Starting this Friday, March 15th through Sunday, March 24th, feast at over 15 local restaurants while supporting a local cause! Whether you want to help abused and abandoned animals find their forever homes or support early childhood education & more, “Dine and Donate” makes it easy – All you have to do is eat delicious meals for a discount!
The deets: Go to a participating restaurant and pay using the Cinch app. 10% of your bill will go to a local non-profit and you will also get 10% or more off their bill. Not a Cinch user yet? Download the Cinch App here
Oh and if you are snapping shots of your meals “for the gram” no judgment here cuz Cinch is also donating an extra $5 every time you share your experience and tag @cinchwallet + the restaurant you ate in or the non-profit you donated to. Be selfie to be selfless, y’all.Continue reading →
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is hosting a “State of the District” presentation on Sunday, March 10, at Hunter College W714 (E. 68th Street and Lexington Avenue) from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. “Join me at my State of the District presentation this Sunday at 1pm! I’ll be discussing my legislative work in Washington, infrastructure investments in NYC, and the status of ongoing projects in #NY12. Hope to see you there,” Maloney posted on Facebook.
Maloney represents NY’s 12th Congressional District including parts of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Long Island City, Astoria, the East Village, Midtown East, and the Upper East Side.
We know the public debate that followed the announcement of the Long Island City project was rough and not very welcoming. Opinions are strong in New York—sometimes strident. We consider it part of the New York charm! But when we commit to a project as important as this, we figure out how to get it done in a way that works for everyone.
The highly contagious measles virus, which was eradicated two decades ago in the U.S. with an effective vaccine, has returned with a surge of 90 diagnoses (mostly children) in Brooklyn, with most of the confirmed cases centered in the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg, where 15 people were diagnosed since last October. There were 349 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. in 2018, according to the CDC.
Since October 2018, approximately 225 New Yorkers have contracted measles, tracing back to a traveler to Israel, according to the NY Times.
Update: Measles outbreaks in the Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County and Brooklyn have officials urging parents to get their kids vaccinated. @BurrellTV is on the story. pic.twitter.com/EsVyCf4Qyr
According to the NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene:
As of February 19, 2019, there have been 90 confirmed cases of measles in Brooklyn since October. Most of these cases have involved members of the Orthodox Jewish community.
The initial child with measles was unvaccinated and acquired measles on a visit to Israel, where a large outbreak of the disease is occurring. Since then, there have been additional children from Brooklyn who were unvaccinated and acquired measles while in Israel. Children who did not travel were also infected in Brooklyn or Rockland County.
The neighborhoods that are affected include:
Bensonhurst: 1 confirmed measles case (no new cases since November 2018) Borough Park: 41 confirmed measles cases (2 new cases in the past week) Midwood/Marine Park: 1 confirmed measles case (no new cases since November 2018) Williamsburg: 47 confirmed measles cases (15 new cases in the past week) If you plan to travel to Israel, protect yourself and your family against measles and get vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at least two weeks in advance of your trip. If you have traveled to Israel and you have a fever, cough, red eyes, runny nose and body rash, contact your doctor. You should call your doctor before going to their office to prevent exposing other people to measles.
The measles virus can live for two hours in rooms lacking ventilation and is spread through casual contact. Symptoms include a rash that can spread across the body along with white spots in the mouth, high fever, runny sinus, and a cough. A 95 percent immunization rate is ideal to shield the general population, but immunization rates are as low as 60 percent in New York regions according to the NY Times.
For perspective, a worse outbreak occurred in 2014 when 667 measles cases were reported, with nearly 400 cases in an un-vaccinated Amish community in Ohio.
Children should have their first dose of the measles vaccine by one year of age and a second dose between the ages of four to six. According to the city:
All children enrolled in pre-kindergarten, nursery school, daycare programs, and Head Start are required to receive one dose of the measles vaccine. Children enrolled in grades K through 12 and college students must have two doses of measles vaccine. Health care workers are required to receive two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, or have a blood test showing that they are immune.
In December 2018, the City Health Department began cracking down on un-vaccinated schoolchildren, banning children from school until they receive proper shots.
Grand Street Restaurant Week is back and starts TODAY (Monday, February 18)! Through Sunday, March 3rd, diners can enjoy discounted prix fixe menus with special offerings at 15 Grand Street restaurants!
Long-time neighborhood favorites like Desy’s Clam Bar as well as neighborhood newcomers like Thompson Brooke are participating as well as local favorites including Le Barricou, AmmazzaCaffe, and Forcella. Two-course lunch offerings start at $10 and three-course dinner offerings are all less than $35 per person. For a full list of participating restaurants and their menus, visit grandstreetrestaurantweek.com. Continue reading →
The Shell gas station at 2 Bushwick Ave. in September 2017 (via Google Maps)
A shuttered Shell gas station at 2 Bushwick Ave. where five spills were reported from 1989 – 2006 is being identified as the potential source of the L train petroleum stench that has resulted in multiple sick passengers and workers since last week, NY Daily News reports.
The Dept. of Environmental Conservation received the spill reports from the former gas station owners whose business operated directly above the L train between Grand Street and Graham Avenue as recent as 2017.
The Shell gas station at 2 Bushwick Ave. in 2018 (via Google Maps)
The DEC is not officially placing the blame on the former gas station for the L train oil smell, the NY Daily News explains:
Transit officials said the tank was abandoned for more than 20 years after DEC officials opted not to remove it, citing its proximity to the subway tunnels. But their timeline may be off — fuel was sold at the gas station as recently as 2017.
DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said Monday that the agency had not yet identified a single source of last week’s disturbing odor, and that a comprehensive investigation into the issue was ongoing.
City Councilman Antonio Reynoso, whose district includes the vacant station, said his office received very little communication from the MTA on the source of the L train stink.
“To make matters worse, the information we have received is conflicting and leaves many unanswered questions about the gravity of the situation and its impact on the health of the riders and residents,” said Reynoso. “This is especially angering and adds insult to injury when considering that north Brooklyn has a history of experiencing environmental injustices, specifically oil spills.”
Seems like the @NYCTSubway has brought in some extra fans to place on top of the L train tunnel in order to vent out the diesel fumes.
Not really helping much as I’m standing on the platform.
Last week, global emerging music and technology conference, Mondo NYC was hosted in the Williamsburg Hotel with a full day agenda of panel discussions, speed meeting sessions, NY music industry meet-ups and more. Local musician and technologist Nathan Windsor attended and shared his key takeaways from the event.
I attended the Mondo NYC music and tech conference in the Williamsburg Hotel and one thing is abundantly clear: our culture does not understand how to value creativity.
Disclaimer: I’m a musician and I run a blockchain software company called Macroscape. I moved to NYC in 2006 to play music, wrote a rock opera, and worked as a music therapist. When I started to run out of money, I switched to software development and cryptocurrencies.
Now if you’re not constantly huffing the fumes of crypto-crack like I am every day, you’re probably not familiar with all the totally arcane and useless facts that I know. Luckily, someone compiled all the failed crypto projects in one place for you right here. Like, you probably don’t know that Ripple is a highly centralized database and most of its founders hold huge amounts of it. That hasn’t stopped it from raising an obscene amount of money (the current market cap is $28.38B), and people from bringing class action lawsuits against the company. As McCartney sang “will you walk away from a fool and his money?” You also probably don’t know that EOS took out ads for its ICO in Times Square, which violated US securities laws.
EOS and Ripple fit into the bucket of projects that have reached what I call “terminal financial escape velocity”: they’ve raised so much money that they can just pay off whatever bills the authorities throw at them. “Ah, who cares,” they probably think. “They’ll sue us in whatever jurisdiction, then we’ll confuse them with nuanced jargon, and pay whatever fee they want us to pay.” (think the FAANG paradigm…)
Getting back to the event of this article, Mondo NYC was created by Joanne Abbot Green and Bobby Haber, who were the also the founders of CMJ. Along with Northside Festival and SXSW, Mondo is another festival working to give musicians the exposure, network, and tools to make a living. Having attended many of these industry festivals over the years, I often come away with a feeling of “ok, so now what?”
I spent three hours listening to panel discussions on blockchain and the future of the music industry and while we are getting better at crafting tech solutions that “cut out the middleman”, we still have a long way to go. Many times in the age of the internet, we solve one problem and then create a whole slew of new ones.
Here are the dark secrets of the music and blockchain industries which no one wants to tell you, and which are symptomatic of the much larger issue of global wealth disparity and the coming AI technological revolution.
1.) Our culture does not understand how to use units of accounting to value the work of people who create “art” (music, performance, visual art). While we all believe the story that art is “valuable” or “unique” we simply don’t know how to assign these things value. That does not mean that we can’t assign it value, it means we don’t. Yet. The same applies to our other valuable assets like data and attention, which is why we give them away for free cat videos.
From frozen treats made with upcycled plant based materials, custom handcrafted guitars, ethereal essential oil blends, to tiny terrarium jewelry, and more, we can’t wait to showcase the high quality unique creations by our top 20 curated pick of local makers.
We’re kicking off the festivities with boozy brunch drinks, food by Awkward Scone, and will have activities for all throughout the day including henna tattoos by Miss V, tarot card readings by Starhawk, guitar making demos by FSC Guitars, and magic lessons by the Brooklyn Paranormal Society.
BIBA Williamsburg was once a rubber factory (photo via nowy dziennik by Wojtek Maślanka/Nowy Dziennik)
Formerly a rubber factory, BIBA has the vintage charm we adore and is now home to the only beer garden in Williamsburg with unobstructed waterfront views of the Manhattan skyline. Right next door in the East River State Park, TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint will return with over 40 restaurants and bars for a foodie extravaganza. With a star-studded lineup including food by Michelin-starred chefs, a ticket will get you unlimited tastings of some of the best local flavors! Continue reading →
On Sunday October 28, 2018 we’re celebrating the end of harvest and welcoming the winter solstice with an otherwordly Samhain themed market! At this time, we’re looking for all creative crafters, makers of food, art, crafts, jewelry, pottery, etc. to apply to be a vendor.
As with every market, we are expecting 3,000+ visitors, a full day of free fun activities, live music, and festive food & drinks, in the beautiful Greenpoint Loft.
This year, accepted Fall Market vendors will have the option to reserve a space in this year’s Holiday Market too!
NOTE: Vendor spaces are reserved for local independent makers and small businesses. If you don’t meet this criteria, email [email protected] to learn about sponsorship opportunities and help support local!
Happy Friday, Greenpoint! This week, Greenpoint’s own Polish-language weekly newspaper, Kurier Plus got a profile in the Columbia Journalism Review.Read about how the Polish paper is thriving!
