Thanks to Village Keepers, A Handball Court, A Garden and A Park Will Grow on Ellery Street

What started out as a nightmare for Ellery Street residents near Charlie’s Park, turned out to be a change for the better.
On July 21st, kids rushed to Charlie’s Park excited for another play day when their excitement turned into anger and confusion. They were shocked to see their handball buried under a blanket of dirt.
Members of the Raise the Roof Farm organization had dumped the soil and begun planting healthy food to benefit the community. For their initiative, Raise the Roof in partnership with the Brooklyn Charter School, planned to create a model farm program to – as they say — help children get involved in community and after-school activities in North Brooklyn.
It was a good mission, but the only problem was nobody told the community who lives there.  After an impromptu meeting hosted by Henry Butler, President, Community Board 3, and called by the Ellery Street residents, New York City Parks & Recreation Assistant Commissioner/Senior Counselor Jack T. Linn agreed to have the soil removed from the handball court. Linn was the person who originally gave the group permission to create the garden at Charlie’s playground. He is taking full responsibility for what appears to be a misunderstanding and also is taking the proper steps in having the garden relocated to another area in the park.
“He’s going out of his way to correct the situation,” said Butler.
Yet neighbors say that since July 19th, they have only removed half of their materials and have continued to water their plants. Not showing any signs of removing their materials completely.
“They have great ideas,” said resident Raphael Dominguez. The problem is not creating the garden.  Neighbors are in disbelief that people would even consider taking any part of Charlie’s Park without communicating with them or getting the proper permits. 
“There’s nothing left in the area right now for young people and families,” said Gershwin Ledain. “Charlie’s Place playground, which is just cement and rocks, is the only location in the area where kids can play without having to worry about getting hit by a car.”
Another issue that neighbors are concerned with is the parking lot that was built on half of the playground by the school next door.  Although Charlie’s playground is considered a city park, the school sent their janitors to draw parking lines on the field and since then have continued using it for parking.
Dominguez explained that this parking lot is used by other locations such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses church around the block and city employees from local hospitals. The parking lot, which contains abandoned cars, has become a threat to the health of children. Before kids were able to play football and other sports, now they enjoy using the resources around them to create new “games” such as throwing rocks at each other.
Commissioner Linn researched the park and found that the school has no authority over it anymore. No department of Education vehicles parked illegally there are being ticketed.  Once the summer session of the school is over on August 13, no one will be allowed to park there.   The principal is grateful to have adequate time to inform teachers returning to the school in September that Charlie’s Park is closed to vehicles.
Once the parking lot is cleared the farm will be built on one side of the park and the community will be involved in the process of creating the farm.  Also, the handball court is being restored.
Butler says that budgets for 2011 have been completed.   Rehabilitation of Charlie’s Park will be at the top of Community Board 3’s agenda for 2012 budget requests. With this budget, improvements will be made to the park and the community will be able to get involved in the remodeling of the park.
“It will take at least two-three years before a shovel is placed into the ground to make Charlie’s Park the park it should be,” said Butler, acknowledging that much has to be done before the park is transformed into the North Brooklyn neighborhood kids deserve.

Community Board 3 Kicks Off The New Decade With Public Hearing

Neighbors Voice Their Concerns About  the Oversaturation of Public Programs
Community Board 3 opened its first meeting in 2010 with a public hearing addressing the growing concern for the oversaturation of Public Programs in the area. For the past 10 years, residents have been constantly complaining about the numerous and abundance of programs being allowed into our community. 
As a resident and home owner in Bedford-Stuyvesant, I can certainly attest to this growing concern. On our block of Bainbridge Street between Malcolm X Blvd. and Patchen Avenue alone has 4 Single-Room Occupancy residents, 2 half-way homes and several other social service programs in operation. Unfortunately, our concern for the quality of life for our neighbors and safety for our children is shared by numerous other blocks. Yet, our cries are going unanswered.
Demetrius Mills, who resides on the northern tip of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was one of the first to state his grievances.  Since 2000, he has been fighting to have some of the numerous programs infiltrating the community designated to other areas. However, so far it has been a losing battle.  Currently his area alone houses a women’s shelter, domestic violence facility, a methadone clinic and numerous other social service programs. According to Mr. Mills, there were over 1 thousand agencies listed in Bed-Stuy in CB3 alone; today, that number is estimated to have doubled. 
As a father and homeowner, Mr. Mills has witnessed drug usage and sexual acts performed right under his window.  On more than one occasion he, as well as his teenage son, have been propositioned.  In addition to the prostitution, Mr. Mills fears for the safety of his family and had an alarming encounter when a mentally ill patient wandered in his home and confronted his wife and son. 
Nancy Russell, a former manager at NYC Department of Homeless Services, and current President of the Tri Block Association, argued that the concern of most residents is not “rejection of the homeless, needy or poor, but equality and fairness.” She suggested that CB3 identify alternative sites where these programs can be housed.
Linda Simmons, Vice President of the Jefferson Avenue Block Association lives in fear. Within a 2-block radius, she shares residence with 2 schools, 3 day care centers and several Level 3 sex offenders. This fear has created an unhealthy lifestyle for her children who are forbidden to go out and spend most of their time in the house. “With physical education classes being taken out of the school system, my kids and grandchildren unfortunately have no means of exercise. I am too afraid to let them go to the park fearing they may encounter the sex offenders.”
Ms. C. Doris Pinn, who co-chairs The Housing Land/Use Committee, assured those in attendance that their complaints have been heard and that Community Board 3 has been and will continue to utilize all of its resources to combat and resolve the issue.
Other concerns addressed included the renaming of The Bradford Apartments which is scheduled to undergo construction this year. The site, which is located on the corner of Fulton Street and Albany Avenue, is currently scheduled to be named after the unsavory “Bradford” pear tree that produces an inedible nut and large white flowers with a pungent odor. CB3 is currently holding a contest to rename the block in honor of something, or someone with significance. Pradine Content, a representative from the Census Bureau, ended the evening by asking everyone to encourage others to fill out their census form. According to Ms. Content, Bedford-Stuyvesant is considered a “hard to count” community with less than 60% of its residents participating in the 2000 census.
There are many events, activities and initiatives that are taking place in the month of January. However, one in particular merits mentioning. On Saturday, January 16, Voices of Action Against Violence, Parents United to Rally for Gun-Violence Elimination (PURGE) and Calvary Fellowship AME Church are joining forces for Step Up and Take a Stand. The special forum will address the issue of the growing concern of gun violence in our community and will include special guest speaker Graham Weatherspoon of Black Law Enforcement Alliance.

The Brooklyn That Can’t be Bought…

 

Mike Bloomberg’s first thoughts the morning after Mayoral election night might have wavered seamlessly between “ I won!” and “I almost lost!”  A bittersweet victory/defeat for the richest man in New York City, who lives in a world where powerful egos have no patience with almost losing.  He won 557,059 expensive votes to Democrat Bill Thompson’s low-cost 506,717.

 

That morning, our friend Robert Taylor woke up to a world that eludes the city agencies.  He was at peace padding his way from Brevoort Place to Clinton Hill’s Grand Avenue, as he does every morning.  “If it snows, I pick up a shovel and clean the streets for a few dollars. I just keep moving, but I keep coming back.”  Virtually homeless after losing his apartment on the avenue just after 9/11 due to escalated rents; Robert is accustomed to “street guy” references.  But he also knows how to train horses; he does not bet on them.  He sometimes entertains small crowds, outdoors, with his phenomenal classic music playing, when a used piano is dropped off at his friend Eddie Hibbert’s Antique warehouse down the street.

Mr. Taylor informed us that the Mayor shelled out about $200.00 per vote  for each of the more than half million votes he received, compared to his Democrat opponent Bill Thompson’s $14 each for almost the same amount of votes.  “But, remember, it’s not always about the money; it’s about what you want that money to do. When the stakes are high, you cast high bets to win at any cost.  He now has a lot of work to do to make true on those promises he paid for.”

On the north easternmost edge of Brooklyn, Mr. B., a block association president and former corrections officer agrees, but he still thinks arrogance, not money interfered with Mr. Thompson’s sure shot.  At his election site, the lever for DeBlasio was stuck, and the pollworker told him gruffly,  “Don’t worry ‘bout that, it’ll count.”  After putting his strength on that lever to bring it to its place, he informed everyone present what was going on.  “This ‘kiss-my-ass’ attitude – on the part of a lot of folks connected with the political process, including local elected officials, only succeeds in keeping voters away.  And it may have pushed votes away from Thompson.  People are turned off, they don’t want to participate. 

“At the community board meeting this week, a guy stands up and asks about construction jobs that are going to other ethnic groups who don’t live in the neighborhood; a weatherization official announces that it doesn’t make sense for owners of 2-family homes to apply for special funding, ‘especially,’ he said, ‘since you don’t use that much hot water anyway’, plus we learn about 75% of the program’s $10 million is available to owners of multi-family dwellings, well – that’s not us; then there’s these rezoning issues and whether or not certain areas of Bedford –Stuyvesant will be rezoned in accordance with the special interests of other ethnic groups in other areas.  Point is … if local politicians are servants of the public, they should come out of their comfort zones and get into the neighborhood and go to the people. Explain to them what’s going on.”

The 45-year-old block association president was recently stopped by police in Herbert Von King Park and asked to show ID because he was walking through the park at night, three nights before the election.  Officers apologized profusely after they discovered he was a retired Corrections Officer. “This is the way it is.  But attitudes across the board must change if they are to get the support from all of the people.

“Some of the young Turks seeking election against incumbents could have gotten a lot of mileage out of putting their weight solidly and visibly behind Mr. Thompson. There are so many lessons to be learned.”

It’s still no excuse for such a low turnout, says New York City Parks worker Earl Williams.  “When I went to P.S. 305 at 4pm to vote, there was no one there except the poll workers.”

It was chilly and dry the day after the election, and everyone had something to say abouthow Thompson should have won. Except, of course, the mainstream press, stunned that their polls didn’t get it right, and perhaps numbed by the same thinking as Taylor, Mr. B., Mr. Williams and Mr. Bloomberg: if Black people had turned out, in force, Thompson, who earned 50.9% of Brooklyn votes to Mr. Bloomberg’s 45.3%, would have enjoyed the landslide of the century.  For pennies on the dollar.  Lessons to be learned, indeed.