Red Hook Star-Revue, July 2018

The JULY 2018

2nd Place: Best Small Circulation Publication

Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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July 2018, Page 3

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Red Hook StarªRevue

481 Van Brunt Street, 8A Brooklyn, NY 11231

July Happenings

email george@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

George Fiala

A Liz Galvin

A E Matt Caprioli R: Nathan Weiser Erin DiGregorio C: Laura Eng, Religion Emily Kluver, Features Ramaa Reddy Raghavan Mary Ann Pietanza Sofia Baluyut, Tina Portelli Ed Littleford, Brian Abate FOR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING OR EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIES, email george@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 Michael Racioppo (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

7

There will be a Formula E Community Awareness meeting from 11 am to 12 pm at the Red Hook Library (7 Wolco� Street). You Sat. will be able to learn about the event details for the Formula E weekend, ferry access, traffic and street closures and community access to the events.

How to use common herbs for lotions and other recipes. For more informa�on, see www. greencityforce.org/farmsatNYCHA/ For ques�ons, contact nefra�a@added-value.

Wed. org or saara@added-value.org NYCHA Farm, Red Hook West, (across from the library) 1:30 - 3:30 pm

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12

HS equivalency prep screenings at the Red Hook Library You can register to take a test to find out your readiness for Thur. the exam. You will be placed in a prep class, enrolled in the online prep class and registered for the TASC exam or Na�onal External Diploma Program (NEDP). Also on July 26. 1:30 to 3:30 pm.

14

The FIA Formula E Championship, a professional series of all-electric cars, will come to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal for Sat. the second year in a row. There will be races on Saturday July 14 and Sunday July 15 where 10 teams and 20 drivers will face off to secure this year’s �tle. Tickets for this year’s race start at $85 for a single day for adults, free for children under 15, and $150 for both days.

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Pirate School! With Billy Bones will go from 2 to 4 pm at the Waterfront Museum (290 Conover Street). Call th Smartlix Box Office Sun. at 877-238-5596 to purchase �ckets, $15 for adults and $13 for kids in advance and $20 for adults and $15 for kids at the door.

18

Stomp, Clap and Sing with Silly Jazz and Camille at the Red Hook Library (7 Wolco� Street). Come dance along to “silly jazz” with Wed. comedian and jazz singer Camille Harris.

Popular songs include: The Monster Under My Bed, Muffin Man and Chops�cks. This is best for li�le ones aged 0-5 and their caregivers.

23 Mon.

Every Monday and Friday, the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) will be having computer lab. The lab will be open from 10:30 to 12:30 pm and from 2:30 pm un�l 4 pm. The computer lab is on the lower level (LL4).

ONGOING

E & P

The gym, theater, weight room and computer room will be available for ages 13 and up at the Miccio Community Center (110 West 9th Street) every Saturday of the month. This is a program sponsored by Good Shepherd Services, and it will go from 10 am to 5 pm. Call 718-243-1528 for more informa�on.

On Tuesdays, from 5 – 7 pm at the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) there will be a CARES Wellness support group.

Come to learn about coping strategies for dealing with stress, learn ways of relaxing and taking care of yourself and learn how to focus on healing and restora�on.

Dinner and Metrocards will be provided. Call Red Hook CARES at 347-404-9017 to learn more.

On Wednesdays, the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center will be hos�ng a support group for women who have experienced violence in a rela�onship. Join this group (5 un�l 7 pm) to 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.

Every Thursday of the month Broadly Entertaining will be hos�ng 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 a�er trivia finishes will get 50 percent off their tab.

On Fridays from 11 to 1 pm there will be one-on-one training for resume, cover letter and interview prep at the Red Hook Library (7 Wolco� Street)

The Red Hook Book Club will have a record shop edi�on of the book club. 6:30 un�l 8 pm at Bene’s Record Shop, 360 Van Brunt Street.

23

What’s Dis?! – The Grand Falloons will go from 2 pm to 4 pm at the Waterfront Sun. Museum (290 Conover Street). This is a Daffy Duck-esque romp through the Great American Vaudeville of the 1920’s. There will be �ckets at the door if they are s�ll available. Adult �ckets are $20 and student �ckets are $15.

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

for the complete calendar go to bit.ly/2LnUKSL

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

Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2018

BACK IN THE DAY SECTION:

This first appeared in the Brooklyn Phoenix weekly newspaper in 1987, at a time when closing that hospital was the last thing on most people’s minds. Courtesy Serif Press, Michael Armstrong, Publisher

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

Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2018, Page 5

RELIGIOUS NEWS

BY LAURA ENG laura.eng59@aol.com.

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“Photo credit: C. Bulone Seare”

Outdoor Mass at Cabrini Park

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Religious Services

Christian Center

River Of God Christian

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) 470-3523, 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: 718-875-6960, 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

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.

Saint Paul Saint Agnes Parish

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.

ith the sun dipping over Buttermilk Channel to the west, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary/St. Stephen Parish celebrated their patronal feast, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at an outdoor Mass at Cabrini Park on the evening of Friday, June 8th.

Approximately 100 parishioners and neighbors gathered in the park, on President Street off Van Brunt. The park is the former site of St. Charles Chapel, also once known as Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church.

It was there that St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, (Mother Cabrini), and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart worked tirelessly to meet the needs of a thriving Italian immigrant community beginning in the early 1800s. The tradition of the outdoor Mass has been ongoing for the last several years.

The evening began with a procession of parishioners, choir members, and altar servers singing and carrying flags and banners from SHSS Church on Summit and Hicks Streets over the Summit Street bridge onto Columbia Street and finally to the park, where an altar, candles, and chairs had been set up, and many had already gathered.

With guitar and flute accompaniment, the SHSS choir sang traditional hymns in the mostly peaceful setting, sometimes punctuated with hovering helicopters and an occasional siren.

Monsignor Steven Aguggia, Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Brooklyn, concelebrated the Mass with Monsignor Guy Massie, Father Dariusz Strzelecki, and Deacon Przemysław Byk. Because of city ordinances, amplification was not permitted and the service could not exceed an hour.

The Mass was live-streamed by John Mark de Palma, administrator of the SHSS Facebook page, and was followed live by forty people and ultimately viewed by 400-plus viewers from as far away as Poland.

Local Clergy React to Zero Tolerance

There has been an endless amount of news coverage and heated opinions regarding the Trump Administration’s order in May of a zero tolerance policy towards those caught crossing the Mexican/U.S. border illegally. Prior to the zero tolerance enactment, anyone caught trying to cross the border was processed, detained, and sent home, except for those seeking asylum, who were granted due process, and those traveling with small children, who were detained, interviewed, released, and required to show up at court to have their case reviewed at a future date.

The current administration’s enforcement of this policy requires that those entering illegally are to be criminally prosecuted with no exceptions for those seeking asylum. And until June 20th, when President Trump reversed his decision, all minor children were separated from the parents and/or guardians with whom they were traveling.

Despite families not being separated at border crossings any longer, as many as 2,000 children had already been separated and many separated families have yet to be reunited. Indeed, some children had been transported far from the Texas border to locations in New York City and New York State.

The response was swift from religious leaders, including Pope Francis, American Catholic bishops like New York’s own Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, and the Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, who all condemned the separation of children from their parents.

Reaction by local clergy to the current situation included a proactive post by Pastor Edwin Pacheco of Redemption Church on the church’s Facebook (continued on next page)

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July 2018

Religion (continued from previous page)

page, appealing to Spanish-speaking friends and family to consider assisting and possibly fostering the 239 children who have been transported to the Cayuga Center in East Harlem.

On the local front, Monsignor Guy Massie, Pastor of Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen, commented, “While our borders need to be made secure, separating children from families is barbaric, wrong, and immoral.”

In the event that families must be returned to Mexico, Msgr. Massie feels it would be better if the families were not split and could be returned together.

“Whatever the solution, [it] must respect the people and family and children,” stated Msgr. Massie, adding that “the United States should work with Mexico to try to make living conditions better for the Mexican people so as to discourage migration to the United States.” He was pleased that so many protested “this behavior on behalf of the U.S.” Sister Máire Close of the Community of St. John Koinonia at Visitation BVM Parish stated that “there is a need for major reform within the system for both those who are ‘undocumented’ and [already living] in the country, and those who desire to come into the country in order to build a better life.”

Sr. Máire went on to say, “The greatest ‘terror’ I see is that of fear which cripples social growth, emotional growth, psychological growth, and, most of all, spiritual growth in humanity. Fear at the level of government and fear at the most basic level for human survival.

Fear dictates the actions we take but where there is love there is no fear!”

Upcoming Events River of God Christian Center 110 Wolcott Street Outdoor Worship/Outreach sponsored by Liberation Generation on July 21 at 1 pm at Commodore Barry Park, Flushing Avenue and North Elliot Place, Brooklyn. This is a free event.

Community Cookout - date to follow.

Back to School Bash with distribution of book bags on August 26.

Big Hat Prayer Breakfast fundraiser for missions on September 15. This is a free event.

Bible Museum Trip on September 29.

Cost is $115.

Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church Summit & Hicks Street New York Memory Center, a pioneer in the movement to bring evidencebased home and community solutions to adults living with memory loss, and to their caregivers, presents two workshops: “How to Keep Your Brain Fit,” for everyone with a concern about memory loss, on July 22 and “Family Caregiving” on August 5 from 11:15 to 12 noon at SHSS Church in the Transfiguration Chapel. All are welcome!

Red Hook Star-Revue

St. Agnes/ St. Paul’s Parish Hoyt & Sackett Streets/234 Congress Street Eucharistic Adoration is Saturday after the 8:30 Mass in the Chapel at St. Paul and every first Saturday of the month at noon in the Chapel at St. Agnes.

Monthly Fundraising Lunch with Grand 50/50 on Sunday, July 15 from 1:30-4 pm at St. Agnes Hall. Tickets are $7. All are welcome!

Atlantic City Here We Come! Young @ Heart is sponsoring a fundraising trip to the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City on Tuesday July 17th. Tickets are $35 with $25 casino rebate PLUS $5.00 food voucher. Bus picks up at 9am in St. Agnes and at 9:15 am in St. Paul. Please call the rectory to SAVE A SEAT! Join our Youth & Young Adult Group on Saturday, July 14 and July 28 at 4 pm at St. Paul. Faith, Friends, Fun! St. Mary Star of the Sea Church 467 Court Street Religious Education for grades 1-5 begins on Sunday, September 16. Registration forms are available in church, at the rectory or on our website: www. stmarystarbrooklyn.com. The cost per child is $100 and $180 for two children in the same family. Class size is limited so please do not delay in registering your child.

Please visit our website www.stmarystarbrooklyn.com and click on the first picture on our home page... that will take you to our latest bulletin with all current events.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 199 Carroll Street Jazz Mass on Sunday, July 29 at 10 am.

St. Paul’s will continue its tradition of celebrating a summer jazz Mass coordinated by parishioner Willie Martinez. Please plan to join us at this wellattended event.

Visitation BVM Church 98 Richards Street Healing Mass on Wednesday, July 11 at 7 in Spanish and Friday, July 27 at 7 pm in English.

St. John Bread and Life Mobile Soup Kitchen on Tuesdays from 1 pm - 2:30 pm and Fridays from 10 am - 12 noon (except first Fridays of the month).

serving Red Hookers since 2006

Tuesday night is Burger Night... tempura onion rings, free toppings, burger +beer=$20

Wed. is Ramen night!

Come on ov!

391 Van Brunt Street (718) 643-6636 www.star-revue.com

July 2018, Page 7

Red Hook Community Farm Kicks Off Summer Season 2018 with First Farmer’s Market

by Erin DeGregorio

According to Parker, radishes, turnips, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, tomatoes, and eggplants are currently growing in the 2.75 acre farm.

The capable Domingo Morales, who worked under David Buckel, has now taken over his duties. (photo by George Fiala)

T

he Red Hook Community Farm, operated by Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and Added Value has officially welcomed the warm weather with open arms after holding its first Farmers Market for the 2018 season.

Held on June 16, the farm stand brought community members together to celebrate the beginning of summer and showed what the neighborhood has to offer in terms of fresh, affordable produce.

“The farm stand turnout was great,” says Brendan Parker, Red Hook Community Farm’s manager and an Added Value Farms team member. “We only expect it to get better as the season rolls on.”

Added Value Farms is a youth-centered urban farming and food justice non-profit that also cultivates the soil and grows the farm’s food. It creates opportunities for teens to expand their knowledge base, develop their leadership skills, and positively engage with each other, their community, and the environment. This non-profit also partners with the Red Hook Community Supported Agriculture (Red Hook CSA) to offer a weekly produce share of locally grown vegetables.

This year also features the pop-culture naming of certain fields within the site – “Wakanda 1,” “Wakanda 2” and so on, for example, handwritten on brown posts at the beginning of particular rows. Saara Nafici, executive director of Added Value Farms, says the youth farm apprentices decided to name the beds Dino, Wakanda, Tomato Town and Groot – some after popular settings and characters found in Epic Games’s survival video game “Fortnite,” and Marvel’s blockbuster movies “Black Panther and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” This was an idea of the young workers.

“The heart and soul of the Red Hook Community Farm are the youth farm apprentices who are hired from the neighborhood and learn all aspects of running an urban farm – from seeding to harvesting to sharing the produce with their community.”

Remembering David Buckel:

David Buckel, who made a political statement earlier this year by selfimmolating in Prospect Park, founded the composting area of the farm.

Sandy had devestated the entire farm in 2012, flooding what had been fertile soil with salt water, which ruined it for growing. The farm made a deal with the Department of Sanitation, who wanted a place to bring organic wastes for composting. The resulting rich soil was used to reactivate the farm and is also available for free to community gardens throughout the city.

Domingo Morales, an overseer of the Red Hook Community Farm and an Organics Recovery Coordinator with the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, knew Buckel well. Before joining the site as a Green City Force volunteer, when he was a part of the AmeriCorps program, three years ago, Morales binged Buckel’s YouTube composting videos and kind of memorized everything he said.

A photo of the late David Buckel watering down compost (photo by Tsun-Chueh Huang @tsunchuehhuang)

“My first impression of David was this guy must really really care because nobody that I knew was just doing what David was doing. [He] was really trying to change the world through a composting perspective,” Morales says. “I was just so surprised at how unique and organized he was, and I was kind of finishing his sentences the first time I met him.”

Soon after Morales began to help Buckel wrap up whatever project he and his team were working on during his lunch breaks, and would also volunteer on his days off. From then on Buckel became his mentor.

“I had a lot of energy and didn’t know what to do with it. I got aggravated with a lot of social issues and environmental issues I was learning about and he helped me through my frustration,” he says. “He was always trying to get me a step higher than where I was.”

Morales says also Buckel taught him the ins-and-outs of composting, the proper terminology and the science behind composting through the years.

He believes that had Buckel not encouraged him to strive and do better, he would have quit two years ago and would not have pursued composting as a career.

The farm has a big picture of Buckel, watering a windrow, in his memory.

Morales says the picture was originally ziptied to the chain-linked fence surrounding the farm, but had fallen down. Now he has to use metal ties to make sure that never happens again.

“When it fell down I took that as a sign of David saying, ‘Hey how about metal this time,” Morales says with a laugh.

to work even harder, makes me want to do more – to do as much as I can. I never want to do the bare minimum,” Morales says.

Nafici also says that his presence and absence has been deeply felt on the farm since his passing. She also referred to Buckel as a “tireless and passionate environmental advocate who elevated community composting to an exquisite art form at the Red Hook Community Farm” on the group’s digital platforms.

How to get involved:

The Red Hook Community Farm is located near IKEA, at 560 Columbia Street (at the corner of Columbia and Sigourney Streets).

The farm stand will be held every Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., until November 17 (excluding September 1) – cash, debit/credit, EBT, WIC, HealthBucks and FMNP vouchers are accepted, according to the official website. Additionally a new farm stand will be launched on Wednesday evenings starting in August, next to the Joseph Miccio Cornerstone Community Center. Nafici says there will be lots of fresh vegetables like peppers, tomatoes and greens galore and that there will be special offers for Red Hook Houses residents. Plus, starting this month, the farm will be offering free weekly cooking demonstrations – where participants can receive Health Bucks redeemable for produce.

To learn more about volunteering and helping out, stop by the farm any Saturday morning. For additional information about the farm, Added Value and the Red Hook CSA, go to addedvalue.org/csa/.

In the last few months Morales has continued to keep the farm running– including keeping the site neat the way Buckel always kept it – and strives to make it better in Buckel’s honor.

“For me [his passing] makes me want

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Red Hook Initiative to release yearlong study on violence July 12 RHI’S Real Rite Anti-Violence Research Group, a group that includes Tyneisha Williams, and Catherine McBride, RHI’s Director of Community Building, traveled to Phoenix last March to speak about their study at the “Innovations in Participatory Democracy Conference.”

The group’s mission, as stated in the program, is that “We believe participatory democracy is important because if you look at our neighborhood and the way we’re being governed, especially through policing, it’s unjust.

We’re the people living with these issues every day so we should have control over the standards and laws governing our community and also hold people in power accountable.”

In a Stop the Violence forum at the Miccio Center last May, featuring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Williams said “People say that cops are the main reason for violence in the neighborhood, and also, not having enough community programming is another result in violence.”

At that event, highlights of their study hung on the wall, including one that

Based on a CPEX market study with data sourced from New York City public records, the price per square foot of industrial property sales in New York City has increased 176% in the six-year period from 2011 to 2017. In Brooklyn alone, the price per square foot has increased 373% over the same period.

proclaimed, “Our findings reveal over policing and police brutality as major contributors to violence for young adults.”

Study findings were on display at an RHI Barbecue/Basketball tournament, held that same week in Coffey Park.

Posters describing the report were hung on trees around the barbecue.

The study was conducted between July, 2017 and May, 2018 according to one of the posters. Its goal was to, “understand violence in Red Hook from the perspectives of young adults who live here.”

The completed study is expected to be released at an event someplace in the community on July 12.

OLD INK FACTORY TO GET NEW LIFE

Before red dye #2 was outlawed as a food coloring, back in the 1970’s, Red Hook had been home to a Germany dye factory. They predated the Red Hook Houses, and served as employer of many after Red Hook East was built in the late 1930’s.

The city block was bought by the Moriarty family after Kohnstamm shut the plant in the early 1980’s. Moriarty are plumbers, and used some of the space to store their equipment. A bulk of it

seems as if it were never used. Now, at least half the space will be springing back to useful life.

CPEX Real Estate’s Brooklyn Development & Conversion Team has arranged the ground lease of 88,000 square feet of the Moriarty property, which is 537-555 Columbia Street Zoned M1-1, it offers 88,000 buildable square feet for commercial or manufacturing use or 211,000 buildable square feet for a community facility, as-of-right.

“We are seeing strong demand for industrial properties city-wide. It’s a function of the booming e-commerce market and the demand for warehouse and logistics space to meet this phenomenon, as well as the lack of inventory for quality industrial buildings and industrial-zoned sites,” said Kim.

“DHPH intends on delivering the first Class A industrial development to Brooklyn,” said Dov Hertz, principal at DH Property Holdings. “With 36foot clear ceiling heights, 54’ x 54’ foot column spacing, one loading dock for every 3,500 SF and floor loads in excess of 700 pounds per square foot, 537 Columbia will be the premier asset for any user looking to be within a one-hour drive of 13 million people.”

Washington policymakers must stand up for America’s newspapers and printers and over 600,000 jobs.

A single company wants to impose tariffs on newsprint…

it stands alone.

600,000 Jobs

North Pacific Paper Company

v.

Association for Print Technologies Association of Alternative Newsmedia Association of American Publishers Association of Free Community Papers Alabama Press Association American Society of News Editors Arkansas Press Association Arizona Newspapers Association Book Manufacturers’ Institute California Newspaper Publishers Association Catholic Press Association Catalyst Paper Colorado Press Association Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association Florida Press Association Georgia Press Association Graphic Arts Association (GAA) Great Lakes Graphics Association Hoosier State Press Association Independent Free Papers of America Illinois Press Association Inland Press Association International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors Iowa Newspaper Association Kansas Press Association Kentucky Press Association Kruger Local Media Association Local Search Association Louisiana Press Association Maine Press Association Maryland, Delaware and DC Press Association Minnesota Newspaper Association Missouri Press Association Mississippi Press Association Montana Newspaper Association National Newspaper Association News Advertising Coalition News Media Alliance New York News Publishers Association Nebraska Press Association Nevada Press Association New Mexico Press Association New York Press Association North Carolina Press Association North Dakota Newspaper Association

Ohio News Media Association Oklahoma Press Association Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Pacific Printing Industries Association PAGE Cooperative Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association PINE Print Media Association Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic Printing & Imaging Association of MidAmerica Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia, Inc. Printing Association of Florida Printing Industries Alliance Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California Printing Industries of America Printing Industries of Michigan, Inc. Printing Industries of Ohio • N.Kentucky Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast Printing Industry Association of the South, Inc. Printing Industry Midwest Quad Graphics Rayonier Advanced Materials Resolute Forest Products South Carolina Press Association South Dakota Newspaper Association Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Tennessee Press Association Texas Press Association The Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. Trusted Media Brands (formerly Reader’s Digest Association) Utah Press Association Valassis Communications Virginia Press Association Visual Media Alliance West Virginia Press Association Western States Printing Alliance Wisconsin Newspaper Association World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers Worzalla

Newsprint tariffs threaten the survival of local newspapers and printers, and put jobs at risk.

Sign our petition today: www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org

@STOPPCoalition #StoptheNewsprintTax PAID FOR BY STOP TARIFFS ON PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS

Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2018, Page 9

No summer backyard for the Senior Center

by Erin DeGregorio

T

he brand new Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center, operated by RAICES, reopened six months ago after a long five years of uncertainty and displacement from Superstorm Sandy. It was originally located in the basement of a Wolcott Street building for 21 years, but was flooded out and damaged from water.

Soon after, the center was temporarily relocated to the basement of the Miccio Center. Seniors were only allowed half days there, which included lunch.

The new, outside-of-the-flood-zone center was built with $5.7 million in funding from Federal Emergency Management Agency, New York City Council, and federal funding. This building, which had been an unused day-care center for years, was renovated – with a new roof, kitchen equipment, heating and ventilation systems installed among other necessary things.

NYCHA had initially promised in 2014 that construction would be completed by Dec. 2015. However, after finding leaks and issues with the concrete

floor, renovation was significantly delayed – and only completed by Dec. 2017.

“This is a place where the seniors can come and have fun – to get away from the loneliness at home,” says Maria Sanchez, who has been the center’s director for about three years.

Prior to Sandy’s damages and destruction, the center held all of its activities in one room with no space to spread out. Now it features an exercise room, where members have the opportunity to be physically active through tai chi, zumba and chair-obics.

The center also has a separate room for classic games like billiards, bingo, mahjong and dominoes, and has even offered crocheting classes. Plus seniors have the ability to brush up on their tech skills in a computer lab, thanks to Older Adults Technology Services (OATS). OATS is a social impact organization that harnesses the power of technology to change the way adults age. According to its official website, the group has, for example, taught seniors the basics of email and helped them manage medical information.

While Sanchez makes sure programs and services regarding elder abuse, nutrition and health management are also offered, there is a large, unused playground in the backyard, with weeds growing in between the cracks of the concrete.

Seniors recently graduated from a computer course given at the Center.

“We were informed initially that we were going to be able to use [the backyard] and now that we want to con-

This park behind the center hasn’t been used in years. It is possible that it is being warehoused by NYCHA in anticipation of building market rate housing. (DiGregorio, photo)

duct programming and farming, we were informed we can’t use it,” says RAICES’s Deputy Director Suyapa Blanco-Hernandez.

But Ranae Widdison, the director of Land Use and Planning for NYC Council District 38, says the backyard is NYCHA property and is not part of the senior center.

Future of yard uncertain

“NYCHA is in conversations with all stakeholders for possible backyard work,” says Michael Giardina, NYCHA’s deputy press secretary, via email. “Currently, there is no longterm agreement in place for the site – including the backyard.”

Blanco-Hernandez explains that the facility’s current lease is up and has to

be renewed.

“The Department for the Aging and NYCHA worked very hard in putting this lease together, but come July we have to develop a new agreement with NYCHA for the facility,” BlancoHernandez says.

Ideally Sanchez, the center’s director, would like to hold future barbecues or establish hands-on farming, in collaboration with EmblemHealth, in the now-playground area.

“My main goal is to make [the members] happy and to provide stability for them,” Sanchez says.

The Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center, located at 110 W. 9th Street, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Feel-good movie hits home for Red Hook residents

by Brian Abate

I

walked over to Cobble Hill Cinemas last night to watch Hearts Beat Loud. It’s the same movie theater I’ve been going to since I was a toddler and I’ve passed it thousands of times so I couldn’t help but point and laugh when Cobble Hill Cinemas appeared in the film. It felt like every scene showed a different place I know from the neighborhood.

ferman came into Red Hook to work on building a canoe. He stopped by Sunny’s bar, where some of the film was shot, to talk to Tone Balzano Johanson, who owns the bar. She is the widow of Sunny Balzano, who founded the bar.

I stopped by some of the places where scenes were shot including Baked, Sunny’s Bar, and Bene Coopersmith’s Record Shop to ask people in the area about the film.

Johansen declined to comment on the bar, film, and Offerman.

While many people hadn’t heard about the film, some became interested after hearing that it was filmed locally, including Sue Scarlett-Montgomery.

“It’s local so I definitely want to check it out,” said Scarlett-Montgomery.

Others, including construction workers, couples, and parents with their kids, all said they wanted to see the film because they lived in Red Hook.

Others were excited that Nick Offerman, who had spent time in Red Hook in the past, was one of its stars. Of-

Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue

“Back at the scene of the crime,” said Offerman when he greeted Balzano, according to The New Yorker.

In the film, Offerman plays a single father who owns a record shop, and has to close down his record shop and deal with his daughter leaving for college. He seemed like a typical dad, who wanted to have fun and spend time with his daughter, which made his character very relatable.

I grew up Cobble Hill and I’m interning in Red Hook so I pass the record store where many scenes from the film took place every day. I stopped by to talk to Bene Coopersmith.

Even though Coopersmith said “At the moment I’m saying nothing,” I had a chance to stop in his record shop.

There was a friendly, relaxed vibe with

A scene in the “fictional” Red Hook record shop from Hearts Beat Loud.

music playing int he background, and unlike the shop in the film, there was a crowd of people browsing through records.

“That (the friendly atmosphere) helped make the record shop successful,” said artist Scott Pfaffman, the building’s owner, who added that he felt the real story was the success of the actual record shop, not the one in the film. The record shop opened three years ago and the lease was just

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renewed according to Pfaffman.

“There have been a lot of places that have closed here,” said Pfaffman. “The record shop is successful because of Bene’s hard work. Period.”

July 2018

Homegrown reporters discover facets of Red Hook

by Alexis Lambrou and Jasmin Chang

R

ed Hook Reporters is a community-based reporting project connecting youth to local leaders and institutions, and providing the tools and space needed for teens to tell the stories of their own neighborhood. For more information write info@communityheroes.nyc 909.967.207

Reimagining Warehouses

by Shamiyah Gilmore (16) and Joanne Bresilien (18) What’s your story?

SG: Our story is about abandoned warehouses and buildings.

JB: How we got started is that we’ve lived in Red Hook all our lives. We’ve always seen the warehouses and no one has ever talked about them, or done anything with them to help the community.

SG: I was curious about the buildings because they’re just there to be there.

We got started because we’re curious.

What is something surprising you learned?

JB: We were surprised that someone actually let us go inside.

I learned that the reason that they don’t destroy the buildings and make them into something new is because it’s too much money for them to clean up. Nobody wants to buy a building and then have to clean it up. They just want to buy something that is already clean, and then they can build it into something new.

people can afford.

Young at Heart

by Shaiann Gilmore (17), Jocelyn Romero (17), Vaughn Branchel (18) What’s your story?

SG: I am reporting a story on the senior center in Red Hook. I never knew that the senior center was destroyed

by Sandy and had to relocate afterwards. I also got interested in this story because of my grandma. My grandma is crazy, but I love my grandma.

What surprised you?

SG: Visiting the senior center was one of the best things ever. It was so fun and also so funny. I got to hear other people’s stories and what it was for them to grow up, not just in Red Hook but all over. It’s always good to hear other people’s stories. You have similarities and you can connect to people.

It was just fun to watch the elderly people. For being elderly, they had a lot of youth in them. Really good energy and good vibes. They were so funny. I just loved it.

Also, it really was surprising that elderly people still date. I guess love knocks everything out. They still do things that younger people do because it makes them happy.

Denise Hewitt and Robert Lopez interview Bene at the Record Shop.

and get their head out of any problems that they have. It’s just a place to get away if there’s something stressful that’s happening at your house. You can come to the library, read a book or go on the computer and just relax.

Cops & Kids

by Sincere Lesane (16) and Jahtier Gettes (16) What’s your story?

SL: I am working on the cop story, about how they affect our community

SG: That the abandoned chemical factory was actually a flavor factory.

Like, who needs a flavor factory in the middle of Red Hook? We could actually use these buildings for something beneficial for the community.

What would you like to see these buildings be used for?

SG: I understand it’s expensive, but they could be beneficial to the community by being a supermarket. That’s something that can help the residents of Red Hook.

JB: Definitely a supermarket! There’s only C-Town and Fairway but it’s not enough and it’s not close to where everybody else lives. Also more affordable housing. There are not enough buildings or homes in Red Hook that

Lavel McLellan and Jahtier Gettes talk to two local officers.

A Place to Get Away

by Lavel McLellan (14) and Jahtier Gettes (16) What’s your story?

LM: The Red Hook library. Most people don’t talk about the library but it’s here for a reason and I want to let people know about it.

The library is not only for education, but it helps people’s lives and careers.

Some of the people that work there are actually very interested in helping kids not only because it’s their job, but because they really care.

I usually take my brothers once in awhile because I want them to get out of the area that they are usually in— “the ghetto” or a place that’s always violent. I don’t want them to get into stuff like that.

Was there anything you learned that surprised you?

LM: All the new clubs that they have.

Kids are going to start learning about circuits and how to build robots.

The young reporters had fun at the Red Hook Senior Center

Red Hook Star-Revue

JW: Based off experience of coming here, people come to relax and chill

and their opinion on the community.

It’s important to me because after going through a mentorship program with them, I still keep in touch with them on my phone and see them everyday.

JW: How the cops affect the community and how people react when they see the cops.

What’s something that surprised you?

SL: Since I’ve known them for a long time, I wasn’t very surprised. But I was surprised that they were so easygoing when I went into the police department. They even invited me to have some pizza.

The Good Fork & the Record Shop

by Denise Hewitt (16) Robert Lopez (16) DH: We focused on businesses within Red Hook and their impact on community, whether positive or negative and how they fuse together into something grander that we call Red Hook. We explored the dynamics between the store owners, the employees who work there, their customers,

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and the community as a whole and what they have done for them.

RL: We went to The Good Fork and Bene’s Record Shop. We took in the atmosphere. We interviewed Bene at the Record Shop and Kara at The Good Fork. We wanted to see their perspective on the neighborhood as a whole.

What was something surprising you found?

DH: For me, it was at the record shop.

There’s this basement space that people can use for band practice. The actual space itself was what I found interesting. Typically, in a cafe in the city or a space in LA, it’s as if whoever builds and runs the space wants it to have a rustic look—a brownstone aesthetic with wooden tables and wooden walls.

In the basement, it’s just how it is. It’s not anything pretty. There’s concrete.

There are hoses sticking out of the wall. Hearing the back story of how the basement floods all the time, and what it takes to maintain it….it’s not just an aesthetic. This is how people actually live and work. I loved how humble and homey the whole shop was, including the basement space. It fits the neighborhood.

RL: At The Good Fork, they have two kitchens. There’s a small one upstairs and a big one downstairs. Most restaurants have the kitchen in the back so no one can see it. But because they have a pathway to the garden, they needed to separate the kitchens. It was interesting how they miniaturized everything into one small space.

DH: They also had that ice cream that tasted like fruit loops. They used some kind of leaves and the aftertaste just tasted like fruit loops.

Red Hook Reporters is a collaboration between Red Hook resident and teaching artist Alexis Lambrou, Jasmin Chang of Community Heroes and Zac Martin of Trellis.

Special thanks to Katherine March Driscoll, Jessica Yu, Miccio Community Center, Brooklyn Slate, Red Hook Public Library, Karen Blondell, Lorie Novak, The Record Shop, The Good Fork, The Red Hook Farm, and Rocky Sullivan’s.

July 2018, Page 11

ple don’t expect it.”

NEIGHBORHOOD PORTRAIT:

As you might expect, it’s not easy to dive back into these memories.

FRANCESCA VAN HORNE

To help get herself ready for each performance, Francesca meditates, listens to charged music, and reads letters from her past that she knows will bring up some of the emotions she’s about to portray.

“It takes a lot out of me. I’m always asleep until one the next day,” she reflected as she looked back on her performances. “At the end of the Europe tour, I couldn’t even pick up the phone.”

Luckily, no matter how exhausting Francesca’s work life gets, her relaxed new Brooklyn lifestyle sets her back on track.

THE LIFE

Though Francesca’s history has played an important role in her story and, in some ways, always will, it is clear in talking to her that in so many other ways, her life has moved on. Francesca’s life is growing in directions that she never imagined when she sat in the Tribeca loft she used to inhabit.

by Emily Kluver THE MOVE FROM MANHATTAN

“I can’t believe that was my life,” Francesca Van Horne says in the same light tone she used to describe her recent career changes. But the topic is anything but light.

Francesca is a talented actor, writer, producer, and director. She’s a mother. She’s an active member of her local community, this community. She does it all and more.

Looking at her happily conversing with the baristas at Cantine, a small coffee shop in the Columbia Waterfront District, you would think that her world had always been exactly what it is now—full of energy and joy.

Life isn’t all that simple, though.

Life looked perfect

Not all that long ago, Francesca found herself trapped in an abusive marriage. She had the “Wall Street husband” and the Tribeca loft. It all looked perfect on the outside. No one knew that beneath the surface, an entirely different story was playing out.

Her most recent show, Tales from the Trundle, a one-woman performance written by Francesca, pulls inspiration from her personal journey. She leads audiences from the darkness of an abusive past into the bright world of freedom, growth, and discovery.

“It’s important to me to tell the story authentically,” Francesca muses over coffee. “It’s a story of self-transformation, grief, joy… It’s about getting out of a toxic marriage with 3 little kids at the time… It touches on body image, self-love, why you shouldn’t get married at 24, addiction, what we think is the American dream—you know, keeping family together.”

In the show, Francesca plays 13 char-

Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue

acters, using inflection and her own sense of physicality to transform before audiences into diverse characters of different ages and genders.

When Francesca first wrote the show, back when she was trying to get up on her feet again, she could not have known that it would meet such success. Before long, she was taking her show on the road, touring not only in New York, but in London and Paris.

“I was concerned the humor wouldn’t translate, but it turns out, I sort of have a Frenchman’s sense of humor… all dark and sarcastic,” Francesca joked.

It turns out, Paris loved her. London, too. Her story translated well and wherever she went, people appreciated her story. They thanked her for sharing it.

That’s the thing about Francesca’s story, it spans beyond her circle, beyond her culture. It’s a story echoed throughout the world, throughout time. People hurt other people. And hurt people can survive. In fact, they can thrive.

“I think the biggest thing I want the audience to come away with is that we’re all entitled to joy,” Francesca says simply, adding, “Anyone who robs you of that, you have to let go of.”

Now, Francesca is hoping to bring that message to young people across the country by performing at universities and getting students to talk about domestic violence.

Abuse is unexpected

“With domestic violence in general, abuse in general, it creeps in slowly.

These are not devils with pitchforks, they’re usually charming, goodlooking,” Francesca explains. “They choose strong, intelligent women and slowly wear them down because peo-

A few years after her marriage ended, Francesca’s landlord raised her rent and she decided to start over somewhere else. She “cast a wide net,” in search of somewhere she could call home, and it wasn’t long before the search led Francesca to Carroll Gardens.

“I stopped at Frankie’s and started talking to the owners. They went on and on about the neighborhood,” she recalled. “It’s so crazy, you can live so close to Manhattan and it’s another universe. [Carroll Gardens is] like living in a quiet little vortex where you feel safe and relaxed.”

In Tribeca, Francesca felt like everyone was were constantly looking her up and down, assessing her and passing judgments.

Now she spends her free time frequenting her favorite local spots— Fort Defiance, Sunny’s, Brooklyn Yoga Project, Cobble Hill Cinema. Francesca is learning how to live her best life and feels like she has the freedom to do so without judgment from the people around her.

“People ask how I’m adjusting to Brooklyn,” Francesca exclaims before bursting into laughter.

In her show, the main character, based on Francesca herself, starts each day with a triple espresso drunk through a straw (to avoid stains on her perfectly white teeth). This is, Francesca explains, a slight dramatization of a very real problem.

In Brooklyn, Francesca’s days start with a “Latte Walk.” Each morning, she sips her coffee while she walks her youngest child to school, chatting with the neighbors on the way and conversing with her daughter. It’s a completely different lifestyle and Francesca loves it.

“It was an adjustment for the kids,” Francesca conceded, “but they fell in love. They have this great 1950’s-style childhood, hanging out on the stoop, going to play at the park. You don’t have to be as on guard as you do in Manhattan.”

knowing your neighbors will look out for you.

As she’s gotten to know the people around her, Francesca has seen how very far they’ve been willing to go to give her a hand. One neighbor, a French soccer player, connected her to the theater scene in Paris, which opened up doors for her to tour there.

Another helped her set up connections in Cuba.

Listing the things that she loves about the neighborhood, Francesca concludes, “I love that I’m treated like family; my neighbors have been very supportive.”

THE BRIGHT FUTURE

As she looks ahead, Francesca shrugs with a smile, her open palms raised with a graceful flick of her wrists. Her optimism is apparent.

Francesca is excited to announce that she was asked to produce “Undying Love,” a musical based on a book by Ben Harrison. It’s a “macabre story” of a German scientist who has a post humous love affair with a young Cuban woman.

Based on a very real story out of Key West, this musical is exactly the kind of story that Francesca loves.

“Here [in the US], there is such a disconnect with bodies and emotions.

Latin culture is visceral,” Francesca expresses, balling her hands into fists to emphasize her point. Having grown up in both St. Louis, Missouri and Buenos Aires, Argentina, she developed a deep love of the storytelling culture in South America.

However, though she loves producing these kinds of stories, at her core, Francesca loves to create. As an actor and a writer, Francesca shines.

In recent years, she has starred in a number of movies and is currently working on a new play, a sequel to Tales from the Trundle. The working title of the new play is “Stumble,” after the dating app “Bumble,” and it focuses on the funny world of dating post-divorce.

“Love for those 38 and over,” Francesca laughs.

As she discussed her new play, Francesca explained how difficult and funny it has been to get back into the dating world. When is the right time to text a guy back? Do you send an emoji? Do you not? Is it ever appropriate for your date to bring you to his AA bonfire?

On second thought, she definitely knows the answer to that last one.

The point is, this new chapter of Francesca’s life isn’t about her ex-husband.

It’s about love and fulfillment and the luxury of living life at the gentle pace of a Carroll Gardens summer.

Emily Kluver is a prize-winning journalist presently studying architecture.

“People hurt other people. And hurt people can survive. In fact, they can thrive.”

In Carroll Gardens, you can relax

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July 2018

Locals want to put brakes on Tesla, carshare

by Brian Abate

A

pproximately 15 residents met with local leaders and officers of the 76th Precinct at 191 Union St., where they voiced their frustration over a lack of parking spaces–especially regarding the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Carshare program—and what they considered to be the reckless use of Tesla cars.

Hook because they said that Tesla cars have been speeding. Several days earlier, a video was posted on Twitter which showed a Tesla vehicle narrowly missing a cyclist on Imlay Street.

Locals meet the police the first Wednesday of every month at the Community Council meeting in the precinct basement.

Commanding Officer Megan O’Malley of the 76th Precinct, said she would try to find solutions to prevent Tesla cars from speeding, although it seemed unlikely that Tesla cars would stop being used completely on city streets.

DOT launched its two year pilot Carshare program on May 31st, According to the project’s website, there are two carshare sites—one at Van Brunt and Dikeman Streets and the other at Van Brunt and King Streets—with two cars each. Multiple residents said that Citi Bikes already takes up too many spaces in the neighborhood and argued that this new program, which allows companies such as ZipCar and Enterprise to take up spots, only exacerbates the problem.

Local councilman Carlos Menchaca responded to the tweet, stating that the situation was “unacceptable” and that he was attempting to schedule a meeting with the store’s manager.

O’Malley acknowledged that reporting such incidents to 311 often results in generic responses that don’t accomplish much. She said if anyone witnesses a Tesla speeding, they should report it to a Neighborhood

Alex Keating speaking about the carshare program as Leroy Branch and Jerry Armer look on. (photo by Abate)

Coordination Officer.

O’Malley said that she would try to give this issue more attention and added that there was positive news regarding crime in the neighborhood.

“Both crime and violent crime are down in the last month,” said O’Malley. However, there had been is-

sues with bike theft and car break-ins.

She also reminded attendees of the importance of closing car windows, locking up bikes, and keeping bikes indoors to prevent theft.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” said O’Malley.

DOT’s Alex Keating tried to convince skeptics that the two year pilot will actually reduce the number of cars on city streets. The idea is that people who only rarely use cars can rely on this program instead of owning their own car.

“This is a small scale project in 14 neighborhoods, including Red Hook,” said Keating. “The program is a pilot and if it doesn’t work, we’ll remove it.”

One item of specific concern was tickets given to local residents that were unaware of the new designations.

“Let me know if you or anyone you know has recently been given a ticket or been towed,” said resident Leroy Branch, who works for DOT. Branch said there is supposed to be a twoweek grace period. He said that if there is a mistake, he’ll work to make sure all of the money is refunded.

In addition to parking concerns, many residents voiced their frustration that Tesla cars were being tested in Red

No job too big or too small

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B & D HEATING 218 29th Street 718 625-1396

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July 2018, Page 13

StarRevue

FOCUS

Paintings (above), Jewelry (below) at the Brooklyn Collective. (photos by Abate)

BRICK AND MORTAR ART STORE THRIVES IN A DIGITAL AGE Tessa Williams established the Brooklyn Collective in 2004 to give artists a place to showcase their work.

She looked back on how far the shop has come during its Summer Showcase one Friday evening, at her shop at 212 Columbia Street, in the Columbia Waterfront District.

“I’ve always loved art,” said Williams. “I come from a family of actors, writers and dancers. I moved here from California in 2000 and have been here ever since.”

Williams, a clothing designer, started out working with a friend who designs jewelry, at a smaller location, with 10 artists.

“Events such as the Summer Showcase are usually promoted,” said Williams. We have new people selling every month.” There are now 35 artists at the Brooklyn Collective.

Multiple local artists said they were grateful that Williams had given them a place to showcase their work in person. Sheila Ross and Summer Hart both said they both enjoyed meeting other artists through events, which would not have happened if they had only showcased their art using online platforms.

“It’s really easy to become isolated as an artist,” said Ross. “I’m really happy to be of this space and this community. We’ve worked with other organizations and did something for Earth Day. Those events bring the store into a wider part of the community.”

Williams also encourages artists to stay creative and make their own unique pieces of art.

“Since I started, Tessa has encouraged me to experiment and go crazy,” said Ross. “I’ve been able to try out some new things, like ceramics.”

The Brooklyn Collective has regularly scheduled events, which gives the artists target dates for their work.

“This gives me motivation to work on my art in addition to having a full-time job because having bimonthly events is an incentive,” said Hart.

Places to check out this summer to beat the heat

W

ith the weather hea�ng it up, it may seem difficult to find ac�vi�es around here that won’t have you swea�ng your buns off, but a couple of indoor and one outdoor ac�vi�es are right here in Red Hook.

The Red Hook pool has been around forever - this year it sports a brand new paint job. But don’t overlook baseball and golf op�ons that won’t sweat you up.

That’s because the ba�ng cages and the miniature golf course are indoors with air condi�oning.

I stopped in at Brooklyn Sluggers ba�ng cages (80A Verona Street), while a few kids were receiving a hi�ng lesson from Mike Maldonado. John Torres and Joseph Torres also coach at the ba�ng cages.

“There will be an event called the Summer Skills Clinic from August 20-August 24 for children ages 6-14,” according Maldonado.

In the mean�me, the cages are open from 3:30 pm through 9 pm Monday through Friday, 9:30 am through 7 pm on Saturday, and 9:30 am through 5 pm on Sunday. Time at the cages can be rented and ba�ers customize the speed of pitches in baseball or so�ball from 40 mph to 90 mph.

It’s everything an outdoor cage has, except for the hot sun.

For those looking for a slightly more relaxing ac�vity, Shipwrecked Miniature Golf (621 Court St., 2nd floor,) offers an 18-hole miniature golf course, which is open year round.

They actually brought an outdoor course that they found in Maryland indoors, and jazzed it up with a pirate mo�f. Most people think it’s kind of cool.

In addi�on to hos�ng par�es, Shipwrecked offers food and drinks, including alcoholic beverages for customers over 21. Shipwrecked also has classic 80’s arcade games.

Those who cool off in the heat can go to the Red Hook Recreational Center (155 Bay Street), and swim in the giant Red Hook Pool (Dimensions: 330’ x 130’ x 4’). The pool’s hours are from 11 am through 7 pm daily, with a break for pool cleaning from 3-4 pm.

It’s open seven days a week.

There are three sessions of free summer lessons teaching children to swim star�ng on July 6. An advanced session will begin on August 20. Due to the popularity of the lessons there will be on online lo�ery for those who apply to determine which applicants will get to take the lessons. Other ac�vi�es include Adap�ve Aqua�cs (for people with disabili�es), Adult Water Exercise, Lap Swim, Senior Splash, Senior Water Aerobics, and Youth Swim Team. Lap swimming is at 7 pm.

The long awaited Ample Hills factory/store finally opened on Beard and Van Brunt on July 4. They are rapidly expanding, and many of us know them for their Gowanus location. As Bloomberg news has written: “Ample Hills Creamery Inc. is known around New York for its indulgent, over-the-top ice creams such as Salted Crack Caramel and Chocolate 3 Ways. Around the country, it’s recognized as the official ice cream of the Star Wars film franchise, and whose limited-edition Dark Side and Light Side flavors, released in conjunction with The Force Awakens, sold 40,000 pints online.

Brian Smith, co-founder of Ample Hills, produced all of that Star Wars ice cream from a 900-square-foot facility. Now, as he works on new flavors for The Last Jedi, he’s opening a 15,000-square-foot factory in Brooklyn and a new flagship store in L.A., and gearing up for ice cream’s biggest challenge: to become the next Ben & Jerry’s.

Before he began selling scoops at the first Ample Hills in a residential Brooklyn neighborhood in 2011, Smith was a science-fiction screenwriter with a side obsession. “I absolutely love making ice cream,” he says.

“There goes the diet!!!!” we say.

In addition to giving artists a storefront presence, the Collective is now offering classes and workshops. The work space is 400 square feet, and there can be up to 10 students in a class. The space can also be reserved for pop-up shows on weekends or for an evening.

“Having events with new artists trying to get off the ground and workshops has helped spread the word about us,” said Williams. “Over the 14 years I’ve been here, we’ve grown pretty steadily.” - Brian Abate

The Abby Hollander Band at Jalopy, Friday JulY 20, 9 pm

Abby Hollander is a singer, bass and guitar player, and award-winning songwriter who was raised in a family of bluegrass musicians in Woodstock, NY. After several years in Austin studying and performing country music, Abby returned to New York, settling in Brooklyn, where young bluegrass pickers from around the country fuel one of the best, most vibrant music scenes to be found. There she focuses on songwriting and formed the Abby Hollander Band to play bass and perform her original material in a traditional bluegrass setting.

They are sharing the night with The Page Turners, a great duo out of Austin, Texas.

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July 2018

Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2018, Page 15

First Person:

One of my Red Hook stories

by Robbie Giordano

S

cooters whiz through the night.

Damn those guys are good, I thought, as I walked out the front door of Sunny’s, some years back, to have a cigarette and see what was going on in the night.

A scooter goes whizzing by on the sidewalk. As it turned out, a friend of mine decided to bring a scooter to the bar and let people drive around on the sidewalk. I was thinking that is probably not such a smart idea, given the nature of things at that point of time.

Those guys were tearing it up as they often do on Wednesday night. What a great night, for anybody who has not been there, I highly recommend it. Lots of fun, great dancing and very good atmosphere. That is Wednesday night.

Everybody was done driving the scooter, and I thought, I have not driven a scooter in a while. Still recovering from a recent accident I’d had, where both of my legs were broken pretty badly, it was probably not such a wise idea for me to take a scooter ride, but I said yeah, what the hell.

My buddy was pushing me, go ahead Robbie, get on that thing. Pretty close to the front door of Sunny’s, I hit the throttle and she doesn’t respond right away, and then, all of a sudden, she takes off. I was not prepared. Now I am heading directly between a fire hydrant and a round planter box.

I am thinking, here we go again, please, God. I knew the gap was not big enough for me fit through. At the last moment, I decided that it would be better to hit the planter than the fire hydrant. I glanced it barely, and almost made it through the gap. I dropped down to the ground and the planter exploded into quite a few pieces. All the plants seemed OK but the planter was a complete disaster.

I am thinking, oh my God, what I have I done!

I go inside and I see Sunny’s wife, Tone.

Sunny was not around yet. He and I had just recently met. This was approximately three years before Sandy.

I approach Tone and I said “I am so sorry, I drove this man’s scooter and I should not have been doing that and I ran into the planter and I destroyed it!

I am terribly sorry, but I promise you, by this time tomorrow in less than one business day I will have the situation rectified and I will make it right—that is my word.”

She was a little upset, but she was relieved and was not only looking to me for responsibility but to the person whose scooter it was. The person whose scooter it was, said I didn’t drive it, this guy drove it. She goes, well whose scooter is it? The gentleman goes well it was my scooter. She goes, “Well, what are you going to do to make it right, Robbie already said what he is going to do.” “I don’t need to do anything.”

And you know that look that Tone can give to those that are not quite on the same page as her. That look was felt throughout the whole bar, and at that point in time I figured it would be best

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probably to head on out and figure out how I was going to make this happen.

I am walking home. I didn’t sleep very well, wrestling around thinking about how am I going to make this right.

I had remembered that in the King St. garden, the one that used to be on the corner of King and Van Brunt, there was one of those half barrel planters that I most desperately needed.

I go over there and the garden is all chained up, everything is grown over, you can’t see anything. Being the thin but muscular guy that I am, I was able to squeeze myself through. I began looking through the growth, the undergrowth and the top growth, for this planter. I encountered some vermin of types as we all know live here in Red Hook—possums, raccoons, maybe even a skunk.

I finally found the planter. It had vines growing over it, it was quite heavy, and still being a bit incapacitated from my accident a year and a half prior, I thought I am going to have trouble getting this thing out of here. It definitely would not fit through the opening in the fence.

Just as I was scratching my head, a buddy of mine came walking along, my buddy Mark. He asked what I was doing. I said, “just come over here, I am going to hand you this thing, I am going to try to get it over the fence and you are going to grab it.”

I didn’t have time to explain to him what was really going on. We get the planter over the fence.

At that point in time I had just started working at Bait and Tackle. I knew that there were tools down there and items that I could use to refurbish this planter and make it appropriate and make it as nice and as sturdy as I possibly could, for Sunny and for Tone, and for the actions that I had committed against such a fine establishment.

I bring the thing down to the basement of Bait and Tackle and I begin to sand and refinish and to make it beautiful. I wanted to return it in better condition that the existing planter that was originally there.

I found what I thought was just some canvas and very nice leather strapping, which I used to put around the planter. I cut the thing up and I put all this nice strapping around it. I found one of those brass call boxes that people used to have in their front door that had the little tube that ran upstairs so you could hear people. I mounted that to the front.

At the time little did I know the canvass thing with the nice leather strapping was actually Barry’s straitjacket that he had down there and apparently had

“Sunny always had the ability to make you feel good no matter what.”

Robbie has lived in Red Hook for over a decade and can be often seen fishing its waters. (photo by Fiala)

been wearing for some time prior to his foothold in Red Hook.

I guess there was a section of his life where he was very intimate with the straitjacket. He is in the jungle now in Caracas or somewhere in Venezuela doing whatever Barry does in the jungle, which I can only imagine.

We get the planter all in good shape, and we get it on a dolly and proceed to Sunny’s. I pull up and there is a photo shoot or something going on in there and there is extra activity going on.

Sunny was sitting on the bench outside. Tone had not yet explained to him what was happening.

I begin feverishly getting to work. This planter was a little bigger than the original one, so I used some of the pieces of the old planter to pad the inside of it, build up the bottom of it. I put the liner back in, I put all the plants back in it.

Sunny offers me a cold beverage, it was quite hot out, and I sit down. We don’t say much, he sees the big scar on my leg and I explain to him that yeah that was not my first motor vehicular accident.

Fortunately, this one did not result in any bodily injury to me but the previous one both my legs were broken. I was not really focused on that, I wanted to focus on the task at hand.

I get back to work, maybe half an hour later, everything is done, I even found a few extra nice plants to put in there, I built it all up and it looked really, really nice. Tone came out, she was quite impressed that I was able to be a man of my word and in actually less than 24 hours I had it all back in shape, ready to go, looking great.

Sunny says, come on Robbie, come over here and sit down and he gets me another beer from inside, someone brings it to us.

We are chatting for a little bit and it gets quiet for a minute and he looks at me, looks at the planter that was still there, the one that I didn’t break, and looks at the one that I broke. He gives it a good up and down, looks at me again, looks at the other planter, and he goes “you know what Robbie, break the other one.”

Sunny had a way of just making you feel good, even in situations where you were very uncertain how you are going to be held, how you were going

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to be viewed upon, how you were going to walk away from this situation not knowing whether it was going to be good or bad. Sunny always had the ability to make you feel good no matter what, and boy did we get a good laugh out of that.

I love Sunny very much. Our relationship grew after that. I am so grateful for the time that we got to spend together and for the time that I still spend at Sunny’s.

And every time that I am there I say hello. Sunny is still there, he is all through the place. I do miss him. I learned a lot from him just in that one experience.

After Sandy, he gifted me all the fishing gear that had been accumulated by he and his brothers and his family over the years that really was not being used anymore.

I knew it was the last thing on his mind, but after Sandy I said “you know Sunny, I hate to see all this gear go to waste, I will take it out of your hands, I will bring it home, I will refurbish it, I will bring it back for you, whatever you want me to do.”

It is was not a high priority for him, but for me it was something very special.

He said “Robbie, you know what, take all of it.” He knew that I was quite a prolific fisherman. He goes, “take all of it Robbie, use what you can, and bring back a few pieces here and there that we can put up in the bar and that will be great.’”

That is what I did, and boy is it some special gear. That gear, the energy it has built up in it and the fish catching abilities of it is unsurpassed. What a great gift for me and like I said, this was several years after the planter.

The planter remained there and stood proud for three years. After Sandy, I walked back that first day and looked for it. I didn’t see it and said, “wow, it is gone!” A couple of days later I was walking down by Fairway and there it was, on the edge of the rocks, still in one piece, kind of beat up. The next tide came in and I didn’t have time to go grab it, it was such a chaotic situation. I believe either someone grabbed it and repurposed it or Mother Nature took her back and probably washed her up on the beach somewhere in France.

Much love to everybody. Sunny we all love you. Tone, thank you for keeping the faith and keeping the place alive.

July 2018

Nets go missing at the Miccio

by Nathan Weiser

T

he Brooklyn Nets clinic at the Miccio Community Center that was originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, then rescheduled to Thursday of that week, but in the end, no actual players ever showed up. To make up for it, the Nets gave all the kids free tickets to a game next season.

All of the kids cheered and were very excited when they heard this news.

This is part of the Nets’ effort to connect with the community. Treyquan Bekka, head of the facility, said that they have often done drills with the kids the last few years.

Mike Buffalo, who is a coach for the Brooklyn Nets Youth Academy, did show up and led the kids in drills.

Mike Wisniewski, senior manager of community relations, also came to the Miccio. Twenty kids from the Miccio took part in drills that went from 6 until 8 pm.

“We will probably come back in August,” Wisniewski said. “We are going to work it out with everyone at the Miccio. We try to come every so often, maybe twice a year. We are always all throughout Brooklyn, there is a lot of exploring to do in the area.”

“Once the season starts, September is training camp, so that is when the players are back in town, so then we get them really active in the community,” Wisniewski said.

The kids were all in the fourth or fifth grades and ranged greatly in size.

In the beginning, the kids warmed up under the guidance of Buffalo. They did running drills and then did lay up and jump shooting drills, with cones as a guide.

All the kids got a Brooklyn New Academy T-shirt and a Nets water bottle.

They had a few water breaks during the clinic where they got to use their new bottles.

After warmups, the kids broke into four teams of five to scrimmage, for a few games of six minutes.

They started by playing two games and then the two winning teams matched up against each other. Buffalo refereed, and prevented the scrimmages from getting too out of hand.

After the fourth scrimmage, the kids did a right-handed dribble, crossover and through the legs drills going from one side of the court to the other.

Many of the kids had to leave around the time the dribbling drills were finished, which left eight remaining to play two games of knockout that started about 7:25 pm. They were excited to play this game, which leaves one winner at the end.

To end the action-packed clinic, Buffalo had the remaining eight kids play two final scrimmages against each other.

The Nets have also been focusing on doing basketball court renovations in the area to positively change the community.

They recently renovated the Nicholas Heyward Courts in Gowanus. Hayward was a 13-year-old who was slain by a housing police officer and often played at those courts.

D’Angelo Russell and DeMarre Carroll were two of the Nets who came to this ribbon cutting.

“We are excited about that and we want to continue doing the court renovations in the area, so just helping the community that way,” Wisniewski

said. “This is what we are here for, to give back.”

The Youth Academy has 36 clinics planned this summer throughout Brooklyn. On the renovation side, they will continue to do more and try to have an impact on the borough that way.

“There are a lot of courts that need help, we can’t do them all, but we will do some and hopefully that makes a big difference in the community,” Wisniewski added. “The goal is to keep pushing and change the lives of people that are underprivileged or might not have the opportunity to experience things like this.”

Summit celebrates end of school with a gala

by Nathan Weiser

S

ummit Academy Charter School held their third annual end of year arts banquet in June. It was organized by theater director Tremaine Price.

The banquet was held in Summit’s cafeteria. It is a mix of dinner, entertainment and also honors the Summit’s best and brightest art student.

The guest speaker was Aisha Jackson, who is standby for the role of Anna in the musical Frozen. Another honored guest was Kamille Upshaw, who is in the popular Hamilton and Mean Girls musicals.

“Our first year we had Drew Shade, who is the founder of Broadway Black, which is journalism outlet online,” Price said. “Last year we had Bryan Terrell Clark from Hamilton.”

This year, the arts director reached out to Jackson via social media and she was eager to come and speak to the kids at Summit.

“I got Aisha Jackson this year because I sent her a message through Instagram and told her about the program and the event. She warmly said yes,” Price said. “We got Kamille because of the partnership that we have with In Defined Inc.”

Red Hook Star-Revue

In Defined Inc. is an arts advocacy and fashion organization that promotes arts education to young people. They teach youth how to use their voice and their art to combat things in life that hold them down.

Kyrie Hills and Price have changed the awards that they gave this year, as compared to the previous two years.

“We used to give out awards like best actor in a musical and best actor in a play, but I really wanted to highlight the scholars in each grade, so that they get a sense of pride knowing that they are the best artist of their grade, the best actor of their grade, the best dancer of their grade.”

The highlight of the 2017-2018 academic year was their spring production of the Wiz. For the first time, both middle school and high school were merged, enabling everyone to be seen performing at the same time.

Jackson shared personal experiences to the scholars about being ready to step into a big role. Jackson always observes at rehearsal and takes a lot of notes on who the actress who plays Anna, Patti Murin, stands next to at different times.“ I practiced with the music director, I

memorized all my lines and I made sure I was prepared, because I never knew when I might be called upon,” Jackson said.

She was overjoyed that she had done so much preparation because she was told that she had to step in for Anna with not much notice.

She took a moment to gather herself, once she found out the good news, she cried a little, and then said to herself, “let’s go, I am ready.”

“The stage manager rehearsed me for a few hours on stage with the full cast before they threw me in front of a full house.” Jackson added. “I put on my makeup, my costume and my wig and performed for 1,700 people.

Jackson always believed in herself, despite being turned down in many Broadway auditions. She is now the first African American to play the role of Anna, on Broadway.

Price envisions many of the current juniors and seniors succeeding in the arts. Price thinks two seniors, Christina Isales and David Estrella, will continue performing in college.

“Isales definitely wants to pursue the arts, and I know that Estrella will

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definitely continue to dance when he is in college,” Price said. “I think that the ground has been broken in high school so that they can now be more successful in college.”

Jenny Eugene and Gemani Charles performed John Legend’s “Ordinary People” and there was a senior dance performance by Imani Boomer and Estrella. Red Hook Labs presented an photography award.

Isales lives in Red Hook and Estrella lives all the way in East New York.

Price estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the scholars that he teaches live in Red Hook.

Price has led shows centered around Hispanic heritage, Christmas, Black History Month, Women’s History Month and an annual spring musical.

Price has been a teacher at Summit Academy for five years The acting veteran is in a theatre group called after work theatre, and he has been in major productions like West Side Story, Godspell and recently Rag Time. He tries to bring the experiences that he has outside of Summit to the scholars that he teaches.

July 2018, Page 17

NEWS AND NOTES compiled by Nathan Weiser

Remediation update

The Parks Department will present another community update meeting at the Red Hook Library about the closed ballfields. The meeting will be held July 11 at 6 pm.

There will be an update on the construction and timeline of the fields that are currently closed. Contact BKspecialevents@parks.nyc.gov or 718-965-8907 to learn more.

In April 2018, EPA and NYC Parks announced that the cleanup of Ball Fields 5-8 would be delayed one year until the fall of 2020. However, NYC Parks now expects work to begin later this summer and to complete the cleanup of Ball Fields 5-8 by spring of 2020.

This is what should be seen during the cleanup: The start of work at the site will include installing fencing around Ball Fields 5-8, placing office trailers at the site and tree removal. Next, various types of construction equipment including loaders, dozers, excavators and dumpsters will be brought to the site.

The truck route for any arriving or departing trucks was decided on to limit truck traffic through the residential areas in the community. In addition, any equipment leaving the site will be hosed off with water to ensure that no contamination is carried outside the construction zone.

The fence around the perimeter of Ball Fields 5-8 will prevent public and trespasser access to the fields. Also, a security guard will be posted at unlocked gated entrances during work hours.

Better assessment

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, and California Senator Kamala D. Harris, have introduced new legislation to establish federal procedures for counting fatalities following a natural disaster.

The Counting Our Unexpected Natural Tragedies’ (COUNT) Victims Act, comes on the heels of disturbing reports suggesting the official death toll in Puerto Rico reflects a dramatic undercount. The lawmakers argued that an accurate death toll is key to allocating federal aid and ensuring improved federal response.

“Death tolls are important. They influence public perception about the scope of a disaster and often determine what federal resources are allocated for response,” said Velázquez.

“Tragically, in Puerto Rico, the official death toll has been vastly undercounted, driving a narrative that has enabled the Trump Administration to brag about its response to Maria, while our fellow citizens were dying. This is shameful, and it can never happen again. To that end, I am pleased to join with Senator Harris to introduce the COUNT Act, which will help establish federal procedures to efficiently assess death tolls.”

Gowanus gets stronger

The South Brooklyn Weightlifting Club (SBWC) is relocating to a larger space on Douglass Street in Gowanus.

“The opportunity to move to 267 Douglass Street was serendipitous for us,” said Paulie Steinman, owner of SBWC, the oldest dedicated powerlifting and weightlifting gym in the five boroughs, according to the SBWC website. “We

had outgrown our previous location after several years and are excited to simultaneously expand our services and bring all of our dedicated members down the block with us.”

Waterfront Bill Passes

On June 11, our Democratic State Senator Velmanette Montgomery got a local waterfront bill passed in the Republican senate.

Currently, only a village, town or city along the State’s coast or designated inland waterway is eligible to apply for funding under the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Senator Montgomery’s bill would expand eligibility to allow community boards to apply for funding to support local waterfront revitalization initiatives in our community.

“I introduced this legislation because I believe strongly that preserving a working waterfront is essential to the City’s economy,” Senator Montgomery said. “I’ve supported opportunities across my district to expand New York City’s manufacturing and maritime industries. I thank my colleagues in the Senate for voting in support of my legislation and I look forward to seeing it move in the Assembly.”

In 2007, Senator Montgomery authored a law that allowed New York City’s 59 community boards to apply for and receive brownfield opportunity area grants to study areas affected by brownfield pollution. The “Waterfront bill” continues her legislative agenda of expanding resource opportunities for community boards who play an important role in dealing with land use and zoning issues.

Looking for old Brooklyn

“A Blast from Brooklyn’s Past,” is a photo challenge that invites all Brooklynites to submit their photos of the borough’s past — in particular, images that capture Brooklyn’s evolution in architecture, streetscapes, and vistas.

Select submissions will be placed on Brooklyn Borough Hall’s Flickr page as well as some other Borough Hall publications.

“Alongside my friends at the Brooklyn Historical Society, I encourage everyone to join in on the fun and submit their own photos to this challenge.

Let’s all share in the diverse historical tapestry of Brooklyn’s past, from our waterfront’s industrial heritage of Greenpoint to the old shopfronts of our brownstone belt,” says Borough President Eric Adams.

“At Brooklyn Historical Society we take great pride in our extensive photography collections,” said Deborah Schwartz, president of BHS. “They paint a vibrant picture of our borough’s history for curators, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public. We’re thrilled to join in this invitation to all of Brooklyn to explore their own photographic collections.

Aside from being fun, we hope this contest reminds people of the important role photographs play to capture both the intimate and global.”

Borough President Adams’ photo gallery, can be accessed by visiting brooklyn-usa.org. Submissions for “A Blast from Brooklyn’s Past” should be emailed to photos@brooklynbp.nyc. gov, and must be lower than 10 MB in file size.

The Healthy Geezer by Fred Cicetti Q. I’m 79 and I’ve taken a couple of spills in the last few months. I’m concerned that I might not be as steady on my feet as I used to be. What should I do about this?

About one in ten people over 65 experience difficulty with balance. More than 40 percent of Americans will go to a doctor complaining of dizziness.

Getting older is only part of the problem. Innerear disturbances are the primary cause.

Losing balance when you’re older is serious stuff.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, each year, more than one in three people over 65 years suffers a fall.

Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults. And, even if the fall doesn’t kill you, you could fracture a hip and then a whole bunch of problems can cascade over you—limitations on activities, isolation, loss of independence, depression.

With BPPV, one of the most common causes of balance problems, you get vertigo when you change the position of your head. You may also experience BPPV when you roll over, get out of bed, or when look on a high shelf. BPPV is more likely in people over 60.

don’t know it. Balance disorders can be difficult to diagnose because patients sometimes can’t describe their symptoms well.

Labyrinthitis, an infection or inflammation of the inner ear. The labyrinth is the organ in your inner ear that enables you to maintain balance.

If you can answer any of the following positively, discuss the symptom with your doctor.

Ménière’s disease, which also can give you intermittent hearing loss, a ringing or roaring in the ears, and a feeling of fullness in the ear.

Other causes may involve another part of the body, such as the brain or the heart. Aging, infections, head injury, certain medicines, or problems with blood circulation may also cause problems with balance.

Not all balance problems have the same cause.

Here are several major ones:

Blood-pressure medications and some antibiotics can cause balance problems. If you are taking any drugs in these categories and feel off-balance, it’s worth discussing with your doctor.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

Some people may have a balance problem and

Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue

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Balance disorders can be signs of other health problems, so it’s important to have them checked out.

Do I feel: Unsteady? Disoriented? As if the room is spinning? As if I’m moving when I’m still? As if I’m falling? As if I might faint?

Also, do you ever lose your balance and fall? Or, do you experience blurred vision?

Persistent balance problems are not something you should pass off as a harmless part of the aging process. They should always be examined carefully.

All Rights Reserved © 2018 by Fred Cicetti

July 2018

EDITORIAL: WHITHER WATER TAXI?

A

know that a lot of businesses on the south end of Van Brunt got a lot of tourist business every summer from the ferry. Our office is right here—and I would see for myself the hordes of people speaking all kinds of language walking down Van Brunt after the ferry would arrive.

lose. Especially those businesses in proximity to it, such as local barbecue and shellfish joints that have prospered here. Now we have a mainstream ice cream vendor a short walk from the former ferry stop. And lots of the smaller businesses that benefit from Manhattanites and tourists.

If it’s simply money, we might decide that it is worth our while to raise it ourselves. Perhaps Fairway could pay something, and we’d be able to raise the rest.

I made up the term “GID,” for government improvement district, and more than a couple people actually mentioned to me that might not be a bad idea.

But no—the ferry has never returned. There is no sign at the landing with any sort of explanation, and when I ask the Water Taxi workers, they are not sure. Durst, who used to own the Water Taxi, were so disappointed at not receiving the NYC Ferry franchise that they sold the company to the other disappointed ferry service, NY Waterway.

I guess it was Waterways who stopped the service. You might have thought they’d have reached out to the local newspaper with some sort of announcement, but in fact, even the man who knows everything Red Hook, the mustachioed John McGettrick, is in the dark about this.

I have written about the need for a more local government before, but this was the first time anybody mentioned reading it.

One guess is that Fairway might have helped subsidize that ferry stop, and were no longer willing to spend the money.

So, therefore emboldened, here’s another good reason for better organization of our community.

Fairway has cut a lot of local expenses, and so that bears a ring of truth.

Nothing happening behind Fairway

But to take away such a resource without any recourse is a tough nut.

few months ago I wrote a front page editorial about how Red Hook could be made better. I said that we really need a localized governing mechanism that doesn’t now exist. The reason I mentioned was that there are many illattended community meetings. I thought that probably with so many meetings, it’s hard for the average resident to keep up with them.

My thinking was that with one monthly “super meeting,” run by a committee of local leaders headed by a paid employee, it would be easier to get a big crowd, and more things would get done, rather than the piecemail way things often happen now.

By now probably a lot of you readers have noticed that the bright yellow Water Taxi no longer stops at the dock that is still right in back of Fairway.

I’m not exactly sure when they stopped arriving, but it must have been when it was still cold, because I remember somebody saying that probably they will start up again when it will get warmer.

I do know that Fairway had shoppers that would take the ferry from Lower Manhattan. And I do

At least we’d have that option.

Now all we have, as Mary Kyle would say, is bupkes.

Littleford

Lets say we had the sort of local organization I am talking about. Which would include a tourist bureau and a local chamber of commerce.

As a group, we would be in better charge of our own destiny. If, for example, it was a simple matter of Fairway not wanting to keep paying the bill, we might, as a community, decide that the Water Taxi to Fairway is something we don’t want to

Ted has been an illustrator and cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun. See more of his work at www.tedlittleford.com.

HELP CREATE A UNIQUE MARITIME CENTER IN RED HOOK! GIVE US YOUR WISH LIST FOR OUR BUSINESS PLAN Take this short survey: bit.ly/MOREspace Deadline: July 20 Tell PortSide NewYork what you want us to offer in building space next to our ship MARY A. WHALEN. Boatbuilding? Wet lab? STEM? Cultural Programs? Exhibits?

History? Job Training?

Help create a place for learning, fun and a pipeline to marine careers.

REDHOOK WATERSTORIES

Red Hook Star-Revue

portsideyork.org chiclet@portsidenewyork.org redhookwaterstories.org 917-414-0565 www.star-revue.com

facebook.com/portsidenewyork twitter.com/PortSideNewYork instagram.com/portsideny

July 2018, Page 19

Plenty of neighborhood passes to the eVillage

by George Fiala

F

ormula E Championship announced that 1,000 complimentary passes will be available for community members to attend this year’s Qatar Airways New York City E-Prix at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on July 14th and 15th.

quality of any large U.S. city by 2030.

The complimentary passes provide access to the Allianz E-Village—an entertainment area for fans of all ages to watch the race, meet drivers, play race simulators, and listen to live music. They are not the s ame as the $85 grandstand seats as some misunderstood last year.

PortSide NewYork (Aboard the Mary A. Whalen) Docked at Atlan�c Basin within the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (917) 414-0565 Hours: 10 am - 6 pm

The race actually can be seen from the E-Village, but there is lots more to do there as well, especially for kids.

The New York City E-Prix doubleheader is part of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric, international, single-seater racing series. The nearly 1.5 mile (2.373km) track will feature 14 turns and will wind its way around Pier 11 and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

The course is entirely off-street, ensuring safety and minimizing disruption in the surrounding community.

The NYC E-Prix will provide a unique opportunity to highlight sustainable technology, which is a key component of the Mayor’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York City by 80 percent by 2050 and ensure that New York has the best air

Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue

Passes can pick them up at any of the following locations:

Miccio Community Center 110 West 9th Street (718) 243 - 1528 Hours: Monday - Friday 8 am - 11 pm, Saturday and Sunday 3 pm - 11 pm Contact: Trequan Bekka Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center 88 Visita�on Place (718) 923 - 8282 Hours: Monday - Friday 9 am - 5 pm, Closed Weekends Contact: Vivian Gordon The Red Hook Library Wolco� St. at Dwight St. Brooklyn, NY 11231 (718) 935 - 0203 Hours: Monday/Friday: 10 am - 6 pm; Tuesday: 1 pm - 8 pm; Thursday: 10 am 8 pm; Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm Closed Sundays Contact: Sandra Su�on

These are the kind of cars that will be racing round the Cruise Terminal (photo by Fiala) Brooklyn Borough Hall Office of Borough President Eric Ad ams 209 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 802 - 3700 Hours: Monday - Friday 9 am - 7 pm, Closed Weekends Contact Ryan Lynch or Sylvia Hamer Pick up for �ckets can be done between 9 am - 7 pm at the Borough Hall Police Desk located on the ground floor of Borough Hall.

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There will also be an informational meeting about the weekend on July 7, 11 am, at the library.

July 2018

StarªRevue

JULY ARTS

EDITED BY MATT CAPRIOLI

Park Slope Author Delivers Inspiring New Memoir

by Lorraine Duffy Merkl

C

hange your location, change your life.

That’s what Glynne Hiller did, as documented in her inspiring memoir, Passport to Paris, where the now 94-year-old author and professor whose expertise is Colette, Proust, and Virginia Woolf, bucked her family and the traditional choices of her generation’s females in pursuit of selfsufficiency.

In 1939, the Egyptian-Jewish 16-year-old and moved with her family from Manchester, England to Brooklyn, New York.

By 1950, she was settled in Park Slope, married to her first husband Joe Nahem, a much older man, and was also the mother of threeyear-old daughter, Cathy.

Other women may have embraced that kind of safety net, but Hiller worried about being totally dependent on a man. Ahead of her time, she wanted to be a woman who made her own decisions, tested her potential, and could be capable of hacking it alone with a child.

As she writes, “It was becoming more and more urgent for me to be self-sufficient, to reach for my potential, to direct my life and Cathy’s, even if I made mistakes.”

Trying to stave off a separation, Joe suggested the three of them moved to Paris. Hiller struck a deal with him: after a year, if she still felt the same way, he would return to their outer borough and she would continue to live abroad with their daughter, Cathy.

Hiller made the most of the City of Lights, immersing herself in French language classes at the Sorbonne, making friends who helped care for Cathy—even meeting her idol Colette, as well as being asked out by the French movie star and Marlene Dietrich paramour Jean Gabin—and still dreaming of independence, which she eventually got.

Her story of living life on one’s own terms is almost more relatable for women today than for

Red Hook Star-Revue

most of those who were her contemporaries during the Mad Men era, who didn’t understand how or why she would give up a “one in a million” like Joe.

men who taught her to love with passion, while also experiencing sexual harassment as well assault, and financial struggles where she relied on flea market finds.

Even though Hiller’s story transpired over 65 years ago, she seems more of a feminist than some current memoirists. Even in best-sellers like Aspen Matis’s “Girl in the Woods,” Cat Marnell’s “How to Murder Your Life” or Tessa Fontaine’s “The Electric Woman,” the impetus for transformation comes in the form of something happening to them (rape, drug abuse, illness, respectively.) Hiller’s wanting out of her marriage comes from a desire to be free. She also was not a Betty Draper-type, a well-off socialite who waited to get rid of one man, because she had another in the wings.

This inspiring story is told in a very straightforward, linear way, but I would have hoped that such a gifted raconteur who is an expert in great writers would have more of a way with words and turns of phrase.

This author mastered a new language, made lifelong friends, met

But what if you don’t have the means, the wherewithal, or the

Hiller did return to the States, sooner than she had anticipated, to avoid a custody battle with Joe, but the courage and autonomy she garnered in Paris propelled her to receive a BA and MA from Manhattanville College, where she eventually taught, as well as at The New School in New York City.

She also has no regrets: “I had a life of love and romance.”

opportunity to go to another country to game-change your life?

The Sorbonne isn’t the only place to take a class and Paris isn’t the only city where there are friends to be made. There’s always down the block, around the corner, and across the street. Or as Greek mythology’s Promethus said: Big things have small beginnings.

Hiller shows us that transformation takes risk and the struggle is often very real, but after three marriages, two daughters, and a successful career, she knows how to change the trajectory of one’s path and thank goodness she had the foresight to write it down so we could learn how it’s done.

Passport to Paris could very well be the passport to your next chapter.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels BACK TO WORK SHE GOES and FAT CHICK, for which a movie is in the works.

“The Sorbonne isn’t the only place to take a class and Paris isn’t the only city where there are friends to be made. There’s always down the block, around the corner, and across the street.” www.star-revue.com

July 2018, Page 21

StarªRevue PICKS Review: Hypnotic visions at Pioneer Works At Pioneer Works, artist duo and couple Gerard & Kelly explore the passage of time, and the relationship between modernist architecture and domestic life in their exhibition, Clockwork.

mid-century modern furniture points to our desire to return to the social idealism of post-war era, when architects challenged ideas about capitalism and the nuclear family in their designs.

Through July 1st, Clockwork posed the question: “what would a home have to be today to shelter intimacies that do not fit within dominant narratives of family, marriage and domesticity?”

The exhibition captured the buoyancy of the first modernist homes, and the sensuality of their surrounding nature. While housed in a colossal, industrial building, Clockwork integrated the natural light and space into the exhibition,

Perhaps the recent popularity of

using the floor and walls to keep track of time.

On the sunny day I visited, a curtain of blue chiffon, constructed from 1950’s nightgowns, billowed in the warm breeze. Though lovely, the Clockwork points to comic tensions between the impracticalities of Modernist spaces and the realities of human living.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a 35-minute film, shot on site at the Schindler House in Los

Angeles and the Glass House in Connecticut, which touches the darker corners of modernism that were reflected in fascist design. In this film, the casual, unconscious movements of dancers become regimented and uniform, clashing with the bucolic scenery. -Shayna Goodman Pioneer Works 159 Pioneer St (718) 596-3001

Fight No More, by Lydia Millet One of America’s most talented writers, Lydia Millet (pronounced Mill-et) has delivered a comic tour de force of 13 interconnected short stories about a California real estate agent witnessing humanity in all its gross and immaculate shades. Nina—short, likeable, with an understandable sense of paranoia—sells homes to Dubai princesses, Kurt Cobain types, and beautiful women being used by callous, wealthy men.

As an agent, she has startling encounters with the intimate lives

of her sellers (e.g. opening the refrigerator to see the secret of a “sanguinarian”) and plays therapist to a lawyer who starts hallucinating that dwarves occupy her house after her husband leaves her without a note.

As everyone’s realtor, Nina connects these richly realized characters in subtle ways they each feel if not outright fathom. This is a brilliant collection: long-held convictions are whimsically capsized; distant relationships come smashing into bristling intimacy.

Fight No More is Millet’s first story collection since her 2009 collection Love in Infant Monkey, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

As with her previous collection, Fight No More is the rare literary work that will leave you missing the characters as much as the language; rarer still, all of these short stories manage to cohere perfectly.—Matt Caprioli Available at Books Are Magic 225 Smith St (718) 246-2665

Second chance to see Smith Street’s Midsummer Night’s Dream For four nights, Director Jonathan Hopkins directs Shakespeare’s comedic classic. Hopkins writes, “It is a celebration of the energy, danger, uniqueness and soul of the place that we call home, and its potential to evoke in all of us a wondrous transformation. This play dares to show us the extraordinary magic and everyday miracles that are hidden in plain sight.”

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This is the same show that just finished an outdoor run at Carroll Park.

160 Schermerhorn Street Evening performances: 7:30 pm Matinees: 2 pm Tickets: $25 - $55 July 11 - 15 tickets available at smithstreetstage.org

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July 2018

StarªRevue MOVIES

Free Outdoor Movies This Summer!

Every summer, the best things about New York come together in the form of outdoor movie festivals. Here are free movie festivals near Red Hook with a distinct lineup, replete with the Cyclone or Manhattan skyline in the background.

Movies with a View

Opening at 6 pm every Thursday and starting soon as the sun sets, BAMcinématek curates a wide list of cult classics and recent blockbusters:

The final movie for Aug 30 is up to you! You can vote on BAMcinématek’s website between “Big”; “Dance Girl Dance”; “The Matrix”; “Wayne’s World.” Come to enjoy memorable flicks with the Manhattan skyline lighting up in the background.

July 12 - Aug 30 Pier 1, Furman Street, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Coney Island Flicks on the Beach

Every other Monday through August you can enjoy blockbuster movies near the beach and boardwalk.

Narrows Botanical Gardens

For a quieter time, head to Narrows Botanical Gardens where State Senator Marty Golden hosts a range of family friendly movies.

Visitors are encouraged to bring a chair, blankets, and grub.

July 31: Roadhouse August 7: Hairspray August 14: Silence Of The Lambs August 21: Coco

“Grease” - June 22 “Lion King” - July 13 “Vertigo” - July 27 “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” Aug 10 “The Day the Earth Stood Still” - Aug 24 June 22 - Aug 24th, Shore Road & 71st

“The Greatest Showman” - July 9 “Desperately Seeking Susan” July 12

“Back to the Future” - July 23

“Kung Fu Panda 2” - July 19

“Black Panther” - Aug 20

Red Hook Flicks

July 9 - Aug 20

All films start at 8:30 PM or as soon as it’s dark enough

“Paris is Burning” - July 26 “Bend it Like Beckham” - Aug 2 “Point Break” - Aug 9 “Love & Basketball” - Aug 16 “Wonder Woman” - Aug 23

“Coco” - Aug 6

Riegelmann Boardwalks, W. 12th St.

Summer Movies on The Pier

July 10: Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle July 17: Creed July 24: Captain Underpants

Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2018, Page 23

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July 2018

StarªRevue ART Kentler brings drawings to life

by MattCaprioli

A

with them change? Hugh William’s oddly beautiful “Wire Drawing #16,” for instance, is composed of chicken wire, and it’s harder to feel the piece through a flat picture. As Stover said, “The shadow is as important as the object itself.”

fter two exhibitions that covered most of the gallery’s surface area (including a fundraiser that had over 300 pieces and another featuring Jarrod Beck where you had to leap over a sheet to reach the restroom) The Kentler International Drawing Space is, through July 15, turning things down with an incisive and smartly curated show called “Flat???” Don’t let the gratuitous question marks scare you off. Despite some unfortunate name selections, this show features several truly stunning pieces.

Culturally and politically, we require the type of realness the exhibit delivers more than ever. Strover said he had over 260 images to chose from, and the final selection shows his discernment. This is a truly compelling exhibit that’s not to be missed.

In the front gallery, Morgan O’Hara’s kinetic “Live Transmission: Movement of the Hands of Cast Members in Tennessee Williams’s ‘The Long Goodbye” captures the dynamism of a live event with quiet, abstracted poignancy.

Since the 70s, O’Hara has been taking graphite and paper with her to all the performances she attends around New York. As the performers glide across the stage, she traces their trajectory. Some of these “live transmissions” appear gentle, like ballet, others are frentic, like when O’Hara attended a lecture where the speaker kept pacing back and forth. So far, she’s collected over 4,000.

In the back gallery, there’s the especially powerful piece by Golnar Adili. After her father, a public intellectual, fled to the US from Iran in 1979, Adili (born in 1976) grew up with limited contact to with him. She joined him in the US for college, but before she could reconnect in depth he passed. After his death, she found a plethora of his letters and journal entries written in Farsi. The result is “She Feels Your Absence Deeply.” Adili uses a silkscreen here to reprint her father’s letters in a skewed form.

The tissue paper gives a haunting, almost

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FLAT???

SELECTIONS FROM THE KENTLER FLATFILES Closing July 15 353 Van Brunt Street (718) 875-2098

aqueous vibe. It’s a work that stops you in your tracks, but also rewards further contemplation with the haunting sense of someone trying to contact their loved one.

In his June 29 talk, Curator William Stover spoke about his fascination with pieces that suggested a space beyond the canvas (hence his love for the canvas slashing works of Lucio Fontana). Stover said his goal was to invert the flatness of how most of the images are represented in archives. Once they’re taken into a gallery, just how does our relationship

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July 2018, Page 25

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July 2018