Photo Credit: GrowNYC.org

We have partnered with GrowNYC to expand the Fort Greene Park Greenmarket further north on Washington Park and closer to Myrtle Avenue to increase visibility and access for residents north of the park and decrease shopper congestion at market. In addition to the expansion, we will host a community education station on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park with food and health programming for all ages and regular tours of the Greenmarket to inform the community about the products available and the fact that food benefits are accepted.

We hope the proposed changes will:

• Lead to greater market participation by Fort Greene residents living north of Fort Greene Park, especially those living at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Ingersoll and Whitman Houses, creating an opportunity to positively impact the health and wellness of thousands of families and seniors.
• Better connect residents shopping with benefits to existing neighborhood resources like the Greenmarket, possibly even influencing that market to evolve to better meet the needs of low-income customers over time.
• Support City, State and Federal Food Benefit programs, ensuring sustainability of these essential food supplement incentives that allow all residents to access fresh, healthy foods.
• Increase the revenue of participating regional farmers, supporting their ability to continue bringing local, fresh food to Fort Greene.
• Decrease shopping congestion

To date, we have received over 300 support signatures at market, support from multiple Elected Officials including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and Assemblyman Walter Mosley and numerous Resident Associations, local businesses, and Community Based Organizations.

Thank you to all for your support to  improve access to fresh, affordable food for all local residents!

Please sign the petition here and join us at the Community Board 2 Transportation & Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 20th at 6PM .

Meeting details:

WHAT: Community Board 2 Transportation & Safety Committee
WHEN: Tuesday, May 20th 2014
WHERE: First Floor Board Room of St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court streets)
TIME: 6PM

Do you know of any community food and health initiatives that need funding? If so, apply to join the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Healthy Communities initiative Community Grants Committee to help select and provide funding to your neighbors. Healthy Communities unites innovative efforts around food, open space, and fitness happening in Red Hook, Fort Greene, and Brownsville.

Healthy Communities is a partnership of four nonprofits – Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, Added Value, Brownsville Partnership, and Brooklyn Food Coalition – and the New York City Housing Authority and Brooklyn District Public Health Office, working together to foster healthier lifestyles through activities led by community members.

As a core component of Healthy Communities,  a Community Grants Program will launch late May 2014 to provide small grants for new and existing healthy eating and active living activities in the three partner neighborhoods. The volunteer Community Grants Committee in each neighborhood will be responsible for:

• Attending two mandatory three-hour trainings on May 31 and June 7;
• Helping to publicize the opportunity to apply for the grants to local groups;
• Evaluating proposals and making site visits to see groups in action;
• Presenting grant recommendations to the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

The four partner nonprofit organizations will organize the committees, which will consist of three to six members who will serve through December 2014.

We invite  you to join the volunteer Fort Greene Community Grants Committee. We hope that residents will bring their extensive neighborhood knowledge, experience, and commitment to Healthy Communities and help build the movement for healthier lifestyles across Brooklyn.

For a description of the initiative and grants program and a formal application please contact Kassy Nystrom, Director, Food & Health Programs. The deadline to apply is May 23, 2014 and members will be chosen by May 28.

Please note that if you serve as a member of the Community Grants Committee, any organization that you have a formal affiliation with cannot apply for a grant. 

If you are a teen who lives and/or attends school in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, will be a high school sophomore, junior, senior or college freshman in September 2014, interested in learning about entrepreneurship and looking for summer employment, please  consider applying for the summer apprentice program.  The deadline is May 30th (applications received after this date will be placed on a waiting list for possible consideration).

Check the job board for more information on how to apply.

It’s Week Two of our spring planting season, and it’s very busy in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Last week our landscape contractors aerated 115 tree beds along Myrtle Avenue and added mulch to over 200 tree beds.  This week we’ve added perennial plants and flowering annuals to approximately two dozen tree beds that are protected by our custom tree guards.  In what has become an annual tradition, a group of students from Greene Hill School helped plant annuals in four tree beds between Adelphi and Clermont.  Planting will continue next week.

Mulch was provided by the New York City Parks Department.  Tree bed aeration and mulching was supported by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Woodframe homes in the Wallabout Historic District on Vanderbilt Avenue.

There is so much to see around Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout and May’s warmer weather offers many opportunities to get out in the neighborhood and explore.  A host of guided walks, tours and open houses are slated to take place, highlighting the area’s beautiful architecture and history.

May 17 – And Ongoing: Guided Historic Walking Tour through Wallabout
Every 3^rd Saturday of the month during the summer, the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will host a FREE guided walking tour through the historic Wallabout neighborhood.  The area, most of which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as  historic district, has a beautiful mix of pre-Civil War homes and late 19^th century industrial buildings.  The walk will discuss how the neighborhood developed from when the Dutch first arrived in the early 1600’s and highlight notable residents, such as Walt Whitman and Walt Whitman.  The tour begins in Fort Greene Park at 11am, includes a 1.5 mile walk, and concludes at 99 Ryerson St.  The event is free, but space is limited.  Please register here.

May 3: Jane’s Walk: Walking Wallabout Brooklyn
The annual international Jane’s Walk event is again featuring a stroll through the historic Wallabout section of the neighborhood north of Myrtle Avenue.  The guided walk, hosted by the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, will meet in Fort Greene Park and wind its way through the Wallabout Historic District and the industrial section near the Navy Yard, and conclude at 99 Ryerson Street, the former home of Walt Whitman.  Find full details on the walk on the event’s website, which is sponsored by The Municipal Art Society (MAS).  The event is free and registration is not required.

May 4: Fort Greene Association Annual House Tour
This annual house tour offers a full-schedule for 2014 which emphasizes this year’s theme: At Home with the Arts.  The self-guided tour will allow you access into some of the neighborhood’s most beautiful homes, including a brownstone featured in the hit show Girls.  In addition to residences, tour takers will have access inside local art institutions, including: Mark Morris Dance Center, BRIC’s TV Studios, BLDG 92 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Net’s Practice Court inside Barclay’s Center.  Find full details on ticket prices and where the tours begin on the House Tour’s website.

This blog post was originally published on May 3, 2014.

Spring is a busy time on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.  In the following 3-4 weeks, the BID will be sponsoring and managing the following activities to green and beautify Myrtle Avenue:

• Cultivate soil in 150 street tree beds.  This helps relieve compacted soil so tree roots can get air and water.
• Add mulch to 200 street tree beds.  Mulch keeps weeds down and moisture in the soil.
• Install 70 perennials (hosta and maiden grass) in street tree beds.
• Install 2500 annuals (begonia, salvia, marigold, and flowering tobacco) in street tree beds.

Soil cultivation and mulch will be handled by contractors.  Look for volunteers and Myrtle Avenue BID staff planting perennials and annuals in early-mid May.

All street tree plantings will be within Myrtle Avenue’s custom tree guards and benches.

Tree care activities are supported by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Urban and Community Forestry Program.