Reminder: Come Celebrate The Life And Work Of Neighborhood Champion Bette Stoltz Tonight

Bette Stoltz (left) during one of Smith Street Soup Festivals she organized

***Reminder***

Please join family and friends of activist and neighborhood champion Bette Stoltz tonight at 6:30pm at the Carroll Gardens Library to celebrate what would have been her 75th birthday. The film "A 1000 Individual Conversations: The Life And Work Of Bette Stoltz", made by Erica Stoltz, Sabine Aronowsky and Steve De Seve about this extraordinary woman  will be screened for the occasion.

Tonight's get-together will give the community an opportunity to begin the conversation about how best to honor and remember Bette. Perhaps, together, we can carry on some of her work.
Bette, who passed away this past November, was behind the revitalization of Smith Street in the 1990s. Through her non-for-profit organization South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation (SBLDC) she organized the much loved Smith Street Soup Festival in the fall and Smith Street Funfair in the summer. She helped put together the the incredibly popular Bastille Day Pétanque Tournament. She also made sure that Smith Street was decorated for the Holidays in December.

In addition, Bette served for years as a member of Community Board 6, was involved in the creation of the beautiful Transit Garden at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place.

I had the great pleasure of serving with Bette on the EPA Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Board.  More importantly, in 2010, Bette and I both helped to represent the community as part of the "South Brooklyn Coalition." The Coalition was made up of grass roots organizations lead by activists who worked tirelessly for a clean Gowanus Canal and for the placement of the polluted waterway on the list of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund sites.

Together, South Brooklyn Coalition members reached out to all of our representatives to urge them to support the nomination of the canal during the EPA's public comment period. Our perseverance, our determination and our united voices contributed in part to the Gowanus being listed, despite the powerful political forces of then-Mayor Bloomberg and then-Councilman DeBlasio.
Of that, I know, Bette was very proud.

Below is a little clip featuring Bette with some of the other Coalition members during Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats 41st Anniversary dinner, where she and the other activists were honored.

And here is a photo taken that same night
sitting from l. to r. :Katia Kelly, Bette Stoltz, Rita Miller, Gerry Miller
standing l. to r. :State Senator Daniel Squadron, Betty Lester, Steven Miller, Gary Reilly,
Roy Sloane and Glenn Kelly

To read more on Bette and her achievements here.



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CBID Honors Gowanus Canal Activists At Anniversary Dinner

The Grand Prospect Hall

sitting from l. to r. :Katia Kelly, Bette Stoltz, Rita Miller, Gerry Miller

standing l. to r. :State Senator Daniel Squadron, Betty Lester, Steven Miller, Gary Reilly,

Roy Sloane and Glenn Kelly

Sitting, from l. to r.: Bette Stoltz, Rita Miller, Katia Kelly
Standing, from l. to r.:  New York City Councilman Brad Lander, Gary Reilly

Lucy Koteen , President of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats

The Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats held their 41st Anniversary dinner yesterday evening at the Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope.

In attendance were many of our elected officials who came out to recognize this year's CBID's honorees, New York City Comptroller John, C. Liu, Beverly Corbin of FUREE ( Families United For Racial And Economic Equality), Walter Kane of Cary Kane, LLP, as well as Cheryl Krauss of CBID.

Also honored was the South Brooklyn Coalition of which my husband and I are members. The Coalition is made up of grass roots organizations lead by community activists who worked tirelessly for a clean Gowanus Canal and for the placement of the polluted waterway onto the list of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund sites. Together, we reached out to all of our representatives to urge them to support the nomination of the canal during the EPA's public comment period. We believe that our perseverance, our determination and our united voices contributed in part to the Gowanus being listed.

Personally, it was an honor and an incredible pleasure to work together for such a worthwhile cause with these amazing Brooklynites. Last night was a culmination of all of our hard work and I thank the members of CBID, especially Josh Skaller, for recognizing us.

Below is a video of Glenn Kelly accepting the honor for the members of the South Brooklyn Coalition

The South Brooklyn Coalition:

  These citizens, the South Brooklyn Coalition, represent a small number of the many who actively participated in the public process initiated by the nomination of the Gowanus Canal to the list of National Priorities List. These honorees are all members of grass roots groups that came together to form a broad coalition against the powerful political forces of our Mayor. With an unwavering combination of determination, persistence, a love, respect and strong sense of what's right for their community, something City Hall is far too distant from...they fought and won! 

Members go the South Brooklyn Coalition:

Lucy De Carlo: CORD (Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development)
Marlene Donnelly: FROGG (Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus)
Vince Joseph: USBA (Union Sackett Block Association)
Glenn Kelly: CGNA ( Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association)
Betty Lester: Gowanus Neighborhood Association aka Gowanus4Life
Roy Sloane: Cobble Hill Association
Josh Skaller: Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats
Diane Buxbaum: NYC Sierra Club, Gowanus Committee Chair, FROGG
Elisabeth Lind: SOBNA (South Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance)
Eric McClure: Park Slope Neighbors, Park Slope Civic Council
Rita Miller: CORD
Gary Reilly: CGNA
Bette Stoltz: FROGG
Steven Miller: CORD
Katia Kelly: Neighborhood Blogger, CORD
Kevin Duffy: FROGG
Mike Salvatore Friends of Bond, FROGG
Joshua Verleun: Riverkeepers
Cynthia Simmons: FROGG
Michael Pesa-Fallon: Riverkeepers

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