Summer Fun for Kids

The summer can be a treacherous time for parents, trying to find numerous activities to keep the little ones entertained. It’s long, it’s hot and it seems ever-so-expensive all the time as well. So what is going on in the Kensington, Brooklyn neighborhood that is good for kids?  What are the best hangout places offering airconditioning and a cup of coffee for parents to ease the summer vacation pain?  Here we take a brief look at some options.

Metro Parents offers a Daily Events listing of great things to do with kids that are cheap or completely free.  You can join events like the free info session on the upcoming African Diaspora’s summer camp in July.  For those wanting to send their kids there, between July 9 to 20^th, your children will be traveling through the wonders of Africa and its cultures, through movement, song and crafts.  The Hakuna Matata: Kings, Lions and Other African Wonders is a fantastic opportunity for kids aged between 3 and 7.

Later on in the summer is the Singing Frogs and Talking Fish: Diving Through the Caribbean Sea.  Between July 23 to August 3, kids will enjoy frolicking through the Caribbean Sea through music, movement, drum-making and so much more!

Tomorrow you can check out the weekly Drop-In Art, Poems and Stories for kids aged 6 to 9 at Park Slope.  The participants get to read a book and then make a craft out of it.  Fun for all, no need for advanced booking and $15 fee.

Pop-up Pool

The Pop-up Pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park is set to become a more  permanent feature of the area.  Since 2012 it has gained such popularity in the summer months that locals will be able to enjoy it for two more seasons in its current location.  While there are plans for demolishing the site after this summer session for the Pier 2 uplands, a permanent pool is to be brought to the neighborhood at Squibb Park (that is attached to the waterfront via the Squibb Park Bridge).

Thanks to the huge efforts of locals via the Love Our Pool campaign, this has been – and will continue to be – a community endeavor.  The BBPC will hold meetings with the community to get their advice on what they think would make the pool great. Once information has been gathered, a designer will be chosen and the pool will thereafter be built.  It’s a process but it will be worth it when it reaches its culmination. 

Kensington Mixed-Use Structure Permits

A three-story mixed-use structure located in Kensington’s 1121 36^th Street has received permits.  A mere eight blocks from the Church Avenue subway station, the applications were approved from the Mina Group LLC to build the 39-feet tall structure.  It will provide six apartments, each spanning approximately 1,086 square feet.

The structure should be completed by January 2019 through Asher Hershkowitz Architect PLLC.

Columbia Street Waterfront District

A new exhibition is arriving at Columbia Street Waterfront District from a local.  Elliot Arkin – an artist hailing from Brooklyn – just returned to his roots to feature “The Spanish Gardener.” This 10-foot sculpture of Pablo Picasso mowing the lawn. The exhibition was opened on June 1^st and will continue until July 15^th.

Arkin does not just do art though.  He is actually a real estate salesperson at Brooklyn Heights Real Estate on Montague Street. Of this position he explained:

“I’ve been in Brooklyn since 1983, when I graduated from Amherst College. Originally, I lived above the Queen restaurant [on Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn]. Now, I own a little building at Hicks and Union streets, the one that has La Petite Crevette on the ground floor.”

For other artistic appreciations, a non-local – Erwin Wurm – is putting out his Hot Dog Bus for the summer.  Free hot dogs will be available in Brooklyn Bridge Park between June 9^th and August 26^th in an effort to get people to view “the human body as a piece of art, specifically as a sculpture.  The venture is in conjunction with the Public Art Fund.

Love Kensington? Become a Patch Mayor!

Patch seeks to bring local news stories to its locals in Kensington and Windsor Terrace.  What better way to bring news to the locals than from the locals?  Now there is an opportunity to do just that.

If you live in the Kensington Brooklyn area and love it there, would you like the opportunity to share what you know and how you feel about it with others? Tell people in the area about local upcoming events?  Now you can.  Residents are being called upon to be more involved in their neighborhood and be, well, “neighborly.”  Patch has found that it is actually the locals who really do know the most about local happenings!  And that’s why it wants to create Patch Mayors who will tell others about the local fundraising event, a new kids happening, or where there are  new buildings that could disrupt everyday life happening.

What will you get from it?  You will finally have a platform through which you can share and inform with other members of your community.  You can choose to write about anything you want related to the neighborhood.  And most of all, you can use it as a sounding board to try your hand at journalism!

Free Kayaking!

Brooklyn Bridge Park has done it again.  This 85-acre park founded 8 years ago and designed stunningly by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates really changed the entire feel of the neighborhood and when it first opened 6 acres back in March 2010, it was a true winner for the entire area. One really can spend hours there.

And now that the summer is upon us there is more to enjoy.  Being outdoors is the best and with the parks spray areas, roller rinks, sports fields and more, what better activity than to get out your paddles and enjoy some free kayaking right here at Pier 2.

This offer begins at the end of this month.  On May 31, 2018, Thursdays from 5:30–6:45pm, Saturdays from 10am–3pm and Sundays for Kayak Polo from 11am–3pm (kids 11 and over from 12:30–1:30pm), there is no excuse not to say adios to your screens and come on out and enjoy the wonderful waters.

As long as you follow the boathouse rules there’s absolutely nothing to stop you having fun in America’s great outdoors!

Smorgasburg Market

Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg market has returned!  Every Saturday on the Williamsburg watefront and every Sunday in Prospect Park from April until October, the “largest weekly open-air food market  in America” brings food from 100+ local vendors to the 20-30,000 visitors.
This will be the 8^th year of the market. Established by Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby as a spinoff of the Brooklyn Flea Market, it has been described as “The Woodstock of Eating” by The New York Times.
This year the newest additions include kakigori (Japanese shaved ice treat) and grilled lobsters. The classics that have been loved for years are returning too such as: the Bolivian Llam Party, Good Batch and Ramen Burger.