Chabad.edu: Welcome to “Extreme Sports: Jewish Style.” I’ll leave the suicidal skateboarding to the kids. Being a rabbi, I’m more of a dreidel blackbelt!

While they aren’t as transformative as the Kabbalah or as lucrative as a lottery win, I’m uniquely qualified to reveal to you another very powerful secret of the universe: the Upside Down Dreidel Spin.

This is the bubbie of all spins, but in the spirit of Chanukah, remember: just as the oil in the temple burned for eight days, a great dreidel player must cultivate patience and perseverance in order to master this move.

Between Council members (representatives of local elected officials, neighborhood associations and community groups), BBPDC staff and members of the public, about 50 people were in attendance.

Much of the meeting was on organizational matters for the Council. Members will serve two year terms; meetings will held bi-monthly, and with more advance notice than the 24 hours notice given for this meeting. Draft bylaws are being circulated for review.

Following opening comments by Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and Assemblywoman Joan Millman (Councilman Steven Levin and Senator Daniel Squadron arrived and spoke later in the meeting), a briefing was provided on construction status by Regina Myer, head of the BBPDC:
- Restrooms at the Pier 6 uplands have opened
- The first section of the Pier 6, including landscaping and volleyball courts will open in the Spring.
- Work is continuing on Pier 5, including underwater repairs of the pilings; landscaping will begin next year, to open in 2012.
- Reconstruction of Empire-Fulton Ferry Park should be done by next summer, including installation of the merry-go-round
- Uplands of piers 3 and 5 should open in the winter 2012-spring 2013 period.

In other park news:

Staff is developing park rules (17- page draft document online)
- park hours 6 am – 1 am
- No skateboarding
- No biking on walking paths
- No dogs on lawn (dog run on pier 6)
- No fishing (a designated fishing area will be built later)

(This led to question about access for political rallies/gatherings and the rights of vendors. BBP is following City park guidelines and court rulings.)

RFP responses for use of the Tobacco Warehouse were due Oct 13 and are being reviewed.

An RFP has been issues for operation of the full restaurant on Pier 6, set to open next summer.

BBPDC has established a Committee on Alternatives to Housing. A Consultant has been secured to assist with review of options to provide alternative funding for park needs. The review process will start shortly, and public hearings will be held in December. A draft report is due in 120 days.

Discussion was held on potential uses of temporary vacant spaces (for example the former warehouse site). BBPDC say they do not have available funding to make use of these spaces.

Concerns were raised about the impact of using chipseal and gravel on the pathways on access to the park for the disables. A request was made to consider switching to alternative materials.

An issue discussed at some length was what the role of the CAC will be, and whether the BBPDC will give its recommendations due consideration. Judi Francis, a CAC member and a leading figure in past opposition to the park funding strategies expressed concern that the recommendations of previous advisory boards had largely been ignored by decision makers. The meeting chair said the plan was for the CAC to brief the BBPDC Board at each of its meetings.

In line with the discussion on the Council role, a motion was introduced and passed to ask the Board to make the responses to the Tobacco Warehouse RFP public. A motion was also passed to add Sandy Balboza, head of the Atlantic Ave betterment association to the CAC

The meeting ended at 8:15 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for January 4, 2010.

With the hullabaloo over church goers parking in the Henry Street bike lane on Sundays about to prove Godwin’s Law, it’s time to shine a light on the far more pernicious and rampant law breaking by bicyclists, skaters and other scofflaws in Brooklyn Heights.  Yes folks, BIKES ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE PROMENADE.  Neither are ROLLER SKATES, SCOOTERS AND SKATEBOARDS.  As Mrs. Fink, Baby Fink and I were lounging on the Promenade Sunday afternoon, we noticed scores of people breaking this rule.  You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows here — reckless bikers and skaters on the Brookyn Heights Promenade are a much bigger threat to public safety than a few parishioners parking in the Henry Street bike lane for a few hours on Sundays.

*Full disclosure – I am a new member of First Presbyterian Church but that has no bearing on my position regarding the bike lane “controversy.”

New York Times: Something was rubbing me the wrong way, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I put my finger on a prewadded NSF shirt, a garment affecting all the “realness” of a Vietnam veteran camouflage jacket, replete with a living-under-a-freeway patina ($195). On the next rack, there was another retro-camouflage jungle-jacket (Rag & Bone, $475). Among the handbags was a brass-studded Desert Storm sand-tone canvas field pack ($295). A fur-lined sleeveless Army parka in olive drab was $2,300.

Clothing is a language, and the Brooklyn Barneys seemed to have one sartorial message being recited like a mantra on virtually every rack: lock ’n’ load.

She sums it up thus:

It’s haute Salvation Army à la Salvador Dalí and the wacky sensibilities that brought urinals into the art gallery. Brooklyn’s bourgeoisie may safely let its beard mat into felt and start shouting at passing cars: It knows where to shop to look sexily impoverished.

She does have some nice words for the staff, whom she writes are “affable”, and resemble “a skateboard team composed of the cast of ‘Glee’.” She also nearly echoes BHB reader my2cents’ description of the target market by describing the women’s fashions as ” irresistible to the well-heeled young yoga-mom.”

Our pals at Brownstoner checked out the huge packet of info sent out last night by CB2 and report back on the reno of Squibb Park and the planned bridge connecting it to Brooklyn Bridge Park:

Brownstoner: At last month’s Community Board 2 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. head Regina Myer and Matthew Urbanski of Michael Van Valkenburg Associates, the landscape architect for the park, gave an update on the renovation of Squibb Park and the planned construction of the bridge over Furman Street that would connect Squibb Park to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Urbanski noted that the first phase—park house/comfort station, skate elements, improved landscaping, new fencing and new pavement—of the Squibb Park renovation is already underway. Urbanski also noted that the bridge will be an open truss structure; steel members will be formed into a truss, with steel mesh between steel guardrails and a concrete pathway. The span of the bridge is expected to be roughly 230 feet. The bridge is forecast to cost between $4 and $5 million but, as part of Phase 2 of the Squibb renovation, is not yet funded. The park, including its skateboarding features, is expected to be usable this summer, though.

Review all related docs after the jump.Zip file containing all CB2 docs from May 2 meeting.

Update: 9/27 Due to rain here’s the new schedule:
It’s raining! We’re shifting some of the activities for Montague Street’s Summer Space event to the late afternoon, when it’s supposed to dry out a bit. See below for a revised schedule:

12:00 volleyball (as scheduled)
3:30 Heights Players perform excerpts from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”
4:00 all-ages parade of decorated bikes, trikes, scooters and strollers
4:30 kids yoga from Yoga People

All-day activities (skateboarding, drawing lessons, chess, basketball, face painting, outdoor lounge, sidewalk sales, etc.) will be offered from 3 to 5.

New times are, of course, weather permitting! Look for notice boards along the street with revised information!

Brooklyn Heights’ final Summer Space event will be held on Montague Street this Sunday, September 27th, from noon to 5 p.m.

Scheduled events include:

· 12 p.m.: street volleyball, sponsored by the Dodge YMCA

· 1 p.m.: an all-ages wheeled parade of bikes, trikes, scooters, and strollers. Kids and grownups can decorate their ride, then come join in a fancy promenade down Montague Street.

· 2 p.m.: free outdoor kids’ yoga, offered by Yoga People

· 3 p.m.: a performance from “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” by the Heights Players

Other great free activities will be offered all day, including:

· skateboarding lessons from the Brooklyn Skateboarding Academy

· face-painting by Ricky’s NYC

· a sidewalk-chalk community art project

· toys and games — hula hoops, jump ropes, and more

· a fire truck, courtesy of the Middagh Street firehouse

Organized by the Montague Street BID, the first week, September 13th will be focused on food, featuring discounts and samples from more than a dozen Montague Street eateries. September 20th will be dedicated to mind and body, with free outdoor yoga lessons and massages. Finally, September 27th will focus on games, with outdoor hula-hooping and free skateboard lessons. The events will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

A skateboarder was attacked for his iPod on August 15th near the corner of Furman and Montague streets. The 24-year-old was riding his skateboard just before 10 p.m. when he was approached by three youth thugs who threatened physical injury if he didn’t hand over his music player.

A 53-year-old woman was assaulted and robbed near the corner of Jay and York streets in the early hours of August 11. Just before 5 a.m. the woman was approached by a young thug who punched her in the face, pushed her to the ground and stole her shoulder bag, containing a thermos and an MP3 player.

More than $15,000 in cash was stolen from a woman on Water Street who subletted her apartment from April to August. The woman returned to her home, between Main and Old Dock streets, this month to find that the giant wad of cash she had hidden in a wooden box as well as the $4,500 rent check the subletter had made out to her for his stay had been stolen.

Nearly $5,000 in property was taken on August 14 from an apartment on Front Street.  A couple who were house-sitting returned to the apartment to find $2,000 laptop, $1,000 in clothes and more than $1,500 in jewelry all missing.

The raft of vehicle thefts continues this week with two missing bikes. On August 10, at the corner of Court and Livingston streets, a bicycle that was chained to a street sign went missing when the owner returned five hours later. Two days later, on Monroe Place near Clark Street, a Vespa scooter, valued at $3,500, was reported missing.

background photo by fkuffel

NYC Parks Commish Adrian Benepe says that the shuttered Squibb Park might make a great skateboard park for tweens:

Yournabe.com: “We got some great parks in Brooklyn Heights for younger kids and they are packed, but there’s no place for the older kids, the eight− to 12−year−olds,” Benepe said, speaking to this newspaper after a recent real estate roundtable lunch at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

“It could be a great place for the older kids with a small skateboard feature in it,” he said.

Benepe said he understands that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) wants to use the half−acre park as an entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park, but it hasn’t been designed yet.

Last week it was announced that budget cuts had killed plans to make Squibb an entry point for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

BHB/Sarah Portlock

Last night we went to the Community Board 2 monthly meeting which was, as always, chock full of interesting tidbits of information and news. We will recap the highlights for you here.

Going postal: Good news! There’s a new post office in town! The USPS will open a storefront outpost in DUMBO in the near future, to alleviate overcrowding at the busy station, said Cadman Plaza Station manager George Baez. The storefront at 85 Front St., which is between Main and Washington streets, will have an automated postal center, which are the machines that process your post via credit card and without a clerk.
As for the busy Cadman Plaza branch, Baez addressed customer service complaints and said he has hired “mystery shoppers” to evaluate the clerks and general service. He also said that the stamp machines in the lobby will not be replaced — they were outdated and broken — but the two automated postal centers, which are popular, are open 24/7. And, yes, stamp prices will go up by 2 cents on May 11. Buy the Forever stamps and they’re valid, well, forever.

Get involved: District 13’s Community Education Council is looking for new members (and no, you don’t have to be a parent to apply). Call the Borough President’s office at (718) 802-3700.

Weatherize your home, simplify your life: You might be eligible for a free energy audit in your home or building — call the Community Environmental Center at (718) 784-1444 or visit www.cecenter.org. Their team comes in, figures out where you’re losing heat and cooling, and provides solutions on how to fix the drafts.

Small biz newz: The deadline to apply for the Department of Small Business Service’s Avenue NYC program is April 10. The program provides grants to community-based nonprofit organizations to create business improvement districts or otherwise prop up a neighborhood.

Skate hate: And what is with those skateboarding hooligans who take over Henry Street, in front of the dorm? One Henry Street resident wants to know! Let us know in the comments if you’ve confronted any problems here, and we’ll investigate.

Art smart: There’s a new art gallery and café opening at 338 Atlantic Ave. (near Hoyt Street), called Clover Café and Art Gallery. The grand opening will be on April 8, but the café is now open and a selected display of the owner’s private art collection.

And we’re hard at work on some other brewing neighborhood news, so stay tuned!

BHB has one simple rule – if you’re over 25 and your last name is NOT “Hawk” then you should not ride a skateboard.  Not that we’re prudes or fraidycats, we’re downright practical.  Anyone over 30 knows that 25 is a mere 7 years away from 32 which a friend of mine once called “the age of the random injury”.  But fear of a fractured femur won’t stop us from giving you this report from Hillel sent to the BHB Inbox:

Homage (the skate shop on Smith St.)  held an és sponsored game of SKATE at Cadman Plaza this past Sunday.  It was great, a 13 year old kid from Texas beat out much older competitors.  Heres a link to my blog, www.hilleldov.blogspot.com which then has a link to a gallery of photos I took at the event.  I know the news is a couple of days old, but I thought you might be interested anyways.

While the Paping Soapbox Derby may no longer be allowed to roll down “Watchtower Hill”, it won’t stop “those crazy kids” from “shredding” down on their skateboards.

And oh yeah…. when we were kids we didn’t wear helmets… which explains a lot about my generation (aka Generation Ecch).