If you all haven’t had a chance to check out the fabulous Vodou Bar on Nostrand yet, here is a great reason and opportunity:

Come support the Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger – a nonprofit food pantry working vigorously to end hunger. The BSCAH provides the only Brooklyn based community focused urban garden,emergency food, social services including Food Stamp screenings and much more.  The pantry is in dire need of funds, as their government funding has been severely reduced, while the need for supplies has more than doubled.

For more information about the BSCAH, please visit http://www.bedstuyagainsthunger.org/.

$20 suggested donation for entry.

100% of the proceeds from the door donations will benefit the Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger. A portion of the bar proceeds from the event will be donated to BSCAH.

Great news!!  A few months after Nostrand Park launched the first ever Nostrand Avenue clean-up, Council woman Letitia James is taking up the charge to clean-up and beautify Nostrand Avenue.  According to the Brooklyn Eagle:

“The day will include graffiti removal, store front cleaning, garbage removal and street tree care. NYC Community Clean Up, a not-for-profit organization, will provide these services, except for street tree care, at no cost to the merchants and residents. Prospect Heights Street Tree Task Force will be responsible for the tree care which will include soil aeration, mulching and pruning. The Crown Heights Mediation Center conceived of the “clean-up day” as a way to support new and existing businesses on Nostrand Ave.

This will be the first partnership between New York City Community Clean-Up, Prospect Heights Street Tree Task Force and IKOKO Inc. (IKOKO is providing outreach and meeting space on Saturday), in which store-fronts will be encouraged to work together and revitalize an already vital merchant’s block.”

Looks like spring cleaning does not just have to take place in the spring!

This sounds fun …

Copyright - Anderson Zaca

Brooklyn Photo Salon and The ARTGROUPIENATION

Present BLOCK PARTY – SOUL OF SUMMER ART EXHIBITION – An exhibition by Anderson Zaca
Celebrating New Yorkers across race and class, sharing regional pride from different neighborhoods.

Anderson Zaca: Block Party Soul Of Summer Art Exhibition

Opening Reception
Thursday, August 4, 2011 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM
Exhibition through August 2011
1158DEAN Gallery – 1158Dean Street, Brooklyn | NY 11216

Closing Reception
Saturday, August 20, 2011 from 5:00PM to 10:00PM
Walt Shamel Community Garden
1093-95 Dean Street, Brooklyn | NY 11216

Nostrand Park is seeking the assistance of a couple of talented artists, calligraphers, and/or graphic designers to volunteer their skills in helping us create vibrant window displays along Nostrand Avenue.

If you haven’t seen the media coverage, basically, on Saturday, June 25th, Nostrand Park will be launching its exciting new initiative, “Destination Nostrand” – creating a pop-up store installations in vacant storefronts along Nostrand Avenue, in Crown Heights Brooklyn.

We would like to work with a couple of artists to create a simple window decal  for each of the stores.  (Maybe something like the below, but snazzier).

If you are interested, please contact us:

Raphael Niles
Masai Marketing
Principal
www.masaimarketing.com
info@masaimarketing.com
646-552-2774

OR

Laurel Brown
Nostrand Park
Director of Community Planning
info@nostrandpark.org

We are excited to see so much love and attention being showered on Crown Heights, of late. In addition to our excited DESTINATION NOSTRAND project, we received word that the new Kingston Avenue Merchant’s Association is working to spruce up Kingston Avenue:

On Friday, June 17th 2011 and Saturday, June 18th 2011 starting at 9 am, KAMA–The Kingston Avenue Merchants Association in conjunction with Crown Heights’ Summer of Celebration, Community Board 8, the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit and other community groups are coming together to beautify Kingston Avenue, between Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

They are seeking volunteers to come out to pitch in! They will be cleaning sidewalks and building exteriors, cleaning windows, painting and trash removal.

Please come out to lend a hand.

If you wish to be involved in this event, please contact James Ellis at 718-675-1000 x131.

Thank you!

Nostrand Park – in collaboration with VAMOS Architects, Masai Marketing, NYC Dept of Small Business Services, and desigNYC – is excited to announce the launch of its new pilot program, Destination Nostrand, intended to beautify, promote, enliven, and enhance Nostrand Avenue:

If you are interested in participating, showing off your artwork, opening up your commercial space, have a business idea that you would like to test out, or if you just want to help make sure that Nostrand looks great on the day of, just let us know: http://nostrandpark.com/destination-nostrand/

Special thank you to DANIEL GERGLEY, NICOLE MACIAS, JENNIFER MACCHIARELLI, and GroundUp Designers for their tremendous marketing and promotional assistance!

To view some of the design concepts for DN, check out our gallery below. Since the project is in its pilot phase, we will only be launching 3 of the concepts, but feel free to let us know which ones you like best:

All those with the urge to start a food business – here’s your chance!

As some of you may have read a few months ago if you are on our e-blast list, or if you follow the I Love Franklin Ave blog, NYC Economic Development Corporation is looking to have a food incubator hosted in Crown Heights.

Well, a local group called CREATE – a collaborative effort between a local Brooklyn attorney, architect, and marketing company all with ties to Prospect Heights and Crown Heights – is looking to “bring quality shared work and event space to the neighborhood. ”

They’ve sent us a short survey for folks to fill out: <a href=”http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QZ25CNT“>Click here to take survey.</a>  Pass it along if you know of anyone who might be interested.  The pictures are renderings of their vision of what the space would/could/should look like.  Nice!

Looks like St. Lucia’s tourist board is doing fun promo events in Crown Heights.  Got the word about this event from a friend, and figure we’d pass it along.  The pics from last year’s version of this event look nice.  Anyone attend?