Welcome to The Sixth Sense - the monthly newsletter of Brooklyn Community Board 6, serving the neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens/South Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Columbia Street Waterfront, Gowanus, Park Slope and Red Hook.

Photo of Bette Stoltz by Katia Kelly, "Pardon Me For Asking"

Our district lost a great champion on November 19th with the passing of Bette Stoltz, Executive Director of the South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation. Advocate, champion, activist, wife, mother, grandmother, neighbor, friend, Bette wore many hats and played many roles in her decades of selfless service to our communities. She was a pillar of our community.

Bette first helped organize the Merchants Association of Smith Street (M.A.S.S.) in the 1980's before the rest of the world discovered that Brooklyn was cool, when vacancies on Smith Street were the norm, and when you couldn't safely bike there because the roadway resembled a lunar surface. M.A.S.S. morphed into the South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation (SBLDC) making the organization eligible for all sorts of public funding to support their mission--to improve the commercial environment of Smith Street.

SBLDC's first job, to lobby for and plan the Reconstruction of Smith Street, took much energy and spunk. Bette had both in ample supply. She gained a cohort in the form of then District Manager Robert Acito who kept the budget request toward the top of the Community Board's list. They managed to convince the City to pony up the funds but, what's more, they even got the area's elected officials to kick-in extra funds to pay for amenities like the historic replica lampposts, tinted concrete sidewalks, granite curbs and the like.

Of course any project that takes a decade to lobby for and plan is vulnerable to the pitfalls of politics. Smith Street was not immune. Owing to the media reports of political wrangling between then City Council Member Stephen DiBrienza and members of the Dinkins Administration, the funding for Smith Street's Reconstruction was suddenly and mysteriously pulled from the City's budget. Bette, an activist at heart, single-handedly mobilized an army by organizing a busload of neighbors with signs to rally and protest on the steps of City Hall. Local media blew up. Within weeks the funding just as mysteriously re-appeared in the City's budget and the project was back on track.

The mid 90's Reconstruction of Smith Street was a watershed moment. It symbolized the dawning of a new era--attracting new business and new investment while preserving, protecting and respecting our local heritage. There's room enough on Smith Street for the new stores, and the Mom and Pops alike. Because people like Bette curated a special place and kept the community's values at heart. This single Capital project was arguably one of the most important investments the City has made in our community. It took a visionary and activist like Bette Stoltz to make it happen.

Bette gave us so many other wonderful legacies in addition to the Reconstruction Project; she was a founder of the Transit Garden at Smith Street & 2nd Place; she founded the Smith Street Sunday Fun Day Street Fair and, more recently, the Bastille Day Celebration on Smith Street; she founded two consignment shops "Treasures" on Smith Street and on 4th Street in Park Slope providing work opportunities for indigent and homeless women; she founded many culinary training programs linking local students to professional chefs and restaurateurs; she was a founding member of the Friends and Residents of the Greater Gowanus advocacy group; she was a supporter of business improvement districts for Red Hook and more recently for Court and Smith Streets; she was an early supporter and advocate for the manufacturing sectors of Red Hook and Gowanus; and the list goes on.

Wonderful, touching remembrances have already appeared elsewhere on several blogs, notably, Katia Kelly's Pardon Me For Asking, Council Member Brad Lander and PortSide NewYork. Take a moment to read them.

Erica Stoltz, Bette's daughter, wanted everyone to know of a memorial event to celebrate her life. Saturday, December 12th, from 3-5pm, at the School for International Studies on Baltic & Court Streets (where she ran several culinary programs over the years!), more remembrances will be shared, along with music and videos to celebrate her life. At 5pm there will be a New Orleans-style procession to Angry Wade's at the corner of Smith & Baltic Streets to raise a toast to her honor.

Let inspiration be Bette's greatest legacy to us all.