FAIR WEATHER FUN
Spring Fling kicks off in Prospect Park
Swing with style: The members of the Brooklyn Atlantics historic baseball teams dress just
like the team did in the 1860s. Stephanie Oxenford
COURIER L 90 IFE, MAY 17-23, 2019 24-7
The best reads
— handpicked by
some of the best
Bklyn bookstores
Word’s picks: “Daisy Jones and the
Six,” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This novel reads like the
juiciest episode of “Behind the
Music” you’ve ever seen in your
our
life — it has romance, addiction,
icon
sleazy managers, tension
cu
in the band, and more addiction.
Its only flaw is that you
e
cannot actually listen to the
Six, who in Reid’s fictional
universe were the biggest
band of the ’70s. I finished it
in two sittings while listening
to the “A Star Is Born”
highly
soundtrack, an experience I highly
recommend for anyone else with strong opinions
about “Rumours.”
Eliza Thompson, Word 126 Franklin St. at Milton
Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbookstores.
com .
Community Bookstore’s pick:
“Sea Monsters,” by Chloe Aridjis
This beguiling beach read
begins with 17-year-old Luisa,
who pines for her classmate,
the punk rock poet Tomas.Together they flee Mexico
City for the Oaxacan beach
town of Zipolite, looking for
a fabled band of Ukrainian
dwarfs. They drift apart,
but Luisa stays at the
beach, living in a kind of
dream state and watching
the tourists come and
isa,
ate,
as.
co
ch
r
n
old life
go — until eventually her life
catches up with her.
— Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43 Seventh
Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park
Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.commu nityb ookst ore.net .
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick:
“Necessary People,” by Anna
Pitoniak
“Necessary People” is a
s a
wo
ork
w.I
ty
workplace drama about two
competitive friends who work
for the same cable news show.
It’s super entertaining, and I
devoured it in a couple of sittings.
Anna Pitoniak expertly
taps into class resentment and
friendly jealously to drive
the drama, and the novel is
quite sharp about privilege.
It’s like “Broadcast News”
meets the work of crime
e
author Megan Abbott.
— Matt Stowe, Greenlight Bookstore 686 Fulton St.
between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort
Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com .
By Colin Mixson Spring into action!
Prospect Park will celebrate
the arrival of Spring this weekend
with a smorgasbord of fun-filled
events, including its annual Spring
Fling Festival — a long-cherished
family-friendly fair formerly associated
with the early April opening of
the meadow’s Little League season.
But organizers of the warm-weather
festivity have not forgotten its roots
in America’s favorite pastime, so
the weekend will also feature an
exhibition match between two of
ye olde baseball clubs batting under
1864 rules!
“There are still some really fun
baseball aspects,” said Lucy Gardner,
spokeswoman for the Prospect Park
Alliance, which is producing the
weekend’s events.
The Brooklyn Atlantics — named
after the sport’s first-ever championship
team — will battle the hated
Monmouth, New Jersey Furnaces
at 11 am on Saturday, when both
teams will don classic 19th-century
uniforms as they duke it out under the
same archaic rules that governed the
nation’s earliest ball players.
Saturday’s old-timey match up will
precede the park’s annual Spring Fling
festival on Sunday, formerly held at
the Bartel-Pritchard Square entrance
to Brooklyn’s Backyard after the glorious
procession of pint-sized outfielders
marched in a parade to herald the
beginning of borough baseball. The
past few years, however, left ballplayers
and fair-goers alike drenched with
rain, and, while the parade was held
as per usual this year, park honchos
decided to push the fair back to May
in hopes of some of good, dry fun.
Their gamble — fingers crossed
— appears to be paying off, with
forecasters predicting warm weather
and rain-free skies both Saturday and
Sunday, according to weather.com .
The fair — which has been moved
to the Prospect Lefferts Gardens side
of the park, near the Prospect Park
Carousel — will feature music, food,
and fun events, including kid-friendly
“Bend and Bloom” yoga classes, a
scooter giveaway celebrating National
Scooter Day, a soccer clinic featuring
local footie fanatics, and other Springthemed
activities.
Watch archaic baseball at Prospect
Park’s Long Meadow Ball Fields West
Drive near Bartel-Pritchard Square
in Prospect Park. May 18, 11 a.m.–2
p.m. Free.
Have fun at the Spring Fling festival
at Prospect Park Children’s Corner
East Drive near Flatbush Avenue
entrance. May 19, noon–3 p.m. Free.
By Colin Mixson Prospect Park’s Spring Fling
includes a whopping number of
outdoor events set to happen in
the park this weekend, in addition to
baseball and the fair. The green space
will feature a huge variety of fun
events, said its chief steward.
“From the Brooklyn Atlantics
exhibition baseball game, a roller
disco at Lakeside, to children’s activities
at Lefferts Historic House and the
family-friendly fair in the Children’s
Corner, there is something for absolutely
everyone in our community to
enjoy this weekend in Prospect Park,”
said Prospect Park Alliance President
Sue Donoghue.
Friday, May 17
Lola Star’s Dreamland Disco
Jump start your Spring Fling weekend
with the ’90s-themed “Beverly
Hills 90210” Lola Star Dreamland
Roller Disco Skating Party at the
LeFrak Center at Lakeside! Skate ‘til
you drop, while pro rollers show off
their skills, and throwback contests
remind you of your Generation-X
glory days! This event will sell out,
so you should get your tickets in
advance.
Roll out at LeFrak Center at
Lakeside (171 East Dr. near Ocean
Avenue in Prospect Park, prospectpark.
org/lola). 7:30–10:30 p.m. $20.
Must be 21 or older.
Saturday, May 18
Half Marathon Cheer Station
Join other track fans to cheer on
the runners in the 2019 Brooklyn
Half Marathon as they cut through
Prospect Park on their way to Coney
Island!
Cheer on the runners at Park Circle
(Prospect Park Southwest at Parkside
Avenue). 7–10 a.m. Free.
Kings County bird watchers will find plenty
to do at Prospect Park over the weekend,
where the Brooklyn Bird Club is hosting
several tours amid the meadow’s Spring
Fling event series. Prospect Park Alliance
Early Morning Bird Walk
Take a gander at Prospect Park’s
avian population in this early morning
tour brought to you by the Prospect Park
Alliance and the Brooklyn Bird Club.
Go looky-loons at Prospect
Park’s Ocean and Parkside entrance
(at Ocean and Parkside avenues in
Prospect Park, www.prospectpark.
org). 7:15 a.m. Free.
Spring awakening
Continued on page 91
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/weather.com
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