Free Screening of Atlantic Yards Documentary

BROOKLYN MATTERS: Nov 5 @7pm Free screening at Old Stone Hse. in Park Slope

"Brooklyn Matters" is the critically acclaimed documentary about the Atlantic Yards development, by producer/director Isabel Hill. Here is a chance to see the film at a free screening, and speak with director Hill, who will be there to introduce her documentary and answer questions.

Here's the information for your calendar:

BROOKLYN MATTERS
Monday, November 5th at 7pm
The Old Stone House in Park Slope
(5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets)


Check out the website for the film to see more.
http://www.brooklynmatters.com/

Brooklyn Matters is an insightful documentary that reveals the fuller truth about the Atlantic Yards proposal and highlights how a few powerful men are circumventing community participation and planning principles to try to push their own interests forward.

Critical praise for Brooklyn Matters:

"Brooklyn Matters is a remarkable film that slowly, quietly, calmly reveals the extreme ugliness at the heart of one of the most ill-conceived mega-development schemes in New York history."
-Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian

"Isabel Hill's revealing documentary about the proposed Atlantic Yards project takes an honest look at the complex role that race, class, power, and money play in the redevelopment of our communities and calls for a more open discussion about equitable urban development."

Stoop Sale Oct. 13! Block Meeting Oct. 14!

Attention all Sterling Place neighbors and friends!

Please join us for another Block-Wide Super Stoop Sale on Saturday, October 13th.
It's a great excuse to clean out your closet and spend some profitable time getting to know your neighbors.

We'll be out on the block from about 11am. Look forward to seeing you.

And the following afternoon, Sunday, October 14, from 5-6 pm, we'll be having our very first Block Association Meeting in the backyard garden of 164 Sterling Place.

We'll discuss our mission, goals and ideas to make our community a better place for all of us. Refreshments served, and welcome.

Please RSVP below, or by email to Anne at kalambrocha@gmail.com

First Meeting: Let's Get Started

We'd like to set up a preliminary meeting of the Sterling Place Block Association for sometime next month (July). The purpose of the meeting will be to get started setting up the organizational nuts and bolts.
* working up a set of by laws
* setting a list of priorities
* delegating tasks

What are the things that you'd like to improve on the block, and in our neighborhood? Where do you think we should focus our energies as a block association?

Some of the things that we are hearing neighbors express concern about include:

1. Traffic that speeds unchecked down the block (we've got a petition going to try to get a speed bump put in)
2. The need for more street lamps across the street
3. Getting the merchants across the street to put in building lights and keep their building areas clean and graffiti-free
4. Concern about the Atlantic Yards project and how it will affect the quality of life on our block

We want to hear more thoughts and ideas from as many neighbors as possible.

The first step is setting a date. If you are interested in participating in our community-building, please email sterlingplaceba@gmail.com and let us know what meeting dates in July would be good for you.

Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you.

The Stoop Sale Rocked!

Thanks to all for the great participation in the block-wide stoop sale last Saturday. The weather was just about perfect for this kind of event, sunny but not too hot, and at one point the passing crowds of shoppers were as thick as Times Square (well, almost!). Four buildings on the block joined in--168,164,150 and 140--and a profitable and neighborly time was had by all.

Today in the New York Times there's an interesting article about the "Freegans"--folks who have stopped buying products, preferring to scavange, trade or barter goods to help save the planet.

Well, here on Sterling Place, we're right on top of that "green" trend, recycling our surplus stuff and furniture for others to use.

We plan to organize another mega stoop sale for September. Stay tuned--and start collecting your castoffs

Stoop Sale: June 16th

There's nothing like a little bit of shopping and swapping to bring neighbors together. That's why we'd like to invite you to clean out your closets and bring your treasures out to the stoops and sidewalks for a Gala Sterling Place Block Association Mega-Stoop Sale!

Here are the details:

Sterling Place Mega-Stoop Sale-June 16th
10am-3pm
Sterling between Flatbush and 7th Avenues

Let us know if you're interested in participating--and if you'd like to help with posting flyers around the neighborhood for promotion.

Please email Daisann, Anne or Dara at sterlingplaceba@gmail.com

Our Block: Yesterday and Today

Forty six years ago, our block, Sterling Place was devastated by the one of the most horrible aviation accidents to ever take place in New York City. On Friday, December 16, 1960, two passenger jets collided in mid-air and crashed just at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Sterling Place. You can read a terrific history of the crash and the subsequent events (with more pictures, too!) here.

Incredibly, the beautiful landmark mansion at the southeastern corner of Sterling Place and 7th was unharmed. But the crash destroyed the brownstones on both sides of the north intersection of Sterling and 7th Avenue.

The plane crash marked the low point in the history of our block. For the next twenty years, as the Park Slope neighborhood declined, our little block suffered some of the worst neglect in the area. The crash site on the northwest corner became a weed-choked vacant lot, and stayed that way for decades. Meanwhile, fires gutted several brownstones on Sterling between Flatbush and 7th Avenues.

How long ago and far away all that seems now.


Today, Sterling Place, steps away from convenient transportation, the green oasis of Prospect
Park, and many excellent restaurants and shops, is the thriving hub of a new, bustling neighborhood. One that we are proud to call home.

But, as we launch this blog, and with it, our new Sterling Place Block Association, it's good to remember how time changes things--for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Our block, and our community face problems, big and small, that may not be as cataclysmic and sudden as that 1960 plane crash, but which nevertheless threaten to upset our block's quality of life.

That's why we are joining hands, to work together as neighbors and friends, to make sure our community remains a great place to live, and to work to make it even better. There is strength in numbers. Together we can make things happen for Sterling Place.

This blog is a way for us all to keep in touch. We hope that it will be a way that we can generate ideas, identify problems, and work on solutions together. And we'd also like to get to know our Sterling Place neighbors better. So feel free to write your comments, your stories, and just say hello and let us know who you are, and what you think could make our block a better place to live.

If you do not have a Google email account, we can post your comment here if send your comments in an email directly to the blog administrators at:

sterlingplaceba@gmail.com


We look forward to hearing from you!