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Join Us Friday 6pm to Celebrate Local History at Engine 212

Art & History Celebration of Legendary "People's Firehouse"
Williamsburg Art Gallery Open House Night
Friday, October 9th, 6pm

A diverse mix of long-time and new Williamsburg activists and residents will join together at the Engine Company 212 building—the site of the future Northside Town Hall Community & Cultural Center—Friday October 9th for a public event that celebrates the remarkable history of the former "People's Firehouse."

The event will begin at 6pm at the firehouse, located at 134 Wythe Avenue (between North 8th and North 9th Streets next door to Slate Gallery) and will highlight the building's local architecture and history using a series of short multimedia presentations and public art performances.

During the evening the site of the former People's Firehouse will host a presentation of archival research provided by the Pratt Center for Community Development and film footage by local documentary maker Agnes Markeviciute interviewing past and current community activists. This oral history project includes participants during the years of events that have made the building an icon of mass democratic protest throughout the country. Local choreographer Jackie Moynahan will also present a unique, site-specific dance piece accompanied by violist Stephanie Griffin, that is not to be missed!

The former FDNY Engine Co. 212 building is being redeveloped into the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center by two community organizations--Neighbors Allied for Good Growth and the People's Firehouse Inc. Local residents, businesses and artists have joined forces to raise the $1.9 million dollars needed to transform the building into community meeting space, job-training classrooms, exhibition space, and non-profit arts performance and event space.

About The Northside Town Hall: The Northside Town Hall is a non-profit endeavor of two respected local community organizations, The People's Firehouse, Inc. and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) for the purpose of building a new community facility in the shuttered former Fire Engine Co. 212. The city awarded the development opportunity to the two organizations. After the needed funds are raised, the non-profit entity will be eligible to own and operate the building as a public resource, forever. Local businesses, such as Brooklyn Brewery and CitiStorage, as well as elected officials, have made generous donations as well as commitment to this beloved community effort. The Pratt Center for Community Development is the project manager. See www.nthccc.org for more information about the project.

About Jackie Moynahan: Jackie Moynahan is a choreographer/performer based in Williamsburg. She co-produces Studio AIR an experimental monthly performance series and has performed her work at various venues in and out of NYC since 2001. Jackie worked for the Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX) until 2009 in various capacities. With a newly acquired MS in Urban Policy, Ms. Moynahan is now exploring her hand at community development and sits on the board of NAG and the Northside Town Hall. For her older work: www.jaxdance.com

About Agnes Markeviciute: Agnes Markeviciute is an independent documentary filmmaker, originally from Lithuania, using the medium of a documentary to explore herself and her connection to the world. Agnes started as an intern for a public television station in Arlington Va. She has since moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and is producing and directing short documentaries. Recently, Ms. Markeviciute completed a project about Lithuanian emigrants, which should be released next year.

About Stephanie Griffin: Stephanie Griffin is acclaimed by the New York Times for her "fiery, full-throttle performance" and "virtuoso flair." She performs internationally as a soloist and a chamber musician. Stephanie has worked with a variety of composers, such as Tony Prabowo, Kee Yong Chong; Arthur Kampela; and Tristan Murail. She is a founding member of the Momenta Quartet and is a regular guest with Continuum, and member of Argento, Transfiguration, String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC), the Riverside Symphony and the Princeton Symphony, where she serves as principal violist. An active improviser, she has worked with traditional Indonesian musicians and free jazz legend Butch Morris and performs regularly with Carl Maguire’s avant-jazz band Floriculture.

NY Daily News: They Might be Giants, Nada Surf lead effort to make old Williamsburg firehouse a cultural center

Dennis Hamill on the Northside Town Hall project in the old Engine 212 building:

They Might be Giants, Nada Surf lead effort to make old Williamsburg firehouse a cultural center

In 1975, when the city faced bankruptcy, Mayor Abe Beame tried to close a firehouse in Williamsburg called Engine Co. 212.

Led by a tough local grocer named Adam Veneski, the citizens of the scrappy, blue-collar northside section of Williamsburg occupied the Engine 212 firehouse, renamed it The People's Firehouse, and in one of the boldest acts of civil disobedience in modern city history literally prevented the city from shuttering the firehouse that protected thousands living in surrounding rickety pre-war tenements and wood-framed houses.

...

The People's Firehouse Inc., in conjunction with NAG, submitted the winning proposal to turn the 6,000 square-foot, three-story building at 132 Wythe Ave. into the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center.

"All we have to do now is raise $2 million," says Kirby. "And we will. We've appealed to our elected officials. We have interested local businesses. And we've launched a community-based fund drive. Bars, restaurants, rock 'n' roll bands, and performance venues and breweries, are all coming together."

On Oct. 9, the kickoff of the '09 Williamsburg Art Galleries open houses, starting at 6 p.m., NAG will present a multimedia history of the firehouse.

On Oct. 28, local musicians Nada Surf, They Might be Giants and Charles Bissell of the Wrens will stage a $25-a-head fund-raiser concert at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Northside Town Hall and Cultural Center.

"Suddenly community activism is hip," says Kirby. "The effort is unusually diverse - hipsters, artists, rock 'n' rollers, old blue-collar unionists, aging former activists, business owners. What greater irony that the current trend comes home to roost in uber-trendy Williamsburg? But this time, it's fueled by the activism of the old timers."

Which is Brooklyn at its best.

For more info, visit nthcc.org, or e-mail info@nthcc.org or call (718) 384-2248

Read the full article

Join us February 3rd to build the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center

On Thanksgiving Day 1975, the City told the firefighters of Engine 212 in Williamsburg it was going to close because of the city's dire fiscal crisis. Within hours, a crowd of 300 local residents gathered in front of the firehouse to prevent the city from removing the equipment from the firehouse to close it down. People stayed there around the clock for the next 16 months until the City agreed to keep it open. The firehouse was ultimately closed in 2003, but NAG and the People's Firehouse have been awarded the building to develop it into a community center.

We need your help to raise the funds to renovate the building and make the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center a reality. When completed, the facilty will provide affordable office and meeting space for community organizations, create a street-level exhibition space for local cultural and arts organizations, and commemorate FDNY Company #212 and other local history.

Join us Tuesday February 3rd at 6pm to get started fundraising from the community on this project. We need to harness the full creativity and civic spirit of the neighborhood to make this a reality.
We will meet at Union Pool-- 484 Union Ave at Meeker Ave

Other Upcoming Events

Our Open Space working group is dedicated to fighting for more parks and access to the waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
Join us February 9th at 7pm at Green Oaks Club, 179 Green Street between McGuinness and Manhattan in Greenpoint.

Our Transportation working group is starting a road safety campaign for bikers and drivers and fighting the proposed cuts in local subway and bus services.
Join us February 12th at 7pm at the NAG Office, 101 Kent Avenue at North 8th Street across from the State Park.