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The Great Googa Mooga — Brooklynian

The Great Googa Mooga

MOD
MOD
edited November -1 in Park Slope

Registration has begun!! Git in there peeps!

http://googamoogagiveaway.eventbrite.com/#


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Comments

  • yarnek
    yarnek

    The next time I see that I want it to be through the bombsight of a B-52.

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    It's amazing how the word GREAT has been attached to some of civilizations worst disasters, here's a few examples.

    The Great Famine

    The Great War

    The Great Depression

    For some reason Good Friday was never called ,The Great Good Friday.

    Well, we of Brooklyn are going to be subjected to another disaster, using- Great- in it's title, the return of last years two day disaster-The Great Googa Mooga.

    I guess the Park Dept. decided , if you don't succeed at first, try, try again and to ensure that their ineptness continues , this years event will run for three days .

    The only good thing about this so called , GREAT EVENT, is there will be a couple of hundred cops who will be doing stop and frisk exercises at the gate.

    So leave your weed at home or you may wind up at, The Great Rikers.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Depending upon who you ask, this event is either The-Great-We-Hate-It-But-Need-The-Money-Fundraiser (as per the Parks Department), and/or

    The Corporatization of The Park (as per park patrons who aren't willing to endure the pain for the gain).

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    Did they make any money on last years event.

    After the event I spoke with one of the Executives at the Alliance and kinda got the feeling there wouldn't be another attempt due to last years fiasco.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    This article states why they host such events, but doesn't give a dollar amount raised: http://brooklynbased.net/email/2012/08/its-not-easy-getting-green-brooklyns-professional-park-advocates/

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    Your right, it doesn't mention the amount raised or the cost to run it.

    Why am I surprised.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Lots of entities make money off these events.

    ...some may make more than the Parks Alliance.

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    But at what cost to the city

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    The costs are many, and spread through out various agencies.

    ....the revenue goes to decidely different hands. Surely you read some of the coverage given to creation of Barclays Arena. Not to be coy: This is the same, but different.

    This may be an instance in which the leaders of the Park Alliance are against it, yet unable to stop it.

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    The main cost I'm referring to is the Police.

    Who, according to a few I know mentioned when working events like this or street fairs most of them are on overtime and it ain't cheap..

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    nope. It ain't.

    ...kinda part of the deal though: You throw a big event in NYC, you get the presence of the NYPD, whether you want them or not, for cheap if not free.

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    Well , it might be time for the city to cut back on the so called free events and apply the funds that are pissed away by having Police at dumb events and useless street fairs, that offer nothing but socks, records,dvd's,the stench of sausages and third rate groups blasting on every other block .

    I know this concept may be offensive to those who think bumping into others, block after block is great because its free , which it's not, the cost to the city is millions in overtime every year and it receives very little, if anything in return.

    I may be softhearted, but for some reason i feel that the money would be better spent in helping people get out of the Armories - Bloomberg's concept of affordable housing-and get them into homes and not the $3000.00 a month ripoff thats going on.

  • jamzer
    jamzer

    I had a great time at this last year. I went early on Sunday - right when the doors opened. They had worked out a lot of the kinks from Saturday and the crowds early were very manageable. There were no lines for food or beer and the music was a lot of fun. Best part was the bacon sampler. Who doesn't like a good bacon sampler? I hope I score some tickets this year.

  • MOD
    MOD

    Back on the topic of tickets, regardless of whether you care for the event of not, today confirmations went out for those who registered to get free tix. I'm confirmed for Sunday :cheers: but I do hope that the vendors there are more careful and respectful of the field then they were last year.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Congrats!

    ...I am of the perspective that the grass will grow back with a little time and some rain.

    Enjoy!

    googa mooga away!

  • anthropoid
    anthropoid

    The NYPD is paid for their attendance at these events. It is not a direct cost to the community.

  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen

    Large patches of destroyed grass were eventually tilled and replanted and are still large areas of dead grass and mud. The length of time that this was allowed to be in place was probably the main problem. They had large vehicles (18 wheelers, tractors, etc. ) driving all over the Nethermead, tearing up the grass and soil and the booths and such were left there for weeks.

    Another frustration was that they were allowed to close off many areas and paths (not just during the event but for the weeks of prep and break down), which was clearly a problem for a lot of people who walk or bike through those paths to work and school. Detours around this were not quick, even if you knew the quickest way. If this just took over the area for a few days (say Friday-Sunday) it wouldn't be so bad, but they were there for about 3 weeks, maybe more.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    OQ-

    You'll likely like this article on how the event benefitted the few....

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-freudenheim/great-googamooga-festival_b_1550672.html

    While it is a nice article in that it plays the traditional drum of "our citiy is being sold to the rich", it neglects to mention how much (if any money) was raised.

    In that regard, I think of this event like the common non-profit gala: The relatively wealthy pay for a nice event that regular the "customers/clients" are not welcome at.

    The non-profit then brags about how many tickets were sold, but never really gets around to showing how much money was made AFTER the cost of staff time, advertising, food, (grass?), etc is subtracted.

  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen

    I think I remember finding the money info at some point. The park was paid somewhere around $100K or less for this event. That seems like a very small fee to pay to take over several sections of a public park, with a basically private event, for weeks.

    There are sometimes very fancy galas or even movie filming areas in Prospect, but these tend to be set up the day of the event and down early the following day and in very small areas. The fancy gala tent is usually put up on the park road section near Bartel Prichard Square.

    Really, as a person that spends hours every day in that park, it just frustrates me to see the alliance/city allow a big company to have and abuse such a large area for so long. I spend plenty of time in the Peninsula, Nethermead and surrounding paths (all affected by GM) in the summer, trying to find some quiet and trash free spots and this just ruined that for about a month last summer and left the park worse for it. They put up huge fences and guards all around to bully park users.

    Clearly this whole thing just pisses me off and I need to stay away from discussions of it :) I don't understand why they don't have it at the park in Williamsburg that's on the water (next to the Flea), but in terrible condition. The view and space are great for this and it wouldn't make that park any worse. Plus I think there is already a stage in place there.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    whynot_31 said:

    The costs are many, and spread through out various agencies.

    ....the revenue goes to decidely different hands. Surely you read some of the coverage given to creation of Barclays Arena. Not to be coy: This is the same, but different.

    This may be an instance in which the leaders of the Park Alliance are against it, yet unable to stop it.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    It looks like the Parks Alliance has figured out a way to make additional money off the event: Give away tickets for free when you become a member for $35.

    Two reserved, free tickets to the Great GoogaMooga festival for either Saturday, May 18 or Sunday, May 19

    (Note: after you join, an email with details regarding how to claim your tickets will be sent to you.)

    Free Prospect Park aluminum water bottle

    Permanent Recognition in the online Lakeside Donor Registry

    Color, foldout map of Prospect Park

    Subscription to the Alliance's monthly E-Newsletter

    Invitation to Members Chill Out – wagon rides, fire pit and stargazing outdoors, or stay warm inside with hot chocolate, cookie decorating, knitting and more! (fees may apply)

    Invitation to our annual Members Night – join us for an update on Park happenings from Alliance Leadership

    http://www.prospectpark.org/support/join

    ...yup, it costs money to run a park!

  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen

    I just got an email with this info:

    "Googa Mooga to close the Nethermead May Friday, 10th to Wednesday, May 22nd. This includes load in, performance days and load out."

    Sadly the annoyance has already started because the parks department is doing a bunch of noisy work to prep the area (some of it seems to limit damage to trees from the huge trucks they used last year). At least yesterday and today the workers were already there in full force (and very loud noise) by 7:30am. :(

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    I hope the money they earn is worth it.

    ...I hope all alternative ways of earning money were considered, and then intelligently ruled out.

  • drano
    drano

    Hamilton said:

    Well , it might be time for the city to cut back on the so called free events and apply the funds that are pissed away by having Police at dumb events and useless street fairs, that offer nothing but socks, records,dvd's,the stench of sausages and third rate groups blasting on every other block .

    I know this concept may be offensive to those who think bumping into others, block after block is great because its free , which it's not, the cost to the city is millions in overtime every year and it receives very little, if anything in return.

    I may be softhearted, but for some reason i feel that the money would be better spent in helping people get out of the Armories - Bloomberg's concept of affordable housing-and get them into homes and not the $3000.00 a month ripoff thats going on.

    If there never another GD parade in this town...that would be nice.

  • hamilton
    hamilton

    This is a copy of an e-mail I had sent to a friend of mine, who happens to be a social worker, that is distressed over the fact the city can piss away it's funds on overtime for bullshit events, rather then use it to REALLY build affordable housing for those that need it.

    .

    COLD STREETS WARM HEARTS

    .

    This is the young couple I had mentioned, they had lost their apartment and were living on the sidewalk, in the back of my building for three weeks last July.

    They said, when offered temporary help, they declined, as they were too frightened to go to an Armory or be placed in an apartment building where the city warehouses the poor for only $3000.00 a month .

    They both had jobs , but couldn't afford an apartment in a safe neighborhood due to the over the top rents that are bleeding family's throughout Brooklyn .

    When I'd go by in the morning and ask'd, if they needed anything , they'd say no thanks, your Super just gave us coffee and cake as a morning wake up and he's been kind enough to let us use the employes rest room so we could freshen up before going to our places of work .

    After a few weeks I noticed they were gone, I asked the Super if he knew how they were and he mentioned, they had found a place, came back and tearfully thank him for his kindness and understanding during such stressful time in their young lives .

    He then said to me, that could be anyone of us and God forbid, if it happens to me and my family, I pray, if it does , there's someone out there, who will help and not look down on us .


  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Here's an article that pretty eloquently describes what is being done to raise funds for Flushing Meadows Park (located in Queens).

    As the article points out, those who oversee it have agreed to allow several for-profit ventures to expand their presence in the park.

    It asserts that Central Park does not resort to such tactics because it has monied neighbors, yet Flushing Meadows must because it has mostly working class, immigrant neighbors.

    ....Perhaps we should count ourselves lucky that the Prospect Park Conservancy has found ways to only resort to having one Googa Mooga a year.

    http://nymag.com/arts/architecture/reviews/flushing-meadows-soccer-stadium-2013-5/

  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen

    Prospect Park had two big events last summer. Before Googa was a private event, Singapore Day, that took over the same space for I think 2 weeks (it was one weekend, but like Googa, there was a lot of time for set up and break down).

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    When you count in the fundraisers, they actually have lots of private events.

    I do wonder how many additional memberships they have been able to sell as a result of giving away "free" tickets to Googa Mooga when one becomes a member.

    In future years, hopefully these people will continue to renew their memberships, despite not being offered tickets. Then, the park will have achieved a reliable source of non-Googa revenue.

    It would be a good campaign: "If we can get 50,000 additional members at $35 a piece, we won't have a Googa this year"

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    What people attending Googa Mooga will eat:

    http://ny.eater.com/archives/2013/05/spotted_pig_robertas_little_wisco_plan_googa_popups.php

  • toadette
    toadette

    On the food front - those pop-ups looked pretty sweet. Unfortunately I'm veg and they're all very meaty. Wish they were doing one with the Dirt Candy chef (she's just doing a talk).

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