Today is THE DAY!

If you haven't been outside today, finish your coffee, surf a few blog waves and get out of the house!  If you went to work; fake a migraine now and leave the office. Today is THE DAY. You know the one... The perfect summer day that will emboss your memory with its shape. The heat and humidity have been escorted out to sea by our gracious visitor Dolly. The Flatbush parrots are providing an a cappella performance free of charge. Your neighbor's gardens are in full bloom. It's gorgeous! This day will provide you with the memory that will carry you through those horrible, gray, lightless, leafless, lifeless winter days giving you a reason to endure until spring.

The"Carpe Diem" philosophy had to have been formulated on a day just like this one. Enjoy!

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Event

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce invites you to our 2008 July Business After Hours Event
Thursday, 7/31/2008
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Brooklyn College
Conference Center
East 27th Street and Campus Road
Brooklyn, NY 11210

Chamber Members: FREE
Non-members: $300 (includes a 1-year Entrepreneur level membership)
RSVP: (718) 875-1000
What's Happening:
Join us for an evening of fun, food, drinks and great networking!
Member Highlight:Prior to the evening's door prize drawing, four Members will be randomly selected via a business card drawing to pitch their business in 15 seconds or less.

The Brooklyn College Conference Center is a newly refurbished state- of-the-art meeting complex available for rent for your next social or business gathering. They cater to conferences, meetings, wedding receptions, parties and other special events. The Center offers multipurpose rooms that can accommodate 150 to 200 persons and smaller rooms for breakout sessions. Additionally, the 1,600-square foot terrace offers views of Manhattan and the Brooklyn College campus.

Marty Markowitz announces that Frampton Comes Alive (Again) In Coney Island!

Our Beloved Brooklyn Leader, Marty Markowitz, has just announced that the July 31st, 2008 "Mystery Guest" at the Seaside Concert series in Coney Island will be Peter Frampton.

Welcome to the Hazbin Hall of Fame, Pete! And, I suggest that when Marty completes his service as Borough Prez, we simply appoint him as Brooklyn Master of Ceremonies. **Afterthought to the Emcee nomination: Nomination should be contigent on his keeping intros to under three minutes. Oy, Marty! Let's hear the band already!

Sharing the Love in Flatbush. ( Aka...More on the Cornbread Diner.)

1436 Flatbush Avenue. Site of the soon to open Cornbread Diner.

So, I decided to take a stroll over to the new site of the The Cornbread Diner to see how things are coming along. Don't ya know, I had the honor of being greeted by the owner, Bettina Harris who spotted me casing out the joint.

I told her how excited I was to hear she was opening in the neighborhood and I asked her what ever happened to her old place, The Cornbread Cafe, in the Slope. Like many before her (small business and residential tenants alike) Bettina had been displaced from the increasingly boo-zhe 'hood by greedy landlords who jacked up the rent and sent her searching for a new home and a new market. I can just imagine her thought process during this time;

"Hmmm...now where can I find an affordable place to open another nice, southern-style restaurant? Where in this great borough is the population most suffering from a lack of comfort food? Where do they not have so much as one non-fast food kitchen that allows it's patrons to sit and enjoy their food? Who most needs THE LOVE?"

...And, then appears the lightbulb.

"Flatbush? Could it be Flatbush?..Let me do some research...Let's see, the word on the street is that in Flatbush there are huge hords of comfort-deprived folks who must eat their food standing-up!..Hmmm, are commercial rents reasonable? Check!...What's this? The biggest culinary promise east of the Q-train is, is!..APPLEBEE'S??? Oh no, I have to get down there to rent a place. This is an emergency! The residents of Flatbush NEED ME! Comfort food to the rescue!"

Here's the kicker, Bettina. In Flatbush, we tend to love ya back! Welcome to the Neighborhood Cornbread & Co.!

As I informed my readers yesterday, The Cornbread Diner opens at 1436 Flatbush Avenue on August 4th. Plans for some type of grand-opening event are in the works for shortly after the official opening. Stay tuned to the Pigeon Channel for more information.

Community Health Fair at Brooklyn College

Community Health Fair at the Brooklyn College Student Center

Sunday August 3, 2008, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Get info on:

Heart health

Free or low cost health insurance

Acupuncture

HIV Rapid Testing Health Screenings available

Vendors on-site

Activities and Entertainment for the Kids

Donate Blood

Get your Blood Pressure & Glucose level checked!
Music, fun and much more!

Refreshments Available.

Hope to see you there! For more information please call 718.951.5528

Sponsored by Brooklyn College Student Center in collaboration with New York Presbyterian Hospital, Health Programs, Division of Student Affairs.

Tree Care Workshop This Friday at the PS 217 playground

Keeping our neighborhood's trees looking great is an important part of beautifying our community. Come learn how:

Tree Care Workshop
Date: Friday, July 25, 2008
Time: 10:30 am
Place: PS 217 playground (Newkirk and Coney Island Avenues)
Hosted by Flatbush Development Corp., PS 217 and Trust for Public Land

Hey this is Big Flatbush News! The Cornbread Cafe Folks (from 7th Ave) are Opening a New Joint on Flatbush Ave!

This just in from the Flatbush Junction BID:

The Cornbread Diner (formerly Park Slope's Cornbread Cafe) is opening at 1436 Flatbush Avenue (btwn Farragut and Glenwood)on Monday August 4. Cornbread will be open for three meals a day serving Chef/Owner Bettina Harris's signature southern style diner food. Cornbread will feature seasonal garden dining and delivery service, in addition to table service in its dining room. Stay tuned for more details.

Three cheers to Bettina Harris for gracing one of Brooklyn's most
"epicuriously challenged" strips with some comfort food. We need it out here!

Kids Ride the Prospect Park Carousel for FREE Every Thursday in August!

This just in from Prospect Park Alliance!

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Kids Ride the Prospect Park Carousel for FREE Every Thursday in August
Thanks to Astoria Federal Savings

Brooklyn, NY – The best family fun ride in the heart of Brooklyn just got better: Prospect Park's 1912 Carousel is free for kids under the age of 12 every Thursday in August, courtesy of Astoria Federal Savings.

“Enjoying the cool breezes and joyous music while riding the Prospect Park Carousel is a perfect family outing,” said Prospect Park Alliance President, Tupper Thomas. “It’s wonderful that Astoria Federal Savings is making it possible for even more people to experience this great treasure of the Park.” Restored in 1990 by the Prospect Park Alliance, the Carousel has 51 hand carved horses, as well as a giraffe, lion, deer and two dragon-pulled chariots. The Carousel’s melodic Wurlitzer organ with 141 pipes and 16 bells is dedicated in honor of philanthropists Peter and Isabel Malkin.

The Carousel is open Thursdays through Sundays, from 12 – 6 p.m. (5 p.m. after Labor Day). Rides cost only $1.50. Books of 6 tickets are available for $8. Children under 3-years-old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The Carousel is wheelchair accessible. Join the Prospect Park Alliance at the $100 level and your family (up to 4 people) will receive unlimited rides on the Carousel for a full year. The Carousel is also a popular place to hold birthday parties, complete with food and party favors in a scenic, kid-friendly setting. Please call the Rental & Event Planning Office at (718) 287-6215 for more information.

Newly reprinted is the lovely Prospect Park Carousel Coloring Book! This 16 page book featuring outlines of many of the Carousel’s charming and whimsical features, is available for purchase at the Carousel for $3.50 The Carousel is located in the Park’s Children's Corner, just inside the Willink entrance to the Park, at Ocean and Flatbush Avenues and Empire Boulevard. The nearest subways are the Q, S, or B Train to Prospect Park station.

For more information on Astoria Federal Savings, visit http://www.astoriafederal.com/.

For more information on Prospect Park events, programs, membership, and volunteering, call the Park Hotline at (718) 965-8999 or visit www.prospectpark.org.
Dial 311 for all Parks & Recreation information

In partnership with the City of New York and the community, the Prospect Park Alliance restores, develops, and operates Prospect Park for the enjoyment of all by caring for the natural environment, preserving historic design, and serving the public through facilities and programs. Prospect Park’s 585 acres of meadows, waterfalls, forest, lakes, and athletic facilities comprise a masterwork of urban green space.

Photo Credit: Prospect Park Alliance

Priceless Envy, Absolutely Free: Classical Music and Fleeting Social Stratification

Yeah, I know. The Pigeon is guilty of full-fledged blog-neglect as of late. But that’s only because I am busy investigating all of Brooklyn’s great summer activities. Don't worry. I’ll report back to you about them sometime in September so that you can begin getting ready for next summer. In the meantime, I thought I’d give you some info about attending the free NY Philharmonic concert in Prospect Park. You know, just so you know for next July.
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Well, I'm not usually one of those people who suffers from an excessive degree of real estate envy. But there is a one day a year exception to that assertion. Each summer, on the evening of the NY Philharmonic's Prospect Park performance, I usually find myself in the throws of the deepest, most heinous resentment of fellow concert goers who intentionally taunt me with their gourmet spreads, fine wines and, most importantly, their prime Longmeadow real estate.

Sure, they arrive much earlier and are much more prepared for the need for land, food, refreshments, insect protection and light. I bet they even keep an Excel spreadsheet towards this end. Still their organizational skill shouldn't afford them this shameless consumption of land and sustenance products. But it's clear that on this one night of the year Brooklynites can be transformed into these odd, backbiting, (however bucolic) homesteaders. A rookie might be surprised to learn that attending a free park concert can be an extremely competitive endeavor.

The first thing one needs to be clear on is that the most competitive aspect of these event is that of securing the most desirous plot of the Longmeadow – and doing so without guilt. Next, you must evoke the envy of your park neighbors by laying out the most enticing gourmet spread. Finally, your picnic is going to need a little pizzazz. So, you’ll have to pick up a few stylish citronella candles and a swanky, ridiculously quixotic picnic basket from Pottery Barn. In addition, you’ll probably have to take the day off from work to prepare all this stuff and to arrange to have all of your friends know exactly where to locate your precious parcel of coveted land. A single red balloon usually helps with this challenge. Of course, there will be forty-five other red-balloons displayed throughout the crowd but your friends will figure it out. They will show up two minutes before the show starts and will not have gone through the sweaty dash to the park at 4:30 to get a great plot. Why wouldn’t they? They’re invited guests of some of the Longmeadow’s landed gentry.

Perhaps, you're getting my drift; I’m not one of these people. In fact, I hate them and I enjoy hating them. Each year, I leave the park determined that I will be they envy of ALL next year. I contemplate:

I'll take the day -- maybe even several days -- off work next year to prepare for the picnic-to-end-all-picnics. I will invite only my most attractive friends. Everyone will desire to be invited to my blanket. They'll want to exchange numbers with me so that I can share some tips on how to prepare for summer concerts. I will reject them and I TOO SHALL BE HATED!

But each year, I take note of the NY Phil performance schedule several weeks before with some semblance of that determination but it fizzles out to a mere iota when the time rolls around. I usually end up getting to the park 10 minutes into the show with something like a bottle of tap water and a half bag of Fritos that's been sitting on top of my fridge for the past week.
I guess I’m just not cut out to be a hyper-camper. What’s worse is that neither are any of my friends.

Occasionally, though, our lack of preparation has some benefit. Sometimes the privileged few throw us disadvantaged patrons a few scraps...a cracker here, a grape there. (It's all apropos in my case. After all, I am a pigeon. I’ll eat anybody’s scrap.) Regardless, I do always try to bring something to the performance just to thwart my envy. However lowbrow, however non-nutritious, I must bring something even questionably fit for human consumption so that I can nervously gnaw at it while I disapprovingly glare at anyone who has the audacity to bring wine glasses and fill them with Cabernet. So, for me, watermelon is always a good choice because spitting the pits in the direction of my brie-eating neighbor affords me at least some malicious satisfaction.

There was however one occasion in my free Philharmonic concert history that should have wiped out all potential for all future resentment (It didn’t only because my revelry in hatred of humans is so enjoyable to me.) It was some 15 or so years ago when a few friends and I showed up with a greasy bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and, I don’t know, maybe some Gatorade. We unknowingly plopped ourselves right next to a crowd of Pinot Grigio-sipping, citronella-burning, caviar-consuming, havarti-sampling BASTARDS! We all looked at each other, rolled our eyes and attempted to enjoy the show…But that was too much for me. How could I focus on the show when there were such hate-worthy creatures right next to me? I loathed them from the deepest reaches of my psyche. I was distracted throughout the performance;

How did they pull all of these goods together on a week night? When did they have time? Didn’t they have jobs? Did stay up the night before preparing all of this just so that I could hate them? Did they adhere to the conviction to be loathed by the other audience members that they had when they left the park last year?

I was engulfed in the ugliness. I refused to even look in the direction of that attention-seeking party! They were dead to me!

It was probably around intermission when one of them had the nerve to tap me on the shoulder. My peripheral vision had confirmed that it was one of THEM! – One of the epicurean elitists had touched me! I was convinced…this meant WAR! I expected that this person would antagonize us by asking that we cover the fast food because everyone on their blanket was getting sick from our second-hand-fried-chicken-fumes –or something ridiculous like that. I was aware of the real objection. Fried-chicken eaters in a caviar neighborhood deflated property values. I suspected that they would stop at no length to have unfashionable KFC patrons removed from their presence. But they weren’t going to torment me! So, I summoned my best scowl and turn toward the bastard to hear his request.

To my astonishment, “the bastard” appeared to be a meek, somewhat bumbling young guy who delivered on behalf of his party the most outlandish request. To this day, my prejudices have never been so challenged.

“Hey,..uhmmm…we were wondering, uh, would you consider trading some of your fried chicken for some caviar?”

You know, of course, I wasn’t going to let these people off so easily. They had to be chided! I mean, I did just sit through half the concert preoccupied with their ability to evoke my envy. Really, I did my best not to laugh but I wasn’t going to make this a piece of cake for him either.

“Yeah, you’re frickin’ hungry over there, right? See what you get for trying to be a big shot?”

I summoned the compassion to plop a few pieces on to a plate and told him;

“Keep the caviar. Our palates were too saturated with chicken fat to enjoy it anyway.”

Besides, this “settling of scores” left my party fully satisfied anyway!

A FREE WORKSHOP: Understanding Commercial Leases

NYC College of Technology Small Business Development Center Brooklyn Economic Development CorporationNeighborhood Entrepreneur Law ProjectCapital One Bank
Present

A FREE WORKSHOP FOR NEW SMALL BUSINESSES AND ENTREPRENEURS
UNDERSTANDING COMMERCIAL LEASING
As a small business owner it is imperative that you understand how
leases work before you sign on the dotted line. This workshop will
help you avoid some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs and
small business owners make when negotiating office and retail leases.

Topics include:
What can be negotiated in a lease?
Understanding the tenant vs. the owners responsibilities
What happens if I break my lease?
What are the differences between leasing office and retail space?
What is a transferable lease?
Commercial lease real estate property tax

DATE: Thursday, August 14, 2008
TIME: 6:00PM-8:00PM
PLACE: Capital One Bank
33-45 Fulton Street • Brooklyn , NY 11208

Train: "J" to Crescent Street
Bus: "B13" to Crescent and Fulton Streets

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED AS SEATING IS LIMITED
CONTACT: 718.797.0187 or E-mail: RAstorga@CityTech.Cuny.Edu