SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Courtesy of Cymbrowitz's office

State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz welcomed four hundred local senior citizens to a luncheon celebrating the end of summer, and connect them with area services.

The August 26 event brought together residents of Chinese, Russian, church and synagogue senior centers for a morning of lunch, music, dancing and giveaways. Representatives from the Social Security Administration, NYC Human Resources Administration and My Turn (a Kingsborough Community College program that enables senior citizens to take tuition-free classes), were on hand to provide information.

Source: NewYorkCricket.com

I played cricket once. I was in New Zealand, and my host family decided to show it to me in the backyard. All I remember is: 1) I sucked, 2) Holy crap! Is that a wooden ball? Why are they throwing it at me so hard?! 3) I sucked.

Compared to a lot of Brooklynites – or Americans, for that matter – this amount of cricket knowledge makes me an expert by comparison. Outside of specific immigrant communities, the sport is merely an exotic staple of places like Marine Park.

Well, thank goodness our children will be better educated. Kingsborough Community College has launched a cricket program for their College For Kids offerings. College For Kids is a daytime program for kids ages 6 to 12. (It’s fun. I did it one year as a kid, and learned useful skills like how to draw cartoons and make deformed vases…)

Here’s some useful information from NewYorkCricket.com that’s more relevant than my blathering:

Now, cricket stands alongside baseball, soccer, tennis, and swimming, as part of the college’s CFK active programming. The cricket program has attracted 31 girls and 49 boys between the ages of 8 and 13 years old. Some 95% of the boys and girls have never played cricket, while 50% have never even seen or heard of the sport. Coached by USA national cricket coach Linden Fraser and USA national female cricket player Triholder Marshall, the program is gaining traction in popularity among the young players and is expected to be included in the college’s fall CFK programming, on weekends only.

Coaching sessions are conducted indoors and outdoors, using cricket safety sport equipment designed for the age group in attendance. From all reports, the enthusiasm of the young athletes has been very encouraging, more so when the similarity between baseball and cricket is pointed out to the students.

Coach Fraser, who has extensive experience coaching players from youth to the under-19 levels and beyond, said it was a bit challenging at first getting some of the athletes to resist the baseball approach to swinging the cricket bat, as well as the motion of pitching as opposed to bowling. He however stated, “…one would be surprised at how well most of the participants have adapted to the rudimentary techniques of the “new” sport of cricket.”

Get information on code enforcement, property tax exemptions, foreclosure prevention, building permits, low-interest home repair loans and more on Thursday, July 22nd, 6:00 p.m. at Kingsborough Community College, Building U, Room 220. It will run until 7:30 p.m. [UPDATED]

This meeting is hosted by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development located at 100 Gold Street, Room 6E4, New York City 10038.

This info came by way of a public service announcement from the Manhattan Beach Community Group (MBCG).

Correction: An earlier version of this post indicated the event would start at 7:30 p.m.. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. and run until 7:30 p.m. Our apologies for any confusion.

A Kingsborough Culinary Arts student at work

If you’ve ever watched Hell’s Kitchen or Top Chef and said to yourself, “I wish that was me” – this is your chance to develop some real culinary skills for free!

It goes without saying that our economy is in a difficult time. With so many qualified applicants flooding the job market, younger and less experienced job applicants can find the search daunting. If you’re not currently employed or a full-time student, then the CUNY Young Adult Program has a wonderful opportunity for you to add to your skill set and open up a career path. The program is providing free Food Service/Culinary Arts training to eligible people at KBCC. The program is being advertised via Facebook and Craigslist in an apparent bid to appeal directly to 18- to 24-year-olds.

We told you about Kingsborough’s newly-launched Culinary Arts major back in May. The new kitchens, expert faculty and innovative program make this a bargain for young adults.

View the full advertisement and get more info

At the Kingsborough marina, courtesy of Michael Hill Goldstein via Facebook.

Flyer for Summer 2010 KBCC PAC events.

On Sunday July 18, 2010, the Kingsborough Community College Peforming Arts Center will present Hudson Valley’s acclaimed mask and puppet theater in a special event for kids. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and be a Bright Summer Day, because that’s what the organizers are calling this event.

There will be performances with fantastically painted puppet figures and masked characters. Children ages 5 and up are invited to participate in The Parade of Fishes and a workshop of dancing and movement.

Reservations are not required for the general activities, but due to limited space, reservations are required for the workshop. As of today, there is no more availability for the workshop, but you may be placed on a waiting list, if spots become open. Call the KBCC PAC box office at (718) 368-5596.

View the details after the jump.

This weekend the Kingsborough Community College Performing Arts Center will be presenting its annual outdoor summer concert series, also known as HOT SUMMER NIGHTS!

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 8 p.m., Patriotic Pops, a Brooklyn community wind and ensemble concert band, will be welcoming our nation’s Independence Day.

Below is a list of the upcoming concerts and performances scheduled. For those of you who have never made it to any of these concerts, you are missing out on something rare and wonderful. Gentle summer breezes, great music, seating near the water, free parking or just take public transportation, all at no cost to you. As an added bonus, in case of rain, the concert moves indoors to the theater. That’s a guaranteed evening of summer fun.

Here are the details:
Kingsborough Community College
2001 Oriental Boulevard
Brooklyn, NY 11235
in Manhattan Beach
Public transport & Directions: Take the B1 or the B49 to the last stop (Mackenzie Street)

Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 8 p.m.: Brooklyn Community Wind Ensemble & Concert Band
Brooklyn’s beloved band, conducted by Ray Wheeler, pays musical tribute to Independence Day with their ever-popular Stars and Stripes Forever Concert.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 8 p.m.: Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
PRO’s Scott Joplin and the Original Kings of Ragtime Concert saluted by the New York Times as “abidingly energetic fun”.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.: The Danny Repole Swing Band
Audiences will be dancing in the aisles at the ever-popular Swing Under the Stars Concert, featuring such golden chestnuts as Moonlight Serenade, Tuxedo Junction, and Take The A Train.

Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.: Vagabond Opera
This highly accomplished – and seriously madcap – concert performance is equal parts New Opera, Vintage Americana, European Cabaret, and old world Yiddish theatre.

Note: Links added.

As one of its key proponents, Congressman Anthony Weiner has been all tied up since the health care vote passed in March. He’s been doing a lot of bouncing around, speaking to reporters, constituents and community groups; he’s established himself as the face of national health reform.

If you haven’t yet had the chance to hear the congressman speak, he’s hitting the ‘hood again tonight to discuss the effects of the bill, and battle a lot of the misinformation surrounding it. In our neighborhood, Weiner made few friends with his support for the bill; those against reform criticize any role in passing the bill, while those for reform are angered by the many compromises it represents.

No matter which camp you sit in (or if you’re in the middle), it’s not too late to have your say or pick the congressman’s mind. He’ll be at Kingsborough Community College in the faculty dining room at 6:00 p.m. He’ll speak briefly before opening up the discussion for questions.

Click to enlarge

Drivers exiting Kingsborough are getting a warning.

In addition to electronic signs around the school reminding students and faculty to drive safely, cars leaving the gate are being stopped by security and given a flier from the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Student Life. And they’re not just being given to students – we got our copy from a mother who was picking up her daughter at Leon M. Goldstein High School (located on KBCC’s campus).

The flier, pictured at left, reminds drivers that the speed limit is 30 mph, and that “a good neighbor policy is to avoid reckless driving and speeding on Oriental and Shore Blvds.” It adds:

Recently, there have been several accidents on these roadways involving pedestrians, students and faculty, resulting in serious injuries. Please realize that speeding, reckless driving, cellphone usage and texting while driving are against the law and will be strictly enforced by the NYPD.

Members of the community are seeing it as a sign the school is taking the situation seriously. Both of the neighborhood’s civic groups (Manhattan Beach Community Group and Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association) have criticized the administration for not doing enough to encourage safe, responsible driving.

“We’re happy the college finally saw there was a need to get people to slow down and drive carefully in our community,” said MBCG President Ira Zalcman.

Find out what more the school can do, and to see where Manhattan Beach’s latest speed trap is

A student prepares hors d'oeuvres for the crowd

Melisa Carbajal’s relationship with Kingsborough Community College is coming around full circle. After finishing an Associates Degree program at the school in 2007, the student is returning to be a teacher. She’ll be one of a handful of chef-instructors in the school’s budding culinary arts program, where she’ll teach healthy cooking for cancer patients and survivors in a partnership with CookforYourLife.org.

“So many good things have happened,” Carbajal said in front of a crowd of about 100 people at Kingsborough last night. “I couldn’t have started in a better place than Kingsborough Community College.”

But had it been a few years earlier, Carbajal never would have had the opportunity.

The group Carbajal spoke to was celebrating the launch of the Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts, the latest – and biggest – step towards maturing a program that was only born in 2001.

Keep reading to learn more about Kingsborough Culinary Arts program’s development