Greenpoint
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Culture on the Cheap
From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part I: And Now A Word From GWAPP
Naturally I had to kick this corker over to Queens Crap. Follows is his analysis:
“The Board is proposing amendments to those by-laws to reflect an organization that is no longer an association of local orgs meeting regularly but, rather, a Board overseeing various programs and initiatives with volunteer help.”
or, rather:
“We don’t like having members who question the things we do, therefore we’re planning to dump them all and close the group off so that’s it’s just the rotten inner circle that makes decisions.”
And what if the reps in attendance vote no?
I do not have much to add aside from noting that, in essence, the powers-that-be behind this organization are using the revision of by-laws to effectively create a new and very different “group”. Of course one has to compare and contrast both sets of by-laws in order to draw this conclusion. While it is refreshing to see that GWAPP seems to have made their by-laws available to the public I find it a mite bit disconcerting they only did so after a blogger, I, made them public. I will share them here once again:
And here are the old/present ones.
Please take a moment, gentle readers, and compare them. You’ll find some interesting differences.
UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: It has been brought to my attention that the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts has published an item regarding GWAPP and this upcoming meeting. This you can read by clicking here. Follows is a segment I for one found interesting:
But Dewey Thompson — with Christine Holowacz (Board of Directors co-chairs) who are on the receiving end of complaints — is caught off guard by the sudden attacks. “My biggest crime is volunteering my time too much,” he said, also adding, “there’s a misperception that organizations exist at the whim of community input. To set up meetings takes a lot of energy and incredible amount of time. Those people who will want to participate will actually need to commit themselves to this work, and be a part of it, and open to that kind of participation.”
This governance issue, he said, is to change bylaws so there are no longer membership organizations—he indicated that many are no longer active, and that the particular politics that brought them together aren’t relevant anymore.
“We are asking them to now amend those laws, so we can operate the board the way we are doing it now.”
In response to the notion that it would exclude public participation, he said: “We expect the nominating committee to do outreach and find people interested in the committee. We are not beating people away from GWAPP. We are very well known — anyone can have easy access to the board. We’re totally open to meeting new people and hoping we find new blood. We are hoping to refresh the governance, get a new board, and a new set of bylaws, for what we think is a very vital organization.”
Exactly who constitutes this nominating committee, you ask? Well, if a source who took up this matter with Mr. Thompson recently is to be believed, it is the following folks:
- Trina McKeever, a member of Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park and Community Board 1
- Rich Mazur, Executive Director of the North Brooklyn Development Corporation. Some of you might recall this organization is handling the dispersal of the $19,000,000 Exxon-Mobil settlement.
- Barbara McGlamery, the wife of a board member of Open Space Alliance North Brooklyn: Adam Perlmutter.
(From the April 29, 2005 edition of the New York Daily News)
Interesting, yes?
Urban Artifact: Steppin’ Out
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Urban Artifact
Taken February 25, 2014.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: 211 Freeman Street
Looks like someone exiting the Pulaski Bridge did not quite make that right turn onto Freeman. Sweet Jesus…
The Great Outdoors…
Filed under: 11222, Gentrification, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Newtown Creek, Wow, WTF
Yesterday yours truly received a most amusing piece of mail. Yes: MAIL —of the “snail” variety. Without further ado, here it is:
This comes from my comrade over at Queens Crap. I have to say it gave me a good laugh. For those of you who are not in the know, the following should explain why.
A fellow by the name of Jens Rasmussen was recently featured in both the New York Times and CBS Local. He conducts wilderness survival courses on the premises of the North Brooklyn Boat Club. This is where our “new and improved” Greenpoint Boathouse (whose plans have yet to be made public) is to be located. Follows are a couple screengrabs of solicitations this chap has seen fit to post online.
As you see the latter clearly states these come to pass on the premises of the North Brooklyn Boat Club. Something to consider: as a general rule, for profit endeavors are not permissible on the premises on non-profit organizations. I mention this because word on the street is Mr. Rasmussen has stated that the North Brooklyn Boat Club has filed paperwork so as to become a 501(3) c . I feel compelled to note a recent search of the New York State Attorney General’s charities database turned up nothing:
Hmm— but I digress. This afternoon, the weather being downright lovely, I felt the need to explore the wilderness of Long Island City. I decided to grab a few shots of the North Brooklyn Boat Club’s premises (51 Ash Street) en route. Seeing is truly believing.
Um, what is that smoke-stack looking thing? Anyone?
Nowadays Mr. Rasmussen is asking $150.00 a head for his wilderness survival course.
I trust another $50.00 will be forthcoming, Crappy? in any case, follows is my favorite excerpt:
…Head to Greenpoint and meet Jens for an intro and explanation to bushcraft tripping skills, including the most vital things to know and what you can do in a variety of disaster scenarios. Learn valuable tactics like making a signal whistle from an aluminum can…
My advice: save yourself $144.00, purchase a six pack of Budweiser and figure this out on your own. Preferably somewhere that is NOT a Superfund site.
P.S.: I have every intention of creating a “boat club” snow globe. However, in light of recent events methinks this has made it to the top of my list. Cheers!
UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: I appear to be lacking a suitable character for Ms. Nealis. One will have to be ordered, I am guessing. Nonetheless, I played around with my tentatively titled “Stray Cat Strut” snow globe’s contents and one dedicated to the absurdity that is 51 Ash Street/the North Brooklyn Boat Club. The latter I have entitled “Rockin’ the Pulaski!”
The Mister eventually wandered in and inquired as to what I was doing. Usually this disrupts my “creative process” Not this time. He first inquired:
Are those hobos?
Me: No, those are people learning valuable wilderness survival skills!
He looked closer and noted:
Oh, there’s the Commodore! Where’s Spaulding? SPAULDING GET YOUR FOOT OFF THE BOAT!
Here is Spaulding— and as you can see he has his foot on the boat!
Thanks Pookie Mister Heather!
UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: Crappy notes:
More to the point of the shenanigans at the boat club, it’s a conflict of interest violation for a board member to be personally profiting from the tax exempt status of the organization. Therefore, if Jens is running his business on their property or using his connection with them to draw people to his classes, then that’s a big no no.
Quicklink: Good Times At 95 Clay Street
Filed under: 11222, Fuck This Shit, Gentrification, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Wow, WTF
When I saw this item on Gothamist my jaw hit my desk. I can assure you, gentle readers, this was not due to shock. Hardly. Rather your truly’s first apartment in Greenpoint was at 95 Clay Street. That was over a decade ago— and I can assure you it was a total and utter nightmare.* If this latest episode is to believed, things have not changed much. Those of you who are so inclined can read a little more about 95 Clay “back in the day” by clicking here, here and here. As for 156 India, I offer this and this for your perusal. In closing I would like to remind everyone that while Ms. Nealis’s alleged conduct is thoroughly reprehensible, she would not have felt free to behave in such a manner if our enforcement agencies (and elected officials) had nipped this in the proverbial bud. Years ago.
*Including, but not limited to:
- Frequent hot water outages. Apparently there was not only a residential (think: for a house) hot water heater pressed into service to service an eight unit building. The thermostat was broken so when it would get “hot” the “Super” would simply turn it off.
- An electrical outage on the apartments on the top floor lasting days. This was probably caused by…
- Rainwater leaking through the roof.
- Broken mailboxes. Mail theft was pervasive.
- An illegal apartment in the basement.
- Trips to housing court.
- Harassment— including having my locks filled with glue, verbal harassment and having my mailbox ripped open.
This is the short list. Any and all who have the misfortune of living in this building may want to check and see if a rent-freeze/rent reduction is still in place regarding the mailboxes.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: Going Out Of Business
Filed under: 11222, Gentrification, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff The Makes Heather Sad
Taken February 20, 2014.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: From Reddit
Now isn’t that interesting?
The Word On The Street: Special Bloomblight Edition
Filed under: 11222, Bloomblight, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, The Word On The Street
From West Street.
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: The Word On The Street
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Stuff That Makes Miss Heather Happy, The Word On The Street
Valentine’s Day may have come and gone— but on Huron Street the love goes on. I have no idea who this Liu lady is but she’s one lucky gal!
NYS Flickr Pool
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