Brooklyn Born

Photo Wednesday 5/15/13 : Political Illumination Edition

2013-05-15T15:27:00.001-04:00

Golden Swatch of Brooklyn Borough Hall, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

Golden Swatch of Brooklyn Borough Hall

Brooklyn: It Ain't Where Ya From It's Where Ya At.

2013-05-13T11:05:00.001-04:00

"It's funny how money changes situations."

That line (which is opening lyric of Lauren Hill's) doesnt really express what I meant, what I'm thinking is it's funny when diverse sides of issues get broken down into their extreme aspects and then those extreme aspects are positioned against each other.

"Can it be that it was all so simple?"

Brooklyn was simple (wasn't it) just twenty years ago. It was the sample place it is now, rich with history (the Revolutionary War and Brooklyn Dodgers had still happened here, despite it being the Brooklyn of twenty years ago) but back then Brooklyn was so simple to peg into a whole.

It was full of beauty, Brownstones and Botanic Gardens, and danger; Brownsville shootings, beef fed beat-downs and random robberies at best. Taxi's? No, never. Had no restaurants. This was of course a judgement made by the Manhattan minded and dwelling. So did we have restaurants? By those standards nope. The restaurants in the borough went largely unseen and those visible from across the river (River Cafe & Peter Luger's) didn't belong to the Brooklyn geography they occupied (hell River Cafe is ON the river) a Micheline starred restaurant may brush up against Brooklyn suggestively in those days, but occupy, heavens no. If you wanted cheap rent and long commute and the implied danger from topics listed above, you went to Brooklyn. Once in a while a concert grew in Brooklyn that non-Brooklynites and some locals would be needlessly be nervous about attending. There was a college, somewhere, that was decent for art, or music, or science or occasionally an NCAA Basketball bracket. Which is how people I spoke with described Pratt, Brooklyn College & LIU respectively.

Basically Brooklyn was simply thought of back in the day. It wasn't a simple place it just conjured simple impressions, which lead usually to simplistic and short conversations.

Today much real estate, printed, virtual, and physical is given to the great discussion of Brooklyn, and what that means, should me, did mean, will mean. Damn B your therapy bills must be crazy.

New York Magazine ran this article with the cover copy "Brooklyn is Finished" written by Mark Jacobson back in Autumn and I wanted to tack on my comments to the piece, in this blog. It didnt bother me that I never got to it because the article in my opinion didn't need my two cents or anything it stands in my mind as the best expression of what Brooklyn was through differing eras, what it became, where it is now, and what stays unique and constent about this place.

A friend sent me this article "The Ins and Outs" written (I presume) by some of the many talented and encamped J-School grads that are easy to find around Frankin Avenue's Crown Heights these days. It's a good micro focused piece reflecting the dynamic causality and impact of large scale gentrification in the short period of time that has passed. It's very good too.

And on Friday the Grey Lady herself dedicated much space and writing talent to this piece, titled Brooklyn, the Remix: A Hip Hop Tour. Also a great piece which seems in part inspired by this art piece (in which a variant of street artist, fabricated faux street signs with classic location specific hiphop lyrics written on then, and then the artists mounts those street signs on existing poles in the name-checked neighborhoods and streets. Many of those streets have since dramatically changed often for the lifestyle betterment of some, so there is an added contrast & impact of the installations.

Personally I want to imagine a creative coup within the Grey Lady led by writers who live in the borough and had grown weary of under-informed pieces written about Brooklyn, published in her name, I'm looking at you Real Estate section. But I digress.

The New York Times piece covers various Hip Hop landmarks and emotional sign posts of their own, around the Borough. There's mention of old Sarah J. Hale nicknamed Sarah Jail because of it's often less than civil students, which is on a stretch of dean street that is now tony and gentrified. There's a reference to the Plaza movie theater on Flatbush near Park Place which became the Plaza Twin, then the Pavilion and finally now, an American Apparel store. In the article the person who invokes the movie theater reflects with irony that he say "Do The Right Thing" in that spot.

It's a testiment to the lightning rod that Franklin Avenue has become, the 180º turn around it's undergoinf that all three pieces make references to Franklin in the case of the New York Mag article it was where the writter's grandmother lived some 50 years before code words like "Craft Beer" & "Artisanal" became synonymous with Franklin.

I was sucked into the online New York Times comments following their article. One comment by a reader going by "IRS" seemed to whine a lament, writing:

I am getting sick of articles like these. I understand the nostalgia with how life "used to be" in NYC. My neighborhood is the epicenter for some of my favorite hip hop. I get it. What people fail to acknowledge is that their NYC of the past is just a blip on the overall story of the city as a whole. This city has changed EVERY DAY, since its inception hundreds of years ago, and that is what makes it so beautiful.

People need to stop complaining and holding on to some rosy memory of what NYC "was," because "it" isn't coming back... Furthermore, those same people clamoring for the city to go back to its "gritty" days, that so many yearn for, are the same people who will complain the most when all of the street crime returns right along with it and they're afraid to walk down the street without looking over their shoulders.

It is time NYC to get over it and move on. Our city will be better for it.

I find that comment interesting because I hear it alot. It's one thing to say the past does and doesn't matter, but I'm impressed by the amount of residents ( I presume them to be new) who think it's time for people to stop having reminiseces. What an intersting suggestion, thought policing.

The conversation of this moment's Brooklyn is only halfway finished. Obviously the borough, city, country and much of the world will go on changing whether we like it, want it or not.

I think the impetus for all the dialogue is most eras take longer to switch and show visible signs. I myself often write that all these changes clearly started back in the late 70's right after the smoke cleared from the looting aftermath of 77's blackout. But the speed of change in Brooklyn, has been blinding and that's why we can't stop talking about it, besides all the other details that go into the conversation. The way a magic trick or lightning is fascinating and elicits fascinated analysis is partially because in the blink of an eye it's so dynamically different. And in Brooklyn the focus and who different groups are impacted is so extreme. There really was no breather before or after the crack era. Brooklyn was not much different that the rest of the city in 1970. By 1980 there were more extreme differences. By 1990 more so and by 2003 you could wallpaper your studio apartment with articles proclaiming Brooklyn the new Manhattan. By 2013 on some streets it is.

It's the change, its the speed, it's the cultural and socially effected and disconnected.

Basically, no one cared enough to think as deeply and consistently as people do now about Brooklyn. But I thought the NY Mag article and the NY Times HipHop remix article does a great job of pointing out a key detail of the neverending Brooklyn discussion. It's not that we want to go back to the gritty days specifically, its not that we want to close the artisanal cheese shops, its that we dont want to be resigned to the past, and a negative one at that, while we continue to live here. We who were in Brooklyn lived and exprienced like everyone else and in some cases we mined and polished social and culutral riches that are exploited and enjoyed today, in our borough and we wonder if the way we were generally ignored back then isn't happening now.

Nobody wants to be forgotten or ignored, especially not while we're still here.

And now I found what I was tying to say through the poetry often born of these Brooklyn streets.

Planet, Earth, was my place of birth
Born to be the soul controller of the universe
Besides the part of the map I hit first
Any environment I can adapt when it gets worst
The rough gets goin, the goin gets rough
When I start flowin, the mic might bust
The next state I shake from the power I generate
People in Cali used to think it was earthquakes
Cause times was hard on the Boulevard
So I vote God and never get scarred and gauled
But it seems like I'm locked in hell
Lookin over the edge but the R never fell
A trip to slip cause my Nikes got grip
Stand on my own two feet and come equipped
Any stage I'm seen on, or mic I fiend on
I stand alone and need nothin to lean on
Going for self with a long way to go
So much to say but I still flow slow
I come correct and I won't look back
Cause it ain't where you're from, it's where you're at
Even the (ghetto)

-Rakim

Community Board 8 (Crown Heights) Meeting tonight 6:30 Topic: Rezoning!

2013-05-09T18:15:00.000-04:00

UPDATE The community board 8 has voted unanimously to approve the current rezoning proposal, however its important to note that the current propsoal is essentially a draft and changes can be made to it.
One of the main changes requested by the residents who spoke is that the voluntary option included in the current plan (allowing developers to decide whether or not to provide affordable housing) be changed to mandatory.
Also during the meeting the new Commanding Officer of the 77th Precinct was introduced, he and his family are long term residents of Crown Heights which is covered by the 77th.

Additional issues discussed during the meeting included permissions for new and existing food establishments and votes for board positions.

My twitter feed @BklynBornBlog has details posted as the rezoning issue was being discussed.

Posted at 6p (prior to voting)

I'm positing exactly the text from the I Love Franklin Avenue Blog just to spread the word quickly about tonight's community board meeting to discuss rezoning in Crown Heights.

I wanted to write a detailed post about the pros and cons of the discussion, but here's my super-condensed opinion. Landmarking is good for Crown Heights. It will promote more of what long term residents truly want in the neighborhood, while being less invasive a process than some long time residents seemed to believe (based on the community meeting I attended, held on April 16th).

Come on out if you're in the hood. Speak up, make your voice heard.

UPDATE After attending the meeting, I came to the belief that the plan should be adjusted to make developers requirement to provide affordable housing mandatory instead of voluntary.

Crown Heights has proven itself to be a desired money maker for developers. In my opinion and in light of the facts that voluntary inclusion options provide very poor results, I believe developers don't need incentives to build they need restrictions to keep them from excluding exactly the type of working class taxpayers that have been the heart of Crown Heights for decades.

From I Love Franklin ave Blog:

Community Board 8 holds its public hearing on the proposed rezoning of "Crown Heights West" tonight at 7pm. Complete info is copied from their website below.

The Crown Heights West Rezoning proposal will be discussed for the third time at CB 8's Housing/ULURP Committee meeting on Thursday May 2, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at CenterLight Health Systems/CNR, 727 Classon Ave @ Park Place.
Written comments are invited and can be faxed ahead to the Board office at 718-778-2979, or emailed to info@brooklyncb8.org.
The Public Hearing on the proposal will be held Thursday, May 9, 2013 during the regularly scheduled full Board meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. The meeting willl be held at Berean Missionary Baptist Church, 1635 Bergen Street, corner of Rochester Avenue.
*******

The Department of City Planning announced on March 18, 2013 that it is moving ahead with the process to contextually rezone a portion of western Crown Heights, at the request of Community Board 8. The proposed rezoning will encompass 55 blocks with the aim of preserving their historic character, promoting affordable housing and improving retail in the area. The goal of zoning will establish limits for building height and commercial areas; it will also offer incentives for affordable housing development along Franklin and Bedford avenues. ”The rezoning of western Crown Heights builds on our commitment to protecting the character of Brooklyn’s distinctive residential neighborhoods,” said Commissioner Amanda Burden in a prepared statement.

“This comprehensive rezoning proposal, developed in close consultation with the community and elected officials, will reinforce the neighborhood’s historic brownstone and row house blocks. It will also ensure new development is appropriately scaled along the area’s transit rich corridors and provides opportunities for affordable housing in select locations.” Community Board 8 has 60 days to review the proposal. Then it goes on to other City agencies. A map of the proposed rezoning is on the jump below, or you can view it on the City Planning website. To view the entire presentation and not just the overview of the project, click here.
To also download the Environmental Assessment Statement, and get additional information on the Crown Heights West Re-zoning Proposal, you can view it here. (Please note that it is a large document that takes a while to load.)

Crown Heights Rezoning Overview [NYC City Planning]

Photo Wednesday 5/8/13 : CosPlay Edition

2013-05-08T17:00:00.001-04:00

Creative CosPlay @ BBG Sakura Matsuri 2013, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

It's fun that CosPlay has found an annual home in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Sakura Matsuri Festival.

I have so many great pics from that day I can fill a year of Wednesdays with them.

Costumed escapism can be so much fun.

How are YOU not like yourself?

Via Flickr:
BBG Sakura Matsuri 2013

Soul of Brooklyn 2013 Begins with Brooklyn adoptees Les Nubians & Blitz The Ambassador

2013-05-05T04:03:00.000-04:00

Les Nubians @ Fulton Park in Brooklyn Sat May 4th, 2013 Photo: BrooklynBorn

"Soul of Brooklyn" 2013 a cultural program of the of MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts) began with a Afropolitan Block Party in Bedford-Stuyvesant concluding Saturday night with a free live concert by international recording artists Les Nubians and Ghanian recording artist, Hip-Hop lyricist and nearly one man band Blitz The Ambassador. All recent residents of Brooklyn. They were backed by a dynamite actual band of brass and musical brawn.

Despite some technical hiccups which set back the start of the show (the well worn soundcheck phrase "HeyYup" offered often through the troubleshooting by a man wearing a "M.I.T." sweatshirt was both titillating, tedious and will ring in some parts of ears forever.)

Blitz led the concert, taking the assembled hundreds on a "flight" through his personal African Diaspora view through family gatherings, and governmental collapse. The sound-expedition was interwoven with bombastic lyrics, familial recollections and pan-genre musicality.

Les Nubians' set flowed from a song with Blitz. Stepping out from the collaboration Les Nubian offered to take the crown on a cultural journey through their brand of soulful R&B which made them international chart climbers with hits like "Makeba". Blitz took back to the stage amping an already swaying crowd into full on celebration and a good ol' fashion three count dance lesson.

Blitz The Ambassador @ Fulton Park in Brooklyn Sat May 4th, 2013 Photo: BrooklynBorn

Under the Blitz's influence hundreds swayed left, right and left again turning one of Bed-Stuy's most accessible parks (being bracketed by the Utica A/C station) into a classic house party stirring the chilly Spring night with the homegrown social warmth renown throughout the Diaspora.

The concert & cultural season is just starting so check with Soul of Brooklyn, Celebrate Brooklyn & SummerStage to stay in the know!

Photo Wednesday 05/01/13: Plant Sale Edition!

2013-05-01T14:08:00.000-04:00

May 1st and April's showers, delivered!

Today's Photo Wednesday comes courtesy of the very photogenic Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I couldn't stop taking pics of the tulips, they're amazing!

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is also having a PLANT SALE TODAY & TOMORROW 5/2 so don't delay get on down and get some of the best most beautiful flora from the experts.

There's also a LOT of cherry blossoms and early roses in bloom too. Enjoy!

Crown Heights, a tale of two cities at least

2013-04-30T09:55:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Facebook I've learned of an episode of gunfire in Crown Heights on Crown St. near Utica Avenue which makes it the Eastern side of Crown Heights to some or as long term residents would recognize the part of Crown Heights furthest from the warm glow of the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

Yesterday I learned from reading the IloveFranklinAve blog of a shooting that wounded a man on Franklin Ave & St Johns Place.

Two shootings in one area in less than a week may very well provoke the worn conversation among new comers of whether Crown Heights is "going back" to something dangerous and negative. I hate that conversation. it's simplistic, reactionary not supported by facts and I hate the what it implies and what the conversation omits, namely that for some crown heights residents hard times never ended.

Crown Heights is a large area. It measures two miles long by a mile. Part of it is seeing a boom of new activity shops that were redundant are having their rents raised by their owners in the hopes of attracting the next artisanally prepared cash cow. Vacant spaces are being cleaned up for the same in the areas around Franklin, Bedford & Nostrand Avenues. Personally I think the new consumer options are great and the process by which their made unfortunate and sometimes unfair.

This past weekend while enjoying the sun and sounds of teens playing in Brower Park on Brooklyn Avenue near Prospect Place I noticed across the street on the wall of a school annex a mural created in 2009 by high school students and the non-profit Groundswell dedicated to the problem of gun-violence. Gun violence never stopped being a problem for many in Crown Heights.

Despite all the fuss about things of relative little consequence like bike parking spaces, there are people in Crown Heights who are working class, and spend much of their time trying to make ends meet in a section of the neighborhood that doesn't get the New York Times and New York Magazine coverage so generously bestowed on the Crown Heights just one mile west.

Meanwhile on commercial strips like Kingston and Utica Avenues (between St. Johns & Atlantic) there is nearly the opposite situation with some addresses looking ready to collapse under the weight of time and disregard.

It's nearly a tale of two cities. Go ahead, google "Crown Heights Shooting" see which comes up first and which has more listings. The Franklin Ave shooting barely comes up. I doubt that's the story anyone wants to tell of gentrified Franklin Ave. The story of the shooting near Utica Ave is hard to miss.

You have one Crown Heights where owners decide to unleash building improvements and investment spurring increases in city services, police protection, beautification, bike racks and the other where many commercial and rental owners haven't made investment possibly because they're waiting for a community different from the current one, to take root. This is a big part of why it's destructive and simplistic to sub-divide Brooklyn neighborhoods as has been commonly done and at a hyper rate for the last ten years. Once there was Crown Heights. Now there is Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and there appears to be attempts at making distinctions between West & East Crown Heights. Before I drag out my soap box to shout about the past when a resident didn't need geographical distinctions to the name of their neighborhood, because they knew their neighborhood, I'll bring up what I think the bigger issue is. Changing the name of the "improved" part of a neighborhood only increases the likelihood that the "unimproved" part of the neighborhood won't get better.

Imagine braking your leg and rather than give aid to it, you cut it off. That's what happens if points East of Kingston Avenue (to pick a street) become unhinged from Washington, Classon & media daring Franklin Avenues. Separating one part of Crown Heights from the other means separating the stories that are told of those places, and those stories become the public realities. So shooting on Franklin get's a certain type of media attention if for no other reason than it's contrary to the expectations now existing (and reported) for Franklin Avenue. While a shooting near Utica is reported as the same old song.

The conversation I've heard after almost every violent crime is committed in this neighborhood of over 150,000 people is "Is it going back?!?" The reality is there are a lot of people who never got to go forward.

Crown Heights will have occasional violent episodes, just like most New York City does. Those tragedies when they occur will less a harbinger of new comer doom than a sign that long term residents are still struggling in crisis.

THIS WEEKEND - Cherry Blossom Festival/Sakura Matsui @ Bklyn Botanic Garden

2013-04-26T11:29:00.001-04:00

Spring brings blossoms and none more cherry that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's.

Sakura Matsuri translates to Cherry Blossom Festival (but you knew that all ready) and the weekend event features all day events. You can witness and participate in everything from Japanese Tea Services, a custom of the Cherry Blossom festivals, to music and botanical presentations.

Sakura Matsuri at BBG is a great melange of nature lovers taking in the spring blossoms, expat spouses uplifting their traditional culture for their kids while adorable to over the top Costplayers ignore the tea and go straight for living out their Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleached, Little Monstered fantasies.

The Cherry Trees have been in bloom for little more than a week now (as you'll see in the slide show below) and right on time for this weekends mega Sakura Matsuri Festival.

It's also a great opportunity to see all the additions the BBG has made in the past few years like the new, beautifully designed modern entrance and visitor's center pictured above.

One of three entrances is at 200 Washington Avenue, accessible by the Prospect Park Q,B,S station and from the Eastern Parkway 2,3 (The Franklin ave 2,3,4,5 will also get you to the Botanic Garden but it adds an extra block of walking)

がんばって！

Finally Friday

2013-04-19T11:02:00.001-04:00

Been a long week, and I've yet to post about the positive community meeting regarding rezoning and landmarking proposals in Crown Hts or the many new businesses blooming on Franklin Avenue or the hundreds of bike share docks popping up all over northern Brooklyn but that's what's on my mind. Here's some pics in the meantime:

Crown Hts Landmark & Rezoning Meeting TONIGHT

2013-04-16T13:09:00.001-04:00

A major proposal for landmarking and Rezoning in Crown Heights is happening tonight (Tuesday) at St Teresa's Church 563 Sterling Place, corner of Classon Av.

The meeting is to discuss the proposals submitted by the Community Board.

All are invited especially folks living and working in Crown Heights.

Weekend One-Liners 4/13-4/14 - Happenings to Check this weekend in Brooklyn

2013-04-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

Weekend One-Liners! 4/13-4/14

Habana Outpost's Big Annual Earthday Re-Opening Event happens this weekend! "Corn & Cuban" Sandwiches! Eco-Friendly info and the happy swarm of neo-Buppies, Yuppies, Hipsters and young dudes hanging on the corner trying mack are back! I still love this place now in it's eighth year. even though it can be a trend-trafficjam. I can't wait! Check for more info check cafehabanablog

Smorgasburg while open to it's second weekend of 2013, I arrived last week round 2p and couldn't get through to some of the good looking vittles, this week I'm ampted to be early. For more info check http://www.smorgasburg.com/Smorgasburg.com

Saturday & Sunday The Brooklyn Children's Museum has a slate of events including "Superhero Science" and Block Parties:

Superhero Science! 11:00, for 4 and up, Bend light, get x-ray vision, and discover optical illusions with Cyclops. It’s a new super science adventure every week!"

Block Party11:30, for All ages Let your imagination soar to new heights while you explore a unique assortment of blocks to play with. Build an imaginary castle with foam blocks, map out a new neighborhood with wooded ones, or use cardboard blocks to create whimsical patterns. "

And this is not a weekend event but next Tuesday 4/16 there will be a major meeting by the Crown Heights Community Boards to discuss rezoning efforts intended to improve the structure and preserve the positive history of the neighborhood. I'll post more about it next week but get a head start and check http://crowhillcommunity.org/projects/landmarking-and-rezoning-meeting/ for more info.

Got a Brooklyn weekend event you want posted? Email us at umbrooklynborn @ gmail.com

Fort Greene Park History Open to the Public, Bring the Kids!

2013-04-12T14:32:00.000-04:00

Remember when the week was sunny and lovely? That all ended Wednesday. I ran the bike through some errands and came upon Fort Greene Park.

Fort Greene Park in addition to being Brooklyn's first official park & one of the larger islands of nature in the city, is a historical landmark. If you've lived in or around Brooklyn long enough you likely know something of that history. Between the Sailor's & Soldier Martyrs crypt, it's location in an historic neighborhood, it's monumental tower, once again lit each night Fort Greene Park history is hard to miss.

The first time I rode to the top I was about 17 and the city emerged upward as I climbed the park's summit. It was a cinematic reveal. This past Wednesday's sky was full of blue and warm with light, I wanted to experience the city that way, as a wide vista. The metal, glass and panorama of the city is different now but the view didn't disappoint.

What has been easy to overlook for me at least is a structure at the top of the park less monumental but vital and packed with historical artifacts. It's the comfort station, that has become the Fort Greene Park Visitor's Center. Before making off to the next errand it dawned on me nature was calling and the public restrooms in the Visitor's Center were the reason I was there.

The Visitors Center a neoclassical structure that was built in 1908 with the Monument. I'm embarrassed to say I only know it as the best free bathroom in Fort Greene. But to get to the bathrooms you need to enter and pass through the Visitor's Center and then Wednesday for the first time I really looked around and found over 200 years of history just waiting for me to notice it.

American Revolutionary period flags hang prominently from the ceiling.

Muskets and their small metal ammo are in cases around the park house, and very interesting is that many of the artifacts like the musket rounds were found in the park some as recently as in 2005.

This canon was used by the British Army during revolutionary times.

The map above shows the 1873 park layout along side today's layout.

I gained all this knowledge from the Parks Department workers who were friendly hosts and happy to share the park's history. Even going so far as to show me the park turtle (he's been under the weather) and the pelt of a squirrel.

I won't lie, I thought the squirrel hide was gross, but interesting in that once upon a time in this very city that hide would be a form of currency.

Do yourself, a favor and stop on by the Fort Greene Visitor's Center it'd add to your perspective and possibly an even greater appreciation of Brooklyn.

For more information on Fort Greene Park and it's year long schedule of events check the Fort Greene Park Conservancy's website at http://www.fortgreenepark.org/

Photo Wednesday 04/10/13 : Spring Sunkist Edition

2013-04-10T20:26:00.001-04:00

Before tonight's deluge there was sun and warmth. And during these last few days of warmth I snapped this photo of two people basking in the warming glow of the sun and each other.

Despite the occasional rain, spring is in the air.

Bedtime for Brooklyn Bars?

2013-04-10T12:04:00.002-04:00

Last Call? (probably not the last time that's used in the relation to this story, let's make it a drinking game!)

No one likes a drunk, except other drunks trying to score with the drunk. Bartenders don't even like drunks, they're often literally more trouble than their worth. So if forcing bars to close at midnight on weekdays as Community Boards in Prospect Heights, Crown Heights (same thing) Williamsburg & Bushwich are reported (by Gothamist and DNAinfo) to be trying to do, would reduce the disruptive drunk population in our streets, then by all means Community Boards, save us from this scourge.

Community Boards in my opinion are trying to have a say in what has been a fairly one way action of new businesses, many of them bars in communities that were without new and especially outside the community businesses. The bars understandably want to and say they need to stay open on otherwise slow week day nights to be in business. Bar owners also cite the fact that throughout the city bars are open until 2-4am. Speaking as usual for myself, hasn't Freddy's (one of the bars cited in the Gothamist article) suffered enough already after having their decades old bar demolished to become a bike parking lot for the Barclays Center?

Seems like community board push back to me. Most if not all of the bars mentioned in the articles are on commercial streets that have a level of noise and business that comes from traffic, 24hr stores and other shops, are the bars that big a problem? Are bars infringing on Brooklyn's bedroom communities?

What do you think?

The warmest day since October

2013-04-08T18:16:00.001-04:00

Hope you had or have a chance to enjoy today's beautiful warmth and sunshine.

These folks did.

Live Blogging from Smorgasburg

2013-04-06T14:54:00.001-04:00

Decided to check out the Smorg in person and against my better judgement I came here hungry.

I can report that as of 2:45p it's beautiful out, and packed with foodie and sun-lovers

But of the well known and desired food tents, most have serious lines.

Also I won't call anybody out but $4 Croissants & $7 tamales are not my thing.

3:10p finally scored!! Takoyake Balls!! and they are tasty! I'm used to the traditional method of a fried dough ball with a bit of octopus in the center, topped with ginger and bonito flakes. These from "Teriyaki Balls" have three styles: filled with Shrimp, Country Sausage and one I can't remember because I didn't try it.

The shrimp was very good but the country sausage turned a familiar favorite of mine into a delicious new experience which sounds corny but it's true they had optional toppings of corn and almond flakes which were surprisingly good. I ate it so fast I took no pictures.

3:40 about to get my lamb-burger on from "Landhaus" along with a mint lemonade.

Got the burger, very good! Nice bit of feta shiracha and a medium rare lamb patty. Very nice.

Also I guess people are getting their fill
(or food is running down?) cause the lines are running shorter.

Also can anyone in here say "excuse me" rather pushing their way through a crowd? Yeesh.
I wanted to try the "people's pops" but I was full up on mint lemonade, next time...

Rhubarb seems like an easy sell, few can really say what it's supposed to taste like so if its sweet and refreshing you're golden.

Hipster styling in full effect (remember this year knit hats are to be worn like Smurfs, or like you're a Be-Boy from 1982

Maple Bacon on a Stick!!! Courtesy of Landhau. I really wanted some of this, Landhau will shall meat again.

Yes there's alot of Landhau picks, cause there's a lot I loved.

I admit it, the name and its turn on a phrase, turned me off. Though I love big ribs and I can not lie.

As I recall Handsome Hanks was the fish stand everyone was waiting in line for.

How green is grilling again?

Great name, plus points for the country table cloth pattern. Next time my soon to be friends....

Another proud Wolverine.

So all in all I now see why Smorgasburg is the event it is. If you've got a squad of friends it's definitely worth hitting it off if for no other reason than to extend your comfort foodie zone. And with offerings like Rhubarb, Cornflakes on Country Sausage stuffed Teriyaki Balls and more there's definitely room to expand mind and body.

I'll be back next week with more full mouthed opinions.

Take a bite out of gentrification! Some Spring Weekend Events in Brooklyn

2013-04-05T14:09:00.000-04:00

The first big weekend of Spring 2013 begins!

Tomorrow my eyes and ears will be fixed on the Brooklyn Museum & Targét's 1st Saturday!

There was a moment back in the Fall when it seemed some sort of local grinchery had conspired to end the 1st Saturday's citing too much foot traffic. Ironic since a major goal of 1st Saturdays when they were started was to draw foot traffic to the Museum. Anywhoo. It seems smarter heads prevailed.
Film Screening, Music, Dance Party, Curator Talks (not necessarily in that order) will be going.
Check Brooklyn Museum for details.

Also tomorrow Smorgasburg is back!

I confess I spent most of last year missing it and rueing the delicious stories I heard from friends and the bloggie-verse. But I plans to rectify that tomorrow. And you should too if you like food and acting out Portlandia skits. Sat in Williamsburg, Sun in D.U.M.B.O. 11a-6p Details at http://www.smorgasburg.com

Throw your arms around foodie-ism and artisanl everything! Take a bite out of gentrification!

This is by no means a complete list of what's happening this weekend. If you have an event you'd like to post here, feel free to leave a comment or email me direct at umbrooklynborn @ gmail.

Have a great weekend.

Photo Wednesday 4/3/13 Affordable Housing Edition

2013-04-03T16:32:00.001-04:00

I tend to rail against condo developments for their usually high prices relative to local incomes so in the name of balance here's a large residential building nearly complete on Putnam near Classon Av (old Bedford-Stuyvestant-new Clinton Hill). It's called, appropriately, "Putnam Court"

According to the information on posted at the construction site, there are (or at one time were) 24 studio apartments as part of the development available for people who make under $28k annually.

The development on Rockwell Pl. (Near the Downtown McDonald's on Fulton) also a similar affordable housing allocation.

How many people who could really benefit from these deals, do you think know about them?I'll do some more research and see how this information becomes available to the public and publicized.

I very much like the design of the building and its attempts to match the surrounding architecture in a modern way. Frankly I'd love a lot more of the new and recently new Brooklyn condos and rentals if they blended as nicely as Putnam Court.

The project was built by Dunn Developers and details are also on the NY Times local CH/FG blog.

In addition to providing housing to an a lot that previously was dilapidated and under used, part of the building sits on what had been a vacant lot there for decades) the development is a block away from the Clinton Hill Food Co-op, also on Putnam Ave.

So I just did some quick googling for more info about this project, and boy Brownstowner and I are really in sync lately, they just posted an article about this yesterday. From their article I find that the low rent for the studios translates to $618 per month income dependent.

Additionally I found this page on nyc.gov about affordable housing lotteries. www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/apartment/lotteries.shtml Try your luck!

Photo Wednesday 3/27/13 - Sometimes the Past Sees You Edition

2013-03-27T03:24:00.000-04:00

Its been a while since the last "Photo Wednesday" so considering I didn't stop taking photos (everyday even!) I am stocked with visual moments to share from many points Brooklyn.

"M. H. Koski, Inc" was apparently a pawn shop, this Brooklyn Eagle link shows an advertisement for the business from 1946.

I wanted to post a shot from what I think is about as far away in Brooklyn as a person can be from everything and still be in Brooklyn, but for now this one I picked up wins the day. I know this corner intimately.

I recall being about nine and standing across the street from this corner waiting and desperate to leave. Standing next to my little feet was a box big enough to hold a starship and it did. The Millennium Falcon. My mother bought it from Mays' Department store (Corner of Fulton St & Bond) and we'd stopped off from the bus to meet a friend of hers. The only thing that made the wait tolerable was the thrill I got from each kid walking by who's wide eyes spied the classically 70's photo of the spacey plastic hunk of junk.

I was headed down Putnam (which I still can't believe no longer awkwardly flows into Fulton Street, when I noted this space of wall that had not been painted over since I'm guessing at least the 60's. That day as a kid there was a billboard covering that patch of wall. When I moved to my second adult Brooklyn apartment up the block on Grand a billboard still covered it. When I saw the painted old sign beaming waves of yesterday outward I had to take a shot of it.

Brownstowner and Faded Ad Blog beat me to publishing the pic (steamed) so here's links to them as well: http://www.fadingad.com/fadingadblog/?p=10347 & http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2012/03/signage-archaeology-on-grand-avenue/ Brownstoner was kind enough to point out that corner of the expose sign was an open air drug market in the "70's and 80's" a commenter posted they should include the "90's, 00's & 10's" yeah... as mentioned I lived right up the block, and I swear a more industrious and consistently staffed drug spot I've never seen. Hell I've worked in corporations were people weren't at their station as often as these guys were (are?). My question has been and still is what kind of economic model were those corner hustlers working in the 90's? They'd have more guys on the corner than customer regularly, yet everyone seemed paid. That's Buffet math.

Also I'm going to include a little "Best of.." Photo Wednesday this one from February 3rd 2010 when the Lowes Kings Theater was featured. I'd taken a few cools shots of the exterior and meant to post it, when months later the new broke that the formerly palatial long since condemned theater on Flatbush was poised to be restored to greatness. A few months back the plans were confirmed. Here's a quick look back with a personal story to boot:

http://umbrooklynborn.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-wednesday-020310-retouched.html

Crown Heights: Now - (thoughts on the 3/23 Town Hall)

2013-03-24T12:28:00.001-04:00

New and old sights around the western edge of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. From top left: The former Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, Bicycle parking racks on Franklin in front of new cafe "Little Zelda", Residential construction on Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue, A lot cleared for large residential construction on Sterling Place btw Classon & Washington, A newly opened Animal Hospital on Franklin Avenue, Center, the Brooklyn Museum, Bottom LeftL a long standing bodega gets the "Mini-Whole Foods Make-Over"

On Saturday March 23rd 2013 the Crown Heights neighborhood group known as the "Crow Hill Community Association" held a Town Hall to be an open invitational forum for discussing any resident concerns. The event was held in the auditorium of the still new school building and facilitated by young volunteers, local residents and business owners. I heard a lot of sincere feeling, and quite a lot of love and admiration for Crown Heights and what struck me most was the similarities of the people of came from vastly different places to be there.

I walked into that building for the first time still thinking about what had been on this very same location not long ago. Across the street the Hospital of my birth, stood no longer a care center but an apartment complex home to one of the largest groups of tenants and of the highest rents in the neighborhood.

Besides my concern for the neighborhood I attended because recently I've followed the debate about things as seemingly trivial as whether it's fair and right for a parking space to be given to bicycles on a commercial street. It's a a proxy debate of course. It's meant to take the place of questions of why in a community that had been ignored for so long by much of the city, does the city "suddenly" care whether bikes have parking when they didn't care enough to keep an entire hospital going in a neighborhood that still needs it.

Because of the services that were cut from Crown Heights in the 70's & 80's and the resulting departure of home owners, commercial and industrial businesses and even a major clinical and surgical hospital, Crown Heights in general and in particular the streets surrounding Classon Avenue became a sort of Alamo where concerned residents worked to maintain the remaining good quality of life. One one street like Prospect Place you'd have beautiful homes and under cared for apartment buildings all being held together by the grace of residents and their willpower. Two blocks away on Bergen Street you could find crack houses and it's residents in tragic conditions.

I was one of the those residents, a kid who's family wondered aloud if moving away from it all was the best way to secure a better life, or if it was worth it to stick it out and keep guarding the fort.

Twenty-odd years later home owners began to discover that next their dutifully tended community garden, down the block from the trash cans they may have had to beg the city for, around the corner from local restaurant they faithful supported, there was a new wave entering the neighborhood. New faces, new shops, new habits bringing. Some new people, a noticeable minority of the new in my opinion came with what the kids would call swagger. Some of the new came upon what they say as a barren fertile land ready to be made in whatever image pleased them. Some of the new didn't interact with long term residents as much as might reasonably be expected of new people.

For a neighborhood of long invested concerned residents, it's not hard to see how after years of being under siege and finally beginning to see the flourishing of seeds planted in the community decades earlier, the long term residents of Crown Heights began to feel invaded.

If I had worked hard to keep something good, fighting against physical, systematic and metaphorical attack, the last thing I'd want is for someone new to come and claim that which I worked so hard to maintain. I might rather put a hood over my positions, keep them from sight, keep them for me.

However you can't hide the hood. Crown Heights and hundreds of blocks like it are changing, because to be honest the neighborhood despite the good work and good will of it's residents has been lacking for a long time. We all wanted better. Better schools, better food options, better government service and it is a damn shame and an intolerable insult that we who worked hard we're largely ignored until someone else came along.

Let us all residents of Crown Heights who witnessed the 1980's be honest; we wanted better in this neighborhood. And we knew a neighborhood that is situated like this one deserves better. Thousands of working class home owners live here. Three of the city's cultural institutions are here (Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Main Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library). Five subway lines service the neighborhood. We expected better and so I doubt most people hate that you can buy the New York Times or soy milk on Franklin Ave and on Nostrand Ave instead of having to travel a half mile to Park Slope, most people aren't unhappy that an open air drug market no longer exists on Franklin and Lincoln place. Most people aren't bothered by the fact that unlike in the 80's eastern parkway is once again beautiful tree lined and well lit. What most long term residents are bothered by about the change is the concern that this change might financially force residents out who can no longer afford local rents or prices.

And of course most long term residents still feel the stinging insult of a city that didn't have good reasons for lackluster polices in the 80's and 90's now almost instantly providing that clearly essential bicycle parking space. (for the record I'm all for the bike parking space)

So the other largely understandable thing my ears heard at the Town Hall, in the discussion I was part of was pain. That pain. That "we've keep this place whole for 20 years and made it possible for you to even have a place to move into with your new community organizing, and your "$15 dollar hamburgers" and your "craft beers" and yet "you don't even say hi when you see me in the street"

But streets, sidewalks have a tendency to go both ways.

Community means sharing obviously and their are expectations of community. It's up to the long term residents to share and correct new people in what is reasonably expectable of neighbors here But I really don't think most people moved into Crown Heights to be brow beaten. That's the challenge. To remember that despite all we have suffered, the chances that the blond girl from Kentucky who moved with four roommates next door came to personally oppress us and deprive us of a neighborhood is slight.

The changes that Bjorn from Scandinavia who moved here to become a filmmaker is purposefully trying to ignore us, as opposed to say, not sure what to expect from us and afraid he'll offend, is slight.

I think we can agree that most people moved to Crown Heights for an improvement in their lives some of which has an inversely negative effect on the lives of long standing members of the community. But on the micro level that is not a conspiracy. For the couple that moves uses their income or their inheritance to buy a house that is a plan yes, but not necessarily a plot. And just as long residing members of the community expect our new coming neighborhoods to adhere to certain basic social communal norms, (saying hello to neighbors, investing in the community interests, supporting local business) they should also expect us not to see the enemy in each of their faces and stories unless new comers to the neighborhood give us reason to.

The cat is long since out of the bag and the bag has blown away. This neighborhood wasn't gentrified yesterday last year or last decade. Gentrification started right after the embers of the burnt out buildings in Bushwich began to cool. It started when members of the city government began encouraging an environment that fostered red-lining, police cuts, social service cuts, negative redistricting and cuts to basic services. It started with a Mayor who's no longer living. It started long before most of the newest new comers were born. Long term residents of Crown Heights have a reasonable expectation that new-comers will at best contribute to the community they've come to reap the benefits of, and at least that they won't make it any worse for the community as a whole than they found it. But every newcomer and shouldn't be made the straw man for the indignities the community has suffered since the 70's.

Besides that being unfair and and foolhardy, its misdirected. Gentrifiers are people of all backgrounds and a few income levels. The average person can no better presume on appear who is a new coming hipster gentrifier than the NYPD can judge by appearance whether or not I should be stopped and frisked and arrested. In the last two years I've been accused of both out in these Brooklyn streets that I love and I guess that makes sense if its a crime to be a black man born in Brooklyn and a professional who can afford to eat out at restaurants with $15.00 hamburgers and craft beers.

I had to leave the Town Hall because of a prior commitment, but as I left I hoped for the best. There's a lot of interest in Crown Heights, a lot of positive interest and a lot of rightfully lingering pain.

The life, the edge the spark of communities like Crown Heights that draws the new like moths to a flame is available because civic minded people, most of them African-Americans and Caribbean-Americans, kept a loving torch burning for this neighborhood. They kept alive hope it'd come back from the brink. When those long term residents are excluded from conversation, from participation, that flame burns and resentment smolders.

In 1990 the corner of Classon Avenue and St Marks in what was then undisputedly Crown Heights, an enormous public school building in the classic style of New York City that can easily be found from borough to borough sat continuing it's slow and glacial decay. The decaying school was the same in 1980 and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same in 1970.

By 2000, the old worn decayed school had been torn down. A new school building was constructed at St. Marks Place and Classon Avenue, PS 22. Part of me misses the old, because it's what I grew up with as a kid walking with his grandmother, a hospital worker, down Classon Avenue on the way to get her check cashed and for myself maybe an icy.

On Saturday March 23rd 2013, hundreds of people, local residents, renters and home-owners, black, white, brown, yellow, green purple and every other classification we can toss up, came together in the still new PS 22 school auditorium to positively consider this neighborhood. Things have changed. Some of that change is better and if we can work together we can make it better still, for all of us.

A photo taken prior to the March 23rd Crown Heights Town Hall.

Crow Hill (Crown Heights) Town Hall happening Today 3/23/12

2013-03-23T12:59:00.001-04:00

I'm in attendance at the Crow Hill Community Association Town Hall starting right about now (12:20p) at PS 44 on the corner of Classon & St. Marks.

Live blogging isn't my forte but I'm going to give it a shot. A diverse crowd if civic-minded folk of many stripes are gathering now in the auditorium. A cheerful staff of volunteers are helping everyone get situated and a fiddler is warming things up.

Can't wait to hear opinions about the neighborhood issues, new businesses, development and of course bike parking.

Come for the fiddling stay for the friendship. Who doesn't love a good fiddle metaphor?

(Semi Live Blogging)

12:30 Garnett and Nick (writer of the I Love Franklin Park blog) open the meeting telling their stories of coming to and living crown heights. They've made to point that the conversation is intended to be open to everyone and that no topic is off the table. Including the much debated topic of gentrification.

We're told we'll e breaking into to small discussion groups and then a full discussion will be held at the end of the meeting

12:46 Karen Granville crown heights resident she reminds that our voices will shape our neighborhood.

Each group will feature a conversation facilitator to help the discussion stay on topic

12:50 were getting into discussion groups based on our birth month. Seems like a hilarious meetup ppsession I can't wait to see the June group try and stay on topic (speaking from experience I'm a Gemini)

(Update)
I couldnt get great cell service in the auditorium even though its above ground (thanks AT&T) so my last posts didnt make it out.

For a recap you'll probably want to check the "I Love Franklin Ave" Blog since Nick was one of the many volunteers faciliating the event.

Over all I thought it went very well providing an open forum in smaller groups whose keypoints were poured into a wider discussion (after I left). Based on the discussion I was party to there seem, very generally to be two directions of conversation, one in my view, comes from pain and poor treatment long term residents have received in our community, and the other comes from people who like most people came to this neighborhood to improve their lives and are left wondering if that should carry around a scarlet letter, or if its even worth it to try to make amends. I'm writing my thoughts about that and I'll post them soon. My overall take-away is as great as I think this Town Hall was, if we go into these avenues of conversation as well as the avenues in our neighborhood with a intentionally intransigent point of view we can expect all our worse fears to come true.

We can do better together.

Crown Heights (Crow Hill) Community Meeting Tomorrow, bring popcorn.

2013-03-22T14:50:00.001-04:00

After weeks of public discussion and scattered media reports on just about all things Crown Heights, including the debate over the bike parking spot in front of new cafe Zelda on Franklin Ave, tomorrow is time to air it all out face to face.

The Crow Hill Community Association is providing this opportunity for the residents to come together and discuss relevant issues.

The Town Hall meeting will be held tomorrow March 23, noon – 3pm
P.S. 22 Campus
443 St. Marks at Classon Ave.
http://crowhillcommunity.org/projects/town-hall-meeting-in-march-on-community-vision-for-crown-heights/

The CHCA has worked hard over the years to not only improve conditions but facilitate residents in achieving common goals of neighborhood redevelopment. Personally "Crow Hill" is a name who's modern day usage I despise (since I think it came into being as someone's derogatory swipe at the early African American residents of the area around Utica Av south of Eastern Parkway)

Crow Hill was in reality a succession of hills extending along the southerly side of Eastern 
Parkway running east & west from Utica to Classon Avenue & south to Empire Blvd & New York Ave, 
originally this was applied to the Utica Avenue portion of the range where then was the negro 
squatter colony. 
When the Kings Co. Penetentairy was built it was known as the Crow Hill Penetentairy and the 
association of the vicinity Crow Hill became permanent. 
source - "http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Town/Eastern/C.html"

My feeling is based also on the belief that subdividing neighborhoods by name, serves to lessen the strength of the neighborhood. Crown Heights is a huge neighborhood. Once upon a time Prospect Heights was considered Crown Heights, but when tax brackets changed, so did that. Now I can't help wonder when the end of Crown Heights that touches Brownsville is going to be given the boot.

But I digress and the CHCA has worked very hard often effectively to make the neighborhood better. Today we have bigger fish to fry, apparently like debating over bike parking. Which has to be some mark of progress, when you consider, just months ago Brooklynites were debating over bike lanes.

I'll be there hope to see all five of you too! ; )

Photo Wednesday 030613 - The Patience of El Anatsui (at the Brooklyn Museum)

2013-03-06T02:00:00.006-05:00

I want to share this with you. Above are a few of the several wonderful, intricate, transformational works of artist El Anatsui of Ghana now on display at the Brooklyn Museum - make your eyes and mind happy, check them out before they're gone.

I won't tell you about the details of the work, they're better seen and experienced in person.

El Anatsui has been creating works of various types, materials and messages for decades, it took a while for the world to catch on to him and I'm glad he persevered and continues to create.

At Brooklyn Museum now thru August 4, 2013.

Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/arts/design/a-million-pieces-of-home-el-anatsui-at-brooklyn-museum.html

I didn't think there were any fixtures left on Ludlow to go

2013-02-12T01:03:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately I was wrong. Another piece of the Lower East Side 90's & 00's went the way of the Dodo.

Courtesy of the NY York Times

The Pink Pony closed it's doors, likely for good, on Jan 31st.

Detailed below by the New York Times, the story talks about the neighborhood leaving the familiar and moment essential bar more so than the bar leaving the neighborhood.

Damn this thing change. Same thing that made Reagan a Republican. Damn, Damn, Damn. The article photo of the cafe front features a posted, leaning Jim Jarmusch at the entrance. I myself ran into Jim often there and made an ass of someone, probably me, by asking a few too many questions of him during dinner.

Ah youth, it goes so fast.

Well, now we know who's the last one to turn out the lights on Ludlow Street. To paraphrase Bugs Bunny, "There. Sports Bars...Take it away"

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/another-90s-fixture-of-lower-east-side-is-gone/

1st Real Snow of 2013

2013-02-09T12:01:00.002-05:00

There's blue skies over New York City and White stuff on (much of) the grounds. Great Photo opps abound. Have at it NYC.

I'm in the Brooklyn cave working on a project so the best I could do was a pic from the window:

Here's some quick links

Prospect Park Sledding tips: http://ditmaspark.patch.com/articles/best-sledding-spots-in-brooklyn

Weather forecast: http://www.ny1.com/content/weather/

All things Mass Transit: MTA.info

City Severe Weather Website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/weather_home.shtml

And if I dont get a chance to post again, Happy Lunar New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le!新年快乐