MODERN DAY MATCHMAKER BRINGS DATING TOUR TO THE BIG APPLE
Top Relationship Experts to Share Dating Advise!
By Keith L. Forest

What better place to fall in love than New York City! As the media capital of the world it is the setting where many romantic movies were made which makes it the most spectacular backdrop for two hearts to join as one. However, since the majority of New Yorkers live such fast-paced, complex lives, finding that special someone can be daunting. Although many have turned to modern technology as a tool to schedule love in their lives, a few hopeless romantics are holding out for that knight in shining armor.

Life coach and modern day matchmaker Paul Carrick Brunson, the visionary behind One Degree From (dot) Me - a relationship and lifestyle coaching firm for upscale, urban professionals who are looking for like-minded individuals - is aware of the many challenges people in big cities face. “When you look at the number of singles in major cities, it appears it would be a gold mine for people looking to get hitched,” Paul says. However, according to Paul, marriage rates are much higher in suburban areas. That, Paul says, is because most people move to big cities searching for something other than a romantic relationship which places many urban dwellers on the “single but not available” list.

For those singles who seek the perfect spouse to compliment their career, Paul suggests you alter your priorities. ”When working with clients, I love using the analogy of securing a job,” Paul says. “What would you do to get a great job? Would you work day and night for it? Would you hone your skills?” He muses. “So if having a committed relationship now has priority over career and education, ask yourself what are you (willing to do to) secure a great Relationship?”

For those living in New York who are struggling in the dating arena, Paul Carrick and his intellectually astute crew beckons you to join them at “The Modern Day Matchmaker: Real Relationship Talk” tour. The seven city tour, which kicked off in DC, will touch down in the Big Apple Thursday, June 3 at Providence, 311 West 57th Street. “When we originally planned the tour earlier this year, we asked the viewers of our web series where they wanted us to stop,” says Paul, who is also hosts the popular “The Modern Day MatchMaker” series on You Tube. “New York was a fan favorite.” Upcoming touring cities include Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and London, England.

The evening will include live entertainment, a panel discussion from top relationship experts and a VIP after party immediately following the forum. Panelists lined up for New York are: writer, relationship blogger Anslem Samuel of Naked with Socks On; columnist, author and blogger Demetria Luca of A Belle In Brooklyn; motivational speaker, writer and blogger Kenya Stevens; writer, blogger Damon “The Champ” Young of “Very Smart Brothas”; writer and blogger Lola ADesioye; and writer, blogger Jozen Cummings of “Until I Get Married.” For additional information and to register for the event, log onto onedegreefrom.me.

Keith L. Forest is a freelance publicist, writer and proud Bedford-Stuyvesant home owner who lives and works in the beloved community. His current blog space mybedstuy.blogspot.com seeks to celebrate the people and places that make up this great community while addressing issues such as gentrification, predatory lending and other ill norms that seek to exploit, discredit and harm the area and its people.

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The creator of Glengarry Glen Ross, The Verdict and Speed-The-Plow returns to Broadway with a new play that proves nothing is a simple as black & white.
 
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"Two Brooklyn school co-workers share one dream to adopt in Haiti,"
By Ben Chapman - NEW YORK DAILY NEWS



For five years they've shared an office at a Brooklyn school - and now they share a dream.

Assistant Principals Henry Renelus and Regina Tottenham only recently learned they are both adopting young children victimized by the Haiti earthquake.

The two, administrators at P368K Star Academy in Bedford-Stuyvesant, have already traveled to Haiti together with their spouses and are working toward adopting kids they met.

"I guess we're more alike than we thought," said Renelus, 36, who was born in Haiti and lives in Nassau County with his wife and their three kids. "We're both blessed to be able to help."

As colleagues, the two worked just a few feet apart at the K-12 school for children with autism and other issues.

They were friendly but never spent time together outside work, until they left for a week-long trip to Haiti last month.

When Renelus told Tottenham of his plan to adopt a Haitian child during a school meeting on Feb. 22, she was shocked.

"You're flippin' kidding me," recounted Tottenham, 43, who lives in Williamsburg with her 3-year-old son and husband. "I was thinking the same thing."

The couples' trip to Haiti was tough to take.

"What we saw there broke our hearts," said Renelus, who moved to Brooklyn when he was 12. "The destruction is unbelievable."

The couples visited Bon Samaritan, an orphanage where 55 kids sleep in tents about 20 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

Tottenham plans to return in six months to adopt an 8-month-old girl, Charlinde, who was left in a basket by her mother after the quake.

Right now, the docile baby with braided hair gets only one small meal of rice each day - and has no diapers.

Renelus visited his cousin, Fitzner Renelus, 46, who lives with his wife and six kids in Croix-des-Bouquets, about eight miles outside the capital.

The family's house was flattened by the earthquake, and they now live in tents made of bedsheets, with little water and food.

After a tearful reunion, the family decided Renelus will adopt two boys, Obedson, 5, and John Peterson, 16, chosen because the younger is Renelus' godson and the older boy can look out for his younger brother in America.

"I'd send all of my children away if I could," their father Fitzner told The News in a phone call. "Only God knows when life in Haiti will return to normal."

FEDERAL, LOCAL AND CIVIC OFFICIALS & LEADERS TEAM UP WITH WHITE HOUSE
TO PUSH FRESH FOOD TO NEW YORK CITY’S UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

By Keith L. Forest
It has been reported that over 3 million New York City residents live in so-called Food Deserts – areas where they have no access to fresh, nutritious food. Anyone living in Bedford Stuyvesant or other communities of color can attest to that. Our corner stores and bodegas are packed with soda, processed and often outdated food, literally leaving no options to eat or prepare a healthy well-balanced meal.

According to the New York City Department of City Planning, approximately 3 million New York City residents live in communities where there is consistent and reasonable access to nutritious and non- processed food. Over 83% of Brooklyn districts, inclusive of Bedford Stuyvesant, East New York and Bushwick, fall short of the city’s average. This lack of access to healthy food continues to wreck havoc in our community and contributes to the alarming rate of obesity, diabetes and heart disease that is already rampant in our neighborhoods. A 2008 Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report estimated that 21.5% of New York City’s population and over 55% of adults were overweight or obese. The report estimates that obesity cost our nation close to 150 billion a year in increased healthcare cost.

In an effort to combat these startling statistics and reduce the rising rate of obesity and food insecurity, US Senator Christine Gillibrand (D-NY), Representative Nydia Velazquez(D-NY) joined City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), UFCW Local 1500 President Bruce Both, RWDSU President Stuart Applebaum, and PolicyLink Founder & CEO Angela Glover Blackwell to launch the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The new legislation authored by Christine Gillibrand invests over 1 billion through loans and grant to help build over 270 stores in the metro area creating over 2,600 jobs in the City.

“Millions of New Yorkers do not have access to healthy food,” stated US Congresswoman Christine Gillibrand. “By building new grocery stores in underserved areas across the state we can give people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives, save billions in health care costs, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. “

“We have a health crisis in this country, in terms of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, that it disproportionately impacting low-income people and communities of color, said Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder & CEO of the national research and action institute PolicyLink “Nationally, only 8% of African Americans currently live in census tract with a supermarket, and far too many Black and Latinos reside in areas underserved by a grocery store. To ensure that people are eating healthy diets, we must push to make healthier choices available in their neighborhoods.”

Modeled after a successful program in Pennsylvania, The health Food Financing Initiative gives priority to state and localities that have already begun efforts to build new grocery stores in food desert area. Under Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Christina Quinn leadership in enacting zone and land=ise change designed to encourage the development of fresh food retail, New York City is well positioned to begin receive immediate funding.

New York State has already established a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to administer over $10 million in loans and grants for new grocery stores. The CDFI will help local and state partners identify areas in need of healthy food option and support project to bring fresh food to house areas. These projects will be financed through a mix of loans and one-tine grants to help businesses start u or expand their operations. Grants will likely range from 30,000 up to $250,000 with loans ranging $50,000 to 5 million.

Keith L. Forest is a freelance publicist, writer and proud Bedford-Stuyvesant home owner who lives and works in the beloved community. His current blog space mybedstuy.blogspot.com seeks to celebrate the people and places that make up this great community while addressing issues such as gentrification, predatory lending and other ill norms that seek to exploit, discredit and harm the area and its people.

"COMMUNITY BOARD THREE STUMBLES INTO SPRING,"
Census Numbers Falter; Tax & Water Liens Increases & Test Scores Drop
By Keith L. Forest

Spring might have sprung since the last time Community Board 3 met collectively. However, when it comes to the community being actively engaged in issues concerning the health and vitality of the neighborhood, residents seem to be hibernating. School test scores are drastically dropping; Census numbers are trending towards a record low; and many home owners are once again facing tax and water liens.

After a brief intro and welcome, Chairman Henry Butler took a deep breath. Something heavy was on his heart. The district test results were in and Bedford Stuyvesant scores were at an all time low. Adding insult to injury, the twelve- member Community Education Council (the collective that shape district wide educational policy), only has 2 Bed Stuy residents on its board. “We got to do better people,” he said.

In the shadows of a major ad campaigns specifically targeting hard-to-count communities - Bedford Stuyvesant’s Census numbers once again are trending towards a record low. According to the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford Stuyvesant (CIBS) as of Monday, April 5, 2010, less than 20% of applications were returned. Although residents have been warned via print and radio ads, posters and celebrity pitches of the importance of filling out the Census forms, Bed Stuy residents are still lagging behind. Without accurate numbers, our community stands to lose billions of federally funded dollars. Yet, the urgency to complete the form and mail it in remains low priority.

In an eleventh hour dash to get residents to fill out their Census form, Melissa Lee, an associate from the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford-Stuyvesant (CIBS) is keeping hope alive and demanding the Bed-Stuy be heard. Her organization is making a commitment “to spreading the Census message by mobilizing residents of Bed-Stuy around the importance of achieving a complete count in 2010,” stated Ms. Lee. Over the next few days Ms. Lee and her street team will canvas the community with an arsenal of posters and postcards urging residents to “BE Heard and BE Counted.” Deadline for turning in The Census forms is April 15.

Its tax season again. Although this time of the year is often celebrated with an anticipated refund check courtesy of Uncle Sam, for many homeowners who have fallen behind in their taxes, it could easily result in the loss of their homes. The Brownstoners of Bedford Stuyvesant has teamed up with New York City Department of Finance to make sure that Bed Stuy residents remain in their homes.

During the month of April, the Brownstoners’ foot soldiers will be knocking on doors personally inviting homeowners to the annual “Know The Facts Don’t Lose Your Home,” tax lien night. The event takes place 5:00 PM, Thursday, April 22, at Boys & Girls High School, 1700 Fulton Street. Lien candidates will have an opportunity to receive individual counseling and guidance from HPD, Department of Finance and DEP where they will have an opportunity to set-up installment agreement and payment plans.

On a more up-beat note, Deputy Inspector Donald V. Lyons from the 79th Precinct dropped by to thank the community for helping take a bite out of crime. According To Deputy Inspector Lyon incoming calls to the precinct’s crime tip line are at an all time high and have resulted in taking several criminals off the streets including a high profile rapist who had attacked two women in the area.

Other agenda item included two co-naming public hearings. Velma C. Armstrong of the Alliance of Panamanian Organizations in the United States petitioned the CB3 for a letter of support to co-naming Franklin Avenue between Fulton Street and Atlantic Ave “Avenida Republica de Panama,” to commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Independence of Panama.

The other co-naming was for Jefferson Avenue, between Throop and Tompkins to be co-named in honor of Bertram L. Baker. The presentation was given by Altovise Fleary, Jefferson Avenue TNT Block Association. Berttram L. Baker was Brooklyn’s first black elected official representing Bedford Stuyvesant in the New York State Assembly where he wrote this nation’s fist laws barring race discrimination. The board voted 35 for co-naming Franklin Avenue and 5 against. The Jefferson Avenue co-naming received a glowing 34 for with no votes cast against it.

Keith L. Forest is a freelance publicist, writer and proud Bedford-Stuyvesant home owner who lives and works in the beloved community. His current blog space mybedstuy.blogspot.com seeks to celebrate the people and places that make up this great community while addressing issues such as gentrification, predatory lending and other ill norms that seek to exploit, discredit and harm the area and its people.

"Suspect Arrested In Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy Rapes," - Gothamist

Police arrested a man suspected in two Brooklyn rapes. According to the Daily News, "Dupree Nicholson was charged with rape, assault and robbery after his DNA matched evidence taken from the March attacks near the border of Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant, police said."

On March 16, a man, wielding a gun forced a 56-year-old woman at Fulton and Franklin Avenue to go a park, where he raped her and struck her in the head with the firearm. On March 23, a man matching the description of the March 16 attacker threatened a 42-year-old woman with a gun on Gates Avenue between Classon Avenue and Irving Place at around 5:30 a.m., dragging her to an alley where he raped and sodomized her. Acting on a tip, police brought in for questioning— and he voluntarily offered a DNA sample.

City Councilwoman Letitia James, who is concerned about crime in her district, said, "I applaud both the 79th and 88th precincts for their joint efforts in bringing about a speedy arrest, though I remain concerned that this individual seemed to be conscious of the gap that exists in these few blocks between Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill. It is clear that we must do what we can to prevent any similar occurrences, and I continue to call for more police presence throughout the district."

"Bed-Stuy Med Volunteers Step Up in Haiti," - The Indypendent

Within 48 hours after the Jan. 12 earthquake hit Haiti, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corp had already gathered $30,000 worth of supplies and registered 200 volunteers to travel there as part of the relief effort.

“I’m leaving behind all my bills, all my family, and I had a whole team to worry about,” said Chief Colin Raeburn, who led the group’s relief effort in Haiti. “I thought, ‘What the hell am I getting myself into?’”

"After Fight, a Brooklyn Brownstone’s Costly Rescue,"
By KAREEM FAHIM - New York Times

When he worked at one of New York’s most respected preservation firms, Timothy Lynch would have spared no effort to save brownstones like the two that stood before him on a January morning.

They were landmarks on one of the prettiest streets in Brooklyn. But contractors renovating one of the three-story buildings had accidentally knocked down a load-bearing wall, threatening both with collapse.

"Brooklyn 'jail' playground could be rebuilt as White House to mark one of America's historic moments,"
By Michael Daly - New York Daily News

The word "jail" has been painted over, but on close examination you can still see the letters.

And there remains the mystery of how the city allowed a jail to be part of a play set at a Brooklyn housing project for six years.

Another question is: What should be done with that playground now?

How about putting in something to mark a giant leap forward the whole country took, a leap that still seemed all but impossible when the "jail" was installed back in March of 2004?

How about replacing the city's only jail playground with its very first White House playground?

Until Barack Obama was actually elected, many people believed that an African-American could not become President.

Obama proved that America had finally become a place where anybody really can grow up to become President.

A kid-sized White House would have a perfect backdrop with the huge portraits of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X that presently adorn a handball court wall facing the playground.

And, where steps and a bridge once led to a jail cell, youngsters would be ascending to the highest office in the land, one no longer barred to a person of color.

I was lucky enough to be down in Washington on inauguration weekend and I remember watching 5-year-old Marcus Scott of Brooklyn, a descendant of slaves, doing a happy dance with an American flag.

"It's nice to be able to wave the flag and say we belong here," said his mother, Alison Scott.

I also remember seeing Elaine Cope of South Carolina point her camera between the iron bars surrounding the White House.

"How many times I've been to Washington and I've never wanted to take a picture of the White House," Cope said.

Obama remains our President even if the Tea Party nuts rail against him with such fury that you have to figure race is involved.

As the health bill was finally nearing passage last week, some of that came to the surface. A tea party protester spat the N word at Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga).

"It surprised me that people are so mean and we can't engage in a civil dialogue and debate," Lewis said afterwards.

Lewis is a civil rights champion who addressed the same rally where King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. The modern day haters seem exasperated by the reality that part of the dream has been realized with Obama's election.

I do not include Sarah Palin in that group. She is even worse. She fans the flames to her own ends.

She is no hockey mom.

She is a hockey player and she looks to win.

But maybe she was a blessing during the election. She was such a bad candidate that whites who probably would never have voted for a candidate of color ended up going for Obama.

The right wing has grown so wild and wacky that the one-time embarrassment Palin is stepping in to help her former running mate, Sen. John McCain.

In the midst of this mad meanness, we would do well to remind youngsters of the continuing victory that preceded it.

That will becomes all the more important as the city and state budget cuts begin hitting the schools and leaving the streets more dangerous. As always, the poorer neighborhoods will feel the cuts most keenly.

Doing well in school could become even tougher. Falling into trouble could become even easier.

Just as the playground "jail" carried a bad message, a White House would carry a good one: However tough things may get, we have overcome one obstacle that was so important because it never should have been there in the first place.

In the meantime, even a city going broke can afford to replace the ragged American flag flying in front of Public School 59 across Throop Ave. from the playground.

As a playground White House would remind the kids, the flag does indeed belong to everybody, as much to them as to Sarah Palin and her Tea Party pals, or anybody else.

"Playground ‘Jail,’ Drawing Outrage, Gets a Face-Lift," - The New York Times

Playground controversies usually involve bickering parents, unruly dogs or bullies.

One exception is at the Tompkins Houses, a housing project in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. An orange jungle gym there, adorned with a cell door, prison bars and the word “jail,” has set off outrage in the neighborhood and the blogosphere, along with a hasty official response.

Children may play cops and robbers all the time, but putting a pretend jail in a public housing playground in a historically black community struck some residents as an insult.

“We started complaining because it was like promoting kids to go to jail,” said Natasha Godley, 37, who has a 6-year-old son.

The prison look was part of the original design of the playground, which was made by a company called Landscape Structures and erected in March 2004, the Housing Authority said.

But it had not elicited complaints until this week, said Sheila Stainback, an agency spokeswoman.

Lumumba Bandele, a lecturer in black history at the City University of New York who lives nearby, said he complained about the playground to the Housing Authority and local officials last weekend.

“The fact is that this community, along with six others in New York City, makes up the majority of the prison population in New York State,” Mr. Bandele said. “And to have this here under the auspices of Nycha is absolutely insulting.”

The jungle gym, tucked behind a building near Throop and Park Avenues, sits opposite a handball court decorated with paintings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

On Sunday, the Web site Black and Brown News published a photograph of the jungle gym by Mr. Bandele’s wife, Monifa Bandele, and a critical article about it.

“There is no kind, gentle, diplomatic way to describe the offense against a community by this ‘jail playground’ on a New York City Housing Authority property,” the article began.

Some residents said that complaints about the play set were actually not a new phenomenon. One Housing Authority grounds worker who declined to give her name said her mother had been so incensed about the inscription two years ago that she covered the word “jail” with gold spray paint. It was not clear how the word came to be restored.

But on Wednesday, after the Black and Brown News article was picked up by Brownstoner and other Web sites, Housing Authority workers arrived to paint over the word “jail.” Later, another worker showed up and began permanently taking off the word “jail” and the fake bars, which appeared stenciled into the play set, with steel wool and paint remover.

The authority, Ms. Stainback said, “painted over the equipment as a temporary solution to replacing this part of the playground.” The authority is also looking into who ordered the equipment, she said.

Calls to the main office of Landscape Structures were not returned. A woman who answered the phone at one of its sales offices, in Carle Place on Long Island, said the company provided playgrounds for the Housing Authority, “but only by their approval.” She said she had never seen one of the company’s play sets adorned with the word “jail,” but emphasized, “I’m only answering the phones.”

Somewhere in the city’s public housing universe, the playground has a twin, Ms. Stainback said. She would not divulge its location, but said that its “jail” sign and bars would be painted over, too.

"Ratner breaks ground! Jay-Z celebrates! Others protest!" - Community Newspaper Group

Bruce Ratner and a deep bench of supporters of his Atlantic Yards mega-project broke ground on a basketball arena for his Brooklyn-bound New Jersey Nets on Thursday afternoon, drawing to a symbolic close to more than seven years of delays for the developer.

Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, Borough President Markowitz, and rap mogul, Jay-Z, an owner of a very small portion of the Nets, were the luminaries on the dais. Meanwhile one hundred or so protesters rallied within earshot, calling the project a boondoggle.

"CB3 URGES RESIDENCE TO STAND UP & BE COUNTED

By Keith L. Forest

The US Census count is underway and civic leaders, clergy, elected officials and citizens are joining forces to make sure that the village of Bedford Stuyvesant is well counted.

During Community Board Three’s monthly meeting, Dr. John Flateau, Deputy Director of the New York State Senate and Census Coordinator, urged residence to stand up and be counted. According to Dr. Flateau, the Bedford Stuyvesant community continues to be poorly represented in the Census count. This constant miscalculation has not only cost the community billions of dollars in federal funding, but has resulted in the loss of political representation and major cuts in much needed social service programs. “The math is easy,” said Dr. Flateau. “If we continue to be undercounted, we will continue to be underfunded.”

According to City Councilman Al Vann, less than 35% of Bedford Stuyvesant residence responded to the 2000 Census. This resulted in the community having the lowest response rate in the country. A Census Sunday is schedule to take place March 7, where Pastors across Bedford Stuyvesant will address the Census from the pulpit. The 2010 Census forms will be mailed out on March 15. Other events and activities include the following:

DATE EVENT TIME LOCATION
Wed. 3/10 Harriet Tubman Day/Census Rally 9 – 11 Boys & Girls High School
Sat. 3/13 Public Housing Census Rally 11 – 1 Van Dyke Community Ctr.
Sat. 3/20 Yes We Count” : Bed Stuy “ 10 – 12 Boys & Girls High School
Sat. 3/20 “Yes We Count” Crown Heights 12 – 2 Medgar Evers College
Sat. 3/20 Yes We Count” Brownsville/E NY 2 – 4 St. Paul’s Baptist Church

The Housing and Land Use Committee gave an update on the marketing of the New Foundation Houses located on Herkimer and Albany Avenue. Bridge Street Development, the faith-based nonprofit organization based in Central Brooklyn, will hold a lottery for the 3 family homes that include an owner’s duplex and two (2), two bedroom rentals. Selling prices for the units range from $500 – $600,000.

In addition to the update, the committee also held an informational forum for Providence House. The nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing for homeless, recently incarcerated and special needs female clients and their families, is seeking a letter of support for a new units it wants to build at 273, 275 & 277 Kosciusko Street (between Tompkins Street & Throop Ave). The presentation, which included renderings and floor plans of the 40 unit complex, was given by Sister Janet Kinney. The Community Board voted 31 in favor with 6 opposing.

Under the guidance and direction of Chairman Henry Butler, with persistence from Rev. Robert Waterman, CB-3 recently launched an Ad Hoc Ecumenical committee. The group, which includes CB3 board members Pastor Ayana Ajanaku, Rev. Jesse Sumry and Rev. Waterman, will meet the third Monday of every month to discuss community issues. “Information historically travels quicker through the church,” stated Rev. Waterman. “We want to continue this tradition in an effort to connect the community with services.”

(more)
Other scheduled community events and activities include the following:

Tuesdays, March 2 – 30: 6:30 – 8:30pm - Wealth Building Tuesday Workshops; Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street. For registration and additional information, please call Bernice McRae @ (718) 636-6924 or email at bmcrae@restorationplaza.org

Tuesdays, March 2 – 30, 7:30 pm sharp, Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA FREE Healthy Living Series, 1121 Bedford Avenue. For additional information, please call (718) 789-1497.

Monday, March 29: Congressman Ed Towns & Bedford Stuyvesant YMCA present Women’s History Month. To RSVP or for additional information, call Debbie McFarland @ (718) 789-1497 Ext. 4006 or Edna Johnson @ (718) 855-8018.

Keith L. Forest is a freelance publicist, writer and proud Bedford-Stuyvesant home owner who lives and works in the beloved community. His current blog space mybedstuy.blogspot.com seeks to celebrate the people and places that make up this great community while addressing issues such as gentrification, predatory lending and other ill norms that seek to exploit, discredit and harm the area and its people.

"Obesity hits New York's poor neighborhoods hardest," - RUETERS
New Study Shows Bed Stuy Rate Soars Past 30 Percent

Between 2003 and 2007, the prevalence of obesity citywide increased from 20 percent to 22 percent, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

In more affluent areas like the Upper East Side, Chelsea and the West Village, obesity rates hovered around 8 percent across the study period.

In contrast, obesity was a more common and growing problem in other city neighborhoods, many of which are lower-income. In 2003, only one neighborhood -- East Harlem -- had an obesity rate higher than 30 percent. By 2007, six neighborhoods had joined it: three in the Bronx, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Rockaway in Queens and northern Staten Island.

"Gov. Paterson scandal gives lawmakers chance to push bills on state police and domestic violence," - NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Three state lawmakers seized on Gov. Paterson's problems Sunday to push bills seemingly ripped from the scandal headlines.

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Eric Adams, both Brooklyn Democrats, said their new bill would crack down on mismanagement of the State Police.

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) held a press conference to draw new attention to a domestic violence bill he first introduced in 2007.

Both bills play on the scandalous allegations that Paterson and the State Police abused their power by intervening in a domestic violence case after a woman obtained an order of protection against a top gubernatorial aide.

Jeffries said the bill he'll introduce this week would create a temporary commission "to investigate systematic misconduct, abuse of power and political interference with respect to the New York State Police."

Modeled after the Knapp Commission, which probed police corruption in the 1970s, the commission would have subpoena power and would report to the Legislature.

State troopers "have engaged in acts that undermine the very fabric of our democracy," Jeffries charged, referring to allegations in the Paterson, Spitzer and Pataki administrations.

In a press conference outside the state Supreme Court building in Lower Manhattan, Adams said the bill was not specifically intended to censure Paterson. But he said last week's news, which led the governor to abandon his election bid and prompted calls for his resignation, "was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"From Buffalo to Bedford-Stuyvesant, our state troopers have the responsibility to don gray uniforms, but they enforce laws that are black and white," Adams said.

Ortiz said his Sunday press conference on the City Hall steps had been scheduled for weeks and had nothing to do with Paterson.

Still, he said the latest scandal "will give us a better opportunity, a better shot to now get the bill the consensus that is needed in order to get it done in both houses and send it to the governor for a signature."

The Ortiz bill - called Erika's Law after Erika Delia, a woman murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend - would force abusers slapped with protection orders to wear electronic monitoring devices.

The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), has twice passed the Senate but has been stalled in the Assembly.

"I don't believe that the bill is aiming at any particular individual," Ortiz said, adding: "We hope that in this session, with everything that's been happening throughout the state and with everything that's been happening in Albany, that we can take a moment ... to honor this particular bill for Erika."

"Fed-up tenants sue, demand city fix nightmare Bedford-Stuyvesant apartments,"
By Jeff Wilkins - New York Times

A city housing project in Bedford-Stuyvesant has been a horror for residents who have lived with rats and mice, lack of heat, water damage and mold for years.

Tenants of the Bed-Stuy Rehabs, a three-building complex on Willoughby and Throop Aves., filed a lawsuit against the city Housing Authority in December after living with the conditions since the 1980s.

"We're tired of being treated like NYCHA's foster children," said Cassandra Harrell, president of the Bed-Stuy Rehabs Tenant Association, who said years of living in her mold-filled apartment left her stricken with asthma. "We want our apartments fixed."

The three small buildings with 81 apartments were originally part of Woodhull Hospital, and were converted into public housing in 1983.

Right from the start, said longtime tenants, their apartments had problems. They said Housing Authority officials promised fixes that were never made.

If the work is done, they added, it's shoddy or takes a long time to get scheduled.

In one case, a tenant at 281 Throop Ave. said workers showed up as late as 9 p.m. to repair a collapsed ceiling.

"Every time they say they're going to fix something, they don't do anything," said Luisa Figueroa, 33, pointing to a hole in her wall that isn't scheduled to be repaired until June. "It's just talk, talk, talk."

Retired postal worker Kathleen Green, who has lived at 675 Willoughby Ave. since 1983, has gone without heat three or four days at a time for years.

"It gets really cold in here in the winter, like you're living outside," she said. "I wake up and turn my oven on at 6 a.m. just to get some heat."

Green said she has phoned in countless complaints. Workers have come and looked at her radiators, promised to send someone to make repairs - and rarely do.

"Ten years ago, I gave them a list of all my problems," said Green. "Ten years later, they're still not fixed."

Housing Authority spokeswoman Sheila Stainback denied the agency had neglected the buildings, and said they have repeatedly responded to tenants' requests for repairs.

"NYCHA staff has addressed and worked on the repairs needed for Bedford-Stuyvesant Rehabs and will continue to do so," Stainback said in a statement.

Residents of 281 Throop Ave. used a lawsuit to force the Housing Authority to repair the building's leaky roof in 2005.

"Rally To Keep Volunteer EMS Services," - Brooklyn Eagle

Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (D-Queens), chair of the Fire and Criminal
Justice Committee, along with Brooklyn Council Members Lew Fidler, Vincent
Gentile and Al Vann as well as dozens of community-based volunteer ambulance
leaders, recently called on the FDNY to utilize the city’s neighborhood
volunteer ambulances. In January, the Fire Department booted the city’s
volunteer ambulances from its 911 system, which is seen as another step towards
phasing them completely out of the emergency medical response.

“FDNY’s move will inevitably result in backlogs, which will mean delays. And when it
comes to patient care, every second counts,” said Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer
Ambulance Corps Commander James Robinson.

"Mayor's New Plan for Affordable Housing: Overnight Delivery?," - Gothamlist

Rather than building new affordable homes in the city, Bloomberg now wants to spruce up those that already exist. His revamped plan will cost $8.5 billion and seeks to preserve 165,000 units by 2014. One Bed-Stuy housing development would have been a good candidate for the program, until it called a press conference to address its long list of complaints and the repairs were miraculously completed. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Cassandra Harrell, the president of the Bed-Stuy Rehabs’ resident association, who has lived in the project for 27 years. “They put up Sheetrock, they painted the walls, they knew the press was coming.”

For years residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Rehabs complained about "mold, leaky pipes, stained ceilings, holes in the walls, puddles in the hallway and long spells in the winter without heat or hot water," according to the Times. The vermin problem was so bad that one resident lost his pet bird to a rat. “Yeah, it ate the bird,” said David Caban. “The cage was on the floor.” But the night before a press conference was scheduled, 8-12 repairmen appeared at the projects and got to work. “[We are] a 24/7 operation,” said a spokeswoman for the housing authority in an email, adding that the work had been scheduled ahead of the press conference.

Under Bloomberg's plan, affordable housing tenants shouldn't have to sic the press on the housing authority to get their repairs. The New Housing Marketplace Plan will "preserve" affordable housing, meaning that "its housing agencies refinance and renovate buildings in return for keeping rents locked in for long periods, usually decades, as opposed to letting the units rent or sell at market rates" as the Times puts it.

The city will build 60,000 new homes and preserve 105,000 amending a cheaper 2005 plan to build 92,000 units and preserve 73,000. “The extra money will go toward allowing us to save projects that otherwise would’ve gone to market rates, and keeping rents low, and locking that in 30 or 40 years,” said housing commissioner, Rafael Cestero. “We have the opportunity right now to step in at a way that we weren’t able to before.”

"When Your Dad's Behind Bars," - CITY LIMITS
To one boy in Bed-Stuy, a program for children of the incarcerated makes a difference.

Bedford Stuyvesant — Mickel Marchan stands about two inches taller than any of the other six- and seven-year-olds in his after-school group at Children of Promise, a Brooklyn program for children with parents in prison. This past fall, his creative movement class had barely begun when he decided to use that physical advantage to test the limits of “creative.” Mickel sent one boy tumbling into a cluster of desks with a fierce shove. Then he tussled with one of the teenage interns, scowling beneath the lid of his red baseball cap.

Darci Adams, who leads the class, yanked Mickel into a smothering hug. He briefly stiffened to the embrace before melting into it, like butter on toast.

"Boro teens vie for poetry crown,"
By Jake Pearson - New York Daily News

They've rhymed their way to the finals.

Some talented Brooklyn teens will perform their spoken-word poetry for a shot at a $10,000 scholarship during the final round of the annual Knicks Poetry Slam competition at Manhattan's New Amsterdam Theater on Thursday.

"The theater is enormously huge and majestic looking," said Bedford-Stuyvesant poet Ishmael Islam, 18, a college freshman at the Pratt Institute. "It's a lot of stage and a lot of history to respect."

The four Brooklyn wordsmiths beat out 500 young people, ages 13 to 19, from the tristate area who auditioned last November for a shot at the college scholarship.

Last month, they were among 75 poets in the semifinal round who performed for the final 10 slots.

Their poems range from social commentary about the gentrification of Clinton Hill to deeply personal insights about saying goodbye to a beloved and deceased relative.

"It hasn't hit me yet," said Dominique Briggs, 18, of Bushwick, who is putting the finishing touches on a poem called "Dad," a cautionary tale about the evil powers of money, that he'll perform.

"We're on Broadway, which is every performance artist's dream."

Flatbush native Kedene McLeod, 17, a junior at the Secondary School for Research in Park Slope, is the youngest of the four Brooklyn finalists - and the only girl.

"My friends say I am good with words because . . . when they have a paper, they ask me for synonyms," said McLeod, who never wrote poetry before taking a class in school last fall.

"I auditioned a piece . . . and I didn't think anything of it, but they called me back and I was on top of the world."

The untitled piece is full of advice one girl gives to another before she learns important life lessons - like how to maintain a high self-esteem - the hard way.

"So when you realize that you are healed and made in His image, then you can show your beautiful you," wrote McLeod.

Islam's poem "Clifton" is an ode to the Clinton Hill he remembers growing up in, on Clifton Place - one without Manhattan transplants and luxury condos.

"The new modernism is hitting Brooklyn hard, but it hit home even harder," wrote Islam. ". . . [H]alf the block turned into high estate condos and more to come. It's become a ghost town with gold mines of new-age buildings."

Those three and Julian Pena, 19, of Park Slope, a freshman at Kingsborough Community College, will vie for the top prize - a $10,000 scholarship. Second place takes $7,500, third $5,000, and the remaining seven will get $1,000 apiece.

"They're all extremely talented," said Mike Cirelli, 34, executive director of Urban Word, a nonprofit that teaches poetry to young people and co-sponsors the competition.

"At this point, the level of poetry and performance is so high you can literally pick winners out of a hat," he said.

"Saving a Place to Bump Into People,"
By DIANE CARDWELL - The New York Times

On Wednesday afternoon, as the snowstorm rested between squalls, all seemed as it should at Bread Stuy, a coffeehouse on Lewis Avenue in Brooklyn.

The small wooden tables were occupied by patrons in earphones tapping away at laptops, as a line formed for lattes, panini and fresh-baked pastries. Beneath the warm orange glow of the walls and a heat lamp, one of the owners, Hillary Porter, quietly directed workers from a banquette while her 16-month-old daughter, Maclemore, slept on her lap.