Tomorrow morning (Wednesday, May 23), weather permitting, you may be able to view from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade a parade of ships proceeding from the harbor entrance up into the Hudson River. Leading the parade, and starting to pass the Statue of Liberty at about 8:15 a.m., will be a line of nine tall sailing ships from countries around the world, including our own USCG Eagle and Mexico’s Cuauhtemoc. Following the tall ships will be thirteen modern naval vessels from the U.S. and other countries, which will begin passing the Statue around 11:30 a.m.

From 11:15 to 12:15 there will be a flyover above the Hudson of nineteen fixed wing aircraft, including the U.S. Navy’s famous Blue Angels aerobatic team, and six helicopters. This all marks the beginning of Fleet Week, which continues with various events through Memorial Day weekend. Over the weekend a number of ships, including four tall ships, will be docked at piers 7 and 8, near the foot of Atlantic Avenue and Columbia Street, and will be open for visits by the public. More details are on Cobble Hill Blog.

Addendum: Carolina Salguero of PortSide NY has provided a guide to the ships that will be docked here in Brooklyn.

A kids’ sack race was one of many activities at Saturday’s Willowtown fair, which was blessed by perfect weather. Video, photos, and more text after the jump.

Batman greeted children to the Jumpy Castle.

Iris Cafe offered a tempting array of salads, sandwiches, and sweets.

Maio, of Waterfront Wines & Spirits, prepares to pour some of Brooklyn Oenology’s 2010 Social Club White, made with chardonnay grapes from the North Fork of Long Island and the Finger Lakes region.

Our friends at Theater 2020 are taking the weekend off, but they’ll be back next Thursday through Sunday and the following weekend with their production of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Bard buffs need not feel dismay, though, as Random Access Theater will present free performances of Twelfth Night at the Granite Prospect on Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park starting at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20. More details are here. And don’t forget the Willowtown Fair on Willow Place, Saturday from noon until 5:00.

Opera fans can delight in a performance of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in the Plymouth Church sanctuary, 57 Orange Street, on Sunday beginning at 4:00 p.m. Admission is $25. The performance features Jason Stearns as Alfio.

There is a wealth of musical offerings this weekend. This evening (Friday, May 18), Grace and Spiritus Chorale will present “Brooklyn–a Garden of Song”, a concert of songs by composers either native to or at some time resident in Brooklyn, at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, Clinton and Montague streets (enter from Clinton), starting at 7:00. Admission is $15; $12 for seniors or students. Also at St. Ann, on Saturday evening starting at 8:00, the Metro Chamber Orchestra will present “The Glory of Venice”, a concert featuring works by Offenbach, Salieri, Mozart, and Vivaldi. Tickets are $25; more details are here. Tonight at the First Unitarian Church, Pierrepont Street at Monroe Place, starting at 8:00, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society will present a concert of works by Robert Fuchs, Beethoven, and Brahms. Admission is $30; or $20 for students.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention that my building, 57 Montague Street (corner of Pierrepont Place) will hold a sidewalk sale on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Trust me; these are always good. Come early for the best stuff.

Thursday, May 17 starting at 7;00 p.m. there will be a Brazilian dance party at Pier 1 (enter at foot of Old Fulton Street), Brooklyn Bridge Park, featuring Nation Beat (see video after the jump), Maracatu New York, and DJ Greg Caz. Admission to the party is free; food and drinks will be available from vendors. More details are here.

Deputy Inspector Mark DiPaolo, Commanding Officer of the 84th Precinct, has notified BHB that the Precinct’s Community Council will meet next Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. at St. James’ Cathedral Pavilion, 240 Jay Street (between Cathedral Place and Chapel Street). On the agenda are (1) a presentation on crime prevention on NYC transit (2) the Cop of the Month award (3) a transit police report (4) a community crime report and (5) a Q&A period. All are invited, and refreshments will be served.

Brooklyn-based art cooperative United Photo Industries is creating a temporary “photographic village” out of 30 shipping containers in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 Uplands for nine days this summer, with the promise that “central to the Village will be a communal beer & food garden serving chilled brews and artisanal snacks.”

Gothamist reports that “Photoville” will exhibit its “celebration of photography” from June 22 to July 1 (hours are here). It comprises a mix of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a mini dog run with the “Paws Wall of Fame” and beer garden provided by Brooklyn Brewery “that will create a photographic destination like no other.” Four to five food truck vendors will also be on-hand, via the New York Food Truck Association.

The Photoville website describes its mission as “a Brooklyn-born, art-presenting cooperative dedicated to identifying, harnessing and occasionally conjuring unexpected exhibition opportunities. All in the name of fostering conversation, championing new directions in photography and cultivating ties within an ever-expanding, globe-trotting community of photographers.”

Sounds positively hipster.

This year’s Willowtown Fair, part of a growing tradition, will celebrate the lives of two women who made great contributions to the life of that community, and will feature a wine tasting, foood from Iris Cafe, bluegrass music, and fun for kids. Ben Bankson, President of the Willowtown Association, gives us the following:

The dedication of trees in memory of two longtime neighborhood residents and a wine tasting are among the features of the Willowtown Association’s annual Spring Fair to take place this Saturday, May 19, from noon to 5 p.m. the full length of Willow Place.

The trees memorialize Caroline Palestino, who died last June at age 92, and Mary Merz, who died last September at age 85. The dedication is set for 3 o’clock. Caroline lived her entire life in Willowtown. Her tree is in front of 10 Columbia Place, part of the Riverside apartment complex, where she was born. A native of Ohio, Mary was an architect who with her surviving husband Joe designed three of the contemporary houses on Willow Place. She was active in the Willowtown Association and largely responsible for its work in the greening of Columbia Place. Her tree is on State Street by the Palmetto Playground developed largely to her and Joe’s design.

The wine tasting is by Waterfront Wines & Spirits, a new shop at Joralemon and Furman streets. It will take place throughout the afternoon in the Alfred T. White Community Center at 26 Willow Place.

Other features of the fair include live blue-grass music by a group called the Five Deadly Venons, who also played at last year’s fair; food by Willowtown’s own Iris Café; races for both kids and adults; a Jumpy Castle; and a visit by a fire truck from Engine Co. 224.

Photo: Planners of the 2012 Willowtown Spring Fair are, from left, front row, Elise Pettus, Bill Newbury, Clare Brew, Linda De Rosa and Libby Cooper; and back row, Jeffery Streem and Ben Bankson.

Our Mr. J. and his cam were on hand at Pier 1 yesterday evening for the opening event in the Dance Party series co-sponsored by BRIC Arts Media and Brooklyn Bridge Park. As you can see, Karl got right into the funk groove. Don’t forget, next Thursday it’s Brazilian. Video after the jump.

This in from Notify NYC:

There will be a fireworks display near Liberty Island tomorrow, May 12, at approximately 11:30 p.m.. In case of inclement weather, the display will take place May 13.

The fireworks should be easily visible from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

(Photo: panoramio.com)

The House Tour. The House Tour. The House Tour! More info at the Brooklyn Heights Association website.

There are several activities at Brooklyn Bridge Park this weekend. The Green Team meets tomorrow (Saturday, May 12) from 10:00 a.m. until noon. At the same time, there will be a MillionTreesNYC community tree giveaway on Pier 6, near the foot of Atlantic Avenue.

Also tomorrow, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bike New York will host a free street skills ride for adults and teens (bikes and helmets will be provided for those who need them) at the Pier 1 uplands near the foot of Old Fulton Street. At the same location on Sunday, starting at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Bike New York will give free learn to ride classes for adults and teens. You must pre-register for Bike New York classes through the linked website.

Don’t forget Theater 2020′s Comedy of Errors, tonight and tomorrow (Saturday) at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m., at the Cranberry Street Theater Space, Assumption Church, 55 Cranberry Street.

Photo: Judith Angel for BHA.

Barbra Streisand’s Brooklyn roots are certainly no secret. She was born & raised in the borough and graduated in 1959 from Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush. However, she has not performed publicly in BK since then, some 53 years ago… until now. As the mainstream press has proclaimed, Babs, now 70, is returning home for a concert Thursday October 11, at the spanking new 19,000-seat Barclays Center.

Streisand said, “Brooklyn to me means the Loews Kings, Erasmus, the Yeshiva I went to, the Dodgers, Prospect Park, great Chinese food. I’m so glad I came from Brooklyn‚ down to earth. I guess you can come home again.”

Wonder if home will also mean a stop by the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, where she filmed scenes for 1974 film “For Pete’s Sake,” with Michael Sarrazin.

Tix for the Barclays concert range from $90 to $650, with $1,500 tickets available during pre-sale here. Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark intimated that another night might be added, if tickets fly, as expected. The new Center opens September 28 with a concert by Brooklyn-born Jay-Z. Hmmm, somehow, I don’t think the venue will attract the same audience that night…

Read more about Streisand’s Brooklyn roots in The New York Times here. And scan the full press release announcing Streisand’s appearance below:

The Brooklyn-born and raised, world-acclaimed superstar will perform a concert on Thursday, October 11th, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, the new 19,000-seat sports and entertainment venue.

Streisand will be making a triumphant return to her native borough. Raised in the Flatbush neighborhood and a graduate of Erasmus Hall High School, Streisand will perform publicly for the first time in Brooklyn.

Streisand stated, “Brooklyn to me means the Loews Kings, Erasmus, the Yeshiva I went to, the Dodgers, Prospect Park, great Chinese food. I’m so glad I came from Brooklyn‚ down to earth. I guess you CAN come home again.”

“When I first thought about building an arena in Brooklyn, I always envisioned Barbra Streisand coming home to take center-stage in her native borough,” said Barclays Center majority owner and developer Bruce Ratner. “It’s humbling and almost surreal to welcome arguably the greatest entertainer of all-time to Barclays Center. Barbra is Brooklyn and there’s nowhere more fitting for her to perform. This will be a night to remember.”

“I’m thrilled that all of America will be celebrating one of Brooklyn’s greatest contributions to the world of music, film, television and Broadway this fall when Barbra Streisand comes home to the exciting new Barclays Center,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “They just don’t get any bigger than this daughter of Brooklyn and proud graduate of Erasmus Hall High School, and although she has entertained millions upon millions across the globe for the better part of 50 years, Ms. Streisand will always find a home here in Brooklyn. So, no more tears, music fans‚ Brooklyn’s very own funny girl, Barbra Streisand, will create new memories as the main event this October at Barclays Center!”

“Barbra Streisand in Brooklyn will be a huge moment and a defining experience for Barclays Center,” said Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “We are truly honored to bring Barbra full circle, to the borough where it all started for her, just down Flatbush Avenue from her old neighborhood. We are continuing our goal to bring the best of everything to Barclays Center. Brooklyn, after all, deserves nothing less.”

A reminder: On Thursday, May 10 from 7-10 p.m., Brooklyn Bridge Park will host the “Celebrate Brooklyn!” Dance Party at Pier 1. Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones will perform material from his “The Road From Memphis,” while DJ Rich Medina Rich Medina will warm up the night with a sonic journey of hip-hop, house, Afrobeat, funk & soul.. The best part: This event is free.

BBP reminds us of its “sweeping views, great lawn, dance lessons, beer gardens and bike valet.” More info here.

BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, in partnership with Brooklyn Bridge Park, is presenting a series of free dance parties at Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park the next three Thursday evenings starting at 7:00. The opening event, this Thursday, May 10, features legendary funk keyboardist Booker T. Jones, whose group, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, provided the backbone for Stax Records’ classic Memphis soul sound. Also on the bill is DJ Rich Medina.

The following Thursday, May 17, there will be a Brazilian dance party featuring Nation Beat, Brooklyn’s own Maracatu New York, and DJ Greg Caz. The final dance party, on May 24, will be a Cajun/Zydeco fais do-do with Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience and Jesse Lége & Bayou Brew.

Food and beverages will be available from these food trucks during all the dance parties: Morris Grilled Cheese, Kumquat Cupcakery, Rickshaw Dumplings, Kimchi Taco, and Pizza Moto.

The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will present a screening of Nancy Buirski’s film, The Loving Story, a love story about a couple whose wedding set the stage for the Supreme Court’s decision, in Loving v. Virginia, that struck down statutes prohibiting interracial marriage.

The show begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, and there will be a discussion with Buirski afterward. The event is free with museum admission, which is free for BHS members; for non-members it is $6 for adults, and $4 for seniors over 62, teachers, and students 12 and over (college students must have ID; children under 12 are free).

Don’t forget Theater 2020′s Comedy of Errors, with performances tonight (Friday) and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. More details at the linked post.

Finally, weather permitting, get a view of an astronomical double treat, a “Supermoon” and the eta aquarid meteor shower tomorrow (Saturday) evening. (Image: NASA.)

The 2012 Brooklyn Heights Assn. Landmark House & Garden Tour, which takes place Saturday May 12, has announced the five privately owned historic townhouses that comprise the annual event.

Highlights of the five homes include:
* A four-story townhouse circa 1873, designed in a classical revival style. After decades as a multi-unit building, it was updated by a gut renovation, preserving what few original elements remain. It is now a spacious home to a family of five.

* A three-story brick and sandstone carriage house constructed in the 1870s. During the 1940s, this building was a social club cum gym, owned by a famous boxer. The current owner’s attention to detail is evident throughout this inventively designed family home.

* A Federal-style row house built in 1826. There is an unusual rear addition dating from the Victorian era, featuring stained glass windows, oak paneling and basket-weave floors. Top floor bedrooms feature charming vintage wallpaper and wide plank original pine floors.

* Built in 1848, this Greek Revival townhouse—from the 1890s to early 1900s—was the home and office of Dr. Robert Latou Dickinson, a pioneer in women’s reproductive health, then became the Alpha Chi Ro Fraternity house, and was later rented by church groups during the Second World war as a hostel.

* This grandly proportioned 1856 Renaissance Revival style brownstone offers unmatched views of New York harbor, the lower Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The entrance foyer offers red marble floors, Fortuny-covered walls, Tang dynasty horse and Empire-style pedestals featuring Wedgewood basalt heads of Paris and Mercury.

The go-at-your-own-pace, self-guided House & Garden Tour, from 1-5 p.m. is $40 for general admission, and $30 for BHA members who reserve in advance. Tickets, which support the Brooklyn Heights Assn. are tax-deductible, and available (along with much more info, including interior pics) here.

The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will present a guided tour of its historic building this Thursday evening, May 3, starting at 7:00 p.m. The building, completed in 1881, is noted for its elaborate terra cotta exterior decoration, but its interior is also dazzling, including elaborately patterned tile floors, carved woodwork, and stained glass windows. The Othmer Library is a spectacular space. The building was designed by George B. Post, among whose notable surviving buildings are the New York Stock Exchange and the Wisconsin State Capitol.

The tour is free for BHS members; for non-members it is $6 for adults, and $4 for seniors over 62, teachers, and students 12 and over (college students must have ID; children under 12 are free). There is more information here.

The annual St. Ann’s Puppet Parade—Brooklyn Heights’ own version of a kiddie Mardis Gras—made its way down Montague Street to the Promenade at 1 p.m. Monday, filling the streets with clowns, jugglers, 10-foot-tall marionette puppets and the rat-a-tat of percussion, accompanied by hundreds of pre-school, primary, middle and high school students.

Puppets were created in classes led by St. Ann’s teacher Ronnie Asbell at the private school located at 129 Pierrepont Street. (See a cavalcade of photos below.)

And if you’d like to relive past Puppet Parades via BHB coverage (of course you would): 2011 is here, 2010 here and 2009 here.

Check out video footage from BHB pal “Grumpy Bert” here.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

Notify NYC sez: “Multiple street closures will be in effect throughout Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights tomorrow, Sunday, 4/29/12, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, in support of Walk MS.” More details on the event are here. According to the route map the walk begins at the South Street Seaport, circles around a small part of downtown Manhattan, proceeds across the Brooklyn Bridge to Adams Street, then takes Tillary Street to Cadman Plaza West. It goes south on CPW to Montague, crosses all of Montague to the Promenade, goes north on the Promenade to Columbia Heights, then down Squibb Hill to Old Fulton, and back to the Brooklyn Bridge. No exact time is given for the closure of any streets.

The Park Slope Patch features a series of dramatic photos taken by members of the Prospect Park Track Club, who organized a run to the Promenade Friday from Grand Army Plaza to witness the retired NASA space shuttle Enterprise zip around New York City.

The group joined hundreds of Brooklynites on the Promenade to watch the skies come alive as the Enterprise—piggybacked on top of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft—entered the NYC Harbor from Washington D.C. The space shuttle put on a show for New Yorkers, flying over the Statue of Liberty, past the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum (its ultimate home), up to the George Washington Bridge, then making a U-turn to JFK Airport, where it will be housed until it goes on permanent display.

The run was organized by Prospect Park Track Club VP Michael Ring, who told the Patch, “It’s the thing to do today. We run to see weird and strange things, but today we were able to connect our run to a historic event.”

(Photos: Jon Cooper)

The Space Shuttle Enterprise, aboard a NASA 747, appears over the Brooklyn Heights skyline this morning on its way to JFK Aiport, and eventually the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. (Photo: M. Hermann/BHB)

Photo by M. Hermann/BHB

The overflight of New York City by the space shuttle Enterprise mounted on its 747 carrier, originally scheduled for this past Monday but postponed by weather, has been re-scheduled for tomorrow (Friday, April 27) between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., again weather permitting.

They will fly at low altitudes around the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, accompanied by two T-38 aircraft serving as photo support, and should be easily seen from the Promenade or Brooklyn Bridge Park on the southern part of their route. After completing their overflight, they will proceed to land at John F. Kennedy Airport, which may involve a low altitude overflight of parts of Brooklyn. The exact timing and route of the flight is subject to operational and weather constraints, so no more precise information on timing is available now.

The Brooklyn Heights Association calls to our attention two opportunities for recycling as we do our spring cleaning. There will be an e-waste recycling event the weekend after next at First Unitarian Church, Pierrepont Street between Clinton and Monroe Place. Bring your no-longer-useful electronics to the Church on Saturday, May 5 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 6 from noon to 2:00 p.m. A list of items that will be accepted for recycling is here.

As for old, worn-out clothes, shoes, bedding, linens, hats, handbags, belts, and fabric scraps, you may take these for recycling to the Borough Hall Greenmarket when it is open any Saturday or Thursday. More details here. (Photo: en.wikipedia.org)

The Brooklyn Heights Association’s annual House Tour (the photo was taken in one of the houses on this year’s tour) is coming soon, on Saturday, May 12. You can find more information, and buy tickets, here.

The BHA needs “house volunteers” who “are asked to take a shift, watching rooms to be sure there is no touching, no photo taking, etc.” either from 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. OR from 2:20-5:05 p.m. Volunteer bakers are also needed to make three or four dozen cookies, squares or bars and deliver them in a covered container to Plymouth Church (enter at 75 Hicks) on Friday, May 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. If you would like to be a house volunteer, bake, or both, please e-mail info@thebha.org.

A fireworks display will light the sky tonight—Friday April 20— at 10:30 p.m. from a barge near Liberty Island in New York Harbor, which should make it visible from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. McBrooklyn tips that the display is sponsored by event-planning company AlliedPRA.

(Photo: Archive/July 4, 1859, View from Montague Street with Wall Street Ferry & Pierrepont Stores)

State Senator Daniel Squadron will host his fourth annual Community Convention this Sunday, April 22, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., at the High School of Economics and Finance, 100 Trinity Place (one block west of Broadway, between Cedar and Thames Streets), in downtown Manhattan. The keynote speaker will be MTA chair and Brooklyn Heights resident Joseph Lhota. After the opening ceremonies and keynote speech, you’ll be invited to participate in discussion groups on issues of community concern. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP here, where you’ll also find a list of topics for discussion groups, or call 212-298-5565.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the wonderfully novel Dekalb Market yet, the weekend is coming! This new community destination in Downtown Brooklyn—which was voted Best New York Architecture in 2011 by the New York Observer—is uniquely housed in a collection of salvaged shipping containers, and includes an incubator farm, weekend events, performances and a collection of 60+ eateries and work-sell spaces.

Coming up Saturday April 21 is Spring Cleaning Day, with such specialties as shaves, nails and Eco Living workshops. Sunday April 22 offers an Earth Day Seed & Garden Market and Urban Chicken Workshops. The Dekalb Market, which is open seven days a week through the summer, is located at 138 Willoughby Street and Flatbush Ave in 11201. Much more info is here.

In all, the 2012 season will offer a cornucopia of art, music, food and shopping, as well as the new Dekalb outdoor performance and event space, including a permanent beer & wine garden, “The Dekalb Farm,” dance parties, bike-in movie nights, roller derbies, stores, food shops and outdoor weekend vendors.

(Photo: Dekalb Market)

The next jocular, wonderfully educational Homer Fink’s Hidden Walking Tour takes place this coming Saturday, April 21, at 11 a.m. Learn about the odd, weird, controversial and amusing history of America’s First Suburb over a sprawling 90 minutes of fun, led by the faithful kingpin of the Brooklyn Heights Blog, Cobble Hill Blog and Brooklyn Bugle. More info is available by clicking here.

The forecast for this weekend is for temperatures reaching the 70s and little, if any, chance of showers, so it should be a very good time to see spring blossoms and foliage in Brooklyn Bridge Park (photo), in gardens well tended by Jonathan Landsman and crew beside the Promenade, or in window boxes and gardens along the streets of Brooklyn Heights.

On Sunday, April 15 (you get an extra day two days–thank you, Karl, and the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day holiday–to file tax returns this year) the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra will present a concert at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Clinton and Montague streets (enter from Clinton) starting at 3:00 p.m. The program includes Mussorgsky’s “Songs and Dances of Death”, featuring bass-baritone Mark Peters; Greenhoe’s “Sojourn”; and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony Number Two in e-minor”. Admission is free, but with a suggested donation of $15.

The Brooklyn Heights Association will hold its annual House Tour on Saturday, May 12. More details will be given on BHB when available. The photo, by our own Homer Fink, is from the 2008 tour. There is no assurance that the house shown in the photo will be included in this year’s tour, but the roster of houses open for viewing has consistently been spectacular.

This in from Community Board 2:

Ever wonder why your favorite watering hole doesn’t use its outdoor space or why they won’t let you dance on the bar? Also, why is the trash pick-up always late at night and how does a liquor license get approved? These questions and more will be answered at the community meeting hosted by Community Boards 2 & 6 on April 12, 2012; at 6 p.m.
250 Baltic Street, (Court & Clinton Streets) Auditorium

This is a neutral forum designed to clarify questions, and will be conducted as an informal questions and answer session.

Representatives from State Liquor Authority, city agencies and local precincts will be on hand to answer questions in respect to noise, smoking, outdoor usage, garbage and other related issues.

Unfortunately, drinks will not be served.