The Fourth Annual Harvest Festival took place at J.J. Byrne Park in Park Slope this weekend with the wonderful Old Stone House, the excellent Park Slope Civic Council and our dear, dear friends at Park Slope Parents taking part. There were ponies and other creatures and, you know, wherever you find a pony you also find…cute creatures for the little ones to enjoy.

Council members Letitia James, Bill de Blasio, and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum held a community meeting in Fort Greene yesterday to allow voters to express their opinion on Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to repeal term limits so he (and others) can run for another term. This meeting was meant to lend a voice to the citizens of the outer boroughs. Betsy Gotbaum put across the clear message that “this is not about term limits, it’s not about the job the mayor has done, and it’s also not about continuity during a financial crisis. It’s about whether or not, in a democracy, it is okay to disregard people’s votes. While I can only support extending or changing term limits through a public vote, at the very least, the Council must prolong any vote until public hearings can be held in all five boroughs. That’s why we’re here today, to give as many New Yorkers as possible an opportunity to have their voices heard.” City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who is running for Borough President and would be unhappy with a re-election bid by Marty Markowitz slammed “the Mayor’s blatant attempts to circumvent democracy and keep voters out of the process.”
—E.C. Stephens

Our old friend, the former Roebling Oil Building on the cleaned up Roebling Oil Field, which is on the market as Warehouse 11 and is a Karl Fischer, is not only expanding on the Driggs Avenue side with more units, it’s getting a parking garage on the N. 10 Street side. At least, we sure hope it’s a parking garage, because if it isn’t they’re building some very weird condos on that side of the property. It’s hard to get a sense of how sales are going at the building, as Streeteasy shows no active active listings, just nine recorded sales on July 28, although there are clearly units on sale at the building.

Friends, if you’re walking around Williamsburg, odds are you will encounter this poster somewhere. We can verify that people are stopping to look at it and laughing. We saw it happen multiple times. Who knew that the Burg was so pro-Sarah Palin? Also, did you know it’s anti-Obama?

The annual Develop Don’t Destroy Walkathon (Walk Don’t Destroy 4) to raise funds for the fight against the troubled Atlantic Yards project took place on Saturday night and drew a nice crowd and picked up $45,000 in the process. It was the fourth such walk against the (now, possibly stalled or, at least, seriously delayed) project. There is a flickr set here posted by No Land Grab and there’s full coverage, as one would expect, at Norman Oder’s Atlantic Yards Report.

· Attention NY Post: Fr. Giorgio Triangle Gets Temp Replacement for Plaque [NYShitty}
· How to Compete with DiFara? Kosher Pizza, of Course [NYT]
· The Sunset Park Difference: a Bear on a Fence [BVIB]
· The Marine Park Halloween Walk Was Pretty Wild [Gerritsenbeach.net]
· Having a Ball at the Prospect Park Ball [AYITP]
· Bad Signs Out There [Kensington Stories]
· Check Out the Finished Coney Island USA Freak Bar [Kinetic Carnival]
· It’s Vegetarian Restaurant Week! [Never Leave Brooklyn]
· TJ’s Tragedy: Warehouse Fire Depletes Frozen Food Stock [McBrooklyn]

The GL tipster who originally sent us photos of the rather crappy conditions at the Long Island College Hospital Playground on Henry Street (yes, we understand LICH has far bigger issues than the playground, but exposing kids to hazardous conditions is a significant community issue), emailed to acknowledge that “the numerous broken items have now been fixed.” So, that’s the good news. (To report a specific problem, email LICHParks@chpnet.org. They will respond.) However, there’s still plenty of bad news to report to the LICH execs who are supposed to be make sure this is a recreational area for children rather than a threat to their well-being. (The pic above shows the horrifying image of very sharp and rusty screws under equipment that is used by toddlers.) Here we go:

Despite the items having been fixed (there is still one item that poses a risk to kids; see the photo of the dangerous exposed screws in the toddler-infant area), the park still seems to be not right. At this point, it is not an issue of broken items, but simply of the park appearing dingy and worn….park equipment has peeling paint, dirt, missing mat plugs that create tripping and choking hazards. The result is a park that is both risky and is neither fresh nor welcoming. Respectfully, I daresay that none of the LICH Board members would allow such conditions to occur in their home or day care, but yet it remains (and has remained). As for the peeling paint, I wonder what level of lead or other contaminants are the kids exposed to if there is dust or paint chips being ingested by accident. Kids are known to lick things and put things in their mouth, from paint chips to paint dust.

Oh, you know there’s more info and more pics.

Last week, we featured utility scammers working around Greenwood Heights courtesy of warning from Aaron Brashear of Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights. We had this story and this follow up the very same day. In those cases, reps from IDT Energy were switching people from Con Ed without their consent. (We don’t have a love affair with Con Ed, but a scam is not a way to escape their clutches. For full details onthe IDT scam head over to Consumerist, which has been chronicling this crap in great detail.) Well, it’s going on in more places and is a HUGE story. In any case, there are now reports coming via BoCoCa Parents of other energy scammers at work. Here is story #1:

A company by the name of Accent Energy nearly caught me on the phone a few weeks ago. I thought they were from Con Ed, and was well on the way to ordering from them until the operator couldn’t address whether or not the “rebate” would be greater because I was on wind power. She said I would have to call some other 800 number to get back on wind power. That’s when I realized she wasn’t Con Ed. Anyway, I said “no” and hung up. She dogged me with dozens of phone calls for two days before giving up.

Okay, that’s just harassment.

But there’s more….

“Murder in Brooklyn is on the rise – but it’s not the usual suspects. In a dramatic turnaround, the borough’s traditionally less violent south Brooklyn neighborhoods had a 31.4% rise in murders so far this year – from 54 to 71. Meanwhile, north Brooklyn precincts – which the NYPD flooded with cops last year – had 23 fewer murders, or a 20.5% drop, the latest NYPD statistics show…”–NYDN

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle]

Last week, local sculptor, artist, photographer and faithful GL Contributor Gary Mirabelle hit us off with a treasure trove of photos he’s shot recently. This is one of from Prospect Park on what was a very nice day to lounge.

Before Halloween actually gets here, we’re gunna be up to our eyeballs with pumpkins! But that’s ok – we love pumpkin pie! The 2nd Annual Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket Pumpkin Party is almost upon us. So get that Halloween costume on you and your family, and head on down Saturday (10/25) to the NW entrance of Prospect Park (where the famous Greenmarket happens every Saturday) to join in the costume contests, pumpkin carving and decorating contest, and enjoy a cooking demo from the ladies from Kitchen Caravan. Prizes galore and free cider donuts (yum!) for participants. Here’s a hint – scary, creative use of accessories and vegetation get you closer to the prize. We’re thinking Scary String Bean Boy or Kale Thing, not the Dick shown here!
—Vaduz Uvunt

Bad news, friends. Trader Joe’s had a warehouse fire that has left the frozen food section looking like a state store in East Berlin in 1988. (To younger readers, this probably doesn’t mean a lot. To the older ones here, if you ever had the pleasure of going through the wall pre-1989, you know what we mean.) In any case, given that part of TJ’s charm is the frozen food and Brooklynites were waiting a year for the one at Court and Atlantic, this is nothing short of a blood curdling disaster. Check out the pics and you’ll know what we’re talking about. First, the Wall Street Meltdown and now this. What next, God? What next?–Eat Me Daily

[Photo courtesy of galvarez51/GL Flickr Pool]

The Carroll Street Bridge is one of our favorite places in all of New York City. It takes us back to a different time and as long as the Big G isn’t having a funky day, it’s a cool place. GL Flickr Pool contributor galvarez51 managed to capture it at a super cool angle.

[Photo for GL courtesy of E.C. Stephens]

The Red Hook Harvest Festival took place at the Red Hook Community Farm yesterday. This year’s festivities were a bit different in that its big neighbor across Beard Street (that little store called Ikea) is now open. But it was still a fun scene as all these shots sent in by GL Correspondent E.C. Stephens show. If the pic of the little girls above with their pumpkins don’t melt your heart, well, nothing will. (If you want to see some of last year’s flavor, click here.)

And now, we turn to our favorite Sunday feature–and one that we missed dearly during our short absence: our Sunday Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection. Today’s selection is short and to the point, and we must say the point is kind of sharp:

god DAMN the wedding finger……G – m4w – 23 (bedstuy)

i was behind you when you did your little “impatience waddle” behind the slow walkers transferring to the G…lol that was cute…got my attention…then after I sat across from you I saw the ring……….damn the ring………i’m hoping maybe its just there for show???

Oh, yeah, they’re always just for show.

We return today to our favorite feature, the GL Adoptable Cutie of the Week, courtesy of Super Correspondent E.C. Stephens. As always, we ask you to open your heart and your home to a beautiful creature in need.

Senor Don Gato was found a couple weeks ago trying to find food by a dumpster. When a Park Slope couple called out for him he instantly limped towards them. Unfortunately, the kitty was had been injured in a fight or a fall, so the couple brought him home. After much searching for his owners it became obvious that he was abandoned. Both fixed and littler trained, the kitty quickly took on to apartment life. His paw is healed and he has snuggled up with his foster parents. Senor Don Gato does come with one downfall: he needs to go to box-rehab. Yes, it’s unfortunate but I think it’s an addiction we can embrace. Now it’s time for this handsome devil to find his ‘forever home.’ Will it be you? Please contact gl.kitties@gmail.com

Another killer cute shot of Don Gato ahead.

This is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden around Easter in 1958. The BBG still looks strikingly similar. The people, not so much.

This is a little something from Passengerpigeon (per Streetsy, which is the authority on such things), which we found on Driggs Avenue in the Burg.

This is “Coney Island Saved Me!” by Amanda Jencsik, the winner of the Best “Made in Coney Island” Film at the 2008 Coney Island Film Festival. Check it out.

Here’s what Downtown Brooklyn looked like fifty years ago, as we’re feeling in an historic mood today.

This is the Williamsburg waterfront fifty years ago, captured by photographer Jerry Dantzic in 1958. These were local kids making a raft under the Williamsburg Bridge. The photo comes from the Jerry Dantzic Archives.

We often pick up emails from the Park Slope Parents list (sometimes to the extreme chagrin of the people that run the group). We have noticed this particular post twice that discusses a policy of not posting any politically-related emails. (The first time it came up was during our brief hiatus in September.) Clearly the group’s focused on parenting issues, but it often veers into neighborhood issues and even national political issues can have deep impact on both parents and children. What’s interesting is that the Slope is such a political neighborhood that there are probably a lot of emails being rejected. Here’s a bit from their policy statement, called “Park Slope Parents and the Up-Coming Election,” which we think is newsworthy in a neighborhood context:

PSP has a policy of only allowing discussion of issues that pertain specifically to parenting and neighborhood issues. While we realize that many of the issues at stake in the upcoming election are ultimately relevant to parents, there are many other and more appropriate outlets for these discussions…Park Slope Parents works because it focuses specifically on parenting issues. This does not mean confining discussion only to the minutia family life. Park Slope Parents is an appropriate forum for discussing such broader issues as education, family leave, nanny pay and benefits, local safety concerns, etc.However, Park Slope Parents is not an appropriate forum for campaigning. We are a non partisan forum committed to supporting parents no matter what their political preferences. We applaud members’ engagement in party politics and independent campaigns. By all means, reach out to friends and neighbors but please don’t do it via the list.

Read the rest if you’re inclined, ahead.

Disappointed that they’re won’t be anymore VP debates this election season? Looking for something to do Saturday night (after you get back from Red Hook)? Gussy yourself up and head over to Medusa Hair Salon (7th Ave and 1st Street in Park Slope) for the Updos for Obama benefit. For a donation of $75 to the Obama campaign, the ladies there will sweep your hair into that beehive of executive grandeur we’ve grown so very fond of in the past few weeks. Or, fix yourself up the small-town way — at home — and enter the Palin Look-alike contest for only $25. Bonus: it’s good practice for a <i>very</i> scary Halloween costume. (Need ‘hive help? Check out this tutorial video.) We’ll be there, reading from Submerged: Tales from The Basin, an anthology of writing by women about hair and New Orleans, created by local writer Lauren Gonzalez as a benefit for New Orleans charities working on post-Katrina rebuilding. Also reading, the rambunctious Ellen Hagan, regular at the Nuyorican Poets Café, Medusa stylist Kelly Gola, and other local contributors.
—Jean Kahler

Today, we’re happy to introduce what we hope will be a regular weekly feature produced by Jean Kahler, one of the new GL Contributors that we are absolutely thrilled to have on board. The idea is focus on entertaining or interesting threads at Brooklynian.com, which is both a magnificent source of intel on neighborhood goings on and often involves some compelling neighborhood discussion threads. Our thanks to Ms. Kahler and our deep gratitude to everyone at Brooklynian for producing such a vibrant community forum:

Are we addicted to the forums at Brooklynian? “Addicted” is such a strong word…how about “attached”? Seriously, we can quit anytime we want to. We just don’t want to, that’s all. For those of you who are still social lurkers, we are going to be offering a weekly peek at what’s weird, funny, and gentriconfrontational over at Kings County procrastination central. Think of it as that first gratis hit from the old dope-peddler.

As usual, it’s been a wacky little week over there. Top post-title honors this week to this oddly McCainian use of caps and punctuation. Now’s your chance to weigh in on the pressing issues of the day: “Do you find gunshot posts informative?”

If you’re in the mood for a free-range bull session (wait…is that a Whole Foods product?) on rent control, non-profit status, the Obama tax plan, dancing, and bank tellers, you’ll want to drop on by Eviction threat after 50 years is ‘like a death'” Oh, by the way: anybody else smell that?
—Jean Kahler

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studio]

Here’s one from regular GL Photo Contributor Gary Mirabelle. It’s a shot of Ocean Parkway where it sort of blends into the Prospect Expressway at night.