Every artist should know about this important first step to professional promotion. Learn what goes into a publicity package, how to work with what you have, how to develop what you need, and how to present yourself professionally. Performing artists of all disciplines are invited to attend. This workshop is also ideal for bands, dance and theatre companies, etc. Presenter’s note: This seminar will inform artists about what goes into a promo kit, not how to get jobs.

Speaker: Judith Z. Miller, Arts Management Consultant
Time/Date: Wednesday, December 6, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Location: A.R.T./South Oxford Space 138 South Oxford Street
Directions by subway: C to Lafayette Avenue 2/3, 4/5, M, N/Q/R, B/D to Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street G to Fulton Street
To register, call 718.625.0080 or email: agittens@brooklynartscouncil.org

{Brooklyn Arts Council Seminar details, “How to Make a Promotional Packet”}

[UPDATE: Check out the ceremony recap and photos here.]

First Annual Brooklyn Bridge Park Holiday Lighting Ceremony
New Take On Traditional Holiday Lighting Ceremony Fuses Art and Illumination in the Form of Six Holiday-Themed Light Sculptures Along the Waterfront

When: Tuesday, December 5, 2006 at 6:00pm
Where: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Entrance at the corner of Washington and Plymouth Streets
Who: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Martin Connor, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, NYC Department of Transportation.

“At six p.m. on Tuesday, December 5th, a once dark Brooklyn waterfront will be illuminated for the holiday season with the lighting of six winning “light sculptures” — the result of a contest sponsored by the Dumbo Improvement District. The sculptures will be dramatically set against the backdrop of DUMBO’s Empire Stores, newly lit with an architectural lighting installation from famed lighting designed Brendon Boyd. Boyd is known for his work with such clients as Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Cipriani and The American Ballet Theater.

The riverfront “turn-on” will transform the cityscape as part of a unique holiday lighting ceremony that blends creativity and ingenuity with the holiday spirit. Local artists, designers and architects participated in the contest; winning proposals were selected by a panel of judges from representatives of the Brooklyn Arts Council, the d.u.m.b.o. Arts Center, Jan Larsen Art Gallery, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Parks & Recreation. The lighting for the Empire Stores building in the Park, was commissioned by local real estate developer Two Trees Management Co. LLC in coordination with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The “DUMBO Light Capades” will be on display in Brooklyn Bridge Park until January 7, 2007″

Holiday reception to follow at:
Water Street Restaurant & Lounge, DUMBO
66 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
6:30pm – 9:00pm

In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking at photos down Main Street, south from Front Street, showing the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. In the 80 year old photo, circa 1926, the street between Front and York Streets used to be a block of rowhouses with retail/commercial storefronts. They were probably torn down to make way for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the off-ramps. The current location of the block between York and Front Streets is a parking lot owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The top left corner of the 1926 photo shows a tiny part of the crown of the 70 Washington Street building (click on photo to show larger version of photo). The background shows the Brooklyn Bridge at the center. The current photo shows Brooklyn Bridge behind the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the off ramp of the Old Fulton Street exit. The parking lot is supposedly zoned for 8-9 story residential use, but not sure if any decision will be made to develop the lot. (Anyone have any ideas?)

   1926 (click on photo to show larger version of photo)

   December, 2006

{New York Public Library photo of Main Street Looking South from Front Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Washington and York Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Plymouth Street West of Pearl Street}

1)DUMBO Holiday Family Party

What: Fashion Show / Disco / Book Signing
When: Sunday, December 3, 2006, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street, DUMBO, NYC
Directions: F Train to York Street, A/C to High Street or 2/3 to Clark Street
Price: Free

Half Pint, powerHouse Books, Two Trees Management, TONY Kids, the DUMBO Improvement District will host a children’s holiday party featuring a book signing for Nicky’s Jazz Christmas and Nicky The Jazz Cat by Carol Friedman, a children’s fashion show featuring the mini super models, a live performance by AudraRox and the opportunity to take a picture with the Santa! Free entrance and open to the public.

A book/toy donation, organized by the DUMBO Parents Organization, will support the students of P.S. 287, and proceeds from the Nicky the Jazz Cat book and CD sales at powerHouse Arena and at Half Pint on the day of the event will benefit P.S. 307, PS 287 and 307 local public school serving the children from the nearby Farragut Housing.

2) “WHAT I WANT MY WORDS TO DO TO YOU”

For further info, go to www.retreatnyc.com or previous post about the Retreat events.

3)Final Weekend for Woyzeck at St. Anne’s
See previous post for details. See the review of Woyzeck in today’s Metro New York (pdf).

3)AQUA Dinner at The Plant

For further details go to theplantindumbo.com.

I posted the Vinegar Hill townhouse item yesterday, and since I was there, I also stopped by The Vista. It’s been over two months since we checked in on The Vista at 206 Front Street in Vinegar Hill. According to Streeteasy, 21 of 31 units (67%) have been sold. Corcoran has the remaining 10 units on the market. The townhomes across from the Vista are nice, and although on Front Street, the Vista condos are in a quiet neighborhood.

  Across the street from The Vista
{The Vista on Vinegar Hill, Corcoran website}
Read the rest of this entry »

Five Four events are scheduled for today in Dumbo Brooklyn. Hope you can make at least one of them!

1) Seed Post Thanksgiving Sample Sale, 4-9pm, @ 68 Jay Street Suite 706

2) Seminar: Legal Basics for Small Businesses, 6-8pm, @ Jan Larsen Art, 63 Pearl Street
For details, go to this previous post.

3) Apartment Therapy is having a group art show at Prague Kolectiv from 6-8pm @ 143-b Front Street.
For slideshow, see Apartmenttherapy.com

4) Dumbo Parents Organization Meeting
Wednesday, November 29, 2006, at 7:30 pm. @ Low Bar (below Rice) 81 Washington St. learn more about DPO’s steering committee that will collectively launch a series of social, charitable and community-building events for Dumbo children and parents. Click here for further details.

5) powerHouse Event: Disco Years 11/29 – 1/7
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 – Opening Night – Ron Galella’s Disco Years Exhibit & Book Party
Press Preview: 6:00-7:00pm
Opening Reception: 7:00–10:00 pm

Location: The powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street Brooklyn, New York 11201

Read the rest of this entry »

  * My photo stitching abilities are subpar, so you can look at the properties separately below.

These two adjacent properties in Vinegar Hill are being sold as a package for $2.5million. They are at 100 and 102 Gold Street, right across from 99 Gold Street Condominiums. The listing from Fillmore.com states:

“Houses to be knocked down for development. Sold as package- 100 and 102 Gold Street. (2) 25′x100′ lots. R6A Zoning. Starting price is $3.2 mil. Owner will entertain all reasonable offers.”

The exterior doesn’t seem to be in great shape, and it’s close to the Farragut Housing Complex. It’s zoned for R6A Zoning, which means they typically produce six-story apartment buildings designed to be compatible with existing buildings found in older neighborhoods. Anyone have more info on this listing? Do you think the potential value is worth $2.5million?

  100 Gold Street, Vinegar Hill

  102 Gold Street, Vinegar Hill

{fillmore.com, webID: 606064}

From an email received from the Dumbo Parents Organization:

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Dumbo Parents Organization! We are a newly formed volunteer group dedicated to connecting families living in Dumbo — and being a parent living in Dumbo automatically makes you a member. DPO evolved out of conversations with parents in the neighborhood who are looking to connect with other families. DPO aims to provide that connection through social, charitable and community-building events, as well as by becoming an ongoing information resource.

If you are interested in taking a more active role in DPO, become part of its steering committee. On November 29th, we will be holding an organizational meeting. This will be an opportunity to learn more about DPO, share your thoughts on what such an organization can provide, and how you can be a driving force behind our initiatives.

Who: Dads and moms living in Dumbo
What: Dumbo Parents Organizational Meeting
When: Wednesday, November 29, 2006, at 7:30 pm.
Where: Low Bar (below Rice) 81 Washington St.
Why: To learn more about DPO’s steering committee that will collectively launch a series of social, charitable and community-building events for Dumbo children and parents.

RSVP to dumboparentsorg@yahoo.com If you are unable to attend but are interested in being on DPO’s steering committee, please email your contact information to the above address.

The Yahoo group URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dumboparents/

In the weekend’s Brooklyn Papers article, this question is posed: what do you name a historic district whose name is a modern concoction? “City officials are moving ahead with plans to create a historic district in DUMBO – whose acronymic name was created by developer David Walentas when he started buying up buildings in the 1980s to evoke an earlier uber-hip neighborhood, Soho.” People (or developers?) in NYC have a knack for naming and renaming neighborhoods by acronym or syllabic abbreviations: first SoHo, then Tribeca, NoHo, Nolita, BoCoCa, Dumbo, and even SoBro, SoHell and SoFi.

According to the NYC Dept of City Planning, only SoHo, NoHo, and Tribeca are recognized. However, the Official NYC website has a website dedicated to Dumbo. The MTA maps in the subway stations recognize SoHo, Tribeca, NoHo, and Dumbo. The article provides some past Dumbo area names:

The first name was Rapailie, after the family who owned most of the land. But in the centuries to follow, the area would be called “Olympia,” “Fulton Landing” and finally “Gairville,” after the early-20th century industrialist Robert Gair, who manufactured paper bags and corrugated cardboard boxes at 45 Washington St.

Until the 1980s and early 1990s, the western portion of neighborhood was known as Fulton Landing, became known as DUMBO. Despite the quirky name, it would cause more confusion to call the area Rapailie, Olympia, Gairville, or Walentasville, as some have suggested. Should the Historic Districts Council continue to use the name Dumbo as a historic district?

{Finding history in DUMBO – Landmark district in ‘new’ nabe still nameless, Brookly Papers, 11/25/06}
{Curbed.com neighborhood names}
{NextStop NYC, NYC.gov}
{Historic Districts Council, Dumbo neighborhood}

Update:
{How Dumbo Got Its Name and What It Was Almost Called, 21May2007}
{LPC Approves Dumbo Historic District, 18Dec2007}

Wednesday, November 29 :: 6-8pm :: Legal Basics For Small Business

JLA and the DUMBO Improvement Distrct are pleased to present this seminar for small businesses from Brooklyn law firm Cullen and Dykman.

Attorneys from the firm will make presentations on how to structure successful business partnerships, agreements between business owners governing the operation of the business, succession issues and right to sell interest in a business, leasing space effectively, documenting one’s workforce, and types of insurance that small businesses should have.

What: “Legal Basics for the Small Business Owner” – presented by attorneys from the Brooklyn law firm of Cullen and Dykman
When: Wednesday, November 29, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Where: Jan Larsen Art, 63 Pearl Street , DUMBO

Seminar will cover:
-How to structure a successful business partnership
-Leasing space effectively
-Documenting your workforce
-Insurance protection

A reception will be held after the seminar to offer an opportunity to mingle, speak with panelists and get to know your fellow business owners.