The
Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
June 1 - 16, 2012
FREE
Summer Concert Series aborted at last minute by Abigail Savitch-Lew
F
or months, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, (NYCEDC), has talked about using the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal for a summer concert series. The series could bring needed attention – and business – to the sleepy Red Hook waterfront, which, with the An old fashioned sailing ship passing Red Hook during OpSail 2012 (photo by Elizabeth Graham) exclusion of Valentino Pier, is underused because of security regulations and private ownership.
Reporter’s Notebook
The evolution of NYC policing by Matt Graber
“It’s like night and day.” That’s how Pete Morales, 70, compares Red Hook today with Red Hook then. He remembers what it was like, particularly in and around the Red Hook Houses, where hearing gunshots was an everyday event. It was not unheard of in the late 80s and early 90s to witness shootouts between drug dealers and police, in broad daylight. “People were getting killed left and right,” Morales recalls. “Then the neighborhood started to Wally Bazemore at his home in the change.” East Houses talking about how it Today, residents of the Houses can walk the was 20 years ago (photo by Fiala) streets and feel relatively safe, albeit the occasional armed robbery or shootout. But while the fear of drug-related violence has largely subsided among residents, another source of anxiety has taken its place. “You walk out of the grocery store on Wolcott and Dwight with a cup of coffee in your hand at nine-thirty in the morning,” Morales says. “And next thing you know you’re being stopped. It’s gone too far.” Judith Daly, 67, has lived in Red Hook East since the early 70s. She speaks with affection when she recalls local cops like John McCarthy and Tommy Sullivan, who patrolled on foot; she counted on these officers to keep her son out of trouble. Now Daly, a retired PS 27 teacher and former vice president of Red Hook East, feels none of that old neighborliness. “I’ll see one of my former students getting stopped and frisked and I’ll say, ‘What’s going on?’ And the cop says, ‘It’s none of your business.’ But you know what? It is my business.” Of course, long-time residents like Morales and Daly are happy that the streets are safer. But the question lingers: at what cost? Does it have to be one way or the other? Does it have to be a choice between fearing stray bullets and fearing the police? Nothing is clear-cut A good social science professor will warn his or her students against mistaking cor(continued on page 6)
Yet, in late May, the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, which leases the terminal to NYCEDC, denied a permit for a June 3 concert hosted by NYCEDC’s first potential promoter, the Manhattan nightclub, Pacha NYC. After weeks of prematurely advertising a June 3 and June 8 concert at the Terminal, Pacha NYC has relocated the shows to South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn, leaving NYCEDC with no events yet planned for this summer. In 2005, the NYCEDC spent $50 million converting Pier 12 into a terminal to serve luxury cruise ships - an industry that generated about $239 million for the city of New York in 2011. Yet, the terminal is only in use 42 days of this year, making it a viable space for other events. Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6, (CB6), said that about a month or two ago, NYCEDC contacted CB6 to explain the concept of the summer concert-series at the Terminal and to arrange a meeting with CB6 - a meeting recently cancelled. As late as May 18, Thomas Spina, Director of Cruise Ship Operations at NYCEDC, told the Red Hook Star-Revue, “we’ll discuss with the event planners/production team and set up meeting with you soon to get something in the local
paper…We are all really excited and thanks for your support.” Meanwhile, a new website initiated by Pacha NYC, according to Port Authority and NYCEDC, advertised. “The Brooklyn Terminal Project: The World’s Biggest DJs all Summer Long on the NYC Waterfront.” The summer’s events, said the website, would include “interactive art installations,” a “food & vendor village,” a “sprawling 75,000 square foot complex,” “worldclass lighting, visuals, and production,” in addition to stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. On May 11, the Brooklyn Terminal Project facebook page announced the start of ticket sales. (Some ticket-selling websites also advertised a third “Brooklyn Terminal Project” concert on July 7.) On Thursday May 24, following inquiries, NYCEDC informed the StarRevue that the two concerts would not take place.
Pursuing other events? “After working with the Port Authority staff, it was apparent that this plan was not the best way to further activate this property, and we agreed to pursue other events for the parking lot on noncruise days,” said NYCEDC representative Kyle Sklerov, adding that no other events have been determined yet. NYCEDC representative Kyle Sklerov and Port Authority representative, Steve Coleman said Pacha NYC was responsible for the premature publicity. “There was no agreement reached or permit issued and despite that fact, the promoter went ahead and started selling tickets,” said Coleman. Pacha NYC made no comments to the paper. He explained that Port Authority had denied Pacha NYC’s permit application for the June 3 concert. “We along with the NYPD and some elected officials had some concerns about the preliminary safety and security and traffic management plan that was put forth by the promoter.” Their concerns includ(continued on page 3)
Also in This Issue: Summit Academy Reaches for the Stars page 13
This man is running for Congress page 3
Red Hook baseball subject of French TV
see Sports p 20
Red Hook StarªRevue
The
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
June 1 - 15 2012
Volume 3 No. 11
de.....
Table of Contents
Happenings Around Our Town Friday June 1 & Saturday June 2
Happenings.......................2 Restaurant Guide........16 Newsbriefs................4,5,12 Dining Out..................17 Columns.........................6,8 Calendar.....................18 OpSail 2012....................10 Classifieds..................19 Music & Art................14,15 Sports.........................20
This FREE Festival brings together community and culture on the beautiful Brooklyn waterfront. With music, dance, and spoken word poetry, plus family-friendly activities from kayak rides in New York Harbor to interactive public art projects, the Red Hook Fest makes for a lovely weekend “getaway” right here in Brooklyn. Friday night events begin at PS 15 at 6:30, and Saturday is an all day affair featuring music and dance at Valentino Pier. Visit www.redhookfest.com for directions and details.
Staff
Kimberly G. Price....................... Senior Editor/Publisher George Fiala......................................Graphics/Publisher Matt Graber............................................Senior Reporter Abigail Savitch-Lew........................................... Reporter Greg Algarin-Marquez .........................Political Reporter Vince Musacchia............................................ Cartoonist Eric Ruff..................................................Calendar Editor Erik Penney......................................... Restaurant Writer Angelika Mitchell........................... Advertising Specialist
Saturday June 2
Celebrate summer at the Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturday Best of Brooklyn Block Party with a night of music, dancing, games, contests and food. Entrance to the museum will be free from 5-11pm.
Wednesday June 6
Contributors
John Burkard, Elizabeth Graham, Mary Anne Massaro, Mary Ann Pietanza, Danette Vigilante, Michael Racioppo,
The first annual Spring Forward – an evening of down-home barbecue, craft beer and local bands – begins at 6:30 pm at The Green Building (452 Union Street). Music begins at 8 pm. To purchase tickets, visit www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org
Member
Thursday June 7 www.facebook.com/ redhookstarrevue
@RedHookStar
718.624.5568 - Editorial & Advertising 917.652.9128 News Tips 101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 editor@redhookstar.com
Explore the beautiful landmark building that now houses the Brooklyn Historical Society, (BHS). The building was built in 1881 and designed by architect George Post. The tour is part of the BHS Brooklyn Walks and Talks Program series. It begins at 3 pm at 128 Pierrepont Street on the corner of Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights.
Sunday June 10
Red Hook StarªRevue
The
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Tuesday June 12
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Join Red Hook Pride for a day of community, music and love. From 10 am-2 pm, enjoy brunch at one of the participating restaurants for brunch. An afternoon celebration in Coffey Park begins at 3 pm where you can marry someone, anyone, just for the day. A Red Hook crawl runs from 6-8 pm sipping cocktails and shopping at local venues. The event ends with A Ball/Dance party from 8 pm-1 am featuring refreshments, live entertainment and a mini-ball! For more info visit www.redhookpride.org
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The 5th Annual Red Hook Jazz Fest continues at 1 pm in Urban Meadows on the corner of Van Brunt and Presidents Streets. The second weekend line-up includes Rick Parker Collective, Harris Eisenstadt’s Canada Day Octet, Nate Wooley Quintet, Spoke and the Mike Baggetta Quartet.
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Carroll Gardens Library “Author Series” continues with historical novelist Dan Kalla. His seventh novel The Far Side of the Sky focuses on a short but extraordinary period of WWII when the cultures of Europe and Asia converged. Kalla will be reading from his latest novel, answering questions and signing books at 7 pm.
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The 5th Annual Red Hook Jazz Fest commences at 1 pm in Urban Meadows on the corner of Van Brunt and Presidents Streets. The first weekend line-up includes Hot Cup Chili Pepper 7, The Flail, Max Johnson Trio, Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra and Nick Gianni’s Evolution
2012
Thank you Brooklyn!
Urban Oyster is leading a variety of tours in Brooklyn this month including Brooklyn Navy Yard by Bus or by Bike, Brewed in Brooklyn: Fermented NY Craft Beer Crawl, Immigrant Foodways, and Neighborhood Eats. For specific dates, visit: www.urbanoyster.com or call (347) 599-1842 Leaving IKEA: A Play in Two Cantos will be playing at the Brooklyn Lyceum Theatre from June 7- June 24. Show times are 8 pm Thursday-Saturday and Sundays at 7 pm. The Gallery Players present The Black Box New Play Festival now through June 24. For more info visit www.galleryplayers.com
101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 Kimberly@redhookstar.com
718 624-5568 The Heights Players are holding their final performances of Finian’s Rainwww.RedHookStar.com bow June 1 and 2 at 8 pm and a final performance on June 3 at 7 pm.
Reservations can be made by calling (718) 237-2752.
Star-Revue Ads Work
call 718 624-5568 to place yours Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue
Governors Island announces their public 2012 season including bike and walking tours, interactive art exhibitions, tours of Fort Jay and Castle Williams, Park Ranger programs and many other events from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Free ferry rides leave from lower Manhattan and Pier 6. For a full list of scheduled events, visit www.govisland.com
www.RedHookStar.com
June 1 - 15, 2012
June 26th Congressional primary a race by Greg Algarin-Marquez
T
his month, Nydia Velazquez will face her first serious primary challenge since her election to congress in 2000. The challenge is the result of redistricting, which is mandatory after each census. The strongest of her three challengers is Erik Martin Dilan, currently a city council member, son of longtime NY State Senator Martin Dilan and Vito Lopez protege. The other challengers are George Martinez and Daniel J. O’Connor. A portion of Red Hook has been scratched from the 12th Congressional District and reassigned to the brand new 7th District. Greenpoint, a Velazquez power base, was also drawn out of the 12th District; and Woodhaven was added, which makes Dilan - a well-known Bushwick politician - a viable challenger. The new district retains the Columbia Street waterfront and Brooklyn Heights, but now includes all of Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, and parts of Boerum Hill and Park Slope. Importantly for Velasquez, it loses Greenpoint. The area of Red Hook south of Hamilton Avenue remains separate and part of Sara Gonzalez’s District. In the past, this election has coincided with the city and state primary, normally the second Tuesday of September. The election date is changing in light of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of New York for not complying with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. MOVE requires states to deliver absentee ballots to eligible voters no later than 45 days before a federal election. The primary thus far has been a low-key affair, and it is doubtful that the election - scheduled for June 26th - will yield a high-turnout. Velazquez and Dilan each maintain a Facebook page for their campaign. As of press time, Dilan’s page noted 95 ‘likes’ and Velazquez listed 237 friends, not a whole lot considering that the pages have been active since the middle of April. After a court order moved up the election, Memorial Day became a logical choice for political glad-handing. The Star-Revue issued queries to all the candidates as to their holiday plans, but only heard back from the two lesser candidates. So, who are George Martinez and Dan O’Connor?
Dan O'Connor at VFW Post 7096 (photos by Algerin-Marquez)
Red Hook Star-Revue
Martinez is an adjunct professor of Political Science with Pace University and
munities.” Martinez noted that the response to his
“A lot of folks are not aware that there is a primary in June,” Martinez said. “People are not aware of what district they live in. They are not aware this is a new congressional district. In fact, 30 percent of the district is geographically different than it was just a couple of months ago.”
is a hip-hop ambassador with the U.S. Department of State. He also represents the Occupy movement on the primary ballot.
table has been quite positive compared to the mailers that both Velazquez and Dilan seem to prefer in getting their message out. Among the other policies that Martinez supports are 21st-century classrooms with technology resources available for every student, modernized national public transportation, student loan forgiveness, foreclosure moratorium, federal oversight of the NYPDs stop-and-frisk policy and ending military involvement overseas.
George Martinez (l.) with his wife, campaign worker Tim Logan, and the district table in Sunset Park.
A native Brooklynite, Martinez states on his website that he is a proud product of the New York public school system. He was the first in his family to attend college, graduating magna cum laude from Brooklyn College and receiving a doctoral fellowship at CUNY Graduate Center. We caught up with Martinez in Sunset Park. “Our premise,” he said, “is that we have a district office table that is basically a community table that serves as my district office with information, community information, Occupy information, our electoral information and voter registration.” He continued: “This table keeps us in the streets. We have our district office table on rotation throughout the five biggest pieces of the district. It’s such a huge community. We want to show people that elected officials don’t have to be stuck inside.” Martinez hopes that this will invite the public back into the political process in grass roots, organic way. The more that regular people that part in that process, he believes, the more it will offset the influence of corporate money in politics. He also thinks that this kind of outreach will lead to an empowerment that he hopes will inspire the younger generation to become more involved in the building the future. “Especially when we’re thinking of next year’s city council races and beyond, I want to see young people from our neighborhoods who have achieved certain levels of success and experience but who have been committed to bringing those experiences back to our neighborhoods,” he said. “I want to see them have the opportunity to exercise leadership and their vision in our com-
Dan O’Connor also made appearances at various Memorial Day observances around Brooklyn., According to his website, O’Connor was born in New York City and attended elementary school in Brooklyn. He comes from a background in economics and has never held public office. He supports term limits, pledging only to serve four terms as well as accept only half the $174,000 congressional annual salary and not participate in the congressional pension program. In addition, he supports school vouchers, open immigration policies, renewable energy,
Brooklyn Terminal Project terminated (continued from page 1)
ed on-site security, how people would arrive at the event, and the traffic it would bring to the area, among other matters. Coleman added that Port Authority has issued event permits in the past and will issue permits in the future for other projects. Asked to explain the late timeline – that the permit denial came less than a dozen business days before the first concert – NYCEDC said they had no comment. As late as May 27, The Brooklyn Terminal Project website continued to sell tickets for the two June concerts without indicating a change in location. Port Authority and NYCEDC said they had already informed Pacha NYC that the events could not happen. On May 29, after repeated calls to Pacha NYC from the Star-Revue, The Brooklyn Terminal Project facebook page disappeared and a new location was announced on the website: The Beekman Beach Club at South Street Seaport. Ticketholders of the June 3 concert featuring Knife Party, an Australian electro house / dubstep duo group, received an e-mail offering a full refund and ex-
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and adding transparency to the Federal Reserve System. O’Connor, who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese fluently, has a strong following in the Chinese communities that help make up nearly 18.8 percent of the Asian population in the newly drawnup district. But O’Connor has also been active in visiting all the neighborhoods, meeting the voters through his successful petition-signing effort to appear on the ballot, as well as meeting commuters at subway stops and civic association meetings. “I’ve been doing this for about a year now,” O’Connor said. “My name recognition has really gone up in the past few months. We have a very intense voter outreach program. I spend a lot of time in all parts of the district talking to all different people.” Speaking on the issues, O’Connor noted, “The issues that I’m focusing on are bipartisan issues. Because, you know, I can run and scream all day about a particular issue, but if I can’t get it to pass in congress, then it’s a waste of time.” Both lesser known candidates noted how uninformed the voters in the new district may be about either their candidacy or, for that matter, the upcoming June 26th primary. “A lot of folks are not aware that there is a primary in June,” Martinez said. “People are not aware of what district they live in. They are not aware this is a new congressional district. In fact, 30 percent of the district is geographically different than it was just a couple of months ago.” plaining that all customers had been automatically refunded for the cost of the ferry to Red Hook. “Due to circumstances beyond the artists and promoters control, Knife Party at the Brooklyn Terminal Project has been moved…The organizers are very excited about moving to the seaport, a great outdoor venue which offers spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan,” said the e-mail from Clubtickets.com. “The event organizer deeply regrets the disruption this puts in your plans, and we want to thank you for all your understanding.” The June 8 concert has been moved to Dekalb Market, a new venue and entrepreneur market at 138 Willoughby Street. The concert features four DJs: Lóco Dice, Joris Voorn, Nic Fanciulli, and Taimur+Faha. Hammerman said that although he is intrigued by the idea of an event series at the terminal, he wishes NYCEDC would improve its communication with the local community. “I think it’s a very troubling sign that EDC is working behind closed-doors on projects that could affect the daily lives of our residents and we don’t know about it,” he said. “They have an obligation at a minimum to work with the community because there are a lot of logistical issues that people will want answers to.”
June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 3
our
Local Beat
news items written and collected by the Star-Revue editorial staff
Food stamp fingerprinting
On May 17th, NYS Governor Cuomo signed a bill that eliminates the requirement for food stamp recipients to be fingerprinted. The policy will end by July, eliminating a controversial practice. The bill was applauded by hunger advocates and faith based groups, including the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and the NYS Catholic Conference. NYC Human Resources Administrator Robert Doar spoke out against the new bill, saying that it prevents the fraudulent use of food stamps, said to be $35 million over the past ten years. It is estimated that roughly 1.4 million people, about a third of those eligible, do not participate in the program , leaving unused more than $1 billion on federal food aid per year, according to the Albany Times Union. Reasons for this include inconvenience and the stigma of being fingerprinted. Now, applicants may apply for this aid from home.
Barclay Center presents a transportation plan
At a well attended public meeting on May 22nd at Borough Hall, representatives from the Ratner Organization and the Barclay Center presented plans on how they would deal with increased vehicular traffic for upcoming Nets games and other events. Sam Schwartz, former NYC Transportation Commissioner also known as ‘Gridlock Sam,’ explained how Barclays would do everything possible to discourage automobile traffic. A representative from the MTA disclosed that they will be providing additional LIRR service timed with the beginnings and endings of the events. Craig Hammerman, CB6 District Manager presided over the question and answer portion. It was mentioned that Barclay’s plans free shuttle bus service from distant parking lots to encourage their use. In response to a question about where the buses would be staged during the events, it was disclosed that Barclay’s is in negotiation with a Red Hook bus operator to park the shuttle buses in Red Hook, meaning that during events shuttle buses would be coming and going through Red Hook. The meeting ended with a question about how and when the animals would arrive when the zoo is in town. Schwartz responded that they would be arriving through the Midtown Tunnel and then proceed down through the Navy Yard during the middle of the night. He then said that a greater sight can rarely be seen.
Americorps presents at Justice Center
On May 18th, the New York Juvenile Justice Corps, an AmeriCorps national service program run by the Red Hook Community Justice Center, put on the Correction - in our May 16th article on Visitation Church, we referred to the structure being built in the mid 18th century. It was built in the mid 19th century.
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second annual “Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader” summer reading kickoff event with the Red Hook branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Under the hot Friday afternoon sun, Corps members gave away thousands of donated books to local children and teens from P.S. 15, PAVE Academy, and the Good Shepherd Services after-school program at P.S. 676. More than 500 kids, parents and grandparents spent hours browsing through the book selection and left with arms, bags and strollers full of new books for summer. Corps members greeted kids asking about their readinglevel and favorite books to help direct them to selections they would most enjoy. Corps members also led arts and crafts where kids designed bookmarks and drew illustrations from their favorite stories. Many children left the book fair to wander through the library - happily realizing free books are actually at their fingertips 365 days a year! The event is an effort to encourage a love of reading and increase access to age-appropriate books to prevent the phenomenon of the “summer slide.” The “summer slide” happens when students go all summer without opening a book and fall behind in school, forcing teachers to spend up to three months reviewing lessons from the previous grade-level. Research shows that students who read just 4 books during the summer score better on reading tests in the fall than their peers who read one or fewer books. Corps members told the kids that although the last day of school is right around the corner, summer break does not have to mean a break from reading. It was inspiring to see children and their families get so excited about books and spend the afternoon reading in the sunshine, momentarily forgetting about their Xbox 360’s and TV’s back at home. Books were generously donated by Tymberly Harris of Packer Collegiate Academy, Cynthia Sichenze of the Legal Aid Society, Dianne Graham of the Office of Children and Family Services, Sandra Sutton and Donna Longobardi of the Red Hook Public Library, Toni Bullock-Stallings and other Red Hook Community Justice Center staff. Hundreds of bags were donated by Nate’s Pharmacy. Leftover books are being donated to Books Through Bars and the National Alliance of HUD Tenants.
CB 6 discusses new school building
On Wednesday, May 23, the Community Board 6 Youth / Human Services / Education Committee discussed the new school building at 610 Baltic Street. It will enroll students from District 13 and District 15 in one school, P.S. 133. Much controversy surrounded the original plan for the new building, which proposed two schools with separate entrances. A May 21 Department of Education (DOE) bulletin says the cur-
rent plan allots 310 seats to District 13 and 565 seats to District 15. The enrollment policy helps to address overcrowding in District 15, which includes the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, and parts of Boerum Hill and Fort Green, according to insideschools.org. The DOE is still developing plans for the school’s sanitation system, transportation system, dual language program, and enrollment system. The building is scheduled to open for the 2013-2014 school year. In further business, Rebecca Darugar of the Hunger Free Communities Coalition (HFCC) said some populations do not realize they qualify for assistance in food-assistance programs. Depending on income, the U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants may qualify for food stamps. All children, including the undocumented, are eligible for free lunch during the summer. Families can contact 311 to find a meal-providing school, pool, or park near them. For information about other programs, applicants can call 1-855-NYC-HFCC or go to nychungerfree.org. The committee welcomed Jim Vogel from Senator Velmanette Montgomery’s office to explain a bill sponsored by Montgomery that would reverse mayoral control of the schools and create a new Board of Education. The bill is not likely to pass this session.
Puppetry Arts Festival at the Old Stone House
On Saturday June 2, Puppetry Arts is hosting a free festival at the Old Stone House on 4th Street and 5th Avenue from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will include crafts, games, interactive workshops, a 13 ft by 20 ft giant Dragon puppet constructed by the NYU Poly Bots Club, renowned puppeteer performances, and a Proclamation issued at 12 p.m. by Borough President Marty Markowitz. Puppetry Arts, which plans to make this festival annual, is a community arts organization that works to support communities by bringing puppetry into schools, community events, and theaters. For more information visit www. puppetryarts.org or call 718-768-3703.
Annual Red Hook Fest Celebrates Women As Healers
Dance Theatre Etcetera presents the 19th free annual Red Hook Fest. The Festival will feature music, dance, and spoken word poetry by a variety of youth groups and renowned professionals, including Maya Azucena and spoken-word artist Mahogany Browne. This year’s theme is “Women’s Work: Healing Our Community.” The Fest begins on Friday June 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 71 Sullivan Street and continues on Saturday June 2 at Louis J. Valentino Jr. Park (the Pier) on Coffey and Ferris Streets. For more information visit www.redhookfest.com or call (718) 643-6790.
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Hurricane Season Begins
A May 29 press release from the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) announced National Hurricane Preparedness Week and singled out Red Hook as an area prone to hurricane flooding. Over nine months since storm surge from Hurricane Irene inundated the streets of Red Hook, it is again time for Red Hook residents to make preparations. OEM Commissioner Joseph F. Bruno with local officials, business representatives and the Community Emergency Response Team met in Red Hook to warn city residents to get ready, said the press release. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the 2012 Hurricane season, which begins on June 1st, will include nine to 15 named storms, four to eight hurricanes, and one to three major hurricanes. The OEM encouraged city residents to determine whether they live in an evacuation zone, to gather a “Go Bag,” and to sign up for emergency updates. Council Member Sarah M. González warned against the power of nature and cautioned Red Hook residents to evacuate when required. More information about hurricane preparedness can be accessed at www.nyc. gov/hurricane or by calling 311.
Governors Island Open Through September
From May 26 to September 30, Governors Island will host a variety of free cultural, educational, artistic, and recreational events. The island is open Saturdays, Sundays, and Holiday Mondays and accessible by the free Governors Island ferry from Manhattan and Brooklyn or by the East River Ferry. Visitors are welcome to bring their own bikes or rent bikes on the Island. Events for the first half of June include the FIGMENT Festival, a free “celebration of participatory art and culture” on June 9 and June 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On June 16 and June 17 the Island’s visual and performing artist-inresidents will showcase their works in progress from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. Gotham BBC of New York, one of many club teams that play historical baseball will match its competitors on June 2 and June 16 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The island will host the New York Brain Tumor Walk from 7 a.m. to noon on June 16 to raise money to find a cure for brain tumors. For $15, visitors can dance to 1920s jazz music performed by Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra at the June 16 and June 17 Jazz Age Lawn Party, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A number of season-long programs have begun, including a graphic design exhibition presented by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and The Walker Art Center. The National Park Center organizes tours of the Island, including the forts and National Historic District, with some programs offered (continued on next page)
June 1 - 15, 2012
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Local Beat
news items written and collected by the Star-Revue editorial staff (continued from previous page)
on weekdays. The island also hosts a compost-learning center, interactive sculpture garden, and math-learning installation for families. Visitors can visit a variety of venders for food and drink, including Little Eva’s, run by Red Hook’s own Kevin Moore and Caroline Parker, who own Kevin’s on Van Brunt Street. A full event calendar can be accessed at www.govisland.com. For more information, call 212-440-2200.
Mother of Cabrini Public Mural Project
The Society of Citizens of Pozzallo (Pozzallo Club) is engaging community youth to design and paint a public mural on Hicks Street and Degraw Street in honor of Mother Frances X. Cabrini, a woman beloved for her service to the Italian immigrant populations in Carroll Gardens and the Columbia Street District in the late 1800s. The mural’s content will be based on the ideas of four winning essays about Cabrini and her contributions to society. In spring of 2011, the Pozzallo Club at 504 Henry Street invited students in grades two through eight to submit essays for a $500 prize. The Society received 1,000 essays and chose winners from four different age categories. Professional artists from the nonprofit Groundswell Community Murals are working with youth from the neighborhood and the Pozzallo Club to design and paint the mural every Friday and Saturday over a twelve-week period with funding from the New York City Council. The artists are currently waiting to hear from the Pozzallo Club for an approval of their design, and expect to complete the mural at the end of June. The themes, drawn from the essays, include Cabrini’s life, tributes to Sicilian heritage, immigration, education, and social service.
to its remote location through a free shuttle service to and from the Carroll Street F and G subway station. Shuttles will arrive at the station every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The shuttle will be a white van with the Brooklyn Crab Logo. Offering views of the New York Harbor as well as a menu including a raw bar and crabs galore, The Brooklyn Crab is a new project by the owners of Alma Restaurant at 187 Columbia Street. The Heart of Brooklyn (HOB) Connection Free Shuttle will also provide transportation to and from the Brooklyn Museum to the area’s local eateries and craft shops from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Deals Pave the Way for Development in Brooklyn Bridge Park
The New York Times reported that after months of litigation by community groups to protect two landmarks in DUMBO, the groups reached an agreement with city officials that will create a more transparent structure to initiate the use of the landmarks for cultural and economic development. The May 21 agreement also mandates that the city provide 38,000 square feet of new park space under the Manhattan Bridge to be managed by a community advisory committee. According to the New York Times, the Tobacco Warehouse at 26 New Dock Street and the Empire Stores at 58-83 Water Street are Civil War era landmarks previously located in EmpireFulton Ferry State Park land and protected by the National Park Service. Two years ago, the city-owned Brooklyn Bridge Park acquired the properties, and agreed to lease the Tobacco Warehouse to St. Ann’s Warehouse theater group. (continued on page 12)
The Red Hook Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transsexual/Queer (LGBTQ) Alliance will be hosting the first Red Hook Pride day on Saturday June 16 in celebration of the LGBTQ community of Red Hook. The day begins with brunch at local restaurants from 10 AM-2 PM, with some businesses offering specials like “Pride Cocktails.” The organizers hope to thank these businesses for their role in supporting the local community. Participating restaurants may include Botanica, The Good Fork, Fort Defiance, Hope and Anchor, Home/made, Kevin’s, Brooklyn Ice House, and Bate and Tackle. From 3 pm to 6 pm, a free celebration in Coffey Park will feature performances, guest speakers including Council Member Sara M. González, the AntiViolence Project, (an organization that works to stop violence against gays and lesbians), and the Hetrick-Martin Institute, (an organization that offers legal counseling to LGBT youth). A “just for fun” group wedding ceremony will start at 4:30 pm. Next, all are invited to participate in the “Red Hook Crawl,” with visits to Red Hook’s local businesses, restaurants, and bars from 6 pm-8 pm. Participants are invited to begin at the end of Van Brunt Street and dine and shop their way up to Bowne St. The day ends with a free Pride Dance from 8 pm to 1 am at the Brooklyn Liquidators Warehouse at 185 Van Brunt Street. There will be food and cocktails, live performances, free vogue-dance lessons, and a Pride Ball contest. Donations to the events will go to creating a center for LGBTQ Youth. The LGBTQ Alliance was founded in mid-April and has about 25 members. The group hopes to turn Red Hook Pride into a big annual celebration, as well as host political and educational events. Monica Byrne, owner of Home/made and founder of The Red Hook LGBTQ Alliance, said the LGBTQ people of Red Hook are heavily involved in nonprofit work in the neighborhood and wanted to host an event to celebrate their community. The Alliance has invited many groups to join the effort, including the Red Hook Initiative’s LBGTQ youth group SWAG, (So Wise About Gay). The youth group is now part of the Alliance and will take a role in organizing the event. “One of our goals is to be totally inclusive and not exclusive in every way shape or form,” said Byrne. “We absolutely, absolutely hope that becoming visible, and by forming this larger organization, that people who might not have a support system, can know they live in a community that has one.” Those interested in becoming involved can visit redhookpride.org or e-mail Monica Byrne at monica@roquettecatering.com.
Cabrini was born in Italy in 1850 and lived on Van Brunt Street and President Street when she first arrived in the United States. She founded orphanages, missionaries, schools, affordable housing projects, and hospitals in the United States and other countries, and was the first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a saint. John Heyer II, Mural Committee Chair, said the Pozzallo Club chose the project because it’s “reflective of the local community,” and will tell the history of the Columbia Street District. He said the mural will celebrate the contributions that immigrants – and women – have brought to the United States. “Hopefully the mural will stand as that kind of testimony to those who are new to the area, and to our children.”
Brooklyn Crab to Offer Free Shuttle Service
When Brooklyn Crab – the up-andcoming seafood restaurant at 24 Reed Street –opens this June, it will bring customers from all over New York City
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June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 5
Opinion:
Does it still pay to go to college? by Michael Racioppo
E
conomic downturns are the logical time when a society starts to look at what it can and cannot afford. With skyrocketing costs, a lack of jobs for recent graduates and tremendous debt, people are really starting to question whether or not going to college is the right move, despite being told it was for generations. Even professors, who directly benefit from increased college enrollment, have been making the case that college should not be the goal for every student after high school. Trade schools or saving money for other more worthwhile investments may be the way to go. Those who make this argument, such as Professor Richard Vedder of Ohio University, point out that many jobs that are expected to grow in coming years do not require a college degree (home health aide, customer service aide, and store clerk). This leads to the conclusion that a lot of people will be spending 200k on an education, which does not apply to the jobs they will end up getting. Would this hypothetical person be better off putting that money into buying a house? Professor Vedder likes to ask why “15 percent of all mail carriers have bachelors degrees?”
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Based solely on the economics, it’s hard to argue against Vedders case for a lot of people. As a 27 year old I know many of my peers regret going to college. But the fact that he is right makes a more important question arise. If it is a bad economic decision to advance one’s education, is there something wrong with the system and values of society? Those that would answer yes would say that we are becoming a society, and country, that no longer wants an increased capability for critical thought unless it’s applied to one’s role in the economy. No need to be aware of our species’ greatest accomplishments and failures in history, how we got to where we are, or the context of who you are in the world. All these are habits of mind that are useful for an engaged citizenry, and from which a letter carrier - no less than a college professor - might derive a sense of self-worth. For who’s to say in what direction a letter carrier’s thoughts might, or should, turn regardless of the job’s demands? Consider Stephen Law, a professor of philosophy at the University of London, who started his working life delivering mail for the British Postal Service. He began reading works of philosophy in his spare time, decided that he would like to know more and went on to study the discipline at City University, in London, and Oxford University. I know that’s all the way across the Atlantic, but its anecdote shows why we shouldn’t let the economics of a situation today deprive us of intellectual rewards that benefit society tomorrow. Michael Racioppo teaches Political Science at Brooklyn College From Our Readers:
Introducing the Red Hook Vision Project
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by Reg Flowers
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ed Hook is a community with a track record of working together across all segments of our population to do amazing things. Those who remember the days of Groups Against Garbage Sites (GAGS) - organized to put an end to the Giuliani Administration’s unfair Solid Waste Management Plan - can tell you the kind of fight you can get in Red Hook. Even when that activist spirit has been turned in on itself, it never fails to demonstrate the passion of people who live in this neck of South Brooklyn. This is why I was excited to think what might happen if that power were to be channeled differently – not as we gear up for a yet another fight, but when we take advantage of our resources to create something together – something amazing. That was what led me to help organize my neighbors – my friends – to begin a visioning process for the future of one of the neighborhood’s valuable and underutilized resources. The Gowanus Bay Terminal has dominated the waterfront landscape since its construction in 1922. It looms in our imaginations; in a lack of utilization, it lives up to the moniker “Magnificent Mistake.” However, a convergence of forces from the private developer who
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owns the land and the federal government have given rise to opportunity for Red Hook. We have a chance to prevent the loss of another symbol of our industrial heritage, as with the sugar refinery and the graving dock. We can seize the opportunity or let it crumble into murky water. Red Hook has been burned in recent years. The developer in question, John Quadrozzi, doesn’t boast a sparkling reputation based on what one might find in available news articles. He is our neighbor, though, and is interested in investing in this community. He’s open to having a discussion about more equitable ways to develop in Red Hook. We need development and equity in Red Hook right now. It’s time for our community leaders, organizations and individuals to engage with their constituents, congregations, customers, families, friends and neighbors to discuss this. To think hard on it. To pray on it. To do whatever it is you do when faced with a potentially lifealtering decision. We also need clear heads and educated consumers who will not simply be sold a bill of goods. Visit The Red Hook Vision Project at http:// redhookvision.org to offer your opinion and to follow this project’s progress.
June 1 - 15, 2012
A look at the evolution of NYC policing (continued from page 1)
relation for causation; that is, to assume that one thing causes another, just because they both happen to coincide. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly seemed to have this idea in mind when, in 2001, he told Time magazine that Mayor Giuliani and then-Commissioner William Bratton were essentially “taking credit for an eclipse” by claiming that NYPD policy was responsible for the historic drop in violent crime in New York City. It was an astute comment that experts in criminology, sociology and urban studies would have tended to agree with. For one thing, pinpointing clear causeeffect relationships between law enforcement policy and crime patterns is often impossible. Society is too complex; there are too many variables that influence criminal behavior. And social scientists cannot conduct controlled experiments with groups of people in the way that biologists can with lab mice. A host of social forces have been looked at over the years, which presumably influences crime patterns. Among them are economic conditions, family structure, racial injustices and demographics. One group of theorists has even tried to prove that legalizing abortion in 1973 caused a reduction in crime in the 1990s. This theory assumes is that children born of unwanted pregnancies are more likely to commit crimes. So a wave of abortions in the mid-70s resulted in less of these “unwanted” children becoming socially deviant young men in the 90s. Another popular theory claims that the decrease in crack cocaine in the 90s was a major factor in driving down drugrelated violence. For decades, it was a commonly held belief that law enforcement had no influence whatsoever on criminal behavior. George L. Kelling and William H. Sousa, Jr. wrote about this prevailing assumption - and its complete reversal during the Giuliani administration - in their 2001 report, “Do Police Matter?” Throughout the 70s and 80s, they write, most criminologists agreed that the best the police could do was respond to crimes when they had already happened, much like firefighters responding to a fire.
NYPD Inc. William Bratton redefined the police department as a force that could drive down crime, not just respond to it. Drawing from his experience as Transit Police Commissioner, Bratton introduced CompStat, (short for “Comparative Statistics”), the computerized record-keeping system that transformed the NYPD into an entity more like a corporation that is driven by fierce data analysis and a new level of middle-management. The new middle-managers were the commanding officers of the individual precincts. Bratton gave these commanders unprecedented authority to develop strategies and form specialized units to deal with problems specific to their districts. And with this new authority came new accountability; the commanders who failed to produce results were fired.
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“Before the 90s, there was no organized way of tracking and reporting crime patterns,” says Jerry Armer, President of the 76th Precinct Community Council. “The NYPD is now doing what any good company does, looking at data and recording it more.” Bratton also changed how the NYPD functioned by implementing “broken windows” or “quality of life” policing. Based on the theory that general disor-
the separate departments of Housing and Transit police into the NYPD. “Now Kelly acts like a general with his storm troopers. They don’t try to develop a rapport with the community.” Bazemore played an active role in making Red Hook safer, working alongside other residents who became fed up with the violence. This shared desire to take back the community from violent drug dealers was particularly strong after the 1992
to make sure I didn’t have a criminal record.” Speaking about the aggressive policing style that Bratton adopted in the 90s, Kelly said in his 2001 Time interview that it “goes to the question about what kind of policing we want in America. You can probably shut down just about all crime, if you’re willing to burn down the village to save it.” Kelly became commissioner for the
“Bratton gave these commanders unprecedented authority to develop strategies and form specialized units to deal with problems specific to their districts. And with this new authority came new accountability; the commanders who failed to produce results were fired. “
der in a given community leads to more serious crime, Giuliani and Bratton began in the mid 90s to enforce lowlevel crimes, (public drinking, public urination, marijuana possession), with much greater intensity. The stop-question-and-frisk tactic began to rise during this period. As misdemeanor arrests increased, violent crime, (robbery, homicide), dropped across the city. Did one cause the other? No one can say for sure. However, the authors of Do Police Matter? conclude in the report that the “order-maintenance increase– violent crime decrease” relationship was too consistent throughout the city to have been a mere case of “historical coincidence.” (Kelling helped co-create the broken windows theory in the early 80s, it should be noted.)
The General and his Storm Troopers Wally Balzemore, 60, is another longtime resident of Red Hook Houses. For many years he worked as a field consultant for the Housing Authority, setting up meetings between community groups and local police. Like everyone, he is glad that Red Hook is so much safer than it has been in the past; but he rejects the Bratton model of policing. He equates it with living under the rule of an occupying army. “We had community policing under Dinkins and under Ed Koch,” he says, speaking of the period before Giuliani merged
shooting of PS 15 Principal Patrick Daly. Captain Tom Sullivan, who headed the precinct at that time, gave the community some leeway in dealing with the drug dealers, Bazemore says. “He allowed us to police our own community along with them. We all collaborated. Whatever we did, we did in conjunction with the police. When they brought Bratton in, everything went south.” Armer agrees that the NYPD could not have singlehandedly caused the drop in violent crime in communities like Red Hook. “If you are committing violent crimes, and you know that the community is getting together and coalescing, it can make you uncomfortable,” he says. “I don’t think it was the police by themselves. I don’t think it can be. I don’t care if you live in the Houses or in Carroll Gardens - the cops can’t go in there unless they get a call from someone.” “It has a lot to do with the Justice Center, and places like Red Hook Initiative and the Miccio Center,” Daly says. “These organizations have done wonders in terms of keeping kids off the street.”
Burning Down the Village Bazemore’s 20-year-old son, Christopher, says he has been stopped a few times. “I felt kind of violated the first time because I wasn’t doing anything to cause it,” he says. “The second time made more sense because I matched a so-called description, so they ran my ID
second time the following year. Since then, quality of life enforcement and low-level arrests have continued to increase as violent crime has continued to decrease. Under Mayor Bloomberg, the NYPD has arrested more people each year for marijuana possession than any other city in history. An NYCLU-sponsored 2008 report by Harry G. Levine and Deborah Peterson Small demonstrate the skyrocketing of marijuana misdemeanors which began in 1997. The report shows that between 1987 and 1996, the NYPD made 30,000 of these arrests. In the next interval, from 1997 to 2006, that number rose to 353,000 - an increase of eleven times the amount during the previous decade. Marijuana misdemeanors, Levine and Small argue, are the “bread and butter” of commanding officers who are eager to show good numbers at their weekly CompStat meetings. Not surprisingly, these arrests are concentrated in minority communities and disproportionately affect black and Latino young men. Bazemore doesn’t worry so much about his son getting caught in a crossfire. But he says that he worries “constantly” about him being harassed by police on his way home from school or out with friends. If burning down the village means alienating large segments of the population in the name of crime reduction, then Ray Kelly may be fulfilling his own prophecy.
READERS: WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! • Why do you think Red Hook is safer than it was 10 or 20 years ago? • How has the relationship changed between local police and the community? • Are stop-question-and-frisks a necessary means to an end? Or are they a violation of your rights as a citizen? CALL (718) 624-5568 or EMAIL matt@redhookstar.com We will be collecting responses and featuring them in a future issue of the Red Hook Star-Revue
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June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 7
Growing Up Red Hook
Meet my dad, Superman
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by Danette Vigilante
ith Father’s Day approaching, I’d like to tell you if there’s ever an emergency, you’d want my dad present. Though he’s a man of few words, his actions have, and always will be, anything but.
When I was little, one of our neighbors from the floor below us broke through the regular noise of our building with a desperate cry for help. Her baby boy had slipped underneath his bath water and had stopped breathing. My dad whisked the baby - who had started to turn blue - out of his mother’s arms. Rushing into the apartment of the closest neighbor, he placed the baby on a kitchen table and began to resuscitate him. Because of his quick response, the baby lived. I remember one time when my family and I were shopping in May’s Department store in downtown Brooklyn when suddenly a little boy’s foot got caught in the escalator. With each passing second, the escalator, with the mouth and teeth of a hungry monster, gobbled up more and more rubber of the little boy’s sneaker, and the boy’s small toes surely would have been next. I watched in horror as chaos and panic filled the space around me. The little boy’s mother tried to wrestle her son out of harm’s way, but to no avail. My father, in his silent and assured way, sprang into action. He lifted the boy completely out of both sneakers and out of the escalator’s evil grip. There was a time at the beach when one of my mother’s friends was caught in an undertow and disappeared from sight. My dad, a master swimmer, (as a young adult, he and his friends swam to Governors Island numerous times), ran into the water and swam in her direction. Picture this, if you will, my father walking onto the shoreline with the woman draped from his arms. Just as in the movies, he laid her on the sand and began to resuscitate her. Now, based on these events alone, I think you’ll agree that my father should have had a superhero action figure made in his likeness. Or, at the very least, he should have been given a red cape with a huge S emblazoned on it. But, the stories don’t stop there. One evening my parents were getting ready to attend a wedding. While my mother put on her make-up in the bathroom with my little sister watching, my dad, my older brother and I played a board game. After a while, my sister, who was around five or six years old, began choking on a piece of hard candy. At this point, you all know what happened, right? My father hopped out of his seat and used the Heimlich maneuver to save my sister’s life. There’s one more for you, and it involves neither man nor monster, but a box of kittens left to die in the Gowanus Canal. At the time, my father worked near the Canal. One day he noticed a box floating in the water, but it wasn’t just an empty box, there were tiny mews coming from inside it. Someone had dumped a litter of kittens! My father rescued the helpless kitties and found homes for every one of them. So, to all of the dad’s out there, I wish you a very Happy Father’s Day. May you always listen for the call and spring into action. And, a very Happy Father’s Day to my very own hero in disguise, my father, George.
Danette Vigilante is a children’s author living in New York City with one husband, two daughters, Mr. Noodle, her love hog Yorkshire terrier and Daisy, a cat with a seriously bad attitude.
Star-Revue Community Calendar 76th Precinct Meeting, Tuesday June 5, 7:30 p.m. 76th Precinct Station House basement conference room, 191 Union Street The 76th Precinct invites the public to learn about the 76th Precinct’s initiatives to address crime and to discuss all your concerns, comments, and questions about quality of life matters. 718-834-3211 Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association Meeting Wednesday June 6, 7 p.m. Hannah Senesh Community Day School 342 Smith Street between 1st and 2nd place All who live, work, or visit Carroll Gardens are welcome to attend. Captain Jeffrey Schiff of the 76th precinct will introduce himself and take questions; the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group will update the association about the EPA’s plans for cleaning up the Gowanus; meeting attendees discuss landmarking, activities in Carroll Park and Douglass Thomas Green Park on 3rd Avenue, and other subjects. Community Board 6 Wednesday June 13, 6:30 p.m. John Jay Educational Campus , 237 7th Avenue Auditorium (btw. 4th & 5th General Board Meeting, Agenda T.B.A. (718) 643-3027 Red Hook Houses West Tenant Association Meeting Tuesday June 12, 6 PM 477 Columbia Street 718-755-5027
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June 1 - 15, 2012
Art Lot on Sackett and Columbia explained by Abigail Savitch-Lew
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frozen lake dangling from the hook of a crane. Plastic and mesh curtains tied to a chain-link fence with pink string. Music speakers made of expanding foam and cast in ice cube trays.
“Children’s toys are often made in vibrant colors to get kids to play with them,” said Abell. “I like to use vibrant colors too as a way to give people an entry point to get into the work—as a sort of a lure to get them closer, to get them engaged.”
These are a few of the things in “POP Paradigms,” a new exhibit showing from May 26 to July 22 in the outdoor lot at 206 Columbia Street. The corner art lot is a beloved fixture of the neighborhood and drew a crowd to its opening reception on May 26.
Abell drove three days from Alabama to set up his piece. “Frozen Lake” models a landscape with snow-covered hills and evergreen trees. A miniature crane made of welded metal lifts a “frozen lake” – a giant green block of resin fringed with dried flowers.
For the last two decades, Jim and Bobbi Vaughan, owners of the lot, have turned the space over to curators for the display of sculpture. Artist Jim Osman of Union Street has managed the space since 2003. He invited Brooklyn artist Natalia Zubko to guest curate in the summer of 2011. Zubko and Aimee Burg of New Haven, Connecticut selected the work of five artists for this year’s “POP Paradigms.”
“I was in Michigan and I heard about some sort of odd-ball trying to lift up a giant chunk of ice…that just sounded so absurd and so difficult,” said Abell. He used an imitation of this event to explore traditional themes, including landscape and the traditional technique of casting. “I’m trying to uproot a frozen pond as a way to make a cast of the landscape, as a way to study the landscape.”
Artist Lorraine Dauw flew from Chicago to Red Hook, shipped her sculpture in pieces and rebuilt it in Brooklyn. She constructed an object shaped like the base of a piano and attached it to a block of expanding foam with the texture of waffles. Cast in ice cube trays, the foam looks like a jet engine or boom box speakers. “I’m taking points of reference and converging them,” she said. She wanted viewers to think about sound and melting simultaneously. Several of the artists know Aimee Burg through Yale’s MFA program in sculpture. Natalia Zubko found Abell’s work through mutual connections. An upcoming solo exhibit, “Psychic Excavations,” will open in September and features the work of Jessica Cannon. Cannon will create paintings, adhere them to the lot wall, and continue to develop the paintings over time. They will explore the history of Red Hook’s
The exhibit features bold colors and eye-catching textures. Zubko said that on closer look, the sculptures share a “pensive” quality and a preoccupation with time. Some of the pieces emphasize permanence. Others will evolve as they are affected by the weather.
changing landscape. Curator Jim Osman said that the art lot has made an important contribution to the community since tougher days in Red Hook. The lot allows the community to not only view a final product, but also engage with artists and watch the installation process.
“Food will be decomposing, things will be shifting,” said Burg. Summer’s rain, while rustling against Nate Heiges’s “Curtains,” will blur the chalk drawing by Kyla Chevrier. Catherine TelfordKeogh’s sculpture, which includes lumps of yellow mayonnaise, will begin to rot. Many of the pieces share a “yearning to kind of capture an experience or a moment,” as well as a combination of distancing and inviting elements, said Zubko. Artist Marin Abell is conscious of the interplay between the catchy colors and deeper implications in his work.
Marin Abell working on the current installation, called POP Paradigms (photo by Savitch-Lew)
Meanwhile, the art lot has introduced artists from far and wide to Red Hook. Abell said he would consider moving from Alabama to Brooklyn and that the art lot was in a perfect location. “Being situated on that street corner just allows people…to engage with members of the community that are just so friendly and welcoming.” The completed POP Paradigms, available for public viewing through July 22nd at the corner of Sackett and Columbia Street (photo by Zubko)
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June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 9
OpSail 2012 a maritime treat by Kimberly Gail Price
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very year, in the week around Memorial Day, the city of New York is invaded. This year, over 6,000 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen took part in one of the largest Fleet Weeks in recent memory. Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and the annual event included 21 ships from 12 nations, including ten at the Red Hook Marine Terminal.
Juniper Class oceangoing Buoy Tender. Boasting a crane with a 40,000 pound lifting capacity, it maintains and replaces over 200 of the heaviest buoys in the US inventory, with an area of responsibility extending to the Canadian border.
The HMCS Iroquois from Canada was my first guided tour. The Canadian destroyer’s primary mission is to protect territorial waters and boasts the motto, “Relentless in Chase.” The Iroquois‘s secondary mission is to defend the ship
Boasting a large flight deck and capacity for three SH-60J Seahawk helicopters, Shirane was designed for antisubmarine warfare. Her undersea warfare suite includes advanced SONARs, hydrophones, and a unique torpedo affixed to a rocket booster.
Commissioned in 1997, it has a reinforced hull that allows it to break ice up to 3 feet thick and a dynamic positioning system utilizing GPS controls and thrusters, enabling it to maintain a Fleet Week began promptly at 8:11 am steady position in unstable currents. Wednesday, May 23 with the “Majestic I never expected to be walking down a Parade of Ships” began passing under red carpet, on an anti-submarine warfare the Verrazano Bridge and to various des- destroyer of the Japanese Maritime Selftinations within the city. The ships were Defense Force. Despite setting up for a open to the public and each crew offered reception hosted by the Japanese Amtours highlighting the unique capabili- bassador to the United Nations, I was ties of their ships as well as an insight welcomed aboard by Lieutenant Tatsuo into their specific country. Hiraga, the assistant Aviation Officer.
Originally built as a commercial transport ship and used by the British Royal Navy during the Falkland Islands War, Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Argus is the only hospital ship within the British Navy. Boasting capacity for over 100 patients, including an Intensive Care Unit, it remains the only ship in the world with an MRI machine. Once onboard, the shipboard feel so prevalent in the other vessels was replaced with the familiar feeing of a hospital. Large elevators, bright fluorescent Seneca was responsible for stopping over 4,000 pound of cocaine and 11,000 pound of marijuana from entering the United States. Named for an Aztec emperor, ARM Cuauhtemoc has been the training ship and sailing ambassador for the Mexican Navy since she was launched in 1982. She has sailed over 400,000 nautical miles since completed, and completed a circumnavigation in 1990.
from small boats, asymmetrical threats and to fight back while the boat gets out of the harbor. Lieutenant Leam Windle of the Flagship of the Canadian East Coast Fleet showed me around the ship. Most impressive aboard the ship was the OTO Melara 76 mm gun that is capable of firing 120 rounds a minute and is cooled with seawater that flows around the barrel. “There are no smoking guns around here,” Officer Windle joked. Etoile and Belle Poule, the smallest ships to cross from Europe were completed in 1932. Both are veterans of WWII, having served in the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle. Now, they are used to train midshipmen at the French Naval Academy My tour guide on board Etoile was Petty Officer David Guena. At sea, he is responsible for safely navigating the ship, and in port, he is often left in charge during the Captain’s absence. He explained the unique challenges associated with sailing a classically rigged sailing vessel across the Atlantic Ocean. Without enough fuel to make the transit under power, Etoile relies solely upon her four sails for over 95% of the transit.
The flagship of the Finnish Navy, Po-
hjanmaa is among the newest and most advanced mine warfare ships in the world. Designed for laying mines, she has additional duties as the school ship for Naval Academy Cadets, and was involved in rescuing shipwrecked Danish en route to Fleet Week New York. Dating back to 1984, Fleet Week is an annual event that highlights the contributions of America’s sea services. This year, over 100,000 guests have visited the coalition ships to meet Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen to see first-hand the latest capabilities of modern maritime services. In addition, Fleet Week also commemorates the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and also “The Star Spangled Banner” written that same year by Francis Scott Key.
lighting and hand sanitizer in every corner made this feel no different from any other hospital I’ve ever been in. A four-masted topsail schooner, Juan Sebastian De Elcano is the third largest tallship in the world, and the training vessel of the Spanish Navy. Completed in 1927, she has completed over 50 training voyages and circumnavigated the world six times.
US Coast Guard Cutter Seneca is a 270’ Famous Class medium endurance cutter, used primarily for Search and Rescue, and Maritime Law Enforcement along the East Coast of the United States. US Coast Guard Cutter Willow is a 225’ During recent Coast Guard Operations,
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June 1 - 15, 2012
A Jam Packed Two Weekends in May!
Thousands of New Yorkers came together to celebrate neighborhood parks and public spaces throughout the five boroughs. On “It’s My Park Day” local residents, group organizations and other various volunteers participated beautifying neighborhood spaces. The DiMattina Park Dog Run was raked and cleared by local dog owners who frequent the park with their furry friends. Volunteers at Red Hook Recreation Center weeded flower beds and replanted lovely flowers in three of the surrounding gardens. Youth from Brooklyn also helped repaint the fences and park benches. - KP
Puppetry Arts and PS 15 hosted their annual Family Arts Festival. Storm troopers took foam bullets in the eyes from 5 year olds. A friendly attendee assisted patiently in a build your own cookie event. And a one hole miniature golf course accommodated the tiniest of putters. But most of the attention went to the bouncy house set up in the school court yard.KP
On a beautiful summer day Brooklyn Boaters brought out their kayaks for the first time of the season. An eclectic crew of eager boaters showed up to get their feet wet. Kayaking at the Valentino Pier continues through October on Thursday evenings from 5-8 pm and Sunday afternoons from 1-5 pm. But don’t forget your water shoes! - KP
Thirteen different literary events at thirteen separate venues entertained a whole host of Brooklynites on the Saturday evening. The event was split into two segments from 6-8pm, allowing participants to chose from a vast array of options. Some of the noteworthy events included literary related science fair trivia at Brazen Head, sexy bits of literature at the Boat Bar and Brooklyn Writer’s space: Say Anything at Book Court.
Realty Collective celebrated the opening of its new satellite office at 351 Van Brunt Street on Saturday May 19th. They have partnered with an art gallery, and the opening featured an exhibition called “Lightness Being.”A full house was on hand to savor the works and sample the wines, held on the same day as their neighbor, The Kentler Drawing Space, held their fundraising auction. - GF
This was Brooklyn’s first Lit Crawl, although several other ones have proven successful in Manhattan. An after party was held at 61 Local, where all of that newly obtained info was quickly drunk away. - KP
The always friendly Van Brunt Street VFW held its annual Memorial Day Barbecue on Sunday the 26th. During a special ceremony out in front, by the statue of the soldier, two Mexican Naval officers came by to pay their respects. The barbecue was held in the backyard, hosted by Sal Meglio, but many more guests were chased inside to escape the sweltering heat. The party lasted well past 8 pm as these hardy veterans enjoyed their usual good time. - GF
Thousands of books for sale. Multiple boxes outside, ten for a dollar. Rows and rows, stacks on top of stacks, shelves littered with beautiful books everywhere. Carroll Gardens Library Love My Library Day Book Sale offered every kind of book imaginable to avid readers and those looking to add one or two to their collection.
Artist and art galleries teamed up with Brooklyn Studio Tours for the 5th annual Red Hook and Carroll Gardens walking tour. Participants wound their way through the streets stopping in various venues at their own pace. The art took on all forms of mediums from paintings, ceramics and even furniture made from recycled materials.
Oh yeah, there were also a number of delicious pastries to munch on while perusing! - KP
Look Ma, we got a new chair made out of an old One Way sign! - KP
Red Hook Star-Revue
Cora Dance’s fundraiser, held on the roof deck at Rocky Sullivans, featured student performances and exquisite music. Cora raised over $12,000, helping subsidize needy local students develop their talents. - GF
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On Saturday, May 26th, over 30 volunteers gathered at Ennis Park, 12th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues for the annual park cleanup. In addition to composting the flower beds and pruning the trees, a capoeira dance demonstration was held, followed by a barbecue and games and arts and crafts for the kids. - GF
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Brooklyn Bridge Park (continued from page 6)
The city also planned to request proposals for the retail use of the Empire Stores. Community groups, including the Brooklyn Heights Association, the New York Landmarks Conservation, and others, protested the lack of transparency and the city’s move to take away these landmarks from the public domain, according to the Brooklyn Heights Association website. The community groups won their case in state and federal courts, which ruled that the National Park Service did not have the right to take away the landmark categoriza-
tion of the two structures. The agreement says that the Tobacco Warehouse will be a cultural and community space, and the Empire Stores will be used as a retail and commercial space. St. Ann’s Theater will likely have the opportunity to use the Tobacco Warehouse, but any changes in the use of the buildings must go through the National Park Service and State Legislature.
Carroll Gardens Library Temporary Closing:
The Carroll Gardens Library at 396 Clinton Street will close for roof replacement starting 6 PM on June 15. The library estimates it will be closed for 2 months.
2012 Cobble Hill History Walking Tour
Transport Union Joins the Calls for Return of Join Francis Morrone, director B77 of the CHA Cobble Hill History Project, on a walking tour of Cobble Hill history and architecture, ranging from Jennie Jerome to the impact of the BQE, to Cobble Hill’s unparalleled collection of ornamental ironwork. The walk begins at Court and Congress streets in front of St. Paul’s Church. The tour will also be a chance to learn more about the History Project and opportunities to volunteer and share information. The tour takes place on Saturday, June 9th from 2-4, cost is $20. RSVP CobbleHillAssociation@gmail.com
The transport union TWU Local 100 joined the Red Hook Civic Association and local politicians calling for the return of B77 service at a meeting held on May 23, 6:30 pm at the Miccio Center, 110 West 9th Street. Former MTA CEO, Jay Walder, cut the B77 line in 2010, adding 30 minutes to the average Red Hook resident’s commute to Manhattan, according to TWU Local 100. It was said at the meeting that the union supports the extension of services because B61 drivers have sustained injuries
from some passengers taking out their frustrations on the drivers. Council members Sarah Gonzalez and Brad Lander and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery are supporting the return of the B77 line. Lillie Marshall, President of the Red Hook Houses West Tenant Association, said at a Civic Association Meeting on Wednesday May 30 that the struggle looked promising and to stay tuned for another meeting in June.
Target First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum
A Brooklyn Museum press release invites the public to Target First Saturdays for free art and entertainment programs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. every first Saturday of the month. The June 2 Best of Brooklyn Block Party features a variety of events, including music and dance performances, documentary screenings, artist and writer talks, and interactive programs. With Feed Me a Story Project founders Laura Nova and Theresa Loong, visitors can reflect on their life stories through memories of food. Visitors can also design clothes for dancing based off fashions in the galleries, pose for “street style-inspired portraits,” or participate in a variety of activities – including tarot readings and makeovers – related to an installation by artist Heather Hart, among other programs. All events are free but some require tickets, distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, go to www. brooklynmuseum.org or call (718) 638-5000.
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Excelling Scholars at Summit Academy Reach for the Stars by Abigail Savitch-Lew and Kimberly Gail Price
“T
ime is an illusion,” 7th grader Nyasha Biggs will tell you as she stands beside her poster board in a classroom at Summit Academy Charter School. This spring, Biggs explored how time is a human construct, and how other societies measured time. “You have to know what you are putting in your body,” 8th grader Sharinel Nunec might say next. She has just completed an investigation of the difference between organic and processed food, which ended up impacting her own eating habits. “You don’t just want to see the final product; you want to see where it begins, too. The food industry is trying to hide information with fake imagery.” Talk to 7th grader Allanah Nunez, who wants to “clean up some stereotypes” about who uses drugs. (Between Black, White, and Hispanic people, White people use the most drugs, she reports from her research.) She has studied the mental and physical effects of drug use, a subject she says is important to understand, though it’s not normally addressed in school. Biggs, Nunec, and Nunez are three of the 19 students in the school’s Enhancement Program. Social Studies teacher Tim Vetter, who has taught at Summit for one year, began the program in February, taking high-achieving students and challenges them to new heights. Vetter said that in the beginning, many students were reluctant to take on more work than their peers. But Summit is
Kay Lee Guttierez explaining her project
a college preparatory school, and Vetter wanted to create an environment where excelling students would be pushed to work their hardest. He had the students choose their own topics and complete multi-component research projects. In the end, they found their efforts rewarding, becoming inspirations to their fellow students. 7th grade participant, Kay Lee Guttierrez said she has seen that with hard work and determination, she can accomplish anything even though at one point she lost her flash drive and had to start completely over. Her project explained why Christopher Columbus did not discover America that the land was already occupied by Native Americans and founded earlier by Norwegian Vikings. Alissandra Pacheo, an 8th grader, said the work was sometimes overwhelming, but that she overcame her obstacles by fitting the many pieces of her project together. Pacheo polled students on the impact Summit Academy had made on their lives and assembled a magazine complete with advertisement from the school.
7th grader Jennifer Muñoz said she liked that the Enhancement Program gave her the opportunity to interact with other advanced-level students and hoped her participation will help her get into a good high school. She researched the causes and effects of birth defects and birth disorders and hoped to teach her classmates that if they ever decided to get pregnant one day, they had to take care of their bodies or risk harming the child.
panel of seven teachers who asked difficult questions, pushed the students to think about their topics and evaluated the presentations. Students visited different classes to share their work, and presented at the Community Circle, a school-wide assembly that meets every Friday from 1-1:30 pm.
The Enhancement Program began shortly after the creation of the Impact Program, which started this January under the leadership of Shahara C. Jackson and Erin Waldron. Impact offers additional instruction to students who need extra help with English Literature and Arts (ELA) and Math. Unlike other charter schools, Summit Academy does not believe in removing students who do not perform well. Now, thanks to Mr. Vetter, the school is also offering advanced students the opportunity for challenge.
“I was nervous about it in the beginning, but then as it went along, I felt better,” said time-expert Nyasha Biggs.
Students were chosen for the Enhancement Program based on their mental and behavioral readiness and their grades (4’s in their ELA and Math classes.) The Program began in February and meets every Monday through Thursday during last period. Selected students were required to attend; students who did not meet the standards of the program were instructed to redo their projects.
Mr. Vetter said that during their presentations they had the “biggest smiles on their faces.”
Cyara Latimer, who researched the effects of Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, and Methamphetamine as well as the pros and cons of legalized drug use, said her classmates were shocked to see the pictures on her board. “I don’t think they expected to see the effects on the body!” Now other students are curious about the program and are striving to get in next year. The Enhancement Program has just begun, but it’s nowhere near over. The students next challenge is Model UN each has chosen a developing country and will research a problem the country faces and possible solutions.
The projects included physical, written, and spoken components. Students created visual aids, wrote a three-page paper including research and analysis and gave five-minute oral presentations to a
The Summit Academy’s Eco-Inspiration Art Exhibit Contest winners
Invented Solar system by Victoria Hampton
T
he three winning submissions to Summit Academy Charter School’s Eco-Inspiration Art Exhibit Contest and three projects completed by students of the school’s Enhancement Program will be showcased at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition (BWAC) Gallery on June 2 from 1 pm-5 pm. First place winner of the art contest, Victoria Hampton, is a 6th grade student who used a recycled
Red Hook Star-Revue
Tree adorned with summer foliage by Emilo Velez
coat hanger to create a 3D model of an invented solar system. The second place winner, an 8th grade student named Emilo Velez, painted a tree adorned with summer foliage. The third place winner is 7th grader Landswan Elam, who drew a superhero named “Recycle Guy.” The school invited all students, grades six through eight, to make original submissions of artwork in mediums including “illustrations, sketches, drawings, paintings, photographs, computer-
generated images, and 3-dimensional artwork.” All 3-dimensional pieces had to include a piece of recycled material. Winners were selected on the basis of “originality, clarity, quality of execution, and relevance” to a variety of environmental themes. In addition to the winners of the art contest, BWAC at 499 Van Brunt Street will also feature three poster boards created by students in the Enhancement Program, which challenges excelling students to begin
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Recycle Guy by Landswan Elam
more advanced research work. The three projects that will be showcased are 7th grader Kay Lee Guttierrez’s project on Christopher Columbus and who really discovered America, 8th grader Sharinel Nunec’s “The Truth About Food,” examining the differences between organic and processed foods, 8th grader Alissandra Pacheo’s magazine about how Summit changed the lives of her fellow classmates and 7th grader Nyasha Biggs’s exploration of time as a human construct.
June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 13
Music
Jalopy takes Brooklyn Folk Festival Downtown by Eric Ruff
P
utting together a three day folk festival, anywhere, is a mighty feat. Putting together a three day folk festival in Downtown Brooklyn is downright daunting. And when your original venue pulls out four days before the doors open, it is terrifying. But the vision of Eli Smith, producer of The Brooklyn Folk Festival (BFF), and Geoff and Lynette Wiley, owners of Jalopy, was not to be denied. Finally, Eli flushed out the Forest City Ratner organization, developers of the Barclay Center and Metrotech, who donated a 27,000 square foot space at 345 Jay Street. Over the course of three days, with a small army of cohorts and supporters, they transformed the space into an environment reflecting the streets of Brooklyn with floor to ceiling drops and scenes from the Brooklyn Bridge and the harbor from circa 1720. On Friday May 18th at 6:30 pm, the house opened; the lights, set and sound sprang to life. 35 acts contributed to the event. There wasn’t a stinker in the bunch. The show started with a centennial birthday tribute to one of Brooklyn’s own, Woody Guthrie. Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops played Dust Bowl Blues; Eli Smith rendered a plaintive “So Long, It’s Been Good To know Ya’” and finished with a twentyone voice rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.” Elizabeth Butters, with her child-like voice and uncomplicated guitar playing, dressed in a vintage brown dress with chiffon petticoats and four inch brown suede heels and drew the audience into the magic of her stories. Pat Conte takes you to any state in the Union during any historical epoch with his encyclopedic knowledge of American folk music and his breathtaking mastery of banjo, fiddle and guitar. He gets the crowd ready to pack their kits and march off to war or mourn the murder of your lover on the Mississippi Delta.
Wretched Refuse String Band got the crowd going with their free wheeling anarchic country swing and acerbic wit. The band was originally led by the late Citizen Kafka, (aka Richard Shulberg), but is now led by the remaining members: Bob Jones, Kenny Kosek and John Scholle. As a solo performer, Feral Foster was an original folk spectacle. He riveted the audience to their seats. With a voice like sandpaper dipped in whiskey, he alternately crooned, cajoled, exhorted, and cried witness to his life, while beating, caressing, tickling and pounding his guitar with power and expertise.
Blind Boy Paxton reaches into to the past Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton took us back to the days of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton and Son House. Whether on his guitar, banjo or fiddle, Blind Boy transported us to his native Louisiana. His easy repartee and delivery put us on his porch with a lemonade in our hands and the blues in our hearts, as we waited for the next song, Soft as a summer morning fog and happy as a burbling creek, Piedmont Bluz with Ben and Valerie Turner, took us to the easy living and hard times life in the hills and rivers of North Carolina. Valerie’s gentle voice, lyrical guitar and dobro playing complemented and enhanced Ben’s harmonica and washboard. Ben’s technique on his homemade washboard brought a tap dancing snappiness to the duo. The M. Shanghai String Band brought their own take on traditional roots music. Homegrown originals including “The Big Cookie Jar” and “The Devil, You, and Me” were belted out by sassy
Phillipa Thompson and dobroist Austen Hughes. Their new music echoes the Brooklyn based hipster-grass phenomena that was also reflected in two other groups, The Whistling Wolves and The Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues. All three bands write and perform their own material.
Dancing a bit part of it Professional dance caller, Dave Harvey, had participants sweating and swinging as they square danced around the space. Other activities included the banjo toss; the rotating banjo ball toss, (throwing balls through the banjos); and the
Legendary Peter Stampfel and his tribal acid folk band The Ether Frolic Mob will have one seeing tie-dye in no time. Their version of “Shambolar”, especially Peter’s plucky banjo and his daughter Zoe’s raucous djembe playing, had us dancing around the campfire seeing butterflies. Another counter culture urban power bluegrass swing group, The
strongman banjo ball ring, (using a foam sledge hammer to shoot the banjo up to ring the bell. Everyone won a BFF Kazoo. Downstairs, the Old Timey jam invited the audience to bring their own instruments and perform with members of various bands. Jalopy School of Music instructors led free music workshops. On Saturday, Brett Ratliff taught a Kentucky banjo workshop. Emily Eagen and Don Friedman taught Vocal Harmony duos and trios on Sunday. Three days of musical merriment sprouted like a rose in the sidewalk. People laughed, danced and sang. When asked if the event rose to meet his expectations founder and producer, Eli Smith, replied “Well, we broke even and made a bit for next year on top of that. I am pleased.” Jalopy co-owner, Lynette, on the other hand was over the moon: ”Wow, what a turnout. I didn’t quite expect this much response. It was certainly worth the time and effort. And the support was terrific!” Many of these acts perform at Jalopy, 315 Columbia Street. The M. Shangai String Band will be appearing there on June 2nd. Keep checking our calendar listings for future shows.
Note to readers: The crossword puzzle as well as the Blue Pencil Lunar-Revue will return with our next issue, out June 16th Audience members got a chance to swing dance at the festival
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Art
A ‘Mish Mosh’ in the best possible way
Y
ou can see it from at least three blocks away as you as you drive (or walk) down Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. A huge yellow sign reads “ART SHOW.” It’s not just any art show, though. It is the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC). This enormous warehouse has been home to BWAC’s Spring Pier Show for the past 20 years. When you walk in, you are greeted, given an admission sticker and asked to make a suggested donation of $4. Once you’re in, the art begins. I overheard one visitor call it a “mish mosh.” I’d have to agree, in the best possible way. There is something for everyone here. If you like sculpture, it’s here. If you’re into acrylic work, it’s here. Do you enjoy ballpoint pen art? They’ve got it. Some works are sold while others are auctioned. Or you can go just to enjoy all of the wonderful art. One of the first pieces I looked at was Cynthia Chatman’s Crosswalk. Using oil on canvas, Chatman brings light and color into the room. Ironically, the image is of people walking with umbrellas in the rain – no faces are seen. When you hear rain and umbrellas, you imagine dark colors – black, grey, brown. Not green, pink, and white. Yet, they work beautifully together. Plus, you get a real feel for the city with all the yellow cabs in the background.
by Stefanie Morisi
In the midst of the black and white drawings and the very colorful paintings was Richard Ekelund’s The Penitent. Ekelund used reddish-brown Conté crayons on paper with gesso to draw a figure kneeling, bowing his head. We cannot see the figure’s face, but don’t need to. The artist brings forth such a strong emotion without it. The mix of the color, the shadowing, and the body’s form… you can’t help staring; it is exquisite. For me, the most interesting, eye-catching works were done by Michael Ruffo. His industrial series consisted of seven pieces and were all oil on Masonite. Maybe it was the dark colors on the light background or the detailed shadow works. Whatever it was, they looked like photographs. Other people must have thought the same thing, because it looked as though one of the pieces had sold already.
Go. Enjoy it. Take it all in. You won’t regret it. BWAC is open on the weekends from 1 to 6 pm until June 17th and is located at 499 Van Brunt Street, which is right past Fairway. Visit them online at www.bwac.org to find out how you can become a member!
Richard Ekelund’s The Penitent (right) brings forth a slew of emotions; Cynthia Chatman’s Crosswalk (below) mixes bright colors with a rainy day. Photos by S. Morisi
You can’t leave without taking a look at John Strohbeen’s The Collector. This is an exhibit that consisted of works he has accumulated over the past 20 years at BWAC. The exhibit included over 100 works of art. A great variety was shown – aluminum sculptures, paintings, drawings, and more. This shows the love and dedication of BWAC artists. Don’t miss out on your chance to experience the amazing talent shown at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition.
We are across from Coffey Park (718) 923-9880
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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) 246-0011
Hours: Noon to 10:30 pm Tues. to Thurs. Noon to 11pm Friday. 4pm to 11pm Saturday & 4pm to 10:30pm Sunday.
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Dining Out
Pok Pok needs no advertising
I
t would be a tremendous understatement to say that Pok Pok’s arrival in Red Hook was highly anticipated. Quite frankly had Thomas Keller, or Johnny Cash, or Andy Warhol decided to collaborate and open a restaurant in our neighborhood I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention that Pok Pok has. I could be speaking only for myself and the rest of the small but vocal food-crazed minority in Brooklyn, but I think not. The crowds that have graced/plagued Pok Pok since it opened in April would certainly suggest otherwise. The question, then, is whether Pok Pok could live up to these exceedingly high expectations.
Kudos to Andy Ricker The chef here is Andy Ricker, a James Beard Award-winner and owner of this Portland, Oregon based group of Southeast Asian restaurants that had gained somewhat of a rock-star following in the very food-savvy Pacific Northwest. Pok Pok Wing came first in New York, opening on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side with a far more limited menu than the full version of the restaurant here. I really feel that something special is happening in that tiny room. I actually tried to go to Pok Pok unsuccessfully once. It was a rainy Sunday at 6 pm; I was completely sure that whatever crowds might eventually show up hadn’t even begun to think of dinner yet. Was I ever wrong! We were met at the door by a very serious hostess equipped with an iPad and the same over-the-shoulder walkie-talkie set-up that cops or the Secret Service use. Pok Pok, of course, takes no reservations. We were told there would be a two hour wait for a table, no exceptions. After the sticker shock wore off I decided to be prepared for the next visit and leave myself plenty of time. I had the routine down the second time. Just like at the soup Nazi, we calmly and politely gave our name, said “fine” when informed of the two hour wait. We walked down the street to Alma to have a beer awaiting the text message telling us our table was ready. Fortunately, the stated two hours only ended up being 40 minutes, which by then made it seem like we were getting special treatment. We were in, and we were ecstatic. The back room. I wasn’t prepared for this. The actual physical restaurant edifice is what you see from the street. It’s a small room that fits maybe a dozen tables and a small bar. Behind, and not technically connected to, the front room is a large, white tent the kind at a wedding reception. Strung lanyards of outdoor patio lights and bamboo mats line the walls inside, and we were seated at a wooden table near everyone else. I’ve never been to Thailand or Vietnam, but this seemed totally plausible. It felt utterly authentic, in my completely uninformed opinion. I wanted to believe that this was a makeshift, family-run kitchen that isn’t in any guidebooks, located down a dodgy street, completely unknown to tourists, but that you would
Red Hook Star-Revue
by Erik Penney
be talking about for years after. So the mood was set. Now it was time to eat. The wings are what I had heard about first. On the menu they are called Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. Their reputation had definitely preceded them. Like a lot of what I have eaten at Pok Pok, they are unlike anything I’ve tried before. These are sticky, sweet and crispy. Marinated and deep fried, then tossed in caramelized fish sauce, they are both sweet and spicy. In one bite they capture what makes this kind of cooking so interesting to me…the marriage of fruit and meat, sweet and spice, bitter and savory all at the same time with perfect balance. Our western palate isn’t accustomed to such incongruity of fla-
‘On the rare occasion you try something done as well as this is done, you can’t help but question so many things you thought you knew about food. And these are just the chicken wings.’
soned with coriander, garlic, soy, sugar, chili, and served with an astonishingly good chili/lime/garlic sauce. The pork is amazing, but what makes this dish is the sauce. It is rich and light at the same time. It has weight in your mouth, almost an oily sheen from the kiss of porkfat and a noticeable citrus tang. It matches with the pork perfectly. Cha Ca “La Vong” is marinated, sautéed catfish served atop rice vermicelli noodles. This was the weakest dish for me, though I left wondering whether that was because it was the most delicately seasoned of everything I ate. My mouth had, by then, faced a full assault of very aggressive flavors. Kai Yaang is a small, incredibly tender rotisserie hen. It comes chopped into chunks and stuffed with lemongrass and a raft of Asian spices, all of which perfume and tenderize the meat and compete with any of the best chicken dishes you’ve ever had. Maybe it was all the Singha beers that you end up having, or maybe it’s the 4th, or 5th utterly surprising dish that is set in front of you, (like the preposterous yet delicious coconut ice cream served in a hot dog bun), but after some time in Pok Pok you just start to laugh. You laugh at how good the food is, how absurd it is that you’re eating in a tent a block away from a functioning shipyard
In the evenings there is generally a line of eager eaters waiting for their table at Pok Pok, on Columbia Street near Kane (photo by Fiala)
and the BQE. They’ve just blown your mind. Pok Pok NY, 127 Columbia Street (near Kane Street) www.pokpokny.com Recommended dishes: Ike’s wings, grilled pork neck, stuffed rotisserie hen, Laap Meuang pork salad, but really you should go there, talk to your server and submit to them
vors. On the rare occasion you try something done as well as this is done, you can’t help but question so many things you thought you knew about food. And these are just the chicken wings. Our waitress knew everything, and sensed our excitement and curiosity. She steered us flawlessly towards a sampling of the menu. We ordered many things and they all came at once so we could try this wonderful carousel of flavors. We had Da Chom’s Laap Meuang, which is a mound of grilled, marinated, minced pork. It explodes in your mouth with bright, hot, sweet flame. The pool of marinade at the bottom can be soaked up with a handful of sticky rice that is pulled from a small bamboo box. It’s spicy, tender and you realize it has flavors in it that are simultaneously recognizable and not. There are chilies, but not like the ones we know. There is citrus, but paired with the rest of the dish it is presented in a totally different way. This is served, by the way, with a plate of different kinds of leaves served under crushed ice – whole leaves on the branch – that are meant to accent the meat, or cool the fire. There was a branch of olive leaves, and - I believe - leaves from a lime tree and mustard greens. While the leaves were the only part of any meal I had at Pok Pok that I didn’t enjoy, it was still fascinating, almost archaeological.
Grilled pork neck is very tender Muu Kham Waan is grilled pork neck. These are thin slices of incredibly tender, fatty pork, again with a similar, yet totally different, mélange of sweet, spicy, sour and savory flavors. It’s heavily sea-
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June 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.
CHILDREN
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. Kentler International Drawing Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 8752098, kentlergallery.org FREE Weekend Art Workshops for Families. Every 1st & 3rd Sat. Sat. 6/2 Noon-1:30pm @ The Red Hook Fest, Louis Valentino Park (The Pier), Coffey & Ferris St. Drawing Together Family Art Workshop. FREE. 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. Sat. 6/3 6pm Cocktails 7pm Dinner & Dancing, The 156th Anniversary Celebration honoring Pres. Vicky Vossen & Chesed Honoree L. Blackstone. $150, per person, $100 35 and under, $&5 18-25. reservation req’d. 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 Sun. 6/10 2-4:30pm Free Health Clinic, in association w/Carroll Gar4dens Asso.,Inc.
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 June. 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. Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association (718 858-4699 carrollgardensbrooklyn.org Every 1st Wed. General Meeting. Wed. 6/6 7-9pm @ Hannah Senesh Community Day School 342 Smith St. 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 New Adult Classes. Every Sun.5:30 - 6:45pm, Restorative Yoga w/Jolene Festa (child care available) Every Monday 10-11am Yoga w/Tessa Wright, 6:30-7:45pm Yoga w/Jolene Festa (childcare available)Every Tues 5-6:30 pm Company Class (rotating teachers) Every Sat. 10:30-11:30 Zumba w/Sarah Folland. Classes are pay-whatyou-can. (Suggested donation: $10 per class, $15 per class w/child care.) Jalopy School of Music 315 Columbia St. (Hamilton Ave/Woodhull St.) (718) 395-3214 jalopy.biz Sat. 6/2 1-2:30pm Shakey Dave-Harmonica Wrkshp for Intermediates $25. Sat 6/9 12:30pm Group Singing & Improvisation Wrkshp $30. 3pm Fiddle Wrkshp w/Harry Bolick: How Do They Do That? $25. Sun. 6/10 Noon-1:30pm Vocal Harmony Basics w/ Emiliy Eagen $20. 2-3:30pm Vocal Harmony Duos & Trios $25. Yoga Classes 201 Richards St. #15 www.tessamwright.com /yoga. Join Tessa with morning yoga for every one! Hatha style style for all levels. Mondays @10am. Suggested donation - $10.
EXHIBITIONS
440 Gallery 440 6th Ave. (Park Slope) (718) 499-3844, 440gallery.com Gallery hrs. - Thurs., Fri. 4-7pm, Sat., Sun. 11am
Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue
- 7pm, or by appointment. Through 6/24 Petit Fours by Amy Williams. Brooklyn Collective Gallery 212 Columbia St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 5966231 brooklyncollective.com Gallery hrs. Thur. - Sun 1pm-8pm Through 6/31 30 New Collections of Local Artists FREE. Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition 499 Van Brunt St. (718) 596-2506 bwac. org COLOR: A Juried Art Show: An Open Call To Local Artist. Submissions through 6/4. Exhibition: 7/28-8/18. Sat. 6/2,9,16 11am-2pm Photoshop for Graphics Designers. Sun 6/3,10 2:30-5:30pm Figurative Drawing w/live models $15 a session. 3pm Red Orange Morning: Music Sun. 6/10 3pm Concert: Wayne Tucker, trumpet. Falconworks Kidd Studio 135 Richards St. (718) 395-3218 falconworks. com - redhooktheater.org The Red Hook Theater Project 2012: Development of a 10 minute play in wrkshp w/Julian Boal. 11am-3pm, 9am-5pm final rehearsal Sat. 6/2, 9, 16. Sun 6/3, 10, 17, performance 6/28 reservation req’d. Invisible Dog---51 Bergen Street, theinvisibledog.org (347) 560-3641Gallery hours Sat.-thu. 1-7pm. Sun 1-5pm. Sat. 6/2-Thu. 6/17 Everything Is Index, Nothing Is History: Recession Art cuarated by Melanie Kress & Natalie Bell. Reception Sat. 6/2 6-10pm. Sun. 6/3 1-5pm BOerum Hill House Tour $20 adv. $25 dos. Thu. 6/7 6:30pm Theater: Anonyme & Nos Cousinailles: 2 short plays by Stephanie Fribourg, donations accepted. Mon. 6/14, Tue. 6/15 Dance: Paquerette w/Francois Chaigand & Cecilia Bengolea $10 donation. Kentler International Drawing Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 8752098, kentlergallery.org Fri. 6/8-22 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’.
FESTIVALS
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition 499 Van Brunt St. (718) 596-2506 bwac. orgSpring Pier Show: Celebrate - 20 year Anniversary. Sat. & Sun through 6/17 1-6pm. 1000 pieces of new & affordable art by local artist. Special events everyday including classes & concerts. Something for all ages. Red Hook Jazz Festival facebook.com/ redhookjazzfestival @ Urban Meadow, President/Van Brunt St.s Sun. 6/10 1pm w/Hot Chili Cup 7, The flail, Max Johnson Trio, Nick Gianni’s Evolution, travis Sulli9van’s BJORKESTRA $10 suggested donation. Sun 6/17 1pm Rick Parker Collective, Harrris Eisenstadt’s CANADA DAY, Nate Wooley Quintet, SPOKE, Mike Baggett Quartet $10 suggested donation.
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 Star Revue” 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. Wed 6/23 2-4pm River Songs of America w/Jeff Newell’ New-Trad Quartet.
HEALTH
The Carroll Gardens Association is having a Health Fair on Sunday June 10th. The fair is being held at Visitation Church which is located at 98 Richards street. You may call (718)243-9301 to email info@carrollgardensassociation. com with any questions.
MUSIC
Bait & Tackle 320 Van Brunt Street (718) 451-4665 redhookbaitandtackle.com Sat 6/2 9pm Azwan. Sun. 6/3 9pm Lousy w/ Gas Comedy Hour! Fri. 6/8 9pm 41 Players. Sat. 6/9 9pm Mike Cobb & The Crevulators. Fri. 6/15 9pm Green Lotus Project. 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 Sat 6/2 8pm Darmstadt 2012: Mivos Play Wet Ink $15. $12 members. Wed 6/6 8pm In Camera, Andrew Peckler, VioSac $15, $12 members. Thu. 6/7 7pm L-Carrier by Eli Keszler $10 suggested donation. Fri 6/8 8pm Darmstadt 2012: Music of Gordon Mumma $15, $12 members. Sat. 6/9 Darmstadt 2012: John Cage Centennial Concert $15, $12 members. Wed. 6/13 8pm Philip Glass w/Friends feat. Nate Wooley & Stephin Merrit $85 preferred seating, $35 general admission. Thu. 6/14 Philip Glass w/ Friends feat Tristan Perich & Jon Gibson $85 preferred seating, $35 general admission. Fri. 6/15 8pm Philip Glass w/ Friends feat. Laurie Anderson & Ryan Sawyer & more. $150 VIP seating, $55 general admission. Sat 6/16 2pm Understanding Hardware Programming in Assembly Wrkshp w/Tristan Perich $10 suggested donation. Jalopy Theatre and School of Music 315 Columbia St., (718) 395-3214, jalopy.biz. Every Wed. 9pm Roots & Ruckus w/Feral Foster FREE. Sat. 6/2 8:30pm M Shanghai String band, Pierre de Gaaillande $10. Sun. 6/3 8pm Paul Geremia $10. Tue. 6/5 8pm Yahweh Follies: a Staged Reading. FREE. Thu. 6/7 9pm Frank Schaap, Secret Swing Society $10. Fri 6/8 8pm Brittany Haas & Lauren Rioux, The Tillers $10. Sat 6/9 8pm Harry Bolick & Joel Wennerstrom $10. Sun. 6/10 9pm Blind Boy Paxton, Larry Hanks & Deborah Robins $10. Montero’s Bar 73 Atlantic Ave. @ Hicks St. (718) 534-6399 monteros-bar@facebook.com Karaoke w/Amethyst every Fri. & Sat. 10pm. Every Wed. after. 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 Sat. 6/2 8pm Old Monk, Alexander & The Grapes $8. Sun. 6/3 8pm Kopecky Family Band, MyNameIsJohnMichael $10 adv. $12 dos. Tue. 6/5 6:30pm The Guilty Party, Fifth Street Band $10. Wed. 6/6 8pm Magmana, Little Horns, Ex-Cops $8. Thu. 6/7 7:30 Gro Up To Be Cowboys, Christina Courtin, Two Dark Birds $8. Sat. 6/9 7pm King Charles the Martye, Alec Gross, Portmanteaux, TIRES $10. Mon. 6/11 8pm The Gowanus All-Stars, FREE. Tue. 6/12 8pm John Roderick and the Long Winters $15. Thu 6/14 Gowanus Bonfires, My Uncle The Wolf $10.
Brooklyn Public Library - Carroll Gardens 396 Clinton St. @ Union St. (718) 596-6972 brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ locations/carroll-gardens Knitting Club (all ages) Every Tues 4pm mezzanine. Memoir Writing (adult) Every Wed. 6pm Chess Club (all ages) Play and improve your game. Bring your own clock. Mon. 6/4 11:30am Babes & Books w/ 1st RIF. Tue. 6/5 3-5pm English Conversation: English for ESOL students. Gowanus Canal Conservancy P.O. Box 150-652 Brooklyn 11215-9997 (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 Pre-show 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.
SCHOOLS
PS 15 71 Sullivan St. (Columbia/Van Brunt Sts.) (718)330-9280 schools.nyc. gov 1/20 (& every Fri.) 11am - noon Toddler Time Programs: 1 hr of playtime & storytelling.Open to everyone.
TASTINGS
Botanica—220 Conover St (at Coffey St), 347-225-0147. New cocktails, specialty liquors & Exotic Chocolates featuring Cacao Prieto Chocolate. Sat-Sun: Afternoon cocktails. Now Open!!
Dry Dock Wine + Spirits---424 Van Brunt St., (718) 852-3625, drydockny. com Tastings of the exotic wine & liquors from around the world every Fri. 6:30pm, Sat. 4pm, Sun 3pm. FREE 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.
THEATER
The Heights Players 26 Willow Place, heightsplayers.org (718) 237-2752 Fri 6/8 Dinner Reception $50. Sat. 6/9 8pm, Sun 6/10 3pm What HE dDid for Love: A Gala Celebration $25.
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 Brooklyn Greenway Initiative 153 Columbia St., Kane/Degraw St. (718) 522-0913 brooklyngreenway.org Sat. 5/20 12:30-2:30pm Brooklyn Navy Yard Bicycle Tour $24 advance purchase required @ urbanoyster.com or call (347) 618-8687. Sat. 5/20 10am Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway BKie Tour pre-register @ ride2012@brooklyngreenway.org Invisible Dog---51 Bergen Street, theinvisibledog.org (347) 560-3641 Sun. 6/3 1-5pm Boerum Hill House Tour $20 adv. $25 dos. Local 61 61 Bergen St (347) 763-6624 local61.com Sat. 6/2 3pm 1st Saturday Red Hook Bike Tour Free. $5 tasting w/ tour @ Cacao Pietro. $10 tasting w/tour @ Red Hook Winery. 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
Brooklyn’s Home-Grown Jazz Festival June 10 & 17
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, The Star Theater Acoustic Jam & Hootenanny 101 Union St. btwn 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! Electric Jam Every Thur. Night 8pm Hard rock, Jazz, Blues. Full Back Line. Refreshments provided. 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 $INCE DA 90$
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.
www.RedHookStar.com
Celebrating its fifth anniversary presenting the most forwardthinking musicians and composers in modern jazz,the Red Hook Jazz Festival will take place the Urban Meadow in Red Hook on two consecutive Sundays, June 10 and June 17 starting at 1 PM. The Urban Meadow is located at the corner of President & Van Brunt Streets. A suggested donation of $10 per adult per day for each day of the festival will be requested, and all children will be admitted free of charge. The Red Hook Jazz Festival prides itself on being a homegrown jazz festival featuring an amazing line-up of mostly local talent. The RHJF has truly developed a tradition of presenting great music with a laid back vibe, an outdoor setting, and a strong family-friendly focus, while striving to develop the next generation of jazz audiences.
June 1 - 15, 2012
Star-Revue Classifieds Help Wanted Freelance Writers: The Red Hook Star-Revue is looking for freelance writers for both the arts and news sections. We want to buttress our news as well as local theater and arts coverage. Email Kimberly @ redhookstar.com Outside Salesperson: The Red Hook Star-Revue seeks an ambitious person who likes to walk, talk and make friends in the neighborhood to sell display advertising. Commission to start - work around your hours, no pressure. Call 718 624-5568 and speak to Kimberly or George. Hair Dresser with Following. Licensed hairdresser needed for huge opportunity in very modern and elegant Van Brunt Street Salon. Opposite PS 15. Call Nayda at 718 935-0596 for more details. CLERICAL POSITION WITH FLEXIBILITY Architectural office, Union near Columbia. Duties include invoicing, payroll, filing, and reception; 20-25 hours/ week; salary depending on qualifications. Quickbooks proficiency required. Submit resume to ncox@ fgca.com with “CLERICAL” in subject line.
Laundry Service
DELVAN
New HeigHts CoNstruCtioN LLC
DROP-OFF SERVICE
289 Columbia St. (at Summit) 718 797-1600 • Laundry, Dry Cleaning & Alterations • Laundry done same day!! • Regular Dry Cleaning in 2 days!! FREE Pick-up and Delivery www.delvandropoff.com
Movers
COOL HAND MOVERS Friendly local guys that can relocate your life, or just shlep your new couch from Ikea. We’ll show up on time, in a truck or van if necessary, and basically kick ass -- you might even have a good time! Call for a free estimate at (917) 584-0334 or email at coolhandmovers@gmail.com Customer reviews on YELP.COM
NYC Licence # 1191201
Free Estimates
siding • Windows • Roofing • Fences • Kitchens • Painting • Baths • Basements • Decks • Doors • Awnings • Patio Enclosures • Brick Pointing • Concrete Stucco Visit our online showroom www.newheightsConstructionny.com
Ask about our Window Specials!
Space Available
Warehousing and office space available in Brooklyn, Sunset park area, anywhere from 1,000 to 7,000 sq. ft @ $8.00 per sq. foot. Please call Frank Monday through Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm at 718-260-9440 or 718-797-4000. The Red Hook Star-Revue now publishes twice a month - classified advertising is one of the best and least expensive ways to get your message across. Special yearly contracts available for service businesses such as plumbers, electricians for as little as $500 annually. Email Angelika@redhookstar.com or call 718 624-5568
800-525-5102 718-767-0044
JABUS BUILDING CORP.
Serving Red Hook for over 25 years
Specializing in Construction and Historic Preservation • New construction • Renovations, additions and extensions • Masonry specialist
No job too big or too small
Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, Hot Water Heaters, Pool Heaters.
B & D Heating 507 Court Street 718 625-1396
• Concrete floors/radiant heated Licensed Electrical Contractors Commercial • Residential • Industrial Free Estimates
• Flue linings, chimneys and fireplaces • Demolition and waste removal • Violation removals
Violations Removed All Types of Wiring Emergency Service
• Landmark Preservation contractor
EMERGENCY SERVICE 137 King Street Brooklyn, NY 11231 Fax: (718) 935-0887
• Concrete/bluestone sidewalk repair
Vito Liotine (718) 625-1995 (718) 625-0867 aliotine@aol.com
Jim & Debbie Buscarello PHONE: (718) 852-5364 Fax: (347) 935-1263 www.jabusbuildingcorp.com jabusbuildingcorp@gmail.com HIC License #0883902 Trade Waste License #1135
Here’s My Card
Introducing Business Card Classifieds in the Star-Revue. Your card categorized as below.
The Star-Revue is read by over 10,000 individuals in zip code 11231 every two weeks, as it is the leading source of community news. We offer highly affordable rates - contact Angelika Mitchell at 718.624.5568 or Angelika@ redhookstar.com to get your card in our next issue.
Your Cost: 2 months $400; 4 months $750; 6 months $1000; one year $1750. Take an extra 5% off if paid all in advance. We take all charge cards.
Movers
For Sale “Large oil painting A contemporary work of approximately 6 by 8 feet.It is painted in a loose expressionistic style.The image is of a seahorse” with other images of sea life around it. The artist used complementary colors of blue and red.The painting is livey, colorful and joyful. $1,000.00 or best offer. Vall Sr. Rosanna at Visitation Church 718 624-1572
Car Service
Red Hook Star-Revue
Leasing
www.RedHookStar.com
Put Your Ad Right Here by Calling Angelika at
718 624-5568 CALL RIGHT NOW Don’t Miss Out!!!!!!!!!
Framing
June 1 - 15, 2012 Page 19
Red Hook StarªRevue BYA hops into first place after doubleheader win by George Fiala
Saturday May 19th was a beautiful day, and a great day for BYA as they swept a doubleheader and moved into first place in the Red Hook Youth Baseball League. The first game was a close-knit affair with BYA edging out the Defenders 9 - 8, scoring two late runs to win. The second game was a romp, with BYA coasting to an easy 12-2 victory. In the other matchup, undefeated Southern Trucking beat the hapless but valiant Hynes’ Heroes by a score of 7 to 1.
Leslie Bernat (l) and her husband bring croissants and French pastries for the ballplayers. A French soundman is recording the game.
Red Hook Baseball to be featured on top-rated French TV show by Abby Savitch-Lew
A
s Gibbs’ Brooklyn Youth Association Royals matched the Defenders, some unusual visitors stood among the fans – a camera crew from the French Channel 5 Saturday TV show Echappées Belles. The show features the lives of French expatriates throughout the world. This June they are profiling two families in New York City. The crew came all the way to Red Hook to film the BYA Royals’ players Andrea and Jacque Bernat. The Bernats are children of French émigrés, (immigrants), and Jacque has been involved in The Little League since the days it met in Carroll Gardens.
The Southern Truckers rally for a pep talk before the game.
Dodge YMCA Softball League opens delayed season March 4th
League schedule
by George Fiala The Dodge Softball League, otherwise known as the Bar League, will hold it’s season opener on Monday, June 4th with Crossfit SB playing the Dram Shop and the Dirty Dawgs playing The Red Hook Star-Revue. The season was to begin in April but was delayed due to the lead issue, now cleared up. Follow this page as the season progresses for schedule and standings.
Week 5
1. 2. 3. 4.
Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue
Saturday, June 9
Week 7
Saturday, June 16
9 AM Hynes’ @ BYA #1 9 AM Southern @ Defenders #9 11 AM Defenders @ Southern #9
Week 8
Wednesday, June 20
6 PM BYA @ Southern
wl
BYA Royals ...............................4-1 Southern Trucking ....................3-0 Hynes Heroes ...........................1-3 Defenders ................................0-4
May 19th Results Southern Trucking 7, Hynes’ Heroes 1 BYA 9, Defenders 8 (1st game) BYA 12, Defenders 2 (2nd game)
Week 6
#1 #9 #9
9 AM Southern Trucking @ BYA #1 9 AM Defenders @ Hynes’ #9 11 AM Hynes’ @ Defenders #9
League Standings Place Team
Saturday, June 2
9 AM BYA @ Defenders 9 AM Hynes’@Southern 11 AM Southern @ Hynes’
May 26th Results No games, Memorial Day weekend
#9
First Round of Playoffs Saturday, June 23
9 AM 3rd Place @ 2nd Place #1 9 AM 4th Place @ 1st Place #9
Championship Series (Best of 3) Game #1 Wednesday, June 27 6 PM Lowest Seed @ Highest Seed Field #9
Game #2 Saturday, June 30 9 AM Seed
Highest Seed @ Lowest Field #9
Game #3 (if necessary) Saturday, June 30
11 AM Lowest Seed @ Highest Seed Third Place Game 9 AM Two losing teams from June 23 Field #1
Trophy Ceremony will take place on Field 9 immediately following the Championship Game on June 30th
www.RedHookStar.com
Andrea is a 13-year-old 8th grader at M.S.51 who loves dance and music, both French and American singers. Jacque, a 6thgrader at M.S.51, doesn’t miss a day of practice and loves most sports, including French Rugby. Their parents, Leslie and JeanJacque Bernat, own Provence en Boite, the Pâtisserie and Bistro at 263 Smith Street and always share croissants and other pastries at the Little League games. The Bernats are one of many French families that have settled in Carroll Gardens in recent years. They agreed to be filmed so they could show all of France that South Brooklyn is a wonderful place to live – with great schools, beautiful parks, and an intimate community. “It’s a small neighborhood. Everybody knows each other,” said Jean-Jacque Bernat. The Bernats love Red Hook, and often go there for antique-shopping, a meal, or to enjoy the view. They took the camera crew to the Red Hook waterfront to show off France’s famous gift, The Statue of Liberty, and explain the history of Ellis Island. Leslie Bernat comes to America in 1982 Their immigration story begins in 1982, when Leslie Bernat came to New York “for the big adventure.” In 1996, she held a party at her Manhattan apartment and met Jean-Jacque, who had just moved from France, to work in Manhattan as a pastry chef. The couple took a liking to Brooklyn after exploring the borough on bike, and in and in 1997 opened Provence en Boite on Sackett Street. From 2000 to 2004 they ran Provence en Boite in Bay Ridge. In 2006 reopened the restaurant on Smith Street. An increasing number of French customers frequent their bistro and greet the owners with warm exchanges of “Bonjour.” JeanJacque Bernat attributes the recent growth in the French community to the creation in 2007 of the Dual Language French/ English program at P.S. 58. He says there are now about 400-500 French families in the area and that the papers are beginning to call it “Little Paris.” His hope is to bring these families together for resource sharing and community-building through a new organization he is starting, “L’association des Français de Brooklyn.”
June 1 - 15, 2012