The Day: A Candidate Forum and a Back-to-School Barclays Center Bash

Good morning, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Although some kids have already gone back to school and others will return next week, summer’s not officially over until Sept. 21. How will you spend one of our last summer weekends, locals? Sunny skies are expected in the nabe for most of the weekend, with a slight chance of rain Saturday night and Sunday morning, the National Weather Service reported. Be sure to submit photos of your weekend activities to the Nabe’s Flickr group.

• If you haven’t had a chance to meet the 35th District City Council candidates yet, you’ll have one more opportunity today at a candidate forum from 10 a.m. to noon at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church – located at 85 South Oxford Street, between Lafayette and Greene Avenues. Come ready to listen to candidates Laurie Cumbo, Olanike Alabi, Ede Fox, Jelani Mashariki and F. Richard Hurley, and with any questions about issues that matter to you. Without a Republican candidate in the race, whichever of the four Democratic candidates wins the primary on Tuesday will take the City Council Member title, replacing Letitia James, who is running for the city’s public advocate position.
• Today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Church of the Open Door – 201 Gold Street between Sands and Nassau Streets – will hold a “Safe Surrender” day, where criminal defense attorneys will be on hand to help people resolve outstanding summonses for unlawful possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct, trespass and other crimes. Clergy, pastors and lay church members will also be available to provide spiritual support to those in attendance.
• The Barclays Center will hold a back-to-school bash tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., featuring a live performance by the Brooklynettes Dancers, a live deejay, a life-sized chess board and kid-friendly activities such as face painting and a balloon artist. If you can make it to the festivities, you can register here. Each RSVP will have a chance to win back-to-school prizes, and the first 500 registrants will have a chance to win a T-shirt, courtesy of Modell’s Sporting Goods. If it rains, the event will be rescheduled to Sept. 14.
• Fort Greene Patch profiled the new Clinton Hill Music Studio, which operates inside a rowhouse at 195 Gates Avenue between Classon and Grand Avenues. The studio, which provides instrument and music lessons, draws much of its business from the neighborhood, owners Marty Isenberg and Jen Herman told Patch. “The inspiration for starting our studio was in a lot of ways our neighborhood, because it’s changed so much,” Isenberg told the site. “There’s a lot of new businesses coming in and doing really well — hip businesses — and I think that attracts people that are interested in being someplace where they can have a great meal, they can get lessons, they can get yoga or gourmet food, whatever they want and it’s all within walking distance.”