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This Saturday! Newtown Creek: The Gunk Under Greenpoint Bike Tour

Have you checked out the Newtown Creek Nature Walk yet? If not, here's your chance to visit this site and others with NAG's own Ryan Kuonen! NAG's Transportation Working Group is partnering with local sustainability/cycling advocates Time's Up! on cool bike tours. Our first partnership is a reprise of this great tour, which first took place during Williamsburg Walks! Here's the details:

NEWTOWN CREEK: THE GUNK UNDER GREENPOINT BIKE TOUR

Date:	Saturday, August 29th, 2009
Time:	4:00 PM
Location:	Meet in front of East River State Park, N. 8th St. and Kent Avenue, Williamsburg.
Details:	Jump on your bike and delve into the history, pollution and health of Newtown Creek, visiting the best sites around the creek to discuss the past, present and future of the area, including the industrial heritage, oil spills and pollution plumes, combined sewage overflows, and the ecosystem of estuaries. Your tour guide is Ryan Kuonen of NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth). For more Times Up! events, please visit http://www.times-up.org.

Tickets on Sale for Raise the Roof!

Get your tickets now for Raise the Roof, a benefit concert for the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center. The show is October 28, 2009, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and the bands are They Might Be Giants, Nada Surf (acoustic), and Chares Bissell of the Wrens--an amazing lineup that we are very excited about.

The Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center is a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood groups, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People's Firehouse, Inc (PFI.) Located on the site of the former Engine Company 212 firehouse in Williamsburg, the firehouse will serve as a home for these organizations to continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community.

PFI will continue to operate programs in housing/property management, tenant advocacy, energy efficiency and home weatherization, fire prevention assistance, workforce development services, computer training, and English as a Second Language.

NAG will operate ongoing programs in the areas of community planning and development, preserving local jobs, improving the State Park (whose establishment NAG led), fighting against low-income tenant displacement and harassment, assuring that local construction is performed safely and legally, and other issues to help preserve and enhance the community.

The show will have special guests, games of skill, art happenings, and other exciting things--get your tickets now!

An Open Call for Community Organizers and Volunteers

If you've been thinking about getting involved in our neighborhood, now is a GREAT time to do it!! We have a wide range of projects - from greening and open space, to transportation issues and housing - and a need for all kinds (creatives, artists, event and benefit planners, translators, technicians, etc.) There really is something for everyone!!

Northside Town Hall Community & Cultural Center

We're working on raising the almost $2 million that will be needed to transform the former Fire Engine Co. 212 building, at Wythe Ave. & N. 9th St into a community center. NAG and the People's Firehouse, Inc. formed a new non-profit to renovate the building into a center that will offer low-cost space for community organizing forever, as well as giving us a central place for the community to meet, celebrate, advocate and have fun. We need volunteers who have energy and creative ideas to raise capital money, through such as large benefit concerts, events in the local food and beverage industry, grantsmanship, art happenings, etc.

Please contact Felice at teddysbng@gmail.com to get involved

Make Greenpoint Green

We're looking for some green thumbs who are interested in urban beautification. This September, we'll be updating a block of Greenpoint by having an educational tutorial on tree bed health and improvement of the streetscape with fall plantings. We're also always looking for creative and motivated people who want to help design and advocate for more open space in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

Please contact openspace@nag-brooklyn.org to get involved.

Tenant Rights Graphic Novel

We're looking for artists, collaborators, flyer distributors and Spanish and Polish translators for a unique graphic novel that serves as a tenant rights guide.

Please contact Allison Davis allisoncorinne@gmail.com to help plan next steps.

The North Brooklyn Story Project

The North Brooklyn Story Project is a volunteer-driven oral history project that collects, shares, and preserves diverse memories and experiences from Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Established in 2008, the Story Project aims to foster community among North Brooklyn residents and build a lasting resource to inspire future projects. We are looking for people interested in interviewing storytellers and telling their own stories about life in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Equipment is now being purchased, and we will begin recording stories and creating an online audio database in the fall. The next Story Project meeting will be held in September, with many opportunities to get involved in project fundraising, communications, technology, and training. All North Brooklyn residents and workers are very welcome.

Interested individuals should contact Rachel Bennett (rachtree@gmail.com).

More Bike Racks and Less Truck Traffic

We are partnering with Transportation Alternatives and the Open Planning Project on a new web-based system to identify locations for placement of new bike racks in CB1. We need volunteers to survey potential sites and conduct outreach to businesses. We also need volunteers to assist OUTRAGE, another community group, with counting trucks for a neighborhood study.

Contact Lacey Tauber transportation@nag-brooklyn.org to get involved

Jay-Z Too?

Apparently Jay-Z is making his own statement about what the traffic engineering solution for Kent Ave should be.

Watch the background screen:




Thanks to Lacey for the tip

Thank you for attending the forum!

Thank you to all who attended the forum yesterday- there were over 120 people present, with the seating over capacity!

Thank you also to the six candidates who participated and to our partners at GWAPP, St. Nick's, People's Firehouse, Los Sures and El Puente!

Now don't forget to vote in the September 15th primary! Here's our guide to the mechanics of registering to vote.

Press coverage in:
Williamsburg Courier
Greenpoint News
Brooklyn Paper