Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Community Board 6 Meeting: Future of Atlantic Basin

Monday, January 5th at 6:30
Long Island College Hospital
339 Hicks Street (Rooms F & G)
Brooklyn NY 11201

Details below from CB6 Website:

  • Update from a representative for the New York City Economic Development Corporation on the City's planning efforts for the Atlantic Basin at the Red Hook waterfront.
  • Presentation by a representative for New York Water Taxi on the company's current and future operations including efforts to provide expanded ferry service to the Brooklyn waterfront in New York Harbor. For more background visit http://www.nywatertaxi.com/
  • Presentation by a representative for PortSide New York, a non-profit community-based organization with a mission to breathe life into the relationship between landside community and the maritime sector - to the advantage of both. For more background visit http://www.portsidenewyork.org/

Long Island College Hospital
339 Hicks Street( Rooms F & G)
Brooklyn NY 11201

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Columbia St. Holiday tree lighting this Thursday!

Please join us and Santa Claus by the Holiday Tree & Fireplace
for some hot chocolate, cookies, candy canes & Caroling

2nd ANNUAL HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING
CEREMONY

DATE: THURSDAY DECEMBER 11TH
RAINDATE FRIDAY DECEMBER 12TH
TIME: 6:30-8:30

WHERE: HUMAN COMPASS GARDEN
CORNER OF COLUMBIA & SACKETT STREET

This event is open to the Public
Presented and sponsored by :
Carroll Gardens Association, Inc.
Sacred Hearts & St. Stephens
Columbia Street Merchants & Union Street Merchants

Friday, November 28, 2008

Monthly Greenway Cleanup

Saturday, December 13th, 10am

Columbia Street Greenway Cleanup BGI is hosting monthly clean-ups, in conjunction with the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association, to help keep the newest segment of the Greenway route free of trash and other debris. BGI will supply tools, trash bags, and water.

RSVP to Brian at bmccormick(at)brooklyngreenway.org

When: Saturday, December 13th, 10:00AM-12:00PM
Where: BGI’s Office ( 145 Columbia Street , between Kane & Degraw)

Tanker Mary Whalen 70th Birthday - Sat. 12/6


Celebrate the 70th birthday
of the tanker MARY WHALEN!


Pier 11, Atlantic Basin
(next to Red Hook Cruise Terminal) on-site parking available

Sat 12/6/08 11-5pm
Peak Hooplah at 2pm

Rain Date Sun 12/7/08
Free and open to the public
Event info http://portsidemarywhalen.eventbrite.com/
RSVP is not required but is appreciated so we have enough cake and coffee

Free cake, coffee, and tours of the Whalen.
Guests include tugs and workboats!
Site crew in marine costumes!
Master of Ceremonies Jonathan Atkin of http://www.shipshooter.com/
Former crew and folks with memories of the WHALEN are invited to come to the microphone and tell stories about the vessel.

First public event in Atlantic Basin!
Thanks to NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for arranging our use of this space.
Birthday presents appreciated: rags, sandpaper, paint brushes & rollers, disposable latex gloves, dust masks, hand tools, firewood, gift cards fromHome Depot & Lowe's, an air compressor
more about us at http://www.portsidenewyork.org/

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

EDC proposal for Phoenix beverage depot at Pier 11

Last week, the New York city Economic Development Corp. announced a proposed plan to allow Phoenix beverage to relocate to Pier 11 at Atlantic basin. See New York Times article below:

"For Reinvention, Red Hook Follows Its Roots"

While CoWNA supports allowing Phoenix to use Brooklyn maritime resources to reduce the amount of overall truck trips into the city from their current facility at Port Elizabeth, the choice of pier 11 is unfortunate. Within the container port complex, there are much better locations that would place Phoenix and their "1,000s" of delivery trucks with much easier access to the on and off ramps of the BQE and at the foot of Atlantic ave.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Make way for the Greenway!!

Making Way for the Greenway

A Benefit for Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

Tuesday, November 18th, 8pm (doors open at 7pm)

at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO

Join supporters and friends of the Greenway for an evening of music and program shorts from some of Galapagos’ fabulous resident artists! Proceeds support the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile off-street bike and pedestrian route that will connect Brooklyn’s parks, neighborhoods and people. Galapagos is located midway along the planned route, so it’s the perfect place for a celebration of recent milestones. Matt Wasowski, founder and Big Boss of Nerd Nite will give a presentation about the Coney Island hot dog eating contest and the fascinating world of competitive eating. The evening features the hot and sweet sounds of Michael Arenella and his music, and more!

Raffle items include dinner for two at iCi in Fort Greene, one day of temp help from AppleOne, an ODM Spin watch and gift certificates from The Diamond in Greenpoint, New York Water Taxi, Fairway and Tres Belle Petite Medispa. And cupcakes from Nine Cakes for all! Advance tickets are $20 per person, or two for $30, so bring a friend! At the door, tickets are $25 per person, cash.

To purchase tickets go to: http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=BEN79

For more information go to: www.brooklyngreenway.org

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Reminder: CoWNA open meeting this Thursday

Open Meeting

Thursday, Nov. 6, 7pm

Jalopy Theatre and School of Music
315 Columbia St. Between Woodhull & Rapelye Streets,
just next to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Agenda:

1. Final vote on Executive Committee’s recommendation for rezoning our Neighborhood
2. Committee Updates
3. Two Guest Speakers:
- Milton Puryear, Director of Planning of BGI:
“Latest update on Greenway Waterfront Initiative on Columbia Street segment”
- Tom Fox, President of NY Water Taxi:
“A proposal for the redevelopment of Atlantic
Basin as a maritime and community asset”

The Neighborhood Association can only serve you if you participate.
Please attend, and tell your neighbors.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Mark your Calendars! CoWNA General Meeting

The next CoWNA General meeting will be Thursday, November 6 at 7:00. The meeting will be at Jalopy theater and School of Music, as usual. Jalopy is located at 315 Columbia St. between Hamilton ave. and Woodhull st.

The meeting agenda will include:

-Committee updates.
-Membership vote to ratify CoWNA zoning goals document.
-Special guest Tom Fox from New York Water Taxi will be on hand to discuss his vision for the waterfront.

Please attend and tell your neighbors. Let's all make a difference in our neighborhood!

Greenway Cleanup

The Brooklyn Greenway initiative in partnership with CoWNA has scheduled a Greenway cleanup for the section of the greenway in our neighborhood. Please come out on Saturday, 10/11 at 10:00 am to the Greenway office at 145 Columbia to pitch in and meet your neighbors.

Let's keep the Columbia Waterfront looking good!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Thank you!

The 1st annual Columbia Waterfront festival on 9/13 was an enormous success! Many thanks to Victoria from the Carroll Gardens Assoc. for her hard work and also Ronda and Frank for their vision.

The entire CoWNA executive committee would like to thank everyone who stopped by our table to chat, ask questions and sign up for our e-mail list. We would also like to extend a special thank you to those who generously donated money to the cause. You will soon see some of those dollars put to work to improve our e-mail abilities.

Below are some pictures:

Lars and Frederick chat with an interested neighbor.



Thursday, September 11, 2008

Greenway mini-cleanup this Saturday

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) in collaboration with Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association (CoWNA) will be holding a mini-clean up along the new route this Saturday, September 13th from 10:00 am to noon to get the Greenway in tip-top shape for the anticipated rush of new users. Meet at BGI's office- 145 Columbia Street and bring your gardens gloves and trowels are also welcome to pull up the most stubborn weeds.We supply tools, bags, and water. RSVP to Brian at bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.

The mini-cleanup is to be followed by the first annual Columbia Waterfront Fall festival along Columbia and Union Sts. So come on out and look for us at our sign-up table.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Neighborhood events - Saturday 9/13

This Saturday, Sept. 13th, there are two exciting events happening in our neighborhood:

The first annual Waterfront District Fall festival kicks off at 11:00 a.m., rain or shine and runs to 6:00 p.m. The festival will be on Columbia St. from DeGraw to Union and run 'around the corner' on Union to Hicks St. There will be food, crafts, rides and live music. So come on out and enjoy!

Additionally, as if that wasn't enough, there will be live jazz in the Urban Meadow (corner of President and VanBrunt Sts.). The lineup is as follows:

2pm Two Sisters: Dave Sewelson (baritone sax), Claire Daley (baritone sax), Dave Hofstra (bass)
3pm Otic Band: Dave Sewelson (baritone sax), Todd Nicholson (bass) and Mike Golub (drums).
4pm Peoples Revolutionary Party - James Keepnews (guitar), Ras Moshe (tenor sax), Tom Chess (tenor sax), Welf Dorr (alto sax), Matt Lavelle (trumpet), Nick Gianni (baritone sax), Ted McEvoy (electric bass), Mike Golub (drums).

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Welcome to the new CoWNA blog!

This the fledgling blog site for the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association. Please check back for updates, new options and new ways to contact the CoWNA officers and committee chairpersons directly.

-Mike Webster,
President, CoWNA

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

2 Announcements

Greenway Cleanup- It's not officially open yet, but a half-mile off-street segment of the Greenway on Columbia Street, south of Atlantic Avenue was paved this week and is being actively used by bicyclists, walkers and runners! Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) in collaboration with Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association (CoWNA) will be holding a mini-clean up along the new route this Saturday, August 9th from 12 noon to 2 pm to get the Greenway in tip-top shape for the anticipated rush of new users. Meet at BGI's office- 145 Columbia Street and bring your gardens gloves and trowels are also welcome to pull up the most stubborn weeds.We supply tools, bags, and water. RSVP to Brian at bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.

The Future of New York City Schools- State Senator Martin Connor is hosting a community forum for parents and education professionals about the future of New York City's schools. In light of the expiration in 2009 of the legislation that gave the Mayor control of the school system, the Senator is looking for opinions and feedback regarding the current state of the City's schools. The forum is Tuesday, August 12 from 5:00-8:00 pm at Brooklyn Borough hall, 209 Joralemon St. For more information, visit: http://www.nyssenate25.com

-Lars

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Pre-K Admissions

Dear All,
The pre-Kindergarten admission process in New York City for the 2008-2009 school year has been a source of great frustration for parents within the Columbia Street District and neighboring areas. Being well aware of the fact that there that there is no guarantee for a slot in a public pre-K program and that siblings are prioritized in the admission process, the pre-K programs of P.S. 29, 58 and 261 offer approximately 165 slots, which should cover the needs of the neighborhood. The admissions process has previously been an application followed by a lottery for those who do not have siblings in the school, but for the 2008-2009 school year, the Department of Education decided to centralize the admissions process and outsource the entire process to a private company in Pennsylvania together with the admissions for the Gifted and Talented Kindergarten programs.
Having applied to pre-K programs on behalf of my son, I found a remarkable lack of transparency in the application process, and a true dearth of useful information. I received a rejection letter from the NYC Board of Education Office of Student Enrollment claiming that there will be another opportunity for pre-Kindergarten placement starting June 23, although no further details were provided. Telephone conversations with the helpful staff of School District 15 and P.S. 29 revealed additional amounts of frustration and confusion due to the lack of information from the Board of Education, and they claimed that this would lead to planning difficulties for the coming school year.
According to the DoE, 20,000 pre-K applications submitted, and 17,000 children were offered seats, though not all to their first-choice schools. Three thousand families received no placement at all. In many cases, sibling preference was ignored. The DoE claimed that these issues were subsequently addressed after a reapplication process that ended on July 18, although there are apparently still 120 unresolved cases within New York City. As for P.S. 29, this particular school was not included on the list of schools that were applicable for pre-K reapplication, since P.S. 29 pre-K classes were supposedly already filled up. However, the P.S. 29 PTA and pre-K coordinator claim that eight to ten pre-K students register without enrolling every year, and since the DoE is not providing a wait list, P.S. 29 may very well have to provide their own local wait list, thus having to do the job that the centralization was supposed to eliminate. The cost of the centralization, the outsourcing and the subsequent extra resources that have been devoted to reapplications and extra planning are unknown, but it seems reasonable to assume a hefty price tag.
Although it seems to be too late to correct these issues for the 2008-2009 school year, the pre-K admissions process should be monitored and scrutinized for the 2009-2010 school year. With an increasing amount of young children in our neighbourhood, parents need to be informed in good time of these pitfalls and problems when applying to pre-K and other public education programs. Also, the effects of the centralization on the educational planning of the schools within School District 15 should be evaluated, since a potential lowering of public education standards may very well have an indirect effect on real estate prices within the Columbia Street District, not to mention our children.
Some links of interest:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=21721
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/nyregion/29schools.html?scp=1&sq=pre-k&st=cse
http://www.gopetition.com/online/20080.html
Sincerely,
Frederick Fooy

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

7/24/2008 General meeting agenda

Our next general meeting is scheduled for Thursday July 24th.

Agenda:
- updates from the committees - finalizing a statement of goals for rezoning our neighborhood
- traffic through the neighborhood (specifically the Ikea shuttle route).

We are also pleased to welcome:
- Craig Hammerman, District Manager CB6 and candidate for City Council's 39th district
- John Heyer, Brooklyn Borough President's representative to CB6 and candidate for City Council's 39th district
- Jo Anne Simon, candidate for City Council's 33rd district

FYI: The City Council has, among other things, the power to review land use issues and approve zoning changes, housing and urban renewal plans, community development plans and the disposition of city-owned property. This might be a great opportunity to voice our views and hear where these candidates stand.

Location: Jalopy Theater and School of Music, 315 Columbia Street between Woodhull and Rapelye.
Time: 6:30pm
We hope to see you there!

Lars Schlichting VP CoWNA

Monday, April 7, 2008

4/17/2008 General meeting agenda

Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association (CoWNA) has scheduled their next general meeting for Thursday, April 17th.
The meeting will start promptly at 7:00 pm at:
Jalopy, 315 Columbia St. (btwn. Woodhull & Rapeleye sts.)

The agenda will include:
Updates from the Land Use, Public Services and Parks/Greening committees.
Discussion of new issues relating to development and re-zoning efforts.
Update on the Columbia and VanBrunt St. reconstructions.

Norman Cox