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Do the Worm on Día De Los Muertos!

= Awesome?

Join us in attending the North Brooklyn Compost Project's Day of the Dead Worm bin Workshop this Saturday, 12:30 pm at the McCarren Park Greenmarket!

The site that we've brought our compostable items all summer will be closing for the season after Thanksgiving, but you can keep on composting indoors with red wiggler worms! Come learn how it works and sign up for a $40 kit (a bin plus one pound of worms).

3rd Ward Election Night Event

Passing this event along by request. One wonders if Brooklyn Royalty also has a McCain screen ready to go. You wouldn't want to be in the same situation as the Chicago Tribune (the Fox News of mid-Century)...

Anyone else have other community-oriented election night events?

Watch the votes roll in and the Bushes roll out at 3rd Ward's After Work Election Hoedown!

After work on election day, from 6 pm till the country turns blue, come to 3rd Ward for live election coverage projected 10 ft. x 10 ft.

We'll have DJs, drinks, eats & "pork barrels" and Brooklyn Royalty will be LIVE screen-printing Obama t's.

Plus, compete to support your candidate and be awarded, 3rd Ward style. We're looking for cheers, impersonators and creative expressions of patriotism.

Come for the fun and go home with a custom made Obama shirt and a new president.

For more information email events@3rdward.com.

Greenpoint Rezoning Industrial Reuse Meeting Report

The New York Times has a writeup about the rezoning meeting held last night about rezoning some parts of the neighborhood reusing industrial buildings. NAG board member Ward Dennis is quoted:

"Developers are demolishing perfectly good buildings such as the Old Dutch Mustard company in my neighborhood, a five-story loft building that was demolished, yes, to create a five-story loft building."

Other speakers included Mary Habstritt, an industrial historian and personal hero of mine, and Lisa Kersavage of the Municpal Art Society, who pointed out the dangerous false dichotomy that developers like to promote: that low-income housing and preservation can't coexist.

Kersavage and others also discussed the environmentally destructive impact of demolition, with one of the Navy Yard developers saying, "The most sustainable thing you can do is adaptively reuse a building, so we are doing that throughout the Navy Yard, 40-plus buildings we’re adaptively reusing before they’re so far gone you can’t make the numbers work."

Several commenters noted that, in addition to preservation of cultural history and other good reasons to manage development, turning industrial areas into housing is also bad for the local economy. One of them posted a link to something I keep meaning to post about—WNET's great series "Uncertain Industry: The Decline of Manufacturing in New York City." You can watch it online—it includes a profile of Greenpoint business Angel's Bakery, among others.

Photo of the Old Dutch Mustard Building (now gone) by masck, via a Creative Commons License.

ETA: Thanks to Ward for pointing out I confused two meetings in this post's original form! This is about the MAS panel on adaptive reuse. I'll post about the rezoning meetings in another entry. I've been sick.

Open Space Alliance Community Committee Meeting Nov 3

For those of you that are more locally-inclined than nationally and will be twiddling your thumbs on election eve, the much-anticipated "community committee" meeting of the Open Space Alliance will be held this coming Monday, Nov 3rd at 6:30pm at the Brooklyn Brewery (North 11th and Wythe Ave).

OSA is improving our existing parks and helping to develop new parks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. We accomplish this by raising funds, linking community volunteers, and working in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

We are very excited to announce this meeting to form the Community Committee for the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn! The purpose of this meeting is to formally introduce OSA to all interested community organizations and residents, and to hear your feedback about how to improve our parks through our partnership with the NYC Parks Department.

The meeting will be hosted by representatives from the GWAPP and NAG Boards. Tupper Thomas from the Prospect Park Alliance will provide insight from the 25 years of their Community Committee's operation. Steve Hindy will answer questions on behalf of the OSA Board. A beer reception will follow for the community to meet the rest of the Board Members of OSA.

More information is available at OSA's website.

Recycling Comes to McCarren Park!

The Brooklyn Eagle is reporting that the city is putting recycling bins in some of the boroughs busiest locations, including McCarren Park. Of course the best thing to do is tote your own water bottle, etc., so there's no waste at all, but being able to recycle is a nice compromise for now. Look for the green and blue bins in Prospect Park and several other locations as well.

And remember regular recycling rules apply: only containers, not caps, and not all plastic is accepted for recycling in New York City. Check the bottom of your container—you'll see a number, sometimes surrounded by a triangle. Only types 1 (PETE) and 2 (HDPE) go in the bin; the others, sadly, go in the trash.

Reminder: Contextual Rezoning of Greenpoint & Williamsburg Info Meeting Tonight and Tomorrow

The proposal covers approximately 175 blocks in Greenpoint and central Williamsburg. The Rezoning is meant to prevent new out-of-scale development by establishing height limits and to create opportunities for affordable housing through the inclusionary housing program.

There will be two meetings where Department of City Planning staff will present the zoning proposal and answer questions from the public.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 6:30 pm, held at Swinging 60's Senior Center--211 Ainslie Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211 (corner of Manhattan Avenue, Williamsburg).

Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 6:30pm, held at the Capital One Bank's downstairs meeting room (Greenpoint-Savings Bank Building)-- 807 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11222 (please use the Calyer Street side entrance, between Manhattan Avenue & Lorimer Street, Greenpoint).

Sun Oct 26: Green Fall Festival and Pumpkin Palooza at State Park

From our friends at the Friends of the East River State Park:

Following our recent successful Voter Registration drive at the park, the Friends of the East River State Park are excited about our next event and we hope you will be part of the "Green Fall Festival and Pumpkin Palooza" on Sunday, October 26th from noon to 6 pm. Co-sponsored with Assemblyman Joe Lentol and NY State Parks, we will have:

*games, arts & crafts and educational programs for children from
Brooklyn Children's Museum and the NY Aquarium
*live music and entertainment from The Hungry March Band
*fall wreath making
*NYS farm fresh produce
*Green Expo with hands-on alternative energy,
Weatherization and recycling games
….And pumpkins (organic, grown in New York) pumpkins, pumpkins…and more pumpkins for kids to decorate

We think it is too dangerous to cross Kent Avenue to get into the park
so come sign our petition calling for a stoplight!

What can you do as a Friend to the Park?
(1) Spread the word. Let your friends know about the 10/26 event. Send a message to your listservs.
(2) Help out. We need people to help that day, so please let us know if you can help.
(3) Come to the park! Come 10/26 & enjoy the park with family, friends & neighbors.

Northside Piers Esplanade to Open in October?

Brooklyn Papers reports that Northside Piers' esplanade is going to open this week or next.

As we previously noted, the opening was held up supposedly for safety reasons, but needs to be open in order for the market-rate building to get its permanent C of O.

More blogging about the town hall

Joe Jackson has a write up of the town hall with a short video that gives you the flavor of the event.

OperaOggiNY to re-open McCaddin Memorial Hall Theater on Berry Street

OperaOggiNY, a production company is going to be reopening a theater on Berry Street between South 2nd and 3rd streets! We're looking forward to trying on our monocle and top hat on opening night.

A 600 seat, "theater" complete with 50 foot proscenium arch raked stage and a balcony, plenty of fly space with classic brick and wood and plaster construction has been found and is about to be opened to the public by a collaboration between OperaOggiNY and the St. Peter and Paul parish.

Rehearsals, started this week, are already bringing serious opera back to the theater. With Music Director, Bill Lewis, (coach to none other than the Met's Marcello Giordani and accompanist to all of Ronan Tynan's appearances) as part of the mix, these two very serious performers are preparing L'Oracolo, by Leone. Although presented within the last 2 years in a concert version in Manhattan, this is the first time that the work has been staged in an extremely long time. This one act verismo opera. composed by Leoni, who was a student with Puccini and part of Ponchielli's studio, will not disappoint. Set in San Francisco's China Town, cerca 1900, it was all the rage at the Met while Antonio Scotti was a star.

Performances Nov. 6, 7, 8. (all at 8pm)
Henry McCaddin Hall 288 Berry Street, Williamsburg
Admission: $20 dollars.
More information at www.operaogginy.com

A Benefit for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

Our friends at Brooklyn Greenway Initiative send this fundraiser notice along. They've already been able to get a section of the greenway built on Columbia Street--here's to hoping they can do the same in North Brooklyn!

Tuesday, November 18th, 8pm (doors open at 7pm)

Join supporters and friends of the Greenway for an evening of music and program shorts from some of Galapagos’ fabulous resident artists! Proceeds support the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile off-street bike and pedestrian route that will connect Brooklyn’s parks, neighborhoods and people. Galapagos is located midway along the planned route, so it's the perfect place for a celebration of recent milestones. Matt Wasowski, founder and Big Boss of Nerd Nite will give a 10 minute presentation about the Coney Island hot dog eating contest and the fascinating world of competitive eating. Other acts TBA. Tickets are $20 per person, or two for $30, so bring a friend! To purchase tickets go to http://www.galapagosartspace.com/events.html

Also, we're having our first raffle, so we're looking for items of every sort that you think will stir the excitement of our raffle ticket buying guests! For example: gifts you were given that don't match your (or your mate's) style that are wasting precious storage space, donated goods,services, gift certificates, meals, something from a local business you patronize, etc. All Donations will be credited on our Website and the evening of the event.

Details About Affordable Housing Application Process

As noted Thursday, we pleased to announce that the Edge located on the Northside waterfront of Williamsburg is now accepting applications for their 346 "affordable" rental units. Applications will be accepted (by mail) until DECEMBER 3, 2008.

We want to ensure that the information about any of these "affordable" units is spread far and wide and we want to help people fill out the applications to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to participate in the housing lotteries. But please be aware that we are not renting any apartments ourselves, we have no part in the decision process in who gets the affordable units, have no input in the income levels, and are not a rental agency.

Details about the process in applying for one of these apartments can be found after the jump in the full post

Read more...

---

The apartment size, household size, rent, and income qualifications for the apartments are as follows

There are 77 studio apartments available for single households with an annual income range of $37,370 - $43,000.
The monthly rent will be $886.

There are 95 one bedroom apartments available for single households with an annual income range of $41,919 - $43,000 and households of 2 with an annual income range of $41,919 - $49,150.
The monthly rent will be $995.

There are 174 two bedroom apartments available for households of 3 with an annual income range of $50,287 - $55,300 and households of 4 with an annual income range of $50,287 - $61,450.
The monthly rent will be $1,198.

To get a sense of the layout of the buildings and where the affordable rental units are in relation to the units for sale, check out the design plans (click on "neighborhood" to see the site plan). We do not have any information of the layout of the plans for the rental units as of yet. Unfortunately, the tenants in the rental units will not have access to the EDGE amenities like the pool and screening rooms.

Ok, so you think you are qualified and you want to apply. Applications can be downloaded from www.williamsburgcommunityapartments.com

Feel free to come into the office for help with the applications. We can download the application for you, help you fill it out, and make copies of the completed application for your records. I have really neat handwriting and would be more than willing to help you fill out the application or answer any questions about the application.

Please remember, that you cannot submit more than one application. If you do, you will be disqualified. We are still waiting to hear back from HPD to learn their official definition of "household". Please give us a call if you have any questions about how to define your household and how to apply.

As always, we will be running our walk-in hours from 4-8pm on Mondays & 2-8pm on Tuesdays (except holidays). If those times do not work, you can make an appointment for a time that better suits your schedule by calling Ryan Kuonen @ (718) 384-2248.

Completed applications must be returned by regular mail (that's right, no priority, certified, over-night or registered mail will be accepted) to the PO Box listed on the application. Applications must be postmarked by December 3, 2008.

Applications will be randomly selected by lottery. Preference will be given to New York City residents. Preference for 50% of the units will be given to people who currently reside in Brooklyn Community Board 1 (that's pretty much all of Greenpoint and Williamsburg; 11211 & 11222) or can prove they lived in the neighborhood on or after October 4, 2004. There are other preferences for eligible applicants with mobility impairments (5% of units), visual and/or hearing impairments (2% of units), and City of NY Municipal Employees (5% preference).

And if you do not meet the income qualifications on this project, I am sorry to say that right now, this is the only project in the Greenpoint-Williamsbug area that is offering "affordable Units" for rent. We will contact you immediately when new offers arise...

-Ryan Kuonen, NAG Tenant Services

It's [Our] Park Day!

Join United Friends of McCarren Park (UFMP)* for "It's My Park Day", this coming Saturday, Oct 25, from 10am-4pm.

There will be bulb planting will be by the triangle with the Green Dome community garden from 10am-noon. Dodgeball, kickball, croquet, bocce ball and more to follow!

More information is at www.ufmp.org

*We should note that UFMP is officially our favorite onomonopoeadic local acronymn. It's like the sound you make when you lay down on the grass after a long jog.

Update: UFMP's name corrected. Sorry Kate!

Photo by Byran Buckman

What do the Mona Lisa and the Greenpoint waste digesters have in common?

Hervé Descottes, that's what! The French lighting designer, who was in charge of the lighting of the Mona Lisa when the Louvre reinstalled it in 1991, does all of the lighting for NYC landmarks and other large things, including our giant waste-eating domes. The New York Times has a story about him today, in the context of his work on the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, aka the domes, which will eventually have a visitor's center and sculpture garden with work by Vito Acconci. (The project is happening in stages—a nature walk opened in Sept 2007, and the lighting ceremony was in June of this year.)

From the DEP site, some fun digester facts!

The digesters will process up to 1.5 million gallons of sludge everyday. Each egg, clad with low reflectivity stainless steel, is 145 feet high and 80 feet in diameter. The eight eggs were welded on site from pieces that were brought from Texas and fabricated by Chicago Bridge and Iron. It took three months to assemble each one. Although the weight for each egg is around 2 million pounds when empty; it is calculated that they may weigh up to 32 million pounds when processing sludge.

Digesters play a critical role in the wastewater treatment process. During the wastewater treatment process, organic material called sludge is removed from sewage. Sludge is "digested" and processed for beneficial use. Inside of digesters, bacteria break down this sludge into more stable materials. Heat, lack of oxygen, and time are all needed for this to happen. Much of the sludge is converted into water, carbon dioxide and methane gas. The remaining is called digested sludge. Digested sludge is then dewatered to form a cake, which, after additional processing, can be beneficially used as a fertilizer. The eggs are state of the art in digester design as the shape assists in concentrating grit at the bottom of the tank, mixing for improved digestion and the concentration of gas at the top of the tank. Each egg holds 3 million gallons of sludge.

The Newtown Creek plant is the largest of New York City's 14 wastewater treatment plants. The plant serves approximately 1 million residents in a drainage area of more than 15,000 acres (25 square miles). The plant began operation in 1967 and currently treats 18% of the City's wastewater with a capacity of 310 million gallons per day (mgd) during dry weather. Upgrade work began in 1998 and will eventually raise plant capacity to 700 mgd during wet weather storms. The upgraded plant will serve a projected population of 1.33 million residents within the relevant drainage area by 2045.

There is a great, dramatic photo in the Times article, so be sure to click. As Descottes puts it, "Sometimes it doesn't smell so good. But at least it doesn't look so bad." The French are so effusive!

Props for much, if not all of this, go to the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee, which meets with the DEP monthly, and has lobbied for the community tirelessly.

Photo by me.

Playing in the water beneath the Williamsburg Bridge

There's an amazing photo from the Dantzic Archives over on the Gowanus Lounge blog of some kids playing in the river as recently as fifty years ago. This is not it. Click the link and go look at theirs, it's beautiful. (No offense to local musician Jens Carstensen of the Giraffes, who stars in this one.)

Want to go to Domino?

The developers of the Domino Sugar Factory site are allowing the public to go down to the waterfront this Sunday. Although I am virulently against their proposed plans for the factory (I'm speaking for myself here, not for NAG), I really urge people to go.

I got to visit last year on a walkthrough to discuss their plans for the open space portion of the development, and it was pretty mindblowing, to be down there, walking around up close by the buildings I'd previously only seen from above on the bridge. Your whole sense of scale shifts. It's exciting to be that close to the river. But it was also really sad.

Being there with the factory buildings still extant was so powerful, and gave such a sense of history. I know people whose grandfathers worked in that factory. I know union organizers who rabbleroused there. The story of Domino Sugar and the Havemeyer family is such an important one in New York City--it connects to trade history, industrial history, art history, and more. I really fail to understand why we preserve lofts in Soho because artists once lived there, but we don't appreciate the meaning and importance of this factory. I'm glad we got part of the factory landmarked, but it breaks my heart every time I think about 8 or 9 glass towers going up there, with manicured lawns and everything bright and shiny, erasing history in favor of a developer's imposed vision of our neighborhood.

Anyway. I do recommend going, and hey, while you are there, feel free to voice your opinion of what should be done with the site to those who are running the show.

If you want to see my blog and photos from the tour I went on, click here.

Williamsburg Community Apartments Now Accepting Applications for Middle Income Affordable Housing

The Williamsburg Community Apartments at 34 N 6th and 27 N 6th, which are still under construction, are accepting applications for the 346 units available for middle income families. Those who have lived in CB1 since Oct, 2004 or before will get preference for half the units. Applications must be postmarked by Dec 3rd, 2008.

The apartments range from studios to two-bedrooms, and the income level for eligibility ranges from $37,370–$61,450. See the application for more details. There is no application fee.

Visit williamsburgcommunityapartments.com to download the application.

Update: Details about the application process are now available.

A Woman Was Raped By A Stranger On This Block

This sign has been up on the corner of Meserole and Humboldt for a while. It reads:

A woman was raped by a stranger on this block.

Please protect your friends, lover, sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, niece, cousin, neighbor, the woman you hear call for help late one night.

1 in 6 women in this country have been victims of rape, or attempted rape.

This needs to stop happening.

It's just a simple sign but it points to the fact that women still aren't safe in this country, or in this neighborhood. To read more about the woman who put up this plaque, check out ArtCal's interview with her. And stay safe.

Remember you can always call Right Rides: (718) 522-0822 for a safe ride home—and they are always looking for drivers.

Photos by me

Can Small Business Save NY's Economy?

Cue, the Center for the Urban Environment, is hosting a forum on Thursday, October 16th, at 6 pm to "discuss the current economic crisis and how businesses can use strong community relations and environmentally responsible practices as capital."

It's $15. Visit the CUE site for more info.

Get out your recession recipes!

Greenpoint resident and author Emily Farris is putting on a casserole contest at her Fourth Annual Casserole Party at Brooklyn Label on Monday, November 10th. Entries will be judged on taste, texture, originality and Casserole Party criteria requiring each entree consist to of two or more solid ingredients (one is generally a starch of some kind) baked in a casserole dish.

Photo by Harris Graber, via a Creative Commons License.

Get the Skinny

I always think it is funny when people tell me about all the trust funders and millionaires in North Brooklyn. It's gentrifying, sure, but actual demographics don't always reflect the media image that persists. A new website gives stats that show that 53.4% of residents in 11211 earn less than $50,000/year, and that both unemployment and poverty are above the US average. The stats in 11222 are similar, with 68.6% earning less than $50,000/year, and both unemployment and poverty are above the US average here as well.

This info is based on the 2000 census, and there have been dramatic changes since then but it is still worth noting, again, that there is more to our community than what you see barhopping on Bedford and Franklin Avenues.

Photo by David Muir, via a Creative Commons License.

News Roundup!

Some recent stories about goings-on in the neighborhood:


Schaefer Landing cancels water taxi service, strands residents, from the New York Times. They should be glad the L now runs most of the time at least.

Gangs on the rise in South Williamsburg, from the Post. Councilwoman Reyna is quoted saying, "We have a serious problem here. This escalates from robberies to murder and more youth-on-youth violence."

More on the accident involving a bicyclist and a Northside driver, from the Times.

Police in Williamsburg are handing out fake tickets that are actually warnings about theft, from the Post.

The police skywatch tower, which we saw at Moore and Graham back in August, is now stationed near the Williamsburg bridge, according to Animal NYC.

Photo of the Haunted House of Humboldt Street, by me.

Crane Company Sketchiness at Northside Piers?

A Daily News article reveals that a crane at Northside Piers is operated by a company with questionable licenses:

Even after the indictment of Nu-Way and its owner, Michael Sackaris, two of the company's machines are set up in the city, a tower crane at 164 Kent Ave. on the Brooklyn waterfront, and a mobile crane at 250 E. 49th St. in Manhattan.

The site apparently has a stop work order on it related to the crane. Anyone have more information about this?


Photo by bondidwhat via creative commons license
(hat tip to Richard Allman for passing this article to us)

Livable Neighborhoods Program at Pratt Institute, Sat Oct 18

Posting this for our friends at Pratt and MAS's Community-Based Planning Task force. Should be an interesting event for any aspiring community-based planners out there.

On Saturday, October 18th, from 9a-1pm, the Municipal Art Society Planning Center, the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, and the Cornell Urban Scholars Program will join to host the Livable Neighborhoods Program at Pratt Institute. The Livable Neighborhoods Program, which first launched in May, 2007 at Hunter College, was created to provide communities with the knowledge, tools, and training needed to transform local vision into effective plans. Students and local community members will have an opportunity to receive NYC-specific, in-person training and reference materials on a number of planning topics, and access to a web-based network for ongoing discussion.

For more information and to register, please review the documents attached. The event will be at the Pratt Institute's Higgin's Hall at 61 St. James Place in Brooklyn. To learn more about the Livable Neighborhoods Program, click here to watch a short video. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sideya Sherman at ssherman@mas.org or 212.935.3960 x259. We look forward to your participation.

More Town Hall Coverage

The Greenpoint Gazette gives us a view of the recent NAG Town Hall meeting.

Irene Palmese, a longtime resident of Williamsburg who has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years, agreed.

"I realize that there are major changes going on in the neighborhood, and so we too must make some changes," Palmese said. "New and old residents, we all have common problems and concerns. There has got to be multi-generational involvement in the easing some of the pressure. I just don't want to lose our sense of community altogether. I don't want this neighborhood to become overly commercialized. I don't want to live in a Times Square environment."

On the other end of the spectrum, new resident Blair Blanchard, who has lived in Greenpoint for less than one year, also showed up to the meeting, ready to get involved and try to ease some of the tension between old and new residents that often comes with the territory of any rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.

"I have lots of questions about the neighborhood and I'd like to be a part of the answer," Blanchard explained. "There is a lot of tension in this area. For example, I never go into Polish businesses, and I'm sure they view me a certain way too. But I like that it's diverse here, and I want to make sure that I'm part of this dialogue too."

The Greenpoint/Williamsburg Courier talked to a couple of our organizers:

Allison Davis, who learned about NAG while she was volunteering during a voter registration drive at McCarren Pool, was interested in NAG's work on a variety of community issues.

"I like how they combine open spaces with transportation issues, tenant advocacy, and quality-of-life issues," Davis said. "It's really nice to be able to address everything in one place."

Alison Levy, an art curator, was similarly interested in community development and wanted to work with NAG before she is priced out of Williamsburg.

"All these different communities, old and new, have a lot of work to do to respect each other and I want to be a part of that," Levy said.

Neighborhood Peace Walk Friday Oct 17

The walk is in memory of Richard Duran, a 22-year-old who was murdered in the MTA bus depot at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge on July 12, 2008. The flyers say that everyone will gather at 7:30 in Valley Forge Park (the park with the George Washington statue on S 4th, near the end of the bridge pedestrian pathway and across the street from El Puente, then walk to the 90th precinct to ask for a stronger police presence to combat teen violence.

For more on the murder of Richard Duran, check this blog.

(I assume El Puente is putting this together, but the flyers I saw didn't mention them, and it's not on their website.)

Photo by Ari Moore, courtesy of a Creative Commons License.

Newtown Creek Neighborhoods Community Mapping Workshop

In partnership with the Newtown Creek Alliance, HabitatMap invites you to participate in a community mapping workshop at LaGuardia Community College on the evening of Monday, October 20th from 6:30-8:30. Space is limited so please RSVP here to reserve your spot.

At the Newtown Creek Neighborhoods Community Mapping Workshop participants will:

• discover how web-based tools can magnify the impact of community organizing campaigns;
• hear from experienced organizers who have been active in the Newtown Creek Neighborhoods for decades; and
• learn how to navigate and mine city, state, and federal databases for information relevant to their own personal health and the health of their families and communities.

Participants should come prepared to begin mapping their neighborhoods so bring any relevant documents and photos but most importantly, bring your ideas.

Questions:
Contact Michael Heimbinder at mheimbinder(at)habitatmap(dot)org.

Location:
The Newtown Creek Neighborhoods Community Mapping Workshop will be held at LaGuardia Community College, building E, room 228 on the evening of Monday October 20th from 6:30-8:30pm. The entrance to building E is located at 31-10 Thomson Ave. between 31st St. and Van Dam St.

Demystifying Affordable Housing and Zoning

This came into our inbox yesterday. It will be useful for those interested in learning more about zoning and affordable housing, especially in relation to the contextual rezoning and Domino rezoning coming down the pike.

In collaboration with the Fifth Avenue Committee, the Center for Urban Pedagogy will be leading a number of bilingual workshops (English and Spanish) on affordable housing and zoning. We'll be gathering feedback on the latest versions of our Envisioning Development teaching tools. The workshops are free and open to the public, but space is limited. Please RSVP to dpowell@fifthave.org

Demystifying Affordable Housing
October 15, 6 - 9 pm
Fifth Avenue Committee
621 DeGraw St
Brooklyn, NY

Demystifying Zoning
October 20, 6 - 9 pm
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Residence
41 1st St (between Hoyt and Bond)
Brooklyn, NY

Demystifying Affordable Housing
October 21, 6 - 9 pm
Marien Heim Senior Center
4520 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Demystifying Zoning
October 28, 6 - 9 pm
Marien Heim Senior Center
4520 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Learn How to Make a Worm Bin!

And, if you're a teacher, learn how to teach your kids how to make a worm bin (although it is open for non-teachers as well). This Wednesday 5-7pm at Habana Outpost, hosted by the North Brooklyn Compost Project's Kate Zidar.

Thank You

Thanks to the 100+ people who came to the town hall meeting Thursday! The event was made into a small miracle of civic dialogue because there was so much listening and patience--which is a rare thing these days.

We heard from Executive Director Peter Gillespie about the history of NAG and then testimony from several people about problems they have been experiencing with bike safety, with construction and quality-of-life, with transportation, and with affordable housing. Then we broke into small groups tasked with answering the question: "What three issues do you want to work with NAG on over the next year?" Then the groups reported back, and we finished with enough time to make it home or to a bar to watch the VP debate.

Here's what a couple people said to me after the meeting:

"It was pretty great listening to all of the residents in our group talk about their concerns for the neighborhood. In fact, it was empowering."

"I haven't seen a meeting get that range of age groups in a room since a Make the Road New York meeting."

Next steps
We hope to report back with an organizing agenda based on the dialogue shortly after the November election. We will follow up with a working meeting to get this initiative going.

Also if you have any photos, send them our way--our email is in the sidebar.

Coverage in the blogs
Williamsburg is Dead
Brooklyn 11211
Under the BQE


A special thanks to:

• Our new organizers--Allison, Alison, Wilneida, Gregor, Alexandra, and Emily--who got everyone to the event who got everyone to the event by tirelessly promoting it.
  
• Holy Ghost Ukranian Church for hosting the meeting and Ed Bartosiewicz who arranged for the space.
• Teddy's Bar & Grill for donating the sound system and Union Beer Distributors for printing the banner gratis.
  
• Our partners in the affordable housing collaborative who participated in the meeting-- David Pagan from Los Sures, Del and Doug Teague from the People's Firehouse.
• Our friends Dewey Thompson and Trina McKeever from GWAPP and Mike Hoffman from Newtown Barge Park Pals.
• The Greenline, the Greenpoint Reformed Church and all our blogger pals for helping to promote the event.
• And of course, our great board and hard-working staff (Peter, Michelle, and Ryan) who made sure the event ran smoothly.
  

Photos by Alexandra Sweet

Urban Planning 101 Via a New Haven Block

This article in the NY Times Real Estate section does a really good job at summing up why neighborhood character is an important part of determining the social urban, using the author's New Haven block. And although it talks about a Connecticut city, the article is an excellent description of the reasons why many have been drawn to North Brooklyn. The only two missing are the waterfront and a mix of residential and work spaces. And New Haven seems to have much more livable streets than we do.

Excerpts from the article and comparisons to Greenpoint and Williamsburg after the jump. Read more...

On the Character and Mixture of Buildings

Partly, it's the houses, a terrifically appealing mix of stately and modest, small and medium and big, very old and just plain old. They have a family resemblance, and many of them were even built on the same plan, but they've all been through enough owners, with the attendant additions, customizations and refittings, that each has its own character.


Kent Street, Greenpoint (photo by Bitchcakes via creative commons license)

The original farmhouse across the street from where I live is a two-story Italianate built in the mid-1870s, but most houses on the street are of a different vintage, dating to around the time of the Great War. There are a few Arts and Crafts cottages, like mine, which was built in 1930, and several three-story, multifamily houses, where the street's minority of renters live. The rich can afford to live elsewhere, but the poor might get a foothold on our street. I don't ask my neighbors what they earn, but the housing stock is conducive to economic diversity.

Most houses are for families to buy and raise children in, but some of the rental units are occupied by single people or the retired. We have a coffee shop and an elementary school too.

On Street Design

When I began thinking about what makes my street work, I knew that this variety helped. But I also knew that my untrained eye was missing a lot, so I asked Dolores Hayden, a Yale professor of architecture who writes about public space, to walk with me down West Rock Avenue. What, I asked her, seemed right about our street?


Bedford Avenue (Photo by Drayton via creative commons license)

"Look at these sidewalks" was the first thing she said, as we embarked from my house heading north toward West Elm. "First of all, you have them. Second, they're wide enough for people to walk down two or three across, or with a stroller or a dog." In other words, she was saying, it's not enough to have a sidewalk--if it's narrow, then when people approach, their urge is to squeeze past. On our street, I told her, I had seen children and dogs plop down and sit for half an hour on the sidewalk while the grown-ups talked. "Exactly," she said. "And you have a planting strip too, and people can plant things on it." And it's true that many of our street's avid gardeners don't just work the backs and sides of houses: they use their front yards, especially if their grass has gotten sparse.

On Traffic & Livable Streets

At the corner of West Elm, Hayden looked in both directions and said she was curious what the streets parallel to West Rock were like. "Are they busier streets?" she asked.

"Much," I said. "Central Avenue goes all the way through from Whalley to Route 34, so if you're looking to get across town, you take Central. And Yale Avenue"--which both intersects West Rock and then curves to be parallel to it--"also goes all the way through, and past the Yale Bowl and the other athletic fields. So a lot of trucks use it."

"See, that's important," Hayden said. "You're surrounded by two streets that take up a lot of your traffic. That makes this street quieter. And people like to have conversations on quiet streets."

Williamsburg Walks on Bedford Avenue (photo by Mikebot)

On Socializing

Hayden noted that most of the houses on the street had porches, which I knew was supposed to be a good thing. "But do people use them?" she asked. Yes, I said. It was something I'd always noticed, but it wasn't until Hayden asked that it occurred to me that a porch alone doesn't mean much. People have to use their porches, and use isn't automatic. People are more inclined to use their porches if they can speak to passers-by--which means that the low traffic density makes the porches more desirable to use, because sitting on the porch isn't just a breath of fresh air; it's also a chance for conversation... The school, the porch, the quiet, the short distance to the street: they create the perfect conditions for the kind of friendly, frequent intercourse that brings neighbors together.

On Diversity of Ages

The right mix of ages, for example, can never last long. When Dolores Hayden and I were walking, she asked me about the ages of the people who lived on the street. There's a wide variety, I told her. There are 30 children on my block alone, and their parents are in their 30s and 40s and have moved here in the past 10 years. But then there are empty-nesters, like my neighbors the Knezeks and the Millers, who moved here with their young families in the early 1980s. And there are several residents who grew up on the street, including Helen Buck, who is 92 and has never lived anywhere else.

"That's good," Hayden said, "because you want the young people for the energy, of course. Then you want slightly older people, because they know the history, and they know how to get things done too, how to get a pothole fixed or negotiate the bureaucracy downtown. The retired people, they really know the history. Also, they're the eyes on the street: they're home during the day, they make the street feel inhabited."

On Ethnic and Religious Diversity

"There are reasons those of us who live here chose to live here," said Jack Paulishen..."I never have to worry," Jack said, leaning forward in his easy chair, "that when my son is a teenager, I'll get a call from a principal that my son yelled an ethnic slur at an Orthodox Jew. Or that he was upset that someone has two mommies. And the chance of me ending up next door to someone who doesn't share these values about diversity--the chance of me living next door to a bigot-- is pretty slim."


At the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge (photo by Genial23 via Creative Commons License)

Then, after his paean to diversity, he mentioned something different that drew him to West Rock Avenue. "There's also quite a few Catholics who like to live near their church," he added. "We bought this house thinking, Isn't this nice, we'll walk to church--when we get up early enough to go, that is."

I related to what Jack was saying: it's nice to be near people different, and it's also nice to be near people the same. I like that there are other Jews around — and other writers, other dads, other dog owners. I'm also glad there are gentiles, carpenters, gay couples, old people, black people and the dedicated cat lady who lives across the street.

Town Hall Meeting Tonight!

Our neighborhood is facing major challenges


The L Train is crowded, the G never comes. We need more open space. We need more affordable housing. We need to keep our neighborhood unique.

You can be part of the solution. Join our chorus of old and new neighborhood voices at:



NAG's Town Hall Organizing Meeting

Thursday, October 2, 2008, 7:00p

Holy Ghost Hall Basement
160 N 5th Street (between Bedford and Driggs)

We promise to be done in time to watch the VP Debate tonight!

Photo Credit: Ken Stein