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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.
Yep, it's winter. And winter means ice and snow. Some of us remember when kids--young entrepreneurs--couldn't wait for those first flakes to fall so they could grab a shovel, start ringing doorbells and earn a few extra bucks doing the work many adults really hope to avoid. When you don't clear your sidewalk you endanger emergency worker response times, letter carriers, delivery personnel, dog walkers and countless pedestrians. Most of those pedestrians are likely to be your neighbors. Shoveling snow isn't just a good idea, it's a neighborly things to do. (It's also the law!)
In case you're not clear of your responsibilities under the law, the New York City Administrative Code, Section 16-123 outlines property owner's responsibilities. Effectively, you're supposed to remove the snow, ice, etc. from your sidewalk within 4 hours after it stops falling (not counting the hours between 9pm and 7am). If it's too icy, and removal could damage the sidewalk, you are supposed to apply something--sawdust, ashes, salt, etc.--to make it less slippery until you can remove it. Failure to comply could result in a fine and/or up to 10 days in jail. We know this could pose a challenge especially for absentee, elderly and physically-challenged property owners. If you've got a property on your block that hasn't been shoveled, call us at (718) 643-3027, x204. We can track down property owner information, reach out to them and determine if they need assistance. You can call 311 to report it, but the best that can come from that is the City may issue a notice of violation. If a property owner is jailed* for failing to remove snow from their sidewalk, who will shovel the snow? The City won't. Mayor de Blasio set a great example by showing New Yorkers that he's serious about keeping his sidewalk clear. His advice to shovelers, "Get low, lift with your knees; don't throw your back out." Hey, if 11th Street's most popular New Yorker could do his part to keep his sidewalk clear, then why can't the rest of us? (*Does anyone know if a property owner has ever been jailed for failure to remove snow? That must be some story.) Stay warm, stay safe and stay active. It's our community! Enjoy our newsletter and please let us know what you would like to see in future editions.
P.S. If you like what you see here, please use the "Forward email to a friend" link at the bottom of the page to pass this email along to a friend or two. There are over 104,000 residents and thousands of businesses in our district. We'd love it if they would all sign up !
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Apply for Community Board Membership
 Now is the time of year to apply for community board membership. Community boards are not self-appointing bodies. Our 50 Board Members are appointed by the Borough President, half of them at the recommendation of a local City Council Member. They serve voluntary, 2-year staggered terms.
Becoming a member is a serious responsibility that requires a commitment of time, interest and energy. When you're ready to make that big step and apply for membership you can call the Borough President's Office at (718) 802-3700, visit their website, or contact your local Council Member.
Application deadline is February 27, 2014.
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Wanted: Filing Cabinets
 We're rearranging the furniture at the district office and need more filing cabinets. Help prevent our cuticles from being destroyed as we mash our fingers into full cabinets!
Our dream is to have a bank of four matching, new or like-new, vertical, legal, 5-drawer 28 1/2" deep cabinets.
Do you know of anyone getting rid of like-new filing cabinets who could donate them to us?
Do you know of anyone with a van or truck who could donate their services picking up filing cabinets if we find free or low cost ones?
Please email Sarah at: [email protected]
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Open Nominations for #BKcb6 Youth Awards Know any exceptional young people doing extraordinary things in our community? We want to hear from you! Each year Brooklyn CB6 honors youth who have made a substantial contribution toward improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods through direct action or by serving as a positive role model for others. We also recognize outstanding adults who work with youth on a voluntary basis, acting as a positive role model and keeping our youth engaged in constructive activities. Eligible adult candidates can be nominated for the Brooklyn CB6 Robert Acito Award for Youth Involvement, named after our former District Manager who served from 1980-1993. Applications are available for our Youth Acknowledgement Award and Robert Acito Award for Youth Involvement. They can be picked up from the district office during regular business hours, or downloaded from the CB6 website. The Youth Acknowledgement and Robert Acito Awards will be presented at the beginning of the May 14, 2014 general meeting. Nominations are due by April 4, 2014.
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Make Red Hook More Resilient  Come share your thoughts on project ideas and innovative ways to make Red Hook a stronger community. The New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program is hosting an Open House on Saturday and Sunday, February 22-23, 11am-6pm at the Realty Collective, 351 Van Brunt Street. Focus sessions on Saturday and Sunday 12-1pm: Infrastructure & Coastal Resiliency 1-2pm: Social Resiliency & Economic Development Special Event: Red Hook Resiliency Innovations on Saturday, 3-6pm. Your input is needed! Please come, and tell your friends and neighbors to come too.
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Nabelerts! Your Neighborhood-Specific Notices
Hear about interesting CB6 meetings after they occur? Want to be informed about meetings, services, programs and events that impact your neighborhood? Want to stay in the know?
Now we have neighborhood-specific notice lists so you can be kept in the loop. Sign up for our Nabelerts!
Please update your profile. Doing this will allow you to get information from us that affects daily life in your neighborhood. While you are at it you can also pick which committee notices you'd like to receive as an interested party.
It takes three easy steps:
1) Click Updates Profile/Email Address, at the bottom of this email.
2) Check which neighborhoods and committee meetings you're interested in.
3) Click Update Profile.
Engage.
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Things to do in the District
Friday February 14, 8:30pm, The Rejection Show Live at Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street. The cult-favorite live comedy series, "The Rejection Show" is back with it's Superbowl of Rejection Shows, celebrating Valentine's Day with an evening of its best breakup, heartbreak, and love-related performances and stories from shows past, present, and future --blending into an evening of love songs, live music, and a party. $10-$12, this event is 21 and over.
Friday February 14, 7-10pm, Rose Marcus, Opening Reception at Know More Games, 561 Clinton Street, in the heart of the Donut District.Rose Marcus presents a series of images from three sites that all function doubly as information broadcasting towers: Empire State Building, One World Trade and the storefront at Know More Games. FREE. Saturday, February 15 & 22, 12-5pm, Free Poetry at Third Factory. Award-winning poet Chris Chosea will be writing free poems at the Third Factory pop-up shop in Brooklyn. Walk-ins welcome while ink and paper last! Old American Can Factory, 242 3rd Street. FREE. Saturday, February 15, 7-10pm, Ambients, Opening Reception at Peninsula Art Space, 352 Van Brunt Street. A group exhibition whose works spur arrest in ambiance. Through an engagement with photographic technology, networked systems of connectivity and citational regress, syntaxes defined by new digital cognition, and calendrical pasts, ambient presents, and digital futures, the artists in this exhibition present an array of works which seem at once contained and dispersed. On view February 13-March 16, 2014, FREE.
Saturday, February 15, 6-9pm, Marooned on Trash Island, Dominic Samsworth, Opening Reception at The Still House Group, 481 Van Brunt Street, #9D. The state of being marooned, marooned by the uncontrollable amounting of information and artifacts. Yesterday's remnants pause and pose, to be re-undone. Marooned by glut. On view February 15-March 2, 2014, FREE.
Friday, February 21, 8:30-10am, Acting Local: Community Boards & Neighborhood Planning at Pratt Manhattan Center, 144 West 14th Street, Manhattan. The City Club of New York presents a breakfast panel discussion. RSVP required. (Okay, so this isn't in the district, but our District Manager will be one of the panelists!)
, Sort and re-organize with Build It Green! NYC Brooklyn, a volunteer opportunity through NYCares. Sort, measure, process, move, clean and organize donated furniture and building materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. Items will be sold at discount prices for reuse. Sign up here.
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Friends of Brooklyn Community Board 6, Inc. was established in 2003 to support the work of Brooklyn Community Board 6 in improving the quality of life in the district. Friends seeks to provide planning, advocacy, research and administrative resources to supplement the limited capacities and budget of the Community Board, thus enabling it to properly carry out its City Charter mandated tasks of evaluating the needs of the district and advocating on behalf of its communities.
Friends of Brooklyn Community Board 6, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Federal EIN 04-3780020).
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Next General Board Meeting
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photo by Bryan Bruchman
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6:30pm, February 12th
Old First Reformed Church
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(Board members are encouraged to supply corrections to minutes.)
All posted Community Board meetings (general, committee, informational, etc.) are open to the public; however, participation may be limited.
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ADVERTISE WITH US
The Sixth Sense newsletter is delivered to over 5,300 email boxes of some of the most civic-minded people in the known universe.
Interested in supporting a local non-profit organization and advertising at the same time?
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Who's Who at Brooklyn CB6
● Daniel M. Kummer,
Chairperson
● Thomas Miskel,
First Vice Chairperson
● Lou Sones,
Second Vice Chairperson
● Gary Reilly,
Treasurer
● Elizabeth Shipley,
Secretary
● Richard Bashner,
Waterfront/Community Development
● Paige Bellenbaum,
Human Services, Co-Chair
● Peter Fleming,
Land Use; Elections
● Glenn Kelly,
Parks/Recreation/Cultural Affairs
● Mark Kolman,
Education, Co-Chair
● Ariel Krasnow,
Housing
● Daniel M. Kummer,
Executive
● Robert Levine,
Landmarks
● Sayar Lonial,
Transportation, Co-Chair
● Rick Luftglass,
Budget;Economic Development
● Thomas Miskel,
Transportation, Co-Chair
● Gary Reilly,
Finance/Personnel & Law; Permits & Licenses
● Mark C. Shames,
Environmental Protection
● Matthew Silverman,
Public Safety
● Benjamin Solotaire,
Human Services, Co-Chair
● Suzanne Turet,
Education, Co-Chair
● Craig Hammerman,
District Manager
● LeRoy P. Branch, Jr.
Assistant District Manager
● Liza Santiago-Sierra,
Community Associate
● Sarah N. Phillips,
Special Projects Coordinator
● Helena Miskel,
Office Volunteer
Newsletter Production:
● Craig Hammerman, Editor-in-Chief
● Sarah N. Phillips,
Managing Editor
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GOOD AND WELFARE
Thanks to the brilliant work of Fire Marshals there are two less alleged arsonists on our streets. After a long string of complaints from neighbors about a bus company doing business on Union Street in Gowanus, Fire Marshals investigated a nearby suspicious fire which led to the arrest of the bus company owner and someone he allegedly paid to set the fire. Great work, FDNY!
Congratulations Sister Kay Crumlish, and the entire Mercy Home family! It's been nearly 2 decades in the making and on February 5th, they finally closed on the HPD property at 12th Street and 4th Avenue. This former community garden site will be developed as a home for 8-10 frail developmentally disabled adults and will include space for a future community garden too. Win-win.
Welcome to the community! We'd like to extend a hearty welcome (back) to DOT Commish Polly Trottenberg who recently moved to Cobble Hill. We welcome her back because she used to live in Carroll Gardens. Can't get enough of Brooklyn CB6? Don't we know it!
Congratulations to Fifth Avenue Committee's Executive Director Michelle de la Uz for recently receiving New Partners for Community Revitalization's 2014 Green Shovel Award. NPCR is the Citywide leader in brownfield redevelopment planning and advocacy. Brava, Michelle!
Happy Birthdays to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Borough President Marty Markowitz, both of whom celebrate birthdays on Valentine's Day.
SAVE THE DATE! 2014 Volunteer Fair will be on May 29, 2014. Stay tuned for more details.
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QUICK CLICKSFrom planting trees to clearing vacant lots to installing new traffic signals, Love Your Block awards $1000 to citizens committed to beautifying their neighborhoods. Deadline to apply is February 20th. Keep America Beautiful and the Coca-Cola Foundation are accepting applications for the 2014 Recycling Bin Grant Program, an initiative designed to expand and support recycling in communities across the country. The program offers bins designed for use in various settings. Deadline to apply is March 4th. Art alert! DOT's Art Program invites artists and designers to submit proposals for the spring 2014 Barrier Beautification open call to beatify barrier sites across the City. Deadline to apply is March 7th.
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