Brooklyn, NY Focus

Majora Carter's "The Promised Land"
WNYC-AM820

Saturdays at 2PM. Sundays at 8PM. Listen to the new radio documentary show hosted by Bronx Science Alumna & Local Environmentalist, Majora Carter.


Comptroller John Liu - Economic Impact of Gay Marriage




Ready For Spring Cleaning? Start By Recycling Those Old Electronic Gadgets

FREE E-WASTE RECYCLING EVENTS
Rain or Shine
Saturday 3/26/11 10am–4pm
5th Avenue b/w Sterling & Douglass Streets


Brooklyn News:

Hate to say "I told you so" YET AGAIN, but we DID tell you this would happen: Unions Outraged Over Ratner's Prefab Tower...one of the rare times I have been on the opposite side of unions. But seems I was right and their faith in Ratner was very much misplaced...I was also right about the lack of affordable housing. Funny how people like Bill de Blasio, who INSISTED they were doing it for the affordable housing, have been SILENT about its disappearance...MORE: DDDB PRESS RELEASE: Jobs, Housing & Hoops! Touted Atlantic Yards “Benefits” Continue to Disappear

NYC Comptroller John Liu Statement on Dept of Education Contract Rejection

Wal-mart’s History of Hypocrisy...

Fighting Bed Bugs

The Ratner-Kruger campaign connection; one month after Atlantic Yards was announced, (brother) Michael Ratner and his wife gave $2000 each

NY Senate "Gang of Eight (Hate)" DINOs down to 2

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is kicking ass in the fight to clean up Albany: Yet another State Senator under investigation

Oh Great...Indian Point is the nuclear plant in the US MOST at risk of core damage from an earthquake

Another Bloomberg Fail: Black Marks for Schools Chancellor on Trip to Williamsburg

Times slams Louisiana governor for dubious charity run by wife, ignores Markowitz's use of his own charity to draw corporate donations

THIS is great: Comptroller John Liu Audits the Corrupt Economic Development Corporation...let me say it is about time.

THIS is not so great: Since moving to New York every has bragged about the water here...well, sadly NYC water quality is not that good: America's 10 Most Toxic Cities

Natural Gas Drilling Debate Heats Up: Read Our Guide...More: Water issues and gas drilling...More: Hydrofracking and Corporate Irresponsibility

Why teachers' salaries/benefits are too low

Environmentalists, Walmart foes want to stop Four Sparrows shopping center

Jeffries, Barron, James seen as leading candidates for Congressional seat now held by Towns

This has been clear for some time: Bloomberg's education statistics are damned lies

EPA To Community Meeting: "Your Canal Is In Good Hands!"


CURRENT TV NYC:

Current TV, founded by Al Gore, includes some of the best journalism in America today. In particular their Vanguard series is amazing and should not be missed by ANYONE who wants to know in depth coverage of some of the major stories in the world.

In NYC Current TV is available on:
Time Warner Digital: Channel 103
DIRECTV: Channel 358
DISH Network: Channel 196
Comcast Digital: Channel 107
AT&T U-Verse: Channel 189

Check out their program schedule here.


PROGRESSIVE TALK RADIO:
WWRL AM 1060
http://wwrl1600.com/default.asp

Check out the daily programming schedule here.

click here for their schedule of local events

WWRL Book Club
Become a member of the WWRL Morning Show, become a Morning Maniac.
Here’s your chance to be the recipient of a morning show “MUST READ” book.
Every Friday Mark Riley randomly selects a registrant, one per hour (6-9 am) and awards a “Must Read” that keeps up with world events

Click Here to Join!


BROOKLYN BLOGS:

Pardon Me for Asking

NO LAND GRAB

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn

Bed-Stuy Blog

Duffield St. Underground

Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

The Windsor Terrace Alliance is made up of residents, community groups and businesses of Windsor Terrace interested in advocating for our neighborhood.


NEW DEMOCRACY FOR NYC MEETING IN BROOKLYN:

DFNYC, the local affilliate of Howard Dean's Democracy for America, returns to Park Slope. Join the new group for truely progressive local and national politics.

Park Slope, Brooklyn - First Wed. of each month, 7:00 pm, 429A Bergen Street (between 5th Ave and 6th Ave), with host Josh Silverstein

Also in Brooklyn is the Midwood/Sheepshead Bay DFNYC meeting. Also on the First Wed of each month, 7:00 pm, at the home of Terry Rodie, 1170 Ocean Parkway, Apt 10K between Avenues J & L (white apartment building on the west side of Ocean Parkway)

Democracy for NYC (DFNYC) is committed to the ideals espoused by Democracy for America, the organization founded by Howard Dean, and the national network of local coalition groups dedicated to the same.

We work both locally and nationally to ensure that fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates are elected at all levels of government. We develop innovative ways to advocate for the issues that matter to our members and support legislation which has a positive effect in our communities. We promote transparency and ethical practices in government. We engage people in the political process and give them the tools to organize, communicate, mobilize, and enact change on the local, state, and national level.


Voterbook Brooklyn
Our grassroots group began in January 2007 to support Barack Obama for President. We are now a good citizen, political and social group. Our goal is to encourage and organize political participation by making politics fun and promoting our members' interests. We use of the internet to create offline discussion forums and political activities. While each of us may hold a different candidate or cause most dear at any given time, we are allied in our goals and ambition to create a better democracy. We have regular meetings in Brooklyn. You may tell others about this Meetup by pointing them to www.meetup.com/voterbookmanhattan. We appreciate your support. "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

Click here to join.


CLEAN UP NEW YORK POLITICS:
GRASSROOTS NYC: This is an organization founded by fellow Daily Gotham blogger and DFNYC activist Dan Jacoby.

GrassrootsNYC was created to provide a new method for generating real government reform in New York City. Instead of the old-fashioned method of fighting for reform (and usually not getting much done), GrassrootsNYC aims to leverage the power of tens of thousands of reform-minded New Yorkers to force our government to work for us - the way our Founding Fathers intended government to work.

This is a real chance for you to get involved in reforming our political system from the bottom up. To find out more, visit GrassrootsNYC's website and sign up for updates. This could be one of the most important groups you can get involved with if you want to see NYC politics cleaned up.


KEEP WAL-MART OUT OF NYC:

Bloomerg and the right wing New York Post want to help Wal-Mart open up in NYC even though Wal-Mart has been shown to deliberately destroy small businesses, use illegal immigrant labor paying them slave wages, and treating their workers badly.

I don't mind big chain stores. I like IKEA and CostCo and Trader Joe's in particular. But Wal-Mart has been shown to be bad for communities they open up in.

Wal-Mart has a gender discrimination suit against them still active: Meet the Woman Behind the Walmart Gender Discrimination Suit

Click here for National Organization of Women's Statement on WalMart's Gender Discrimination.

Learn about Wal-Mart’s Dismal Record on Worker and Customer Safety (PDF)

Wal-Mart's Wage and Hour Violations (PDF)

HELP STOP WAL-MART AND BLOOMBERG FROM RUINING NYC
Check out these websites to find out how you can fight back.

Wal-Mart Free NYC
Neighborhood Retail Alliance


BROOKLYN NAACP:
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. From the ballot box to the classroom, the thousands of dedicated workers, organizers, leaders and members who make up the NAACP continue to fight for social justice for all Americans.

Here are some local Brooklyn branches:

Ny City Dept. Of Social Services NAACP
Brooklyn, NY 11202
888-802-2536

Brooklyn NAACP
26 COURT STREET SUITE 2205
Brooklyn, NY 11242
718-243-2040


National Jewish Democratic Council:

The National Jewish Democratic Council is the trusted voice and resource for Democratic office holders, candidates and party organizations to better understand and engage with the Jewish community. NJDC mobilizes the Jewish community and convenes opinion leadership to support the Democratic promise for all Americans. We look to our Jewish tradition to guide us on the issues of social and economic justice, religious pluralism and the peace and security of the State of Israel that will be the hallmark of our work.

NJDC believes that through our work in Democratic Party politics, we can ensure a better world for our children and grandchildren.

For more information, or to become a member of the New York chapter, contact msudco2@aol.com.


Prospect Farm Compost Drop-off
Help out local growers with your scraps
Every Saturday 11am – 12pm
1194 Prospect Avenue next to Seeley St. Bridge
WHAT TO BRING: fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, green plants
WHAT NOT TO BRING: meat and fish scraps, cheese and dairy products, fats, oils and greasy foods, dog and cat waste.

Volunteers needed who can be there regularly to monitor and help with compost dropoff. Let me know if you’re available - prospectfarm@googlegroups.com
Prospect Farm's Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/prospectfarm?pli=1


PLASTIC RECYCLING IN BROOKLYN:
Recycling of plastics not accepted in the city recycling can be done at the Park Slope Food Co-op at 782 Union Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

Bring clean, dry plastic to the Coop's sidewalk during monthly recycling hours. We close up promptly. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the collection end time to allow for inspection and sorting of your plastic:

2nd Sat., 10 AM-2 PM
3rd Thur., 7 PM-9 PM
Last Sun., 10 AM-2 PM.

We currently collect....

* #1 and #6 transparent plastics (Labels OK. Mouth is wide or wider than the body, meaning NOT bottles.)
* #5 plastic tubs, cups & specifically marked lids and caps. Must be especially clean and dry. (Discard any with paper labels, or cut the labels off.)
* Plastic film and bubble wrap. 100% transparent only -- must be able to see through the plastic. No colored or opaque. No paper labels. Minimal writing OK.

All the above must be brought to the Coop CLEAN AND DRY.

And on a related note, you can help increase the demand for recycled plastic products by shopping through these companies that specialize in recycled plastic products (including lumber!!).


BROOKLYN REFORM DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATIONS:

Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats is a community-based Democratic club. Staunchly opposed to political corruption, we are proud of our independence and our commitment to progressive reform in city, state and national politics. We are a vehicle for citizen empowerment and making government more accountable to our neighborhoods.

We meet monthly, usually the fourth Thursday evening of the month in the basement of the Park Slope United Methodist Church, on the corner of 6th ave and 8th street, at 7:30pm. All are welcome.

New Kings Democrats (”NKD”) is a new, grassroots organization in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York whose primary mission is to recruit and prepare individuals to run for Kings County Democratic Committee. NKD hopes to achieve the goal of an inclusionary and participatory democracy by making it easy for individuals to run for local, elected office. NKD will serve as a training ground for individuals seeking higher office, and hopes to build and nurture a new group of Brooklyn Democratic leaders.

NKD meets the first Wed of each month, 7pm – 9pm at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 334 S. 5th St. (btwn Keap & Rodney St.), Brooklyn, NY

Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform:

A new group of eager reformers just getting started. For more info join them on face book or contact them:
email: phdr718@gmail.com
Phone: 646-820-1389


BROOKLYN CULTURE: Proteus Gowanus
543 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Gallery Hours
THURS & FRIDAYS, 3-6 pm
SAT & SUNDAYS, 12-6 pm

This is a great art space in an under-utilized, under visited part of Brooklyn. From their website:

Proteus Gowanus is an interdisciplinary gallery and reading room housed in a former 1900 box factory located centrally among several vibrant Brooklyn communities. Proteus Gowanus is named after both the Greek sea god who could change form and the neighboring Gowanus Canal, a changing post-industrial waterfront area with a thriving artistic community and a history dating back to the Revolutionary War and earlier.

Proteus Gowanus exhibitions, programs and publications are developed by a core collaborative of artists, writers and workers in other disciplines, with help from an extended community of PG correspondents. Proteus Gowanus also works reciprocally with a group of non-profit partner organizations that utilize the Proteus space and receive proceeds from sales. Proteus Gowanus incorporates the rich, interdisciplinary resources of its non-profit partners into exhibits and programs.

Some regular events at Proetus Gowanus:

Writers, readers and others are invited to join Study Hall and work in our gallery and library spaces from Mondays-Fridays, 10 am - 5 pm.

Every Thursday from 5-8 pm, the Fixers Collective meets at Proteus Gowanus. See Fixers Collective page for details and be sure to fill out the Fix Sheet. $5 donation.

Every Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 pm, the Writhing Society meets at Proteus to practice and discuss writing with constraints. $5 fee.
To join our mailing list, send email to info@proteusgowanus.com


Drinking Liberally Downtown Brooklyn:

An informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spirits
while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher.
Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place
to talk politics. You don't need to be a policy expert and this isn't a
book club - just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, vent
frustration and hang out in an environment where it's not taboo to talk
politics.

# When? First and Third Tuesday of each month, 7:00 pm
# Where? 4th Avenue Pub, 76 4th Avenue

ALSO Eating Liberally Central Brooklyn:
Second Tuesday of every month, 7 PM, in local Prospect Heights or Park Slope restaurants. Hosted by me! Contact me at mole333@gmail.com for more info.


Friends & Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG)

We are a community based grass-roots organization advocating for environmentally sound community planning for the Gowanus Canal neighborhoods.

The Gowanus Canal is a very unique resource for our community and all of New York. It has long historal significant as a pre-industrial and industrial transportation waterway in addition to playing a significant roll in the Battle of Brooklyn. This natural tidal estuary connects our urban world to the waters that surround us and opens our city to the natural habitat it was built upon. Even today, it provides an open sky, early industrial/estuary landscape that can not be matched anywhere in our city.

With extensive urban Brownfields and an Aquatic Brownfield standing, we work to see this water way brought back to life with water quality standards that sincerely meet state standards for fishable and contact use; not only for the community but also for local wildlife.

For more information: FROGGcommunity@earthlink.net


FOOD CO-OPS IN BROOKLYN:

New Food Co-op Coming to Brooklyn: The Greene Hill Food Coop

They now have bylaws and are recruiting new members.

Join the Greene Hill Food Co-op online today with PayPal!

We are starting a new 100% working, member-owned food coop to provide affordable, quality, responsibly-grown food within our neighborhoods of Clinton Hill/Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York.

Our goals are also based on the guiding principles of diversity and community. All are welcome! We have monthly General Meetings, as well as meetings of our committees. If you want updates, sign up here and we'd be happy to send you our newsletter.

Click the link above to join via PayPal or print the Greene Hill Food Co-op Membership Application (PDF), include your check, and mail to:

Greene Hill Food Co-op
PO Box 528
115 South Oxford Street
Brooklyn NY 11217

Bay Ridge Food Co-op

They are not active yet, but their website is: http://www.foodcoopbayridge.com

For more info, and if you want to get in at the start, you can email ( fcbrmembership@gmail.com ), call ( 347-247-8172 ) or follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/thefoodcoop) or on Facebook.

You can also attend New Member meetings to find out more:

Bay Ridge Library
(73rd St & Ridge)
1st Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm
3rd Saturday of each month, 10:30am


Park Slope Food Co-op
782 Union Street
Brooklyn, New York 11215
Phone: (718) 622-0560
FAX: (718) 622-5685
linda_wheeler@psfc.coop
http://www.foodcoop.com/

This is the largest Food Co-op in America. Joy and I are members. Low prices and high quality even if it can be a bit inconvenient at times.

Flatbush Food Cooperative
1318 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, New York 11226
Phone: (718) 284-9717
FAX: (718) 284-9719
info@flatbushfoodcoop.com
http://www.flatbushfoodcoop.com/

Established in 1976, and located on Cortelyou Road in the heart of Victorian Flatbush since 1985, Flatbush Food Coop is a community-owned, full-service natural foods store specializing in organic products. We are committed to serving the diverse community in which we are situated, and beyond, by providing goods and services that promote personal and environmental well-being. Like the 300 food coops across the nation with which we are affiliated, we are open to all—it is not necessary to be a member to shop. By joining the Coop, however, you become a joint owner of our business and are able to take additional savings on your purchases. There are opportunities for varying degrees of involvement in the coop, and our member-owners are able to influence the direction of our organization. We are particularly proud that the dozens of ethnic groups in Brooklyn’s most diverse neighborhood are reflected in our staff, our close to 3,000 members, and countless shoppers.


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