Cobble Hill Caroling

It's holiday time again... and no matter what you're celebrating this year, our local church welcomes you to join in spreading some cheer for the

ANNUAL COBBLE HILL COMMUNITY CAROL SING!

Sunday - December 19th @ 4:00 p.m.
Meet at Christ Church, corner of Kane and Clinton.

PS 29 Holiday Toy Drive

PS 29 is hosting a community-wide toy drive to make sure all children receive an age-appropriate gift during this holiday season. The Cobble Hill community can make a tax deductible donation by dropping a new, unwrapped gift for a school-aged child (grades K through 12th) in the PS 29 lobby.

This toy drive will be benefit two local community centers; the Warren Street Center for Children and Families (a community center in the Cobble Hill/Gowanus neighborhood serving 150 low-income and immigrant children and their families) as well as The Red Hook Community Service Center (providing an array of services to children and adults living in the Red Hook neighborhood, including training, counseling and job placement).

Donations can be left in the main office of PS29, 425 Henry Street, by December 20.

Posted by Dave 'Paco' Abraham at 12/13/2010 10:01:00 AM

Atlantic Ave Tunnel's Screening Derailed

Yesterday's planned film event in the Cobble Hill treasure known as the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel was unexpectedly shut down. Brooklyn Historic Railway Association head Bob Diamond was working with Rooftop Films, who recently announced this statement (via Gothamist) 

"We received a phone call from Battalion Chief Martorana of the New York Fire Department telling us that they were insisting that we cancel this weekend's events in the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. The Brooklyn Historic Railway Association has been running tours in the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel for years....Unfortunately, the FDNY has informed us that at this time they do not feel that it is not safe for any number of people to have access to the tunnel."

In addition to this special Rooftop films event, the tunnel offered monthly tours and was soon to be filmed in depth for national TV when its founder, Bob Diamond, said just last week "National Geographic TV is going to start shooting the one hour Atlantic Avenue Tunnel documentary this weekend! It's expected to air in November, 2011." Not sure how FDNY's new opinions affect all of those decisions but the CHA will offer any updates it can. 

UPDATE!!! Just got word from Bob Diamond that there may not actually a Fire Chief Martorana at FDNY.  Did someone impersonate a city official? Gothamist explores the question a bit here... http://gothamist.com/2010/12/11/diamond_speaks_out_about_tunnel_clo.php
Image via http://www.undercity.org/photos/AtlanticAve/index.htm

Support your school = EAT SOME PIE!!

Eat Pie and Shop at PS29’s Annual Holiday Fair/Pie Social

****Pie! Shopping! Movies! Crafts!****

Brooklyn, NY – On December 5 from 11am to 5pm, PS 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, will host the second annual “Eat Pie and Shop” Holiday Gift Fair and Pie Social, to benefit the school. Proceeds from this family-friendly Holiday event will support the school’s PTA.

The Pie Social is sure to be a delicious and entertaining afternoon event with local bakers – both amateurs and professionals – supplying a wide array of pies. For a $5 tasting ticket the public can sample a piece of pie of their choosing. Be assured this event is not only for those with a sweet tooth, the pies will cover all categories including fruit, creamy, savory and nut, so shoppers can come to shop, eat lunch and get dessert!

The pie competition will be an afternoon highlight. Bakers are invited to bring pies to be judged by parents and a panel of celebrity judges. The panel will include Gail Simmons, Food & Wine and “Top Chef,” Dannielle Kyrillos, “Top Chef: Just Desserts,” François Payard, co-owner of François Payard Bakery, François Chocolate Bar and Payard, Jeff Lederman, owner of Bocca Lupo, Strong Place and Nectar, and Brooklyn’s own Borough President, Marty Markowitz. The winner will receive a gift package from Food & Wine, a Payard Gift Box and Silver Pie Server donated by Fork & Pencil and bragging rights for the year! Judging will take place at 1pm.

The Gift Fair will highlight local artisans, craftspeople and merchants, and promises to provide a huge variety of handmade, local and sustainable gift-giving choices, from jewelry, to clothing from Half Pint Citizens to hand made and classic toys from Fork & Pencil. More than twenty different vendors will be displaying and selling their wares.

And while you shop, Rooftop Films will show a selection of independent short films for kids continually throughout the day. Tickets to the movies are $2. In addition, children can make free holiday crafts – perhaps an ornament, sachet or a frame as a present for Mom and Dad. To quench their thirst, kids and adults can both enjoy delicious and refreshing egg creams from Brooklyn Farmacy. There will also be plenty of Stumptown coffee on hand!

Eat Pie and Shop will have a donation bin for Toys for Tots hand collected by our US Marines! Consider purchasing toys for donation from Fork & Pencil (net proceeds go to PS29). Donation guidelines: Unwrapped, new and no stuffed animals or military toys. Visit toysfortotsnyc.org. Big Apple Circus will also be on hand with giveaways and a FREE raffle of a family four-pack of tickets to this season's all-new show, Dance On!

Melanie Raneri Woods, Principal of PS 29, said, “We are thrilled to host the second annual Eat Pie and Shop event. The event was such an amazing success last year and I am positive this year’s will be even bigger. It’s refreshing in the midst of all the holiday craze to have an event where children and adults can spend some time together and at the same time support the fabulous efforts of our school community.”

Eat Pie and Shop will be held on Sunday, December 5, from 11am to 5pm, at PS 29, 425 Henry Street, between Baltic and Kane Street. For more information on the event, including a list of all vendors and information on how to enter a pie, please visit www.eatpieandshop.org.

Cobble Hill Speaks out AGAINST Housing

This NY1 news report gave less than a minute to a project the neighborhood's been working on for over 20 years. Despite the brevity, they've got the point. Cobble Hill Association is firmly AGAINST plans to include housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
http://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/top_stories/129844/brooklyn-bridge-park-condo-plan-draws-fire

For more background see the CHA blog's previous post here, or check out coverage from our A Walk in the Park, or our friends at Pardon me for Asking in their post with video of several speeches "Public Park Or Private Enclave? Last Night's Public Hearing On Alternatives To Housing In Brooklyn Bridge Park"

Gowanus Toy Drive

Word just came in that our neighbors at the Gowanus Neighborhood Association, in partnership with Councilmember Stephen Levin, are launching their 1ST ANNUAL TOY DRIVE.

Gowanus is an economically strained community and most of the children in the development are from low income/ at-risk households and unfortunately may not get any presents this year. In today's economy everyone's finances are limited, but we're asking all who can, donate or contribute at least one gift to an underprivileged child, boys & girls aged 1-12 years old. All gifts should be safe, unopened, & dropped at the councilman's district office at 410 Atlantic Ave at Bond St, M-F, 10a-5p. For more info contact Betty Lester at bejay919@yahoo.com or 718-243-1252.

- - - And while we're sharing news from Cobble Hill's neighboring communities, check out the Brooklyn Eagle's update on our friends in Boerum Hill in their pursuit for landmark status to their district. The CHA fully supports their efforts to preserve a historic feel and keep development limited to the appropriate pedestrian scaled 50 foot limit we all enjoy.
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=31&id=39767

Park YES! Housing NO!

For over 25 years, the Cobble Hill Association has worked to secure a park along the waterfront. We are pleased that residents are finally able to access the waterfront at Brooklyn Bridge Park, but our job as a community is not over.

The city is still planning to build 5 more luxury condo & hotel towers inside the park’s borders, with two buildings at 20 and 30 stories high planned for Pier 6 at Atlantic Avenue. And despite what some may think, these luxury high-rise towers are not needed to fund the park’s maintenance. There are many solutions to “pay” for park maintenance. When condos came into the park all year round recreation came out. Landscaping replaced the two pools, the indoor recreation center and ice rink that the community had worked so hard for decades to get. Landscaping sells condos while baseball fields do not.

We now have a unique opportunity to regain the recreational facilities our children need at the same time tell the city planners that we do not want more housing inside the park’s borders. Residents are asked to come to two public comment meetings on Tuesday, November 30th at 6 PM at Long Island College Hospital and again on Thursday, December 9th at 6 PM at St. Francis College on Montague Street.

These public meetings are critical to demonstrating yet again the importance of our parks, the real value they provide to the livability of the city, and to the actual dollars they “put back” into city coffers. The rise in DUMBO values since their part of the park opened is evidence enough of a park’s tax value. A recent proposal offered by community members – to negotiate a deal with the Jehovah Witnesses to develop their soon-to-be-abandoned buildings close to the park, for the benefit of park financing – is gaining traction. Other park funding models, including Senator Squadron’s park increment recapture proposal (named the PIRC plan) also offer relief from the draconian condos inside park borders plan.

But you need only come out and say no to housing, and yes to recreation! Please make sure that your voice is heard at the two public hearings:

Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 6pm – 8pm
Long Island College Hospital, 339 Hicks Street
Avram Conference Center, 1st floor

Thursday, December 9, 2010, 6pm – 8pm
St. Francis College*, 180 Remsen Street
Founders Hall Auditorium, 1st floor

Submit Fix the Ditch ideas by December 1st

Last week, consultants presented some great ideas in the final meeting for the 'Fix the Ditch' project to reconnect the neighborhoods divided by the BQE trench at Hicks street. The final report will be ready sometime in January, but public comments need to be submitted now. If you weren't in person for the workshop, you can still weigh in using the online survey.

Follow this link to NYCEDC's website to review the final presentation and take the opinion survey. It will only be available until December 1st, 2010.

For your reference, read the recent press covering the project's most recent ideas.

Designers Propose Changes To BQE In Brooklyn

Plans to fix "the ditch" along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway

The Brooklyn Paper: Three sum! City likes BQE fix plans, but balks at price

Have Your Say On the Future of the BQE Monday Evening « A/N Blog

Here Are Three Ways to Make the BQE Less Horrible : Fun With Urban Planning : Curbed NY

City looks to fix BQE 'ditch'

Rooftop Films go underground in Cobble Hill

Cobble Hill is rich with history and Bob Diamond regularly showcases one of the neighborhood's gems - the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. Though his tours tell the amazing tale of its century old past and its odd rediscovery... this time the Tunnel will be home to very different scene cause NYC's beloved Rooftop Film series is going underground, using the tunnel as a venue this Demeber 11th.  More info below, excerpted from the Rooftop Films website...

• Rooftop Films is best known for showing underground films outdoors, but in December we will be taking some of those films back where they belong: UNDERGROUND, into the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel in Cobble Hill. On December 11th and 12th, Rooftop will take two programs of short films from the dark underbelly of the independent film world and screen them deep inside the oldest subway on earth.  Prior to the screenings, urban spelunker Bob Diamond will be conducting a tour of the tunnel, and his recounting of the history of this historic treasure is not to be missed. So buy your tickets now and we'll see you on the other side of the street.

And following the screening, we'll all head over to Last Exit Bar and Lounge at 136 Atlantic Avenue for complimentary drinks courtesy of Sailor Jerry.

For full line up of films, check out the original post at http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/70-trapped-in-the-tunnel

Community Discussion w/ State Senator Dan Squadron

State Senator Dan Squadron recently announced  a round of community discussions where any topic you'd like is on the table. Details are below for the Cobble Hill meeting next week, but start thinking now about the issues.... fighting housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park, making sure the redesign of the BQE doesn't plague our streets with traffic, and so much more!

Senator Squadron writes:
In April, more than 350 community members joined me for the Second Annual 25th Senate District Community Convention, where I received valuable input on issues as diverse as school overcrowding, nightlife concerns and pedestrian safety.  In this community discussion, I will update folks about progress we have made on topics raised at the convention, as well as take new questions and comments about issues in Albany and in the neighborhood.

Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Columbia Waterfront
Sunday, November 21st   Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM  Location: Long Island College Hospital  Avram Conference Center, rooms F & G
339 Hicks Street (between Amity and Congress Streets)

Lennonyc: A Benefit for PS29

PS 29 is one of our neighborhood's greatest strengths, so come on out and support the school with a great event - a special screening of LENNONYC. 

The PS 29 PTA & Strong Place Cordially Invite You to LENNONYC
A Special PS 29 Benefit Evening

Tuesday November 16th @ 7 PM

A Private Preview of LENNONYC at Cobble Hill Cinemas
Featuring a Talkback with Film Director/Writer Michael Epstein
(an Academy Award-nominated PS 29 Dad)

Immediately Followed by a Reception at Strong Place
$30 ticket price includes the screening, talkback, beer or wine & hors d'oeuvres
Sponsored by Sixpoint Craft Ales
Click for tickets: TinyURL.com/29Lennon
Proceeds Benefit PS 29!

Final Meeting for BQE Enhancement project

The third & final community workshop for the BQE Enhancement project has been scheduled!

When: Monday, November 15th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Long Island College Hospital (LICH), Conference Center, Rooms A &B, 339 Hicks Street, Brooklyn
What: The project team will present finalized alternatives and preliminary cost estimates, and discuss next steps for the project.

Please see EDC's website to view prior presentations for the project, including:
http://bit.ly/BQEEnhanceFinal

1)presentation and summary from the 5.4.10 meeting
2)presentation and summary from the 7.20.10meeting

We hope to see you on November 15th.