Anyone notice that the stumps in the tree pits on the SW corner of Lincoln Road and Ocean have become beautiful new trees, all bemulched and wearing chic gators and supported by sturdy poles? And anyone notice the cute signs in the tree pits on Lincoln and Ocean asking neighbors not to throw trash and doo-doo in the tree pits? And anyone notice the cute little gardens sprouting up around the area, and the near absence of trash? What gives?
Well there's no reason to keep it a secret. A certain someone whose initials are Amy Musick (who, as it happens, is a public school music teacher) has been leading the charge to beautify the area around her building, and she's been doing a bang-up job of it, roping in kids from the Maple Street School, snagging free trees from the Million Trees tree give-away in Kensington earlier this month, liaising with the Mayor of Lincoln Road Dynishal Gross, and generally going rah-rah gung-ho on making the area more beautiful.
If you see Amy out there cleaning up trash, or showing kids how to take care of plants or trees, give her a hearty howdy and say thanks. She's just the sort of humble do-gooder the world could use a lot more of - doing it for the love of it, not the glory. Sing on, Mrs. Musick!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
145 Lincoln Road
Don't Miss This One - a classic post from the historian who goes by the alias Montrose Morris, this particular subject is 145 Lincoln Road. She's the bomb, y'all. A true hometown treasure. And yes, that's her picture, and her real name is Suzanne Spellen. Sorry to let the cat out of the bag, but sheesh she deserves the accolades, not some long-dead architect named Montrose! 
Free Prom Dresses While They Last
I've heard of politicians kissing babies. I've heard of them shaking hands. I've even heard of politicians giving a few quid for some pro quos. But this one is new to me:
Frankly, I think it's awesome to think of recycling prom dresses, and not breaking parents' banks for a one-night affair, so please don't think I'm Mr. Snark over here. Well, maybe a baby snark, not a Great White Snark.
Frankly, I think it's awesome to think of recycling prom dresses, and not breaking parents' banks for a one-night affair, so please don't think I'm Mr. Snark over here. Well, maybe a baby snark, not a Great White Snark.
Is the Gubba Mubba Worth All That Hubbub?
In some ways, the furor over the Great Googa Mooga, the last day of which was canceled due to rain, shows how far Prospect Park and Brooklyn generally have come since their nadirs. 20, even 10, years ago few people even knew where the Nethermead was let alone waxed rhapsodic about its delicate infrastructure and crucial spiritual significance to the soul of the borough. They used to VERY occasionally have opera out there in the 1970s, but it was wicked weird to do it. They held full-bore equestrian events out there - you know, horse shows. And festivals of one kind or another have been common - often fenced-in ones - through the time that even the Q has lived here (that goes back 25 years now...oy). So before we all get our collected panties all bunched up we might be served to remember that the Giggy Miggy did not invent the idea of a festival in the park. In fact, urban parks throughout the country and world do this kind of thing ALL THE TIME. Often in the grassy parts. Yes. In the grassy parts.
Does that mean the Greek Geeky Meeky is a good idea? Probably not. But the reasons why it is not a great idea, in my opinion, which I'll elaborate for those who care, have nothing to do with the mission of "a" park or "this" park, or the Prospect Park Alliance, or the NYC Parks Department or any other nonsensical statements I've heard or read. Parks are what we want them to be. If enough of us don't want the Googa to come back, it probably won't. Last year the complaints were out there, but it was hardly an uproar. But given the dire state of funding for the park, and the fact that the Alliance administers the park and is always looking for new earned revenue and ways to bring in new members and ways to be creative with its extraordinary resources - generally in the interest of making the park better, stronger and more fun - I said and still believe that it was worth giving them a couple years to experiment with a generally well-respected outfit like Superfly (the Googs and Bonaroo's organizer) and see how the vendors, attendees, and most important the lawn, reacts.
And what's the verdict, after two years of the Grape Gaple Maple? Last year ended in a hung jury. After this year, every last participant seemed to have been hanged and is still swinging in the breeze. Vendors got stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars of unsold food. Superfly didn't make it's dough. The park didn't get the public relations bounce it was hoping for (see the nasty NY Times diss). The Sunday bands like De la Soul and Kool & the Gang didn't get to play. And tens of thousands of ticket holders didn't get to go at all, many waiting in line for a couple hours being teased by the organizers into thinking the show must go on.
To the event itself: I went Saturday afternoon-eve, and the rain had kept it to under 20,000 attendees. It was great. Geeky, but great. (I think the wilder, zanier, druggier more "Burning Man" kids were at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Queens). It was a lot of fun, good clean fun, this Guggly Muggly. The concert on Friday was apparently a blast. This was just the sort of urban festive good time I've come to love about NY summers. The biggest problem, as has oft been noted, was that the location is a grassy respite, not a big dirt box or parking lot, which is really the right location for something like this. I agree that common sense dictates that (see picture at the bottom). State Fairs, which the Gaggy Maggy most resembles, are never held on grassy meadows intended for grassy meadow style recreation. They're held on dirt-bag drag-race mud-pits.
Some interesting random thoughts I picked up off the inter-wires included Ryan Sutton's piece on why it's not a very interesting idea in the first place to have a bunch of restaurants showing off their wares outside. As in, this sort of things happens at places like the Brooklyn Flea's Smorgasburg (now, gulp, in Manhattan too!) already every weekend. And we've got food trucks, and you can even get some of these upwardly priced wares at Nets games and Rat-Center events. So the whole specialness of the thing, which seemed so provocative even just a year ago, is kinda Goot Moot when you think about it. Then there's the mildly entertaining aspect of reading contemporaneous tweetage.
But the big point I want to make is this. It's not like the event was created by Monsanto and featured live beatings of baby seals to the sounds of neo-nazi skinhead music. It was a well-intentioned event created by a beloved music festival featuring dozens of local restaurants and well-regarded bands, many local, and beer and wine makers, many local, that was so popular they had to limit the FREE tickets to a lottery so as not to overtax the once-underused Nethermead. Even 10 years ago, the NY Times was talking (unfairly, and quite elitist-ly if you ask me) about the nastiness of our side of the park, starting at, yes, the Nethermead.
But lastly I must ask, to all of you who feel so passionately that this park must remain pure and untouched and fully sodded and uncommercialized...now that the City has handed over control and an expectation that we will raise a certain amount of money towards the Park's upkeep...are you prepared to kick in some dough to make that happen? Because Prospect Park ain't gonna maintain itself. And let's be honest, here. We ain't exactly the cleanest park patrons either. Folks who frequent our side of the park are known to litter and leave whole truckloads of trash behind after picnics. The Parthenon over by the Parade Ground sometimes looks like Fresh Kills. Even the Nethermead gets trashed, even on non-Googa weekends. We could all do our part.
Lakeside, the big brilliant soon-to-open skating and lake-reclamation project is soon to be the pride of the east side. We've got our lovely Lincoln Road and Imagination playgrounds. We've got the Boathouse and the Nethermead and the Carousel and Lefferts House and Zoo. We have the lake, the Drummer's Grove, the other drummer's circle down by the lake, the Oriental Pavillion, ,concert grove, lovely paths etc. etc. That dude who wrote that NY Times piece claiming we got the short end of the stick was high, high, high when he wrote it, or rather, things have definitely taken a turn for the better. Given all that, I think we could all stand to cut the Alliance a break, and recognize that they're looking for new models to cut their deficit, because they're not getting the sort of private support that Central Park gets. And that's a shame, because there's PLENTY of money in Brooklyn right now. But that money hasn't deemed it worthy to walk its green presidential legs on over to the jewel of the borough. Let's hope that begins to change, Giggy Miggy or not.
Alas, it does look like the 'Mead took it pretty hard. Gothamist took this shot and many others.
Does that mean the Greek Geeky Meeky is a good idea? Probably not. But the reasons why it is not a great idea, in my opinion, which I'll elaborate for those who care, have nothing to do with the mission of "a" park or "this" park, or the Prospect Park Alliance, or the NYC Parks Department or any other nonsensical statements I've heard or read. Parks are what we want them to be. If enough of us don't want the Googa to come back, it probably won't. Last year the complaints were out there, but it was hardly an uproar. But given the dire state of funding for the park, and the fact that the Alliance administers the park and is always looking for new earned revenue and ways to bring in new members and ways to be creative with its extraordinary resources - generally in the interest of making the park better, stronger and more fun - I said and still believe that it was worth giving them a couple years to experiment with a generally well-respected outfit like Superfly (the Googs and Bonaroo's organizer) and see how the vendors, attendees, and most important the lawn, reacts.
And what's the verdict, after two years of the Grape Gaple Maple? Last year ended in a hung jury. After this year, every last participant seemed to have been hanged and is still swinging in the breeze. Vendors got stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars of unsold food. Superfly didn't make it's dough. The park didn't get the public relations bounce it was hoping for (see the nasty NY Times diss). The Sunday bands like De la Soul and Kool & the Gang didn't get to play. And tens of thousands of ticket holders didn't get to go at all, many waiting in line for a couple hours being teased by the organizers into thinking the show must go on.
To the event itself: I went Saturday afternoon-eve, and the rain had kept it to under 20,000 attendees. It was great. Geeky, but great. (I think the wilder, zanier, druggier more "Burning Man" kids were at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Queens). It was a lot of fun, good clean fun, this Guggly Muggly. The concert on Friday was apparently a blast. This was just the sort of urban festive good time I've come to love about NY summers. The biggest problem, as has oft been noted, was that the location is a grassy respite, not a big dirt box or parking lot, which is really the right location for something like this. I agree that common sense dictates that (see picture at the bottom). State Fairs, which the Gaggy Maggy most resembles, are never held on grassy meadows intended for grassy meadow style recreation. They're held on dirt-bag drag-race mud-pits.
Some interesting random thoughts I picked up off the inter-wires included Ryan Sutton's piece on why it's not a very interesting idea in the first place to have a bunch of restaurants showing off their wares outside. As in, this sort of things happens at places like the Brooklyn Flea's Smorgasburg (now, gulp, in Manhattan too!) already every weekend. And we've got food trucks, and you can even get some of these upwardly priced wares at Nets games and Rat-Center events. So the whole specialness of the thing, which seemed so provocative even just a year ago, is kinda Goot Moot when you think about it. Then there's the mildly entertaining aspect of reading contemporaneous tweetage.
But the big point I want to make is this. It's not like the event was created by Monsanto and featured live beatings of baby seals to the sounds of neo-nazi skinhead music. It was a well-intentioned event created by a beloved music festival featuring dozens of local restaurants and well-regarded bands, many local, and beer and wine makers, many local, that was so popular they had to limit the FREE tickets to a lottery so as not to overtax the once-underused Nethermead. Even 10 years ago, the NY Times was talking (unfairly, and quite elitist-ly if you ask me) about the nastiness of our side of the park, starting at, yes, the Nethermead.
But lastly I must ask, to all of you who feel so passionately that this park must remain pure and untouched and fully sodded and uncommercialized...now that the City has handed over control and an expectation that we will raise a certain amount of money towards the Park's upkeep...are you prepared to kick in some dough to make that happen? Because Prospect Park ain't gonna maintain itself. And let's be honest, here. We ain't exactly the cleanest park patrons either. Folks who frequent our side of the park are known to litter and leave whole truckloads of trash behind after picnics. The Parthenon over by the Parade Ground sometimes looks like Fresh Kills. Even the Nethermead gets trashed, even on non-Googa weekends. We could all do our part.
Lakeside, the big brilliant soon-to-open skating and lake-reclamation project is soon to be the pride of the east side. We've got our lovely Lincoln Road and Imagination playgrounds. We've got the Boathouse and the Nethermead and the Carousel and Lefferts House and Zoo. We have the lake, the Drummer's Grove, the other drummer's circle down by the lake, the Oriental Pavillion, ,concert grove, lovely paths etc. etc. That dude who wrote that NY Times piece claiming we got the short end of the stick was high, high, high when he wrote it, or rather, things have definitely taken a turn for the better. Given all that, I think we could all stand to cut the Alliance a break, and recognize that they're looking for new models to cut their deficit, because they're not getting the sort of private support that Central Park gets. And that's a shame, because there's PLENTY of money in Brooklyn right now. But that money hasn't deemed it worthy to walk its green presidential legs on over to the jewel of the borough. Let's hope that begins to change, Giggy Miggy or not.
Alas, it does look like the 'Mead took it pretty hard. Gothamist took this shot and many others.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Behind the Tip of the Tongue
So, behind the tip of the tongue would be...mid-tongue? Let me take you right into the middle of the tongue then...
Today, the Q got a sneak peak inside the shoppe everyone is talking about. Okay, not EVERYONE, but an awful lot of people seem to want to know what's happening with the old Blue Roost that was K-Dog place. And I'm here to tell you that the Q, while admittedly easily impressed, was pretty overwhelmed. I'm saying that TotT is hott. As in, this place looks great, smells great (they were testing out the baking this morning), tastes great (ditto, on the croissants at least), and, yes, the coffee's quite good (well, I don't know anything about coffee except that the coffee tasted like...coffee. And an awful lot of work is going into it, including the pouring over of the coffee over the grinds, which suggests to me they know what they're doing, though I'm pretty sure Mr. Coffee has been doing that for awhile. The espresso machine looks positively Chitty Chitty Bang Bang however).
To the connoisseurs and belly-minded, the deets are these: Forty Weight will be your coffee and comes with its own sommelier, so there was Matt Marks from the company busy readying the industrial machinery to make the coffee brew-ready. I know some people really geek out on this stuff, so at the bottom of this post I cut and pasted an orientation on their articulation of the java creation vis a vis the pouring of the hot water over the coffee to make the coffee into coffee. (In case you're salivating, they're not opening til just after Memorial Day. Sorry!)
Fresh euro-style breads have been missing from the neighborhood - and fresh baguettes and the like they will serve. The pastries are all designed by co-owner Eric McIntyre who is a proper pastry chef with credentials from Eleven Madison Park, which is someone named Daniel Humm's restaurant. I'm reveling in the fact that I know nothing about any of this stuff - but it's exciting to see how excited are the partners, their partners, and their partner's partners. Seems like a class act start to finish. Here's the folks I met this morning, and their roles:
From left to right, that's co-owners/spouses/daddies Scott Fagan and Eric McIntyre, Matt Marks the brew-meister, and Bethany Morey and Zahra Lee, your Pastry Sous Chefs.
I had a double-d delightful time talking to the fellas. Scott's a born and bred multi-generational New Yorker, with interestingly enough Caribbean roots on his mother's side. Who knew there was a centuries-old community of immigrant Jews on St. Thomas? Well, Scott did. And now I do too. Look it up! After a high-tech stint in San Fran during the go-go late '90s, he met his future husband Eric, and after the tech boom up-belly-ed, they both enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in Manhattan, and soon after founded their successful catering business "Tip of the Tongue." Thankfully, despite their pedigrees, they don't come off as food snobs in the least. They seem passionate about food and business and the neighborhood they call home, which the Q calls Lefferts. They live on Winthrop between Flatbush and Bedford and their toddler son will matriculate at Maple Street School next year.
What else? Oh, the decor is very considered. I noted the cool decorative walls made of moulding from old houses:
The nifty arbor inspired wall paper:
The retooling of Blue Roost's display case into a refrigerated air tight utilitarian pretty thingy:
And of course, my favorite word of the decade, the sconces, which I'm betting go very nicely with scones:
Good luck gentlemen! Look for a soft launch just after Memorial Day, meaning shorter hours, while they fine-tune things. Please, save your reviews til they've been up and running for a few days.
God bless America, and God bless good croissants.
Appendix on the coffee:
The Espresso
Today, the Q got a sneak peak inside the shoppe everyone is talking about. Okay, not EVERYONE, but an awful lot of people seem to want to know what's happening with the old Blue Roost that was K-Dog place. And I'm here to tell you that the Q, while admittedly easily impressed, was pretty overwhelmed. I'm saying that TotT is hott. As in, this place looks great, smells great (they were testing out the baking this morning), tastes great (ditto, on the croissants at least), and, yes, the coffee's quite good (well, I don't know anything about coffee except that the coffee tasted like...coffee. And an awful lot of work is going into it, including the pouring over of the coffee over the grinds, which suggests to me they know what they're doing, though I'm pretty sure Mr. Coffee has been doing that for awhile. The espresso machine looks positively Chitty Chitty Bang Bang however).
To the connoisseurs and belly-minded, the deets are these: Forty Weight will be your coffee and comes with its own sommelier, so there was Matt Marks from the company busy readying the industrial machinery to make the coffee brew-ready. I know some people really geek out on this stuff, so at the bottom of this post I cut and pasted an orientation on their articulation of the java creation vis a vis the pouring of the hot water over the coffee to make the coffee into coffee. (In case you're salivating, they're not opening til just after Memorial Day. Sorry!)
Fresh euro-style breads have been missing from the neighborhood - and fresh baguettes and the like they will serve. The pastries are all designed by co-owner Eric McIntyre who is a proper pastry chef with credentials from Eleven Madison Park, which is someone named Daniel Humm's restaurant. I'm reveling in the fact that I know nothing about any of this stuff - but it's exciting to see how excited are the partners, their partners, and their partner's partners. Seems like a class act start to finish. Here's the folks I met this morning, and their roles:
I had a double-d delightful time talking to the fellas. Scott's a born and bred multi-generational New Yorker, with interestingly enough Caribbean roots on his mother's side. Who knew there was a centuries-old community of immigrant Jews on St. Thomas? Well, Scott did. And now I do too. Look it up! After a high-tech stint in San Fran during the go-go late '90s, he met his future husband Eric, and after the tech boom up-belly-ed, they both enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in Manhattan, and soon after founded their successful catering business "Tip of the Tongue." Thankfully, despite their pedigrees, they don't come off as food snobs in the least. They seem passionate about food and business and the neighborhood they call home, which the Q calls Lefferts. They live on Winthrop between Flatbush and Bedford and their toddler son will matriculate at Maple Street School next year.
What else? Oh, the decor is very considered. I noted the cool decorative walls made of moulding from old houses:
The nifty arbor inspired wall paper:
And of course, my favorite word of the decade, the sconces, which I'm betting go very nicely with scones:
Good luck gentlemen! Look for a soft launch just after Memorial Day, meaning shorter hours, while they fine-tune things. Please, save your reviews til they've been up and running for a few days.
God bless America, and God bless good croissants.
Appendix on the coffee:
The
Coffee
While
opening/designing/constructing the first Forty Weight cafe was
a HUGE learning experience, coffee is what the company knows, and knows
well. All of the coffee for the cafe is sourced and roasted by
co-owner/roastmaster Andrew Ballard in Freeville, NY. Roasted and
shipped twice weekly, the coffee being served in the cafe is never more
than a few days post-roast. Most of the coffee is brewed to order on a
custom made pourover bar, using Hario v60s, and Coava Kone filters.
There are always three different impressive options for customers
to choose from for their pourover coffee. For those customers in a
hurry, who just need to get in and get out, there is french pressed
coffee ready in thermo-carafes. During the warmer months, the cafe
offers cold brew iced coffee. In an effort to offer our
customers the most comprehensive experience, we also offer the
Japanese method for preparing iced coffee.
The Espresso
In
a specialty coffee world where espresso seems to be getting subtly
marginalized in favor of single origin black coffee, Forty Weight
Coffee stands firm as espresso junkies. The cafe's espresso is ground
using Mazzer Superjolly grinders and pulled through a two
group La Marzoccos GB/5. Each talented barista has his or her own
personal and passionate relationship with this high-caliber equipment
and Forty Weight's brilliant espressos, and the results are dramatic.
The cafe serves Forty Weight signature Pressure Drop Espresso, as well
as a rotating single origin espresso. At the time of this writing, the
single origin espresso is one of the finalists from the El Salvador Cup
of Excellence.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Camba Gardens - Actually Affordable Housing
Guitarist Vernon Reid was asked, back when he was high-flying with his rock band Living Colour, what the "New York Sound" was. He said if there was a NY Sound it was probably the sound of people looking for cheap apartments. And while there are no more "cheap" apartments to be had, at least not with bathrooms or electricity, we often hear about the crisis of affordable housing. Affordable housing. Yes, affordable housing...
Politicians are for it! (They're also for education, jobs and mothers). But what exactly is "affordable housing?" Sounds about as vague as the term "middle class." However to some non-profit developers, like CAMBA, affordable housing means something quite specific, and I doubt very much that any of you are paying anything like what CAMBA is offering for its newly constructed apartments at CAMBA Gardens, just down Clarkson Ave near Kings County Hospital. A one-bedroom for $810. A two-bedroom for $976. A three-bedroom for $1,127. Granted, you won't be living in Tribeca or Dumbo, but it ain't so bad in East Flatbush, or Wingate, or whatever you want to call Kingscounty-ville. CAMBA also built those new supportive services furnished apartments over at 97 Crooke Avenue in the micronabe the Q likes to call Caledonia, the ones for chronically homeless and seriously mentally ill tenants. CAMBA Gardens, however, has no such requirements. Thank God! It must be so hard to PROVE you're mentally ill and homeless on a housing application!! (off color joke, sorry).
If you want an application for CAMBA Gardens, see the below flyer, or go to Camba Gardens webpage. Granted the lottery will have brutal odds, but you never know. Actually, I have friends who have won these lotteries. You may have to apply for tons before you get an "affordable" apartment, but if your income falls into the guidelines it's certainly worth trying.
So why aren't there more options like this? And why does living in NYC have to rely so much on luck and timing? Whenever you hear a politician claim to be "for" affordable housing, I suggest you stick your hand up and demand exactly what they mean and how they're going to make it happen. Because anyone running for City office who doesn't know this stuff backwards and forwards is not worth voting for. And how about politicians who don't know about the many ways that tenants are harassed into leaving their longtime homes by greedy landlords? And how about politicians who don't know how city budgets work and how to leverage and influence others towards the needs of their districts? And how about politicians who...argh, don't get me started...
Politicians are for it! (They're also for education, jobs and mothers). But what exactly is "affordable housing?" Sounds about as vague as the term "middle class." However to some non-profit developers, like CAMBA, affordable housing means something quite specific, and I doubt very much that any of you are paying anything like what CAMBA is offering for its newly constructed apartments at CAMBA Gardens, just down Clarkson Ave near Kings County Hospital. A one-bedroom for $810. A two-bedroom for $976. A three-bedroom for $1,127. Granted, you won't be living in Tribeca or Dumbo, but it ain't so bad in East Flatbush, or Wingate, or whatever you want to call Kingscounty-ville. CAMBA also built those new supportive services furnished apartments over at 97 Crooke Avenue in the micronabe the Q likes to call Caledonia, the ones for chronically homeless and seriously mentally ill tenants. CAMBA Gardens, however, has no such requirements. Thank God! It must be so hard to PROVE you're mentally ill and homeless on a housing application!! (off color joke, sorry).
If you want an application for CAMBA Gardens, see the below flyer, or go to Camba Gardens webpage. Granted the lottery will have brutal odds, but you never know. Actually, I have friends who have won these lotteries. You may have to apply for tons before you get an "affordable" apartment, but if your income falls into the guidelines it's certainly worth trying.
So why aren't there more options like this? And why does living in NYC have to rely so much on luck and timing? Whenever you hear a politician claim to be "for" affordable housing, I suggest you stick your hand up and demand exactly what they mean and how they're going to make it happen. Because anyone running for City office who doesn't know this stuff backwards and forwards is not worth voting for. And how about politicians who don't know about the many ways that tenants are harassed into leaving their longtime homes by greedy landlords? And how about politicians who don't know how city budgets work and how to leverage and influence others towards the needs of their districts? And how about politicians who...argh, don't get me started...
Envisioning the Neighborhood: Part II - Come Out This Sunday!
This Sunday, from 2-5PM at the Jewish Children's Museum, come be part of the Community Board's "plan" for the coming years. We did one of these back in November, and the feedback that CB9 got is helping to form the agenda for the future. The Board, and its committees, really do use these feedback sessions as the fuel for strategies and outreach to the City agencies and stakeholders involved.
And guess what...I'm hear to tell you that the City is listening. On one issue after another, the demands from the Community Board get attention. Do we always get what we want? Of course not. But the conversation is happening, and agencies know where we stand. And in a few areas, we've got some solid victories to point to.
So...please come out. PLUS, the Jewish Children's Museum, on Eastern Parkway at Albany, is a fantastic family day out. Enjoy free admission if you're attending the Envisioning session! They call it "Jewish," but if you ain't Jewish, it's not like it's restricted! It's still a marvelous museum full of historical games, exhibits and run-around space. All are welcome.
For those who attended the first round, thank you, come again!
Last time, areas of concern that became part of the blueprint for the future included:
and in regards to Safety:
Many of these things are already being addressed, and many more will need input and help from you, the people.
enough with the rah-rah. just come!
tim
And guess what...I'm hear to tell you that the City is listening. On one issue after another, the demands from the Community Board get attention. Do we always get what we want? Of course not. But the conversation is happening, and agencies know where we stand. And in a few areas, we've got some solid victories to point to.
So...please come out. PLUS, the Jewish Children's Museum, on Eastern Parkway at Albany, is a fantastic family day out. Enjoy free admission if you're attending the Envisioning session! They call it "Jewish," but if you ain't Jewish, it's not like it's restricted! It's still a marvelous museum full of historical games, exhibits and run-around space. All are welcome.
Last time, areas of concern that became part of the blueprint for the future included:
- Community Centers
- Community Banks
- Senior Centers
- Development of Business Strips
- Strategies to Reduce Trash
- Addressing Lack of Engagement Around Economic Development
- Development of the Empire Blvd Corridor
- Creation of BIDs and Merchants Associations
- Outreach to Absentee Landlords
- Help for Startup Businesses
- Combating Discriminatory Housing Practices
- Affordable Housing Initiatives, City and State
- Senior Services and Outreach to Seniors
- Wellness Initiatives
and in regards to Safety:
- More beat cops
- Better lighting
- Better traffic enforcement
- Shutting down drug dealers and drug dens
- Rethinking traffic patterns and pedestrian safety
- Monitoring illegal after-hours clubs and parties
- More security cameras.
Many of these things are already being addressed, and many more will need input and help from you, the people.
enough with the rah-rah. just come!
tim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
