What's that sound??

On Sunday afternoon around 2pm, the sound of music was heard throughout the neighborhood, causing cars to stop in the middle of the street and people to come out of stores and apartments in awe of what was going on. But what exactly was going on....?

It was the Hungry March Band on the way to the Red Hook Jazz Fest in the Urban Meadow. They started their music in front of the Coffee Den and proceeded to march through the neighborhood to the Meadow, where they played the second slot of the concert.

Below are some videos of the craziness that ensued. A more complete collection of videos can be found on our YouTube channel









A video by RUCMA can be seen here

**Pardon my amateur video taking skills in some of these videos - i'm not used to walking backwards and chasing marching bands

Dutch Boats in the Atlantic Basin

Despite all of the events going on this weekend, I was fortunate enough to be able to catch the tail end of the Dutch Flat Bottom Boats event at the Atlantic Basin on Sunday, which was sponsored by PortSide NY. Being able to walk to the waterfront, go onto the visiting boats, and see how excited everyone was to be doing so (including the sheer joy on my son's face), confirmed that it will be great for PortSide to operate at this space and open it up to the public.

Check out some more detailed coverage and additional photos at "A View From the Hook."

Remember to vote tomorrow (9/15)!!

September 15th is primary election day, so be sure to set some time aside and go to your local polling place. There are a number of interesting competitions this year including Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, and numerous intense City Council battles.

We (the creators of the Word On Columbia St.) have decided to only make an endorsement in one of these races - the 39th City Council district, which includes the Columbia Waterfront and a number of other neighborhoods (see full map here)

Our endorsement in this race is for Brad Lander. Read our full endorsement here or check out his website here.

He is also endorsed by the NY Times, the Daily News, Congressmembers Nydia Velazquez and Jerry Nadler, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Council Member Sara Gonzales, the New York League of Conservation Voters, Citizens Union, the United Federation of Teachers, the Freelancers Union, the Metropolitan Council on Housing, Tenants PAC, and many many more. Read a more complete list here.

Thanks for the great weekend!

Thanks to everyone who made this great weekend possible! We'll be making posts over the next couple of days with some great pictures and videos from throughout the weekend, but in the meantime, we just wanted to get one picture from today's festival up and thank the following people and businesses:

House of Pizza and Calzones
Margaret Palca Bakes
The Coffee Den
and Old Brooklyn Wine and Liquor Company
(for sponsoring the Red Hook Jazz Festival today)

Carroll Gardens Association, Inc
(for putting the streetfair together yesterday)

PortSide NY
(for organizing the historic Dutch ship event that we caught the tail end of)

and all of the artists, musicians, community garden members, and local families, that dedicated their time and talent to the Art in the Gardens project and the Jazz Festival.

Jazz and Art Today!

The art in the community gardens is still up (varying end dates in each garden) so be sure to check it out soon! The Backyard Garden's tour even has a podcast that you can download to guide you through the garden, explaining some garden history and the art pieces themselves, which consist of make-believe animals that kids will enjoy.


Then today from 1:30-5:30, be sure to come by the Urban Meadow for the Red Hook Jazz Festival. The art installation there, Hydrologic, will be there to look at and enjoy during the concert. Check out a photo and the artist statement about this piece below:

Portion of Artist Statement:

Hydo+Logic confronts our bottled water habit, of which produces 1.5 million tons of plastic waste and uses 17 million barrels of oil each year. Another 5 million barrels of oil are consumed in transportation. Although many bottles are recycled, over eighty percent reside in landfills, composed of a resin that decays at an extremely slow rate. Although the bottled water industry has marketed its convenient, healthy product very well, consumers are beginning to question its environmental impact. America’s municipal water systems are thoroughly inspected and produce clean, safe water. Consequently, many people are electing to drink tap over bottled water.

Our installation will gather and assemble over 2000 disposed water bottles to be reused in the garden. Hydro+Logic will refill the bottles to provide a unique experience for its visitors. Water is ubiquitous and essential for life. It re-hydrates and cleanses the body. It is versatile and cohesive. However, we often take the molecule for granted. We rarely celebrate it transparency or its refraction of light. Hydro+Logic embraces the opportunity to showcase water’s inherent beauty. The presence of this natural, nurturing force literally and metaphorically will “fill” the emptiness of the plastic bottles.

****Pardon the appearance of the photos above, but yesterday was a rainy and hazy day. We'll try to get some clearer images of these pieces and all of the others today.******

Joao Erbetta Trio @ Jalopy tomorrow (9/11)

Local musician (and local Dad) Joao Erbetta will be playing a show at Jalopy tomorrow night at 9pm. Erbetta is a Brazilian guitar player and composer who's music can be described as an upbeat mix of Americana, Brazilian and Latin music. His latest album "The LA Sessions" was recorded live with vintage equipment in Los Angeles.

Check out his website here or myspace page here for some music samples, or check out some Youtube videos of his Trio's live performances. One of these videos can be seen right here:



Jalopy is located at 315 Columbia St.

Image above from Joao Erbetta's myspace page.

New Show at Space 414

“BUDDY LIST”

Perspectives on friendship in the age of social networking.

September 18-October 18

Curated by Nathan Lee

Opening Reception September 18, 7 - 10pm

Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY

Space 414 is pleased to present

Buddy List, an exhibition simply, and not so simply, about friendship.

Curated by Nathan Lee, the show groups sculpture, video, drawing, painting, and performance by twelve artists whose work addresses the changing nature of human relations in the age of social networking.

For more information, including a list of the artists and their work, visit Space 414's website here.

Location: 414 Van Brunt, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Urban Waterfront discussion on WNYC

WNYC featured a piece on Urban Waterfronts today, which included some discussion of the Red Hook waterfront.

Listen here:


Description from the WNYC site:

Laurie Hawkinson, an architect with Smith-Miller +Hawkinson and professor at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and Bert Hooijer, professor of applied science at Rotterdam University, discuss waterfront development in their respective cities, as part of the H209 conference surrounding the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York harbor.

The Hungry March Band

The Hungry March Band is playing at the Red Hook Jazz Festival in the Urban Meadow this weekend and we are REALLY excited!

Check out this video to get a taste of whats to come:

Art in the Gardens on 9/12 (Detailed Post)

On Saturday, 9/12, from 1-5pm, NYC Based artists will be displaying artwork in the gardens of the Columbia Waterfront neighborhood. This event falls within the timeframe of the waterfront festival, so there's no reason you can't see everything!

Confirmed artists/gardens as follows. This post will be updated as more details are confirmed, so check back over the next few days.

Backyard Garden (Hamilton Ave. and Van Brunt)
Robert Marbury
"The Urban Beast Walking Tour"
www.urbanbeast.com

Summit Garden (Summit St. and Columbia)
Eso Robinson
"Ella's Pergola"
http://ihavealwayslikedbirds.com/

Urban Meadow (President St. and Van Brunt)
Jenny Hiser and Angela Bracco
Jump Shadow Collective
“HYDRO + LOGIC: the urban watering hole”
http://jhidesign.blogspot.com/
http://designarb.blogspot.com/


…..and more TBA soon!!!!

Map of the event in relation to the waterfront festival and the greenway:


View Columbia Waterfront Gardens in a larger map