Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
For many artists, it can be a grueling process: the search for a muse. But for Robert Samuel Snyderman, a 23-year-old poet who has lived in Bed-Stuy for the past five years, it comes easily — for a price.
“I ask for sources of inspiration, not topics,” said Mr. Snyderman, who was perched on a white bucket outside the gates of the Brooklyn Flea Saturday afternoon, sporting a cardboard sign that made his endeavor clear.
“Poems,” it said in black marker.
Read More
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
When Mayor Michael Bloomberg put together PlaNYC in 2007, he made brownfields – abandoned or underused, and often contaminated industrial sites – one of the three overarching themes of his land use initiatives.
Among the city’s brownfields is a Brooklyn parcel that long was a favorite spot for graffiti writers and squatters, who dubbed it “the Bat Cave.” The property, now called “Gowanus Village,” is a 2.4 acre site along the notorious Gowanus Canal. The towering brick building on the property was once a power plant owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Read More
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
In the face of the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and a shrinking publishing market, boutique publishers and book arts are thriving.
Corinna Zeltsman, a book artist and administrative aide at the New York Center for Book Arts, said demand for classes in bookbinding has risen substantially in the last year. “Book arts have entered the mainstream because of a technological backlash and a new generation of artists and designers wanting to use their skills for something other than the digital realm,” she said.
Ugly Duckling Presse in Brooklyn is one publisher in the city creating boutique books, using letterpress and hand assembly for many titles. Business is booming – the company has published 17 books so far this year, compared to 24 in all of 2009. Matvei Yankelevich, one of the company’s directors, said submissions and demand are higher than ever. In the accompanying audio slideshow, he and one UDP book artist, Normandy Sherwood, explain why.
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Residents of a city-run senior citizen’s housing complex in Crown Heights are fed up with inadequate security after two home invasion robberies this year and three similar incidents in the summer.
Tenants living in the William Reid Apartments, a single large apartment building at 728 East New York Ave., are calling for the New York City Housing Authority and the 71st Precinct to provide additional protection.
“We are very, very vulnerable,” says Hyacinth Forrester, 79, president of the tenant’s council for the past 20 years. “I don’t feel safe, not with what’s happening right now.”
Read More
