The acclaimed storytelling nonprofit The Moth will be in Brooklyn Heights for a very special event. Experience the stories you know and love at the Moth Mainstage event live at St. Ann & Holy Trinity Church on Wednesday, March 20th. Doors open at 6:30, show begins at 7:30.

The show will feature a night of five stories themed around finding unexpected beauty in life's transitions in celebration of The Moth's new book, "A Point of Beauty: True Stories of Holding On and Letting Go", debuting March 19th. The Moth will feature stories from local New York based storytellers Muneesh Jain and Mindy Raf as well as Brian Jeansome, Donald Harrison, Becky Chan, and host Amber Wallin.

Books are Magic will be on-site selling copies of "A Point of Beauty." Following the Mainstage, stay for a special talkback and Q&A featuring the show's directors, host, and storytellers. This is your chance to engage with the artistic process and pose a question!

The NYC Department of Transportation was awarded $5.6 million in federal planning grant money this week to advance "BQE Connects," a project to identify proposals that improve access and reduce environmental, social, and economic burdens for disadvantaged communities that live along the BQE’s northern and southern stretches in Brooklyn. 

Read about the grant funding here.

We hope this money will help advance a holistic solution to the BQE that reverses the environmental, safety and health hazards created by the highway. What this grant might mean for the BQE Central portion of the BQE is still unknown but we are expecting to learn more from NYC DOT in the coming weeks. 

Join the BQE-EJC Launch -- April 10

To forward our BQE goals, a number of groups (including the BHA) have come together to form the Brooklyn Queens Expressway - Environmental Justice Coalition. The coalition will launch on April 10 with a rally and press event and all members of the community are welcome to join us at the event! We will meet at the intersection of 3rd Ave and 16th Street in Brooklyn at 11am. Details below.

All lanes of the Queens-bound BQE will be closed from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street from 2:00 a.m. Saturday, April 13th until or before 4:00 a.m. Monday, April 15th to accommodate repair work on BQE Spans 4 & 34. 

In advance of the closure, concrete removal work is anticipated to begin overnight on Thursday, March 14th and will continue until the closure. All mitigations deployed during the 2023 concrete removal phase will be used again, including noise monitoring and dust control activities. A second closure is expected on the weekend of June 1-3. Read more about the repair work here. If you have any questions please contact Anita Navalurkar at the Department of Transportation. 

Last year, the BHA joined the Historic Districts Council, the Boerum Hill Association and the Park Slope Civic Council to renew advocacy for protecting significant buildings and sites in Downtown Brooklyn. These places are important to Downtown's architectural, cultural and social history, with roots in the time when Brooklyn was an independent city. This has been a long-standing project for the BHA, dating back at least 20 years. We want to make sure these places aren't lost as the neighborhood undergoes major redevelopment.

Our group, calling itself the Downtown Brooklyn Landmarks Coalition, proposed an initial list of seven buildings, with the support of Councilmember Lincoln Restler. We urged the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the buildings on the list as individual landmarks, based on their significance and possibility for adaptive reuse.

Late last year, LPC responded favorably, identifying several buildings in Downtown for potential designation (some from our list and some from LPC's own survey). Last month, LPC voted to calendar the Brooklyn Edison Building at 345 Adams Street, the first step in the agency's designation process. We expect this is the first of several buildings that will go through LPC.

And this week, HDC put further support behind the project by naming our coalition as one of its 2024 "Six to Celebrate" winners. HDC's program for neighborhood groups seeking landmark designation and protection will provide our coalition with assistance in seeking funding, creation of content resources, press attention and more.

As reported by Stop the Chop NY/NJ, City Council members have introduced or re-introduced nine legislative proposals or resolutions related to the plague of non-essential helicopters in our city. Two of the bills would ban tourist and commuter flights at the two City-owned heliports, Downtown Manhattan and East 34th Street. As the days get longer and warmer we can unfortunately expect more and more helicopter noise. 

We applaud CM Lincoln Restler's advocacy to ban non-essential helicopter traffic in New York City. You can reach out to thank him and tell him why you support the passage of these initiatives. 

More co-sponsors are needed to get these bills passed!  Please consider reaching out to friends and family in other parts of New York City, whose Council Member may not yet be a sponsor of these measures, and tell them why these measures are important.  You can find the sponsors of each proposal by clicking on the individual links at the Stop the Chop website. 

Tuesday, March 19th, 6:45pm - 84th Precinct Community Council Meeting, Brooklyn Borough Hall.  Meet you local POs and ask any questions you might have around public safety in our neighborhood.

Wednesday, March 20th, 6:30pm - The Moth Mainstage storytelling event;  Saint Ann & the Holy Trinity Church.  

Thursday, March 21st 4:30-5:30pm - BHA Egg Stuffing. 

Saturday, March 30th, 11am - BHA Egg Hunt @ Pierrepont Playground. 

Saturday, April 6th, 7pm - Grace Chorale: Songs of Hope: Psalms for Troubled Times | St. Anne's Church. Purchase tickets here.

Thursday, April 25th, 5pm - Virtual Community Rat Academy Training. Join the BHA, Cobble Hill Association and Atlantic Avenue BID for a community training on rat mitigation led by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 

Saturday, May 4th, 10am-2pm - BHA Spring into Service.  Details on the many service projects coming soon!

Sunday, May 12th, 12pm - Montague Open Street 2024 Season Begins! Details coming in April.