“Equilibrium” by ASVP (coutesy of Stephen Donofrio)
Intermediate School 318 (101 Walton St.) is now hosting a large-scale mural by street artists ASVP spanning five stories and featuring balancing endangered species to start a conversation about the earth’s sustainability.
The mural, entitled “Equilibrium,” was one of two murals painted at the school last summer as part of #THEPOINTNYC, a Climate Week NYC project produced by Greenpoint Innovations in partnership with Comics Uniting Nations, Hypokrit Theatre Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Vintage clothing retailer Walk the West (150 Franklin St.) is currently displaying a large framed print of “Equilibrium” that is for sale and the store is helping to sell the smaller signed 15″ X 20″ prints. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the prints will go toward the parent-teacher association of IS318. The limited edition signed 15″ X 20″ prints can also be purchased online.
Walk the West
“Equilibrium” print on display at Walk the West (courtesy of Stephen Donofrio)
“We hope that in addition to raising money for the school, these prints will help us continue raising awareness about human-driven climate change and the urgency for all people, particularly the youth, to take action,” said Stephen Donofrio, founder of Greenpoint Innovations. “We’re grateful to ASVP for their support, talent, and ongoing generosity with this project.” Continue reading →
Demolition is scheduled to start next year on the building which sits on highly toxic land at the Corner of Franklin and Dupont Streets, where the groundwater and soil are contaminated with a host of human carcinogens including phthalates and TCE.
A letter with recommendations on the proposed cleanup plan addressed to the DEC from Environmental Stewarship LLC, the technical advisor hired by the North Brooklyn Neighbors addresses many issues including the need for pressurized tents during excavation to minimize the spread of harmful airborne volatile organic compounds.
New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney will host a post-election town hall with her constituents of NY’s 12th Congressional District (including Greenpoint) tonight (11/19) from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., at Bushwick Inlet Park’s community room (86 Kent Ave.).
NY’s 12th Congressional District includes Greenpoint, and parts of Bushwick and Williamsburg, and the district stretches into the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Astoria, Queens.
NY’s 12th Congressional District (Mapbox)
Rep. Maloney was first elected to Congress in 1992 and won reelection with 86 percent of the vote two weeks ago in the 2018 midterm elections. During the campaign, she focused on her history of championing women’s issues in Washington.
A list of 70 measures that were passed with her effort includes the Sexual Assault Forensic Reporting (SAFER) Act (H.R. 594, 113th Congress), the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 2722 – 114th Congress), and the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act (H.R. 812, 113th Congress). Continue reading →
Come and say goodbye in person to the Northern Territory crew at their Winter Hibernation Party this Saturday, Nov. 17, from 4 p.m. – close. Greenpointers will be guest bartending with pumpkin spice hot mulled apple cider, a favorite from our Samhain Fall Market.
Dutch Kills, connected to the Newtown Creek Superfund site is the next “It Zone” (MTA)
Amazon’s plan to build half of its HQ2 at Anabel Basin in Long Island City, just a brisk walk from Greenpoint over the Pulaski Bridge, is proving to be a Rorschch test. The homeownership rate in Brooklyn is around 30 percent, leaving the majority of residents in the area feeling the stress of a potential for increased rent, similar to Seatle where rent has risen 39.8 percent over the past fives years.
On the other hand, real estate speculators are salivating at the HQ2 news and see an opportunity for a quick return on investment; online searches for LIC real estate have jumped 300 percent since the HQ2 announcement less than a week ago.
To “help capitalize on local growth,” NYC-based Compound Asset Management, Inc. has launched an “NYC HQ2 Fund” offering an investment opportunity with a “diversified portfolio of properties in neighborhoods such as Sunnyside, Woodside, Astoria, Greenpoint, Maspeth, and Long Island City itself.”
Meet Compound’s newest fund, NYC HQ2. This fund will acquire and manage a portfolio of properties in and around Long Island City, Amazon’s newest headquarters location and will be available to both individual and institutional investors. https://t.co/fAMpsE7miE#AmazonHQ2
Yes, the speculators are coming (in even greater numbers) and are setting their fiesty eyes on the few neighborhoods with remaining charm in NYC. The highest accolades, according to Compound, are reserved for Dutch Kills, the next “It Zone,” a small waterway where raw sewage often overflows connected to the Newtown Creek Superfund. Compound cites in the fact that four luxury buildings are going up at Dutch Kills already. Continue reading →
Lief Vollebekk, left, and Gregory Alan Isakov perform a joint encore
Gregory Alan Isakov hails from Colorado; his opener Lief Vollebekk is French-Canadian. Throw them in a Brooklyn venue and you’ve got enough flannel and beards to open up an urban farm.
All in jest, this is not to downplay the authenticity of Isakov’s musicianship — his agrarian melodies feel borrowed from the earth as his poetic lyrics are caught from the wind. His folksy, bluer songs felt particularly powerful last night; it’s hard to not hear the lyric “The Universe, she’s wounded / but she’s still got infinity ahead of her” and not consider the onslaught of bad news that’s swept our country in the past few weeks. Still, many of his songs warmed instead of numbed, a necessary touch at Warsaw (261 Driggs Avenue) where audiences huddled and remained buttoned up from the unseasonably wintry evening.
The North Brooklyn Angels are throwing a Thanksgiving celebration in honor of the volunteers who give their time and effort to prepare and serve meals to our neighbors in need. The Thanks4Giving meal will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 20, from 5 – 9 p.m. at the Parish Hall of Mt. Carmel RC Church at 275 N 8th St.
The gallery display of the Solar Panel Art Series at A/D/O in Greenpoint.
Brooklyn’s A/D/O (29 Norman Ave.) is currently showcasing the Solar Panel Art Series, which features 12 original works by New York-based artists on repurposed solar panels, with proceeds benefitting the Little Sun Foundation’s “solar schools” program in Rwanda.
Solar panels used as mediums in the Brooklyn show were provided by DUMBO-based solar manufacturer Pvillion; the panels are no longer functional as energy harvesters.
Abou Aboughazala, project manager of the art series, describes the project as “an international social art initiative seeking to promote art as a tool for change and use it to foster a more sustainable and conscious global community.”
The solar panel art is currently on display at A/D/O until Nov. 20, with a chance that the show will be extended for an additional week. The bidding is open online until Nov. 27 via auction house Paddle8.
“The Golden Rule” by Brian Kenny
The art series was originally started by The Beam, a Berlin-based tri-annual publication covering green tech, and their neighbors happened to be working on sustainability issues, sparking the project. “The Little Sun Foundation’s offices are actually down the street from our offices in Berlin,’ Aboughazala said.
“The idea of the Solar Panel Art Series came as a way for us to use it as a tool for positive change while generating impact, which is why we partnered with Little Sun Foundation. With the proximity of their offices to ours and us liking the work they do, we approached them and they jumped on board,” he said.
Tech Open Air hosted the first solar exhibition in 2017 in Berlin, and the Greenpoint opening marks the first solar panel show in the U.S. for the organization.
Edward Granger’s painting for the Solar Panel Art Series
“We had some artists I curated that we had previously been in touch with. Those were Edward Granger and Felipe Pantone. And then the remaining artists were selected and approached by a local curator in New York, Georgia Frances King,” Aboughazala said. Greenpoint-based artist Paul Richard, curated by COALITION, also participated in the project, creating two of his signature drip paintings.
“We are going to be in L.A. for our next U.S. edition to take it to the other side of the U.S.,” Aboughazala said, with a target date set for mid-2019.
Saves The Day playing in front of a packed Warsaw crowd in Greenpoint on Wednesday, Nov. 14th. Photo by Peter Kirchhausen
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a nostalgia-soaked night of music, and on Wednesday night at Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave.), Saves the Day was exactly that. But although it pains me to write, the nostalgia seems to be wearing thin.
It was an early 2000’s North East emo basement scene recreated nearly 20 years later in North Brooklyn, in front of all those 17-year-olds who are now nearing their 40s. Although the band on stage at Warsaw still features emo-rock legend vocalist Chris Conley, most of the other members- a literal revolving door with over 20 different people over the years- are mostly all new. The previous dozen plus band members chose to bow out years ago when it just stopped being fun, countless years before the creation of the newly released ninth studio album which dropped earlier this November.
Conley wearing a dark tinted sunglass inside Warsaw on Wednesday night. Photo by Peter Kirchhausen
Three or four times during the 90 minute set, there were sparks from the fan favorites that put the band on the national map, such as the opener “At Your Funeral,” “Freakish,” or “Holly Hox.” For the remainder of the setlist, the audience was starved of what they paid to hear- the early catalog- and for a Wednesday night, the packed crowd was not willing to fake it. Conley has every right to create a set list which he prefers, relying on either newer or older songs, but musicians can read audiences very quickly and Conley knows what is going on. The audience stood idle in for large chunks of time while newer songs were performed and it appeared tough for the other bandmates to fake the energy on stage. Conley was often stationary in the center and putting out low energy all night, something I previously have not seen out of him during more recent live performances. Continue reading →
What do we do when bad news seems incessant and escape feels impossible? Turn to art.
Triskelion Arts (106 Calyer Street) is pleased to present BodyStories’ “reeling -> healing,” an exploration of feelings of frustration and helplessness that can occur as a result of the constant barrage of negative news and hatred that reaches our country. This two-part work discusses how audiences deal with these emotions to find solace while taking action. Original music by Kevin Keller adds to a sense of urgency and the need for community, working in tandem with the choreography to immerse the audience in a fully formed world. Performers and audience connect via The Emotional Architecture of a Bridge, an original concept drawn and created by Teresa Fellion, that is uncovered in the piece via set elements and audience interaction with text. Furthering thoughts of togetherness, which has been an overarching theme in all past BodyStories pieces, “reeling -> healing” exposes the more vulnerable sides of ourselves through dance.
The show plays November 29 – December 1, 2018 at 8pm at Triskelion Arts’ Muriel Schulman Theater (enter at Calyer and Banker Streets). Tickets are $18 in advance or $22 at the door; purchase here!
