I Love Brookln from our 2008 Newkirk Block Party (photo by Anne Pope)

Can’t make it to the party? Fill out our survey online and make your voice heard! Survey results will be shared with Community Board 14 and the NYC Department of Transportation, with the goal of bringing traffic calming infrastructure to Cortelyou Road.

Funding for this event provided by Citizens Committee for New York City’s Love Your (NYC) Block campaign

Flatbush Avenue (photo by wallyg)

This coming Monday night, June 28th, presents a great opportunity for local Livable Streets advocates to have some input on what the future design of Flatbush Avenue will look like!

See the invitation below (received from Assemblymember Rhoda Jacobs’ office) for a Public Input Session to discuss the Department of Transportation’s Flatbush Avenue Study, part of DOT’s Congested Corridors Project. The study area encompasses Flatbush Avenue from Empire to Nostrand Avenues, including the Flatbush/Nostrand Junction near Brooklyn College. (Apparently this study was initiated some time ago, since it refers to the Target store at the Junction as being “under development”.)

At the moment this major thoroughfare that cuts through so many of Brooklyn’s neighborhood’s is dangerous territory for pedestrians and bikes (a cyclist was killed at the intersection of Flatbush and Beverley only two months ago), and crossings are hazardous enough to effectively cut neighborhoods off from each other. Although street design appears to be a permanent and unchangeable part of the urban infrastructure, this is not actually the case, and the fact that DOT is studying this part of Brooklyn shows that they recognize the need for change.

Let’s dare to imagine and advocate for a Flatbush Avenue design that is welcoming to people instead of acting solely as a conduit for automobiles!

WHAT: Flatbush Avenue Congested Corridors Public Input Session
WHEN: Monday, June 28th from 7-9 pm (registration begins at 6:30)
WHERE: Erasmus Hall High School, Bedford Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues

Sustainable Flatbush is collaborating with the Flatbush Reformed Church to create a new community garden!

UPDATE: Check out the list of ideas for the future garden from June’s visioning sessions, and come to a potluck on August 1st to vote for your favorite garden design!

photo by Flatbush Gardener

Join us in a creative brainstorming session to plan this new neighborhood green space!

WHAT: Community Garden Visioning Meetings

WHEN: Sunday June 6th at 4pm and Wednesday June 16th at 6pm

WHERE: Flatbush Reformed Church, 890 Flatbush Avenue

Refreshments and childcare will be provided!

What to expect at the meeting:

• - see the garden location!
• - contribute your ideas for what the garden will be
• - what we can grow (flowers? herbs? vegetables?)
• - how we can best use the space we have
• - how we will build and maintain the garden
• - decide on a name for the garden
• - learn how you can get involved!

Sign up to attend a Visioning Session here.

For more information: 718-208-0575 / info@sustainableflatbush.org

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

The Flatbush Reformed Church is a welcoming, inclusive and ecumenical Church located in the heart of Brooklyn.

]]> http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/31/new-community-garden/feed/ 0 http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/03/flatbush-community-garden-2010/ http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/03/flatbush-community-garden-2010/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 20:00:30 +0000 anne http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=3345 We are happy to announce that the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden, founded in 2008 by Susan Siegel and incubated by Sustainable Flatbush through two very successful seasons, has now evolved into an autonomous garden made up of community residents, and is no longer under our sponsorship.

Flatbush CommUNITY Garden (photo by Keka Marzagão)

If you have any questions about the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden, including how to join the waiting list, please contact the gardeners directly at flatbushcommunitygarden@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for updates about a new community gardening project we will be starting this summer in the heart of Flatbush!

Garden plot (photo by Keka Marzagão)

photo by Keka

What: Street Tree Walking Tour

Where: Begins and ends at Sacred Vibes Apothecary (376 Argyle Road, btwn Cortelyou & Dorchester Roads)

When: Sunday, May 2 — two tours are scheduled: one at 11 a.m., one at noon

Suggested donation $5

Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are is an afternoon of short demonstrations and hands-on workshops on a variety of gardening and urban agriculture topics, including:

• - gardening for kids
• - starting seeds indoors
• - growing herbs and microgreens on your windowsill
• - vertical gardening
• - growing sprouts in your kitchen
• - composting with worms in your apartment
• - how to join the Flatbush Farm Share CSA
• - preparing healthy food (cooking demo with a Just Food Community Chef)

… and much more!

“Garden is a verb,” says Chris Kreussling, Director of our Urban Gardens & Farms Initiative, which is sponsoring the event. “It’s not just a place you visit. It’s something you do.” The Urban Gardens & Farms Initiative is centered on modeling sustainable horticulture practices, promoting urban agriculture and food sovereignty, and building community through neighborhood gardening and beautification.

Sustainable Flatbush programs provide opportunities for residents to learn about and get involved in working toward the goal of a sustainable neighborhood, while simultaneously building community and fostering local self-sufficiency.

“Hearing about what others are already doing can inspire people to work with their neighbors to take action,” says Kreussling, who also authors a local gardening blog, Flatbush Gardener. “We want to build community through gardening.”

Snacks and coffee will be available (courtesy of Flatbush Food Co-op and Vox Pop Café).  Bring your own mug!

Greening Flatbush is on Sunday, February 21, from 2 to 4 pm, at the Dorchester Senior Center, 1419 Dorchester Road, located on the corner of Dorchester Road and Marlborough Road. Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road.

$3 suggested donation. Space is limited, click HERE to register.

If you have questions about this event, feel free to contact us.

Help us spread the word! Click here to download a PDF version of the flyer to print and put up in your building, community center, congregation, etc. Invite your neighbors to join in the fun!

Bus Rapid Transit

The B44, which runs from Williamsburg to Sheepshead Bay, has repeatedly been rated the least reliable bus line in all five boroughs, receiving the dubious honor of  Schleppie Award from Straphangers’ Campaign and Transportation Alternatives. Fortunately, this line has been chosen for major improvements: the DOT plans to upgrade the B44 to Select Bus Service, aka Bus Rapid Transit, which has been a hugely successful strategy for public transportation throughout the world. In New York City, Select Bus Service has already been implemented on the Bx12 route in the Bronx; these buses now run 20% faster than the Limited stop buses they replaced, and are attracting close to 5,000 additional daily riders.

Sustainable Flatbush was contacted by the DOT to help mobilize neighborhood residents’ participation in the Community Advisory Committee… so we are inviting YOU to be part of this process. The Community Advisory Committee will meet regularly to provide a venue for Community Boards, elected officials, and other stakeholders and institutions to provide input on how the project will be implemented. Let me repeat: public transit riders are usually under-represented at these meetings, so come and make your voice heard!! As difficult as it may seem to imagine, New York City buses can be efficient, attractive, and dependable… show your support for B44 Select Bus Service and be part of making the dream a reality! Here are the details:

WHAT:
Department of Transportation’s Community Advisory Committee meeting on B44 Select Bus Service

WHEN:
Tuesday, December 8th at 6:30 pm

WHERE:
Brooklyn College Student Center State Room (5th floor)
Campus Road and East 27th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11210
2 or 5 subway to Flatbush Avenue/Brooklyn College (last stop)
view MAP

A PDF of the B44 proposal can be downloaded here.

Novella Carpenter raises pigs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, and goats on squatted land in downtown Oakland. Her hilarious memoir, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, tells the real story of what it takes to grow your own food in a city.

Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Meeting place and planting locations TBA. Please stay tuned, and please join us for Leaf Composting this Sunday November 8th!