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

Mulchfest 2011: Recycle Those Trees!

Posted on 2011-01-02 by admin

The giant tree shredder in action at last year’s Mulchfest at Park Circle in Prospect Park.

It’s tree recycling season in New York City. Residents can have their trees recycled into mulch for the City’s parks and gardens. Note that, although recycling pickup is still suspended after the post-Christmas blizzard, you can leave trees curbside for recycling pickup.

Remove all lights, ornaments, tinsel and tree-stands from your tree.
Leave your tree unwrapped. Don’t put it in a plastic bag.
Leave trees curbside starting Monday, January 3 for recycling pickup, OR
Bring your tree 10am-2pm Saturday, January 8th or Sunday, January 9th to one of 70 locations citywide.

Residents can also pick up free mulch at designated chipping locations.

Brooklyn Locations

This year’s Mulchfest locations for Brooklyn are almost the same as last year’s. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are on-site chipping locations.

th>Service

Location	Address
The Amazing Garden*	Columbia Street at Carroll Street	Chipping
Cobble Hill Park*	Verandah Place & Clinton Street	Chipping
Coffey Park	Dwight Street & Verona Street	Drop-off only
Fort Greene Park*	Washington Pk. & Willoughby Avenue	Chipping
Green-Wood Cemetery	25th Street & 4th Avenue	Drop-off only
Hattie Carthan Garden*	Across from Von King Park: Lafayette Avenue & Clifton Place	Chipping
Lincoln Terrace Park	Buffalo Avenue between East New York Avenue & Eastern Parkway	Drop-off only
Maria Hernandez Park	Knickerbocker Avenue & Suydam Street	Drop-off only
Marine Park*	Avenue U & East 33rd Street	Chipping
McCarren Park*	Driggs Avenue & Lorimer Street	Chipping
McGolrick Park	Monitor Street & Driggs Avenue	Drop-off only
Owl’s Head Park*	Colonial Road & 68th Street	Chipping
Prospect Heights Community Garden	252-256 St. Marks Avenue	Drop-off only
Prospect Park*	Third Street at Prospect Park West	Chipping
Prospect Park Circle*	Parkside Avenue & Prospect Park Southwest	Chipping
Sunset Park	44th Street & 6th Avenue	Drop-off only

Map

View Brooklyn MulchFest 2011 in a larger map

[goo.gl]

Links

Mulchfest, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
MillionTreesNYC
Partnerships for Parks
Prospect Park Alliance

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

Designing a New Communal Garden

Posted on 2010-07-17 by admin

2010-07-31: Added base plan, drawn to scale, of the site.
2010-07-26: Added transcribed notes from the workshop materials.

On June 6 and June 16, Sustainable Flatbush and the Flatbush Reformed Church held two Community Visioning Workshops for a new communal garden to be created on the grounds of the Church. On Sunday, August 1, 3pm, we invite community review of proposed designs.

Participants of the second community visioning workshop introduce themselves on the grounds of the future garden.

We invite design proposals from the community. This post has basic information about the site, including measurements and general conditions, as well as the notes from the workshop sessions, to inform your designs.

Location

The main area available for the new garden is the front lawn of the Parsonage of the Flatbush Reformed Church. This building is at the corner of a dead-end court, Kenmore Terrace, and lightly-traveled through-street, East 21st Street.

View Larger Map

Here’s how the site looks from the corner. Kenmore Terrace is in the foreground, East 21st Street is on the left. The view is looking slightly east of north.

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.

Here is my sketched, unscaled, plan of the site, drawn from the perspective of the front porch of the Parsonage. Kenmore Terrace is at the top of the plan, the parking lot is on the left, East 21st on the right.

Conditions

The plan notes the approximate locations of three of the large oak trees around the perimeter of site, just inside the fence. They provide high shade over the entire property. The sidewalk beds along Kenmore get some sun during the middle of the day, enough, at least, for some Hemerocallis to bloom there.

Soil tests revealed high levels of metals in the soil, too high to grow food directly in the soil. There are ample opportunities for raised beds across the site. A second area, with full sun next to the parking lot, will be used for raised beds.

Transcription

These notes were transcribed from the Workshop collages.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
produce, herbs and food
– children-run MINI-CSA for neighbors (like a lemonade but w/ produce)
– COOKING CLASSES/demos *** (on nutrition *)
– medicinal HERB WORKSHOPS

art and culture
– ART WORKSHOPS
– art & CULTURE CURRICULUMS

biking
– BIKE riding LESSONS in parking lot
– BIKE MAINTENANCE workshops

youth-oriented programming
– EDUCATION PROGRAMS – interface w/ local charter school & public schools
– summer/ weekend educational for kids
– GARDEN VISITS- kids visiting garden from schools

gardening programming
– GARDENING 101 info sessions/workshops **
– HAITIAN COMMUNITY SHARING of traditional farming knowledge
– HOW-TOs to encourage others to use their BACKYARD
– SUSTAINABILITY EDucation
– SOLAR installation – demo/workshop when it’s installed
– VERMICOMPOST – how to workshops

methods for running these programs:
– programs out of parsonage
– adaquate documentation of each step taken online
– how to guide for those in other communities looking to start their own gardens and/or gardening tips for those who want to start backyard gardens in the area (similar weather and growing conditions)

EVENTS
theater
– Small THEATER performance on the porch – with a garden or food theme (w/ and for kids) ie. Little Red Hen, Peter Rabbit
– showcase edible plants – “PLANT OF THE WEEK” idea, educate community members about plants they can eat, recipes for preparation, fun facts, etc

food and drink
– monthly POTLUCKS ***
– BBQs w/ veggie foods
– TEA PARTIES! (mint & ginger) **
– mint LEMONADE STAND (5 cents)

for the garden
– LEAF COLLECTION in the fall
– PLANT SWAP
– collective SIGN DESIGN

fun
– non-amplified MUSIC (jazz, blue-grass, brazilian, steel drums)
– ACUPUNCTURE
– BOOK CLUB (w/ environmental social justice focus)

trips
– FARM TRIP

seasonal programming
– spring/easter HAT PARADE
– campfire style GHOST STORIES (smores, etc)
– PUMPKIN carving in the fall

– halloween party (compost halloween pumpkins)

getting to know you
– porch party
– MEET my neighbors

methods
– intergenerational gardening
– gatherings

GARDEN AREAS:
by plants
– Fragrant garden
– butterfly garden ***
– kids garden ** (and education programs)
– discovery gardens ** (tactile plants **)
– meditation bench in quiet leafy spot
– cactus/low water garden
– polinator garden in front of parsonage

for programming
– area for potluck/picnics
– long table for potlucks
– benches & tables for gathering **

art
– murals
– sculptures

for garden techniques
– corner of garden for pumpkin patch (also it’s right next to a cemetery so that’s cool!)
– vertical gardening for the fenced in areas **
– maze path lined w/ flowers
– path (curvy, etc) **
– tree beds – protect trees we are working around

GARDEN INFRASTRUCTURE:
garden-based infrastructure and decor
– beehive **
– birdhouse *****
– greenhouse ***
– sundial
– solar lighting/lanterns **
– water fountain *** (solar powered ones *)

gardening method infrastructure
– rain water catchment ***
– composting

for fun
– treehouse*
– swing **
– hammock

for transport
– bike parking **** (bike racks)

for entryway
– beautiful welcoming gate **
– sign on gate w/ info on how to join
– arbor over entrance

etc
– recycling on church grounds
– wind power
– solar power **
– human power
– whimsy

walls
– living wall

– a living structure – like a small yurt from woven willows that are still growing and changing – the kids can play in it
– sound barrier

GARDEN TECHNIQUES:
methods

– lasagna gardening
– 3 sister type planting (corn, beans, root veggies)
– companion planting as a model for small space gardening – how to have a garden grow food for your family in a small space
– permaculture

– heal the soil

– container gardening
– recycled containers as planters (ie. pickle barrel) – drill holes for drainage
– raised beds for food
– cold frames (windows work! “or so i’ve heard”)

fertilizing
– organic fertilizers (garden plenty, liquid kelp spray, sea rich)
– organic **

keep
– seed library – seed saving

THINGS TO GROW:

herbs *

– food herbs ***
– basil *
– medicinal herbs ** (ie. comfrey, hyssop, lavender)
– parsley **
– rosemary **
– cilantro
– thyme

fruits

– grapes*
– berries
– fruit trees **
– avocados
– strawberries
– pink lady apples
– peaches
– cherries
– watermelon
– apples
– grapes
– blueberries

vegetables
– pumpkins
– squash*
– brussel srpouts
– eggplant
– artichoke
– salad greens*
-radishes
– beans
– chickpeas
– root veggies (onions ***, carrots ***, potatoes ***, radishes)
– tomatoes **
– peppers
– garlic
– scallion
_ ginger **
– any green leafed vegetables
– kale
– legumes
– swiss chard
– zuchini
– bell pepers
– leeks
– green beens
– tomatoes
– hot pepers
– lettuce
– cucumbers

– wine harvesting

flowers

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Links

Garden Visioning Session report, Jeremy Teperman, Sustainable Flatbush, 2010-07-01

Flatbush Reformed Church
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

White-Nose Syndrome Reaches Missouri

Posted on 2010-04-23 by admin

White-nose Syndrome (WNS) continues to spread north, south, and west. It was discovered earlier this year in Ontario and Tennessee. It has now also been confirmed in a Missouri cave.

In mid-April, 2010, the Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed Missouri’s first signs of a new disease in bats that scientists have named “White-Nose Syndrome.” The name describes a white fungus, Geomyces destructans, typically found on the faces and wings of infected bats.
– MDC monitoring new bat disease in Missouri, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)

White-Nose Syndrome and Bat Hibernation Areas – April 19, 2010, Bat Conservation International

This is the westernmost spread of WNS since it was first discovered in bat winter-hibernation caves – hibernacula – in New York in the Winter of 2006-2007. This reaches far past even the discovery of WNS in Tennessee, within the bounds of Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Biologists at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have received confirmation that one Little Brown bat collected from its hibernating refuge in the Park’s White Oak Blowhole cave tested positive for Geomyces destructans [the fungus and the presumptive causative agent of White Nose Syndrome (WNS)]. White Oak Blowhole cave contains the largest known Indiana bat hibernacula in Tennessee. The Indiana bat is a federally listed endangered species which has seen declines in the Northeastern U.S. due to WNS. White Nose Syndrome has killed in excess of 90% of the bats in many of the caves and mines in the Northeast, and is just now showing up in the Southeast.
– Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bat Tests Positive for White Nose Syndrome Fungus, Press release, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2010-04-19

I put up my bat house two years ago in response to learning about WNS. I fear it may never receive any tenants. Without critical scientific breakthroughs on the mortality of this disease, we may see the extinction of several bat species within a decade.

Mortality rates approaching 100 percent are reported at some sites. White-nose Syndrome has now moved into Canada, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. It threatens some of the largest hibernation caves for endangered Indiana myotis, gray myotis, and Virginia big-eared bats. Ultimately, bats across North America are at imminent risk.
– White-Nose Syndrome, Bat Conservation International

[goo.gl]

Links

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bat Tests Positive for White Nose Syndrome Fungus, Press release, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2010-04-19
MDC monitoring new bat disease in Missouri, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)
White-Nose Syndrome, Bat Conservation International

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.

[goo.gl]

Links

Street Tree Walking Tour April 25th!, Sustainable Flatbush

Asimina triloba, PawPaw

Posted on 2010-02-07 by admin

2010.08.30: Added information about BBG’s 2010 Signature Plants source, Blossom Nursery.
2010.02.08: More on the Staten Island Pawpaws.

Asimina triloba, Common Pawpaw, is a native fruit true in the Annonaceae, the Custard-Apple Family. The Pawpaw fruit can be up to 12cm/5″ long, the largest fruit native to the U.S. Its taste is likened to a combination of banana and mango, or papaya. Two plants are needed for pollination.

Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA.

Pawpaw is the common name for plants in the genus Asimina, with several species native to eastern North America. A. triloba has the most northern range by far of the genus, reaching into New York, and even southern Ontario, and west to Nebraska. This wide range is attributed to cultivation and distribution by Native American people, including the Cherokee and Iroquois.

Asimina triloba Distribution Map. Credit: eFloras, Flora of North America

Locally, its status is threatened in New York, and endangered in New Jersey. It’s hard to tell from the NY map, but it has been found on Staten Island, New York City. More on this below.

New York counties distribution map. Credit: USDA PLANTS

Pawpaw grows as a large shrub or small understory tree, maturing to about 25′ tall in 20 years, rarely to 30-40′. Pawpaw is prone to spreading by suckering, sending up new stems and trunks from the roots, to form a thicket. This tendency decreases as the plant ages, so removing the suckers while the plant is young will promote a single trunk.
Leaves turn yellow in the fall, but don’t last long.

This is the exclusive food plant for the Zebra Swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus, butterfly. The caterpillars eat the leaves and form cocoons on the tree. Plant a tree, grow butterflies! It’s also the larval host for the Pawpaw sphinx moth, Dolba hyloeus.

I’ve had this post in draft for over a year. This year, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers Pawpaw among its Signature Plant selections, prompting me to dust this off and publish it. Here’s what they say about it:

Though native to the eastern U.S., this smallish tree’s luxuriant large green leaves add a tropical appearance to the landscape in summer and turn an attractive yellow in fall as the plump, kidney-shaped edible fruit ripen. Interesting-looking purplish flowers form at leaf axils before the leaves emerge in spring. Given ample sunlight, the tree will grow in a pyramidal shape; in the understory, it is multistemmed and tends to sucker. Pawpaw prefers moist but well-drained fertile soils. Two trees come with this offering to assure pollination for fruit set.

I’ve already started asking my closest neighbors to adopt a Pawpaw!

Blossom Nursery

Since it’s so unusual in commerce, I was curious about the source of the plants. I contacted BBG, and they got a reply from their source, Mark Blossom of Blossom Nursery:

Those Pawpaw trees were grown from seed which were collected in the
Regional Variety Trials Orchard at Kentucky State University, Frankfurt. They have as female parent one of the named cultivars in that collection.

I believe that they are likely to do well in NY, since the Pawpaw cultivars in that collection mostly originated in the North East, and from Maryland to Ohio.

These are the trees which I offer as “Superior Seedlings.”

The Staten Island Pawpaws

I noted in the NY County distribution map above that Pawpaws can be found in Staten Island. (For my non-NYC readers, Staten Island, aka Richmond County, is one of the five boroughs, or counties, of New York City.) Mariellé Anzelone, Executive Director and Founder of NYC Wildflower Week, alerted me in a tweet that the population on Staten Island is “from a historical planting.” That got me curious to know more, and we followed up by email:

A. triloba is more a native to the midwest. As such it’s found rarely in western NY state. It isn’t native to the rest of the state. The population in Staten Island is horticultural. Apparently sometime in the early 1900s the property owner was sent seed from relatives in Indiana. This is the resultant colony and it seems to be doing well. It does produce fruit. It’s a resident in the forest – it’s found on a rolling slope that leads out to a freshwater wetland close to the South Shore.

A 1992 article in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club described the population.

[bit.ly]

Links

Wikipedia: Asimina triloba, Pawpaw, Annonaceae

NYMF: New York Metropolitan Flora Project, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

eFlora: Flora of North America

FLORI
PFAF
MOBOT
NPIN
PLANTS
UCONN, University of Connecticut Plant Database

Superior Seedlings, Blossom Nursery
Pawpaw Program, Kentucky State University

Pomper, K.W., D.R. Layne, and R.N. Peterson. 1999. The pawpaw regional variety trial. p. 353–357. In: J. Janick (ed.), Perspectives on new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA.

Central Park Rabies Outbreak

Posted on 2010-01-31 by admin

This month, 23 raccoons in and around Central Park have tested positive for rabies. In addition, 11 animals tested positive during December 2009, bringing the two-month total to 34.

In contrast, from 2003-2008, only one raccoon tested positive in Manhattan. In 2008, only 19 animals tested positive for all of New York City.

This increase may be the result of increased surveillance by the Health Department:

With the identification of three raccoons with rabies in Manhattan’s Central Park in recent months – two during the past week – the Health Department is cautioning New Yorkers to stay away from raccoons, skunks, bats, stray dogs and cats and other wild animals that can carry rabies. The recent cluster of findings suggests that rabies is being transmitted among raccoons in the park. The Health Department is increasing surveillance efforts to determine the extent of the problem.
– Press Release, 2009-12-07

Historically, raccoons are by far the most commonly reported animal, comprising about 3/4 of reports from 1992-2008. Raccoons are nocturnal, and should be active only at night. Anyone observing a raccoon active during the daytime, or any animal that appears disoriented, placid, or aggressive, should call 311 immediately to report the location. Animal attacks should be reported to 911.

Links

Animals Testing Positive for Rabies in New York City in 2010, year to date
Health Department Cautions New Yorkers to Avoid Wild Animals and Vaccinate Pets against Rabies, NYC DOH Pres Release, 2009-12-07
Rabies, Communicable Diseases, NYC DOH

BK DECAY: Brooklyn Community Leaf Composting, 11/7&8, 11/14&15, & 11/21&22

Posted on 2009-11-06 by admin

Update 2009-11-21: In just 4 hours over 2 days, the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden diverted 1,740 lbs of leaves from landfill to compost which will enrich the Garden and more of Brooklyn’s urban farms and gardens. As Director of the Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative of Sustainable Flatbush, I want to thank everyone who participated, whether by planning, volunteering, or dropping off leaves.

Cherry Leaves, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, November 2008

Until 2007, NYC collected and composted residential leaves. For the second year, 20,000 tons of leaves will be treated like household garbage, added to the City’s already-overburdened waste stream. Sign the petition to restore leaf composting to NYC.

Stepping into the void left by the City’s abandonment of leaf composting, more than a dozen Brooklyn community gardens, as well as gardens in other boroughs, have banded together in partnership with the GreenBridge Community Garden Alliance of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Council on the Environment of NYC, bk farmyards, Vokashi, and the Neighborhood Open Space Coalition,

Over the next three weekends, from 11am to 1pm, Brooklyn residents can bring leaves, free of trash, twigs and branches, in clear plastic or paper bags to one of the locations marked with a blue pin on this map. Not every garden is participating on all dates, so check the garden nearest you to see when you can drop-off in your neighborhood.

View larger map

Information will be available at many of the participating gardens about how to make compost in your own garden or apartment and about efforts to encourage the City to reinstate its municipal leaf collection and composting program.

The Flatbush CommUNITY Garden is participating on two dates: this Sunday, November 8, and Saturday, November 21. The drop-off will be at 1550 Albemarle Road, near Buckingham Road (East 16th Street). The Garden is a project of Sustainable Flatbush, part of the Urban Gardens & Farms initiative.

In 2008, a pilot project at 6/15 Green garden in Park Slope, Brooklyn, collected over a 1 1/2 tons of leaves, indicating a deep desire in the community to keep their residential leaves out of the overburdened wastestream and recycle them into rich “brown gold”. NYCLeaves expects to break that record by building a network of gardens that will offer to take in leaves in neighborhoods throughout the City. Bringing bagged leaves to a LeafDrop site will lighten the City’s load of trash, save the City the money it would spend collecting and getting rid of the leaves, and redirect this precious natural resource to its best use – as compost that will enrich the soil of vibrant, active community gardens or the City’s stressed and hungry street trees.

For more information about NYCLeaves: Project LeafDrop, its activities, how to register your garden for Project LeafDrop, a list of participating gardens and specific drop-off dates and times, contact them at their website:www.nycleaves.org or by email: compost@nycleaves.org

[bit.ly]

Links

BK Decay, NYC Leaves: Project LeafDrop

Leaf Composting This Sunday, November 8th, Sustainable Flatbush, 2009-11-07
NYCLeaves: Project LeafDrop Are Picking Up Where the City’s Leaving Off, Brooklyn Green Team, 2009-11-04
New Community Garden Coalition Takes Lead in Leaf Composting, GreenThumb NYC, 2009-10-27

bk farmyards
Council on the Environment of NYC
GreenBridge Community Garden Alliance, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition
Vokashi

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