$2 million up for grabs for community use.

Mark the dates of the 16th, 22nd and 23rd on your calendars. Two million won't go far these days but if the money can be used to improve the nabe then it's a good thing. If we don't use it someone else will.

Here are my suggestions. Setting up a BID for 8th Avenue, it has become as economically important as 5th Avenue to the nabe and would help to control development on the Avenue in a positive direction. It would also limit the number of unsavory businesses on the Avenue.

How about some park benches for the 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue strips. I don't know about you but there are times when I wish I could find a spot to sit after walking for blocks. They have them on both 3rd avenues and 5th on the Bay Ridge side.

Expanding WIFI service beyond 5th Avenue to 4th and perhaps 8th Avenue.

Better traffic control to relieve the congestion on 8th and 5th Avenues. It makes for safer traffic when you don't have all those double parked cars everywhere and cars trying to go around them or cut into traffic etc. The tragedy this  last week on 5th may have been contributed to by the congestion. Maybe some of the money could go to a couple of NYPD cars to keep the avenues clear and traffic orderly and less dangerous for pedestrians.

How about some free language classes in English? This is an immigrant neighborhood and it would help people assimilate faster into the culture. I am tri-lingual. When we immigrated to America with my parents only my father spoke English (he had served in the US Army and spoke many languages). My mother learned her English at night classes that were being given for free at Erasmus High School in the ealry 60's (we lived near there at the time). 

Well, that's a few suggestions I have. Many out there can probably come up with more of them. Post them below or, go to the meetings..

 

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Changes on the wall...

A slight controversy arose at the painting of the Mural at Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. Apparently management at Rite Aid did not want any human faces on the wall (photos below) and asked that they be replaced by animals instead. The new version is the one that will remain. I managed to snap a picture of the wall before the changes so we can keep it for posterity. In any case, the walls are coming along just fine and will be a fine addition to the many points of interest in the neighborhood. Maybe it will entice our neighbors in Park Slope and Bay Ridge to venture across the frontiers of our neighborhoods to come take a look. Being as most people in this city according to one study I read, rarely venture outside a radius of 7 blocks from where they live. Part of the purpose of this blog is to cover the nabe from end to end as well as our neighbors who all have something to offer so we can appreciate the world around us beyond those seven blocks..

While speaking to who I think was the manager he told me they are considering doing the wall on the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd street. I suggested they could use a more local theme such as the entrance gates at Green Wood Cemetery or the statue of Minerva (sister to the Statue of Liberty, maybe perhaps a scene from the Battle of Brooklyn which took place on Battle Hill where the Delaware regiment sacrificed themselves to prevent the British from capturing Washington. There are a lot of themes one could come up with which are relevant to the nabe and it's history and it would be Brooklyn themed.

As it looks now.

Before..