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PRIMARY SEASON COVERAGE CONTINUES PAGE 9
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JUNE 2021 INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
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New York has a new deGrominator...
Cool, calm, and capable,
KATHRYN GARCIA is plotting to win the mayoral race by George Fiala
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oah Syndergaard is a great pitcher with the NY Mets. The even better pitcher is his teammate Jacob deGrom. He's said of deGrom: "That’s an evolution thing, and he’s gotten better every single year. Great signs, and shows you how hard he works.”
Focused, calm, and even-keeled are words that I have found that describe Kathryn Garcia, the former Sanitation Commissioner who is running for Mayor. That's what made me think of a comparison with one of the world's greatest baseball players.
mediation of the Red Hook ballfields. I wanted to know how the next administration could do better. Her answer was right to the point.
ter Sandy had to make sure that the city's water supply stayed operational.
As I wrote here last month, what Sportswriter Matt Ehalt once initially impressed me was an anwrote: swer she gave to my question in "Syndergaard has has an up-close an online candidate debate last view of deGrom's historic season, February. and is impressed with how de- Covering the Parks Department Grom's demeanor never changes. for this paper has been frustratWhether he's dominating or hav- ing as they plod through the reing an off night, deGrom is the same. He epitomizes consistency.
That's a 100 mph fastball resulting in a swinging strike.
city's new Commercial Waste Overhaul program, a plan developed under her watch which will reorganize garbage truck routes and reduce pollution. When the original report came back showing how many truck miles could be saved with the reorganization, she didn't believe it and asked her people to double check their figures. They did, it was correct, and she went forward and got it done. That's how government is supposed to work.
DeGrom said after quite a few starts this year that he can only concern himself with the things he can influence. Run support and errors are out of his control. "You can tell by the way he looks at the hitter and when he's on top of the mound, he’s going to throw each pitch with 110 percent conviction and he’s convinced whatever pitch he’s going to throw, he’s going to get that hitter out," Syndergaard said. "His demeanor on the mound is very calm, even-keeled. When things don’t go his way he can hunker down and focus more and prevent small, incremental things from happening."
Garcia was wearing a different uniform back in the 2018 season.
She doesn't boast about any of these things, and I'm looking for"I've had to deal with the city bu- ward to having a mayor where it's reaucracy myself. I will fix it, be- about the job, not the job holder. cause I know how it works." I've heard her talk about the
As the mayoral race tightens up, the other, formerly polite candidates are starting to heap insults and abuse on their opponents. Not Kathryn.
She sticks to her message, which is that she is best qualified, and a track record to prove it. What is unsaid is that she's got the intelligence and personality to be a great leader. People who've worked under her have told me so. She's not really politician, which Garcia told me that this is not is actually an asset. She will govtough stuff—she's asked ques- ern well as she has the skills to go tions and simply answers them. the distance. This is not hard for her because In the off-chance that she's asked she has done the work and has something she doesn't know, she real answers. doesn't try to wing it, she admits As she quietly reminds voters, that's something new to her and she's been the Chief Operating says she'll check into it. Officer of the city's Environmen- She's got nothing to prove - like tal Protection Agency, the Sani- deGrom, she's paid her dues tation Commissioner, and has and is quite ready for the major been called upon in emergencies leagues. to head NYCHA, run the COVID food program for the city, and af-
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All Aboard! New Yorkers Tour Sustainable Sailboat from France by Erin DeGregorio
A
s I reported last month, French company Grain de Sail’s modern cargo sailboat finally docked in the Brooklyn Bridge Park marina in mid-May. The sailboat and its four crew members left Saint-Malo, France, on April 16 to embark on a three-month-long Transatlantic voyage that would make stops in New York and the Dominican Republic. The vessel is unique because it is powered by the wind—using two wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and hydro generators to meet its onboard energy needs and import raw materials. It cost two million Euros, or roughly $2,439,000, to build. Grain de Sail arrived in New York City on May 13 after 27 days on the Atlantic. It brought 8,000 bottles of organic, biodynamic, and natural French wine and 500 bars of chocolate to shore. I toured the 50-ton, 72-foot-long aluminum schooner on May 16, seeing firsthand what the vessel looked like – both above and below deck – and how it was able to make its journey to the Big Apple on schedule. About 450 people booked tours aboard the vessel during its twoweek stay in port. There, guests were able to learn more about the vessel’s advanced green transit features, as well as sip Grain de Sail’s signature wines with a slice of cheese and baguette. They were also able to take home a souvenir chocolate bar of their choosing. Matthieu Riou, Grain de Sail’s U.S. wines & spirits director, confirmed that all 500 chocolate bar samples and about 70 bottles of wine were consumed during the stay. The boat’s hull, which is designed for 26 pallets of cargo, was well insulated and clocked in around 65 degrees. This temperature kept the wine at an
appropriate temperature for travel, according to Riou. The pallets were also secured with hygrometry stabilization, making this sailboat the world’s first purposebuilt floating wine cellar under sail. All Grain de Sail wines were put through a “taste-resiliency test,” which involved placing bottles in cargo sailboats for at least three weeks at sea and tasting them at various intervals after they return—generally upon returning to the harbor, then one week later, and then another two weeks thereafter. Their wines also underwent malolactic fermentation, which Grain de Sail explained is a Matthieu Riou onboard Grain de Sail holding the cargo. process of winemaking (photo by DeGregorio) that is mostly used in Burgundies and Chardonnays and gives the wines a factories—including possibly a New York City chocolate factory, in 10 years. kind of creamy, buttery taste. The sailboat left Brooklyn on May 26 and proceeded south to the Dominican Republic. Once landing there after about a week on the water, the plan was to pick up organic coffee and cocoa beans. “This will create a virtuous circle between the Old Continent and the New,” Grain de Sail said of the three destinations slated for its most recent trip. The last leg of the trip, back home to Brittany, where chocolate and coffee are produced at the company’s factory, takes about one month. Though Grain de Sail only sells its chocolates and coffee in Brittany at the moment, plans are in the works to build more
Grain de Sail is beginning to design a second cargo sailboat, which will be twice the size of the current sailboat, hold around 250 pallets of cargo, and be operational by 2023. But the ultimate goal of the company’s founders is to build a fleet of cargo sailboats to pursue the search of high-quality products within its maritime, human, and environmental adventure. Riou told us that guests are eagerly looking to buy the wines and that Grain de Sail is also looking to expand its distribution. If any wine shops, wine bars, or restaurants are interested, they can contact him directly at matthieu.riou@graindesail.com.
Founded June 2010 by George Fiala and Frank Galeano with thanks to these guys
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June 2021
we get letters Wine and cheese by sailboat
This is such a brilliant plan and thanks for reporting this in the Star-Revue. The NYT had a small article on the subject but Ms. DeGregorio’s story offers more information and is more interesting. As a frequent traveler to Europe I’ve enjoyed their extraordinary wines and at affordable prices. Those
same wines never make it to the U.S.; and if they do, they’re usually too expensive. Those countries like to keep “the good stuff” for themselves! If this idea takes off, maybe we’ll have greater access to the beautiful wines of France (hopefully Germany, Austria and Italy will follow suit). But best of all is the idea itself. What a creative environmentally conscious business
SEND YOURS TO GEORGE@REDHOOKSTAR.COM OR POST ON OUR WEBSITE, WWW.STAR-REVUE.COM.
idea. Let’s hope it works! - Janice Aubrey
miss her. - Linda LaViolette
Linda Mariano was a wonderful woman.
This clown wont get far, He's vulgar, he lies, he’s not playing with a full deck. Sounds familiar? He has no chance of winning, with only claim to fame is his Father’s store located in the district. - Harry Mena
She is the definition of success a loving wife and mother. Simone who fought for her community. It was always a joy to meet her around the neighborhood and we will be
No fan of Frankel
Words by George Star-Revue Endorsements Mayor Kathryn Garcia has now been on the cover of the May and June issues of the Star-Revue. Last month I endorsed her and Paperboy Prince, who we interview elsewhere in this issue.
quite impressive in a Zoom debate that I saw. He has some impressive credentials – this from his website: I built Queens West—the LIC waterfront—under Empire State Development. And because I built it with climate change in mind, it was one of only 2 waterfront developments to not lose power during Hurricane Sandy.
While I'm sure there are things I will disagree with in a Garcia administration, I know that she will at least keep an ear open to different ideas. I also think that she will be beholden to no special interests, except for the interests of all of us. Her background is public service.
I started 12 small businesses in New York City.
I know that she takes the environment very seriously. Much as I will hate to get rid of my 2000 Taurus, sooner or later cities and gasoline cars will not be a viable mix. She will get us to the future that we need to have.
I’ve worked at the City Law Department, the Brooklyn Public Library, and was the first Asian-American appointed to the Campaign Finance Board.
As I've said more than once, she is best suited to improve the culture of our city agencies. Very often, government will have good intentions, but the same government gets in the way of good actions. While she's worked in the system, she's not part of it. While the other candidates fulminate over crime and policing, she has a simple and common sense policy idea—raise the minimum age to be a cop to 25, and make sure they live somewhere in the city. I also think that she will become a popular mayor that we will all be proud of. It's not easy having a loudmouth in your face every day, and she's definitely not that. Make Kathryn your number one pick and include Paperboy as one of your ranked choices. If there is somebody else I would rank, it is Art Chang. I never heard of him before, but he was
I launched NYC's tech startup industry, then diversified its workforce by creating the largest onramp for CUNY students to the NYC tech community. I built Casebook, the first web-based software platform for child welfare.
I know this city: I’ve served under 4 Mayors and 2 Governors. You know our famous "I Voted" stickers? I co-created NYC Votes to improve transparency in our democracy.
plaining that he had a good shot to run for president. Why? Because of his name he was already raising more money than any other candidate, and also that in polling, many people who claimed to be a supporter were unaware that this George Bush was a different person that the other George Bush. I like to say we deserve the government that we get, but I wish that we could be better. City Council As far as our local City Council races, I am only going to make an endorsement in the 39th District, the race to replace Carlos Menchaca. Jacqui Painter has done a very good job at getting people excited about politics. She had a nice turnout at her office opening at the end of May, and after a year of zooming in, it was great to turn out in person. Rodrigo Camarena has a well thought out plan as written in this paper. Alexa Aviles has the endorsement of the
It all sounds good and deserving of a place on your ballot. As far as the other candidates, only list them if you wouldn't mind them to be your mayor Your number 5 choice could be the vote that puts them over the top. You don't have to fill out the ballot - you can pick just one or two or three. Since all the candidates are Democrats, all their policies have a certain similarity. Nobody will enact anything too miserable (meaning like in Texas). The winners of the June primary will for the most part be the winners in November, which is why we are more interested in qualifications than policy. Unfortunately, that’s not how political elections work. I used to subscribe to Texas Monthly magazine. In 1998, they put George W. Bush on the cover, ex-
Zuniga at a recent debate in Coffey Park.
Democratic Socialists, a number of unions and Nydia Velazquez. But we are endorsing Cesar Zuniga this time. Zuniga first came to the attention of Red Hook when he ran for the Assembly against Felix Ortiz. He had the
HOTD0G AND MUSTARD BY MARC JACKS0N
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Red Hook Star-Revue
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SEARCHeD THE ENTIRE C0MiC!!
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Since that election, which was in 2014, Cesar has been gaining more and more experience. He has been a member of Community Board 7, which represents Sunset Park, since 2010, and in 2017 was made Chairperson. He has presided over land use and safety issues, which has given him knowledge of the workings of the Council. In his position he knows all the players in the district, and hopefully will be the type of councilman that uses his position for the good of the district and not only to take ideological positions meant mostly for the good of his career. We’re banking on it.
The Model Block As previously written in these pages, a local real estate developer has made an application with the Board of Estimate seeking permission to build a mixed use development which includes 15 stories of residential apartments. This would be Red Hook's first skyscraper in 50 years. Our position is that this exception to current zoning rules would lead to many more exceptions and probably a neighborhood rezoning, which would turn Red Hook into Dumbo or worse (if you feel that Red Hook is lacking large buildings than you will disagree with this). The application is pending, with the hearing date not yet set. We know that the applicant will be represented with the best lawyers money can buy. So should we.
D0N’T TeLL HOTD0G, BUT THIS M0NTH THERe ARE
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MUSSSSS ? TAARADADRD!R!
HeY, MUSTARD, WHERe ARE YOU?
WHeRE IS THAT DOG?
backing of Carlos Menchaca. We went with Felix because of his greater institutional knowledge due to his years in the Assembly.
©COPYRIGHT 2021 MARC JACKSON AND WEiRD0 COMiCS #26
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June 2021, Page 3
SUMMER OF RENEWAL FOR STUDENTS
new mask mandate
by NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter
T
his year has demanded that all families and students do so many things differently— they’ve had to think differently, learn differently, and connect differently with teachers, peers, and the whole school community. At the Department of Education, we know we also have to think differently as we look towards the summer. For the first time ever, we are inviting all students to join us for a free, fun-filled, enriching summer program: Summer Rising.
highly recommended as much as we’d love to see you in brooklyn, come see us when you get back.
This year, we will serve any student in grades K-12 in July and August who wants to participate, and I am excited to be partnered with the Department of Youth & Community Development to reimagine what summer can be. Our children’s days will be filled with innovative academic support, socialemotional learning, and engaging enrichment activities. These programs will be designed by school teams in partnership with local community-based organizations and offered in hundreds of sites across all five boroughs. After all the trauma and disruptions caused by the pandemic, our children need a chance to reboot their education in fun and supportive ways. It is time to begin regaining what the pandemic took away. Summer Rising is an opportunity for students to learn, grow, play, and explore the City around them – from field trips to Central Park and museums to dance and art classes. Summer Rising will also provide relief to families by keeping children safe, supported, and productive this summer. After enduring months when so many of our students were isolated from their teachers and peers, the opportunity to rebuild face-to-face re-
lationships will support their healing process and prepare them for returning to school in the fall. All K–8 students participating in programs will have access to academic classes and enrichment programming, including field trips, arts activities and outdoor recreation. Students will also engage in daily community building and social emotional learning activities. We know some students with disabilities may require additional supports to participate in Summer Rising, and those supports will be provided as needed. High school students will be able to complete courses-in-progress, make up credits to march towards graduation, and participate in academic acceleration opportunities. They will also be able to engage in important work experience and internship opportunities, like the Summer Youth Employment Program. As always, health and safety remain a top priority. Summer Rising will follow the rigorous health protocols that succeeded in keeping our schools among the safest places in the city. To support these efforts, parents will need to complete a testing consent form for their child so we can keep everyone healthy and safe! Summer Rising will be the start of revitalizing the powerful joy of learning together as we head toward a strong reopening of our schools in the fall. I strongly urge the families of every child who can join us over the summer to sign up now. To learn more about the options available for your child or to sign up, go to nyc.gov/summerrising. All programs are free, in-person, and have something to offer for everyone.
676 Thanks Teachers
In appreciation of the teachers and paraprofessionals who have been working hard this past year during the pandemic, PS 676 held a Teacher Appreciation Week from May 3-7. There were numerous activities throughout the week so the students and community could give thanks to the teachers and paraprofessionals. Many of them involved food and creativity by the kids at the school. This year Principal Figueroa wanted to have a Teacher Appreciation Week at the school but in previous years they have had a day to recognize the teachers at PS 676. On May 4, there were teacher and paraprofessional shout-outs on the school public address system. On May 5, there was a candy bag giveaway for the teachers near the entrance to the building. One sign said “Teachers and paras… we’re sweet on you! Please take a candy bag!” On May 6, there was a bagel breakfast with juice and pastries for the teachers that was donated by Edwin and Melinda Pacheco from Redemption Church. Edwin is the lead pastor at the church.
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Students created T-Shirts with a message
On May 7, the students used their creativity to show their appreciation for their teachers by decorating t-shirts and making rigatoni necklaces and paper crowns. The PS 676 students had the opportunity to design the T-Shirts with messages or make the necklaces while they were having lunch. The kids got to make and decorate the paper crowns for the teachers when they were in the YMCA after school program that begins in the building after the school day ends.—Nathan Weiser
June 2021
THE
STAR REVUE
GOES FOR A WALK
by George Fiala
1
I walked around the building and over to the Food Bazaar, and lo and behold I spotted a Water Taxi. In the old days (of maybe five years ago), yellow ferries brought people to IKEA and the now bankrupt Fairway from Pier 11 in Manhattan all summer. Every ferry would bring hundreds of shoppers and tourists to Red Hook. At some point, the service stopped. I asked the Food Bazaar manager if they would like having the service restored, and they were very interested.
The Star-Revue office is all the way at the end of Van Brunt Street. Most of you know that it is one of the more beautiful spots in the world, but in the winter it can be quite blustery and cold. So I get very happy once spring shows up and a neighborhood walk becomes delightful again. I went out the other day with my camera and did a little exploring. This year not only are we coming out from the cold winds, but from the scary pandemic as well, making it even more wonderful to get outside. Behind our office you see a piece of land once graced by the Revere Sugar factory. It is now to become an Amazon warehouse, one of three springing up in the neighborhood. It would be nice if Amazon would be a nice neighbor and talk to us about their plans with their warehouses, but for now all we can do is look (at the picture on the left). There's a cool little park (below) on the other side of the Food Bazaar auxiliary parking lot, to the right of the Waterfront Museum. Not only is it a beautiful bower, but has a maritime theme as well!
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It would be great if our local businesses and leaders could get together and figure out how to make this happen as the world opens up this summer!
4 6
I met my mailman Jack in the parking lot. He was working and I was taking pictures. You don't realize how much you depend on him until he goes on vacation and the building's mail goes all kerflooey.
To me this looks more like a beach than Valentino pier, but it's fenced off from the public. However, it's a beautiful view alongside the flowered path to Pier 41. The day I went you could see small waves...
If anybody thinks mail is dead, just check out that bulging mailpouch.
5 I met Luis, who is a chef at the Liberty Warehouse, the fancy catering place at the end of the pier. In addition to cooking, he tends to the herb garden next to the parking lot. All kinds of fresh spices and vegetables are used at the Warehouse as well as the River Cafe.
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All the way in the back of the pier, there's a brewery called Stone Rope. I'm guessing that witting on those white bench with a pint is kind of an awesome thing. The place is still under construction, but their website says they occasionally open as a pop up, for now. I believe I saw a video someplace of a Cajun band playing by the building, and lots of happy people hoisting a few. Finally, I'm putting the picture on the right in the paper in honor of the recent 80th birthday of Bob Dylan. This artsy sign graces the offices of the workshop, which you see just before you get to the brewery. At about this time, it started to rain, and my walk was over for the day.
Red Hook Star-Revue
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8 June 2021, Page 5
COVID-19 VACCINES for OUR
health, FAMILY family
COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and will help us all get back to the activities and people we love.
and
community! COMMUNITY!
VISIT nyc.gov/vaccinefinder OR CALL 877-829-4692 to get your COVID-19 vaccine. Health FREE, regardless of immigration or
Health
Bill de Blasio Mayor Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc insurance Commissioner status. Bill de Blasio Mayor Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc Commissioner
DO IT FOR EACH OTHER. GET VACCINATED! The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and free. TO FIND WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR COVID-19 VACCINE:
They’ve taken care of you, now take care of them by getting vaccinated together!
· Call 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692) · Visit nyc.gov/vaccinefinder · Visit nyc.gov/vcc for a list of sites offering vaccines without an appointment · Fill out the form at nyc.gov/homebound if you are a fully homebound and want to get a COVID-19 vaccine at your home Free transportation is available.
Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue
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June 2021
District 38 candidates make their case at debate by Brian Abate
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he People’s Candidate Forum, sponsored by Uprose, a Sunset Park social service agency, covered issues including jobs, climate and justice, while allowing the District 38 Council candidates to state their cases for being elected. The candidates included Alexa Aviles, Rodrigo Camarena, Erik Frankel, Jacqueline Painter and Cesar Zuniga. The debate was online and took place May 13. Though there were a lot of important questions asked, many of them resulted in similar answers from all of the candidates with the exception of Frankel. I think the question that produced answers giving the most insight into each candidate was simply, “Why should voters choose you?” Frankel spoke about his experience as a Sunset Park resident in addition to living in Vietnam and Myanmar as well as his experience raising a Vietnamese son as a single parent. “Deep down we all want the same things,” Frankel said. “We want clean streets, we want good schools for our kids, we want clean air to breathe. You don’t have to be of a certain skin color to feel empathy for other people.” Aviles also spoke about her deep ties to the community and said that she was inspired to run because the stakes are high for this election. “I am persistent, I am resilient and I think I offer a different perspective and form of leadership as a mother
Early Voting June 12–20
and as a professional woman,” Aviles said. “I have lived experience and a whole range of policy experience on all the issues that impact us. I’m offering my community to be a true fighter and fight for integrity, respect and human dignity for all of us because we all deserve that.” Zuniga talked about the importance of his professional experience serving as chair of Community Board 7 as well as his personal experiences as the son of immigrants. He praised the example set by his parents, especially his father who was a community leader and organizer. “I will continue to do what I’ve done in my public role as community board chair, which is to bring people together and create space to have really hard conversations,” Zuniga said. “I excel at bringing in diverse points of view and starting conversations.” Camarena also spoke about the importance of his background as an immigrant who was born in Mexico and became a U.S. citizen ten years ago. Like Zuniga, he understands the issues immigrants are facing because he has experienced them first-hand. He also believes his professional experience gives him an advantage over the other candidates. “Building immigrant and working class power has been my life’s work,” said Camarena. “I’ve been working on the ground helping deliver food
and I’ve been supporting too many GoFundMe’s for sick families that weren’t supported by their government. My vision is community-led and grounded and I think that’s the type of leadership we need.” The last candidate to answer was Painter, who highlighted the importance of her grassroots work in the Red Hook and Sunset Park communities. Earlier, she explained her plan to cut police funding by 60 percent if she’s elected and reallocate the money to mental health services, healthcare and other programs. “The city has truly neglected our district for as long as I can remember,” said Painter. “I have been working with the Red Hook Senior Center and on the ground distributing food. I’ve spent five years advocating for NYCHA tenants.”
A key point in the debate that divided the candidates was rezoning, as Frankel was the only one to voice his support for it, saying that “the same people who are against rezoning also don’t want last mile warehouses coming in.” In addition, Frankel didn’t agree with the other candidates who voiced their support for the wind turbine company Equinox, which will be coming to Sunset Park. They believe it is a form of renewable energy that they want in District 38, while Frankel believes the company is corrupt and will hurt District 38. Choosing a candidate in this election is an important decision which also allows everyone to have a say in the future of the community. The election will be held on June 22, so take advantage of this opportunity and vote!
Primary Election Day June 22
our future is on the ballot criminal justice reform
robust city services fair taxes
healthcare
Ranked choice voting is here! Now you can rank your favorite candidates and have a greater impact on our election. Learn more at: voting.nyc
Red Hook Star-Revue
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COVID-19 relief
June 2021, Page 7
Briefs When can we play ball?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NYC Parks will present an update on the reconstruction projects of parks in the Red Hook Recreation Area. It will be a Zoom meeting, open to all: Tuesday, June 15, 2021 6:30 p.m. Register at : nyc.gov/parks/input Registration is required to attend. This online event can be accessed from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can also dial in using your phone. The link to this meeting will be provided via email on the day of the meeting. Please check your email on that day. For more information, questions, or accessibility information contact Chris Yandoli, Director of Capital Projects, NYC Parks Brooklyn by 6/11/21 at BKspecialevents@parks.nyc.gov or call (917) 272-8453.
New York.
MTA Announces Plan to Purchase More Electric Buses and Install More Than 50 Overhead Chargers
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that the agency will increase its procurement of electric buses in 2021 from 45 to 60, marking the latest step in reaching the MTA’s goal of transitioning the agency’s 5,800 buses to a zero-emissions fleet by 2040. Recently, the MTA finalized a $39 million agreement with the New York Power Authority to install more than 50 overhead chargers to power new electric buses that will be coming next year to four of the MTA’s bus depots. In response, Renae Reynolds, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, released the following statement: “We applaud the MTA for continuing to make good progress toward reaching the agency’s goal of transitioning to an all-electric, zero-emissions bus fleet by 2040. Electrifying public transit fleets is mission critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector, which is the largest source of air pollution in
NEW YORK NEEDS A MAYOR WHO DOESN’T BACK DOWN
“This is also an opportunity for a more equitable plan to combat climate change. Emissions from diesel buses cause great harm to environmental justice communities and we strongly believe that, as the MTA phases in more electric buses, priority must be given to replacing diesel buses that serve these communities.”
Gowanus Art Night
GOWANUS NIGHT HERON will be staged on the banks of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal. Location is Bond and President, and will take place Saturday, June 5, from 6-9 pm. They tell us: "on the evening of June 5, a total of 19 local artists will descend upon the banks of the Gowanus Canal like the elusive blackcrowned night heron. The free event, Gowanus Night Heron, is a pop-up exhibition of work spanning photography, painting, drawing, collage, ceramics, textiles, spoken word, and light and video installation. Staged outdoors, in wooden pods on the lot of Rabbit Movers, this intimate and ephemeral gathering of local artists is a testament to the spirit of creativity and community that
DEMOCRAT
April 25, 2021
https ://naturalbornschmoozers. bandcamp.com/track/cross-thatbridge-like-john-lewis It’s a folk gospel Piedmont style tune, & this is a simple bare bones presentation, wide open for interpretation.I only recently recorded this - Covid everywhere & being broke, till recently Iwasn’t attempting it till now. I threw up a Bandcamp page it is onit will be a few weeks till it Spotify and iTunes. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the song to Raphael Warnock, Stacy Abram, Hakeem Jeffries, etc. I hope the song will help energize the fight against voter suppression, oppression, racism, tyranny, & help keep the fight for democracy going.
“For years, New York City provided families in shelter with vouchers that couldn’t pay the rent. We offered them hope, but never delivered them solutions that could help – a cruel bait-and-switch that left families struggling,” said Christine Quinn, President and CEO of Win, New York’s largest provider of shelter and supportive housing.
Eric Adams doesn’t run away when things get tough. He stays, he stands up, he fights back, and he delivers. A REAL PLAN TO PROTECT NYC FROM VIOLENT CRIME MORE MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF NEW YORKERS HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESSES LEFT BEHIND
ELECTION DAY: JUNE 22ND EARLY VOTING: JUNE 10TH - 20TH
Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue
A friend of the paper writes us: This is Jeff Alexander. We›re FB friends. Right after John Lewis died I wrote this song, "Cross That Bridge Like John Lewis.»"It is linked below.
Thousands of homeless families have new hope of finding their own permanent apartments in New York City after a tireless, years-long advocacy campaign by Win and a coalition of housing organizations including Neighbors Together, VOCAL-NY, the Urban Justice Center, and Picture the Homeless. Under the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson, the New York City Council approved a dramatic increase in the value of CityFHEPS housing vouchers. With the increase, tens of thousands of additional apartments will be available for rent – ensuring that homeless families can exit shelter more quickly. Importantly, the change is expected to bring significant savings for taxpayers by reducing the amount the city spends to provide shelter to families.
both public safety and police accountability.
ericadams2021.com
New recording
Easier affordable housing
I’m running for mayor so New York can have
@ericadamsfornyc
Artists include: Natale Adgnot, Nikola Bradonjic, Diego Briceno, Jessica Campbell, Jessica Dalrymple, Valeria Divinorum, Miska Draskoczy, Ari Eshoo, Rich Garr, K Haskell, Jovana Obradovic, Bonnie Ralston, Niklas Ramo, Sonjie Feliciano Solomon, Tamara Staples, Arden Sudyam, Johnny Thornton, Brad Vogel, and Kasia Zurek-Doule
If your paper would publish a small piece on the song, that would help.
Beaten by Cops, I Became One Eric Adams
sets Brooklyn apart. Gowanus Night Heron was founded by artists Bonnie Ralston, Miska Draskoczy, and Kasia Zurek-Doule.
PAID FOR BY ERIC ADAMS 2021
www.star-revue.com
Under Intro. 146, drafted by Council Member Stephen Levin, the CityFHEPS voucher will be tied to the amount of the federally-designated Fair Market Rent. The value of CityFHEPS vouchers will be regularly adjusted, ensuring that the voucher continues to allow families to move out of shelter and into permanent housing. For example, under this bill the voucher for a mother with two children will immediately increase from $1,580 per month to $2,217 per
June 2021
Election 2021: Spotlight on Alexa
A
fter growing up in East New York and having lots of experience fighting for marginalized communities, Alexa Aviles feels she is the right candidate to be the next councilperson for District 38. Aviles talked about how there are all kinds of programs and resources across Brooklyn and the city that residents might not know about. “Residents need to have access to those resources,” Aviles said. “There is certainly not enough and that is why funding need is critical. A people’s budget is critical to our recovery and our thriving as a community.” Four topics she would focus on in the Council are education, transportation, NYCHA and environmental justice. She has been endorsed by US representative Nydia Velazquez and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. She grew up in a poor community that was isolated and did not receive much support but yet it was also a vibrant community. “Coming from a working class community, a community with deep poverty, all of that has influenced who who I am as a parent and as a citizen,” Aviles said. The community was highly policed and many families faced incarceration. She remembers the drugs, violence and shootouts that took place. She believes that growing up in East New York informed who she is as she understands the problems. Aviles grew up in a single parent home. Her mother worked as a substance abuse counselor at Alpha School on Linden Boulevard helping families with substance abuse problems. She was the youngest of seven children. When she was a kid, the family would go to many community events. Sometimes Alexa would not want to go but her mom said something that stuck with her. “She told me, ‘if your community is not well, then you are not well”, Aviles said. “I knew that was a serious thing she was telling me. I did not fully understand what she was saying at the time, I was too young, but it always stayed with me. Reflecting back later on in life, I realized the important lesson she was telling me.” Aviles was first in her family to attend college. She graduated from Columbia University and then later on from Baruch College’s graduate school of public and international affairs. She takes pride in being the first. She was looking for paid internships in college and found one that was recruiting women of color into philanthropy. The fund that she worked for in college and then five years after provided grants to environmental organizations in Mississippi. In addition, they funded reproductive rights and justice organizations and worked with native communities to support cultural revitalization. “I traveled all across the country and met with incredible leaders who were fighting big fights,” Aviles said. “I think that experience showed me that a lot
Red Hook Star-Revue
Aviles
by Nathan Weiser
of our communities are fighting the same fight. People are fighting for basic human dignity and resources. ” Her next career move was working at the Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance (JEHT) Foundation. She focused on addressing mass incarceration. She worked on this issue across the country and also focused on NYC and Rikers Island. She then went to the Scherman Foundation. She started as a program officer where she created a reproductive rights and justice program. She worked with the Brooklyn Arts Exchange and supported Red Hook Initiative and Added Value Farm with assistance. She is active in a campaign to decommission fuel plants. Diesel plants were placed in Gowanus, close to Red Hook, and in Sunset Park. She says that micro grids are better and we should remove polluting infrastructure and instead use clean energy. NYPA is the state organization that put in the plants and some of the 10-year contracts are coming up for renewal soon. She thinks it is the right time to be done with this harmful technology. Another area that she would focus on is the extensive FEMA project at the Red Hook Houses. “The FEMA project was originally supposed to happen in phases across the campus and then they decided to do it all at once,” Aviles said. “It has really been an incredible hardship for the residents of Red Hook. The residents have been screaming from the rooftops that they were not meaningfully engaged in any decision that was being made.” There are now no benches and no playgrounds for the residents to use. She thinks an area should be designated for the seniors since the senior center is closed due to Covid. “The city has not meaningfully figured out how to engage the residents in a front facing way,” Aviles said. “Residents feel they are constantly brought in after the fact. We have to figure how to make sure that residents are front and center. That will be the thing that will drive how I am going to engage and try to support our residents in NYCHA.”
Alexa Aviles wants to be your City Council representative.
public school students and believes that a quality education should be the case for all New Yorkers. Another issue will be environmental justice issues. It includes everything from decommissioning the deisel plants and addressing environmental remediation in Red Hook. She believes there are concerning environmental complexities that aren’t being addressed. She wants to fully fund public housing to build a city where every New Yorker can have a safe, quality and dignified home. “We are in a community that has received many budget cuts over the years despite our high needs. We are going to be fighting for equity and fighting for the resources that we deserve as a community.” She has plans to improve the MTA bus as it is often unreliable, crowded and a necessary resource for Red Hook. The residents of Red Hook have given her information about improvements that they want and she wants to fight to implement what the city has ignored. “Our public transportation system should be robust and well managed,” Aviles said. “We need to repair it because it is an old system but it’s the heart of New York City. If we are going to address climate change, we have to address our public transit system.”
A goal of hers is to electrify the whole fleet of buses and she supports making all the school buses electrified as well. To get the buses to operate more reliably she thinks curb lift ups and countdown clocks will help. “We have to speed up the buses and part of that is making sure there are designated bus lanes so that buses can move quicker and get people where they need to be,” Aviles said. “If you don’t create solutions that are led by that experience you are creating false solutions because it does not consider what is truly happening on the ground.” She thinks at some times of day more buses should be added to prevent overcrowding and people not being able to get on the bus. “I think we can manage an improving bus infrastructure in Red Hook that is responsive to what community needs,” Aviles said. “It is vital. It is the only form of transportation in and out of Red Hook.” She has sat in many PTA meetings with leaders from Red Hook over the years so she is aware of how parents have struggled with the issues of their school communities. She has lived in Sunset Park for over 20 years and her husband grew up in Red Hook.
During the ongoing resiliency project, residents have lost gas and hot water and there has also been dust in a lot of places, which has led to a lot of frustration. When there is a gas outage in a building, the Human Resource Administration (HRA) is supposed to give a voucher for takeout food. Aviles said the only options are unhealthy and that they should have access to healthy alternatives. She added that it can also be a frustrating process actually getting the voucher. “When you engage people and are people-led, you come out with better solutions,” Aviles said. Part of her platform will be improving education. She is a mother of two
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2021
Election 2021: Spotlight on Paperboy
Love Prince
A candidate to be taken seriously by Roderick Thomas
T
he race for New York City mayor is intensifying, as candidates campaign towards the June 22nd primary date.
Currently, 14 candidates are running for a chance to lead the largest city in America into a new ‘post pandemic’ era. Among these candidates is Paperboy Love Prince. On the surface Paperboy may seem like an unlikely candidate, however, after a closer look he might be what New York needs to bounce back differently and better. In a recent interview with the Star Revue, Prince discussed his back-
ground, world view, critics and political platform. Here is what the mayoral hopeful had to say. Roderick: Paperboy, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to have this discussion. Paperboy: Thank you, I’m happy to have the opportunity. Roderick: Let’s jump right in. Tell the readers a bit about your background. Who is Paperboy? Paperboy: Well, I am from Brooklyn born and raised. My grandparents, Wilbert and Sarah McKinley started a church in Clinton Hill area in the mid1960s, it’s still active today. My grandfather actually had a street named after him, right around Classon. So my roots go deep in Brooklyn. We traveled quite a bit, I grew up in a family that was focused on community work and spreading love, it’s a core part of who I am. Roderick: Some folks may feel like love is too mushy of a theme to campaign with. Why focus on love?
identity politics as a tool. How do you respond to that? Paperboy: I don’t rely on identity politics, I address issues that are facing New Yorkers. My clothes are influenced by my African and Latin American roots, full stop. I discuss issues that other candidates may shy away from, like the opioid crisis and depression among white men for example, home and food insecurity and police brutality. That may be unpopular but this is real life. Roderick: Let’s discuss your political platform. You are proposing basic income for New York City residents. Can you elaborate? Paperboy: Absolutely! I am focused on providing basic necessities and social services for New York City residents to access. A basic income budget of two thousand dollars a month is more than doable. We have the ability to provide New Yorkers with more stability and create a better New York.
Paperboy: In order to do the job of mayor well, you need to have a genuine interest and love for the people of Roderick: Critics might say that while New York City. How can you focus on social services are great, it’s too idealisstopping hate, but not spreading love? tic. Is it too idealistic? Roderick: You mentioned your travels Paperboy: Are firefighters, police offiwhen you were younger. How did those cers, or road construction too idealisexperiences shape your worldview? Do tic? How can we have the ability and they influence how you would govern wealth to stabilize New Yorkers and not do so? Healthcare, housing, food, as New York City Mayor? these are basics. The pandemic has Paperboy: I’ve had the opportunity to shown us that many more things are live in different cities in the US, and in possible for corporations, state and different countries. I traveled to the local governments. Are food, housing Caribbean, North Africa and Spain. and healthcare too idealistic? I’ve also visited Panama and Colombia where some of my family is from. Roderick: You are the youngest candiI learned how blessed we are with date running. However this is not your resources in America and New York first time running for public office. specifically. We could be utilizing How do you address naysayers who go our resources better to serve people, after your age and qualifications? there’s no reason why there should be so many people struggling with housing and food — basic needs. Roderick: Based on your dress, identity etc. Some people may say you are using
Red Hook Star-Revue
Paperboy: Not only have I campaigned for public office before. I’ve advised and consulted some of the largest corporations in the world around the toughest issues. I’ve also run small businesses that have served
New Yorkers. I understand what New Yorkers are going through, because I am an average New Yorker. I am actually the only candidate who has a roommate. When I speak about small business, corporate strategy, the housing crisis, police brutality etc., I’m speaking from experience, not just talking points. When you look at some of the other candidates their qualifications boil down to wealth. That is not leadership. Some candidates fled the city during the height of the pandemic and protests. It’s clear, being rich, or having rich friends donate to your campaign is not a qualification.
Paperboy Prince wants love to reign over NYC.
I’ve been in rooms with some of the other candidates, and in those spaces the true leaders emerge. I’m a leader, so I’m not going to get in bed with the same folks that got us into this housing crisis.
Paperboy: [laughs] The short and sweet answer is that I was a paperboy and people caught on to my message of spreading love, folks started calling me Paperboy Prince, and in essence that’s how I got my name.
Roderick: Over fifty thousand evictions have been filed and unemployment insurance will end in the coming months. How do you plan to assist those in need of employment?
Roderick: Paperboy, thank you so much for speaking with me, it’s been a pleasure. Best of luck on your campaign for New York City mayor.
Paperboy: We are coming through a once in a lifetime pandemic, we need once in a lifetime changes and solutions. In my grandparents era, one could work a single job and support themselves. We don’t live in those times anymore, we have to be entrepreneurial, innovative and brave to survive in today’s society.
No matter the outcome, Paperboy Love Prince has certainly highlighted what leadership is and isn’t. We should all reconsider how we think about basic necessities and social responsibility.
This is why I am addressing the basic necessities of New Yorkers. Food, shelter and health are basic. New Yorkers shouldn’t go hungry or homeless because of corporate greed, political disinterest and lack of love. We shouldn’t have to choose between food or rent, I’ve been there. Roderick: Paperboy, there are several frontrunners in this race. How do you intend to win, what is your strategy? Paperboy: Innovation, creativity and love drives my campaign. I’ve led some of the largest protests and marches in New York history. I have the people’s support. Solving our city’s issues is going to take creativity and experience. We have to believe better is possible, and I’m here to accomplish that for New York City. Roderick: Last question. How’d you get the name Paperboy?
www.star-revue.com
Paperboy: Thank you so much!
Roderick Thomas is an NYC based writer, filmmaker, (Instagram: @Hippiebyaccident, Email: rtroderick. thomas@gmail.com, Site: roderickthomas.net)
"We shouldn’t have to choose between food or rent. I’ve been there." June 2021, Page 11
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June 2021
Election 2021: Spotlight on Antonio
Reynoso
Q & A with Antonio Reynoso, Democratic Candidate for Brooklyn Borough President by Brian Abate
BA: Could you tell a little bit about yourself, your background and your ties to Brooklyn? AR: Sure. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I was born in Cumberland Hospital. My parents are from the Dominican Republic. I grew up with welfare, food stamps, Section 8, Medicaid, you name it. My family had to take advantage of it all just to give me a fair shot. It’s why I’m standing here before you as a council member and a candidate. Brooklyn gave me everything. Gave me my education from public schools.
As a young man I was stop and frisked several times and felt helpless. I wanted to help do something about that. We were able to pass the Right to Know Act. It makes it so that police officers have to let you know of your constitutional right to deny searches when they’re consent searches. The other part is the ID Bill. After any investigative stop, a police officer now has to give you their card with their name, rank and precinct. If you feel like any injustice was done or you want to compliment that officer, you now have their information.
I grew up in the south side of Williamsburg, so I'm representing the district that I’ve lived in my entire life. So it’s been a dream.
Something else. COVID happened and I was able to pass outdoor dining legislation where we are now re-imagining our streetscape.
BA: My second question is what got you into politics?
BA: I am curious about how you feel about term limits. If it weren’t for term limits, would you continue to want to stay on as a council member?
AR: I went to a college in Syracuse that had the eighth lowest proficiency rates for English, arts, and math in the state. One of my mentors told me that these kids need tutors that look like us. So I helped start an organization called Band of Brothers on a New Direction. A lot of people came to tutor the kids because of the work that we did. And it’s when I kind of really felt that I could take on a leadership role and help people. When I graduated, I started working for ACORN, which was an organization that does organizing. It’s what Barack Obama did. I really wanted to emulate Obama when I came out of college. I worked for a year and a half on a campaign to better the conditions of childcare providers. Then I cut my hair, put on a suit and went to go see Councilwoman Diane Reyna for a job. I got hired and worked my way up from organizer in Ridgewood to a budget person to a legislator person. I finally became her chief of staff. I ran for her seat 7 years ago and won! BA: Can you talk about your experience as a councilmember. AR: I came into the City Council to do two things. Environmental justice and police reform. I was able to pass two pieces of legislation. One is the Waste Equity Bill, which reduced the amount of trucks running through our district — lowering the noise and air pollution, and the deaths that occurred in accidents with garbage trucks. I also worked on Commercial Waste Zoning Legislation that will remove one million miles of truck traffic from New York City. It is arguably the most meaningful piece of environmental justice legislation that we’ve passed in the Council. I feel like I addressed that issue in my community, doing it in a holistic way that will improve the entire city.
Red Hook Star-Revue
AR: I’m not sure. It depends on what was happening throughout the city. There’s so many variables as to why somebody runs. I’ve done eight years of work here. There’s somebody running for my seat that I support in Jennifer Gutierrez, who I think is going to do a good job. Again, I’m not sure what I would have done in a scenario where there weren’t term limits. BA: Kind of going off of that. What led you led you to run for Brooklyn Borough President? AR: Yeah, so term limits is a part of it, but look, I care deeply about service. The Marty Markowitz in me cares deeply about making sure we promote Brooklyn as the center of the universe. I really want to make sure that I show up for Brooklyn. I don’t want to hear about Seattle and San Francisco and these European countries doing things before we do it. They should be modeling after our work. So I want Brooklyn to really lead the way... Not only in how we shape our borough, but our city, our country, and the world. BA: An issue in Red Hook is these last mile warehouses coming in like the UPS facility and Amazon who will bring a lot of big trucks. How would you go about addressing that as borough president? AR: Yeah, there’s a new reality that we’re all dealing with during COVID and definitely post COVID, which is
a lot of people are buying stuff on the internet. Moving freight is extremely important. The first thing we need to make sure is that all of these vehicles are electric vehicles. The next thing is we need to make sure we’re taking care of these workers, that they’re being paid an appropriate wage. That they’re given paid time off, vacation time, health care. We can solve those problems through good policy. But we need to accept the reality that Reynoso has the backing of Nydia Velazquez the way we are receiving goods or purchasing goods warrants prehensive planning. I want to have a an expansion of these vehicles and community board-led process to plan that we have and we can try to make it for the future of every neighborhood. efficient and worthwhile. It’s going to take a collective efBA: Another suggestion in Red Hook fort from all of Brooklyn, including is using the waterways more as far as Sheepshead Bay and these places that transporting goods? Is that something haven’t seen a rezoning for over 60 you’ve thought about yet? years. That’s another thing we’re goAR: The city of New York has moved ing to do, work for our land use. to almost exclusively moving trash The last thing is reforming community through barge and using our waterboards. I think community boards ways in a meaningful way. If there have a lot of value. There consist of a lot was an opportunity to expand our acof people that have spent their blood, cess to waterways through building sweat and tears in volunteer positions and just really activating our rivers, of to help their neighborhoods. course, I support that. I want to give them more informaBut I don’t think our waterfront tion—have training and forums to inshould be exclusive to just commerce. form them on the issues. We’ll be doThere should be access to the watering a lot of work on community boards ways for the general public. I'm a big and we’re very excited about that. supporter of passenger ferries. BA: Thank you, it’s great to hear. ShiftExpanding ferries to neighborhoods ing gears, can you talk about what that are poor and more diverse is exseparates you from the crowd? tremely important because right now ferries seem to be more about access AR: I believe I’m the true progressive for affluent waterfront developers than in this race. A lot of people want to use the term progressive. But what I think they are for everyday New Yorkers. progressive is, is somebody that has BA: So what's your game plan once focused all their life on helping people you are in office? that are less fortunate. Making sure AR: The first thing is day one—when that we deal with the root causes of we get in—we’re going to start work- problems and not just put band-aids ing on outfitting every single public on the issues that are very important. hospital with a state of the art birthI feel that my experience as a poor ing center. Black women are dying at black boy from the south side has reeight times the rate as any other womally put me in a position where I’m en in New York during childbirth. not empathetic of what’s happening Making sure that the facilities in poor because I have the real experience. neighborhoods are comparable to the But also, I’m a coalition maker. I’m best hospitals in the world. looking to appeal to all areas of BrookI want Brooklyn to be the safest bor- lyn, not just my base and I think I can ough in the city to have a baby. So do that. I’ve shown in my history as that’s the first thing we’re going to do. a Council member that I can bring We also are going to start doing com- groups of people together to solve complicated and tough problems.
"I want Brooklyn to be the safest borough in the city to have a baby. So that’s the first thing we’re going to do." www.star-revue.com
BA: Lastly, I’d like to turn it over to you. Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers? AR: We’ve never had a truly progressive borough president and I truly believe, deeply believe that Brooklyn is the most progressive county in the country. It’s about time our BP reflects that. I’m hoping when the time comes that I can be the representative for all of Brooklyn and for the folks in Red Hook.
June 2021, Page 13
Election 2021: Spotlight on Eric
Adams by John McGettrick
Good for Red Hook
I
t is apparent, even at a distance, that among the primary concerns of most New York City voters are safety from crime and the need for the police department to insure increased public accountability for it’s actions. While these issues resonate in Red Hook, the community also faces at least two major environmental challenges in the immediate future. Currently a number of massive distribution warehouses are being built on this small peninsula.
other issue is the failure to actually implement flood protection for the entire Red Hook community.
When operational, in the near future, their trucks will generate massive amounts of air pollution and create traffic gridlock. In addition, as we enter this year’s hurricane season, more than eight years after “Sandy,” the
He knows from first-hand life experience, the need to not only reduce crime, but also continue to reform the police department. He and his staff know Red Hook issues far better than any of the other candidates. Over the
Subsequently it is critical that the next mayor not only fully understands these issues, but is committed to taking immediate remedial actions. After living in Red Hook for more than 30 years and intent on returning I strongly believe that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams would be best qualified as Mayor to address these issues quickly.
years he has participated in numerous community meetings and provided assistance to the local public schools as well. His office has routinely been accessible and helpful. Regarding the mega warehouses, as Mayor he could require traffic studies, the use of electric delivery vehicles and reliance on water borne product supply, rather than relying solely on tractor trailers. And he could actually implement long overdue flood protection measures. These environmental concerns are also of critical importance to the adjacent communities of Sunset Park, Gowanus and the Columbia Waterfront . John McGettrick led the Red Hook Civic Association for many years, as
Eric Adams at the Red Hook Cruise Terminal a few years back.
well as a founding member of GAGS (Groups Against Garbage Sites), and a patron of Sunny's in the prior century.
Election 2021: Spotlight on Roderigo Camarena
A Just and Accountable Recovery
S
by Rodrigo Camarena, Candidate 38th District
uperstorm Sandy led to the displacement of thousands, costly damage to our already deteriorating NYC public housing infrastructure, and the closure of thousands of small businesses. Its legacy: $19 billion dollars worth of damage and frontline communities forever changed by our growing climate crisis.
fits Program so that worker healthcare and benefits aren’t tied to employment, to creating a Public Bank to use NYC’s billions of dollars on deposit to invest in NYCHA, affordable housing, and democratically-controlled clean energy and public infrastructure; our plan calls for decisive local public action, to stop the deepening of existing poverty and inequality in our district.
Much like in the current crisis, Sandy’s impact was met with rapid-response relief efforts, financial assistance from the City, State, and Federal government, and a commitment from our leaders to build back better. Flash forward nearly 9 years and hundreds of small businesses have shuttered their doors, thousands have been displaced, and the NYCHA houses are arguably in even greater disrepair.
I have made economic justice not just a priority of our campaign, but my life’s mission. As an economist and former Executive Director at the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), I led citywide initiatives to help small businesses recover after Superstorm Sandy and expand opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs, worker-owned businesses, and minority and womenowned enterprises. As an organizer I’ve taken on landlords and developers intent on displacing working families and transforming our community into a playground for the rich.
In our post-COVID recovery journey we need to learn from the mistakes of our past and work to ensure that Brooklynites are never this vulnerable again. As a candidate for City Council, running to represent Red Hook, Sunset Park, and South Brooklyn’s 38th Council District, I’m committed to doing just that. Our plan, A Recovery for All of Us, seeks to address the disproportionate impact that this economic crisis has wrought on people of color, immigrants, and working families and while addressing long standing structural failures in our City. From launching a Citywide Portable Bene-
In our path towards a just recovery post-COVID we need to not only channel resources and attention to the right places, we also need tested and experienced leaders who will be unafraid to take on the powerful interests in our city. In New York, these powerful interests include large private real-estate developers who see our current crisis as an opportunity to grow their foothold in our city and buy property on the
"It’s time to reclaim these public assets and transform them into democratically-managed tools." Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue
cheap to build luxury housing, corporate offices, and last-mile distribution centers to accelerate the Amazonification of New York City. These powerful interests also include government agencies like the Department of City Planning, City Planning Commission, NYCHA, and the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), all public and quasi-public agencies who have mismanaged millions in the past and who remain unaccountable to the communities that they are tasked with supporting. In the case of NYCHA, the failures do not only stem from our chronic disinvestment in public housing, but also from our leaders’ inability to hold the New York City Housing Authority accountable by doing increasing community oversight over NYCHA’s decisions (especially as they pertain to the ongoing resiliency work and potential Federal infrastructure funding) and allowing the NYC Housing and Preservation Department to investigate the over 1,000 code violations cited by HPD at the Red Hook Houses. For EDC, our work includes ensuring transparency and accountability around procurement, job placement, development planning, and other recovery efforts. From failing to deliver on Red Hook resiliency projects and promises to non profits like PortSide, to it its deliberate conversion of public assets into for-profit use, EDC has a lengthy history of failing New York’s working-class communities. They manage 3.5 million square feet of industrial space. It’s time to reclaim these public assets and transform them into democratically-managed tools for an inclusive and community-led economic development agenda that prioritizes vulnerable New Yorkers, communities of color, immigrants, and women.
www.star-revue.com
Rodrigo Camarena wants justice for all.
Our campaign is committed to enacting the sweeping structural change that this moment demands. Together we can leverage public resources towards the construction of 100% affordable and social housing, repairing NYCHA, building new hospitals, parks and schools, parks, and investing in green jobs and improved transportation infrastructure. As billions in State and Federal recovery resources make their way to New York City, we need to not only ensure that this funding is supporting those that are most vulnerable and in urgent need, but that the institutions tasked with planning, managing, and executing our recovery are accountable and transparent to all New Yorkers. Throughout this crisis, we have seen Brooklynites exhibit great humanity, generosity and solidarity. These are the values that have gotten us through other difficult times and are the same values that our campaign has enshrined into policies that will steer Red Hook, Sunset Park, and South Brooklyn towards a just and accountable recovery. A recovery for all of us. Rodrigo Camarena is an immigrant advocate, organizer, and candidate for New York City Council’s 38th District. Learn more about Rodrigo at www. Rodrigo4nyc.com
June 2021
Election 2021: Spotlight on Robert
Cornegy by karEn Broughton
Why Robert Cornegy should be our next Borough President
T
here are many reasons why Robert Cornegy should be our next Brooklyn Borough President:
the commitment from SMJ Development to provide affordable and sustainable retail leasing opportunities for small business owners.
With his leadership and experience, he’ll hit the ground running on Day One to create a better Brooklyn for all.
A lactation bill, mandating there be dedicated rooms for nursing and breast-feeding mothers in public buildings throughout the five boroughs.
He is a native New Yorker and has been at the forefront of New York Politics for some time now.
The Kalief Browder Bill, calling for the Department of Corrections to provide much-needed vocational and educational programming, therapy and other life-changing services to those detained or incarcerated on Rikers Island for longer than 10 days;
Rob is the best choice to help lead Brooklyn through a just recovery after the pandemic. Rob is shoulders above the rest professionally as well as physically - he’s one of the tallest politicians in the world.
Commercial tenant anti-harassment and neglect legislation, offering protection against nefarious landlords.
He has the ability to bring people together across ethnicities, religions, gender identities, and more.
The Age Friendly Neighborhood (AFN) Initiative, improving the quality of life of older adults through advocacy, programming and access to essential resources.
Below are some of his accomplishments & what he intends to accomplish once elected Brooklyn Borough President:
The new Marcy Community Center, which marked the first community center built in a NYCHA development in 20 years
Robert has led the charge, sponsored or authored several key initiatives, including: The Chamber on the Go program, which provides a wide array of mobile support services to small businesses.
Robert Cornegy’s big plans for Brooklyn as Borough President:
The Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold bill, which criminalized police officers’ use of chokeholds and other techniques that restrict breathing while making arrests.
Establish a $10 million small business grant program to help Brooklyn mom and pop businesses get back on their feet.
Economic Development:
Rob will continue to support M/ WBEs as Borough President, providing workshops for local small businesses and BIPOC, including programs detailing eligibility requirements for City/State vending.
Police Reform and Social Justice: Advocate for expanding successful violence interrupter pilot programs like that in Brownsville where Police Officers “hang back” and community groups and city agencies step forward to provide services and support Support the funding and creation of a Mental Health Emergency Response Unit Invest in more training that emphasizes alternatives to lethal force, and encourage the use of non-lethal weapons.
Housing: Expand the Accessory Dwelling Unit (basement apartment) program to bring in additional income for homeowners and create more accessible housing. Rezone higher income neighborhoods to allow the construction of affordable housing and homeless shelters. Rob knows that Brooklyn’s greatest days lie ahead. He’s fought to bring family-sustaining jobs to Brooklyn, and will demand that new develop-
Robert Cornegy wants to grace the steps and offices at Brooklyn's Borough Hall.
ment includes community benefits and local jobs. As BP, Rob will push for responsible development through public-private partnership that fairly grows the economy and creates opportunity for people up and down the ladder. To read more about Robert’s vision for Brooklyn, visit www.rc4bk. com. Karen Broughton is the former Chief of Staff for Felix Ortiz, long time member of the NY State Assembly
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June 2021, Page 15
Growing Up as an Untalented Musician in an Italian American Town
I
by Mike Fiorito
wrote an article on E. Rossi & Company in Little Italy, NYC for the Star Revue a while ago. Sometime later, I received an e-mail from someone who’d read the article and felt strongly enough to write to me about it. That person, Janice Aubrey, told me that when her mother visited NYC, she used to go to E. Rossi & Company to buy music, religious statues, and other Italian specialty items to take back to Pennsylvania with her. Janice wrote that the article reminded her of her Italian upbringing. She added that she wanted to send me a book called Bands! which her brother, Joe (“Jody”) DeVivo, had written. Bands! centered around music in New Castle, the small town in Pennsylvania where her family was from. The book was never officially published for the mass market but was sold on Amazon for a while. She’d be thrilled for other people to read it, especially someone like me, who was interested in the history of Italian American music (see ad on page 23 if you would like one too.)
When I received Bands! I was completely surprised. It was not at all conventional. It was broken up into small autobiographical stories about New Castle and the DeVivo family. The stories were hysterical. And the illustrations were wonderful.
ern Italians, her grandfather had first traveled alone to New Castle to work on the railroads, leaving his family behind. But as soon as he made enough money, he sent for his wife and children to come join him.
Bands! is about a section of New Castle known as Mahoningtown. Mahoningtown consisted, at least at that time, of mostly southern Italian immigrants. And nearly everyone, or so it seemed to Jody, was a spectacular musician. Everyone, except for poor young Jody.
“No, but my mother loved music. She loved to listen to the Italian music programs on the radio and would order the sheet music she heard on those shows from E. Rossi & Company. Then I could play the songs and help my father learn them. Janice paused. “My parents met when they both sang in the church choir as teenagers. My mother fell in love with the way Joe could entertain everybody with his music,” she added giggling. “It didn’t hurt that he was very handsome; he looked like Al Pacino.”
I wrote back saying that I was moving and maybe now wasn’t the best time to send it. I looked up Janice’s name; I couldn’t find any information on her. Not on Facebook or anywhere else. To be honest, I was also a little concerned about giving my address to someone I didn’t know.
“Yes, my father played the guitar and mandolin and sang; and he was the choir director at a large church in New Castle. My two older sisters had studied piano and many of my cousins and uncles were good musicians. Jody played the clarinet and sax; but not very well (as he admits in his book).
Janice replied saying that Jody had recently died; she was disappointed she could not share his book with me. This hit me right in the heart; I immediately asked her to send the book.
As I read the book, I realized that Janice was mentioned as well. I wrote to her and asked, You’re a musician too? She replied saying her career was winding down now, but she’d been a pianist and music director and conductor for over forty years. This was getting interesting. This story was too good to not explore further. We had to talk. We then arranged to speak by phone. “You come from a musical family?”
“Where did your father come from?” “My father, Joseph DeVivo was born in Cese, Italy in 1903. Then he moved to the U.S. with his family in 1912.” In those times, like many other south-
“Was your mother a musician?”
“You’re a good pianist, but you mentioned that you have strong sight-reading skills. How did you learn?” “I started to study the piano in the second grade. Since my older sisters had studied piano, we had stacks of music in the house. I sat for hours playing through the piles of sheet music. I didn’t realize that by doing this I was developing my sight-reading skills. It soon became evident that I could learn music more quickly than most. I also have to admit that I was also a little bit of a show-off. When I would sit at the piano to practice in the summer, I would purposely leave the door open so everyone in the neighborhood could hear me. I guess I was getting in touch with the fact that it feels good to be able to entertain an audience.”
“What happened when people discovered you were a good pianist who could read music so quickly?” “I was asked to provide accompaniment for instrumental lessons in school and that continued all the way through high school – music competitions, choral concerts, etc. When I sat down to play a new piece of music, I could easily see the music in my head and anticipate the way it should sound. But it wasn’t only about playing notes. When I played, I tried to communicate what I thought the composer intended for the audience to hear. That instinct seemed to come naturally. I guess this is why some people ‘play instruments’ and others ‘make music.’” “This is where your career started?” “I started to work with performers at a college in Youngstown and also with local theater groups. Then, one summer day I got a call from a girl I had worked with who was working for a brand-new summer stock company in Warren, Ohio. It was called the Kenley Players, a professional theater company that presented hit Broadway shows to ‘the hinterlands’ using New York singers and dancers with popular movie and TV celebrities in major roles. They needed a rehearsal pianist so I auditioned and that began what would become an almost 25-year association with the Kenley Players. Thecircuit grew in popularity and expanded to become a four-theater circuit: Warren, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio and Flint, MI, then later in Akron.
(continued on next page)
"I also have to admit that I was also a little bit of a show-off. When I would sit at the piano to practice in the summer, I would purposely leave the door open so everyone in the neighborhood could hear me." Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue
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June 2021
(continued from previous page) “The people I worked with there would be very influential to my career and many remain friends to this day. I think my first show was ‘Bells Are Ringing.’ It was the early 60s; I was paid $100 a week, which was a lot of money for me. With Mr. Kenley’s support I eventually became an Assistant Musical Director and then was asked to become one of his conductors. Being a woman conductor was something very new in those days. “By this time, I had married and moved to Youngstown and was raising a family. I was hired to be Music Director at the Youngstown Playhouse where they mounted two major musicals a season. I also was hired by a local Jewish Temple to play for their annual Broadway musical. It was there where I worked with Shy Lockson. Shy owned his own tailor shop, but he had toured with his own dance band in the 1940s and was active in the local musician’s union. When he learned how much the Youngstown Playhouse was paying me, he sat me down and taught me how I needed to ask for more money. This was an especially important lesson for me since I was never particularly good at asking for the money I deserved. Music was always too much fun!” “Does a good pianist or sight-reader necessarily make a good conductor?” “They’re related and those skills do help, but being a conductor involves far more. You need to be able to communicate to the musicians using your hands, arms, and body. There are plenty of conductors who can beat time and hold things together; but others, like a Leonard Bernstein, can inspire their players to play their best by using their entire body and personal energy. A good conductor looks out from the podium at the sea of musician’s faces and determines how to cue them to play in a way that will help them create the most beautiful sound at just the right time. The conductor tries to do this by making the musician feel safe, so that they can play their absolute best. And this all happens in real-time.” “You also toured Europe?” “I began touring in Europe in 1997 after I had
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visited my husband David Shoup in Zurich. He was working for a production company based in Berlin and at that time was playing guitar for an ‘Evita’ tour. I knew the Musical Director of ‘Evita’ from the Kenley Players and he asked me to join this tour. The German producers liked my work and when ‘Evita’” was about to close, they asked me if I would like to go on a year-and-a-half tour of ‘West Side Story’ which would begin rehearsals in one week. This then was the start of another over 20year association with this German-based company. “When I joined ‘West Side Story’ I was hired to assist another conductor I’d met at the Kenley Players. The tour traveled to many cities in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy. Many of those cities I would re-visit in the coming years and they began to feel like home. The whole company, band included, travelled by bus. After ‘West Side Story’ closed, the producer mounted a production of ‘Grease, das Musical’ which became extremely popular and was his biggest money maker. At some point, the ‘Grease’ conductor was fired, and I was asked to become the conductor. The producer particularly liked the way I could work with the singers to offer them vocal help. I was a vocal coach of sorts.” “Did you ever work in New York City?” “I didn’t have too many connections in New York City, but I conducted lots of tours that emanated from NYC and then headed out across the country. I was what many call a ‘Road Rat.’ While I was living in Cleveland where I’d been Music Director for a small opera company, I was invited to conduct one of the earlier National Tours of ‘Annie.’ After that tour, my husband and I moved to New York. More tours followed including more productions of ’West Side Story.’ The most recent professional job I did was at Westchester Broadway Theater. It was ‘An American in Paris.’ The conductor was a good friend and he asked if I would play the keyboard. Little did I realize when it closed in November of 2018 that this would be my last foray into musical theater. EnCOPE WITH BULLYING ter Covid 19.” After my conversation with Janice, I brought my
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wife, Arielle and my ten-year-old son, Travis to Brooklyn Heights to meet her and David. After a long lunch, we went to their house to continue our conversation. I was a little worried that Travis would be bored. But Janice seemed to know just what to do. She invited Travis to sit down at the piano in her living room. And miraculously, he started to play. And his playing sounded good. It wasn’t the usual clunking of keys that kids do. He played actual melodies and chords that he invented. “I’m surprised,” I said. “I didn’t think he would take to the piano. He takes guitar lessons, but he kind of drags himself through them.” “Something told me that he might like to sit down and play,” said Janice. “If you’d like, I can hear that he’s musical and I’d be happy to give him lessons.” And I thought to myself, and this all happened from a writing piece in the Red Hook Star Revue. Not only is our continued story yet to be written, but Joe (Jody) DeVivo’s story now has a new life. For copies of Bands! or for more information, please write to Mike Fiorito at www.FallingFromTrees.info
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June 2021, Page 17
Music by Kurt Gottschalk
and water—they don’t mix but can be combined, one spreading into a thin, almost invisible film across the other, rendering it unusable. Drinking large amounts of pretentious epic rock can kill you.
Rock epicness is Pete Townshend’s windmill guitar. Epic pretention is Roger Daltrey’s mannered screams and gym teacher moves. Rock epicness is the first three and a half minutes of Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. Epic pretention is what makes “Eye of the Tiger” such a beloved subject of ridicule.
Songs from a Dog Eat Ceramic Dog World Marc Ribot is sick of everyone. Or so it seems. Or artists and activists, anyway. And politicians. And cowboys, although they might be a metaphor for one or more of those other categories.
Hope—Ribot’s second release with his quick-quitted trio Ceramic Dog in nine months (out June 25 on Northern Spy) and fifth overall—seems to hold little hope, at least for the current generation(s) of humans. Ribot lashes out in weary sprechgesang like a punk past his bedtime at performance artists, wannabe rock stars, contemporary poets and postmodern philosophers on the lead track and advance single “B flat Ontology.” He rejects capitalism, commerce, financial institutions and most household objects in “The Activist (or, Twistin’ Time is Here)” in a fury that lands somewhere between Bob Dylan and Sam Kinison. He scornfully namechecks Donald Trump in two of the four tracks with lyrics, dating the record before it’s even released, although the visceral schadenfreude derived from his palpable contempt for the current zeitgeist is, admittedly, gleefully gratifying enough to compel Germanic pretensions. So where is the hope to be found? Fair question. The solution may have something to do with nickelodeons, (“All around the Christmas tree / Bigelow accessory / Don’t know what it means to be / a forklift, or not to be”), but I can’t figure that song out. It may be that the title is a false promise and there isn’t actually any hope to be had, as the photo of a teeny, inconsequential planet Earth in the black emptiness of space on the cover suggests, but I don’t think that’s it. I think, and forgive me as I speculate wildly, but I think Marc Ribot, bassist/keyboardist Shahzad Ismaily and
Page 18 Red Hook Star-Revue
Ceramic Dog Hope
drummer Ches Smith find hope in music. I think that’s what Ceramic Dog isn’t sick of, because it’s almost funny, or cleansing, or another kind of glee, how much joy radiates from the five instrumentals on the album. They erupt into driving rock jams and, just as easily, hang suspended within rhythm with no one is keeping strict time. They don’t rush through the pensive moments and, somehow, don’t rush through the blasting ones, either. The rants are a hoot but the band is at its best when floating past the societal flotsam. The wonderfully titled “Maple Leaf Rage”—a 13-minute, three-part suite that which gives generous space to Smith’s brushes before exploding into a blistering guitar victory march—is the real highlight of the album, even if it won’t get the laughs.
Big Noise From Canada Sonic ice floes from Fucked Up, Big|Brave and Growler’s Choir
Rock epicness is a tricky proposition. Rock is, or should be, in opposition to all pretension. Epicness, on the other hand, invites pretension. They’re like oil
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There’s a gray area, of course, which is why it’s so hard to figure out if Rush is any good. But not all Canuck rockers hang from the tendrils of pretention as a pair of massive new albums from up north well demonstrate. Year of the Horse, the longstanding Torontonian outfit Fucked Up’s new studio album, is an overblown oratorio of epic wonderment, a 90-minute song cycle several years in the making that pounds, screams and occasionally downshifts into quite lovely and likable pop passages. Big|Brave’s fifth release, Vital, finds the downtempo doom group inching back toward the song orientation of their debut without losing any of their construction-site slow pound. Both are epic. Both rock. The nigh on ridiculous Year of the Horse is one huge arc spread across four 19- to 26-minute parts. It was released and on Bandcamp May 7 (where it can be streamed in full), with a double LP, double CD and edited single-sided five-inch vinyl for the love of Pete slated for August. It’s a shame the digital version wasn’t put out as a single file, because it deserves that kind of 90-uninterrupted-minute epic treatment. The individual sections are often more or less pop song length, but few would stand on their own as songs. They’re interdependent, and demand to be heard as such. Wagnerian AF, Year of the Horse is, itself, part of a cycle of records built around the Chinese zodiac that the band has been working through for the last 15 years. They also hint at the Wagner with the brass fanfares of the fourth part. There’s an extended string section in the third part, too, but much of the album wavers between Motörhead and Portishead. It’s loud,
June 2021
minute track “Hate.Machine” they released last fall on Bandcamp is the only thing they’ve released as yet, but it holds deep, dark promise. With blast beats and piercing riffs, it’s no goof on the idea of a heavy metal chorale. Instead, it’s a smart use of a full complement of vocalists adept at the guttural and grimel. They’ll be doing a joint concert with the more classically oriented Temps Fort choir in Montreal this month, with a video of the concert to be made available for streaming on demand in July. Find them on Facebook for more information. Toronto Band Fucked Up
wonderful, and fairly exhausting.
Unlike Fucked Up, Montreal’s Big|Brave isn’t much for pastiche. The trio rarely even goes for chord changes. Their records are, for the most part, slow pounds half-burying Robin Wattle’s plaintive yells. It’s not just chord changes they eschew. The songs don’t have much by way of choruses, either. It’s more like repeated patterns than anything hummable. Where Fucked Up’s zodiac albums in particular slither and scoot across all kinds of musical themes, Big|Brave has one mood per song, per album and across their discography, and that mood might best be described as “woke up angry.” Tempos vary a bit, but the feeling doesn’t. When they do break from the beat, it’s generally for sustained reverb and feedback interludes, one of which gets a track of its own on Vital. At four minutes, it’s a bit less than half the length of the next shortest track, and separated out feels something like a charred ballad—radio friendly, if only.
Vital (released by Southern Lord digitally in April, on CD in May, and expected on vinyl this month) is streaming in full on Bandcamp. It was Recorded at Machines With Magnets in Rhode Island, where Battles, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Lightning Bolt and Neptune have all booked time, the album has a huge sound, but clean, uncluttered. It doesn’t have the quarter-hour meltdowns of Au de La or Ardor or the (relative) hooks of A Gaze Among Them, but it’s nearly as good, and with bands like Big|Brave, more is more. Another group of Montreal crushers worth noting is the severe, 14-member Growler’s Choir. The nine-
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VIDEO THE AGE OF ADALINE A movie review by Gene Bray
I saw the movie “The Age of Adaline” and we are blessed to have this. This is why movies can touch us so deeply. It stars Blake Lively. Blake is a she if you didn’t know. She plays Adaline. A beautiful young woman cursed to be alone forever. I loved her in this.
Do you know who else loved her? The camera. The way it loved James Dean. A young Marlon Brando or Sidney Poitier. Is it because they are beautiful? No, the camera only likes beauty. What does the camera love? Authenticity. Same as people, huh?
think they are?
Michael Hussiman tries to woo Adaline and he is so charming; and handsome; and successful and he can’t understand why Adaline won’t follow her heart. He sees how desperately she needs him. And as I’m being swept away, along comes; Harrison Ford! What? Yeah. Harrison Ford. The greatest performance he ever gave in my opinion. He dove into this movie. It’s electrifying. Riveting. Supernatural.
Four great actors with a great story, and each one giving us a message we need. So, to all the young folks, please watch this movie on a large screen if possible. A TV, or at least a large tablet. Give movies a chance to change you. Turn off your phone. And your lights. Take a break. Remember when you used to go to the movies? It was dark and quiet. And everyone’s phone was off. You liked it that way didn’t ya? Allow yourself to be swept away by a magical story about the most important thing in life. The thing the poets write about. And the musicians sing about. The Beatles told us in 1967 “All You Need is Love.” Adaline is available for streaming on Amazon Prime video.
Adaline was in love once but it was ripped away. And it can never return. In this magical movie it is easy to understand why.
Ellyn Burstyn is also in it. She plays Adalines mother. A hopeless romantic who knows that no matter what; Love is the answer. And a mother will never give up on you. What an absolutely wonderful person she is here. …
You are invited to
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Adaline knows she is unlovable and will have to go through life alone. There are many people who feel like that. I don’t know how great actors and actresses convey their feelings so clearly. But I do know When, they do. It’s like an aura overtakes them. Something supernatural. Like when great musicians seize our souls with music. Maybe actors are not as happy as we
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5/13/21 3:20 PM
June 2021, Page 19
“The Amusement Park,” a Lost Film from George A. Romero, Rises from the Dead
C
arnivals and amusement parks have always held the allure of the illicit. Slightly malevolent barkers beckon you into sideshows promising thrills, chills, and horrors beyond your imaginations. Scantily clad acrobats, trapeze artists, and magician’s assistants infuse the atmosphere with sex and desire. Ragtag clowns wear lurid makeup that can never quite hide their I’veseen-way-too-much eyes. Creaky rides, seemingly always on the cusp of collapse, thrash you around tracks and drop you from great heights in what might very well be your last experience on Earth — and, of course, the operators are barely interested in your fate. And then there are the rickety haunted houses and halls of mirrors, the games designed to swindle your allowance, and food guaranteed to contract every single one of your arteries. How could a director like George A. Romero resist such a place?
In 1968, Romero created a new kind of horror cinema with his first feature, Night of the Living Dead. It established the grammar of zombies we still use more than 50 years later, and, with a budget of about $114,000, proved that Romero could deliver a huge return — in box office and scares — on a meager investment. And while Romero would have a major mainstream hit in the sequel Dawn of the Dead, in 1978, and he would complete 14 other features — including The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), and four more Dead films — before his death in 2017, Romero had perpetual tough luck getting things made. The amount of material left incomplete, unrealized, or never funded far outpaces his produced work.
It’s in that trove where The Amusement Park, a 54-minute impressionistic piece of agit-prop filmmaking on the existential dread of aging, was found, forgotten and in desperate need of repair. Made in 1973 and screened at least once, the film was a favorite of Romero’s yet languished in obscurity. But after restoration work undertaken by the George A. Romero Foundation and IndieCollect, The Amusement Park received a limited theatrical release (begun at the Museum of Modern Art in 2020 before the pandemic shunted the rest of the run to 2021) ahead of its debut on the streaming service Shudder on June 8.
Looked at from a literal here’s-Romero’s-IMDb-listing view, The Amusement Park seems like an oddity. For one, it’s an educational film sponsored by the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania highlighting the challenges faced by the nation’s elderly. It’s “the story of a universal man, symbolized as one who has recently retired, who goes out into the amusement park to find his happiness as an older citizen,” per the film’s promotional material. “As he travels through the amusement park, he begins to experience the reality of being old in a young society. He is cheated, degraded, beaten, ignored; he discovers what loneliness is.” The universal man is played by Lincoln Maazel, a jocular, gentle presence with a wide, naive smile, eyes full of hopeful expectation, and thinning hair and a
Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue
by Dante A. Ciampaglia well-groomed mustache as snowy white as his suit, shirt, tie, and shoes. None of it remains intact long as he enters the amusement park and is indeed beset by one indignity after another: ageism, ableism, exploitation, and general indifference. He is laughed at, pushed around, beat up, and stalked by death in the form of a parkgoer wearing a Halloween mask and carrying a scythe. His hope is extinguished as he experiences the reality of being elderly — and as he sees the thousand-yard stares of other old people at the park left to themselves, shunned, and treated as nuisances that ruin the suspension of reality that comes with entering the park. By the end, the universal man is bloodied, bruised, and dirty, huffing and puffing and clutching a cane in a white room as he grapples with what he just experienced. The film is a brutal 54 minutes, but it’s not like we’re not warned. Another oddity is that The Amusement
"The Amusement Park isn’t Romero’s secret unseen magnum opus, but it is entertaining and important." Park opens with a four-minute introduction, narrated by Maazel as he wanders Westview Amusement Park, outside Pittsburgh, where most of the film was shot (on an even leaner budget than Dead, at $34,320, and with the help of dozens of volunteers, old and young). It’s an introduction that makes Maazel an Orson Welles-like figure, in a red turtleneck and brown overcoat, preparing us for a journey into a nation where we will all become citizens someday. But it’s also an explicit statement from Romero. As Maazel rattles off the challenges of being old in America, Romero forces us to confront how we encounter and engage with our elderly family members and neighbors. When the film finally begins, we’re made witnesses to those degradations — and because we’re unable to help or put a stop to things, we become complicit in the physical and emotional savagery. The cinematic amusement park has always been the site of horror and torment: the seedy 1947 adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley; the abandoned funhouse climax of Welles’ 1947 film Lady from Shanghai; the lusty sideshow meet-cute in the 1950 noir classic Gun Crazy; the psychosexual carousel scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film Strangers
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on a Train; the titular Carnival of Souls in Herk Harvey’s 1962 proto-Dead classic. This legacy hangs like a popcorn-and-fries-scented mist over The Amusement Park, and Romero goes full tilt on the expectations it brings to watching his film. When the universal man enters the park, we’re already coiled tight — thanks to the prologue and the opening scene of a clean and bouncy Maazel confronting the beaten down version in the white room, but also because we know to expect bad stuff here. And bad stuff is what we get: barkers swindling old people pawning heirlooms for food and ride tickets, young doctors urging old parkgoers to enter a fun house that’s really a nursing home, a refreshment stand where a rich man gets white-glove treatment and lobster dinner while Maazel is treated like a pariah forced to eat white bread and baked beans, a biker gang who jumps and robs the universal man. But what Romero also does is push the amusement park nightmare into more dreadful territory. There is the universal existential fear of death throughout, but even more potent is the American terror of aging — especially if that means getting old alone and impoverished in a society that fetishizes rugged individualism and Ayn Randian self-reliance. I’ve seen a lot of movies, but I’ve never experienced a scene as damning and devastating one midway through The Amusement Park, where a fortune teller gives a young couple a glimpse of their future as old people literally left for dead by slumlords and profiteering health care workers. Romero cuts between the old man, writing in pain on a soiled bed; the old wife, terrified her husband is dying, hobbling up and down her building’s crumbling steps to get to a pay phone to call her can’t-be-bothered doctor; a a marching band parading down the street; the young couple’s faces contorting in disbelief and fear; the grinning fortune teller waving her hand over a crystal ball. It’s a master class in social horror. And when the old woman is left begging for a dime to make another call as her husband dies alone in a squalid apartment, it’s the kind of gut-punch punctuation only a master like Romero can land.
It’s unfair to call The Amusement Park a missing link in the Romero filmography, especially since it came so early in his career. It does, though, add contours to his better-known work while anticipating future features. Maazel, for instance, would star in Martin, while the biker gang beating points toward Dawn of the Dead and 1981’s Knightriders. The Amusement Park is also the socially-conscious Romero at his fullest bloom. He always wove concerns into his films — racism in Night of the Living Dead, consumerism in Dawn of the Dead, class in nearly everything — but here he’s unshackled by mass-audience narrative demands. That gives the film an avant-garde, underground vibe, but it’s telling that even as an anthology cataloging the “problems of aging in our society,” it always holds our attention and feels cohesive. The Amusement Park isn’t Romero’s secret unseen magnum opus, but it is entertaining and important
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and it’s achingly clear why it never got a real release in 1973. It’s hard to imagine this playing on TV, let alone in a movie theater — it’s too strange, too impressionistic — and while there was a burgeoning independent cinema scene in Pittsburgh back then, it didn’t have the support of what Romero would have had if he were working in New York, for instance. The biggest impediment, though, was likely its subject matter. When The Amusement Park was completed in 1973, Nixon was staring down Watergate and shoveling coal into the conservative economic engine that would starve social services for the poor and
the old and chew up the infrastructure of the New Deal and the Great Society. Tackling those issues head on would have likely limited Romero’s audience, even if the film would have undoubtedly been impactful and done some good.
But nearly five decades later, amid a global pandemic that has made it impossible to ignore the eviscerated social safety net, exacerbated worsening income and class gaps, and has disproportionately impacted our elderly population, The Amusement Park is more powerful than Romero could have anticipated. And it’s time has finally come.
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June 2021, Page 21
Jazz by Grella Summer Music T
he good news is, it looks like summertime, which is not just a box on the calendar but a whole experience here in New York. It can seem like a struggle, the heat and humidity and waiting for the subway in a stuffy station. But after last summer’s unease, dread, anger, frustration, outraged energy—because Black Lives Matter and if you love jazz they have always mattered—all bottled up in the inevitable waiting for something to break—the election, the vaccine trials— that wait is just another sign of normality. And normality is something we’ve been hoping to embrace, not just endure.
Summertime is a great jazz time. “Summertime” is the anthem, but I always hear “Easy Living” as a song of summer, every summer, not just the payola prepared bubble gum chewed up and spat out by all the former fraternity and sorority pledges crowded into Murray Hill: “Living for you / It’s easy to live when you’re in love / And I’m so in love / There’s nothing in life but you” (Leo Robin & Ralph Rainger). I’ve maybe listened to guitarist Grant Green’s “Idle Moments,” from his Blue Note album of the same title, with tenor player Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Duke Pearson playing piano, Bob Cranshaw, bass, and drummer Al Harewood, more than any single track (at least right up there with everything off of Elvis Costello’s Get Happy!I), and when the weather gets hot, I put it on
all the time. The elegant, languid tempo, the mood that’s relaxed but substantial, always feel to me like the sound of a siesta in the middle of the afternoon, of a gimlet before dinner. It’s cool and hot at the same time, and that’s jazz.
Summertime means outdoor music, and that always means jazz musicians in the parks, on the Jazzmobile, on festival stages. There are the formal set ups in the bandshells, and part of normality is that there looks to be plenty of music in public places again this summer. But hit Central Park and especially Washington Square Park, and you’re going to run into dozens of the fine musicians who live in this city. It’s worth repeating that the talent pool here is deeper than anywhere in the world in terms of jazz, and the kind of dedication and need to play that motivates someone to be a jazz musician means that on pretty much any afternoon you’re going to have the type of random experiences I’ve had recently in Washington Square: the funky quartet Flow Mingos, Eyal Vilner’s big band swinging dancers on the west side of the park, and a regular assortment of trios and quartets playing high level hard bop and modern jazz.
That’s the fabric of public life in New York City, and jazz has been a prominent part of that fabric for 100 years. I’ve never done a formal survey, but when I run into groups playing music in public, 80% of the time it’s a jazz combo. That’s the sound of the city, that’s the sound of
Pianist Amina Claudine Myers will be performing at the Vision Festival.
summer. People will be out, and so will the musicians.
In a more formal sense, the news is great. As of late May, we know Celebrate Brooklyn will be producing live music at the Prospect Park Bandshell, and Summerstages will be back in Central Park and other locations around the city. There’s no schedule details yet for Celebrate Brooklyn, and a lot of open dates for Summerstage, but for the latter you can already buy tickets to George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic ( June 27) and Galactic ( July 11), and the late summer Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is already being prepared, with August 28 and 29 staked out in Marcus Garvey Park. As will likely be the norm everywhere in New York, at least into the fall, ticket-holders will have to show a recent negative COVID-19 PCR test, or else proof of full vaccination. Get yer shots and yer Excelsior Passes, people.
The Vision Festival (artsforart.org) is also going to be back for it’s 25th season, and this year it’s going to combine indoor, in-person shows at Pioneer Works, outdoor, in-person performances at The Clemente, and remote/virtual events. The festival will run from July 22 through July 31, and there has clearly been a lot of planning put into this, as the details are plentiful and exciting. There will be performances from the veteran core at the center of the Vision Fest/Arts for Art community, including the great and venerable William Parker, Dave Sewelson, Matthew Shipp, and Cooper-Moore, and exciting younger musicians like Ava Mendoza and Luke Stewart (masks will be required at Pioneer Works and seating will be socially distanced). The festival always honors a singular figure from the scene, and this year that’s Amina Claudine Myers. Myers more than deserves this recognition for her decades of keyboard work—she’s a wonderful organist and will play the Hammond B3 along with bassist Jerome Harris and drummer Reggie Nicholson—and audiences will get a real treat from the scheduled performance of her Generation IV vocal quartet. With this group, Myers weaves jazz together with old, old gospel roots. This is something, the pre-jazz musics that went into the development of jazz, that’s easy to read about but almost impossible to hear, mainly because most of the music dates from before the era of sound recordings. Myers learned concept is a beautiful revivifying of historical memory, the music is soulful
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and deeply creative, and wears that last lightly, delivering meaning under the guise of pleasure. This should be one of those performances that will stick in the memory for years to come.
Outdoors at The Clemente, the talent on tap is so exceptional that there’s not going to be any reason to find your way to Newport or Monterey later in the summer, even if you do have the time and the cash: there’s a trio called ElectroFLUTTER with improvising vocalist Fay Victor, the great flutist Nicole Mitchell, and the incredible bass player Jamaaladeem Tacuma; drummer Pheeroan akLaff leads his Liberation Unit with pianist Adegoke Steve Colson and guitarist Michael Gregory Jackson; James Blood Ulmer’s ODYSSEY trio is playing; so is the James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Oliver Lake’s Trio 3 plus a promised “special guest,” jaimie branch’s fly or die; John Zorn is playing a solo set, the David Murray Octet Revival is appearing, Fred Moten is reading his poetry accompanied by bassist Brandon Lopez and drummer Gerald Cleaver…that’s not even half the total lineup for the festival. On paper, it doesn’t just look like jazz is just going to be making a return this summer, but that it’s going to explode. I had a suspicion things were going to be like this, but the Vision Festival looks to be exceeding expectations by orders of magnitude. If you’re like me and you really just can’t wait any longer, try and get tickets to two June 17 outdoor, socially distanced sets from guitarist Wayne Krantz, hosted by Hometown BBQ at their Industry City location (https://sites. google.com/view/waynekrantztriojune17). Krantz will be playing in a trio with bassist Evan Marien and drummer Josh Dion. Krantz is a true guitar hero in the modest manner of being a complex, funky player, not just a wailer. He used to hold down the fort frequently at 55 Bar, one of the places we lost to the effects of the pandemic and our decadent economic system (on the bar’s Facebook page, Krantz’ July 19, 2019 gig is the most recent one listed).
Cities need dive bars where you can go hear great jazz, rock, and blues guitarists play, not just on the jukebox, and as much as musical life seems headed back this summer, this loss can’t be replaced. Pick one up for Krantz and pour one out for 55.
June 2021
Books by Quinn Bridge Over Troubled Water
Review of Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time by Vivian Gornick Review by Michael Quinn
B
ronx-born Vivian Gornick cut her teeth as a journalist working as a reporter for Village Voice in the early ’70s. An urgent need to “put the reader behind my eyes—see the scene as I had seen it, feel the atmosphere as I had felt it,” drove her to write, mostly about the burgeoning feminist movement. Today, this style of personal journalism is so widespread, many readers can’t imagine a story being told any other way. Gornick’s new book, Taking a Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time, collects over forty years’ worth of pieces, arranges them “newest to oldest,” and organizes them by theme: “Literature,” “Culture,” “Two New York Stories,” and “Essays in Feminism.” All originally appeared elsewhere, and all have been updated for this collection. Gornick is an astute observer. In “On the Bus,” she notes a “kind of low-grade melancholy” at Port Authority, as the lines of people waiting for buses snake through the bowels of the terminal, which “soon began to resemble a crowd of refugees: people with no rights, only obligations.” Yet noticing is just the beginning. Once
GRAUBARD (continued from back page)
campaign signs. In 2019, Monserrate presented Adams with a sash recognizing him as the “Padrino De Honor” at an Ecuadorian cultural event. It should be noted that the Monserrate incidents are not the only ones which call into question Adams’ commitments to the rights of women to be free from assault and abuse. In 1995 Adams traveled to Indiana to escort convicted rapist Mike Tyson home from federal prison. Those with long memories may also remember the downfall of former Governor David Paterson, who, amongst other things, tried to intervene with the former girlfriend of a top aide, David Johnson, to convince her not to press assault charges against Mr.Johnson. Sherr-una Booker, Mr. Johnson’s former girlfriend, said that during an altercation on Oct. 31, 2009, Mr. Johnson tore off her Halloween costume, choked her and shoved her into a mirrored dresser. Subsequently, the bad publicity, including a series in the NY Times, forced Paterson to fire Johnson, and Johnson, charged with assault, eventually copped a plea to harassing his ex. Johnson now works as top aide to Adams, saying he is “a strong proponent of the power of second chances.” According to the Daily News, during his time with Adams, Johnson distinguished himself by being mentioned in the a federal lawsuit filed by a disabled
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something captures Gornick’s attention, she drills down into a subject in order to understand why. “The Reading Group” recounts the ten-plus-years experience of being in a small, memoir-reading book club. Gornick contrasts the experience of reading alone—“eyelids propped open against the unexpected dullness of a famously great book”—versus coming together to discuss what was read, where “disagreement is a stimulant not a depressive.” Coming together, Gornick posits, releases “the inertness of mind that an absence of engagement imposes.”
No matter whom she’s writing about, you always get the feeling that Gornick is running her hands over her own cloth, picking at loose threads and smoothing out the wrinkles of her own thinking. Of the American writer Alfred Kazin, Gornick writes that he “came to understand what every good memoirist understands: that the writer’s own ordinary, disheveled, everyday self must give way to that of a narrating self… [who] will simultaneously be both the reason for the story and the servant of the story.” Observations like these carry authority—not just in Gornick’s judgments of others, but of her own potential. She’d go on to publish several critically-acclaimed memoirs herself. Gornick has a sharp, authoritative mind and doesn’t mince words. Considering the legacy of 1920’s Greenwich Village bohemian Edna St. Vincent Millay,
Gornick writes, “This poet, once so beloved, is entirely unknown today… the poems simply do not go deep enough.”
“Consciousness” recreates a women’s group meeting almost like a play, with character names, descriptions, and lines of dialogue (either transcribed or fabricated). This is the one essay that feels like a period piece, but it’s because of how the ideas are expressed (a man is a “creep” or an “S.O.B.”), rather than the ideas themselves: “It is only here, during many months of meetings, that a woman is able finally—if ever—to bring to the surface those tangled feelings of anger, bafflement, and frustrated justice that have drawn her to the movement to begin with.” A person “examining one’s personal experience in the light of sexism” is just as relevant today as it was almost five decades ago. “Each feminist is a microcosm of feminism,” Gornick observes in “The Women’s Movement in Crisis.” Ultimately, the collection is less time capsule than origin story for Gornick’s style and ideas.
Gornick is a politically-engaged human being, and alert to those impulses in everyone she reads, whether it’s Rachel Carlson (on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, Carlson’s “plea that human beings realize that all beings on earth are dependent on one another to preserve the envi-
ronment in which they will either live or perish together”), or the political theorist Hannah Arendt (“She thought of herself as a Jewish German, not a German Jew”). Gornick writes, “In our own time, we have seen the liberationist movements of persecuted blacks, humiliated gays, discarded women take the historical lesson: when politically despised, you either fight on your feet or die on your knees.”
This “our time” is an interesting idea that threads through all of the pieces. Who can the “our” be other than writer and reader? Gornick’s ideas are the bridge. Will you cross over?
woman who claimed that that Johnson and another city worker ordered her to move her car from a parking space reserved for employees for the Borough President. The woman said her handicapped permit legally entitled her to park there, but that at Johnson’s instigation, the City Worker intervened and eventually slapped her in handcuffs and had her thrown in jail. To be fair, however, there is one incident in Adams’ past which does show his concern for an alleged female victim of a violent sexual assault. In 1998, the Daily News reported “Black law enforcement officials said yesterday that they will seek a federal investigation of the handling of the 1987 Tawana Brawley case. Eric Adams, a New York City police sergeant who heads a group called 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, said the testimony of several Dutchess County prosecutors in the ongoing slander trial of three Brawley advisers had convinced his group that officials did not properly investigate Brawley’s charges of being raped by a gang of white men a decade ago. Adams said the group would ask Attorney General Janet Reno to open a criminal investigation. “The hoax was not Tawana Brawley’s statements. The hoax is what has taken place during this investigation,” Adams said.” Full disclosure. I was the ballot access counsel for Mayoral candidate Shaun Donovan earlier this year, and also served as NYS ballot access election mayoral candidate Andrew Yang’s 2020 Presidential campaign.
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June 2021, Page 23
Holding up the building POLITICS BY HOWARD GRAUBARD
O
ne can debate the justice, or the lack thereof, of the rapid fade of Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, based upon allegations that, 20 years ago, he engaged in acts which, if proven, would constitute the crime of “forcible touching,” a Class-A misdemeanor, which would carry a penalty of up to a year in prison, if the statute of limitations hadn’t run, and if Stringer committed the crime in a jurisdiction (alert: sarcasm ahead) still carceral enough, in the age of Larry Krasner and Chesa Boudin, to prosecute misdemeanors. The long version of lobbyist/comedian Jean Kim’s Stringer story has elements that ring true as a bell (that Scott would unpleasantly confront someone at a party for supporting a candidate other than himself—this is clearly the Scott I’ve known for nearly four decades) and others which ring far less so (for starters, that the traumatized victim of persistent unwanted groping by a politician, would, a dozen years later, contact his campaign to give him the right of first refusal to her political services). Among themselves, the consensus of most members of the political class I’ve talked to, including folks who hate Stringer like poison and were elated by his fall, or who are ardent feminists (and some who fit both categories), is that Ms. Kim’s story has some credibility issues, although that is often true of the truth. However, the ham-fisted attempt by Stringer’s campaign to discredit Ms. Kim because she carried an omnibus petition for a friend running for Democratic District Leader which contained a different mayoral candidate has not helped Stringer’s cause, but, there are also doubts that, in the current climate, anything would. Rampant hypocrisy awards, for situational advocacy of due process, would seem merited for not only for Stringer, based upon his past statements calling for the resignation of Governor Cuomo based purely on unadjudicated allegations, but also for his rival, Maya Wiley, who, discussing Tara Reade’s allegations against Joe Biden, said “Accepting the allegation and investigating it is what we mean when we say believe all women. Corroboration is key here…believing women doesn’t mean we don’t also ask for further information, context and clarification,” recommending “assessing the accused’s credibility and response to the allegation in comparison to the credibility of the accuser and supporting evidence.” Conveniently, Wiley does not extend Stringer the same courtesy. But Wiley and Stringer are surely not the only hypocrites in the room regarding sexual harassment and violence against women, they must forgo this top prize to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who spoketh thus: “Women must be heard. These are
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Lets not let Adams off Scott-Free reject as ill-considered, if not reckless, any suggestion that my respect for the rights of women is deficient. I decry all domestic violence behavior; to condone violence against women would violate all standards of decency, run counter to my commitment to end domestic violence, and violate my core values!”
deeply troubling allegations of assault and I take them seriously…We must ensure that anyone who believes they were harassed, assaulted or treated in an unacceptable manner can come forward safely and be heard.” This is in rather sharp contrast to Adams' response when his friend, Hiram Monserrate, was arrested for slicing his girlfriend’s face with a piece of glass. As Liz Benjamin reported at the time:
So, Eric Adams would have us believe that he was so shocked by Monserrate’s conduct that he supported expelling Monserrate from the Senate. The record tells a somewhat different story.
Sen. Eric Adams, who, like Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate is a former NYPD officer, is the first Senate Democrat to release a formal statement expressing support for his soon-to-be legislative colleague and also raises questions about the “unusual handling” of Monserrate’s assault case. And, in his standard style, the Brooklyn senator pulls no punches, basically accusing the NYPD of wanting to get back at Monserrate because he has been an “outspoken advocate of police reform.” “As a former NYPD Captain, I have some serious concerns regarding the unusual handling of the case against Councilman Monserrate,” Adams said. “The primary goal of investigating a complaint of domestic violence is to ensure the safety of the innocent victim.” “However, the police department and the DA appear to have ignored Ms. Giraldo’s repeated insistence that the injury she sustained was the result of an accident, a fact that has been publicly supported by Ms. Giraldo’s family in interviews with the press.” “Second, the department departed from standard operating procedures by requiring a public ‘perp walk’ past TV cameras, rather than following the normal routine of taking someone out the back door through the precinct’s private lot. A ‘perp walk’ is used when the NYPD wants to expose a suspect to public view.” “These questions raise serious doubts regarding the motivating factor behind the arrest and charges against Councilman Monserrate. Specifically, these facts suggest that the Police Department’s priority is to publicly humiliate the accused rather than following the evidence.” “It is well known that Councilman Monserrate has been an outspoken advocate for police reform. I believe his role as an agent for change cause him to be denied his rights and a thorough investigation.” Adams later voted against Monserrate’s expulsion from the State Senate. As reported by Liz Benjamin, Adams explained his vote against expulsion by saying he just wanted to hang Adams from a different tree, specifically, an alternative expulsion resolution sponsored by Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, that gave Monserrate time to appeal his conviction. As Adams said:
“I was a strong proponent of this second resolution: it would have expelled Senator Monserrate had he lost his appeals, and I supported this expulsion. However, Senator Foley’s resolution [for immediate expulsion] was introduced first, and its passage rendered moot Senator Sampson’s resolution…My vote against Senator Foley’s resolution should not be construed as one in opposition to expulsion,..Rather, it was a good faith attempt to avoid a judicial merry-goround, with its interim injunctions and lawsuits…How foolish would we appear were the courts to overturn Senator Monserrate’s conviction after we had already expelled him!…Last, and just as important: To suggest that my vote denigrates women is wrong-headed, and while I understand fully the sincere emotions attached to this matter, I
“How foolish would we appear” says Adams, “were the courts to overturn Senator Monserrate’s conviction after we had already expelled him!…”
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As has been reported, even after the release of the violent video of Monserrate and Giraldo in the hallway of their building, Adams, in a gesture of solidarity with Monserrate, who he’d previously described as a victim of a police conspiracy, sat and watched the trial together with Ruben Diaz, and was even there to support Monserrate at the verdict, well after that video had been shown to the jury. In addition to begging the question how this all squares with Adams’ purported concern for victims of domestic violence, it raises a more fundamental question about Adams’ sincerity. Adams sat through the trial, rooting for Monserrate’s acquittal, even after seeing all the evidence, but later said that the same evidence justified Monserrate’s exclusion. I might give Adams the benefit of the doubt, and allow that he was persuaded by the additional evidence in the State Senate’s Report on the matter (authored by Eric Schneiderman, a recognized expert in the abuse of women by men in politics) if it was not crystal clear from Adams’ statements that he either had not read the report, or was choosing to blithely ignore its contents. “How foolish would we appear” says Adams, “were the courts to overturn Senator Monserrate’s conviction after we had already expelled him!…” Well, that argument might have had some cogence, if it were not so clear that what motivated the Special Committee was not Monserrate’s conviction, but his behavior, including his repugnant, but not criminal, act of letting Ms. Giraldo bleed out of an open wound for 40 minutes rather than to call an ambulance or take her to any hospital where he might be recognized. During Monserrate’s expulsion process, Adams tried to convey to local progressives how repulsed he was by Monserrate’s action, but the facts tell a different story. Adams was there in 2016 when Monserrate married got married, a few months after Monserrate got out of federal prison for a non-DV related conviction. In 2018, Adams attended a birthday party for Monserrate, posing for photos and making remarks in front of Monserrate
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