The photo above (C. Scales for BHB) is of a tree downed by yesterday’s high winds, lying across part of the Montague Street entrance to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, next to Two Montague Terrace. We are told another tree was downed further north, near the Promenade, a day or two earlier.

The intrepid Mary Frost of the Brooklyn Eagle spotted this collapsed construction fence at 100 Clark Street, a location that has had more than its share of problems.

This coming Monday, April 22, is Earth Day. The Brooklyn Heights Association has notified us of many celebratory activities this Saturday, April 20 taking place near Brooklyn Heights. The Atlantic Avenue BID is having a celebration on Hoyt Street between Atlantic Avenue and State Street from noon until 3:00 PM on Saturday. The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership will host many activities at a car-free Albee Square from 11:00 AM until 3:30 PM. Nearby, at City Point, there will be a Wind Energy Party for Families from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. Governors Island will have activities for all ages from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Governors Island is accessible from Brooklyn Heights via ferry, leaving from and arriving at Pier Six, Brooklyn Bridge Park, near the foot of Atlantic Avenue. The schedule is here.

On Sunday, April 21 from 10:00 AM until noon the Cadman Plaza Conservancy will hold a Mulchfest at the Juneteenth Grove, Cadman Plaza West at Tillary Street. Gloves and supplies will be provided.

The weather forecast has become more optimistic for Saturday, with rain expected to be heaviest late Friday into the night, but decreasing Saturday morning, so the Montague BID is going ahead with plans for Open Streets Montague this Saturday, October 21, from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. One feature of this Saturday’s Open Streets will be the grand opening of Barry’s Bootcamp fitness studio at 200 Montague, between Clinton and Henry. during which you can “get samples from their Fuel Bar, meet the Celsius team, get free supplies, and spin the wheel to win special Barry’s giveaways all day long.” There will also be a Hype Dance Party and Giant Game Zone for kids, a Cocktail Co-Op for adults, music by the Morrisania Band Project, a giveaway of lawn and leaf bags for composting, and “no tricks, just treats” discounted services and products from the European Wax Center at 130 Montague, between Clinton and Henry. There’s more information here.

The Montague BID reports that, despite last Saturday’s rain, people showed up at the Bloodmoble and donated sufficient blood to save 81 lives.

Walking through Brooklyn Heights today, Martha Foley saw two instances of trees uprooted by high winds from last night’s storm, including one, in her photo, that damaged a window at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral.

According to Channel 2 CBS News New York, our air quality, because of smoke and dust being conveyed south from wildfires in Canada, is at a dangerously bad level. Everyone, especially those with health conditions that make them more sensitive, should remain indoors as much as possible. Those who go outside should wear masks of the M-95 type or better. Your correspondent took the photo above as a news crew were packing up their gear at about 6:00 pm. According to Notify NYC alternate side parking rules are suspended tomorrow (Thursday, June 8).

The next Open Streets Montague is scheduled for Saturday, August 6. We’ll give you more details as it approaches.

After last week’s cancellation because of rain, Open Streets Montague is back for this Saturday, May 14. Rain is expected, mostly from early morning until about 1:00 PM, but it shouldn’t be anything like last Saturday’s washout. Fortunately, the events don’t start until about 1:00, as shown on this schedule provided by the Montague Street BID. Note in particular L’Appartement 4F’s ribbon cutting on their Montague Street store, between Henry and Hicks, scheduled for 1:00 PM.

The Annual Meeting of the Brooklyn Heights Association will, as we previously reported, be held on line this coming Thursday, February 24, starting at 7:00 PM. We now have details on the agenda for the meeting, along with contact info.

Community service awards will be presented to “the founders of the Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge,” who were also recognized by us as part of the BHB Ten, and to Amerika Williamson “for spearheading the annual tree lighting ceremony on the Promenade.” There will also be a discussion between two prominent journalists, Eugene Linden and Leslie Kaufman, “about climate change and what must be done now to address it.”

As we noted before, the meeting is free and open to all, member or not. If you want to attend, go to this page on the BHA website and click on the link. You will be asked to fill out a very simple registration form, then given a link to the Zoom meeting.

This coming weekend — late Friday evening, February 18 to early Monday morning, February 21 — there will be no service in either direction to or from the 4 and 5 platforms at Borough Hall, as 4 trains will not be serving Brooklyn and 5 trains do not normally serve Brooklyn on weekends. For those traveling to or from stations in Brooklyn, 3 trains will be making all 4 stops between Borough Hall and New Lots Avenue. 2 trains will be running on the 3 line between Franklin Avenue-Medgar Evers College and Crown Heights-Utica Avenue. Free shuttle buses will provide service between Franklin Avenue and Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College and at the Nostrand Avenue station. Also keep in mind that there is no 2 or 3 service at Clark Street while elevator repairs continue. There will be no Manhattan bound service at Court Street or the N/R platforms at Jay Street-MetroTech all weekend, including Monday, February 21 (President’s Day) until early morning Tuesday, February 22.

The following week — early morning Monday, February 21 to late evening Friday, February 25 — each late night to early morning there will be no Manhattan bound service at Court Street or the N/R platforms at Jay Street.

These are the planned service changes directly affecting service at local stations. Always check MTA Info for unplanned service changes that may affect local service or service on other parts of your trip, or for planned service changes that affect stations to or from which you may be traveling. Keep in mind that winter weather has been a factor, so unplanned changes may be frequent.

For a mere $25 you can stand on the roof and enjoy one cocktail on ice while admiring “incredible views of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.” Should you not have come with adequate winter clothing, “1 Hotels partnered with Moose Knuckles to provide luxury coats for visitors to borrow for their time outside.” If you want to go first class, get together with some friends and get a “VIP Table” – $200 or $50 per person – carved from ice, with ice sofas and stools. Along with your cocktail you’ll get “a caviar amuse-bouche, sustainably sourced from Pearl Street Caviar.”

Should this all sound a bit over the top sybaritic, know that

1 Hotels has also partnered with Oceanic Global, a non-profit aimed to protect the oceans. A percentage of proceeds from The Polar Lounge will benefit Oceanic Global’s educational programs and industry solutions.

Of course, if you want to skip the freezing rooftop, you can simply contribute to Oceanic Global directly.

Snow is predicted to start falling at about 4:00 AM Friday, January 7 and continue until about 10:00 AM. Accumulation is expected to be fairly heavy – 3 to 4 inches. Alternate side parking rules are suspended Monday to facilitate snow removal, but parking meter rules remain in effect.

This time, it looks like it’s for real.

Update: the latest predictions are that we will see little, if any, snow. Say goodbye to the mild-for-January temperatures; they will be plunging tonight. Tomorrow – Monday, January 3 – they are expected to remain in the 20s all day. Snow is predicted to start falling at about noon and continue until late afternoon. Accumulation is expected to be only a half to one inch, but it will be on the ground for a while as temperatures will stay below freezing. Alternate side parking rules are suspended Monday to facilitate snow removal, but parking meter rules remain in effect.

Brooklyn Bridge Park is presenting two on line weather and climate related events for children and adults this week. This Wednesday, November 18 from 11:00 a.m. to noon BBP’s Virtual Storytime, presented in conjunction with Brooklyn Public Library, will feature a weather related story and craft activity. There’s more information here, and you can register here.

On Thursday, November 19 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., BBP will present, as part of its Virtual Open Hours program, a family friendly talk from its Environmental Education Center on weather and climate. There’s more information here, and you can register here.

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

Also, please share your photos of other downed trees, etc. If you’ve suffered any damage to your property, you can report it here. Click on “Read full story” to get the link.

Sandy’s center passed offshore from us; this drove a phenomenally high tidal surge at the city, flooding lower lying areas and subway tunnels. As of now, weather pundits are predicting that Isaias — maybe we can learn to pronounce the name before it hits — is likely to make landfall south of here, which will dampen its force, and its center may pass close to here, by which time its strongest winds will have been reduced to about 50 mph, meaning it will no longer be a hurricane. We’re likely to have lots of wind and rain, maybe almost as much as in the video, but not the disastrous flooding we got from Sandy. New York City’s “Know Your Zone” website will give up to date information, and there’s more information here.

Today was a scorcher; tomorrow and Monday look to be more of the same, until the predicted high falls to a “balmy” eighty two on Tuesday. [Update: it didn’t.] If you or someone you know is in need of relief, the city has opened “cooling centers” in all five boroughs. The nearest to here is Wyckoff Gardens, at 280 Wyckoff Street, between Nevins Street and Third Avenue. Know someone in another part of the city who may need relief? There’s a cooling center finder here.

This photo, taken from your correspondent’s window this afternoon, shows how the winds that have battered Brooklyn Heights this winter and early spring have ripped the flag that flies at the Montague Street entrance to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

Not “cool” in the sense of “hip”, though we may be a little of that (at least Montague Street gets name-checked in a Bob Dylan song), but in terms of ambient temperature. Right now, as I write this, that’s 81 degrees Fahrenheit; not quite as bad as it’s been lately. According to Curbed NY, citing a study by Localize.city, the Heights is one of the four coolest neighborhoods in the City. The others are Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights, and the Concourse in the South Bronx. What all have in common, according to the Curbed piece, is proximity to parks. It notes the Heights’ proximity to Brooklyn Bridge Park, but observes the park’s lack of mature trees. It doesn’t mention the phalanx of trees along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (photo, by C. Scales), which certainly have some effect, along with our many street trees and other abundant greenery.

Due to expected inclement weather on Saturday, the Pierrepont
Playground Halloween Parade has been moved to Sunday, October 28th at
10:30am.

We hope to see you there! Volunteers are sill needed, so if you’d like to help out, you can sign-up here. And, please help spread the word about the new date

They still need spooky sweets, creepy cupcakes, and fresh eyeballs for the bake sale, as well as people to oversee the tables. Come on down this Sunday! And hopefully the big storm doesn’t take out the BQE!

We also have word that alternate side of the street parking rules are suspended, although you still have to feed the meters.

Addendum: We’ve just gotten notification that all Brooklyn Public Library branches are closed tomorrow, January 4.

The New Year’s Fireworks will go off at the stroke of midnight, just as the ball is dropping at Times Square. They will be launched from near Liberty Island, and so will be easily visible from the Promenade, or from Heights rooftops. Unfortunately, the forecast temperature at that time is fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. Dress for warmth!

Who better to know than the Eagle’s Mary (ahem!) Frost, who found the sign at TD Bank, near the corner of Montague and Court streets, registering a temperature of seventeen degrees today. She cites a 2013 New York Times story that declared Montague and Court “the windiest intersection in all of New York City.” My nominee, because I encounter it more frequently, would be Montague and Hicks (alternatively, since I live on Montague, Remsen and Hicks), where the sheer slab of the Bossert captures the prevailing wind from the west, arriving unimpeded from New Jersey, and dumps it with a vengeance on adjoining stretches of Hicks, Montague, and Remsen. According to Mary’s story, the winds at Montague and Court are worse because they form a “vortex.” I should check this out, though I’m not eager.

Anyway, dress warmly, with lots of layers, and stay inside as much as you can. Unfortunately, the cold weather is predicted to last through New Year’s Eve and beyond, which will put a damper on fireworks watching.

Saturday’s steady rain turned a large portion of Squibb Park’s surface into an impromptu wading pool, enjoyed by many on Sunday.

Photo: Claude Scales

This in from Notify NYC:

Notification issued 5/13/17 at 9:00 AM. There will be a fireworks display near the Statue of Liberty tonight, 5/13, at approximately 11:30 PM. In the event of inclement weather, the fireworks display will take place on 5/14.

Given the forecast, I’m betting on tomorrow.

Update: Looking at the radar weather map has convinced me that, contrary to predictions, the rain, or most of it, should be over in a few hours (it’s now 5:05 PM), so we may well have fireworks tonight. According to the NYC Fireworks Displays site, the fireworks are sponsored by “NECO Awards.” A further web search revealed:

The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) which pays homage to the immigrant experience and the contribution made to America by immigrants and their children. The medals are awarded to native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens.