The following is a list of local community organizations that are meeting in the near future in your area. If you have any information that can update this listing, newspaper at 718-615-2500, ext. 3332. All meeting notices are accurate as of press time; however, they are subject to change from the organization. Please contact the organization at the number provided for confirmation of date, time and location. Comment.

One is a Palestinian-American from Bay Ridge and the other is an Israeli-American from Flatbush, but the two people share a very real concern over the latest Middle Eastern conflict going on in the 26-by-6 mile piece of land on the Mediterranean coast known as the Gaza strip. Comment.

Changes to a federal transportation plan could one day return that once familiar ‘clang-clang-clang’ to local streets. Comment.

The new year brought new changes to the command structure of two area police precincts. Comment.

After 18 months of investigations, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has added one industrial site in East Greenpoint to the state Superfund program, the first such designated site within the Meeker Avenue plumes. Comment.

Taking the oath... Comment.

Registration for the 2009 season at Inner City Sports Little League will be held January 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Long Island University, 1 University Plaza (corner of Flatbush and DeKalb, across from Junior’s Restaurant). Comment.

Borough Hall’s giant holiday tree will be turned to mulch at Green-Wood Cemetery, Fifth Avenue and 25th Street, January 10, as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Scot Medbury, president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and Richard J. Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery preside at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery’s Seventh annual “Holiday Tree Recycling and Wood Chip Mulch Giveaway” at 10 a.m. Comment.

Several inches of snow and frozen ground soil will do little to detour the Parks Department’s plans to create new and maintain existing parkland in North Brooklyn. Comment.

Pier 5, the 400-foot pier at N. 5th Street that was built with the Northside Piers waterfront development, opened to the public last Saturday, becoming the first publicly accessible parcel of open space resulting from the private development of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. Comment.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Assemblymember Vito Lopez thanked dozens of volunteers at the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center Christmas morning as they delivered more than 2,000 homebound meals to seniors throughout North Brooklyn. Comment.

Internationally known singer-songwriter Christine Lavin leads off the 2009 First Acoustics Live Folk & Jazz Concert Series at 8 p.m., January 10 at the First Unitarian Church, Pierrepont Street between Monroe Place and Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Comment.

For the fifteenth straight year, Assemblyman Vito Lopez hosted his annual holiday party, bringing together Williamsburg residents and community leaders at St. Cono’s di Teggiano’s Social Hall on Ainslie Street. Comment.

Despite not being an official city landmark, the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse at 184 Kent Ave. is a safe bet to be preserved in a way that pleases neighborhood preservationists. Comment.

Last month, El Puente, the renowned Southside human rights organization, hosted an afternoon-long celebration of bomba, the “Afroboricua” music and dance genre known for its frenetic pace and improvisational energy. Comment.

East River State Park in Williamsburg closed over the past weekend, but sources indicate that a plan to reopen the park for the remainder of the winter may ultimately be approved by the state. Comment.

Stark black and white symbols of a horrific reality appeared throughout the borough Sunday as bicyclists paid homage to riders killed on city streets. Comment.

The holiday season is over, but a memory of the spirit of generosity that defines that time of year comes courtesy of Maxine Holder, a maintenance worker at LaGuardia Playground near S. 4th and Roebling streets. Comment.

The climate of contentiousness within Churches United Corp., the collective of North Brooklyn churches formed in 2003 to advocate for affordable housing, has not abated since late November, when Father Jim O’Shea resigned as the organization’s executive director in what many claimed to be a move coerced by politically motivated church higher-ups. Comment.

Hundreds of Ecuadorians celebrated Christmas with an 11 a.m. mass and a traditional post-mass feast at St. Brigid’s Church, 409 Linden Street. Comment.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz presented citations to students at Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg, in honor of their incredible victories at a national chess championship in Florida last month. Teams from the school, 101 Walton Street in Williamsburg, pictured with Markowitz, center, won the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade titles among 1,200 players from more than 100 schools that participated in the National Scholastic K-12 Championship sponsored by the United States Chess Federation. Comment.

More than two weeks after stripping Teresa Toro of her Transportation Committee chairmanship, Community Board 1 Chair Vincent Abate offered a written explanation for his decision. Comment.

A new study that hopes to examine and address the root causes of rape will use Williamsburg as one of its laboratories, along with the Lower East Side and the South Bronx. Comment.

Somewhat forgotten in the controversy surrounding the October installation of bike lanes along Kent Avenue is this: When the Brooklyn Greenway (to which the current Kent Avenue lanes are prelude) came before Community Board 1 for vote in April, CB 1 approved it by a near-unanimous 39-2 margin. Comment.

My husband always means well. Unfortunately, his road to good intentions is always accompanied by pot holes and avalanches. So why is it that when I say yes, I know that I should say no? New Year’s Eve day, my husband jumped out of bed ready, willing and able to drive me where ever I needed to go. He said, as he looked outside and saw the snow covering the lawn, “I will be your chauffeur. The weather is awful, it’s snowing like crazy and I don’t want you to drive in this.” I agreed. Comment.

With Israel’s offensive deepening in the Gaza, and Hamas taunting, ‘bring it on,’ Barack Obama must be trembling in his commemorative Nike Air Force Ones, right about now. Comment.

As long as you’ve got losing weight, quitting smoking and being nicer to your friends and family on your list of New Year’s resoutions, you might as well put becoming a savvy shopper on there too. The first three will help you body and soul - and that last one will keep a few more dollars in your pocket. Comment.

Brooklynites struck by big news from abroad are beginning to organize here. Comment.

Home builder Toll Brothers’ massive Gowanus project continues to wend its way through a lengthy public review, this week getting an airing before the City Planning Commission. Comment.

In its ongoing effort to build a new audience for American roots music, the producers of the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor have initiated the pre-concert “Meet the Musician” series. This January 9, 7 p.m. at 53 Prospect Park West and Second Street, meet Ernie Hawkins. Comment.

Oral arguments made in Federal Court last week in the lawsuit challenging the extension of term limits on all city elected officials produced rhetoric, but no decision. Comment.

Famed civil rights activists and color barrier breakers head a list of new street renamings set to take place across the borough in the next few weeks. Comment.

To Bay Ridge State Senator Marty Golden, the release of a cop turned convicted murderer is not only a travesty of justice, but a signpost warning us about Brooklyn’s dangerous future. Comment.

This new year, resolve to get serious about health and fitness. Comment.

The city is asking Brooklynites for help. Comment.

Gumbo, a boutique of unique items for families and people of all ages, invites all to rock and roll and sing and dance with local children’s band, “Rolie Polie Guacamole,” Saturdays, beginning January 17 from 3-4 p.m., at its Boerum Hill location. Comment.

In the United States, coronary artery disease (CAD) is the number one killer, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of men and women each year. The disease develops when a combination of calcium, plaque and fatty materials build up in the arteries, restricting the flow of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart. Comment.

The city Department of Education (DOE) wants to build new schools in downtown Brooklyn. Comment.

Borough President Marty Markowitz last week said he supported the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention at its current capacity. Comment.

Internationally known singer-songwriter Christine Lavin leads off the 2009 First Acoustics Live Folk & Jazz Concert Series at 8 p.m., January 10 at the First Unitarian Church, Pierrepont Street between Monroe Place and Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Comment.

Hostage negotiations over the coveted State Senate Majority Leader post officially ended Wednesday with Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger and the rest of his “Gang of Three” supporting Queens legislator Malcolm Smith for the job. Comment.

Borough Hall’s giant holiday tree will be turned to mulch at Green-Wood Cemetery, Fifth Avenue and 25th Street, January 10, as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Scot Medbury, president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and Richard J. Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery preside at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery’s Seventh annual “Holiday Tree Recycling and Wood Chip Mulch Giveaway” at 10 a.m. Comment.

Stark black and white symbols of a horrific reality appeared throughout the borough Sunday as bicyclists paid homage to riders killed on city streets. Comment.

Changes to a federal transportation plan could one day return that once familiar ‘clang-clang-clang’ to local streets. Comment.

One is a Palestinian-American from Bay Ridge and the other is an Israeli-American from Flatbush, but the two people share a very real concern over the latest Middle Eastern conflict going on in the 26-by-6 mile piece of land on the Mediterranean coast known as the Gaza strip. Comment.

The pungent scent of hot asphalt is something that Brooklynites probably ought to get used to. Comment.

Galapagos Art Space will hold a “Bon Voyage, Bush Party,” featuring some of NYC’s hottest DJs, comedians and live performers at 7 p.m., January 19 at Galapagos, 16 Main Street at the corner of Water Street in Dumbo. Comment.

The city this week formally announced its intentions to bring Phoenix Beverages, the region’s largest beer distributor, to the Red Hook waterfront, a move some say represents an anachronistic step backward in the plan to revitalize the area. Comment.

It’s that time of year again, when Brooklyn Community Board 6 reconstitutes the composition of its standing committees. Comment.

Author Shannan Ramsey will be selling a signed copy of her new book, “How To Become A Successful Business Owner Caring For Children In Your Home,” January 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza. Comment.

The following is a list of local community organizations that are meeting in the near future in your area. If you have any information that can update this listing, newspaper at 718-615-2500, ext. 3332. All meeting notices are accurate as of press time; however, they are subject to change from the organization. Please contact the organization at the number provided for confirmation of date, time and location. Comment.

After 18 months of investigations, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has added one industrial site in East Greenpoint to the state Superfund program, the first such designated site within the Meeker Avenue plumes. Comment.

One is a Palestinian-American from Bay Ridge and the other is an Israeli-American from Flatbush, but the two people share a very real concern over the latest Middle Eastern conflict going on in the 26-by-6 mile piece of land on the Mediterranean coast known as the Gaza strip. Comment.

Changes to a federal transportation plan could one day return that once familiar ‘clang-clang-clang’ to local streets. Comment.

I had the occasion to be in Downtown Brooklyn, recently, for the first time in a while, and noticed that traffic on Joralemon Street was at an absolute halt for at least 10 minutes with about seven buses on the block. Comment.

Registration for the 2009 season at Inner City Sports Little League will be held January 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Long Island University, 1 University Plaza (corner of Flatbush and DeKalb, across from Junior’s Restaurant). Comment.

I’m desperately begging the Senate to pass H.R.6633, a long term extension of E-Verify. Comment.

Several inches of snow and frozen ground soil will do little to detour the Parks Department’s plans to create new and maintain existing parkland in North Brooklyn. Comment.

It’s always heart wrenching to read about a missing pet. Comment.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Assemblymember Vito Lopez thanked dozens of volunteers at the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center Christmas morning as they delivered more than 2,000 homebound meals to seniors throughout North Brooklyn. Comment.

America’s Election Day is generally believed to be the first Tuesday in November, but the actual vote for president took place on Dec. 15, when a select group of party loyalists comprising the Electoral College met in state capitals across the nation to cast their votes. Comment.

Borough Hall’s giant holiday tree will be turned to mulch at Green-Wood Cemetery, Fifth Avenue and 25th Street, January 10, as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Scot Medbury, president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden; and Richard J. Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery preside at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Green-Wood Cemetery’s Seventh annual “Holiday Tree Recycling and Wood Chip Mulch Giveaway” at 10 a.m. Comment.

A conflict between a Greenpoint arts supply store and neighbors concerned about excessive noise has led to declining revenues at the store and reportedly several residents moving out of their apartments. Comment.

With an unprecedented recession looming and temperatures dropping below freezing, it looks like Brooklyn is in for a long and unspeakably bleak winter. Comment.

East River State Park in Williamsburg closed over the past weekend, but sources indicate that a plan to reopen the park for the remainder of the winter may ultimately be approved by the state. Comment.

Today, New York’s public transportation provides residents with low-cost, 24/7 access to most of the city. This means that every New Yorker is a potential customer, employee, visitor, or member at every business, event, or place of worship. Comment.

Stark black and white symbols of a horrific reality appeared throughout the borough Sunday as bicyclists paid homage to riders killed on city streets. Comment.

More than two weeks after stripping Teresa Toro of her Transportation Committee chairmanship, Community Board 1 Chair Vincent Abate offered a written explanation for his decision. Comment.

Brooklynites struck by big news from abroad are beginning to organize here. Comment.

DUMBO residents may take pride in their historic cobblestones, but the uneven Belgian block and asphalt roadway can leave your muffler dangling like a loose tooth. Comment.

The city this week formally announced its intentions to bring Phoenix Beverages, the region’s largest beer distributor, to the Red Hook waterfront, a move some say represents an anachronistic step backward in the plan to revitalize the area. Comment.

Famed civil rights activists and color barrier breakers head a list of new street renamings set to take place across the borough in the next few weeks. Comment.

Borough President Marty Markowitz last week said he supported the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention at its current capacity. Comment.

A new sworn-in president setting a fresh direction may sound familiar in Washington D.C., but the theme is being echoed, albeit on a smaller scale, in Fort Greene. Comment.

A miracle is needed, or at least some good old-fashioned community grassroots organizing. Comment.

The city this week formally announced its intentions to bring Phoenix Beverages, the region’s largest beer distributor, to the Red Hook waterfront, a move some say represents an anachronistic step backward in plans to revitalize the area. Comment.

Eighteen-month-old Akitusaaq, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium baby Pacific walrus, waves goodbye to 2008 and welcomes 2009 as he runs through some of his enrichment behaviors with animal keeper Paul Moylett. Comment.

The new year brought new changes to the command structure of two area police precincts. Comment.

Newly elected State Senator Daniel Squadron was officially sworn in during a special ceremony on the Senate floor in Albany Monday. Squadron took over the spot from Martin Connor after besting the 30 year incumbent in a hotly contested Democratic primary for the 25th State Senate District, which includes Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and downtown Manhattan. Upon taking the oath, Squadron was immediately made chair of the State Senate Cities Committee, which is responsible for legislation pertaining to major metropolitan areas throughout New York state. Comment.

Borough President Marty Markowitz last week said he supported the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention at its current capacity. Comment.

The Brennan Center for Justice has released a report this week that appears to have one Brooklyn official in its crosshairs for not conducting enough legislative oversight in the State Assembly. Comment.

The city is asking Brooklynites for help. Comment.

Home builder Toll Brothers’ massive Gowanus project continues to wend its way through a lengthy public review, this week getting an airing before the City Planning Commission. Comment.

Eighteen-month-old Akitusaaq, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium baby Pacific walrus, waves goodbye to 2008 and welcomes 2009 as he runs through some of his enrichment behaviors with animal keeper Paul Moylett. Comment.

Newly elected State Senator Daniel Squadron was officially sworn in during a special ceremony on the Senate floor in Albany Monday. Squadron took over the spot from Martin Connor after besting the 30 year incumbent in a hotly contested Democratic primary for the 25th State Senate District, which includes Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and downtown Manhattan. Upon taking the oath, Squadron was immediately made chair of the State Senate Cities Committee, which is responsible for legislation pertaining to major metropolitan areas throughout New York state. Comment.

DUMBO residents may take pride in their historic cobblestones, but the uneven Belgian block and asphalt roadway can leave your muffler dangling like a loose tooth. Comment.

The Brennan Center for Justice has released a report this week that appears to have one Brooklyn official in its crosshairs for not conducting enough legislative oversight in the State Assembly. Comment.

The Flatbush and Shaare Torah Jewish Center invites the public to attend its first Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration & Celebration, featuring NY1’s veteran journalist Dominic Carter. Comment.

Borough President Marty Markowitz last week said he supported the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention at its current capacity. Comment.

Share a warm toast to Brooklyn’s newest cool park: Thomas Greene Park, Third Avenue between Douglass and Degraw, January 24 from 1-5 p.m. at Puppets Jazz Bar, 481 Fifth Avenue near 11th Street in Park Slope. The door charge is $10. Food and drinks are extra. Comment.

Stark black and white symbols of a horrific reality appeared throughout the borough Sunday as bicyclists paid homage to riders killed on city streets. Comment.

The city is asking Brooklynites for help. Comment.

A 21-year-old area man was killed last week after he was struck by a city bus and dragged for 100 feet, officials said. Comment.

Fugghedabout Hawaii, hardy Brooklynites donned their swimsuits and embrrrrraced Year 2009 by frolicking in the frigid waves off Coney Island — with smiles as wide as the sun. Comment.