The
Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
LATE OCT. 2014
FREE
Red Hook and the 1964 World’s Fair by Mary Ann Pietanza
I
f someone had told me back in the sixties while living in Red Hook that the very person responsible for my crossing the highway to avoid the dangerous Hamilton Ave footbridge to get to the other side of the BQE, was actually the same person who gave us all a once-in-a-lifetime and now defunct attraction of all attractions - The 1964 World’s Fair - I would have said, “Get outta here. No friggiin’ way!” But no one ever did tell me that, not until a few years ago, anyway. I was shocked that Robert Moses was the driving force behind the final staging of the 1964 /1965 World’s Fair. It was Wikipedia who outlined the whole saga for me and provided all the horrid details of Robert Moses’ hand in pushing for the event, despite the Bureau of International Exposition’s rejection of the proposal. The reason? Quite simply, and quite fairly, I might add, sanctions were already given to Seattle for a 1962 World’s Fair, and their rules permitted only one country that place of honor in a ten-year period. That apparently did not sit well with Mr. Mo-
ses who, according to Wikipedia, was accustomed to having his own way in New York. (You think?) So, he turned to the media for alliance purposes, and pretty much pissed off the haughty BIE - headquartered in Paris - who, in turn, instructed their roughly 40 or so members at that time, not to participate in the Fair. Hence, the ensuing explanation as to why lesser profiled countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Guinea were represented, and not countries like Australia, Germany or the United Kingdom, who were more the heavyweights in the 1939 Fair. It was also a crucial reason why the emphasis on American corporations and industry took center stage as well. In the end, rising above his opposition, Mr. Moses boasted quite confidently to the media following his progress, that he didn’t need the BIE sanctions, he had Michelangelo and Walt Disney as the stars of his Fair. And while he didn’t achieve the financial success he had hoped for, to his credit, Michelangelo’s, The Pieta, was definitely his crown jewel. It was the most sought after and attended pavilion during its two-year exhibition life.
Triangle smell addressed by Diehl Edwards
A
nyone who has been downwind of 39 Coffey Street has noticed the smell of burning tar. Not burning, actually but hot, heated to 500 degrees by Triangle G. C. Inc., a roofing company that moved here a few months before Sandy. They get their roofing tar in from New Jersey and it sits in tanker trucks until taken to various job sites. It must be reheated to make it malleable enough to apply to roofs. However, the heating process produces noxious fumes which have regularly spread through the neighborhood. People have complained of headaches and local resident and city councilman Carlos Menchaca has smelled the fumes. Menchaca came personally to a meeting held September 20th at the Trianle offices. The meeting brought
together company principals with residents, the councilmembers and some of his staff, as well as Karen Broughton and Napoleon Peters from Assemblyman Ortiz’s office. While complaints have simmered for over a year, this Councilman Menchaca meeting was held arriving at the Triangle meeting. (Fiala photo) in response to recent altercation between residents and Triangle G. C. employees. An unnamed person approached the roofers to complain about visible smoke billowing from the heated tar trucks. (continued on page 4)
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
The 1964-5 World’s fair offered a vision of the future. (photo by Dr. Alexander Fiala
The Pieta What could one say about its presence in the United States, right in our own backyards - Queens - sitting just acres away from the newly built Shea Stadium. Never before had such an iconic and sacred piece been transported from Vatican City across the ocean for an exhibit. And never before had we, Italian Americans, been so proud to have it in our city. As the saint-worshiping, church-going religious lot that we were, it boosted our egos and polished our pride to a glimmering sheen. And among all the saints that were worshiped by Italians and Italian Americans, Red Hook’s Molese population took special favor with our adoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary whom we revered through our own patron saint, the Addorolata - the Mother of Jesus portrayed as our Lady of Sorrows. And to my family in particular, The Pieta, held even more symbolic significance because we bore the name - Pietanza. One couldn’t imagine the honor we felt knowing that our family name held such esteem in the world. When we were kids and had originally asked our father what our name meant, he explained that it meant pity or sympathy. “Oh,” we thought, somewhat disappointedly. Were it not for Michelangelo’s masterpiece, we would have otherwise felt a little, pardon the pun, pathetic that we bore such a depressing translation for a surname. But thankfully, our father explained on the
flip side, our name also held the culinary endearment for what Americans know as appetizers. That intrigued us more. How appealing to think that our name was associated with the stimulating effects of one’s desire to enjoy an entire meal! Usually the best part, no? (Especially at weddings.) And, yes, flirting did conjure up some “appetizing” pickup lines. Later in our lives when we visited Italy and dined in fancy trattorias, we would open menus to find our name proudly heading a list of mouth-water-
The blue surrounding the Pieta influenced the author’s wedding motif.
ing appetizers. More recently still, when my own daughter went to college and took Italian, her “professoressa” shared with her class that the word Pietanza, in Italy, was thought to be synonymous with The Last Supper. A fitting finale, (continued on page 13)