Brooklyn 11211

Open Space Alliance is holding a community committee meeting on Monday evening.
> We are VERY EXCITED to announce this meeting for the formation of the Community Committee for the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn! Organized by GWAPP and others, the purpose of this meeting is to formally introduce OSA to the community and for all interested community organizations and residents to discuss the purpose of the Community Committee, ideas for how it will function, how it will be organized, etc.

The rule, scheduled to go into effect tomorrow, would have required most taxi cabs to be fuel-efficient hybrids by 2012. The judge based his decision on the fact that only the Federal government has the power to regulate fuel economy. Of course the Federal government also mandates that municipalities meet stricter clean-air standards, which would result from the use of hybrids.
The taxi industry, which brought the suit challenging the city’s law, claimed that hybrids would be harder to maintain and less safe in an accident (arguments the judge rejected).

This is a good move. Not only will it help neighborhoods facing large numbers of foreclosures, it will also result in 250 to 300 units of affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.
On the other hand, hopefully this is not the start of a trend toward the City becoming landlord of last resort, as it was in the 1970s.

Well, not yet. But the Star has a recap of this week’s rezoning meetings – hopefully in six to nine months they can reuse this headline.

> “My epitaph will be ‘Curiosity did not kill this cat,'” he once said.

Sure, as a New Yorker your vote won’t change the Electoral College map. But you can make a difference in swing states without leaving Kings County. This weekend (and through election day), volunteer a bit of time to call voters in those swing states and get out the Obama vote.
Brooklyn10000 is looking for 10,000 volunteers:
> This weekend, from Saturday, Nov. 1st, until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 4th, Brooklyn has the power make the difference in this election.
We will be calling into the battleground states to get out the vote for Senators Obama and Biden. Brooklyn Represent.
Locally, Third Ward (Morgan and Stagg) is hosting one of the call-in sites. Hours, and the other 9 call-in locations are here.

Kent Avenue, Williamsburg
28 October 2008

My favorite conservative magazine endorses Obama:
> The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America’s self-confidence.

Oburma Obama
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Photo: kittykowalski at flickr

From CityRoom, a rundown of last week’s MAS panel discussion on industrial architecture, green development and job retention. A lot of discussion of Williamsburg, including some thoughts from yours truly.