SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

While organizers of the not-so-Great GoogaMooga reneged on their “rain or shine” billing in the face of Sunday’s drizzle, hundreds of Sheepshead Bay residents flocked to Emmons Avenue to prove what the phrase really means.

Bay Improvement Group’s 22nd Annual Bayfest went forward despite a day-long downfall that appeared to come in from all directions. Attendance was surely hampered by the weather, and even several of the sponsors bailed (Sheepshead Bites set up table, but, without a tent, was forced to say our goodbyes after our materials took on too much water).

Organizers plowed ahead anyway, keeping good on their promise, with music blaring from two main stages and a handful of performance areas. Inflatable rides amused kids – and also provided brief refuge from the rain, and sponsors like Investors Bank kept in good spirits, cheering to the music with their teams and handing out goodies.

Aside from all fun – soggy or not – the group’s president, Steve Barrison, took a moment before the festivities to honor the  Department of Sanitation with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Barrison and the group thanked the department for lifting, carting and removing countless tons of debris in the months after Superstorm Sandy.

See the photo gallery.

Photo By Erica Sherman

Bayfest, Brooklyn’s largest waterfront celebration, is coming to Emmons Avenue this Sunday, May 19. This incarnation of Bayfest marks its 22nd year in existence as eight blocks of Sheepshead Bay’s waterfront will be filled with music, fun, and vendor-free booths giving out a slew of samples and product information.

This year’s Bayfest will include the usual mix of musical performers, raffles and kid friendly activities, but will also feature a big selection of Sandy-related recovery organizations looking to help rebuild the community.

You can also say hello to your friends at Sheepshead Bites as we’ll have our own booth and be giving away a few goodies.

Here are all the relevant details from the organizers:

SANDY RECOVERY INFO
We admit we got a very late start preparing for BAYFEST because we were so involved with post-Sandy efforts.  At the same time, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to support the community’s long-term recovery from the disaster, and the event has come together beautifully. We’re grateful and pleased about the number and variety of Sandy recovery organizations that will be on hand, and their eagerness to meet with and assist residents still suffering from the disaster.

At this writing, two dozen organizations will participate in Investors Bank BAYFEST (with more signing on), making it the largest event of its kind in Brooklyn to date.  We were able to put this list together with the cooperation of the Brooklyn Long-Term Recovery Group, which brings together organizations that focus on coordinating to address the various unmet needs of Brooklyn’s Sandy survivors.

Here is the list so far of the two dozen organizations that will attend Investors Bank BAYFEST, with brief descriptions of the types of assistance they offer:

• Alzheimer’s Association – scholarships for Medic Alert bracelets/necklaces (part of the Safe Return program)
• Arab-American Family Support Center * – case management
• American Red Cross * – case management including housing assistance, appliances, financial aid, referrals
• Asian Americans for Equality – loans and grants
• Bridge Street Development – temporary housing
• Brighton Neighborhood Association – mold remediation and other assistance
• Brooklyn Jubilee – pro bono legal assistance
• Brooklyn Long-Term Recovery Group – referrals
• Catholic Charities * – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Coney Island Hospital medical van – free checkup with a doctor, blood pressure screening
• Department of Financial Services
• Diabetes Education and Resource Center – healthcare
• Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol – emergency preparedness
• Lutheran Social Services – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Met Council – case management and a variety of resources and services
• Neighborhood Housing Services – loans; referrals
• Neighborhood Revitalization – professional mold remediation
• New York Cares – muck-outs, mold remediation, repairs, tax advice, volunteers
•  NIA Community Network Services – financial counseling, debt management and reduction
• NYS Energy Audits – free insulation, appliances, weatherization
• NY Mortgage Coalition – foreclosure prevention, mortgage assistance, legal support
• Operation HOPE – insurance counseling, financial management guidance and support
• Project HOPE – counseling, and emotional and psychological support
• YaDestiny Treasure Chest – children’s clothing

Eligibility for services offered by some of these organizations is income-based. Some may require a FEMA number; others work with undocumented residents.

The organizations with an asterisk (*) do case management, meaning a trained, compassionate case manager works one-on-one with you to:

• Answer your questions about recovery
• Develop a plan to address your needs
• Connect you with appropriate community resources
• Determine what financial assistance may be available to you
• Advocate on your behalf with service and benefit providers

All of the case management organizations are 501(c)3 non-profits and participate in CAN.org (Coordinated Assistance Network), the American Red Cross’ membership database that works to prevent duplication of services.  It may not be accessed by the government for any reason.

MUSIC
ReverbNation.com supported us again this year in our search for bands.  Over 1,600 bands from as far away as Japan applied through their platform to play Investors Bank BAYFEST.  We narrowed the list down to 300 bands within 25 miles of Sheepshead Bay that were family friendly and that sounded good in videos of live performances.  We listened to all of them–twice.  There’s a lot of good music out there!  But we had to choose.  In total, Investors Bank BayFest will offer 23 performances on two stages and eight blocks of Emmons Avenue.

Main Stage
On the Main Stage The Voice will meet American Idol, as Brooklyn’s own Adriana Louise(The Voice, Season 3) and Good Day New York’s Michael “Big Mike” Lynche (American Idol, Season 9) share the stage, backed up by the pro outfit East Coast Band.  We’re bringing back two BAYFEST favorites: Stout, with their traditional songs of the sea, and rock ‘n’ roll fire-fighting bagpipers The Shots.  New will be feisty, bluesy Amy Lynn & The Gunshow and Vinny Jett, who will give his rap song “Sandy The Homewrecker” a Brooklyn twist.  Early in the day we give the DSNY a Lifetime Achievement Award and at 3:15pm the FDNY fireboat will do a display in the Bay.

Mobile stage
Indie sensation Darnaa is donating her performance and will perform on her mobile stage, which she is allowing other bands to use.  Defying categorization, Band Droidz will warm up the stage for her, while top flight jazz artist Onaje Allen Gumbs and his band New Vintage, as well as soaring arena-rock band Face The King, will open the day.

Pier performances
Pier bands will include:

• Inner Situation
• January Jane 
• Jose Polo
• SpinBox
• SanzEnd
• Two Cent Sam
• Annika Vitolo
• Giant Flying Turtles
• Michelle Ferreira
• Ghosts of Eden
• Nando Griffiths & Pure Fyah
• Daddy Rocker

KIDS FUN

• Arts & Crafts with A2Z Party and ScribbleShop (Tucker Park)
• Strolling cartoon characters
• Giant Bounce
• FDNY Smokehouse
• Face Painting
• Brooklyn Public Library storyteller (at their table)
• Harborlore “Fish Tales” storyteller (2pm, pier 4)
• NY Aquarium

RAFFLES & GIVEAWAYS

• 50/50
• Brooklyn Brewery gift certificate
• Circle Line tickets
• Intrepid tickets
• GNC men & women’s vitamin packs ($50 value each)
• Wheeler’s gift certificate
• JoMart Chocolates gift certificates
• More coming in…

The All Community Arts event will be taking place simultaneously east of BayFest on Emmons Avenue.

Source: smikulen/Flickr

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowtiz has long dreamed of building a permanent amphitheater in Coney Island to house the popular summer concert series and now it seems that the dream will come true. According to a report in the New York Times, Markowitz and other city officials have reached a deal to build a brand spanking new $58 million music hall and theater. It will be announced at the beep’s State of the Borough address tonight.

The  5,000-seat theater will be built out of the remains of the landmarked Childs Theater, near the boardwalk’s western end. Markowitz has $48 million in his capital budget with the city pledging $10 million extra for hte project. The theater is being developed by iStar Financial.

If built, the Times describes where the theater would fit in the community and how the theater would serve a variety of events:

[T]he theater would occupy part of a building on the Boardwalk that once housed a branch of the Childs Restaurant chain and is protected by city landmark designation. The theater would also occupy an adjoining lot that has been used as an unauthorized community garden. The concerts would be run by a nonprofit operator. The theater could be used for year-round events, including graduations. There are also discussions about designing the theater so that hundreds of additional people can watch from an adjacent lawn when the weather is warm and dry.

The developer is planning to revive the 90-year-old Childs building as a restaurant, retaining the palatial facade, which is famed for its terra cotta seashell ornamentation, wide-mouthed smiling fish and Neptunes. Part of the building’s western wall would be breached to create the backstage area for the theater.

The proposed theater has faced a long stream of resistance from local synagogues and other neighbors afraid of traffic and noise. Neighbors are also not thrilled at the idea of groups like Iron Maiden blasting heavy metal riffs through the community, but Markowitz told the Times that, in the end, the theater will be a net positive.

“Change, I know, is not easy. This will bring so much joy and happiness to the people of New York and Brooklyn,” said Markowitz.

According to officials, the theater would take two years to complete.

Source: ps193pa.org

Midwood’s P.S 193 Gil Hodges School once had an award-winning music program, but budget cuts have scaled back their capabilities. That’s why school music advocates at organizing the Spring Music and Family Fest, a fundraising musical showcase to restore the program to its former glory.

The school has lined up as many as 20 accomplished musicians and performers, including a handful of school alumni, set to rock P.S. 193′s 2515 Avenue L auditorium this Saturday, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Genres range from hip-hop to opera, and features well-known performers like Yah Supreme and The Lords of Liechtenstein.

The school’s music program was once thriving, with the students winning awards in the Riverside Symphony Music Memory competition and elsewhere, and a choral teacher who wrote original scores for the end of the year school musicals. The school hopes to close a budget gap created by September 2012 budget cuts.

It’s not just music on tap for the night; the event will feature activities such as free face painting and a raffle with prizes from local businesses such as a gift card from Tête-à-Tête Café.

Purchasing the tickets online cost $12 per ticket with a V.I.P package available when four tickets are bought. Tickets at the door will cost more.

The school’s music teacher, Nonie Schuster, wrote in an essay the school posted on their site, “As music teachers, if we can instill a love and appreciation of music in our students, we’ll give them a gift that will nourish and sustain them throughout their lives.”

Check out the school’s site to learn more.

As we reported on Sheepshead Bites last month, the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s “Brighton Beach Series” — which will not be taking place in Brighton Beach — will feature the family workshop, “A Bad Workman Blames His Tools” at the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, 7802 Bay Parkway, March 3 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

A description of the event from organizers:

Russian folk music was born in a rich peasant culture, centuries ago and 5,000 miles away, by artists who created music using whatever resources were at their disposal, from wood blocks to washboards to tablespoons. Lack of proper tools held no sway over creativity of the human spirit! The remarkable and distinctive folk music they created had an enormous impact beginning with orchestral music of the 19th century and expanding on into the music of today. The public is invited to join charismatic teaching artists and Brooklyn Phil musicians in a hands-on discovery of these creative traditions.

The event is free of charge, and you can RSVP by going here. For further information, call (718) 488-5700, email info@bphil.org or go to www.bphil.org.

Did you grow up in the Sheepshead Bay housing projects with A Dog Named Handsome? Do you know who a Dog Named Handsome is? More important than that, were you comfortable? Comfortable? I’m trying to ask if you were comfortable? ANSWER ME!

Uh…excuse me and just check out this music video sent to us by A Dog Named Handsome. The name of the song is “Comfortable.” At first it didn’t make me feel so comfortable, but as it kept playing, I did feel more comfortable. Thanks for sending us your folky adult contemporary song, Mr. Handsome.

Irwin Meyer gears up to lead the Kings County American Legion Headquarters Band

It was a bitterly cold night when I arrived outside the Floyd Bennett American Legion last Thursday. There was talk that the Kings County American Legion Headquarters Band would cancel its rehearsal due to how the stinging cold might force “93-and-three-quarters-year-old” band maestro, Irwin E. Meyer, to stay in that night.

Just then, outside the corner of my eye, I saw a spry older man with a heavy box bound past me with a big smile on his face. Trumpet player Larry Rapaport nudged me, informing me that Meyer, the indomitable leader of the Kings County American Legion Headquarters band had arrived. Preparations for this weekend’s Four Chaplains memorial tribute at Fort Hamilton, where the Legion band will play, can now move forward.

As Meyer opened up the rehearsal space, located in the American Legion basement, I was immediately drawn to the faded photographs of former servicemembers that filled up the entire side wall. The photographs were clearly of another era, the colors of each naturally aged in a way Instagram could never duplicate. Other musicians began to file in, some clearly still in middle school, some still in college and others long retired.

“We have teachers, one guy’s a cop,” Meyer said. “One guy served in the military; we have one-and-a-half attorneys.”

Keep reading about Meyer’s, the band, and the heroic chaplains they pay tribute to this weekend.

We reported yesterday that the Brooklyn Philharmonic would return to Brighton Beach for the second year in a row. However, we found out after it went up that organizers had to cancel with the Brighton Beach venue, instead hosting two events as part of the “Brighton Beach Series” – and neither will be in Brighton Beach.

The news was distressing for those of us who found comfort in knowing that at least one Brooklyn cultural organization gave some thought to the borough’s nether regions, but there is some hope on the horizon. A rep for the Brooklyn Phil could not comment on why the event was canceled, but said that the organization “is still very much attached to Brighton Beach, and has plans to continue its ties there.”

Here’s the information for the two shows in the Brighton Beach Series:

Chamber Concert
VERA PAVLOVA’S ALBUM FOR THE YOUNG
Sunday, February 10, 2013, 4:00 pm
S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture
Brooklyn Public Library Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Free

Tchaikovsky gets personal as acclaimed poet Vera Pavlova and the Brooklyn Phil Chamber Players take an intimate look at the life of a great Russian artist through original poetry, imagery, and music for strings and piano.  Born in Moscow, Pavlova is a graduate of the Gnessin Academy of music and has published eighteen collections of poetry in her native Russian in addition to authoring five opera libretti and lyrics to three cantatas. Now living in New York, Pavlova recalls her childhood and coming of age in Russia through the lense of Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young and Piano Trio in A minor.  Texts will be presented in Russian with English translations. This free performance will be followed by a post-concert Q&A.

The Brooklyn Philharmonic is honored to partner with the Brooklyn Public Library to present this performance.

Featuring:
Vera Pavlova, poet
Steven Seymour, translator

Program:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Album for the Young, Op. 39
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 – Mvt. 1. Pezzo elegiac

_____________________________________________

Family Workshop
A BAD WORKMAN BLAMES HIS TOOLS
Sunday, March 3, 2013, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst
7802 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11214
Free

Russian folk music was born in a rich peasant culture, centuries ago and 5,000 miles away, by artists who created music using whatever resources were at their disposal, from wood blocks to washboards to tablespoons. Lack of proper tools held no sway over creativity of the human spirit! The remarkable and distinctive folk music they created had an enormous impact beginning with orchestral music of the 19th century and expanding on into the music of today. The public is invited to join charismatic teaching artists and Brooklyn Phil musicians in a hands-on discovery of these creative traditions.

UPDATE (1/29/2013 at 9:50 a.m.): We have just learned that this event has been canceled. We are awaiting an explanation from the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Last year’s successful reinvention of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, led by Artistic Director Alan Pierson, continues with another venture to Brighton Beach.

The 155-year-old institution has been on a new mission to tour “artistically under-served” communities of Brooklyn after losing its home base at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2005. The Philharmonic tailors its performances to reflect the roots of the communities it tours, and for the Brighton Beach series this year, the theme is “All Music is Folk Music: Traditions of the Former Soviet Union.”

The program has been lauded as “remarkably innovative, perhaps even revolutionary,” by Alex Ross of the New Yorker.

“I’m thrilled to be deepening the roots we built last year in Brighton Beach, Downtown Brooklyn and Bed-Stuy; there’s still so much to explore in Brooklyn’s extraordinarily rich and varied communities,” Pierson said in a press release.

The Brighton Beach show will take place February 1.

More event details after the jump.

Via Facebook

For those watching the Presidential Inauguration yesterday it was hard not to notice the soaring and powerful solo delivered by a member of the incredible Brooklyn Tabernacle Chorus. It turns out that the young woman belting out her stunning section of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was Marine Park’s Alicia Olatuja, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The 30-year-old from Marine Park soared above the escalating refrains of the expert choir, mixing elements of classical, jazz, gospel and pop into her fluid lilts.

“It was just so surreal,” Olatuja said. “It was such a privilege to be a part of that event, with all the members of the choir. At many moments I had to ask myself, ‘Is this really happening?’ ”

… Olatuja’s solo turn hardly ranks as her first. After graduating from music school at the University of Missouri in 2005, the St. Louis-born singer came straight to New York to plow a career.

After getting her master’s degree, she began playing city clubs from Joe’s Pub to the 92nd Street Y. Along the way, she has performed at venues as prestigious as Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Olatuja also plays in an Afro-jazz band called The Olatuja Project with her husband, Michael.