For the first time, at Greening Flatbush 2012  Sustainable Flatbush will honor an organization that we believe embodies the theme of the event — Garden Where You Are. The 300 East 25th Street Block Association, aka The Greenest Block in Brooklyn, will be the recipients of this year’s Greening Flatbush award.

One of 300 East 25th Street's three Greenest Block awards

The Greenest Block in Brooklyn is an annual contest of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) GreenBridge, promoting streetscape gardening, tree stewardship, and community development in Brooklyn. Flatbush’s East 25th Street (between Avenue D and Clarendon Road) was named the greenest residential block in the borough for the 3rd time in 2011, having previously won this award in 2004 and 2006.

This block, and the group of neighbors who garden there, is an inspiration to the Flatbush neighborhood and to all Brooklynites. They successfully demonstrate how to use gardening to create a beautiful urban environment and to bring neighbors together to build a close-knit community.

In addition, the group will conduct a workshop at this year’s event, titled “How to Create a Thriving Block Association Through Gardening”. Like their previous workshop presentations at Making Brooklyn Bloom, this will be engaging, inspiring and should not to be missed.

Look forward to seeing you all on Sunday, March 25 at the Flatbush Reformed Church!

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.

We’re sponsoring this FREE event along with Flatbush Food Co-op, and Ditmas Park West Neighborhood Association. (Big thanks to Prospect Park Temple Isaac for letting us use their space!!)

FRESH is more than just a movie, it’s a gateway to action. Join us this Wednesday and feel inspired by the film’s message and stunning delivery.

FRESH (a film by Ana Sofia Joanes) celebrates the farmers, thinkers, and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.  Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity.  Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Will Allen (photo by Growing Power)

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Free popcorn provided by Flatbush Food Co-op, Kosher snacks available for purchase

WHAT: FRESH (a film by Ana Sofia Joanes)

WHEN: Wednesday, January 27th, 7 PM

WHERE: Prospect Park Temple Isaac, 1419 Dorchester Road (entrance on Marlborough Road), Flatbush Brooklyn, Q or B to Cortelyou Road

** Keep an eye out for the next film of the forum, ASPARAGUS! Stalking the American Life, on Wednesday February 24th at 7 PM, Watch the trailer here!

Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)

Before the interview was over Anne gave me a list of upcoming events and meetings to attend. Also she suggested that I walk over to Brooklyn College’s Campus Road Community Garden. Even after attending Brooklyn College for a year I had no idea that there was a garden. When I neared the end of Campus Road I saw sunflowers and pumpkins and I was already amazed. When I walked through the paths in garden I could not believe that something so sacred existed on Brooklyn College’s campus. I instantly recognized the peach trees even though they were not bearing any fruit because I grew up with peach trees in my backyard.

Peach Tree from Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)

Finding a peach tree in the middle of Brooklyn was my greatest discovery because it was just a little something that reminded me of home, but that Sunday, October 4th, I attended the Campus Road Community Garden meeting and learned about the proposed demolition of the garden. You could hear from the discussion how passionate these gardeners were about preventing the garden from being turned into a parking lot. Each year many of the students and local gardeners use their hands to turn the soil into fruitful vegetation, so the fervor in their voices was understandable. Ideas were proposed about making the campus community aware of the presence of the garden and the threat of its demolition.

By that Tuesday, October 6th, I was able to help Sustainable Flatbush with Brooklyn College’s Student Center’s Welcome Back Bash. From our table set up on Campus Road we provided students and local community members with information about the goals and initiatives of Sustainable Flatbush. The street became filled with students and members from the community who played games, listened to live music from the Pimps of Joytime, watched the street performances of Circus Amok, and gathered information from student groups and organizations. Sustainable Flatbush invited several environmental groups to table at the event and introduce students to their programs. Since Sustainable Flatbush invited the Brooklyn Compost Project, I was able to dig through and at the same time learn about worm composting from Annie Houck-Lawson. I watched Rommel from Recycle-A-Bicycle fix bikes and Sam from Transportation Alternatives advocate for biking, walking, and public transit. Community Gardeners from the Campus Road Garden took students on tours of the garden to make them aware of the garden’s existence and solicited signatures for their petition to thwart the demolition of the garden.

Fall Foliage Walking Tour (photo by Jason Reif)

The light rain did not stop members of the community from gathering at Sacred Vibes Apothecary on October 24th, to follow Tracey Hohman and Chris “Flatbush Gardener” Kreussling to learn more about the trees in the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood. The drizzling rain made the yellow, red, orange, and green leaves as well as the brown in the barks glisten. By the end of the tour, tour-goers were able to identify and name the trees that line Argyle, Albemarle, Marlborough, Cortelyou, and Beverley Roads. I am now able to recognize the gingko trees that are on my street and Brooklyn College not just from their smelly fruit but their distinctive leaves.

I also had the chance of sitting in on a meeting with Anne and three representatives from the New York City Department of Transportation on October 20th. They were proposing the idea of changing and making improvements to the Nostrand Avenue bus service, the B44. By creating the Nostrand Avenue Bus Rapid Transit they would improve boarding time, bus speeds, and more through restructuring the street lanes and the sidewalks to accommodate the over 41,000 daily riders of the B44. Living right off of Nostrand Avenue I know how crowded the B44 can get and how long bus waits are, so I can appreciate the much needed upgrades. These representatives were looking for local organizations and community members to support the idea of the Nostrand Avenue Bus Rapid Transit so that it would be an idea that came into fruition.

Anne, fellow intern Mark, and I all met at the Community Resource Exchange on the 21st of October for a Budgeting Basics workshop for non-profit organizations. Being in a workshop with other non-profit organizations was very helpful because even though everyone was from different organizations and had different objectives, many of the concerns and questions about budgets were similar. I learned how much actually goes into creating and maintaining a budget. Also I began to understand that budgets should be symbiotic with planning, because a budget is your plan in numbers.

Shredding Leaves at the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)

Twice in November, on the 8th and the 21st, Sustainable Flatbush collected leaves at our Flatbush CommUNITY Garden in conjunction with NYCLeaves, to turn into rich compost for the garden. I was able to help work the leaf shredder and thanks to all the members of the community who dropped off their leaves there were way more leaves than we could shred in a single sitting. The first day that we collected leaves we received over 800 pounds of future compost. Once the leaves were shredded we added them to the compost piles in the garden. Rather than using the leaf shredder some children and a few adults took shredding into their own hands by jumping, playing, and tossing the leaves, so leaf composting not only keeps leaves out of our landfills but it is fun for all age groups.

Sustainable Flatbush invited Novella Carpenter to read from her book Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer at Vox Pop Cafe. Her book contained stories of dumpster diving, pig auctions, squatting, and much more about the trials and tribulations of having and maintaining an urban farm and garden. I learned that a lot of time and effort go into raising your own animals for food. I found Novella Carpenter’s experiences so inspiring that someone could be so dedicated to wanting to know where their food came from that they grew and raised their own food.

The morning of November 15th neighbors of the Flatbush community and beyond gathered with their own tools and the desire to beautify the streets by planting daffodil bulbs. The bulbs were planted in street tree beds with trees that were planted within the last year. Come spring everyone will be able to witness the fruits of their labor when the streets of Flatbush are decorated in shades of yellows and whites from the daffodils’ blooms.

Flatbush Daffodil Project 2009

There was record attendance at Brooklyn College’s November 17th Town Hall on Sustainability: 93 students, faculty, and community organizers met to voice their opinions on topics such as food, housing, health, transportation, water, energy, community gardens, and waste. Anne was one of the panelists that spoke and answered questions about sustainability in Brooklyn College and the community beyond the campus gates. I was a part of the health round table; we discussed concerns about health insurance or lack thereof, making more students aware of the health clinic, having healthier food choices at the Brooklyn College cafeteria, and using non-hazardous materials for cleaning and landscaping. Individuals at the community garden round table were some of the gardeners from the Campus Road Community Garden; they questioned and gave suggestions to Joseph Nigro, the representative from Brooklyn College’s facilities, about maintaining all of the garden’s land without having to destroy any of it for a parking lot, but he was unable to provide any clear answers. The purpose of the town hall was to present to the community what Brooklyn College is doing with regards to sustainability and take suggestions to improve on its sustainable efforts.

In October and November I had the opportunity to not only attend but be involved in a variety of events, meetings, and workshops with Sustainable Flatbush. Events are important to actively demonstrate to the surrounding community that as an organization you are fulfilling your objectives. What I love about Sustainable Flatbush is that the initiatives spread across a broad range of environmental topics, so I can meet with representatives from the Department of Transportation one day and then be in the garden and shredding leaves on another day.

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.

Do you brush past that same old tree every day as you come and go from home, but forget that it’s even there? Would you like to know its name, its history, and admire its resplendent beauty at the peak of this colorful Fall season? Join Sustainable Flatbush and community residents for the first Fall Foliage Street Tree Walking Tour, led by tour guide Tracey Hohman, professional gardener, and Chris Kreussling, aka Flatbush Gardener, both from the neighborhood.

On Saturday, October 24th, we will be strolling and discovering the hidden histories of local trees, identifying names and characteristics, discussing their role in the environment, and learning how to care for the proud tree on your street.

“Conditions are ideal for spectacular foliage this year. We’ve had ample rains over the Summer following near-record Spring rains. The NY State Foliage Forecast predicts that peak foliage will reach New York City around the last week of October.” -Flatbush Gardener Blog

This free event is a perfect opportunity to visit Victorian Flatbush in the heart of Brooklyn and experience the neighborhood’s breathtaking street trees — including some that are more than 100 years old! By the tour’s end you will have made friends not only with neighbors and guides, but with the trees in our community as well.

Location:
Tours start at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, just south of Cortelyou Road: http://maps.google.com

Directions:
Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road Station and walk west after exiting the station toward Argyle Road. As a reminder, check the MTA website for schedule and service advisories before you head out: http://mta.info

Time:
Tours depart at 11:00 AM and 12:00 NOON.
Tours take about 2 hours to complete and are 1 mile in length.

Google Map for the stroll: http://bk.ly/N8

For more information, please contact Sustainable Flatbush at info@SustainableFlatbush.org

photos by Flatbush Gardener and Keka Marzagao

The Time for Lunch Campaign is a project of Slow Food USA, an educational non-profit with the goal of creating a world in which everyone can enjoy food that is good, clean and fair. The purpose of Time for Lunch is to bring focus to the upcoming Congressional review of Child Nutrition Act, which governs the national school lunch program. You can read all about this on their website.

As part of the campaign, people are holding EAT-INs at schools across the nation on or about Labor Day, Sept 7. This is basically a community potluck of fresh, fantastic, REAL food.

Sunday September 6th, 2-5pm, at Campus Road Garden
Campus Road Garden has combined their event with a roving potluck series at Brooklyn community gardens, taking place on SUNDAYs, from 2 til 5pm, throughout the month of September. See our calendar for more information! Campus Road Community Garden is located at the intersection of Campus Road and Avenue H.

Monday September 7th, 12-3pm, at P.S. 217
P.S. 217′s event is being organized by their Parents’ Association, with Sustainable Flatbush supporting. The P.S. 217 schoolyard is located at the corner of Coney Island and Newkirk Avenues.
Bring a dish to share – and a picnic blanket and/or beach chairs! The more, the merrier! Bring the entire family, friends, and neighbors! No need to register, just show up!

Click here to sign Slow Food USA’s petition to put REAL FOOD in our schools.

Visualization: PowerBike at Park(ing) Day

WE NEED YOU to visit the website, rate our proposal, and  leave a comment! Your ratings and comments give us a better chance of being selected as one of the 10 finalists.

Here’s what we will build if we win:

Sustainable Flatbush off-grid solar PowerBike!

Mobile, clean power

Solar PowerBike Diagram

• * Anybody can charge their laptops, phones or mp3 players at Sustainable Flatbush events
• * The system cranks out enough power to run a small sound system and lights for outdoor programming
• * Local businesses “host” the PowerBike, attracting customers and highlighting their sustainable business practices
• * Our community garden has clean electricity where there is no access to the electrical grid
• * Of course, the PowerBike provides backup power in emergency situations

Turn the crank to point it toward the sun!

An education station makes the PowerBike ideal for teaching school kids about energy and the environment. Through appealing readouts and data-collection software, students monitor system performance like power output and avoided greenhouse gas emissions.

Why:

The residents of Flatbush, Brooklyn are showing what we can do on the neighborhood level to reduce our carbon footprint, fight global warming, and foster community at the same time.

This project is a long-term investment in local renewable energy for our community. Day after day, year after year, the neighborhood PowerBike keeps harnessing clean power, keeps teaching the skills that are the foundation of our new green economy, and keeps modeling a way of life that does not jeopardize future generations.

Visualization: PowerBike at the Flatbush FreeMeet

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Bus Rapid Transit has the potential to substantially upgrade Brooklyn’s public transportation system, particularly in areas that have limited or no subway access. It could also vastly improve travel between the boroughs, currently a time-consuming and frustrating experience on public transit.

Here is the DOT’s invitation:

Bus Rapid Transit Phase II Workshop

MTA New York City Transit and the New York City Department of Transportation are looking for ways to continue to dramatically improve transit service through a comprehensive Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network across New York City — complete with links to subways, ferries, and major destinations. NYCT and DOT invite the public to take part in interactive workshops that will lay the groundwork for the next phase of a BRT program for New York City. Given the magnitude of the MTA’s current fiscal constraints, it is even more imperative that we work together to expand this high performance bus service – an approach that will allow for cost savings realized from improving bus speeds, attracting more customers, and providing more efficient bus operations.

Brooklyn’s B44 bus line is under consideration for conversion to Bus Rapid Transit. BRT systems typically consist of all or a combination of seven main elements, which include the following:

* System identity and branding which bring a unique and distinguished visibility to the BRT service
* Bus ways where the road is dedicated to the exclusive use of buses
* High capacity vehicles
* High visibility stations
* A service plan that provides an easily understandable route map and schedule
* Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that provides information on next arriving bus at the bus stations, and the next stop on-board buses
* Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) which gives buses priority at traffic lights

NYCT and DOT invite your feedback on where new BRT routes should be established and how they should operate.

This event will take place in the Brooklyn College Brooklyn College Student Center (East 27th St. and Campus Rd.), Jefferson-Williams Lounge, 4th floor

More info available at:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ferrybus/selectbusservice.shtml

Safety in Numbers
Bicycle commuting pack
Meet in front of the Flatbush Food Coop
1414 Cortelyou Road
Wednesday, June 10th, 7:30 am

If you would like to ride to work, you’re comfortable riding on streets, and you are a little scared, this is your opportunity to try commuting by bike.

Join me on my normal workday commute. We will leave from Cortelyou Road, ride through Prospect Park and go over the Brooklyn Bridge. The route is almost entirely on bike paths, the pace will be slow-ish, and we will be conservative with regard to traffic regulations.

Please be prompt, we will leave at 7:30.

This ride is not sponsored by any group or organization. Rain cancels.

If you have questions, please leave a message for Deb at 347-249-9667