PaddleWheeler is PS8′s largest annual community event and will be held on Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights (right outside of the PS8 school). The event is scheduled for June 8, 2013, 12-4pm (rain or shine).

The family activities include:

• Bouncy Castles
• Dunk tank (dunk the principal!)
• Arts & Crafts
• Thrift Market
• Flea Market
• Balloon Art
• Food Court
• Face Painting
• and more!!!!!

P.S. 8 School
37 hicks Street, Brooklyn NY 11201

Community Board 2 (CB2) will hold the following three committee meetings next week, all of which are scheduled for 6:00 pm. All committee meetings of Community Board 2 begin with the approval of the agenda and introduction of the committee officers. The meetings conclude with the approval of the previous month’s meeting minutes, a chairperson’s report, other business and a community forum during which the public may speak.

1) Parks and Recreation Committee (Monday, April 15, 2013; Dining Rooms A&B, Brooklyn Hospital, 121 DeKalb Avenue at St. Felix Street, in Fort Greene)

Frankie Rowland, marketing director for Down to Earth, an operator of farmers markets, will present its proposal for a market on the upland of Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The parks committee has also been invited to participate in a discussion about the design for a theater proposed to be operated by St. Ann’s Warehouse in the Tobacco Warehouse, in Brooklyn Bridge Park. That discussion will take place at the Land Use Committee meeting on Wednesday (see below).

2) Transportation and Public Committee (Tuesday, April 16, 2013; First Floor Board Room, St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court streets), in Brooklyn Heights)

Christopher Hrones, the DOT Downtown Brooklyn transportation coordinator, and Preston Johnson, a project manager with the agency’s bike program, will present “Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge Bike Lane Approach Improvements” (see above).

3) Land Use Committee (Wednesday, April 17, 2013; Room LC400, Dibner Building, Polytechnic Institute, 5 MetroTech Center (off of the MetroTech Commons), in Downtown Brooklyn)

The meeting will begin with an evaluation, to be conducted jointly with the community board’s parks committee, of the design for a theater proposed to be operated by St. Ann’s Warehouse in the Tobacco Warehouse, in Brooklyn Bridge Park. A recommendation to the Public Design Commission may result from the committee review.

For more information, see http://mad.ly/59f7a3 and Community Board 2 website.

(Photo credit to Priscilla Fusco)

The results from last week’s Participatory Budget for City Council District 33 have been counted and announced on City Councilman Steve Levin’s blog. The winning projects for District 33 (Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and North Park Slope) are:

• 1st – District-wide tree planting ($100k)
• 2nd – MS 8 Technology Funds (MS8 announcement, 105 Johnson Street, $200k)
• 3rd – East River State Park Dog Run (90 Kent Ave, $450k)
• 4th – PS 31 Technology Request (PS31, 75 Meserole Avenue, $188k)
• 5th – PS 34 Playground Renovations (131 Norman Ave, $120k)

The City Council has allocated $1 million to District 33, and City Council Member Stephen Levin has solicited proposals from the community about how this money should be spent. Decisions will be made via voting by members of the community. One of the proposals is to allocate $200,000 to MS 8 (the new middle school extension of local school PS8) to fund the purchase of desperately needed laptops, laptop carts, and smartboards. The school opened this past fall with very little funding, and nothing allocated towards technology.

Please spread the word about this participatory budgeting process and MS 8′s proposal. You can vote on April 5 (this Friday) at PS 8 from 7:45am to 9:45am, or at MS 8 from 8am to 10am. If you are unable to vote on April 5, then you can vote at a variety of locations between April 1 and April 7.

Every resident (16+) living in District 33 can vote for up to five projects.

For more information, go to pbnyc.org/content/district-33-voting-dates-locations-2013.

Download flyer (1.1 MB pdf file)

The L Mag’s annual 50 Best Blocks in Brooklyn was posted last week. Among the best included a few in Dumbo, one in Vinegar Hill, and Brooklyn Heights:

Best Urban Palimpsest: Plymouth Street, between Washington and Main streets, DUMBO
“On one side are old Gairville warehouses, repurposed for start-ups and a (now out-of-business) restaurant; on the other, a mod Brooklyn Bridge Park playground. In the middle are belgian blocks cut through with decommissioned rails, driving over which you might spot an aughts-model sports car (as we did the other day).”

Best Honest-to-Goodness Alleyway: Howard Alley, DUMBO
“Watch a Hollywood movie set in NYC, and you’ll likely see at some point a character dash down an alley. But truth is this city ain’t got many alleys, at least not anymore. (It’s the one thing Chicago has on us.) But this back-passage in DUMBO looks just like the genuine article—much cooler than nearby Fleet Alley, a glorified driveway—complete with a scary door at its end we’d dare never approach, let alone pass through.”

Best-Smelling Block: Front Street, between Adams and Washington streets, DUMBO
“We walk down this street to work almost every day and are greeted by olfactory goodness. First the smell of freshly made juices from Foragers, then the toasted bread from the panini grill at Al Mar, and finally the scent of bacon-y goodness from Peas & Pickles. Then, of course, you cross the street and get assaulted by the mysterious sewage smell outside of West Elm and are forced to recognize that happiness is fleeting and garbage is always around the corner. Such is life.”

Cutest Private Street: Harrison Alley, Vinegar Hill
“If you’ve never wandered through the strange few blocks that constitute Vinegar Hill, you really should. Like, just around the corner from the popular Vinegar Hill House restaurant is this alley, basically a driveway, long-since (always?) fenced off by the people who live in the house at its end. (A curious sculpture surrounds their mailbox on the public side of the fence.) Yet it still has an official city street sign, adorably hanging off a crooked pole.”

Best Bike Lane Block: Flushing Avenue, between Washington Avenue and Hall Street, Clinton Hill
“Just in general, Flushing is one of the borough’s most reliable thoroughfares for cyclists, but the stretch along the Brooklyn Navy Yards, starting at Washington? Pure bliss. Here, there’s an actual cement barrier separating you and your bike from oblivious drivers. It’s almost too good to be true!”

(One of) Five Best Blocks to Live On
College Place, Brooklyn Heights
“Love Lane is the one everyone knows, but it’s this side street off that side street that’s really where you’ll find some of the prettiest housing stock in Brooklyn. Get down to the end and it’s just ridiculously European—plus totally secluded, even though you’re a very short walk away from stores and subways.”

Previously:
{4 of 50 Best Brooklyn Blocks in Dumbo, 03Nov2010}

The semi-annual Underground “Stuff-a-Sack” Winter Clearance Sale at the Underground Thrift Store at Plymouth Church on Sunday March 3, 2013. Store hours will be 12:30pm-4:00pm. Come early for the best deals. Prior Stuff-a-Sack sales have attracted a big crowd and a spot on the local news.

From the organizers:

Shoppers can purchase as many $25 Underground Thrift Store Totes (a $5 value) as they like and can then stuff them with our inventory of winter clothing for women, men and children. The more sacks you stuff, the more you save! Or, you can buy individual items at 50% off original prices. Help us make way for Spring merchandise.
The Underground Thrift Store features a curated collection of upscale and designer clothing and accessories for women, men and children and beautiful collectibles for the home, in the loft space in historic Plymouth Church.

And, you will be stuffing for a cause since the Underground Thrift donates 25% of its net proceeds to organizations that fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

All sales are final and accessories and housewares are not included.

The Underground Thrift Store, Upstairs at Plymouth Church, is located at 65 Hicks Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 (between Orange and Cranberry Streets in Brooklyn Heights).

As President Obama calls for action on guns today, mothers, fathers, children and concerned citizens will join the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens Chapters of One Million Moms For Gun Control (@1MM4GC) in a symbolic march across the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a rally in City Hall Park, to call for new gun control legislation and a sensible interpretation of the Second Amendment, on Monday, January 21, 2013. The event will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the corner of Middagh Street and Cadman Plaza West with brief remarks and a moment of silence led by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. At 9:35 a.m. the march will begin across the Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway and end at City Hall. The rally on the steps of City Hall will run from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

WHEN: January 21, 2013

• 9:15 a.m. – Group gathers at Cadman Plaza
• 9:20 a.m. – Moment of Silence
• 9:35 a.m. – March across Brooklyn Bridge begins
• 10:30 a.m. – Rally in City Hall Park
• 11:30 a.m. – Event ends

WHERE: Rally Begins at corner of Middagh and Cadman Plaza West (Brooklyn Heights)
Proceeds across Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway
Ends at City Hall Steps

(Photo by Chuck Taylor for Brooklyn Heights Blog)

From Senator Daniel Squadron’s office:

State Senator Daniel Squadron will join Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) President Regina Myer, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy (BBPC) Executive Director Nancy Webster, Assemblymember Joan Millman, Councilmember Steve Levin, and a representative from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office to cut the ribbon on the new Pop-Up Pool at Pier 2, Friday at 9:45AM.

Senator Squadron secured the addition of a pool in BBP for at least five summers as part of the August 2011 agreement to move the park forward, along with Assembymember Joan Millman and with the support of Councilmembers Steve Levin and Brad Lander.

In addition, Senator Squadron secured $400,000 in state funding for construction of the pool area, beach, concessions, and facilities, which will allow greater programming and use.

The pool will operate daily from 10:00AM to 6:00PM beginning this Friday until Labor Day. It will include a sand beach with lounge chairs and picnic tables, concessions, showers, and restrooms. The pool was constructed by Brooklyn Bridge Park and will be operated by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

Along with the water park at Pier 6, the pool is great for the hot summer days.

More around the web:
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Heights Blog
Brownstoner

Are you tired of lugging your laundry to the cleaners, especially during the cold and wet winters and muggy summers? This was the thought that SpotlessCity co-founder Sonny Bajwa had before thinking that there must be an easier way to take care of his laundry errands. So he created SpotlessCity.

SpotlessCity lets people find every dry cleaner and laundromat in their area, and schedule pickups & deliveries from the cleaner of their choice directly through the site. The pickups and deliveries are absolutely free, so customers always pay the same exact amount that they would if they dropped their clothes off at the store themselves. It’s sort of a GrubHub.com or SeamlessWeb.com for your laundry and dry cleaning.

They launched the site a few weeks ago in Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn and planning to expand to more neighborhoods throughout NYC soon. We caught up with Sonny recently:

Q: Why did you decide to start in Dumbo/BK Heights?

A: Our company is based in Downtown Brooklyn and our entire team lives in Brooklyn, so we always knew we wanted to launch the service here first. When it came to choosing neighborhoods to start in, Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights were natural choices. Even aside from being the two residential neighborhoods closest to our office, which made them convenient, a number of reasons make them a great launching pad for SpotlessCity.

Dumbo is a very entrepreneurial neighborhood that is full of professionals, which means that there are many residents who need their dry cleaning and laundry done and who are willing to try out new services online. In fact, it’s not only the residents who are entrepreneurial; we found one of our first partner dry cleaners in Dumbo — a very savvy and forward looking cleaner that was excited about being part of something new.

Brooklyn Heights is another great neighborhood with a large number of professionals, but none of the people living in those beautiful brownstones and townhouses have doormen, so they could definitely use our service.

We’re planning to expand further in these neighborhoods and then throughout NYC.

Q: How did SpotlessCity begin?

A: I came up with the idea for SpotlessCity late last year after my wife and I divided up our errands and I got stuck with taking care of the dry cleaning. I noticed pretty quickly that while I was out lugging laundry down the street in the snow, she was able to handle all of her errands — like getting the groceries and ordering dinner — by curling up with her laptop and placing orders online. Naturally, I tried to trade chores, but when she wouldn’t let me, I just kept thinking, “why can’t I do this errand online too?”

I ran the idea by some friends, started doing research and talking to dry cleaners. Pretty soon, we got a team together and raised some seed money. Now we’re proud to welcome everyone to SpotlessCity!

Q: What are the challenges you are or will face in growing SpotlessCity?

A: When trying to launch a lean startup, every day brings new challenges that we have to figure out how to tackle! I’ll share a couple –

First: getting our message across to customers effectively. Explaining our concept has been a little trickier than we thought, perhaps because it’s new. Some people confuse us with “Internet dry cleaners” — companies that have swapped a brick-and-mortar storefront for a website. They’re essentially dry cleaners on the Internet competing with local dry cleaners.

We don’t compete with local dry cleaners, we partner with them. In fact, we don’t actually do any dry cleaning or laundry. We’re more of a SeamlessWeb of dry cleaning and laundry. Our mission is to help local dry cleaners connect with their customers online, and let people choose a dry cleaner and schedule their pickup and delivery online.

Second: communicating with some dry cleaners. Earlier this year, we hit the streets and started talking to dry cleaners to get feedback on our idea and whether it was something they’d be interested in signing up for. We learned pretty quickly that a huge number of New York dry cleaners are originally from Korea and weren’t interested in talking to what they perceived to be door-to-door salesmen (I guess that’s what we looked like!).

After getting the cold shoulder a few times, we stopped and recruited a Korean-American friend to come out with us on our research trip. Before we knew it, he was chatting it up with the dry cleaners in Korean, shaking hands with them, and we got all the feedback we wanted.

Congrats to Sonny and SpotlessCity on their launch. If you want to try out their service, you can get 10% off their dry cleaning and laundry with this code: DumboNYCReaders (valid until 1/31/2012 + pickups & deliveries are ALWAYS free). Also see BrooklynHeightsBlog’s article about them.

(30 Henry Street)

(231 Front Street)

The Landmark Preservation Commission reviewed proposed changes for 231 Front Street (Vinegar Hill) and 30 Henry Street (Brooklyn Heights) in today’s meeting. No word yet on the results.

231 Front Street is an Early 20th Century commercial style factory building, designed by William B. Tubby, and built in 1908. The application is to alter the façade, rebuild entrance stairs, and install a canopy. Brownstoner mentioned in October 2011 that the plans for 231 Front Street is to convert the building into office space. (BIS for 231 Front Street)

30 Henry Street aka 28-30 Henry Street is a building reconstructed in 1963 as a factory and store building. The application is to demolish the building and construct a new building. As the Brooklyn Eagle has reported, the proposed new building will be five stories and will contain six residential units with balconies. Additionally, the building will contain underground parking and outdoor space with a waterfall. Currently, the building is home to Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

(Photo from Brownstoner).