This is an opporunity not only to learn, but also to educate others about what you think is happening with gangs in Sunset Park. Whether you are associated with a community organization, a school, or have faced gang issues yourself, this is a chance to tell the community what you think is important.

See the announcement below from Community Board 7:

The 72nd Precinct, Community Board #7 Brooklyn, Community Based Organization and Churches are working together to combat Gangs in OUR Community

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE

GANG AWARENESS FORUM

GANG VIOLENCE IS DESTROYING LIVES AND

DEVASTATING FAMILIES IN OUR COMMUNITY

THE PURPOSE OF THIS GANG FORUM IS TO:

• REACH OUR KIDS • INFORM THEM OF THE DANGERS OF GANG LIFE • OFFER POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES TO GANGS •

THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010

6:30PM

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH

545 60TH STREET (GYMNASIUM)

FEATURING:

GANG THEATER PERFORMANCE

COMMUNITY RESOURCE

PERSONAL TESTIMONY FROM FORMER GANG MEMBERS

SPECIAL GIVEAWAYS:

GAMES

RAFFLES

AND MANY OTHER SURPRISES

COME AND JOIN US!

PARENTS WELCOME

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.

*Did you make it to the Department of Transportation’s Brooklyn Greenway meeting on April 8? Streetsblog did, and brought back this report. Everyone agrees that the proposition of a waterfront greenway poses a challenge for the neighborhood, but also a huge boon in an area with little open space. Have opinions on the proposal? Leave a comment!

*The story of Michael Romero, 32, who was shot and killed by plainclothes police after a struggle over a gun, continues. Police now say they identified themselves as NYPD before Romero took out a gun. (He apparently said “You want to see my ID? Here’s my ID!” before taking out his silver .357 Rossi). Romero’s aunt says her nephew was “good” but “sick,” Gothamist reports. Romero was shot in the shoulder, and pronounced dead on arrival Lutheran hospital. Police found a second gun and a large bag of marijuana in the possession of the ex-con, who had 34 arrests on his record.

*The Sunset Park Rec Center has free baseball and softball leagues this summer. You can find more information here.

*State Senator Eric Adams cares about you—and your pants. The former NYPD captain has started a “stop the sag” campaign, advising those who rock their waistbands low to “raise your pants! Raise your image!” Indy Posted seemed like a fan, but kids in Crown Heights, where most of the billboards have gone up, were skeptical. Thoughts?

*Those of you rushing to the theater to see the new Liam Neeson movie After.Life but have an eerie feeling of déjà vu—Green-Wood Cemetery has a cameo in the drama that takes on age old theme of the the-not-quite-dead from the inside of a mortuary.

*The Village Voice’s Sarah DiGregorio chowed down at Wong Wong Noodles.

*Sunset Park Stills made good use of the recent night weather—there are some lovely new shots of the neighborhood on the blog.

Here is the information for the upcoming youth committee meeting for Community Board 7, which was rescheduled after a cancellation last week. The committee will create a mission for the year. Do you have ideas or concerns about youth in Sunset Park? Show up and put in your 2 cents:

Community Board 7’s Youth Committee

Tuesday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Community Board Office, enter on 43rd Street at Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park in the old court building.

Community Board 7 will hold its Youth Committee meeting this Monday, March 22 at 6:30pm at the Board Office at 4201 Fourth Avenue. On the agenda is to create a mission and agenda for the year. How to address some of the recent youth and gang violence is one consideration of the Board this year.

I’m going to be covering the event live, so you can tune in at 6:30 to see what the Committee has to say. Show up! Or, if you can’t make it, leave questions and/or comments for the committee in a comment, and I’ll bring them to the meeting.

Just got a note that the meeting has been canceled. I’ll keep you posted on re-scheduling.

Photo taken by EyOne

In December, the Metropolitan Transpiration Agency passed controversial budget cuts which would, among other things, discontinue a program that provides free MetroCards for over half a million students in New York City. Under the current plan, students would begin to pay half price for rides this September, and full price fares at the start of the 2011 school year. The Urban Youth Collaborative opposes the cuts, and says eliminating the cards will affect students’ ability to attend school.

The group, sponsored in part by Sunset Park’s UPROSE, will hold a protest at MTA headquarters tomorrow, February 1 at 12:30 pm.

Here is the information sent in an email this weekend:

Location: 347 Madison Ave, between E 44th st and 45th st
Time: 12.30 pm
Train Directions: 4.5.6.. line to 42ND St Grand Central
B.D.F.V to 47-50th st Rockefeller Center

WE REALLY WANT YOU TO COME OUT & ACT TO MAKE A CHANGE!
If you have an organization or affiliate interested in participating,
please contact us ASAP!
Urban Youth Collaborative.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact the event
administrators via facebook:

Khaair Morrison, email:khaairmorrison@aol.com
Sharmin Hossain, email: sharmin.hossain@hotmail.com

Feel Free to email us or message us via facebook.

Sunset Park Alliance for Youth will roll out a program to help young people earn their GED and find a job.

The “S.P.I.N” program offers computer training, resume writing help, job placement assistance, GED referrals and an opportunity to gain academic skills. The Alliance’s program is geared towards people between the ages of 16–24 and not in school.

Sunset Park Alliance, headed up by former Community Board 7 Chair Randy Peers, is made up of six community-based agencies–Center for Family Life, Fifth Avenue Committee and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, Lutheran Family Health Centers, Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation and Turning Point. They together serve over one thousand young adults in the community, according to a press release by the Sunset Park Alliance.

Interested? You can find out more or RSVP to: info@sunsetparkalliance.org or 718-788-2305

Orientation is Thursday, Feb. 11, groups start on Wednesday, February 17th

Sunset Park Alliance for Youth, 783 4th Avenue (at 27th Street)

Chilly? Sunset Park’s got your back.

This Saturday locals in need of winter wear can visit the Sunset Park Rec Center, which with Family Heath Plus will distribute 900 free coats to those in need, along with free hats and gloves. Get there early–the event begins at noon, and though the center allows only one coat per person, it has limited supplies.

The Coat Distribution will take place Saturday, January 30th from 12-4pm at the Sunset Park Recreation Center, Seventh Avenue at 43rd Street, Sunset Park.

I had heard whispers, but the blogs blew it up–Brownstoner reported yesterday on the new yoga studio to open on the north side of Sunset Park.

Suryasta Yoga will open the doors at its 36th Street loft this weekend.  Founder Jenya Andrianova, a Sunset Park resident, is among the studio’s four teachers. The schedule lists morning and evening classes on weekdays, kids classes on weekends at 10am, and community classes (which are generally offered at a discount) Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:15pm. Classes cost $10 throughout February.

Curious? You can check out the studio this Sunday, January 31st from 5-7pm at a welcome that will include wine, food, hobnobbing and maybe even a little downward dog.

(The pairing of edibles and oms is also rather timely given this article in the New York Times today).

Suryasta Yoga, 462 36th Street, Brooklyn, NY off the N, R and D trains.

Gabriel Thompson knows first-hand the ache after days of picking lettuce, the gore of chicken slaughter and the peril of biking amid New York’s yellow taxis–he spent a year working low-wage jobs filled mostly by immigrant workers. You can get the story from the author’s mouth tonight at the release of Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs Americans Won’t Do, the tale of Thompson’s months making his way through the United States on minimum wage. The event is being held with La Unión, a community organization and advocacy group based in Sunset Park.

The Working in the Shadows book release will be held January 28 at 7pm at Soda Bar, 629 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn.