Last Monday night’s meeting was a huge success with over 150 Fort Greeners learning and sharing over what draws people together - FOOD.

The pot luck was outstanding and all the dishes were great. But because it was a contest only one could be chosen to win our prize.

Congratulations to Janet Lindgren, a new Fort Greene resident, for her winning dish of Roasted Red Pepper Salad.

Here is the winning recipe:

ROASTED PEPPER SALAD by Janet Lindren

This dish started with Delia Smith’s recipe for Piedmont Roasted Peppers in her SUMMER COLLECTION. I made the roasted pepper pieces smaller and put them on a bed of peppery watercress to make what could be an appetizer into a salad. The aroma as this dish bakes is quite wonderful.
4 red bell peppers
6 plum tomatoes
8 anchovy fillets (or more)
2-4 cloves chopped garlic (or more)
½ cup olive oil (or less)
freshly ground black pepper
a bed of watercress tops
fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the peppers, following the indentations that run from base to stem. You’ll get either thirds or fourths depending on each pepper’s shape. Try to slice through the stem so that some stem remains on each piece. This isn’t essential, but it helps the pepper pieces keep their shape as they bake. Remove the seeds. Arrange the pepper pieces on a lightly oiled, heavy, shallow, baking sheet. According to Delia, “if the sides are too deep, the roasted vegetables won’t get those lovely nutty, toasted edges.” They also brown better if they aren’t crowded on the baking sheet. Put the tomatoes into boiling water for one minute, then into ice water. Peel the tomatoes, cut into quarters, and remove seeds. Fit tomato pieces into each pepper piece, trimming the tomato pieces as necessary.

Chop the anchovy fillets and sprinkle onto the tomatoes. Peel and chop the garlic cloves and sprinkle onto the tomatoes and anchovies. Spoon some olive oil over each pepper piece. Season with freshly ground pepper (but no salt because of the anchovies.)

Place the baking sheet on a high shelf in the oven. Roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Make a bed of watercress tops on a large, flat serving dish. Arrange the roasted pepper pieces on the watercress, pouring any juices in the pan over it all. Add some chopped fresh basil, if you have it.

For her effort Janet won: A $50 gift certificate to Olea, 2 House Tour tickets, and an autographed copy of the book Images of America: Fort Greene by former FGA Chair, Howard Pitsch.

A big thank you to Dan DeMarti from Olea for judging and the wines generously supplied by Best Buy Liquors.

If you missed the meeting and want to follow up with any of our great speakers here is their information.

Neighborhood Meeting- Open to All

Hungry ? Feeding Fort Greene
Fresh Solutions for Healthy Eating in the Neighborhood
LAPC – The Town Hall of Fort Greene, 85 So. Oxford Street- Monday, April 19^th, 2010 – 7:30 P.M.

7:00 Healthy and Affordable Pot Luck Contest - Judging by Dan DeMarti of Olea Mediterranean Taverna
Fill out entry form at registration table and be sure to set aside a portion for our judge

Tonight’s prize will be a $50 gift certificate to Olea, 2 House Tour tickets, and an autographed copy of the book Images of America: Fort Greene by former FGA Chair, Howard Pitsch.

7:30 Welcome - Paul Palazzo ([email protected])

7:40 May I Have the Envelope Please (We hope you Win!)

7:45 Fort Greene Goings-On
- Public Safety Task Force – Paul Palazzo ([email protected])
Update on proposal to enhance street safety with improved lighting
- House Tour 2010 – Live-Work-Play Fort Greene [email protected]
House Tour is the biggest and best ever Advance Tickets at
- Images of America – Fort Greene Howard Pitsch [email protected]
- Schools - Bridget Babel
P.S. 20 Spring Fling ([email protected])

8:00 Hungry? Feeding Fort Greene - Fresh Solutions for Healthy Eating in the Neighborhood
Fort Greene has changed but our choices for healthy food seem to be stuck in the past. We’ll explore the Food Solutions coming to our neighborhood

Green Hill Food Co-op (www.greenehillfoodcoop.com)
DK Holland, Kathryn Zarczynski
For information visit www.greenehillfoodcoop.com and sign up for the email newsletter
or call 718-208-4778

MARP’s ‘Myrtle Eats Fresh’ Initiative (www.myrtleavenue.org)
Meredith Phillips Almeida, Director of Community Development ([email protected])
Sam Lipschultz, Food Access Coordinator

MARP will discuss new food access initiatives including a community-run farm stand, community garden expansion, the Fort Greene FRESH Teens program, and a local healthy food task force

GrowNYC- Fort Greene Farmer’s Market update
Liz Carollo ([email protected])

Food Pantry Update
Mary Priebe ([email protected])

Vokashi - Kitchen Waste Solution
Vandra Thorburn ([email protected])

9:00 Community Forum Open Mic

The floor is yours for two minutes.
Use it to announce an upcoming event or raise an issue.
Speaking slots are limited, sign up at the door.

9:15 Final Announcements and Adjournment

Next FGA Neighborhood Meeting, Tuesday, June 29, 2010
We’ll see you next time but we’re always available online or by email at [email protected]

And don’t forget the 30^th Fort Greene Association House Tour, Sunday, May 2, 2010

There’s no greener place to be than Fort Greene this weekend with these two Earth Day celebrations. Keep in touch with all the green initiatives happening with our Green Fort Greene & Clinton Hill Campaign.

Free Trees

This coming weekend you can get a Free Tree to plant on private property (not in street tree pits) — April 17 & 18, 10-3 , while they last. At the Putnam Triangle in Clinton Hill, at Fulton and Grand.

All are small decorative flowering trees, perfect for front and back yards. Shovels will be available and help getting the tree home if you need it., too.

Know a senior or other one who needs help planting? We have aid for you, as well. Please spread the word. Information: email:[email protected] or call (718) 643-6555.

Join us at our next scheduled Neighborhood meeting to be held on Monday April 19, 2010 -7:30PM, at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Fort Greene has changed but our choices for healthy food seem to be stuck in the past. At this meeting we’ll explore the Food Solutions coming to our neighborhood Come share your experiences with others and learn about efforts to provide healthy food choices to Fort Greene.

Ask questions, and get answers. Plus all the goings on in Fort Greene and don’t forget to come early and meet your neighbors with refreshments starting at 7PM.

YUMMY!
ENTER OUR RECIPE - POT LUCK CONTEST

What is your favorite healthy recipe for a family of four on a budget?
Bring along your favorite designed to cost $10 or less to the meeting
for the 7PM Neighborhood Mixer
and enter our Recipe - Pot Luck Contest.

Enter to win valuable prizes and share your secrets on healthy eating with your neighbors.

Come and savor what your neighbors have to offer.

As always FGA Meetings are Open to All
Homeowners and Renters alike

Serving Greater Fort Greene,
Fort Greene Association

The April 2010 FGA Newsletter is available online or at many of our local shops and restaurants throughout Fort Greene.

Inside this edition:
- The Greene Hill Food Co-op is coming your way
- Free Trees for You
- Safer More Walkable Streets
- BAM’s New Museum in Fort Greene
- 30th House Tour - House Sitting the Bargain of a Lifetime

Reach thousands of Fort Greene households in the mail, via email and on the web by underwriting the FGA Newsletter. For next sponsorship availability date and for details call 718.875.1855 or write the FGA at [email protected].

Advance purchase, discounted tickets for this year’s Fort Greene Association House Tour are available starting today, April 1, online and at four Fort Greene locations. The biennial House Tour, scheduled for May 2, 2010, is a one-day celebration of the neighborhood’s historic homes and cultural arts destinations.

This year’s Tour, scheduled for May 2, 2010, is themed “live/work/play/fort greene“, highlighting residents who are forging a unique Brooklyn lifestyle- one that combines home, work and leisure in the same space.

In addition to 11 historic homes displaying incredible decor and design details and ideas, the Tour path also encompasses several local cultural destinations, including a backstage visit at Tour sponsor venue Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Buy now and benefit from a 20 percent advance-purchase discount rate of $20 per ticket from April 1 - May 1, 2010. Tickets are available online at www.HistoricFortGreene.org, as well as at the following local businesses and location in Fort Greene:

Fort Greene Farmers Market
(Saturdays Only)

BAM
30 Lafayette Ave
Brooklyn, NY
718-636-4100

Gnarly Vines
350 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
718-797-3183

Yú Interiors
15 Greene Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
718-237-5878

Day-of tickets, are $25, and can be purchased at the Tour’s starting point, at BAM Triangle Park

Visit www.visitbrooklyn.org for full details

COMMUNITY NOTICE
Closure of Sections of Fifth Avenue and Pacific Street
Beginning on Monday, March 8, 2010
On Monday, March 8, 2010 by 6 AM, the following streets in Brooklyn will be permanently closed:
• Fifth Avenue (between Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues)
• Pacific Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)
• Pacific Street (between Vanderbilt and Carlton Avenues)

Local and emergency vehicle access will be maintained as needed.
These streets are being closed to accommodate the Atlantic Yards project. Northbound traffic on Fifth Avenue can use Flatbush
Avenue or Sixth Avenue to continue north; southbound traffic can use Sixth Avenue. Eastbound traffic on Pacific Street can use
Dean Street; westbound traffic can use Bergen Street.

To facilitate vehicle circulation, Sixth Avenue (between Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street) will become two-way and the block of
Pacific Street (between Carlton and Sixth Avenues) will become one-way westbound.
These changes necessitate the removal of the Cobble Hill-bound B63 bus stop on Fifth Avenue, between Pacific Street and Atlantic
Avenue. Passengers can use existing bus stops on Fifth Avenue (at Bergen Street) and on Atlantic Avenue (at Fourth Avenue).
Please see the detour map below.

Advisory signs will be posted in advance of the closures and detour signs will be posted during the work. Traffic agents will be
assigned to facilitate the flow of traffic and pedestrians.

Questions relating to this project may be addressed to:
Atlantic Yards Community Liaison Office
(866) 923-5315
[email protected]

Office of the Atlantic Yards Ombudsman
Empire State Development Corporation
(212) 803-3233
[email protected]

Click here to download the draft trafficmitigation plan.

Fort Greene has it all, except when it comes to food shopping. With all that we have in this great neighborhood there is a shortage of supermarkets and fresh produce. The developer of a new supermarket on Myrtle Avenue near Ashland will present his plans to the community, this Tuesday evening. Come meet the local developer & the NYC Economic Development Corporation and give them your input, comments, and suggestions on how to create a great new supermarket for Fort Greene.

Community Board 2 - Economic Development and Job Creation Committee

Tuesday, March 2nd at 6pm
Long Island University - Jonas Board Room, 2nd Floor (Flatbush at DeKalb)

Serving Greater Fort Greene,
Fort Greene Association

Join us at our next scheduled Neighborhood meeting to be held on Monday February 22, 2010 -7:30PM, at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Feeling the squeeze? As Fort Greeners know all too well, the neighborhood has experienced dramatic cost of living increases in recent years. Come share your experiences with others and learn about efforts to keep Fort Greene affordable.

Ask questions, and get answers. Plus all the goings on in Fort Greene and don’t forget to come early and meet your neighbors with refreshments starting at 7PM.

On the Agenda:

As detailed in the New York Times Article, December 7, 2009, “2 Brooklyn Complexes with a Ghost-Town Feel” by Manny Fernandez many Fort Greeners were shocked to learn of the ongoing conditions of Ingersoll and Whitman. William Cardinale, Acting Director of the New York City Housing Authority [NYCHA] for Brooklyn will speak about the renovations of the Whitman & Ingersoll Housing Developments. This update will focus on when NYCHA expects to conclude the renovations.

Deb Howard, Executive Director, of Pratt Area Community Council, a community development corporation that has been serving Fort Greene for nearly fifty years, will overview their efforts to both improve quality of life and prevent displacement of longtime residents. PACC’s Drew Kiriazides, Director of Housing, will update the neighborhood on PACC’s new affordable housing developments and John Furlong, Deputy Director of Community Organizing, will highlight their campaign to repeal vacancy decontrol and maintain affordable rental units.

Tameeka Ford, the inaugural executive director of the brand new Ingersoll Community Center, will speak about the suite of athletic and educational services available to the neighborhood.