Your chance to make closed beach heartbreak into interpretive dance (via Facebook)

We all reacted to Sandy in different ways, though we imagine that most of the reactions involved anger at some point. And while everyone has a standing invitation to go talk about their hurricane experience at the Brooklyn Public Library, it could be the case that you’ve got an easier time turning your story into art. Well good news: the Brooklyn Arts Council wants art that you’ve made in reaction to Sandy. (more…)

It was DC, but we really want to know this dude’s story

Hurricane Sandy was, as you know, a devastating storm, a (hopefully, sadly probably not) once-in-a-lifetime weather event. Everyone who  was here for it has some kind of story from the storm, be it fleeing rushing storm waters, coming back to a trashed business or volunteering to help out neighbors and strangers. In an effort to collect all that history, the Brooklyn Public Library is now inviting people to sit down and talk about the ways they lived through the storm. (more…)

Want to bring Tilden back to these days? Grab a shovel. via @iamkellymurphy

We were all bummed to learn that Fort Tilden would be closed this summer because of that dickhead hurricane Sandy, and further bummed to learn that restoring and re-opening it was low down on the National Park Service’s to-do list. But instead of moping about it, one enterprising Brooklyn resident has organized a federally-sanctioned clean up effort, Clean Up Fort Tilden, that starts this weekend. So let’s help her out! (more…)

Don’t let this not happen!

Brooklyn’s been doing a hell of job coming back from Sandy, what with the grocery store re-openings and neighborhood restorations, but that doesn’t mean everything just magically goes back to the way it was. The Mermaid Parade, for instance, was already struggling before Sandy tried to drown Coney Island, and that just made things worse. There’s even a chance the parade doesn’t happen this year, but Coney Island USA is trying to cover costs with a last ditch Kickstarter. So let’s save the Mermaid Parade! (more…)

Sunny’s in better days (via flickr user waywuiwei)

Six months after Hurricane Sandy, Red Hook staple Sunny’s Bar is still shuttered, which sucks for everyone in the neighborhood, and for pretty much most breathing, thinking human beings capable of feeling love, too. But they’re doing their best to get back on their feet, launching an Indiegogo campaign and feting it with a May Day celebration/benefit at the Bell House in Gowanus. (more…)

Face painting at last year’s Red Hook Fest (via flickr user DTETC

Red Hook is home to more than wonderful bars and street hockey and maritime toughs who coulda been contenders. It’s also home to a thriving arts scene, and that suffered along with everyone else during Sandy. The recovery effort has been underway for a little while, but there are still plenty of people in the neighborhood that are struggling to get back on their feet. All the more reason, then, to come out and celebrate all the neighborhood has to offer at this year’s upcoming Red Hook Fest. (more…)

We’re so pretty oh so pretty

[UPDATE: 4/25: Brooklyn Industries' CEO and co-founder weighs in in the comments below] Hey, remember the Vogue fashion shoot that put models in $40,000 dresses next to first responders who actually, y’know, helped the city recover from the storm? And how it felt kind of icky? Surely no one would be so shortsighted as to make that mistake again, right? Clearly we’ve underestimated the amount of people that look at a destroyed and still recovering neighborhood and think “Man, how like, artistic,” proven today by Brooklyn Industries using the Rockaways as a backdrop for their summer fashion line. (more…)

Coney Island was already open for biz in this March 30 photo. Via NPR.

It’s summer! Well, it was for a sec, now it’s fussily raining or something. But it’s coming, oh yes, after a too-long winter cooped up huddled around Netflix for warmth. This is a good time to remind ourselves, however, that this summer is going to be different than any we’ve had before because of the harsh reality that many of our beaches, and the people who live along them year-round, are forever changed thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

Then there’s Coney which, magically, like how the subways came back sooner than they should, is already up and running again. The Freak Show is still drying out, and other spots won’t return at all, but the rides are back and the vital aorta of the tourist economy is pumping again. How? The answer is in this excellent report from NPR’s Planet Money, (a great podcast that Brokelyn has been remiss in not officially endorsing before). The answer has less to do with government bailout and and more to do with the neighborly support system that got us through this storm in the first place. (more…)

Volunteers cleaning up Sandy Hook Beach (via Facebook)

We’re pretty bummed that Fort Tilden will be closed all summer, but while lots of beaches were devastated during Hurricane Sandy, there are still plenty of volunteer opportunities available to get local parks back in shape. Every Saturday, the crew at the Gateway National Recreation Area has been holding clean-up events to help clear up debris and other damage beaches and parks like Floyd Bennett Field and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Reserve sustained during the storm. (more…)

This, sadly, will probably happen again. via Instagram user bymisterlynch

Will New York get hit with another hurricane? We try to stay positive around here, but the answer is almost definitely yes. That is the world we live in now, so we may as well just deal with it. And because so far no one has taken my idea to put New York on a huge raised platform seriously, there will probably be more flooding. Which sucks for everyone, but especially artists, who can see their entire livelihood get washed way in a matter of minutes. So, because they believe in inevitability  the Brooklyn Arts Council wants to help prepare artists for the next Sandy.  (more…)