Coney Island 5 days after Hurricane Sandy

American Suds, Mermaid Avenue.

I went out to Coney Island today with some friends who were transporting donations of  food, coats and baby items. These are some photos of what I saw. To me the thing that makes Coney Island such a special place is how no matter how urban it's side streets are you can never get away from how Mother Nature is really the one who owns the place even without Hurricane Sandy. So excuse me if these photos seem to jump back from the streets to the beach but that's Coney.

Garbage has not seemed to have been picked up in a while on Mermaid Avenue.

The Coney Island Pier is still standing but will need some help eventually.

Volunteers cleaning the beach area at Coney Island.

Window with food on the sill at the Warbasse Houses which houses thousands of elderly and still does not have power. Many volunteers showed up today to climb over 20 flights of stairs to check on residents and to donate supplies.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at the FEMA staging area in Coney Island.

Coney Island residents waiting for supplies at FEMA staging area.

Getting water from fire hydrants which will probably have to carried up many flight of stairs.

The sand came up from the beach a couple blocks past Surf Avenue! Frightening!

 

Sand on the boardwalk. Volunteers were shoveling it back to the beach.

Coney Island will rise again but will be needing help for quite some time. I heard people say that power may not be on until NOVEMBER 10th!  That's another week of no heat, no hot water, no elevators and a whole lot of stress. And it is COLD there. Donations most needed are blankets, coats, flashlights, powerstrips, BABY ITEMS such as diapers, wipes, boxed milk, pediasure as well as insure, first aid items, cleaning items and non perishable food. There are no markets for these people to shop in right now.

Click here to see where you can drop off donations or donate manpower to not only Coney Island but all the communities in NYC that have been hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.





A Puzzling Blog Fest.

I was pretty horrified on how the Brooklyn Blogfest was more about that vodka that begins with an “A” than anything else. As someone who turned to blogging to escape the man, I wanted to escape this blogfest but was so shocked at the corporate branding and the blogs being secondary to the whole event that I just had stay to watch this corporate love fest. In the past the actual bloggers were given a face to their blogs and that was the whole point, you got to finally meet the people behind the blogs. At this year’s blog fest, an actor did the “shout out” and if you didn’t know the blogs, or were into hip hop style poetry you wouldn’t really know what the hell he was saying.

The appearance of Marty Markowitz was the cherry on the sundae. If the organizers of the blogfest wanted to alienate many of the bloggers in the audience who have spent the last couple years fighting the Atlantic Yards, the Sitt invasion of Coney Island or the Toll Brothers plans for the Gowanus, they did it here. I was incredulous!

Spike Lee graciously admitted he really didn’t know much about blogs and it is was just so painfully apparent that this was all about this vodka company using the blogs for free advertising for their new Brooklyn vodka! Apparently, many blogs were approached to pimp their vodka with the award of a flip camera. I actually received this email and deleted it immediately. I actually did not even bother reading it, too much work and not F.I.B’s style. Now if they offered to pay me what they would pay a regular media outlet, I might consider. But for a flip camera?
Anyway I have to run to work and could go on and on. Check out Norman Oder’s excellent recap of the event here.

PS- On the plus side after the “shill fest” was over I did meet some lovely people including my doppelganger Lisanne!

Reminder that the doc about Freddy's is playing tonite, you can be sure that is one Brooklyn event that Marty might not have the nerve to make an appearance!

Councilwoman Letitia James "Speaks Truth to Power" in the spirit of MLK.

F.I.B attended the press conference held at eminent domain central otherwise known as Freddy's Bar which has become the community gathering place to organize against the Atlantic Yards Project. Councilmember Letitia James gave a rousing speech denouncing the priorities of Michael Bloomberg, Govenor Patterson, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and "other elected officials" (Bill DiBlaso anyone?) who's work with real estate developers has cummulated to this...the eviction of 88 homeless families in the dead of winter for a parking lot. And for a project that will not start for several years.

Tish James was followed by Senator Velmanette Montgomery who also spoke eloquently against the project and made a point of saying that this housing is being built for people who don't even live in Brooklyn and noted that all the luxury condos that went up in the last few years are mostly vacant. That this project will not bring jobs to the community, it will just force the community out.

Montgomery was followed by Develop Don't Destroy founder, Daniel Goldstein, who asked "where's A.C.O.R.N today? Goldstein said that this shelter is being closed prematurely as the court date for the takeover of the 22 acres of land which includes the shelter, Freddy's Bar and his own home has been pushed back to March 17th rather than next week. He also noted that there has been warehoused housing sitting vacant OWNED by Ratner for the last 6 years.

Daniel was followed by a speaker from F.U.R.E.E (Families United for Racial and Economic Equality), a woman representing the homeless and then the events organisor Steve DeSeve and the messages were all united in the belief that we need to keep fighting even though it would seem all sign point to Ratner plowing it all down and destroying the neighborhood. Barclays Bank is involved and the world needs to know what their money is going towards, displacing a community for the worst basketball team in the country. (It was also noted that Barclay's gave money to the nazi's and contributed to the funding of the slave trade.)

It all cummulated in a spirited live performance by Crystal Waters. It was amazing and bless her for coming out and singing up about this.

There is going to be a vigil in front of the Pacific Dean Homeless Shelter on Monday at 10pm, the community is counting on Govenor Patterson to do right on this and reopen the shelter.

"You snooze, you lose, buddy!"

The ecstatically happy Markowitz's.
The other night a friend invited me to what I thought was just a regular Brooklyn style house party. Little did I know that hosts of the party Director/Cinematographer Steve and the fabulous wardrobe lady Sabine seduced it's attendees with food and alcohol and then cast us to act in an episode of the "Brooklyn vs. Bush Television Comedy Hour". Yup that's how it happened (to me anyway!). This photo is a little teaser from an upcoming episode where Jamie Markowitz's infamous Takashi Murakami placemat stealing incident at the Brooklyn Museum Ratner Gala is reenacted. Elliot plays Marty and Nancy gives a command performance as Jamie Markowitz. F.I.B makes her acting debut in this episode as the "Rich Lady" who becomes so livid with Jamie for taking her placemat swag that she morphs into a Murakami type super heroine! Wrestling and hair pulling ensues! I can't WAIT to see it!!!!

Check out Brooklyn vs. Bush T.V here.
On regular TV you can watch the show in Brooklyn and Manhattan on MONDAY NIGHTS.
BKLYN Mon at 11:30 pm on BCAT ch. 3 Time Warner ch. 56 CVision ch 69, no box: 10.
MANHATTAN mon/tues midnight MNN1/Time War 34 RCN 110.