Building and Infrastructure News

The City Planning Commission was (unanimously) approved the proposed 80 Flatbush Avenue’s mixed use project. Earlier this year the Brooklyn Community Board actually rejected the proposal put forward by Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President who requested a significant height reduction on one of the towers. Should the project be approved by the City Council it will then go ahead.

Plans include the creation of 900 apartments (within what would be Brooklyn’s second largest tower measuring at 986 feet!). There will also be two schools, retail and cultural space. Meanwhile over at 571 Ocean Parkway, permits were filed for an eight story residential building in Kensington. Should this be approved the property is great for public transportation, as it is located a mere six blocks from the 18th Avenue subway station and ten blocks from Hewkirk Plaza subway station. It won’t be as tall as the one on Flatbush Avenue measuring in at a mere 80 feet and offering 31 residential units.

JRAD Throwing Stones

Last month the JRAD Throwing Stones played in Prospect Park Bandshell, in Brooklyn. See them here:

Short Films

Spike Lee and Uber are working on a joint venture to “fight the power.”  A series of short films will be shown focusing on the people behind the scenes in Lee’s favorite borough of New York – Brooklyn.  Entitled ‘Uber Presents Da Republic of Brooklyn,’ any Uber drivers choosing to take part in the movies are being compensated for their time and project participation.

Lee said:

“I was attracted to this project because I know a lot of people who drive on the Uber platform and it gives them the flexibility they need to pursue their dreams. That’s how we do it in Brooklyn – that’s the Brooklyn hustle.”

The series features   “Malka,” “Sunny,” “Domingo,” “Keith,” and “Rodney” and can be viewed on Uber Presents.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! is coming back for its 40^th year!!!! This performing arts festival – an annual occurrence – is again offering locals an incredible array of music, film, dance and other cultural festivities from international artists.  Food and crafts will be on sale from local artisans too.

This year, some of the highlights include: free Prospect Park Bandshell concerts (with Aimee Mann, The Breeders, Common, Fischerspooner among others) which began at the beginner of summer on June 5 but continue through August 11 (25 of which are free with a suggested $5 donation at the gate). The others are to raise money for the future free events at the festival.

Leslie Griesbch Shultz, BRIC President explained:

 “For four decades—since the summer of 1979—the Festival has represented the best of what Brooklyn and America can be: a welcoming supercollider of ideas and cultures, informing and enriching each other. We are grateful for all the support BRIC receives to keep the festival free and accessible to all New Yorkers.”

Come Join the Smorgasburg!!!

You know that summer is here when…

For Brooklyners it’s when the Smorgasburg starts (which is April actually!).  If you’ve not been yet be sure to hop on down to East River State Park (90 Kent Avenue) on a Sunday. And if you have been, you probably know what we’re talking about.  It truly is a wonderful, fun, summer-kinda-feeling open air food market.  So fun indeed that around 20-30,000 people come every single weekend!

Featuring more than 100 local vendors (coz we do like to keep it local if we can), it was dubbed “The Woodstock of Eating,” by The New York Times.  The event is organized by Brooklyn Flea in conjunction with Prospect Park Alliance.

And if you ever have a craving for “deep fried cookie dough, cheese pies and lobster nachos,” then that really is the place that has it all!

Summer Happenings in Brooklyn

Summer is well underway and as we all know, it can get extremely pricey when the kids (and adults) want to go to events that cost money.  So we try on this blog to provide options of things to do that are either cheap or free.

For the upcoming week, starting tomorrow, this is on offer:

1.      If you’re looking to go out Friday night and don’t to break the bank, why not switch your entertainment fun to Friday morning and enjoy a free concert in Central Park?  On 13^th July the Backstreet Boys are playing at 7am.  Get up early and have your fun before the sun gets too hot!

2.      Saturday July 14^th you can enjoy the FAD Market: Summer Pop Up – another free event – from 11am to 6pm. You’ll be able to view art, jewelry, clothing and other stuff from independent makers.

3.      And then on Sunday July 15^th there is NYC’s Summer Ice Cream Blizzard at the Grand Bazaar NYC where you can take a pick of the city’s greatest “artisanal ice cream makers,” all in one spot.

Just remember: you don’t have to break the bank to have fun in Brooklyn in the summertime.  You just need to keep your eyes peeled for the latest on great events.

Brooklyn Black Revival

A revival of black pride is happening in the Brooklyn, NY region.  Some recent examples of the festivals increasing awareness in this genre include: the Afropunk festival; Juneteenth festival; Black and Latino Gay Pride and more.  Organizations are working toward this too, such as Harlem Capital Partners and All-Star Code.

According to an NYU Sociologist, Jacob William Faber:

“We’re in a sociopolitical moment where there’s greater acceptance of black people having pride in themselves. It sounds silly — or sad, really. It should be normal. But we live in a world where saying ‘black lives matter’ is controversial. It’s a rebuttal to the idea — the false choice — that if you want investment you have to accept displacement.”

And it seems to be working.  The US Census Bureau’s recent survey of business owners found a huge nationwide escalation of black-owned businesses between 2007 and 2012 from 1.9 to 2.6 million, mainly from black women.  Indeed, there have been 24 (out of 35) female black entrepreneurs profiled by Black-Owned Brooklyn.

In addition, according to the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises in 2017 Brooklyn had 319 black owned contractors (a large jump from 2015’s 295 stat).  Sean Combs (who is currently developing an app to help locate local black-owned businesses) said:

 “I want to be an authentic, unapologetic warrior for black culture. This is not about taking away from any other community. We’ll still go to Chinatown. We’ll still buy Gucci! But the application will make it possible for us to have an economic community. It’s about blacks gaining economic power.”