Plant Trees in Ditmas Park West, Sunday, 4/26

I helped plant this Zelkova serrata, Japanese Zelkova, last year.


Part of the Arbor Day weekend activities in Flatbush, on Sunday you can help plant 9 trees in Ditmas Park West, one of the neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush.

Meet at 10am at 458 Rugby Road [GMAP]. Bring your own tools and gloves, if you have them. Wear sturdy work boots, and prepare to get dirty! No rain is predicated through the weekend, so you won't have to deal with last year's mud. Possibly record highs - temperatures in the upper 80s - are predicted for Sunday, so wear your sunscreen and bring lots of water to stay hydrated.

At the meeting place, they will form work crews which will fan out to different locations. Some will plant trees, some will do cleanups. At 1pm, folks meet up for lunch.

[bit.ly] [TinyURL]

Related Content

2008 Ditmas Park West Tree Planting

A recent history of Cortelyou Road

Cortelyou Road, North side, looking East from Westminster Road, September 2006, before the new streetscape was put in place in Spring of 2007.


Neighbor, friend, and local real estate agent Jan Rosenberg writes of changes in our neighborhood in the online journal NewGeography:

Twenty some years ago my husband, 2 young sons and I moved from our cramped 16-foot wide attached row house in Brooklyn’s trendy Park Slope to a free-standing, 7-bedroom Victorian house in the Ditmas Park section of Flatbush with stained glass windows, pocket doors, original wood paneling, a back yard, front porch, driveway and 2-car garage in a little-known, tree-lined neighborhood about 10 minutes away – on the other, high-crime side of Prospect Park.
- Gentrification from the inside out in Brooklyn's Ditmas Park

I know everyone's tired of hearing it from me, but this is not Ditmas Park. It's Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West. Or Victorian Flatbush. Or just plain Flatbush. I suspect the editors provided the title, not Jan.

We're newcomers to the neighborhood. We've only been here since the Spring of 2005. Most of our neighbors have been here much longer than that, even longer than Jan's "twenty some" years. Jan summarizes what we hear from the "old-timers:" not so long ago, moving to this neighborhood was a pioneering act:

When crime exploded in the 1960s and welfare tenants were moved into some of the apartments, much of the middle class – white and black – fled. By the early 1990s many assumed that nothing could be done about the collapse of the quality of life. It wasn’t unusual for police officers in that era, many of whom lived in suburban Suffolk County, to respond to crime victims condescendingly by asking, “What do you expect if you live in a neighborhood like this?”

Little changed even after the extraordinary Giuliani/Bratton efforts brought down crime, little changed in the mid-1990s. The district’s once thriving shopping street, Cortelyou Road , still had no bank, no coffee shop, no diner, no sit-down restaurant, no children's store, no real estate office.

The "from the inside out" part describes the efforts by Jan and other long-time residents to build community through a variety of means. Jan focussed her efforts on the 7 blocks of Cortelyou Road, from Coney Island Avenue to East 17th Street, that are zoned to allow commercial use. She credits other neighbors, as well, with transforming Cortelyou Road into our Main Street:

One incredible woman, Susan Siegel, decided she wanted to bring a farmers market to the neighborhood. She worked on this full time, and a year later it opened! Some Cortelyou grocers objected to having it on their strip; a few vocal homeowners objected to unlocking a public school yard and using it to house the market. Ironically the fight over the market swelled into a local “pro-development” movement, made up of people alive to the new possibilities, and sparked a neighborhood newsletter.

Once it opened in 2002, the Farmers Market became an informal community center, a literal common ground, for our neighborhood. The Market became a place where the full range of neighborhood residents could come together to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and to catch up on what’s happening in the schools, the playgrounds, and stores including a highly successful organic food co-op. Until then, only the homeowners were organized but now new co-op owners, home owners, and renters all came, mingling freely with each other, and with “veterans”, in a way that had not previously been the case.

Red Jacket Orchards, Greenmarket, Cortelyou Road, July 2007


Although Jan doesn't mention it in her article, the transformation of the Cortelyou Road streetscape resulted from many years of organizing and planning from several different sources, including the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC). FDC has been active since arson for insurance fraud was a serious concern for the neighborhood, unthinkable today, when the same homes that might have been torched 20 years ago are going for over $1 million. FDC sponsors the annual Flatbush Frolic, which takes place on Cortelyou Road, and has been running for 31 years.

Cobblestones, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Stratford Road, march 2007. That's Coney Island Avenue in the background.


The new clock at night, in April 2008, shortly after it was installed this Spring, on the grounds of P.S. 139 at the corner of Rugby Road.


Even before we moved into the neighborhood, James Heaton's Flatbush Residents Email Network Database - FREND - served as an introduction to the cultural landscape and issues of the neighborhood we were adopting.

Jim Heaton, a local advertising executive initiated an online newsletter, FREND, [which] served to “connect” nearly a thousand people and families to the new initiatives, particularly around the Farmers Market and crime ...

The successor to FREND is The Flatbush Family Network, started by two other neighbors:

The on-line contribution really blossomed in 2003 when Ellen Moncure and Joe Wong revived the Flatbush Family Network (FFN) . This site has become an invaluable source of neighborhood and childrearing information for the many young families who live here. For many people moving into this neighborhood, FFN provides an initial introduction and orientation to life in this neighborhood. For those who live here, it’s a convenient, ongoing source of information and support.

Related Content

Cortelyou Road Park, Park(ing) Day NYC 2008, September 2008
The Daffodil Project is in bloom on Cortelyou Road, April 2008
Cortelyou Road (Flickr Collection)

Links

Gentrification from the inside out in Brooklyn's Ditmas Park, NewGeography
Changing Ditmas Park, Ditmas Park Blog
Race, Class and Gentrification in Ditmas Park, Brownstoner

New Flatbush Rezoning Proposal Gets It Right

Update, 2009-07-29: Flatbush Rezoning Proposal approved by City Council

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477 Westminster Road, Ditmas Park West, one of hundreds of homes that will receive more protection with DCP's revised draft


NYC's Department of City Planning (DCP) provided the first view of their revised draft of the Flatbush Rezoning Proposal to Brooklyn's Community Board 14 (CB14) on September 3, and more recently to the CB14 Executive Committee on September 18. I wasn't able to sit in on any of the meetings, but I've spoken with folks who've seen the new proposal first hand.

The revised draft is covered in Flatbush Life, including a photo of the redrafted map:

After a presentation to the executive committee of Community Board 14 – which greeted the plan warmly – the Department of City Planning (DCP) is moving forward to certify the proposal, which will launch the formal approval process for the rezoning.

During the meeting, which was held in the board office, 810 East 16th Street, DCP received accolades from board members and area residents for reworking the plan to take into account neighborhood concerns.

- Flatbush rezoning moving forward

I wrote a detailed report about the earlier draft that DCP presented to CB14 and at a public hearing back in June. From everything I've heard and seen about this second draft, they got it right. In general, lots that are 50x100 feet will get the R3X designation, while lots that are 40x100 will get R4A. This is a more tailored approach than the broad brush of R4A that was painted over Ditmas Park West and South Midwood in the first draft. (See my original post for complete details on these zoning designations.)

They really listened to the concerns of residents, went back and re-drafted to address them. The free-standing homes responsible for the physical character of this area of Flatbush will be protected. All of Flatbush will be protected against unlimited height residential development. There are new opportunities for commercial development, and incentives for affordable housing. It's hard to find something to critique in this draft.

Related Posts

Flatbush Rezoning Proposal will define the future of Victorian Flatbush, 2008-06-13

Links

Flatbush rezoning moving forward, Flatbush Life, 2008-09-28
Rezonings for Flatbush, Canarsie Move Forward, Campaign for Community-Based Planning, 2008-10-06
Flatbush Rezoning Moving Forward, Ditmas Park Blog, 2008-10-07

Flatbush Rezoning Proposal will define the future of Victorian Flatbush

Update, 2009-07-29: Flatbush Rezoning Proposal approved by City Council
Update, 2009-03-02: DCP certified the proposal.

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David Parish, DCP, describing the proposed rezoning for South Midwood


Last night I attended Brooklyn Community Board 14's (CB14) preliminary public hearing on the NYC Department of City Planning's (DCP) rezoning proposal for the northern half of CB14, ie: Flatbush. I didn't take a head count, but roughly 100 people turned out to attend the hearing in Public School 249's uncooled auditorium. CB14 chair Alvin Berk informally explained the context and ground rules for the meeting, then officially called the hearing to order at 7:23. After the school guard kicked us out - gently, but firmly - after 9:30pm, conversations continued onto the school plaza and sidewalks. I didn't get home until well after 10pm last night.

Ditmas Park West Tree Planting

Updated 2008.04.29: Added link to Anne Pope's Sustainable Flatbush post and Flickr photo set.

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This morning I helped, for the first time, to plant a street tree. It had rained overnight and was still raining when we started. Just one word to sum it all up:

MUD

Ditmas Park West is one of the neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush. It's bounded by Cortelyou Road and Newkirk Avenue to the north and south, and Coney Island Avenue and the B/Q subway cut to the west and east. Over 25 years, Ditmas Park West has planted over 300 trees, averaging more than 10 trees each year.

About 25 people showed up this morning and fanned out to different locations. 6 or 7 trees got planted today. The crew of 10 or so I went with had two jobs: clear trash from a vacant lot and dig out a tree pit for a new tree to be planted.

The realities of urban street planting are not so idyllic as our vision of leafy green streets. First, we had to break through a few inches of concrete dumped over asphalt. Bob was handy with the ax.



Beneath all that, we had some not so bad, if compacted, clay.



Once the tree was delivered we measured the depth of our dig and compared it to the height of the root ball.



And kept digging until we got to the right level.



Then we rolled the tree into place ...

... filled in around the base, leveled, and stabilized the tree ...



... and began filling in and tamping down.



Once the tree was stable, we cut off the twine and removed burlap from the top of the ball. Roots got pulled out and spread out as we went along.




Meanwhile, in the adjacent vacant lot, our comrades had done an incredible job clearing trash and rubbish.



I look forward to future greening opportunities. I need some good work boots for next time.

Related Posts

Flickr photo set
Plant Trees in Ditmas Park West

Links

Ditmas Park West Tree Planting, Sustainable Flatbush
Many more photos from Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush

[where: 400 Stratford Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218]

Sunday, April 27: A day for trees in Flatbush

A reminder that you have two opportunities to get your green on in Victorian Flatbush this Arbor Day weekend on Sunday, April 27.

At 9:30am, meet at 458 Rugby Road to plant trees in Ditmas Park West and spruce up tree pits. Over 14 years, Ditmas Park West residents have planted 300 trees. Their long-running tree-planting program can serve as a model for other neighborhoods to green their streets.

Starting at 1pm, meet at 1414 Cortelyou Road to enjoy and learn about some of the trees in Victorian Flatbush. The Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour will loop through the neighborhoods of Beverley Square West and Prospect Park South. A Google Map of the tour route is available.

Related Posts

Plant Trees in Ditmas Park West
Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour

Links

Sustainable Flatbush
Trees New York

Sunday, April 27: Plant Trees in Ditmas Park West

North side of Dorchester Road between Rugby and Marlborough Roads, Ditmas Park West


On Sunday, April 27, Arbor Day weekend, join the residents of the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood of Ditmas Park West to:

• Plant Trees
  
• Liberate Tree Pits
  
• Beautify the Neighborhood
  

This is Ditmas Park West's 14th Annual Arbor Day weekend tree planting. It is well-organized and coordinated with City resources such as Parks. Even if you don't live in Ditmas Park West, this event can provide you with ideas for organizing and mobilizing your neighbors to clean up your streets, become stewards of street trees, and build community in the process.



To participate, meet at 458 Rugby Road at 9:30am to join a crew. Heavy excavation will be done with power equipment. You can bring your own gardening tools, as well. Work continues for about two hours, then everyone gets a chance to share a light lunch.

Southeast corner of Dorchester Road and Rugby Road, Ditmas Park West

Related Posts

Wanna Fight Crime? Plant Trees, February 1, 2008

The Daffodil Project is in bloom on Cortelyou Road

Cortelyou Daffodil


This evening I came home via the Cortelyou Road stop on the Q train. I wanted to stop by John's Bakery to pick up some munchies. I had to cross the street: the Daffodils are just starting to bloom.

They've started on the north side of the street, as I expected. The south side has been shaded by the stores and apartment buildings until recently. The soil in the tree pits there has not been warmed by the sun which the north, unshaded side of the street has been getting.



Last fall, two dozen volunteers planted 1,000 Daffodil bulbs and 400 Crocus corms over two weekends. The Crocus are all but spent now; just a few raggedy blooms hanging on here and there. The Daffodils are just getting started.



As in past years, there's no way to know what you're going to get when you plant the bulbs in the Fall. I saw at least four different kinds in bloom today.



It seems a far remove from 9/11, the inspiration for the Daffodil Project. But it was very much in the consciousness of at least some of us who planted these bulbs. And certainly in the minds and hearts of my neighbors who took the initiative to request these bulbs to be planted in their neighborhood.

Related Posts

My Flickr photo set of this project
Cortelyou Crocuses!, March 6, 2008
Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch, February 4, 2008
Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Times admits past errors: We are not all Ditmas Park

A House in Caton Park


I am astonished to find that tomorrow's New York Times City Section has an article on Victorian Flatbush, not "Ditmas Park," which they finally realize only applies to one historic district in this large area. And in this article, they focus on the "forgotten" neighborhoods, those which don't have landmark protection, and which are in danger of being eroded and lost forever to "development":

The neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush are of particular interest to historians because in many respects they were the first suburbs. With the newly built Brooklyn Rapid Transit rail line stretching out to Coney Island, the farmland of the Dutch village of Flatbush became a prime location in the early 20th century for what was considered commuter living.
- Peaked Roofs, Crossed Fingers

315 East 18th Street, Beverly Square East

All the neighborhoods featured houses built in the most fashionable of Victorian-era styles, among them Tudor, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Georgian. These houses, adorned with carved moldings, fluted columns, copper trimmings and wide, open porches, evoked a lifestyle that went beyond architecture. Exclusive social clubs flourished in the area, as did community associations, many of which have been the driving force in campaigns for historic protection.

457 Rugby Road, Ditmas Park West


House in South Midwood

“We don’t want the Manhattanization of Brooklyn,” said Ron Schweiger, the Brooklyn borough historian and a longtime resident of Beverley Square West. “We don’t want high-rises coming into residential areas. That’s why we want all of Victorian Flatbush to get historic district status.”

And though the neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush have distinct characters, nearly all of them have one thing in common: residents eager to protect what is a remarkable and in some cases irreplaceable architectural history.

Beverley Square West

341 Rugby Road, Beverley Square West


209 (Left) & 215 (Right) Stratford Road, Beverley Square West


There's a little bit of hand-waving around my neighborhood of Beverley Square West, resulting in several inaccuracies.

Beverley Square East and West, nestled between Prospect Park South and Ditmas Park [and Ditmas Park West] and completed just after the turn of the 20th century, were Ackerson’s major projects. The developer also got certain streets that run through Beverley Square West rechristened with upper-crust British names: East 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Streets became Westminster, Argyle, Rugby and Marlborough Roads.

Somehow the Times lost one-fifth of Beverley Square West, omitting Stratford Road (East 11th Street) from their description of the neighborhood. Stratford Road is both the westernmost block and the one most at risk from inappropriate zoning in Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West.

The street names originated in the development of Prospect Park South by Dean Alvord. Ackerson's early advertising for developments here still used the numbered designations of East 11th, 12th, and so forth, not the names. By 1902, the named designations were extended south to what would become Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West. Our bill from Con Ed, which was around before this building boom of the early 1900s, still uses the numbered designation for our street address.

All the original homes of the Beverley Squares were individually designed. Ackerson himself lived in a house in Beverley Square West, and the developer Pounds, a future borough president, lived in Beverley Square East.

From what I've learned of the history of the development here, this is not accurate. The houses on Stratford and Westminster Roads are stylistically different from those on Argyle, Rugby and Marlborough. Although no two houses are exactly alike on Stratford and Westminster, neither do they feature much of the architectural details - turrets, round oeil de boeuf (ox-eye) windows, unusual dormers, and so on - visible on nearly every house on the other blocks.

I think the houses on these two westernmost blocks were built largely using Victorian pattern books widely available at the time; they were mostly "builders' specials," not designed by architects. They were built earlier, and not by Ackerson. Early Ackerson promotional photos show houses already standing on Stratford and Westminster while Argyle and Rugby are nothing more than empty lots.

The earliest neighborhood name I've found for these five blocks is Matthews Park. Matthews Court is one of the short side streets joining Stratford Road and Coney Island Avenue. Not that long ago, "Beverley Square West" referred only to the Ackerson-developed blocks of Argyle, Rugby and Marlborough Roads. Stratford and Westminster had their own neighborhood association, called Westford Park. These two neighborhood associations joined forces to form the current, five-block Beverley Square West Association.

Related Posts

Victorian Flatbush at risk from inappropriate zoning, October 23, 2007
Landscape and Politics in Brooklyn's City Council District 40, February 14, 2007
Matthews Park, September 29, 2006

Links

NoProPaSo, Kneel Before Your Creator, Crazy Stable
Victorian Flatbush: An Architectural History (Warning: contains intrusive popups)

Cortelyou Crocuses!

This morning I took a slight detour from my commute routine to check the tree pits along Cortelyou Road for blooming Crocuses. I was rewarded:



It may not look like much, but this is only one of the 400 Crocuses neighborhood volunteers planted last fall in some of the tree pits along Cortelyou Road between Coney Island Avenue and East 17th Street.

It also has a companion blooming in the same tree pit:



Until the rest of them start blooming, if you're not looking for them, you'll probably overlook them. Here's how they appear in situ as you walk by the tree pit:




The Crocuses have been up for a month; these are the first blooms. The Daffodils are also emerging in several of the tree pits.

Someone's (or someones') been doing a good job keeping the tree pit fairly clear of garbage. Nevertheless, you can identify several fragments of urban street detritus, including chewing gum, bits of plastic straw, and um, organic material.

This morning I didn't see any bags of garbage in the tree pits themselves. When I see this, I try to stop and lift the bags out to place them on the outside of the protective fences. But for the past few days I've also seen a bike locked to the inside of the fence, right where the bulbs are coming up. I want to make up some signs to put along all the tree pits to remind folks:

LIVE PLANTS
NO TRASH
NO BIKES
NO DOGS

The bike locked up so it's crushing the emerging bulbs deserves its own sign.

Over the next two weeks we should see a succession of different Crocus blooming. These yellow ones look like Crocus chrysanthus or something similar. Other may be purple, blue, or even white. I purchased "mixed" Crocus for this planting, so that's what we should expect!

Related Posts

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch, February 4
Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch

Update 2008.03.06: The Crocuses are blooming!

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Despite this morning's brief snow flurry, Spring is nearly upon us. That means that the 1,000 Daffodils and 400 Crocus which dozens of neighborhood volunteers planted along Cortelyou Road last fall will soon bloom. The crocuses are already up and may bloom within the next two weeks.

This is a good time to remind businesses, building owners and managers, residents and visitors along Cortelyou Road that tree pits contain live plants. They should not put bags of garbage in them. This is especially important now that the plants are coming up.

Most building and business owners do not use the tree pits as dumpsters. I've only seen it done twice in the past two months. But all it takes is one thoughtless dumping of garbage, and the whole season of growth in that tree pit will be destroyed.

Beyond not damaging what's growing there, any care that owners and businesses can take to keep tree pits neat and clean will make a big difference. Keeping the tree pits clear of litter is the single most effective thing they can do. Just like graffiti and broken windows, keeping after trash shows that people care for the area, and are watching out for it.

Over two dozen people turned out to help plant the tree pits last fall. That's a big turnout for something that was organized very informally. This shows that residents value the new streetscape along Cortelyou Road. Studies have shown that people spend more time, and are willing to spend more, on commercial streets that have green, growing things. Keeping the tree pits clean and free of trash is not just neighborly. It's good business as well.

Related Posts

Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Resource: DCP's Census Fact Finder

Map of Brooklyn Census Tract 520 returned by the DCP Census Tract Finder when searching on the Q Train Cortelyou Road Station.


At last night's Workshop #2 of Imagine Flatbush 2030, they had something new: a brief slide show of orientation information, similar in content to that presented at the first workshop, plus some census data about the study area. You can see some photos of these by Frank Jump, who attended last night's workshop and happened to be in my breakout group, on his blog, Fading Ad Blog.

I just discovered that the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) provides online access to census data in their Census Fact Finder. The finder is tabbed to provide searches by:

• Street address
• Community District
• Point of Interest (not enough "points" to be widely useful)
• Subway station
  

Except for Community District, once you've identified a point, you can view census data by a single Census Tract, by neighboring Census tracts within a .1 to .5 miles range you specify, or by Community District.

At the top of the resulting report is a map showing the point or area you selected and the matching census tracts. A pink dot identifies the focus, the selected tracts are highlighted in blue, and all visible tracts are numbered. Associated with the map are the usual zoom and navigation tools. It also provides tools to select or exclude additional census tracts.

For example, the map at the top of this post is returned when selecting the Q Train Cortelyou Road Station as the focus of the map. The finder returned Census Tract 520, which news reports in 2005 highlighted as the most diverse Census Tract in the entire United States:

In 1970, Census Tract 520 in Ditmas Park [sic] was 92.1% white. Less than a quarter of the population was foreign-born, and most of them were Italian and Jewish. Today, the neighborhood is a miniature United Nations, with nearly two-thirds of the population coming from other countries.

Although Elmhurst and Jackson Heights have a larger percentage of foreign-born residents, the city's demographer, Joseph Salvo, said it's the convergence of racial and ethnic diversity that distinguishes Ditmas Park.
- In a Diverse City, Ditmas Park Takes the Cake, New York Sun, May 26, 2005

Note, however, that Census Tract 520 is not in the historic district of Ditmas Park. It comprises the eastern half of Ditmas Park West, my neighborhood neighbor to the south, plus the blocks between Newkirk and Foster Avenues.

Below the map in the report is a table showing all the census data, aggregated for the selected census tracts. The table is tabbed for the major categories of data available:

• Demographic
• Socio-economic
• Age
• Income in 1999
• Labor
• Education
• Housing Characteristics
• Housing Costs
  

For example, to examine the claim that this tract is the most diverse, let's look at the demographic data:

Demographic Profile	Tract(s)	Brooklyn	New York City
Total Population	4,399	2,465,326	8,008,278
Single Race, Nonhispanic: (by percentage)
White	19.3%	34.7%	35.0%
Black / African American	29.2%	34.4%	24.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	22.4%	7.5%	9.7%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0.0%
Some other Race	1.3%	0.7%	0.7%
Two or More Races, Nonhispanic	7.8%	2.8%	2.8%
Hispanic Origin (of any race)	19.8%	19.8%	27.0%

The "most diverse" claim arises from the observation that the demographic category comprising the largest single group, Black / African American, only comprises 29.2% of the population. Across the city as a whole, there is diversity. Queens has the largest percentage of foreign-born residents of all five boroughs. But when you get down to the level of a few blocks, what you usually see is a predominant group.

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At last night's workshop, at each breakout group, the facilitators asked each of us to briefly identify our main concern, our main wish or goal for Flatbush in the years to come. By the time it got around to me, I'd had time to practice in my mind what I wanted to say, and wrote it down in my notebook:

Diversity Without Disparity

And I explained that I mean this "in every way I can think of." This captures the asset of diversity we enjoy today, one which I think most of those who've participated in the workshops so far value as well. It also presents the challenge: how can we mitigate existing disparities, and keep the gap from widening. How can we avoid becoming the victims of our own success as a vibrant, interesting, developing community?

Related Posts

Imagine Flatbush 2030

Links

Imagine Flatbush 2030 (Sponsored by the Municipal Art Society of NY) - Workshop #2, Brooklyn College, Frank Jump, Fading Ad Blog
Over 100 People Imagining Flatbush 2030, Brooklyn Junction
In a Diverse City, Ditmas Park Takes the Cake, Daniela Gerson, The New York Sun, May 26, 2005

Upcoming Local Events

Some quick notes of things happening within a couple blocks of me over the next few weeks. Details for all these events are available from the Google calendar in the sidebar.

This Weekend

Saturday December 8 and Sunday, December 9, 1-6pm, Prospect Park South resident Karen Friedland hosts an Art Show and Sale.

Sunday, December 9, 10am-3pm, P.S. 139 has their annual Holiday Craft Fair.

Next Week

Wednesday, December 12, starting at 6:30pm, Imagine Flatbush 2030 Workshop #2 at Brooklyn College.

Next Weekend, Sunday December 16

1:45-4pm, Beverley Square West Holiday Caroling. Meet at the Tot Lot at Cortelyou and Argyle Roads at 1:45pm.

3-5pm, Cortelyou Road Tree Lighting, at the Tot Lot.

3:30-5:30pm, The Regina Opera, at the Victorian Place Cultural Center / Temple Beth Emeth.

The Daffodil Project on Cortelyou Road

Many hands make light work

Today we planted the last of 1,000 Daffodils and 400 Crocus along Cortelyou Road. Over two weekends, we covered every block from the Q subway stop to Coney Island Avenue. We were able to plant all but one of the new tree pits, running out of bulbs before the last one.

Observe: Experts at work


This weekend's volunteers included:

• Aowyn
  
• Barzeli
  
• Mela
  
• Jan A.
  
• Jan R.
  
• John
  
• Linda
  
• Matt
  
• Ronan
  
• Sally
  
• Susan
  

I know I've left out at least one name. If I've omitted or misspelled your name, please let me know.

Cortelyou Gothic


And again this weekend, this was an opportunity or me to meet neighbors for the first time. The flowers may bloom next Spring, and they may multiply over the years. The sustained consequences of the Daffodil Project are the communities it helps to build.

Related Posts

The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Reminder: Plant Daffodils on Cortelyou Road This Weekend

There's also Daffodil planting on Beverly Road this Sunday.

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Green Thumbs Up! Some of the crew of volunteers who planted Daffodils last Sunday.


Weather permitting (as long as it's not raining), we'll continue planting Daffodil bulbs in the tree pits along Cortelyou Road this Saturday and Sunday morning. We'll meet up at 10am in front of the library at the northeast corner of Argyle Road. Please bring your own tools and work gloves, if you have them. If you don't we'll have enough on hand to keep you busy!

This weekend, we'll begin working our way West from Argyle Road toward Coney Island Avenue. If you can't join us at 10am, look for the folks digging in the tree pits! Last weekend we finished up by 12:30pm, so please feel free to stop by and see how we're doing.

And if you come on Sunday, bring some shopping bags and pick up some seasonal fruits and vegetables at the Greenmarket, which is open through the end of the month.

Related Posts

The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4

Links

The Daffodil Project

November 12: Sustainable Flatbush Town Hall Meeting

This is listed in the sidebar Calendar, but I wanted to highlight this community meeting happening next Monday.

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Sustainable Flatbush is about to enter an exciting new phase of our activities in the neighborhood, and we’d love for YOU to be involved! Please join us:

WHAT: Sustainable Flatbush Town Hall Meeting
WHEN: Monday, November 12th at 7pm
WHERE: 462 Marlborough Road (between Ditmas and Dorchester)

Longtime Flatbush resident Mark Levy has come onboard, bringing his history of commitment to the neighborhood and experience as a community organizer and environmental educator. He has also kindly offered to host this meeting at his home. Thanks Mark!

We will form committees geared toward specific activities and service projects, establish leadership roles, and set some new goals for 2008. To give you an idea of what’s in store, here are some of the proposed committees:

• RECYCLING/WASTE REDUCTION
Focusing on recycling education and promotion, as well as other methods of reducing waste in our homes and businesses, from composting to blocking unwanted fliers.

• SUSTAINABLE GARDENING
Sharing knowledge and resources on sustainable approaches to all forms of urban gardening, from yard landscaping to street tree pits to organic farming. We will also be actively involved in the new neighborhood community garden.

• TRANSPORTATION/LIVABLE STREETS
Working with Transportation Alternatives and other Livable Streets advocates, we will bring a local perspective to the citywide discussion of such issues as traffic calming, congestion pricing, public transportation improvements, and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

• ENERGY EFFICIENCY/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND FUELS
Let’s talk about how to save money by using less energy in our homes and businesses, and how to incorporate alternative energy sources such as biofuels and solar power into the landscape.

• LOCAL BUSINESS OUTREACH
Helping neighborhood businesses to adopt sustainability practices that improve their “Triple Bottom Line”: People, Planet, and Profit.

• LOCAL SCHOOLS OUTREACH
Implementing environmental education and practices in our local schools.

Hope to see you there!

Reminder: Cortelyou Road Daffodil Planting, This Weekend and Next

See 1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road for details.

We're also looking for volunteers to plant along Beverly Road between East 16th and East 19th Streets. Leave a comment or send me an email if you're interested.

1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road

Two weeks ago I put out a call for volunteers to plant Daffodils along Cortelyou Road, from East 17th Street to Coney Island Avenue. My neighbor Stacey had arranged for 300 bulbs from the Daffodil Project.

Well, she got her order increased to 500 bulbs and received them today. And Friends of Cortelyou and the Cortelyou Road Merchants Association (CORMA) is getting another 500 bulbs for the effort. So we have 1,000 Daffodil bulbs to plant this season which will bloom along the new streetscape of Cortelyou Road next Spring.

The dates for planting are the first two weekends in November, Saturday and Sunday, 11/5 and 11/6, and 11/11 and 11/12. To help us estimate how many hands we'll have on deck, please fill out the survey in the sidebar, "What date could you help plant bulbs along Cortelyou Road?" To join us, meet at P.S. 139 at the northwest corner of Cortelyou Road and Rugby Road at 10am. You'll need to bring your own gardening tools for planting: trowels, gloves, gardening forks or spades. But if you don't have tools of your own, don't let that stop you; how about bringing some hot chocolate?!

Newkirk Avenue

Newkirk Plaza


This afternoon, Blog Widow and I had brunch at Picket Fence on Cortelyou Road, then strolled through Ditmas Park and Ditmas Park West. Yes, yes, there are beautiful houses there. But today it's about Newkirk Avenue.

Watching You

A half-block from the Newkirk Avenue subway station is this imposing array of surveillance cameras. I'm sure I'm recorded somewhere now, and facial recognition systems will soon match this suspicious character to my 25-year old blog profile photo, my identity revealed.

Christ My Sufficiency

This is just south of Newkirk Avenue on Rugby Road. The sign caught my eye, as well as Blog Widow's. He said I had to take a picture of this store-front church. He's in the biz, so I assume it's out of professional interest.

Of course, I had to ask him, "What's a FourSquare Church?" It was founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1927. Which doesn't explain anything to me. I'll read the Wikipedia article later.

Markets and Grocery Stores




MYSTERY SOLVED! Bitter Melon on Newkirk Avenue

Frank Jump, neighbor and general cohort, identifies these objets as bitter melons. It looks like a hairy, warty cucumber. It just doesn't say "Eat ME!" to me.

Two Guys

I was taking a photo of the Drupali Grocery on Newkirk Avenue when these guys told me to "Make it a good picture!"

Each said I should take a picture of the other guy. So I asked to take a shot of both of them together. This was the third and last photo, after I prompted them to "smile!"

Welcome in Eleven Languages

This is the sign on the corner of the Newkirk Family Health Center, at the northeast corner of Newkirk and Rugby Road.

I don't even recognize half of the alphabets, let alone the languages.
The first four are English, Spanish, Russian and French. I recognize Hebrew second from the bottom. I think the bottom one is Arabic script, and fourth from the bottom are Chinese characters.