'Fix the Ditch' with Participatory Democracy discussions

Last year, several city council members began a simple experiment. Rather than dictate every dollar they control in the city budget, they would instead give New Yorkers the power to decide how to spend $1 million of their tax dollars on projects in the neighborhood. Local Councilman Brad Lander led the effort in our own district and had over 3,000 people participate. The seven projects with the most votes are now approved, money is allocated, and they will be coming to fruition soon.

Now Councilman Lander is again starting the process with another million dollars and the Cobble Hill Association encourages residents to come out, participate, and help push forward a ling standing idea of ours - the need to 'Fix the Ditch' with pedestrian enhancements along Hicks Street to better connect our neighborhood and Carol Gardens to the Columbia Waterfront, currently cut off by the BQE trench. The first neighborhood assembly he is holding will be just a few blocks away, at the Carroll Gardens Library, this coming Monday. We hope many of you will attend and take part in this democratic process. If you didn't participate last year, or want to be reminded of the fun, check out our new video.

Neighborhood Assembly

Monday, September 24th  6:30 PM
Carroll Gardens Library  396 Clinton St. (at Union St.)
RSVP here

Reminder: Weds Mtg to Extend Cobble Hill Park hours

Reminder, Wednesday evening Community Board 6's Parks committee will consider a motion to extend the hours in Cobble Hill Park. The park currently closes at 9pm, but after hearing concern from local residents and discussing it with neighbors adjacent to the park itself, the Cobble Hill Association sent word to the CB, local precinct, and NYC Parks Department supporting a 1 hour extension "to make the hours of the park more consistent with public use and also to bring the closing time of Cobble Hill Park into conformity with the closing time of Carroll Park located 8 blocks to the South."  All residents who want to offer their opinion regarding the potential changes to the park's operation times are encouraged to attend this meeting and offer insight before the community board committee votes at Long Island College Hospital, 339 Hicks Street, Room A, at 6:30pm.

Primary Day - Go Vote

Reminder..... today, September 13th, is Primary Day.  Some of the polling sites have changed to coincide with the newly redistricted areas that take effect January 1st. For most of Cobble Hill, there are two races happening, one for Civil Court Judge and one for State Committee Member. For more details check out http://vote.nyc.ny.us/html/voters/apps.shtml

Extending Cobble Hill Park's Hours

Every Tuesday morning, Cobble Hill Association park committee chair Barbara Krongel leads a group of volunteers to clean, maintain, and add to Cobble Hill Park's beauty. The City's Parks Department also does an incredible job, it is very often these volunteers and Barbara's planning that make all the plantings so lush and the park so enjoyable. However, long after the volunteers had planted, weeded, and swept, our residents use want to use the park deep into the afternoon and evening. Therefore, many suggestions have rolled into the CHA the past few months to re-examine the park's closing hours, currently set at 9pm.

The Cobble Hill Association discussed this matter at our Summer Executive Board meeting with representatives of our park committee and, after a thorough discussion, voted to request a change in closing time, from 9 to 10pm. The immediate adjacent neighbors were polled also and agreed that a later closing hour would be acceptable to them.

In a letter sent to the Community Board, Parks Department, and local 76th precinct, CHA President Roy Sloane noted -

The Cobble Hill Association, representing the residents of the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, would like to request that the closing time of Cobble Hill Park be extended from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Our goal is to make the hours of the park more consistent with public use and also to bring the closing time of Cobble Hill Park into conformity with the closing time of Carroll Park located 8 blocks to the South.

This coming Wednesday, September 19th, Community Board 6's Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Committee will review and consider the request for an extension to the Cobble Hill Park closure hours. The meeting takes place at Long Island College Hospital, 339 Hicks Street, Room A, at 6:30pm. All residents who want to offer their opinion regarding the potential changes to the park's operation times are encouraged to attend.

Concert Tonight @ Cobble Hill Park

Last month, our final event in the 2012 summer concert series at Cobble Hill Park had to be canceled because of severe weather. Fortunately, it is rescheduled for tonight, at 7pm... so please come and enjoy the musical styling of singer-songwriter Kelley McRae, whose new album, Brighter Than Blues, is available for a free download until 9/15 at Noisetrade.

 

Go Brooklyn Art in Cobble Hill, Sept 8th & 9th

This weekend, September 8–9, 2012, will be a wonderful celebration across Brooklyn, as artists open their studios and invite the public to see their work. There are scores of talents participating in this event from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm each day, and the Cobble Hill Association is proud to have a dozen of our neighbors included in the mix.

Please visit the studios of each of the 12 COBBLE HILL ARTISTS participating in the Brooklyn Museum's GO Open Studios this weekend, and visit www.gobrooklynart.com for additional information, images, and maps to plan your art itinerary. 

Doors will be clearly marked with GO Open Studios signage. The names and studio addressed of the Cobble Hill

Artists who will open their studios that weekend are:

Meri Bourgard             164 Congress St

Jill Bell                       195 Columbia St

Bryan Humphrey          72 Union St #1

Amber Alvarex             302 Court St. #2

Robin M. Jordan           8 Warren Place.

Demetria Chappo         195 Columbia St.

Geoffrey Davis             32 Tiffany Pl  #3L

Adrienne Hecker           195 Columbia St.

Robert Gould                26 Tiffany Place # 2R

Richard Rosenblatt       47 Hicks St.

Aleksander Betko         485 Hicks St.

Sabina Magnus            195 Columbia St.

Freddy Borges             195 Columbia St.

 

When you're done with our local tours, also check out the work of one additional 'Go Brooklyn Art' participant Jane Greengold. Every year for Halloween, she gives our neighborhood the wonderful pumpkin display, a site-specific installation on the fence of a corner house on Kane Street. For this weekend, she'll open the doors to her Fort Greene studio to show off some of her many other impressive projects.

Christ Church - street closures

As we reported yesterday, the streets closures surrounding Christ Church are likely to continue for several more weeks until the building itself is deemed safe. With that in effect and a new school year upon us, changes are in store for the PS29 school bus patterns.  School buses that would normally be on Kane St have been moved to Baltic St.  This is expected to last until Kane St. is reopened to vehicle traffic.   We realize this may inconvenience some of the Baltic Street residents and disturb a small amount of parking spaces on Baltic St, between Henry St. and Clinton St. However, we hope all will continue to be patient with the delicate construction that must continue to ensure safety of Christ Church and buildings around it.

Christ Church update

(c) Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Neighbors have asked, and we are now able to share a new update on the extensive emergency work being done to Christ Church because of last month's tragic lightening storm. Shawn Duncan, the Canon for Media and Mission with the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, gave us this recent word earlier today.

The latest information that I have is that the determination of when it is safe to open the streets rests with the Department of Buildings and the Office of Emergency Mangement.  Our engineers estimate that the tower will be reduced to a height that will be deemed safe by these offices in two to three weeks. We are hopeful that at that time the congregation will also be given leave to re-occupy the Parish Hall portion of the property.

"Fall Festival" this weekend

This just came in from our neighbors in Carroll Gardens & the Columbia Waterfront District. Mark your calendars for the upcoming weekend fun.

Carroll Gardens Association, Inc. will be holding the 4th Annual Columbia Waterfront Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The annual Street Fair runs from the DeGraw Street to Union Street along Columbia Street and from Columbia Street to Hicks Street along Union Street. This year’s Street Fair is anticipated to be well attended by thousands of visitors and community residents enjoying a day of food, fun for all ages, shopping, live entertainment, games and rides. This year’s event is sponsored by Apple Bank, Ascot Properties, Jabus Building Corporation, and Downstate Long Island Hospital.