PLAYGROUND RENOVATIONS IN OR NEAR KENSINGTON

Articles about the renovation of two playgrounds in or near Kensington have been published in Windsor Terrace Patch.

Massive Kensington Playground Renovation Begins
At Di Gilio Playground, McDonald Avenue and Avenue F, "The renovation calls for a total gutting of the park, which appeared to just about be complete."

"Construction is on target to finish around April or May of next year." 

One Of Brooklyn's 'Worst' Basketball Courts Gets An Upgrade
Dome Playground, Cortelyou and Dahill roads, is in "the second of two stages of upgrades for the park. This round of work will focus on the basketball and handball courts on the park's Eastern side."

"Work is expected to be completed in April of next year."

BIG CHANGES IN STORE FOR DOME PLAYGROUND

Dome Playground--on Dahill Road at 38th Street, near Cortelyou Road--is getting an extreme makeover. The plans originated in the Parks Department and were modified based on residents' feedback. The modified plans were be unveiled at a public meeting with the Parks Department.

A brand new Dome Playground is coming. The park, which sits on the border of Kensington and Borough Park at 38th Street and Dahill Road, is getting a facelift thanks to an investment of public funds and input from your neighbors.

I am happy to report that the NYC Parks Department will present a detailed plan for upcoming improvements to Dome Playground next Thursday, October 3rd at 6:30 pm at PS 179 (202 Avenue C between East 2nd and East 3rd Streets) in the auditorium.

The first phase of renovations to Dome Playground will double the size of the playground and provide great new play equipment for toddlers through 12 year-olds. It will also include improvements to the lawn, removal of those giant rocks, addition of new trees and plants, and the creation of a multi-use area for community gatherings.

When I first came into office, I worked (along with Borough President Marty Markowitz) to allocate funding for renovations. My office organized a meeting to hear your ideas about what should be done. Based on your ideas, the Parks Department developed a conceptual plan, which they presented to the community at PS 230 in April.

The Parks Department has incorporated the community feedback they received in April and is now ready to present their detailed plans. Please join me and the Brooklyn Community Board 12 Parks Committee for a presentation from the NYC Parks Department next Thursday, October 3rd at 6:30 at PS 179 (202 Avenue C between East 2nd and East 3rd Streets) in the auditorium.

For questions, please contact Catherine Zinnel in my District Office at 718-499-1090 or czinnel [at] council [dot] nyc.gov.

I hope to see you there,
Brad

DECORATIVE ART ADDED TO THIS WEEKEND'S STREET FESTIVAL AND PARADE

From 11-2 Saturday April 20, artists from The Singing Winds will lead a 3-hour workshop in Alpona drawing at Dome Playground. Alpona chalk drawings are traditional South Asian arabesque patterns that Bangladesh women, working with pigmented rice powder, use to draw on the grounds of their homes. Instead of chalk, however, people at Dome will paint with acrylics on a 50-ft scroll.

The Alpona workshop is the side dish to the main events at PS 230 April 19 and 20, in celebration of the Bangladesh New Year's (Bengali New Year Festival and Parade). At the opening ceremony Friday at 7 pm in the PS 230 auditorium, the Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts (BIPA), Annie Ferdous, director and choreographer, and friends will showcase dances and music of Bangladesh. The performers will return on Saturday, starting at noon, with 5 new groups performing this time on an outdoor stage.

Then at 2 pm, a 10-ft puppet will lead a parade of the festival's musicians, dancers, drummers, and its kids, teachers, parents, neighbors, and community activists down Dahill Road to Cortelyou where it will turn into Dome Playground --about a 3/4 mile walk away. Stepping off  from PS 230, the procession will be punctuated by people wearing or carrying 100 masks of owls, tigers and humans -- all made by students at PS 230 and 179, working with Jill Reinier, THE SINGING WINDS' director.

After a turn around Dome's central lawn, the procession will wend its way back  to PS 230 for BIPA's grande finale at 3:30 pm. The police will provide a squad-car escort for the parade.

SOME OF THE GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED HERE IN 2012

The 2012 Annual Report: Revolutionary Civics in Action, issued today by City Councilmember Brad Lander, reports on what he and his constituents' achieved in 2012 by working together. Reprinted here are the projects that benefit Kensington, Windsor Terrace, or both. Let's see what we can get done in 2013!

Safe Streets

Within the 39th Council District, my office partners with our local precincts and the NYC Department of Transportation to find safety solutions for streets in our neighborhoods. For instance, many people in Park Slope and Windsor Terrace have called for safety improvements to Bartel-Pritchard Square and 15th Street. After years of advocacy, Community Boards 6 and 7 and I welcomed the reconfiguration of the circle, including installation of a new traffic light at 15th Street, as well as new markings to prevent vehicles from cutting across traffic. A new bike lane is also planned for 15th Street (along with bike arrows on 14th Street) to enhance the safety of a popular biking route and deter speeding.

Continuing work with the NYC Department of Transportation to make repairs and additions to the badly damaged and dangerous nine-lane Prospect Expressway pedestrian crossing at Church Avenue, using funds awarded through Participatory Budgeting.

Public Transit

Installation of a new globe and fencing at the Fort Hamilton Parkway F/G subway station, in response to research compiled by Participatory Budgeting delegates.

Won service restorations for B61 and B69 buses and permanent extension of the G train to Church Avenue.

Livable Neighborhoods: Plazas, Parks, Libraries, and Landmarks

This year, we welcomed the reopening of the...new Kensington Library, where work is underway to outfit the community room for small performances with funds awarded through Participatory Budgeting.

Public spaces breathe life into our neighborhoods. In Kensington, when residents put forth an idea for creating a small plaza on an widened sidewalk on Church Avenue, my office brought together neighbors and City agencies to discuss a plan to add a few trees, benches, and granite blocks – to create a small space where people can sit for a few minutes, to enjoy an ice cream, coffee, or conversation. In June, we celebrated the installation of Kensington Plaza with inaugural plantings in the tree beds. Since then, the NYC Department of Transportation installed a new high visibility crosswalk at the intersection and a new streetlight. And a new volunteer group – the Kensington Plaza Stewards – maintains the plaza and organizes informal community gatherings.

Working closely with the Windsor Terrace community’s Green Beans Not Walgreens campaign to push for a new grocery store in Windsor Terrace following the closure of Key Food.

Continuing to push for a full-service supermarket in Windsor Terrace.

As part of the planned improvements for Dome Playground [Borough Park], which I funded in conjunction with Borough President Marty Markowitz, there will be a community meeting with the NYC Department of Parks to discuss renovation of the playground. The International Mother Language monument, which was popular in the diverse, vibrant, and growing Kensington community during Participatory Budgeting, will be one of the elements under discussion.

IN CONCERT: DANCE AND MUSIC OF THE SUBTROPICS

Get a jump on summer’s lazy vibe at a late afternoon concert of dance and song from subtropical countries, Sunday, May 20, from 4-6 p.m. at the Dome Playground stage. Dome is located on Dahill Road between 37 and 38 streets, off Cortelyou Road and McDonald Avenue.

Organized by Annie Ferdous, a Kensington dancer and the director of the BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS, the event will feature her 8-member troupe of 10-to-15-year-old girl dancers from local schools. In addition, students at Latin Fever, a dance studio in Ditmas Park, will show off their salsa moves. DVS, a Bangla rap group, and dancers from PS 230 will also perform. And there will be three singers: two Bengali—Bashma and Ashraf Rana—and a rock 'n' roller: Allen Guzman.

An assist from City Councilmember Brad Lander made this program possible. Friends of Dome Playground, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Dome-Playground/122549374516214, is co-sponsoring the concert which will showcase Dome’s stage, the playground’s major architectural feature.

Up until now, no outside theater, music, or dance troupe has appeared here. But this Sunday’s concert, one of the many events being held citywide this weekend at NYC parks in celebration of “It’s My Park Day”—which NYC Parks/Partnerships for Parks holds yearly—could alert Dome’s regular users and neighbors to its possibilities.

WHEN THE MOON, VENUS, JUPITER, AND MARS HIT YOUR EYE: STARGAZING AT DOME PLAYGROUND

Photos: Maggie Tobin
Viewing the night sky with telescopes and without at Dome Playground, Thursday, March 29. Councilmember Brad Lander, in top left photo, eyes Jupiter from afar.

People started coming at 6 p.m.: from 38^th Street, right across from Dome, a woman, her son Zion, and a neighbor; a few families made the trip from Windsor Terrace or Flatbush. About 25 people had gathered by 6:45, but twilight still ruled, not darkness, and the clouds flitted across the sky, obscuring our view of the action.

The 3 astronomers—all members of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York—Joe Delfausse, Steve Stromer, and Rori Baldari, set up their telescopes, focusing west on the moon. Meanwhile, until way after sunset, the kids in the park—the cricket (bottom photo) and basketball players—ignored us.

Wasting no time, Steve Stromer (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577311901325857874.html) lectured his captive audience about astronomy, telescopes, stars, baby stars, planets, nebulas, other galaxies, and answered questions. Some there were astronomy buffs. One man’s 10-year-old son had his own telescope. A girl, no more than 10, pointed out Orion and already knew about nebulas.

About a half hour after sunset, around 8 p.m., it was dark enough to see the open sky in detail. For the occasion, the sky stepped out naked from behind the clouds and gave us skywatchers a crystalline view of the heavens. People took turns at a telescope to view the moon: an enormous white, crusty surface smack dab up against your eye.

The night was amazingly clear and beautiful. Yes, you could reach out and kiss it. The kids were clambering all over the scopes, peppering Joe with questions. The scopes shifted focus to Jupiter, where by squinting you could make out its tiny moons. (Councilmember Lander saw all four!) To the south was Mars, flaring, red, vibrating, burning—and doing it just above and beyond the Dome basketball court!

If you missed this event, never fear. The astronomers plan to be at Prospect Park and elsewhere in April and throughout the summer. Their schedule is available here: http://www.aaa.org.

Steve Stromer is hosting a film showing at the Tea Lounge on Tuesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. of "The City Dark," with telescopes available: http://www.lookupguides.com/thecitydark. And they might return for another night of stargazing at Dome Playground this summer.

SPEND TIME WITH THE STARS IN THE SKY

Stargazing in Dome Playground

Thursday, March 29th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Members of Amateur Astronomers Association of New York will show us various stars with the unaided eye and then let us look through their telescopes for detailed, close-up observation.

Let's hope for a clear, dry evening because the event will have to be canceled if there's either rain or a heavy cloud cover

Dome Playground is located on Dahill Road, between 37th and 38th streets, on the northeast corner of 38th Street and Dahill Road.

This free event is sponsored by Friends of Dome Playground to benefit the public.

Join Friends of Dome Playground's Facebook page to receive announcements about future events.

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR: SCOPING OUT THE STARS OVER DOME PLAYGROUND

COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSION FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF DOME PLAYGROUND

 

City of New York/Parks and Recreation,

Council Member Brad Lander and

Borough President Marty Markowitz

invite you to a

Community Listening Session for the Reconstruction of Dome Playground

Come share your ideas with representatives of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. This is your chance to voice what facilities and programs you want in your park.

When:    Thursday, February 24; 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Where:   PS 179

             202 Avenue C, at the corner of East 3^rd Street

To RSVP or for more information call Council Member Lander’s office at 718-499-1090.

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Dome Playground is located at Dahill Road and 38th Street. It occupies 1.385 acres. Information about Dome Playground's facilities is on the Parks & Recreation Department website.

Brad Lander and Borough President Marty Markowitz have allocated a total of $950,000 for renovations. In October 2010, Brad wrote

I am very pleased to have allocated $600,000, along with an additional $300,000 from Borough President Marty Markowitz, to begin the renovation of Dome Playground (the nearest City park).  We look forward to working with diverse community members to plan a comprehensive, multi-phase renovation that will retain and improve current popular uses and offer new recreation uses in underutilized areas.