The
Red Hook StarRevue
NOVEMBER 2017
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
NEW SENIOR CENTER TO OPEN REALLY SOON by George Fiala
T
he Star-Revue has obtained exclusive photos of the almost complete Red Hook Senior Center. The new center, located next to the Miccio Center, replaces the original Wolcott Street center which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. All that remains to do now is to bring in the furniture and equipment. While NYCHA will not yet commit to an anticipated grand opening date—at least publicly—word on the street is that it should be ready in about a month. In the meantime, seniors have been congregating every morning for lunch and activities in the basement of the Miccio. The new center will be an upgrade, with a computer room among the goodies promised in a December 2014 meeting hosted by the then brand-new councilman Carlos Menchaca and NYCHA contractor Dawn Sanders. At that meeting, it was explained that NYCHA had already spent a year drawing up plans for the new center. At that meeting it was promised that the seniors could relocate by December 2015. The original Center, operated by RAICES, has been closed since November, 2012. The planning began after $2 million was granted by the City (continued on page 10)
This will be the lunchroom of the new Red Hook Senior Center on West 9th Street. (Star-Revue photo)
The Mexican artist who makes Red Hook his home by Ramaa Reddy Raghavan
B
old blazing splashes of red capture your attention at the Bosco Sodi studio in Red Hook. The color is everywhere, on the floor and on his many linen art works that form an organic pattern of randomness that is pleasing to the eye. “I love red,” said Sodi. “It means the sun, it means power, and force. In Mexico, it is an important color.”
This was the scene outside of Bosco Sodi’s studio right after Sandy, as the receding floodwaters carried his red paint oudoors.
Table of Contents Happenings ............................................2 UPS comes to Red Hook ......................7 Religious News....................................4,5 Sue Amendola Remembrance ................3 Columbia Street History......................15 Martine Bisagni ...................................22 Red Hook Star-Revue
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I met Sodi at his space on Van Brunt Street after he had just returned from Oaxaca, Mexico, where he was assisting in relief work related to the recent earthquake. Oaxaca’s city center was hit particularly hard. Sitting in the studio’s living room, I tried to comprehend Sodi’s work. The texture of his work looks clumpy, as if globs of clay had
been splattered all over the canvas, but Sodi says the material is not clay but a mixture of sawdust, pigments, glue, and latex that is applied by him in a sculptural kind of way. His work with sawdust goes back 20 years, and has evolved from dense, earthlike textures to these works which are filled with empty spaces. His current work is reminiscent of that of abstract expressionists, especially that of Jackson Pollock. The philosophy that guides Sodi is Wabi Sabi - an ancient Japanese aesthetic that follows the acceptance of transience and imperfection in life. “When you play with randomness the outcome is unique, and the passing of (continued on page 20)
October in Food Pantry Red Hook- on Richards pages 12 & 13
page 9 November 2017, Page 1