Giant Salt Pile Returns to Columbia Street

After a noisy weekend's work, the salt pile at Columbia and Kane street has been restored to its pre-winter state: looming over the neighborhood and contributing a thin layer of fine powder over nearby cars, windowsills and rear yards.

If you are fed up with this nuisance and the apparent disregard with which the salt importer treats our neighborhood (leaving the pile uncovered for weeks at a time and loud noise from machinery throughout the night) you can do the following:

Sign the petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/removethesaltpile/

Call 311 and register a complaint.

Contact our elected officials:

Brad Lander, Councilmember for District 39 (718) 499-1090
You can also send him a message at his website.

Steve Levin, Councilmember for District 33 (the port itself is in District 33) (718) 875-5200
You can also reach him via his website.

Urban Meadow CSA Registration Open for 2011 Season

The Urban Meadow Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA) is pleased to announce share availability for the 2011 season, which will run from the first Saturday in June through the last Saturday in October. If you're interested, please hurry and get in contact, because we expect slots to fill up quickly!

The cost of a share is $450 for the season and includes a delivery of vegetables each week from Ant Hill farm. Please note that a small number of subsidized shares are available. Inquire about membership or any other details using the links and information below.

Check out the new Urban Meadow CSA website here for more information.

The membership flyer link, including contact info, is here

Info on our partner farm is here

The new Urban Meadow CSA twitter account is here

And finally, more info on CSAs can be found here at Just Food's website

Business at New York Ports Spikes 16%

From The New York Times' City Room blog:

Statistics released by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey showed that after a particularly dismal year in 2009, cargo container traffic -- imports and exports combined -- increased by 16 percent last year at ports both in New York City, including Staten Island and Red Hook, Brooklyn, and in New Jersey, including Newark, Elizabeth and Bayonne.

Read the rest here.

Columbia Street Greenway Cleanup

March 12, 10:00AM

Please join Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and their friends at Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association for the first monthly clean-up of the year along the Columbia Street segment of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Tools and gloves provided, all ages welcome! Meet at Brooklyn Greenway Initiative’s office, 145 Columbia Street, on Saturday, March 12th. Clean-up runs 10:00AM-12:00PM.

To RSVP or for more info contact Brian at bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.