A Little Bit of Vermont in Downtown Brooklyn

If you squint, this snow-dappled traffic median on Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn can transport you to the pristine forests of Vermont.

Just don't stand in the street while you squint. They don't call Adams Street the Highway of Death for nothing.

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Has a New Poet Laureate

Tonight at his at his annual State of the Borough Address, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz announced that Tina Chang of Park Slope has been named the new poet laureate of Brooklyn. Chang, the fourth poet to hold the position, was chosen from a field of 22 applicants from across the borough. Chang read her poem “Praise” (see below) to more than a thousand guests at the Address, held at the Park Slope Armory.

Chang is the author of Half-Lit Houses and the editor of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond. She teaches at Hunter College and Sarah Lawrence College, and has collaborated with M.S. 51 through Poem in Your Pocket Day.

Brooklyn's last poet laureate was Ken Siegelman, who served from 2002 until his death last year. Before Siegelman, Dennis Nurske took the job. Norman Rosten, Brooklyn's first poet laureate, had the longest tenure, from 1979 until his death in 1995. He was appointed, in a stroke of genius, by BP Howard Golden.

*  *  *

Praise

Tina Chang
Brooklyn Poet Laureate

All night long there was digging, and the bodies like accordions

bent into their own dying instruments, and even after this,

after the quake, there was, in news reports, still singing:

A woman’s clapping was followed by another who shuffled

and dragged her own apparition through the ruined streets,

though each one knew the anthem the other was singing.

History taught them better. No one was coming.

The film crews had their sights on the large hotels,

the embassies. So they set to digging with their hands

and with the shoes of those who were no longer alive.

And with that, night fell and fell again

like an old black pot tumbling to the ground.

When a man dies, the first thing that goes is his breath,

and the last thing that goes is his memory.

I once saw this civilization passing through a great white door,

people weeping, then the weeping was followed by the sound

of tambourines rattling the heavy air, something that sounded

like celebration only livelier and more holy, voices rising,

and then a marching into the dusty road of the next century.

When shelter is gone, find your solace on the ground.

And when the ground is gone, lift yourself and walk.

And after all the great monuments of your memory

have collapsed, with the sky steady above you,

you shatter that too, with song 

Photo courtesy of tinachang.com
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Chinese New Year for Families at Brooklyn Children's Museum

On Saturday, February 6^th and Sunday February 7^th, the Brooklyn Children's Museum presents its annual Chinese New Year Weekend celebration for families. The event will feature variety of classic Museum programs, special activities filled with Chinese history and traditions, and choreographed demonstrations. (Click photo at left to see last year's action.)

A featured program will be from the Transfiguration Song & Dance Group, who will present a special, performance at the Museum at 1 pm on February 6^th.  The Transfiguration Song & Dance Group is a talented group of 27 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students that perform traditional dance and New Year celebration songs.

BCM is located at 145 Brooklyn Ave. at St. Marks. See the whole schedule at www.brooklynkids.org

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Bringing Back Brooklyn's Loew's King Theater and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A developer has signed an agreement and made a down payment on a $70 million renovation of the old Loew’s Kings Theater in Flatbush with plans to turn it back into the biggest indoor live theater in Brooklyn. NY Times City Room

- Did you miss it? Wrap-up of the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable Luncheon is here. Brooklyn Eagle

- You always sort of suspected that those bags of "triple-washed" salad greens that you don't have to wash were bull. Sadly, you are right. Consumer Reports via Gothamist 

- Roving bands of hookers and drug dealers, a motorcycle club, a power substation, numerous industrial businesses and truck-clogged streets. Hey, this place would be perfect for a school!  Brooklyn Eagle 

- Is there a stalker on Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights?  BHB

- They're actually putting a newsstand within the Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street subway station. Brownstoner

- Did a Brooklyn Precinct fudge crime statistics?  NY Daily News
 
- Where does the water go when you flush the toilet? Now, thanks to this map, you can find out the answer. Habitat Map via Gothamist

- Tax tip of the day: Sex change surgery is tax deductible. Huffington Post

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Opening Reception: FIGURE ONE -- DUMBO Thursday, Feb. 4:

Giacobetti Paul Gallery presents FIGURE ONE with works by E.K. Buckley, Brian Smith, Sam Bornstein and Katharyn Laranger.  Join the artists for the opening reception on Thursday, February 4th at 111 Front St. in DUMBO from 5:30-9 pm.  FIGURE ONE runs from February 4th - February 28th, with gallery hours Wednesday through Sunday, 12 - 6pm. For more information check out the website at giacobettipaul.com

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The Big News at Fascati's Isn't Pizza (Brooklyn Heights)

Can you read what was posted in the window of Fascati's Pizza on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights?

It says the shop was closed on Jan. 29 "due to the birth of Fascati twin boys"! Congratulations Fascati mom and dad. You deserve a day off.

- Fascati's Thanks Yanks in Brooklyn Heights

Photo by MK Metz
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Brooklyn Bagel Shop: Disgusting Poster of Body Parts Dripping With Cancer 'Required by Law'

Want something yummy to go with your bagel?

How about some cancer-riddled human lungs? Check out this poster hung at the checkout counter of the Montague Street Bagel Shop in Brooklyn Heights. This is what you have to stare at right before taking a bite out of your everything bagel.

The shop has posted another sign, apologizing for the disgusting one but saying it's required by law (or they face a $2,000 fine).

All we can say is, "Hold the schmear."

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Free Hearing Screenings at LICH, Brooklyn

Have things never sounded the same since that Weedeater concert? (Mom told you never to sit in front of the speakers, now look what's happened . . .)

Check this out: Long Island College Hospital (LICH) is sponsoring hearing screenings for adults every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the month of February.  Registration is required, but there is no charge for the screening. Please call (718) 780-1755 to make an appointment.

LICH Division of Otolaryngology / Communicative Disorders, 134 Atlantic Ave., lower level, room 120

Photo by Tanakawho, Creative Commons license

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

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Cobble Hill Association Happy Hour Is Back!

 

Just in time -- the Cobble Hill Association Happy Hour is back starting this Wednesday, February 3rd.

Pull up a chair at the specially reserved tables to share great drink deals ($5 wine, $3 beer) and delicious food with fellow Cobble Hillbillies at at Watty & Meg, corner of Kane and Court Street. 

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Red Hook Profiled at Brooklyn Independent Television

Brooklyn Independent Television's Neighborhood Beat visits Red Hook on Thursday, February 4, at 8:30pm

Even seasoned Brooklynites may be surprised at what BIT has uncovered in Red Hook. On this episode, they check out the old art of blacksmithing with Marsha Trattner; get theatrical with the Falconworks Artists Group; visit the Kentler International Drawing Space; and grab some classic diner fare at Hope and Anchor.

More here.

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