Grand Army Plaza Seeking Talented Types

This just in from the Prospect Park press team:

Have a band? A dance troupe? A chorus? Or a theater group? Share your talent with everyone in Brooklyn by performing in Grand Army Plaza. The Grand Army Plaza Coalition is looking to make Grand Army Plaza a more vibrant, entertainment filled part of Brooklyn’s crossroads.  Sorry no pay, but a chance to get recognized and to show off your talent. For more information contact: talent@prospectpark.org.

Shameless Self-Promotion: My book is out!

It has absolutely nothing to do with this blog, but I'll be damned if I let that get in the way of letting all 23 of you readers know that, as of today, I am a published author!  Yes, my book, Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to Consumer Culture is out today in quality book stores nationwide.

Here is the publisher's description:

With the style and irreverence of Vice magazine and the critique of the corporatocracy that made Naomi Klein's No Logo a global hit, the cult magazine Stay Free!—long considered the Adbusters of the United States—is finally offering a compendium of new and previously published material on the impact of consumer culture on our lives. The book questions, in the broadest sense, what happens to human beings when their brains are constantly assaulted by advertising and corporate messages. Most people assert that advertising is easily ignored and doesn't have any effect on them or their decision making, but Ad Nauseam shows that consumer culture does take its toll.

In an engaging, accessible, and graphically appealing style, Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky (as well as contributors such as David Cross, The Onion's Joe Garden, The New York Times's Julie Scelfo, and others) discuss everything from why the TV program CSI affects jury selection, to the methods by which market researchers stalk shoppers, to how advertising strategy is like dog training. The result is an entertaining and eye-opening account of the many ways consumer culture continues to pervade and transform American life.

You can download the table of contents, foreword by NYT Magazine columnist Rob Walker, and preface here if you wish. Or listen to my coeditor Jason Torchinsky and I on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show yesterday. The book is available for purchase at many fine retail outlets (though we'd prefer that you place your money directly into our coffers).

I hope to do a reading at K-Dog later this summer with my pal Daniel Wright, whose book, Patently Silly, just came out as well. More on that when we get our act together.

Where to buy organic food in PLG

UPDATE 8/2/09: The Associated now has an organic foods section (in the back of the store) that easily rivals the selection at Little Papa and Sons. Details here.

So you've got money to buy food without pesticide but don't know where to spend it? You've come to the right place. In my hours lost wandering PLG with baby Sidney, I visited the grocery stores in the neighborhood to see who had what on the organic front. All of the three large grocery stores had at least a couple of staples. Prices varied, with no one a clear winner, but there are a few generalizations I feel comfortable setting forth:

Papa & Sons has the most organic options, with not only staples such as rice, cheese, orange juice, and tofu but my new favorite thing, Baby Mum-Mum. Pioneer had a greater selection of frozen foods, however.  Western Beef, the biggest store of all, offered the least variety of organics.  

Before I go into more detail, keep in mind that some foods are more important to buy organic than others. Onions, avocados, pineapple, and mangos, for example — all of which are plentiful at any number of bodegas in PLG — have such low pesticide loads that the difference between organic and non- is scant. On the other hand, you want to buy your peaches, apples, and bell peppers organic if eating bug spray bothers you. For a full list of which fruits and veggies are safe to eat even when grown conventionally, see the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides (more info here).

Ok, so here, in order of organic-friendliness, is a rundown of local options:

LITTLE PAPA & SONS (1141 Washington Ave. - at Lincoln)

Little Papa & Sons (which is actually called J.H. Little Papa & Sons) carries most of what Associated and Pioneer carried, but a lot more: Organic Valley Orange Juice (6.89), rice (5.29 for 2 lbs), cheese (4.79 for 8 oz.), beans, etc. I started writing down the various products but stopped when I realized you should just go check it out for yourself. When I visited on Wednesday, gallons of Farmland Milk were on sale for 1.99 - bargain! (Technically, Farmland isn't organic, though the store advertised it as such. The cows are hormone and antibiotic-free, however). This small shop doesn't have any organic frozen foods, though. The main Papa & Sons (across Flatbush) also has some organic items, including baby food, mac & cheese, and a frozen veggie or two.

PIONEER (184 Parkside, near Ocean)

Pioneer has the most frozen offerings: many Amy's products (hot cereal, burgers, baked ziti for kids, mac & cheese, shepherd's pie, cheese pizza pocket sandwich), Earth's Best Chicken Nuggets (4.39 8 oz), spinach & artichoke bits, buffalo wings, green beans, Soupman squash soup, mixed veggies, plus various nonorganic veggie burgers and gourmet meals. Pioneer was also the only place I saw that carried fresh spring mix (4.49/5 oz.). Other stuff includes: Tostitos, Eggs (2.99 doz.), Organic Valley Milk (4.99/half gal.), Silksoy (4.69 half gal.), and Stonyfield Yogurt (5.29),

ASSOCIATED (Flatbush at Hawthorne)

Middle of the road, in terms of offerings, though they did have Applegate smoked turkey (4.99 7 oz.) and BGH-free Applegate Muenster (4.99), which I didn't see at the other large stores. Milk (5.19 half gal.), Lactaid (!), Silksoy (4.39 half gal),, Eggs (2.50 Nature's Yoke - cagefree vegetarian, doz), Tostitos, and, like Pioneer, some (nonorganic) Garden & Boca Burgers.

WESTERN BEEF (44 Empire Blvd., at Washington)

The biggest store has the smallest selection of organics. What it does, offer, however, is an off-putting stench upon entry and a huge, refrigerated meat room that you really should visit at least once. Every grocery store needs a huge refrigerated meat room. This one also carries staples in party-sized packages, so if you're looking for a 5 pound bag of shredded cheddar, here's the hookup.

Western Beef also has the widest selection of international foods and it's fun browsing the aisles looking at all the exotic goods. In terms of organics, pretty much all I saw was milk (Organic Valley, 4.69/half gal.), Silksoy (4.29/half gal.), eggs (on sale for 2.88 doz.), and a box of dry cereal (Health Valley multiflakes, 5.19). 

OTHER OPTIONS 

The bodega on Lincoln and Ocean (14 Lincoln) has a few dry goods—rice, pasta, mac & cheese, canned beans and soups—as well as eggs and milk. In fact, you can find milk at a number of bodegas around here.

Of course, if you have anything to add or notice any errors here, please leave a comment.

Let's have a fireworks party!

I love this sign that the NYPD has been putting up all over the nabe. Fireworks are LLEGAL? Looks like someone could use a basic lesson in graphic design. 

Blockwide Stoop Sale this Sat. June 20

On Parkside Avenue b/w Bedford and Flatbush Ave. 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Rain or Shine

Neighborhood Cleanup Day this Sat. June 20

This just in at headquarters:

The Nostrand Avenue Merchants Association, Hawthorne Street Tenants Civic & Community Alliance Organization, and PLGNA are proud to sponsor a Neighborhood Cleanup Day:

Saturday, June 20th, 2009
8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Nostrand Avenue b/w Empire and Linden Boulevards
And adjoining blocks
The initial meeting point is Fenimore and Nostrand
Participants will blanket the area throughout the day
to collect litter, beautify, and clean up the neighborhood.

LGNA Board Member Evelyn Williams has spearheaded the planning and is still accepting donations to support the purchase of plants for beautification.  

For more information call:
718.774.5466 or
718.774.5698

Curious. I've never heard of the Hawthorne Street Tenants Civic and Community Alliance. We'll have to look that up.

PLG Eyesore

As the bubble bursts and the real estate market ... um ... adjusts, there are few more depressing signs than a partly constructed building. The monstrosity at right, currently blighting the NE corner at Lefferts and New York, has been sitting dormant for years. I knew this, because I frequently pass it, but never really thought about the fact that it is almost (if not completely) unchanged from when we moved to the neighborhood in early 2006.

A building that hasn't progressed since 2006 isn't entirely a casualty of the current economic woes - the developer ran out of money during the boom times, after all - but there is no way that the building will move today. Especially when a partially completed project has been left to suffer the whims of the elements for years and the owners have the building on the market for $8.5 million.

Via Curbed.

Council rep Eugene fined $24,584 for elections violations

From the New York Post story about our very own City Council rep:

A New York City councilman is being fined more than $24,000 for elections violations in three 2007 campaigns. The city's Campaign Finance Board said Councilman Mathieu Eugene racked up 29 violations. Those include failing to provide his bank statements, accepting five corporate contributions and using campaign funds for non-campaign related expenses.

What a winner, huh?

Hawthorne Street now has archives search

Over in the right column there.

Street Art on Rogers

Last week, there was a storefront on Rogers that never seemed to be open but its wares are clearly selling like hotcakes.

The White People store, located on Rogers between President and Union, was part of the Sign Project by Specter, a Banksy-like street artist.

Consider me a fan of his even if he thinks I am part of the problem.

Via Brooklynian Forums, photo by Jake Dobkin