The Brooklyn Ink, a local website run by the Columbia J School, had some great election coverage this week. Check it out.

*Do charter schools mirror the city? The New York Times found that Latinos are underrepresented in charter schools as compared to their presence in public schools citywide. Given the raging battle over charter schools, you could see that as good or bad…thoughts? (P.S. Don’t miss the interactive map.)

*Cutbacks at the MTA are mixing up bus routes through Sunset Park—the B37 and B70 will diverge from their well-known paths, and many aren’t happy about it, the Brooklyn Eagle reports.

*The Eagle takes a look back at “Operation Blockbuster,” the big South Brooklyn crack bust of 2008

*Legit or scam? The diet product Herbalife has carved out a firm foothold among immigration groups. Feet in Two Worlds reports.

*Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the end of May announced a huge biotech facility will go into the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. The Wall Street Journal gives some additional background on the mayor’s startup projects.

*In case you haven’t found your spot yet, the Brooklyn Eagle has links to suggestions for the best spots to watch the World Cup.

Many of you have written in over the past few months with concerns about the safety (and future safety) of Fourth Avenue. Here is your chance to tell the community what you think needs to happen with one of Sunset Park´s busiest streets:

CB7 announcement below:

COMMUNITY BOARD #7 
 

PUBLIC SPEAKOUT 

ON COMMUNITY ISSUES CONCERNING

4^TH AVENUE 

TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010 

CB7 OFFICE – 4201 4^TH AVENUE

(ENTRANCE ON 43^RD STREET)

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

We talked a while ago about Borough President Marty Markowitz’s vision for a better, brighter Fourth Avenue. This morning, you can get a preview of what that might look like. The collaboration with students from NYU’s Wagner School show green medians, bike racks and remarkably traffic-free streets. Some of those commenting on Curbed seemed skeptical. Thoughts?

This have been rather neglected around here of late, but I wanted to drop in for a couple of quick reminders about upcoming community board meetings. Both will take place at 6:30pm at the CB7 offices in the old court building at 43rd Street and Fourth Avenue.

*Tonight’s concerns more northward matters: The parks committee will discuss the proposed dog run on 18th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

*Next week on Wednesday, May 12th, there will be a public hearing with the public safety committee on the liquor license renewal application for 2004 Viva Mexico Inc., at 3913 Fifth Avenue. Liquor licenses at this restaurant have been contentious in the past, as you can see in the Best View in Brooklyn archives.

In a great example of how community journalism can work, I got this note about the goings on at a Community Board 7 meeting on parks. A reader attended, and sent this note back:

Sunset Park will be undergoing some serious changes–$4 million in renovations starting this year. Sara Gonzalez helped acquire the funding, the reader said.

The first is a reworking of the concrete baseball/soccer field (“the big slab”) in the middle of the park. It will be turned into a more legitimate multi-purpose field, faux-grass and all, as the picture above shows. The comfort station (I believe that’s the bathroom) and the area with the chess tables will also get spiffed. The playground, however, will not get reworked…yet. Some of the parents at the meeting were not too happy to hear that, but the playground will apparently top next year’s list.

Another unfortunate budget victim is summer camp:  registration in Sunset Park has been delayed as the is no money in the budget for it. Rumor is it may not happen this year, the reader said.

*The Daily News reported that P.S. 150 has the longest wait list in the city, due largely to demand from Chinese families who have moved into Sunset Park in recent years.

*Police at the 72^nd Precinct think they may have caught the burglar who has been targeting and stealing from Chinese residents who live the 40s and 50s, and driving up the burglary rate, Inspector Jesus Raul Pintos said last week.

*The lack of Brooklyn-bound toll on the Verrazano has some people worked up, including local owners who have trouble parking in Sunset Park, the Eagle reported.

*The weekly park sweeps at Lets Clean Sunset Park! are back up and running. Want to join in? Check out the website to keep up to date.

*Thanks to the Brooklyn DA, Haitians in need of clothing after the earthquake will soon be sporting a load of designer knockoffs confiscated last year from a Sunset Park storage facility, according to the Post.

*Councilwoman Gonzalez held a leadership summit last week, the Eagle reports. She also brought together a group to talk about the somewhat contentious issue of legislation on vendors along Fifth Avenue. Details on that to come.

*Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn last week announced the New York City Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy (WAVES), “a citywide initiative that will create a new sustainable blueprint for the City’s 578 miles of shoreline.” Sunset Park obviously has a good bit of that waterfront. I haven’t had a chance to look through it carefully, but I’ll report back on the details of the plan.

*Picturing Sunset Park: Check out a kind of unusual shot I stumbled upon here, and good shot of Chinatown here.

*Frank of The Sunset Park Blog noted a couple of new Italian places in the neighborhood, and made a well-deserved plug for staying in (the neighborhood) when going out to eat.

*Things have been cooking, sprouting and…shopping…over at Sunset Parkour. Take a look out how her seedlings are progressing, and her note on Sunset Park’s recent meh ranking in NYMag’s list of “most livable” New York neighborhoods. Eh, they can keep Park Slope.

*Got any other news? Send it along…

Here is a reminder about the Greenway meeting sent around by UPROSE.

The city wants your input on the plan–otherwise it will go forward without the neighborhood weighing in. What does this all mean for Sunset Park? Show up–and offer your opinion.

The workshop will be hands on and you will have a space to give your recommendations and opinions.
Attached is a map of the Community Based Sunset Park Greenway and the themes that will be discussed tomorrow.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. If you can, bring someone from the community with you.
When: Today! April 8th 6:30-8:30pm
Where: St Michael’s Church Auditorium
371 43rd St (btw. 4th and 3rd Avenues)
(45th St. R Train Station)
———
Participa! Dejate escuchar! Ven al taller comunitario del Dept. de Transportacion sobre la ‘Via Verde’ de Sunset Park.
El taller sera interactivo y tendrás espacio para dar tus recomendaciones y opiniones.
Adjunto el mapa del plan comunitario para la vía verde de Sunset Park
Cuando: Hoy! 8 de Abril 6:30-8:30pm
Donde: Auditorio Iglesia de St. Michael’s
371 Calle 43 (entre la 3ra y 4ta Ave)
(Estacion de 45 del Tren R)

*The adult shops along Third Avenue have been a, well, touchy subject for a while now. A reader sent this Daily News piece around yesterday on a court decision that may make complicate the adult bookstore/movie store industry. The Brooklyn Eagle had an article yesterday as well.

*Lots of Greenway coverage this week, including a piece in the Daily News, and some live blogging here at Sunset Park Chronicled.

*Remember Federal Building No. 2? The Times did a multimedia package on the full-of-potentials-with-a-hint-of-problem piece of waterfront real estate this week. The photos have a touch of Nathan Kensinger’s style to them I thought. Take a look.

*The Village Voice’s Sarah DiGregorio put out her list of the top ten spots to fill your belly in Sunset Park.

*The New York Time’s Fernanda Santos has a piece (with graphics, video, etc) tracking the 2010 Census. Convincing people to fill out and return the forms is still proving a hard sell it seems. Do it! It’s how you get money for schools, transpiration, hospitals–and we reporters love us some census data.

A bit belated, but here’s another piece of community news that came my way. Sunset Park Community Supported Agriculture is now accepting new members. Below find a little info on what a CSA is, and how exactly you might go about joining the neighborhood group if this strikes your fancy. I know several people in the neighborhood have, including Sunset Parkour. From the press release:

CSA’s have been popping up in neighborhoods around the city recently and Sunset Park is no exception.  Last year a handful of neighborhood residents got together and worked with Just Food to establish a CSA right here in Sunset Park.  After a great first year with MimoMex farms the Sunset Park CSA is ready for their second year and is now selling shares for the 2010 season.

The Sunset Park CSA runs for 22 weeks from mid-June through early November.  Members can choose either a Weekly or an Every-Other-Week vegetable share.  Members pick up their shares on Wednesday’s from 5 to 7:30 at St. Michael’s Church on 4^th Avenue between 42^nd and 43^rd Streets.  The Sunset Park CSA is a volunteer organization and the members also set up and break down the distribution site each week.

Here are the share prices for the 2010 season.  Note that there are two different pricing options based on household income – Plan A and Plan B – for the vegetable share.

More questions? You can shoot an email to SunsetParkCSA@yahoo.com.