The Optimist is proud to be friends with Ellen Enders, one of Greenpoint's brightest neighborhood activists and a driving force behind The Recession Survival Fair (also one of the funniest people on earth).
Ellen conceived The Recession Survival Fair along with some of her fellow alumni of the Brooklyn for Barack juggernaut, who wanted to do more than just pay lip service to the President's call for service.
The Recession Survival Fair will be a non-partisan community service event to assist Brooklyn and New York City residents in tackling the challenges springing from the economic recession. Attendees will have free access to important information and professional help on a range of relevant topics, including healthcare, food and nutrition, job search, debt and personal finance, and tenants’ rights and foreclosure.
Who doesn't need at least one of those things these days?
Here's your chance to get all of them for FREE!
On top of that, DKMS, the world's largest bone marrow donor center, will also be conducting a drive for potential donor matches. All help will be provided free of charge, although participants will also be invited to offer their own expertise to the community in exchange.
This event gets the Optimist's absolute highest stamp of approval and makes him feel warm and fuzzy all over. This is really bringing change to Brooklyn!
Here's the 4 Ws:
Who: Brooklyn for Barack (718-757-8572) in association with The Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association
What: Recession Survival Fair, to provide professional info and help to Brooklyn and New York City residents hurt by the economic recession
When: Saturday, June 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, 230 Decatur St. (near Lewis Ave.) in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
And an H:
How: Subway: A, C to Utica Ave; Bus: B15 to Bainbridge Street; B25, B26 to Lewis Avenue; B43, B46 to MacDonough Street.
Showing posts with label Brit in Brooklyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brit in Brooklyn. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
Greenpoint's Black Death and Joe Lentol's Inaction
For those of you Greenpointers who didn't catch this story in the Times last week, I wanted to share with you this troubling article about the horrific health hazard that lurks unseen in our community. To sum up the article in brief, the big nasty secret no one in Greenpoint wants to talk about is that the air we are breathing is toxic.
And not just a little toxic. Very toxic.
To make things worse, everyone is complicit in keeping this big nasty secret quiet. Why? Well, the majority of us prefer to live with our heads in the sand, muttering the mantra, "Smell no evil, breathe no evil."
But many more in the community have their mouths shut, because they are afraid of their self-interest. Home owners don't want their property values to go down. Business owners don't want to drive away customers. Polluters don't want to acknowledge their mess. And, of course, our politicians want to deny culpability for failing to deal with the genuine environmental crisis on their hands, so they can keep on getting elected.
In the Times article, Councilman David Yassky dodges responsibility by throwing up his hands and lamenting Greenpoint's environmental woes. I find his empathy so comforting. The only problem is my lungs aren't soothed by his rhetoric. Doubtless, if the Times had bothered pressing a politician for more than a trite sound bite for a change, Yassky would have fallen back on something along the lines of that he has been trying his best to clean up the environment, but he's only been in office for seven years and there's only so much one can do in less than a decade.
Fine. So then what is Assemblyman Joe Lentol's excuse? Lentol's been in office since 1972. If he hasn't been able to make significant strides in addressing the environmental calamities torturing his district in three and a half plus decades, well, it seems pretty clear that he's not up to the task. I am certain that I will be challenged on this point by Lentol and Co. and emailed a list of the Assemblyman's environmental accomplishments by his friendly staff, but, quite frankly, their objections won't help me breathe any easier either. If they want to be really helpful, perhaps they can send us a breakdown on comparitive cancer and asthma rates for Northern Greenpoint versus somewhere like Park Slope, and we'll let the facts cough for themselves.
Oh, and let me be clear, I'm not excusing State Senator Martin Malavé Dilan. He just never does anything period, so I figured it wasn't even worth excoriating him for this particular instance of incompetance.
But, Brooklyn Optimist, why are you so mad, you ask? You're not being terribly optimistic.
True.
Allow me to explain. Today, I am writing to you as a Brooklyn County Committeeman elected by his neighbors in Northern Greenpoint to speak up for them when no else has the guts to do so. Today, I am writing to you as a resident of Sutton Street, who is scared shitless that his block is being showcased in The New York Times as Brooklyn's Silent Spring. Today, I am writing you as a husband worried sick about his pregnant wife. Today, I am writing you as a father-to-be, who wonders if he has already been remiss as a parent to let his child be born into a swirling tempest of potential health hazards.
This article isn't about punditry. It's about people.
People who deserve clean air.
Maybe if David Yassky lived in Greenpoint, he'd be more concerned too.
And not just a little toxic. Very toxic.
To make things worse, everyone is complicit in keeping this big nasty secret quiet. Why? Well, the majority of us prefer to live with our heads in the sand, muttering the mantra, "Smell no evil, breathe no evil."
But many more in the community have their mouths shut, because they are afraid of their self-interest. Home owners don't want their property values to go down. Business owners don't want to drive away customers. Polluters don't want to acknowledge their mess. And, of course, our politicians want to deny culpability for failing to deal with the genuine environmental crisis on their hands, so they can keep on getting elected.
In the Times article, Councilman David Yassky dodges responsibility by throwing up his hands and lamenting Greenpoint's environmental woes. I find his empathy so comforting. The only problem is my lungs aren't soothed by his rhetoric. Doubtless, if the Times had bothered pressing a politician for more than a trite sound bite for a change, Yassky would have fallen back on something along the lines of that he has been trying his best to clean up the environment, but he's only been in office for seven years and there's only so much one can do in less than a decade.
Fine. So then what is Assemblyman Joe Lentol's excuse? Lentol's been in office since 1972. If he hasn't been able to make significant strides in addressing the environmental calamities torturing his district in three and a half plus decades, well, it seems pretty clear that he's not up to the task. I am certain that I will be challenged on this point by Lentol and Co. and emailed a list of the Assemblyman's environmental accomplishments by his friendly staff, but, quite frankly, their objections won't help me breathe any easier either. If they want to be really helpful, perhaps they can send us a breakdown on comparitive cancer and asthma rates for Northern Greenpoint versus somewhere like Park Slope, and we'll let the facts cough for themselves.
Oh, and let me be clear, I'm not excusing State Senator Martin Malavé Dilan. He just never does anything period, so I figured it wasn't even worth excoriating him for this particular instance of incompetance.
But, Brooklyn Optimist, why are you so mad, you ask? You're not being terribly optimistic.
True.
Allow me to explain. Today, I am writing to you as a Brooklyn County Committeeman elected by his neighbors in Northern Greenpoint to speak up for them when no else has the guts to do so. Today, I am writing to you as a resident of Sutton Street, who is scared shitless that his block is being showcased in The New York Times as Brooklyn's Silent Spring. Today, I am writing you as a husband worried sick about his pregnant wife. Today, I am writing you as a father-to-be, who wonders if he has already been remiss as a parent to let his child be born into a swirling tempest of potential health hazards.
This article isn't about punditry. It's about people.
People who deserve clean air.
Maybe if David Yassky lived in Greenpoint, he'd be more concerned too.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
My Morning Read
On this sleepy Sunday morning, there's a lot to discover from the comfort of your home:
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn writes about "Definitely, Maybe", the latest movie lensed by Park Slope cinematographer Florian Ballhaus.
Miss Heather at New York Shitty has an adorable kitten named Hooper in need of adoption.
Hideyoshi at DUMBO NYC has a bunch of cool links to neighborhood events, including an invite only Erykah Badu show.
The Brit in Brooklyn's got a spectacular desktop image of the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building.
And even Republican Congressman Vito Fossella is appalled by President Bush's proposed $200 billion cut to Medicare's funding, according to The Brooklyn Eagle.
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn writes about "Definitely, Maybe", the latest movie lensed by Park Slope cinematographer Florian Ballhaus.
Miss Heather at New York Shitty has an adorable kitten named Hooper in need of adoption.
Hideyoshi at DUMBO NYC has a bunch of cool links to neighborhood events, including an invite only Erykah Badu show.
The Brit in Brooklyn's got a spectacular desktop image of the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building.
And even Republican Congressman Vito Fossella is appalled by President Bush's proposed $200 billion cut to Medicare's funding, according to The Brooklyn Eagle.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Idiotarod 2008: The Idiocy and the Ecstasy
The results of this year's Idiotarod are in and the winner was not Mitt Romney. That coveted honor went to Team Danger Zone, whose dramatic path to the gold was assiduously detailed in real-time by The Gothamist.Reactions to this year's race from borough residents ranged from amusement at the event's inanity to outrage over the garbage it left behind. Nonetheless, the shameless spectacle of it all made the race choice fare for Brooklyn's photographers. Among the talented who stooped to turning their lens on the Idiotarod were Adrian Kinloch, who snapped the portrait above as part of a gallery of images on his Brit in Brooklyn blog, and Jake Dobkin on his fabulous photoblog Bluejake.
Those who think the intrepid competitors in Idiotarod MMVIII will never make anything of themselves need only turn to Mark Twain's insight to be chastened: “Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
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