Zaytoons restaurant, featuring the finest in Middle Eastern cuisine, is highlighted in the latest BCAT/Brooklyn Independent Television Neighborhood Beat program.

The 6-minute BCAT segment can be viewed here. It is chock full of information, including information about the restaurant's history, owners and yes, delicious RECIPES!

Zaytoons is located at 472 Myrtle Avenue and can be reached at 718.623.5522.

Clear your calendars! You are invited to the “Designing the Myrtle Pedestrian Plaza – Pop Up Exhibition and Workshop” from February 5th – 13th.

We are happy to announce that a property owner of 352 Myrtle has given us access to their vacant commercial storefront where we will be hosting a brief pop-up exhibition and workshop displaying submissions to the Designing the Myrtle Avenue Pedestrian Plaza Call for Ideas, along with best practices collected by our staff.

In response to our Call for Ideas , we received many submissions from local and international designers. The entries were diverse and creative, featuring permanent canopy structures, amphitheaters, climbing walls, outdoor markets and more.

Along with the renderings and images, we will have maps and plaza plans where attendees can contribute their ideas for the design, programming and management of the space. Come checkout the submissions, give your feedback and chat with MARP staff about a new, vibrant and inclusive public space for Myrtle Avenue.

Location: 352 Myrtle between Carlton and Adelphi
Friday, February 5th, 5pm – 8pm: Opening Reception*. Light refreshments will be served.
Saturday, February 6th and 13th, 12pm – 5pm: Open gallery hours.
Monday-Friday, February 7th-12th, 10am-5pm: Group tours and workshops available by appointment*.

Work by the following designers will be on display: Aaron Follet, Christopher Peli, Rodriguez Studio, Edit Leventon, Jaime Roberts Studio, Jonathan Joseph, Gregór Nemitz-Ziadie, Lee Norsworthy, Juliana Schafer and Raza Ali Dada.


*Please RSVP to Sarah@myrtleavenue.org OR at the facebook event page!

If you have ever walked by Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 412 Myrtle Avenue near the corner of Clinton Avenue, noticed the crowds and wanted to know more about the school, here's more. We caught up with Professor Jay Lynch, one of the school's owners last week:

What is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that has been around for about 100 years. It promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend himself against a bigger, stronger assailant using leverage and proper technique. Mitsuyo Maeda, a martial arts expert from Japan was sent to Brazil to teach the artform. While there, he befriended the prominent Gracie family and was asked to teach two of the younger Gracies the art. When Maeda left the country, the Gracie brothers continued to practice but realized rather quickly that if jiu-jitsu requires a partner and they only had one another to practice the art with, they had better take out the more violent aspects of it. They expanded on the concepts of leverage, chokes, and joint-locks in order to be able to still practice with one another to their fullest ability. The art evolved under the Gracies and became known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art. It is about self-defense. If you are looking for a fitness regimen or an art form that builds discipline and spurs confidence in every area of your life, you might want to look more closely at it.

Why Fort Greene/Clinton Hill as the place for your new biz venture?

I live on Washington Avenue. What better location than one’s own neighborhood for this type of venture? When we were looking around locally, we found a place in Cobble Hill that we thought was terrific, but in the final hour, it fell through. We were really discouraged at first but when we subsequently found the space on Myrtle and finally opened our doors, we quickly realized that Myrtle Avenue was the better choice. It’s down the block from where I live. We have a huge number of referrals and mostly local students, both residents and business owners from the immediate vicinity. Many who drop in say, “I took a little karate as a kid”, but of course, this is not the case for everyone.

Not everyone who studies an art form wants to then teach that art form, no less opening a school centered on that art form. When did the teaching and entrepreneurial bugs hit you?

I had an inkling that I wanted to teach when I started studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I also looked around me and noticed that the calmest, most confident instructors were people who wanted to and found ways to do it all the time. These instructors were extremely tough, but also warm and very giving of their craft. Also, I think the operation of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school offers a bold business paradigm shift so to speak. In many business environments, the thought is – “if I win, you have to lose.” Not in this discipline.

Does the school operate on belt promotion? Tell us more about the school.

Yes, we operate on belt promotion. We are not a ‘competition school’ in the sense that there are fights or competitions to advance to the next level. Instead, attendance, attitude and commitment are what go into belt promotion. We thought this over long and hard before opening the school and thought it the best model to go with. At the end of the day the real benefits to training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are learning, training and dealing with things directly applicable to life—constantly being in and learning to get out of difficult situations. In competition schools, losses far outweigh wins anyway and a “win” at the end of the day doesn’t last for long. However, all of the other things one learns make them a winner for long-term, far sustaining.

Black belt is the highest belt but we consider it in a lot of ways the minimum goal. After all, once you achieve it, your work has just begun.

Private and group lessons are available. Our Myrtle Avenue location is primarily adult-oriented, about 8:2. We do take children and as young as 8-years-old.

Our introductory special is $19.95, which includes a private lesson and a uniform.

We noticed that BBJJ had clothing and food drives going on in November and December for the holidays and that you are organizing around Haiti Earthquake Relief now, is community-involvement or giveback a part of your business philosophy?

Absolutely. It is always the season for giving. Giving is the best way to help yourself and to help others.

Professors Jay Lynch and Gene Dunn are the owners of Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, located at 412 Myrtle Avenue, just off of Clinton Avenue. Please give them or their very capable powerhouse staff of three a call to find out more about Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Read more about Professors Jay, Dunn and other instructors here: http://www.brooklynbjj.com/staff/

154A Vanderbilt, just south of Myrtle Avenue.

It is 500sf, no basement.

$1800 per month asking price.

Please call the MARP office (Jennifer) for additional information: 718.230.1689.

The Polish Bar of Brooklyn was included in a Daily News article this past Tuesday, January 26th, titled, 'Survival of the Little Guy'.

The article highlights how small business owners are needing to find very creative ways to survive (thinking outside of the proverbial box), particularly in our current economy.

The Polish Bar of Brooklyn is located at 470 Myrtle Avenue and can be reached by phone at 718.622.5363.

A growing list of Haiti earthquake relief related activities taking place on Myrtle:

BROOKLYN BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU 412 Myrtle Avenue 718.403.0067 Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Donations to the American Red Cross.

FORT GREENE SNAP 324 Myrtle Avenue 718.694.6957 Fort Greene SNAP accepting new or gently used socks, candles, bedding, underwear, flashlights as well as checks made out to the American Red Cross accepted thru the end of February.

GREEN IN BKLYN 432 Myrtle Avenue 718.855.4383 Green in BKLYN has listed earthquake relief resources on their website as well as put together a hardcopy list for anyone looking for ideas of ways to help. Also, Green in BKLYN is accepting check and money order donations to send to the Red Cross.

GREEN PETS SPA & BOUTIQUE 572 Myrtle Avenue 718.230.8300 Green Pets will donate collected funds to Doctors without Borders and Yele Haiti.

KAPELLA'S HAIR SALON (open Wednesday thru Saturday only) 417 Myrtle Avenue 718.222.3434 Currently collecting donations for Yele Haiti and socks which will be donated for shipment to Haiti.

KAREN'S BODY BEAUTIFUL 436 Myrtle Avenue 718.797.4808 Karen’s Body Beautiful will help provide relief to victims of the earthquake in Haiti by matching your donations. Increase the power of your donation! (from January 14th – January 20th, 2010). Funds to Yele Haiti.

LOCKAWAY SELF STORAGE 1 Carlton Avenue (at Flushing) (718) 522-5050 Lockaway is collecting only NEW items thru February 20th: bedding, blankets, underwear, outerwear, shoes, socks, towels. Clearly label items "Relief for Haiti". Donations in conjunction with Fashion Delivers (fashiondelivers.org).

MYRTLE CAR SERVICE 525 Myrtle Avenue 718.230.8100 Myrtle Car Service is collecting donations: bottled water, new underwear, socks.

ZAYTOONS 472 Myrtle Avenue 718.623.5522 Zaytoons will match customer donations. Increase the power of your donation from Saturday, January 23 and Sunday, January 24th.

MOVE WITH GRACE YOGA, DANCE & PILATES STUDIO 469 Myrtle Avenue (Washington/Hall) 718.230.0013 Move With Grace will conduct five donation-based classes this Sunday, 1/17. Funds will go to Yele Haiti and Doctor's without Borders. The studio is also collecting beans and tealights to be shipped to Haiti.

All class are open to all levels.

10-11am Alignment based yoga

11:15-12 Belly Dance "The Fun in Fundamentals"

12:-1pm Level 1 Mat Pilates "Explore strengthening the deep core"

1:15-2:15pm Ballet Fitness

2:30-3:30pm Vinyasa Yoga Flow "Focusing on awareness and interconnectedness"

By now we hope you've heard about the upcoming pedestrian plaza on Myrtle between Emerson and Grand. Our plaza, along with five other plazas that will be created by the PlaNYC-initiated NYC Plaza Program, is eligible for funding through the city's Percent for Art program for commissioning permanent works of public art. Each plaza has $100,000 allocated for permanent public art to be incorporated into the public space. The Department of Cultural Affairs has released a Request for Qualifications, which is open to all artists and collaborative artist teams, based locally, nationally, and internationally. Make sure you register by February 22nd if you're interested!

Please join fellow residents in a local food drive in one of the most difficult times of the year.

A.R.T./New York is partnering with the Food Bank of New York City to collect food four times a year at South Oxford Space. This year's winter food drive runs through February 15th. Bring your donations to the 1st floor lobby at 138 S. Oxford Street during regular weekday office hours or between 9:30am and 1:30pm on weekends.

You are encouraged to bring shelf-stable foods, including canned fruits and vegetables, vegetable soups, 100% fruit juices, canned meats and beans, nuts, dry grains, shelf stable milks, baby food/cereals and personal care items.

For more information contact Stephanie at 718-398-3078.

Okay, well, whether your 2010 goal is to a lose a few pounds, learn some new dance moves or just to generally be more fit, consider Move with Grace's Challenge.

The short of it: sign up for classes at the studio, work towards your goals, get rewards, yayyy!

Here's more from the Move w/Grace website--

Okay. We'll give you a hint.

You set your personal goal, and we reward you for the classes you attend... The closer you get to your goal, the better the rewards get! Free classes, complimentary spa services, and it gets even better!

So if you wanted to lose weight, practice yoga before work regularly or learn some belly dancing moves to show your friends or anything else that you want to set your mind to, then we'll help you out by encouraging with rewards along the way...