Showing posts with label KARMABrooklyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KARMABrooklyn. Show all posts

Sunday, May 17, 2020

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS UPDATES

Reopenings, closings, cancellations, postponements, policy changes, changes in practice, and other news from the neighborhood, Brooklyn, and beyond are posted on KARMABrooklyn's Facebook page, along with links to resources and assistance for Brooklyn and New York City residents.

I keep posting, so please keep checking. 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/KARMABrooklyn-Kensington-Area-ResidentMerchant-Alliance-215195235161276/posts/?ref=page_internal

Saturday, May 8, 2010

KENSINGTON COMMUNITY LEADERS MEETING

Representatives of neighborhood institutions and organizations participated last week in a meeting of Kensington community leaders that was hosted by our New York City Councilmember Brad Lander and our New York State Assemblymember Jim Brennan.

The purpose of the meeting was to gather together the diverse institutions and organizations in our neighborhood and have them work together on the issues and concerns that we have in common. This was the first time, to the knowledge of those gathered, that such a diverse group of Kensingtonians had sat down together.

Some of the institutions and organizations represented were P.S. 230 and P.S. 179 and their PTAs, the 66th Police Precinct, Community Board 12,
Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance, Albemarle Neighborhood Association, Dahill Neighborhood Association, Sandwip Educational and Cultural Society USA, West Kensington Action Group, Bangladesh Muslim Center, Council of Neighborhood Organizations, Kensington Action Force, and several mosques.

We were each asked to learn enough about one other person present so that we could introduce that person to the others.

Suggestions generated by the meeting include creating a community center that would promote intergroup relations and provide a place for young people to gather, an intercultural outdoor event, assistance to local small businesses, creation of green space, and addressing safety issues in the schools and in the neighborhood. Precinct Commander John Sprague offered to hold a meeting to discuss gangs and teach parents how to recognize if their children are gang members.

We're all looking forward to meeting again and moving ahead together on our common goals.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

OXYGEN FOR KENSINGTON

We're delighted that a few of the hundreds of street trees KARMA requested for the neighborhood have been planted. The trees are on Church from Beverley to E. 2nd, E. 2nd from Church to Beverley, and both sides of Beverley from E. 2nd to Church.

The tree-planting was done through New York City's MillionTreesNYC initiative.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

YOU PROBABLY KNOW BY NOW THAT THE CENSUS IS HERE

You probably know by now that the census is here. If you haven't completed and sent in your form, please take one minute to look at some statistics that we hope will change your mind....

*Windsor Terrace and Kensington have a response rate of only 51% - 70%, depending on where you live in our community. That means that 30% - 49% of the Federal funds that should be coming here to pay for our schools, police, roads, etc. will be sent elsewhere. Our communities lose $3,000 of potential funding each year, for ten years, for every person who doesn't return the form. If you have ever complained about any of these services, now is the time to take ten minutes to do your part.

*Total cost to taxpayers to follow up on people who have not responded is $1.5 billion. Every additional 1% of households who do respond now saves taxpayers $80 - $90 million in follow up costs.

*The form is short and easy. It really does take around ten minutes.

Questionnaire Assistance Centers offering free help filling out the forms:
  • NPI Computer (401 Church Avenue at E. 4th Street)
  • The Church of Gethsemane (1012 8th Avenue at 10th Street)
  • Prospect Hills Senior Center (283 Prospect Avenue between 5th and 6th avenues)
Telephone assistance: 1- 866-872-6868

Brought to you by
Windsor Terrace Alliance, Inc.
Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance (KARMA)
KWTneighbors
The PTA of PS 154 Brooklyn, Inc.

Friday, April 16, 2010

ALL-DAY FUN EVENT AT GREENWOOD PLAYGROUND

Saturday, April 24th, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(rain date: Sunday, April 25th)
Greenwood Playground Flea Market and Tag Sale

E. 5th Street,
between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Greenwood Avenue,
just steps from the Fort Hamilton Parkway station
on the
F and G trains.

Treasures! Joyous Junk! And ev-er—y-thing in between!

SEE! Amazing goods made by hand right here in Kensington and Windsor Terrace.
MORE THAN 40 VENDORS!

~ original artwork, homemade baby clothes, wire wrapped rings, mosaic pieces, table tops, block-printed greeting cards, books, strollers, vintage jewelry, clothes, jewelry, small electronics, handmade ceramic jewelry, LPs & 45s, incredible stoop sale finds, vintage fused glass animals, kids' stuff, Avon products, photography, household items & decor, fabric, arts & crafts, homemade t-shirts, and
MUCH, MUCH MORE!

~ See some examples of people's work at http://www.etsy.com/shop/papismami, http://kareninajewelry.com,
http://www.etsy.com/shop/etnoart,
http://www.etsy.com/shop/corico,
http://www.bugst.com,
http://www.sherryginsbergdavis.com, and
http://www.blue-eyed-baby.com.

HEAR! Sweet, sweet music made by very local musicians, most living within a ten-block radius of the playground.

Jazz, country, Haitian roots jazz, indie folk, fiddles, and some kids' music.

Marje Wagner, Debbie Deane, Markus Schwartz & Lakou Brooklyn, Merle “Misty” Jones, Katie “Miss Katie” Mullins, Gina Samardge, Fiddleland… Also – CYNTHIA KING DANCE!

GET DISCOUNTS! From local restaurants ~ sponsored by KARMA (Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance, http://KARMABrooklyn.blogspot.com). Also, merchants may provide discounts to YOU, our flea market attendees, at our community tables.

LEARN! About great organizations at our community tables.
  • KARMA will help you shop local.
  • Brooklyn Botanic Garden teaches you about worm composting.
  • The KWT-CSA (Kensington/Windsor Terrace Community Supported Agriculture) will give you the opportunity to get farm-fresh food every week.
  • Parents for Climate Protection will teach you how to fight global warming.
  • The East 4th Street Community Garden will give you a place to relax.
FEEL! How great it is to live in Brooklyn as you shop at a neighbor-run event that will generate money for playground programming. There will also be a book swap table benefiting the library. Bring books!

WIN! Imagine – you could be the winner of: Pavilion Theater tickets, Yoga Sole classes, Hair Care by Yolanda, services by Mike Gold (The Ballooniac), t-shirts by Papi’s Mami, the book Next to Mexico by Jen Nails, kitty cash at Sean Casey’s Hamilton Dog House, toys from Rich Frog, and
MUCH, MUCH MORE!


All proceeds will be used to fund programming in the park. Past programs have included Studio in the Park, large family-oriented events, sing-a-longs, and more.

~ SEE YOU AT GREENWOOD PLAYGROUND!~

Sponsored by Friends of Greenwood Playground
http://www.friendsofgreenwoodplayground.bbnow.org
GreenwoodFriendsFunds@gmail.com
347-497-3490

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

ADOPT-A-TREE

Many of you have probably noticed the beautiful daffodils popping up along Church Avenue. We thank all of the volunteers who came out on Daffodil Day last October to plant them. Now these flowers and the trees that they're planted next to need your help to thrive.

Please consider adopting one (or more!) of the twenty trees on Church Avenue between Ocean Parkway and 36th Street. Adopting a tree is easy. Just send us an e-mail (karmabrooklyn@gmail.com) expressing interest, and we'll send you a tree pit care guide to get you started.

Taking care of your tree should only take about ten hours per year. KARMA will hang a laminated sign on your tree that reminds people to curb their dogs. The sign will list you as the tree's guardian. You can choose the name or organization's name to put on the sign.

Parents! This is a great way to instill civic responsibility in your young ones. It's also a great opportunity to teach them about life cycles and plants. If you participate in the Adopt-A-Tree program, you can do so as a family and put more than one name on the sign.

Once all of the trees are adopted, KARMA plans to surround all of the trees on Church Avenue with tree pit guards.

If we keep our trees beautiful, it's likely that we'll be able to get more trees planted along Church Avenue and other Kensington streets!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

SPRING HAS SPRUNG, AND IT'S YELLOW


The daffodils KARMA and WKAG (West Kensington Action Group) planted last October are in bloom! Enjoy them when you're shopping on Church Avenue.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

WHAT IS KARMABrooklyn?

It's been almost a year since the Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance was formed, and we'd like to tell you more about what we are and what we've done.

KARMA is a group of local small business owners and local residents. We want to help small businesses in our neighborhood stay in business and improve the Kensington area shopping district and your shopping experience. This includes working on beautification and safety issues.

Our "official" boundaries are Church Avenue from 36th Street to Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue from Caton Avenue to Ditmas Avenue--but we sometimes go a bit beyond those boundaries.


When we began meeting last April, we surveyed business owners to find out what their common needs and concerns are. They told us that they aren’t getting enough customers, their rent is headed toward being unaffordable, and the appearance of our streets and sidewalks needs to be improved.

In June, we began holding community meetings, which are open to business owners and residents.


Also in June, we started the KARMABrooklyn Blog and the Kensington Area Community Calendar. We write about local small businesses, post announcements about programs, events, assistance, and legislation that can help them, and post events on the calendar that are of interest to local residents.


We created a two-page color brochure about KARMA.

We collected data for a Shop Local brochure, which will serve as a descriptive guide to our neighborhood’s retail stores, restaurants, and services.

KARMA helped the West Kensington Action Group (WKAG) organize a party to celebrate the opening of a triangular park in the middle of Church Avenue at 35th Street. The celebration featured local musicians, a storyteller, a troupe of young dancers, games for children, and refreshments. WKAG was the driving force behind the creation of a Greenstreets park in an area that was being used as a parking lot for buses waiting to begin their routes.

We sponsored “Daffodil Day,” a day for local residents to beautify the tree pits on our main shopping streets by planting daffodil bulbs, and made arrangements with Connie, the owner of Connie's Cafe, to provide coffee and muffins to participants.


We compiled a list of empty tree pits where trees can be planted and submitted it to the Department of Parks & Recreation through our New York City Councilmember’s office.


We lined up local merchants to donate items to a raffle held by the Albemarle Neighborhood Association.

We designed a flier for a sale being held by a local merchant and helped publicize it.

To help a local restaurant owner obtain a beer and wine license, we created a petition for residents to sign.


We speak up at Community Board 12 meetings.

We speak up at the 66th police precinct's community meetings.

We encourage people who write for the local print and online media to provide much-needed coverage for Kensington.

We formed relationships with the elected officials who represent our neighborhood.

We are working in support of New York City's proposed Small Business Survival Act. The bill would create a program that establishes a fair environment for negotiations between small business owners and their landlords during the commercial lease renewal process, with the goal of determining lease terms that are reasonable.


There's more to do, of course, and we hope that business owners and residents will continue to join KARMA and work together to make Kensington an even better place.

Our blog is located at http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com.

We welcome your comments at karmabrooklyn @ gmail.com.

Monday, December 28, 2009

KARMA'S NEXT COMMUNITY MEETING, JANUARY 5TH

Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30p.m.

KARMA's next community meeting for residents and merchants will be held at


Old Brick Cafe Lounge
507 Church Avenue
between E. 5th Street and Ocean Parkway
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/old-brick-cafe-lounge/menu

Guest speaker: Vicki Weiner, Director of Planning and Preservation, Pratt Center for Community Development

The Pratt Center is working with community partners on new neighborhood-based and citywide strategies to strengthen neighborhood retail as a strategy for community economic development in a worsening economy.

The meeting is open to local residents and merchants who are interested in the future of our shopping district.

KARMABROOKLYN SUPPORTS LOCAL BUSINESSES!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

THANKS, CONNIE'S CAFE, FOR YOUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT

THE KENSINGTON AREA RESIDENT/MERCHANT ALLIANCE DAFFODIL DAY

COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARD

IS AWARDED TO

Connie's Cafe

THANK YOU FOR KEEPING KENSINGTON
GREEN AND BEAUTIFUL
BY SPONSORING DAFFODIL DAY

OCTOBER 25, 2009


Monday, November 16, 2009

THANKS, OLD BRICK, FOR HELPING TO BEAUTIFY CHURCH AVENUE


THE KENSINGTON AREA RESIDENT/MERCHANT ALLIANCE DAFFODIL DAY AWARD FOR

MOST BEAUTIFUL

TREE PIT

IS AWARDED TO

Old Brick

THANK YOU FOR KEEPING KENSINGTON
GREEN AND BEAUTIFUL

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

KARMA'S NEXT COMMUNITY MEETING, NOVEMBER 3RD

The next community meeting of Kensington merchants and residents who are interested in the future of Church Avenue will be on Tuesday, November 3rd, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Old Brick Cafe Lounge, 507 Church Avenue, between E. 5th Street and Ocean Parkway.

Our guest speaker, Rick Miranda, is the President and CEO of the Brooklyn Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He will tell us about the availability of loans to small businesses, something that many businesses need to think about in these difficult economic times.

KARMABROOKLYN SUPPORTS LOCAL BUSINESS!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

DAFFODILS PLANTED!

Thank you to all of you who worked so hard planting daffodil bulbs today. Church Avenue and the vicinity will have beautiful yellow flowers in the spring when the daffodils bloom.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

DAFFODIL DAY NEXT SUNDAY!

Daffodil Day was rained out. It'll be this Sunday, October 25th, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. See you there!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

DAFFODIL DAY RAINED OUT?

If it ISN'T raining tomorrow, Daffodil Day will be tomorrow, from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

If it IS raining tomorrow, Daffodil Day will be on Sunday, October 25th, from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

We're hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PICK UP A SHOVEL AND MAKE KENSINGTON BEAUTIFUL!
WATCH CHURCH AVENUE BLOOM!


Sunday, October 18th, is Daffodil Day in Kensington.

Join your neighbors as we plant daffodil bulbs on Church Avenue and its side streets. In the spring, watch the flowers that we planted bloom!

From 9:00 a.m. to noon
, volunteers will
  • loosen soil in tree pits
  • plant daffodil bulbs
  • go to Connie's Cafe for free coffee and a muffin!
Wear clothing and shoes that you don't mind getting some dirt on. If you can, bring
  • a hand cultivator
  • a trowel
  • a bulb borer
  • anything else that's useful for digging and planting
  • extra gardening tools, if you have them, for your neighbors to use.
We'll meet at 9:00 a.m. in front of Astoria Federal Savings, at the corner of Church and McDonald avenues.

Connie, the owner of Connie's Cafe (corner of Church Avenue and E. 5th Street), has graciously agreed to donate coffee and muffins for the volunteers.

This neighborhood event is sponsored by KARMABrooklyn (Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance) and WKAG (West Kensington Action Group).

Friday, October 9, 2009

DAFFODIL DAY IN KENSINGTON

PICK UP A SHOVEL AND MAKE KENSINGTON BEAUTIFUL!
WATCH CHURCH AVENUE BLOOM!



Sunday, October 18th, is Daffodil Day in Kensington.

Join your neighbors as we plant daffodil bulbs on Church Avenue and its side streets. In the spring, watch the flowers that we planted bloom!

From 9:00 a.m. to noon
, volunteers will

  • loosen soil in tree pits
  • plant daffodil bulbs
  • go to Connie's Cafe for free coffee and a muffin!
Wear clothing and shoes that you don't mind getting some dirt on. If you can, bring
  • a hand cultivator
  • a trowel
  • a bulb borer
  • anything else that's useful for digging and planting
  • extra gardening tools, if you have them, for your neighbors to use.
We'll meet at 9:00 a.m. in front of Astoria Federal Savings, at the corner of Church and McDonald avenues.

Connie, the owner of Connie's Cafe (corner of Church Avenue and E. 5th Street), has graciously agreed to donate coffee and muffins for the volunteers.

This neighborhood event is sponsored by KARMABrooklyn (Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance) and WKAG (West Kensington Action Group).

Saturday, September 5, 2009

KARMA'S SECOND COMMUNITY MEETING, SEPTEMBER 8TH

The second community meeting of Kensington merchants and residents interested in the future of Church Avenue will be on Tuesday, September 8th, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Old Brick Cafe, 507 Church Avenue, between E. 5th Street and Ocean Parkway.

KARMABrooklyn
supports local business!


Monday, June 22, 2009

KARMA'S FIRST COMMUNITY MEETING, JUNE 23RD

When: Tuesday, June 23rd, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Old Brick Cafe, 507 Church Avenue, between E. 5th Street and Ocean Parkway

What: The first community meeting of Kensington residents and merchants interested in the future of Church Avenue.