Hey, Neighbor! Pardon Me For Asking, But...

Well, the rain is a real damper on my mood, but it IS Friday, isn't it ?
Great. I feel better already. And I even have a great question of the week prepared for you, dear Reader.
So won't you please, please let me know

What is your absolutely favorite block in the neighborhood
and what makes it so special?

( Yes, of course it can be your own. I like mine the best too)

I am looking forward too reading your always wonderful responses.


And if you have time to waste, look over some previous questions of the week here.

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

A Moment In Time: The Wait

He wagged his tail
every time someone came out
of the bagel store
as he waited
for his owner
to come out
again.

Brooklyn At Work: Scrap Removal

I am not sure exactly what was being removed from an office building by this crew on Court Street. Air conditioner parts, perhaps?
No matter. The five men were working hard to hoist the piece onto the truck, while a sixth was looking on.

This Tree Will Hopefully Grow In Carroll Park

As a soft rain fell yesterday morning, a crew from Forestry and Horiculture of the Parks' Department, planted a small Red Oak in the only empty tree pit around the monument in Carroll Park. This would not be such an unusual event, except for the fact that this is a special little tree.
You see, dear Reader, in 1993, when the park was renovated, another tree was planted in that same spot, amidst the old giant elms. But it was mutilated just a few years later and died.
Others were planted to replace it over the years, but they, too, died, their bark stripped or their branches broken off.

But I have hope for this tree. Maybe I am too optimistic, but maybe we can all keep an eye on it.
What say you, fellow Carroll Gardeners. Can we keep this one alive long enough for it to grow into a mature tree?


For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Comment Of The Day: Frank Verderame And Public Place

New comment on the post "The Transit Garden To Honor One Of Its Founding Me...":

That's Frank (Verderame) standing in front of Public Place site. He was so proud that he got that designated as a recreation space for the community. I remember his coming to a F.R.O.G.G. meeting and showing us the professional drawing he had made up of the baseball field that would go there as part of the park. By the way, that land is still designated for the community, and has to go through a legal process to be used in any other way. Let's honor Frank's memory and vision, a beautiful legacy. One day an open public space for the entire community to enjoy. Frank Verderame Community Park. You have to dream, right? And Frank had a beautiful dream. He was such a smart man, too. That, and his beautiful smile and charm, is what I remember, and miss.


For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Directly From Albany: State Senator Squadron On Bringing More Transparency To State Government

This just in from John Raskin, State Senator Squadron's chief-of-staff:

Hi Katia,

Here's the latest from Albany: Daniel introduced a bill today that will bring more transparency to state government.

In this clip from about an hour ago, he is announcing (with the support of the majority leader) a bill that would require more disclosure from lawmakers, particularly about their business dealings with lobbyists.

Here for more information: http://www.politickerny.com/3860/squadron-my-form-already-public-why-isnt-yours
and here for a bit of background: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/senate-leader-pushes-for-income-disclosure/

Bravo, Senator Squadron and thanks, John, for sending it right over to Brooklyn! I love this instant feed from Albany. What a great way to stay tuned to and in touch with our Senator.

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

A Moment In Time: Waiting For The Bus

The pair was waiting
and waiting
for the bus
on Court Street.

It came eventually,
because after I stepped out of the bakery again,
they were gone!

A Great Little Carroll Gardens Story About Backyard Clothesline Poles

After reading my post about back yard clothesline poles yesterday, my friend Vince sent me this great little story. He had me smiling all evening long. So read it and enjoy. I assure you, you will be smiling too.

The man on the clothesline pole reminded me of my first trip to Carroll Gardens. I believe it was 1973. I was in college at Pratt, lived near there and was new to Brooklyn. I had a part-time job in a printing and box factory in Queens as a sample maker. I got to know the printing foreman very well. A nice Italian man named Johnny De Martino. He had a proposition for me. He would bring me home to his house where he lived with his wife and 2 children and feed me a wonderful home cooked Italian dinner but he wanted a favor in return.
The house belonged to his mother and father his mother still lived on the garden and first floors. Johnny lived on the 4th floor. I believe it was on 2nd Place, it was definitely between Henry and Clinton. My part of the bargain was to climb to the top of the clothesline pole and replace the spinny wheel that the line travels on.
Being from upstate NY this was an exotic proposition for sure and I had no idea of what I had gotten myself into until I was standing at the base of the pole looking up. I had a few tools and the new wheel stuffed into my trousers so my hands were free and I started the climb.
It was a little scary 4 stories up, Johnny’s wife and 2 small kids encouraged me from the open kitchen window while Johnny gave instructions from below. About ½ way up I realized why Johnny, who by the way weighted about 300 pounds did not do the job himself.

Thanks, Vince. Keep your tales coming!

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

The Transit Garden To Honor One Of Its Founding Members: Frank Verderame

Frank Verderame
(photo credit: The Brooklyn Paper)

When Carroll Gardens resident Frank Verderame passed away unexpectedly in December, those who knew him were heart-broken.
The neighborhood had lost a real champion. A former New York State Assemblyman, real estate broker and accountant, as well as a former aide to Mayor Beame, Frank was multifaceted. He was a wonderful community activist as well as a true gentleman.
This coming Saturday, he is being honored at the Transit Garden. Read on.

Dear Friends, Neighbors and Colleagues:

Please join us at the Transit Garden to honor our friend and garden founder, Frank Verderame.

This Saturday, June 6, at 11:00am

A tree will be planted in the Transit Garden in his memory.

The Transit Garden is located at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place, across form the F Train/Carroll Street station.

Join us in a toast celebrating Frank’s life.

Bite of Bococa to follow at 1pm.

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

A Moment In Time: Little Rock Climber

The little rock climber
looked down triumphantly
from her perch.
You see,
it had taken her a bit of an effort
to climb the big rock in Carroll Park
and she was resting,
before the descent.

A Message From A Fellow Neighborhood Blogger

Dear Readers, fellow blogger Jodi over at Pistols and Popcorn sent me the information below about a fundraiser she is doing for the Livestrong Challenge to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'll let her explain why and how she is raising money to fight cancer. Read on:

For anyone just finding me, my brother is The Fat Cyclist, or "Fatty" as his friends mockingly but oh-so-lovingly call him. My brother’s wife, Susan, has stage 4 breast cancer and is fighting an amazing and exhausting fight. They have four kids and a legion of readers and friends backing them in this battle. Fatty, his family and his readers have been on the ropes with cancer for years now, and are kicking it up a notch (BAM!) by dominating the Livestrong Challenge.

The goal is to have the largest team (Team Fatty: Fighting for Susan) in each of the four cities of the Livestrong Challenge, and to raise breathtaking amounts of money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which has been pivotal in keeping Fatty, his family, and countless others informed, prepared, and comforted in their struggles with cancer. As of this writing, Team Fatty has collectively raised $252,482. Yeh, that’s awesome.

For More, click here Pistols And Popcorn

So check out Jodi's great raffle prize and donate to a great cause

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

After 28 Years, Carroll Gardens Jewelry Store Will Close Its Doors

The jewelry store at 306 Court Street at the corner of DeGraw Street, was called Casale Jewelers, when I moved into the neighborhood long ago.

This is where my daughter had her ears pierced after mounting a month long campaign to convince me that she was old enough to wear earrings and that EVERY girl at school had them. She was eight, I think.
I distinctly remember feeling her nails dig into my arm as I held her hand during the procedure. She was so happy with the gold earrings she had chosen. She wore them proudly on her little red earlobes, looking at the mirror as we walked out of Casale.

About two years ago, the owner retired. I was told that his two employees had taken over the business. They renamed it "Carroll Gardens Jewelers."

So it was with regret that I saw that the store was closing for good on June 2oth, after 28 years in business at that same location.
How sad. I hate to see these neighborhood stores close. This little business will be missed.

Do you have any memories of the place you want to share with the other readers?

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Brooklyn At Work: Removing A Clothesline Pole

I could hardly watch!
In a neighboring yard, a worker had climbed high onto a clothesline pole with a sawzall, in order to cut the pole down in small sections.
It was a dramatic moment, I assure you, as he was balancing way up in the air with his tool.
But, I am happy to report, the young man made it down safely. So did the pole.

One by one, these poles are disappearing from back yards , having become obsolete.
Too bad. They are so typically 'Brooklyn.'



For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Comment Of The Day: The Toll Brothers' PR Firm

Reader comment left on the post "Pardon Me For Asking, But Did You Get This Slick Piece Of Misinformation From Anonymous Anti-Superfund Group In The Mail?":

To 4:54 - Quick Googling - Toll Brothers has hired the Geto/Demilly PR firm to campaign against the possible Superfund designation of the Gowanus Canal. The firm specializes in representing real estate interests. In 2007, they ranked 9 in NYC's top ten lobbyists, right before Yoswein you mention being instrumental for IKEA.
Info about them on: http://www.cityhallnews.com/news/127/ARTICLE/1218/2007-07-16.html
"Geto is a lobbyist who works with leading real estate development firms like Bruce Ratner's Forest City Ratner...He's also a .. frequent political advisor. He's worked on campaigns for George McGovern, Robert Abrams, and Howard Dean."
"Prior to becoming a lobbyist. Michele DeMilly was press secretary for the Empire State Development Corporation. She feels that her experience there largely shaped the firm’s client list, which includes some of the city’s largest developers."

The Empire State Development Corp: this name should ring a bell for those who followed Atlantic Yards. Empire State was instrumental in setting up the controversial sweet deals for Ratner. From Wikepedia: "Empire State Development Corporation is a public authority of the state of New York in the United States that has financed and operated several ambitious state projects by issuing tax exempt bonds. It has the power of eminent domain, is exempt from many of the restrictions that apply to regular government agencies and can issue bonds without formal Legislature or voter approval."

So all this sounds like Toll is paying for some pretty powerful backing and company!

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Picture Of The Day: Seeing Double

A pair of beautiful planters
was standing against an old brick façade
on Clinton Street,
making me think
that I was seeing double.

What Would Happen To The Polluted Gowanus Canal In Case Of A Hurricane?

From the Office Of Emergency Management

From City Hurricane Preparedness Web Site:
In Case Of Hurricane, Cross The Gowanus Canal To Get To Nearest Evacuation Center




Waves striking a seawall, 1938
(NWS Historic Collection)

So, yesterday was the beginning of the 2009 hurricane season. Which got me thinking...
Hurricanes are rare in New York City, but they do occur. Over the last decade, storms have become stronger, more unpredictable and more frequent. If a Category 3 hurricane were to hit the metropolitan area, it would be a disaster. There is no way to evacuate all inhabitants.

Scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Vivien Gornitz, part of a team at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and New York's Columbia University determined that "rising sea levels combined with the storm surge of a category three hurricane would leave much of a 2050s New York underwater and the city's entire metropolitan transportation system shut down."

Obviously, New York City is taking this seriously. A while back, the Office of Emergency Management sent out a brochure to every household in the city, indicating flood zones, evacuation routes and detailing steps to take in the event of a hurricane.

Why am I bringing this up? Well, after looking at the city flood map, I am more than uneasy about what would happen to the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal in case of a hurricane.
Because flooding, which already occurs regularly in the area, may be the least of our problems.
You see, the toxic sludge at the bottom of the Gowanus would be churned around in the waters of the canal and would be dumped on land. Which, well, would be an incredibly dangerous situation. Even without storm, "there is a constant flux of movement between the water and the sediment" Walter Mugden of the EPA mentioned at a meeting last week. So imagine that same body of water during a category three hurricane.
As a dear friend always says, that would be "like Love Canal and Hurricane Katrina all in one."
Yikes!

Though we cannot significantly reduce the dangers associated with natural disasters, we can support the EPA's listing of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site. As part of their clean-up, the EPA would dredge the toxic sludge from the bottom of the canal, which would control the damage which would result from a hurricane.
That, however, is not something that Mayor Bloomberg and our own Councilmember Bill de Blasio are willing to support. No, they were fully willing to have developers build condos in a flood zone, on the banks of a poisoned body of water.
Those against the Superfund complain that the designation could affect house prices in the area. I would venture to say that having toxic sludge on our streets and in our houses after a hurricane would make any building uninhabitable and unsalable for much longer.


So lets hope that the 2009 hurricane season passes without unleashing a major storm over our area, because otherwise, we will all have toxic sludge in our houses.


Oh, and just one last thing:
Why would the hurricane evacuation route indicated by the Office of Emergency Management take someone from Carroll Gardens over the Gowanus Canal to an Evacuation Center on 4th Avenue?
That is exactly what their web site indicated when I played around with different addresses. (I used number 357 Carroll Street as an example.)
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense now does it?

Scary New York Moments

Some of the worst hurricane-related effects in New York's history:

1821: The only hurricane in modern times known to pass directly over parts of New York City pushed the tide up 13 feet in one hour and inundated wharves, causing the East River and the Hudson River to merge across lower Manhattan as far north as Canal Street. Deaths were limited since few lived there at the time.

1893: A category 1 hurricane destroyed Hog Island, a resort island off the Rockaways in southern Queens.

1960: Hurricane Donna created an 11-foot storm tide in the New York Harbor that caused extensive pier damage. Forced 300 families to evacuate Long Island.

1999: Floyd, weakened to a tropical storm, brought sustained 60 mph winds and dumped 10-15 inches of rain on upstate New Jersey and New York State.

2004: The remains of Hurricane Frances in September flooded city subways, stranding some passengers aboard trains that had to be stopped by flooded tracks.

SOURCE: New York City Office of Emergency Management, LiveScience reporting

(from:http://www.livescience.com/environment/050601_hurricane_1938.html)

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

New Jersey Reader Sheds Some Light On EPA Superfund Listing

Reader App has left this incredibly insightful comment on the post "Pardon Me For Asking, But Did You Get This Slick P...":

I am from NJ, and I am going to tell you the truth about getting on the Superfund list. (we got a lot of sites on the list in NJ)

They are right when they say it will cost local residents money. But this is a good thing, and here is how & why....

After the clean up, property values will increase and it is likely that taxes will too, because that is just how it works. And who wouldn't really want that? Who wouldn't want the value of their home to double?

The alternative is that nothing gets cleaned up, things get worse, property values fall even more, residents get totally fed up with it and sell out to get out before their homes are totally worthless and their children grow up and give birth to a generation of genetic mutants. Then developers can pick up the properties dirt cheap.

Then after they acquire the land, they finally agree that it should be a Superfund site, they get on the list, the clean up takes place and they make a killing off the increase in property values.

Residents have nothing to fear with regards to lawsuits. The only ones that will get sued are the polluters that made the mess. If you didn't cause the problem, you have nothing to fear. If you did cause the problem you will be forced to take responsibility for your careless disregard for the environment. It is only right that you should. If you made the mess you should be made to pay for the clean up, at least in part. They don't go after home owners. They go after the big companies that made the mess, the ones that have been poisoning you, your children, and your community.

Additionally, things are picking up speed with the existing Superfund sites, with money pouring in from the federal government, to put people to work and clean them up faster. This is part of the current stimulus package.

New Jersey is getting over $100 million in stimulus money to clean up 8 Superfund sites.

You guys deserve to have some of that too. You deserve to live in a clean safe community. You deserve to not lose the value of your homes. You deserve the jobs the cleanup will create.

You deserve it, not the developers that seek to steal your homes out from under you for pennies of what the properties will eventually be worth.

Thank you, App,

It is great to get this confirmation and encouragement.


For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

XII. Brooklyn International Film Festival Starts June 5th

12^th BROOKLYN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

I missed it last year because I was out of town, but this time, I will try my hardest to catch some of the great films being shown at the 12th Brooklyn International Film Festival beginning on June 5th. They are being screened at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema, which makes it real easy. Hope, you will join me!

This is a description of the event:

Brooklyn, NY [May, 2009] - The Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) is proud to announce the film line up for its 12th annual festival, themed OPEN SOURCE. The competitive event will run from June 5TH through June 14TH at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema.

BiFF will present over 120 film premieres that were selected over 2,786 submissions coming from 111 countries. The films will be combined in 81 film programs and each film will be shown twice. BiFF will operate two screening rooms side by side throughout the festival.

To take a look at the list of great movies included in the festival, show times and all other information, click Brooklyn International Film Festival

To watch trailers of the movies, click here

For location, click here

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

A Moment In Time: Men In Hats

They walked down Court Street,
in their little hats,
as though they had stepped
out of another era.

Carroll Park Flea Market 2009 A Great Success!

It was a picture-perfect day for a flea market in Carroll Park.

Neighbors from all over Carroll Gardens and surroundings came to browse,

and to check out the wares.

There were hats for him,

and for her to chose from.

There was a selection of stunning hand-made bags to buy,
(Susanella's 718 260-9419)

as well as a pair of Hummel dolls.

One could even chose more unusual items,
such as this stunning dog-motif bowl.

Some customers were looking for new wheels,

others were searching for new plush friends,

or new wall decorations.


A few four-legged friends watched
over their owners' merchandise,

others helped spread the "Superfund Gowanus Now" message.


In short,
everyone had lots and lots of fun
and got some great bargains.

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

Pardon Me For Asking, But Did You Get This Slick Piece Of Misinformation From Anonymous Anti-Superfund Group In The Mail?

Anonymous Group Sends Slick Anti-Gowanus Superfund Mailer To Local Residents

Dear Reader,
If you live in the Gowanus/Carroll Gardens neighborhood, you have most probably received the above mailer in your mailbox on Saturday from an organization called 'CleanUpGowanusNow.'

Who is this mysterious organization? Who can tell. There are no names attached to the flier, nor are there any names on the web site. Only Debbie Scotto, a local developer who is fiercely opposed to the EPA Superfund designation for the Gowanus Canal, is quoted on the flier.

However, this 'mysterious' organization is most likely funded by developers such as the Toll Brothers who are more interested in lining their own pockets than in a thorough cleaning of the Gowanus Canal before they build their projects.

The flier and the website is full of misinformation about the Superfund. Using scare tactics, it just proves that developers will do anything to get what they want. After all, they have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby our elected officials and have hired P.R. firms to help spread their message.

Those lobbying dollars so far have had little effect on the Pro-Superfund sentiments of local residents, a majority "made up of people who welcome the intervention of the federal government after decades of city neglect." (Mike McLaughlin, The Brooklyn Paper Friday, May 29th, 2009)

Which makes me wonder why our City Councilman Bill De Blasio and Assemblywoman Joan Millman aren't representing this majority instead of representing the interests of developers.

As a local resident stated
"It is becoming clear that the reason that Bill and Joan put in a request for an extension on Superfund comment period was, not to allow the city time to put together an alt-plan, but to all the public relation firm (probably Toll's) to put together a campaign against Superfund."

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking