Rec Center celebrates Juneteenth

by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook Recreation Center hosted a spring festival for the entire family on the afternoon of June 17 in Coffey Park. 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. 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 Social Services had a table as well as Red Hook Art Project, Summit Academy

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. 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. “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.” Hopkins is also a singer and has a song called “can’t tell me nothing.” 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

One of the singers at the event. He was singing Taino music. (photo by Weiser) 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.

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)

History of the Red Hook Library and its current plans

by Nathan Weiser

The 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. 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 mechanical 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.

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. 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.

SLAVA UKRAINI!

Since at least February 24, Americans have been witnessing something that for most of us is something new. While there have been plenty of wars since 1950, this is the first time since the 1930's that a major country in the Western World has used its army to actually invade a neighboring country in the Western World in something that is not a civil war. To be honest, my knowledge of Ukraine before the invasion was pretty light, despite my interest in history. I have a stong memory of a grade school friend, Andrew Jarosz, who was Ukrainian and hated Russia. I don't know why I remember this. I knew that he hated Russians, but I never asked him why. While my friends and I spent Saturday afternoons in bowling league, he would travel to someplace called the East Village for Ukrainian study. When I got older, I actually lived in the East Village for a while, and regularly ate at Veselka and the Kiev restaurant. I also drank and shot pool at a bar on 7th Street which is still there, called the Blue and the Gold. I had no idea that these places were Ukrainian and different from Russia. I just liked the beer and the pierogies. I sold advertising for The Villager newspaper, and one of my accounts was a shop called Surma, right near McSorleys, run by Myron Surmach. I remember looking at the honey and the beautifully painted eggs, and the lovely embroidered blouses, but if I thought anything at all about it, it would be that this was a Russian store. But Myron was a Ukrainian immigrant and the goods were mostly from there. Many years later I went to one of the new restaurants that opened up on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, near the Barclay Center. I don't really remember much about the food, but I do remember the waitress, who was young and attractive and very cosmopolitan. I asked where she was from, and she told me Kiev, or Kyiv. I had no idea what kind of a place that was. I asked and she said that living there was pretty much like living here. Then Russian invade Crimea, and Obama wasn't happy. But he didn't really do that much, saying that if he sent weapons, it would only kill people. I remember thinking that made sense. I thought that if it was such a big deal, you'd hear a lot of complaints from Crimeans. Not that I had any idea where Crimea was, except being part of the Ukraine. One thing I did know from studying history that Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe, coveted by Hitler. Since this year's invasion, which saw the NYC-like city of Kyiv being blasted by Russian artillery bombardment, I've learned lots of things. Mostly that what Hitler coveted is also coveted by Russia's Putin. We are supposed to be living in a modern world where stealing from your neighbor is not allowed, especially as government policy. I read that Putin actually told his soldiers to steal as much as they wanted after they blasted into a city. Not to mention the wholesale theft of wheat and other resources as reported in the news. So it was actually shocking what I heard when having dinner with a younger person that I recently had dinner with–someone who is the recipient of the most elite education in the country, from pre-K to Graduate school, someone who is a big Bernie fan and BLM proponent. He told me that there is not much difference between Ukrainians and Russians; that Ukrainians are basically nazi's (look at the Azov Battalian), and that the war there is a civil war and probably the Ukrainians are nazis as Russia claims. It made me realize that even here, in the US, where we have a wide range of resources to find out what's actually happening in the world, people still live with their beliefs and misperceptions. So while my dinner companion will probably never see this, let me enlighten anyone who shares those beliefs. I asked Google. Here is what the National Geographic said: "The two countries’ shared heritage goes back more than a thousand years to a time when Kyiv, now Ukraine’s capital, was at the center of the first Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, the birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia. In A.D. 988 Vladimir I, the pagan prince of Novgorod and grand prince of Kyiv, accepted the Orthodox Christian faith and was baptized in the Crimean city of Chersonesus. From that moment on, Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently declared, “Russians and Ukrainians are one people, a single whole.” A 19th-century painting depicts Vladimir I, ruler of Kyivan Rus—the birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia—choosing Orthodox Christianity as the new state religion in A.D. 988. Yet over the past 10 centuries, Ukraine has repeatedly been carved up by competing powers. Mongol warriors from the east conquered Kyivan Rus in the 13th century. In the 16th century Polish and Lithuanian armies invaded from the west. In the 17th century, war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia brought lands to the east of the Dnieper River under Russian imperial control. The east became known as "Left Bank" Ukraine; lands to the west of the Dnieper, or "Right Bank," were ruled by Poland. More than a century later, in 1793, right bank (western) Ukraine was annexed by the Russian Empire. Over the years that followed, a policy known as Russification banned the use and study of the Ukrainian language, and people were pressured to convert to the Russian Orthodox faith. Ukraine suffered some of its greatest traumas during the 20th century. After the communist revolution of 1917, Ukraine was one of the many countries to fight a brutal civil war before being fully absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1922. In the early 1930s, to force peasants to join collective farms, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin orchestrated a famine that resulted in the starvation and death of millions of Ukrainians. Afterward, Stalin imported large numbers of Russians and other Soviet citizens—many with no ability to speak Ukrainian and with few ties to the region—to help repopulate the east. In 1992, Ukraine finally got their independence and started to live better and freer lives. Hopefully that offers some enlightenment. Next month we'll take a look at Jewish Ukrainian history.

NY Ukrainian Events in July compiled by Brian Abate

Bare Feet Downtown Brooklyn with Mickela Mallozzi, every Thursday in July from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. From South Asia to the Middle East, from Ukraine to Cuba, every Thursday in July you will be taken on a cultural journey through music, dance, and of course FUN! Join Mickela Mallozzi, host of the Emmy®-winning series Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, as she brings some of her favorite dances to the Plaza at 300 Ashland in Downtown Brooklyn! Free and open to the public, everyone is welcome to join on the dance floor! Opening Night: Ukraine x LESFF on Thursday, July 7, 2022, at 6:30 PM at Village East Cinema, 32 2nd Avenue. In association with CinemaAid Ukraine, LESFF brings together a unique showcase of World Premiere shorts from Ukranian filmmakers both in Ukraine and around the globe. BELARUS MUST BE FREE | Marharyta Liauchuk, Ilya Silchukou. Margarita Levchuk (soprano) and Ilya Silchukou (baritone) are Belarusian vocalists whose virtuosity and achievements have earned them international recognition in the world of opera. The charity cultural event BELARUS MUST BE FREE will take place at 4:00 pm on Sunday, July 10th, at the Ukrainian National Home (140 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003). Donations start at $40; for children: $20, and on the day of the event: $45. Boogie Woogie Wednesday: Eastern European Folk Dancing. Free on July 13th at 6 PM at the Staten Island Children’s Museum. The Ensemble Barynya will perform and explain the history and cultural significance of dances and music from the Romanian, Ukrainian, and Russian traditions in an interactive show. Tribute to Ukrainian Music @ Central Park on Thursday, July 14th, 2022 from 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM at Central Park and West 63rd St Terrace Dr. NEW - In case of rain, the concert will move to a nearby indoor location. Join Ukrainian Cellist Valeriya Sholokova and a string quartet to discover the classical music heritage of Ukraine. All Proceeds will support Kyiv Contemporary Music Days https://www.kcmd.eu which provides support to musicians in Ukraine during the war. Ukraine Inspired Charity Art Event on Friday, July 15th from 7 – 11 PM at 404 Broadway, New York, NY 10013. G Gallery is running a charitable art auction on Friday, July 15th that invites the public to view and purchase paintings from a group of contemporary artists that launched a limited-edition run of artworks to help those affected by the war in Ukraine. The aim of the event is to draw the attention of the world community to the dramatic events taking place in Ukraine and raise money for the association “Nova Ukraine” which works precisely in support of the Ukrainian people and recovery from social and economic crises. Brighton Beach Walking Tour at 722 Brighton Beach Ave from 2-3:30 PM on July 23rd. Join curator and typography expert Alexander Tochilovsky for a fun and informative walking tour of Brighton Beach! Explore the cultural legacy of this historic neighborhood through the Cyrillic typefaces that fill its signage, and learn about the evolution of its lettering as the area grew into a thriving ethnic enclave. Questions (and comfortable footwear) are strongly encouraged! Originally from Odesa, Ukraine, Alexander Tochilovsky is a graphic designer, curator, researcher, and teacher. Charity Event “COLORS FOR PEACE” on Friday, July 29th from 6-8 PM at 324 Grand Street. The exhibition will encourage visitors to reconsider the concept of peace with the artists and participants and to take part in donations via the installation, as well as the profits from the works sold, which will be donated to The Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA, https:// unwla.org/) and human rights organizations that support Ukraine. All White Boat Cruise In Manhattan on Saturday, July 30, 11:00 PM – Sunday, July 31, 4:30 AM at West 42nd Street. Ukrainian New York presents Ukrainian White Boat In Manhattan. Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 7:00 PM Circle-Line Sightseeing, Pier 83 Manhattan NY (12th ave and W 42 str.) DRESS CODE: White. DJ support by: KANEL, Misha Iogansen, VITO LEE, DJ Olga C and DMC Cuba live music.