SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

The Bay Improvement Group’s (BIG) President, Steve Barrison, said that the BayFest 2010 Planning Meeting on December 2 was “great”, and invited anyone else who is interested in helping out with the planning for Sheepshead Bay’s Waterfront “Party” to join in the next meeting.

Here are the details for the next volunteer and planning meeting happening the Wednesday, with a message from the group:

BayFest2010 planning meeting for all interested VOLUNTEERS for our 19th BayFest!

Wednesday, December 16 at 8 p.m. at The Golden Gate Inn
located at the intersection of Knapp Street & Shore Parkway in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Free Parking is available.
For further directions you can call the Golden Gate Inn at (718) 743-4000.

Help us plan, and set up for reaching out to sponsors as we plan now BayFest2010! Marketing, PR, getting local businesses and residents near and far involved in our 19th year of BayFest, the annual NYC waterfront ALL Free party for Sheepshead Bay!
This is the time we must do it together.

Check the BayFest website: www.bigbayfest.org for contact information.

Got an idea for Sheepshead Bay’s biggest annual festival? Bay Improvement Group (BIG) is having a planning meeting tomorrow night, and they want to hear your ideas on how to make BayFest2010 bigger, better, and ballsier than the rest. (Okay, we added that last one.)

And there’s reason to believe this year really will be leaps and bounds beyond previous years’ celebrations. Why? Because back in August, BIG secured more than $27,500 from local politicians, making it the largest budget the group has had yet. And in the months since, they’ve been hitting up corporate and small-business partners for sponsorships, their primary source of funding in other years.

At the last planning meeting, BIG President Steve Barrison even suggested the group would love to score some top-notch headliners for the stage. But money and bands aren’t going to make a better BayFest by themselves. The group needs raw manpower. So get involved and bring some fresh blood to a Sheepshead Bay tradition!

When: Wednesday, December 2 at 8 p.m.
Where: The Golden Gate Inn (located at the intersection of Knapp Street & Shore Parkway)
Free Parking is available. For further directions you can call the Golden Gate Inn at 718-743-4000

(Location artwork for the Glass Bees project "Venice, Brooklyn")

If you thought traffic was bad at the Sheepshead Bay Road bus stop, teeming with Kingsborough students late for their 9 a.m. class and exasperated espresso fiends tweeting about their frustration, wait until you have to push your way off the back of a gondola.

Oh, you heard right; we said gondola.

New York City’s own Atlantean harbingers in their own right, Christopher Williams and Jason Das of experimental musical project known as the Glass Bees, recently embarked on a morning-long acquisition of a variety of media taken or inspired by the southeastern coast of Brooklyn, including our very own Sheepshead Bay, to form a multimedia experience called Venice, Brooklyn.

Voracious listeners of genre-bending tunes including indie rock, avant garde, and free jazz, Williams and Das are no strangers to the local music scene. Former members of Sick Passengers, the Glass Bees have come to the conclusion that “you don’t have to just compose a song.” After years of working within mainstream conventions, the duo ventured into more abstract work, and have amassed an amazing library of sound prior to their involvement with the 2009 ConfluxCity festival.

The duo decided to participate in the underground music and arts festival, focusing on neighborhoods that the other participants neglected. Noting that New York is larger than just Manhattan, the Glass Bees headed to Gerritsen Beach and Sheepshead Bay because, as Jason so succinctly puts it, “Nobody goes there.” Most of Conflux 2009 took place in Manhattan or northern Brooklyn.

Completed within a span of ten hours on September 20, the Venice, Brooklyn installation came armed with debris collected from our shores, recordings of coast guard frequencies and ambient noise, as well as maps highlighting the areas that would be affected by severe coastal flooding in the coming years. Continue Reading »

For the Bay Improvement Group (BIG), August is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

BIG President Steve Barrison revealed that local politicians have pledged $27,500 to next year’s BayFest, making it the largest budget the organizers of the annual waterfront celebration has secured in its 19-year existence. And that’s before the numerous sponsorships BIG obtains for BayFest.

“We’re ecstatic. It’s wonderful that we’re able to keep BayFest going in these economic times,” Barrison said.

According to Barrison, $15,000 came from State Senator Carl Kruger, marking the largest single donation the event has ever received. The remaining $12,500 came from City Councilman Lew Fidler, who provided similar amounts in recent years.

If other politicians give the same amounts they gave in recent years, Barrison said the budget will swell a few thousand dollars more. He also said that BIG has not yet started to seek private sponsorships, which usually nets BayFest the bulk of its operating budget, and, in light of the funding already secured, may double its usual funding.

With the donations from Fidler and Kruger alone, the money is $2,500 more than it was during the group’s 10th year anniversary in 1991. Then, the $25,000 (made up almost entirely from private sponsors) was enough funding to have games and attractions for kids, and bands on each of Sheepshead’s ten piers, showcasing different styles of music, plus several more on the main Emmons Avenue stage.

But Barrison warns that money alone doesn’t guarantee a great event. He is calling on volunteers and neighborhood businesses to get involved early in the process to help shape the event.

At BIG’s first BayFest planning meeting last week, it was apparent the organization needs to bulk up its manpower and get some new blood in the mix if this money is going to create an unparalleled Sheepshead event. So if you have an idea for how to bring arts, culture and party spirit to the waterfront, be sure to e-mail them and see how you can help.

Yesterday marked the 26th Anniversary of the 61st Precinct’s Night Out Against Crime. Organized by the 61st Precinct Community Council, the national event symbolizes the efforts of communities all over the country to take the streets back from crime and use them for positive.

State Senator Marty Golden, Councilman Michael Nelson, CB15 Chair Theresa Scavo and others were in attendance to express gratitude towards the officers of the 61st. Eight-year-old Monica Hershkovich performed “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, and the Top Scholar dance troop showed their skills. Click the link below to view a slideshow-style gallery of the event.

[View with PicLens]

Bay Improvement Group, organizers of the annual BayFest event, are getting an early start on planning next year’s festivities. The first meeting kicks off next week, and we heard that the organization’s president, Steve Barrison, wants to see bigger names here. The name he tossed out? Bruce Springsteen. Well… it’s good to dream. As for us, we’re hoping to see at least one band with connections to Sheepshead Bay, and we hope some more of our local businesses are brought into the mix. If you agree, join us at the meeting and let BIG leadership know.

Here’s the release:

BayFest2010, our 19th year, we start now.

The BIG planning meeting, sharing responsibility and time for new and old to come together, whether it’s your first BayFest or you are an old pro…
Tuesday August 4th at the Golden Gate Inn located at Knapp Street and Shore Parkway in Sheepshead Bay, right off the belt Parkway at 7:30PM we begin..
bring interested people.

WE NEED YOU TO GET INVOLVED AND ASK OTHERS TOO, TO HELP AT THIS ANNUAL PARTY FOR SHEEPSHEAD BAY AT THIS UNIQUE WATERFRONT FESTIVAL. BAYFEST IS ALWAYS THE THIRD SUNDAY IN MAY! May 16. 2010

Join us as we plan a bigger better BayFest celebration for Sheepshead Bay.
BE There Tuesday August 4th, 7:30PM at the Golden Gate Inn for this special BayFest working planning meeting.

On Tuesday, August 4, the 61st Precinct is celebrating the 26th Anniversary of its Night Out Against Crime. The festivities will include a DJ, food, rides and amusements, and giveaways. The free event kicks off at 5:00 p.m. and lasts until 8:00 p.m. in front of the precinct.

Organizers are seeking additional items and giveaways, so if you think you can help with giveway items, raffles, or a monetary donation to help the Precinct Council, please call (718) 627-6847.

The event is sponsored by the 61st Precinct Community Council, the 61st Pct. Auxiliaries, the Law Enforcement Explorers, and the officers of the 61st Precinct, with the support of local merchants and elected officials.

When: Tuesday, Aug. 4 @ 5:00 p.m.
Where:  Coney Island Avenue and Avenue W
Cost: Free!

(Photo Courtesy of Kibbles via Flickr)

State Senator Marty Golden is hosting the First Annual Mid Summer Celebration on Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2. There will be rides, games, food, entertainment, and merchandise vendors, with proceeds from all sales to benefit the Marine Park Civic Association. Entrance to the event is free, and it kicks off at 11 a.m. on both days.

Mid Summer Celebration
Marine Park at Avenue U
August 1 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
August 2 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: free
For vendor space or additional info, call (347) 517-0227

The original title for this post was, Secret Sheepshead Bay Road Flea Market Exposed — but, that would have left you all saying, “There’s no flea market on Sheepshead Bay Road.”

Actually, there is a flea market on Sheepshead Bay Road — just that it’s also nearer to Coney Island than it is to Sheepshead Bay. Yes, folks, Sheepshead Bay Road is a cut-up road, with one piece of it way over by the Department of Motor Vehicles, near the McDonald’s fast food restaurant.

The flea market is run by Metro Festival Productions and it is just that — quite a production — with sales in five locations in Brooklyn and a few in Manhattan. This whole production is put on so that Southern Brooklynites who don’t want to trudge up and down on the subways with their purchases, can find some real goodies right in their own neighborhood. Continue Reading »

We’re just three days away from what will most likely be the largest (and most politicized) Coney Island Mermaid Parade to date, and the organizers of the southern Brooklyn staple are calling out for volunteers.

The event, which takes place this Saturday, June 20, relies on over 150 volunteers each year. Volunteers oversee registration, check-in, merchandise, crowd control, wrangling, surveys, holding signs and hustling the crowd. “Volunteers will be handsomely rewarded with generous sunshine (mother nature abiding), salt air, and hilarious company (as well as the much-coveted volunteer t-shirt!),” organizers wrote in their e-mail to us.

To register, request a volunteer form at MermaidParadeVolunteer@yahoo.com.

What: Coney Island Mermaid Parade
When: Saturday, June 20, 2009
Where: Volunteer Check-In will be at 21st St & Surf Ave
Volunteer Coordinator: Katie McMahan
Assistant Volunteer Coordinator: Jesse Davis
Contact: MermaidParadeVolunteer@yahoo.com