Greenpoint Star Newspaper

This week, you’ll have a chance to give your input for a few local parks in North Brooklyn.

Tonight, NYC Parks is hosting a visioning session for William Sheridan Playground in Williamsburg.

That meeting will be at PS 84 (250 Berry Street) at 6:30 p.m.

On Thursday, Community Board 1’s Parks and Waterfront Committees will present the designs for both Box Street Park and Bushwick Inlet Park.

Again, residents can chime in with their thoughts at that meeting. It’ll be at the park house at Bushwick Inlet Park (86 Kent Avenue) at 6:30 p.m.

Stay involved and updated on the latest meetings for North Brooklyn’s open green spaces!

With Halloween around the corner, all of the neighborhood’s fun festivities are coming back!

On Sunday, Town Square will host the 15th annual Greenpoint Children’s Halloween parade.

The free parade will assemble at 11:30 a.m. on Java Street between Manhattan and Norman avenues. Kids must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Following the parade at noon, there will be a Spooktacular Party, with a live performance by Songs for Seeds.

At 4 p.m., older kids can participate in the Zombie Nerf War.

See the poster above for prices for the party and nerf war.

For more information and tickets, visit www.townsquareinc.com.

Celebrate Halloween with the 94th Precinct Community Council today from 2 to 6 p.m. at the station house (100 Meserole Ave).

Children are encouraged to come in their best costumes.

Activities will include pumpkin painting, face painting, games and prizes.

The party is free, and includes snacks and drinks.

Broadway Stages is the co-host of the event.

For questions, contact community@broadway-stages.com.

North Brooklyn parents, here’s your chance to get to know the schools in your district.

Schoolfest 2018 is scheduled for Saturday, October 27 from noon to 4 p.m. at MS 126 (424 Leonard St.)

Inside, you’ll find public, private, charter, magnet, dual language and all sorts of schools that north Brooklyn has to offer.

You’ll get a chance to meet the teachers, administrators and other educators who can speak about the programs and activities they offer.

Joyce Szuflita of New York School Help will also provide free workshops to help navigate the admissions process for public school.

For a full list of schools that will be exhibiting at Schoolfest, see here.

Ever wanted to learn about the ecological history of the Bushwick Inlet area?

Well, here’s your chance.

On Wednesday, November 14 at 7 p.m., Dr. Eric Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society is discussing his latest research of historical ecology of the inlet.

The talk will put into context the nature goals for the city, and how everyday people can help improve the future ecology of their neighborhoods.

Here’s a brief description from the event page:

“Given the rush to develop the East River shore, one might think the high rises sprouting like mushrooms are inevitable, even natural, but that would be to misread the long-term history of this precious and productive part of the shore. There were times when reeds were more populous than people and migrating waterfowl rather than millennials flocked to Greenpoint. Although those times may be passed, the ecology of that time helps us understand what the future could be.”

The event will be hosted at A/D/O, located at 29 Norman Avenue. RSVP on the Eventbrite page here.

The 7th annual Party for the Parks, hosted by Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, will be at the Wythe Hotel on Thursday evening.

Originally set for the rooftop meadow at Vice headquarters, the venue changed due to what’s expected to be cold temperatures.

The event will honor Councilman Antonio Reynoso, and Jed Walentas and Two Trees Management.

Guest DJ Talib Kweli will also be at the party.

To purchase tickets, click here.

Yesterday’s 25th annual Get to the Point 5K was fun, especially for the little ones who participated.

Children ages 2 and up competed in 25, 50 and 75 meter dashes prior to the 5K run.

We at the Greenpoint Blog took many great photos that we wanted to share with you.

Enjoy this photo gallery of the event!

For the third year, the Greenpoint Y is hosting its Spirit of Community Service Awards Dinner in celebration of the lives impacted by the YMCA.

This year, the honorees will be: Martha Holstein, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, Donald Minerva, and Broadway Stages.

The event will take place at Giando on the Water, located at 400 Kent Avenue, starting at 6:30 p.m.

There will be valet parking, a live DJ, dancing, food, open bar and a silent auction with amazing items.

To RSVP, email Tatiana at tterzuoli@ymcanyc.org.

Learn more about the importance of fungi on Saturday, October 21 at the Kingsland Wildflowers green roof.

The “Intro to Mycology” workshop will be led by expert Craig Tester.

Here’s a brief description of the workshop:

Fungi are the keystone species that interconnect every facet of life in our world. This class will highlight the supreme influence these ancient and often overlooked organisms have upon our health, society, and environment, and also provide a succinct peek into the Fungal Queendom from the perspectives of ecology, anthropology, pharmacology, and bioremediation.

The workshop will also feature a component that teaches attendees how to perform low-tech and low-cost mushroom cultivation techniques that can be replicated at home.

The event will begin with a tour of the Kingsland Wildflowers green roof.

To RSVP, click here.

Brooklyn residents who want to travel by water during the L train shutdown will now have bigger boats.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney announced earlier this week that both the MTA and EDC have agreed to enter a contract with NY Waterways to provide ferries with more capacity.

Instead of boats that hold 149 passengers, they will use ferries that can hold 240 passengers each.

Additionally, NY Waterways will be required to have two ferries in constant operation, with a third boat crew ready to go if needed.

So what does this mean? Maloney’s office says each trip is expected to take abut 5.5 minutes from pier to pier, with 8 ferry trips per hour at peak times.

In addition to express buses, bicycling and additional train capacity on other lines, pols hope this will be *somewhat* enough to mitigate the effects of the L train closure.