Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Historic District Designated

Posted on 2008-03-19 by admin

700 East 17 Street, Midwood Park, Flatbush, Brooklyn

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) today approved the designation of the city’s newest Historic District. Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park, in Flatbush, becomes the city’s 91st Historic District.

Map of the boundaries of Midwood Park and Fiske Terrace, as presented to LPC on October 16, 2007 (PDF)

776 East 17th Street, Fiske Terrace, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Here’s the description from the LPC’s press release:

Bound on the north and south by Foster Avenue and Avenue H, and on the west and east by the Brighton subway line and Ocean Avenue, this district comprises 250 eclectic houses that were largely completed and occupied by 1914, and were built by two prominent local builders and developers.

The primary developer of Fiske Terrace, which lies south of Glenwood Road and is named for George B. Fiske, an oil merchant, was the T.B. Ackerson Company, whose owner once boasted of transforming the area “from woods into city in 18 months.” Approximately 75 percent of the houses in the Midwood Park part of the district, which lies north of Glenwood Road, were constructed by the John R. Corbin Company.

Most of the houses in the district adhere primarily to the popular early 20th-century architectural styles, especially the Arts and Crafts, Colonial Revival and Dutch Colonial Revival styles. The houses were typically constructed in one of three forms: the box-like foursquare, crowned by a hipped or pyramidal roof; the temple-house, featuring a prominent front-facing gable; and the bungalow, with its low profile, deep porch with thick tapered columns, and broadly overhanging eaves.

Times admits past errors: We are not all Ditmas Park, March 15, 2008
Other posts on Victorian Flatbush

Links

Map of the Fiske Terrace – Midwood Park Historic District (PDF)
New Landmarks Include Webster Hall, New York Times, March 18, 2008
Press Release (PDF) from LPC, March 18, 2008
Coda: Fiske Terrace/Midwood Park Designated as Landmark by LPC, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn, March 20, 2008
Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park in Flatbush Gains Landmark Status, Brooklyn Eagle, March 20, 2008

Cortelyou Crocuses!

Posted on 2008-03-06 by admin

This morning I took a slight detour from my commute routine to check the tree pits along Cortelyou Road for blooming Crocuses. I was rewarded:

It may not look like much, but this is only one of the 400 Crocuses neighborhood volunteers planted last fall in some of the tree pits along Cortelyou Road between Coney Island Avenue and East 17th Street.

It also has a companion blooming in the same tree pit:

Until the rest of them start blooming, if you’re not looking for them, you’ll probably overlook them. Here’s how they appear in situ as you walk by the tree pit:

The Crocuses have been up for a month; these are the first blooms. The Daffodils are also emerging in several of the tree pits.

Someone’s (or someones’) been doing a good job keeping the tree pit fairly clear of garbage. Nevertheless, you can identify several fragments of urban street detritus, including chewing gum, bits of plastic straw, and um, organic material.

This morning I didn’t see any bags of garbage in the tree pits themselves. When I see this, I try to stop and lift the bags out to place them on the outside of the protective fences. But for the past few days I’ve also seen a bike locked to the inside of the fence, right where the bulbs are coming up. I want to make up some signs to put along all the tree pits to remind folks:

LIVE PLANTS
NO TRASH
NO BIKES
NO DOGS

The bike locked up so it’s crushing the emerging bulbs deserves its own sign.

Over the next two weeks we should see a succession of different Crocus blooming. These yellow ones look like Crocus chrysanthus or something similar. Other may be purple, blue, or even white. I purchased “mixed” Crocus for this planting, so that’s what we should expect!

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch, February 4
Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

New Blog on the Block: lolAJ

Posted on 2008-03-05 by admin

lolAJ is my current favorite read. Described as:

new york city + stuff that is political? + wtf why is it so weird to be a transsexual

Race, class, politics, post-queer deconstruction, and lolcats. It cannot be described in mere words. It must be experienced.

And not a word about real estate.

total pwnage.

PS: Re: “And not a word about real estate.” No, not in the sense of Brownstoner’s buy/sell flamers and trolls. Yes, in the sense of racial, ethnic and class disparities and outright bias in land use policy and the economics of real estate.

Just so you have some idea of what to expect.

When Brooklyn WAS Flatbush

Posted on 2008-03-03 by admin

Yesterday afternoon I caught the beginning of “The Incredible Mr. Limpet,” a 1964 film set during World War II. The film mixed live action and old-school cell animation. It starred Don Knotts as the piscophile Henry Limpet, who gets his wish and is magically transformed into a fish.

After he falls off a pier at Coney Island (loving the fake, Hollywood 1964 version of a 1940s era subway ride!), his body is never recovered (because he turned into a fish) and he’s presumed dead. His obituary reveals that he resided at “1313 Pleasant Avenue, Flatbush,” a non-existent street in Brooklyn.

But when he first meets his friend Crusty, the hermit crab:

Crusty: Say, what are you, anyway? You related to the porpoise family?
Henry: No, I’m a Limpet. Henry Limpet from Brooklyn. You know, Flatbush.

Oh proud Flatbushian, Henry Limpet, laying claim to all of Brooklyn, we salute you!

Crusty goes on to call him “Flatbush” for the rest of the film.

This was one of my favorite childhood films. Of course, I identified with Don Knotts’ character, a bookish, withdrawn person who identified more with the animal world than his human clan. In particular, I lived in Florida at the time and loved fish and all things aquatic. Later, during my adolescence, I maintained several aquariums; I wept when my pet Oscar jumped out of the tank for the last time. When I was 12 years old, my answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was “either a marine biologist or a neuro-surgeon.” Needless to say, I’m neither, today, but the interests remain.

Greening Flatbush a success!

Posted on 2008-02-24 by admin

Update 2008.02.25: News12 has an extended segment on Greening Flatbush in this morning’s lineup. Catch it now before more important news pushes it off their schedule! I didn’t get to see the whole thing, myself.

Also, see the Links section at the end of this post to follow up on yesterday’s event, learn how to stay informed of future events, or get involved to help us plan them.

Greening Flatbush 2008

We had about 50 people attend Greening Flatbush this afternoon. This was the inaugural event for the Gardening Committee of Sustainable Flatbush, and we’re all pretty pleased with ourselves.

Na’eem Douglas of News12 Brooklyn, our local cable news channel, covered the event. They started airing the segment around 5:45 this evening.

We got underway later than we wanted, around 1:50, but everything went smoothly after that. We started with a panel of speakers with quick introductions of themselves, their experiences, and the resources they had to offer. We held question until after the break, and kept most of the time available for unstructured and joyfully chaotic milling around, meeting neighbors, questions and answers, and so on.

We had presentations and experts on hand for container gardening, composting with worms, tree identification, Asian Longhorned Beetle/Anoplophora glabripennis, and GreenBridge, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s community horticulture program.

Container Gardening

Trees NY

Brooklyn Compost Project

BBG Greenbridge

Links

Brooklyn Compost Project, one of the programs of BBG’s GreenBridge
Flatbush CSA
Gardening Committee (Note: This is our Google Group for planning our events. If you want to help us plan, great! Just request to join through the link on the group page, or send an email to greeningflatbush [at] gmail (dot) com and let us know you want to join. If you just want to be informed of future events, join the Sustainable Flatbush mailing list.)
GreenBridge, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Sustainable Flatbush
Trees NY

Snow!

Posted on 2008-02-22 by admin

This is why I don’t cut everything to the ground in the fall. This is a non-heirloom grass in my front yard garden.

Update 09:00: My waking estimate of 3″ was conservative. After shoveling my steps, walkway and 250 square feet of sidewalk, I think we already have 5 inches on the ground.

More of the front yard:

And the backyard:

This is the Gardener’s Nook in the corner. You can see the Winterberry in the container still has lots of berries on it.

This is the view from the second floor tree fort. This is a lot more open than in past years. Over the winter, our next-door neighbor had to take down their old maple in the middle of their backyard, and the apple tree which reached over the fence. Sad, but necessary.

Woke up this morning to find everything covered with a couple inches of snow.

And it’s still falling. I’ll try to get some pictures.

The National Weather Service is calling for 1-3 inches for my area. Yet they also have a winter storm warning in effect predicting 5-7 inches. Local news services are estimating 5 inches total, which seems more likely. It looks like we already have 3 inches on the ground.

My Flickr photo set of this morning’s snow

Reminder: Greening Flatbush this Sunday

Posted on 2008-02-22 by admin

Update 2008.02.25: Read about this event.

Just a reminder that this Sunday, February 24, from 1:30 to 4:30pm, the Gardening Committee of Sustainable Flatbush is hosting Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are at the Flatbush Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at 22 Linden Boulevard [GMAP]. We’ve got a great lineup of speakers, demonstrations and workshops on a range of topics, including community gardens, gardening in containers, composting, street trees and community-supported agriculture.

The event is free, but space is limited. There are still openings available. To register, email greeningflatbush@gmail.com.

Here’s the press release we put together for this event:

Brooklyn, NY — Sustainable Flatbush sponsors “Greening Flatbush”
Sunday, February 24

On Sunday, February 24, residents and other members of the greater
Flatbush community can learn what they can do to beautify and improve
the environment of their neighborhood.

“Garden is a verb,” says Chris Kreussling, co-chair of the Gardening
Committee of Sustainable Flatbush, which is sponsoring the event.
“It’s not just a place you visit. It’s something you do.”

“Hearing about what others are already doing can inspire people to
work with their neighbors to take
action,” says Kreussling, who also authors a local gardening blog,
Flatbush Gardener. “We want to build community through gardening.”

Greening Flatbush is Sunday, February 24, from 1:30 to 4:30pm at the
Flatbush Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at 22 Linden Boulevard.
The event is free, but space is limited. To register, or if you have
questions about this event, please email greeningflatbush@gmail.com.
For directions, see the Flatbush branch web page on the Brooklyn
Public Library Web site, http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/.

Sustainable Flatbush provides a neighborhood-based forum to discuss,
promote and implement sustainability concepts in Brooklyn and beyond.
For more information, visit http://sustainableflatbush.org/.

It felt weird to quote myself, but hey, a girl’s gotta do and all that. I don’t know to whom “Garden is a verb” can be first attributed, but I’ll acknowledge here that I cribbed it from the sidebar of those rockin’ gals at Garden Rant.

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch

Posted on 2008-02-04 by admin

Update 2008.03.06: The Crocuses are blooming!

Despite this morning’s brief snow flurry, Spring is nearly upon us. That means that the 1,000 Daffodils and 400 Crocus which dozens of neighborhood volunteers planted along Cortelyou Road last fall will soon bloom. The crocuses are already up and may bloom within the next two weeks.

This is a good time to remind businesses, building owners and managers, residents and visitors along Cortelyou Road that tree pits contain live plants. They should not put bags of garbage in them. This is especially important now that the plants are coming up.

Most building and business owners do not use the tree pits as dumpsters. I’ve only seen it done twice in the past two months. But all it takes is one thoughtless dumping of garbage, and the whole season of growth in that tree pit will be destroyed.

Beyond not damaging what’s growing there, any care that owners and businesses can take to keep tree pits neat and clean will make a big difference. Keeping the tree pits clear of litter is the single most effective thing they can do. Just like graffiti and broken windows, keeping after trash shows that people care for the area, and are watching out for it.

Over two dozen people turned out to help plant the tree pits last fall. That’s a big turnout for something that was organized very informally. This shows that residents value the new streetscape along Cortelyou Road. Studies have shown that people spend more time, and are willing to spend more, on commercial streets that have green, growing things. Keeping the tree pits clean and free of trash is not just neighborly. It’s good business as well.

Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Raccoon Fight

Posted on 2008-02-04 by admin

I just heard a raccoon fight in my backyard. It’s the first time I’ve seen a raccoon here in the winter.

I didn’t know it was a raccoon fight at first. When I heard the ruckus, I looked out from the second floor porch, but couldn’t see anything. I went downstairs with a flashlight and looked out from one of the back bedrooms. I saw what I thought was a cat hiding behind one of the Adirondack chairs.

I went back upstairs to the back porch. Then I heard the screeching and screaming again. Decidedly un-catlike. I could tell it was coming from the corner of the yard, but I couldn’t see anything. I thought it might be just beyond one of our neighbors’ fences.

Then I saw it, lumbering into view. One of the big mama-jama raccoons. Unhurried and unconcerned. Probably the winner of whatever altercation had just ensued. In the beam of my flashlight, it turned to look up at me, then stood on its back legs to get a better look. Satisfied, I guess, it went under my back neighbor’s deck.

It was all over in less than five minutes, so no photos from tonight’s squabble. You can find photos in my related posts.

Flatbush Wildlife Report: Raccoons and Opposums, July 9, 2007
Midnight Photo Blogging: Raccoons in Brooklyn, July 31, 2006

Sunday, February 24: Greening Flatbush

Posted on 2008-01-28 by admin

Update 2008.02.25: Read about this event.
Update 2008.02.22: See the reminder for the latest info.

GreenBranches, a project of the Horticultural Society of New York, at the Flatbush branch of the Brooklyn Public Library

On Sunday, February 24, residents and other members of the greater Flatbush community can learn what they can do to beautify and improve the environment of their neighborhood.

“Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are” is an afternoon of short lectures, demonstrations, and workshops on topics ranging from planting and caring for street trees to composting with worms in our kitchen.

Greening Flatbush is Sunday, February 24, from 1:30 to 4:30pm at the Flatbush Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at 22 Linden Boulevard [GMAP]. The event is free, but space is limited. To register, or if you have questions, please email greeningflatbush@gmail.com. For directions, see the Flatbush branch web page on the Brooklyn Public Library Web site.

Sustainable Flatbush provides a neighborhood-based forum to discuss, promote and implement sustainability concepts in Brooklyn and beyond. For more information, visit their Web site.

Flatbush Branch, Brooklyn Public Library

Flatbush Gardener

Urban Habitat Gardening with Native Plants

Tag Archives: Flatbush

Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park Historic District Designated

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Cortelyou Crocuses!

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New Blog on the Block: lolAJ

When Brooklyn WAS Flatbush

Greening Flatbush a success!

Container Gardening

Trees NY

Brooklyn Compost Project

BBG Greenbridge

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Links

Snow!

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Reminder: Greening Flatbush this Sunday

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch

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Links

Raccoon Fight

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Sunday, February 24: Greening Flatbush