Brooklyn Botanic Garden stars
in new postage stamp series
BY BEN VERDE
The garden is going postal!
Brooklyn’s own Botanic
Garden is featured prominently
on a new set of stamps from the
United States Post Offi ce, giving
Brooklynites a chance to
show off the borough’s horticultural
jewel on all their national
correspondence.
“I am proud to say Brooklyn
has one of the most magnifi -
cent gardens in the country,”
said Brooklyn Postmaster Eddie
Banner. “Sadly we cannot
visit the park at the moment,
so this is a wonderful way to
honor and enjoy it.”
The BBG stamp is one in
a new series called “American
Gardens,” which features
well known green spaces from
across the country. Its featured
art was taken by fl oral photographer
COURIER L 24 IFE, MAY 22-28, 2020
Allen Rokach, and designed
by postal service artist
Ethel Kessler.
The garden currently sits
empty while spring is in full
form, but garden offi cials say
they are aiming for a July reopening.
The Postal Service
has also suffered tremendous
losses due to the coronavirus
pandemic, prompting diehards
of the embattled service to buy
forever stamps as a show of
support.
Mail and garden enthusiasts
can purchase the new
stamps online or in select retail
locations.
BY ROSE ADAMS
Cooped-up comics will fi -
nally have some reprieve from
the grim days of quarantine
when the Coney Island Comedy
Festival hosts the fi rst
ever “One Liner” Competition
on June 1 — when they’ll
solicit the funniest zingers
from Brooklyn and beyond to
lighten the city’s tense mood,
said the festival’s founder.
“We want to keep the laughter
going, we want to get everyone
involved, and we want
people to think about something
else,” said Irina Ginzburg,
a stand up comedian
who goes by Upa Inspace. “I
think laughter is just good for
everybody.”
Participants can submit a
joke under 30 words to the competition’s
website anytime between
June 1 and Sept. 1, and
a panel of judges — including
stand up comedian Leighann
Lord, David Letterman, comedian
Eddie Brill, and Miss
Coney Island 2020 Laura Lee
Anderson — will vote for the
COMEDY
winner, which be announced
on Sept. 12, Ginzburg said.
Prizes include tickets to
stand-up comedy shows, music
from a Brooklyn record company,
and the festival’s merchandise
— including cups
and a poster — among other
goodies, Ginzburg said.
Ginzburg decided to host
the competition not because
of her love for one-liners, but
rather because she hates them
and hopes the contest will
teach her to love short jokes.
“I really don’t like one-liners,”
she said. “I’m a comedian
myself, so I’m hoping I’ll fi nd
one in this competition.”
The competition comes one
year after Ginzburg founded
the annual Coney Island
Comedy Festival — a two-day
stand-up comedy festival at
Ruby’s Bar and Grill. Ginzburg
said she began the festival
after realizing how few
stand-up opportunities there
were in southern Brooklyn.
“We started the festival
because there’s no comedy
in south Brooklyn, there’s no
stand-up comedy,” said Ginzburg,
a refugee from the former
Soviet Union who grew up
in Coney Island and Bensonhurst.
“But historically, there
is a lot of comedy there, so we
wanted to bring it back.”
Ginzburg thought that
Manhattan’s increasingly
corporate atmosphere meant
that the underground standup
needed a new home — and
that southern Brooklyn’s nofrills
attitude made it the perfect
place for young, up-andcoming
funnymen.
“I feel someone has to be really
strong when they perform
in south Brooklyn — they’re
rough,” she said. “They don’t
laugh when it’s not funny.”
Ginzburg had planned for
the Coney Island Comedy Festival
to run for four days this
year. But when the coronavirus
outbreak preemptively
cancelled those plans, Ginzburg
decided to replace the
stand-up show with an online
one-liner competition and turn
many of the festival’s would-be
performers into judges.
Participants, Ginzburg
clarifi ed, can submit any type
of short joke they want to the
contest, as long as they follow
one rule.
“It’s just got to be funny,”
she said.
The “One Liner” Competition
isn’t Coney Island’s
only creative online contest
hatched during the days of isolation.
The hosts of the Mermaid
Parade are hosting a
face mask design contest that
welcomes photos of original,
handmade face masks from
around the world. Designs
must be submitted by May
24, and winners will be announced
around June 1.
Beauty mark
Coney Island comedy festival
debuts one-liner joke competition
BROOKLYN
Over the lines
Submit your one-liner to the
Coney Island Comedy Festival
online at coneyislandcomedyfestival.
nyc/one-liner-submission
anytime before Sept.
1. Free.
STAMP OF APPROVAL: A new postage stamp series pays tribute to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Photo by USPS
Irina Ginzburg (Upa Inspace) performs at last year’s Coney Island Comedy
Festival. Photo by Irina Ginzburg