Carroll Gardens Dad On A Mission To Free Local Trees Of Snagged Plastic Bags

Carroll Gardener Taylor Mali in action on Court Street, removing snagged plastic bags.

(images via You Tube)

Carroll Gardener and dad Taylor Mali has been on a mission of late. He has been going around the neighborhood snagging plastic bags out of trees with his homemade telescoping "Snatchelator".

How amazing is that? 
Those ensnarled plastic bags sometimes hang from tree limbs for months if not years, creating eyesores all over our lovely neighborhood and City. It is wonderful that Taylor has taken the initiative to remove them from our street trees.

Taylor's wife Rachel contacted PMFA to tell us about her husband's great community service. She writes:
"My husband Taylor and I live on Union Street and he knows that I have a deep, almost obsessive hatred of plastic getting caught in the neighborhood's beautiful trees. I'm constantly picking up plastic trash when I see it blowing around because I'm afraid it will end up snagged on branches.

So as my Hanukkah present, Taylor went to Lowe's and bought a telescoping grappling hook thingy, which he modified into something he calls the "snatchelator", which he uses to snatch plastic out of tree branches. I posted about it on a couple local Facebook BoCoCa pages and people started sending us reports of trees that needed help, and now we take the kids and occasionally make the rounds, removing the bags we can reach (the snatchelator has a reach of about 28 feet, so we've been defeated by bags that are more than 3 stories high or things like balloons, that are hanging on by a string).

It's such a great service to the neighborhood and probably the coolest present I've ever gotten, even if it's not exactly romantic!

Here is a video Taylor made of him snagging bags this morning from the Bradford pear outside the Mormon meeting center on Court St. Enjoy!"

If you happen to see Taylor on the streets of Carroll Gardens with his snatchelator in hand, make sure to thank him for liberating our trees of plastic.

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Meet Carroll Gardener Brinda Adhikari, Who Likes To Make Songs Out Of Children's Books

Carroll Gardener Brinda Adhikari 

Meet Brinda Adhikari.

Brinda is a working mother of two small children here in Carroll Gardens. Like most moms, she reads lots of books to them.  Sometimes, she likes to turn the stories in the books into songs. Recently, she made a video of herself singing the one she created for the classic Goodnight Moon, the beloved 1947 book by Margaret Wise Brown.
Apparently, it is a huge hit with Brinda's kids and all their friends.
Take a listen. It is infectious and she has such a lovely voice. Perhaps there is a child in your life, who will enjoy it as well?
Brinda, please make more such videos.

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People Of Carroll Gardens: Meet Tracie Matthews Of 'Intuitive Motion Pilates'

Getting to know and introducing people in Carroll Gardens is one of the great pleasures of writing a neighborhood blog. Be it a new business owner, a local artist or a volunteer who is organizing a fun event, it is always wonderful when neighbors connect to each other.

Today, I would like to introduce you to Tracie Matthews, a Master Pilates Trainer, who offers personalized Pilates training and Somatic Movement Education sessions in her studio in Carroll Gardens.

Tracie moved to the neighborhood right out of college in 1994 and began a career as a producer for the television and film industries. Introduced to Pilates by a former roommate, she became a certified trainer, mostly for self-fulfillment. However, the events of September 2001 made her reassess her career choice. In 2003, she opened her first studio in Carroll Gardens and has been working one-on-one with clients ever since.

Some of her clients have been coming to her for years and have become friends. "My work has created a beautiful community for me," Tracie told me when I recently met her for a cup of coffee.
"I love what I do."
As a Pilates trainer and Somatic Movement Educator, she integrates the material to meet clients where they are, to improve posture, strength, flexibility, as well as manage chronic pain and improve overall movement wellbeing.
"It is a real collaboration between me and my clients," Tracie explained. For her, that means really listening to her clients and their needs. "The more I know you, the more I can help, because you are an expert on yourself."

If you would like to try a private Pilates training or a Certified Dynamic Embodiment Movement Education sessions, you will find all the information on Tracie's web site here.
Tracie would like to offer $20 off a first session to those who mention this PMFA post.
So, don't hesitate to contact her.

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People In The Neighborhood: Jerry And His "Bathtub Roses" Of Carroll Street

"You should take a photo of the bathtub roses on Carroll Street," local resident Jerry Maresca told me when he saw me with my camera in Carroll Park last week-end. Intrigued, I asked him to tell me more.  "I planted a tangerine and a yellow rose in an old bathtub I moved  in front of my house years ago.  They are blooming beautiful right now," he explained.
Of course, I asked Jerry if he would show them to me, so he took me to the house which has been in his family since 1927. He proudly showed off his roses, which are, indeed, spectacular.  It made me smile that he had planted plenty of basil to last through the summer amidst the roses.

Jerry also pointed out a lovely pink rose bush in a raised planter in front of the house.  "I bought this one in 1965 for my mother at the A & P on Court Street, where the CVS is now.  It cost $1.29."

Obviously, Jerry has a way with roses, whether they are planted in an old cast iron claw foot tub or directly in the ground.  Thanks for showing them to us, Jerry.

PS: Jerry mentioned that he decorates his front yard tub ever Christmas.  I told him that I took a picture of it last December, which seemed to please hi.m
This is for you, Jerry.

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'Outer Seed Shaodow': A Community Garden As Translation Of The Immigrant Experience In New York City

Artist Juanli Carrión

I just had the great pleasure to meet artist Juanli Carrión, who has recently moved to Carroll Gardens. I sat together with him last week in his studio to speak about Outer Seed Shadow, his most recent project.

“It will be a place where this great variety of plants from all over the world, from all sorts of geographies, landscapes, climates, are going to be growing in such close proximity to each other, as a translation of the immigrant experience in New York City”
Juanli Carrion

New York City has always been defined by its long history of international immigration, and its multiculturalism has made the City a symbol of the American Melting Pot.  However, the immigration experience is ever changing and unique.  To give a voice to today's immigrant, artist Juanli Carrión has created a public art project entitled Outer Seed Shadow.

Over the past few months, Carrión has held interviews with immigrants living across Manhattan and has recorded the deeply personal stories of their arrival, their cultural adaptation and their immigrant experience.  Carrión has asked each interviewee to select a plant that best represents themselves and their country of origin.

Ultimately, all the plants will become part of a 2,000 square foot interactive community garden in the shape of Manhattan that will be installed at Duarte Square in Soho in May 2014.  During a six-month period, a series of free workshops, lectures, and guided visits will be given to the public.
The garden and all its plants is a metaphor of this city's diverse immigrant community. 

 The challenge of course, will be to respect the unique needs of each plant.  According to Carrión, himself a transplant from Yecla, Spain, "the project is a study of social interaction and the politics of immigration, as illustrated by plants and their survival in the meteorological condition of New York City, an experiment that has a subjacent study about power. Unlike plants, which can only endure a certain range of environmental conditions, human beings are apparently more adaptable to differences of place as rational animals, but the truth may be that in the end humans are likewise unable to overcome the limits of their own nature—of their own sociopolitical environment."

The idea came to Carrión while he was going through the immigration process himself.  He has been in the United States since 2007, and for the last two years, has lived in Carroll Gardens.

Outer Seed Shadow will be officially presented and launched tomorrow, Thursday, October 24th 2013 from 6PM to 9PM at The Horticultural Society of New York ,148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY. (Please RSVP to project@outerseedshadow.org.)

In addition, a Kickstarter campaign for the project has been launched to be able to offer more public programming and make the garden 100% handicapped accessible, because "everyone in Manhattan, New York City, the United States, and the world is represented in this garden."

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Meet Jamie Courville: Recording The Voices Seldomly Heard

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.”  from The Secret Life of Bees

In a world dominated by images and the written word,  storytelling is becoming a lost art.  Yet nothing is more powerful than the human voice and the deeply personal stories that we all carry inside us.  Give that voice and those stories a chance to be heard and they have the capability to touch others in a way that images and text cannot.

Jamie Courville, a Gowanus transplant from Texas, has taken the time to listen.  Recently, she began working on a series of audio portraits that are deeply moving and inspirational.  "I record the voices and faces of people seldom heard and strive to get them to places where they will be heard," Courville told me when we met for a cup of coffee.  "The voice goes straight to the heart and reaches people in a universal way."

Courville has recorded some remarkable individuals.  There is the story of  Heidi, who was adopted from Iran and grew up in Virginia.  There is Barry, who makes ukuleles out of cigar boxes, and  Randy, a former crack cocaine dealer, who got caught, went to prison, and turned his life around after he served his sentence.  And of course, there is the story of  Brandon, who contracted HIV and just speaks about the difficulties of taking medication. (Sadly, Brandon passed away earlier this month.)
Deeply honest and intimate, these portraits are a window into their lives.  One admires the courage of the individuals who speak so frankly about themselves.  Perhaps it is Courville who draws them out, who puts them at ease, who won't judge them.

Having worked in the film business for the past 12 years, Courville intends to use oral histories to help inform and advocate.  "Some people respond to statistics and some people respond to protests but most people respond to stories", she explained. "Audio portraits in the first person are an effective way to inform, educate, inspire and let people know they are not alone.  It has the ability to make individuals real people instead of statistics. It can be used to advocate."
Courville  believes that the medium could be a powerful way for non-profit organizations, neighborhood groups, as well as small businesses to promote themselves.
If you would like to get in contact with Jamie Courville and to listen to more audio portraits, please go  to her website here.

I would like to thank Jamie for taking the time to meet with me and for sharing some of her audio portraits.





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Meet Carroll Gardener Roy Femenella, Horn Player

Some of us take a lifetime to figure out what to do with our lives. For others, like Roy Femenella, a young horn player who will be attending Juilliard this coming September, the path was more clearly defined. "I always knew that music was something I was into," he told me during a recent interview.

After listening to him practice daily for years, his neighbors have come to expect hearing the sound of his instrument. "They have been wonderful." Roy tells me. "It's the greatest thing ever. They actually complain when I don't play. I was sick one time and did not play the horn for a little bit, so one of our neighbors called our house and wanted to know what had happened to me".
No wonder the news that the young Carroll Gardener had been admitted to the prestigious performing arts conservatory generated more than a bit of collective pride amongst his neighbors.

Femenella began playing the piano when he was about 6 years old. Around the same time, he also started composing music. "I did not realize that this is not something everyone did," he says with a smile. His parents, however, knew that this was unusual for such a young child. They took Roy to Juilliard, where they spoke to Joe Drew, the manager of the school's pre- college orchestra at the time. Drew, himself a composer and trumpet player, offered to teach Roy about music theory and composition. "It was such a great introduction to music. It was an experience that I think not many people get to have. I am really grateful for that." Roy continued taking private lessons with Drew for about three years.

Then, while in 5th grade at St. Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights, Roy decided to take up the trumpet, but there was a conflict with his schedule. "They gave me the next closest thing, the French Horn," Roy remembers . "I love the horn so much better. I fell in love with the instrument immediately. It is so rewarding. Playing the horn is really a team sport. Playing in an orchestra with 100 other people on stage... it's just so cool to share that experience." He thinks for a moment: "I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed with the trumpet."

Leaving the piano and composing behind, Roy soon transitioned solely to the French Horn. Along the way, he was admitted to Juilliard's pre-college program. During his seven years there, he studied under Javier Gándara, a French horn player for the Metropolitan Opera. During four summers, he studied with Carolyn Wahl at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont.

Roy has played in the horn section of Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Repertory Opera, where he has performed as Principal Horn,  as well as many other New York City area orchestras.
Of course, he attended regular classes at St. Ann's as well.

When he begins at Juilliard in September, Roy will be studying with Julie Landsman, who, after twenty five years, just retired as principal horn player for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. "She is among one of the best teachers anywhere, which is pretty exciting for me. She has students all over the country, who are playing in major orchestras. She is also an amazing musician. It's very exciting."

Despite his talent, it is clear that Roy has worked very hard to get where he is. But Roy says: "I enjoy the day to day of practicing. It's not something extra to what I do It's just what I do. You can best describe it as a loving energy. When there is no love in my sound, then something is going wrong. Even if it is not perfect or I miss a few notes, what's more important is that love."
He says that he has always been fortunate to have supportive parents and teachers who allowed him to prioritize.

Before he gets to live at Lincoln Center to attend Juilliard this fall, Roy will be spending eight weeks at the Aspen Music Festival during the summer. His neighbors are bound to miss the sound of his practicing, but hopefully, he will return to the neighborhood throughout his studies to share his music with us.
Wishing you all the best, Roy!



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The People In My Neighborhood: Louie "Balls"

Louie was standing in front of Joe's Superette at 349 Smith Street. The lunchtime rush was over and he was taking a break from making those delicious sandwiches for which Joe's Deli is famous.
"The kids sometimes call me Louie Balls" he told me.
I smiled.
Of course they would. Anyone who has ever eaten the delectable Prosciutto balls, or the rice and cheese balls which are the deli's specialties, would give Louie that nickname.

If you haven't had one yet, make sure to stop by. Louie will set you up with a few balls. And tell him Katia sent you!

More people in my neighborhood:

The People In My Neighborhood: Tony, The Carroll Gardens Bird Man

The People In My Neighborhood: The Stylish Lady


For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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The People In My Neighborhood: Tony, The Carroll Gardens Bird Man

Carroll Gardens resident Tony has always owned birds. Lots of them. I remember years ago, on warm days, he would bring some of his feathery friends outside and delight his neighbors. My kids always referred to him as "the bird" man. When I told his wife Joanne, she just smiled. "Everyone call him that" she said.

These days, Tony only owns one little yellow bird. He retired a few months ago and spends quite a bit of time with his little companion. I saw the pair together a few days ago, enjoying a nice afternoon in the sun.



For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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The People In My Neighborhood: The Stylish Lady

Proving that one can be stylish at any age,
the elderly lady always manages to look put together:
Long high-healed boots,
black leather gloves and
wonderful broadly rimmed hat.

I have seen her often on Court Street.
Have you?

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