Red Hook Star-Revue, October 2023

481 Van Brunt Street, 11AR Brooklyn, NY 11231

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Editor & PublishEr

George Fiala

NEws Nathan Weiser

Brian Abate

Katherine Rivard

FEaturEs Kelsey Sobel

CulturE Roderick Thomas

ovErsEas maN Dario Muccilli

iNsights Joe Enright

musiC Kurt Gottschalk

Jazz George Grella

Film Dante A. Ciampaglia

books Michael Quinn

CartooNs Marc Jackson

Sophie Furman

wEbmastEr Tariq Manon

kids Editor Marie Hueston

dEsigN George Fiala

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POLITICS: There's an election coming up

GOP for the first time since the 1984

guage (using words like “SHALL” and “MUST”) requires a member of the State Legislature be a resident of the state for 5 years and resident of the district for 12 months immediatelytion immediately after a redistricting, which this was, a member must be a resident of the County for 12 months immediately preceding the election).

Lester Chang voted from his then Manhattan residence on November 2, 2021. What were the odds that he moved to Brooklyn in the next six days and was eligible to run on November -

Liz Galvin

Merry Band of Contributors

Matt Graber

Howard Graubard

Nino Pantano

Samantha Goldfarb

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The Red Hook Star-Revue is published every month.

Founded June 2010 by George Fiala and Frank Galeano

manitarian inclination is to vote yes on both, but who really cares? Which all begs the question: “Why bother?” Here’s why:

The answer came as I struggled to make this dismal reality into a publishable piece. Looking for an angle, I went back to my 2020 version of this column (https://www.star-revue. com/brownstone-brooklyn-votersguide-2020) and found the following gem hidden within, concerning one of the pathetic losers holding the line for the GOP that year, specifically, the poor clown who was the only schmuck the GOP managed to find that year to run for a Brownstone State Senate seat (also partially in Manhattan):

“Only in SD 26 does incumbent Brian Kavanagh face a GOP opponent, Lester Chang, an “international shipping consultant” whose Ballotpedia page actually lists a campaign website, Twitter page and Facebook page. It should be noted, that the campaign page is actually from prior race for Assembly and contains nothing but a notation that it is still under construction. By contrast, the Twitter page does contain content, but still notes Chang as an Assembly candidate, and has not had a new post since 2016.

other Senate choices offered to voters in brownstone Brooklyn, Chang shines like a mackerel at moonlight.”

You may not know that, before his unsuccessful 2020 run for State Senate in the bi-county seat in 2020, Mr. Chang had also run in Manhattan for Assembly in 2016, and in 2021, he filed a petition to run for a Manhattan Council (before dropping out of the race).

But, as many you may have already figured out, the eminently forgettable Mr. Chang, still then the leaseholder of a rent-regulated apartment in Manhattan, ran in 2022 for a Brooklyn Assembly seat in Sunset Park/Bensonhurst, using a Brooklyn address belonging to his mommy miles away in Midwood (permissible only in a redistricting year, and only if he actually lived there), and won the seat for the

sembly undertook an investigation of his eligibility. Since Chang did not live anywhere near his district, if the Assembly refused to seat him, he would not even be eligible to run in the special election to fill his vacancy.

Asked by a reporter how he could have lived in Midwood “continuously,” as he claimed, if he voted in Manhattan, Chang replied, “Before I’m going to say more, because I’ve been advised by my lawyer not to make any more comment on that, because all I can say is, I’m living in Brooklyn.” But squawks immediately were heard. A lot of righteous voices, some even from the left, were heard saying that refusing to seat Chang would be “playing politics.”

The Dems had just discovered a problem with Asian-American voters which had been simmering, but largely unnoticed, at least since Bill DeBlasio lost two Asian majority Assembly Districts in his 2017 campaign for re-election.

The evidence in the Assembly Committee’s report (Matter of Lester Chang (nyassembly.gov)) was overwhelming and largely unrefuted that Chang was constitutionally ineligible

(continued on page 9)

"As the late Tammany State Senator George Washington Plunkitt once said “what’s the Constitution among friends?”

Beware real estate developers bearing gifts

One of my ideas when I started this paper in 2010 was that the people who lived here and who made it such a unique community would be aware of threatening exogenous forces. Exogenous and endogenous are terms used in different fields, but they’re basically fancy words for outside and inside. The idea here is that changes in Red Hook should be determined by the people that make up Red Hook — not outsiders.

Property rights in the US allow owners to do anything they want with their land, as long as they conform to zoning and other laws. When it comes to real estate developers, that means extracting maximum profits by building things that maximize their return on investment. When they want to do something more than what zoning will allow, they try to get the zoning changed. It's easier for the local council member who basically decides, if there is little community opposition. This applies both to for-profit and notfor-profit real estate developers. The Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) is a not-for-profit developer.

FAC has six projects currently in development. One of them, on Flatbush Avenue, is an 850-unit building in downtown Brooklyn where they are “co-developer and co-owner of 200 affordable rental apartments” in the building, as the committee says on its website. “The affordable units will be under a separate condominium ownership structure, with FAC as 50% owner. "They will be developed under NYC HPD’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program (MIH), and they will be permanently affordable at an average of 60% of Area Median Income.”

That’s a huge building where they will be managing the mandated “affordable housing” component. Affordable housing rents are often over $2000 a month.

A project like this shows that FAC is not that different from any real estate developer seeking growth. When they started, their mission was to rehabilitate abandoned buildings (yes, back in the 1970’s even Park Slope had aban-

which among everything else, would allow Gowanus Green to proceed.

Karen Blondel, a respected Red Hook community leader, began working for FAC in 2016. Her LinkedIn page describes her duties there as “organizing community stakeholders around environmental issues and climate adaptation and preparedness.”

Her role, as I saw it from my vantage point, was to turn the public housing residents into supporters of the rezoning. Most feared the gentrification the rezoning would bring, but a $200 million promise from NYC taxpayers to renovate their apartments, a promise engineered by FAC and their former Executive Director Brad Lander, changed their mind.

huge vacant lot along the coastal property that UPS created. I thought it important to get a lawyer to represent those people, which included me, in order to make sure that the Washburn lobbying machine would not go unchallenged at the BSA hearing. I held a meeting in Coffey Park, and among the people who showed up was Karen. It became impossible to hold the meeting, as Blondel disrupted it, making it unpleasant for anyone to stay, and so it quickly broke up without any action taken.

doned buildings). When the supply of abandoned buildings ran out, they needed different opportunities. One of those opportunities was to manage MIH apartments. MIH became a law in 2016, and requires developers who benefit from zoning changes to offer a certain percentage of new apartments for people who aren’t yet millionaires. Another FAC project is Gowanus Green. This project, which they hoped to begin in 2008, places six buildings in the fenced off property near Smith and Ninth Streets. The reason for the fence is to protect the rest of the neighborhood from the highly toxic soil – a remnant of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company’s long ago presence.

This project depends on the Gowanus rezoning, which was delayed when the Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund site in 2009. By 2012, FAC’s former Executive Director, Brad Lander, now the council member, began working the community to pass a new rezoning,

The rezoning passed the City Council in November 2021. Karen left FAC in March 2021. She began popping up at meetings of local academic-turnedreal estate developer Alexandros Washburn who was seeking support for a project he called the Model Block over on Conover Street.

The centerpiece of the Model Block was to be a 15-story residential building featuring harbor views.

Red Hookers got to know Washburn after Hurricane Sandy when he started holding resiliency meetings in his Van Brunt Street office. That is most likely where Karen met Washburn, who hired her to promote his project in the Red Hook Houses. He needed community support because he was seeking an approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals.

I can relay a personal experience from that time. My feeling was that there were people in Red Hook who did not think a 15 story residential tower was a good idea, especially next to the

I asked around afterwards what would make Karen such a big supporter of a luxury residential tower in the middle of low-rise Red Hook, and a few people I spoke with said in addition to salary they believed that in exchange Washburn helped her get a Harvard fellowship. I have no proof of any of this, but Washburn is a Harvard graduate. None of this would have ever made the pages of this newspaper except for the the awarding of a “David Prize,” a $200,000 “award” given by a foundation set up by David Walentas, billionaire developer of Dumbo and Williamsburg. They are the exogenous force that I believe Red Hook might have to fear someday.

I know that this column and the accompanying article on page five will make some readers uneasy and others furious. Nobody likes their idols criticized. I understand that. But I have nothing against Karen Blondel, or anyone who takes advantage of situations to improve their lives. The real evil is how the monied use their power to take advantage of the vulnerable in their unending quest for more money.

FUNNY SIDE UP BY MARC ‘FANGS’ JACKSON

Cartoon Section with Marc and Sophie

"Affordable housing rents are often over $2000 a month."

SHORT SHORTS:

BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

lázquez (NY-13) led twelve Members of Congress from New York and New Jersey in sending a bi-partisan letter to the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) expressing concern that the Corps plan to address flood risk insufficiently protects New York and New Jersey against multiple varieties of flooding. The upcoming plan fails to address tidal and river flooding, heavy rainfall, groundwater emergence, erosion, and sea level rise.

National Newspaper Association meets in D.C.

Over the last weekend of September, during which time the government almost shut down, newspaper publishers from all over the country met for their annual convention.

In addition to dinners, drinks and ping-pong, the publishers were asked to lobby their local Representatives and Senators.

The Star-Revue met with the staff of Congressman Dan Goldman, with a list of asks that included the following:

Federal Advertising- 2024 Senate HHS Appropriations Report language contains language on Rural Media. NNA is not seeking additional funding, but a change in policy. The goal is to have local media, including small and rural newspapers included in federal advertising campaigns, given their ability to reach citizens in their communities with key health messages.

Postal- The rate increase approach by the USPS under the Delivering for America Plan is crippling small newspapers in an already trying economy. In addition, to the rate increases, service in many areas is poor compounds challenges for subscribers and for maintaining cash flow when mailed payments are delayed.

The 2022 Postal Service Reform Act provided important financial benefits for the USPS and an opportunity for stability that is being squandered by the current USPS management. Congress must be aware of these challenges and prepared to take further action.

Heavy rainfall an issue

Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congresswoman Nydia M. Ve-

“After seven years of planning, the Army Corps is proposing to spend $52.6 billion to protect our constituents from only one kind of flooding - storm surge. Members of Congress worked diligently to pass WRDA on behalf of our constituents in communities that remain vulnerable to multiple flood threats, and we urge HATS to comply. To ignore the more frequent flooding threats that plague our region is an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars," they wrote in the letter.

In the letter, the Members list actions that they would like USACE to take to better protect millions of residents in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area from flooding.

Outdoor festival to feature authentic German food, drink and music

Oktoberfest is an annual, two week festival that originated in Munich, Germany, typically starting late September and finishing on the first Sunday in October. Oktoberfest celebrates the Bavarian sense of gemütlichkeit cordiality.

New York has one of the bigger Oktoberfests in the United States thanks to German restaurant and biergarten Zum Schneider. “Munich In Brooklyn” runs from September 29 to October 8 in the backyard at 3 Dollar Bill on 260 Meserole Street in Bushwick.

The festival incorporates classic, authentic German Oktoberfest including an Oompah band, Mösl Franzi and the JaJaJas, fronted by Zum Schneider’s founder/owner Sylvester Schneider.

Cornetist Stefan Zeniuk explains: “Sylvester Schneider sings and plays drums and is accompanied by clarinet, trombone, accordion and tuba. The music is a mix of traditional with more modern rock tunes. Schneider is a legendary frontman, and the course of the night is a “slow burn” starting with traditional polka tunes, slowly growing and ramping up the audience. By the end of the night, every-

one is standing on tables.”

“The music fuses ancient traditions from Munich with a New York attitude. It’s an electric experience where beer, music and food all come together,” Zeniuk says.

“Munich In Brooklyn” features imported beers, Bavarian pretzels, German delicacies such as haxn (pork shank), obazda (cheese spread), traditional half roast chicken, homemade potato salad and a variety of German sausages. Beer is served in genuine 1 liter steins, and the tented decorations are elaborate.

The idea for an Oktoberfest celebration came about in 2014 after a very well-received outdoor pop-up by the restaurant for the World Cup, which Germany won.

For tickets and reservations, go to: nyc.zumschneider.com.

SBIDC helps Architectural Grille

I've known about the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation since the 1980s when I started my mailing business. I've often wondered exactly what they do, since most of what I've received from them were solicitations to attend their annual dinner, probably since I joined the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and got on their (postal) mailing list.

By the time the Star-Revue began, I kind of knew that they placed people with local industrial businesses. We tried to work with them as we had begun a classified ad section, but by 2011, help wanted classified pages in newspapers were passé, so that didn't work out.

One of the great things that I did see them do was to produce a street fair on Van Brunt Street, something that I wish would be happening every year in Red Hook. However, they moved out of their local satellite office on Van Brunt Street, and that never happen again. Their director, Jesse Solomon, was kind enough to invite me to their latest annual dinner, where I was able to meet some of my Sunset Park friends. However, I still didn't get a clear sense of what they do aside from holding seminars and galas.

But last month I looked at the Constant Comment promotional email that they send us, and I saw a familiar name.

I mentioned that I started a mailing business, which I still run. One of my loyal customers is Gowanus' Architectural Grille. They fabricate metalwork according to custom plans designed by architects for buildings and possibly other structures.

We mail their catalogs to potential customers in advance of their visits to trade shows where the Grille will have a booth. An article in the Constant Comment email described how they had placed 45 job seekers over the summer. They listed some of the names of the companies who they helped, and lo and behold, Architectural Grille was one of them.

Finally, I could hear firsthand from someone who has worked with SBIDC. After a flurry of emails, I found out that one of the owners of the company is on the board of SBIDC, which

he wanted me to know. Very honorable and fair of him, and not a problem for me.

I met with their Director of Operations, Jodi Daley, who I've worked with on mailings, and also Shanell Grant, head of HR.

What they told me was that SBIDC has been a great resource for their company, which is a local family owned manufacturing business. "They know what we are looking for, and always send us the right people," Jodi told me. She said that they've hired 9 or ten people over the years that came from SBIDC, and they've all worked out.

I am very glad to be able to share this positive news about a local non-profit organization that performs such a useful service both for workers and small businesses. If you need to contact SBIDC, call Jesse Solomon at 718965-3100 ext. 114 and tell her the StarRevue says hello.—George Fiala

Unbelievable traffic jam daily

While those in Red Hook agonize over trucks crowding our streets coming from the last-mile-warehouses, those in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill have been suffering with daily traffic stoppages every afternoon as cars and trucks try to bypass BQE traffic caused by the closing of a lane.

It's just about impossible to get to Brooklyn Heights from Red Hook by car in the afternoon because of this. This traffic also makes it more dangerous for the local day care centers and schools as their kids have to cross crowded and dangerous streets.

David Lutz has sent us the above photo illustrating a typical day. All the traffic is heading north on Columbia Street in the Columbia Waterfront District.

Problems at the Container Terminal

The terminal itself is threatened by the Port Authority's desire to sell it to realestate developers.

Reader Dave also sends us this photo of an ad hoc labor action one day held by workers from the ILA protesting the introduction of non-union workers throughout the region. This is in front of the Red Hook Container Terminal on Van Brunt Street. Tesla is in the background.

Publisher George Fiala accepts two awards given to the Star-Revue in the NNA Better Newspaper Contest. One was for a series on Ukraine written by Brian Abate and George Fiala, the other a feature on a votive ship by Erin DiGregorio.

A story of Dumbo, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Gowanus and Red Hook

by George Fiala

Iwas working at the Phoenix, a community newspaper headquartered in Boerum Hill that was known as the newspaper for Brownstone Brooklyn, when a funny term started floating around the office. This was in the late 1970's, when formerly industrial neighborhoods in lower Manhattan began changing their names to SoHo, Noho, TriBeca, even LoLita. These terms were understood to be generated by real estate people looking to upscale these neighborhoods. That's what it did. The funny term I heard was the name of a Disney elephant with big floppy ears—Dumbo. It was said to stand for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass," and at least in the beginning, it was meant as a joke.

In those days DUMBO was an industrial area with hardly anybody living there but artists who needed cheap studios. Scott Pfaffman told me that in those days you could have a loud band practice in the middle of the night because there was nobody to disturb.

Around then a young real estate developer started buying up old buildings. One day he threw a party for the press at 45 Water Street. The building was under renovation with only the top floor being finished, with walls and everything. It was weird taking the elevator and going up bare beams, but I remember the views were good from the top and so was the wine and cheese. But for many years people didn't move to DUMBO, but the developer used connections and made a deal with Governor Mario Cuomo who had NY State agencies take leases in his empty properties. Buses were made available to take people from Montague Street to DUMBO, but still nobody was very interested.

But eventually things coalesced and the neighborhood turned. The developer was David Walentas, his company Two Trees. His next neighborhood was Williamsburg. In both, Two Trees had fights with the community and had to convince local leaders and politicians to agree to zoning and other changes. Which they did.

A couple of things. Walentas' initial money came from Ronald Lauder (he married someone who worked at Estee Lauder), a prominent Republican who was once appointed as an Ambassador by Ronald Reagan. David's son, Jed, who now leads Two Trees, got his first job with the Trump organization, and according to what I read

online, loved it.

Fort Greene is the next part of this story. The company is Forest City Ratner. Back in the early 1980's, I remember that my boss held the newspaper up on press night to wait for our reporter who was at a late night meeting where the Regional Plan Association presented a plan for Downtown Brooklyn. Big corporations were starting to move headquarters to New Jersey, partly to save money. The goal was to keep them in NYC by having them move to Brooklyn instead, downtown Brooklyn being just across the river.

Bruce Ratner had been in government under Mayor John Lindsay and also Mayor Koch. He formed a real estate development company, Forest City, and won a bid to develop Metro Tech When first built, Metro Tech seemed like a gated community, with long lists of prohibited things written on stone

I attended an event at St. Francis College where James Stuckey, another Koch appointee, recently hired by Forest City, stood before a roomful of local business people, many of them Blacks with stores on Fulton Street, telling them that they will have to upscale their businesses and start selling high class lingerie instead of boom boxes and hot dogs. That was around 1988, and possibly the first time I was face to face with gentrification, and I didn't like it.

After completing MetroTech, the Atlantic Center was next. That's where the Barclay Center is. The first thing they built was the shopping mall. On the outside they made it look like what Ebbets Field might have looked like had they relocated there, complete with pennants on top. But on the inside, it was like a prison. A giant mall with one way in and one

way out, hallways between the stores with no windows, and guards all over. To me it seemed like a company trying to figure out how to make money from people (Black people) they were scared of.

But they ran into trouble as they started the rest of the project, called Atlantic Yards. A community movement started by local resident Daniel Goldstein called Develop Don't Destroytried to get a better deal for the neighborhood.

As Juan Gonzalez explained perfectly in the NY Daily News in 2010, "Goldstein, a Web designer, was refusing to move. Only two years earlier, he had bought a new condo in the neighborhood for $590,000. He had this wildeyed idea that the people of a community should be consulted before the government condemns their property to make a rich developer even richer." Develop Don't Destroy spent six years trying to stop the project, but eventually lost. As Gonzalez continues: But another powerful grassroots movement was backing Ratner. The developer was a big contributor to ACORN. He had promised ACORN head Bertha Lewis that one-third of the housing would be affordable and that her organization could manage that portion. Ratner also spread his money to other black organizations and businesses in Brooklyn, and the conflict over Atlantic Yards sometimes took on racial tones."

In addition he actually backed a candidate to run against Leticia James, then the local City Council member and just about the only politician to challenge him.

The treasurer on that campaign was Charlene Nimmons, the Wyckoff Gardens TA president. Because I began reading Norman Oder's blog on At-

lanci Yards, as well as articles in the Brooklyn Paper, I came to know Nimmons as, one the one hand a respected tenant leader, but on the other hand someone who used the influence she had representing tenants in exchange for charitable donations to non profits and political campaigns that did not seem very active, with most of the expense being payroll.

In Gowanus, the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), led first by Brad Lander and then Michelle de la Uz, is a nonprofit housing organization that has a vested interest in the Gowanus rezoning. They have been co-developer of a large plot of land by the Gowanus called Public Place, or sometimes Gowanus Green. But that plan depended on the Gowanus rezoning. Karen Blondel was hired as a environmental organizer in 2016. It was important for politicians to have support from the public housing community for the rezoning, and much of that was gained by $200 million promised for apartment improvements as part of the rezoning agreement. Blondel helped fight for that as a FAC employee.

I first saw Blondel and Nimmons together around that time at a community meeting held by Thor Equities seeking public support for a project they wanted to build on land they owned in Red Hook. That's the land that eventually became an Amazon warehouse. I was surprised to see someone that I respected together with someone that I didn't. When I asked, Karen told me she was there to learn from Nimmons. Some years later she worked for local developer Alexandros Washburn, who was similarly seeking city approval to build a 15 story building in Red Hook, which was eventually denied.

The David Prize is named after David Walentas. The billionaires divide a million dollars each year among 5 applicants who are deemed "extraordinary New Yorkers." It is part of a slick package that must cost as much as the grants. The winners become part of a sign by the Manhattan Bridge. As part of the deal, they have to sign a nondisparagement contract, meaning they can't ever badmouth Two Trees

It is not a grant, nothing special need be done with the money—it is advertised by the Walentas Family Foundation as a "no-strings attached" gift. There are some big vacant lots in Red Hook. I hope they don't think of their gift as a bribe.

Karen Blondel with Charlene Nimmons at the Red Hook Library in 2016 discussing Thor Equities' request for BSA approval of a parking requirement reduction. (photo courtesy Patch)

Columbia Waterfront Park

by Brian Abate

There is a petition on change.org regarding a park which was supposed to be located on Columbia St. from Kane St. to Degraw St. in the Columbia Waterfront District.

According to the petition, which was created in November of 2021, there have been many meetings developeing the park, and $1.7 million was set aside for it but the park has never been built.

“Instead of our park, the Department of Transportation moved in their trailers, and the Port Authority leased the surrounding area to store garbage trucks,” says the petition. “We will be enduring the BQE renovation for years, suffering through grinding traffic and choking air. We need our park, and we need it now.”

A lot of people from the neighborhood are frustrated by the process. “Going back at least 10 years, we were

promised that the lot [on Columbia St.] which was a city-owned lot would become a park, said Dave Lutz, a Red Hook native who has been instrumental in the new Red Hook Civic Association. “Instead of getting a park there, we got a parking lot.”

The latest update came in October of 2022 and said that then-newly elected Senator Andrew Gounardes needed to hear from everyone how important the park was to the people he represented.

“The Department of Transportation [DOT] says we need $12 million, but they have over-engineered the park to make it unaffordable,” reads the latest update. "Reach out to our Senator so he can hear our voices and help!”

The petition set a goal of 1,500 signatures and currently has 1,387 so it has taken time but they have almost reached their goal.

For those who are interested in signing, the petition is titled “They Promised Us Columbia Waterfront Park. We Got Trailers and Garbage Trucks” on change.org.

2023 Annual Red Hook Barnacle Parade

Barnacle brings our community together to commemorate the community’s efforts, post Hurricane Sandy, to band together & help our neighbors rebuild & move forward.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29TH

Rain or Shine

Starts 4 pm from Coffey Park ends at Pioneer & Van Brunt Street

Block Party: 6-9 pm Pioneer & Van Brunt

Music, Food, T shirts, raffle tickets

Raffle Drawing Party info TBD

This means it’s also time for the Annual Barnacle Parade Raffle!—Please reach out if you have art, gift certificates/cards for food. Drink, services, skills, etcAnything you would like to donate towards the raffle prize bundles!!

Feel free to message, text or email 813-486-6959, lizgalvin78@gmail.com

This was the original design for the park created by the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative in 2012. You are looking at the corner of Degraw and Columbia Street looking north.

Rally to force use of Shore Power by

Red Hook residents joined politicians in a protest against cruise ship pollution on September 18. Council member Alexa Aviles led the way along with fellow politicians Erik Bottcher, Marcela Mitaynes, and Antonio Reynoso.

Aviles is a cosponsor of Intro 1050 which “requires the use of shore power by cruise terminal operators and community traffic mitigation plans in neighborhoods impacted by cruise ships at berth." This bill would also require cruise operators to provide a community traffic mitigation plan. These plans would outline measures to reduce traffic, noise, and pollution from ships when they dock.

Shore power uses electricity to power the ships while in port. $20 million was spent to bring it to Red Hook, but it is rarely used.

“We’re here with dedicated advocates and residents who have been banging this drum long before I got into office,” Aviles said. “It’s pressure from Carolina Salguero of PortSide New York, resident Adam Armstrong, the old and the new Civic Association, and countless other residents who have brought us to this moment.

One of the Red Hook residents who is frustrated by the cruise ships is nineyear-old Hart Valentine who complains of asthma.

Brian Abate

A Star-Revue asthma study earlier this year found that increased asthma rates in Red Hook are caused by a variety of indoor factors including mold and pests along with outdoor factors like pollution from trucks and cruise ships, as well as other factors including stress and anxiety. It is clear that together all of these factors are contributing to the problem.

“Over the summer we convened a group of local stakeholders to address the cascading impacts of having this mega cruise liner here in our community,” Aviles said. “This included addressing traffic congestion, trash, and the economic consequences of dealing with an issue that our community was fully excluded from. We were never asked. We were never engaged and no benefit of this transaction has ever hit our community. In fact, it has been a wholly extractive deal.”

On September 28, the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) announced agreements with cruise companies including MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, and many more to sail from Red Hook’s cruise terminal. The City touted the economic benefits of the deal with the cruise companies but the deal makes it even more important for the cruise ships to use shore power.

As mentioned, the Cruise Terminal is equipped with shore power, but many

2023 BENEFIT ARTISTS: JO-ANN ACEY, SARAH ACHESON, ROBERT AITCHISON, ROBERTA ALLEN, CAMERON BAILEY, JOELL BAXTER, EMILY BERGER, MARIELLA BISSON, HEDWIG BROUCKAERT, RAFAEL BUENO, KEN BUHLER, ANDREA CALLARD, BETH CASPAR, ARTHUR CELEDONIA, ELLEN CHUSE, MARGARET COGSWELL, STEPHEN COX, RICHARD DENNIS, KARNI DORELL, ELLEN DRISCOLL, CHRISTOPHER DUDLEY, ELIZABETH DUFFY, GAIL FLANERY, PAULINE GALIANA, KAREN GIBBONS, JANET GOLDNER, ABBY GOLDSTEIN, KEIKO HARA, JIM HAYES, JEANNE HEIFETZ, MOLLY HERON, JOHN HIMMELFARB, SHELLEY HIMMELSTEIN, CARTER HODGKIN, GLORIA HOLWERDA-WILLIAMS, JOANNE HOWARD, MIKE HOWARD, RICHARD HOWE, PATTY HUDAK, KATHERINE JACKSON, LIZ JAFF, ANDREA KANTROWITZ, ELISE KAUFMAN, TAMIKO KAWATA, DAMON KOWARSKY, FRANZ LANDSPERSKY, JANE LINCOLN, LUCE, KATE MACDONAGH, SASCHA MALLON, NANCY MANTER, LAURA MCCALLUM, LUCIA MINERVINI, HACCI MORIHATA, NANCY MORROW, AREZOO MOSENI, AGNES MURRAY, JIM NAPIERALA, FLORENCE NEAL, MARGARET NEILL, SUSAN NEWMARK, MIA O, PAULA OVERBAY, JAANIKA PEERNA, JULIE PEPPITO, SCOTT PFAFFMAN, MICAELA PUIG, BEVERLY RESS, MARIE ROBERTS, MEREDITH ROSIER, ALAN ROSNER, DONNA RUFF, K. SAITO, SEPIDEH SALEHI, ANDRA SAMELSON, JANE SANGERMAN, CLAUDIA SBRISSA, SUSAN SCHWALB, ROBERT SCHWINGER, BEN SELBY, ROBERT SESTOK, SHELBY SHADWELL, JOEL SOKOLOV, LINDA STILLMAN, ILENE SUNSHINE, KAMRAN TAHERIMOGHADDAM, MORGAN TAYLOR, MARY TING, RICHARD TOBIAS, LYNNE TOBIN, APRIL VOLLMER, TEO YAMAMOTO, HARRIET ZUCKER SILENT AUCTION ARTISTS: ALEXANDER GORLIZKI, MAUREEN MCNEIL, RICHARD MOCK, TOM OTTERNESS, KIKI SMITH

ships are either incompatible with the design or simply don’t plug in because they are not required to do so. There are a variety of ways in which the cruise companies are supposed to make sure they are helping the communities where they will spend time (like Red Hook) including plugging in and using shore power as well as establishing a community priority fund. The companies are supposed to submit an annual report to EDC on their progress regarding community benefits. However, it is unclear if there is any real enforcement. We reached out to Aviles’ office, who promptly responded with the following statement:

“Despite looking like we are headed in the right direction, there’s a lot we still don’t know. We’re waiting on EDC to announce a more detailed plan outlining all of the dimensions of the agreement. We are still awaiting specifics regarding how and when we will get to 100 percent usage of shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and what the actual plan is for outfitting Manhattan with shore power.

“We also would like to see more specifics on how any of these ‘benefits’ will actually mitigate current conditions in Red Hook, or if any of this will truly benefit the local community. Unfortunately, the agreements that EDC has entered into, once again, lack sub-

stantive community engagement. At a minimum, EDC’s timelines for plugin completion are wholly unacceptable given that our communities suffer from toxic exhaust generated not only by the cruise liners but all the associated trucks and cars they bring, in addition to the unregulated last-mile industry that is swallowing our neighborhoods.

“Every day that a ship doesn’t plug in means tons of toxic chemicals that pollute our homes, our playgrounds, and our streets. Every day that a cruise operator doesn’t consider traffic mitigation means that our neighbors can’t get to work, emergency vehicles can’t get through, and we are presented with a risk to our safety. The City must consider the health impacts on our communities first and foremost. Our health and well-being should never be viewed as a cost of doing business.”

JO-ANN ACEY, SARAH ACHESON, ROBERT AITCHISON, ROBERTA ALLEN, CAMERON BAILEY, JOELL BAXTER, EMILY BERGER, MARIELLA BISSON, HEDWIG BROUCKAERT, RAFAEL BUENO, KEN BUHLER, ANDREA CALLARD, BETH CASPAR, ARTHUR CELEDONIA, ELLEN CHUSE, MARGARET COGSWELL, STEPHEN COX, RICHARD DENNIS, KARNI DORELL, ELLEN DRISCOLL, CHRISTOPHER DUDLEY, ELIZABETH DUFFY, GAIL FLANERY, PAULINE GALIANA, KAREN GIBBONS, JANET GOLDNER, ABBY GOLDSTEIN, KEIKO HARA, HAYES, JEANNE HEIFETZ, MOLLY HERON, JOHN HIMMELFARB, SHELLEY HIMMELSTEIN, CARTER HODGKIN, HOLWERDA-WILLIAMS, JOANNE HOWARD, MIKE HOWARD, RICHARD HOWE, PATTY HUDAK, KATHERINE JACKSON, LIZ JAFF, ANDREA KANTROWITZ, ELISE KAUFMAN, TAMIKO KAWATA, DAMON KOWARSKY, FRANZ LANDSPERSKY, JANE LINCOLN, LUCE, MACDONAGH, SASCHA MALLON, NANCY MANTER, LAURA MCCALLUM, LUCIA MINERVINI, HACCI MORIHATA, NANCY MORROW, AREZOO MOSENI, AGNES MURRAY, JIM NAPIERALA, FLORENCE NEAL, MARGARET NEILL, SUSAN NEWMARK, MIA O, PAULA OVERBAY, JAANIKA PEERNA, JULIE PEPPITO, SCOTT PFAFFMAN, MICAELA PUIG, BEVERLY RESS, MARIE ROBERTS, MEREDITH ROSIER, ROSNER, DONNA RUFF, K. SAITO, SEPIDEH SALEHI, ANDRA SAMELSON, JANE SANGERMAN, CLAUDIA SBRISSA, SUSAN SCHWALB, ROBERT SCHWINGER, BEN SELBY, ROBERT SESTOK, SHELBY SHADWELL, JOEL SOKOLOV, LINDA STILLMAN, ILENE SUNSHINE, KAMRAN TAHERIMOGHADDAM, MORGAN TAYLOR, MARY TING, RICHARD TOBIAS, LYNNE TOBIN, APRIL VOLLMER, TEO YAMAMOTO, HARRIET ALEXANDER GORLIZKI, MAUREEN MCNEIL, RICHARD MOCK, TOM OTTERNESS, KIKI SMITH

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Aviles and other politicians and some community members rally at the cruise terminal. (photo by Abate)

Shahana Hanif invests in Participatory Budgeting

by Katherine Rivard

The city is infested with rats, was recently thrown into a state of emergency by rainfall, and Mayor Adams has ordered that the city’s budget be cut by 15% in the coming months: understandably, participatory budgeting may not be top of mind for many. Nevertheless, on a rainy Thursday evening in September, ten volunteers and a couple of attendees met in the Windsor Terrace Library’s community room to brainstorm ideas that could be submitted for funding via Council Member Shahana Hanif’s participatory budget process.

Over a decade ago, the New York City Council launched the first participatory budget process. Through this process, council members can opt to allow residents to decide how to allocate part of their capital discretionary funds. Twenty-nine of the city’s 51 city council districts are participating in NYC Participatory Budgeting for their constituents this year, including both Council Members Shahana Hanif and Alexa Avilés. Hanif, whose District 39 covers Park Slope, Gowanus, Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Windsor Terrace, and Kensington, has $1.5 million allocated for capital project funding, as well as $50,000 for expense project funding.

The participatory budgeting process kicks off annually in the fall, with any person over the age of 11 who lives or goes to school in the district being welcome to propose ideas through the end of October. Hanif’s office will create a civic assembly to consolidate the ideas (removing duplicates) or to expand on them if they need more details, before ranking them as lists of district priorities. The priorities will then be sent to city agencies for feedback on which projects are viable. Nonprofits will also be contact-

POLITICS

(continued from page 2)

to serve. The Constitution’s language was even more clear on that matter.

But unseating Brooklyn’s first AsianAmerican Assemblymember after a 38-year incumbent fell, largely due to a repudiation by Asian-Americans of Democratic candidates, was not a message the Assembly wanted to send.

The righteous voices had got it exactly backwards; refusing to seat Chang would not have been “playing politics.” It would have been a discharge of the Assembly’s constitutionally mandated duties. “Playing politics” was what happened when the Assembly ignored its own report, and the evidence it contained, and instead allowed Chang to be seated.

As the late Tammany State Senator George Washington Plunkitt once said “what’s the Constitution among friends?”

Perhaps one could call this a victory for “racial justice,” but only if one were

ed so that they may submit proposals to match the projects. The projects will be further developed by volunteers in partnership with the non profits until late March, when voting will take place.

In 2016, the district used $250,000 to create an outdoor reading garden at the Park Slope Library, complete with a storytelling amphitheater, community gardening space, planters and more. Another product of participatory budgeting in District 39 is the aquatic weed harvester in Prospect Park, which cost $140,000. This year, ideas will be divided into four different categories: environmental, arts & culture, economic justice, and environmental.

In a 2019 Star-Revue article reporter Brett Yates noted some of the program’s growing pains, including a lack of transparency before voting. While City Council’s main office has yet to post a map or form where ideas can be submitted this year, Hanif’s office has been particularly communicative about its process. For weeks, the office has shared updates on how to get involved via its newsletters and outreach to local schools.

Participatory Budgeting, with its modest projects and liberal voting base, may feel a bit like a way to pan-

using the words ironically, by ignoring the substance of Chang’s campaign.

The Ultra-Orthodox paper Hamodia quoted Chang as saying “I’ll be bold about this. Certain communities, the brown and black communities, are mostly targeting our community, Asian and Jewish.”

Not really, Lester.

At worst, certain people of color (and otherwise) may have engaged in targeting your community and mine, but the Black and Brown communities are certainly not engaged in targeting our communities. So sad that a Brooklyn elected official and “international shipping consultant” cannot understand that less than subtle distinction. This comment almost makes Chang’s proposal for boot camps for homeless people seem sane.

To be fair. Lester’s being an ass was entirely irrelevant to his legal qualifications. Sadly, most of the asses in the legislature meet the legal requirements for being seated (which is, after all, one of an ass’s prime responsibilities).

der to constituents. In practice, it is a rare chance for civic engagement with impact. The process brings community members together to brainstorm and discuss how to improve their neighborhoods. It also provides a better understanding of community needs.

For example, according to Hannah Henderson-Charnow, District 39 Outreach Director, so many schools originally requested air conditioning via participatory budgeting that air conditioning infrastructure was added to the School Construction Authority’s capital plan for schools at the city level. Most important, the process offers people an opportunity to share ideas in a constructive way. When it feels like a safe bike lane built on your street seems impossible or you start to feel that the city is doing nothing to address the unhoused population, participatory budgeting stands as one way to not just note a problem, but to propose the solution. Not every idea is selected, but the ideas are tracked on where they may inspire others. Ideas collection kicked off for District 39, with an event devoted to the environment on September 28. After a short round of NYC budget trivia as an icebreaker, attendees were divided into groups to either discuss the ideas

But the real lesson here is that sometimes these seemingly pointless and clueless candidates making seemingly pointless and clueless races can become members of the Boards of Directors of our City and State. Chang’s 2022 campaign wasn’t all that much more impressive than his prior losing efforts, but the time was right. Similarly, right-wingnut Vicki Paladino, the wackiest screwball on our City Council (a body which also includes Charles Barron) started out as one of these GOP neediest cases before achieving elective office.

So, the point of covering such candidates isn’t just for shits and giggles (even though I will admit it is the primary purpose). It is also meant as a public service.

I’m going to skip the uncontested races, and I’m going to assume that anyone reading this is probably somewhat familiar with the incumbent Councilmembers, so mostly we’ll focus more heavily on their challengers. So, now it’s off to the races:

SUPREME COURT:          Seven can-

they had brought to share or to brainstorm ideas together. From an avid environmentalist passionate about ensuring all students receive curriculum about climate change to a tentative young woman who only knew that there was a need to minimize extreme heat, the room was abuzz with purpose.

Many community meetings go over their scheduled times with random interjections or complaints that turn into monologues. Attendees leave exhausted, silently calculating when the next three-day weekend is so they can recover from the grueling nature of performing one’s civic duty. Instead, the first participatory budget event lasted just a few minutes longer than intended, as participants eagerly thought up more and more ideas on how to improve the neighborhoods. When I stepped out of the library, it was about 8pm, the sun had set, and it had been a full 12 hours since I had left my house for work that morning, but I did not feel exhausted. For the first time in a while, I felt optimistic, knowing that other people also cared about District 39, and that together, we could dream up ways to make life a little better.

Interested in getting involved? Community members will be able to post ideas online via the City Council’s map once it is published. In-person idea collection events for District 39 will be held throughout October: arts & culture ideas on October 10 at Old Stone House Lawn, economic justice ideas on October 21 at Emma’s Torch, and education ideas on October 28 at the Council Member’s tabling event at the PTA Fun Run.

didates face off for six seats. Five of these candidates, all siting judges, are Democrats who also took the GOP & Conservative lines because no one else wanted them.

There is one candidate, Timothy Peterson, running on the GOP & Conservative lines alone, and, truth be told, he didn’t want those lines either, but someone needed to hold the Conservative line in the 47th Council District (one of Brooklyn’s two competitive seats), until the GOP primary was over, and that was Peterson. Now that that’s over, the Conservatives got rid of Peterson (and, in a process appropriately known as “backfill,” substituted the GOP primary winner) by giving him a nearly worthless judicial nod, and, just for his troubles, the GOP nominated him too.

Peterson currently works as “Lead Security and Privacy Specialist” at Reinsurance Group of America, and describes himself as  “Experienced privacy and cyberlaw attorney with demonstrated success working as a

(continued on page 14)

"So many schools requested air conditioning via participatory budgeting that air conditioning infrastructure was added to the School Construction Authority’s capital plan."

Aviles gives a great speech at her State of the District event

Council Member Alexa Aviles gave her State of District 38 speech at PS 1 in Sunset Park on September 14.

The night’s events included remarks from Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Tiffiney Davis of the Red Hook Art Project (RHAP.) There was also artwork from RHAP as well as featured performances by the P.S. 1 Chorus (led by Principal Wanda Lopez-Ramirez), the Ballet Folklorico Guadalupano, the Academia de Mariachi of Sunset Park, and the P.S. 94 Dragon Dancers.

There was also excellent food donated by Red Hook’s own Defonte’s, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Johnny’s Pizzeria, Sahadi’s, Sunset Park BID, and Tacos El Bronco.

All of the speakers thanked and praised Aviles for the work she has

by Brian Abate

done for the Red Hook and Sunset Park communities.

“When Southern governors began sending asylum seekers to our

Additionally, Aviles spoke about the importance of public housing, saying “I will continue to fight and demand dignity for NYCHA residents. Public housing is the city’s most important housing asset and it must be invested in. I will fight against the privatization of public housing as well. The lack of housing for the people from this district, for our seniors, is what keeps me up at night. Our shelter system has functioned as a housing system and that should not be the case.”

Aviles also spoke about the fiscal budget and some of the different areas where she was able to secure funding.

city last year, we did not stay silent,” Aviles said. “We advocated for national, state, and local strategies to help meet their needs and cover costs. At the same time, I’ve been so heartened and proud to watch our neighbors, our district residents greet people with compassion, donating their time, their energy, and their resources.

“For the record, if you didn’t know, now you know, New York City cannot be destroyed! We cannot be destroyed! Fear-mongering and scapegoating are nothing more than a distraction. The people of District 38 are strong, we have, courage, we have grit, and we care.”

“We secured over $15 million for improvements in Sunset Park, in Coffey Park, for the P.S. 503 and P.S. 506 playground which is one of the major playgrounds in our community, so we’re excited to see that work underway. We’ve delivered $9 million to our neighborhood schools for muchneeded repairs and upgrades.

“I will always be a PTA (parent–teacher association) mama, and I’m particularly proud to make sure our kids in P.S. 1 get a stem lab, that water fountains are upgraded, that an upgraded auditorium gets done, that a music room gets built in P.S. 94, and so many other projects.

“Lastly, we allocated approximate-

ly $4 million to fund our local senior centers, our youth programs, our parks programming, arts, culture, adult literacy, food justice, and so much more. I know $4 million sounds like a lot but we know we need more. Many of you are running these organizations, and I want to thank and salute both you and your staff.”

The night concluded with live mariachi music and lots of delicious food. Though the vast majority of political events are serious, the State of District 38 was a fun night.

“For the record, if you didn’t know, now you know, New York City cannot be destroyed!"

Alexa Aviles

It was a packed house as PS 1

A crash course on an intellectual giant

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind

In today’s sharply divided political world, Hannah Arendt’s words, (in reference to the Holocaust) ring true. Arendt’s assertion that people are not inherently evil is an optimistic worldview–the real danger for us humans is in passivity and therefore, collusion. Like many, I follow the news regarding the war in Ukraine, but I haven’t done anything concrete beyond feeling compassion, empathy and sadness. I can easily identify how I feel about the war, but I haven’t taken any action. By Arendt’s definition, am I evil? As a westerner living in the relative safety of America, a world full of bombs, chaos and death is far enough removed from my daily reality for my inaction to continue indefinitely. There are no clear pressures forcing me to make up my mind to be good or evil. I’m just living life. Did Arendt identify inaction as the very issue with humanity?

Herberlein’s brief but thorough biography (2021) of the 20th century German Jewish philosopher, political theorist, educator and writer, Hannah Arendt, oscillates between factual and philosophical, superficial and cliche.  The last line of the book reads more like an inspirational plaque: “What can we learn from Hannah? That we should love the world so much that we believe change is possible, and that we should never give up.”

by Kelsey Sobel

Despite the book’s shortcomings, I found myself engrossed. Heberlein, a Swedish philosopher, has clearly done her homework on Arendt’s influences: her secular Jewish childhood, lovers, extensive reading and her German homeland. Heberlein deftly brings to life the glittering intellectual circle of pre WWII Europe, and the many famous academics and artists who populated Arendt’s world throughout her lifetime.

Unfortunately, as strongly as the basic facts are presented, the flesh and blood woman, Hannah, remains flat to readers. Her death, in 1975, at home in her Riverside Drive apartment at age 69, takes up a mere two pages of the book. Her funeral receives a measly two paragraphs. Small idiosyncratic details are limited to Arendt’s lifelong love of smoking and many vibrant friendships over the course of her life.  Throughout the biography, Heberlein dissects Arendt’s philosophies, drawing in scholarly influences like Kant and Kierkegaard while inserting paraphrased ideas or explicit excerpts from Arendt’s books. This results in the biography reading more like a textbook or a Phd dissertation than a compelling narrative. If you’ve never heard of Arendt, this biography is a crash course. More successful biographies like Joby Warrick’s brilliant  Black Flags or Jennifer Homan’s wonderfully detailed  Mr. B, paint vivid pictures of both men’s (Zarqawi and George Balanchine, respectively) internal and external landscapes, comprehensive portraits of each as individuals. Heberlein’s treatment

of Arendt dances into the territory of generalities, drawing readers away from illuminating personal details.  Several chapters are spent on the controversy regarding Arendt’s controversial remarks about Adolf Eichmann in her books, Eichmann in Jerusalem, but Heberlein doesn’t go much deeper into examining the backlash of this publication in regards to Arendt’s career or how Arendt internalized the criticism from the outside world. Although there are mentions of Arendt’s lifelong questions of identity due to her nonreligious upbringing, Heberlein skirts around the more pointed questions of Arendt’s Jewish heritage, leaving readers somewhat in the dark about what is one of the most influential aspects of Arendt’s life, and therefore philosophies.

Sadly, even the sexiest aspects of Arendt’s life get a clinical treatment - her on and off again affair with Martin Heidegger and her largely successful but open marriage to  Heinrich Bluecher are handled through a dry lens. Throughout the biography, Heberlein attests to the strength of Bluecher and Arendt’s marriage as a stabilizing force for both of them, yet seems to contradict herself by returning to Arendt’s unresolved feeling for the much older and known Anti-Semitic Heidegger.

Arendt’s decision to never have children isn’t explored in any nuanced detail, the author cites that despite Arendt’s view of children as the true “happy ending” to romantic love, the couple felt times were too tumultuous to start a family of their own - this

might or might not be true but this is the only information audiences receive in regards to the couple’s childless marriage. Arendt’s mother, to whom she was quite close also emigrates to America but her role in Arendt’s life completely drops off once arriving in America, leaving me wondering, what happened to Martha?

Heberlein’s obvious admiration and respect for Hannah’s bright mind does translate onto the pages, and Heberlein’s excitement propels the biography forward through the denser passages of text. One of the most interesting aspects of Arendt’s life is certainly her intellectual loves - the development of her own theories and ideas in conversation with the many brilliant minds she came into contact with all in spite of being expelled from her homeland. The biography makes one nostalgic for a time period before social media platforms like X, devaluing our modern discourses beyond recognition.

As the Jewish high holidays conclude this month, time spent thinking of lives lost, uprooted, forever and irrevocably changed during the Holocaust feel doubly important to honor and consider.  Most importantly, however, Arendt wanted us to think. As she wrote:  “There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking it-self is dangerous.”

In the spirit of Arendt, let’s all keep leading dangerous lives.

On Love & Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, by Ann Heberlein. Published by Pushkin Press

Youth basketball league returns to Red Hook

Paul Giffone is bringing Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball back to Red Hook for the first time since he last was in charge of it 12 years ago. There were sign up practice sessions during three Saturdays in September at the Miccio Center.

“The way I choose the players is whoever wants to play and whoever is going to be dedicated, loyal and show up, they are on the team,” Giffone said at the Miccio Center. That is what it is about. It is not about looking for super stars. If you want to show up, you are on the team.”

For kids who don’t have much experience, the longtime youth coach said they will improve with practice.

“We do drills and learn how to play,” Giffone said. “Once we have the team then we go over situations like out of bounds plays and how to break a press. We want to teach them how to play. The goal is when they get old enough they will be on their high school team.”

In his first sign up session, three kids showed up. The second Saturday that number increased to seven. His goal

by Nathan Weiser

was to double that the third Saturday. Back in the early 1990s when he started coaching CYO in Red Hook, he had teams of fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders and sometimes high school. Every Sunday there were games at the Miccio with lots of fans. The season will go from November 3 through February and then there are playoffs until March. The playoffs combine the Brooklyn and Queens teams in an NCAA tournament style bracket to determine a champion. He ran the CYO program in Red Hook from 1990 through 2011 but then stopped since he had family issues that made it so he did not have time to run the program anymore.

Since 2011, he has coached CYO in other parts of Brooklyn and has done AAU coaching since the pandemic. In 2018, he said he was fortunate to coach a CYO team at Immaculate Heart of Mary on Fort Hamilton Parkway that made it all the way to the championship. One of the kids on his team was the son of Nets coach Jacque Vaughn, who had recently come to be the assistant coach with the Nets after previously coaching in Florida.

“I would rather have guys that show up all the time than a kid that shows up when he feels like it or is a prima donna,” Giffone said. “I don’t want kids to say I can’t make it today because another team asked me to play. I have no agenda. The only thing I am promising is I am going to teach you how to play.”

Giffone was the director of New York Funeral Service on Van Brunt Street, which he founded in 1987. He said he came when nobody wanted to come to Red Hook.

“Since I had a funeral home I was looking for something to get involved in in the neighborhood so I could get known,” Giffone said. “I wanted to join something I liked. I was a CYO basketball player. I was an All-Star player in sixth, seventh and eighth grade. ”

In the summer of 1990 someone who was running the Visitation Hawks reached out to him because he wanted money to take kids to a summer tournament. He gave the money and this led to his coaching.

“I said, “I will sponsor, I will buy the uniforms. Let me coach one of the teams.’ They said ‘no problem we need coaches. He now has two reliable

coaches who he has worked with in the past. He wants to bring back organized basketball to Red Hook since he said it has been missing the last 10 years.

“I would love to come back and restart the organized basketball and get the kids nice uniforms and organized activities,” Giffone said. “I have two guys who are very good coaches and are good people with no agenda. We have no agenda other than teaching the kids and giving them something nice to do.”

There was only one kid who lives in Red Hook at the sign up practice session on Saturday the 23. The coach said that he wants more kids who are from Red Hook on the team.

Flyers were hung up at the Miccio, information was put on social media and flyers were put around the neighborhood to try and get kids to come.

Paul Giffone

Red Hook Civic Association plows ahead as it takes on Red Hook's big issues

The new Red Hook Civic Association is making progress as 17 people attended the general meeting despite the 95 degree weather on September 6. The Communications Committee has decided that one-pagers (one-page documents with information on issues that members think are important) are an effective way to pass along information on key issues.

Kristen Rouse, deputy district director for Congress Member Dan Goldman voiced her support for the onepagers, saying “Having a one-pager on issues is very useful to take back to the office and say this community organization voted on this and want this. Whenever you decide on something, blast it out to every elected official and staff member.”

The Services Committee came up with a position statement regarding the possibility of a bus route from Red Hook to Manhattan which said “For thirty years Red Hook has asked for direct local bus service through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to Manhattan. As Brooklyn bus service is currently being redesigned by the Transit Authority and Congestion Pricing fees will provide a new revenue stream the time to do this is NOW.”

A vote was held on whether members wanted to pursue a bus that would go directly from Red Hook into Manhattan and it passed unanimously. Dave Lutz, who has been calling for such a bus for years mentioned the possibility of having the M9 bus continue its route into Red Hook since it stops in downtown Manhattan and could con-

by Brian Abate

tinue through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

The Infrastructure Committee came up with a proposal with a position statement regarding safe streets which said “The Red Hook Civic Association Infrastructure Committee is working for safer, healthier street design that builds a more walkable and inviting community. We are starting our work at the key intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Van Brunt Street, a dangerously designed intersection that will soon be a magnet for Red Hook children.

“We are also working to expand this effort to two or three other key intersections including the 9th Street and Hamilton pedestrian crossing and creating a less dangerous truck route paralleling the Gowanus Canal.”

A vote was held on whether this was an issue that members wanted to pursue and it also passed unanimously.

At a Communication Committee meeting on September 26, Imre Kovacs provided an update on the search for a temporary library location while the Red Hook Library is closed for renovations.

“Right now it looks like the River of God Church [110 Wolcott St.] is no longer a possibility,” Kovacs said.

Carolina Salguero of PortSide NewYork has suggested the possibility of using the former Santander Bank location (498 Columbia St.) The location would certainly be ideal since it is located just a few blocks from the library itself. She also said she is working with Zack Aders of the NYC Economic Development Corporation

(EDC) on finding a location that will work.

In addition to those developments, Matias Kalwill put together a one-pager on the “Truckpocalypse” which has come to Red Hook.

It states “With only two of three new giant warehouses open, and at least six in different stages of development, traffic has choked Van Brunt Street, further slowing our bus service, increasing crash hazards to cyclists and pedestrians, and adding to particulate pollution and unhealthy horn and siren noise. We knew this was coming, and we know it’s only going to get worse unless immediate action is taken to avert this crisis.”

In response to these issues, six immediate actions were suggested which include: a new trucks and vans route, delaying the opening of the warehouse at 640 Columbia St., avoiding arrival and dismissal times of schools in the neighborhood when dispatching trucks and vans in Red Hook, prioritizing vision zero pedestrian safety improvements in Red Hook, activating the waterways, and a moratorium on new facilities.

At the most recent General Meeting, which took place at the Rec Center on Monday, October 2, a press release demanding local bus service to Manhattan was presented and approved. Longtime community leader Jim Tampakas recalled that this service was actually approved by DOT back

in 2007, but before it had a chance to be implemented, the 2008 financial crash interfered. The position paper prepared by Lutz states: "As the current process of redesigning Brooklyn's bus routes has gone forward, it (Red Hook) was introduced at every juncture and has thus far been ignored. We are told it can't be done."

Next was a discussion of the "Truckpocalyse" Action plan, prepared for the group by Mathias Kalwill and the infrastructure committee. Among it's demands were designing new truck routes, delay the opening of the latest Amazon warehouse at 640 Columbia, prioritize Vision Zero pedestrian safety, and activation of the waterways for low emission deliveries to last mile warehouses.

This was passed as well. The next general meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 6. For lots more information, check out the website, redhookcivic.org frequently.

Jim Tampakas makes a point at the October 2 meeting (photo by Fiala)

Pio's German Baedeker

by Darius Pio Muccilli, EU correspondent

All major European tourist destination are filled with German tourists. Not young ones, but mostly the elderly, in groups, walking the streets slowly, driven by their guide talking to them through headphones. This situation gets worse in the mountains, where every European camping spot and hiking route is invaded by German tourists of any age, fully equipped, moreso than any Himalayan explorer has ever had.

Germany doesn’t experience the same invasion, so I (an Italian) decided to take my revenge on the German invasion and visit Germany's hidden gems on my own vacation.

LÜNEBURGER HEIDE

Probably the best way to visit Germany is going from north to south, starting from the former Prussia, the authentic Germany, the cold and northern one, where the highest point is the Wildeser Berg, a mountain that dominates the heath terrain of the Lüneburg area with its staggering 555 foot elevation. An easy way for locals to fool tourists is to tell them they’re about to see the biggest mountain in northern Germany, then driving them to it and seeing their reaction. Even though the mountain is not much of a beauty, the landscape is famous for its heath, a plant that had been widespread throughout the country during the middle ages, but now present mostly here. The heath creates an especially romantic atmosphere when in bloom, as its violet color when hit by the sun has persuaded many couples to pay for benches named after them, as a special spot to shelter when seeking intimacy.

HAMBURG

It’s striking that this region, where nature dominates, is less than 40 miles from Hamburg, the third biggest European port, the engine of German shipping, where cement covers the rivers of the Elbe for as far as the eyes can see. Blue cranes, seen from the panoramic view of the recently built Philharmonic building, dominate one side of the river, while the other is covered by skyscrapers, newly created neighborhoods and a few churches that survived WW II bombings. It’s like seeing two cities divided by just a river, but united by the showcase of German industrial and economical power. You can see here the export giant Trump tried to obstruct with his protectionist policies. Inside the cities you see a less scary Germany. The red light district is where pleasure, culture, fun and art intertwine themselves into a street where a brothel, a Catholic Church run by nuns, a strip-club and the Cavern Club (where the Beatles paid their dues) coexist, creating an impressive mosaic. There’s no surprise then to discover that such a diverse reality is a strong fortress of the left, where even the local

football team, St Pauli, has far-left hooligans, something you don't expect.

HARZ MOUNTAINS

If you happen to be agoraphobic or to hate the smell coming from the Fischbrötchen, a local sandwich with smoked or fried fish inside, it could be worthwhile to take the train in the Hauptbahnhof and heading this time to actual mountains, the Harz.

The Harz is a range across three Land (Germany’s main administrative subdivision)—Lower Saxony, Thuringia and Saxe-Anhalt. Lower Saxony was in communist East Germany andprobably the only region where the eastern and former Red area is richer and more beautiful than the western one, thanks to the money that arrived after the country’s reunification.

Wernigerode is the main Harz center in Saxe-Anhalt, it has wooden traditional houses, streets characterized by the typical German cleanliness, where older women with dyed hair sample good ice cream in the several Eiscafé Venezia, an Italian trademark that has conquered every single little town in the country. But those ladies are not the highlight, that honor belongs to the hiking routes. Here pretty much no one speaks English, unlike the rest of cosmopolitan Germany. To go to the main heights you can skip

The latter can be seen both officially, in the DDR Museum in Thale, and unofficially, in shops, where beer, pins, postcards, souvenirs of any time with the former Republic’s symbols are sold. And, it must be remembered, the buyers are mostly German, due to the lack of foreign tourists. Here locals regret the welfare state and community sense socialism gave them and the void individualistic capitalist hegemony imposed upon them afterward.

BAMBERG

the walking and take the local vapordriven train, but then you’d lose the experience of seeing canyons, natural caves and the forests where the modern science of Forestry was founded.

The Harz is also a place where you can see climate change gave a strong hit to the environment. Most of the trees here are not native.

The temperature rise of has allowed bacteria to flourish and some are actually killing those trees, so extended dead forests are a pretty common thing to see as well. Their death could allow the rebirth of local vegetation, but that view is pretty harsh, as it is in a way to see the strong nostalgia here for the former communist Democratic Republic of Germany.

After some hiking it’s good to rest, partly because Harz Germans can drive you crazy telling you about animals would speak to you in order to save their lives. These are the kinds of stories hotel owners propagate in order to build their own businesses with more tourists. After similar shocks to the brain some alcohol may be needed and Bamberg, in Bavaria, southern Germany, is a special provider. Here beers is stored in caves in the surrounding mountains and then sold to people in a glass never smaller than a half liter. Smaller sizes are only allowed only after several big glasses, to officially end the drinking session. The exotic beer in Bamberg is a smoked version that, according to anyone not living here, tastes like cigarettes due to the smoking process it goes through.

Anyway, beer is not necessary to enjoy the city, whose architectural heritage is protected by UNESCO. Bamberg was a city once ruled by Catholic bishops, that decorated the city with

Baroque style government buildings, like the old town hall, completely built on an island in the middle of many bridges giving the visitor strong Venezia vibes. But in the city there’s Gothic architecture as well, like the Imperial Cathedral, a church dominating the city, where Holy Roman Emperor Henry II is buried, surrounded by bats freely haunting the dome and the naves of the building.

The region surrounding Bamberg is full of history, being the birthplace of many of Europe's most renowned royal families, including the UK’s, Belgium’s, Portugal’s among others. Indeed, castles are a usual sight while leaving Bamberg, and they’re literally of any possible style, from Disney to a Middle Age siege.

Germany proves here and in all the places aforementioned to be an interesting and staggering country to discover. But the internet is probably not the best way to get complete information on what to do or see.

Germans have in their spirit the will to explore and walk a lot, to make out of a small mountains major tourist attractions, to not stop just at bigger spots, but making the most out of anything historical.

So just trust them as guides and you will find that, even though you’ll be deep in butter all the time while eating, and you’ll be fooled about the highest mountain in the north, you will end up with an unforgettable experience.

"The exotic beer in Bamberg is the smoked version that, according to anyone not living here, tastes like cigarettes due to the process it goes through."

Block in the news holds block party

The Columbia Waterfront District's Tiffany Place, recently in the news for their fight against a landlord, held a block party notable for it's difference from past years.

In addition to a bounce house, a rock climbing wall, a table with games and books for kids, a solar powered merry go round, music and a lemonade stand, they were visited by State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon.

There was a back to school supply giveaway on a table close to Degraw Street, which was organized by John Leyva, who is the lead tenant organizer for 63 Tiffany Place.

He wanted to have this giveaway since some people really are in need and he wanted to do this as a way of thanking the community for their support.

“The community has been so good to us, we just wanted to give something back and thank everybody for their support,” Leyva said. “People have just been really supportive of everything we are doing.”

There were not many kids from 63 Tiffany Place getting supplies from the giveaway since there are not really young kids in that building any more. There were many young kids about 30 years ago when he moved in but they

POLITICS

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sole practitioner and in-house counsel, with interest and skills in Cybersecurity, Journalism, Commercial Law, Blockchain Technology, Technology Licensing, and Intellectual Property.” Notably absent is any reference to litigation, which is where judges come in. His New York Attorney registration lists a business address in Chesterfield Missouri. In 2022, he ran as the GOP/Conservative candidate for Assembly in the 51st Assembly District. The one other Democrat nominee, Civil Court Judge Caroline Piela Cohen (who is currently on voluntary loan to the difficult assignment of Family Court, where she employed my son as her once and future intern), inadvertently made Peterson’s switch easier by refusing the GOP and Conservative nods on principle.

Theoretically, one can vote for any six, so theoretically, both Cohen and Peterson can win, but, practically, the race for the last seat is between them. Given that the two real Council races, and the two other Council races where underdogs are actually trying hard for a “Hail Mary” (perhaps the wrong choice of words in seats where underdogs are both Orthodox Jews) have good size GOP votes, while the more Democratic areas of the Boro have either uncontested races or snoozers, Thus, Cohen, an extremely dedicated judge, with highly impressive case clearance stats, and a perfect appel-

by Nathan Weiser

are adults now. He has gotten to see the kids in the building grow up.

He had a son who was one when he moved into the building and is 30 now. The 52-year-old’s three younger children also grew up in the building.

Not many people move out of the building since people like living there.

“Most of the people have been in this building for close to 30 years like me“ Leyva said. “We are like family here. We have watched each others kids grow up. We looked out for each other.”

He added how it is a shame that some might have to leave.

The residents of 63 Tiffany Place, a low income building, are now, because of the landlord, at risk of being forced to pay outrageous rent increases that they can’t afford.

The building was profiled when they moved in 30 years ago as an example of tax programs that allowed low income New Yorkers to live in a building like this. However, these tax credit programs are set to expire the end of the year.

Leyva said the landlord, who had been silent despite all the publicity, recently finally answered back and put out a statement.

“We have awoken the beast since he was ignoring us for a long time,” Leyva said. “He is paying more attention now.”

The Carroll Gardens Association has been helpint 63 Tiffany Place for the past six years.

The bounce house and rock climbing wall were operated by the Party Jam company. On the other side, there were families playing corn hole and hula hooping. There was a station where with face painting, stickers and temporary tattoos.

In previous years, there was not much in terms of activities or giveaways on the 63 Tiffany Place side of the block, so Leyva decided that he wanted to change that for this year.

He decided to amp it up by having the hula hoops and he connected with Street Labs, which is a local non-profit that does pop ups and bring equipment to events.

Their studio is on Degraw Street a few blocks way. They go to NYC Open Streets and various events around the

city and bring their equipment to enhance the activities.

He had a foam machine that he was going to set up later in the afternoon. He added that he was just trying to create happiness for the kids.

late record, could theoretically lose. So, that should be enough reason to come out and vote.

Other than that, the only interest shown in this race was when “The City” revealed (She Disagrees With Roe v. Wade. Brooklyn Dems Just Picked Her for Supreme Court. - THE CITY ), long after anyone could do anything about it, that one of the cross-endorsed candidates, Judge Rachel Freier, had once written an article (https://forward. com/opinion/172778/a-mother-iswho-i-am/) talking about her taking a stance against Roe v. Wade when she was a law student.

CITY COUNCIL (District 38: Red Hook, most of Sunset Park, parts of South Slope, Bay Ridge, Boro Park, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach): In perhaps the classiest race in Greater Brownstone Brookly, incumbent DSA affiliated Councilmember Alexa Aviles (D/WFP) is being challenged by Paul A. Rodriguez (R/C), the operations manager for the Development Office for the Archdiocese of New York.

In a Boro where most GOP candidates are likely to be patronage jobholders at the Board of Elections, Mr. Rodriguez’s job with the Archdiocese makes him a pretty big macher (perhaps not the best choice of words).

Mr. Rodriguez has also worked at UBS, Morgan Stanley, ANZ Bank (as Associate Director of Corporate Banking/ Research and Analysis) at ANZ Bank and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (as Senior Vice President-Commercial Banking).

Clearly, if ever there were a race exemplifying socialism versus capitalism, it is this one (although Ms. Aviles sometime seems a relative moderate among her crew, close to some more establishment Dems, and perhaps more Social Democrat than Democratic Socialist).

But one could be forgiven thinking that for a seemingly serious business person, Rodriguez seems obsessed with running unsuccessfully for offices he has no chance of winning. In 2004, he ran as a Republican against Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez; in 2021, he ran as the Conservative for NYC Comptroller; falling ever upward, in 2022, he ran as the Republican/Conservative for State Comptroller. Now, setting his sights at a far lower level, he seeks the seat in the 38th.

In this era of MAGA loons, Rodriguez’s website reminds one of the rhetorically big-hearted, Jack Kemp-style GOPers of older, better (context is everything) times, with a tendency to posit things like privatization of public housing as if they were the most humanitarian ideas in the world. The one exception to his love of marketbased solutions concerns zoning and development, where his nostalgia for old days is less like Kemp, and more like Brownstone liberals in the days before YIMBY became hip.

CITY COUNCIL 33 (Coastal Brooklyn from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill) and 39 (Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington) The Two-front Brownstone Battle between Progressives and Anti-Vaxxers:

In 2022, the anti-vaccination “Medical Freedom Party” ran Martha Rowen against both the Democratic and Republican candidates in Senate Dis-

"In this era of MAGA loons, Rodriguez’s website reminds one of the rhetorically big-hearted, Jack Kemp-style GOPers of older, better (context is everything) times, with a tendency to posit things like privatization of public housing as if they were the most humanitarian ideas in the world."

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(continued from previous page)

trict 26, and Arkadiusz T. Tomaszewski for Assembly against both the Dems and GOPers in Assembly District 44. This year, despairing of forcing some poor patronage appointee to hold the line, the GOP and Conservatives surrendered their lines to Rowen (in the 33rd) and Tomaszewski (in the 39th), leaving the inmates in charge of the poor house. In total, over a third of the 37 GOP Council candidates in the City carry the Medical Freedom Party line, or at least their endorsement.

While the Medical Freedom Party says it that “bodily autonomy is the basis from which all freedoms flow,” some aspects of autonomy are clearly more important than others. As their website explicitly notes, they have fought vaccine mandates and refused forced vaccinations, but nowhere do they mention reproductive freedom. When pressed on the matter, both Bowen and Tomaszewski admitted to being pro-choice, but expressed themselves with seemingly as much enthusiasm as they would in swallowing their medicine. Bowen went out of her way to note that she was running for a position where she’d never vote on abortion (though abortion adjacent issues like requiring pharmacies to note the availability of emergency contraception have and will continue to come before the Council) though that hasn’t stopped her from taking positions on regulation of pharmaceuticals within the province of the federal government while running for state and local office.

I got more attempts at answers from Tomaszewski than Bowen, who cut the interview short because she got frustrated with my asking her for yes or no answers instead of speeches, on questions like whether they would end the City requirement that students to be vaccinated for measles (both answered they would eliminate the requirement). Apparently, Bowen feels that those who seek elected office need only provide answer to likeminded individuals, while others must stay silent when she tries to avoid clarity with evasion and attempts to make one’s eyes glaze over with boredom.

Tomaszewski denied the Party was anti-vaccination, rather than for freedom to make one’s own medical decisions without coercion, despite the statement on the Party website that “No one. Not a single one of us. Regrets Not taking it,” which appears below what seems to be a group-shot of candidates which includes the both of them.

And, indeed, both admitted to not being vaccinated for COVID. In fact, Tomaszewski said “I don’t believe in COVID,” and said he knew people who had died from the vaccination.

Those concerned about the purity of our natural body fluids will be happy to know that one of Rowen’s websites, in a bow to Dr. Strangelove’s General Jack Ripper, advocates for an end to fluoridation. She’s also concerned about the dangers of Wi-Fi, smart meters, cell phones, 5G, cell phone tow-

ers, and body scanners in airports, and wants to slow down the implementation of new technologies.

In fact, an aversion to technology seems to inflict the Med Freedom folks in other ways. Their website contains profiles of its 2022 candidates, with a promise that profiles of the 2023 candidates are “Coming in May.” As I write, it is now near the end of September, six weeks before the election, but there are still no profiles. Bowen has her own website, but other than his 2022 profile on the Party site, there is noting for Tomaszewski. When asked, he directed me to the website of a Republican club in Queens. Before she cut off our conversation, I asked Rowen, who said she opposed censorship, whether that meant she would stand up to Vicki Paladino’s opposition to drag queen story hours, and got a denial of any knowledge, mixed with some equivocation.

The Medical Freedom platform opposes mandates not only by government, but by corporations, something echoed in statement and website by both candidates. When I asked

differences with GOP/Conservative orthodoxies beyond being unenthusiastically pro-choice. At times, Rowen’s websites sometimes make her seem like a radical environmentalist, and she mentions being a member of Transportation Alternative, despite breaking with them on the matter of McGuinness Boulevard. Tomaszewski, for his part, supports increasing Social Security benefits, and as someone forced to quit his job as an asbestos remover after inhaling glue fumes in a poorly ventilated room, and developing asthma and a severe latex allergy as a result, he wants to make the Worker’s Compensation law more pro-worker.

One might think that someone with Tomaszewski’s health history, might be more enthusiastic about medication, but it’s possible his history might also account for his reasons. Bowen, for her part, believes that public health is not supported through “pharmaceutical interventions.” At times, it sounds like she believes a vegan diet will cure all ills. Perhaps she should run for Mayor.

ing a bill to combat antisemitism.”

Credit where it’s due, but I believe this is what my Catholic friends call “an imperfect contrition.”

Tomaszewski about whether business owners should be forbidden the “Medical Freedom” to determine whether they could require visitors to their premises to prove vaccination or wear masks, I got several different and sometimes contradictory answers. He said store owners should be required to follow the science, which he seemed to believe had an anti-masking, anti-vaccination consensus. When I asked him whether he favored fines for businesses which attempted to impose such mandates, he told me this was a difficult question to answer. He seemed to believe that businesses which imposed such mandates would be met by boycotts, which he supported, even though, in the type of neighborhoods he seeks to represent, it was often the stores who openly proclaimed their opposition to such mandates which were forced out of business by boycotts.

When Tomaszewski responded to a question by saying that he was not a government official, I noted that he sought to be one, but he did not seem to consider the City Council member to be a part of the government.

Each of the candidates had some big

I do not write this with unbridled enthusiasm for Rowen and Tomaszewski’s opponents, incumbents Lincoln Restler (33) and Shahana Hanif (39). Earlier this year, I watched with some sympathy as a very liberal Democratic club debated whether to support both as well as Crystal Hudson (unopposed in the 35th) after they all successfully supported what amounted to a purge of Progressive Caucus members who opposed Police defunding. It was clear the club was angry, but Restler maintained his support largely because his constituents in the club loved his superlative constituent service (one City inter-governmental aide told me once that half of her calls on any particular day came personally from either Lincoln Restler or Justin Brannan). But, Hanif’s constituents in the club did not have similar feelings about her (Hudson may have had one constituent at the meeting). Just when it seemed near certain that both women were going to lose club support, someone pointed out how awful it would look if the club endorsed the white male and not the females of color, and the endorsement opponents backed down.

Now apparently, some Greenpoint constituents of Restler believe he’s too focused on the Heights and Williamsburg to their detriment, and are running a write-in campaign for former Assemblyman Joe Lentol. I love Joe, but I’ve no beef with Restler’s constituent work (a different former Assemblymember expressed amazement to me about his intensive microtargeting of constituent contact) and would vote for him if I hadn’t been redistricted out, but I think a vote for another candidate sends a message, and if you have a message to send, a write-in is surely a better way of sending it than voting for a GOP anti-vaxxer, which would be seen as merely a sign of derangement.

My new Councilmember, Shahana Hanif is a different matter. As a recent headline in “The Forward” noted: “She voted against creating a day to end ‘Jew Hatred.’ Now she’s introduc-

Atonement hints: Before one sings Kol Nidre, it’s helpful to try saying “I’m sorry” to those one has offended. As my fellow Semite Mr. Dylan once noted, “Swallow your pride; you will not die; it’s not poison.”

To be clear, the Resolution was not about Israel and/or Zionism, it was about identifiable Jews getting beaten up because they were identifiable Jews. And while there is no doubt that the resolution in question contained one line of praise for an astroturf group made up of bigoted bad actors, there are only two acceptable responses to voting on such a resolution.

a) Get up to explain your vote; note the problem, and vote “yes”, saying that condemning hatred is more important, or

b) Get up, explain your vote, and abstain--there is no excuse to ever vote against condemning violence against a religious group. PERIOD.

Months ago, annoyed that Hanif voted against a resolution condemning anti-Jewish violence, and that her office staff had expressed more sympathy for a man who had killed a dog in Prospect Park than it did for her owner, who was also attacked, I made up a mechanical for a petition to run my 97 year old Holocaust survivor mother in law, Miriam Tyrk, on the “Shoah E’nuff” party line. Only my wife’s tongue clucking and under the breath sigh of “If you do that, I wouldn’t want to be you” stopped my son and I from collecting signatures necessary for ballot access.

But, as I said before, I think a vote for another candidate sends a message, and if you have a message to send, a write-in is surely a better way of sending it than voting for a GOP anti-vaxxer, which would be seen as merely a sign of derangement.

I’m not saying people should write-in Miriam Tyrk for City Council, but it certainly would get some notice. Then, whatever you do, get your ass to Bay Ridge to campaign for Justin Brannan.

"Ms. Aviles sometime seems a relative moderate among her crew, close to some more establishment Dems, and perhaps more Social Democrat than Democratic Socialist."

Howard quotes Bob

Dispatch from the New York Film Festival: Hollywood Headliners, Intimate Indies, and Hunting for Experiences

The New York Film Festival hits at a strange moment in the calendar.

By the time the 61st edition opened on September 29, Cannes, Venice, and Toronto had all hosted their festivals (in May, August, and September, respectively). Many of the year’s banner titles — Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, Todd Haynes’ May December — and a handful of those anticipated by cinephiles — Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall (this year’s Palme d’Or winner), Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest — are on the NYFF slate. But they debuted at one of those three earlier events.

New York hosts the North American premieres for May December (the Opening Night selection), Priscilla (the Centerpiece choice), Ferrari (the Closing Night pick), and Maestro (feted at the Spotlight Gala), but how much buzz is really on these films entering the festival? Particularly in the Big Apple, where all of them are guaranteed a wide release. Visiting festivalgoers undoubtedly have these movies circled in their programs, as do the celebrities who will be on hand for red carpets, parties, and the like. But a film festival built around a core of, essentially, safe, mainstream fare that has been introduced — and had their distribution rights sold — elsewhere feels anticlimactic. And somewhat inert.

Look beyond the headliners, though, and NYFF comes alive. Harmony Korine’s 80-minute shot-in-infrared provocation Aggro Dr1ft is here, as is Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge 3, a picaresque made using a 360-degree camera. There are documentaries about the reconstruction of a town established and financed in 1908 by African Americans (Allensworth) and about moths (The Night Visitors). There’s a scrap of a short, made by Agnes Varda in 1967, of Pier Paolo Pasolini wandering Times Square; there’s

by Dante A. Ciampaglia

the last footage Jean-Luc Godard assembled, Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars. There’s Return to Reason, a restoration of four experiments made by Man Ray in the 1920s, and a revival of Able Gance’s 1923 silent film La Roue — which runs an eye-popping (maybe literally) 426 minutes.

And through much of the festival program — marquee titles and new discoveries alike — courses a current of searching, particularly for belief. Two films in particular have stayed with me long after the theater lights went up for how they structure quietly profound cinematic encounters that tackle the theme.

One is Wim Wenders’ arrestingly intimate Perfect Days, an elegant and intimate rumination on ritual, culture, memory, and connection — focused on a public toilet cleaner, of all people. Really, though, that choice of character shouldn’t be a surprise. Wenders has always enjoyed the company of those we’d otherwise overlook. In that way, the janitor — Kôji Yakusho in an exquisitely interior performance that rightly earned him the Best Actor award at Cannes — is recognizable as a Wenders character. He could also be found in an Ozu film, to which Perfect Days — set in Tokyo and told in Japanese — invites comparison.

I’ll have more to say on Perfect Days next month. For now, I want to focus on the other of the two films because it has haunted me for weeks.

Pham Thien An’s Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, which won Cannes’ Camera d’Or this year for best first film, is a 177-minute Vietnamese interrogation of faith, loss, and time. And if that sounds challenging, I think that’s the point. The film, like religion and ritual, rewards focused, intentional engagement while opening new vistas of ambiguity and complication.

The plot is reed thin: a young man’s sister-in-law dies in an accident, leaving him to care for his nephew and leading him from Saigon back to his rural home village. Thien (Le Phong

Vu) has the kind of spiritual ennui familiar to anyone who spent their 20s or 30s toiling in urban anonymity, and when the film begins we find him and two friends drunkenly waxing on faith. “The experience of belief is ambiguous,” Thien says. “I want to believe but can’t.”

But Thien tries, particularly after he’s called on to care for his nephew and he returns to the community he grew up in. It’s a shift captured in how Pham shoots the film. Saigon’s urbanism is all wet streets and neon; rural Vietnam is misty and ethereal, earthy yet otherworldly. And while Thien navigates being a kind of tourist in his birthplace, we’re reminded of our temporary visitation. Pham organizes scenes with window and door frames as the focal point of a shot. Characters will sometimes be visible in those windows and doors, but just as often they’ll engage with each other in ways that take them out of those frames. We can hear them, but we can’t see them. We become voyeurs twice over.

It’s a confident choice for a first-time feature director, but one that imbues the film with a gravity that usually springs from much older artists. It’s also totally in keeping with the spirit of the work. Pham constructs the film around very, very long shots: five, 10, 25 minutes long. Reading that as a statement of fact, it’s easy to dismiss such choices as gimmicks. After all, that’s how Hollywood typically deploys the long, unbroken shot, the director calling attention to himself as clever or daring. But here, Pham uses them neither as tricks nor exclamation points but, rather, to create something closer to religious icons than the building blocks of a film. Cocoon Shell opens with a shot that lasts at least five minutes. It begins with a soccer match before the camera tracks right, over to Thien and his buddies drinking and talking in a crowded outdoor restaurant, until the camera tracks right again to a motorcycle accident in a wet, dimly lit intersection. Besides creating three very dense,

very alive tapestries, this has the effect of opening the film with the kind of altarpiece triptych. A bit later is an even longer shot of Thien getting a massage, where nothing is insignificant because everything is a rite. And another shot, later in the film, begins with Thien and his nephew burying a bird and ends, some 25 minutes later, in a Renaissance painting-like moment between Thien and an aging Vietnam War veteran connected in a candlelit relief. You can’t help but be staggered by these moments. They’re intense and intimate and, at least at first, uncomfortable. We’re not used to seeing film this way. But Pham’s patience (and his actors’ and crews’ skill) consumes us — physically and emotionally — in Thien’s journey, while forcing us into a state of heightened awareness. Of watching a film, certainly, but also of our own being. So many films get labeled “meditative,” but this is the first I’ve seen where it feels earned. Watching Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is like entering a cinema cloister, giving yourself over to something large, mysterious, and cosmic.

It does run out of steam in the last 20 minutes or so, as Thien’s search becomes literal as well as metaphysical. Some of Pham’s twists and turns get a little too twisty and turny for their own good. But what comes before is so resonant, so original, that I’m a willing apologist.

Imploring everyone to rush out to a three-hour Vietnamese film about rediscovered faith and reconnecting with your root is, I know, a tall order. But I’m going to do it anyway. This film is a singular experience. It was for me, anyway. And I’m anxious to revisit it. Next month: More from the 61st New York Film festival, including Wenders’ Perfect Days, a documentary about Brazilian movie palaces, and highlights from the shorts programs.

The New York Film Festival runs through October 15. The full lineup and tickets to individual screenings are available online at filmlinc.org/ nyff2023.

Who says a jazz band can’t play rock music? That question was implied, if not directly posed, within the lyrical permutations of Funkadelic’s 1978 “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” Genre lines might be a bit blurrier 45 years later, but they’re still there to be crossed. Bassist Hannah Marks has worked for some highly regarded jazz bosses (Terri Lyne Carrington, Ingrid Jensen, Miles Okazaki, Marcus Printup, Nasheet Waits, Anna Webber) but her solo debut Outsider, Outlier (out on Out Of Your Head on Oct. 20, CD and download) draws heavily on the pop and rock she grew up with. On “(I Wanna Be Ur) 90s Dream Girl,” the first track and lead single, she remembers being a teen outfitted in denim jackets, Levi jeans and Doc Martens, humming Replacements songs while hiding her musical knowledge and skills so as not to threaten the boy she likes. It’s a pointed stick she waves. Her band can tackle the interlaced parts she writes and still kick up the dust, holding true to her indie rock passion. Some quieter moments recall Tori Amos, with singer Sarah Rossy gliding across octaves, but the songs are never simple. The “90s Dream Girl” video is the place to start, but the rest of the record is just as smart. And speaking of the Replacements, they were heroes back in the day but I fell off the wagon with 1985’s Tim. Friends continued to sing their praises, but I felt like they’d strayed. The 4 CD+1 LP (or download) reissue (Rhino, Sept. 22) vindicates me with a new mix of that album, pulling it closer to the raw sound of the previous Let it Bleed. Apparently, the band also wasn’t happy with the sound of their major label debut, produced by Tommy Ramone. I haven’t made my way through the whole set (65 tracks, 50 never released before) but I’m glad to hear Tim getting a new

Guitarist Ava Mendoza lives in the demilitarized zone between prog and improv, playing instrumental music centered around her own stunning musicianship. The new Echolocation (CD, LP, download from AUM Fidelity Oct. 13) features what reads like a jazz line-up; the band, Mendoza Hoff Revels, is co-led with bassist Devin Hoff and includes saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Ches Smith. The opening cut, “Dyscalculia,” is available now and is a ferocious seven minutes. The title refers to a learning disorder that impedes the ability to understand numbers and math, but the strict meters belie any such claims. The rest of the album is just as alive. Revel in it.

of that background in a half dozen instrumental grooves that make for a solid half-hour party mix. The choice cuts bookend the set. “Souled Out” plays on Tropicalia while “Sleepwalker” leans toward heavy rock. It all adds up to immensely likeable crossover like what Herb Alpert used to do. And speaking of Alpert, his new one (Wish Upon a Star, Herb Alpert Presents, CD and download, September 15) is a pretty mixed bag, but there are at least a couple stream-worthy tracks (covers of the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun,” Jerry Reed’s Smokey and the Bandit theme “East Bound and Down”).

tal and existential crises. “My Brother’s Meds” attaches no romanticism to drugs, prescribed or otherwise. (If you’re looking to celebrate same, dial up NOBRO’s new shout-along “Let’s Do Drugs” from their forthcoming Set Your Pussy Free). Paige MacKinnon’s delivery on the ruminating “I Hope She Knows” is like a tough Chrissie Hynde ballad and “Side Stitch” makes for a dire ending. A couple older songs can be found on their Bandcamp and more, with any luck, are soon to follow.

Extended play. Going… Going…

Just in time for St. Martin’s Summer, or second summer, or whatever might best replace the more common term for a warm spell in November, comes Bite of the Streets by trumpeter Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics (Nefarious Industries LP and download, Sept. 29). Gollehon’s long career includes time spent in big name Latin, R&B, rock in pop acts, including Hilton Ruiz, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Chaka Khan, David Bowie and Hall & Oates. Bite shows aspects of all

Gone! seems like a quick goodbye for a title to a debut record, especially by someone who has already played Lollapalooza and appeared on the cover of NME. Hemlocke Springs took the world by storm, or at least some corners of it, with “Gimme All Ur Love” last year and that track leads off the digital EP (Good Luck, Have Fun, streaming/download, Sept. 29) that collects seven quick synth-pop gems in just over 20 minutes. The multifaceted Springs was born Isimeme Udu in North Carolina to Nigerian immigrant parents and earned a master’s degree in medical informatics at Dartmouth this year. Her songs of anger and longing are infectious and the videos are hilarious. She’ll be in the movies before long. I don’t think she’s going away soon.

Out of Nashville comes the hard edge of Gloom Girl MFG, whose foursong debut Factory (Sign From The Universe Entertainment/Ingrooves streaming/download, Sept. 8) bristles with discontent and simmers with old-school hard rock energy. Again, the lead-off track is the winner. “Litterbug” merges environmen-

Celluloid Heroes. John Carney makes just the kind of sappy movies I fall for. I only discovered him with his last film, 2016’s Sing Street, about a young man trying to start a band to impress a classmate crush. His new Flora and Son premiered at Sundance in January, opened in U.S. theaters in September and is streaming on Apple+. Set (like his previous effort) in Dublin, Flora is about a single mother and her son both trying to write songs to impress their respective crushes. It’s kind of a paean to mediocrity and dead-end streets, but’s also about the power of music, especially for the (otherwise) powerless.

lease on life.

Quinn on Books

Pollyannish Propaganda

James McBride's "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" reviewed by

Michael Quinn

Two kinds of people live in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania: immigrant Jews and Blacks. These two groups eye each other warily, thinking they have nothing in common. Neither is especially thrilled to be there. It’s a rundown place, cut off from working utilities by industrialized racist bureaucracies and choked by industrial pollution. Dumpy houses sit in muddy yards. Sewage pools in puddles on potholed streets. Yet this scrappy, scraggly, unlovely place is home for both of them. This is the setting for James McBride’s latest novel, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.” It’s a sweeping saga that traces the lives of a vast cast of characters over a long period. It’s about a small town, the people who live in it, and the unlikely bonds they form. It’s about their outward differences and their common bonds.

The story begins in 1972 when construction workers uncover a skeleton in a well. The action then moves to the 1920s, where we see the two places that give the town its heart. One is the vaudeville-type theater run by Moshe, a long-suffering Jewish Romanian refugee who discovers he can make money pitching shows to Black audiences. The other is the grocery store run by his polio-crippled wife, Chona. She extends a hand of friendship (and often free food) to everyone who walks through the grocery’s sagging front door.

When Moshe’s fortunes begin to rise, the first thing he wants to do is move. But Chona won’t hear of it. This isn’t only the place where she was born. It’s the place where she feels a sense of purpose. The daughter of a rabbi, she feels called to be of faithful service to the people around her, whom she thinks of as “neighbors with infinitely interesting lives.” She calls out the white politicians’ corruption and racism, writing angry letters to the newspaper about a parade led by the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

The town’s Black folks aren’t in a position to make waves. They just try to get by. They usually keep their troubles to themselves. But when Mosche’s righthand man, Nate, comes to him to hide his orphaned, disabled nephew Dodo from state officials, who want to institutionalize him, Chona agrees to harbor Dodo and protect him with a mother’s love. And it’s the ferocity of that love that inspires the community to come together when the real trouble begins.

By facing a shared crisis and setting aside suspicions about otherness, the town’s inhabitants locate deep-rooted commonalities, overcome superficial differences, and discover the power of community. No matter how hard circumstances outside our control make life for us, McBride seems to say, small kindnesses make a huge difference in how we feel about our lives.

It’s impossible not to admire the ambition and scope of McBride’s work here. Yet I can’t help but feel that he didn’t work from an outline so much as an agenda—a humanitarian one, but an agenda, nonetheless. Every “good” character is designed to be a mouthpiece for a message of hope. And the villains are so broadly drawn that they may as well be twirling their invisible mustaches. There is much detail in “Heaven & Earth,” but nuance? Not so much.

McBride is an accomplished, lauded writer, and that skill is on display here—but so is self-indulgence. Look elsewhere if you like a tight plot and a fast pace in the novels you read. This is a noodling, doodling story whose forward momentum drags under the weight of endless backstory. Over the course of reading, as McBride introduced yet another new character and another convoluted plotline, I dreaded turning the page. You will likely have a hard time keeping track of who’s who. But the worst part is, it doesn’t matter because it’s so obvious where McBride is heading with all of this from the outset. Despite everything else that he’s crammed into the novel’s nearly 400 pages, there’s still something missing—the element of surprise.

Delivering a message of hope is always a worthwhile cause. But in “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store,” it lands with the heavy thud of propaganda.

Jazz by Grella More Is Less

by George Grella

What does it mean to make an album in 2023? They’re still being made, Billboard magazine still tracks their sales, but just what is that thing itself, the album, and why are they made as albums?

The subject on this page each month is jazz, but these thoughts apply to all kinds of music, and are especially relevant to popular music. Still, it comes from all the jazz (and classical, metal, avant-garde, experimental, etc albums that come my way as a music critic) releases I hear, the majority of which just don’t make any sense as albums. When an artist feels they have enough good material, they put it together into a release. But what I’m thinking about is: why an album? Why these albums that come out? And again, what is an album anyway?

The very idea goes back to the record album (not the LP) which was literally an album that gathered together a set of 78 rpm discs. Since they couldn’t physically hold much more then three minutes of analog grooves on a side, anything from a set of more than one pair of singles to the famous 10-disc recording of Bruno Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Gustav Mather’s Symphony No. 9, in concert on the eve of the anschluss in 1938, came in a jacket that collected all the media, akin to a photo album.

Albums then, at first, were just something that held some music together, and they didn’t necessarily have to have the form of a symphony recording. Albums as we know them today are an implicitly coherent and self-contained package of music, and that came with the commercial development of the long playing record in the late 1940s (the technology had been around since the early 1930s, but the Depression curtailed commercial implementation). The first 12” microgroove vinyl LP, playing at 33-1/3 rpms, was the great violinist Nathan Milstein playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, conducted also by Bruno Walter (shout-out Walter’s legacy, he was one of the great classical musicians of the 20th century and his artistry was essential to the rise of Columbia Records). Albums now could tell a story.

Pretty quickly, artists realized that they could integrate the music and the format (not just the two LP sides but cover art, liner/sleeve notes, etc) together so that not only did the pieces fit onto the disc, but the way the music worked together defined the album, and made it something deliberately different than the live music experience. That man meant concept albums like Frank Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours, and Max Roach’s We Insist! It meant Charles Mingus playing live in the studio as if it was a nightclub, complete with between-tunes patter (Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus on Candid). Miles Davis did something similar with his run of albums for Prestige with his John Coltrane Quintet; playing through with no edits or alternate takes and keeping the total duration around the same as a live set. Even revolutionary music like Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz was made with the LP in mind, with the duration under control and the music formed to make sense as an A and B side of a disc.

In retrospect, it’s easy to see that one of the key factors in the great LP era for jazz, from the mid-1950 s to the mid-1980s, was that the records were conceived and produced with the medium in mind. Albums like Mingus Ah Um and In A Silent Way are extraordinary

recordings and documents of music making because they were edited and sequenced to fit nicely into the durational limits of the LP (themselves defined by how many grooves could fit and be playable on a 12” disc). Later expanded CD reissues of both prove this, as original, unedited takes are longer and lesser, with stretches of so-so music that weaken the overall effect (it’s no coincidence that the great Teo Macero was producer for both, wielding judgement via a razor blade to get the best possible results onto vinyl). That also has a subtle point within, which is that even if the music was recorded from live playing in real time, these were made as recordings, with artists striving for the best possible take to be pressed.

There are still new albums coming out, but in the age of streaming services and digital downloads, there seems to be much less thinking about the purpose of putting music together as an album. Vinyl has made a comeback, and cassettes are still around and are a great medium when you don’t have any budget (they mainly seem limited commercially by how hard it is to find a decent, inexpensive tape deck). But our era is defined by the CD and digital media in general, and so many jazz albums have that in mind, often with an hour more of music.

An album is a limited set of music, with a finite duration that may or may not be physically limited by the medium on which it’s produced. A successful album is coherent within it’s entire duration, without superfluous music that diminishes that coherence wither through redundancy or simple nonsense. More music doesn’t mean better music. Mingus Ah Um is about 45 minutes and every moment is great. An album is only as good as its weakest moments—think about albums you’ve heard that have eight great tacks and two meh ones, and that let-down feeling that comes when it hits one of those—and Macero sliced away all the duller moments so that nothing is weak.

It’s a mystery to me what jazz producers do on many recordings. Albums come out that have 40-45 minutes of good music and 20-30 minutes that are bland,

awkward, dull. A recent release on one of the best independent labels, known for the stylish and innovative music they produce, is a two-LP set that would have been a fantastic single LP but that, stretch across a second disc and about 80 minutes total, looses all the sensuous grooves and enticing direction as it dissipates, via small doses, into vapidity. Through the first side, I was looking forward to playing it again, and once the last side hit, it was both bored and exasperated, wondering when it would end. The producer in this case was the artist—always a danger—and apparently no one suggested to them that maybe a single disc would have been better.

Listeners have some responsibility in this too. There’s something there about how we get conditioned to listen. The kind of discourse that goes on around books and movies about literacy in the medium could be applied to music as well, at how to listen. There’s a threshold to the time we can give to an astute listening, and that’s certainly effected by the experience of both a 22 minute LP side and a five hour playlist. The old formula of the Blue Note albums, which was a model for how to make an LP, has now given way to a formula that almost seems to accept a durational dullness. I see this in both the music people praise and the way audiences are at shows, taking in a kind of sluggish sense of grooviness (not groove) and seeming to crave it, like a soporific comfort is all that want. But this is jazz, baby! Jazz is about life, it should be sharp, vital, for moving not swaying, it has things to tell you. One of the amazing thing about music is how much intellectual, aesthetic, and emotional information can be found in the smallest amount of material, one note, one second. No other art form can come close to this. Don’t waste it.

Marie's Craft Corner

Turn single socks into cute Halloween creatures!

By Marie Hueston and Sage Hueston

Losing a sock in the wash can be frustrating, but now you can turn the socks left behind into spooky creatures perfect for decorating.

Whether you place them in your window or on a shelf, here’s how to make your own!

Accessorize your socks. Let the color of each sock inspire how you decide to decorate it. For example, we thought the green yarn would make great hair for our black sock. Yellow felt fangs and red googly eyes completed the look.

Give your sock a costume! We gave our white sock a wizard’s hat made from shapes cut out of felt. Some other ideas are a tiny mask and cape, a red pom pom clown nose, cat ears or anything else you can think of. Be creative!

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What you’ll need. In addition to your single socks, you’ll need scissors, hot glue, a needle and thread, and any craft materials you have on hand such as pom poms, felt, buttons, ribbon, yarn, and googly eyes to name a few.

Adhere your details. Depending on what materials you’re working with, you can either sew or glue details onto your socks. For our purple sock, we sewed red buttons down the front, then hot-glued its felt mouth, googly eyes, and pom pom hair.

Add stuffing. Once your facial features are in place, bring your creature to life by stuffing it. We used poly-fill craft stuffing but other options include cotton balls, paper towels, or left over felt. Close the end with hot glue, a ribbon, or needle and thread.

November Preview:

some brown-paper grocery bags for a Thanksgiving craft.