Congresswoman Yvette Clark Leaves Community Waiting, Wanting

Last night Conresswoman Yvette Clark (D-NY) held a community roundtable last night at Christ Church, courtesy of the Cobble Hill Association. After showing up half an hour late, the Congresswoman gave updates on topics ranging from joblessness to health care to housing. After a short discussion on health care, the discussion moved to the topic that everyone knew it would, Superfunding of the Gowanus Canal.

Congresswoman Clark explained her (non) position thusly: The Superfund process is slow, and the EPA currently does not have enough money to complete the process (this is debatable). The Mayor's plan (which itself lacks many details), will be faster and will include private sector money. She claimed that she is still waiting for details to emerge on both plans before endorsing either plan. See some of her comments in the video at the bottom.

The vast majority of those there endorsed Superfund designation and peppered the Congresswoman with questions about why she refused to endorse Superfund status. She kept on repeating that in fact, she had no endorsed EITHER plan. What she failed to realize was that in fact, by not endorsing the Superfund designation, she was implicitly endorsing the Mayor's Plan, or, at the very least, supporting those who oppose Superfund designation.

The rest of the night was spent with the Congresswoman attempting to straddle the fence on the issue, and with her parrying the citizen's concerns. While composed and cool under pressure, at a few points, she and her staff did break down and begin bantering with residents.

Congresswoman, the issue is simple. It will soon be a year since the issue has been raised. On one side of the issue are residents, your voting constituents. On the other side, people who stand to make loads and loads of money.

Who will you support?

More detailed writeup at Pardon Me For Asking, with additional video.

The Beer Man of Bay Ridge

A friend and fellow fisherman recently authored an article for the Brooklyn Paper on a new specialty beer store in Bay Ridge. Although not directly Carroll Gardens related, it is still a fun read.
 
"Dharmesh Chokshi’s new BR Specialty Beer Store offers 500 other bottles of beers for the rest of us.

“All of our beers were rated 95 percent or higher on Beeradvocate.com,” Chokshi said, adding that he spent considerable time roaming around some of the borough’s best bars before putting together his own shopping list.

As a result, BR’s offerings extend well beyond the full line of popular alt-brews like Dogfish, Rogue and Chimay to add organic craft beers and Belgian ales, not to mention an extensive line of wintertime strong brews that come in at more than eight percent alcohol."

For more by Mike, check out Lines in the Street.

A Life In The Gowanus Houses

Many newcomers to Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill (and, lets face it, many of the natives) avoid the Gowanus Houses. Sure, they're projects, but as projects go, they're not that bad. The New York Times has a nice little piece on one life in the Gowanus Houses, and her impact on the Drill Team the "Gowanus Wildcats".

"Ms. Flowers, now 51 and a facilitator at an East New York post office, still lives in the three-bedroom apartment where she grew up. And a third generation is in residence: the apartment is also home to her son, Darryl, 31, who works at a consulting and technology firm. (Ms. Flowers is engaged to his father, a longtime friend.) 

Ms. Flowers, who pays about $1,000 in rent, is not sure how much her parents paid when they arrived, but she could check because she has saved all the old receipts. “I hardly throw anything away,” she admitted. “You name it, it’s around here somewhere.” 

Over the years, her life has been brushed by the sorrow and disarray that is sadly commonplace in many of the city’s public housing complexes. She does what she can to fight back." 

Sometimes we lose track of the fact that old timers live everywhere, even the pjs. Click through and read about a life that is so close and yet so far from the Carroll Street F Train stop.