Parks’ GreenThumb program
launches virtual gardening classes
BY MEG CAPONE
Calling all green thumbs!
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s social
distancing orders may
have forced the cancellation of
many city Parks Department
workshops and in-person activities,
but all hope is not lost!
The agency has gone digital,
offering free virtual gardening
classes and workshops —
just in time for Earth Day.
GreenThumb, the largest
program of its kind in the
nation, is going virtual for
a series of lunchtime workshops
throughout the months
of April and May. The Lunch
with GreenThumb programming
offers more than 20 free
virtual classes workshops for
Brooklynites looking to utilize
their green thumbs while
spring blooms outside.
Due to overcrowding,
all community gardens are
closed indefi nitely to the public
— and GreenThumb’s annual
GrowTogether festival
has been canceled, “but we’ve
still got some great workshops
lined up to get you gardening
this season!” said New York
City Parks GreenThumb. “Join
us for a series of online workshops
to dig in, grow food, and
keep your community garden
going while following health
and safety protocols.”
COURIER L 32 IFE, APRIL 24-30, 2020
Virtual classes and workshops
will cover topics that
would have been discussed
at the conference, which was
scheduled to take place on April
4 and 5. With the forced cancellation
of the typically crowded
event, Bill LoSasso, director of
GreenThumb, said the program
plans to help people experience
the conference as much as they
can from home.
“If we can’t bring the gardeners
to the conference we
will bring the conference to
the gardeners,” LoSasso said.
“Our goal is to remind people
as they are stuck indoors, that
nature is still out there and
even though we can’t interact
with it in the ways we hoped
to, we can still fi nd ways to
connect with nature.”
For a full list of offered
classes and events, visit the
GreenThumb section of the
Parks Department’s website.
You can register for free via
Eventbrite in order to receive
the webinar link.
BY BEN VERDE
A beloved Park Slope diner
has plastered its windows
with messages of support for
the hardworking staff at the
adjacent Methodist Hospital,
where healthcare professionals
have been working day and
night to care for victims of the
novel coronavirus.
John Kolosakas, the owner
of Purity Diner on Seventh Avenue
and Seventh Street, partnered
with elementary school
students at P.S. 10 to fi ll the corner
window of his eatery with
colorful drawings and letters,
in an effort to boost the spirits
of the frontline workers across
the street.
“They’re stressed out.
They’re working a lot right
now, way more than they
used to,” Kolosakas said of the
healthcare workers who frequent
his diner. “It’s for a little
morale boost.”
Purity sits right across the
road from where Methodist’s
ambulances dock, so some of
the messages are geared specifi
cally towards the EMS
workers, who are responding
to a historically high level of
calls throughout the city.
Kolosakas says he saw the
open spaces on his windows as
an opportunity to say thanks.
He fi rst partnered with
painter Maria Negulescu, who
lent her craft to the window
as a base. Kolosakas then contacted
music teacher Fred Ellis
at P.S. 10, who organized a
school-wide email asking for
submissions.
Letters started pouring in
two days later, Kolosakas said.
BY JESSICA PARKS
Game on!
As the days of quarantine
and self-isolation wage
on, family game nights are
making a resurgence — and
the borough’s comic book
and game shops are fi lling
pick-up and delivery orders
to meet demand.
“There has defi nitely
been an uptick in board
game purchases in general,”
said Dimitrios Fragiskatos
of Anyone Comics.
“People are stuck home
with their families and they
are looking for ways to vary
it up. I think people are
tired of looking at screens
all the time.”
Two Brooklyn storefronts
— Anyone Comics in
Crown Heights and Twenty
Sided Store in Williamsburg—
have brought their
marketplaces online and
are offering same-day pickup
for those eager to get
their hands on a new game.
The same-day option
is especially attractive for
those hoping to get their
board games by the weekend,
at a time when many of
Amazon’s typical two-day
delivery windows are turning
into weeklong waits.
The Union Street comic
shop stocks mostly indie
games geared towards replaying,
but will also order
games not in stock upon
request, Fragiskatos said.
Anyone Comics also carries
a range of other merchandise
like graphic novels
and collectible fi gures,
also available for pick-up.
“My personal favorites
are indie games, things
that people created themselves,”
Fragiskatos said.
“I think one of the things I
look for when ordering border
games is any hint of replayability.”
Twenty Sided Store just
reopened for business on
April 21 and has more than
200 different board games
to choose from. Their inventory
includes games for
the whole family, such as
classics like Clue and strategy
games like Settlers of
Catan.
Both shops will also mail
out orders, though Twenty
Sided Store will not begin
shipping until May 4.
Anyone Comics 1216
Union Street between Rogers
and Nostrand Avenue
in Crown Heights, (347) 350-
8422, anyonecomics.com
Orders can be placed over
the phone Monday – Friday.
Noon–7 pm.
Twenty Sided Store 362
Grand Street between Marcy
Avenue and Havemeyer
Street in Williamsburg, (718)
963-1578, twentysidedstore.
com Pick up days Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday.
Noon – 5 pm. (Orders must
be placed online)
Learn to grow a garden with a new series on online gardening classes! Pexels
Thank you messages outside Purity
Diner on Seventh Avenue.
Photo by Ben Verde
Anyone Comics in Crown Heights. Dimitrios Fragiskatos
Not-so bored
GOOD THYMES
Slope diner plasters windows with
kind messages for healthcare heroes
Brooklyn shops fulfilling
board game orders to meet
quarantine demand
/anyonecomics.com