Closing Bell: Brooklyn Flea + Urban Arts Festival
It’s been a busy week behind the scenes at The Flea, what with last night’s community meeting and all. The meeting was conceived as a listening session for neighborhood concerns but word leaked out and a number of supporters showed up and it ended up feeling more like a referendum on the market. For a…
It’s been a busy week behind the scenes at The Flea, what with last night’s community meeting and all. The meeting was conceived as a listening session for neighborhood concerns but word leaked out and a number of supporters showed up and it ended up feeling more like a referendum on the market. For a couple of longer reports, you can check out Racked, Gawker or Reclaimed Home. Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Councilmember James and Borough Prez Marty Markowitz by proxy all stepped up to the plate on behalf of the Flea; the suggestions ranged from the incremental and addressable to the not-so-reasonable and deal-breaking. There’s a big NY Times story about it slated for this weekend, so keep your eyes out. The two themes we (and others) kept coming back to were community-building and the importance of nurturing small businesses. Along those lines, we hope that everyone who comes out to the Flea this weekend will also make it over to nearby Myrtle Avenue between Emerson and Grand where the first day of the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market will take place; the four other days are August 10, August 24, September 7 and September 21. The open-air market will feature live music, visual art performances, food from Myrtle restaurants, and about 50 local, primarily home-based artisans, vendors, and entrepreneurs selling fashion, art, accessories and more. The event runs from 12 to 7. First timers attending the flea may want to check out the Flea Blog first and get these essentials under their belt: Flea hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday; it’s located at 176 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. Closest trains are the C and G to Washington/Clinton. Or you can take any of the number of trains that go to Atlantic Station and make the 10-minute stroll up Lafayette Avenue from there.
Update: The New York Times article, by a reporter who took the time to sit down with us and was smart enough not to get himself kicked out of the community meeting, is here; a Daily News article by a “reporter” who was stuck chewing his cud outside the meeting is here. The most amazing part of the News article is the cherry-picked quote from Councilmember James that gives the impression that she’s against the market when she has championed it from the beginning. Some quality journalism.
Queen of All Saints Roman Catholic Church has been a part of the FG/CH community for close to 100 years. Parishioners volunteer to cook for and staff the homeless shelter; to run a food pantry; to sponsor health fairs and child ID programs. We sponsor concerts and International Dinners which are open to all and advertised in local papers and throughout the community.
We worship. We would be happy to see more neighbors and those visiting our neighborhood join us. The invitation is always there. On Saturdays at 5:00 and Sundays at 10:15 we pray together at Mass. When you hear the church bells ringing on Sunday mornings in the air over Fort Greene and Clinton Hill-that is QAS calling us to worship. All are welcome.
Wow! Been away and now back. I see that discussion on Brownstoner is dead since people were forced to register. Heh heh.
Yes Heather, the reason it’s a bigger deal is because jews are usually subjected to conspiracy theories and scapegoated for the most absurd reasons. Episcopalians generally are not. So it is news.
If it was only a gratuitous comment, I’d have less of a problem with it. But since it was tacitly endorsed by the church’s monsignor, it was made worse. And in fact, once the priest chose not to step up, the jewish issue became more aggressive in the meeting.
The fact is, the church had a couple of legitimate concerns that really could fairly easily be addressed. But once the flea owners showed their class and willingness to work with them, they had no choice but to escalate because they just don’t want the flea. Period. So they made it into a religious favoritism issue. That’s the only chance they now have to kill the flea, to racialize it.
Yikes. Personally, I would have a hard time buying shoes made of wood, but that’s just me! I guess on the bright side, you’ll not be able to do too much other than post here, so we’ll be seeing more of you! Ok, I know, that’s not much consolation for you; just trying to be positive…
Yeah, not at all speedy, but I am on the mend.
On a related topic, you know how they say clogs are “mom” shoes? No? Well they do. Anyways, they are wrong. Clogs are evil and dangerous. That store in Park Slope where I bought mine should put up a warning label: “do not use around stairs.”
Uh oh! Sorry to hear that Heather. I hope you have a very speedy recovery.
Good one, Biff 🙂
Except I can’t walk at the moment… but that’s another story.
bxgrl, that’s an old, running joke I have with Heather. I just couldn’t resist…
That’s right, Biff. Blame the hill.
I love firefox by the way Heather. I finally went to it after having so many problems with IE7 and so wish I had done it sooner.