July 2020 Red Hook Star-Revue by George Fiala

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Red Hook's Justice Parade

n case you’ve been sleeping for the past six weeks, the United States has undergone yet another transformation. No, I’m not talking about the pandemic, although it could be that it is the disaster of COVID, combined with a really sick example of police brutality towards a black person, that has pushed the civil rights/social justice movement to what seems like a new level. There have been daily protests since the police killing of George Floyd at the end of May. On June 7, a peaceful and well attended Red Hook protest peacefully wended its way from the Miccio Center through Red Hook, into the Columbia Waterfront District, and beyond. I marched with them and took photos from the Miccio to Hicks Street, and waved as they marched down Hicks Street after a momentary roadblock at Union.

I’ve seen a lot of the Civil Rights movement firsthand. I grew up a NY Mets fan. One of their early stars was an outfielder named Joe Christopher. As a ten-yearold kid from Queens in 1963, I had no idea that white and black ballplayers were treated any differently. Anybody who could be on a baseball card was, for me, deserving of special consideration as a human being. Of course, I was a naive ten, so I couldn't believe when I found out that Christopher wasn't allowed to stay at the same hotel as the rest of the team during spring training in Florida. I had wrongly thought that Jackie Robinson had ended all that .

by George Fiala

Then came 1969. I was a senior in high school and starting to read subversive literature such as Rolling Stone and the Voice. This continued as I went to college, and at some point I read a few articles about something called "COINTELPRO." This was, as now explained by Wikipedia, “a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting American political organizations.” Fred Hampton was who today would be called a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, but at that time was a Black Panther. At the age of 21 he was murdered in cold blood by Cointelpro operatives while asleep in his Chicago apartment. At first the police maintained that "violent and vicious Black Panthers" attacked the FBI during a 4 AM raid, but the truth eventually came out, and Hampton was by 1990 recognized as a movement hero in Chicago and other places. So maybe by then one might have thought that social justice had been achieved, but just a couple of years later Rodney King was filmed being beaten mercilessly by LA cops. And so it went until in 2008, a black president was elected, but of course, discrimination and brutality continued as chokeholds and police killing of blacks far outnumbered police killing of whites. Having just written that as an assumption, I checked

Google and quickly found this study:

Deaths Due to Use of Lethal Force by Law Enforcement, Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System, 17 U.S. States, 2009–2012 Sarah DeGue, PhD,1 Katherine A. Fowler, PhD,1 and Cynthia Calkins, PhD2

Victims were majority white (52%) but disproportionately black (32%) with a fatality rate 2.8 times higher among blacks than whites. Most victims were reported to be armed (83%); however, black victims were more likely to be unarmed (14.8%) than white (9.4%) or Hispanic (5.8%) victims. And so it took a pandemic and a particularly brutal videotaped death to finally get people into protest mode like I’ve never seen before. It seems like a real social change might actually be on the verge of happening. What I mean is that white people might give blacks the same presumption of innocence that they do for themselves. Maybe. In the end it will be economic equality that is the ultimate goal. Regardless of what eventually happens, as someone who last marched for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black journalist still rotting in jail for a murder I don’t believe he committed, back in 1982, I was pretty proud to watch the Red Hook marchers on June 7.

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by Nathan Weiser

he Red Hook Art Project (RHAP) pivoted very soon after the COVID-19 pandemic and like so many other institutions began to offer virtual programing. RHAP provides free visual art, music, academic and stress management instruction after school to Red Hook students. Their classes are intentionally small, and they strive to give each student individual attention during each class. Special attention is given to activities that build self-confidence and problem-solving skills. Tiffiney Davis, who is the managing director of RHAP, is now using Google Classroom with the students since they are familiar with that platform. “They use it for school so we wanted to make them feel like we are catering to what they are used to,” Davis said. There are 51 students in the, served by 32 volunteer mentors. “We try not to make curriculum based projects but have every child talk about what is going on in their life and how they can add that to their art,” Davis said. “It is not about what we want as adults, it is about how we can support the students and where they are at in their creativity.” Some recent projects or techniques that the students have been working on have included self portraits, portfolio prep, learning how to work a camera as well as six fan art. This is a challenge where one takes six characters of their choice and draws them within different panels. The volunteers are artists, musicians, writers, doctors and other practitioners. There are also tutors who volunteer to help the talented children with their homework. Stress management is another key part of RHAP’s program that has not stopped during virtual learning. “We work with a licensed therapist to provide those services to our students

either on a group call or on a private call,” Davis said. “It all depends on what the needs are.” “Virtual learning is difficult sometimes since not all students have access to internet and not a lot of students have the private space that they need,” Davis said. So, it is a little challenging. But we have made it worthwhile and have made sure every student has art materials that they wish for. We continue to serve them as much as we can.” “Every school semester students have the opportunity to fill out the application and apply for the program,” Davis said. “We do not turn our backs on any student but we are mindful of how many stu- The Red Hook Art Project occupies the corner of Richards and Dikeman Streets. (photo by Weiser) dents we can take.”

Summer plans

During the summer, they will be expanding their services to support the greater Red Hook community, and there will be different summer workshops. They have many volunteers and because of outside assistance they are able to reach lots of people. “We were the winner of a grant that allowed us to reach the greater Red Hook and bring in local artists to pay them to teach the next generation,” Davis said. There has also been a food pantry happening at RHAP. There were lots of donated prepared meals as well as various fruits available for people to take outside of the building. “Everyone has come together making sure that they are ending community hunger,” Davis said. “Different supporters, different restaurants and warehouses have been donating.” Larger organizations aimed at giving back food that have been involved with the RHAP pantry are World Cen-

tral Kitchen and City Harvest.

Activity continues at PS 676 The PS 676/Summit Academy school building, which is located at 27 Huntington Street, is closed during the summer but that does not mean activity has stopped at the school. During the summer there will be a book lending program outside the school. This program is organized by Marie Hueston, who is the PS 676 (The Red Hook Neighborhood School) parent coordinator. For kids and adults in the Red Hook community “Ms. Marie’s Lending Library” will be in front of the school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30 until 10:30 a.m. This program will beginning the week of July 6. To continue the learning for PS 676 students, teachers will be posting a list of reading and math assignments that can be done over the summer.

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July 2020

Words by George Yates and I stumbled into each other the way most Star-Revue reporters get here, via an email. This is what I got from him in September of 2018: “I’m a writer in Brooklyn, and I’m emailing to inquire as to whether there might be any freelance opportunities available at the Red Hook Star Revue. I’m new to New York, but I’m eager to dive into the cultural and political life of the borough in which I now live, and I think that writing for a local paper like yours would be a great way for me to get started.” I answered him in about a minute,

and we met a few days later. I’m not even sure that I ever read his resume – after meeting him I knew he could do all the stories I wanted the paper to pursue. I started him on a story about local resiliency. His first cover story was a report on the funeral procession and life of a beloved Red Hook denizen, William Robinson.

The next piece that I always wanted to do concerned some questionable local police work that resulted in what I considered wrongful deaths and imprisonment of, yes, black youths. Of course, nobody from the police department would talk to us, despite repeated tries, going both locally and to 1 Police Plaza. His investigative skills produced a hard hitting story that introduced me to “gang policing,” an underreported NYPD policy that replaced Stop and Frisk policy.

I gave him stories that I always wanted to do, but never had the time or talent to pursue myself. One was to find out exactly what the Red Hook Initiative actually does with their money. Despite the fact that nobody at RHI, from the director on down, cooperated or even spoke with him, he was able to track down enough people and created an 8,000 word story that went a long way to explain exactly what they do and don't do.

I suggested a monthly column in addition to his monthly reporting, which by now included travel and restaurant tips, transportation alternatives and theater reviews, in addition to neighborhood reporting. “Yates’s View” premiered with a takedown of the NY

we get letters Respectfully requesting a correction for your article posted today, June 13. You reported inaccurate fundraising numbers for Senate District 25. Tremaine Wright has raised $59,859 this period and has a total of $90,964 on hand. – Tarin Allbrooks

Thank You Wing Hua! I wanted to send this as an article but know it is a few blocks north of your area, great paper, thanks; soo sorry about the deaths of your former editors, horrible. The Chinese mostly-take-out place The Chinese mostly take out place on a corner near me, there were a few tables, closed suddenly with no warning in the beginning of the ‘pandemic.’ --- there were no signs on the door telling us what was going on and people were really upset. About three weeks later, there it was open and alive on the corner where it had always been. I ran in and welcomed them back. They had put up plastic shields over the counter to protect us, to protect them. They had not closed, just re-organized and fixed things for the better for these times. A few days’ later, I decided to treat myself and went in to order. I couldn’t exactly remember what I usually ordered but it was very good and reasonably priced. But the young man behind the counter recited to me what I used to order though I was far from a regular, maybe

every other month. He knew my order precisely and told it to me, including the ‘no baby corn please.’

STAR REVUE

JUNE 2020

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

by George Fiala

ichael A. Armstrong, originally from the state of Washington, but who spent the majority of his 79 years in Boerum Hill, passed away last month after spending 17 days on a ventilator at Methodist Hospital. Dnynia, his wife and publishing partner, succumbed a month earlier, after contracting the virus at the Cobble Hill Health Center. I worked for Mike for a decade, as did a whole host of young people whose first stop on a successful career in journalism was the Phoenix office, first at 155 Atlantic Avenue, and later at 395 Atlantic.

This newspaper exists mostly because of what I learned from Armstrong, who was expert at taking 'diamonds in the rough' and teaching them the ropes. It was probably the best education that any aspiring newspaper person would ever want (although we may not have all realized that at the time).

Graduates of the Phoenix include Pulitzer Prize winners, reporters and editors for the NY Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Business Week, New York Magazine; authors of major best sellers and major motion pictures, and contributers to publications such as the NY Review of Books and Esquire. Others have gone on to successful careers in politics, business and the non-profit world.

But, the mostlytake-out Chinese place had Newspaper boot camp not touched W their prices even though they had been closed and made all these alterations --- it was the same old very low price for a meal that lasted me two days. This is what I call the American way! I was sooo pleased.

It's still hard to believe I can't stop by his State Street house and shoot the breeze with him when in the neighborhood. He was as active in his work as ever, despite being almost 80, and without the virus would have continue on for many years, contributing his acerbic commentaries to anyone lucky enough to be in the vicinity. I am lucky to be be publishing bylines from these two excellent writers who spent time at the Phoenix. Tracy Garrity came to the Phoenix after a stint at the Brooklyn Paper, and ended up as the features editor for the Reading Eagle. Peter Haley, who wrote a political column called Haley's Comet, has spent a career in sales and government service.

Remembering Mike and the Phoenix

by Tracy Garrity Rasmussen

orking for the Phoenix wasn’t so much as a job as a calling.

You’d work six days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day. You’d get yelled at regularly for infractions as major as missing a scoop and as minor as tossing a press release without reusing the back to type copy. Your paycheck bounced nearly as often as it cleared. The line between student and servant, ally and adversary often blurred. Yet an army of great journalists did their bootcamp there because Mike Armstrong was the quintessential newspaper drill sergeant, and if you put in the time, fished the press releases out of the trash, caught your bouncing checks and listened through the meltdown for the message, you’d end up a damn fine reporter. I was there in the mid 1980s, writing, editing, taking photos and smoking endless chains of cigarettes. Not too long before he died Mike reminded me that I once interviewed a cow. I wrote about corruption and business (Mike started Brooklyn, Inc. while I was there) and community boards and school boards and the arts. I wrote headlines and cutlines and editorials. I took photos and phone calls and the occasional notes at a staff meeting. I’d walk the four blocks home to my basement brownstone apartment after midnight most Monday nights, locking up the Phoenix office knowing I’d be back in just a matter of hours to wax copy and find space for it on the pages that hung around the production room like family snapshots. Late Tuesday night (sometimes earlier in summer when the papers were smaller and the poor air conditioning made us work more quickly) we’d send the paper off, clean up the half-smoked, half-chewed cigars from the production tables and scatter

by Peter Haley

rom 1976 thru April ’79 I worked directly for the Brooklyn Phoenix. Prior to that, I worked with Mike Armstrong at starting up a newspaper in Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Advocate, which failed because we could not build enough advertising revenue in this mostly Hispanic and Hasidic community. But based on that effort, Mike encouraged me to join up at his still young Phoenix newspaper, first as a salesman of its advertising and then later as a reporter. Mike loved the local community politics and news of brownstone Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, eastward to Fort Greene, south to Park Slope and then to Red Hook. He took this love to Williamsburg and then later to the Village in Manhattan with the Villager newspaper, where he took over an ongoing business and kept the ball bouncing.

We back a winner! The Star-Revue gave us one of the strongest endorsements we’ve received:

The Star-Revue has it right: if not now, when? The past weeks have made it clear that we cannot wait a minute longer for radical changes to how New York handles housing, policing, incarceration and public health. The endorsement ends:

In our view, a vote for Brisport is a vote for dignified living conditions in the Red Hook Houses, for the protection of undocumented immigrants in Sunset Park, and for the safety of homeless families in Bed-Stuy. It’s also, we hope, a vote for a post-coronavirus world where we all recognize that what comes next doesn’t have to look like what came before. (continued on page 18)

We’re so grateful that the Star-Revue has endorsed our race — and we hope to see you join us as we sprint across

HOTD0G AND MUSTARD BY MARC JACKS0N

CATCH MY Y0UTUBE SHOW ‘MARC MAKeS C0MiCS’ EACH WeeK!

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DAVe COMES

YOU PeSKY K FR0M W0RK, ROB0T, YOU’VE BAC He’S GOiNG TO WReCKED FLiP HIS LID, DAVE’S MUSTARD! H0USe!! WHEN

PANiC, HOTD0G!

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the finish line. – From a Jabari Brisport email

Bernie Rules! Gracias!! For this great article. There is no other way than continuing the good fight of creating class consciousness, political awareness and sense of dignity! – Diana Ramirez This would definitely crush the status quo! I would love to see americans come together and vote for neither nominations. Instead choosing the only candidate who would cancel out the destructive, toxic, and immoral candidates. Let’s finally cancel mainstream media after their charts and graphs fail them…..again – Brian Voting is a complete failure now. Political Revolution is based around it so we what we need now is a real revolution so bring out the guillotine! – Mike Mangine Ostensibly, the reason to vote for Bernie is to give him a few additional delegates for the Democratic National Convention, where, with significantly less power than he had in 2016, he’ll supposedly have a chance to help draft the new party platform, which is basically meaningless anyway. A better reason to vote for Bernie, I think, is simply to make a public declaration that we’ve not been beaten or destroyed. Hear the Bern! Feel the Bern!! Be the Bern!!!- Bruce Murray

(continued on next page)

SiGH... WHY DO i

DON’T

I KNOW WHAT TO D0...

So please keep reading. —George Fiala, george@redhookstar.com!

WWW.STAR-REVUE.COM.

But working there in the mid ‘70s was, as a fellow newspaper person put it, like the “‘60s never died.” We weren’t dropping acid, of course, but definitely dropping the conventional neckties and button-down collars that

Thank you, thank you, Wing Hua on Court Street. You renew my faith. And, I, we, need that now.- Mary Pat Kane

The Star-Revue has undergone a number of permutations throughout the ten years I’ve been publishing it, and I guess we’re about to start on a new one. I’m the one constant, as is the great community that we write about.

OR POST ON OUR WEBSITE,

But my work with Mike was with the Phoenix. And as the saying goes, he “brought a lot to the table” to North Brooklyn’s civic, cultural and political communities. He was a pioneer both in local newspaper publishing and, indeed, in homesteading a much wilder, untamed Brooklyn than today.

(continued on page 18)

I’m publicly thanking Brett for his great contributions to local journalism, and look forward to reading his future work, wherever it may appear (he’s got a standing offer with us to contribute an occasional column).

SEND YOURS TO GEORGE@REDHOOKSTAR.COM

“Now is the time in New York – for the always bold and the typically cautious alike – to demand a radically more humane society, and the transformative measures proposed by Brisport would make for a good start.

And when I came back to pick it up after shopping around the area, I expected the price to have gone up JABARI BRISPORT FOR STATE SENATE - PAGE 11 with the needs of all of us stuck FREE in the area, and CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF PUBLISHING what with other COVID takes a Brooklyn newspaper pioneer businesses upM ping their fees or giving no coupons anymore, things like that. the red hook

Correction noted

Times that probably offended many but was great reading. I have often look askance at things Thomas Friedman had to say - so did Bret, it turned out. The care Bret took with every word produced great reading.

DASH!

FALL FOR THIS eVERYTiME?

H mj

his issue is the first one in a long time that doesn’t feature the profound influence of the great reporter and thinker Brett Yates.

©COPYRIGHT 202O MARC JACKSON AND WEiRD0 COMiCS #16

July 2020, Page 3

LETTERS

positions at well regarded large papers and news organizations after her years at Phoenix.

(continued from page 9)

Beware the Berrios Be aware that Robert Berrios (running for District Leader) send names and photos of Black Lives protesters to NYPD 76th Precinct, before marching along side them on June 7th! We do not need to elect a deceitful cop to represent this district. - Jonathan Winton Robert Berrios is an infiltrator who should not be trusted. He is anti-black and pro-police. He pretends to be an ally and gain access to black organizer spaces just to send all of their information to the police and put their lives at risk. BLM! – Justine Gonzalez

Hey, Robert is OK! Never heard of Katherine Walsh and never heard of Julio Pena. I live of Red Hook all my life. I know Felix for what he does for us here in Red Hook and I know Robert Berrios from Red Hook. He’s always informing us of what’s going on and assisting people in the Community. So for this guy Julio to say he doesn’t to speak to the people is total nonsense. – Joseph Gonzalez

Mike and Dnynia of the Phoenix I truly enjoyed the pieces written about Mike Armstrong, his wife and the Phoenix paper they operated. I grew up in Park Slope and remember the paper well. My sister Tracy got her first journalism job there once graduated from Columbia. Today she is Executive Editor of The Daily Beast. She held many reporter and editor

I know the Armstrongs’ son Aram. I felt terrible both times he informed about each parents’ passing. I too, lost my father to COVID, only a month ago. I know Aram’s parents passed from this world feeling proud of their son. He is a bright, talented, kind, hilariously funny, highly artistic and pretty damn well accomplished guy. We both are dealing with our terrible parental losses. I am grateful to count him as a friend Which I can relate to and feel comfortable sharing my feelings with about losing my dad. The Armstrongs did not only grace Brooklyn with a great neighborhood paper, they produced a wonderful son for whom my heart goes out to for the tremendous loss he has endured since losing his parents. Thanks for the two great pieces written about the Armstrongs. They made me smile during a time myself or anyone else is rarely feeling joyful. – Jamie Connor

From Dnynia's son George, thank you for this article. It brought up so many memories and man, those monday and tuesday nights were the worst. The yelling didn’t stop there, it came home until they got the paper out only to do it again the next week. For us kids it was great because we knew they wouldn’t be home so we were able to hang out longer. Sometimes we would lose track of time and they would come home to a house full of my friends listening to rap music and break dancing. I laugh at this now but I hated it

when it happened… They would walk in and see everyone and just explode. “Everyone get the fuck OUT!!!!!!!” and like 20 kids would go scrambling out the door. Man I hated that. My friend were like dude, I’m not coming over anymore. I’m scared of your parent. LOL. They wound up coming over anyway. I’m glad you put in the hard ships that went on in there. It’s what made that place memorable. The smell of the melted wax from that machine near the basement stairs, the cigar smell, the typesetting machine buzzing away, the creaky wood floors that you had to watch out for holes if you had a small foot, Boris!!!… That damn dog would run away from home only to show up at the Phoenix door. I really miss them…. I’m not crying, you are crying – Aram Bauman

The Ballroom theft I’m glad someone is finally calling it out. This show was supposed to be first on Bravo I believe but they didn’t pick it up then hbo did but the also dropped someone who has been part of ballroom for over 15 years. Leyomi is the first one to scream ballroom appropriation when someone else gets ahead but when she’s involved in it she’s is all gun ho all she cares about is getting her name out there at any cost. She’s not humble or kind. She will block you just for having your own opinion. She will drag your name through the mud and slander your name. With this attitude I hope someone sues her for Deformation of character. – Lisa Suarez

and have lived in NYC for the past 8 years. I’d been looking for a store like Coluccio from my first days here, and once I found it, I never left it. Walking in, it gives you the feeling of an Italian store. Because it is, to its roots. The article, Michael, well explains what the store is. I’ll add that I don’t go to Coluccio often (I live far away), but when I go, I buy A LOT of stuff, and I SAVE a lot of money, doing so. Not only is the quality very good, but the prices of authentic Italian products are the best you can find in the city, and in the whole country. Coluccio is an importer, distributor, and has a store. The pasta, the EEVOs, the cheeses, the Arborio and Carnaroli rice… and then tuna, crackers, friselle, 00 flour, taralli, not to mention the Mauro coffee ground for espresso machines or in grains, their canned tomatoes… all exceptionally priced. A wedge of REAL Parmigiano Reggiano and another one of Pecorino Romano will last you for weeks, and cost the same as the fake boxed parm-sawdust you find in other stores, and too many people buy thinking they are saving money…. Get a mozzarella, some fresh ricotta, some sun dried tomatoes, some olives, a bag of taralli, a bottle of wine (you’ll have to find this somewhere else!) and you’ll have an amazing meal. Go to Coluccio, and you’ll understand yourself why it’s worth it. - Stefano

Coluccio affirmed My name is Stefano, Italian from Italy,

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July 2020

When people from all walks of life need help

by George Bellows

onsuelo Morales (an alias) is in a good mood. The groceries she received at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church food pantry in Flatbush was worth the hour-long wait under the midday sun.

but she says neither of them can afford to split ways right now—they’re two months behind on rent as it is.

Morelos is especially pleased with the fish fillets and fresh strawberries in her cart. Fresh food is not always a given at food banks, and it was her first time visiting this one.

Women and the elderly have always been a visible demographic at food pantry lines. Young men are a rarer sight. Not so now, says Jennifer Smith, Food Resource Supervisor for Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens. The charity runs 20 parish-based pantries, and Smith says that the increase in the number of young men—many of whom lost jobs in construction or service industries—has been striking. “Men don’t want to come and ask for food,” she says. “A lot of them are very grateful, but very humbled.”

“I’m glad it’s not just canned goods,” she says in Spanish. Like thousands of New Yorkers, Morelos has turned to pantries in the face of increased food insecurity. A house cleaner, her income has been more than halved since March, when the city-wide shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic began. Her regular clientele is mostly made up of elderly folk. They’re more likely to fall critically ill if they contract the novel coronavirus, she explains, and have therefore been especially observant of social distancing rules. Two of them did call her this week to book appointments, however, and she’s hopeful more will follow as the city slowly begins reopening. Morelos really likes working with older clients—they’re more considerate, respectful and have less problems than young people, she says. Working with families can be especially chaotic, particularly if they have small children. “Too much commotion.” Her own kids already keep her plenty busy. They’ll like the fish she’s bringing home today, she says. It’s been tough having all four of them cooped up at home since schools closed. Her youngest is 8, and he’s not very enthusiastic about remote learning. He needs a lot of help completing and submitting his homework online, help Morales says his older sisters— ages 23, 18, and 13—don’t have the patience to give him and that she can’t always provide either. “I didn’t go to school and I can’t read very well in Spanish, let alone English.” She says she can’t rely on her husband, the father of her children, much either. Lately, says Morales, he’s been disappearing for days at a time. When she confronts him, he’ll say he was out with friends. “Really I think he’s seeing someone else.” Not that she really cares about that, she says. She’d been wanting to end the marriage anyway,

Red Hook Star-Revue

Morales didn’t visit food pantries much before the shutdown started. She’s normally very busy and would never have enough time in her day to queue.

Shawn Ledbetter, a 42-year old audiovideo producer based in Bed-Stuy, chanced upon one of the charity’s pop-up pantries at Our Lady of Victory Church on a recent Friday morning. Grateful indeed, Ledbetter says he didn’t hesitate when he walked by the pantry on his way home and a volunteer offered him the free groceries. “Pride is a foolish thing to carry around,” he says. “When it comes to surviving, you swallow your pride and you go get the free bags of food.” Inside the bags, Ledbetter found fresh produce, a whole chicken, and an assortment of healthy perishables. It’s a welcome help, he says. Food is expensive, and the shutdown has dried up his main source of income as a rideshare driver. Before the pandemic, Ledbetter was all but guaranteed a good day’s wage when he hit the road at 5:30 AM to service morning rush-hour passengers. He would normally end his shift around 2 PM, which still left plenty of time to pursue his passion projects—photography, audio-visual storytelling, and growing the media production company he started three years ago. “Life was much, much simpler,” he says. Perhaps it was too simple. Ledbetter says that losing his main source of income rattled him, but it also made him realize he’d become complacent. The shutdown put a battery in his back, he says, renewing in him a sense of urgency to turn his creativity into his livelihood. “Routine is a vision killer,” he says. “But sometimes you get caught in it. It’s like a hamster on a wheel: you’re not really going any-

where. The virus put a wedge in the wheel and everything broke down.” Ledbetter says the pandemic has reminded him that money comes and goes, but time is the only resource you really can’t get back. Now that he has more of it, he’s letting his creative side take over. In March, when the city was beginning to shutter, he drove to Midtown Manhattan, where he would normally get a ping from one of his rideshare apps in seconds. Instead, he was met with silence and empty

“Men don’t want to come and ask for food,” she says. “A lot of them are very grateful, but very humbled.” streets. It was then that it dawned on him that he was witnessing history, so he got out of his car and started immortalizing it in his photography. “Penn Station, Grand Central, 42nd Street—quiet, quiet, quiet,” he recalls. “It was amazing.” More recently, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, Ledbetter has been documenting what he sees on the ground with the goal of creating short, informative clips for social media. If he’s been able to dedicate more time to his creative projects, he says, it’s also because of the many reprieves society, the government, and businesses have extended to people during the shutdown. Thanks to lenient policies implemented by service providers, he says, he hasn’t had to worry about his electric, gas, or phone getting disconnected if he’s behind on his bills. Food pantries are a big help too, and not just for him. “Pantries can remove at least a little bit of worry for a family or a single mother or grandmother. That’s a beautiful thing.” Ledbetter was raised by a sin-

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gle mother in the Bronx and says that he’s no stranger to hardship. This is why he knows that sometimes, all you have to fall back on is your community. The sense of social solidarity that has emerged among people in the city over the past few months, he adds, is a precious silver lining in these difficult times. “It’s a special group of people that organize these things,” he says of the volunteers at Our Lady of Victory. Linda McGuire (not her real name), an English as a second language teacher in Clinton Hill, holds a similar view. She visits the food pantry run by the local Seventh-Day Adventist Church every week, and describes it as a great neighborhood resource. The pantry saves her around $200 a month. “I don’t have to spend a nickel on groceries.” McGuire, who mostly works with clients who need to work on their English for professional situations like public speaking events or presentations, says she lost half her students when social distancing measures went into effect in March. All her lessons have been virtual since then. While the remote lessons are fun, McGuire says they’re not as exciting as inperson appointments, where she is also the one learning new things. “It’s so interesting—I get to go to all these different cool places.” Online, her clients can’t always show her the material they need help understanding or editing because they’re usually sensitive internal documents—the type of thing their companies wouldn’t want them sharing. Plus, being at a client’s workplace is often how she meets new students. Despite the financial setbacks, McGuire isn’t too worried. For her, at least, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: she’ll be moving to Kuwait in August to teach middle and high school English at an American school there—pandemic notwithstanding. “Kuwait has a very forward-moving culture. They don’t like limitations and they don’t allow circumstances to limit them.” In the meantime, McGuire too is using her extra time to get in touch with her creative side. A foodie with a background in hospitality and restaurant management, she likes coming up with new dishes using the groceries she gets from the food pantry every week. “Food is my artform, so it’s fantastic,” she says. “I love that food pantry, and it does help. I count that blessing all the time.”

July 2020, Page 5

Remembering Joe Ferris by Assemblyman Bobby Carroll

Earlier this week, former Assemblymember Joe Ferris, who was my predecessor Jim Brennan’s predecessor, passed away. He was 85. Ferris was elected to the Assembly in 1974 and served for 10 years until Jim was elected in 1984. Joe Ferris had a profound impact on the politics of Brooklyn and New York City and was a fierce advocate for independence and reform. He was one of the founders of Park Slope’s local political club, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) and did much for Brooklyn and the constituents he served.

Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue

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Prior to being elected to the Assembly, Joe served in the Army, taught in New York City schools for 15 years and at Rikers Island. On a personal level, Joe was a true friend to my family and a mentor to my father, Jack Carroll. He was an individual of unshakeable integrity and since I was elected in 2016, I have always done my best to live up to his example of independence and honesty. I offer my deepest condolences to his two sons, Joseph, Jr. and Thoma,s who should know that through their father’s lifetime of public service he had a profound impact on so many and will be sorely missed.

July 2020

Is the European BLM movement real or simply a fashionable statement?

by Pio Dario Muccilli

ast June in Europe many protests erupted in the streets after George Floyd’s death. Almost every week people gathered in different cities, with the commitment to express solidarity to the African-Americans.

selves have been exploited for centuries as farm hands by landowners. That is why they have understood the need to be wary of those who offer freedom from a free and rich condition, because they will never be in the plantations to understand what the real problems are.

Despite this noble purpose, the BLM movement in Europe has not heavily impacted politics or society. Mainly it has only obtained some statements by few governments and not in all countries, as many cabinets are busier on the reopening plans rather than racial justice.

Actually protesters are mostly citizens from the North, but in northern cities there’s not an huge exploitation as in the countryside, from where few migrants endorsed the manifestations. Many of them probably did not know sit-ins were set up.

The main goal European activists have achieved is a huge polemic about statues pull down or covered up with boxes, as happened in London, and such a marginal issue is becoming the principal topic medias pay attention to. Maybe this marginalization is caused by the marginalization of the same European movement, which is so far different from the American one. While the latter was born in the suburbs, European demonstrations are ideological, born in the city center. They are made up of white young, many of them well-to-do, who pretend to represent the willing of the racism victims, like in May 68 the sons of the bourgeoisie pretended to be the working-class voice. Besides it is necessary to say that many people protesting do not know for what they are standing up in the streets, because the news they have on USA is filtered by dispatches from press agencies, without contact with the deep African-American reality. If this may be forgiven by two thousand miles of Atlantic ocean, it cannot be the same with the condition of African migrants in the old continent, where few people are really interested in going beyond the surface reality. For example, in Italy there are many African clandestine newcomers who works in the fields throughout all the country, mostly in the South, where the rural natives have rarely attended protests, not because they are racist, but probably because they them-

The first impression is that Black Lives Matter does not exist in Europe, where some people ape the American unrest. The second impression is that the movement erupted in Europe is a way to advantage some political parties, who have the will to dominate the protests, without doing nothing real at all. Moreover it’s quite unbelievable that the protests have been organized only by students, as is written on many newspapers. Demonstrations were not always born spontaneously. In Italy they have been settled in famous squares (People Square in Rome, Duke of Aosta Square in Milan or Castle Square in Turin) with the agreement both of police and prefectures, a few days after Floyd’s murder. Any Italian (and lots of Europeans) know that bureaucracy in their motherland is a monster. In order to get a permit for a demonstration, you must fill in hundreds of forms, with large notice, during normal times – just imagine this during the corona-virus pandemic. How is it possible these demonstrations had not had to do this? Were the state officials anti-racist fellows? I don’t think so.

A Winston Churchill statue was a focus of London BLM protests.

However in other countries protests seem to be the tool many little organizations are using to have a voice in the political debate. They are often communist or Marxist parties, who are trying to make the demonstrations communist as they are, even if among the anti-racists there are also socialdemocrats, left liberals and right-wing sympathizers. The more these political formations make the protests radical (not in antiracist way), the more the silent majority will become conservative, includ-

ing the majority of the black migrants in Europe, who have not joined this alleged revolution. White people obviously can help people of color in their battle against racial hate, but without black folk grassroots participation whites are basically promoting only their own ideas. As Tom Wolfe would say, the lack of contact with the African-European masses, damaged by racism, could lead the old-continent movement to be merely a group of radical-chic. Pio is our man in Italy

Finally listening to the alleged leaders of the movement in many cities, there’s a strong confusion about their own commitments, which often abuse the word “racial justice.” Maybe this is not as true in Britain as it is in the continent, because UK population is a melting pot similar to the States.

The working conditions of African migrant workers in Italy have gone unmentioned in the BLM protests there.

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July 2020, Page 7

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July 2020

MICCIO CENTER IN DANGER OF CLOSING by Nathan Weiser

As a result of the Mayor’s Executive Budget proposal eliminating the Beacon, Cornerstone, School›s Out NYC (SONYC) and COMPASS programs, in Red Hook, the Joseph Miccio Cornerstone Community Center was forced to shut its doors on Friday, June 26. In response, Michelle Yanche, Executive Director of Good Shepherd Services, which operates the center, released the following statement: “The closure of the Miccio is a devastating loss – as not only the site of essential Cornerstone programming, but also a true pillar of the community. For 7 years, seniors, youth and families have gathered to seek support, and work together, with the Miccio serving over 1,300 youth and community members annually. Since the pandemic began, the Miccio has served as a grab-and-go meal distribution site and in partnership with local community organizations, has provided over 4,300 meals and essential supplies to youth and families across the community. Its closure will be deeply felt by a community that is still reeling from pandemic. Roland Knight has been the program director of the Miccio Center since March of 2019. Knight was shocked and saddened when he found out about the Miccio shutting its doors and expressed how devastating the closing would be for the community.

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“The Miccio is what I call the hub of Red Hook,” Knight said. “It is a Cornerstone program and is a place where people can go. When you have a building that is open and resourceful for the community that gives them something to do at all times of the day, when you lose something like that it is really impactful.” Knight, who has worked at Good Shepherd for 18 years, wants it known how essential the Miccio is. “It is vocalizing the frustration but also the need to have this building running and operating for our community,” Knight added. “A lot of advocacy around that.” The last time this happened was at the tail end of Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez's term. Gonzalex represented Red Hook for ten years starting in 2002. She served in the Council's Finance Committee, and was able to work a deal to keep the Miccio open. However, this is often a bargaining ploy that can served to make a hero out of a politician. It is unknown what the motivation to close Red Hook's community gathering place is this time.

Elections

Tuesday, June 23 was election day in Red Hook and PS 15 (71 Sullivan Street) and the Miccio Community Center (110 West 9th Street) were two locations that Red Hook residents could go and vote. A popular way to vote during this pandemic was via absentee ballot. Another way people have voted was on early

voting days. Otherwise, one came to their polling location on Tuesday. On the state level at Senate, Democratic Socialist Jabari Brisport defeated progressive Jason Salmon and establishment Tremaine Wright to replace retiring Velmanette Montgomery. In Assembly District 51, community activist Genesis Aquino, tenant organizer Marcela Mitaynes and urban planner Katherine Walsh faced off against Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz, who has represented Red Hook in Albany since 1995. At this point, the race is still too close to call as some ballots remain to be counted. In a race for the somewhat ceremonial position of male District Leader, Jose Pena defeated Red Hook's Robert Berrios. The district also includes Sunset Park. On election day at PS 15, Tom Reed had his table with pamphlets for Brisport and Mitaynes set up near the corner of Van Brunt Street and Wolcott. He was there most of the day. “We are just visibility for the Marcela and Jabari campaign,” Reed said. Reed is part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and both Brisport and Mitaynes are members. Reed has been involved with campaigns on and off for a couple of years volunteering around the elections.

people to vote for Felix Ortiz. He started his electioneering at 10:30 AM. and was going to leave at around 5. This was the first time that Newman had been involved with a campaign. He was electioneering near the Miccio Center with about five others involved with Ortiz’s campaign. He had a friend who was involved in the early voting and that was why he got involved on Tuesday. He said he was glad to help. Although there were not many going in to vote around 3 PM, he saw many people going to vote at the Miccio Center, especially earlier in the day. “I have seen a lot all day,” Newman said. “I think more than 50. There were more earlier in the morning.” He enjoyed being involved and liked the message that Ortiz was spreading. “I actually like his message especially where he is helping with not just the black but other people of color, “Newman said. “Their ideas and their issues, he understands. He is able to speak from a more broad perspective and still cope with everybody else.”

Reed, who was the only one associated with Brisport and Mitaynes near PS 15, thought that as of about 12:30, 50 people had voted at the PS 15 location. Jordan Newman was near the Miccio Center near West 9th Street and Henry Street with a big sign encouraging

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July 2020, Page 9

I hope you are doing well. My name is Elena Marquez, I am a 12 year-old rising 7th grader at Brooklyn Prospect Charter. I marched with my community this week, after which I wrote down my thoughts.

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Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue

hey say America is the land of the free. Where all men and women are created equal and have certain unalienable rights. Yet, if this is still proclaimed to be the truth, explain to me why George Floyd had a cold knee pressed against his neck while begging for his mother while gasping for air… explain to me why Breonna Taylor was shot down in her own home, killed, striking her innocent heart eight times out of the cruelty and pitilessness police officers held in their souls. Explain to me why young black children cannot enjoy the same childhood memories that are the white child’s reality. America was built on stolen land and began its “union” with dark slave ships crossing the Atlantic filled with black men, women, and children, some jumping into the harsh depths of the water, preferring suicide to the horrors they were awaited with. Their blood sinks into the Atlantic like ink stabbed into paper, a stain in a sea shaking with tears of the African people who were torn from their homes, their parents, and their lives. Three hundred and thirtysix years later, the blood of black people still haunts our streets while too often men in navy uniforms, calling themselves protectors, abuse their power. Their white privilege tears the idea of unity throughout the country,

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and has been for hundreds of years. They limit freedom, emotionless to the tears of black children crying for their murdered brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers who were denied their freedom in this country. America, the jailer of opportunity, and the true protector of injustice. Yet, there are members of the government and media who dismiss us all as looters. They attempt to suppress us with their remarks filled with ignorance and obliviousness. Asking who are we to question the enforcers of our sacred law--not listening to the words when we say no justice, no peace. When we scream “say their names,” they recoil and refuse, for if they did, they would feel the sorrow of millions of people, they would feel the racism craving another black man, woman, or child to feed on. They would feel our anger as tears ran down their cheeks as they felt the heartbreak of watching equity escape their grasp again, and again, and again… Yet they refuse to say their names out of their foolishness and fear as we raise our fists to the sky and yell fiercely like warriors of justice that his life mattered, that her life mattered, that black lives matter.

They say America is the land of the free. Hopefully one day it will be.

July 2020

Monsignor Guy Massie back when church services were held at Sacred Hearts and Saint Stevens.

Chronicling Pandemic times in the neighborhood

ocal businesses are beginning to open back up after being months of being shut down due to coronavirus. Salons and barbershops can now reopen, and I was able to get my first haircut in over three months. They are only allowed to have 50 percent of maximum occupancy for both employees and customers but are already getting lots of business since reopening on June 22. In addition, restaurants now have outdoor dining and playgrounds are open (with social distancing rules still in place.) Non-essential businesses can now open with 50 percent of occupancy and the same goes for offices. Houses of worship are able to reopen, though with just 25 percent of occupancy. I was able to speak Monseigneur Guy Massie of St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church, located at 125 Summit St. in Carroll Gardens. It has been a challenging past few months for Massie and the church. “It was a very lonely time but we developed a program called Tea and Talk, which provided me with a venue to talk to parishioners outside the mass,” said Massie. “We live streamed and people could text in questions. We would usually move from serious topics early on to some lighter topics while answering questions.” It was a way for Massie to try to bring people together even though he had to do so from home. It also provided a small sense of normalcy during a very strange and difficult time. “It’s been a very lonely time and I would never like to do this again,” said Massie. “I’m grateful for the recent plans to open up but they are very slow so it won’t be the same as before.” The church will only allow people inside who are wearing a mask and everyone will have to use hand sanitizer after entering and before leaving. As of now, no one is allowed to light a candle or go see images of the saints. “It’s usually a very busy parish,” said

Red Hook Star-Revue

By Brian Abate

Massie. “From 10 AM on, there’s used to be lots going on after mass, including activities for kids, and choir, then all of a sudden there was nothing. I’m looking forward to having people around and talking to people again. It’s felt like an eternity.”

Fulton Mall revives Many employees from businesses throughout Brooklyn feel the same way. One of those employees is Carolyn Bonilla who has been working at Macy’s (located at 422 Fulton St.) for the past 22 years. “It was painful and heartbreaking leaving when we had to close the store down but I knew Macy’s would be good to us employees since I’ve been there for over 20 years,” said Bonilla. “They picked someone during from each department to work when we started curbside pickup.” She was happy to be back inside the store with coworkers she hadn’t seen for the past three months. She also felt grateful to work for Macy’s. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect but it’s been pretty normal,” said Bonilla. “Just masks everywhere. Macy’s always puts the customer first, but they made sure we (employees) were first too.”

chance for them to do something together again after they were all stuck at home for awhile.

closed, IKEA wasn’t able to sell plants so they ended up donating a lot of their plants too.

Furniture makes a Red Hook comeback

IKEA also checked in with employees while the store was shutdown to check not their wellbeing. Furloughed employees began returning to work in the first week of May said Montero.

It was a similar situation for local residents who wanted to shop at IKEA, located at 1 Beard St. in Red Hook. The store reopened at 25 percent of its capacity on Tuesday June 23. “We’re glad to be able to come here again,” said Diana Morales, who was shopping with her husband. “It’s been a long couple of months.” While IKEA just reopened, they were able to give back to the Red Hook community in the months they were closed. “We were able to stay connected with the local community during the pandemic because we already had close ties to the community,” said Lorna Montalvo, a loyalty marketing manager, who has worked for IKEA for 12 years. IKEA donated to many small businesses and nonprofits, Northwell Health, local schools, including P.S. 676 and other programs including the Red Hook Arts Project. With the store

The store has made numerous changes and regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus now that it has reopened. Everyone is required to wear a mask. The lunch area is now closed to the public and employees must stay six feet apart while eating. There are hand sanitizer stations throughout the store, including where employees eat. There are signs and stickers all over IKEA reminding customers about social distancing polices. “Thank goodness our customers are following through on social distance standards and that feels really good,” said Montalvo. New Yorkers abiding by policies is an encouraging sign and so far people have gone to IKEA, Macy’s and St. Stephen’s Church have been doing just that.

While the store wasn’t as crowded as it usually was before the pandemic, there were still quite a few costumers inside. Bonilla also said she was grateful that Macy’s treated her well and helped her get through the three months the store was closed. A few customers told me they had used the curbside pickup but preferred being able to go to the store and went shopping at Macy’s the first day it reopened. “I used the the curbside pickup for shopping and the service was good but I didn’t like it as much as going to the store,” said Anna Johnson. “I like to browse around and go with friends so I’m just happy they’re open again.” Her friends agreed and said it was a

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Shopping is back at Red Hook's IKEA

July 2020, Page 11

Great American Takeout Day supports BLM by Erin DeGregorio As the number of daily COVID-19 cases declines, a return to semi-normalcy continues to take shape in New York City – especially for the restaurant industry. However, before eateries could implement outdoor dining on June 22, some local establishments participated in the Great American Takeout (GAT) on June 11. This day was a nationwide call for customers to support their local Black-owned eateries amid the Black Lives Matter Movement, coronavirus shutdown and phased reopenings. History of Great American Takeout The first ever GAT Day took place across the country on March 24 –just days after many national and local restaurants were forced to close their dining room doors and layoff staff due to the pandemic. The call to action was for Americans to financially support these establishments through takeout orders and deliveries. According to GAT’s Twitter on March 26, more than 15 million restaurant industry employees participated, 50,000 social posts were made, and the intended goal of $100,000 was donated to CORE, a non-profit organization that supports food and beverage service employees with children. The movement was so well-received and welcomed that Great American Takeout 2 happened a week later, encouraging diners to return to and order from their favorite places. At the end of April, GAT announced “Cinco To Go,” wherein customers could celebrate both Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday on May 5. On June 8, GAT announced June 11 would be dedicated to local Blackowned restaurants – to stand in solidarity with and support the Black community amid national civil unrest against racism and police brutality. Its website listed a directory of partici-

The ladies of Daleview Biscuits and Beer.

Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue

pating Black-owned restaurants from nearly 60 cities, states and regions. Customers were once again called to post photos of their takeout meals and tag them with #thegreatamericantakeout. Sponsors of GAT contributed a $5 donation to Black Lives Matter for every social media post featuring the hashtag and the takeout meal, up to $25,000.

Brooklyn is Number One According to GAT’s New York City directory, 255 Black-owned restaurants from all five boroughs participated on June 11. 140 were in Brooklyn. Bati Ethiopian Kitchen, one of the participants in Fort Greene, saw an increase in sales even before June 11 – most notably on Blackout Tuesday (June 2). “I knew Blackout Tuesday was happening and that would drive support for Black-owned businesses, but we were not prepared for that huge of a surge,” said owner Hibist Legesse. “Ever since then, we’ve been ready. It was amazing, and Great American Takeout Day probably would be included in that following surge.” It is that kind of loyalty from the community, she said, that helps her to keep going. “We’re lucky and extremely grateful. When people come by and say, ‘We’re here for you, we love your food and we want to support you moving forward,’ those comments are heartwarming and hopeful,” Legesse added. The Soul Spot’s owners Yaya Ceesay and Banumu Turay said they noticed a majority of orders had been made through delivery service Postmates. “I didn’t even know about Great American Takeout at first. I think Postmates put us over the top because deliveries through them basically went up 200%,” he told us on June 23, explaining that delivery apps are used when customers live beyond a one-mile radius of the Boerum Hill establishment. “We’ve been getting a lot of support from different people, including those who never knew about us before, because of this event.” Daleview Biscuits and Beer, located in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, found itself in the GAT Day directory, which resulted in a “positive bump in business” that day, according to owner/chef/brewer Christopher Gandsy. Since the Black Lives Matter Movement began in late May, Gandsy said his business has received more media requests, requests for collaboration and expressed support. “While any support is helpful to any small business we do hope this is not a trend, as we would love to see this support and recognition be both sincere and continuous as we persevere on our journey,” he said. Frantz Metellus, owner and CEO of Rustik Tavern in Bed-Stuy/Clinton Hill, said he had no idea how his establishment exactly got on GAT’s radar – but he was thankful and happy to be

Atlantic Avenue's The Soul Spot preparing family-style dishes.

a part of such a “pretty cool event.” He said sales definitely increased on June 11. “The support is great for us when it comes from something like that. Just to have eyes on you is another wonderful thing especially during this time,” Metellus said. “That one day is not going to make up everything we’ve lost in almost four months, but it does really help us in the sense that

Dinner from Bati Kitchen we feel like we can make it through.” DeKalb Avenue, where Rustik Tavern is located, was also one of the blocks where many gathered to march for the Black Lives Matter Movement last month. “We’ve had protests happen up and down our block,” Metellus told us on June 19. “It’s something that we’re right on the forefront of seeing, watching and working with. I feel encouraged because of the diversity that I see with the protests. I’ve always been one to say that it’s diversity that’s going to make this work; it’s not just one group.”

Bouncing Back from COVID-19 When Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the executive order on March 16 to limit restaurants, bars and cafes to take-out and delivery only, many owners had to make difficult, but quick decisions. Legesse was forced to remove some dishes from her menu that needed

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more prep time and extra time to cook, so that food could be quickly made and delivered to hungry customers. “We’ve also seen a huge spike in inventory prices with meats and vegetables,” Legesse continued. “We still have this ongoing debate about which items we have to cut from the menu because prices have completely changed due to COVID-19.” The Soul Spot, on the other hand, was closed to customers from March 20 to May 19 because its business relied heavily on catering large events like weddings and parties. “Catering was just knocked out,” said Ceesay, who is also the executive chef. “But when the demand for takeout and delivery became high in April, we extended the restaurant’s menu and provided more dishes that I normally wouldn’t make. The menu gives diners more choice and foods to try out.” During the same period, Ceesay also cooked meals, by himself, for local hospital workers. Rustik Tavern has worked intermittently over the last four months, taking off days here and there and shortening its hours. Metellus and his staff also worked with different organizations that fed local first responders, frontline workers and children. In terms of menu adjustments, Metellus said he wanted to stick with their staples and customer favorites. “Trying new food items didn’t really make sense to me at the time,” he continued. “We started selling our cocktails to go and we did make family-sized meals to try to bring people in.” Daleview was closed to the public for the first two months of the pandemic, but reopened on May 28 with an adjusted menu. It now features several new dishes; family-style, gluten-free smoked and fried chicken meal box-

July 2020

TAKEOUT (continued from previous page)

es; and canned cocktails, retail wine and liquor to go. “Since reopening, we have noticed a slight decline in sales due to the restrictions to takeout only, as we do not offer delivery and no longer have the same walk-in traffic,” Gandsy told us on June 25. “All orders are taken on our website, call in, or instore.” All four establishments were also eligible for the Payment Protection Program (PPP) and received financial assistance, allowing them to use funds to pay their staffs. “At the end of the day, it’s simply not enough to take care of 100% of your bills. We are struggling and have been struggling for a really long time, even though the resurgence was amazing,” Legesse said. Metellus echoed Legesse’s sentiment, adding that although the PPP doesn’t cover everything, every bit helps. “The possibility of aid early on is what kept me around. I definitely thought that we were going to close,” he said. “But the funding is what gave us the hope that we were going to be able to stay open.”

Looking Beyond Phase 2 Mayor de Blasio announced the morning of June 22 – the same day outdoor dining could be implemented – that nearly 3,200 NYC restaurants wanting sidewalk and curbside seating applied and qualified. Legesse was plan-

ning to apply for a temporary outdoor license when she spoke with us that same day. Since Bati Ethiopian Kitchen has a very small outdoor space, she said it would be ideal to maximize the sidewalk outside its doors to the curb. Legesse also noted that the establishment didn’t open for outdoor dining straightaway because she was thinking about her staff ’s health. “I’m on the defense about getting my staff to come back to work and actually exposing them [to the virus]. Some live far away and might not want to take public transportation. It also depends on how many staff members we would need to actually accommodate the outdoor dining,” she said. “If we do get the temporary license, one employee has already volunteered to do some shifts. But outside of that, I have no idea when we’re going to reopen with normal business hours because there will be so many guidelines. We’re just waiting, day by day, to see how things change.” Metellus said he wasn’t ready to immediately reopen for outdoor dining either, noting that safety was his main priority. “It’s all about doing it right and getting it right. We don’t want to have to shut down,” he said. “We’ll take our time to find the right way to do this and make sure we have staff on board, fully trained and ready to go. Moving forward, we’re going to have a reservation-only system in our outdoor patio space, hopefully.”

Rustik Tavern owner Frantz Metellus

week of Phase 2. However, he plans to transition into Phase 2 slowly with outdoor dining, noting that the staff can’t wait to see their customers in person. Daleview is also looking to expand their footprint in Brooklyn to a space with a larger commercial kitchen and interior seating. Ceesay is looking forward to getting his catering business back up and running, noting that weddings and receptions are being rescheduled for the fall. “If Phase 3 or 4 can bring the numbers back up, that would bring us back,” he said.

Like Metellus, Gandsy wasn’t ready to reopen his brewery during the first

Frontline healthcare workers enjoying food from The Soul Spot.

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June 2020, Page 13

New York's plan for police reform by Roderick Taylor

think we’ve got that now with these new laws. Roderick: What can you tell me about 50a, and why was repealing it so important? Hicks: 50a was a piece of legislation that gave protection to police officers by masking their record, it didn’t provide transparency. Now, you can look up the record of your local police officer who may have previously done some things that are inappropriate. Brandon Hicks, Governor Cuomo’s Director of African American Affairs

ore than a month after the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery, worldwide protests against police violence continue. New and old cases of police killings of civilians are gaining and regaining national attention. In the effort to deconstruct systemic police violence, New York seems to be making some strides with relatively aggressive actions. On June 12, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed a 10 bill police reform packet and a 4-part executive order, requiring all police departments to make measurable, legal changes to policing by April 1, 2021, or face risk of defunding. In an interview with the Star Revue, Brandon Hicks, Governor Cuomo’s Director of African American Affairs, describes what Cuomo’s executive order signifies in the fight against police violence. The phone rings, Brandon Hicks picks up, I’ve caught him as he’s preparing lunch. The interview begins. Roderick: Mr. Hicks, Thank you for taking the time out to speak with me. Regarding police reform, What was your role in assisting or influencing Governor Cuomo? Hicks: Thanks for having me. My role is to be a liaison between activists, black organizations, civil rights organizations, and the Governor’s office. During the height of the protests, I was in communication with the Chief of Staff and policy teams in our office. It’s my job to make sure the sentiments and demands of the people are communicated. Roderick: What were some of the things you felt were most important to make a positive change? Hicks: Several things, but definitely impartial prosecution. Before working with Governor Cuomo, I worked with National Action Network alongside Reverend Al Sharpton. One of the key things that we were pushing was impartial prosecution across the country. In New YorkI

Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue

Roderick: There’s been much talk about defunding the police, mostly reallocation of budgets for other programs. How does Governor Cuomo’s administration view defunding? Hicks: Its a 4 part process. First, police departments must adopt a plan by April 1st, 2021 to be eligible for future state funding. They must certify that they have engaged stakeholders in the public and developed a process on better-policing strategies and tools. The second thing is to present a plan to the Head of Police. Third, they must take into consideration public comments and feedback. Lastly, local legislative bodies need to approve the reforms by April 1st, 2021, or the NYPD will face ineligibility for future funding. Roderick: Regarding the relationship between the community and elected officials, what needs to improve? Hicks: I think its really important for people to have a grasp on who their elected officials are what power those elected officials have. On the state level, the legislature and the Governor have done a lot. However, the funding issues happen on the local level. This fight isn’t over. People need to go to their local officials, city council members, mayors, police departments, and keep pushing for change. Roderick: Mr. Hicks, you usually don’t see politicians be this aggressive on police brutality. Some argue that this is just a political response to the outrage. What do you say to that? Hicks: This wasn’t a Brandon thing or even just the Governor, the people who need to get the most credit are the protestors and the advocates. However, these issues have been very important to Governor Cuomo. In 2015 prior to my joining his office, he signed an executive order establishing a special prosecutors office that would investigate police killings, though that office wasn’t permanent. With the signing of this new bill, there will be a

permanent office. I’m very proud of that. Roderick: In your experience, what are some things that work as people continue to fight for change? Hicks: What works is having policy to go with your demands. Sometimes when people are in the streets they have slogans without policy demands. You can’t build a movement off slogans and hashtags alone. What made this moment work was activists working alongside the protesters and consciousness-raising on social media is important, but you need to engage policymakers. Roderick: Sometimes these issues seem larger than life, how do you stay encouraged and how can people get involved?

back at both the Governor and Mayor. “I’m concerned about the defund rhetoric. I don’t think people know what’s happening on the ground,” says Commissioner Shea in an interview with News 4. Though he admits the NYPD and other city departments were likely to experience budget cuts anyway, due to the current fiscal crisis. Many Americans share the same hopes as Brandon Hicks, for better policing and systemic change. In New York, the next nine months will reveal the effectiveness of the new police reform laws, as well as the NYPD’s and city official’s willingness to make serious changes.

Roderick Thomas is an NYC based writer, filmmaker, and Host of Hippie By Accident Podcast. Hicks: Zora Neal Hurston has a @Hippiebyaccident, quote that I really love. She says, if Instagram: Email: roderick@redhookstar.com, you’re silent about your pain they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it. I think it’s important for people to speak up. You can find your people and speak up. I would definitely advise folks to join organizations that are doing the work, Black Lives Matter, NAACP, Urban League. There are so many organizations that do the work of advocacy.

Site: roderickthomas.net

“If it wasn’t

Roderick: What are your hopes for the future of policing? Hicks: In an ideal world, police are the people you call when you’re in danger and they wouldn’t put you in more harm. Very few people want a world without police, but people don’t want to be policed unfairly and unjustly. On June 15, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed 3 additional laws requiring officers to do the following: report a weapon discharge within 6 hours, track arrest data, including race and ethnicity, provide medical and mental health assistance for those in need. While Cuomo’s recent efforts may be a step in the right direction, some families who’ve experienced police violence have some doubts. Constance Malcolm, mother of slain teenager Ramarley Graham, spoke out. “If it wasn’t for the justice committee, families, and community uproar, nothing would have happened. We want budgets to go to other areas, such as mental health, these cops aren’t trained for this. They’re’ killing us and getting away with it. This is why we are calling for a billion-dollar budget cut from for the NYPD,” said Malcolm. While New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, has agreed to make unspecified budget cuts and reallocations to the $6 billion NYPD budget, he currently opposes the billion-dollar budget cut proposal.

for the justice committee, families, and community uproar, nothing would have happened."

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has expressed public concern over the defund movement, at times firing

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July 2020

The story of Carroll Gardens, told by its bakeries by Michael Fiorito ness of these bakeries. They come from a time and an era in New York City that has passed. Carroll Gardens is no longer a neighborhood of Southern Italians. When I lived there, I remember seeing dumpsters all over, as new owners gutted their new homes, discarding much of the mid twentieth century furniture. With their arrival, the neighborhood changed completely. The family owned retail vacuum store disappeared. The garment store, where locals shopped to purchase fabric and sewing materials, was gone too. They were, perhaps, too common for the population moving in. And the little specialty shops, like the Salumerias and Italian food stores, closed as well. The people who moved in didn’t buy that kind of food, at least in the same amounts.

few weeks ago, I went to shop at Caputo’s Bakery Shop, and Court Street Pastry in my old Carroll Gardens neighborhood. During these hard times, there is nothing like ciabatta bread and sweet delicious pastries to bite back on that locked-in feeling. Thankfully, bakeries are considered essential businesses. Stopping in at Caputo’s first, I recognized a neighbor, Lorraine, who had lived across the street from me when I lived above Court Street Pastry. These days you can’t tell who’s who with everyone wearing masks. After I noticed her distinct bright red hair and then her strong Brooklyn accent, I shouted hello. “What brings you back here, stranger?” she asked. “Do you know what’s it’s like to go without ciabatta for a year?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “This place draws you back.” We exchanged updates on our fami-

lies. I told her about how my older son, who was half my height back then, is now six-feet-four-inches. “The neighborhood looks so different,” I said. “It has changed a lot. Everything’s more expensive,” she added, rubbing her thumb and first two fingers together. “The bakeries seem the same.”

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Caputos is where the breat is at

“They’re still here,” she said. “But the new neighbors aren’t as big into these kinds of breads and pastries.” “When I lived here, people used to line up around the block on holidays to make their pilgrimage. They drove in from New Jersey, Staten Island, all over the New York area.” “Those were the days,” she said. “Do they still get the daily run of customers?” “Well, many of the old-timers are gone. The people here now don’t buy in bag loads; they buy by the cookie, or by a single loaf of bread.” Standing a good five feet tall, she waved her short arms from her round body as she spoke. A golden cross with the delicate body of Jesus nailed to it glittered from a chain around her neck. Bakeries used to be everywhere When I lived above Court Street Pastry, the neighborhood was dominated by bakeries. Every morning, I’d wake up to the aromas of cheesecakes and almond scented spices wafting in from the store below. By the time I got out of bed, the bakers had worked almost a full day. I was also smitten by the smell of fresh breads coming from Caputo’s across the street. It was like my brain slept in a sugar paradise, flooded by tidal waves of cookies and breads smashing together in my dreams. Being so close together, each bakery has a different specialty. While Court Street makes pastries and confections, Caputo’s specializes in breads and cookies. Baked on premises, Caputo’s makes ciabatta and loaves stuffed with cheese and or prosciutto. Fresh out of the oven, ciabatta is like eating doughy clouds. When you yank off chunks of the flat, long bread, it is fluffy and soft, practically melting in your mouth. You hardly chew it. The Prosciutto Bread is stuffed with wedges of prosciutto and baked with cheese. Back then, I frequently saw the twin brothers who did most of the bak-

ing for Caputo’s. They were short and stout, with curly light brown hair matting their strong, square faces. Built with thick forearms and stout legs, they looked Promethean. The twins frequently disappeared into the deep recesses of the bakery, perhaps even below the surface, nearer to the core of the earth, I imagined. Their faces red, I would see them emerge with trays of freshly baked breads on roller carts. As if to not compete, Court Street doesn’t make breads like Caputo’s. They make sweets like canoli, sfogliatella, cream puffs, and cookies, some smothered in chocolate, some dipped in colorful sprinkles. Court Street’s crowning glory is the sfogliatella, or Lobster Tail, as it is also known, which has a croissant like exterior, though crunchier and more layered. Filling the inside is a mixture of whipped cream and custard, which must include near a pound of sugar. They also make a Sicilian specialty called mustazzola. This confection is a flat brown cookie with lighter-colored dough molded in the form of the Baby Jesus lying on top. You only find mustazzola displayed on Easter and Christmas. When I paid for bread at Caputo’s, ready to head over to Court Street Pastry, Lorraine and I looked at each other through our masks.

The truth of the matter is that I often felt caught between these two worlds. I grew up in Long Island City. While it was not an Italian American neighborhood, it was blue-collar like Carroll Gardens. The stores in my neighborhood were hardware shops, shoemakers, and video rental places. There were not French Bistros. When I left Queens, it was an insular place. Most of my friends did not go to college, or travel to Europe in summer. I escaped to experience the bigger world “out there,” first living in California, then in Manhattan. Then, when I moved to Brooklyn, mainly out of circumstance, the boroughs were fast changing. I became part of that change. I become one of the colonizers. One of the occupiers. I have one memory from a few years ago that says it all. Standing online at Caputo’s, an old lady, maybe five feet tall, shouted her order over the counter. “I’ll take three ciabattas, three Prosciutto Breads, four pounds of cookies, in two boxes.” I wondered how she’d carry it home. Then a young woman, next in line, made her request. “Can I just get a few of these in a bag,” she said, pointing at chocolate smothered cookies covered with sprinkles. Caputo’s Bakery Shop: 329 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | (718) 875-6871 Court Street Pastry: 298 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | (718) 875-4820

Yeast, but no hugs during pandemic “I would give you a hug, but you know,” said Lorraine. I nodded my head in agreement. “It was great to see you. Say hi to the family.” It felt incredibly sad to just wave from six feet away. As I left the store, I thought to myself about the unique-

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The ancient cookie counter at Court Street Pastries

July 2020, Page 15

Milan's ancient book depository is a testament to the future by Dario Pio Muccilli

he Brera Library, as known as Braidense, is the Italian national library, founded in Milan in 1770 by the Hapsburg empress Mary Therese, when Italy was not united and Lombardy was under Austrian control. Today it is one of the main book depositories in Italy as it collects all the publications printed in Milan, where the majority of Italians books are published. This role is very ancient, a role the library has had since 1788. Every year twenty thousand publications (books, revues, pamphlets) enter the library to be preserved for posterity in a rampart of the Italian culture. At this point, it contains over a million and a half volumes. For comparison, the US Library of Congress houses 16 million. “Our Library is really alive,” comments Mariella Goffredo, directress of this institution, “We have modern materials, as well as ancient ones, like manuscripts, books of the 15th and 16th centuries, collections of drafts and private letters written by the most important Italian authors. Many times I saw people excited by seeing our heritage, because on the drafts we own they are able to read the personal notes an author wrote before publishing some masterpiece”. The authors Goffredo alludes to are not simply writers, but national heroes in the Boot, where they are still regarded as fathers of the nation in different fields, like language, political thought and art. One of them, probably the most famous, is Alessandro Manzoni, whose historical novel, “The Betrotheds” (1827) has been translated into numerous languages, with thousands of copies on the desks of scholars and students from all over the world. Brera sports the biggest cache of Manzoni’s output, where many of his own autographed works

are contained. “Here the Italian students, who have studied him from primary school to university, can see how vital was his work, because at school many times there’s no evidence of this in the oft-repeated notions, learned by heart” remarks Goffredo. In this library people can study from the original manuscripts, as have some of the world’s most famous writers and historians, Manzoni included. “The Betrotheds” is a historical novel set in Lombardy during the 17th century plague. Manzoni researched the period by studying documents kept in the Braidense, which has both helped him in his work and then preserved it after he passed away in 1873. That’s just one reason we can say that this library is the mother of modern Italian literature. In its rooms, modern books are often accompanied by ancient manuscripts, like the “Hexameron” (387 AD), where its author Saint Ambrosius, patron of Milan, described the creation of the Earth by God. Such a holy book, whose title means “six days”, later influenced Italian writers for ages. One of them was Boccaccio, the writer of the “Decameron” (1349-53), a story set during a plague (it sounds contemporary) with ten young adults obliged to stay together at home in order not to get infected. The only way they could entertain themselves was telling stories and the “Decameron” collects those told during a period of “ten days” (the meaning of “Decameron”) of “lock-down”. Boccaccio started a genre, the collection of stories. Without him (and without Saint Ambrosius) probably today we would not read the Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” (1387-88) and maybe the “Forty-nine stories” (1938) of Ernest Hemingway.

Inside the historic Brera Library

So, in the Braidense, literature reveals its true shape, which is that of a chain tying writers of different ages, whose actions have always been fundamental for the development of the human culture. Since its foundation Brera has the purpose to teach people how literature is a living power, made up of intellectuals who spent their life to make it evolve. The heritage of the library is public, and the librarians love working there, maintaining the collection of both ancient and modern books, regardless of the author’s political background, race or gender. Here only the culture matters.

Reflecting in Red Hook by Diana Rickard Reflection: Selections from the Kentler Flatfiles went live on their website in June. Curated by five young Brooklyn artists, In Reflection is a study in pausing – exactly what we have been doing since March.

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent, woodcut, 26 in X 20 in, 2014.

he New York City art scene has been finding ways to thrive in the middle of this pandemic. Kentler International Drawing Space, which has been on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook since 1990, has figured out ways to continue to dialogue with the public. Their latest show, In

Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue

Ranging from figurative to abstract, the show engages light while inviting us to question surfaces. Katsutoshi Yuasa’s forest woodcut dramatizes where the sun strikes through branches in such a vivid way that it appears to be a photograph. Echoing this and dappled with subtle color is Emma Zghal’s delicate work on paper, “Imaginary Bark.” The lines and haunting tints of Stephen Negrycz’s charcoal nudes are almost ghosts of Egon Schiele. Nina Buxenbaum’s surreal doubles simultaneously mirror and defy each other. Reflection and perception merge in Meridith McNeal’s watercolor of Red Hook’s Freebird Books that depicts two scenes at once: what is behind the window and what is reflected before it. In Reflection also includes work by Stephanie Brody-Lederman, Karni Dorell, Susan Dunkerley Maguire, Pauline Galiana, Richard Gins, Joanne Howard, LUCE, and Portia Munson. The guest curators teach and study at ART YARD BKLYN, one of the education programs at Kentler. ART YARD BKLYN holds classes in the gallery and brings art education into public schools. While focusing on drawing and painting, students develop their thinking about art as they critique and analyze work, and cultivate ways to

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articulate their processes and intentions. When life as we knew it shut down, ART YARD BKLYN came up with “Create” - an online discussion forum on their website where participants are prompted on a theme and given suggestions for artmaking. They can then share and discuss, much like they had in in-person classes. Curating was new to Kevin Anderson, Evelyn Beliveau, Vera Tineo, Fatima Traore, and Quentin Williamston who were working with Kentler prior to shelter in place to put together a show using their database (funded by the National Endowment for the Arts). Yet they are seasoned in building community through art because they came up through ART YARD BKLYN. Quentin Williamston first started studying with Director Meridith McNeal when he was six. He worked with her to develop his portfolio for his college application. After earning a Masters degree in architecture he now teaches other young people. Kevin Anderson came to ART YARD BKLYN as a student viewing a group show at St. Joseph’s College. Entranced with a painting by an ART YARD teaching artist, he stayed through the lecture to talk to her, asking how he could be more involved. He now develops lesson plans for ART YARK BKLYN’s live Zoom classes, focusing on intersections between the natural world and urban environments. As people were sent home from work and businesses shuttered, Kentler and the guest curators decided to continue developing the show. They were

July 2020

Books by Quinn ‘SWIMMING IN THE DARK’

Tomasz Jedrowski

ames Baldwin, the late black, gay, American writer, used his work to boldly explore racial and social issues. According to Baldwin, his 1956 novel Giovanni’s Room (about an American man in Paris who falls in love with an Italian bartender) was “not so much about homosexuality, it is what happens if you are so afraid that you finally cannot love anybody.’’ The same assessment can be made of Tomasz Jedrowski’s recent novel Swimming in the Dark. Set in the 1980s, it’s a love story between two young men—an idealist and a realist—in Communist Poland. Ludwik and Janusz both come from nothing, but that upbringing has affected them differently. They have different ideas about where they want to go in life. “‘We haven’t had the same lives. We won’t agree on this,’” Janusz warns. A promising university graduate, Ludwik feels the stirrings of both his political and sexual awakenings. He dreads continuing his education under the Party’s filtering constraints. Even the promise of a job at the end of a long academic career holds no interest, undermined as it is by “a lifetime of lousy pay…our longing for Western comforts, our hatred for the Soviets, unmentionable or punished with dismissal.” Street-smart Janusz doesn’t deceive himself about his limited options for the future. He sees opportunities for prestige and personal advancement by working for the government. “‘The Party cares about us,’” he later says, more as a justification for compromising his integrity than a statement of true conviction. He knows the Party’s crooked— and how to profit from that corruption. The two men meet at a mandatory “work education camp” where they harvest vegetables for the summer. Janusz finds relief at the end of each day of hot, back-breaking work by swimming in the river. Ludwik comes across him one afternoon and the two strike up a friendship, and Ludwik dares to share with him the contraband book he’s

able to select works from the database through the website, looking for pieces that told a story, spoke to them personally, reflected a unique moment in time, or encouraged them to slow down for a moment and take things in. They were guided by Kentler’s Executive Director, Florence Neal, and senior ART YARD BKLYN educators who helped them develop a sophisticated curatorial eye and think about how images, themes, and techniques work together. The result is a dynamic show that anyone can now enjoy – without having to wait for the B61. We have lost a lot during the most difficult

been secretly reading: Giovanni’s Room. Of the book, Ludwik thinks, “This wasn’t distraction or entertainment: here was a book that seemed to have been written for me, which lifted me up into its realm and united me with something that seemed to have been there all along and that I seemed to be a part of. It felt as if the words and the thoughts of the narrator—despite their agony, despite their pain—healed some of my agony and my pain, simply by existing.” In Jedrowski’s novel, Baldwin’s book is a baton secretly passed between gay men. Ludwik first catches wind of it when his best friend Karolina, realizing something about him that he’s not quite ready to face about himself, gently steers him to a gay bar and he hears some older queens sniping about it. Once he tracks down an underground copy, it becomes a kind of compass for living an authentic life. Ludwik has a relationship with the book before he has a seriously intimate relationship with another man. He reflects that “the more I read, the more scared I became: the immensity of the truth and the lies I’d been telling myself all those years lay before me, mirrored in the narrator’s life, as if someone were pointing a finger at me, black on white, my shame illuminated by a cold, clear light.” Janusz, while not so ideologically stirred by what he reads, gets the message that Ludwik’s possession of the book carries: he’s “that way.” Their work at the camp completed, Janusz invites Ludwik on a spontaneous camping trip. They hitchhike and discover a kind of secluded Eden, “a large, brilliant lake” where they embrace for the first time, make love, and tumble out their philosophies of life. For several weeks they inhabit a kind of paradise. It’s when they’re set to return to opposite sides of their shared city (Warsaw) that their relationship will be tested. Janusz warns, “‘We’ve always been a secret, Ludwik. It’s just that until now there was no one to hide from.’” Swimming in the Dark is a sensitive, realistic portrayal of a real connection and a doomed romance, expertly capturing the strange, singular, inchoate feelings of the dawning of same-sex desire, which is so much deeper than sex, although sex is part of

it. Undressing after getting unexpectedly caught in the rain, a young Ludwik sees best friend Beniek naked for the first time and feels “something tingling inside me like soft pain.” Yet the earlier, foundational feeling is something else. As a child, all Ludwik understands of his feelings toward his best friend is, “I wanted him to be like my brother, to be around me always.” As Baldwin well understood, a gay man views the world through the eyes of “the other.” Thinking about what would interest him for his dissertation, Ludwik is again drawn to Baldwin’s work. His stories “dealt mostly with the black man in American society, of his discrimination and shunning. I could see its relevance, could see how it exposed the double standards of the West, how it showed racism and white supremacy behind the liberalism and democracy extolled by the capitalist powers. At the same time, of course, I could identify. I carried my difference, my shame, on the inside. It wasn’t visible…but it was there, and it was a danger.” Author Jedrowski understands the debt gay men owe writers like Baldwin for being unafraid to express the truth about themselves in their work. It shines a light to show others the way forward.

time in generations. It is heartening that so many continue to create and build community. In Reflection: Selections from the Kentler Flatfiles can be seen at: https://kentlergallery.org/Detail/ exhibitions/433 For more information about ART YARD BKLYN: https://www.artyardbklyn.org/ (Right) Meridith McNeal, Inside Outside: Freebird Books (Red Hook, Brooklyn), watercolor on paper, 75” x 55”, 75” X 55”, 2019.

Available For Private Events Red Hook Star-Revue

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July 2020, Page 17

Jazz by Grella The Streaming Scene by George Grella

ast month, I expressed pessimism over the future of live jazz in New York. I’m still unsure how many venues are going to survive into Phase 4 of the COVID-19 reopening, much less after, but some of the leading names have been trying to present live music to remote audiences, with the biggest name, the Village Vanguard, starting up their own, highly auspicious series in June. Live-streaming leaves the viewer/listener responsible for the some of the most important aspects of the experience, sound and vision. Sound boils down to the quality of the digital-to-analog converter connected to the computer and also the quality of the speakers, or the headphones, reproducing the stream. Then there’s the picture quality on the screen, and the fundamental issue of how the signal is getting into the home—do you have a reliable broadband connection to the internet? Here’s a look at some of the most prominent sources for live jazz in (though not always) New York City. The Village Vanguard: The flagship jazz venue in New York City, and thus in all the world, has launched a weekend series from the empty club. One group plays single sets Saturday nights at 7pm and Sunday 2pm matinées. Access is $7 for a single set. June 20 I caught pianist Vijay Iyer’s Trio—bassist Nick Dunston and drummer Jeremy Dutton—all the musicians were masked. Though not the same as being in the Vanguard itself, this was a satisfying experience, better than putting on a record or even listening to a radio broadcast. The music was of course high caliber, Iyer is one of the strongest and most distinctive pianists on the scene, he has a ringer in Dunston, who is an exceptional young player, and the trio had a fluid response, not only listening to and working with each other in the moment, but following the natural expressive and emotional curves of the music and the set as a whole. It was LIVE JAZZ! The Vanguard’s production was excellent, bridging the uncanny distance between the remote musicians and the home listener. The lighting was a revelation, the musicians illuminated with a mellow, velvety patina that one could never see in person with standard club lighting, and the camera work was of interest in and of itself, with multiple angles and closeups on the musicians, the viewpoint switching smoothly and smartly, and some hand-held camerawork standing in for the usual Vanguard intimacy. The spell only held while the musicians were playing, announcements meant for the home viewer but directed at the

Vijay Iyer Trio at the Village Vanguard

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empty club felt absurd—no dialogue but something like captions would be truer and stronger to the experience— and this is only a stopgap measure, but for the time being it’s not only something, it’s something that’s pretty damn good. (July schedule for the Vanguard includes Joe Lovano’s Trio Fascination, 7/3 and 7/5, and the Eric Reed Quartet, 7/11-12). villagevanguard.com The Jazz Gallery: One of the first venues to respond to the COVID-19 closure, with their (ticketed) interactive Happy Hour Hangs with individual musicians. They also have a Lockdown Sessions series of live shows streamed from each performers remote location, (tickets range from $10-20, generally, with lower cost for Jazz Gallery members). Can’t make a scheduled session? Their extensive archives are also available (ticketed, but if you paid for the live event, you can rewatch using your original code), though once you pay you have to wait for an access code to hit your email, and that process may take a day or two. The Jazz Gallery also has a nice selection of shows on their

"The Vanguard’s production was excellent, bridging the uncanny distance between the remote musicians and the home listener." YouTube page (some are audio only), and these are free but the club does ask for donations for these, the money being channeled by the artists to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and similar organizations. The sound from the Gallery sets is excellent, and the production straightforward and fine. But that’s only for archives, the Lockdown Sessions and Hangs are held from wherever the musicians happen to be located, using whatever equipment they have at hand. Some performers have professional miking, others seem to be using nothing more than a mobile phone, and lack of technical quality can be a distraction. jazzgallery.org

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Willy Rodriguez Quintet at Smalls

Smalls Live: Smalls has been live-streaming sets for years, and they’ve been continuing this with ensemble performances from the tight confines of their basement location. For those still working from home, sets start at 4:45pm daily (one per day) and are free (you do need to open a free membership account). Smalls massive archives are also available, including a couple dozen sets recorded since the club was closed to patrons, but to view those you need to becoming a Supporting Member of Smallslive Foundation, which helps them pay the musicians—that’s a $10 minimum one-time donation or a monthly pledge, all for the cause. And it’s a good cause. Smalls streaming system was always meant to augment, not replace, their live experience, so where the Vanguard had to rethink things from the ground up, Smalls still has the weird. claustrophobic fish-eye views, and a sound that’s okay but doesn’t have the depth or image of the Vanguard’s (or Jazz Gallery’s) system. You lose little by glancing away from the Vanguard stream, but the sound from Small’s doesn’t have much grip when you’re not focussed on the screen. And the protocol is worrisome—a recent set from drummer Willy Rodriquez’ Quintet had only bassist Peter Slavov masked, while tenor saxophonist Henry Paz and soprano saxophonist David Liebman were pushing air, and droplets, through their horns and into the enclosed space. smallslive.com Blue Note at Home Live Stream series: In more popular circles, certainly the most famous name in jazz—the Blue Note club has their own streaming shows. This is a weekly series, accessible via Instagram Live and the club’s Facebook page (that’s also where you can find the schedule and showtimes), with a modest suggested “admission” fee. At home means just that; as with the Jazz Gallery sessions, the musicians are playing and streaming from their own locations, meaning again that everything from the sound quality to the visuals varies wildly, while being hosted by the Blue Note’s social media. For club ambience, the Blue Note also has made their archives available for a four month window, access to those requires a membership, either $9.99 or $100 per month (the high-end price has perks for when the club can reopen, whenever that might be…). bluenotejazz. com

July 2020

Kurt's cool corner Prince Stripped Down Doesn’t Mean What You Think: One Nite Alone… Shows the Master at His Quiet Best by Kurt Gottschalk

rince was never lacking for fans. Years after he was getting regular radio play, his albums were still charting and his concerts selling out. While existing largely outside the music industry (or within the micro-industry he built), Prince maintained a substantial and remarkably faithful fan base. There aren’t many musicians who can play Madison Square Garden without a record contract. Building on that base, however, was a different matter. Without real A&R guidance, and while alternately eschewing and being denied media coverage, Prince didn’t readily reach new—or lapsed—fans. Which is a shame, because he consistently released gems—from hard funk jams to sensitive singer-songwriter sides—that would have appealed to different demographics, if only they’d been heard. Two of the most sadly overlooked of his post major label, self-released albums are a pair of more-orless solo acoustic albums, The Truth and One Night Alone, both buried as “bonus” discs in some (but not all) versions of poorly distributed box sets. The former is essentially a guitar album, the latter a piano set, and both could have found listeners around the realms of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple fandom. They may or may not have stuck around, but a little push into the wider consciousness would have helped to restore the reputation of being a vibrant and multi-faceted artist that Prince seemed only so concerned with maintaining. The Truth is a sometimes playful, sometimes political, generally upbeat record that was included as disc 4 in a hodgepodge of unreleased tracks on 1998’s Crystal Ball. One Nite Alone… was included in the fan club edition of the box set One Nite

Dead Dogs and Renewed Tricks in the Secret Lives of the Residents by Kurt Gottschalk

The mysterious multi-media project known as “The Residents” has long been big on reinvention. In the 1980s—already a decade and a half into the anonymous collective’s shared career—the outfit released albums reinterpreting the music of James Brown, George Gershwin, John Philip Sousa and Hank Williams, turning masters of American music into catchy, ugly, digital ditties. They’ve also been big on repurposing their own work: the 1992 album Our Finest Flowers combined older songs to create new tracks long before mash-ups became run-of-the-mill. Those are just a few examples from the course of a strange and storied career. And hardly content with simply making and remaking music, however, the Residents have almost obsessively built narratives and backstories and revisionist mythologies into their efforts. Their last major project, 2008’s The Bunny Boy, was a tale of fratricide played out through recordings, performances, a book, a comic book and a series of YouTube videos. As with everything issued by the dark, odd outfit, the claim that the story was based on someone the Residents had known years before is every bit as true as any

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Alone … Live!, and where The Truth is quick and clever, One Nite Alone… is intimate and understated. And as opposed to the 1983 session released in 2018 as Piano & A Microphone, both are very much completed and produced albums. The 10 on One Nite Alone… tracks are, unsurprisingly, mostly love songs, love found and love lost. There is what can be taken as Prince’s definitive take on Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” (a song he’d recorded before and a staple of live shows) and a perhaps less expected paean to virginity (“Young and Beautiful”), which shows his latterday maturity, if not without a bit of a leer. There’s also a rather surprising track (“Avalanche”) calling Abraham Lincoln to task for not going far enough to guarantee equality for emancipated slaves. But Prince’s lyrics don’t always survive close scrutiny. Musically, One Nite Alone… is a beautiful piece of work: long, floating melody lines, layered vocals and ethereal piano with bits of synthesizer and occasional drums. The brief record, just over half an hour, will almost certainly continue to languish in the shadows of the terrific new Up All Nite With Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection box set, but it will at least get better distribution under the Prince estate’s limited time arrangement with Warner Bros. The set includes the three live CDs (concert and after-show) from the original release and adds the previously separate DVD release Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas. But at least it’s in good company. For such a powerhouse performer, Prince rarely released live recordings, and the 2002 version of the New Power Generation—including Greg Boyer, Shelia E., Renato Neto, Maceo Parker and Rhonda Smith—was a band able to meet his

whims and demands. They’re not exactly a jazz band, and they’re not trying to play jazz, but they can sit within and wander out of a groove like the best of them. It’s not a collection that’s heavy on hits, but 11-minute versions of “Peach” and “Joy in Repetition” more than make up for it. Even before the set’s release at the end of May, talk was moving through fan boards and videos about a planned eight-CD or 13 LP plus DVD reissue of the 1987 double LP Sign O’ the Times, speculated to include three discs of unreleased material. As I’ve said in these pages before, there is plenty of material Prince sanctioned for limited release that most people haven’t heard without the estate dipping into the reject boxes of the fabled Vault. At that time (writing about the official release of the much bootlegged Piano & A Microphone) I mentioned the One Nite Alone set as something deserving of reissue. With that now in hand, an official issue of one of the solo piano concerts he was giving near the end of his life would complete a triptych of the Quiet Prince (with Piano & A Microphone as prelude). Supposedly he was readying one of those live shows for release at the time of his death. Time will tell, but there’s remains a fan base ready and waiting.

individual wants it to be. As with hard rock dinosaurs KISS, it’s all more fun if you take the bait and swallow the story. Like Bunny Boy, the Residents’ newest effort takes as its inspiration someone they knew (in this case, or in this storyline, indirectly) from years long past. Alvin Snow, aka Dyin’ Dog, was a Louisiana blues singer in the 1970s, somewhere near where the members of the Residents lived before relocating to San Francisco. Working with the band, the German label Psychofon, released a set of Snow’s demo recordings in a box of five 7” records last year. The Residents, inspired by the demos, recorded their own versions of those 10 songs. Both sets of interpretations are included on the new Metal, Meat and Bone: The Songs of Dyin’ Dog. As a concept, the story is thin. If Snow really existed, not much seems to be known about him; if he’s a fabrication, the fabric is woven pretty loosely. The songs are bluesy, but certainly don’t sound like the blues that was being played in the ’70s, or the type of music of any sort being recorded. Storytelling has long been one of the Residents’ strengths, but that muscle seems lightly flexed for the new project. But that’s OK, we take the bait and swallow it.

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As a collection of songs (with six more “inspired by” Snow on the CD release), it’s a fun listen. As ever, there’s a cartoonish, foreboding undercurrent throughout, coloring a fixation on mortality, delivered in a slurred, sing-song drawl with searing electric guitar. The production is cleaner than on many of their usually murky records, making it (for better or worse) an easier listen. Over the course of some 50 years, the Residents have made some astounding, and sometimes shocking, albums. Metal, Meat and Bone isn’t one of them. But that’s OK, too. They’ve also made some great songs, and with the new record, have made (or remade) a few more.

July 2020, Page 19

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