Cobble Hill gets some press

Though our neighborhood is relatively small in size, Cobble Hill certainly gets a great deal attention. This week, the maze of online journalism gave us two pats on the back. First, the L Magazine called our section of Court Street the "Foodiest Block" with a special nod to Watty and Meg, Brucie, and Sam’s.
Second, the Epoch Times pointed out we have some of the most valuable homes in the borough. Check out the map above via Property Shark and a full breakdown of details in Catalin Trif's article here.

Participatory Budgeting Voting

The past several months local Councilman Brad Lander has been running a participatory budgeting project, allowing the public to suggest and vote for ways to spend $1 million of his office's discretionary funds. Several other council members in the city have been running similar workshops and many great ideas have been brought to light. Though no ideas are specifically based in Cobble Hill proper, as voters in the 39th district we are all able to cast votes (3/27-3/29 & 3/31-4/1) at various locations in area.

For more details on voting for the Participatory Budgeting projects and to see the 20 projects on the ballot, visit Councilman Lander's website. http://bradlander.com/participatory-budgeting-ballot-projects.

And when you attend to cats your vote, remember to point out that no matter which projects are awarded funding there are still many worthy issues in our neighborhood which his office must address such as the decaying & dangerous Brooklyn Queens Expressway as well as the need to "Fix the Ditch" by improving pedestrian & bicycle connections between us and our neighbors on the waterfront.

Cobble Hill Tree Fund Annual Plant Sale

With the warmer weather upon us, the Cobble Hill calendar of events is filling out nicely. You can always peruse it through the Google Calendar embedded on the right side of the screen, and will notice major events like the Brooklyn Gateway Transportation Forum on 3/31, the Electronics Recycling Event in our area on Earth Day 4/22, and now another item is announced... the Cobble Hill Tree Fund's Annual Plant Sale will be April 28th, from 10a-2p @ Cobble Hill Park. Pick up some new plants for the summer, and swing by the Cobble Hill Association's table to join/renew your membership and pick up a T-shirt or two printed with the neighborhood logo!

Candy Store Coming to Cobble Hill

Just a few steps down from the Cobble Hill Community Room and Community Board Six's main office at 250 Baltic Street, a new candy store is in the works. Tobey at Bococaland reported a new sign up on the door of 254 Baltic St., between Court and Clinton and notes "it’s website just says Coming Soon, but it’s Google header reads, “vintage, modern candy store, old world nostalgic, hard to find candy, local home grown candy, best birthday place for kids, New York, Brooklyn.”

For the full story check out...
http://bococaland.com/blog/2012/03/21/fancy-candy-store-to-open-in-cobble-hill/

Save the Date - 3/31 BK Gateway Transportation Workshop

Join New York City Council Member Letitia James, The Boerum Hill Association, The Park Slope Civic Council, The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and The Tri-State Transportation Campaign for the BK Gateway Transportation Workshop.

The neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Northern Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights face significant transportation challenges.  Existing traffic and parking congestion, demands on transit service and dangerous roads for cyclists and pedestrians already pose hurdles for residents, businesses and the environment.  The opening of the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards will further compound theset challenges.  The BK Gateway Transportation Workshop will lay the groundwork for developing community driven solutions to the transportation issues facing the area.

·         Discuss transportation issues affecting your neighborhood
·         Share ideas with transportation experts
·         Learn ways to increase pedestrian & cyclist safety, reduce congestion, & improve transit
·         Help develop a plan for the future of transportation and transit in our community

Residents, business owners, and community organizations welcome!
When:       Saturday March 31, 2012
Where:      YWCA, 30 Third Avenue (at Atlantic Avenue) Brooklyn, NY 11217
                  First Floor Community Room
Time:        10:00 am to 1:00 pm
R.S.V.P:      Due to limited space, participants must register by e mail to bsherman@council.nyc.gov.

Co-sponsored by:
Council Member Stephen Levin, Council Member Brad Lander, Community Board 2, and Transportation Alternatives

Plastics Recycling: Take the Survey!

This survey and tidbit of info just came in from CB 6

     

In the last fiscal year the Department of Sanitation reports that CB6 led the borough with a recycling diversion rate of 25.1%. That means for every 4 pounds of waste our households generate, 1 pound of it is sorted and diverted into the recyclables waste stream, preventing the high costs of backhauling our waste to out-of-state landfills and giving manufacturers the opportunity to reuse our recyclables as feedstock.

The Department of Sanitation is working indirectly with a team of students from NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service to better understanding plastics recycling in New York City.  The students have asked us to help spread the word to encourage New Yorkers to take a brief, online survey which they estimate will only take about 10 minutes to complete.

Click here to begin the survey, and thank you for participating.

Developer Buys into Cobble Hill

Photo via PropertyShark

Here's an interesting Cobble Hill blurb reposted from Brownstoner...

JMH Development—best known here in Brooklyn for developing 184 Kent in Williamsburg—spent $6.6 million for a nice assemblage of properties in Cobble Hill, at 118 Congress Street, which is between Hicks and Henry. The seller was the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, and the string of buildings included in the sale total 18,001 square feet. We’re not sure what the Diocese used the buildings for, but perhaps they were office space. Repeated calls to JMH for info about what they’re planning to do with the properties haven’t been answered—and there’s no action on the DOB-filing front yet—but our money is on a conversion. The properties are part of the Cobble Hill Historic District.

History of Strong Place

We'll soon be unveiling an unprecedented history of neighborhood through the Cobble Hill History Wiki being created by noted NYC historian Francis Morrone. In the meanwhile, our friends at Brownstoner recently posted a mini history lesson of one street in particular, Strong Place.  With the new construction of three townhouses now underway, Brennan Realty have a detailed account of area with special attention to Strong Place as one of the of the earliest settled streets in what was known as 'South Brooklyn.'

Read it all right here...
http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2012/03/part-one-a-history-of-the-strong-place-properties

Vote for LICH Livestrong

Our Local Hospital, Downstate LICH recently applied for funding from LIVESTRONG, a partner of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, to bring The Creative Center’s "Hospital Artists-in Residence" program to our Othmer Cancer Center. The application has now advanced to the final stage and needs your help!

Please take a moment right now to vote for our program at
http://vote.livestrong.org/vote2012/regions/8/132-suny-downstate-medical-center/

 The organization receiving the most votes from their community will be awarded funds, materials and training to implement the program, which will be offered free of charge to enhance the quality of life of our cancer patients. The deadline to vote is March 23 at 5:00 pm CST.

"Love your Library Day" on the Horizon

We're still more than two month away from 2012 "Love Your Library Day" but preparations for it are already on the horizon. Word from Linda Blyer with the Friends of Carroll Gardens Library is that it will be both feature both a book sale and community celebration with thousands of titles at low prices, as well as music, readings, arts activies and more.  To help you can donate books and volunteer to sort and organize the sale.

They're accepting...
New or used books - CDs, DVDs and records - Children's books, CDs, DVD - Journals - Current textbooks

Not accepting...
Damaged books without covers - tape cassettes or VHS videos - coloring books or activity books - magazines - outdated textbooks and computer manuals.

Donations will be accepted starting April 6 through May 9. Within those dates please ONLY bring your donations at the following times: Saturdays 10:30 to 12 noon /Wednesdays 6 to 8 p.m. /Fridays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enter through the main doors on Clinton Street and bring your donations go downstairs through the auditorium OR take the elevator on the Union Street side to the basement.

If you have further questions, send them over to friendscglibrary@gmail.com

Blood Drive, March 8th 12:30-6:30p

Someone in this country needs a life-saving blood transfusion every 3 seconds.  If you are healthy and able, please do your part to make sure no one has to wait for that help.

This Thursday, March 8, 2012, between 12:30 PM and 6:30 PM, the New York Blood Center will have a "Bloodmobile" parked in front of Cobble Hill's 76th Precinct Station House, located at 191 Union Street, between Henry Street and Hicks Street, to accept blood donations.  

As a regular donor of both blood and platelets, I can assure you NY Blood Center staff is always safe, thorough, and very appreciative of your donation.