Friends of Brook Park: World Beneath the Pavement

A living blog and composting archive of updates, fun announcements, crucial reports and other wonderful information for new volunteers, recent participants and stalwart supporters alike!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Yoga Mondays!


Yoga

Hatha Yoga with Tara

Class is free. Contributions accepted.

All levels welcomed.


Mondays starting May 29 - June 26

6:30 PM
Green Corner/Rincon Verde

11 Bruckner Boulevard at Lincoln Avenue

For information:

646-641-5788
taralienhua@yahoo.com
www.friendsofbrookpark.org

Partnership with Vamos la Pena

Hey friends, here's some great news...

Thanks to a flexible property owner, an anonymous contributor and an exciting reconnection, we are able to maintain the Green Corner through December!

We will be sharing the space with our longtime friends and collaborators in the movement from Vamos la Pena. I used to live in the same homestead as Nieves and Victor, the co founders of la Pena. La Peña reaches out to the most disenfranchised, especially the hungry, homeless, unemployed, undocumented and HIV-positive. All are welcome with no papers required and no questions asked. La Peña activities include food distribution, help with the citizenship process, English and Spanish classes, artistic workshops and attention to issues such as domestic violence, drug addiction and homelessness. La Peña is open daily and is staffed by community residents and volunteers. They have been selected for the Union Square award and the open Society Fellowship, among other recognitions. To learn more about their important work, see: http://www.fcny.org/scripts/usq/getpage02.pl?orgid=9801


We have an exhibition of waterfront visions by new Yorkers for parks and City College grad students on display, and much more to come.

If you have an idea, or want to engage in some community beneficial use of our green Corner, let me know. This is a resource for us all.

Ongoing are yoga, tai chi and tango classes, and many meetings. A fundraiser for the CSA project is being planned, and what else?

Spring is soon to spring! So come and visit and many thanks to our supporters!
Try viewing the world as with you and your efforts.

Seed Starting!


Learn the Basics of Seed Starting!

When should I start seeds indoors?
Which seeds should I start indoors?
What do they need to thrive indoors?

Community resident and gardener Ida Cohen will lead us through this easy, fun workshop. We will provide you with seeds, water, and soil to plant your own seeds!

A FUN WORKSHOP FOR YOU AND YOUR KIDS!

When: Tuesday, March 21st, 2006. 6 – 8 pm

Where: Green Corner / Rincon Verde: corner of Lincoln Ave and Bruckner Blvd.

POT LUCK SUPPER (BRING A DISH TO SHARE)
HOMEWORK HELP OR CHILDCARE IF PREFERRED

Preserve Randall's Island


Preserve Randall’s Island

Please sign onto the platform to Preserve Randall's Island!
email: information@friendsofbrookpark.org

A proposed theme park would occupy 26 acres of our waterfront.

Why we oppose this proposal:

Transparency: Originally proposed in 1999 as 12-acres, this theme park project has metastasized into a
$168 million, 26-acre enterprise with a 35-year lease, without a Request for Proposals

Alienation: Would require 10 of the island’s already overcrowded baseball and soccer fields to be bulldozed.

Access: Price of admission to this private enterprise will be more than $60.

Scandal: Financial backers have contributed more than $100,000 to various political committees, in addition to entities controlled by former elected official


Ignores waterfront: The project would be inaccessible to residents of nearby neighborhoods that are underserved by parks, such as East Harlem & the South Bronx, which has no official waterfront or shore access.

Environment: Water theme sites are horrible for the environment, discharge millions of gallons of chlorinated water, and a 130,000 sq ft indoor facility with entrance fee is inappropriate for our ball fields and shore line

Next steps:

Sign on your organization to this platform...

Governance: The project must win five votes from the city’s Franchise and Concessions Review Committee (FCRC), which consists of mayoral appointees, the Comptroller’s office and the affected borough president, in this case Manhattan’s Scott Stringer, whose opposition to the plan is on record.


EMAIL ACTION: Comptroller Thompson and Council Member Viverito and The Mayor:
viverito@council.nyc.ny.us, abridge@comptroller.nyc.gov , http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
Dear Elected Officials,
I am aware of the proposal to privatize 26 acres of Randall's Island to a commercial enterprise with a horrendous track record and connections to the former Mayor. Please stop the Randall's Island Theme Park. Instead, the government could build the bridge from South Bronx and open the bridge to East Harlem.
The waterfront is the wrong place for this kind of non-park use. I look forward to your written response.

Art Film Performance

Subject: artfilmperformance - synthetic zero event TOMORROW, May 3, 7, and 27

http://www.syntheticzero.com/events/

Bronx: Wednesday, May 3, 6pm-9pm
Bronx: Sunday, May 7th, 7pm-10pm
and inaugaral event with partners Vamos La Pena! Starting at 4 PM
Tribeca: Saturday, May 27th, 7pm-10pm

The next Synthetic Zero events will be part of the CONVERSIONs series, partly
sponsored by the Bronx Council on the Arts. We will have experimental film,
music, a live life-size puppet show, and visual art.

Bronx Location: The Green Corner, NW corner of Lincoln Ave and Bruckner Blvd,
Bronx (space kindly donated by Bronx environmentalist Harry Bubbins of the
Friends of Brook Park - event is free, but there will be a donation bowl at
the Bronx events, proceeds to go to Friends of Brook Park,
http://www.friendsofbrookpark.org/ ). See directions below.

Tribeca location: 104 Franklin St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10013, space kindly
provided by Temboo - http://www.temboo.com/. See map below.

Performances:

McCloud Zicmuse - Le Ton Mité
amazing one-man band of fascinating music (Tribeca show)
http://www.myspace.com/letonmite
the AUDIO GRUPPE / Berlin : performances with electroacoustic Clothes
(Bronx on Sunday only)
http://home.snafu.de/maubrey/
Imagination Explosion - life-size puppetry (All three events)
http://www.imaginationexplosion.com/
Yoko Kikuchi - girl punk rock (Tribeca, possibly also Bronx events)
http://www.yokokikuchi.com/yerkamusic/
Marianna Ellenberg and Jeremy Novak of DYMAXION - live music/multimedia
(Tribeca only)
http://labarthe.club.fr/dymaxion/dymaxion.html

Experimental Film:

Alyse Emdur - "We Love Lloyd" - New York, NY
Chris Coleman - "Modern Times"
Diran Lyons and Jesse Wilson - "California Excursions" - diranlyons.com
Jeremy Newman - "Paper Cranes" - Princeton, NJ
Joon Sung - "Touch the Strings" - Bowling Green, KY
Josh Weinstein - "Cross-Examination" - Brooklyn, NY
Meg Duguid - "Clown" - Brooklyn, NY
Lili White - "Cloudgate" - liliwhite.com
Paul Amlehn - "Loakal", Part 1
Luke Lamborn - "square millimeter of opportunity" - Syracuse, NY -
lucidstraw.com
Michael Betancourt - "Prima Materia" - Des Moines, IA - michaelbetancourt.com
Myriam Thyes - "Ascension" - Dusseldorf, Germany - thyes.com
Tristan Pfund - "Vertige" - Geneva, Switzerland - osmose.ch
Marianna Ellenberg - "The Psychotropic Alphabet from Z to Z" - Brooklyn, NY
Mac McKean - "Head Up" - Brooklyn, NY - heaventree.com
Gigi Ng - "A Hand on the Doorknob of Greatness: The Ever-Changing Form of
Things" - Boston, MA
Heather Willems - New York, NY

Art:

Damali Abrams - collage - Queens, NY
Mikhail Gubin - paintings - New York, NY
Nicole Miller - paintings - New York, NY
Amy Sinclair - installation - New York, NY
Linda Cunningham - sculpture - Bronx, NY - llcunningham.com
Dmitry Gubin - paintings - New York, NY - gubinpaint.com
Rowena Dale S. Mohammed - paintings - Bronx, NY - freewebs.com/dale_artwork
Mike Saijo - paintings - New York, NY
Rebecca Hackemann - photography - New York, NY - rebecca-h.net
Nora Herting - photography - New York, NY - noreherting.net
Betty T. Kao - paintings - Brooklyn, NY

Mott Haven is only 20 minutes from Union Square.

DIRECTIONS TO BRONX SPACE:

The Bronx space is on the NW corner of Bruckner Blvd and Lincoln Avenue:

http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=123+Lincoln+Avenue,+Bronx,+NY

The actual address is 11 Lincoln Avenue, but Mapquest and Google Maps display
the position incorrectly --- the above map shows the actual location of the
building.

BY SUBWAY:

The space is 20 minutes from Union Square. From Manhattan, 4-5 train to 125th,
transfer to 6 (the 4 also runs on the 6 track on Sunday, so be sure to
transfer to the 6), one stop to 3rd Ave/138th. Walk west 1 block or less to
Lincoln Avenue
(3rd Avenue also crosses there, so don't cross the street), walk 5 blocks
south on Lincoln Ave, and it's
on the NW corner of Lincoln and Bruckner. If you end up at 138th and Grand
Concourse by mistake, walk east, past the KFC, right on Lincoln Avenue (just
past 3rd Avenue), south
5 blocks to Bruckner, and it's on the NW corner.

BY CAR:

>From Manhattan: FDR to Willis Avenue bridge, left at fork, left on 138th. left
onto Alexander Avenue,
right on Bruckner Blvd, one block to the corner of Lincoln Avenue. From I-87
(Major Deegan): Madison Avenue/138th exit, left on 138th, take a right on
3rd Ave, stay right, go right of the bridge (not onto the bridge), left at end
of street, to end of the bridge ramp, space is on the NW corner of that
intersection. From I-278 (Bruckner): get on I-87N (Major Deegan), off at
Willis Ave, stay on 135th (go straight), left onto Alexander Avenue, right on
Bruckner Blvd, one block to the corner of Lincoln Avenue.

Phone: 718-401-9347

Parks Advocacy Day

Hey Friends TOMORROW WEDNESDAY MAY 10th
is:


Fourth Parks Advocacy Day

Let me know if you are to attend please!

This is important to show many faces to our elected officials!

Sign up at:

www.ny4p.org for 17 or 8 City Council District

Meet at Brook Park at 8:30 am sharp or at 250 Broadway Directions below...
We have a
10 am to 10:30 am appointment with Council Member Viverito and a
12:30 pm to 1pm Meeting with Council Member Arroyo
We are also seeking to meet with Council Member Foster to request parks Committee Hearings on the recent Randall's island proposal that would alienate 22 acres of public land.
11-11:30am


Dear Fellow Park Advocates:

Thank you for participating in New Yorkers for Parks' Fourth Parks Advocacy Day on Wednesday, May 10th. With your help, this will be the most effective day yet.

Below is your Council Member and meeting time and directions. If you are not joining us for the networking breakfast from 8:00 to 9:00am, please plan to arrive 15 minutes before your meeting to allow time for registration and collect your packet, tote bag, and T-shirt. All participants will register at 250 Broadway, 16th Floor.


Directions to 250 Broadway:
R, N, W - City Hall Stop
2, 3 - Park Place
A, C - Chambers Street
E - World Trade Center
4,5,6 - Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall:
J, Z, M - City Hall

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

See you on Wednesday!

CSA and Butterfly Project

Saturday In Brook Park!!!

3 Public Activities

Join the South Bronx CSA to get farm fresh organic produce delivered to our community straight form the farmer!
SEE OUR WEBSITE: http://friendsofbrookpark.org/sbcsa.html


1 and 2

Although it's pouring rain out right now, we plan to hold 2 CSA trainings/orientations tomorrow, Saturday May 20th! Rhona will guide you through running a distribution, and we will talk about how we can each volunteer a skill this year to help the CSA run more self-sufficiently. Even if you're not sure you're signing up, please join us!!

They are from 11-12:30, and 3-4:30, in Brook Park (corner of 141st and Brook Avenue). We will be meeting in the "140th St. side" of the park - but you will still have to enter from 141st.


Please bring/send anyone from your family! Great opportunity to plant vegetables and flowers with your friends, children, parents and grandparents. There are also going to be other fun events going on in the park starting in the afternoon.

Bring a drink or a dish to share!


3 Butterfly Planting with Chrissy Word Butterfly Project and Ursela Chanse from NY Botanical Garden
2-4:30 PM

Butterfly Plant Workshop

Learn about native plants that attract butterflies. There will be a hands-on project to plant in our garden. Butterfly Identification , Planting and the wandering around the garden seeking Flutterbies!

Join us before for general upkeep and beautification with focused energy.

Depending on the group and skills and size we will undertake a number of projects.

Saturday May 20
1-5 PM

Butterfly Workshop 230 pm - 430 pm

Special Appreciation to:

with Chrissy Word from The Butterfly Project and Clearpool Education Center
and
Ursala Chanse, NY Botanical Garden

All volunteers get a free stylin' shade providing Baseball Hat complements of Partnerships for Parks

Harlem River Flotilla


Join the effort to organize a
Harlem River Flotilla
Of canoes, kayaks, crew shells, row boats and small craft…
with Urban Divers, Inwood Canoe Club and LIC Boathouse

Saturday May 27th, 2006

Bing your canoe, kayak and other hand powered vessel!!!


11: 30 AM
Clean Up
Free Coastal paddles

12 Noon Bike Tour Meets

1 PM Flotilla Heads north up the Harlem River
Making brief stops at lovely sites along the way:
Harlem River Enviro Center
Roberto Clemente Bridge State Park
Inwood Park
and more!

4:30 Head South from Inwood Park down the Harlem River

Return near ^:30 PM at South Bronx Harlem River Park site, end of Park
Avenue and the Harlem River on the Bronx Side


To paddle from South Bronx to North Manhattan and back, or stop and get out
and enjoy one of the beautiful parks, gardens, and access points along the
way.

Celebrate the No Wake Zone and a safe, clean unified river.

Bring out your vessel and join other great folks on the River!

Open your site for special events or tours.

There will also be the Harlem River Bike Tour as part of the Green Apple
Bike Tour series with greenmap.org and Time’s Up! as part of Bike Month.
Starting at 12 Noon.

For more information or to get involved:

information@friendsofbrookpark.org

www.friendsofbrookpark.org

Capital plan Online

Want to learn more about our long term capital plan for the asphalt section
of the park?

Then see

http://www.friendsofbrookpark.org/impressions/capitalplan

This is a major aspect of what we will be lobbying for on May 10th's Parks
Advocacy Day at City Hall.

More to come soon!

Help us set up wireless...

Hey Friends!

Spring is here and we need folks with experience that can help us set up an
amazing resource in our south bronx community, a Wireless Brook Park!


Know how to do it and are able to commit to making it happen? We have the
resources, if it won't cost much, and are ready to implement asap!

Contact Harry to get in underway!

Pass this on to whomever can help!

Earth Day and more

Bike Tour
Saturday April 15th 12 30 Brook Park


Earth Day in Brook PARK
SATURDAY APRIL 22 3-6 PM
Chop wood, landscape, plant, and honor the Earth.
Contact Kim 646 641 5788
wondrous@friendsofbrookpark.org


Tuesday April 25th
Garden and PotLuck Meeting
To set up participation opportunities and schedule Inipi Sweat Lodge and
other Ceremonies
Brook Park
530 to 630PM Garden/Volunteer
630PM share food and meeting
rsvp


Saturday April 28th
Volunteer Day 9AM till 1230PM with teens
And all day
With Inipi Sweat Lodge later in the day...


May 10
Parks Advocacy Day at City Hall
Sign up at ny4p.org we are City council district 8 or 17 and go with us!