The BSAG started because its parent company, the Brooklyn City Streetcar Company (BCSC) wanted to promote its mission to get electric trolleys onto the streets of Brooklyn.  They started mounting exhibitions of fine art to spread their message.

BSAG is, today, one of the premier artists’ groups in the southern part of Brooklyn and they have a regular gallery space in the Coney Island Hospital.

They have recently started an Arts Enrichment Program by joining together with the NYC Department of Probation.  Through this Arts Enrichment Program, they are offering free art classes to interested students who are referred to them by the Department of Probation.

As a result of their efforts, the BSAG will feature their Arts Enrichment Program’s artwork today at the Coney Island Hospital, 2601 Ocean Parkway, 2^nd Floor, Main Building at 5pm.

It’s certainly a worthwhile program and a wonderful way to support our residents!

Sears Roebuck Art Deco Building NYC Landmark

Completed in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, the distinctively Art Deco structure with the 10-story tall tower which has housed an outlet of Sears Roebuck and Company for 80 years, was officially granted status as a New York City landmark this past Tuesday.

Approval for the status was bestowed by the Landmarks and Preservation Commission in recognition not only of its depression era design, but also due to the unique role the building played in the history of the time. The only building project in New York City designed by the architectural firm of Nimmons, Carr & Wright, it’s construction provided 300 jobs at a time when jobs were rare. Eleanor Roosevelt, at the time the First Lady of New York (her husband Franklin was then governor) led the opening ceremony, during which she made the stores first purchase: a pair of baby booties.

Within the building is a theater with a 650-people capacity. There was also a West Indian restaurant on the third floor for a time housed in the employee break room.
Robert B. Tierney, chairman of the preservation commission said in a statement,

“The building is as impressive for its architectural style, scale and massing as for the impact it must have had on Brooklyn and the city’s economy when it first opened.”

Sears as a business has been struggling through these hard economic times, and is planning on closing down as many as 120 of its Kmart and Sears branches. Luckily for the people of Brooklyn, and Flatbush in particular, the impressive building on Beverly Road is staying open. It helped Brooklyn pull through the depression in the 30’s, and now with its status as a landmark, it will continue to be a symbol of hope for better economic times to come.

Bossert Hotel

Once known as the “Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn,” the Bossert Hotel has not functioned as a hotel since the early 1980s when it was at first leased by, and then later purchased by the Watchtower Bible Society of New York to be used by Jehovah’s witnesses.

The Bossert was built in 1909 by Louis Bossert in the Italian Renaissance Revival-style which was popular at the time. It was built to be an apartment hotel, and had a well-known two-story restaurant on the roof of the 14-story building called the Marine Roof, which had a dramatic and commanding view of Manhattan. The building was also popular with several members of the Brooklyn Dodgers who rented rooms there, and a post-World Series celebration was held there after the Dodger’s clinched the Series in 1955, the only time they won the World Series while still playing in Brooklyn. (They left for Los Angeles in 1957.)

In 2008 there was an unsuccessful attempt to bring students to live in the building, and now in a bid to sell the building the Jehovah’s Witnesses are pushing for a zoning change which would allow the building to once again become an apartment-hotel, making it more appealing to potential buyers.

The Witnesses have been trying to sell the building for a number of years in order to realize their plan to move their operations to Wallkill in upstate New York. In the meantime the 224-room building has been used as a place to live for volunteers of the proselytizing group.

According to unnamed sources several developers have expressed an interest in purchasing the property, and since it is unlikely that the Witnesses themselves are considering entering the hotel business, the push for the zoning change is a first step towards sale of the building to developers who would reestablish the building as an apartment hotel.

“A hotel could be very beneficial for the area, but a lot is going to depend on all the details,” said Brigit Pinnell, executive director of the Montague Street Business Improvement District.

The prime location of the Bossert Hotel at 98 Montague Street makes its renovation a potential boon to the neighborhood. Executive Director of the Brooklyn Heights Association Judy Stanton said that a hotel “could improve the economy” in the shopping district of Montague Street.

The proposal is being brought by the Witnesses for a vote to the Board of Standard and Appeal. First however there will be a public hearing by the Community Board 2 to discuss the proposal. The public is invited: tomorrow, May 16, at 5pm at the Metrotech Center.

Chances are, you’ll be seeing a lot of these hats around Brooklyn.  Designed with the brand new logo by Jay-Z, the headwear manufacturer New Era has just unveiled a new Brooklyn Nets line of their “59Fifty” hats. And this one is sure to take off with fans and those who are fashion conscious. Certainly, it’s interesting to watch how New Era has managed to combine sports and fashion in their hip, edgy designs.

This is, of course, only one minor piece of the excitement building around the Brooklyn Nets. As the only team in the league with a black-and-white color scheme, and certainly the only team with a new logo designed in part by team part-owner Jay-Z, the Nets are ready for their fashion-center debut.

The team had its formal logo unveiling recently at the Modell’s Sporting Goods store near the team’s new home at the Barclays Center.  As center Brook Lopez said at the news conference,

"Hello, Brooklyn! I've been waiting a long time to say that."

As Jay-Z explained in a statement,

"The Brooklyn Nets logos are another step we've made to usher the organization into a new era. The boldness of the designs demonstrate the confidence we have in our new direction. Along with our move to Brooklyn and a state-of-the-art arena, the new colors and logos are examples of our commitment to update and refine all aspects of the team."

And now fans can have an awesome hat to wear to the games as the Nets start off their 2012-13 season in the $1 billion arena where they’ll be playing.

The idea proposed by the Department of Education is to have two alternative learning centers. There would be one for students on short-term suspension and one for those on long-term suspension. They would both be located in the Park Place building.

Residents complain that, when such students have been in the area in the past, they make noise, throw their trash on the ground and are a nuisance to the neighbors. Those advocating for the students argue that the building itself isn’t appropriate for the kids, as it has no gym, cafeteria or library.

Education Department spokeswoman Magie Feinberg, however, counters all arguments. As she said,

“The location, 355 Park Place, currently is being used as an administrative office for the district, but was (used) for instructional purposes.”

Trying to reassure those who are against the plan, she said that the teens will be closely watched when the program goes into place in the fall.

Residents do not feel reassured. City Councilwoman Letitia James, getting into the argument, said that there was a rise in crime last year that she is attributing to the school location. As she said, “Because of their previous experience, [residents\] have a cause for concern. Since the school closed, the problems have abated.”

At the moment, pregnant women aren’t allowed certain adjustments in their workplaces that allow them to continue working throughout their pregnancies. The legislation is intended to close some legal loopholes and to make sure that pregnant women are treated fairly at the workplace. It will require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant women and also ensure that women aren’t forced out on leave earlier than necessary when an accommodation would have allowed them to remain working.

For instance, in some recent cases, women were asked to take early leave for needing to carry water bottles at work, for requiring extra assistance with heavy lifting required by their job and for asking for assistance with strenuous tasks.

As a recent press release from Representative Nadler’s office explained,

“When American families are struggling to make ends meet, we must do everything we can to keep people in their jobs. This is especially true for pregnant women who are about to have another mouth to feed. Ensuring that a woman who needs minor and reasonable job adjustments to maintain a healthy pregnancy gets that accommodation should be central to our society’s support for strong and stable families. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is an essential means of clarifying our laws so that pregnant women and their families are not allowed to slip through the cracks.”

As co-sponsor of the bill Congresswoman Susan Davis explained, “With more and more women working while pregnant, we need to make sure that their employers provide them the reasonable and necessary accommodations they need (such as access to water) to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy. It is unfortunate that Congress needs to even address this issue since any sensible person would consider it inconceivable to fire a pregnant woman for trying to care for the health of herself and her baby.”

On May 5th, their all-day event included ice cream by Van Leeuwen ice cream, $6 Maker’s Mark Mint Juleps and more. They had square dancing that was led by David Harvey & NYC Barn Dance. They offered prizes for best formal hat, best informal hat and runners up. In the evening, on their big stage, they had Live Band Karaoke with Bunnie England and the New Originals with trophies offered to the most inspiring performances.

Some of the more inspired attendees included Louisville native Brent Van Dyke who was awarded with the best dressed award. He arrived in his $50 Colonel Sanders suit. Brett Gustafson wore his seersucker blazer, matching blue hat and white oxford. Daniel Donnelly arrived in his uncle’s Lilly Pulitzer pants from the 1950s.

The site allows you to connect with people in your exact location. For instance, for Brooklyn alone, they’ve divided the site up into approximately 60 locations. Once you sign up for free, you’ll be privy to neighborhood messages with a chat section for you and your neighbors; you’ll see civic information including crime reports, restaurant inspections, building permits and more; you’ll see when the media mentions the neighborhood and what they have to say about it; and you’ll get local pictures posted to Flickr, local business reviews on Yelp and postings from Craigslist.

EveryBlock recently made some of the local blog sites because they’ve started to focus in on restaurant inspections. Their site lists how many inspections a given restaurant has had and allows you to follow the process as the restaurants are inspected, given violations and inspected again.

The site’s a great way for us to keep our fingers on the pulse of Brooklyn’s happenings!

Councilman Greenfield Clean Up Effort

Yesterday, over a hundred Bath Beach and Bensonhurst residents came out to clean up the streets. The event was sponsored by Councilman David G. Greenfield and Assemblyman Bill Colton as an effort to beautify the Bay Parkway.  They were thrilled with the large turnout.

Residents met at 12pm in front of the St. Athanasius Elementary School at 61^st and Bay Parkway. There, they received tools and supplies for the clean up.

The event showed Councilman Greenfield’s commitment to follow through with action items in the neighborhood.  Last month, at a town hall meeting in Bensonhurst, Greenfield discussed the need to improve the overall cleanliness in the neighborhood while reducing the trash and litter along Bay Parkway.  Putting words into action, he called for the clean up that was held yesterday.

As Councilman Greenfield said in a press release before the event,

“This is a great chance for residents to meet their neighbors and join together to keep Bay Parkway clean. A couple of hours can go a long way towards making this important commercial strip more attractive and inviting for residents and shoppers. I am hopeful that this is the beginning of an ongoing effort to eliminate the issues that have plagued Bay Parkway for far too long, and I encourage everyone to come out and show their Bensonhurst pride on Sunday.”

As Malliotakis explained,

“I was sickened after seeing the images of dogs with tattoos and piercings through their eyebrows and noses.  While the psychological effects on these animals is an area of debate, the fact remains that most of these procedures require an application of general anesthesia which poses a health risk in itself. The animal must then go through the pain of recovery and possible infection, or post-surgery complications.  These non-medical cosmetic procedures are not just odd and unnecessary, they amount to animal cruelty.”

The bill has gathered support from local animal rights groups including No More Tears Rescue and the Anarchy Animal Rescue of Staten Island. In addition to making such procedures illegal, it also stipulates that any animals that have undergone such alterations wouldn’t be up for sale; this would keep retailers from altering animals to make them more appealing to potential owners.

The bill is being taken to the State Senate by State Senator Marty Golden.  If it passes, violators will find themselves with up to a year in prison and a fine of $1000.

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