park Slope-related
activities may register at the information table the night of the game.
Anyone wishing to participate in the evening’s Park Slope-related
activities may register at the information table the night of the game.
Best,
Jason
Jamie Livingston is on Wikipedia Now!!!
It went up a few hours ago. We’re not sure who put it up there. But it’s here.
Hugh has also gotten quite a few offers to host the site if he’s having problems. The volume of visitors to the Jamie site, which is still broken, and OTBKB is record breaking. There is unbelievable interest in this.
On Wiki, Livingston is mispelled as Livingstone. Here’s what they have
Jamie Livingstone (25 October 1956-25 October 1997) was a New York-based photographer, film-maker and circus performer who from March 31, 1979 through to the day of his death on October 25, 1997 took a Polaroid photograph every day.[1]
Livingstone’s ‘Polaroid a Day’ photographic diary started at Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College
and though some photos have gone missing from the collection, 6,697
Polaroids remain. The collection, dated in sequence, has been organised
by his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid into an exhibit at Bard
College called "JAMIE LIVINGSTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997", which
opened in 2007.[2]
Livingstone was a member of the musical, percussionist circus troupe
Janus Circus from Bard College. He also worked as a cinematographer and
editor of music videos for MTV, as well as working on advertisements with Nike. [1]
Livingstone’s Polarid a Day charted his experiences with cancer, and even his subsequent engagement. His photographs in and out of hospital continued up until the day of his death.[3]
- ^ a b Crawford, Louise. Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn: Jamie Livingstone. Retrieved on 2008–05-22.
- ^ Photo of the Day, by Bard Alumnus Jamie Livingston On View in October. Bard College Press Release (2007–09-13). Retrieved on 2008–05-22.
- ^ Higgins, Chris. "He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until He Died", mental_floss, 2008–05-21. Retrieved on 2008–05-22.
Reaction to Jamie Livingston’s One Polaroid A Day
Betsy Reid, who has worked with Hugh Crawford for years to bring Jamie Livingston’s Photo-of-the Day project to the web has been reading the comments on Meta Filter, Mental Floss and elsewhere. She enjoyed on comment on Metafilter by someone named krippledkonscious.
"I had to think a little bit about why this is so stirring. This is not a technical achievement, nor an endeavor that requires an inaccessible skill set. This is one thing, done once a day. Something so spare and ordinary, just taken to extraordinary lengths. A simple thing: whatever struck his fancy on a given day – just capture one thing on film. Simple.
"I know a lot of people try to do this on Flickr, but this is strikingly different in many respects. This isn’t a collection of forced poses or composed shots or juxtapositions, he isn’t looking for something funny, weird, or ironic. I find myself thinking I should try this, but give up within days because I’d try to wait until something interesting happened. That’s me not appreciating the ordinary, or trying to force it, and not having the discipline to just do something on principle. These photos are as simple as memories. They don’t always make sense, they don’t always fit into some grand theme or design. Here is a memory. Here is another. All you need to know is: this was then, on this date. This happened, I was there. Do you remember?
"Nothing seems framed here. You don’t feel as if he is trying to sell you anything about himself. I like to think that the people in his life probably questioned this hobby or wondered what purpose it could ever serve – especially in those days before such a scheme could bring you internet glory. There was no market for this kind of thing. Who would care? Why keep at it? No one will see it. That camera isn’t even portable. The resolution is terrible. Why bother?
"I think we react to this because it is so rare. A refreshingly simple thing, devoid of polish or fanfare, suddenly set in front of us by chance. It doesn’t ask anything of you. You take what you will.
Photo above is one wall of Jamie’s photos from the exhibition organized by Friends of Livingston at Bard College October 2007 taken Tom Boettcher: Osbeefeel2001
Birthday Party for Brooklyn Bridge Begins Today
My stepmother in Brooklyn Heights has been busy trying to get the details about the Bridge’s birthday party. It seems that, even in Brooklyn Heights, info about the celebration kick off has been kept on the low down.
Thankfully, there are loads of details at McBrooklyn. Thanks McBrooklyn!
And it all begins tonight with fireworks and music and will carry on through Memorial Day weekend, when Brooklyn and Manhattan celebrate the
Bridge’s 125th anniversary with a host of events honoring the
structure’s historic and cultural significance.
Read on for more information about the free festivities, go to the Official Guide for a complete schedule.
Thursday, May 22
Celebration Kick-off: Be part of the excitement with a
concert featuring the Brooklyn Philharmonic and special guest
performances including the legendary Marvin Hamlisch, followed by a
Grucci Fireworks extravaganza. A festive lighting ceremony will
illuminate the entire Bridge, which will remain lit every evening from
9pm–11pm through Memorial Day. Doors open at 6pm; concert starts at
7:45pm. Free. (Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, enter at Main Street, Brooklyn)
The Telectroscope: A Window Through the World: Discover the long-forgotten transatlantic tunnel between London and Brooklyn with the Telectroscope.
Artist Paul St. George’s public media project is an amazing optical
device that allows viewers in Brooklyn to see all the way to London.
Through June 15. Free. (On Old Fulton Street at Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn)
Continue reading Birthday Party for Brooklyn Bridge Begins Today
A Life Cut Short: Note from Hugh Crawford About Jamie Livingston Project
Here’s a note from Hugh Crawford to Chris Higgens in response to his post, He took a Polaroid, Until The Day He Died on Mental Floss:
The Photo of That Day project is a work in progress, and the site was put up partly to help coordinate the effor to put together the show at Bard College. That’s why there is so little information on the site. The photos of the post-its with dates are placeholders for photos that were lost.
Once in an incident too complicated to relate here many of Jamie’s
possessions got put out on the street by a landlord picked up by the Department of Sanitation.Fortunately the truck was intercepted by Jamie and friends en route and they
dumped an entire garbage truck load of garbage out on a NYC pier and sifted through it to recover the photos.Some of the photos were lost then and in other random incidents while traveling etc. There were other times where there were no photos taken, often while filming in exotic parts of the world where it turned out that there was no Polaroid film.
The photos marked with the orange Xs are photos that I had to re-shoot after a hard drive crash.
It’s kind of cool having someone wander into the site and figure it out. I’m sort of enjoying that mystery aspect of it.
We were all quite amazed at the personal connection people who didn’t know Jamie made with the work. One of the striking things at the show was that students at Bard were looking at the pictures as a full life experience to aspire to, at the same time that his friends were commemorating a life cut short.
The POD above shows the Polaroids in the suitcases Jamie used to organize them.
ONLY THE BLOG LINKS
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Banner on Seventh Avenue
As reported on Gowanus Lounge and registered in my brain but not reported, Five Guys Is Coming to Park Slope and they’ve put up a banner to prove it.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries is going to share the space vacated by D’Agostino with Bank of America at Seventh Avenue and 6th Street.
An up and coming brand. A big multinational brand: Five Guys next door to a global Bank of America
As I walked by the other day, I was talking to my dad on my cell phone.
"Hey, Five Guys is coming to Park Slope," I told him as I noticed the banner.
"That’s the place on Montague Street," he said.
"Yeah," I said.
"They’re the worst burgers you ever tasted," he said.
But I’ve heard otherwise. I hear they’re the closest thing to In and Out Burger on the East Coast. Try them for yourself.
The Oh-So-Prolific-One: Leon Freilich/Verse Responder
THE PARKERS ARE COMING!
A summer of unrestricted parking
Has led to panic unalloyed
As fear of invading outside drivers
Is turning Slopers parkanoid.
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Park in Park Slope
Here’s an excerpt from Paul LaRosa’s blog, Here is New York:
I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where a miracle has just taken
place, an event so unheard of that it’s been front page news in the NY Times — alternate side of the street parking rules have been suspended in Park Slope — my neighborhood — FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER!!!I was so happy — now you can park virtually on any residential
street in Park Slope and not be towed no matter what the sign says. The
miracle began Monday and lasted all of one day for me because
incredibly, amazingly, unbelievably, my wife succeeded in getting our
car towed THE SECOND DAY THE NO PARKING RULES WERE IN EFFECT!!!!How can this be, you ask? All I can say is what Elaine said to Jerry Seinfeld in one episode: "Oh, it be."
In effect, my wife performed her own miracle that superseded the
city’s generosity. There’s a couple of things to remember here — in
all the years of living in Park Slope, our car has never been towed —
until now. AND…just imagine. You can park almost anywhere in the
neighborhood and not be towed but my wife picked the one block where
you CAN be towed.
Most Emailed News From A DUMBO Family
A family in DUMBO Brooklyn recently designed a website for 24/7/365 news
junkies. Because they are a small business with no advertising budget they are trying
to get the word out on the Brooklyn blogsphere. It’s called: MostEmailedNews.com
Most news websites have that little box somewhere on the first page
telling you the top stories that people are sending to each other.
MostEmailedNews.com takes those boxes from a bunch of different news
sources (ranging from sites such as The NY Times, BBC, Times of India
and CNN) and puts them all together for you. It gives you a nice cross section of what people are emailing. The site is refreshed every ten minutes.
It’s not yet finished but I thought I would share it with you. It’s quite addictive since I’m on it all the time now. Check it out and If you like it, please tell your friends!
Will Parents Ever Find Out Which Public Middle School Their Kids are Going To?
It’s May 21 and public school parents with kids in fifth grade STILL don’t know where their kids are going to public middle school next year.
This is really stressing out the parents. It’s also stressing out the kids who are dealing with the end of elementary school but still don’t know where they’re going next year.
It’s nail biting time for parents who are hearing all kinds of rumors and getting worried that their kids won’t get into their first or second choice schools.
Some school like the Institute for Collaborative Education (ICE) have their own admission schedules. ICE has a rolling admissions policy with an early decision option. So those who applied heard rather quickly as to whether they got in or not.
They’re the lucky ones.
In District 15 in Park Slope it seems that just about everyone wants to get into the same three or four schools. How are things going to play out?
How did we get into this mess? This year, the DOE did a partial revamping of the admissions system and the application were due two months later than usual.
What we didn’t know is that the DOE wouldn’t be telling us until late May or even June. Will the kids know by the time they attend their fifth grade graduations in late June?
No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford
Simon Dinnerstein in Tabla Rasa Show Celebrating Bridge at 125
The exhibition is actually called "Bridge as Icon" and it is a celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The opening is on May 25nd and will stay open until July 26th. The Tabla Rasa Gallery is located at 224 48th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. It is accessible by the R-train.
A group of terrific artists are included in the show, including Ginger Andro & Chuck Glicksman, Vijay Kumar, Lucy Nurske, Nick Savides and Simon Dinnerstein. Go to the Tabla Rasa site for a full list.
The exhibition includes a large and major work by Simon Dinnerstein, an artist who lives and works in Park Slope, called Purple Haze. The artist writes and I agree: “This is a highly dramatic and mystical image. Over five feet in width, Purple Haze alludes to New York’s vulnerable beauty and the bridge between a panorama of the city and a mystical dreamscape.”
Young Park Slope Solo Performers to Perform in Washington Square Park on Saturday
Hey, I just heard about a free show/festival in Washington Square Park with some familiar young solo performers. Here are the ‘tails from a dad of one of the performers (and he’s not the dad of the artist, Sons of an illustrious father). The show is on the southeast corner of the park, opposite NYU’s Bobst Library starting at 1 p.m. with Tola Brennan!
You might want to mention the free show/festival in
Washington Square this weekend featuring a passel of local luminaries,
including Kane Dulaney, Lily (she goes only by first name,
professionally speaking), Calamus and some infamous dude named Hank
Crawford, plus many others. Sat, 1-7 PM. Here’s the line-up:
TOLA BRENNAN (http://www.myspace.com/tolabrennan) – 1:00
HANK CRAWFORD/AVIVA SKYE (http://www.myspace.com/henrycrawfordmusic) – 1:30
BABY DINO (http://www.myspace.com/alannanuala) – 2:00
LADY CHAA (http://www.myspace.com/ladychaa) – 2:30
SONS OF AN ILLUSTRIOUS FATHER (http://www.myspace.com/sonsofanillustriousfather) – 3:00
AUDRI AUGENBRAUM (http://www.myspace.com/blackguitarwithbluestrings) – 3:30
LILY (http://www.myspace.com/windowsignlanguage) – 4:00
CALAMUS (http://www.myspace.com/calamuscalamus) – 4:30
KANE DULANEY BALSER (http://www.myspace.com/kanedulaneybalser) – 5:30
Tonight Don’t Miss: Jazz Artist Ravi Coltraine at PS 107
One night only. Special jazz performance by Ravi Coltrane to benefit PS 107. 13th Street and
8th Avenue. Fourth Floor. 20 bucks.
You can purchase tickets here:
www.ps107.org.
Ravi Coltrane, the acclaimed saxophonist, is the second son of the legendary tenor saxophonist John Coltraine and jazz pianist, Alice Coltrane and brother of Robbie Coltrane. He was named after the great sitarist Ravi Shanker.
Why Hate Park Slope? Wonkster Has A Theory
Gail Robinson, the Wonkster at the Gotham Gazette, has a theory as to why people love to hate the Slope. Here’s an excerpt:
Why does everyone hate Park Slope, Lynn Harris asks in yesterday’s Times. Too many over the top parents? Jealousy on the part of those of us who can’t afford to live there? Gentrification run amok?
Here’s a possibility Harris does not mention. Maybe we’re all just sick of reading about the brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood in the Times.A search for articles with “Park Slope” over the past 30 days brought 43 matches, far outpacing other well-known New York City neighborhoods. Bedford-Stuyvesant showed up in 17 articles, Washington Heights in 16 and Jackson Heights in 11. Included in the Park Slope total: two lengthy, prominently featured articles on the suspension of alternate side parking in the area’s streets for several weeks.
Interview with Park Slope Poet Lynn Chandhok
Brooklyn Optimist interviewed poet Lynn Chandhok, award-winning author of The View from Zero Bridge, on video. Here’s an excerpt from his blog. Go there to see the video.
When the New York Observer weighed in with its top 100 Brooklyn writers
a few weeks ago, one of its most glaring omissions was Park Slope poet
Lynn Aarti Chandhok. Chandhok is not just one of my favorite Brooklyn
poets, she ranks among the most gifted poets of contemporary American
literature.Perhaps it is presumptuous to make such a grandiose appraisal of a poet’s work with only one book of verse under her belt, The View From Zero Bridge (Anhinga Press),
but as is the case with my beloved Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska,
who has only 250 or so published poems to her credit, it is quality
that defines a writer’s opus, not quantity.
Today I Feel Shitty About Where I Live
The Love We Make is a blogger, who writes about life, raising children, health, spirituality, eating, sexuality, money, politics and more. Today she was moved to write about Kyung-Sook Woo, the Windsor Terrace woman who was, murdered in her dry cleaning store.
In reference to the murder at the cleaners on 10th Ave. and these discussions about Brooklyn, I will add my two cents…
For today, I feel shitty about where I live. An innocent woman was murdered one block away from my house.
I don’t understand why people feel the need to generalize about Brooklyn or the people that live here. Brooklyn is one of the largest cities in the world- it is not ONE thing; it is many things to many people at different times in their lives. It can be beautiful and vibrant or it can be a hell on earth, it has as many moods as it has people in it.
I moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan, I had never even stepped foot in Brooklyn until I met my then husband’s family in 1990. I didn’t have too many preconceived ideas about it. We moved here after we had our son, mostly for economic reasons, like so many others.
There are things I love about Brooklyn: I love the architecture; I love Prospect Park- I walk it almost everyday; I love what’s left of the real ethnic neighborhoods that I’ve been to; I love seeing familiar faces; I love walking around it; I love trying interesting new restaurants and shops; I love the diversity of people, if they are open hearted, considerate and friendly- I love them. I love some of the parents, shop owners, writers, artists, and teachers… I am lucky enough to know.
There are things I hate about Brooklyn: I hate angry bus drivers and reckless drivers; I hate waiting for buses that never come; I hate waiting for the subway with my 6 year old daughter while 3 feet away rowdy teenagers are screaming obscenities and horsing around trying to throw each other on the tracks; I hate that kids steal iPods and other valuables from younger more vulnerable kids; I hate the fact that my beloved partner got mugged right in front of our house and no one did a thing to help him – as I was screaming my lungs out – he was beaten so badly I thought I almost lost him; I hate that the trauma center of that Brooklyn hospital was understaffed and filthy.
I hate the fact that one block from my home, a place I pass by everyday, across from my son’s bus stop – an innocent women was just murdered; I hate feeling too scared to let my son walk home alone from the bus stop; I hate the fact that our neighbors didn’t want to tell us our septic tank was overflowing in the back of our house because they “didn’t want to get involved”; I hate feeling scared.
I understand that no place is perfect and that where ever you live you will always deal with all kinds of people no matter what their ethnicity, religion or economic background- closed minded, angry people come in all shapes and colors, as do open minded, loving, accepting people. I believe Brooklyn has them all.
Annoying Diabetic Bitch To Read Poetry at Ceol on Smith Street
Come to Michele Madigan Somerville’s groovy poetry readings on Smith Street. She’s calling them First Wednesday at Ceol and they’re at dinnertime.
Michele makes the readings feel really fun and welcoming; they’re in a cool Irish pub with great food and a cool back room.
And she’s booking top notch poets like Sharon Mesmer, author of the recently issued collections Annoying Diabetic Bitch (Combo Books 2008) and The Virgin Formica (Hanging Loose 2008), and poet Michael Sweeney, author of In Memory of the Fast Break. It’s on June 4th so be there. I know I will
First Wednesdays at Ceol
Poetry Reading
6:30p–8p, Wednesday, June 4th
Ceol
191 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
347 643 9911
www.ceolpub.com
The bar is located on Smith Street between Baltic and Warren Streets in Cobble hill.
Daily News on the Blogfest: Nice Shout Out
Erin O’Neil of the NY Daily News came to the Blogfest and seemed to really get what was going on. Her story is a real nice shout-out about the event and a list of some of the bloggers, who were there.
When Petra Symister moved from Chelsea to Bedford-Stuyvesant she lost her sense of community – but blogging cured her loneliness.
"I feel more connected to this neighborhood by blogging than I did in nine years living in Chelsea," she said.
Symister created the Bed-Stuy Blog 14 months ago, joining a Brooklyn-based
network of citizen and professional writers, photographers and
videographers who leave the comfort of their computer desks to meet in
person every year at the Brooklyn Blogfest.Last week, the Brooklyn Lyceum hosted the third annual event, which
was started by Louise ("Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn") Crawford in 2006
to put virtual names to actual faces."We were calling each other by our blog names," said Crawford, whose
blog is four years old. "We’re not that sort of cyber-weird. People
come out from behind their computers and meet up."This year’s blogfest attracted hundreds of people who blog, want to
blog or find blogging interesting. The event also featured guest
speakers from online and print media, as well as video montages and a
"Shout-Out" where bloggers new to the scene could announce their names
– and URLs.Go to the article and you can start connecting with the bloggers of Brooklyn here.
I Read it on Brooklyn Based: Brooklyn Bridge Birthday Activities
Brooklyn Based has the buzz on all the activities connected with the Brooklyn Bridge Birthday.
The five-day blowout celebration of the Brooklyn Bridge’s 125th
anniversary begins next Thursday, May 22, and there are a multitude of
cool things planned: a Technicolor light installation, a Brooklyn
Philharmonic performance, outdoor films in Fulton-Ferry State Park,
guided tours, and Grucci fireworks (all detailed here).But BB is particularly psyched about two great events that just happen to coincide with the bridge’s big birthday bash…read more at BB
NY Intel on Times’ Park Slope Hating
Nasty, nasty. NY Intel disses the Times’ article. That’s like the pot calling the kettle trite and silly. And it’s funny because New York Magazine, originally commissioned the article by freelancer Lynn Harris.
That’s right. Harris emailed all the usual suspects for interviews and even posted a journalist request on the Brooklynian. So everyone knew that the piece was for New York Magazine before it was actually in a Word doc on her computer.
According to yesterday’s Times, we are among the very few
people who do not have a highly charged opinion on the Brooklyn
neighborhood Park Slope. Writer (and resident) Lynn Harris explained in "Sunday Styles"
that you either love the neighborhood or you really, really hate it. If
you are part of the first group, you enjoy the place for its safety,
proximity to the park, and family-friendly vibe. If you hate it, it’s
because you don’t like mothers and you are an envious hippie.
New York Magazine has done it’s share of hating Park Slope articles. They kind of invented the genre, I’d say. Maybe that’s why they didn’t want Lynn’s story: it had a been there, done that vibe. Especially after it was on all the blogs and the Brooklynian.
Brooklyn Cyclones Love Park Slope
I got this email from someone, who may or may not be connected with the Brooklyn Cyclones. I’m pretty sure it’s a joke. But it’s pretty funny; would make a great Saturday Night Live skit. If it’s not a joke, it’s a cool and very over-the-top idea. In the age of irony, it’s hard to know what’s what anymore.
Dear Ms. Crawford,
This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article that didn’t
paint a very rosy picture of Park Slope. I was hoping you could pass
along word to your readers that the Brooklyn Cyclones are taking a
stand and proclaiming their love for Park Slopers everywhere! On
Sunday, July 27th, the team will host "The Cyclones Love Park Slope
Night" at KeySpan Park in Coney Island, and celebrate the things that
have made the neighborhood famous.
paint a very rosy picture of Park Slope. I was hoping you could pass
along word to your readers that the Brooklyn Cyclones are taking a
stand and proclaiming their love for Park Slopers everywhere! On
Sunday, July 27th, the team will host "The Cyclones Love Park Slope
Night" at KeySpan Park in Coney Island, and celebrate the things that
have made the neighborhood famous.
As part of this special event, the Cyclones will:
. hold "stroller olympics" events in-between innings
. offer free valet stroller parking outside KeySpan Park
. host a pre-game "Gymboree" class in centerfield
. accept "brag about your kid" submissions to be displayed on the video scoreboard
. highlight some of Park Slope’s most famous people and places
. allow strollers onto the field after the game to run the bases
. offer free valet stroller parking outside KeySpan Park
. host a pre-game "Gymboree" class in centerfield
. accept "brag about your kid" submissions to be displayed on the video scoreboard
. highlight some of Park Slope’s most famous people and places
. allow strollers onto the field after the game to run the bases
For one night, we will join the two to create … KeySpan Park Slope! For more information, log on to www.brooklyncyclones.com.
Anyone wishing to participate in the evening’s Park Slope-related
activities may register at the information table the night of the game.
Anyone wishing to participate in the evening’s Park Slope-related
activities may register at the information table the night of the game.
Best,
Jason
Green Storage in Brooklyn
According to an email I just got, there’s finally an alternative to U-haul for space-challenged Brooklynites. It’s Hall Street Storage and it’s calling itself Brooklyn’s first green storage space using renewable energy for 100% of its electricity.
Hall Street has self-storage and warehouse storage and is located near the Brooklyn Navy Yards and the Steiner Studios.
So what else makes them green?
According to an email that I got: they used the wood beams that were removed during renovation of its building and made them into wood shavings as a green alternative to bubble wrap for packing material.
Located in a 1918 historic building, Hall Street Storage has restored and renovated the space make it environmentally viable. They’ve re-purposed as much as possible and are using the antique wood from the remodeling of the building used by local artisans and carpenters for flooring and furniture.
To top that: This company has also formed a foundation for the further greening of Brooklyn. The owner is a Brooklyn native and, according to the email, "he’s enthusiastic about the neighborhood and about being green within it."
The great thing is that this is a company doing the right thing for the right reasons. In addition to an extensive employee education program on environmental issues, they are giving or buying at cost things like CFL bulbs and environmental cleaners to help employees go green at home;
They are using only green cleaners itself and other environmental details that add up big when talking about a facility of this size.
About their renewable energy: it is certified by Green-E, the strictest certification for environmental standards in the country; that differs from just any renewable energy program and elevates its use quite considerably.
Apparently, the owners have become obsessed with green things, like many do when they start taking green action. They are putting out money in a big way with their green efforts at this point (renewable energy for a building that does things like cold storage adds up to 3,200 MWh.
This is a committed green business that’s doing their business in a sincere, smart, and green way.