- SATURDAY APRIL 24 –

BUSHWICK ROCKS THE BIKE SHOP
Benefit for Bushwick Farmers Market/EcoStation:NY and the Bushwick Food Co-op
with hosts BAND of BICYCLES and BUSHWICK BIKE SHOP
@ Bushwick Bike Shop 1342A Dekalb Avenue [map]
Cookout 4:00 – 7:00pm
7:00pm Film (No Impact Man) & Discussion
9:00pm Music by BROOKLYN COUNTY FAIR (final lineup TBA)
$10 suggested donation or wotugot (cash bar & cookout)

Made of bike rims, scrap steel, hardware cloth, rollerblades, a shipping palette, and a few screws, this sifter will soon be separating soil at the Secret Garden in Bushwick.

Check out more photos here.

The B& broke into Oh Ten in collaboration with Dara, Josh, and Olivia from the Spectres of Liberty project.  After just over a week of intensive planning, building models, grinding, welding, chopping, tweaking, and singing, a prototype is born.  She’s a beautiful baby zoetrope, measuring 8 feet across and standing around 6 1/2 feet up on her legs.  She’ll be joined by a couple more brothers or sisters soon for a public art piece in Syracuse, NY.

More info on the Spectres of Liberty website.

December 1^st was a sad day in New York City.  A stretch of the Northbound Bedford Avenue bike lane between Flushing Avenue and Division Avenue were removed by the DOT, citing “ongoing bike network adjustments in the area.”  The little white mushroom-headed figures and the circles beneath them were blasted from the pavement, their screams muffled by the whir of passing traffic.  However, their cries were echoed throughout the biking community, especially among the thousands who trust Bedford as part of their daily commute into Manhattan.

The obvious reason for the bike lane in the first place was that Bedford provides a direct route to the Williamsburg Bridge from the south.  The cyclists will continue, bike lane or no bike lane.  Though we know that the white line provides no physical barrier—we still compete with those who mistake it for additional parking, a nice place to take a stroll, aggressive drivers, and buses that stop and block all traffic diagonally to discharge passengers, often with little warning—it is still a reminder to many drivers and pedestrians that bikers also have a right to the road.

This lane has been one of some controversy as it passes through a Hasidic Jewish community.  The major complaint: Bikers going too fast?  Disregarding traffic signs?  Endangering pedestrians?  Having too much fun?

Nope.

Inappropriately-dressed women use the bike lane.  Of course, among a highly conservative religious community, “inappropriately-dressed” could mean wearing shorts.  Hide those knees, girls.

From the NY Post:

“I have to admit, it’s a major issue, women passing through here in that dress code,” said Simon Weisser, a member of Community Board 1 in Williamsburg-Greenpoint.  “It bothers me, and it bothers a lot of people.”

Call me crazy, but I don’t think the beliefs of one religious group should dictate public policy, especially when it endangers thousands of people.

There is hope, however.  The friendly folks down at Transportation Alternatives are fighting to keep the Bedford Avenue bike lane.  As they write:

“Bad things happen to good bike lanes. We learned that the hard way when the Department of Transportation, citing a need for “adjustments to the cycling network,” ripped out a 14-block stretch of the Bedford Avenue bike lane earlier this week.

Of course, the only adjustment they’ve succeeded in making is one that endangers thousands of Williamsburg Bridge bike commuters.

…While we fight City Hall, we urge you to keep cycling safely on Bedford Avenue. Remember your Biking Rules: whether there is a bike lane or not, cyclists have a legal right to the road; ride respectfully with friends; and stay civil. We’ll be fighting to take care of the rest.”

But, as the DOT taketh away, the DOT also giveth.  This bad news came as I was preparing to praise the recent bike lane and ramp additions on the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg bridge, where bikers have long had to compete with dangerous Delancey traffic.  There are two new ramps on each side at the entrance of the bridge, as well as a third ramp with a bike greenway leading up the bridge from Suffolk.  Hooray!

Read more:

NY Post

Brooklyn Paper

Huffington Post

Gothamist: city to remove 14 blocks of bedford bike lane

Gothamist: Hasids say cyclists too sexy for bike lanes

featuring Lady Circus & Friends

The Most Wonderful Show of the Year!

Join the House of Yes family, as we celebrate the Holiday Season with our very own Christmas Spectacular…a ridiculously festive, in-your-face performance extravaganza! Featuring more talent than that other “Christmas Spectacular”, this show is overflowing with glitter, glamour, sex, comedy, matching costumes, synchronized dancing, and outrageous theatrics!

With guest appearances by Desert Sin Dance Company, The Love Show, Jenny Rocha and the Painted Ladies, Mike Richter,  Graham Skipper of FUCT, Kayti Bunny, Pearl Pistol, Band of Bicycles and more! Come early to enjoy festive treats, mistle-toe kisses, and a photo-op with Santa himself!

“Better than the original!”- St. Nicolas

“They’ve really out-done themselves this time!” Rudolph the Red-Nosed Giuliani

“Spectacular!”- New York Post

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/91263

Join the Service Specialists

and the Straphanger B& (aka: Travis, Helen & Scarlet)

Tonight & Saturday

We’ll sanitize your hands

sing to you

and share how we got into

the Service Industry in the first place!

Friday: Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 7pm, 144 E. 14th Street//L to 6th Ave, FREE

Saturday: NonSense List 10 Year Anniversary Party, 3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn//L to Morgan, buy tix @ Bluestockings Book Store(172 Allen Street)

Service is Improving Everyday at MTAService.org!

Important note: if we end up with a rainy forecast tomorrow, we will still have the show, but indoors at 3rd Ward (195 Morgan ave, BK). Stay tuned for updates.

Join Trent and Marty McSorley for an epic ride along the Brooklyn waterfront – broadcasting live from an 8-foot trailer attached to the back of a bike!

Featuring performances from Seabeast, Band of Bicycles, Hayden Cummings, and the bike-driven turntables of DJ Mistakes, demos of groundbreaking bike-powered composting technologies from Earth Matter, and liquid refreshment courtesy of the two-wheeled ladies of Delicious Beverages – and, of course, commuting-themed DJ sets live from the trailer while the caravan is on the move.

Join us LIVE for all or part of the rolling caravan (all times subject to change!):

6 – 8pm – Picnic in Brooklyn Bridge Park beneath the Manhattan Bridge

8:00 – WFMU Broadcast begins

8:30 – 9 – Performances at Commodore Barry Park, Flushing Ave at Navy Street

9:30 – 10 Performances at waterfront park, River and Grand Streets

10:15 – 11 Performances + smoothies at McCarren Park soccer field, near Bayard Street and Union Ave

Come out for all or part of the show, put on your best bike bling, and bring your favorite ingredients for BIKE-BLENDED SMOOTHIES at McCarren park!!

Check in at http://wfmu.org/playlists/to for more information and for live updates during the show.

Brought to you by Band of Bicycles,
Delicious Beverages, and, of course, WFMU.

Band of Bicycles teams up with CENYC today, host of this year’s Green Brooklyn…Green City fair and symposium at Brooklyn Borough Hall, (209 Joralemon street).  Come see how you can join in creating a sustainable future for New York and beyond.

Monday night we are a part of the single largest live simulcast event in all of New York history. We are bike powering a very special surprise music act…find out if a screening is near you at AgeofStupid.net!