The
Red Hook StarªRevue
SPECIAL SECOND ANNIVERSARY SECTION ª JUNE 2012 I love the paper because it talks about things I want to read about when the rest of the newspapers talk about the city outside Red Hook. I love the local aspect, reading about people that I know. — Robert Berrios, Congratulations to the Red Hook StarRevue-- Brooklyn’s only truly independent newspaper. You have become the intelligent, witty, humane “voice” of South Brooklyn. I look forward to each and every issue! — Roy Sloane, president, Cobble Hill Association
Resident, activist
Congratulations to the Red Hook Star-Revue for two years of news service in Red Hook and South Brooklyn. Your pages are rich with in-depth discussion of all angles of life in our community; your readers are better informed and more engaged as a result of your reporting. Keep up your great work. —The staff of the Red Hook Initiative.
“Cora Dance congratulates RHSR on all it’s great work over the past two years. From articles to ads, we wouldn’t have been able to spread the word about our programs in the Red Hook community without all your generous support! Bravo! Keep up the good work!” — Shannon Hummel, Artistic Director, Cora Dance & Cora School for Dance
I wish we had this newspaper 10 years ago. Maybe if we had you guys when Fairway and IKEA were being built we could have had more leverage — Wally Bazemore - Resident and community leader
The Brooklyn Red Hook Lions Club President Jay Mcknight & Lion Members have you to ‘Thank’ for our very own Community Paper. Congratulations to you & your wonderful staff. The Best Is Yet To Come!
transit
W e appreciate the information and insight we get about our neighborhood having a truly local paper. In a short period of time you’ve become a real part of the community.—dry dock wine & spirits
If I were wearing a hat I’d take it off to you. Some of our traditional “local papers” have become consolidated and lost their flavor and character. The Star-Revue offers a hyper-local independent media perspective about what goes on around our neighborhood. And that resonates well with us because we are doing the same thing but in government. Anyone wanting to know what’s going on in Red Hook would be well-served to pick up the Red Hook Star-Revue. — Craig Hammerman - District Manager of CB6
Over the past two years the breadth, depth and quality of the reporting has grown and matured. As a resident and as the Executive Director of Added Value and the Red Hook Community Farm, I am excited each time the paper comes out. Thank you for performing such an important indeed essential service for our community. Congratulations and best of luck in the coming years — Ian Marvy
Red Hook is a place where dream are born and lives are driven. — Shawn Smith, Coordinator, CPP@Red Hook
T h e paper shines a light on a community that some have long up and forgotten, but a community with a future in this city. It shows some of the voices in the community, things that no other paper does. The writing is professional and reports on both sides of an issue. And you’re showing the good things that are happening in Red Hook. By reporting on positive things you’re getting more people to come and take an interest.
And you’ve highlighted some of the people that have live in Red Hook since the 40s and 50s and are still here. That’s important for people to read - a lot of people haven’t abandoned Red Hook — Leroy Branch - Assistant District Manager CB6
The transformation and fulfillment of a half-baked idea by George Fiala
I
t’s not just a job. The newspaper business is about the furthest thing from a regular occupation that one can possibly imagine. We go to sleep when we can’t keep our eyes open anymore, wake up and go right back to work. As far as I’m concerned, I couldn’t ask for a more rewarding life. The Red Hook Star-Revue began, oddly enough, as a means to reduce the rent I was paying for my mailing business. Those details are not important. What was important was that when I presented my idea for a local newspaper to my landlord, Frank Galeano, he immediately became an enthusiastic supporter. We shook hands on a partnership. All of a sudden I had committed myself to creating a brand new paper every month. I put together some advertising materials and in a couple days Frank came back with ads and checks, meaning I had to create things to go in between. I took a walking tour around Columbia Street and ran a two page collage of things in the neighborhood. I was in fact new to Red Hook. I had just rented 101 Union Street after 22 years in other parts of downtown Brooklyn. I could count on my fingers the number of times I had actually been to Red Hook. A meal or two at Ferdinando’s, occasional slices at House of Pizza and Calzone, a couple of forays to Lillie’s to hear country music and drink beers. I didn’t exactly know what I was doing when I started the paper. I did know, however, that I missed newspapers. I had done some of this before, but not all. My newspaper experience included just about everything else, but I was never a reporter. So I had to become one. The last newspaper I worked at before starting my own mailing business was the Brooklyn Phoenix. I watched my boss create the issues, listened to him with the reporters and paid attention when he edited copy. That’s where I learned my chops, including things NOT to do when running a business. Through a friend who publishes a similar kind of paper in Port Chester, I made a deal with a printer in Connecticut. I finished the first pages and uploaded to their server. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and relief that I actually got an issue done. The next day I set out to pick them up. After all these years, I was once again involved in creating thousands and thousands of printed
newspapers. Watching them come off the press and loading them into my Taurus, I knew that the newspaper bug, long dormant in me, was back for good. Just like any burst of consummated passion, reality shortly set in and I realized that I was in something, a commitment that required work and energy. Little by little a staff was created. I knew, from experience early on, that if I couldn’t get other people to join me, I’d have to do everything myself. One of the early issues was just about completely written by me, perhaps the most pressure filled three days before deadline that I’ve ever faced. Like writing five term papers in a row without any possibility of getting an extension. After that experience, I made finding writers a first priority. I lucked into two. At the end of August Josie Rubio sent me an email in response to a small ad that we still run in our classified section. She wrote, “When I saw the Red Hook Star-Revue in my mailbox, I was really glad to see a newspaper specifically for this area!” She had moved here from Columbus, Ohio where she edited the nightlife and dining sections of their version of NY Magazine.
apartment to write this email. I am a proud Red Hook resident (I’ve been living on Dikeman Street for a little over a year) and have been reading the StarRevue since I moved here. I’m originally from 12th Street in Park Slope and part of why I love Red Hook is that in many ways it resembles the neighborhood I remember as a kid, South Slope circa 1989, which as you know had a very different flavor to it. In any case, I don’t see myself moving from Red Hook any time soon and the idea of writing for the community paper is very exciting to me. I met him a few days later. He reminded me very much of the kinds of reporters that I worked with at the Phoenix back in the 1980’s. I might have hired him just because of that. Regular readers of the Star-Revue know that Matt is our main investigative reporter. He covers the Red Hook Houses, the police beat, he’s taken helicopter rides and trips through the Gowanus Canal to cover things for us. He’s got such a wry sense of humor that at first I thought he had none. He makes silly faces with us, he’s made me dance “I’m a little teapot” in front of an audience, and he’ll sit motionless for hours thinking about how to craft a story.
“Three days before deadline, I would become a screaming maniac trying to get the paper done on time.” I wrote her back with a couple of my ideas. She agreed to be responsible for the feature and arts coverage every month She found writers and wrote stories. On deadline day, I would receive a seemingly unending barrage of emails containing stories and photos. She took a big load off of my shoulders. The Star-Revue was still a part-time operation for me. I would spend most of the month tending the mailing business. Then, three days before deadline, I would become a screaming maniac trying to get the paper done on time. People quickly learned to stay out of my way during those three days. I think I’ve gotten a lot better about this, but the Senior Editor strongly disagrees. My next big piece of luck came two weeks later when I received this email from somebody named Matt Graber: “I was sitting at the Waterfront Laundry reading the September 2010 issue about 15 minutes ago. When I saw the job opening I basically raced back to my
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By last summer, both Frank and Josie were gone. Once again I was put in a position where I had to push the paper along pretty much alone. For a moment I panicked, not knowing how I could do this. But panic soon turned to determination. This was an opportunity to take something that was already sailing and lead the helm. I decided that I needed to re-focus the paper on news. I realized that there was a lot of competition in the coverage of arts and culture, but nobody was taking a hard look at what was going on in Red Hook. I hired another reporter, while I wore the editor’s hat. I went ahead with my plan to double the publication frequence, going twice a month starting last October. We were covering the waterfront again. We wrote about Red Hook Initiative, Visitation church and American Stevedoring. We covered local politics for the first time. I knew the paper needed a voice, and that voice was mine. Sometimes in life, we drift for a while; when we’re lucky, we steer.
www.RedHookStar.com
Fate brings a partner The latest and to me greatest piece of the puzzle came together last December, when a tall handsome woman walked through the doors. Kimberly Gail Price, an aspiring actress from the south, was referred by someone that I had had a bad business experience with, so I didn’t pay much attention to her phone calls. But she persisted and I saw something special. She had spent much of her seven years in New York studying theater, waitressing to pay the bills. I sensed something valuable and plotted an advertising project for her. By the end of the week she sold all the ads. After the next week I made her advertising manager. By the end of the year we were business partners, 50/50. I soon found out that she was much more than a salesperson. She was eager to take on more responsibility. I noticed her interest and capability in writing and editing. Her first story scooped the NY Times. She is tirelessly devoted to the paper and in just six short months she has become integral to the future of this paper and my publishing dream. Together we brought in Angelika Mitchell, who took over the advertising reigns this past February and slowly but surely is helping us get on a financial footing that will enable us to keep growing. Together we lucked into a precocious reporter, Abby, who at the tender age of twenty is showing us things we didn’t know about uncovering stories. Possibly the greatest thing for me about this whole adventure is to watch both personal and professional growth take place, not just in myself, but with everyone that’s involved - growth which is reflected in the look and content of the paper. The newspaper business is an ongoing adventure. The best thing about an adventure is that you have no idea how it will end. It’s the trip that is important. Our trip here in Red Hook has been an amazing ride, and the best thing is that we’re just at the beginning. There is so much more history to tell about these last two years, but for now to get it you’ll have to corner me at the Ice House or Fort Defiance. I am so proud of what we’ve been able to do in just 24 months. When I say we I mean each and every one who has been part of this team, starting with our great core staff today, including Matt and Angelika and Abby and Kimberly.
June 2012
10,000 cups of coffee
T
by Kimberly Gail Price
partner. I had worked for the paper for exactly eleven days.
he day I walked into the StarTheater, I met an angsty and irritated man named George. He didn’t have time for me. I called later and I was advised to call the next morning by an also annoyed George. So I did and was once again postponed for two more days. On my third attempt, I was granted an appointment with this cranky stranger.
much bigger than myself. Either way, at 10:27 pm on a cold night in December, George asked me to edit my first story. It was redundant, entirely too long and extremely grammatically challenged. Being the perfectionist that I am, I combed through it four times until I was satisfied with the result. Three hours later I resubmitted the piece. George was baffled.
For thirteen years I waited tables and tended bars while pursuing a college degree and an acting career. Thanksgiving had passed; Christmas was drawing near. And once again, I found myself unemployed. I desperately sought a respite from my restaurant stints and thought selling ads for a local newspaper might be a good interim.
The next day, everything was different. In my first nine days, I established myself as an asset, at least in George’s eyes. My picture was in a newspaper for the first time. I attended Christmas tree lightings, politicians’ parties and meetings on fishing boats. I went to catered events where I didn’t have to serve the food. I went everywhere George went, meeting people, attending plays and speaking on behalf of the Star-Revue. I was planning the future of the paper because George insisted I take the reins.
learned that “scooped” wasn’t just something that happened to ice cream.
One morning, George sat me down over a cup of coffee. We had previously begun a routine of sitting down to discuss the day’s agenda. Usually, I ended up with an impossibly long list. But on this particular day, he had something serious to discuss. I expected the ax. Instead, George asked me to be his publishing
In January, I attended my first ever editorial meeting. And led it as well. A round table of suggestions, ambition and experience sat in my presence, while the tiny voices in my head kept screaming, “I’m just a waitress!” Later that night, I shed my first tears over the Star-Revue. I was in over my head and completely
At my initial interview, I was terrified. Hadn’t this man repeatedly displayed very blatant indications that he wanted nothing to do with me, that I was merely a nuisance? When I arrived in my shaky boots, George had seemingly forgotten about our meeting. After a quick look at my finances and being duped by a con artist, I needed something. So with my pride tucked deep in my back pocket and my persistence riding on my shoulders, I prepared myself for an emotional massacre. I didn’t have the right skills and training, although I needed this job desperately. George didn’t ask about my experience; he asked who I was. He didn’t quiz me on a resume that didn’t exist; he offered me a beer. He talked an awful lot. About his venture to Red Hook and how it led to the creation of a newspaper. About past articles that he kept running away to fetch for me. About a movie that he couldn’t remember the name of. (The movie is called The Big Easy which he associated with my southern Louisiana roots.) After an hour or more, George started printing flyers. Hundreds of them. He began running away from our meeting table unannounced and coming back with stacks of paper - still warm from the printer - for me to hand out on the streets the following day. He was going to give me a shot. I walked out of the StarTheater elated and petrified, carrying 20 extra pounds of paper in my bag and 30 extra pounds of pressure on my shoulders. I was grateful someone had finally given me the chance to do more than recommend wine pairings or push a soup special. But my confidence was ragged. I committed to giving my best. I pounded the pavement with my handouts for the remainder of the week, no matter the wind, the cold, the stinging rain. I came in early and worked late. At the end of my third full day, an eager and excited George asked, “Are you going to come in everyday?” Ten days later, it was time to send my first paper to print. The role I played in its creation was minimal at best. But I was still a piece of the puzzle. I’m not sure what possessed me to stay until 3 am while George finished the paper. Maybe I was waiting for a ride home. Maybe my compassionate side thought that I would want someone to stay with me. Or maybe for the first time, I felt like a valuable part of something
My first major story with the Star-Revue ran as the cover story. Honestly, I didn’t know how crucial it was. At 7 am, I shaped my poorly scripted outline into paragraph form. I came to work one day to discover the NY Times had rewritten MY story. Everybody else thought this was so exciting; I was furious! That was the day I
“It’s the ebb and flow of the newspaper business. It is stepping aboard to create a masterpiece that will be replaced fifteen days later.”
unprepared for this feat. What I underestimated was the support, patience and quality of people George had accumulated. With George’s encouragements, my diligence and their cooperation, they blindly followed me into territory we could all barely imagine. Never in my life have I played a decent April Fool’s joke. This year, I talked George into printing the cover upside down. Oh yeah, and putting eight pages of total nonsense. On top of it all, this upside down spoof issue just so happened to be the issue we presented at the NY Press Association convention the weekend we received our acceptance announcement. I inherited Matt Graber in the motley crew of writers George acquired before my time. He is the dedicated backbone of this paper. In my early days of deadlines, I would get emails entitled “URGENT!” or “This is important.” In a panicked state, I would open the emails to find a pasted link. A link that always led me to videos of dancing sheep, shrieking rabbits or narcoleptic dogs. Matt can always sense when I am overwhelmed. And he always has a remedy. He dances in my office until I giggle. He (continued on the back page)
How I Got the Job by Matt Graber
M
y first thought upon setting foot in the Star Theater at 101 Union Street on a sunny day in September, 2010, was probably not different from what crosses most first-time visitors’ minds: What is this place, exactly?
of the articles appeared to have been written by Fiala. However, even at that early date, some key contributors had come onboard. Danette Vigilante was writing her column on growing up in the Hook; J.J. Burkart was covering local history. A few other freelancers and Fiala Walking through the entryway into a hallway stacked with were picking up the rest. bundles of newspapers and various bulk mail, I continued When Fiala returned to the table, I listened while he into the great open space that extends all the way to the laid out his vision for the future of the paper. I had nevback. I looked around. To my left, some kind of work station er given much thought to the idea of community jourwhere two attractive latinas worked at filling envelopes and nalism, choosing instead to occupy my mind with ambiprinting out fliers for Saint Francis College. Farther left, a tions vague as they were absurd (a novel?) as starry-eyed stage complete with a PA system, drum-set, keyboard, gui- English majors living in secluded sections of far-upstate tars, mics, the works. To the far right, a fully stocked kitchen New York have the tendency to do. But in a place like and six or seven round tables with wooden chairs scattered Red Hook, the idea made sense. The neighborhood, I among them. knew by then, is dynamic, utterly unique, with a disBack near the entrance, a grey-haired, brash 50-something tinct local history and a diversity of personalities. In man by the name of George Fiala emerged from behind a fact, my first impression of Red Hook, when my sister beaded curtain and asked me to wait for five minutes while moved down to Wolcott Street in the early oughts, was he handled some things. He moved and talked somewhat the same as when I first stepped into 101 Union Street: maniacally; he was man with a lot on his plate, it was clear. What is this place, exactly? I walked to the back and sat at a table, where I quietly re- All throughout our initial meeting, Fiala puttered hearsed my credentials as I’d grown accustomed to doing around, picking up empty beer cans and swatting unbefore job interviews. successfully at flies with his long plastic fly-swatter. I’d spotted the paper about a week before at the Waterfront The whole thing struck me as incredibly unorthodox, Laundromat on Van Brunt Street. My moving company - but somehow it all came naturally. I told him that Red which I’d started in order to buy time while I “figured out” Hook reminded me of South Park Slope in the late 80s what I wanted to do with my life - had not really picked up and early 90s. In fact, many of the people on my block yet, so I enjoyed the free time that allows one to sit leisurely had come from both the Front and Back sections of and read a book while waiting for one’s clothes to dry. It had the Hook. I felt, and still feel, a nostalgia down here of been a year since I’d returned from college with an English which I am not ashamed to admit. degree in the middle of an economic meltdown. The idea of being part of a start-up, a nascent project, appealed to me. So when I saw the ad for a part-time reporter position, emphasizing “enthusiasm” more than “experience,” I quickly went home and wrote an enthusiastic email.
After feeling me out for about 20 minutes, Fiala gave me an assignment; to write an informative article about monorails, with the underlying suggestion that perhaps a monorail line running down Richards Street could be the answer to Red Hook’s long-standing transportation At first glance, the paper struck me as rough, to put it gen- problems. He was adamant about this. I thought the erously. To be more blunt, it looked like a bad high school idea was ridiculous, but I held my tongue and wrote the paper, an experiment conceived without much forethought stupid monorail article. and destined to be dropped. The layout was sloppy and most It’s all been uphill from there.
Red Hook Star-Revue 2nd Anniversary Special
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June 2012
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Who We Are George Fiala started in the newspaper business in 1975, selling advertising and writing investigative pieces for the Lancaster Independent Press. After moving to NYC in 1977, he began working as an advertising salesperson for the Villager, located in Greenwich Village. He was promoted to General Manager in 1978. In 1982 he began working at the sister paper, Brooklyn’s Phoenix. In addition to running the business operation, he learned computer programming and launched a sophisticated mailmarketing program for the newspaper. In 1988 he began his own company, Select Mail, providing mailing services to Brooklyn businesses and institutions. Still operating Select Mail, he began the Red Hook Star-Revue in 2010. George graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster, PA in 1974 with a degree in English. He also studied International Affairs at the New School, in NYC from 2003 to 2010. He has one daughter, Adrianne, who is a social worker in Oakland, California. He enjoys playing music in his spare time.
Kimberly Gail Price grew up in south Louisiana and Arkansas. She studied theater at Louisiana State University and later attended a two-year film conservatory in Manhattan. She has done all sorts of work over the years including Aquatics Director at Cove Creek
Scout Reservation, selling knives door to door and babysitting ill-mannered children. She also tended bar and waited tables for over a decade before stumbling through the doors of the Star-Revue in late December of 2011. Although she has none currently, Kimberly hopes to eventually find spare time to pursue her acting and writing ambitions, spend a day in the sunshine and read her enormous mountain of random literary works.
Matt Graber grew up in Park Slope and Prospect Heights and studied English at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He moved to Red Hook in 2009, where he spent his first year out of college as a copy editor, then as a social researcher for Community Studies of New York. As a researcher his job mainly consisted of going to arraignment courts and interviewing non-violent offenders about their experiences with the police. It was during this time that he developed an interest in law enforcement, police-community relations and the criminal justice system. For the past two years, Matt has juggled two occupations: one as an independent contractor offering moving and delivery services throughout the tri-state area; the other as a community reporter for the Star-Revue.
Angelika Mitchell grew up in Clinton, Missouri and moved to New York four days after graduating high school. She received her FMM Applied Science Degree from FIT in December of 2001, and later went on to earn her Fashion Studies Certificate at Parsons in 2001. She has worked as Merchandise Editor, Assistant Associate Publisher and a fashion assistant with Marie Claire, Vogue and Allure magazines. Angelika joined the Star-Revue team in February 2012 as the new Advertising Manager. In her spare time, she is also a freelance stylist.
Eric Ruff was born on February 9th, 1951 in Palo Alto, California. He has spent the last 61
years playing music, putting up shows, raising kids, writing for newspapers and fishing, a lot of fishing. He has finally fetched up like a piece of driftwood on the shores of the Red Hook Star-Revue. Now his dreams have come true.
Abigail Savitch-Lew (Abby) is reporting for the summer and is responsible for the education beat. She is a native Brooklynite and rising junior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, majoring in Literary Arts. Her fiction stories are published in Post Road Magazine Issue 18 and The Best Teen Writing of 2010. She is extremely excited to be interning at the Star-Revue and thanks the neighborhood for her kind welcome. In late July she’ll take a temporary hiatus to report on the devastating practice of “mountaintop removal coal mining” and the gathering civil disobedience movement in southern West Virginia; see rampscampaign.org for more information.
Greg Algarin-Marquez was born in 1966 in the Panama Canal Zone and grew up an Army brat spending his so-called formative years in Germany. He wanted to be an Air Force pilot but that plan changed when he was diagnosed as near-sighted at age 10. He then went with Plan B – rock star! His pursuit of musical fame eventually led to a career as a certified Apple hardware and software technician. An avowed history junkie, he enjoys art, film, TV, theatre, music, cooking, dining, conversation, single-malt Scotch whisky, baseball, museums, dogs, traveling, and a lot of other stuff. Including being political contributor to the Star-Revue.
She is currently a freelance writer and editor in Manhattan who has assisted in writing professional newsletters, e-newsletters and content for advertising brochures and web sites. She has also taught students ages 3-13 and has worked with Special Needs children and adults for many years. “They’ve taught me more about life than I could ever learn in a classroom.” Stef is new to the Star-Revue team, writing about theatre and art. She’s excited to surround herself with this wonderful environment and such creative people. In her spare time, she likes to draw, paint, sculpt, and read Jughead comics.
Erik Penney is the food and restaurant critic for The Star-Revue. His interest in food and cooking began during the hours he spent as a small child watching his grandmother cook for his extended family. He also spent countless pre-cable TV hours glued to Julia Child, Pierre Franey, Graham Kerr and Jeff Smith - The Frugal Gourmet - on his local PBS station. His first kitchen job was a one month stint at a Hooters Restaurant in Washington DC, where he became expert at dunking chicken wings into bathtub-sized deep fryers. His first “real” kitchen job was at The Georgetown Seafood Grill, also in Washington DC, where he worked the hot line for a year before enrolling in business school. His cooking duties today are limited to ridiculously overwrought and selfindulgent dinners at his home in Red Hook, set to a loud, rock and roll soundtrack. Erik is also a terrible guitar player and has a side job working at a hedge fund.
Michael Racioppo is an opinion columnist Stef Morisi graduated cum laude from Saint Francis College with a B.A. degree in Communication Arts and a concentration in Speech and Theatre. Stef is actively involved with the theatre – both on the production end and as a performer. Stef is an accomplished singer and actor (dancing? Not so much).
at the Star-Revue and has been with the paper since the fall of 2011. His columns focus on current political issues He also teaches Political Science at Brooklyn College. He is born and raised in Brooklyn and the only thing he loves as much as politics is sports. Specifically the New York Giants and New York Rangers but
is hoping for a great inaugural season for the Red Hook Star softball team.
Danette (Franqui) Vigilante grew up in the Red Hook Houses. She is the author of the children’s book The Trouble with Half a Moon, which has recently been chosen for The Sunshine State Young Readers Award list. Danette writes a monthly column in which she shares her experiences and everyday occurrences with the community. Mary Ann Pietanza, a native of Red Hook, graduated from Bay Ridge High School, an all-girl magnet school of art. On a whim she turned down an education in fashion illustration when a former employer lured her to work at his philanthropic organization for a lucrative salary. Later, her career shifted to telecommunications on Wall Street where she became a department manager at Oppenheimer & Co. A move to Long Island re-directed her attention to her children’s education. She chaired the Arts-in-Education program, was a parent representative for the principal/superintendent hiring committees and School Improvement Teams, and was co-president of the PTA in addition to working in the guidance department. Her parent’s illnesses re-acquainted her with a changed Red Hook. But an economic turn forced a move back to the city where a letter to the editor of the Star- Revue prompted an invitation to contribute her memories of Red Hook to the paper.
Mary Anne Massaro grew up in Red Hook, where many of her stories and poems graced the classroom bulletin boards of PS 15. She initially intended to go to college for writing but being a young person on a mission to save the world chose nursing school instead. Though being a nurse brings he great pride and joy, her dream of being a writer was always in her heart. Mary Anne contributes her endearing stories of bygone Red Hook with the Star-Revue.
Scotto Funeral Home congratulates The Red Hook Star-Revue for two years of service to our community
PS 15, The Patrick F. Daly School, wishes The Red Hook Star Review a Happy Anniversary and congratulates the team on a job well done! PS 15, in the heart of Red Hook, is a distinguished arts-focused public school for children grades Pre-K through 5. With a new state-of-the arts library, a new playground, a National Wildlife Habitat-certified courtyard, an all-grade partnership with The Metropolitan Opera, chorus, music, arts, dance, early morning and after-school programs, and introducing a Spanish-English duallanguage program in the 2012/13 school year, PS 15 is the smart decision for your child and it’s in your community!
John L. Heyer II Salvatore “Buddy” Scotto Debra Scotto
For more information about PS 15 visit us online at www.PS15PatrickFDaly.org.
Celebrate Their Life, Love & Legacy
www.ScottoandHeyer.com
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718.875.2515
June 2012
A toast to the Red Hook Star-Revue on their second birthday!
Breakfast ê Lunch ê Dinner Weekend Brunch Open 8am til midnight, til 2am Fri & Sat Closed Tuesday night
365 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn 347 453 6672 ê FortDefianceBrooklyn.com Please check our website for daily menu
The ILA Local 1814 salutes The Red Hook Star-Revue on the occasion of
THEIR SECOND ANNIVERSARY as the voice of Red Hook, Brooklyn
Red Hook Star-Revue 2nd Anniversary Special
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June 2012
Page 5
Remembering
2010
recounted by George Fiala
My powder blue 1998 Taurus is still today the favored vehicle for hauling the Star-Revues from the printing plant and delivering them to hundreds of locations throughout South Brooklyn. Pictured above is our first haul back in June, 2010.
We opened up shop at 101 Union Street in March, 2010 in the building with the eagle painted on it. We are right in the middle of the block between Columbia and Van Brunt. This is a great view right from our front door. Not only do we love it, but the containerport has been the topic of some of some great Star-Revue news reporting over the years. Hopefully we won’t have to write about condo wars there for many years.
When we moved to Union Street there was a bus going past our offices every day, headed toward Park Slope. That was the summer bus routes were cut all over, including the B77, and we were left with this bizarre sign.
I noticed a lot of ice cream trucks in a lot over on Sackett Street, and I had our first reporter Kevin find out why. The resulting article on food trucks was our first piece that was picked up by other media.
Frank Galeano was an original publisher of the Red Hook Star-Revue. He is shown here at 101 Union with my daughter, Adrianne.
One of our first food reviews was the Rocky Sullivan’s Red Hook pizza. Our model for the photo shoot was Sackett St. resident John R.
A big project we undertook that first summer was to map out who owned what on the waterfront. I knew that this would be useful information for our future reporters, and it is in fact at this moment pasted to our newsroom wall by summer reporter Abby.
Krista Dragomer was our first art critic. She sent me to the Invisible Dog to get some pix and this one made it to the cover.
FORO
Marble & Granite Co., Inc. 140 THIRD STREET, BROOKLYN, NY
(718) 852-2322 http://www.foromarblecompany.com/ Monday To Friday 9 to 5\ Open Sat 9 to 12
Marble Granite Caesarstone Zodiaq Icestone SileStone
There were two studies going on as we began publishing. The first was a BQE enhancement study, in which four different plans were created to make the BQE ditch at Hicks Street more friendly. Pictured above are Dan Wiley, from Nydia Velazquez’s office, and Chris Hrones from NYC DOT. The other study considered bringing trolleys back to Red Hook. Both studies were completed and thus far nothing has changed.
Kitchen Countertops, Table tops Vanity Tops, Fireplaces, Bathrooms, Remnant Pieces. Cash & Carry
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www.RedHookStar.com
June 2012
Remembering
2010
One day Willie Colon happened by the office so I took this picture. You know, the musician!
We met up with Peggy Wyns-Madison at a PS 15 event and were immediately impressed. She is an engaging principal and works very hard to maintain the quality of education at the Patrick Daly School. I hadn’t fully thought this through when I first began the paper, but after a few months I realized that coverage of the Red Hook Houses was vitally important, not to mention where some of the most interesting stories were. The photo above is from Matt Graber’s first foray there, a report on crumbling infrastructure. Below right is a shot from the Senior Center, which survived threatened budget cuts, and I found out about Bishop Tucker when I did a reminiscence of the 1988 Life Magazine story on the effects of crack in Red Hook. I was able to interview the Bishop just before he lost his storefront church.
Mary Ann Massaro called up one day to ask if she could have published a story about her father, Skinny, who ran a store on Van Brunt in Red Hook’s darker days, selling whatever ‘fell off the truck,’ as she put in her excellent article. She has written many other pieces since, including the days of catching crabs on the piers under the White Rock sign. In addition to Mary, we took on JJ Burkard to become our resident historian.
Dean Caselnova opened Caselnova at 215 Columbia Street in November 2010, and took a full page ad for the occasion. We are happy to report that his business is thriving, and we occasionally enjoy meals there ourselves.
We began going to the monthly meetings at the 76th precinct and met Captain Jack. He has since moved on, but our police coverage is stronger than ever thanks to our intrepid reporter Matt Graber.
My first thoughts on the Red Hook Terminal were that the land would serve public interests better as a public park, but I soon realized that in this day and age, the last thing NYC wants to do is pay for new parks, and if the harbor was working, as in unloading ships, we’d have giant condos built, just like in Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridge Park. I didn’t know at first how to cover dealings on the waterfront - that came the next year when the American Stevedoring sign came down.
I found myself with nothing to do that first New Year’s Eve, so I decided to mix work with pleasure as I visited the local Red Hook hotspots and report on the celebrations. Rocky Sullivan’s (r) was fun. George is at his usual place minding the bar, but I found the most fun at the place I least knew, which was the the VFW Post on Van Brunt. There wasn’t a soul there who didn’t seem to be having a blast!
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I was intrigued by this sculpture at the first BWAC group show that we covered, and put her right there on the cover, our first foray into nudity. Later on we accepted an ad for the Paris Burlesque club, which opened up on Commerce Street, near DeFontes. News of that ad was mentioned on a NY Magazine’s Grub Street blog, which I figured out one day when our web hits more than quintupled. In the beginning we mailed the paper out to residents of Red Hook, but several post office glitches convinced us to distribute it ourselves. In addition to bringing them to as many outlets as possible, we invested in four news boxes which can still be seen on Van Brunt, Court and by Ikea.
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Remembering
2011
recounted by George Fiala
Matt Graber began covering Visitation Church in 2011. The picture above is of their basement, which was taken for an article we ran about Father Claudio, who had been given a year to put the church in good financial order, which he did. Below is a picture from their Easter Processional, which I attended this year and last.
Helicopter noise over Red Hook is an ongoing issue for people who live near the river. I decided to send Matt on a ride so he could report about this from the air, and he came back with an engaging report, and this photo showing how close they actually did fly to us. The rule is no flying over land - the flight path comes ever so close.
At the time I took this photo, I wasn’t acquainted with Home/made. This was taken at a BWAC fundraiser. The paper has since made friends with them as we reported on their kitchen fire this year.
For a summer special, I decided to go shopping locally and create a picnic basket and write about it. The best stuff came from Esposito’s on Court Street, with Caputo’s bakery not far behind. And boy, did I have a delicious picnic after finishing the photo shoot!
These two brother have run Marietta’s, a lingerie store on Court Street, since even before I was born. Elizabeth Graham wrote a sentimental piece and took this photo. We made a new friend when Damien opened his bicycle shop around the corner from our offices.
It was a cold day in January when all the politicos showed up to demand Shore Power, meaning a way for the Queen Mary to plug in for electricity rather than idling their engines. The three in the front taking advantage of the photo op are Daniel Squadron, Brad Lander and Nydia Velazquez. You can see John McGettrick off to the left., Hurricane Irene was supposed to be a big threat to Red Hook, with a possible tidal surge wiping us all away. The winds never really showed up, and all the flooding was due to our poor sewer system, rather than water from the sea. I ran the photo to the right illustrating what I found to be the biggest damage, a few knocked over sunflowers on Van Brunt Street.
Around 1 am on a press night, Matt and I were working in the office when word flashed on the computer that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I had noticed a sign in Red Hook that was counting the days that he remained on the lam, and I quickly pushed Matt into my Taurus to take this photo. By the time the rest of the media thought about this the next day, she had taken the sign down, and they had to do their photos from her kitchen.
Mollie Dash and Bryan Lauas opened their eccentric shop Everbright Mercantile on Van Brunt this year. They closed the shop this year as they returned to their online business model.
The footbridge over Hamilton Avenue was suddenly closed just as the fall school year was starting, causing a bit of hardship for anybody trying to cross. While they didn’t finish fixing it when DOT said, it did eventually reopen. I managed to get this nice shot for the paper.
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June 2012
Remembering
2011
The Star-Revue hosted a music festival at the Urban Meadow in August. Among the bands playing was Union. That’s me playing the drums.
We enjoyed a big scoop when we reported on the ousting of American Stevedoring from the Red Hook Container Terminal. A big help was ILA 1814 president Lou Pernice, who we later interviewed.
The popular Moonshine bar on Columbia Street closed in the fall. Most here seem unhappy except for Jalopy owner Lynette Wiley, who must have know she’d be taking over the bar.
One of the first public hints of trouble brewing at the Terminal was this wildcat demonstration. Turns out Sal Catucci was not making deposits into the pension fund. Brad Lander sponsored a B61 study which has led to some improvements.
We finally met Falconworks founder Reg Flowers when he organized Occupy Red Hook. This photo was taken at his interview for the paper.
The major highlight of the year for me came in early December, when Kimberly Gail Price showed up. Hired for a sales position, she now owns half the paper and is rapidly turning into one of the better editors and publishers in local journalism. This photo introduced her to Star-Revue readers. She is posing with a pink rose, which also showed up this past December.
Here is Kimberly with our Congresswoman in a photo taken at Nydia’s Christmas party in Greenpoint.
We salute the staff and management of The Red Hook Star-Revue on the occasion of their second anniversary!
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June 2012
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Remembering
2012
recounted by George Fiala
On warm sunny days we have our staff meetings right on the sidewalk outside of 101 Union Street. Kimberly punctuates the meetings with occasional games of Mad Libs. Pictures above are Mary Ann Massaro (with her back to the camera), Angelika, Kimberly and Matt.
For our April Fools issue, Kimberly had the crazy idea of printing the front page upside down. If that wasn’t enough, she created an 8 page spoof section that we called The Blue Pencil Lunar-Revue. It turned out to be so popular that we run a page each issue. This photo accompanied a story entitled “The Ten Things I Hate About Each You.”
Here is Kimberly with local activist John McGettrick.
And here she gets her face painted at the opening of the BumbleBeesRus daycare center on Lorraine Street.
In January we did a cover piece on Martin Snaric, a fashion star of the 1970’s who recently moved to Carroll Gardens and fashions delicately crafted artificial flowers for sale in places like FIND. He is a master of movement and he moved Kimberly, and she him.
Kimberly, who only began at the StarRevue in December, is rapidly making a name for herself in Red Hook. Above she mentors a class at the Summit Academy. Above right she hobnobs with City Councilman Steven Levin at a Gowanus event...
...and then she rushed back to the office to make Easter baskets for the staff.
Our news reporter, Matt Graber, discusses a story with political reporter Curtis Skinner.
Working for a serious newspaper doesn’t mean we don’t get silly. Here we are making faces one night at Hope and Anchor.
Watching Fort Defiance’s St. Jean mix drinks is rapidly becoming a Sunday night tradition with Star-Revue staffers.
Rosanne Cash and her husband John Leventhal were on hand at Bait & Tackle recently to catch her daughter do a show. This reporter was on hand to snap the photo.
Van Brunt’s Home/made suffered a devastating kitchen fire in April. The community came out to help them, and they celebrated their reopening with a backyard bbq open to all.
The well liked Red Hook resident Carey Montserrate died by his own hand in January. He was highly educated and espoused the ideas of the Wobblies, and actively campaigned against the encroachment of helicopters in our skies. A packed memorial celebration was held at Fort Defiance.
We began covering local sports with the opening day of the Red Hook Youth Baseball League this year. A side story was the temporary closing of four of the fields due to lead contamination. Brooklyn DA, Charles Hynes, sponsors one of the teams. He was on hand at the opening ceremonies (below, left)
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June 2012
Remembering
2012
Congratulations to our favorite newspaper people!
CASELNOVA -the neighborhood trattoriaThat’s me with Angelika Mitchell, our Ad Manager, proudly holding up our new membership plaque from the New York State Press Association. Ask us if we had fun at the March convention. We should have even more next year when we bring back some trophies.
We were sad to say goodbye to our first political reporter, Curtis Skinner. He came to us from the Columbia School of Journalism and is back there working for The NY World.
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Congratulations to The Red Hook Star-Revue
for two years of service to the Red Hook community!
We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we hired third year Brown student, Abby Savitch-Lew. She is already an unbelievable reporter at the tender age of twenty. We are all learning from her!
Max J. Pollack Our second political reporter, Greg Algarin-Marquez, shakes hands with the outgoing Curtis. Greg brings enthusiasm and wisdom to his writing and is currently writing on the congressional primary.
To our faithful readers
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Jabus Building Corp. congratulates
E
ach of us has done a million things in our life, or at least three. Yet nothing either of us has ever undertaken approaches both the amount of work and satisfaction as publishing the StarRevue twice a month. We work as hard and as long as we can, each and every day, to keep earning the trust of our readers to bring the important news that we all need to know about in our neighborhoods. We work hard to get it right, but we are both still learning, from the community and from the great writers who we work with. A neighborhood is a grouping of homes; a community is a gathering of humanity. There is a collective spirit here. We serve that spirit, that community and the voices that stand together to make us unique. You can see it from our faces above. Serving Red Hook and its environs is the best and most important thing we do. Our gratitude is vast, and we will continue to strive to keep you well-informed, entertained and satisfied. This is the greatest joy of this adventure we have undertaken. Please never feel afraid to tell us what you think. Without you, we are only talking to ourselves. Thank you, South Brooklyn!!!
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Kimberly Gail Price and George Fiala
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June 2012
Page 11
10,000 cups (continued from page 3) drops a banana on my desk when I’ve been there for hours. He offers thirteen letter adjectives when I subject him to Mad Libs. In February, Angelika Mitchell joined the Star-Revue team. Within a week, she had folders, magazine tabs, index cards, Post-It notes, binders and pages of research. She is an unshakeable force with an intoxicating smile. She fills my
desk drawers with toys and my file cabinet with cookies. From core to shirtsleeve, she is pure gold. Despite his strange and almost frightening first impression, George has proven to be thoughtful, trustworthy and loyal from day one. Kindness beyond measure. Every week I have fresh flowers on my desk. He leaves my office light on every night, convinced my inner light might diminish if my space goes dark. He has stood beside me countless times over a failure, playing the role of mentor when I am overwhelmed or frustrated. He takes my tormenting and
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teasing in stride, always laughing at his own expense. He has taught me more than I ever thought I could learn about newspapers, life and friendship. And sometimes, he’ll perform “I’m a Little Tea Pot” while standing on one foot. Just because. The journey is not always smooth. There have been many working nights that turn into sunrises. Many moments when George and I damn near rip each other apart over a simple miscommunication or difference of opinion. Missed deadlines, twenty hour days, knowing I could have done better. The ache and
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sting of these elements fade quickly when accomplishment and pride take over. It’s personal. It’s the ebb and flow of the newspaper business. It is stepping aboard to create a masterpiece that will be replaced fifteen days later. The past six months have been life changing. I found a niche. I fell in love with a community. I accomplish more in 24 hours “defying all human logic,” Matt once pointed out. Red Hook and her surrounding communities have welcomed me as a friend. As we continue to grow, I am touched by the overwhelming spirit of this newspaper, Red Hook and her neighbors.
June 2012