The Day: A Proposed Street Re-naming, a New Barclays Center Sculpture and Rosh Hashana Events

Happy Labor Day, locals.

We hope you are continuing to enjoy the long weekend. How have you spent it so far? We saw that one of you enjoyed tomatoes at the Fort Greene Greenmarket and one of you took a stroll in Fort Greene Park, where you spotted these colorful parrots. The National Weather Service predicts showers with scattered thunderstorms today, so you may have to forego a barbecue for fun indoor activities. What do you have planned for the day?

Don’t forget to post any photos you take this weekend on our Flickr group, and check out the latest local news below.

• One Clinton Hill resident wants to re-name the intersection of Saint James Place and Fulton Street to Christopher Wallace Way, after the birth name of hip-hop star and native Brooklynite Notorious B.I.G., the New York Daily News reported. LeRoy McCarthy, who started the petition, has lived a block away from Wallace’s childhood home on Saint James Place between Gates and Fulton Streets for the past 15 years. “He’s a legendary figure to fans worldwide but he always represented Brooklyn straight from his soul,” McCarthy told the paper. “He made it from the streets to worldwide acclaim through his music and he should be honored for that.” The bureaucratic process may hamper McCarthy’s efforts, though, the News reported. Both Community Board 2 and the City Council must approve the street’s new name before it goes forward, and the board has a track record of being conservative when it comes to re-namings, district manager Robert Perris told the paper. Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy has already been honored in the nabe: A mural of him and one of his lyrics, “Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way,” is displayed on the Brooklyn Love Building on Fulton Street at South Portland Avenue.
• A 12,000-pound cast-bronze sculpture known as “Ona,” which translates to “she” or “her” in Polish, arrived at the Barclays Center just before midnight on Thursday, The New York Times reported.  Ona was designed by Ursula von Rydingsvard, who was born in Germany to Polish and Ukrainian parents, lives in Manhattan and has worked in Brooklyn for 35 years. The sculpture, which von Rydingsvard calls “democratic,” faces passengers as they exit the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station. “You don’t have to pay a fee or enter a museum, and no guard will tell you not to touch it,” von Rydingsvard told The Times. “I would actually love people to touch it. The acid from fingers polishes it, like the Buddhas getting their bellies rubbed.” Responses to the sculpture – both from art experts and local residents – are mixed. While some told The Times that Ona contributes to Brooklyn’s renaissance as a polished cultural leader, others are disappointed that the sculpture takes away from open space in front of the arena.
• If you are looking for a place to celebrate Rosh Hashana – or Jewish New Year – in the nabe, the Chabad of Fort Greene is holding a variety of services and events on Wednesday and Thursday, including a community dinner, a morning service and the blowing of the shofar in Fort Greene Park. Check out the full list of events for the holiday here.  For additional information or to make a reservation, email info@greenechabad.com or call (718) 974-9472.