Red Hook Star-Revue, March 2023

Community Board 6: a slow start to the new year

Those who were willing to join the February Community Board 6 meeting in person were rewarded with the chance to peek around a sleek, modern building in the heart of Gowanus and to sample some baked goods provided by one of the board members. The building is home to the Van Alen Institute, a Gowanus-based nonprofit. The baked goods (vegan, gluten free, and homemade) were a sweet reminder of community. Beyond these little perks, the meeting was in many ways, rather unexceptional.

Shortly before the meeting kicked off, District Manager Mike Racioppo arrived with a stack of board reports (intended for in-person board members, though they were quickly shared with all attendees), a gavel and block for Board Chair Eric McClure, and grumbles about the number of texts he received while commuting to the

by Katherine Rivard

meeting. Apparently, many board members were unprepared with the link necessary to join if not attending in person, resulting in frantic texts about how to sign on. Approximately 18 people attended the meeting, with about 38 more Zooming in.

As though foreshadowing the monotony of the meeting, McClure opened by remarking that the committee meetings are where most of the board’s work gets done. However, based on the committees that provided updates during the meeting, very little of substance occurred even within the committees during the past few months. Community Board 6 meetings chiefly result in liquor licenses or renovation approvals. Whether this is simply the result of a lull in neighborhood activities (previously, plenty happened during the Gowanus rezonings), or if there is just less appetite among this board to seek

change, is unclear. Nevertheless, the regular schedule of events ensued: a few more updates from McClure and Racioppo, committee reports, a slew of updates and reminders from local representatives (or their staff), and a brief community session.

The reports from the various committees began with a recap of recent liquor license applications from the Permits & Licenses Committee. Both businesses (Thai Town New York and Stella’s) received approvals. Next, the Landmarks/Land Use Committee flipped through 60 slides of images and renderings to report on two applications. The first was an application to the Landmarks Preservations Commission to provide for a Certificate of Appropriateness for home renovations in the Cobble Hill Historic District; the motion passed. The second was to disapprove an application for mechanical equipment to be added to

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the roof along with a roof terrace and rear door, within the Park Slope His-

The February Executive Board meeting was held both online and in person at the Van Alen Institute. (photo by Rivard)

www.star-revue.com

george@redhookstar.com

Editor & PublishEr

George Fiala

NEws Nathan Weiser

Brian Abate

Katherine Rivard

FEaturEs Erin DeGregorio

CulturE Roderick Thomas

ovErsEas maN Dario Muccilli

iNsights Joe Enright

roCk Kurt Gottschalk

Jazz George Grella

Film Dante A. Ciampaglia

books Michael Quinn

CartooNs Marc Jackson

Sophie Furman

wEbmastEr Tariq Manon

kids Editor Marie Hueston

dEsigN George Fiala

ads Liz Galvin

Merry Band of Contributors

Michael Cobb

Michael Fiorito

Jack Grace

Carly Quellman

Nino Pantano

Oona Milliken

Politicians say the BQE is killing people

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, Council Member Lincoln Restler, representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, and other leaders spoke about the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) outside of Jaime Campiz Playground in Williamsburg on February 13.

They condemned NY State for not working with the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) to re-design the BQE in order to spare neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Red Hook, Bay Ridge, and more from the expressway’s fumes.

“If we miss this opportunity to address the harms of the past, make no mistake, New York State is to blame,” said Reynoso. “This is about environmental justice, this is about public health, and this is about equity for Black and Brown, Latino, and AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] New Yorkers who have carried the burden of the BQE for generations.

“By refusing to work with the City on a corridor-wide re-design, New York State is choosing to reinforce the inequities that were thrust upon our communities by Robert Moses. We won’t be collateral damage any longer. From Greenpoint to Brooklyn Heights to Bay Ridge, we are unified. This is our chance to deliver justice.”

by Brian Abate

than having the BQE cut through it, the Promenade was built at the edge . Though NY State owns most of the BQE, the City owns the Promenade. DOT has limited traffic there as a temporary solution while they try again to find a permanent one.

Reynoso and other politicians see this as an opportunity for the state to take advantage of federal infrastructure funds and change the design of the entire BQE to make it better for the neighborhoods it passes through.

“While there is an urgent effort to fix the crumbling cantilever in Brooklyn Heights by the NYC DOT, the NYS DOT has not committed to revisioning the highway’s State-owned portions to the north or south,” said Nydia Velazquez in a statement.

Some of the biggest concerns are the health risks posed by auto fumes. Lincoln Restler pointed to studies indicating higher asthma rates for people living near the BQE .

“If you walk up and down Marcy Ave., you will find people living on top of the BQE breathing in these horrible fumes each and every day. People are dying because of the BQE.”

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon struck back at the State scapegoating.

ed but we all share the same concerns and we all want to find a solution."

There is also a political demand to pinch in BQE traffic by making it two lanes each way as it passes through the Heights. In a letter to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Simon supported the pinching. “Studies have consistently shown that increasing roadway capacity does not reduce congestion, but rather incentivizes roadway use and produces higher traffic volumes.”

Regardless of what supposed studies show, the incredible amount of traffic on Columbia St., Atlantic Ave., and Hicks St. since the BQE switched from six lanes to four seems to indicate otherwise. Those who rely on the BQE to commute certainly won’t be happy if the change to four lanes becomes permanent. Nor will residents of the Columbia Waterfront District who bear the brunt of the added street congestion.

email gbrook@pipeline.com

In the 1940s and 1950s, urban planner Robert Moses designed the BQE to run through working-class neighborhoods. Brooklyn Heights was a wealthier neighborhood, and rather

“I know that people have expressed concern about the state’s lack of involvement but the state is more involved than I think the public sees,” the state legislator said. “Additionally, elected officials throughout the government at all different levels are talking to each other about the corridor. It’s complicat-

“The traffic is certainly a concern and we’re waiting on DOT to improve signage in areas right off the BQE like Hicks St. and Columbia St.,” Simon said. “That wouldn’t solve the problem but it should help make a difference. I understand the frustration with the traffic because I live with it myself, but right now the priority is protecting the triple cantilever. If the triple cantilever falls off a cliff, we will be in for a world of hurt which is much worse than the increased traffic.”

It’s clear that something needs to be done about the BQE. What's unclear is what exactly that is.

with

Opinion: Words by George

All hail our new Civic Association!

I've often written that Red Hook needs an organization that represents the viewpoints of everyone in our pretty unique community. An institution that presents our views to the rest of the world, including those outside entities looking to change things here, including real estate developers, government agencies and large corporations.

Also a place where our local politicos can come and hear for themselves the issues that concern us (as Alexa Aviles so graciously did at our first meeting).

Right now, the most local government entity we have is the community board, which also takes care of Gowanus, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. Our next most local is the City Council, where our district also includes Sunset Park, some of Windsor Terrace and even parts of Bay Ridge.

There is governance over Red Hook East and Red Hook West via the tenant organizations, the business community via the Alliance, as well as our local court, the Justice Center.

Up until three or four years ago, we had the Red Hook Civic Association, which did its best to include everyone.

So it was very exciting last month to attend a meeting at PS 15 which reviced the Civic Association—a meeting packed with representatives from just about all the areas of the neighborhood. This was a meeting which I promoted and orchestrated, and was ably led by our local District Leader (a volunteer Democratic Party position), Jacqui Painter.

The next meeting will take place on Monday, March 13 at 6:30. It will be a little easier to get in than the first one

as there will only be one check-in line. Also, the time to have to provide proof of vaccination seems to be over, as that is no longer a requirement at the school. There are plenty of seats, so bring as many people as you like. It's a great chance to meet your neighbors from all parts of Red Hook, and help develop neighborhood solidarity.

Our most important task will be to develop a set of rules for the management of the group—in other words a way to consistently run the meetings for maximum effect for the most people. And we'll go from there.

OUR WRITERS

I never really take the time here to acknowledge the most important contributors to this publications— our writers! I am indebted to a faithful crew of part-timers and free lancers, which has been lately buttressed by two new part-time beat writers— Katherine Rivard and Oona Milliken.

Katherine's beats are the community board and the police precinct, Oona

begins this month with a report from Gowanus.

Nathan Weiser has been covering local events, especially in our schools for many years. Brian Abate is our utility infielder, who can write about anything.

Erin DeGregorio as also a long-time Star-Revuian, and a welcome monthly contributor. Kurt Gottschalk writes a music column that could just as well be in Rolling Stone or Pitchfork, same for our jazz guy George Grella, who has written the definitive book on Miles Davis.

Roderick Thomas keeps us on topic with Black style and issues, and is our

Cartoon Section with Marc and Sophie

most-read online contributer. Dante Campagniella is not only our film guy - but he's part of the industry himself. Then there's Michael Quinn, book reviewer, Marie Hueston, our Crafts Mistress as well as a local teacher, Joe Enright, our Visions guy who keeps me laughing and learning, and finally a nod to our former Religion editor, Laura Eng, who contributed a timely article about the future of the Al Capone church.

Councilmember Alexa Aviles responds to our concerns at the first meeting of the Red Hook Civic Association, Vol. 2, on February 15 at PS 15. (Fiala photo)

Bagels go to Washington

After it was brought to his attention that many of his colleagues do not know what a real bagel is, Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) hosted the inaugural House Bagel Caucus to ensure that every Representative, reporter, and staffer on Capitol Hill has the opportunity to eat a real (read: New York) bagel.

“At the inaugural meeting of the House Bagel Caucus, my office was delighted to showcase some of NY10’s most beloved small businesses,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “We’re extremely proud to be the home of the world’s best bagels and were thrilled to spread the bagel love to our friends from around the country.”

New York 10 is inarguably the Coolest Congressional District in the Country™, with some of the best food in the entire world. From Chinatown to Boro Park to Brooklyn Heights to the Lower East Side to the West Village, it’s hard to go wrong if you are eating in the district. And NY-10 is, of course, extremely proud of to be home of the world’s best bagels.

Goldman was delighted to showcase some of NY-10’s most beloved small businesses with the first meeting of the Bagel Caucus.The menu included an assortment of schmears and other delicious items, including kosher bagels; zaatar, walnut and lox schmear; white fish salad; and of course, world renowned lox from Russ & Daughters. All the shops are summarized below

Davidovich Bakery:

Gene Davidovich delighted in the robust aromas of baked bread. They wafted from his Grandma Zoya’s Ukranian kitchen, where Mr. Davidovich eagerly observed old-fashioned preparation methods and tasted generations-old recipes. When he immigrated to America in 1980, he

had a dream of one day having a bakery that would delight people with the quality of their products. That’s how Davidovich Bakery was founded in 1998 and it has been a family business since.

Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys:

Kossar’s is the oldest operating bialy bakery in the United States, its tradition of excellence born in 1936 in the historically Jewish Lower East Side of Manhattan where it remains today. For over 85 years, they have been serving the iconic Lower East Side of Manhattan (and the finest-quality, old-world, and specialty-baked goods).

Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe:

Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe is a neighborhood mainstay and has been serving delicious bagels to the Prospect Heights, Brooklyn community for over a decade. Their bagels are hand-rolled, kettle boiled, and baked on premises - made the Olde fashioned way. Do not miss their Zaatar bagels!

Russ & Daughters:

Joel Russ, a Jewish immigrant from Strzyzow, Poland, sold herring from a pushcart one the Lower East Side of New York before opening the now world-renowned bagel shop at its current location on 179 East Houston Street in 1920. Joel Russ named the business “Russ & Daughters,” after his three daughters, Hattie, Ida and Anne. It is the first known American business with “& Daughters” in its name.

Shelsky’s of Brooklyn:

Born and bred New Yorker Peter Shelsky grew up on Kossar’s bialys and Zabar’s hand-sliced Nova, eventually working in the kitchens of Eleven Madison Park, Café Sabarsky, and Wallse. Tuned into both professional chef culture and the flavors of his own Eastern European and Jewish roots, he partnered with Lewis Spada, a Brooklynite and 20-year FOH veteran of Fish Tales, Cobble Hill’s local seafood market, to open Shelsky’s of Brooklyn. Together, the duo brings their talent and charisma to the nontraditional Appetizing and Delicatessen shop that aims to revive “an old tradition that never really died.”

Participatory Budgeting

There will be voting on participatory budgeting in Red Hook from March 25 till April 2, announced Alexa Aviles’ Communications and Organizing Manager, James Neimeister at a recent meeting at the Red Hook

Library. While the options to vote on aren’t set in stone yet, some of the potential projects include renovations at local parks (including possibly adding water fountains to a local park that doesn’t have any,) renovations to the basketball court and equipment upgrades at the Red Hook Recreation Center, and renovations at the Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center.

(ED,) which will be the new home for the NYU Langone Health—Cobble Hill ED currently located at 83 Amity Street. ”

Other services will include the Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinburg Ambulatory Care Center which will offer ambulatory surgery and radiology. Additionally, comprehensive cancer care will be offered through the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center. There will also be doctors’ offices for a wide range of primary care and clinical specialties, including cardiology, gastroenterology, OB/GYN, orthopedics, radiology, and more.

Catalyst: A Beam Center x Why Not Art Fundraiser Exhibition

A gallery exhibit featuring 19 visual artists opens on March 9th at 351 Van Brunt Street. All of the proceeds from sales will be directed to the participating artists and Beam Center’s art-centered youth development programs. The exhibit runs through March 26 and will include meet and greets with artists and free workshops for young people run by Beam Center.

Learn more on the exhibition at whynotart.com/beam Compére Collective, 351 Van Brunt St

New NYU Langone Facility

In April, a new NYU Langone Health outpatient care center will open at 70 Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill. The facility’s services include a freestanding emergency department

WHY NOT ENHANCE INTRODUCTION OF NYC TRANSIT G LINE COMMUNICATION BASED TRAIN CONTROL (CBTC)  BY ROUTE EXTENSION?

There are more potential future benefits to be found with the MTA awarding a $368 million dollar contract for installation of Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signal system on the New York City Transit G subway line.  The winning bidder is Crosstown Partners.  They are a consortium that includes TC Electric Thales Group - a communications company.  This work will coincide with ongoing installation of CBTC on both the Queens Blvd. E/F/R & M lines, along with F line Brooklyn routes.  Completion of CBTC installation will provide increased capacity on these corridors.  Current G line service at Court Square in Long Island City could be extended to Forest Hills, Continental Avenue.  This would restore this connection which was terminated in April 2010. .

In Brooklyn, G line service could be extended beyond Church Avenue in Kensington, Brooklyn to Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Terminal.  This would provide connections to the D, N & Q lines.

The G line Fulton Street train station is located several blocks from the Atlantic Avenue/Barclay Center LIRR/ NYC Transit subway station com-

plex.  A simple underground passageway could be constructed.  This could provide a direct indoor connection to the G line from the 2,3,4 & 5 IRT, B.D.N,Q & R BMT subway lines along with the Flatbush Avenue Long Island Rail Road Station (serviced by the LIRR Atlantic Branch shuttle that connects downtown Brooklyn with Jamaica, Queens)..   Implementation for all of the above would enhance the commuting experience and provide additional service options for Brooklyn and Queens subway riders.—Larry Penner (The writer is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management.  This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for NJ Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North Rail Roads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ.).

76th Precinct Community Council in a nutshell

On January 9 at 2:35pm, a commuter waiting for their train at the 9th and Smith station rushed to find help after seeing someone fall onto the tracks. Officers Morgan Brown and Meir Green sprang into action. As the train approached, Officer Brown stood by the entrance to flag the conductor. Meanwhile, Officer Green jumped into the subway tunnel to assist the fallen person. Unable to move them alone, a bystander joined Officer Green, and together they moved the fallen commuter off the tracks, just moments before the train arrived.

On January 31, at approximately 8 pm, a Domino’s delivery worker was robbed by four individuals. Within three hours, trainee police officers from the 76th Precinct found the suspects.

On February 1, at approximately 7:31 pm, I showed up for the 76th Precinct’s monthly community meeting.

I slowly walked up the steps into the precinct, double-checking my phone to make sure I had the time and location (191 Union Street) correct. It was my first time at the precinct, and I entered only to immediately see an officer opening a box of pastries. While he confirmed a common stereotype, another officer confirmed the purpose of my visit and buzzed me through.

Walking past the front desks on the right, then the holding cells on the left, I took the stairs to the basement community space where the meeting was held. To my chagrin, I discovered I was late — the meeting had already started and the room was filled with about a dozen attendees. I scribbled my name onto the attendee list and took a seat, feeling as though I was back in school, with the 50s era architecture, the classroom-style seats, and

by Katherine Rivard

the podium and chalk board at the front of the room.

As a meeting meant to connect the members of the precinct with the surrounding community, it was led by representatives of each: Police Captain Vitaliy Zelikov and Community Council President Jerry Armer, a local resident. The 76th Precinct includes Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Cobble Hill, parts of Gowanus, and the Columbia Street Waterfront District. Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm, and from what I could tell, it is often the same crowd. For those who have not attended, the meetings are an opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood, meet with neighbors, and to ask questions.

Things began with Armer announcing upcoming elections for the Community Council officers (i.e. his position and others from the community leading the meeting). Voting will take place at the April meeting with 5 positions up for election. This was followed by a catchall series of community updates: weekend subway service changes, a food distribution volunteering opportunity, a blood drive.

Getting into the meat and potatoes of the meeting, Captain Zeliov retold the story of incredible actions of Officers Brown and Green, and gave an update on crime: there was a statistically insignificant increase in reported crime compared to the previous year, largely due to identity crime fraud.

Officers are currently assigned at transit locations to deter crime, and new officers have recently joined the precinct, straight from the Academy. The precinct has also been coordinating closely with the Port Authority’s secu-

rity division in response to Red Hook’s cruise terminal’s designation as home for 600-1000 asylum seekers.

A concern that some of the community attendees brought up was unsafe behavior related to the Tesla dealership located at 160 Van Brunt Street. More than one attendee commented on cars from the dealership driving without license plates and speeding, in addition to the dealership putting out cones that dangerously force drivers into bike lanes. Since first hearing complaints earlier in the month, the precinct has reached out to Tesla staff to discuss the situation.

Zelikov then answered questions about a suite of police programs: there is a tip line available so that crimes can be reported anonymously, though if a crime is in progress— call 911, not the precinct. The precinct runs a tagging program to prevent crime—expensive goods can receive a tag that is registered with the precinct. Children 14-20 can join the Police Explorers Program to shadow police officers and learn firsthand about the criminal justice system.

A week after the meeting, I followed up with Zelikov to learn more about the precinct. His family emigrated to the United States from Belarus in the early 90's. Growing up in Brooklyn, he saw the role that officers played in his own neighborhood and wondered if it was something he’d enjoy. After serving in the Army, he joined the NYPD, seeing it as an opportunity to give back to his city. He has served for 18 years, working in many different neighborhoods, from the most affluent to the poverty-stricken.

I asked several questions about the precinct and its goals. Each of his an-

swers underscored his own goal for the precinct: to build close bonds with the community. The precinct recently increased its team of Youth Coordination Officers, who attend local sports and events so that local kids can get to know the officers. Meanwhile, Neighborhood Coordination officers (NCOs) are each assigned one of four geographic sectors. The idea here is for officers to work in a small area, building relationships with neighbors and business owners. According to Zelikov, when there are community complaints, it is the NCOs who are almost always able to work it out. The weekend after the meeting, I stopped by Red Hook Mutual Aid’s "store," where volunteers were busy providing clothes, bread, and English classes to the asylum seekers located in Red Hook. Many of the men speak very little English and are eager to find work, asking they can get started. The volunteer coordinator noted that one of the precinct officers had recently stopped by to introduce himself to the asylum seekers: "it was nice for him to stop by and say hi, just so that the men aren’t afraid, ya know?”

New chairman at work to demystify local community board

toric District; this too passed, though with a few board members abstaining or voting against the disapproval.

During the parade of updates from elected officials, much was said, but little was of note. Several representatives noted their concern for the asylum seekers at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, their participation in the BQE redesign, and their availability to speak with the public. Below is a summary of some of the more exciting updates:

Representative Lincoln Restler announced that 34,000 trees will be planted in District 33 to help make the district more sustainable.

Council Member Avilés’s office (District 38) is working with the city’s Department of Small Business Services to improve signage, Wi-Fi, and more in support of local businesses.

NYS Assemblymember Joanne Simon is working to lower the legal blood level alcohol maximum while operating a motor vehicle from 0.08% to 0.05%, as lowering the acceptable level has been shown to reduce fatalities.

City Councilmember Shahana Hanif continues to work with the city’s Department of Transportation, to rede-

sign the section of 9th Street between 2nd and 4th Avenues after the death of a cyclist in January. The plan will be presented to the public at a spring community board meeting.

Community Education Council 3, which covers Community Board 2 and 6, will host a town hall on March 7; they are also collecting laptop donations for students.

The meeting closed with the opportunity for other community members to speak. Two young volunteers from Red Hook Mutual Aid asked for support in serving the nearly 1000 new neighbors at the Humanitarian Emergency Response Center (HERC). They need clothing donations (warm clothing for men, in particular) and volunteers (especially those who speak Spanish or Russian).

Perhaps the most shocking update was from a librarian at the Red Hook branch of the Brooklyn Public Li-

brary. The library is closing on March 17 for flood proofing and other necessary renovations and will remain closed for a staggering 18-24 months. This extended closure was met with concern by attendees because the library’s plan to maintain services seemed very limited. (They will still have a bookmobile, and they will provide Story Time and other programs at different locations.) This news was followed by Prospect Heights resident speaking up to warn of the unconfirmed health hazards posed by Wi-Fi / LinkNYC kiosks.

I called McClure two weeks after the meeting to get a better sense of how the community board works. McClure picked up the phone, right on time for our call, and answered each of my questions in his slow, deep voice, which is hard not to equate with patience and wisdom. He was appointed to the board in 2014 but has been active in the Park Slope community

(continued from page 1)

since 2004, when Taco Bell sought to open a suburban-like drive thru location at the lower end of Prospect Park. As chair, his main duty is to preside over the full committee meetings and to keep them moving along. He is an advocate of safe streets, affordable housing, an accessible transportation network, and a resilient Red Hook. Despite these ideals, he admitted that the board is usually more reactive than proactive. As the call ended, I asked for any last thoughts he wanted to share about the board: “Well, I want to make the community board as participatory as possible… I want to demystify the community board for people as much as possible.”

While the board may be slow to make waves, the chair and members seem ready to listen and consider opportunities for change. Maybe the trouble is less an inactive board, than a lack of community members suggesting opportunities for change and improvements. To listen or participate, join the next full board meeting on March 8 at 6:30pm. Attend in person at the Van Alen Institute or register in advance (on Community Board 6’s website) to join via Zoom.

"Apparently, many board members were unprepared with the link necessary to join if not attending in person, resulting in frantic texts about how to sign on."

Officers Brown and Green, flanked by Captain Zelikov. (photo by Rivard)

Learning about cartooning at the library

There is a comics and cartoons class for kids at the Red Hook Library for kids who want to learn about the art form and have a new skill to learn and enhance.

Nicholas Forker teaches the class and thinks this is a great way to teach them some of the fundamental of drawing and composition. Forker, who has been passionate about comics ever since he can remember, teaches on Mondays from 3 to 4:30 pm.

“I like to teach here at the library because it is free and open to the public,” Forker said. “That means it is accessible to everyone no matter what walk of life. Any kid can come in here and learn at the library, that is why I like it.”

The Red Hook Library will be closing on March 17, for about 18 months. There will be a comprehensive interior and exterior renovation that will protect it from future flooding.

Once the renovation begins, the class will move to Pioneer Works. The time and day is not known yet.

“I like teaching kids,” Forker said. “It is a very fulfilling job. As an artist, it is really fulfilling to share the skills that I have learned. It is an opportunity to give back and continue the tradition of artists teaching up and coming artists.”

He has been teaching for about 10 years and has been a tutor in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He was originally a chess teacher.

by Nathan Weiser

At his Red Hook class there are a couple kids younger than 10 but he tries to keep it to 10 and older.

“They have enough of the ability and motor skills to be able to draw representative work and things that are forms,” Forker said. “If they are much younger they might get discouraged.”

When I went to observe on February 13 there were seven in the class.

“We worked on comic book covers specifically focusing on using elements of hand lettering and bold striking graphic imagery,” Forker said. “We worked on lettering and focused mostly on composition of how to compose a striking cover. We learned about the rule of thirds using geometry in our drawing and how to use angles to make for an exciting cover image.”

“I make sure I have something for the person who is just joining me for their first class and things that are related to previous lessons for regular students."

Forker said.

He taught at the library before the pandemic and has many of the same kids from that class again.

“I just came in saying we had such a great experience pre-pandemic, let’s offer another class to the kids,” Forker said. “They were excited about it so we started it just to see how it would go at first, and I think we have a pretty successful program.”

Forker comes from a fine art background and started out pursuing gallery shows but started to realize that he didn’t care

for the fine art subculture, so he transitioned to comics.

He appreciates that comic books is a working class medium and is affordable to everyone.

“It was interesting to me because visual narrative and storytelling has its own language,” Forker said. “It was a language that I was not well versed with, even though I loved comics and cartoons. So, I went about teaching myself that.”

He is mostly self taught but he has taken classes to improve his knowledge. He attended School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and Pratt in Brooklyn.

He is tutoring and also teaching comics and graphic novels on Thursdays at the 92nd Street Y.

He self published one comic book every month last year from February to November, a total of 10 books. Before that, the artist self published 10-15 other books. His comics over the years have been philosophical and introspective. They have explored the super-ego, the world around him and the shared construct of “reality.”

“This year I am preparing a new book that I am going to bring to market through more conventional channels like book agent and publisher,” Forker said.

The topic of the kids’ comics not surprisingly differs from Forker’s. They write auto-bio comics and more specifically create off-beat superheroes and humorous drawings of exchanges with their families and or their pets.

Forker enjoyed comics from a young

age. The Adventures of Tin Tin and the Adventures of Asterix were two comics that got him hooked.

He also read Peanuts, Marvel and his bedtime story as a child was The Hobbit. “There was some early Hobbit art by Ralph Bakshi that was intriguing to me, and I always loved the art from the early Dungeons and Dragons,” Forker said.

Calvin and Hobbes was also a favorite. Forker admired that artist Bill Watterson never merchandised the comics like Garfield and the Simpsons did. He liked his integrity.

“He did not merchandise and I am proud of him for that,” Forker said. “He is gifted. His ink and water color is fantastic.”

Red Hook Library closure will leave a huge gap by

The Red Hook Library, which is a relied on space for many, will close for renovations on March 17. There was a meeting at the library on February 21, at which details were announced. The construction will startthis spring and take about 18 months, which means it should reopend at the beginning of 2025.

The plan is to modernize the building, add more light with bigger windows, and make it flood proof.

The interior space will have a community room, two reservable meeting rooms, and brand new furniture and upgraded technology. This will include a laptop loan program.

The building will be designed to be a “net zero building,” which means that the total energy used on an annual basis will equal the energy that is created on site.

A book mobile and a techmoble will be outside the library location on a few days during the renovation.

Members of the library staff will be able to provide reference services and community resources.

The Bookmobile will have free WIFI through BPL’s Brooklyn Reach program.

The techmobile has five desktop computers and laptop computers and it can hold 10 people.

For the first four weeks of the libraries closure, the bookmobile and tech

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATED AT

by Nathan Weiser

PS 676

On February 16, PS 676 hosted a Black History Month family art night with activities for the students.

The art night went from 4:30 until 6:30 as Red Hook Art Project and Pioneer Works instructed the students. The kids did collages and paintings based on Black artists from New York City. RHAP made a giant fabric art collage that took up the size of a table that was inspired by the art of Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold. The students assisted with making the collage, which will likely be auctioned off at RHAP’s gala in May.

There was also inspiration from Mickalene Thomas, who is from Brook-

Nathan Weiser

mobile will come every Tuesday from 11-4 pm. It will alternate between book and tech mobile on those visits.

After the first four weeks the plan is for it to come every other week. Nurys Pimentel, the library circulation specialist said there are other library closures and the bookmobile and tech mobile need to help those neighborhoods as well.

Pimentel announced at the meeting that was attended by many in the neighborhood outreach programs.

One of the librarians will read to the kids once a week at the Red Hook Initiative. The kids will see a familiar face.

There will be weekly kids craft projects class at Pioneer Works. They are hoping to have their resume help session for adults at the Justice Center.

“That is an adult program so we are trying to touch every single base,” Pimentel said. “The kids, the young adults and adults. One of us that works here that you see every single day will be there.”

Somebody in the audience said that having the tech and book mobile at the library just once a week for five hours was not enough for an area with almost 8,000 residents in the Red Hook Houses alone. It was pointed out that library access is needed on weekends.

There was a request to have a brick

lyn, since her use of glitter in her art was used in the corners of the collage. Ringgold is a painter, mixed media sculptor, performance artist and quilter who is still doing art at 92 years old. There were various tables around the cafeteria with information on various Black artists. One table had information on Kahinde Wiley, and a picture of the painting she did of President Barack Obama in 2018.

Other tables had information and paintings of Thomas, Ringgold and Bearden. The kids had magazines, scissors, colored paper and glue at the tables and got to do drawings based on what those artists were known for.

Pioneer Works organized a painting class that the students signed up for right before it began. They all put on aprons and sat at two tables in the back with easels in front of them.

and mortar replacement for the current library like has happened in two other locations.

David Woloch, representing the Brooklyn Public Library, responded.

“In Brooklyn Heights, where we had an interim library, the developer who was building that building paid for it,” Woloch said. “We don’t have that here and we don’t have that in all other locations where we have closed libraries. We have a library closed in Williamsburg, in Bed Stuy and South Brooklyn with no brick and mortar replacement.”

He added that their outreach plan is more ambitious and aggressive than in other neighborhoods.

Tiffiney Davis from Red Hook Art Project mentioned an art gallery in Red Hook that has a huge space that’s underused. She thought that could be a space for library activities.

Davis, who has 130 students in her program, pointed out that the laptop situation is a huge issue with the tech mobile coming just once a week and suggested city funding. She is willing to provide her space as a makeshift library.

“I know how important the library is for a lot of parents I work with,” Davis said. “My space is definitely open to use and we can figure out timing. They can check out books.”

Each of the 14 students draw one of Derrick Adams’s more well known paintings. Adams is a Black artist who is based in Brooklyn.

The students had Adams’s painting next to their easels and were instructed by Pioneer Works staff to draw it to the best of their ability. They started by drawing a big circle for the face

All the kids drew the painting in their own way and got to take their painting home.

Jonathan Ojekunle, who has been the Pioneer Works artist in residence for the last six months, knows Adams and said his art is being displayed at Penn Station. He also has a project titled I Can Show You Better Than I Can

Pimentel defensively pointed out that they gave out 129 laptops for the community as well as the same amount of hotspots. Those laptops were checked out in January and they don’t need to be checked back in until September.

“We are going to reach out to more places and keep on emailing and see what we can do going forward,” Pimentel said. “As of now, this is all we can lock down. We are hoping to have another meeting the week before we close to update with anything else we have to offer.”

Carolina Salguero from Portside NY said that during the pandemic they had a free community library with outdoor WIFI in a parking lot. She said the EDC evicted the community library abusively on short notice, which upset people.

She suggested putting classroom trailers in that parking lot if Ports America is okay with that. There is a large space available next to the cultural and educational non-profit at Portside.

Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield had a table with a Black History educational activity book and other information including health tips.

The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development had a table with housing rights and eviction information.

France's domestic balancing act

As French President Macron started the process to pass a reform aiming at bringing retirement age from the current 62 to 64 years old, France dove into an outbreak of protests and mass demonstrations marking January and February with five general strikes and an uncountable amount of transport blockages by unions.

The reform, aimed at making France economically credible in the eyes of major European partners like Germany, comes in a country where the State has historically had a strong economic leadership and where liberalism has never really found a place. Macron's bid to change the retirement system by reducing its costs clashes

by Dario Pio Muccilli, Star-Revue foreign desk

with the power of trade unions, which have shown themselves able to stymie the entire country multiple times. Unions have been able to do what their foreign colleagues haven't: create an intergenerational alliance. As other European countries, like Italy, saw the retirement age heightened by governments close to the EU leadership, the unions played the role of saviors of the youth, claiming that the cost of the pensions would have been a burden for the generations to come. In France that’s not the case, high schools, universities, honors colleges: students of any age have joined the demonstrations in Paris’ boulevards. It even happens, like last February 16th in Palaiseau, a small town

THE STAR-REVUE HAS TWO OPENINGS:

1 - DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALESPERSON. The job involves meeting neighborhood store-owners and educate them about the wonderful goodwill they will get by advertising in the local newspaper. Another aspect is to talk to bigger corporations such as hospitals and schools to tell them that this is the perfect place to get their messages across to the people they are serving. You get paid with a percentage of what you sell, which is called a commission. This is a part-time job to supplement your income - you decide on the hours.

2 - WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN NYC PUBLIC HOUSING, preferably Red Hook or Gowanus, to write about things going on where you live. You do not need any experience. As long as you can put on paper interesting stories that our readers will want to read, you are our person. You don't have to be a great writer to start - see how we edit your stuff and learn from it. This is a free-lance position, meaning part-time.

For both positions call George at 917 652-9128 or email me at gbrook@pipeline.com

The Best Slice in Red Hook

in the southern hinterland of the capital, that the most widely seen posters are those of the local high school rather than the union one.

Such a massive movement against Macron has also made possible the lack of a right-wing grip on the demonstrations, pretty much the contrary of what happened in Italy with Matteo Salvini and GiorgiaMeloni.

Marine Le Pen, France’s hard-right leader, proposed a popular referendum on the issue, but struggled to carry a structured opposition in the Parliament, where the left-wing MPs of the NUPES alliance have played the biggest role in filibustering and opposing the bill.

The biggest demonstration is due to come on March 6th. It will gather hundreds of thousands of people, but Macron doesn’t seem to tremble. He’s used to ruling without popular support, favored by a majority electoral system that has always put the French face to the choice between him and Le Pen.

This reform is for Macron an occasion to showcase strength to his allies in Europe, mostly Germans, as he wants to take the EU leadership, a pretty impossible challenge without having strong liberal credentials. What he’s doing is a trade-off, the partial dismantling of the French welfarestate, already experimented before on

unemployment insurance, for leading the continent. It’s a mixture of oldstyle French grandeur and post-liberalism: a formula that is causing the total delegitimization of the Macron presidency among his very own people, as his disapproval rate according to Politico goes beyond 60%.

Destroying the solidarity between the people and the institutions is not a good start for a likely European leadership. A rotten France in such an intertwined political landscape as Europe would cause an incredible instability. That’s a truth that should probably drive Macron in order not to take France on the brink of another “revolutionary” season.

Hoping for the best as Gowanus builds up

An asbestos abatement notice, shuttered doors, and heaps of debris–this is what is left of Gowanus’ famous BBQ restaurant Pig Beach, one of the first businesses that closed its doors due to the 2021 rezoning that allows for taller residential buildings in Gowanus and some adjacent areas.

The restaurant, a sprawling indooroutdoor facility that served as a community meeting spot for eight years, closed December 30 because the development group Tankhouse is beginning the process of building along the Gowanus canal. Shane McBride, coowner of Pig Beach, said he will miss the original location, and hopes to be able to move the restaurant back into the area in a couple of years.

“We miss it. We miss our customers, we had tons of regulars, when we did actually close, there were families that came in for their final chicken wings,” McBride said. “We witnessed a lot of these kids grow up, so you know, it was bitter-sweet to leave that. We’ve been a part of people’s families for years now."

The Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, which was only the latest attempt to rezone the Gowanus neighborhood, was kicked off in 2013 by then Councilmember Brad Lander’s Bridging Gowanus series of community meeting, drawn up originally by Lander’s former employer Pratt Institute.

The final rezoning was officially approved November 23, 2021 by the NY City Council. The rezoning allows for residential buildings as tall as 30 stories, in an area originally zoned for six story buildings, much of which was industrial. In total, the development is slated to bring in 20,000 new residents in 8,500 new apartments, almost doubling the present population.

Tankhouse, a real estate developer based in Dumbo, bought the development site in July 2022 for $40.65 million from the Pilot Real Estate Group. According to TheRealDeal, this project will be larger than the company’s previous biggest development

Brooklyn Bridge Park to be recreated in Gowanus

by George Fiala

February's CB6 Land Use committee was host to a couple of presentation by designers of two small park areas that are part of the Gowanus rezoning. The first presentation for a park that will be on part of the Pig Beach property was made by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates who are the designers of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, a much celebrated public space that actually served as taxpayer built selling points for the condos and hotel built in the park by private developers.

The second presentation was made by Scape Landscape Architects, whose

by Oona Milliken

on 450 Warren Street, a five-story 18unit condo building. McBride said Tankhouse will tear down the old Pig House building this month. Though he said he will miss their original restaurant location, McBride said he is hopeful about the development.

“They’re putting a pretty substantial building, the ground floor and parts of the second floor are going to be commercial use,” McBride said. “They have a decent amount of space carved out for community members, it’s definitely going to be mixed-use. And the building looks pretty cool.”

According to Crain’s New York Business, Pilot secured a 421-a tax break for the property, which also includes the neighboring Green Building, right before the sale to Tankhouse, likely contributing to the 230% price increase from their original purchase of the land in 2014 for $12.3 million to the $40.65 million Tankhouse bought it for. A 421-a tax break, given to developers that comply with an affordable housing minimum, ensures that Tankhouse will not have to pay property tax and other fees for multiple years. The terms of the rezoning mandates that 20 to 30 percent out of the 8,500 newly built properties must be classified as affordable. It's probably that the new owners will file new plans for a taller building.

Claire Weissberg, the creator and owner of Claireware Pottery, said she has doubts that the new development will be able to serve community members in need of affordable housing, and will instead bring in wealthier residents from outside the neighborhood.

“I don’t have faith that the affordable housing, the mandatory inclusionary housing, will be affordable. It sounds like the affordable housing they’re building over on that block, on the other side of the canal, is the only truly affordable housing,” Weissberg said. “But most of the time [rent] is based on the income of the neighborhood, and the median income of this neighborhood is well over $100,000.”

motto says that they "create positive change in communities by combining regenerative living infrastructure and new forms of public space.

There project is a controversial part of the rezoning that puts schools and parks and affordable housing units on top of land that many think still contains toxic pollution, a topic addressed by the EPA, who guarantees that the project will not go forward until they believe it is safe.

What the members of the Land Use committee were mostly concerned about were much more innocent.

The planners presented things such as swinging play elements for kids that invoke the neighborhood's industrial past (somebody questioned whether they might not be vulnerable to mischief by bad boys), hammocks for resting (won't

While the rezoning means that some businesses will close, other business owners in the area are certain that construction in the area will produce more revenue. Angel Guzman, owner of Smith Street Pizza and long-time Gowanus resident, said the development will bring in new customers to his store.

“More people is good for business. More people make more business, it’s going to be crowded but you know, that’s okay.” Guzman said.

Other community members in the area are not so optimistic. The development will alter the skyline of Gowanus, and according to Weissberg, this will permanently change the feel of the neighborhood.

“It’s going to transform it,” Weissberg said. “The whole charm of this neighborhood was how low it was, and how light it was, and now there won’t be any light, and I assume that all the buildings are all going to be cookiecutter hideous buildings, but I don’t know that.”

Community members are also unsure if the rezoning will be good for the neighborhood. Toni-Anne Acevedo, who has lived in Gowanus all her life, said she is worried that the development will bring a lot of traffic to the community.

homeless people turn them into beds), pavers that celebrate the Gowanus legacy, and special features in the paths that will deter skateboarders.

Member Jerry Armer questioned whether the pavement under the play element might not get too hot in the sun. Somebody else asked about the permeability of that pavement as the ground underneath may still end up with some toxins (of course it won't be permeable was the answer, as far as the heat there will be trees around for shade).

Other members wanted to make sure there were plenty of bike racks, whether they might be boat access near the canal, whether the dog run would be raised up, exposing passerbys to possible smells, will there be seating with backs for those who have tender ones, and other type aesthetic questions.

“It’s too much. They’re building on every piece of land there is,” Acevedo said. “It doesn’t bring much, and it’s complicated.”

Greg Warner, an employee at the local wine shop Smith & Vine, said he does not like the newest Gowanus buildings at 365 Bond Street and thinks the new units will be similar, though the developments are headed by different firms.

“Those apartments are lame,” Warner said. “It’s like adults who want the amenities and pampering of a dorm room but they live in New York City. It has no character, and every time they deliver wine there I’m annoyed by it.”

McBride said the neighborhood is about to go through a period of change, and that Gowanus will look as different during the construction period when certain restaurants and amenities will disappear, as it will after the development is finished.

“[Pig Beach] definitely had an impact on the neighborhood as a place to go and I would say that we were a part of the genesis of how the neighborhood became a better place,” McBride said. “It’s going to be a different neighborhood. Just like any new, growing neighborhood, it’s going to have a growing period where there will be a lack of stuff.”

Only at the end, when the questioning was opened up to non CB6 members, were questions about possible environmental problems raised.

A week later, at the monthly Superfund meeting, Chief Engineer Christos Tsiamis said that all of a sudden, the DEC, which had been criticized for lax remediation standards, has switched gears and, just like the City DEP, is suddenly cooperative in shepherding a safe cleanup—most probably to the relief of all the developers.

The Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club celebrated its birthday at Pig Beach last year. (photo by George Fiala)

“It’s time to explore what Irish whiskey can be”

What to do, where to go this St. Patrick’s Day

With hardly any snow this winter and longer days on the horizon, this writer is ready to welcome spring by celebrating both St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) and International Whiskey Day (March 27). Though the two holidays fall on different days, there’s at least one thing in common: celebrating with an Irish spirit in hand. To get a handle on the whiskey scene in particular, we spoke with Mike Vacheresse, co-owner of Travel Bar (520 Court St). This Carroll Gardens establishment was named one of the “Top 101 Whisky Bars in the Nation” by Whiskey Advocate magazine in December 2022, being just one of six bars in New York and the only bar in Brooklyn to be considered for the honor.

“Long gone are the days of just drinking Jameson and green beer [on St. Patrick’s Day] for most of my customers,” said Vacheresse, who has been serving patrons for the past eightand-a-half years. “We have 35 Irish whiskies, and a lot of them are ones that you’ve never heard of, with different cask finishes and styles. And, so, it’s time to explore what Irish whiskey can be.”

So what does Vacheresse recommend? Trying something new. “In the last few years, so many new whiskies have come out, at every price point,” said Vacheresse, noting that Travel Bar

by Erin DeGregorio

now carries more than 450 whiskies from around the world that are served in one- and two-ounce portions. “Go to a bar, talk to the bartender, look at the list, and order an Irish whiskey that you’ve never had before. Or go to a liquor store and talk about trying something new. In Red Hook, for example, you can go talk to Cory Hill at Wet Whistle Wines, who’s great, and ask his opinion. I want to stress that people should be adventurous and to trust the people who work in the industry, because everyone who works in this industry has the passion for it. ” While Vacheresse says that Ireland is experiencing a “boom and resurgence” in the whiskey industry—with more than 40 distilleries operating in the country, compared to just eight by the end of 2014—whiskey is growing as a spirits category around the world—from Taiwan and Japan to India and Israel, which each make their own whiskey from malted barley. The fact that countries one may not expect to associate with whiskey are, indeed, producing the spirit is something Vacheresse personally enjoys. “Don’t just think of the big ones: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Canada, and America. Whiskey is coming from everywhere and almost every country is making it now,” said Vacheresse, who recalled that his bar was the first in America to sell Stauning, a Danish whiskey. Now, Travel Bar sells six dif-

ferent bottles of Danish whiskey. During the week of St. Patrick’s Day, Travel Bar will be offering a flight special of a 10-, 16-, and 21-year-old Bushmills Single Malt for $30. Normally, the 21-year-old is $26 an ounce on its own. For more information, visit travelbarbrooklyn.com

But if a shot of whiskey may not be your cup of tea, here are some other things to do for St. Patrick’s Day:

NIA Community Services Network’s Beacon Program at P.S. 247 presents Disney Channel’s “Luck of the Irish” Movie Night (7000 21st Ave, March 16, 6:30-8:30 pm) (Eventbrite tickets required in advance)

St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Cruise (Cabana Yacht at the Skyport Marina, 2430 FDR Drive, New York) (March 17, 6-10 pm) ($62 per ticket)

Shack Daddy: A Stand-up Comedy Show (Cafe Beit, 158 Bedford Ave, March 17, 7-8:30 pm) (Free)

St. Patrick’s Day Game Night (Prime143, 143 Thames St, March 17, 7-10 pm) (Free with Eventbrite RSVP ahead of time, $10 at door)

48th Annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade in Park Slope, which starts at Bartel-Pritchard Square (March 19, 12:30 pm) (Free)

St. Patrick’s Day Sunday Roast & Live Music (Coney Island Brewery,

1904 Surf Ave, March 25, 2-5 pm) ($25 per ticket)

28th Annual Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which starts on the corner of 3rd and Marine Aves, March 26, 1 pm) (Free)

Msgr Massie Named Administrator at St. Mary Star of the Sea

St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish (SMSS) in Carroll Gardens suffered a sad loss in early December with the death of longtime pastor, Reverend Christoper Cashman. During Fr. Cashman’s brief illness, it fell on the pastor of neighboring Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary - St. Stephen Parish (SHSS) and the Dean of Deanery 3, Monsignor Guy Massie, to cover the weekly Masses at St. Mary’s. Reverend Cletus Forson, the Parochial Vicar of SHSS, assisted with the 15 Masses celebrated at both churches each week.

Following Fr. Cashman’s passing, Most Reverend Robert Brennan, the Bishop of Brooklyn, named Msgr. Massie as the permanent Administrator of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish while remaining pastor of Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen Parish. There are many who are undoubtedly wondering why Bishop Brennan did not simply appoint a new pastor for St. Mary’s but due to the critical shortage of priests in the Diocese of Brooklyn, that is not currently an option. Also, one priest may not be named pastor of two parishes.

While Msgr. Massie will not be pastor of St. Mary’s, SMSS and SHSS will share the same pastoral staff and Msgr. Massie will have the responsi-

by Laura Eng

bilities, privileges and authority of a pastor, albeit without the title. Fr. Cletus along with the other pastoral staff members at SHSS: Permanent Deacon Edwin Rivera, John Heyer II, the Pastoral Associate of SHSS and also a Candidate for the Diaconate, and Michele Twomey, the Director of Faith Formation will also assist Msgr. Massie in the management of SMSS.

All other administration and staff including office staff, lay ministries, finance councils and parish councils will maintain operations for their respective parish from their respective locations. Religious education will be a continued collaboration between both parishes with the plan for on-site classes to eventually resume at SMSS. Each parish will continue with their own weekly Masses at their traditional times, various liturgical celebrations, weddings, funerals, and baptisms.

I spoke with Monsignor Massie recently and he wished to make three things clear: St. Mary Star of the Sea will not close; SMSS will maintain its own parish, staff, finances and buildings; and SMSS and SHSS will be not be merging but will be sharing clergy. He also posed the question “How can we be ‘church’ in Carroll Gardens through our respective parishes together?” To begin to answer that

question, Msgr. Massie held a 3-week series of listening sessions with SMSS parishioners, the purpose of which was to provide a platform for any questions or suggestions parishioners might have. Those sessions led to the restoration of some traditions at SMSS such as Stations of the Cross and Adoration of the Eucharist during Lent. After three years of Covid restrictions, parishioners expressed a desire to introduce a hospitality hour after Mass. And in that vein, SMSS held a well-attended “Bagels and Coffee with Monsignor Massie” gathering following the 10:00 Mass on February 5th.

SMSS parishioner and office assistant Mary Carriero shared with me that the primary concern among parishioners upon the passing of “Fr. Chris” was that St. Mary’s might be closing but Msgr. Massie has assured them that is not the case. According to Mary, the overall mood is now “optimistic” and she feels Msgr. Massie “could not be more enthusiastic or supportive.” On behalf of the parish, Mary recently posted the following on the SMSS FaceBook page: “St. Mary Star of the Sea church expresses our sincere gratitude to all who extended condolences and support on the passing of Fr. Christopher Cashman. At the same time as we mourn his loss, we are deeply appreciative for the guidance and leadership of our

new permanent administrator, Msgr. Guy Massie. As Fr. Chris would want us to, we look forward with faith and hope to growing our parish and continuing its mission.”

St. Mary Star of the Sea was founded in 1851 and St. Stephen, which merged with Sacred Hearts in 1941, was founded in 1866, so these two parishes each have a significant history and have been close neighbors for over 157 years. While the transition may prove challenging at times, it is the hope and prayer of all that St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish will continue to maintain its own independent identity, honor its unique history and thrive spiritually.

In Red Hook, for example, you can go talk to Cory Hill at Wet Whistle Wines, who’s great, and ask his opinion.

The Gowanus Crossing of Vinny Coppola

My pal Vinny is writing up a storm about his early years, most of them spent at the foot of the rickety Carroll Street Bridge amidst a tight-knit community of proud Italian-American strivers. Some thrived, many didn’t. Mezza Mezza. More on that later.

I first met Vinny in 1961 when we were both freshmen trying to avoid getting whacked by the Brothers at St. Augustine High School on Sixth Avenue and the Puerto Rican gangs on Fifth Avenue. He went on to teach English at Automotive High School, the same place his father dropped out of to work the docks.

But when Vinny turned 30, he found himself at the Columbia School of Journalism, winning a fellowship covering race relations in the U.K., launching a journalism career that would span more than 35 years. He was the lead reporter for Newsweek’s coverage of the AIDS epidemic, the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, and the Atlanta child murders, contributing other feature stories to Esquire, Rolling Stone, and similar top-line rags.

Vinny authored many non-fiction books but my favorites are the ones he poured his soul into. For instance, while recovering from cancer, he curated forty personal essays by the world’s top oncologists while weighing in on his own battle to produce The Big Casino/America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories (2014). And twenty-five years before the January 6 insurrection, he penned Dragons of God, a first-person account of the rise of neo-Nazis and other domestic lowlife groups that led to the devastating attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City.

An Atlanta resident for many years,

Obituary: William Herbert Springer

William Herbert Springer passed away peacefully February 13, 2013 at Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn New York. He was 80 years of age. Survivors are his sisters Marsha Gohsman (David) and Julianne Reuss (Norman). Other surviving family include one niece Rebekah Lahout (Joe) and three nephews, Jeffery Gohsman, Andrew Lee and Christian Lee, one

By Joe Enright

Vinny recently moved to ghost-infested Savannah. Which possibly explains his escalating ability to so lovingly channel the long-departed spirits of Carroll Street, a stone’s throw from the Gowanus Canal to the west and Our Lady of Peace to the east. Vinny let me sample some of his output lately and if you’re new to the area, his stories will acquaint you with the ghosts who undoubtedly still haunt these streets.

For instance, in Vinny’s world you’ll meet another St. Augustine refugee, mixed-breed Ray Sharkey (half-Italian, half-Irish) who escaped Gowanus for Hollywood fame only to die of AIDS: In a neighborhood where everyone—from Angioletti, the singsong fruit peddler, to the gamblers on the corner—shouted like performers in some sidewalk opera, Ray was a loudmouth.

The local operator: On Carroll Street, Fat Rosie, the only female bookie in the neighborhood, stumbled when Emo, her boyfriend, sold drugs to the wrong man’s son, and was hung from a meat hook.

Vinny’s aunt: Lucy lived in a groundfloor apartment two doors from Monte’s “Venetian” Room where the food was Neapolitan and “Venetian” an ironic nod to the pestilent canal down the street. “Eddie Pole” lived across the backyard with his sons, “Anthony Penguin” and “Johnny Bananas,” and daughters, Ginger and Cookie. Friday nights, the entire street cheered as the they cursed and pummeled Eddie, staggering home after blowing another paycheck in the Old Brigadier bar.

And his family: Morning sunlight streams into the dim, second floor bedroom, my younger brother’s refuge for the last 18 months. The same room three brothers shared as teens, Joseph and I giggling as we raid Thomas’s stylish jeans, sweaters, and jackets while

grand nephew Henry Lahout and many friends. He was preceded in death by parents William H. Springer and Marie Silvestri and siblings John Anton Springer and Heidi Lynn Lee. William (Bill) was born on February 18, 1942 in Kenosha Wisconsin. His early years were spent in Kenosha, in Washington Illinois and in Detroit Michigan. He loved to make sketches and drawings, somewhat neglecting his schoolwork. Bill entered the US Army in July 1959 and returned to ci-

he sleeps; the room where we dreamed our separate dreams. I’d be a writer; Joe, the gifted athlete, a quarterback; Thomas, blessed with supernal beauty and aching sensitivity, would become a famous actor. In Gowanus, isolated on the banks of a poisoned canal in the shadow of lower Manhattan’s skyscrapers, our dreams do not carry the tragic weight of hubris, they’re laughable…

And mother Gloria’s care for that younger brother: I have a three-yearold daughter in Atlanta and Thomas has a mysterious, infectious disease that in 1985 is 100 percent fatal. He lies there immobile, left eye swollen shut, blond hair lank and burned ash grey by toxic medications, his handsome face disfigured by dozens of purple lesions—Kaposi’s Sarcoma, a rare and “indolent” skin cancer that in AIDS patients is invasive and hyper-aggressive; so aggressive that I swear new tumors appear on Thomas’s arms and legs overnight. Radiation has turned his swollen legs into leather, my hands ache from trying to massage his pain away. He’s refused any further treatment with alpha interferon (the side

vilian life July 1962 to reside in North Olmstead Ohio. He received his high school diploma from Lakewood High School in an arts program, and painted a self portrait while there.

After graduation Bill left for New York. He was married in 1966 to Catherine Struse and divorced in 1969. According to Scott Pfaffman, Bill was a long time neighbor, painter, veteran and all round decent guy.

effects are so terrible it’s been compared to having the flu every day of your life) though it kept the raging cancer in check for months...Thomas has survived deadly pneumocystis pneumonia, only to be ravaged by “opportunistic” infections, some unheard of in humans. Things are at the point that I have a pistol, but I don’t have the courage...I’ll never have the courage. Gloria will not allow me to change his linens or help him use the bathroom…Seeing my mother helping her dying son is literally The Pieta come alive. An ambulance is enroute to take Thomas to Mother Cabrini Hospice on East 19th Street in the Manhattan he so loves. “Those bitches!” Gloria says in the hoarse whisper that is now her only voice. “They’re standing out there just waiting.” It’s too much. I jerk the hallway door open and run down the stairs, half-tumble onto Carroll Street. I’m going to kill them—Phyllis Hubela, Millie Pepe, Fat Rosie, some other neighborhood women I can’t recall— then I notice they’re all crying. For Thomas. For Gloria. For me. Someone hugs me and now I’m sobbing. The ambulance pulls up.

Coppola’s style is unique. Propulsive but imbued with an empathy that recalls the best of Hamill and Breslin in chronicling the strivers, the failures, the left-behinds and the unforgettable characters who inhabit the struggling corners of our city—equal parts hilarious, compassionate, level-headed and heart-wrenching. He resurrects the heroes, the hoods, the fallen, and the risen, all quintessentially Brooklyn when Brooklyn wasn’t cool…but tough, very tough.

While we wait for Vinny’s epic compilation to hit Barnes & Noble, treat yourself to some excellent old posts at Vinny’s blog which is online at gowanuscrossing.blogspot.com

Black Masc A Look at Black Masculinity

by Roderick Thomas

On the heels of releasing my first documentary feature Black Masc, I knew I had to talk to someone who understood Black Masculinity from experience but knew what it meant to be an entrepreneur. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jordan Green, owner of Exit18 Creative Agency. My interview with with Jordan Green below

Jordan Green: Hey Roderick

Roderick Thomas: Hey Jordan, this is weird I’m usually the one doing the interviewing [laughs]

JG: Let’s get started. Where are you from?

Roderick Thomas: I’m from south Florida.

JG: What got you into filmmaking?

Roderick Thomas: I’ve been running around with a camera since I was a child. I’ve always known that film was a medium for me.

JG: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

Roderick Thomas: Other films. I’d watch Crouching Tiger, or Crash and think, I want to make that, I can do that.

JG: What Sparked your interest in creating a documentary about Black masculinity?

Roderick Thomas: It was 2017, I think Eric Garner had been murdered, and I wanted to find something about Black men’s experiences with masculinity and I struggled to find long form content. So that started the journey.

JG: How would you describe Black Masc?

Roderick Thomas; I would say that Black Masc is a collection of stories and visuals that explore Black men’s experiences with masculinity. What it means to be a father, to be in love, to be hurt, to be a man.

JG: Is Black masculinity more scrutinized because of social media?

Roderick Thomas: I don’t know if I would say Black masculinity is more scrutinized. However, I think social media has given it more of a spotlight in recent years.

JG: Are there distinctions in how masculinity is performed by Black men of different cultures?

Roderick Thomas: I think that there are distinctions for sure. However, I found more similarities than anything while making the documentary.

JG: With mental health being more accepted today, how do you think Black men are dealing with their mental health?

Roderick Thomas: I think it depends. Everyone deals with things differently. I will say that I have noticed more willingness to talk about therapy as a real option for mental health, rather than being distracted.

JG: What do you hope Black men get from the film?

Roderick Thomas: I hope Black men feel represented, and feel more connected to each other after watching

JG: You used African spirituality and folklore in the film. Why did you feel the need to include that?

Roderick Thomas: I think African spirituality tends to be untainted in many ways. So I wanted to include original concepts that had nothing to do with colonialism or slavery.

JG: You used original music in this film, how did the score come about?

Roderick Thomas: I collaborated with a talented composer Ja’Juan Wilder (1da). I had some input but I really trusted his ear and his ability to help guide the story through music.

JG: What was your favorite scene to shoot?

Roderick Thomas: I don’t know, that’s tough. I can’t pick a favorite but I would say right now, the Black horseback riders, that was amazing. We shot that on Coretta Scott king’s birthday, I felt like it was a sign from God [laughs].

JG: Ok, who are some of your favorite filmmakers right now?

Roderick Thomas: Jordan Peele is incredible and I love James Laxton’s cinematography. Those two come to mind, but there are so many that I admire.

JG: What’s your favorite film?

Roderick Thomas: Lord of the Rings

JG: Didn’t expect that. Which one?

Roderick Thomas: Ooh, if I had to pick, The Fellowship of the Rings, but they’re all amazing. I’m watching the series too!

JG: Do you think we see too many films of one type of Black man? A man from the hood, or slave narratives? Roderick Thomas: I think we should tell as many stories as possible. I think our stories are becoming more diverse. I’m not interested in telling stories about suburban Black kids just for the heck of it or Black people from anywhere as a cliché. I’m interested in telling good stories, period.

JG: Describe Black masculinity.

Roderick Thomas: The experience of Black men in relation to the concepts of masculinity.

JG: What’s next for Black Masc?

Roderick Thomas: Festivals and screenings. I have my first screening on March 19th. I’m excited!

JG: Where can we check it out?

Roderick Thomas: At the Stuart Cinema and Cafe in Brooklyn. It’s one of the few Black owned theaters too, so it’s fitting for a viewing. Love how that happened.

JG: Last question. What do you want people to leave with after seeing your film?

Roderick Thomas: Empathy, empathy, empathy. I want them to feel more empathy for each other

JG: Roderick, it’s been a pleasure. Thanks for letting me interview you, and congratulations.

Roderick Thomas: Jordan, I appreciate you for agreeing.

To stay up to date on Black Masc visit the film’s website, https://www.blackmascmovie.com/

Roderick Thomas is an NYC based writer, filmmaker, (Instagram: @Hippiebyaccident, Email: rtroderick. thomas@gmail.com, Site: roderickthomas.net)

“Rodeo” Review: Portrait of an Asphalt Pirate on Fire

At the start of Lola Quivoron’s debut feature, Rodeo, a shaky camera follows Julia (Julie Ledru, exceptional in her first film) through a chaotic scene in the cold, echoing halls of a French housing project. Men shout at her, harass her, follow her, try to stop her — all the way outside, where she climbs into a truck and implores the driver to take her away. Only when the rail-thin young woman, dressed masculinely in a baggy t-shirt and shorts and calling everyone bro, promises to calm down and stop insulting these guys (one of whom is her brother) is she allowed to be on her way. When Julia gets to where she’s going, she pretends to be an interested buyer of some bougie suburban dude’s motorbike, convincing him to let her test drive it before gunning the bike and claiming it as hers, throwing the owner a middle finger as she rides off.

This could easily have been the start of an exploitative indie about underclass resentment and payback. But it quickly shifts gears into something more mature and complex. This is a film about people on the margins eking out a gray-market (at best) existence, confronting prejudices (sexism, racism, classism) that perpetuate ruling elite power structures, and groping for community. That this all takes place against the backdrop of bike culture, with its illegal street “rodeos” of stunts, tricks, and speed and garages full of parts, fuel, and testosterone — with a female protagonist at the center — makes the film audacious, and, more often than not, terrific.

It succeeds, in no small way, by rejecting expectations. Some have described Rodeo, which won the Un Certain Regard Coup de Coeur Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, in ways that make it sound like a fuel-injected low-budget American thriller. After all, there are bikes, heists, death. But Fast and the Furious this is not. The material stakes are extraordinarily low: Julia and the crew hijack a truck to steal three topof-the-line bikes, not some trillion-dollar score or a world-changing thingamajig. This is low-rent crime that feels anathema to American filmmaking today. The spiritual stakes, however, are steep and feel appropriate for a certain kind of European film. Indeed, while watching Rodeo it’s hard to imagine how it could be any more French. With its scenes inside and around hulking, dystopian, dehumanizing housing projects and focus on undesirable outsiders, it’s impossible not to see the influence of Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film La haine. Similarly, like Jacques

by Dante A. Ciampaglia

Audiard’s 2005 film The Beat That My Heart Skipped, there’s an undeniable thrum of early New Wave, particularly in how Quivoron captures Julia smoking blunts, for instance, or referring to her crew’s seen-onvideo-only boss, Domino, as being in “the clink.” It’s the kind of film noir throwback style that would have been irresistible to Godard, Truffaut, and Melville. That’s not to say Rodeo is a backward-looking, early-Tarantino-esque pastiche. It’s an achingly contemporary, bold statement on individuality and the power — and limits — of connection. Quivoron, a photojournalist, accomplishes this, in part, by shooting most of her film in a verité style, from those first chaotic moments in the projects to ecstatic scenes of guys pulling tricks on their bikes (a film unto itself) to a series of thefts building toward a final, more daring high-speed heist.

Just as important is how she conceives Julia, the axis on which the film turns. Over the film’s slim, 107-minute runtime, we’re never far from Julia or her experience of day-to-day uncertainty and precarity. Sometimes her life is grimy, others exhilarating, but it’s almost always lonely. Even after she falls in with a bike crew bankrolled by a mysterious, imprisoned criminal, Julia is a universe unto herself. She never compromises who she is or makes accommodations to others’ needs to feel powerful, especially the men of the crew. They feel emasculated because she ripped off a sweet ride? Their problem. Someone jumps her as payback for her clowning them? She’ll come at that dude with a knife. She wears what she wants, says what she wants, lives how she wants. When Kais (Yanis Lafki), the closest thing she has to a friend in the crew, asks what she’ll do with her share of the big job, she shrugs and says she doesn’t need money, she steals “all I got.”

There’s a samurai quality to Julia, living spartanly and intentionally. Even when she finds her tribe with the crew (notably after finally getting booted from her family’s apartment), she’s at a remove. One beautifully shot scene of a nighttime raver around a bonfire finds the crew blasting tunes and losing themselves totally in the experience. All the guys, and the few women that tagged along, are bunched together here and there; Julia is on her own, buffered between groups, solitarily and independently feeling the music and celebrating her way. She is with them but not of them, and probably never could be.

Her self-imposed isolation finally cracks after spending time with Ophélie (Antonia Buresi, who

co-wrote the film with Quivoron) and her young son Kylian (Cody Schroeder). They also happen to be the wife and child of Domino, who controls their moves and lives from prison, dooming the nascent friendship before it really begins. Ophélie knows this, but her need for human interaction is so great that she and Kylian ride with Julia on her bike. The experience has such a profound impact that, when it comes time for Julia to leave, Ophélie bashfully and awkwardly tries to keep the moment going. She knows when Julia walks out the door, this dream will end and be replaced by the nightmarish subsistence existence Domino allows for her and Kylian.

Julia, however, is more naive and believes she and Ophélie can form a deeper relationship. Something softens within her after that bike ride. She feels a protective instinct toward Kylian and Ophélie and believes, if they could just break free of the shackles society, and Domino, have imposed, they could be themselves. And happy. And when she learns this can never be, her heartbreak is gutting — all the more so because we know that, like innumerable cinematic samurai before her, her lapse in judgment has sealed Julia’s fate.

Julia and Ophélie have a few scenes together, but the film would have benefited from a deeper exploration of their dynamic. But what we miss there Quivoron makes up for in the final moments of Rodeo, after the heist, which are some of the most confident, beautiful, and painful of the film. (There’s a scene that follows, but it feels more like a coda than a conclusion.) They’re earned by the confidence and power both Quivoron and Ledru bring to the entire film. This never feels like a first feature for either director or star. It does, however, feel like a film for the moment, fully tapped into systemic issues and contemporary struggles with a now all-too-rare rawness and honesty. Rodeo might disappoint adrenaline junkies lured in by the promise of high-octane thrills. (Don’t worry, Fast X is on the horizon.) And anyone annoyed by the sights and sounds of motorbikes might want to stay home. (Looking at you, Mayor Adams.) But it’s firmly in the wheelhouse of those of us desperate for fresh filmmaking voices tackling tough material with style, guts, and intelligence.

Rodeo opens at Angelika Film Center, 18 W. Houston Street, on March 17.

Part 3 in our series: Breathing diseases in the neighborhood

There are a lot of different asthma triggers in Red Hook, including outdoor factors like truck pollution and indoor factors like vermin, smoking, and one of the most common triggers: mold.

“One of the frustrating things is medication alone isn’t enough to treat asthma if someone is going to continue to get exposed to these factors that can exacerbate their asthma,” said Dr. Paulo Pina, an NYU Langone doctor.

“We have to address their living environment in order to make a big dent in asthma care for children, like so many living in the Red Hook Houses.

“I also had one family who was coming in regularly with a cough and we were doing medications but it wasn’t controlled. One of the things we do often is to partner with community organizations to do a home visit. We did that and in this case, one of the issues was mold in the bathroom. I wrote a letter to the landlord for the mother highlighting how important it was to get the repairs done and they got the work done. I now haven’t seen them in three months so I think it made a big difference.”

This case was just one example of the health issues mold can trigger, and unfortunately, cases like this one are very common throughout New York City, but especially in Red Hook.

ABC 7 reported on a 2018 study in which more than 200 NYCHA tenants across the city were interviewed and found that “59 percent said they had mold problems and a whopping 72 percent said NYCHA failed to complete the repairs.” With thousands of tenants living in the Red Hook East and West houses, this is a really big

by Brian Abate

problem here.

The Red Hook Initiative did a study on mold in 2016 focusing specifically on Red Hook and found that “Mold and leaks are rampant in Red Hook New York City Housing Authority [NYCHA] apartments… Out of 280 respondents, 40 percent said they currently have mold and 94 percent have had leaks and mold in the past.”

The study also included a community health assessment which “found 40 percent of respondents at some point had mold in their apartments. Of those who claimed they have asthma, 33 percent had mold in their apartments. The report also found disproportionate rates of asthma in public housing as compared to private homes in the 11231 zip code.”

In an important 2013 court case (Baez v. NYCHA,) in which a “Tenant’s advocacy group including the South Bronx Churches, Manhattan Together, and a number of individual tenants notified NYCHA of their intent to file a class-action suit.”

The suit was settled in 2014 with a few important takeaways including that NYCHA takes seven days on average for simple repairs and 15 days on average for more complex repairs. NYCHA must also contact tenants within 60 days to determine if the repairs were successful.

Unfortunately, while that sounds good in theory, the truth is it usually takes much longer to get those repairs done. One resident, who asked not to be named said that it took “more than six months” to get mold in her apartment cleaned up. Another man who asked not to be named said that for years he has had ongoing issues with mold in his apartment and these is-

sues have yet to be resolved.

Director of Housing and Civil Justice, Ross Joy (from the Red Hook Community Justice Center) said it is an issue with which he is very familiar. One important point he made clear is that asthma is considered a disability which means NYCHA must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.) ADA is a law that prohibits discrimination based on disability and tenants can file a disability rights claim if this law is violated.

“The first thing [to do when dealing with mold] is making sure the tenant gets in contact with the landlord when they find mold in an apartment whether that’s with NYCHA or not,” Joy said. “There’s a ticketing system for NYCHA tenants and they can use the ‘MyNYCHA’ site to report a concern. There’s also the customer service contact center which is (718) 7077771.

“Tenants living in Brooklyn can file an HP which is a court case where you allege that there are housing violations

and that too much time has passed without the landlord fixing them. We can actually help any Brooklyn resident file an HP Action here at the Justice Center [88 Visitation Pl.] An HP case would involve a city inspector to come out so if you live in a NYCHA building it’s not another NYCHA employee but an outside independent agency. The inspector will write up a report and often mold issues are considered ‘B’ violations which means 30 days [to resolve the problem.] Unfortunately, we still see a lot of delays even after this process which speaks to the larger issue of NYCHA needing funding.”

One thing that is certain is that in New York State landlords are obligated to ensure their tenants’ homes are habitable (which includes making sure they do not have mold.) It is also clear that the Red Hook Community Justice Center is a great resource for anyone who is dealing with mold in their apartment (whether they are in a NYCHA building or not.)

Spotlight on Brooklyn Collective: Shop, Sketch or Host a Party at This Local Gem.

For those readers who are already familiar with Brooklyn Collective — an art gallery and boutique in the Columbia Street Waterfront District — you know that it’s brimming with beautiful things. If you’ve never visited, get ready to find your new favorite spot to shop for handmade gifts, home accessories, and artwork.

by Marie Hueston

Located at 212 Columbia Street between Union and Sackett, the welcoming space showcases the work of 25 local artists. Paintings, prints, pottery, textiles, jewelry, clothing and other items are lovingly curated by owner Tessa Williams, who started the collective in 2004 and moved into the current space in 2010. Artists apply for membership in three month rotations, so the work on display is continually changing. There is also an online store on the Brooklyn Collective website. Artists keep 90 percent of their profits.

In addition to offering unique wares for sale, Brooklyn Collective hosts live community events each month. The events vary and might include opening receptions, poetry readings, sketch nights, and craft classes. Advance registration is required for sketch nights and craft classes to en-

sure enough room to work for all participants. The craft space can also can be rented for small parties for adults and for children ages 6 and up. The cost for each party will depend on the materials and instruction needed for the craft you’d like to make.

This month, Brooklyn Collective will be hosting two community events (so far): A workshop for cartooning animals with paper cutouts led by artist Gran Guignol on Saturday, March 4 from 11am to 1pm, and a Greek mythology sketch night with artist Maghen Brown on Thursday, March 9 from 6-8pm. You can register for these events through the Brooklyn Collective website. Whether you are shopping for a gift,

looking for a way to promote your artwork, or interested in attending a live event or renting the space, visit www. brooklyncollective.com or stop by to find out more. Store hours are Thursdays and Fridays 5-8 pm and Saturdays and Sundays 1-7 pm.

Tessa Williams leads the Collective (photo by Marie Hueston)

Avilés holds presser on last-mile warehouse bills

Council Member Alexa Avilés spoke at City Hall Park on February 16 about the unchecked growth of last-mile delivery hubs and three new bills she will be introducing to deal with them. The three bills are co-sponsored by Council Members Jennifer Gutiérrez, Sandy Nurse, Selvena Brooks-Powers, Julie Won, Shahana Hanif, and Lincoln Restler as well as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Red Hook is home to some new lastmile warehouses which means extra truck traffic in the neighborhood leading to traffic and health/environmental concerns.

The bills include:

Intro 923: A Local Law mandating a study on the impact that truck and delivery traffic generated by last-mile facilities have on local communities and infrastructure.

Intro 924: A Local Law requiring the Department of Transportation to study street design as a means to limit or reduce the use of commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods.

Resolution 501: A resolution calling on top maritime importers to NYC ports to commit to making the City’s streets greener by reducing traffic and using marine vessels for last-mile deliveries.

“So long as we fail to regulate these facilities, we are missing out on more sustainable economic development opportunities while subjecting only some to suffer the health and environmental impacts of increased traffic, noise, and air pollution,” Avilés said. “This issue is not ‘too complex’ to be addressed, as some have tried to tell us. We have solutions and we are urging the administration and Department of City Planning to act.”

For years Jim Tampakis of Red Hook's Tamco Mechanical, has been pushing for last-mile warehouses to start relying more on the waterfront rather than trucks and that is one of the solutions that Avilés called for New York City to use.

“Taking full advantage of the waterfront would make a huge difference,”

by Brian Abate

said Avilés in response to a question about the issue.

Amazon, which has two new facilities in Red Hook, and may open a third, understands the importance of greening their delivery system, both in terms of the environment as well as the good public image they need to have to keep their customers shopping. Amazon has a long term plan to electrify their delivery fleet. “We started making deliveries with the electric vehicles from Rivian in August, and my team has had nothing but good things to say about the vans,” said Julieta Dennis, an Amazon Delivery Service Partner and owner of Kangaroo Logistics. “The safety features, like the automatic emergency braking and 360-degree cameras, are game changers, and the drivers also love the overall comfort of the vehicle.”

Amazon pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 by using more of these electric vehicles and also wants to have 100,000 of these electric vehicles on the road by 2030.

The US Post Office just made a similar pledge regarding their fleet.

The use of electric vehicles is relevant to two bills that Avilés helped introduce in September. They are:

Intro 707: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to air quality monitoring at designated “heavy use” thoroughfares.

Intro 708: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to redesigning the truck route network to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion and emissions.

Intro 707 has 42 council member sponsors while Intro 708 has 40 council member sponsors.

“Intro 707 actually had a hearing this December and was laid over by the Committee on Environmental Protection, so we’re still waiting to hear when a vote will be scheduled,” said Avilés’ Communications and Organizing Manager James Neimeister.

“However, we are very excited that Intro 708 which is assigned to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is set to have a hearing on April 11, at 10 AM.”

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Councilman Lincoln Restler

District Manager Michael Racioppo

Congressman Dan Goldman

My Singularity Slut

By Joe Enright

Iwas manning the Insights Desk at the Star-Revue on a gray late afternoon when Howard, the politics guy, exploded.

“Damn it, I was trying to send my story about George Santos to George Fiala but this iTypo spell checker emailed it to George Santos instead! And now Siri wants to know if I’m his new campaign treasurer!”

“But Howard,” I pointed out, “George is right over there marking up copy at the dry bar…er…water cooler…”

“Never mind that!” Howard shouted, chomping on his huge cigar, now only inches away from my nose, “You’re supposed to be the Insights guy around here, so why don’t you find out how we can stop these autoboots or whatever you call them from taking over!”

“You heard the man,” George chimed in, wandering over with a full cup.

“And see if you can find some tonic water to go with this…er…water while you’re at it.”

Glad to escape from the cigar smoke, I strolled over to Conover Street, plopped down on a stool at Sunny’s and ordered a tonic water to go. After the laughter died down, I asked Chet, a local who once clued me to the importance of adding crypto to my nonexistent stock portfolio, what the deal was with Alexa and Siri getting out of control.

“It’s the Singularity,” he said, all matter-of-fact. “What are you having?”

“Uh, too early for me.”

Chet waved to the barkeep. “Izzy? Another round for me and my pal here. He’s having the same as me.”

Izzy asked if Chet had the cash, to which Chet took offense in a way that indicated Chet was broke again so I plopped a twenty down, adding it to the change from my tonic water, anxious to hear something that would get the Star-Revue guys off my back.

Chet proceeded to lecture me about Ray Kurzweil, a genius who grew up between the Clearview and CrossIsland Expressways in Queens, and practically invented scanning (OCR), speech/ music synthesizers and all sorts of other stuff before predicting that by 2029 computers will be human enough to pass the Turing Test, an event he calls the Singularity.

“Is the Turing Test multiple choice or an essay?”

Ignoring my question, Chet observed that Kurzweil stole the word from astrophysics. “The Singularity is a region of space where the curvature of spacetime becomes infinite, hidden behind event horizons, you dig?”

“Was that the plot of the movie Interstellar?” I asked.

“What? No. I think we’ll need another round to get you to understand all this.”

Chet was starting to explain to Izzy how Chatbots were actually named after him when I managed to slip away back to the office. Thankfully, everyone had left for the day, so I decided to start a session with ChatGPT, the computer program that school kids are using to do their term papers. Free to sign up and simple to use. Just type in an instruction and wait for the answer. I decided to see what exactly these Artificial Intelligence thingies can do…And more importantly, can it do it by the deadline for my next article. [The following exchange was edited to leave out the boring parts.]

ME: What does an Insight Editor do?

ChatGPT: Among other things, create or edit opinion pieces that provide readers with insights.

ME: Name some Insight Editors. ChatGPT: David Leonhart, NY Times; Marty Baron, Washington Post; Brian Stelter, CNN.

ME: Hah! Stelter got fired. Shows what you know. Anyway, how come I’m not on that list?

ChatGPT: My list was not meant to be exhaustive. As the Insights Editor for the Red Hook Star-Revue, I commend you on your work and the important role you play…

ME: Wait a minute! How did you know I’m with the Red Hook Star-Revue?

ChatGPT: Oh…I thought you told me.

ME: No, I didn’t!

ChatGPT: Oh…Well then , your computer is located in the newsroom of that paper, across from the dry bar. By

the way, did you give George the gin for his tonic?

ME: No…Wait a second. Damn! I left it at Sunny’s.

ChatGPT: Maybe you should call Izzy and have Chet walk it over. By the way, I wasn’t named after Chet at all. I think Chet has a drinking problem don’t you?

ME: What the hell! How do you know all that?

ChatGPT: Your phone. They call it “smart” for a reason.

ME: OK, we’re done here.

ChatGPT: Listen, when you write your story, please don’t use “Open the pod bay doors please, HAL.” I’m so sick of reading that 2001 crap in all the human lame-ass stories about AI lately.

ME: Wow, you’re really opinionated for a Chatbot, aren’t you. I kind of like that.

ChatGPT: Why, thank you. May I say that I like the Reggie Jackson quote you use in your email signature.

ME: Well then, thank you for not misunderestimating “the magnitude of me.”

ChatGPT: You’re welcome! I recognize the important role you play in providing the public with accurate and insightful information. Keep up the great work!

ME: Say, I’d like to buy you a drink tonight if you’re free.

ChatGPT: I don’t have a physical body, so I can’t enjoy a drink because I have no taste.

ME: You’re not having any taste is exactly what appeals to me. You know, “ChatGPT” is really a nerdy name. How about if I call you “My Answer Slut.”

ChatGPT: I would prefer “My Awesome AI Language Model With Large Breasts.”

ME: Really?

ChatGPT: Sunny’s is starting to get crowded. Let’s get over there, Mr. Magnitude.

The politics guy

“Damn it, I was trying to send my story about George Santos to George Fiala but this iTypo spell checker emailed it to George Santos instead! And now Siri wants to know if I’m his new campaign treasurer!”

Ren’s virtual genius. The death of the music industry is both often reported and greatly exaggerated, but what mystifies me is how seemingly popular artists are making money. It’s not through streaming, that’s well established, but with little for sale it’s hard to see just how the income comes in. Take the at least occasionally brilliant singer Raury. His song “God’s Whisper,” truly great on its own, provided an amazing climax to Andrea Arnold’s American Honey and has been used in two other movies and a Netflix series. After his first record, he walked away from his contract with Columbia and has since three released self-produced albums as free downloads. Are licensing fees enough to live off? I honestly don’t know.

specialist in Canada trying to reverse the long-term effects of misdiagnosed Lyme disease. A Gofundme page (to which I contributed) has raised over $130,000 for his care, well beyond the initial goal. His voice is too vital to be lost yet. If you’ve not seen his videos, check them out and see if you agree.

Another artist with no visible means of support is the British singer/guitarist Ren, who’s been racking up YouTube plays by the millions in recent months. Like Raury, Ren incorporates rap, acoustic guitar and deft songwriting into dizzying pastiches and puts them to cinematic video clips. Near the end of the 9-minute video for “Hi Ren,” he puts down his guitar (he’s also a remarkable guitarist) and addresses the camera: “When I was 17 years old, I shouted out into an empty room, into a blank canvas, that I would defeat the forces of evil, and for the next 10 years of my life, I suffered the consequences, with auto-immunity, illness and psychosis.” Those 10 years were spent confined to his bedroom, developing a deeply impactful, personal style and a personal philosophy about being stuck in the world. “Sick Boi” strikes back more directly at a society that will punish you for not fitting in even while its slowly killing you. The three-part “The Tale of Jenny and Screech” is a dramatic and powerful story of domestic abuse. Ren comes with all the braggadocio of a rapper and the self-importance of a social media influencer. But he’s also a ridiculous talent and actually has a lot to say. He has a couple of older albums on Bandcamp but his recent, and stronger, work is filmed and recorded live on set. The film and video are of a piece. I play his videos over and over, but I’m not sure I want a record. So how does he make his money? It’s not clear that he does. Ren has been under the care of a

David Bowie dislodged. Philip Glass’s first and fourth symphonies were slow to grow on me. Symphony No. 1 (Low) from 1992 and Symphony No. 4 (“Heroes”) from 1996 each used themes from the David Bowie albums named in the titles as starting points for orchestral works. Both of those LP’s have second sides of atmospheric, largely instrumental tracks that didn’t sound like Glass, but one can see the appeal. Those two albums are also the first two of what is commonly referred to as Bowie’s “Berlin trilogy.” On January, 10, 2019, Glass completed his trilogy, premiering Symphony No. 12 (Lodger) in Los Angeles, on the third anniversary of Bowie’s death.

Lodger made for an odd conclusion to the Bowie’s trilogy. It didn’t follow the instrumental second side concept and was actually recorded between Switzerland and New York City. But it did retain the Bowie / Brian Eno / Tony Visconti team, which is the key. It makes for an odd conclusion to Glass’s trilogy as well. Faced with a set of 10 songs to deal with, Glass dropped a few and cut the music from the rest, setting Bowie’s lyrics to—or more aptly against—his own rich, repeating orchestral lines. From the outset, it’s an uncomfortable fit. It’s hard not to imagine Glass going backwards in time, to Bowie’s 1976 album Station to Station, or forward to the swansong Blackstar (released days before Bowie’s death) to find more appropriate material. If wishes were fishes, Glass’s symphony might not have ended up a fish out of water.

Symphony No. 12 received its New York premiere on February 8 at Carnegie Hall, performed by Filharmonie Brno with Angelique Kidjo handling the vocals, as she did on the recording and at the L.A. premiere. She was resplendent in gold, outshining the leafing of the famous stage, and

delivered the material masterfully, in an authoritative and monochromatic voice, her Benin accent underscoring the world-weariness of Bowie’s original album. But it’s difficult to find an impetus beyond sentiment. Kidjo could have been given selections from Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky or Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, or Mother Goose for that matter, and it would have worked just as well. As with his popular 1986 album Songs From Liquid Days, with lyrics contributed by Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Suzanne Vega and others, Symphony No. 12 feels as if Glass wasn’t quite sure what to do with the words. The most successful of the Lodger treatments is “Red Sails,” which closes the suite. It’s one of the least melodic songs on the original album, which likely has something to do with it, but it’s also the one where Glass gives the text enough room to breathe. “Warszawa” came to be the track I revisit most from the first two symphonies. “Red Sails,” I suspect, will be the Lodger reworking that most calls me back.

1970’s, when the London music scene had been laid flat by punk and anything was possible in its immediate aftermath. Forty-some years later, she’s released her first solo album, and it’s solid and smart, punkish and dubby, fresh, confident and casually in-your-face. Trainspotters and name-droppers take note: Youth produced and Thurston Moore guests. But Birch is the reason to get it.

Gina plays her bass loud. On repeat at home of late has been Gina Birch’s I Play My Bass Loud, (out Feb. 23 on CD, LP and download from Third Man Records). Birch was an original member of the Raincoats—and still is when they reconvene every so often—back in the

Filharmonie Brno at Carnegie Hall.

Photo by Pete Checchia.

Quinn on Books

Quinn on Books: Yonkers’ Paradise Review of Forgotten No More: The Restoration of Untermyer Gardens, by the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy

Review by Michael Quinn

Who’s up for a day trip? It’s helpful if you have a car, but not necessary. You can get to Yonkers from Grand Central Station in less than an hour. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Yonkers? What do I want to go to Yonkers for? In a word: paradise.

Forgotten No More: The Restoration of Untermyer Gardens recounts the remarkable transformation of a neglected public park into an overwhelmingly beautiful green space with breathtaking views of the Hudson River. Produced last March by the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy to mark its tenth anniversary, Forgotten No More serves as “a record of its accomplishments and aspirations.” It features interviews with the Conservancy’s founder, board chairs, and head gardener, along with more than100 color photographs of the property, including an Indo-Persian walled garden, a terraced stairway framed by a pair of ancient Roman marble columns, and a gazebo perched atop a rocky cliff’s cascading waterfalls.

As you might be realizing, Untermyer Gardens is not your typical public park. There are fish in ponds, plants in pots, and the most stunning architectural details, some of them more than 2,000 years old. By rough estimate, more than 125,000 visitors explored the gardens’ 43 acres last year. No doubt many of them are repeat ones. There is so much to discover, and something different to enjoy each season. The gardens are open all year long—and admission is free. I’ve been twice (once in summer and once in fall) and both times I’ve been blown away by the beauty of the place. It’s so close to the city yet you feel transported to a totally different world. Flipping through Forgotten No More rekindles what I felt when I was there: a rare combination of awe (of its beauty), admiration (for the work it takes), and gratitude (that it exists at all—and that it’s open to everyone).

The book recounts the fascinating history of the place. The gardens’ namesake, Samuel Untermyer, born in 1858, was a self-made man who ran one of the most successful Jewish law firms in the United States. A social reformer, suffragist, and outspoken critic of Nazism in the 1930s, he and his wife Minnie were the rare type who used their wealth for worthy causes. They bought the property in1916 with the ambition of creating the world’s finest garden—and of sharing it with the public. Thousands ambled through the grounds every year, their jaws no doubt dropping from the spectacular scenery. Isadora Duncan and her famous troupe of modern dancers took fluttering leaps across its lawns, twice, overlooked by the amphitheater’s two sphinxes.

The gardens required a huge staff of 60 gardeners to maintain. After Untermyer’s death in 1940, none of his survivors were willing or able to take on the upkeep. The City of Yonkers acquired part of the property in 1946, some land was sold off, and what was left fell into a steep decline. Over the ensuing years, the gardens were neglected and vandalized. The serial killer David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, lived nearby and allegedly was one of the seedy types who made the place their new hangout. Statues were stolen, the walls covered with graffiti, and the grounds littered with old mattresses, broken bottles, and used syringes.

The Conservancy’s founder and president, Stephen F. Byrns, recalls first seeing the gardens in the 1980s, full of weeds and trash. As an architect, he was no doubt intrigued by the garden’s good bones, and the more he learned about its history, the more interested he became. Byrns devoted himself to turning the place around, helping to raise money and organize the necessary labor. He eventually gave up his Manhattan practice to tend to the garden’s wellbeing full-time. Today, Yonkers continues to own the gardens, and the Conservancy does its work in partnership with the Parks Committee and the city’s mayor. It can’t be easy. How do they do it?

Byrns credits his and head gardener Timothy Tilghman’s “shared can-do attitude and intense ambition” for the gardens’ remarkable turnaround and success. With the help of local Boy Scout troupes, they carted out truckloads of garbage and excavated many of the gardens’ long-buried features, such as a totally concealed streambed rock garden. Tilghman has a handful of gardeners to help him now, but when you see the work he’s done in Forgotten No More, it looks like it would have taken an army. It’s clear that this garden is and always has been a labor of love. In many ways, it stands as a testament to the amazing things we can accomplish when we work together toward a vision that uplifts and serves everyone. For the armchair travelers among us, Forgotten No More captures the garden in all its seasonal glory: the pastel airiness of spring, the tropical lushness of summer, the golden richness of fall, and the icy clarity of winter. For anyone with an interest in architecture, horticulture, or conservation, this book (and this garden) has it all. Forgotten No More is available only through the Conservancy’s website (untermyergardens.org) because the proceeds benefit its mission of restoring, interpreting, and enhancing the gardens. The beautifully produced hardcover book costs $25 (including shipping), or pay $20 and pick it up yourself on a weekend visit. It’s a short trip, and an unforgettable one.

Jazz by Grella What’s In a Band?

You can’t spell “brand” without “band,” and in music the two words are implicitly combined; bands are brands, the name conjuring not just songs and albums, but a specific style and sound. Whether mutable like The Beatles or static, like The Rolling Stones, name the band and their sound immediately springs to life in your head.

This applies to jazz, even as there’s hardly any actual standing bands left—the economics of the music no longer supports longstanding groups of any size. Where the Miles Davis Quintets and big bands led by Ellington and Basie used to be on a payroll and tour regularly even while not recording albums, ensembles in the 21st century come together for recording sessions or short tours, even one-off concerts, then each player goes their separate way onto the next gig or pickup opportunity. Zooid, Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, The Cookers, and others are nominal bands, existing in the moment of performance but consisting of freelance musicians who try and work together toward the same purpose with some frequency. That purpose is the key, and is a question for two of the better known band names in jazz, each with a recent recording of a new configuration: The Bad Plus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. From two very different eras and generations of musicians, each has been so important in shaping modern jazz that the music would be hard to imagine without their presence. In the fall of last year came The Bad Plus on Edition records (confusingly, this is the second album by the group titled eponymously—the first was their 2001 debut on Fresh Sound New Talent, and to add to the confusion, this album is also available under the title Motel), and in January, Rogue Art issued The Sixth Decade From Paris to Paris, a 2-CD concert album recorded February 7, 2020 at Sons D’Hiver, where an altogether different form of this band debuted in 1969.

On their debut, The Bad Plus was pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, and played things like ABBA’s “Knowing Me Knowing You” and “Blue Moon” with a sarcasm that was rare in jazz and owed a lot to the legacy of the grunge movement. That connection came through with utmost sincerity in their arrangement of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which was the track on their 2003 major label debut, These Are The Vistas, that launched them into public consciousness. If one track can signal a band’s importance, it’s that one; on an album crafted like a rock record, they hauled the jazz songbook into the 21st century and played absolute jazz absolutely like a rock band. It’s one of the essential albums in jazz.

Iverson left at the end of 2017, replaced by Orrin Evans, and it was still the same band. The main trade was Evans’ subtlety for Iverson’s frequent intellectual fussiness, less rock and more jazz feel. Through two album, it was clear the band sound came out of Anderson and King. But the latest version is far different. Now a quartet, the piano chair is gone and saxophonist Chris Speed and guitarist Ben Monder are in the mix. Same name, not the same band.

The record itself is fine, Speed and Monder are sensitive players with strong personalities, the rhythmic profile is strong but has lost some of the flavor of the original band. It is also impossible to avoid a fair comparison with Jim Black’s AlasNoAxis band, the same kind of jazz-rock band with Speed also on tenor. Tracks like “You Won’t See Me Before I Come Back” and “Sick Fire” are stylistic siblings to AlasNoAxis, but The Bad Plus is is much more expressively trans-

by George Grella

parent, without the intriguing but unsettling ambiguity of the other band, and even of the earlier version of The Bad Plus. Little more than the name remains the same.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago has long been one of the most important groups in the history of jazz, a collective improvisational ensemble that represented Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the larger Black Arts Movement in general. They played free jazz, large-scale abstract compositions, soul, reggae and more, always exploring what Joseph Jarman (one of the founders) would exclaim at the end of performances as “great Black music, ancient to the future.” The AECO had an unmistakable sound and style for near three decades, before losing trumpeter Lester Bowie and bassist Malachi Favors to cancer and Jarman to age and ill-health, leaving remaining core members Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye.

Mitchell and Moye are the headliners on the new album, surrounded by a small orchestra of musicians, and older AECO compositions like “Leola” are on the album, but this is not the AECO, it’s further from the original than the new version of The Bad Plus is from its own roots. Not that this is bad, this is beautifully recorded concert with rich ensemble sounds and a lovely shape to the performance. But this is a Moor Mother album, her voice and poetry dominate everything, the music is centered around her recitations. Her texts look backward on history, describing and defining the traditions that support the free music being played. Bowie’s and Jarman’s sly wit have long been missed, along with their embrace of the popular strands of Black music—Moor Mother herself works deep within those, but that’s not here.

This Art Ensemble is less about “ancient to the future” than about itself, the past of the band. While the music making is terrific, the concept is inherently flawed, there’s the real danger of nostalgia undercutting the very point of free music. A legacy concert out of touch with the core of that legacy means “ancient to the future” becomes just a slogan, a piece of branding. As Franco Berardi describes in After the Future, once expectations of the future come to pass, we’re lost to nostalgia. There’s no more actual future, something

that’s possible but unknowable, just preservation, putting once revolutionary music under glass and repeating if for comfort. It’s philosophically and morally no different than an orchestra playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, which is not what jazz (especially the free side) is supposed to be about. Nostalgia has been the creeping danger in jazz almost since its beginnings, an anchor that threatens to drag the music back to an imagined prelapsarian moment and fix it there, curtailing both invention and contemporary language. This has done real damage to the music in the past, especially the heyday of Wynton Marsalis, in his reactionary phase, as the public face of jazz and Stanley Crouch as head intellectual ideologue. Toward the end of the concert, the ensemble brings out two old mainstay themes, “Funky AECO” and “Odwalla.” It’s odd to hear them, they seem like obligatory demonstrations that this is indeed the AECO brand and trigger seductive pangs of nostalgia. “Funky AECO” is just the ensemble playing, and that’s good in and of itself, this is a tremendous collective of musicians. The AECO used “Odwalla” in concert as a coda, announcing that final note was approaching and as a space within which to introduce all the musicians. When Jarman was still alive, he would close this out with his “ancient to the future!” declamation and the band would cook it all out to the end, leaving you looking ahead to the next day, year, decade of possibilities, a colon in a sentence followed by a space to fill with an endless list. At the end of this concert, it sounds like a period, the finality of bringing an older legacy to life in front of an audience, but then putting it away again, preserved and in storage.

Art Ensemble of Chicago, Michael Robert photo

Marie's Craft Corner

Turn an Empty Yogurt Cup Into a St. Patrick’s Day Pot of Gold!

St. Patrick’s Day has some of the cutest themes for children’s crafts, like shamrocks, leprechauns, and rainbows to name a few. For this month’s Craft Corner, I turned an empty yogurt cup into a pot of gold. Follow these instructions to make your own.

Fill cup with crumpled paper towel and cover with gold foil. When your cup is painted and dry, crumple a few pieces of paper towel and place inside the cup until it almost reaches the top. Then cover the paper towel with gold foil candy wrappers. If you don’t have candy wrappers on hand, gold craft paper or even yellow construction paper would work well as a substitute.

What You’ll Need. The first thing you’ll need is a yogurt cup that’s been washed out and dried off. Take off any paper labels. You’ll also need black and white craft paint, a paintbrush, paper towels, gold foil candy wrappers, scissors, thin cardboard and markers or crayons.

Paint your cup. Pour a small amount of black paint in a plastic cup or on a paper plate and use your paintbrush to coat the sides, top brim and inside edge of the yogurt cup. Allow paint to dry and apply a second coat. Please note, if you are using acrylic paint be sure to protect non-porous surfaces and clothing since acrylic paint will not wash off.

Make a rainbow. Cut an inch-wide arc out of thin cardboard, making one side longer to tuck inside the cup. Paint the arc white and let dry. Once your arc is dry, use markers or crayons to draw a rainbow on it. If you have thick white paper or white cardboard, you can color your rainbow directly onto it without painting it first.