Every year since 2007, we’ve  transformed the same parking space on the corner of Cortelyou and Argyle Roads in Brooklyn into a public park (with real grass!) and day-long festival on Park(ing) Day. Park(ing) Day is an annual international event where citizens, artists and activists around the world collaborate to temporarily transform parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: public places for a day.

This year Sustainable Flatbush will celebrate our success in turning the vision of PARK(ing) Day into a year-round reality! We’ve created a partnership with the newly-formed group Friends of Cortelyou Library and NYC Department of Transportation to install benches and planters in front of the library so it can serve as a permanent public space for relaxation, reflection and friendship. Park(ing) Day 2011 will feature activities for all ages including a puppet show, live music, art projects, a writing workshop, and even a hula hooping class! We’ll present information about our projects in the neighborhood and interactive workshops on how to live more sustainably in the city, with topics such as composting, gardening with native plants, renewable energy with the SunBike (before it heads off to Maker Faire for the weekend!) and more!

Playing cards at Cortelyou Road Park, 2010 (photo by Keka Marzagão)

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat. For four years we’ve brought this discussion to the heart of Brooklyn by creating Cortelyou Road Park in front of the Cortelyou Library. The library’s plaza had no seating or other amenities, but since 2007 our temporary park has spilled into the plaza and transformed it into a vibrant urban oasis on Park(ing) Day.

Park(ing) Day is an opportunity to create a community gathering place, and to make a statement about how we utilize public space. In our neighborhood, despite all the beautiful homes and lawns and gardens, the amount of publicly accessible green space per person is much lower than the city average*. On Park(ing) Day we take 160 square feet of concrete that would normally be occupied by one automobile, and transform it into something magical that is enjoyed by hundreds of people, a place where neighbors can interact and build community.

Stop by on Friday September 16th to celebrate the newly revitalized Cortelyou Library Plaza with us!

• Check here for the day’s events schedule.
• If you’d like to volunteer for this event, please email us or call 718-208-0575.

Puppet show at Park(ing) Day 2010 (photo by Keka Marzagão)

WHAT:

Park(ing) Day 2011

WHEN:

Friday, September 16th, from 8am to 6pm

WHERE:

in front of the Cortelyou Library, corner of Cortelyou and Argyle Roads

If you have questions about this event, please email info@sustainableflatbush.org or call 718-208-0575

* Source: Municipal Arts Society’s Imagine Flatbush 2030 report

Street Tree Walking Tour of April 2009 (photo by Keka Marzagão)

The 4th Annual Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour will be Sunday, April 17, the day after the Plant Swap. (It’s a busy weekend for us!) We’re following the same route as past tours, so if you’ve only been able to enjoy our fall foliage in the past, come enjoy the spring blooms!

Once again tours leave from Sacred Vibes Apothecary at 11am and 12noon. Your tour guides will be Sam Bishop of Trees NY, neighbor and gardener Tracey Hohman, and Sustainable Flatbush’s own Chris Kreussling (aka Flatbush Gardener). On the tour, you can see:

• Acer platanoides, Norway Maple
• Aesculus hippocastanum, Horsechestnut
• Amelanchier, Serviceberry
• Betula nigra, River Birch
• Cercis canadensis, Redbud
• Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood
• Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Red Cedar
• Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgo
• Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust
• Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum
• Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood
• Pinus strobus, White Pine
• Platanus x acerifolia, London Plane
• Pyrus calleryana, Flowering Pear, Callery Pear
• Quercus palustris, Pin Oak
• Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, Columnar English Oak
• Sophora japonica, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Scholar Tree
• Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock
• Ulmus americana, American Elm

… and many more.

When: Sunday, April 17. Tours set out at 11am and 12noon. The tour lasts 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Where: Tours leave from Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, just down the corner from Cortelyou Road, across the street from the Tot Lot, catty-corner from the Greenmarket. The route is about a mile in length, looping back to where we started.
Suggested Donation: 5$

PARK(ing) Day Sidewalk (Photo by Elisabeth Deogracias)

September 17 2010: PARK(ing) Day

PARK(ing) Day is an annual and international event that SF has participated in since 2007. Along with thousands of other individuals spread throughout the globe, on PARK(ing) Day we reclaim the 120 square feet of space, which is labeled every other day of the year a parking spot, into a small but powerful public place for the community to enjoy. With so many families and young children in the Flatbush neighborhood, SF’s “Cortelyou Road Park” was a place full of child’s play. From puppets, to painting, to percussion, PARK(ing) Day 2010 entertained the young and young at heart while sending a clear message about the need for increased usable public space in Flatbush.

Bike Decorating Activities at the Traffic Calming Block Party

July 18 2010: Traffic Calming Block Party Organized by SF and executed with the help of local volunteers, the Traffic Calming Block Party raised awareness about the importance of ensuring that our streets are safe for pedestrians and bicyclists. With live music, bike decorating, sidewalk chalk drawing, and tasty food and drinks provided by the late (and lamented!) Vox Pop Café, this event had all the fixins’ of a summer block party. Helpful NYC biking guidelines provided by Transportation Alternatives and a pedestrian survey engaged guests in a discussion of street safety, particularly on Cortelyou and Stratford Roads. These surveys will be compiled to create a study that can be used to advocate on behalf of the community’s needs for safer streets.

Spring and Fall Street Tree Walking Tours

Fall 2010 Street Tree Walking Tour

This spring we held our fourth Street Tree Walking tour, now a semi-annual event. Local horticulturists Chris Kreussling (aka Flatbush Gardener) and Tracey Hohman led residents around Victorian Flatbush by foot, while giving a thorough account of the diverse local canopy. This event reminds us that streets are not separate from nature, but can in fact be places where one can connect to foliage. In addition to increasing knowledge and appreciation of the local environment, the walking tour impresses upon residents the important role street trees play in absorbing stormwater runoff, as well as filtering air pollutants released into the atmosphere. More recently we hosted the fall complement to the Street Tree Walking Tour series in late October. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and participants were guided along the streets of Flatbush by Chris and special guest Sam Bishop, Education Director at Trees New York. Sam and Chris described the identifying features of various tree species as well as some of the urban planning history that has shaped the current canopy. With over forty participants total, the fall walking tour was certainly a success!

It’s been quite  a busy year for SF, but the advocacy continues on without a doubt! Keep an eye out for our upcoming events and in the meantime consider these words from the NYC Department of Transportation’s May 2009-released Street Design Manual:

“The streets of New York are often seen as permanent fixtures of city life, and in some ways, they are. But our streets are also dynamic, and their character and uses can change as the city continually evolves and reinvents itself.”

And as residents, we have the right to a voice in how that evolution transpires.

Victorian Flatbush Street Tree (photo by Keka Marzagão)

After the success of last year’s fall walking tour, this Sunday, October 24th, Sustainable Flatbush will be holding our 2nd Annual Fall Street Tree Walking Tour! This year it has even been listed as a NeighborWoods Month event!

The tour will take advantage of the colorful fall foliage in the backdrop of the beautifully picturesque Victorian section of Flatbush. The rich history of this area includes the trees, some of which are more than a century old. These natural landmarks dot the Flatbush area, and are an important aspect of the Victorian charm here.

The tours will leave at both 11 AM and noon that day from the Sacred Vibes Apothecary on Argyle Road, and will be led by our two expert tour guides, Sam Bishop of Trees NY and Sustainable Flatbush’s own Chris Kreussling (aka Flatbush Gardener). They will share some interesting details and facts about the trees of the area, the different types of trees and their characteristics, and the benefits of having trees in the context of urban areas. So whether you are interested in learning more about the flora of the area, or you just want to admire the beautiful sights to be seen during this time of year, this Sunday is sure to be a great experience!

WHAT: Sustainable Flatbush 2nd Annual Fall Foliage Street Tree Walking Tour
WHERE: Meet at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, Brooklyn
WHEN: Sunday, October 24th at 11am

Suggested donation $5

I headed out to Flatbush at 7:00 am to await the arrival of the sod that would transform the black pavement into a large rectangle of space soft enough for babies to stretch their little limbs. And stretch—and paint and cry and drum—they did. The site was located in front of the public library, across the street from a public playground, and within a block from the local elementary and middle schools. Needless to say, kids were the main participatory constituency.

Puppeteer Ronny Wasserstrom entertains the crowd

We had a thoroughly entertaining puppeteer, Ronny Wasserstrom of Playdate Puppets, with us throughout the day, delighting babies and accompanying parents alike. Stephanie Huffaker from Garbage of Eden Design was working all day with children, up-cycling costumes made from newspaper and markers. Louise Bruce from Compost for Brooklyn, a new community composting site and native plant garden on Newkirk Avenue, was providing information on composting and took all our cardboard waste with her at the end of the day. The grass drew in most of the crowd, as people were invited to stay and snack on donated treats from the Flatbush Food Co-op and relax in the sunshine. Sustainable Flatbush Energy Solutions Director Jocelyn Cohen gave demonstrations on solar-powered generators. To close out the day’s programming, Richie Barshay provided us with some beats and melodies as the sun began to lower.

Relaxing at Cortelyou Road Park

I had never heard of Park(ing) Day before participating in this event. As I talked with people who dropped in because they were curious about the crowd or the fact that people were literally laying in the street (protected by a lattice and a cone perimeter!), I realized that the intent behind Park(ing) Day was not necessarily obvious. We were situated directly in front of the public library which has a “public plaza” taking up much of the corner of Argyle and Cortelyou roads. Without any kind of seating or inviting elements, the plaza is unfortunately a barren, under-utilized potential source of public space that is sorely needed in the Flatbush community. Throughout the day, I interviewed students, parents, nannies, and community members about their thoughts on public space usage in the city. The results were resounding: more people-friendly space, with green if possible, is very much wanted and needed in the city. Their responses will be compiled in a short video documenting Sustainable Flatbush Park(ing) Day 2010, so check back for that post.

As we rolled up the last of the sod, packed up the bikes, and swept the street, the parking spot gradually returned to an empty space with no visual remnants of the community engagement that had transpired.  A unique event in the environmental/social justice movement, Park(ing) Day was not a fundraiser, nor a protest, but simply a fleeting reminder of the need for community interaction in a public setting. As Sustainable Flatbush continues to work on the Livable Streets Initiative, we will be thinking about how we can improve access to people-friendly streets to everyone.

Playdate Puppets at Park(ing) Day 2010

On Friday, September 17th, Sustainable Flatbush will once again create Cortelyou Road Park, a temporary green space for all to enjoy. This will be our fourth year participating in Park(ing) Day, an international event designed to inspire dialogue about public space and how we choose to use it.

Our park(ing) spot is located in front of the Cortelyou branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. This library has a barren, underutilized plaza entrance, which we believe could potentially be a lively and popular public space. On Park(ing) Day we will gather impressions from passersby on how they’d like to see this public space used.

In addition to Cortelyou Road Park’s usual people-friendly features (real grass, plants, seating, games, art supplies, and free snacks courtesy of Flatbush Food Coop) this year we have a great lineup of activities and performances!

The day begins with Ronny Wasserstrom of Playdate Puppets, who was a BIG hit last year with his Juggling Egg and ScareKid marionettes. Stephanie Huffaker from Garbage of Eden Design will also join us again, with her fantastic jewelry made from recycled plastic bags. She’ll teach a workshop at 3:30 pm on How to Make an Eco Super Hero costume from recycled newspaper! To finish the day right Richie Barshay and Friends will treat us to live music, as a preview to the upcoming music series, Ditmas Acoustic @ The Sanctuary.

9am until 3pm
Playdate Puppets
Fast, Easy, and Fun! Puppets on the Run!

3:30pm
Make Your Own Eco Super Hero Outfit Workshop
You too can be an Eco Super Hero!

4pm – 6pm
Live Music with Richie Barshay and Friends

All Day
off-grid solar energy demonstrations
impromptu art activities
bicycle decorating
mingling with neighbors

Come hang out at Cortelyou Road Park with us!

Check out our photos from previous Park(ing) Days on Flickr!

This will be our fourth year participating in Park(ing) Day, “an international event that reclaims parking spots and transforms them into engaging, people-friendly public spaces for one day a year… These small, temporary public spaces provide a breath of relief from the auto-clogged reality of New York City, and aim to spark dialogue about our valuable public space and how we choose to use it.” (from Park(ing) Day NYC’s website).

Please join us on the 17th, at the corner of Cortelyou and Argyle Roads! More details to come!

Bike helmet decorating (photo by Keka Marzagão)

Throughout the day, passers-by stopped in to chat, listen to various live music acts, decorate their bikes and helmets, pick up helpful NYC biking guidelines provided by Transportation Alternatives, decorate the sidewalks with chalk, get food and drink from Vox Pop Café, and most importantly, fill out our pedestrian survey requesting their opinions about the safety (or lack thereof) of Cortelyou and Stratford Roads. Everyone from toddlers to the elderly stopped by and took part in our party, which lasted from 10AM to about 6PM.

Along with the approximately 60 surveys that were filled out in person on Sunday, at least 40 more have been filled out online. Hopefully these can serve as further testament to the Department of Transportation that permanent action at this intersection is necessary, be it a four-way stop sign or a traffic light or some other design from their toolbox. As Cortelyou Road accrues more businesses and development, the number of pedestrians, cars and bicycles will only increase, which will make it that much more of a concern. I think that our Block Party was a great demonstration of a fun and creative way to take on issues on a community level that affect the whole city. Now if only we can have a block party for Queens Boulevard!

(UPDATE: We now have 140 surveys! Thanks to everyone who participated!)

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

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