8/31/10
What to Do with a Used Mattress?
It would not be cool to send a perfectly good used mattress to the landfill -- they're space hogs, they can't be compressed, they're full of toxins, and their springs get caught in the heavy equipment.
If the mattress is clean and in good condition, ask family, friends, neighbors and employees if they or someone they know could use a good mattress. Next, ask the neighborhood churches if there are congregants in need. Local homeless shelters, battered women's shelters or refugee resettlement programs might want the mattress.
If the mattress is in less-than-perfect condition, try these options:
- Offer the mattress on Freecycle.
- Find a local furniture bank to give it to.
- Try donating it to the Salvation Army. Call 1-800-728-7825.
- Or see if Goodwill will take it.
The article from This Green Life.
Hyer-Spencer "Invisible" in Bay Ridge, Taunts Malliotakis
Malliotakis, who, like Hyer-Spencer, lives in Staten Island, seems to have noticed too, charging in a Brooklyn Daily Eagle interview this week that the Democratic Assemblywoman for the 60th AD has been “invisible” in Bay Ridge.
According to Malliotakis, Hyer-Spencer's rally protesting the elimination of the B37 bus took place on the wrong side of the Verazzano, since Staten Island lost more bus lines.
Running as a Republican, Conservative and Taxpayer Party candidate against Hyer-Spencer, Malliotakis implied that the two-term assembly member's vote to transfer $142 million in dedicated transit funds into the state’s general fund was "reckless", and had contributed to this year's MTA budget cuts was.
She charged that Hyer-Spencer has brought only $169,000 in state funds to the district, and voted in favor of temporarily reinstating the sales tax on clothing and shoes under $110, which, she said, will send shoppers to New Jersey.
Malliotakis scolded the New York State Legislature and Hyer-Spencer for increasing spending by 9%, and imposing 50 "tax hikes", including increasing vehicle and license registration fees, padding utility bills and eliminating the STAR property tax rebate.
Her hefty campaign platform includes a constitutional convention, re-districting and ethics reform.
The article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Hyer-Spencer wasted no time firing back, countering that her agenda includes holding down taxes, passing reform legislation, enacting domestic violence and child abuse legislation, and protecting our drinking water
Malliotakis, a Con Ed lobbyist (according to Chuck Otey, she's on leave during her campaign) who advocated for 3 rate hikes over the past 2 years, lacks credibility on the "hidden tax" issue, said Hyer-Spencer, who agrees with Malliotakis that there should be an independent, non-political re-districting commission.
Hyer-Spencer noted that she had obtained funding for the Shore Ridge Care NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community), the Ovington Avenue AARP chapter, and the Meals on Wheels Walkathon at the Bay Ridge Center for older adults, as well as the 68th Police Precinct, the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, public education, and domestic violence and child abuse programs.
A former legal advisor for non-profit domestic violence prevention organization My Sister's Place, Hyer-Spencer is sponsoring a bill that would allow domestic violence victims to testify in criminal proceedings via closed-circuit TV. She also favors legislation that would provide child protective caseworkers with criminal record checks in child sex abuse cases.
Hyer-Spencer has been a vocal advocate for banning natural gas drilling ("hydrofracking") near the city’s watershed, a critical environmental issue on which Malliotakis has been silent.
Other legislation sponsored by Hyer-Spencer would ban cell towers within 500 feet of schools, revoke or suspend graffiti vandals' licenses, and prohibit electricity- generating plants within 500 feet of residences.
Hyer-Spencer, who serves on the Assembly's energy and insurance committees, favors green-zone legislation to help upgrade local businesses with green technology, and green job training programs.
The article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
More verbal sparring, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
8/29/10
Rev. Billy at Burning Man
During the Festival, the Rev. will broadcast "Rev. Billy's Think Tank of Higher Burning" from 9:30 -10:00 AM PDT Tuesday through Saturday. His guests will include England’s Harry Ram, Black Rock City designer Rod Garrett, Rain Forest Action Network’s Amanda Starbuck, and noted utopist Larry Harvey.
You can follow Rev. Billy at Burning Man on the Facebook musician’s page for his Church of Life After Shopping.
Quest for City's First Wildlife Rehab Center
Many of the critters come from the NYC Animal Care and Control shelters, which handled about 4,000 birds and other wildlife last year.
New York, despite the area hosting 355 bird species, is the only major U.S. city without a wildlife rehab center. McMahon is one of the dozen or so licensed wildlife rehabbers in the city who are forced to care for rescued wildlife in their apartments.
McMahon's Wild Bird Fund, a central resource for wildlife emergency care and rehab, takes rescues from Animal General and from the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
As of September 1, the Wild Bird Fund will be in the running for a Pepsi Refresh Project grant -- this year's alternative to Super Bowl ads. You can vote online, as many times as you like, for the Wild Bird Fund during the month of September, after which Pepsi will announce the 32 ideas that got the most votes across 4 different grant levels, from $5,000 to $250,0000.
If McMahon gets the Pepsi grant, her organization can lease a two-story retail space on Columbus Ave as a wildlife rehab center. Two nearby vet clinics would provide the center with free services, including X-rays and surgery.
A wildlife rehab center would be a boon to the city's AC and C, freeing up space in its already overburdened shelters.
The Wild Bird Fund website.
As of Sept. 1, you can vote for the Wild Bird Fund at www.pepsirefreshproject.com.
The article from the Daily News.
8/28/10
Disabled Riders Sue MTA
The lawsuit challenges that the "devastating" cuts to the city's bus system and paratransit systems that have left disabled people without public transit options violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The plaintiffs, represented by South Brooklyn Legal Services (SBLS), the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff and Abady, seek a permanent injunction against the MTA and NYCT service cuts, and restoration of paratransit services.
The citywide service cuts implemented by the MTA and NYCT on June 27, 2010 wiped out 89 bus lines, forcing passengers to take other buses or take the subway. Disabled people like Watkins, Trocchia and Weiss, who can't take the subway, face greater hardship than non-disabled riders.
Access-A-Ride, the City's already-overburdened paratransit system, can't take up the slack, because Access-A-Ride service has also been significantly cut back -- as many as 26,000 Access-A-Ride trips a year have been eliminated.
Brooklyn resident Watkins, who uses a manual wheelchair, once commuted to work in Manhattan on the B39 bus. Now she has to rely on Access-A-Ride, which means that, due to scanty service, she misses work during the week and has to work weekends to make up the time.
Williamsburg resident Trocchia, who has MS and uses a motorized wheelchair, could once take the bus from Williamsburg to Manhattan to the doctor. The subway is out, because he can't get over the gap between the car and the platform, and even if he could, the subway lines that were supposed to replace his bus don't have fully accessible stations in Manhattan and don't run on weekends.
So Trocchia is also stuck with Access-A-Ride, which means that, because he needs to schedule Access-A-Ride trips several days notice in advance, any trip that needs to be scheduled on short notice is out.
Trocchia sees himself becoming a shut-in.
Under the ADA, public entities are not supposed to discriminate against disabled people or deny them the services and benefits that non-disabled people have. It is discriminatory for a transit system to fail to provide paratransit services at a level comparable to the transit services available to non-disabled people, including schedules.
The Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination against a protected class of people, such as the mobility-impaired plaintiffs, by any program receiving federal assistance.
This isn't the first time disabled people have had to sue the MTA for more accessible public transit. Two lawsuits filed in the early 1980s eventually resulted in buses being made fully accessible to disabled people and the institution of the paratransit system, with some limited accessibility upgrades to subway stations.
Disabled people who live in Brooklyn, particularly wheelchair users, have been hardest hit by the MTA/NYCT cuts because far more bus routes were cut in Brooklyn than in any other borough.
The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission wants to put dollar-van service on some of the defunct bus routes, but the vans are not necessarily wheelchair friendly.
Advocates and elected officials who have spoken out in support of the lawsuit emphasize that public transit is critical to the mobility of disabled people, who are otherwise stuck in their homes.
More from WNYC.
8/27/10
Linkage
Mike Allegretti makes Atlas wanna hurl [Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn.]Run for the Fallen on Shore Road in Bay Ridge [Brooklyn Eagle.]
Beehive Hairdresser notices "The Darwin Terrace".
Raccoon-proofing your home [Gerritson Beach.net.]
Battle of Brooklyn commemoration events at Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunday, August 29.
Brighton Beach Jubilee, Sunday, August 29 [Sheepshead Bites.]
Frank Jump photographs ghost signs in Queens [Daily News.]
Society of Old Brooklynites hosts memorial tribute to the prison ship martyrs at Fort Greene Park, Saturday, August 28.
The MTA whips up more fare increases [BK Southie.]
No wonder I'm tired all the time [New York Times]
A week-long discussion on apocalypse, from NPR.
Vito Power
Duran, running for Lopez' position as Democratic district leader in the 53rd A.D., filed more than 2,000 signatures on July 12 to get on the ballot. He only needed 500 signatures.
The previously unchallenged Lopez spent the next month relentlessly trying to knock Duran off the ballot.
Right after Duran submitted his petitions, Lopez filed Specific Objections with the Board of Elections. When the Board, after a line-by-line review, confirmed that Duran had more than enough signatures to qualify, Lopez filed a lawsuit in Kings County Supreme Court, raising the same objections the Board of Elections had rejected. The judge ordered a re-review of the petitions by a Special Referee, who confirmed that Duran was qualified to be on the ballot.
Lopez' allegations in the same lawsuit that Duran had committed fraud resulted in a 5-day court trial, at which Lopez' lawyer was assisted by staff from his State Assembly office and employees of his non-profit, Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen's Council. (Lopez' Assembly staffer William Harris and RBSCC employee Ana Moreno-DeJesus were the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit.)
Lopez, after issuing a subpoena to Brian Honan, Director of NYC Housing Authority's Intergovernmental affairs, to bring copies of the leases of Duran's campaign volunteers to court, followed up with a personal phone call to Honan "reminding" him to bring the leases.
Judge Carolyn Demarest, after hearing more than 2 dozen Lopez witnesses, found no evidence of fraud in Duran's petitions.
Strike three.
Now on the ballot, Duran condemned Lopez' moves as "legal scare tactics".
Lopez' futile power play wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars and government resources, not to mention his opponent's savings.
Post from the Daily Gotham.
8/26/10
Foot-Long Illegal Immigrant
The iguana is believed to have hidden itself in a box of auto parts in Mexico and made the long journey from its home unharmed.
The Ford safety worker who spotted the iguana on the run called animal control, which captured it and took it to the Sterling Heights Nature Center.
After a 90-day quarantine, it will join a female black iguana at the Detroit Zoo.
The Yucatan spiny-tailed lizard, one of the smallest iguanas in the world, is a unique and rare species, found only within a 1,200-square-mile area -- and now, in El Norte.
The article from the Detroit Free Press.
Electronic Voting Demo at CB 10
District residents are invited to attend the demonstration to familiarize themselves with the new system before voting on Primary Day September 14.
If you missed the demonstration at CB 10 and would like a demonstration, you can contact Assembly Member Janele Hyer-Spencer's office at 718-492-2462 to make an appointment.
"Cat Woman" Caged
Spalding was busted in a SoHo store after NYPD officers made her as the "cat woman robber" -- and a sales clerk told them that Spalding had just pulled an armed robbery in the store.
Spalding, under the name"Purgatory", fronts death metal band Divine Infamy, which will play the Water Grill in Bay Ridge on Friday night -- assuming Spalding makes bail.
The article from Wall Street Journal Metropolis.
8/25/10
Clean Water Not Dirty Drilling
The oil and gas industry is eager to use the controversial drilling method called hydraulic fracturing (“fracking") in New York State to extract the natural gas under the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations. But fracking endangers the state's drinking water, and will turn beautiful rural parts of our state into industrial drilling zones.
The website is designed to be a one-stop shop for information about the fracking debate, and includes advocacy tools you can use to get heard on this issue during the temporary moratorium on fracking imposed by the State Senate -- thanks in large part to the calls, letters and emails our senators got from us.
Another new website, Frac Tracker, provides a GPS view of fracking data sets.
Rotten Egg
Food Democracy Now has announced via an email blast that major chains Trader Joe's and Fareway have stopped stocking DeCoster's eggs.
More than 32,000 members of Food Democracy Now! called the stores asking them to stop doing business with DeCoster facilities -- and, to their credit, they listened.
The organization is still after Costco, Albertsons, Safeway, Ralph's, Marc's and Wal-Mart to stop selling DeCoster's eggs.
Every so often, the scary reality of factory farming penetrates our daily lives, as it did this week with the recall of half a billion eggs from grocery stores across the country.
More than 1,300 people have been infected with salmonella from eating tainted eggs (according to food safety experts, the real number is probably more like 50,000, since most people don't report.)
Most of the bad eggs have been traced to a single producer, the Austin ("Jack") DeCoster companies.
DeCoster's Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, source of the most of the eggs, has a long history of violations. The other source, Hillandale Farms, also in Iowa, is affiliated with DeCoster, getting chickens and feed and renting facilities from DeCoster-owned companies.
DeCoster, a lifetime violator of state and federal laws -- including labor, human rights, environmental and animal cruelty -- is the poster boy for the evils of factory farming. He was declared a "habitual offender" by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2001 and barred from building hog confinements in the state.
That's when he went into chicken farming.
In 2006, DeCoster secretly put up more than $126 million to fund Hillandale founder Orland Bethel’s construction of Ohio Fresh Eggs, but Ohio officials found out about DeCoster’s involvement and pulled the company's permits. That's how infamous the guy is.
Like DeCoster himself, the egg recall is just a symptom of this country's disturbingly inhumane food production system. On the massive factory farms that have replaced family-run American farms, animals live in brutally overcrowded conditions that foster contagion. The economies of scale and false efficiencies this cruel business model offers cannot replace high-quality production practices and independent small farm management.
The present egg recall would be hard to imagine in a food system that draws from local and regional sources. The kind of massive public health threats we see now (spinach, peanut butter) are the result of consolidated food production.
Until food production is de-consolidated, incidents like the egg recall will keep happening, no matter how many new laws Congress enacts or how closely the FDA and the USDA monitor food production facilities.
But keeping habitual criminals like Jack DeCoster out of the food business is at least a first step to ending factory farming in this country.
Activist organization Food Democracy Now is calling on big retailers like Trader Joe's, Albertsons, Costco, Ralph's and Wal-Mart to inventory their suppliers and eliminate those, like DeCoster's Wright County Eggs and Hillandale Farms, that sell poison food, and source products from safe, reputable facilities.
8/24/10
Slow Fashion in Park Slope
The Textile Arts Center is 2 blocks from the R Station at Union Street.
Fashion’s Night Out celebrates the fashion industry and the fun of shopping, while boosting the economy and supporting thousands of talented designers. The Textile Arts Center believes the event should also educate consumers on “Slow Fashion.”
“Slow Fashion” means high-quality clothing and accessories hand-made locally from recycled or organic materials. The Textile Arts Center, Ecouterre.com, eco-fashion experts and a handful of designers want to educate consumers about this emerging movement.
Here's a quick look at the lineup for the event:
- 6:00-7:00 PM: Fashion Project’s Hack Sustainable Fashion Workshop;
- 7:00-8:30 PM: Ecouterre.com Eco-Fashion Panel, with Q and A;
- 8:30-11:00 PM: Shopping Hours with local designers; Free DIY Workshops; Food, drinks, live DJ.
The Textile Arts Center occupies 3,200 sf of newly-renovated space in an old sweater factory in Park Slope/Gowanus. With its curved felt-covered walls, custom-designed light grid, state-of-the-art weaving facilities, vacuum-sealed exposure unit, two-fabric screen-printing equipment, and plenty of worktables, the center is designed to serve Brooklyn's creative community.
To honor its commitment to the fiber arts community, the center will soon be offering residency positions to outstanding artists in the field, as well as affordable private work spaces with late night access to studio space.
Whose Party Is It?
Also seeking the Taxpayers Party line is Republican Michael Allegretti, in a primary race against Mike Grimm to oppose local Democratic congressional representative Mike McMahon.
Malliotakis, who gathered 2,700 signatures in support of her bid for the line, told reporter Helen Klein she sought the Taxpayer Party line because of the name, but admitted that she was unclear what the name stood for.
The guy who started the New York Taxpayers Party, Carl Paladino, might be able to fill her in on that, but Malliotakis, a former Con Edison public affairs manager and a registered lobbyist for the utility, nevertheless claims the Taxpayers Party as her own personal brand and vehicle.
She'll have to contend with the fact that Paladino registered the party first, and that the state says there can be only one New York Taxpayers Party, in order to do that.
The article from Your Nabe
8/23/10
10th Annual Coney Island Film Festival
Coney Island U.S.A. will sponsor the 10th Annual Coney Island Film Festival from September 24 through 26 at Sideshows By The Seashore and The Coney Island Museum, in historic Coney Island. The time is TBA.Moviemaker Magazine calls the festival one of the "25 Coolest". Click here to read the article.
For this year's selections, click here. To sponsor the festival, click here. Click here to read what last year's participants had to say about the festival.
Here's the link for the festival on the Coney Island Fun Guide.
8/22/10
Mountaintop Removal Opponents Head to D.C.
The 4-day event in the nation's capitol will be made up of 3 components:
- The Voices From the Mountains conference on September 25 and 26, with workshops, panels and cultural events celebrating Appalachia, will provide opportunities for activists to network and strategize. Click here to register.
- On September 27, there will be a National Day of Action, on which thousands are expected to march and rally to call for an end to mountaintop removal. Click here to learn more.
- On September 28, National Lobbying Day will bring together activists and coalfield residents at the Capitol to lobby Congress to end mountaintop removal mining. Lobbying Day is open to people of all experience levels, and training will be provided throughout the weekend. Click here to apply.
More from I Love Mountains.org.
City Council Last Hope for Hotel Pennsylvania
If Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Department of City Planning, and developer Vornado have their way, the venerable hotel will be demolished to make way for a high-rise box.
Preservation advocates will be at the meeting tomorrow morning to try to turn back the tide.
More from 2600 News.
More from Save Hotel Pennsylvania.
Another angle on the proposed demolition from the Daily News.
8/21/10
Caponey Island
Author and archivist Arthur Nash will be at the Coney Island History Project on Saturday, September 4 from 1-6 PM to record an interview with CIHP Director Charles Denson and sign copies of his new book New York City Gangland.All are welcome to stop by and meet Nash and look at some of his never-before-seen photos of famed New York City gangsters with Coney Island connections, including Al Capone, who got his nickname "Scarface" when he worked in Coney Island; Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, a hit man for Murder Inc. who fell to his death from the window of Coney Island's Half Moon Hotel; and Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, head of the biggest Mafia crew in New York until he was gunned down in 1931.
Many of the photos in the book were collected from the families of mobsters and law enforcement sources.
Nash is a freelance archivist and a major contributor to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C. and the Las Vegas Museum of Law Enforcement and Organized Crime (a/k/a the MOB Museum). He introduced "MADE In America," the first public exhibition addressing gangland's enduring impact on our nation's pop culture, in 2006.
Nash is a former resident of Seagate whose grandfather rode the Cyclone roller coaster with Marilyn Monroe.
New York Times columnist Selwyn Raab called New York City Gangland the "crown jewel of Mafia history".
Petro-Fox
Why does this matter? Because Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the second biggest shareholder of the Fox News Network, after the Murdoch family.
Yes, patriots, that Fox, the one that nightly works the frayed mosque-at-ground-zero nerve.
Hard to get your head around, isn't it?
But there's more irony: Fox just donated a million dollars to the Republican Party.
The post from alternet.org.
Last Summer at Coney Island
JL Aronson's well-reviewed documentary Last Summer at Coney Island, which premiered on August 9 at BAM, will be screened today, Saturday, August 21, at Tribeca Cinemas, as part of the Ace Film Festival.The film, which documents the Coney Island redevelopment saga, features many of the key players in that saga, including Charles Denson, of the Coney Island History Project, whose local street cred, according to the New York Post's Rich Calder, the film reveals.
According to Calder, Last Summer at Coney Island exposes the push to develop the gritty seaside amusement district for the bumpy ride it's been.
Last Summer at Coney Island
Saturday, August 21 at 3:20 PM
Tribeca Cinemas/Ace Film Festival
54 Varick St., Manhattan
Two Mikes Spar Over Debate
The paper sees Grimm's reluctance as noteworthy, given his vocal response to the Mike McMahon "Jewish money" flap.
Allegretti called Grimm out for skirting a verbal one-on-one, insinuating that Grimm had nothing of substance to say.
Grimm's camp countered that Allegretti was only calling for a debate to boost his campaign's flagging momentum.
Allegretti and Grimm, who have apparently yet to face off in the campaign, are scheduled to debate on NY 1 on Sept. 3.
The primary is on Sept. 14.
The article from the Brooklyn Paper.
8/20/10
The Three Mikes
In a recent post, Staten Island reporter Tom Wroblewski pondered the Mike McMahon “Jewish money” conspiracy theory.
Jennifer Nelson, the McMahon aide who got fired over it, once worked as a spokesperson for Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, who backs candidate Mike Grimm against Mike Allegretti in the GOP congressional primary.
Although at least one high-ranking Democrat Wroblewski interviewed thought it was possible that Nelson sabotaged McMahon, Nelson herself dismissed the idea as "ludicrous", saying that if she had wanted to sabotage McMahon, she would have worked for Grimm.
Molinari said Nelson was "too kind a person" to have done something like that, and that she was going through a hard time as a result of the incident.
Elsewhere in the race, a well-placed Staten Island Republican found it significant that McMahon had targeted Grimm’s fund-raising, seeing it as an indicator that McMahon fears Grimm more than primary challenger Allegretti. That McMahon pushed the story this summer, rather than letting the two GOP candidates "kill each other" in the primary this fall, may indicate Grimm's strength in Democratic polls.
Molinari agreed that the McMahon camp fears Grimm more than Allegretti, especially after Grimm out-raised Allegretti in the second quarter and picked up endorsements from John McCain and Sarah Palin.
McMahon sees Grimm as his opponent this fall, Molinari said -- and Molinari's not the only one saying it.
Allegretti has stayed away from the "Jewish money" flap, calling it "silly".
Younger Staten Island Republicans seem less interested in the 3 Mikes than in the race between Democractic Assembly Member Janele Hyer-Spencer and Republican challenger Nicole Malliotakis.
The post from Staten Island Live.
Bike Commuting Up 221% Over Decade
There's a big upside to bike commuting: it's free, it's a comparatively quick trip, it's good exercise, it takes off pounds, and it keeps you in shape.
According to the city Department of Transportation Commuter Cycling Indicator, bike commuting rose by 221% between 2000 to 2009. This phenomenal increase has been enabled by the 200 miles of bike lanes the city has added in the past 3 years and fueled by the desire to escape the clutches of NYC Transit.
Thinking about becoming a bike commuter? Map out your route to work on bikingrules.org. On your day off, time your commute by walking or pedaling it. Find a place at work where you can safely park your bike. Buy an outfit (try Outlier http://outlier.cc/.) Equip your bike with saddlebags or a basket, and yourself with a backpack with easy access closures.
PDF of today's AM NY (article on Page 2.)
8/19/10
The Wonder Wheel Turns 90
The 150 ft Wonder Wheel is at the hub of the renaissance of world-famous Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park. It has carried 30 million riders in its 90 years of continous operation, with a pefect safety record.
An instantly recognizable part of the Coney Island skyline, the Wonder Wheel weighs 400,000 pounds and can carry 144 people. Swinging and stationery passenger gondola cars offer a spectacular view of the beach, the Coney Island Boardwalk and the New York City skyline.
Everyone who takes a birthday ride on the Wonder Wheel will receive a free Wonder Wheel 90th Anniversary collectible button.
Live music will be provided by The Hungry March Band, The Banjo Rascals and Curtis Eller. Performers will include The Coney Island Talent Show winners, Phineas, Jason Perez, The Minsky Sisters, M’Lady Uppercrust, The Amazing Amy, The Wau Wau Sisters, Miss Saturn, The Maine Attraction, Darlinda Just Darlinda, and The Animal Crackers.
The fun will include clowns, face painters, stilt walkers and more.
The Wonder Wheel website.
For more information about the event, call 718-372-2592.
Soundtracker
There are few quiet places left in the United States, and finding pure sound, unadulterated by humans, is increasingly difficult. For 30 years, the Emmy-winning Hempton has made it his mission to find and record these places -- before they disappear.
Soundtracker follows Hempton as he travels into the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest in search of the last quiet places in America. Sherman, who observed Hempton for a month on the road, has created a fascinating portrait of an obsessive artist on a quest for perfection in an obscure medium.
Soundtracker has been called “a meditation on the world’s changing landscape and the things we may be leaving behind....”
The film's soundtrack incorporates Hempton’s pristine binaural recordings.
Soundtracker is an official Selection of the Telluride and the Sedona Film Festivals.
The film's website.
8/18/10
Bay Ridge Jewish Center Alive and Well
From now through September 3, the Center is offering a High Holy Day package deal. Your $100 admission buys entry to the Center's High Holy Day Services, as well as its "Egg-Stravaganza" break-fast meal, featuring an omelet station. Tickets and reservations are required. For further information, call 718-836-3103.
The Center offers Hebrew School on Thursdays from 4-6 PM, with small classes and an experienced teacher. For more information, call 718-836-3103.
Bingo is offered at the Center on Mondays starting at 12:30 PM. You can buy 2 cards for $6 and additional cards for $1 each.
On Monday evenings, the Center offers Tai Chi Quan from 6:30-7:45 PM. The cost is $15 per session.
Yoga with Patti is offered on Wednesday evenings from 6:15-7:30 PM. Six sessions cost $75.
On Thursdays at 10 AM, the Center offers Tai Chi Chair exercises. The cost is $10
On Thursdays from 7-8 PM, the Center offers Yoga with Jack. The price is $5 per session.
For additional information, email Ruth Shulman at SShul1997@aol.com.
Linkage
Was Bay Ridge resident Chao Xie killed in a failed extortion plot? [NY 1]
Salvatore Forte feeds the jobless at his Bay Ridge restaurant Hom [Daily News.]
The 68th Precinct refuses to crack down on the illegal grill jockeys who turn Bay Ridge's Owls Head Park into a trashy barbeque pit on the weekends [Brooklyn Paper.]
The Feast of Santa Rosalia in Bensonhurst starts August 26 [BK Southie.]
Find 100% markdowns every day at the Brooklyn Free Store in Bed-Stuy [New York Times.]
Pagliacci comes to Coney Island, courtesy of Joe Sitt [L Magazine.]
Anthony Weiner rockin' a Jewfro back in the day [Gothamist.]
Brooklyn Tea Party at 69th Street Pier
The group, currently recruiting speakers for the event, has reached out to The Club for Growth and Citizens Against Government Waste.
Candidates who want to address the rally will be asked to take 6 suggested pledges:
- To propose legislation to cut all government salaries by 20%;
- To fight to have unspent stimulus monies applied directly to debt reduction and vote against further exceptions to the Pay-As-You-Go Budget Rule;
- To seek to triple the tax deduction for local charitable giving;
- To fight the building of the 9 – 11 mosque;
- To propose legislation to take social security and medicare away from those making over 225,000 dollars a year in retirement;
- To fence our Southern border and denounce attacks on Arizona’s laws.
The post from the Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
Local Republican reform blog Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn accuses John Press, organizer of the Brooklyn Tea Party, of being a hater.
More from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
8/17/10
Male Drivers, Left Turns and Dead Pedestrians
According to a report recently released by the city’s Department of Transportation, men, driving their private cars, cause 80% of the accidents in New York City that kill or seriously injure pedestrians.
Some other highlights:
- Brooklyn leads the boroughs in pedestrian fatalities, and Staten Island has the fewest — both in raw numbers and per capita.
- Left-hand turns were 3 times more likely to cause deadly crashes than right-hand turns.
- Citywide, 79% of serious crashes involved private cars, while only 13% involved taxis or livery cabs, 4% involved trucks, and 3% involved buses.
- The most common cause of accidents? Driver inattention, cited as a contributing factor in 36% of accidents.
- The most dangerous months for pedestrians in New York City? November and December, because it gets dark early and because of holiday crowds. The crash rate falls sharply after Christmas, in January and February.
- The hours between 3 and 9 PM are prime time for pedestrian crashes, with 40% of crashes happening during these hours.
The city says that New York’s roadways have become 20% safer in the past decade, but it doesn't seem that way to a lot of Brooklynites.
The article from the New York Times.
Rooftop Films Season Closes This Week
Doors open at 8:00 PM; live music at 8:30; screening at 9:00; after-party in the courtyard with free open bar at 11:00.
Tickets are $10 online or at the door. Click here for tickets and information.
The lineup:
- Centipede Sun (Mihai Grecu | France | 10 min.) A film about the mysteriously barren Altiplano region of Chile, finding mythical creatures who might once have filled the now desolate landscape, a haunting metaphor for a bleak future world.
- Old Fangs (Adrien Merigeau | Ireland | 11 min.) After years away from the woods, a young wolf confronts his savage father and adulthood in this dark animation.
- 121 Notes Down (Andreas Koefoed | Denmark | 26 min.) Jorgis, the star voice of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir is forced into a transition he is not prepared for when his 14-year old voice starts to break. He must choose between damaging his vocal cords trying to hit the high notes or dashing his hopes by walking away.
- The Poodle Trainer (Vance Malone | Culver City, CA | 7 min.) Irina Markova, a solitary Russian poodle trainer, reveals her transcendent relationship with her dogs, the childhood tragedy that sparked a lifetime of working with animals, and the welcome isolation behind the red velvet curtains of the circus.
- Kiss (Joost van Ginkel | The Netherlands | 10 min.) As a way of saying goodbye, Daan lets his eight-year-old son Bruno shave his beard and head before he leaves on a dangerous military mission in a desert country far away.
- Chainsaw Found Jesus (Spencer Parsons | Austin, TX | 21 min.) A melancholy comedy about two fathers, two sons, and the cocaine sale that brings them all together for an everyday adventure. A hilariously bizarre film about the moment before making a change.
- I Without End (Laleh Khorramian | New York, NY | 7 min.) Two uniquely discarded lovers live in sensual decay in this bittersweet animation.
- Mary Last Seen (Sean Durkin | New York, NY | 13 min.) A young woman embarks on a strange road trip with her boyfriend to a place he promises will be beautiful and peaceful.
8/16/10
Brooklyn Blood Feud
The trial was abruptly halted last week when the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office disclosed that Assistant District Attorney Wynton Sharpe, who works in the same bureau that is prosecuting Parker, is the son of Parker's longtime rival Wellington Sharpe.
The presiding judge asked the Brooklyn DA's office to appoint 2 special prosecutors, one to prosecute Parker and the other to investigate Wynton Sharpe, who has been suspended without pay for failing to disclose that he is Wellington Sharpe's son.
Wellington Sharpe is running against Parker in the September 14 Democratic primary. The rivalry between Parker and Sharpe goes much deeper than that, though. This is Sharpe's second attempt to unseat Parker -- and the two men have a history of suing each other.
In 2004, Sharpe sued Parker for defamation after Parker accused Sharpe of trying to divide the black vote in a 3-way race. That case was settled when Parker agreed to apologize. The next year, Parker was prosecuted for assault after an incident at a Brooklyn cafe in which Sharpe was the complaining witness, resulting in a default judgment against Parker. Most recently, Parker has charged Sharpe with submitting fraudulent voter petitions to the New York City Board of Elections.
More from the New York Times City Room Blog.
More from Room 8.
More from the Village Voice.
8/15/10
Greening the Skyline, One Building at a Time
Speakers include:
- Gennaro Brooks-Church, director of Eco Brooklyn, Licensed Real Estate Broker, Certified EcoBroker®, National Sustainable Advisor Program, LEED AP and Passive House Consultant Trainee. Brooks-Church coined 2 important building concepts: Build It Forward and the Zero Brownstone. Build It Forward requires all buildings to be made to last at least 100 years, to be a desirable gift to future generations, and not to drain existing resources. The Zero Brownstone is a renovation that uses no new materials, creates no waste and results in a home that uses zero energy.
- John Messerschmidt, of Four Points Consulting Group, serves as an owner's representative and consultant for people building or renovating townhouses, brownstones and apartments. He has over 10 years experience in green building for high-end residences. Certified by NAHB, NARI and BPI as a Green Building Professional, John is on the planning committee for the Building Envelope Council of NY, and is active in local non-profit environmental organizations.
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, of which GreenHomeNYC is the local chapter, is the nation's leading regional membership organization focused on promoting the understanding, development and adoption of energy conservation and non-polluting, renewable energy technologies.
NESEA will host its Annual Member Meeting on September 25. The program will include a talk by Joachim Eble, a leading German planner and architect, on the European perspective on sustainable urbanism. Eble will discuss his European Union ECOCITY Research Project.
For more information, visit the NESEA website.
TNR Trap Banks in Brooklyn
ASPCA Trap Bank in Greenpoint
The ASPCA trap bank has relocated to Greenpoint. Traps may be borrowed for up to 10 days. To reserve traps, call 877-SPAY-NYC (877-772-9692), Mondays through Fridays from 3-8 PM and Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM. (Punch 1 for English, then 6 for TNR.) Pick-up hours in Greenpoint are on Fridays and Saturdays from Noon-5 PM (by appointment only). The Pick-up Location is at 362 Kingsland Avenue. A $50 per trap deposit, refundable upon the return of the trap, is required.
Neighborhood Cats Trap Bank in Downtown Brooklyn
The Neighborhood Cats trap bank is in downtown Brooklyn, near the base of the Manhattan Bridge. To reserve and to arrange pickup (Saturdays only, from 11 to Noon) Email Lise at trapbank@neighborhoodcats.org. Trap pick-up is at 30 Prince Street. A refundable deposit is required.
NYC Feral Cat Initiative Trap Bank in Park Slope
The NYC Feral Cat Initiative has a trap bank in Park Slope. To reserve and to arrange pickup (Sundays only from 1-2 PM), email Elyse at fcitraps_parkslope@yahoo.com. Pick-up at U-Haul facility at 394 4th Ave. at 6th St. A refundable deposit is required.
SIFI Trap Bank in Staten Island
SIFI (the Staten Island Feral Initiative) has a trap bank. To reserve traps, contact Elena Bass at SIFI.NYC@gmail.com. Traps are lent by appointment only, pickup location given with reservation. A refundable deposit is required.
All traps must be returned clean and in a timely manner. For proper cleaning, see: Cleaning traps.
Reserve traps 2-3 weeks in advance of your project.
8/14/10
Arby's No More
Arby's was the building's second tenant since Gage and Tollner's closed in 2004. A T.G.I. Friday's franchise moved out in 2007.
The Gage and Tollner building is one of only 2 landmarked interior spaces in New York City designed exclusively as restaurants. The Four Seasons, designed by Philip Johnson, is the second.
372 Fulton was Gage and Tollner's second location. Charles M. Gage founded the restaurant in 1879 at nearby 302 Fulton and relocated to 372 Fulton in 1892 after teaming up with Eugene Tollner.
The building's interior, landmarked in 1975, is remarkable for its historic "Gay Nineties" atmosphere.
The post from WSJ Metropolis.
Portside Events at Pier 11 in August
A big turnout between now and season's end will help Portside bring future programs to Pier 11.
- On Sunday, August 15 at 11 AM, local resident Seth Goodwin will host a show-and-tell on knots, rope and the history of their uses. The event is free. Reserve here.
- On Tuesday, August 17 from 8:30 - 8:45 PM, Conrad Milster, Chief Engineer at Pratt Institute, will give a talk on Hudson River steamships, accompanied by a slide show. Reserve here for this free event.
- On Wednesday, August 18 at 8:30 PM, the Jalopy Theatre will present its weekly Roots and Ruckus on-deck show at the Mary Whalen, with Two Man Gentlemen Band, Stephanie Nilles, Dayna Kurtz and Feral Foster. Admission is $10. There will be a cash bar with beer and wine. Buy tickets here or at the door.
- From Thursday, August 19 through Monday, August 23, Portside will host the historic barkentine Gazela, the oldest wooden square-rigger in the USA still sailing, on its first visit to New York. Daytime tours will be offered on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. The suggested donation is $5. In the evenings, things will get a lot naughtier, with 2 shows of pirate cabaret burlesque aboard the Gazela. Admission is $25 for the 8 or the 10 PM show. Buy tickets here. (These shows are predicted to sell out.) No corporate sponsors have ponied up yet for the Gazela's visit. You can make history by sponsoring the Gazela's visit through the eBay sponsor auction. Help PortSide cover the costs of rental generator and dock fees for the Gazela by bidding now.
- On Saturday, August 22 at 11 AM, Portside will host a walking tour of the Norwegian-American history of Red Hook. The event is free. Reserve here.
- Sunday, August 15 and August 22 - from 5-9 PM, and Wednesday mornings from 7-11, are "Tanker Time", when you can bring dinner, drinks, the kids and the dog and enjoy the Red Hook sunset for free from the deck of the Mary Whalen.
See event info and photos here.
8/13/10
Gentrify Brooklyn Moves to Saturday Nights
GB's mission is to liberate the city's most talented improvisers, stand ups, and sketch comedians from Manhattan -- 'cause they all live in Brooklyn anyway.
Starting Saturday, August 14, GB is moving from Friday to Saturday nights at 10 PM.
There will be a dance party featuring Area D (down from Boston) and DJ Make Believe (NYC), from 7 PM to 10 PM.
The comedy lineup includes:
Mike Lawrence
David Angelo
Stepfathers(UCB)
Law Firm(UCB)
Admission is free from 7 PM-8 PM, but costs $5 from 8 PM onward.
And yes, there will be beer.
The Brooklyn Lyceum is at 227 4th Avenue between Union and President (R train to Union Street).
Call 718.857.4816 for additional information.
Hamlet: The Lost Edition
Discovered 200 years after Shakespeare's death, the "lost edition" is 2 hours shorter and contains whole scenes and plot developments not found in the traditional version of the play.
All seats are $15.00.
To order tickets online or to get directions, visit the Genesis website.
For further information, call 1.347.492.0534.
The Swedish Meatballs Play Ikea
In addition to traditional Swedish music from Lindstrom's band, the event will feature an all-you-can-eat crawfish buffet, breads, Swedish cheeses, desserts, mashed potatoes, and of course, meatballs!
A soda fountain and hot beverages are included.
Admission is $10.00 for adults and $2.50 for children under 12.
Call 1-908-289-4488 for more information about the event.
Lindstrom, a Bay Ridge native, would like you to know that the band's website has gone live.
8/12/10
Allegretti Unfurls Green Flag
The 30-something Allegretti, who lives across the Verazzano in Rosebank, held up the Green Spa and the Little Cupcake Bakery in Bay Ridge as models of environmentally sustainable, profitable small businesses. (Coincidentally, the Third Avenue Festival, on October 3, will pivot around a “Green” theme again this year -- in the run-up to the election.)
Allegretti, who holds a master's degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, has some environmental policy chops: he has served as a senior policy advisor to The Climate Group, as climate initiative director of the Partnership for New York City in 2006 and 2007, and as consultant to the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy.
Calling himself a "Republican independent" and a fiscal conservative, Allegretti says he advocates energy independence, including the development of solar, wind, geothermal, tidal and natural gas as alternative energy sources -- in addition to exhausting domestic coal and oil reserves.
Allegretti advocates what is euphemistically termed "clean coal", stricter enforcement of regulatory safeguards for offshore and surface oil drilling, and the expansion of "emissions free" nuclear power.
Acknowledging the impending end of oil, Allegretti called for a new national energy plan and for new jobs in the energy industry.
Allegretti didn't say how much his company, Bayside Fuel Oil, has invested in the development of alternative energy sources, but Bayside sells #4 and #6 fuel oils -- "dirty oil."
Burning dirty oil -- 1,000 tons of it a year -- is responsible for that black rain of soot in New York City that causes asthma, ups the risk of cancer, makes respiratory disease worse, and contributes to premature death.
I'd be more inclined to see Allegretti as an environmentalist if his company stopped selling #4 and #6 heating oil, which accounts for 86% of the city's heating fuel pollution.
Bayside also sells #2 heating oil, the subject of a new state law aimed at reducing heating fuel pollution that anomalously exempted #4 and #6 oils.
The article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
McMahon Opposes The CLEAR Act
Our congressional representative, Michael McMahon, opposed the bill.
The landmark CLEAR Act, passed in response to the Gulf Oil Disaster, addresses both the regulatory and technical failures that led to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, which killed 11 people and resulted in the biggest oil spill in our country's history.
The CLEAR Act restructures the agency charged with overseeing offshore drilling to prevent the conflicts of interest that contributed to its lax oversight of offshore drilling in the Gulf; enhances the role of science, independent reviews and other oversight agencies; and calls for enforcement of mandatory safety and environmental management standards.
The CLEAR Act also fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, helping to offset the costs of the damage to our wildlife, oceans and shoreline as a result of offshore drilling.
According to a recent federal government report, the Gulf Oil spill was bigger, by a factor of 10, than previously estimated.
8/11/10
Um, Digital Signatures?
Who's more old-school and hard copy than journalist/author Pete Hamill?
But Hamill’s new book, "They are Us", will bypass print and come out as an ebook -- even though Hamill says he's never read a book in digital form.
Now, he's thinking about getting an I-Pad.
The quintessential newspaper guy, Hamill has been a columnist for The Village Voice; a reporter for the New York Post, The Daily News and New York Newsday; and a foreign correspondent covering Vietnam, Northern Ireland and Lebanon.
"They Are Us", about what Hamill calls "the immigration mess", was something that Hamill, the son of Irish immigrants, wanted to write about.
The book is going straight to digital because that was the cheapest, quickest way to get it published against deadline.
"But what about book signings?", Hamill wondered.
The article from the New York Times.
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