Celebrating Community
The process for co-naming Columbia Street (between Commerce and Delavan Streets) after Daniel Defonte, the late and former owner of Defonte’s, has begun. The proposal originally came to Community Board 6’s attention as a request at their Executive Committee meeting held on April 8. Defonte’s Sandwich Shop has been in the neighborhood at 379 Columbia St. since 1922. Defonte passed […]
I’m happy to be able to start off this column by cheering some neighborhood heroes on a hard-fought victory. Last year I wrote about the plans of an investor to build a huge apartment building over where the Chase Bank is on Hamilton Avenue. I called it a ridiculous idea, based upon their presentation at the community board. In addition […]
Council Member Carlos Menchaca, who chairs the BQX Task Force in the City Council, issued the following statement on Feb. 7 in response to NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) executive committee’s unanimous decision (announced the day before) to hire an independent contractor to oversee the BQX project’s environmental review: “The City continues to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a […]
The community has welcomed The Great Room, a haven for caregivers and children alike, warmly since it opened in the Columbia Street Water District in June 2018. The prenatal and parenting wellness space, co-owned by local mothers Susannah Gersten and Jessica Rich, is meant for kids and adults to explore, find solace and share joy. “We’re both therapists, and we […]
Community Board 6 met on Dec. 12 for their monthly general board meeting, held at the Cobble Hill Health Center (380 Henry Street), with much to discuss and vote on. CB6 members approved Department of Transportation (DOT)’s proposal to implement pedestrian safety improvements for Columbia Street from West 9th Street to Luquer Street. This follows requests from P.S. 676 Red […]
Editors Note: We published the first half of this story in November. Tina began her tale this way: If you never saw Columbia Street before 1960, you missed a lot. The street is still there; the sidewalks, the street sign, but the stores, the people and the charm are all gone. That strip of avenue is unrecognizable, now lined with […]