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Williamsburg Talks

Last night, about 30 local residents gathered in the back room of Teddy's to plan the 2010 Williamsburg Walks. The event was a great success, thanks to everyone who attended and contributed.

This year, WW (co-sponsored by NAG, the L Magazine and Project for Public Spaces) will take place over a two-day weekend - June 27th and June 28th.

This was the first of many planning sessions. Williamsburg Walk needs volunteers and ideas for programming. If you would like to contribute, contact Gregor at williamsburgwalks@gmail.com.

Happy Independence Day

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

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.

Williamsburg Walks is Saturday

Join us on Bedford tomorrow for Williamsburg Walks. Programming and more information are on the Williamsburg Walks website.

We got a nice shout out from Fox 5's morning program today

Williamsburg Walks on June 20th - CANCELED

Feel free to be singing in the rain, but there won't be any walking in the rain. Due to the particularly bad weather forecast for tomorrow, we are forced to cancel the Williamsburg Walks.

Williamsburg Walks!

Williamsburg Walks had a successful kick-off yesterday! The NAG and Town Hall tables couldn't hold a candle to puppies and pottery demonstrations (see below), but still a great time was had by all!

See you the next 5 Saturdays- the event is every Saturday until July 11.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from June 6:

Williamsburg Walks is Back Tomorrow, Saturday June 6

The event runs noon to sunset, Bedford Avenue, N4th to N9th Streets.

And we've got the schedule of programming up. Learn about local food from the Southside CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture), view art presented by the Williamsburg Gallery Association, acoustic music presented by the L Magazine, or exercise with your kids in a streetside class presented by the Greenpoint Y!

More information is at www.williamsburgwalks.org. Also see the article in today's Metro.

We could still use a few volunteers, especially in the late afternoon, so contact williamsburgwalks@gmail.com if you want to help.

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

Hooray for Williamsburg Walks

Williamsburg Walks won the 2008 Streetsies "Best Local Livable Streets Project" Award. Congratulations to Connie, Jason, Teresa, the merchants of Bedford Ave, and everyone else who was involved for their hard work!

There is a good chance that Williamsburg Walks will be returning this summer, but we'll need a bunch of volunteer help. A call for volunteers will follow in the next month or so.

Williamsburg Walks Forum

Did you enjoy Williamsburg Walks as much as we did? Would you like to see it come back again? Do you have feedback for the organizers on how to improve it? Join organizers of Williamsburg Walks this coming Wednesday the 27th at 6pm at a public forum to discuss the future of the event!

Williamsburg Walks Public Forum
LOCATION: Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N 6th)
DATE: August 27th (Wednesday)
TIME: 6pm, doors open

Please come to the public forum to express your praise or constructive criticism. If you are not able to make it to the event, feel free to send a detailed email to williamsburgwalks@billburg.com

Feedback will be collated into a section of the Williamsburg Walks Final Report. In the report, we will also include implications of the event, Best Practices, Lessons Learned and potential scenarios for the future. If you or your organization would like to take on more responsibility for any potential Williamsburg Walks events or similar events, please email williamsburgwalks@billburg.com with your ideal level of commitment.

Feedback will be collated into a section of the Williamsburg Walks Final Report. In the report, we will also include implications of the event, Best Practices, Lessons Learned and potential scenarios for the future. If you or your organization would like to take on more responsibility for any potential Williamsburg Walks events or similar events, please email williamsburgwalks@billburg.com with your ideal level of commitment.

Got Photos of Williamsburg Walks?
If you have flickr photos of the event, tag them "Williamsburg Walks" so it will be on an automatic photo feed at billburg.com

Williamsburg Walks Is Over (For Now)

Williamsburg Walks seems to have gone off fairly well over the four experimental weekends. No hordes of illegal vendors yet. Only one scorching day and two hours of a torrential downpour over four Saturdays. All in all, a very nice place to spend an afternoon.

There seem to have been some important lessons in the event about how to set up a street for pedestrian use- people are attracted to where other people and vibrant uses are. When the merchants were set up towards the sidewalk and there were no activities in the street, people stayed on the sidewalk. When the interactive "shootbooth", Kung Fu demonstration, and ping pong tournament set up in the street, they were a subtle, but effective encouragement for pedestrians to fill up the streetbed. As a result, this past weekend felt like the street was truly being activated.

The most positive, unexpected aspect of Williamsburg Walks was the community-building aspect. People who normally would brush by each other on the tight confines of Bedford stopped, met, and chatted. More interactions like this and we'll be able to reestablish some of the continuity and social stability that the neighborhood has rapidly lost over the past few years.

Our friends over at billburg.com who did some of the major organization of the events have a comment form up. They would love to have your feedback/support/thoughts about how to improve the event. If it's going to come back, there is going to have to be a lot of positive feedback about it. There will be a public forum at some point in the near future about Williamsburg Walks- watch this space for more information .

Last Williamsburg Walks (For Now)

Passing along a note from our friends at billburg.com who were major organizers of Williamsburg Walks. The event has been particularly successful at building community and getting neighbors to meet each other in a calm, traffic-free environment. We look forward to Williamsburg Walks returning in some form that works for businesses (both on and off Bedford) and residents alike.

Dear all--

This weekend brings us to the last Williamsburg Walks in our 4 week experiment. Last week started rainy and dreary, but after the sun came out so did everyone else!

Public Forum

After this Saturday, the next step will be the public forum! We are still finalizing location and dates, but will send an announcement once final. If we have confirmed everything by Saturday, the information will be available at the info tent.

The best way to show your support of the event is to attend the public forum and to send a detailed email to williamsburgwalks@billburg.com of your praise and constructive criticism. Your feedback will be included in the End Report that will have recommendations for future similar pedestrian events. As always, you can also route feedback to us via emailing williamsburgwalks@billburg.com.

Saturday Volunteers

The volunteer outpouring has been amazing thus far! We've run out of shirts, but will still have water, coffee & bagels for volunteers.

If anyone would like to volunteer for this Saturday, we'll need the most help at set up and tear down times. Set up begins at 11am, tear down at 7pm. The early morning tasks will include putting up the barricades, setting up the tables & chairs and putting together the information tent. Find event coordinator Connie Colvin once in the area. This week the info tent will be set up on Bedford between North 7th and 8th.

For those arriving during the day, stop at the info tent to "check-in". We'll have volunteer duties for you ranging from drawing hopscotch on the street in chalk to moving tables to the shade to getting email addresses to update everyone of the public forum.

As important as volunteers, we are looking for people to enjoy the street space during Williamsburg Walks this upcoming Saturday. Williamsburg Walks is really what you make of it.

Thank you!

We would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers & everyone who has supported this event. We could not have done it without you.

See you Saturday!
Jason & Connie

Williamsburg Walks #2

The second Williamsburg Walks went off successfully with a much milder temperature and a much more crowded street. We were visited by Assembly Member Joe Lentol, Council Member Diana Reyna, and Borough President Marty Markowitz (pictured below with billburg.com founder Jason Jefferies on right and Yvette Helin's "pedestrians")



Organizers are measuring the success of the events to see how it impacts the street, merchants and residents. Some inital results are out from fellow co-sponsor Transportation Alternative's press release which notes:

Foot traffic on Bedford Avenue was 96% higher than the average Saturday, based on pedestrian counts. The number of children and seniors using the street also increased. And because so much more space was available for walking and sitting, the street felt open and uncongested.

Interested in volunteering for Williamsburg Walks?
We need people to help set up, close up, and do voter registration. Drop us an email at (info (*at*) nag-brooklyn * org)

Welcome Williamsburg Walks

Photo:sabeth718

The first Williamsburg Walks (a pedestrianization of Bedford Avenue from Metropolitan to N. 9th Street on four Saturdays this summer) was a success!

Even though it was a hot, humid day, hundreds came out to enjoy the reclaimed street. Many folks took the opportunity to draw with chalk, mingle with neighbors, enjoy an outdoor meal or cool-off in the sprinklers. Attendees were also treated to performance art by local resident, artist and custom costume manufacturer Yvette Helin.

NAG, a co-sponsor of the event, was there promoting our tenant-aid services, our construction watchdog project, and registering people to vote.

A special thanks is owed to Teresa Toro, Chair of Community Board One's Transportation Committee and Jason Jefferies & Connie Colvin of Blenderbox.com, who initiated and organized the event, as well as the many businesses who supported the event.

We view this event as an evolving creature-- tweaks will need to be made on an on-going basis. As the event continues to develop, we hope to be able to allow off-Bedford businesses to participate and to make sure that the impact on Bedford Avenue residents is minimalized. We'd also like to see more of the creative spirit of Williamsburgers showcased-- so let's find ways to use and activate the new street space!

Early reactions to the event at 11211
Neat StreetsFilm about the event at streetsblog
Give feedback to the organizers of Williamsburg Walks at billburg.com

Photo:sabeth718