Sustainable Flatbush » NYC

September 2009: Mark’s report

Mark — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:14:47 +0000

When I decided to intern with a non-profit organization I googled, “local sustainable brooklyn,” and that big wide web introduced me to Sustainable Flatbush. I had already searched a number of groups whose websites seemed too impersonal, too big, too far, or too bureaucratic. Then this delightfully designed web-page revealed itself with an unmistakably local and personal character. Digging into the links, Sustainable Flatbush impressed me with its involvement in such varied activities. I had considered interning with a solar power organization, or applying to Transportation Alternatives (fat chance?), but their aims are quite specialized, and though fascinating, would only provide me with a narrow scope of the work in their department. But following Sustainable Flatbush’s links I quickly knew all my interests were met. The range was wide, and the depth was varied: worm composting demonstrations for children, composting potlucks and tutorials for adults, urban gardening and vegetable growing, organization of community events like environmental fairs, Park(ing) Day, solar energy forums, and community bike rides promoting transportation alternatives, partnerships and contact with all kinds of smaller and bigger non-profits, links to recycling… a perfect synthesis of all the interests and concerns I harbor in the 21st century.

Learning about solar power

Even more, contacting them was easy, and Anne Pope’s reply was unlike any other I’d received. Previous responses were curt and to the point, businesslike and impersonal, demanding only a CV. Instead, Anne, the director of Sustainable Flatbush, seemed thrilled, asking about my hobbies, education and general interests, meaning about me and not about what I have accomplished on paper. This felt nice, and though I feel accomplished “on paper”, it strikes me as impersonal and insufficient as a summary of self.

I finally met with Anne in late August and accompanied her to a meeting with her colleagues. Diving right into the non-profit institution, I was caught off guard. The people: everything from what is an advisory board, its responsibilities and powers, who actually comprises it in this case, the volunteers, who to thank for the website (Keka), who stewards the garden? The politics: the sources of funding, how to appropriate them, when to ask and for which events? The non-profit: how to declare it and how to run it? The community: how to communicate, receive ideas, make decisions, give answers, accommodate constituents? All in all, a fascinating and endless list of how a seemingly small and local organization copes with complex questions and negotiates its purpose in a local context.

A week or so later we were in the midst of preparing for the Flatbush Frolic as Sustainable Flatbush was hosting the Environmental Fair at the function. This was my first experience writing for the public, promoting an event to a community, and it’s a lot more work than it seems. I spent the day writing and rewriting the blurbs and press releases for our upcoming events. I was becoming overwhelmed and flustered, but by the end of the day a deep satisfaction set in when the script was deemed worthy and catapulted through the virtual world. I was now prepared to actually attend the events that I had researched and written about for days!

The Environmental Fair at the Flatbush Frolic was my first time witnessing Sustainable Flatbush interacting with the community at large. Parents and kids were under our tent all day long, squealing at the worms and learning about composting, farmshares and solar energy, as well as our own role and initiatives in the neighborhood. I met many active community members from the Food Coop, the urban garden, Transportation Alternatives, and more. I talked to neighbors who garden for a hobby in an attempt to acquire some rooftop and urban gardening tips, had discussions about the international politics of aid, food production, climate change, city transport and bicycling. I left with a tangible connection to Flatbush in my hand through meeting the folk that live in and care for the neighborhood.

The following Friday was the celebrated Park(ing) Day! Imagine real grass on the street, a park instead of a car, a puppeteer, free coffee and tons of kids having a blast with fingerpaints, music and the creativity of recycled art projects. We surprised many the unsuspecting community member on their way home from work or to the store, who stopped by to ask about the scene. Most left interested and pleased, with a smile on their face, musing about the conversion of space form parking spot to a community’s open space. We reached out to a lot of new and interested people, letting them know who we are and what we care about.

These face to face community events bring sense to the days I spend writing and editing the virtual posts that go out to people I don’t even know, like our neighborhood blogs, news sources, and email contact list. Little by little I am actually meeting these people and putting their specific smiles together with their blogs or email addresses, and it feels strange and pleasant at the same time. The community takes shape in this way beyond the contours of its geography on the Brooklyn map, beyond the virtual realm of the web, from the nebulous to the interpersonal and real. And it is this abstract shift which occurs almost imperceptibly that I have come to like the most about my internship. It does indeed prove the feasibility of the seemingly intangible and elusive aims to which this small organization dedicates its time and energy, and continues to give me enthusiasm for our upcoming work.

Park(ing) Day 2009 in full swing

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Welcome Back Bash at Brooklyn College

Sharifa — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:41:48 +0000

Where could you have seen a live band, a bearded woman, and Sustainable Flatbush?? At Brooklyn College’s Student Center’s Welcome Back Bash on October 6th, 2009.

Brooklyn College Welcome Back Bash

Campus Road was closed down and filled with tables of student groups and community organizations, games, street performers from Circus Amok, and live music provided by the Pimps of Joytime. Sustainable Flatbush provided Brooklyn College students and neighbors with information about the goal of our organization as well as our four initiatives.

Circus Amok

At the Welcome Back Bash Sustainable Flatbush invited Sam from Transportation Alternatives, who informed people about the organization’s advocacy for bicycling, walking, and public transit; Rommel from Recycle-A-Bicycle, who was able to put many students’ bikes back into tip-top shape; and master composters from Brooklyn Compost Project, who encouraged students to learn about worm composting.Community gardeners from Brooklyn College’s Campus Road Garden were there to make students aware of the proposed demolition of the garden and solicit signatures for their petition to save it. They also took students and neighbors on walking tours through the garden’s peach trees, figs, pumpkins, mums, and much more to make them conscious of the garden’s existence.

With music in the background and students playing basketball, Sustainable Flatbush was able to educate students about sustainable living. Questions about urban gardening, composting, bicycling, and many more were answered. People were able to pick up information on Sustainable Flatbush events and projects, New York City bicycle maps, and Biking Rules pamphlets.

If you missed the bearded woman get out of a straight jacket, a man string himself through a wire hanger, a woman swallowing swords, all the fun and music, and most importantly Sustainable Flatbush, there will be another Welcome Back Bash in Spring.

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Fall Foliage Walking Tour October 24th!

Mark — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:35:10 +0000

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

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Keep leaf composting alive in Brooklyn!

anne — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:09:45 +0000

This Saturday, October 3rd, join with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and local gardeners to take the initiative on establishing a community-led leaf composting project!

Due to budget cuts, in 2008 New York City discontinued both its autumn leaf-collecting project and free compost pickups in the springtime. This was a big step backwards for the city, from the standpoint of both urban gardening and Zero Waste advocates: huge quantities of leaves (potentially soil amendments) are once again being sent to landfills.

The good news is that a group of Brooklyn compost advocates are meeting this Saturday to come up with a community-led initiative for collecting leaves to create compost and mulch for urban gardens! Read on for more info (the message quoted below has been making the rounds in community gardening circles).

Greetings,

Please join your fellow community gardeners and our friends from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a brainstorming session that will focus on how we can expand and improve community leaf collection and recycling this fall.

As you know, the City will not be collecting leaves separately from regular trash, again, this fall. That means that it’s up to us to find ways to take this rich source of garden nutrients out of the waste stream and bring it into our gardens, where it will do the most good. Building on a very successful leaf collection and recycling project that was implemented at 6/15 Green garden last year, we hope to coordinate a Brooklyn-wide project that will enable local community gardens to be collection points for bagged leaves from their neighbors for use in the community gardens….and possibly even distributed back to the community in the future.

This is truly a win/win for everyone. Gardens will benefit from the addition of wonderful leaves that they can use as mulch or make into “brown gold” compost and residents will be able to recycle their leaves knowing that they will not be wasted clogging up our landfills. Please join us for our first planning meeting to get the ball rolling. We’ll be brainstorming on the basic strategies of how we can work together, coordinate dates and collection methods, create a unified press release and outreach and the ways we can avoid duplication and confusion of efforts. We really need your voice and your ideas right from the start!

Feel free to forward this information to any community gardens or other folks you think would like to be part of this project.

Date: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Time: 12:00 Noon
Location: Ozzies’ Coffee 249 5th Ave. Bet Carroll & Garfield Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 768-6868
Subways: M. R to Union St Buses: B63 along Fifth Ave B37 & B103 along Third Avenue B71 along Union St.

We’re looking forward to a lively discussion. If you can’t make it to this meeting and want to be kept informed about upcoming meetings, please RSVP to this email or contact me directly and I’ll put you on the email list: Jessica Katz bklyn.nighthawk[at]gmail.com 718-788-8287

Best wishes, Jess — Jessica Katz Brooklyn, NY ************************************************************

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” “To forget to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” – Mahatma Ghandi

Bus Rapid Transit workshop tomorrow

anne — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:59:23 +0000

If you get around Brooklyn by bus (or would like to), your presence is requested at the Brooklyn College Student Center tomorrow (Wednesday, June 10th) at 6:30pm. The NYC Department of Transportation is holding a workshop to get residents’ input on planning for expansion of the city’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network, specifically “on where new BRT routes should be established and how they should operate”. The B44 (Nostrand Avenue) line is currently scheduled to be Brooklyn’s first BRT route.

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

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An Evening of Streetfilms on June 10th!

anne — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:09:27 +0000

Sustainable Flatbush invites you to celebrate BikeBKLN by visualizing a future of Livable Streets!

Streetfilms are short videos that show living examples of streets and public spaces designed for people, where walking, biking, public transit, and fostering community are the priorities. Locations range from Copenhagen, Paris, Curitiba and Bogota to our own New York City. Discussion and party to follow, bring your friends!

Hosted by Vox Pop, cafe/bookstore/community space on Cortelyou Road in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Admission is free, food and drink will be available for purchase.

WHAT
An Evening of Streetfilms

WHEN
Wednesday June 10th at 8pm

WHERE
Vox Pop Cafe and Bookstore
1022 Cortelyou Road (corner of Stratford)
Flatbush, Brooklyn

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Solar net-metering in Brooklyn!

anne — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:53:31 +0000

I just learned about this 40 KW solar installation at 925 Bergen Street (aka the Monti Building) – the first commercial net-metered solar array in New York City — from Solar One‘s excellent email newsletter. This is one of two projects developed by Big Sue LLC in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (the other is a residential building on Dean Street); both have solar panels, along with other environmentally-conscious features such as radiant heating, green roofs, and extensive reuse of original construction materials.

Solar One’s education and advocacy campaigns played a big role in changing New York State’s net metering laws last year; commercial buildings are now able to sell the excess power generated by their solar panels back to the grid, which is a huge step for renewable energy development in New York City. As mentioned in the video, the Network for New Energy Choices upgraded its rating of our state’s net metering policy from “D” in 2007 to “B” in 2008!

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Flatbush FreeMeet 2009!

anne — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:53:22 +0000

Spring Cleaning?

Don’t throw it away! Bring it to the

FLATBUSH FREEMEET

sponsored by Sustainable Flatbush and Freecycle™ New York City

WHEN
Saturday, May 9, 2009
From 11AM – 3PM

WHERE
P.S. 217 Playground
1100 Newkirk Avenue
(at Coney Island Avenue)
Flatbush, Brooklyn

Directions: Q train to Newkirk Ave, F to 18th Ave, or B68 bus to Coney Island Avenue and Newkirk.

WHY
Help reduce waste and keep our environment clean by finding new homes for your old stuff, and getting some things you can use in the process. Leftovers will be donated or recycled to every extent possible.

WHAT
Bring unwanted clothing, housewares and other reusable items to share* OR simply bring a tote bag to fill. Bring friends and family too!

Everything at the FreeMeet is FREE!

Got wire hangers? Bring ‘em to the FreeMeet so we can hang clothes and recycle the hangers afterwards.

* No furniture or heavy items, please. Bring portable items only and log on to http://www.Freecycle.org to give away furniture and other heavy stuff. More info on FreeMeet guidelines available here.

________________________________________

FLATBUSH FREEMEET EXCLUSIVE!

Knowledge Exchange

In the knowledge exchange everyday people trade what they know for what they don’t know!

_________________________________________

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The FreeMeet needs volunteers for the following tasks:

- Greeter/intake assistants: show people what’s going on and where to
unload what they’ve brought

- Organizers: sort donations into areas like clothing, housewares,
books, crafts, shoes, kids stuff, etc.

- Info table

- Clean Up Team: collect materials and sort them into donations, recyclables and trash

- Translators: offer assistance to those who don’t speak English

- Documentation: video, photography, audio, and written reporting

- Musicians: keep the event festive with happy sounds!

We will hold an optional training session for volunteers (details below), but if you can’t make it just show up and pitch in on the day of the event! If you plan to help out please send an email to volunteer@sustainableflatbush.org to let us know you’re coming.

FREEMEET VOLUNTEER TRAINING SESSION

WHEN
This Tuesday May 5th
6:30-8:00PM

WHERE
Brooklyn College Arts Lab (BCAL)
Brooklyn College, 2900 Bedford Avenue, 301 Roosevelt Hall

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Street Tree Walking Tour, Saturday 4/25/09!

anne — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:20:25 +0000

Street-Tree Walking Tour this Saturday, April 25th!

Join us in our second year of celebrating Arbor Day and the magnificent street trees of Brooklyn’s Victorian Flatbush. The tour guides will be Tracey Hohman, professional gardener, and Chris Kreussling, aka Flatbush Gardener, both neighborhood residents.

Time
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tours depart at 11am and 12 noon

Location
Tours start at Third Root Community Health Center
380 Marlborough Road (between Cortelyou and Dorchester)

Directions
Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road and walk one block west (left) to
Marlborough Road after exiting the station.

Special Details
The tour is a little over a mile in length and lasts approximately 90 minutes.
Tours will take place rain or shine. Please dress appropriately for the weather and walk.

For more information, please email garden@sustainableflatbush.org

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FreeMeet in Park Slope this Saturday, April 18th!

anne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:18:25 +0000

Spring Cleaning? Don’t Throw It Away—-Bring it to the Freecycle™ NYC FreeMeet!

Freecycle New York City celebrates spring and reaching 40,000+ members with TWO FreeMeets:

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 12pm-3pm
JJ Byrne Park (dead end on 4th Street b/t 5th Ave and the Old Stone House in the park)
Park Slope, Brooklyn

WHY: New Yorkers discard some 12,000 tons of waste each day, much of which is exported to landfills and incinerators in other states. Here’s your chance to help reduce waste and keep our environment clean by finding new homes for your old stuff, and getting some things you can use in the process. Leftovers will be donated or recycled to every extent possible.

WHAT TO BRING: Bring unwanted clothing, housewares and other reusable items* to share or simply bring a tote bag to fill. Bring friends and family too!

Got wire hangers? Bring ‘em to the FreeMeet so we can hang clothes and
recycle the hangers afterwards.

Love the idea but you’re already booked this Saturday? How about 2 weeks from now, right here in Flatbush?
Come to the FreeMeet on–

Saturday, May 9, 2009, 12pm-3pm
P.S. 217 Playground (1100 Newkirk Avenue at Coney Island Avenue)
Flatbush, Brooklyn

MORE INFO: www.RecycleThisNYC.org/freemeet

*please bring portable items only and log on to www.Freecycle.org to give away furniture and other heavy stuff.

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