Parks Department celebrates Juneteenth by Nathan Weiser
T
he Red Hook Recreation Center hosted a spring festival for the entire family on the afternoon of June 17 in Coffey Park.
cial Services had a table as well as Red Hook Art Project, Summit Academy
They had arts and crafts, music, information tables and more. The stage hosted a variety of performances celebrating Juneteenth and honored various people from Red Hook or New York City.
“I am always going to rock with Brooklyn since y’all rock with me,” Hopkins said on stage. “I am Brooklyn born and raised. I am so grateful for all of your support.”
There was a tribute to Ms. Debbie Grant, a woman who meant a lot to the community. On the hot late spring afternoon, there were many activities and organizations at the event. The FDNY Foundation had a table, NYPD Community Affairs had a game truck where kids got to play Mario Kart, there was a basketball exhibition on the stage set up by the Parks Department, Portside NY had a table and NYU Langone Family Health Center had a table close to Portside. Also, Amazon had a table looking for employees, the Brooklyn Tomahawks youth football displayed various trophies, NYC DOT Vision Zero gave out brochures , the NYC Human Resources Administration Department of So-
Aside from Power, she has also been on the show Detour, Orange is the New Black, the Bobby Brown Story and The Other Two. She is vegan and has a cookbook coming out soon as well.
me with a whole lot of love when we come out in the community,” Lee told the crowd. He said that he is going to be at an event on August 6 that the Disco Twins will also be at. He said that a lot of people from Brooklyn will come to the event as well.
Hopkins is also a singer and has a song called “can’t tell me nothing.”
One of the singers at the event. He was singing Taino music. (photo by Weiser)
and the Red Hook Star-Revue. The Rec Center said they put this event together for the community so everyone could have a good start to their summer. They have computer classes, a universal fitness room and many other activities that people can participate in. Donshea Hopkins, who was Raina in six seasons of the popular TV show Power, was honored on stage since she grew up in Brooklyn.
The next person who was honored on the stage was Kory Blackwell. He grew up in The Bronx and went onto play for football for the New York Giants after going to the University of Massachusetts. “I am a Bronx native, inner city kid,” Blackwell said on stage. “I went to school at Stevenson High and I stayed focused. To the kids, stay focused. You can do anything that you want to do.” Bob Lee, from 107.5 WBLS, was also honored at the event. He has been on-air at the radio station for many years and is also the community affairs director. “Thank you for tuning in and checking me out all of these years and greeting
That's Tracy from the Rec Center flanked by George Fiala, Star-Revue publisher, and Brian Abate, Star-Revue reporter, who were manning the newspaper's booth at the event. (photo by Tron Retro)
GARDEN (continued from page 4)
“I thought that is a good starting place, let me talk to the RETI Center and see if they have the resources and skills to make this something bigger than it was last year at my former school,” Shon said. RETI connected 676 with an architect named Nikita Nikita taught the kids how to draw from an aerial view during her workshop.
History of the Red Hook Library and its current plans
T
he original Red Hook branch of the Brooklyn Public Library opened on April 22, 1915. That was the only one of Brooklyn’s Carnegie libraries to be built in the Mediterranean Revival style. It closed in August 1946 after suffering extensive damage from a fire, and was demolished shortly after. A few decades later, the library found its new location at 7 Wolcott Street. The branch will close next year for some renovations, which were decided after an aborted attempt to cut the library in half, which was met by huge protest from the community. According to Fritzi Bodenheimer, who is the press officer for the Brooklyn Public Library, this location is nearly 50 years old.
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by Nathan Weiser That original renovation was planned to modernize the building and improve flood protection. Cost is estimated at $15.5 million. It is expected to take two years. “The architect for the project is LEVENBETTS, a firm that designed the interim Brooklyn Heights Library,” Bodenheimer said. “The New York City Economic Development Corporation is managing this project. The new fully accessible branch, which will open in 2024, will provide a dedicated teen space, a children’s area with a story telling room, a meeting room and a multi-purpose / community room with access to the garden. There will be separate access to the facility for after-hours use by the community.
More improvements that the community will be able to benefit from include four new bathrooms with two being fully accessible, new furniture and upgraded technology. Another feature of the renovated library will be having a children’s area, a tween area, a teen area and an adult area. The new shelving layout in the Red Hook Library will accommodate large windows (to ceiling height) some of which will be operable to let fresh air in. This is a big difference to the current facility, which has small windows that don’t allow for much outside light. Details about the flood protection include installing a flood barrier throughout the building as part of the flood mitigation required for this area. All mechani-
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cal and electrical equipment will be placed on the roof of the building. According to Bodenheimer, the landscaping surrounding the branch will be permeable and bioswales will be part of the design. There will be seating for reading and the vast amount of programming that the library hosts. Outside of the library there will be stormwater planters. There will also be an outdoor classroom and and flexible community room. “The Red Hook Library is a beloved community space and we hope the new modern branch—with the improved design, large windows, outdoor space and upgraded technology—will serve the neighborhood for many years to come,” Bodenheimer said.
The kids were broken up into small two to three student teams based on their shared ideas and focus. Each kid originally did a 2D sketch and then a second one after getting feedback from Nikita. The teachers then looked at the designs and found similarities in concepts and then asked the students for their favorite feature of their design that they wanted to model in 3D, which RETI Center helped them with. They then grouped them based on the features they most wanted built. Many students on their sketches wanted green space to replace concrete and others wanted more art in the schoolyard. “The winning team actually wanted to change the stage area,” Shon said. “They wanted to expand the stage and add a pavilion over it, so there could be more performances, and so there is a shaded area in the schoolyard.” The new garden includes a few planters on the former boats from Brooklyn Boatworks. There is one long structure with plants and two that are side by side closer to where the new stage will be. The new garden in the schoolyard now is a simplified version of what the kids designed that very much honors the idea that the students had.
July 2022
