Red Hook Star-Revue, May 2018

The

Winner: Best Small Circulation Publication

Red Hook StarRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

MAY 2018

FREE

Beats out Brooklyn Paper and Park Slope Courier

Tiny Star-Revue tops other Brooklyn papers in statewide newspaper contest

S

arah Matusek and Emily Kluver walked off with the top prizes for feature writing in the 2017 NY State Press Association Better Newspaper contest. The winners were announced at their spring convention in Albany.

Sarah won top honors for her front page story about Jeannette Walls, uthor of The Glass Castle, which had a major movie release last summer. Wall’s began her professional writing career in the 1970’s at the Brooklyn Phoenix, at the time Brooklyn’s top community newspaper, and employer of a future Star-Revue publisher.

Emily Kluver won two awards— the first for her feature series called Neighborhood Profiles. Her story about local artist Beriah Wall earned second place in the Best Feature Story category, beaten out only by fellow Star-Revue journalist Matusek.

The only other Brooklyn winners were the Bay Ridge Courier, cited for their front pages and their political coverage; and the Brooklyn Paper who won for catchy headlines.

“We work very hard, on a shoestring budget,” said Star-Revue publisher George Fiala. “We are only limited by the lack of advertising support, but our editorial excellence has attracted some great budding journalists who have helped make our paper a strong voice for the Red Hook community.”

The Star-Revue was founded by Fiala in 2010 and covers news and arts in Red Hook and the surrounding communities.

Top photo: Star-Revue’s George Fiala, Brookyln Paper’s Vince DiMiceli, Desktop publishing guru and trainer Russell Viers, and Westmore News publisher Richard Abel.

Below: Award-winning writer Emily Kluver

Menchaca hosts Thor Equity honchos at the Rec Center

by Nathan Weiser

T

hor Equities and their land use lawyers and engineers held an informational meeting led by Councilman Menchaca at the Red Hook Recreation Center on April 19.

Originally meant to be a private meeting at the councilman’s office, it was shifted to the Rec center as word got out to locals interested in asking questions about flooding and Thor’s piles of Sitt, as detailed in the March Star-Revue.

The property has been vacant for a decade and Thor is threatening to build two commercial buildings on the site, once home to a sugar refining plant.

However, they said they are not close to getting approval to begin construction, and they have no commitments from prospective tenants.

There is some controversy over he ultimate end use of the property. Real estate broker Victoria Hagman, Red Hook resident and CB6 member, brought this question to Thor. Hag-

Tina Portelli page 3 Red Hook Star-Revue

man pointed out that Thor has a history of getting approvals to develop properties just to flip them.

She pointed out that their proposed rental is not realistic. “I don’t know where

“Hagman pointed out that Thor has a history of getting approvals to develop properties just to flip them.” you got your market research from, but $50 a square foot, that is not happening in Williamsburg or DUMBO,” she told them. “Asking something that is out of line with market means you aren’t really interested in getting tenants, because you aren’t actually interested in making the project happen. If you were asking

a reasonable rent, you would have tenants lining out the door, because there is a huge demand for that kind of space in Brooklyn.

David Cohen, Vice President of Development, said in response that their intention is to be a good neighbor to everyone near Part of the huge Thor contingent sitting up front. (photo by Fiala) the property. struction in NYC is expensive, and In an effort to try to prove their com“and in terms of making our business mitment to building this project he plan, that is what we have to ask,” he said that Thor has spent tens of milcontinued. lions of dollars so far on this site, an answer that sort of begged the ques- Hagman pointed out that Thor has tion. (continued on page 9) Then he said that the cost of con-

Park’s Con Job

A Queen Retires

page 7

page 6 www.star-revue.com

Risha page 15 May 2018, Page 1

The

Red Hook StarRevue

481 Van Brunt Street, 8A Brooklyn, NY 11231

May Happenings

email happenings@ redhookstar.com to list your event.

For more listings, check out our online community calendar at www.star-revue.com/calendar

(718) 624-5568 www.star-revue.com

A Theresa Thornton

A E Matt Caprioli R: Nathan Weiser C: Laura Eng, Religion Emily Kluver, Features Ramaa Reddy Raghavan Mary Ann Pietanza Sofia Baluyut, Tina Portelli Edward Littleford FOR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING OR EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIES, email info@redhookstar.com.

The Red Hook Star-Revue is published monthly.

Founded June 2010.

Community Telephone Numbers:

Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca (718) 439-9012 Red Hook Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (718) 492-6334 State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (718) 643-6140 Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander (718) 499-1090 Park Slope Councilman Steve Levin (718) 875-5200 CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman (718) 643-3027 76th Police Precinct, 191 Union Street Main phone (718) 834-3211 Community Affairs (718) 834-3207 Traffic Safety (718) 834-3226 Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street (718) 596-1956 Miccio Center, 110 East 9th Street (718) 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St (718) 852-6771 Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St. (718) 522-3880 NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight St. Main Phone (718) 265-7300 Community Affairs (718) 265-7313 Domestic Violence (718) 265-7310 Youth Officer (718) 265-7314

11

Red Bull Music Festival presents Dream Machine, a live reimagining of Bryon Gysin and William Burroughs’ seminal experien�al inven�on. Described by Gysin as “the world’s first work of art designed-be viewed with eyes closed,” the dream machine brought about vivid hallucina�ons of brilliant color through the repeat exposure of high-intensity flicker light. The first show will begin at 7:30 pm, second show will begin at 10:30 pm., and the �ckets cost $25. Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street)

12

The K.I.D.S. art educa�on workshop Drawing Together. 10 am - 11:30 am at Kentler Interna�onal Drawing Space Sat. (353 Van Brunt Street). This is a family art workshop for children four and up with a caregiver. Contact sallie@kentlergallery.org. Repeated every Saturday this month.

Kentler’s Flatfiles fundraiser recep�on. Support the gallery with a night of art deals, door prizes, music, and a host of Red Hook specials! $50 �cket includes food, drink and mingling to benefit Kentler’s 2018 nonprofit programming. Bene from Red Hook’s Record Shop will be spinning records! 353 Van Brunt Street, 6-9 pm.

16 Wed.

18 Fri.

20 Sun.

22

The Red Hook East Tenants Association’s monthly mee�ng, 167 Bush Street 1B, 6:30 un�l 9 pm Swamp in the City - 3 days of Cajun Dancehall Bands. Friday and Sunday: Jalopy Saturday day: Threes Brewing Saturday Night: Li�lefield NYC. swampinthecity.com PortSide New York at Pier 11 will celebrate Mary Art Inspiration Day & Birthday Tanker Tours. Public invited. Tanker Tours of the ship will be offered from 1-6 pm. Frank Hanavan will teach a water color

Fi�h and sixth grade students from Red Hook schools are invited to par�cipate in PortSide’s first annual African Tues.

American Maritime History Challenge at Summit Academy Charter School (27 Hun�ngton Street). Contact chiclet@portsidenewyork.

Monthly Gowanus CAG meeting, 6:30 - 9 pm at St. Mary’s Residence, 41 First Street. The CAG is the advisory group for the Superfund projects. These mee�ngs are open to the public.

American Mari�me Heritage, a dance performance by youth from Cora Dance, Art Table and mari�me toys for tots, seagull feeding sessions, Peter Piper the Balloon Meister will make balloon toys for kids and adults and there will be job info with reps from NYC Ferry and District Council 9 (painters union).

Every Monday and Friday, the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) runs a free computer lab with morning and a�ernoon sessions. The computer lab is on the lower level (LL4).

ONGOING

George Fiala

Peacemaking training at the Red Hook Jus�ce Center, 11 am - 1 pm. Training will con�nue June 16 from 10 am-4 pm. For Fri. those who live in or near Red Hook NYCHA housing. NYCHA residents will receive a $1 s�pend upon comple�ng the training. Peace-makingRH@gmail.com.

Rough ‘n’ Ready writing workshop every Sunday at Jalopy Theatre and School of Music (315 Columbia St) from 11 am - 1 pm. This is a six-week rough dra� and works-in- progress wri�ng workshop.

Every Thursday and Friday from 5-7 pm there will be a teen billiards tournament at the Red Hook Rec Center. This tournament is for ages 14-17. All experience levels are welcomed. First and second place winners will receive trophies.

Michael.mckoy@parks.nyc.gov or call 718-722-

3211 The gym, theater, weight room and computer room is available for teens at the Miccio Community Center every Saturday, 10 - 5 pm. This is a program sponsored

by Good Shepherd Services.

The Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) will have free dance workshops taught by professional dancers.

These workshops will go from 6-8 pm every Tuesday.

There is a weekly yoga class at a therapeu�cs yoga studio at 19 Delavan Street, Suite 3S, that’s focused on alignment, healing from injuries, strengthening, flexibility and a founda�on on back care. This class happens on Tuesdays from March 20 un�l December 18. The suggested dona�on is $15-$20. However, if you can’t pay the director is happy-work something out. Email ashtay67@gmail.com to rsvp for the yoga class.

ONGOING

E & P:

Every Thursday Broadly Entertaining will be hosting Thursday Night Trivia at Rocky Sullivan’s (46 Beard Street). The trivia starts at 8 pm and is free to play. The first-place winner after trivia finishes will get 50 percent off their tab.

On Wednesdays, star�ng on May 2, the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center hosts a support group for women who have experienced violence in a rela�onship. Join this group (5 un�l 7 pm)-find support, speak openly about your experiences and begin the healing process a�er experiencing in�mate partner violence. Dinner and Metrocards will be provided.

PortSide New York (Pier 11) invites Red Hook NYCHA residents to the Mary A. Whalen ship. From 1 un�l 9 pm there will be Tanker Tours (inside and outside of the ship), Tanker Time, a book Sat. reading for children, a talk about African

26

for the complete calendar check out our website, www.star-revue.com

Red Hook NCOs Damien Clarke – Damien.Clarke@nypd.org; (929) 287-7155 Jonathan Rueda – Jonathan.Rueda@nypd. org – 917-941-2185

Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

May 2018

NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY, by TINA PORTELLI

Father Joe, our Steeplechase Santa

H

e had white hair and the heart of a saint. He was known in the community as Father Joseph De Maria, but we called him Father Joe. He was my great uncle, in more ways than one.

Father Joe grew up in Red Hook in the early 1900’s. Because he was a dedicated altar boy at his neighborhood church, his priest, Father Schroder, took him under his wing and sponsored his education. Joe went on to become a priest in the Palatine order and later Pastor Emeritus at St. Anthony of Padua in Milwaukee.

He served fifty-seven years in the priesthood. His family was very proud of him. He was the first in the family to obtain a higher education.

Never forgetting his own poverty as a boy, he would visit Carroll Gardens, home of his three sisters, every August.

One sister lived on Degraw Street, one on President Street and one on Sackett Street. His arrival was a big occasion for the family and the neighborhood.

Three banquets

As the years passed, not only did the group of children going to Coney Island change, but the number of children did too. What started out to be ten or twelve kids eventually reached three hundred by the 1970’s.

It seemed our whole neighborhood was on this gravy train. Father Joe delighted in doing this for everyone.

Parents were now needed to be chaperones because the group had grown so large.

We would all meet in the morning and line up at the Carroll Street subway station while Father Joe paid the subway fares. An hour ride on the F train, from the President Street station to Coney Island, was a treat in itself.

Once there, Father Joe, wearing his plantation style Fedora, his white collar, and his black suit, would purchase the circular ride tickets for Steeplechase Park.

“Father Joe was their Prince and they were his subjects.”

Each sister would get one night of his company and prepare a large banquet for him at their house. My grandmother—his youngest sister—would enlist her daughter and daughter-in- laws for their help in preparing this huge special meal.

A week of house cleaning, shopping and cooking was done. The silver would be polished and the “good” dishes would come off the shelves.

Father Joe was their Prince and they were his subjects. Grandma would delight him with the traditional Italian dishes of his youth, which he missed in Milwaukee.

He would sit at the head of the table, surrounded by his sister and her growing family. At the end of the meal friends and neighbors would come by for coffee, at which time Father Joe would take out his black leather bag.

It looked like a doctor’s bag and was filled with spiritual medicine. He would then proceed to bless and then give out its contents—rosary beads, religious medals and prayer cards—to all those who visited.

On the last day of this yearly visit, which was always on a Friday, he would take all his nieces and nephews to Steeplechase Park in Coney Island for a day of fun.

Summer vacation

Going to Coney Island for these poor children was more than just a day outing, it was a vacation from the fire hydrants and stickball stoop playing of the hot summer days. It was their summer vacation squeezed into one whole day, which not only included thrilling rides, but cotton candy too.

This ritual started in the 1930’s and

Red Hook Star-Revue

continued until 1975. As young children my dad, aunts, uncles along with cousins and a few friends were the recipients of this special treat.

The author with Father Joe, her mother and her younger brother.

Each of us kids would receive one round ride ticket, with what looked like the face of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E Neuman on it. It would usually last all day. Father Joe would stroll through the park and talk to all of us, with a big smile on his face, not saying much but knowing he had made us all very happy.

The day was topped off with a Famous Nathan’s hot dog. We would gulp them down like little starving animals and then sleep on F train for the 45 minute train ride home.

It was always on the following Saturday morning that Father Joe was scheduled to fly back to his parish in Milwaukee. My Dad would pick him up at the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn Heights and drive him to the airport.

It was on what turned out to be his last trip, in August, 1975, that my Dad, waiting in the lobby for his uncle Joe to come down, became concerned. It was taking his uncle too long to come down from his room. My dad proceeded to go and check on him.

Father Joe had died that night in his sleep.

Dad called 911, waited for his uncle to be taken away, and, on his way out of the hotel room, he picked up the Father Joe’s black bag and took it home.

This was the very same bag my dad had carried for his uncle, in a prideful way, as a child. All the children had competed for this honor.

The bag is now a treasured heirloom, a reminder that we once had a great man in our family.

Steeplechase Park is long gone, but Steeplechase Santa forever lives in my memory and heart.

www.star-revue.com

May 2018, Page 3

RELIGIOUS NEWS

BY LAURA ENG laura.eng59@aol.com.

Redemption Church Launches in Red Hook U

C

nder the leadership of Pastor Edwin Pacheco, Redemption Church officially launched in Red Hook on April 1st, Easter Sunday.

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Religious Services

Center

Christian

467 Court Street, (718) 625-2270 Rectory Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am- 11:30 am, 1 pm-4 pm, Fri. 9 am- 12 noon. Masses: Sat. 4 pm, Sun. 10 am, Monday- Thursday, 9:30 am.

River Of God Christian

Saint Paul Saint Agnes Parish

110 Wolcott Street, 646-226-6135, Secretary, Sister Roslyn Chatman. Sunday- Family Worship 11- 1 pm Scripture, Wednesday- At The Gate 12 noon, Prayer 7-7:30 pm, Bible Studies 7-8 pm, Thursday Prayer 7:30-8:30 pm, Fri. Youth ABLAZED Ministries 6- 7:30 pm, Senior Pastor, Donald Gray

Visitation Church

98 Richards Street, (718) 624-1572. Office open Mon-Thurs. 9 am- 3 pm. Sat. Mass at 5 pm English; Sun. 10 am Spanish, 12:30 pm English.

Community Prayer on Tuesday and Thursday at 8 pm. Call to arrange for Baptisms, First Communion, Confirmation and Weddings.

New Brown Memorial Baptist

609 Clinton Street, 718 624 4780 Pastor A.R Jamal. Sun. School at 9:30 am. Sun. Worship at 11 am. Bible Study-Wed. at 7:30 pm. Communion every first Sunday

Redemption Church Red Hook

767 Hicks Street (Red Hook Initiative), (347) 4703523, RedemptionRedHook@gmail.com Pastor Edwin Pacheco Sunday Service at 10:30 am, Children’s Bible Study provided.

RH Ministries

72 Van Dyke Street (Corner of Richards Street), 718-624-3093, rhministries@bgtintl.com, Senior Pastor: Rev. David W. Anderson, Rev. Dr. Linda D. Anderson Sunday Worship Service at 11:00 am, Mid-week prayer on Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Pantry every Saturday at 9:30 am

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church

157 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights. Phone: 718875-6960, office@stannholytrinity.org, Fr. John Denaro, Rector.

Sunday Worship-Early Church at 9:30 am, Sunday School and Playgroup at 10:15 am and Holy Eucharist at 11:15 am, Weekday Worship on Wednesdays at 6 pm.

Stretching Far and Wide Global Ministry, Inc.

382 Hamilton Avenue, Studio B 1-800-948-9042 Archbishop Dr. Barbara Jackman, Overseer Rev. Dr. Dwayne Barnes, Pastor Services are held every Sun. @ 10 am Communion every First Sun. stretchingfar.webs.com stretchingfar@aol.com

St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish

Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue

Church Office 433 Sackett St (718) 625-1717 Hours: M-F 2 PM-5 PM. E mail: stpaulandstagnes@gmail.com. Saint Paul, 190 Court Street- church open daily for prayer and meditation 7 am- 8 pm. Sat. Vigil Mass 5:30 pm, Sun. 7:45 am, 11 am (Spanish). St. Agnes, 433 Sackett St. Sat. Vigil Mass 4 pm (English), Sun. 9:15 am (English), 11 am (French), 12:30 PM (Spanish).

M-T-TH-F-S 8:30 am St Paul’s Chapel 234 Congress St.; Wed. 8:30 am St Agnes.

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary- Saint Stephen RCC

125 Summit Street at Hicks Street, (718) 5967750, info@sacredhearts-ststephen.com Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am- 5 pm, Fri. 9 am3 pm, Sat. 9 am- 1 pm Sat. Vigil Mass at 5:30 pm, Sun. Masses at 8 am, 10 am, and noon (Italian/ English) Weekday Masses Mon. at 12 noon and Tue. thru Sat. at 8:30 am. Confessions: Sat. at 4:45 pm and by appointment. Baptisms every third Sun. 1 pm.

St. Paul’s Carroll St (Episcopal)

199 Carroll Street, 718-625-4126, info@stpaulscarrollst.org, www.stpaulscarrollst.org, Sun. Mass at 11:00 am, Weekly Morning Prayer Mon.-Thurs. at 7:30 am, Weekday Mass on Fri. at 9:00 am, Church open for prayer on Sat. from 2-4 pm. Holy Days as announced.

Jewish Kane Street Synagogue

236 Kane Street, 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet. org/ Fri. night services, 6 PM Shabbat services, 9:15 AM Sun. Services 9 AM

Congregation B’nai Avraham/ Chabad of Brooklyn Heights

117 Remsen St., 718 596 4840 x18 www.bnaiavraham.com, www.heightschabad.com Morning Services: Sunday: 8:45am Monday- Friday: 7:45am Holidays (during the week): 8:45am Saturday: 9:45am Evening Services: Sunday: Shabbat candle lighting time Monday- Thursday: 9 pm Friday: Winter: 5 minutes before Shabbat candle lighting time Summer:

Congregation Mount Sinai

250 Cadman Plaza West, 718-875-9124, info@ cmsbklyn.org, www.cmsbklyn.org, Rabbi Hanniel Levenson Fri. services at 6:30 pm, Sat. worship at 10:00 am with Kiddush at 11:30 and Bible Study at 11:45. All are welcome.

The launch service welcomed church members and friends. The service was based around acoustic worship as Pastor Edwin preached about “finding hope in the midst of life’s challenges,” using the examples of Judas and Peter, both of whom had turned their backs on Jesus but with Pastor Edwin and Melinda Pacheco different results. Pastor Edwin reminded the congregation that “Judas gave up and We also saw a need for racial recongave in, but Peter found hope in the ciliation between what many would call the “Hipster and the Hood” parts resurrected Jesus.” of the community. Many had voiced We spoke with Pastor Edwin about their concerns about gentrification what brought him to Red Hook; what and policing, educational disparities led to the establishment of Redempbetween the two public schools, and a tion Church; and what his hopes are list of other social, economic, ethnic, for its future. [and] cultural issues.

Red Hook Star-Revue: What prompted These reasons provided a major push you to establish a new church and how for me to relocate to Red Hook. I was did you decide on Red Hook? convinced that if I was going to sacPastor Edwin Pacheco: It was just rifice for the call of being a pastor in after Hurricane Sandy that I began New York City, Red Hook and comexperiencing a great desire to engage munities like it [would] be the places the Red Hook community. At that to which I dedicate my life. time I was planting a church just minRHSR: Approximately how many utes away in Park Slope. While pastorchurch members do you currently have ing was part-time, being the Director and what is their ethnic make-up? of a Community Center in Coney IsPEP: When I came to Red Hook I did land was my full-time job. so with about six friends who had When Sandy struck, my community committed to help me build Redempcenter was hit hard and my staff and tion Church. For the past year we’ve I were relocated to Red Hook to help held informal Bible Studies to prowith the Sandy Relief effort. During my vide a relaxed environment to facilitime serving here, I saw the many needs tate relationships with those looking of families, heard the stories of brokento grow in community and in faith. ness and the dream that Red Hook Currently we have grown to about 35 could be rebuilt, and I experienced the adults and kids gathering with us on opportunity to be to people what I beSunday mornings. The goal is not to lieve Jesus would be to them. I saw an become a mega-church, but rather opportunity to see hope in action. to be a church that provokes people During the summer of 2016, I had a to faithfully grow in their love for God team of college students serving with and at the same time love and serve me. It was during this time [that] I de- Red Hook in a holistic way. cided to explore the idea of relocating We are mostly a young group of famimy church here from Park Slope. lies, many of which have young chilThat summer, the college students dren still in elementary school and we conducted 200-plus surveys that asked are diverse ,with Puerto Rican, Docommunity members their thoughts minican, African-American, Russian, about the “Church” in Red Hook. Most Ecuadorian, Haitian, and Caucasian people had negative experiences yet members. articulated a desire to see healthy RHSR: Can you tell me some of the churches in the community—churchmain goals of your ministry and your es that would be open for more than hopes for the future of Redemption? two hours on a Sunday, churches that would meet real needs, churches that PEP: I want Redemption Church to would be a voice for the voiceless in give not just spiritual renewal but also moments other than when someone community renewal. I would love to (continued on next page) was a victim of a shooting or violence.

www.star-revue.com

May 2018

Religion (continued from previous page)

provide services like ESL, GED, SAT prep, childhood literacy programs, youth and adult mentorship, job readiness and employment programming, just to name a few. I don’t believe my experience in the non-profit sector was a coincidence but rather a season of preparation for what would take place here in Red Hook.

RHSR: Tell me a little about your background and what prompted you to enter ministry?

PEP: I really didn’t have a relationship with God until about the age of 16. The type of church I grew up in was a legalistic church that focused on the “dos and don’ts” rather on the Gospel of Jesus. That was a turn off for me.

I began reading the Bible for myself and came to see that the God I read about in the Bible was very different from the one I heard preached about.

I eventually began going to another church where I grew in my faith. I got my BA in Theological Studies at Vision International University and eventually taught at the Bible College there. I also served as a full-time youth pastor from 2002 to 2009; my wife, Melinda, and I led a group of approximately 200 teens in their faith and educational journey.

We helped many become the first in their families to graduate college.

Part of why I went into the ministry was because I felt the calling at a young age to lead. I also had a conviction that people not only need to hear about the power of the Gospel that changes our lives for the future, but they must also know how this same Gospel gives us hope for life now.

For my family and me, we take this to heart! We try our best to live our lives as missionaries in this urban context.

The best way to do this is to be with the people we are called to serve. This is why my wife, our daughters, Isabella and Heather. and I have moved to the area from Bay Ridge. And we did this with much joy and love.

RHSR: What are some of your community outreach activities?

PEP: We try to spend as much time and energy serving our local schools, the Red Hook Senior Center, hosting cookouts every Wednesday evening in Coffey Park during the summer months, including an upcoming one on Father’s Day, as well as holding Easter Egg Hunts and Fall Festivals, running coat drives during the winter (we gave away over 500 coats last year), and serving families in need during the holidays. We do this because we know this would be some of the work Jesus would be doing if he lived here in Red Hook.

Redemption Church gathers each Sunday at 10:30 am for refreshments and hangout with Worship Service following at 11 am at 767 Hicks Street. If you’re looking for a new place to renew or find your faith or to simply watch a dynamic ministry in action, I encourage you to stop by.

Upcoming Events Congregation Mount Sinai 250 Cadman Plaza West Law Day Shabbat on Saturday, May 12 at 10:30 am. Join us for Saturday morning prayer and our guest speaker as we celebrate our Justice leaders in the community. Followed by a festive kiddish.

Tuesdays With Talmud - with Rabbi Hanniel Levenson, presented by the Brooklyn Bar Association in conjunction with the Brooklyn Brandeis Society on May 8 and 22 from 1:15 - 2 pm at BBA Board of Trustees Room.

RSVPs are appreciated.

Red Hook Gospel Tabernacle 72 Van Dyke Street Law Enforcement Prayer Summit on Saturday, June 9 from 11 am to 2 pm.

All members of law enforcement and their families are invited to attend.

Light refreshments following. For information or to register, please call Senior Pastor David W. Anderson at 718-624-3093.

Redemption Church Red Hook 767 Hicks Street Father’s Day Cook-Out on June 17 in Coffey Park - All are welcome!

Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church Summit & Hicks Street Mother’s Day Baby Shower donations for the Sisters of Life to benefit mothers who bravely choose life under difficult circumstances. All items must be NEW and UNWRAPPED and may include baby clothing, diapers, wipes, blankets, bottles, maternity clothes and gift cards for both mothers and babies. Please leave items at the altar of the Blessed Mother by Mother’s Day. Ecumenical Concert on Friday, May 18 at 7:30 pm. Join us as we pray together in anticipation of the Feast of Pentecost with music provided by the choirs of various Christian communities including Episcopal, Greek, Interdenominational, Melkite and Roman Catholic.

Technology for Seniors Classes will be held each Tuesday in May at 4:30 pm in the Rectory House.

St. Agnes/ St. Paul’s Parish Hoyt & Sackett Streets St. Anthony Novena - every Tuesday 1 pm thru June 13 in Chapel St. Paul.

Young at Heart - every Wednesday at 1 pm in St. Agnes Parish Hall.

Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts - every Friday at 7 pm in St. Paul Parish Hall.

Girl Scouts/Brownies - every Friday at 6 pm in St. Agnes Parish Hall.

Mother’s Day Luncheon on Sunday, May 13 at 2 pm in St. Agnes Hall. Join us for our annual luncheon celebrating all mothers. Free admission.

Spring Raffle - 1st prize $1,000, 2nd prize $300.00, 3rd prize $200.00. Drawing on Sunday, May 13 after the 8 am Mass at St. Paul. Tickets are $5 each and are being sold at both parish of fices; limited amount left. Buy your tickets NOW! Monthly Fundraising Lunch on Sunday, May 27 from 1:30 to 4:00 pm at St. Agnes Hall. Tickets are $7. Grand 50/50. All are welcome!

Broadway Bound Raffle-Win two tick(continued on page 8)

Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

May 2018, Page 5

76th Precinct celebrates the end of an era photos by George Fiala

Another recently retired icon came by to offer his best wishes, former Community Affairs Officer, Detective Paul Grudzinski (below).

That’s Marie, sitting at her familiar location by the front door of the precinct, on the civilian side of the gate.

Karen Broughton, chief-0f-staff for Assistant Assembly Speaker Felix Ortiz, celebrates along with longtime community leader Buddy Scotto, who is just a year older than Marie.

In 1971, at the age of 40, Carroll Gardens resident Marie Gambardella took a non uniformed job sitting behind the front desk at the 76th precinct station on Union Street.

Faced wth some health issues at the age of 88, the department’s second oldest employee decided to finally retire. Last month she came to work and encountered a huge retirement party in her honor. Even the police commissioner came by.

Gambardella was one of 27 civilians hired by the NYPD in July 1971 to work as receptionists at stationhouses around the city. Gambardella was the perfect person for the job, said Capt. Megan O’Malley, the commanding officer of the 76th Precinct.

“Always with a smile and never with a question that it couldn’t be done or wouldn’t be done to the best of everyone’s ability,” O’Malley said.

SUPPORTED BY RED HOOK LABS AND NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL OF THE ARTS

Photo by Taj

STUDENT PHOTO EXHIBIT R E D H O O K TO D AY !

FEATURING PHOTOGRAPHY, ZINES AND VIDEOS BY STUDENTS AND STEWARDS OF SOUTH BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL, RED HOOK INITIATIVE, SUMMIT ACADEMY, RED HOOK LABS, AND JUSTARTS: PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM AT THE RED HOOK COMMUNITY JUSTICE CENTER

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018

MUSIC FOOD Friends, Family And Community Members Please Come Join Us! REFRESHMENTS PRIMAVERA ON THE WATERFRONT FASHION SHOW - 5:30PM FREE

5-8PM

RED HOOK LABS • 133 IMLAY STREET, BROOKLYN 11231

TEACHING ARTISTS: JOSEPH GILMORE, BASHIRA WEBB, MARK NEVERS, MICHELLE REPISO, RED HOOK LABS AND THE POINT CDC SPECIAL THANKS: JIM MOFFAT, SIMON MALIVINDI, AMANDA BERMAN, VIVIANA GORDON, EGLE MYKOLAITYTE, SYDNEY KING, DENNIS MCNEIL, MISS SHERYL NASH-CHISHOLM, SABRINA CARTER, MICHAEL GLAZEBROOK, ALEJANDRA DELFIN, DANNY PERALTA, TIM VETTER, NASTASHA CAMBELL, CHERLY SWIFT, TARIK BELL, ELIZE CROMBEZ, HAYLEY STEPHON, NATALIE PFISTER, JACKIE TAVERAS, LATOYA KITTRELL, JILL EISENHARD, ERICKA MEDINA, PHILIP ALEXANDER AND COUNCILMEMBER CARLOS MENCHACA.

South Brooklyn Community High School

Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

May 2018

Red Hook ballfields dormant for yet another season

Nothing but excuses from Parks, no solutions from politicians

R

by Nathan Weiser

ed Hook residents recently got some disappointing news regarding their ability to use the outdoor fields in the Red Hook ballfields complex.

2020 and 2021.

Ballfields 5-8, originally scheduled to be finished by the spring of 2019, will now not be ready until at least the spring of 2020.

“In the fall of 2023, we will have a state of the art facility for all our fields in Red Hook,” Maher said.

Marty Maher, the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, announced to an audience at the Rec Center that the delay is due to technical reasons that came up in the bidding process.

Six months ago, in response to local demands for an explanation about the long closed ballfields, Maher appeared at the Rec Center to explain that a lot of work is going on “behind the scenes.” He said that such a big project demands lots of permitting and planning.

The “big project” he refers to is digging up the ballfields next to the Center, removing contaminated dirt, and replacing it with clean dirt and topping it off with Astroturf.

These fields, once home to the Red Hook Little League, as well as a local bar league, have been shuttered since before the 2015 season. In all that time, all that has been done to the fields are a very occasional mowing.

Elias Rodriguez, who is a public information officer for the federal EPA, NYC Parks and the EPA have a legal agreement to conduct the cleanup of ball fields 5-8 and field 9. This followed an expose in USA Today that identified these fields as some of the most contaminated play areas in the country. A lead smelter once occupied the land.

The City requested a 10-month extension in order to submit a health and safety plan and a construction plan for fields 5-8.

“In late January of 2018, NYC Parks informed EPA that such an extension would be necessary due to City and State laws which require a proposed contract to undergo a number of additional reviews and approvals that were not originally anticipated,” Rodriguez added. “This was due to the prices of bids that were submitted during their solicitation period.”

Ball Field 9, the main baseball field in the complex that’s across the street from the Rec Center, will remain open, since the lead contamination in this field is below the surface and according to EPA not dangerous.

As a result of the delay in the cleanup of fields 5-8, between Bay Street and Loraine Street, construction could overlap between fields five through eight and field nine in 2020. During that time period in 2020, all of the ball fields in the complex could be closed to the public.

Field 9 will be cleaned up between

Red Hook Star-Revue

Maher said that the good news that he had to offer was that in the fall of 2020, 2021 and 2023, all four phases of the project will be completed.

Phase 2, which includes ball field 9 and soccer field 2, will be completed in the spring of 2021.

Phase 3, which includes soccer field 3 (inside of the track) and ball fields 1 through 4 (soccer fields 4 and 5 in fall season), will be completed in the fall of 2021. Phase 4, which includes soccer fields one and six will be completed in the spring of 2023.

He added that the main issue with the hold up was that getting the contractors was complicated and that since they had bidders that were within 10 percent of each other that added additional time.

City bureaucracy

“We have the contractors but there is still an administration process to go through,” Maher said. He said the delay in starting construction will be up to 10 months.

Congreswoman Nydia Velazquez, who represents Red Hook, was at the Rec Center before having to leave for another meeting.

She emphasized that public health comes first and that it can’t be compromised. However, she thinks the process of fixing the fields is taking too long and questioned what the children and families in the area are going to do for field space.

“I am not an engineer, I am not a de-

“My question is would it take this long if they had to do a clean up on the Upper East Side or Upper West Side of Manhattan.” Nydia Velazquez signer, but when I heard the consent order by EPA that said we had to remove and remediate I thought why is it so complicated,” Velazquez said.

“My question is would it take this long if they had to do a clean up on the Upper East Side or Upper West Side of Manhattan.”

Marty Maher tries to explain the Red Hook ballfield situation. (photo by Fiala)

She emphasized that something needs to be done since the children and their families in Red Hook deserve better.

Maher thanked her and added they are doing their best.

Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who has been keeping Parks accountable according to Maher, thanked Velazquez for all she does.

Menchaca pointed out that after it was discovered that the ballfields had contaminated soil, EPA got involved and the city put the money into budget so the fields could get remediated.

He talked about Bush Clinton Park and how he helped bring Street Soccer to the neighborhood. They brought two soccer pitches and about 300 kids are currently part of it.

player who played on these ballfields a lot growing up. He said that kids are missing out on valuable time when they could be developing as a baseball player on these fields.

Leroy Branch asked if there could be any monetary incentives for finishing the project on time or faster than the timeline.

John “Chico” Texidor, who works at Red Hook Initiative wanted to know how the community can get involved and if jobs can be given to Red Hook youth to make the process of getting the fields ready go by faster.

NYC Parks indicated that there was a separate organization that youth could join but that there was not a way to speed up the process.

At the ninth public meeting organized

by NYC Parks on this issue, there was a question from Karen Blondel, who calls herself an environmental organizer, about the EPA working together with the NYCHA contractors because they are working on concurrent projects both have to do with lead.

Wally Bazemore urged NYC Parks and EPA to speed up the process and said he was going to get as many signatures as possible. He also pointed out that he played on these fields all of the time when he was growing up.

Ian Younge, who is the director of the Red Hook Little League, is an uncle of a current minor league baseball

www.star-revue.com

Once full of aspiring baseball players, the fields are now home to insects and birds.

May 2018, Page 7

Summit’s Analeza Edore wins school’s first athletic scholarship

A

by Nathan Weiser

naleza Edore, is a trailblazer. She is the first Summit Academy student to win an athletic scholarship. who has received an athletic scholarship.

She will be attending Queens College this fall on a basketball scholarship.

“It feels good that everything is done,” Edore said. “I am really happy with my decision and I’m going to have a great season. Now I have just been working every day.” She has been running for about 30 minutes a day and lifting to stay in shape.

On Tuesday, May 1, at a Summit Academy ceremony, Edore, who a Summit basketball team jacket and a Queens College T-shirt, signed her letter of intent. Basketball coach Dytonya Mixson led the event.

Her next step is being part of the Queens College Knights. She wants to help the team make NCAA tournaments like they once used to. The Summit Academy scholar has ambitious goals athletically and academically that she will strive to achieve.

Many of her family members and teammates were also present as she made her future plans official ,by signing the papers that made the athletic scholarship binding.

After Mixson said a few words welcoming everyone, Natasha Campbell, Summit’s Executive Director, echoed his sentiments about the importance of the day and talked about how proud she is of Edore. Principal, Cheryl Swift, also spoke.

Campbell talked about how Summit has had many firsts in their short period of existence. They had their first graduating class in 2016 with above 90 percent of the class going to college. According to Campbell, last year’s class was the first to get college scholarships, after a well publicized appearance on the Ellen show.

They are now sending their third graduating class to college, and this East New York resident has received a major first for Summit.

“The moment is more beautiful because Analeza is my baby,” Campbell said. “She has only been with us for a year, but she stole my heart. She is an extraordinary young lady. She is smart, she is kind and she is wise beyond her time. We are honored to have you as part of our class in 2018, and we expect nothing but the best from you.”

Mixson described how important this achievement is and how they were lucky to have her come to the school.

“It’s a big deal for us,” Mixson said.

“We are excited. It couldn’t happen to a better scholar athlete than Analeza Edore. She just wanted a better opportunity in basketball. We were fortunate to have her come to our school.”

During Edore’s year at Summit, the girls varsity basketball team went to the city wide Final Four, losing to perennial power Murry Bergtraum. She scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds in the semifinals.

According to Mixson, the team was led by Edore, who was the captain.

Two years ago, they were a developmental team in the PSAL. “I think the season was good,” Edore told the Star-Revue. “I feel like we did play as a team but there was always room for more improvement. I think we should have at least made it to the championship game, but we lost in the semifinals.”

Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue

“I want to average the most points on the team as a freshman,” Edore said.

“I just want to be a leader as a freshman because I feel like I have really good leadership skills and can push everyone around me to do well. And academically, I am shooting for a 4.0.”

A couple of successful people with unique names, Coach Dytonya Mixson with star athlete Analeza Edore. (photo by Weiser)

She was ecstatic when she found out that she was the first from Summit to receive an athletic scholarship. She enjoys the fact that she is a pioneer.

“I felt great because it feels good to make history and be the first at something,” Edore said. “No matter what it is, it always feels good to be the first.

So, I was really excited about that.”

Mixson factored in to her decision to attend Summit. He has been her AAU coach (competitive travel team) with the Lady X Men since 8th grade.

“When I was leaving Nazareth HS, I was weighing all my options, and I felt like if I am going to switch schools, I need to go with somebody I trust, and I trust my coach, so I picked Summit,” Edore, who has had other members of her family get athletic scholarships, said.

In order to come to Summit each day, she has to make some sacrifices because the school is about an hour from where her home in East New York. She takes a bus and then the A train and G trains.

“It sometimes gets annoying when the A train is messed up,” the future Queens College student said. “I listen to a lot of music {during the commute}. I am Nigerian, so I listen to a lot of Nigerian music every day.”

There is only one girl out of the 15 on the basketball team who is from Red Hook. Coach Mixson thinks the draw from out of the neighborhood is that charter schools are “the bridge” between public and private schools.

You get smaller class sizes in a tuition free school.

At Summit, which has 350 students in grades 6-12, Edore improved academically and athletically.

at Nazareth. A real positive for her about Summit is that she found that teachers actually care by putting time and effort into making their students better people.

On the recruiting side, she had many Division One schools interested in her, including St. Peter’s, Delaware State, Wagner and Howard, but they only showed interest, without making an offer. Mixson told one of those Division One coaches that if they miss out on Edore that they would regret it.

Her basketball coach thinks Queens College is the best situation for her since they had a lot of interest in her for a long time, their coach came to many games and they will be helpful for her.

“I think that Queens College was really interested in her, and I think they will do their best for her to be successful,” Mixson said about Analeza, who wants to major in business management and administration.

Queens College is getting the total package as she is committed in the classroom and excels on the basketball court.

“When you have a scholar athlete like her, who is fourth in our class in graduating, who has a 3.7 GPA, who has 1,110 on the SAT, and can play the low post, can rebound and can shoot, what more can you ask for?” Mixson said.

Coach Bruce, who coached her during her freshman to sophomore years at Nazareth, was at the signing at Summit and said it was great coaching her. The team went to the citywide JV championship game, losing to Christ the King when Edore was a freshman.

“It was a great change for me,” she maintained.

Coach Bruce was a key factor in her attending Nazarath and he thought back then that she could one day get an athletic scholarship.

The 6’0” senior said she enjoyed her transition since she was able to have more of a connection with the teachers and staff at Summit than she had

Now that she is done with the whole college process it is a stress factor that she doesn’t have to deal with anymore.

www.star-revue.com

The highlight of her time in Red Hook at Summit was indeed being with her teammates on the basketball team.

She wants to be a leader as a freshman next year and her experience this year has given her the ability to do so.

“It taught me how to be a leader, first of all because everybody said I had leadership skills, but I was never in a role where I had to be a leader,” Edore added. “I was a captain this year, so I had to remember that everybody was looking up to me and everybody is going to come to me.”

The younger girls looked up to her, so she had to put her best foot forward.

The power forward/center is blazing a trail which will undoubtedly be followed by other Summit athletes in years to come.

Religion (continued from page 5) ets to see “Beautiful-The Carole King Musical.” Tickets are $5 each and go on sale Monday, May 14. Proceeds go to St. Paul/St. Agnes and The Puerto Rico Relief Fund.

St. Mary Star of the Sea Church 467 Court Street Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13 at the 10 am Mass - Come and receive a special blessing as we honor all of our moms, living and deceased.

Pentecost Weekend, May 19-20 - The gift of the Holy Spirit will be celebrated on Sat. 4 pm, Sun. 10 am.

First Holy Communion Mass on Sunday, June 3 at 10 am.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 199 Carroll Street St. Paul’s Church Flea Market on Saturday May 19 from 9 am to 3 pm and Sunday, May 20 from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Bring a friend or come with the whole family. Best prices in Brooklyn!

Visitation BVM Church 98 Richards Street Carnival Fundraiser Saturday, June 16 from 11 am to 6 pm. Ride, food, cotton candy, games and more! Space available for $30; call rectory for details.

May 2018

Foxy and Winston leaves Red Hook

by Nathan Weiser

F

oxy and Winston has been a staple in Red Hook for nearly a decade, but area residents will no longer be able to buy their textiles, stationery, paper goods and accessories on Van Brunt Street anymore.

Foxy and Winston had been across from Fort Defiance for nine years but closed on April 30, as business has declined. This is disappointing for owner Jane Buck.

“I do think it is sad for all of us who started out, they say ‘you were a pioneer because you have been here so many years. I wouldn’t call myself a pioneer, but I definitely think that we did all help to make this place desirable for the people who are now moving into the neighborhood and who can afford the rents that are now being charged.” Buck said. “I will miss the store, and I will miss everyone.”

summer is the quietest time of the year because then I would be in a position where I would need to buy stock and I wouldn’t have money to buy any to go into Christmas and the busy season.”

After sharing the news on Facebook about the store closing, she did get a spike in business.

“Yesterday (April 5) I did $1,300, which is unheard of for a Thursday,” Buck said. “The Thursday before I did $50. Last Friday, after I made my

“It peaked in about 2015 and 2016 and it has been downhill ever since,” Buck said. “I am not really sure what the reason is for it. I am assuming it is people internet shopping.”

Buck thinks that many of her repeat customers have been forced out of the area because of high rent, causing them to move to places such as upstate New York, Detroit and Philadelphia. She has noticed that the regulars at her store have dropped off drastically.

An indication that closing the store soon would be wise came to her over the holiday season in December.

“This past Christmas was a bust,” Buck said. “Lots of people who I might normally see once a year didn’t come in at all. I don’t know if they just shopped online. December is my busiest time of the year.”

“The summer is always the quietest time of the year and I suppose that leads to why I am closing at end of April,” Buck said. There is no point hanging on for the summer when

“They need a housewarming gift, or a weekend host’s gift, and all the usual stuff like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and graduation,” Buck said.

According to Buck, her store at 392 Van Brunt Street was a great location that was opposite many restaurants.

She used to get good foot traffic from people seeing the store and being curious.

She realizes that having a store like hers on Van Brunt is different that having a store on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens.

The store will be closing because the foot traffic has drastically declined in the last few years. Foxy and Winston gets fewer customers than when she first opened.

Street not the same

When she first opened the store, she stuck to selling things that she personally made, which included cards for weddings, onesies and dish towels. As she got to be part of the community and further know her customer base, she realized that Van Brunt needed a store that sold more than she did, so she expanded her merchandise to include gifts for various occasions.

announcement on Facebook, I did $1,500, but the prior Friday I did $20.

Everyone has come out of the woodwork now, but it is too little too late, and unfortunately there is no coming back from it now.

Jane now lives in Hillsdale and continues her business online (foxyandwinston.com), where one can still get her famous letterpress-printed wedding invitations.

“Van Brunt is not a typical street,” Buck added. “My daily intake wouldn’t be anything near someone on Smith Street, for example, but then my rent was much cheaper, so it is all relative. I probably had the best spot on the street for a retail shop, and I am sure whoever takes it might do well.”

Jane Buck still had hopes for the shop last Christmas (photo by Adrian Bacolo)

what she has made recently but has had less time to create new things.

“I did miss having the time to be creative,” Buck said. “Now that I am closing I will be able to do that again.”

She will be selling what she makes solely through her website.

Buck highly doubts that she will open another store upstate where she lives now because she thinks that there is even less foot traffic up there.

Her store, Foxy and Winston, was originally a studio and shop to sell things she made and then it evolved into a real gift shop. She has still sold

People would shop in the store for soaps and candles. She sold children’s gifts like Danish stuffed animals, tiny miniature tea sets and suitcases. The shop owner branched out to have a nautical theme since Red Hook is surrounded by water, so she got creative by selling mermaids and hooks shaped like a seahorse.

End of an era

She really sold a wide mixture of unique things for people to enjoy.

“I sold pillows, mazes, pitchers and lovely glass paper weights,” Buck said. “A real mixture of home décor, children’s things and then gift things.”

John Raso took the above photo and tells us: “They removed the Hope & Anchor letters from the window today. Seemed like a significant moment in the changing face of Red Hook.”

We noticed that the for rent sign was taken down from the Bait and Tackle corner, more changes afoot.

And Jane closes Foxy and Winston.

The neighborhood in transition.

Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

May 2018, Page 9

NEWS AND NOTES compiled by Nathan Weiser

Nydia Velazquez news

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who represents New York’s 7th Congressional District including Red Hook, has joined the House Natural Resources Committee.

The Committee’s responsibilities include mineral resources, wildlife conservation, federal lands, grazing rights and hydropower development.

This committee has jurisdiction over offshore territories and Freely Associated States of the United States, including Puerto Rico.

Velázquez, in her thirteenth term representing Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and Queens, is the top Democrat on the House Small Business Committee and the third most senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. She is the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

BGI hires leader

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) has announced that Terri Carta will be their first Executive Director.

Carta previously spent 19 years at Central Park Conservancy. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa with a watershed conservation project.

For over a decade, BGI has acted as the catalyst for the development, and long-term stewardship of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

“The naming of our first Executive Director is a transformational step for BGI, led until now by its co-founders,” BGI Board Chair Michael Cairl said.

“BGI is primed to leverage its record of success into a new phase of growth and leadership in waterfront access, mobility, resiliency and community stewardship.”

Design Change Community Board 6, which includes Red Hook, as well as Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, the Columbia Waterfront and Park Slope,changed the online newsletter that they send out.

Their stated goals with this newsletter will now be to: More clearly demonstrate the motions that CB6 takes on issues; Increase the dialogue between those who receive the newsletter and the Community Board office; Through the increased dialogue provide greater transparency; Provide community updates; General information sharing; CB6 will be accepting names for a new name for the newsletter and will then bring the different choices to a vote of the BKCB-6 Executive committee.

Please sent potential names to info@ brooklyncb6.org.

Swamp music

Krissie Nagy will be producing a Cajun Music & Dance Festival in Red Hook and Gowanus called Swamp in the City on May 18-20.

She will be bringing in top talent from

Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue

Louisiana and will include over a dozen Cajun dancehall bands as well as workshops in music and dance, backyard Cajun jams and delicious Cajun/ Creole cuisine.

The Americans: Goodbye to Russian Spies with Brooklyn Ties

St. Francis College hosted a special discussion with the creative forces behind the FX television network series, The Americans. The night began with a screening of the current episode, followed by a Q&A with creator & executive producer Joe Weisberg, executive producer Joel Fields and script writer They will also have a lineup of re- Justin Weinberger. Their critically acgional bands including the C’est Bon claimed series that is ending May 30th Cajun Dance Band, The Empty Bottle after six seasons. The fact that they Ramblers, Bayou Brew and Magnolia. were doing this event in Brooklyn was The festival will be at Jalopy Theatre fitting, because for the last five years on Friday, May 18, and Sunday May the series was filmed in Gowanus.

20. The location moves to Threes The Americans is a drama series set Brewing (333 Douglass Street) on May in the 1980’s during the Cold World/ 19 during the day and Littlefield NYC Reagan-era political years. It centers (635 Sackett Street) on Saturday night. around an American married couple To buy tickets and see a complete fes- in their 40’s with two children in the tival schedule, visit www.swampin- Washington DC area who are unthecity.com. dercover Soviet KGB officers. And, oh yeah, their friend and next-door neighbor happens to be an FBI agent.

Superfund local news If you’re imagining white knuckle draGowanus Canal Community Advisory ma, tense action scenes, espionage, Group (CAG) announced five resolumurder, amusing disguises (best wig tions they approved. game in TV) and psychological/emoCAG’s role is to be a forum for dia- tional manipulation, you’re in the logue between representatives of all right place. segments of the community about The expertly written drama is brought the federal Superfund clean-up of the to life by an outstanding cast, starGowanus Canal and related issues. ring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys The first new resolution requesting (Brooklyn residents). The cast inthe EPA ensure all and any actions cludes Noah, Emmerich, Holly Taylor, the Department of Environmental Costa Ronin and the two-time Emmy® Protection (DEP) takes following pos- Award winner for this role, Margo session of properties for the purpose Martindale. of constructing a new headhouse reThe Americans was created by Joe tention tank facility at the north end Weisberg a former CIA officer and of the canal.

Brooklyn resident. After leaving the The second resolution asked that DEP CIA in 2007, Weisberg became a writto engage in further site and engineer- er/novelist and wrote An Ordinary ing analysis investigations into the Spy. He also had an idea for a possible Gowanus Station building’s structural spy series drawing on stories he heard integrity and consult with experts in from agents serving abroad as spies. preserving historic structures adja- He wrote a pilot which ended up becent to construction sites in order to ing developed for the FX network. find a way to preserve the Gowanus The Americans has been nominated Station. for a total of 57 awards (Emmy®, GoldThe third asks Brooklyn Borough en Globes, Writers Guild, TCA, CritPresident Eric Adams to immediately ics’ Choice, Peabody and AFI Awards) initiate, secure funds for, and lead an winning 12 of them. active community engagement and The Americans may have been about visioning process with the CAG for the Russian spies, but they were also honnorth end of the Gowanus Canal.

This is Brooklyn’s only Cajun music and dance festival, according to the promoter. Performers from Louisiana include Courtney Granger, Wilson Savoy, Joel Savoy, Jesse Lege, Darren Wallace, Jean Bertrand, Joseph Vidrine and Justin Lege.

orary Brooklynites.

From the very first episode, the series was filmed at Eastern Effects studio in Gowanus. The show location manager has been quoted as saying how blessed he was with a home base that provided so many different scenic options. Gowanus at night turned into the perfect shadowy backdrop for our undercover agents. Shooting a period piece, set in the 1980’s, the old-school Italian neighborhood of Cobble Hill and the Red Hook waterfront were easy location decisions. The show also included filming in Queens, White Plains, Long Island and Staten Island.

In 2016, there was a threat that Eastern Effects would be a casualty of the big Gowanus Canal cleanup project.

The closing of the film and television studio was a big concern for the future of The Americans. Luckily, they were able to complete the writing and filming of the sixth and final season before the remediation of Gowanus Canal began.

The sixth and final season premiered on March 28, 2018. This last season has another Brooklyn tie in the form of artist, Alyssa Monks of Williamsburg.

Part of the final season story arc is Elizabeth going undercover as a caretaker for the ill wife of a nuclear arms negotiator. The wife is an artist and bedridden with cancer who can still sketch. Having the right artwork displayed in the room was an important part of the story.

Mr. Fields and Mr. Weisberg were able to find Alyssa Monks’ art through a colleague and it fit perfectly. Ms. Monks’ art is dark, dramatic and emotional with images of faces in pain and terror. It’s through the sketches and paintings, the viewer is witness to the agony in both characters.

It’ll be the end of a Brooklyn era when the final episode of The Americans airs on May 30, 2018.

And for those Amazon Prime members not familiar with The Americans, you can start on Season 1 right now.

You’re welcome.

The fourth requests elected NYS representatives to support the enactment of proposed legislation which would place a ban on plastic carryout bags.

The fifth new resolution requests that the EPA installs Fish-Consumption Warning Signage around the Gowanus Superfund site.

Contact Doug Sarno (703-927-6265), the CAG facilitator, if you have any questions about CAG activities.

Their monthly meetings are open to the public.

Creators of The Americans sit down with moderator Shriti Ganguly to talk spy.

www.star-revue.com

May 2018

Joe Sitt has his way with Red Hook stakeholders (continued from page 1)

numerous empty store fronts on Smith Street, Atlantic Avenue and other parts of Brooklyn.

Renae Widdison, Menchaca’s new land use specialist, introduced herself. She will be tracking this project closely and wants to be the community’s contact.

Ethan Goodman, with the law firm Fox Rothschild, basically announced the reason for this seemingly ad hoc meeting. “We are planning a six-story office building, two buildings next to each other, with a public waterfront esplanade.” He went on to explain that they are currently taking the project through the public approvals process. The final step in that process is with the local city councilman, who was sitting off to the left.

Chris Milano, from Langan Engineering, spoke about the flooding. He is a civil engineer with an expertise on storm water. He mentioned the recent rains.

“We all saw what happened in the last two weeks with significant water on the surface,” Milano said. “Our direction from Thor was to make sure to take a hard look at the underground stream first.”

Milano and other engineers looked at maps of Red Hook and went through other research and claimed no evidence of underground streams.

“The city fills in shore lines to create more land and that is how the city grows,” Milano said. “We haven’t found anything that shows underground streams in this area.”

He basically blamed the flooding on three factors, all the fault of Red Hook itself. The first is that we are a low lying area. The second is the surface grade of the streets, with water draining towards Beard Street. The third is that sewers are not doing the jobs they are supposed to be doing.

“It makes sense that if something isn’t working right with the sewers, this is where we would see flooding, he told the disbelieving audience, many of whom remember no flooding issues before Thor starting messing with the shorelines.

Milano’s assertions about the absence of groundwater was highly disputed

by Carolina Salguero of Portside, who claimed encountering an overwhelming rush of underground water flowing constantly and exposed during the IKEA excavations. Most in the room agreed with her assessment—not Thor’s.

Piels of dirt next

Michael Bogen, Thor’s environmental attorney, explained that the mountains of dirt were from the old bulkheads that they replaced. They didn’t barge them away as they thought that they would be able to dump them back in the water.

“We have met with the DEC over the past four months to address the community’s concerns about the stockpiles, and have now entered into a consensual agreement with DEC called a consent order,” he said. “It’s been

Red Hook Star-Revue

signed by us, we are just waiting for DEC to co-sign it.”

The consent order binds them to take additional care of the stockpiles. Bogen emphasized that the dirt is not toxic— a point highly disputed by John McGettrick, head of the Red Hook Civic Association. McGettrick points to previously identified “hot spots,” as well as historical pollution due to the usage of the property. Red Hook used to be home to many heavy industries, which is why today the ballfields are closed, awaiting remediation, and the length of the Gowanus is under a Superfund plan.

Robbie Giordano is a local fisherman who has lived in Red Hook for years. He claims that the fishing in the Erie Basin has never recovered from the bulkhead construction. In addition, he believes that all of Red Hook’s soil is polluted to some extent, and he would never eat tomatoes grown in our native soil.

Councilmember Menchaca will guide the City Council as they decide on Thor Equitys request for an exemption of zoning rules regarding the proposed esplanade. (Fiala photo)

This is why many residents have been upset at the piles of dirt, and why the NYC Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has ordered Thor to do something with the dirt.

“My question is, while you are doing construction, do you have plans with the city to get a new truck route to allow trucks to get onto Van Brunt, because one of the main issues is going through the one way streets,” Jovan said.”

“We will apply a tackifier, which is basically glue to those stockpiles,” Bogen said. “It’s a spray on glue and we will use the type that DEC wants. We will apply that material to the stockpiles in the next couple of weeks. He called the glue “monkey snot.”

There is also an issue of the dirt’s eventual disposition.

From a legal standpoint the stockpiles are lawfully where they are allowed to be, but DEC told them they must be removed by November. Bogen said they would love to figure out how to use the dirt, instead of trashing it.

“This is not a transfer station,” Bogen said. “I have been involved with this site for a decade. This is a homogeneous site. The materials you see, if you take a sample here or there, it’s the same material. The samples have been reviewed by DEC and all meet commercial standard.

Gita provides an out

Gita Nandan, of Red Hook’s NY Rising committee, suggested that a way they could fight and prevent soil erosion is by planting.

At this, Bogen became so excited you might have thought he’d jump up and hug Nandan.

“That is exactly what we wanted to do,” Bogan said. “Our proposal to DEC was to hydroseed. Thor Equities said let’s get the hydroseed out there, but DEC said we don’t want it. They said the hydroseed is not going to work in this medium.”

After the meeting McGettrick chided Nandan in a group email for potentially giving community support for a plan that would keep the piles in place. McGettrick and others wants it gone and can’t understand why a company with over $10 billion in assets wouldn’t simply just pay to barge the material away.

They could then actually BE a good

neighbor, rather than just saying that they want to be.

ing, staked hay bales, silt fencing, floating platforms, netting, containment booms.”

The most sensible question of the entire evening came from the police. NCO Officer Jovan, in the last question of the evening, brought up trucks.

11. Natural Resource Condition 9 of the Permit (“Clean Fill Material Only”) provides: “All fill will consist of clean sand, gravel, or soil. The use of material such as asphalt, slag, fly-ask, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), broken concrete, or demolition debris is strictly prohibited.”

Thor said that they aren’t in the stage of the process where they would figure out how traffic will be impacted.

“That is clearly a dialogue we need to keep going with you guys because you know the community more than we do as far as what the best plan is when we build,” the engineer said. In another deflection, he added: “luckily, it is a big site, so you don’t need to take a lot of the street width in order to take cranes up and build this thing. It’s mostly park land.”

In closing, Menchaca said that in relation to DEC saying no to putting in the plants to reduce the dust that they have the political power that is willing to flex and has used their power in the past.

Menchaca encouraged Thor to be a good neighbor and told them that they are in a place that wants to be a good neighbor to them.

Menchaca thanked the two 76th precinct NCOs for showing up and offered that their question showed that everyone is connected and that they are looking out for the community.

12. Natural Resource Condition 12 of the Permit (“Demolition and Construction Debris”) provides: “Should any demolition and construction debris fall into the waterway or enter the tidal wetlands, it must be removed immediately.”

13. Natural Resource Permit Condition 14 of the Permit (“Post Construction Photographs”) provides: “Post-construction photographs of the work area must be submitted to the NYSDEC Bureau of Marine Resources, 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City, New York 11101 within 30 days of the completion of work.”

14. Natural Resource Permit Condition 19 of the Permit (“Failure to Meet Permit Conditions”) reads: “Failure of the permittee to meet all the conditions of this permit is a violation of this permit and grounds for an order to immediately cease the permitted activity at the project site.”

15. On November 16, 2016, NYSDEC staff observed that Respondents had: a. Failed to follow best management practices for debris removal, containment of stockpiled material with silt fencing and hay bales, and containment of petroleum sheens on the water as required by Natural Resource Permit Condition 6.

Failed to immediately remove demolition and construction debris which entered the waterway or tidal wetlands as required by Natural Resource Permit Condition 12.

16. On December 1, 2016, NYSDEC staff observed that Respondents had again failed to follow best management practices regarding containment of stockpiled material with silt fencing and hay bales as required by Natural Resource Permit Condition 6.

The Thor representatives were seen laughing and joking before the meeting began, and nothing in the evening’s 17. On October 26, 2017, NYSDEC staff meeting could have dampened their joy. observed that Respondents had again failed to follow best management practices regarding containment of stockpiled : material with silt fencing and hay bales as Menchaca provided the Star-Revue required by Natural Resource Permit Conwith documents that Thor promised to dition 6. provide the community. Among them 18. On December 4, 2017, NYSDEC staff was the DEC order, excerpted here. observed that Respondents had again 9. On September 1, 2015, NYSDEC issued failed to follow best management pracpermit 2-6102-00130/00004 (“the Per- tices regarding containment of stockpiled mit”) to Respondent Thor 280 Richards material with silt fencing and hay bales as required by Natural Resource Permit ConStreet, LLC to install a bulkhead. dition 6.

10. Natural Resource Permit Condition 6 of the Permit (“Best Management 19. Although work was completed on or Practices”) provides: “Best management about June 8, 2017, Respondents failed to practices will be employed to prevent the submit post­construction photographs unloss of construction materials, debris and til December 7, 2017, in violation ofNatusediments from entering the wetlands or ral Resource Permit Condition 14. waterways. Such practices may include, but are not limited to construction fenc-

UPDATE

www.star-revue.com

May 2018, Page 11

EDITORIAL: LOCAL GOVERNMENT GONE BAD

W

hen our local government works well for us, we are the first to give credit. A couple of years ago we were aghast at two looming possibilities—an out of place nursing home and a misplaced ferry stop.

Despite the worst efforts of the local community board, our councilman saved us in both cases—the ferry stop ended up in the right place, and the nursing home was stopped in its tracks.

In this issue we write about two situations that need to be handled better, and another that we don’t write about, which is itself the problem.

Once upon a time, Red Hook had a closed down sugar factory. It looked like this:

fallow until a few years ago, when he turned it into a truck parking lot, at first without even paving the dirt.

the Brooklyn Parks commissioner, Marty Maher, to hold a community meeting in the Rec Center.

Then, a couple of years ago he commissioned some fancy architects to create a plan for two fancy commercial buildings, along with a waterfront esplanade.

He told us that while Red Hook couldn’t see anything happening, there was actually a maelstrom of activity at city agency offices. Papers were being shuffled, approvals sought between different agencies not used to working with each other, to pave the way to digging up the toxic earth.

The viability of this plan is sketchy at best. No leases have been signed, no building permits issued, or even recently applied for. As detailed in this issue, all that he has done is collect fines for failing to follow environmental regs.

He has done is to dig up a lot of earth, as he has put up new bulkheads. He claims that the mini mountains of dirt that blow around the neighborhood are not toxic, but who knows.

Not a great neighbor.

In 2006 the rapacious real estate speculator Joe Sitt, enriched by some shady dealings involving downtown’s Albee Mall, paid a huge sum for the l;and, which stood on the peninsula in Erie Basin, next to IKEA. Before anyone had a chance to protest, they obtained demolition permits and knocked down that historic structure.

Over the next 10 years he did absolutely nothing with the land, holding back a nascent economic revival that could have energized Beard Street.

Instead, he did nothing. The land lay

Our councilman is about to allow him leeway in some zoning restrictions. In return they will build a public restroom.

This is the deal our great community board worked out for us. Our councilman should tell them no deal. Not until they offer some proof that they will actually build what they say they will, and also to cart off the dirt. Sitt runs a $10 billion company. He can afford it.

The next situation is the fiasco that the closed ballfields have become. The EPA correctly ordered them closed for remediation due to lead in that dirt. That was three years ago. The city was ordered to create a plan to fix the fields.

In three years, the only visible work we can see are fences to make sure nobody uses the fields. And a couple of signs.

Last summer, amid a local city council race, a group of residents, led by Wally Bazemore, held a rally wondering what was up. In response, the sitting councilman, facing an electoral challenge, got

Last month he finally convened another meeting. The news was that there are to be more delays in moving even a teaspoon of leaden dirt. Something about some hidden rules preventing them from choosing a contractor. And then he said he’d see us in six months. Maybe...

I remember our councilman giving a speech in the Sunset Park HS, calling for a change in the attitude of city agencies.

These agencies are used to doing things the way they always do them - innovation and creativity is not part of being a city worker. Maher is no exception.

A local businessman, Jim Tampakas, made a suggestion for reducing truck traffic, once the work finally begins. His idea is to use our waterways to ship out the toxic dirt, of which their will be lots.

We are surrounded by water.

In the 1990’s, the city wanted to fill us up with waste transfer stations and barge out lots of garbage. I guess dirt is not garbage, or Parks and Sanitation don’t talk.

Maher looked at Jim like he was speaking Chinese. That’s not something in the Park instruction book, so for Maher, that doesn’t compute.

Our councilman was at this meeting. He should have been screaming at the parks department. He should be calling on the mayor to shake things up. Will he?

Finally, what we do not write about this issue is something our councilman came into office a rabid fan of. He is still a rabid fan of it, but not in Red Hook, at least it seems that way.

I’m talking about Participatory Budgeting. Back in 2014, there was a lot of energy surrounding this new idea, pioneered in Brazil, that allowed for local groups to create projects and have them voted on by locals, the winners to be funded by the city.

The councilman and his aides were everywhere getting local groups involved.

There were monthly meetings where projects were planned, and dioramas of the proposed plans were made and displayed at the Red Hook Library.

We are the local newspaper, and we had seen absolutely no publicity surrounding this years PB. Voting for it takes place the second week of April. At the end of March we realized that we still hadn’t heard a peep from anyone about it.

We checked at the council office and they promised to get back to us, but they didn’t. So the April issue went out with no mention that there were elections coming up on which every resident 11 years and could vote - on projects that hardly anyone even knew about.

We walked around the neighborhood and saw only a couple of signs advertising the voting. Afterwards, we checked at the two local voting places and were told that not many people showed up to vote, but anyone who came by for whatever reason was pressed to fill out a ballot. The councilman loves to say that he gets a great turnout for this vote.

Come on - lets do a better job next year, and make participation exciting again.

The Healthy Geezer

by Fred Cicetti

Q. Since I started being a baby-sitting grandparent, I seem to be getting more colds. I must be catching germs from the kids, right?

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reports that schoolchildren get as many as 12 colds a year. Put those kids near their grandparents and it doesn’t take a scientist to know that those colds are going to spread.

My personal physician—also a grandfather— says that one of the problems is that these walking petri dishes come home from school with new germs for which older people haven’t developed antibodies.

Any grandparent will tell you that being around their little treasures has made them sick. My seven grandchildren are generous with all the viruses they get from their school chums.

What are you supposed to do when one of the darlings comes up to you with a runny nose and asks for a hug? Well, if you understand the hazards, perhaps you can formulate a plan that

Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue

works for you around the miraculous children of your children.

Obviously the best course of action is to stay away from grandchildren when they have colds, but any grandparent knows that’s next to impossible.

There are two ways you can catch a cold: 1. Inhaling drops of mucus full of cold germs from the air.

2. Touching a surface that has cold germs and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

So, avoid close facial contact with your ailing grandchildren. Use some restraint. If the child needs comfort, limit yourself to hugs that don’t put you in the position of inhaling their germs.

Washing your hands thoroughly and often is important. Washing with soap and water doesn’t kill the cold virus, but removes it. The scrubbing is more important than the soap.

Also, if you can, try to avoid touching your face after you have been around a child with a cold.

www.star-revue.com

Rhinoviruses can live up to three hours on your skin, and on objects such as telephones and stair railings. Cleaning environmental surfaces with a virus-killing disinfectant might help prevent spread of infection.

Where are these viruses found most often? No, not in the bathroom. The worst room in the house for germs is the kitchen. And the greatest concentration is found in sponges and dishcloths.

Laundering a dishcloth doesn’t eliminate germs. And putting a sponge through the dishwasher makes it look clean but doesn’t remove the infection. Instead, moisten the sponge or dishcloth and microwave it for two minutes.

Then you’ll have safe, germ-free tools to use.

These tips will help, but the reality is that you’re going to catch some colds. They’re the price of being a caregiver. It’s the price you paid as a parent. Now you’re having a second chance for all that love...and all those germs.

May 2018

Prepping for a local fashion show

by Nathan Weiser

B

elgian fashion model Elise Crombez came to the Red Hook Initiative and taught a group of 15 how to put on a fashion show.

The 15 practiced with Crombez for two hours, on Saturday, May 5, in preparation for a fashion show that they will be part of at the Red Hook Labs (133 Imlay Street) on Wednesday, May 23. They were chosen by RHI’s Sheryl Nash-Chisholm after a tryout process.

Crombez, who has modeled for Vogue and Victoria’s Secret, gave them some advice, and then had them practice walking to music while trying to get poses down.

The event on May 23 titled “Red Hook Today!” will feature photography and videos by students and stewards of South Brooklyn Community High School, Red Hook Initiative, Summit Academy, Red Hook Labs and the JUSTARTS: Photography program at the Red Hook Community Justice Center.

This free event will feature music, food and refreshments. Community members are encouraged to come to Red Hook Labs on the 23rd.

“It’s really about Crombez,” Nash-Chisholm said. “I want to make sure that people know that she is here, and she is famous. This is just the first. There are not many times that you get a famous model to come teach in the hood.”

Crombez has helped with after-school programs at Red Hook Labs for some time. She said that she is helping since she has experience in fashion shows.

Jimmy Moffat launched Red Hook Labs a few years ago and that was Crombez’s link into getting involved.

“Jimmy Moffat is a friend and somebody I have worked with a lot since he is the agent of photographers I have worked with,” Crombez said.

“I express how I wanted to create this teen platform and give teenagers a voice, so it fits well with what he does at Red Hook Labs. They creatively express themselves through film and photography, which is also an area I am familiar with.”

Her goal was to give the RHI youth experience modeling on a runway and teach them how to not cut corners as well as how to have confidence, how to pose correctly and the correct way to walk with the song.

She believes that these kids can benefit in ways outside of just being in this fashion show and thinks that they will learn what goes into being in a show with the experience that they will have.

“In a show you are wearing clothes that are not yours, you are having hair and makeup done that is not how you would usually get it done,” Crombez said. “It is basically that you are someone else and it is about owning up to that, having fun with that and feeling confident. I think that is a great exercise because it seeps

Red Hook Star-Revue

DNA Model Elise Crombez (left) teaches budding models at the Red Hook Initiative. Sheryl Nash-Chisholm, who initiated the project, is on the far right. (photo by Weiser)

through in their lives.”

is a partner for this event, said.

Crombez says there will be no judging.

“Here it is just like we celebrate who you are,” she said. “Just be the best and most fierce and most powerful.”

Moffat and Red Hook Labs have been doing an annual Red Hook Student Photo Exhibition for the last five years, each year expanding their partnerships and collaborations with local schools and community non-profits.

The theme of the fashion show is e primavera, or summer time, so Crombez is going to help everybody have a summery vibe in the clothes that they wear. The model gave the kids an opportunity to use any of her clothes.

During the performance, she will be helping out backstage.

The DJ will play music and we will time out how long we need the song to be and then we can do the finale and everything,” Crombez added.

The Jobs Initiative provides a comprehensive photography program linking year-round education, meaningful employment opportunities and mentoring for local public high school students.

Red Hook Labs leverages the professional experience and expertise of its founder (Moffat) and staff, and works in partnership with well-established

public schools and community centers to ensure cohesive, local support.

“Each of Labs arts education classes are enhanced by Labs Gallery and Labs Studio programs, giving students the opportunity to understand and access the professional creative world,” Mykolaityte said.

“Our mission is to create centers that provide high-caliber photography arts education to teens and young adults who would otherwise have no exposure to it and to materially advance their skills and access to job opportunities that can allow for longterm success.”

Kirk Reid, who practiced with the 14 other participants on May 5, found out about this fashion show at Red Hook Labs from a friend he goes to school with.

“Modeling was always something I wanted to pursue,” Reid said. “This is a step in the right direction. This is a start.”

He enjoyed the opportunity to learn from an experienced model. He was able to learn how to move and what to do in certain situations and thought that what they were taught was a true learning experience.

EVERGREEN LIQUOR STORE INC. 718 643-0739 196 Columbia Street, between Sackett & Degraw evergreenliquor@yahoo.com

Mon. - Thurs. 11 am - 10:30 pm; Fri & Sat. 11 am - 11:30 pm; Sun. 1 pm - 9 pm

Reid has been practicing modeling for two months with Red Hook Labs, but he has been practicing for an additional year outside of Red Hook Labs.

The group preparing for the fashion show will practice again on May 12 and their goal was to have the outfits that they will wear during the show.

Nash-Chisholm said that they are hoping to have 20 youths performing during the show.

“The non-profit at Red Hook Labs helps support a number of different programs in terms of local schools and partnerships and in some of them they directly provide the instructor and the equipment and in others they provide the space to come shoot there for other groups,” Michael Glazebrook, who is from The Point, which

www.star-revue.com

May 2018, Page 13

StarRevue DANCE RED HOOK FEST CELEBRATES ITS 25TH YEAR The first weekend of June will see one of Red Hook’s biggest summer arts festivals, Red Hook Fest organized by Dance Theatre Etcetera. On Friday, PS 15 hosts a cookout and dance party from 530830pm. Fairway will cater as DJ Mikey Palms spins his tracks. There will also be a street fair, Red Hook Walks, on Van Brunt from 6-10pm.

Saturday at Erie Basin Park/IKEA, the featured lineup includes Bombazo Dance Company, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, and Peliroja. The festival runs from 2-7 pm.

Last year about 5,000 people took part in the festivities.

Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

All these photos are from past Red Hook Fests, and are printed here through the kind courtesy of Dance Theater Etc.

May 2018

StarRevue REVIEWS Pay No Attention to the Girl Pay No Attention to the Girl, a devised play inspired by The Thousand and One Nights, is the first installment in Target Margin’s multi-year exploration of that text, as well as the company’s debut at their new home, the Doxsee Theater in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The Doxsee is cavernous and gorgeous; and it’s used to great effect here by director David Herskowitz — along with scenic and lighting designers Carolyn Mraz and Kate McGee — in a playful, inventive, and sometimes-immersive staging that feels just right for this piece.

Both an adaptation and a deconstruction of the medieval epic, Pay No Attention to the Girl explores the gender dynamics in Scheherazade’s tale and in some of the tales she tells, reassessing these stories through a feminist lens.

This is an intriguing, admirable project. The work is most successful, however, when it prioritizes narrative clarity and allows the audience to draw their own conclusions; less so when it signposts the moral. It did not require any direct reference to Donald Trump, for example, for me to be thinking of him here — and of the ways pervasive misogyny has screwed us all.

At times, I found myself longing for a stronger emotional immersion in the story-world, and I felt most deeply engaged when the characters — especially the women and feminine creatures — were presented without comment, as real people coping with an unjust world. This script flows fast, with dozens of situations and characters being portrayed by a talented cast of five in a 70-minute play; yet the bits I loved best were the slowest. Deepali Gupta’s haunting vocal solo is a highlight of the evening - Sarah Rose Kearns Target Margin Theater 232 52nd St. “Sinbad Lab” is their next performance. Its scheduled run is May 31 - June 24 Contact: 718.398.3095

The Puppet Dance On April 13, Jalopy presented a thoughtprovoking, experimental performance piece called ‘Puppet Dance’ by Risha Gorig, a Red Hook resident and artist. This 22-minute piece began with Gorig dressed in a white tutu with a clown mask, tethered to ropes and pulleys like a marionette, pirouetting around the stage like a puppet. At one point she is untethered by an assistant and in her words, ‘transformed into a human.’

As a human, Gorig is seen performing tasks like planting giant orange chrysanthemums and roses but she is soon reattached and returns to her marionette world to reflect, in Gorig’s words, the vulnerability and fragility of life which the puppet cannot endure.

Red Hook Star-Revue

Risha Gorig stars in The Puppet Dance, performed at the Jalopy Theater

Gorig’s piece creatively used Jalopy’s small stage space and her props effectively visualized the elements of wind and fire. The piece is overtly beautiful and ethereal, but it is accompanied with eerie, dark music, which even scared some audience members - Ramaa Reddy Raghavan Jalopy Theater, 315 Columbia St. (718) 3953214

The Tropic of Squalor, by Mary Karr The queen of literary memoir releases an exquisite collection of poems on May 8. Best known for the memoirs “Lit” and “The Liars Club,” Karr displays her formal mastery and heartfelt innovations in this collection that looks at the commingling of ribald humanity and the potentialities of God. The first half collects poems on Karr’s usual themes—Texas memories, comic carnage, hidden violence.

The second half, “The Less Holy Bible,” carries 20 poems named after chapters of the bible; each beautifully sordid poem is set around NYC. With a Jung quote as the epigraph, “Summoned or not summoned, the god will be there,” Karr finds God everywhere she walks: in salons, dingy stairwells, with bike messengers and men sleeping in doorways.

Her poetic innovations are plain yet forceful, and these 20 sequential pieces quickly gain a staying force.

As with her memoirs, there’s an undaunted gallop toward the truth here. Though when she veers on the uncomfortable line between blaming a suicide and holding her (then him) accountable, some readers will brace against the callousness. Yet the humorous and limpid self-consciousness in poems about her ex, David Foster Wallace, are nonetheless beauti-

www.star-revue.com

ful, particularly “Suicide’s Note: An Annual” and “Face Down.” Some readers have called this a cynical book, though it’s hard to agree with that final judgment with lines like, “I couldn’t bear the beams of love.” Karr’s inversions of daily phenomena hint at the miracle of life: “we sigh you out into air and watch you rise like rain.” Formally and emotionally, this is a rich, mysterious collection that rewards rereading. The first poem, “The Organ Donor’s Driver’s License Has a Black Check,” is by itself worth the price of admission – Matt Caprioli On May 14, Karr will be at Books are Magic (225 Smith St) in discussion with Meghan O’Rourke at 730 pm. (718) 246-2665

The Star-Revue is looking for freelance writers with a background in the arts. email george@ redhookstar.com

May 2018, Page 15

StarRevue PICKS Photo by Paul Sancheznavarro

and magic skills. The museum says “the most important performers emerge from the audience.” And on May 20th at 2pm, the museum follows two women discovering the story behind everyone’s favorite pilot. “Amelia and her Paper Tigers” includes music, dance, comedy and stilt-walking. Tickets are $13-20.

Waterfront Museum, 290 Conover St, (718) 624-4719

Ruby Rae & Friends The joyfully quirky Freddy’s Bar in South Slope hosts singer-songwriter Ruby Rae every second Wednesday of the month. With the subtitle “and Friends,” Rae invites at least two other musicians to perform with her. April 11 she was joined by the exquisite guitarist Collin Dempsy and the Americanah-trekking Bucky Hayes.

In the enclosed backroom, the round robin format meant that each songwriter played two songs. A venue for fledgling songs, Rae encourages people from anywhere around the world to come to Freddy’s to perform their new work. Rae’s exquisite voice and harmonies are well worth the trip, and you’re bound to discover new talent. Recommended listen: “Hedy Lamarr.”

Freddy’s Bar & Backroom 627 5th Ave (718) 768-0131

Red Hook Fest Celebrates its 25th Year The first weekend of June will see one of Red Hook’s biggest summer arts festivals, Red Hook Fest organized by Dance Theatre Etcetera.

On Friday, PS 15 hosts a cookout and dance party from 530-830pm. Fairway will cater as DJ Mikey Palms spins his tracks. There will also be a street fair, Red Hook Walks, on Van Brunt from 6-10pm. Saturday at Erie Basin Park/IKEA, the featured lineup includes Bombazo Dance Company, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, and Peliroja. The festival runs from 2-7pm. Last year about 5,000 people took part in the festivities.

Dance Theatre Etcetera, 480 Van Brunt Street, Ste 203, 718-643-6790

Brooklyn Comedy Stars at Union Hall Back in 1920s Harlem, if you had trouble paying your landlord, you’d hire a great jazz band then charge your guests for coming to the party. With such swagger and irreverence, comedians Yedoye Travis and Farah Brooks host their own lineup of comics for “Rent Party” at Union Hall on Wednesday, May 9, starting at 8 pm. With stoic backing from The Original Lineup, Yedoye lead some hilarious renditions of “1,000 Miles” by Vanessa Carlton. Matt Ruby tiptoed to the offensive yet oddly insightly comment of Cynthia Nixon as a chill Mussolini and why terrorist don’t blow up the F train. Sam Taggart serenaded the crowd about sports and sex and gay vodka sodas, and Aminah Imani threw down her mom knowledge. An enticing mad dash through Brooklyn’s best comics. Tickets $8-10.

Union Hall, 702 Union Street, (718) 638-4400

Weekend family fun at The Waterfront Museum

To highlight their Kentler Flatfiles, an online archive of 2,000 drawings publically available since April 1st, Kentler is host four fundraising events. Their tax-free art sale takes place May 12 with refreshments provided. The “Kick-off Party” starts at 6 pm and tickets are $50. May 19 at 3 pm they host a dialogue between Director of the National Academy of Design Dr. Maura Reilly and artist and librarian Arezoo Moseni. Mary-Beth Shine, the founder of the art-tour group Shine NYC Art, leads an indepth art tour at 3 pm on May 26. Kentler has many other panels, lectures, meetups & tours planned as well. For more information, visit them online or call them at 718·875·2098 353 Van Brunt Street, Hours: Thurs-Sun 12-5 PM

FRIEZE off-site at Pioneer Works, w/ Red Hook Labs The leading fair for contemporary African arts, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, is coming back to Pioneer Works May 4 to 6. Now for the 4th year at Pioneer Work, Red Hook’s largest gallery space will exhibit a sprawling installation by Ralph Ziman. Former Pioneer Works resident Azikiwe Mohammed designed the 1-54 lounge, and Nate Lewis (also a former PW resident) will present his own exhibit. Red Hook Labs pairs up with Nataal, a photography magazine of new African art, to continue their successful New African Photography series.

Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer St, (718) 596-3001

Walt Whitman is getting up there Walt Whitman is nearly 200, and to celebrate America’s poet on May 29th, the Brooklyn Historical Society is hosting a carefully curated panel to discuss his relationship with Brooklyn.

Artistic Director of The Walt Whitman Project, Greg Trupiano, joins NYU professor Karen Karbiener, horticulture and literature scholars, as well as writers and even an opera singer. Free for members, $5 GA, “Walt Whitman Turns 199: Harbors, Heights, and a Brooklyn Celebration” begins at 6:30 pm

For the kids (and let’s be real, most adults) there’s a lot happening in May weekends at the Waterfront Museum. May 6 at 2pm has The One-Man Circus-in-a-Suitcase performing on the dock. Dubbed “Circus Minimus,” the founder the American Youth Circus Organization, Kevin O’Keefe, shows off his juggling

Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue

May Fun at Kentler International Drawing Space

Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St, (718) 222-4111

www.star-revue.com

May 2018

StarRevue PICKS Author Ivy Pochoda Recreates Red Hook

by Ramaa Reddy Raghavan From 2005 to 2007, novelist Ivy Pochoda lived directly across from Red Hook Bait & Tackle (now gone).

When she needed a short story for her MFA program at Bennington College, her mother told her to “just write about what’s going on outside your window.” The result is her 2013 literary mystery, “Visitation Street.”

Her novel depicts the wild days of the Bait and Tackle (renamed the Dockyard) when it and the Pioneer (now the Ice House) were the life-blood of Van Brunt Street. In an interview with The Red Hook StarRevue, Pochoda said these bars often stayed open illegally till about 5 or 6am.

“There was this crazy party that never ended. Everybody knew everybody and we all had crazy nicknames and did wild stuff. One day, the Queen Mary docked for the first

Red Hook Star-Revue

time – a big deal – because cruise ships had never come to Red Hook before and we hit golf balls from Pioneer Street at the cruise terminal in some kind of drunken protest!”

She added that the bar attracted a diverse, strange, and fairly drunken group of people who spent a great deal of time together, but who each took care and looked out for one another in ways she hadn’t seen at other bars.

“It was more than a bar. It was a community.”

Though published five years ago, readers will still encounter familiar sights: Coffee Park, Visitation Street, the Red Hook Houses, and the Tabernacle, which is often punctuated with the supernatural: ghosts, spirits, crystals and divination. Pochoda said that Red Hook still gives her this supernatural feeling.

“If you close your eyes late at night and in the early mornings in winter, Red Hook feels like it used to – it’s quiet and scary, a little ghostly and haunted.”

“Visitation Street” is a small-town noir revolving around two girls, Val and June, who on a hot summer night go out looking for adventure.

At Beard Street Pier, they find a pink raft and plan to set off to Valentino

Pier. But misfortune waylaid their trip once June disappears.

Told from several viewpoints, readers will encounter a musician who live above Bait and Tackle, kids from the projects, and Lebanese bodega owners. Pochoda also describes a gentrifying neighborhood.

She writes about, “Projects built over frame houses, the pavement laid over cobblestones, the lofts overtaking the factories, the grocery stores overlapping the warehouses, and the new bars cannibalizing the old ones.” Discussing race and policing, one character says, “Whenever someone in the house is dropped by drug violence, the neighborhood does not pause but when a white girl gets drowned or killed its news.’ And ‘Once you’re on the 76’s radar (precinct) it’s hard to get off and you become part of every neighborhood shakedown.”

Pochoda said Red Hook reminds her of growing up in Cobble Hill, in a neighborhood where she was often bored and looked for excitement. Today, she is happy with some of Red Hook’s transformations, especially that the ferry service has brought in a lot of people into the neighborhood, but is sad that Red Hook’s sense of community is vanishing. Now that she

www.star-revue.com

lives in Los Angeles, she misses her life in Red Hook but keeps up with her friends on Facebook, secure in the fact that they are still tight and united.

“I do feel that change is coming in an irreversible way and that this unique feeling cannot last, but I believe that people who have lived in Red Hook all their lives will keep that feeling going.”

Ivy Pochoda’s latest novel is Wonder Valley, an NPR Best Book of 2017

May 2018, Page 17

ON WRITING, BY MATT CAPRIOLI E

ven if you have zero interest in writing, you’ve probably seen a cab-yellow newsstand of catalogs for the Gotham Writers Workshop, or the lime green advertisements for Sackett Street Writers Workshop. Since 2002, Sackett Street has worked with over 3,500 writers, and Gotham Writers (founded in 1993) currently averages 2,800 New Yorkers a year with their in-person classes. But trumping both of these two well-known programs is the less publically glitzy group, New York Writers Coalition (NYWC). Founded in 2002, NYWC has worked with over 15,000 writers.

Their high numbers are due to the fact they’re public and don’t charge for classes. If you’ve seen creative writing workshop notices at a Brooklyn Public library, there’s a good chance it was was arranged by NYWC. While Gotham and Sackett focus on literary writing (notice the stress on ‘workshop’ in their name) NY Writers Coalition is community-driven (the root word of ‘coalition’ is ‘coalesce’). They work to include veterans, seniors, at-risk youth, and people living with disabilities. In fact, their story began at a homeless shelter.

Shortly after graduate school at City College, Aaron Zimmerman, the founder of NYWC, was invited to run a poetry workshop at The Prince George Hotel, a homeless shelter in NoMad. He had just completed training at Amherst Writers & Artists, a group that emphasizes the value of positive comments in writing groups. He applied what he learned from AWA to the workshop; the results were inspiring.

“There were fantastic writers,” Zimmerman said. “Those beginnings were really eye-opening for me to work with people who came from different backgrounds. It shattered all the stereotypes out there.”

He returned to The Prince George to lead workshops in fiction and organize readings. Once he realized he could help low-income people and those living with HIV through writing workshops, Zimmerman was set on creating New York Writers Coalition.

As NYWC grew, Zimmerman focused on maintaining the connection between the arts and social justice. “How can we use the power of writing to change conceptions, bring people together, provide space? That’s why the focus is on people from groups that historically aren’t heard from enough.”

NY Writers Coalition is all about removing class and racial barriers to writing. Zimmerman said that when they first started, that philosophy seemed like a radical idea. “But now we know how we thrive when we hear from more people.” He noted that writing classes continue to be expensive. “They do tend to serve the privileged--educationally, economically. A lot of barriers get in the way of people and over time, some think they just can’t do it.”

Since 2005, NYWC has hosted a

Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue

free, six-week creative writing camp for teens in Fort Greene. They also run a small publishing press. Their first chapbook was from a Prince George Hotel writer who passed from AIDS. Since then, they’ve published over 45 books from their participants. This past January, they published Can You Feel the Free in Me, a collection of poems by women at their Rikers Island writing group.

The AWA Method NYWC doesn’t officially sponsor any method, but it’s hard to ignore the influence of Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA). Founded by Pat and Peter Schneider, the AWA method posits that the space where something is written is more important than instructions on how to write. According to their website, their philosophy “ is a simple one: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft.”

A typical workshop looks like this: writers sit in a circle and go over the

ground rules--only positive criticism, everything is to be treated as fiction, the purpose of the group is to be supportive. The instructor gives a prompt, ranging from quotes to touch this lemon slice and write what memories come to you. After writing for 15-20 minutes, the group stops. The instructor asks who wants to share (AWA is unique among writing methods in that the instructor participates too). The group listens to what was written. Considering that the piece is brand new, all comments gravitate toward the positive elements. If time permits, there’s a round two.

It’s not for everyone. Writing with others can feel uncomfortable when performing a traditionally solitary activity. Some of this fresh material can be wrenching to listen to, and parts of the process can become an exercise is in positivity gymnastics. More professional writers still gravitate toward Sackett and Gotham. But for the majority of people who want to dabble in writing, who fear having their work shared, who have a distress they want to explore, want to connect with a community, or recover from a sour MFA experience, this kinder, gentler method can be a literal life-saver.

Lynne Connor started the AWA-inspired group Lost Lit after her adoptive mother, who kept her breast cancer diagnosis a secret, passed.

After an AWA workshop in San Francisco where the prompt was a cotton ball, she tapped into some startling thoughts about Asian-

American identity. For Connor, the AWA method was more generative than a traditional MFA program. “I couldn’t survive the MFA without this method,” Connor said.

With everything in AWA considered fiction, Connor said this focused the conversation on craft, and removed some of the unproductive comments she encountered in her nonfiction MFA courses.

The group’s name comes from her own experience: turning to literature when she felt lost. Since 2012, Lost Lit holds regular meetings of 10-12 people in a secluded loft area at Grumpy Bert Art Gallery (owned by her husband) in Cobble Hill.

With treating everything as fiction and the focus on positive comments, Connor re-built the confidence to share her work with others. With two small children, Connor finds that parents respond well to AWA: there’s no homework, and the only writing discussed in the class is generated in that class.

“Part of why I love this method is that I really see the change,” Connor said.

“I can see the people who are petrified to read then by the end of six or eight weeks--they’re reading and their voice has changed. You can see themselves feel good about themselves.”

Lost Lit is just one of several smaller writing groups around Brooklyn using the AWA method. At Red Hook’s Jalopy Theater, Leslie Fierro has been running Cast Off Writers for the past two years. Paul Rozario-Falcone manages Safe Space Stories in Carroll Gardens.

After a law degree and an editing career, Rozario-Falcone signed up for an AMA workshop through NY Writers Coalition about four years ago.

“I was so impressed how it jump starts your creative process,” he said. “The environment is so friendly and warm, really anyone can use this method.”

Eager to learn more, RozarioFalcone (like Connor) attended an AWA “bootcamp” in Amherst. For a week, they took turns leading workshops and enacting specific participant personas. They would spot the group dynamic, such as the writer whose feedback was more self-involved than focused on the piece at hand. They also wrote based off of dozens of prompts.

“You’d be surprised at what we can create in the span of 20 minutes,” he said.

They learned that the space in which writing is discussed is just as important as how it is discussed.

“This method fosters creation of a space that is safe for anybody. It’s nonjudgmental and allow your own voice to develop slowly. We learn by each other through positive

www.star-revue.com

feedback.

The goal isn’t to say you don’t understand something, it’s to ooh and aah.”

AWA workshops aren’t completely opposed to criticism. Each of these smaller groups offer manuscript critiques, which are held less frequently. Lost Lit offers a “Works in Progress” for people who want more direct feedback on a manuscript that’s ready for publication. “I don’t love doing those,” Connor admitted. “It’s hard with different people coming in various stages of completion.

Some people are just not ready to take the critique that comes out.”

All three instructors see a great range of professions attend their classes. Fierro’s current participants include teachers, lawyers, advertisers, college students, and recent graduates. She’ll often spread the word through Parent ListServs, and she’s found that parents with young children get a lot from AWA workshops. Fierro, who received her MFA from The New School in fiction, says Cast Off Writers offers opportunities for people who want to write but are weary of the critique.

“When the group only comments on what’s strong or memorable, the rest of your writing will rise,” Fierro said. She admits the workshop format isn’t for everyone and that not everything that transpires here is brilliant, “But everybody can find a place for their voice.”

In a video celebrating NY Writers Coalition 15th anniversary, a string of participants talked about the personal change they experienced from these writing groups.

They mentioned reduced pain and stress, a boost in confidence and self-esteem, a replacement for addictive behaviors, a connective path to other cultures, genders, situations and religions. It has built selfrespect and reduced depression.

All four of these instructors agreed that the relaxed environment inspires real-time improvement.

After 20 years of leading workshops, Zimmerman is still amazed by the change that occurs in just one hour. “Something magical happens. You can just see the power of receiving everyone’s feedback on that person: something melts, something transforms.”

When a writing group focuses on building trust, it allows a huge array of ages, races, and classes to participate. NYWC may not churn out the best writing in New York, but it does offer a sprawling network of opportunities for New Yorkers to feel some stability in their own lives and connection with their community.

“Our New Yorker stories have similar elements,” Zimmerman said, “and it’s a great thing to witness. If you can tell a story, you can write it down. That goes for everyone.”

May 2018

RHI wins money in Innovation contest

by Nathan Weiser

N

BC 4 New York and Telemundo 47 gave Red Hook Initiative (RHI) a $100,000 check that the community organization will be able to use in a variety of ways. RHI won first place in the “Project Innovation” contest.

In a packed Red Hook Initiative in the middle of April, NBC New York presented their check to the grand prize winner, RHI, based on their programs and impact in the community.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Senator Valmanette Montgomery were some of the politicians on hand who spoke in front of RHI students and staff for this momentous occasion. This grant will have a real impact on the people who work at RHI as well as those in Brooklyn and throughout New York City.

Broadcasters Pat Battle from NBC New York and Edgardo del Villar from Telemundo were at RHI joined the special event to highlight this achievement.

Various organizations throughout the tri state area were considered and RHI was by far the most impressive one according to the judges at NBC Universal based on the criteria that they had. RHI won the first prize, and there were two other community organizations who also received grants for a lesser amount of money.

“We reviewed all of the 100s of applications that we received, and these three organizations were the top applicants,” said Vanessa Garcia, who is the director of communications and community at NBC 4 NY. “RHI was just phenomenal. The way they structured the application, the impact that they have, the program they are doing, creating jobs for the students, it’s phenomenal.”

According to the press release, the winning organizations were selected by the stations for their outstanding programs that leverage technology to solve everyday problems in the areas of civic engagement, skills for the digital economy and STEM/STEAM youth programming.

Jaebi Bussey, who is the program manager for the Digital Stewards program, described how the grant from NBC NY will be used.

“It is going to come into our operational budget, which funds most of the salaries for the young adults in the

program,” Bussey said. “They get paid to work in the program for on the job training. The large portion will go to salaries for the young adults. The other large portion goes to equipment.”

The young adults get paid to work in the community with the Red Hook WIFI, which is a relatively new initiative of RHI. They are also paid to do work with producing promotional videos and photos.

“We are also the media department for RHI itself,” Bussey said. “We just did a video for new staff coming on for orientation purposes to let new staff know how the organization works and the history of the organization. The Digital Stewards produced that film as well.”

Bussey does not think they will get new cameras with the grant since they are very expensive, but he envisions them getting accessories for the cameras, lighting tools and tripods. They will also buy equipment to maintain the Red Hook WIFI. He wants to get different routers and access points, so they will have the hardware and software that they will need to help the young adults develop the network for Red Hook WIFI. He sees this having a real impact on the program and appreciates the investment NBC is showing.

“Confidence because this is a pilot program that has been around for four years (Digital Stewards),” Bussey said.

The organization has been around for 16 years. The Digital Stewards is about a quarter of that time. To have a huge company like NBC recognize us and say that this is innovation let’s us know that we are doing the right job, and we are going in the right direction.”

This grant, that will allow Red Hook WIFI to be improved, will mean that they will be able to impact people outside of just Red Hook.

Bussey envisions that when the WIFI router is set up by individuals in the program that over 100 people will be able to get access from that one Digital Steward. This means that one person will impact 100 people.

Furthermore, the 100 or so people that log on through the Digital Stewards’ Red Hook WIFI will be able to share and connect the media content that they produce with thousands of people.

“NBC did say that they were going to check back with Red Hook Initiative in six months to see how the $100,000 had been used so far.”

Red Hook Star-Revue

“From those actions of the one person, to scale to hundreds in Red Hook, to scale to thousands around New York City because of information technology, there is a huge amount of scale and impact,” Bussey added.

He wants to be able to get equipment that will help the

Television executives pose with RHI staff and members as they present the $100,000 check. (photo by Nathan Weiser)

Digital Stewards operate, make videos and expand the Red Hook Wifi.

This includes the IT work where they will need access points, which will entail get physical antennas and wires to connect to WIFI. He will invest in hardware and the software to monitor and track the usage of the Red Hook WIFI. Bussey added they will be trying to improve their studio and the outdated equipment they have.

“We are going to be buying things for our studio for lighting and backdrops to take engaging pictures,” Bussey said. Also, things like microphones so that we have the ability to produce high quality content. We have to replace the wires and the cables.”

“We have iMACs that are about 10 years old,” Bussey added. “Hopefully we can upgrade a couple of the computers, so we can have the capacity to do cutting edge work. We want to continue to grow the program so that impacts what we spend.

Red Hook Initiative had 5,000 people from the community access their services. They work with many young people in the community from middle school students, to high school students to people who are a few years out of high school.

“RHI acts as a bridge for all of those people to come together and create outstanding change in the community,” Bussey added.

This grant will go partly to benefit the Red Hook WIFI program at RHI, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams spoke about his support of this program and the benefit that RHI can serve for the larger community.

“The WIFI is so important,” Borough President Adams said. “It is something that not only connects you to other people, but it connects you to the vast universe of the internet and what it has to offer.”

He went on to talk about the revival of Red Hook and how the Red Hook WIFI can help connect the neighborhood to a much more expansive area.

“This is particularly when you look at Red Hook, Brooklyn,” Adams said. “For

www.star-revue.com

so many years, there has been this disconnect in Red Hook to what happens throughout the entire city. With what the young people are doing here by using technology, they are forcing the entire city, if not the entire country, to know that you are here, that you have a message and you have a voice.”

Senator Montgomery spoke about how RHI is difference maker and a pillar for the youth of Red Hook and acknowledged NBC for supporting RHI. “You are an anchor in our community especially for young people,” Montgomery said. “I just want to thank Red Hook Initiative’s staff and the people who have kept the dream alive and made sure that we were able to realize the dream. Thank you to NBC for helping us do that today. It is a wonderful thing to see that we can make a difference in the lives of young people. Red Hook Initiative represents that to me.”

District Leader Arelis Martinez addressed everyone at RHI and discussed how much value she thinks that RHI has for the Red Hook community.

“I see that Red Hook Initiative is a great program and the services that they do for us is amazing,” Martinez said. “I have seen that they have done so much. They have given so much to the community. I am very proud of this organization and am happy to be here today supporting you.”

NBC did say that they were going to check back with Red Hook Initiative in six months to see how the $100,000 had been used so far.

As of the middle of April Digital Stewards had 12 individuals in the program. RHI and Digital Stewards’ recruit throughout the year, so that number will go up, and then some will graduate during the year as well.

Throughout the whole previous year, the Digital Stewards program has worked with a total of 34 young adults.

“It is kind of a rolling program that brings in young adults and gives them this experience, connects them to resources outside, and internships and externship opportunities,” Bussey said.

May 2018, Page 19

Friends of Firefighters holds a spicy fundraiser Friends of Firefighters had their first annual chili cook off fundraiser at the Invisible Dog on April 27 with the Radio Flyerz providing musical entertainment.

Friends of Firefighters provides free support, counseling and needed help to New York City firefighters and their families at their refurbished firehouse on 199 Van Brunt Street.

This organization is a 501c3 nonprofit that is dedicated to addressing the physical, mental health and wellness needs of New York City’s firefighters and their families. Their mission is to provide long-term support and services through confidential counseling, wellness services and other assistance that’s required by firefighters.

According to one of the organizers they expected about 60 people but there were about 70 people and that doesn’t include the 20 firefighters that were at the event. Firefighters from six different stations showed up to the fundraiser.

Each of the firehouses spent most of the day preparing chili their favorite kind of chili for everyone to enjoy at the event. The firefighters served everyone and enthusiastically talked to all the people who came near their food.

After all of the guests had tried samples of all of the chili, they were asked to rank them one through three on a ballot so that the organizers could determine which firehouse made the

best chili.

Someone named Tony Cat from the Red Hook firehouse on Lorraine Street made pasta fagioli, which he described as the Italian chili. Ladder 110 on Tillary Street made vegan chili, and the fireman from the Tillary Street location said a firefighter there is vegan and he makes the best chili.

Ladder 18 from Manhattan made BBQ baked bean chili. Another firehouse, ladder engine 33 made their specialty of white bean chicken chili. Ladder 131, from Red Hook, made chili pepper chili, which was the spiciest variety.

In addition to the cornbread and rice that came with some of the chili, a caterer named Cuisine by Claudette from the Rockaway’s provided salad, bread, mac and cheese and dessert.

There was a Chinese auction and a 50/50 raffle to raise more money for Friends of Firefighters. Some of the prizes for the Chinese auction included a package of four Yankees tickets, a large pizza at Sam’s on Court Street, a FitBit Charge 2, a charcoal grill, a $25 Two firefighters cooking spicy chili could be explosive, but the hoses were always nearby. gift card at Dellapietras and a gift box 23 photographs were auctioned off (kcarbonephotography.com) and Pefor Rituals Cosmetics. all that all had an FDNY theme. They ter Brady (pbradyphotography.com).

According to a woman assisting the were auctioning photographs of the They have a gala at Pioneer Works Chinese auction, they solicited peoocean, ground zero, views of One every year, which is fancier, but they ple to donate gifts to support Friends World Trade Center. All of the pho- wanted to have an event out of Red of Firefighters and many were enthutographers had an FDNY connection, Hook, so people would know they siastic to contribute to the cause. They according to a firefighter with knowl- work with firefighters from different found that someone had something edge of the silent auction. neighborhoods around Brooklyn and extra to help assist the raffle.

Five different photographers had their around the city. - Nathan Weiser There was also a silent auction where work displayed including Kia Carbone

Girl Scouts honored at Carroll Gardens library

“They wanted to do something for kids affected by the hurricanes,” Troop 2672 leader Jeannie Jackson tells the Star-Revue.

“There were different ways we spoke about raising money, and they were set on doing bowling.” Saturday was an amazing experience for our girls with a visit from Congresswomen Nydia Velasquez.

She presented the girls with a Congressional Record as well as individual certificates. She captivated our girls who hung on to every word.

It was probably one of the most exciting meetings our girls had. To finish the Bronze award the girls will be writing to politicians asking them to support a Bill she is looking to bring forward, as there are many families without deed to their homes in Puerto Rico who are not able to get money from FEMA because they don’t have a deed.

Girl Scout Troop 2672 is honored by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez at the Carroll Gardens Library. Troop leader Jeannie Jackson is at the top left. Jackson also serves as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club.

Felix Ortiz thanks Governor Cuomo at the Red Hook Senior Center for helping NYCHA Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz spoke at the new Red Hook Senior Center before lunch, one day last month. He warned of possible cuts in housing subsidies because of Ben Carson who is still the head of the US Housing and Urban Development department.

Carson thinks recipients of Section 8 should be put to work, among other ideas he has.

Ortiz said that the governor will protect NYCHA residents as he has already promised them extra money.

The two long-term Tenant Association Presidents, Lillie Marshall and Frances Brown also spoke of the great jobs done by Ortiz and Cuomo.

Danny Barber, who is the president of DCOP, which also has something to do with Tenant Association, told the crowd of seniors, there for lunch, that they will prevail despite cuts from Washington.

Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.star-revue.com

May 2018