What to Do On Earth Day 2013 in Brooklyn: Monday, April 22

Photo: MK Metz

Today (April 22) is the 43rd annual Earth Day. Want to do something to help out the planet?  Here are some Brooklyn-specific ideas:

* Go to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) tonight and watch two Earth Day documentaries:
- Jeremy Irons will join audiences in person to discuss the film "Trashed," which looks at our planet's growing garbage problem.
- "The Atomic States of America" examines the consequences of our country’s increased reliance on nuclear power.

* Submit a request for some free NYC compost or mulch for a NYC street tree.

* Come to the Brooklyn Brewery tonight, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. to learn more about the dangers of fracking. The New York Water Rangers and the Manhattan Young Democrats will be on hand to discuss the issues facing water supply across New York and our nation. There is a suggested donation of $5.

* RSVP for tomorrow night's Green Team cleanup at Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

* Or, you can join the Volunteer Corps to help garden and clean up at Prospect Park.

* Go to tonight's Community Board 6 Environmental Protection meeting at 6:30 p.m.  Topic discussed will include:
- Presentation and discussion with representatives for National Grid on the pilot study for the Citizens/Public Place manufactured gas plant site at Smith/5th Streets.
- Presentation and discussion with a representative for the Department of Environmental Protection on air quality in New York City.
- More.

* On Wednesday (April 24) Solarize Brooklyn kicks off its 2013 solar campaign in Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush with a community education session at the Windsor Terrace Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at 160 E. 5thStreet, from 6:30-8pm.  (Register)


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Designs for Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse Unveiled at Thursday Night CB2 Meeting

Rogers Marvel Architects

Jonathan Marvel of Rogers Marvel Architects presented to a Community Board 2 subcommittee Thursday night a revamped design for St. Ann's Warehouse, a theater to be built inside the iconic roofless Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

According to Curbed, the design calls for an 18,000-square-foot building with "a flexible performance space" and a "view corridor" looking out at the park and the water.

According to Theatermania, the plan also includes a 1,000-square-foot multi-use space for local artists and community groups.

Also included is a 7,600-square-foot open space designed by Michael Van Valkenberg Associates and "imagined as a walled birch tree grove."

Rogers Marvel Architects

After much controversy and a lawsuit, last year a a deal was cut to turn over the Civil-War era Tobacco Warehouse and next door Empire Stores -- public property -- to the private St. Ann's Warehouse theater in exchange for a plot of city-owned land under the Manhattan Bridge.

Previous Posts:
- Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores Swapped for Land Under Manhattan Bridge
- Saint Ann's Warehouse a Go -- Again -- at DUMBO's Tobacco Warehouse
- Three Brooklyn Heights Association Members Resign in Tobacco Warehouse Flap
- When the Tobacco Warehouse Had a Roof
- Handing Over Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO 'Insulting': Flemming
- RFP Issued for Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO
- Tobacco Warehouse, Acute Corner, DUMBO


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Invite Your Date: The Red Hook Prom is May 11

Fasten your corsage and put on your dancing shoes. On Saturday, May 11 at 7pm, Red Hook, Brooklyn is having a prom. Come to South Brooklyn Community High School at 173 Conover Street, walk up to the gym and celebrate the neighborhood.

The event, voluntarily produced by Red Hook's own home/made (a restaurant and catering company), features delicious food, punch (spiked, just like we remember), sweet tunes by DJ Body Rock spinning 80's jams and requests, dance lessons from Cora Dance pros, a photo booth, the knighting of Prom King and Queen-- nominations are local celebrities, and many more surprises.

By dok1, Flickr

The Red Hook Prom is the annual gala benefiting Cora Dance. All the proceeds of the evening go to support their 7 days a week of pay-what-you-can dance classes for ages 4 to 94+, as well as supporting the development of Red Hook's first studio theater.

More details here.

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UPDATE: Boston Marathon Bombers Manhunt in Boston, One Killed

UPDATE: 11:55 a.m. Friday
The two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing killed an MIT police officer and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle overnight that left one of them dead and his brother on the run Friday morning. Thousands of officers swarmed the streets and all transportation in and out of the city has been halted. More here.

FBI

The suspect on the black hat was killed Friday morning. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, in the white hat, escaped. News sources say the two moved to the U.S. 10 years ago from the Russian region near Chechnya.

* * *

Everyone is trying to help the FBI find the Boston Marathon bombers.

We decided to hunt them down using Google Image Search, Google's sophisticated imaging-match algorithm. If a bomber's photo is anywhere in Google's massive database, Image Search might find it.

We copied a photo of bomber number 1, obtained from the FBI:

and pasted it into Google Image Search: images.google.com

Then all we had to do was click on Search.

Google came up with a page of photos that supposedly matched the original  photo:

These were not as close as we had hoped. It seems that Google Image Search is pretty useless when it comes to finding similar photos on the Internet.

It turns out the human brain is still the best at associating visual images. 

Here's the other suspect, according to the FBI:

You can see more photos on the FBI website. Maybe you've seen these guys.


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U.S. Suspends Effort to Close Anti-Terror Team at Fort Hamilton, As They Deploy to Boston

Members of the elite anti-terror unit from Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton Army Base have been deployed to Boston to assist in the recovery effort following the horrific April 15 bombing, reports the Brooklyn Eagle.

In related news, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirmed that the Defense Department will suspend efforts to close the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team at Fort Hamilton, reports SI Live. 

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4th Ave. to Lose Lanes; Bushwick Mall; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Park Slope's 4th Ave. to lose lanes in traffic-calming plan. [Streetsblog]

- Nine-foot tall "wayfinding" signs coming to Prospect / Crown Heights for tourists. [apbp] via [DNAinfo]

- Urban Outfitters, here we come: Bushwick is getting a mall. [Gothamist]

- More cameras on NYC streets: this time at street work zones. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A federal jury in Brooklyn Wednesday convicted Bartolomeo "Bobby Glasses" Vernace of murder, heroin trafficking, robbery, loansharking, and illegal gambling. [FBI].

- Well, we missed "Tasting Brooklyn" again. [The Brooklyn Ink] 

- The Army Corp of Engineers is looking at moving homes away from the shore as the sea level rises. [WNYC]


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Too Much Coffee Give Bomb Squad the Jitters in Brooklyn Heights

Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn

A suspicious object was reported at the TD Bank at 211 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights at 5:17 p.m. Wednesday (April 17).

The Emergency Services Unit, Bomb Squad, FDNY and NYPD blocked off Cadman Plaza West while they disarmed the object.

The suspicious object was discovered to be a thermos jug, an NYPD spokesperson told the Brooklyn Eagle. "It was coffee," he said.

 According to the Eagle, the bomb squad was kept busy all day yesterday, with similar incidents reported in Bay Ridge, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.

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Deadline to Join a CSA in NYC Coming Up Soon

It's high time to join a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Signups started earlier this spring and many CSAs (there are about 100 in New York City) are filling up fast.

How it works: CSA members purchase shares in a farmers' harvest and in return receive weekly deliveries of fresh, locally grown produce all summer and fall. Members share in the risk and rewards of their farmer's season.

Farmers deliver the shares of produce to a drop-off location (like a church or community center) in your neighborhood.

Sweet Pea CSA share

Shares usually include 7-10 types of vegetables or fruit, enough for a family of 2-3 people. (Most CSAs also offer half shares.) A full share costs between $400 - $600, paid in advance. (Some allow members to stretch out their payments.)

The Just Food website allows you to enter your Zip code to find the closest CSA, or just click on the map.

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Citi Bike: Thousands of Helmet-less Amateur Bikers Will Soon Hit the Streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan

Citi Bike dock going in on Pearl Street, DUMBO. Photo: MK Metz

Citi Bike crews have been busy the past couple of days installing solar-powered bike share docks all over Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and Bed-Stuy. After that comes Manhattan.

The new program features thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations and a lot of people seem very excited about it (though some are not totally happy with the placement of the stations).The bikes are not really meant for leisurely rides; rather, they are supposed to get you from your bus or subway to your home, or the "last mile."

DOT says the locations were chosen through well-documented process of consultation with neighborhood residents.

Soon, helmet-less residents and tourists alike will be hitting the streets of New York, pedaling from dock to dock in 30- or 45-minute increments.

It will probably be great. It works in other cities. It's good for the environment.

But for God's sake don't get off the bike. Citi Bike says you could be charged up to $1000 if you lose it.

- NYC: Bike Share outreach  (pdf)

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The Rat Settles In at Barclays Center in Brooklyn

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn

After squatting on his inflatable haunches in front of Barclays Center in Brooklyn for more than a month, this giant rat seems to have found a permanent home in front of the arena.


Atlantic Yards Report says it's union trouble. But it's amazing how well the rat fits right in.

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