Why You Should Care About Newkirk

Mary Bakija -

Lyna Saad and Oksana Mironova want you to help paint that wall!

It really only takes a couple of people to start making changes around the neighborhood, but they can’t finish it, or keep it up, without your help. Two Brooklyn-bred women recently took a look at Newkirk Avenue and decided it needed some TLC. When the Love Your Block grant was accepting proposals, Lyna Saad and Oksana Mironova decided to apply. They both live on blocks adjacent to Newkirk and are both in an urban planning graduate program, so it seems like a natural fit.

Well, they were awarded a $1,000 grant, and their first goal as the new Newkirk Cares Collaborative (NCC) was to change the mural in the Newkirk Plaza passageway.

“The mural was the big thing that everyone in the neighborhood seemed to want,” said Lyna, who added that Robin Redmond from the Flatbush Development Corporation, who had the former leaf mural painted there several years ago, has been providing them with a lot of help.

They’ve just announced their request for proposals for the mural design (download the PDF here), and proposals are due April 15. The NCC steering committee will select the top designs, and then they will let the neighborhood vote for their favorite. Because it’s a very community-oriented grant, there will be several opportunities for neighbors to get involved, including a mural painting event on June 24.

One section of the wall is already claimed–neighbor Juan Carlos Pinto, who installed the awesome mosaic mural last year at PS 217, will be doing a mosaic as part of the design.

Since the scope of the grant could encompass even more than the mural, Lyna and Oksana sought input from several local organizations, and got extensive guidance from Louise Bruce of Compost for Brooklyn.

“If it hadn’t been for Compost for Brooklyn, our vision for the greening part of the grant would not have been as great,” said Oksana. “The combination of their enthusiasm about the greening aspect and ours around the overall improvements really fueled the grant.”

In thinking about what else was needed along Newkirk Avenue, Oksana said tree guards were an obvious choice. “On other streets, you can see how they’re helping,” she explained. “Since Newkirk Avenue just got new trees, it just made sense to install tree guards.”

Three weekend volunteer events leading up to the mural painting begin this Sunday, and are being done in conjunction with Compost for Brooklyn. They’ll be building tree guards and doing street tree care on Newkirk Avenue between Ocean Parkway and Ocean Avenue, including cleaning out and composting the tree beds.

“If we put the tree guards around them, hopefully that will help discourage people from tossing their garbage in the beds,” said Oksana.

They’ve got a core group of about 10 volunteers, but they’ll need as many people as they can get. They’re also working with Ditmas Junior High School kids through FDC, and are hoping to involve kids from PS 217 in some way. Additionally, NCC and FDC will be combining forces on May 20 in Newkirk Plaza to work on the newly installed planters–neighbors will be needed to help out then, as well.

This is basically as local as it gets. They live here, they need the help of others who live here too, and they plan to put their money back into the neighborhood. “We want to make sure the grant money is going to local vendors,” said Lyna. “When we do our lumber purchases, we want to check out local lumber places, and when we get our food and supplies, we want to support the people who live and work in the neighborhood.”

And local businesses are already helping out—Newkirk Ave’s Ox Cart Tavern is donating snacks to this Sunday’s workday. So if you need another reason to volunteer, know you’ll get food!

Though this is a big project over the next few months, the aim is to make it a long-term effort. “We’re hoping the Newkirk Cares Collaborative will carry on after this project is completed,” said Oksana, who added that they want to be involved in the maintenance of the mural, among other things, in the future.

Newkirk Avenue and Newkirk Plaza are already fantastic, but this push will really help make them something special. But I repeat–there are just a few people already involved, and they need more help. If you live in anywhere near Newkirk, consider pitching in.

If you want to help out, now or down the line, here are the basics: