This Thursday at 12:30 PM, the Promenade Gardeners are hosting the first of our winter gatherings: Plant Trivia from Brooklyn and Beyond. We’d love to invite interested members of the public to join us for this first class and snacks. We sit, chat, look at photos of plants, and Koren and I ask some tough and not-so-tough questions about plants we interact with in daily life in literature, medicine, popular culture, and our walks on the Promenade. Half of the 90 minute meeting is devoted to plants of the Promenade, with a special emphasis on what was bought and planted last year using funds raised by the Promenade Gardens Conservancy and through our bake sales. Joining the group will give one an early taste of spring and a little extra appreciation for plants in our day to day life. Those who’d like to come should RSVP to the hostess, Koren Volk, at volkkoren@hotmail.com and she will provide location details.

Following up on our inquiry, prompted by reader Andrew Porter, Brooklyn Heights Association Executive Director Judy Stanton got on the phone and found that the City Department of Buildings has no jurisdiction over the billboard (see photo) near the north end of the Promenade, because it is affixed to a building owned by the Transit Authority. Ms. Stanton then called the TA, and was told “that the sign is securely bolted to the wall and is level with the rooftop to minimize wind resistance and was installed under MTA/NYCT structural engineering specification.” Since it is evidently a source of revenue for the cash-strapped TA, it’s unlikely they’ll yield to community pressure to remove it. (Photo: McBrooklyn.)

Update: Federal legislation may provide another means of getting rid of the billboard. See BHB Ten honoree Tony Manheim’s comment on this post.

An open backyard on Henry Street has become an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord for rats and other vermin, with piles of trash, discarded furniture, construction remnants, bottles, bags and broken glass overrunning the one-time manicured outdoor space.

Located behind Montague Street’s Andy’s Chinese restaurant, Dashing Diva nail salon and the Heights Vision Center, and across from Corcoran real estate on Henry, the cluttered dump is easily accessed through an open iron gate. For years, residents have been complaining to landlords and business owners, to no avail, as it continues to accumulate garbage strewn & stacked at liberty.

In the Brooklyn Paper this week, writer Kate Briquelet quotes Brooklyn Heights Assn. executive director Judy Stanton: “It’s third-world disgusting. Everyone walking by can see it from Henry Street. “It’s a dumping ground.”

Longtime neighbor Andrew Porter told the Paper that the shared courtyard is rampant with critters at night, and that passersby apparently regard the grounds as a public landfill. “A few days ago there was a sofa there,” Porter said. “I just wish someone would clean it up.”

Neighbors claim that calls to 311 and business managers have gotten no response, while queries by the Brooklyn Paper to the landlords of the three adjoining businesses—including major Coney Island developer Thor Equities, which owns the salon building— were ignored.

In the 1980s, the grounds housed a memorial garden and fountain honoring the former landlord’s son—until the family moved away. The fountain remains today… stacked with refuse.

Bobby Cruz, former owner of the UPS Store building on Montague Street, took it upon himself to bag some of the garbage earlier this month, in hopes of opening a tapas and wine bar beneath Heights Vision this spring. His intention is to turn part of the yard into outdoor seating for the business. He says he’ll continue to clean, with hopes that flowers will soon replace shards of glass.

New York Times: The highway has also been an irritating neighbor for Lucille Plotz, 85, of Columbia Heights and her husband, Charles, 90. Take, for instance, a recent afternoon inside their apartment. First came the vibrations, then a loud crash; her butter cookies toppled from the counter to the kitchen floor, and the radiator cover dislodged and fell onto a wooden chair.

“If it was properly maintained it wouldn’t be a bother, but now it’s beyond just maintenance,” Mrs. Plotz said.

The article quotes another Heights resident, Bo Rodgers, as saying that when trucks hit bumps “it sounds like a bomb going off.”

Unfortunately, as we previously reported, the State has cancelled environmental studies considering possible options to the present BQE structure that is cantilevered along the bluff below the Promenade and along the east side of Furman Street. Instead, the Department of Transportation has simply committed to make those repairs that are necessary to maintain safety. But, as the article points out, the highway has been under continuous repair since even before it was completed.

Dear Neighbors:

This is an updated reminder of the irregularities of NYC DSNY collection times, due to the consecutive holidays interrupting our usual Monday service.

Re RECYCLING:

If Monday (today) is your regular recycling collection day, please have all recyclables out on the curb tonight for pick up starting at midnight.

Paper will probably be picked up on the midnight to 8 AM shift tonight, and metal/glass/plastics should be picked up on the 6 AM -2 PM shift tomorrow (Tuesday).

Regular garbage will NOT be picked up before Wednesday.

ALSO, PLEASE REMEMBER THE NEXT 3 MONDAY HOLIDAYS WHEN DSNY SERVICE WILL AGAIN BE INTERRUPTED:

1) Martin Luther King, Jr. day – MONDAY, JANUARY 16.
2) Lincoln’s Birthday, observed – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13.
3) President’s Day – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20.
There will be NO garbage collection whatsoever on these days, and Monday recycling service will be skipped for the entire week, or longer.

Any changes in this ‘routine’ will bring another email about trash!

Discarded Christmas trees are not likely to be picked up at all this week, due to DSNY backlogs.

Note: These updates come to me via the Sanitation Department superintendent who is responsible for Brooklyn Heights. Should you experience service problems not referenced in these emails, it would be helpful to let us know by phoning the BHA office at 718-858-9193.

Happy New Year to All!

Judy Stanton, BHA Executive Director

Dear Neighbors:

1) All regular trash will be collected tomorrow (Wednesday), starting possibly at 6 AM. Please disregard what you may be seeing on the DSNY website, and wait until after dark tonight to put your non-recycling trash out on the curb.

2) WEDNESDAY RECYCLING will be collected as per the norm.

3) Friday service will be as per the norm.

4) There will be NO garbage service next Monday, January 2.

5) Residents on streets with MONDAY RECYCLING service will have to wait another week until Tuesday, January 3rd. Monday recycling collection (only) will occur NEXT Tuesday, January 3rd. Please do not put it out on the curb until late Monday night.

6) Regular trash collection will resume Wednesday, January 4th, and you are asked to PLEASE wait until Tuesday after dark to put it on the curb.

Note: The information I sent on Sunday, as well as today’s update, comes from the Sanitation Department superintendent who is responsible for Brooklyn Heights. Unlike whatever you are finding on the DSNY website, BHA emails are neighborhood specific.

I wish all of you the best in 2012!

P.S. New Year’s Eve fireworks will be visible from the Promenade!

Dear Neighbors:

I hope all are enjoying a holiday and had not planned to intrude on celebrations of Christmas Day with news about garbage.

However, as I’ve been seeing that some of the neighbors are putting trash on the curbs – out of habit, I thought I should remind all who may be forgetting this that Monday, December 26 is a holiday for the City Sanitation Department. There will no garbage pick-ups in Brooklyn Heights before Wednesday, December 28, so please refrain from putting trash on the curb before Tuesday night.

Please watch for a follow-up email about recycling collection for the streets which are normally serviced on Mondays.
Given that the next Monday, Jan 2, will also be a Sanitation Dept. holiday, we may be expected to hold back two week’s worth of recylables.

Cheers! Judy Stanton, BHA Executive Director

As a result of these project terminations, all plans for improved capacity or highway replacements have been effectively shelved for decades. This means that the current egregiously negative environmental impacts that these antiquated and crumbling highways have on the thousands of Brooklynites who live near them—or on the millions of roadway users who must travel on them while facing near-constant congestion—will not be substantively addressed for a generation or more. This is absolutely unacceptable and an insult to the residents of Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and New Jersey who live or work near these structures or depend on them to access the region’s commercial core.

Additionally, the termination of these two projects constitutes a colossal waste of time and money. The Gowanus EIS began in 1997 and the EIS for the Cantilever section of the BQE began in 2008. Since then, literally thousands of hours of time by public participants and city and state employees has been invested in stakeholder meetings and in the scoping and planning process. Additionally, millions of dollars have been spent on contracts, data collection, engineers, outreach, and everything else that accompanies environmental review. Terminating these projects tosses nearly all that public money and time away.

Markowitz notes that, in addition to the economic importance of the highway as a route for travel, commutation and commerce, the existing highway structures have negative effects on both public health, because of the fumes generated by stalled traffic, and the value of nearby real estate. He writes that it ought to “be a state and national priority to overhaul and replace these antiquated structures.” He concludes:

I urge your administration to reverse the decision to terminate these projects. You have recently proposed funding infrastructure through the expansion of public-private partnerships including the use of pension fund investments to pay for our roadways and bridges. Although the details of your proposal need to be finalized, I believe it is a great start and should be used to immediately address Brooklyn’s I-278. Additionally, I request that your administration open a new dialogue with other elected officials at the City, State, and Federal levels to find opportunities to revive and continue these projects to the fulfillment of their expressed goals of solving the current traffic, economic, and environmental nightmare they create.

I look forward to receiving a positive response on this matter.

Update: State Senator Daniel Squadron has also asked the Governor to reinstate the BQE study, using funds from the infrastructure bill that just passed the Senate:

I’m asking Governor Cuomo to invest some of that money right here in the district — by moving forward with the rehabilitation of the BQE, funding an incentive program for Lower Manhattan businesses to become more energy efficient, and helping City Tech build a new academic center that will be a resource at the gateway to Brooklyn, while providing even greater opportunities for striving New Yorkers.

Next Monday, December 12 at 10:00 a.m., Congressman Nadler, along with representatives of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, NARAL, Planned Parenthood NYC and others, will assemble on the steps of City Hall to demand action to relieve this hazard to public health. For more information, contact kterenzi@NYLPI.org

Word came late, but there is normal trash pickup today, despite the Veteran’s Day holiday.

Last evening’s Community Meeting got off to an interesting start when Brooklyn Heights resident and long time Brooklyn Bridge Park advocate Tony Manheim asked State Senator Daniel Squadron if, now that in a deal brokered in part by Squadron and Assemblywoman Joan Millman, the State has given control of the Park to the City, he and Millman would consider yielding their nominees’ position on the Park’s board to representatives appointed by the Mayor. He also asked if Squadron thought it now appropriate to have the Park’s management “collapsed into” the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. Squadron said he was “not excited” about giving up his slot on the board, but that Manheim’s ideas were “conceptually interesting.” Another person suggested that, instead of mayoral nominees, the board slots go to community representatives.

Things later took a heated turn when Marsha Rimler, after first saying she was “very disappointed” with Squadron’s handling of the housing-in-the-Park issue, asked Squadron if he would refer to the “board of ethics” (by which she presumably meant the New York State Commission on Public Integrity) the question whether his wife’s job in the Mayor’s office constituted a conflict of interest when he dealt with the City on this issue. Squadron said he considered this question “out of bounds,” and went on to say that he had negotiated zealously with the City and got it to agree to allow tax payments on the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ properties to be used for Park maintenance and operations, which the City had strongly resisted, and to defer any residential construction at Pier 6 until the next mayoral administation. Squadron also said that in his negotiations with the City he had helped to secure many amenities for the Park, including a skating rink, a floating swimming pool, and the Pier 5 “bubble” which, he said, he thought would become a reality despite the lack of responses to what he said was obviously a “flawed” initial Request for Proposals.

David Manning, who moved to the Heights from Manhattan hoping for peace and quiet, raised the issue of helicopter noise. Squadron said he had “worked in good faith” with the operators of the Downtown Heliport to try to find a workable solution, but that “good faith didn’t work.” He has now concluded that only a complete ban on tourist helicopter flights will work and, to groans from the audience, urged everyone to “keep chopping away.” A former Federal Aviation Administration official and Lower Manhattan resident said that this was the first time he had ever advocated curtailing aviation, but he believed that the tourist flights should be ended because they are “unsafe” and do not, contrary to what some City officials have said, contribute anything to the City’s economy because the operators are based in New Jersey and do all maintenance, repairs, refueling and the like there. Squadron added that the assertion that some people come to New York just to take a helicopter ride “doesn’t pass the laugh test.” Judy Stanton, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, said a request for the City’s economic data on the helicopter flights had been made under the Freedom of Information Act. She also said the State Department of Environmental Conservation should monitor both air quality and noise at the heliport. Squadron said this was a good idea.

Squadron noted that the residential parking permits proposal faced a long and tortuous path before it could become reality. First the City Council, following this morning’s (Wednesday) hearing, would have to pass a “home rule message” asking the State for authority to issue the permits. The State Assembly and Senate would then have to pass enabling legislation, which would then go to the Governor for signature. If the legislation was enacted, the City Council would then have to pass an ordinance putting the scheme into effect. He said he viewed this as a quality of life issue, because “people driving around looking for parking spaces” has negative effects on congestion, safety, and air quality. He said Mayor Bloomberg had supported the idea when it was coupled with congestion pricing, but that the failure of congestion pricing to pass meant he no longer favored resdential permits. A story in today’s New York Post says that Brooklyn GOP State Senator Marty Golden opposes residential parking permits on the grounds that they constitute a “tax,”and that anyone should be allowed to park where they wish (Update: Could this also be because his rather convoluted district has more people who park their cars in Brooklyn Heights to get to the subway than has people from out of the area parking on their streets?) He said that the proposal would never pass the GOP controlled Senate. The same article quotes Bloomberg as now being undecided on the issue, noting that some residents favor the permits while some merchants oppose them. Update: The “home rule message” passed the City Council’s Committee on State and Federal Legislation today.

Transportation related issues dominated the rest of the discussion. Among the issues raised were: restoration of bus service over the Brooklyn Manhattan Bridge, improvement of security at the High Street subway station, better sevice on the G train, which Squadron said was the next line he would press the MTA to improve, and safety at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, where one person present said a cupcake vending truck creates a hazardous condition for pedestrians crossing.

Squadron also said he supports the campaign to establish a public middle school to serve students from Brooklyn Heights and nearby neighborhoods. He concluded by urging everyone to attend his next Community Convention, to be held early next year.

This Friday, October 21 and Sunday, October 23, from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. both days, Brooklyn Bridge Park will present a Fall Colors Tour.

Autumn is especially beautiful at Brooklyn Bridge Park! Join Rebecca McMackin, the park horticulturalist, for a walk on Pier 1 and see the beautiful fall colors in the park’s flowers, trees and perennials. Ms. McMackin will talk about the park’s diverse planting palette, the organic maintenance of the landscape and the role of bees and birds in pollinating these striking specimens.

The tours are free, but attendance is limited, so please reserve in advance by e-mailing to brooklynbridgepark@bbpnyc.org . Tours begin at the entrance to Pier 1, near the foot of Old Fulton Street; there will be a tent.

Because of an intervening commitment, by the time I got to the Poplar Street Community Garden the folks were packing up their gardening equipment after a hard afternoon’s productive work. But some workers were still busy there: I’ve included this photo in honor of BHB reader Lois, whose husband was a beekeeper.

Early in the morning I’d heard a rumor that #Occupy Wall Street was relocating to Cadman Plaza. That didn’t seem to make much sense, but when I got there I saw a large crowd assembled around some tents on the Cadman Plaza East side. As I approached, I noticed that lots of the people were wearing pink. It proved to be a rest stop on the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer.

As your correspondent returned from his morning walk, he found Jonathan Landsman, the Promenade Gardener, and a Parks Department crew, unloading plants from a truck. Some of these, along with bulbs, are to be planted tomorrow (Saturday, October 15) , which happens to be It’s My Park Day. If you would like to lend a hand, Jonathan asks that you join him at the Montague Street entrance to the Promenade at 9:00 a.m. Work will be done by 11:00 a.m.

If you’re interested in helping in the Promenade gardens through the fall season, you can meet Jonathan and the rest of the crew every Tuesday morning at 9:30 at the Montague Street entrance for a couple of hours of satisfying work. For more information, e-mail promgarden@aol.com

For the really energetic, tomorrow offers two opportunities for gardening work. As we previously reported, the folks who tend the Poplar Street Community Garden are looking for volunteers to help from noon until 3:00 p.m. So, you can help on the Promenade in the morning, grab a quick lunch (perhaps at the Tutt Cafe, which is on the way from the Promenade to the Poplar Street Garden), then pitch in at Poplar Street in the afternoon. You’ll get some good exercise, and feel very virtuous.

The gardeners who tend to the Poplar Street Community Garden, located at the northwest corner of Poplar and Hicks streets, are having their annual Fall Work Day this Saturday, October 15, from noon to 3:00 p.m.

Please join us as we ready the garden for winter and spring. We welcome your good company and helping hands to plant, prune, and weed! Come join us for an afternoon outdoors breathing fresh garden air and enjoying a bit of garden heaven! Tools and Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, e-mail poplargarden@gmail.com

According to Senator Squadron:

Yesterday’s tragedy is another clear sign: nonessential helicopters in Manhattan don’t make sense for passengers, pilots, or local residents. My colleagues and I have long called for better regulation of helicopters in New York. There are still many questions about yesterday’s flight. The fact that this helicopter was a privately-run tour from a heliport that was not supposed to run tours shows that today’s regulations don’t work. Simply put, nonessential flights in and out of Manhattan pose too great a risk.

Assemblywoman Millman said:

Yesterday’s unfortunate accident again demonstrates the urgent need to immediately end tourist helicopter tours. We have witness[ed] too many incidents. The City claims these tours generate needed funds, but at what price! Our sympathy for the Nicholson family who lost their daughter Sonia Marra Nicholson in this horrific crash.

Council Member Levin added:

Yesterday’s accident was a horrific and unnecessary tragedy. My deepest condolences go out to all those who were affected by the accident. As our communities have been saying for years, sightseeing and other nonessential helicopters are not just nuisances, they are dangerous. It is time for the city to create a real helicopter policy that protects the safety of both New Yorkers and the millions of tourists who visit our city every year. It is time for a total ban of nonessential helicopters.

Twitter user/Brooklyn Heights resident @estwhile tweets Thursday:

Either there’s a skunk hanging out at the #BrooklynHeights #promenade or ppl have been smoking crazy amounts of weed on my corner all day.

We’ve also noticed a steady flow of folks toking on “Mary Jane” in the neighborhood recently. Have you?

A BHB tipster writes us that the Parks Department is spraying RoundUp, a pesticide recently in the news for reportedly causing birth defects and other issues. Note that many of these findings have been disputed, so let’s not get all Jenny McCarthy about this yet:

Parks has been spraying Round-Up in Cadman Park….I stopped in the office there today and was told by a Parks employee that it was necessary to “kill weeds that grow in the cracks of the pathways” but the announcement which was taped to a few spots on the fences says the “specific sites” are “horticulture areas, planted sites, and cobblestone paths”.

If you do a web search, you will quickly see that this Monsanto pesticide is regarded by many as bad for children, anyone with a liver, and pregnant women.

In the rain this afternoon, I took home one of the signs which was getting waterlogged. I will email you a photo of it, or you can see it in situ on a fence in the north side of Cadman Park….it’s pink and taped onto the fence. I think the neighborhood should know that Parks is spraying a controversial chemical in what is really our backyard. Battery Park City gardeners use no pesticides and they have a really beautiful park.

Asked if the city could limit the number of flights from the Downtown Heliport, Mr. Nachowitz said there is a “capacity limit,” but didn’t specify what that limit is. At one point, there was a mention of 200 flights having occurred daily; asked if this meant a total of 400 takeoffs and landings, Mr. Nachowitz said, “Not necessarily.” The EDC representatives said the limits on flight paths were being effectively enforced, with four pilots having been hit with $1,000 fines for violations. Mr. Nachowitz urged residents to use the 311 reporting system, specifying the helicopter’s color, tail number and location. Asked about the effectiveness of such complaints in determining violations leading to fines had occurred, he said there were ways of corroborating 311 complaints so that violations could be verified.

A downtown Manhattan resident who serves on the C.B. 1 Financial District Committee raised the issue of pollution from helicopter engine exhaust, which he said is blown into the streets and is hazardous to residents’ health. He asked if the EDC was willing to cooperate with the EPA and the Committee in studying this problem; the EDC representatives said that was possible.

Mr. Smith, brandishing a sheaf of computer printouts, said that a few minutes of web research had produced numerous examples of safety violations by the helicopter industry, and that the industry was notorious for its casual approach to safety. He said that continued operation of tourist flights from the Downtown Heliport assured that there would be a serious accident.

A representative from State Senator Daniel Squadron’s office said that the Senator had been involved in negotiating the agreement on limiting tourist flights, but had now concluded, as had other elected officials, that the issues of noise and safety could not be satisfactorily addressed except by a complete ban on tourist flights. The EDC representatives responded that such a ban would simply mean that the flights would continue, but that they would originate in New Jersey, thereby eliminating the City’s ability to regulate flight paths. Ms. Stanton pointed out that moving the flights to New Jersey would be a good result from the perspective of Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan residents, as it would eliminate the noise of takeoffs and landings, as well as helicopters warming up or idling on the Heliport.

We have also, courtesy of the BHA, received a copy of a letter, dated yesterday, from U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez to Mayor Bloomberg, urging the Mayor to ban tourist helicopter flights. Noting the efforts to mitigate the noise and safety issues over the past year, she said that it is now evident to her, as well as to state and city officials who have also been involved, that “incremental steps will not address the core problem.” Her letter notes that the noise problem arises not just from helicopters in flight, but from those doing the mandatory half hour warm-up before takeoff. The water around the Heliport amplifies the sound of the helicopters’ rotors, increasing the impact on nearby residents. Her letter also stresses the safety issues, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t regulate flights under 1,500 feet and pointing to a fatal collision that occurred in August of 2009. Her letter continued:

All concerned parties have worked to find compromise, but the solutions to date have not addressed the underlying problem — namely, that helicopter tours are a bad fit in such a densely populated urban area. The city’s tourism would not suffer if tourist helicopter rides were suspended. In fact, the quality of life and neighborhood tourist destinations on the ground would improve. Tourists can find equally spectacular views of the city skyline at Brooklyn Bridge Park or the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and other world-famous destinations, without noise that disrupts the community.

The Promenade Gardeners, who are responsible for the upkeep of the gardens and for the floral displays we enjoy, are holding a bake sale this Saturday, June 4, from 11:00 a.m. “until the last crumb,” at the Montague Street entrance to the Promenade.

Gardeners are great bakers. Drop by and we’ll prove it. Every cake, cookie,tart, tartlet and muffin was baked by our neighbors, the volunteer gardeners who keep the Promenade blooming. Now they need funds to keep up the good work. Every munch helps.

Gothamist: Luckily for those who still choose to look really cool and smell terrible, state parks are exempted from the ban because of Freedom, so you’ll still be able to light up at the East River State Park and the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Nothing pairs better with that view of Manhattan than a cool, Carolina smoke.

Well, we thought, BBP isn’t a state park, though it’s not exactly a city park, either; at least it’s not under the jurisdiction of the City Parks Department, and has its own rules, though it tries to keep them in conformity with rules applying to city parks. So, we called the Park’s offices, and spoke with spokesperson Ellen Ryan, who said it was BBPC’s intent to amend its rules to comply with the city park rules on smoking. Park personnel, she said, will be instructed to enforce th no-smoking rule.

A total ban on tourist helicopter flights over New York City is the only way to resolve the noise and safety issues these flights cause, according to elected officials and local residents who gathered at Pier 6 on a gloomy, drizzly (and therefore blessedly chopper-free) afternoon. Previous attempts to restrict flight paths so as to lessen the noise impact on Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook have failed because, as speakers noted, the East River is too narrow to provide sufficient distance between the choppers and Brooklyn to mitigate the noise. Video added. Watch after the jump.

(l-r) NYC Councilmember Steve Levin, U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler and NYS Senator Daniel Squadron ponder the ear sign protesting helicopter noise over Brooklyn Heights

Rep. Nadler said that elimination of tourist flights would not negatively affect the City’s tourist industry because “no one comes to New York to take a helicopter ride.” He said the money spent on such rides would be better spent on shows, restaurants, and shopping. Sen. Squadron said relatives visiting Brooklyn had been appalled by the noise, which ruined visits to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Rep. Nydia Velazquez noted that views of the City skyline as good as could be seen from a chopper were available from Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Perhaps the most poignant remarks came from a Vietnam veteran and Red Hook resident, who said the constant helicopter noise was causing him to have flashbacks. Others who spoke included Assemblywoman Joan Millman, City Council Member Steve Levin, and Brooklyn Heights Association Executive Director Judy Stanton.

E-waste recycling continues today at First Unitarian Church, 121 Pierrepont Street (corner of Monroe Place), from noon to 2:00 p.m. All types of discarded electronic equipment, except TVs, will be accepted.

This from the BHA:

Every 4 or 5 years, the Brooklyn Heights Association organizes a tree survey in preparation for pruning and planting where it’s most needed in the neighborhood. Funds that have been donated by BHA members and earmarked for tree care are then used to hire a certified arborist. The trees and tree beds most needing attention will be triaged and taken care of as funds permit.

We will meet for a brief orientation at the beginning of the shift you choose. T-shirts, clip-boards, a map, and tree survey forms will be handed out. The volunteers will break into pairs or small groups to work together. We have divided the neighborhood up into small, manageable sections of 2 to 5 blocks each. Each pair or group will survey the trees and tree beds of one of these sections.

If you would like to participate, please contact BHA governor Inger Yancey at inger@brooklyngreenroof.com by this Wednesday, May 18, and tell her your name, telephone number, and the shift for which you are available. The meeting location will be e-mailed to you on Thursday, May 19.

There will be a rally on Pier 6, Brooklyn Bridge Park, this Sunday, May 15, starting at 1:00 p.m., to demand an end to all non-essential (i.e. tourist) helicopter flights from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Local elected officials, including Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senators Daniel Squadron and Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and City Council Members Steve Levin and Brad Lander, will be there. Thanks to Judy Stanton, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Heights Association and Sen. Squadron for alerting us to this. Note: this post originally said Pier 1. Thanks to reader Squiggy I’ve corrected it to give the proper location, Pier 6

Julie Feinstein

Julie Feinstein has lived in Brooklyn Heights for 20 years, she thinks, but it is only in the last 18 months or so that she’s been able to really enjoy whatever it is that comprises this neighborhood’s urban wildlife.

“This park has been fabulous,” she said, standing in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s grassy Pier One. She particularly enjoys the ponds, where she has seen various birds, insects, and the occasional muskrat. Last year, she watched as the first generation of dragonflies colonized one of the ponds.

“I have photos of them mating in the ponds, and laying eggs,” Feinstein said, excitedly. “The male and female get attached. I watched for an hour!”

The ponds in Brooklyn Bridge Park are also home to pond skaters, sometimes called skimmers, which are those itsy-bitsy things that make ripples on the surface of the water. “They communicate with those ripples,” Feinstein explained, adding, “There’s a whole universe on their scale down there, with rivalries, and death battles, and rapes, and all kinds of things going on.”

Pond skater

Before Pier One opened in 2010, Feinstein, a collections manager at the American Museum of Natural History, would amble down to the piers under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in search of wildlife. “It was so icky,” she admits, in retrospect. “You wouldn’t want to go there. People were camped out there.”

But dealing with ickiness is part of Feinstein’s job: the collection she manages for the AMNH consists of more than 70,000 samples of perishable animal tissue. With three masters degrees under her belt—in botany, tropical ecology, and biology—and stints living in tropical French Guyana and the cloud forests of Taiwan, Feinstein has encountered beings much rarer than those that populate the Heights.

“I’ve probably held in my hands things that haven’t been named yet,” Feinstein, who blogs at UrbanWildlifeGuide.net, said matter-of-factly. (For the record, she had no trouble naming the golf ball-sized Carpenter bee that swooped in front of my face during our walk, as my life flashed before my eyes.)

Song sparrow

Besides the buggies, Brooklyn hosts all manner of birds: mockingbirds; robins; cardinals; starlings; song sparrows; and the ubiquitous pigeon, to name just a few. On walks over the Brooklyn Bridge, Feinstein’s eagle eye (pun intended) has even spotted peregrine falcons nesting atop the Manhattan tower.

“I’ll stop to look at them,” she mused of the “big, beautiful, stripey” falcons. “And no one else sees it!”

The waters off Pier One are home to a variety of ducks, and on her Saturday morning walks Feinstein has witnessed Gadwalls and Red-breasted Mergansers floating around. She described the latter as “funny-looking,” and “fancy,” adding, “With binoculars, you would say, ‘Wow, I never knew such a thing would live in a city river.’”

Muskrat in BBP pond

Mammals also inhabit urban areas, like the coyotes, raccoons, opossums, and bunny rabbits of Central and Prospect Parks, and the mice and rats of the subway. In her book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, Feinstein notes that foxes can be found in cities throughout North America, though rarely in New York.

Where there are humans there will always be bugs, birds, and other beasts, regardless of the measures people take to ward them off. Brooklyn Heights residents are, in Feinstein’s opinion, lucky to have the treasure trove that is (apparently) Brooklyn Bridge Park at our disposal; even if just for the odd muskrat viewing, or Carpenter bee invasion.

She added, knowingly, “People are dying for animals to communicate with.”

Make sure to check out Julie’s book:

]]> http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/28982/feed 0 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/28962 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/28962#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 12:51:55 +0000 Claude Scales http://brooklynheightsblog.com/?p=28962 A city-wide ban on smoking in parks, including the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, goes into effect Monday, May 23.

NBC New York: In two weeks, the parking lot — whether at Yankee Stadium or outside one of the city’s numerous parks — becomes one of the last legal escapes for cigarette smokers. Central Park will be off limits. So will the Brooklyn Heights promenade, Coney Island boardwalk and the pedestrian plaza outside Macy’s.

According to the NBC report, enforcement of the ban will be left up to citizens, “who will ask people to follow the law and stop smoking.” Violators may be fined $50, but will a citizen’s arrest be necessary?

Yesterday morning, your correspondent joined with members of the Brooklyn Bird Club, led by President Peter Dorosh, and others, for a guided tour of bird life that can be seen on or from Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Peter began with a short talk about what birds could be seen here. Since Pier 1 opened just over a year ago, 56 species have been spotted there. Many of them, he said, are migratory birds passing through on the way north in spring, or south in fall. Only thirty percent of birds survive each migration, most falling because of natural or human-made barriers in their path. The increasing number of human-made barriers, such as tall buildings and cell phone towers, means more birds are being lost.

Shortly after beginning our walk, we spotted several common grackles, including the one in the photo above, showing the iridescence of its feathers as it takes flight. (More photos and text after the jump.)

On reaching the south end of the pier, we saw two gadwall ducks swimming past the pilings.

An American black duck was poking around in the water between the pilings and the rocks at the edge of the salt marsh.

Three brants (small geese) came swimming through the same stretch of water.

A double crested cormorant dried its wings while resting on a piling. Unlike ducks and geese, cormorants don’t have water-repellent feathers, so they must dry off after each plunge. I got a much closer photo of a cormorant four years ago, in what is now part of Brooklyn Bridge Park further north.

A herring gull alit on a nearby piling, as the cormorant watched.

A great black-backed gull soared overhead.

Perched on a branch, an American robin filled the air with song.

Unfortunately, a few moments later, this whirlybird, one of many that flew near the Park, drowned out the robin’s song.

“Hey! What’s that over there?”

“Just a starling.” Starlings are an invasive species; the many millions distributed widely over North America today are all descended from forty pairs brought from Britain and released in Central Park by a man who wanted it to be a home to every kind of bird mentioned in the works of Shakespeare.

So, thirteen species (the ones shown above, as well as three kinds of sparrow and a mourning dove, all of which eluded my camera, and not counting rock pigeons, another invasive species) in an hour and a half walk. Not bad.