Crow Hill Assoc meeting Tomorrow & All your decoration are belong to us!

Neighborhood events and doings to mention, the Crow Hill Community Association is having a meeting tomorrow:

Tuesday, December 17, 7:30 PM
The Gospel Tabernacle Church
725 Franklin Ave
Between Park Pl. and Sterling Pl.

They ask that we join them for the last CHCA meeting of the year! They'll have updates from the community and nominations for 2014 board member candidates will be accepted.

"The election for new board members will take place at the January meeting in 2014. All nominations must be received by December 31, 2013. You can make nominations in person or via email to chca@crowhillcommunity.org."

Also as we are nearing Christmas & Kwanzaa (I know plenty who celebrate both) I'd like to share your gift of garland (as well as preventing this blog from looking like Whoville after the Grinch) so If you have a holiday decorations you'd like to share with the world, feel free to send an jpg with your name, and other information you feel (street name, years in the neighborhood, occupation, etc) to: umbrooklynborn@gmail.com


Happy Holidays!

Fourth of July 2009 NYC style

WhoooHahh! Fourth of July Weekend!!!




Weather BEAUTIFUL!! Friends everywhere, and I saw art; Smack Mellon, Culture; Favela Rising @ Bam Cinemas, Fireworks (boo Macy's, y'mean ya couldn't stick one barge of fireworks in the East River, really?!?) found that Pratt Campus is indeed temporarily closed (even to alumni) and saw more BMXers Skaters, AfroPunk rockers, plus the subsequent teenaged girls who love them, than you could grind a board to.

What I missed: 1st Sat @ Bklyn Museum, The Nathan's Coney Island Hotdog eating contest, the Park Delicatessen Skate Jam,The Int'l African Street Fair.

Here's some more pics, hope your weekend continues greatly, I have a roasted corn and Corona to finish at a bar near you (Brooklyn). Peace!!





















(photos by B'klynBorn©2009)

Weekend One-Liners 7/04-7/05

HAPPY JULY4th Brooklyn and Beyond!

Statue of Liberty's Crown re-opens: [NY1]

Macy's Fireworks (snubbed Brooklyn, boo...)

Int'l African Street Fair: http://www.iaafestival.org/

Afro Punk Festival @ BAM http://www.afropunk.com/page/afropunk-2009

B'klyn Museum 1st Saturdays: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php

Happy Brooklyn Day! ...you too Queens

Happy Brooklyn (-Queens) Day!

Today is Brooklyn day and you know what that means right-- what?

You don't know what that means? Allow me.

Originally Brooklyn Day was first celebrated in 1829 to promote religious instruction an evolved over the years until a wider celebration of civic pride in Brooklyn which eventually was forced to drag Queens along like a tag-along little sister into the spotlight and the day was re-christened Brooklyn-Queens day. At least that's how the Nuns at St. Teresa's used to make it sound.

If you want more than my biased historical account, here's a more detailed history about the day on Barry Popik's (whoever he is) site: http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/brooklyn_queens_day/

Brooklyn-Queens Day originated as a Protestant holiday celebrated in the City of Brooklyn in 1829. Back then it was known, and fondly remembered by some, as Anniversary Day. Anniversary Day is celebrated annually on the first Thursday in June, commemorating the founding of the First Sunday School on Long Island. The first parade was held in Brooklyn June 1829.

The New York State Legislature enacted, in 1959 at the request of the Queens Federation of Churches, the bill permitting the schools in both Kings and Queens Counties to be closed on this day. It was signed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller.

As a kid going to parochial school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn Day was the verification that I lived in the greatest city on Earth. How many other Cities have a special day that gets kids a day off from school, in June no less, like we needed it!

my photo from an unrelated Brooklyn celebration, feat: The Brooklyn Steppers

But sure enough the 1st Thursday in June is always celebrated as Brooklyn Day (unless the 1st Thursday occurs the same week as Memorial Day) and we Catholic or parochial school kids would get the day off, run amok, argue with truant minded police officers and or stand in front of the Public Schools like PS 316 and taunt the poor bastards locked within.

Looking for a Brooklyn-Queens Day event?

Here's one, uber-cool Clinton Hill resale kids clothing/toy story "Still Hip" is celebrating the day with a mix, and discounts on local eats:

HIP MIXER
bklyn-queens day edition
Thursday, June 4 | 7-9pm | FREE
In honor of Brooklyn-Queens Day I am inviting some of my born n' bread friends to mix it up. Find out what it was like growing up in NY and what is in store for the next generation of Brooklynites.

The hiP mIXer is a great way to network with local parents, teachers and the community of professionals that support Still Hip. There will be snacks and drinks as well as a great network of amazing people. It's all about community!
• 25% off all purchases from 7-8pm
• off at Luigi's Pizzeria
• off at Le Grand Dakar
• off at Nu Yu Day Spa (if you make an appointment during the mixer)
• Mirrors is making special BQ Coctails and extending their happy hour till 9pm!!!

More details on "Still Hip" at http://stillhipbrooklyn.com/stillhip/SHclasses.htm

So Celebrate the day, make your own Brooklyn-Queens history and pass it on!

Happy New Year 2009, to Brooklynites and the world

I rang in the New at a combination of friend's living rooms, cozy local pubs, and one occasionally pretentious mini-night club, all in Brooklyn of course. (apologies to my friends who partied in Astoria) I wanted to go but that wind wass wicked, kept blowing me right up out the subway station. And have you ever walked through Astoria on a windy winter night, jeez you might as well be naked, wet and flayed.

No pictures, not for nothing but who wants to see dark blurry images from Moe's? Or video of someone's dvr'd broadcast of a network feed from Times Square? Nope what I have is best wishes to everyone who reads this, and especially everyone who commented on this blog in last year, my first year blogging.

I got plans (who doesn't?) for this year's blog which I'll be detailing probably sunday.

In the meantime as I watch the sun rise and the buildings' molten glare for the first time in 2009's Brooklyn I remember a lovely young lady from a far away place telling me long ago that one should always see the new year sun to properly greet the year and set the tone for things to come.

Admittedly when she said that I thought of how many times I had failed to see the first day much less the first daylight of the year and wondered if I'd been doing it wrong in all my prior years, you know being blatto and what-not. But seeing as I'm awake and staring directly into 2009, remembering her optimistic words help warm an otherwise cold morn.


(as you know I'm big on images so I took this one
but since my camera is still broke from the spill this
is what I got. The pic seems perfect considering...)

PhotoWednesdayXmas Eve 08 Edition (Ho Ho Ho & a cake full'a rum)

I'm not big on Christmas. There. Smite me down oh jolly elf of western commerce! Go on fat man, make your move!! um ready for you, elfin magic is no substitute for street skillz!!

What I am big on (as my three point five devoted readers can attest) is telling stories about the spirit of Brooklyn past.

This Wednesday's photo was taken on Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn at what was once the Abraham & Straus department store, which is now a Macy's.
Is there even a store in Brooklyn for kids to go to and see Santa anymore? And is he progressively multicultural like this one was in the mid 70's? Granted given my politics today, I doubt I'd want to expose my phantom children to the big red hoax but it's such a cute scene, no wonder parents cave.

The look on my face is me staring at his hat, (I was fascinated by the faux fur, in drawings I imagined it was like a white tire around his head, I was weird) but most of my time on Afro-Santa's knee was spent telling him he wasn't Santa cause he was black. Hopefully somewhere in the coming Obama age there's a Mexican kid trying to negotiate a Korean Santa thus demonstrating how far we've really come.

"A&S" as it was referred to for years, to understate, was a major store, rivaling all others of it's day. Real old Brooklynites will remember it as the big name on a Fulton Street crowded with stores like Korvette's, McCory's, Mays (not to be confused with Macy's) and Woolworths. All those stores are gone, no sadness, things change. But the A&S building still stands, it's a great grand Art Deco structure and worth it to check out even if you don't need to shop and if you want to get some history check the wiki entry for it here. Even better the NYTimes goes into architectural detail here.

All that to say I remember the photo, the day, being a kid and not really being excited to go see santa as much as I was excited to be outside, to see all the people shopping, walk thru that huge A&S first floor, take the ancient escalators, or even better, the elevators each had operators with that according fold gate they'd manually shut. I remember that experience and my family most of all. My grandmother took me have the photo taken. As we were leaving the apt my uncle, about 18 at the time insisted on coming and kept telling me what to do during the photo (that's his head from the left).

I remember that and more, all good times. I'm skimping on the story because the point is I hope these next days will bring you peace, warmth and if nothing else memories to love.

good grief

This could have been the "Photo Wednesday" feature,
but I could never wait to open presents either:

This is from Prospect Heights.t'was the 1st Deco I saw tis season.

I'm posting this now because of my original plan gone awry, which was to go to all the neighborhoods that I remember as throwing up the best Holiday Decos and posting one a day until the shopping I mean, holiday season is over.

But my camera took a nasty spill a few days back and neither it nor I have recovered. It's amazing how much a camera that don't take pictures feels just like a lump of coal.