Enjoy an evening out or some time alone at home!
Everyday Athlete Kids is offering a drop off session that includes arts and crafts, tumbling, dancing, games, and more, that you child will enjoy. Drinks, snacks and a pizza dinner is included, too!
Friday Feb 13 and Saturday Feb 14 from 6 pm to 9pm: 3 hours to do whatever!
Price: $35 per child
Sibling: $15
Suggested age: 4+
To register call 347-529-6377 or email info@everydayathletestudio.com
What are your plans for Valentine's Day? If you have a special spot you would like to share, feel free to email us and tell us all about it!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Update on the closing of LeNell's
Despite reports by some sites that LeNell's (the famed liquor store on Van Brunt) is closed as of this past weekend, it turns out that the end date is more likely to be late February or early March and that she is still looking for a new space, rather than moving to London, as was also rumored.
Read more details over at Eater.
Read more details over at Eater.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Freebird Books digs up Columbia St. history
Local store Freebird books recently posted a great history of Columbia St. on their blog, which they got by digging through old Brooklyn Eagle clippings from the Brooklyn Public Library. Here's a snippet of their post:
One hundred and twenty two years ago (almost to the day), an intrepid Eagle reporter going by the byline "E.R.G." traveled the length of Columbia on a comparably chilly day. What he recorded was a bit of a flourish, a mix of poesy and taxonomy, but it does serve as a counterpoint to what the street became, and what was lost after Robert Moses dropped the BQE in our midst, containerization made stevedoring obselete, and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel split Red Hook into two.
To compare the present Columbia St. with the historic one in this article, they also shot video while driving along the Northern and Southern ends of Columbia St (the Northern side now Columbia Place)
I highly recommend reading Freebird's whole post here and seeing these videos in the context of the street's history that they discuss.
The local Lost Tunnel and a possible buried train
I first learned about the "Lost Tunnel" by coming across a piece of paper on a wall in Red Hook that said something along the lines of "Want to explore a lost tunnel underneath Atlantic Avenue? Call this number?" ***
Then, one day some weeks later, I was walking along Court St. towards Atlantic Avenue and saw people (who were not in uniform) crawling into a manhole, which presumably led down into the tunnel, peaking my interest even further.
While I haven't had a chance to call the number or go on a tour yet, I did come across a recent article on Yournabe.com which not only says there may be a DVD coming out about the tunnel soon, but also that the tunnel tour guide, Bob Diamond, thinks that there is a buried steam engine somewhere in the tunnel near Columbia Street. Whoa!
It also turns out that there is another tour of the tunnel, which runs under Atlantic between Court and Hicks, this Sunday, 1/25/08. If you're interested in checking out a lost tunnel under Atlantic Avenue, call 718 941 3160!
In the meantime, check out the article mentioned above as well as the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association's website.
***This isn't the real wording of the sing, but is just based on my memory of it many months later
Picture above from the BHRA website
CB6 Public Safety and Environmental Protection Meeting on 1/26
| Jan 26 Pub Safety/Env Prot/Licenses/Permits | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| P.S. 15 - The Patrick Daly School 71 Sullivan Street (Van Brunt/Richards Streets) Brooklyn, NY 11231 | |||||||||
| 6:30 PM Go to the CB 6 website for more info | |||||||||
Better jobs and greener ports go hand in hand
Living in a neighborhood that contains one of the last working ports in NYC raises a lot of issues, including truck traffic, pollution, and public access to the waterfront. However, people often overlook the positives of ports when talking about this, such as the fact that the ports employ many more people than any other business in the neighborhood and bring in so many of the goods that we consume. This is good for us and the rest of the city!
That being said, one of the best things we can do for both the community and port workers (pretty much a best of both worlds) is to urge our elected officials to pass regulation in the port industry that requires that port workers be treated as full time employees, rather than independent contractors, so that they can receive better pay and have higher incentives to drive cleaner, more environmentally friendly trucks.
An article in yesterday's Daily News by Jerrold Nadler and Andrea Batista Schlesinger explains this much better than I ever could, and I strongly urge everyone to read it. I also suggest that people look into work that the Drum Major Institute, which Andrea Batista Schlesinger is the Director of, has done on this topic.
While some comments at the end of the recent CB6 meeting regarding the fate of Atlantic Basin made one think that community residents and the port are at odds with each other, policy suggestions like this make me truly believe that things can be done in a way that works for all stakeholders involved
The Red Hook launches.....off Wards Island?
I don't know whether local residents should take this as a compliment or an insult, but the DEP has named its newest sludge (aka sewage or human waste) carrying vessel The Red Hook. And to top it off, they didn't hold the ceremony for the newly commissioned boat here - they did it at Ward's Island.
On a more positive note, NY's waterways seem to be cleaner than they've been in at least 100 years, in part thanks to vessels like these and the water treatment plants they service.
If you have an interest in learning what happens to your waste after you flush it or a history of sludge in NYC waterways, then I highly recommend checking out this NYTimes article about the new boat. Here's a snippet:
The Red Hook is the third active vessel in the department’s marine fleet, which transports more than two million gallons of sludge per day. The vessel is more than 350 feet long, about 53 feet wide and slightly more than 21 feet deep. Its eight storage tanks can accommodate 150,000 cubic feet, or about 1.2 million gallons, of sludge. The vessel weighs more than 2,098 tons and is designed to travel at 12.75 knots, or about 15 miles per hour.
Has this been profiled on the tv show Dirty Jobs yet? Major respect and thanks goes to the crews of these boats and the workers of the water treatment plants for keeping our waterways clean!
Picture above from the DEP, via the NYTimes City Room Blog
This weekend @ Brooklyn Botanica
Brooklyn Botanica
220 Conover (@ Coffey St)
Friday Jan. 23rd
220 Conover (@ Coffey St)
Friday Jan. 23rd
Vinyl source 24bit/96khz recordings from every continent and some outlying islands. To get an idea of what this means, read the list of examples belowbelow.
Saturday Jan. 24th
Saturday Jan. 24th
Live Jazz by
Martin Kelly Trio
http://www.brooklynbotanica.Martin Kelly Trio
---------------
Examples for 1/23: Amazonia Cult Music of Northern Brasil, Anthology of African life Congo Vol. 1, Aretha Franklin, Bengal Minstrel Music, Bonobo, Bunzu Sounds, Cal Tjader, Cantos Castenos, Django Reinhardt, Donovan, Fela Kuti, Flavio Kurt, Franco and his all powerful OK Jazz, Fruko y sus Tesos, Gang Gang Dance, Grant Green, Gun Court Dub, Harlem River Drive, Herbie Hancock, Koop, Leadbelly, Lipa Kodi Ya City Council, Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, Ofo, Orchestre Regional de Keyes, Pliers, Revolutionaires, Romanthony, Roots Dub, Roy Ayers, Sebata Sebata, Smif n Wessun, Songstress, Syl Johnson, Tamrat Ferendji, Tito Puente, Tom Tom Club, Underground Resistance, Wallias Band.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Happy Inauguration Day!
While the most local option is the event at Coffee Den (starting now), there are some other events nearby this morning and throughout the day.
Brooklyn Paper has a good list here.
Enjoy everyone! I'll be watching from my computer at work.
Brooklyn Paper has a good list here.
Enjoy everyone! I'll be watching from my computer at work.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Snowy Weekend
Just in case you don't get out of the house today, here's what the streets look like (shots taken from Union, Columbia, and President)
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