Downtown Brooklyn DOT Meeting Tomorrow

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The NYC DOT is holding an Open House/Public Meeting Thursday, January 10, 2008 to present their plan for managing transportation in downtown Brooklyn…that includes Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. The program runs from 4-8 pm and starts with exhibits showing DOT's priority transportation initiatives, transportation and development trends, and a plan for monitoring and evaluating plans that are implemented.

You can see the displays starting at 4 pm and the presentations will be done at 5 pm and again at 7 pm.  Attendees can enter at any time.

Opportunities to ask questions and express your opinions to the Project Team will be available all evening.

Additional information on the Downtown Brooklyn Transportation Blueprint is available on the NYCDOT website.

Meeting location: Brooklyn Borough Hall, Borough President's Community Room

January Brooklyn Blogade: Clinton Hill!

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On Sunday, January 20, Clinton Hill will host the Brooklyn Blogade, a monthly event for Brooklyn-based bloggers to meet, greet and chill. I've volunteered to host this month's event! Here are the details: Brooklyn Blogade January: Waffle Weekend in Clinton Hill Sunday, January 20, 2008 11am

Frank White Cafe + Gallery 936 Atlantic Ave (at St. James) C, G to Clinton-Washington

MENU:

hot waffles. fresh toppings.

yummy belgian waffles served with your choice of fresh fruit toppings: strawberries bananas mango apples n cinnamon blueberries whipped cream chocolate/caramel sauce pure maple syrup

waffles w/butter/syrup $4.50 waffles + toppings for $6

PLEASE RSVP BY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 to: clintonhillblog-at-gmail-dot-com.

Little League Signups in Bed-Stuy

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Registration for the Inner City Sports Bed-Stuy Little League 2008 season will be held on Monday, January 7th, 2008, from 4pm to 8pm at The Concord Baptist Church located at 833 Marcy Avenue, between Putnam & Madison in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Children ages 4 (must turn 4 by April 30, 2008) to 15 who live within Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, East New York and Bushwick are eligible to enroll to play co-ed baseball. Registration is required even if the child played previously. At least one parent or legal guardian must be present with three proofs of residence and a copy of the child’s birth certificate. The documents will be kept and returned at seasons end. For more information, including a description of the boundaries, call Inner City Sports Bed-Stuy Little League at 917-804-1703. Volunteer Managers, Umpires, & Team Parent needed and appreciated.

Onetime registration fee (covers player uniform & insurance)

Ages 4 - 7 $70.00 Ages 8 -13 $100 Ages 14-15 $125

A $40.00 deposit is required at registration

PEP Opening: Jan 4

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picture-2.png PEP Gallery is pleased to announce Kevin Cyr's first solo-exhibition in Brooklyn. "Look Both Ways" refers not just to the obvious looking out for traffic, but also to the idea of looking both East and West for cultural and artist influences. Cyr merges Asian vehicles with popular brand iconography of the West. Indian rickshaws are branded with American junk food logos while an Asian tricycle is equipped with a camper top-ready for a trip across the United States - or to explore Inner Mongolia. Cyr's work is impeccably produced with highly rendered detail in both his paintings and drawings.

Recycling Your Xmas Tree!

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Drag your dried up tree to Ft. Greene Park this weekend and watch it become mulch: Take your Christmas tree, without ornaments or lights, to the Willoughby/Washington Park entrance of Fort Greene Park next Saturday or Sunday (Jan. 5 & 6) 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to have it mulched. If you actually want to experience the excitement of the chipper working, come on Saturday, when there will also be refreshments and merriment. So, bring kids, dogs, friends and a tree. You can also take home a bag of mulch for your street tree pit or other garden area. Sunday, will be a drop off day only for trees.

This event and the chipper are sponsored and paid for by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, Society for Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene Association.

Personally, I like to ditch my tree right after Xmas, and have my apartment back to normal before January 1. Wish there was a drop-off area in the park starting on the 26th!

D+ for G Train

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One of the LAST train lines to be evaluated by the MTA (shocking, I know), the results are in. The G train received a stellar D+: picture-3.png

For some reason, I thought the G train extension would take a few years, but according to Second Avenue Sagas, it's actually scheduled for next year (!!). Hopefully this means improvements.

(Thanks to SAS also for this graphic!)

Midnight Steam Whistles

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Each year, Pratt engineer Conrad Milster puts on an amazing steam whistle show on campus on New Year's Eve at midnight. For some reason, I've never heard them sound! I've seen the smoke from my window during test runs, but have yet to venture over for the official show. whistles.jpg

The steam whistles were installed in 1900 to power the campus. They remained in use until a few years ago (they were still operating two campus elevators!).

Milster has maintained the steam plant since 1965, and has been conducting the midnight show for years. The NYT listed it here, back in 1980 (last listing on page). Also check out this YouTube video of last year's presentation.

The steam plant at Pratt is still in its original condition, and was declared a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1977.

Check it out tonight!

New Bar on DeKalb!

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Bed-Stuy Blog has stumbled upon something wonderful -- a new bar on DeKalb between Franklin and Kent! Called Rustik Tavern, the spot will also offer a full menu. They open on New Year's Eve at 4pm!

Most impressive to me are the wonderfully-designed fliers and website:

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Not only does this look nice, but the photo on the card was taken on DeKalb and Kent in 1887!

Rustik Tavern 471 DeKalb Ave (bt Franklin and Kent) www.rustiktavern.com

Dentist on Fulton?

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I think this is new, as I haven't noticed it before: chb-1.jpg

OK, I just Googled it and found a bunch of places it's been listed, so maybe it's NOT new. Anyone go here?

And as an aside, does anyone have a good doctor in Brooklyn? Either primary care, lady doctor, specialist, etc? I love my PCP, but am have long grown weary of trekking up to her office on East 90th Street. What do most Brooklynites do?

White Lilly Cafe

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I finally had the chance to peek in on the new restaurant on Fulton at Grand. It's now open, and here's the menu: chb-2.jpg

Not sure if this is permanent, but it looked pretty dead inside and there's no signage outside:

chb-3.jpg

I like that a few brave folks are trying to take the plunge on Fulton, but with a limited menu, no signage and all that horrible construction there, I don't know if this place has a very favorable outlook.

Anyone been?

Christmas Eve Shooting

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I wanted to do a post or two from Buffalo, but my Dad's Internet was down (!!!!!!). I was less than pleased. I am sad to say that the first news I received when returning home was about a horrible Christmas Eve shooting outside of 121 Lefferts Place. Here are a few links to the info:

ny sun

wcbs

ny daily news

fox

The reader who notified me walked past the scene after it happened, describing it as "gruesome."

Isn't this near where the prostitution hotel was shut down? As I recall, this isn't the safest corner in the area.

Sincere condolences to the families of these boys.