By MELENA RYZIK – NY Times
A proclamation from Marty Markowitz, the excitable Brooklyn borough president, is no rarity. But receiving it under the head of a quasianimatronic wolf-creature, while, around the corner, a guy upholsters a seat cushion in brown argyle, and another blends cocktails by bike — that is something special.
At a party for its fourth anniversary last month, 3rd Ward, the arts and design collective in Bushwick, received a commendation from Mr. Markowitz for its program giving free bicycles to members. But 3rd Ward hardly needed the boost: hundreds of people had come to its brightly painted labyrinthine space to celebrate. Outside were bands and burgers; inside there were demonstrations of screen-printing, woodworking, weaving, designing jewelry and welding, as well as vodka-spiked strawberry lemonade. (A bike was powering the blender.) [Read More]