Who We Are
We are families, couples, singles, retirees. We range in age from 9 months to 73. About one third of us are in our 30s, one third in our 40s, and one third 50 and above. We do not all have children living in our household, but we all value and cherish their presence and participation in our community. We are black, white, asian, mixed-race, other. We are sending our children to private schools and to public schools both (and expect some home schoolers eventually). We can afford to own homes in Brooklyn. Some of us are selling houses to move to cohousing, some selling apartments, others of us are buying homes for the first time. We believe in live and let live, and that a well-functioning community is made of different kinds of people. We are not utopians. We don't expect to all be best friends, but we do expect to be able to trust each other and make our building a stimulating and interesting place. We expect cohousing to be a more practical way to live and to serve as a base from which to lead our wider lives in New York City.
As of November 2009 we have 22 Member households, and several dozen additional households seriously considering joining us. We are a diverse group of people, here are some of our profiles (note: many children are not shown, not everyone is comfortable putting their family photos on the website).
Ken, Member
Where you're originally from: Scotland, Canada, and
England. Grew up largely in Portugal and France. Then continued to grow
up in Virginia, Vermont, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.
About your household: There are four of us. By height it's: me, Hilary, Caden (7), and Tiger (2)
When you joined: October 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: Hilary, but I've now made it my own. It's part of a strategy of making both my and my family's lives bigger and bigger as I get older.
What you do with your days: I spend week mornings strategizing and coordinating the packing of huge amounts of produce into small, cold, wet spaces in the basement of the park slope food coop. I take great pride in it and love my contact with my coworkers and with the coop members who show up for that early shift. Most of the rest of the time I'm involved in some way with my two children.
Special interests and passions: I love photography. I'm a fantastic canoe poler (I can tell you more). I'm on a slow, methodical, course to become a great songwriter, singer, and guitar player. I love snakes and insects. I've been a rock climber, potter, carpenter, and writer. I love music, this planet, and diner food.
About your household: There are four of us. By height it's: me, Hilary, Caden (7), and Tiger (2)
When you joined: October 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: Hilary, but I've now made it my own. It's part of a strategy of making both my and my family's lives bigger and bigger as I get older.
What you do with your days: I spend week mornings strategizing and coordinating the packing of huge amounts of produce into small, cold, wet spaces in the basement of the park slope food coop. I take great pride in it and love my contact with my coworkers and with the coop members who show up for that early shift. Most of the rest of the time I'm involved in some way with my two children.
Special interests and passions: I love photography. I'm a fantastic canoe poler (I can tell you more). I'm on a slow, methodical, course to become a great songwriter, singer, and guitar player. I love snakes and insects. I've been a rock climber, potter, carpenter, and writer. I love music, this planet, and diner food.
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MIA, Member
Where you're originally from: I came to the U.S. from
Hong Kong (where I grew up) to attend college at age 18. I lived in
Ithaca, NY, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans before moving to NYC.
About your household: Single (never married); used to have a cat
When you joined: September 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I have lived in the U.S. without family members around for my entire adult life. Doing this has taught me to be self-sufficient, but it has also built in me a belief in friendship and community (community as social activism as well as being invested in physical places and the people who live there). My upbringing was all about looking inwards and protecting the family from the world, but that kind of thinking isn't for me: what gives me pleasure is being helpful, sharing (ideas, laughs, things, work), and feeling a sense of stewardship for the earth. In my mind, this is what cohousing about.
What you do with your days: What I love about my
workaday life is that I can do my work in cafes, and when I go to the
movies, it's work! I am a professor in film studies, literature, and
writing. I have traveled fairly widely (Canada, Japan, Australia,
France, Italy, U.K., a tiny part of China), and I never get tired of
exploring the city (cafes, movies, museums, shops, food-stores, walking
tours, parks, by-ways and alleyways, watching ocean-liners going down
the Hudson from the Battery Park Promenade). I also love nesting and
solitude. A perfect day can be working or reading at home with
something bubbling on the stove (and heaven on earth is reading by the
fountain at the Palais Royale in Paris on a sunny afternoon). The most
relaxing and rewarding thing I do is to prune street trees in my
neighborhood (as a Citizen Pruner).
Special interests and passions:anything in book-form; all things urban (street food, pocket-parks, street trees, subway maps, street furniture, the Hillside Escalator in Hong Kong); electronic gadgets; all things Japanese (especially Japanese art and Ozu); ballroom dancing (swing, salsa, cha-cha, quick-step); used to play tennis several times a week but am reluctantly "retired;" cooking and cookbooks; tea and tea culture; all things Parisian; cats; train trips; the High Line (pictured, I am a tour guide there); recycling; WNYC; magazine-reading; talking-heads news programs on TV, and Congressional confirmation hearings on C-Span; amateur interest in spiritual teachings of various schools; fascinated by human psychology.
About your household: Single (never married); used to have a cat
When you joined: September 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I have lived in the U.S. without family members around for my entire adult life. Doing this has taught me to be self-sufficient, but it has also built in me a belief in friendship and community (community as social activism as well as being invested in physical places and the people who live there). My upbringing was all about looking inwards and protecting the family from the world, but that kind of thinking isn't for me: what gives me pleasure is being helpful, sharing (ideas, laughs, things, work), and feeling a sense of stewardship for the earth. In my mind, this is what cohousing about.
What you do with your days: What I love about my
workaday life is that I can do my work in cafes, and when I go to the
movies, it's work! I am a professor in film studies, literature, and
writing. I have traveled fairly widely (Canada, Japan, Australia,
France, Italy, U.K., a tiny part of China), and I never get tired of
exploring the city (cafes, movies, museums, shops, food-stores, walking
tours, parks, by-ways and alleyways, watching ocean-liners going down
the Hudson from the Battery Park Promenade). I also love nesting and
solitude. A perfect day can be working or reading at home with
something bubbling on the stove (and heaven on earth is reading by the
fountain at the Palais Royale in Paris on a sunny afternoon). The most
relaxing and rewarding thing I do is to prune street trees in my
neighborhood (as a Citizen Pruner).Special interests and passions:anything in book-form; all things urban (street food, pocket-parks, street trees, subway maps, street furniture, the Hillside Escalator in Hong Kong); electronic gadgets; all things Japanese (especially Japanese art and Ozu); ballroom dancing (swing, salsa, cha-cha, quick-step); used to play tennis several times a week but am reluctantly "retired;" cooking and cookbooks; tea and tea culture; all things Parisian; cats; train trips; the High Line (pictured, I am a tour guide there); recycling; WNYC; magazine-reading; talking-heads news programs on TV, and Congressional confirmation hearings on C-Span; amateur interest in spiritual teachings of various schools; fascinated by human psychology.
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Alex Marshall, Member
Alex Marshall, Member
Where you're originally from: Norfolk, VA.
About your household: We are three, myself, my partner K. and our child Max, age three.
When you joined: In the beginning, a long time ago . . . But formal membership dates to September 2007, when the group formally began.
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: My partner K. and I started the group. We did so because of a deep yearning for more community in our lives and our family. We worked for several years on the effort before the first open meeting for anyone interested was held in May 2007 at the Brooklyn Public Library.
What you do with your days: I work as a journalist and wears many different hats. I edit a newsletter on urban planning for the Regional Plan Association, and write books, magazine articles and speak publicly sometimes. I worked for 10 years as a daily newspaper reporter before going out on my own to write books and such. I miss the excitement of daily newspapers, but like the possibilities of books. My specialty has become in part writing about urban planning and architecture and transportation. I have two books out, Beneath the Metropolis: The Secret Lives of Cities (Carroll and Graf 2006) and How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl and The Roads Not Taken (Texas 2000). I'm currently working on a book about how governments design economic markets.
Special interests and passions: I love to cook, to read, to play guitar and sing, to speak Spanish and French when I can, to travel.
About your household: We are three, myself, my partner K. and our child Max, age three.
When you joined: In the beginning, a long time ago . . . But formal membership dates to September 2007, when the group formally began.What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: My partner K. and I started the group. We did so because of a deep yearning for more community in our lives and our family. We worked for several years on the effort before the first open meeting for anyone interested was held in May 2007 at the Brooklyn Public Library.
What you do with your days: I work as a journalist and wears many different hats. I edit a newsletter on urban planning for the Regional Plan Association, and write books, magazine articles and speak publicly sometimes. I worked for 10 years as a daily newspaper reporter before going out on my own to write books and such. I miss the excitement of daily newspapers, but like the possibilities of books. My specialty has become in part writing about urban planning and architecture and transportation. I have two books out, Beneath the Metropolis: The Secret Lives of Cities (Carroll and Graf 2006) and How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl and The Roads Not Taken (Texas 2000). I'm currently working on a book about how governments design economic markets.
Special interests and passions: I love to cook, to read, to play guitar and sing, to speak Spanish and French when I can, to travel.
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What you do with your days: I work as a documentary film editor, out of my office in Prospect Heights which I also share with Alex. Family life plus work plus cohousing - there isn't much time these days for anything else!
Special interests and passions: I love to scuba dive and windsurf when I can travel. Day-to-day I thrive on yoga, good friends, and Alex's cooking.
K., Member
Where you're originally from: grew up in Maryland suburbs of DC and suburban Las Vegas, then lived 11 years in Cambridge, MA before coming to NYC.
About your household: Alex and I (married), with our 4 yr old son Max, and 2 cats.
When you joined: We started talking about this several years ago, but got serious about it in early 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: The desire to increase my quality of life here in Brooklyn. By pooling resources with other families and individuals our family can have a physical place to live in that is of higher quality and with more resources than we would have on our own. I also like the social opportunities of cohousing - while at the same time knowing my need for privacy and alone time will be respected. I like that in cohousing our son will grow up in this otherwise big and impersonal city knowing other children and adults well, and he'll have a stable set of relationships beyond his parents. I see the model as a logical solution to the frustrations of daily life as a nuclear family in Brooklyn.
About your household: Alex and I (married), with our 4 yr old son Max, and 2 cats.
When you joined: We started talking about this several years ago, but got serious about it in early 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: The desire to increase my quality of life here in Brooklyn. By pooling resources with other families and individuals our family can have a physical place to live in that is of higher quality and with more resources than we would have on our own. I also like the social opportunities of cohousing - while at the same time knowing my need for privacy and alone time will be respected. I like that in cohousing our son will grow up in this otherwise big and impersonal city knowing other children and adults well, and he'll have a stable set of relationships beyond his parents. I see the model as a logical solution to the frustrations of daily life as a nuclear family in Brooklyn.
What you do with your days: I work as a documentary film editor, out of my office in Prospect Heights which I also share with Alex. Family life plus work plus cohousing - there isn't much time these days for anything else!
Special interests and passions: I love to scuba dive and windsurf when I can travel. Day-to-day I thrive on yoga, good friends, and Alex's cooking.
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Marion Yuen, Member
Where you’re originally from: Hong Kong, by way of Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area.
About your household: It’s just me right now.
When you joined: June 2007
About your household: It’s just me right now.
When you joined: June 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I was president of a small brownstone coop building in Park Slope. So, I knew first hand the benefits of community as well as the downsides of transient neighbors and patch-up repair work. During that time, I became a member of the Park Slope Food Coop and really saw how a diverse cooperative community can work. In 20 years of membership, I’ve worked on practically every kind of shift – checkout, stocking, receiving, childcare, opening up in the morning …
In 1994, I had to bypass an opportunity to join what is now the cohousing community in Saugerties, NY. It would be another 13 years before the chance to form Brooklyn Cohousing came along.
As an Asian American, I was one of a handful when I moved into Park Slope and when I joined the Food Coop. So, I am very excited to be on the ground floor as we develop a diverse, multi-generational Brooklyn Cohousing community.
What you do with your days: I am an entrepreneur working with start-up companies focused on climate change and energy issues. Since my work requires frequent travel, I really can appreciate a home base where I know my neighbors, where I belong, and where I can write and muse.
Special Interests and Passions: Good food and good company; hiking and snow shoeing; community gardens and window gardens; recycling as many kinds of things as I can think of.
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Cecilia, Member
Where you're originally from: Cleveland Heights, OhioAbout your household: It's just me right now
When you joined: December 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I lived in Boston for many years and witnessed the building of the JP Cohousing Neighborhood through my cousin and a very good friend. I was very impressed with the process as well as the beautiful end result of that property.
I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland on a street that had an avid
neighborhood association. Everybody knew everybody on a street with
about 30 households of children and people of all ages. We looked out
for each other and held events through out the year - rather it be
caroling, block parties or just neighbors getting together. An
experience that I've yet to find in any neighborhood that I've lived in
as an adult! While you can't repeat the past - Co housing I feel should
be a model for contemporary living in this new millennium.
What you do with your days: I am a professional musician artist, composer, teaching artist and clinician that performs nationally and internationally. I have several incredible music projects happening at this time in my life. Including a new multi-media work that will premier in 2009!
I also teach music in therapeutic settings working for a number of
social service programs throughout the city of New York, where music is
used to enhance the lives of people with a variety of disabilities.
Special interests and passions: Yes - I'm a music junkie - there's no question about that! To balance that passion, in the last 5 years I've become an avid cyclist. I am a member of the MAJOR TAYLOR Iron Riders (This is the Brooklyn arm of a national organization) as well as I am a member of the New York City Cycle Club. I love riding long distances! Seeing the country on a bike is quite the experience! My goal is to ride over seas! Wine country in France I hear is a wonderful experience on a bike. You just have to time cycling with the sipping of wine and drink plenty of water. I also enjoy reading. I am also an info junkie!
Special interests and passions: Yes - I'm a music junkie - there's no question about that! To balance that passion, in the last 5 years I've become an avid cyclist. I am a member of the MAJOR TAYLOR Iron Riders (This is the Brooklyn arm of a national organization) as well as I am a member of the New York City Cycle Club. I love riding long distances! Seeing the country on a bike is quite the experience! My goal is to ride over seas! Wine country in France I hear is a wonderful experience on a bike. You just have to time cycling with the sipping of wine and drink plenty of water. I also enjoy reading. I am also an info junkie!
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Lissa, Member
Where you're originally from: Brooklyn, New York (Fort Greene & Boerum Hill)
About your household: Me and my cat, Hook (named for my current 'hood, Red Hook)
When you joined: First meeting at the Brooklyn Public Library, May 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I know that I have a wonderful, rich community of family and friends-but I am greedy and I want more. I especially want daily community intergrated into my life.
What you do with your days: You mean other than going to cohousing meetings? I have been in the food industry for most of my professional life. I am currently looking to move into the event planning/management field. In the warmer months, I am involved in community rowing in the Hudson & East River. I have also been a member of the Lafayette Inspirational Ensemble (a Gospel Chorus) for over a decade. I am a member of Brooklyn Meeting (a Quaker). And I volunteer for an environmental organization called Wild Metro.
Special interests and passions: I love pretty much all human powered boating activities, but my passion is fixed seat team rowing. The environment-especially water related issues-is a key interest. And I love the power of song. And as my favorite Mary Poppins song says "I love to laugh, ha,ha,ha,ha..."
About your household: Me and my cat, Hook (named for my current 'hood, Red Hook)
When you joined: First meeting at the Brooklyn Public Library, May 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I know that I have a wonderful, rich community of family and friends-but I am greedy and I want more. I especially want daily community intergrated into my life.
What you do with your days: You mean other than going to cohousing meetings? I have been in the food industry for most of my professional life. I am currently looking to move into the event planning/management field. In the warmer months, I am involved in community rowing in the Hudson & East River. I have also been a member of the Lafayette Inspirational Ensemble (a Gospel Chorus) for over a decade. I am a member of Brooklyn Meeting (a Quaker). And I volunteer for an environmental organization called Wild Metro.
Special interests and passions: I love pretty much all human powered boating activities, but my passion is fixed seat team rowing. The environment-especially water related issues-is a key interest. And I love the power of song. And as my favorite Mary Poppins song says "I love to laugh, ha,ha,ha,ha..."
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JoAnn, Member
Where you're originally from: Bayside, New York
About your household: single
When you joined: rainy night in May, 2007 at the Bklyn Library
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I'd had interest in cohousing for a few years...the concept of living in community feels organic to me and the opportunity to participate in building one, in Brooklyn! was quite exciting. To live in community w/ people w/ shared values and sensibilities is a blessing.
What you do with your days: I am trained as a social worker and currently work as an administrator in a community mental health center. I have worked w/ children and families my entire career.
Special interests and passions: I took my first dance class when I was 32 and my dream is to retire and take a class every day; scuba diving; the outdoors: walking, hiking, botanical gardens, VB; live performances, jazz; the environment; baking.
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Kim, Member 
Where you're originally from: Boulder, Colorado
About your household: myself, my teenage son, and 2 cats
When you joined: September 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I resonate with the "co" words-community, communication, cooperation, collaboration, coordination, connection, coexistence, confrontation,
construction... I have been interested in cohousing for a few years, thinking it would be a
wonderful way to make life easier and more interesting, get and give support with parenting and provide a built in, spontaneous social life. I was just attempting to get one off the ground myself and was thrilled to discover Brooklyn Cohousing already forming. I am interested in group process and have often been in or formed support groups-I seem to thrive on the synergy
that happens with group energies. I also work in the theater which is all about collaboration. At the same time I am a private person who needs my alone time. I imagine cohousing will meet both those needs.
What you do with your days: I teach the Alexander Technique-movement, coordination, mind/body integration.
Special interests and passions: My son and my work. Babies. Movement: dance, swimming, biking, walking, yoga. Nature. Psychological processing of life with friends. Seeing performance, esp dance, theater, musical theater. Reading, learning and growing. Brooklyn!
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Gracie, Member
Where you're originally from: New YorkAbout your household: single
When you joined: March 2008
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I first learned about cohousing when I lived on the West Coast. I stumbled on the idea through activist friends and neighbors in Oakland, California where I was involved in some forming cohousing groups that failed to get off the ground. This was frustrating, but helped me realize how much I wanted to to return to New York City and pursue my dream of living in cohousing here in my hometown. I developed my sense of community growing up an urban neighborhood that taught me about civic values, local politics about the power of people coming together. I am fascinated by and love city life and cities, especially this one.
What you do with your days: I work in social services, and sometimes teach or do training for nonprofits and educational institutions. When not working, I bicycle, dance (Argentine tango, swing, salsa, Cajun and Zydeco), work out, hang out in cafes and bookstores, daydream about food and what to cook, try to satisfy my boundless appetite for news, roam around the city discovering new things.
Special interests and passions: I love working out and outdoors activities (camping, bicycling, canoing, kayaking); rhythmic forms of music like salsa and and afropop, also (guilty pleasures) show tunes. I think a lot about food and cooking, and about design, especially design for the built environment. I live for good conversation (especially with good food), kicking around interesting ideas with smart people. My passion for social justice and study of the martial arts (especially aikido) lead me practice zen Buddhism and yoga. The areas I've invested most of my professional energy in are psychology, health, and design. I believe work done in these disciplines can make our world a better place. I am especially interested in how people affect the environment and how where we live influences us.
When you joined: March 2008
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I first learned about cohousing when I lived on the West Coast. I stumbled on the idea through activist friends and neighbors in Oakland, California where I was involved in some forming cohousing groups that failed to get off the ground. This was frustrating, but helped me realize how much I wanted to to return to New York City and pursue my dream of living in cohousing here in my hometown. I developed my sense of community growing up an urban neighborhood that taught me about civic values, local politics about the power of people coming together. I am fascinated by and love city life and cities, especially this one.
What you do with your days: I work in social services, and sometimes teach or do training for nonprofits and educational institutions. When not working, I bicycle, dance (Argentine tango, swing, salsa, Cajun and Zydeco), work out, hang out in cafes and bookstores, daydream about food and what to cook, try to satisfy my boundless appetite for news, roam around the city discovering new things.
Special interests and passions: I love working out and outdoors activities (camping, bicycling, canoing, kayaking); rhythmic forms of music like salsa and and afropop, also (guilty pleasures) show tunes. I think a lot about food and cooking, and about design, especially design for the built environment. I live for good conversation (especially with good food), kicking around interesting ideas with smart people. My passion for social justice and study of the martial arts (especially aikido) lead me practice zen Buddhism and yoga. The areas I've invested most of my professional energy in are psychology, health, and design. I believe work done in these disciplines can make our world a better place. I am especially interested in how people affect the environment and how where we live influences us.
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Elsie, Member
Where you're originally from: Berkeley, CA
About your household: I live with my husband Carl in Windsor Terrace, Bklyn, along with our
dog Iago and newborn son, Jasper. We live in a two-family house that we recently renovated.
When you joined: March 2008 as Associates, and August 2008 as Members.
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: Google. A few months ago I was curious to see if there was any
cohousing in Brooklyn. I googled "brooklyn cohousing" and found the group! We came to a few meetings and decided to become involved.
My interest in Cohousing traces back to when I lived briefly at an intentional community in North Carolina after college. The experience influenced me in many ways, and I was particularly inspired by watching the freedom and support the community granted to its children. I loved how the kids ran in groups from home to home and often were cared for by the community. From that point onward I imagined that I would love to find a strong community for myself when I was had my own children. Our son Jasper was born in February of 2009.
What you do with your days: I'm a painter, so I spend a lot of time in the studio. I also support myself through work as a resident artist in the NY public schools (I was a public muralist for many years and much of my teaching involves collaborative art.) I have a couple of other art-related part time jobs as well.
Special interests and passions: The last couple of years I have been very occupied by our renovation, where we played a very active role (not always by choice!) I have become very interested in design on many levels and also construction.
Some things I also love: wandering Prospect Park with our dog, cooking and food, teaching myself to garden, film and fiction, spending time with family, and travel (recently, Carl and I spent a month exploring India). Lastly, I'm enjoying the development of my art community in NY, and participate in two art collectives.
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Carl, Memberwhere you're originally from: Outside Boston
about your household: Elsie and I live with our newborn son Jasper, and Iago, our dog.
when you joined: Joined the group in March 2008, and became an Member in August.
what brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: Growing up in a large extended family and in a tight neighborhood, I've always felt that community is integral to life--and especially important when raising children. I really enjoy the people in the group and am inspired both by what we've achieved so far and by our vision for the future.
what do you do with your days: I work at a foundation that makes grants to advance international peace and security.
special interests and passions: I am passionate about the arts, politics, family, sports, and travel.
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Rob, Member
Where you're originally from: Atlanta, GA
About your household: Just me.
When you joined: September, 2008
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I am familiar with
the two cohousing groups in Atlanta, and I had been involved with an
small group trying to start cohousing in NYC several years ago.
What do you do with your days: I am a city planner.
Special interests and passions: I am an avid whitewater kayaker. I also enjoy climbing, hiking and gardening.
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Tricia, Member
Where you're originally from: Flushing in Queens
About your household: engaged to Brian
When you joined: 10/28/08
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I love the idea of
interacting more with neighbors and sharing commonspace while retaining
your own household.
I grew up in a community in Queens, NYC created in part by funding from
Mitchell-Lama and my father's union. Although not co housing, there
were some shared spaces, like laundry rooms, nursery schools, meeting
rooms, playgrounds etc. that helped to foster community. My family
worked with many of the families in the neighborhood to create the
playground that was built behind our apartment building. I fondly
remember myself, my sister and some of our friends piling into our big
3 seater station wagon and traveling all around the area, watching my
mother convince businesses to donate goods for the fairs that we
organized to raise money for the playgrounds. We held a bunch of
neighborhood fairs which were incredibly fun and successful. Then we
got to design the park and build it. We became close to many of the
families that lived in the area and it was a great way to grow up.
What you do with your days: I work as a Field technician for a telecommunications company.
Special interests and passions: triathlons- events which incorporate swimming, biking and running; hiking, camping, dancing,
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Sue, Member
Where you're originally from: PA
About your household: Husband Joel & I will be living in the apt. Our daughter Lissa is buying a separate apt.
When you joined: 11/11/08
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: Saw a cohousing community in Vancouver, Canada
What you do with your days: Real Estate Broker, Corcoran - Brooklyn Hts. Office
Special interests and passions: Home furnishings in general, gardening, community building
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Joel, Member
Where you're originally from: Born in Brooklyn, grew up in the Bronx, with a short stint in Montreal
About your household: Joel, Sue and Lissa (1 family, 2 households)
When you joined: Associate 11/11, Member 11/16 (we don't mess around)
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: We saw cohousing in Vancouver about 5 years ago. Loved the idea but needed prodding. Loved this group.
What you do with your days: A lot more e-mail reading than I was doing before cohousing. Officially I'm retired.
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Miriam Eusebio, Member Where you're originally from: California: Palo Alto, Davis, Chico, San Francisco
About your household: My household is myself and two cats, Sophie and Illy
When you joined: November, 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I was intrigued by an article in the Linewaiter's Gazette. The cohousing concept sounded familiar and exciting.
What you do with your days: Some days I can be found in the Park Slope Food Coop, overseeing various kinds of member labor and unloading huge trucks of groceries. Other days I can be found in a theater, working with actors on plays. Yet other days I'll be on the couch reading detective fiction.
Special interests and passions: I love arts and crafts, I love museums and brunches with friends, I love riding my funky bike, I love collective endeavors, I love libraries, I love divey bars, I love music
and dancing . . .
About your household: My household is myself and two cats, Sophie and Illy
When you joined: November, 2007
What brought you to Brooklyn cohousing: I was intrigued by an article in the Linewaiter's Gazette. The cohousing concept sounded familiar and exciting.
What you do with your days: Some days I can be found in the Park Slope Food Coop, overseeing various kinds of member labor and unloading huge trucks of groceries. Other days I can be found in a theater, working with actors on plays. Yet other days I'll be on the couch reading detective fiction.
Special interests and passions: I love arts and crafts, I love museums and brunches with friends, I love riding my funky bike, I love collective endeavors, I love libraries, I love divey bars, I love music
and dancing . . .
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NVD, Member
Where you're originally from: Bethlehem, PA via Alabama, Japan, Michigan and Long Island, NYAbout your household: Rick and Nancy, still in the house on LI where our two sons were raised, Jeremy, 35, and Ben 30. Ben is one mile away from the Warehouse and teaches 3rd grade on 7th Ave. in Park Slope.
When you joined: Associate Members, March 10, 2009; Full members, May 10, 2009
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I first learned about cohousing in the late 1990's from a fellow volunteer in a national women's organization. She is a member of the East Lake community in Decatur, GA, outside of Atlanta. I remember thinking at the time that the concept was very interesting, but I wasn't sure so much togetherness and group decision-making was for me! On the other hand, creating community has always been important to us. How would I fit in?
Rick and I met at the U of Michigan School of Social Work and he retired at the end of Jan. I have most recently worked part-time as a therapist and consultant in alcoholism treatment and EAP. For several years now he and I have been trying to figure out what we want to do with the rest of our lives and where we want to do it.
Late last year, he gave me a clipping about a video of a friend discussing cohousing on LI tv and suggested we watch it together. Well, we never have, but in December, I heard Alex being interviewed on the Brian Lehrer show (NPR) and enthusiastically suggested that we look into Bklyn cohousing. We came to our first mtg. in Jan. and then went off to Mexico for Feb. The rest is our history. We enjoy the group, the idea of an intentional, intergenerational community and respect the hard work that has brought the group to this place. I have long wanted a city lifestyle and coupled with our desire to explore work opportunities around the world, and providing that important community element, Brooklyn cohousing seems the ideal situation for us!
What you do with your days: It seems as if I spend endless hours on the computer, staying in contact with friends and family and keeping the family business running. I also go to the gym 5 days a week, sing with an a capella group, volunteer with the same national women's organization and our church. I travel a lot keeping up with family and friends.
Special interests and passions: reading, knitting, cooking, planting pansies, tending my rose garden, sharing time with friends, any time I spend with my children and three gorgeous grandchildren, singing, theater, going out to eat and beach time.
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Marcy, Associate
Where you're originally from: Bronx, NY
About your household: Myself, and Levi, my 16 1/2 yr old son, plus my "adopted" 21 yr old daughter, Thais (daughter of Brasilian friends), who lived with me for 3 yrs and is now away at college. I have a 35 yr old son, Java, who is married to Michelle, and they have two sons, age 4 and 2 and a baby on the way. They live in New Jersey.
*I have always lived in 3 bedroom apartments, with the intention that my friends would always have a place to stay with me..
When you joined: November 25, 2008
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I have wondered about cohousing for years. Lived on a commune in late 60s/early 70s, and have lived with 'chosen extended family' for much of my life. Most recently two things motivated me to join Brooklyn Cohousing. First, I cooked a cream of mushroom soup from 4 wild locally grown mushrooms purchased at Park Slope Food Coop. As it was simmering, I wanted to share the fragrant soup with people on this first crisp autumn day. My teen declined. I sat at my kitchen table and ate a bowl by myself. I longed to share good food and home cooking with others. Second, I ran into Ken at the Coop at the end of his shift and the middle of my work shift the day after I attended a Cohousing meeting. We had a chance to chat for awhile, and the group suddenly became personal; I joined.
What you do with your days: I am a certified nurse midwife, but I prefer to call myself a "homebirth midwife." I visit my most interesting and eclectic self-selected clients in their homes throughout the four boroughs, sometimes in border towns of NJ or lower Westchester. So I am in and out of my car most days, doing prenatal visits. I am called to "catch" babies at all hours (4-7/month). I organize my days around Iyengar yoga classes, and take salsa dance classes as well. I enjoy bike riding (not always possible when I may be called quickly to a birth). I knit, write (recently published in an anthology), and try to stay connected to my varied loved ones around the globe.
Special interests and passions: Writing, knitting, salsa dancing (and occasionally tango), Iyengar yoga, have enjoyed biking and swimming but my schedule is often erratic to make room for these, dinner parties, family, travel (must make plans way in advance due to my work), languages, music.
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Kieran M., Associate
Where you're originally from: Philadelphia
About your household: Me and two adorable cats
When you joined: April 2009
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: A desire for a stable community in
transitory New York.
What you do with your days: I am an executive recruiter for nonprofits
Special interests and passions: cooking, yoga, reading, live music, my herb
garden.
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Judith, Associate
Where you're originally from: Irvington, NJ, but have lived in many major urban areas of U.S., including 25 yrs in California
About your household: Just me and maltese pooch, Whiteboy, at this point. My young adult son has a Brooklyn apartment of his own.
When you joined: May 30, 2009
What brought you to Brooklyn Cohousing: I first learned of it through the Nov '08 NYT story, but have known people in cohousing in Boston and Ithaca. A veteran of 60's and 70's era cultural and political trends, I had stints in 70s and 80s living in semi-communal households and social networks. As a once again single woman without much family and scant prospects of grandchildren in forseeable future, I'm attracted by the prospect of living in a multi-generational community with the sort of values expressed in the vision statement.
What you do with your days: I "profess" sociology and gender and sexuality studies at NYU, but I'm likely to move toward a phased retirement in a couple of years.
Special interests and passions: latest most consuming passion-cum-addiction is Argentine tango. I also love dance as a spectator sport, along with indie film, off-broadway theater. Reading and intellectual/political/social conversation and engagement of course, in recent years with particular involvement in gay family rights issues. I adore ethnographic and work-related travel; play tennis with more enthusiasm than skill; enjoy hiking, both town and country varieties, used to ski and could be tempted again. Also avid gourmand of vin and victuals.
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Diana, Lutz, and Luna (2) - profile coming
7/5/09