December 11: OSA Silent Auction and Benefit

12/10/2009 | Comment

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NAG has some really great items on its silent auction list (tonight!). But if art or open space is more your thing, check out OSA’s silent auction going on now at BraveBrooklyn. (Better yet, bid at both auctions – they both support good local causes.)

The auction features work donated by artists Fred Tomaselli, Richard Serra, James Case Leal, Nathan Koch (shown here), Adam Taye, Chris Burnside, James Woodward, Robbert Jan de Oude, Bradly Brown, Matt Jones, Monica Cook, Jesse Witkin, Khris Graves, Karen Bausman, Skewerville, Paul Campbell, Sean Hemmele and more. There are also signed books by Matthew Barney, Joel Shapiro and Mark Di Suvero.

You can online at BraveBrooklyn or show up on Friday December 11th from 6-11pm for the closing reception and final bidding at 30 Nassau Avenue, at Dobbin Street.



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Bloomberg Vetoes Meter Grace Period

Good for him.

In six months New Yorkers will be complaining because the City is ticketing them exactly five minutes after the meter expires. What is the Council going to do then? Tack another five minutes on?

What a stupid bill.

Bike Lane Painters Arrested

The charges are relatively minor, and the two “self-hating Jewish hipsters” were released with desk appearance tickets.

“That unauthorized painting on New York City property is unlawful, but that is overlooked because it’s committed against the terrible Hasidim,” [neighborhood resident] Moshe Goldberger said.

Uh, no Moshe, it’s called civil disobedience, one tenet of which is taking responsibility for your acts of civil disobedience. By turning themselves in, Hechtropf and Piccochi seem to get that. Good for them.

Reminder: NAG Party Thursday Night

12/09/2009 | Comment

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A quick reminder that this Thursday (10 December) from 7 to 10 pm there is a benefit for NAG (Neighbors Allied for Good Growth – the second G is silent) at the Woods on South 4th Street. No cover, but donations are welcome. There will be plenty of booze, and a silent auction featuring goodies from local institutions (a lot of new additions since my last post on this), such as:

  • Word Bookstore
  • The Brooklyn Kitchen/The Meat Hook
  • Alter Clothing
  • Southside CSA
  • Third Ward
  • Mast Brothers Chocolate
  • Treehouse Brooklyn
  • Teddy’s Bar & Grill
  • The Lecture Series/Book Thug Nation
  • Sodafine
  • The North BK Compost Project
  • Eyebeam Atelier
  • Three Kings Tattoo Parlor
  • Franny & Rooey
  • Cafe Grumpy
  • Enid’s
  • The City Reliquary
  • The Gym Park
  • Miranda Restaurant
  • Charm School Design
  • Transient Pictures
  • Kingsland Printing

and even some Polish and ESL lessons!



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War of the Roses

Apparently things got pretty heated at the Borough President’s hearing for Rose Plaza.

Marty, to his credit, pushed the applicant to go beyond the bare minimum of 20% affordable housing. Their response was:

‘There is no other waterfront project developed on private land that is required to provide more than 20 percent affordable housing,’ said [Rose attorney Howard] Weiss.

Fair point (though I think Schaeffer Landing would meet Weiss’s test). But on the other hand, the community has consistently advocated for more than 20%. Twice as much as 20%, in fact.

McCarren Pool Groundbreaking

12/08/2009 | Comment

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l to r: Assembly Member Joe Lentol; Marty Markowitz; Mike Bloomberg; Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Jules Spiegel; NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe; David Yassky; and OSA’s Stephanie Thayer.
Photo: BP Markowitz’s office

Progress at McCarren yesterday – Mayor Bloomberg and others “broke ground” on the renovation of the McCarren Park Pool (work has been underway for a while, but it’s nice to recognize that).



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