WGPA

(Photo: myersschecter)

From the folks at the Greenway Planning Initiative:

Eleven miles of the waterfront bikeway have been planned. Your three miles have not. Come out and make it happen!

What: Greenway Planning Workshop for Greenpoint & Williamsburg
When: Thursday, May 24th, 6:00 PM
Where: Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th St. (L train to Bedford Ave)

Creating a dedicated bikeway parallel to the waterfront will be a challenge. It is also a unique opportunity to demonstrate new principles for urban transportation and design that encourage non-motorized transportation. A successful outcome will be historic for New York.

Your voice and your ideas are needed to make it happen. Register today at info[at]brooklyngreenway.org. Space is limited.

Get a glimpse of the vision in this clip from the "Fifth Annual Future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Bike Tour".

Read about it on Streetsblog -

A free beer tasting will follow the workshop!

This weekend's walking tours (tour sponsors in brackets):

Saturday, May 19, 11:00 a.m.
$15, $12 MAS members

Come and discover Vinegar Hill, a charming neighborhood with coblle-stone streets tucked away along downtown Brooklyn's waterfront. Native Americans held the area in high regard and thanks to its currenty landmark status we can still delight in its rich history today. Stroll through historic DUMBO and see how the cycle of changes has come full circle. We'll look at former factories, visit art galleries and enjoy the spectacular vistas at Brooklyn Brige Park. Leader: Ans Heerdink-Schickler, Vinegar Hill resident. Meet at the entance to the York St. subway station. (Transit: F train to York St.)

Sunday, May 20, 10:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
$50, $40 MAS members

Sailor's Snug Harbor was a campus of buildings built throughout the 19th century as a haven for retired merchant seamen. Most of its buildings remain and have been adaptively reused as the components of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The buildings and grounds, including masterpieces by Minard LaFever that are among the most important works of Greek Revival architecture in America, are spectacular, and trul one of the treasures of New York City. The cultural center includes such wonderful attractions as the Noble Maritime Museum (one of the unsung great museums of New York) and the remarkable Chinese Scholar's Garden, a modern addition to the setting. We will also tour what was once the SSH physician's residence with Snug Harbor's first historian, Barnett Shepherd, who lives in the house. As a bonus, we will take a bus over to Calvary Presbyterians Church to see a set of astonishing stained-glass windows by D. Maitland Armstrong that once belonged to the Randall Memorial Church at Snug Harbor. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. We will take a boat to the Snug Harbor dock and return by bus. Meet promptly at 10:15 a.m., Slip 6, Battery Park, near the Statue of Liberty ferry. (Transit: R train to Whitehall, #1 train to South Ferry, #4, 5 trains to Bowling Green.)

Reservations and prepayment required. RSVP to rsvp[at]mas.org or 212-935-2075. Box lunches and all admissions are included in tour price.

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative will be holding a planning workshop for the Greenway in Williamsburg and Greenpoint this Thursday. Here are the details:

Location: Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th Street
Directions: L to Bedford Avenue
RSVP to 718.522.0193 or info(at)brooklyngreenway.org

Join residents and organizations of Greenpoint and Williamsburg to help shape the plan for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Many elements of the greenway are provided for in the Parks Department’s Waterfront Master Plan for Greenpoint-Williamsburg. This workshop will consider those elements which are not yet programmed.

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and Regional Plan Association will provide background information and studies to support the discussion of planning options. Participants will break into groups with maps, aerial photographs and diagrams to brainstorm, explore possibilities and achieve consensus on route location, configuration, design features and user facilities.

Another great concert event is coming up - the Act Local Don't Demo Domino concert at Grand Ferry Park. The event will held on Sunday, 3 June, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and features music by Nada Surf, The Wau Wau Sisters, Cheeseburger, Vic Thrill & the Saturn Missile, the Hungry Marching Band and The Black Tie Party.

The event is sponsored by SchofieldFilms, Brooklyn Brewery, Underground Press, the Brooklyn Ale House and Chiara Sullivan.

And best of all - its all free! Act Local only asks that you sign WPA's Don't Demo Petition in order to enjoy an afternoon of free music. And afterwards, join us at the Ale House for the afterparty.

This weekend's walking tours (tour sponsors in brackets):

Go, Go Gowanus [MAS]

Saturday, May 26, 11:00 a.m.
$15, $12 MAS members

Explore the wide banks of Brooklyn's most famous canal. Before crossing one of the oldest retractile bridges in the United States, visit the Carroll Gardens Historic District, a singular brownstone enclave distinguished by a remarkable street plan. Learn the history of the canal and the surrounding, though faded, industrual zone. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet at Smith and President streets, outside the drug store. (TransitL F, G trains to Carroll St.)

Ravenswood Waterfront [MAS]

Monday, May 28, 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
$15, $12 MAS members

Walk the East River shore in Queens between the Queensboro and Triboro bridges. Begin at Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in the United States, and head for the remnants of Old Astoria, the terminus of the 19th century 92nd St. Ferry. The unusual spectrum of sights along the way includes the increasingly oblique views of Manhattan's Upper East Side from three parks, a (former) piano factory, a huge power plant, a "big box," the Socrates Sculpture Park and the Isamu Noguchi Museum. We'll end in an especially Greek commercial part of Astoria with subway connections. Some may wish to end in the Bohemian Beer Hall, New York City's larndmarked (and last) beer garden. Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer. Meet at N.W. corner of 41st Ave. and 21st St. (Transit: F train to Queensbridge.)

This weekend's walking tours (tour sponsors in brackets):

Don't Demo Domino Benefit [us]

Walk to Grand Ferry Park and listen to music - support the preservation of the Domino Sugar Refinery.

Another great concert event is coming up - the Act Local Don't Demo Domino concert at Grand Ferry Park. The event will held on Sunday, 3 June, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and features music by Nada Surf, The Wau Wau Sisters, Cheeseburger, Vic Thrill & the Saturn Missile, the Hungry Marching Band and The Black Tie Party.

The event is sponsored by SchofieldFilms, Brooklyn Brewery, Underground Press, the Brooklyn Ale House and Chiara Sullivan.

And best of all - its all free! Act Local only asks that you sign WPA's Don't Demo Petition in order to enjoy an afternoon of free music. And afterwards, join us at the Ale House for the afterparty.

The East Village [GVSHP]

Sunday, June 3, 1:00 p.m.

$12 GVSHP members/seniors; $15 general public

The East Village: Culture and Counter Culture: A Walking Tour with Joyce Gold From Stuyvesant's bouwerie to the Tompkins Square riot—an area rich in ethnic diversity. Joyce Gold, author of From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History, will lead a tour highlighting the historic sites of the East Village.

Reservations recommended: 212-475-9585 x 34 or rsvp[at]gvshp.org

Another great concert event is coming up - the Act Local Don't Demo Domino concert at Grand Ferry Park. The event will held on Sunday, 3 June, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and features music by Nada Surf, The Wau Wau Sisters, Cheeseburger, Vic Thrill & the Saturn Missile, the Hungry Marching Band and The Black Tie Party.

The event is sponsored by SchofieldFilms, Brooklyn Brewery, Underground Press, the Brooklyn Ale House and Chiara Sullivan.

And best of all - its all free! Act Local only asks that you sign WPA's Don't Demo Petition in order to enjoy an afternoon of free music. And afterwards, join us at the Ale House for the afterparty.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make today's Don't Demo Domino benefit a success. Despite the threat of rain, the bad stuff held off until the end, and we got to see The Black Tie Party, The Hungry Marching Band, Chesseburger, Vic Thrill (but no Saturn Missile) and the Wau Wau Sisters al fresco. Afterwards, everyone retired to the Brooklyn Ale House to catch an acoustic set by Nada Surf and enjoy some beer. Thank you one and all.

The crowd at Grand Ferry Park, watching Vic Thrill in the rain.

The results? Over 850 people came to Grand Ferry Park and signed our Don't Demo Domino petition! These signatures will be added to the thousands who have already signed up to support preservation at the Domino site, and will help send the message to the Landmarks Commission and the City Council.

Very special thanks to Mikki Halpin and Act Local, who not only put on a tremendous show, but did an amazing job of organization and overcame any number of unexpected turns. Mikki put this whole package together, including recruiting many of the volunteers. And thanks to all of the sponsors: SchofieldFilms, Brooklyn Brewery, Underground Press, the Brooklyn Ale House and Chiara Sullivan.

The wholesome down-home country stylings of the Wau Wau Sisters

Thanks too to all the volunteers who helped set up and clean up, and carried petitions in the rain, making sure that everyone signed on. And, of course, thanks to everyone who came to enjoy what started as a pleasant Sunday afternoon in the park. With the music and the crowds, it stayed pleasant, if not so warm and sunny.

We have many more events planned in the near future, so please stay tuned. And if you have photos of the benefit today, please email us the links at wpa[at]waterfrontalliance.org. Thanks!

We posted in a hurry last night, and left out a few key points. First, we completely forget to mention Butterfly Tech, the awesome sound techs who donated time and equipment (and made sure none of the talent was electrocuted in the rain!). As well, subtexture provided the great DDD graphics you see here.

And here are some links to our awesome sponsors:

SchofieldFilms
Brooklyn Brewery
Underground Press
the Brooklyn Ale House
Chiara Sullivan

And the talent:

The Wau Wau Sisters
The Black Tie Party
Nada Surf
Cheeseburger
Vic Thrill and the Saturn Missile
The Hungry Marching Band

Photo: rguskind (click for more...)

Lots of good links on the Don't Demo Domino friendraiser:

Brownstoner was there.

Gowanus Lounge was there.

NY1 had a story.

And GL covered it.

And Vic Thrill made it to Youtube (again, via GL).

Sunday, June 10, 10:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
$40 MAS members, $50 MAS members

Since the 1600s, the high ground on the Staten Island side of the Narrows has been militarily important. First Dutch, then English, then American forces have built coastal fortifications there. When it closed in 1994, this was the longest continuously used military site in the country. Here is your chance to experience the great fort as few have, from the rooftop of magnificent Battery Weed (with its restored lighthouse) to inside the counterscarp of Ft. Tompkins, where stones from 1814 fort (complete with Masonic symbols) were incorporated into the Civil War-era replacement. Please note: this tour is for those comfortable climbing stairs without handrails and walking in confined spaces. Leader: Phil Melfi: supervisory park ranger. Co-leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer, who will provide commentary on the history and development of the harbor from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry. A chartered bus will take tour participants from the St. George Ferry Terminal to Ft. Wadsworth and back. Reservations and pre-payment required: Call 212-935-2075. $40 MAS members, $50 non-members. Box lunch included. Meet promptly at 10:15 a.m. at the top of the escalotors, Staten Island Ferry Terminal (aka Whitehall). (Transit: #1 train to South Ferry, R train to Whitehall, #4, 5 trains to Bowling Green.)

Photo: Gowanus Lounge.

Next Wednesday, there is an important community design charette for McCarren Park Pool. This is your opportunity to sit down with your neighbors and give your input to what the future McCarren Park Pool should be. The architect for the redesign will be chosen in the coming days and will be on hand for the charette. This is open to the public.

Community Board #1, The Open Space Alliance (OSA), and Parks & Recreation invite you to an open public design and planning charette for McCarren Park Pool improvements:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007

5:00 PM & 7:00 PM (two sessions)

SWINGING 60'S SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER

211 AINSLIE STREET

(Corner of Manhattan Avenue)

Rather than simply responding to a design proposal, we invite you to participate in creating the design.

Parks will give a summary of the schedule for the project, and discuss budget considerations. Audience participants will break into small groups, with each table hosted by two facilitators that are architectural professionals for assistance. Each table will have a large scale plan of the pool area, templates of an Olympic size pool, a multi-purpose building, tracing paper, markers, etc.

The charge for the evening will simply be that the designs must:

1) Provide swimming

2) Provide year-round use

3) Preserve and reuse the existing buildings

Other than that, everyone is free to dream (within budget constraints). Each table has 30 minutes to sketch and discuss --- then each table will be given 5 minutes to present their ideas to the room. The recommendations will be synthesized by the project architects and presented at a follow-up community meeting.

We look forward to your ideas on improving McCarren Park Pool for future generations.

P.S. Should the number of attendees exceed the legal capacity of the room, provisions will be made for an additional workshop.

NYC Parks will present their proposal for the redesigned McCarren Park Pool on Wednesday, 13 June at the Swinging Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street (corner of Manhattan Avenue). There will be two sessions, one at 5:00 p.m. and one at 7:00 p.m.

Sponsored by Community Board #1 and NYC Parks Department.

Saturday, June 23, 11:00 a.m.
$15, $12 MAS members

Christopher St. ends at the Hudson River where recently designated historic districts and glassy apartment towers are transforming the waterfront. We'll examine the area's salty past, viewing structures associated with the neighborhood's mercantile origins, as well as the former Bell Labs complex, now Westbeth, and the West Village Houses. The tour ends whee the High Line, scheduled to open as a public park in spring 2008, begins. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet inside the park at Sheridan Square, at the intersection of 7th Ave. and Christoper St.

Thursday, June 21, 5:30 p.m.

Join us on a walking tour of Kleindeutschland, led by Paul Rush of “Dr. Phil’s Tours.” We’ll explore the area that was home to a thriving German community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Beginning at the Ottendorfer Library, the first circulating library in the city, we will also visit the former St. Mark’s church, home church of the congregation of the General Slocum disaster, Tompkins Square Park, among other sites. The tour will end at a German Biergarten for dinner (separate charge), Thursday evening, June 21, 5:30 pm.

Hecla Iron Works, circa 1905

This weekend, WPA members Ward Dennis and Mary Habstritt will be leading a walking tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint's Industrial Heritage for the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. And, as these things happen, the Francis Morrone is also leading a tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint for the Municipal Art Society immediately afterwards. So this Sunday you can double your Williamsburg & Greenpoint historic pleasure!

Williamsburg & Greenpoint's Industrial Heritage Walking Tour
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
This neighborhood's industrial and social history, as well as recent efforts to preserve its historic buildings, will be explored on this tour led by Mary Habstritt, Preservation Committee Chair, and Ward Dennis, historian and member of the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Sites along the way will include the Williamsburg Bridge, Domino Sugar, the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, remnants of American Manufacturing Co., once the world’s largest rope factory (aka Greenpoint Terminal Market), and Eberhard Faber’s pencil plant.
Meet at the HSBC/Williamsburg Savings Bank, at 175 Broadway (corner of Driggs). Take the J,M,Z subway to Marcy Av. and walk west (toward the East River) on Broadway to the bank.

Greenpoint and Williamsburg -- Endangered Waterfront Tour
Date: Sunday, August 19
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Meet at Manhattan and Greenpoint avenues, by the Greenpoint Ave. station of the G train, Brooklyn
Reservations: Not required
Tour fee: $15, $12 MAS members
For more information: http://www.mas.org, 212-935-2075
These once-bustling working waterfronts lost most of their shipping and manufacturing after World War II, and now even the ghostly remnants of days gone by are being swept aside by a ferocious tide of gentrification, rezoning, and rebuilding as developers reshape these historic waterfronts into enclaves of posh housing. This tour, sponsored by the Municipal Art Society, will look at the current and future redevelopment, and search for the bits left over from the past--some deserving of landmark status.
Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.

On Saturday, September 8 (September 9 if it's raining), all the architectural salvage dealers in the New York City area will be coming together in the school yard of PS 11 in Clinton Hill (at Washington and Greene Avenues) from 10 am to 4 pm to serve up a delicious array of old building parts, fixtures and lighting. Who will be there? Williamsburg's own Moon River Chattel, Chelsea's (by way of Scranton) Olde Good Things, Harlem's Demolition Depot, Astoria's Build It Green, Clinton Hill's Eddie's Salvage, and Bed Stuy's Reclaimed Home; Philly-based Old Soul Architectural Salvage and Virginia-based Architectural Salvage News will also be in the house. In addition, Build It Green will have a drop-off station for recycling any odd building materials you may have lying around so bring over that box of tiles that's been taking up space in your basement since you finished you bathroom renovation five years ago! ... Admission is free—as are Brownstoner bumper stickers for the first 100 people to show up.

A neighborhood pot-luck picnic in the streets complete with live music, games, raffle prizes, entertainment, free food and goodwill all day long! Please come out to join us. We will be joined by our friends from, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Public Library, Lower East Side Tenament Museum, Coney Island Museum, The Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team with singer Renee Flowers, a performance by Kay Turner of Brooklyn Arts Council, live local bands, and more. BBQ's will be grilling all day and we encourage all potluck picnicers to come out and join us! Come out to meet your neighbors, appreciate our city, and show your support for your hometown museum, The City Reliquary!

There will be a joint meeting of the Parks, Transportation and Waterfront Committees of Community Board #1 on Wednesday, 5 March 2008, to discuss the proposed Brooklyn Greenway initiative in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

WGPA urges people to come out and show support for bicycles and trees over parking spaces.

Date: Wednesday, March 5
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Upstairs room at Lady of the Snow Society Inc. (410 Graham Avenue, between Withers and Jackson).
Closest subway: L train, Graham Avenue stop.
Read more: CB1 Workshop Findings (large pdf)

McCarren Park has long been poised for a rebirth, and this meeting is an important step in ensuring that what happens to our park happens with our input.

From OSA & GWAPP:

Hey McCarren Park user!

You use the park. You want it to be better. You’re not alone. Share your ideas on Monday March 3 (7pm @ Auto High Library).

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP (Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning) is helping kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods to create (where one doesn’t exist) support (where one does exist) and unite (where, as with McCarren Park, several active groups co-exist) park-specific Friends Groups.

The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the parks, the issues and needs of each park and to establish a community representatives for each park, who persistently push for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn (www.openspacealliancenb.org), neighbors, local businesses, grants…

This is the initial meeting of what, for now, might be called the United Friends of McCarren Park. With the improvements planned for McCarren Park's Pool/Ice Skating Rink and Skate Park, this is the time to plan for additional improvements throughout the entire McCarren Park. We need to make sure we have a unified and coherent voice in the way the park is maintained and plans are made for future developments.

With the Pool reconstruction underway (design-wise at least) it seems the various user-groups of this potentially wonderful park have a shared purpose. Let’s use it to make the park better.

Here’s a proposed (and very preliminary) agenda:

• Request a comprehensive survey & study of park usage & potential improvements
• McCarren Park Pool – reconstruction status update
• Pool-adjacent “Comfort Stations” – can these be built first?
• Fieldhouse “Comfort Stations” – the most disgusting bathrooms in Brooklyn?
• Wading/Spray Pool – what can be done to have this running by summer?
• Benches & Paths
• Natural turf conditions
• Gardens & Trees
• Dog Run(s)
• Plan to artificially turf paved field next to tennis courts
• Plan to study de-mapping Driggs and/or Union Ave. through the park
• Concerts, Films & other programming
• Other issues & needs?

WHEN: Monday, March 3 at 7pm

WHERE: Automotive High School Library (Bedford Ave. across from McCarren ballfields, next to tennis courts)

Everyone interested in working together to improve McCarren Park is welcome!

Kevin Walsh of Forgotten New York will be at Word this Thursday to give a presentation on Forgotten Greenpoint. We're looking forward to this one. Kevin's talks - like his books, tours and website - are always interesting.

HDC Presents Its 14th Annual Preservation conference, Preservation 2030

March 7-9, 2008

PlaNYC 2030 is a broad initiative put forth by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to enhance New York’s urban environment for the future focusing on sustainable goals for land, air, water, energy and transportation projects. One of the main premises of the plan is that New York City will receive an additional one million residents in the next two decades. Many in the preservation community want to know how the city can accommodate this growth and still retain its historic character. Using the Mayor’s PlaNYC as a starting point, the Historic Districts Council’s 14th Annual Preservation Conference will focus on preservation and its relation to a broad framework of urban issues and how they relate to New York’s many diverse neighborhoods. The HDC conference will utilize original research, real-life case studies, panel discussions and community tours to talk about preservation and development in the future, especially through the lens of the 2030 Plan and its land use initiatives.

A distinguished group of preservationists, planners, elected officials, government agency representatives, architects and educators from across New York City’s five boroughs will address these issues. These panelists are all intimately invested in the development and land use concerns of their communities and will dissect PlaNYC and it’s implications for our city’s future. The Conference will consist of three panel discussions: “Surviving the Building Boom: Urban Neighborhoods of the Future,” “Building it Out: Suburban Neighborhoods of the Future” and “Tools of the Trade: Preservation Practices for the Next Generation.”

Part of HDC's 14th Annual Preservation conference, Preservation 2030

GREENPOINT & WILLIAMSBURG: AFTER THE PLAN

In the aftermath of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint upzoning, the area immediately surrounding McCarren Park has undergone a drastic transformation. Once predominantly comprised of low-rise row houses and apartment buildings, the Park’s borders are now dominated by luxury condominiums built of materials and to a scale out of context with the rest of the neighborhood. Tour guide Ward Dennis (of WGPA) will highlight this severe new construction and how it’s affected surrounding areas.

The tour costs $25 - register here.

Congestion pricing may be dead, but you can still do something positive for local transportation. From the Save the G Coalition, a group of civic organizations dedicated to the restoration of full service on the G subway line:

On Tuesday, April 8th at 1:00pm, the NYC Council Transportation Committee will hold an oversight hearing on G train service. The Council would especially like to hear from the G train's riders about their own experiences. We hope you can take the time to appear at the hearing, and speak out.

If you can't attend the hearing in person, please consider submitting a written statement to us. Save The G will print and submit your statement on your behalf. Remember, in order for it to be official testimony for the record, you must include your full name and address. (We won't share this information with anyone but the Council members and their staff.) Please send the statement by midnight tonight to make sure we print & submit it on time for you.

Time/Date: Tuesday, April 8 at 1:00pm

Location: Council Chambers, City Hall, Manhattan

Oversight: What is the MTA doing to improve service on the G line?

Resolution #1262 Calling upon MTA to immediately improve service on the G line and to not implement any service cuts.

This is a major opportunity for G riders to speak and be heard; let's make the most of it!

GWAPP is sponsoring a Push for Parks status meeting on Thursday, 17 April.

From the inbox:

"Find out what’s been happening with the newly formed parks groups and find out how you can get improvements on a park near you.

Updates on:
Million Tree Project
Barge Park
Cooper Park
India Street End
Greenpoint Ave/Transmitter Park
UFMP (United Friends of McCarren Park)
Bushwick Inlet Park
Greenway
State Park
And much much more…

April 17th
7PM
WARSAW (aka Polish National Home – 261 Driggs Ave)
info@gwapp.org"

Town Square is putting on a Go Green! Greenpoint! Earth Day event this SAturday at McCarren Park. The day features "enviro-friendly vendors, food, music, art contests, recycling stations and much more", with schools, companies, government agencies and community groups showcasing educational displays. There will also be live music throughout the day, wellness classes and chess stations.

(Town Square is also looking for volunteers - if you are interested in helping out, contact caroline_nasson@hotmail.com)

GWAPP (Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning) has been rolling out a series of "Friends of..." groups - mini-advocacy groups for specific parks in Greenpoint. This is a great way to bring grass-roots advocacy down to the neighborhood park level, all the while with the backing of a large and experienced organization. We'll let GWAPP explain further:

The best way to get the parks we deserve is through persistent community attention to each park. GWAPP (Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks & Planning) is helping kickstart a big (and sustained) Push for Parks all across our North Brooklyn neighborhoods to create, support and unite park-specific Friends Groups. The purpose of these groups will be to gather information about the way the community uses the parks, the issues and needs of each park and to establish a community representatives for each park, who persistently push for improvements – whether from the city, the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, neighbors, local businesses, grants…

On Wednesday, the first meeting of what, for now, is called the Friends of BIP (Bushwick Inlet Park) will be held at the Gutter Bar. BIP is the new park that was promised during the City’s waterfront rezoning - it will be a 28 acre park straddling the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Waterfront, stretching from the State Park at North 9th Street to the northern side of the Inlet by Meserole Avenue.

As GWAPP says, this park was promised to the community - come help make it a reality.

Details:
Who: Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park
When: May 14th at 7 pm
Where: The Gutter Bar
200 N.14th (between Wythe and Berry St)
(Unfortunately no children allowed – against bar policy)

Mother Goose in an Airship, McLoughlin Brothers, 1909.
Source: Brooklyn Historical Society

At the turn of the 20th Century, south Williamsburg home to at least two of the country's largest printing houses. The larger of these was D. Appleton & Co., U.S. publishers of the Alice in Wonderland books and The Origin of Species, among many others. Appleton was located on Kent Avenue between Hewes abd Penn Streets; the building was taken down for the construction of the BQE. The second publisher - McLoughlin Brothers - was located on South 11th Street between Wythe and Berry. The McLoughlin plant was constructed in two phases - the original ca. 1870 building is located on the side of South 11th Street at the corner of Berry; the extension, constructed before 1900, is located on the south side of South 11th Street at the corner of Wythe. The red brick buildings still stand, their decorative sandstone or terra cotta trim still legible beneath a layer of flaking white paint. The extension still retains a mansard roof with iron cresting. A pyramidal roof which sat atop the corner pavilion of the original building has been removed, but much of the rest of the buildings are intact (and very rough around the edges). At the moment, the buildings are occupied as artists lofts (have been for decades, we understand) - that may be changing as the building is either changing hands or going through foreclosure.

McLoughlin is the subject of an exhibit now underway at the Brooklyn Historical Society (its been running since last September, and continues through this August). The exhibit includes pop-ups, ABCs, children's "classics," cautionary tales, travel and adventure titles, and Christmas books. BHS has this to say:

This exhibit highlights beautifully-illustrated children’s books, printed in Brooklyn by McLoughlin Brothers, a publisher who pioneered new technology and marketing techniques in the mass production of inexpensive children’s books... Visitors will see children’s classics, such as Alice in Wonderland and adaptations of Robinson Crusoe, educational books, such as The History of the United States in One Syllable, cautionary tales like those in the Little Slovenly Peter Series, ABCs, Mother Goose stories, Christmas Books, books teaching children how to paint or draw, along with games and puzzles.

McLoughlin's success was largely due to the innovations in printing technology and inks that were developed at the South 11th Street plant. As a result of these innovations, McLoughlin was able to put out brightly-colored, visually stunning books and games for children at relatively low cost. As a result of its combination of skillful design, innovative printing and clever marketing, McLoughlin Brothers were practically synonymous with illustrated children's books and games. The company was bought by Milton Bradley in the 1920s, and all of the Brooklyn operations were relocated to Springfield, Mass.

McLoughlin Brothers Printing Plant, 1895
View west from Berry Street
Source: King's Views of New York

Current views of the buildings after the jump.

Photo: evagram

There are still a few spots available for the Street Trees Workshop in Greenpoint next Wednesday. Please see below info if you would like to participate!

Caring for Street Trees Workshop
Presented by the New York Tree Trust
Green Oaks Club, 179 Green St. between Manhattan and Mc Guinness
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Wed. June 11, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

In this basic workshop, you'll learn to care for young street trees, receive free tools, and get a Parks Volunteer Permit, which will allow you to care for street trees and greenstreets. Advance registration is required; space is limited.

To register, contact channaly.oum@parks.nyc.gov or (212) 676-1929 with your name and email and/or phone number. The workshop is hosted by GWAPP'S North Brooklyn Tree Project.

This evening, City Lore and the Municipal Art Society are honoring 10 great places around the 5 boroughs for the ways they contribute to our communities and city. The event is also a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Place Matters, a project of the two organizations. This evening's event is sold out, but Place Matters has prepared the video above for those who cannot attend.

The full list of honorees is below. Clearly for us, the highlight is the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, located on Manhattan Avenue and Newtown Creek.

The 10 Place Matters honorees are:

• Federation of Black Cowboys, Howard Beach, Queens


• Greenpoint Manufacturing & Design Center, Greenpoint, Brooklyn


• JCR Percussion, Highbridge, Bronx


• La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez, Lower East Side, Manhattan


• Mandolin Bros. Ltd., West New Brighton, Staten Island
• A.J. Muste Building (Peace Pentagon), Noho, Manhattan


• Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island


• THE POINT Community Development Corporation, Hunts Point, Bronx


• Weeksville Heritage Center, Crown Heights, Brooklyn


• West 4th St. Courts, "The Cage," Greenwich Village, Manhattan

Starting today and running through August 30th, the Brooklyn Public Library will feature an exhibition of photographs by Nathan Kensinger called "Twilight on the Waterfront: Brooklyn's Vanishing Industrial Heritage." In the exhibit, Kensinger documents off-limits industrial sites along Brooklyn's waterfront, shedding light on what Brooklyn has lost to development over the last five years. Kensinger's work has included documentation of Domino Sugar and the Greenpoint Terminal Market.

The Library is hosting an opening night meet-the-photographer reception starting at 7:30 this evening.

Pencil Building.

The Historic District Council's first lecture in in its 2008 Summer Lecture Series features some Greenpoint flavor (and some industrial DUMBO goodness).

Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 6:00pm
Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street, Manhattan
Our Latest Landmarks: Recent & Upcoming New York City Historic Districts

HDC’s Executive Director Simeon Bankoff will present an overview of recently designated and calendared historic districts throughout New York City, as well as what’s next in the pipeline. This panel will feature some of the city’s most hard-working preservation activists as they discuss the landmarking process from a community perspective. Participants will include Doreen Gallo of the DUMBO Neighborhood Association; Paul Kerzner of the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation; Martina Salisbury, a tenant of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Historic District and preservation advocate; and a representative from the NoHo community.

The lecture is free, and there is a reception to follow. But space is limited, so reservations are required. RSVP at 212-614-9107 or kmorith [at] hdc [dot] org

NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth), a community organizing group in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, is having a Town Hall Meeting on 10/2 to mobilize the community on issues facing Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Longtimers will remember NAG as one of the leading voices against waste transfer stations on the waterfront, against Radiac, and for intelligent rezoning that protects jobs and housing. As NAG looks to the future, it is holding this meeting to take the pulse of the community and to identify the issues the community will organize around in the coming years.

The Town Hall will take place at the Holy Ghost Hall, 159 North 5th St (between Bedford and Driggs) on Thursday, 2 October at 7:00.

This Sunday, Domino developer CPC is opening the gates and allowing the public onto the wharf (the future esplanade). Free, and open to the public.

MAS is holding a panel discussion titled "Recycling New York’s Industrial Past: Inspiration From Home and Abroad". Here are the details:

New York City was once the nation’s power house for manufacturing, and many of the buildings and factories that fueled that industry remain. Preserving these buildings and using them to foster green-collar industries or adapting them to new housing, cultural, and retail uses is the most sustainable action New York could take.

This program will explore two approaches to preserving industrial buildings: keeping them for manufacturing uses (which also means retaining good-paying jobs) or adapting these buildings to new uses.

The panel will be introduced by WPA's Ward Dennis and moderated by Mary Habstritt of the Society for Industrial Archaeology and WPA. Panelists include Andrew Kimball of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Bob Powers, preservation consultant for the restoration of the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse (184 Kent) and Lisa Kersavage of MAS (a long-time WPA supporter).

When: Wednesday, October 22, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., reception to follow.
Where: The Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, at East 51st St.
Cost: $15, $12 MAS members/students. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.

McCaddin Memorial, Berry Street.

McCaddin Memorial Hall is the large yellow brick building on Berry between South 2nd and South 3rd. It is part of the complex of building on that block that belong to the Ss. Peter and Paul parish (the second oldest Catholic parish in Brooklyn). Historically, it served as the school building for Ss. Peter and Paul's parochial school (author Henry Miller was one of its students); lately it has housed a Head Start program, but little else. Which is a shame, since at the center of the building is the 600-seat auditorium seen below.

Now, production company OperaOggiNY is reopening the hall for a performance of L'Oracolo, a one-act verismo opera by Franco Leoni.

A 600 seat, "theater" complete with 50 foot proscenium arch raked stage and a balcony, plenty of fly space with classic brick and wood and plaster construction has been found and is about to be opened to the public by a collaboration between OperaOggiNY and the St. Peter and Paul parish.

Rehearsals, started this week, are already bringing serious opera back to the theater. With Music Director, Bill Lewis, (coach to none other than the Met's Marcello Giordani and accompanist to all of Ronan Tynan's appearances) as part of the mix, these two very serious performers are preparing L'Oracolo, by Leone. Although presented within the last 2 years in a concert version in Manhattan, this is the first time that the work has been staged in an extremely long time. This one act verismo opera. composed by Leoni, who was a student with Puccini and part of Ponchielli's studio, will not disappoint. Set in San Francisco's China Town, cerca 1900, it was all the rage at the Met while Antonio Scotti was a star.

When: Nov. 6, 7, 8. (all at 8pm)
Where: Henry McCaddin Hall 288 Berry Street, Williamsburg
Cost: Admission: $20 dollars.

McCaddin Memorial auditorium.
Photo: via NAG

[Via NAG]

CityRoom has a lot more detail on the OpperaOggiNY production coming to McCaddin Memorial Hall next week.

Tomorrow evening, NAG will be holding a working meeting to further develop their organizing agenda for 2009. Based on ideas generated by the community at the Oct 2, 2008 Town Hall Organizing Meeting and on feedback from a survey completed by community members, the working meeting will start to develop the following issues as NAG's priority organizing issues for 2009:

Preserving Affordable Housing Options for Residents
Improving Open Space and Access to the Waterfront
Offering Safe and Quick Transportation Options For the Neighborhood
Improving our Quality of Life and Preserving Community Character

This is an opportunity for folks to help develop the priorities for the coming year(s) for this important neighborhood advocacy group.

What: Kicking off NAG's 2009 Organizing Agenda

When: Thursday December 4, 2008 at 7pm

Where: Holy Ghost Church Hall Basement, 160 North 5th Street (between Bedford and Driggs)

Bushwick Inlet Park: proposed plan (via GL)

From the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park:

Come learn about your neighborhood's future 28 acre waterfront park & get updates on progress

Bushwick Inlet Park will stretch along Kent Avenue from N. 9th Street to Quay Street

Get involved now to ensure your park is built and learn how you can be a steward for it once it's here

We will be brainstorming ideas, forming committees, and setting short and long term goals for the park and friends group

Lend a hand - if you have a skill we probably need it!

Artists, graphic designers, park lovers, neighborhood residents, writers, creative minds, community organizers and more!

When: Monday December 8, 2008 @ 7pm
Where: 136 Milton Street (Greenpoint Reformed Church) between Manhattan Ave and Franklin Ave

At last week's CB1 meeting, Councilmember Yassky's office announced a new public art initiative. The initiative is a response to the rather woeful lack of public art (and opportunities for public art) in a neighborhood of artists. Organized in conjunction with the Open Space Alliance, the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition "will be comprised of members of the local arts community, with a mission of scouting out ideal locations for public art in North Brooklyn, actively seeking out partnerships and funding for public art in this area, and keeping its members apprised of all public art opportunities."

The coalition will hold a special meeting about Public Art in North Brooklyn on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009, at the Brooklyn Brewery, 79 N.11th St. (between Wythe Ave. and Berry St.) in Williamsburg at 6:30pm. The meeting will include presentations by public arts organizations that are currently offering opportunities to Greenpoint/Williamsburg artists.

For more information, contact Rami Metal in CM Yassky's office - (718) 875-5200x14 or rmetal [at] council.nyc.gov.

Mark your calendar - on 24 March the Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Fillmore Place Historic District. We will post the exact time when it is available - stay tuned.

NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth) has been doing a series of town hall meetings over the past few months, trying to get people engaged on different aspect of life and activism in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. One of the projects to come out this is the North Brooklyn Story Project, which seeks to compile an oral history of the neighborhood and its denizens. They're having a meeting for volunteers this week (Wednesday the 11th), in anticipation of a training session at Brooklyn Historical Society later this month.

What: North Brooklyn Story Project Introductory Meeting
When: Wednesday, March 11th, 7 p.m.
Where: Neighbors Allied for Good Growth headquarters: 101 Kent Avenue at 9th Street

The North Brooklyn Story Project is looking for people with stories to share about our community, and people who can listen to and record these stories.

Do you have a story to tell about life in Williamsburg or Greenpoint? A memory, a snapshot of life here today, an interesting interaction with community members? Do you know a neighbor or shopkeeper or friend with a story to tell? If so, you're invited to become part of the North Brooklyn Story Project.

The first step? To find people interested in telling their stories and people interested in interviewing them. Together, interviewers and storytellers will create an archive of North Brooklyn stories that all of us can use to feel connected to our diverse neighbors and neighborhoods – past, present, and future.

No special skills or equipment required – just ears and a voice. If you're interested, please come to the North Brooklyn Story Project Introductory Meeting, on Wednesday, March 11th, at 7 p.m. The meeting will take place at NAG headquarters (101 Kent Avenue at North 9th Street). At the meeting, we’ll discuss an upcoming training to be offered to our group by the Brooklyn Historical Society, as well as your ideas for making the project a success.

For more information, please contact Gregor (g [dot] nemitzziadie [at] gmail [dot] com) or Rachel (rachtree [at] gmail [dot] com).

What: Decorative Cast-Iron Work: History and Preservation
When: Wednesday · March 18 · 6:30 PM
Where: Museum of the City of New York (5th Avenue at 104th Street)

Join the artist, Andrew Berrien Jones, in a discussion of the stylistic history of cast-iron architectural decorations and the preservation issues they present, with Richard Pieper, Director of Preservation, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc.; Diana Waite, expert on the ornamental ironwork of Albany and Troy and Trustee of the Preservation League; and moderator Alex Herrera, Director, New York Landmarks Conservancy. Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America; and the New York Landmarks Conservancy. Light reception to follow.

Reservations are required. Tickets are $5 for Museum members, Preservation League members, seniors, and students, $9 general admission. Order tickets online at www.mcny.org or call 212.534.1672, ext. 3395. The Museum of the City of New York is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street.

Tuesday March 24 is a big day for the Eastern District at the Landmarks Commission. That afternoon, the Commission will be holding a public hearing on the designation of the Fillmore Place Historic District (pictured) in Williamsburg and on the designation of the Ulmer Brewery as an individual landmark. A related bonus hearing will be held on the Ridgewood Theater (sections of Ridgewood were historically part of the Town of Bushwick, so we'll lay a tenuous claim to the theater as part of the Eastern District).

The scheduled hearing times are as follows:

Ridgewood Theatre - 11:25
Ulmer Brewery - 1:30
Fillmore Place - 1:45

On Saturday, historian John Dereszewski will be leading tour of Bushwick Avenue from Graham to Flushing. This is the part of Bushwick Avenue that was the center of the original Bushwick settlement, but which later became part of the City of Williamsburg.

Via Bushwick BK, which has all the details.

Two events of note are happening on Wednesday (April 22):

First, Councilmember Diana Reyna, Esteban Duran & the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn are sponsoring & facilitating a community forum on North Brooklyn's open spaces, parks & neighborhoods. The event (celebrating Earth Day) will take place at El Puente, 211 South 4th Street (@ Roebling) in Williamsburg, at 6:30 p.m., and is open to the public.

Second, Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC) is hosting a meeting about the status (and state) of the Greenpoint Hospital. The City issued an RFP two years ago to redevelop a portion of this historic site. A number of proposals were submitted, but to date, no action has been taken. HPD will be at the meeting to give an update on the status of the RFP process and to answer community questions. Also at 6:30, at the Swingin' Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street (corner of Manhattan Avenue).

Williamsburg Walks is coming back for another year. This year it is being organized by L Magazine and NAG and will run for eight weeks in June and July. On Monday, there will be an informational meeting on the event. Recently, there has been press about some merchants whose business was hurt by last year's event. Williamsburg Walks is a good event, so we hope that the businesses sit down with the new hosts and figure out ways to make the event work better.

When:Monday, April 27, 7:00pm
Where:Swinging Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie
Street @ Manhattan Ave

On Tuesday, the North Brooklyn Story Project will be holding a fundraiser at Union Pool. The project (which is part of NAG's town hall initiative, is an oral history project for North Brooklyn. The concert features the Blue Album Group, Rebecca Schiffman and the Roulettes.

When: Tuesday, April 28, 8:00
Where: Union Pool (Union & Meeker)

Tomorrow night, Act Local is putting on a concert to benefit the drama department of Automotive High School. Automotive High's music and drama departments were cut this year and they were considering cancelling their school play but now the creative community of Williamsburg and Greenpoint is coming together to support them.

The main attractions are Japanther, Ninjasonik and the Automotive High Hip Hop Jazz Band. If that's not enough excitement for you, there is also a raffle (Spiewak, Teddy's, the Mark, Beehive and more). The concert is organized by Act Local, the same group that put together the Don't Demo Domino concert for WPA a couple of years back (thanks, Mikki!).

This is another great show for another great cause.

Where: Automotive High Auditorium (Bedford, across from McCarren Park)
When: Thursday, April 30 - doors at 7:00 pm (show at 8:00 pm).

India Street Mural Project is complete, and they're having a party to celebrate. A day of art, music and food.

Music provided by Japanther, Dilian, Ninjasonik, Small Black.

Food provided by Cookie Road, Cafecito Bogota, Green Pirate, Plates & Records.

And an after party at t.b.d. with drink specials from 6-8.

When: Saturday 18 July, 2pm to 6pm
Where: India Street between West Street and the East River

Tomorrow night, NAG will host a forum for the candidates for the 33rd Council District seat. You can submit your own questions for the candidates here. Come out tomorrow and hear what those would succeed CM Yassky have to say for themselves.

When: Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 7:00-9:00 pm
Where: Willamsburg Northside Preschool
152 N 5th Street between Bedford and Driggs

Town Square is hosting a forum for the four Comptroller candidates tomorrow evening in East River State Park. So far, three of the four have confirmed (Melinda?).

Date: Thursday, August 6th
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: East River State Park (North 8th and Kent)

The Brooklyn Lyceum is exhibiting a solo photography show focusing on the "legacy of Brooklyn’s industrial past and the spectrum of pollution in which we live". The exhibition of photographer Robin Michaels' work features "30 photographs of sites in Coney Island, DUMBO, East New York, East Williamsburg, Gowanus, Greenpoint, Red Hook, Sunset Park and Williamsburg where historic uses have saturated the soils and groundwater with a lasting toxicity".

Now through 8 November at the Brooklyn Lyceum (227 4th Avenue).

Wednesday night (28 October) is the big benefit for the Northside Town Hall capital campaign. In what the Onion's AV Club is calling "the Gen X concert of the year", Charles Bissell of the Wrens, They Might Be Giants and Nada Surf* will be playing a benefit at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Doors open at 8, and tickets are $25 (for $75 you can get VIP tickets with special seating, free wine and food). You can buy tickets at Teddy's or online at TicketMaster.

The benefit supports the capital campaign for the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center, a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood groups, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People's Firehouse, Inc. (PFI). Located in the former Engine Company 212 firehouse in Williamsburg, the Town Hall will serve as a home for these organizations to continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community. The building will also feature a flexible cultural exhibition and community meeting space on the ground floor.

* The postcard says acoustic - they've changed their minds and are now doing a full electric set.

This Thursday (10 December) from 7 to 10 pm there is a benefit for NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth - the second G is silent) at the Woods on South 4th Street. No cover, but donations are welcome. There will be plenty of booze, and a silent auction featuring goodies from a ton of local institutions, including:

• Word Bookstore
• The Brooklyn Kitchen/The Meat Hook
• Alter Clothing
• Southside CSA
• Third Ward
• Mast Brothers Chocolate
• Treehouse Brooklyn
• Teddy's Bar & Grill
• The Lecture Series/Book Thug Nation
• Sodafine
• The North BK Compost Project
• Eyebeam Atelier
• Three Kings Tattoo Parlor
• Franny & Rooey
• Cafe Grumpy
• Enid's
• The City Reliquary
• The Gym Park
• Miranda Restaurant
• Charm School Design
• Transient Pictures
• Kingsland Printing

and even some Polish and ESL lessons!