The book festival begins with a launch, and this year it happened on June 15: the Brooklyn Book Festival (BKBF) announced the first 150 writers who will come together for this special occasion, which will open on September 11, 2017. Children’s Day and Festival Day, on September 16 and 17, respectively were also announced at the 11th annual BKBF launch. Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC is on the list, as well as Lynn Nottage, Pultzer Prize winner twice over; and children’s book illustrator Liniers of Argentina; and Karl Ove Knausgård; writer of the autobiographical novels “My Struggle.” “I am proud to welcome back the Brooklyn Book Festival for another year of engaging book lovers of all ages,” said Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President. “It is important that we empower Brooklynites with the endless possibilities of human imagination by encouraging reading for all, particularly our youngest.” The rich diversity of Brooklyn’s population will be mirrored by the participation of authors from all over the globe. The following names are just a small example of who to expect joining the festival. • Erna Brodber Jamaica • Ali Boccy Eckermann Australia • Santiago Gamboa Columbia • Wioletta Greg Poland • Peter Kimani Kenya • Young-ha Kim South Korea Colson Whitehead will also be on hand to receive the annual Best of Brooklyn Award. Beloved Brooklyn writers Maira Kalman, Lynn Nottage, Sean Qualls and Selina Alko will also be lauded at the festival. Former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz founded the Brooklyn Book Festival in 2006 as a way to exhibit literature’s “Brooklyn voice.” Participants can expect to see authors in all the different manifestations of their writing careers, and in all the various genres, including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, comics, young adult, and more. Panel discussions will focus on issues of current political and cultural import, such as reporting on refugees, the Supreme Court, and more, with nearly 100 programs on 13 stages on Festival...
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After four years and over 43 million trips, the country’s largest bike share program, Citi Bike, had its first fatality when Dan Hanegby was hit by a bus in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. Hanegby was a 36-year old investment banker who was riding a Citi Bike on 26th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues when he swerved to go around a parked van. He then hit the bus that was traveling next to him, fell off his bicycle and landed under the rear tires of the bus. He was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. Although clearly an accident, and the first Citi Bike fatality, fatalities of bike riders in general in New York have been increasing. Bikers have been demanding more safeguards, especially since 2016’s bicyclist death count was larger than that of 2015. In 2017 there were four fatal bicycle accidents up until April in New York. Hanegby worked as an investment banker at Credit Suisse, and lived in Brooklyn with his wife Sasha, and two children. His neighbors described him as stoic, spending his weekends devoted to his family. He was originally from near Tel Aviv in Israel, and came to the US to attend Binghamton University in 2003. He later transferred to Brown. In Israel, he was a tennis star, rising at one time to the rank of No. 1 in the country. He met his wife when he was ten years old at the Israel Tennis Centers. He quit tennis to join Israel’s Special Forces. After he was discharged from the army he took up tennis again, and headed to the USA to play at an American University. While at Brown he ranked No. 66 in singles tennis in the...
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Today, there are so many ways to work on reducing our waste and landfill necessities and understanding waste management. It doesn’t have to be that we simply buy whatever we want and then throw it away, and many of the waste management companies in the States like have come to appreciate and highlight the path to waste management. The government sets targets each year for waste management. A new study published in 2007 set a target for a 50% reduction in household waste by 2020. How is this reduction to be achieved? There are a number of ways. Refuse: We can think about waste management in terms of prevention. If you don’t buy things that you don’t completely need, then you won’t need to throw away the packaging from those products. You can avoid disposable products as much as possible as well. We can also look at reducing what we use. We can buy things that are made to last like reusable plastic wrap or Tupperware instead of tinfoil and throw away wraps. You can buy in bulk as well and this will reduce the amount of packaging that is needed. Certainly, you can take your own shopping bag when you go to the grocery store and even to the mall to shop for clothes. Focus on reusing items. Jars that you buy for one thing can be reused for another; ice cream tubes can turn into storage containers. A plastic bag that was used at the grocery store could be reused for the mall or as a bin liner. Careful disposal is also important. If an item can’t be recycled or reused, it can still be taken care of in the right way. Dispose of batteries in designated recycling centers; bring in your glass or cans to get a rebate in certain states. You can look at the websites for Bridgeton landfill and other locations to see how they are working to ensure careful disposal. If you always have these ideas in mind,...
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During uncertain times and periods of global upheaval, it is good to know there are well-trained minds working on the most serious issues of our times. Special academic institutions like the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, located at Syracuse University, help educate and influence the global leaders of the future. Founded in 1924 with $500,000 to begin a school which would “cull from every source those principles, facts, and elements which, combined, make up our rights and duties and our value and distinctiveness at US citizens.” The Maxwell School became the first school in the country to offer a program in public administration, and now has the oldest, continuously operating University-based MPA in the US. Meet some of the outstanding graduates of this graduate program. What greater goal in life is there than bringing peace to the world? Sonya Reines-Djivanides, through her role in Brussels as the executive director of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), is trying to achieve just that. Reines-Djivanides leads the EPLO in its function as a place where NGOs and think tanks work together to explore how the players on the world stage can prevent violent conflict. Previously she was the chair of the EPLO’s steering committee. She also was the director of the Brussels Headquarters of Search for Common Ground, where she served from 2009 to 2015. Jason Cole earned his Master’s in Public Administration in 1998. After 16 years of experience in government and government relations, Cole was recently named to be associate vice president of university relations at Cornell University. He has extensive experience in organizational leadership, public policy development, advocacy, media relations, brand campaigning and pollical issues. The Maxwell School also contributes leaders to the world of community organizations and grass-roots social improvement. Kimberlin Butler, a 2003 graduate of the Master’s in Public Administration Program, received recognition for her work as interim director of programs and partnerships at Beyond 12. The Atlanta Business Chronicle listed Butler among its “40 Under 40” award winners...
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Once disdained as a go-to place in Brooklyn, Gowanus, found between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, has been making a (positive) name for itself. Once known for its stinky canal and plethora of car repair shops, the area has been remaking itself into a fun place to visit, and maybe even live. Here are a few new fixtures in the constantly changing landscape of Gowanus, Brooklyn: Twig Terrariums: This must be a real rarity, if not unique. It is certainly brilliant. This shop offers easy-to-care-for terrariums; either custom-made or DIY with a kit. This partnership between two friends, Katy Maslow and Michelle Inciarrano, gets their greenery from local nurseries, and their fabulous glass bowls from boutique glass blowers across the country. Some of the glass globes are hand-blown. For those of us that enjoy being surrounded with greenery, but just don’t have the time to care for plants, a terrarium is a wonderful compromise between the joy of growing something and the care it requires. 287 Third Avenue, 718-488-8944, twigterrariums.com The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club: Mimicking the great shuffleboard clubs of Miami Beachand the great cruise lines, this club will even let people under 55 years old play this fascinating game, made all the more interesting by the incredible drinks available from the bar. Playing shuffleboard brings out the “cruise-desire” in all of us, which is can be readily satisfied with the tropics-inspired cocktails the in-house mixologists concoct. All that drinking and shuffling can make a body hungry, but do not fear just because the establishment does not actually serve any food. Every day a new food-truck pulls up to the premises, making a visit to the Royal Palms even more of an incredible adventure. You can find Indian food one day, lobster rolls the next, and on and on. 514 Union Street, 347-223-4410, royalpalmsshuffle.com Pig Beach: What does a Brooklynite do in the middle of the winter when he is craving some good old barbecue? He heads on over to Pig Beach and...
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Sebastian Leone, known for his struggle to improve Brooklyn’s reputation during the 1970s, long before the borough’s recent renaissance, passed away on November 14 at the age of 91. His wife Helene Leone said that he had succumbed to the effects of pneumonia. Leone was the borough president for six years from 1970 until 1976. During those years Brooklyn was not the up and coming hot spot among the young professional crowd and celebrities. It was more like, as journalist McCandlish Phillips wrote in the New York Times: “a neglected stepchild of Manhattan.” Most accounts credit Leone with begin the first Brooklyn official to put up the famous “Welcome to Brooklyn” sign. In 2010 Leone told The Brooklyn Paper that: “In those days, you always had to be Brooklyn-positive. I used to say, ‘One out of every 80 people that live in America live in Brooklyn!’ If you consider people that were born here, worked here and have relatives here, then one out of 10 people have some affinity for Brooklyn!” Leone left his job as Borough president in 1976. A few months later, at the beginning of 1977, he became a State Supreme Court justice. He retired in 2001, and lived the remainder of his life in Bay Ridge. His wife, their son Matthew and two grandchildren survive...
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