- 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)

The Bushwick Food Coop and The Bushwick Farmers’ Market invite you to a special screening of:

FOOD, INC.

A film about the big businesses behind the food we eat.

Featuring special guests from the Bushwick Farmers’ Market, staff from Councilwoman Diana Reyna’s office, and music by Free Advice. Come mingle with neighbors, have a beer, and watch a really good movie about a really scary industry.

When: February 23, at 7:00pm (doors open at 7, movie starts at 8:00)

Where: Tandem, 236 Troutman St.

Popcorn, Snacks and $3 beer specials.
$5 Suggested Donation at the Door – Proceeds go to the Bushwick Food Coop.

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.

Recycle-A-Bicycle Turns 15 Years Old!

Keeping Children on the Road and Bikes Out of the Trash since 1994.

WHEN: Monday, December 14, 2009; 6-9pm

WHERE: Superfine, 126 Front Street, Brooklyn

CONTACT: Helen Ho at 917-226-4466 or helenshirley@gmail.com

Pasqualina Azzarello at 718-858-2972 or director@recycleabicycle.org

BROOKLYN, NY – On Monday, December 14^th Recycle-A-Bicycle will be holding its 15^th Birthday Celebration: A Benefit Auction Featuring the NY400 Fleet of Batavus Bicycles & Bike-themed Art at Superfine in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Over the fall, Recycle-A-Bicycle has been creating an arsenal of bike art.  Affectionately named “third-hand art” items like spoke flowers, jewelry, bike animals, belts, picture frames, candle holders, mobiles, and flower sculptures have been hand-crafted from bike parts by volunteers for a sale at the event. Local artists have been donating to Recycle-A-Bicycle and their inspirational and original pieces will be on the silent auction block that night.

What the public mostly craves are orange bicycles.  There are just 200 limited edition NY400 Batavus Bicycles in the world, commissioned especially by the government of the Netherlands for the Henry Hudson Quadra-centennial festivities this past summer.  These bikes were donated to Recycle-A-Bicycle and now only 12 will ever be made available by auction and raffle at this event.  Celebrities such as Talking Heads front man David Byrne, Elmo from Sesame Street, actor Matthew Modine, the Bike Snob, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and others added a personal touch by autographing the bicycles.  Fans, collectors and Dutch bike aficionados will surely pay attention to the live auction bidding  and raffle of the bikes.

Over the last 15 years, Recycle-A-Bicycle has touched the lives of over 10,000 children.  With programs like Ride Club, Earn-A-Bike, internships, and Recycled Arts young people get to learn about bicycles, explore New York City neighborhoods, and gain the self-confidence and skills to make it out in the world.

Maurice a 17 year old who spent 6 years in numerous roles at Recycle-A-Bicycle starting with the Earn-A-Bike program and ending as an employee says, “I love working with my hands. At Recycle-A-Bicycle, I get to do that all the time. Everyday, in fact. When I ride, I love the miles on my legs and the air in my face. If it wasn’t for Recycle-A-Bicycle, I’d be playing video games all day long. I always used to wish I could have a job there, and now I do!”

Through the efforts of local heroes like Recycle-A-Bicycles’s founder Karen Overton, the pioneer of Ride Club Dr. Ed Fishkin, and organizations such as Transportation Alternatives, Bike New York, the Henry Street Settlement House and Children’s Aid Society, the organization has educated young kids, helping them to strengthen their safety and handling skills, confidence, and physical endurance.  Each year these kids collectively ride approximately 10,000 miles throughout New York City, sometimes with Dr. Fishkin wrangling up to 100 young riders at a time.

Founder Karen Overton says, “We started out in an industrial arts classroom and a basic tool set.  Teaching young people to learn how to use these tools and take ownership of not only building their own bike, but eventually mentoring the newcomers has helped to bring Recycle-A-Bicycle to where it is today.”

Recycle-A-Bicycle was founded under the auspices of Transportation Alternatives in 1994.  In the last 15 years, Recycle-A-Bicycle has developed into an innovative non-profit organization dedicated to reaching out to teens in school-based programs. They offer hands-on learning, the opportunity to earn a bike, and other bicycle related activities such as Cycle Craft, RAB’s youth art initiative. They also offer a ride club, the only one in NYC reaching out to young kids, helping them to strengthen their safety and handling skills, confidence, and physical endurance. Finally, older teens, ages 14-18, get on-the-job training at Recycle-A-Bicycle’s two store locations.

“Our 15^th Birthday Celebration is meant to celebrate our accomplishments over the last 15 years and to welcome the next 15 years to come.  It’ll be a night to celebrate old friends and new partnerships,” says Recycle-A-Bicycle’s Executive Director Pasqualina Azzarello.

Tickets to RAB’s benefit and 15 year birthday start at a $20 donation and include food and drink. You can find the event on Facebook or online at www.recycleabicycle.org.  All proceeds will directly support Recycle-A-Bicycle’s good work and programming for the remaining fleet of NY400 Batavus Bicycles, including Learn-to-Ride, Ride Club, Tours by Teens, and more.

###

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

We rode, for about a mile.  We gambled with the 30%-50% chance of rain and lost.  So, it turned out not (yet) to be the world’s first mobile, bike-and-solar-powered live radio broadcast, but we went ahead with an amazing bike-themed show after some pizza, beer, and vodka-watermelon deliciousness at 3rd Ward.

Listen to the show here.

But don’t fret.  “I didn’t get to join the caravan of cyclists up the waterfront,” you say.  “I wanted to see Seabeast live!” you continue, lips quivering.  Not to worry. Plans are already in the making for a future trek.  The rain didn’t wash away our hopes for live mobile radio.

Thanks again to all that stuck with us (and especially those who went ahead of us to the park) and pulled together for a splendid show. Stay tuned for phase two.

Video: Ridin\’ in the rain

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.