Cyclones ‘YOUniform’ tryouts
Budding Project Runway fashion designers recently had a chance to comment on a burgeoning Brooklyn mainstay — the Brooklyn Cyclones jersey.
Fashionistas at the Cyclones home office chose five finalists from the Brooklyn-themed jersey design contest in which borough students between the ages of five and 16 submitted designs (in crayon and marker, no less), adding some flash to the usually bland uniforms seen running around the bases in MCU Park.
The final decision will come from on-line voters going to www.brooklyncyclones.com. By late Sunday, Kiara Johnson of the Bushwick School for Social Justice, 400 Irving Avenue, and Jennifer Mizhquiri of P.S. 185, 8601 Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge, were neck and neck, each getting 35 percent of the 9,859 of the votes cast.
As this paper went to press, the contest winner was scheduled to be announced on March 17.
The winner will receive a Cyclones prize pack, a framed jersey signed by the 2010 Cyclones, and will throw out a ceremonial first pitch before the game in which their YOUniform will be worn. All entries will be showcased in an “art show” at the ballpark’s Brooklyn Baseball Gallery.
Hynes announces his
‘calendar girls’
There’s no doubt about it, Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes loves the ladies.
Especially if they’ve done something extraordinary.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Hynes honored 31 special Brooklyn women at his fourth annual Extraordinary Women’s event.
Recipients were recognized for organizing relief efforts for Haiti earthquake victims, assisting the impoverished people of Cambodia and helping those suffering from kidney disease get the transplants they desperately need.
“These exceptional women serve as role models because of their selflessness, dedication and compassion,” Hynes said. “They come from neighborhoods throughout the borough, but they all have one thing in common. They make Brooklyn a better place to live.”
Hynes’ 31 Extraordinary Women include: Oraia Reid (Boerum Hill), Paula Shirk (Brooklyn Heights), Christine Moore Vassallo (Boerum Hill), Wai Po Tsang (Sheepshead Bay), Aqila Norris (Bedford-Stuyvesant), Laurie Windsor (Bath Beach), Chaya Lipschutz (Borough Park), Suzelle Charles Augustin (Old Mill Basin), Sherif Fraser (East Flatbush), Linda Sarsour (Bay Ridge), Mary D. Allen (East New York), Kathleen Snow (Marine Park), Kimberly Maier (Park Slope), Jodie Reznik (Flatbush), Jeanne B. Lambert (Flatbush),Megan Kerrigan (Mapleton), E. Colleen Golden (Bay Ridge), Victoria Aviles (Boerum Hill), Elisabeth Stock (Park Slope), Patricia Reddock (East Flatbush), Dale Mc Reynolds (Sheepshead Bay), Candice Anderson (Park Slope), Renee Flowers (Gowanus), Ismay Griffith (Canarsie), Amy Cohen (Carroll Gardens), Bazay Roohi (Coney Island), Margarette D. Tropnas (EastFlatbush), Nancy Carbone (Red Hook), Margaret Cusack (Boerum Hill), Deb Howard (Fort Greene), and Laurel O. Fraser (East Flatbush).
Bay Ridge Condom design comes in last
After tallying more than 15,000 online ballots, the Health Department this week revealed the winning design for the special limited-edition New York City condom wrapper.
The winner, Luis Acosta of Queens, offered up an electronic power button on the wrapper. With more than 23 percent of the votes, Acosta’s entry edged past four other finalists to claim first place.
Acosta’s design symbolizes New Yorkers’ power to take control and practice safer sex, the agency said.
“The NYC Condom program is doing all of New York City a great service, and I’m very excited to be a part of it,” Acosta said. “I hope my package design reminds people that they’re in control. We all have the power to protect ourselves from sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies.”
Bay Ridge resident Gene Lampert’s design — a train barrelling into a tunnel — came in last, securing 17 percent of the vote.
Announced in December, the contest drew nearly 600 entries from all five boroughs as well as other states and countries from around the world.
The winning design from this contest won’t replace Yves Behar’s subway motif design, but it will appear on several million NYC Condom packages beginning next fall, and may be featured in future condom promotions, according to the agency.
Respect in schools
The city Education Department has launched its first annual “Respect For All Week” in public schools.
Schools will promote respect for diversity in an effort to combat bullying and harassment based on ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and other characteristics.
Jenny DeBower, director of Youth and Family Services at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community Center, said, “Every week we see youth who are being harassed at school for being LGBT. Respect for All sets a standard for schools in creating safety for LGBT youth, and provides a resource for youth to seek help if it is needed.It is an important first step in ensuring that all LGBT youth or any youth seen as ‘different’ has a safe learning environment.”
Coney Island jobs
Looking for work? Want to spend your summer near the boardwalk?
Then you might consider applying for a job in the new Luna Park amusement center, which will open in Coney Island on May 29.
Applications are now being accepted online for various jobs, including ride operators, maintenance technicians, game operators, a logistics associate, first aid assistant and EMT. There’s also positions in park services, food and beverage, retail and tickets sales.
To apply, visit www.lunaparknyc.com.
Coney Island Coalition Against Violence meet
The Coney Island Coalition Against Violence continues its campaign to make the community a safer place this month with a meeting at Liberation Diploma Plus High School located at 2865 West 19th Street on March 23.
Numerous Coney Island stakeholders have already joined in this grassroots effort to confront crime in the community.
The meeting will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
‘The Revolving Door’
Brooklyn’s Tony Vozzo wrote and will direct and act in “The Revolving Door,” a production inspired by his experiences working with developmentally disabled people in Brooklyn.
Vozzo will play “Eddie,” an emotionally troubled youth who wants to find his way into a group home.
Vozzo said he spent 20 years working in state medical facilities within Brooklyn. He said he spent most of his work days breaking up fights and restraining unruly patients, but said he developed a friendship with Edguardo Diaz, upon whom the character Eddie is based.
The show is running at the Crowne Theater (358 W 44th Street in Manhattan) from March 23 to 27 at 7:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on March 28. Readers can check theateronline.com for more information.
Cemetery revamp
Bay Ridge’s historic Barkaloo Cemetery is scheduled for a facelift.
Next month, according to Democratic District Leader Ralph Perfetto, the fence surrounding the old burying ground, which is tucked behind Xaverian High School, at Narrows Avenue and Mackay Place, will be repaired.
The exterior of the Brooklyn Diocese-owned cemetery – which dates to the early years of the 18th century — had previously been worked on, Perfetto told members of the United Americans Democratic Organization, gathered at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 7420 Fourth Avenue, for their March meeting.
But, now, he added, it is going “to be done completely,” including making “sure all the posts are anchored.”
Looking ahead, Perfetto – who is a trustee of the Bay Ridge Historical Society – said that an effort will be made to locate the “original stones,” noting that the monuments currently in the cemetery were erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution. “We believe they are still in the area,” he added.
HUD OKs funding for NYCHA
The city’s public housing authority is receiving its own federal bailout.
Flanked by more than a dozen elected officials representing all parts of Brooklyn, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary and former city Department of Housing and Preservation Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced more than $400 million of federal stimulus funding and $65 to $75 million in annual federal funding which will renovate and repair close to 20,000 units.
“This transaction will generate hundreds of millions of dollars for shovel-ready work to upgrade our public housing stock and create hundreds of jobs, and– as importantly – at least $65 million in annual federal funding, which will help secure NYCHA’s long-term fiscal health,” said Mayor Bloomberg, who lauded the cooperation among different levels of government for getting the deal done.
As part of the agreement, the city will sell the complexes but NYCHA will remain in a limited partnership with Citigroup’s community development branch, and will continue to manage the buildings as well as own the land they are situated.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez characterized the deal as a “win-win” and said that NYCHA will be able to make immediate improvements and repairs to the buildings. Senator Chuck Schumer said that the plan “pulls these abandoned NYCHA complexes back from the brink,” adding that federal resources ensure that tenants receive the housing they need and deserve.
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