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Live Here? Vote Here! On September 15, 2009!

Voting in local elections is key to improving the neighborhood!
Greenpoint and Williamsburg are underserved in part because of low voter registration and voter turnout. In the last open council election only 16% of the, and the turnout rate was even lower in North Brooklyn

Register to vote and participate in the local primary on Sept. 15, 2009.
The Democratic lines for City Council as well as the citywide offices of Comptroller, Public Advocate and Mayor are all competitive races this year. Find out what council district you're in!

Are You Registered Correctly?

• The registration deadline for the primary is August 20, 2009.
• If you moved since you last registered, you need to register at your current address. File a "change of address" registration (see below for getting a form).
  
• You can confirm your registration online.
• In NY State, you can only vote in a primary if you are a registered member of that party. Changes in your party registration do not go into effect until after the general election, so we recommend that you change your registration now if you are not registered in a party and want to vote in primaries. Fill out a voter registration form (see below) to change your party.
  

How to Register

• You pick up a voter registration card at libraries, post offices, and most government agencies.
• You can stop by the NAG office to pick up a voter registration form (call 718-384-2248).
  
• You request a form in the mail, call 1-866-VOTE-NYC.
• You can fill out a PDF form, print it out, and mail it to the Board of Elections.

How to Vote

• Find out where your polling place is.
• If this is your first time voting in NY State, we recommend you bring a photo ID with you, or proof of residency like a phone bill or bank statement with your current address--you do not need to bring the card the Board of Elections sends you in the mail.
• If you have voted before in New York State, no proof of identity is required except for your signature.

NAG is a non-partisan entity and does not endorse candidates for office.

See you Tuesday at the City Council Forum!

See you Tuesday at the

Ultimate Verbal Smackdown
33rd Council District Forum

Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 7-9pm
Williamsburg Northside Preschool
152 N 5th Street

Seven people are seeking the Council Member seat that represents much of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, as David Yassky is running for higher office. The September 15th Democratic Primary will likely determine the winner of the election, and yet the election is largely below the radar.

That's why NAG, along with five other organizations, is holding a forum for the 33rd Council District Tuesday, July 28. The issues important to North Brooklynites: affordable housing, open space, transportation, public safety, environment, quality-of-life, education and youth need to be kept front and center.

Come and find out what your next City Council Member will do!

More information about the forum is available at http://www.nag-brooklyn.org/smackdown

Keep the Questions Coming!

ULTIMATE VERBAL SMACKDOWN
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
7:00-9:00 pm
Willamsburg Northside Preschool
152 N 5th Street between Bedford and Driggs

What do you want to ask your next Councilmember?

Here's what a few people have already asked:

What can you do to promote urban wind and solar electricity generation in Williamsburg?

How do you plan to ensure small and family-owned businesses and services remain the heart of the neighborhood economy?

The L train is already packed most times of the day and night. With all the new construction poised to bring thousands more residents to the neighborhood, how will you ensure that the MTA is able to handle the tremendous increase in ridership on the L and G trains?

What will you do to ensure a comprehensive remediation and mitigation of the Meeker Ave. Plumes sites?

What is your previous, tangible work on affordable housing and what tangible action will you take as a council representative?

What will you do to get the police to start cracking down on those drivers who are endangering our lives on the streets?

Submit your questions here!

Details about the forum here

July 28: What Do YOU Want to Ask Your Next City Council Member?

Ultimate Verbal Smackdown: 33rd Council District Forum
July 28, 2009, 7-9pm
At the Williamsburg Northside Preschool, 152 N 5th Street

Seven people are seeking the Council Member seat that represents much of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, as David Yassky is running for higher office. The September 15th Democratic Primary will likely determine the winner of the election, and yet the election is largely below the radar.

That's why NAG, along with five other organizations, is holding a forum for the 33rd Council District Tuesday, July 28. The issues important to North Brooklynites: affordable housing, open space, transportation, public safety, environment, quality-of-life, education and youth need to be kept front and center. We need your help to decide what to ask the candidates!

We want you to help us select the "People's Choice" question that will be asked at the forum! Tell us what you want to ask the candidates by clicking here.

Ultimate Verbal Smackdown: 33rd District Council Forum

RUMBLE IN NORTH BROOKLYN:
THE ULTIMATE VERBAL SMACKDOWN IS COMING TO
33RD COUNCIL DISTRICT RACE

Coalition of Community Groups to Hold City Council Forum
Tuesday, July 28th, 7-9pm

In a match held only once this century, seven City Council candidates will grapple with the issues important to North Brooklynites to help voters decide who will best be able to serve Greenpoint and Williamsburg in the City Council. Candidates will attempt their best verbal wrestling moves, although any metal chairs present will be for sitting and the only sleeper holds allowed are those that require a firm grasp of zoning law.


The Ultimate Verbal Smackdown forum will focus on the major issues facing North Brooklyn: affordable housing, open space, transportation, public safety, environment, quality-of-life, education and youth. The forum will be moderated by Susan Albrecht, Co-Chair of NAG.

The forum will also feature a "people's choice" question--which the public can help write and select online.

Co-sponsored by NAG, GWAPP, St. Nick's NPC, People's Firehouse Inc., Los Sures and El Puente, the event aims to educate the public and promote discussion about the issues the organizations work on daily. All organizations are non-partisan and will not endorse a candidate in the race.

ULTIMATE VERBAL SMACKDOWN
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
7:00-9:00 pm
Willamsburg Northside Preschool
152 N 5th Street between Bedford and Driggs

We're on the Radio

In case you missed it on WNYC this morning, I took a walk with Matthew Scheurman around Williamsburg to show the consequences of the 2005 rezoning. Crowded L-trains, new developments, and missing parks are prominently featured in the story.

Guest Post: Loft Law in the State Senate

Guest Post by Karl Leger

Brooklyn Loft Law Needs Brooklyn Artists, Loft Dwellers' Help in NYS Senate
Loft Law Amendment Could Save 10,000 Brooklynites From Eviction: Extension Includes Current Lofts

After passing the NYS Assembly, Senate Bill S5881 is in now in "Rules", waiting to be scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor. But with legistlative slots running short it may become another victim of Albany's problems. Ultimately the NYC art and design scene will suffer: up to 10,000 artists, in Brooklyn alone, are living and working in unregulated industrial buildings and will likely face eviction should the law die in the Senate or not even make it to the floor for a vote.


Thousands have been evicted from their unregulated and unprotected lofts in the years since 1983, the year the Loft Law was enacted. Recognizing the perilous conditions artists, designer and cultural workers live under, the NY State Assembly has, this June, again passed legislation
which would update, expand and extend the original Loft Law to include current residents of loft spaces anywhere in New York City.

The Multiple Dwelling bill, better known as the Loft Law Amendment, but which
might as well be called the Brooklyn Loft Law, has been passed by the Assembly repeatedly only to die, predictably so, before arrival on the floor of the Republican controlled NYS Senate. This year, however, for the first time in decades, with a Democratic majority in the Senate the bill has had a fair chance. That was until the Senate fell into disarray.

This week, after a month of confusion and way behind schedule, the Senate will convene again to pass the most urgent bills and then likely retire for the rest of the summer. Even though in June, 2009, Senator Daniel Squadron introduced the bill in the Senate, cosponsored by Senator Tom Duane, it is now questionable that the bill "S5881" will come to a vote unless Senators are reminded of this bill's importance to their constituents.

Yet, the 10,000 or so Brooklyn loft dwellers seem blissfully ignorant of of their predicament. Many of them, artists and designers, seem focused on their work, not realizing that the temporary limbo that allows them to exist can collapse within a matter of months. Surprisingly, local organizations, such as the Brooklyn Live/Work Coalition (BLWC), a network of over 2,000 people, which were instrumental in the original formulation of the bill, are now defunct. And the local press and media is no help either. None of the local newspapers or on-line zines or blogs have picked up this story. It is certain though that they will be filled with scathing op-ed pieces
and reports of evictions once it is too late.

Without the State Senators hearing from their constituents, this law might fall between the cracks, mass evictions, as we have seen, especially in Brooklyn, in recent years, are likely. And all of New York City stands to loose.

New York Senators can be reached by phone, fax and email via the Senate's web site: http://www.nysenate.gov/ A database on the issue with links and the actual text of the bill
can be accessed here: http://loftlaw.wordpress.com

Williamsburg Walks is on for tomorrow!

This week NAG's Open Space Committee will be providing information on how to get your urban garden up and running. Stop by our table at North 7th and Bedford to learn more about that, about NAG, and about how to get involved in your community.

An idea for the 94th precinct?

Email?

NEIGHBORS ALLIED FOR GOOD GROWTH
STATEMENT ON THE GROUNDBREAKING OF
THE BUSHWICK INLET SOCCER FIELD


Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) welcomes Mayor Bloomberg and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to the official groundbreaking of North Brooklyn's new soccer field. This site is a much-needed addition to our community's meager open space, and we look forward to its completion.

The Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance, along with neighborhood groups including NAG, the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, and the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning, have worked long and hard to create more open space along the East River. This future facility, along with East River State Park and the reopening of McCarren Pool, are examples of what can be done when local organizations and government work together to set priorities, push through bureaucracy and create positive change.

But we must highlight the other open space commitments made during the 2005 rezoning in an agreement between the City Council and Bloomberg administration that have not yet materialized:

• The funding for future phases of Bushwick Inlet Park has been reduced in the recent budget, which will delay land acquisition and business relocation;


• The MTA site at 65 Commercial Street remains a parking lot;


• The sludge tank on Dupont Street is far from becoming an affordable housing development;


• Transmitter Park at Greenpoint Avenue, while opening temporarily, is still far from being a public amenity.

We are happy to see some progress--waterfront access at North 5th, a recently-announced feasibility study for the MTA lot, and the much-delayed opening of the Manhattan Avenue park. The Open Space Alliance deserves credit for bringing these efforts to fruition, and they have recently started holding monthly meetings update with officials and community members, and we are appreciative of this move towards transparency and dialogue. However, the lack of progress on these other major issues is dismaying.

It has been four years since the rezoning of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Our neighborhood is changing before our eyes--there are few blocks in North Brooklyn that haven't been touched by development. We have towers now, but we are still waiting for our affordable housing, the continuation of the tenant anti-displacement program, and of course, our parks.

Williamsburg Walks needs volunteers for its last event of the year

Volunteers needed for June 11th; this year's last Williamsburg Walks event.

The LAST event in the second annual Williamsburg Walks series is fast approaching! This Saturday, June 11th, is the last in a 6-week series of Bedford Ave. street closures known as Williamsburg Walks.

Williamsburg Walks is part of a growing city-wide movement of neighborhood street closures that are reinventing neighborhood public streets as pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented shared spaces. The series spanned a total of six Saturdays, beginning on June 6th, and is proving to be a great place for neighbors to mingle, picnic, and learn more about their neighborhood. This year, NAG and the L Magazine have teamed up to organize and sponsor the event.

This weekend's Williamsburg Walks is gearing up the be the biggest and best in the series! The event is dependent on a rotation of volunteers who are essential in making it a success. For this final event, we'll need as many volunteers as possible in order to put on an event worthy of our neighborhood. That's why we need YOU! Grab your friends or family and help out this Saturday! Water, snacks, and a free volunteer t-shirt will be provided to each volunteer. Volunteers can sign up for the Set-up shift from 11am-2pm, the Event shift from 2pm-6pm, or the Break-down shift from 7pm-9pm. For details or to sign up, please contact the Williamsburg Walks volunteer coordinator, Rima Shamieh, at karimeh.shamieh@gmail.com.

Even if you don;t volunteer, stop by Bedford Ave. this Saturday to celebrate with us!

Fourth of July Fire on Wythe and North 9th

In addition to the fireworks there was a large fire on Wythe and North 9th last night. The fairly strong winds blew smoke blew throughout the neighborhood. Firefighters responded quickly and had the flames under control within a short time, but it took hours to completely put the blaze out.

The site was the home of Rosenwach Tanks, where they built wood water tanks, the kind you see on roofs throughout Brooklyn. No one was injured--the fire was allegedly sparked by an illegal fireworks display early in the evening. Nearby buildings were not affected.

Some great photos by everyplace:





(You can see more here, and some video here. These are from the very early moments of the blaze--as I said, the flames were under control pretty quickly, though hotspots and sparks kept the firefighters busy for some time.)

Ironically, the fire was across the street from Engine 212, the firehouse that was closed a few years ago under much community protest. The firehouse is now the future home of the Northside Town Hall and Cultural Center, a project of the People's Firehouse and NAG.

Updates: More info on Gothamist and Brooklyn 11211.

Happy Independence Day

Scene from Williamsburg Walks today: Council Member David Yassky and NAG Board Member Ward Dennis play four square.

G Runs to Church Avenue Starting Sunday, July 5

And the signs are going up. Now let's pray that the G train will be more frequent!

One more note about Williamsburg Walks this week

At the risk of turning this into a single issue blog...

This Saturday Williamsburg Walks will celebrate Independence Day with street and board games, a barbecue, and more! Come out for volleyball, table tennis, frisbee, or any other (safe, non-disruptive) street game you want to bring. We will also provide tables and chairs perfect for your favorite board game. Just bring games and something for the Southside CSA's barbecue for a great neighborhood Fourth of July Celebration!

If you want to organize a tournament for your favorite game contact Gregor at williamsburgwalks@gmail.com for more information.

We also need volunteers to make the event a success. If you're in town this Saturday, help make a difference in your neighborhood by helping us set up or break down the event this weekend or next weekend. Water, snacks, and a free t-shirt will be provided. Email our volunteer coordinator Rima for more information at karimeh.shamieh@gmail.com.