July 15, 2012 by Red Hook Star-Revue

The

Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

July 1 - 15 2012

FREE

Decision soon on Gowanus sludge by Matt Graber and Abby Savitch-Lew

n important decision for the future of Red Hook will be announced this September - the decision about what to do with the 600,000 cubic yards of toxic sludge that will be dredged up from the bottom of the Gowanus Canal over the course of the next several years. The EPA has been weighing several sets of options for how to treat and dispose of the sludge. And while residents will naturally object to the idea of their neighborhood being selected as a disposal site, some key players in both the public and private sectors are lobbying for it. One of these players is John Quadrozzi Jr., the owner and operator of Gowanus Bay Terminal (GBX). Quadrozzi currently uses the property to store cement for his company, NYCEMCO, which his late father, John Quadrozzi Sr., purchased in the mid-1980s. He also leases space to a variety of tenants, including 30 transportation companies who benefit from easy access to the BQE-Gowanus Exchange, and companies specializing in aggregate materials like Benson Scrap Metal and the lumber company LV Fine Wood. GBX recently filled the last unoccupied vacancy for maritime operations, signing a six-year lease to Vane Brothers, a tug and barge company that transports oil from the nearby Hess station to offshore vessels.

materials that Quadrozzi would also like to convert - if given the Gowanus waste on which he could permanently moor the ship - into a stationary museum comparable to the Intrepid. Quadrozzi and his associate, Phaedra Thomas, would like to see a lot more maritime industry on GBX property, most of which is underwater. And this is partly where the Gowanus sludge comes into play. If selected as a site for remediation and disposal of the waste, Quadrozzi proposes to fill in much of his offshore property. This would allow bulkheads to be moved into deeper water, thus allowing larger vessels to dock.

An opportunity for revitalizing the waterfront?

Expanding maritime operations is a popular idea in Red Hook. Unlike high rise condominiums, it offers the promise of quality jobs and job training, and possibly waterfront access for the public. Several local business owners and community leaders have written letters to the EPA in support of selecting GBX as a disposal site.

Ray Hall, co-founder of Red Hook Rise, was hesitant at first, but says that the more he learned about it, the better it sounded. Hall was also impressed by Thomas’ outreach to the community, encouraging residents to take part in envisioning the future of the Red Hook waterfront. “When you’re building something big it’s important to talk to people,” he said. “They’ve done a great job of not excluding anybody.”

One benefit that Hall hopes to see come from increased maritime operations would be a job-training institute - part of a potential EPA package- and employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated persons. Hall was involved in negotiations with Fairway when the supermarket was being developed, which led Fairway to adopt the practice through a city program that incentivizes the hiring through tax credits. (continued on page 6)

New Feature:

Mollie Dash Interviews a Red Hook artist

ed Hook is a neighborhood filled with artists, with everyone from sculptors and painters to writers, musicians, film makers and dancers sharing space in this tiny corner of Brooklyn. Many of the creators live here, some rent studio space and others show their work in one of the many gallery venues. Wanting to dig beneath the surface of Red Hook’s art scene, this is the first in a series of interviews conducted with the people who help make this place unique.

The terminal’s most recognizable structure, the Columbia Street Grain Elevator, was built in 1922 to store large amounts of grain transported within the Barge Canal system. But neither the grain elevator nor the barge system lived up to expectations. By the mid-1960’s, the grain terminal was deactivated. As it turns out, cement has a similar consistency to grain, and Quadrozzi has his eye on the elevator as a potential cement silo, if he can raise enough money to convert it. Next to the grain elevator floats the M/V Loujaine, a massive ship built in 1966 for the transportation of aggregate

For my first interview I chose Jenna Weber, who owns Gallery Brooklyn on Van Brunt Street. Jenna had been our intern at Everbrite Jenna Weber, owner of Gallery Brooklyn

(continued on page 3)

Also in This Issue: Movement to bring back B77 bus page 5

On Location with Ang & George

pages 13,14

Local Graduations

pages 6,7

The

Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

July 1 - 15 2012

Volume 3 No. 13

Thursday July 5

Table of Contents

Cobble Hill Association presents their first performance of “Music in the Park” concert series. The Claremont Strings will be performing in Cobble Hill Park at 7 pm. The free concert series is a neighborhood tradition of family-friendly music under the stars. The rain date for all concerts is the following Friday when possible.

Happenings....................... 2 Restaurant Guide....... 16 Graduations.................... 6,7 Street Style................ 17 Columns............................ 8 Arts Calendar............. 18 Crossword....................... 11 Classifieds................. 19 On Location................ 12,13 Sports....................... 20

Staff

Saturday July 7

Kimberly G. Price.......................................Editor/Publisher George Fiala.......................................... Graphics/Publisher Matt Graber............................................... Senior Reporter Abigail Savitch-Lew.............................................. Reporter Greg Algarin-Marquez .............................................Politics Vince Musacchia..................................................Cartoons Eric Ruff............................................................... Calendar Erik Penney...................................................... Restaurants Angelika Mitchell................................Advertising Manager

Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturday celebrates the last weekend exhibition “Keith Haring: 1972-1982” with activities that bring to life the vibrant New York art scene of the 1980s. Highlights include music, interactive and hands-on art, gallery talks and dance. Four artists will also compete in a live painting performance and Jim Hubbard will screen selections from his recent documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. Admission to the museum is free from 5-11 pm.

Contributors

Thursday July 12

John Burkard, Brian Clancey, Mollie Dash, Reg Flowers, Mary Anne Massaro, Stef Morisi, Mary Ann Pietanza, Michael Racioppo, Danette Vigilante,

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Happenings Around Our Town

718.624.5568 - Editorial & Advertising 917.652.9128 News Tips 101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 editor@redhookstar.com

Red Hook Art Project invites the community to its art exhibit, fundraiser, and neighborhood party to be held at the Red Hook Initiative from 6 pm to 9 pm. The Red Hook Arts Project is a free art tutoring program for Red Hook youth with an interest in visual art, film, and music. The awardwinning program gives free classes in drawing, painting, print-making, and sculpture on Saturdays at the Red Hook Initiative, 767 Hicks Street. Cobble Hill Association presents their second performance of “Music in the Park” concert series. Suzanne Sherman Propp and the Crustaceans will be performing in Cobble Hill Park at 7 pm. The free concert series is a neighborhood tradition of family-friendly music under the stars. The rain date for all concerts is the following Friday when possible.

Ongoing

LOW COST Vaccine Clinic!

FREE RABIES VACCINE

When:

Where:

Greeway plan advances

More than five miles of greenway from Brooklyn Bridge Park and Williamsburg and Columbia Streets have been completed and the blueprint details the remaining sections from Greenpoint to Sunset Park.

Dog Vacc Package: Exam Distemper/Parvo Vaccine Rabies Vaccine Bordetella Vaccine Heartworm Test Fecal Exam

Red Hook Lions Club Flea Market opens June 16 in the Fine Fare Supermarket Parking lot from 10 am-4 pm every Saturday until August 11, (except Fourth of July weekend on the 7th.) For vendors, tables are available for $20 in advance and $25 same day. For more info, call (347) 272-0702 or (718) 834-0557

NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan released the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway implementation plan for the on June 22. The document outlines the finalized route, remaining phases and funding options for the 14 mile pedestrian and bicycle path.

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The Brooklyn Museum is launching a borough wide initiative called, GO: a community curated open studio project. The project invites artists to open their studios to allow community members to visit and nominate artists for inclusion in an exhibition at the museum. Artists wishing to participate in the project can now register at www.gobrooklynart.org throughout June.

$80

The planning efforts were made possible by Representative Nydia Velazquez, who secured $14 million in funding for

the project. “Once completed, the Greenway will not only expand recreational opportunities, but also spur economic development.” For more than a decade Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) worked to make the greenway a reality before DOT joined the process in 2009. “[That] NYC DOT has completed a comprehensive plan for its implementation is huge news for all of Brooklyn’s waterfront communities,” said Milton Puryear, co-founder of BGI. Sadik-Khan said, “This document marks both the end of the planning stage and the start of a new era as these dynamic neighborhoods embrace the waterfront as New York’s sixth borough.”

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July 1 - 15, 2012

EPA to announce plans for the disposal of toxic Gowanus sludge this September (continued from page 1)

Selling the eco-industrial idea

A former Red Hook resident, (she still owns property on Van Brunt Street), Thomas was the director of Red Hook and Gowanus programs for the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC) before coming to work for Quadrozzi. In recent months, she has been making the rounds at local centers and community meetings, seeking to get people interested in what she and Quadrozzi are referring to as “Inecsy,” or an “industrial ecosystem.” “We’d like to base our visioning process with the community on, ‘What kinds of eco-operations can happen, should happen?’” Thomas says. “And there are a lot of great scientists and thinkers in Red Hook.” Thomas draws inspiration from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is looking more like an industrial ecosystem in recent years, and “freight villages” in parts of Europe that she describes as “whole villages of many different properties where everything feeds into one another.” Waste-to-energy facilities are often cited

by advocates for industrial ecosystems. According to Thomas, GBX is currently in talks with a firm for building a wasteto-energy facility within the terminal. This facility would have the ability to be modified for use on the Gowanus project in the event that the site is chosen. But such a project would not be contingent on getting picked by the EPA. Starting in July, GBX will be holding “vision workshops,” where residents will have the opportunity to contribute their ideas. These workshops could provide the foundation for a future community benefits agreement between GBX and a Red Hook community coalition that could be formed for that purpose. Such agreements are meant to make sure that private developers place high priority on the welfare of their surrounding community.

Other proposals exist

Not everyone sees GBX as an ideal site for waste disposal. Paul Basile of Gowanus Alliance has other ideas. “Taking the remediated material for Quadrozzi just creates land for Quadrozzi,” he told the Star-Revue. “I see an opportunity here to solve many, many problems before we take the remediated material to a private site. We have several city infrastructure problems that we need to deal with first.” Specifically, the sanitation garage located on 12th and 13th Streets near Ennis Park, which stores trucks from both the 2nd and 6th Community Board districts. It’s becoming a public health is-

“Not everyone sees GBX as an ideal site for waste disposal. Paul Basile of Gowanus Alliance has other ideas.”

Red Hook Star-Revue

sue, according to Basile, who cited that trucks idle their engines, take up parking space, impede on traffic and affect those who play in the park. Basile would like to see the Gowanus sludge used to fill in the 5th Street Basin in the neighborhood of Gowanus, so that sanitation trucks can park there. “First address the 5th street Basin and any other tributaries where the soil could be used,” he said. “Anything that’s left or in excess could be given to Quadrozzi.” After making public its remediation and disposal plan in late September, the EPA will host a public meeting with a stenographer. The public will have the

opportunity to comment most likely

for 60 to 90 days, after which the EPA will make a final decision in mid- 2013. Phaedra Thomas From there, the EPA will take two years to create a remediation design and finally start the clean-up in January 2015.

Disposing Waste Locally – Is it Safe? The EPA has divided the canal into three sections based on levels of contamination. It has said that they will not allow wastes from the section with the highest level of contamination to be disposed locally (at sites such as the GBX in Red Hook). High-level contaminates must be processed in facilities that can only be found in upstate New York or New Jersey. They are, however, considering using local sites to stabilize the intermediate and least contaminated wastes. One such method would be mixing the soil with cement and turning it into a construction material for highway cement-barriers or other infrastructure. It is also considering taking just the least contaminated material, stabilizing its toxic properties, and burying it 15 feet underground in a sealed container called a Containment Disposal Facility (CDF). Thomas, representing GBX, said they believe the EPA will choose a safe option because the EPA is here to protect the environment, not to harm us. The Gowanus Canal Conservancy said that while they didn’t know about the technical feasibility of disposing the sludge locally, they stand by the belief that there must be “a careful and meticulous environmental impact study…the environmental benefits and costs really need to be carefully evaluated.” -Abby Savitch-Lew

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July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 3

Low turnout clinches Velazquez primary victory by Greg Alzarin-Marquez

urrent sitting Congressional Representative, Nydia M. Velazquez, was able to win the spot as the Democratic Party’s candidate on the November ballot which puts her on the path to an eleventh consecutive term in Congress since first being elected back in 1992. “Clearly, the constituents and voters sent a clear message that they are the ones who decide who represents their communities,” said Velazquez in an on-camera interview with NY1. In her victory speech, she said to her spirited supporters, “I am proud to stand here tonight as your Congresswoman and still say that I am un-bossed and un-bought.”

She also received a big boost from a faction in the Satmar Hasidic community opposed to Lopez, which helped her numbers in Williamsburg. With 97% of the 504 precincts reporting (as of this writing), the vote breakdown is as follows As with the other statewide primary races, the big story of this primary was indeed the low voter turnout. According to the New York State Board of Elections, as of April 2012 there are 232,330 registered Democrats in the 7th Congressional District. Even taken as an approximate number of eligible Democrats who could have participated in the primary based on the returns, just under 12% actually came out to vote in the district. Speaking at his election party in Park Slope, Dan O’Connor said, “Up until about yesterday, I was pretty confident that I would win. But just throughout today you see who turns out to vote - who actually comes out. The people you talk to in the streets, who like your message, you get their contact information and remind them to come out and, generally, they don’t come out to vote unlike the people who consistently come out to vote.” “In retrospect, I’m pretty happy with the

George Martinez jotting notes at his election night party in Manhattan.

There was no doubt that her declaration was directed at her chief challenger’s supporter, King’s County Democratic leader, State Assemblyman Vito Lopez. The statement also seems to give validity to the perception that the contest was between Velazquez and Lopez despite the fact that City Council Member Erik Martin Dilan’s name was on the ballot along with Dan O’Connor and George Martinez. However, there was concern that Dilan supporters could deliver a victory for the Lopez-backed candidate. Earlier in the evening, Velazquez had led with a commanding percentage of votes but the margin slimmed as additional results came in. But in the end, Velazquez survived her first serious primary challenge in two decades. With 97% of precincts reporting, the results were as follow: Velazquez 16,011; Dilan 8,589; O’Connor 2,264; Martinez 752. Nydia did well even in Dilan territory. She beat Dilan in Vito Lopez’s 53rd Assembly District, 2,385 votes to 1,837.

“‘It’s the summer. Who thinks about voting when you’re thinking about vacation?’” way the campaign went for the most part. There some things I would have done differently - done better and brought in more votes. But a lot of things happened that you don’t have control and I was running a very unorthodox campaign. But I did raise $75,000 which is a lot of money for a first-time guy with no establishment support, no PAC support, no union support. I didn’t pursue endorsements from any establishment organizations. I did not intermingle with the political establishment. We got a lot of exposure.” O’Connor noted, with frustration, that the biggest obstacle were the voters who are consistently committed to one candidate and are unwilling to hear any criticisms of that candidate. When asked what his future plans are, he noted he will end his campaign but is very much interested in sharing his experiences. Also, he’s taking a bit of a vaca-

Nydia Velazquez and some of her diverse supporters, including Lincoln Restler, give the thumbs up sign as they relish her victory (photo by George Fiala)

tion and getting married. “My fiancé and I are going to start preparing for our wedding - that’s the next thing on my mind.” George Martinez held his election night party at a small club on the Bowery. When asked about having heard results, he responded, “I actually haven’t but I have heard that it seems that the Congressperson will win which I think is a good second alternative to us not winning.” “The premise was to push the Democratic party, to inject a real progressive new spirit and to let them know that there are more folks like me coming,” referencing the Occupy movement. As an example, he noted that even Rep. Velazquez adopted Occupy language in one of her campaign mailers. “It’s a testament to Occupy’s power that those formal spaces sound like us now.” Martinez plans on running in 2014 and noted with accomplishment later on with results being reported that with nearly 1% of the money that Velazquez had, he still managed to garner 3% of the vote. “That’s saying that something is happening and it can’t be ignored.”

In fact, both city and state Board of Elections websites are still presenting outdated information and updates are sporadic. Martinez Deputy Campaign Manager Cecily McMillan posed, “Where were the maps? The only thing most people knew to look at was the interactive map at the New York Times website. Ridiculous!” One other major factor noted by many was the time of year. Noted by one O’Connor supporter, “It’s the summer. Who thinks about voting when you’re thinking about vacation?”

This night was Nydia’s

by George Fiala

ydia Velazquez held what a “Victory Celebration” at the East River Bar in Williamsburg’s Southside. Invitations were sent, but really anyone who cared to could walk past the bar and join the festivities in the back. The partiers stood right in between a large Hispanic and a large Hasidic community. The number of Hasidic votes whe received were more than expected and a factor in her victory. There was food galore to reward her hardworking volunteers and political supporters. Unending trays of eggplant parmigiana, meatballs, two kinds of ziti, chicken with broccoli, and garlic rolls were served out by a trio of hardworking seasoned caterers. The Hasids brought their own box of kosher food and attracted a number of long robed eaters. The food was served in a semienclosed backyard that sat under the Williamsburg bridge walkway. During Nydia’s victory speech, loud

Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue

Both O’Connor and Martinez noted that the low voter turnout could have been avoided if the voters been informed. It turns out many voters were simply unaware that there was even a primary being held or that they may in fact be part of a new district. Martinez said, “That’s absolutely outrageous in terms of the Board of Elections’ failure to make sure that people had an opportunity to participate in the electoral process. That’s the fundamental job of the Board of Elections!”

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Nydia, flanked by Sheldon Silver and Brad Lander (photo by Fiala)

cheers and applause punctuated many of her remarks. She started by thanking President Obama, who had given her a rare primary endorsement. She in turn pledged to work hard for his reelection in November. The highlight of her speech was about her campaigning style. Her handlers had been worried about this campaign because she hadn’t faced a strong opponent since her initial election to Congress 20 years ago. But as she explained: “What they didn’t know was that I LOVE to campaign! (continued on page 8 )

July 1 - 15, 2012

On the Rise: A Movement for Restoring the B77 by Abigail Savitch-Lew

t’s 1:35 pm on Wednesday June 20. Jim Tampakis, the manager of Ship Parts and a local landlord, is shaking his head. While waiting at a stop sign in his car, he sees a crowd of 28 people at the bus stop on Pioneer and Van Brunt Street, and another 15 to 20 people at the bus stop on Verona and Van Brunt Street – in 95 degree weather. “It’s ridiculous,” said Tampakis, who has lost tenants because they have trouble getting to work from Red Hook. “It becomes extremely difficult for both residents and the business population – people can’t come into the neighborhood.” Lydia Bellahcene, the PTA co-president at PS 15, is equally concerned. As a parent with four children at the school, she was appalled to hear a startling reply to one of PS 15’s grant applications. “We are being denied grants for the simple fact that there’s not enough transportation to bring those programs to our school, and that’s where I draw the line,” says BelUnion rep Patafio lahcene. “That’s addresses the press when I start barking, I start talking and say hey, what’s going on?” Clarence Patterson is on the other side of the fare box, but of the same mind. As an MTA worker who has worked on the B61 and B62 lines, he says workers on both bus lines are victim to physical and verbal assaults from passengers waiting for late buses. “But you really can’t blame them,” says Patterson. “they’re waiting for the bus for forty-five minutes. When I pull into the bus stop, you’re not going to say good morning to me. You are going to say, where the hell were you? I understand that it’s not really personal.” Red Hook’s transportation woes are an old story. But this month - in light of the MTA’s improving finances and tentative considerations of restoring services - a coalition of concerned groups in Red Hook are once again voicing their demands for restoring the B77 and other bus lines throughout the city. The Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100,

Red Hook Star-Revue

the Red Hook Civic Association, the Red Hook Houses Tenant Association, Red Hook Initiative, Visitation Church and others have rallied, testified before the MTA Board, and collected 1,500 signatures requesting the MTA restore buses to pre-2010 levels of service. Transit Workers Union Local 100 representative J. P. Patafio said that in 2008 the MTA envisioned extending Brooklyn services by over 200 runs (one run is one bus on a particular route) – which would have amounted to a “renaissance”

‘“We are being denied grants for the simple fact that there’s not enough transportation to bring those programs to our school” — PS 15”’ in Brooklyn public transit. The MTA also proposed rerouting the B77 to go down Van Brunt Street through the Battery Tunnel to downtown Manhattan. Last year, the Civic Association gave this route a trial run and found it took ten to fifteen minutes from Dikeman and Van Brunt Sts. to Bowling Green. Instead, Patafio said, the MTA made cuts to 236 runs in Brooklyn – including South Brooklyn’s B37, B77, B75 and B71. Last November, a report by Councilman Brad Lander, Councilwoman Sara M. González, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez said only 43% of B61 buses arrived within acceptable headway time during peak hours – in contrast to 64% before the cuts. The B61 line is also stressed by the growing ridership in Red Hook. The coalition is demanding the restoration of the B77 and other bus lines, with appropriate rerouting – including a line through the Battery Tunnel. They hope to collect 5,000 signatures by the next MTA Board Meeting on July 25th. They also plan to host another rally around July 24th. A press release from González’s office said that the MTA’s budgeting figures shows it only takes $1.69 per passenger to run the B77 – far below the cost of a single fare. Asked to explain why the B77 was cut, MTA representative Deirdre Parker replied in an e-mail: “By eliminating the B77 and extending the B61, which was done in June 2010, we are giving customers better options

by offering a single route from Downtown Brooklyn to Windsor Terrace via Red Hook. Some recent adjustments have been made, most Waiting for the B61 (photo courtesy Jim Tampakis) notably our decision to change the bus operators’ relief point from the mid- statutes voluntarily. dle of the route to the terminal down- In 2009, the State used $160 million of town so as not to inconvenience riders Transit funds to fill a state budget shortwaiting for the bus operators to change fall. The state took another $100 milplaces mid-route. We will continue to lion in 2010. The MTA faced slashed monitor and evaluate the service but state and city funds, debt obligations, there are currently no plans to restore and decreasing tax revenues from real estate. They said they were then forced the B77.” Parker acknowledged reliability issues to make service changes. with the B61 and the inconvenience of But Patafio acthe Smith and 9th Street train station cuses the MTA rehabilitation project. She also said the of failing to save MTA is bringing Bus Time to the B61 millions of dollars route: riders will now be able to know by not renegotiwhere their next bus is located online, ating their terms with banks. While by text, or smart phone. For a number of elected officials, these he doesn’t accuse improvements are not enough. On Sun- them of corrupday June 24th at 11 am, the organizers tion, he thinks rallied in front of PS 15 with Velasquez, that because many Jim Vogel representing State Senator Vel- of them are former Toni Khadijah Jones manette Montgomery, González, Lander, bankers, they desire to keep “cozy” relaAssemblyman Félix Ortiz, and Assembly- tions with the banks. man Jim Brennan. They celebrated a bill “It’s an elite group that deals with itself. that Brennan recently pushed through the It’s against their own interests,” he said. State Assembly that will hold the MTA In an e-mail, MTA Representative Deiraccountable for service cuts and create dre Parker responded to this accusation: plans for the restoration of service. While “TWU is simply wrong to suggest that the bill awaits review by the State Senate, we can ask the banks to renegotiate the organizers and elected officials are call- terms. The interest rates that were negoing on the MTA to comply with the bill’s tiated have saved money for the agency.”

Criminal Activities

6/15 - 30

In the timespan of one week in June, Red Hook saw two shooting incidents, both of which, according to the 76th Precinct Newsletter, “seem to stem from gang activity.” The first occurred on the evening of June 13th at 10:30 pm. Outside of 82 Dwight Street, two young men were shot - one in the arm and the other in the side. Neither of the injuries were life-threatening, and the victims have maintained to the police that they don’t know who the shooter was. Then, at 3:30 am on Father’s Day, June 17th, a 24-year-old male was walking by 16 Mill Street when, he told police, he heard several shots fired. He says that after hearing the shots, he took cover, only to be hit in the lower back by a bullet. His injury was also not lifethreatening. Investigations are ongoing in both cases.

Street after running directly into another pair of officers who just happened to be there. He is currently being held at $50 thousand bail.

Two days after the second shooting, a young man named Quincy Williams was arrested for possession of a firearm. According to the 76th Precinct, Williams was standing outside of 797 Hicks Street at 7:50 pm on Tuesday, June 19th. When he saw cops approaching, he accidentally dropped his fully loaded 357 Magnum and ran in the opposite direction. He was arrested outside 16 Mill

Quick arrest A 21-year-old male shoved a 51-yearold male in the face at 7:40 pm on June 20th, knocking the victim to the ground. The incident occurred at the corner of Clinton Street and 2nd Place. Although the perp fled immediately, police managed to make the arrest within five minutes. The perp was caught with the victim’s black book bag, worth $106.

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Lots of cherry bombs 76th Precinct officers made a recordbreaking illegal firework arrest in the early afternoon of Tuesday, June 19th, seizing $1,000 worth of assorted fireworks, according to the precinct’s community newsletter. The letter states that it was “the largest such seizure in Brooklyn to date.” Edwardo Diaz, who was arrested two summers ago in Sheepshead Bay on similar charges, was the perpetrator in this case. Three on one A man was mugged by three male teenagers while exiting the Carroll Street F station at 10:30 pm on June 24th. According to the victim, the perps grabbed his phone and fled. When police arrived at the scene, they drove the victim around, canvassed the neighborhood and made an arrest ten minutes later.

July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 5

South Brooklyn Community High School:

A Transfer School for the Whole Person

hen PS 27 on Huntington Street began phasing out in 2009, Roce Hernandez of Red Hook was one of the 9th grade high school students forced to transfer elsewhere. When she arrived at the Brooklyn School of Collaborative Studies (BCS) for the beginning of 10th grade, it was her first time outside of PS 27. Although her new destination was just across the highway, she felt alone and unprepared everyone seemed to already have their group of friends. At PS 27 she had focused on passing the Regents but now she was expected to present a 20-page paper to a panel – a requirement she had thought administrators had promised she wouldn’t need to complete. After a conflict with a teacher, Hernandez stopped coming to school.

She had heard good things about South Brooklyn Community High School (SBCHS), a “transfer school” in Red Hook that only accepts students with a record of truancy. At first, the school wouldn’t take her because she had already completed too many credits. In May 2010, she finally gained entry to the intimate school with its approximately 150 students and 11 teachers. Yet, as much as Hernandez had wanted to be there, she still had the same slacking mentality that she’d developed at BCS. That was when Maybelline Read or school mom as Hernandez calls her, began to invade her life. Read is one of the school’s advocate counselors, an individual assigned to each student under the school’s primary-person model. These adults help students build a strong connection to the school; they spend endless energy calling home to make sure students are in attendance and to help parents understand their child’s needs; they also support students’ families in overcoming crisis that could affect the student’s school life. At first, the added attention drove Hernandez crazy. But by September, the new environment had begun to take effect. Hernandez realized that in the school’s accelerated program and with enough hard work, she would be able to obtain her high school diploma not only on time, but one year early. Soon she was one of the best students in her English class, working on leadership projects as a member of the school’s Student Ambassadors. In March of 2011, she finished all her credits, and the fol-

by Abby Savitch-Lew

lowing fall became a Liberal Arts student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. She plans to transfer to a four-year school and complete a degree in psychology. She is spending this summer “stalking the seniors” to help them transition to college programs. “That’s why I’m here. To hustle for these kids,” Hernandez said on June 20 when she visited the school to talk to seniors about the services she could provide. “When you come in here, just know it’s a brand new start and nobody’s looking to bash you for why you wasn’t in school or why you didn’t be successful in your old high school…And the encouragement is amazing. You will not find encouragement like this in a regular high school,” she said.

– when their advocate counselor would hand them a New York City High School diploma. Chastity Polcano, a 19-year-old from Sunset Park, sat with her family around her, feeling nervous, excited, and happy for the day. Her high school career had begun at Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge, where she had felt lost among the over 4,000 other students and had stopped going to all but her easiest classes. When she first transferred to SBCHS, she found it difficult

In 2002, a new state-of-the-art facility popped up in a vacant lot at 173 Conover Street, home to a youth development organization called Good Shepherd Services. To this day it is a quiet block facing a school bus parking lot and side- Kaashiem Palmer turned his life around and will be attending City walks overgrown College in the fall. He is with fellow grad Felicity McLean. with weeds. And yet, those who enter to get up and go to school by 9 am. Her its doors will find Red Hook’s hidden advocate counselor Ariana Rodriquez gem: SBCHS, a school that gives high calls her, fondly, “my all-time procrasschool dropouts, many of whom have tinator.” But Polcano was present tofaced hardship, an opportunity to start day, for graduation, because she figured afresh a school where students are treatout how to get to school on time and ed as whole persons and where truant because she would stay late into the students are not just helped to the finish evening to make sure all her work was line, but also encouraged to change the complete. She has enrolled at City way they value themselves. Technical College to obtain a degree in The 10th Anniversary Human Services, “so I can help people On Tuesday, June 26, the thirty stu- the way South Brooklyn has helped me dents of the school’s 10th graduating plan my future,” said Polcano. class waited in the lobby outside St. Stephanie Gaweda, also from Sunset Francis College’s auditorium, getting Park, ambled over to chat with Polcano. hot in their caps and gowns, many ap- Gaweda was once a student at Urban Asprehensive for the moment that at one sembly for Music and Art. Though she time seemed like it might never come did practice her guitar a great deal in the hallway she rarely attended class. Eventually she realized, I’m not going anywhere I have to do something, and that at her current rate, she wouldn’t graduate until she was 21. Instead, she transferred to SBCHS and is graduating at age 17. Her greatest challenge was getting adjusted to the rigorous curriculum and keeping herself in class all day. Gaweda stuck it out and also began interning at Hook Productions. Now she is on her way to Columbia College Chicago and plans to major in Film and Cinematography with a minor in Arts and Media Management. She dreams of making social justice films that highlight the struggles and successes of ordinary people, and has already made a

Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.RedHookStar.com

documentary about the successes of the transfer school model.

The Transfer School Movement

In recent years, “transfer schools,” which the Department of Education (DOE) defines as “small, academically rigorous, full-time high schools designed to re-engage students who are behind in high school or have dropped out”– have become a widespread phenomenon, with the DOE which now lists 50 transfer schools in New York City’s five boroughs. According to the SBCHS’s transfer school manual, only in recent years has the country begun having a dialogue about high school dropouts. In New York State, the numbers reveal a problem: in 2005, just over 50% of New York City students graduated in four-years and 22% of students dropped out. The SBCHS manual says students “fall through the cracks” for a variety of reasons, including peer pressure, unsupportive and overcrowded school environments and problems outside of school – including poverty and difficult family lives. Principal of SBCHS Jean Burke Foley said schools want to keep their attendance rates up and truant kids often feel blamed for their difficulties. New York City has implemented new initiatives to increase graduation rates and decrease the truancy rate, and in 2010 the four-year graduation rate increased to 61%. In addition, Burke Foley said the city has become increasingly aware of the need for transfer schools and would even say there is a transfer school movement a shift from a few, under-the-radar schools that serve special needs to a recognition that this is a viable path for some kids. SBCHS’s story begins with Good Shepherd Services, a youth development, education, and family service organization that has provided support to New York City’s most vulnerable youth since 1857. In 1979, the New York City Deputy Mayor’s Office of Youth Policy asked Good Shepherd Services to develop a program that would serve truant John Jay High School students, many of whom lived in Red Hook. The program was housed at the Red Hook PAL Community Center until 1993, and then reopened at St. John’s school building in Park Slope. In 2000, Good Shepherd Services collaborated with the city agency, Brooklyn and Staten Island Superintendency, to establish a diploma-awarding school of their own. Good Shepherd Services Executive Director Sister Paulette LoMonaco raised the funds to build the new facility, housing both the school and other Good Shepherd Services programs. The high school is now run jointly by Good Shepherd Services and the city’s restructured DOE. Students from all over South Brooklyn, from Sunset Park to Wyckoff, commute to this isolated location. Director John Murphy said that with only the B61 serving the area, students are often late no matter how hard they try to show up on time. And because it is Red Hook’s only school, he said, there has been a (continued on next page)

July 1 - 15, 2012

South Brooklyn High (continued from previous page)

very rare case in which a struggling Red Hook student becomes truant so they can gain admission to their popular “local school.” “There’s an element of a little back fire here – a little bit – because we’re ‘it,’” said Murphy. Former Principal Vanda Belusic, now executive director of the DOE’s Office of Postsecondary Readiness, said SBCHS is one of the first transfer schools to be managed jointly by the DOE and a community based organization.

them a stigma for being parents.” With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Good Shepherd Services and the DOE opened West Brooklyn Community High School in 2006 and Bronx Community High School in 2007. There have been three third-party replications, often spearheaded by former SBCHS faculty. In addition, last year Good Shepherd Services and the DOE opened Brooklyn Frontiers High School, a school for first-time 9th graders who have been left back before high school.

The Power of Choice

It is also part of a generation of transfer schools that conceive high school dropouts not as students unable to do the work, but rather as students who have previously been in unfavorable environments and who must be held to high expectations – including the possibility of attending college.

The keynote speaker, Jon Platt from EMI Records, congratulated the graduates. “You reached a milestone that many didn’t think you could achieve. You yourself might have thought you couldn’t make it. And yet, you’re here.”

As part of the school’s mission to help students build healthy relationships, peers of different levels of credit-completion participate in semiweekly group meetings called “community scholars” to support each other and share advice. Students have the opportunity to develop leadership skills in the Student Ambassadors program. These students work with Ambassadors from other schools to hold a conference; they also design and complete research projects pertinent to their own schools. Past topics have included the influence of family on a student’s success in school, and whether or not class content served a purpose in a student’s life. SBCHS is also a pioneer of the citywide Learning To Work program. Seventyfive percent of the class of 2012 engaged in apprentice-style internships with organizations in the Red Hook community, including Hook Productions, Baked, and Four Corner Cabinets. Good Shepherd Services also hosts paid after-school training programs, giving students the opportunity to develop catering or IT skills, and some of the students are rehired as staff for other Good Shepherd Services programs. A belief in hands-on learning and relevancy guides classroom teachers. School staff collaborated with artists from Dance Theatre Etcetera to create a geometry class in which students designed their own homes. English teacher Sydney King said she gives her classes the opportunity to translate Shakespeare into their own modern language, and to discuss timeless themes like cheating, lying, and betrayal through their study of Othello. She also helped one student who was a mother to get comfortable reading picture books aloud. King said she believes in “just valuing who they are instead of giving

Red Hook Star-Revue

Red Hook Initiative Red Hook Initiative’s end of the year ceremony was held on Thursday, June 14. Middle school students, high school students, and participants in the Family Institute of Bold Hope, (a support group for families with children “working through” emotional and social challenges), received certificates of congratulations for their growth in the Red Hook Initiative’s programs.

And back in Red Hook, where this story began, SBCHS is celebrating its 10th year and its 300th graduating student.

“If you combine the services of a community based organization with the expertise of the Department you can move mountains for kids,” said Belusic. SBCHS benefits from Good Shepherd Services’ implementation of the primaryperson model, in which each student is paired with a caring adult.

Another notable characteristic is the school’s focus on student’s assets and its simultaneous work helping students build skills they need. Advocate counselors work with each student to design individual course-loads based mostly on the student’s transcript and class history. The school has three “cycles” a year, allowing students to complete credits at an accelerated rate.

GRADUATION 2012 GRADUATION 2012 GRADUATION 2012 GRADUATION 2012

As the class of 2012 streamed into the auditorium, a slideshow of pictures put together with the help of Stephanie Gaweda, budding documentary filmmaker, played above the stage. In a corner, diplomas were stacked on a table surrounded by white and blue balloons.

“This is a second chance school, but you are not going to get a lot of second chances in the real world,” Platt warned. He praised the graduates for turning themselves around, and encouraged them to work hard and choose to listen to the right people. As the child of a single mother and a failing student, he too had faced the challenge of turning himself around, he said. Later in the ceremony, each advocate counselor shared personal recollections of their student cohorts, and each student who desired to speak had the opportunity to address their graduating class. Kaashiem Palmer, an 18-year-old from the Red Hook Houses, who only days before felt anxious about his graduation, was among these students. With diploma in his hand, he stepped up to the mike. “Everyone who attended South Brooklyn has a story, so here’s mine,” he began. He admitted that when a student at Cobble Hill High School, he was more interested in being cool than in studying. A few years later, he had stopped going to class. Realizing his life was going to waste, he was determined to transfer to South Brooklyn High School and turn his life around. Many thought he wouldn’t be able to do it, but he was determined to prove them wrong. Palmer said he wanted to show the world what is possible: “A tall, black, athletic kid from the projects can get the same grades as a kid from a more affluent neighborhood.”

Damia Rahman, Camille Bradley, Leslie Neely, and Hannah Serrano, all members of Mirrors of Strength, a leadership and empowerment group for 12 to 14 year-olds (all photos by Abby Savitch-Lew) Students enjoying the pre-ceremony feast!

PS 15, The Patrick Daly School On Monday June 25, in PS 15’s decorated auditorium, the almost 60 fifth-grade graduates of the Class of 2012 turned around and sung to their families, “Do I make you proud?” In their caps and gowns, they sure did look like small adults. Principal Ms. Peggy Wyns-Madison spoke about how much the world had changed in the graduates’ one decade of life time and encouraged each one to “be a bucket filler” – to better themselves by performing positive deeds on behalf of others. She also honored Star-Revue Reporter Matt Graber with a community service award for directing the PS 15 Journalism Club. (below) Star-Revue Reporter Matt Graber receives a community service award for directing the PS 15 Journalism Club.

Graduating students at PS 15 photos and text by Abby Savitch-Lew

He’s off to City Technical School next fall.

South Brooklyn Community High School, located at Wolcott and Conover Streets.

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July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 7

Reg Flowers

Red Hook pool opens on hot weekend!

Thoughts

ritical thinking is the process of conceptualizing and analyzing information gathered from observation or communication as a guide to belief and action. A lot of the work that I do in Red Hook - as both a theater artists and a community organizer - is meant to encourage critical thinking. There’s a word for the process in Spanish – concientización. The concept can be difficult to explain simply, especially with the young people I work with, so I felt extremely fortunate to have had an encounter recently that so beautifully demonstrated the idea. I was returning to my home one hot afternoon, the hottest so far this year, when I noticed a woman sitting on the steps of my next door neighbor’s house. I recognized her immediately as the friendly woman who hangs out in the park across from where I live. She’s one of a group that regularly gathers on the benches near the courts at the base of Trip Towers. She, in particular, always greets me warmly when she sees me walking my dog, Jack. It was a bit strange to see her outside of the park - on the stoop - away from the company of her usual companions. She appeared deep in thought. I approached, making effort not to disturb her or to give off the impression she wasn’t welcome to sit. When she looked at me I expected she’d get up and excuse herself, as often happens when I happen upon people resting on the stairs of my house or nearby. She only smiled at me in her usual kind way and then, seeing my arms were full, asked if I needed help. I told her I was fine as I opened my door to set my bundle down inside. I was preparing to head out again when the woman spoke. “Can I tell you something?” I think that was how she began, although I don’t remember her words exactly. I think I responded with “Sure. What’s up?”

She sighed somewhat heavily, turned her head toward the park and spoke. “I’ve been sitting here all day watching those people in the park” Her head shook slightly as she went on. “I’m sitting here wondering if that’s how people see me.” Her brow furrowed and I followed her gaze to the crew sitting on end benches of the two rows that span the width of the park. It was her regular gang of cohorts. “I’m sitting here thinking how I spend my time with crazy folks!” She attempted an amused smile that seemed to mask a bit of shame. She may have patted her hair which was set flat against her head with two crowns of bobby pins. She may even have placed her hands on both her cheeks before continuing. “I’m not saying I don’t love every one of those people.” She went on to explain her relation to a few of the folks she referred to – her ex, her ex’s new romance, some others I don’t recall. “I’ve just found myself a bunch of crazy friends, that’s all. I sit over there every day doing the same crazy stuff I see them doing now – arguing and acting wild – but not until I sat over here and really looked at it, did I realized how crazy they all seem.”

We shared introductions and then I explained what I do in the neighborhood. I also shared some information with her about an acting workshop that was happening the next day. I told her she might enjoy it and that she might discover a few new things about herself if she gave it a try. She said she would like that and after saying goodbye she went back to her thoughtful study of her friends from her new objectively distanced position across the street.

Will the kids be alright? by Michael Racioppo

As the “recovery” has trudged along there has been a lot of talk about how workers with college degrees have had an easier time getting back on their feet. That said, the reality for recent graduates is a very different story. It is a story of large amounts of student loan debt, an official youth unemployment rate of 16.5 percent, more part time workers and falling wages amongst those fortunate enough to find full time work. Worse yet, is that economic research indicates that when a worker begins their career under depressed circumstances, it is usually not a blip but the start of a career of low earnings. Logic dictates that young Americans would have a pessimistic outlook. But poll after poll indicates they are not logical in this sense and are actually quite optimistic. Optimism without tangible results will eventually become delusional. The question this leads to is “how could the reality for the young be made to match the current optimism?”. A good starting point would be by basically doing the opposite of what Republicans such as Mitt Romney want. Romney, when recently speaking to college students, said “Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.” This would be okay if it did not lack empathy or understanding about how unrealistic this is for all the people not born into privilege. It would also be more acceptable if his - and his party’s - plans for a potential presidency, did not include major cuts to student aid making it hard to “get the education” Romney refers to.

(continued from page 4)

That’s my chance to meet all the people I represent, and when things get tough in Washington I think of the people I have met and represent and it motivates me to work harder.” Indeed, she sometimes outpaces Star-Revue reporters as she runs from event to event to be seen.

To increase the contrast with the Republican party, the Democrats should be louder in pushing for increased school funding and student aid . Things like Pell grants should cover more tuition than a measly 34 percent. Doing this would lower student debt and therefore pump more money into the economy. More money in the hands of young people - because they are likely to spend it - will mean increased economic activity, greater tax revenue, jobs, and government services.

She was flanked by the well-preserved and exquisitely dressed Sheldon Silver, Democratic Assembly boss in Albany, at the same time railing against the other boss, Vito Lopez, who had backed her chief opponent Erik Dilan. She glowed while railing against Lopez and his candidate’s defeat.

Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue

Opinion:

“Sounds like you just got your consciousness raised.” I said in a congratulatory manner, before I could think better of it. She nodded that she understood.

Nydia

Among the politicos roaming the room were our Councilman Brad Lander, and young District Leader Lincoln Restler, a good friend of Nydia’s. NY1 had the biggest media presence, with both English and Spanish reporters there. A NY Times stringer was also present, busily scribbling notes.

There was a continuous line of eager swimmers checking into the Red Hook Pool, at the Sol Goldman Rec Center, 155 Bay Street. Over 800 showed up to enjoy the chance to cool off, as you can see above. Pool hours are from 11:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m., with a break for pool cleaning between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Admission is free, but you must bring a combination or key lock to be let in.

But, in order for these policies to become more then ideas, and be passed through congress and state legislatures there needs to be sustained political engagement from the young. My generation needs to become more active and organized than we’ve been (in forums other than Facebook and Twitter.)

Nydia’s Hasidic supporters from Williamsburg brought their own food with them, including pickles

Right now the older a person is, the more likely they are to vote. With 50 percent of federal benefits going to the 13 percent of Americans over the age of 65 it is obvious that our elected officials know who’s vote leads to a 90 percent reelection rate for incumbents. It’s no accident that trying to cut Social Security has been referred to as the “3rd rail” of American politics. The young need to learn from this. They need make something such as cuts to Pell Grants and education funding be seen in a similar light by elected officials. This requires sustained vigilance through voting drives, information sessions, organization and protests. It will be difficult but the cost of not doing it will lead to a dark reality.

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July 1 - 15, 2012

Reporter’s Notebook

May we get a few answers please? by Matt Graber

either Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez’s press office nor the NYC Department of Transportation have provided specific information in response to repeated inquiries over the past month about the “nearterm” improvements for the pedestrian walkway under Hamilton Avenue, which the DOT proposed over a year ago.

just to build the system, followed by a $6.2-7.2 million annual maintenance cost. Discounting the unlikely prospect of massive residential high-rise develop-

attended the public meetings. In fact, it came as a surprise to quite a few people in the community that the city would even consider such a project - a proj-

“And so the streetcar vision was abandoned, while Red Hook’s longstanding transportation problems remained.”

Back in April 2011, the DOT released its full report on the Streetcar Feasibility Study, a six-month $295,000 investigation into the merits of building a trolley system in Red Hook.

ments along the Red Hook waterfront, the study estimated a mere 12 percent increase in ridership rates over the current B61 service.

The system would have run along the edge of Red Hook Houses, down Van Brunt and Columbia Streets, linking the neighborhood with Smith and 9th Street and Downtown Brooklyn.

In addition to being unaffordable, the report found that given the narrowness of Van Brunt and Columbia Streets, a two-way trolley line would be infrastructurally impossible.

ect that would not have significantly improved transportation even if implemented, given that streetcars are subject to the same limitations as buses. Streetcars have to stop at red lights, they can be held up by double-parked cars and, on top of that, the tracks pose a threat to bicycle safety.

DOT highlighted some specific “nearterm solutions” for improving transportation in and out of Red Hook. Transit officials and engineers presumably went back to the drawing board to figure out how to better serve Red Hook, and the idea was that at least a few band-aid measures could be implemented. Three near-term solutions that were highlighted in the report were: Enhanced B61 service Improving the pedestrian environment along Hamilton Avenue Placing a new intersection at the corner of Mill Street and Hamilton Avenue

The Star-Revue and the Red Hook community eagerly await news from the NYCDOT and Nydia And so the streetcar vision was abanVelasquez’s office on when some The Streetcar Study, funded by a fed- This news didn’t come as a surprise to doned, while Red Hook’s longstanding of these improvements might be eral earmark secured by Velasquez, many of the Red Hook residents who transportation problems remained. At the end of the April 2011 report, the delivered. found that it would cost $176 million followed the progress of the study and

Carroll Gardens mural remembers Mother Cabrini by Kimberly Gail Price and Abby Savitch-Lew

A gentle breeze was blowing, sometimes exposing glimpses of a veiled mural facing the BQE. Where a very prominent church once stood, condominiums have now replaced their history. But on June 24, the Groundswell Community Murals, along with neighborhood youth and the Pozzollo Club, changed all of that. On Sunday at 4 pm, people of all ages gathered around a small stage with an American and Italian flag. The Society of Citizens of Pozzollo engaged community youth to design and paint a public mural on Hicks and Degraw Streets in honor of Mother Francesca X. Cabrini. Professional artists from the nonprofit Groundswell Community Murals worked with the youth and Pozzollo Club every Friday and Saturday over a twelve week period. The mural’s content was based on the life of Mother Cabrini and her contributions to society. Mother Cabrini was beloved for her service to the Italian immigrant populations in Carroll Gardens and the Columbia Street District during the late 1800s. She was born in Italy in 1850. After moving to New York, she lived on Van Brunt and President Street where she founded orphanages, missionaries, schools, affordable housing projects, and hospitals in and outside of the U.S. In addition to being the first U.S. citizen canonized as a saint, she held two other titles: the “missionary of the new emancipation,” and the “patroness of immigrants.”

Sister Bernadette Anello, Missionary of the Sacred Heart, John Heyer II, and Nicholas Cannizzo, with Mother Cabrini in the background

In the spring of 2011, the Pozzollo Club invited students in grades two through eighth grades to submit essays for a $500 prize. The Society received 1,000 entries and chose winners from four different age categories. The mural’s content was based on the ideas of the winning essays including Mother Cabrini’s life, tributes to Sicilian heritage, immigration, education and social service.

The mural is located right next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) where the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary School once was. After the BQE was built, the school and the church relocated to Degraw and Hicks Streets. Though the building is still there, it was later converted to condominiums.

John Heyer II, Mural Committee Chair, said the Pozzollo Club chose the proj-

Red Hook Star-Revue

Nicholas Cannizzo receives his award certificate from President of the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo, Giovanni. Assemblywoman Joan Millman is in pink.

City Councilman Brad Lander was present for the mural unveiling (photos by Abby Savitch-Lew)

standing the plight of immigrants today. “That’s what Mother Cabrini did.

That’s what Mother Cabrini asked us to do. Let us be instruments of that love.”

ect because it is “reflective of the local community” and tells the history of the Columbia Street District. “”Hopefully, the mural will stand as that kind of testimony to those who are new to the area, and to our children.”

Sister Bernadette Anello, Missionary of Sacred Hearts, one of many speakers, emphasized the importance of under-

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July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 9

With Mollie Dash:

Interview with Jenna Weber of Van Brunt’s Gallery Brooklyn

(continued from page 1)

Mercantile Co., the store and venue I co-owned, which inhabited the space before Jenna’s gallery. While working for us, Jenna was studying printmaking at SUNY New Paltz. She concluded her internship with an exhibition of her origami sculptures.

but it still retained small triangles, so that gave me a lot of freedom to take it apart and add more, kind of like a cellular cancer. I could use that same unit to keep building off of it, or to subtract.

Star-Revue: How did you start with origami?

JW: Yeah, cause I felt like I needed a starting point, and I admired the perfection and symmetry of it. So I made that, and I said, “Now I want to do something totally different.” That’s where I came in with doing the deconstruction and reconstruction with the same system of tabs and pockets.

Jenna Weber: It all goes back to when I was a kid. I have memories of making anything from paper airplanes to the cranes that symbolize peace in Japanese culture. I found that I liked working with my hands and making paper cranes over and over was almost therapeutic, even back when I was eight or nine years old. SR: Did you learn from a book, or did you take a class? JW: I did a little bit of everything. I would look at books- like pictorial directions - and follow them pretty much religiously. Because I was just really into the whole process, and getting the end result to look like the diagram. You know, the copycat that some kids turn into. And I also would go to different craft classes growing up. Later on I went to this origami convention at FIT. Beyond being totally engrossed by the geekery behind the origami, I was surrounded by hundreds of people like me, who had been doing it ever since they were kids too. It really felt like the obsession behind folding was validated that day I spent taking classes with some of the “celebrities” of origami. SR: So how did you go from a kid making paper cranes, to the abstract forms that you make now? JW: I wanted to make something larger in scale, but still very complex, that still had a “wow factor.” Because when you see something large, sometimes it doesn’t have as much detail in it any more. Studying printmaking as an undergrad, I really got into monochromatic compositions with simple, geometric forms. So that made me want to revisit the geometric folding obsession. I discovered Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, and I said, okay, I don’t care how long it’s going to take me to build this, I’m going to try and build this. So I figured out how to build a simple unit that looked like a triangular pyramid. When three of them were put together, the whole thing would make a dodecahedron, that’s twenty vertices or corners, that builds into a perfect sphere. After successfully making that through a system of pockets and tabs, I decided to pull it apart and reprocess it. And that was really liberating for me, because I didn’t know what the end result was going to be. I had a feeling of what would be more structurally sound if I were to build it this way or that, and considered whether I wanted to add more units here or there. So I was making minute decisions along the way to create more abstract forms. I tried to force it out of its sphere shape,

Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue

SR: The sphere was the first form you made?

SR: So you developed that system for the dome, but then you used it to create all kinds of other forms. JW: Yeah, I didn’t really know what the exact end result was- I’m sure mathematically there’s probably a way that a computer could tell me if I do this, based off this function it would build out this way, but I left it to just my fingers. SR: When you did your show with us, you created some sculptures using your geometric forms that had lights inside and some of them were interactive. JW: I wanted to add another dimension, to bring them to life. There were ones that would light up in sequence, or ones that were sound activated, so that you could just yell at one and it would glimmer at you. I did that because I was taking an electronics art class at the time, and I wanted to apply some of the concepts I was learning in school to that body of work. Plus, in the wintertime, when the show was, the days are shorter. So it was kind of warming and inviting… SR: It created kind of an ice palace effect in the store.

“Medium Sphere” one of Jenna Weber’s origami creations.

with the building blocks. I drew from the idea of the Sephirot, or ten pillars of existence, where human beings are on a certain level of this Sephirot or structure that looks like an elongated diamond shape. I actually tried to build that. Jenna offered further explanation of her theories by providing the thesis she wrote for the show. Here are some excerpts: “The ten aspects of the Sephirot, in attempts to translate the meaning into English, have been referred to as “spheres” or “influences.” This reference brings meaning to the forms that I have created. The theory of the sephirot can be explained by how God, who is infinite, can have a direct relationship with

anything finite and how an unknowable God can become known by human beings.” “Insofar as I can relate to God and the spiritual sense of being, my work attempts to cause the viewer to reflect on the space that they inhabit and the shapes, or ‘spheres’ of influence that make them who they are.” “Conscious and meticulous choices in the construction of each piece have led to a series of subconscious forms. I am able to look at them and interpret their meanings as a spiritual construct for free will. It feels liberating as a creator to exercise this sense of free will and control where all the decisions in making each part determine the whole.”

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JW: When I made the paper I didn’t print on it, I didn’t add any sizing to it, and it had kind of a translucent effect because of the brightness of the L.E.D.’s. SR: Would you like to talk about the paper you use? JW: It’s made from a cotton rag pulp that I would get from The Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale. I would order it in five-gallon buckets and haul it back to the studio. There I would get the cotton rag slop into motion and start making the paper. And it was great, because it was really messy and you had to wear a raincoat. SR: When you had your idea for the initial sphere, was that made of handmade paper? JW: Yes. SR: Can you go a little bit more into the inspiration for your work? JW: Besides the mathematical background, I looked into the whole meaning on a spiritual level. One of the schools of thought that reinforced my thesis for the show was Kabbalah, the thousands of years’ old ideas within Judaism, and Gnosticism- this whole theory of metaphysical existence where we are created for a reason. And how I felt when I was making those pieces, I felt like a creator who wasn’t really sure what I was making, but I felt confident

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The

Red Hook StarªRevue Member

Red Hook Star-Revue

summer begins

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Red Hook StarªRevue crossword

Across

1. Couple 5. Oak or maple 9. Desktop symbols 14. Tickle me _______ 18. Prefix for nautics or drome 22. More crafty 27. Missing child Patz 28.` Old Irish word for sword 29. These hold missiles or grain 30. Frozen summer treat 32. Acting signal 33. Silent 34. Come in again (hyph) 38. Post______, birth term 42. Place for pigs 43. Pearl Harbor movie (one of the 3 same words) 44. Pen name 45. Breathe heavily 46. Achy, as with muscles 47. Doctrines 49. Cheap deal to bring ‘em in 51. An unbelievably positive appraisal 55. Rose extract for perfume 56. Done again (hyph) 57. Word after shish 61. These are the fencing kind 62. “Haven’t ___ ______ in the world” 63. Minute observation 67. Scopes was one 68. End of many prayers 69. Summer tea 73. Fashion mag 74. With “Fit to be” or “hog” 75. Therefore 76. Memory storage for cameras 77. Couple

DOWN 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.` 10. 11. 12. 13. 31.

“Not a _______ out of you!” Type of sax Email protocol Paul and Reagan A white powder Kingdom River in Ireland A large block of time You are reading one Therapists have these Doesn’t mix with water Prefix with con or liberal Oldsters (abbr) Morning disc jockey

by George Fiala 1

1 2

302

32. Between right and left 34. Not a home owner 35. A little extreme 36. Unfortunately human 37. Norma ___. 38. Used to fetch water 39. And 40. Outer edges 41. Russian daily 42. Chinese teddy 45. Earthy, spongy stuff 48. “____ Sounds,” Beach Boys masterpiece 50. Applied a description 51. Answered

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52. Can be lime or lemon 53. Battle 54. Norton and Begley 56. Portuguese coin (old) 57. Krazy ____, cartoon character 58. Land measure 59. Sometimes it has to be raised 60. Exams, not written 63. Startrek android 64. Islamic chief 65. “_______ off” golf or emotional term 66. Goes with “ors” 70. Weep 71. Old CRT 72. Federal entity that protects (abbr)

July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 11

imb

On Location with ngelika & eorge: erly! A summer Sunday in Brooklyn Chinatown & Red Hook take care of it, first I thought it’s too good to be true followed by Creepola-he must be up to something. Nope it was George. He truly wanted to show this to me.

Angelika: It all started when Kimbs bought me a Hello Kitty sleeping bag for our first slumber party in her new Brooklyn apartment. I remembered how much I loved Hello Kitty when I was tiny; I never knew how much more fantastic it is now! George: I’m really starting to like Sundays. Seeing my renewed obsession, George kept raving about this place called Brooklyn Chinatown. I never knew it existed. It couldn’t be possible; the descriptions he gave of this Hello Kitty Maven seemed like a fairytale. I kind of thought he was making fun of me. Especially in Red Hook. With Brooklyn Crab opening and Fort Defiance introducing music Sunday nights, plus the 18 million other things that seem to be going on, Sundays are becoming as good as Saturdays, and I have no Monday morning dread to darken it. Because our Kimbs was on vacation and I was on Geo duty, I finally said, “Ok, sure. Let’s check it out.” I was still in disbelief. This past Sunday my fun job was hang with Star-Revue Ad Manager and fashion maven Angelika In addition to being thoroughly organized and apt to spend hours in research for her sales and writing assignments, Angelika is a huge fan of children’s toys. I actually had not taken up the offer before. When someone says, they’ll

I drove into the middle of Manhattan’s Gay Pride parade Sunday afternoon to pick her up. Angelika met me at the car with a glass jar filled with Bloody Mary, which was an interesting and healthy first meal of the day.

The things we bought included vinyl Hello Kitty shopping bags, $1.49 each; Hello Panda strawberry cream filled cookies (99 cents), and a double lighter, butane on one side and lighter fluid and a flint on the other. Of course this was all housed in transparent plastic with the respective accelerants brightly dyed. Because this was only around a dollar, we bought a couple.

With special uber spicy wake-u-up Bloody Mary’s in hand we set out for Kitty-town!

I paid for some really cool stickers myself; they were $4.99 I thought it was a splurge.

“George is running around talking to people. I’m about to faint or grab a crab from their tray of food. I wanted to go and come back another time. Nope, Geo had to check everything out. He continued to talk to this one table until I finally smacked him and drug him away.” We had originally planned to start our adventure by visiting new Brooklyn Crab. But when I got there, Ang asked if I could take her to Brooklyn’s Chinatown. When I found out that she was a huge fan of “Hello Kitty,” I had told her that Brooklyn Chinatown has actual Hello Kitty stores. I guess that had been on her mind ever since, and this was her first opportunity to have me take her there. I really don’t need an excuse - I love that part of Brooklyn between Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. I bopped to the car with a permasmile that I could not get to go away. On my past trips I focused on the fruits and fish and restaurants, but not the toys and other gadgets to be found. This is of course Ang’s thing, and so I got to see the area with new eyes as I followed her from store to store. We parked on a side street, talking and sipping our zingy beverages. I felt like I was in a completely different place. I have traveled the world and I had no idea I would find this environment right here in Brooklyn. She couldn’t believe the variety of all kinds of bitty toys and cell phone covers and cute doodads for sale. Our shopping bag got larger and larger as we went from shop to shop. I can’t remember much after that except a blur of anything I wanted; I was overwhelmed and dizzy. I needed some time, there was so much! George finally said “this is just the

Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue

first stop, there is so much more!”

I introduced Ang to the Chinese bakeries. The pastries look like regular pastries, but the fillings are generally not what you get at Starbucks. We continued further down the blocks that are known as Chinatown. Suddenly I couldn’t see anything fun and sparkly anymore. Ang liked the little round thing with egg custard in the middle, but only took one bite of the gooey sticky pork rolly thing before putting it down. I finished it, washing it down with a couple of small cups of the delicious hot coffee. George finally made me stop to hydrate. I downed a Gatorade while Geo waited in line for a bubble tea drink.

I wound up with about twenty slimy globules in my mouth. Geo, holding back his laughter, tried to figure out how to help. First he said “chew.” That wasn’t working. Then “spit;” there where people shoulder to shoulder around us. Finally, he said “gulp!” I swallowed them like pills and almost hurled. I reminded Ang that we needed to get to the Hook to check out Brooklyn Crab, so we took our leave. But before we could head north, Ang remembered a 99 cent store in Bay Ridge that she had wanted to return to. Two stops later another one, and then ANOTHER TOY STORE. I knew George was in trouble. I never spent $43 at a 99 cent store before, but 45 minutes and one huge plastic bag later, I was initiated. Among her finds, I added a mouse trap that she was shocked to note was also good for snakes. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by live crabs, fish, frogs and other suspicious creatures. Ang wasn’t quite so taken with the live fish and crustaceans and strange looking fruits. I had total heebie-geebies. And of course, George kept leading me into small smelly stores, through tiny isles, to finally get to yet an even scarier looking soon-to-be entrées. There was one more detour, as a bar called AM appeared on the next corner. Those are Angelika’s initials so we had to go. I wanted to continue with the Bloody Mary’s, and the bartender obliged by going across the street to pick up some tomato juice just for me.

Outside I decided to introduce Ang to Bubble Tea. This is a refreshing slushy drink with tapioca pearls at the bottom. I had tried this type of interesting beverage before. However this time I was a little distracted and just took a huge swig of the drink that George offered me. Ang looked at the flavors which included mango and strawberry before deciding on green tea. Unfortunately I neglected to explain the pearls to her, and the little globules came as a big surprise and kind of spoiled it for her. My bad.

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July 1 - 15, 2012

A summer Sunday in Brooklyn Chinatown & Red Hook (cont) their name on a list, enjoyed a slew of drinks and were just about to be served dinner when we made their acquaintance. They were not unhappy about the wait; Brooklyn Crab is a nice place to enjoy sun and beer. George is running around talking to people. I’m about to faint or grab a crab from their tray of food. I wanted to go and come back another time. Nope, Geo had to check everything out. He continued to talk to this one table until I finally smacked him and drug him away.

I was finally was getting light headed from forgetting to eat all so I reminded Geo of our plan to go to the Brooklyn Crab Shack. I was so hungry that I was seriously eyeing the week old Popeye’s on the floorboard of Geo’s car. We got to the Crab Shack at around 8 pm. The weather was great this day, and I figured that it would be packed. The outdoor-indoor place looked great; all I could think of was food. They had no Hello Kitty to distract my hunger pains. There didn’t seem to be all that many people there and I actually thought that we would get dinner. However, we were told right away that they were already completely booked for food. Brooklyn Crab has been such a success that it seems they have had to institute crowd control measures to make sure they have enough to feed everyone. I waited as Geo talked to the hostess, all I could vaguely hear him say was, “There is no way to even get an appetizer at the bar!” Nope, nothing. We looked around and did see lots of happy eaters. I started to chit chat with one especially delighted tableful of diners. I have found that telling someone you own a newspaper is a good icebreaker. I always like to ask where people come from, and it turned out that these six were mostly locals, except for one friend from Bushwick. They had come by at 5, put

Their food was served. Huge plates of crabs, fries and peelable shrimp. Someone ordered fish and chips. We asked how they liked it and got big smiles in response. It was Sunday evening at and we couldn’t even get a reservation for later. AWESOME, GOOD FOR THEM. George, can we come back tomorrow or Tuesday? Everyone seemed very lovely; I was dizzy.

The intimidatingly striking manager comes over to give us menus. I’m pretty sure I just said “food,” “water”. They fast tracked our order and I was revived after a few bites.

We decided not to splurge, and just split spicy chicken wings and coleslaw, figuring we’d have something later at our next stop. They have beer on tap which was the highlight of the evening, except for Skeeter. We’ll have to check out an entree at some future date. Ok, now I was ready for dinner. I went to freshen up while Geo smoked a cigarette. Then we were off to Fort I woke up the next morning and Defiance for another snack. made a shopping list for next time.

It finally got dark, so we headed up to the Fort. They have been featur- Kimberly: Four days later,

an enormous box showed up in Little Rock, Arkansas.

I was on vacation visiting my family. I heard rumors of this adventure George and Angelika had planned. I received 32 pictures via text of their shenanigans.

Our stomachs were beginning to talk to us. I got the idea to try another new place, Verns, on Van Brunt and Commerce.

I was suspicious on Monday when they both requested an advance on their pay.

FINALLY. In the two short years of this newspaper, this is at least the third eatery that has started up at that location. We parked right outside and as we were the only diners, dinner was not a problem. The menu states that their specialty is “serious comfort food.” The menu includes things such as oxtail lasagna, bbq brisket, and a southern fried chicken sandwich. ing music on Sunday nights, right

up front, next to the open windows, and it’s turning into a cool Red Hook scene. Especially since the owner, St. Jean, who tends the busy bar solo every Sunday, mixes such great cocktails. I stood sipping Ang took a liking to a 6 foot 2 waitress my Manhattan while Ang engaged named Skeeter, who became this is- with her usual cup of Patron Silver. I couldn’t believe I landed Scott’s name. I finally ate the crackers in my hanbag and a few more brain cells appeared. I think he reminds me of a really good friend; I wanted to give him a big hug and fall asleep.

sue’s Street Style model. Ang, in addition to being a Hello Kitty aficionado, A tall woman dressed somewhat

has a fashion background which like a cowgirl sauntered in carrying a large cow’s skull. Ang got real exshe is bringing to the Star-Revue. cited and grabbed her camera.

However, on Wednesday evening, when I received this package, the shocking reality of their escapades dawned on me. Crammed to the very top of this package were toys that sparkle, bobble, light up and make noise. After five days of sorting through them all, I am still trying to figure out what some of them do. Others I am simply amazed with. A Spiderman Bobble-head with a solar panel that moves constantly in the light. A princess jewelry set that my two year old niece and I are still arguing over. Five plastic things that I know light up and make noise, but I cannot figure out how to make them work. And as silly as this all sounds, I am sorry that I missed their day of fun. I am missing my Red Hook family.

I looked up and was smitten when this awesome chic walked in carrying a cow skull. She reminded me of myself before I was consumed with slaving away at this cool ass paper and the great things I found in my adventures in the big city.

After a bunch of photos, I asked Ang why the woman was carrying the skull. The answer I got was that it was a secret. George, will you take me home? I was dying to play with my toys all evening, distracted all night!

We stayed for a set and a half, leaving earlier than we might have because we couldn’t get seats at the bar. Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 13

School’s Out In Red Hook by Mary Ann Massaro

ast day of school was always music to my ears! Summers in Red Hook were the greatest when I was a kid growing up. Summertime meant jonnypumps were turned on full blast! Mr. Softee’s ice cream truck could be heard from blocks away. Street games like stoopball and Skellzies were all we could think of. We didn’t have much back then but we didn’t need much. An old mattress for a trampoline was just fine. And a fresh, pink Spalding ball saw many days out on the handball court. Most of the families back then, like mine were working class and no one really travelled much. My dad, Skinny closed his store for two

weeks every August and we would venture off to the exotic island of Manhattan. Every day Dad would take us to a new place. I can remember going to The Museum Of Natural History, Times Square and Central Park. Of course the vacation would not be complete without a day at Coney Island. Hot, humid nights in Red Hook would find families like mine out on the stoop until way past midnight. I can remember crabbing out on the Red Hook pier with my dad on Saturday nights until the sun came up on Sunday morning. When summer ended and September rolled around, it was back to school again. One of the first assignments of the year was the famous essay on what

we did over the summer. I can remember kids writing about going down south or to Florida. And sometimes I would

envy those kids. I often wondered - like many other kids, I’m sure - what life was like outside of Red Hook. Many of the kids shared stories and pictures from their vacations in beautiful places that I would only see on TV or in magazines. Many of them travelled to these places through a program called the “Fresh Air Fund.” This program helped many kids from poor neighborhoods like Red Hook see places that they probably wouldn’t otherwise see. I remember waiting for my dad to come home from the store one night to enlighten him on the subject. “Can I go, Dad, please?” I asked. “Go where,” he asked. “To the Fresh Air Fund, please, can I?” “Listen, if you want fresh air, then stick your head out the kitchen window!” And that was the last time I ever asked about venturing outside of Red Hook!

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July 1 - 15, 2012

Farmers Market and more every weekend at the Added Value farm by George Fiala After taking in the first round of the Red Hook Youth Baseball League playoffs last Saturday, I wandered over to the Added Value farm, where a weekly farmer’s market was being held. I spoke with Myan Melendez (pictured left), a Bard student from the Bronx who is interning there this summer. She, like many young students today, is highly concerned with the environment and wants to work helping as much as she can. Four people doing volunteer work as compost technicians were also concerned. Caroline Aoyama and Luke Shia are pictured in the center below. Luke is a PolyPrep student who volunteers most Saturdays. Caroline, from San Francisco, is visiting her sister. She found Added Value on a volunteer website. Now she is spending her days raking compost and screening out branches to produce usable soil. The pictures to the right and left are of Audrey Berman and Daniel Wendlek of Human Power. They create machines that do not use petroleum type fuel. What Daniel is doing is providing power by pedaling a kind of shredder that slices leaves for composting. They designed and built this prototype at their company.

Theater:

Puppetworks presents The Jungle Book by Stef Morisi

looks all the more real.

uppetworks, Inc. in Park Slope is a not-for-profit company that puts on marionette-style puppet shows to the public for reasonable prices. They are simply a treasure. Marionettes have been on the stage there for years. In fact, I went when I was just a toddler. I was very excited to go back and see a show there again. Thirty minutes before the doors opened, people were gathered outside. The audience consisted of boys, girls, men, women, parents, grandparents, and even some from out-of-state. They came to see a glorious marionette presentation of The Jungle Book. Adam Kilgour and Nicolas Coppola, the Founder and Artistic Director of Puppetworks, Inc. adapted Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli and Jamie Moore classic to fit after the show the marionette puppet style. Upon entering, I was greeted by staff members and given a program. The program was clear and easy to read, which makes the experience even more enjoyable. When I stepped into the next room, it was as if I had been transported into a storybook. There are different seating options – mats on the floor, wooden blocks,

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Interestingly, the marionettes were pretty proportional. The elephant was a lot bigger than the bear, which was a lot bigger than Mowgli, who was bigger than the snakes. You get used to the marionette’s mouths not moving like when you use hand puppets.

A scene from The Lion King which was performed by puppets at this puppet theater (photos on this page by Stef Morisi

chairs, or carpeted stairs. If back support was needed a folding chair, or the wooden blocks against the wall were best.

which I didn’t expect. It really added to the whole performance by making it look alive.

Before the show actually started, Jamie Moore, one of the puppeteers, stood in front of the audience (about 25 people) and welcomed us. She was funny, patient and informative. Jamie, who has been at Puppetworks for about 5 years, was especially great with the kids. She had them practice laughing and clapping with her. Jamie also explained to the children what a fairytale is. She added, “They continue to be told, because they’re fantastic stories.”

The puppeteering itself was superb. You could really get a sense of teamwork from watching this show. The sheer coordination was terrific. After all, there were no colliding puppets! Head puppeteer and director of this show, Michael Leach, did a wonderful job of staging The Jungle Book.

The show started at 2:45 pm. The lighting and sound had perfect levels. Nothing was too loud or too bright. The scenery, by William B Pitkin and Kevin Frisch, was gorgeous. Akela, the wolf, did blend into the stones in the last scene, but it was only for a minute. Each piece of the set was wonderfully detailed. It was three-dimensional,

After the show, the audience members were able to see the Mowgli marionette up close. Jamie Moore held him and even showed them how he was used. The detailed work that went in to designing and making the puppets was just fascinating to see, especially up close. The monkeys’ tails moved and the bear Baloo, (Mowgli’s teacher), was big and furry. The snakes probably look the most impressive when the puppeteers move them. Since there is no one holding them, the snakes’ slithering motion

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After the show, I was able to meet Jamie Moore and Jeremy Kerr, another puppeteer from the performance. Jeremy and Jamie took me backstage. The history of Puppetworks is all over the walls – puppets, sets, lights. Some things I thought might be easy when seen on stage are more complex. For instance, the puppeteers have to stand high up in order to work the marionettes correctly. These puppeteers are truly remarkable people – not only for sharing their talents, but for bringing joy and a world of imagination to children and adults. When speaking to Jeremy and Jamie, I could tell they are dedicated and love what they do. The Jungle Book is the story of life. No matter where you are or how you were brought up, there are people you can count on and those who rely on you. So, get up and go to the show! It’s fantastic! The shows are on the weekends, at 12:30 and 2:30, and the Jungle Book runs through August 19th, with the exception of a few dates when a hand puppet show for tots replaces it (details on their web site). Every child and adult should take this opportunity to see this marvelous live show. Puppetworks is located in Park Slope at 338 Sixth Avenue (at 4th Street). (718) 965-3391.

July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 15

Star-Revue

Guide to area restaurants

Carroll Gardens/ Red Hook BAKED 359 Van Brunt St., (718)222-0345. THE BROOKLYN ICE HOUSE 318 Van Cobble Hill Brunt St., (718) 222-1865. Botanica 220 Conover St (at Coffey St), (347) 225-0147. DEFONTE’S SANDWICH SHOP 379 Columbia St., (718) 855-6982. DIEGO’S RESTAURANT 116 Sullivan St., (718) 625-1616. F&M BAGELS 383 Van Brunt St., (718) 855-2623. FORT DEFIANCE 365 Van Brunt St., (347) 453-6672. THE GOOD FORK 391 Van Brunt St., (718) 643-6636. HOME/MADE 293 Van Brunt St., (347) 223-4135. HOPE & ANCHOR 347 Van Brunt St., (718) 237-0276. IKEA One Beard St., (718) 246-4532. John & Franks, 367 Columbia Street, (718) 797-4467 KEVIN’S 277 Van Brunt St., (718) 5968335. MARK’S PIZZA 326 Van Brunt St., (718) 624-0690. New Lin’s Garden Restaurant 590 Clinton Street, (718) 399-1166 RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND 284 Van Brunt St., (646) 326-7650. ROCKY SULLIVAN’S 34 Van Dyke St., (718) 246-8050. Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie, 204 Van Dyke St, (718) 852-6018 Sunny’s Bar in Red HOok, 253 Conover Street, (718) 625-8211

Columbia Waterfront District

ALMA 187 Columbia St., (718) 643-5400. Bagel Boy Cafe 75 Hamilton Avenext to Chase, (718) 855-0500. CALEXICO CARNE ASADA 122 Union St., (718) 488-8226. Casa Di Campagna 117 Columbia Street (718) 237-4300. CASELNOVA 214 Columbia St., (718) 522-7500. FERNANDO’S FOCACCERIA RESTAURANT 151 Union St., (718)855-1545. HOUSE OF PIZZA & CALZONES 132 Union St., (718) 624-9107. JAKE’S BAR-B-QUE RESTAURANT 189 Columbia St., (718) 522-4531. KOTOBUKI BISTRO 192 Columbia St., (718) 246-7980. LILLA CAFE 126 Union St., (718) 8555700. MAZZAT 208 Columbia St., (718) 8521652. PETITE CREVETTE 144 Union St., (718) 855-2632. TEEDA THAI CUISINE 218 Columbia St., (718) 643-2737.

Abilene, 442 Court Street, 718-5226900, Angry Wades, 222 Smith Street, (718) 488-7253 Bacchus, 409 Atlantic, (718) 852-1572 Bar Bruno, 520 Henry St., 347-7630850, Bagels by the park, 323 Smith Street, (718) 246-1321 Bar great harry, 280 Smith Street (718) 222-1103 Bombay Dream, 257 Smith Street (718) 237-6490 Bourgeois Pig, 387 Court Street, (718) 858-5483 Brooklyn Bread Cafe, 436 Court Street (718) 403-0234 Buddy’s Burrito & Taco Bar, 260 Court Street, 718-488-8695, Buttermilk channel, 524 Court Street (718) 852-8490 Casa Rosa, 384 Court Street, 718-7971907 Chestnut, 271 Smith St., (718) 2430049 cobble grill, 212 Degraw Street, (718) 422-0099 Cobble Hill Coffee Shop, 314 Court Street, (718) 852-1162 Cody’s Ale House Grill, 154 Court Street, 718-852,6115 Court Street Grocers, 485 Court Street, (718) 722-7229 Crave, 570 Henry Street, (718) 643-0361 Cubana Cafe, 272 Smith Street (718) 718-858-3980 Downtown Bar & Grill, 160 Court street, 718-625-2835 Dubuque, 548 Court Street, (718) 5963248 Em Thai Kitchen, 278 Smith Street, (718) 834-0511 Enotica on Court, 347 Court Street, (718) 243-1000 F Line Bagels, 476 Smith Street (718) 422-0001 Five Guys, 266 Court St., 347-799-2902 Fragole, 394 Court Street, (718) 6227133 Francesco’s Restaurant, 531 Henry Street, (718) 834-0863 Frank’s Luncheonette, 365 Smith Street, (718) 875-5449 Ghang, 229 Court Street, 718-875-1369 Gowanus Yacht Club, 323 Smith Street, (718) 246-132,Closed til spring Hana cafe, 235 Smith Street, (718) 643-1963 Le Petite Cafe, 502 Court street, 718596-7060 Ling Ling Young, 508 Henry Street, (718) 260-9095 Marco Polo Ristorante, 345 Court Street, 718 852-5015 Mama Maria’s Restaurant, 307 Court Street, (718) 246-2601

Mezcals Restaurant, 522 Court Street, 718-783-3276 Natures Grill, 138 Court street, 718852,5100, Nine-D, 462 Court Street, 718-488-8998, Oaxaca Tacos, 251 Smith Street (718) 222-1122 Osaca Restaurant, 272 Court Street (718) 643-0055 P J Hanleys, 449 Court St, 718- 843-8223 Palo Cortado, 520 Court St, 718407-0047 Prime Meats, 465 Court Street, 718254-0327 or 0345, Palmyra, 316 Court street, 718-7971110 Red Rose Restaurant, 315 Smith Street, (718) 625-0963 Sals Pizza, 305 Court Street, (718) 852-6890 Sam’s Restaurant, 238 Court Street, 718-596-3458 SOul Spot 302 Atlantic Ave 718 5969933 Savoia, 277 Smith Street, 718-797-2727 Seersucker Restaurant, 329 Smith Street, (718) 422-0444

Smith & Vine, 268 Smith Street (718) 243-2864 South Brooklyn Pizza, 451 Court Street, 718 852-6018 Stinky Brooklyn, 261 Smith Street, 718 522-7425 Sweet Melissa, 276 Court Street, (718) 855-3410 Tripoli, 156 Atlantic Ave, 718 596-5800 Vinny’s of Carroll Gardens, 295 Smith Street, 718 875-5600 Vinny’s Pizzeria, 455 Court Street, 718 596-9342 Vino y Tapas, 520 Court Street, 718407-0047 Vinzee’s, 412 Court Street, 718 855 1401 Zaytoons, 283 Smith Street, 718 875-1880

Gowanus

Michael and Pings, 437 Third Avenue, (718) 788-0017 Cotta Bene Pizza, 291 3rd Ave, 718 722-7200 Littlenecks, 288 3rd Ave., (718) 522-1921 Canal Bar, 270 3rd Ave, (718) 2460011

Hours: Noon to 10:30 pm Tues. to Thurs. Noon to 11pm Friday. 4pm to 11pm Saturday & 4pm to 10:30pm Sunday.

Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 1 - 15, 2012

Comedy: Hannibal Buress headlines in Red Hook Park

ummerStage arrived in Red Hook on Sunday, June 24th. Under the backdrop of the imposing Port of Authority Grain Terminal, the stage looked dwarfed and isolated. But as the crowd started to trickle in SummerStage quickly became center stage in Red Hook Park. Three comedians were on the bill, with Comedy Central star Hannibal Buress the healiner. Opener Josh Rabinowitz was first. Dressed like a pre-pubescent Shaggy from Scooby Doo, complete with jeans and faded green tee, he immediately began with jokes. His brand of humor is of the self-effacing variety. Rabinowitz casts himself as the lovable loser. He pokes fun at his height, his boyish appearance, his body hair, his

SummerStage brings comedy to Red Hook by Bryan Clancey

lack of success with women. All of which have contributed to him being the everunderachiever in life. Laughing about it has lead to his comedic success. Rabinowitz endears himself to his audience. By the time he got to his juvenile prank about ringing his friend up and meowing like a cat into the phone, the audience was in howls of laughter. This admission of guilt would be set in stark contrast to Kevin Barnett who followed. He poked fun at older members of the audience for not knowing what Mortal Combat was. He joked that allowing parents to discipline their kids while goofing off playing Mario Cart is a perfectly legitimate lifestyle choice. Both Barnett and Rabinowitz poked fun at the same idiotic moments in life we all have experienced but with radically differing points of view, making for equally intelligent and enormously funny comedy. This was all a warm-up to Hannibal Buress. Buress is from Chicago and made a name for himself on Comedy Central. He has also written for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. He now lives in New York.

The stage was set up in the Red Hook Park’s football field

look back and the man smiled back from the distance unfazed by the sudden focus of attention. Some of Buress’s funnier moments were his frequent references to his current residence in Williamsburg, a place in which he seems to be a fish out of water. He questioned the unreasonable logic of Williamsburgites demanding their dogs sit on Bedford Avenue, his attempt to learn the local slang and the current trend of handlebar moustaches, making Williamsburg look like a touring carnival.

His first order of business was to admonish the guy sitting on a fishing chair in It’s worth mentioning that Buress acthe middle of the field far back from knowledged the presence of the New the general crowd. Everybody turned to York Police on the sidelines of the field,

prompting him to recount a story of a recent trip he made to Montreal where he received a jaywalking ticket. Needless to say Buress is not the sort of character to take a jaywalking citation seriously, especially when it is from the Canadian Authorities. The consequences of Buress’s surly attitude are hilarious. This was a fun afternoon and a great treat for Red Hook. At least 300 people showed up, many from the Red Hook Houses and Carroll Gardens, but I spoke to some who came from as far away as Bushwick. Hannibal Buress can be seen live in Brooklyn every Sunday night at the Knitting Factory, 361 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, (212) 219-3006.

with Angelika Mitchell

Street Style Skeeter Lawrency age 24, Virgo

STYLE: Casual Elegance

was your first impression of Red Hook?

Who designed your dress? BCBG Max Azria, $248, Neiman Marcus (neimanmarcus.com)

is the designer of your sandals? Salvatore Ferrigamo, Boutique, 655 5th Ave New York, NY

is your favorite designer?

I thought the B61 bus was fantastic. I like watching all of the different cool neighborhoods out of the window.

is your favorite local store ? There is a great little shop on Court Street called Olives. They have the most unique vintage pieces.

is your favorite thing to do in RH?

Pierre Baldmain. He was an amazing French designer, all of his designs were based on sophistication and elegance.

Every Saturday I love to drink iced coffee and enjoy an amazing breakfast Sammie sandwich at VERN’s Kitchen. Then I like to walk down to the pier and relax.

inspires your style?

do you think RH style is?

I get inspiration from everyone I pass on the street. I sort of compile that and choose what feel feels right every morning.

It can definitely be summed up in one word… COMFORTABLE!

Where

Why... did you decide to wear that today?

do you spend most of your time in RH? At VERN’s Kitchen and Pub on Van Brunt. I waitress there.

Red Hook Star-Revue

What

This dress is light , comfy and shows off my shoulders

did you get your awesome pedicure?

do you think you were chosen for the RH Street Style section?

I did it myself with Maybelline nail polish #200 pink shock.. Rite Aid, 320 Smith Street

I guess I was lucky enough be working at VERN’s when you and your friend came in for dinner.

www.RedHookStar.com

July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 17

Art & Community Calendar If you have an event you would like listed in the Red Hook Star-Revue calendar, please email redhookstarcalendar@ gmail.com.

11am - 7pm, or by appointment. Through 7/22 Mice to Monsters: Children’s Book Illustrations. An Exhibit for and about children.

CHILDREN

Brooklyn Collective Gallery212 Columbia St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 5966231 brooklyncollective.com Gallery hrs. Thur. - Sun 1pm-8pm through 7/31 30 New Collections of Local Artists FREE.

Bethel Baptist Day Care Center 242 Hoyt St. (718) 834-9292 ACD funded Early Childhood Education Programs, Family Services, and Day Care Services for the Gowanus Community. Call for more info. Kentler International Drawing Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 8752098, kentlergallery.org FREE Weekend Art Workshops for Families. Ages 4 & up. Every 1st & 3rd Sat. Sat. 7/7 Noon1:30pm register in advance: sallie@ kentlergallery.org

CHURCH/ SYNAGOGUE

Kane St. Synagogue 236 Kane St. (718) 875-1530 kanestreet.org Torah Study every 2nd Shabbat of the Month 11am-Noon. Every Fri. &/or Tues. St. Stephen’s R.C. 108 Carroll St. (718) 596-7750 delvecchiorc.com & brooklyncatholic.blogspot.com Every Wed. 6:30pm Choir rehearsal, if interested contact jlake@delvechiorc.com or evelyntroester@gmx.net Visitation of Our Blessed Virgin Mary R.C. 98 Richards @Verona (718) 6241572 Every Thurs. 6pm Choir Practice w/ Emiliana In-Home Blessings and Masses, by appointment. Languages available: English, Spanish, Italian, German. Contact: Lori Burkhard at (917) 971-5522

CLASSES/ WORKSHOPS

Brooklyn Collective Gallery 212 Columbia St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 596-6231brooklyncollective.com. Gallery Hours: Thur.- Sun. 11am-8pm Over 40 Artists on Exhibit through July. Brooklyn General—128 Union St. (718) 237-7753 brooklyngeneral.com Classes and Workshops for all things sewing. Call or contact their website for more info. Carroll Gardens Association 201 Columbia St, Sackett/Degraw (718) 2439301 carrollgardensassociation.com Sun. 6/10 2-4:30pm Free Health Clinic @ Visitation Church, 98 Richards St. @ Verona. The Gowanus Studio Space 166 7th Street (347) 948-5753 www.gowanusstudio.org Tues. 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12 6:309:30 pm, Intro To Ecthing, 4 sessions $245 non-members, $205 members. Cora Dance 201 Richards St. (Coffey St./Van Dyke St.) #15 (718) 858-2520 coradance.org Registration for Cora Dance School begins on 8/27. Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center 540 President St, (3rd/4th Ave.) (347) 4220337 ger-nis.com Tue. 7/10 6:30-9pm The Exotic Food & Wine of North Africa $75. Jalopy School of Music 315 Columbia St. (Hamilton Ave/Woodhull St.) (718) 395-3214 jalopy.biz YWCA Brooklyn 30 3rd Ave (Atlantic Ave/State St.): (718) 488-1624 ywcabklyn.org

COMEDY

Littlefield—622 Degraw St littlefieldny. com Every Monday 8pm: Hot Tub w/ Kurt & Kristen $5 adv. $8 drs. Mon. 7/2 8pm Very Be Careful w/DJ Lamar Vannoy $8 adv. $10 drs. Tue. 7/3 7pm Punderdome 3000: NYC’s most puntastic competition. All comers invited $6 adv. $7 drs. Thu 7/5 7pm CBGB Festival w/Brothers NYC, American Darlings, My Pet Dragon, Eylon & The Embassy $10. Sun. 7/8 2pm Hip Tot Music Festival w/ Tres Leches & arts & crafts, face painting, local food, give-aways. For All Ages $8 per performance: $35 for the series. Tue. 7/10 7:30pm Crimestoppers Club: Comedy & Music w/ Michael Kupperman, Adam WarRock Julia Wertz and many more $6adv. $10 drs. 9:30pm Carla Morrison: La Santa Cecilia $15. Fri 7:30pm The Juliets, Great Caesar, Illumintr $8. Sat. 7/14 11pm I Love Vinyl: On the B Side $10. $5 reduced adm. before 11:30 w/ RSVP via ilovevinyl.org

EXHIBITIONS

440 Gallery 440 6th Ave. (Park Slope) (718) 499-3844, 440gallery.com Gallery hrs. - Thurs., Fri. 4-7pm, Sat., Sun.

Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue

Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition 499 Van Brunt St. (718) 596-2506 bwac. orgCOLOR: A Juried Art Show: Exhibition: 7/28-8/18. Falconworks Kidd Studio 135 Richards St. (718) 395-3218 falconworks. com - redhooktheater.org Now accepting Applications for Fall 2012. For Kids 1114yrs. who want to write & act in their own play. Through 9/7. Gallery Small New York---416 Van Brunt, (347) 782-3729 smallnewyork. com Gallery hours are Thurs. - Sun. 11am - 6pm. Starting Fri. 7/20 The Antique Wallpaper Show. Invisible Dog---51 Bergen Street, theinvisibledog.org (347) 560-3641Gallery hours Sat-Thurs. 1-7pm. Sun 1-5pm. Thu.7/5, Fri. 7/6, Sat. 7/7 7:30pm, Sun 7/8 5pm Summer Theater Residency: Blue-s-cat by Kofi Kwahule. Performed by Jaquelyn Landgraf & Goncalo Ruivo. Fri. 7/13 8pm Invisible Dog Interior, Heather O: Dance. Yaanira Castro, choreographer. Kentler International Drawing Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 8752098, kentlergallery.org Through Sun. 7/22 Uncovered: Prints & selections fron the Kentler Flatfiles. Curated by Sallie Mize. Look North Inuit Art Gallery—275 Conover Street, Suite 4E, (347) 7213995, looknorthny.com Polar Light: Greenland. The Greenland photography of Rena Bass Forman and the Greenland drawings of Zaria Forman. A climate change awareness exhibition held in conjunction with Al Gore’s ‘The Climate Project’. Sunny’s Bar Backroom 253 Conover St. (Beard/Reed St.s) (718) 625-8211 sunnysredhook.com & Sunny’s Bar on facebook. Open Wed. Fri. Sat 8pm-4am.

owls, Ida Blue $10. Sun 7/14 1pm Rock School Showcase-Gowanus Music Club. All Ages. FREE. 9pm Woody Guthrie @ 100: Tribute Concert w/John Cohen Eli Smith, Geoff Wilet and many more $10. Sun. 7/15 8pm The Homemade Supper Show w/ Kellie Rae Powell, Laura Ewen & Shannon Pelcher $10. MikNik Lounge 200 Columbia St. (917) 770-1984 ‘Rebel! Rebel!’ (Gay Night) every First & Third Thurs. 9pm - 2am Cheap Beer, $6 well drinks, friendly crowd. Montero’s Bar 73 Atlantic Ave. @ Hicks St. (718) 534-6399 monteros-bar@facebook.com Karaoke w/Amethyst w/ the beautiful Andy @ the bar. every Fri. & Sat. 10pm. Every Wed 8pm - Midnight. The raucous musical concoctions of The Red Hook Irregulars. All Acoustic. Guest Players invited. The Rock Shop—249 Fourth Ave. (President St./Carroll St.) (718) 2305740 therockshopny.com Mon. 7/2, 7/9,7/23, 7/30 8pm The Gowanus AllStars FREE. Fri.7/6 8pm The Soft White Sixties $8adv. $10 drs. Sun. 7/08 7pm Good People, Nemes $7. Sat. 7/14 Joe Jack Talcum, Bastards of Fate, Toby Goodshank $10. Rocky Sullivan’s—34 Van Dyke St (718) 246-8050. Every Mon, Tues, Wed 8pm Live Irish Music Every Last Wed 8pm Readings By Authors.Every. Thurs. 9pm Rocky’s World Famous Pub Quiz. Fri. 7/6 9pm Dead Hot & Paul Rosevear. Sun. 7/8 9pm Herb & Hanson Fri. 7/13 9pm Hymn for Her. Sat. 7/14 9pm Willy Gantrim. The Star Theater Acoustic Jam & Hootenanny 101 Union St. btw Columbia and Van Brunt (718) 624-5568 Every Monday Night 8pm. C&W to Jazz (with a healthy dose of Blues in the middle). Bring your Axe & Your Favorite Beverage!

The Star Theater Electric Jam 101 Union St., Columbia / Van Brunt Every Thurs Night 8pm Hard rock, Jazz, Blues. Full Back Line. Refreshments provided. Donations accepted. Sunny’s Bar 253 Conover St. (Beard/ Reed St.s) (718) 625-8211 sunnysredhook.com & Sunny’s Bar on Facebook. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, live local roots music.. Every Sat. 10pm Bluegrass/Folk Country Jam. Union Hall 702 Union Street @5th Ave (718) 638-4400 unionhallny.com Every Sun. 7:30pm Pretty Good Friends. Comedy host by Eugene Mirman $7. Every Fri. Midnight Karaoke Killed The Cat FREE. Every Sat. 11pm CRAZY $INCE DA 90$ FREE.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative 153 Columbia St., Kane/Degraw St. (718) 5220913 brooklyngreenway.org Through 5/25 The Ceramic Arts of Kathryn Robinson-Miller. 30% of the proceeds will go to support BGI’s work. Sat. 6/2, 19 1-7pm Special Thur hours,6/7, 21 5-8pm. Sat. 6/9 Clean-up on Columbia Street.10amNoon gloves & tools provided. Gowanus Canal Conservancy (718) 541-4378 gowanuscanalconservancy. org Wed, 6/6 6:30-10:30pm Spring Forward Fundraiser w/ BBQ, local crafts & bands. $55 Red Hook Initiative 767 Hicks St. (718) 858-6782 rhicenter.org. Sat 6/9 10am2pm Neighborhood Clean-up: clean up of pre-scouted public access locations. Gloves & tools provided.

READING & LITERARY EVENTS

Community Bookstore 143 7th Ave. (718) 783 3075 communitybookstore.net Sun 6/3 11am My Dad Is Big & Strong,

But...A Bedtime Story. Wed. 6/6 Preshow BBQ @ Community Bookstore 8:30pm Comedians w/Books: A Literary Comedy SHow @ Union Hall Red Hook Initiative 767 Hicks St. (718) 858 6782 rhicenter.org Thur. 5/17 5:307:30pm Speaker Datwon Thomas, editor of King Magazine & Global Grind, Inc. talks of his career as a hip-hop journalist and his road to success. Free for all youth 12-20 and interested adults. Call Tiwan Burrus or David McCoy for more info.

THEATER

ClockWorks Puppet Theatre 196 Columbia Street (212) 614-0001 cosmicbicycle.com Thu 7/5,7/12, 8pm Fri 7/6, 7/13 8pm, Sat. 7/7, 7/14 4pm & 8pm Theatre of Little Broken Hearts: set to the Music of Nora Jones’ album of the same name. $20. Mon-Thu starting 7/9 2-4pm The ClockWork Junior Puppet Master Wrkshp Summer Day Camp! for ages 7-15 $250 complete.

WALKING TOURS

A Tour grows in Brooklyn 1212 64th St.(212) 209-3370 brooklynwalkingtour. com A historical walking tour of Brownstone Brooklyn featuring the childhood home of Al Capone, the history of the Williamsburg Bank, and the Revolutionary War battle site The Old Stone House. Real Brooklyn Pizza Lunch included. Daily 10am-1pm, $40 Urban Oyster (347) 618-TOUR (8687) urbanoyster.com 6/2, 9, 16 Noon-3:30, Brewed in Brooklyn Tour (Williamsburg) Brewing, Bottling, & bootlegging in historic Williamsburg. Samples, pizza and fresh lager lunch included. $60 Sat 6/2, 9,16, Sun 6/3, 10, 17 Every Sat. & Sun Navy Yard Full Tour 2:30-4:30pm

Ice House gets new benches

FUNDRAISERS

Red Hook Art Project @ Red Hook Initiative 767 Hicks St. Thu. 7/12 6-9pm Fundraiser & Neighborhood Party for the RHAP’s Ongoing involvement w/Red Hook’s kids. Video, music & visual arts projects made by the kid’s will be on Exhibit. Price of admission - What you can give from your heart.

MUSEUMS

Micro Museum—123 Smith Street, (718) 797-3116 micromuseum.com . Above and Beyond, a three-year retrospective of the art of William and Kathleen Laziza, every Saturday from 12-7pm, refreshments from 5-7pm,. Admission by donation, suggested donation $2. Say you like Red Hook StarRevue and get a free gift bag. Sat. Noon - 7pm through 9/14 Lovey + Dovey = Forever $2 The Waterfront Museum Lehigh Valley Barge No.79, 290 Conover Street. (718) 624-4719 ext. 11 www.waterfrontmuseum.org. Free boat tours & open hours all through the year. Thursdays 4 - 8 pm and Saturdays 1 - 5 pm. Juggling For Fun Wkshp. Call (718) 624-4719 x.11 or email David Sharps at the above address. Through 10/27Life on the Water: Oil paintings by Odd Andersen.

MUSIC

Bait & Tackle 320 Van Brunt Street (718) 451-4665 redhookbaitandtackle. com Fri 7/6 9pm Dead Hot & Paul Rosevear. Sat. 7/8 9pm Herb & Hanson. Fri. 7/13 9pm Hymn for Her. Sat. 7/14 9pm Willy Gantrim. Mon. 7/16 9pm The Howling Kettles. Hope & Anchor 347 Van Brunt St., (718) 237-0276. Every Wed. 7pm, Jazz Jam w/The H & A House Band! Every Thurs. through Sat. from 9pm-1am Karaoke. Issue Project Room @110 Livingston St. (718) 330-0313 issueprojectroom.org Jalopy Theatre and School of Music 315 Columbia St., (718) 395-3214, jalopy.biz. Every Wed. 9pm Roots & Ruckus w/Feral Foster FREE. Sun. 7/8 8pm Que Vio-Ve, Ben Holmes & Patrick Farrell $10. Fri. 1/13 9pm 4th St. Night-

Just in time for the hot steamy summer weather that has been gracing us lately, Van Brunt institution The Ice House has squared off the right side of it’s backyard with some comfy bench tables. These benchy tables were built by Red Hook iconoclast and itinerant artist John McGill. They are a perfect place to enjoy the pulled pork sandwiches that are served late into the night, as well as daily specials that often include Cuban Sandwiches and corn dogs. Or if you’re not hungry you could have the High-Beam, a Star-Revue favorite. That’s a bottle of Miller and a shot of Jim Beam, all for a measly $5. Sitting at the bench is Star-Revue Ad Manager Angelika Mitchel, being served by Matty of the Ice House.

Dry Dock Tastings. Dry Dock wine & spirits is at 424 Van Brunt - the last stop before Fairway fri. july 6 : FAIR liqueurs and spirits 5:30-8:30, free All of FAIR’s offerings are nothing but fair-trade and organically grown- their product is both nobly concieved and admirably executed. sat june 7: gruner madness 4:00-7:00, free Our pouring table is going to be filled with refreshing gruners that will take the edge off any hot day. sun july 8: gruner madness continues 3:00-6:00, free Come by and see the

www.RedHookStar.com

second round-up of everything gruner fri. july 13 : sud de france, pt ii 5:30-8:30, free We’ll be pouring beautiful wines from France’s sunny southern coast today. Come taste the sunshine. sat july 14: lillet aperitif 4:00-7:00, free Celebrate Bastille day just like the natives- a Lillet cocktail will be make it all just so french!

sun july 15: hooker’s choice 3:006:00, free In case you weren’t aware, dry dock doesn’t seem to believe in capital letters. The preceeding came from their press release and we printed it as is. Perhaps you’d like to have info in the paper printed gratis and franco. Why not send us a press release: email to info@redhookstar.com

July 1 - 15, 2012

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July 1 - 15, 2012 Page 19

Red Hook StarªRevue Southern Trucking finishes the season unbeaten but faces a scare in the first round of the playoffs by Viviana Gordon and George Fiala

he oppressive heat wave that blanketed New York City broke just in time for the final matches of the Red Hook Youth Baseball League’s regular season. The Defenders lost a nail-biter (10-8) to Gibbs’ Brooklyn Youth Association Royals in a tightly contested game that saw 4 lead changes and had the Royals holding off a last inning rally by the Defenders. At the start of the final inning, the Defend-

ers led by 2. The Defenders were hoping for three quick outs. But the Royals eluded them by sending a steady stream of walks and hits, putting 6 more runs on the board. Royals Pitcher Tommy Camarda closed out the game, holding the Defenders to 2 runs at the bottom of the inning. Defenders pitcher Luis Totoya led the Defenders team with 12 strikeouts and was 3 for 4 at the late with 3 RBI’s and a run scored. On the other side of the ball fields, Hynes’ Heroes challenged Southern Trucking’s unbeaten season in a doubleheader matchup. Southern Truckers only scored 2 runs against Hynes’ Heroes (2-0). Hynes’ were defeated again in the second match-up 8-1. Southern Trucker, Tatiana Martinez had the crowd on its feet at the bottom of the 4th when she smacked a two-run homer deep into left field. As she rounded the bases with a huge smile, her coaches and teammates jumped up and ran out of the dugout to embrace her.

A series of walks and passed balls led to two runs for Southern Trucking in the last inning. Then Chris Jon Davila ended the game against the valiant Defenders with a home run.

Southern Trucking finished the season with a perfect 9-0 record. Gibbs’ Brooklyn Youth Association Royals finished with a 6-3 record. Hynes’ Heroes clinched the number three seed with a

Trucking to tie the game. That brought up CJ Lewis, who hit a mighty fly ball to straightaway center fold that went for a 4-bagger and a mighty come from behind victory for the undefeated Truckers. In the other playoff game, the Royals defeated Hynes’ Heroes 10-2.

2-7 record. And the young Defenders team finished 1-8. In a tremendously fought playoff game Saturday the 30th, the worst team in the league held off the best for five innings as Defender’s pitcher Luis Ortiz threw sterling baseball against Southern Trucking. The Defenders were ahead 3-1 and were 3 outs away from victory when a combination of blooper hits, walks and errors enabled Southern

The Defenders are a young team and should have a better season next year.

The Southern Trucking dugout posing for the Red Hook Star-Revue sports page.

Final Standings Place Team

1. 1. 3. 4.

Southern Trucking ....................9-0 BYA Royals ...............................6-3 Hynes Heroes ...........................2-7 Defenders ................................1-8

regular season Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue

Luis Totoya pitched a complete game for the Defenders and held Southern Trucking scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. He struck out 10 in the six inning game.

The playoffs began Saturday, June 30th at 10:00 AM with the Defenders @ Southern Trucking and Hynes’ Heroes @ Gibbs’ BYA Royals. The winners of Saturdays games will advance to a best of three championship series to be played July 2nd and 7th. www.RedHookStar.com

July 1 - 15, 2012