Tonight (12/4) from 7-10pm is the Big Brooklyn Holiday Toy Drive Party at Red Star (34 Greenpoint Ave). They will be collecting toys and raising money for local kids affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Many lost almost everything they had. The toy drive will focus specifically on the children affected by the hurricane and attempt to bring them some joy through toys this holiday season.
Open bar/Raffle/50/50 Cover: $20 or a new, unwrapped toy valued at $20 or more (all proceeds to go the Big Brooklyn Holiday Toy Drive)
If you can’t make the party, you can drop off unwrapped toys on any East River Ferry vessel, from Nov. 25 until December 16th.
RAFFLE PRIZES
-Vacation voucher good for a 3 night cruise, with your choice of destinations including Mexico, the Bahamas and several Caribbean destinations. Airfare included!
-ONE YEAR PASS on the East River Ferry
-$75 gift certificate to Calyer Restaurant
-$75 gift certificate to Anella Restaurant
-At the Corner Barber: Haircut, hot shave, & Amercan Crew Dopp Kit (value $102.00)
-At Mousey Brown Salon: Haircut & Pureoloogy hair care gift box (value $107.00)
-Two pool passes for the King & Grove Hotel in Williamsburg
This looks like so much fun and a really great way to help out this season!
PS 31 is having a Fall Harvest Fest on Tuesday October 30, 2012. ”As you know public schools don’t get much from the NYC Dept of Ed,” so the school is looking for donations for the following items:
* Someone who can create/paint a Fall Harvest Festival theme background/surrounding
• Pumpkins
• Markers
• Stickers
• Ring Toss Game
• Fall Harvest Festival Giveaway
Gosh I wish I could paint, because I’d would be all over that fall harvest background!
*Greenpointers will sponsor an artist to paint the background by paying for the materials – just give me a shout: greenpointers (at) gmail.com.
If anyone can donate any of these items, please contact Maria: sdmla (AT) aol.com.
Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 4pm, marks the first event The Friends of McGolrick Park are hosting for the community. Held in conjunction with Town Square, they have created an event for the whole family to enjoy!
DJ Greg Stare will be spinning records under the pavilion while the promenade will be used as a dance floor. The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of American will be on hand to help out.
Plus, a Polish Polka dance troop will be on hand to teach people how to polka! Greenpointers of all ages are encouraged to come out and shake a leg. Bring a picnic to enjoy, the weather is supposed to be amazing. Enjoy it while you can!
The Friends of McGolrick Dance Party
McGolrick Park Pavilion
Saturday, Sept. 22
4:00pm – 7:00 pm
Lemonade stands are good for kids. So is viral marketing. With already a keen understanding of the value of social media, Nat asked “are we going to be on Facebook?” So share this post and stop by Norman Ave between Humboldt and Russell to give these little entrepreneurs some love. Ginger, Clementine & Nat are selling fresh squeezed lemonade made with real lemons and homemade simple syrup. It will be hard, but don’t say, “keep the change.” They are learning the value of a buck and how to make change, so even though they are adorable, let them count back your change! Then just dump the rest in the piggy bank, so they learn that being cute helps, too!
5 Boros Basketball, a youth basketball team based in Greenpoint, is currently seeking one or more local businesses to serve as sponsors. 5 Boros Basketball is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit dedicated to offering youths from low-income families a chance to play competative basketball.
“Our motto is, ‘It’s All About the Kids,’” said 5 Boros Basketball Director Rick Atson. “Our goal is to keep this affordable for the kids.”
Founded in 2011, 5 Boros Basketball has quickly established a reputation for winning tournaments while stressing fair play. 5 Boros Basketball’s all-volunteer coaching staff teaches kids ages 9 to 17 the fundamentals of basketball, teamwork and sportsmanship.
5 Boros Basketball has grown rapidly, but rapid expansion means that access to court time and keeping the team financially stable have been major challenges for 5 Boros Basketball. Coaches have regularly paid for court space and tournament fees out of their own pockets in order to defray the cost from the children’s families.
Now 5 Boros Basketball has a tentative agreement with a local school to solve the problem of court time. What remains is to find sponsors to help with operation costs. To that end 5 Boros Basketball is seeking sponsorship offers from partners in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg community including local businesses, charitable individuals and all others.
Interested parties should contact Rick Atson at 347-723-4886. Or email 5borosbasketball@gmail.com
Happy July! Hopefully this heatwave will subside for a nice weekend. Check out the calendar for even more events. Submit an event.
WEDNESDAY 7/18 • Brooklyn Public Library Kidsmobile @ McCarren Park, 10-11:30am, FREE ♥ Summerscreen: Raising Arizona @ McCarren Park (N 12th & Bedford Ave), 6pm, FREE • The Fug Girls Present Messy @ Word (126 Franklin St.) 7-8pm, founders of the must-read blog Go Fug Yourself, present their second YA novel, Messy, More info ♫ TEEN / Electric Video Release Party @ La Sala (58 No. 3rd St) 9pm, RSVP ♫ Telepathe / Feathers / Eraas / FAITH DJ set @ Glasslands (289 Kent Ave) 8:30pm, $10, Buy Tix
THURSDAY 7/19 • Cooper Park Harmony Day Picnic with the 90th Precinct @ Cooper Park, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM • OSA Community Tree Stewardship Day with The Human Impacts Institute @ Rodney Park (S. 3rd Street & Rodney) 5:30-7pm, help protect street trees from the heat of the summer, tools supplied and no gardening experience necessary. ♫ Pretty Good Friends with Eugene Mirman / OK GO! @ Williamsburg Park (50 Kent Avenue) 5:30pm, FREE ♦ Slideluck Potshow @ Brooklyn Brewery (79 N 11th St) $15, 6:30-10:30pm, a slideshow of various Northside artists, bring your favorite bar food, beer will be unlimited, space will be, Buy Tix • Jungle Nights: Natural Perfume Making Workshop @ Jungle (61 Kent Avenue) 7-8pm, $120, Using natural ingredients found in the garden, you will learn the basics of natural perfume design with a perfume designer and create with your own scent to take home, Cocktails, RSVP time4everythingnyc (AT) gmail.com * Space, Time, and a Universe in Many Dimensions@ 3rd Ward (195 Morgan Ave) 7:30pm, $20, Janna Levin, scientist and novelist, speaks to us about how there may be hidden dimensions existing in the vast unknown that is the universe, More info
FRIDAY 7/20 ♫ Children’s concert @ American Playground, 11am, Free ♫ Woody Guthrie Centennial Benefit @ Teddy’s (96 Berry St) 8pm, To benefit North Brooklyn’s O.U.T.R.A.G.E. (Organizations United for Trash Reduction and Garbage Equity) ♫ The Frighteners / The Forthrights / The Hard Times @ Shea Stadium (20 Meadow St) 8pm
SATURDAY 7/21 * Weekend Walk Block Party @ Grand between Union & Manhattan, noon-6pm, a car free oasis, RVSP ♥ 7th Annual Great Hot Dog CookOff @ 630 Flushing Ave, 1:30pm, 30 competitors engage in a live grilling battle where the attendees vote to determine who will be this year’s Top Dog, all proceeds donated to Food Bank For New York City, Buy Tix • 5th Annual Pig Roast @ 3rd Ward (195 Morgan Ave) 4pm, Free, a summery celebration of gut-splitting proportions, More info ♦ Surprise! Party & Zine Release @ Booklyn (37 Greenpoint Ave 4fl) 7-10pm, a recurring, roving performance project, created in 2009 by artists Aaron Wojack and Calder Zwicky, More info ♫ Quiet Loudly /EULA/ Miniboone/ & Backwords @ Big Snow (89 Varet St) 8pm, RSVP ♫ Dum Dum Girls, Widowspeak, Fingers On The Pulse @ House of Vans (25 Franklin St) 8pm, FREE, RSVP ♫ Soul Clap and Dance Off w/ Jonathan Toubin @ Glasslands Gallery (289 Kent Ave) 11:45pm, $5
SUNDAY 7/22 ♫ Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra @ Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave) 6pm, $5 ♫ Fixed / Chromatics / JDH & Dave P / Paul Raffaele @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N. 6th St) 8pm, $18, Buy Tix
TUESDAY 7/24 ♥ Masters of Social Gastronomy: Ice Cream @ Public Assembly (70 North 6th St) 7-9:30pm, Free, RSVP * Drink for Better Transit @ Troost (1011 Manhattan Ave) 7-8:30pm,Riders Alliance • RidersNY.org is a membership organization of subway and bus riders dedicated to winning better transit in New York, RSVP
* Greenpointers’ Pick
♫ Music
♥ Pheremones Likely
♦ Art Event
The feast is starting today! And it’s not just about winning goldfish and eating zeppoles, though that is how we celebrate it in my family. The story behind the feast began in a little town outside of Naples called Nola.
(If you don’t know what a zeppole is, read about it here.)
The feast in “Italian Williamsburg” is actually two feasts in one. The “Giglio” part of the feast honors Saint Paolino of Nola, who is celebrated because he sacrificed himself to North African slave abducting pirates in order to free a young man from the hometown. Word spread of his courage and a Turkish sultan talked to a guy and Saint Paolini and his “paesani” (homeboys) were freed.
The feast culminates on July 16th to honor Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Referred to as the Blessed Mother, the devotion to the Virgin by Southern Italians often leaves you asking, “God who?”
Even though we love our Madonna in Brooklyn, that aspect of the feast was added on later. The feast was originally was all about the Giglio. Continue reading →
I remember the first day I learned that white was not a good color for me to wear. I was sitting in PS49 having my free summer lunch and I dropped ketchup from my “meatless” hamburger all over the front of myself. I used to remove the burger meat and just eat the buns because even then I was a food snob and still am a food slob. My favorite meals were morning pancakes, meat ravioli, tater tots and the occasional strawberry milk. My Mom, who worked for homeless services, stressed how important the program is for kids who rely on public school meals during the school year and might not eat as well when school is out. I think she personally appreciated that it gave her a break from us.
To find out where to send your kids for a free meal nearby, either call 311 (it actually is a really effective service) or text “NYCMEALS” to 877-877. I never thought I would be able to text NYC, but I did and in moments they ask for my address and sent me a list of locations, including McCarren Park Pool (776 Lorimer St) & Greenpoint Reformed Church (136 Milton St.)
The only requirements for a free meal: you are a kid!
Kids are like aliens to me; when I see them I can’t believe they exist. Until we get a small-human-owner to contribute, I will do my best to cover kids stuff in Greenpoint.
Little Duck Organics just moved to the neighborhood and asked Greenpointers to review their snack food product. A box in the mail, even if it’s fruit snacks – actually, “certified, organic, no-sugar added, Non-GMO Project verified 100% fruit snacks,” which are also “gluten-free,” is exciting. According to the well designed packaging that you want to read like a cereal box, there are “no zombies” in it either. But is it artisanal, people?
There were no kids in sight, just a bunch of workaholics sitting around the table, exhausted on a Friday night after a huge meal of pasta carbonara (and there may have been a funny cigarette going around, but I can’t remember.)
We made do and polished off 3 bags before I could properly perform the taste test!
I already told you about a great project called PaperJam at Figment NYC, which is happening this weekend on Governors Island. I want to introduce to you another amazing project called The Puzzle Project by an amazing Greenpointer named Tim Kelly.
The Puzzle Installation & Collaborative Project is a huge traveling group art exhibition that continues to grow. It originated at the Monmouth County Arts Council, but the project gained such popularity and momentum among art and community organizations, like our own Greenpoint YMCA, and schools throughout the US and abroad that it’s become Tim’s full-time gig, which is completely self-funded. When you see the scale of this project you will wonder what fuels him.
When you meet Tim you will quickly understand it is his genuine love for art and his passion for sharing that love that gives him the energy to manage this huge endeavor.
