There’s a book launch party this evening, from 6PM-8PM for The Great Neighborhood Book. It takes place at Christ Church, which is at the corner of Clinton Street and Kane Street in Cobble Hill. The book is from the Project for Public Spaces and its formal title is The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-It Yourself Guide to Placemaking, by Jay Walljasper. The author will be there to introduce the book, followed by real-life success stories from New Yorkers who have improved their neighborhoods (including East NY Farms, the Hester Street Collaborative, and the Forsyth Street Garden Conservancy). If you’re interested in going, you can RSVP to isla (at) pps (dot) org. There will be wine, cheese and music. You can read more about the book here. Our beloved friend, columnist Neal Peirce–one of the great urban thinkers of our time–says of the book, “Here’s a Declaration of Independence for America’s neighborhoods. It shows how it hardly matters how rich or poor you are, or whether City Hall recognizes your zip code or not. The building blocks for great place-making are revealed and explained — for you to build on.”