Stumblebum Brass / When Clouds Clear @ Space 414 tomorrow

Lucky Gallery will be hosting an event tomorrow evening (10/16) in the garden of Space 414, featuring a film screening of the documentary "When Clouds Clear" and a musical performance by the Stumblebum Brass Band.

Check at more details at Lucky Gallery's site here and here

A trailer for the movie is here:



And a sample live performance by Stumblebum is here:

ARToberfest 2009: Fall Open Studio Tour

The Fall edition of the Carroll Gardens and Red Hook Open Studio Tour will be taking place on 10/24 from 11am-6pm. Check out the official site for more details, including a map of the studios that will be uploaded after October 15th.

"It Don't Pay..." Film Screening recap

On Sunday evening, a larger than expected crowd gathered in the empty lot next to Freebird Books to watch the movie "It Don't Pay to be an Honest Citizen." The movie was filmed in and around the neighborhood 25 years ago, and serves as a rare moving image account of what the neighborhood looked like in those days. Despite what turned out to be one of the coldest Autumn evenings this year so far, the crowd stuck it out until the end, laughing and clapping throughout.

After the film, Director Jacob Burckhardt spoke about the film, the neighborhood back then, and answered questions posed by audience members. Several local residents who appeared in the film and still live in the area also came out to the event and reunited.

Some audience members were unfortunately left standing, but stuck it out nonetheless. On the screen in the image above, the main character Warren yells down to the street below from his Woodhull st. apartment.


Some audience members brought their own dinners or drinks (including candle lighting and a tablecloth in one case)


After the film, Director Jacob Burckhardt and Freebird propietor Peter Miller discuss where some of the film locations were, and what remains or has replaced the buildings in each.

Burckhardt reunites with local residents who appeared in the film 25 years later.
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The NYTimes also wrote a piece on this event, and their camera and writing are admittedly much better than ours. Check out the post here.

Friday, Oct 16: Harvest Day celebration at PS 29

Harvest Day Celebration at PS 29

Friday, October 16, 2009
8:40 AM-3:00 PM

On Friday, October 16, Public School 29, in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, will celebrate locally grown food in honor of World Food Day.

Come enjoy a wonderful array of special activities planned for our community including outdoor activity stations (weather permitting):

• A fabulous fall lunch menu that includes fresh produce from Greenmarket and hand-picked fresh lettuce and basil by the students, from the PS 29 Children’s Garden;
  
• A presentation by farmer and land steward Scott Chaskey of the Peconic Land Trust’s Quail Hill organic community farm;
  
• Followed by Tom Chapin, Grammy Award-winning musician, entertainer, singer, songwriter and storyteller. In his set is his brand- new, unreleased, song entitled, Locally Grown, Locally Eaten!

Harvest Day Activities will include:

• Vegetable prints – Art
• Planting in recycled plastic cups/bottles – Science
• Drawings and letters to Federal lawmakers who are reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act; children will be given the opportunity to draw or write about the items they would like to see more of on their lunch tray — Political Action and Community Service
• Beekeeper Q&A/Honey tasting with Brooklyn rooftop beekeeper Megan Paska –Science
• Apple comparisons and taste tests of NY state varieties
• Local cheese taste tests generously provided by Stinky Bklyn, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn cheese proprietor
• (Live) Chicken observation Q&A with local Cobble Hill chicken raiser Martha Lazar – Science
• Hay bales obstacle course – Physical Education
• Composting and worms – Science
• Diversity Committee read-aloud - Literacy
• Farm Animals activity Science
  

For further information, please contact Emily Freund, PS 29 Garden/Food and Farming Coordinator, at PS29Garden@gmail.com; Melanie Renari Woods, Principal, at 718.330.9277; or Nina Chan Jalowayski, Parent Coordinator, at PS29PC@gmail.com or 646.812.0184.

PS 29 is located at 425 Henry Street Brooklyn, NY 11201

More BQE Lead Paint Removal info

Earlier this week we posted about the the Lead Paint Removal process currently taking place on the BQE (with info provided to us by one of our readers).

Other sites around the internet have also posted about this topic this week, and we thought it would be worthwhile to point readers to those articles as this is an issue of community concern:

Brownstoner: Concerns Over BQE Lead Paint Removal
Lost City: Are B.Q.E. Lead Shacks Poisoning Carroll Gardens?
NYTimes City Room:The Mystery of Those Metal Units over the B.Q.E.

Please let us know if you have any more info or encounter other worthwhile articles.

“FIND” Your Way to the Greenway Party on 10/29

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) is partnering with FIND Home Furnishings for a fall benefit to support the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Join fellow greenway supporters on Thursday, October 29^th, 7:00-10:00PM for food, drink, music and raffle prizes! There will be plenty of room to spread out and raise spirits and funds for the Greenway over drinks & hors d’oeuvres from local restaurants, along with live jazz music in FIND's new Brooklyn home – a 10,000 square foot showroom at 9th Street and the Gowanus Canal. Don't miss your chance to win one of many raffle items from local businesses, including gift certificates to FIND Home Furnishings, all while supporting the implementation of the Greenway.

Tickets ($25 per person, or $40 for two) are available at http://brooklyngreenway.org/brooklyn-greenway-fall-fundraiser-2009.htm. For more information, call 718.522.0193.

Ultimate Burgers and Dogs

Walking down Degraw St. over the weekend, we noticed that a new restaurant called "Ultimate Burgers and Dogs" has opened in the old Chickory space.

Their menu boasts a wide selection of variations on the hot dog and hamburger themes, including a Korean BBQ Burger (for $7.75) with kimchi, egg, and Korean BBQ sauce, or a Tex-Mex Hot Dog(for $4.50) with chipotle peppers, pickled onions, guacamole, and sour cream, among many others. There are also a wide variety of toppings, condiments, sides, and other items to choose from, as well as a breakfast menu.

I've always loved the look and location of this space, so its great to see something back up and running in it.

Considering the low prices and wide variety of interesting choices, this is bound to be a hit for families with kids, burger and hot dog lovers, and more. The only thing that seems to be lacking is vegetarian friendly choices.

We can't wait to try it!

Check out their website here.

Octoberfest Celebration at Human Compass Garden - Oct 24

5th Annual Red Hook Harvest Festival

The 5th Annual
Red Hook Harvest Festival
Saturday, October 24th
10:00am - 4:00pm
At the Red Hook Community Farm

Here's how the email blast from Added Value describes the event:

JOIN US FOR A CELEBRATION OF YOUTH AND COMMUNITY!
Last year's event was an incredible success, with over 3,300 people in
attendance, delicious foods, and incredible performances. Join us again this
year-- bring friends and family!

Of course we’ll have our Pumpkin path again this Year! Lots of Kids
activities including Face Painting and Live Animals to pet! an expanded Farmers
Market! Music! and Educational Activities! All highlighting our work to build a
stronger, health more vibrant New York.

Great Food will be provided by the Good Fork, iCi, Rice, Kevin’s, the Angel
Family and Cynthia’s Soul Food Kitchen.

Motor Inn Romance (via Lost City)

Lost City made a post yesterday about the Brooklyn Motor Inn after seeing an ad for it at the Cobble Hill Cinema:

I've always thought it a curious location for a motel.....But I always suspected it was there for businessmen who had business in the area, folks who drove in, took their meeting, slept and drove out.

Apparently not. I was taking in a film at Cobble Hill Cinemas when, prior to preview, an ad for the Brooklyn Motor Inn appeared on the screen. It showed a picture of a lovey-dovey couple next to the caption, "Isn't it time for a little romance?"

Ah. So are they renting rooms by the hour, now? Honestly. Romance? The Brooklyn Motor Inn?

I must say I've always found it a curious location as well, and also assumed it was primarily for people doing business in the area, truck drivers, or other non-vacationers. Has anyone ever put up visiting family or friends there - or took it even further and gone there for a little romance? Either way, the Motel does contribute to our neighborhood's character and I would like to see that advertisement!

Also worth noting is that Lost City's image above doesn't show the hotel's view of the Battery Tunnel, the BQE, and the anti-pedestrian nature of the streets around it that result from these roadways.

Image from Lost City