Bay Ridge Gets Its Own Green Market

And it's huge...compared to Sunset's stands. Where can we find an open parking lot for our stands? It would be great not to have to step over people sitting on the sidewalk! Bay Ridge Rover has some great photos posted, and there is also information about who is involved. Enjoy.

Public Service Announcement: Watch Your Step

With the very pleasant weather threatening to stick around for a while, I'm sure there will be lots of people taking advantage of the outdoors for one last grasp at warm weather fun.

That said, watch where you step. Nasty business is afoot in Sunset Park. No worries - No photos.

Yesterday, around noontime, one of our local drunks spread his DNA via his mouth all over a tree well (and perhaps onto the side of a silver car parked next to it) on 44th Street. Those of us familiar with the threesome (sometimes foursome) who often hang out on the 44th and 6th entrance of Sunset Park know that none of the gentlemen looks well. With the number of viruses going around right now, avoid tree wells - and don't let your kids walk into them or pick things up from them. Vomit (especially when it's all liquid nourishment) disguises itself well in soil. And yeah, I know, dogs use tree wells for peeing, (Not particularly good for the trees either, by the way.) and the concept of getting dogs and humans to leave their bodily fluids in the street and not on the sidewalk is slow to be accepted. However, somehow, urine from a dog isn't quite as nasty as alcohol-laden vomit from a fellow human being.

Anyway, there's the info. Do with it what you like.

Another local parent found that someone was practicing safer sex near the play area of the 55th Street and 2nd Avenue park. While listening to the teenagers noisily smooch and tell each other what else they'd like to do in salty language, she found a condom (perchance not yet used?) on the playground equipment. Mmmmmm. Well, at least SHE found it, not her newly toddling daughter. I'd like to commend her for scooping it up with a paper plate and throwing it away. Above and beyond, but excellent neighborly behavior! One less renegade condom for the parks! Thanks for that.

Because it's probably not the only piece of latex (or perhaps lambskin?) hanging around and looking for trouble in our parks, watch out for those as well.

New Jacob Ouillette Installation at Open Source Gallery

Not technically in Sunset Park, but it's an easy bus ride (or R train ride) to Open Source Gallery.

Opening this Friday, Jacob Ouillette's "Painted Space" will begin its month-long stay at Open Source Gallery at 255 17th Street (and 5th Avenue). The opening will also feature a short play by Anne Phelan called "Brooklyn Lighthouse." The play will be presented twice during the 7 PM to 10 PM opening.

Both admission to the gallery and the play are free.

2nd Sunday Concert at St. Jacobi

Drop by 54th and 4th on October 12th for a concert featuring harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky.

St. Jacobi hosts free, public concerts every second Sunday at 4 PM.

Oops! Our Sara Gonzalez Gets a Warning for Misused Letterhead

According to NY1 News, Sara Gonzalez received a sanitation violation at her personal residence and sent a letter, on official letterhead, asking the Environmental Control Board to rescind the violation. Read the brief article and watch the clip here.

The real question, however, is: What was the sanitation violation for which she received a ticket? I'd think it had to be pretty major to warrant an "official" letter rather than just a check for messy garbage.

More Coverage of the New Sunset Park High School

The Brooklyn Eagle has a comprehensive article about the community education forum held a few weeks ago. It's funny how now it seems that it's being called "long overdue" and "much needed" - if that's been true all along, why did it take 30 years of struggle to get a high school for this area? Between Telecommunication, Fort Hamilton, and John Jay - there's an awful lot of space to fill. That's nothing new. Anyway, the article is pretty informative. Here's the lead from The Brooklyn Eagle:

The excitement is fast growing for the up-and-coming Sunset Park High School with its opening date of September 2009 drawing closer. Graphic evidence of that enthusiasm was the crowd of hundreds of people who packed a town hall educational resource meeting called by Community Board Seven last week at M.S. 136, a few blocks north of Sunset Park’s first public high school under construction.

Light Industry Goes Soft

Tomorrow night's presentation is entitled Come Softly - "Be Continuous Often," and it's from Walking Picture Palace.

As always, the show starts at 8 PM and it's $6 at the door. The door is at 55 33rd Street, on the third floor.

The presentation includes films by Stom Sogo, Luther Price, Miranda Raimondi, Julie Murray, Scott Stark, Phil Solomon, Lewis Klahr, and others with several world premieres and surprises. Who can resist surprises?

Check out Light Industry's website for more details and lots of poetic quotations. Oh, and a very graphic end to a link for Speechless. Definitely not the sort of thing you want to open at work! Surprise!

Sunset Park Community Meetings this Week

These snuck up on me, and I haven't had the chance to call and double-check on the accuracy of these dates, but The Brooklyn Paper says it's so.

The 72nd Precinct Community Council meetings are usually the second Tuesday of each month, but this time it's the first Tuesday. As always, it is in the cafeteria of the Marien Heim Center on 45th Street and 4th Avenue. I suggest calling 718-965-6311 to check on the date. If I'm mobile, I'll be calling before heading out there.

Also, the Community Board 7 meeting* is listed as being this Wednesday. It's usually the third Wednesday of the month, but there you go. The 2010 budget and liquor license applications are on the agenda. The meeting is at 6:30 PM, and it's held at 4201 4th Avenue (entrance on 43rd Street). Again, I suggest calling 718-854-0003 prior to getting over there.

* I checked, and it's not the CB7 monthly meeting; it's a public hearing for two liquor licenses and the budget.

Volunteer to Read to Children

Want to build up your positive Karma? Here's a once a week opportunity. The Sunset Park Family Health Center provides care to a wide variety of families, but it also provides a lengthy wait for services. The Reach Out and Read program asks volunteers to read stories aloud to children while their families wait for appointments. Knowledge of Spanish is helpful, but not required.

Informational sessions are every Thursday at 3 PM in the main office at 6025 6th Avenue. You can also call Desiree at 718-630-7000 ext 4089. Read more here.

Just in Time! Budgeting Classes at the Sunset Park Rec Center

On October 4th (Saturday) from 11 AM - 1 PM, the Cornell University Cooperative Extension is offering a free two hour workshop called "Making Ends Meet." It's geared towards heads of families, and topics addressed will include resources in the community, money management techniques, and creating a household spending plan. Sounds useful, and you leave with a free tool kit to help you stick to the advice provided.

Nutrition Workshops at the Sunset Park Rec Center

Starting today and continuing on Thursday evenings, the Cornell University Cooperative Extension is offering workshops in Nutrition. The entire series is eight sessions, and each session is one and a half hours long. You are not required to attend ALL sessions, but you can earn a certificate if you attend at least six. That's for all you resume builders and office wall decorators out there. The sessions address topics like portion size, budgeting and shopping, food preparation, food safety, and food safety. Sounds good, especially considering the long list of recalled foods lately. It looks like the classes will be bi-lingual (English/Spanish) since the signs are in both languages. The session is free to the public.

It's a Step - Playground Gets Official Sign

Yep. It's a playground.

After a long, long time, the Sunset Park Playground is officially labeled with playground rules. I love rule number one which prohibits adults without children from entering. Yeah, right. Today I counted six men both on the equipment and on the benches - no children attached to them. (Don't worry, there are often women without children there as well. I just didn't see them today.) To assist with interpretation, there are handy pictures at the bottom to clarify rules regarding alcohol, bicycles, having children with you, trash, dogs, and smoking. We'll see if the signs help those of us who actually confront bicycle riding smokers who litter in the playground without children.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think one of the signs says that the playground closes at DUSK, and the other sign - at the opposite entrance - says that the playground closes at 9 PM. Dusk is so much better, considering the earth's axis. Do you think we can get the playground locked overnight occasionally now?

District 15 Pre-K Petition - and Potential Accompanying Controversy

Some Park Slope parents are concerned about the availability of UPK in the near future, and they have organized a petition to encourage the formation of an Early Childhood Center for Northern District 15 (of which Sunset Park is the southernmost neighborhood). Check out the text here, and see if you want to sign. The petition calls for the ECC to be "along the F line," which clearly makes it not something readily accessible to Sunset Park. MySidewalkChalk has a post about the availability of spaces in various elementary schools in District 15, and she also has a link to the petition. A comment (the first, and so far only, one) to the post brings up possible reasons for the location request:

I admit that I'm not well-schooled (pun intended) on the specific data, but I do know that the poorer end of Sunset Park - the southern end has always been ripped off by the park slope end. This seems to be racial in nature. The northern end tended to be white (third & fourth generation Italian, Polish & Irish), while the southern end saw more ethnic change. Before I would consider signing this petition, I would want to give serious consideration as to where the pre-k population is growing. The southern end is experiencing the highest birthrate in the city - in part due to Asians "beating" the one child per family China rule by being here in the U.S. Walk any side street - 40's, 50's and see the number of pre-K and about to be pre-K kids. The new residential construction in the south end and the number of undocumented residents in basement apartments and 7 families to a 3 family building is huge. South S.P. will be busing pre-k and k kids out of the neighborhood in big numbers.

I'm a fan of more schools, early childhood centers, and UPK no matter where they are. However, the commenter has a point about where population surges seem to be. Despite the explosion of 4th Avenue Condos in Park Slope, it would seem that Sunset Park has a huge fertility advantage where population growth is concerned. Of course, what things look like to the human eye are often mitigated by raw data. I'll see what I can find - although most data is years old by the time it's available.

Sunset Park has a 120 seat Early Childhood school with a solid reputation already. It also has a very long waiting list, which demonstrates need for additional programs. Check out what insideschools.org has to say about The Magnet School For Early Childhood. In addition, a new Pre-K school is set to open in 2010 on 4th Avenue and 64th. It is supposed to be able to handle an additional 18 or so Pre-K through 2nd grade classes. That will probably mean another 80 or so seats for Pre-K. It's not entirely clear which district it will serve, although its location on the northern side of the elevated highway seems to indicate District 15. Enough to supply Pre-K for Sunset Park? Probably not, but it's a start.

Thanks again to Joyce at MySidewalkChalk for her ability to disseminate information!

Happy Start to Hallowe'en Month

I love Hallowe'en. I especially love checking out the ways people decorate for it. This house on 58th Street was decked out by the middle of September - people after my own heart. If you have any excellent Hallowe'en decoration sightings, let me know! I want to show off as many houses as possible.

What You See in Sunset Park: Stormy Sunset

Most people look west for a view. This is east, along the 44th side of the park. My dinky camera didn't capture the depth of color, but you get the general idea. I love autumn.

Opportunity to Sing in a Christmas Celebration at St. Jacobi

St. Jacobi hosts free, public concerts every second Sunday of each month. The December concert will feature members of the community as part of the Messiah Community Sing-In. If you want to audition for the chorus, contact Marion Palm, the Music Healing Ministry Coordinator, at 718.439.8978.

Bay Ridge's 3rd Avenue Festival is TODAY!

If you're up for a short walk or bus ride or subway ride, check out the 35th Annual 3rd Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge. It spans from 69th Street to 94th Street, and it features the typical attractions...plus a chicken wing eating contest. It might be worth it just to see what Leske's has for sale. Do they allow 5th Avenue businesses to participate in the 3rd Avenue festival?? Apparently, belly dancers will also be performing.

Bloomberg to Deposit Money in Sunset Park's Amalgamated

Want to meet the mayor? Want to see a bank receive a deposit instead of a bail-out? Will you be around on Monday?

The new Amalgamated on 5th Avenue and 45th Street will receive a $10 million deposit on Monday as part of the City's Banking Development District program. Mayor Bloomberg will arrive on Monday the 29th of September to deposit the money in the hopes that Amalgamated will help Sunset Park provide full banking services to its residents.

It's true that the CitiBank in the 50's is often overrun with people at the ATM and in line for services. And while 8th Avenue has no shortage of banks, and 4th Avenue has a Commerce and Chase 12 blocks apart, 5th Avenue hasn't had a lot of bank attention. However, at least two more banks are set to open up along 5th Avenue at some point in the near future...but who knows what near future means these days where banking is concerned.

Could be a good photo opportunity for the mayor. Check it out.

Autumn Arrives to the Sunset Farmers Market

from Stacey, the liaison for the Sunset Park Farmers Market:

Just a quick note to say that fall is in full swing at the Sunset Park Farmers Market! Butternut squash, broccoli, apples, celery, honey, and the most intoxicating Asian pears! Plus, the summer vegetables - like CORN, peppers, eggplants and more are still available! Lots of variety! We're there every Saturday, 8 AM to 3 PM, until the Saturday before Thanksgiving!

The corn has been extraordinary, and some butternut squash sounds really good with this rainy weather. I'll bet the honey would be delicious on some baked squash. Sweet tooth, anyone?

The Farmers Market is on 4th Avenue between 59th and 60th Streets.

Ellis Opens in South(est) Slope - or is it Greenwood Heights?

Or maybe it's Sunset Park? Well, it's within a pleasant enough walk or a quick bus ride from Sunset, so it counts. Besides, they invited us to a sampling of food and drink. You KNOW that deserves a looksee - and tasting.

Although Ellis just opened officially, it has had its doors open to the community for a month or so. It already has several reviews on Yelp.com. It seems like Ellis wants to become a true hangout in the neighborhood. Its calendar features Sunday's "Cheap Wings and Football" and Tuesdays advertise "Canned Beer and Pub Quiz Night." Can't beat that with a stick. Their Mondays sound especially enticing to a cheapskate like me: "Recession Special" - $8 buys you chili & bread with a Rolling Rock on the side. If the chili is any good, it rivals Steinhof's $6 Goulasch.

So the night they had various "press" over for dinner, they served a variety of their Southwestern fare. A highlight was the Rattlesnake skewer in a citrus and garlic marinade. Vanessa, the BViB correspondent who went to the dinner, said it was "surprisingly tasty" and it reminded her of a cut of excellent steak. It was bony, however, and the chef explained that this rattlesnake was from Florida, not Texas, so it was smaller and therefore not de-boned. Ellis usually serves Texas rattlesnake, which is de-boned, but the hurricane had affected the rattlesnake farms. The white bean soup with bacon was also good, and the catfish was tasty as well. The one dinner disappointment for Vanessa was the chicken (a sampling of chipotle, cilantro lime pesto, and red pepper). She described it as mediocre. However, the Sopapilla (Navajo fry bread) with honey and powdered sugar was "phenomenal." Worth a trip in itself!

Drink-wise, Vanessa tried the jalapeno caipirinha and a berry margarita. She warns that they pack a punch - which is exactly where most people want their cocktails to be. Vanessa also gushed that the service was excellent, and the staff was friendly and attentive. Southwest artwork decorates the walls, and together with the dark wood, it makes for a traditional, comfortable eating bar venue.

Vanessa and her husband had a fantastic time and truly enjoyed the food and drinks. She also said that she would definitely return and recommend Ellis to people she likes. Always a good sign.

Brunch has been postponed for a month or so, and high chairs have been promised in about the same amount of time. These are things I love. Is there anything better than a Southwestern brunch with a high-chair?
This is the rattlesnake, and the photo at the top of the post is the sweet and salty fry bread. Both were favorites the night Vanessa went. Photos courtesy of Ellis.