Monthly Red Hook Sandy Survivor gatherings
/Red Hook Sandy Survivor Gathering
Sun 6/30 4-7pm
351 Van Brunt
Another monthly Red Hook Sandy Survivor gathering will occur at "351" where PortSide had our Sandy aid station, a space donated by Realty Collective. The plan is to continue these gatherings on the the last Sunday of every month so long as there is interest. To offer help or RSVP sandy6mo@gmail.com
What this is about
A Sandy+6 months gathering in late April was organized by PortSide NewYork, Victoria Hagman of Realty Collective, Kerry Quade and Maria Pagano (president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, a new PortSide friend). The idea was to get people talking and reconnected in the way the community was in the early days after the storm when so many of us were on the street or in public meetings.
How it went
Some 60 people came over 3 hours, and people really liked the event. Many asked for us to do it monthly. The organizers agreed to do so and to do this the last Sunday of every month to provide a predictable date that would be easier for people to remember.
We dropped the ball last month and missed doing it! PortSide will take the blame for that, there was a lot going on at PortSide what with last minute news which opened up the permit doors to getting the MARY WHALEN out of the port for the first time in almost 3 years; but hey, May's last Sunday was also Memorial Day weekend :-)
At the event, the organizers provided cake and coffee, Felicitas Oefelein donated wine, and Fairway donated cheese platters. home/made lent the coffee urns, SBIDC helped get the food donated from Fairway, Realty Collective covered the cost of cakes etc. Some people brought food. There was very relaxed vibe, lots of talk, many people talking to people they didn’t know. No agenda, no speakers. Attendees included home owners, renters, people from NYCHA.
Looking ahead
To make this happen regularly, we need some help. Plus, the idea is that this is a community thing, not some organizers doing for you; so if you want these monthly gatherings, step up and make them happen!
Help would be:
- designing a flyer
- distributing flyers (to be most inclusive, info can't just be shared digitally)
- small donations to support photocopying of flyers, cake and coffee. Very small, sheetcakes at Costco are wicked cheap.
- driving to Costco to get said cakes…
- setting up tables and food, breaking down the tables and collecting the garbage
- Several NYCHA residents said there should be better flyering in the houses; can anyone here help with this?
- Some of the NYCHA residents also said it would be good to have a venue closer to the Houses, which sounds like a good idea. Can someone work on that idea? Would such a thing be possible at the Library? 351 Van Brunt is easy to use because Victoria Hagman of Realty Collective has the lease, and so there are no permit issues, no costs, etc.
- other ideas you suggest…
We’re going to keep it simple this time and offer less food (though we won’t stop you from bringing any!) since people seemed most interested in talking, and we want to make this easy enough to do.
Please forward this widely! Best of luck with your recovery process!