Flatbush Daffodil Project this weekend

This just in from our people down south, Flatbush Gardener and Sustainable Flatbush:

The Daffodil Project was originally created to commemorate September
11th; a Dutch bulb grower donates 500,000 bulbs each year to NYC
community groups who plant them in neighborhoods all over the five
boroughs. This year, New Yorkers for Parks distributed more than
125,000 Daffodil bulbs for planting throughout the City. Sustainable
Flatbush received 500 bulbs for planting in tree beds and other public
areas in our neighborhood.

This will be Sustainable Flatbush's second year of co-sponsoring the
Daffodil Project locally. If you enjoy gardening, feel like digging in
some dirt, or if you just want to delight in the company of your
neighbors, join us this weekend!

WHAT: Flatbush Daffodil Project
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th, from 10:00am until 12:00pm
WHERE: Meet in front of Vox Pop Cafe at 9:45, 1022 Cortelyou Road
(corner of Stratford Road)

Update to Nostrand Avenue bus service

Following up on our post the other day about City plans to upgrade B44 bus service, I talked to Keith Bray, Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Transportation.

As mentioned earlier, the B44 line along Nostrand and Rogers is slated to be one of the first routes for New York's new bus rapid transit program. Bus rapid transit is expected to dramatically improve commuting time for those who ride the buses every day and make the buses more reliable. But recently, the Nostrand Merchants Association held a protest of the plan to upgrade, expressing concerns that the new bus lane would eliminate parking along Nostrand.

Bray said that his department was planning to sit down with Councilmember Tish James (who represents the district north of Empire; our Councilmember, Mathieu Eugene, has so far been silent on this issue) and the Nostrand Merchants to clarify some misinformation. According to Bray, there's not going to be any massive loss of parking. Select bus service is designed specifically to improve traffic congestion, not add to it. Bray believes that once DOT reps can sit down and openly discuss the plan with elected officials, merchants, and other community members, there's not going to be any serious opposition to it.

That said, the DOT does plan to have several public meetings in the future about the Nostrand buses. At those meetings, it'll be helpful to have bus riders and other community members come out and express support for public transit. We'll be sure to let you know when those happen.

RELATED:
PLG buses lose again; Nostrand Merchants protest bus upgrade

Community Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 24

Community Board 9 will have a couple of police officers speak at the next public meeting to address community concerns about crime. Come on out

1. Inspector Peter Simonetti, Commanding Officer for the 71 Precinct, will address community complaints about guns, shootings, and murders in the district, as well as, crime and drugs on Flatbush Avenue, within Community District 9....

2. Police Officer Daniel Fox, NYPD Youth Service Section, will do a Power Point presentation on gangs and gang related matters. This presentation is an effort to better educate and raise awareness in the community.

If you're concerned about these issues, come on down:

Tuesday, November 24, 7:00 pm
Middle School 61 Auditorium
400 Empire Blvd
Brooklyn NY  11225

At last night's Hawthorne block association meeting, the gang issue came up as well. We've got a lot of young boys on our block and residents want to know if there's anything we can do to avoid seeing those kids get recruited into gangs. I had to leave the meeting early but my two cents, in a word: skateboarding!

Where to drop off fall leaves for compost

Though the city's compost program has been suspended due to financial cuts, a bunch of community groups have stepped up to collect leaves for local gardens. If you've got leaves you want to drop off, the following Brooklyn locations will gladly accept them this weekend:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, from 11 am to 1 pm

Brooklyn Bears Carlton Avenue Community Garden – 397-401 Carlton Ave.,  between Greene Ave. and Fulton St. 11238 (Ft. Greene)

Community Boerum Street Garden – Boerum btw Bushwick and White (East Williamsburg Industrial Park)

Earth Matter Bushwick Composting Station – 9 Linden St. @ Broadway 11221  (Bushwick)

East 4th St. Community Garden, 10 a.m.-noon – 179 East 4th St. between  Ft. Hamilton Parkway & Caton Avenue 11218 (Windsor Terrace)

Hart to Hart – 108 Hart St.,  between Marcy and Tomkins 11206 (Bed-Stuy)

PLGNA meeting on November 17

The Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association is holding its annual meeting on Tuesday, November 17, at 7 pm, in the Grace Reformed Church Sanctuary at 155 Lincoln Road (corner of Bedford Ave). Here's what they say:

The Annual Meeting is both an administrative event and a great place to become involved with efforts to organize and empower PLG residents.  In addition to conducting the official elections of the Board of Directors, we have confirmed speakers from several neighborhood organizations, including block associations and PLGArts.  There will also be discussion of tenant organizing in PLG and an open floor discussion.

The last time we heard from PLGNA, they were meeting to elect Board of Directors a year ago. We wrote about that meeting here.

Local man complains about UPS drop boxes

In response to our UPS post, reader Mike writes:

I really hate the UPS dropboxes. I don't know if you realize that UPS bombarded our neighborhood with them (see map from UPS site). How many of these boxes do we really need? Check on the UPS website and you'll see nabes like Park Slope don't receive the same treatment. Maybe it is because it's in front of my building, but I'm not a fan of these. They add to the visual blight of the already cluttered street. Inside or in front of a commercial building makes sense, but I live on a mostly residential block.

Frankly I'm kind of surprised that UPS just plopped these down. Do they have any legal right to suddenly place these all over our neighborhood? One or two dropboxes, maybe. But five in 1 1/2 miles?

You ask a good question. I hadn't really thought about this, which is funny because in a previous life, we went after businesses dumping clothing "recycling boxes" without permission (here and here). I probably didn't think about it because I actually like UPS and appreciate the service. If you don't, write UPS and let them know how you feel, or call 311 and complain if you think the boxes pose a sidewalk hazard. Let us know what you find out.

That said, I'm pretty wary of your conspiracy theory. There's a 7th Avenue copy shop and a Staples in Center Slope, both of which accept UPS packages. So if there aren't drop boxes there, perhaps that's because drop boxes aren't needed. Also, the two boxes in PLG are on Flatbush and Parkside — both commercial strips, not residential streets. Perhaps you're referring to another box but, if so, you don't mention it.

Attack of the illegal dollar vans

The Brooklyn Van Association, a new organization representing van owners, is campaigning against the illegal dollar vans on Flatbush and Utica Avenues. Sulaiman Haqq, who heads the group and owns Brooklyn Van Lines, spoke at a Community Board 17 meeting of the need for greater police enforcement.

Haaq told Courier Life that police enforcement of unlicensed vans diminished in 2002, when most of the vans were still legal. At this point, he said, “About 95 percent of the vans that operate along Flatbush and Utica Avenues are illegally operated."

For residents, he said, a major issue revolves around safety. Many of the illegal operators, Haqq contended, don’t have adequate insurance; some, he added, don’t even have driver’s licenses. While they may be able to offer lower fares, Haqq added, it is because they spend a great deal less to operate.

Haaq also suggests that the illegal vans drive and park more recklessly than the legal ones.... which may or not be true. We often take the dollar vans to and from Grand Army Plaza or Atlantic Center, and some drivers are certainly borderline insane. (I remember riding with one guy once who would stop every block or so and shout at women on the street.)

But the trouble is that it's hard to know which vans are legal and which aren't. If what Haaq says about the low percentage of legal vans is true, the wait for one is bound to be more than a few minutes, which (to my mind) would defeat the purpose of using them. Perhaps if more illegal vans were off the streets, the legal lines could afford to add more to their fleets. The money riders spend on unlicensed vans is, after all, getting diverted from public bus service as well as the legal vans. 

Legal Van Owners Want Unlicensed Vans Off the Street [Courier Life]

(Photo: Uberzombie)

NYC program offers grant money to block associations

While we're on the topic of block associations, I thought I'd pass along this info about the Citizens Committee for New York's "Love Your Block" grant program. If you're involved in one of the several block associations in the nabe, check it out:

Awardees will receive a $500 cash grant along with expedited support from city agencies for block improvements such as cleaning up a vacant lot, replacing worn out litter baskets, removing graffiti and replacing worn out street signs. The application can be download here [pdf]. The deadline for applications is November 30, 2009. For more information, please contact Scott Codey at 212-822-9563 or scodey@citizensnyc.org or Alicia Rouault at 212-822-9558 or arouault@citizensnyc.org.

(Via Nostrand Park)

Time change for Hawthorne block association mtg?

I got a second flyer for the Hawthorne Street block association meeting this Wednesday that lists the time as 8 pm (a previous flyer said 7 pm). Previous meetings have been at 7 pm, so there's a chance it's a error, but who knows... We'll update this post if we can verify the correct time so check back later...

Brooklyn Jews now recognizable via t-shirts

Since I'm in-between jobs at the moment and have little better to do, I decided to pursue my dream (not really) of t-shirt entrepreneur.

I made some shirts in the style of the vintage Dodgers logo that say "Brooklyn Jews" and am selling them online here. So now all the Jews in PLG who aren't me, my husband or my son can form a team, and if we're lucky we'll have 5 or 6 really uncoordinated catchers.

(If you've got any tips for where to sell them, please email me at brooklynite282 at gmail.)