Casa de Campagna coming soon to Columbia St.

Renovations appear to be complete at the new Italian place on Columbia - which is called Casa de Campagna. There is currently a sign outside listing a number of job openings!

Brooklyn Winery to Host April 7th Greenway Benefit!

Spring is finally just around the corner, and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) is celebrating the season with a “Spring in Kings” party on Thursday, April 7^th at the new Brooklyn Winery. BGI is the 501 c 3 non-profit organization planning for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway and its long-term stewardship.

“It is our honor and pleasure to host the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway spring fundraiser,” said Brooklyn Winery co-founder Brian Leventhal. “The greenway is one of the great projects that is making Brooklyn, and more specifically Williamsburg, a better place to live. I used the bike lanes along Kent Avenue last spring and summer and I am excited to see them expanded.”

Brooklyn Winery is an urban winery based in Williamsburg that allows people to make their own wine from crushing their grapes to bottling. This unique experience includes hands-on wine making instruction from wine maker Conor McCormack. Brooklyn Winery's first house wines (Riesling, Chardonnay and Rosé) will be released this May.

The April 7^th greenway party will surely be a rousing good time, where guests will enjoy wine (of course!), house hors d’oeuvres, Brooklyn Brewery beer and live music. Brooklyn Winery’s expansive interior courtyard will also be open to celebrate the arrival of spring.

An array of unique Brooklyn-themed raffle items will be featured, including a Brooklyn Historical Society family membership, gift certificates to Brooklyn Winery and Film Biz Prop Shop, your own custom designed hat from Hats by Nadege, a bicycle necklace crafted by Karen Overton and more!

Guests will also learn about the BGI & Recycle-A- Bicycle (RAB) collaborative project engaging students from International High School in the greenway planning process. RAB bicycle jewelry, including bracelets from inner tubes, earrings & necklaces from small bicycle parts will be on sale to support this joint endeavor.

Brooklyn Winery’s unique décor was created from salvaged and reclaimed materials. Brian McCormick, BGI co-founder and Director of Development said, “After visiting the Brooklyn Winery space, we knew it would be ideal for our spring benefit. It’s warm and homey with an old world feel.”

“The bonus,” continued McCormick, “is that the Brooklyn Winery is practically a stone’s throw from the Greenway, which is a great example of the entrepreneurial vitality and vision taking root as new businesses open in neighborhoods near the Greenway route”.

“Spring in Kings” takes place Thursday, April 7^th, 6:00-9:00PM at Brooklyn Winery, 213 North 8^th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Advance tickets are $50 through April 3rd (extended from previous date of 3/31) at www.brooklyngreenway.org.

Pedestrian hit on Columbia between Carroll and Summit.

A woman was struck by a van and killed this morning on Columbia Street. The name is not currently being released.

COWNA, some elected officials, and the neighborhood as a whole have been working on getting more traffic safety on Columbia Street for the past 2 years.
But, as usual, things don't change fast enough.

Read more at Carroll Gardens Patch.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Red Hook compost pick-up program

Residents in area code 11231 have a new option for composting their kitchen scraps through this new program being put together by a local resident! Check out the information and flyer below for more info:

Red Hook Compost Pickup
Designed for residents in zip code 11231 who want to compost their food wastes, but lack:
- the time
- a place to put it
- the know-how
- all of the above
Luckily, we have all of these, plus speedy bicycles...

HOW IT WORKS:
Before things begin, we'll meet at your apartment. I will give you a couple BioBags, and we'll fgure out where to leave fresh bags each week thereafter. Then BEGINNING MON, APRIL 18 - MON NOV 21, here's the schedule:

Mon PM: leave your compost outside in a green Biobag
Tue AM: before the garbage guy appears, we snatch your compost and deliver a fresh bag
Tue-Mon PM: We let the microbes do the dirty work while we get to party!

Click flyer to open for larger view

Petition to have the salt pile removed!

As anyone living on the North end of the neighborhood knows, the salt pile is growing yet again. Some neighborhood residents have begun to circulate a petition, one of many efforts to have the pile removed over the past several years. Please read and sign the petition here:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/removethesaltpile/

In the past, the uncovered salt pile has been known to blow salt around the neighborhood leaving a film of salt on cars, in yards, and on windows. It also causes a lot of noise throughout the night as workers unload salt onto the pile.

Image above from the petition site.

Spring Tumbling at Everyday Athlete

If your child hasn't tried it yet, this is the time!!

From 18 months to 12 years old, there is a program for every age and every level.

Click here to register and find out more.

And little bonus, for all you alumni, if you refer a friend you get a discounted massage gift certificate!!

Tomorrow: The first ever Child Grows in Brooklyn Baby Expo!!!

Here it is, brought to you by the amazing peeps at A Child Grows in Brooklyn:

Here’s what to expect: (all free with admission)

• Peep (the PBS character) will greet you along with my favorite “in the know” kids club: Kids Club Thirteen
• You can sign up for one of our fabulous seminars (even though the Sleep Seminar is sold out, Soho Parenting is doing sleep seminars throughout the day)
• Shop ’til you drop: strollers galore (some with expo discounts), kids’ clothes, toys, baby bedding, jewelry, bottles, furniture!
• See: CPR, choking demos, how to make baby and toddler food, how to do a wrap carrier, how to cloth diaper!
• Learn: about breastfeeding, how to organize your home, how to soothe a baby, how to give a bath, what a doula is, and ahh….sleep!
• Get help: on how to install a car seat, choose a stroller, pre and post-natal conditions, on sex pre/post baby, discipline, how to make your wardrobe work!
• Pamper: get blow-outs, makeup help, mini manicures, try out fitness and yoga classes, get fitted for a bra, munch and drink all day on catered fare!

For your children (if you have one or two!- otherwise just check it all out)

• Baby Yoga and Tummy Time from GoGo Babies
• First lock cuts and hair cuts with Mini Max Toys and Cuts
• Playroom full of eco-friendly B. Toys
• Nail art with nontoxic Piggy Paint polish and Polish Bar Brooklyn
• Shopping for toys and clothes

***And everyone gets a free subscription from Time Out New York Kids. There’s free car, stroller and check parking all day!

We haven’t run out of our awesome gift bags yet but hurry, they are only for the first 250 families who register! The bags from Lulu’s Cuts and Toys are full of fabulous finds from the coolest DVDs for kids by Wee See and Eebee’s and life-saving products from Boiron, Boon, giggle, Ruckus, Seventh Generation and snacks from Happy Baby, Belly Bar, Soyjoy, Calnaturale and lots more.

It all takes place in the beautiful LEED certified building, Toren- where you can cozy in their mod library for a seminar and try yoga and fitness classes in their studio or just enjoy the views from the Expo penthouse floors!

Click here to register.

Support Liberty Green by signing the petition

DISCLAIMER: The text below comes from the Liberty Sunset Garden Center, not WOCS. Please read it and judge for yourself whether it is worth signing. The statement released by the landlord in response can be read here.
---------------
Due to devastating economic instability, Liberty Green NY Inc. can no longer financially afford to remain at its present location on Pier 41 and must vacate on March 31, 2011 or before. It hopes to find a new location so that its remarkable collection of plants, trees and flowers can survive along with its educational and environmental programs.

Friends of Liberty Green NY Inc. and residents of Red Hook and surrounding communities, are asking that Liberty Green NY INC. be granted an extension till May 31, 2011 to find an available and suitable new location where it can continue to serve Red Hook and the Brooklyn community as a whole.

So follow this link to support them.

Urban Meadow CSA registration is open for the 2011 season!

The Urban Meadow Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA) is pleased to announce share availability for the 2011 season, which will run from the first Saturday in June through the last Saturday in October. If you're interested, please hurry and get in contact, because we expect slots to fill up quickly!

The cost of a share is $450 for the season and includes a delivery of vegetables each week from Ant Hill farm. Please note that a small number of subsidized shares are available. Inquire about membership or any other details using the links and information below.

Check out the new Urban Meadow CSA website here for more information.

The membership flyer link, including contact info, is here

Info on our partner farm is here

The new Urban Meadow CSA twitter account is here

And finally, more info on CSAs can be found here at Just Food's website

Columbia Street Greenway Clean-up - March 12th

Please join Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and their friends at Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association for the first monthly clean-up of the year along the Columbia Street segment of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Tools and gloves provided, all ages welcome! Meet at Brooklyn Greenway Initiative’s office, 145 Columbia Street, on Saturday, March 12th. Clean-up runs 10:00AM-12:00PM.

To RSVP or for more info contact Brian at bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.