Welcome Sadie's Kitchen

243 Degraw.

It's been Copper. It's been Whim. Ciello Café. It's been Chicory. It's been Ultimate Burgers and Dogs. And now, it's Sadie's Kitchen. This little spot on the edge of Cobble Hill has had an unfortunate amount of turnover the past few years, leading some to speculate the location is simply cursed. Now, owners Peter Sibilia and Damien Vizueteare hoping to give their retro style Mac & Cheese restaurant staying power beyond its recent history.
The Cobble Hill Association wishes them luck and is glad to see another new business start up in the neighborhood. Though we're used to getting write ups of our shops in the local papers and blogs, the curious past of this location has gotten enough attention that both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal even wrote about it. Read up on that media coverage, then treat yourself to trying out Sadie's firsthand.

And if anyone knows what happened to the old fashioned Coca Cola signage, let us know.

B61 Press Conference

Hat tip to a post by our neighbors at the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association for posting the below info about our neighborhood's steady, but slow, B61 Bus line.

"Next Bus Please" - Brad Lander Releases Report on Study of B61 Bus

Council Member Brad Lander invites you to attend a press conference next Monday to present their recently completed report about the B61 bus.  The report, titled “Next Bus Please: Improving the B61 Bus” summarizes data collected by community volunteers & presents suggestions for improving service.

Time: 9:00am

Date: 5 December, 2011

Location: 4th Avenue/9th Street Bus Stop, Brooklyn

Decaying Highway, will NOT be fixed - UPDATE

UPDATE: Cobble Hill Association President also spoke with 1010WINS & the Brooklyn Daily Eagle regarding the BQE project being shelved. A link to his comments there are linked at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday afternoon, we got word from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) that they are terminating the environmental study for the proposed rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. It is a desperately needed project of which the Cobble Hill Association and many other local groups have been participating for months. Though NYSDOT blames harsh economic times for ending the study, safety is paramount and many portions of the highway are simply unsafe. 

CHA President Roy Sloane offered these words to the NY post in response.

We were told by the state that the BQE was in danger of collapsing in the 80s," said Sloane. "It’s also pathetic that they put all these years and effort in, spent money on all sorts of designs and are now dropping it.

For more details on how this project abruptly stopped, check out the links to a New York Post, 1010 WINS-CBS News, and Brooklyn Eagle report. 

Eat Pie & Shop - A Benefit for PS29

Our wonderful local elementary school is throwing another amazing fundraiser to help support all the great program it has for our neighborhood children. And this time... it's not just in the charitable category, it's also DELICIOUS!

On December 4 from 11am to 4pm, PS 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, will host the their annual “Eat Pie and Shop” Holiday Gift Fair and Pie Social, to benefit the school.  Featuring local bakers as well as shops like Shake Shack, soon coming to Downtown BK, and Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain in Carrol Gardens... it's sure to be an appetizing event.

Full details are available on the event website... http://www.eatpieandshop.org/

St. Nicholas Holiday Fair 12-3-11

Rat Information Portal

Though most of our local streets are rather well cleaned, some have observed an uptick in Rat sightings. This isn't just a matter of keeping our neighborhood attractive, it's also a serious health concern. Fortunately, just this week the city's Department of Information Technology has made it easy to access the Department of Health's "Rat Information Portal."

The Rat Information Portal (RIP) is a web-based mapping application where users can view rat inspection data. Findings from the Health Department’s inspections are searchable by address, or by borough, block and lot (BBL). You can use the map tools to find information about properties on the map. Visit the Rat Information Portal at gis.nyc.gov/doh/rip to view rat inspection data.

Be sure to track the issue on your block and always call 311 if you come across a problem in Cobble Hill concerning rats, rodents, or any other creatures that do not belong.

Electronics Recycling Update

Just a few weeks ago, the Cobble Hill Association helped plan yet another electronics recycling event at PS29 with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. With the dedication of amazing volunteers from the school's PTA, the scope of the collection went far beyond computers and cell phones - it included paper shredding, textiles recycling, and even had composting demos from the NYC Compost Project in Brooklyn. All in all, a complete success and we are now report the final tallies.... 212 families came to drop off 4.5 tons of electronics!

Look to the spring for another e-waste event....Tentative date is already set for April 22nd 2012.... Earth Day!

Cobble Hill Halloween

We hope everyone enjoyed the massive Halloween parade through Cobble Hill Park this year, but are curious if you also remembered to check out the neighborhood's other spooky celebration... the annual
'Impalements' installation done by local artist Jane Greengold.

Image courtesy of the artist Jane Greengold

It's a dizzying celebration of pumpkins that showcases 100 individually carved creations on the corner of Kane and Strong Place.  Though its been going strong for many years already, this time around the NYTimes even got in on the action!

For articles and images of the fantastic work, please check the links below.
http://www.janegreengold.com/projects/public-art/impalements
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/jane-the-impaler-and-a-ghastly-halloween-tradition/?ref=nyregion
http://carrollgardens.patch.com/articles/pumpkin-heads-will-remain-until-christmas

Remembering one of our own

Just over two months ago, Cobble Hill resident and Cobble Hill CSA founder Jeffrey Axelrod was killed while riding his bicycle through the Lower East Side. Though it happens with alarming regularity, our streets MUST NOT remain speedways that give cars priority over people's safety. These types of 'accidents' are largely preventable by better engineering of our roads, education of our drivers/cyclists, and most importantly better enforcement by our NYPD to take vehicular crimes more seriously.

Though nothing will bring Jeffrey back, the generous collective at the NYC Street Memorial Project have installed a ghost bike recently to make sure his death will not be in vain.
http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/10/jeffrey-axelrod-ghost-bike-now-at-chrystie-and-delancey/
http://carrollgardens.patch.com/articles/boerum-hill-resident-remembered-with-ghostbike-memorial

Cobble Hill Halloween Parade

Calling all ghouls, ghosts and goblins!
The Cobble Hill Halloween Parade will be Monday October 31st

TIME/ DATE: Monday, October 31st,  4:00 pm
PLACE: Cobble Hill Park
MUSIC: Jah Pan Steel Drum Band

All are welcome to attend this ever growing neighborhood event. However, it cannot be pulled off with some elbow grease to set up so we would like a crew of volunteers to help set up at 9AM and then another group of volunteers to help clean up at 8:30PM on the day of the parade.

If you would like to volunteer to help, please let us know by responding to CHA president roysloane[at]earthlink.net

Recycling Day at PS29 - Sunday 10/23

In our continuing efforts to green the neighborhood, the Cobble Hill Association and amazing folks at PS29 are yet again holding an electronics recycling event with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. What's more, it'll include plenty of other recycling opportunities too throughout the day!

• 10a.. to 4pm...Old computers and electronics will be collected by Lower East Side Ecology Center, in conjunction with Cobble Hill Association.   See www.lesecologycenter.org to review the list of accepted items at bottom.
• Composting Workshop led by The NYC Compost Project in Brooklyn.  Backyard composters will also be for sale. 
• Computer hard drive shredding provided by eRecycleNY, PS 29 parent owned EPA compliant electronics recycling company serving the NYC area. 
• Clothing rummage sale, proceeds go to PS 29 PTA. Wearable Collections will be picking up remaining clothes, as well as stained & ripped clothing, textiles & stuffed animals. 
• Confidential Documents shredded on-site (& then recycled) for a small fee. by Time Shred Services

How to Research Your Home Workshop

You Are Invited to the COBBLE HILL ASSOCIATION Spring, 2011 General Meeting
How to Research The History of Your Own Home
with Francis Morrone

image taken by Giles Ashford during the Municipal Art Society's
Jane Jacobs Forum 2010

Join us for a discussion with Francis Morrone about how to research the history of a house or other building in Brooklyn. Morrone will discuss some of the nuts and bolts of basic building research, as well as the myriad avenues opened up in recent years by the internet. The web has changed the whole game. For the serious researcher it has not replaced the necessity of consulting physical archives, but it has made stay-at-home research rewarding as never before.

Learn the secrets of the trade from a professional historian.

Time: 7:30 P.M.
Date: Monday, October 17, 2011
Place: Long Island College Hospital, Conference Room A
Enter at main entrance 339 Hicks (at Atlantic)

All members of the public are invited. No admission charge.