Too much to do on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, I won’t get to all of it:
Saturday, March 30:
Sunday, April 1:
I’m sure there’s lots of other things going on this weekend, but these are things which I’m planning to attend, or wish I had the time to.
Thanks to Gowanus Lounge for reminding me about Prospect Park Opening Day this weekend.
PS: Big = the weekend, not the gardener.
PPS: Okay, the gardener is kinda big, too.
Cherry Leaves in Stone Basin
Good Planets is up on Bev Wigney’s wonderful Burning Silo. The theme was Memory. Contributors explored memory through many different lenses. Definitely check it out.
Above is the photo I contributed. This may look familiar; it’s the lead photo for my recent post of “lost and found” photos from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from November 2005. Several people found that photo evocative. It is for me as well. Below is my explanation of how it connects to “memory” for me.
This basin is outside the entrance to the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Built from 1914-1915 and opened to the public in June 1915, it was the first Japanese garden to be created in an American public garden. This image speaks to “memory” for me in many ways. There are other times the basin has been filled with water from rain. The emptiness of the basin holds that memory for me. The leaves: the memory of the cherry trees above the basin, their flowers in Spring, how they look at other seasons, the memories of past winters like the one about to come.
There is another, darker kind of remembering which this basin, and the whole garden, holds for me. The Japanese Garden was designed by Takeo Shiota. He died in 1943 in a U.S. internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Read The Death of Takeo Shiota for my take on this.
This is 40-46 Argyle Road, also known as Argyle Court. Mathieu Eugene, who is forcing a second special election upon the residents of Brooklyn’s 40th City Council District, claims to live in this building.
Here in Brooklyn’s politically-beleaguered 40th City Council District, we are gearing up for yet another special election. Today, Friday March 23, was the deadline for candidates to accept or decline their nominations for the April 24 election.
After I voted the morning of the first special election on February 20th, I wrote:
The voting sheet looked very odd, with just one row at the top of the sheet, and not enough room to list all 11 candidates! Turnout was extremely light. The winner of this election is likely to do so by a handful of votes. Every vote counts, unlike some elections [g].
How could I have been so naive. Every vote was wasted.
For those of you, such as my more distant readers, just tuning in, the story so far:
This is not the half of it. The best analysis of this farce I’ve read continues to be written by Rock Hackshaw (isn’t that just the best name?!) on Room Eight, a New York political bloghaus.
Some statistics:
The election results:
| Name | #Votes | %Votes | %Voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathieu Eugene | 2,076 | 33.67% | 3.16% |
| Jennifer N. James | 942 | 15.28% | 1.44% |
| Wellington Sharpe | 728 | 11.81% | 1.11% |
| Harry L. Schiffman | 490 | 7.95% | 0.75% |
| Jesse Hamilton | 463 | 7.51% | 0.71% |
| Mohammad A. Razvi | 432 | 7.01% | 0.66% |
| Joel G. Toney | 365 | 5.92% | 0.56% |
| Leithland R. Tulloch | 298 | 4.83% | 0.45% |
| Zenobia McNally | 276 | 4.48% | 0.42% |
| Karlene A. Gordon | 72 | 1.17% | 0.11% |
| Gerry Hopkins | 23 | 0.37% | 0.04% |
| Malcom Davis | 1 | 0.02% | 0.00% |
| Total | 6,166 | 100.00% | 9.39% |
Lest anyone believe that the winner of the first race walked away with any kind of a mandate from “the people”, let me repeat:
Only 3.16% of the voters in the 40th District voted for the winner of this race.
Related posts:
Related news stories:
References:
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Sightings and vegetation.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Okay, NASA does have some pretty powerful satellites, but they can’t identify hummingbirds from space just yet.
Every year in March, the first ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive in Gulf Coast states from their wintering grounds in Central America. Fattened on insects, the tiny birds fly 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and arrive in the United States hungry for nectar from early spring flowers. As spring progresses into summer, the birds follow maturing vegetation northward into the eastern United States and Canada. During this journey north, students across the country track the birds’ progress. When a student sees a bird, he or she records the sighting. Teachers report their students’ sightings to the Journey North web page, where it is logged on a map. At the end of the week, Journey North staff members review the sightings and publish a weekly summary.
The dots on this image mark student sightings of the first adult ruby-throated hummingbirds of the spring 2007 migration. White dots indicate confirmed sightings prior to March 15, while the purple dots show sightings reported (but not yet confirmed) between March 15 and March 19. The earlier sightings are along the southern coast, where the birds first come ashore after crossing the Gulf. The northernmost sightings are the most recent records. The birds are clearly concentrated in the areas that have started to green up, where nectar-laden flowers would be available. New vegetation is only beginning to reach the northern section of the image, and as a consequence, the birds have yet to migrate to those areas.
On her blog Burning Silo, Bev Wigney noted on March 16, an equivalent effort, the Hummingbird Migration Project:
As of today, both efforts have recorded sightings as far north as South Carolina on the Atlantic seaboard, and far western Tennessee along the Mississippi. By the end of the summer, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will make their way to New York City and Long Island. My trumpet honeysuckle and scarlet runner beans will be waiting for them.
The Return of Persephone (1891), by Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
The vernal equinox of 2007 occurs at 00:07 UTC on March 21, or 20:07/8:07pm my time this evening.
“Vernal” instead of “Spring” because:
Vernal equinox and autumnal equinox. These names are direct derivatives of Latin (ver = spring, autumnus = autumn), and as such more apt to be found in writings. Although in principle they are subject to the same problem as the spring/autumn names, their use over the centuries has fixed them to the viewpoint of the northern hemisphere. As such the vernal equinox is the equinox where the Sun passes from south to north [across the equator], and is a zeropoint in some celestial coordinate systems. The name of the other equinox is used less often.
– Wikipedia:Equinox:Names
Gowanus Canal, looking north from the 9th Street Bridge
Last Sunday, the Historic District Council‘s Walking Tour of Red Hook began with all of us gathering on the “plaza” outside the Smith & 9th Street station. This station is the highest point above sea level in the NYC subway system. The reason: it has to cross the Gowanus Canal.
The Gowanus Canal has had a deserved reputation for polluted, even toxic, waters. Several years ago, a circulation fan at the head of the canal was repaired, returning water flow to the canal for the first time in decades. Almost immediately, water conditions improved, and life began to return to its waters.
Gowanus Canal, North of the Bridge
All along the New York waterfront, bulkheads and piers are failing. For decades, water pollution preserved the wooden pilings. With improved water quality, shipworms have returned and are devastating the wood. You can see a bulkhead failure in the photo below.
I think this planter qualifies as a defiant garden. There were a couple of them along the edge on the northwest side of the bridge. I want to come back in the spring to see what’s growing in them.
South of the Bridge
South of the bridge, the Gowanus Expressway crosses over the canal.
Earlier this week, the Gowanus Lounge noted that the Revere Sugar Dome demolition material was being carted to a scrapyard on the Gowanus. When I was there on Sunday, I noticed activity at the scrapyard south of the bridge. I think it’s the same one. If so, here’s the remains of the Revere Sugar Dome in action.
The Bridge
The Gowanus Canal is a working waterway. There isn’t enough room for the street bridge beneath the subway station to tilt up, so it lifts vertically, straight up. You can see the cables against the column on the left of this photo.
Here’s the hardware connecting the counterweight, the top of which you can see here, to the cables.
The understructure of the subway platform is completely wrapped to contain concrete spalling off beams and trusses.
Every public structure in NYC is a branding opportunity.
The View from Above
The station platform, and the approach on either side, of the Smith & 9th Street station provide wonderful views of Brooklyn and New York Harbor.
Links:
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Laboratory Administration Building
On Tuesday, March 13, by unanimous vote, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated BBG’s Lab Admin Building a landmark:
“With its simple ornament, extraordinary cupola and octagonal roofs, this picturesque building complements its breathtaking surroundings,” said Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney. “It’s also considered one of McKim, Mead & White’s most significant later commissions, and until today, was one of the few buildings designed by the firm without landmark protection.”
– Press Release (PDF)
The press release notes that “the Tuscan Revival–style building is capped by a striking cupola with slender rounded-arch windows.” See for yourself:
Cupola Detail
William Kendall designed the Garden’s Laboratory Administration Building, which was constructed in stages between 1912 and 1917. Kendall is known for other outstanding New York City landmarks, including the Municipal Building, Casa Italiana and the United States General Post office. In 1929, he was appointed to be on a U.S. Commission to design cemeteries in France and Italy for American soldiers who lost their lives there.
Some of McKim, Mead & White’s other buildings with landmark status in New York City include the Bowery Savings Bank, the Brooklyn Museum, the University Club and Low Memorial Library.
My Flickr photo set of BBG’s Laboratory and Administration Building
Street tree in front of our house
Trying to catch up with some of my blogospheric responsibilities, I realized I totally forgot to link back to Good Planets!
I submitted two photographs from the front of our house. The one above is the street tree in front of our house. Street trees have a tough time, and I worry about it. I’m thinking about plantings I can do in the tree pit (aka “hell strips”) between the sidewalk and the curb which will help the tree. We’re also going to need to make a cutout for the trunk, something I’m sorry we didn’t do when we had the sidewalk replaced two years ago.
Bees and Crocus tommasinianus in the front garden
This one’s a bonus shot of my first Spring flowers, in the front garden. These are part of the heirloom garden I’m building up in the front yard. The crocus were swarming with bees that day. I counted five bees when I took the photo, though I can only find three of them in the photo now.
This Friday, 8pm-midnight, Vox Pop is hosting the Kickoff Party for Sustainable Flatbush:
Each month (or so) Sustainable Flatbush will present a workshop, lecture, or film on a sustainability-related theme that can benefit our neighborhood… and then, we party!
Future topics and events to include:
– energy efficiency for apartment buildings, houses, and small businesses
– understanding NYC’s arcane recycling laws [I don’t think they’re that arcane.]
– local food, slow food, food justice
– flatbush community garden [This is in very early planning stages already. I’ll post about it when things are more defined.]
– fair trade
– livable streets
– bike month NYC
– freemeet – electronics recycling event
– permaculture and native plants [Yay!]
– rainwater harvesting [Woo-hoo!]
– green roofs [Go team!]
– composting [Yeah, baby!]
SOUNDS AND VISIONS
– Drummerman brings the musical goodness: Brazilian funk and Samba classics, New Orleans grooves, and Latin/Caribbean beats!
– Keka provides a whirlwind visual feast of thematic imagery to feed your head!
– and… if the stars align correctly… live musical happenings!
plus, food and drink specials all night!
Vox Pop is at 1022 Courtelyou Road, on the Southwest corner of Courtelyou and Stratford Road (East 11th Street), just one block east of Coney Island Avenue.
Subway: Take the Q train to Courtelyou Road station, just 4.5 streets away.
Bus: B23 or B68.
Hibiscus, from South Midwood Garden Tour, July 30, 2006
The second of eight installments on the way to creating a photographic rainbow to use as a banner for the blog and other branding opportunities. Pink was the first, and there will be six more: orange, yellow, green (easy!), blue, indigo (tough!) and violet/purple.
“Red” turned out to be harder for me to define than “Pink”. It’s not a simple color. There are so many different flavors of red. Of course, there’s the brilliant, vibrant, almost crimson that screams RED, like the Hibiscus.
There are less saturated reds, like brick red:
Front Porch Detail, from The Front Garden Evolving, January 24, 2007
Some leaves:
Virgina Creeper, from North Carolina Arboretum, October 9, 2006
And even algae:
Algae Pool in Rock, from North Carolina Arboretum Bonsai House, October 9, 2006
I’m having a particularly hard time figuring out where red leaves off and orange begins:
Cormorant on Torii in the Japanese Garden, from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 23, 2006
Maple Tree, 91 Marlborough Road
There are many more flavors of red in the Flickr photo set, so be sure to visit there, too.