Pregnant in PLG?

A good friend of Hawthorne Street writes:

I'm pregnant and would like to hold a brunch for other pregnant ladies (and their significant others) in the neighborhood. Problem is, I don't know any of them. Yeah, I realize there are parent/playgroups that we can join when the time comes, but I thought it'd be nice to meet other parents-to-be before we are desperately tired and crying all the time.

Our friend has asked us to post this anonymously for now since she is "barely out of the first trimester and doesn't want to jinx things."  If you're pregnant and want to do brunch, you can reach her via us at brooklynite282 (at) gmail.com.

Incidentally, info on the Prospect Lefferts Playgroups (which she referred to) can be found here.

New coalition fighting illegal curb cuts

As long as anyone can remember, the City has avoided taking action against homeowners who illegally convert their front yards into driveways. By painting the curb yellow, these owners essentially remove one and sometimes two public parking spaces, claiming the space for their own. What's more, replacing green space with driveways contributes to pollution, drainage problems, and makes blocks ugly.

Outside of the historic district, Prospect Lefferts Gardens has scores of illegal curb cutters. Many of the cuts have been around for so long (see Parkside I) that they're presumably here for good. But if new proposals in City Council manage to pass, it'll be harder for the Dept. of Transportation to continue looking the other way. The legislation would place greater restrictions on curb cuts, improve pedestrian demarcations and signage, and even require illegal curb cutters to undo and pay for their misdeeds.

A coalition to fight curb cuts is now gaining steam. To find out more or to get involved, see the Coalition to Curb the Use of Curb Cuts.

SEE ALSO: Brooklyn Eagle: "Illegal Curb Cuts Protested"

Gay bars and city life

The Lefferts Yahoo list has been abuzz lately about the possibility of new-bar-in-town Lime starting a gay and lesbian night. I have nothing really to say on the matter; our household is split on whether gay night would be valuable or necessary (note: we have a very gay house)... but it reminded me of this fine Boston Globe story about how the decline of gay bars in Boston stands to hurt city life. The story looks at how a confluence of factors—increased rents, the rise of the internet, greater public acceptances of gays and lesbians—has contributed to the decline in bars.... though in the end it's as much about the fall of indie book stores, record stores, and video rental places, as anything else. Anyway, a recommended read!

DA Erases Timoshenko Suspect Interview

The prosecution of Robert Ellis — the man who allegedly killed Officer Russel Timoshenko in PLG last July — just got a little harder. An audio technician in the Brooklyn DA's office accidentally taped over a custodial interview that Ellis gave to a detective. Whoops. The DA still has the detective's notes of the interview and a follow-up interview that was videotaped (make a backup!), but the spoliation of evidence can only hurt the prosecution.

Celebrity defense attorney Ron Kuby's advice to the DA? "... put the poor schlub on the witness stand, so they can say to the jury, 'You heard this man, he explained what happened, and he feels as bad about this as anyone." Which is good advice, and not the kind of thing that defense attorneys usually tell the DA. Isn't that a violation of some kind of guild code?

(Via Gothamist)

PLG Traffic Calming Forum on Thurs. March 13

We here at Hawthorne the blog are happy to announce our first neighborhood event: on March 13, a rep from Transportation Alternatives will speak on traffic calming options for our neighborhood.

When: Thursday, March 13, 7 - 8:30 pm
Where: Church of the Evangel
(1950 Bedford Ave., between Hawthorne & Winthrop)

Anyone interested in helping make the streets of Prospect Lefferts quieter and safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and residents is highly encouraged to come.

Some of the issues that will be discussed:

• How to reduce speeding on residential streets
• How to deter illegal truck traffic
• How to make dangerous intersections (such as Parkside & Ocean) safer for pedestrians
• What are the pros and cons of various traffic calming methods?

If there is a specific problem that you'd like to address, please leave it in the comments. In the meantime, check out TA's traffic calming primer, Streets for People (pdf).

This meeting is intended not only to provide information but to organize volunteers to help see the chosen solutions through. We want some action!

Culpeppers Annex Open for Business

Neighborhood residents and fans of Barbadian cuisine may recall that Culpepper's Bajan Restaurant suffered a devastating fire about two months ago. The dining and take-out area appeared to be pretty much completely destroyed, and the kitchen was a charred ruin.

Buzz on the Lefferts Yahoo group led us to this YouTube interview with Culpepper's owner Winston Lewis, who pledged that Culpeppers would maintain a presence in the community by opening the next-door annex while the restaurant got its feet back on the ground. As promised, the brightly lit annex now has its (brand new) door open for business.

The two employees present at the annex tonight assured me that the main restaurant will indeed be renovated, but in the meantime they have a limited menu available and all food is being cooked on premises. There were a number of menu options listed today, including oxtail stew and macaroni pie.

The annex is located directly adjacent to Culpepper's, at 1084 Nostrand (corner of Lincoln Road).

Yvette Clarke, not-so-superdelegate

From the New York Times (via the Prospect Lefferts email list), we learn that Congresswoman Yvette Clarke supports Hillary Clinton for President -- even though our district went for Barack Obama.

This happens to matter because Clarke is a superdelegate, which means she can vote for whoever she pleases in the when it comes down to the convention, and she has pledged her delegate to Clinton as well.

Seeing as Clarke was elected to represent this district, it would be behoove residents of this fine neighborhood to remind her of that fact, and to demand that she stick by her constituents—and by the candidate with the most votes.

District Office
123 Linden Boulevard 4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11226
Phone: (718) 287-1142
Fax: (718) 287-1223

Washington Office
1029 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6231
Fax: (202) 226-0112

Email:
http://clarke.house.gov/contactform_zipcheck.shtml

(Remember, snail mail and faxes have more of an impact than email.)

"Greening Flatbush" event on Sun. February 24

Our neighbors to the south have been some enviable projects in the works, including a day of short lectures, demonstrations, and workshops called "Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are."

Details:

Sunday, February 24, from 1:30 to 4:30pm
Brooklyn Public Library (Flatbush Branch): 22 Linden Boulevard.
The event is free, but space is limited. To register, email greeningflatbush@gmail.com.

Another house on Ocean slated for destruction?

The house next door to 185 Ocean Ave.—the brick townhouse destroyed last December—is now up for sale to developers. According to this ad in The New York Times, 189 Ocean Ave. is three stories; 2,262 sf; features "beautiful views" of Prospect Park and is yours now for a mere $2,300,000.

The house has the same zoning as 185, which means that, like its neighbor, it's probably slated for another 8-story apartment building.

This, of course, is precisely what residents of Ocean intended to stop when they applied to establish a historic district in order to protect the row of 13 townhouses on this block last fall. According to the new edition of the Lefferts Manor Echo (available at K-Dog but not yet online), that plan was endorsed by "the Lefferts Manor Association, Community Board 9, the Historic Districts Council, and ALL of our local elected officials"—yet still failed. The Echo doesn't say why, but word on the street is that the historic district was sacked by the local Planning Commission, whose members are heavily invested in construction. Perhaps someone involved in this effort could clarify.

(Thanks, Sara J.)

Prospect Park station, 1994

Speaking of the development at 33 Lincoln, if you think the area around the Prospect Park station looks bad now, check out this photo from 1994, a few years before the Maple Street School set up shop.

(Thanks, Kendall C.)