Archive for reference

These pages are provided as an archive of the NAG blog on a previous system. Commenting is no longer available.

Williamsburg Walks Monday, Fundraising Concert Tuesday

Thanks to everyone who came out to our housing forum on Saturday. Our staff, volunteers and partner organizations deserve a round of applause for putting on such a diverse and engaging event!

But NAG's work hasn't stopped. We have two events coming up this week that we'd love to see you at. Help us...
Make this summer's Williamsburg Walks a success by coming to our forum on Monday
and then...
Fund the North Brooklyn Story Project by rocking out at Union Pool on Tuesday

Monday April 27
Williamsburg Walks 2009 Informational Meeting
GIVE YOUR OPINION + GET INVOLVED

Monday, April 27, 7:00pm
Swinging Sixties Senior Center
211 Ainslie Street @ Manhattan Ave

L Magazine and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) are partnering this year to organize the 2009 Williamsburg Walks. We are going to build on last year’s success and celebrate the community on a sunny pedestrian Bedford Avenue. The event is scheduled to take place every Saturday in June and July - starting June 6th - from noon to sunset.

This year, we are hoping to make the event even more enjoyable for the residents, merchants, and visitors of North Brooklyn. We realize from the feedback collected in 2008 that there is room for improvement. This is why we invite you to join us so you can give your opinion and share your concerns, as well as help us make this year a success! Williamsburg Walks is also a great opportunity to actively support the community. Come and learn about the many volunteer opportunities we'll have.

Questions?
Contact the NAG office at 718-384-2248 or williamsburgwalks@gmail.com



Tuesday April 28
North Brooklyn Story Project Concert Fundraiser

To support our North Brooklyn Story Project, an effort by our volunteer organizers to collect oral histories from residents, NAG is throwing a benefit concert at Union Pool featuring Rebecca Schiffman, The Blue Album Group and The Roulettes.

Tuesday, April 28, 8:00pm
Union Pool
484 Union Ave @ Meeker
$5 Suggested donation

Housing Forum Tomorrow, Saturday 10a-4pm

Join Us Saturday April 25th
Greenpoint-Williamsburg Housing Forum

Featuring a keynote speech by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (NY-13)

Facing eviction? Rent too high? No Heat?

Come hear community leaders speak about the future of your 
neighborhood (and the history too!)

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
10 am-4:30 pm
Boricua College, Northside Campus
186 North 6th Street (between Bedford & Driggs)

Speakers, Workshops, Community Resources & Food!

Schedule of Events

10:30-11:30
Stories from the Neighborhood
Affordable Housing Opportunities in NYC
Neighborhood Project: Community Mapping.

11:30-12:30
Affordable Housing, Community Preservation, and our Neighborhood. 
Featuring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez

12:30-1:30
How to get repairs in your apartment. (English & Spanish)
How to form a tenant association. (English & Spanish)
Neighborhood project: How to build a better protest.
Lo que un inquilino necisita saber en espanol (What renters need to 
know)

2:00-3:00pm
Community in Action: Screening of "Metropolitan Avenue" Documentary
Rent Regulation Primer
Loft Tenants, Housing Rights, and Community Displacement
Guide to Housing Court (English with Polish translation)

3:30-4:30pm
Community in Action: The Story of the Berry St. Houses Take-Over
What Co-op Shareholders need to Know By Rolando Guzman of St Nicks
Guide to Housing Court (En espanol) By Brooklyn Legal Corp A. Learn 
the basics of housing court.
Rent Regulation Primer in Polish

Click here for more information about the event.

In the News

Williamsburg Walks is coming back this summer (NY Daily News)
Join us at a forum to give us your ideas, feedback and to volunteer, Monday April 27th 7pm at 211 Ainslie Street

The Pulaski Bridge needs a physically-separated bike lane to eliminate conflicts between walkers and cyclists (Greenpoint Star)

Aaron Short notes how Greenpoint is and is not living up to the first syllable of its name (Short Takes/Greenpoint Gazette)

Our project with People's Firehouse to convert Engine 212 to a community center rolls on (Greenpoint Star)

Our North Brooklyn Story Corps project is gaining steam (Greenpoint Star)

The race to replace David Yassky on the City Council is heating up (City Hall)

Neighborhood Housing Forum to Highlight Tenant Rights & Community History

Lets face it, Greenpoint and Williamsburg are not what they used to be. Factories have been replaced with modern lofts, new restaurants, and boutiques. Old tenements and warehouses disappear daily, as luxury condos spring up in their place. Unfortunately, the economic and cultural transformation of this neighborhood is leaving behind the very residents which have sustained this community thru its more difficult times and who have also contributed to its most recent revitalization. With rents doubling and landlord harassment on the rise, tenant advocacy services and community education is often the only recourse that individuals and families have when faced with the possibility of losing their home. Tenant advocates can't be everywhere at all times -- educating people about tenant laws can go a long way towards making sure they are enforced.

At the same time, even local community organizers agree that it's impossible to ignore the vibrancy and energy of having a diverse community as in Greenpoint/Williamsburg. What is needed is continuity and mutual understanding in the neighborhood; for both new and long-time residents to get to know and appreciate each other. The need to emphasize both the housing needs of our diverse community and to seek common ground between new and old residents has led to the development of the first Greenpoint/Williamsburg Housing Forum.

The forum will be held on Saturday, April 25th from 10am to 4:30pm at Boricua College. 186 N6th. Between Bedford & Driggs. There will be talks by community organizers who grew up in the neighborhood, local politicians addressing the issue of affordable housing, documentary screenings, and workshops on a variety of topics in english, polish and spanish. Check out the full schedule below...

10:30-12:00: Stories from the Neighborhood. By NAG Affordable Housing Group. Community organizers who were born in Greenpoint & Williamsburg talk story about the neighborhood. Speakers include Jim Rodecker who will tell the story of the battle aganist all the illegal dumps and the fight to get the Northside a waterfront park; Carol Kulikowski who will share the powerful story behind the affordable housing units @ Northside Gardens; and Patrick DiCanio who will share the stories behind the Italian immigration to Williamsburg, the Feast every July, and the impact and love the Italian community has for all of the new happenings in our neighborhood.

10:30-11:30: Affordable Housing Opportunities in NYC. By Filip Stabrowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. This workshop will discuss various affordable housing opportunities in NYC, including NYCHA project housing, Mitchell-Lama buildings, affordable housing lotteries, Section 8, SCRIE, and DRIE. Criteria for eligibility and information on how to apply to different programs will be provided.

10:30-12: Neighborhood Project: Community Mapping. Walk-in workshop. By NAG Affordable Housing Group. Do you like maps? Enjoy a nice stroll around the block with your camera? Are you constantly surprised by some new building on the street? Plug into a project to map displacement, new buildings, active and inactive construction sights, neighborhood blight, and other housing and community issues. Become part of the team that is making a community map of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. (This is not a formal, timed workshop but a continual opportunity to learn about the mapping project, meaning you can walk-in during the hours stated. If you can't make that time, info about the project will be available all day at the NAG community table.)

11:30-12:30: Affordable Housing, Community Preservation, and our Neighborhood. Alison Cordero of St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corp. and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez will discuss the state of affordable housing and the issue of neighborhood preservation in the Greenpoint-Williamsburg community.

12:30-1:30: How to get repairs in your apartment. (English & Spanish) By Jerry Urbaez & Cathy Pinto of Los Sures. Learn your rights as a tenant to live in habitable conditions and what actions you (as an individual and collectively in your building) can take to get the services and repairs you are entitled to. The Warrant of Habitability will be reviewed, tenant initiated Housing Court actions (HP and Article 7A) will be explained as well as rent strike procedures and "repair and deduct" rules.

12:30-1:30: How to form a tenant association. (English & Spanish) Debbie Medina & Annie Vega of Los Sures. Learn your rights as tenants in a building to form a tenant association, to hold meetings in your building, and the advantages to working together to assert your rights for building improvements, and to prevent displacement.

12:30-1:30: Neighborhood project: How to build a better protest. By Kurt Hill of Peoples Firehouse Inc. Learn how to organize a protest and how to make simple props for different actions, like informational picket-lines, sit-ins, rallies, protest marches, etc. This workshop will also cover how to write a press release, how to deal with the media and police, and the permit process for marches and sound equipment.

12:30-1:30: Lo que un inquilino necisita saber (En espanol) By Jacqueline Aristy of St. Nicks.

2-3pm: Community in Action: Screening of "Metropolitan Avenue" Watch an inspiring doc from 1986 about a group of women who strive to combine new roles and old values in our rapidly changing society. This film introduces a group of low-income working class families who must go up against developers who want to bulldoze their neighborhood to put up a shopping mall, an act which would leave many of them without a place to call home. The doc shows what life is like in this close knit neighborhood; the friendships between families, the celebrations, the problems caused by racial tensions, cuts in municipal services, etc. We also see their organized protests and their pleas to various elected officials. In the end their actions save their neighborhood as a group of "traditional' homemakers from varied ethnic backgrounds rise to the challenge and become leaders in the effort to save their community.

2-3pm: Rent Regulation Primer By Jacek Bikowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. Do you know if your building in rent regulated? If it was built before 1974 and has more than 6 units, there is a large chance that your unit is stabilized. Come learn your rights...

2-3pm: Loft Tenants, Housing Rights, and Community Displacement By the NAG Affordable Housing Group. This workshop will give an overview of the history of live/work loft tenancy in Williamsburgh/Greenpoint, focusing on the extension of the New York City Loft Law to the outer boroughs in the 1980s and subsequesnt court rulings affecting live/work loft tenants.

2-3pm: Guide to Housing Court (English with Polish translation) By Brooklyn Legal Corp A. Learn the basics of housing court.

3:30-4:30pm: Community in Action: The Story of the Berry St. Houses Take-Over By Barbara Schliff of Los Sures. Have you been following the stories of squatters and foreclosures across the country wondering if that could ever happen here...Well, come hear about the last time it went down in Williamsburg. Learn how a successful, but risky community action was conceived and undertaken and the short and long-term results. The Berry St. Houses is an 82-unit NYCHA project located in the Southside of Williamsburg. When it was set to open, the community was not about to allow business as usual regarding waiting lists, quotas, and who would get to live there---they decided to take action to get their fair share of housing...

3:30-4:30pm: What Co-op Shareholders need to Know By Rolando Guzman of St Nicks

3:30-4:30pm: Guide to Housing Court (En espanol) By Brooklyn Legal Corp A. Learn the basics of housing court.

3:30-4:30pm: Rent Regulation Primer in Polish By Jacek Bikowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. Do you know if your building in rent regulated? If it was built before 1974 and has more than 6 units, there is a large chance that your unit is stabilized. Come learn your rights...

There will also be an all day community "fair" with tables and propoganda from various community groups. Come join the fun and drop in for any part of the day and learn more about the housing issues that affect all of us in the community.

Seedballing Makes NPR!

We were just on NPR for our Guerilla Gardening project. We had a fun Sunday walking around with Margot Adler and dropping seedballs in some underloved spaces.

Neighborhood organizations across the U.S. that want to improve the environment are using a surprising weapon: seed balls. It's a technique for planting in abandoned places and often inhospitable land that was developed in Japan by Masanobu Fukuoka, a pioneer in "natural farming."

The technique has worked its way to Brooklyn, N.Y. In the Greenpoint neighborhood on a recent Sunday afternoon, a small group of activists walked the streets carrying paper bags filed with little balls made from clay, compost and seeds. They are members of a local group called NAG, or Neighbors Allied for Good Growth. They drop the balls on dirt piles and throw them into abandoned lots...

Gallagher says that seed balls allow people to take control of their small piece of the planet. She says walking around on a Sunday morning throwing seed balls is fun and easy.

"I think it is really important to break down these larger tasks — of taking back our neighborhoods and cleaning up our open spaces — into tasks that are completely doable," she says.

Check out the story, audio available online at 7pm

Tweeting

We set up a NAG twitter account. Come check it out and follow us at http://twitter.com/nagbrooklyn

Affordable Housing Forum: Saturday April 25th

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
10 am-4:30 pm
Boricua College, Northside Campus,
186 North 6th Street (between Bedford & Driggs)

Speakers, Workshops, Community Resources & Food!

Come hear community leaders speak about the future of your neighborhood (and the history too!)

• Forming tenants associations
• Rent over-charges for stabilized units
• Legal issues
• Maintenance and services
• Loft issues
• Stories from the neighborhood
• Literature and hand-outs available
• Some sessions in Spanish and Polish

UPDATE: SCHEDULE FOR CONFERENCE HAS BEEN RELEASED

Sponsored by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Tenant Anti-Displacement Collaborative

• Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG)
• People's Firehouse
• Los Sures
• St Nicholas NPC
• Churches United
• Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A
• North Brooklyn Development Corp

With generous support of many local businesses

Coverage of NAG Town Hall meeting last week

The Greenpoint Star: NAG Groups Making Positive Changes

Greenpoint Gazette: NAG Gets Organized

Williamsburg Courier story is not online.

Creating More Open Space for North Brooklyn

The guerilla gardening activities have gotten off to a great start with our placing wildflower seeds in abandoned lots throughout the community. We are continuing these efforts and planning a "Where's My Park?" Day on May 16th to ask the city where the new waterfront parks we were promised during the 2005 rezonings are.

Open Space Group meeting: April 6th, place TBA.

Contact Emily openspace@nag-brooklyn.org

Williamsburg Walks 2009 Information Meeting

GIVE YOUR OPINION & GET INVOLVED

Join NAG and the L Magazine at

WILLIAMSBURG WALKS 2009 INFORMATION MEETING
Monday, April 27, 7:00pm
Swinging Sixties Senior Center
211 Ainslie Street @ Manhattan Ave (Map)

L Magazine and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) are partnering this year to organize the 2009 Williamsburg Walks. Last year's event was in many regards a success thanks to the support of the driving forces of the community.

The 2009 Williamsburg Walks is going to build on last year's success and celebrate the community on a sunny pedestrian Bedford Avenue. The event will be taking place every Saturday in June and July - starting June 6th - from noon to 9 pm.

This year, we are hoping to make the event even more enjoyable for the residents, merchants, and visitors of North Brooklyn. We realize from the feedback collected in 2008 that there is room for improvement. This is why we invite you to join us so you can give your opinion and share your concerns.

Williamsburg Walks are also a great opportunity to actively support the community. Come and learn about the many volunteer opportunities.

Questions?
Contact the NAG office at 718-384-2248 or williamsburgwalks@gmail.com

Guest Post by Assm. Joe Lentol on MTA Situation

Assemblyman Joe Lentol Responds to MTA's Vote on Fare Hikes

I, like you, am extremely upset that the mass transit situation in New York City has gotten to this dire point. I want my constituents and neighbors to know that I have been doing everything in my power to save the subway system including regular dialogues with MTA Chair Eliot Sander and with the architect of the bailout plan Richard Ravitch. I have even brought Mr. Ravitch into our neighborhoods to ride the G train so he could experience the G train's shortcomings for himself. I have emphasized the importance of the B48 and the B24 to both the MTA and Mr. Ravitch. I have discussed many times how important it is to keep fares low and trains and buses running regularly, in order to keep this city and working families afloat. New York City is the engine of the state, and the transit system is the engine of the New York City. We cannot let the MTA go under.

So most importantly, I have supported the bailout plan put forth by the Assembly and supported by the MTA. The Assembly plan would keep the transit system running, keep fares low, prevent service cuts to buses and subways and adequately fund the MTA capital plan. While it does put tolls on the bridges it keeps them low, $2.00, the same as a subway ride. This plan has been supported by many of our city newspapers' editorial boards and transportation advocacy groups. I understand how absolutely vital affordable subway and bus transportation is to Brooklyn families. I am committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that New Yorkers continue to have access to this essential resource.

I want to assure you that the clock has not yet run out. The fare increase is not scheduled to take effect until the end of May. While there is absolutely no excuse for letting it get this far, time has not run out, there is still time to save the system. There is still time for others in government to come around and accept the Assembly's plan or for us to forge a new plan if that is what it takes. I will do whatever necessary to assist with this up in Albany. In the meantime I want to encourage you to make your voices heard. Everyone, at all levels of government, needs to understand, as many of us already do, just how important this is to New Yorkers. Together we can make sure that the subway and buses get the help they need, just in time.

-Assemblymember Joseph R. Lentol

Biking Notes

Promoting the Brooklyn Greenway

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is conducting traffic monitoring to study traffic patterns on the planned greenway route. You can help by counting cars/users of the bike lane, etc. this weekend!

We need volunteers Saturday April 4th for the following shifts:
Flushing Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p, 6-7p
Kent Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p
Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Installing New Bike Racks

This project seeks to identify locations for new bike racks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. You can help with outreach to local business owners, as well as technology (online mapping, making an informational film, etc). Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Make a Safer Pulaski Bridge

This project is advocating for a protected bike lane over the Pulaski Bridge. You can help with outreach to local community organizations, by writing letters of support to local elected officials and the DOT, and by attending a rally walk/ride at the bridge on May 15 from 6-8pm.
Contact Marin Tockman: marin.tockman@gmail.com

Bike Share Coming to North Brooklyn in June

The Forum for Urban Design will bring a bike share demonstration project to the neighborhood during the first two weeks of June. You can work as a paid supervisor at a station for multiple days, volunteer to staff a station, translate promotional material, or sponsor a location for the bike share.
Contact Loreal Monroe: loreal@forumforurbandesign.org

Stop cuts to subway and bus service-- contact your representatives now!

If we want to avoid major service cuts on the G train and L train weekends and late nights, the ending of the B39, the ending of B48 weekend service, and the complete end of the Z train, the State legislature needs to fully fund the MTA.

Call your legislators (numbers below) and tell them that half measures are not enough. It is up to the state government to find a responsible way to fund transit. We need more transit service than we have now in this growing neighborhood, not less.

State Senator Martin Malave-Dilan: (718) 573-1726
State Senator Daniel Squadron: (212) 298-5565
Assemblymember Joe Lentol: (718) 383-7474

Get involved with the North Brooklyn Story Project

The North Brooklyn Story Project aims to get residents talking and listening to each other to build a vibrant and friendly North Brooklyn community. The group is looking for people with stories to share about our community, and people who can listen to and record these stories.

The first step? To find people interested in telling their stories and people interested in interviewing them. Together, interviewers and storytellers will create an archive of North Brooklyn stories that all of us can use to feel connected to our diverse neighbors and neighborhoods' past, present, and future.

Next meeting Thursday, April 2nd, 7pm
at the NAG Office, 101 Kent Ave @ North 8th Street

Fundraising Concert April 28th at Union Pool, details TBA

Email Gregor at g.nemitzziadie@gmail.com for more information

Planning the April 25th Housing Forum

Saturday, April 25th, 10am-5pm at Boricua College (186 N 6th Street), we will be holding the neighborhood's first housing forum in conjunction with our neighborhood partners from the affordable housing collaborative. We will be bringing together all segments of the community to learn tenant laws, how to deal with troubling housing situations, and how to find affordable housing through existing programs.

We need help promoting the forum and especially need Spanish and Polish speakers to help translate materials and to help facilitate portions of the forum.

If you can help, contact Wilneida Negron at wilneida@gmail.com or call the NAG office at 718-384-2248.

Thurs. Apr 2nd- 6pm: Forum Planning Meeting
Backroom @ Teddy's. (N 8th Street & Berry)
The main focus of this meeting will be helping to advertise and promote the Housing Forum.

Tues. Apr 14- 7pm: Forum Planning Meeting
NAG offices (101 Kent Ave @ N 8th Street)

Tues Apr 21- 7pm: Forum Planning Meeting
NAG offices (101 Kent Ave @ N 8th Street)

Sat Apr 25- 10am-5pm: First Annual Greenpoint-Williamsburg Affordable Housing Forum
Boricua College. 186 N 6th Street

Public art meeting tomorrow

From our friends at the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition:

We are excited to confirm the next North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NBPAC) meeting date and time. The meeting will take place next week on Thursday, April 2nd, at 6:30pm, at The Gibson, located at 108 Bedford Avenue, at the corner of North 11th, in Williamsburg. We will be looking for your input as to locations that you think could really use some public art as well as any public art projects that you’d like to see happen in the community.

Also, we are thrilled about getting the Request for Proposals (RFP) out for the India Street Mural Project! You can also find us on Facebook, where you will find the same document under the 'Notes' section. If you have questions about the Mural application process please feel free to email us at northbrooklynpublicart@gmail.com or by calling 718-875-5200 x14. Or just come down to the meeting on Thursday and ask there.