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IS THIS RED HOOK'S FUTURE? A permanent change to the Red Hook skyline may be on the horizon. This is a rendering of a proposed Red Hook high-rise. The plans have just been submitted for approval to the Board of Standards and Appeals, bypassing the City Council. The Community Board is also part of the decision process. Local input is still important. The Star-Revue encourages every Red Hook resident to let the BSA and the Community Board know what you think about this. DETAILS ON PAGE 7
GOWANUS NEIGHBORS TRY TO SLOW DOWN INEVITABLE CONSTRUCTION ONSLAUGHT
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hen the city unleashes a rezoning and its accompanying host of contentious public review meetings on a neighborhood, seldom does anything stop it. A coalition of local grassroot organizations led by Voice of Gowanus managed to do so temporarily by suing the city and preventing it from triggering the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a seven month path leading to approval in the City Council. On January 15, they were able to get a temporary restraining order stopping the clock, pending a final decision. At a subsequent hearing on February 4, Judge Katherine Levine unsuccessfuly tried to get the City to modify their virtual meeting format to include an in-person aspect to the virtual format made necessary by the pandemic. The City refused, claiming that a telephone option satisfied any inequities caused the need for a good computer connection.
by Jorge Bello Judge Levine tabled the hearing, announcing she would think it over and probably come to a decision the second week of February. In the claims Voice of Gowanus is bringing in, it argues that the city lacks transparency and did not abide by ULURP protocols set out in the City Charter, such as providing proper notice before certifying the rezoning. The lawsuit also addresses a lack of public participation as a result of the city holding ULURP meetings only virtually, which it has been doing since September. Even when there isn’t a global pandemic, community activism is something not everyone has the time or resources to do, and organizers think that a virtual ULURP would exclude even more Gowanus residents from a process specifically designed to give them a say in the rezoning of their neighborhood.
Fool me once Then again, even when people in a community targeted for rezoning are able to expend the time and energy
The Voices of Gowanus held an in-person press conference by the Canal last month announcing the filing of their lawsuit. (photo by George Fiala)
to attend ULURP meetings, their efforts are unlikely to be reflected in the version of the rezoning that gets implemented. In Gowanus, this has been true of the city’s past attempts at community planning, said Katia Kelly, who signed her name on the Voice of Gowanus lawsuit and has lived in the neighborhood for 36 years. From
2013 to 2015, Councilman Brad Lander presided over Bridging Gowanus, a series of public meetings he created with the goal of assuaging residents’ misgivings about the rezoning by giving them a chance to shape the agenda. Yet, when Lander presented the neighborhood plan at the final meet-
(continued on page 5)
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s New Yorkers near the one-year anniversary of the city’s first Covid case, they’ve showcased flexibility, persistency and creativity while making life work under new circumstances. For those who were engaged or soon-to-be married last year, wedding plans were postponed, rescheduled, or even advanced to an earlier date due to uncertainty. Wedding Reporter, a trade organization, reports that NYC weddings dropped 56% in 2020 to 58,522 – the fewest since 2008. Couples who still held planned parties also reportedly spent an average of $32,743 – the lowest since that year. Kristy May, a New Jersey-based photographer who specializes in elopements and weddings, says her business has seen its ups and downs during COVID-19. Before the pandemic, a majority of her client base was international tourists who wanted to get photographed in iconic Manhattan locations like Central Park, the South Street Seaport, and Midtown. Now, her base has been locals who want to safely get married in Manhattan and the surrounding areas. “It was very quiet, except for clients calling to say they were postponing and canceling their dates. I had no inquiries and no one was planning,” May recalled about the spring of 2020. “I did have one client who decided to get married during the middle of the pandemic, but I couldn’t go because it was illegal for me to operate in New York City at that time.” Though she was allowed to start photographing again beginning June 22, May said she didn’t see business pick up until mid-July. “It wasn’t like a faucet being turned back on. It really took a while for people to feel comfortable again, to maybe start to plan things and dip their toes into it,” she explained. “But the
fall was crazy because there was this desire for people who were planning on getting married in other parts of the country, or the world even, who decided they still wanted to get married on their original dates here.” May photographed two weddings during the summer and 37 small, outdoor weddings during the fall – and even officiated at some ceremonies. She also worked a number of engagement photoshoots during the fall. She said the new normals of pandemic life have made their way into some of wedding photographs – including shots of the bride and groom wearing masks, personalized hand sanitizers that were given as favors, and even furry family members in attendance. “Some clients said, ‘Well, this is the way it is. We’re going to try and make it pretty and fun,’” May said. “I also had people were live streaming their weddings, and sometimes the tech and equipment ended up in the photos. Another wedding I photographed had no guests, just empty chairs.” “COVID has definitely made its way into the pictures, but I try to minimize it as much as possible.” Manhattan’s Marriage Bureau continues to remain closed to the general public for in-person services. The City’s Project Cupid currently allows couples to schedule and attend a virtual appointment with the City Clerk’s Office, upload required documents for the license, and submit the signed license after completing the marriage ceremony. Marriage ceremonies performed by the City Clerk will be available at a later time. “A lot of people get married on Valentine’s Day and it used to be a big day at City Hall. Obviously, it’s going to be quiet this year, which is really sad,” May said. “I photographed two weddings last year on Valentine’s Day – I don’t have anything booked
Personalized hand sanitizers given out as wedding favors.
right now [as of Jan. 22].” However, May remains optimistic her business, as well as other industries’ businesses, will pick up again this spring. “Just based off of last year, I expect that I’ll be booking a lot of last-minute elopements and small weddings,” she said. “I just spoke with a prospective groom who wants to get married in May, and I think the biggest challenge right now is couples have no idea what they can do. They’re thinking what are their options for locations? Where can they safely go for their reception? How big can their group be?” “Totally, 100-percent, people are getting married,” May added. “I’d be fascinated to see what happens later this year.”
"Another wedding I photographed had no guests, just empty chairs."
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we get letters A big fan!
I love the Red Hook Star-Revue! Your local reporting is invaluable for keeping up with what’s going on in the neighborhood. I love to read about older people in the community and their memories. The paper is a real public service. Please keep doing what you’re doing.—Sarah Ferguson, Carroll Gardens
Slower than sloth
In his 2021 State of the State speech, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said “We will commence the most ag-
SEND YOURS TO GEORGE@REDHOOKSTAR.COM OR POST ON OUR WEBSITE, WWW.STAR-REVUE.COM.
gressive construction and transportation development program in the United States of America,” He said his infrastructure plans included new air, road and rail systems, upstate and downstate,
Congress member Jerry Nadler will be very unhappy and needs to speak up. There was no mention of the $10 billion New Jersey New York Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel project in Cuomo’s presentation.
Cuomo’s announced priorities included fully funding the $51 billion MTA 2020 - 2024 Five Year Capital Plan, $29 Billion Gateway Tunnel, $16 Billion Penn Station South, $10 Billion Manhattan Port Authority Bus Terminal. $6.9 billion Manhattan Second Avenue Subway Phase Two and $1.1 Billion Buffalo New York Amherst Light Rail Extension. Manhattan/Brooklyn
There is only $70 million for advancing an environmental study for the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel within the Port Authority of NY & NJ 2017 - 2026 Capital Plan. This leaves a $9.930 billion shortfall to complete this project. Congress member Nadler continues to claim that there is real progress on his favorite project. He has championed this as his number one transpor-
tation priority for thirty years. After all that time, it is still stuck in the federal National Environmental Protect Act review process. When was the last time you heard New York Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announce his support for this project? A sloth moves faster than progression off the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel. — Larry Penner
Thanks for the politics!
Howard Graubard, thank you for this report. Very informative.—Stephanie LaTour
Words by George nie platform he's been pushing for his whole life.
Bernie and the Don
In 2016, when both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were vying for their respective party's nomination for president, I was rooting for Hillary. I thought Hillary had the best qualifications, that she was a smart and experienced statesperson. I thought that both Bernie and Don were too extreme for the average American, and that too many of their supporters were fanatical. Aside from ideology, there was another huge difference between the two men. That difference has now resulted in a second impeachment trial for Mr. Trump. But back to 2016. After Sanders lost the Democratic nomination, he spent some extra campaign money with a tour around the country to give his supporters some hope, and to further his people's movement. On June 23, 2016, he held an event at Town Hall on 43rd Street in Manhattan, and for some odd reason, the Star-Revue was given press passes. I couldn't resist the opportunity to see Bernie in person. He and a tableau of supporters gave speeches in support of a better future. Basically, the Ber-
I have always loved Bernie. I loved his fearless questioning of Alan Greenspan at the annual HumphreyHawkins sessions in the US Congress. He regularly excoriated Greenspan, Chair of the Federal Reserve, for not paying any attention to the real problems of American workers - low wages, outsourcing, lack of healthcare, and all the rest. What I remember best was the time he point-blank asked Mr. Greenspan whether he believed in the minimum wage. Greenspan answered (I was listening on Bloomberg radio), Ayn Randian that he is, that there was no real need for a minimum wage. In his dispassionate way, he offered that in a situation where there was a shortage of workers, wages would go up. And conversely, when there were more workers than work, wages would go down. Then workers might investigate different jobs with higher wages. Making a minimum wage rule unnecessary. The market rules. Sanders really put it to him with that question, and he got the answer that all of us regular people knew, that the fish smelled from the head. By the time Bernie ran for president, in 2016, my somewhat jaded opinion was that a Sanders presidency would tear the country apart, in the same way that crazy Trump would tear the country up from the other side.
In other words, while inside I would have loved to live under a socialist guy who would govern from ground up, I didn't think the country could survive living under what too many consider radical ideas. The event was, as I mentioned, a hopeful campaign style rally, not anymore for the presidency, but for a better future. Maybe he wasn't going to be the next president, but his movement could still carry on. But really, much of the audience weren't interested in that message. To them, Bernie was a rock star, a modern day Elvis. Bernie was the Messiah — Hillary was the devil. People started getting up on their chairs and chanting. Bernie stopped and looked around, saw what was going on, and knew what to do. He showed me that he understand what power was, and how not to abuse it.
WHAT ARE YOU TALKiNG ABOUT, MUSTARD?
However, faced with thousands of cheering fans, many of them worshipping him as much as the "Bern" fans worshipped Bernie - he went the other way and he turned his audience into a violent mob that descended upon the nation's capital. With great power comes great responsibility, as Peter Parker once learned. Our hopefully retired president is an unfortunate reminder of Dr. Doom.
He could have easily led that crowd out of the theater and marched to Times Square and caused a riot on his behalf right there in the middle of Manhattan. They would have followed him in a heartbeat and torn up the city. Instead, he stopped his speech and cooled the crowd down. He told them that everything, his campaign, his ideas, his movement, was not about him at all. It was about them—about the work they need to keep doing to make a better future for the working man in American. The program went on to its conclusion and everybody went peacefully home.
HOTD0G AND MUSTARD BY MARC JACKS0N L0OK, HOTD0G. MY TeLEPAWTATiON RAY CAN SeND THINGS FR0M ONE PANeL TO AN0THER!
Last month Donald Trump created a similar situation. After his electoral defeat, he called upon his followers to descend on Washington for a rally featuring speeches by him and compadres stressing the need to keep his own particular movement alive.
ZAM!
iT
WORKeD!
M
H mj
M
Last August Thor Equities requested and received permission from DOT to permanently remove the cobblestones on Beard Street, with no direct notification to the community. Last month they ripped them out permanently.
HAPPY NeW YEAR, READeRS! WWW.MARCMAKeSC0MiCS.C0.UK
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Gowanus rezoning plan hangs in limbo for yet a little while longer (continued from page 1)
ing, Kelly said that none of the community’s long-discussed recommendations were in it. Locals had been particularly adamant about limiting residential buildings along the critically polluted Gowanus Canal, which was declared a Superfund site in 2010. However, the Bridging Gowanus plan called for towering skyscrapers over 20 stories tall.
hours before they took place, he said. Many who could attend did not know how to use Zoom, the video conferencing platform used to host the hearings. Technical difficulties abounded—people would get dropped from meetings or their mics would be cut off—and participants got less time to speak than the developers presenting the plan.
Kelly, who attended the meetings, said she had often gotten the impression the city was trying to persuade residents that acceding to more density was their best bet at securing new infrastructure or even much-needed capital repairs. “It was a farce.”
The whole experience was isolating and disempowering, said Hong. “The virtual hearings were not public. They just simply were not.”
Brad Vogel, another member of Voice of Gowanus, as well as a Gowanus Dredgers (a rowing club dedicated to providing waterfront access and education to the public) said many in the group also resent the air of inevitability surrounding the rezoning, which he says developers and city officials present to the community as a fait accompli.
Court is the last resort “You can have as many meetings as you want, but if people’s input from the community is never reflected in a meaningful way, they will resort to things like going to court, which is what is happening here.” Daniel Hong can attest to the exclusionary nature of virtual ULURP. Hong is communications coordinator for the MinKwon Center for Community Action, an organization that opposed the rezoning of the Flushing waterfront. When the city took ULURP online there in September, it made it difficult to recruit and mobilize community members to join the hearings, which were sometimes announced only
Although the Voice of Gowanus’s lawsuit prevented the city from starting the clock on ULURP, shelving the entire rezoning is organizers’ ultimate goal. To do this, they’ve made common cause with 14 other grassroots organizations from across the city
Affordability is part of the equation for Martin Bisi, another Voice of Gowanus member who has lived in the neighborhood for 41 years. Bisi runs a recording studio, which he rents. He said small businesses like his have
Voice of Gowanus activists claim that neighborhood input was not followed, as the current plan that the City wants to implement allows for buildings up to 30 stories tall alongside the canal. Their court case seeks to ensure that all voices are heard by delaying the zoning implementation process until the pandemic eases. Others believe that a rezoning before the Canal is completely cleaned is folly.
There, Tsiamis told members of the advisory group that National Grid’s
against affordable housing, those accusations get in the way of having a nuanced discussion about the
NOT NIMBY Residents who oppose the current rezoning proposal are often written off by their critics as NIMBYs (short for Not In My Backyard) that would deny the city a chance at economic development and to address its affordable housing crisis. Vogel said nobody in the group is against affordable housing, and that those accusations get in the way of having a nuanced discussion about the neighborhood’s future.
by utilities company National Grid, would guarantee the safety of any future residents. These assurances were unexpectedly rejected by the EPA engineer leading the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup, Christos Tsiamis, during a meeting with the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) at their December meeting.
"Nobody in the group is
For Nora Almeida, who has lived in Gowanus for nearly a decade, it’s an equity issue. She frequently interacts with low-income students at her job as a librarian at New York City College of Technology, and is mindful of the fact that a lot of them don’t have internet access at home. Holding ULURP virtually would exclude many people at the Gowanus Houses, home to the neighborhood’s most vulnerable residents, and be at odds with the city’s promotion of the rezoning as a way of creating affordable housing, she said.
A slide presented at the very first public Bridging Gowanus meeting, the genesis of the current rezoning plan, held in December 2013, states: "we must design to have the buildings not spoil the water."
Red Hook Star-Revue
already been pushed out by rezoningfueled speculation and worries he might be next. “My building is in danger of being sold.”
neighborhood's future." - Brad Vogel to form the Citywide People’s Land Use Alliance. The nascent alliance circulated a statement in support of Voice of Gowanus’s lawsuit, in which it called for “true democracy” and an inclusive public review process.
remediation would not protect future buildings on the site from trapping and accumulating the toxic compounds that will inevitably evaporate from coal tar buried at a depth of less than 20–30 feet beneath the surface.
Vogel said the alliance is particularly concerned about mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH), a zoning rule requiring that at least 20% of floor area in a rezoning be set aside for “affordable housing.” While seemingly benign, Vogel describes MIH as a “Trojan horse mechanism.” Developers and the city use it to justify rezonings as generators of affordable housing, belying that they actually just create luxury housing, he said.
To remediate up to a safe standard, National Grid would have to seal the coal tar in the soil, Tsiamis said. That would require additional stabilizing techniques similar to those the EPA is using to clean up the Gowanus Canal. Developers would also have to build extraction wells along the waterfront to collect the coal tar that continually oozes from beneath Public Place towards the canal.
In Gowanus, the proposed rezoning’s MIH largely hinges on Gowanus Green, a 950-unit complex the city would like developers to build on Public Place, a six-acre lot of severely contaminated land along the canal. That project also envisions a public school. While the city has touted Gowanus Green as 100% affordable and environmentally conscious, locals have repeatedly expressed concerns over placing a low-income residential building on a site where toxic coal tar reaches a depth of over 150 feet.
The problem with Public Place City officials and developers had assured Community Board 6 in a November 19 meeting that the site’s remediation, which is being carried out
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If built, these wells will be pumping out coal tar for a long time to come. “Certainly for our lifetimes.” But where Tsiamis saw the need for giant underground vats to capture toxic sludge, the city currently envisions a waterfront park proposed public school and the affordable housing complex. National Grid originally had another remediation plan that called for infrastructure that would more effectively contain the coal tar and prevent it from reaching the Gowanus Canal, such as impermeable barriers to cover all three of Public Place’s canal-facing sides. However, in August, Tsiamis’s office quietly approved changes to the plan while he was vacationing in his native Greece. This was done after National Grid’s
(continued on next page) February 2021, Page 5
This is the current plan for the Gowanus Canal rezoning. A number of residents feel this scenario does not follow community wishes already expressed in planning meetings.
GOWANUS (continued from previous page)
remediation came under the supervision of New York State under its Brownfield Cleanup Program. Under the new remediation plan, National Grid was only required to dig up and replace two feet of contaminated soil instead of eight.
No backsies Tsiamis’s comments confirmed fears among members of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group that National Grid’s new, state-sanctioned remediation plan risked recontaminating the canal and posed a health risk to potential future residents. But to a DEC representative who suddenly chimed in, Tsiamis was overstepping. In a stiff exchange, the representative told attendees to redirect any questions about Public Place to the DEC’s project manager for the site, John Miller. “I have a depth of knowledge in the project that, with all due respect,
"Rich people have been fleeing the city by the thousands for nearly a year since the shutdowns began; it’s unclear if those who return will want to live in packed luxury towers bordering a Superfund site." other people present at DEC don’t have,” Tsiamis replied. “I can inform the public by stating facts that are not known to others, including Miller of the state.”
The advisory group got the chance to address its questions about Public Place to Miller of the state in late July, when he presented the DEC’s remediation plan. Members of the advisory group were alarmed when Miller admitted during the course of his presentation that he had not visited Public Place in months due to the pandemic. They worried he wasn’t properly familiarized with conditions on the ground, said Kelly, who describes Miller as wishy-washy. “He got a little bit upset at our questions, but we really put them through the wringer!” The advisory group passed a resolution at the December 2 meeting requesting the EPA to weigh in on the state’s new remediation strategy.
Little house on the floodplain Under Superfund, National Grid’s remediation of Public Place was federally mandated and therefore originally under EPA oversight. But the neighborhood has other brownfield sites that will likely be remediated by developers under the state’s Brownfields program. Almeida thinks this
isn’t a winning formula. “You’re going to cut as many corners as you can if you’re a developer because your interest is an economic one.” Gowanus’s environmental woes extend far beyond Public Place. The area is a floodplain and was underwater in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit. This will likely be so again in the event of a similar natural disaster. The city has not yet released the much-anticipated Environmental Impact Statement, which could provide some answers as to how the rezoning will affect the neighborhood’s overtaxed sewers and other infrastructure. In the meantime, locals opposed to the current rezoning proposal continue to see a grave disconnect between the city’s vision for Gowanus and crucial realities: the area’s polluted state, the worsening effects of climate change, and the global pandemic. Rich people have been fleeing the city by the thousands for nearly a year since the shutdowns began; it’s unclear if those who come back will want to live in packed luxury towers bordering a Superfund site.
This was the MGP operated by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, on the site that is now called Public Place. This view is looking down 4th place to Smith, taken in 1930.
Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue
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February 2021
15 STORIES AND WHAT DO YOU GET by George Fiala
A
lexandros Washburn, a professor, architect, city planner and lately a real estate developer who owns a house on Van Brunt Street, made a name for himself after Hurricane Sandy by attaching himself to the many resiliency groups that sprung up after that disaster. His latest project is what he is calling a “Model Block.” He and a group of partners have quietly purchased a city block adjacent to the planned UPS distribution center (see map). The block is zoned for manufacturing and is in Red Hook’s IBZ zone, a city directive meant to preserve local industry. What Washburn’s group is proposing is not allowed by current zonThis is the location of the ing. He is asking to build proposed model block a 15-story residential tower in the middle of a neighborhood with mostly 5 and 6 story buildings. He is asking to sell or rent 210 apartments of which 61 would be earmarked for affordable housing. Part of the block will also include commercial shops/restaurants and light manufacturing spaces ("maker space" and creative workspaces for artists), art galleries and a 314 parking spaces. Normally a developer would seek a change in zoning. However, possibly advised by the failure of a nine-story nursing home proposal nearby to pass muster in the City Council back in 2016, Washburn is going a different route - the BSA. The NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) describes themselves as:
“an integral part of the City’s system for regulating land use, development, and construction and was established as an independent board to grant “relief” from the zoning code.” Washburn is claiming relief under the zoning provision 72-21, which says that relief from zoning can be granted when there is a “hardship” that prevents a reasonable return from investment. The hardship claimed is that 150 years of industrial use have greatly polluted the lot. So much so that it will cost them almost $9 million to remediate, according to a report submitted that was prepared by Langan Engineering, a company familiar to some Red Hookers who saw them prepare a similar report for Thor Equities, who is preparing a warehouse for Amazon on the site of the former Revere Factory. Incidentally, the Financial Report submitted was prepared by Capalino, a company that represents the UPS in Red Hook. In an article printed by the Brooklyn Paper last month, Washburn claims that in community meetings held in his office he “asked our neighbors: what do we need in Red Hook? What do we love about Red Hook? And how can we get it all in a model block? The top priorities that emerged were clear: housing, jobs, resilience and the environment.” The Star-Revue was unable to verify that these meetings included plans for a 15 story residential tower. Participants did remember some discussions that included five or six story buildings, but not taller. Washburn is also touting the affordable housing portion of the project. He has hired a neighborhood activist to hold workshops at the Red Hook Houses to “invite Red Hook NYCHA residents to
In order to render a decision that will accurately reflect the wishes of the Red Hook community, it is your responsibility to let the appropriate agencies know how you feel. Send a letter and/or email to both the Community Board and the Board of Standards and Appeals. A second opportunity will be at the upcoming public hearings, which will be scheduled soon. Make sure you also ask to be notified about those.
This chart listing the planned number of apartments and their rents accompanies the variance request made to the BSA.
learn and earn and apply for a unit as a part of this project,” as was stated on a Red Hook Facebook page last month. A close look at the proposal reveals that of the 61 affordable units, about 30 are promised to residents who live in the Community Board 6 area, which includes Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus and Park Slope, in addition to Red Hook. Of those, 20 will be the more expensive kind of affordable housing, meant for a family of three that earns $130,000 or less. According to the above chart, those apartments are not affordable for working class families. The remaining ten might be affordable to a typical tenant in the Houses, but they will be competing for those apartments with residents of the Gowanus Houses, and other low-income earners. The system for choosing tenants will be by lottery, so nothing is guaranteed.
ments is that the vast majority of all the affordable units will be on the first seven floors. The upper eight, which feature much desired ocean views, will be mostly market rate. Washburn’s other claim is that his model block is better than a warehouse. During this second term of the current city councilman, at least four last-mile warehouse projects have landed in Red Hook. As of now, nobody is planning a fifth one in Red Hook. The Community Board and the BSA will hold hearings on whether to approve this plan, which if approved will no doubt become a precedent for future hi-density proposals. Both entities claim that they will be render judgment in part based on community feedback. These hearings will probably occur in the next two months, so now is a good time to let them know what you think.
A final fact to glean about the apartWashburn claims that the genesis of his model block idea came from a series of seminars staged by BASF a few years ago, held in five cities around the world to celebrate the German chemical company's 150th birthday. The Red Hook Model Block, designed by Terreform ONE, below, was a centerpiece of their NYC presentation. Washburn's Model Block proposal is at the right, and one can see the contrast most noticably in the height of the center building.
MIKE RACCIOPO
DISTRICT MANAGER, COMMUNITY BOARD 6 250 Baltic St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 643-3027; mike@bkcb6.org
TRACIE BEHNKE
NYC BOARD OF STANDARDS AND APPEALS 250 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 (212) 386-0086; tbehnke@bsa.nyc.gov
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February 2021, Page 7
Running a movie theater during a pandemic by Brian Abate and Elijah Hamilton
W
hile the coronavirus pandemic has hurt the majority of businesses in New York City, it has been especially tough on the theater industry. Cobble Hill Cinema, located on the corner of Court St. and Butler St. has been closed to the public since March. The theater, which a year ago was packed with customers, is now barely getting by. “Sadly, we had to lay off all of our staff,” said Andrew Elgart, who works in management for the theater and is the son of the theater’s owner, Harvey Elgart. “We still keep in touch as it is a small family business - most have been just getting by from unemployment and trying to find other work. We really hope we’ll be able to hire at least some of them back soon.” Many other businesses in the area are also struggling. Louis Migliaccio, the owner of Sam’s Pizzeria across the street, said that he had to let go of his cook during the pandemic. Osagie, who works next door at Mooburger also talked about some of the struggles the restaurant has faced recently. “It’s been tough,” said Osagie. “A lot of stores, including the theater, have closed recently which has negatively impacted traffic.” While restaurants in the area are struggling for business without indoor dining, the theater was forced to completely shut down. You can’t
show movies on the sidewalk. However, the theater has had some use, as Cobble Hill Cinemas has rented out the theater to PS 58. This allows the children to go there when they aren’t able to use the school building due to social distancing requirements. “We had tried a number of local commercial and non-commercial spaces and weren’t really making progress,” said Carolyn Rogalsky, director of P.S.58’s Carroll Kids Aftercare Program. “Then, I read in the New York Times that in Germany schools were using the cinemas as remote-learning spaces and I thought instantly of Cobble Hill Cinema! The Elgart family has been serving the community for a very long time; wouldn’t it be wonderful to help keep them afloat; turns out they had been reaching out to offer themselves to host learning and so a beautiful friendship was formed!” Last school year was chaotic, as the pandemic took everyone by surprise, but this school year was a fresh start and Cobble Hill Cinema provided a much-needed space for the students of PS 58. The students began using the theater in September and the plan is for them to continue to do so until school is fully on-site. While Elgart is happy the theater is in use and helping the students of PS 58, the theater is still struggling financially. “We had to take out loans and are
hoping that a Save Our Stages grant will keep us afloat until we are allowed to open,” Elgart said. The goal of the grant is to do just that and provide long-term assistance for shuttered businesses. While it is still unclear when the theater will be allowed to open to the public, Elgart has already spent time coming up with strategies for when that time comes. He has “been working a bit on implementing safety protocols for when we are allowed to open, including assigned seating and other measures.” It is a strange time for Elgart, who began working in the theater as a youngster. “Growing up in the theater business was a kid’s dream,” Elgart said. “I got to watch all the movies and eat all the candy and popcorn I wanted. Then, around the time I turned 13, my father would drop me off at the theater and I would work usher or concessions shifts on the weekends. I really enjoyed interacting with all the customers.” Elgart also reminisced about one of his favorite experiences working at the theater as a kid. “I remember when the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came out and this was when we were still primarily a cash business - the movie was so popular, we couldn’t keep up with all the cash coming in,” Elgart said. “Here I am this kid, and we’re
Andrew Elgart is biding time until the theater can reopen.
just looking for places to stash cash - drawers, popcorn buckets, anywhere!” While that movie was released in the ‘90s and streaming services such as Netflix have begun to hurt many movie theaters, the sales at Cobble Hill were still strong up until the pandemic hit. Elgart hopes the same will be true when the theater can reopen, but while he’s waiting for that day to come he has found new ways to spend his free time. “I’ve been volunteering at the New York Aquarium as a diver, doing lots of puzzles and spending more time with my wife,” said Elgart. “We are expecting our first baby in May!” While Elgart has made the best of a difficult situation, he is aiming to reopen in May, if that’s possible. “We’re ready at any time,” said Elgart. “We’re hoping that people are just as eager to come back. The cinematic experience is not something that can be replicated at home.”
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Jamie makes it easy
STAR REVUE February 2021
This record shop is perfectly Red Hook
Y
ou see a permanent bench in front of a bizarre looking sculpture of guitars. A Sculpture-like apparition that might be unwelcome in some neighborhoods. It’s clear that anybody is welcome to sit at this crazy lookin spot. Anytime. At dawn there is usually all kinds of free stuff on it. By noon chairs appear. This is a place to relax a while with others. The one-story building has a simple old fashioned look that is comforting. “The Record Shop” sign is handmade. More handmade signs about upcoming events appear; and then disappear in the huge windows. Looking inside you see a clean hardwood floor. On the walls, more handmade signs. And handmade pictures. And a hundred and one knickknacks; all placed with care out of the way. But still within easy reach. A funky lookin miniature piano. A guitar or two. Hand percussion stuff. And sporting equipment. It’s not for sale, just to play with. There’s a basketball to take out to the sidewalk and practice. And when it’s warm, everybody loves to practice their passing and dribbling. There’s a nerf baseball. A golf club and balls. This place took time to furnish. By a spiritual person. Actually, spiritual people. Temporary shops spring up out front when it’s warm. And there’s a bookcase for the readers. Two or three dollar books. But like Barnes and Noble; its ok to sit out front and read em. Cover to cover. You can also get a haircut in the back room. The whole place is a magnet for people. And of course, the records. Hundreds of albums are displayed in huge
Red Hook Star-Revue
by Gene Bray
wooden racks. And 45s. A record is always playin on 1 of the two turntables in the window. Never loud though. Background music. You can hear it on the sidewalk out front too; also at the same low volume.. Don’t worry, it’s loud enough. These turntable sounds are free to anyone passing by. And it hits em right between the eyes. Impromptu dancing is always breaking out. Inside and on the sidewalk. One day I saw an older lady dancing in front of the shop. Gracefully, effortlessly, sensuously moving to a Salsa beat. Exactly like she did 50 years ago on some warm island. Then it hit me. That’s Carmen, the school crossing guard!!! I Never knew she was the greatest dancer ever! Everyone who saw her lit up with joy. I pulled out my harmonica and tried to keep time with her. A turntable, combined with live harmonica, she was now in heaven. And when she pulled out her harmonica; magic happened. Two old timers were born again. Or ya might see Bobby. Another somewhat old timer still writing songs, and singing them while playing his guitar. He takes over the shop some nights. Putting on Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” he comes dancing out the door. “Damn Bobby, you can dance” I shout. And I start dancin too. People passing by are drawn by these sights and sounds.. Then, 65 year old Scott; the landlord comes out of his door; gets blasted by all this, and is swept off his feet. Moving like a teenage ballerina. Light as a feather. All 6 ft 220 lbs. of him. Well what do you expect? It was side one; track 1. “Tangled Up in Blue.” Bene, whose store it is, lets a lot of people work the turntable. Young people, old timers. Any ethnicity.
It is all soul music. And I don’t mean “Black Music.” Its Spirit Music. Of course, there is a whole lotta Motown. And a lotta reggae. Bossa Nova, Rap Jazz. Disco. Yea; a whole helluva lotta Black Artists, thank God. What did you expect from Bene? He knows music. His father was a musician. And Bene used to sell records at the 7th/ave. 9th street Record Shop many,many,many years ago. And Bene, believe it or not, he can dance too. And he just became a father for the first time. I saw his wife and month old daughter at the shop the other day. She was standing and gently rocking her sleeping daughter. A young man at the turntable put on “The Who” and the song was “Won’t get Fooled Again.’’ It was on a very low volume because the baby was sleeping. But the organ opening the song also opened her eyes. She was instantly wide awake!. Alert. Coherent. Then Pete Townsends guitar and Keith Moon’s drums hit and the melody was born. She seemed to know something sacred was happening. Then Roger Daltry sang; and a baby girl fell in love with Rock and Roll. Or maybe she was just goin to the bathroom. One thing I’m sure of; though; that’s a lucky kid. The Record Shop used to have free concerts. Free potluck dinners. Spontaneous sidewalk barbeques with free hot dogs and hamburgers. Everybody welcome. First come first served. And my favorite: “The Record Shop Open Mike.” Held daily between opening and closing. If ya wanna sing or rap. Or try some stand up, or just vent about the Government. Or your family. Yeah the mike is always ready. But that all stopped when they locked us down. I hope the summer winds bring those things back.
clearly a Magical location. Most of the regulars never buy anything. They don’t have a turntable either. Some don’t even have a refrigerator. But when they show up Bene greets em with a smile. And if the bench is full; a chair. They give spirit, instead of money. It’s nice to see so many young folks there. They love that late 60s early 70s music. They dig the old kooky hippy types too. The coolest people in Red Hook hang out at the Record Shop. So stop in, and look through the records. Being in the shop awhile is a spirit reboot. Better than a psychiatric visit. Maybe take off your shoes and roll around on the floor. [ You should probably come early for that though.] And see if they can put on The Young Rascals “Good Lovin.” You’ll be in Hippie Heaven. And as it warms up, have a seat out front and watch the parade go by; while listening to that low background; sweet soul music. Maybe the right sounds will spin off that turntable and hit YOU right between the eyes and reboot your mind. Make you a magnet for” MAGIC.” The Record Shop is on 360 Van Brunt St., across from PS 15.
"Damn Bobby, you can dance” I shout. And I start dancin too."
360 Van Brunt should be designated a N.Y.C. landmark. The reason? It’s
www.star-revue.com
February 2021, Page 9
Actor David Midthunder speaks of his heritage
I
met Thunder, also known as David Midthunder, through my longtime friend Jeff LoMaglio
“Is Thunder going to be ok talking to me?” I asked timidly. “I’m an outsider,” I added, hoping that my interest would not come off as intrusive or inauthentic. “He’ll talk to you because you’re my friend. We’re family. It’s that simple,” said Jeff. When I looked up Thunder on the Internet, I saw that he’s been an actor, an activist and movie consultant. He has acted in Comanche Moon, Into the West, Westworld, Hostiles, The Lone Ranger, The Book of Eli, The Last Stand and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and others. When I spoke to Thunder, I told him that I wouldn’t be asking him about his acting career. I wanted to focus more on his knowledge of Lakota history and traditions. “I look like a stereotypical Indin,” he joked, imitating how whites said the word Indian. “Most of my acting parts have been Indian characters Thunder is an enrolled tribal member at the Fort Peck Indian reservation in Montana. He graduated from Stewart Indian School in Nevada and went on to pursue a degree in
by Mike Fiorito
Cultural Anthropology at the University of Utah.
community in New York City at that time?”
“What is the best term to call your people?” I asked.
“Definitely. Mohawk’s especially. Many Mohawks and other Indians would come down from upstate NY reservations and Canada to work on the rigs. At that time, I got involved in the American Indian Community House. Among other things, the Community House provided resources for people coming down from the Mohawk reservation to better enable them to live in the city. They still highly active.”
“We call ourselves Lakota. Not Sioux, as we are also known. Sioux is the term the Europeans gave to our people. It is considered derogatory.” “Why did you come to New York in the nineties?” “As an actor, that’s the place to be. While I was trying to get parts, going on auditions, I was driving a truck. Like I said, people know I’m Indian just looking at me. One day driving a truck, a few Mohawk brothers walked past me. They asked if I’d want to work on the skyscraper rigs. Sure, I said.”
High climber
“I’ve heard that there were many Indigenous men who worked on building skyscrapers. Why was that so?” I asked. “I don’t know. I grew up riding horses, being a bull rider. I even learned how to surf from my Hawaiian brothers when I lived in California. Being a high-rigger comes naturally to me.” “Were you afraid of the heights?” “I was careful.” “Was there a robust Indigenous
In researching Indigenous history, I came across the work of Joseph Marshall III. Born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, Marshall has written extensively about his Lakota and other Indigenous peoples. Among his many books are Crazy Horse Weeps, The Lakota Way, Hundred in the Hand and more. Marshall writes about the differences in Lakota and Western education and culture. How Lakota are taught to be respectful and responsible toward the land. How everyone in the village was a teacher – not just your parent or guardian, for example. In Crazy Horse Weeps, Marshall reminds us that Indigenous rights are still under siege. The Dakota Pipeline Protests (DAPL) in 2016 and 2017 were represented by Indigenous tribes from all over the country. This outpouring of support showed the profound unity among Indigenous people. But the DAPL also demonstrated that corporate greed and indifference in America has shown no slowdown. “The DAPL is simply a continuation of the subjugation and rape of the natural environment and its resources to enhance and benefit white culture, no matter the probability of harm to the land and water or to marginalized people,” wrote Marshall in Crazy Horse Weeps. Knowing Thunder’s parents were involved in social justice activism, I asked him about American Indian Movement (AIM). “I’ve read about AIM since the 1970's," I asked. "How would you say Indigenous Rights have advanced since then?” “Organizations like AIM have always encouraged education. Now we have brothers and sisters who are lawyers, scientists, teachers and so. Rather than non-violent protests, tribal people are how working through the courts, fighting for land and sovereignty rights,” said Thunder. I mentioned that I had just read that a northern California Indigenous tribe’s sacred land has been returned to their ownership, thanks to the help of a conservancy group. I read him a quote from the article I’d seen: “We are going to conserve it and pass it on to our children and grandchildren and beyond,” said Tom Little
Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue
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David Midthunder is not only a movie star, but a spokesperson for Native Americans.
Bear Nason, Tribal Chairman of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. “Getting this land back gives privacy to do our ceremonies. It gives us space and the ability to continue our culture without further interruption.” “Exactly,” said Thunder. “This is what I’m talking about. We need to use every means possible. For instance, my daughter uses her platform as an actress to promote Indigenous Rights issues. I don’t do any social media. But I’m glad to see this generation evolving.” “You speak Lakota, right?” “I speak Lakota and all of the related languages.” “Do your kids speak Lakota?” He answered affirmatively. “How do you think Lakota teachings should be carried forward?” “Lakota teachings are about how to be a better human being. They are universal. Having a relationship to the land. Feeling the responsibility of coexisting with the human and non-human world. The rest is unique to each tribe, to each community and family.” Interestingly, Crazy Horse had a vision that someday the Lakota would rise again and be a blessing for a sick world. He saw a time when all the colors of mankind would gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and seek its wisdom. Crazy Horse foresaw the Lakota being central to the coming together of all people. And this, I believe, is what is happening. We are at a crossroads where, as Thunder said, “being a better human being,” is not only a desired goal but now vital to our shared coexistence on this planet.
"Lakota teachings are about how to be a better human being." February 2021
Italy is a Beautiful Wine country by our European Correspondent Dario Pio Muccilli
T
he beautiful Langhe landscape, part of Italy's Piedmont region, is a prized destination of tourists from all over the world, who come here to walk through the hills shaped by centuries of growers’ activities, to eat great dishes like Plin pasta, but, mostly, to taste the incredible wine here produced from the local Nebbiolo grapes, the Barolo, Langhe’s most precious heritage. The Barolo has existed since the early 1800s and now the heredity of the first growers has been collected by a cooperative of viticulturists called Terre del Barolo, whose director, Stefano Pesci, introduced us to the history of such a noble drink. “The Barolo - he says - was born thanks to the will of Piedmontese noblemen to produce a wine that could be used by diplomacy to create relationships with aristocrats and politicians from all the European courts which then ruled the continent. In the early years it was a wine of the upper class, to such an extent that once Piedmont’s and Sardinia’s King received as a gift 325 barrels of Barolo by a noblewoman producing it: one barrel for each day of the year, except the Lent, when drinking wine is forbidden according to catholic tradition». From such a high-level, Barolo has faced gloomy challenges to its survival, amidst these the most terrible was the second World War, when the fields were neglected as their tenders went to fight. “After the conflict, with men turned
back home, Langhe’s viticolors had lost most of their grapevines and the economy struggled a lot to recover. At that time farmers from the region had to go to the nearest city, Alba, where in a big square they offered their Nebbiolo grapes hoping a bottler would have bought them to make wine. But often this didn›t happen and farmers had simply to get rid of their harvest” tells us Rosa Oberto, the deputy president of the Co-op that groups roughly other 300 producers like her, who is the descendant of a family rooted in the vineyards. The Coop was founded in that period by Armando Rivera, who in 1965 decided to gather different little landowners and farmers to create the current cooperative. Director Pesci says “we should be grateful to Rivera. He had the vision of what Barolo could be, which is actually what it is now: a great wine well known throughout the world, where the USA is our greatest export market outside Europe.” Rivera decided not to mechanize the production chain of the wine, preferring to restore the artisinal way that made the wine great amidst courts and noblemen 100 years before. Terre del Barolo is very strict as regards the purity parameters of the wine. Visiting the Coop headquarters in Castiglione Falletto, the building seems like a Cathedral, lost amidst the hills and the vineyards, where you can touch with your very hands how meticulous the producers are regarding the production. There is a wide openspace, with columns like in a temple, where thousands of bottles are displayed in a very artistic pattern, with an entire corner devoted to the Arnaldo Rivera’s Barolo series.
Rosa Oberto shows Pio the beautiful countryside that is responsible for the delicious area wines.
“These wines are incredible because no
one is exactly the same. Even if Barolo is produced in a short strip of land, roughly 16 square miles, where there are only 11 different towns, every single plot of land produces different taste in grapes according to the altitude of the hill and the different exposure to the sun” stresses Pesci, who continues, “moreover there are different kind of land in the territory, with ages different in order of million years.” This happens because of the geological aftermath of the birth of the Italian peninsula, which was once covered by the sea, whose currents had spread the material of the seabed in a way that allows today Serralunga D’Alba, one of the 11 towns, to produce 39 different crus, who are the noblest variety of Barolo. When the crus’ grapes are collected, usually in October, they are then treated naturally to produce the must, which is then transferred to the barrels, where, depending on the desired quality of the wine, it lies for more than 38 months, and to be eventually bottled in bottles that have to repose for two more years. “It is a work based on patience” suggests Ms. Oberto, “and you cannot do it if you’re not used to the job.” That is why locals there do not believe any stranger can just buy a piece of land and produce a Barolo of the same quality without people born in this beautiful land, which has inspired thousands of Italian writers, from Cesare Pavese to Beppe Fenoglio, and which was the house of many rebels during the Nazi-Fascist regime. “We know methods and tricks that a foreigner cannot understand and, as a matter of fact, there are very few other vineyards regions worldwide that share our rules. This guarantees our inclusion in Wine Spectator’s TOP 100, as well as being a Unesco World Heritage Site,” explains Ms. Oberto “Many colleagues of ours have received extravagent offers for their land, sometimes even more than five billion dollars for relatively small plots. The would-be acquirers are
Stefano Pesci, Director of Terre del Barolo, gives the author a tour of the Barolo. (photos by Daniele Milan)
often billionaires, Russian oligarchs, who see a vineyard in Italy like a holiday home, a status symbol, but for us vineyards mean family and tradition,”. Nonetheless a great US wine company, Krause Holdings, owned by Iowa businessman Kine Krause, managed in 2016 to buy Vietti, an historic producer not associated with the coop Terre del Barolo. But still, the workers and the experts, mostly oenologists, are always local people who worked there before. This happened because, according to Ms. Oberto, “people from outside barely know where to put their hands. Sometimes, for example, inexperienced people do not know that some plants do not have to be cut near the vineyards, because they help to give taste or water to the roots of the grapevine”. Thus even while Langhe has become a must for international investors, because of the quality and richness of its wines, this does not change the local nature of the territory and the sense of belonging of the people living there. “When he was young, my father went to the city to work as a plumber,” says Ms. Oberto - but then he decided to turn back home in order to work in the vineyards, a job that satisfied him a lot more. I grew up amidst those grapes he cultivated, I’ve always had a strict relationship with land, which is why today I could say, as for the rest of us, that Langhe, before being a wine-producing zone or a tourist place, is my life”.
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New Documentary “America’s Last Little Italy” Speaks to All Italian Americans by Dante A. Ciampaglia
I
t’s nervy to call something the last of anything, especially when it comes to neighborhoods. But as residents of The Hill in St. Louis see it, their community isn’t just the city’s Little Italy—it’s the last one in all of America.
multiple generations of Hill residents. When word got out that Puleo was making the film, he didn’t have much trouble getting people to talk to him. (It helped that his family has ties to the neighborhood and he spent his youth in and around the community.) Nor did he have problems getting photos and old home movies — material captured with no expectation of ever being seen by anyone outside the family. “It was just an embarrassment of riches for me to go through,” Puleo says. “The film has a sense of authenticity because of that.”
Scusi? What was that? You can almost hear the recriminations and curses coming from North Beach in San Francisco and Bloomfield in Pittsburgh and various communities in Chicago. Surely Little Italy in New York — the Little Italy! — has something to say about this ingiustizia. Turns out, maybe not. “We thought New York was going to be the hardest on us and they were going to be the ones slighted by the title, but it’s been 100% the opposite,” Joseph Puleo tells the Star-Revue. Puleo is the director of America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill, a gentle 70-minute documentary about the community that’s more love letter than provocation. “We’ve had more people from New York and New Jersey who are in love with the film and want to now come visit The Hill.” That shouldn’t be surprising. Traditional Little Italies, like North Beach and New York’s, are shadows of their former selves, more tourist trap than ethnic enclave. In New York’s case, the neighborhood of tenements and festas is a sepia-toned memory (brought to you by Barilla pasta!). The children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of early 20th century Italians who colonized that swath of Manhattan long ago abandoned it for their acre of the American Dream on Long Island or in Jersey. That generational exodus left Little Italy vulnerable to encroachment from Soho to the north and Chinatown to the south, squeezing it into oblivion. Italian grocers, cafes, Movie poster and enotecas still exist, but fewer and fewer Italians actually live there. So who’s left to keep it “Italian”—and to quibble with the title of a documentary? But while New York’s Little Italy has primarily become a civic marketing tool, The Hill in St. Louis has held tight to its Italian Main Street sensibility. The 52-square-block neighborhood is the kind of walkable, everything-you-need-is-here community that seems to only exist on television, with trattorias, bakeries, and sandwich joints dotting a residential community of squat singlefamily homes. “Right off the bat that’s so different from what you see with a typical Little Italy,” Puleo says. “The Hill remains a cocoon. There’s definitely a throwback feel when you visit the neighborhood. It doesn’t feel like you’re in 2021. It has an older world feel to it.” Immigrants from Sicily and northern Italy were attracted to St. Louis in the late 19th century by the city’s clay mines and brickmaking plants. The Italians who worked in the industry colonized The Hill, and by the early 20th century were the dominant ethnic group. The first wave to arrive built homes, opened businesses, and had families — very big families. They also established St. Ambrose Catholic Church, which became, and remains, the emotional center of The Hill. (The
Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue
Shooting The Hill on location in St. Louis.
current church opened in 1926 and is still the tallest structure in the neighborhood.) As time passed, the children of those first immigrants, then later their children, grew up and stayed in The Hill to remain close to their parents and extended network of cousins, friends, and neighbors. It wasn’t immune to ancient rivalries from the old country — the Sicilians and northers who came over didn’t get along, and while they tried passing that animosity down it faded as their kids mixed in school, at church, and on the playground. Nor was The Hill spared the currents of history. During Prohibition residents turned to bootlegging, converting sub-basements into moonshine distilleries. Many of its young men volunteered to serve in World War II; not all of them came home. Post-war suburbanization and white flight threatened to hollow out The Hill, before St. Ambrose’s Monsignor Salvatore Polizzi created intervention programs to retain residents and beautify the neighborhood. Polizzi was also instrumental in retaining the integrity of The Hill after an interstate highway bisected its northern tip. The Hill also left a national footprint in the form of New York Yankees great Yogi Berra and St. Louis Cardinals hero Joe Garagiola. Both catchers and Hill natives, Berra and Garagiola grew up on the same street, were friends, and honed their skills in pickup games and on church teams — often against one another. They were too good to be on the same team; no one else stood a chance. Still, Garagiola remembered, “Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!” But don’t just take his word for it. One of the joys of America’s Last Little Italy is hearing from Hill lifers who grew up with Berra and Garagiola. More than burnishing the legends, they add memories and dimensions to ballplayers who have become larger than life and, in Berra’s case, iconic. “These guys had never been interviewed before,” Puleo says. “These are stories they’ve told their families for the past 60 or 70 years, but now they have the opportunity to tell them on camera. And you can just see them come to life telling these stories.” That’s something Puleo saw often while making his film. He interviewed some 70 Hill residents, 30 over the age of 80, “and time and time again they lit up remembering the past and remembering this history. For us, it was an incredible experience.”
Indeed, the documentary is a fine tapestry of the neighborhood. But it’s also an act of cultural preservation. Many of the people Puleo interviewed grew up with the immigrants who shaped The Hill; others are immigrants themselves. They are primary sources to history. Nearly a dozen of the people Puleo spoke with for the film, which he began making in 2018, have since died. And while that adds poignancy to their participation, it also reiterates the value of capturing and preserving their memories. More than a necessity to telling this story, it’s a boon to our understanding of the immigrant experience. “Oftentimes, when you’re Italian, what you see portrayed is food and The Sopranos and that type of idea,” Puleo says. “I never wanted the Italians in our film to be portrayed as caricatures or that typical idea people have when they think about Italians.” As a first-generation Italian American, I understand well the need to overcome the stereotypes. I also know the significance of talking with your elders about what they went through, in Italy and America, and regretting you didn’t ask enough questions while they were here. Even though my Italian kin settled in Western Pennsylvania, the similarities between them and the Italians of The Hill is striking, from laboring in brickyards to recreating a slice of the old country in their new one to challenges of ensuring future generations appreciate the foundation left for them. It all conspired to create an unexpectedly moving viewing experience. Is The Hill the last of America’s Little Italies? Who knows. Maybe. The character and composition of our cities is changing — demographically, economically, politically — as they always have and always will. Don’t dwell on it. Sure, calling his film America’s Last Little Italy might sound like Puleo wants to instigate an argument. But the documentary is instead an invitation — into a neighborhood, certainly, but for Italians into a conversation with our heritage. “I’ve always been prideful of being Italian,” Puleo says. “But hearing these incredible stories from these elderly people that I respect so much — it was a learning experience for me. To be there with these people, throughout all these interviews, if it was possible to be even more prideful about being Italian, that that’s the case now.” America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill is currently available on DVD and for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
It’s also essential to the documentary’s success. What elevates America’s Last Little Italy above a regional-interest production are the memories of
www.star-revue.com
February 2021
Dreams of Jazmin Johnson - A Young Filmmaker Carrying the Torch by Roderick Thomas
T
o pursue your childhood aspirations–your first dream–takes audacity and faithful conviction. For some of us, remembering our dreams gets harder as we grow into adulthood. However, for Jazmin Johnson, becoming a successful filmmaker is one dream she is bringing to life. When I first learned of Jazmin Johnson, I was privileged enough to read one of her scripts. Every word felt lived and textured. Her storytelling captured the subtleties and idiosyncrasies of life, both mundane and profound –– everything alive and visible. This young Black woman from the sunshine state is expanding ideas on where movie magic can happen. In an interview with the Star Revue, Jazmin opens up about her journey and recent highlights of her blooming career. Star Revue: First question, Jazmin where are you from? Jazmin: I was born in Tallahassee but raised in Orlando. Pretty much a Florida girl. Star Revue: How old are you?
Jazmin: And the second for sure is Seventeen Again, with Tia and Tamera Mowry. I played that DVD so much, my parents were so annoyed with me [laughs]. Star Revue: You’ve mentioned your love for old school Black Hollywood glamour, and you bring some of that aesthetic to your own work. Tell us about your film and what inspired you to make it. Jazmin: It is called Sounds of War. It’s a juxtaposition piece about how I’ve felt really since Trayvon Martin, and of course the revolution that sprung up around Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Here I am trying to make my dreams come true, and we’re not even safe in our dreams. Breonna was murdered barely out of her sleep. So, I wanted to make a piece that illustrates that. Star Revue: I understand you graduated from FAMU in December. Sounds of War was fully sponsored by Apple, how did that sponsorship come about?
Jazmin: I was 9 years old and I saw Keke Palmer in Madea’s Family Reunion. Seeing a person that young that looked like me, taking on such a heavy role, inspired me to tell stories.
Jazmin: Yes! What a blessing to have my first film fully funded. I know how rare that is. My film was sponsored by Beats, Apple and Crown and Conquer as a part of their Black features program. I didn’t have all the requirements they wanted, but I used my writing and photography to submit. I got the interview, then later found out I was one of the winners. I couldn’t believe it.
Star Revue: You know, I don’t think Keke Palmer gets enough recognition for her career.
Star Revue: What did you take away from your first production?
Jazmin: So true. She’s been doing this, Keke has been in this business for a while.
Jazmin: So many things, but I think the idea that you need to be in LA, New York or even Atlanta to make a film, changed for me. Old ideas about filmmaking got shattered on my first production. Filmmaking can happen anywhere.
Jazmin: I just turned 23. Star Revue: What got you into film?
Star Revue: What was your initial interest, acting, writing or directing? Jazmin: I think most people initially gravitate towards acting. However, in second grade my teacher always made us write. Later, I was introduced to a Windows Movie Maker, so I’ve really worn all the hats. I didn’t realize I was doing all these things that make up part of filmmaking. Star Revue: What is your favorite film? Jazmin: That’s such a hard question, it really varies. I’d say there are two films I can play on repeat. The first is Harlem Nights. Eddie Murphy is my favorite comedian and Harlem Nights has such a powerful aesthetic. I love that old school 1930’s Black vintage glamour look. The production was so beautiful. Just to see Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Della Reese... it’s such a powerful film.
Star Revue: Recently, one of your heroes retweeted your film, Ava Duvernay. How and when did you get the news? Jazmin: [laughs] Yes! That morning was my virtual FAMU graduation. I was in the shower and I kept getting messages on my phone. I checked my phone and saw the message from Ava. I’m thinking Ava who? Ava Duvernay? I was shocked, it was unbelievable. To be recognized by award winning director Ava Duvernay, best known for Selma,13th and the Oscar winning When They See Us (best actor, Jharell Jerome), is quite the milestone and a promising signal of a fruitful career, one Ms. Johnson should
"Here I am trying to make my dreams come true, and we’re not even safe in our dreams."
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Jazzmin Johnson is a young filmmaker.
be proud of. Star Revue: That’s such a special moment. However, I’ve heard you’ll be crossing paths with yet another one of your acclaimed heroes soon, tell us more. Jazmin: So, I started this clothing brand last year called blkflmmkrs and it’s all about cinema meets apparel. Regina King’s team reached out to me and they’re looking to have blkflmmkrs apparel as one of her looks for her SNL show this month. I am beyond grateful. Star Revue: Where do you get your ideas from, how do you create? Jazmin: I’m a Black woman, I’m always going to be a Black woman, and that informs what I create. I feel it’s important to keep telling and showing my stories, our stories. I believe we are in a new renaissance period of Black cinema. Star Revue: Recently we lost an icon, the legendary Cicely Tyson. What does her legacy mean to you? Jazmin: She was literally the epitome of Black glamour, Black stardom, Black excellence. She had so much poise. I always admired how she continued to do what she loved literally until her last day. As regards to what I said earlier about us being in a new renaissance for Black filmmakers, I truly feel like she’s passed the torch to us. Star Revue: Speaking of legacy, what do you want your legacy to be? Jazmin: I don’t want to be the only one in the room. I want to expand the table, I want more seats at the table. But, I do want a blkflmmkrs sign somewhere in the south, maybe Atlanta! Check out Sounds of War now on Beats streaming services, including YouTube.
February 2021, Page 13
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Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue
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February 2021
TWO NEW STORES OPEN IN INDUSTRY CITY
H
ifi Provisions, located at 237 36th Street in Industry City, Brooklyn, is now open.
Upon entry, customers will notice wooden racks, hand built by owner Matthew Coluccio, with records old and new for sale. At the back is a cozy area with velvet, art-deco chairs and an impressive, vintage Bang & Olufssen music system, which he acquired from a psychologist in Manhattan. “It’s like my living room, except that everything’s for sale. I want people to feel comfortable enough to hang out, play music, and chat,” he says. To the right is his workshop where he tinkers among jumbles of cables, capacitors, and transistors, which often retain deadly electrical charges over 400 volts and is not recommended work for amateurs. Coluccio learned from a friend and by reading old manuals. He envisions building guitar amps from his work desk as well. “My obsession with tube amps came after my father gave me an old amp he found in the garbage. The first time I turned it on and saw the tubes glow red and smelled the heat they produced was magical,” he says. Though this is his first retail store, Coluccio is an expert at finding, fixing, and selling interesting things. He combs through what other people
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by Michael Cobb
throw out on the streets of Brooklyn and has an uncanny knack for turning that into profit. Coluccio embodies the adage, “one man’s trash is another’s treasure.” “Before this, I only had sales on the sidewalk and local swap meets. I picked up record collecting late in life and became passionate about it
Everything is for sale at Hi Fi's back room.
very quickly,” he says. Coluccio buys records wherever he can find them, driving to yard sales, estate sales, and responding to craigslist ads. He’s also experimenting with consignments and is looking for everything except classical. “I want the store to have a wide variety of genres. I have plenty of shelves that I need to fill,” he adds. With a background in graphic design, advertising and branding, it makes sense that he designed the store logo, soon to be lit up in neon.
He also plans on hosting happenings with DJs, bands, and dance parties. “I’m working with Industry City at the moment trying to plan some events, so stay tuned,” Coluccio says.
Powerhouse IC
Located at 220 36th Street in building #2 (next to HiFi Provisions) is Powerhouse IC. With the original store in DUMBO and an additional locale in Park Slope, the latest branch adds to the shopping diversity at Sunset Park’s Industry City. Book shoppers may be most familiar with their original site in DUMBO, described as “a laboratory for creative thought and premier venue for exhibitions, installations, presentations, displays, viewings, performances and readings.”
At the Industry City branch there’s a good selection of current and classic titles for children and adults.” They also maintain a website for virtual shopping. Powerhouse is “a small family-run business, and have been stubbornly proud of our sole focus on the curated shopping experience, the engaging and thought-provoking programming.” It was late Monday evening when I stopped by, and though no one else was in the store, the attendant was extremely helpful. My 11-year-old bought a copy of "Concrete Rose" by Angie Thomas, author of "The Hate You Give."
Past events have featured writers including Salman Rushdie, Paul Auster, David Sedaris, Jonathan Lethem, Joyce Carol Oates, Jennifer Egan, T.C. Boyle, Jonathan Franzen, and the late Pete Hamill. Powerhouse Arena was well known for hosting ultra-hip events like the afterparty for the world premier of Lou Reed’s Berlin, VH1’s Hip Hop Honors Week, The New Yorker Speakeasy, and Absolut Brooklyn with Spike Lee, the likes of which have sadly been shut down due to Covid.
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Powerhouse IC is a welcome addition for the Sunset Park book lover.
February 2021, Page 15
GRAUBARD (continued from page 14)
The old bull says “no son; let’s walk down the hill slowly and quietly and fuck ‘em all.” So, Meade takes over as Leader of a large but weak and divided Brooklyn Organization, keeping the Assembly Leadership, despite a fight from Queens. Years later, Steingut is beaten for his seat by an inside job engineered by the Leader of Meade’s own club, Tony Genovesi, and replaced by Meade’s handpicked Assemblyman, Stanley Fink. Meade leaves no fingerprints. Almost immediately upon becoming leader. Meade takes back the Council Leadership Brooklyn hasn’t held since Sharkey. In the late sixties, the Reform movement in Brooklyn actually gets some traction, but whenever Meade loses to them and sometimes when he doesn’t, he seduces them. He sits down with reporters and curses the Vietnam War. He offers draft counseling at his own club and tells a liberal reporter he personally supports medicalizing the treatment of narcotics addicts. When liberal Fred Richmond loses to John Rooney for Congress, Meade installs him at the City Council. When Carol Bellamy, who beat two regular State Senators in succession, wins Citywide office, he installed Bellamy’s Reform club President, Marty Connor, in her place. In 1969, Meade backs Wagner for Mayor, taking out his own candidate, Hugh Carey, and loses the primary, and then backs Mario Proccacino in the general and loses again, but still gets patronage from the winner, John Lindsay, and when a vacancy occurs for Borough President, Lindsay backs Meade’s guy in spite of the pleas of Lindsay’s Liberal Party supporters. In 1973, Esposito backs the Madison club’s Abe Beame for mayor and Meade is put in charge of dividing up the patronage, as the Brooklyn organization takes over the City government. Perhaps coincidentally, the City is near bankruptcy by the end of Beame’s term. In 1974, Meade backs the wrong guy for Governor in the primary against Brooklyn’s own Hugh Carey, but there is no challenge to his leadership. By contrast, when Queens Leader Matty Troy backed the wrong guy against Abe Beame, Beame installed a new County Leader named Donnie Manes in Troy’s place, bringing new meaning to night of the long knives. In 1977, Beame’s primary loss daunted Meade not one minute, as he quickly switched in the runoff to the victorious Ed Koch, shouting “there is no quid pro Cuomo.” Among his rewards were control of the Department of Transportation to Meade’s home club, where an ex-cop named Frank Seddio became an Assistant Commissioner. Meade once said, “Hey, I’ve been dancing on a Charlotte Russe for 16 years and I never dented the cherry.” Assemblyman Dan Feldman tells a story about what happened when the Brooklyn DA had retired and Feldman endorsed his political mentor, Liz Holtzman, against the County choice. Feldman got summoned by Meade to
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breakfast at the Arch Diner on Ralph Avenue. Feldman entered the Arch a few minutes early and, like in Goodfellas, Meade was already sitting there. “Look,” Meade said, “I know you’re her friend. You had to endorse her. I understand that. But you are part of the regular organization. Can’t you at least take it easy? You don’t have to campaign with her all the time.” Feldman said “Meade, you’re my friend. If you were in trouble, I would help you all the way. That’s what I have to do with Liz.” Then Meade said “Okay. I understand. Fine. But there’s a City Council race in your district, and I happen to know that you’re not personal friends with any of the candidates. So you’ll support my guy, okay?” Feldman says he was by no means crazy about Michael Garson, but he agreed, learning a bit about how Meade exercised control. But all things come to an end and Meade left office under a cloud of investigation, eventually convicted of paying for a vacation in order to influence Mario Biaggi, a member of Congress who happened to be one of his best friends. Ironically, Biaggi’s granddaughter is now one of the leftwing legislators giving old-line Democrats so much agita. Meade’s departure left a vacancy in the leadership, and Meade did not back his prodigal son, Genovesi, believing he had been too openly salivating for Meade’s departure, instead, backing Borough President Howie Golden. Genovesi was a brilliant and ruthless political tactician, when it came to running campaigns, and a man of guts and vision, but, despite his role in running Fink’s Assembly majority, was, in this instance, somewhat less adept in the backroom. Golden wanted the leadership primarily to help his Borough by strengthening his beloved Borough Presidency, seeing that Donnie Manes having both positions in Queens gave Manes more leverage on the old Board of Estimate, to Golden’s disadvantage. Howie did really love Brooklyn, but the Brooklyn he loved no longer existed. As Borough President, his emblematic showpiece event was “Welcome Back to Brooklyn Day” a big festival in which every year the Borough debased itself by honoring people who made good after they left the place. He wanted to revive Brooklyn, but it was by looking backward rather than forward. Although, in fairness, many of the efforts to revitalize Brooklyn often credited to Marty Markowitz were in fact initiated by Golden, including downtown’s MetroTech. There is full scale war in Brooklyn— most, but by no means all, of the reformers ally with Genovesi, and Golden wins. Golden makes peace by negotiating a deal with Genovesi in order to win the vacant leadership of the Council. The deal is that Brooklyn unites and gets both the Council Majority Leadership, for Golden’s Sam Horwitz and the Finance Chairmanship, for Genovesi’s Herb Berman, by getting Manhattan votes reform votes, cutting out the other County organizations. But the Bronx’s Stan Friedman and Queens’s Donnie Manes, put the knife
in Howie’s back by picking off one Manhattan vote, and electing Peter Vallone. Later that week, Manes put the knife into his own wrists, for reasons unrelated to Vallone, but not unrelated to his leadership. Howie Golden could not dance on a Charlotte Russe—he had bad relations with Ed Koch and bad relations with David Dinkins, both of whom he held in contempt. He was a reformed alcoholic who gave up drinking and seems to have never smiled again. Ironically, though Golden took the County Leader job to expand his leverage on the Board of Estimate, which soon came to an end when a Federal Court decision required the abolition or extreme modification of the Board, on one person-one vote grounds. This threatened Golden’s power more than any Mayor, or Tony Genovesi. Golden fought against a charter change which abolished the Board of Estimate, and would not allow him to continue in both roles, but lost. So, like Steingut, Golden gave up the job he didn’t really want to have the job he wanted.
Clarence Norman's rise In the leadership battle which followed, both Golden and Genovesi backed Mike Garson, a southern Brooklyn Leader, but the Assembly Speaker, Brooklyn’s Mel Miller, a former reformer turned regular, backed Assemblymen Clarence Norman, a Miller loyalist. And, in a close battle, Norman, backed by most of the reformers, wins. If one doesn’t count Gardner Taylor’s short interval as part of the Troika, Norman is Brooklyn’s first Black Democratic County Leader, but a lot of the behind the scenes players remain unchanged. Norman almost immediately buries the hatchet by unsuccessfully backing Garson for Council (Garson loses to Anthony Weiner, but still manages to disgrace himself nearly as much, even while keeping his pants on) and then making Garson a judge, but Norman cannot make peace with Genovesi, and Norman is seen as inept. Norman's first act as Leader is to back one of his reform supporters, Joan Millman, for an open Council seat, but she loses to Ken Fisher, the son of Travia’s consiglieri, Harold Fisher. Norman backs his best buddy, Carl Andrews, for an open Council seat and he loses to Yvette Clarke. Norman is seen as, at best, the boss of one half of the County, and he doesn’t always win there. Most of the white leaders are with Genovesi, and day-to-day management of white Brooklyn, to the extent Norman has any control, is handed to Party Secretary Steve Cohn. If Meade could be said to leave no fingerprints, Clarence left them everywhere, even though he usually appeared to be all thumbs. Trouble for Norman starts coming from the courthouses, where Carl Andrews and Ravi Batra, whose firm employs Norman, of counsel, are seen to be hogging an awful lot of the patronage, not letting anyone else wet their beaks. Meanwhile, rumors abound that support from Norman requires one to financially retain his political operation; this is openly written about in Evan Mandery’s book about Ruth Messinger’s 1997 mayoral campaign. One of the Norman hogs at the sloptrough documented by Mandery is now our State Attorney General.
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And the party weakens; a scandal involving a dispute over court patronage involving Ravi Batra results in a list of favored appointees for referees and receiverships no longer being walked around to judges. Brooklyn loses the Assembly Speakership. Brooklyn gains and then loses the Senate Minority Leadership, and the losing Minority Leader, Marty Connor, openly blames Norman for his loss; holding a small “Counter Dinner” the night of Norman’s County Dinner. And then Norman allegedly tells the wrong judge to hire his operation, and what little is left of Norman’s leadership falls to a series of indictments. Given the opportunity to change things, the local district leaders sought strength and they got want they wished for, which is an abject lesson in being careful about what you wish. Ben Smith, then running the Politicker, a local NYC political blog, saw the elevation of Vito Lopez as more of the same, writing a piece called “Meet the New Boss” as in the Who’s line, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. But a famous blog piece begged to differ:
Same as the old boss? Not.
The old boss was an incompetent bumbler who refused to punish traitors who backed Republicans and usually sat on his hands during general elections, which he regards as a day off. The new boss is a highly organized, brilliant tactician, who was one of those traitors, and often spends general elections actively working for Republicans. The old boss was a small time grifter only interested in his party issued credit card. The new boss is the builder of a multi-tentacled social service empire supporting a well-oiled political machine (including large consulting fees for the boss), as well as actually and competently delivering social services. The old boss was a cipher in Albany, interested only in bringing some money to his father’s church and the right factions in Chabad. The new boss is a major Albany player, often for good, sometimes not, but always for himself. The old boss built his career on Hasid bashing (not entirely without cause), and then made his peace. The new boss built his career on Hasid bashing (not entirely without cause), and may just have made his peace. The old boss usually played progressive and often put right wingers on the bench. The new boss often plays conservative and made Abbie Hoffman’s attorney, and a bunch of like-minded Guild lawyers, including Margarita Lopez-Torres, judges. If he didn’t knock you off the ballot (and sometimes he took a dive) there was little consequence to defying the old boss. The new boss would rather let you stay on the ballot so he can take the extreme pleasure of publicly slaughtering you in the street in the presence of others to set an example. You could piss on the old boss’s fancy Italian shoes in front of his wife, and he’d still come back to next year looking for a favor. The new boss carries an old grudge like a concealed weapon, except he doesn’t conceal it. We’ve traded Fredo for Sonny (or maybe Tartaglia for Barzini).
Clarence wore a watch that cost more than Vito’s entire wardrobe. Clarence struggled to control half of the County; Vito fought to control everything. As the blogger later wrote: The prior leader, Clarence Norman, was thought a little too accommodating, perhaps because primaries were seen in the Leader’s shop as generating profits
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February 2021
In the Image of Rock Gods Doug Brod’s They Just Seem a Little Weird examines KISS, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Starz and the making of ‘70s rock megastardom by Kurt Gottschalk Eric and I didn’t have much to go on, but we didn’t need much, either. We were desperate tweens ready to rock. It didn’t matter that we didn’t know the band that was playing. They had the look and we had to go. Rock was still a fresh discovery for us and a real concert, an actual concert, was something we wanted. Bad. It was Eric who had spotted the ad in the local daily newspaper—The State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL—and showed it to me. We were transfixed. The five members of the band were dressed in white and looked almost androgynous, angelic by design. Eric told me they were supposed to be, like, the opposite of KISS. I wasn’t sure what that meant but anything that referenced KISS, even as an antithesis, had to be cool. Then he showed me how if you turned their logo in the ad upside down, it still spelled their name: “Angel” flipped was still “Angel.” We took the ad to my mother, she picked up the phone and, with Eric’s mother on the line, asked us if we even liked that band. Somehow we let it slip that we’d never heard them. The moms made their ruling. Our case was lost. Hearing Angel before going to the show—or at least begging to go—was not an option. Hearing a band usually meant buying a record, and records cost money. We might occasionally get lucky and catch a group on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert or The Midnight Special or hear a song on KSHE-95 out of St. Louis if the wind was blowing the right direction. But record shopping was reserved for known known quantities. Most of the time we were operating with limited information. Eventually we caught Angel on TV and were unenthused. They weren’t as hard as we’d some-
1983 … (A Melvins They Should Turn to Be) Gluey Porches, Hostile Takeovers and Working With God by Kurt Gottschalk I don’t know what you were doing in 1983 but I know what the Melvins weren’t doing is making this record. “Melvins 1983” is whispered like it’s some kind of incantation, like it’s the name of a beast with no name, like it’s something you’d better be careful not to wish for, like it’s a monkey’s paw keychain. Or at least that’s the way I imagine it, a secret origin story in a sludge metal multiverse. “Melvins 1983” is a band that won’t go away because, as far as we know, it never existed. Legend is that “Melvins 1983” met in high school and spontaneously, as if a shaft of fire erupting from the crust of the Earth, started playing Hendrix and Who covers in the drummer’s parents’ house. There’s not much proof of that, but “Melvins 1983” is also “Melvins 2013,” “Melvins 2020” and now “Melvins 2021.” And believe you me, their press release sure acts like they’re something special, which is funny because the point of Melvins, any of them, always seemed to be that they’re not special. Great, yeah, but not special.
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how imagined they’d be. We agreed that they still looked cool, though, and that was something. Image mattered. Long before YouTube, before rock had even become a staple of broadcast television, the image a band projected through clothes, hair and album art was a big part of what pushed demand. Ever since Elvis, rock has been—in one way or another—about looking cool. Branding and image-crafting is at the core of Doug Brod’s They Just Seem a Little Weird: How KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll (Hachette Books). As a former editor-in-chief of both Spin and TV Guide, Brod gets (to borrow Joni Mitchell’s phrase) the star maker machinery behind the popular song. He avoids getting bogged down in sex and drugs, focusing instead on the rock ’n’ roll, tracing the shared gigs and overlapping management of the four bands. He lets the silliness of the acts, and the era, shine through without falling to mockery. He appreciates the good in each of them without overinflating their greatness. It’s an even-handed and fantastically readable book, with sources culled from his own interview archive and new interviews with the band members, as well as members of bands who followed the hard rock road they paved. KISS, Cheap Trick and Aerosmith are as good a triumvirate for mid ‘70s rock excess as any; one could argue for others, but that would just be replacing, not improving. KISS were the undisputed kings of the mountain, at least as far as me and my best friend were concerned. Aerosmith was my #2. (Eric was skeptical, finding them a bit too skeevy.) Others were in there— Queen, Steppenwolf—but condemned to second tier status. And Cheap Trick, good Illinois boys that they were, would be among my first handful of concerts. The three bands projected character and made songs that leapt from the turntable. Starz was a different matter. We’d look at their records at the mall, trying to decide if they were cool or not based on look and logo. They never made the cut—$6 was a lot of money and the clothes and covers didn’t cut it. They remained relegated to the records we’d look at again and again (like Bootsy Collins, is he, like, Black KISS? is such a thing possible?) and return to the bin. Brod gives Starz equal treatment in his book Just regular Melvins. But any Melvins is good Melvins and the newly recorded record by the newly reconstituted, nearly original lineup of the band just slams. Working With God could have been made by, or at least written by, three high school friends getting high in their drummer’s parents’ house. It opens with a Beach Boys goof called “I Fuck Around” and closes with an even dumber two minutes of doo wop. “Brian, the Horse-Face Goon” and “Boy Mike” carry the attitude with solid, pounding playing. Too tight for punk, too cheeky for metal, the band has always existed in the nothing-to-prove zone of the Ramones and Neil Young. Taking their own jokes seriously is a big part of the Melvins magic. What the new album doesn’t have is the extended epicness that are the peaks of some of their other records. The longest track—a sped-up and tunedup take on “Hot Fish,” previously recorded by “Melvins/Flipper 2019”— is a mere 5½ minutes. Working With God lacks in prolonged, profound riffage where the silt gets so thick it takes 10 minutes or more to get out. See, for example, the 24 magnificent, feedback-soaked minutes that make up the last two songs on the 2002 album Hostile Ambient Takeover (with Osbourne, Crover and bassist Kevin Rutmanis). it’s a more cerebral record than God, a kinda thinking man’s stoner rocker, with shifting time signatures and nearly psychedelic sonic pallets. That doesn’t make it a better record, but it kinda does.
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without pretending they enjoyed the same success as his other subjects. He calls their second album—Violation, an attempted concept album about a future where rock is illegal which namechecks Aerosmith—“one of the great unheard albums of the era,” and relates a true star tale involving guitarist Richie Ranno throttling manager Bill Aucoin for approving a radio edit of a song without the band’s OK. While the band has remained active (with stops and starts and changes in lineup), the incident marked the beginning of their descent, having fallen short of stardom. Jonathan Daniel, a fan who would go on to play with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco and Green Day, laments the band’s also-ran status. “That was the thing about Starz,” he tells Brod. “Everything else might have been slightly wrong—the logo is genius but a little corny, the name is a little corny with the z—but the songs were so good. I could not for the life of me understand why they weren’t hits.” Daniel’s loyalty is laudable. A nice, complimentary end to my part of the story would be a newfound Starz fandom, but that wasn’t under the final flap of the cootie-catcher. I dialed up their debut album while reading and found myself confronted with some good old, rote rock ’n’ roll, perfunctory pounders. They didn’t explode like KISS, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, each in their own way, did. They weren’t larger than life like hard rock in the ‘70s was supposed to be. They didn’t scream success. Maybe they should have gotten a cooler logo. Ipecac is giving Takeover deluxe vinyl treatment, along with the band’s first full album, Gluey Porch Treatments. The album is often cited as a protogrunge pillar; bassist Matt Lukin would soon leave to clock more than a decade with Seattle’s Mudhoney. There’s those who think Melvins never got over the so-called sellout of their two albums for Atlantic in the mid ‘90s. This is the Melvins they want, “Melvins 1987,” a punk band playing Sabbath jams. To others, it’s just what made the later, idiotic brilliance, possible. Takeover and God are cases in point. All three records come out Feb. 26. Working With God is available on custard, silver or black vinyl, CD or download. Hostile Ambient Takeover comes in black or pink and yellow vinyl. Gluey Porch Treatments will be available on either green or glow-inthe-dark green vinyl. They’ll give you something to do while waiting for episode two of Melvins T.
February 2021, Page 17
Jazz by Grella Soul, The Movie
Y
ou have to wait until nearly the end of the scrolling credits to see who the musicians are who represent the on-screen characters in Disney’s new animated movie, Soul. The movie is about a jazz pianist, Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who snags the gig of a lifetime, dies in an accident, and then strives to return his soul to his body while in the company of a disembodied soul (Tina Fey) from the Great Before who is both the main antagonist in the movie and a very Disney-fied plot complication. At the start of the movie, Joe is teaching music in middle school, doing the best he can, and both happy and disappointed to find out that he’s been hired full time by the school district. The weight of his ambivalence, the texture of the classroom and the details of his instructions, the relief over landing a steady job and the loss of giving up the most important thing, being a performing musician, is one of the truest jazz moments in the movie—jazz takes so much and delivers so little (in the way of money) the musicians play it because they have to, because it’s so deeply meaningful, and more than a few have lived in the
by George Grella type of dire straits that exhaust the capacity to play the music. Giving up the thing you most want for the thing you most need is a pretty consistent feature of jazz history. The next moment of jazz truth comes when Gardner is sitting at the piano in a basement club that is clearly modeled after the Village Vanguard (a year without the Vanguard, with more waiting time ahead, adds piquancy to the utter gorgeousness of the animation, which features wonderful character details, even in the extras, and beauty and subtlety in the lighting that rivals anything you will see on the big or small screen). He’s auditioning as a last-minute replacement for the pianist in saxophonist Dorothea Williams’ (voiced by Angela Bassett), group. It’s Tia Fuller who’s actually playing the alto sax, and when she blows the first few notes through the horn, I felt a charge of lightning run through me—coming through my iPad’s screen and speakers, Fuller’s sound was so intense and full of inner fire that it sounded alive. The moment felt like being in a club, a band on the stand, the molecules of sound pushing toward me. Soul is a jazz movie, and it’s a good jazz movie and the jazz is good. It’s
Soul is an animated Pixar film that brings you into a jazz club.
other things too, of course, more problematic in that they involve the first Black main character that Disney/Pixar has ever produced and the missteps involving representation that come about when you have a white woman enter into a Black man’s body and the Black man ends up in…a cat. As Damon Young, who enjoyed the movie, wrote at The Root, Soul may be a movie about a “Black guy, but it is not a Black movie... And it feels like the bulk of the disappointments with it stem from that point. Which is a valid one. Soul was not originally conceived to be about a Black character and that construction is obvious with some of the choices in it.” Nor was it conceived necessarily as a jazz movie. it seems the original idea involved a scientist and the clichéd and bogus opposition between head and heart. But a jazz movie it became, and in the Year of No Live Music (pace David Foster Wallace), a welcome presence it was when it appeared on Disney+ on Christmas Day. The jazz is good, the original music composed by Jon Batiste, who also plays the piano, and along with Fuller the band in the movie is Linda May Han Oh playing bass and Roy Haynes and Marcus Gilmore at the drums. One of the nice details is that Williams’ drummer, an old student of Gardner’s, is a young Black guy, and the bassist is a young Asian woman, the animated characters representing the actual musicians. Much of the movie takes place in the Great Before, where souls are formed before they are placed into newborn babies, and the music for those sequences is another fine electronic score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch, but all the music in New York City is jazz.
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What a pleasure to experience live jazz again! Except, of course, I know the music isn’t live, but there’s something about the magic of movies where seeing musicians play, even animated ones, produces the convincing illusion in the senses that the music is happening right there, in the moment. Credit must go to the musicians too, because with players this good the music explodes out of the speakers in a special way. The music is so alive that when, after Joe earns the gig, it is genuinely upsetting when Joe falls into an uncovered manhole and dies (Soul, like Up, is pitched in the direction of kids but is fine for adults). It happens fast and before you know enough about him to feel the sense of personal tragedy. It’s the music that makes the death so effecting, because the music had been so alive and exciting, feeling like it was going to burst out into spontaneous variations, which is how all the great live jazz albums sound, even when you’ve heard them dozens of times already. Things work out in the end, but that initial heady rush of excitement doesn’t come back. Except for experience junkies, that’s not a criticism, it means that the movie establishes a bona fide jazz world, where descending a set of stairs off the street and into the club gathers an anticipatory feeling that is rewarded by the excited rush of the first few notes. That quickly settles into a groove of listening very much like one that a band may be laying down, a kind of steady, loping rise and plateauing of satisfactions. The live jazz experience. It’s still going to be awhile before we can have that again, and in the meantime you can do a lot worse than sitting down for a session of Soul.
February 2021
Books by Quinn We’ll Always Have Paris Review of Bevelations: Lessons From a Mutha, Auntie, Bestie by Bevy Smith Review by Michael Quinn
I
n 2014, a friend turned fifty. To celebrate, he organized a trip with friends to Paris—myself among them. At the celebratory dinner, a guest arrived late, walking into the restaurant on tottering heels. As she approached the table, men threw themselves out of their seats to help her with her coat. They quickly cleared a place for her. The party was suddenly infused with a potent new energy. Helplessly shifting their attention away from the birthday boy, the guests were magnetically-drawn to the arrival of this new center of attention: the enigmatic, charismatic Bevy Smith. Bevelations: Lessons From a Mutha, Auntie, Bestie, Smith’s new book, touches on this glamorous, jet-setting existence. A former fashion advertising executive at Rolling Stone and Vibe, Smith walked away from the world of mid-six-figure salaries, expense accounts, and international shopping sprees to find her true purpose, what she calls “a great thing, an inspiring thing, a creative thing, a feeling of freedom, a new dream.” Her book—part memoir, part self-help guide—doles out life lessons Smith calls “Bevelations,” such as “Being comfortable with being uncomfortable is a hallmark of every successful person’s trajectory” and “Confidence is good, but it doesn’t pay the bills.” To build a personal brand like she has, Smith instructs, you have to do some soul-searching to find out who you really are. Smith took ownership of whom she understood herself to truly be by “anointing myself Bevy Smith” (her given name is Beverly).
An observant nerd
Born, raised, and still living in Harlem, Smith comes from a tight, lower middle-class family, the youngest of three born to late-in-life parents affectionately known as “The Smittys.” At her core, Smith still feels she’s the little girl they raised, a persona she calls “L’il Brown Bevy.” Her traits? Sensitive, shy, smart, curious. In pursuit of popularity in her teenage years, Smith leveraged the best that L’il Brown Bevy had to offer. “When you’re a nerd, you’re naturally observant. You learn how to
GRAUBARD (continued from page 16) for the “operations” run by the Leader’s friends. Lopez was seen as more effective on behalf of incumbents. Sitting judges no longer had to engage in unseemly fundraising to pay off parasitical “consultants” who would otherwise run primaries against them. The quashing of such activity served a good government purpose, though this fortuitous by-product was probably just an inadvertent bonus rather than the real intent.
Within a couple of years, dissatisfaction set in, but no one dared declare war. As a local blogger wrote: “Whatever his accomplishments, the Lopez honeymoon was now over. The complaint was that, rather than imposing peace, Lopez had started trying to impose candidates, in baronies outside his home turf. He even started going after incumbents. Grumbling ensued from many hardcore regulars who were once his strongest supporters. In the Vito Lopez catechism, it seemed that one could not suffer a slight deviation from the County Line and still be considered 99.44% pure, anymore than one could suffer a touch of pregnancy
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assess people,” she writes. Her high school persona (“MC Bev-Ski”) was a “witty, street-smart, booksmart, uptown girl.” She was popular with the boys, and had a steady, serious romance (though she’s coy on these details) which kept her from pursuing college. Instead, she found temporary work as a receptionist at an advertising agency. With working-class parents, her only ideas of what office life was like came from the TV. Smith dressed the part, and a career in fashion was born. An influencer before they existed, Smith soon established herself as a force to be reckoned with— “as a salesperson, no was just the beginning of the negotiation”—and rose to the top of her field. She traveled first class to Europe for fashion shows; she partied nightly until the wee hours in New York with the likes of Jay-Z and Tupac. But for all her success, she was living a double-life: fashion executive “Beverly Smith” by day; party girl “Big Bev from Uptown” at night. This involved quite a lot of code-switching, Smith writes: “Unfortunately, when you’re the only Black person in a company, you often feel you’re representing the entire race.” A gnawing feeling of being unfulfilled soon grew overpowering. “How dare he!” she thinks, when, giving her notice at Rolling Stone, her boss suggests that she’s having a midlife crisis. Pushing forty, she’s living the high life, yet continues to feel like an outsider in “an industry that wasn’t exactly clamoring to welcome curvy Black girls.” It takes her five years to work up the guts to walk away. Bevelations is meant to save readers time—and grief—by sharing lessons learned. Smith admits she’s “obsessed” with self-help books and cribs heavily from her two biggest influences: Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. She encourages readers along a similar path of self-exploration, even leaving a bit of space for them to jot down their own reflections, joking, “I’m hoping that the blank lines that follow, which are intended for you to write your list on, will count toward the word count my publisher requires.” Smith is very funny, and Bevelations has a brassy, sassy, peppy tone that longtime fans will recognize from her previous TV gigs co-hosting Fashion Queens and Page Six TV, as well as her current
and still be considered chaste. Emboldened first by the obsession to put his protégés into the local City Council seats that most impacted his home turf, then by his victory in one of those races, and later by [a] Borough Park victory…Lopez embarked upon what at first looked to be a Stalin-like series of purges, in which not only enemies were targeted, but friends as well.
Lopez was studiously trying to leave no corner of the County without an enemy, but no rival was emerging. To beat Lopez, one needed a candidate, for you couldn’t beat someone with no one. Further, you couldn’t beat someone with someone when no one trusted each other. As the sage political boos John Gorman put it in “The Last Hurrah”: “Many’s the time in the ward and in the City too I’ve seen all the boys all split up and without a chance to win, and still you couldn’t get them to join hands. And that’s because no man is willing to give up his enemies unless he’s a saint or unless he’s sure of the payoff…I don’t know what we can eliminate the
SiriusXM radio show (also called “Bevelations”), where she interviews celebrities she respects and admires, drilling deep to discover what really makes them tick. However far-fetched they might seem now, Smith believes in boldly putting her dreams out there, whether it’s singing and dancing (“I’m obsessed with people who have EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards] status”), or living in a mid-Century house on a California beach with a rich, well-endowed lover—Smith is big on vision boards—the fantasy of her natural-hair alter ego she calls “Malibu Bevy.”
Covid tragedy
Just as Smith was finishing work on the book, the pandemic struck. She got sick with the coronavirus—and her beloved father died from it. Her heartfelt tribute to him feels somewhat tacked on—it’s a totally different tone from the rest of the book—but it was my favorite part. It’s like a different person wrote it. She’s honest, she’s real, but she sets aside the sass to draw from a deep well of intense feeling. This wasn’t the woman I met in Paris who captivated a room full of strangers, but the one who’s genuinely interested in people, and shows how much she cares about them, and for that reason, makes them feel like friends. This was L’il Brown Bevy all the way. I hope we hear more from her.
saints from our discussion here today. As for the payoff, there’d be no payoff unless they won.”
pasta con sarde, and his epic Christmas display, featuring a nativity scene with real livestock.
There were other problems; one was that Vito’s power didn’t emanate from his position as County Leader, Vito’s position as County Leader emanated from his power. Eliminate Vito, and one still would have Vito to deal with, only he’d be angrier. “
Frank Seddio staged Nativity scenes; his predecessor staged crucifixions.
As I noted last month, Vito’s advantage was also his problem, everyone feared him, but no one loved him—and the minute anything emerged which wiped away the fear, he had no friends left. When the Lopez sex harassment scandal emerged, the terminal cynics who backed him were rushing to the microphone so fast to call for his removal that the Reformers, who been doing that for years, nearly got crushed in the stampede. Which left us with Frank Seddio, who would rather cook you some cannolis than dance on a Charlotte Russe. Seddio was jolly man known for his epic St Joseph’s Day party, feature homemade
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Seddio pulled off a brilliant victory in his first battle for the Council leadership, dumping the other County Leaders, and joining with the Mayor and progressives to elect Melissa Mark Viverito as Speaker. But his next time around, Queens Leader Joe Crowley and Bronx Leader Marco Crespo shunned him like the plague and what Citywide power Seddio had left stemmed mostly from a good relationship with the Mayor for going down with the ship in the last Council leadership battle. Seddio’s other travails and triumphs were detailed last month, as were those of his successor, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, whch bring us to the current day. So, as Philip Roth’s Dr Spielvogel once noted: “Now Vee May Perhaps to Begin.”
February 2021, Page 19
Holding up the building POLITICS BY HOWARD GRAUBARD
L
ast month, I wrote about the recent Brooklyn Dems’ County Committee meeting, and related antics and fiascos, but one cannot understand where we are, and where we may go, without understanding where we were before. The modern era of the Brooklyn Democratic Party really started with 1961. Brooklyn’s Democratic Leader was then Joe Sharkey. He was not only County Leader, but was also the Majority Leader of the City Council—the position we now call Speaker. Plus, Brooklyn controlled the Assembly Minority Leadership. Sharkey worked hand in hand with John Cashmore, the Borough President and, incidentally, the model for the dad in Harry Chapin’s song, “Cats in the Cradle,” in controlling a Borough Hall, which had its own Public Works Department. Joe Sharkey also attained power by being loyal to Mayor Wagner. Until he wasn’t. But Joe Sharkey didn’t leave the Mayor, the Mayor left Joe Sharkey and the other bosses. Wagner wanted power previously held by the machines and got it, passing a Charter change stripping them of the Borough Departments of Public Works. But it was the rise of reformers, mostly in Manhattan, which spurred the real change. There had always been insurgents in party politics, and they sometimes won, but these reformers were not merely about changing who did business, but the nature of how business was done. In 1960 Reformers, under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt and former Senator and Governor Herbert Lehman, ousted several Manhattan local electeds loyal to Manhattan boss Carmine DeSapio, including Congressman Ludwig “Lou” Teller. By contrast, in Brooklyn, reform victories that year were far less notable, although Roosevelt and Lehman did support for a District Leadership the victorious race of a longtime political hanger-on who sold bail bonds. That new leader was named Meade Esposito, and it is said he really won because he went knocking on doors asking voters if they had any parking tickets that needed “taken care of.” He collected thousands of dollars-worth. But when his opponent heard Esposito was fixing tickets and contacted the authorities, they found that Esposito had actually paid all the tickets personally. Wagner apparently couldn’t stop talking about what happened to Lou Teller, who was branded on posters as “DeSapio’s Choice.” Wagner himself had once been DeSapio’s choice, and in 1961 declared war on the bosses and ran for re-election, running against his
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“You Never Get Too Big And You Sure Don’t Get Too Heavy, That You Don’t Have To Stop And Pay Some Dues Sometimes”: Brooklyn Democratic Leader in the Modern Era. own record, with Reform support. The other bosses were given a choice, and stuck by DeSapio, and ran their own blue- ribbon candidate, State Comptroller Arthur Levitt, a product of Brooklyn’s Madison Club, against Wagner. Wagner knocked the stuffings out of them. Reform candidates allied with Wagner won notable victories across the City, especially Manhattan. They even won a Council seat in Brooklyn, in Madison Club turf. Shortly after Wagner’s re-election, Sharkey sent a delegation of Brooklyn’s most influential Democrats from the regular factions, including those who’d stuck with the Mayor, to make peace. “Bob,” said one leader, “we know you’ve been through a hell of a fight, but Joe Sharkey has done a lot of good for all of us throughout the years, and he’s been good for the party. It’s Thanksgiving after all, a good time for forgiveness…” WAGNER: “Now wait just a minute. What did Joe Sharkey try to do to me in the primary? He tried to fuck me. Now fuck him.” And the meeting was over, and so was
"Vito’s advantage was also his problem, everyone feared him, but no one loved him— and the minute anything emerged which wiped away
er named John Lynch, whose most notable quality was that he was neither black nor Jewish). The New York Times reported that the first act of the Troika was to appoint a Rules Committee, a proposal which could have been ripped from today’s NKD platform: “a revision of Brooklyn Democratic rules to encourage wider participation in party decisions, regular meetings in district clubs and larger club memberships.” We are still awaiting the report of that committee.
One-time Brooklyn power-broker Meade Esposito.
Admittedly, some things have changed. Back then, it was the reformers who wanted the Party to stop dictating the votes of its area’s elected legislators lest they face punishment from the party; now it is the reformers who often propose the party impose such punishment. The irrelevance of the Brooklyn Reformers back in 1962 was further demonstrated when the Troika was replaced in a few months. In fact, for all the Reformer’s identification with liberalism, Wagner ended up siding with the less liberal candidate, Assembly Minority Leader Tony Travia, against the more liberal Stanley Steingut of the Madison Club. But, truth be told, ideology played little role in the Brooklyn wars and there were liberal and conservatives, and blacks and whites, on both sides.
Joe Sharkey. He lost the council leadership and he lost the County Leadership.
Steingut won, with the help of Esposito, but Wagner never recognized Steingut as Brooklyn’s leader, and Steingut essentially ruled over half a county for most the decade, a situation in some ways replicated today. Wagner attempted more than once to remove Steingut, backing former Steingut loyalist Esposito.
When it looked like Sharkey might be replaced by a leader Wagner didn’t like, Wagner demanded instead that Sharkey be replaced with an ethnically balanced three-man committee known as “The Troika.” None were notably reformers; in fact, one, former Brooklyn Sheriff Aaron Jacoby, had been forced to leave the statewide ticket in 1954, to avoid dealing with old allegations of tax evasion, but all, including the Reverend Gardner Taylor, a former member of the Board of Education, who was one of the City’s most prominent civil rights leaders, were Wagner loyalists (The third member was a bank-
Steingut’s real interest was the Assembly Democratic Leadership, which was once held by his father. In the 64 election, Dems won the Assembly and Steingut challenged Travia for the Speakership. Steingut, quietly backed by Bobby Kennedy, was the choice of the Democratic Conference but Travia, backed by Wagner, took the battle to the floor. A similar battle took place in the Senate. For six weeks, there was no Speaker and no Senate Majority Leader, and no business got done until Governor Nelson Rockefeller delivered most of the GOP votes to Travia, making Rocky a better Democrat than Jesse
the fear, he had no friends."
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Hamilton and Diane Savino. In exchange, Rocky got a regressive sales tax increase, which Steingut had pledged to block. The Brooklyn wars eventually got settled in finality by Lyndon Johnson, who appointed Travia to a Federal Judgeship. Steingut agreed to give up the County Leadership in exchange for what he really wanted, leadership of the Assembly Democrats, and a Steingut rival was unanimously installed as County Leader. Steingut and his rival then monetized the burial of their hatchet by going into the insurance business together. I am told that mob boss Frank Costello once took a young Irish boy under his wings in the manner of Vito Corleone and Tom Hagen, and that when Costello felt compelled to retire to Europe, he introduced the boy to a friend, and told the boy, who later became a judge, that this gentlemen shall now be the one you call “Papa.” Papa’s real name was Amedeo “Meade” Esposito, and according to Jimmy Breslin, Esposito was later under the control of one Paul Castellano. I don’t know whether this is true, but endless hours of wiretaps of the cab stand run by mob boss Paul Vario, which served as the model for the one in Goodfellas, revealed that Meade was a fairly constant topic of conversation. But that was one side of Meade, who was now the County Leader. There is another. Meade loved to tell the story of the two bulls. The father and son bull are at the top of the hill looking over the cow pasture. The young bull says “Daddy, look at all those cows. Let’s charge down the hill and fuck one of those cows.”
(continued on page 16) February 2021