Tax season has come and gone, and hopefully by now, your nasty W2’s and 1099’s have been neatly filed away until next year. While you are sitting pretty, dreaming of all the different ways to spend that refund check (or pay the IRS back), what if I told you there was a way to spend a million dollars of city tax money instead? You’d be excited, right?
Welcome to the wonderful world of Participatory Budgeting, where a cool $1 million dollars is placed into our delicate hands to help fund neighborhood projects within the City Council’s 33rd district.
Last year, over 2,000 of you casted your vote and roped in a whopping $1.6 million dollars for the 33rd! McGlorick Park Playground got a much needed makeover, the BOOKlyn Bus shuttle drove around inspiring kids to read, and even our fellow toxic hood Gowanus saw their community center, ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, get much need repairs.
It’s time to spread the love again, and if Greenpoint wants to get a slice of that million dollar pie, we need to put our mouths where the money is and vote for our favorite projects. Continue reading →
The tragic scene unfolded early Sunday morning when a 26 year old Greenpoint woman on her way home was callously struck by a hit and run driver. The unfortunate incident occurred at the intersection of Meeker and Manhattan Avenues beneath the rumblings of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The woman was taken to Elmhurst Hospital and is considered in serious condition. Continue reading →
Pitball thrown from moving car on BQE and lives. Photo credit: Angel Chevrestt
There are few things were worse than an animal abuser. But it takes a truly despicable person of the lowest common denominator to toss a live animal out of a moving car. The grim incident happened around 6:25pm, Tuesday night on the BQE. Jon Ernsberger was the first to spot the pitbull making a 30ft descent towards Meeker Avenue in Greenpoint. He told reporters at first he thought it might have been a human being hurled over the railway, only feet from his car, but when he slammed on the brakes and got out for a better look, he found the 50lb male pitbull still alive and struggling to get up. Continue reading →
While you were cozy under your blankets, 200 firefighters worked for over 4 hours to put out an inferno at a lumber yard in Greenpoint early this morning. And they saved a dog! Continue reading →
When opening a new bar, coming away with a positive experience from a community board meeting presided over by a group hawkishly vigilant of both new liquor licenses and rapidly-vanishing parking spaces is no small feat, especially if in addition to drinks you’re trying to serve up a new pedestrian plaza.
However, sitting down with Etan Fraiman, who recently opened bar/restaurant Battery Harris on the once-desolate corner of Frost & Meeker along with partner David Shapiro, makes it sound like the easiest thing in the world – all you need is a little help from the DOT and a willingness to see your business in the greater context of the streetscape.
The owners of Battery Harris were actually tipped off to the DOT’s Pedestrian Plaza Program by the community board itself, and had nothing but praise for the city agency that not so long ago was referred to by many as “the department of No” for their conservative attitude towards innovation in street design. Continue reading →
