Park Avenue Update: “Skeleton” Message Board Cautions Drivers

This morning, NYCDOT placed a variable message “skeleton” board on eastbound Park Avenue near Ryerson Street. The electronic sign alternates between two messages: the road’s speed limit and a digital skeleton image next to the words “Slow Down.” The message board will stay on Park Avenue for about one month, before being moved to another location.

According to DOT, a pedestrian struck at 40 mph is 3.5 times more likely to be killed than one struck at 30 mph. Furthermore, speeding was the top contributing factor of traffic fatalities in 2012.

The Park Avenue Safety Plan was published in the summer of 2012, after a multi-year community-led effort. Stay tuned for more information.

#farm2nabe Tickets Now on Sale!

DINE, SUPPORT & MINGLE locally at three of our #farm2nabe restaurants in June: Maggie Brown, LuLu & Po & Putnam’s Pub & Cooker!

Tickets are NOW on sale

Come to an event, or even better all three!, and taste each chefs local flavors, meet some of their regional producers & support two local farm education programs that bring farming education and nutrition awareness to Fort Greene & Clinton Hill youth – City Growers & PS 20 Farms!

The line up:

Maggie Brown – 455 Myrtle
June 3rd – 5-7PM
Featuring Brooklyn Republic Vodka, Milk Not Jails

LuLu & Po – 154 Carlton
June 11th – 6-9PM
Featuring Anthony Nappa Wines, Brooklyn Grange & Feather Ridge Farm

Putnam’s Pub & Cooker – 419 Myrtle
June 18th – 5-7 PM
Featuring Hudson Valley Harvest, Stinky Bklyn , and local beer and spirits.

Farm to Neighborhood June Event Series on Myrtle

MARP’s Farm to Neighborhood program connects local chefs and retailers with regional producers to increase consumer access to fresh, locally grown foods and to support our regional economy.

In June, all will have the opportunity to DINE, SUPPORT & MINGLE locally at three of our#farm2nabe restaurants: Maggie Brown, LuLu & Po and Putnam’s Pub & Cooker!

The series will be Tuesdays in June and the line up so far is:

Maggie Brown – 455 Myrtle
June 3rd – 5-7PM
Featuring Brooklyn Republic Vodka, Milk Not Jails

LuLu & Po – 154 Carlton
June 11th – 6-9PM
Featuring Anthony Nappa Wine, Brooklyn Grange & Feather Ridge Farm

Putnam’s Pub & Cooker – 419 Myrtle
June 18th – 5-7 PM
Featuring Hudson Valley Harvest, Stinky Bklyn , and local beer and spirits.

$40 Tickets go on sale TOMORROW, 5.14.12, at noon – mark your calendars!

6th Annual Shred Fest, 5/19 from 10am – 4pm!

Protect your identity. Shred your personal papers for free! Shred Fest is an annual City event to help New Yorkers prevent identity theft.

Bring out your old bank statements, old pay stubs, credit card applications, old papers with personal identifying information, etc.

At Shred Fest you can:

–Safely shred papers containing personal information for free using shredding trucks

–Get free identity theft prevention tips

–Get a FREE paper shredder* donated by Staples if you are one of the first 5 people to arrive at a Shred Fest location.

Closest location:

Cadman Plaza (Cadman Plaza West; opposite Clark Street)

Click here for complete list of Shred Fest locations.

*Shredder recipients will fill out a form to confirm they are not City government employees.

Trilok School’s Annual Fundraiser: The ‘Spring Swing’ Gala, Sat., 5/18!

Trilok Center for Arts & Education is hosting its annual gala event, Spring Swing.’ Come out and have a great time for a great cause. Put on your dancing shoes– live DJ, dancing, food, drink, fun! Also, children’s artwork will be on sale.

Help Trilok reach it’s $50K fundraising goal. Event proceeds will go towards purchase of a new state-of-the-art greenhouse for the garden and dance floor for the basement performing arts theater.

Click here to purchase a ticket or to donate to the cause.

Groupon Alert: CKO Kickboxing Special

Have you been wanting to try out a kickboxing class at CKO Kickboxing at 45 Waverly Avenue? Check out their great Groupon deal!Click here to check it out!

CKO Kickboxing is located at 45 Waverly Avenue and can be reached at 347.770.2CKO (2256).

photo credit: Groupon

Learn Citi Bike Street Skills at Red Lantern Bikes!

Thinking of joining Citi Bike, New York City’s new bike share system?

Attend a Citi Bike Street Skills class at Red Lantern Bicycles & Cafe located at 345 Myrtle Avenue between Adelphi and Carlton for a short session that includes bike share basics, like pricing and station locations, as well as essential street riding tips. Every participant will leave with a free 24-hour pass to Citi Bike, worth $9.95!

Each Bike New York Street Skills class offers important street riding information in a quick, off-bike session. The interactive class will provide concrete examples of city cycling scenarios and how best to handle them so that you enjoy pleasant, stress-free rides. Topics will include where bikes fit on New York City’s bustling streets, whether in a bike lane, traffic lane, bike box and much more. Join fellow Citi Bike riders (and future Citi Bike riders) to learn from certified cycling instructors in an informal, classroom-style presentation and discussion in a lively space where snacks, drinks, and good company are provided.

Want to sign up for classes at Red Lantern Bicycles & Café? Only 3 classes remaining (Thursdays, May 16, June 6 and June 20: 7pm-8pm)! Click hereto register.

Red Lantern Bicycles & Café is located at 345 Myrtle Avenue between Adelphi and Carlton. Please call 718.889.5338 for details.

Yummy Match-up: peanut butter smoothie + apple cider donut!

There’s enough Myrtle love to spread around, always–all up and down the Avenue!

Paired up a delish, cold and smooth, peanut butter smoothie from Move with Grace with a soft, fresh apple cider donut from The Joint on Myrtle.

Now THAT was a good snack!

Stop in and check out Move with Grace Yoga, Pilates and Dance Studio’s fresh juice and smoothie bar. Move with Grace is located at 469 Myrtle Avenue between Washington Avenue and Hall Street. Call 718.230.0013 for further info.

Stop in at The Joint on Myrtle Avenue for an apple cider donut or choose from the delicious assortment of other desserts, including vegan selections! The Joint on Myrtle is located at 471 Myrtle Avenue between Washington Avenue and Hall Street (yep, Grace and T&T are right next door to one another) and can be reached at 347.761.1455 for further info.

Bikes on Myrtle — stop in today!

Bikes on Myrtle at 478 Myrtle Avenue between Washington Avenue and Hall Street re-opened ten days ago after closing the store for 3 weeks for a Spring spruce up. They have now re-opened–sparkly and rearing to go!

Bikes on Myrtle carries a wide variety of bicycles, including Bianchi, Schwinn and GT and also a wide variety of biking accessories. They also carry a wide variety of children’s bikes and trikes!

Bikes on Myrtle is located at 478 Myrtle Avenue between Washington Avenue and Hall Street. Call them at 347.788.0478 for additional information, or just stop in!

Spring Planting: Local Schools Help Beautify Myrtle Av

Yesterday and today, the “7s” and “8s” (7 and 8 year olds) from Greene Hill School planted ornamental annuals in tree pits along Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn BID provided nearly 1000 seedlings and the tools needed to plant them. Students planted begonias and red salvias in 12 tree pits from Adelphi to Waverly.

Spring planting continues later this week. Students from Trilok and PS20 are scheduled to plant annuals in other tree pits along Myrtle. In mid-May, the BID will install perennial plants in Myrtle tree pits that don’t already have them.

All ornamental plantings are protected by Myrtle’s award-winning tree guards, which were supported by funding from NYS Main Street and NYS DEC.

Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: for any age! Choose private lesson, classes and open house

Over 40 and thinking about getting started in Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Check out Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s blog today about getting started over age 40. Can you do it? BBJJ says–absolutely!

Check out the blog post about getting started. And please come back and share when you give it a go!

Just $19.95 will get you a free uniform and a private lesson at BBJJ! Or stop in along with a current BBJJ student for BBJJ’s Friends and Family open house night on May 15th at 7pm.

BBJJ will go over the basics of self defense, help you feel extra comfortable taking a first class, and they will show you how to start getting and staying fit and confident.

Soco is now serving LUNCH!

Starting Tuesday, May 14th, Soco will also be open for lunch, T-F, 12noon thru 4pm! New lunch menu and happy hour cocktails.

The lunch menu will be comprised of many SoCo dinner favorites plus some brand new lunch offerings. And what’s lunch without…happy hour cocktail specials! Stop in and enjoy!

Soco is located at 509 Myrtle Avenue between Ryerson and Grand. Please call them at 718.783.1936.

$50 off transition lenses at DC Optics!

Dr. Cheng, optometrist and owner of the eponymous optical store has sooo much passion and excitement for his work.

Good to meet someone with so much talent, passion and excitement for his work that he can even make aclassroom of 1st graders shout, “glasses are cool!”

Being a big supporter of local business, at DC Optics, with a year supply of contacts or a pair of glasses, you will receive a gift certificate to Le Petit Bakery, Red Lantern Bikes or CakeJoy Bakery.

The mission of DC Optics is to provide the highest quality eye care in a relaxed and friendly environment with an emphasis on community outreach and charity work. (DC Optics provides exams and eyewear to children in local schools.)

DC Optics is located at 390 Myrtle Avenue and can be reached at 347.504.1121.

Hadas Gallery: call for art!

Yo Artists! Hadas Gallery is proud to announce the open call for Yo Brooklynites III, the annual community group show. If you are a Brooklyn artist, then this show is for you!

All media will be considered. Subject matter must avoid nudity, violence, or sexual content.

If interested, please send up to three jpegs of your artwork, size/medium/year, and artist statement to joshua@hadasgallery.com

Fork Cafe re-opens this weekend, 5/4!

Fork Cafe at 507 Myrtle Avenue re-opens tomorrow, 5/4 with a revamped look and menu. At the kitchen’s helm is Chef Quincy Garner, with restaurant experience in Asian and Cajun cuisine.

The former comfy character of Fork Café remains but is amped up to a higher level with its now full bar, patio space also with full bar and additional seating up front. “We’re really excited about Fork Café and can’t wait to share our new look and menu! It’s truly designed for people to stop in and maximally enjoy!,” shared Kim Price, Fork Café owner.

Garner’s menu includes brunch and dinner specials served 6 days per week. Some menu items include: (appetizers) smoked asparagus, sautéed kale and (big plates) Cajun-Asian inspired chicken and cheese croquettes (hoisin mushroom gravy, Israeli couscous and arugula), buttermilk fried chicken on cheddar cheese waffle biscuit and the house salad; fresh day boat scallops (cashews, corn, kale, blue cheese butter and cherries); seared pork belly (pineapples, sweet basil, cinnamon bread); Asian beef ribs (asparagus, creamy white cheddar grits) and (small plates) Chinese chicken dumplings (spicy aioli), pineapple walnut shrimp, mussels (madras curry broth and toast) and Philly cheese steak (cheddar cheese, house aioli).

Fork Café is located at 507 Myrtle Avenue between Ryerson and Grand. Please call 718.622.3675 (FORK) or better yet, just stop in!

Cinco de Mayo Celebration at Lola BKLYN!

Cinco de Mayo is this coming Sunday (5/5, of course)! It celebrates the Mexican Army’s victory at the Battle of Puebla. Folks all over the world commemorate the day, in Mexico and outside of Mexico. It can arguably be said that many folks who hail from or reside in the historic city where the battle took place, Puebla, Mexico, really have a handle on knowing how to celebrate the day big time.

Psst, Lola Bklyn’s’s executive chef is from Puebla.

Garden party at Lola Bklyn! Music, brunch specials, $4 Coronas or grab a bucket of Coronas with friends for $16 and receive complimentary taquitos. Check out the full menu of delicious food and drink here.

Lola BKLYN is located at 387 Myrtle Avenue. They can be reached at 718.858.1484.

And the patio’s open too! Stop in at Pillow Cafe-Lounge!

Have you tried the fiesta salad at Pillow Café-Lounge? You should!

The fiesta salad is a delish dish which includes black beans with corn and avocado tossed in a lime vinaigrette dressing on a bed of greens. Whew–hit the spot, hit the ball out of the park, hit the high note–you get us.

Check out Pillow’s menu, which includes a variety of fresh, delicious salads, sandwiches, breakfast, cold, hot and specialty drinks. And with weather like today’s–sit out and enjoy the wonderful back yard space.

Pillow Café is located at 505 Myrtle Avenue between Grand and Ryerson. Please call to order: 718.246.2711.

Sneak Peek: Leisure Life NYC opens this weekend!

Leisure Life NYC, a fine men’s clothing line specializing in leather goods and accessories, is planning a soft opening this coming weekend at 559 Myrtle Avenue!

This husband and wife-owned venture is oozing with style. Check out the finely tailored varsity jackets with pleasingly placed pops of color in the finest of places, across the forearms, on the elbows, on the pockets, at the collar and waist.

Leisure Life will carry clothing and accessories by many local Brooklyn designers as well as exhibit visual art by local artists on its walls. Please stop in to say hello to these first time-entrepreneurs.

Leisure Life is located at 559 Myrtle Avenue between Emerson and Classon Avenues.

May Day @ Cielo Bar — stop in for the Mayweather v. Guerrero Fight, 5/4!

In addition to having great food and drink, Cielo Bar is fight central, having provided viewing opportunities for key boxing matches since they’ve opened. Next up, toe-to-toe, ding ding: Mayweather vs. Guerrero on May 4th!

Eight time, five-division world boxing champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather and six time and four-division world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero will go toe-to-toe at the MGM Grand in Vegas in what’s dubbed “May Day: Mayweather vs. Guerrero.”

Enjoy the fight on the big screens w/great food, great company and terrific drinks. Check out the happy hour specials:

$5.00 Mojitos / Caipirinhas / Margaritas

$5.00 Well Drinks / Red & White Wines and Sangria

$24 Pitchers (Sangria, Mojitos, Margaritas, Caipirinhas)

$3 Beers

Cielo Bar is located at 476 Myrtle Avenue. Give Cielo a call for more info:(347) 529-4143, but best thing — stop by!

2 drink minimum

Bike the Branches, Saturday, May 11th

On Saturday, May 11th, the Brooklyn Public Library invites you to Bike the Branches! This fun and rewarding one-day bike ride gives you a chance to choose your own route to experience Brooklyn’s diversity (‘Along the Waterfront’, ‘Brooklyn in the Movies’, ‘Architectural History’, ‘Brooklyn Eats’ and ‘Literary Brooklyn’)–and the BPL’s network of 60 branches–all while helping to raise critical funds for the Brooklyn Public Library.

Between 10am and 5pm on the day of the ride, get your official “passport” stamped at the branches you visit, and then enjoy Central Library’s Finish Line Celebration from 5pm to 7pm at Grand Army Plaza. You can sign up to ride (or walk or run!) as an individual or with friends, family or co-workers, and ask your community to pledge their support by sponsoring your ride.

Choose your route, visit the BPL branches and explore the borough in a new way!

Click here to register today!

An Evening with Mark Bittman, New York Times Food and Opinion Writer

All are invited to this exciting event and opportunity to support the Brooklyn Food Coalition (BFC).

Mark Bittman, New York Times Food & Opinion writer, will speak on “The Future of Food” and will address how we can eat for the health of our bodies and the planet.

All Proceeds go to support the Brooklyn Food Coalition: Working Toward A Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Food System For All!
– General Admin tickets are $20
– Limited amount of student tickets for $10
– VIP Dinner & talk for $175 includes: a 4-course meal, wine, a signed copy of Mr. Bittman’s new book “VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 p.m. to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health…For Food”, and entry to the talk

Purchase your tickets here.

Where: Long Island University in Downtown Brooklyn
Arnold and Marie Schwartz Athletic Center
1 University Plaza (DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues)

When: April 30th

Time: 6PM

Need more info? Visit the BFC website here.

Join Us For a Free Jane’s Walk in Wallabout this Saturday!

Enjoy the neighborhood this weekend by participating in a Jane’s Walk through the historic Wallabout neighborhood! Jane’s Walk, founded on the principles of urbanist and author Jane Jacobs, offers an opportunity for locals to get together to meet, share, learn about and appreciate their neighborhood. The Wallabout walk will be one of more than 100 offered around the city on the weekend of May 4-5.

The Wallabout walk will begin at 12:00 at the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park and end in front of 99 Ryerson Street. No registration is required.

The walk will explore the Wallabout neighborhood, located in northern Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and discuss its 380+ year history as a community. The walk will lead past neighborhood landmarks and explore how these places, and the famous residents associated with them, represent the community’s social development over the centuries. The stories will discuss the area’s first European settlers, its role in the Revolutionary War, the area’s 19th century industrialization, famous residents such as Walt Whitman, and the neighborhood’s decline and how these past events and people have defined the revitalized neighborhood we see today.

Find more info on The Municipal Art Society’s website.

You are in good hands at Clinton Hill Animal Clinic!

Dog breath? Yeah, seriously, check that dog breath! Dr. Dendtler and Dr. Johnson share that it can be an oral health problem. Pet owners, have you checked out Clinton Hill Animal Clinic? Dr. Dendtler and Dr. Johnson have 30+ years of knowledge and experience.

Whether in need of wellness exams and vaccines, diagnostic testing, blood analysis, urinalysis, fecal exams; surgery (soft tissue and orthopedic), allergy testing; digital x-rays and sonogram service, intravenous fluid therapy; domestic and international travel certificates (USDA), spay, neuter and declaw; cat boarding, arthritis management, anesthesia and vital signs monitoring or a whole lot more, please give them a call.

Clinton Hill Animal Clinic is located at 476 Myrtle Avenue and can be reached at 718.623.3999.

Family fun at P.S. 20 tonight, Friday, 4/26 at 6:30pm!

P.S. 20 offers family fun tonight! The $3 admissions gets you popcorn, pizza, soft drinks, a historic 1926 animated film and a parent’s creativity! Stop in the check out Prince Achmed, a silent film with live piano music by Ursel Schlicht tonight, Friday, April 26th, starting at 6:30pm.

The adventures of Prince Achmed is a film by Lotte Reiniger, inspired by tales from “One Thousand and One Nights.” Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated feature film (1926). Filmmaker Lotte Reiniger invented a silhouette animation technique similar to shadow puppets. PS20 parent Ursel Schlicht creates an improvised soundscape using objects on the inside of the piano, inspired by both the cardboard techniques Reiniger used for the film and the magical surreal scenes of the movie.

P.S. 20 is located at 225 Adelphi Street, just off of Willoughby.

Young Writers Present at BLDG 92 for National Poetry Month, Sat., 4/27

April is National Poetry Month. Tomorrow, Saturday, April 27th from 3:00pm to 4:00pm is a local celebration, stop in and check it out.

BLDG 92 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard presents ‘Finding Your Voice: Young Writers Celebrating Freedom.’ Enjoy a reading of new poetry and prose by talented young writers, ages 7 thru college (Keanu Stowe, Ardelle Stowe, Iyanu Miller, Najaya Royal, Aliah Gilkes, Jaya Samuel, Keredin Samuel, Jamila Wright), mentored by Angeli Rasbury. This public program is supported by The Walt Whitman Project.

Light refreshments.

Free admission.