Pirates are coming to Ikea, and it’s not for the Swedish meatballs. This Saturday, 30 July, the Mobile Urban Nature Center & Micro-Maritime Museum will be taking over Ikea’s Erie Basin Park in Red Hook for its summer Treasure Cove Pirates Fest. Expect music, theater, maritime exhibits, pirate cannon fire, crafts and prizes for the best pirate costume. Festivities begin at 11am and run through 5pm. Let’s do a little “not so hot please” dance and hope for a few degrees less on that thermometer come weekend.
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Buccaneers Take Over Red Hook Ikea Park
Bikes Get Home on Carroll Gardens Street
image of bike parking on Portland, OR via Brooklyn Paper
One Reason to Celebrate Belgian Independence Day
Cheap beer and cheese. That’s right, this Thursday 21 July is Feestag Day (the date Belgium gained independence from the Netherlands in 1931) and The Brazen Head (228 Atlantic Ave.) is throwing a par-tay. Come by for $1 off Palm beers and a free cheese pairing starting at 5pm. The beer special runs all day and all night, so come tip your hat to those crazy monks who give us some of the best (and most potent) brews in the world.
Hey, Hey! The Monkees Rock Coney Island
Does the opening chords of Daydream Believer encourage you to bang a tambourine and weave flowers in your hair? Were you secretly rooting for Davy Jones to totally dis Marcia’s prom on the Brady Bunch? Well, take the Last Train to Clarksville (I imagine it must be in Brooklyn) and head to Coney Island Thursday night for the 33rd annual Seaside Summer Concert Series, featuring The Monkees (Special Guest MC Jay Black). The boys haven’t had the band back together in 10 years, so you may want to take advantage of the free concert at West 21st Street and Surf Avenue at 7:30pm. The public is encouraged to bring their own chairs, though a limited number of $5 rental chairs in a specially designated area are available on a first-come first-served basis.
Teenage Girls Storm Brooklyn Heights Gossip Girl Set
As I was walking up Atlantic Ave. today, from Henry to Court St., I was met with the all too familiar scene of trailers, heavy duty lighting and frantic underlings skittering about with headphones. And then I noticed something you don’t see with every production in the neighborhood–a gaggle of teenage girls with cameras standing around impatiently in the 90+ degree heat. Hmmm, what could bring so many young ladies with braces and short, denim skirts to the brow-beating heat of Atlantic Ave. in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon? Why, Gossip Girl, of course. I assume those feisty upper east-siders were slumming it here while filming in the Waterfall Cafe (maybe falafel really is sexier than we thought), but it looks like today is the last day those massive trailers take up coveted parking spots. XOXO, Bococaland.
City of Water Day Festival Hits Brooklyn
We’re surrounded by water in NYC. And though I still think the city has a ways to go before it utilizes the waterfront to its fullest (oh how we love ye Barcelona), it’s nice to see local government making an effort with this weekend’s City of Water Day Festival. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, an alliance of more than 550 waterfront stakeholders, the family-friendly event takes place this Saturday 16 July, 10am to 4pm, at Governor’s Island and Brooklyn Bridge Park. Here’s a calendar of free events fyi:
On Pier 1
11:00am – 4:00pm: Free boating
Free kayaking with Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse. Children under 18 must have an adult present. No reservations necessary, first come first serve.
On Pier 5
11:00am: Kayak Demonstration
Members of QajaqUSA and Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse will demonstrate a variety of rolling techniques that were developed to recover from various situations that seal and walrus hunters encountered such as injured hands and arms, loss of a paddle and entanglement in harpoon lines.
On Pier 6
11:00am – 2:00pm: Water-themed art projects
Explore boats and water-themed arts and crafts project with Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Playground Associates.
12:00pm – 2:00pm: Try to catch a fish and watch a squid dissection
Make your own amazing casting machine from a recycled soda can (bring your own if possible) and use it to try and catch a fish. While your line is out, watch a big squid dissection and learn how it attacks prey and defends itself. Led by Master Angler Bill Fink and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy staff.
11:00am – 5:00pm: Tug and Barge tours
Participate in dockside tours of the 1907 tugboat Pegasus and the Waterfront Museum’s 1914 Lehigh Valley Barge #79.
1:00pm, 2:30pm, 4:00pm: Jeff Newell’s New-Trad Quartet
Enjoy three river music sets performed live from the Waterfront Museum Barge.
Governor’s Island, mainly on the north side of the island in Nolan Park
Waterfront Activity Fair with a theatre program, fishing, watershed demonstrations and an art program.
Children’s Activities including a critter touch tank, Colonial Dutch Apple Pressing & Crafts opportunities, relays & games and a slide.
Guided Historic Boat Tours around the harbor
Tango Dancing
Kayak Rolling Demonstration
Waterfront Bike Riding
Bouncy Castles
Activities by the Harbor School
Harbor Education Task Force Meeting
Live Music and Numerous Options for food
Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig Flick Filming in Cobble Hill
Not to be confused with the coming soon Friends with Benefits, in which two really hot people decide to hook up just for fun, Friends with Kids is a film focused on two good-looking folks who decide to have a baby together, then date other people. Yup, that should work out swell. And, more importantly, Kane St. between Court and Clinton will be shut off on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, 17 to 19 July for filming.
The movie, which will be out in 2012, stars Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox and Chris O’Dowd, and is being directed by Hamm’s real-life love, Jennifer Westfeldt. Not sure who will be be walking the streets of Cobble Hill, but if you get any good photos, please send them our way.
New Cobble Hill Eateries-Open For Biz
Two new restaurants are now open for business in Cobble Hill. The first, Darna Falafel at 200 Court St., is focused on Mediterranean food with a spotlight on falafel. Though you may remember it for the odd, yet strangely compelling poem on the joy of falafel back in April, you can now order up salads and sandwiches from the small, ornate storefront. The falafel salad, with olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and tzatziki ($6), jumped out at me when I checked the streamlined menu. And I won’t lie, I’ll be heading over there for a kafta wrap (beef kebab please) ($7.50) when I get a chance. Sides include sweet potato fries ($3.25), hummus ($3.25) and portobello mushrooms ($1.50), and a kids menu serves up grub like the mini falafel sandwich ($2.50), a chicken wrap with lettuce, cheese and tomatoes ($5), and a good ole grilled cheese ($4).
If it’s a burger you’re craving, try heading to Five Guys at 266 Court St. Nope, it’s not gourmet and the ingredients aren’t local, but you are promised an awesomely large, greasy hamburger with a choice of toppings and a side of fries that could feed a small family. And surely, sometimes that’s all you really need.
Cobble Hill’s PS 29 Gets a Schoolyard Makeover
I know this may be old news for many of you, but since I was away last week, it was a nice surprise to see the PS 29 schoolyard looking so shiny and new. With a brand new coat of paint outlining a track and some neat-o games, it was hard to even remember the days of the harrowing playground fire in May (the equipment looked new as well although there’s still some work to do before kids can have a go). A shed was also being set up near the gardens, which looks like a nice touch for our tiny farmers-in-training.
Opera in Gowanus
Recently, I realized my days of heading to the ballet, opera, symphony, etc. have dwindled significantly. Chalk it up to parenthood or laziness, but my cultural barometer has been hovering at about two percent. So it was with great happiness I noticed Vertical Player Repertory’s new opera, playing right here in Gowanus 8 to 16 July. The Cobble Hill-based company will perform Francesco Cavalli’s 17th century comedy La Calisto under the stars in the gritty courtyard of a 19th century factory building, home of the interdisciplinary gallery and reading room Proteus Gowanus (534 Union St. at Nevins St.).
Performances are scheduled for Friday 8 July, Sunday 10 July, Thursday 14 July, and Saturday 16 July, with rain dates on Saturday 9 July, Monday 11 July, Friday 15 July and Sunday 17 July. All shows are at 8pm and tickets are $30, available here, or by calling 800-838-3006. So you can get your culture on without hailing a cab.
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