The JULY 2016
Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
Mermaids on display in Boerum Hill
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by Mary Staub
n the surface, Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade may seem like it is all about glitz and glam, costumes and crowds, pomp and personas. What has drawn Luke Ratray, a Carroll Gardens photographer, to the parade for the past twenty years, though, is the people behind those personas. Every year since 1996, Ratray has set up his old-fashioned film camera along the Coney Island boardwalk during the parade to find and capture the individuals behind these created identities. “The pageantry is fun, but not as interesting,” said Ratray. “The parade happens because people show up. It happens because people want it to happen. I’m more interested in the personality of those people.” The images that Ratray has shot of these people over the past twenty years are on view for the first time this summer, through July 24th, in “Coney Island Mermaids, 1996-2016” at the Boerum Hill gallery Urban Folk Art Gallery.
Some of the participants in the June 22 meeting; CGA founder Buddy Scotto is in the middle. (photo by George Fiala)
RED HOOK'S NEW TENANT UNION
Ratray’s great passion throughout his photographic career has always been for capturing people. People who create identities for themselves are of particular interest to him. These images often expose more about an individual than images of a person standing naked. “What’s funny is that someone who creates an identity for himself and becomes someone else often reveals more about them,” Ratray said the day before the exhibit’s opening reception last month. “They’re telling me more about who they are. My attempt is to always get someone to reveal something of them(continued on page 7)
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by George Fiala
rganized under the aegis of the Carroll Gardens Association (CGA), the Southwest Brooklyn Tenant Union held its inaugural meeting last month. The union is an outgrowth of the work of Ben Fuller-Googins, CGA Programming and Planning Director, and Manon Vergario, CGA Community Organizer. The duo had worked to organize tenants of 63 Tiffany Place, a failed luxury condo rehab that was turned into rent-stabilized units in 1995. Last year there were a number of tenant complaints, including rent overcharges, and they came to the CGA for help. After some success with the Tiffany Place residents, Fuller-Googins and Vergario realized a need for some sort of local organization to address similar issues that other residents in the area were facing in the midst of an ongoing gentrification. Fuller-Googins and Vergario's next step was to organize a “Know Your Rights” workshop, held at the Miccio Center on May 4. Flyers promised that participants would “learn about rent regulation laws and other housing code laws that protect tenants.” The flyer also said, “We will talk about our rights to quality repairs, and how to fight landlord harassment. Also, learn more about how you can get involved in the fight to grow COMMUNITY POWER to prevent displacement.”
Photos: Top Left, 1997, Women Blowing Bubbles; Top center: Mermaids 2008, Jenny Fisk cyclone costume on bridge: Top right: Mermaids 2002; above: Mermaids 2002, two women, roller skates, fish face, wings, goggles. Luke Ratray photos.
Red Hook Star-Revue
The workshop was well attended. At that meeting, someone suggested creating a permanent entity to address tenant rights, Vergario and Ben created a new flyer introducing a tenant union and armed with a list (continued on page 3)
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July 2016, Page 1
Community Telephone Numbers: Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca............... (718) 439-9012 Red Hook Assemblyman Felix Ortiz........................ (718) 492-6334 Red Hook State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery.. (718) 643-6140 Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander......................... (718) 499-1090 Park Slope Councilman Steve Levin........................ (718) 875-5200 CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman ............ (718) 643-3027 76th Police Precinct, 191 Union Street Main phone ............................................................... (718) 834-3211 Community Affairs................................................... (718) 834-3207 Traffic Safety............................................................. (718) 834-3226 Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street..... (718) 596-1956 Miccio Community Center, 110 East 9th Street... (718) 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St...................... (718) 852-6771 Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St.............. (718) 522-3880 Brownstone Republicans...info@brownstonerepublicanclub.com NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight Street Main Phone................................................................ (718) 265-7300 Community Affairs.................................................... (718) 265-7313 Domestic Violence.................................................... (718) 265-7310 Youth Officer.............................................................. (718) 265-7314 Auxiliary/Law Enforcement Coordinator ............ (718) 265-7378 Detective Squad........................................................ (718) 265-7327
Happenings, etc. FRIDAY, JULY 1
Red Hook Art Project (RHAP) invites you to view and celebrate our students' artwork. Visit us at 176 Richards Street or online at www.redhookartproject.org to learn more about RHAP or to make a charitable donation. 6-9 pm.
THURSDAY JULY 7
Friends of the Red Hook library will discuss ways to help our local library provide more services for the Red Hook community. This is usually done with money, and among other items on the agenda, the next fundraising event will be discussed. New members welcome! Red Hook Library, 7 Wolcott Street, 6:30 - 8 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 9
Brooklyn Based and Brooklyn Brewery are teaming up again for The Total Red Hook Immersion. Tickets include four beers, lunch at Brooklyn Crab, and a host of local deals for tours and discounts. 1-7 pm, $1525. Tickets available at www.eventbrite.com.
SUNDAY, JULY 10
The Brooklyn Community Forum on Anti-Gentrification and Displacement, July 10 from 12 to 5 pm, The forum will be held in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium and Beaux-Arts Court and is free with Museum admission,
MONDAY, JULY 11
Freebird Brooks presents Books Beneath the Bridge in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Author Heather Wolf talks about urban birding, and where to find the rich fauna in the park.
TUESDAY, JULY 12
Red Hook Flicks presents the Raiders of the Lost Ark. 8:30 pm at Valentino Park & Pier. FREE
RELIGIOUS SERVICES
FRIDAY, JULY 15
Christian
BROOKLYN COLLECTIVE’S SUMMER GALA! See the summer collections and enjoy live entertainment. 6-9 pm. 212 Columbia Street
River Of God Christian Center
110 Wolcott Street, 646-226-6135, Secretary, Sister Roslyn Chatman. Sunday - Family Worship 11:00 - 1:00 pm Scripture, read in English and Spanish Wednesday - At The Gate 12:00 noon, Prayer 7:00 - 7:30 pm, Bible Studies 7:00 - 8:00 pm, Thursday Prayer 7:30 - 8:30pm, Friday Youth ABLAZED Ministries 6:00 - 7:30pm, Senior Pastor, Donald Gray
Visitation Church
98 Richards Street , (718) 624-1572. Office open Mon-Thursday 9 am - 3 pm. Saturday Mass at 5:00 pm English; Sunday 10:00 am Spanish, 12:30 pm English. Community Prayer on Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 pm. Baptisms are held every other month. Please call to arrange for Baptisms, First Communion, Confirmation and Weddings.
New Brown Memorial Baptist Church
609 Clinton Street, 718 624 4780 Pastor A.R Jamal. Sunday School at 9:30 am. Sunday Worship at 11:00 am. Bible Study -Wednesday at 7:30pm. Communion every first Sunday
Stretching Far and Wide Global Ministry, Inc.
382 Hamilton Avenue, Studio B 1-800-948-9042 Archbishop Dr. Barbara Jackman, Overseer Rev. Dr. Dwayne Barnes, Pastor Services are held every Sunday @ 10:00 am Communion every First Sunday stretchingfar.webs.com stretchingfar@aol.com
St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish
467 Court Street, (718) 625-2270 Rectory Hours: Monday-Thursday 9:00 am - 11:30 am, 1:00 pm-4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Masses: Saturday 5:30 pm, Sunday 10:00 am, Monday - Thursday 9:30 am.
SATURDAY, JULY 16 Red Hook Walks. Enjoy live music, sidewalk cafes, a business scavenger hunt, games and more at this Van Brunt Street Festival. The party will stretch between Commerce and Beard Streets between 3-8 pm. Waterfront Alliance’s 9th annual City of Water Day. Join the Waterfront Alliance on Governors Island for a day packed with fun water-related activities. Boarding will begin in Battery Park at 8:30 am on Clipper City, a 19th century-style tall ship. After the 10 am ribbon-cutting on Governors Island, there will be free guided boat tours of the harbor; the Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race; the Waterfront Activity Fair with children's activities sponsored by Disney; and music, food, and more family activities. Register online.
TUESDAY, JULY 19
Red Hook Flicks presents Purple Rain. 8:30 pm at Valentino Park & Pier. FREE
TUESDAY, JULY 26
Red Hook Flicks presents the LEGO Movie. 8:30 pm at Valentino Park & Pier. FREE
Saint Paul and Saint Agnes Parish
Church Office 234 Congress Street (718) 624-3425 Hours: M - F 830am-12 St. Agnes Church Office 433 Sackett Street, 718-625-1717 Hours: M-F 1pm-430pm Email: stpaulstagnes@gmail.com St. Agnes: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 9 am (English), 11:30am (Spanish) St. Paul’s: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 8 am & 9:30am (English); 11am (Spanish) Monday & Tuesday 8:30am (St. Paul’s) Wednesday & Thursday 8:30am (St. Agnes) Saturday 8am (St. Paul’s)
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary - Saint Stephen Roman Catholic Church
125 Summit Street at Hicks Street, (718) 596-7750, info@sacredhearts-ststephen.com Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 9:00 am - 5:00 am, Friday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Saturday Vigil Mass at 5:30 pm, Sunday Masses at 8:00 am, 10:00 am, and 11:45 am (Italian/ English) Weekday Masses during winter months at 8:30 am and 12:00 noon Confessions: Saturday at 4:45 pm and by appointment. Baptisms every third Sunday at 1:00 pm.
The
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St. Paul’s Carroll Street
199 Carroll Street Parish Office: 718-625-4126 Sunday Mass at 10 am Weekday Morning Prayer - Mon.-Thurs. at 7:30 am Weekday masses as announced Holy Days as announced \ Church open for prayer Tues. 6-8pm & Sat. 2-4pm http://stpaulscarrollst.weebly.com/
Noah Phillips, Advertising Manager Nathan Weiser, Reporter Halley Bondy, Arts Laura Eng, Religion Mary Staub, Education
Jewish
Kane Street Synagogue
236 Kane Street, 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet.org/ Friday night services, 6:00 PM Shabbat services, 9:15 AM Sunday Services 9:00 AM
Congregation B’nai Avraham/Chabad of Brooklyn Heights
If your religious institution isn’t listed here, let us know by emailing info@redhookstar.com Thanks! Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue
Contributors: Mary Ann Pietanza, Lazarus Jackson, Diana McClure The Red Hook Star-Revue is published monthly. Established in 2010.
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July 2016
Until NYCHA gets around to your mold problem, here are some steps to take by Lazarus Jackson
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f you are a resident of NYCHA Red Hook Houses and have mold in your apartment, you are not alone. There is no magic phone number to call and make it disappear. The reality is that NYCHA must be alerted and residents have to wait until a work ticket is fulfilled. NYCHA has a long backlog of issues and repairs that need to be done across the entire city. It will take time for each situation to be addressed but in the meantime there are a few things you can do to control the mold.
Why should you take action now instead of waiting? The answer is simple. Mold may be harmful to your health. Some people have allergic reactions to mold. Some people do not but if you have had respiratory illnesses in the past mold may make those problems reappear. You may be wondering exactly why is there mold in the Red Hook Houses. Generally speaking, mold grows in damp, dark, and isolated spaces. With so many leaky plumbing pipes throughout Red Hook, it is no wonder mold is an issue. Hurricane San-
dy also may have helped the mold spread through the walls of many of the buildings. The most common place I have heard many people complain of mold in Red Hook is in their bathroom. If you have mold in your place of residence, I will share with you a few tips I learned while battling mold myself. An exhaust fan in the bathroom helps to ventilate the area. You can purchase a wall mounted fan that is easily installed for around $35. If you notice your shower curtain has mildew on it it can cleaned with bleach. When it is time to buy a new shower curtain always check to see that is mildew resistant. Along with shower curtains, make sure yo wash any rugs you have in your apartment on a regular basis. Pay special attention to the bathroom rugs because mildew and mold grow easily on them. Also, if you have not already invested in a dehumidifier, now would be the time to do so. Dehumidifiers help to take the moisture out of a room. In essence, you
Mold is an ongoing problem in Red Hook's public housing. (photo courtesy NY Daily News)
are depriving the mold of the dampness it needs to thrive. Dehumidifiers can be expensive but if you shop around online you can find a small one for around $50. If you will be using it strictly for the bathroom it will be more than big enough. If you cannot afford a larger dehumidifier for the rest of your apartment an air conditioner can also help remove moisture in the air throughout your apartment. If you do not have an air conditioner, keep the windows open so fresh air can help dry out the mold.
Clean the moldy areas with bleach or vinegar. Whatever you do, do not mix these two products. Mixing the two can be dangerous because of the vapors they give off when combined. While I understand these tips won’t get rid of the mold completely, they will help to contain it. It is what I do personally, and the mold has not spread out from my bathroom. Ultimately, like the rest of the NYCHA tenants, I simply have to wait until NYCHA can completely get rid of the problem, if possible.
New Tenant Union seeks to level the playing field (continued from page 1)
of rent-regulated buildings, starting knocking on doors throughout Red Hook promoting the union and the date of the next meeting. The June 22 meeting, held in the CGA office at 201 Columbia Street attracted an array of tenants with a variety of problems. CGA founder Buddy Scotto and representatives from the offices of Council members Brad Lander and Antonio Reynoso also attended. Scotto founded CGA in 1978 as a community development organization dedicated to affordable housing. They organization manages 150 low income apartments in Red Hook. The meeting's first order of business was to go around the table for introductions. This ended up becoming much of the meeting as participants told of the reasons that brought them to the table while others offered advice. Some felt things had gone too far. Some had moved to the neighborhood years ago when things were really bad, others had lived here their whole lives. Now, many were fearing displacement as market rents have soared. “I hope it’s not too late,” said one woman. “We don’t think it’s too late by any means,” answered Googins-Fuller, who facilitated the meeting. “We are here to share our experiences and work together to fix things.” Grievances ranged from rent overcharges, lack of services, and unhealthy living conditions. One woman from Dikeman Street told about her
Red Hook Star-Revue
eight unit building. All had lived there for quite some time. The landlord was absent, the rents low, and repairs were made by the occupants. Recently, the building went into foreclosure and was bought by investors. None of the tenants had leases, and all are facing eviction.
"He claimed that debris was left in the hallways, and worst of all, an ill-fitting front door allowed rats inside." One gentleman had lived in his Columbia Waterfront District apartment for 36 years. His complaint concerned renovations made to a recently vacant apartment next to his. He claimed that debris was left in the hallways, and worst of all, an ill-fitting front door allowed rats inside. Sabrina Willis, a tenant at the Red Hook Houses who works for Councilman Reynoso, addressed many of these issues. In Williamsburg, where she works, she called landlord tactics “atrocious.” “We see everything, including even forged leases.” Many tenants who enjoy good relationships with their landlords don’t bother with leases, leaving themselves vulnerable when situations change. Buildings are sold to corporation who are quick to evict anyone without a lease. Some incoming tenants are not told
that their apartments are subject to rent stabilization, and end up pay full market rents. She said that many tenants are not aware of rights they have under the law, and become intimidated when they become the recipient of landlord bullying tactics. Another complaint that someone had involved the distribution of heat. When she originally moved in, the building had one boiler that serviced all the units. Heating costs were shared by tenants in the monthly rent. The landlord decided to remove the boiler and install electric baseboard heating, with heating costs reflected in the Ben Fuller-Googins leads the Tenant Union session. individual electric bills. This (photo by George Fiala) woman ended up paying thousands of dollars for heat during the win- how residents are fighting back. One ter months, and took her landlord to tool used was the Crown Heights Tencourt, a long elongated process during ant Union. which she has to pay the electric bill For now, the South Brooklyn Tenant each month. Union will be meeting monthly, on Information was shared, including the the fourth Wednesday of each month. easy online availability of a free tenant The next meeting is scheduled for handbook. It is the NY State Tenant 6:30, July 27 at the Miccio Center, 110 Rights Guide, published by NYS Attor- W 9th Street. In the meantime, anyone interested in becoming part of the ney General Eric Schneiderman. union can contact Ben Fuller-Googins A six minute documentary about gen- or Manon Vergiere at the Carroll Gartrification in Crown Heights titled dens Association, 201 Columbia Street, “Take 5,” was shown. It told the story (718) 243-9301. More information is of that community's gentrification and available on the CGA website.
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July 2016, Page 3
RELIGIOUS NEWS BY LAURA ENG laura.eng59@aol.com.
Glorious Week for SHSS Parish
Father Jarek being congratulated by SHSS parishioner Joseph Patti (photo by Erika Olivera)
F
or the first time in its 150 year history, Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary/St. Stephen Church (SHSS) celebrated an ordination. Seminarian Kamil Bober was ordained to the diaconate in an evening Mass at SHSS on Thursday, June 2. Reverend Canon Witold Mroziewski, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn presided over the mass. Deacon Kamil, 26, is on course to be ordained to the priesthood by this time next year. His parents, Ilona and Jerzy, and younger sister, Daria, traveled from their hometown of Elblig in northern Poland to be with him for the joyful occasion. Father Anthony Sansone, former pastor of SHSS, and rev. Monsignor Thomas C. Machalski, rector and president of SH Cyril and Methodius Seminary of Orchard Lake in Michigan, concelebrated the diaconate and ordination.
at SHSS parish and was assigned to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Ridgewood, Queens last summer. Following the ordination and a trip to Poland, he will be back at SHSS for the upcoming summer - much to the delight of the parish. The fact that Deacon Kamil’s ordination took place the day before the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was not lost on Bishop Mroziewski, who announced that “this is the day that the Lord has made,” and “the answer to our prayers, the goal to be a priest” is found right here in Brooklyn on the eve of the parish’s feast day. Deacon Kamil’s first thoughts about the priesthood came as early as 15-16 years of age. While he says there was no one significant factor in his decision, he did say, “One day I just realized that when I’m a priest, then I’ll be the happiest person in the world.”
If that wasn’t enough of a blessing, Deacon Kamil has been studying two days later on Saturday, June 4, felwith Machalski for the last few years. low SS. Cyril and Methodius seminarHe has spent summers and holidays ian Jaroslaw (Jarek) Szeraszewicz was
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July 2016
Religion
(continued from previous page)
ordained to the priesthood with nine other ordinands at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. Father Jarek, also a native of Poland, had spent the last year - his diaconate year - assigned to SHSS Parish. The ordination was presided over by the Bishop of Brooklyn, Nicholas DiMarzio, and concelebrated by scores of fellow priests and bishops. Father Jarek was ordained just four days before his 36th birthday and his proud parents, Teresa and Eugeniusz, and his sister, Emilia were present. The highlights of the ordination ceremony included the laying of hands by the bishop and all other members of the clergy on the ordinands, as well as the dressing in liturgical vestments. Father Jarek was vested by Monsignor Guy Massie, pastor of SHSS, along with Father Wieslaw Strzadala, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Hackensack, NJ. Another high point came when newly ordained Deacon Kamil carried the Holy Book in the processional. He later had the great honor of proclaiming the Gospel. Bishop DiMarzio commented during the Mass that, looking around at the great number of priests present, one would not think that there is a shortage of priests. It should be noted that only three of the men being ordained were born in the U.S., so it would appear, at least locally, that the Catholic Church is relying on an influx of foreign-born priests. After growing up in Goldap and Suwalki, Poland, Father Jarek served in the Polish Army and worked at various jobs. It was an eye-to-eye encounter with his hero, Pope John Paul II while he was traveling in the Pope Mobile in Krakow in August, 2002 that prompted the young Jarek to think seriously about the priesthood. On Sunday, June 3, Father Jarek celebrated his first Mass at SHSS, which was filled with parishioners, friends and relatives who had traveled from Poland, Canada, and various parts of the U.S. The moving ceremony, punctuated by readings and hymns in both English and Polish, was a memorable experience. Father Jarek left no stone unturned when, before the conclusion, he humbly and sometimes emotionally thanked everyone who had been instrumental on his path to the priesthood. He distributed bouquets to many. He explained that his life was no longer his own, but that now his life belonged to God. After Mass, a reception was held in Cabrini Hall with a variety of delectable Polish cakes provided by the Szeraszewicz family. Father Jarek bestowed his first individual blessings on a long line of parishioners and gave out prayer cards commemorating the occasion. After a trip to Poland where he was scheduled to celebrate his first Mass for family and friends, his first assignment as a priest will be at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, where Father Sansone, the current pastor, expressed his elation at having
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Father Jarek join his parish. The jubilation of the ordinations was especially palpable during the first week of June. Lifelong parishioner Diane Vergona summed it up by saying, “I felt very proud that these two young men were here with us at our parish for their ordinations. Not only did we embrace them, but they, in return, embraced us with their love. When they were ordained, I felt as if it were one of my family. I was bursting with pride.” Fellow parishioner Camille Trani said, “The Holy Spirit was alive and dominant during the ordinations and first Mass of Kamil and Jarek at Sacred Hearts. As a parish and individually, we are so proud of these two fine, young men who cared enough about the people of our parish to want to share this great honor with us. Jarek touched my heart when he said to his mother that she made their home his first seminary.” At the end of Deacon Kamil’s ordination, all the Polish speaking attendees heartily sang “Sto lat,” a traditional Polish song which translates to “One Hundred Years.” Father Jarek and Deacon Kamil are wished “Sto lat” indeed by the entire SHSS parish: long life, good health, and a blessed ministry to both.
HAPPENINGS/UPCOMING EVENTS Congregation Mount Sinai 250 Cadman Plaza West Under the Bridge - Monthly community Shabbat celebration at BridgeView Lawn, Pier 1, Brookyn Bridge Park on Friday, July 22 at 6:30 pm. Challah and grape juice will be provided. All are welcome. River of God Christian Center 110 Wolcott Street A Big Hat Affair on Saturday, August 13. Save the date. Women’s Retreat on November 4 - 6 and will include a trip to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA. Save the date! Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church Summit & Hicks Street 150th Anniversary Gala on November 13, 2016. Cocktails at 4 pm, dinner at 5 pm. El Caribe Country Club. Cost is $135 per person. For information email 150@SacredHearts-StStephen. com. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Learn more about the Catholic faith, become baptized, complete the sacraments. For information, call 718-596-7750 or email Narkin@SacredHearts-StStephen.com. St. Agnes/ St. Paul’s Parish Hoyt & Sackett Streets Young @ Heart Senior Group fundraising trip to Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City on Tuesday, July 19; bus will pick up in front of St. Agnes at 9:00 am and in front of St. Paul at 9:25 am. Cost is $35, with $25 cash back. Reserve your seat by calling 718-6243425 from 9 :00 am - 1:00 pm or 718625-1717 from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Painting With a Purpose. Channel your inner Van Gogh and enjoy an evening of painting, refreshments and socializing. A professional artist will lead you in a step-by-step painting class and you will leave with a master-
piece. No experience necessary! 50/50 raffle and ticket proceeds will support both St. Paul & St. Agnes Churches. On August 20 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm . Tickets are $45 and must be purchased online paintnite.com/events/1087658.html.
St. Mary Star of the Sea Church 467 Court Street Religious Education Registration has begun for 2016-2017. Forms are available in church at the rectory and may be downloaded from www.stmarystarbrooklyn.com. Classes begin on Sunday, September 18.
St. Paul’s Catholic Church 234 Congress Street Young Adult Group. Are you a young adult between 21-39 and feel misunderstood and alone? Join their young adult group. For more information please call the rectory 718-625-1717 or email stpaulandstagnes@gmail. com Visitation BVM Church 98 Richards Street Healing Mass on Wednesday, July 13 at 7:00 pm in Spanish and on Friday, July 29 at 7:00 pm in English.
Brooklyn-based writer/director Mia Rovegno presents performance at the Waterfront Museum & Showboat Barge weekends July 8-17 For two weekends July 8-10 and July 15-17, the floating theatre on Red Hook’s historic barge will present an episodic play about the search for that mythological place called home. Written and Directed by Brooklynbased Mia Rovegno, Nothin’s Gonna Change My World is a play told via a series of stories inspired by NPR reports, anonymous letters, living blogs, and the Occupy Movement. Mia’s recent production of The Way They Live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was designated one of The New Yorker’s Favorite Cultural Moments of 2015.The performance fea-
tures original music by Alaina Ferris & Matt Schlatter. Tickets are and can be purchased for $25 at http://ngcmw. brownpapertickets.com/. The show plays Friday through Sunday, July 8-17 at 7:30pm aboard the Waterfront Museum’s in Brooklyn, New York. For more information about this show and other performances coming to the Showboat Barge visit www.waterfrontmuseum.org. School, camp and tourist group visits any day by appointment. The Museum welcomes families and individuals for free year-round boat tours Thursdays 4–8pm and Saturdays 1-5pm.
Brooklyn Museum Public Programs for Adults, Teens, and Kids in July 2016 The Brooklyn Museum will present a variety of programs for adults, teens, and kids in July. Public programs include talks, performances, and hands-on workshops for children and adults that amplify the Museum's exhibitions and permanent collection, serve its diverse public, and support learning through the visual arts. Highlights include live DJ sets by Natasha Diggs and Mursi Layne; performances, talks, film screenings, and workshops with AFRICA SALON; and a screening of the film T-Rex, about Olympic boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields.
The full schedule follows:
Thursday, July 7, 6-8 pm Boom Box Residencies: Natasha Diggs with #SoulInTheHorn, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion and Lobby, 1st Floor Free as part of Thursday Nights hosted by Squarespace. Natasha Diggs and #SoulInTheHorn mix live horn with disco, soul, Latin, hip-hop, and funk on Tom Sachs's boom boxes.
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Saturday, July 9, 11 - 6 pm AFRICA SALON: Disguise Throughout the Museum AFRICA SALON, Yale University's contemporary African arts festival joins the Brooklyn Museum to offer an afternoon of performances, talks, film screenings, and workshops, inspired by the exhibition Disguise: Masks and Global African Art. A dance party, hosted by NON Records, will end the full day program. Free with Museum admission. Thursday, July 21, 6-8 pm Boom Box Residencies: Mursi Layne Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion and Lobby, 1st Floor Free as part of Thursday Nights hosted by Squarespace. Thursday, July 21, 7 pm Film: T-Rex Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor Free as part of Thursday Nights hosted by Squarespace.
July 2016, Page 5
Shop Red Hook
featured local businesses
RED HOOK HAS EVERYTHING! Red Hook has a glorious history as a maritime community. These days, we are still surrounded by water, but we are so much more! Inside our warehouses new industries have risen. Craft beer, wine and whiskey are all made here. Glucose-free pop tarts, delicious key lime pies, raspberry lemonade cake, Steak Pizziola heroes with fresh mozzarella, pizza with fresh mushrooms are all made and sold here.
RED HOOK GARDEN CENTER PLANTS, GARDENING SUPPLIES, & LANDSCAPING
410 Van Brunt Street • (347) 721-3390 www.redhookgardencenter.com Monday - Sunday: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
You can buy leather belts and prime rib steak to cook at home. Or you can get some of the best BBQ in the country. Or a whole lobster, or just a roll. You can reupholster your couch or engrave your store name onto glass. Custom kitchens are put together here. Brass beds, tiled floors, and oak shelves can be augmented with original artwork and sculpture. Check this page for some great examples of local purveyors, and pay them a visit - often!
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July 2016
Coney Island mermaids on display (continued from page 1)
selves that they normally wouldn’t.” Ratray shot all of his images in black and white for a reason. First, it was just convenience: he could develop the images in his own dark room. But after a few years, he realized that black and white was the best way to capture the people behind the mermaid personas. The brash color palette of the Coney Island landscape would easily blind a person’s ability to perceive the subtler nuances of the people that populate that landscape. “The noisy, chaotic environment of Coney Island can be a distraction; it’s meant to be a distraction, deliberately, meant to be eye candy,” said Ratray. “I’m trying to photograph the people inside the costumes. By shooting black and white, it takes the person out of the environment. If I were shooting color, if there’s a neon Budweiser sign even across the street, down the block - it will come shouting out at you.” Similarly, Ratray’s use of film (versus digital) is all in service of bringing out the individual. For him, photography is as much about the process as the product, as much about interaction as image. “Making portraits on film is a completely different experience both for photographer and subject,” said Ratray. “In terms of interacting with the person [whom your photographing],
it’s a very different thing when you’re looking in their eyes and you get them comfortable. And then immediately after you take the picture, you look into your camera. You break the interaction. People [the subjects] immediately want to see the result, too. But the interaction is almost as important as the picture itself. If I’m shooting film, there’s a process, an effort, a bit of mystery because you can’t see the picture right away. Showing someone that I’m making the effort, they treat me differently than someone who’s across the street with a camera and long lens.” Over the past twenty years, Coney Island has of course changed dramatically with chains such as Applebee’s and It’s Sugar setting up shop. These changes are symbolic of the broader changes that characterize all of New York City, says Ratray, and have also colored the parade itself. “Because [the parade] is built off the people that show up, it tends to be a microcosmic reflection of the city as a whole,” he said. Ratray grew up in Manhattan and has lived in Carroll Gardens for the past two decades. “New York City has become a different city in the past twenty years. It’s harder to be a small business, harder to be an artist.” Ratray sees this reflected in the parade. It has gone from being a small, com-
munity event when it first launched in 1983, to being the nation’s largest “art” parade with more than 3000 creative participants and more than half a million spectators. This broader appeal has changed its flavor, says Ratray. “I don’t want to criticize any of it because people are having a good time and doing their thing - and that’s all good,” said Ratray. “But as with anything else, when things grow, with more people showing up, there’ll be less of an element of individual creativity. Not everyone is a hard-core do-ityourself costumer. There are mermaid costumes being sold in Halloween stores. That’s fine. It means, though, Mermaids 1998: Two girls on float holding that many people are buying their cos- umbrella. All photos courtesy Luke Ratray. tume and looking the same. The parade changing dramatically. I want to enbecomes a little watered down.” But that’s the parade, not necessarily courage people to support small busithe people who make up the parade. ness and local artists.” The search of these people behind the personas has kept Ratray going back year after year. He also hopes that what he is doing - his images of individuals, his spotlight on people, his emphasis on creative enterprise - will bring the importance of local artists and small business to the fore.
So will he ever stop? “I’ll keep going as long as it remains interesting - interesting to me, that is,” he said, emphasizing that all of this, the images on view and the words spoken were just that: his view - nothing more nothing less.
“Coney Island Mermaids, 1996-2016” “Coney Island is a place of dwindling at Urban Folk Art Gallery, 101 Smith small business - I’m a local artist and Street, Boerum Hill, www.urbanfolkart. small business myself, like many oth- com Exhibit open daily through July 24, ers,” said Ratray. “New York City is noon-8:30 pm. Free.
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Red Hook Star-Revue
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July 2016, Page 7
Local schools celebrate achievement by Mary Staub
W
ith summer in full swing, local schools and school kids were looking back on the 2015-16 academic year with pride last month. The school year ended with a celebratory bang for some local school kids at BASIS Independent when they were recognized for their exceptional performance on this year’s National Latin and National Spanish Exams. The exams are taken by middle and high schoolers throughout the English-speaking world and test students’ knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and culture. Four BASIS middle schoolers received perfect scores on their Intro Latin exam, a feat achieved by just 747 students total worldwide (of 22,000 Intro test takers). This puts BASIS, where all 5th and 6th graders study Latin, ahead of all other Brooklyn schools in perfect scores. One perfect scorer, Benjamin, indicated he loved studying Latin because it helped him connect past to present and deepen his understanding of other subjects. Overall, by studying Latin, students gain a deeper awareness of the role of language in the other fields like sciences and history. “It’s really logical… so it’s easy to enjoy the class,” Benjamin said. Jared, another perfect scorer in 6th grade, indicated that although studying for the exam hadn’t been difficult (because he had learned most of the tested material throughout the school year), it had been time consuming. “Receiving a perfect score… felt great,” he commented. “It was a really good moment for me because I realized that all of the work and studying I did paid off. I was also surprised because I did not think that I would get a perfect score.” His advice for other kids studying a foreign language? Believe in yourself! “Some advice I would give to other kids studying a foreign language is that you probably can figure out more than you think you can by using your knowledge of other languages that you know. Also, you should believe in your abilities to understand and learn the foreign language you are learning and trust yourself.”
SIS’s second graders ventured into the community during the school’s project week in June to get to know and learn from local chefs and restaurateurs in an NYC Restaurant Week-inspired class project under Erica Brinzac, BASIS’s learning expert teacher. They began by talking to the Caribbean fusion chef Cindy Thomas, a Bed-Stuy native, at the start of the week and learning about the importance of hard work and following one’s dream. The kids then learned about urban, local farming at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint. “This was an important trip for us to go on during Project Week, for it taught us about the importance of valuing local produce and understanding from where our food comes,” Ms. Brinzac noted. Wednesday allowed students to test the local waters at Brooklyn Crab, where they were treated to an elaborate dining experience replete with introductions to crabs, oysters and lobsters. They then developed their own menu, shopped (locally) for ingredients at Fairway and put together a meal of scallion pancakes, vegetable and pork dumplings, lemonade, and fruit salad.
New principal for Summit
Just a few blocks away, at Summit Academy Charter School, the college preparatory school that opened in 2009, now serves grades 6 through 12. The 2015 – 2016 academic year welcomed many administrative changes, notably their new principal, Cheryl L. Swift. “Cheryl’s deep passion to empower parents, students, and educators to reach their fullest potential through rigorous curriculum, professional development opportunities and data to drive improvement has propelled the
BASIS Independent Brooklyn Latin Instructor Mr. Kaiserski and his scholars awarded perfect papers on the National Latin Exam 2016 - Jared Moser, Camila Contreras, Benjamin Hendricks, and Max Vaysburd. (photo courtesy BASIS International)
Summit team to make unprecedented gains,” the school noted. These gains were visible in the overall outcomes of Summit Academy’s middle schoolers and high schoolers alike on their state assessments this year. These exams in math and ELA assess the learning standards that the State Board of Regents put into place in 2010, which are meant to reflect to what extent students are progressing towards college and career readiness. This year, for grades 6 through 8, mathematics gains on these statewide assessments were on average 22%
higher than last year. Eighth graders across the state made the biggest gain, with a 38% increase. Similarly, Summit’s 8th graders this year greatly outperformed themselves (as compared to their performance whilst in 7th grade last year) on their ELA assessment. More specifically, the group of students who on last year’s ELA assessments were only 4% proficient, this year were 69% proficient. Summit's high schoolers finished the year to great cheer. This was Summit's first high school graduating class, with all students graduating.
Two Carnivals in one day by George Fiala
BASIS’s other perfect scorers were Camila C. and Max V. In a neighboring classroom, 9th grader Sam received a Gold Medal for his performance on the National Spanish Exam, placing him in the 99th percentile of all test takers. What he enjoys most about Spanish is simply using it. He likes the “broad approach” his teacher, Liliane Arzate, takes when teaching Spanish, meaning a focus on pragmatics (language use) first. The National Spanish Exam is the most widely used test of Spanish nationwide, with almost 158,000 students taking the online version of the exam this past spring.
Both PS 15 and Good Shepherd Services celebrated June 18th with events for children featuring carnival themes. Good Shepherd brough giant plastic blow-up jumping apparatus onto the gym floor at the Miccio Center. They also offered a free barbecue in the backyard. PS 15's event featured a jumping opportunity as well, as well as Star-Wars characters and tables from places such as the NYC Office of Emergency Management.
Moving beyond school walls, BA-
Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue
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July 2016
THE POOL IS NOW OPEN! by Nathan Weiser
T
he Red Hook Recreation Center at 155 Bay Street and was built back in 1939. They offer many activities for people of all ages during the year including a basketball court, a weight room, a technology center and many other rooms for the neighborhood to use and enjoy. For adults ages 25-61, the Rec Center costs $150 for a one-year membership and $75 for a six-month membership. The cost for an annual membership for people with disabilities, seniors 62 and over, veterans and young adults 18-24 is $25. All youth from 1-17 can use the Rec Center for free with ID. Activities were not able to happen like normal at the Rec Center from June 10 until June 27 because of renovations. The basketball court is closed because it will be used as the women’s locker room when the pool opens. Other renovations include replacing the front doors of the facility, and the weight room facility will get new padding on the floors as well as new equipment. Classes at the Recreation Center will start again after the pool closes the day after Labor Day. Anyone who has a membership with the Rec Center is welcome to attend any class. The pool at Sol Goldman Recreation Center is a massive one to cool off and swim in during the hot days of summer. This WPA pool was opened in 1936 during the middle of the Great Depression. The pool is open from 11 am-7 pm, with a break for pool cleaning from 3-4 pm. Lockers are available during pool hours to secure valuables; swimmers are urged to bring combination locks. Food, glass bottles, electronic devices, and newspapers - even the Star-Revue! - are prohibited. Guests are encouraged to leave valuables, such as jewelry and credit cards, at home. The Red Hook Pool also offers a Learn to Swim program for all ages. This is a free instructional program that teach-
es tots (ages 1.5-5), children (ages 6-17) and adults (18+) basic swimming skills. Recreation Center memberships are not required to participate in the summer Learn to Swim program. Another program for people who already know how to swim is the lap swim program for adults. Lap swim occurs during “early bird” and “night owl” hours from 7-8:30 am and from 7-8:30 p.m. (July) and until dusk (August-September) Monday through Friday. The lap swim at the Red Hook Pool begins on July 5 and ends on September 2. New York City Parks Department offers an incentive for lap swimmers swim 25 miles or more between July 5 and September 2. They will receive a free t-shirt. Prizes will also be awarded to the top three male and female distance swimmers. Additionally, according to the NYC Parks website, an awards party will happen at the end of August to celebrate the distance champions and the accomplishments of the lap swimmers. People are encouraged to register for lap swim online to prevent a delay at the pool. However, a paper registration can be completed at the pool during lap swim hours. Registration must be completed before one starts the lap swim program, according to the NYC Parks website. Participants who have signed up online are required to present their registration confirmation form to the aquatic specialist during their first visit. They can either print the confirmation email or show the email on their phone. Once registration is complete, a season admission card will be issued on the first day of participation. Admission cards must be left at the pool entrance when arriving. There is no charge for lap swim, and if the card is stolen NYC Parks will issue a replacement.
LAP SWIM PROTOCOL:
Sign in and choose a slow, intermediate, or fast lane according to your ability. To keep track of the distance swam, a lap count watch will be issued. If a lap count watch is not available, a staff member will be able to count laps. When leaving the pool, you should inform the on-site aquatic specialist of the number of lengths logged for the day as well as your Administration Number. A length is the distance from one end of the pool to the other. The results will be recorded daily by the aquatic specialist on a 5” x 8” card. To check daily or weekly progress, ask the aquatic specialist for your card.
LEARN TO SWIM SCHEDULE:
SESSION 1: JULY 6-JULY 20 Registration opens at 4 am on Tuesday, June 14 and ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday, June 26. SESSION 2: JULY 22-AUGUST 5 Registration opens at 4 am on Tuesday, June 14 and ends at noon on Monday July 11. Session 3: August 9-August 19 Registration opens at 4 am on Tuesday, June 14 and ends at noon on Monday August 1. Advance Session: August 22-August 26 Registration opens at 4 am on Tuesday, June 14 and ends at noon on Monday August 15.
Red Hook Star-Revue
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July 2016, Page 9
LETTERS:
MIKE'S SAY:
Keeping Their Word
I
BY MICHAEL RACIOPPO
look at most things through the lens of what role government could - or should - play in any given situation. I plead guilty to confounding and even irritating those acquaintances that don’t share in my interest. The business aspect of sports is no exception; it’s been on my mind even while watching the NBA and NHL finals. I was specifically mulling over what additional role government should play in enforcing deals known as Community Benefits Agreements (CBA). Such agreements are usually entered into when a franchise and its development team seek to build a new stadium or arena. In New York past issues and controversies have swirled around the Barclay’s Center, to that mall with a baseball field that is the new Yankee Stadium and so forth. However, CBAs are not specific to sports, and in rough terms, contains covenants that a developer enters into with a “community” (usually through a nonprofit) in exchange for that community’s support or acceptance of a project. Projects generally are ones requiring a zoning change that triggers a Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP). This process includes reviews by the Department of City Planning, the local community board, the Borough President’s office, and the City Council before final sign off by the mayor. In fine-tuning the proposal, communities may request and receive commitments for a park, a school, local hiring practices and various other things that are deemed beneficial to a community. Saying and agreeing to such things is nice, but the true measure of the CBA- as is the case with many community related issues and concerns, is a matter of enforcement and disclosure. There have been many instances in which CBA details are not known to the public, and thus hard to enforce. Once a project is approved, there is far less incentive by the developer to honor the agreement, and government tracking may get lost in the press of new business. At the city level, Public Advocate Tish James is leading the charge on INTRO 1132. This bill would create and maintain a publicly accessible online database tracking all written commitments made by the mayor or any agencies to the council, community board, and borough president as part of any city ULURP. The bill would also require annual updates as to the status of said commitments. As the vice chair of my community board, and as an executive director of a community development organization, I would especially welcome such information. Along with this push at the city level, there should be further enforcement mechanisms implemented by the state. I remain hopeful that this could happen in the near future. The State Legislature -despite glaring recent failures to enact meaningful ethics reforms - is poised to elect more new faces. With such new blood, perhaps the utterance of the word “Albany” will cease evoking scorn amongst the citizenry. This ember may turn to flame over in the 44th Assembly District (Park Slope, Windsor Terrace Ditmas Park). After 32 years of earnest and incorruptible efforts Assemblymen James Brennan has decided to retire and pass his mantle on to Robert (Bobby) Carroll whom he has mentored for many years. The Assemblyman and Robert’s father Jack, have formed the bulwark of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) that remains one of the outposts, of reform politics, along with the Independent Neighborhood Democrats. They will undoubtedly continue to speak out forcefully under new leadership. Among the issues raised will be CBA enforcement. When I spoke to Bobby this past week, he was firm in his support of enforcing CBAs. He said “The State should enact legislation that ties compliance with the CBA to future funding, bonds, or variances. If a developer or corporation does not comply with the CBA, future government funding, bonds or variances should be withheld until the developer comes into compliance. We must hold developers and corporations accountable to the agreements they make with our communities. Without such a mechanism these agreements will continue to be broken at will.”
I believe that in the future the pace of positive change will be accelerated, because our democracy won’t be sustainable in the face of everdiminishing faith in government. We cannot wait another 30 years. Instead of reading of our legislature’s shortcomings, I look forward to opening up a newspaper and reading about this new trend of elected officials keeping their word and insuring that developers keep theirs.
Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue
Fairway Parking Lot
Let me start by saying that I love your store and that I am a loyal long time customer, shopping most frequently at the Red Hook location in Brooklyn, New York. There is an ongoing and dangerous problem with this location that I have reported to the Customer Service desk on many occasions. My complaint has nothing to with the product offerings, or service within the store. I want to report that the parking lot configuration makes a serious auto accident all but inevitable. The lot is configured such that all entry is from Van Brunt St, and all exiting is from the parallel street to the North located at the other side of the parking lot. On six occasions over the last 11 /2 years, including once again today, a customer exiting the wrong way onto Van Brunt Street has nearly collided head-on with me while I was entering the lot.
needs to be completely unambiguous as to that there is NO EXIT onto Van Brunt Street. Additionally the pavement needs to be painted with oneway arrows to indicate unmistakably the only direction allowed. I hope that this communication does not fall upon deaf ears. I have chosen to try a polite, fact based kind of community outreach to effect a change at the Red Hook store. Towards that end, I am sending copies of this letter to the local police precinct, and several local newspaper reporters - Edwin Gianfresco
Likes Mike
My name is Tom Miskel, a member of Community Board Six, co- chair of the Transportation committee. The recent article by Mike Racioppo on the F train express was excellent. Many people were unaware that 7th Ave station will be the only stop between Church and Jay. Mike did a good job in explaining this.Hope to hear more from him. - Tom Miskel
If this has happened to me with this frequency, it must have happened to every customer who shops at your store once a week. Do the math, it is frightening!
More on the F
My experience with the Customer Service Desk has been frustrating. I report these incidents to a smiling employee at Customer Services. Nothing changes. On one occasion I was introduced to a fellow who was the Head of Security. Nothing changed.
While I sympathize with riders farther south on the F line, handing straphangers in Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook a big service cut is a non-starter.
Please understand that I have always been polite in these encounters, trying to report an ongoing danger to myself and others. Action must be taken. The existing signage and indicators are weak and woefully inadequate. My suggestion would be that the signage indicating WRONG WAY needs to be upgraded. Ideally a structure spanning the entry like an interstate highway sign with flashing red lights indicating “NO ENTRY” needs to be erected. This signage
SHORTS:
I couldn't agree more with Mike Racioppo – the MTA needs to go back to the drawing board with its plan for the F Express.
What the MTA should be doing is finding the funds to modernize signaling on, and add cars to, the F line so that express service can be added without any reduction at local stops. The first step toward this long-term upgrade: passing the badly needed (and smartly conceived) Move NY Fair Plan in Albany. - Eric McClure To the Reader: The Star-Revue is always willing to print your opinion. Our purpose is to enhance communication between our neighbors. Send letters to Editor@Redhookstar.com or mail to RHSR, 481 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Microgrid Effort wins Statewide Challenge
and to helping the Red Hook community have a more affordable, resilient energy system.”
New Yorkers tweeted their submissions from all around the state, documenting the many ways to avert the use of greenhouse gas producing energy sources.
"I'm extremely grateful to Smarter Grid Solutions for the opportunity to be part of the Red Hook Microgrid project. NYSERDA and New York State's acknowledgment of the important work communities and individuals are doing to transform the State's energy system is very encouraging, and helps New Yorkers achieve the State's ambitious goals," Medley said. "I look forward to helping make this Microgrid a reality for Red Hook, and providing the community with reliable and renewable sources of electricity."
Paige Medley, New York University graduate student and consultant for Smarter Grid Solutions, won a gift basket and high praise for her work helping develop a community microgrid here Red Hook. The #irevNY Twitter Challenge, sponsored by the New York State Energy and Development Authority (NYSERDA), was meant to promote Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy.
“We are thrilled to see New Yorkers taking action to make Governor Cuomo’s REV strategy real, incorporating clean energy and energy efficiency into their daily lives,” said NYSERDA President and CEO John B. Rhodes. “Congratulations Ms. Medley for her dedication to advancing REV’s work
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Medley, who studies energy and environmental policy at NYU, will receive a Taste NY gift basket.
Thank you, Paige Medley and Smarter Grid Solutions!
St. Francis College raises $1.5 million for scholarships
Domenick Cama, Senior Executive VP and COO at Investors Bank, knows about the benefits of a St. Francis edu(continued on next page)
July 2016
SHORTS: (continued from previous page)
cation. Two of his children graduated from the Brooklyn-based college, and he says that “St. Francis alumni and students are some of the most hardworking, ambitious and caring individuals I have ever met.” Cama was one of two honorees at St. Francis’ 55th Annual Charter Award Dinner April 27th, their biggest fundraising event of the year. In addition to the $900,000 raised at the event and matched by the Fred and Judy Wilpon Family Foundation for the Robert J. McGuire Scholarship, Cama announced a new $100,000 endowed scholarship, which will be used to support four students annually: the Investors Bank Community Service Scholarship. Thirty students received the McGuire Scholarship last year, including Queens native Miasia Kinloch, who spoke at the dinner. “If it wasn’t for the kindness of my friends or all of you here tonight, it would not be possible for students like me to end up at an institution on time,” said Miasia. “Having a full scholarship has allowed me to put tireless energy into my school work.” Cama, who in addition to his successful tenure at Investors Bank has been honored by many other local organizations, has nothing but warmth and respect for St. Francis. “A St. Francis College education prepares its students to meet their future challenges,” Cama told the audience.
Walks to return
SBIDC is hosting the second annual Red Hook Walks, a street fair on Van Brunt from Commerce to Beard Street on Saturday July 16th from 2 - 8 pm. There will be giant games in the street
like chess and Jenga, art projects hosted by the Red Hook Art Project and an art contest by the Red Hook Star Revue and a blacksmithing workshop hosted by She Weld. Stages hosted by Jalopy Theatre and School of Music and Sunny's Bar will present live music and of course last years's dry lawn will be repeated. In addition, Van Brunt Street will be treated to its own skatepark for the day. Baked, home/made and La Newyorkina will be selling treats in the street, and many of Red Hook's famous eateries and watering holes will hosting sidewalk cafes and outdoor seating. For some competitive fun, Red Hook residents can sign up for a pizza eating contest at Mark’s Pizza between 2 and 4 pm – the contest starts at 5. Prizes include a yearlong Citi Bike membership, $20 gift certificate from Ample Hills, and a Super Soaker set for two!
Save the Date! 3rd Annual
Red Hook StarªRevue
Celebrating
Red Hook SEPTEMBER 17, 2016 A full day of celebrating all that makes our community unique and dynamic Save The Date - Alternate Version.indd 1
6/28/2016 5:00:21 PM
SBIDC is giving away free and fabulous Red Hook Walks t-shirts printed by Fulla Shirts to anyone who takes tweets, grams, or Facebook pictures in front of five Red Hook businesses using the hashtag #RedHookWalks.
Gentrification Forum
On Sunday, July 10, from 12 to 5 pm, The Brooklyn Museum will host the Brooklyn Community Forum on Anti-Gentrification and Displacement, presented in collaboration with Artists of Color Bloc, B.A.N., MTOPP, and select artists from the exhibition Agitprop! The program will explore the effects of gentrification and displacement on New Yorkers, specifically communities of color, as well as highlight successful strategies community members have used to protect and preserve their neighborhoods. The forum will be held in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium and Beaux-Arts Court and is free with Museum admission.
Red Hook Library Wants You! The Friends of Red Hook Library are looking for new members. Please join us Thursday, July 7 at 6:30 pm at the library, 7 Wolcott Street QUESTIONS? Email Brian Hasbrouck at bhasbrouck@bklynlibrary.org. or call him at 718.935.0203.
Red Hook Star-Revue
www.star-revue.com
July 2016, Page 11
Little Laffs gets Big Laughs by Halley Bondy
T
he third season of the kid’s variety show Little Laffs came to an epic, hilarious, adorable conclusion at Jalopy Theater on June 5. From ventriloquism to handkerchief tricks to sweet sing-alongs, Little Laffs, produced by Red Hook’s own Twisted Balloon Company, had everyone cracking up - adults included! On the first Sunday morning of each month - with the exception of July and August - each Little Laffs show comprises three different, highly seasoned acts. The June show starred the hilarious clown and puppeteer Stewzo, the honey-voiced singer Suzi Shelton, and the vaudevillian-esque clown/magician Birthday Max. With the exception of the odd tantrum or nap, most of the kids were rapt for the entire hour and a half. The opener Stewzo had them up in arms with giddy frustration when he mixed up the words to “Old McDonald,” and when his ventriloquist dummy Frank kept undermining his storytelling. Suzi Shelton sang original, adorable songs to the spellbound kids, and she even brought up her daughters for an interactive sing-along. Lastly, the all-personality Birthday Max refused to end the show until four kid volunteers mastered a plate-spinning trick. Hilarity, magic, suspense - the show
had everything! Jalopy Theatre is the perfect space for this intimate performance. Kids can get up close and interactive with the acts, or - if they’re shy - they can hang back with their parents in the pews. For just $5 a child, $10 an adult, or $25 a family, kids (recommended for ages 4-7) get to enjoy some of the highest quality acts from around the world while the adults sip Bloody
"Though Jalopy doesn’t typically host variety acts, Neufeld reasoned there might be a need for consistent kids' entertainment in a neighborhood so rife with families." Marys. Though they’re off for the summer, the fourth season of Little Laffs will pick up in September with a new batch of acts. “We look for performers who have a lot of experience, and we need to see: are you good, are you funny, and do we like you in this moment? Because that’s what the kids want,” said producer, Todd Neufeld.
Rottentoof Records’ LOCALLY SOURCED MUSIC SERIES 9:00 LUCK & SENSES 10:00 GINGER 11:00 M. WEST
Friday July 29th Rocky Sullivan’s Red Hook
$5 COVER Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue
Birthday Max gets a lot of laughs from an enchanted audience at the Jalopy Theater. (photo courtesy Elizabeth Covington/twisted balloon company
“Birthday Max performed with David Copperfield, but the kids don’t care about things like that.” Little Laffs doesn’t always include balloon acts, but Neufeld’s Twisted Balloon Company - located in a Red Hook artist studio on Creamer Street - is centered around Neufeld’s balloon performance. When he’s not producing (and sometimes performing in) the Little Laffs show, Neufeld entertains people with balloon art everywhere from cocktail parties to dentist offices to Bar Mitzvahs. He also teaches balloon art hopefuls through The Balloon Academy, which also operates in the Creamer Street space.
Balloon passion
Neufeld developed an interest in ballooning in high school, along with card tricks, magic, origami, and more. While at college in Boston, he started twisting balloons in front of audiences on the street. “I thought, ‘I’ll just do this for now and get it out of my system, and eventually I’ll get a real job,’” he said. “But I realized that if I kept doing big, creative things people had never seen before, I could make money. Then I started getting hired, winning contests. And now, I’m still doing it, and I get to do something creative.” Neufeld has since twisted everything from small animals to large-scale collaborative installations including a castle and a 5-story beanstalk.
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Two years ago, Neufeld, who lives in Red Hook, tested the Little Laffs show at Jalopy. Though Jalopy doesn’t typically host variety acts, Neufeld reasoned there might be a need for consistent kid’s entertainment in a neighborhood so rife with families. The pilot was a success, so the show became a Sunday morning mainstay. “There are tons of families with kids in this area, and many of them become regulars,” he said. “We’ve seen so many changes. Maybe a 4-yearold will sit on their mom’s lap, totally wigged out the first time. But then the second time, they’re on the floor next to their mom. Two months later they’re up front laughing and coming up to help. It’s been great to see some of these kids evolve and learn how to be a part of a live audience. This is a great neighborhood for that.” For information on Little Laffs, head to www.littlelaffsny.com, and look out for the next season in September! If you’re interested in booking Twisted Balloon company for your next event, head to www.twistedballoon. com For more information on the acts in this article, head to: www.stewzo.com www.suzishelton.com and www.birthdaymax.com
July 2016
Collaboration is the word at Dikeman Street's Supersmith by Halley Bondy
A
s gentrification steamrolls Red Hook, the new collaborative workspace Supersmith is a refreshing reminder of the neighborhood’s community-oriented, artisan roots. Founded by Red Hook residents Zach Blaue and Natalie Shook, Supersmith is a 7,000-square-foot studio on Dikeman Street equipped with full-on metalworking and woodworking machinery including table saws, welding equipment, and milling machines. The space is for artists of every ilk.
“I don’t think we’ll be on the scale of Pioneer Works,” Blaue said. “But I would like this to be a place where people can just walk in, see a lecture, or be surrounded by creative people.” Currently, 22 people rent it out, including ceramics artists, leatherworkers, graphic designers, and even a barber.
events. “We’re not trying to get people in and out of here,” Blaue said. “More than anything, we want it to be a low-key, pleasant place to work.” They chose the Dikeman Street building - formerly a plumbing company warehouse - due to its wide-open ground floor. Shook and Blaue started construction in November 2013 essentially on their own, and completed Supersmith last year. In May, they opened the doors to Shook & Co., a retail space and showroom within the building. There, you’ll find handcrafted jewelry, pottery, and furniture all made by Supersmith artists. Shook & Co. also carries craft, art, and woodworking supplies, making it the only hardware store in Red Hook. “We’ve been very fortunate,” said Shook, who runs the shop. “We’ve found good people who make beautiful things, and our name is out there. People are coming from all over.” The artists all pitch in for rent, equipment, and their own workspaces for 6-month contract stays, but Blaue said they’re pretty flexible when it comes
Natalie Shook and Zach Blaue escaped Williamsburg to bring Supersmith to our more manufacturing friendly neighborhood. (Photo by Rick Bernstein)
to walk-ins or project-based artists. “Access to this kind of equipment is unusual,” Blaue said. “We know that artists on their own can’t always afford it, so we wanted to make that possible for them.” The large space also lends itself to events. Shook and Blaue have thrown two parties at Supersmith so far, and they hope to host more events includ-
“People end up collaborating all the time,” Blaue said. “The metalworker will work with the leatherworker on a money clip, for example. Things are always overlapping here.” Shook, a painter and woodworker, and Blaue, who works in architectural design, conceived Supersmith after being ousted from their wood shop in Williamsburg, which was transformed into condos. Shook and Blaue wanted a new space where they could work independently, but where they could also pool resources with other artists to collaborate and host community
I
ing classes ranging from woodworking to photography to sustainability. “I don’t think we’ll be on the scale of Pioneer Works,” Blaue said. “But I would like this to be a place where people can just walk in, see a lecture, or be surrounded by creative people.” Red Hook has been the perfect home for Supersmith so far. Blaue and Shook are forming excellent partnerships with other businesses in the neighborhood, including Fort Defiance, which provided drinks and bartending services for Supersmith parties. On any given Saturday afternoon, Supersmith will be busy with patrons, as well as machinery buzzing and sawdust flying. “People want to work with us. This is a community that values what we’re doing: making things by hand, doing our own thing,” Blaue said. Shook added: “And supporting each other.”
The spinning dog keeps watch in front of Supersmith. (photo by Rick Bernstein)
Supersmith is located at 125 Dikeman Street. Shook + Co is open daily except Tuesdays from 10am- 7 pm. For more information, visit Supersmith.org
EDITORS NOTEBOOK: Editing at Baked, by Kimberly Gail Price
stopped by Baked to do a little editing. For a tedious task such as this, the soothing environment is ideal. Employee, Tann politely greeted me and answered all of my questions: “What is a fairy cake?” “Is your ice coffee cold?” “Can I get an ice coffee - no ice, extra milk?” From beneath the glass the goodies beckoned. The Brookster! A cookie baked into a brownie. I added one to my order, while proclaiming to be on a diet. Tann acknowledges my joke as she prepares my no-ice, iced coffee. I chose a quiet table in the back, hoping the insane jolts of sugar and caffeine do not inspire procrastination; they do. My usual trip to Baked is a dash in, here’s my cash, grab the goods, sugar dump, flee Red Hook Star-Revue
situation. Today, I let myself take in more than I normally have time for. A mirror on the back wall shaped a bit like the continental US, but with antlered creatures along the edges. A bowl of fruit beside the register that challenges anyone to make a healthy choice. A row of glass jars with 17 different topping - and those are just the ones I can see! A chandelier hanging above the “fairy cakes.” All this wandering around has surely annoyed - and probably creeped out - the employees and most of the patrons. As the golden shadows begin to wane, I settle in to finally begin the task I set out to do. Just in time for the bakery to close, and they have to ask me to leave… www.star-revue.com
July 2016, Page 13
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Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue
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July 2016
Media Critique is Art at Pioneer Works by Diana McClure
F
or anyone interested in changing the media landscape of American culture, Derrick Adams is an artist at the forefront of that dialogue. His latest exhibition, ON, is currently on view at Pioneer Works, Red Hook’s own leading contemporary art venue. The exhibition offers a layered critique of consumerism, capitalism, race, gender and personal autonomy through the lens of television, entertainment and pop culture. What appears at first glance to be a deluge of color, playful sculpting and a feel good visual landscape is in many ways a metaphor for the subliminal messaging embedded in the cultures of television and advertising. Adams’ literal construction of largescale televisions are made of cloth, mixed media collage or wood, with bold vibrant color panels and textiles as screens. This creates an undeniable framing of over the top content. This artistic strategy - and its subtle use of the absurd - creates a critical distance for viewers to take a closer look at ephemera interspersed throughout the work: retro TV Guides, African textiles, and images of legendary infomercial psychic, Cleo.
"What appears at first glance to be a deluge of color, playful sculpting and a feel good visual landscape is in many ways a metaphor for the subliminal messaging embedded in the cultures of television and advertising."
ship between Africa and America? Who is doing the storytelling? Television? Adjacent to this room, this same interplay of external/internal identity politics takes on a spiritual dimension. The far wall of this space is dimly lit with a colorful variety of yoga mats laying on the floor, and houses a finely crafted television made of wood. The detailing is reminiscent of Japanese shoji screens. The television screen hosts small three-dimensional illuminated candle like objects. The theatrical face of Cleo, the late-night television psychic mainstay, peers back through night lights as if lit from within with divine presence. In this installation, the fine line be-
tween mysticism and spiritual delusion is in full effect. The benefits, commercialization, and popularity of yoga are also brought up for critical inspection, once again exploring where mass media and authentic selfactualization intersect. A grander, less intimate experience occupies Pioneer Works’ largest gallery space. Nine extremely large televisions crafted from a variety of media hang as wall sculptures and a backdrop for opening night performances. The televisions include variations of the color bar sequence that are made distinct by the intentional placement of fabrics that speak in a lighthearted vernacular to the African American experience.
Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that Adams is focused on African American television iconography from the late 20th century. His repeated use of the SMPTE color bar image, (a standard television test pattern), could also be read as a reflection of the absence of openly LGBTQ bodies in that period’s media landscape.
In one room, nine lamp sculptures of heads on organically-crafted, wood bases sport a variety of African hair braiding designs that function as lampshades. Perhaps, a commentary on - or a metaphor for - enlightened minds reclaiming headspace.
Video of the performance exists as documentation and will be projected onto a gallery wall for the tenure of the exhibition. For those who attended opening night, the foyer of Pioneer Works was also activated with a one-time only Derrick Adams happening: a party. DJ Swizz Beatz ignited the space with throwback tunes apropos to the exhibitions themes.
Adams a community builder
Fans who have followed Adams’ work over many years and incarnations - as a gallery director, DJ and artist - know of his love of community building. Creating inviting atmospheres of joy is central to his practice. They symbolize what appears to be an ongoing interest in a humanitarian ethos, the evolution of culture and the liberation of not only the black mind, but also the American mind.
The exhibition, ON, is a culmination of an ongoing series of work by Adams called Live and In Color that also explored ideas on televisuality. His presentation of the work at Pioneer Works is a unique opportunity to see his vision in a vast space open to experimentation. The exhibit is truly stimulating to the mind and eye. A deeper read of ON offers insight into the manufacturing of identity and perhaps how agency can be carved and sculpted when one simply takes a step back, questions, laughs and keeps it moving.
These sculptures are presented in conversation with two-dimensional collages hanging on the surrounding walls. The collages echo the SMTPE color bar motif and include TV Guide covers that feature top black sitcoms and stars from the 80s and 90s - Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Gary Coleman, Dihann Carroll, Sanford and Son, and OJ Simpson among others. These TV personalities on view - in relation to what is known of their current lives - offers a poignant visceral reaction to the dangers and possibilities of a life in popular culture.
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The opening night performance was orchestrated by Adams’ and featured a large group of performers hawking faux infomercial products in front of each of the nine televisions. Accompanied by a loud mix of sales chatter pumping through a Big Brother style sound system, the cacophony of noise felt like a soliloquy of chaos.
Based in New York, Adams’ background includes work as a multidisciplinary artist working in performance, video, sound and 2D and 3D realms. Adams is originally from Baltimore. He received his MFA from Columbia University, BFA from Pratt Institute, and is a Skowhegan and Marie Walsh Sharpe alum. His exhibition and performance work has been featured at MoMA, PS 1, Brooklyn Museum of Art, PERFORMA, Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
A consistent use of juxtaposition throughout the installation of the work is neatly sectioned off in separate galleries throughout Pioneer Works’ minimalist warehouse.
The placement of these two bodies of work - the lampshades and collages - in a shared space poses questions about the social construction of identity. What is black? Who is defining what black life is? What is the relation-
West African dashiki fabrics echo Adams’ choice of collage as a formal technique, while more comic choices like materials patterned with hot wings or marijuana leaves lend a sense of humor to the work.
Top photo - Derrick Adams on opening night; bottom photo - Miss Cleo installation. (photos by Anders Jones)
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ON is on view at Pioneer Works through July 17, 2016 from 12-6 pm Wednesdays through Sundays at 159 Pioneer Street and is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.pioneerworks.com.
July 2016, Page 15
Plaque celebrating immigration placed at SHSS by the Molesi Club by Mary Ann Pietanza
E
very time I go to Mass at St. Stephen’s Church, I usually find my eyes tearing up midway through the service. There are a number of reasons for this kind of emotional eruption.
The audience was reminded by politicians that Brooklyn is still a city of immigrants. Judge Michael Pesce pointed out that 65 of his own years were deeply rooted in St. Stephen’s one hundred and fifty years. He spoke fondly of initiating their club, roughly seventeen of them, on the steps of St. Stephen’s Church.
The interior’s cathedral height and warm, ivory brightness creates an all too familiar homecoming not just to God, but to its mostly Italian parishioners who have been the stewards and keepers of its long history and existence during my time. I am reminded that while I left, others have stayed; and I miss being a part of its weekly spirit. Memories of attending mass there with my family, my wedding, or my father’s service as an usher, and later, his funeral, compete for a place in my mind. Then, there is the band and choir, whose lead singer effectively manages to take an ordinary hymn and lift its soprano range to resounding crescendos which provokes an avalanche of chills to come rushing to
Judge Michael Pesce pointed out that 65 of his own years were deeply rooted in St. Stephen’s one hundred and fifty years. the surface. It wasn’t any different on the afternoon of June 12, when a special 5 o’clock Mass took place for the unveiling of a plaque that was donated by the Van Westerhout Molesi Cittadini Social and Culture Club, and dedicated to St. Stephen’s Church on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary. This was a particularly important vision and desire of the President of the club, Vito Parente - backed by full member support - who wished to honor the church’s milestone anniversary in a very special way.
Back then two masses were said in Italian each Sunday. He recalled seeing the garb of black folds that turned out to be the flowing dress belonging to the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows (the Addolorata) - a core reminder of home.
The current mayor of Mola di Bari traveled across the sea to be present at this special occasion. He spoke in Italian, which many in church understood. (photos by Fiala)
The diocese’s solution was to merge the congregation of Sacred Hearts with St. Stephen’s, bringing the two groups of immigrants -who had long adapted with living near each other -to also worship side-by-side. Eventually, the church became a pillar for the Italian immigrants as subsequent generations of IrishAmericans began to journey outside of Red Hook. The maritime industry in Red Hook was at one time heavily populated and owned in part by Irish families . The Red Hook Houses were originally built for the families of Irish and Norwegian immigrants who worked on the piers. The overturning of the immigration population from Irish to Italian, however, brought a new role for St. Stephen’s. They eventually adopted the patron saint of Mola di Bari, the Addolorata, and hosted many of Mola’s feasts and processions throughout the years, and still do. St. Stephen’s was key to the thriving and then, eventual surviving Molese
population. In a neighborhood that stretched from Atlantic Avenue to the “Point,” there were about eighteen Italian social clubs at one time. Of these, five were Molese Clubs. The Van Westerhout Club remains of the five.
The special Mass
The dedication program started at the end of Mass. The inclusive theme of immigration was passionately revealed through a host of speakers including club members, politicians and even the young Mayor of Mola, Sindaco Giangrazio di Rutigliano.
Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue
This, to me, is true immigration. Or maybe, as Pino Deserio ,past president of the Molese Club, explained to me, “I came to this country in 1970. In 1980, I became a naturalized citizen, but on 9/11 is when I became a real American in my heart.”
He traveled to New York for the occasion and was impressed by the depth of Italian influences here. The church was filled with local families and former parishioners who traveled from afar. Also in attendance, were families from partnering clubs and organizations who recognized the importance of immigration and the integral role any church plays in their assimilation to America. Local State Senator Daniel Squadron came prepared with a special certificate honoring the day. He is shown here with John Heyer, Monsignor Massie and the Mayor of Mola di Bari, Sindaco Giangrazio di Rutigliano.
He organized a dedication that recognized, but mostly gave thanks, to a church that served a community of immigrants in Red Hook and Carroll Gardens throughout its years. At the time of its inception, St. Stephen’s served a large Irish immigrant congregation. Sacred Hearts church, founded originally on President Street (with the help of Mother Cabrini) and eventually moved to Hicks and Warren Streets, largely served the huge influx of Italian immigrants that swarmed the Red Hook waterfront area along Columbia Street in the early 1900s. It was demolished for the construction of the BQE.
Wen the plaque was finally revealed, the mention of its purpose - to remind the next generation of a hard, albeit abundant and grateful past, with the incentive of an even greater, promising future - everyone stood silent to sing “America the Beautiful.” I looked around and saw many people that I knew nodding their heads with understanding. They knew about traveling to a great country to seek a better life, and while still loving and missing their old country, they would never miss an opportunity to pay homage to their new one.
Judge Michael Pesce, left, and honorary Molesi, Buddy Scotto (third from left), celebrate with friends in the church basement following the afternoon Mass.
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The crowd of about 400 moved downstairs to celebrate the occasion with food and music. Colorful lights were strung. The sandwiches and wine flowed freely. I had a chance to briefly chat with Onofrio, the original owner of House of Pizza and Calzones, who was fond of my father. I met more people with the name “Pietanza” and The Calebs, a seasoned professional band that has long performed for most of the attendees’ various events and weddings, were there to join in the celebration, but only upon singing “God Bless America”, did they begin.
July 2016
RED HOOK HISTORY.... FROM THE PAGES OF THE
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ordering on the Gowanus Canal, where the oil drippings from the barges make fantastic patterns in the murky water, squats Red Hook, of the purple past. Bad Boy of Brooklyn it has been called, and it has swaggered through the history of the borough as the hero of countless legends which have built for it a more exalted reputation than that gloried in by Manhattan’s Tenderloin. That corner of Brooklyn at which civic crusaders level their shafts with almost monotonous regularity will be directly tapped by the proposed $70,850,000 Hamilton Ave. – Battery Tunnel. Nowhere is the progress of negotiations, which may be climaxed in a few weeks with approval of PWA financing to supplement virtually assured a $40,000,000 RFC loan, watched with keener interest than in this so-called tough little rowdy-town. Transformation Due Here, believe the Point’s old residents, is the chance to recapture old glories and kindle a new life. The remaking of Hamilton Avenue territory, proposed to the be Brooklyn end of the tube, will transform the Erie Basin-Buttermilk Channel corner of the borough into a modern, up-to-date community, bustling and thriving as it did in the old days.
Words from a reader: Hello, my name is Mélissa. I am an international trade student from Paris, France and I am doing a 3 months long summer internship in the interior design firm Home Design Rx this year. Actually it’s my first trip to United States and I just love it! New York is so different than Paris in so many ways. The one thing that I love above all here it’s the liberty. I feel a liberty that I never felt before. All the people that I’ve met are nice and they are always looking for a solution when I have a problem. People just allow you to live your life as you want. I also had the chance to stay for a week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I fell totally in
Red Hook Star-Revue
Thursday, September 15, 1939
love with Florida! I also went to Washington DC for a day with my classmate, and it was not as we expected. It’s full of history and I loved the greenery. I hope that I’ll have a chance to go back there! For my first 2 months, I stayed in an Airbnb in Chelsea, Manhattan. I’m moving to Red Hook on the 5th of July. Last week I walked down Van Brunt Street and visited a few of the small local shops and stores. I ended up at Fairway, where I picked up a copy of the Red Hook Star-Revue. I also really liked the distillery Widow Jane. This place is so interesting and beautiful. It may also be because I really like chocolate! I was so impressed by the graffiti
and street art nearby. They represent the workers on a corn field and at a distillery, and also a couple in a bar. Street art is always really impressive to me. I stopped by to see the Crab Shack. What a perfect place for summertime! I could feel the sea air all around me. That’s another thing I like about Red Hook: the maritime soul. I’m still in NYC but it feels like I am far away like on a vacation! I went to Baked. How cute this little typical American bakery is! It is very different than bakeries in France. Ours always have all types of bread and baguettes plus some items like croissants and chocolate. Patisseries sell sweet pastries and cakes, but also bread. Here, I bought a delicious salt caramel cupcake and a Caramel Twix
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Bar. But I could not believe that they did not sell any baguettes! After my trip, I took the Water Taxi back to Manhattan. The view of Manhattan is amazing. I feel so small in front of all those buildings! And what a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. I like Red Hook very much. The neighborhood is so lovely! There are so many different types of shops and other things to see. I loved the graffiti and street art and the mix of cute little cafes, with some industrial buildings mixed in. I look forward to moving here for my last month. It’s entirely different from Manhattan. Chelsea is nice, but this quiet area is so much more pleasant. I’m really looking forward to my stay in Red Hook.
July 2016, Page 17
Gardening, Dance and Butterly Gardens at Teen Pass by Nathan Weiser
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in Red Hook, the two sisters from New Jersey, and two others. They would like to have more students from Red Hook because kids feel an attachment to the activities involving community engagement in their own neighborhood.
een PASS, an under the radar program at the Red Hook Recreation Center began last fall. The full year after school program for 6th- 8th graders runs from September through the middle of June. PASS stands for Parks, Arts, Science and Sports. “The program offers a variety of activities within that, but the main focus of the program is the science piece,” Chrissy Word, Director of Education, said. “Since the program is in Red Hook, which is actually a coastal area, many people, I’m sure, don’t think about that. But there will be a strong focus on marine ecology.” This past year, Teen PASS focused on learning about the shoreline area and the organisms that live near and in the water. Students also learned about the human impact on the waterways of NYC and the resiliency to plan for another event like Hurricane Sandy. This program has space for 30 middle school students for the school year but had ten in the first session. It is funded through New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development and is a City Parks Foundation initiative. Program Manager, Sam Englander is in charge of the design and supervising the staff. He has a background in visual art education, primarily painting. The program has three part-time instructors who all have a different areas of specialization: marine science, dance and media arts.
Englander typically shows up around 2 pm and prepares the room for the students. He picks them up at 3:30 and brings them back to the Rec Center. Phyllis Lawrence, Parent Coordinator, said that she only has positive things to say about Teen PASS. Her 14-year-old, Diane, will not be able to attend as a participant this upcoming year because she will be in 9th grade, but is eligible to volunteer. Lawrence’s 11-year-old daughter, Deanna attended last year and will again in September. “Diane kept telling me she wanted to go to the program. Lawrence said. “She walked over there with her friends and came back with the application. I thought that was a little bold, but it has been a delight ever since. Two of her friends were already doing it and those are her best friends.” Lawrence appreciates her daughters being picked up from school because she doesn’t have to worry about them walking from school to the Rec Center alone. “From 3:45-4:15, we have a snack time where the kids can come in and relax,” Englander said. “From 4:154:45, we have leadership development where we will have interactive or environmental education games. We try to get them to work together, but also give them an opportunity to allow one of the students to take the lead on something.”
Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue
Interactive games allow students to work together, but also give them room to find their own voices to direct the rest of the group. From 4:45-6:00 pm, they have the group activity of the day. On Monday, media arts activity specialists and an intern bring the students into the computer resource center. During this activity they learn to shoot video, edit video, and edit photographs. “On Tuesday’s, we have a dance class,” Englander said. “The students learn different styles of dance. We also have recitals for the kids when we have parent night. They will show all of the different dances that they have been working on.” According to Lawrence, this was one of the highlights of the program for her daughters. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the main activity is environmental education where students learn about coastal ecology. Next year, they are planning a fishing component on Fridays because the students get out of school early that day.
the conservancy and did a lot of weeding in this area,” Englander said. “We made a large banner, which is currently up on the fence behind the garden. We had them grow their own vegetables and herbs. When it got warm enough, we took [the plants] outside; when they got big enough, we put them in the butterfly garden.” “We are looking forward to collaborating on quite a few more projects in the future with the Red Hook Conservancy,” Englander said.
Lawrence is looking forward to the program expanding. “The environment that they set in the room and the people that they have that come in to enhance their education, whether it be dance, music or art, it just helps out so well,” she said. “They did their artwork, and then it was put in a gallery. That was awesome.” Word was active in the design of the program. They have a three-year contract for 30 students, and will potentially look to grow after. According to Word kids have to be enrolled in the program, but there is flexibility in terms of how often they attend. “We also have room for students who might just want to drop in a couple days a week,” Word said.
Since more than half of the students in the first session did not live in Red Hook, Teen PASS is looking to expand the schools to partner with.
If the student’s main interest is science aspect, they can come on just the science-specific days. Other students who prefer dance or visual art can choose to attend only on those days.
In the first year, Teen PASS had a student who lived in East New York, a student from Queens, four who lived
Students entering grades 6-8 can sign up for the fall session at cityparksforundation.org/teenpass
Summerstage brings great talent to Coffey Park
“On Thursday, our activity is visual art, where I teach the kids mostly how to paint,” Englander said. “We learn the fundamentals of painting. We learn about color and composition.” Englander plans on incorporating environmental education into the art projects in the upcoming year.
Homework help
Teen PASS ends with homework help from 6-6:30. During this quiet time kids can also work when they don’t have homework. The program encourages peer help. Englander and the other activity specialists are available for homework help. Teen PASS has about 50 books, and students can read anything that they want. Lawrence is grateful for the teamwork. “All the girls, they get along, so that made it even better,” she said. “Even though it is a different age range, everyone supported each other. If you need help in math, and one girl is a littler strong, then she will help out.” Working with the Red Hook Conservancy at the end of the year was another highlight for Englander and his students. They worked with both the conservancy and the Parks Department to create a butterfly garden in the back of Bush Clinton Park.
For the second year in a row, NYC Summer Stage brought Red Hook an amazing diversity of music and theater. Indy pop, hip-hop, dance and the spoken word reigned during the second week of June. The festival wasmoved to Coffey because of soil remediation at Red Hook Park. Liza Jessie Peterson, an actress, poet, and playwright, as well as a teacher at Riker's Island, brought some heavy raps to the neighborhood, as in the character she played above. - George Fiala
“We planted some native plants with
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July 2016
ARTIST INTERVIEW: The path to Red Hook interview by John Buchanan
Bettina Magi has been a lifelong painter. She painted the mural at her high school prom, then studied art at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She became an art educator. In 1984, she left Colorado behind and came to Ed Koch’s gritty New York with her son, Paul, then in 5th grade. She studied and worked at Parson’s, Bank Street, and Calhoun. In 1996, her friend Judy invited her to Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook to meet other artists. “And that’s how it all started,” she said.
Bettina Magi speaks
I had a show at the Kentler Gallery on Van Brunt. Red Hook became known as an artist’s community. We could canoe over to Canal Street, get fish and cook them in the backyard. Thursdays were sort of community meetings for artists in the neighborhood. All eight to twelve of us. One Thursday, John McGettrick, who led the meetings, said to me, there is a house for sale on Coffey Street. He must have liked me; he was trying to handpick artists to live on his block. When I came here with the realtor, I wanted a view of the water. While I waited on the steps for the realtor, McGettrick came out and said “Isn’t it beautiful here?” But I didn’t have
the eye for it. I came in the house and went to every floor; I couldn’t see anything. I got to the top floor and the window shade fell off. Then, I saw the water, and that was it. I figured it had two apartments and I could rent one. I paid $85,000. The price had more than doubled from the year before. So I’m alone. I have no money, no handyman. I’m sitting on the front stoop. I had just signed for the house. I had given up smoking. I went straight to the bodega, bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked one after another. I had the show at Florence’s and at Sovereign Bank. Paintings of my family from photos with Renaissance backgrounds. I had my childhood dresses with a light inside on the wall. My clothes were all handmade by my mother and a dressmaker. The dresses exhibit was called “My Blue Heaven” curated by Jim Dahl. In a 1996 NY Times article “Red Hook, Up from the Ruins," Ann Raver wrote about what draws artists to Red Hook. She wrote that “Bettina goes to the pier every day to watch the sunset.” I stop and look at the water and think of my father coming here from Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty is kind of a Madonna. The Statue is looking at Red Hook, not Manhattan.
When I first came to Red Hook in 1996, there was a family living across the street. Hazel and Mel were husband and wife. She was born here. She was here when Red Hook was flourishing as a shipping port. He was a sailor; he came in on a ship. Scott was living across the street, as were other artists including Paddy, Richard Mock, and Arno. Certainly the neighborhood was changing. We were who we were, bohemians, doing whatever we do. And Hazel would say, “I love all you new people. You’re all so happy. And bringing all the prices up. You bought that house for $85,000, and last year, it was only $30,000!” She was so warm and welcoming. I’m trying to keep that attitude with everything that is happening now. I want to be the way Hazel was.
Current Work
Bettina Magi
Now I’m with a gallery called Tanja Grunert Gallery on West 19th Street in Manhattan. Currently, I think of the heroic male figure. I used to watch westerns with my father. That is why I liked Colorado. I started to think about the cowboys. Not the real cowboys, but the movie and TV cowboys. The poses are from
churches with these niches where they have the statues. They are just singular figures. I really like that a lot. Often, they would be holding something in their hand. Now I am doing girls jumping rope because that was the age I was when I started watching these cowboy movies.
Star-Revue Classifieds Save the Date! 3rd Annual
Red Hook StarªRevue
Celebrating
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2016 A full day of celebrating all that makes our community unique and dynamic Save The Date - Alternate Version.indd 1
6/28/2016 5:00:21 PM
Jim & Debbie Buscarello
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July 2016, Page 19
A Red Hook Fourth of July! RED HOOK IN “HAMILTON”
Where
to see the
Fireworks The Macy’s 4th of July fireworks will be set off from barges along the East River starting around 9:30 pm, and the Jersey City display will take place in front of the Statue of Liberty starting around 9:20. Here are some triedand-true places to see our nation’s top-notch pyrotechnic displays around Red Hook.
Valentino Park & Pier
The park and pier, home to neighborhood institution Steve’s Key Lime Pie, boasts the clearest views in the area of the Statue of Liberty, Governor’s Island and Liberty State Park. Given the open miles of viewing and free admission, the park and pier are likely to fill up quickly, putting seating areas at a premium.
Pier 44 Waterfront Garden
Immediately behind Fairway is a good open stretch of greenspace with a great view of the Statue of Liberty.
The Brooklyn Greenway
Beginning on the west side of Van Brunt Street at the intersection with Imlay and Carroll Streets, the paved Greenway extends north to where Atlantic Ave meets Columbia Street (and beyond).
Brooklyn Bridge Park
The sprawling Brooklyn Bridge Park extends from Atlantic Avenue all the way north to the Manhattan Bridge, and is full of restaurants, bars, and open green space.
A
t this rate, it’s unlikely any of us will ever see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash hit hip-hop opera Hamilton. The musical reimagines founding father Alexander Hamilton as a idealistic and rap-battling young man who throws himself into the revolutionary cause in order to improve his station in life. But did you know that Red Hook actually appears in the show?
During the song “Right Hand Man,” George Washington invites Alexander Hamilton to join his staff. Their discussion takes place during Lin Manuel Miranda appearing as Alexander Hamilton at the Tony Awards the first major battle of the Revolutionary Continental troops and end the war only weeks War, known to historians alternately as the Battle after the Declaration of Independence had been of Long Island, the Battle of Brooklyn, and the signed. Battle of Brooklyn Heights. However, the Roebuck was met by fierce General Israel Putnam had arrived earlier that headwinds and rebuffed by cannonfire from summer to fortify New York Harbor against the Fort Defiance. Fort Defiance allowed George British. He built several Forts along the mouth Washington and his troops to avoid surrender of the East River, including one called Fort and retreat to New Jersey through Harlem, Defiance, which may have been located at largely thanks to cannons Hamilton had stolen modern day Beard Street between Conover and from the British in the Battery two years earlier. Richards Streets. Although Alexander Hamilton did fight in the This battle began on August 27, 1776 after Battle of Long Island and attracted George 32,000 British troops arrived in Long Island from Washington’s attention that September, the realHalifax with the aim of storming Manhattan. life hero of the musical did not become the George Washington organized his mere 19,000 General’s ‘right-hand man' until March 1, 1777 troops from the modern day intersection of the following year. Atlantic and Court Streets, where a plaque on Trader Joe’s commemorates the battles. As Hamilton commemorates, Continental forces were “out gunned, out-manned, out numbered [and] out-planned.” From his base of operations on Staten Island, British Admiral Howe first landed troops at Gravesend and marched his men North under his brother, General Howe, driving the Patriots north towards Brooklyn Heights. Meanwhile, he sent HMS Roebuck up the East River, to trap the
Remembering Sal on this 4th of July
John L. Heyer II
Salvatore “Buddy” Scotto Debra Scotto
Celebrate Their Life, Love & Legacy
106 1st Place, Brooklyn, NY 11231 718.875.2515 www.ScottoandHeyer.com
Happy 4th of July!
from Henry from Defonte’s HOMETOWN BAR-B-QUE WISHES RED HOOK a HAPPY 4th of JULY
VFW Post 5195 325 Van Brunt St, (718) 624-9313 Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue
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454 Van Brunt Street (347) 294-4644 July 2016
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