100 Years Ago

Posted on 2018-11-02 by admin

On November 1, 1918, the worst transit disaster in New York City history occurred just outside Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The wooden cars of the Brighton Beach line of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit (B.R.T.) company left the tracks, crashing inside the tunnel beneath the busy intersection where Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Malbone Street met [Google map]. The Malbone Street Wreck killed nearly 100 people and injured more than 250. Criminal trials and lawsuits arising from the accident dragged on for years, contributing to the bankruptcy of the BRT. The name “Malbone Street” became associated with the disaster; it’s known today as Empire Boulevard.

The BRT line followed roughly the current route of the B/Q subway lines from Coney Island to Prospect Park, and the shuttle from Prospect Park to Franklin Avenue. Conditions for the disaster were created by a number of factors. World War I, and the influenza pandemic, were still raging. A multi-year project to consolidate the BRT and then-IRT required temporary rerouting of several lines, creating a sharp turn into a tunnel beneath what is now Empire Boulevard, just north of the current Prospect Park station of the B/Q lines and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. This turn, called “Dead Man’s Curve” even before the accident, is still visible from the street today.

A strike by motormen who ran the BRT’s trains caused the BRT to run its trains with inexperienced staff:

As Edward Luciano began a run as motorman on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit’s (BRT) Brighton Beach line on the evening of November 1, 1918, getting home quickly and safely might well have been foremost in his mind. Luciano’s career as a motorman had started earlier that very day, when the BRT pressed the twenty-three year-old dispatcher into service after company motormen went out on strike. Weakened by a recent bout with influenza and emotionally anguished by the death of one of his children from flu the week before, Luciano nonetheless complied with his employer’s wishes.
…
The posted speed for the tunnel entrance was six miles per hour; witnesses estimated that Luciano’s train entered the curve at over thirty. The train’s first car hung precariously to the track, then derailed upon entering the tunnel. The second car slammed violently into a concrete abutment, losing its roof and one of its sides in the impact. The third car disintegrated into a tangled mass of wood and glass.
– Death Beneath the Streets, New York Underground, The American Experience, PBS

This is a photo of three of the five wooden cars of the train. You can clearly see that the top half of the second car is gone. In his review of the book, The Malbone Street Wreck, on rapidtransit.net, Paul Matus explains the image:

The Malbone Street train sits in the BRT’s 36th St. Yard after salvage. The relatively minor damage to 726 [the first car in the photo] shows why most in the first car escaped serious injury. Even the window of Motorman Luciano’s cab (left, front) is intact. Not so lucky were those in trailer car 80 immediately behind, with half the car sheared away. Behind 80 is motor car 725, also almost unscathed. Chillingly absent between 80 and 725 would have been car 100, the remains of which were dismantled at the scene.

The accident occurred during the evening rush hour. It was already night-time. In the closed confines of the tunnel, rescuers tried to save who they could. It was a horrific scene.

Dozens of passengers died immediately, many of them decapitated or impaled by shards of wood and glass. Others were electrocuted by the third rail, which had shut down on derailment but was turned back on by offsite monitors who attributed the shutdown to labor sabotage. [Note: The claim of death by electrocution is refuted in Cudahy’s book.] Rescuers rushed to the station, to help the dazed and injured and to carry away the dead. The power failure in the tunnel posed a problem for rescuers that was partially solved when automobiles pulled up near the entrance to the station to illuminate the ghastly scene.

Worried friends and relatives came from across the city and waited outside the station for news of loved ones who frequented the Brighton Beach trains. Medical personnel used the Brooklyn Dodger’s Ebbets Field as a first aid station. And Mayor John Hylan, a strong opponent of privately operated transit lines like the BRT, arrived on the scene with freshly-milled accusations of transit-interest malfeasance.
– Death Beneath the Streets

Newspapers of the day published the names and addresses of those killed and injured in the crash. From that, I created a Google Map with the names and addresses of the dead. The geographic distribution is striking. The majority of those killed were from greater Flatbush, including Prospect Lefferts Gardens, but also included victims from East Flatbush and Kensington, to the east and west, and, to the south, from Midwood, Gravesend, and Sheepshead Bay.

View Larger Map

Here’s the list of dead and injured. Most of this list is presented as it was reported in the Brooklyn Standard Union on November 2, 1918, the day after the crash. I made other edits and corrections from additional sources, such as follow-up articles in the new York Times. Some information was originally printed in error, some of the injured later died, and one man originally listed as dead was found to be safe at home. Where available, the addresses link to the Google Map I created which shows the homes of the victims. Some victims also received short descriptions in the paper of the time; I added that to the descriptions of the markers.

ALEXANDER, James, 647 Fenimore Street
ALFARO, Peschal, 160 Robinson Street [I can’t locate this street on current maps of Brooklyn. Has this been renamed to Parkside Avenue?]
AMREIN, Ada, Address unkown
ARENA, Mabel, 186 Lefferts Avenue
BARCINO, Eugene Edward, 42 Henry Street, Flatbush [sic, this address is in Brooklyn Heights, not Flatbush]
BARGIN, Etta, 1145 East 14th Street
Bechtold, Emily or Elise M., 362 East 9th Street
BERKOWITZ, Herman, Address unknown
Borden, Helen, 445 Riverside Drive, Manhattan, or 1011 Ocean Avenue [two addresses were given for Ms. Borden]
Bogen, David, 27 years old, 94 Kenmore Place [Originally listed among the dead as D. Borgen of 97 Kenmore Place]
Brunswick, David, 70 years old, 847 East 10th Street
BURTON, Mary, 1458 East 17th Street
Calibria or Calabria, Rose, 1935 East 9th Street [Published in NY Times, 2008-09-06, five days after the accident]
CLEARY, Margaret, 318 Parkville Avenue
Clifford, Ethel or Louise, 485 Argyle Road
COADY, Emily, 682 Argyle Beach [sic: Argyle Road]
Condra, Louisa G, 23 years old, Brooklyn [No address given. Not listed originally among the dead or injured. “Louisa G. CONDRA, also killed, was born in Newark twenty-three years ago and had been a resident of Brooklyn for three years. She was secretary to the vice-president of the National City Bank in Manhattan and is survived by her mother, Marguerite, and two sisters The funeral will be held to-morrow morning with a requiem mass at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Interment will be at Newark.”]
COOPER, Margaret, Detroit, Mich.
ENGGRAN, John W., 37 East 10th Street
FLEMING, Catherine, 7 East 10th Street
FITZPATRICK, Ed., Avenue H and East 17th Street
FLAHAVE, James F., 277 East 38th Street
Gardner (or Gardiner), Marion (Mary) Norcross, 347 Lincoln Road
GILBERT, Michael, 26 years old, 1510 East 18th Street or 1819 East 13th Street [two addresses were given for Mr. Gilbert]
GILFEATHER, Thomas F. 388 East 49th Street
GILLEN, Harry P., 29 years old, 1539 East 13th Street or 1634 East 13th Street [two addresses were given for Mr. Gillen]
GIVNAN, Thomas, 28 years old, 1601 Voorhies avenue
GUIDE, Nicholas, 1505 Neck Road
Hennison, Emelia, 95 Lenox Road [Listed only in association with Aline Schwaan at the same address]
HOLMES, George W., 611 Westminster Road
HOLTORF, Theodore, 60 years old, 984 East 18th Street
HOPKINS, Lewis, 2130 Bedford Avenue
JACKOWITZ, Sophie, 4301 Church Avenue
JOHNSON, Mary, Address unknown
KEMPF, Christina, 203 Parkside avenue
KERR, David B. 132 Nassau Street, Manhattan
KINSIE, Benjamin A., 79 Haven Avenue, Manhattan
KIRCHOFF, Clara, 877 East Fifteenth Street
LARSEN, H.W., 713 Avenue N
LAWREY, Nellie, 1782 Shore Road
LAWSON, T. C., 1716 Caton Avenue
LEE, Fred W. 212 South Oxford Street
LOMBACK, Harry 22721 77th Street [invalid street address]
LOMBARD, Henry, 1016 East 18th Street or 1919 East 18th Street [two different addresses were given for Mr. Lombard, in the initial list of the dead, and in a follow-up mention]
LOURING, Frank J., 1025 East 15th Street
LOVE, Bessie, 90 St. Marks Place
LOVELL, Aubrey, 1522 East 10th Street
LYONS, Caroline, 1616 Avenue H
MAIER, Joseph A. 204 Midwood Street
MALAMAUD, Abraham, 602 East 16th
MALONEY, Lillian, 178 Lefferts Avenue
MATTOOK, Ethel, 335 East 21st Street
MEEHAN, Helen, 22, 348 Eastern Parkway
METZGER, Ira H., 816 East 14th Street
McMILLEN, Carnette, Address unknown
McCORMACK, Mrs. Grace, 1404 Cortelyou Road
MUNN, Sadie, 25 Rugby road
MURPHY, Grace, a school teacher, 1297 Homecrest Avenue [invalid address]
NAGLE, Richard, 2124 East 24th Avenue
PALMEDO, Alexander M., 439 East 19th Street
Payne, Raymond, 18 years old, 1213 Avenue H
Pierce, Wilbur F., 23 years old, 244 Lefferts Avenue
PILKINGTON, Mrs. 214 Webster Avenue
PORTER, Willis D., 721 Argyle Road [Mistakenly reported as dead, as “William Porter, Argyle Road”]
PORTER, Edward Erskine, 309 Caton Avenue [Possibly 307 Caton Avenue?]
PROUT, Grover T., 275 Ocean Avenue
Rathe, John Charles Ferdinand (or Roth, Charles), 311 E 19th St
RUBIN, M. H., 675 Flatbush Avenue
RUSSO, Mamie, 485 Grand Avenue
RYAN, Michael, 36 years old, 2163 Nostrand Avenue [Possibly 2162 Nostrand?]
SCHWAAN, Aline, 95 Lenox Road
SCUDDER, Ethel, 1221 Avenue Q
SHEVIT, Syd, 224 East 26th Street
SHIEDEN, John, 420 Cortelyou Road
STEVENS, W. E., 150 Nassau Street, Manhattan
SCHAEFER, Harold, 2804 Farragut Road
Stephens, W. A., 83 Rugby Road
STERN, Adolph, 141 Central Avenue
SULLIVAN, Margaret, 19, 2745 Bedford Avenue
TEN BROUCK (or Broeck), Floyd, 46 years old, 1419 Avenue G (Glenwood Road, today)
THORN, C.C. 2023 Caton Avenue
TIETJEN, Johann W., 420 Cortelyou Road
TOLZE, Genaro, 2439 East 14th Street
TOWNSON, T.G., 1716 Caton Avenue
VINCENZO, Louis A. 493 Gravesend Avenue [Published in the NY Times, 2008-09-06, five days after the accident. I can’t locate this street. Is this know today as Gravesend Neck Road?)
VINEBERG, Morris, 1706 Bath Avenue
WALKER, Marion, 1670 East 10th Street
WEED, H.E., Address unknown
WATTS, Hazel, 48 East 22nd Street
WALSH, Genevieve, 4301 Church Avenue
WOELFER, Charlotte, 738 East 21st Street

Injured

AYER, Oscar, 600 East 16th Street
AMREIN, Kurt, 634 West 135th Street, Manhattan
ANTONELLO, Rosario, 1419 Lincoln Road

BAIRD, Loraine, 2542 East 5th Street
BANELSON, Vera, 170 Coleridge Street
BARRETT, Susan, 1550 East 12th Street
BOOM, Martin P., 635 Flatbush Avenue
BRAULT Zephrin, 107 Martense Street
BROSER, Mrs. Wm., 2641 East 21st Street

CALABRIA, Rose, 1935 East 9th Street [or Calibria, she died 4 days later]
Castellani, Marie, 2764 Haring Street, Sheepshead Bay
CLEARY, Mary, 318 Parkville Avenue
CLINCHY, Susan, 1704 Kings Highway
CORCOCILLO, Joseph, 1089 East 39th Street
COSTELAN, Marie, 24 Harrett Street

DRENNAN, Margaret, 1911 Homecrest Avenue

(No. listings for “E”)

FELICIA, Samuel, 38 Darby Street
FENNON, Edith, 826 Avenue P
Fitzpatrick, Edward N. [No address available. Mr. Fitzpatrick was not originally listed among the injured. He was awarded $35,000 in 1920 from injuries received in the crash. Reference: New York Times, 1920-01-08]
FUCHS, Pauline, 2902 West 17th Street
FULLER, Elizabeth, 364 East 18th Street

GOWARD, Harold, 234 Lefferts Avenue
GIILERDI, Sylvia, 2617 Jerome Avenue
GUTHRIE, James, 800 East 15th Street

HARLEY, Helen, Crown Street
HARRIS, Leonore, 62 Marlboro Road
HARRIS, Gertrude, 810 Avenue U
HARM, George, 2801 East 7th Street
HAYES, Nora, 287 East 17th Street
HALL, Martha, 2715 East 23d Street

(No listings for “I”)

JUDD, Francis, Manhattan Beach

(No listings for “K”)

LARSON, Lillian, 713 Avenue M
LEE, Henry A. 971 Utica Avenue
LERNER, Nathan, 15 President Street
LEES, Loretta, 619 East 4th Street
LEES, Mary, 619 East 4th Street

MITCHELL, Matilda, 3456 East 15th Street
MURPHY, Veronica, 1922 Homecrest Avenue
McGARRY, John, 120 Avenue C
MANDER, Walter, 840 Flatbush Avenue
MARTENSE, Gary, 1501 Avenue U
MULE, Ernest, 2421 East 18th Street
MUSSON, Silas, 402 Ocean Avenue
MELLOW, William, 568 East 18th Street
MESSIER, Josephine, 2163 Coney Island Avenue

(No listings for “N” and “O”)

PIERCE, Mrs. Kate, 1011 Ocean Avenue
PITTS, Frank G. 632 East 16th Street
POCHICHIE, Louis, 354 Prospect Place

(No listings for “Q”)

ROCHES, Mary, 2647 East 18th Street
REILLY, Alfred, 153 Martense Street

SCHMITT, Geo. W., 856 Est 5th Street
SEYMANN, Harry, 104 Woodruff Avenue
SCHUBERT, Arthur, 100 Webster Avenue
STOBEI, Rev. Joseph, 225 Emmons Avenue
SULLIVAN, Loretta, 437 East 15th Street

(No listings for “T” and “U”)

VAN ARSDALE, Betty, 3122 Mermaid Avenue

[bit.ly]

Links

Malbone Street Wreck, Wikipedia
Death Beneath the Streets, New York Underground, The American Experience, PBS

The Malbone Street Wreck, by Brian Cudahy [I’ve got this back-ordered from Amazon]
Review of the book by Paul Matus on rapidtransit.net

Franklin Shuttle, Kevin Walsh, Forgotten New York
BMT Franklin Avenue Line, Wikipedia
Lanes of Mid-Brooklyn, Kevin Walsh, Forgotten New York

Eve of Destruction, 1918: The Malbone Street Horror and Day of the Dead, A Year in the Park

Brooklyn Ron

Malbone Street Wreck, nycsubway.org, transcription of the article published in the New York Times on November 2nd, 1918
List of dead and injured, Brooklyn Standard Union
Alternative Map

Great Flatbush Plant Swap 2013, Sunday, 4/21, Noon-3pm

Posted on 2013-04-17 by admin

This Sunday, April 21, from noon to 3pm, join your fellow green-thumbs, and brown-thumbs, for the 2013 Great Flatbush Plant Swap.

Got some extra seed-starts you don’t need? Leftovers from dividing perennials? No place for that shrub you just dug out? Looking to start a new garden, and want some free plants? Looking to meet your gardening neighbors and pick up some tips?

Each year we’ve done this, we’ve re-distributed hundreds of plants. No plants? No problem: everyone can bring home a plant, even if you have none of your own to swap. You don’t need to bring something to be able to take something away.

Co-sponsored by the Flatbush Food Co-op and Sustainable Flatbush, this is an opportunity to share or swap plants, meet your gardening neighbors, and get some free plants.

When: Sunday, April 21, 12noon-3pm, Rain or Shine
Where: Flatbush Food Co-op, 1415 Cortelyou Road, corner of Marlborough Road

Credit: Baly Cooley

The Years Have Been Kind

Posted on 2011-06-07 by admin

This Spring has been a season of garden anniversaries for me. Six years ago, my partner and I bought our home in Flatbush. In the first month after closing, I began weeding, composting, and envisioning the gardens. Five years ago, I started this blog to document what I was doing and record my explorations.

It’s also been a season to celebrate the gardens. Last month, for New York City Wildflower Week (NYCWW), I opened my native plant garden for a garden tour for the first time. This Sunday, June 12, the gardens will be opened again, this time for the Victorian Flatbush House Tour, to benefit the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC). And in May, I registered my garden as a Certified Wildlife Habitat (#141,173) with the National Wildlife Federation.

My original vision for the backyard native plant garden is largely realized. I’m close to completing development of the planting beds. The shrubs and perennials have grown and spread; there is little bare ground. Unlike me, the garden looks better than it did six years ago. Take a look, and let me know what you think.

Slideshow

By view of the garden

Entrance from the driveway.

View West, toward the back of the house.

View North, toward our next-door neighbor.

View East, toward our back neighbor.

View South, toward our garage. The entrance from the driveway is to the right.

Links

NYC Wildflower Week
Victorian Flatbush House Tour, Flatbush Development Corporation
Garden for Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation

Street Tree Walking Tour, Sunday 4/17

Posted on 2011-04-07 by admin

Update 2011-04-16: As nasty as the weather is as I update this on Saturday night, it will be beautiful tomorrow for the tour, windy, but temperatures reaching into the upper 50s and low 60s. Added a Google Map of the tour below.

The Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour of April 2009. Photo: Sustainable Flatbush (Flickr)

The 4th Annual Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour will be Sunday, April 17, the day after the Plant Swap. (It’s a busy weekend for us!) We’re following the same route as past tours, so if you’ve only been able to enjoy our fall foliage in the past, come enjoy the spring blooms!

Once again tours leave from Sacred Vibes Apothecary at 11am and 12noon. Your tour guides will be Sam Bishop of Trees NY, neighbor and gardener Tracey Hohman, and me. On the tour, you can see:

Acer platanoides, Norway Maple
Aesculus hippocastanum, Horsechestnut
Amelanchier, Serviceberry
Betula nigra, River Birch
Cercis canadensis, Redbud
Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood
Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Red Cedar
Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgo
Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust
Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum
Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood
Pinus strobus, White Pine
Platanus x acerifolia, London Plane
Pyrus calleryana, Flowering Pear, Callery Pear
Quercus palustris, Pin Oak
Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, Columnar English Oak
Styphnolobium japonicum (Sophora japonica), Japanese Pagoda Tree, Scholar Tree
Taxodium distichum, Bald Cycpress
Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock
Ulmus americana, American Elm

… and many more.
When: Sunday, April 17. Tours set out at 11am and 12noon. The tour lasts 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Where: Tours leave from Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, just down the corner from Cortelyou Road, across the street from the Tot Lot, catty-corner from the Greenmarket. The route is about a mile in length, looping back to where we started.
Suggested Donation: 5$

View 2011 Spring Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour in a larger map

April 2009. Photo: Sustainable Flatbush (Flickr)

[goo.gl] [bit.ly]

Links

4th Annual Street Tree Walking Tour!, Sustainable Flatbush
Sacred Vibes Apothecary
Trees NY

NYC Leaves: Project LeafDrop 2010

Posted on 2010-11-02 by admin

Cherry Leaves, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, November 2008.

For the second year, a city-wide coalition of community gardens and other groups has organized Project LeafDrop to collect leaves from residents for composting. Again this year, most of the drop-off sites are located in Brooklyn. Check the map for locations near you, and the dates and times of your preferred locations.

View NYCLeaves: Project LeafDrop 2010 Locations in a larger map

Flatbush area residents have three exciting new options: community garden and composting sites which didn’t even exist a year ago, for last year’s LeafDrop! Sustainable Flatbush is collecting leaves this Saturday, November 6 and next, November 13, from 11am to 1pm at East 21st Street and Kenmore Terrace, at the site of the new Communal Garden in partnership with the Flatbush Reformed Church, the Flatbush CSA, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Compost for Brooklyn, at Newkirk Avenue and East 8th Street in Kensington, and Prospect Farm, in Windsor Terrace, and also new.

Press Releases

Sustainable Flatbush

Sustainable Flatbush is proud to be part of Project LeafDrop 2010: “a coalition of community gardens, botanical gardens, greening groups, environmental organizations, City agencies and community partners dedicated to moving fallen leaves from the trash bin to the compost bin.” The new Church Avenue Communal Garden, a project of our Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative, will hold leaf collections on November 6th and November 13th from 11am till 1pm, and we’ll also be looking for interested volunteers to help us construct a leaf bin to hold what we collect. So bring your fall leaves to the corner of East 21st Street and Kenmore Terrace (1 block south of Church Avenue), and be part of the movement for less garbage and more gardens!

Until 2007, the NYC Department of Sanitation collected leaves in the fall and brought them to a municipal composting site in Staten Island; this compost was made available to urban gardeners at pickup sites throughout the city in the spring. In 2008 the program was discontinued in response to budget cuts, and New York City’s leaves were carted to landfills along with the rest of our garbage, where they represent both a major addition (20,000 TONS) to the city’s waste management burden and a missed opportunity to create free, high-quality gardening fertilizer for NYC residents and community gardens.

In 2008, a pilot project at 6/15 Green garden in Park Slope, Brooklyn, collected over 1.5 tons of leaves from Brooklyn residents, indicating a deep desire in the community to keep residential leaves out of the overburdened waste stream and recycle them into nutrient-rich plant food. The following year a network of gardens joined forces to create Project LeafDrop, collecting leaves in neighborhoods throughout the City. Sustainable Flatbush joined this newly formed coalition and collected 1,740 pounds of leaves from Flatbush residents in just four hours. We are proud to participate in Project LeafDrop 2010!

NYCLeaves

NYCLeaves: Project LeafDrop, a lively coalition of community garden, open space and greening groups, and other community partners are dedicated to reducing usable organic materials in the City’s wastestream. They are working together to direct fallen leaves from the trash bin to the compost bin. Last year, residents throughout the City brought over 8 tons of leaves to Project LeafDrop sites…leaves that would otherwise be part of the 20,000 tons of leaves that go into the City’s already-overburdened landfills. Savvy community gardeners turned them into beautiful, rich compost and mulch for garden beds and hungry street trees. As more sites are joining the project, they expect to do even better, this year.

Project LeafDrop 2010 sites welcome neighborhood residents to bring their bagged leaves (in clear plastic or paper bags without twigs or trash!) to participating sites on specific dates in November.

Information will be available at many sites about how to make compost in your own garden or apartment and about efforts to encourage the City to reinstate its municipal leaf recycling/give-back program.

To register a garden or other open space as a Project LeafDrop 2010 site, to find participating sites and dates near you, to volunteer to help or for more information about the project, check out the group’s website: www.nycleaves.org or email them at compost@nycleaves.org.

Until 2008, New York City collected over 20,000 tons of leaves annually, composting much of it and making the fertile compost available to the public. But, since that program was discontinued due to budget cuts, leaves collected at curbsides are treated just like regular garbage. Project LeafDrop gives New Yorkers the chance to recycle residential leaves into “brown gold” that will nourish the City’s urban oases and be kept out of the wastestream.

In 2008, a pilot project at 6/15 Green garden in Park Slope, Brooklyn, collected over a 1 1/2 tons of leaves, revealing a deep desire in the community to keep autumn leaves out of the City’s wastestream and transform them into compost. In 2009, NYCLeaves created Project LeafDrop to expand that program. In its first year, residents brought over 8 tons of leaves to participating sites for recycling into “brown gold”. Many groups worked with Master Composters from the NYC Compost Project to provided educational material about home and backyard composting. Information was also available to raise awareness about the importance of reinstating the City’s municipal leaf composting/give back program.

Bringing bagged leaves to a Project LeafDrop site lightens the City’s load of trash, saves the City the money it would spend collecting and getting rid of leaves, and redirects this precious natural resource to its best use – as compost to enrich exhausted urban soil or feed stressed and hungry street trees. It’s a win/win!

[goog.gl]

Links

Leaf Composting with Project LeafDrop, Sustainable Flatbush
Compost for Brooklyn
NYCLeaves

Local Leafin’: Street Tree Walking Tour Sunday 10/24

Posted on 2010-10-18 by admin

Japanese Maple leaves (red), with Linden in the background (yellow), at the corner of Rugby Road and Cortelyou Road in Beverley Square West, Flatbush, Brooklyn, November 2007.

The Sustainable Flatbush Fall 2010 Street Tree Walking Tour will be this Sunday, October 24. Tours begin at 11am and 12noon. I’m proud to once again be one of your guides. Your other guide will be Sam Bishop, Director of Education of Trees NY. As in the past, tours will start at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, our other community partner. This is also listed as a NeighborWoods Month event.

After a dry summer, October brought ample rains just in time to salvage some fall foliage. Dogwoods, Locusts, and Ash Trees are showing strong color. The neighborhood should be at near-peak foliage conditions for the year for the tour.

On the tour, you can see:

Acer platanoides, Norway Maple
Aesculus hippocastanum, Horsechestnut
Amelanchier, Serviceberry
Betula nigra, River Birch
Cercis canadensis, Redbud
Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood
Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Red Cedar
Fraxinus americana, White Ash
Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgo
Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust
Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum
Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood
Pinus strobus, White Pine
Platanus x acerifolia, London Plane
Pyrus calleryana, Flowering Pear, Callery Pear
Quercus palustris, Pin Oak
Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, Columnar English Oak
Sophora japonica, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Scholar Tree
Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock
Ulmus americana, American Elm

… and many more.

Map

View Sustainable Flatbush Fall 2010 Street Tree Walking Tour in a larger map

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brooklyn, NY October 17, 2010
SUSTAINABLE FLATBUSH FALL 2010 STREET TREE WALKING TOUR
Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ever wanted to leaf peep without leaving NYC? The Sustainable Flatbush 2nd Annual Fall Street Tree Walking Tour is a perfect opportunity to enjoy beautiful — and local — fall foliage in Brooklyn’s historic Victorian Flatbush! The neighborhood is filled with an incredible variety of breathtaking street trees—including some that are more than 100 years old! This year, our tree-expert tour guides will be Sam Bishop of Trees NY and neighborhood resident Chris Kreussling, aka Flatbush Gardener.

Throughout the tour, your street tree guide will…

identify trees and their characteristics
share interesting facts
explore local tree history
discuss the beneficial role of street trees in the urban environment
explain basics of street tree stewardship

and much more!

Location:
Tours start at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, just south of Cortelyou Road.

Directions:
Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road and walk west after exiting the station toward Argyle Road. As a reminder, check the MTA website for schedule and service advisories before you head out.

Time:
Tours depart at 11:00 AM and 12:00 NOON.
Tours take about 2 hours to complete and are 1 mile in length.
This is a rain or shine event — please dress for the weather!

Suggested Donation: $5

CONTACT: info@sustainableflatbush.org / (718) 208-0575

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate,
and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and
beyond. For more information, please visit http://sustainableflatbush.org

[goo.gl GMAP]

Links

Sustainable Flatbush
Sacred Vibes Apothecary
Trees NY
NeighborWoods Month

Design Drafts for the Parsonage at the Flatbush Reformed Church

Posted on 2010-08-01 by admin

This afternoon at 3pm I’ll be presenting to the community drafts of two alternative designs for a new communal garden on the grounds of the Parsonage, a landmarked historic building, on the grounds of the Flatbush Reformed Church.

Neither of these is a final design. They’re intended simply to present key features requested by community members at the Visioning Workshops and show how they might integrate into a cohesive design. The two designs weight these features differently, giving more or less space to different areas, and supporting different activities. I’m hoping this afternoon’s meeting will highlight the most popular features of each design, which can be recombined into a final design for this garden.

Dimensions

Here’s the base plan, drawn to scale at 3/16″ = 1 foot, of the site. Kenmore Terrace is at the bottom of the plan, East 21st Street on the left, the parking lot on the right. North is roughly up.

The front porch is nearly 53′ long! It’s just over 25′ from the fence along Kenmore Terrace to the front of the porch, and 27′ from the East 21st Street fence to the side. It’s nearly 85′ from the parking lot to East 21st. The sidewalk bed along Kenmore Terrace is 3’6″ deep. The bed between the fence and the parking lot is 8’3″ deep.

Existing Conditions

The space is dominated by large, mature oak trees which provide high shade over the entire property. Three large Taxus, Yew, shrubs exist as foundation plantings in front of the porch. There probably was at one time fourth shrub, at the far left of the porch, to complete the symmetry.

Everything else is lawn. Between the parking lot and the center walk, the lawn is sparse and the ground is compacted. To the left of the center walk, the ground is less compacted, and the grass transitions to a mix of clover and moss closer to East 21st Street.

There are planting beds between the fence along the property line and the sidewalk. Existing plantings of perennials in these beds are scattered and sparse.

Design A: “The Commons”

This design maximizes space to meet, sit and play. A paved patio area is created between the center walk and the parking lot. Benches provide seating for over 20 people. A large expanse of lawn provides space for running around or lawn games, such as badminton, horseshoes, etc.

Raised beds – 4×4 or 2×4 – provide over 200 square feet to grow food, herbs, and medicinal plants.

The existing large Taxus, Yew, shrubs are preserved. A buffer of perennials is created around the trunk of each Quercus, Oak, tree.

Rainwater is collected from the downspout near the western end of the porch (left in this rendering).

Design B: “Sanctuary”

This design provides for both shared and intimate experiences in the garden. Three gardens are created here: a common area, a wildlife habitat garden, and a rain garden.

The existing Yews are removed to make more room, especially for the common area between the center walk and the parking lot.

A few raised beds are specified in this design in the common area. More space is available for raised beds to the right of this plan, between the parking lot and the fence along the property line.

The common area has both a paved patio area and a small lawn for picnicking. A wide entrance and semi-circular bench around the base of one of the Oaks provides a generous invitation to enter and linger. No other seating is specified, but could be added, for example, on the ends of the raised beds.

The wildlife habitat garden is contained with a meandering path. Two small understory trees provide focal points. These would be underplanted with small shrubs, and shade-loving perennials. The path is designed to both cutoff and provide access to this garden. You can’t see everything without walking the path. Two benches provide intimate seating, out of sight of each other and other areas of the garden.

Rainwater is collected from the downspout near the western end of the porch (left in this rendering). Here, a “stream” is designed to direct overflow to the rain garden. This would be planted with native shrubs, ferns, and wildflowers.

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Links

Community Garden Potluck August 1st!, Sustainable Flatbush, 2010-07-24

Flatbush Reformed Church
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

June 16: Community Visioning Workshop for a new Communal Garden

Posted on 2010-06-15 by admin

The Parsonage at the Flatbush Reformed Church is the proposed site for a new communal garden.

This Wednesday, June 16 at 6pm

Are you a gardener, or have you always wanted to get your hands in the dirt?
Sustainable Flatbush is collaborating with the Flatbush Reformed Church to create a new community garden!

Join us in a creative brainstorming session to plan this new neighborhood green space!

WHAT: Community Garden Visioning Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday June 16th at 6pm
WHERE: Flatbush Reformed Church, 890 Flatbush Avenue (at Church Ave.)

Refreshments and childcare will be provided!

What to expect at the meeting:

* see the garden location!
* contribute your ideas for what the garden will be
* what we can grow (flowers? herbs? vegetables?)
* how we can best use the space we have
* how we will build and maintain the garden
* learn how you can get involved!

For more information: 718-208-0575 / info@sustainableflatbush.org

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

The Flatbush Reformed Church is a welcoming, inclusive and ecumenical Church located in the heart of Brooklyn.

A section of the wall filled in by participants in the first Visioning Workshop on June 6.

Links

New community garden — not at Brooklyn College, Helen Klein, Flatbush Life, 2010-06-08

Flatbush Reformed Church
Sustainable Flatbush
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

Help Envision a New Garden: Sunday, June 6

Posted on 2010-06-03 by admin

Update: June 16: Community Visioning Workshop for a new Communal Garden

Update, 2010.06.04: Added information about the site.
Update, 2010.06.03: Added registration link.

The Parsonage, Flatbush Reformed Church, 2103 Kenmore Terrace, corner of East 21st Street, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Thus Sunday, June 6, from 4-6pm, we’ll be holding the first of two Community Visioning Workshops for a new communal garden on the grounds of the landmarked Flatbush Reformed Church. One site is a small, fenced-off area. The other is the front lawn of the Parsonage. This landmarked historic building was built in 1853 – though portions of it may be even older – and moved to this site in 1913.

Front lawn, looking east from East 21st Street

The main area is the front lawn of the Parsonage. It’s a large area, about 25-feet deep, from the fence along Kenmore Terrace to the porch of the house, and about 85-feet long, from East 21st Street to the Church parking lot. There are opportunities to further develop the buffer plantings, 3-1/2-feet between the fence and the sidewalk, that Church members have already established.

Buffer Plantings, looking from the entrance gate toward East 21st Street

The site is dominated by large, mature Oak trees lining the fence on Kenmore Terrace and East 21st Street. These cast dense shade, and working with this constraint will be one of the challenges for designing the garden and plantings. I have a lot of experience with urban shade gardens, and see the potential in this site.

The most interesting aspects of this project will be the community partnerships. CAMBA, a large community-based service organization, has a young mothers program that meets at the Parsonage. We want the space and gardens to be child-friendly, and provide opportunities for exploration and learning about nature and gardening. The Flatbush Farm Share CSA distributes from the front lawn of the Parsonage. They offer shares for all income levels, and subsidize low-income members. We want to accommodate their needs for space and provide opportunities for education programs.

Soil Sampling for Texture Analysis

Press Release

Sustainable Flatbush is partnering with the Flatbush Reformed Church to create a new community garden! The whole community is invited to be involved in the planning and care of this neighborhood green space.

Two Community Garden Visioning Meetings have been scheduled for Sunday June 6th and Wednesday June 16th. At these brainstorming sessions community members will visit the garden area, located on church grounds, and work collaboratively to envision this new public green space: what can be grown, how to best utilize the space, how the garden will be built and maintained, what to name the garden, and how to be a part of it!

The new community garden is a joint project of Sustainable Flatbush’s Urban Gardens & Farms Initiative and the Flatbush Reformed Church.

The Urban Gardening and Farming Initiative works to foster community gardening efforts in Flatbush, promoting healthy local food, sustainable horticulture practices, and community building and beautification.

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

Flatbush Reformed Church is a welcoming, inclusive and ecumenical Church in the heart of Brooklyn.

WHAT: Community Garden Visioning Meetings
WHEN: Sunday, June 6th at 4pm and Wednesday, June 16th at 6pm.
WHERE: Flatbush Reformed Church, located at 890 Flatbush Avenue at Church Avenue, just three blocks east of the Q train or three blocks west of the 2 train, Church Avenue stop.

Sign up here to attend a Visioning Meeting.

Refreshments and childcare will be provided.

Links

New Community Garden at Flatbush Reformed Church!, Sustainable Flatbush, 2010-05-31

Flatbush Reformed Church
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

Not just for Tree-Huggers: Street Tree Tour Sunday, 5/2

Posted on 2010-04-20 by admin

RESCHEDULED: The Tree Tour has been rescheduled for the rain date of Sunday, May 2, same times and location.

340 Argyle Road, Beverley Square West, April 2007

Sustainable Flatbush’s 3rd Annual Spring Street Tree Walking Tour will be Sunday, May 2. I’m proud to once again be one of your guides.

Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour, Arbor Day 2009. That’s me in the middle, next to the tree. Photo by Keka (Flickr)

Tours start at 11am and 12noon from Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, between Cortelyou & Dorchester Roads, and loop through the historic neighborhoods of Beverley Square West and landmarked Prospect Park South. In addition to architectural beauty, the area boasts a rich variety of street trees, as well as ornamental trees and shrubs.

View Sustainable Flatbush Spring 2010 Street Tree Walking Tour in a larger map

On the tour, you can see:

Acer platanoides, Norway Maple
Aesculus hippocastanum, Horsechestnut
Amelanchier, Serviceberry
Betula nigra, River Birch
Cercis canadensis, Redbud
Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood
Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Red Cedar
Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgo
Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust
Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum
Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood
Pinus strobus, White Pine
Platanus x acerifolia, London Plane
Pyrus calleryana, Flowering Pear, Callery Pear
Quercus palustris, Pin Oak
Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’, Columnar English Oak
Sophora japonica, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Scholar Tree
Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock
Ulmus americana, American Elm

… and many more.

The suggested donation for the tour is $5. From the Sustainable Flatbush Web site:

On Sunday, May 2, Sustainable Flatbush will host our fourth Street Tree Walking Tour! Join tour guides Chris Kreussling (better known as Flatbush Gardener) and Tracey Hohman (professional gardener) for a fun, fulfilling and enlightening tour of Brooklyn’s diverse canopy.

On the Street Tree Walking Tour, you will learn to identify a variety of trees (think of how you can impress your friends!), examine local natural tree history and tree lore (no textbooks needed!), explore the way street trees benefit urban areas (you’ll become a tree’s best friend), and find out how you can obtain and care for street trees yourself!

Become a street tree defender as you walk your way around Victorian Flatbush! The tour (recommended by Brokelyn as a great cheap date!) will take about two hours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the weather and the walk!

The Street Tree Walking Tour is about “connecting people to streetscape,” according to Chris Kreussling. Street trees remind us that we are not separate from nature, but instead dependent upon it for our survival and safety. So grab a friend — or three! – for the walk of the season, and fall more in love with the beautiful foliage of Brooklyn!

What: Street Tree Walking Tour
Where: Begins and ends at Sacred Vibes Apothecary (376 Argyle Road, btwn Cortelyou & Dorchester Roads)
When: Sunday, May 2 — two tours are scheduled: one at 11 a.m., one at noon

Suggested donation $5

Keep an eye out for Sustainable Flatbush’s Street Tree Walking Tour next fall!

Directions:

Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road Station and walk west after exiting the station toward Argyle Road.
As a reminder, check the MTA website for schedule and service advisories before you head out.
Buses that stop on or near Cortelyou Road include the B23, B103, B68, and BM1,2,3,4 and x29 express busess.

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Links

Street Tree Walking Tour April 25th!, Sustainable Flatbush

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