Carro Center

Looking to do some good for the world this Sunday? Stop by the Carmine Carro Community Center in Marine Park (3000 Fillmore Avenue) between 12:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to donate blood. The drive is organized by the Knights of Columbus Saint Bernard Council 14269.

All you need to do is bring photo identification, be in generally good health, weigh at least 110 pounds and be between the ages of 16 and 76. That’s almost everybody, so eat a well-balanced meal that morning, and stop by the center to help save lives. Sixteen-year-olds require parental consent forms, available here.

Here are some facts from the New York Blood Center’s website, which underscore how important it is to donate the gift of life:

• 4.5 million Americans benefit from life-saving blood transfusions each year.
• 40,000 pints are transfused each day in the United States.
• New York Blood Center alone requires over 2,000 volunteer blood donations each day to meet the transfusion needs of patients in close to 200 New York and New Jersey hospitals.
• 1 out of every 3 people will require a life-saving transfusion sometime during their lifetime.
• Transfusion recipients include cancer patients, accident, burn and trauma victims, newborn babies, transplant patients, mothers delivering babies, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, etc.
• Much of today’s sophisticated medical care (transplants, heart surgeries, etc.) rely on blood transfusions.
• Car accident and trauma victims may need as many as 50 or more red cell transfusions.
• Severe burn victims may need as many as 20 platelet transfusions.
• Bone marrow transplants may require platelets from over 100 donors and red cells from over 20 people.
• Blood products are perishable: Donated red cells last only 42 days; Donated platelets last only 5 days; Plasma can be frozen for a year.
• The need for blood never takes a holiday.

For more information, contact (800) 933-2566, or to find other blood drives in the area call (800) 933-BLOOD.

Carro Center, where tonight’s meeting will be held.

Don’t blame us for the late notice. We only received it this afternoon.

The Southeast Brooklyn Waterfront (Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Georgetown) NY Rising Community Planning Committee to Host Public Meeting on Tuesday, July 29 for the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program 

New York – Community members of Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, and Georgetown are encouraged to attend a public meeting on Tuesday, July 29th to learn about the State-sponsored NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program. This program will leverage local knowledge and build upon existing local efforts to help storm-impacted Communities become more resilient through innovative community-driven plans.

When:          Tuesday, July 29, 7:00pm

Where:           Carmine Carro Community Center, 3000 Fillmore Avenue (between Madison Place and Marine Pkwy) Marine Park, NY 11229

Who:            Southeast Brooklyn Waterfront Planning Committee (including Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Georgetown), NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program

Contact:       Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, 212-480-2321, [email protected]

The New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program is one of several Storm Recovery Initiatives and was established to provide additional rebuilding and revitalization assistance to Communities severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The State has established the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program to facilitate community redevelopment and resiliency planning. For additional information, please visit http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/community-reconstruction-program

Forget the link above, you want this one. More specifically, you can check out a presentation they showed to the committee members, providing an overview of how the program works [pdf]. For even more information, you might want to check out the minutes from that meeting [pdf], which go more in depth.

With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict raging in the Middle East, and tensions in Brooklyn’s Jewish and Arab communities running high, the Kings Bay Y (3495 Nostrand Avenue) is setting table for inter-faith unity at a “Fast for Peace” dinner event tonight.

Initiated by the Kings Bay Y’s Teen Department with the help of families and the Y’s board of directors and staff, the event will recognize both Ramadan and Shabbat with prayers led by an imam and rabbi. A Shabbat/Iftar dinner and celebration will follow.

“With the situation going on in the Middle East, it is important to show the friendship and solidarity that has existed and continues to exist between members of southern Brooklyn’s Jewish and Muslim communities,” said Leonard Petlakh, executive director of the Kings Bay Y.

The program begins at 7:00 p.m. Although the flier above notes that RSVPs must have been made by July 22, the staff told us this morning that seats are still available. You can call Angela at (718) 648-7703 ext. 223 or email [email protected] to reserve a seat.

By now, we all know the area has a garbage problem. But it’s time to stop griping and start pitching in to make the community better.

Here’s your chance: Councilman Chaim Deutsch is organizing the first street clean-up Sheepshead Bay has seen at least since Sheepshead Bites launched more than six years ago.

The local pol is providing everything you need to lend a hand: shovels, brooms, rakes and bags. All you need to do is show up in some grubby clothes and put in the work.

The clean up kicks off at 10:00 a.m. and lasts until 4:00 p.m. Volunteers will meet at Sheepshead Bay Road and Voorhies Avenue, and the group will go up and down Sheepshead Bay Road and to Emmons Avenue bagging trash and litter for the Department of Sanitation to pick up.

See the flier above for details.

From the office of City Councilman Chaim Deutsch:

Click to enlarge

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, a member of the Assembly’s Health Committee, encourages residents of the 45th Assembly District to sign up for his free “Balance Improvement and Light Exercise” classes, this Tuesday, July 15.

There will be two one-hour-long classes, beginning at 11 a.m. and a second at noon, in conjunction with Mount Sinai Beth Israel Brooklyn, held at the Assemblyman’s district office, 1800 Sheepshead Bay Road between Emmons Avenue and Shore Parkway.

Registration is required. To register, call (718) 743-4078 or email [email protected].

Well, this is certainly something new. Councilman Chaim Deutsch and the Bay Improvement Group are teaming up to bring live music to Emmons Avenue’s Driscoll Tucker Park, beginning this Sunday.

As you can see from the flier above, there will be three dates, with three hours of live music each day, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Tucker Park is on Emmons Avenue at East 27th Street, right next to Stella Maris Bait and Tackle shop. No word on what type of music will be playing, but the flier says bring dancing shoes. Though I do not own those particular kind of shoes, I’ll stop by anyway.

Chell with CB15 Chair Theresa Scavo during the 2013 Night Out Against Crime.

The 61st Precinct Community Council Meeting will meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, July 9, at YDE School, 2533 Coney Island Avenue.

The meeting will be the last for Captain John Chell, who took command of the precinct in 2012. While still new in his post, he led the community’s police response during and after Superstorm Sandy and played host to Coney Island’s 60th Precinct for several months as they rebuilt their flooded stationhouse. Chell has been reassigned to Brooklyn North’s 79th Precinct, which patrols Bed-Stuy.

It will be the first meeting for the 61st Precinct’s new commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Carlos Valdez, who has served on the force for approximately a quarter-century. He’s already familiar with the area, having most recently served at PSA 1, which patrols public housing developments within the 60th, 61st, 63rd and 69th Precincts.

The Community Council is comprised of concerned residents and top brass from the 61st Precinct, and offers neighbors an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns about crime and safety issues in the area. The monthly meetings are attended by the commanding officer of the precinct, who will present a report on incidents and trends in the neighborhood, and speak face-to-face with neighbors about specific concerns.

For further information, or if you have questions or comments concerning Community Affairs, call (718) 627-6847.

The following is a press release from the offices of State Senator Marty Golden:

State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), in partnership with the Southwest Brooklyn Parks Task Force, today has announced the complete lineup of summer concerts set to take stage in our local parks this Summer. The concert series kicks off on Tuesday, July 8th when Head Over Heels and special guests play Shore Road Park at 79th Street.

The series of fourteen concerts will feature an array of musical acts, Alive N Kickin’, Carl Thomas, Frankie Marra and His Band, and a special “Irish Night on Shore Road” featuring the Canny Brothers.

Senator Marty Golden stated, “After a long, cold winter, I am sure the residents of Southwest Brooklyn are anxiously awaiting the start of the 2014 summer concerts which I will again be hosting in our local parks. We have a great lineup of entertainment, so mark your calendar, bring a chair, or a blanket, and make your way to our scheduled fourteen shows in our beautiful parks. I guarantee you will enjoy the entertainment that will feature classic rock, the greatest hits of all time, disco, blues and dance.”

2014 SUMMER CONCERT SCHEDULE

• July 8 Head Over Heels & Special Guests ……..….…..…………79th St & Shore Road
• July 9 Out Of The Blue (Classic Rock & Dance) ……….…Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• July 15 Radio Daze (70’s & 80’s Party Music)…….…………………….79th St & Shore Road
• July 16 Yesterday & Today (Beatle Tribute Band)….……..Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• July 22 Generation Gap (60’s through 90’s)……………Dyker Park (86th St. & 14th Ave.)
• July 23 Carl Thomas (Sinatra, Darin, Dean)……………………Avenue U & Van Sicklen St
• July 29 Blues Circus (Improvisational Blues Rock)….………………79th St & Shore Road
• July 30 Alive N Kickin’ (Hit song “Tighter & Tighter”)….Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• Aug. 6 Brooklyn Keys (Oldies through 90’s)…………..….. Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• Aug. 12 Disco Unlimited (Best of the 70’s Disco)……..………………79th St & Shore Road
• Aug. 13 Radio Daze (70’s & 80’s Party Music)…………..….. Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• Aug. 19 Frankie Marra & His Band (Classic Rock)…………………79th St & Shore Road
• Aug. 20 On A Good Run (Classic Rock)…………………………Marine Park (Fillmore Ave.)
• Aug. 26 The Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Parade presents “Irish Night on Shore Road,” Featuring The Canny Brothers…..….…..79th St & Shore Road

All concerts are free and open to the public and all shows begin at 7pm. All events are subject to change. In case of poor weather or for more information please call 718 238-6044, or check Martin J. Golden on Facebook or follow @senmartygolden on Twitter.

With kidnapped yeshiva teenage boys Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrah missing in captivity for 11 days, the Be Proud Foundation and Community Board 15 are teaming up to host a rally, June 26, 7:00 p.m. at Holocaust Memorial Park, to let the voices of southern Brooklynites be heard.

The boys, one of whom has strong Brooklyn roots, were kidnapped by the terrorist group Hamas while hitchhiking home from their religious school in the West Bank.

Event organizers invite the community to come out and hang yellow ribbons in solidarity with the boys, their families and the State of Israel, currently searching for them.