THE PARK SLOPE 100

The 2008 Park Slope 100

The 2008 Park Slope 100: 100 stories, 100 ways of looking at the world, 100 inspiring people, places and things. The list is in alphabetical order. There are no repeats from last year. There are always serious omissions. I left two slots open for latecomers. The link above is the list's very own blog.

ARTOBAMA because what a creative and organized group with a great idea, energy and spirit. Heck, you raised $48,000 for Barack Obama at a fun and festive art auction. Yeah!

FLORIAN BALHAUS because you are quietly building an impressive list of movie credits as Director of Photography forThe Devil Wears Prada, Definitely, Maybe, the upcoming Marley and Me and The Time Travelers Wife. Whoa.

MARIATERESSA BAZZI because you've got two sets of twins born one year apart. Enough said right there. They are now 11 and 12 and a great bunch of talented and well-behaved kids. But you are also a spirited, fun, involved person who oversees the recess crowd at PS 321.

BRENDA BECKER because in 2008 you decided to visit Prospect Park every day as an urban adventure (and, not least, as a drug-free antidepressant!), and to chronicle your discoveries. And you're still trying to get to the park every day, and posting about it on your blog, A Year in the Park, a site the New York Times called "witty and engaging" in a profile last July. "It was fun getting some Old Media attention for 15 minutes," comments Becker, "but the real gift was connecting to so many other people, from cyclists to dog lovers, who are also passionate about Prospect Park. The calendar is a way to share that passion."

SALLY BERMANZOHN because you were a labor organizer at the Duke Hospital cafeteria with your husband Paul, who was critically wounded in the Greensboro Massacre in 1979. Currently you are professor and chairperson of the Political Science Department at Brooklyn College, where you research and teach courses on the international phenomenon of truth and reconciliation commissions. And that's not all. You're the author of Through Survivors’ Eyes: From the Sixties to the Greensboro Massacre (2003), for which you received the Brooklyn College Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement. You are also featured in Adam Zucker's documentary, Greensboro; Closer to the Truth.

ANDREA BERNSTEIN because as political director for WNYC and The Takeaway, your reporting of Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign was always top notch, as were your stories from battleground states. Kudos for being one of 12 top U.S. journalists to win a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University in 2006-2007.

CHARLES BLOW because as the New York Times' visual Op-Ed columnist and an award-winning art director, you bring a decidedly visual style to that page, a great writing style and a distinctive point of view.

BROOKLYN FOR BARACK because of the phone banks. And everything else you need to bring Barack to the White House.

BROOKLYN GREEN TEAM because you're a community group in Park Slope devoted to reducing your environmental impact and you inspire others to do the same through small changes which make a big difference. Founded in 2007, your major activities include a blog site with local and national green news, resources, upcoming events, and tips as well as informative emails pertaining to a particular environmental issue such as local food or bottled water. Green Team members include: Jennifer Bartels, Melissa Browning, Amanda Gentile, Noelle Gentile, Johanna Voutounou, and Robert Weinstein.

BROOKLYN MERCANTILE because you've turned your eclectic, fun Fifth Avenue store,which features an attractive mix of home goods and hand-crafted items, into a community workshop for crafters of all stripes.

BROOKLYNOLOGY because you're a blog run by the Brooklyn Public Library and you present a treasure trove of interesting stories and pictures about Brooklyn.

BROOKLYNOMETRY because your take on things is so unusual and eccentric and it’s never boring to read your words or look at your photographs. 

PHYILLIS COOPER because you are da bomb as a physical education teacher and administrator at MS 51, a good citizen of Park Slope and a good Third Street neighbor.

DOUGLAS J. CUOMO because you compose acclaimed and original music for concert and theatrical stages, television, and film. Your music, with influences from jazz, world music, classical, and popular sources, is as personal, distinctive, and recognizable as it is wide-ranging. Your compositions range from well-known television themes — for Sex and the City and Now with Bill Moyers, among others — to evening-length works for theater, including Arjuna’s Dilemma, an opera-oratorio based on the story of the Bhagavad Gita, which was at BAM this fall.

D'VINE TASTE because you've been providing this community with delicious cheeses, breads, middle eastern specialties, condiments, olives, sweets, and more at reasonable prices for many years in a friendly atmosphere with good service and even better conversation while WNYC plays on the radio.

CAITLIN DEAN because you decided to start a non-profit outdoors program, Girl Guides, for sixth through tenth grade girls in Brooklyn. A graduate of Yale University in 2007, you worked for Sen. Dick Durbin on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., but I left your job to start this program.

EDIBLE BROOKLYN because you’re an attractive and well-written magazine that celebrates, defines and honors Brooklyn's diverse cuisine.

JENIFER EPELBAUM because you are trying to help your neighbors, an elderly man and a mentally disabled woman, who are being evicted from their Slope apartment where the woman has resided for 19 years. She writes: "She and her partner have been our neighbors in the Slope for these many years, and as a community, I believe we have a responsibility to make sure they are treated fairly and decently."   

BARBARA ENSOR because you’re the scissor girl, the paper lady, the mad genius and author of Cinderella and Thumbalina.

FAMOUS ACCORDIAN ORCHESTRA because  your quartet spans the traditional and the modern. You perform original material, as well as tunes from many different traditions, including Stephen Foster, Jacques Offenbach, Paolo Conte, Leonard Bernstein, Yiddish, Basque, Italian, Balkan, and beyond.

BRADLEY FELDMAN because your geeky weather tower is working 24/7/365 days a year to bring Park Slopers the temperature, the windchill, the humidity and a live image detailed weather, radar/satellite map, 5-day forecaster and pollen levels. Your weather site is quite a service to the community.

SANDI FRANKLIN because since joining the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) in 2001, you’ve brought this esteemed 30 year old organization into the 21st century. You’ve honed the agency’s mission, expanded its programming, and cultivated new partnerships to allow CUE to become the leading educational guide to a greener New York City. Under your direction, the Center relocated its headquarters from the bucolic seat of Prospect Park to its more gritty cousin, the Gowanus Canal, on 7th Street— in what is on schedule to be the first green building of its kind in the borough. Under your leadership, you’ve increased discussions around sustainability and access to 'green' education by helping launch the Sustainable Business Network NYC, worked in nearly every school in Park Slope, established three environmentally-themed high schools, and spearheaded Brooklyn's first and largest green conference, Green Brooklyn…Green City. For your efforts you have been awarded "Citizen of the Year" by the Executive Council in 2008 and "Brooklyn Woman of Distinction" by Con Edison in 2003—and changed the lives of thousand of residents from Park Slope to Bushwick by providing them with the tools for greater involvement in the future of their communities.

LEON FREILICH because you truly are the-oh-so-prolific verse responder with your funny and smart observations about national and local politics, as well as daily life in the Slope. Once a day and sometimes 3 or 4, you bring levity, good humor, good sense and poetic craft to the many readers of OTBKB.

ELLEN FREUDENHEIM because you were the author of the first guidebook to Brooklyn in something like 50 years, and then updated twice since. If anyone has done something to help put Brooklyn on the map we think you have.

ANDREW FRIED because you lost your wife suddenly and tragically and we feel for you. You have been very eloquent in your expression of grief on your blog, Fry Guy's Thinkerings. "Our life was going amazingly, like a dream come true. We spent days together and never argued. We kissed constantly and couldn't spend enough time with each other. We laughed, loved, and talked about our future, including our expectant child."

KAREN ROTHMAN FRIED, a beloved teacher at PS 321 known known for her commitment to and appreciation of each and every child in the classroom. Brooklyn Heights born, she received her Master of Science in Elementary Education and Post Master of Science in Reading from Bank Street College of Education and taught 2nd grade at the Special Music School of America as well as 2nd grade at the Lycee Francais de New York before coming to P.S. 321 in 2007.(In memoriam).

PATRICK GASPARD because Barack Obama appointed you national political director of his  presidential campaign and the rest is history.

RICHARD GIN because you are the self-designated photographer of the Brooklyn all-ages music scene and you get the shots that everyone loves. Pictured left Fiasco.

GINO'S COLLISION because you fixed my father's Subaru for a reasonable price and we love the adorable bright orange Fiat 500 that you park right outside. Classy.

CAROLINE GHERTLER because you are the best mom I know and that's not faint praise. I admire your way with S and think she's a very lucky girl to be your daughter. You're a great sister, a great wife, a great daughter and a great friend. All this working full time with crazy hours as a set decorator on cool movies and TV commercials. How do you do it?

FRANK GIORDANO because you are a first class middle school principal at a first class middle school. You return emails faster than any educator in New York and that’s amazing.

MARTY GOLDIN because you run Goldin Management, a well-regarded real estate company based in Park Slope, which specializes in providing customized management plans for Co-ops, Condos and rental buildings You are a great landlord at Montauk Office, the coolest office space in Park Slope (in the coolest building). You're an involved parent, citizen, member of your community and a fun guy to have as a landlord.

MINDY GOLDSTEIN because of the many roles you play in your life, including Joanne in Charlie Libin's indie film, American Combatant, a recurring muse in Jamie Livingston's Photo of the Day project, a wonderful mother, a nursery school teacher at the Plymouth Church School, a specialist in special needs education, a former editor of Pandamonium, PS 321's poetry magazine and a graceful volunteer wherever help is needed.

SARAH GONSER not just because you’re smart, cool, and accomplished but the  real reason is that you embody  what we believe are the best facets to Brooklyn living. You helped a newcomer to the Slope when she needed it most. You invited her to the Ladies Night, for companionship and conversation of some pretty incredible women. but what she represents. One friend writes, "I'd heard that Park Slope was a neighborhood of community and warmth and civic pride, but had not experienced it until I was introduced to it through Sarah.  She captures these incredible attributes in the best, nonsnarky or judgmental, incredible way."

AMY GRAVES, executive director of Brooklyn Children's Theater, because, simply put, Brooklyn Children's Theater is a Park Slope treasure.  You have introduced scores of neighborhood kids to the wonders of musical theater in a setting that brings out the best in our community.You and your team, including several middle school interns, have worked this fall with more than 80 kids from elementary and middle school to create five short yet spirited musicals in a non-competitive, purely joyous productions. Cash donations at the door enable the school to offer "scholarships," so children who can't pay for the program still can find their way onstage.

KATHYRN HARRISON because you write deeply, bravely and honestly about your own experiences in your memoir work and you bring beautifully rendered fictional worlds to life in your novels, including Exposure, Poison, The Seal Wife and The Binding Chair.   

JENNIFER HENRY who blogs as The Henrys in New York because you left a perfectly nice, ordered, well-connected life in arguably the world's most liveable city, to relocate halfway around the world to live in arguably the world's most exciting city. We love to read your take on all the things you are discovering in NYC and Brooklyn. Your enthusiasm is infectious.

FORBES HILL was the retired Chairman of the Department of Media Studies at Queens College. He taught Christian education at the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims and was involved with the Independent Neighborhood Democrats, a local political club. A singer, he was also a member of the Brooklyn Community Chorus, the Congregational Beth Elohim Singers and the Plymouth Church Choir. "For my father, music was a chance to seek truth, experience beauty, relieve suffering, love and be loved and achieve something of lasting worth," said Steffanie Hill Wilchfort, his daughter. (In memoriam).

JOHN HODGMAN because you play the PC guy in those funny Apple commercials and we love your hilarious, and completely fake, trivia books (“The Areas of My Expertise” and the new “More Information than You Require”), your regular appearances as the resident expert on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and your citing of Park Slope as a utopian commune ruled by children.

SARA HOROWITZ, because as executive director of Freelancers Union and CEO of Freelancers Insurance Company you're trying to bring affordable health care to us freelancers. A lifelong resident of Brooklyn, NY, you come from a long line of labor advocates, including your father, who was a labor lawyer, and your grandfather, who was vice president of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. You studied at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and later earned a master's degree from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.You are the recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (also known a genuis award). 

ALISON HOUTTE because you are the flamboyant and fabulous owner of Hooti Couture, a vintage store at 321 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, that specializes in women's and men's clothes and accessories. Before getting into the vintage business you worked as a model for more than 10 years in Paris and Manhattan, appearing in everything from Vogue magazine to a Dr Pepper television commercial—and you still look like one. Your store has been featured in Women's Wear Daily, The New York Times and many other publications

JAKE the panhandler who stands in front of ACE Supermarket on Seventh Avenue and Berkeley Place because you've had a tough life, you always ask so nicely and you have such a big, warm smile.

JOYCE JED AND JANE BECKER because of the hard work and inspiration that led 8th Street between 8th Avenue and the Park to win 2008's Greenest Block in Brooklyn. This was the first time a block in Park Slope won the award sponsored by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The two of you were able  able to unify a block and inspire dozens of people to take an interest in street trees and caring for tree beds and putting up window boxes. You represent the best of Park Slope, their commitment to the neighborhood, and the people who live here.

JOHN TUCKER because we love dinner and brunch at Rose Water, a seasonal American restaurant and we love your commitment to local, regional, organic and sustainable food.

NATE KENSINGER because we know that you're a documentary filmmaker, photographer, film festival programmer and location scout but it's your pictures of the industrial edges of NYC that grab our hearts. Photo left: under the boardwalk.

DEDE KAVANAUGH because some call you the mayor of Park Slope. We loved your costumes for Piper Theater’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream in Washington Park right down to the Victorian underwear. We notice all the decorative things you do at benefits, weddings, and school events.

PAMELA KATZ because you always have the time to be an amazing friend despite your multi-tasking life as a professor of screenwriting, screenwriter, novelist, superlative mom, excellent conversationalist, voracious reader and backyard gardener.

JEZRA KAYE because in your public speaking workshops you teach how to communicate with power and ease so that people really listen. You’re on the board of directors of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn , and are author of Kicking: Love Poems, which is one woman's grapple with the ever-changing face of love, a jazz singer, a Food Coop member and one heck of a people connector. 

ADAM KLEIN AND ISABEL REBOH because we still can't believe that you moved away from Third Street, your home for 15 years. Each of you in your own way, was an integral part of life in the Slope. We ask: How are you surviving in a small resort town more than an hour from Toronto? We miss running into you both on Third Street or Seventh Avenue. Thanks for the emails, the  excerpts from the Toronto Globe, the literary musings, and the real estate reports. But most of all we envy your new neighbors!

DAVID KONIGSBERG because you're the original idea man whether it's coming up with a great way to raise money for Barack Obama's campaign (Artobama), writing annual reports or painting your gorgeously lush narrative paintings of strange autos, flying machines and imaginary cities.

THE HANDY LANDLORD OF LINCOLN PLACE because you look over your storefronts like a proud papa and are a whiz with power tools. You do your carpentry in front of Stitch Therapy, Paper Love and One of a Find on Lincoln place creating attractive planters and benches, which you then hand paint. Name to come.

PAUL LAROSA because on your blog, The Murder Book 2008, you created a record of all the murders in NYC that appeared in the city’s three newpapers. You’re also a TV producer for CBS’s 48 Hours and a true crime author of Tacoma Confidential and other books.

HEATH LEDGER because it's hard to overestimate what Heath Ledger, the star of The Dark Knight and Brokeback Mountain, meant to Brooklyn. When this Oscar nominated Austrailian actor moved to Boerum Hill it seemed to confirm what we already knew: Brooklyn is a livable place to be whether you're a regular person or a Hollywood celebrity. And he and his wife Michele Williams were just regular Brooklyn stoller people, sipping lattes, walking on Smith and Court Streets. Perhaps most importantly Heath and Michelle were members of the Advisory Board of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. In this way, they used their celebrity to make people aware of the battle against the Atlantic Yards.

 

CHARLIE LIBIN because you're usually behind the lens as director of photography or camera operator on films like Able Danger, Be Kind Rewind and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. The film you directed, American Combatant was selected for numerous film festivals, including the San Paulo International Film Festival and is now available at Amazone.com. Most of all, we loved that you were on screen as an extra during the party scene in Rachel Getting Married, a film you also worked on.

RABBI ELLEN LIPPMANN because as founding rabbi of Park Slope’s Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives you bring a spirit of serious Judaism, spirituality, social activism and human rights to your pulpit. A tireless organizer, you played an instrumental role in the now annual Children of Abraham Faith Walk and more recently have been an outspoken advocate against torture (bringing a petition to our local Congresswoman, Yvette Clark).  How Rabbi Lippmann manages to organize and advocate in addition to leading a thriving faith community is anyone's guess.  Rumor has it that she's getting some help from above.   

THE LITTLE ROOM (at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School) because you're a nationally recognized program for 3- and 4-year-olds with speech and language delays across Brooklyn and Manhattan. Your fate is unclear but a lot of people are fighting to keep you open.

LIVING ON SEVENTH  because we love your friendly shop and all the beautiful things you've got in there. Eva, you have impeccable taste in home design, accessories and clothing.

LUCY because you sell vintage clothing at the PS 321 Flea Market, because anybody can see the woman has style from that long blond wig against the ebony skin. And you're  willing to share it! Slopers in the know have been fighting over the stash you bring to the flea market at 321 for years now. And you never forget to ask after our kith and kin as you get us to wriggle in and out of your swanky stuff. WIthout you we'd have to walk around naked: Lucy, you are the empress!

THE MIGHTY HANDFUL because you're not just another rock and roll band. You raised more than $8,000 over the last four years for New Orleans and an orphanage for Manila street children in the Phillipines with your annual concerts at the Old Stone House. And on December 19th you've got another one planned this time for a TB vaccine. And let's not forget that you are leading members of the all-ages rock scene in the neighborhood. Nominated by Kim Maier.  

KIRSTEN MARINO of Slope Sports because we love that your shop is always a fun spot for conversation. And when we're buying running shoes there's no one we'd rather talk to or buy from. And thanks for organizing the New Year's Eve run in Prospect Park coming up. Oh yeah, your weekly free running groups are a major addition to the nabe.

JULIE MARKES because you multi-task as a PTA president, a talented photographer and the author of children's books like Good Thing You're Not an Octopus and the ever-popular, Where's the Poop? and all the others from HarperCollins.

RACHEL MAUER because you are the blood and guts of Park Slope Parents. You keep PSP running like a well-oiled machine and that includes the website and two Yahoo! groups! You help local businesses get the word out abotu classes, activities, and community events. We know you don't like being in the spotlight. But you deserve to be here. That's for sure.

JOSEPH M. McCARTHY because when Jim Niesen and Terry Greiss moved the Irondale Theater Center to Brooklyn, they teamed up with you to be their director of development because you are an incredible advocate for any project that you’re involved with. Now you’ve put  Irondale onto the Brooklyn map as a place for strong education and innovative theater, as well as the guardian of the beautiful Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church.

ERIC McCLURE because you are the quintessential ardent civic and community activist who can enter all worlds and lend a steady voice of reason, intellect and comfort. Your civic involvement is invaluable to Park Slopers for the steady hand, integrity and strategic thinking you offer. A skilled community organizer, you walk steady in the worlds of politics, transportation and environmental advocacy, and community development. Effective both in leadership roles and working in the background, you have taken  leadership positions on the Executive Committee of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), the Executive Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council, both long time fixtures on the Park Slope scene. He also sits on the Steering Committee of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN), a newcomer on the block, which has brought together 42 community organizations to advocate for transparency and environmental oversight for development at the proposed Atlantic Yards site. you are also an an active volunteer with Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. When you saw a gap and a need for vigorous activism in the Park Slope community, you founded what has quickly become a well-known, established fixture in Park Slope—Park Slope Neighbors (PSN). PSN advocates for community dialogue, contextual and environmentally responsible development, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, small businesses and diversity in the community.  And let's not forget the way you utilize your wit and writing skills as part of the team that churns out copious amounts of coverage of the Atlantic Yards fight on the inestimable NoLandGrab.org

MOIRA MELTZER-COHEN because you make everyone feel welcome when they enter Fifth Avenue's Bar Reis and you keep the level of conversation very high. Your Etsy shop, Good Head, is a great place to find knitted hats and gloves. Your qualities as an intellectual, a good drink maker and cultural critic are  obvious to everybody who walks in.

MATT MITLER because for ten years we've loved the black light magic of your Halloween puppet shows in the ground floor window of your apartment on  Garfield Place. Your theater troupe, Diezi, sounds pretty wonderful, too. Not only for the artistry but because the group performs in hospitals and believes that helping others "generates a profound healing effect that not only serves the patient but also strengthens the ensembles work."

THE NEWCOMERS TO SEVENTH AVENUE, including Barrio, Eric Shoes, Pure Essentials, Yogo Monster, Five Guys Burgers, Paper Love, One of a Find, and the Tibetan Store.

NANCY NANCY because you lost the lease on your beloved Fifth Avenue shop that  that was mecca for those in search of funny chotchkas and cards; we understand that you are reinventing yourself and moving on. Good luck to you.

BARACK OBAMA

DAVID PECHEFSKY because you used your experience in the New York City Council to help the new parliament of Sierra Leone. And you peddle your mother (and your 4-year-old daughter) around Prospect Park in your bicycle rickshaw.

The PSP PUPPET MAKING TEAM because you gave the Halloween Parade new life with gradiose puppets that floated down Seventh Avenue this year. Led by Theresay Linnihan of the Puppeteer's Cooperative, helpers included, Kiera, Toby, Brent, Ariel, Holly, Susan, Amber, Joan, Jim, Dalien and Havona. We salute all of you.

NERINA PENZHORN because your well-crafted segments for your series, A Walk Around the Blog on Brooklyn Independent Television really made the Brooklyn blogging community visible.

ANN PRESCOTT because as a kindergarten and first grade teacher extraordinaire you have influenced legions of Brooklyn kids at The Children's House (now Rivendell) and at Packer Collegiate, where you continue to leave your mark.

PROSPECT PARK TRACK CLUB because of the Turkey Trot, the Cherry Hill Run and all the other running events you do in and around prospect Park.

MALLORY Y. RUTLEDGE because with your vast experience as a make up artist, you brought your show to Park Slope by opening the tiny MYR on Seventh Avenue and introduced us to your custom blended foundation and your natural looking beauty products and makeovers for weddings, proms, parties, special events and just for every day. Thanks.

JON SCHAEFER because you’ve hosted and produced the popular shows, Soundcheck and New Sounds on WNYC radio for years. Your program was called "The #1 radio show for the Global Village" by Billboard magazine. Recently, you went to North Korea with the New York Philharmonic and wrote a moving blog about your experiences.

ANNE SCHWARTZ because you were the midwife to Olivia, that feisty pig, confidante to Lincoln, fictional and factual children's editor extraordinaire of Schwartz & Wade at Random House Children's Books, proving profits in publishing keep on coming when we honor children's intelligence and imagination and the deity who is  in  the details.

JON SCIESZKA because your wacky, zany books, including The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! have been translated into a bunch of language, won a bunch of awards and have sold over 11 million copies worldwide. Not bad.

CARLY ROSE SILBERMAN, a 2-year-old South Slope toddler who enjoyed everything her neighborhood had to offer. Going to Wantana for her sticky rice, attending Music Together taught by Kevin, getting fresh buttery croissants at Parco, and lets not forget visiting Annette at Toy Space to get a balloon. A sweetheart who died suddenly with no warning. A tree has been planted and a bench will be made in her honor, next to one of her most favorite of all Park Slope destinations, the 9th Street Playground at Prospect Park. (In memoriam).

LENORE SKENAZY  because you did the unthinkable: you let your 8-year-old son ride the subway home from a department store on the Upper East Side. You didn't expect to get hit with a tsunami of criticism from readers. But you did and you handled it well; you even came out to Park Slope to talk about it.

S'NICE because you decided to give the picturesque corner of Third Street and Fifth Avenue a go and made it the kind of vegan cafe/restaurant, where locals can dine daily, take meetings, work on their blogs and novels, and leave keys for house guests.

ROB SPILLMAN because as editor of Tin House, a bi-coastal (Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon) literary magazine, you publish special issues like the one's devoted to Work and African Literature in Exile. We like how smart and articulate you are especially at the panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival called Movements and Visions of Identity in the African Imagination with African authors,  Binyavanga  Wainaina (Kenya), Patrice Nganang (Cameroon) and Breyten Breytenbach (South Africa). 

DANIELLE SUCHER AND DAVE TURNER because you run Jack, an occasional restaurant at the Brooklyn Lyceum. You blog about food at Habeas Brulee and you run your own law firm. Get down girl.

THE BLOG THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED because, as you wrote, "you were black every day for 33 years; Never a nigger until Wall St. moved to Brooklyn." On your blog, you're funny, nasty and insulting about everyone, including yourself. You say it like you see it and we love you for that.

CHERYL THOMAS because as Event Coordinator at the Old Stone House of Brooklyn you are ever fair and steadfast in your Ever commitment to crowd control, you are OSH's secret weapon for event management. And when bestowed upon you, your brilliant smile and departing blessing of "be careful, be safe" make the world a better place.

JANE TOMKIEWICZ because you've been teaching the Alexander Technique to groups at the 92nd Street Y since 1992 and privately in Manhattan since 1990. You served as the Executive Director of the American Center of the  Alexander Technique from 1996-2008 and are now very pleased to begin teaching group and private lessons in Brooklyn at the Feldenkrais Center of Park at 375 5th Ave (between 5th & 6th).

ELEANOR TRAUBMAN because you are a writer educator, culture maven, and community-builder whose passion is connecting people to each other, and connecting people to tools and resources for living an inspired and effective life. You write that your mission is to "bring people together through the arts, creativity, and humor. It is also your work as a professional organizer that is highly worth noting:  "I assist busy New York women to cut down on clutter and to create systems of organization for home and office." And let's not forget your indespensible leadership of the 2008 Brooklyn Blogfest and your dedication to the The Brooklyn Blogade, a monthly gathering of Brooklyn bloggers. Go girl Go.

SCOUT TUFANKJIANA because of your sweeping, intimate portraits of Barack Obama's historic campaign in  "Yes We Can," from PowerHouse Books.

PEG TYRE because you're a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who was, until recently, a senior editor at Newsweek Magazine. But your book, The Trouble with Boys, attempts to figure out important and vexing problems: why do boys lag behind girls in academic achievement? Why are schools failing boys? You are a god send to mothers of boys!

MEDUSA SALON because of your inspired fundraising event for Barack Obama called, Up-do’s for Obama. Photos of your Sarah Palin look-alike contest made their way around the world. Good work girls!

 

ED VELANDRIA because you are the subway sketcher. You use a computer tablet and touch pen for your sketches and try to capture people on the F Train. It's your therapy, your meditation, and your chance to home your skills as a talented draftsman. “Everyone is so different, no matter how much you lump people together,” you told the LA Times, who did an article about you last summer. “I guess my ultimate goal is to really capture the soul of a person.”

DARREN VON STEIN because in your shop, Prints Charming, you steer your customers toward frames that makes the  Francis Bacon painting  soar---- or the hand print by our second grader sing---and then lets us imagine we found it ourselves! Like any good frame  you never draws attention to yourself. You don't brag, don't whine, you don't even harge a lot---although you're a master craftsman who has been at this for a couple of decades There's something so darn slopian about this kind of unassuming respect for tradition, not to mention good old neighborliness.

CYNTHIA WADE because you won the Academy Award for your short subject documentary "Freeheld," the story of Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester, who spent 25 years investigating tough cases in Ocean County, New Jersey, protecting the rights of victims and putting her life on the line. She had no reason to expect that in the last year of her life, after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that her final battle for justice would be for the woman she loved.

REBECCAH WELCH because as Senior Associate Director of Communications at the Center for the Urban Environment you work hard so that everyone knows and understands what's going over there. You are also involved with the Buy in Brooklyn initiative and you personally contributed to the Community Bookstore in its greatest time of need. You also wrote those wonderful Why Shop Local? profiles of local entrepreneurs, which delighted the readers of OTBKB. For your community mindedness, your environmental smarts, your devotion to local issues, It was a no-brainer putting you on this list

WASHINGTON PARK because thanks to the Parks Department, Boymelgreen Developers, Kim Maier and a a whole slew of pols, you've got game and a new skate park, two new basketball courts, six handball courts, a new dog run, new fencing, gates, pavement and landscaping. And coming soon: a synthetic turf green, new fencing, landscaping and the plaza area opening the view of the Old Stone House to Fourth Avenue.

JOYCE WATSON, the crossing guard at the corner of First Street and Seventh Avenue, with the angelic voice, she will be remembered by students and parents for the lovely way she spoke to the children. Hello beautiful. Good Morning, my sweet angels. Hello lovely lady. In memoriam

MO WILLEMS doesn't live here anymore but we still LOVE the Knuffel Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Knuffel Bunny: A Case of Mistaken Identity. You brought a small dose of fame to the laundromat on Sixth Avenue and 5th Street (which is under new ownership now).

MICHAEL WINKS (with the beard) because whether you’re writing plays or calling for alcohol-based fuels and a members’ only alternative fuel club to supply fuel made almost entirely from ethanol, an alcohol distilled from grains like corn, you are a creative guy with a lot to say. We loved your play, Baby Love, an absurdist take on contemporary parenting.

GILLY YOUNER because you're a talented architect, a great mom, a board member of the Park Slope Civic Council and Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and you recently appeared in The Civilians' Brooklyn At Eye Level, a lively performance of theater, music and dance that tookits inspiration from interviews with the real life players in the story of Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Lyceum. And in March you are curating a retrospective of your late father's paintings at an art gallery in Hastings New York

AARON ZIMMERMAN head of New York Writers Coalition, the largest community-based creative writing program in the country.

THE 2007 PARK SLOPE 100: 100 STORIES ABOUT PARK SLOPE

The Park Slope 100: 100 stories, 100 ways of looking at the world, 100 inspiring people, places and things. The list is in alphabetical order. There are no repeats from last year. There are many serious omissions. Send names for next year.

SENATOR ERIC ADAMS because you traded in your blue uniform for a blue suit when you were elected to the 20th Senatorial District, which includes the neighborhoods of Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Prospect Heights. You developed workshops called, “What To Do When Stopped By The Police,” which have helped thousands of young people throughout New York learn to better interact with the police. You are a supporter of the Buy Local Brooklyn initiative and you asked the right questions: “How do we bring in revenue that Manhattan enjoys? How do we let it spill over into the Slope, Prospect Heights and the rest of Brooklyn?"

ANGELA THE CROSSING GUARD because you keep the kids safe when they cross Second Street and Seventh Avenue.

THE ACCORDION PLAYER OF SEVENTH AVENUE because sitting on your folding stool in front of Chase Bank you add a distinctly Eastern European melancholy to the Avenue.

ANDY THE FRUIT TRUCK GUY because we didn’t know what to do without you when you went away. Get well and much gratitude to your cousin for keeping life fruity on Seventh Avenue.

JUDY ANTELL because as a super involved mother of three, you are the ultimate Park Slope mom, who also happens to be the editor of NY Metro Parents.

NOAH BAUMBACH because you are Slope born and bred and you make honest, funny, risky movies like Margot at the Wedding and the Squid and the Whale.

JAMES BERNARD because you’re a member of Community Board 6 and a executive coordinator of the Project Forum on Race and Democracy, and senior communications fellow at Policy Link. You launched the Source and XXL, two hip-hop magazines, and have written about popular culture for the New York Times, the Village Voice and Entertainment Weekly.

PAULA BERNSTEIN AND ELYSE SCHEIN because after being separated at birth you found each other and wrote a beautiful and honest memoir, Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited , about identity, nature vs. nurture, family, and love.

THE BROMBERG BROTHERS because in 2001 you crossed the East River and created Blue Ribbon Brooklyn, perhaps the best all-around restaurant in the borough. Thanks for giving us all such a special place to go.

THE BROOKLYN BLOGGERS because you sit at your computers and tell us what you see, think, feel, and hear day in and day out. Thanks for the words and pictures. Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn  Self-Absorbed Boomer  Luna Park Gazette   Flatbush Gardener   Bed Stuy Blog  Callalillie Kensington Blog  Clinton Hill Blog Creative Times  Brooklyn Hts. Blog Park Slope Street Photography McBrooklyn   Sustainable Flatbush Brit in Brooklyn    New York Shitty   Kinetic Carnival And of course, everyone cited last year: Gowanus Lounge    Brownstoner     No Land Grab     Atlantic Yards Report   Dope on the Slope

THE BROOKLYN TORNADO because on August 8th, 2007 you blew our socks off.

DAVID BROOKS because you got everyone mad at you when you wrote “Can we please see the end of those Park Slope Alternative Stepford Moms in their black-on-black maternity tunics who turn their babies into fashion-forward, anti-corporate, indie infants in order to stay one step ahead of the cool police?” in your New York Times Op-Ed column.

THE BROWNSTONE BRIDE because you spent the night in a bridal dress perched on top of the entrance of a brownstone on Fourth Street. As reported by the Brooklyn Paper, you had a Tiffany engagement ring in a bag.Picture by Nate Harpaz.

BUY LOCAL BROOKLYN because the yellow umbrellas were a perfect symbol for a group that brings together local businesses, non-profits, the Park Slope Civic Council and the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce. And now you've organized the Snowflake Celebration, a night of holiday shopping and festivity on December 13th. Way to go, team.

C IS FOR CUPID because as the new dating service for people whose lives have been affected by cancer you are giving people hope, love, and even some fun.

CHRISTIE’S JAMAICAN PATTIES because you're a Flatbush Avenue institution. Your soup! Your chicken! Your chicken curry patties!

MARIA COLON, ANNIE CICCONI and HOMARYA FLORES, because on Fourth and Third Avenues, you crossing guards keep the kids safe on a really wide street with fast moving cars.

CLAIREWARE because your colorful ceramics with polka dots and swirls make me happy.

CLUB LOCO because you are presenting bands like Sister Helen, Fiasco, Dulaney Banks, Cool and Unusual Punishment, Francesca Perlov, Window Sign Language Tetsuwan Fireball, Jet Lag, Banzai, and many others at Old First Church and giving teenagers a cool place to be one Saturday night a month.

BRYAN COLLIER  because your illustrations in Martin’s Big Words are just wonderful, and a big fave at PS 321.

DEENA DAVIS because you’re one of the most politically connected people in Park Slope, dating from your days as PTA president of PS 321. Now you’re program director of the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, and back for a second term on the CEC for District 15, as the borough president's appointee and treasurer.

RUDOLPH DELSON because you gave everyone their say in your sprawling tale of post-9/11 love in New York City and got a veritable rave from the New York Times.

THE DOE FUND GUYS because you're Ready, Willing and Able to change your lives and do what needs to be done while improving the quality of life around here. We thank you.

SUZANNE DONALDSON because not only are you the most gorgeously put together fashion plate in the Slope but you beat leukemia and raised TONS of money to help others fight it doing the Chicago Marathon. You're also a talented photo director at Glamour and just an all around great person.

THE ERHU PLAYER WHO SITS IN FRONT OF CITIBANK because your two-stringed fiddle brings a Chinese melody to the streets of Park Slope.

EIDOLON because you were pioneers on the new Fifth Avenue with beautiful clothing, jewelry, accessories, and knit wares.

MARCIA ELY and MELISSA BENSON because in addition to everything else you do, you run the Brooklyn Heights Homeless Shelter, a volunteer-run shelter that has hosted 10 women Monday through Thursday during the winter months for 25 years.

DANIEL EPPELBAUM because you actually sat down and wrote a letter to the borough president about the aggravating idiosyncrasies of the B-67 bus and got an answer.

JOE FERRIS because in the Assembly and out you have devoted your life to preserving jobs, homes and the history of Brooklyn, your hometown. Most recently you led the effort to save the vista at the Green-wood Cemetery. And all without a computer...

RYAN FLECK AND ANNA BORDEN because your movie Half Nelson with Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps wowed me with its dark and powerful portrayal of a very believable New York City school teacher and the Red Hook students that he hopes to inspire.

ZELDA FOSTER because you were a social worker and an early and tireless advocate of hospice care. In memoriam.

TONY GIORDANO because you, along with the Fifth Avenue Merchants Association, donated countless hours of your time to move Fifth Avenue forward in the formation of the fifth avenue BID.

DR. AMY GLASER because you compiled and published the first complete listing of summer activities for teens in New York City, which includes 125 fascinating programs for every interest and pocketbook SUMMER IN THE CITY FOR TEENS, the Zagat of summer programs, is a welcome resource and it was screened and tested by young adults and their parents.

GOOD FORM DESIGN because your posters, websites, and logos for Brooklyn Reading Works, the Park Slope 100, the Brooklyn Blogfest, Stoopendous, the Old Stone House, Brooklyn Mama, and Seeing Green spread the word with a perfect balance of color, composition, and fun.

CRYSTAL GRANDERSON-REID and JANA NELSON because you created Brownstone Buddys, eight characters, with distinct cultural identities and interests. Among them are an African-American girl who adores math, a Chinese-American sports buff and a book-loving girl of Hispanic heritage.

RICHARD GRAYSON because you explored Brooklyn by bus and wrote about it with style, humor, and oodles of personal history. And to quote the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Grayson is a funny guy from Canarsie, Brooklyn… his kind of metafiction, mixing his memories (numerous main characters are named Richie Grayson) with his inventions about pansexual borough dwellers dealing with minor and major crises, read like stand-up comedy routines.”

GREENJEANS (Amy Shaw and Jae Kim) because you are committed to high-quality craft and crafters/artisans in addition to sustainability and conscientious living. You were also pioneers, opening one of the first shops on that southern section Seventh Avenue and Bloggers.

MAGGIE GYLLENHALL because you’re the real deal: a talented actor with great taste in movies, who wants to give back to the community: “Now that my daughter is older and I have more free time, I want to spend as much of it as possible helping people who don’t have all the advantages I have,” you told the Brooklyn Paper at a public school fund raising event.

CRAIG HAMMERMAN because you are a tireless public servant who works hard as District Manager of Community Board 6 (which serves Park Slope as well as Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook). You personally see that all questions to CB 6 are addressed, and you know the city agencies so well that you can often get an answer quickly! You are fair, calm and you always listen.

BRIAN HALWEIL because your magazine, Edible Brooklyn, is manna for Brooklyn's passionate foodies.

BETH HARPAZ because you’re a working journalist who wrote a book about your experiences reporting on Hillary Clinton's senate campaign, The Girls in the Van, and a true story about your mom, Finding Annie Farrell: A Family Memoir . And you're a great local tipster (we loved the Brownstone Bride pix taken by your son).

BETH HASSRICK because you were a beautiful and loving mother; a Gestalt psychoanalyst with a doctorate in contemporary philosophy; and an attentive neighbor and friend to many. You never passed without a warm hello and a smile. We miss you.

HELLGATE HARMONIE because you are bringing opera to these them hills.

ISABEL HILL because you got it all on film and made everyone see how much the future of Brooklyn matters.

THE HOMELESS MEN OF OLD FIRST because you (Robert Royster, Will Franklin, and Frank) inadvertently started a conversation in Park Slope that led to the formation of the Park Slope Coalition for the Homeless. You inspired Pastor Daniel Meeter t o write, “They cause me a great deal of trouble, and lots of anger from our neighbors, and I do wish they would go away, but, whatever else, they remain human beings, images of God, and they need to be treated with respect.”

EMILY ISSACS because at the Trois Pommes Bakery you’re bringing your years of experience at Union Square Café and giving us something very special.

ANDREA JACOBS and CHERRY SHEPHARD and everyone else at Little Things because you're always helpful and you keep your cool during the tantrums, the meltdowns, and all the parent/child mayhem that goes on at Little Things. Thanks for the purple wrapping. Thanks for the toys.

CAPATHIA JENKINS because you are a bright, shining star. Whether you’re performing with Martin Short in Fame Becomes Me on Broadway, or in Caroline or Change at the Public Theater or singing beside Louis Rosen in a benefit for the Old Stone House you enthrall and inspire with your vocal virtuosity, your musicality and your warmth.

HEATHER JOHNSTON because you lead with a quiet strength and can be depended upon to get things done. And your food is DELICIOUS. Your video blog, So Good (Sogood.tv) is a helpful and fun resource for the home cook and consumer with video demos, recipes and wine suggestions.

STEVEN BERLIN JOHNSON because you started Outside.in, which you describe as an attempt to “collectively build the geographic web, neighborhood by neighborhood.” And look at the books you’ve written: Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software (2001), Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter (2005), The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World (2006).

DIERDRE JONES because as a smart first-time restaurateur with a fabulous sense of design and an adorable giggle, you knew that Fifth Avenue needed a child-friendly restaurant/cafe with good, healthy food. But Perch is far more than that: It’s a way of life. From morning to night, the restaurant moves through multiple identities from kid’s music destination, cool bar, brunch spot, place to meet friends, play card games, listen to adult music, poetry. You name it, it probably happens at Perch.

PETER JOSEPH because you are the board chairman of the Old Stone House, a cellist, cartographer who developed a great new map on the OSH website and an overall thoughtful community member.

SU KRAMER because your film, Gray Matters, with Heather Graham is a sexy and stylish screwball comedy about a brother and a sister who fall in love with the same woman.

NICA LALLI because you wrote a book about nothing and it’s really something. What it's like to grow up without religion is the subject of your fascinating memoir, Nothing, Something to Believe In.

PATTY AND BOB LENARTZ because as owners of Slope Cellars you are always ready to give back and are generous and kind. Experts at the "cheap and tasty" category, you are never pretentious and always dog friendly

BRAD LANDER because you direct the Pratt Center for Community Development, which works to make this city a just, equitable, and sustainable place for all by empowering communities to plan and realize their futures.

PETER LOFFREDO because you’re a holistic psychotherapist (and blogger) with strong opinions who is on a mission to convince parents that they deserve to have a life full of love, sex, and fun apart from their children.

ROBERTO LORENZUTTI because you are the car listener, a former race car driver, and host (at your car repair shop on Douglas Street) of one of Brooklyn’s most unusual salons (nominated by Hugh Crawford).

LORETTA OF THIRD STREET because your kitschy bust of Elvis graced your Third Street window for more than 15 year. Alas, Elvis has left the building and you’ve moved somewhere new. We wish you well.

DIONNE MACK-HARVIN because they hired you from within to run one of the biggest public library systems in the country and you’re doing it with lots of skill, style and aplomb.

CHARLOTTE MAIER because as head of PS 321's parent-run Scholastic Book Sale, which raises money for the PTA, you put the kibosh on selling furry pencils, sequined journals and cutesy stuff so that the kids would actually buy books and not toys. This year you performed on Broadway with Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy in Inherit the Wind. You were also in the film Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. But to the kids in Park Slope you will always be known for your hilarious turn as the dialect instructor opposite Steve Martin's Inspector Clouseau in the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther

ELLIE MASSIAS because you started the Jewish Music Café at 401 9th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) and created a place in the Slope to get an ice cold bottle of He’ brew Beer, a slice of Mrs. Selter’s famous Cheese cake, a Kosher Cappuccino and enjoy great bands playing Klezmer, Sephardic, Avant Garde jazz, Hassidic rap and Israeli trance in the heart of one of NY’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood.

KEVIN McPARTLAND because your novel, Brownstone Dreams, tells it like it was in tough Irish Park Slope in the 1960’s. Think Pete Hamill, Frank McCourt with a little Scorsese mixed in. And if you want to see the manuscript, just let me know.

MET FOOD because you are open from 6 am until midnight every day and always have exactly what we need and more. Last summer, a car crashed into your store and knocked down your fruit stands and awning. But you dealt with it. You are resilient, pleasant to talk to and a great lover of cats, Ebony and Ivory.

JOSH MILLSTEIN because you run the Community Bookstore's reading groups, including the Jewish Philosophy Book Club, the Under-appreciated Book Club and the Modern Literature Book Club. “We love new faces,” is your motto.
MARTY MODINA because you brought the California burrito to Park Slope at Rachel’s Taqueria on Fifth Avenue and The California Taqueria on 7th Avenue. We love the murals, we love the prices, and we love your vintage red pick up truck parked outside.

MOIM RESTAURANT /SAERI YOO PARK because you are introducing Park Slopers to the unfamiliar and delicious cuisine of Korea, including your mother’s recipe for Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop, vegetables, meat and rice served in a steaming hot stone rice bowl. You got close to a rave in the Times and were compared to Al Di La and Franny’s. Not bad.

MELISSA MURPHY of Sweet Melissa because you’ve created a cozy, homey place for comfort food and world-class pastries. It feels like you’ve been here forever. (photo from the Brooklyn Paper )

ROY NATHANSON because you bring music, poetry and inspiration to everything you do, including teaching music at the Institute for Collaborative Education, a NYC public middle and high school. You inspire as a saxophonist, composer, bandleader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six-piece group that you founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987.

JENNIFER NELSON because you lead the children in song. And they are SINGING every Tuesday at Old First Church.

OTTO because your quirky mix of clothing, lingerie and home décor has been a go-to shopping destination for years. Finally, you moved to bigger and more visible digs on Seventh Avenue.

ADRIENNE ONOFRI author of Walking Brooklyn, because you had a great idea, pitched it to a publisher, and you walked the walk.
TOBY PANNONE because you are an amazing little boy living with a terrible disease. Not long ago you were a Park Slope preschooler living the Park Slope toddler life. Then life dealt you a low blow. But you and your parents continue to rise to the occasion. Despite the many painful days and nights, you are still a joyful child, the love and light of your parent's lives. Read Mooki and Stephen's blog to learn more about Neuroblastoma and what you can do to help Toby.

NICHOLAS PEKARO, an auxiliary cop, he was murdered at 19 on the streets of the West Village. A writer, Nicholas worked at Crawford Doyle Booksellers on Madison Avenue and lived in Park Slope. In memoriam.

PIZZA PLUS and ROZ because after a fire destroyed your South Slope pizza restaurant, you rose from the ashes and created something even more wonderful. Roz, you are a fabulous community minded person and hard working merchant of the mom and pop variety.

THE RED HEADED WAITRESS AT BROOKLYN FISH CAMP because you've been serving us some of our favorite restaurant food with humor and fun for years now. First at Two Boots and now at the delightful Fish Camp. Thanks!

TOM RAYFIEL because you completed your ambitious trilogy of novels all about Eve. In Parallel Play you channeled a believable and likable Park Slope mom warts, humor, and all.

MEGAN DONIS, INGRID ROJAS, KUYE HARRIS, AND KECIA COLE and everyone at BCAT because you scour the borough for the great stories that are out there for your shows, Brooklyn Review and Brooklyn Beat.

IRENE LO RE because as the owner of Aunt Suzy's, you’ve been the doyenne of Fifth Avenue for nearly 30 year. Thanks for you leadership and effort on behalf of the 5th Avenue Business Improvement District.

JAVIER ROSARIO because you run Saint Francis Youth Sports and you’re a wonderful volunteer who help the youth from all over Park Slope by providing excellent team sports, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Golf and Flag Football. You are a leader who recruits and supports dozens of volunteer coaches throughout the year.
LOUIS ROSEN because your songs make us swoon, laugh and cry. In multiple idioms—jazz, pop, bossa nova, folk and musical theater—and with surprising leaps of melody and harmony, you bring the poetry of Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, and YOU to life

RIGOBERTO SALAZAR because as custodian at Our Lady of Peace you bring order and calm to those hallowed halls.

SCAREDY KAT because the two of you were anything but scaredy kats when you dared to open your cool shop before any one thought Fifth Avenue was cool.

TOM SIMON because you know the used books business like nobody else and you knew when it was time to call it quits on Seventh Avenue. Your Lessons for Shoplifters sign, which you posted on the window of your shop, Seventh Avenue Books, was a masterpiece of retail poetry: "You know you're dishonest, and yeah, a thief, so should you ever while among family or friends find fault with Bush or Cheney or some other scoundrel, the cosmos will likely quietly snicker at your obliviousness."

THE SKIRT LADY because you sit in the window at Starbucks in your beautiful self-designed clothing and quietly create amazing necklaces out of dried fruit and berries from Prospect Park.

JOAN SNYDER because you are our neighborhood genius and you've got the MacArthur Genius Award to prove it. Your citation said: “In Snyder’s paintings, each brush stroke is like a character in a story, pulsing with emotion and vitality. After abandoning formal grids as the basic structure of her paintings, Snyder’s work became more explicitly gestural and rooted in memory, while at the same time more complex materially.

AMY SOHN because we've grown up with you: read your sex column in NY Press and your mating column in New York and your baby column there, too. You pretend to be a bad mom but you're a good mom in our book. You write it like you see it and we respect that.

MICHELE MADIGAN SOMERVILLE because in addition to your busy life as an epic poet and the mother of three, you organized a great Dante event at St. Augustine Church, as well as the Church Ribbon Project, a memorial for those who died of AIDs.
STEPHEN TALKHOUSE FELLOWS because you are bringing some fresh energy and fun to the lovably faded glory of the Montauk Club.
THE STOOPENDOUS COMMITTEE because you took a great idea and really ran with it organizing in just a few months, A Celebration of the Summer Solstice in Park Slope, a festive way to mark the beginning of summer and connect with neighbors. The idea was generated at an open meeting of the Park Slope CIvic Council. The All-Slope-Solstice-Shout-Out was a gas. (Betsey McGee, Susan Fox, Joyce Jed, Linda Gnat Mullin, Nelly Issacson, Shelia Hanks, Andi Peretz and Elizabeth Reagh and Dave Kenney, Tom Reynolds, Julie Kay, and Tom Fergus).

HARRY TARZIAN because you run a great family hardware store and decided to join Develop Don’t Destroy.

MICHAEL THOMAS because your book, Man Gone Down, is written with a masterful first-person voice that is intense, poetic, angry, vulnerable, real, and full of thoughtful rage about race, class, marriage and love in New York City.

THE TRANSFORMERS because 60 young people came all the way from Gibbsville, Wisconsin to Brooklyn to help fix the chandelier at the Old First Reformed Church and let there be light in that grand sanctuary.

3-R LIVING for your dedication to the community and helping raise the eco-consciousness around here.

JOHN TURTURRO and KATHERINE BOROWITZ because you went to bat for the Community Bookstore, invested $10,000, and become a part owner there. Turturro told the New York Times: “Now as I’m getting older, all these great small bookstores and art house movie theaters, so many things I love, are being swallowed up by a supermarket mentality.”
UNION HALL/JIM CARDEN because not only do we love the scope and ambition of UNION HALL but we love the bocce court, the juke box, and Skippy’s music shows. We also love the stuff that goes on downstairs especially the Spelling and Grammar Bee with David Witt and the Secret Science Club.

CORDULA VOKULING because with a diagnosis of stage 4 brain cancer you decided to quit your job and devote yourself to your painting. "Hey, I got advanced brain cancer - my system kicks me in the butt and screams: Be your authentic self or you are going to die sooner not later. Any questions?"

ZELDA VICTORIA because you reinvigorated Victoriana with a fresh, almost post-modern sense of color, style, pattern and fun. We miss you and your shop.

MARY WARREN because Mrs. Cleavage's Diary and Eat Drink Memory are just the beginning. You've got a book waiting to come out of you (and I'm waiting).

THE WRITTEN NERD because you love reading books, talking about books, and "being where literature hits the streets." Your blog, and especially, your Brooklyn Lit Life interviews are just great.

ALLEN ZIMMERMAN because you’re the person behind all that great tasting organic produce at the Park Slope Food Coop, a real unsung hero. “The way I learned this job was hands-on. You touch the produce, you smell it, you eat it,” says Allen, a lifelong Brooklynite and former union activist.

JUDITH ZUK because you were the Tupper Thomas' of the Botanic Gardens. In memoriam

2007 PARK SLOPE 100 COMING ON DECEMBER 6TH

The 2007 Park Slope 100 will be rolled out on Thursday, December 6th.

Last year's list was what I call foundational, as it included a diverse and inspirational list of Park Slope movers and shakers. Of course a list like that has to be incomplete. There are only 100 slots. It's reductive by nature.

That first list contained the names that come up when you think of Park Slope in the last few years. Names like: Paul Auster, Pastor Meeter, Fonda Sara, Chris Owens, CHIPS, Al Di La, Steve Buscemi and Jo Andres, Kim Maier, Stitch Therapy, Catherine Bohne, Two Boots, Jonathan Blum, The Dinnersteins and more.

While many of the names were very well known, some were unfamiliar or unexpected. They were the behind the scenes people like Thomas Parker, the barista at Connecticut Muffin, Hillary at Shawn's Liquors, Alan Berger the brains behind the Brooklyn Free School, Eric the beloved toddler swim instructor at Eastern Athletic. and neighborhood watch-woman, Jackie Connor, who died last year and others.

Foundational. In some ways, it was the surface layer, the first pass. Even as I was publishing last year's I knew there were so many more people to recognize.

But that's the beauty of doing a list every year. This year we have the Park Slope 200. Then it will be the PS 300, 400. In 2010 it will be the Park Slope 500, a cumulative list, a story of this neighborhood in these times.

This year's Park Slope 100 feels even more like the story of this community. It's topical. It's names that have come up on OTBKB, on Seventh Avenue, on Fifth Avenue, in the zeitgeist of Park Slope.

100 stories, 100 ways of looking at the world, 100 inspiring people, places and things.

As I said last year, the idea of a list like this is inherently subjective, flawed, and wildly controversial (even annoying). But it's fun to do if only as a way to record life in this neighborhood in an interesting way.

Once again, important names of missing. This is just this particular story, this particular year. Send in names for next year when you think of them.

THE PARK SLOPE MORE THAN 100: THE LIST 2006

Here it is: THE GREATER PARK SLOPE 100, MORE THAN 100, a highly opinionated, inherently flawed, subjective, obviously controversial list of talented, energetic, ambitious, creative individuals with vision in the Greater Park Slope area who reach outward toward the larger community and the world to lead, to help, to create, to teach, to improve, to enhance, to inform, to network, to make change.

The people chosen for THE LIST are community activists, entrepreneurs, volunteers, spiritual leaders, publishers, bloggers, leaders of organizations, social workers, therapists, artists, writers, educators, politicians, chefs and restaurant owners and whatever else I've left out.

THE LIST is in ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Please send corrections to louise_crawford@yahoo.com. This list will be updated as corrections are made. As of December 7th, all links have been tested and are fixed. There are 108 names -- a bunch are which I call "highly personal" -- or more personal than the others. Those names are in red.

SCOTT ADKINS,founder of the Brooklyn  Writer's Space, because he gave so many  a room of their  own. Sort of.

DEBBIE ALMONTASSER, Muslim community leader because she asks, “Why can't all New Yorkers treat Arabs, Muslims, and South Asian with respect, love, trust, and compassion?

CHRIS ALTMAN, Director of Park Explorers, for giving kids years of summer fun in Prospect Park at a reasonable price.

 

PAUL AUSTER for making Park Slope the premiere literary address in the county.

RABBI ANDY BACHMAN, Beth Elohim rabbi and blogger, for bringing his eclectic intelligence and spiritual leadership to Park Slope Jewish life.

DEBRA BARSHA, pianist, composer, and teacher, for teaching students how to find their own voices when they write and sing; establishing Debra and Mary's Night on the Town (a weekly gig with the renown Mary Cleere Haran, who is also a Park Slope resident.

SARA BENNETT (see Nancy Kalish and Sara Bennett below).
 

ALAN BERGER, visionary founder of the Brooklyn Free School, because he dared to pursue a crazy idea about a free democratic school for children of all ages, and it seems to be working and the kids are thriving.

BOB AND JUDI, owners of Bob and Judi’s Coolectibles, because of their unswerving dedication to Fifth Avenue.

CATHERINE BOHNE, owner of Community Books, Park Slope’s premiere independent bookstore, because of her quirky dedication to books, politics, and community.

 

JONATHAN BLUM for being the consummate Fifth Avenue artist and leading the way.

LEIGH BLAKE, president and founder of KEEP A CHILD ALIVE.  

GRACE BONNEY, of Design Sponge, because she dared to quit her day job and run an acclaimed design blog out of her Park Slope apartment.

WILD MAN STEVE BRILL, nature educator and naturalist, because he takes groups of people around Prospect Park and shows them what's edible and what's not.

RUTH BENJAMIN BROOKS, social worker, longtime Park Slope resident and people-person. At one time, she was the policy director of the National Assocation of Social Workers. She owned the carriage house on Berkeley Place. In memoriam (highly personal).

JOHN BROWNSTONER,  founder of  Brownstoner, and The Brooklyn Record, because of his comprehensive coverage of Brooklyn real estate and local life.

STEVE BUSCEMI AND JO ANDRES because they’re Park Slope’s most down to earth, community connected, artsy and cool celebrity couple.

CELEBRATE BROOKLYN because this great series, launched in 1979 to bring people back to the Prospect Park Bandshell after years of decline, has been “an anchor in the park's revitalization” and the best when it comes to great music and performance.

YVETTE CLARKE, Congresswoman; she ran hard in a contentious race and came out the winner.

CHRISTIAN HELP IN PARK SLOPE: Founded in 1972, CHIPS has been dedicated to helping the poor, the needy, and the homeless as well as those in emergency situations. CHIPs serves more than 70,000 meals annually and gives temporary shelter to more than 2,000 people each year.

OLIVIER CONAN, owner of Barbes, Park Slope's world class night club for its cultural variety, neighborhood conviviality and eclectic and international taste programming.

MR. JOHN COLGAN, Third Street resident since 1957.

EMILIANO COPPA AND ANNA KLINGER, owners of the superb trattoria, Al Di La, for being one of the first to put Park Slope on the New York restaurant map.

JACKIE CONNOR, because she improved the quality of life on Seventh Avenue and was watching everyone’s back even if they didn’t know it. In memoriam

HUGH CRAWFORD of No Words_Daily Pix, because he puts up a picture every day that makes people sigh (highly personal).

LISA CURTIS for creating and editing  Go-Brooklyn, the best Brooklyn arts and entertainment section

MAXCINE DEGOUTTES, owner of Stitch Therapy, because she's created a cozy space for the area's knitting obsessed and runs hat drives for CHIPS and is currently running a hat drive for Sloan Kettering Pediatrics.  

STEVEN DEPTULA, owner of Red Hook’s Liberty Heights Tap Room, because of his unyielding support for the rocking teens of Brooklyn.

SIMON, RENEE, AND SIMONE DINNERSTEIN, artist, educator, acclaimed pianist, because they are the first family of Park Slope creativity.

ROSE DUGGINS, care giver and housekeeper extraordinaire, because her smile lights up Seventh Avenue (highly personal).

DOPE ON THE SLOPE, blogger, humorist, gourmet, and naturalist.

JONATHAN EDELSTEIN, guitarist for Fiasco, because he "discovered" the Liberty Heights Tap Room, which has become the epicenter of the Park Slope teen rock scene (nominated by Henry Crawford).

DAVE EGGERS, STAFF, AND VOLUNTEERS of the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store (826NYC) because it is quite simply the most fun and imaginative place.

808 UNION WRITER'S GROUP, founded by Marian Fontana, author of "A Widow's Walk: A  Memoir of 9/11", the group has been meeting every Tuesday night for over ten years. Members include: Marian, Wendy Ponte, Mary Crowley, Rosemary Moore, Barbara Ensor, Kevin McParland, and Louise Crawford, as well as many other beloved past members (highly personal).

PAUL ENGLISH, co-editor/publisher of the Park Slope Reader and the New York Spirit.

ERIC AT EASTERN ATHLETIC because he thrills the babes, toddlers, caregivers, and moms with his singing and swinging style of swim instruction and fun.

EXCELSIOR BAR, owned by Mark and Richard, a lesbian and gay cocktail bar with a very eclectic jukebox.

NEIL FELDMAN, a great supporter of the arts in Brooklyn, for his subscription only email, Not Only Brooklyn, an enthusiast's guide to artsy, creative events in Brooklyn (and Manhattan).

BOBBI FINKELSTEIN, director, Beth Elohim Afterschool Program, because she takes such good care of the children and gives them so much to do from 3-6 p.m.

FELICIA EVE, member of District 15 Community Education Council, active parent/volunteer, Brownie den mother. 

KATHY FINE, principal, Brooklyn International School, because she is passionate about life and the students, staff, and school she leads (highly personal).

SUZANNE FIOL, director of Issue Project Room, for bringing avant garde performance, music and theater to Greater Park Slope. And what a cool silo.

JOSH FOSTER AND JOSH GRINKER, owners of Stone Park Cafe, because these childhood friends who grew up in Park Slope run a great restaurant and have contributed their time and talents to the Old Stone House and JJ Byrne Park during the Summer Arts Festival.

SUSAN FOX, for creating Park Slope Parents an on-line community we can’t live without. What a service!  What a community spirit!

DEBBY GARCIA, producer of the annual Seaside Summer and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series, because she works so hard, raises so much money, and puts on such a good show.

GARY GIDDINS, bartender and hairdresser at the The Gate, the Slope's hottest beer garden and bar.

GINGER'S BAR. How could we forget this Fifth Avenue gay bar?

DANIEL GOLDSTEIN AND SHABNAM MERCHANT founders with PATTI HAGAN of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. No explanation necessary.

SARAH GREEN, science writer/editor and local networker,  she led the effort to replace the memorial plaque for Lt. David Fontana, the Squad One firefighter who died on 9/11, that was stolen from its Fourth Street tree.

ROBERT GUSKIND of Gowanus Lounge and Curbed for his energetic and dedicated coverage of Coney Island and other development issues in Brooklyn.

SANDER HICKS, CEO/Chief Instigator of Vox Pop Coffee House in Ditmas Park, a coffee-house, a bookstore and a publishing company. "We are a community-empowering, retail-revolution, live-event-loving, info-shop dedicated to "vox pop," Latin shorthand for "voice of the people."     

 

HILLARY AT SHAWN'S LIQUORS because the blue hair is cool. And so are you.                               

ROBIN HIRSCH, author, restauranteur impressario, for his continuing dedication to music and literary performance at Night and Day/Biscuit performance space

JOSEPH HOLMES of Joe's NYC, for creating a beautiful photo diary every day.

JOE HOLTZ, general manager of the  Park Slope Food Coop, Joe was part of the small group who founded the Coop in 1973, and has continued to devote his life to the place, which now has almost 13,000 members and takes in about $30 million a year. Without Holtz, lots and lots of people would not be able to afford  healthy and organic food and would not have the opportunity to be a part of an amazing community.

LETITIA JAMES, City Council member for District 35, she represents the neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, parts of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant and serves on the committees for Economic Development, Parks & Recreation, Small Business, Technology in Government, Veteran Affairs, and Women's Issues.

NANCY KALISH,  journalist, and SARA BENNETT,  lawyer, co-authors of “The Case Against Homework,” because they asked good questions and came up with some very convincing answers.

MARC KAMINSKY, MSW, CSW and therapist extraordonaire, he is the author of "The Road From Hiroshima", as well as "What's Inside You It Shines Out of You" and "The Use of Reminiscence: New Ways of Working with Older Adults" and a forthcoming volume of poetry,  "Shadow Traffic", from Red Hen Press.

DIANNA KANE, owner of Dianna Kane and co-publisher/editor of Park Slope Reader

JENNIFER KLIEGEL, founder of The Dance Studio, because she and her fellow teachers have, with great spirit and humor, teach tumbling, ballet, tap, modern, hip hop, aerobics, and the value of  philanthropy with the school's "Children for Children Program."

GERSH KUNTZMAN, Editor-in-Chief of the Brooklyn Papers, because he reinvigorated the paper with energy, smarts, and most of all, humor. Not surprisingly, he had this editorial comment to make about the list: "It is somewhat antithetical to Park Slope life. Indeed, unless you are going to create a non-celebrity "celebrity" list, it could fall flat because, after all, it is the people like Mrs. Kravitz, Lawyer Mom, my wife and the pizza guy at Anthony's who make Park Slope so great. The neighborhood was built on hard-working (but Yuppie) social workers. Today, such people form the backbone of the neighborhood: older, yet still socially conscious and vibrant.” That’s why he’s on the list, folks highly personal).

THE LEGAL AID LAWYERS OF PARK SLOPE because they got the big ticket degree but opted to help the poor rather than cash in on the corporate buckeroos.

LESBIAN HERSTORY ARCHIVES, started by Judith Schwarz Joan Nestle and Deborah Edel in 1978, it exist to gather and preserve records of Lesbian lives and activities so that future generations will have ready access to materials relevant to their lives.

ELISE LONG, director of Spoke the Hub, because she creates public art that involves people of all colors, shapes, and sizes and she offers space for dance education, yoga, meditation, exercise, social dancing, community pot lucks, sing-a-longs, and joy.

LYDIA DENWORTH for her work with Park Slope Civic Council during this past year that has taken that organization to new heights in advancing discussions of concern to this community.

MAHA at COUSIN JOHNS, because she goes out of her way to make everyone feel welcome and well served in the morning (highly personal).

KIM MAIER,  Executive Director of the Old Stone House , because with energy, good humor, resourcefulness, seriousness, hard work and a great board of directors, she is transforming the Old Stone House into a vital educational and historical resource and cultural center.

KATHY MALONE, owner of Fofolle, clothing designer, founder of the Design Collective, because she's a great networker who brings so many indie designers together.

MARTY MARKOWITZ. Because.

JOHN McENENY, theatrical director and founder of Piper Theater, for creating the  acclaimed drama program at Middle School 51 and summer Shakespeare in JJ Byrne Park.

FRANK McGARRY, music teacher at PS 321, because he has turned so many kids onto Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

PASTOR DANIEL MEETER,  Old First Reformed Church, because he is a caring, thoughtful, engaged community leader and a blogger, too.

DANIEL MOINESTER AND SANDY, directors of Kim’s Kids, because he gives the parents of Park Slope a well-priced summer program that is safe, well organized and fun.

FRANCIS MORRONE, historian, journalist, author, lecturer, teacher, and blogger with a special interest in the connections among architecture, art, literature, urbanism, and social history. He writes "Abroad in New York," on New York buildings and history, that appears every Friday in the New York Sun, and is the author of  five books, including architectural guidebooks to New York City, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. He is a board member of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.

CHANDRU MURTHI, of I'm Seeing Green, because he is sharing what he knows about green living, building and lifestyle.

THE NANNIES OF PARK SLOPE because they really hold the entire neighborhood together by being there for the kids, caring for them, disciplining them, and loving them. Few families could exist without them (whether they pitch in part time or full time). NOTE: Why ignore the fact that thousands of hard working women work as caregivers? Just because people resent the fact that people hire other people to look after their children doesn't mean that they don't serve a very important role in this community. To leave them out would be a terrible omission. This is a tribute to them.

AARON NAPARSTEK, a writer, blogger, interactive media producer, and transportation activist, because he writes “honku” and talked Commerce Bank out of a drive-thru on Fifth Avenue.

STACY LEIGH, director of the Pen American Center's Readers & Writers Program and church elder at Old First Church, because in her job she helps serve low-income populations that have limited access to writers and a diverse range of literary culture.

EVELYN AND EVERETT ORTNER, for leading the preservationist movement in Brownstone Brooklyn. In memoriam for Evelyn Ortner.

NORMAN ODER, of the Atlantic Yards Report, for the most comprehensive coverage —blog or otherwise—of the Atlantic Yards.

CHRIS OWENS, political activist, he has been a leader in Central Brooklyn since his graduation from Harvard University nearly 25 years ago. In 2006, ran for (and lost) his father's seat in congress with a strong Develop Don't Destroy message. With his education and talent, there is much ahead for him.

ROSIE PEREZ, actor and Develop Don't Destroy board member, because we loved her in Fearless, Do the Right Thing, 24-Hour Woman and at the DDDB rallies.   


ELIZABETH PHILLIPS, principal PS 321 for making PS 321 the great school community it is and for  harnessing all that great teacher - parent - student - staff energy into a well-oiled machine.

GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, director of the Haitian Times and staff member of the New York Times (on long-term sabbatical) because, he says, "I decided to produce a newspaper—even more—an information resource for the Haitian community that would be balcanced, fair and accurate.
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LISA POLANSKY, store owner, because she always knows where things are in that crowded shop and always has exactly what everyone needs.

JAMES POLING, founder of the blog, Metadish, because so many people nominated you and you sound like a great guy.

THE PTA LEADERS OF BROOKLYN. In schools both public and private, they make all the difference. 

DR. EDNA PYTLAK, pediatrician, for taking such good care of  the children AND parents of greater Park Slope (highly personal).

MOHAMMED RAVZI, community activist, because he founded the Council of Pakistan Organization Community Center in Kensington after 9/11 to help Pakistanis with immigration issues. But after the mass exodus of Pakistanis, other immigrants started moving in and needed help too. So Razvi expanded his services, including English and computer classes. And decided to change the center's name to Council of People's Organization to be more inclusive. He says as he continues to grow, he'll now be reaching out to teenagers in the area.

MARGE RAPHELSON, parent Coordinator, PS 321, because she is always in the know and loves to share it.

HELEN RICHMAN, piano and flute teacher, director of Chocolate Chip Music series, because she created a young people's concert series in a neighborhood that needs it.

ERIC RICHMOND, founder of the Brooklyn Lyceum, a really cool arts space in a really cool public bath.

LUMI ROLLEY of No Land Grab and Eric McClure of Park Slope neighbors for their  dedication to the Atlantic Yards issue.

ELIZABETH ROYTE, author of "Garbageland," because she followed her nose from her own garbage pail in Park Slope across the country and around the world and wrote a great book in the process.

TRAVIS RUSE, photo blogger, because after 9/11, he wanted to show the world the way real New Yorker live on the subway every day.

PAT SALMON AT PARK SLOPE COPY, because he seems to know what's going on. And that lovely voice. 

ELISSA SCHAPPELL, writer, journalist and co-founder of Tin House, because she participates in an on-going reading series started by David Grand to raise money for a much-needed school library at PS 107 and her kids go to private school.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER AND COMMISIONER IRIS WEINSHELL (Department of Transportation) for being Park Slope’s ultimate power couple.

FONDA SARA, owner of Zuzu’s Petals, for being a great community booster, a pioneering Park Slope entrepreneur, survivor, pillar of the community, and employer of beloved Lorraine.

DAVID SHENK, author of "The Forgetting", a non-fiction study of Alzheimer's Disease.

THE SILBERBERGS, owners The Clay Pot, because they run a world class store on Seventh Avenue that just keeps getting better and better.

SQUAD ONE, the pride of Park Slope.

THE TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF OF THE SCHOOLS IN GREATER PARK SLOPE. For what you teach and the seeds you plant. You are appreciated far more than you can imagine.

TWO BOOTS RESTAURANT because the waiters, bus boys (and girls) and chefs are SAINTS for putting up with the children while their parents chill out on Margaritas.

THOMAS PARKER at Connecticutt Muffin because of the grace with which he serves coffee and muffins.

TUPPER THOMAS, director Prospect Park Alliance, for transforming Prospect Park and creating a model for parks conservancies everywhere.

ROXANNA VELANDRIA, parent coordinator of the Children’s School, generous church and community volunteer, kidney donor, artist, great people connector, neighbor, and friend. Pictured with her kidney recipient and soulmate, the equally wonderful, ED VELANDRIA (highly personal).

PETER WALLACE, founder, Brooklyn Artist's Gym, because he gives artists what they need the most: space and light.

MARYA WARSHAW, executive director of BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange (formerly The Gowanus Arts Exchange). She curates, directs and manages BAX's performance season - over 50 performances each season and has created four successful Arts-in-Education programs in New York City public schools K-12. She continues to serve as an active representative to the Gay and Lesbian community of Brooklyn.

DAVID YASSKY because we can't wait to see what he's gonna do next. And we loved the Elvis costume.

TODAY'S THE DAY -- ONLY LATER

If it sounds like I'm stalling, I am. The List will be released later today or early tomorrow. I know I promised...

But it's a big list and there's a lot of information on it. I want to make sure to get it right. 

Rest assured: The List is sure to contain mistakes-a-plenty and ommissions. It will provoke hurt feelings, angry feelings, annoyance, aggravation, accusations, charges of stupidity, etc. The whole idea of this list is patently absurd to begin with.

The last thing I want is for The List be is a popularity contest. That's not the idea at all. This is not a list of the most popular or the most famous or the most...you name it.

The List is about people who are reaching outward. In considering names, I asked:

Who contributes most directly to the quality of life and values in Park Slope?

Who are the people with talent and generosity of spirit?

Who are the people who are contributing to the greater good?

Obviously, this is all very subjective. My notable person might not be yours. My definition of the greater good might be your definition of the greater bad. My values may not be your values.

By its very nature a list like this is flawed. I mean, who am I to decide who the 100 most influential people in greater Park Slope are. I do like a challenge...but come on.

But The List is not static thing. It's a starting place. A way to get the word out about what people are doing around here.

The very existence of The List will beg the question: so who's been left off? I am hoping to see tons of new names once this thing gets published.

I've gotten lots of nominations from readers and I've enjoyed them all. Sometimes the names were already on the original list. That felt good because there was a feeling of consensus. Some names were, I guess, obvious. Others not so.

All in all, it's been fun. A lot of work. A lot of thought. A lot of racking of the brain...who's that person who...what's that person's name?

What a great way to get to know—and pay tribute to—the people who share these streets.

--OTBKB

THE ARTICLE THAT INSPIRED THE PARK SLOPE 100

Here's the cover of the Atlantic Monthly that inspired the Park Slope 100. I saw it, I read the list and I immediately got inspired to do a list for greater Park Slope. 

Interestingly, my first reaction to the list of 100 Influential Americans was one of annoyance. I guess it's a natural reaction. The list was pretty much the names you'd expect. Very predictable. Very dull. There weren't many woman or minorities on the list and that was annoying. It seemed very textbook, very conventional.

Still it inspired my little exercise.

The article is called: WHO MADE AMERICA?

Who are the –most influential figures in American history? The Atlantic recently asked ten eminent historians. The result was The Atlantic’s Top 100—and some insight into the nature of influence and the contingency of history. Was Walt Disney really more influential than Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Benjamin Spock than Richard Nixon? Elvis Presley than Lewis and Clark? John D. Rockefeller than Bill Gates? Babe Ruth than Frank Lloyd Wright? Let the debates begin.

You can read the Atlantic's list by clicking here

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WHAT IS THE PARK SLOPE 100?

The Park Slope 100 2006 is a highly opinionated, subjective list of the most talented, energetic, ambitious, creative individuals with vision in the Greater Park Slope area who reach outward toward the larger community and the world to lead, to help, to teach, to improve, to inform, to network, to create change.

The people who made THE LIST are community activists, entrepreneurs, volunteers, spiritual leaders, publishers, bloggers, arts administrators, social workers, therapists, artists, writers, educators, politicians, chefs and restaurant owners.

There are many, many talented and famous people in Greater Park Slope. Obviously, many more people should be on this list, which focuses on those who do something that enhances the quality of life and community.

THE LIST is for the famous and not famous alike.

THE LIST is in alphabetical order. Whenever possible, links to web sites, blogs, and/or more information is included so that you can learn more about these remarkable individuals.

THE LIST is sure to cause some controversy. There are many, many more people who deserve to be here. But this is he first list and there will be another one next year. Please send your nominations in.

THE LIST was created by Louise Crawford and she takes full responsibility for it. On her blog, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, she solicited nominations from readers. Many of those nominations are included here.

Congratulations to those who are on this list and thanks to those who nominated them.