Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn

Murder at Lookout Hill Still a Mystery

A Year in the Park reports on last week's murder at Look Out Hill in Prospect Park. Here's an excerpt. Go to her blog for pictures. The story hasn't gotten much coverage. Nor have the police found his killer or a motive for this mysterious death.

A man beaten to death in Prospect Park has been identified, but his killer and the motive for his death remain a mystery.

Mohammed Afzaf, 41, was found with a massive head wound in a wooded area near a jogging path on Wednesday, police said.

The medical examiner said Thursday that his death was a homicide.

Afzaf suffered from mental illness and had spent time in a hospital being treated, said his imam, Abdul Rashid. He had been homeless for six months, a former employer said.

This sketchy report raises more questions than it answers. For one thing, the man's name may be wrong; "Afzaf" is virtually a "Googlenope" (writer Gene Weingarten's neologism for a search term that comes up empty), whereas "Afzal" is apparently a common name, particularly in connection with Pakistanis.

Nearby, the swans were unruffled. Poor Mr. A, no wonder they took no notice. Homeless, mentally ill, and Muslim: victim-wise, that's hitting the trifecta for media apathy. Imagine if it had been a young, blonde female Episcopalian—an out-of-work actress, perhaps—whose body lay up on the hill for two days. Even the swans would have wept and demanded big headlines, heart-rending sidebars, and frequent updates on the hunt for the killer.

The Current Weather in Park Slope

Brought to you by The Feldman Family from their weather tower in Park Slope.

Free Bob Dylan Tickets: Take The Quiz

That's right. The Brooklyn Paper is having some kind of giveaway:

Sure, Bob Dylan’s Aug. 12 concert in Prospect Park is sold out — but you can still get a pair of tickets, courtesy of your friends at The Brooklyn Paper.

Of course, there’s a catch: In order to see Dylan, you have to know Dylan. Our resident Dylanologist, Dr. Lawrence Gardner, has put together a seven-question Zimmerman quiz — so you’d better know your “Caribbean Wind” from your “Visions of Johanna.”

Fill in your answers and send them back to us by Sunday, Aug. 10 at 10 pm. The winning entry will be chosen at random from among the correct responses.

Brooklyn Pols Urge LICH Not To Shut Down Its Maternity Ward

Local elected officials and community activists called on Long Island College Hospital (LICH) to reconsider its decision to shut down its maternity ward, and create a long-term plan for combating its financial problems. LICH is run by Continuum Health Partners, which also manages Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan.

Councilmember De Blasio:
"I am deeply disturbed by LICH's recent decisions to close its maternity ward and rape crisis intervention program. Without these important components of the hospital, Brooklyn residents will not have access to the direct health care services they need and deserve. LICH must stop taking services away from Brooklyn families and work with the community to create a long-term plan for combating its financial problems.

"Maternity ward closings are becoming a Brooklyn-wide problem. Last December, Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge shut down its labor and delivery unit due to financial troubles. In addition, Interfaith Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant closed its maternity ward in 2004, and St. Mary's Hospital closed down entirely in 2005.

"As Long Island College Hospital continues to dismantle its services, our neighbors suffer. It's time for Continuum to create a long-term plan that will ensure the community has access to quality medical care in their home borough,"

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez:
"Brooklyn deserves a hospital that puts the health of our hard-working families at the top of its priority list."

Councilmember Letitia James.
"Maternity and rape crisis intervention services are vital to many of Brooklyn's residents and families. We can not stand idly by while LICH takes these important services away from the community, while failing to present a long-term plan for its financial stability."

State Senator Martin Connor:
"Our neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and DUMBO have become home to many young families with young children with the potential of many more children on the way. It would be a tragedy for LICH to close their OB/GYN and pediatric departments when these families most need these services. I wholeheartedly support my community and the doctors and other hospital personnel in this fight to stop the dismantling of this important medical facility by Continuum Health Care. I have already contacted the New York State Department of Health to let them know how concerned I am about the proposed termination of these services at LICH."

Assemblywoman Joan Millman
"I am deeply concerned about the possible closing of Long Island College Hospital's maternity ward. It sets a dangerous precedent for closing any unprofitable department with little regard to the actual needs of the community. I know the State Department of Health will work with Continuum Health Partners to explore every option to ensure LICH remains a full-service neighborhood hospital.

Councilmember Gonzalez:
"For 150 years LICH has provided vital services for all of downtown Brooklyn and surrounding communities. To watch it being dismantled, piece-by-piece is both alarming and disheartening. R are vital services, not commodities, and the people of Brooklyn can ill afford fewer health care alternatives. I am convinced Continuum is not considering the human element or the needs of the Borough of Brooklyn in their decision-making process. I call on them to do so."

Is Whole Foods Still Coming to Park Slope?

Here's note from an OTBKB reader about Whole Foods:

I came across an item that I thought might be of interest. I read in the business section of the Times Wednesday that Whole Foods isn't doing so well, and "would reduce the number of stores it plans to open in fiscal 2009 to 15, instead of 25 or 30."

So, I am curious if that would affect the Whole Foods that is planned for 3rd Avenue. I haven't been following that whole story so closely--I think I heard that there were environmental remediation issues that had to be dealt with. Anyway, maybe that store might be one of the ones on the chopping block. (Unlike much of Park Slope, I am sort of hoping the store doesn't open; I don't want to see anything happen to the Park Slope Food Coop).

Au Contraire: Overparenting Kills

Here's a post from the always provocative Peter Loffredo of Full Permission Living.

By Peter Loffredo

Somebody turned me onto this article and book, "A NATION OF WIMPS," yesterday on a subject that I write and yell about a lot - how we're gutting our children's self-confidence and creating a class of whiny and seriously damaged narcissists by over-parenting. The author is Hara Estroff Marano, editor of Psychology Today.

Here are some excerpts from Marano:

"The 1990s witnessed a landmark reversal in the traditional patterns of psychopathology. While rates of depression rise with advancing age among people over 40, they're now increasing fastest among children, striking more children at younger and younger ages."

"The perpetual access to parents infantilizes the young, keeping them in a permanent state of dependency. Whenever the slightest difficulty arises, they're constantly referring to their parents for guidance. They're not learning how to manage for themselves."

"In his now-famous studies of how children's temperaments play out, Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan has shown unequivocally that what creates anxious children is parents hovering and protecting them from stressful experiences. Overparenting can program the nervous system to create lifelong vulnerability to anxiety and depression."

The article and book goes on, of course, but the bottom line is this - overparenting isn't about love; it's about ego. EGO! If there's even one parent reading this who can hear me, listen up: every time you hover or cover for your child, every time you pamper or prop them up, every time you "sacrifice" adult activities to feed your child's demands, you are not coming from a place of love. You are looking to BE loved from your own place of low self-worth and damaged self-esteem. In other words, you are being selfish, not generous, needy, not giving, and you are stunting and robbing your children, not raising them. Get into therapy! Get a life! Leave your kids alone!!

Today is 63rd Anniversary of the Dropping of the Bomb on Hiroshima

The Bay Ridge Interfaith Peace Coalition is sponsoring a film showing commemorating the 63rd annual Hiroshima Day.

Conviction, an award-winning documentary film about three Dominican nuns convicted and sentenced to Federal Prison for their non-violent protest at a Minuteman III missile site in northern Colorado. This film evokes important conversations about faith-based political action, the role of nuclear weapons in national defense, and the role of international law in federal courts. Directed/Produced by Brenda Truelson Fox.

Approximate running time: 43 minutes. Discussion will follow the film.

For more information visit: http://www.jonahhouse.org/UN.htm

Location: Hotel Gregory, 8315 4th Avenue (near 84th Street), Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Train: R to 86th Street

Sponsors: Bay Ridge Interfaith Peace Coalition, Peace Action New York State, and Peace Action -- Bay Ridge
Endorsed By: Brooklyn For Peace

Louis and Capathia at Iridium

Last night at Iridium, a basement jazz club on Broadway and 51st Street, Park Slope's Louis Rosen, Capathia Jenkins, their superb band, and world renowned poet Nikki Giovanni (and professor of English at Virginia Tech University) wowed the crowd with a stirring performance of songs from their new CD "An Ounce of Truth: The Nikki Giovanni Songs."

Giovanni spoke briefly during the show and read three of the poems that Rosen has turned into songs. Singing along quietly with the songs, Giovanni is obviously thrilled with the music, which "bring the poems to a new level," she said.

It's always interesting to hear the spoken word and then the musical adaptation. Giovanni's comments were fun and telling:

"I don't want people to think I'm always horny," she told the crowd after a performance of the sultry and sexy song called "All I Gotta Do (Is Sit and Wait).

But the songs are about way more than sex. "Telephone Song" is a joyful song about female friendship and the phone call and "The Black Loom" is about the arts that artists have woven from the African-American influence (careful baby don't prick your fingers)."

About "That Day" an unabashedly sexy song Louis said: "There are a lot of love songs that are really about sex. This is a sexy song that is really about love."

Sad to say, this was the last Louis and Capathia show at Iridium for the summer.

Happy to announce: Louis and Capathia with their superb band will be at the Brooklyn Public Library Dweck Center (at the Grand Army branch) on October 14th at 4 p.m.

Annual Night Out at Grand Army Plaza

I saw flyers about the 28th Annual National Night Out. I'd never heard of it. Turns out it's a public crime prevention event. Thankfully, Eugene Patron from Prospect Park sent out this press release and some pictures.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly joined the 78th Precinct at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park to mark the "25th Annual National Night Out," a public crime prevention event (organized in cooperation with the National Association of Town Watch: http://www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno/about.html). Also attending the event were Congressman Anthony Weiner, NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, NY State Senator Velmentta Montgomery, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, and representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, and NY State Assemblywoman Joan Millman (who presented a proclamation from New York State Governor David Patterson)

. In the Prospect Park Alliance photo: (L to R): Mayor Michael Bloomberg with President of the 78th Precinct Community Council Pauline Blake, and 78th Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector John Argenziano.

The Greenest Block in Brooklyn Is...

This morning, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Brooklyn GreenBridge announces the winners of the 14th annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. This year nearly 230 blocks participated in this annual event.

More than 120,000 Brooklyn residents and business participated in this borough-wide greening effort.
Contest winners were selected through a rigorous process by an expert panel of judges that included professional horticulturists from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, metro area horticulture professionals, gardening journalists, and other New York City greening organizations.

First Prize is a $300 check for each top residential and commercial block winner. All other finalists will receive cash prizes ranging from $100–$200. Best Window Box, Storefront, and Street Tree Beds winners will receive cash prizes or gardening tools, and all participants will be awarded a recognition certificate.

I will keep you posted...

You Can Help Victims of Prospect Lefferts Fire

Here's a way you can help some victims of the Friday night fire at Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

Our friends lived in the apartment building in Prospect Lefferts Garden where the fire occurred on Friday night and they lost all of their belongings and their home. We are trying to raise money to get them back on their feet. We would greatly appreciate it if you could let people know about our site http://csurics.com/helpjj where we are currently collecting donations.

Wednesday: Union Hall Curates Music At The Bridge

Now that I've been to an event at Brooklyn Bridge Park I am a real booster for events over there. Last week's Movies With A View showing of Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole was a fabulous night of cinema and views.

Wedneday night is the last of the Music at the Bridge series. A great concept:  Get some major venues in Brooklyn like Barbes, Zebulon, Issue Project Room, and Union Hall to curate a night of music associated with that venue.

Last week's Issue Project Room event was a veritable who's who's of the New York avant garde music scene. And the Union Hall show not only features a very Union Hall music line-up but will also have The Secret Science Club, a much loved act at Union Hall.

Get there early to get a seat for what is sure to be a packed show, featuring:

The French Kicks

Headlights

Tiny Masters of Today

The Secret Science Club

hosted by comedian Dave Hill

All shows are in Brooklyn Bridge Park, in the historic Tobacco Warehouse. Enter at 1 Main St. Doors at 6pm, show starts at 6:30pm.

Galapagos Art Space In DUMBO is Open

Galapagos Art Space, which started as a fascinatingly designed space complete with a waterfall in hipster Williamsburg, is now open at 15 Main Street in DUMBO. The space is the first certified LEED green cultural venue in New York City. Now that's a distinction.

The new space is sure to have an interesting design. And interesting programming. I was told about (but forgot to post about) the DUMBO Kite Flying Society, a monthly event for kids. The first one was last weekend at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Brooklyn Based has an interesting interview with Robert Elmes, the director of Galapagos Art Space. Aside from interesting programming, the space has an interesting mission:

The most basic function of the arts is to be relevant in   the advancement of society.
 
Galapagos does not accept government grants or public funding of any kind. We believe that if the work we present is strong, communicative, and effective, we will survive.
 
If we don't produce strong, communicative and effective work then we won't survive - we're not feeding the hungry: we make art. If we can't be grown-up about that  and stand up on our own, then we don't think we'd have anything interesting to tell you anyway.
 
This is New York City. One of the greatest cultural cities to have ever risen; perhaps the greatest. We're not sitting around dreaming of the grant we applied for.
 
          We have our whole lives to live and that is   terribly important.
 
          Culture should reflect that   clearly.

The following is an excerpt from their website as to why they had to leave Williamsburg. Hint: They may be the first cultural institution that was priced out of Williambsurg and got a better deal in DUMBO (thanks to Two Trees and David Walentas).

We love Williamsburg, we were born here in 1995, but we simply can’t afford to remain in Williamsburg and produce the work that we feel is our most valuable contribution to the cultural ecosystem of New York City.

In December 2005 our rent went up by $10,000.00 a month.

Now, in order to extend our lease past November, our landlord requires a 30%
increase in rent.

As a venue, our core responsibility is to create audiences for the artists we present and help expand the cultural environment for the benefit of the community we live in.

In DUMBO we’ll be able to present the theater, dance, performance art, music, cinema, lectures / literary events, and the non profit fundraising that we believe is our core mission and the most important contribution we can make to our community.

It must be said that our landlords are lovely people who, way back in 1995, gave us an opportunity that no one else was willing to offer. The rent increases they’ve offered us are, incredibly, still below the market rate.

We’ll be working with them to make sure that 70 North 6 Street remains a venue of cultural significance and doesn’t become the North 6 Street's next American Apparel or, god forbid, a Starbucks.

Yassky on Abaondoned And Decaying Barges

On Monday Citycouncilmember David Yassky and state assemblyman Eric Gioia spoke to the press about somthing that is not right in New York harbor: abandoned barges. And they pointed the finger of blame at the Pile Foundation Construction which has been allowing its barges to sink or decay. They've been cited in the past for violations. The following is an excerpt from the New York Times article.

On Monday, two City Council members and a state assemblyman announced their disgust with what they called a growing problem: abandoned construction barges and other vessels left to rust, buckle, leak and eventually sink to the bottom of remote corners of rivers and tributaries feeding Jamaica Bay.

In January, the National Parks Service estimated that about 190 abandoned vessels — many of them small boats, apparently privately owned — had been left to rot in the 25,000 acres that make up Jamaica Bay. Since then, about 40 vessels have been removed, said Brian Feeney, a Parks Service spokesman.

In a news conference held by the East River in Manhattan on Monday, City Councilmen David Yassky and Eric Gioia said that abandoned industrial barges had become a threat to the health of city estuaries.

“For too long, it’s been the Wild West in New York Harbor,” Mr. Yassky said.

Since 2006, the officials said, one company in particular has repeatedly tugged barges into Newtown Creek, in Brooklyn, and other New York rivers and bays, to let them rot. Mr. Yassky said the company, Pile Foundation Construction Co., of Hicksville, N.Y., was pursuing what he called an intentional “abandon-and-sink strategy” within the city, and must be stopped.

Gowanus Lounge: Bagel Wars on Seventh Avenue

My friend Bob Guskind over at Gowanus Lounge read about it on the  Brooklynian grape vine and now he's blogging 'bout a bagel war on Seventh Avenue.

According to Bob, a new bagel place may be going into the one un-rented spot where D'Agostino used to be (Seventh Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets). Right there next to Five Guys Burgers and The Bank of America (with the comfy looking seating area).

What's up with that? Why there's La bagel Delight on Fifth Street just one block away. Can't wait to talk to the guys over at La bagel about this rumor/news. They'll know what's going on and most likely have loads of attitude about it.

If It's Tuesday: Jenny Scheinman at Barbes

Jenny Scheinman will be playing tonight at Barbes, Park Slope's eclectic music space on 9th Street near Sixth Avenue.

For those who don't know, she is a violinist/composer, who works with a variety of performers including Norah Jones, Bill Frisell, Madeleine Peyroux and John Zorn.

She is in residence at Barbes most Tuesdays with an almost infinite variety of lineup. This week, with steve cardenas (guitar).

Scheinman currently has two new CD releases: Jenny Scheinman (her vocal debut) and Crossing the Field (an instrumental extravaganza).

Later in the evening: Northeastern Brazilian Dance Party is Brooklyn's first Brazilian brass band, will play the music of Pernambuco such as Coco, Forro, Ciranada and Maracatu. Sounds fun.

New Groundswell Mural on Fourth Avenue And Sackett

Groundswell Community Mural Project is working on five murals around Brooklyn – all created by teens working with local artists. You may have seen some of this group's work along Fourth Avenue or on Washington Avenue.

The group is eager to spread the word about two of the new murals: one in Park Slope, the other on 23rd Street in Sunset Park.

On Fourth Avenue and Sackett Street, teens are hard at work on a monumental mural about the importance of protecting and conserving the water supply in New York. This group of teens, who are part of Groundswell’s Summer Leadership Institute, have met with the Department of Environmental Protection and visited key sites of importance for the delivery of safe, clean drinking water to the city.

Under the auspices of this program, 80 young people, ages 14-21, are right now working with professional artists to transform walls in Brooklyn with a message of environmental protection and respect.

Brooklyn's Greenest Block: And The Winner Is

The suspense is killing me: On Wednesday at 10 am the winner of the 14th annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn award will be announced. The ceremony will take place on the winning block. So obviously they cannot reveal where the ceremony is taking place until...

Mum's the word. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Greenbridge program hasn't spilled the beans yet. So we'll all have to wait until Wednesday to find out which block in Brooklyn has the prettiest stoop gardens, the nicest window boxes, the loveliest trees.

Will it be in Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, Ft. Greene, Cobble Hill, Ditmas Park...???

It must be soooo hard to pick. Initially there were over 200 blocks entered in the competition. The most ever. Fourteen years and this contest has become a big deal in Brooklyn.

Now the winner is...

First place winner gets a prize of $300 bucks. Runner's up get $150-200. Loads of politicians should be on site for the festivities on Wednesday, as well as the judges (horticulturalists, journalists, gardeners, etc.) and the interested public.

See you there wherever THERE is.

Brooklyn's Greenest Block to Be Announced on August 6th

Fifty-nine semifinalists have been selected in the 2008 Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest! Contest winners were selected through a rigorous process by an expert panel of judges that included professional horticulturists from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, metro area horticulture professionals, gardening journalists, and other New York City greening organizations.

For a list of the semi-finalists go here.

On Wednesday, August 6, 2008 the press conference will be held at 10 a.m. at the winning block—stay tuned for notification on Tuesday, August 5, 2008.

Remarks will be made by Scot Medbury, President of Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Marilyn Gelber, Executive Director of Independence Community Foundation; and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Committed to helping improve the urban landscape, Brooklyn GreenBridge promotes neighborhood gardening programs, classes, workshops, and events. Working with block associations, community gardens, businesses, and social service organizations, Brooklyn GreenBridge extends Brooklyn Botanic Garden's resources in order to connect people with plants, and to engage Brooklyn communities and residents in a unified greening effort.

The Contest is coordinated in cooperation with the Borough President Marty Markowitz and sponsored by the Sovereign Bank Endowment Fund at Independence Community Foundation.

 

Gross: Rats on the Southwest Side of Prospect Park

I just got this email about rats in Prospect Park.

I don't want to start any panics but this might be important especially to parents. The past week or so I have come across three rats in Prospect Park on the Prospect Park Southwest side in the vicinity of the children's playground off of Vanderbilt. Each encounter was not in the playground but some 25 to 50 yards (as best I could guess) away on the inside path.

I reported this to the parks department via 311 after my last encounter. That was the most chilling as I literally walked into one. I was "speed" walking on the interior walk and it was fairly dark from the shade and I wasn't looking at the ground. So I don't know if it was just standing there or if it had run across my feet. But I did see it scramble away . . .

Urban Environment: NYCSustainability Beat

Here is a snapshot of sustainability issues that faced the borough and the city in the month of July. The links were compiled by Rebecca Welch Associate Director of Public Affairs, at the Center for the Urban Environment. To Learn more about the Center, go here. www.bcue.org

Report: Small Downtown Brooklyn Retailers Being Forced Out [ Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

Bike-Friendly Businesses Honored By Advocates [NY 1]

Report Rates Orchard Beach City's Most Polluted [Daily News]

Reading the River and Its Contents, With an Eye on Its Health [NY Times]

Paterson Approves Law on Risky Gas Drilling [ Albany Times Union ]

Urban Environmentalist NYC: Tri-State Biodiesel [Gowanus Lounge] *

Maybe Beloved Shops Don’t Have To Disappear [City Limits]

Survey Shows Parks Deteriorating [ Brooklyn Eagle]

17 Projects Honored by Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce [Brownstoner] *    

Helping Building Owners Go Green [CityRoom]

Federal Help Sought for Newtown Creek [Daily News]

Bike-Share Coming to NYC? DOT Says It Will Test the Waters [streetsblog]

How the City Has Reduced Soot [ Gotham Gazette]

Keeping City Beaches Safe and Clean [ Gotham Gazette]

Is 'Green' the Place to Look for Job Growth? [City Limits]

A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss [NYT]

IS 'Green' The Place to Look For Job Growth? [City Limits]

Bloomberg Proposes Plan for City to Make Eco-friendly Upgrades [Daily News]

The Unanticipated Impacts of Rezoning and Development in Downtown Brooklyn [Report-Pratt] 

Green State Lawmakers. [Report-Environmental Advocates of New York ]

 

Not Only Brooklyn Says: Lots To Do On Saturday

Thanks to Neil Feldman, who writes the Not Only Brooklyn, I  have the following info. I strongly urge you to sign up for his wonderful free newsletter about free cultural events in Brooklyn but not limited to Brooklyn.

Email Neil directly, with the message "Subscribe to NOB" and your first and last name, so it is legal for him to add you to the subscription list. And now, here's what Neil has planned for you this Saturday.

You may see Neil at one of these events. He gets around on a bike and tries to make it to a lot of the things he's so passionate about. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Neil's newsletter.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, Neil says Celebrate Brooklyn is the place to be when they celebrates the life and art of Ezra Jack Keats the prize winning artist and children's books author and illustrator.

He is considered the first children's author to place his diverse characters in urban environments, an unknowing pioneer of the multi-culturalism he saw growing up in Brooklyn decades before the concept had a name. He also used collage to illustrate his beautiful books. Performing in his honor are adults who understand children. Jamaican reggae and ska singer Rankin Don, who has come to Brooklyn and become Father Goose is perhaps the only children's entertainer who uses the Caribbean musics. The Sippy Cups are California parents of pre-schoolers who have learned to entertain from their own children. Brooklyn singer-songwriter star Joan Osborne totally rocked out the Celebrate Brooklyn show she headlined last summer, but today she will read from Keats's books between music sets, as will actor James McDaniel, probably best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on NYPD Blue. Born in 1916 as Jacob Ezra Katz at 438 Vermont St in East New York, he felt compelled to legally change his name after serving in WW II due to the anti-Semitism he encountered in the publishing industry. FREE, but $3 at the gate keeps it great. Prospect Park Bandshell near 9th St & Prospect Park West.

From 5-11 p.m. follow Neil to the Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturday:

This is this month's edition of the best, most heterogeneous FREE! party in NYC will have a distinct Caribbean accent, in honor of the annual world famous West Indian American Day Carnival on September 1, which will be sponsoring steel pan music, stilt walkers and more outside the Museum beginning at 3. Explore the weblinks for full details of the dance groups, film, author reading, gallery talks, Cuban film Life is to Whistle and outdoor dance party with Reggae Retro and Judah Tribe.

From 7 p.m. until midnight, Neil is off to Coney Island for some roller skating fun:

Dreamland Roller Rink celebrates its opening with a blow out party on wheels, with
DJ Julio, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, skate dancers, burlesque and more! You may recall NOB recommending the June fund raisers to help designer Lola Staar, who had a dream of transforming the former Childs Restaurant in Coney Island into a people's rock rink. She did it!
$10, skate rentals $5. 3052 W 21st St on the Boardwalk.

And at 8 p.m. groove on over to Rooftop Films with Neil for some Home Movies:

Every year Rooftop hosts a program of Home Movies. Usually unfiltered, these films reveal feelings or fleeting incidents that might otherwise pass without thought, but when recorded can provide insights. This dozen films between one and 29 minutes long in this year’s program are different. They are less about the immediate moment than about the reflected moment—less web cam and more video diary.

De Blasio Statement on LICH's Closing of Maternity Ward

I guess Brooklyn Councilmember Bill de Blasio is vexed about Long Island Community Hospital's decision to close their maternity department and sell off buildings in order to get out from under a $117 million debt. He released the following statement this morning.

"I am extremely troubled by LICH's plan to close its maternity ward. This closing, coupled with the recent termination of the hospital's rape crisis center, is part of a disturbing pattern of taking important medical services away from Brooklyn families.

"The possibility of LICH closing is unacceptable. Brooklyn cannot afford to lose the services this hospital provides. LICH must work with the community to create a long-term plan for combating its financial problems, and for serving the needs of the Brooklyn."

August 7: Richie Havens at Metrotech Noon Concert

Who can orget Richie Haven's incredible performance as the opening act at Woodstock. I wasn't there but I saw the movie and have heard that song umpteen times. Freedom, freedom, freedom. Was that the opening of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child."

I've always loved Richie Havens. And according to Park Slope's Ben Greenman in the New Yorker, he has a great new album just out called Nobody Left to Crown.

“Nobody Left to Crown” (Verve Forecast), Havens’s first recording in four years, opens with a pair of originals, “The Key” and “Say It Isn’t So,” which manage to address spiritual themes without sounding overly earnest, a trick that sometimes eluded the artist in his younger years. The centerpiece of the album is a majestic cover of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Over his trademark open-tuned strumming, Havens delivers a commanding vocal performance that fully restores the revolutionary impulse of The Who’s original; he somehow gets blood from a song that has been ossified for years. Nothing else quite rises to that level, though there’s an urgent version of Jackson Browne’s “Lives in the Balance” and several strong tracks in which Haven applies Eastern-style enlightenment to Realpolitik—including the quietly furious title song, which slyly quotes “Home on the Range.”

And he's a Brooklyn boy to boot. Born in Bed-Stuy. Here's the blurbage about BAM's R&B Festival at Metrotech, where Havens will be performing on August 7 at noon. Marcus Carl Franklin, the incredible kid who played one of the Bob Dylan's in "Im Not There" WILL BE THERE. Note to self: Don't miss this.

Born in Bed-Stuy, Richie Havens is gifted with one of the most recognizable voices in popular music—a fiery, poignant singing style that has remained ageless since he first emerged from the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s. His blistering performance at Woodstock helped Havens reach a worldwide audience of millions, and for decades he has used music to convey messages of brotherhood and personal freedom. Joining him is teenage blues guitarist Marcus Carl Franklin, who portrayed a young Bob Dylan in the 2007 fictionalized biopic of Bob Dylan I'm Not There appearing in a telling scene with Havens.      

    

Bike Valet at Brooklyn Flea

Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby, who run the Brooklyn Flea are working double-time to keep the neighborhood happy despite heated gripes that came spilling out at a recent community meeting in a local church.

The complaints: The Flea is bad for parking. It's noisy and disruptive to neighborhood life on a summer Sunday.  There are also complaints about the large number of bikes locked up outside the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. So the latest innovation to keep the neighbors happy: valet parking for bikes.

Starting this Sunday, we are pleased to announce that bike parking at the Flea just got a whole lot easier. Bike valet is coming to the Flea! Even better, it's free.

We love folks to bike, walk, subway, bus, or blade-scooter to the Flea--and now you can just hop off your bike, park it with our trusty valet guy/gal right in front of the Lafayette entrance, get your ticket, and pick up your bike on the way out. No muss, no worries, no sweat.

The fine folks at Transportation Alternatives provide this service at a few spots around town, and we're hoping that this new partnership with the Flea will kick bike valet into high gear as a viable option for cyclists around the city at big or small events.

New Editor/Writer At Brownstoner: Good Luck to Gabby, Who is Moving On

Good bye and good luck to Gabby, Brownstoner's current managing editor and writer. Today is her last day at Brownstoner and she is leaving to  pursue a freelance career. I ran into Gabby once on Seventh Avenue and we had a really nice chat.

Gabby, we wish you the very best in your new adventure. Jonathan Butler, publisher of Brownstoner, had this to say about Gabby's excellent work on the blog.

Gabby's coverage of real estate and retail development in Park Slope and Gowanus, in particular, have been second to none and her reliability at staying on top of the news has given us a chance to step back a little from the day-to-day grind to focus on the larger direction of the site and related new projects like The Flea.

And to replace Gabby, Butler has hired writer Lisa Selin Davis, who will begin as the full-time managing editor and writer on Monday. Lisa covers real estate and travel for the New York Times, Metropolis, Interior Design and This Old House.

I met Lisa when she read excerpts from her novel, Belly, a novel set amid horse racing set in Saratoga Springs, NY, at Brooklyn Reading Works a couple of years ago.

Good Luck to both Gabby and Lisa.

Elliott Gould: We Love You

BAMcinematek presents Elliot Gould: Star for an Uptight Age August 1-21th. What a great idea for a festival. Brooklyn-born, Elliot Gould starred in a bunch of iconic films of the 1970's: MASH, The Long Goodbye, Bob, Carol, Ted & Alice, California Split, I Love My Wife.

He was even in a 1971 Ingmar Bergman film called The Touch. Perhaps he is best known for his work with the great Robert Altman. Check the BAM website for the full schedule. Gould will do a Q&A after the 6:30 showing of Little Murders (written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Alan Arkin) on Friday August 8th. He will will also do a &A  after the 6:30 showing of The Long Goodbye (directed by Altman) on August 9th. Here's the BAM blurgage:

1970: the year of M*A*S*H, when Brooklyn-born Elliott Gould became a full-fledged movie star. Time Magazine christened him “Star for an Uptight Age,” suggesting that the audiences of the 70s, with their own insecurities and neuroses now reflected onscreen, were welcoming a new kind of leading man who possessed a greater depth, complexity and a willingness to go further as a performer. We are pleased to welcome Elliott Gould to BAMcinématek with this special focus on his extraordinary work in the 70s, including his three legendary collaborations with Robert Altman and a rare screening of Bergman’s The Touch.
 

Lookout Hill: Site of Murder and Revolutionary War

A gaggle of TV and print news reporters gathered near the path to Lookout Hill in Prospect Park yesterday waiting for news from the Police Department about the man who was murdered there.

The TV journalists stayed in one area, the print journalists and photographers in another. It was an interesting scene.

The reporter from the Daily News announced that the area was called Lookout Hill. Reporters shot out questions to the cops that were guarding the path about the geography.

"The road over there is called Wellhouse Drive," one cop said referring to the path that goes south to north next to the Lake.

Most of the unconfirmed information about the body came from the reporters. One TV reporter, who was rushing off to edit her story, told me incorrectly that they found a skeleton under a pile of leaves and that it was probably an old murder. She was absolutely wrong about that.

A reporter who actually climbed up the hill before the police closed off the area saw the body and said he saw a male, probably hispanic, in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, lying in an area near Lookout Hill.

The reporters stopped runners, who slowed down to see why there were so many police cars, and asked them how they felt about a Homicide in Prospect Park. One reporter said something to the effect of: We need to fan the flames of tabloid-dom. One young  photographer said  to me: I'm supposed to stop people on the road  and ask them how they feel but it's embarrassing.

Bikers and runners did react to news of the crime. People kept walking up to me to find out what was going on. People looked shocked but not surprised that something like this could happen in our park. One person said, "I'm not going to tell my wife about this because she's in this park every day."

Some wanted to know if Lookout Hill is a gay cruising spot—as if that would somehow explain a crime of this nature. One guy, a news photographer said, "Some guy was bludgeoned about a year and a half ago on the other side of the park. A known homosexual. It was in the Vale of Cashmere."

Others acknowledged that the inner paths of the park are dark and mysterious and not a place they'd want to go after dark or alone.

I overheard some policemen talking about the hill as the site of the  Battle of Brooklyn, which was fought on August 27th 1776. I didn't write down what they said so I looked it up today. Here's Dalton Rooney:

The setting for the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army lost the battle, but they held the British back long enough for Washington and his troops to escape to New Jersey.

The reporters watched as the medical examiner's van drove up the narrow path. Later four detectives in natty suits went up the hill. One looked like Liam Neeson and had a wide white tie.

Finally the van holding the body came down the hill. Someone, I think it was one of the cops said, "Hey guys, here's your shot."

The photographers positioned themselves to get a picture of the van as it drove by. Later some cops,wearing plastic gloves and holding large brown paper bags, came down.

"No comment," they said brusquely. 

When the well-dressed detectives emerged, some reporters asked for a comment but none was forthcoming.

The TV crews were waiting for permission to go up the path. "Can we go up to the tape?" the attractive news anchor asked again and again. But I don't think anyone was allowed near the crime scene yesterday. Once most of the police left the scene, the reporters did, too.

The park was peaceful. In other areas no one seemed aware that a man was murdered in the park. They just went about their day at the playground, running the drive, in Long Meadow.

A humid and peaceful weekday in the park.

Photo of Lookout Hill taken by Dalton Rooney. 

Body of Girl Recovered Off Brighton Beach

The body of a 10-year-old girl who disappeared swimming in the ocean at Coney Island was found this morning off the coast of Brighton Beach.

My friend who lives in Coney Island knows the family. The child's name was Akira Johnson, 10. She lived in Far Rockaway but came to the beach to go swimming on Saturday. Powerful riptides pulled her under and she never came back up.

Experiment in Livable Streets in Williamsburg

This goes out to a friend who recently told me that she wants to explore Williamsburg. This Saturday participate in the last Saturday of Williamsburg Walks, a 4-week experiment in closing Bedford Avenue to traffic from Metropolitan Avenue to North 9th Street.  A way to rethink public space, it's also a way to experience the main drag of hipster Williamsburg.

I know that a group were trying to organize something like this in Park Slope. Hopefully that can happen next year. For now, read about Williamsburg's experiment and maybe try to get over there.

This is a “green” event and it is very much in the spirit of the Mayor’s PlaNYC initiative to make the city a more inviting and livable place by 2030.

Williamsburg Walks built upon the concept of “streets as places.” Not to be confused with a street fair or failed attempts to create pedestrian malls, Williamsburg Walks is taking an already dynamic place and opening it up to the community.

If you build more streets, you get more cars. If you build more pedestrian-friendly areas, street furniture and bike lanes, you will get more pedestrians, bikers and a social environment for the community.

If this four week experiment is a success, we hope to extend it and consider the possibility that Bedford Avenue could be closed every Saturday the same way Orchard Street has been closed on Sundays since the 60s.

We are doing everything we can to ensure that this event is a success. We want it to be remembered as a clean, safe and well-organized event. We are trying to be inclusive and address the needs, issues and concerns of the community. We want your feedback, good or bad, and we hope to learn lessons each weekend and apply them to the next.

 

Straphangers Campaign: Subways are Getting Worse

The findings of the Straphangers 2008 Subway Report Card are in and there's lots to read over at their website. Here's an overview from the site:

--Our findings show the following picture of how New York City’s subways are doing:

--The best subway line in the city is the L with a MetroCard Rating of $1.40. The L ranked highest because it performs best in the system on two measures—regularity of service and announcements—and well above average on three other measures: frequency of scheduled service, delays caused by mechanical breakdowns and the percentage of dirty cars. The line did not get a higher rating because it performed well below average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The L runs between 14th Street/Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and Canarsie in Brooklyn. The previous top-rated line—the 1—dropped to a fourth-place tie.  

--The 7 came in second behind the L with a MetroCard Rating of $1.30. Both the 7 and L are in a pilot “Line General Managers” program, which appears to be benefiting riders. According to New York City Transit leadership: “the new positions will be responsible for virtually all elements of the day-to-day operations on both of these lines [and] will be given their own railroads and the responsibility for running them to the satisfaction of our customers.”⁶ The 7 performed above average on four measures: frequency of scheduled service, regularity of service, delays caused by mechanical breakdowns and chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The line did not get a higher rating because it performed below average on: the percentage of dirty cars and adequate announcements. The 7 runs between Times Square in Manhattan and Flushing, Queens.

--The W was ranked the worst subway line, with a MetroCard Rating of 70 cents. The W line has a low level of scheduled service and performs below average on four other measures: regularity of service, car breakdowns, car cleanliness and announcements. The W did not receive a lower rating because it performed above average on: a chance of getting a seat during rush hour. The W line operates between Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan and Astoria, Queens. In last year’s survey, the W tied for the worst line with the C.  

--Overall, we found a weak showing for subway service. Car breakdowns worsened from a mechanical failure every 156,624 miles in 2006 to one every 149,646 miles in 2007. Subway car announcements deteriorated from 90% in the second half of 2006 to 85% in the second half of 2007. Two other measures showed no sign of improvement: regularity of arriving trains and car cleanliness. (We were unable to compare the      remaining two measures.)

Kensington: Rash of Car Vandalsim

What is going on in Kensington?

On July 27, 2008 between 6:30 and 6:50 a.m., twelve cars had their tires slashed on Cortelyou Road between Ocean Parkway and East 7th Street.

A group calling itself the Kensington Action Force wants to know if anyone observed this activity on Sunday morning. Send replies to Kaforce(at)yahoo(dot)com

According to the Kensington Action Group and the local NYPD precinct, car vandalism has spiked recently in the Kensington community. Here's something that was posted on Kensington Blog.

there's been about 20-30 car break-in, usually 2-4 a night, that I have seen personally around Ocean Parkway and Cortelyou, along Cortelyou, and on East 7th Street by the side of the church and between the school,

I usually hit around midnight to 5am, since i walk my dog regularly at 6am. The best police have done is park unmanned golf cart decoys on the block. this regular occurance is an outrage since its obvious to me that they are targeting large suv's with out of state plates, always around the same time and always parked in spots that are not exactly in front of a residence or apt bldg.

A&S Pork Store to Close October 1

This is bad news for Park Slope foodies. The A&S Pork Store, a Fifth Avenue institution since 1948, is set to close in October. What we're losing: a fantastic butcher, deli, and maker of prepared foods that are absolutely delicious. What is my family going to do without their Chicken, eggplant and veal parmesan.

And their breads...I love their foccacia bread, their mozzarella, their other delicious specialties.

And that's not all: we're losing the last butcher shop in Park Slope. The very last. And that's patently ridiculous. We lost Great Western Fine Foods last month and now this. I was a frequent Western Fine Foods customer and noticed that they were showing the space to interested parties.

Now this.

A&S has been a fixture on Park Slope's Fifth Avenue for a long time. Anthony Scicchitano opened the business on Fifth Avenue in 1948 and eventually expanded to 26 franchises across the city.

As reported in the Daily News, the current sibling owners of A&S, Salvatore and Enzo Bonnello, took over the shop five years ago. According to the Daily News, they were told by Scicchitano that their future was secure. But Sccicchitano died 18 months ago and his daughter wanted to sell the building. The brothers can't afford to relocate in Park Slope. Their current rent is $5,000. and the market value for other store ronts is now $12,000.

Every time I went into A&S I wanted to tell them: you can't close this shop, you can't close this shop, you're all we have left. The last butcher but also one of the last vestiges of mom and pop Park Slope.

Is there some way that they can stay in Park Slope. Any one out there have an idea? 

Food Stamps for the Unemployed

The economy is looking very glum, the ranks of the unemployed is growing and Nydia Velazquez, a Brooklyn Congresswoman, has proposed a bill that would allow people on unemployment to collect food stamps while they search for work.

As reported on New York 1, Velazquez and other advocates think the government should help the  state's 500,000 unemployed adults.

"Making sure that in this nation, the most powerful richest country in the world, that we provide a safety net for those most vunerable,” Velazquez told NY 1.

Tonight Summer Music and Film Al Fresco

--In JJ Byrne Park. Third Street and Fifth Avenue at 8:30 p.m,  Brooklyn Film Works presents The Candiate with Robert Redford. This amusing, albeit cyncial, documentary fiction about "the semi-truths manufactured to market a candidate, The Candidate shrewdly exposed the effects of the media on the political process, posing unanswerable questions that have become all the more pressing with every soundbite-ruled election."

8:30 on the big screen in JJ Byrne Park. Third Street and Fifth Avenue

--At Brooklyn Bridge Park: Music at the Bridge Welcomes Issue Project Room:
Set times:
           John Zorn/Cobra                    6:45pm
           Theremin Society                   7:45pm
           Jonathan Kane/February       8:45pm

 

Tonight: Plush Interior, Lily Konigsberg, Henry Crawford And More

Hard to define and chock full of jams, The Plush Interior brings you a blend of jazz, funk & rock.  Preview acts by some of Brooklyn's homegrown bands like Lily Konigsberg, Hank Crawford, and DJ Dan McMahon and more.

The Old Stone House
Tuesday July 29th
6 p.m.

Brooklyn Based: Foodie Field Trip to Brooklyn's Chinatown

Brooklyn Based, a thrice-weekly e-newsletter (and site) always contains inspired tips about things to do, places to eat, and really unusual findings in the borough of Kings. Today she's got a great guide to the foodie pleasures of Brooklyn's Chinatown. She calls it Foodie Field Trip #1: Brooklyn's Chinatown. Go to her site and sign up for her newsletter. You're missing out.

Calling the section of 8th Ave. off the N train “Chinatown” is like calling The Wire “a TV show” or foie gras “food.” It doesn’t do it justice. Yes, you can get great dumplings and buy glazed tripe and chicken feet from street food vendors. There are the usual bins of tiny dried fish and tanks full of live frogs. Fried pig’s head? They have you covered. But what sets the Brooklyn Chinatown apart (and the Chinatown in Flushing, Queens, but this isn’t called Queens Based, now is it?) from its Manhattan counterpart is the stuff that is not the missionary position Ten Ren bubble tea and Custard King.

The Brooklyn Blogade Had Quite A Picnic!

Last Sunday, while I was still in Block Island, the Brooklyn Blogade met in Prospect Park for a picnic.

I'm so sorry I missed it for what a picnic is was. Hosted by A Year in the Park and Dope on the Slope with generous help from Creative Times, it was quite the event. The Brooklyn Blogade, an outgrowth of the Brooklyn Blogfest, is a monthly meet-up for bloggers, blog readers, those interested in becoming bloggers and their friends all over Brooklyn. The next one is in September and I will, of course, keep you posted. Here's Brenda on the picnic of a  A Year in the Park  on the picnic. Go to her blog for more words and pictures.

This symphony of thundercloud-colored foliage in the Concert Grove was a perfect grace note for a Brooklyn Blogade picnic bookended by ominous thunderstorms.

We had the Music Pagoda near at hand, and cowered there briefly during some lightning. I hate lightning. I mustered my courage, however, to give a little guided ramble through Battle Pass; the distant thunder was a good atmospheric stand-in for the sound of cannon and musket fire.

We had ample time before the next round of storms to engage in Pagan Blogging Rites around a sacrificial table laden with goodies. Food 1 7-27 The mac and cheese was just as good as it looks; there was also a sublime salad of shrimp, avocado, and cucumber.

Brooklyn Beat: BWAC Art Show/Meditations on Art and Reality

Here Brooklyn Beat of the blog, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn, shares his impresssions of the  Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition's HOT! Summer Art Exhibition this weekend at the BWAC
exhibition space at 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook.

With the sturdy waves of New York harbor lapping against the waterfront shoreline, the BWAC summer show drew a good crowd all weekend.

-Artist Dawn Robin Petrlik's installation "The Lonely Death of Esmin Green" which combines the artist's sculpture of a woman's body, collapsed face down on the floor, along with chairs and a video monitor, to create a meditation on the death of Esmin Green, a patient at Kings County Hospital, who died on June 19 in the waiting room, after convulsing on the floor. Ms. Petrlik's notes on the installation indicate that it is her attempt to address the simple important fact of Ms Green's passing, not as "some woman", or "some immigrant" or some "crazy person" but this person."

The audience becomes part of the installation as you walk through the space and see yourself, along with the sculpture, in a video surveillance monitor. Ms. Petrlik indicated that the sculpture, which is not for sale, will "naturally dry out and crumble over the course of the show in a symbolic ashes to ashes gesture." Viewers are invited to make repeat visits to review this process and to remember this story, and this person "with her name and dignity intact."

The late Ms. Green, 49, was the mother of 6 children, ages 14 - 31, in Jamaica; Ms Green came to the US, a church-going member of her community, was working in day care in order to support herself and her family at home. According to CNN, previous psychological problems may have been exacerbated by loss of her job and apartment, which led to her admission to Kings County, where she died, neglected by staff at the hospital's psychiatric emergency room. A very powerful, provocative and thoughtful work. For more on this installation: http://www.dawnrobyn.com. For more background on the life and death of Esmin Green: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/hospital.woman.death/

-Red Hook Cine Soiree! On Sunday, July 27th, guest programmer Joel Schlemowitz presented a salon of experimental and underground films from a band of intrepid, avant-garde cine-artists . The program opened with recorded music - 1920s foxtrots played on a wonderfully low-tech, hand-cranked, Victrola. The films ranged from the sublime to the sublimely ridiculous and somewhere in between. Cats and Pants by Jennifer Matotek, featuring, whatelse, cats and pants, proved to be a big crowd pleaser. Robot Movie, by Fabio Roberti, featuring a dancing robot, a circa 1980s guitar player, and a sound track of electro-madness was described by one critic as "Alien Transmission" and there's not much more to say than that, although I for one am a better person for seeing it. Five Haikus for the NY Subway by Zaza M. was sensitive and humorously brilliant. Sometimes, while 8 hours of a camera focused on the Empire State Building as Andy Warhol did, might make a statement, a couple of others showed that there is art in brevity, notably, Faces in the Flowers by Jennifer McMillan, which was lovely if a bit twee and just a bit too long for this viewer, but with an affecting soundtrack, while Spidery, by Bradley Eros, films of the micro-natural world backed by a score by Karlheinz Stockhausen, clocked in at 5:55 minutes and, while Lord knows I tried to embrace the aesthetic, it just made me think "I'd Rather Be Waterboarding." But Stan Brakhage, for all his avant-brilliance, can test the soul, too, so, there ya go. Despite my facile comments, clearly every filmmaker here had something to say, something worth saying and therefore worth seeing.

Overall a great program on an alternately steamy then stormy Sunday afternoon. More films and programs to come. Visit the BWAC site. Fine programming by Joel Schlemowitz, guest curated by Mike Olshan. More on the films and the programmer: http://www.joelschlemowitz.com

-Music Saturday by the Big Bang Big Band, a large, percussive and groovy orchestra and blues vocalist, and Sunday by Le Nozzi de Carlo, a gentle, thoughtful, and tasteful Latin-tinged pop and jazz ensemble, were highlights of the weekend. More performances to come. Again, check out the BWAC site.

BWAC proves to be a great place to be for art, provocations and entertainment on weekends 1 PM - 6 PM though August 17.

More on BWAC: http://bwac.org

The Candidate with Robert Redford: Wednesday in JJ Byrne Park

This Brooklyn Film Works finale is an amusing, albeit cyncial, documentary fiction about "the semi-truths manufactured to market a candidate, The Candidate shrewdly exposed the effects of the media on the political process, posing unanswerable questions that have become all the more pressing with every soundbite-ruled election."

8:30 on the big screen in JJ Byrne Park. Third Street and Fifth Avenue

Superstitious Day

Terrible things happened to a friend of mine on July 27th for three years running. It was many years ago when we were both teens. But I still think of her every year on that day. No matter where we are, she's always in my thoughts on that day.

This year she is in Germany. You can bet that she's taking it easy. After the third incident all those years ago, she vowed never to even move on July 27th. I'm sure she doesn't take it that far any more. But I'll bet she doesn't fly on airplanes or do anything risky. I just have a feeling. The day has that kind of power over her. And me, too.

The first incident occurred on a hosteling trip in Camden, Maine. The group was hiking when the group-leader fell off a mountain to his death. That's all I know. The teenagers had to find their way out of the park to get help. I remember she told me about it a few weeks after it happened and I was stunned that something so dramatic, so real could have happened to her. And it seemed unspeakably sad.

The second incident came a year later. She was also on a hosteling trip. A friend of hers fell into a glacier lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. He couldn't get out for more than an hour and nearly died. Fortunately, he was saved and lived to tell the tale. The third incident occurred in a national park in Washington State. Again she was on a hosteling trip. This time the group was poncho sliding down an icy pass. My friend went flying into a tree and broke both of her legs. She had to be helicoptered out of the park (strapped to the outside of the helicopter) to a hospital in Port Angeles where she was wrapped in body cast; she couldn't leave the hospital for three months. Eventually, she was able to fly back to New York having missed three months of eleventh grade.

The year after that, we were together on July 27th, which felt sort of exciting and scary, too. We didn't do anything on that day and joked that we were just going to sit very still. After all, the day was cursed. We were in a summer arts program in North Carolina feeling far away from home and family and spent the day in a local park having a picnic, swimming, taking it very easy.

When I was a teenager, I really looked up to this friend (and still do) for her sense of adventure, her fearlessness, her drive. Some people might say that going on hosteling trips three years in a row was pushing it a bit.

Strange to say, I think I actually envied her these disasters: they seemed so dramatic even if they were tragic. Isn't that what teenagers live for: drama, the real stuff. I imagined losing someone I'd only known for a few weeks but had grown quite attached to and even called by a cute nickname. I pictured her trying to save her friend who nearly died in that icy Colorado lake. And her stories about the park ranger who visited her at the Port Angeles hospital...It was all so...grown up and, dare I say it, exciting. My life paled in comparison. Ah, the strange logic of a teenage girl. But that's how I thought about things then. And I still take it easy on July 27th, try to anyway. I wouldn't want my life to take a dramatic turn. Not now anyway.

More on Auster's Brooklyn

The Frenchman who is planning an August tour of Paul Auster's Brooklyn has some help from two OTBKB readers. Francis Morrone, who is a historian, journalist, author, lecturer, teacher and columnist for the New York Sun had this to say about some of the locations mentioned in "The Brooklyn Follies."

The space that is now Two Boots used to be called Circles Café. Though he later mentions the New Purity, I can't believe the Cosmic Diner isn't based on the old Purity, at Union Street. Don't forget he also mentions La Bagel Delight. Brightman's is, I think, a pure fabrication. Stores like Seventh Avenue Books and Park Slope Books came much later, and before them there were no used or rare bookstores on Seventh Avenue. Rocco's I haven't a clue about. Hope this helps a little.

Our friend Eliot, who produces podcasts of great contemporary music monthly had this to say.

The Cosmic Diner is pure invention. So is Brightman's Attic, but I always thought that Park Slope Books (the place that is now Carmen's) was the the model for it.

10th Street Tea Lounge Is History

The original Tea Lounge on 10th Street and Seventh Avenue in Park Slope is now history. The landlord doubled the rent and the owner opted to close the the original of his three branches of this much loved Brooklyn cafe.

Okay, not every one loves the Tea Lounge. But those who love it love it. And I always liked the 10th Street branch. In fact, I liked it more than the huge Union Street behemoth.

Good bye to a nice spot to meet friends and sip coffee.

Mixed Feelings About the Brooklyn Flea

I'm not in Brooklyn but I've been reading the Brooklyn Paper and the Daily Intel and see that there is trouble brewing in Ft. Greene over the Brooklyn Flea.

Seems that not everyone is thrilled about the crowds that pour into the neighborhood on Sunday to particapte in Brooklyn's latest shopping extraaganza.

Last night there was intense meeting at local church about the flea, which has been drawing large crowds on Sunday.

Those who don't like the Flea have plenty to say. This from the Brooklyn Paper's reporting:

“There’s no parking at all and my vehicle was banged up by a vendor,” said Ramesh Kauden, who’s lived on Carlton Avenue for 40 years.

In fact, some “no parking” signs are hung on the Flea’s side of the street to facilitate the loading and unloading of antiques, handcrafts, vintage clothing and furniture, which arrive around 7 am and depart by 6:30 pm. Some parkers reportedly ignore these signs, leading vendors to double-park near the entrances to the schoolyard between Vanderbilt and Clermont avenues.

Other residents say litter overflows area trashcans. "It took all this time to clean up this place, now they want to come and drop more garbage on the neighborhood,” said Frank, who did not want to give his last name, a Fort Greene resident for 31 years.

The complainers now have the ear of Councilwoman Letitia James (D–Fort Greene), who said she’s received calls about wandering flea market patrons sitting on area stoops and locking their bicycles to gates or on scaffolding in front of Queen of All Saints Church across the street.

The church has become a hotbed for anti-flea sentiment.

But even in the immediate vicinity of Brooklyn Flea, many people give the swap meet a thumbs up, though they’re reluctant to publicly disagree with their neighbors.

“It’s nice to have local artists here, and people buying their stuff,” said Irene, who didn’t want to give her last name because she know other people on Clermont dislike the flea market. “It’s true that sometimes parking is hard on Sundays, but this is the city. It’s always difficult to find parking.”

BWAC Red Hook Art Show Opens Today

Brooklyn Beat of Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn was kind enough write this post about the the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition HOT! Summer Art Exhibition

The excitement begins on Saturday, July 26 through August 17 at the BWAC exhibition space at 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook.

I spent a few hours over a couple of weekends helping My Better Half, Judy Tantleff-Napoli, a BWAC member and artist/educator, set up her sculptures for the exhibition, and had the chance to preview some of the other work that will be on display in this show situated in this great pre-Civil War warehouse space right by the