Greening the Ridge is today! Head on down to 69th Street Veterans Memorial Pier!

From our friends at the SRWA:

GREENING THE RIDGE 2009!
SUNDAY, JUNE 14th, 2009 at Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
10am- 6pm

Festival Schedule:
9am-10am: Exhibitor setup
10am: Festival Opening Ceremony
10am-Noon: Xavier High School Jazz Band “Bailout”
11am, 1pm, and 3pm: Dance Performance Installation, “What We Can See From Here,” by Cassie Mey and Jesse Phillips-Fein
Noon: Dance Performance Installation- Kids Workshop!

2:00pm: OLPH Twirlers!
2:30pm: SRWA Green Youth Award Ceremony
Noon to 6pm: Pill Hill Radio and Musical Guests
6pm: Festival end

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance is pleased to announce our Second Annual Greening the Ridge Festival in 2009! This annual summer festival will bring vendors, agencies, programs, and individuals to the pier for an educational festival on how to green our community.

Building upon the success of our First Annual GTR Festival in 2008, this year’s event will bring even more people, and more inter-active booths to the Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In addition, we are unveiling our Green Youth Award Program at this year’s festival, click here for more information!

Special music entertainment provided by: Xavier High School Jazz Band, and Pill Hill Radio with Musical Guests!

Special dance performance:
What We Can See From Here
Performance Installation by Cassie Mey & Jesse Phillips-Fein

Meet our current sponsors & exhibitors:

Petri Plumbing
Kettle Black
Alley Cat Exterminating
Green Spa
Ben Bay Realty Co.
Ben Bay Realty Co. of Bay Ridge

Smart Car Manhattan

Gallery 364
Bay Ridge CSA
Bay Ridge Food Co-op
Greenmarket
Center for Urban Greenscaping (CuGreen)
EPA
Narrows Botanical Gardens
Ella Vickers Recycled Sailcloth Collection
Petit Oven

Circles International Natural Foods
Bettencourt Green Building Supplies
WowGreen
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Farm Sanctuary
Natural Resources Defense Council
FDNY Smoke House
GreenBrooklyn
CleanAir NY

Garden Direct
Xaverian High School Environmental Club
Scandinavian East Coast Museum
Transportation Alternatives
Life Scout Troop 20, Edward Maddalena
Bay Ridge Historical Society

Plus many more to be added!

This all-day festival is FREE to the public.

More info at SRWAlliance.org.

If you are interested in obtaining more information, please contact Heather McCown: heather@srwalliance.org / (917) 971-0007.

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance gratefully acknowledges support from Councilman Vincent Gentile, Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer, Congressman Michael McMahon, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and State Senator Marty Golden.

Past, Present, Future of Food: Bushwick, Brooklyn
A(n Urban) (Farm) Salon
March 7, 2009
1:00 to 4:00
Bushwick Public Library
340 Bushwick Avenue, L train to Montrose stop
pastpresentfuturefood.wordpress.com

What is this place, Bushwick, Brooklyn? At one point it was all farmland, and (with a little help from Queens) farmers raised enough food to feed the metropolis that New York City was already in the 18th and 19th century. There were farms everywhere. But today? There are trees here and there, maybe a couple of gardens in the middle of buildings, you can see dirt some places, but food is not made here. Food can be bought – anything you can imagine from around the world can be found here – but grown?

On March 7, as part of the Arts in Bushwick SITE Festival, we will explore how Brooklyn and Bushwick in particular went from being so rich an agricultural community to the desert it is today, and we’ll talk about what people can and ARE doing to grow food here. How did it happen that all the land was developed? What kind of food can you get to eat here now? What’s made here? Is it good for you in any way, shape, or form? Do Twinkies count as food? How about Cup-O-Noodles? Is ketchup a vegetable?

What do you have to do to get healthy food? Assuming that as animals, land, earth, plants, other animals (human or not), and agriculture are important to us, what should we do about it?We have rooftops, streets, empty lots, and plenty of light. We have water. What can we grow? What would happen if we ripped up Metropolitan Avenue and planted corn and potatoes? What would happen to the community? The price of homes? Could we raise fish in English Kills? Would people in Woodhull Hospital benefit fig trees in front of the building? Would juvenile crime decrease if teens had beans and beets to take care of or knew how to make bread out of the wheat they grew?

We will pose these questions and many more to a group of people that eat in Bushwick and that have some vested interest in their community. That means everyone. Hopefully you. We invite community activists, librarians, teachers, conservationists, urban planners, cooks, business owners, nutritionists, moms and dads and kids, writers, architects, physicists, gardeners, more kids, puppies, nuns, griffons, ghosts, clowns, vampires, artists, - anyone that can eat food, solid, mashed up or dripped in on an IV is welcome to come and to discuss thestate of food in Bushwick in a completely open forum.

What else do you need to know?

There will be food and drink
There will not be a panel
You may be called on. By anyone
You will be encouraged to say things you may think are stupid
People will be interested in what you have to say

Who are we?

Gabe McMackin is a cook that lives in Brooklyn
Nate Hill is a Librarian that lives in Brooklyn

How do you get a hold of us?

Gabe: gabemcmackin@gmail.com
Nate: nathanielhill@gmail.com

For more info on the Arts In Bushwick SITE Festival, go here: artsinbushwick.org.

To help promote the festival, check out the downloadable posters, flyers and web graphics.

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is presenting the 7th annual BKLYN DESIGNS showcase, a fresh contemporary design tradeshow that presents Brooklyn’s most innovate designers specializing in furniture, lighting, carpeting, flooring, and wall coverings. This year the show is taking place at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, Brooklyn, May 8th - 10th.

In 2009, the name of the design game is NEW and FRESH, with an eye on SUSTAINABILITY. After the celebrity jury’s tough evaluation of over 100 applicants, BKLYN DESIGNS has selected 45 of the hottest contemporary designers Brooklyn has to offer. Fans of this exceptional design show can expect new and vigorous designs in 2009!!

For more information about BKLYN DESIGNS 2009 and the list of exhibitors please visit us at: bklyndesigns.com.

I would like to introduce a group I am involved in, Brooklyn Cohousing (www.brooklyncohousing.org), that may be especially attractive to members of this group. Cohousing is a type of housing that gracefully blends privacy and community. People live in private units of varying sizes, from studios to large 3 and 4 bedrooms, but also benefit from access to extensive, well-designed common spaces. They are able to eat meals together and be involved in each other’s lives to the extent they choose.

To construct Cohousing in Brooklyn, we have gotten together over a dozen families who have raised over a million dollars to purchase a site on a landmarked historic block in Fort Greene, to construct a beautiful set of buildings designed for this purpose. These buildings include a renovated church and historic townhouses clustered around a large landscaped courtyard, with gardens, green spaces, and children’s play areas.

We are accepting new members, and expect our membership to fill up quickly. We expect to have approximately 40 households in our Community. We welcome diverse people of all ages, races, cultures, religions and family types to consider joining us. If you’re interested, you can come to one of our orientations or social events, which are held at least once a week (see below for up-coming dates).

Find out more by looking at our website www.brooklyncohousing.org, emailing outreach@brooklyncohousing.org or calling (718) 374-5177.

Orientations are a time for project overview, questions and answers. All are welcome. After attending an orientation prospective members can come to observe a general meeting.

• Monday, December 8th, 6pm
  at the Belarusan Church
  401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street)
  children welcome
• Wednesday, December 10th, 6:30pm
  Neighborhood Preservation Center
  232 E 11th Street
  children welcome
• Sunday, December 21st, noon
  at the Park Slope Food Coop
  children welcome

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR OFFER TO PURCHASE REAL ESTATE

The First Family

Still in disbelief? I am.

I’m sure everyone is fully saturated with commentary about the historical meaning of the 2008 Presidential Election and the promise of a newer, greener life in America…

…but I would like to take this moment to personally thank every single person who did something to help get this extraordinary man elected. To everyone who put up with my political posts and rants, clicked on Obama-related links on GBK, made phone calls, knocked on doors, emailed their friends, or otherwise volunteered: thank you!

Before we get back to our regularly-scheduled green programming, Politico drops word of a spectacular photographic retrospective of the Obama campaign — from the lead-up to the now-legendary Iowa caucus to this Tuesday’s historical election. The photos are just a fraction of the incredible body of work produced by Brooklyn-based photojournalist Scout Tufankjian, and it is called (appropriately enough) Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History-Making Presidential Campaign.

Yes We Can is a comprehensive and intimate portrait of this transformative campaign, ushering a new era in American politics. With more than 200 color photographs by Tufankjian, the book transports readers to each emotional stop on this historical journey, punctuated with highlights from Obama’s most memorable speeches. Tufankjian artfully captures the impact this amazing candidate had with Americans of all stripes.

From coffee shops and diners to auto manufacturing plants and bowling alleys, Tufankjian followed Obama as he wooed potential voters in middle class neighborhoods as well as in poverty-stricken Indian reservations. She covered the primaries, the debates, and the final weeks of the hard-fought campaign, shooting more than 12,000 images—compiling the widest variety, the most intense moments, and the greatest ecstatic receptions to greet the young politician on the campaign trail. Yes We Can is as much about Americans and their visions for America’s future as it is about the man that gave them voice—and hope.

There is a great video — a feature by NBC’s Brian Williams about Scout’s work — on the powerHouse Books page. Go watch it.

The book will be out on December 8th, and is being published by DUMBO, Brooklyn-based publisher powerHouse Books.

You can pre-order the book here.

And speaking of photos, check out a set of truly awesome behind-the-scenes pictures of the Obama family and the Biden family waiting for the election returns on Tuesday night. The photo at the top of the post is also from this awesome set on flickr, shots by photographer David Katz from Obama for America.

Thank you again, everyone. We did it! Now let’s get back to work advocating for strong green policies — yes, the change we need — for both Brooklyn and beyond.