Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn

NO WORDS_DAILY PIX BY HUGH CRAWFORD

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TV Series About Park Slope Moms by Sex and the City Producer

The Post  reports that Darren Star, the creator of Sex and the City, is teaming up with Sony and NBC for a series about upscale Park Slope mommies.

Set to write the script is Sue Kramer, a Park Slope resident and one of the Park Slope 100. She wrote and directed the film, Gray Matters with Heather Graham, a sexy and stylish screwball comedy about a brother and a sister who fall in love with the same woman. She told the Post that it's going to be a  one-hour dramedy.

In the Post article she says:  "It takes place in Park Slope and Park Slope is one of the characters in it. Park Slope has so much juice, just like Manhattan. It's got a lot of pizzazz and energy."

The Post reports that CB6 member Craig Hammerman is thrilled and envisioning shots "of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch at Grand Army Plaza, and long views of the stores on Fifth and Seventh avenues."

The Brooklyn Blogfest Video Promo is Live!

Go, go, go to Blue Barn Pictures and check out the 30-second promo for the Brooklyn Blogfest. It is so GREAT.

How Do You Spell Overwhelmed?

Well, I've got a lot going on. The Blogfest is taking up a lot of positive energy.

And there are other things, too. Spent the morning at 'Snice, which is a VERY happening place to be on a Wednesday in Park Slope.

It's just a constant parade of interesting faces and people. I've made it my place to meet people: it's a great place for serious conversation. And fun.

So I'm overwhelmed. The Blogfest is a week a way and there's still a bit to do. Thank goodness I have a bunch of great collaborators, who are making this things so, so cool!!!

No invites, no RSVP's just come to the Blogfest: for bloggers, blog readers, those who are interested in blogging and those who are passionate about Brooklyn. May 8th at 8 p.m. at the Brooklyn Lyceum. 227 Fourth Avenue at President Street. Suggested donation is $10, $5 for students.

All welcome.

It should be quite the event. And there will be beer courtesy of Outside.in

Brooklyn Indie Market Opens This Weekend

It must be spring. The Brooklyn Indie Market comes back this weekend and they're throwing a party.

A Brooklyn Indie Love Fest. No, I misread that. It's the Brooklyn Indie Fest, A Celebration of Design, to mark the grand re-opening of the fave outdoor market on Smith Street, started by Kathy Malone.

Opening festivities include unplugged indie musicians, temporary tattoo parlour for kids of all ages, face painting, kiddie artisan-craft workshops by Stars and Sprinkles and BIM's designers, giveaways and meet-and greet with indie designers. FREE
   
The fun happens on  Saturday, May 3, 11a - 7 p, in Carroll Gardens, at the Corner of Smith and Union Street

Look for the red and white striped tent.

And keep coming back for more: At the weekly Brooklyn Indie market, you will find handmade goodness such as jewelry by Wabisabi-Brooklyn, hats by Rocks and Salt, kidswear by Wonder Threads, and frocks by Melissa Bell. Please join us in the celebration of spring, community and supporting your local artisans and emerging designers. 

May-Aug, Saturdays, 11a-7p
Sep.-Dec. Saturday and Sundays, 11a-7p

Did you know: The Brooklyn Indie Market is a collective of up-and-coming and emerging fashion and product design, made up of designers taking their love of all things handmade into its second season, visit www.brooklynindiemarket.com for a designer sneak peek. Stars and Sprinkles, a non-profit children's event producer, aims at sowing the seeds of opportunity by bringing subjects to life and dreams to reality through educational activities, networking, and interactive platforms.    

Zuzu's asks: Do You Have a Zuzu Mom?

Here's a little retail poetry from Fonda of Zuzu's Petals, OTBKB's fave Park Slope flower and plant shop, the only one named for a Frank Capa movie. Big Zu is on Fifth Avenue and 6th Street. Little Zu is off Seventh Avenue at Lincoln Place. You know the drill. Mother's Day is May 11th. That's soon. Get your cards out NOW.

the zuzumom:
she can be impulsive but never dangerously so.
she has lots of friends who also like each other.
she has one friend she holds most dear.
she loves to sleep late, but can't resist getting up early.
she loves her house. it is an extension of herself.
she has a great collection of take-out menus.
she loves to cook up a storm in the kitchen when she has the time.
she likes to be comfortable in her clothes.
she is comfortable in her skin.
she loves growing things out in the garden as well as in the house.
she loves handmade, re-cycled, vintage, collectible, natural, unusual, simple, fresh, silly, original, clever, sweet, funny, sentimental.

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

May 2: It's Jazzy at the Old Stone House

Ah, the many moods of the Old Stone House, the museum, historic, and cultural spot on Fifth Avenue near Third Street.

It's also the perfect intimate setting for a new jazz series curated by Charles Sibirsky, pianist and founder of Slope Music.

Friday, May 2 will feature two sets: Bonnie Goodman,vocals, at 8 pm, and Bob Arthurs, trumpet, at 9:15 pm. Joe Solomon, bass and Charles Sibirsky, piano will play both sets.

They will be playing jazz standards from the American popular songbook of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, as well as the music of Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, and Lennie Tristano.

Tickets are $12 and include both sets. Drinks and snacks will be available.

The Old Stone House is in JJ Byrne Park, between 3rd and 4th streets, just off Fifth Avenue, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. For more information, please call 718-768-3195, or visit the Old Stone House
website at www.theoldstonehouse.org.

Mini Blog for the Brooklyn Blogfest

For information about the Blogfest as it develops, go to www.otbkb.com/the_brooklyn_blogfest. See that logo that says Brooklyn Blogfest on the right hand side of this page. Just click on that.

Over there you'll find all kinds of info about the Blogfest. If you have more questions, get in touch with me, Louise Crawford at my email: louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Here are the basics:

Date/Time: May 8, at 8 p.m.

All are invited, no need to RSVP or get tickets. The Lyceum holds 300. Everyone welcome, bloggers and non-bloggers alike. It's for those who blog, who read blogs, who are interested in blogs, and/or passionate about Brooklyn.

Location: The Brooklyn Lyceum at 227 Fourth Avenue at President Street in Park Slope. Just steps from the R train's Union Street Station.

Suggested donation is $10 and $5 for students to offset costs of this big event.

The program will last approximately 90-minutes. Afterwards there will be ample time for beer, snacks, conversation and networking.

See you at the Blogfest!

What to Expect at the Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at the Brooklyn Lyceum

The Brooklyn Blogfest is an annual gathering of bloggers, blog readers, those interested in blogging and those passionate about Brooklyn.

This year's event is at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue and President Street just steps from the R train's Union Street station.

Come one, come all. There's a suggested donation of $10 and only $5 for students. There will be light refreshments and other goodies from Maria's Mexican Bistro, Red Mango Bakery, Brooklyn Fudge, and beer courtesy of Outside.in

Blue Barn Pictures is also a sponsor of the Blogfest.

The 90-minute program also includes the annual Shout Out, a chance for new bloggers to spread the word about their blogs to the world. Afterwards there will be plenty of time for networking, beer and conversation.

Here's the line-up for the program. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Video: Place Matters: Blogging My World by Blue Barn Pictures

Speaker: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn (Louise Crawford)

Speaker: Creative Times (Eleanor Traubman)

Speaker: Bed-Stuy Blog (Petra S.)

Video: A Walk Around the Blog Promo by Brooklyn Independent Television

Speaker: New York Shitty (Miss Heather)

Speaker: Gowanus Lounge (Robert Guskind)

Video: A Word from WNYC's Brian Lehrer

Speaker: Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers presented by So Good (Heather Johnson)

Speaker: Top Ten Tips for Photo Bloggers presented by Brit in Brooklyn (Adrian Kinloch)

Video: Tribute to Brooklyn's Photo Bloggers (produced by Brooklyn Optimist)

Speaker: Bloggers Reach Out: The Brooklyn Blogade presented by Flatbush Gardener (Chris)

The Shout-Out: Introduced by Luna Park Gazette (Rob Lenihan)

Some Neighbors Call Union Hall a Nuisance

Gothamist reports that Community Board 6 will hold a meeting to address the renewal of Union Hall's standing license, which expires on May 31st.

Some neighbors call the bar a nuisance and want to shut the establishment down.

Jon Crow, one of those spearheading the campaign to shut the venue down, emailed us about an upcoming public hearing regarding the renewal of Union Hall's liquor license, admitting, "those of us fighting this nuisance bar are fully aware this hearing won't close it down."

In a long-winded 3-page press release (PDF), he tells the story of how the "enormous drinking establishment, performance venue, rock club and late night hot spot" has caused residents many restless nights; and "while it may look like a library from the outside, it’s anything but." (Even if it were a library, some Park Slope residents have found a way to complain about that establishment, too.) Regarding Union Hall, last spring 75 neighbors (some who think their homes are now "unlivable") signed a letter outlining their grievances, and now they've gotten themselves a public hearing.

Read more at Gothamist

Fifth Avenue Cafe Gate Falls on Child

Monday. Fifth Avenue near 5th Street. I heard a crashing sound and looked over at Belleville Restaurant; a plexiglass and metal cafe gate had fallen—on a small boy.

I don't know why the gate fell. The child may have been playing on it. There may have been a wind. I'm really not sure.

The child's mother threw her groceries and a box of pizza down on the sidewalk and ran to the boy who was momentarily pinned beneath the large, plexi Cinzano sign/gate.

The mother sat on the sidewalk with her screaming and bleeding son in her arms. She shook with tears herself. A young woman ran over.

"Omigod, omigod, there's so much blood," she said and immediately called 911 on her cell; she told them to send an ambulance.

As sometimes happens, wonderful people miraculously appear during an emergency. It happened to me when OSFO crashed into another child at the sprinkler in JJ Byrne Park and bit into her lip. There was so much blood; she later got stitches.

A nice man appeared who told me that he worked with children and knew First Aid; indeed he did; he got the bleeding to stop. He calmed me down.

Yesterday, a nice man swooped in to help the little boy. He told the mom that the boy's nose was broken. Before our eyes the boy's nose and the area under one eye looked black, blue and bruised.

The mother moaned as she held her child. She whispered endearments to him in French while the man held the boy's hand until the ambulance arrived.

Mainly, he was trying to prevent him from falling asleep. Someone from Belleville rushed out and offered the boy cold water. He held a handful of paper towels.

I walked over to the boy's sister; she was wearing a cute pastel raincoat and rain boots and was standing by the groceries and looking scared.

"How are you?" I asked. She looked about five-years-old.

"I'm not the kid who got hurt. That was my brother," she told me.

Within five minutes, the ambulance arrived and the boy's mother carried him to the car.

"A television fell on my nephew. He fell asleep and now he's retarded," the woman who called 911 told me. She watched while the EMT guys carried the boy into the ambulance. The man who held the boy's hand walked away; so did the woman eventually.

I wonder how the boy is doing now. He should be fine.

Toby Pannone is Cancer Free; Has No Evidence of Disease

Remember Toby Pannone, the Park Slope toddler, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last year? Well, there's is good news to be shared.

That adorable little boy is cancer free.

April 17, 2007 was the day that changed the lives of Toby Pannone and his parents, Mookie and Stephen, forever.

Now, it is more than one year later and Toby is cancer free after two surgeries, ten week-long rounds of chemotherapy, more than 50 cycles of radiation to abdomen, spine, upper arm and neck, after countless hospitalizations, 15 days of 3f8 immunotherapy, a month of shingles, and hundreds of injections.

Toby is clean; has no evidence of disease.

The CT and MiBG scans showed no signs of neuroblastoma. The bone marrow biopsies and aspirates showed no cancer cells. And the urine results are normal.

So what’s the possibility of having a giant love-fest in Prospect Park, where we all whirl around and eat lots of food and wine, hug each other and sing praises to God, friends, doctors, nurses? Where Randy sings and the sun shines and children laugh? Where we feel the power of love and hope and community? We are SO there.

Toby most likely has cancer cells still lurking in his body. Since neuroblastoma is aggressive, with an extremely high relapse rate, doctors don’t speak of remission. So treatment will continue unchanged: another round of chemo at the beginning of May, with an attempt to harvest more stem cells on April 28. And we wait for Toby’s hama level to come down.

On Saturday, May 10, Toby, his parents and friends will walk in Central Park to raise money for neuroblastoma research. Mookie, Toby's mom, writes on their blog.

Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer was started 7 years ago by Shirley Staples’s daughter Sophie. Since then, it has raised almost $525,000. The walk is organized by NYC middle- and high-school students and it has blossomed into quite a wonderful event. It starts at 2 p.m. in Central Park, across from Tavern on the Green at W. 67th and CPW. First is a brief program that includes doctors who treated both Shirley’s son Simon and Toby. Next is the 4.5 mile walk. Everyone is welcome, from babies to grandparents, and even pets. We will be there to walk with Toby, in support of all the brave children battling this terrible disease. The survival rate for neuroblastoma is a dismal 30%, so more funding for research is desperately needed. Funds raised will help MSKCC researchers improve the odds for our children. We hope you can join us. Please email our dear friend Reva at walkfortoby@gmail.com if you would like to participate. Thank you so much and we hope to see you there.

Root Hill: New Cafe on Fourth Avenue

Today Brit in Brooklyn, Creative Times and I went into Root Hill, a cafe on Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street, to ask one of the owners, Maria Bowen, if she'd like to host the June Blogade on Sunday June 22 at noon. She loved the idea!

The Brooklyn Paper reported that Root Hill is where you can get a $3 cup of coffee. But that bears explaining. You can pay 3 bucks for a cup made in their highly specialized $11,000 Clover Coffee machine.

They also have less expensive coffee, as well as sandwiches and bakery items. Gersh Kuntzman, editor of the Brooklyn Paper, had this to say about the Clover machine in his column, The Brooklyn Angle.

Here’s what happens: You place your order (and your spouse chides you for spending $3 on a cup of coffee); the barista grinds the precise amount of beans (30 grams for a Yirgacheffe Biloya); then she pours the ground coffee onto a round disc at the center of the Clover; next, it silently descends into the machine while a tap releases water at the perfect temperature (206 degrees for the sensitive Yirgacheffe Biloya); while the coffee is brewing (38 seconds is, I’m told, ideal for Yirgacheffe Biloya), the barista gives it a few gentle whisks; and, finally, your coffee is served (and your spouse is now your ex-spouse).

Interestingly, after Root Hill purchased their Clover machine, Starbucks bought Clover and they're keeping all the machines manufactured for their stores! Bowen thinks that Root Hill may have one of the last machines available to the public.

The glass fronted cafe has a great view of Fourth Avenue, and a clean, nice modern look. There are flat screen televisions that show movies (without sound) during the day. Today 2001, A Space Odyssey was playing. Bowen said, she played Grey Gardens, one of her favorites, all day Sunday.

The owners are hoping to have music, readings and other cultural events at the cafe in the future. Good taste in movies, good taste in coffee: it bodes well for the place. Bowen said, she and the other owners opened the cafe because, "We wanted somewhere to go for really good coffee."

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

The Takeaway: A New Morning Show on WNYC

David Bukszpan, WNYC's publicist, always lets me know what's going on at my favorite radio station. Today he's up early getting the word out about the new morning show, The Takeaway with John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji, which just premiered on WNYC from 6-7am on 93.9FM.

Luckily, a second fresh hour is will air from 8-9am on AM820. That's just one minute away. He writes:

The sky’s may be dark and dreary in New York this morning, but the radio’s bright and fresh! The Takeaway is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in collaboration with The BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.

I am about to listen to it. Excited. Excited.

Rainy Sunday Shopping at the Brooklyn Flea

Our Baltimore relatives, a doctor and a policy wonk, wanted to see the Brooklyn Flea. Avid readers of Design Sponge, they knew all about it.

We met them for breakfast at Tom's Restaurant. Just as we were pulling up in the Eastern Car Service car, we remembered that Tom's is closed on Sunday. Oops.

The rain was coming down.

Our relatives, who were standing under a nearby awning, jumped in the car, and we speeded off to Junior's for a large breakfast of French Toast and eggs. And a bottomless cup of coffee.

After breakfast, we yellow-cabbed it to the Flea not too far away on Lafayette Avenue. We got there close to opening and Jonathan Butler was at the door looking nervously at the foul weather.

They haven't had one sunny Sunday since the Flea opened and it's clearly getting on his nerves. Still, he looked excited in his new role as Flea Market entreprenuer.

"I can't complain. We had 20,000 here the first weekend," he told me.

Vendors were in the process of setting up as we got there but there was plenty to see and plenty to buy. Our relatives bought a gorgeous bright color photograph of a flower in a bright colored and ornate frame from the artist. They also bought some great vintage mug shot photos.

Hepcat picked up a leveling head for a tripod from a vendor of old photo equipment and was mighty pleased about that.

OSFO and I checked out the many vendors of kooky stuffed animals, artisan jewelry, and children's items. OSFO bought an original decoupage pin and a necklace made from nickels from Wabisabi Brooklyn.

My cool find: political buttons from the 1970's: Re-Elect Mailer. November 15th March on Washington, Bring the Troops Home. Another Woman for McGovern. George Wallace Courage to Stand Up for America.

Photo by Raqalmeida

Richard Grayson on The Brooklyn Peace Fair

Our friend Richard Grayson, author of Who Will Kiss the Pig, Sex Stories for Teens, and other books went to the Brooklyn Peace Fair and came back with this report.

I went to several of the morning workshops and wandered around the booths of various organizations and other groups (including the Brooklyn Public Library). It was nice to be on the LIU campus after 30 years -- the last semester I taught there was summer '78, and it's very much nicer now.

A big presence was Brooklyn for Peace, formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace, whose members introduced some of the workshops; they had three each at 11:15, 12:15, and 1:15.

First I went to "War and Warming: Environmentalism and the Iraq War," presented by the New York State Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, environment and environmental justice organizations that is trying to fight global warming and for good green "clean energy" jobs.

Jeff Jones from the Albany area, who works a lot in the state capitol, said that most Americans oppose the war in Iraq even as our lifestyle based on fossil fuels demands it. He presented an interest talk with PowerPoint, as did Jack Dafoe of Urban Agenda, the local Apollo Alliance affiliate, who discussed creating clean energy jobs in the city and their involvement with the private sector and plaNYC. It was an interesting talk to the 25 of us in the lecture classroom. (Sitting across from me, I noticed, was Kathy Boudin -- Weather Underground, West 11th St. townhouse explosion and Brink robbery are what first came to my mind, but I believe she's become a public health expert since leaving prison.)

At 12:15 p.m., I went to the workshop "Media Criticism as a Tool for Social Justice." Partha Banerjee, the immigration rights activist who's a board member, I think, of Brooklyn for Peace, began by talking about the organization and then introduced Isabel Macdonald, communications director at Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and Laurel Heisman of Paper Tiger TV, the video collective whose work analyzes and critiques issues involving media, culture and politics. They went over ways to detect media news bias, including sources, stereotypes, loaded language, double standards and false balance. This workshop had more audience participation in the form of questions and commentary.

The last workshop I chose to go to was "History Walks With US: Dialoging Across Racial & Gender Divides," was facilitated by Daniel Jose Older, a lead organizer for Reflect Connect Move: Brooklyn Neighborhoods Against Gender Violence. He began by discussing gender violence, which he encounters working as a paramedic, and the tyranny of the passive voice in discussions of this issue. When we say that so-and-so was abused, it somehow lessens the importance that someone is doing the abusing (99.7% of abusers are men, he said) and prevents an honest examination of the reasons behind gender violence.

He asked audience members to brainstorm on male stereotypes and the workshop then got into deeper issues. For me, a lot of the stuff about male stereotypes and male violence against women was not new -- I remember a very similar workshop at a 1973 Brooklyn College men's consciousness-raising group I was a member of -- but sadly, the issue of gender violence makes them still relevant 35 years later.

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay to hear featured speaker Debbie Almontaser, Marty Markowitz, or any of the other speakers, poets and performers. Perhaps someone else who attended will give a report.

Barrio: The Facts

The Strong Buzz, a website for folks who love and live for food; love new restaurants and who "make it their business to keep their fingers on the pulse of New York City’s dynamic world of dining," has the specifics on Barrio, the new restaurant on Third Street and Seventh Avenue, which is attracting a lot of interested diners in its first week of operation.

Here are the 'tails:

The owner: Spencer Rothschild. He also owns Rain, Calle Ocho, BLT Prime, Yushi.

The Chef: Adrian Leon has been in the kitchen at Rosa Mexicano, Zocalo, Zona Rosa.

Perks: For another few days, the restaurant will be in preview mode, which means that until April 30th, they're offering 15% off your entire bill (including booze).

The menu: black bean and sweet plantain empanadas with Oaxacan cheese and tomatillo salsa ($6,95), Queso Fundido in a traditional fondue set with rajas poblanas, mushrooms and homemade warm tortillas ($8.50), shrimp ceviche with crunchy jicama, chipotle chilies and fresh lime ($9.75), Puebla pork tenderloin with corn flan and finished in a chili arbol peanut mole ($16.75), and an open-faced chicken enchilada in charred morita salsa ($14.25). There are also Platos del Dia like short rib enchiladas (Thursday) and Yucatan achiote tuna on Tuesdays.

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Public Lives/Private Lives: Pen World Voices Festival

This week, the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature is in town. This year’s theme is Public Lives/Private Lives. Here is the schedule and locations.

How do we draw a line between our private and public selves? When must we tell private stories for the public good? How, as readers, writers, and citizens, do we confront threats to our privacy? What is still considered private in the Internet age? Do we need to redefine the meaning of public and private in the 21st century? The writers in this year’s Festival will mine this rich theme in a variety of literary conversations, panels, readings, and performances.

The Oh So Prolific One: Leon Freilich, Verse Responder

OSMOSIS HE SUPPOSES

Sunday on Seventh Avenue,

Something that he thinks is new:

Girl about three, and this is true,

Pushing stroller built for two,

Mini-stroller for a twinish crew,

One seat pink, the other blue.

Sight to charm or sight to rue?

This he's left squarely to you.

Slopey thing, that's all he knew.

Front Page Story in the Times about Debbie Almontaser

This morning there's a front page article in the Times, Her Dream, Brandes as a Threat, about Debbie Almontaser and her thwarted effort to be the principal of the city's first school for children of Arab descent. Here's an excerpt:

Debbie Almontaser dreamed of starting a public school like no other in New York City. Children of Arab descent would join students of other ethnicities, learning Arabic together. By graduation, they would be fluent in the language and groomed for the country’s elite colleges. They would be ready, in Ms. Almontaser’s words, to become “ambassadors of peace and hope.”

Things have not gone according to plan. Only one-fifth of the 60 students at the Khalil Gibran International Academy are Arab-American. Since the school opened in Brooklyn last fall, children have been suspended for carrying weapons, repeatedly gotten into fights and taunted an Arabic teacher by calling her a “terrorist,” staff members and students said in interviews.

The academy’s troubles reach well beyond its cramped corridors in Boerum Hill. The school’s creation provoked a controversy so incendiary that Ms. Almontaser stepped down as the founding principal just weeks before classes began last September. Ms. Almontaser, a teacher by training and an activist who had carefully built ties with Christians and Jews, said she was forced to resign by the mayor’s office following a campaign that pitted her against a chorus of critics who claimed she had a militant Islamic agenda.

Only the Blog Links

Call for better handling of police brutality (NY 1)

Brooklyn’s Best Burger Can Be Found at The Dram Shop Bar (Weird Long Beard Press)

Downtown Brooklyn Purgatory (Brooklynometry)

Photography by Lara Wechsler: The Point

Lara Wechsler's website

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Off to the Flea, the Brooklyn Flea

Reclaimed Home wants to know why I haven't been there yet. Because our cousins from Baltimore are in town and they wanted to go so we're meeting them for breakfast at Tom's and then we're off to the Flea. Afterwards they want to catch the Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum.

How's that for a plan?

Here's the word from Signor Flea about this weekend's Flea:

We can't seem to buy any sunshine at The Flea, but there's a ton of things you can buy from the 175-odd vendors who set up every weekend in the 40,000-square-foot school yard at the Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene. Last weekend saw the arrival of a ton of new furniture dealers (see above); this weekend there's a whole 'nuther wave of vendors (including A&J 20th Century Design, formerly of Lafayette Street in Manhattan!). For more details check out yesterday's post on the Brooklyn Flea blog. The market is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 176 Lafayette Avenue. Closet trains are the C and G to Washington/Clinton. Or you can take any of the number of trains that go to Atlantic Station and make the 10-minute stroll up Lafayette Avenue from there.

Smartmom: Hankering to Cook

Last week, Smartmom sat in a doctor’s waiting room and looked for a magazine. She was hoping for something like the New Yorker, Vogue or even Us or People for some celebrity slime, but settled for Family Circle.

It wasn’t the cover photo of lovely potted pink peonies and green leaves that caught her eye. It was the vaguely retrograde cover line.

“Quick and Healthy Family Dinners,” it said.

Just five simple words and Smartmom’s mood started a downward slide. There she was, sitting in the waiting room with her ailing father, and all she could think about was making dinner for her family.

What to make?

And, more important, why to make it? Well, the family has to eat, and even though Hepcat is a terrific cook, he almost never prepares a weekday meal. He’s great at those show-off meals when friends and family come over: the risotto, the roast leg of lamb, the chicken curry …

But the daily doldrums of dinner falls to Smartmom despite her 1970s cred as a feminist with a certificate in assertiveness training.

And it’s partly Smartmom’s fault. Like other femimoms, the kitchen is still where Smartmom defines herself. It’s the Jewish mother equation: I love you therefore I feed you.

But after nearly 17 years of parenting, everything Smartmom cooks is so boring. Sure, the kids seem to enjoy the Smartmom basics: her chicken and veggie stir-fry, goat cheese salad with dried cranberries, lasagna, and a grilled cheese sandwich to die for. But more often than not, Smartmom finds herself heating up Annie’s Mac and Cheese or Annie’s frozen cheese pizza. (What, in Buddha’s name, would Smartmom do without Annie’s?)

So Smartmom stared at the artfully styled Family Circle photos of fish tacos, beef and chimichurri sauce, salmon burgers, chicken nuggets, Asian peanut noodles, and broccoli and ham quiche. She knew the pictures were nothing but glossy propaganda for Motherhood, but she couldn’t help herself; she felt herself getting inspired to revitalize her home cooking as a way to prove to herself, her children, and the world that she really is a great mother.

Smartmom gobbled up the magazine’s suggestions before her eyes. Maybe reading these recipes would turn Smartmom into a real balabusta like her grandmother, who prepared succulent pot roast, succulent lamb chops, and lemon merengue pie in her spotless kitchen on Avenue J.

Smartmom felt the familiar pangs of inadequacy course through her. Why wasn’t she more motivated to be a great homemaker? A part of her longed to do the kind of cooking her kids would remember for the rest of their lives.

She has great memories of Manhattan Granny’s beef bourguignon from the food-stained pages of her Julia Child cookbook.

Smartmom even remembers the time her father followed a recipe in the James Beard Cookbook for steak tartare, a dish made with raw ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, onions, capers, and raw eggs.

Can you imagine?

Smartmom wonders what Teen Spirit and the Oh So Feisty One will remember about her cooking.

The thought made Smartmom want to rip out the magazine’s handy recipes and stuff them in her Jack Spade bag. Teen Spirit and OSFO might love this stuff — or maybe not. It all sounded delicious, but kids can be so darn fussy.

And Family Circle made it all sound so easy. Too easy. “Take a break from take-out,” some copywriter wrote. “Try these good-for-you versions of your family’s favorites.”

Smartmom hated to think of the number of times a month they order from Szechuan Delight or Coco Roco. Just last week, OSFO had her favorite, chicken and brocolli in white sauce, two nights in a row. The woman who answers the phone doesn’t even ask anymore if they want soy sauce, duck sauce or mustard (for the record, no thanks).

Smartmom was amazed. Family Circle even had a reduced calorie version of General Tso’s chicken, which is Teen Spirit’s perennial favorite, made with low-sodium soy sauce, canola oil, skinless chicken and one head of fresh broccoli, steamed.

Smartmom vowed to jumpstart her home cooking. Teen Spirit would be going to college in just over a year. She still had time to entice him with delicious meals that would keep him longing for his mother’s home cooking. Forever.

Hepcat has never forgotten his mother’s tamale pie. Every time he visits the family’s farm in Northern California, he asks her to prepare it. And she, of course, does, thrilled that her son still loves her tasty cooking.

Finally, the doctor was ready to see Smartmom’s father and it was time to put the magazine down — and spit out forever the notion that food = love. The guilt. The insecurity. There was surely more to mothering than a reduced-fat version of General Tsao’s chicken. Smartmom knew that for sure.

So of course she would be calling (718) 788-5408 later that very night. The woman on the other end of the line at Szechuan Delight is always glad to hear her voice.

Only the Blog Links

Conditions at JJ Byrne dog run (Brownstoner)

Atlantic Yard Rally May 3 (Found in Brooklyn)

Lady Liberty in the Brooklyn Museum Parking Lot (McBrooklyn)

The king of visceral design (NY Times)

Sharpton calls for civil disobedience in response to Bell verdict (NY1)

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Artist Michael Sorgatz Designs Blogfest Poster

Painter Michael Sorgatz volunteered his creativity and his time to design the Brooklyn Blogfest poster. I am thrilled with it an especially pleased that he used his painting of the Brooklyn Bridge on the poster.

Sorgatz recently had a show at the Hudson Guild Gallery in Manhattan. The subjects of his paintings, he says, are the transient moments of life - the millions of ways we spend time each day." He writes on his website:

I'm attracted to the dynamic quality of crowds and the interactions that take place in settings such as markets, parks, and streets. What I find compelling is the way that well-designed public spaces forge a sense of community and connection between individuals and groups. There's a value in what are seemingly ordinary transactions: our interactions with the world define us and also shape the world around us

Sorgatz's best paintings capture some of New York's city's most dynamic locations, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Prospect Park, the Greenmarket, and various street scenes around New York City. But most important is the way Michael uses buoyant paint colors and masterful brush strokes to create the blotches and shapes of his painterly world view.

As an artist and a viewer, I enjoy the handmade, non-mechanical nature of painting. The drag and swirl of paint on a canvas has a unique physical dimension that cannot be duplicated by film. I work spontaneously using swift brushstrokes to convey the sense of subjects in motion, constantly moving characters against shifting backgrounds. Colors and shapes are selected to evoke the scene's essential characteristics and keep the eye moving across the canvas.

Today: Brooklyn Peace Fair

The Fifth Annual Brooklyn Peace Fair is TODAY (April 26 11am-6pm). Speakers and Presenters include Debbie Altmontaser, Senator Eric Adams, and Congressman Major Owens. But from what I understand, it's not just speeches, and stuff.

There's a full schedule of events and workshops at www.brooklynpeace.org

Join Skenazy, Sohn and Smartmom and Other Edgy Moms in Park Slope

Join ruckus rousing NY Sun Columnist, Lenore Skenazy, Amy Sohn, the controversial sex and mating columnist for NY Magazine, and the Brooklyn Paper's tell-it-like-it-really-is Smartmom and others, who will will shock, amuse, and entertain you, and they won't make you eat your vegetables before you get dessert.

Come to this reading/cocktail party (cash bar) at the Montauk Club in Park Slope on May 15th at 7:00 pm.

Deom single moms to sexy moms to moms who let their kids ride the MTA alone, these writers will shock, amuse, and entertain you, and they won't make you eat your vegetables before you get dessert.

Readers include:
Lenore Skenazy (New York Sun writer, who let her 9-year-old take the subway alone),
Christen Clifford (writer/ performer of Off-Broadway's hit show Baby Love, true stories about sex and motherhood),
Louise Sloan (author of Knock Yourself Up: A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a
Single Mom)
Amy Sohn (author of Run Catch Kiss and former columnist at New York magazine)
Louise Crawford (AKA Smartmom and OTBKB)

Location: 25 8th Avenue between Lincoln and St. John in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Date: Thursday May 15th
7 p.m. Cash bar for cocktails
7:30: The reading begins
Admission free

Brooklyn Bloggers Work Together to Create May 8th Blogfest

Join Brooklyn's blogging community at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

From my vantage point, the planning of this event has been an amazing coming together of all the smart, creative, and collaborative energy of the Brooklyn blog community!

Thanks to Creative Times, Michael Sorgatz, Bed Stuy Blog, Brooklyn Optimist, Gowanus Lounge, Brit in Brooklyn, Blue Barn Pictures, Habeas Brulee, Outside.in and many more, this will be the best Blogfest yet.

And don't forget, this event is for bloggers, fans of bloggers, and people who wanna blog.

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in the United States at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 8th at 8 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum at 270 Fourth Avenue (at President Street) in Park Slope.

“Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?” wrote Sewell Chan in the New York Times last year.

The blogfest is an event for bloggers and non-bloggers alike and it brings together citizen journalists, place bloggers, photo bloggers, special interest bloggers, and the creative, quirky, and personal bloggers that make the Brooklyn Blogosphere such a fascinating place to be.

Come hear: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Creative Times, Bed-Stuy Blog, Gowanus Lounge, New York Shitty, Flatbush Gardener, and Luna Park Gazette.

Special features include a video by Blue Barn Pictures, a salute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers, Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers plus a special message from WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer and promo for Brooklyn Independent Televisions, A Walk Around the Blog.

Learn about blogging; be inspired to blog. Best of all, participate in the annual SHOUT-OUT: A chance to share YOUR blog with the world!

Judge Aquits Three Detectives in Sean Bell's Killing

In an unusual 1,164 word statement,  Judge Arthur Cooperman aquitted the three detectives, Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper of the multiple bullet murder of Sean Bell, saying that the prosecution did not prove its case. From the New York Times:

The top-to-bottom acquittals of Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper were delivered by Justice Arthur J. Cooperman in an essay form bearing little resemblance to a standard jury verdict, and were met momentarily with silence in court as spectators looked at one another to be sure they had grasped what he was saying.

The detectives, all but obscured behind a human wall of courthouse officers, finally seemed to exhale deeply, even crumple, with relief. Detective Oliver — who reloaded his gun to fire a total of 31 shots and helped catapult the shooting from tragic mistake to a symbol, for many, of police abuse of force and poor training — closed his eyes and cried,

Except for a few scuffles outside the Queens Criminal Court building and shouted displays of disbelief and outrage, the day passed peacefully amid calls for calm delivered by the mayor, the police commissioner and other officials. Still, the Rev. Al Sharpton, a spokesman for the Bell family, called for street protests and said people should get themselves arrested, “whether it is on Wall Street, the judge’s house or at 1 Police Plaza.

 

Only the Blog Links

Peter Pan pilgrims (Brooklynometry)

Wife Hates Chair (Brooklynometry)

Paul Simon: American Tunes (Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn)

Paul Simon at BAM (Full Permission Living)

New look for Gowanus Lounge coming on Monday (Gowanus Lounge)

A crane in Red Hook (Brit in Brooklyn)

Photography by Lara Wechsler: Nathan's

Lara Wechsler's website

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Death Benefits for Family of Slain Park Slope Auxiliary Cop, Nicholas Pekearo

Nicholas Pekearo, an auxiliary cop, was murdered last year, at the age of 19, on the streets of Greenwich Village. A writer, Nicholas worked at Crawford Doyle Booksellers in Manhattan and lived in Park Slope.

Today, the United States Department of Justice announced on Thursday that the families of Nicholas T. Pekearo and Yevgeniy Marshalik, unarmed auxiliary police officers were entitled to federal death benefits. This is a reversal of past rulings which aroused public protest.

According to the New York Times:

The department said it would award about $300,000 each to the families of the officers, Nicholas T. Pekearo and Yevgeniy Marshalik, under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, which is intended to compensate the survivors of police officers and firefighters across the nation who are killed in the line of duty.

Officers Pekearo, 28, and Marshalik, 19, were fatally shot on the evening of March 14, 2007, in a confrontation with David R. Garvin, who had fatally shot a bartender in a pizza restaurant. Evan Peterson, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said on Thursday that the decision to award death benefits reflected “the extraordinary efforts” of the officers.

Anyone Know of a Good, Inexpensive Rental in Kensington, Flatbush, or Ditmas?

A friend is looking for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment to rent and wants to spend about $2,000. That's why she's hoping to find something in Kensington, Flatbush or Ditmas Park.

Contact louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dot)com

Photography by Lara Wechsler: Wait Stop

No Words Daily Pix: Photograph by Hugh Crawford

Local Organic Produce in Bushwick

A woman from Bushwick sent this note to me:

I work for Make the Road NY in Bushwick, and this year we’re starting up a Community Supported Agriculture program. We currently have spaces in the program available, and are recruiting members.

What is a CSA?

It's basically when a farmer and a neighborhood partner up; the community members pay for a share of the harvest in advance, and then weekly (for 22 weeks in our case) from June ‘til Nov. the farmer brings vegetable boxes to each CSA customer.

Our farmer is Sergio Nolasco, of Nolasco Farms in Hackenstown NJ .

Info Session:

We’re also having an info session with the farmer – a potluck and meeting – this Monday April 28th from 6p-8p at the Make the Road office at 301 Grove Street , Brooklyn NY 11237 .

I’ll be signing up members after the meeting. We only have about 40 spots left.

Inside Schools Hosts a Brooklyn Friendraiser On April 30

It's also a fundraiser. But I like the terminology.

And if you like Inside Schools as much as I do you might want to meet the people behind Inside Schools and contribute some much needed funds to what is an indispensable resource for NYC parents, who send their kids to public school.

The event is on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the home of Nancy Bruni
435 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn

At this event you get to meet the smart people behind Insideschools.org and its parent organization, Advocates for Children of NY, and learn how they’re helping to make the city’s public schools better for all our children:

Pamela Wheaton, Director of Insideschools.org
Kim Sweet, Executive Director, Advocates for Children
Clara Hemphill, Founding Director of Insideschools.org and
author of “NYC’s Best Public Schools” books

The suggested *minimum* donation for this event is $35.00 and wine and light hors d’ouevres will be served

If you can’t attend, but you’d like to support Insideschools.org, please click this link to make a secure online donation:
https://insideschools.org/home/membership/donate_now.php
(your donation to Insideschools.org is fully tax-deductable to the extent allowable by law)

Please RSVP by April 20, 2008
to Yung-Mi Lee at 917-544-9889 or
yungmil@yahoo.com

Plan for the Future Forum on the Gowanus!

City Councilmember, Bill de Blasio, who is running for the Borough presidency is sponsoring: Plan For The Future Forum: The Gowanus

Co-Sponsors include, Community Board 6, Gowanus Dredgers, Gowanus Canal
Development Corporation and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. The event is on 2nd Street at the Gowanus Canal. It's on May 8 at 6:30. That's the night before the Brooklyn Blogfest at the Brooklyn Lyceum for one and all.

Here's the blurb from De Blasio's office:

What and Why: With Brooklyn's current state of hyper-development it is important that we recognize and plan for the impact that the growing population has on our borough's aging infrastructure.

To begin this conversation I would like to invite you to be involved
in an open discussion with professionals from various New York State
and City agencies. The event will focus on the Gownaus Canal corridor
that is outlined in the framework developed by the Department of City
Planning (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/gowanus/index.shtml) and
the future development of the Public Place site.

Topics can range from transportation, combined sewer overflow,
traffic, schools and affordable housing and more. The event will also
feature canoe rides by the Gowanus Dredgers. If you would like to
preregister question so the appropriate agency can better address them
at the event please email them to Tagray1@gmail.com or call
718-854-9791.

Where: 2nd Street at the Gowanus Canal (off of Bond Street)

When: May 7th, 6:30pm-8:30pm

Groups Invited:

Department Of Transportation, Metropolitan Transit Authority,
Department of Environmental Protection, NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation, Department of Education, Department of
City Planning, Department of Buildings, NYPD, FDNY and NYC Park and
Recreation.

Crimes and Misdemeanors

It was an interesting site:

Teen Spirit had four friends over to watch Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. They crowded onto the green leather couch; there was a girl visiting from France in the group so they had the French subtitles going.

The film, with Martin Landau, Angelica Huston and SO many other great actors, is an interesting one. It's got it all:

The big dark issues of mortality, ethics, and meaning Woody Allen style. The humor. The flashback scenes to the Jewish family seder, the relationship stuff. The funny lines:

"People don't commit suicide in Brooklyn. They're too unhappy..."

Lots of LOL stuff. But it's a dark, dark film about justice and accountability in the eyes of the law, in the eyes of God. Here from Roger Ebert:

The implications of "Crimes and Misdemeanors" are bleak and hopeless. The evil are rewarded, the blameless are punished, and the rabbi goes blind. To be sure, justice is done in the low-road plot: Cliff does not succeed in leaving his wife to marry a girl for whom he would be the worst possible partner, and the rich and triumphant Lester gets the girl and will possibly make her happy, or at least rich. But in the main story Dolores lies in her grave, and Judah finds that life goes on -- for him, at least. For Martin Landau, the performance is a masterpiece of smooth, practiced diplomacy, as he glides through life and leaves his problems behind. Landau is never more effective than when he is shocked and dismayed at his own behavior. It's as if he's regarding himself from outside, with a kind of fascination. He sees what he does, and does nothing to stop it. In his own world, he is the eyes of God.

Teen Spirit and a friend are watching EVERY Woody Allen film. Up next: Orson Welles. I forget who they've already done. They loved Hannah and Her Sisters.

It's their own private extra-curricular course in film history.

Three Women by Robert Altman

Finally. It's been out on video from The Criterion Collection for a while and it's been on my Netflix queue since last month. Finally. It arrived yesterday: Three Women, Robert Altman's masterpiece from 1977 with Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall.

I remember seeing it when it came out. I had almost no memory of what it was actually about but I could never get the mood of it out of my mind. And I've always wanted to see it again.

Apparently Robert Altman dreamed the film. Everything. The plot. The characters. The locations. The casting.

Last night we watched this strange, interesting, beautiful film, which must be seen. Here's the synopsis from the Criterion Collection.

In a dusty, under-populated California resort town, Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek), a naïve and impressionable Southern waif begins her life as a nursing home attendant. There, Pinky finds her role model in fellow nurse "Thoroughly Modern" Millie Lammoreaux (Shelley Duvall), a misguided would-be sophisticate and hopeless devotee of Cosmopolitan and Woman's Day magazines. When Millie accepts Pinky into her home at the Purple Sage singles complex, Pinky's hero-worship evolves into something far stranger and more sinister than either could have anticipated. Featuring brilliant performances from Spacek and Duvall, Robert Altman's dreamlike masterpiece, 3 Women, careens from the humorous to the chilling to the surreal, resulting in one of the most unusual and compelling films of the 1970s

.

Fighting the Good Fight: Washington Square Park Blog

Brooklynite Catherine Swan is fighting the good fight with her blog Washington Square Park, the chronicles of a beloved park and a city government overcome by its own power. In her first post from February 2008 she had this to say:

Someone referred to Washington Square Park as “magical.” It took me awhile to see that. Certainly, I’d been to Washington Square Park over the years. I’d sat and listened to music or watched strange happenings within the fountain. I’d marveled at the almost laid back ’60’s bohemian feeling it retained which co-existed amongst college students, chess players, old-timers, newbies, dog walkers, families, tourists. Every type person coexists and intermingles within Washington Square Park.

My renewed interest in the Park — in relation to the massive changes and radical overhaul the City has planned for it — occurred late last year out of concern for the cutting down of the trees and what that would mean for the wildlife in the Park. I then realized what was going to be ‘taken away’ by these mysterious, suddenly “necessary” changes — changes that would affect the whole essence of the Park — the things that make it work… those inexplicable factors which make it such a special place for so many people. To want to change that seemed to me an extension of the long arm of gentrification and homogenization of our city(by our current Mayor, Mayor Bloomberg).

Then, it became even more important to oppose these changes. This is my attempt to document what I’ve learned in a short time and share that information.

Daily since then she has been documenting what's going on in that park, as well as Union Square Park. One of her key posts is called, Connecting the Dots: A Guide to NYC Parks Department -- Washington Square Park and Union Square Redesigns. Another key post: Honey I Shrunk the Park.

This Arbor Day, she reports, there's a demonstration:

Street Artists, Activists, Community Members, Public Space and Free Speech Advocates (Everyone Invited) Gather to Protect Our Trees and Protest Privatization of Public Space

In Honor of Arbor (Tree) Day Friday April 25th

When: Friday, April 25th, 6-8 p.m.

Where: UNION SQUARE PARK, 14th Street betw. Union Sq East and Union Sq West by Gandhi Statue, Manhattan

Despite Mayor Bloomberg’s hyping of his “MillionTreesNYC” P.R. initiative, thousands of mature trees have been cut down in all five boroughs at our City’s Parks, mostly in the interest of privatization of public space, which has dramatically increased under Mayor Bloomberg.

Gawker Attacks Richard Grayson's Sex Book

OTBKB fave author Richard Grayson wrote to say that Gawker attacked his book of sex stories for teens.

The upstart Dumbo Books of Brooklyn thought of a not-so-ingenious way to get real life teens to blurb their upcoming release of Queens writer Richard Grayson's new book: Craigslist. With only a Blogger website to their name, the small press has turned to blind posting in 'Writing Jobs', looking for "18-25yo hipsters to blurb our cool forthcoming book of sex stories for teens...you must be cool-looking, smart looking." High standards, but when you're desperately seeking random blurbs for the tragically titled, Who Will Kiss The Pig? Sex Stories For Teens, you want the best. Hopefully they'll omit the Miss Piggy-inspired cover from the PDF they promise to send along to chosen hipsters. And if you're under 18, there's still hope: just ask your parents if it's OK to talk about how much you love this book/PDF about teen sex. After the jump, the full Craigslist post in all its glory..

Here's the ad that Gawker is so snarky about:

Cool Brooklyn book publisher looking for cool 18-25yo hipsters to blurb our cool forthcoming book of sex stories for teens. We will send you a PDF of the book and ask for a blurb & headshot for advertising, website, publicity. Tiny honorarium of free books and our guarantee to read and consider your own book manuscript for publication. Our books have been reviewed in Phila. Inquirer, Kirkus, Hipster Book Club, Florida Book Review, etc. You must be cool-looking, smart-looking. Minorities encouraged to apply. Under 18, must have parents' permission!

Last but not least, here is Grayson's response to being called a Queens writer: "I am very insulted about being called a Queens writer."

As readers of OTBKB know, Grayson is the Brooklyn author of: So I Kissed Him on Lorimar Street, I Break for Delmore Schwartz, With Hitler in New York and many more. We at OTBKB love his stories about his Brooklyn boyhood and his trips around Brooklyn by bus.

House of Whimsy Gets Served

Eliot sent me the summons he saw on the House of Whimsy, that notorious building on the corner of 1st Street and Seventh Avenue, owned by Dorothy Nash, that used to have a weird bar in the storefront (a weird vintage dress shop and real estate office, too) that is now the vacant, dangerous, eyesore of Seventh Avenue.

Here is a photo of the latest Notice of Violation dated today (Friday) and taped to the front door of the defunct Landmark Tavern. The Violation Conditions Observed reads: WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT. EXPIRED PERMIT. NOTED SIDEWALK SHED IN PLACE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PERMIT #302308599 EXP ON 12/31/07

Today, Brownstoner has the story:

Apparently the DOB affixed a notice to the building about a hearing that was supposed to take place on Monday regarding the structure's latest violation, which involves having an out-of-date permit for scaffolding. The DOB also recorded a violation on the property last year due to its owner's "failure to maintain bldg." City records do not show that the owner, Dorothy Nash, did anything to remedy the infraction, which carried a $2,500 fine (amount paid: $250). The building is legendary in Park Slope because it's been in decline for almost two decades. The Times published a piece about the property a couple months ago saying that it "radiates a mysterious, haunted quality." At the time, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn noted that "187 Seventh Avenue is an ugly mess. Nash has been offered gobs of money to sell the place but has continuously refused. She also owns a building on Second Street between Seventh and Sixth Avenue, an eyesore in similar disrepair.

Celebrate Brooklyn 2008 Schedule

The schedule is here. Yay. The Celebrate Brooklyn schedule is OUT. Here are some highlights for the 30th summer at Celebrate Brooklyn

Issac Hayes: June 12

Miriam Makeba: June 14

Beth Orton/Matt Munisteri: July 12

Deerhoof Metropolis Ensemble playing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring: July 18

Enter the Dragon: July 19

Brave New World Repertory: Fahrenheit 451: July 24

Powaqqatsi (film) Score played by Philip Glass Ensemble with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus: July 25

African Guitar Festival: August 3

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: August 7

Hal Wilner's Bill Wither's Project: August 9