Dog Run Coming to Prospect Park

Border Collie Enjoying Freedom to Run

After years of discussions and requests by neighborhood dog-owners, it looks like Kensington will be finally getting a dog run in Prospect Park.

Activists and members of the Kensington Dog Run Association were pleased to hear that their dreams will soon be a reality after only a few more hurdles to overcome.

"There’s really no areas for dogs to run around and be off leash," Sal Garro, president of the association, said. "We’ve got off leash hours at PP, and those are pretty limited and a lot of people can’t make it to those."

Garro said that his organization is happy with the design for the run, which has two areas, one for smaller dogs, and another for larger. Dog owners will also be supplied with benches to watch their pets run free.

"The designs are incredible," Garro said. "They’re exactly what we wanted. I feel like they really listened to us when we first sat down. They clearly saw our vision."

The run was designed by the Prospect Park Alliance, and will be funded by money which will come through a partnership between two districts; that of Councilmen Mathieu Eugene and Brad Lander. 

The borough of Brooklyn, through the office of Borough President Aric Adams, will also chip in.

Before the actual construction can commence the project will need to be approved by Community Board 14’s Community Environment Committee, which will be meeting on April 19 at 7pm to vote on the issue. If the vote is in favor, dogs and their owners can expect to see a dog run in Prospect Park within about two years.

No Horsing Around: Kensington Stables Looking for Highest Bidder

Good news for horse lovers. The historic Kensington Stables, the last horse stable next to Prospect Park, still has a good chance to remain a stable despite the hard times it has fallen on.

First opened in 1930, the stable is for sale as part of a bankruptcy process by owner Walker Blankinship. He is looking to sell off the property in order to pay off debts accrued by his father, who passed away.

The property is being auctioned by Marc Yaverbaum, whose services were retained by Blankinship’s mother, Edna. The original date for the auction had been set for February 21st, but has since been postponed. The hope is that the extra time will allow for a greater possibility that a buyer will come along who will commit to maintaining the property as a horse stable.

Windsor Terrace Councilman Brad Lander has been lobbying on behalf of a stable on the site, stating that:

 “…the community strongly supports the preservation of a horse stable at this location, and that bidders should be clear about this expectation. I would not support a rezoning of this property that did not commit to preservation of a horse stables," Lander wrote.

Lander Expands Hours to Assist Bangladeshi Residents of Kensington

In order to accommodate the growing community of Bangladeshi immigrants to Kensington, Councilman Brad Lander has expanded his office hours.

The announcement was made at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the councilman’s new office located at 486 McDonald Avenue, on October 21st, right after Friday prayers, called jumah, which take place at local mosques.

In addition to the expanded hours, Lander has appointed a community liaison, Ruby Abdul, a Bengali speaker, to assist with the community.

Brad Lander

“I’m very excited to expand my office’s availability to serve as a resource for the Bangladeshi community in Kensington and to finally offer Bengali assistance,” Lander (D-Park Slope-Kensington-Borough Park) said. “The Bangladeshi community is an essential part of the broader community in Kensington, but one with its own particular needs. I’m excited to have Ruby work together with so many of Kensington’s leaders to serve this incredibly special neighborhood as best we can.”

Councilman Brad Lander is a Champion of Change

Brad Lander: Champion of Change

This Tuesday Kensington’s own Councilman Brad Lander will be honored at a White House ceremony for  introducing “participatory budgeting” into the New York City political universe.

Lander, who was elected to the council in 2009, also represents Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Windsor Terrace. President Barack Obama will name Lander as a “Champion of Change” for creating a structure that allows the public to become a part of the process which allocates funding for community projects. Instead of Lander deciding where and in what proportions his $1 million yearly discretionary budget goes to, his voter base get to decide.

The idea of participatory budgeting was first born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989. Lander was the first to bring this innovative idea to New York last year. The most recent allocations in Lander’s district were earmarked to bring computers to local schools; renovate bathrooms in schools; improve pedestrian access and traffic congestion on Church Avenue; and to bring more trees to Third Avenue in Gowanus.

Lander’s idea seems to be catching on: There are now 8 out of 51 districts in New York City that are utilizing participatory budgeting to fund community improvements. The White House explained that Obama created Champions of Change to recognize the contribution that innovation can make to communities and to honor those who are not afraid to introduce change.

Congratulations Councilman Lander!

Kensington Residents Demand Improved Road Safety on Ocean Parkway

Councilman Brad Lander

City Council member Brad Lander joined with Kensington residents, transportation advocates and others at the corner of Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue to demand safety improvements there and elsewhere on the dangerous Brooklyn thoroughfare.

A full year has passed since Kensington residents voted for Lander’s proposal to allocate $200,000 to safety upgrades on the notoriously unsafe roadway in the borough’s “participatory budgeting” election.

Unfortunately not enough time has passed for the New York State Department of Transportation to take action. They have as yet neither approved Lander’s plan, saying it would not improve the parkway’s safety, nor have they come up with their own plan that would create a better, safer road.

Too late for 73-year-old Ngozi Agbim, who was hit by a semi-trailer truck and killed at the intersection last Monday, making residents angry, sad and bitter.

“We just do not understand how is it that a God fearing and loving mother would die in such a manner walking back from a church service,” said Eugene Agbimson, Brother-in-Law of Ngozi Agbim.  “This is very difficult, but it is also very rewarding. It allows me to reflect on her life, her dedication to the service of God and her lifelong committed to the less privilege.   Her death like her life is now a beacon – a rallying point for change.”

“We have been working to fix that intersection—which we all know is dangerous—for years,” said Council Member Lander. “The community felt so strongly that this was voted a top priority in last year’s budget. We are heartbroken about Monday’s tragedy, which took the life of our neighbor, Ngozi Agbim. We must act now to do all we can to prevent future tragedies. We are calling on New York State DOT to approve our plan.”

“It has saddened me that someone died in this tragic accident,” said nearby resident Arlette F. Mathis. “My family and I cross that intersection daily. We fear crossing, because even with the signage, drivers speed onto the Prospect Expressway and seldom yield to pedestrians. Something like this should never happen again.”

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio Creates Fan Club to Save Kensington G-Train Service

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

Mayoral hopeful and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio joined the grass-roots call to maintain the service of the G-train to the Kensington neighborhood in Brooklyn.

De Blasio announced the creation of a new organization to fight for the subway service, called “5 Stop Fan Club,” referring to the five train stops which the MTA is threatening to shut down. This new group joins an on-line petition submitted by the Working Families Party demanding that the present G-train service be maintained.

“These extra five stops are a lifeline that Brooklyn residents and small businesses have come to depend on,” said de Blasio. “Ending this service will have a profound effect on the community and the mom and pop stores along these five stops. I encourage every New Yorker who wants to see the G train service preserved to join the 5 Stop Fan Club and let your voices be heard.”

The five train stops in question were only added to the G-train’s route by the MTZ in 2009 to help deal with the disruptions caused by the repair of the Culver Aqueduct, a bridge over the Gowanus Canal.

Since the work on the aqueduct is almost finished, the MTA is planning on closing down the extension, which was only put in place to allow commuters from Greenpoint to travel all the way to Kensington without being forced to change trains.

Last Friday the Working Families Party inaugurated their petition on the internet, which will eventually be submitted to the MTA, hopefully dissuaded them from cancelling the train service. De Blasio is affiliated closely with the Working Families Party, which helped get him elected to his present office of public advocate.

De Blasio’s “Fan Club” has a website with several elected officials joining the movement, including Representative Nydia Velazquez, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senators Eric Adams and Dan Squadron, Assemblymen James Brennan and Hakeem Jeffries, and City Councilmembers Brad Lander, Sara Gonzalez, Stephen Levin and Letitia James.

Participatory Government Continues in Kensington

This past autumn New York City began a brave new experiment designed to bring citizens back into the process of democratic government and to encourage participation and autonomy. The program, known as the Participatory Budgeting Project gives people the opportunity to suggest ways they would like to see their tax dollars spent, and then to vote on those grass-roots ideas.

There were hundreds of people on hand from the four districts whose Council members are involved over the past few months who attended public assemblies to discuss their ideas on what to do with about $1 million in capital funds for each district. There are volunteer committees now debating the proposals, and voting on these proposals is expected to take place this spring.

The four Council members involved in this exciting project are Brad Lander of the 39th district which includes Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and parts of Kensington and Borough Park; Jumaane Williams of the 45th district including Flatbush, Midwood and parts of Canarsi; Melissa Mark-Viverito of the 8th district in Harlem and the South Bronx; and Eric Ulrich the 32nd district Council member representing southwest Queens.

Brad Lander had this to say about the project:

“We are excited to put budgeting power directly in the hands of the people. Not only will next year’s budget be more democratic as a result, it will also be more effective because our constituents know best where money needs to go in our community.”

When asked what he felt was the quirkiest idea, Mr. Lander said, “Make a Gowanus Canal gondola, aptly called “The Gowandola;” create dumpster pools for hot summer days like they had on Manhattan’s East Side on Saturdays in 2010, and which first popped up in the Gowanus neighborhood.”

Lander felt the boldest idea was to create “A community center to bring together the diverse neighborhoods that make up Kensington, Brooklyn. To make the idea feasible within the $1 million budget limitation, committee members are looking for rooms in libraries or other public spaces that can be remodeled to be mini-community centers.”

ANA Meeting on Thursday (Tonight)

Brad Lander, New York City Councilmember, will speak at the Albemarle Neighborhood Association meeting scheduled to be held from 7 to 8pm. Mr. Lander will be speaking about the final discussions for the New York City budget for the upcoming fiscal year; lawmaking goals; recent activities which Lander has taken to benefit the citizens of Kensington and other issues of interest to the participants. This meeting is your chance to get the information you need from the person who knows, your representative to the NYC council.

The meeting is being planned to be held outdoors, weather permitting. Come tonight to 414-415 Albermarle Road, and please bring a chair.

If there is a question of rain, please call 718-TENANTS to confirm the location. If there is rain, the meeting will be held at the Flatbush and Shaare Torah Jewish Center, 327 E. 5th Street, corner of Church Avenue. Please remember to use the groundfloor, wheelchair accessible, entrance.

The meeting is entirely free and open to everyone regardless of whether they are a member of the ANA or not. Refreshments will be served and provided by Foodtown and the ANA.

Brad Lander to Speak

Community Board Encourages Working Together on New Park

Community leaders and Community Board Representatives met on February 24 for a Listening Session to discuss each group’s vision for a redesigned Dome Playground which will be built at 38^th Street and Dahill Road.

Also in attendance were representatives from the NYC Parks and Recreation Department, on hand to listen to the various ideas which were presented.

Maggie Tobin, the Kensington representative to Community Board 12 said that the meeting was composed of an “incredibly diverse group of people, a real cross-section of Kensington.”

The Brooklyn Deputy Parks Commissioner, Martin Maher welcomed the group.

“The vision comes from you. “Everyone here is of different ages, religions, boys, girls, young, old.  We will build upon this so the community can share Brooklyn together.”

The meeting was organized by Councilmember Brad Lander in conjunction with the Brooklyn Parks’ office and the Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. The 60 members of the audience were divided into four teams each of which were given an enlargement of the ground plan of the Dome Playground as a reference from which to better discuss the issues of how to best develop and utilize the new park.

CB 12 will not be meeting during the summer, from the end of June until September 27. Then there is Ramadan which will take place this year from July 31 until August 30, and then soon to follow are the Jewish holidays beginning September 28 and ending in mid-October. Review of the plans for the park will have to navigate through these obstacles, but there is good-will to make sure all the constituency has a park they can live with in the end.

Supervisor of Kensington Sanitation District Sanctioned

The severe snowstorm suffered by residents of New York last week challenged the Sanitation Department to the maximum. Unfortunately, not all districts met the challenge to an acceptable standard.

Councilman Brad Lander of the 39th District in Brooklyn received hundreds of complaints about the inadequacy of the snow removal from his constituents. The vast majority of complaints, however, came from Sanitation District 12, the Kensington/Borough Park neighborhoods, which is geographically only one third of Lander’s district.

By December 31st it was strikingly clear that Kensington/Borough Park were under served by snowplows, as by this date there were still many streets under snow, while the rest of District 39 was basically clear.

As a result of the failure of the supervisor of Sanitation District 12 to do his job properly, he has been sanctioned, held responsible and has been reassigned to a different district.