Progressive Democrat Issue 91: BROOKLYN FOCUS

This is updated from last week because I consider it the number one local issue. I should add that development issues won't end with whatever the outcome with Ratner's plan for Atlantic Yards. About a year ago I predicted that the next place to be targeted by developers was the area between the Gowanus canal and about Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. Well, they are drawing up the plans and there is much talk about encouraging business and "affordable housing." My concern is that the same approach to jobs and "affordable housing" that was taken with Atlantic Yards will be taken with the Gowanus development. What do they really mean by "affordable housing." The housing planned for Atlantic Yards won't be affordable for long if at all...and certainly won't be affordable for the poorest Brooklynites.

We need to take a stand legally and politically to fight for community input into development, block misuse of eminent domain, and to create REAL affordable housing, not the current state where "affordable housing" is a code word for giving a developer whatever he wants.

Anyway, updated from last week:

Join us for a week of events to raise money to preserve Brooklyn.

Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn, the organization that opposes Ratner's corrupt over-development plan for Brooklyn in favor of community-based development, is expanding their Walkathon fundraising effort into a week of events.

Last year Joy and I participated in the Walkathon and had a great time. Once again we are participating. Please join or sponsor our team. Proceeds go to the DDDB legal fund which has been about the only thing keeping Ratner at bay and has been the only reason he has compromised even the tiny bit he has so far.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn is pleased to announce WALKATHON WEEK -- six days of events celebrating our community, culminating with the walkathon on Saturday, Oct 21.

10/16: Monday Night is Comedy Night 9:30 pm
Donation suggested.

Freddy's Bar and Backroom - Corner of Sixth Avenue and Dean Street

Where better for laughter to win the day than at Freddy's Backroom, standing in the way of Ratner’s skyscrapers. Hosted by comedic genius Pat O'Shea.

10/16: Monday Night is Music Night: 8 pm
Sliding scale: $5-15

Southpaw - 125 Fifth Avenue, between Sterling and St. Johns Place

3 Bands:

Valley Lodge
The XYZ Affair
Jack Byson


10/16: Monday Night is Movie Night I: 8 pm
Donation suggested

Soda Bar - 629 Vanderbilt Ave., between Prospect Place and St Marks Avenue

Feature Film: Everyday People
Nelson George and Jim McKay’s provocative film about a small Brooklyn business fighting for its life against

The owner of a long established diner in a changing Brooklyn neighborhood bows to economic pressures and decides to close his restaurant, selling the location to an aggressive developer. It is a typical story in so many increasingly gentrified American cities.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE looks beyond this nondescript transaction into the hearts of the women and men whose lives are forever altered by the deal. Over the course of a long, tense day, the working class and multi-generational staff and customers of Raskins have to grapple with a suddenly cloudy future. Like so many of America's working poor, their lives are at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

As the day unfolds, unspoken thoughts and deep-seated attitudes rise to the surface. These individuals collide in love and pain, generating disturbing conflicts and surprising bonds - all of which challenge conventional assumptions about class and racial identity. More...

Film Short: A Walk Through the Footprint
This 18-minute short film profiles several Prospect Heights residents who face eviction due to developer Bruce Ratner’s Brooklyn Arena project. Ratner’s plan to erect not just an arena, but a 16-skyscraper mega-development complex would displace some 800 people who live in the vibrant community of Prospect Heights. The film follows the model of the PBS “Walk Through” series that profiles neighborhoods around New York, but in this film the tour guides are community activists, members of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, who visit several of the residents facing eviction. The characters are funny and poignant, passionate and compelling, as they describe the life of a vital community


10/17: Tuesday Night is Literary Night I:
7:30 pm

Shakespeare's Sister - 270 Court St, between Butler & Douglas

Donation suggested.

* Authors: Nava Renek
* Ayun Halliday
* Martha Southgate
* Odd Todd (animator)
* John B. Schwartz (author, screenwriter)


10/18: Wednesday Night is Literary Night II: 7:30 pm

Tillies - 248 DeKalb Ave, corner of Vanderbilt. 718-783-6140

Donation suggested.

* Authors: Jhumpa Lahiri
* Jennifer Egan
* Susan Choi
* Sheri Holman
* Diana Son


10/18: Wednesday Night is Movie Night II: 7:30 pm
Donation suggested.

Soda Bar - 629 Vanderbilt Ave., between Prospect Place and St Marks Avenue

This Land is Your Land with filmmakers
A feature length, 82-minute, documentary film
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND is a startling and often hilarious exploration of the overwhelming corporate takeover of American life. Over the course of three years, the filmmakers traveled across the U.S., interviewing award-winning authors, historians, media commentators and ordinary citizens about the wide range of ways individuals and society at large experience this impact. More...

Post Film DJ Motormouth Performs


10/19: Thursday Night is Restaurant Night: (which I plan on participating in!!)
Dine at local restaurants who are donating a portion of their proceeds from this night to Develop Don't Destroy's legal fund. Participating restaurants include:

Fort Greene/Clinton Hill

Night of the Cookers
767 Fulton street, between So.Oxford and So. Portland Ave
718-797-1197

Chez Oskar
211 DeKalb Avenue, corner of Adelphi
718-852-6250
(Thursday is 30% off on wines)

Olea, Mediterranean Tavern
171 Lafayette Avenue, corner of Adelphi Street
718-643-7003

Maggie Brown
455 Myrtle Avenue, between Washington and Waverly
718-643-7001

Pequena
86 South Portland, between Lafayette Ave and Fulton Street

Grand Dakar
285 Grand Avenue, between Lafayette Avenue and Clifton Place
718-398-8900


Park Slope:

Bogata, Latin Bistro (I will be aiming for this one!)
141 Fifth Ave, between St. John's Place and Lincoln Place


Boerum Hill:

Bacchus
409 Atlantiv Ave, near Bond Street
718-852-1572


Cobble Hill:

Sample
152 Smith St. (corner of Bergen)
718-643-6622

Pane y Vino
174 Smith St. (Wyckoff & Warren)
718-501-1010

10/20: Friday Night is Update Night 7 pm

Freddy's Bar and Backroom - Corner of Sixth Avenue and Dean Street
Stop by this community meeting to get the latest on our battle for responsible, democratic development in Brooklyn.


And, of course, Saturday 10/21 is the Walkathon! Please join us!