Habana Works

The Basement of Blood is open!

What's scarier than global warming and a market meltdown combined? The Basement of Blood at Habana Outpost, NYC's only totally green Haunted House!

The Basement of Blood is the first project by Habana Works' teen program, Break It Down. The program offers project-based internships to high school students that bring discarded resources back into use and on to the market. High school students from Brooklyn's Green School helped create ghoulish scenes from everyday garbage, and will present a recycled haunted house that will send shivers up your spine.

Friday, October 24, 4-8pm
Saturday, October 25, 2-7pm
Sunday, October 26, 2-7pm
at Habana Outpost (757 Fulton St, Brooklyn)

Next Winter Warm Up: Prospect Park Alliance!

The happy hour for teachers continues...with a presentation from our neighbors in Prospect Park about their Audubon Center!
Here are the details from our series calendar:
"Located in the historic Boathouse, the Prospect Park Audubon Center is a unique place where talented Park staff challenge students to actively explore the natural world around them. Audubon Center staff teach by asking questions, engaging students, and exploring Prospect Park’s 585 acres of meadows, ponds, waterfalls, and woodlands. All Programs at the Audubon Center support New York State Learning Standards and New York City Performance Standards to promote student achievement in science, math, and language arts. Our programs offer exciting learning opportunities for each season, to complement any environment- or science-based curricula. Programmatic themes for Nature and Science include: Birding, Meadow, Winter, Water, Soil, and Forest."

Habana Academy Mid-term Report

Habana Academy is in full swing as we wrap up Kids Corner activities this month, kick off our teen program Break It Down, and continue our Winter Warm Up happy hour for teachers.  Read on for all the details!

This week's Winter Warm Up (Wed, October 15 from 5-7pm) will feature Brooklyn Public Library staff, who will demo an online chat with a professional online tutor while teachers relax with drink specials just for them at Habana Outpost. Click on the image to view or print our flyer.

 

The last two weeks have featured Brooklyn Academy of Music and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and teachers were treated to lively discussions on topics ranging from BAM's Young Film Critic program to BBG's worm farming techniques for the classroom and Habana's green internship program Break it Down. Thanks to everyone who came out, and keep spreading the word! Our calendar is full until the holiday break!

Last week we kicked off our program for highschoolers, Break It Down! This fall we are working with a group of young people from Brooklyn's Green School to look at waste as a resource and bring material back from the curb to a second life.  Our first job is to create a spooky second life for junk in The Basement of Blood haunted house at Habana's Lowpost. The Basement of Blood will open October 24th after school till 8pm and run the 25th and 26th, 2-7pm. Click on the flyer to view and print!

 

Support Habana Works...its easy on the eyes.

Habana Works founder, Sean Meenan, has just released the 2009 Habana Girls Calendar, entitled Girls Gone Green. Sean is well known in New York for his ecoeateries Café Habana and Habana Outpost where his mission has always been to educate the public about sustainability in a way that is fun and this new calendar is no exception. The proceeds from the calendar go to support the growing programs of Habana Works, all the work you see on this site...

 

The calendar is printed with soy ink on recycled paper and packaged in PLA; a resin made from corn, making this calendar completely compostable and biodegradable! So, if you know someone who might need a little inspiration to join the green movement this is the perfect gift for them;) Calendars can be purchased at any of the Habana restaurants or online and are $6 a piece or 2 for $10 – such a deal!

Cafe Habana: 17 Prince Street NY,NY 10012, 212 625 2001
Habana To Go: 229 Elizabeth St, 212 625 2002
Habana Outpost: 757 Fulton St Brooklyn, NY 11217, 718 858 9500

OR click on "Eco Eatery Shop" HERE

October News!

Fall is a busy time for Habana Academy programs...tomorrow we have our second Winter Warm Up with Brooklyn Botanic Garden, who will be on hand to train us in composting with worms.  Worms and bins on sale for $10!

Tomorrow we also begin our teen program, Break it Down, with a group of interns from The Green School. We will begin to install NYC's only eco-friendly haunted house, "The Basement of Blood" at Habana Outpost!

Victor(ia): Habana's Monarch Butterfly

This week, after 16 days of suspense, our resident monarch pupa finally made the final transition into full fledged butterfly.  We tagged him with a wing sticker from Monarch Watch and set him loose to hopefully migrate all the way to Mexico with butterflies from all over North America! Exciting stuff. Check out the journey below...

And if that's not enough for ya, check out what happens when Kate, Darcy, Elvis and Habana's owner Sean Meenan send Victor(ia) off on her long voyage:

Winter Warm Ups begin October 1!

WINTER WARM UPS

A happy hour for teachers
OCTOBER through DECEMBER
Wednesdays 5-7PM
757 Fulton Street, Brooklyn

Habana Works presents Winter Warm Ups, a professional development series for teachers. Each Wednesday evening from October to December, a different Brooklyn institution will present their tools for K-12 teachers during this cozy cocktail hour in the Lowpost at Habana Outpost. Teachers will receive a crash course on the best of what Brooklyn has to offer, while relaxing with their colleagues and a beverage.

Presenters will include:
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn Academy of Music
our hosts, Habana Outpost
Prospect Park Alliance

…and more

The series begins Wednesday, October 1 with a presentation by the Department of Education & Humanities at Brooklyn Academy of Music.  John Tighe and his colleagues will present their programs for grades k-12 for the 2008-2009 season. The presentation will begin in the second hour of the happy hour.

Download our flyer here.

Bookmark our calendar below to keep track of the whole series!

 

Wildlife Watch Alert!

We are counting the days until "Victor" - the Monarch pupa currently transforming in the Kids Corner garden - emerges from his chrysalis.  He encased himself in a green shell on September 12th, and if the internet is to be trusted, that means he should be emerging as a butterfly any moment now.  Come see him while you can!

Victor is in the Kids Corner garden at the Habana Outpost - 757 Fulton St, Fort Greene Brooklyn.

Playing in the Street

Thank you to everyone who came out for Park(ing) Day and made the Habana Works Park so much fun. Special thanks to Habana Outpost staff for helping with setup and breakdown -- and helping us nab the spot after street cleaning!

 

We spent our day relaxing in the shade, getting work done via wireless internets, making recycled art to decorate our park, visiting with local student/teachers/businesspeople, and discovering who on the block was the best drummer. Everyone who visited our spot brought a spark and came away with a new idea about what could happen at the curb.

Kudos to Transportation Alternatives for coordinating the event at the city level.  Check out our slide show and all the fun we had:

Come out and play!

Habana Works has a busy week planned, and we would love to see you out at the following events!

Thursday, September 18, Habana Works will be participating in the 4th Annual Green Brooklyn...Green City Conference, coordinated by the Center for the Urban Environment.  Check us out in the Exhibitor Space as well as at the "Project ReUse: Reincarnate that Trash! Fun Zone" workshop.  The highlight of the day IMHO will be the panel "Food Miles: An Inside Look at Food from Farm (or Factory) to Table" with local food champs Michael Hurwitz and Ian Marvy with New Paltz farmer Fred Wilklow.

Friday, September 19, Habana Works will be participating in Park(ing) Day, the international event that reclaims hundreds of parking spots in 50 cities around the world and transforms them into engaging public spaces for one day each year. Locally, this day is coordinated by our friends at Transportation Alternatives.

Come see our Park(ing) Spot! We will be located at the corner of South Portland and Fulton Sts, and our spot will feature native Brooklyn habitat, seats in the shade and free wireless internet. We are no joke.

See you there!