The L Magazine has just announced that it is staging a Northside Festival. The fist-annual Northside Festival will run from June 11 to June 14, and is being promoted as a four-day celebration of the independent music and art scene that thrives in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
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).
At its March 2nd meeting, the City Planning Commission voted to certify the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Contextual Rezoning. This rezoning seeks to preserve the character of 175 blocks in Greenpoint and Williamsburg by introducing height limits and introducing some areas of inclusionary (affordable) housing. The contextual rezoning was originally proposed by Councilmembers Yassky and Reyna during the course of the 2005 waterfront rezoning. Community Board 1 has been working with City Planning staff for almost three years to bring this large rezoning forward (a small area of Grand Street was rezoned separately last year).
City Planning did a couple presentations on this rezoning in the Autumn. A that time (contra Grand Street), most of the sentiment was that this rezoning didn’t go far enough in terms of limiting height or density. Yes, the a lot of the horses have left the barn on the height limit issue, but it is better late than never. (And though it took a while to get through the City Planning process, most of the “finger buildings” in the affected area were grandfathered years ago.) And as with Grand Street (and the 2005 rezoning and its follow-ups), the aim on the density side to be as neutral as possible, which means a small decrease in allowable FAR, but not a downzoning in the classic sense.
City Planning will be formally presenting the plan at CB1’s next public hearing (17 March, 6:30 p.m. at 211 Ainslie Street). Coincidentally, City Planning will be making a presentation on proposed text amendments to the City’s inclusionary housing program – the big change there is the inclusion of an affordable home-ownership option.
Williamsburg Fashion Weekend is underway. Tomorrow night, my friends at Treehouse and neighbors at Sodafine will be joining forces at Glasslands to showcase their newest handmade creations in another super-spectacular fashion performance. Also on the bill are fashion shows by talented local designers Arthur Arbit and SDN, and after the show, music by Tall Firs and Celebration. More information here.
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) 875-5200×14 or rmetal [at] council.nyc.gov.
Community Board #1’s ULURP and Waterfront Committees will be holding a joint meeting tomorrow night to consider City Planning’s proposed text amendments to the waterfront zoning provisions. In general, the proposal seems like a good package, and is certainly well-intentioned. But as with all such measures, there are devils in the details and questions as to whether or not it goes far enough.
The details:
Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: The Lady of the Snow Society, 410 Graham Avenue (between Withers Street and Jackson Street)
Next Monday, Councilman David Yassky and State Senator-elect Daniel Squadron will be hosting a Transportation Town Hall meeting. Representatives from the Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transit Authority will be there to answer community questions and concerns.
There probably won’t be much to talk about. But maybe you can think of a concern.
Or two.
Or three.
Date: Monday, 24 November
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Swinging Sixties Senior Center
211 Ainslie Street, corner Manhattan Avenue
(Graham Avenue L stop, if you can get on the train)
The Meeker Plume (via Newtown Creek Alliance.
Newtown Creek Alliance is putting on a tour of the Meeker Avenue contaminants plume.
Per them:
Please join us for a walking tour of the Meeker Ave. Contaminant Plumes where brownfields experts Lenny Siegel and Peter Strauss will be on hand to answer questions about hazardous vapor intrusion in homes, the health effects of TCE/PCE exposure, and how to get the Meeker Ave. Plumes mitigated and remediated.
Where & When:
Meet at the corner of Kingsland Ave. & Norman Ave. at 9:00am on Wednesday 11/19
(This surely doesn’t help the Greenpoint contingent in the whose-more-polluted-Greenpoint-or-Williamsburg debate…)
Greenpoint-Williamsburg Contextual Rezoning
Study Area
Last night City Planning and Community Board #1, in conjunction with Council Members Yassky and Reyna, held an informational session on the proposed contextual rezoning of 175 blocks in Greenpoint & Williamsburg. As in previous rezonings (Grand Street in 2008, Northside in 2005), the aim of the zoning is to limit building heights to the four to five story range (and thereby eliminate finger buildings).
There is another informational session this evening at Greenpoint Savings Bank on Manhattan Avenue. The formal public review is expected to begin in January or February.
