Red Hook Star-Revue, February 2018

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FEBRUARY 2018

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AECOM & THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WANT TO TELL US HOW TO LIVE An essay by George Fiala

A

t the end of last month, a party was held at Sunset Park’s Industry City, where AECOM, the infrastructure firm that put Red Hook subway station in the mouth of the governer, recently rented space.

The party was hosted by the former Red Hook Container Terminal CEO, and former Executive Director of the Port Authority (PA), Chris Ward, and most recently AECOM executive in charge of their Red Hook project.

The occasion was to celebrate AECOM’s arrival at Industry City, where they now officially are a part of what the real estate industry has dubbed “Brooklyn’s Innovation Coast.”

I did not go as a reporter, and won’t report on what was actually said by Ward, Andrew Kimball of Industry City, Andrew Hoan, of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, or special guest Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

In fact, I left before Adams eventually showed up because I couldn’t take it any more.

What disgusted me was the glib smugness at which these chamber of commerce types toasted themselves for recognizing the hidden billions to be made simply by transforming a longshoreman’s operation into a stand of gleaming skyscrapers full of luxury condo apartments.

The speeches began with Chris Ward stating what he has told me in person that the AECOM plan that includes 45,000 new apartments in buildings scattered along our shoreline was simply a conversation starter.

But as the night wore on, and the Andrews (and former Chamber President Carlos Scissura) took the microphone, the group began congratulating themselves for recognizing the true future of Brooklyn. By God! Even the Governor’s on board, they cackled (a reference to his reference of the AECOM plan in his recent State of the State address.

with parks, up and down this very same innovation coast. They joined with the Regional Plan Association, and made a plan for themselves. The singlemindness and persistence— and competence—of their leadership has turned that plan, which 20 years ago was just that, into a rapidly growing reality.

The Red Hook terminal came into being as a political sop to labor unions.

In fact, the original PA plan was to turn all of the Red Hook waterfront into a huge container terminal. This was what the unions wanted and in a Democratic town, unions are important.

In the end, a more modest terminal The scene on the last day of January at the Industry City party for AECOM. (photo by was built across Hamilton Avenue, George Fiala) leaving a Cruise Terminal on this side. be such a bad idea. In the 1950’s, the Mitchell Lama housing program was created and was successful in creating decent affordable housing.

“AECOM will not go away.

Their vision extends long into the future. They can afford to spend 20 years

New Mitchell Lama projects are no longer being built—land is too valuable. But the terminal land is owned by government. The right thing to do with that land would be to listen to the community first and the developers second.

making their plan a

Affordable housing and parks come to mind for any new use of the piers.

reality.”

There are other possibilities—museum, entertainment venue and schools come to mind. All living happily alongside a smaller container terminal.

That plan changed, but not before many homeowners sold their homes, fearing eminent domain, and leaving a depressed Red Hook in its wake.

What’s needed today is an alternate plan that represents what we need and want. What do we want?

Anyone can have a plan, including and especially real estate developers.

Maybe the Stevedore doesn’t really need 110 acres. Maybe the Waterfront Commission and the Port Authority, who occupy the piers just south of Brooklyn Bridge Park could relocate.

Maybe the terminal could shrink a bit.

They seem to have extra space, as can be seen by the number of trucks renting space there.

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative had a vision of a bike path, interspersed

Having quality affordable housing in that part of the terminal might not

AECOM and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will not go away. Their vision extends long into the future.

They can afford to spend 20 or more years making their plan a reality.

That’s how long it’s taking to finish the Atlantic Yards/Pacific park project.

There’s an example where the real estate industry trumped community interests. That industry has as much political pull in NYC as do unions.

Shouldn’t Piers 7-12 belong to the public? Shouldn’t we have some say in possible new uses for it. Especially when some new uses might destroy the neighborhoods we love.

Maybe it’s time to form a coalition and create our own plan.

Table of Contents Happenings ............................................2 Bait and Tackle goes bye ...................16 Religious News....................................4,5 Kentler Show .......................................12 Tina Portelli...........................................3 February things to do ........................12 Red Hook Star-Revue

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481 Van Brunt Street, 8A Brooklyn, NY 11231

Feb. Happenings

(718) 624-5568

email happenings@ redhookstar.com to list your event.

For more listings, check out our online community calendar at www.star-revue.com/calendar

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George Fiala R: Nathan Weiser Alex Rodriguez Ramaa Reddy Raghavan C: Halley Bondy, Arts Laura Eng, Religion Emily Kluver, Features Matt Caprioli, Arts Mary Ann Pietanza Sofia Baluyut Adrian Bacolo Tina Portelli FOR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING OR EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIES, email info@redhookstar.com.

The Red Hook Star-Revue is published monthly.

Founded June 2010.

Community Telephone Numbers:

Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca (718) 439-9012 Red Hook Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (718) 492-6334 State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (718) 643-6140 Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander (718) 499-1090 Park Slope Councilman Steve Levin (718) 875-5200 CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman (718) 643-3027 76th Police Precinct, 191 Union Street Main phone (718) 834-3211 Community Affairs (718) 834-3207 Traffic Safety (718) 834-3226 Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street (718) 596-1956 Miccio Center, 110 East 9th Street (718) 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St (718) 852-6771 Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St. (718) 522-3880

10

Red Hook Ini�a�ve (767 Hicks Street) will host the Red Hook Local Leaders Forum, which is a community forum to discuss how Sat. to help Red Hook thrive in the face of climate change by iden�fying poten�al resiliency projects and programs. There will be a raffle �cket for the first 50 people, and lunch will be served at 1:30 pm. This forum will go from 1:30 un�l 6 pm.

11

Second Sundays is a free event series at Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street). This Sun. program features open studios with current ar�sts in residence, live music, exhibi�ons and par�cipatory programs exploring art, science, technology and educa�on. Food and beverage will be provided by Grindhaus and PW Bar. There is a $10 suggested dona�on for this event that will happen from 4 un�l 9 pm.

13

The Red Hook West Tenant Association monthly mee�ng hosted by Lillie Marshall.

The mee�ng will take place at 428 Tues.

Columbia Street tenant office room 1-C from 6:30 un�l 9 pm.

14 Wed.

15

Community Board 6 General Board Meeting at 6:30 pm. The mee�ng will take place at John Jay Educa�onal Campus (237 7th Avenue).

Today is the deadline to apply to be a community board member. Community Thur. board members are appointed by the Borough President, half of them at the recommenda�on of a local City Council Member. To apply for membership, call the Borough President’s Office at 718-802-3700, visit their website or contact you local council member. This is the online applica�on: http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/community-boardmembership-applica�on/

20

The Mobile Legal Help Center is a partnership between New York Legal Tues.

Assistance Group (NYLAG) and the New York State Courts’ Access to Jus�ce Program that provides legal services to New Yorkers in need. There are private mee�ng rooms and technology inside the vehicle. The Mobile Legal Help Center will be outside of the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) from 10 am - 3:00 pm. For more informa�on, call 718-923-8250.

22

Borough President Eric Adams’ monthlong commemora�on of the Lunar New Year will culminate in a Year of the Dog Thurs. celebra�on at Brooklyn Borough Hall (209 Joralemon Street). This will include live performances, tradi�onal Chinese cuisine and an awards ceremony honoring Chinese-American Brooklynites who have given back to their community.

This event is held in partnership with the Sino America New York Brooklyn Archway Associa�on and sponsored

by Healthfirst. RSVP by calling 718-802-2356. This event will go from 6:00 un�l 9:00 pm.

22

Which Way in Korea? Threats and War or Olympic Truce and Diplomacy? Some of the ques�ons discussed will be if North Thurs. Korea really is a threat to the United States and what the history is of the US nuclear policy toward North Korea? Hosted by Brooklyn for Peace. The Commons Café (388 Atlan�c Ave.) 7-9 pm.

Free

23

Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street) will be celebra�ng the opening recep�on of Compositions by Shuta Hasunoma.

Fri. Composi�ons will be on view in the second and third floor galleries from February 23 un�l April 8. Immediately following the recep�on, Hasunuma will perform with Japanese tables player U-zhaan in Pioneer Works’ North Hall, beginning at 8 pm. The free opening recep�on is from 7 un�l 9 pm.

27

The Red Hook Community Justice Center Theatre Troupe will kickoff at 4:30 pm Tues. at the Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place).

The theatre troupe creates social change through art. Rehearsals are on Tuesdays un�l May 22 from 4:30 pm un�l 6:30 pm The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) monthly mee�ng from 6:30 un�l 9 pm at St. Mary’s Residence (41 First Street).

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

ONGOING

E & P:

The Red Hook Library will be having free art classes for kids every Tuesday and Wednesday of the month. On Tuesdays the classes are from 3:15 un�l 4:15 for ages 4-7 and from 4:15 un�l 5:15 for ages 8-12. On Wednesdays, the class is from 3:30 un�l 4:30 pm for ages 10-17.

Every Tuesday of the month, at 10:45 am, Senior Planet’s Activate Program will happen at the Red Hook Senior Center. Adults 60 and over are invited to apply for Senior Planet’s free 10-week leadership and technology training. Par�cipants will learn how to use technology to make posi�ve changes in their neighborhood and unite with older adults across NYC. For more informa�on, call Isabel at 646-617-3151.

Star�ng Monday, February 5, and every following Friday and Monday of February, the Red Hook Community Jus�ce Center (88 Visita�on Place) is opening their computer lab to the public to u�lize. The computer lab hours on Mondays and Fridays are 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and 2:30 un�l 4:00 pm. The Jus�ce Center will be closed on 2/12 and 2/19. You will have access to 16 desktops, a printer, the internet, Google Apps and the Microso� Suite. For more informa�on, contact Leslie at 718-923-8242.

NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight St. Main Phone (718) 265-7300 Community Affairs (718) 265-7313 Domestic Violence (718) 265-7310 Youth Officer (718) 265-7314 Red Hook NCOs Damien Clarke – Damien.Clarke@nypd.org Jonathan Rueda – Jonathan.Rueda@nypd. org – 917-941-2185

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February 2018

NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY, by TINA PORTELLI

I

n my downtown Brooklyn neighborhood were raised a breed of men who are check snatchers. They are a rare breed of men who are slowly becoming extinct. These are the sons of the older generation men, like my father, who would never let a woman pick up a check. And, who consider it right and honorable to pick up the tab for any person or group of persons of whom they are associated or have a mild acquaintance.

Each week I frequent a local diner, sometimes alone, sometimes with my click of friends. There is one guy, Guy, who will always try to pick up my check. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes not. This makes me uncomfortable, I don’t want him to do that. There are times when I want to order my full egg breakfast, but when he walks through the door, I immediately change my order to a lonely bagel.

As many times as I have argued with him, it has all been in vain. I recently figured out how to beat him at his own game. When I enter the restaurant, I give the waitress a twenty dollar bill up front, even before I sit and order. I tell her to charge me later and give me the change when I’m done.

It’s not just him. I have another friend who sells Christmas Trees on the corner of Smith and President Street every holiday season. Two years ago I bought a tree from him, but he adamantly refused the money. He has the best trees in the neighborhood,

Check Please!

but I have been forced to shop elsewhere ever since. How can I go back to him, it is embarrassing. Now I am stuck with inferior trees at high cost, so what favor has Jay done for me?

If I am making a purchase in my local grocer, and my cousin Frank happens to walk in the store, the bill gets paid.

I once had a friend who would spot me getting my nails done at the local salon. He’d walk in, pay for my manicure and leave. Then he would call me a week later to borrow fifty bucks. His heart was in the right place, but he never had money, yet wanted to do the “right thing”.

Last week I was invited to dine with two brothers, one I’ve know for years and one I recently met. We met at Vinny’s on Smith Street, a real Italian neighborhood place. I knew better than to offer to pay. However, sitting at the table across from us was another neighborhood friend with his family.

Of course the friend I was dining with immediately and without hesitation picked up that table’s tab, while a third friend walked in and picked up our table tab. It really gets confusing, everyone paying everyone else’s bill.

I thought to myself, if anyone else we know walks in, there might be an all out war over who will pay their check.

And I will admit this phenomenon has rubbed off on myself and my best friend Barbara. When we dine together it is a real battle for the check. We have torn checks into pieces in tug

of war, cursed each other out, leaped over the table for that scribbled piece of paper. I have grabbed the check and sat on it til dinner was over, while she has warned the restaurant proprietor not to give me the check at all, or else. What is it with us?

Barbara and I, we laugh at the people who calculate the exact amount of a tip from the check, when we ourselves are guilty in leaving a tip almost the amount of the check itself.

My neighborhood of high rollers are disappearing fast before our eyes.

And while I may complain about it, I love the absolute old world chivalry of it all.

“I thought to myself, if anyone else we know walks in, there might be an all out war over who will pay their check.”

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

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February 2018, Page 3

RELIGIOUS NEWS

BY LAURA ENG laura.eng59@aol.com.

Lenten Season Begins This Month Lent, a solemn period on the Christian liturgical calendar, begins on February 14 and lasts for 40 days, not including Sundays, from Ash Wednesday to Easter.

RELIGIOUS SERVICES Christian River Of God Christian Center

110 Wolcott Street, 646-226-6135, Secretary, Sister Roslyn Chatman. Sunday- Family Worship 11- 1 pm Scripture, Wednesday- At The Gate 12 noon, Prayer 7-7:30 pm, Bible Studies 7-8 pm, Thursday Prayer 7:30-8:30 pm, Fri. Youth ABLAZED Ministries 6- 7:30 pm, Senior Pastor, Donald Gray

Visitation Church

98 Richards Street, (718) 624-1572. Office open Mon-Thurs. 9 am- 3 pm. Sat. Mass at 5 pm English; Sun. 10 am Spanish, 12:30 pm English.

Community Prayer on Tuesday and Thursday at 8 pm. Call to arrange for Baptisms, First Communion, Confirmation and Weddings.

New Brown Memorial Baptist

609 Clinton Street, 718 624 4780 Pastor A.R Jamal. Sun. School at 9:30 am. Sun. Worship at 11 am. Bible Study-Wed. at 7:30 pm. Communion every first Sunday

Redemption Church Red Hook

767 Hicks Street (Red Hook Initiative), (347) 4703523, RedemptionRedHook@gmail.com Pastor Edwin Pacheco Sunday Service at 10:30 am, Children’s Bible Study provided.

RH Ministries

72 Van Dyke Street (Corner of Richards Street), 718-624-3093, rhministries@bgtintl.com, Senior Pastor: Rev. David W. Anderson, Rev. Dr. Linda D. Anderson Sunday Worship Service at 11:00 am, Mid-week prayer on Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Pantry every Saturday at 9:30 am

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church

157 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights. Phone: 718875-6960, office@stannholytrinity.org, Fr. John Denaro, Rector.

Sunday Worship-Early Church at 9:30 am, Sunday School and Playgroup at 10:15 am and Holy Eucharist at 11:15 am, Weekday Worship on Wednesdays at 6 pm.

Stretching Far and Wide Global Ministry, Inc.

382 Hamilton Avenue, Studio B 1-800-948-9042 Archbishop Dr. Barbara Jackman, Overseer Rev. Dr. Dwayne Barnes, Pastor Services are held every Sun. @ 10 am Communion every First Sun. stretchingfar.webs.com stretchingfar@aol.com

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St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish

467 Court Street, (718) 625-2270 Rectory Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am- 11:30 am, 1 pm-4 pm, Fri. 9 am- 12 noon. Masses: Sat. 4 pm, Sun. 10 am, Monday- Thursday, 9:30 am.

Saint Paul Saint Agnes Parish

Church Office 433 Sackett St (718) 625-1717 Hours: M-F 2 PM-5 PM. E mail: stpaulandstagnes@gmail.com. Saint Paul, 190 Court Street- church open daily for prayer and meditation 7 am- 8 pm. Sat. Vigil Mass 5:30 pm, Sun. 7:45 am, 11 am (Spanish). St. Agnes, 433 Sackett St. Sat. Vigil Mass 4 pm (English), Sun. 9:15 am (English), 11 am (French), 12:30 PM (Spanish).

M-T-TH-F-S 8:30 am St Paul’s Chapel 234 Congress St.; Wed. 8:30 am St Agnes.

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary- Saint Stephen RCC

125 Summit Street at Hicks Street, (718) 5967750, info@sacredhearts-ststephen.com Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am- 5 pm, Fri. 9 am3 pm, Sat. 9 am- 1 pm Sat. Vigil Mass at 5:30 pm, Sun. Masses at 8 am, 10 am, and noon (Italian/ English) Weekday Masses Mon. at 12 noon and Tue. thru Sat. at 8:30 am. Confessions: Sat. at 4:45 pm and by appointment. Baptisms every third Sun. 1 pm.

St. Paul’s Carroll St (Episcopal)

199 Carroll Street, 718-625-4126, info@stpaulscarrollst.org, www.stpaulscarrollst.org, Sun. Mass at 11:00 am, Weekly Morning Prayer Mon.-Thurs. at 7:30 am, Weekday Mass on Fri. at 9:00 am, Church open for prayer on Sat. from 2-4 pm. Holy Days as announced.

Jewish Kane Street Synagogue

236 Kane Street, 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet. org/ Fri. night services, 6 PM Shabbat services, 9:15 AM Sun. Services 9 AM

Congregation B’nai Avraham/ Chabad of Brooklyn Heights

117 Remsen St., 718 596 4840 x18 www.bnaiavraham.com, www.heightschabad.com Morning Services: Sunday: 8:45am Monday- Friday: 7:45am Holidays (during the week): 8:45am Saturday: 9:45am Evening Services: Sunday: Shabbat candle lighting time Monday- Thursday: 9 pm Friday: Winter: 5 minutes before Shabbat candle lighting time Summer:

Congregation Mount Sinai

250 Cadman Plaza West, 718-875-9124, info@ cmsbklyn.org, www.cmsbklyn.org, Rabbi Hanniel Levenson Fri. services at 6:30 pm, Sat. worship at 10:00 am with Kiddush at 11:30 and Bible Study at 11:45. All are welcome.

The ashes which are distributed on Ash Wednesday come from the previous year’s Palm Sunday palms which are burned and mixed with holy oil or water. During Ash Wednesday services, the “imposition of ashes” is carried out by having a bit of the sooty ash traced in the sign of the cross on the forehead by a priest or minister while reciting the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ashes signify sin and repentance, while the cross is representative of Jesus being the savior who died for those sins.

The Lenten season is typically a time of self-reflection as well as fasting and abstinence for members of the Catholic Church. Fasting, i.e., eating only one main meal and two smaller meals (that together do not equal one full meal), on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is required of Catholics from the age of 18 to 59. Abstinence from eating meat is obligatory for all Catholics over the age of 14 on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during Lent.

When I was growing up and attending Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary School, we were encouraged to give up something that was really significant to us, a real sacrifice. For school children, that usually meant giving up candy. I have known people who have given up sweets, bread, pasta, swearing, and even shopping for Lent. I, myself, made the supreme sacrifice of giving up pizza one year which proved to be particularly challenging on meatless Fridays.

There are, however, alternatives to the “giving up” part of Lent. Monsignor Guy Massie, Pastor of Sacred Hearts/ St. Stephen Church says that the three basic elements of Lent are prayer, sacrifice, and charity. He stresses that these should be done with humility and, so if you give up something, you should not moan and groan about it nor should you boast about it. Msgr.

Massie made what I thought was a great suggestion: if you decide to give up lunch once a week (that's the sacrifice), you can use the money you would have spent on lunch and do-

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nate it to a soup kitchen or other charity. But, again, these actions should be performed humbly.

The Lenten Season also usually includes the weekly observance of the Stations of the Cross by many local Catholic churches as well as prayer services and a day of Eucharistic Adoration.

Father Rodriguez Celebrates 25 Years

Father Astor Rodriguez, Pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in BedfordStuyvesant, returned home to St. Paul’s R.C. Church in Cobble Hill on Saturday, January 27th to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Father Astor served as assistant pastor at St. Paul’s from 1993 to 1995 and then as pastor from 1997 to 2002 when the church was part of the Parish of St. Peter, St. Paul and Our Lady of Pilar. To mark the milestone, Father Astor movingly reprised the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” He played the guitar and sang the song in Spanish as he had done at his ordination.

Bishop Responds to Flu Outbreak

In response to this year’s serious flu outbreak, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn has suspended the distribution of the Precious Blood during Mass for the duration of flu season. The consecrated wine is usually distributed from a single chalice which is shared by the many wishing to partake in the sacrament. The bishop has also advised to physically refrain from exchanging the sign of peace with anyone who is exhibiting signs of illness. A nod or wave may be substituted for a handshake or embrace. Additionally, hand sanitizers have been requested for all clergy and ministers participating in the celebration of Mass.

Upcoming Events Congregation Mount Sinai 250 Cadman Plaza West

Tot Shabbat on Saturday at 11 am followed by kiddush at noon on February 10 and 24.

Kane Street Synagogue 236 Kane Street

Adult Education: Open Beit Midrash on Tuesday evenings with dinner from (continued on next page)

February 2018

6:45 and classes, lectures, demonstrations from 7:30 - 9:00. Cost is $40 per three-week course. February’s course is “The Ethics of Living in Community: The Rabbinic Vision” with Dr. David Kraemer on February 20 and 27 and March 6, 2018. For general information, contact Joy Fallek at BeitMidrash@kanestreet.org.

Redemption Church Red Hook 767 Hicks Street

Sex, Love and Lies on Saturday, February 24 at 7 pm. Join us for a conversation of why we often “settle” instead of wait, what to look for in your partner and what is a “healthy relationship.”

Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church Summit & Hicks Street

Ash Wednesday, February 14 - Ashes will be distributed at a 7:30 am Prayer Service, 8:30 am Mass, 12 noon Mass, 3:45 pm Prayer Service and 6:15 pm Prayer Service.

St. Agnes/ St. Paul’s Parish Hoyt & Sackett Streets/234 Congress Street

Valentine Luncheon on Sunday, February 18 from 1:30 - 3:30 pm in St. Agnes Hall. Tickets are on sale. Will include Grand 50/50. All are welcome!

Share Your Love Sock Drive - CCD children will be collecting new and warm socks for C.H.I.P.S. (Christian Help in Park Slope) a soup kitchen on 4th Avenue. There will be a collection box in church from now until Valentine’s Day. Youth Retreat for ages 13 - 17 on Saturday, March 3 from 10 am - 5 pm at St. Agnes Church. Includes Mass and lunch. RSVP at 718-625-1717.

76th Precinct Neighborhood Safety Meeting on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 pm in St. Agnes Hall.

Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA on Thursday, March 15, buses leave from St. Agnes on Hoyt and Bond Streets at 7:30 am. Cost is $150 per person which includes roundtrip transportation, show, lunch and a stop at Tanger Outlets. All are welcome to join us!

St. Joseph/ St. Patrick Luncheon on Sunday, March 18 at 2 pm in St. Paul Parish Hall.

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church 157 Montague Street

A Black History Month Forum - “Forever Bound: Black History, the Church, and Social Covenants in Brooklyn” on Sunday, February 11 at 2 pm. St. Ann’s welcomes Dr. Craig Steven Wilder, Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Charles Egelston, historian and archivist for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, for an important conversation on race at a critical juncture. All are welcome and admission is free.

“The Saint John’s Bible” - On February 4 and 11,we will have on view a rare Heritage Edition of “The Saint John’s Bible,” the first illuminated, handwritten version of the Bible to be produced in 500 years. On loan from the Cathedral of the Incarnation, this fine art replica of the Gospels and Book of Acts will be used

in worship to inspire Lenten programs such as the creation of an illuminated Psalter in Sunday School.

“Unsung Heroines” on Sunday, March 18. In honor of Women’s History Month, St. Ann’s will host their third annual Unsung Heroines program in which parishioners will present brief biographies of widely influential but largely unknown women. Mark your calendars; details to follow.

St. Mary Star of the Sea Church 467 Court Street

Ash Wednesday, February 14 - Ashes will be distributed at 9:30 am Mass and during 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm Prayer Services.

Stations of the Cross at 7:30 pm on February 21, 28 and March 14.

An Evening of Faith Questions & Discussion on March 7 at 7:30 pm. Come join us in Dugan Hall for a relaxed evening of faith exploration and sharing!

Day of Eucharistic Adoration - on March 21 with the Blessed Sacrament being exposed on the altar beginning with the 9:30 am Mass, the church remaining open all day for prayer and quiet reflection, and Benediction at 7:30 pm.

Check the bulletin on our website, stmarystarbrooklyn.com for upcoming events.

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St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 199 Carroll Street

Ash Wednesday on February 14 - Ashes will be imposed at 7:30 am Low Mass, 12 noon Low Mass and 7:30 pm Sung Mass.

Visitation BVM Church 98 Richards Street

Healing Mass on Friday, February 2 at 7 pm in English and on Ash Wednesday, February 14 at 7 pm in Spanish.

Movie Night with Youth Minster Laura Ramirez on Saturday, February 3 after the 5 pm Mass, featuring Disney’s “WALL-E.” Mobile Soup Kitchen on Tuesdays from 1 - 2:30 pm and Fridays from 10 am - 12 noon (except first Fridays of the month).

St. Patrick’s Night Fundraiser - A night of faith, fun, food, music and dancing on Friday, March 16 in St. Mary’s Hall (BYOB). Evening begins with Mass at 6 pm. Tickets are $40 each, table of eight is $260 and table of four is $140. 805300-6913 or 917-515-4225.

All these people can’t wait for our

FIRST ANNUAL PIZZA PARTY!

MON., FEB. 12, 7 - 10 P.M. Come meet your neighbors and enjoy free pizza!

Sam’s, 238 Court Street at Baltic

RSVP to george@redhookstar.com

DON’T MISS THE FIRST ANNUAL STAR-REVUE

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February 2018, Page 5

Grand NYCHA rebuilding to be done by 2021

by Nathan Weiser

A

ccording to what residents heard at the Miccio Center, Red Hook East and West will all have all-new roofs, a new heating system for every building, brand new playgrounds, new doors, surveillance cameras and better security access, together with some nice landscaping by the summer of 2021.

The money for all this comes from FEMA—money that was allocated for the New York/New Jersey area following Hurricane Sandy. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez was able to grab over $500 million for the Red Hook Houses.

A project update, including the timeline mentioned above, was presented to the community on February 7 at a meeting in the freshly painted Miccio Center.

Joy Sinderbrand, NYCHA’s Vice President for NYCHA’s Recovery and Resilience Department showed how the building plans have changed over the past few years in response to community input.

The biggest changes were in the downsizing of the two power plants – one next to 135 Mill and the other on Columbia

Street, close to the new Senior Center.

Care was taken by the architectural firm KPF to create buildings that are size appropriate and be attractive and respectful of the housing population.

The roof contractors were made to provide 30 year guarantees—any repairs will be made by them. The power plants will be designed to make future maintenance by NYCHA workers simple.

The first phase of construction is the roof replacement, which started towards the end of 2017 and will end the end of 2019.

The second phase, which begins later in 2018 and ends at some point in 2021, will include work on East and West Plants, MEP Pods and Distribution.

The third phase, which will begin later in 2018 than the second phase and end in 2021, will include basement restoration, food protection and overall site restoration.

According to Sinderbrand, the buildings will be resilient and energy efficient. They also retained the green roof from the original plan.

Dave Stahl, who is the site director, said that parts of the buildings will be closed off one at a time to expedite the construction. There will be seven phases of the building construction and he will be in charge of implementing new roofs and walls.

Red Hook East and West will have This rendering of the final plan for the heating plant on Columbia back up power, and West 9th was on display at the meeting. (photo by Weiser) as a result of this construction, in case of an emergency. of these have gone to low income NYC Both developments will also have back residents. Out of those, 296 are NYCHA residents.” up power in case of an emergency Laura Gibson, Sandy Workforce Devel- Peak hiring is expected to occur on opment Manager, gave an update on 2019, midway through the reconstruction timeframe. the hiring process.

“Similar to every other aspect of our office, me and my team are solely focused on Sandy work and Sandy jobs,” Gibson said. “We have 744 new jobs and 444

A document given out at the meeting gives the phone number (212) 3068537 as a contact number about any aspect of this project.

Civic Association takes on major topics

by Nathan Weiser

T

he Red Hook Civic Association met on January 31 at PS 15. Attendees included NCO Officers Damien Clarke and Jonathan Rueda, Red Hook West Tenant Association President Lillie Marshall, Karen Broughton representing Felix Ortiz, and Robert Berrios from Visitation.

Buses

A major topic discussed was the possible return of the B71 bus line.

Robert Berrios, Red Hook’s bus expert, was hopeful that the defunct 71 might be restored.

“I had a meeting last week with the operators out of Jackie Gleason,” Berrios said. “They are all for bringing back the B71 but they feel the route is too long (Grand Army Plaza to Manhattan). They would accept it if the bus was made limited. They will not have an issue with that.”

According to Berrios, many people who live in Red Hook work in downtown Manhattan, and could really use this long-promised bus service.

McGettrick is determined to have the bus go to Manhattan via the tunnel.

Recognizing local heroes

There is talk of two one-block sections of different streets being renamed after people who made important contributions to this community.

One street renaming would be a section of Wolcott Street, where Morris “Pickles” Johnson lived for a long time.

Before living on Wolcott, he lived in the Red Hook Houses for many years.

There is also talk of renaming a section of Van Brunt Street for the recently deceased Sue Amendola.

Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue

PS 15

The annual PS 15 benefit is scheduled at Pioneer Works on March 29.

Warehouse development

UPS recently rented a lot of space on the west side of Red Hook. This includes the Snapple building..

McGettrick wants to make sure that local people will get jobs there. UPS has a union and their pay is fairly good. The negative side to this is extra truck traffic in the neighborhood.

The other warehouse development in Red Hook is one that came out of the blue is a 370,000 square foot facility for large commercial trucks that will be at 640 Columbia Street near IKEA. “The volume of trucks going onto Lorraine would be devastating,” McGettrick said.

Sugar Factory

The massive THOR Equities site along the water next to Beard Street is a mess and development has stopped, leaving giant piles of dirt behind. State DEC finally came to do an investigation.

“THOR, as they have done in the past, would promise that they were going to do this or that, but they did nothing,” McGettrick said.

“They promised a removal of the sludge that came out of Erie Basin, much of it from hot spots where chemicals had been dumped into the water for generations.”

A lawyer at State DEC has been assigned to initiate a criminal complaint against THOR Equities as they have pollutants going throughout the area, according to someone at the meeting.

The obvious question of why THOR stopped development was brought up and McGettrick said that this is typical of what THOR has done in the past.

“Joe Sitt, who is the owner of Thor, has a history of promising great things on particular sites that they buy. They end up doing very little good, and then they flip it for a lot more than they purchased it for,” McGettrick said.

AECOM

A 2017 Civic Association meeting, before the passing of Sue Amendola (lower left) who was a faithful attendee.

According to McGettrick, AECOM and Chris Ward wants to transform Red Hook into something similar to Battery Park City. There is talk of building 61,000 apartments in Red Hook.

Chris Ward, who was the executive director of the Port Authority, is suggesting getting rid of the Container Terminal, and according to the governor, there is potential for major development.

Someone else added that in AECOM’s report they stated that their vision is to have buildings in the place of where NYCHA currently is.

McGettrick said that AECOM wants to go after open spaces like where the community garden and parking lots are. McGettrick doesn’t think they will be coming to NYCHA.

Flood Protection

Another issue that concerns this neighborhood is flood protection.

According to McGettrick, there is now an application with FEMA for consideration and there is the hope that it is

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approved. He has no idea what will happen if it isn’t approved because the money that has been allocated might be rescinded and go someplace else.

A flood protection issue that is not as extensive as it could be are the temporary flood barriers. They have discussed moving and broadening the flood barriers along the sidewalk that are on Beard Street.

“The question is why did they stop there,” McGettrick said. “Why can’t they continue going all the way along Beard Street and then around by the Cruise Ship Terminal? They said they had to do a drainage study but then they said the drainage study was delayed because of bad weather.”

It is a mystery that it is five years into the flood protection process and they have spent tens of millions of dollars and nothing has happened. McGettrick informed everyone that there will be a meeting on February 10, and he will learn more then.

February 2018

Van Brunt Non Profit helps firemen in distress

by Nathan Weiser

A

lonely fire boot sits on a raised flower bed outside the revitalized firehouse building on Van Brunt and Seabring Streets. Inside, firefighters and their families receive confidential counseling and wellness services to help them cope with the trauma and struggles of facing danger on behalf of strangers.

Friends of Firefighters, located at 199 Van Brunt Street, is dedicated to addressing the physical, mental health, and wellness needs of New York City’s firefighters and their families. Their mission is to provide the long term support required by firefighters and their families. They have provided services to active and retired FDNY firefighters in this building for 17 years. Their help is provided with complete confidentiality free of stigma, while honoring the unique firefighter culture.

“Since 2014, we have also offered services in satellite offices located in other parts of the city in order to improve accessibility and further encourage utilization of mental health counseling,” Brown said. “However, our Red Hook headquarters remains our main branch wherein we have the space to provide numerous and varied services including counseling, biofeedback, financial guidance, workshops, guest speakers, and On-the-Arm peer breakfasts.”

The On-the-Arm breakfasts take place the second Wednesday of every month from 8 until 11 am. These are open to firefighters and their families, service men and women and their families, as well as volunteers.

Friends of Firefighters began as a small group of volunteers who went to firehouses to offer relief after 9/11. They are now a well-established and respected mental health service provider. Their space is full of firehouse paraphernalia, demonstrating their understanding and respect of the culture.

They receive praise from firefighters on their welcoming and casual atmosphere, which they actively try to foster. Firefighters can’t avoid facing trauma as part of their job, and this results in major psychological consequences. Cultural challenges exist in seeking and obtaining help because there is a lock of self-awareness of mental distress and self-identification in the firefighter community. Their goal is to eliminate all barriers to mental health and wellness.

We spoke to Sylvie Brown, Friends’ spokerson, who told us:

“We do this by purposely providing a separate space for firefighters to con-

nect and support each other.

Professional services are then offered on the second floor where there is more privacy,” Brown said. “We have been locally, nationally and internationally acknowledged for our success in bringing firefighters in need into the type of counseling service that best addresses their personal, mental and emotional disorders and distress, protects their privacy and avoids the pervasive fears of additional stigma seeking help.”

Firefighters who wish to have counseling do not have to commit to a regular schedule, although many choose to do so. According to Brown, all of their services are available for spouses, children and im- Nancy Carbone is the founder and Executive Director mediate family members of of the Friends of Fireghters. (file photo) FDNY firefighters as well. appointments available during the “In spite of the long hours and freevening, and they will work with the quent absences, family is considered schedule of anyone interested. paramount in the firefighter culture, which is why we are here to support If you have questions about the services performed by Friends of Fireall members,” Brown said. fighters, you can contact them at: The revitalized firehouse on Van Brunt 718-643-0980 or info@friendsoffireStreet is open Monday – Friday from 9 fighters.org. am until 5 pm. They sometimes have

Too much grit for the neighbors

by Nathan Weiser

T

he Red Hook waterfront has been a site of gritty industrial activity for over a century. The neighbors of one lot on Beard Street, however, have had enough.

“It seems like they have a lot of clients and tenants,” says David Trimble, who organizes the yearly Red Hook Crit bike race. “I would definitely like to see it cleaned up and controlled a little better.”

The lot is bordered by Beard, Van Dyke, Richards, and Dwight Streets and is owned by One Stop LLC, a company which rents warehouse and parking space.

School buses, charter buses, a trolley, and lots of garbage are visible from the street, as well as dogs in an enclosed area. Neighbors have noted concerns about the animals’ wellbeing as well as the the eyesore the space creates.

“The dogs make a lot of noise and it doesn’t sound like they are being taken good care of,” Trimble says. “I think the dogs are always there.”

Trimble, whose office is across the street from the lot, thinks the condition of the site has been getting worse recently.

“The area would be nicer if they cleaned that area up a little bit,” Trimble said. “I think they just don’t control what goes on in there.”

According to a local artist who lives in

Red Hook Star-Revue

“One local resident, who lives across the street, was informed that two men even live inside this space.” the area, another major cause for concern is that there is no garbage pickup or dumpsters for the businesses on the lot. The result is that a lot of garbage, including full cans of oil, accumulates on the sidewalk. In addition, neighbors have observed workers relieving themselves in the right of way, leading to speculation that there are no bathroom facilities on site.

One local resident, who lives across the street, was informed that two men even live inside this space.

Additional complaints include gates of the lot being open 24 hours a day with the attendant noise of truck access, the uncovered state of the sandpit, and the sand bags not being labeled. Further, this neighbor is annoyed by trucks and bulldozers parked on the sidewalk and the street and the apparently continuous use of a forklift.

Another local characterized these Barking dogs and pounding machinery are annoying neighbors conditions as like Mad Max. at this lot across from the Thor Equities site on Beard Street.

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February 2018, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES compiled by Nathan Weiser

Time to get involved!

Community Board 6, which represents Red Hook as well as Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Waterfront District, Gowanus and Park Slope, is looking for new members.

New York’s Community Boards are municipal bodies which make recommendations to elected officials and government agencies on matters affecting the good and welfare of the district. Many community boards also provide additional services for the area and manage special projects, which can include organizing tenant associations, coordinating neighborhood cleanup programs, and more.

Board members are unpaid and meet on the second Wednesday of each month, except during the months of July and August. Committee meetings are held at different locations within the district to maximize accessibility for the community members.

Terms are two years long. There are 18 community boards in Brooklyn and each one consists of up to 50 members appointed by the Borough President, half of whom are nominated by their district’s City Council members.

If you are interested in this unique opportunity for civic engagement, call the Borough President’s Office at 718802-3700. You can also contact your local Council Member, or go to http:// www.brooklyn-usa.org/communityboard-membership-application/.

The deadline to apply is February 15.

Chinese New Year time

Brooklyn Borough Hall will host a series of Chinese cultural events this month in honor of the Lunar New Year, including a flower market, a traditional lion dance, and a Year of the Dog celebration. Borough President Eric Adams, who has focused on highlighting the diversity in Brooklyn, encourages Brooklynites from all backgrounds to come and experience the heritage celebrations for the Lunar New Year.

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Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue

versity of our borough,” said Borough President Adams in a press release.

“This month’s collection of Lunar New Year programming is a testament to how important it is to keep heritage alive as we build One Brooklyn that is a rich tapestry of culture and community.”

On February 10, Borough President Adams and the Sino America New York Brooklyn Archway Association will co-host a Lantern Flower Market from 10:30 am until 2 pm in the plaza in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall. According to the press release, this event will feature live cultural performances, including a lion dance from the NY Lotus Light Association, and celebratory giveaways.

“This is the first time that a Lantern Flower Market has come to Brooklyn, and there is no better place to host it than the People’s House,” said Winnie Greco, president of the Sino America New York Brooklyn Archway Association.

The month-long commemoration of Lunar New Year will culminate in a Year of the Dog celebration on Thursday, February 22 from 6 until 9 pm.

This will include live performances, traditional Chinese cuisine, and an awards ceremony honoring ChineseAmerican Brooklynites who have given back to their community.

Those attending the Year of the Dog celebration are asked to RSVP for the event, which will be held in partnership with the Sino America New York Brooklyn Archway Association and sponsored by Healthfirst. RSVP by calling 718-802-2356 or visiting brooklyn-usa.org/ chinesenewyear2018.

Local Leaders discuss climate change

How can Red Hook can not only survive, but thrive, in the face of climate change?

That will be the question considered by the Red Hook Local Leaders Forum on Saturday, February 10 from 1:30 - 6 pm at Red Hook Initiative (RHI). RHI established the Local Leaders group in 2014 as a way for public housing residents to learn about emergency preparedness and community organizing in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. RHI has trained over 200 public housing residents so far through the Local Leaders program.

The community forum, meant to discuss and identify potential resiliency projects, is open to the public. The first 50 people who show up will receive a raffle ticket, and there will be food and giveaways. Translation and child care will be provided, and the space at Red Hook Initiative is wheelchair accessible.

The event is hosted in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency, the Rockefeller Foundation and 100 Resilient Cities.

Topics will include how to withstand impacts of climate change, community preparedness, safe and affordable housing, inclusive economic devel-

opment and access to local resources.

Shipwrecked a valuable resource

On January 22, Red Hook’s neighborhood pirate-themed miniature golf course held a fundraiser for 826 NYC, a nonprofit after-school program providing tutoring, workshops, help for English language learners and assistance with student publication.

Like most miniature golf courses, Shipwrecked is available for parties, company meetings, and team building events. Unlike most golf courses, Shipwrecked also makes its space available to local organizations looking to fundraise.

“If you are a nonprofit, a school, a group, or whatever, you can contact us,” says co-owner Ryan Powers. “We have a place where you can have a fundraiser here, and help donate towards the cause.”

Shipwrecked, which opened at 619 Court Street in April 2016, was founded by two college friends who moved to New York City to pursue theater.

They started their company after having kids. On Saturdays the facility is open from 11 am until midnight. On Sundays, it is open from 11 am until 10 pm. You can call 718-852-4653 to find out about special hours for your large group, field trip or special event.

The cost is $14 for ages 13 and up, $12 for seniors and military personnel, $10 for kids aged 3-12 and free for those 2 and under..

Teen farmers in Red Hook

The Red Hook Community Farm (RHCF) is calling for applications for their Teen Farm Apprenticeship program. Apprentices will do outdoor farming work three days a week between April 3 and June 23, growing fresh vegetables and learning about food, agriculture, plants, and the environment. Apprentices will also develop valuable skills in teamwork and leadership.

The RHCF is operated by Added Value, a nonprofit organization that adapted an asphalt playground into what NYCgo.com calls “an agricultural oasis” at the end of Columbia Street by IKEA. More than 30 crops are grown on the site, including herbs, vegetables, and flowers. Teen apprentices are involved in all aspects of the farm, including planting, composting, and logistics.

since 2010, since the Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund Site.

The plan to turn the Gowanus into a community resource that can include fishing and safe boating, as well as a nature habitat was completed in the fall of 2012.

Since then, a remeditation plan was designed complete with methodology and timelines.

Last year the initial test dredging was begun in the part of the canal that abuts Whole Foods. Regular attendees of the community based CAG meetings are briefed by project engineer Christos Tsiamis.

Regular attendees were told that the this pilot dredging project was important to make sure that the plans were feasible. It was where tweaks would be made when necessary.

In fact, we were told that tweaks were inevitable.

At the most recent meeting, Tsiamis told the group that indeed, the testing had revealed problems in the way that the contractors were proceeding.

Mainly, that their work to install a new bulkhead was causing a nearby building to develop small cracks.

The EPA was called, and Tsiamis had to advise the contractor to use less force. That’s it. No biggie. Part of the normal process of cleaning up one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country.

In attendance was a new reporter for the Brooklyn Paper. She was sitting quietly by one of the walls, taking notes and looking at her cellphone during Tsiamis’ presentation.

The story she wrote sensationalized this part of the presentation. She wrote: “But the bulkhead installation isn’t complete, and it’s anyone’s guess when the actual dredging will take place, the federal official overseeing the scrub told a crowd of locals on Jan. 23.”

Seeing this, local radio station WNYC ran a news item on numerous hourly newscasts that gave the impression that the Superfund project was in big trouble, and had gotten off track.

Just a lesson in how important it is for even local papers to get the story right.

No experience is required, and apprentices will be paid $13 per hour.

Applications are open to all high school students and will be accepted until March 7 at 5 pm. Apply online at www.added-value.org/youthprogram. For more information contact Corey at corey@added-value.org or 718-501-5394. Added Value Farms (349 Halleck Street) is a youth empowerment and urban farming non-profit.

Misunderstanding at Gowanus CAG Superfund Meeting Readers of this paper and others know that the EPA has been in town

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Superfund Project Manager Christos Tsiamis giving his monthly update. (photo

by George Fiala)

February 2018

Rocky’s hosts Justice Center fundraiser

by Nathan Weiser

T

he Red Hook Community Justice Center’s famed Peacemaking Program needs just two thousand dollars for their second annual trip to the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington D.C. The trip, which is aimed at Peacemakers but open to others in the community, is scheduled for August.

The Peacemaking Program uses a restorative justice model that mediates disputes between members of the community before the official justice system gets involved. It is adapted from Native American conflict resolution strategies, and run by Coleta Walker.

“We had Peacemaking participants,” Walker said of last year’s trip. “People that had maybe had assault charges and went through the peacemaking process. Now they are able to be in the same room together without fighting.

We were able to bring them on the bus and have them have this great experience.”

The program held a fundraiser on January 11 at Rocky Sullivan’s (46 Beard Street). The event featured a box where attendees and bar-goers could donate money directly for the trip, as well as to a raffle. Prizes included paintings done by people in Justice Center programs, books about African American history (including one signed by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez), a Justice Center water

bottle, and a newly designed Justice Center t-shirt. There was rice, cabbage and meatballs available for the attendees to enjoy while at the event.

The Peacemaking Program was able to get additional donations as a result of an Irish speaking event that was also happening at Rocky Sullivan’s

“It was important to me to be able to see photos and history that was so different from what they taught me in school.” that evening. The musical acts during the night included traditional Irish music as well as a rap performance by a teenager involved with one of the Justice Center youth programs.

“We made a little over $1000 that night, our goal is to reach $3200, and we are still taking donations!” said Walker.

The highest expense for the trip is the $2,500 to rent the bus to take everyone to and from D.C. While last year the trip was a one-day affair, this year they want to make it an overnight.

“I forget how many levels it is, but the museum starts in the basement and you have to go up,” Walker said. “We

Coleta Walker and Jacqueline Renaud-Rivera standing in front of the museum poster board on display at Rocky Sullivan’s. (photo by Nathan Weiser)

were there for about four hours and it still was not enough time to see and soak in everything.”

The group had breakfast and then got a snack before their four hours in the museum. After the educational experience at the museum last year, they enjoyed a meal at Golden Corral.

“It is an all you can eat buffet and the food is so good,” Walker said. “It was really nice. We broke bread together and then we headed back.”

Last year 50 people went to D.C., but Walker is hoping for more attendees

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“It was important to me to be able to see photos and history that was so different from what they taught me in school,” said one attendee of last year’s trip. Said another: “I never thought I would be able to go to the African American Museum, but the Peacemakers made it happen for me.”

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February 2018, Page 9

Nydia Velazquez holds meeting to promote the Americorps program, under threat from Trump

by Alex Rodriguez There was no microphone available at the January 23rd community meeting, but that didn’t stop Councilwoman Nydia Velazquez from projecting a better future for NYCHA residents.

The meeting was held at the community center of Wyckoff Gardens, and started off with Velazquez sharing her two cents on the current political circus.

Velasquez joked that she didn’t mind hollering in the gymnasium, but that she needed to save her voice for Washington.

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The audience was made up of Red Hook, Gowanus, Wyckoff, and Warren Houses residents. The meeting was held to inform NYCHA residents of the job opportunities made available by the federal AmeriCorps program. These employment opportunities offered an ideal trifecta— empowering the residents and the surrounding communities; provide income that would not affect their Social Security benefits, nor their income based rents; and a $5,000 education award granted upon completion.

AmeriCorps representatives, Colin Devries and Erica Helson, provided a lengthy presentation on all the different avenues of the organization. Founded in 1993, Americorps is made up of over 80,000 members, participating in a wide array of different trades and issues, ranging from natural disasters, teachers aid, medical assistance, and tax preparation.

Americorps partners with federal and local organizations, to complete hands-on projects throughout the United States. The complete rundown was followed by a panel of success stories from current and alumni members.

The success stories, occasionally touching on personal experiences, all credited Americorps as an uplifting experience. Two of the members, in their early twenties, shared details on the educational realm. Fresh out of college, they are currently working in the classroom environment, as teachers aides. The hands-on work supplies both the pleasant and tough

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experiences that you can only learn in the field.

One of the Americorps alumnus on the panel shared her story of sleeping on a friends couch while working on building her foundation. She chose to work within the computer intelligence community, and later obtained a full time job thanks to the skills she learned.

That same alumni would later get an apartment of her own thanks to the affordable housing lottery system.

Although the people on the panel all worked in different areas of AmeriCorps, they all agreed on the fulfilling feeling of giving back to people in need.

Currently there are thirteen open employment opportunities listed on the AmeriCorps website within the five boroughs. Healthcare, after school literacy programs, nutrition programs for youth, and assisting disadvantaged youth, are a few of the job descriptions.

Here in Red Hook, the Justice Center employs a number of AmeriCorp trainees, including the Red Hook Community Resilience Corps.

Among one of the many outrages coming from the Trump administrations that Velazquez has been warning her district about is the existential threat AmeriCorps faces.

In his budget proposal to Congress, Trump eliminates all funding for the program. She is hoping that congress will restore those cuts, but its members need to be lobbied by we citizens for that to happen.

Velazquez warns of proposed budget cuts, including elimination of AmeriCorps, at a meeting of nonprofits at a Fifth Avenue Committee office. (Fiala photo)

February 2018

SOME VALENTINE’S DAY IDEAS FROM IKEA

“Exploring new collaborations are a big part of what they do at IKEA. Sometimes they step into really unexpected places; places that inspire and fascinate us and improve their offering.

For many people, Bea Åkerlund is known as a stylist and custom designer to the stars (think Madonna, Beyoncé and every other A-list name you can imagine). However Bea is more accurately described as a modern day Renaissance woman, being the multi-talented artist and entrepreneur that she is. With her over-the-top look that combines Goth, Punk and a dash of Alice in Wonderland – plus her “won’t quit till it’s perfect” attitude – it’s no wonder that Bea’s work has been coveted for more

than 20 years in the industry.

So how is it that IKEA and Bea Åkerlund have joined hand?

“It started when Karin Gustavsson – the creative leader for OMEDELBAR – had heard me speak on Swedish radio and apparently this inspired her to reach out. I was really excited, as I’m a huge fan of the IKEA brand,” explains Bea who – perhaps not oddly enough – has a keen interest for interiors. “Style is style, so if you’re interested in fashion, chances are you’ll be interested in interior design.”

The above is from an IKEA press release - we’re not sure what it means but we really like the lip stuff! - George Fiala

Some Ferry Ideas for celebrating February 14

Love is in the air and also along the waterfront with NYC Ferry serving as the new “love boat” for riders cruising for that box of chocolates or heading to Valentine’s Day plans. Since last May’s launch, over 2.9 million riders have explored new neighborhood connections throughout the Harbor!

If you haven’t finalized that special surprise for that special someone, NYC Ferry recommends a few last minute Valentine’s Day sweet spots along each route within walking distance from a ferry landing:

South Williamsburg Stop Barano – This seasonal Italian restaurant features a menu that adapts old world cooking techniques to modern tastes, using open kitchen’s woodburning oven and open-fire grill.

Rockaway Ferry Stop Riis Park Valentine’s Day Beach Bazaar – Treat yourself or your significant other at the Riis Park Bazaar’s Valentine’s Day Market. Local vendors and artisans will have pop-ups with jewelry, candles, body scrubs, warm winter gear, plants and so much more.

Red Hook Ferry Stop Red Hook Lobster Pound- Enjoy a Prix Fixe Valentine’s Day menu including, but not limited to, Grilled Oysters with Yuzu Kosho Butter, The

Red Hook Star-Revue

Valentine Lobster Roll and the Filet Mignon with Bearnaise Sauce and Pommes Frites.

Atlantic Ave Ferry Stop Chez Moi - Nestled within a charming storefront, this French bistro provides classics such as Steak Frites, Escargot and Mussels inspired by the different regions of France.

Greenpoint Ferry Stop Anella – This classic Italian spot offers many savory dishes such as the Rigatoni with Calabrian Chili Marinara, Oregano and Parmesan or the Anella Burger with a Brioche Bun, White Cheddar, Tomato and HandCut Fries.

Hunters Point South/Long Island City Ferry Stop Sugarcube – Indulge in an assortment of unique desserts including 3-D chocolate, traditional Italian gelato and pastries with a modern twist. Ingredients are imported from Italy and France.

Long Island City Ferry Stop Maiella – A casually elegant restaurant located in the picturesque waterfront section of Long Island City, serves authentic Italian dishes with a modern flare and the freshest ingredients.

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February 2018, Page 11

FEBRUARY CULTURE, by Matt Caprioli For the first Saturday of February, you can bring your entire family to Mark Morris Dance Group and heat up against the cold. The free event on 3 Lafayette Ave features live music from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and starts at 3:00 pm. Closer to Red Hook, Sonny’s has a slew of bluegrass musicians performing throughout the month, including Joanna Sternberg on February 6 at 9, a mix of Laura Gibson and Joanna Newsom.

Or if you’re feeling practical, you can receive some tax help (yay!) for free at Neighbors Helping Neighbors on 4th Avenue and DeGraw. Schedule an appointment online or at 212-505-3482 beforehand. Doors open at 10:00 am.

The free tax advice occurs every Saturday up to April 14.

Down to Earth brings regional farmers and food producers to events around town. The next one near Red Hook is on February 4 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on 4th street and 5th Avenue.

For the literary, poet Carl Phillips is reading at the famed KGB bar on February 5. Dave Eggers launches his latest book, “The Monk of Mokha” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 11 at 8:00 pm; he’ll be in conversation with Mokhtar Alkhanshali, the coffee entrepreneur who inspired the work. Novelists Sigrid Nunez reads her latest novel “The Friend” and discusses with novelist Peter Cameron at Greenlight Bookstore on February 26 at 7:30 pm.

On February 6 at 8:00 pm, Union Hall hosts “Don’t Think Twice,” featuring comedians Ophira Eisenberg, Sydnee Washington, Mike Feeney, Menuhin

Hart and Justin Brown. Alternatively, you can reenter the 90s with a Tom Green show at The Bell House, February 8 at 8:00 pm.

Until February 11 in Gowanus, the intriguing multi-disciplinary artist Rose Nestler is displaying her first solo show called “Strange Business” Ortega y Gasset Projects on 363 3rd Avenue. Grab your bike and 20 minutes later you’ll be at the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum has a series where artists give lectures on current exhibits. On February 10 at 2:00 pm, photographer Farah Al Qasimi will discuss the museum’s featured exhibit “Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys.”

At Pioneer Works, make sure you check out interconnected exhibits by Kathleen White, “Spirits of Manhattan,” and Nan Goldin’s “Kathleen” before Feb 11. Pioneer Works opens their next major exhibition, “Compositions” by Japanese artist Shuta Hasunuma, on February 23.

Chinese New Year is February 16 in 2018, and there are a flurry of celebrations around the city. Leading up you can explore making authentic dishes at the gallery Court Tree Collective, which on February 10 will become a kitchen. The Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts hosts a lunar dance and music extravaganza on February 11 at 3:00 pm. Then of course you can travel to Manhattan’s Chinatown to see some huge dragons and legions of dancers on February 25, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Men’s Fashion Week runs February 5 to 8, and the big names show around

Manhattan on February 8 to 11. While most shows, especially for established brands, aren’t public, there are a host available. Who knows, maybe you’ll see the next big thing. Check out Fashion Week Online for a continually updated list of shows that are open to the public.

Depending on your relationship status, you can dance your (oh so independent) heart off at the anti-valentines party on February 9 and 10 hosted at Littlefield, or if you’re feeling lucky, check out the “House of Love” costume party on February 10, followed by a “Queer Valentines” on February 11 at House of Yes in East Williamsburg.

From the Nan Goldin show at Pioneer Works

Mardi Gras is February 13th this year, and there are a host of events around the city to enjoy jazz and lobster. Bryant Park hosts a “SK8 Night” on Fat Tuesday (7:00 pm to 10:00 pm) where the rink is lit in green, purple and gold. Expect sounds from New Orleans and free beads everywhere. If you want some Louisiana style food, Bar LunÀtico in Bed-Stuy is a sure bet, and if it’s the sound of New Orleans you’re after, Brooklyn Bar dedicates two nights to New Orleans musicians on February 12 & 13.

On February 15, The Brooklyn Histor-

ical Society presents award-winning historian and Brooklyn College professor Jeanne Theoharis, author of “A More Beautiful and Terrible History.”

Theoharis analyzes contemporary political use of the Civil Rights Movement, often in a way that fails to consider the mammoth resistance white voters had toward the movement.

Hear contemporary reimaginings of Beethoven at Roulette on February 28 when Bearthoven takes the stage at 8:00 pm. And don’t miss “Introductions” at Trestle Gallery in Greenwood. Curated by Enrico Gomez, the exhibit brings together more than 50

Still time to catch the Iceberg show at Kentler

by Matt Caprioli

A

s climate change alters the lines that form our world, artists have responded in a myriad of ways that tend to mimic the (mostly destructive) processes operating on the landscape, but through actions and works that aim to be reparative against this realtime destruction. Itty Neuhaus, the Greenpoint-based artist and art professor at SUNY New Platz, is one poignant example.

Neuhaus’ latest show, “Sublimation: An Iceberg’s Story,” now at Red Hook’s Kentler International Drawing Center through Feb 25, features a 30 foot long panoramic photo of Russell Glacier in Southwest Greenland. The photo has meticulously be etched away, resulting in a powerful inverse painting. The chiseling captures the dry, gritty cracks that define a personal experience of glaciers; it ultimately offers a tangible feel that photos, for all their resolution, don’t convey. To up this physical sensation, Neuhaus has the work backlit by a two minute,

Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue

repeating video of various glaciers.

The recordings comes from her visits to Greenland and Iceland last summer, though the genesis of this piece can be traced to 2015, when Neuhaus joined a group of Fulbright scholars to the Arctic. On average, the Russell Glacier moves at least 80 feet a year, and this movement, as well as the thermal energy beneath it, captured Neuhaus’s imagination. Like Patty’s Chang’s “Wandering Lake” at The Queen’s Museum through March 4, a media piece split onto screens where Chang washes an abandoned tanker in the Aral Sea, “Sublimation” is also split into several sections that echo humanity’s fractured attempt to connect to nature, as well as the futile attempt to reverse its destruction.

Neuhaus has an admirable philosophy of thought first medium second.

Consequently, her previous work has incorporated sculpture, collage, video, performance, and installation.

Those confluences are easy to see with this exhibit, which incorporates

Itty Neuhaus’ show installed at the Kentler Drawing Center

drawing, photography, video, and installation.

The overall work is meticulous and beautiful. It echos the Canadian artist Sarah Anne Johnson’s “Arctic Winterland,” a collection of original photography from the Arctic circle on which Johnson splattered ominous paints and severe, oversized buildings onto the once unblemished landscape. As Roy Scanton’s essay accompanying the “Sublimation” reads, “Reality is a

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composite of here and there, then and now, subjectivity and fact. Reality is a haunted palimpsest, a photo etched with future ghosts. Reality is a flickering projection.”

You can make what you will of the exhibition’s title. “Sublimation” can be a critique of the collective defense mechanism of ignoring impending ecological collapse by through one’s prefered distraction. It can also be (continued on next page)

February 2018

Tom Stoppard at the Heights Players

T

here’s a cute little theater in Brooklyn Heights you should check out. For 62 years, The Heights Players on 26 Willow Place has hosted a wide range of productions, including works

by Lynn Nottage (“Ruined”; “Intimate Apparel”) and classics like “Cabaret” and “Hair.” Presenting nine new works a year, the theater is entirely community and volunteer driven.

Last month, The Heights Players brought out two Tom Stoppard farces, “After Magritte” (1970) and “The Real Inspector Hound” (1962). The two one-acts parody the serious detective mystery. It’s an apt time for a resurfacing when the search for truth is an increasingly surreal and risible process. And fascination with classic detective tales, however melodramatic, continue with last year’s remaking of “Murder on the Orient Express,” the Agatha Christie whodunit spectacle that Stoppard so gleefully mocks here.

Stoppard, the Czech-British playwright may be best known for “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” (1966). He’s had a long and versatile career, from writing of Russian dissidents and mental illness in “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” to rewriting the screenplay for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and co-writing “Shakespeare in Love.”

Clocking in at nearly an hour, “After Magritte” is set in a room that looks like the Rene Magritte painting “The Menaced Assassin.” The joyfully fuzzy story is about a couple who’s accused of a crime after visiting a Magritte painting, then discovering that the police detective made the whole thing up. It’s an absurdist play four decades old that, with its uncanny focus on the uses and abuses of language, has pointed relevance for 2018.

“After Magritte” opens to a married couple, Reginald and Thelma Harris (played with aplomb by Marty Goldberg and Talia Saraceno) seemingly readying themselves for an evening out. Thelma contemplates aloud about that one-legged football player they saw earlier in the evening. “What

Kentler

(continued from previous page)

considered a reflection of the change that Neuhaus said overtook her after visiting northern glaciers over the years. In geothermal terms, sublimation happens when a solid becomes a gas without ever going through the liquid phase.

Neuhaus writes that she had a particularly sharp experience upon seeing one iceberg that seemed resolute not to move while other icebergs cracked and floated away from the Kangerlussuaq glacier. She gave a name to this glacier, Icylla. There’s a “The Story of Icylla” aspect that lacks the compelling vision of the focal piece. It’s red-

Red Hook Star-Revue

by Matt Caprioli

position do you suppose he plays?” she asks, spellbound by the kind of “pluck” it takes to play football with one leg. Reginald meanwhile fixates on making a light bulb glow brighter, once hanging his bowler hat on a banana to fully concentrate on the operation (the banana will later be peeled

by Goldberg with serious and ultimately hysterical urgency). Reginald also insists that the man was holding a large turtle, not a football; the man was also blind.

Bolstering this surreal feel in sight and noise is the woman billed as Mother, played by Jill Bolstridge. The slightly senile and always hilarious Mother

“Like Sherlock Holmes, Foot prowls the stage with great confidence; unlike Holmes, he’s willing to distort the facts to fit his fancy.” alternates between deep sleep and wide-eyed confusion that her desire to play the tuba should be denied.

While verbal nonsense flew around, it was quite a joy to see Bolstridge flat out asleep in her bright white robe.

The couple quibbles until the regal Inspector Foot (Linus Gelber) arrives to solve the case with the greatest authority. Gelber captures the smug self-righteous of the British detective, pompously demanding to see the Harris’s license to own a television.

When Inspector Foot proclaims he will “modify the details” to fit his story of a nonsensical crime, one can’t help but think of similarly absurd figures making headlines in 2018. Like Sherlock Holmes, Foot prowls the stage olent of a romanticizing of the north (being from Alaska, I feel like I can say this with some validity). From Jack London to “Into the Wild” and “The Snow Child,” there’s something about this romanticizing and projecting impulse on the north that always makes me brace. But overall, this exhibition serves an important function​. As Scanton writes, “Itty Neuhaus’s Sublimation connects Red Hook, Brooklyn to Greenland, here to there, then to now, in ways that subvert and complicate our typical thinking about the Arctic’s spectacular doom.”

No arguing with that.

Kentler Drawing Center at 353 Van Brunt St hosts the show until Feb 25.

Neuhaus will give a talk Feb 13, Tuesday, on the work’s evolution.

with great confidence; unlike Holmes, he’s willing to distort the facts to fit his fancy.

When it’s revealed that he has falsely accused Harris of a crime, Foot blames Constable Holmes (Jenna Kemmer) for not furnishing enough criminating evidence for him. The last line is from Foot as he transfers the blame of the botched investigation onto the lowly civil-servant: “Well, Constable, I think you owe us all an explanation.”

The Real Inspector Hound

Goldberg took the audience into the second play, “The Real Inspector Hound,” by assuming the role of Birdboot, a fawning and slightly lecherous critic. Stoppard was a theater critic for some time before playwriting took off, and it’s a joy to watch him dig into the critical ego.

The “real” play opens to Moon (David Moseder) walking into a crimson box seat to join Birdboot. The paper Moon works for him to review this play only because their main critic, Higgs, couldn’t make it (we discover the ingenious reason for his absence as the play closes). While Moon frets over his place in the pecking order, Birdboot glows in the reception that his reviews (always positive) have received in papers of high repute.

The play within a play begins: it’s straight Agatha Christie--the secluded mansion, the clueless Irish maid, the secret (and quizzical) love affairs.

Into this melodrama are the frequent interventions of the critics. Moon is skilled at drawing the most grandiose conclusions from mandune actions, and Birdboot betrays his salacious feelings toward one actor; “The best Cynthia since the war,” he declares of Lady Cynthia Muldoon (Peggy Willens was wonderful as the bated breath, slightly-dimwitted lady of the Muldoon Manor).

There’s a somewhat confusing triangle between Simon (Terry Ellison), Felicity (Nishi Rajan) and Mrs. Muldoon; the critics in the play don’t shed light on it, but instead dwell on their social position or ambiguous homelife.

It’s one of Stoppard’s many insightful

Inspector Foote, played by Linus Gelbert.

strokes: the vain critic tends to tell you more about their homelife or social anxiety then work through the meaning of a play.

Everyone’s clueless in “The Real Inspector Hound,” and for sometime the audience laughs at the characters who think they know what’s going on, until they find themselves (much like Birdfoot, then Moon) just as clueless.

But before the play goes totally off the rails, Magnus (played splendidly by Larry Gutman) reveals his true self, giving the audience its biggest laugh.

Rounding out the 2017-2018 season The Heights Players have four more productions to round out their 62nd season.

“Seussical,” the musical that stirs together Dr. Seuss’s most popular works, runs February 2 to 18. Then “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (March 2 to 18) and Neil Simon’s dark comedy “The Gingerbread Lady” (April 6 to 22) about a washed up cabaret singer who attempts to host a party.

And from May 11 to 27, “George M!” takes the stage, the story of George M. Cohan, the entertainer who owned broadway before WW1.

The Star-Revue is looking for more revenue so we can produce a better newspaper, with more reporters.

But this begins with a sales department.

If you would like to join, or to be honest, create one for us, we’d love to talk to you.

Call George at 718 624-5568, or send me an email - George@Redhookstar.com

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February 2018, Page 13

Wet Whistle Wines - a seamless transition

by Adrian Bacolo

C

ory Hill and Megan Mardiney first met in 1995 at the now-closed Waterfront Ale House on Atlantic Av-

enue.

“I like to think that I was her bartender, but she says I was one of her bartenders,” jokes Hill.

More than two decades later, the couple—now married with a collegebound daughter—have opened their own establishment centered around imbibing, thus allowing new generations a chance to bond over barolo.

Wet Whistle Wines opened its doors two days after Christmas, filling the temporary vacuum at 357 Van Brunt Street.

The space was already near perfect. In 2010, Jeff and Triciann’s Botta di Vino opened following an intense fourday build arranged by the Discovery Channel show “Construction Intervention” that included see-through floors and a backyard patio.

While little was needed to update the store outside a coat of burgundy paint and personal touches, Wet Whistle arrived in Red Hook with one significant change. “[Triciann] only carried Italian wines,” says Hill. “I’ve added French, Spanish, small producers from the west coast, even south America.”

From cabernet to chardonnay, Hill knows his varietals. He spent 30 years behind the bar at the Waterfront Ale

House, opened his own restaurant in Manhattan in 1999, moved over to Eleven Madison Park, and finally entered wholesale distribution.

It was there that Hill met Triciann.

“We became friends.”

So when the Bottas decided to put a cork in their specialty business and move to Florida, Hill admits he was first in line. Together with Mardiney, the couple plans to divide the business responsibilities according to their professional strengths.

As an art director by trade, Mardiney will oversee the Wet Whistle brand.

The logo, website, events and pretty much anything printed will bear her signature creativity. She also expects to work the register while mastering her wine-speak.

Hill, for his part, intends to lean on his time serving drinks for 30 years to assist shoppers.

“My bartender experience lets me listen to people instead of telling them what they should have,” he says. Hill also acknowledges that many customers prefer low-intervention, or natural, wines, but those can be tough to work with.

“I try to look for minimal intervention instead of no intervention,” he says.

“Having been a bartender, I always like wine that crosses over, that’s easy to drink but has a little complexity, so you can have it with food and without.

“That’s kind of what I look for in every wine here, something that punches above its weight class.”

Not that Wet Whistle doesn’t have its valuepriced choices too. The store sells more than 200 types of wine, including ones that come in boxes that both makers and consumers are enthusiastically embracing.

Wet Whistle takes over Botta Di Vino on Van Brunt Street “I’m not an evangelist, people in come in looking for it,” swears more from their wine—like informaHill of the ecologically- and cost-friendtion on soil content and habits of the ly packaging (one cardboard container farmer—than just taste. holds the equivalent of four 750 mL bottles). “It’s about 25% cheaper than There’s competition like Dry Dock, which Hill credits as “a fantastic store the same wine in a bottle.” with a great inventory and a great staff.”

Both owners are excited about the prospects of being a part of the Red Then there’s simply being the new kid Hook community. After all, they’ve on the block. Hill and Mardiney seem been chasing what they call “old to draw faith from the very name of their business. While some of their Brooklyn” for decades. initial ideas resonated more academMardiney’s father emigrated from ic than consumer-friendly, they think Aleppo, Syria, settled in Brooklyn Wet Whistle Wine adds up.

Heights, and raised the family in Park Slope. Hill, who was born in Minneso- “People just want to get a bottle of ta and grew up in Chicago, would visit wine and have fun,” says Hill. “There’s his brother in Red Hook before the some people that take the fun out of cost of living forced him to relocate to wine—I don’t like hanging out with them.”

Manhattan.

But for now, the couple is focused on the present. There’s the maker trend amongst young people who expect

Wet Whistle Wines is at 357 Van Brunt Street, they are open til 9 pm, (718) 576-3143

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Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue

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9/28/17 5:16 PM

February 2018

Italian couple migrates to Carroll Gardens to bring us a missing Italian specialty

I

remember as a kid that perhaps the next best thing, if not better, to pizza was a calzone.

In the neighborhood, House of Pizza and Calzones on Union Street was the place to head to if you were hankering for one. It was large, filled abundantly with ricotta cheese and mozzarella, and ham—except on Fridays in observance of “no meat” days for Catholics. One bite into the hotcrusted calzone and warm cheese just oozed out in melted, flavorful goodness. On second bite, the combined flavors of the cheeses mixed with the ham was, in my opinion, just too good to be true.

I never gave much thought to the origins of calzones, except that on Christmas Eve, between my Molese and Gaetana parents we made traditional palm-sized calzones filled with anchovy and sweet sauteed scallions and Gaeta olives. I never thought much about the dough either. My mother basically made it from scratch. We, the children, assisted her in filling them, deep frying them and eating them as they came out of the piping hot oil, much to my mother’s annoyance that there would never be enough left to put out on the Christmas Eve dinner table if we kept eating them out of the pot.

My calzone bliss was pretty much all accounted for then, when my family finally visited my homeland of Italy for the first time in 1996. As we were strolling in piazza one warm evening in Mola di Bari, one of my Italian cousins unexpectedly invited us to visit a pizzeria where we could enjoy a panzerotto.

“A panzer what?” I asked.

“A panzerotto,” he replied. “It is our specialty.”

Ready and willing to eat anything in “bel paese” where our rooted observation about Italians in Italy was their amazingly insane love affair with food (which was thankfully passed onto us), we wasted no time in accepting his invitation.

Inside the pizzeria I saw the makings of a panzerotto in action.

“Oh,” I immediately exclaimed to my cousin as I watched the pizza maker fill circles of dough and press them closed, “a calzone!”

But I was promptly and firmly corrected. According to him, no, it was not.

This was an Apulian specialty, albeit various provinces in the Apulian region can make them differently, the region as a whole credits itself with the panzerotto. It was then I came to realize how territorial the regions in Italy are about their “cibo tipico,” the food typical of the region or province, because indeed, one taste of the panzerotto and I knew it was not a calzone. I saw my calzone bliss slowly fade away as panzerotti euphoria took over. The dough’s flavor and consistency, the sauce, the cheese all rolled into one beautiful “inside out pizza” as my kids joyously

Red Hook Star-Revue

by Mary Anne Pietanza

shrieked, rightly distinguished itself from a calzone—a food typical of Naples that is generally made with pizza dough and baked.

This explains in good part why Vittoria Lattanzio and Pasquale De Ruvo, both residents of Apulia in the province of Bari, decided it was time to introduce America to authentic panzerotti (Italian plural). For years Vittoria and Pasquale enjoyed their frequent visits to America, mainly New York and California. Whether they visited family on Long Island or toured various sites in the city or San Francisco, they were consistently confronted with the absence of authentic Apulian cuisine, particularly the panzerotto.

They mulled this over for a while, tentatively considering to leave their hometowns behind and fulfill a dream to bring the much-loved panzerotto of their region to America. A simplicity of the heart-of-family cooking called “cucina povera,” where the panzerotti was born, family members all participated and cooked up panzerotti with leftovers or special ingredients for holidays.

Panzerotti Bites is not a new TV series, it is a wonderful addition to Smith Street

base, shows off hand-made basket light shades from their hometown in bright and comfortable surroundings.

To combat the question “just what is panzerott?” they have three framed posters that reveal where Apulia is in Italy, how panzerotti are made, and in case it’s necessary, how to eat one. All of the ingredients are imported from Italy and are proudly exposed through their glass-enclosed kitchen where customers could see the panzerotti-making in progress. The olive oil, in particular, is Vittoria Lattanzio and Pasquale De Ruvo imported from Vittoria’s hometown of Bitonto, a Barese-provWith Pasquale’s experience as a café ince town—the site of an ancient Mesowner and Vittoria’s role of a food exsapian center not far from the Adriatic porter, the engaged couple decided to Sea—noted for producing some of the take time away from their work and best olive oils in the world. The modenroll in a pizza-making school in Biern city is surrounded by a never-endtonto, Italy (Vittoria’s hometown and ing plantation of olive trees and has where she and Pasquale met and fell in been called the “City of Olives.” Levoni love) with an emphasis in making panis their choice brand for charcuterie. zerotti.

Imported from the north of Italy, the They spent three months in daily train- mortadella,—with pistachio and no ing, and a month before they were to be msg—is typically Bolognese and made married, they came to Carroll Gardens in compliance with the standards of in the spring of 2017 and found their a strict production regulation. It is ideal location for their new restaurant, slow cooked with a delicate flavor that Panzerotti Bites, at 235 Smith Street— makes it highly digestible. Their proformer site of Hana Café Japanese Res- sciutto di parma, matured in the Levotaurant. ni plant, also complies with the same They opened January 7th. Vittoria ex- strict standards of production regulaplained that while they knew it would tion, and is mild in flavor and melts in not be that easy to open a business in your mouth.

America, to insure their success, they But the true testament to Vittoria and sought the help of consultants and Pasquale’s Apulian panzerotti is in employed the services of Export USA the making of the dough. The durum to help them launch their business as wheat flour they use from their region professionally as possible. (dubbed “the wheat with the golden In Panzerotti Bites we have a chance to experience what one might expect if we walked into an eatery—or gastric bar—in Apulia. The atmosphere, while taking in a little bit of Red Hook vibe with their recycled wood counter

tones of the Apulia sun”) is organic and leavened to produce a highly digestible dough with a supple consistency.

Upon tasting, it’s immediately noticeable how thin, crusty and tasty the dough is,and surprisingly grease-less

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despite being deep fried.

When I asked them how they came up with the filling choices, they expressed their desire to maintain the authenticity and richness of their traditional Apulian panzerotti, but they wanted to respect the current American palate as well. In addition to their classic fillings—pomodoro, Barese, prosciutto and tonno (tuna) for example—they have added a selection of salmon with cream cheese, avocado and sesame and have even added “Oreo” cookies to their sweet panzerotti that is already filled with ricotta and Nutella. Along these lines, they are offering specials where herbs such as tumeric and nettle are added to the dough for their healthful properties, and coco and coffee to the dough of their sweet selections. They are also quick to notice that Americans enjoy some marinara sauce on the side for dipping, something that is never done in Apulia. They graciously accommodate those customers and will also make up custom fillings that are not on their menu.

Business so far is doing well, they enthusiastically told me almost in unison,even though they have yet to add espresso, coffee, Italian salads, and wine and beer to their menu. They are confident that they have selected the right neighborhood to introduce their love of panzerotti with, in the metropolitan New York area. Being quite young themselves, they could identify with gentrified Carroll Gardens, but also, they knew from their research and word of mouth that many Molese (Barese) immigrants had come to the Red Hook area to live their American dream, and they are delighted to see many come through their doors, welcoming and wishing them well, and giving them the chance to enjoy their beloved panzerotti without having to go to Italy.

Panzerotti Bites—“born in Apulia, made with love in Brooklyn.” 235 Smith Street. They are open daily from noon to 10 pm. info@panzerottibites.com

February 2018, Page 15

There is an empty hole at the corner of Van Brunt and Pioneer Street, where the Bait and Tackle bar used to be. Barry O’Meara opened the bar in 2004, and it has been a Red Hook institution ever since. But Barry, citing the changing neighborhood, closed down at the end of January, in favor of other pursuits.

These photos are all from our newspaper archive, with the exception of the photos below taken at the closing party, which were taken by Carlo Vogel.

Barry was a prime mover in the annual Barnacle Parade which remembers Sandy - that’s him above in the orange vest. The two photos to the left were taken on October 30, 2012, the night after Sandy. The bar reopened with the help of generators and held a disco party. Robbie Giordano points to the height that the water came to in the bar.

The woman on the left is Rosanne Cash, who came with her husband John Levanthal to hear her daughter Chelsea do a gig there. As did hundreds of bands through the years.

For now, a for-rent sign is all that adorns the lonely window.

Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue

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February 2018