621- 86th Street Community Hub – May 5th
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May 2, 2018Foghorns Blasting in Bay Ridge
Foghorns were blazing all night in Bay Ridge – I love the sound. Most people around here love them – they have a kind of romantic sound. Many people hear them in the morning and know the weather before they get out of bed.
If you don’t like the sound you probably shouldn’t live near the water. It’s not a SOS call, but rather when the evening if particularly foggy, then the boats will use the foghorns to alert other boats that they are nearby.
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May 2, 2018Free Resume Help – May 7th in Bay Ridge
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May 2, 2018Hidden Foodie Gems in Bay Ridge Video
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May 1, 2018Empty Bowls Event to Fund Food Pantry
The Empty Bowls event on May 5th. at 12:00 pm at The Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Bowls are $25 each
All proceeds from the sale of the bowls will benefit the Community Food Pantry at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, which helps hundreds of hungry people in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park.
The Empty Bowls Bay Ridge Project is part of a grassroots movement by artists to end hunger in local communities throughout the nation. In Bay Ridge, local potters and artists have worked with the community to create dozens of unique, handcrafted ceramic bowls.
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May 1, 2018West Side Story at Ft Hamilton HS This Week
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May 1, 2018Estate Sale – Bay Ridge 5/5
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May 1, 2018Marty Golden & The Bay Ridge Community Task Force – When was the Last Time Golden Went to This?
The name sounds good, right? It might be a little more about “sounding good” than actually being effective. No one would think that people eating breakfast together once a year would be effective in community building and dealing with all the issues. This week Paula Katinas, writer for the Brooklyn Eagle credited Senator Golden for being one of the “founding members.” We haven’t seen Senator Golden in any of the pictures of the Bay Ridge Unity Task Force Breakfasts in many years (if Senator Golden was there, there would be a picture.)
The Bay Ridge Community Task Force was established in 2000. Newspapers credit former District Attorney, Charles Hynes for initiating the task force. There is very little information about the Bay Ridge Task Force online – no website, FB page, etc. While the group was started with good intentions to encourage unity across different religions and cultural backgrounds, it appears the group settled on being a “Once a Year Breakfast Club that takes a picture for the paper” rather than a Task Force which takes action and solve problems. It’s obvious the original plan for this Task Force wasn’t to meet ONCE A YEAR.
The Task Force in the Early Years
In the earlier years, the group held community events as this book referred to a picnic that was held at Owls Head Park to strengthen ties in the community. In the years that followed Vinnie Gentile, Marty Golden and some Bay Ridge store owners continued to hold a Fourth of July picnic in the Shore Road Park. In 2011, there was a dispute over the music being played at that picnic (more here) and some felt unwanted because of the conflict over music. The politician sponsored picnics continued until 2015 (videos here). The Task Force also organized a Community Cleanup Day, but that looks like it may have been a one time event as there is no mention of it in other years.
2017 -The Bay Ridge Task Force is now the Sunset Park Task Force!
It’s apparent that the members of the Task Force aren’t interested in responding to issues in the community (such as this, this, this and this). A few incidents of hate happened and the Task Force didn’t do anything about it. How can it be a Task Force if there is no response to the problems in the neighborhood?
In July 2016, when an incident from Sunset Park overflowed into our area, the Bay Ridge Unity Task Force did not do anything. The task force was supposed to come together and stomp out hate and mistrust, but it didn’t do anything.
In 2017, we heard there was a Task Force meeting at the Fatih Camii Mosque in Sunset Park and this group ate lunch (rather than breakfast) – see here
Task Forced Evolved into Free Breakfast….now Free Lunch.
The members on Bay Ridge the Task Force seemed to enjoy the free breakfast. I don’t know who the leader is for this group, but they obviously don’t have any leadership skills or they would have served coffee and muffins AND PUT PEOPLE TO WORK! One paper states that the breakfast has traditionally attracted religious leaders, police brass, civic activists and business leaders. Yes, free breakfast does that.
Marty Golden sent his staffer, John Quaglione to represent him. Move the video to 2:43. Quaglione says, “By being together at the number of events, it allows us the opportunity not only to talk about being together, but actually be together.” WHATTTTTTTTTTT? Did you understand that jibber jabber? A task force is supposed to accomplish tasks in the community.
Being together with people from other cultures and
religions isn’t hard. Every day this happens in
public schools across the city!
The Task Forces Needs to Restructure and Be a Task Force
What needs to happen is for the group to restructure and become a Task Force rather than a group of adults who like to eat breakfast! Here’s some things that should have changed over the years if the Task Force was to stay viable.
1. It’s odd that the Bay Ridge Task Force has no young adults on it. Their voice is important in our community and the teens will bring a fresh set of eyes, ideas and energy to the community. I’m not talking about adding all honor students to the group, I’m talking about adding students of various cultural and religious backgrounds who are interested in civic service in their community.
2. Someone stated that the Movers and Shakers were on the Task Force. That can’t be correct because anyone moving and shaking is working at the time in the morning. It must be a lot of retired members of the community on the Task Force. Move the meeting to the evening and allow for more people to attend the Task Force – rotate the members of the Task Force so it stays fresh and continues to be a task force that does more than just eat breakfast.
3. One year, the breakfast was sponsored by Maimonides Hospital. Why would anyone from Maimonides be included in the Task Force Breakfast if MAIMO is on 48th Street and far from Bay Ridge? This sounds like a political move as I don’t understand the connection to MAIMO. If the task force had an evening meeting, everyone can bring their own coffee or water so outside businesses don’t need to be present.
Click below to see the History of the Bay Ridge Community Task Force
Read the rest of this entry »
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May 1, 2018Bay Ridge Food Co-Op – May 4th and 5th
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May 1, 2018Karaoke in Bay Ridge – Tuesday Night at 9:00 pm
Catch 22 is at 7221 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge
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May 1, 2018May is Here!
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April 30, 2018Ibrahim Dibawadallah – Brooklyn
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