New pieces at the Art Lot

We're a little late on this one, but some new stuff recently popped up at the Art Lot on Sackett and Columbia. Our favorite of the pieces is this robot statue:

Urban Farm Conference from MAS

The Municipal Art Society recently hosted a conference called "Designing Urban Farms to Feed Our City," and they now have a podcast (here) and slideshow (embedded below) related to it up on their site, which describes the event as follows:

Representing a variety of perspectives on sustainable agriculture, architecture and planning, and touching on issues as diverse as zoning, organic farming, national agricultural policy, and climate change, the panelists addressed the question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

Our own local Red Hook Community Farm, run by Added Value, was mentioned in the discussion, which shows how this neighborhood is on the forefront of a growing trend! Considering that this area has not only the farm, but a number of community gardens and backyards, its interesting to think about the future of urban farming in NYC.

What's happening to Pit Stop?

A couple of weeks ago we walked past Pit Stop and saw signs on the window advertising that the restaurant would soon be making changes to appeal to families and kids by becoming a racecar themed Bistro 4 Kids. This made a lot of sense, since they had always been popular among families anyway - especially when they previously had the playspace in the back that kids could run around in.

Then, a few days later, I ran into Laurent, the owner of Pit Stop, and asked if I could write a post about the new concept. He told me that it would actually no longer be happening, because he had finally found a buyer for the restaurant. Indeed, Pit Stop had been for sale since the beginning of the summer, and when it seemed that there were no takers, Laurent came up with the new concept, only to find a buyer soon after.

So now there will no longer be Pit Stop as we've known it in the past, or the new kid's Pit Stop concept - that is unless the new buyer decides to run with either or both of those.

Whatever the new buyer decides to do, we can only hope that the food and atmosphere are as good as what Pit Stop had to offer.

Pit Stop has been open for 6 years, but this past Spring Laurent became head chef at a new restaurant at the Hotel Rivington in Manhattan, LEVANTeast.

Red Hook Pupusa Recipe (via Martha Stewart)

Earlier this week, we heard around the internet that there was a taping for a Brooklyn episode of the Martha Stewart show. Then, earlier today, the Red Hook Food Vendors posted a link to their Twitter account for the pupusa recipe below, which is featured on Martha Stewart's website. This is the recipe of Reina Soler, one of the Red Hook Food Vendors that can often be found at Brooklyn Flea.

Makes about 15 pupusas

• 1 pound masa
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 4 cups lukewarm water
• 3 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• Curtido, for serving
• Salsa de Tomate, for serving

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together masa and salt. Add water, a little bit at a time, until a soft, pliable, nonsticky dough is formed.
2. Using damp hands, form dough into 2 1/2-inch balls. Flatten each ball into a 4-inch patty and place 1/4 cup cheese in the center of each. Fold sides of patties over cheese to enclose and reshape into a ball. Flatten each ball into another 4-inch patty.
3. Preheat a griddle and lightly coat with oil. Place patties on skillet and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Serve immediately with curtido and salsa.

Image above from MarthaStewart.com

Off the Hook!: Plays by Red Hook kids

On 11/20 and 11/21, the Falconworks Artist Group will be sponsoring a theater event featuring local Red Hook youth:

"Six young playwrights, with the support of professional writers, actors, directors, and creative artists, take center stage in their own plays for an evening of funny, moving, raw, original theater."

The event will be taking place at PS 15.

Click here for more details and registration information

Falconworks Artists Group is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support and empower communities and individuals through theater that addresses personal and local issues......

Story Pirate event at PS 58 on 11/20

On Friday, 11/20, the PS58 PTA brings the Story Pirates to Brooklyn and they
are opening the event up with welcome arms to the entire community!

Details from the organizers:

For months our PS 58 kids have been busy writing stories for the Pirates
review. After reading all of our stories, the Pirates will select a sampling
of them and turn them into short plays. Each Story Pirates show is 100%
original, with the kids being the original authors each performance!
This show is NOT just for PS 58 families. We open our doors to the entire
community and welcome anyone who enjoys theater, improv, comedy and creative
art forms! The Pirates are super talented and unique. I guarantee you've
seen nothing like them! Come see what they've done with us and spread the
word. Maybe someday they can land their boats on your school shore!

$15 General tickets, pay through credit card online
Doors at 6:30 pm, show at 7 pm
http://tinyurl.com/yaaoyeo

$20 Reserved tickets, with front row seating AND dinner are available
mornings in the PS 58 school lobby only, available for the first 100
customers. Doors at 6:00 pm, show at 7 pm

Thanks to Kingfisher books, EVERY child attending this performance will
receive a Pirate book of their choice FREE.

This will be a 1 Hour show.
100% of profits go directly to the PTA to fund PS58 programs and events year
round.

PS 58: Carroll St between Court and Smith, Brooklyn NY 11231
Subway: F/G trains, Carroll stop
Bus: B71, B75

The Concrete Plant fight continues

Despite Red Hook's new concrete plant nearing completion, the neighborhood fight against it continues on.

The NY Times published an article about the struggle last week, saying:

So the plant, which is nearing completion, has spurred protests in this split-personality neighborhood. The clouds of dust stirred up could be quite literal: What mostly worries opponents are the airborne particles they say the plant will scatter to the yellow-and-blue Ikea next door, heavily used baseball fields across the street, and a 2.75-acre farm nearby on a former playground.

“There’s a certain irony that we have a mayor talking about no smoking in parks, but he has no problem allowing the construction of a concrete plant that would shower cement dust on children in the park,” said John McGettrick, a co-president of the Red Hook Civic Association.

Seven hundred people signed a petition opposing the plant, and 70 residents picketed on a rainy September day, with children in dust masks holding signs that said “Honk 4 No Cement.”

But city officials, who want to preserve factories and the jobs they provide, have declared a swath of Red Hook that includes the plant site an industrial business zone. Ikea, less than pleased, realized there was nothing it could do....

Read the rest of the article here or some Gothamist coverage here

Also be sure to check out a more detailed, neighborhood based, commentary by A View From the Hook that includes a detailed map of the area.

Freebird Party11/15: Red Hook Chickens, Six Point, and Moxie

LAST FREEBIRD PARTY OF THE YEAR!

Sunday, November 15, 2-4 pm

In conjunction with the New York Independent Book Week (not to mention the present management's 2-year anniversary), Freebird will join forces with WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint to encourage our patrons to B-61 it (along the route of the future Greenway) between neighborhoods for a sampling of Brooklyn authors and food.

Freebird will host John Bemelmans Marciano, Freebird customer and author of the recently released work, Anonyponymous. John lives in Red Hook and will be supplying free range chickens raised in his next door lot (you can see pictures of it in this NY Times article from a few months ago). The chickens will be "moxied" till they are tender and falling off the bone. And by "moxie," they mean roasting a few with a half-filled can of Moxie soda, a process was tested at the Freebird labs earlier this week (Note: Freebird is the only place in NYC to carry Moxie). Six Point beer will be on hand to wash it all down.

WORD will host the Brooklyn author/illustrator duo of Randall and Peter de Sève (who will read and sign copies of their new book Duchess of Whimsey) and offer up grilled cheese sandwiches and milk from local vendors of the Greenpoint Food Market.
---------------
Freebird interviewed their featured author, John Bemelmans Marciano, about his book and the chickens. That interview appears below:

So what is an anonyponym?

An anonyponym is an anonymous eponym. When you have a person whose name becomes a word but you never heard of that person, both the word and the person are anonyponymous. Think Jules Leotard, Charles Boycott, Etienne de Silhouette.

What were your determining factors for these words?

Anonyponyms cannot be defined absolutely, as everyone's knowledge is different. Take the case of 'hoover'. When an older person talks about hoovering something up, they do so with the knowledge that Hoover made vacuum cleaners; a younger person uses the word free of that context. The older person is using an eponym; the younger one an anonyponym.

Who didn't make the cut?

The Earl of Sandwich, who has become famous for his very obscurity.

Would "moxie" qualify?

Absolutely. A certain Lieutenant Moxie discovered a rare sugar cane-like plant in South America from which is made the near-magical elixir that is contained in each can of Moxie. Whether Lt. Moxie is real or fictitious, he is still anonyponymous.

Tell us about the chickens. What kind are they?

They are called 54-day chickens. This is a case of a breed being named after its expiration date. I don't have a word for that yet.

Were they easy to take care of?

It was a shared project, and my share had less to do with the caring part. (And even less with the eating, as I'm a vegetarian.) On the days I did have to take care of them, I would have to say no, not easy. Fifty chickens is not easy.

Would you recommend others do this?

I definitely recommend raising your own food. For myself I recommend a lot fewer chickens.

Where did they meet their fate?

At the Yeung Sun Live Poultry Market on the corner of Columbia and DeGraw.

Would you do it again?

Yes and no. I want to raise chickens again, but ones that make food, not that are food.

-------------------

Freebird Books
123 Columbia Street (between Kane and Degraw streets)
http://www.freebirdbooks.com/directions.html


Images above from NYTimes and Wikipedia

Honey, I Shrunk Red Hook video

A video has been released about the "Honey I Shrunk Red Hook" project by Luis Blackaller and Andy Cavatorta that appeared at Lucky Gallery this past August.



This art project and installation - described on Lucky's site as a little Red Hook in the big Red Hook - is such a great concept, and the video does a great job of documenting it.

Check out Lucky Gallery's site for more great installations and events.

Made in Red Hook: Yankee Confetti!!!!

Anyone attending the Yankee parade tomorrow will get sprinkled with a little something from Red Hook.....

According to NY1, local company Atlas Materials will be providing the confetti for the parade:

Atlas Materials in Red Hook, Brooklyn is donating recycled confetti strips for the celebration. They say parades these days are much more environmentally friendly than ticker-tapes of the past.

"What we're doing here today is taking 1,200 pounds of shredded, recycled paper to be delivered to the buildings of Lower Manhattan to start the process of what kind of paper should be thrown from the windows tomorrow. It will all be cleaned up by the sanitation department and recycled yet again. So this is going to be a green parade," said John Cioffi of Atlas Materials.

A video of the confetti being made at Atlas, as well other info about the parade, is over at the NY1 website here (still no embedding NY1?)