On Saturday the 14th of November an intrepid crew of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens residents turned out to help clean-up the neighborhood. Battling the elements the group managed to clean entire swaths of Midwood Street, Flatbush Avenue, & Maple Street. The event also marked the debut of the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens T-Shirts that were handed out to participants. A very special thanks goes out to Evelyn, William, and Eugenie for all their hard work.

Urban Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Article - Carole Schaffer / Image - Lucia Haring

Prospect Park, a designated Important Birding Area in the state, and home to over 200 species of birds, was a logical and very welcome choice for the creation of the first urban Audubon Center in New York. This historic effort is a result of a unique partnership between the National Audubon Society of New York State and the Prospect Park Alliance. In preparation, the Prospect Park Boathouse, the beautiful 1905 Beaux Arts style building modeled after the library of San Marco in Venice and one of the first official City landmarks, has undergone extensive restoration and renovation to house the Center. Through another partnership with the Board of Education, advisory meetings were held with Community School District 17 educators.

Teacher focus groups helped define programming opportunities with local schools and a Teacher Advisory Group was established to develop curriculum and launch pilot programs at the Center. Birds, of course, will take center stage. The new center will feature year-round indoor and outdoor environmental and cultural programming and exhibits unlike any other in the country. Emphasis will be on hands-on displays for family audiences and includes a virtual birds-eye view of Prospect Park and a larger than life oriole nest. The overall focus will be on the interrelationships among nature, design and community, thereby, illustrating how habitats for wildlife and people are impacted by similar forces. In addition, a series of nature trails will lead from the Boathouse into the forest and out to the Lake and there will be educational tours of the Lullwater by electric boat.

So mark your calendars and save the date [April 26, 2002] a fitting tribute and no small coincidence April 26th is the birthday of both John James Audubon, the pioneering naturalist and painter who founded the National Audubon Society, and Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer (with Calvert Vaux) of Prospect Park! Within close proximity to our neighborhood, the Prospect Park Boathouse is conveniently located just a few steps inside the Lincoln Road entrance. The Boathouse is completely wheelchair accessible. In addition to housing the Prospect Park Audubon Center it will serve as the Park's official Visitors Center complete with gift shop and café. Boats will also be available for rent at the newly constructed dock.

Source: Prospect Park Alliance Annual Reports 2000 and 2001.

Quality of Life Complaints
Article - Christa Foster / Image - Lucia Haring

Are you angry because some of your fellow citizens are noisy while you are trying to sleep? Does it upset you to see drinking and urinating in public? Has your street corner become a hang-out for drug dealers or prostitutes? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you may want to call the NYPD' s Quality of Life Hotline at 1-888-677-5433 with your complaint. In a recent television interview, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ( a former commander of the 71st Precinct) said:" We want to know where the work is. Tell us." So let's tell him - and get the problems solved.