the red hook
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ou don’t choose to attend a performance at the floating cabaret, the Avalon. The Avalon chooses you. And you’re not only the guest of honor—you’re the only guest. Every song, every dance, every act is written just for you. But the invitation comes at a high price: step on board once, you risk leaving your old life behind forever. This (imaginary) cultish cabaret is central to Tara Isabella Burton’s intriguing new novel, “Here in Avalon.” The troupe offers private shows for a ragtag collection of dreamers, seekers, and romantics. Onboard its mysterious red ship that drifts through the night around New York City, the performers treat art and glamor as spiritual concerns of the highest order.
Local author Tara Isabella Burton brings Red Hook to her latest novel by Michael Quinn
An unexpected invitation from the Avalon threatens the deep bond of adult sisters Cecilia and Rose, who share the rent-controlled Tudor City apartment where their bohemian (now deceased) mother raised them: “The identity of the girls’ father (“fathers,” Rose always assumed) was a pleasant mystery: like the existence of God.”
The elder Cecilia is a vagabond musician who has returned to the roost after fleeing a brief failed marriage in Maine to an older English professor, Paul. He’s followed her back to the city, subletting an apartment in Red Hook and attempting to make contact.
Cecilia won’t talk to him or speak to Rose about what happened. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem good, for Cecilia is acting out of character: picking up around the apartment, offering to cook Thanksgiving dinner, supporting herself by getting a regular gig at a neighborhood piano bar. She’s the type who never cared about a job. She always wanted “a calling.” So Rose is immediately concerned. Responsibility isn’t exactly Cecilia’s middle name.
It could be Rose’s, though. While also artistic, she has set aside the fanciful sketchbooks of her youth to make the kind of choices that look good on paper. She has a well-paying job (working as a coder developing mindfulness apps) and a dull but dependable fiancée, Caleb. (You know what happens to men like that in stories like these.) Feeling depressed one night after a fight with Paul, Cecilia finds herself at Sunny’s Bar. While drowning her sorrows, she’s approached by a woman whose breathtaking beauty evokes a more glamorous era. It’s not a sexual advance— it’s more like attunement from a kindred spirit. In this stranger’s presence, Cecilia feels, for the
WALKING WITH COFFEE A Boomer talks with a Millennial. Boomer– R.J. Cirillo Millennial –Amy Flatow
We are in Park Slope, sitting with coffee.
R.J. –“So Amy, what generation are you?” Amy Flatow
Amy –“I’m technically a millennial, but considered a
geriatric millennial, or like the first crop of them.” And she laughed. R.J.– “I’m a boomer, so I get some flak for that, the term itself becoming sort of a put-down.” Amy –“I think that’s because there’s some resentment from my generation which we can into later.”
FREE FORM
JANUARY 2024 LOCALLY PRODUCED JOURNALISM first time, wholly seen and totally understood. The woman presses a business card into Cecilia’s hand with an invitation to the Avalon. To set sail, Cecilia must leave her old life behind. How much is she prepared to give up?
Rose is preparing to walk down the aisle when Cecilia disappears. Will Cecilia’s chaotic choices drive Rose off her hard-won straight-andnarrow path—or toward the kind of life she’s always been afraid to live?
A metaphysical mystery
“Here in Avalon” is a suspenseful, thoughtful and intelligent novel. Burton describes it as a “love letter to cults,” but it’s also an idealized portrait of a relationship between sisters. One’s a free spirit, and one’s a stick in the mud. Yet they respect each other’s differences and come to value them. The flighty one learns to ground herself, and the uptight one learns to let her hair down. The cult provides the means through which they transform.
I’d almost classify “Here in Avalon” as a metaphysical mystery, one that forces its characters to investigate for themselves what makes life truly worth living. It invites its readers to reflect on this as well. For the Cecilias among us, the spirit of the novel might evoke the last lines of John Keats’ poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”: “‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’”
The novel also holds more practical charms for the Roses in our number. Its portrait of the city reflects the deep knowledge of a longtime resident. Readers of this paper will especially enjoy Burton’s gentle ribbing of the neighborhood: “Red Hook was one of those industrial and inconvenient parts of New York that nobody ever went to without a reason.” You live here, so you know otherwise. It takes a little while for some of Burton’s characters to catch on to the neighborhood’s magic. But once they get a taste of it, it’s just like what happens with any other cult: they get hooked.
R.J. –“Ok later. As a “boomer” I always sat down when drinking coffee. We called it a coffee break. I see many of your generation walking with their coffee. Why is that?
Amy –“Speaking for myself, maybe it’s because I have 2 little kids, I’m always going from point a to point b. I don’t, have time, or don’t make time to sit down with my coffee. So I think walking
down the street with my coffee seems like a better use of my time. Like, oh why just sit with coffee when I can travel at the same time and be more productive.”
R.J. –“So the key word is production.” Amy –“I guess.”
R.J. –“Ok question 2. I moved out of my parent’s house when I
(continued on page 15)
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POLITICS: Post Election wrap-up: Adam Gaza sweeps the write-ins by Howard Graubard
T
he day before election day, when a good number (at least in the context of this year) of the City’s electorate had already cast early votes, I was awakened by a call from my fellow election law practitioner, Ali Najmi, warning of a potential problem in Bay Ridge, where my client, Democrat Justin Brannan, was facing off in a closely-watched race for Council with the politically non-binary Ari Kagan. Ali bore warnings of a Citywide campaign to encourage voters to write in the slogan “Free Palestine” in any race where there wasn’t a clearly preferable alternative. He shared a copy of a piece of literature which encouraged this. Brannan’s Bay Ridge base is the home of a large community of Moslem and/ or Arab Americans, many of them of Palestinian origin; this was probably going to cost him more votes than it would his opponent. The Board of Election’s (BOE) legal counsel, Hemalee Patel, assured both of us that the Board would only count votes for names, but not slogans, and Ali then spread the word far and wide among his Islamic political contacts that such votes would not be counted. At least one of those contacts, Hesham El-Meligy, announced a change of plan, with was different in content, but not in kind: “Important change” read one ElMeligy tweet, “An election lawyer confirmed that “Free Palestine” is considered a slogan and won’t be tabulated…if someone uses it as a writein. The write-in must be a person’s name, even if fictional….So, instead of wasting your vote, if you like, write-in the fictional (but powerfully symbolic) name: “Adam Gaza.” And so it was. I’ve been doing an annual review of write-in votes since my days as Gatemouth on Ben Smith’s late, lamented Room Eight; many times they are good for laughs, and sometimes they are deeply revealing. Last year, for instance, it was clear that, in ultra-Or-
thodox Jewish communities throughout the City, some had organized campaigns to cast write-in votes for at least two well-known opponents of LGBTQ rights, the late Rabbi Avigdor Miller, and former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis. This year, it was Adam Gaza for those opposing the Israeli incursion and, to a far lesser extent, Holocaust Survivor Miriam Tyrk, for those who felt Jewish concerns were being ignored or minimized. The BOE’s Hemalee Patel assures me there were also a large number of votes citywide for “Free Palestine, ” though it is unlikely we will ever know how many. Hereby, a report on this year’s writeins. Ground Rules: To open, and be recorded by me, one needs at least double digits, or to run first, or be tied for first, in any jurisdiction (two vote minimum). Once one meets this threshold, votes will count for any reasonable variation on the vote-getter’s name. This year, an exception will be made for all Middle East related protest votes. COUNCIL DISTRICT 39. The most vehement response from the anti-anti-Israel side came, not in any Orthodox Jewish stronghold, but in Council District 39, where most Israel sympathizers are nearly as anti-Bibi as they are anti-Hamas. Councilwoman Shahana Hanif was already facing hostility before October 7, as a result of her vote against a resolution condemning Anti-Semitism; her appearance to explain herself at one liberal Park Slope Synagogue over the summer led to widespread derision. Post October 7, when Hanif’s posts clearly indicated a desire that Israel go out of business, one local columnist organized a write-in campaign for his mother-inlaw, Miriam Tyrk, a 97 year old Holocaust survivor, with the slogan of “Shoah E’nuff.” 417 write in votes were cast in District 39, the largest count in the City for any district where the incumbent already
Richard Simmons received 4 votes in Bushwick
had an opponent on the ballot. Of course, not all those votes were pro-Israel or Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti Semitism. Adam Gaza got one vote, as did Brandon West, who had run against Hanif for Council four years before, embracing a boycott of Israel (Hanif had not taken a public position), while Brad Lander, who carefully attempts to find the sweet spot between the mildly Zionist J Street and the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace got 7 votes. But the 6 votes for Anne Frank, 25 votes for Miriam Tyrk, an Anne Frank who lived to tell the tale, 13 for the outspokenly anti-antiSemitic District Leader Doug Schneider (and one for his his wife, Joni Kletter), 11 for Yisroel Wolfson, 9 for Park Slope Rabbi Rachel Timoner, 5 for Councilman Kalman Yeger, 5 for Justin Krebs, a former Council candidate, 4 for pro-Israel Congressman Ritchie Torres, 4 for Joe Biden, 3 for former Public Advocate candidate Jared Rick, 3 apiece for always pro-Israel Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Bill Deblasio, and 3 for Dorothy Siegel, a former Working Families Party Leader who recently left the party, partially out of frustration with what she saw as various left-wing excesses, as well as the votes for many others, myself included (but misspelled) indicate the level (continued on page 14)
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January 2024
GEORGE'S THOUGHTS
W
The new economic basis of society effectively remade human nature itself in Bellamy's idyllic vision, with greed, maliciousness, untruthfulness, and insanity all relegated to the past."
henever I consciously try to predict something, I'm generally wrong. I think a lot of people end up being wrong, while some of us end up being right. That's because I'm guessing we are all kind of doing wishful thinking.
Even I would have never made those kinds of predictions, then or now. But of course what Bellamy said, kind of a distillation of socialism, without using the word, became highly influential among all sorts of people, inspiring political and social movements.
If I were to make 2024 predictions, I'd probably say that Trump will be soundly defeated, so much so that all the MAGA Republicans will have to retire, and we will return to having two sensible political parties again. I would also say that in that trouncing, Democrats would end up with solid majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. I would predict that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would either retire or be forcefully retired due to corruption, and two excellent thirty-something judges would be appointed by Joe Biden. I'd predict the Giants in the Superbowl, and the Knicks as division winners. And in tennis, Nick Kyrgos would regain get healthy and win both Wimbledon and the US Open. Maybe I'd say that everyone would shift their advertising back to newspapers, but even I know that's a long shot. Now you can see how predictions can go awry, depending on who is making them. To further buttress that theory, I looked up some predictions of the past. In 1900, the Ladies Home Journal made some predictions for the new century. Here are a few, reprinted as they appeared:
What I would say is that Bellamy didn't actually understand how much human nature is such a big part of us all, and almost impossible to trump.
One of the more famous forays into predicting the future was published in 1888 by a journalist, no less. Edward Bellamy was a newsman in Springfield, Massachusetts and had also written a few ordinary novels, when he switched gears and concocted a novel something like the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. His protagonist fell asleep for 112 years. He woke up toa much different world, created by Bellamy. Wikipedia has a nice summary: "a non-violent revolution had transformed the American economy and thereby society; private property had been abolished in favor of state ownership of capital and the elimination of
social classes and the ills of society that he thought inevitably followed from them. In the new world of the year 2000, there was no longer war, poverty, crime, prostitution, corruption, money, or taxes. Neither did there exist such occupations seen by Bellamy as of dubious worth to society, such as politicians, lawyers, merchants, or soldiers. Instead, Bellamy's utopian society of the future was based upon the voluntary employment of all citizens between the ages of 21 and 45, after which time all would retire. Work was simple, aided by machine production, working hours short and vacation time long.
The prediction of the future I myself like best is the world of Star-Trek. In that world, people studied what interested them, regardless of money. In fact, money is rarely mentioned, except of course for the Ferengi, to whom profit was the be-all and endall. I felt this was because they had discovered how to use dilithium crystals for energy, and then ways to transform energy into all kinds of things, including food and clothing. Imagine a world in which survival is a given, where people could have as much or as little as they want, and anyone could study whatever they liked, whether it be science, art or just sitting around and watching TV. So I guess my prediction is that perhaps one day in the far future technology will actually trump human nature (maybe).
Cartoon Section with Marc and Sophie
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WeLL,
BY MARC JACKSON
S0MEONe DiDN’T MeNTi0N HIS ReALisTIC EYe ON His DATiNG PR0FILe.
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FUNNY SIDE UP
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SHORT SHORTS: BY STAR-REVUE STAFF
Bring Red Hook to CB 6
Online applications to join 2024 Brooklyn community boards are now open and applications must be filled out and submitted by February 19. The applications can be found on Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s website. To be eligible to serve on a Brooklyn community board, you must be a New York City resident. To qualify for a particular board, you must live, work, or have a professional or other significant interest in that Board’s district. Those with questions or concerns can reach out to the Director of Community Boards, Carol-Ann Church, via email at cbapplication@brooklynbp.nyc.gov or by calling (718) 802-3700
Green-Wood to expand
those in the neighborhood who are need. “I donate 13 to 14 platters on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week,” Morales said. “One day a young lady came in and told me about what they were doing. She asked me about donating platters and I said ‘Sure.’ It feels good to help other people who need help. I’d just like people to know that I’m here seven days a week and I’m always looking to give back to the community.” Morales is originally from Red Hook and said “I began working at Defonte’s in 1985 when I was 15 years old. I worked for Nicky Defonte for 18 years and I learned a lot from working there. “I decided to open up my own place and I was at 277 Van Brunt St. for a couple of years and the name of that store was Red Hook’s Finest. I sold that building and bought this one and I’ve been here ever since. Since I opened, I’ve always donated to the community and this has become a steady thing now.”
The event was ticketed and more than 100 people showed up. The menu included salmon and other fish in addition to some of the traditional favorites like the meatballs while the dessert menu included bread pudding and ginger cookies. There was also live music. “The food is great and I’m really glad I found out about this,” John from Red Hook said.
The Green-Wood Historic Fund, the educational and cultural arm of The Green-Wood Cemetery, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation for the Cemetery’s upcoming Education & Welcome Center. The funds will specifically be used to support the Center for Research within the new structure. When completed in 2025, the Education & Welcome Center will offer Green-Wood’s 400,000+ annual visitors a welcoming space where they can get an introduction to the historic cemetery before exploring the grounds. The space will also house two exhibition galleries; expanded space for GreenWood’s robust platform of educational events and programs; a classroom; the Center for Research; and meeting and event space for local nonprofits and community organizations.
If the volunteer doesn't show up in time, he leaves the platters down the block with Merline from Island Vibes Juices & Smoothies and they pick it up there instead.
F & M Frankie gives back
Frankie Morales of F & M Cafe & Restaurant, 387 Van Brunt Street, gives back to the community, and not just for the holidays; he does it every week of the year. He donates free meals to volunteers who then give the food to
Over the course of a full year, the 1314 meals Morales donates twice a week will add up to more than 1,000 dinners for the neighborhood needy.
IKEA Celebration
IKEA celebrated the holidays with a Swedish Julbord event on Dec. 8. Julbord is a Scandinavian feast held during the holiday season and IKEA had a special menu for it.
District Leaders Jacqui Painter and Julio Pena Louis Balzano with brother Ralph at their brother Sunny's funeral in 2016 outside Scotto's Funeral Home
RIP Louis Balzano
Louis John Balzano “Blou” age 70 of Andover, NJ died December 3rd, 2023 surrounded by his loved ones at his home. He was born in Red Hook in 1952 to Josephine and Ralph Balzano.
Holiday Hang
Local District Leader Jacque Painter co-sponsored a Toy Drive at the San Pedro Inn a week before Christmas. The event brought together local politicos, judges and community leaders, and produced a plethora of toys to be given away for the holidays.
If you happen to be in New York City, don’t leave without stopping in Red Hook to see one of the best sculpture gardens, art galleries and blacksmithing studios in the world. You may see the blacksmith at work as well as some of his more than 60 metal sculptures, including a 22 foot dinosaur. Most of the sculptures are not for sale. Free refreshments wll be provided. Thank you, Tony Cuonzo
Sculpture Garden and Gallery
Blacksmithing and Antique Gates
Lou was a Husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, cousin, and friend to many. He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and his children, Ralph, Chris, and Sydney as well as his brother, Ralph. He was the brother of Sunny Balzano who died in 2016. Sunny opened and ran Sunny’s Bar (253 Conover St.) which is still a staple of Red Hook.
(718) 964-7422 tony.cuonzo@gmail.com 102 Dikeman Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue
Lou was described as “the life of the party, the spark that ignited joy in every gathering. His sharp wit and personality kept everyone on their toes. With his infectious smile and laughter, he turned ordinary moments into extraordinary ones.” “We grew up together and he was my younger brother,” said Lou’s brother Ralph. “We had our own separate lives but I love my brother.”
Frances and Hal Brown
Red Hook East meets Frances Brown, president of the Red Hook East Tenant Association, cordially invited the Star-Revue for their last monthly meeting of the year, where they heard from the police and handed out home-cooked holiday dinners. Meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month at 167 Bush St, 1B.
wine | spirits | sake | cider vintage glassware
Gift Certificates Available
ORDER AT WETWHISTLEWINES.COM
357 Van Brunt 718-576-3143 Open Seven Days
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January 2024
City Council defies Mayor Adams as it legislates to protect citizen rights
T
he Bronx Defenders (360 E 161 St.) hosted a town hall on Dec. 5 on the “How Many Stops Act.” This act includes two bills, including Intro. 586 which is sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and District 38 Council Member Alexa Aviles. This bill makes it mandatory “for the Police Department [NYPD] to report on all levels of police street stops and investigative encounters, including where they happen, demographic information on the person stopped, the reason for the encounter, and whether the encounter leads to any use of force or enforcement action.” The bill passed the City Council with a veto proof majority on December 20, although ex-cop Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to veto it. Prior to Intro. 586, the NYPD has only been required to report on Level 3 stops (the highest level.) Intro. 538 which is sponsored by Council Member Crystal Hudson would make sure the NYPD is correctly following the “Right to Know Act” by guaranteeing that the NYPD cannot go back on its promise to report on declined searches by explicitly codifying a requirement for the NYPD to report data on all requests for consent to search, including all requests for consent that are refused and all consent searches that actually take place.
It would also require the NYPD to report on officers’ use of consent searches to collect DNA information from New Yorkers. Additionally, it would require the NYPD to report on its officers’ use of interpretation services when seeking consent to search from people with limited English proficiency. On the walk from the 161 St.-Yankee Stadium train station to the Bronx Defenders (about a 10-minute walk) I saw at least 10 police vehicles and dozens of police officers. However, there were no police officers in attendance at the town hall. Those in attendance included the family of Antonio Williams, a 27-yearold who was fatally shot by members of the NYPD in 2019, as well as the brother of Allan Feliz, a 31-year-old who was also fatally shot by members of the NYPD in 2018. “My son was murdered because of a socalled low-level stop,” said Shawn Williams, the father of Antonio Williams. “The public hears about people who have been killed by the police but how many more of these encounters happen when the only person who knows about it is unable to speak about it.” Video shows Antonio Williams standing on the sidewalk, and his family says he was waiting for a cab when plainclothes officers came out of a vehicle. He ran away and they chased him. Williams and officer Brian Mulkeen struggled and both were killed by police fire. Williams had a revolver
Red Hook Star-Revue
by Brian Abate
with him but it was not fired. In a recording of the incident, NYPD officers could be heard yelling “He’s reaching for it,” before the shooting. Williams was on probation for a narcotics arrest and had prior arrests but I could not find the cause for the plainclothes officers to chase after Williams on the night of the shooting. Allan Feliz was pulled over for a seatbelt violation. After the NYPD ran his ID, they found he had three warrants against him. They tried to arrest Feliz but he then attempted to flee in his car. The police first used a stun gun and during the struggle, Feliz’s vehicle went into reverse. An officer had to let go of Feliz to avoid the car and after officers said the stun gun did not stop Feliz, they opened fire, killing him. “This all happened in the span of about a minute and a half,” said Allan Feliz’s brother Sammy Feliz. “My brother was cuffed and lay bleeding
"It’s really important for us to know the scale and scope of the policing that happens in our community and this is common sense.” Alexa Aviles out for 18 minutes. He still had life in him. They could have saved him. They chose not to. This is how they value or really, don’t value our lives. “I was also stopped and frisked by the police and I complied with these officers not because of who they were but out of fear. As these officers interacted with me, they held their guns the entire time so it was a form of intimidation that they used for me to comply and that’s not right. That interaction under the ‘How Many Stops Act’ would’ve been documented and there would’ve been proof of what happened to me. Now there isn’t and those officers were free to walk away.” There were a lot of other people in attendance who also spoke about having similar encounters with the police. One of the key points they made was that their encounters weren’t documented and did not become well known because there was not a tragic outcome. One woman said she was followed and stopped by police who said she looked like the suspect of a robbery before they ultimately let her go.
Sammy Feliz's brother was killed by the police after a seatbelt violation. He spoke at the Town Hall about how some police don't really value the lives of people like him. (photo by Brian Abate)
and investigative encounters,” Aviles said. “What we know from the experiences of our community members is that level one stops, which are most of the stops, escalate. In the worst-case scenario, they end up in the death of our community members. It’s really important for us to know the scale and scope of the policing that happens in our community and this is common sense.” While many in attendance were appreciative of Aviles and Hudson, who both represent Brooklyn, they were frustrated that politicians from the Bronx were not more involved or leading the way. After one attendee called out Bronx politicians, District 16 Council Member Althea Stevens, who represents the Bronx got up and spoke. “I grew up in the era of stop and frisk and I have been doing work around it for my entire career,” Stevens said. At a town hall last week, a young man said he was followed by police while he was walking home and they threw him against a wall, stopped and frisked him then let him go. He said he went home and cried. This has become normalized and we need it to stop.” Mayor Eric Adams responded to the “How Many Stops Act,” with a statement that read, “The New York City Council has taken action today that, if implemented, will unquestionably make our city less safe. Since day one, our administration has made public safety our top priority, and we have delivered results: Overall crime is down,
shootings are down, and New Yorkers are safer than they were two years ago. “When I was a police officer, I fought for transparency and against abusive policing tactics that targeted communities like the one where I grew up. Intro. 586-A would not advance those goals— it will slow down police response times and divert our officers from responding to emergency incidents. In every City Council district in this city, our officers will be forced to spend more time in their cars and on their phones, and less time walking the streets and engaging with New Yorkers. “As the city faces significant budget challenges, with an unprecedented $7 billion gap that must be closed next month by law, the City Council’s choice to pass this bill will mean millions of dollars in additional overtime costs that will force us to make further painful cuts… We are reviewing all options.” NYPD leaders have also spoken out against the “How Many Stops Act,” including Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) President Patrick Hendry. “We do not have enough police officers,” Hendry said. “It will bury our officers’ heads in paperwork, it won’t help us with response times.” Despite the City Council passing Intro. 586, Adams possesses the power to veto the act and said, “There is no way I will sign this bill into law,” in an interview on CBS.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
9:00am – 1:30pm
Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club 117 Remsen St. – Brooklyn, NY 11201
Kuddish Room To make an appointment, Click Here or scan QR code:
“Intro. 586 is asking the NYPD to report on low-level police street stops
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January 2024, Page 5
Aging Gracefully: How to Avoid Ending Up in a Nursing Home by Donny Tuchman
I
’ve been the CEO of Cobble Hill Lifecare, a not for profit health care organization in Brooklyn, for almost 15 years. We take care of patients in our skilled nursing facility on Henry St. and we take care of patients in their homes and I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that most of our patients would rather receive care at home, in familiar surroundings. The good news is that they can, thanks to the services home care agencies can provide. When a patient is admitted to Cobble Hill Health Center, our skilled care facility, they are almost immediately given a discharge date. But they don’t go home alone. We provide them with the nursing and therapy care they will need at home so they can make a complete recovery. Take Candace O’Hara, a 76 year old retired social worker. Candace lives with her daughter Mary, in Prospect Heights. Candace was overweight, smoked a pack a week and salted her food with abandon. Six months ago, she suffered a stroke. She told me, “I thought I was invincible. Never thought it would happen to me. I almost never went to the doctor and since I retired didn’t go out much. I lost a lot of my friends during Covid. I guess I was depressed, though my
daughter tried to get me out. Thankfully, my stroke was relatively mild but I needed months of physical therapy at Cobble Hill Health Center. They helped me get back on my feet. I’m still not fully back to myself but I’m getting there. The good news is I lost 50 lbs. and gave up smoking.” Candace was lucky. She lived with a caring and loving family member who helped her recover. But she still needed a therapist to come in several times a week to maintain the progress she had made at Cobble Hill and an aide to help with her daily needs. “It was a lifesaver,” her daughter Mary says. “My mom just kept getting better every day. She looked forward to her sessions.” Penny Jeffries, 62, a 6th grade teacher, wasn’t as fortunate. Penny, an avid runner, stepped the wrong way off a sidewalk and fell breaking her leg in two places, requiring a four hour surgery. The hospital took good care of her but after 10 days she was discharged to our facility. She received intensive physical therapy twice daily. She came a long way but when her insurance ran out, Penny panicked. Her only family member, a brother, lived in Salt Lake City. “How can I go home by myself?” she asked Stephanie her social worker. “I am really not able to get
around that well.” Stephanie reassured her that we would never leave her to manage on her own. “We are going to send a nurse, a physical therapist and an aide for daily activities. Penny was relieved and thankful for the home care she received over the next few months. Eventually, she recovered completely and just recently I met her brisk walking in Prospect Park!
to help them recover. But what many people don’t know is that when they go home, they can take the care they received as a patient in our facility, home with them where they can recover comfortably. All it takes is one call to a certified home health care agency. My next column will address how to make sure you are getting the best care possible at home.
Our patients leave Cobble Hill Health Center and go home after a stay at our facility feeling much improved. When they are admitted from the hospital after surgery or illness, we do our best
Donny is the CEO of Cobble Hill LifeCare, a health care organization comprised of: Cobble Hill Health Center and Your Choice at Home, a certified home health care agency.
2023
Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue
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January 2024
More talk about roadways and trucks by Brian Abate
T
he NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) met at the Miccio Center (110 W 9th St.) on December 7, updating the community on their Red Hook traffic study. DOT’s goal is to improve travel conditions for all street users (motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians.) This includes making conditions safer and improving quality of life.
a Vision Zero intersection on Court St. and Hamilton Ave.”
Studies included measuring the speed of vehicles in certain areas, measuring the number of vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians in various areas at different times of day and during different seasons as well as using surveys to find areas that residents felt were unsafe.
Some areas the DOT is looking to target and make safer are Hamilton Ave. (at Court St, 9th St.,) Van Brunt St. (at Pioneer St., Sullivan St. and Walcott St.,) Clinton St. (at Hamilton Ave., Lorraine St. and Bay St.,) Columbia St. (at West 9th St., Lorraine St., and Bay St.,) and Richards St. (at Sullivan St. and Wolcott St.)
In the community surveys, residents had a lot of truck-related concerns including safety, air quality, and noise. Some of the possible solutions are alternative truck routes, better truck enforcement for oversized vehicles, and better signage for off-route trucks. Some of the solutions like better signage can be done in the short term while changing the truck routes would likely take longer to happen. The study also looked at pedestrian safety “Which found 88 injuries in 2020, 132 injuries in 2021, and 105 injuries in 2022,” said Harvey LaReau of the DOT who led the presentation. “In all three years, the vast majority of the injuries were to people in motor vehicles. There were also two fatalities from 2017-2023, one at a Vision Zero corridor on Court St. and one at
Vision Zero is NYC’s citywide initiative to eliminate death and serious injuries from traffic incidents. When a severe accident or fatality occurs, the DOT looks to make changes to improve safety at that location and this included the sites where the the two fatal accidents occurred.
Interestingly, the study area showed that 27 percent of people in the study area (Red Hook) commute to work by walking or biking and 15 percent of people commute to work by driving. In NYC, only 11 percent of people walk or bike to work, while 27 percent drive. The statistics show that there should be less traffic in Red Hook because more people walk to work; however, the increase in lastmile warehouses means that there are a lot more trucks moving goods in Red Hook than in most other NYC neighborhoods which means more traffic. There are nine last-mile warehouses that fall within the area of the study. “Just from observing, I’ve seen the Amazon facility has rows of sprinter vans that all come out every 20 minutes to
make their deliveries,” said Jim Tampakis of Tamco Mechanical (54 Richards St.) “I can see the 640 Columbia St. site for Amazon looks like it’s about twice as big as the 270 Richards St. site. There’s going to be a lot of traffic going through there which goes right in front of the BASIS School [556 Columbia St.] which [Jo Goldfarb, who works at the school and also attended the meeting] is concerned about.” Right now it is unclear how much traffic there will be once the new Amazon facility on 640 Columbia St. fully ramps up its operations. Though there were only about 25 people in attendance at the meeting, those who were there were engaged, making a lot of comments or suggestions, while asking a lot of questions as well. “My first time in Red Hook was in 2015 and at that time there was no street light on the corner of Pioneer and Van Brunt,” said Carly Baker-Rice of the Red Hook Business Alliance. “When you think about that now, it’s crazy. I spoke to another neighbor who said when she moved to Red Hook there was one traffic signal in the entire neighborhood. “I think it’s important to remember that Red Hook is probably a few decades behind in getting our needs met in general. It sounds like a lot of the areas that were studied were the ones
Jim Tampakis ready to make a point.
that had traffic signals, but so many of them don’t have them so I think it’s important that those areas are also studied. The point isn’t for us to solve Amazon’s problems, but to make things better for our community.” The meeting concluded with Alexa Aviles saying, “There’s obviously a lot going on in Red Hook and a lot being planned. One of the important things in the various projects is access to data. We’ve been making sure that data that should be public information is public information. “I’m here to continue to push the city and push all of the agencies to coordinate. I’m here at your disposal and thank you for being here.” The DOT is continuing to collect data and will have a third public meeting sometime between June and September of 2024. The DOT will draft its final report from the study in October of 2024.
The Year In Review according to Joe Enright It was a year of downs with slight upturns that suddenly veered into downs that seemed to bottom out, only to tumble violently downward again. Happily, the murder rate was also trending downward, yet most citizens reported feeling unsafe as mental illness, addiction and homelessness were visible everywhere, especially on the F, D, 2, 5, B, 1 and A trains. In Brooklyn, five-finger discounts became so common that most items were locked behind plexiglass barriers. This required shoppers to summon staff not busy bandaging overrun security guards to unlock access to precious items such as shampoo, deodorant and Hershey bars (just the ones with almonds – the plain ones aren’t as precious). In the world of weird, UAPs (née UFOs) were seized upon by both parties in Congress as another Deep State secret needing to be liberated, but only after polling showed UFOs had a tenfold higher approval rating than politicians. Artificial Intelligence software went mainstream as idiot savant idiots like Elon Musk warned of the danger while mere idiot savants argued, “Let’s see if it destroys us all first before we start rushing to conclusions.” When not warning us, Musk fired
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most of his Twitter staff. Then, perhaps inspired by the UFO to UAP thing, rebranded his newly- acquired toy as X, thinking that less letters would save on ink. Genius! In cinema, Barbenheimer brightened our July. In music, Beyonce and Taylor Swift brought us much happiness. In sports, Taylor Swift also focused much attention on the Kansas City Chiefs, thanks to her romance with tight end Travis Kelce. But when the Chiefs started losing, fans complained that Swift should have known all too well she was distracting them from the deadly serious violence of pro football. In politics, God help us, Trump got indicted in four different jurisdictions up and down the East Coast. This should have been a 2022 Year in Review item, but we’re told that justice moves very slowly. Meanwhile Joe Biden looked like he was auditioning for a role in the film version of The Walking Dead. Not a good look in an age when visuals count more than substance. Ignoring public opinion, Biden decided that the best way to deal with the accelerating merger of the population of Central and South America into the United States was to ignore it because immigration reform moves even
slower than justice. Mayor Eric Adams on the other hand, faced with the mass migration of the world’s asylum seekers to Manhattan, courtesy of free bus rides thoughtfully provided by the evercompassionate politicians of Texas and Florida, tried to de-zombify Biden. No luck. Then Governor Hochul announced she wrangled thousands of jobs for migrants, who legally can’t accept them, plus they’re all located upstate where there’s even less affordable (and non-affordable) housing than the five boroughs. Oh well, nice gesture. After burning bridges with Biden, Adams tried to tunnel under the FBI who’ve been investigating his fondness for Turkish campaign donations. The New York press was elated because they could finally move on from reporting Adams’ fondness for appointing unqualified pals to newly created managerial positions. Newly elected Congressman George Santos, whose increasingly outrageous lies inspired the most jokes in the history of comedy, got expelled. And Rudy Giuliani, another gift to satire, got indicted, disbarred, and bankrupted. Apparently justice moves a tad swifter when there’s no army of
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aggrieved psychos threatening death and destruction on your behalf. Worn out by the titanic effort required to boot Santos back to Queens, Congress tabled support for Ukraine and Israel until they could figure out how they ranked compared to support for UFOs. Moving on to sports, the Jets once again rendered fans profoundly dumbstruck, gobsmacked and flabbergasted by their decades-long, seemingly unending cavalcade of unique calamities, leading many to wonder whether a tackle who majored in exorcism should be their priority in the draft. In weather, which many experts claim is driving migration on a global scale, New York City has not experienced a measurable snowfall in so long, don’t be surprised if kids who got sleds for Christmas in 2021 start blocking playgrounds in protest. Finally, despite it all, in 2023 weary New Yorkers once again proved to be reliant, resilient, inventive, helpful, generous and pretty damn good at dodging bullets, knives and random freakazoids.And remember, as the Beatles once joyously sang, with an optimistic Paul trading vocals with a pessimistic John: “I have to admit it’s getting better / It can’t get no worse.”
January 2024, Page 7
Harbor School celebrates year-end holidays by Nathan Weiser
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S 676 hosted a December Family Fun Night / Holidays Around the World event on December 19 with dancing and holiday activities. In the auditorium, there were two dances by the dance team performed to holiday songs that talked about Christmas and Hanukkah. The students were wearing festive shirts with snowflakes on them.
sive Club researched holidays around the world with their adviser, paraprofessional Michael Hisry. They helped to plan and facilitate the different holiday activity stations in the cafeteria. The students discovered that eating KFC is a Christmas tradition in Japan, which led to KFC sponsoring the food at the event. The students had chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and biscuits.
After the performances, the students, teachers and parents went into the cafeteria for the celebration of holidays around the world.
Another holiday that was featured was Dongji. It’s the traditional Korean festival of the changing season. This festival takes place on the winter solstice.
There were six different holidays around the world celebrated. Students led activities that happen in conjunction with these holidays and helped choose and find out information about the holidays leading up to the event.
Traditionally, danpatijuk is eaten during Dongji. It’s a sweet red bean porridge, and it’s said that the color scares away ghosts.
Parent Coordinator Marie Hueston told us that the school’s Future is Inclu-
Another table was Peruvian themed. There was Paneton, which is the sweet bread that is traditionally eaten on Christmas, as well as hot chocolate. tos of a two-story commercial strip on Rockaway Parkway adjoining the end of the L subway line, between Glenwood & Farragut Roads. The first photo was a long shot showing seven busy storefronts. Above them an architect had constructed a sort of RomanGreco temple motif, but most of the Baroque arched windows had been plastered closed and painted pink. An odd look. Still, it was just a stretch of typical Brooklyn businesses: Jamaican jerk chicken, jewelry repair, fried chicken, deli, cellular phones, check cashing and pizza. The next photo, however, indicated the true source of George’s curiosity: a close-up above the shuttered top floor windows, way above the fried chicken shop. There, on a slightly protruding masonry surface appeared these chiseled words: The Jerry Building.
Canarsie’s Jerry Building: Who the Heck Well, this should be easy, I thought. was Jerry? But a couple of hours later, I had come by Joe Enright
I was working the Red Hook-Amagansett-What-Have-You news desk on a slow day, trying to recover from the year-end Star-Revue party the night before. Things had been kind of slow until George threw down a wad of bills with presidential mugs I wasn’t familiar with, whereupon the drinks kept coming. Being free and all, how could I refuse? Then the phone rang. It was George. “Enright, I’m in Canarsie and there’s something weird going on here. I want you to find out who Jerry is.” “Jerry Who?” “Exactly.” Click. In a jiffy my phone dinged with pho-
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up empty. I found old photos, and a testimonial from a Canarsie old-timer, indicating that the nameplate was as old as the building, but there was nothing but puzzlement as to its inspiration, leading a Canarsie FaceBook group to conclude: “Who the Heck was Jerry?” After digging through Building Department records, I was able to determine that the entire structure was designed in 1927 by a small but notable architectural firm, the Cohn Brothers, who created the imprint for over a hundred large apartment buildings and many commercial strips all over Brooklyn in the two decades prior to the Second World War. In fact, many of their buildings have been gushed over by architectural critics for the past fifty years. Benjamin & Abra-
A very colorful table featured the Juankanoo holiday that is celebrated with dance and music in the Bahamas from December 26 to January 1. It’s a celebration of Bahamian freedom, culture and history. The Kwanzaa table featured a student explaining the significance of the unity cup, which is traditionally filled with water, grape juice or wine. It is passed around to family and guests who each will take a sip, raise the cup and say “Harambee,” meaning “let’s pull together.” Kwanzaa is a celebration of Black culture, African heritage and unity. It lasts seven days from December 26 through January 1 and each day is dedicated to a principle that is reflected on and celebrated. It often involves the lighting of candles. There was a table dedicated to Hanukham Cohn were Latvian Jews who arrived in New York in 1906 as teenagers, graduated college and opened a storefront shop at the corner of Stone Avenue (now Mother Gaston Blvd) and Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville The builder who commissioned the brothers’ Canarsie creations was Barney Goldberg, who had been active in the Rockaways, Jamaica and Huntington but had recently opened an office on Avenue U in Sheepshead Bay. Both Goldberg and the Cohens were wellrespected. However, Barney Goldberg was among the legion of developers who bribed a corrupt City permit gatekeeper to get their shovels active. As a result, Goldberg testified against the Tammany crook, a former veterinarian named Dr. William Doyle, at his federal trial in Manhattan – front page news in August of 1930 when the feds revealed his bribe-taking amounted to $275,000 the year before, or $4,745,000 in today’s coinage. It is comforting to know that in this great City, at least some things never change. By the way, back in 1927-1930, when that row on Rockaway Parkway was built, a “Jerry Building” was a term used to describe the shoddy workmanship prevalent during the Roaring Twenties. Indeed, construction in Brooklyn had then reached epic levels that would never be seen again. In 1925 alone, over 40,000 new building permits were issued for Brooklyn by the Department of Buildings. Compare that with less than four thousand in 2022. “Jerry Building” is rarely heard today but its origin dates back a couple of hundred years to England. Some say “Jerry” was derived from the word Jericho, as in the biblical story that ended with “the Walls of Jeri-
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kah, which is the Jewish festival of lights. The students made latkes (potato pancakes) and there was gelt on the table. There were dreidels on the table for people to play. At another table students wrote letters to trans people. These were sent through an organization called Repair the World, which sends letters around the country. The instructions were to choose a material and then to write the card while being as creative as you’d like but to not add personal information. A student organized the letter writing and found Repair the World through research. One letter said: “Think like a proton and stay positive.” For dessert there were homemade Pizzelle (traditional Italian waffle cookie), pastries from Monteleone and pumpkin pie. cho came tumbling down.” However, given the pedigree of the Cohens and Goldberg, and the longevity of the Rockaway Parkway edifice, it seems safe to conclude that The Jerry Building was not chiseled as a warning to Canarsie residents to watch their heads as they went shopping. But could it have been a memorial to a recently deceased “Jerry”? The architects and builder had no Jerry next-ofkin, and scouring the ranks of nearby fire houses and precincts, no line-ofduty deaths by a Jerry could be found. However, expanding my search citywide, I did find one possibility. On September 13, 1928, Jeremiah C. Brosnan was a 52 year old patrolman with 24 years on the job. He had suffered a shattered leg which led to his being assigned to the prisoner ward of Fordham Hospital in the Bronx. Two gunmen conned their way into the ward and killed him with a shotgun blast to the head. The story was splashed across the front pages of Brooklyn newspapers and coverage continued for months, leading to multiple shootouts with his killers, and more police deaths and injuries.
Star-Revue Contest!!!
And yet. There is no press story about a dedication of the building to the memory of Officer Jerry Brosnan, which leads me to wonder: is this the true origin story for the nameplate affixed to the top of 1397-1413 Rockaway Parkway almost a hundred years ago? Or does some other explanation exist that I have been unable to exhume? In consultation with the publisher, I have been authorized to offer a prize to the reader who can provide reliable testimony to solve this mystery. Text your guess to 917 652-9128.
January 2024
Much more than a pool. by Katherine Rivard
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here can you take part in a seasonal billiards tournament, practice your boxing skills, enroll your child in a free after-school program, and find a puppeteer’s workshop? Well, if you answered the “Red Hook Recreation Center,” you’re already in the know. The Center, one of eight recreation centers run by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation in Brooklyn, is one of Red Hook’s most expansive community resources. Located on Bay Street between Henry Street and Clinton Street, the Red Hook Recreation Center is surrounded by brand new sports fields and walking paths lined with wildflowers. It offers locals everything from free childcare to an array of community events, all at a price that most can afford. While the average gym membership costs hundreds of dollars per year, annual adult memberships at the Rec Center cost between $100 and $150, with senior citizens paying just $25 per year. Anyone 24 years old or and younger may use the Center for free. Luckily, limited fees do not result in limited hours. While closed on Sunday, the Center is open Monday through Friday from 6 am to 8:30 pm and from 8 am to 10 pm on Saturdays. Many Brooklynites are familiar with the Center’s pool, a popular destination each summer. However, all year long the Rec Center offers members a full gym with numerous weight ma-
It offers locals everything from free childcare to an array of community events, all at a price that most can afford. chines, free weights, mats, treadmills, and ellipticals. The “strength room” itself is dated, with chipping paint, worn floors, and machines that sometimes need maintenance, but–aesthetics aside–the size of the room and quantity of machines make it a great place to learn how to weight train or to keep in shape. For both newbies and seasoned exercisers, longtime trainer Angel Roman presides over the strength room each day between 6am and noon, ready to support anyone interested in learning more about weight lifting or how to get in shape. In addition to the strength room, adults can take part in classes like senior dance workouts and high interval training. In the afternoon, adults can be found playing pickleball in the gym, and some members have formed their own groups focused on activities ranging from Muay Thai to boxing. Opportunities for youth to learn a new
skill or sport are even more plentiful. A free after-school program for students ages 7-12 includes an hour of homework help followed by programmed activities with the Center’s staff. The students take part in everything from arts and crafts to activities in the media lab to field trips. In 2023, field trips included destinations like an ice skating rink and a Disney play. Given the demand for childcare, the Center has expanded its services to provide a toddler program for younger children, which comes in addition to the Center serving as a place for high school students to volunteer or simply hang out with friends. Organized programs for kids also include a Junior Knicks basketball league, soccer, flag football, and even an anime club. According to Deputy Center Manager Jamaal Lavan, one of the Red Hook Recreation Center’s many strengths is its community events: “We throw the best parties.” Last month, the Center hosted its annual holiday event and handed out around 800 donated toys. In November, they ran a successful clothing drive and turkey giveaway, thanks to support from the local CTown Supermarkets and Council Member Alexa Avilés. Just the month before, the staff created a Halloween haunted house that was scary enough to spook even adult visitors. Now, the staff is beginning to prepare for an arts gala in late February. The vision is to bring together artists, students,
and the community for an evening of learning and art. Perhaps even more impressive than the number of programs offered by the Center are the ongoing projects to physically improve it. Rather than relying solely on city funding, the Red Hook Recreation Center has worked to forge connections with local businesses and community members to receive well-deserved donations. Thanks to a grant from Amazon, the Center’s media lab is being renovated and will re-open this month with new computers, flat screen televisions, and a sound recording booth that members can use for free. Meanwhile, Ikea is generously donating appliances and furniture to brighten up the Center’s room for teens—a perfect spot for teens to hang out in a safe environment. “What happens to a dream / deferred?” begins the Langston Hughes poem hung on a bulletin board in the teen hangout room. Ironically, community members at the Center can worry a bit less than most about dreams deferred, thanks to the encouragement and coaching they receive from staff and other members at the Red Hook Recreation Center. For anyone looking to start a fitness journey or to make new friends and connections in 2024, a visit to the Rec Center may get you one step closer to achieving your goals.
Red Hook Collective hosts huge party at the Rec Center by Nathan Weiser
T
he second annual Christmas Jamboree organized by Red Hook Collective and New Leader Hoops happened in the evening at the Red Hook Rec Center on December 15. Each child got to take home one present from the Jamboree. The wide range of gifts at the event attended by hundreds included: baby dolls, scooters, bikes, speakers, headphones, teddy bears, spider man action figures, marvel toys, books and different kinds of toys. According to Andre Richey, who is a coowner of Red Hook Collective and owner and co-founder of New Leader Hoops, there were over 500 families at the event and they gave away over 500 presents to the kids. Councilwoman Aviles donated a few toys for the kids as well.
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“Everyone went home happy, Richey said. “Everyone went home full. It was a great turnout and everyone was safe. And we look forward to doing it again.”
on Van Brunt Street donated 30 boxes of pizza as well as money to Richey’s organization and McDonald’s gave 100 burgers to the event.
Richey’s organization, Red Hook Collective, provided the gifts for the event. A local sorority that Richey partners with also donated money to help get shirts for the event.
There were about 100 more people at this year’s Jamboree event than last year, which the Collective also organized. Also, 200 people pledged new memberships.
1 Stop Shop Printing, which is located in Dumbo, printed out the shirts for the event. They gave shirts, hats and headbands to as many kids as they could.
“This year, there was a line outside,” Richey said. “People were lined up early. We partnered with more outside organizations this year. We had more food provided and more giveaways.”
“We gave away 275 to 300 coats from a local organization I also partner with called Get, Give Teach,” Richey said. “They had coats donated to the community at the event.” There was plenty of food. Mark’s Pizza
The organizer thanked NYC Parks and the Red Hook Recreation Center for being a big part of the event. Last year’s Jamboree took place at the Miccio Center. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Jo-
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seph Addabbo Family Health Center, the Infant Safe Sleep Initiative, NYU Langone Family Health Center, the Red Hook Library and BumbleBeesRus all had tables with information in the gym during the Jamboree. The kids got to play games in the gym while music was playing during the event. Also, Santa took pictures with kids at the Jamboree.
January 2024, Page 9
Canon vs. Choice by Kelsey Sobel
A
s a full time teacher, I spend a lot of time considering the question: what should teenagers be reading in 2023? In modern education speak: canon vs. choice. Increasingly, and dishearteningly, I find today’s youth aren’t reading for pleasure. I’ve noticed many of my students lack the ability to imagine worlds beyond the literal and immediate realities they inhabit. Furthermore, I’ve noticed students struggling with vocabulary, syntax and inference. I have 102 students, and of this group, approximately five read on their own. According to a study done by the American Psychological Association, in the 1970s, 60% of high school seniors read from a book or magazine every day. By 2016, this number had dropped to 16%. This percentage appears to be holding steady, with 80% of teens reporting using social media daily. But we already know this. Is decreasing literacy simply due to technology? Is reading too slow for a mind addicted to snapchat and Tik Tok? I place no blame on this generation (they’re children, after all) for faltering over words like “sniveling” and “titillating” (both examples taken recently from my own classroom) at seventeen years of age, but I do wonder about the future for Gen Z-ers, who appear, from my observations, to have lost the art of imagination. What does a society devoid of imagination look like? Pinpointing the steady decline in reading feels both overwhelming and nuanced–about as fruitless as imagining a world where we aren’t all addicted
Silent Book Reviews: An Oxymoron?
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by Taylor Herzlich
ook reviews have morphed in form, from formal reviews in print newspapers to online editions to informal blogs by independent writers. Now, anyone and everyone can review books — so long as they can find an audience. While the publishing industry is experiencing a boom, Americans are reading less than ever before, according to a Gallup poll from 2022. But Stephanie, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mother based in Hawaii with her military husband, has accrued a base of more than 200,000 people who can’t get enough of her book reviews. Her secret to a good review? She doesn’t say a single word. Stephanie, also known as @stephreadsalot on the social media platform TikTok, has amassed a substantial following due to her uber-popular “silent reviews.” These silent reviews are short videos that begin with Stephanie slamming a tall pile of books on a table on her back porch or on her bathroom sink, in small moments of time when she can sneak away from her five and six-year-old children. Stephanie then holds up each book in-
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to our phones. The question becomes, what real solutions can educators propose to draw teens into the literary world? Canon or choice? I work at a traditional public school where we read the classics: The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, The Crucible, Lord of the Flies, Julius Caesar, Crime and Punishment, Great Expectations. You get the idea. I recently rooted out seventeen copies of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian (now problematic for the 2018 allegations of sexual assault by Alexie) which is one of the more current novels in our book room. It was published in 2007. I’ll go out on a limb and say, on the whole, adolescents find another teenager who plays basketball and likes girls easier to relate to than a conch wielding British boy murdering other little boys on an island. Our book room is certainly not a glowing example of diversity in either content or authorship. One AP instructor does teach The Glass Castle (2005) and Just Mercy (2014) but these books are taught to approximately fifteen students per year. In my current core curriculum for junior level American Literature, every author is male. Of course the classics themselves can’t be blamed for being white and male. These books represent long held beliefs of the voices we collectively believe(d) we should be listening to. The standard argument for teaching the classics is application later down the road - you might know a thing about Jay Gatsby when you arrive in your college level English course. You might appear more literate at a pardividually and silently shares whether she liked or disliked the book, with a smile, a frown, a wince, a flirty sigh or sometimes even by tossing a book out of her front door. “I’ve never been one to shy away from abusing my books,” says Stephanie with a laugh. “A lot of people feel very strongly about [a book, that] it’s sacred … and I’m like, I bought it. So I’m allowed to do whatever I want with it.” In her most controversial video, Stephanie even ripped a copy of “The Silent Wife” by A. S. A. Harrison in half. While one user commented that their “whole body reacted” when Stephanie tore apart the book, another commented, “I’m a speech therapist and I am saving this [video] to teach my students about nonverbal communication!! Amazing!!!” Stephanie stumbled across BookTok, a subset of the TikTok community consisting of users who post book content, in 2019. “I remember talking to my husband about [posting my own TikTok content] before I did it. And I was like, you know, like I feel like this could be something that’s just for me,” says Stephanie. “You know, I’m a stay at home mom, and I am also a military spouse, so we live very far from everyone we know in real life … I was like … this could be, like, my social life.”
ty, you might make a connection to a theme or motif, or recognize a reference you come across in a song years later. Maybe you’ll be more American, joining the ranks of students who either a. rely heavily on sparknotes or b. have no idea what really happened in the book. In a sense, reading the classics is a rite of passage in American classrooms all across the country. Research shows the humanities and
"Is reading too slow for a mind addicted to snapchat and Tik Tok?" liberal arts degrees are at risk of being completely eradicated from colleges and universities across the country. My own alma mater, West Virginia University, nearly axed the MFA in creative writing this past fall. Both personally and professionally, my graduate experience changed my life, and I was relieved to see the outpouring of support to preserve the program. Paired with a lack of reading in general, and so few students going on to pursue the humanities, is teaching the classics worth it? Are we hanging on to antiquated pieces of literature that will one day be forgotten by the human race living on Mars? In light of so many liberal arts programs being cut across the country, I marvel at my immense privilege in my parent’s unquestioning support of my
bachelor’s degree in English-on the other side of the equation, I find myself wishing they’d pushed me towards something more practical. Of course this very line of thinking is adding fuel to the humanities burning fire - universities are focused on offering more clear cut majors such as nursing, hospitality or tech. I don’t think if my school suddenly started teaching more graphic novels or books such as Thirteen Reasons Why or The Hate U Give, we’d convert our population to English majors or library go-ers. Many schools have made a concerted effort to move towards a more innovative and progressive curriculum and with book banning on the rise, I applaud these choices. All of this is to say-I don’t know which side of the canon v. choice aisle I stand. I would like to see some joy in reading. Perhaps the question is not what students should be reading, but how can we continue to foster the habit of reading? How can we emphasize the importance of seeing into other’s lives? Without imagination and empathy, the fabric of our society starts to fray. Whether you find meaning in Of Mice And Men or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the point is - you’re finding meaning. You’re reading. You’re thinking. You might be learning along the way. I’m hopeful that some day, the liberal arts degree will rise again. If for nothing else, to allow young people the space and time to wonder and dream. Through reading we learn to empathize, and without empathy, what type of world would we live in?
Stephanie took her TikTok account seriously in 2021, posting three videos per day for three months in an effort to gain a loyal following. Early videos show Stephanie crying while reading a book or shaking a book in frustration, short seconds-long clips that clearly convey her opinions on the books. Fast forward to the end of September, when Stephanie made a video of herself reviewing some of her recent reads. Before she could even begin her review, she dropped a book, knocking it off the table and throwing her head back in jokey frustration. Stephanie says that one of her followers commented on the video requesting that Stephanie make an entire video of non-verbal book reviews, and thus, the silent reviews were born. Since her first silent review in September, Stephanie says she gained around 80,000 followers in just five days, and two of her silent review videos have been viewed more than 2 million times each. Now, silent reviews are taking over TikTok, from silent reviews of books to cosmetics to fragrances and more. “I saw one [video] the other day that was [a guy] silently reviewing [his] hockey equipment,” adds Stephanie. A quick search of “silent review” on TikTok reveals endless videos, many with millions of views.
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Stephanie
While this may seem like just another superficial social media trend, these silent reviews are just another example of the powerful impact that social media has on real lives. Stephanie says that the silent reviews help users from around the world to communicate with a universal language. “I get so many comments [now] from people outside of the U.S.,” says Stephanie. “I understand [these people] even though we don’t speak the same language, and I think that’s so beautiful.” (continued on back page)
January 2024
Masha Gessen essay outrages German sensibilities by Dario Pio Muccilli, EU correspondent
ban demonstrations. Both countries have historically closer ties to the Arab World rather than Israel. Moreover France has a huge population coming from Maghreb that was already the protagonist of several riots this year. Paris certainly fears that they would erupt in case of a stricter policy.
S
ince WWII, Germany has been the closest ally of Israel in Europe. The historical shame coming from the Holocaust crimes pushed Berlin/Bonn to support Israel in all the wars that happened with its Arab neighbors. Weapons, intelligence and diplomacy—Germany has assured them all to Tel-Aviv. Right now Germany keeps its socalled “special relationship” with Israel. Several Federated States have prohibited pro-Gaza demonstrations, the display of the Palestinian flag or the keffieh (typical Palestinian hat) in public schools. In Berlin, slogans like “Free Palestine” or “Stop the War” are strictly banned. There is no European country where the government is not supporting Israel in the current war, but strategies differ. Italy and France chose not to
Neither Italy nor France have that historical sense of guilt rooted in their public opinion. While both countries shared huge responsibilities in the Holocaust, the official historiography focused more on the few happy endings than the overall disaster. In Germany history is studied exactly and in its brutal fashion. According to prize-winning journalist Masha Gessen, that led to the spreading of a Gruendlickeit attitude, namely the Prussian spirit to execute everything, efficiently and orderly. Masha Gessen published an essay in the New Yorker which included saying that such an attitude created the basis of the bureaucratization of Holocaust memory, which prevents Germans from understanding how Naziera persecution is not dissimilar from that carried in Palestine by the Israeli Armed Force. The essay sparked outrage in Germany, where all the political parties, from the far-right Alternative for Germany to the leftist Greens are condemning Hamas’ terrorism and urging Muslims to engage publicly
Fridays 4 Future Germany, a cluster of the most progressive youth of the country distanced itself from Greta Thunberg as soon as she condemned the Israeli military presence in Gaza. against anti-semitism. No one dares make any comparison ever, neither with Ukraine, nor with any other war scenario. Pierre Rimbert, on the French Monde Diplomatique, described the latest German moves on the Israel-Hamas war as a “policy of the worst in the name of the good.” Germany is the target of harsh criticism about this in some circles throughout Europe, but it is hard to see that this will change anything. If younger generations experience any
doubts on the current war, that remains a small minority. Fridays 4 Future Germany, a cluster of the most progressive youth of the country distanced itself from Greta Thunberg as soon as she condemned the Israeli military presence in Gaza. No person or movement can publicly be legitimatized without supporting Israel. The Holocaust memory is still strong and as soon as you distance yourself from the righteous attitude you are ousted. Back in September the deputy Governor of Bavaria was at the center of a media storm after it was publicized that he had anti-Semitic flyer found in his schoolbag when he was 17. The puzzle about how to deal with Zionism and anti-Semitism is historically the core of the moral problem in discussing Israeli actions. Germans cannot speak of the Israeli-Palestinian situation without emotion, because when they do they are speaking of themselves, of the tragedy that their great grandparents allowed and helped perpetrate. Supporting Israel seems an inner duty and not a political calculus. Newspapers are full of articles about how to talk about it, how to name something, what nouns to avoid: the German Gruendlickeit is really being driven to its maximum tolerance and we will see throughput 2024 where eventually it will end up.
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January 2024, Page 11
The Year I Fell Back In Love with Cinema, in 10 Moviegoing Experiences by Dante A. Ciampaglia
I
t was in September, sitting in the big auditorium at BAM, packed with people, watching Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 sci-fi masterpiece Solaris. Near the beginning of the film is a shot of rain dropping into a pond, the water rippling out into green shards of wetland flora — nothing special, necessarily, but the kind of pastoral lyricism Tarkovsky routinely leaned on. But he holds on the shot just long enough, and watching it felt like a devotional experience. This was church. This was worship. And I was flush with the spirit. I also almost forgot what that felt like. Moviegoing is encoded in my DNA. My earliest memory is squirming in my theater seat, my parents on either side, as Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis try eating each other’s faces during the sex scene in Top Gun. (I would have been 4 and a half years old.) Every other week, my brother and I would hit the multiplex during our Saturdays with Dad; the other weekends I was probably going to movies with friends. I drove to the theater to watch a film, clear my head, try to make sense of my world. I worked at a suburban multiplex. After moving to New York, I all but lived at Film Forum and BAM. The movie theater was, is, and — as the last year made clear — will always be my happy place. But over the last decade or so, the connection frayed. Part of that was life. Work got tough, the world got tougher, I had a child, there was a pandemic. Part of that was also Hollywood. Superhero movies are fun for a while, but the mind needs more than the Avengers or Batman. The great big blockbusters and great mid-sized dramas that sustain a healthy cinema diet disappeared. I drifted away. But in 2023, quite by accident, I went to the movies more than I had since 2011. I found myself going to a movie here and there and, before I knew it, I could feel the tug of that magnetic pull, so long dormant. I remembered what it was like, and why I went, and realized what I missed. It’s not just the movies; it’s seeing movies with real live humans. Say what you want about the phones and the chatter and all that. Nothing beats being in a theater with a bunch of people experiencing the same film, laughing at the same jokes, gasping at the same twists, cheering at the same triumphs. Cinema is the most democratic art because it levels it all out. We’re in that room, together, most of us strangers, sharing this space and experience and, hopefully, walking out, together, fuller and more tuned in to our world than before. So many people in positions of power want to keep us segregated, sequestered, and streaming alone. But to lose movie theaters would be to lose something essential, not just a nec-
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the new black-and-white film stock Kodak developed for the film: so crisp, so pure. (There wasn’t one that could handle what director Christopher Nolan wanted by shooting IMAX.) But the whole thing was worth the hype — and schedule management.
"Nothing beats being in a theater with a bunch of people experiencing the same film." The Hairy Bird
(August 11, Metrograph)
essary third place, as Robert (Bowling Alone) Putnam would call it, but a necessary place, period. I knew that before, but the past year hardened my conviction. I’m a born-again moviegoer, and like those most zealous of all believers I will go to the barricades for this art and this experience. In that spirit, rather than collate yet another top 10 list I’m sharing the 10 best moviegoing experiences I had in 2023. Hopefully, something here will connect in a way that gets you back out to the movies in the new year. (But if you really want a 2023 top 10, in alphabetical order: 65, American Fiction, Asteroid City, Barbie, Fallen Leaves, The Holdovers, The Boy and the Heron, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Perfect Days.)
My Neighbor Totoro (January 4, Metrograph)
One of my 5-year-old daughter’s favorite movies is My Neighbor Totoro, so I jumped on tickets to see it on Metrograph’s largest screen. When it started, we realized it was subtitled, not dubbed. Not ideal for a child who can’t yet read. But when I asked her if she was OK with it being in Japanese, she simply said, “Yep,” and locked into the film. It helped that she knew the movie so well, but still, I was one proud dad.
Nashville
(April 15, Metrograph) The best seat in any house in New York is Metrograph’s balcony. Besides being a balcony — in desperately short supply in this or any city — it puts you at the ideal eye level (and headspace) for a movie. That’s especially true if you’re catching a classic. I hadn’t fully appreciated that fact until watching Robert Altman’s masterpiece Nashville, and now every other viewing of it will compete with the Metrograph experience.
Oppenheimer
(August 1, AMC Lincoln Square) There are only 30 IMAX 70mm theaters in the world; 19 are in the U.S.; one is in New York, at the AMC Lincoln Square. There was no way I wasn’t seeing Oppenheimer — shot in IMAX 70 — in its native format. The realization that my old-man knees can’t handle three-plus hours in a cramped IMAX theater seat aside, this was as good as moviegoing gets: big, immersive, total cinema. The standout was
It’s not often you experience a resurrection at a movie theater. But that’s what happened the night Metrograph screened Sarah Kernochan’s 1998 coming-of-age 1960’s-set boarding school comedy The Hairy Bird (a/k/a All I Wanna Do, a/k/a Strike!). The film stars Kirsten Dunst and Rachael Leigh Cook just as they became huge stars, and boasts a loaded supporting cast that includes Lynn Redgrave, Gaby Hoffmann, Vincent Kartheiser, and Heather Matarazzo. And no one saw it. Because legendary scumbag Harvey Weinstein acquired it, then buried it for… reasons. Kernochan emptied her bank account to secure a one-screen, one-week release in New York, but it was otherwise dumped onto home video. A Metrograph programmer, who discovered it on VHS, secured a 35mm print to screen at the theater. Kernochan, producer Peter Newman, and cinematographer Tony Janelli were there to talk about the film — and experience a soldout crowd belatedly fall in love with their hilarious, pitch perfect film. It was a long overdue victory lap for Kernochan, who was overcome with emotion. “I never got to have this experience,” she said, choking back tears. It was hard not to be overcome, too, as an audience member, cheering this filmmaker and her work and helping her reclaim some of what was stolen from her.
Winter Kills
(August 16, Film Forum) Nearly every scene in William Richert’s gonzo 1979 pitch-black-satire adaptation of Richard Condon’s JFK-assassination-conspiracy thriller novel has an I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-seeing moment. Seventysomething John Huston in a silk robe and red bikini briefs. Jeff Bridges in the loudest, most uncomfortable sex scene ever. Huston imploring son Bridges to return a pair of brass knuckles because they have “sentimental value.” (Honestly, anytime Huston is on screen, pay attention.) Elizabeth Taylor sauntering into the film for an uncredited cameo. “Expect anything” should be the film’s tagline. That goes for watching it, too. When Taylor shows up, a guy sitting two seats away stretches over, slaps me on the arm, and says, “Know who that is?!” (Uh, yeah. And please don’t touch me.) A lifetime of moviegoing and that had never happened. It takes a special kind of film to make someone actively engage a total stranger, in the dark, in a fit of Liz Taylor fanboy excitement. And it could only happen in a movie theater.
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Solaris
(September 1, BAM) I touched on this in the introduction, but seeing Solaris on a giant screen with a full crowd of rapt cinephiles was the first time (that I can remember) of moviegoing existing for me as something like churchgoing. It’s a rare experience that I’ll chase for the rest of my days.
Perfect Days
(September 27, IFC Film Center) There’s not much to Wim Wenders’ film, plot-wise: middle-aged Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) in Tokyo wakes up in his spartan apartment, goes through his morning routine, jumps in his van, pops on a cassette, and heads to work cleaning the city’s public toilets. Others come and go — a co-worker; Hirayama’s niece; his estranged sister — and they each wobble the delicate equilibrium of Hirayama’s existence. We learn little about his life before these few days we spend with him, and at the end there’s not so much resolution as an expansion of what constitutes living. It’s a humane film that hit me between the eyes. There’s rarely a day that goes by since seeing Perfect Days that I haven’t thought about it or felt it resonate in my material, corporeal, and spiritual life. This is art built for the publicly private introspection and empathy that comes from watching a film with others in a dark theater.
The World’s Greatest Sinner (October 7, Anthology Film Archives)
It’s easy to forget that not everything is available via streaming, or that it ever will be. Some stuff is just too weird or niche or marginal to make the investment worth it for Netflix or Amazon. Sometimes you need to leave the house and experience a film in a theater or it’s gone forever. The World’s Greatest Sinner, from 1962, is just such a film, a truly wild piece of folk filmmaking from ur-character actor Timothy Carey, who wrote, directed, and starred in what I can only describe as a live-action version of one of those pocket-sized arch-religious mini comic books you find in Port Authority bathrooms. (They’re called Chick tracts, FYI.) An insurance salesman has the mother of all midlife crises, rejects his sleepy suburban life, calls himself God, starts a cult, swells his ranks via rock ’n roll revivals, turns the cult into a fascistic political machine, and gets close to taking total control before being zapped by the righteousness of actual God’s light. It is insane in all the right ways, and insanely prophetic in others. A rally goes off the rails and fake-God’s acolytes storm an arena in a scene that eerily parallels the January 6 insurrection. Sinner should only exist as a beat-up bootleg, yet the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences restored the film and Anthology, bless them, screened it. Seeing it with a bunch of other weirdos on the same wavelength was just the best kind of time at the movies.
To Be Continued!
January 2024
two of Warnaar’s own tracks and one with her band Infinity Shred.
The beginning of another new age. The year that’s just passed might go down in history as the one in which New Age music at last made its triumphant return. The media likes nothing more than a counterintuitive tale, and so a rapper long off the scene, André 3000, of the groundbreaking Atlanta duo OutKast, releasing a new age record—New Blue Sun (Epic)—in November, and playing flute of all things, was practically made to order for hype and saturation. And, since there’s no place for mediocrity in the realm of clickbait and quick takes, what is really just an OK record quickly became a bold move, a stroke of genius, and a laudable breaking of racial boundaries. See? Black people can make boring music, too!
But Dré ain’t alone in championing a form that was termed “air pudding” in a 1987 Doonesbury strip. Drummer Clara Warnaar has been staging a New Age revival at least since 2019, when the first of her A New Age for New Age compilations came out. As of last August, the series is up to six volumes. The definitions of “new age” seem to vary from one artist to the next. With more than 60 tracks in the series, it doesn’t all constitute pudding— some are more like flan or yogurt with granola—but there’s certainly something meditative, if not always ruminative, about the albums. Along with many other not-necessarily-new-age artists (pianist Pascal La Beouf, bassist Tristan-Kasten Krause and Travis Just of Brooklyn’s Object Collection, to name a few), the series has included
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Infinity Shred’s synth pulses lean a little toward the movie themes of Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun). The band—Warnaar with Damon Hardjowirogo on synth and Nathan Ritholz, guitar and synth—marked its 10th anniversary last summer by rerecording their debut album. Sanctuary 2023 is out on January 26 (self-released download and double LP). It’s not just the pulse but the energy that makes this a new kind of new age— they’ve absorbed and developed the tunes for the last decade— but it still has the sort of gloss that makes it easy to let float by. That’s not a detriment, it’s more like the point, but by no means does that mean it’s simplistic. Those intrigued but unconvinced are encouraged to check out Shred Offline from 2022. The album documents a short set of five Shred tunes arranged for a chamber orchestra of strings, wind and brass pushed by vibraphone and Warnaar on marimba, nicely underscoring the intricacy in their tunes.
Few might seem less new age than Lou Reed, but his public persona was at least a little removed from the yoga and tai chi practice of his later years. In 2007, he released a soundtrack for such occasions. Hudson River Wind Meditations came out as a limited run CD from the Colorado publishing company Sounds
True, which claims to be “the world’s largest living library of transformational teachings that support and accelerate spiritual awakening and personal transformation.” It came and went with little notice, a diversion by a rebel deemed no longer relevant. The album is being reincarnated by Light in the Attic (CD, 2 LP, download, January 12) and is worth hearing. The cultural context might be a far cry from Reed’s 1975 double album, Metal Machine Music, but the end result isn’t so different. Both are built from waves of drones and pulses and difference tones, guitar feedback on the first and what sounds to be synthesizers on the second. And while neither was designed specifically to piss off the rock’n’roll animals of the world, both have the capacity to achieve as much. Likely enough, some will only listen once, but it’s a great bit of insight into an often misunderstood rock icon who rarely seemed concerned with being understood anyway.
Death to false metal, long live the holograms, robots and funnymen. After years of goodbyes, KISS played their final concert in December at Madison Square Garden—as such. Anyone paying any attention already knows that at the end of the concert, they introduced their hologram replacements, which will carry the digital torch for them in artificial reality concerts beginning in 2027. The show is being produced in association with Pophouse Entertainment, the Stockholm company not only responsible for the ABBA Voyage virtual reality concerts but founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. The teaser for the KISS hologram show, however, just suggests a missed opportunity. They could finally be anything
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they want. They don’t have to be a foursome. They don’t even have to be human. They could really be a demon and a spaceman and a catman and a foxman and, um, the Ankh warrior and, well, a guy who likes to have sex, I guess. They could be larger than life. They could become the heroes of their 1977 Marvel Comics Super Special or the 1978 TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. They could even, finally, make the abandoned feature film of 1981’s Music from “The Elder,” their ill-fated project with producer Bob Ezrin and Lou Reed as song cowriter. (OK, maybe not that one, pretty much a low point for everyone involved.) But it looks like, as always, they’ll fall short of their cartoon epic promises. “Death to false metal,” was, not incidentally, a rallying cry for the long-lived upstate metal’n’muscles band Manowar long before it was taken as the name for an album of outtakes and rarities by the cheekygeeky indie band Weezer. And speaking of cheek, director Rob Reiner announced in November that he’s beginning shooting for a sequel to the classic heavy metal parody movie This Is Spinal Tap in February. All of which might raise the question: is the future of metal all jokes and mirrors?
videos and imagery are all AIgenerated. Rather than training an algorithm with all the metal that exists on the Internet, however, the company brought in musicians to play riffs and blastbeats, creating its own tutorials for the robot to work from.
The result is pretty rote to my ears, but it’s not like most human-generated heavy metal is all that unique. Figuring I might not be the target audience for the album, I asked AI to write a review for me. It delivered a 400-word critique, complete with an invented rating system (“4.5 out of 5 axes”), finding that “Frostbite Orckings have crafted a monstrous debut with The Orcish Eclipse. It’s not just good melodic death metal—it’s an immersive experience, transporting you to a world of frost and fury. The crushing riffs, potent vocals, and surprisingly nuanced storytelling make this a worthy addition to any metalhead’s playlist. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the pit or a curious adventurer, The Orcish Eclipse offers a satisfyingly savage adventure.” The AI review didn’t mention that the album is AI generated. Is that some sort of professional courtesy? Maybe there are some things you don’t mention in polite robot company. Or maybe Kraftwerk had it right all along.
Fortunately, we have Frostbite Orckings to carry the torch. The band released its first full-length, The Orcish Eclipse, (download, LP in frost blue or eclipse pink, CD or CD with oversized digipack and bonus tracks) in December, after a couple of digital singles and a digital EP earlier in the year. The band is the creation of the Bingen, Germany, company Musical Bits and their music,
January 2024, Page 13
POLITICS
(continued from page 2)
of frustration, as does the large number of “Unattributable” vote, although we will never know if “Am Yisrael Chai” beat out “Free Palestine.” And now the rest of the vote in jurisdictions entirely or partially in Brooklyn : Surrogate: Donald Trump 140, Joe Murray 98, Ari Kagan 23, Curtis Sliwa 23, Lee Zeldin 14, Timothy Peterson 13, Inna Vernikov 12, Adam Gaza 1 Supreme Court: Thomas Kenniff 99, Donald Trump 96, Adam Gaza 69, Heshy Tischler 18, Christopher Robles 12, Curtis Sliwa 11, Chester A. Arthur 11
42 Council District: To my surprise, the perpetually disgruntled incumbent Charles Barron, defeated by in the Democratic Primary by Chris Banks, was NOT the top write-in votegetter in his district. Even when attributing to him the one vote humorously cast for Chris Barron, Barron still lost to the City’s leading petition fraudulator, Skiboky Skora, who once ran for Mayor on the “Out Lawbreaker” ticket, and this year tried, unsuccessfully, to bogart the name of Barron’s old Freedom Party for his own purposes, did manage to beat Barron by a landslide margin of 89 to 26, meaning that Barron has grown old-hat even amongst his base in the lunatic fringe. .
Civil Court (Countywide): Donald Trump 180, Daniel Kogan 99, Adan Gaza 45, Curtis Sliwa 39, Rudy Giuliani 27, Heshy Tischler 26, Lee Zeldin 19, Timothy Peterson 16, Inna Vernikov 15
44th Council District: Susan Zhang 8
Civil Court (1st District): Donald Trump 5, Miriam Tyrk 1, Adam Gaza 1
46th Council District: Cranston 17
Civil Court (2nd District): Seven candidates, most unknown, got two votes apiece; Curtis Sliwa was the most famous. I’d list the others, but in most cases, no one would care.
47th Council District: Katherine Khatari 16, Nicholas Chamboras 13
Despite its determination that the dozens, if not hundreds of votes throughout the City for “Free Palestine” could not be counted because that was a slogan, not a person, the Board of Elections still managed to count 2 votes here for “Sadrise Don Phalaistin” a misspelling of “Saoirse Don Phalaistin,” which means “Freedom for Palestine”. When reached for response, Board Counsel Hemalee Patel noted that “there are 11 individuals with the first name “Saoirse” No word though on how many were named Sadrise. Civil Court (District 3): Donald Trump 7 33rd Council District: Joseph Lentol 33 34th Council District: Craig Montalbano 2, Curtis Sliwa 2, Donald Trump 2 35th Council District: Kenny Leaver 129, Michael Hollingworth 29, Dave Colon 11 There’s a story here somewhere that someone should write. Damned if I know what it is though. 36th Council District: Henry Butler 3 37th Council District: Richard Simmons 4 38th Council District: Susan Zhang 12 40th Council District: Blake Morris 4, Inna Vernikov 4, Miriam Tyrk 2
Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue
41st Council District: Inez McIntosh Green 27
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43rd Council District: Wei Yee Chan 10 Donald
48th Council District: Ari Kagan 10, Miriam Tyrk 3 50th Council District: Max Rose 36, Justin Brannan 20, Adam Gaza 11, Carla Mohan 11 In Manhattan, Adam Gaza received 3 votes for Supreme Court, 3 for Civil Court (Countywide), 1 in the 3rd Municipal Court District, one in the 6th Council District, and 2 in the 8th Council District. In the Bronx, Gaza received 25 votes for District Attorney, 28 for Supreme Court, 24 for Civil Court (Countywide), 12 in the 1st Municipal Court District, 8 in the 11th Council District, 2 in the 12th Council District, 3 in the 13th Council District, 1 in the 14th Council District, and 5 in the 18th Council District. In Staten Island, Gaza received 24 votes for District Attorney, 10 for Civil Court, 5 in the 49th Council District, and 7 for the 51st. In Queens, which seems to be Adam’s base, he got 72 votes for District Attorney, 78 votes for Supreme Court, 52 votes for Civil Court, 6 votes in the 1st Municipal Court District, 16 in the 2nd, 6 in the 4th, and 12 in the 6th. He also got 3 votes in Council District 19, I in District 20, 4 in District 21, 1 in District 22, 12 in District 23, 12 in District 24, 4 in District 25, 3 in District 26, 3 in District 27, 7 in District 28, 1 in District 29, 2 in District 31, and 5 in District 32. What can I say; even a left-Zionist like myself must admit the Adam Gaza campaign, launched on one day’s notice, was extremely well-played.
January 2024
Jazz by Grella Spaces And Places
M
usic making is a social activity. Anyone with a laptop and a bedroom can make an album, but there’s limits to that, not the least how far one’s imagination can go without the stimulus of other personalities. When musicians get together to play it’s a social activity, they make something together whether or not they’re in front of an audience. Underneath the notes and the rhythms there’s a fundamental interaction between people who are communicating through the language of sound.
So places are essential, you can’t make music if you don’t have a place to get together. One of the reasons New York City has always been one of the world centers for music making is that there’s so many people here, so many who are great musicians and so many for whom witnessing live music is intrinsic to their being. The reason it’s so frustrating and exhausting to make, and witness, music here is that places are so damn expensive. It’s hard to live here on a moderate income, and so few musicians even make that—let’s take a moment to admire not just their skill but their determination and perseverance. Real estate and its costs is the single massive problem that every artist has to solve to make their work in New York City. The constancy of that may be the reason that music journalism almost entirely ignores the topic, somehow thinking that what musicians make is some kind of pure, idealized product when it’s the results of all sorts of struggles, compromises, contingencies, and more. An antidote to that, and one of the most important books on music from 2023, is This Must Be The Place, by Jesse Rifkin (Harper Collins). The subject is places where people have made music through modern history, like the folk scene in Greenwich Village, the “Loft Jazz” era, and booms and busts in Brooklyn in this century.
What’s refreshing and energizing about the book is how Rifkin does not use gentrification as an excuse and lament, there’s no concession to the idea of moving to a cheaper city instead of finding a way to make it here. Of course, this is the story about important
COFFEE
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was 18, rented a one bedroom for $90 dollars a month. How has the astronomic jump in rental prices affected you?” Amy –When I first moved to New York I had a closet of a bedroom for $500 a month, and it felt like a good deal. Now my husband and I and our two kids are renting in Park Slope. I don’t want to tell you what the rent is. We gave up trying to own anything here, even though we are both profes-
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by George Grella
"For one night this month, the world of jazz venues in Brooklyn expands dramatically for the annual Winter Jazzfest." spaces that are now gone, but it’s also about how musicians keep plugging away and finding spaces they can use, no matter the rent. Music keeps happening as long as people can gather together. And there are some happening places in our own city of Brooklyn where the music is fine:
Bar Bayeaux in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens (1099 Nostrand Avenue, barbayeaux.com) is a worthy counterpart to the Village Vanguard, bringing in top talent that might not yet be established as headliners in the jazz business—maybe the kind of artists who can be found in the Down Beat “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” jazz polls. That means monster players like Tyshawn Sorey, Ben Monder, and Mark Shim, Bar LunÁtico in Bed-Stuy (486 Halsey Street, barlunatic.com) is another excellent place for the world of jazz, and cocktails, and quite a success story in its own right. This month it celebrates its ninth anniversary with a dense lineup of shows that includes saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jerome Sabbagh, Caroline Davis’ Portals, the Dan Weiss Trio, singer Camille Bertault, and Saha Gnawa.
Lowlands Bar in Gowanus (543 3rd Avenue, lowlandsbar.com) is probably less well known as a music venue but is worth checking out (it’s also a great bar). It has jazz on Tuesdays and Thursdays; Thursday night for the past year or so has mainly been handed over to the great saxophonist and composer Tim Berne and a rotating cast of musisionals. So, one of my biggest arguments with those whom I love, who are boomers is that they say. “Oh, you’re having avocado toast out, so that’s why you can’t afford a home.” That’s absolute garbage!” I think my generation feels we can’t cut a break. There’s the American story of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, however we’ll be the first generation that no matter how hard we work, we can’t pull ourselves up.” R.J. –“Now I see why you walk with coffee.
cal partners that has included guitarist Gregg Belisle-Chi and bassist Chris Lightcap.
SEEDS Brooklyn is a performance space inside saxophonist Ohad Talmor’s home in Prospect Heights (seedsbrooklyn.org). It’s a labor of love for Talmor and has had impressive staying power. It’s as small as you imagine, so get there early to get in, and BYOB.
IBeam Brooklyn in Gowanus (168 7th Street, ibeambrooklyn.com) keeps plugging along as a cozy performance space yet to be gentrified out of existence, and perhaps the semi-industrial location helps. It’s tiny, has an emphasis on the freer side of the music, and draws great players. Like Talmor, drummer Andrew Drury, who was named a 2023 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, hosts the Soup & Sound series (soupandsound.org) in his own living room, for the most part. One of the alternate spaces he uses is Sisters in Clinton Hill (900 Fulton Street). There’s regular music there that leans toward the freejazz/non-jazz side of things, with musicians like saxophonist Sam Weinberg, trumpeter Chris Williams, and violist Joanna Mattrey.
For one night this month, the world of jazz venues in Brooklyn expands dramatically for the annual Winter Jazzfest, happening January 10-18 (winterjazzfest.com). The weekend marathons ( January 13 in Manhattan and January 14 in Brooklyn) are the core of the experience, with multiple sets in multiple venues. There’s plenty of great music to catch, but where the Manhattan marathon used to be centered in the Village, with multiple venues within easy walking distance, now things are spread apart and you mostly have to pick a spot and plunk yourself down for the duration—it may be a marathon show, but it’s no longer a festival experience. The real estate is an obstacle to the music (especially now that the New School no longer hosts any shows, which seems to be part of their process of abandoning their original social and intellectual values and moving fully into the NYU-type private college/real estate conglomerate model). Amy– “Oh and here’s a funny generational difference, I feel like boomers regarding the technological changes will say, ‘Big Brother is watching!’ and we’re like “Yes, and?” “We have a sense of fatalism, oh well they know everything about me, I might as well try and make it work to my advantage.”
This is especially true in Brooklyn, where the marathon is in Williamsburg, not just gentrified but now enormous, expanding to apply its dubious prestige to neighborhoods not yet touched by SoHo-like shopping experiences. There’s a lot of shows at nightclubs which aren’t great for jazz (you’ll be doing a lot of standing). The most central location is Wythe Avenue, with Superior Ingredients and Brooklyn Bowl across the street from each other and Loove Labs about a third of a mile down. The two also host some of the most intriguing sets in the festival, with Laraaji then the Steve Lehman Trio on the Superior Ingredients Rooftop starting at 4:30 p.m., Mary Halvorson, Matana Roberts, and Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble inside, and Burnt Sugar The Arkestra in the Bowl across the street (though some set times overlap).
There’s also the killer combination of Shabaka, Jason Moran, Carlos Niño, and Saul Williams at the Music Hall of Williamsburg—be ready for anything and everything with these musicians— with a tribute to Pharoah Sanders at the end of the night. The wonderful Roy Nathanson closes down Loove Labs (which is a nice, small, acoustic jazz space as opposed to the nightclubs). But the one place I would park myself for the night, because you pretty much have to pick one, is Union Pool. Starting with Samir Langus’ gnawafusion at 6:15., there are sets from Natural Information Society, Mendoza/Hoff ‘REVELS’ (their debut album is one of the best of the year), the duo of Ryan Sawyer and Wendy Eisenberg, and at the end of the night, the mighty, mighty Harriet Tubman, not just one of the great jazz-rock groups there is, but the best rock band in America, bar none.
sive, now I’m shifting more moderate. I don’t think a lot of politicians are representing my generation.
I’ll out myself happily. If you ask me ‘would you vote enthusiastically for Joe Biden’, it a no.” “If you ask me ‘Am I going to vote for Joe Biden,” it’s a yes.”
R.J –“One more question. When I was 10, JFK was elected president , he was 43. Now all major politicians are in their 70s and 80s. Problem? Amy –“Yes, it is a problem. Politics is a Pandora’s Box. I was very progres-
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January 2024, Page 15
The Craft Corner Turn leftover holiday ribbons into a New Year’s garland! by Marie and Sage Hueston
The holidays are winding
cil, trace the letters or numbers you need for your message onto construction paper and cut them out. You might repeat the numbers 2024 like we did, or you might write out a whole phrase like Happy New Year! or Celebrate MLK.
down and a new year is beginning. To continue our column’s focus on repurposing items we tend to throw away, we created a decorative garland out of holiday ribbons. Follow these steps
What you’ll need. In addition to your ribbons, you will need a ruler, scissors, construction paper, a pencil, and tape or a stapler.
to make your own. Create your garland. Tie individual strips of ribbon together at the ends and trim any fraying edges. With either tape or a stapler, attach your message to the ribbons and display your garland in your home!
Gather ribbons. We saved ribbons from holiday gifts. If you need extra, feel free to use any ribbons you can find. You can also purchase pretty options at a craft store like Michaels. (Holiday designs might even be on sale!)
Share your designs with us! Send photos of your creations to our editor at gbrook8344@gmail.com
Choose and trim your ribbons. Pick out a few of your favorite ribbons. The length of your garland’s message will determine how many ribbons you will need. Cut 12-inch-long strips of each design.
February Preview: have any T-shirts that no longer fit? Save them for a Valentine craft!
Cut out your message. Using a pen-
SILENT REVIEWS (continued from page 10)
If the removal of language barriers by a simple social media trend isn’t enough to impress you, think about the concrete impact that this trend has had on just Stephanie’s life alone.
Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue
Stephanie says she is now a part of the TikTok Creativity Program, which pays users for highly viewed, viral videos, and she has also filmed her first two sponsored posts this year, both for major publishing company Penguin Random House. In the past, Stephanie says she re-
lied heavily on the generosity of her friends and family to give her children Christmas presents because she and her husband have struggled financially. “TikTok funded my kids’ Christmas [this year],” says Stephanie. “I cried when I got to hit purchase on my kids’ Christmas [gifts]. My husband and I
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have never been well off. He’s in the military. We’ve scraped by … And so, this is the first time that I got to buy real gifts not from the dollar store for my kids.” And all of this without saying a single word.
January 2024