Pitkin Avenue BID News

Valentine's Day

2010-02-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

Whether you're staying in or going out

Pitkin Ave. has all the amenities necessary to make this Valentine's Day memorable.

C & C Jewlery- 1634 Pitkin Ave.

If you're looking to purchase jewlery for your special someone C & C Jewlery has great deals on gold and silver, as well as a huge inventory of different pendants, chains, necklaces and bracelets.

Model Loans & Jewelry- 1746 Pitkin Ave.

A great selection of gold and silver. Here you can find really great unique pieces.

Pitkin Florist- 1722 Pitkin Ave.

Flowers. Every girl loves flowers. Whether you get a single rose or elaborate bouquet the Pitkin Florist can serve all your needs.

Beauty Shop- 1630 Pitkin Ave.

Perfume or colonge will give you that little something extra on Valentine's Day. They make for great gifts as well. Great deals are going on now.

Valentine's Day is a great excuse to buy a new outfit. Dresses, gowns, great fitting jeans, suits and shoes are all available in the shops on Pitkin Ave.

We also recommend checking out:

Pretty Girl

Oops

D. Fashions

Rainbow

Luggage, Hat and Caps

Other stores on Pitkin Ave. where you also may find that perfect gift include:

99C Express

Bargain Hunters

Zoya Pharmacy Inc

Avon Bargain Store

99C Magic

Dollar Champion & Discount

Rite Aid

Bargain Land

Smart Kids Discount

SIMs Pharmacy

Valenica Bakery

All of which have great sales going on now!

Don't forget- Shopper's World! Where you can find absolutely anything.

We hope you find special gifts for your significant other or treat youself to something great on Pitkin Ave. A directory of all the businesses can also be found on our website: http://pitkinbid.org/business-name.htm

Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Upcoming Events

2010-02-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

March 27- Pitkin Avenue Student Art Show/Art Walk

-free mammograms available for women 40+ at the office of Assemblymember Boyland

April 4- Easter Parade from Zion Triangle to Betsy Head Park.
Easter egg hunt to follow at Betsy Head!

May/June - Prom Fashion Shows

Saturdays in July - Old Timers Week on Pitkin Avenue

September - Back to School Sidewalk

October - Halloween parade

December 4^th- Tree Lighting Ceremony

We hope to see you there!

Pitkin BID: now with more interns!

2010-02-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

The Pitkin Ave BID is now home to interns, Katie Raffa and Tracey McDonough. Both enjoy their work immensely (and are not paid to say this... in fact they are not paid at all. -ed.). Katie, a super intern, has been working alongside Kat Rutkin since September 2009. She is sophomore at Pace University. At Pace she studied Political Science and is currently participating in the Model UN program in which she along with classmates will represent Haiti. Following are her comments about her experience with the Pitkin Ave BID...

Being an intern means learning things from Kathleen, meeting new people everyday. I get to work on a variety of events and see how great the end product is. Seeing how happy it makes people is incredibly rewarding for me. Being an intern means going to a place I would have never gone to previously and meeting many people I would have never had the chance to work with in a non traditional environment. I've invaluable work experience and had a lot of fun. I look forward to applying all the skills I have learned with Kathleen to the real world/next level.

Tracey McDonough, a very recent addition to the team is excited to develop an event from the start and see the final product. Tracey is also a Political Science student at Pace University. She will with Katie represent Haiti this year. Originally, from San Diego she is especially excited to travel to different neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Following are her comments on being an intern with the Pitkin Ave BID...

Having participated with Shop Brooklyn and the Christmas Tree lighting I looks forward to upcoming events such as It's My Park Day in May. Being new to any kind of urban development makes learning about the process in coordinating community events thrilling. As Katie had mentioned I too agree that the smiling faces of all the children and families at the Christmas Tree lighting were most rewarding. Taking the time to carefully craft programs and events for neighborhoods is time and energy well spent.

To see pictures from the Christmas Tree lighting visit http://pitkinbid.org/pdf/pitkin-treelighting09.pdf

Inside: Shoppers World!

2009-05-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Pitkin Avenue is home to over 200 merchants, selling everything from homegoods to jewelry. One of our stores, Shoppers World, sells just about everything you can imagine. If you need it, Pitkin Avenue has it, and this is a sample of what Shoppers World offers:

Homegoods- and excellent windows for window shopping...

Girls' dresses in a range of colors and sizes, at amazing prices.

Come check them out yourself- 1572 Pitkin Avenue. And stop by the BID office while you're here, we're upstairs!

Pitkin BID Mother's Day celebration

2009-05-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the Pitkin BID took some time out to celebrate area moms! Over 200 flowers were handed out to moms as they shopped on the street. A special thanks to board members Reverend Hatter and Mark Tanis for their help!

Teen Interns Available for Summer!

2009-05-06T10:20:00.001-07:00

The Emmanuel Community Economic Development Corp. runs a program called Teens That Mean Business (TTMB). They are looking for businesses to participate in this year's program. You would need to employ the intern for four days a week, for between 24-28 hours. If you are interested in having a teen intern this summer, please contact the BID office at (347) 992-3682 or kat@pitkinbid.org. You can also download an application on their website. The deadline to apply is May 15, 2009.

About the program:

Teens That Mean Business is an innovation in summer youth programs, was launched in July of 2005 by the Emmanuel Community Economic Development Corporation (Emmanuel CEDC). Emmanuel CEDC is in the business of strengthening families and transforming lives through financial education, through housing advocacy for home ownership and asset protection, and by facilitating meaningful business and employment opportunities. TTMB is one of many CEDC programs making an impact on the lives of residents in Brooklyn and beyond.

Emmanuel CEDC is a nonprofit subsidiary of Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC), a 4,000 member congregation with a strong legacy of meeting the spiritual and social needs within Central Brooklyn. Reverend Anthony L. Trufant is Senior Pastor.

Join Congresswoman Velazquez for a Small Business Workshop

2009-05-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Congresswoman

Nydia M. Velázquez

Presents

Small Business and the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Resources to Help Entrepreneurs Lead Economic Recovery

Find out how to access this assistance and help your business thrive

A Free Workshop for Small Business Owners

Presenters

Alfred J. Titone

Acting New York District Director, Small Business Administration

James L. King

State Director, New York State Small Business Development Center

Sherry D. Roberts

Executive Director, Local Development Corporation of East New York • Women’s Business Centers

Kim Young

New York State Stakeholder Liaison Area Manager, Internal Revenue Service

Patrick J. MacKrell

President & CEO, New York Business Development Corporation

Scott Munson

Associate Certification Analyst, Empire State Development Corporation

Paul Quintero

Chief Financial and Operating Officer, ACCION

Monday, May 11, 2009

6:30pm-8:30pm

Brooklyn Borough Hall Court Room

209 Joralemon Street • Brooklyn, NY 11201

(Between Court & Adams Streets)

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall • A, C, F to Jay St/ Borough Hall • M, R to Court St.

Bus: B25, B37, B38, B41, B45, B51, B52, B54, B65, to Court St/Jay St/Borough Hall

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED AS SEATING IS LIMITED.

Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested.

CONTACT: 718.797.0187 or Email: SBDC@CityTech.Cuny.Edu

Prom Dress Drive!

2009-04-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Pitkin Avenue BID and the 73rd Precinct of the NYPD have joined forces to sponsor a prom dress drive! Please donate your used prom, formal, or bridesmaids dresses to the BID office at 1572 Pitkin Avenue. We need your donations by May 15, 2009.

If you do not have dresses to donate, but would like to sponsor a new dress, hairstyle, or accessories, please contact Kat at the BID office- (347)992-3682.

Thanks for helping us make prom really special this year.

A Special Announcement from the ASPCA

2009-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from the ASPCA regarding new regulations for pets in public housing. I'll be checking to see if this is posted at the Pitkin Avenue Petland, but for now, if you live in public housing and have pets, please take note.

Dear New York City Supporters,

If you live in New York City Public Housing or know someone who does, please read and pass along this important email regarding upcoming changes to the housing administration’s pet policy.

WHO: Residents of New York City Public Housing governed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and their dogs.

WHAT: NYCHA has decided to allow only small dogs in public housing. The maximum allowable weight of pet dogs is being lowered from 40 to 25 pounds.

NYCHA also plans to ban certain breeds outright—NYCHA tenants will not be allowed to own or register purebred or mixed-breed Rottweilers, pit bulls or Doberman pinschers.

WHEN: The new policy is scheduled to go into effect this Friday, May 1, 2009.

EXEMPTIONS: Service animals are exempt from weight and breed restrictions.

FOR CURRENT DOG OWNERS: Dogs already living in NYCHA buildings who are 40 pounds or under can be grandfathered in under the existing pet policy—regardless of breed—as long as residents submit a dog registration form to their NYCHA housing office by this Thursday, April 30. Residents who submit this form will have an additional 90 days to license their dogs with the City (which may be done online) and submit the required veterinary certificate indicating that their dogs are licensed, spayed/neutered and vaccinated against rabies.

Visit ASPCA.org for more information and to locate the forms needed to register pets with NYCHA.

The ASPCA is opposed to the revised NYCHA pet policy, and we are working to prevent it from going into effect. In the meantime, it is important that dogs who have already found good homes do not lose them.

Pitkin Avenue in History!

2009-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today we have a special guest blogger, Sylvia Schildt. Ms. Schildt grew up on Pitkin Avenue, and has written a book titled Brownsville: the Jewish Years. Thank you Sylvia, for taking the time to write this for us!

Stroll With Me Down Memory Lane -- Pitkin Avenue, April 1945

Life in the Brownsville of my childhood was rough. But it wasn’t all bad – we had Pitkin Avenue.

I was born and raised in the corner building on Herzl and Pitkin, diagonally across from where Shoppers World and the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District now live. The buildings along the avenue were not torn down in all the attempts at fixing the disastrous housing conditions that had plagued Brownsville for almost a century.

When the subway and New Lots line were built, it became open sesame for sweat shop workers and their families living in even worse conditions on the lower East Side, and was over 80-90% Jewish. In fact it was a poor neighborhood, and overcrowded. But for most it was really a way station to the hoped-for better life. If many aspects of life in Brownsville were tough, there were others that were very nurturing for kids. I try to describe them in my new book – Brownsville: The Jewish Years.

Key among them was Pitkin Avenue. The store front buildings have not been torn down – but it was a very different place. I invite you to a brief stroll on Pitkin Avenue in the Spring of 1945, just before the war ended. Even then, in the midst of the horrors of a world war, it was a place to dream in. I was just about eleven. Roosevelt had ridden along Pitkin Avenue on a rainy November day during his last Presidential campaign.

Picture this – the air is teasingly warm, it’s April. The place is full of ma and pa shops with the emphasis on fashion. Pitkin Avenue has many expensive shops – my mother and I like to look in the windows even though we can’t afford what’s in them. There was a Rainbow Shops then, but it was so much smaller. There were sportswear shops, hat shops, places that custom-made ladies corsets, you name it.

Any time of day the Avenue was packed with shoppers, baby carriages, street vendors and people getting on and off smelly busses.

Many of the stores actually closed after the summer sales, soaped up their windows and put in signs promising to re-open on or about August 15^th. And the owners would go on vacation in the mountains. Imagine that today. And when they did re-open it was to reveal Fall styles and window trim. It was like a fashion show.

There was a lot of ethnic food around – now on Strauss, where a Bootery stands, was Hymie’s delicatessen, which had plump sausages called knockwurst, pickled sliced tongue, pastrami and more. Street vendors sold halvah, sesame candy, sweet potatoes, knishes, hot dogs from carts they pulled along.

Weddings happened on the Avenue. In fact, above Shoppers World was a catering place where Saturday night was wedding night. It was a one-stop deal – the ceremony and the celebration and wedding musicians played both traditional and pop music, complete with vocals, until 2-3 in the morning. And during the hot weather, neighbors would gather on milk crates and old chairs to gossip, argue politics, and when the window was open, enjoy the music until the last notes of “Good Night, Sweetheart.”

There were also men’s clothing shops where a man could have a suit made to order as well as haberdasheries that sold gentlemen’s accessories like ties, men’s jewelry, etc. The most famous was Jack Diamond’s, on Pitkin between Herzl and Strauss, the same building I lived in.

Pitkin Avenue was a destination then. People came from all over Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and even Long Island. They parked their cars on the streets where poor people lived in tiny rooms and hardly anyone had phones yet.

But the beacon, the heart of Pitkin Avenue was the Loew’s Pitkin, a magical movie theater on Pitkin, that took up the whole block between Legion and Saratoga. It opened in 1929, showed some of the greatest movies ever made as well as vaudeville – I remember seeing Buck and Bubbles perform LIVE. Here you saw on film families with maids and butlers, high fashion gowns and fur-covered telephones, and came back at night to your hovels. The decor of the theater was also splendid, including the lounges.

We got our news from the movies every week, also from newspaper stands and people’s gossip. Hope for peace was in the air.

Late afternoon on April 12, I was playing with friends in front of Jack Diamond’s window when someone stopped and said, “Have you heard? Roosevelt just died.” It was like my world came to an end – he was gone, the only president I had ever known.

All these memories and so much more are wrapped up for me with Pitkin Avenue and Brownsville.

-Sylvia Seigel Schildt

Brownsville: The Jewish Years is available at Amazon.com.

An Invitation from Department of Consumer Affairs Associate Commissioner Fran Freedman

2009-03-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs is holding a FREE "Red Flags" workshop for all small businesses in New York City on April 29, 2009. The workshop will be held at Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus at 113 W.60th Street in Manhattan. It will focus on how businesses can prevent identity theft for their employees and customers. All businesses are encouraged to attend. For more information contact the BID office or the contact information below.

Most companies keep sensitive personal information in their files — names, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or other account data — that identifies customers or employees. However, if sensitive data falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to fraud or identity theft. Preventing identity theft requires a comprehensive approach. Businesses must implement data security practices that deter crooks from obtaining personal information to open or access accounts. Businesses also must pay attention to telltale signs – or red flags – suggesting that thieves may be trying to use personal information that they’ve already acquired.

The Federal Trade Commission, the Center on Law and Information Policy of Fordham Law School, the New York State Consumer Protection Board, and the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs will sponsor a free, full-day workshop in New York City on Wednesday, April 29, 2009. Other sponsors include the New York State Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination, the Better Business Bureau Serving Metropolitan New York, and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Business people, attorneys, government officials, privacy officers, and other experts will provide practical guidance for businesses of all sizes. The morning session, “Protecting Personal Information: Best Practices for Business,” focuses on how businesses can better secure personal information, implement best practices for developing an appropriate data security program, and respond to data breaches and other privacy and security threats. The afternoon session, “Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: Practical Guidance for Business,” addresses a new regulation that requires creditors and financial institutions to develop an Identity Theft Program for their covered accounts. FTC lawyers will provide guidance and answer questions about the scope, structure, and requirements of the Red Flags Rule. Business people and privacy experts will discuss their experiences with creating and implementing an Identity Theft Program.

Both sessions are free, open to the public and take place in Pope Auditorium on the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, New York, NY. The first session starts at 9:30 am; the second at 2:00 pm. On-site registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Advance registration for the workshop and for CLE credits will begin on March 31, 2009. Visit http://law.fordham.edu/ftc for more information. To learn more about the workshops, visit www.ftc.gov/infosecurity.

Application for CLE accreditation of this course or program in New York is currently pending. Attendees seeking CLE credits must pay a fee for those credits. The International Association of Privacy Professionals will automatically approve five Continuing Privacy Education credits for anyone in attendance who is a Certified Information Privacy Professional.

As part of its business education program, the FTC has information to help businesses develop their own data security plans, including an online tutorial, a booklet, and a series of articles suitable for reprinting in print or electronic newsletters. All are available at www.ftc.gov/infosecurity. Further information about data security, including New York State’s Business Privacy Guide, is available on the Consumer Protection Board’s website at www.consumer.state.ny.us/.

If you have any questions, please email infosecurity@ftc.gov .

David Yassky Creates Information Package for Small Businesses

2009-03-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Councilmember David Yassky of the NYC City Council has created an informational brochure to help small businesses best take advantage of the federal stimulus package. Of particular use to Pitkin Avenue businesses are:

The expansion of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit
(WOTC) to include two new targeted groups - unemployed
veterans and young people between 16 and 25 who haven’t
been employed or attended school in the past six months. If
your small business hires such individuals in 2009 and 2010,
you can qualify for a $2,400 tax credit per worker.

Small Business Estimated Taxes
Your business may be able to make estimated tax payments
equal to only 90% of your preceding tax year liability, instead of
the usual 100%. To qualify, you must have a gross income of
less than $500,000, and more than 50% of your gross income
must come from a small business source. Go to www.irs.gov
to see if you qualify!

Carry Back of Net Operating Losses
If your small business makes less than $15 million a year, you
are eligible to carry back your 2008 net operating losses to five
years prior to the loss. Under previous law, net operating
losses (NOLs) could only be carried back to the two taxable
years before the year that the loss arises. If you have already
submitted your taxes for 2008, you may amend for this credit
until April 17, 2009. For more information on this tax
incentive, go to www.irs.gov.

The full report is posted on our website, www.pitkinbid.org, and on David Yassky's website.

If you think you may be eligible and need assistance, please contact the BID office for more information.

Much thanks to Councilmember Yassky for putting this together!

Welcome to our Pitkin BID blog!

2009-03-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings! This is the first post on our new blog.
This is a great space for us to make announcements, profile area residents and businesses, and tell stories about Pitkin Avenue. Guest bloggers are always welcome.
This is a space for the community, so please feel free to offer comments and suggestions. Thanks again for stopping by!