Park(ing) Day is an event in which organizations from around the globe take over parking spots and transform them into mini-parks, open to all, to serve as a reminder of how public space could be better allocated to accommodate people instead of cars. Our spot was one of 50 throughout NYC.

Park(ing) Day is one of my favorite events of the year (since I discovered it through Sustainable Flatbush last year), and this year’s Park(ing) Day was as wonderful as ever! There is nothing more special than seeing people of all ages and backgrounds, who might not have otherwise ever mingled, meet each other, relax, talk, smile, play, draw, and paint together, all in one tiny green space. Park(ing) Day allowed us to reclaim our precious public space and make magic happen for a day, at Cortelyou Rd. Park!

While last year’s Cortelyou Rd. Park was organized by only two of us, this year’s park benefited from a slew of volunteers and organizations who donated their time and goods to make this event a huge success. This year, in addition to art supplies for the kids, we had a beautiful exhibit of F.A.S.T artists organized by Susan Siegel, organic snacks galore and a huge gift basket (that we raffled) donated by the Flatbush Food Coop, fair-trade coffee donated by Vox Pop, and plenty of hard-working volunteers who helped us organize, document, set up and break down our park.

Thank you to all who made this project a success by showing up and taking their shoes off to enjoy our patch of green!

A huge thank you to Anne for bringing Park(ing) Day to Flatbush (and to all of us!); to all our organizers: Xris, Mela, Rosa, Kelli, and me (yay!); and the volunteers who helped us set up and break down: David, Lashonda, and John. A special thanks to Xris, Flatbush Gardener, for loaning his backyard furniture for the day to dress up our spot!

Park(ing) Day NYC is organized by the New York City Streets Renaissance (a city-wide campaign for livable, people-friendly streets that includes The Open Planning Project, Transportation Alternatives, and Project for Public Spaces), The Trust for Public Land, and Eyebeam Art and Technology Center.

Check out highlights from our park throughout the day, from set up to clean up:

To see more photos of Cortelyou Rd. Park 2008, please visit our Flickr Photo Set.

Photos by Keka Marzagao

Flier design by Keka

Here’s the concept:

Block Party NYC is a new program by the New York City Streets Renaissance which is helping neighborhoods around NYC come together and enjoy their street for a day, free from the usual hazards and distractions of automobiles. This summer alone, we’re providing mini-grants to over 30 block parties throughout the 5 boroughs. Each of these parties also gets the services of a professional urban planner for a day, who will help find community solutions to community problems like traffic, speeding, and noise and air pollution. They will also talk to residents about what they like and dislike about their street, what they want to preserve, and what needs to change.

Yes, we will discuss all of these serious issues with our neighbors, but we will also hang out and have a great time! Here are all the details:

Newkirk Avenue Block Party, a Livable Streets celebration co-sponsored by Flatbush Development Corporation, New York City Streets Renaissance, and Make Music New York, with participation of Solar One, Brooklyn Compost Project, Council on the Environment of NYC, Transportation Alternatives, Alive Structures, Midwood Martial Arts, and Newkirk Area merchants. Join us for:

Live Music and DJ’s all day!
Traditional NYC Street Games:
Handball, Skully, Hopscotch, Double Dutch, Jacks, and more!
Food Vendors!
Environmental Info and Activities:
Solar Power, Composting, Green Roof/Garden Design, Cell Phone Recycling, etc.,
plus Recycling Games and Art Projects just for kids!

WHEN: Saturday, June 21st, 11am – 6pm, Rain or Shine!
WHERE: Newkirk Avenue between East 16th and East 17th Streets

See you there!

When I attended last year’s Brooklyn Blogfest at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, Sustainable Flatbush had been online for only a few weeks. Most of the names and people and language of the blogging world were very new to me, everyone at the event seemed to be from Fort Greene or Prospect Heights, and covering Atlantic Yards was the primary reason for many of the blogs’ existence.

This year’s Blogfest (held at the Brooklyn Lyceum) was much larger and more diverse, and the one topic we could all agree on was that the word “blog” has become inadequate to describe the many different forms an online journal can take. Brooklyn blogs range from highly trafficked sites that specialize in real estate trends to painfully personal virtual diaries, and everything in between. Text, drawings, photos, and video are all part of the expressive palette, and Brooklyn bloggers wield these tools with great expertise, creativity, and humor. It’s a pretty impressive bunch. Did I mention that I had a great time?

Like a true sustainability geek, I was thrilled to meet the Chair of Brooklyn’s Solid Waste Advisory Board and chat briefly about anaerobic digestion. But mostly it was great to get introduced to new people/blogs such as Brooklyn Ron, CyclechicNY, and Gardenfork; to see the faces behind recent favorites like Clinton Hill Chill Blog, BedStuy Banana, and Flatbush Pigeon; and to hang out with the folks from Reclaimed Home, Fading Ad Blog, and those perky youngsters from Supervegan. A lovely evening, and an inspiration to continue with this adventure of blogging.

Flatbush Gardener has a piece on Making Brooklyn Bloom, this Saturday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden…

Streetsblog, Brooklyn Junction and Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens on transit upgrades proposed in the recent State of the MTA address. Of particular interest is the idea of converting a “lightly used Bay Ridge freight line into a subway service that would run in an arc from southern Brooklyn to Queens to the Bronx”… yes locals, those are the tracks down by Avenue H…

This video illustrates why so few plastic beverage bottles get recycled in New York State, and why we need to update the Bottle Bill to change it…

Copenhagen Cycle Chic gives us the lowdown on Everyday Bike Culture…

Reclaimed Home on being Cheap and Green or, How I Learned to Get Past the Green Hype and Love Craigslist…

Streetfilms brings us more Livable Streets lessons from Bogota, Colombia: pedestrian-friendly streets, miles of bicycle paths, and free outdoor recreation for all…

A slice (and a sketch) of NYC subway life from Ami Underground…

P1010102, originally uploaded by Sustainable Flatbush.

Cargo bikes are very big here, carrying everything from huge bottles of water to sounds for the party!

Needless to say it’s crazy here (in a good way), but I have a few photos to post that are relevant to the sustainability discusssion… here they come!

Okay, you know you’re a Bad Blogger when other blogs write about your projects before YOU do. A few weeks ago I set up an online group called Flatbush Arts, and promptly notified a few local blogs. Brooklyn Junction jumped on this piece of local news and posted about it the next day (he’s a Good Blogger!); I, on the other hand, am finally doing so now.

Initially I was unsure of whether this blog was an appropriate place for me to promote a completely separate endeavor; however, I am now over this. After all, life without art is arguably not sustainable, or perhaps not worth sustaining! It is also clear to anyone who lives or spends time in Flatbush that there are MANY creative people here with no place to meet and work together in the neighborhood; in this respect the goals of Flatbush Arts are very similar to those of Sustainable Flatbush: doing good stuff right here where we live.

So, though this is old news by blogging standards, I am writing to let you know about the Flatbush Arts online community. The purpose is to create a place to develop and nurture an ongoing locally-based arts scene. As for what is meant by local, since the boundaries of Flatbush seem to be a difficult thing to pinpoint these days (as recently discussed here and here and here and here and here), let’s just say we’re talking about south of Prospect Park, and see how that goes! When this community of artists is so large that we feel the need to splinter off into Flatbush – East Flatbush – Junction – Midwood – Kensington – Prospect Lefferts Gardens… well, then we will have succeeded, right?

And as for what is meant by Arts, we are talking about:

music… dance… painting… sculpture… poetry… film.. theater… design… multimedia… graphics… photography… crafts… fashion… video… literature… (if I’ve missed anything let me know!)

Anyone with a Google ID is welcome to join in the discussion. Let’s see what we can get going.