Namaste Yoga in Kensington

Namaste Yoga in Kensington

Looking for a dance or yoga class close to home? There is no reason to look any further than Namaste Yoga of Kensington at 482 Coney Island Avenue. They are the first neighborhood yoga studio in Kensington, welcoming patrons to come and gain self-confidence while improving physical and mental health.

Namaste Yoga was founded by Wilhyn Larsen, a former corporate executive. She has over twenty years of experience in the arts, and brings her talent to this unique dance studio.

The studio offers a wide variety of dance classes for every level and interest, including: Belly Dance, Zumba, Pilates, Tai Chi, Cardio Dance, Turbo Kick, classes for kids, and more.

Pricing is competitive and there are often discounts and specials available. Call 347-533-6226 for more information.

Kensington Man Found Slain in Pennsylvania

Cafe Owner Joshua Rubin from Kensington

Joshua Rubin, the 30-year-old owner of The Whisk Bakery Café in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, was found on November 1st in a woods right outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania. It took until this past week to identify the remains as that of Rubin.

His body had been burned after being shot and killed by a bullet wound to the head.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Mikhail Plotkin, 56, a salesman at an electronics store on the same block as the cafe.

“He was a little strange, but otherwise, he was a nice kid. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

Rubin was last seen leaving his home on October 31st, and his credit card was used just a few days later at the Woodbury Commons mall in Orange County, New York.

Friends and loved ones put up flyers to help locate their friend, but there efforts did not lead to any clues or further information about what happened.

Kensington Woman to Compete in the Third Annual Latke Recipe Contest

Dori Fern will be competing in the Third Annual Latke Festival this coming Monday against 14 other chefs, all of whom are professionals. Dori won Edible Brooklyn’s reader recipe contest for her Double-Happiness Latkes topped with Five-Spice Duck Confit, which succeeded against 60 other submissions.

According to Edible East End editor and publisher of Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn Brian Halwell, the decision to choose Fern’s recipe above the others was not easy:

“People were stretching the very definition or notion of what ingredients go into a potato pancake,” says Halweil. “We had people put in all sorts of spices and flavorings and herbs into them and using different sorts of potatoes and mixing in different root crops.”

Fern’s recipe won because it put the latkes at the center of the eating experience:

Frying Potato Latkes

“She captured not just the locavore sentiment that’s part of the magazine, but a creativeness that elevates latkes from a side dish to something that’s the focus on the meal.”

The Latke Festival is co-sponsored by Great Performances and Edible Brooklyn and will take place on Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Participatory Government Continues in Kensington

This past autumn New York City began a brave new experiment designed to bring citizens back into the process of democratic government and to encourage participation and autonomy. The program, known as the Participatory Budgeting Project gives people the opportunity to suggest ways they would like to see their tax dollars spent, and then to vote on those grass-roots ideas.

There were hundreds of people on hand from the four districts whose Council members are involved over the past few months who attended public assemblies to discuss their ideas on what to do with about $1 million in capital funds for each district. There are volunteer committees now debating the proposals, and voting on these proposals is expected to take place this spring.

The four Council members involved in this exciting project are Brad Lander of the 39th district which includes Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and parts of Kensington and Borough Park; Jumaane Williams of the 45th district including Flatbush, Midwood and parts of Canarsi; Melissa Mark-Viverito of the 8th district in Harlem and the South Bronx; and Eric Ulrich the 32nd district Council member representing southwest Queens.

Brad Lander had this to say about the project:

“We are excited to put budgeting power directly in the hands of the people. Not only will next year’s budget be more democratic as a result, it will also be more effective because our constituents know best where money needs to go in our community.”

When asked what he felt was the quirkiest idea, Mr. Lander said, “Make a Gowanus Canal gondola, aptly called “The Gowandola;” create dumpster pools for hot summer days like they had on Manhattan’s East Side on Saturdays in 2010, and which first popped up in the Gowanus neighborhood.”

Lander felt the boldest idea was to create “A community center to bring together the diverse neighborhoods that make up Kensington, Brooklyn. To make the idea feasible within the $1 million budget limitation, committee members are looking for rooms in libraries or other public spaces that can be remodeled to be mini-community centers.”

Christmas Trees for Sale in Brooklyn

There are many places to pick from to get a Christmas tree in the area:

•    Eighth Avenue Fundraiser—Park Slope resident Tim Foley will give $10 to any of 14 area schools when someone purchases a tree from him. “I’m about doing the right thing for the neighborhood and its public schools,” Foley said, who is a father to three children who go to schools in the area, PS 230, MS 51 and Brooklyn Tech. “It’s a pay-it-forward mentality.” Last year Foley raised $2,600, and this year, together with his other tree stand on Smith and Butler Streets; he hopes to raise $6,000 to $7,000.

Trees For Sale in Brooklyn

•    In Front of CVS on Ninth Street—This stand has garnered the reputation of having the largest trees available. Louis Rondin and Nichola Dubois are French Canadians who bring their trees south from Nova Scotia, selling their trees round-the-clock, in French.

•    Wind Swept Farm on Union Street—These Christmas trees, from Barton, Vermont, are organically grown, and cost $10 a foot, until you get to 8 feet, when the price goes up to $15 a foot. They have other tree stands around Brooklyn and also sell maple syrup and wreaths from Vermont.

Mixed Reviews on Kensington Aerobics and Fitness

The Kensington Aerobics and Fitness facility located on Caton Avenue (between 2^nd and 3^rd Streets) has been getting some extremely mixed reviews with some loving it and others feeling it is not such a good deal.  However, on doing a comparative price investigation, it does seem that the deal being offered at the center really is pretty unbeatable.  It is true that some of the cardio machines are not always in working order and on the gym’s upper level it is not suitable for taller people to use machinery there due to its low ceiling, but other than that, one really can get a great workout in.

People can always find something to complain about and one of the gripes is the music.  Yet really this shouldn’t be such a big deal since exercisers can also bring their own music on headphones.  Another criticism is that there is no option for a trial membership but one can get a pretty good idea of what is available by checking it out first. As well, at $420 a year, that’s pretty impressive.

Some people enjoy a relaxing sauna after a workout too but that has been (not-so-strategically) placed in the men’s locker room and some complain it does not really heat up adequately.

In addition, there are various classes available such as: abs, Pilates, spinning and more.  there is no swimming pool but the hours are great too – Monday through Thursday, 5 am ‘til 12 midnight; Friday ‘til 10pm and Saturday and Sunday from 8am ‘til 8pm).

Children of Deceased Kensington Woman Say It Took Seven Days to Tell Them Mom Died in Hospital

The son and daughter of an elderly woman, Catherine Hawa, say it took New York Community Hospital seven days to inform them of their mother’s demise.

Catherine Hawa with Family 1966

The brother and sister, Michael and Jeanette Hawa say their mother passed away on November 16th, but they were only informed of that fact on November 23rd. Jeanette says that she was preparing to visit her mother at the Midwood hospital when she received a call from someone at the hospital telling her that her mother was dead and had already been in the morgue for seven days.

Michael says that he also received a call from a hospital staff worker on the same day, telling him that his mother was dead, but offering no explanation for the delay.

“I really don’t know why we didn’t call you,” he said she told him.

Born in Indianapolis, Catherine moved to Brooklyn when she married Edward Hawa in 1946. Hawa was a well-known figure at the McCrory’s department store in downtown Brooklyn where she sold greeting cards.

Hawa lived in Kensington until the time of her death at the age of 89, on East 5th Street, and was involved in several neighborhood groups like the Friends of Kensington, a fundraising organization for the Kensington Library, of which she was the president.

Councilman Greenfield Requests MTA to Not Disrupt Friday Train Service in Brooklyn

David Greenfield

Councilman David G. Greenfield of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Midwood, Boro Park and Bensonhurst requested that the Metropolitan Transit Authority minimize upcoming service changes to his constituents which would have caused major inconveniences.

The changes also would be highly disruptive to Kensington and Flatbush residents, with a special concern for the two Fridays of December 2nd and December 9th. The service changes are due to the construction which is now in progress along the Q line, which is forcing the trains to skip over the subway stations which pass through the heart of Brooklyn’s highly concentrated Jewish populations.

The MTA had originally planned the disruptions for 10am until 3pm on the two above mentioned Fridays, skipping several of the Q line’s regular stops, including Cortelyou Road, Avenue H, Avenue J, and Avenue M. This would have meant a major inconvenience for Orthodox Jews who begin their Sabbath observance at 4:11pm for the next two weeks.

The MTA responded favorably to Councilman Greenfield’s request, and residents can expect usual service on the effected trains until further notice.