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

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.

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!

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

To raise awareness of how public space is allocated in our neighborhood, we will transform an unremarkable parking spot into “Cortelyou Road Park”: an urban oasis with grass, lawn chairs, music, art supplies, games, and good conversation for all to enjoy, at the corner of Cortelyou and Argyle Roads, in front of the Public Library.

Two sustainable craft businesses based in the NYC area – Garbage of Eden Design and RePlayGround – will teach free creative workshops on fashioning fun stuff out of garbage. We invite you to bring your favorite empty cereal box or designed scrap paper to personalize your crafts. Jewelry made from plastic bags and yogurt containers as well as kits to make projects from scrap will be on display. You could even win a food gift basket from the Flatbush Food Coop, which is also graciously providing free snacks throughout the day! Join us for this international event at the level of our local neighborhood. Meet your neighbors and those working within our community who strive to make it a more livable place.

Last year’s event was a great success. This year we plan to outdo it with:

• * A special Puppet Show featuring the juggling egg puppet by Ronny starting at 11am
• * Craft workshops by Garbage of Eden Design and RePlayGround
• * A worm composting demonstration by a Brooklyn Botanic Garden Master Composter
• * A solar-powered cell phone charging station
• * BYO Mug Coffee Station, courtesy of Vox Pop Cafe

So bring your own mug and don’t miss the daylong fun!

WHAT: Park(ing) Day / Cortelyou Road Park
WHEN: Friday, September 18th from 9am until 6pm
WHERE: Corner of Cortelyou and Argyle Roads, Brooklyn NY

Park(ing) Day 2008 photos by Keka Marzagao

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