Nicolle wrote in asking, "Are there any playgrounds in Flatbush? Other than the local public schools, I haven’t seen a swing, slide or monkeybar anywhere!"

Not knowing the answer myself, I wrote to Alison, owner of Midwood Martial Arts and Family Fitness Center. I always ask her Flatbush neighborhood questions. She has a finger on the pulse of the neighborhood.

Her answer was, "We had the same problem when we moved in. We had a lawn but wanted to find other kids. There’s the Tot Lot on the corner of Argyle and Cortelyou Roads for younger kids. The big new playground at Newkirk and Coney Island Aves is attached to PS 217 but was built for the neighborhood and is open after school hours. There is a large (multi-age) playground on Avenue L around E16th St. Most parents make their connections in the area through the Flatbush Family Network on Yahoo. Ellen Moncure is the administrator. There are also three local storytimes – many Mon & Wed at VoxPop, Tuesdays at our place (Midwood Martial Arts) from 10:45-11:45 am, and one at the Cortelyou Rd branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (which I hear is not very good – the storytime not the library). There should be one at the Avenue J library also. On Tuesdays after Midwood Martial Art and Family Fitness Center’s storytime is a Flatbush Family Network playtime immediately following it." (Wow! How great you can hang out at the center for a couple of hours!)

Vox Pop
1022 Cortelyou Road
718-940-2084

Brooklyn Public Library,
Cortelyou Branch
1305 Cortelyou Road
718-693-7763

Argyle Road Tot Lot
Corner of Argyle &
Cortelyou Roads

This reminds me that I need to make community forums on the blog so you can ask and answer eachothers’ questions. I have to get on that over the holidays!

PHOTO: a fantasy children’s playground that does NOT exist in Brooklyn- sure wish it did!

Karin wrote me to say that www.daycarematch (which I had listed on my blog as a good source of daycare information) wasn’t a good source at all for her zip code in Fort Greene. DayCareMatch only listed one daycare for her zip code.  I’m especially sorry because she had to pay a $10 registration fee at their site.  I got 2 recommendations for the site from dwellers in Flatbush and Bay Ridge. Maybe the site has more listings for their neighborhoods (anyone know for sure?), but as of now- www.daycarematch is not listed on my site. (not until they beef up their listings for all of Brooklyn).

Lastly, thanks to Liza for correcting me that the documentary "The Business of Being Born" was most likely NOT directed by Fred Durst from Limp Bizcuit (WHERE did I get such an idea?) and that I was mixing that up with another film at the Tribeca Film Festival. The director of the esteemed documentary is actually Abby Epstein (a much more appropriate match I am sure). Just an FYI, Fred Durst debuted "The Education of Charlie Banks"- which is a coming-of-age movie. Yep, I really blew this one!

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