Red Hook Star-Revue, March 2024

STAR REVUE

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See pages 5,6

WALKING WITH COFFEE

A Boomer talks with a Millennial.

Boomer – R.J. Cirillo

Millennial – Heather Corbo ⁽hospital pharmacist living in Gowanus)

We are at Absolut Coffee on Atlantic Avenue near Hoyt Street, sitting with coffee in ceramic cups.

R.J. “Growing up as a Boomer we always stopped and, like we are doing now, had our coffee. I see more people now, especially your generation, walking with their coffee in hand.”

Heather “Yes, I think like with the kind of “hustle culture”, as they call it, people have lost the ability to slow down, so sitting with coffee for a lot of people feels like a waste of time. Also, we’ve forgotten how to just sit and be alone with our thoughts, and not be bored. To just sit and enjoy something without being tied to technology or talking on the phone with someone. I think it’s always “GO GO GO” so people love their coffee, and they need the jolt of energy, but instead of taking the moment to enjoy it, and be present in that

moment, they are trying to get to their next “Thing.”

R.J. “It’s interesting that you mention being tied to technology, as I look around this coffee shop, every person here, mostly sitting alone, is on a machine is on a machine, in their own universe, headphones on staring into their phone or a laptop.

Heather “I moved to New York in 2019, six months before Covid, and working in a hospital never left. I think the pandemic made people retreat even further into their devices and technology.

R.J. “The term “Boomer has become sort of a put down,

ya think?”

Heather “I actually really enjoy talking with I guess… the Boomer generation. I think their stories are better.”

R.J. “Really?”

Heather “Yes, because you guys had to capture all your memories a little better, not having this piece of technology in your hand recording everything for you. Like there’s a woman on my block, her name’s Lorainne. She’s 80 years old and lived on the block for most of her life. The stories she tells are so vivid and real, and like if I had a chance to hang out

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Jacob Cooper

481 Van Brunt Street, 11AR Brooklyn, NY 11231 (917) 652-9128

www.star-revue.com george@redhookstar.com

Editor & PublishEr

George Fiala

rEPortErs Nathan Weiser

Brian Abate

Katherine Rivard

FEaturEs Kelsey Sobel

CulturE Roderick Thomas

ovErsEas man Dario Muccilli

insights Joe Enright

musiC 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

Merry Band of Contributors

Taylor Herzlich

Howard Graubard

Nino Pantano

R.J. Cirillo

Some winners in the local sandwich derby

by Kathleen Rivard

In today’s carb-phobic society, salads are often viewed as the morally straight choice, but sandwiches remain the underdog lunch option: humble, comforting bundles of flavor and texture. But every sandwich is a gamble. Will you pay for a meal you could have easily made at home, or will you be rewarded with a combination more creative than you could’ve mustered up, or one made with ingredients far fresher and tastier than those you keep on hand? For those sandwiching in Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, the bet usually pays off, thanks to sandwich standbys like Defonte’s, Court Street Grocers, and the newcomer Sea and Soil.

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The Red Hook Star-Revue is published every month.

Founded June 2010 by George Fiala and Frank Galeano

Defonte’s Sandwich Shop (379 Columbia Street) has a long legacy in the neighborhood. A wall filled with frames show off its popularity among both locals and stars (including most of the Soprano cast and Pamela Andersen), and the shop celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2022). Inside you’ll find a wall lined with humming fridges filled with everything from Yahoo and Snapple to a wide range of soda. The menu sprawls across the full length of the opposite wall, with an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus nestled alongside (as though He’s blessing each and every one of us as we order our cold cuts). Most of the

sandwiches are a mix of meats (ham capicola, prosciutto, salami), cheese (provolone, mozzarella) plus classic Italian-American vegetable ingredients (fried eggplant, hot salad, red peppers, etc.), and additional garnishes for the cold sandwiches. Altogether there are 30+ sandwich options, including breakfast sandwiches and a few non-sandwich options like omelets and red-sauce pasta dishes. Each sandwich costs about $17 (cash only). While Defonte’s screams “ItalianAmerican” and “we ain’t changin,” Court Street Grocers (485 Court Street) screams “yuppie.” And sometimes yuppies have great taste, as

Court Street Grocers has proven. Since opening in 2010, the store has expanded, with locations in Greenwich Village, Williamsburg, and a Red Hook location that’s temporarily closed. The original location’s front window is covered in 34 sheets of paper, each one describing a different sandwich ($16-17.50). The inventive gamut runs from roast beef to cauliflower, with breakfast sandwiches that are a bit more simple. They also have coffee and fantastic looking pastries, sourced from Ceci Cela Patisserie. While waiting for their orders, patrons can now sit in the seating area next door, at one of the three chunky

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One of the great TV shows was Public TV's Cosmos. Originally broadcast in the 1980's, produced by scientist, astronomer and writer Carl Sagan, younger people know the successor shows, Cosmos— A Personal Voyage and Cosmos—A Spacetime Odyssey, both created by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a Sagan devotee and astrophysicist, author and science communicator in his own right. Sagan is described in Wikipedia as a "scientific skeptic." I never heard that term before, but after reading the definition, I think I must be one as well:

"Scientific skeptics maintain that empirical investigation of reality leads to the most reliable empirical knowledge, and suggest that the scientific method is best suited to verifying results.

Scientific skeptics attempt to evaluate claims based on verifiability and falsifiability; they discourage accepting claims which rely on faith or anecdotal evidence."

To me this is an apt description of a good journalist, looking for facts and then verifying them.

In his book "Demon Haunted World" written a year before his early death in 1996, Sagan wrote:

I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously

Facts and Beliefs

consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…

It's almost twenty years later and I'm not seeing anything there that doesn't ring true. One place to start could be the number of Americans in 2003 who believed that Saddam Hussein was involved in the World Trade Center attacks. It's not something I ever gave credence to, but 70% of Americans were sure of it. A lot of innocent Iraqis died as a result. According to the Washington Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, that number is likely more than 300,000. Those people are not coming back. Another place could be something that a friend told me back in the 1990's. He lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we both went to college. His father was a card carrying socialist who worked in a staple factory. He told me that when he would go to family get-togethers, he could not hold any meaningful conversations because almost everyone was a devout listener of Rush Limbaugh. Anything counter to what Rush said was not countenanced, even to the point of a discussion. So while he could talk about family and friends, most everything else was met with "Well, that's not what Rush says. Are you going against Rush?" So he shut up.

Something very similar to that happened to me around that same time.

I was running my mailing company from a print shop on Flatbush Avenue, and once a week a Hasidic Jew would come around with his younger brother asking if I were a Jew. After I while I told him yes, and from then on he be-

came determined to get me to put on some kind of religious paraphernalia and pray right there at the counter.

I resisted that for many months, but I did find him very interesting to talk to about all sorts of things. But when the subject turned to something that could be in the Bible, like earth's history, he would tell me what the Bible says, insisting that since God wrote the Bible, how could anything else be possibly true.

A conversation ender.

During the Obama administration, I was told by someone who, in most all other respects was someone just like me, except younger, that Obama was the Antichrist. For him that was a given.

Then, a few years later, just after Trump won the presidency, I was in Tennessee and was curious to find out the kind of people who voted for him. I started to ask a guy behind the counter at the

motel, and he immediately told me to lower my voice as he looked around. Then he told me that it was dangerous to say anything negative about Trump in the state. Then there's QAnon. What Sagan was worried about was a return to an unenlightened world. I often do think that we are in some future's dark ages.

What is most worrying to me though, is that I find little difference between people on one end of the spectrum who believe Obama is the Antichrist, and people on the other who believe Trump is the devil (some people, otherwise seemingly progressive, told me Hillary was the devil.)

In Red Hook, I get in trouble when I question air quality facts or certain well-respected people.

My suggestion in all of this is to live true to your beliefs, while always remaining open to facts.

SHORT SHORTS:

BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

Free Business Seminars

Queens Night Market is producing a series of small business seminars for the seventh year. This year, the series expands to Brooklyn.

The seminars will cover a range of topics such as business plans, branding and marketing, operational efficiency, social media and technology, and obtaining permit. The Brooklyn seminars will be held on February 26th, March 6th, and March 13th from 6:00-9:30pm at Saint Francis College

Anyone interested in attending the Brooklyn seminars can find more details and RSVP for each session here: http://bit.ly/QNM-NYCBSC2024

ABCs of Housing

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced an update to its ABCs of Housing guide, aimed at providing crucial information on housing rules and regulations for owners and tenants. This comprehensive booklet is designed to empower New Yorkers with knowledge of their rights and responsibilities while offering guidance on accessing assistance for building maintenance, affordable housing resources, and more. Property owners are required to let tenants know about their ability to obtain a copy of the ABCs of Housing by posting a notice at the building; HPD has also redesigned this notice to include a QR code for easier access to the document for tenants.

New additions include an updated section on enhanced enforcement programs and provisions covering recent legislation such as self-closing

24th March Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

11:00 am Solemn High Mass

28th March Maundy Thursday

7:00 pm Maundy Thursday Service

29th March Good Friday

12:00 pm Good Friday O ce and Mass of the Presanctified

5:00 pm Stations of the Cross for Children

30th March Easter Vigil

7:00 pm The Great Vigil and First Mass of Easter

31st March Easter Day

11:00 am Solemn Mass of Easter Day

doors and lead-based paint regulations. Additionally, the guide now includes a dedicated section highlighting important notices, postings, deadlines, and filings for owners, including property registration and annual bed bug filing requirements, along with updated civil penalties and violation correction schedules. Furthermore, it provides information on LL97 (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting and Reduction), reflecting HPD’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

For tenants, the updated ABCs of Housing includes a new section on fire safety tips that addresses lithium-ion battery safety, and much more, while reinforcing guidance on maintaining a healthy home, understanding the complaint, violation, and enforcement process, navigating housing court procedures, and accessing other important resources such as Housing Court and the Tenant Helpline.

The ABCs of Housing guide serves as a valuable resource for individuals navigating the complexities of housing regulations and seeking support services. It offers comprehensive information on rights and responsibilities, apartment safety measures, affordable housing resources, and essential contact information for housing-related issues. Currently available in multiple languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Urdu.

The updated ABCs of Housing guide can be obtained through various channels, including the HPD web-

site, local HPD offices, the HPD Mobile Outreach Van, which visits communities throughout the city during the spring, summer, and fall, and 311.

Be a budtender

Red Hook Houses tenants have a new opportunity to become a cannabis budtender. Requirements are being 21 years old, being legally eligible to work in the United States, and a commitment to attending all classes. Classes will be held Monday-Friday from 9 am to 1 pm during March. Benefits of the program include a weekly stipend, weekly MetroCard, and daily meals.

If you are interested, call 718-2898100. Normal NYCHA rules apply, including a prohibition in smoking within 25 feet of NYCHA buildings.

March is Women's month

Celebrate at the Basin Gallery on Van Brunt Street.

Speak UP! Women, Art & Social Justice is guest curated by artist/curator Valeri Larko. This mixed media exhibition features original artwork from Rodriguez Calero, Airco Caravan, Daina Higgins and Arlene Rush. This show addresses women's rights, as well as other social justice issues

All of the artists in this exhibition have been making important art for decades. They say the "future Is female", but with so many countries backsliding on women's rights and other human rights, it is important to listen to these powerful voices. The Basin Gallery is across from the VFW on Van Brunt.

Sculpture

LETTERS

About Avalon

I'm so sorry to have missed this (Local author brings Red Hook to her latest novel, January 2024) -- I was traveling on book tour for much of January and managed to miss far too many emails while on the road. But I was so delighted to see this -- how special and exciting. You guys really understood the book. Hope to see you both around Red Hook in the future! Yours, Tara

Takes issue with column about shore power

I believe my name was invoked. I hope you allow your readers to see my reply.

I started my letter/email writing campaign in 2005, when the City said it was building a cruise terminal at the end of my young family’s street without any plan to mitigate the pollution that would soon be created by the visiting cruise ships.

In 2009 one of the hurdles to making the system viable and attractive to the cruise companies was the cost of the electricity that ships would have to use. In testimony to the Public Service Commission in support of the creation of a shore power tariff to incentivize the investment in shore power, Region 2 EPA I offered comments. It was the Bloomberg Administration that finally pushed the ball forward on shore power, making a deal to do so in 2011.

If I looked at you 15 years ago, as you said, “as if (you) were an idiot”, because you were asking for scientific evidence, I don’t believe I’ve ever treated you disrespectfully—definitely never “in print” in my blog. If I said “everyone knows” that ships cause pollution, maybe it’s because I had been learning a lot about it at the time -via my own research and conversations with experts.

Europe has a regulation now that every maritime port needs to offer shore power by 2030. It’s a shame that our Ports of NY & NJ haven’t made the same investments.

The Port of NY & NJ is the second busiest port in the United States, behind the Ports of LA and Long Beach, which have widespread shore power infrastructure, for cruise and container ships–which is mandated. There are penalties if ships don’t plug in. I hope you do come around to be less contrarian about the investment in shore power in Red Hook. It did shock me to read your negative personal characterizations of me and my supposed powers of persuasion over politicians. I’m not sure what you think I’ve been getting out of this after all these years. I certainly haven’t benefited from it financially or otherwise. My family and I left our home in Red Hook partially because of frustrations about the state of affairs with shore power. I’m still worried that my kids breathed that ship pollution for 15 years. I have received nothing financially from this “mission.” I have spent countless unpaid hours writing, serv-

ing on committees, going to meetings, hearings, and the rest. It’s been a lot. But, I am still passionate about this issue, and will continue to advocate for shore power, and anything that will help to decarbonize our ports and lift the health and climate burden of ship and port pollution from our communities.

Maybe you’ll do me the courtesy of printing my response here in the next edition of the Red Hook Star Review (sic)? I do know that people in Red Hook read your paper, and now have read your negative portrayal of me and my activism in print. Perhaps you’ll give them a chance to read my words too. Regards, Adam Armstrong Editors Note – The above letter was condensed from the original response (four times as long), which does appear on our website in full. What I wrote was that in the past, when I asked Adam whether it might not make sense to actually measure the pollution in Red Hook when a ship is in (back then it was only about 40 days a year), he looked at me and said that it would be too expensive to do that, and anyway everybody knows that idling ships are bad - look at Oakland. I've been to Oakland and they have a much bigger shipping business than does Red Hook. In fact, when Adam says that NY/NJ is the second busiest port in the country, I will say that everybody knows that most of that shipping is at Port Newark (a little bit in Staten Island and a relatively tiny bit here).

It would be great if the world would completely get away from fossil fuels and wildfires, but it makes sense to prioritize. The air quality readings that are now easily available and which we are publishing each month show little correlation thus far with the arrival of one weekly cruise ship. Our local air quality reflects the general air quality each day in the larger metropolitan area. If it's health outcomes that is the worry, especially asthma, our four part series on asthma in the neighborhood which we ran last year and is available online showed that the health issues occur mostly in the Red Hook Houses, and can be largely attributed to substandard living conditions. My point here is that activism on behalf of mold and vermin alleviation there would be a much better use of activist energy as well as money.

I look forward to the day when technology can fully replace the fossil fuel industry, a view I have held since the first Earth Day back in 1970, but locally the greater need is in the apartments at the Red Hook Houses.

Late Spring Training!

There will be a free baseball clinic on the new ballfields, Bay and Henry Street every Sunday in May. This is for boys and girls ages 4-14 from 9 amnoon. For more information call Imre Kocs (347) 457-7628, Kate Morelli (646) 541-2505 or Jonathan Landreth (646) 334-6074.

Red Hook businesses bring good news to the Red Hook Rec Center!

by Nathan Weiser

On February 12, a new and improved state-of-theart media lab opened at the Red Hook Recreation Center, home of the outdoor swimming pool and recently renovated basketball courts weight room and a a gorgeous learning room outfitted and installed by IKEA (see next page).

NYC Parks Commissioner, Amazon head of Community Affairs Carley Graham Garcia and community members celebrated the opening of the enhanced media lab, which is next to the basketball courts.

The upgraded media lab, which includes a sound isolation booth (whisper room), new studio speakers, animation technology, and more new additions, was made possible due to Amazon’s $100,000 donation.

Part of the Amazon grant is used to pay a media education coordinator, Helena Krawizik, who teaches classes and helps members of all ages learn digital media skills and use the on-site technology. She is at the lab five days a week.

Making podcasts

The media lab is already bringing excited local kids together to learn how to make videos and podcasts under Krawizik's guidance.

“With this wonderful media lab, we’re expanding opportunities for Red Hook residents of all ages to develop vital digital media skills at a place they already know and love,” said the Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue at the dedication.

“Our recreation centers aren’t just great for working up a sweat–they’re beloved community spaces where New Yorkers can explore their interests, gain new skills, and connect with their neighbors. I’m so grateful to Amazon for their generous donation and for their consistent support for our public parks throughout the city, she added.

“Our recreation centers aren’t just great for working up a sweat–they’re beloved community spaces where New Yorkers can explore their interests, gain new skills, and connect with their neighbors," NYC Parks Commissioner

Amazon partnered with Parks to do this upgrade after Amazon's Garcia visited the facility and saw what the previous version of the media lab looked like. It urgently needed an upgrade, as it was still using outdated computers and technology.

“We are thrilled to partner with Parks to bring to life this media lab that will benefit members of the local community in Red Hook and beyond. We are particularly proud that our donation will help the youth who may not otherwise have access to these great tools, as they hone their skills to become the next generation of leaders in Brooklyn,” said Garcia at the February 12 opening.

NYC residents under 25 years old can use the lab for free.

The media lab is equipped with a WhisperRoom sound isolation booth for audio production and studio speakers with a subwoofer.

State-of-the-art computers

In the studio, there are five new M2 Mac Minis for photography, graphic design, video editing, and audio production; DSLR T8i cameras; new iPads for stop-motion animation, drawing, and mobile programming; and computers with internet access.

It took two weeks to construct the new lab. Walls were repainted, the flooring is all new and waterproofed, with new desks, new computers and a new

AC unit.

The two new DSLR cameras are used for photography and video with microphones that can be attached.

The media lab already had the WhisperRoom but all the cables and headphones are new. There is now a better computer that’s used with the WhisperRoom, so when someone records the sound is a lot better than before.

Krawizik tells us that the room is good for narration recording, singing and freestyle rap. A lot of kids do covers of songs they know.

Right now the isolation booth is the most popular feature of the room.

The kids have been learning music production. Another activity is creating video podcasts where they learn interview skills.

They are some interested in digital drawing and animation. The kids will learn to draw on the iPads and will learn how to use Photoshop to edit pictures. Later on, they will do music videos in the media lab. They will edit the videos with their own music.

All the computers in the state-of-theart lab have the Adobe Creative Suite installed, which includes video and photo, sound and photo editing. The computers are also loaded with music editing software.

There is a lot of opportunity for kids and adults alike to learn new tech skills.

Amazon's community support is growing

Amazon, which operates three facilities in Red Hook, has made contributions toward recreation opportunities and public space improvement in Red Hook and throughout Brooklyn.

In 2022 and 2023, Amazon sponsored the New Leader Hoops recreational basketball league at the Red Hook Recreation Center.

They are also sponsors of the Red Hook-based RETI Center barge, which provides environmental education programs and green economy training to low-income communities.

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, Amazon has sponsored “ReNew Prospect Park,” supporting clean-up efforts in the park in partnership with the nonprofit organization ACE New York, which employs formerly homeless New Yorkers.

Parks and Trees!

In recent years, Parks has invested millions of dollars to promote green space access and expand tree cover in Red Hook. They have prioritized planting to replace trees lost due to Superstorm Sandy.

Since 2022, Parks has planted 90 trees on streets and in parks in Red Hook, providing shade cover and improving air quality for Red Hook residents. Parks is in the third phase of a major project enhancing the ballfields with state-of-the-art turf, fitness equipment, and other recreational amenities, totaling $137.5 million across the project’s four phases.

Parks is also planning a major $121 million renovation of the Recreation Center to upgrade the pool, make the center more resilient and further enhance the indoor programming spaces. The design process will begin this summer.

IKEA builds a new learning space for the Rec Center

by Brian Abate

In addition to the new gym, media center and infrastructure upgrades, the Rec Center now offers a beautiful new learning space courtesy of IKEA. The room includes a comfy lounge with nice lighting as well as a full kitchen area. The room is open to everyone with a Red Hook Recreation Center membership, which is free to those under 25. “This was all the vision of Isiah Forde, who heads the Center,” said Jamaal LaVan, deputy manager. “He reached out and spoke to people at IKEA and they donated their time and service in addition to the beautiful room. They

Red Hook East will finally get a parking lot

by George Fiala

There are four parking lots in the Red Hook Houses, but up until this year, all were on the west side. But a new lot on Clinton and Bush has been creating on the site of a lot created for construction work. The lot, which includes handicapped parking, will become a lot for tenants.

However, nobody at the Red Hook East office knows anything about it yet, perhaps because more landscaping has to be done. Hopefully that will be all straightened out soon.

Before the FEMA consturction, it was a vacant lot that two volunteers, Lisa and Seth Brody, turned into a community garden, growing fruits and vegetables and giving them away to locals. In July of 2019, we received an unhappy letter from Seth Brody explaining the situation:

"Hope you are well. Reaching out as I am so sad to say that after 12 years of personal financial contributions and countless hours of labor all provided by my wife and myself to

put everything together.”

In addition to couches, desks, chairs, lighting and storage, the rooms features a modern, fully functional kitchen, complete with cooking and refrigeration. The lounge is already open but plumbers still have to do the drain for the kitchen sink so the kitchen is not fully open yet. That work is expected to be completed soon as there will be cooking classes held in the room as part of the Center’s spring programs which start in April. There will also be three or four PlayStations set up for an Egaming [a form of competition using video games] tournament held in the

transform this abandoned lot in Red Hook, Brooklyn leveled in one morning. With out any warning, contact or heads up NYCHA rolled over all our hard work .

I began the farm because I enjoy gardening and wanted to do something positive for the neighborhood. Everything from the flowers to the produce were donated to the community-and NYCHA gave us ZERO warning the space was needed or that a demolition would occur. Granted there are some serious problems effecting the residents that live in NYCHA all over the city. From lead paint, broken elevators no heat or water even at times.

I do not want to upstage these serous systemic problems that tenants have to endure but I can say I see first hand the dysfunction, lack of communication and overall mismanagement. In summary I hope a made a small impact on this tiny footprint in the city and I wish for better a stronger and more resilient community. We feel this story needs to be heard as it is a disservice to all in the community.

Thank you...."

Perhaps in appreciation of the Brody's past work, the lot could be named the Brody Parking Lot.

lounge in the spring. The schedule for spring programs is not out yet but will be ready soon. The lounge part of the room has already been in use regularly by a group of special-needs adults.

There is WIFI at the Center and members are welcome to bring their own laptops and use them in the lounge.

All the improvements, including the major renovations to the gym which included a maplewood floor, a new scoreboard, wall padding, rubber flooring, a new paint job, and new lockers, have taken place in the last twelve months.

Outside, almost all the ballfields have reopened. One night last week soccer

games were going in the fields across from the center as strong new outdoor lighting makes that possible after sunset.

Membership at the Rec Center, which is necessary to use all the facilities, including weight room and pool, is free for NYC residents under 25. For those 25 and up, it's an affordable $150 per year. And for those really old (62 and up, it's just $25 annually.

“We’re very excited about the room,” LaVan said. “Make yourself at home. It’s a cozy space for the community and comfortable space for everyone to use.”

Opinion: The Red Hook Houses finally get some respect, by George Fiala

In the almost 14 years I have covered local news here in Red Hook I have attended scores of community meetings, although not as many since Covid.

In my memory, the best meetings took place around the plans for use of the $450 million in FEMA money Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez secured for the Red Hook Houses following Hurricane Sandy.

In a 2016 story that I titled "The Best NYCHA Meeting Ever," I wrote:

In a stunning reversal from the past, NYCHA held a great meeting Monday night at the Miccio Center. The purpose was to present preliminary plans for an upgrade of the Red Hook Houses using money that FEMA has granted for improving the development to better cope with future flood disasters.

A common complaint at many prior meetings NYCHA has held since Sandy is the lack of follow-up. Residents constantly complain about dirty lobbies and elevators, leaking roofs, mold, garbage and the like, and NYCHA representatives listen defensively and promise to get things fixed. In the end, the lack of money is usually blamed for a lack of action.

At Monday’s meeting, this all seemed a thing of the past. Instead of having to listen to NYCHA employees, in

the past seemed to have been talking down to residents, the presentation was made by members of the design team who were noticeably eager to be part of an improvement of the lives of residents. They actually referred to the development as a “campus,” a term generally used for more upscale groups of buildings, such as colleges or Google’s offices.

I have yet to be at a better meeting of any kind. But in the years since then, especially since the beginning of construction in 2019, there have been a lot of complaints among residents about things like wholesale cutting down of trees, having to live in a construction project, and hot water outages due to construction workers inadvertency breaking pipes.

This was all unfortunate, and better communication from NYCHA and possibly the Tenant Associations might have made the residents at least feel some hope.

I myself don't live there, so I don't experience the hardships firsthand, but what I saw recently on a walk through Red Hook East, taking those photos that are on the cover of this paper, looked pretty encouraging to me, and a handsome next step in the upgrading of our public housing.

The Brody Farm in 2016 (taken from Google Street View)

Photos from left to right: Helena Krawizik, head of the new Media Lab, the kitchen at the new IKEA lounge, lounge area, creating podcasts at the Media Lab.

PEOPLE OF RED HOOK

by Lisa Gitlin

Where we talk to just anyone. This month we stopped people at Lorraine and Columbia and chatted.

Question: What are you thinking about today?

What I’m thinking about? Getting away from everybody here. I have a hard time with the girl I’m living with. So I think I’m gonna move on soon. —Bobby

I think I’m gonna kill somebody. Not really. I’m just joking around.— Rafael

They need to change this whole neighborhood. This is the roughest neighborhood and it’s just…they need a lot of fixing out here. Actually they need more police out here. That’s what they need. It’s gorgeous. All they need to do is get rid of the fat.

Glenda Lee

I’m going home and unloading my bags.—

Dawn Taylor Pratt

People cleaning up behind their dogs. That’s a big problem in Red Hook… If you walk around…look… over by the wall, over by the other wall? All the way down the street? That’s all from people’s pets. (She always cleans up after her dog.) If it’s runny I use a tissue.—Barbara Maisonet

You had newspapers and you was passin’ them out and you were getting’ ready to say somethin’ and you made me want to stop and listen to you. I told them (in the store ) that I wanted to hear what she had to say. I love my neighborhood and I appreciate you standin’ out here to talk to us and giving our opinion about anything. You have a blessed day. Give me an elbow bump.—

Kayreen

This place is gonna be better. I’m dealing with the work that’s being done from Hurricane Sandy right now. After this project is done, nobody’s gonna lose power during a disaster ever again. I’m proud of the work that I do. I’m part of the construction team. I’m working on the heating infrastructure. I’m an inspector. I do quality control, making sure everything is going right.

Michael

I woke up this morning I was thinking about my next move. I used to work (in the kitchen) at Brooklyn Crab. You ever heard of that? I was there for nine years. But when that thing hit – Sandy – I was the highest paid. They took the people that got less pay – they were able to pay three workers the money I was making. I was there when they opened. I was the one that cut the ribbon. - Terrell Annunziata. (You wouldn’t believe it, right? My mother’s black, my father’s Italian.) I need to get home and take my medicine. —K.D.

So I’m traveling for my work. Meeting with our clients. We met at IKEA and it was kind of weird. I feel like walking from this neighborhood to an industrial park – there’s a sharp contrast. It’s like this neighborhood has a lot of characters. Walking in Ikea it just felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there…it’s sterile… the architecture is oppressive, almost. Coming back here I think I’m going to go to Delfontes…Maybe get a classic Italian.—Michael Ransbottom

I don’t like this place. I’m moving. Too many killings. —D.

We were just talking about free food. You get a…card, you go to the store, you can get free food. So that’s what’s on my mind. Free stuff. I don’t go to the pantry. Not that I’m better than anybody…It’s cold out here! — J.W.

I was thinking of how to balance my personal life, finances, and work…I get along with the people at work (in a Red Hook supermarket). The customers are the problem.—M.P.

There’s nothing going through my mind. Nothing’s going through my head right now. You asked me for a couple of minutes of my time and I’m giving it to you.—P.J.

Stan the Man takes pool tournament at the Rec Center (and we don't mean swimming)

by George Fiala and Jamaal Lavan

As a dedication to Charles "Bo" Keen, a deceased former staff member at the Red Hook recreation center, a twelve week billiards tournament was established this year.

The contest was open to all members of the Rec Center and offered a tremendous opportunity for fostering new friendships.

Each participant received a medal for participating and the first and second place winners won trophies.

The finals took place on Leap Day, February 29, starting at 7 pm. Spectators, which included local District

Leader Jacqui Painter, were offered pizza, lo mein, chicken wings, soda and water, which was all sponsored by the Rec Center staff.

Spectators were given chairs to watch the best of nine match.

The finalists, who survived twelve weeks of matches, were Stanley Morrison and Miguel Morales.

Stan took charge immediately, win-

ning the first four games. His game is distinguished by a very soft touch, which enables a lot of difficult side-pocket shots to go in.

They played 8-ball, with professional rules, meaning that on a scratch the player gets to place the cue ball anywhere on the table. Antoine Smith ran the tournament and I believe he

was the referee that kept the players honest.

Miguel, encouraged by his family that attended, picked up his play and won the next two games, but Stan proved the better this night as he won the seventh game going away.

A trophy ceremony followed, in which all participants had medals placed around their necks and the two finalists were presented with trophies.

The Rec Center features two billiards tables right as you walk in, and for information as to their availability, just ask the friendly people at the front.

Lisa Gitlin

Michael Ramsbottom

Barbara Maisonet with her dog Cody

Stan the Man Morrison with the winning trophy and his supporters, including Jacqui Painter. (photo by Fiala)

RED HOOK LIBRARY

Toddler Time at Red Hook Initiative

Fridays, 11–11:30 am

Young Adult Comic Drawing at Hometown BBQ

Tuesdays, 3-4:30 pm

Concert for Kids at Red Hook Coffee Shop

Thursdays, March 14 and 28 3:30-4:30 pm

Resume and Cover Letter Assistance at Red Hook Initiative

Tuesday, March 5, 1-3 pm

Jewelry Making Workshop at Red Hook Senior Center

Tuesday, March 12, 11 am - 12:30 pm For members of the Senior Center

See the full list of upcoming events and bookmobile visits: bklynlib.org/red-hook-events or call 718.968.7275

Locals rally in support of Good Cause Eviction bill

by Brian Abate

Residents of 63 Tiffany Place, politicians, and members of the Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens community gathered to push for passage of the "Good Cause Eviction" in the state legislature.

“Long gone will be the days of landlords doubling and tripling people’s rents just because... said John Leyva, a long-time resident.

Leyva is all too familiar with the issue, as 63 Tiffany Place is a 70-unit building that provides affordable housing, but the building’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit regulatory agreement will expire in 2025. There are fears that the landlord will hike up rent dramatically forcing tenants out. There was a fear that this was going to happen last year, but Leyva's advocacy group #Save63Tiffany deferred it.

The Community Service Society chose #Save63Tiffany as the launch of their Good Cause campaign for 2024.

“The #Save63Tiffany rally came about as an attempt to save our homes,” said Leyva. “For years we were trying to get the landlord’s attention and we were being ignored so we felt the only way we get him to respond was to bring attention to our situation through the press.  Our first rally and press conference last year was very successful to that end.  We finally got him to acknowledge us and hire this very dis-

tinguished law firm to engage with us.  It’s important to note that this current ‘Good Cause: Right to Remain Rally’ was not targeting our landlord. We held this rally and press conference to lobby for the Good Cause Eviction Bill.

“The day after the rally a neighbor from the area came to me and said that her friend was facing a similar situation. She said her neighbor was paying $4000 a month and now the landlord is asking rent of $8000 for a renewal. She offered to pay $6000 and he said no because he can get $8000 from someone else and he isn’t budging.  How can New Yorkers continue to live like this?”

Joy Foster, a resident at 63 Tiffany Place believes that there needs to be a change in the way people think about housing, saying “I had a conversation with someone, who was a first-generation American about raising the minimum wage. His thought process was ‘Someone has to do those $9 an hour jobs in order for everything else to work.’ That’s not true and that same thinking needs to apply to housing. You don’t have to have homelessness in order for someone to have a house.” There was a large showing of local politicians, including former council member and current comptroller Brad Lander. Local assembly member

Jo Anne Simon was also at the rally.

“It doesn’t help the housing crisis for

us to evict tenants who are regularly paying their rent because someone buys a building and decides they can get twice as much,” Simon. “That is not fair, it’s not right, it’s not humane. It also makes the housing crisis worse.

“One of the things we often hear is we need to raise rent to repair our buildings but what we have often found with market-rate tenants is that they’re not getting improvements, they just have to pay more.”

Simon and Lander both emphasized that building new affordable homes alone will not solve the housing crisis. It is also important to make sure that tenants are not forced out of their homes because of doubling rent.

“We are fighting for this bill, for tenants all over New York City and all over New York State,” said New York State Senator Julia Salazar, who introduced the Good Cause Eviction Bill. “It wouldn’t be sufficient to just fight to protect the tenants in this building on this block. We know that unfortunately, this situation is not unique. There are far too many tenants in unregulated housing who live in fear daily and annually that they will have an enormous rent increase.

In 2019, the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act was passed but the Good Cause bill was left out. The bill is currently in the Judiciary Committee but it remains to be seen

if it will pass. The bill has more than 20 sponsors including New York State Senators Brian Kavanagh and Andrew Gounardes. Though neither was at the rally, Gounardes’ district director, Carlos Calzadilla was in attendance and spoke.

“We’re in budget season,” Calzadilla said. “We’re in session and the budget and laws are really a reflection of the morality of our society."

All of the speakers acknowledged that while progress has been made, there is still a long way to go and Leyva gave advice to other tenants who are in the same situation as those at 63 Tiffany. “Our advice would be, fight, fight, fight!” Leyva said. “Don’t lose hope, get involved in the housing justice movement, join coalitions, line up allies, get the word out, make some noise, and don’t stop, don’t ever stop, and if/when you win, continue to fight for others.

What's next for Shore Power?

by Brian Abate

Shore power was brought to City Hall on the Ides of February when council member Alexa Aviles and advocates held a press conference on its steps.

The Our Air Water Act, sponsored by Aviles, would require cruise ships to plug into shore power while berthed in New York City. A cruise ship can stay in port for a day or two between stops, and electricity is needed to power all the onboard services. Without shore power, which is electricity generated someplace else and brought to the pier, fossil fuel is burned locally.

Other parts of the bill involves traffic and other issues.

“Introduction 4 uplifts long-standing, community concerns surrounding cruise terminal operations, stopping unnecessary pollution when vessels are docked and mandating planning for traffic mitigation when passengers are at port,” Aviles said. “This is a common sense, good government reform with stakes that couldn’t be higher –our climate goals, our streets, our air, and our water are on the line.”

It is reported that last year only onethird of the vessels visiting the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal used the Shore Power facility which was installed over six years ago.

Red Hookers have been told that a reason for that is because the system installed isn't as compatible as it should be.

But perhaps the real reason cruise ships are avoiding using it is because it is cheaper to rely on heavy fuel oil than electricity-generated shore power.

“We can no longer believe multi-billion dollar cruise companies’ vague commitments that they will connect to the system,’” Armstrong said. This is why it has to be mandated legally.

Red Hook has other concerns that the bill is meant to address.

“New York City’s haphazardly executed cruise ships docking combined with the abject neglect of the cruise terminal for infrastructure and the absence of any planning for traffic mitigation or tourism attractions has dropped a mess of traffic on Red Hook and the small business economy,” said Susan Povich, co-founder of Red Hook Lobster Pound.

“The MSC Meraviglia, which arrived in April, 2023 carries 5,600 passengers and 2,500 in crew. It brought hours of gridlock resulting in bus re-routing, ambulances on the sidewalk, and unsafe walking and biking conditions.

“The EDC estimates an economic impact of $420 million per year from

cruises. In Red Hook it is extractive. The Red Hook retail businesses and restaurants earn 80 percent of their revenue from May 1 through September when locals and tourists tend to take a day trip to Red Hook. This coincides with the heaviest cruising days. The congestion this past year during those peak months resulted in retail business declines across the entire neighborhood. My personal business could not open on time on numerous occasions the Meraviglia was docked because employees could not get to work.”

Upon arriving at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, tourists are greeted by walls featuring Marty Markowitz, whose term as Brooklyn borough president ended in 2013, a clear sign that updates are needed. With so many tourists coming to Red Hook, more needs to be done so local businesses can profit from the increase in tourism. On top of the economic concerns, many residents are concerned about air quality in the community from cruise ships when they do not plug in and use shore power.

Councilmember Aviles leads a local crew to City Hall in support of her Shore Power bill. (photo by Abate)

Rally in front of 63 Tiffany Place (Abate photo)

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

As an educator, I’ve been saying the Pledge of Allegiance more or less every morning, five days a week for many of my thirty four years of life. This means I say the pledge 180ish times in any given year. On the other hand, your average American citizen, after graduating from a public school, is rarely in a situation reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Your average citizen might say the pledge a few times a year, perhaps at a sporting event. In fifth grade, I had the honor of reciting the pledge over the school loudspeaker, but I often mixed up the order saying “justice” before “liberty.” I remember being ashamed I couldn’t get the syntax down correctly yet also being proud I’d been chosen to conduct this daily honor.

The Pledge of Allegiance are words I know intimately even though I have no memory of learning them, no memory of being instructed–“and then you stand and put your hand over your heart.” They are words that promise so many things but also ask for our allegiance, too. Allegiance, loyalty and commitment – a verbal contract that we stand for our country.

In every classroom I’ve taught in, an American flag hangs in the corner. Stating the pledge is a federally required ritual of patriotism that most days, I don’t even register. 47 of the states require the pledge to be recited in public schools, although there

COFFEE

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with someone my age or Lorainne…. I’d pick Lorainne every time. She’s just so fun to talk to.”

R.J. “You know that’s a very unique perspective, I’ve spoken to a bunch of people your age and never heard that…. admirable I think.”

Heather “Well I guess millennials and boomers don’t get many chances to connect. I moved to the block, and she was there.”

R.J.-“K, next question: I graduated high school in 1969, went to Hunter College at a cost of $250 per semester. How do you relate to that.

Heather “My first year I was a songwriting major in Nashville and that was kind of paid for and not too ex-

Pledging Allegiance

by Kelsey Sobel

are exemptions for students or staff who wish to opt out. As with most issues in U.S. politics, the gray area is varied and diverse from state to state. The history of exemptions goes back to the 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, West Virginia V. Barnette, which determined that no school or government can compel someone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag. We Americans do like our freedoms as much as we’re constrained by them.

Most of us might be unaware of the pledge’s timeline and history – it was first created to celebrate Columbus Day in 1892, and written by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist. On December 22, 1942, fifty years later, Congress adopted the official manner of delivery – placing the right hand over the heart. This was because the previous stance, (one hand extended from the body) was too similar to the Nazi salute. The “Bellamy Salute” named after the original author, directs that “the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag.” I love this description, the notion that not only should we extend our hand, but it should be done so gracefully.

These days I find myself less and less inclined to participate in the pledge, mumbling the words halfheartedly under my breath, or not pausing at all, busying myself with printing last minute copies or taking attendance. Nobody seems to register my apathy. Most of my students, even though they’re bleary eyed adolescents, dutifully rise and turn toward the corner

pensive. I soon realized Taylor Swift had that one covered. To my parents’ great happiness, I switched to chemistry. The undergrad wasn’t too bad, but to get my doctorate in Pharmacy school I had to take out some heavy loans, and what you’re not ready for is the amazing amount of interest which starts building the moment you walk in the door. So I’m doing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but still it’s a lot of years working in a specific field to pay off loans. Luckily I like my job. But it affects other things, like you could never buy a house because you have large monthly payments already. Most of my friends have significant amounts of student debt.”

R.J.- “OK, how about rents, I moved out when I was 18, got a one bedroom apartment in Flatbush for $90.

Heather “OMG! It’s insane here now. I live with my fiancé, so we split the

The flag hanging in my room, although created to ensure an equal world for all, has a troubled past of living up to its heavy expectations for our Republic founded on ideals of democracy and freedom for all.

of the room, hand over heart. They could be asleep for all the force put into their recitations.  I wonder what they see when they look at the stars and stripes.

My students were born in the early 2000s and the world they’ve grown up in is vastly different then the mid 2000s background of my teenage years, populated by skinny jeans, 9/11, the War on Terror and Britney Spears. My teen years were in a world in which I wasn’t dependent on a cell phone and my parents didn’t track my every move. Gen Z now views millennial culture as toxic in its adherence to thin culture and penchant for pop music but I’d argue those days were brighter and freer, less contaminated by the insidious spread of social me-

rent I think a lot of my generation, even if they are making what seems like a good salary, are still living paycheck to paycheck.

R.J. “OK politics, when I was a kid, the president was JFK. He was 35. Now for you, your choices for president are old Boomers, on both sides. Can they understand and represent you?

Heather “I think it’s difficult to feel connected when they’re so much older, but I also think they have a team behind them. But politics today is such a touchy subject, the divide is so great, friends stop being friends.

R.J. “Did that happen to you?”

Heather “I definitely lost friends when covid was happening. I was working in a covid ICU and had people I know thinking it wasn’t real., So I lost a few there.”

R.J.- “How does disease become po-

dia to every aspect of our lives. Yet here we are, standing and pledging just as we always have.

It’s not specifically America I’m disinterested in. These days it feels like our entire world is struggling – two vicious wars with no resolutions in sight, one rapidly warming climate, countless school shootings that are now poisonously spreading beyond America. Does pledging allegiance assert my American identity? Should this ritual that I ignore or do mindlessly provide solace? I think the answer is yes – or at least for me, from my privileged vantage point of safety and security.

For all of its faults, my America is safe. My basic needs are more than met. I drive to work in my reliable car with heated seats, I have hot water, plenty of food, access to fresh air and literature. Although I could use a higher salary, my husband and I are homeowners and have two dogs. I have access to love and knowledge and curiosity. My life ain’t so bad. Yet my reality isn’t accessible to millions of Americans.

The flag hanging in my room, although created to ensure an equal world for all, has a troubled past of living up to its heavy expectations for our Republic founded on ideals of democracy and freedom for all.

Instead of lingering on all of the issues I can’t solve from my classroom, maybe this moment of pledging should be a moment of introspection or reflection. A moment to be grateful for all that I do have.

litical?”

Heather“That’s what I don’t understand either.”

R.J. “Social media, how do you deal with that?”

Heather “OK, I try not to like doom scroll on TIK TOK.”

R.J. “Doom Scroll, that’s new to me, what’s that?”

Heather “It’s like when you log on, saying ‘let me get on here for 15 minutes, and you start watching, scroll from clip to clip, then all of a sudden an hour passes. It’s like dopamine rush, all 15 second cuts. Our attention spans are being trashed because of this. Now I have an app that sets my screen time and blocks me out after 15 minutes.

R.J. “It’s a brave new world. Thanks for talking to a Boomer!”

Heather “Sure.”

SANDWICHES

picnic tables located in front of the store, or just stand ogling the eclectic mix of old school candies, dry goods, and other delights.

Sea and Soil (109 President Street) is tucked into a residential block of the Columbia St. Waterfront District, just a few houses away from two existing bodegas. At the time of this writing, the bakery has a perfect 5.0 stars on Google Reviews, the result of flavorful sandwiches and spirited co-own-

ers, Noah Wolf and Gaby GignouxWolfsohn. “We’re not entrepreneurs,” Noah claims, though he has been baking bread for 15 years, and previously sold it wholesale and to restaurants while living in Los Angeles. The experience showed him how difficult it was to sell bread at an affordable price and he knew that if he tried it again, he’d opt for sandwiches instead. Meanwhile, Gaby has their own ties to the food world, having grown up with a mother who ran a cake business from home and having worked at Orwasher’s. The pair met while working as educators for the Center for

The Great American Novel at least we think so..

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Family Life in Sunset Park. Then the pandemic hit, and the pair used their spare time to begin selling sandwiches at the Grand Army farmers’ market. After three years of pop-ups, they finally opened their storefront in August 2023.

The tiny shop is as endearing as one can imagine. The black-and-white checkered interior is brightened with pink and yellow paint. In the winter months, the front window steams up from the kitchen’s heat. Funky 60sstyle chairs line a communal table in the front of the shop, and behind the counter, you’ll find Noah, Gaby, and Nilda (the shop’s third team member and future co-owner) bustling to fill orders. With vegan, vegetarian, and carnivorous options available, there’s something for everyone. The Iz, for example, includes curried lentils, tamarind sauce, chili crisp, red onions, vegan aeolia, sprouts, and greens on focaccia, while the Wren, with its roast chicken in a cumin and paprika marinade, is said to be one of the most popular options. “Each sandwich has their own crew,” which keeps Noah busy as he prepares chocolate chip cookie dough and up to seven types of bread for the sandwiches each day. Meanwhile, Gaby mans the blueberry muffins, madeleines (a recipe passed down from their mother), canelés, and other sweet treats. Coffee, granola, and sides are also available. Most uniquely, all of the sandwiches are priced on a sliding scale ($9-16) premised on the fact that food is a human right and people should be able

to afford sandwiches without having to compromise on ingredients. Similarly noteworthy is the shop’s co-op model. As a worker-owned business, each worker helps in the shop’s decision making. While the Sea and Soil team currently has just two owners with a third on the way, the team hopes that with time and more business, they’ll be able to expand the team.

On Sunday mornings, the shop serves donuts using a dough based on brioche and made with bread flour. After a long fermentation and time left proofing, the dough is fried up and covered in chocolate, maple, or vanilla bean glaze, sometimes with another fun flavor thrown into the rotation. According to Noah, “Multiple people have said they’re the best [donuts] they’ve ever had.” Still at the end of the day, beyond the excellent reviews and its fair work model, the co-op claims community as one of its biggest wins. The shop’s single long communal table is a place where patrons waiting for their order or already enjoying their food can meet and talk, and as Noah puts it, “That is the dream for us.”

A ham and cheese or a peanut butter and jelly takes less than five minutes to slap together. Still, at local sandwich shops you get much more, from nostalgia at Defonte’s to quirky flavors at Court Street Grocers to homemade bread and kindness at Sea and Soil. So sure, sandwiches may be a gamble, but in southern Brooklyn, it’s a gamble worth making.

Civic Association plows through important issues

by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook Civic Association completed it's first year in its current form with the February meeting. The meeting, held at the Red Hook recreational center on the last Monday of February was attended by 11, including council woman Alexa Aviles. The meeting started with a reading of a proposed vision statement.

“We see a caring and united Red Hook that celebrates its diversity, and provides a green and healthy urban environment for all its citizens. This includes well maintained housing, healthy and rewarding work places, equal and ample educational and cultural opportunities, clean air and water, safe streets and adequate public transit, high quality parkland for physical and recreational activity, and protection from flooding.” Itt was adopted by unanimous vote.

Branding

Next followed a discussion on the organization's name.

“There is a long storied history of a Red Hook Civic Association,” Nico Kean said. “It was run by a very hard worker who is no longer here. This organization is growing very differently so we want to start fresh.”

There is also a new groups calling itself the "Original Red Hook Civic Association." That has led to some confusion.

Red Hook Organized Citizens (RhOC) was a name and acronym that was offered. Last month Red Hook Assembly was suggested. Another choice is Red Hook Neighbors. No decision was made.

“I think in the consensus that we have been working towards it is more important to arrive at something we are excited to carry than to arrive to it at a certain time,” Matias Kalwill said. “It’s important to arrive at something we want to carry for at least the next year.”

Baseball

A free baseball clinic to be held by Red Hook Baseball Champions for boys and girls ages 4-14 on May 5, 12 and 19 was announced.

This came up because founding Civic Association member Imre Kovacs is associated with this new organization. Kovacs and Jonathan Landreth were motivated by the difficulty in getting permits to use the new ballfields, since so many of the permits are from leagues from all over the city.

Landreth lives in Windsor Terrace.

When he tried to come to the Red Hook ballfields with his softball league he found getting a permit was nearly impossible since the fields are permitted about a year and a half in advance to teams that come from as far away as the Bronx.

“We are going to have fun,” Landreth said. “We are going to play baseball. Anybody who wishes can sign up.” Flyers will be distributed.

Library

Kovacs is the chair of the services committee. He gave an update on the library, currently closed for renovation. There are currently library programs but there is no interim library. The Civic Association and council woman Aviles have been pushing for an interim location as the library is not projected to open until March 2025. Aviles said to expect a longer completion date since these projects often do not end on time.

Kovacs said the next step was to write letters to the borough president and mayor to try to get them to find a place in Red Hook.

“I will continue to push because I think brick and mortar sites are important for this community,” Aviles said. “The normal operation I have learned is that when they close the library, they close.”

Bus

Kovacs talked about the effort to have

a bus to go from Red Hook through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to Manhattan. Elected officials have sent out two different letters. One has supported bringing back the B71 bus and another supports a Manhattan link on a B81 bus. The letter went to the head of the MTA.

The MTA has said that money was not an object in preventing the bus to Manhattan.

Council member Aviles is trying to push the MTA to do appropriate community engagement around the issue. She advocated for Red Hook to be one of the communities that would get free bus service. Five other neighborhoods ended up getting the pilot program.

Traffic

The infrastructure committee talked about safe streets in terms of traffic. They are working on a printable report of conditions on the streets that focuses on high danger locations in Red

Hook.

There was a crash between a truck and a pedestrian on the corner of Hamilton and Van Brunt in the last few weeks. The police department had not responded after a second request.

They have a long list of interventions that they want improved that they will continue to discuss at the infrastructure meeting. These include traffic lights, roundabouts and running red light cameras.

Cruise Terminal

CB6 has addressed the traffic and air pollution issues from the cruise ship in support of Aviles’ Intro 1050 which addresses this. There has recently been a hearing with the city council on intro 1050. The next step is internal negotiation.

Aviles has been spending time on the Red Hook Marine Terminal, which is owned by the Port Authority.

“We have been engaged in a back and forth with the PA because of their lack of investment in this property and by my estimation they are allowing this property to fall into the ocean,” Aviles said.

Working Waterfront

She is committed to a working waterfront. She would veto any proposal on the working waterfront that would be for luxury condominiums.

She wants the Port Authority to invest in a modern port like has been done recently around the country and feels that Port Authority thinks Red Hook is not important.

The Red Hook Container Terminal has been operating on five-year leases and two of the piers got condemned and had to move operations.

Attendees get together for a group portrait. Aviles is wearing the wavy blouse, Kovacs is holding the baseball, Nico is the white haired respectable gentleman next to Kovacs, next to him in the greying beard is Kallwill, and Dave Lutz is second on the right. Everybody else is a civics minded Red Hookian. (photo by Nathan Weiser)

Response to Gaza protest create schism in Italian government

by Dario Pio Muccilli, EU correspondent

As the Gaza war continues, Europe is hit by demonstrations organized by proPalestine activists in every town, notwithstanding its size or importance. In Pisa, a leading university city, last February 23rd, a small and peaceful demonstration organized by local students ended up with many 15-19 year olds beaten by police with truncheons. The case, starting as a local news, soon became of national relevance, pushing even the President of the Republic to comment on the facts and probably altering the results of a regional election held a few days after.

The clashes

“We had a little bit of music and were eager to be heard. We wanted to go to Piazza dei Cavalieri, as it houses one of the most renowned global cultural institutions, the Normal School, (a public research university)”, says Francesco, 19, who was there at the rally. "We demonstrated against the support our government keeps giving to Israel”.

There were no more than 200 people, mostly students at this rally. Minor protests clashes had happened before, but mostly between the demonstrators and some pro-Israel people passing by, with the police a minor factor.

This time the police adopted a different approach.

As soon as the crowd reached the entrance of the square, in a narrow street called San Frediano, they asked the 20 policemen standing in front of them to allow them to pass. The police did not reply positively and because the crowd did not move they started attacking them, injuring 13 people. Still, the students did not give up and assembled at a university facility nearby. Together they started a protest against police repression that ended up bringing 6,000 people to the streets on March 3.

“The answer of the civic society has been clear”, says Enrico Bruni, a local city councilmember, “The episode shows a cleavage between the youth and the institutions of the city. Moreover, if the police believes that a hundred students are a danger , we should be worried for the health of our democracy”.

National consequences

The case soon became of national relevance, thanks to social media and the efforts of the Pisa activists who immediately worked to spread the word. The news quickly arrived to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who commented: “The prestige of the police corps is not measured on

"Using truncheons on the young is a failure."

the truncheons but on its ability to implement  public security while advocating in the meantime the freedom to demonstrate publicly each one’s opinions. The truncheons on the young are a failure”.

This episode started a political case, as the government chose not to align with the President’s words and the official line to defend the police in any circumstance.

On March 1st the government expressed its media strategy, as the Interior Minister, questioned in Parliament, complained about a general climate of aggression towards the police which risks “hurried judgements”.

The clashes put the government, led by PM Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidency of the Republic, two organs independent from each other, in a harsh institutional conflict – normally unusual due to the ceremonial role of the President.

The government stance led many commentators to say that the vio-

lence used in Pisa is a result of the climate of repression pursued by Meloni, a stance that it is however difficult to prove as in Italy there has been no major repression or ban to pro-Palestine demonstrations as has happened in Germany.

It can be said that the habit of the center-right to justify any attack towards the leftists is indeed of support for similar practices of violence. It is an association that many are doing and that probably has already cost Meloni one election: the regional one in Sardinia, held two days after the clashes, where the center-left candidate won by just two thousands votes, an amount that analysts say may have been moved by the Tuscany city’s facts.

It is unlikely that the latter will have further implications, but it is clear that on this issue Meloni's cabinet showed an ambiguous attitude, not fit for a serious government, but rather for a party still trying to defend its conservative credentials and its hatred towards the other side of the Parliament.

Pursuing a similar action line, the government is likely to radicalize its already radical electorate and alienate the youth vote, who are presumably scared of a government that is not able to say “sorry” or condemn a similar act of repression.

Gowanus Canal Conservancy builds a new garden

by Brian Abate

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC) has moved its Lowlands Nursery from the Salt Lot to a new location next to the new Monadanck building at 25 9th St., next to the Smith and 9th Stret subway. The move was necessatied due to the construction of a sewage tank required as part of the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup.

Andrea Parker, the executive director of the GCC spoke about the nursery as well as other work that the group is doing.

The GCC was founded in 2006 with a mission of “caring for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands while empowering a community of stewards.” The group envisions “a Gowanus Canal and surrounding urban environment that is clean, resilient, diverse and alive.”

“We’re focused on engaging the local community in stewarding, and building a greener and more resilient public realm,” Parker said. “We engage volunteers, we grow native plants, and we provide field trips and hands-on education projects for local schools. We base our programs at our stewardship site, and about two years ago we moved that site to the corner of Smith St. and 9th St."

She told us that once the CSO tank is

completed, they will be able to move back to the Salt Lot, which is adjacent to the Canal at the end of Second Avenue.

The GCC has a variety of plants including wildflowers, ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees at the Lowlands Nursery. Different plants are available and can be purchased on the GCC website.

Additionally, the GCC has programming for their stewardship program at the Lowlands Nursery Tuesday through Saturday from March through November. The nursery is open to the public on Thursdays and Saturdays.

“We have also installed a new native plant garden right along the waterfront and you can see that from the bridge,” Parker said. “Whenever a new development is constructed on the waterfront, the property owner is required to build a waterfront esplanade that’s open to the public. We have a new waterfront esplanade that just opened north of our nursery site.”

Parker and the GCC are also doing work with mussel habitats and are working with the Gowanus Dredgers and Brooklyn Collaborative studies to see if a population can be restored.

“In the longer term the Parks Department is going to take ownership of the nursery and it is going to be opened to the public 24/7,” Parker said.

In addition to the Lowlands Nursery, and the new esplanade, GCC has a garden at 3rd St. and 3rd Ave., a garden on 2nd Ave., a green corridor on 6th St., and 12 planters installed on Carroll St. between Nevins and 3rd Avenue.

“Continuing planting and stewarding throughout the neighborhood is increasingly important as we face a changing climate,” Parker said. “Everyone in the neighborhood can be a part of this work and there are so many different ways to be involved, whether it’s caring for a street tree outside your home or constructing a green roof, or something else.”

“Whenever a new development is constructed on the waterfront, the property owner is required to build a waterfront esplanade that’s open to the public."

The Craft Corner

Turn an empty yogurt cup into a hanging pot for a spring plant!

Spring is right around the (craft) corner and green plants are already popping up everywhere! Bring some of that springtime greenery indoors by creating a cute hanging planter out of an empty yogurt cup. Follow these steps to make your own.

What you’ll need. In addition to your yogurt container, you’ll need scissors, ribbon, a single hole puncher, and washi tapes. Washi tapes are a kind of craft tape that come in many different colors, patterns, and widths. They can be found for a few dollars a roll at stores like Michaels or Staples. A ruler or measuring tape will come in handy as well.

by Marie Hueston and Sage Hueston

Start taping. We used two tape patterns—a thin pink stripe and a wider floral print—but you can use just one type of tape or as many as you’d like. We began by making vertical stripes all around our cup, starting under the rim ending just above the bottom. Then we wrapped the floral tape

around the bottom to finish it. Punch holes near the rim. Using the single hole punch, make three holes near the rim of your cup that are approximately equidistant from each other. If you don’t have a single hole punch, place a folded-up washcloth inside the cup to protect your hand, then push the tip of your scissors through the plastic. This step requires

adult supervision. Don’t poke yourself! Cut three pieces of ribbons. Lay your ribbon next to a ruler or measuring tape and cut three equal strips each about a foot long. You can also approximate the length s long as the three pieces are the same size. You might want your ribbon longer or shorter than a foot, depending on how

low you want your planter to hang. Secure the ribbons to your cup. Push one end of each ribbon strip through one of the holes and double knot it in place, tucking the knot down into the cup. When all three ribbons are tied, gather them at the top and loop them together. Cut the ends of the strips so they are even.

Fill your pot! We used a small houseplant in our pot, but there are lots of options you can try! Arrange fresh or fake spring flowers or fill your cup with potting soil and plant some seeds. Whatever you choose, hang up your pot and enjoy it!

April Preview: Start saving takout chopsticks for an Earth day craft!

BOOK SERIAL: Fishes, Purple, Tiny... by Bob Racioppo

Last Month

“Zac Wozny, a laid-back teenager who has spent his whole life in Sunset Park, enrolls in Hunter College in order to make sure he gets a draft deferment to stay out of the Vietnam War. This brings him into the strange new world of Manhattan. After a geography class that he attended stoned, he meets Susan Kemp, who invites him to the Park Avenue apartment where she lives with her parents. She offers some food:

1 – Meeting Miss Kemp (cont)

“I don’t have much to offer you,” she called out from the bedroom. “My parents are in Europe, and I usually eat out.”

“That’s cool – I’m not hungry.”

She came out now in jeans and a red tee-shirt with STANFORD printed in white letters. “I could get you some whiskey... my father keeps some old bourbon whiskey or something.”

“Sure – that’s cool.”

She brought him a heavy cut-glass tumbler filled halfway with amber liquid, saying, “Don’t worry – this glass won’t explode,” and they laughed a little.

Dressed this way she was more familiar to Zak, except now in her red tee-shirt he noticed she was braless. None of the girls in Sunset Park would ever do that. He took a swig; it was smooth and warm.

When Miss Kemp perched on a nearby ottoman, Zak took a seat on the worn leather couch.

“So, Zak – where do you live?”

“Brooklyn.”

“Oh, Brooklyn… I was there once.”

“Okay.”

“How do you like Hunter?”

“It’s okay. Better than Vietnam.”

“You seemed so enthusiastic in class.”

He didn’t want to tell her why. Instead, he said “I’m getting into it.”

“Another drink?”

Before he could answer she began pouring. “Vietnam… what a mess.

Girls are lucky, we don’t get drafted. Well, not yet.”

Zak sipped at the whiskey while Miss Kemp began talking about herself. His mind kept floating out the window to the view of the East River and hearing only some of what she was saying.

She was twenty-seven, dropped out of a bunch of colleges, under a lot of pressure to get married.

Until one word she uttered brough him back forcefully to the leather couch, Apartment 11-J, and the twenty-seven-year-old Susan Kemp, who was now kneeling on the rug in front of him.

The word was “fellate.”

And the full sentence was “Would you do me a big favor and let me fellate you?”

Now back in the room in both body and mind, he shouted, “What?! What did you just say?”

Somewhat shyly, Miss Kemp replied. “I said, would you do me a big favor and let me fellate you? It means give you a blow job.”

“I know what it means!”

After a pause, she went on. “It would help me with this guy I’m dating.”

“Help you?”

“Yes. It would be a big help.”

Zak just stared at her.

“Okay… I told you about the pressure I’m under to get married. But not to just anyone. Ken – that’s his name – is a Whitman. From Sutton Place. We’ve gone out a few times, but… I’m not as experienced as I should be, and neither is he. So if I could just practice…” Zak cut her off. “Practice?”

“It could help seal the deal. And get my parents off my back.”

Zak kept staring. He thought he would get up and leave.

But he didn’t get up, and he didn’t leave.

Susan Kemp raised her head slowly, squinted her eyes, and said, with a touch of grit, “Pleeeeease?”

Then she took off the red Stanford tee-shirt.

2 - Elevator Down

Ahalf hour later, Zak Wozny was standing in the plush carpeted hallway waiting for the elevator down. If it was 2019 instead of 1969, it would have been “WTF, WTF,” going through his head. But back in ’69, his mind was simply “BLOWN.” Everything he had learned about girls and sex in his seventeen years in Brooklyn had just been turned upside down. The elevator arrived, still manned by the small guy in the Sgt. Pepper suit.

Zak noticed that the sideways dirty looks he had given him on the way up had morphed into a direct nasty stare. The man slid shut the shiny brass gate, turned the crank and they started down. But the dirty look continued until Zak blurted…

“What’s your problem!”

With a weird grin on his pinkish face under the braided cap he says:

“Yer a swarthy one, ain’t cha?”

“What..what!” was all Zak could reply.

“I kin always spot a wop!”

“What! A wop!”

The elevator reached the lobby, the little guy pulled back the grate, extending an arm pointing outward.

“That’s right… a wop, a dago. Now be on your way… if you know what’s good for ya.”

Zak got off the elevator and headed down the hall, just wanting to get out

onto the street.

“That’s right… wop… on your way now.”

“Listen, you ask kissing mick piece of shit… my father’s Polish… I’m only half a wop, so FUCK YOU.”

Sgt. Pepper ran into the elevator, shut the grate, starting yelling..

“Jimmy… Jimmy!!”

Zak ran down the hall, almost into a big maintenance guy who was answering the call. Finally, out on Park Avenue, Zak screamed back one last “FUCK YOU” and began walking downtown with his mind still blown; wishing he had gotten into Brooklyn College.

3 – In the Flow

Yellow, yellow, yellow cabs... were standing almost still on Park Avenue. Just walking, Zak was passing them at a good clip. The passengers, mostly solitary riders who would have made better time on foot, sat staring, in passive acceptance of the Manhattan rush hour. With traces of mescaline still running through his head, everything, just as in Geography class, seemed interesting. The green light at the corner of 53rd street, how it shimmered with traces of blue… and then became yellow, a deep amber yellow… almost like the cabs, and then RED.. and back to Green! But green means “GO” and several suits standing behind him nudged Zak gently forward. He was in the flow, going south on Park Avenue,,, to where? he wondered. A line from a poem he was made to memorize, but never understood, came into his head:

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit.

At 46th Street a brown/gray office building straddled the avenue, east to west. Getting closer, Zak saw the tall arches and a curved roadway which allowed the cabs to pass through and continue their southward crawl. Revolving doors kept the flow of suits and dresses moving, into a marble lobby and onto a descending escalator. Going down, he heard the approaching sound of a thousand echoing voices and footsteps, and at the bottom saw the ceiling rise 200 feet, becoming an indoor sky. Zak stopped and stared up. The crowd off the escalator dispersed around him, heading for trains to Norwalk and New Canaan… Greenwich and Goldens Bridge, not noticing the electric constellations of Grand Central Station.

But Zak did, the sole person standing still in the crisscrossing paths of commuters moving in myriad directions, never colliding.

That’s when he realized the city was a living organism, which breathed in people every morning, and after using eight or so hours of their energy, exhaled them back into the boroughs and suburbs from where they came. The remaining traces of mescaline were putting voices and theories in his

head. Looking around at the crowd rushing by, a sudden wave of paranoia came over him, a sudden knot of fear in his stomach. He was too high… beer, need beer.

4 - Drinkin… Thinkin

Zak found an opening between the suits and waited to be noticed. When the short pink faced man behind the bar finally came over, Zak gasped internally. “It’s him!” The elevator guy who called him ‘swarthy,’ how the fuck did he get here?

The man laid a coaster down and said pleasantly, “What’ll it be, young man?”

It wasn’t him, similar looks, just some mescaline distortion.

“Beer, please.”

“And you’ll be eighteen now, ain’t cha?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” (well, he would be, in two weeks)

“Sure you are, how ‘bout a cold Budweiser?”

“Yeah, great.”

He pulled a long necked bottle from ice under the bar, opened it. “Glass?” “No, bottle’s good.”

Zak put a five on the bar, got back two, left one. Went to the railing where he could look out over the swarm, chugged half the bottle and felt better instantly.

“What a fuckin’ day,” he thought. Miss Kemp, exploding glass of milk, a blow job – his first, though he didn’t tell her. The elevator guy! Swarthy! What the fuck is that, like some pirate shit?

Zak would look it up later. He finished the bud, got another one. Beer is ballast, brings you back down to earth. Mikey Bergen from 41st Street, who would never take any drugs, always said “I drink beer — at least I know I’ll wake up in the morning.”

After his third Budweiser, Zak’s knot of fear had dissipated. From the balcony he watched the rush hour crowd diminish. Exhaled by the City… to whence they came.

The blue-skied ceiling darkened slightly and the electric constellations seemed to brighten. Strange day, he had a feeling there’s be more to come.

-Continued Next Month-

Author Bob Racioppo is a founding member of the Shirts, a New York-based American punk band that was one of the seminal CBGB bands. After signing a record deal they toured the US and Europe. In addition to music, Robert is an accomplished fine artist. This is his first novel.

He grew up in Sunset Park and now lives in Windsor Terrace. To order a copy of the full book ($15) text 917 652-9128 with your address.

Sleep and other horrors. I don’t know what goes on within the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum after hours, and truth be told, I don’t always understand what’s happening during public viewings, either. Past exhibits have focused on Ted Kaczynski, pulmonary tuberculosis, pediatrics, cicadas and cockroaches. It’s been 17 years since their last offering, In Glorious Times and during that time they’ve been gestating, hibernating, or whatever it is they do when they’re doing what they do. Glorious times, though, are here again, because the primo prog-goth-metalart-smart and unlike anyone else Oakland, CA, cabaret outfit is back and the fruit of their sabbatical is a remarkable new record, Of the Last Human Being (CD, double LP and download out last month from Avant Night). If the previous three albums—plus a 2003 live album that was altogether its own oddity—were displays, Last Human Being is an invitation to observe. With singer/ guitarist Nils Frykdahl’s gentle falsetto and fearsome growl, they’re capable of full throttle rock and, adding violinist Carla Kihstedt’s fragile soprano, something akin to metallic madrigals. There’s some pounding cuts here, of course— “The Gift” and, especially, “Burn Into Light”—and a couple of gently quirky songs from Kihlstedt—“Silverfish” and “Hush, Hush”—(plus cinematic videos for both “Light” and “Hush). There’s a bit of comedy concerning the titular last human in the scientific plea of “We Must Know More” and more concerns about extinction in bassist Dan Rathbun’s “Old Grey Heron.” There’s even a cover, a new recording of This Heat’s “S.P.Q.R.” (which they previously did on a 4-way split 7” with The Ex, Voodoo Muzak and Cheer-Accident). All of these and other songs are reasons for celebration and revelry, but interspersed among them are private court dances and rituals, instrumentals that make the album its own full and vibrant, dark and wonderful world. The last time Sleepytime toured, it was under the concern, or at least the acknowledgment, of the demise of humanity, and a long discussed film of the Last Hu-

man Being is, apparently, now nearing completion. There ain’t no party like an extinction rebellion party.

Sleepytime has always grafted bits of humor and cabaret into the act, and the best horror usually employs some element of showmanship. The Universal Monsters reboot of classic creepshows has gotten off to a prolonged and stumbling start but apparently isn’t dead yet. But over in Milford, PA, the Deathtones have been paying tribute to classic horror for the last couple of years. Convened as a side project of pop-punk band RadioRiot!, the horror lovers have released a couple dozen singles and EPs over the last couple of years—kneeling before Stephen King and paying homage to the Friday the 13th and Leprechaun franchises—some of which were collected on last year’s The American Invasion. Their Universal Monsters, out last month on We Are Horror Records (CD and digital), contains a half dozen songs retelling some of the greatest scary stories ever put on screen. Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, the Invisible Man the Wolf Man and the Creature From the Black Lagoon are all given sympathetic treatment against slightly cartoonish goth-metal soundtracks, over and done in under half an hour and all lovingly silly, just like the movies that inspired the songs.

Quiet Country, which they self-released on CD, LP and digitally last month. The pair (Italian multi-instrumentalist Simone Manuli and Swedish singer Markus Kristoffersson) inform their New Wave of British Heavy Metal melodicism with references to John Carpenter, Wes Craven, HP Lovecraft, Plato, Planet of the Apes, Greek mythology and even reality: “Altar of Fear” was inspired by Kristoffersson happening on an outdoor, Satanic ritual as a kid and waxes philosophical with Mr. Bungle lilt: “Every species can smell its own extinction / We’ll never know the nature of creation / It’s inhuman, it’s not a jurisdiction / home is lost, reality isn’t fiction.” With stacked guitars, machine-gun drums and multi-tracked riffage, Manuli builds a big enough sound to induce thrash metal flashback.

Truth be told, though, the ’80s might not be the firmest of ground to build on. Nashville’s

Aaron Lee Tasjan, however, isn’t looking to put fear in anyone’s heart. His “Horror of it All,” from the forthcoming Stellar Evolution (due next month from Blue Élan) sounds closer to Don Henley or maybe a lost, latter-day Cars song but the video captures the era’s schlock teen cinema perfectly, even down to the VHS-dub faded colors. The decade was half over before he was both—’80s nostalgia might be strongest among those who didn’t have to live through it the first time—but he hits that questionable nail on the head.

Thrashing and bashing doesn’t always have to be so serious. Out of the depths of Texas comes Kólga, who claim territorial rights to blackened surf rock with their debut Black Tides (CD, LP and download out March 29 via Otitis Media Records), which rips through seven tunes in under half an hour with simple, grooving themes filled out by theremin, synth, waterphone, lots of percussion and lots of banging. It’s essentially an instrumental album (grumbles and howls are partially

submerged under the tide) and a right clever gimmick, but it’s more than that. While Ventures-adjacent riffs dominate, the band (made up of members of Dead To A Dying World, Spazm 151, Akkolyte, Cleric, Tyrannosorceress, Damage Case, Sabbath Assembly, Wrekmeister Harmonies and Unconscious Collective) brings knowledge to the beach. There’s moments of shrutitinged sci-fi, some straight scorching melodic death metal and even (to these non-surfing ears) some early Alice Cooper influence. Summer will be here sooner than you know it, and Kólga will be here to destroy it. Read the

The duo Scarefield, meanwhile, finds its inspiration in the music and the movies of the ’80s on their debut A

Quinn on Books

Soaked in Intelligence and Wit

Review of “The Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays,”

by Joan Acocella

Review by Michael Quinn

When you read a newspaper or magazine for a long time, you start to recognize the bylines. Favorite writers emerge. Over time, you begin to feel like you know them. And you do. You know how they think and feel—the good ones, anyway.

Joan Acocella was one of the greats. She joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 1995 and served a long spell as the magazine’s dance critic. She wrote about this high art form in a down-to-earth way. She helped you appreciate what was wonderful about a piece, dancer or choreographer. But she also pointed out the sweat stains under the arms. When you saw a dance she’d written about, her words would return like a little conspiratorial nudge in the ribs. She was a wonderful imaginary seatmate. She encouraged you to notice things for yourself.

Dance was only one of the things Acocella wrote about. She was interested in artists of all stripes. And she was especially interested in what makes them tick.

Acocella died this past January at 78, right before her latest book came out. “The Bloodied Nightgown” is a collection of 24 essays written for The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books between 2007 and 2021. The pieces “shuffle back and forth between the artist and his/her art.” Acocella’s insights illuminate both brilliantly. The collection takes its provocative title from an essay on Bram Stroker’s “Dracula.” Acocella traces the birth of the modern vampire to the present day, namechecking “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Twilight” and other descendants. “Cults often gather around powerful works of the second rank,” Acocella sniffs. The secret to the success of “Dracula,” she believes, is its structure: a collection of allegedly first-person documents— diaries, letters, newspaper clippings—and different narrative voices, all of them rational and reluctant to accept what’s happening (That’s a bird, not a bat, right?).

“Queen of Crime” explores the legacy of Agatha Christie, whose 66 detective novels gave us “plain old England” with its mannered upper-class, sitting room dramas and bloodless bonks over the head. There is minimal bloodshed in Christie’s novels, Accocella tells us, because “Christie disliked violence.” What she liked was creating characters. She gave us legendary ones like Hercule Poirot (the Belgian dandy whose ridiculousness belies his intelligence) and Miss Marple (who looks like a dithering old lady but has a mind like a steel trap). Like millions of people, Acocella enjoys Christie’s books. Uniquely, she points out that Christie is “not a great writer.”

The range in “The Bloodied Nightgown” is far-reaching and soaked with Acocella’s intelligence and wit. You often feel her impatience with pretentiousness and her glee whenever she gets to unstuff a shirt. She always cuts right to the heart of a matter. Considering one biography and the lengths it goes to make inane points, Acocella writes, “This is all very cheesy.”

In other essays, Acocella meditates on dictionaries and curse words, Grimm’s fairytales (violent with “almost no psychology”), the crime novelist Elmore Leonard, and visual artists including Francis Bacon, Edward Gorey, and Andy Warhol.

Acocella was schooled to think about an artist and their life as two separate things, as if you could extract one from the other and present it more purely that way. But to Acocella’s way of thinking, life is what makes an artist who they are and their work the singular thing that it is: “It was too exciting to watch these people, most of them young, with no money and no prospects, find their way into art.” It’s exciting to read about them, too. Acocella’s byline will be deeply missed.

Jazz by Grella In Transition

by George Grella

Transitions are beguiling, that period when a thing is changing into something else. It’s part of nature, of course—it’s the story of the universe—and it’s essential in all the arts. The ephemeral, performing ones, especially dance and music, are all about movement and transitions through time.

Not all music is the same, obviously, and the way transitions are handled and their purpose differs by individuals and eras. The clearest way to hear this is through music that defines itself through form above all else, i. e. Western classical music. One of the satisfactions of Haydn is hearing how he lays out eight bars of an idea, repeats it, then fits in a proportional transition to a new idea: sonata form!

Form grew more personal and complex through the 19th century, reaching an end in pieces like Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7, which is in almost constant transition until the last measure, when it finds its essential meaning. But that wasn’t a modern thing, and it’s not right to think of the use of musical transitions as signifying accumulated knowledge; polyphonic vocal music of the Renaissance is also in constant transition. We’re no more complex, nor apparently wiser, then they were in Rome in the 16th century.

We hear the transitions in classical music only after the composers figured them out, in jazz we hear musicians improvising their way to and through them, improvising the trustees themselves. The essence of jazz is that it a process of creativity and exploration—improvisation, like life. And because jazz has coincided with the development of recording technology, almost every movement and revolution in Jazz has been preserved on audio. Maybe the single best example of this is the Miles Davis: Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 box set, where you can hear Miles and his second great Quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams), improvise their way out of hard bop and into a new conception of small group jazz, in real time.

The exception is arguably the single most important revolution in jazz, which was the creation of be-bop, the movement that transformed jazz from a modern popular music into a modernist art music. There are incredibly important early bop recordings like “Ko Ko,” recorded by Charlie Parker and his Quintet, November 26, 1945, but the music is established be-bop, the transition has already happened. How it came to be, the sound of that, is still mostly a mystery. Thats because from 1942-44, when Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were experimenting and creating the new style, the Musician’s Union was on a nationwide recording strike, and no one made any records. There were radio broadcasts and some transcriptions of the same, and a small number of to me recording the musicians themselves mede of jam sessions—there are famous ones made by Bob Redcross of Parker and other musicians jamming in his apartment—but the latter only amounts to a few flaking fragments left from a fresco lost to time.

There were transitional musicians too, not necessarily working the way from one idea to another but rather standing in between the two different ideas, either in an independent way, like the great pianist Art Tatum, or friendly with both but not fully inside either. That’s the case with Don Byas.

Byas was one of the great swing era tenor players. He had a warm, buttery tone, fleet fingers—his swift improvising on “I Got Rhythm” in duet with bassist Slam Stewart at Town Hall in June, 1945 is a

landmark jazz recording and for a time kept listeners aware of Byas’ existence because of its inclusion on the 6-LP Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, a once coveted set released in 1973—and a way with a ballad that emphasized beauty and purity of feeling. The Don Byas: On Blue Star is an excellent introduction to the man and his art, and though out of print can be had cheap wherever used albums are bought and sold. Byas was a one man transition between swing and be-bop, and that means he was never really a be-bop player. Some well-known critics consider his playing on the “I Got Rhythm” track bop, but it isn’t. There are signs that he’s been hearing the bop players use of harmony, but he’s playing within the chords, not extending them up top, and though he’s fast he has the swing quality of hanging slightly behind the beat— the opposite of bop—and his phrasing, the way he connects and accents a series of notes, is also mostly swing with occasional touches of bop.

Byas knew bop was happening by the time he hit the Town Hall stage. On the newest archival release from Mosaic Records, Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946, there are 15 tracks where Byas is playing in large and small ensembles that include Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and the brilliant and doomed bop baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff, all musicians who came up playing in swing bands. All the tracks were recorded in January, 1945, and of particular interest are the final three credited to the Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, with Byas joined by tenor player Tommy Young, and pianist Clyde Hart, Pettiford, and drummer Shelly Manne. They play the be-bop staples “Good Bait,” “Salt Peanuts” (credited as “Salted Peanuts”), and “Be-Bop,” and are odd and fascinating for it.

The tracks are a friendly collision between two ideas that at the time had just started to run on parallel tracks and at different speeds. Gillespie and Pettiford are playing bop, everyone else is playing swing, included Manne who at the time was not yet the excellent bop and hard bop drummer he was to become and is awkward as hell, playing swing patterns but seeming to try and dump those and try something new with every beat. It’s something like the famous Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts when Parker appears with swing musicians, but those are jam sessions while these are arrangements meant to be pressed on singles, so the structure shines a bright light on how you’re hearing the past and future superimposed. The misfit doesn’t show a transition but the aftermath, with Gillespie, et al on one side and Byas on the other.

The collection as a whole is a great tribute to a musician who may not be thought of as one of the greats, but was a great player. As Loren Schoenberg writes in the booklet, “Rarely, if ever, has the saxophone ever been played more exquisitely than in the hands of Don Byas.” Schoenberg also points out how the swing musicians created the material that was the foundation for bop, and that Parker was quoted as saying that Byas had played everything there was to play. The set show that all, how Byas set the table for Parker and his associates, and even includes a fantastic little gem, he and Stewart again playing “I Got Rhythmn,” recorded inside someone’s apartment.

"We hear the transitions in classical music only after the composers figured them out, in jazz we hear musicians improvising their way to and through them, improvising the trustees themselves."

BROOKLYN HISTORY: taken from the pages of the Brooklyn Phoenix - the weekly paper published by Mike and Dnynia Armstrong that chronicled the rise of the Brooklyn we know today. This story was published in 1981 and features, among other things, a local Red Hook landmark. Thanks to the Star-Revue, back issues are finally available online at HTTPS://WWW.DIGIFIND-IT.COM/PHOENIX/VIEWS/HOME.PHP