Interviews

The latest issue of WG News + Arts has a great new interview feature, and they start out with three stalwarts of the North Brooklyn community – Miss Heather of newyorkshitty.com, the Councilperson from the 34th District, Diana Reyna, and her counterpart from the 33rd District, Steve Levin.

Definitely worth a read – great interviews and great photos to go with.



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Climate-Change Debate is Heating Up in Deep Freeze

Skeptics of global warming are using the record-setting snows to mock those who warn of dangerous human-driven climate change — this looks more like global cooling, they taunt.

This is great news – 150+ years of human-induced climate change has been reversed with just two snow storms! And, we all get to make fun of Al Gore again!

Snow Day

Snow.jpg
Crepe Myrtle

Sheridan Snow.jpg
Sheridan Playground




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New Domino” “Authenticity” and Affordable Housing

Despite misgivings on the authenticity front (“new businesses cannot help but name themselves for whatever working-class business used to exist at the same location. It has always struck me as being an inside joke that’s in poor taste…”), author Willy Staley finds some hope in the New Domino proposal.

North Third Comes Alive

One evening a couple of months ago I was walking down North Third Street between Berry and Wythe and thought to myself that this one block really embodied what everyone (the city, the community, the politicians, the planners) envisioned when the waterfront rezoning went through in 2005. Here you can find a vibrant and diverse collection retail stores that create a real eyes-on-the-street vibe, new residential construction and rehabbed loft buildings. The north side of the block is lined with old loft buildings, rehabbed for residential use. The south side has a well-designed new condo set amidst single-story industrial buildings. There are a host of local retailers, anchored at the corners by bars and restaurants (the Levee, Radegast, Relish and Zebulon (OK, the latter is technically not on North Third, but it counts)). There are small retail establishments (books, second-hand furniture, clothing, books, jewelry, a gallery and even gourmet chocolate), a large retail establishment (Lumber City) and even offices (Vamos Architects).

I meant to chronicle the block back then, and it’s been on my mind to do so ever since, but WG New + Arts has beat me to it. It’s worth a read, and a walk down the block.



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Talking Trash

In other … neighborhoods, leaders say their litter problem could be ameliorated if they had more public garbage cans and if the sanitation department swung by more often.

You can walk for blocks in Northside or Soutside Williamsburg without seeing a public trash receptacle. And where there are public trash cans (Bedford throughout the Northside, e.g.), they are often overflowing.

Saturday January 30: Williamsburg for Haiti

Tomorrow afternoon, District # 14 and Progress High School will join forces with local elected officials and community leaders to provide direct assistance to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Come to 441 Lorimer Street (corner of Maujer Street) between 12pm and 5pm with donations for the relief effort. They will be accepting supplies for the immediate relief effort, including:

  • Medical Supplies
  • Children’s clothing/diapers
  • New toddler clothes for ages 1 to 5
  • Bottled water & children’s juice packs
  • Powdered milk and health bars
  • Canned goods, rice, beans, mac & cheese, instant potatoes
  • Soup
  • Flashlights
  • Extension cords
  • Gloves & dust masks


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