Nostalgic for summer already? Have you already forgotten that summer is a mixed bag, filled with balmy evening cocktails at Gowanus Yacht Club and mid-afternoon brunches on Alma’s rooftop — yet punctuated by heat waves, brownouts and the smells wafting across the Narrows?
So bid summer goodbye with a touch of relief — especially since there’s so much to look forward to this fall:
SEPTEMBER
9. Harvest fair
Do you wonder how your cucumber measures up to the competition? Visit the annual GreenThumb Harvest Fair, where hard-core community gardeners face off over the quality of their homegrown pumpkins, tomatoes, and zucchinis, among other choice produce. In this competition, size definitely matters.
Hattie Carthan Garden (654 Lafayette Ave., at Marcy Avenue), 12–5 pm. www.greenthumbnyc.org.
9. Mother, may I?
Ringolevio, Lemon and Lime, and Be on Time. This is not some bass-ackwards attempt at poetry. These are children’s games from the days or yore. If you’d like to learn more, the Gowanus Houses are hosting a daylong event called “Learning to Play the Old-School Way,” for “children, ages 1–99.” Just be careful out there, Gramps. The three-legged race can be tough on the hips.
Gowanus Houses (bounded by Wyckoff, Hoyt, Douglass and Bond streets). Noon. (718) 858–1076.
10. Brooklyn bikes
Thousands of cyclists will bike Brooklyn as part of the NYC Century Bike Tour. There are five different routes, and none includes Staten Island. If that isn’t incentive enough, every participant will get a commemorative organic cotton T-shirt.
www.nyccentury.org or (212) 629–8080.
12. Primary day
At long last, voters in the 11th Congressional District get a breather. Other hot races include the 57th Assembly District battle among Bill Batson, Hakeem Jeffries and Freddie Hamilton, and the 46th Assembly District race between former Soviets Ari Kagan and Alec Brook-Krasny. A race pitting state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-Park Slope) against former Councilwoman Tracy Boyland started out promisingly, but Boyland is MIA on the campaign trail.
Visit the Board of Elections at www.vote.nyc.ny.us or call (212) VOTE-NYC.
13. Conservative ladies
Some of the hottest up-and-coming Brooklyn Republican women will be at this event, so, to all conservative single men out there, here’s your chance! For the ladies, it’s half-price drinks and a chance to win a copy of Ann Coulter’s latest, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism.” It doesn’t get better than this.
Peggy O’Neill’s (8123 Fifth Ave., between 81st and 82nd streets), 7 pm. (347) 408-7923.
13, 19, 20. It’s over
Not that they got much vacation, what with the state so thoughtfully releasing the Atlantic Yards draft environmental impact statement this summer, and then holding its lone “public hearing” a few weeks later, but Brooklyn’s Community Boards are officially back in business. See below for a schedule of their first full board meetings of the fall.
CB2: Sept. 13, YWCA (Third Avenue at Atlantic Avenue, 6 pm. (718) 596-5410.
CB6: Sept. 13, St. Peter St. Paul Church (190 Court St., between Congress and Wyckoff streets), 6:30 pm. (718) 643–3027.
CB7: Sept. 20, Community Board Offices (4201 Fourth Ave., at 43rd Street), 6:30 pm. (718) 854–0003.
CB10: Sept. 19, Shore Hill Community Room (9000 Shore Road, at 91st Street), 7:15 pm. (718) 745–6827.
16. Brooklyn reads
Jonathan Ames, Jhumpa Lahiri and Jennifer Egan may make odd bedfellows, but they all write books, and that fact will bring them together at the first annual Brooklyn Book Festival, hosted by Borough President Markowitz.
And given our lowly positions on the masthead, we feel bound to mention that our attention-hungry editor, Gersh Kuntzman, will be manning a table in support of his own book, “Chrismukkah: The Official Guide to the World’s Most-Beloved Holiday.” The book, he tells us, makes a great holiday gift. (Yeah, right.)
Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 10 am–6 pm. For information, visit www.brooklynbookfestival.org.
16. PC spirituality
Does technology frustrate you? Have you no idea how anything works? Don’t fret. Visit the Park Slope Food Coop, where a woman named Phoenix Soleil will guide you in the spiritual underpinnings of your computer. This is not a joke. Soleil is hosting a workshop called “The Zen of Computer Maintenance,” during which she will “go over some key epiphanies in computing history” and help you alter your “philosophical framework.” Bonus: Organic lacinato kale will be just steps away.
Park Slope Food Coop (782 Union St., bet. Sixth and Seventh avenues), 4 pm. (718) 622–0560.
16. Young & Republican
Yes, there are Republicans in Brooklyn, and some of them have barely traded in their acne for ill-fitting suits! These proud young right-wingers will be hosting the statewide annual fall meeting of the New York State Young Republican Clubs. According to the head of the Brooklyn Young Republicans, the honor of hosting the meeting is “a testament to [their] recent outstanding growth and activities.” So, if you’re a young conservative, or simply interested in observing the young Bushites from an anthropological perspective, here’s your opportunity.
Best Western Hotel Gregory (8315 Fourth Ave., between 83rd and 84th streets). (347) 408–7923.
17. Atlantic Antic
The annual street fair is on, despite an expected boycott by merchants incensed that the Antic accepted money from controversial developer Bruce Ratner.
Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue, 10 am–6 pm. (718) 875–8993.
21. History lesson
Want to meet some folks who remember yesteryear better than this year? The speaker series at Heights and Hill Community Council features Brooklyn historian John Manbeck.
Heights and Hill Community Council (160 Montague St., between Clinton and Henry streets), 2–3:30 pm. (718) 596–8789.
22. Rosh Hashanah
When the sun goes down, the two-day-a-year Jews come out. Believers without a congregation (and with thick wallets) can pony up $200 a piece to atend Congregation Beth Elohim on the High Holy Day. The less-well-off can hoof it to Shorefront Jews’ Community Center, which costs $8 for adults and $5 for kids.
Congregation Beth Elohim (274 Garfield Pl. at Eighth Avenue). (718) 768–3814. Shorefront Jews’ Community Center (3300 Coney Island Ave., between Brightwater Court and Riegelmann Boardwalk). (718) 646–1444.
23. Fall starts
Stonehome Wine Bar and Union Hall bring in their outdoor tables. Christmas promotions get into full swing. The sun enters Libra.(Can you say that in a family newspaper?)
29. No comment
After just 73 days, the public comment period on the 2,000-page Atlantic Yards draft environmental impact statement closes. Finally, Brooklynites can stop arguing incessantly about Bruce Ratner’s mega-development. Awkward silences follow.
Email testimony to atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us or snail-mail it to Maria Mooney, Empire State Development Corporation, 633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017.
30. Computers trashed
Yuppies recycle “old” ThinkPads and iBooks cast-offs, thereby rationalizing the purchase of spanking new computers and wardrobes. It’s the annual Electronics Recycling and Clothing Donation Event. Clothes go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, and computers, printers, mice, scanners, keyboards, cellphones, ancient Tandys and TVs get disposed of in an environmentally sound fashion. Last year, Brooklynites tossed 115 tons of electronic equipment and 31 tons of clothing and linens.
Bartel Pritchard Square (Prospect Park West at Prospect Park Southwest), 8 am–2 pm. www.nyc.gov/nycwasteless or call 311.
OCTOBER
1. Yom Kippur
The annual Day of Atonement begins at sundown. Some Brooklyn Jews spend their time repenting for not going to synagogue the rest of the year.
Free services at the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst (7802 Bay Prkwy., at 78th Street). (718) 331–6800.
3. Public gluttony
Brooklynites re-gain all of the weight they lost for bikini season by engorging themselves on Brooklyn’s best restaurant food at the 10th edition of Brooklyn Eats. It’s technically a “tasting event,” but the tasting is unlimited, and the liquor flows just as freely.
New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge (333 Adams St., between Joralemon and Johnson streets ), 6:30–8:30 pm. www.brooklyneatsonline.com, or to buy tickets, visit www.ticketweb.com or call (866) 468–7619.
3. Fat in your head
Seriously. It’s your brain’s fault you can’t haul your big butt to the gym. This seminar, “The Psychology of Fitness,” will help you overcome your internal — and eternal — horror of working out, and it’ll help you improve your eating habits.
Families First (250 Baltic St., between Clinton and Court streets), 7–8:30 pm. (718) 237–1862 or visit www.familiesfirstbrooklyn.org.
7. Sideshow side-trip
Yeah, we know the season is over at Coney Island, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a freak show. The Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment is leading a free tour of Coney Island’s old cabarets, variety halls and theaters, which launched greats like Jimmy Durante and the Marx Brothers. It’s all part of Open House NY, so it’s free and a once-in-a-year opportunity.
Shore Theatre (Stillwell and Surf avenues), 11:30 am–1:30 pm. (718) 788–8500 x208.
22. Peace fair
If you’re into peace — and who isn’t these days? — have we got a fair for you. Brooklyn Peace will host all sorts of peace workshops, arts organizations, performers, and elected officials to whom you can kvetch.
One University Plaza (between Flatbush and DeKalb avenues) 11am–5 pm. (718) 624–5921 or go to www.brooklynpeace.org/events.
28. Canoe the canal
The Gowanus Dredgers are hosting their last canoeing trip of the season on the fetid waterway. Let’s just hope the sewage … er, water, hasn’t frozen over yet.
Second Street Canal Launch Site (Second Street and the Canal), 1–5 pm. (718) 243–0849 or visit www.gowanuscanal.org.
31. Halloween Parade
You don’t need to have a kid to love the annual Park Slope Halloween parade, now in its 18th year featuring thousands of youngsters marching up Seventh Avenue decked out in all manner of costumes — in other words, hundreds of girls in Dorothy outfits and hundreds of boys dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Hey, people, let’s show some originality this year!
Seventh Avenue, starting at 12th Street, after sundown. (718) 832–8227.
NOVEMBER
1. Yes, still in Jersey
The still-New Jersey Nets play their first home game of the season against the Toronto Raptors. The half-empty Continental Arena will no doubt convince even some die-hard Atlantic Yards opponents to reconsider.
Continental Airlines Arena, Meadowlands, 7:30 pm. (800) 7NJ–NETS for tickets.
5. Running for miles
Some see the New York City Marathon as a torturous 26.2-mile run — but it’s also a ground-level tour of Brooklyn’s rapid gentrification, from Fourth Avenue to Bedford Avenue.
(212) 423-2249, or www.nycmarathon.org.
7. Election day
Likely scenario: Republicans keep control of Congress, Park Slope secedes from the Union, Bay Ridge has a parade.
Visit the Board of Elections at www.vote.nyc.ny.us or call (212) VOTE–NYC.
