*Schools! That word alone is usually enough to rile someone up. In Sunset Park’s crowded classrooms, education is of particular concern. Several of Brooklyn’s biggest names will next week offer parents, politicians and interested parties an opportunity to offer opinions about Brooklyn’s school system. The information is below. I hope to see you there.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Councilmembers Letitia James, Brad Lander and Steve Levin will convene a town hall meeting to discuss the city’s public education system. The event will take place on Wednesday March 3, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. in the courtroom at Brooklyn Borough Hall. We hope that you will come out, share your ideas, and help forge a community partnership to build a stronger foundation for parental involvement in our schools.

For more information or to RSVP for this event, please contact Chris Black at the Public Advocate’s Office, 212-669-7200 or cblack@pubadvocate.nyc.gov

*Feelings on Fourth Avenue? The Park Slope Civic Council will sponsor a forum,  “The Future of Fourth Avenue,” on Thursday, March 4, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Park Slope.

The Council has previously voiced concern that Fourth Avenue is marginal to the rest of the neighborhood just north of Sunset Park. Borough President Marty Markowitz in his recent state of the city hoped to change the character of the thoroughfare, and rechristen the wide (and recently deadly road) “Brooklyn Boulevard.”

*Community Board 7 will hold a Public Hearing Monday, March 15 at 6:30 pm at the Board Office on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 43rd Street. It has to do with a city-owned property by the South Brooklyn Army Terminal. I’ll try to find out more. For the moment, see below for more information:

APPLICATION #C100204PPK – In the matter of one city-owned property, generally bounded by 39^th Street (1^st & 2^nd Avenues) and the western portion of 2^nd Avenue, from 37^th to 29^th Streets (Block 622, p/o Lot 1),  in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), restricted to parking and accessory use only

*Sunset Park Stills has some beautiful new images up, including some Lunar New Year-themed shots. Take a look!

Warrior Politics (2008). Used motor oil mixed media on paper

By coincidence, the Sunset Park-themed events this weekend all have a green bent. Given that it is apparently emerging as the “newest, biggest, fastest-changing neighborhood” according to the Brooklyn Eagle, that it is avant garde should be no surprise. You can take or leave the Eagle’s claim, but certainly take the neighborhood up on these free events.

Obama, in Oil: Sunset Park-based Artist David Macaluso Paints the President

Watercolor, acrylic, gouache, India ink–these are the common tools for painters who work on paper. But used motor oil?

Yet that viscous substance is what makes up the strokes and curves of David Macaluso’s portraits of Barak Obama on show at Tillie’s in Fort Greene, where there is reception is this Friday, January 8 from 7-9 pm. The Sunset Park-based artist has painted with motor oil since 2005, and says the material reflects the contemporary moment in this oil producing nation. It also puts to use a material generally considered waste. And his newest portraits have people talking. You can check out videos of Macaluso painting these pieces on his website. The show will be up through February 6. Artist’s reception at Friday, January 8 from 7-9 pm at Tillie’s, 248 DeKalb Ave in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill.

(F)RE-(E)G(AN)IFTING DAY

For those of you who received some unwanted packages this holiday season, the Very Very Free Market is having its re-gifting day this weekend at Trinity Lutheran.. Bring what you hope to part with, and come ready to find unappreciated gems. Your trash, as they say, could be someone else’s treasure.  Saturday January 9 from 1-5 pm, Trinity Lutheran Church at 4th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets.

MulchFest

And speaking of reduce, reuse, recycle, Saturday and Sunday mark the city’s MulchFest. For those of you who have not yet kicked your Christmas Tree to the curb, grab a friend and bring it down to Sunset Park. Rather than going into trash, it will be mulched and put back into the New York’s parks and green spaces. Just make sure your tree is free of all lights and ornaments. Tree collection takes place at 44th Street and Sixth Avenue entrance to Sunset Park.

Those who want mulch of your very own can bring bags to Prospect Park, where you can have as much as you can carry home.

Información sobre Mulchfest en Español.

Information about Mulchfest in Chinese.

Are there other events the Chron has missed? Send an email to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com/ Hay otros eventos que no hemos notado? Mande un correo a sunsetparkchron@gmail.com.

The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC has since the recession began asked readers to write in their stories for it’s “Uncommon Economic Indicators” series. One listener wrote to tell of the skaters who have settled in by the planters outside the glassy, under-occupied Richard Meier building by Grand Army Plaza. A few noted consumers pass around more rare joins these days, a sign that people have cracked open piggy banks to make ends meet.

Nostrand Park picked up the Lehrer show’s idea, with a twist. A recent post on the Crown Heights blog has “uncommon gentrification indicators”–a demographic shift measured in coffee shops, local blogs and affordable housing forums.

In Sunset Park, the recession has coincided with a neighborhood rezoning, the opening of a Duane Reade, an uptick in murders, a downslide in pizza sales and, recently, headlines touting the local fare. The New York Times, the Brooklyn Eagle, the Huffington Post and the Village Voice have all in recent months guided hungry New Yorkers to Sunset Park.

What do you think? Is it the recession, gentrification or just long overdue recognition that if you want tender, chewy hand-pulled noodles or melt-in-your-mouth pork tacos, Sunset Park is where it’s at?

Where do you go to get your bellyfull? Leave a comment. I’ll make a map.

I try to provide a little background in my posts, but page space, like Sunset Park rental units, is at a premium.  And let’s face it–nobody likes to scroll down too far these days. In the spirit of informed readership, I’ve pointed the way to where you might find some of the basic research that puts stories in perspective. This week? Some data about New York’s transport system. Click on the facts. They take you to the source.

Space, movement, buildings and traffic all matter to Brooklynites, who call the city’s densest neighborhood home. Here’s how the city gets from A to B.

New York City spans about New York City’s land area covers approximately 305 square miles or 195,000 acres or 8.5 billion square feet. Only approximately 6.7 billion of those square feet is usable. That means that (all things divided equally, and we know how that works) each New Yorker can call 788.2 square feet her own.

In 2008, 1,623,881,369 passengers rode the New York subway. Each day, the MTA system transports New York’s 8.4 million people with its 422 rail, subway, and bus lines, 8,767 subway cars, 6,300 buses, 2,056 miles of rail and subway lines, 3,912 bus route miles. In fact, the system in an average workday moves 8,739,680. Where did those extra few 100,000 come from? Must be that bridge-and-tunnel crowd.