Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) is pleased to announce a partnership with the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) on its Greenway stewardship programs. CCI is a non-profit cultural exchange program based in Chicago, IL. 

For the 2011 summer season, CCI has about 150 international students employed on Coney Island. As part of this program, CCI hosts a Going Greenheart Tour each summer, through which  participants are placed and take part in a volunteer activity in that area. The purpose of the Going Greenheart Tour is to encourage CCI participants to become engaged in environmental activism.

Below photos show CCI members sprucing up the Columbia Street Greenway section near Atlantic Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6. Thanks guys!

On Saturday, July 30th, join Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI), Transportation Alternatives (TA) Brooklyn Volunteer Committee, National Park Service, Rockaway Waterfront Alliance and Regional Plan Association (RPA) for the 3rd Annual Brooklyn Waterfront Epic Ride, a 40 mile ride along Brooklyn’s entire waterfront and Jamaica Bay that highlights the potential of a completed Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway combined with a completed Jamaica Bay Greenway.

Following the ride you can go to the beach or make your way back independently via the A train, a Rockaway ferry to Wall Street Pier 11 from Riis Landing (at 3:00PM or 5:00PM) or by riding back on Flatbush Avenue, the most direct route to northern Brooklyn. Register today!

Want a little taste of the ride right now? Check out http://bit.ly/BKepic09

This event is supported by the National Park Service and NYS Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program under Title 11 of the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.

Funding for this event is also provided by the JM Kaplan Fund, Brooklyn Community Foundation and New York City Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith is launching Change by Us NYC, a new social media website designed for New Yorkers to connect online, discover resources, and create projects to make their neighborhoods greener and greater. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative co-founder Milton Puryear will be one of the speakers at the July 7th launch event.

If you would like to help kick off this great project, please RSVP by noon on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 to info@nyc.changeby.us.

What:     Change by Us NYC Launch
When:     Thursday, July 7th at 11:00 am
Where:     The Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, 520 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Change by Us NYC is a terrific new social media website: http://nyc.changeby.us. It’s designed for New Yorkers to connect online, discover resources, and create projects to make their neighborhoods greener and greater.

Many City agencies and community-based organizations will be using Change by Us NYC to help residents turn their ideas into action. And we think it will be a great tool for like-minded people to connect about what matters to them most.

We look forward to having you come to the launch event, and we hope you’ll take the opportunity to spread the word. Tell your friends and neighbors about Change by Us NYC and the innovative steps our City is taking to help people collaborate and create change.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to write to info@nyc.changeby.us.

On June 16th, at Brooklyn Greenway Initiative’s annual benefit, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced the launch of a new interactive web portal for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. This online portal will be used to gather information from the community, leading into the final round of greenway public planning workshops this fall. It also provides background on the project, as well as the current status of segments along the 14-mile route.

Read the NYC DOT press release

A kayak rolling demonstration on the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway? Well, not exactly on the greenway, but along the greenway route at Brooklyn Bridge Park. This event is part of MWA’s City of Water Day Festival on Saturday, July 16th, and a demo will also take place at Governors Island.

Here’s the info:

Saturday, July 16th

Brooklyn Bridge Park,
Between Piers 5 & 6
11:00 am

Governors Island
Yankee Pier  – north side
1:00 pm

Traditionally, Greenlanders and other Arctic paddlers did not know how to swim because it was unlikely they would survive once separated from their kayak in Arctic waters. So, recovering from a capsize without leaving the kayak became an important survival skill.

Members of QajaqUSA will demonstrate a variety of rolling techniques that were developed to recover from various situations that seal hunters encountered such as injured hands and arms, loss of a paddle and entanglement in harpoon lines.