Red Hook Star-Revue, May 2024

STAR REVUE

Bringing excitement to the RH Rec Center

Everyone knows about the Red Hook Rec Center’s pool, but members will find the Center has more then ever to offer, especially for those interested in learning new computer skills or using expensive media tools. The Center’s media lab re-opened in February of this year, after a major face-lift made possible by a $100,000 donation from Amazon. As this paper wrote in March, the grant transformed the space from a room with a few old Dell computers to a true media lab, complete with a WhisperRoom sound isolation booth, studio speakers with a subwoofer, M2 Mac Minis, DSLR T8i cameras, iPads, and new computers. Despite all the incredible equipment, the most valuable addition to the space is likely not its equipment, but its new media educator.

Before joining the Rec Center, Helena Krawlzik worked in a corporate role at a well-known sports network, but didn’t feel fulfilled. “I wanted a job that was not making anyone money, and where I could practice my own project skills, because I have a background in film,” she reflected. Then, last December she found her current role as a media educator for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, one of only four people hired citywide for the role at the time. As the Center’s media educator, Krawlzik is responsible for helping Center members of all ages learn digital media skills and use the available technology.

As training, Krawlzik spent a month and a half shadowing media educators at other Rec Center locations. The Centers range widely in the resources available at each facility and in their levels of community interest. While some might have only one or two children visit in a day, others wel-

by Katherine Rivard

come dozens after school each day. For Krawlzik, Red Hook’s media lab has a perfect flow of visitors, allowing her to feel “pleasantly whelmed” with the amount of people that currently stop in.

One of the most popular uses of the lab for students is to podcast. “They just want to gab!” Krawlzik noted, laughing. Luckily, she’s there to guide the students and help create a learning experience. First, she instructs students to choose a subject, next they’ll create questions, and then they have

"Krawlzik is responsible for helping Center members of all ages learn digital media skills and the available technology."

to sit in front of the camera, speak into the mic, introduce one another, and make eye contact. The final hurdle is to move from simple “yes and no” questions to “why” questions that dig a bit deeper. All of these introduce skills that will be useful in everyday life for the students.

Interestingly, Krawlzik has noted a difference in usage of the room by age and gender. “For some reason, after the age of about 11, girls do not enter this room. They do not visit the Center, or at least I don’t see them...” She’s also found that there is a lack of teens, in general visiting the media lab, likely due to other options like media internships that are available through other institutions. The gap seems to close once individuals are in their early 20s; on a recent afternoon, she had a couple of young men stop in to apply for

jobs. To counteract the lack of interest shown by certain age groups, Krawlzik gets creative in what she offers. “I have some 10- and 11-year-old girls who come in after school and they really love drawing, so we’ll do drawing on the computer and make GIFs. I’m also trying to push them toward digital collage and other new skills.”

Not just kids here

Adults will also find ample use for Krawlzik and the media lab’s resources. According to Krawlzik, adults “usually will come in with one issue, and it’s usually something to do with their phone, email, etc. Then it snowballs into, ‘Well, I wanted to learn how to use the computer’ or ‘I wanted to learn how to use this.’” This snowball effect is no surprise given Krawlzik’s enthusiasm and approachable demeanor, which allow even more reticent individuals to ask the questions they’ve been harboring. One member brought in half of a flip phone and asked for help; a mother stopped by to continue creating music, having stalled after having children; and another gentleman used the media lab to

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WALKING WITH COFFEE

A Boomer talks with a Millennial.

Boomer– R.J. Cirillo

Millennial –Tim Hederman

We are at Starbucks on 7th Avenue in Park Slope

R.J.- “So we are sitting here having coffee, but I see many of your generation walking with their coffee instead of sitting. Why is that?

Tim-“I don’t want to distrust

your experience, but I’m curious what timeline was that on?”

R.J.- “I started drinking coffee in the ‘60’s when I was 12, but we always sat when we drank it.”

Tim- “I think it has a lot to do with the changing culture around time, people being much busier, people in N.Y. hustling more. The timeline of life is more crunched than in your day. Usually now people

drink coffee and do something else while they drink. You see people in coffee shops literally working, doing their jobs whether they’re computer coders or editors with their cup at hand. The reason for this is the political and economic shift in attitudes toward the value of personal time. We live in a compressed “go….go…go” mentality.

R.J.- “Is this good or bad?”

Tim- “Oh I personally would

say mostly bad, right, because it has to do with people working harder, being more productive but not getting the fruits of that effort. I mean you’ve lived through it more than me, seeing NYC. turn into a playground for the haves and the have-nots. Being born in Brooklyn I’m witnessing it becoming the Epcot experience of Brooklyn. I have a (continued on page 22)

Tim Hederman

Media Director Helena Krawlzik

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

inquirEr Lisa Gitlin

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

CraFts Marie & Sage Hueston

dEsign George Fiala

Merry Band of Contributors

Howard Graubard

Nino Pantano

R.J. Cirillo

Jim Tampakis wants Amazon to use their waterfront

by Brian Abate

“Freight by Water? Why Not?” was a talk given last month at NYC Technical College, hosted by a group called the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center.

The talk featured five speakers including Jim Tampakis of Red Hook's Tamco Mechanical, who for years has pushed for better use of our waterfront. Other speakers at the event included NY Times writer Liz Alderman, Ilana Mayid-Dennis, President of US Coastal Service, Brad Vogel, supercargo of the Schooner Apollonia and former Gowanus Dredger, and Jason Sahler, owner of Red Hook's Strong Rope Brewery.

Alderman recently wrote about how freight is being transported via barge along the Paris' Seine River. The French government has given much financial support for this.

Tampakis compared the Sanitation Department’s use of barges transport waste from their Hamilton Avenue facility with the lack of interested that Red Hook's last mile warehouses have shown to do the same, depending on trucks instead.

“Amazon and RXR have told me that isn’t how we do things,’” Tampakis said. “Everybody is afraid to use the water but maybe it’s time to change that. We have 525 miles of waterfront and we should be using it."

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“Right now, Crowley Maritime, a big marine company, has completely switched to electric tug-boats. We can use those to bring in freight and to 280 Richards Street, one of the Amazon warehouses. Right now there are 28 loading docks. It’s not enough. We need a lot more but it’s enough to get started.”

Tampakis said that the estimated cost per two cranes of unloading the freight to put it in Red Hook over 20 years (including the cost of tug boats, labor, site work, unloading) would be $304 per 40-foot container.

“ Today, the trucks that are coming

over the Goethals Bridge and Verrazano Bridge cost about a couple of hundred dollars in tolls alone,” Tampakis said. “And then there are hundreds more dollars in labor, maintenance on the trucks etc. We’d be totally clean using the barges; we’d get rid of the truck traffic and there’s no wear and tear on the highways. It would be a win-win situation.”

Mayid-Dennis explained that USCS is working towards many of the same things Tampakis has called for in Red Hook. She also said that she had spoken with both Tampakis and Vogel before so they were already familiar with each other’s work.

USCS’ goals include “reducing the number of road miles from origin to delivery, maximizing the volume of freight moved at reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and that shifting freight from road to water is one of the best and least expensive ways to decarbonize the freight sector.”

“Since 2023, we’ve been working on developing a network of marine freight terminals and how to connect them with electrified marine vessels,” Mayid-Dennis said.

Old-school is new school

The next speaker was Vogel who explained that a supercargo is “an officer on a ship in charge of the commercial concerns of the voyage.” He is the supercargo for a 64-foot steelhulled sail freight vessel built in Baltimore. It is called the Schooner Apollonia and it is capable of carry-

ing 20,000 pounds of cargo.

“I want to push back on a comment earlier that this is an ancient and old-fashioned way of moving goods,” Vogel said. “I think that is part of the problem. Instead of calling it old-fashioned, I would like to call it proven and obvious.

“We use the wind to move goods and we take it a step further and use our engine less than five percent of the time. We rely on the wind, the tide, and the currents to move our goods.”

Some of the goods the Schooner Apollonia transports go into Red Hook's Strong Rope Brewery.

“We’re transporting roughly 60,000 pounds of malt annually and that’s about 20 or so trips on trucks,” Sahler said. “With the schooner, it’s only about four trips per year.”

“The Borough President voiced support for getting freight delivered through the city by water,” Tampakis said. “We do have issues though. Six or seven years ago when parks were being rebuilt in Red Hook, I went to the Parks Commissioner and said ‘ballfield 9 has a bulkhead. You have to bring in dirt to elevate all of these facilities so why not bring in the dirt on three or four barges as opposed to 2,000 tractor-trailers’ They said ‘We’re not used to doing that and we’d have to work with engineers,’ and they decided to bring in the dirt with tractor-trailers.’

We’ve got to change that mentality.”

Until about two hours ago I was all set to write about my latest reading project, a series of biographies written by historians about each president.I started with Andrew Jackson and have been going in order, and I'm up to James Buchanan, the president right before Lincoln.

I consider myself well read and somewhat of an intellectual, but I've been amazed at what I didn't know about American history from the 19th century.

Well, this evening as I'm writing this, I happened to see reference to a movie that was supposed to be streaming, but instead is only offered for sale on Amazon without much promotion. Just that alone made me leave putting the paper to bed for a while, and pay the $20 to watch it.

It's called The Sixth, and it's unbelievable. My meaning is that it is both unbelievably well done, and I can't believe that it's not things that happened way before I was born that I'm belatedly catching up on, but also things that I've lived through!

A few days before January 6, 2021 (the day that Congress was to certify the election of Joe Biden, I happened to see an ad for a protest on behalf of Donald Trump that was to take place that day. It seemed a little scary, so, reporter that I am, I researched who would be responsible for sending the National Guard to protect the Capital in case something bad were to happen. What I found out was that in Washington DC only, it would be the Secretary of Defense, a member of the President's cabinet.

I knew that Mark Esper had left the Defense Department right after the elec-

A MOVIE YOU MUST SEE

tion, and Trump appointed an acting Defense Secretary, Chris Miller. I did a little Google search and didn't find anything in his background that indicated that there might be some funny business going on.

I worked all day at the Red Hook office on the 6th, with my second screen tuned to CNN. I really wish there was some way to see what the coverage was during that day, because what I saw did not scare me. It seemed that as soon as Trump told people to go home, they all did. I remember seeing people walking innocently through the Capital, and parading home when it was all over.

Afterward I went to a studio and rehearsed with a band I was in at the time, during which time I was cut off from any news coverage.

I got home around 9:30 and made a casual comment about the Washington incident, referring to it as Woodstock for Republicans.

My girlfriend screamed at me for saying such a thing and to this day won't have a conversation about it.

Of course, in the years since, I watched all the news coverage, followed the impeachment and the hearings and of course realize that it was far from a walk in the park. But not until seeing this movie tonight, did I have a real appreciation for the unbelievable violence of the mob, the vulnerability and suffering of the police, and more than everything, seeing that things did not necessarily end because of Trump, but because the National Guard was finally told to show up, as well as reinforcements from the DC police.

Using tear gas and sheer numbers, the reinforced law enforcement was able to

push the crowd of ten thousand Trump supporters out of the Capital and away from the building, which basically is what allowed the Vice President to carry out his constitutional duty and by 3:42 am certify the election.

I'm sure you'll be hearing about this movie in the days and weeks ahead.

My suggestion is to go to Amazon Prime Video, pay $19.99 and invite all your friends over and have a viewing party. The movie is not overtly political, it doesn't put forth a particular point of view. It looks at the day through six different people that were there—a photographer who shot from within the mob, a congressman

whose son was buried the day before, the police officer who we all saw being squeezed in the doorway between the mob and the politicians, a congressional staffer, a female Metropolitan Police officer who had bear spray make her temporarily blind, and the Chief of Police.

The immense power of the mob is shown in a way that all the news coverage since then hasn't done justice to, and you realize that this country really was on the verge.

Looking at who is running for President this November, it looks like the verge may not be that far off.

Cartoon Section with Marc and Sophie

BY MARC JACKSON

FUNNY SIDE UP

SHORT SHORTS:

BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

Red

Hook Community Prom is sponsored by Apotheke

Cora Dance is back again with the 12th annual RETRO high-schoolprom-themed dance party for all ages (in an actual high school!): THE RED HOOK COMMUNITY PROM! This beloved community event, in support of Cora Dance’s pay-what-you-can dance programs and performances, is an ‘80s-’90s-’00s dance party throwdown that will rock you like it’s 1999! Saturday, June 8, 2024, 7–11 pm South Brooklyn Community HS 173 Conover Street, Red Hook

Tickets available online at coradance. org or by calling (718) 858–2520.

RHAP Celebrates

The Red Hook Art Project will soon celebrate a significant milestone. Their 15th-anniversary gala, “RHAP Party! Cheers to 15 Years,” will take place on Tuesday, May 14th, at Strong Rope Brewery from 6–8 pm. The event will be a celebration of their journey, and the neighborhood is invited. They hope to raise $65,000. The nonprofit’s mission is the empowerment of youth through the arts. Their programs range from introductory art courses to specialized ceramic and music programs, designed to cater to the diverse interests and needs of the Red Hook community.

In addition, they plan to develop new programs providing leadership opportunities for older students, fostering their growth as neighborhood leaders. It promises to be a night filled with creativity, laughs, and celebration featuring diverse catering and treats from Hometown Barbecue, Brooklyn Curry Project, Steve’s Key Lime Pie, Sammie’s Cakes & More, Pearl Street Caviar, and more! Drinks will be provided by Strong Rope Brewery and Wet Whistle Wines. The night will have dancing, speeches, a silent auction, special performances, and there will be the opportunity to let your creativity shine on their community art project with Shiny Sparkle Labs!

The dress code is cocktail attire with a black, gold and red theme. Music provided by Red Hook’s DJ Scissorhands. And there will be an art showcase and a silent auction

Tickets are available at rhapgala.org and begin at $100 per person.

Legal Bookmaking

The Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition—in partnership with the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation—has flourished for almost four decades while inspiring thousands of students to take pride in their reading and writing by showing them they can actually enjoy improving their literacy skills. The culminating event takes place on Friday, May 17 at 4 pm at Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza

This event promises an evening of inspiration and celebration as students are honored for their outstanding contributions to literature. Deborah Pope, EJK Executive Director and es-

teemed funder, will kick off the festivities, welcoming attendees to immerse themselves in the world of studentcreated books. From awards presentations to captivating guest speakers, including collaboration with NYCPS Arts Office and Library Services, this event is a testament to the power of creativity in education.

Local authors read

Brooklyn-based authors/artists Erin Boyle, who lives in Carroll Gardens, and Rose Pearlman a Prospect Heights resident,  have a new book coming out May 7 called Making Things: Finding Use, Meaning, and Satisfaction in Crafting Everyday Objects

They have a commitment to craft that’s approachable, accessible, and that uses recycled, readily available materials like clothes, rope, and cardboard, in the hopes that we can give new life to what we already have. Their new book features 100+ projects for handmade objects that we can use every day and which will also give deeper meaning to our connection with our surroundings.

Scouring sidewalks, stoops, and thrift stores, the authors repurpose materials to create projects that range from functional to fun and frivolous. Stepby-step guides make it simple to start and finish each project, while the book’s stunning photographs show how each craft can fit within an organized, thoughtfully curated home.

As Making Things demonstrates, relying on a limited range of supplies and repurposing the same materials can spur our creativity, encouraging us to look at a pile of junk on a stoop and see endless possibilities.

Find Sanctuary in the City

On Sunday, May 14, at 1:30, they will appear at M. Patmos, a woman-owned, mindfully designed and ethically sourced clothing store at 358 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill. They wil be reading and signing books until 4 pm.

Red Hook Fest returns

Hook Arts Media looks forward to welcoming thousands of attendees to enjoy the 31st annual Red Hook Fest on the beautiful Red Hook waterfront. This community festival features stunning dance and music performances, as well as a resource fair. The Festival kicks off with a free Community CookOut and Dance Party at the PS 15 playground with a live DJ and family friendly activities for all ages.

This year’s celebration will culminate with Mainstage performances by world renowned artists, including Jarana Beat, Johnnie Mercer’s TheRedProjectNYC, and Ephrat Asherie Dance, who was recently revered by The Boston Globe: “Asherie and her company are a sight anywhere they perform.” Over the years, Red Hook Fest has featured performances by Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Ani Taj and Dance Cartel, Camille A. Brown, and Chop & Quench AKA the Fela! Band. All events are FREE. Attendance does not require RSVP. Opening Night Community Cookout and Dance Party Thursday, May 30th at 4 pm,  Patrick F. Daly School, P.S. 15

Mainstage Performances, Community Resource Fair, Family Friendly Activities Saturday, June 1st 2:00 pm, Valentino Park & Pier Ferris & Coffey Streets

LETTERS

PS 15 Fundraiser needs

I am Gabriela Avila, a Bilingual Special Education Teacher at PS 15. I spoke to you about the PS 15, The Patrick F. Daly Magnet School of the Arts Annual Art Show Fundraiser. We plan to hold it in May and need the support of our beautiful and vibrant community! We aim to engage its residents and visitors by displaying outstanding and captivating examples of student artwork and stunning works from creative professionals from PS 15 throughout the community on the walls of local Red Hook businesses, galleries, and art and culture centers.  We will then offer them for sale during a silent auction that will kick off on Friday, May 31st, and run through Friday, June 14th. All the proceeds will benefit our P.S. 15 students’ STEAM programming. This fantastic opportunity will mutually benefit Red Hook’s local merchants. Family and friends of the school and featured student artists will be eager to view the work on display, thereby increasing foot traffic to participating shops.

All we request is a wall or window space to hang the featured artwork for the duration of the event. Our volunteers will mount and label the work with information about the event and the student artists who created it. A QR code will direct those who would like to bid to the website, where all the auction items are listed.

If anyone is interested in participating, reaching out to us, or letting us know if their business would like to be featured as one of the “gallery” locations, they can contact our Art Teacher and the Auction’s General Coordinator, Ms. Clare McCarthy, at (718) 330-9280.

And some thanks...

Thank you so much for helping spread the word on our efforts to support our P.S. 15 students’ education and display their excellent work, passion, and dedication. Please let us know if you need any further information. Thank you for your service to the Red Hook community!—Gabriela Avila (Ms. Gaby)

We love to get thanks!

Thank you so much, George and Gabriela—Clare McCarthy, Art Teacher, PS 15, The Patrick F. Daly School of the Arts

More thanks from old friends

What a pleasant surprise to read your delightful Regina Opera review with an honorable mention to Nino! So glad that you finally managed to attend one of their wonderful performances. We used to go there with a party of 20 & then visit Lourdes at Casa Vieja, a delicious small Mexican restaurant around the corner on 5th Ave. & 60th Streets.

Enjoy & keep on visiting the Regina Opera!—Nino and Judy Pantano

Larry Penner advocates for subway bathrooms

There is still more to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine’s proposed legislation to increase public

citizen access to bathrooms in all five boroughs including Red Hook. He reminded me of the old NYC Transit Subway bathrooms. There was a time decades ago when you had to pay ten cents to relieve yourself. In those days, subway bathrooms were plentiful and open 24/7. Fast forward to today. According to the MTA website, there are only a total of 58 out of 472 NYC Transit subway station bathrooms. They include 7 in the Bronx, 21 in Brooklyn, 21 in Manhattan and 9 in Queens. They are open only between 7 am and 7 pm and closed between noon and 1 pm for cleaning. Many with a full bladder and no accessible bathroom end up using station elevators or platforms and stairs.

There are financial solutions to help the MTA pay for costs. Use some of the $1.8 billion in annual Federal Transit Administration capital grant funding. When these funds are programmed for station rehabilitation projects, include as part of the scope of work repairs to reopen previously closed bathrooms. Ask any local business, college, hospital or major developer to adopt an adjacent subway station bathroom to help cover the costs. In exchange, give the sponsor free advertising space at the station. Developers granted zoning variances should be asked in exchange to include ground floor bathrooms open to the public.

Reopening secure, safe subway station bathrooms with adequate supplies of toilet paper, soap and hot water would help attract one million former pre-COVID-19 riders who have yet to return.

Municipal public officials such as Lander can lead by example. Every city, state and federal elected official can provide public access to bathrooms in their local community district offices.

Access to public bathrooms should be a human right in today’s world. — Larry Penner

Good Cause Eviction

Great article showcasing the need for changes needed in housing laws in NYC and even more so in the entire country. I believe housing is a human right issue that need to be addressed immediately by all stakeholders to grow NYC and the country at large economically. However, the solution should not focus solely on landlords. Tenants have responsibilities too. Enacting laws that are fair to both landlords and tenants will be a good starting point. Investors are not encouraged to invest heavily in housing, if its going to take them ONE YEAR PLUS to evict a non-paying tenant. Irresponsible tenants are not required by the court to post bond, or come to court with rent. The renters have become PONDS/SOCCER-BALL being played by the politician, and legal aides communities for their own personal gains. Very few actually care about finding TRUE solution to the housing issue. You know why? Because solving the housing issue diminishes their CLOUT/POWER with the renters.— Olufemi Falebita

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BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

Green-Wood cemetery remembers Covid

“A Big, Slow, Majestic Covid Memorial” composed of tributes from 22 community groups, will be on view at Green-Wood from May 3rd through June 3rd with an activation and dedication ceremony on May 19th.

The memorial will hold a prominent place along Green-Wood’s historic wrought-iron fence, near the Main Entrance at Fifth Avenue at 25th Street. Packed tightly from top to bottom on the fence, it will stretch horizontally for 200 feet. During this time, the public is encouraged to create and add their own nameplates to the memorial. There will be a dedicated space on the memorial for public participation.

Community partners, artists, and activists, will come together at GreenWood on Sunday, May 19th from 4-5 pm for a dedication and activation ceremony at the Historic Chapel. The evening will include a procession, second line, traditional singers, and a participatory ritual of remembrance. All are welcome to participate to commemorate those who died of COVID-19 and remember them together.

More from Green-Wood

With a legacy spanning over 185 years, 580,000 individuals interred and memorialized across its grounds, and an archive of records documenting it all—The Green-Wood Cemetery

represents a vast, untapped resource for historical investigation.

Recognizing this incredible potential, Green-Wood seeks to engage researchers and members of the general public alike with history. April marked the launch of a new history fellowship that provides support for one current graduate student or early-career scholar to conduct independent research in any area of study that makes use of Green-Wood’s historical resources.

The selected researcher will be awarded a $5,000 honorarium and unparalleled access to the Cemetery’s primary source assets—tens of thousands of gravestones and mausoleums and millions of archival documents dating back nearly two centuries. They’ll also work closely with the Cemetery’s professional staff, including its current environmental research fellows and artist in residence. Ultimately, they’ll have the opportunity to craft public history programs and share their findings with a wider audience.

Applications for the 2024-2025 fellowship, which will run from September 2024 through May 2025, are now open. Those welcome to apply include current graduate students (MA or PhD) or earlier career academics, historians, or other professionals no more than five years into their career who are living or studying in New York City. The fellowship is open to any area of specialization, though fields of research may include the history of American cemeteries or funeral customs, public health, demographics, landscape design, and the visual culture of death and memorialization. Throughout the nine-month fellowship, the awardee will pore through

the Cemetery’s many resources to develop a project informed by their findings. They are expected to draw on the institution’s archives, which include burial files, business records, architectural drawings, and much more; its historical collections of over 10,000 artifacts including art, photographs, ephemera, and more; and its historic landscape and burial monuments. After selecting, investigating, and reporting on their topic, the history fellow will develop and facilitate public programs, tours, workshops, or classes to share their findings.

Applications are due by May 15, 2024, and include a research statement and public program proposal. For full details, visit www.green-wood.com/history-fellowship. Any questions about the application process should be directed to: historyfellowship@greenwood.com.

Leon Chase remembers Hanks Saloon

I first set foot in Hank’s Saloon in early 2002. It was where I met some of my closest friends. It was where I started my band, and where we played our first shows together. It was where my future wife first gave me her phone number, and where, years later, we would hold our New York wedding reception. Needless to say, it was a place close to my heart.

Chilling with a few friends at our wedding party. 2015.

On a larger scale, I believe that Hank’s Saloon—and bars like it—are important places culturally.

To a casual observer, Hank’s may have looked like just another run-down, dusty dive where old barflies went to die. And it could certainly feel that

way—especially in the days when the bar still opened at 8am every morning.

But beyond its rough looks and sometimes challenging clientele, Hank’s was a place of genuine local community. The kind of space where a person was judged solely on the strength (or weakness) of their personality—and their ability to pay a bar tab.

In the course of my interviews,  I learned that back in Brooklyn’s “bad old days”, the bar was often viewed as a safe haven from the crime and chaos of the streets outside. For years, it was a nightly gathering spot for union ironworkers—including the First Nations Kahnawà:ke and Akwesasne people, who famously built much of New York City. And to many queer people and people of color, it was a bar that accepted them openly, in a time and place when more upscale, “reputable” establishments often would not.

Later on, with its tiny wooden stage and anything-goes atmosphere, Hank’s became a ground-level incubator for the local music scene. First it was late-night jazz jams. Then an unlikely explosion of classic-style honkytonk and bluegrass bands, as well as punk, rock, blues, reggae, soul, and just about anything else that people felt like getting onstage and trying— earning the bar an unofficial reputation as “the CBGB’s of Brooklyn”. Hank’s was a place that—if you were willing to endure some questionable aromas and the occasional psychotic outburst—welcomed and rewarded true individuality. And as real estate skyrocketed and downtown Brooklyn transformed into a world of high-end

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NYU Langone aids migrant mental health issues

by Nathan Weiser

Overall student mental health is in crisis and this includes the migrant students as well who have been coming to New York City.

Mental health problems can affect many of students’ lives, which reduces their quality of life, academic achievement, physical health and can negatively impact relationships with friends and family members.

Mental health can even further distress migrants due to all they have been through to get here. It can be difficult for migrant families to access mental health services in the United States, so NYU Langone Family Health Center has tried to alleviate this.

The NYU Langone Family Health Center has made efforts to recruit bilingual-bicultural providers to meet the mental health needs of newly arrived children and adolescents.

They run school behavioral health programs in 24 schools in NYC that further meet the mental health demands of migrants.

Dr. Ruth Gerson, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the associate medical director for ambulatory behavioral health at the center, says these behavioral health programs take a holistic approach with the students and families.

“Our clinicians work closely with our programs throughout NYU to be able to not only meet the needs of the students but also to be able to connect families with other resources they might need,” Dr. Gerson said. “We know that one of the most important things in terms of a young person’s well being is their family health and mental wellness and sense of security.”

The behavioral health programs are available for migrant students who need any mental health support and services. They can connect them with a wide range of other family support services that NYU and their community partners offer.

This is to ensure they are meeting all the needs of the migrants and that they get the help and care that’s needed. They make every effort to make sure all of NYU Langone’s resources are at their disposal for the young people and their families.

The behavioral health programs are throughout Brooklyn including in Red Hook, Coney Island, Sunset Park, Canarsie and Bedford Stuyvesant. The program is in one school in Astoria, Queens. They plan to expand into Manhattan soon.

A few schools were interested in starting behavioral health programs in the coming weeks and then even more will get programs when the next school year begins.

These programs are able to meet the mental health demands that the students have.

Funded by grant

NYU Langone has a grant from the federal government that recognizes and helps support and expand their trauma program and in turn ensures that the kids they see get the absolute best quality of trauma therapies. They not only make sure to provide behavioral health but they also provide for their physical health in many

“Our clinics are able to make sure that they are not missing school due to those mental health needs,” Dr. Gerson said. “We can catch things earlier with high quality evidence based trauma treatments to make sure kids get the relief they need so they can stay in school.”

NYU Langone works to assess the families social support, practical needs and their social determinants of health, which is the idea that our health is impacted by things in our environment.

This can range from the neighborhood having a lot of pollution, having violence that puts people at risk or not having access to healthy food.

It’s the idea that the the socio-eco-

"A big source of stress might be what is causing the most amount of pain at the time. It might be support around nightmares or memories of traumatic experiences from their journey."

of the schools where they have services that are integrated and easily accessible for the kids and families.

“Many young people who have migrated have not been able to have their physical health taken care of and they have been exposed to injuries along the path of migration,” Dr. Gerson said. “So ensuring that the we are able to meet all of their needs.”

They try to make sure that through the environment that they provide that the kids can feel a sense of safety and physical comfort, which in tun is critical for their mental wellness after going through so much in their journey.

The NYU Langone staff does a lot of work to make sure the migrants get the resources they need to stay in school. This entails helping them catch up if needed and get special education support.

A recent study from the United Hospital Fund that said that there are 94 million days of school missed by adolescents due to unmet mental health concerns.

Since services are easily accessible in the school for those who are struggling it is a great resource. The families don’t have to struggle to find a clinic or struggle to find someone to treat them in their language.

nomic background we come from and the life experiences one has can really impact peoples health.

“In order to achieve true wellness we need to not just treat the physical ramifications of health, but also to support people in having healthier environments and address the issues in their environment that might be making them vulnerable to illness,” Dr Gerson said.

Care managers available

“We have a wonderful program called the family support services program and our therapists very quickly refer to that program to do a comprehensive assessment of family needs,” Dr. Gerson said. “The staff have a network of resources to tap into to get case management that they might need.”

The program has care managers who are invested in supporting families so they understand all the different types of resources in terms of housing that they are eligible for.

This is helpful since they might not have the language skills to navigate this on their own.

The program makes an effort to help the migrants in regards to family support counseling, food nutrition support, language classes, job training for parents and case management.

“Some of those programs we offer within our system and some of them we partner with our community engagement partners to offer them,” Dr. Gerson said. “I am always amazed at the range of things we are able to connect families with.”

The school behavioral health programs will bring resources to schools from larger NYU Langone coat and food drives.

A big source of stress might be what is causing the most amount of pain at the time. It might be support around nightmares or memories of traumatic experiences from their journey.

“If we can help people address their concrete stresses like food, clothing, jobs or language skills, then it opens up space for people to be able to pay attention to solving their mental health needs,” Dr. Gerson said.

The amount of extra help a child receives if they arrive after the school year starts is circumstantial since they might have missed several months of school in the process of migrating and then some do not have that disruption. They help families get the testing and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) needed to help navigate the adjustment whether the transition is in the middle or beginning of the school year.

The program will also connect monolingual Spanish speaking patients to bilingual mental health providers via tele-health if a bilingual therapist is not available on-site at their school.

“That can be really nice for a young person to feel like they have that deeper in person relationship,” Dr. Gerson said. “We do whatever the young person feels is the best fit for them.”

“We know that the migrant youth require a specialized type of support that is understanding their culture and support that is understanding their individual, family and community experiences,” Dr. Gerson said. “Studies have shown that a lot of migrant youth nationally do not access care because they fear that they will not be understood and not be trusted.”

NYU Langone is committed to providing mental health and services to migrant youth in a way that understands their experiences and understands the trauma that they have been through.

They provide trauma informed care, specialized treatment and have bilingual providers so young people and families can be seen by people who understand their culture and their language.

STAR-REVUE OP-ED PAGE

The Government Seeks to Identify Forgotten Victims through the 9/11 Notice Act to Apply for Benefits

by Jonathan Sharp

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, committed against the United States by the al-Qaeda Islamist group killed 2,977 people and injured thousands, while the devastating health effects caused by the hundreds of thousands of tons of debris containing toxic contaminants and carcinogens are still felt today. The targeting of the World Trade Center, and consequently the collapse of the 110-story tall Twin Towers, resulted in unimaginable damage to human life and the infrastructure in the densely populated lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn within a 1.5mile radius from the site of the attack, including parts of Columbia Street Waterfront District and Brooklyn Heights. The towers’ collapse created massive dust clouds, covering the area with ash and harmful debris, like asbestos, silica, metals, concrete, and glass. Fires burned for a prolonged period, releasing carcinogenic gases, smoke, and combustion.

Around 400.000 people, out of which more than 91.000 Responders (rescue, recovery, cleanup, and construction workers and volunteers), the rest being Survivors (residents, students, and people having their jobs in the areas affected), were exposed to 9/11 toxic pollutants in the days and months following

Why The NY HEAT Act Needs to Pass NOW

by Leon Erlanger

Readers worried that the government will snatch away their gas stoves deserve some perspective on the NY HEAT (Home Energy Affordable Transition) Act, which mandates a phased, managed transition from natural gas to electricity in New York State Buildings.

The good news for residents of existing buildings is that they can keep their gas stoves for now. Without the NY HEAT Act, however, these users will incur massive utility price increases as a dwindling customer base shares the costs of expensive maintenance and upgrades to the state’s massive declining gas infrastructure. The only way to prevent consumer gas price shock while addressing climate change successfully is to pass the NY HEAT Act now as part of next year’s New York State budget. Moreover, projections show that New York residents could slash their utility bills by as much as 53 percent as a result of the NY HEAT Act, depending on their income and gas consumption.

Anyone affected by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the flood remnants of Hur-

the attack, mainly in the New York City Disaster Area. Many of these people developed physical and psychological, short- and long-term acute conditions, including many types of cancer, aerodigestive disorders, and mental health conditions. Many lost their lives since then because of the contamination. Almost 22 years after the disaster, only a small fraction of the Survivors who would qualify for free medical care and victim compensation are aware of and benefit from the existing federal support programs. The 9/11 Notice Act, signed into law on September 11, 2023, aims to change this.

Federal Programs for 9/11 Responders and Survivors

Following years of lobbying by physicians, medical scientists, and local community organizations aware of the various health problems affecting those who lived or worked at the sites of the attacks, in 2008, Congress expanded its 9/11- funding to support Survivors as well. Next, after the passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2010, two federal programs were established: the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). Both will operate until 2090.

The World Trade Center Health Program is under the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The Program pays for the medical monitoring and treatment of 9/11-related health conditions for Responders at crash sites and Survivors who were present in the NYC Disaster Area on September 11, 2001, and who worked, resided, or attended school in the NYC Disaster Area between

ricane Ida in September 2021, or the orange smoky skies of last summer probably knows that climate change promises many more of these events with devastating—and expensive-consequences. The only way to prevent the worst-case climate change scenario is to slash our dependence on fossil fuels ASAP. Mercifully, New York State has already passed some of the most aggressive climate change legislation in the country. New York’s flagship 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) sets goals for slashing carbon emissions 85 percent by 2050.

The Climate Action Council tasked with determining how to achieve these goals found that natural gas consumption in buildings, electricity generation, and the industrial sector produces about 25 percent of current emissions and needs to be slashed dramatically. Unfortunately, decadesold state public service laws promote and subsidize natural gas expansion, rather than contraction, and must be modified or repealed for the state to meet its designated emissions goals.

For example, the law’s “utility obligation to provide gas service” makes gas service an entitlement for any resident who requests it, while the “100-foot rule” requires existing customers to share the cost of the new infrastructure needed to hook up new customers.

September 11, 2001, and July 31, 2002. The U.S. Department of Justice administers the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. It gives financial compensation for physical injuries, illnesses, or deaths to 9/11 Responders and Survivors who were present at the crash sites and at the NYC Disaster Area at any point between September 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002, as well as to the families of deceased individuals. Until now, mainly 9/11 First Responders benefited from the two programs, as the national focus was directed toward their heroism in the first years, while the community of survivors was initially overlooked.

According to the World Trade Center Health Program statistics, in December 2023, 87,183 Responders and 42,620 Survivors were registered to receive free medical care. Furthermore, the statistics show that between March 2019 and December 2023, the number of enrolled Responders increased steadily, while there was a substantial growth in the number of Survivors registered to the Program throughout these years. For example, in 2023, every month, the number of Survivors registered compared to the number of Responders was double or more.

In December 2023, the total number of claims submitted to receive the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was only 87,549, out of which the number of Respondent claims was 46,696 and the number of Survivor claims was 39,917.

The 9/11 Notice Act: What does it do for 9/11 victims?

Following the attacks, many who lived, worked, or attended school in

Over the past five years, NYS gas utilities have spent more than $1 billion solely for the new infrastructure required by the 100-foot rule. Over the next two decades, gas utilities will likely spend a whopping $150 billion to replace more than 7,000 miles of aging, leak-prone pipes, according to Synapse Energy Economics.

Meanwhile, even without the NY HEAT Act, the number of gas customers will decline, as new building owners, households, businesses, and residents increasingly favor electricity-- particularly with the passage of the All-Electric Buildings Law requiring new buildings to use electric heat and appliances starting in 2026. Even without the Buildings law, however, this transition has already begun and is expected to continue.

This is why gas customers should perhaps consider their utility bills rather than their gas stoves. Who else is going to pay for the new infrastructure required to keep the gas system running safely but the diminishing customer base left holding the bag? The result? Astronomical gas prices. This is not a viable scenario for gas customers. The only way to keep these costs down is to retire much of that pipe and transition gas customers to electricity in the most orderly way possible with the least financial impact.

The NY HEAT act ends the subsidies

the NYC exposure areas were encouraged to return while their health was unknowingly placed at risk quickly. Cancer is the most common illness among the Survivors who have already registered for the WTC Health Program. Knowing that more than 300,000 Survivors were affected by toxic hazards, only 42,620 were registered for medical support, and 39,917 for financial compensation in December 2023, and that these cases overlap, it is easy to imagine that thousands of victims are out there suffering from cancer, other illnesses, and personal losses, without receiving any help. These numbers illustrate how timely and needed the 9/11 Notice Act is.

The Act seeks to enlist and require employers (businesses and institutions) to notify their former or actual employees who were present or returned to work to the NYC Disaster Zones between September 11, 2001, and the end of May 2002 of the possibility to register for the Victim Compensation Fund or the WTC Health Program. The legacy of 9/11 is still with us, knowing that serious illnesses, such as lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure, could develop decades after the impact. Employers, employees, and everyone disposing of relevant information need to work together to identify the forgotten victims and survivors of 9/11.

About the Author

Jonathan Sharp is a Chief Financial Officer at Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., responsible for case evaluation and financial analysis. The Environmental Litigation Group, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a law firm that works with victims of toxic exposure.

for the gas system and gives the Public Service Commission the authority to plan that orderly transition, enabling much of the money that would have been spent maintaining and upgrading the gas system to instead be spent on electrifying gas customers community by community. If done right, the transition will cost significantly less than simply keeping the gas system running. Much of that money could also be used to ensure that customers avoid massive utility bills and transition costs. In fact, the original NY HEAT Act mandates that utility costs cannot exceed 6 percent of income for low- and moderate-income households. With redirection of spending from the gas system to electrification and some allocations for energy efficiency measures, heat pumps, community solar, solar credits, and better energy grid utilization, this goal is readily achievable.

Unfortunately, while Governor Hochul has included much of the NY HEAT Act in her 2025 state budget, she excluded the 6 percent cap requirement. Let’s hope that the entire NY HEAT Act will pass as part of the 2025 budget and that orderly transition can begin.

Leon Erlanger is a member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby lerlanger@outlook.com 646-522-6078

Red Hook's Pave Academy supports migrant families

Pave Academy Charter School in Red Hook has been supporting its new migrant families in many different ways.

There are 10 new migrant families there with kids in grades ranging from from kindergarten to eighth grade who arrived at the school in October and November. Idalia Herrera, the family and community engagement manager, is the go-to person for the migrants for any assistance they might need.

“Sometimes they ask for academic help, sometimes they ask for free food, maybe they received a document in English that they don’t understand so we will help them with translation,” Herrera said. “Whatever they need help with, we try our best to support them."

The migrants feel comfortable coming to Herrera and talking to her about what they need help with because she speaks Spanish.

She has given the families a list of pantries in Red Hook and also in Sunset Park so they have information for where they can get free food or other items they need.

“We support them with finding community resources,” Herrera said. “If I hear of any job fairs that they might be interested in, I would forward that information to them.”

The families ended up at Pave by word of mouth and because it was close by to where many of them are staying.

A lot of the families were placed in shelters in Red Hook and also in Sunset Park. They then began the process of searching for a school.

“Once they were placed here (at shelters) they were looking for a school for their students and being that we are close by, they came to our school to inquire about open seats for their children,” Herrera said.

There is a shelter on Hamilton Avenue where families are staying.

Clothing drive

In an effort to make sure that the migrants had everything they needed, Pave Academy organized a clothing drive in November in the cafeteria over a two day span.

It was a community effort with Pave parents that made it happen.

“I was the one who organized the clothing drive,” Herrera said. “I sent out communication to our families from Pave and they brought in tons of clothes. I did not have to go outside of Pave to get items for our students.”

The families were allowed to take as many clothes and other items as they wanted because they had so much to give away. The drive was initially designed for the migrants but was opened up to everyone else since so much was donated.

It was organized in the cafeteria by boys and girls clothes, clothes for men and women, a baby section, a section for Pave school uniforms and then

by Nathan Weiser

there was a section for accessories like purses and shoes.

There were shirts, pants, winter jackets, backpacks, sneakers, and MetroCards given away for the children and parents. Families left with bags of clothes and other items.

“I let them know ahead of time that we would be in the cafeteria and to make sure to stop by and grab whatever you need for yourself but also for your families,” Herrera said.

They gave the leftover clothes that they did not donate to New Leader Hoops, which is dedicated to serving the youth through basketball, education and community.

There is a buddy system where migrant students are partnered with a student in the classroom that knows both Spanish and English.

“We have them sit together so they can have somebody their age they can feel comfortable with and connect with,” Herrera said. “If they have any questions besides asking their teachers and Mr. Blandi they can also have their partner help them as well, or support them.”

Mr. Blandi is a English as a New Language teacher who works with the migrant students. He has them in smaller groups and supports them with academics and language.

In selecting a buddy for the migrant the teacher chooses a student who is comfortable communicating in Spanish since the migrants didn’t know English before arriving at the school.

“Also, somebody that is friendly and

will make the migrant kids feel comfortable in the classroom,” Herrera said.

The buddy system has been helpful outside of just helping to adapt in the classroom since they’ve been able to connect on a personal level.

“A lot of these children end up establishing a friendship with their buddies,” Herrera said. “You will see them outside playing together and they gravitate towards people they feel comfortable with.”

Using tablet devices

Another part of the English as new language program is the use of tablets to help adapt. Since the migrants are learning English, the tablets are provided as a tool to help with translation with their school work.

The teachers will help the students with translating but if they aren’t able to the migrants can use the tablets to better understand what their work is to help them be successful.

“We are setting them up for success so that is why we provide the technology, the buddy system and the smaller groups so they can feel successful and comfortable at Pave,” Herrera said.

Herrera sits with the families and explains the enrollment process when the families originally came to the school last October.

After the application, registration required submitting documents.

These included a copy of the birth certificate, immunization records and a copy of ID or passport. She works to get those documents on SchoolMint.

An evaluation process after the student was enrolled made sure they were put in the right class, got the support they needed and deans would also determine if they needed to repeat a grade or not.

“Once we have them registered and their documents are uploaded, I then speak to the principal to see which classrooms have space in them,” Herrera said. “They will tell me where to place them. Once I have a placement I think of a start date for them.”

Food Bazaar gift cards

Another way Pave has helped out the students was by giving supermarket gift cards to Food Bazaar during the holidays.

Pave has helped families get to the building who have had their situations disrupted.

There have been time limits on how long a family can be in a shelter. Pave helped a family with transportation who could not find a way to get their child to school after being relocated from Brooklyn to a hotel in Manhattan.

“We provided her with an Uber gift card to help get the child to and from Pave to make sure she was attending school and not missing,” Herrera said. Another practical way they help is that Metrocards are given to kids who do not live in the neighborhood so they can get to school everyday.

She has a good relationship with all the families and will call them when she needs to check in with them or

send them information.

“As a school we send them emails and phone calls but me personally, not only do I send communication via the platform we usually use for the school, but I also have my families on WhatsApp,” Herrera said.

If a child does not show up to school on a given day then she will check in and ask if everything is okay or if anything is needed.

In addition to communicating by calling, texting and emailing, she talks to

the families in person to provide help and support.

Red Hook local

Herrera, who lives in Red Hook, has been the family and community engagement manager since February, 2023.

She was a pre-K and kindergarten teacher at Pave back in 2017 and is happy to be back at the school.

“I came back when I saw this position was open and thought it would be a great fit,” Herrera said.

She has enjoyed reconnecting with families and staff and hearing about the progress of her pre-k and kindergarten students who are now in fifth and sixth grade.

Besides helping the migrants, her role is wide ranging as it includes all school communication to the families. She emails and calls the families about events.

She is in charge of the monthly newsletter, the school’s social media and supports with recruitment, orientation and enrollment. She organizes events like back to school night & picture day.

Dear Neighbor,

WHERE: Red Hook Initiative 767 Hicks St., Brooklyn, NY 11231

WHEN: May 2, May 16, May 30, June 13, June 27, July 11, July 25 from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Office of Red Hook City Council Member Alexa Avilés provides resources for the community. We help with government services like SNAP applications, housing issues, sanitation concerns, and referrals to immigration legal services. Alexa Avilés New York City Council Member

Alexa Aviles speaks at rally in City Hall Park

District 38 Council Member Alexa Aviles spoke at a rally for the inclusion of last-mile warehouse regulations in the ‘City of Yes Zoning for Economic Opportunity’ text amendment in City Hall Park on April 8. The text amendment would “remove outdated limitations on businesses and ensure that local retail streets and commercial centers across the city can remain lively places that sustain our neighborhoods.”

“Communities including Red Hook and Sunset Park have been really impacted, not just by last-mile distribution facilities but also by a disproportionate burden of polluting infrastructure and facilities,” Aviles said. “When I heard about the mayor’s ‘City of Yes Zoning for Opportunity’ amendment, I was excited that

this would be an opportunity to correct some of the historic wrongs.

“While online shopping offers unparalleled convenience and choices for people, it has also unleashed a torrent of logistical challenges with these sprawling warehouses. These aren’t the warehouses we remember from years past, these are megawarehouses. There are thousands of diesel trucks polluting environmental justice communities so I’m truly dismayed that the mayor left out these last-mile behemoths from this ‘Zoning for Economic Opportunity’ amendment.

“We’re here today and we will be at the hearing to urge for including provisions to address these massive, massive facilities.”— Brian Abate

New Green Space on Huntington St.

As part of the plan to build a new six-story commercial building at 300 Huntington St., the community was given a new green space. The little park is right outside the building by the canal and stretches toward West 9th St. and the Ninth Street Bridge. I spent an afternoon there and it was a very peaceful, enjoyable experience with a cool breeze blowing by the water. There were benches and some tables with a nice view of the water. The area was clean and looked pretty. There were some plants and small trees that were recently planted. The area is elevated and there was a lone pretty flower growing by the water. From the benches, there is also a clear view of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Lowlands Nursery which has a variety of plants including wildflow-

ers, ferns, grasses, shrubs, and some trees. The Lowlands Nursery was closed for the winter but is now open for the spring.

The new green space is a good place to eat lunch or just read and spend some time outdoors when the weather is nice. Surprisingly, when I spent time there the area was empty even though it was a clear, warm day.

A few people that I spoke to on the Ninth Street Bridge said they have not yet spent time there including Dave from Carroll Gardens who said, “I know the nursery is pretty new because I go over the bridge all the time. I haven’t stopped to spend time down there but it looks like a nice little spot.”

It seems like people may not be aware it exists or that it is open and hopefully, this story will help change that. The area is a little out of the way but I think it will be a great spot to spend some time with the weather getting warmer. — Brian Abate

We stopped in to Strong Rope Brewery one Friday night and saw something dear to our hears. The Chicago Hot Dog is pretty different than the east coast variety. Hot dogs are revered in Chi-Town. the recipe for the Chi Dog

Red Hook Softball

What to know about the 2024 season

by Brian Abate

The 2024 Red Hook Locals Softball League (RHSL) began on April 18. This is their third season since the ballfields were reopened in 2022, after being closed due to post Sandy rebuilding and continued lead remediation.

Bait & Tackle will look to defend its Colucci Cup after an impressive playoff run in 2023 which concluded with a victory over B61 in the championship.

In 2022, B61 got the best of Bait & Tackle in the championship game.

For two years in a row the Record Shop had an excellent regular season but lost in the semifinals. The Record Shop and B61 are both fairly new teams and 2022 was the inaugural season for both of them.

Bait & Tackle has been around going back to the old days of the softball league before the Red Hook ballfields were shut down due to toxins found in the soil in 2015.

The games are played in the new synthetic turf fields along Bay Street. Field 9 is now called “Dovey Dia-

mond” to honor the late Gary Dovey, a former Red Hook resident and proponent of the softball league. "Dovey Diamond" has a scoreboard, foul poles, and plants and flowers planted just beyond the outfield fence. The games this season will take place at Fields 5-8, next to the Rec Center, and Dovey Diamond, across the street.

Last year Hometown was added as an expansion team, giving the league five teams. This year MiniBar has been added bringing the league to an even six teams.

Each of the teams plays a 10-game schedule which will determine playoff seeding. The top two teams will get a bye while the third-place will play the sixth-place and the fourth-place will play the fifth-place in the first round. The playoffs begin in August.

After winning the championship last season, Bait & Tackle shortshop Greg Fischer, remarked “overall play in the league improved a lot” from the 2022 to the 2023 season.

Now all of the teams in the league will look to continue trending in that di-

rection and improving this season.

“I think the play was vastly improved last year and there were unbelievable plays on offense and defense,” says Bobby Cole, player-coach for the Record Shop “It still has some convivial elements of a bar league but it ain’t no bar league anymore. This season was an epic, legendary experience. It was a continual learning process and a

shining example of sportsmanship in today’s America.”

One matchup to watch this year is between Bait & Tackle and the Wobblies. They are two original bar league teams and the league’s oldest rivalry. Another matchup that may well turn into a rivalry is B61 against the Record Shop. The teams have been two of the best and most consistent in the league over the last two seasons and they are two of the favorites to finish with the best record this season.

A third matchup to watch for is Hometown and MiniBar. Both teams entered the season without winning an RHSL game and they are the two newest teams in the league.

Over the last two seasons, the RHSL has been unpredictable with some big upsets in the playoffs. Since all six teams make the playoffs, they all have the chance to go on a run and win the Colucci Cup. After an excellent 2023 season, 2024 has all the makings of being an even better one.

The Wobblies at bat against the Red Hook Star-Revue. George Fiala is catching.

Bait and Tackle won it all last year!

Tara Renee was a star pitcher for the Dirt Dawgs.

All teams strive for the Colucci Cup, given at the final playoff game in August.

Red Hook Softball

A warm chill to start the 2024 season

by Brian Abate

Despite 47-degree weather, the warriors of the Red Hook Locals Softball League (RHSL) had an exciting opening day. The weather meant the planned opening day ceremonies did not happen but the Colucci Cup (trophy named for Jack Colucci) made an appearance in the dugout for defending champions Bait & Tackle.

The first two games started at 6 pm with Bait & Tackle taking on the Wobblies in the RHSL’s oldest rivalry on Dovey Diamond (named for Gary Dovey.) Across the street on Field 6, B61 played the Record Shop.

The game between B61 and the Record Shop started first and B61 got off to an amazing start, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. The Record Shop did not have preseason practices so it was their first action of the season and they had to shake off some rust. However, the Record Shop finished the regular season in first place last year thanks to a powerful offense

and they wouldn’t go down without a fight. They strung together base hits, including a lot of extra-base ones, and came all the way back. Late in the game, B61 executed some clutch hits and defensive plays of their own and did just enough to hold off the Record Shop and secure a 14-13 victory.

Wobblies hang on

The matchup between Bait & Tackle and the Wobblies was close throughout with the Wobblies taking a 10-8 lead into the bottom of the sixth. Bait & Tackle got two in the bottom of the 6th to tie it at 10. An errant throw and clutch hit for the Wobblies helped them regain the lead at 11-10 and clean fielding in the bottom of the seventh helped them hang on for an 11-10 win over their rivals.

Hometown cruises to victory

In the night game at Dovey Diamond Hometown took on MiniBar. Last season Hometown went winless and this was MiniBar’s first game so both teams were looking for their first

RHSL victory. Thanks to solid hitting and clean fielding Hometown jumped out to a 6-0 lead after four innings and cruised to a 12-4 victory.

Next Games:

On April 22, the Wobblies took on Hometown in a battle of 1-0 teams. The weather was warmer and the Wobblies, the road team, jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Hometown responded with two in the bottom of the first. A pair of home runs in the fourth and fifth innings helped Hometown take a 9-5 lead. Home runs by Laux and Brown for the Wobblies tied the score at nine apiece going into the bottom of the seventh. A bloop double and a fly ball just out of the right fielder’s reach gave Hometown a 10-9 walk-off win.

On April 25, B61 beat MiniBar 13-4 to stay undefeated while MiniBar fell to 0-2. Meanwhile at Dovey Diamond the Record Shop beat Bait & Tackle 4-1 to improve to 1-1 while Bait & Tackle dropped to 0-2.

Red Hook Locals Softball League 2024 Schedule

On April 29, the Record Shop came back from down 5-0 to beat Hometown 13-8 thanks to a couple of home runs and some clutch hits.

After a rainy afternoon some players were slipping on the field so one player for the Record Shop decided to play the game barefoot.

On May, B61 beat Bait & Tackle 17-8, while the Wobblies beat MiniBar 10-1.

NY Liberty get ready for the 2024 season among newfound interest in women's basketball

by Nathan Weiser

The New York Liberty, who play their home games at Barclays Center, have many anticipated theme nights for the 2024 season just as woman's basketball has become a nationwise phenomenon due in part to the tremendous interest in Caitlin Clark and Rickea Jackson two college stars who are beginning their WNBA careers this year.

The Liberty, an WNBA finalist last season, is committed to creating a fan-focused, exciting and innovative experience on game day. They have a wide range of theme nights to appeal to as wide of a range of the Brooklyn community as possible.

Caitlin comes to Brooklyn

The first theme night is their home opener on May 18 at 1:00 p.m. against the Indiana Fever and No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark.

The Liberty will hold their third annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) night on May 23.

June will feature the team’s 10th annual PRIDE game on June 22 against the Sparks, and then then the team will finish the month with their third annual sneaker head game presented by Nike on June 30.

Following a break for the All-Star and the Olympics, the team will host two theme nights in August: their fourth annual Women’s Empowerment game on August 20 and their eighth

annual UNITY game on August 24, which will be against the Sun.

Noche Latina

In the season’s final month, the Liberty will hold the second annual West Indian Night on September 5, their second annual Noche Latina on September 15 and Fan Appreciation on September 19 against the Atlanta Dream.

“Several of our theme nights are inspired by the team and causes that matter to us,” Chief Brand Officer Shana Stephenson told us. “Celebrating the Pride community is a major priority and celebrating women’s empowerment is of course a major priority for us as an organization.”

Many of the theme nights are inspired by the diversity of the fan base that the Liberty have in Brooklyn and New York City overall.

“We have one of the most diverse fan bases in sports,” Stephenson said. They try to be reflective of the diversity in the city with their theme nights and who they represent.

The West Indian theme night was inspired by Jonquel Jones, who is a former league MVP and 4-time All-Star who was acquired via trade before last season. She grew up in Bahamas and moved to Maryland when she was 14.

“I’m very excited about the Liberty shining a light on the amazing West Indian community in New York, espe-

cially in Brooklyn,” Jones said last year’. Before the season begins, the Liberty has a content capture day with their players where they will be filmed and photographed.

“We program our theme nights not just a way for our players to be involved but it is a way for us to meet our fans where they are as well,” Stephenson said. “There is a huge community element in this as well and us giving back to the community.”

They also give back to the community at the sneaker head night.

For the Soles4Souls sneaker drive at the sneaker head night, all the donations go towards their 4Opportunity program, which supports people in developing countries escape poverty through entrepreneurship.

Liberty players Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart both have signature sneakers. The only other active WNBA player with a signature sneaker is rookie Caitlin Clark, which makes the Liberty the only team with two players who have a signature sneaker.

Appropriate music and mascot

The Liberty tries to make sure the games are extremely electric, which means making sure the vibe is right and that the DJ has a music selection that represents the audience.

The team’s mascot, Ellie, and their en-

tertainment crew, are both huge parts of how the Liberty try to create a fun and highly energetic environment for fans.

The Liberty will do outreach in advance of the theme nights.

For AAPI Night the Liberty has worked with Apex for Youth, for Pride Night the Liberty has worked with CallenLorde and Ali Forney Center, for Unity Night the Liberty has worked with Vera Institute and Black Girls Code and for Women’s Empowerment Night the Liberty has worked with Girls Inc., Peace Players, Power Play and League of Women Voters.

Raising social consciousness

The UNITY theme night began back in 2016 and was inspired by social justice and raising awareness around police brutality. Every year UNITY night has had a different theme.

Last season UNITY celebrated 50 years of women in hip hop.

This season the UNITY theme game in August will be inspired by the 70th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. They also wanted to raise awareness around the debate about critical race theory.

“We felt it was important to raise awareness for literacy and storytelling as there have been several books that centered Black characters and Black authors that are being banned,” Stephenson said.

All photos taken by George Fiala at a Liberty practice.

Today's Question

What is your opinion about the effect of social media on young people?

Bryan Olson, age 26

I think it’s just like anything, too much of it is really bad for young people

– Comparing yourself to other people and putting numbers on the likes you get – it’s like, quantifying how much other people like you. I was a freshman in high school when Instagram came out, and… immediately, kids were all depressed that they didn’t have as many followers as some other person, or some girl was posting gorgeous pictures of herself…and now it’s ten years later… I didn’t think we’d still be talking about Instagram, but here we are.

Alanna Lasit, age 19 It's fine in moderation. But coming up to people, talking to people, it’s harder nowadays. People rely on social media, like Instagram, to contact people, to talk to people. So they’re very shy and disconnected from actual people. From actually talking to them. That is an aspect of social media that I notice a lot.

Matthew Kirsch, 27 I grew up with it, it’s so ingrained in our lives… I’m on Instagram but I don’t really use it much, mostly to talk to friends, but my closer circle of friends, not people that I don’t really know. I try to limit it, but you can fall into the black hole. It just sucks you in, it’s a dopamine hit. It’s like a good book, if you can’t put it down, and you look up, and two or three hours have passed. But that’s a good thing. I’m reading Master and Commander right now, and I can just sit all day and read it…But social media is mindless, it’s like thirty seconds of this, ten seconds of that…It’s not good for you. This is what I prefer to be doing (gestures at the skate park), something active, having hobbies, rather than just sitting on your phone and scrolling …I grew up when social media was just coming to be what it is now. But it was still in that couple of years when your parents were

like, go outside and do something! Get outa here! Today’s kids get sucked in a lot more. They go on social media super young…I think it can affect their development… (They have) lower attention spans and less of a natural desire to do something genuine. They’re more like, I will just sit here and suck my dopamine from a tube.

Rayaan Phagura, age 13

I think it depends on the way you’re using it.. If you spend too long on it, or if you’re talking to the wrong people on it, then it’s not a good use of social media…Because on social media you don’t know who people actually are, so they can pretend to be somebody that they’re not… I think about this consistently while I’m on the Internet. I make sure that I don’t talk to the wrong people. I just stick with my friends and stuff.

Waylon Ryder, 13 Social media can be positive but it can also be negative. You can use it to learn things, and to meet some friendly people, but sometimes there can be lying, catfishers…It can be dangerous.

What’s a catfisher?

park. I saw the promotion for it, friends sent me pictures of it being built, and I was like, I need to go check this place out. How long have you been using social media?

Since I was ten or twelve. I definitely use it too much, but I try to stay off of it the best I can. I don’t keep it on my phone anymore.

You don’t? Really?

Yeah. I use it on my laptop…I have a lot of friends that have deleted their apps from their phones.

That’s interesting. Why did you delete it from your phone? Because I was using it too much. It was making me just be on my phone and not actually out doing stuff. But I like

PEOPLE OF RED HOOK by Lisa Gitlin

Where we talk to just anyone. This month we hung around new Red Hook Skatepark across from Tesla

A catfisher is someone who (might) pretend they’re your friend but they actually want to do something bad. How has social media been positive for you?

It’s been positive for me for skateboarding. I can go on youtube and research how to do a trick, or I search up different brands of skateboards… I get to learn a lot of new stuff.

Victor Darmayan, 13

Well, I think there’s a lot of good to social media. There’s a lot of sports, a lot of gaming…Of course there’s bad stuff, but I feel like a lot of people focus on the bad things, when there are more sides to it.

Dan Clark, age 33

Social media is a pretty broad subject…I think places like this are a good way to get away from it…I will say that social media helped me find this

seeing skateboarding on Instagram and things like that… It motivates me to go out and actually do it myself.

Well, obviously you’re a pretty seasoned skateboarder. I saw what you were doing up there.

Yeah. But it can make you a little depressed. Because you go on Instagram and see 7 year olds who are basically professional skateboarders, who would make you look silly… but you have to realize that there’s a lot of context to what goes into a social media profile, like, that seven-year-old has already put in the hours… Lonnie Geller, a month shy of 29 Just like everything in life, a healthy balance is crucial…I am thankful that I was born (in 1995), when I had thirteen or fourteen years before it kind of took over the world. I feel that generation-wise, I’m one of the last to experience childhood…I think we’ve seen (social media) destroy the world. I wish I’d lived during a

So you meet people, you learn stuff…What can be negative about it?

There’s a lot of weird things, weird sites on the Internet… Like for example…

I can’t elaborate on it. But you can find weird people, people that want to do harm to you.

So how do you avoid encountering people like that?

time when something was going on somewhere, and only that area of the world knew about it. The whole world doesn’t need to know about everything happening in the world, every day! And I think social media divides people. It’s easy to state your opinion on it, you don’t have to speak up, you can just type something and hide behind an account…I even had a trolling phase during Covid. Every day during the lockdown, the mission was how do I get through the day, in that morbid universe we were experiencing. I also think about social media and the youth. It’s so crucial…for children to have no distractions that take them away from playing with their friends. Like, what’s happening here in the skate park is beautiful. Now I don’t think ten year olds are having sleepovers on their iPhones. I don’t think that’s the case. At least I hope not. I mean I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t going on somewhere… Yeah, probably somewhere, they’re doing it.

There’s so much beauty in the real world. I just think that nothing on a phone, and nothing that we see on social media, and on a screen – even news on the TV – is a true representation of what the beauty of life can bring.

Marcus Luyindula, age 13 I think social media can be good and bad…Like the good parts of it are you can socialize with people, find people that have your interests, you can do a bunch of stuff. It helped me learn how to skateboard.

I’ve met a lot of people on… Instagram, and I’ve interacted with them.

Maybe by being logical about it. Like, if you hear someone say, oh yeah, there’s this guy, and he really wants to meet me and stuff, and I’ve been texting him, and every time I try to call him, he’s like, oh no, my phone’s broken…

So have you or any of your friends had that kind of experience?

No…

Madelyn P. , 16 I was without a phone for awhile last year. I was in a residential program, and I basically had no connections with the outer world. And at first it was really, really hard. But then I got used to it, and I felt I could live without it really well. Once I got out and had my phone again, it felt alien. It didn’t feel real.

What kind of feeling was it?

A good or bad feeling? It just felt new.

How was not having one? Well a lot of the reason I was in there was because of the outer world…

World was stressing you out? Yeah. So not having a phone gives you less to stress about… I think social media is a lot of the reason for all the depression among younger peopl Because they’re exposed to so much different shit, all the time. They’re exposed to all these pretty and beautiful people on the Internet at such a young age, it makes them self-conscious, to know what the beauty standard is.

You think social media isn’t so great for the really young? That’s just my opinion. I had a phone when I was pretty young, but my dad didn’t let me have social media until I was 13.

So what’s your relationship with social media now?

Now, honestly, it’s sort of an escape. Just scrolling…

You get sucked in?

Yeah. But I’ve gotten a lot better since that month at the residence. I became a lot more mindful. Even though that was a really horrible month for me….It made me appreciate things better.

Our book is out and we’re excited! Our readers have said that they have been touched by some of the stories and have been moved “to tears”. Many of our readers have said our book has inspired them to write their own memoir.

Meeting Marc Jackson, by George Fiala

Almost a decade ago, I got an email from someone in England who was interested in contributing a monthly cartoon. A pre-requisite for becoming part of the Star-Revue team is asking. The next is to keep showing up. And so for every single month since then, except for once when my email was acting up and I didn't receive a cartoon, he's been in every single issue.

I'm a big fan of cartooning, I still have my high school looseleaf book which is full of my doodlings of Spiderman and Captain America. I even created a character which I called the Crimson Cockroach.

When I first began the paper I was lucky enough to have two cartoonists. I became friends with Harold Shapiro when he was already an octegenarian. Starting in the 1930's he was a pro cartoonist for a myriad of national magazines. He was very supportive of my idea to start a paper. Long retired from the craft, he doodle a cartoon on a napkin, which I published. Afterwards I reprinted a bunch of his older one. Of course, someone that will always be extra special in my heart is Vincent Musacchia. I knew Vinny back in the 1970's, when I used to come to 395 Atlantic Avenue once a week on press nights at the old Brooklyn Phoenix. He

was part of the production staff and when necessary would whip together illustrations for ads and articles, as well as laying out the paper, which in those days was done by hand.

He left the Phoenix for a successful career drawing for Disney and Warner Brothers out on the West Coast. We met again completely by accident as he showed up with friends at my jam space on Union Street that I started along with the paper, back in 2010. Like many great artists, he was a musician as well.

Tragically, Vincent died young from cancer, still a bitter loss for many. But we are again back at two, as Sophie Furman joined Marc last year. Jackson was in NY on a short visit, and I met him as he was leading a drawing class for kids at the Greenpoint Library. Together with a comics publisher, and Mrs. Jackson, we all went to have pizza nearby, topping off a great visit.

Marc's first comic for us, back in June 2015

Here I am with Marc, at the Greenpoint Library. Jackson has made a career of his cartooning, contributing to multiple publications worldwide as well as books and anthologies.

Marc leading the class in Greenpoint. He is as animated as his characters.

The Brooklyn Music School presents a ballet

by Katherine Rivard

The Brooklyn Music School Settlement was founded in 1909, a pioneering music school and the only settlement in the city that taught music to the blind at that time. Nestled in Fort Greene alongside the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the nonprofit, now with its name updated to Brooklyn Music School, continues its mission “to make it possible for everyone, regardless of their background and resources, to be able to experience the joy of music and the artistic and intellectual benefits of musical performance.” Beyond its many classes and camps, the school also hosts events throughout the year, including a contemporary ballet this May.

The upcoming performance will be put on by Company Rouge, a small dance company formed by Parisian actress, singer, dancer/choreographer and director Naïma Pöhler. Pöhler created the company about a year ago to create awareness around social issues, a direct response to the death of an Iranian girl who had not been wearing a hijab, as well as changing laws surrounding access to abortion in the

United States. Rather than tackling difficult topics on an intellectual level, Pöhler uses dance to express what she is feeling. When she shares her art with an audience, it’s an opportunity to both express herself and also begin a dialogue about these topics. “Movement without meaning is movement. With meaning, it’s a message,” she noted on a call about the ballet.

The ballet, Born to Be, takes its name from Simone de Beauvoir’s famous line, “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” A writer and feminist activist, Beauvoir believed that the differences between men and women arose due to differences in situation and society, rather than being based on biological or intellectual differences. Second Sex, the quote’s source, was published in 1949, and yet three quarters of a century later, Beauvoir’s statement continues to ring true for many.

Born to Be seeks to reimagine Beauvoir’s exploration of womanhood, using dance to dissect gender constructs and amplify marginalized voices. According to its website, “This work is a

homage to resilience and transformation, inviting a journey into the depths of identity and rights across eras.” The performance will feature five dancers and will consist of three very different acts. The first act will examine what it means to be born in the human body and what is expected of us. The second act transports the audience back into the 1920s—society was shifting, but was it shifting enough? In the final act, the dancers look at the dichotomy of woman: the archetypal woman, seen as motherly and innocent, versus the one who fully embraces her power and breaks this mold, often to be reviled. Two composers collaborated to create the music to accompany the ballet. Brooklyn-based artist Allison Spann is a classical composer and vocalist. Meanwhile, LA-based artist Samanta Liza Shi will provide electronic music that promises heavy percussion, but that according to the company’s website, “defies categorization.” In addition to the music and dance, the company has also invited a speaker from Planned Parenthood to speak to the audience, an attempt to further connect art and community.

Born to Be will be performed three times at Triskelion Arts, an industrial performing space in Greenpoint, before taking the stage one last time at the Brooklyn Music School on May 26 at 6:00 pm. Tickets are available online ($30 - $60) at companyrouge.com. Visit Brooklyn Music School’s website to find even additional upcoming events and programs.

The best literature on loss

by Kelsey Sobel

Seven years ago I lost my dad to ALS. By the time this article runs, my stepfather will have passed away from lung cancer. Grief has so many contours and angles, and throughout our lives, impacts us in such different ways. No two losses are the same. No two losses are equal, no loss is greater than the next. Having gone through the painstaking illness and death of my biological father, I felt numb watching my stepfather’s decline, as if I was witnessing a movie I’d already seen before. Yet I felt more peaceful during my stepfather’s death than during my father’s. I wasn’t scared of the actual moment of death anymore. I’d seen it before. I truly believe there is peace, joy and light on the other side. For us remaining behind, the hard work begins when our loved ones go somewhere we can’t follow.

As Americans we live so far removed from death – we try our best to pretend it isn’t happening. We like to look away, to sanitize, to cover up. My stepfather, who lived in New Hampshire, spent months arranging for his own death, on his own terms, in Vermont – only the third state in our country to allow assisted suicide. The plan was for him to drive himself to Vermont and drink a lethal prescription – peacefully passing away in an Airbnb surrounded by family. However, as with many deaths, his plan didn’t come to fruition. The moment passed where he was strong enough to travel and he was bedridden and unable to make the decision on his own.

What I learned from this: our autonomy in controlling our lives and death is truly illusory – there is so little we can do to create or end life in the way we want. In the final days of their lives, my dad and stepfather looked eerily similarly, hovering on the threshold between life and death - the body remaining behind while the spirit makes its journey beyond. Although they were nothing alike in real life, the shape of their bodies and ailing breathing merged in my mind into one loss.

No matter who we are, or how we try to outrun it, we’re all impacted by loss and grief. From losing beloved pets to friends, family members and partners; we someone bear up and continue on living. Alongside the mystery of death, I’ll always be astonished by the sheer strength of the human spirit to continue living. Despite the absolutely wretched and unfair deaths that we human beings suffer, we keep on enduring.

We’ve been made to die, yet we’ve also been made to live.

The comfort we find in loss is within the universality of the experience. As I’ve done during all the difficult times in my life, I turn to literature for answers when I don’t know where else to look.

Below is a list of what I consider to be some of the best writing on grief and loss. Each of these ten books have offered me some sense of peace and comfort along the long and never ending road of the grieving process. We all know the answers to our grief can’t be solved by reading; however every tiny moment we find comfort or

clarity brings us closer to acceptance.

My Year of Magical Thinking: Joan Didion

This is the gold standard of “grief” literature and Didion draws readers into the abrupt and devastating death of her life partner, husband and creative equal with honesty and exactness.

Blue Nights: Joan Didion

If it’s possible to believe, Didion also loses her adult daughter shortly after losing her husband. Somehow even more tender and vulnerable Didion invites readers deep into the corners of her profound loss.

Messages From My Father: Calvin Trillin

Trillin, who is such a fine writer, captures the resonant nature of parent/ child relationships and allows us to experience the complexity of his father long after his passing.

I Dreamed of Africa: Kuki Gallman

Although largely focused on her lifelong love affair with Africa, Gallman explores the loss of her son to snakebite and her ensuing journey to find peace and acceptance.

Crying in H-Mart: Michelle Zauner

This lively and bitingly honest memoir explores Zauner’s fraught relationship with her Korean-American mother during a prolonged battle with cancer.

Fi: A Memoir of My Son: Alexandra Fuller

Fuller, never one to shy away from loss, tackles her fourth memoir from a newly raw place - after the loss of her

son due to an unexplained medical condition.

In Love: Amy Bloom

Bloom’s novel tells the story of a second marriage of romantic proportions and her husband’s slip into Alzhimer’s, culminating in their decision to travel to Switzerland to end his life.

Men We Reaped: Jesmyn Ward

Ward’s memoir deals with not one but five losses of men she knew and loved - weaving in many ugly truths about the risks black men face living in America.

H Is For Hawk: Helen Macdonald

Struggling with the overwhelming loss of her father, Macdonald forms a relationship with a hawk, and this new attachment to the natural world, which helps bring her back to life is beautifully rendered in her hands.

A Little Life: Hanya Yanagahira

Although fictional, (along with graphic retellings of sexual assault) this book captures the sheer essence of human connection and loss in a shockingly realistic manner.

SCOTT PFAFFMAN

Franz Landsperky, by Roger Bell

Over a two night open studio at an underground exhibition space in Red Hook Brooklyn in late April artist Franz Landspersky showed the results of an intense 12 week residency of drawing and painting. The space is accessed through a courtyard down a steep ramp and is a low ceilinged white L shaped box which is lined with 17 evenly spaced, varying sized paintings.

ANDREW LOGAN PROJECTS

Landspersky is a painter first and this is a painting show with no apologies. Each work, varying in size and scheme seems to make its own argument for existence. If a fleeting association with Matisse catches your eye for a moment another riot across the room commands another perspective. And so each informs one another. Shared conspicuously is a color dynamic that nevertheless refuses to repeat itself evolving from painting to painting and layered with purpose and repurpose with quotes from

nature, a figure or a clump of letters which pull each work to consistent unity. Together the group seems to exist as a family reunion gathered from a tribe flung across the globe and assembled for a feast arranged by a mad geneticist convinced that a new species has arrived on the planet. Unfortunately the exhibition has been dismantled but a website is purported to be in the works.

Pictured: "Infant", 2024 Oil on canvas, 59" x 66" and "Nuernberg", 2024, Oil on canvas 48" x 54"

KEG & LANTERN BREWING

Passages of Time, by Claudio Parentela, Via F.crispi N.79 88100 Catanzaro-Italy

The beauty of Edo at the Brooklyn Museum

by Roger Bell

The installation of the Brooklyn Museum's special collection of 100 Views of Edo is on view until August 4. With the cherry blossoms clinging to the branches and the blockbuster “Giants” also on view, the museum offers an especially diverse and powerful experience.

Hiroshige's serial masterpiece launches into our Spring of 2024 from the Spring of 1856 as we watch the snow melts on the roofs of a crowded commercial seaport. Mt Fuji commands the top of the picture proudly overseeing the bustle of activity. Not apparent but much in the minds of contemporary viewers was that the city had only recently recovered from a devastating earthquake.

Local sensors wanted good news and all that we see is rebirth, A wooden bridge in the middle ground is crowded with a tangle of figures, warehouses and cargo laden boats await their intercourse. A deep blue waterway courses through carrying the life of the city. Everywhere enterprise is thriving, exchange is pervasive.

After this busy landfall we proceed to another 99 extraordinary sites of what was the world' s third largest city after London and Beijing. The tour wanders through the seasons and through a magic landscape composed of the favorite haunts and best known landmarks of Edo, modern day Tokyo. The series was created by Utagawao Hiroshige, a fervent lover of his native city and a practitioner of the tradition of the Japanese woodblock print. These gems were originally created between the years 1856 and 1858. Like other issues these were printed for popular markets both domestic and foreign

One can find these familiar depictions in every corner of the world. And that these images are now iconic is an understatement. Their compositional perspectives and techniques of cropping and foreshortening were soon adopted by French impressionist painters, notably Van Gogh, Art Nouveau poster designers and European landscape and grand tour photographers. The images collectively form a comprehensive

catalog of inspired visual devices to depict humans in the natural and manmade environment. Their influence on the graphic arts is inestimable.

Accompanying the installation of 100 Views of Edo is an outstanding contemporary homage to Hiroshige by the painter Takashi Murakami.

As the Brooklyn Museum begins their historic celebratory anniversary it is interesting to note the local legend of this particular portfolio involving its accidental discovery after a dormant 40 or so years in the once thriving Brooklyn Museum Library.

Donation history

According to the creation myth I was told back in the 70’s a patron discovered the intact, original but undocumented portfolio in the library stacks while searching for unrelated material.

This geneology is taken from the Museum's website:

In 1986, when the Museum first published a catalogue of “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,” a visitor noticed a practically illegible note written in pencil on one of the print borders: “Gift of Anna Ferris 1930.” Curators began to research the Ferris family and their connections to the artwork. The donor, Anna Ferris (1851–1932), was the daughter of the Reverend John Mason Ferris (1825–1911), a prominent minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. John Ferris had worked as a missionary, and remained highly involved in the church's foreign activities for the rest of his life. In 1870, he founded the Ferris Academy in Yokohama and sponsored the education of many Japanese students in America. Anna Ferris lived on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn for most of her adult life.

This anecdote and it’s anniversaries add the charm of buried treasure to a remarkable landmark of Japanese art and a major holding for the Brooklyn Museum. It is among the finest complete sets in the world, albeit from a somewhat later edition. Except for some pencil annotations they are in near perfect original condition. As might be expected the lights are kept purposefully low to preserve the vivid but fugitive colors.

Hiroshige used a traditional method of block printing in which individual wooden blocks are carved in relief for

each color of the print, and with the assembly of multiple graphic layers and perfect registration the process creates a sense of pictorial depth and fabulous harmonies of color. There is a theme of brilliant blue which marches across the walls in a fluid line that ties the ensemble together as the water and sky tie together the ancient city of Edo, Images of modern Tokyo and the locations of the views and contemporary scenes accompany the exhibit on text panels. Curiosity sent me to online images of modern Tokyo and it’s density and immensity provide a startling contrast to the apparent serenity and order of mid 19th century Japan.

An earlier influence and predecessor, Hokusai, created the iconic image of Mt Fuji rising above the tangle of mountain-like surf in an earlier series from the 1830’s entitled “36 Views of Mt Fuji.”

Japanese culture is a treasure to discover. The curators have chosen to include some exquisite domestic objects and costumes some of which are depicted in the prints to add context and conti-

nuity. Japan was opening to the world with wholly unexpected consequences. Discover these treasures for yourself! In print after print the vitality of urban life and it’s nearby suburban counterparts human effect is everywhere.

The bonzai curled branch of a cherry tree frames a distant subject, made by people, seen by people, humans unashamedly occupying the natural world, proudly even suggesting their essential roles in the natural world. The consistent theme of brilliant blue of sky and water and costume tie the 100 works together like interconnected blood vessels All heralding a culture of totality, a symbol of human nature.

"Giants" is an exhibition of contemporary African American art of heroic scale and ambition and deserves special attention. Expect to spend the better part of the day. I found myself filled with awe of the worlds of art. I believe we are enjoying the most incredible cornucopia of culture in history and the abundance and access are unprecedented. Take advantage and go see the art.

Curator Joan Cummins

Frank’s Bikes and Birds

by Brian Abate

Every month while distributing newspapers, one of the most exciting places to go for me is Frank’s Bike Shop, because there are a couple of very coollooking parakeets there. I spoke to Frank about his birds, the shop, and his move from 80 Delevan to his new location at 138 Pioneer Street.

“I’m not from Red Hook but I’ve worked in Brooklyn for a long time,” Frank said. “I was a diesel mechanic on the piers and I worked for Red Bull for five years. Then I worked for Milea Trucks for three years. From the time I was thirteen I was working on Union Street part-time and going back and forth between work and school.

My cousin asked me if I wanted to work in the bike shop in the summer and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve always been independent and enjoy working.”

Frank is originally from Manhattan but moved to Bay Parkway, and said “I like Brooklyn better than Manhattan. Brooklyn is a little quieter and in Manhattan, there’s more drama and more things that keep you on your toes.”

One of the big challenges for the bike

shop is business is slow during the winter and then it gets busy during the summer. One of the keys for Frank has been making sure to save up money during the busy summers to get through the less busy times when the weather is cold.

“I actually opened up right before the pandemic and then all of a sudden everything shut down,” Frank said.

“It was a good thing I was still working part-time for Boar ’s Head as a diesel mechanic. I would fix trucks on the side and that’s really what kept me going in the early days of the pandemic. As they started lifting some of the restrictions I went back full-time into bikes.”

Frank explained the many things he does right now, which include tuneups, overhauls, flat repairs, selling accessories, custom builds, selling and storing bikes and repairing electric bikes.

Story of the birds

In addition to his work, Frank takes excellent care of his birds.

“These two are parakeets and my son named the one with the blue feathers Blueberry,” Frank said. “I found Blueberry at the beginning of last winter

"One of the keys for Frank has been making sure to save up money during the busy summers to get through the less busy times when the weather is cold."

outside, struggling, but he survived so I bought him the cage. Just last week, I bought the white one, and my son named her Marshmallow.”

The two parakeets were hanging out in their cage together the day I cme for this interview. Coincidently, when I got to Frank’s Bike Shop, a white pigeon followed me inside.

“That’s my racing pigeon, Snowflake!” Frank said. “She’s tagged and every-

thing. She found herself a mate with another pigeon and ever since she’s been with him, she only comes back for food. She built a nest with him and they have their own thing going on but it’s good she came in now. I have to give her a special pigeon bath so she doesn’t get mites. I’ve been trying to get her to stay for two weeks but you came and I was finally able to get her back in here today. Now she can get cleaned up and get a good meal. It’s really nice to have the birds, especially on the slower days in the winter.” In addition to taking care of his birds, Frank said, “My favorite part of work is the people. I love talking to and getting to know the customers. If the customers have kids I always give them a free bell as a nice courtesy. It’s something I’ve done ever since opening up. I like this new location a lot too. There’s more foot traffic and more visibility.

“I’d like people to know that I can also do car repairs and just that I’m a hard worker. I work seven days a week and the shop is open from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm every day.”

Frank's is at 138 Pioneer Street, Open 7 days, 9:30 - 7 pm. (929) 329-8367

A Brooklyn Bus Ride

by Gene Bray

2024. I get on the B61. 2 stops up a tiny lady, maybe Mexican, gets on with a 60 inch TV, holding it the way you march with a rifle. It soars 2 feet above her head. The TV that makes you feel like you’re in a movie theater. The TV that also makes your neighbors feel like they’re in a movie theater.

She also has a big phone in the other hand. Here’s a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily, the first seat was empty.

Next stop IKEA . A man, maybe 50, sits beside the TV girl. He’s eating an ice cream cone. It looks strange, because he’s lean and strong. Usually when adults get on a bus with poor dietary choices, they are way overweight. Like the folks with the instant

SHORT SHORTS:

BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

Visual artist and Brooklynite Susan Stainman invites you to participate in her project, “In the Family of Things” which begins with a telephone and text hotline where parents of young children can anonymously share in the intense highs and lows of their day. Parents can leave voicemails or texts as a method of catharsis, solidarity, or encouragement for themselves and other parents. Alternatively, they can listen to messages left by other participants.

Stainman will then translate the collected messages into patterned embroidered artworks that will be on display in her exhibition of the same name at A.I.R. Gallery in Dumbo, Brooklyn from May 25 through June 23.

To participate call or text 347-3434662. The last day to participate is June 23rd.

Business grants

The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) launched a new grant program designed to support small businesses in New York City floodplains become more resilient in the face of natural disasters. With a goal to serve approximately 450 businesses, the new Business Preparedness and Resiliency Program (BPREP) grant offers a free risk assessment to identify business vulnerabilities and accompanying grants of up to $5,000 for eligible small businesses and commercial property owners to shore up their infrastructure with items like generators, fire and flood-proof storage, and flood barriers.

“As climate change poses a growing threat to our city, it is imperative for New Yorkers to prepare for natural disasters and adapt to the new normal,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “SBS’s Business Preparedness Resiliency Program not only helps small businesses

diabetes size sodas..…an 8o gram bomb of high fructose corn syrup that makes your pancreas freak out. Here comes a guy about 60 sprinting for the bus. He sprints like I do. [ I’m 69 ] The first step is quick, then the body immediately shuts it down. But the arms keep moving fast, and the feet glide like you're ice skating. He’s moving like Fred Astaire. He made it. I wonder how often old timers running for the bus face plant on the concrete?

Next stop, a lot of folks get on. As an old woman with a cane approaches, I get up to give her my seat. But the young guy in front of her takes it. I want to say something, but remember what my mother always told me. “You’ll never go wrong keeping your mouth shut.

Next stop, I get out the back door and get in the front again, right behind a woman, maybe 50, wearing a mask and hospital gloves. I see her often.

assess their climate preparedness but also make investments to enhance it, and it aligns with the administration’s vision of a greener, cleaner, and safer New York City.”

“SBS is committed to providing our small businesses with essential tools and resources to prepare for natural disasters,” said SBS Commissioner Kevin D. Kim. “After more than a decade of historic floods and the accelerating impact of climate change, our city must be resilient in the face of unpredictability. We are proud to announce our grant program in collaboration with our partners at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and other city agencies and urge business owners in every borough to seize this opportunity and enhance their climate readiness.”

New Rehabilitation Facility Opens in Sunset Park news brief

NYU Langone expands in Sunset Park

On April 1, Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone opened up at 514 49th Street in Sunset Park. The new facility offers various services for adults, including physical therapy (with pelvic health services), occupational therapy, and speech-language pa-

She never holds on, I guess because the poles are dirty. As the bus pulls off she loses her balance.

“You better hold on,” I say, then I turn and face the driver.

The bus stops at the next light, but she doesn’t, bumping me and falling by the coin box. It was a magnificent fall in slow motion. Her body took over and protected itself the best way possible. I hate to say it, but it was a perfect 10.

I’m lucky she gave me a glancing blow. She could have frantically grabbed me and both of us would have hit the floor.

I reach down and offer my forearm to help her up. She ignores the gesture. Ice cream guy appears and says “Why don’t you help her?”

“I offered but she didn’t accept.”

I wanted to say “Why didn’t you give her your seat motherfucker?” But my mothers words are still protecting me.

thology. Additionally, physical medicine and rehabilitation services will be provided, featuring prosthetic/orthotic, Electromyography (EMG), and wheelchair clinics.

“Our Brooklyn locations for rehabilitation services are always busy, but dramatically increased since the Covid-19 pandemic,” said site director and physical therapist Angela Franki. “The addition of a new location is very exciting. Due to the community need and patients waiting for services, we immediately started scheduling patients.”

Local gallery show

The Wall Gallery Brooklyn is proud to announce: PETRA FLIERL, NEW WORK at The Wall Gallery, 41 Seabring Street, thewallgallerybrooklyn.net, 718 781 8263 from May 16 to June 30. Opening Reception: Thursday, May 16, 6 to 10 pm

I’m glad she refused my offer because she might have pulled me down. After 2 falls she might have really gotten hurt. Me too. All that might have given the driver a heart attack. A 3 ambulance fall.

So she took ice cream cones seat, and seemed a little embarrassed, but otherwise OK

I hope to see her getting on the bus soon. I will rush to her and make sure she grabs a dirty pole. Or even better, ask someone to give up their seat. With a gentle voice of course. Mom would be proud.

Last year Ranaan Geberer wrote an article for the Star-Revue about Lauterbach's bar, on Prospect Avenue. Lauterbach's was a Brooklyn music scene in the 1990's which to some around here was known as our CBGB's. I wanted some good photos and noticed that a photo online of one of the band's in the article had a credit of JR Rost. I looked him up and it turns out that he had documented not only Lauterbach's but CBGB's when headliners included the Shirts, Talking Heads, Blondie and Television.

ADS COME 4 WAYS

Apotheke's Chrissy Fichtl, Lobster Pounds Susan Povich, and Red Hook icon Ray Hall surrounded by City officials during the announcement of the SBS business grant program held at Apotheke at the beginning of April. (photo by George Fiala)

Italy must take a stand against Russian expropriation.

The Ariston Group is an Italian leading corporation in heating systems and related products. But recently it became the center of a diplomatic clash between Italy and Russia. Indeed the Russian branch of the group, Ariston Thermo Rus, has been expropriated by the Kremlin and acquired by Gazprom, Moscow’s top multinational energy enterprise.

It all started on April 26th with a Presidential decree, issued by Putin himself, ordering the nationalization of the Italian group. By law, 100% of the shares of Ariston Thermo Rus were transferred from Ariston Group to the temporary management of Gazprom. We’re talking about a $100 million dollars branch which has been in the country for 20 years.

Moscow has defended its action stating that they are a reply to sanctions put in place by Western coun-

WALKING WITH COFFEE

(continued from page 1)

friend who recently moved back after a long absence, who says he’s never seen a place that does its own branding. Walking around and seeing people wearing Brooklyn t-shirts he says. “Like why is everyone up their own ass about Brooklyn.” I think it all had to do with the marketing and the real estate interests who are profiting.”

“ So, no, I don’t think it’s a good thing that people don’t have enough time sit around and sip their coffee. There is a myth of glamour around working 3 jobs to pay your rent, I think not”

R.J. –“I grew up with 5 TV stations and TV going off at 1 am. Now there are thousands of things to watch 24/7. Good or Bad?”

by Dario Pio Muccilli, Star-Revue EU correspondent

"Before the war in Ukraine started, Italo-Russian trade relations were significant"

tries. Ariston Group, according to the Kremlin, expressed support to the sanctions, even though operating on Russian soil, an offense Putin clearly could not stand. Sources from the Russian diplomacy revealed how this could be a test for a larger strategy targeting those Western corporations still active in the country without abiding to its propaganda rules. The Kremlin is using Ariston Group as leverage. They pressure the industry so that the latter could pressure the government. And it is not surprising that Italy was used as a pilot. Before

Tim- “Two ways of looking at this, is that there is so much great content out there to consume so let’s stay and watch. Or is it because it’s hard and stressful out there in the world so people use there screen time to cope…..their drug of choice being Netflix, Hulu, Amazon video, HBO Max, Disney Plus…….”

R.J.- “What do you think of Dating Apps?

Tim- “I don’t think they’re good, because whatever doors they open up it’s mostly anti-social. Big Tech interventions into social issues represent capital intervention, replacing organic ways of people to meet with controlled and monetized structures.”

R.J.- “Tim, you see to come at stuff through a Marxist perspective, are you a Marxist?”

Tim- “Definitely!”

R.J.- “You’re the first Marxist millennial I’ve come across doing these columns!”

the war in Ukraine started, Italo-Russian trade relations were significant. Italy exported goods worth $8.65 billion, while Russia sold Italy $22.2 billion of which $12 billion was in gas. Politically, most of the parties were not distant from Putin, and Berlusconi was still one of the dictator’s best friends. Italy is the holiday destination of oligarchs, at Forte dei Marmi and all along the Tuscanian northern shore called Versilia.

Italy’s government is preparing several countermeasures. One of them would be for the Ariston Group to get back at Gazprom by taking possess ion of its assets in Italy or the EU. However, apart from the business interests, there is need for a political answer. The Italian cabinet is coordinating with the EU and other Western countries to secure a common reply from Russia. Putin has already managed to escape several sanctions, including banks participation in SWIFT

Tim- “Card carrying.”

R.J.- “Ok great. One more thing. They say, going forward, AI is going to change our lives. Your thoughts.”

Tim- “I think there’s a lot of extreme PR work being done on this and a lot of hot air about all the good things it’s going to do. My prediction is that A.I. is going to get a lot of things wrong, which is what we are finding out now. It’s already being used to extract more from workers which is the main function of Big Tech, and to make us into powerless babies totally dependent on their services.

R.J.- “Want another coffee?”

Tim- “No I’m good.”

R.J.- “The days grow hot oh Babylon!”

Tim- “Right on.”

transfers and oil sales. Giving him the chance to get away with an expropriation of a Western company is not something the EU wants.

Everything Putin has done so far in the Ariston affair is a divide and rule strategy. He’s trying to tell other countries: if you behave like Italy we will hit your companies. Putin cannot stand the western sympathies of the Meloni Cabinet and he does not want other countries to follow her example.

If he will fail to obtain his goal, the aftermath would nonetheless be hard for the Western economies already struggling against inflation and economic recession. Eventually, it is worth noticing that this expropriation comes right when Italy has assumed the Presidency of the G7 group, so the stakes for Meloni are higher: if she fails to address this threat, her international leadership would be hindered for quite a long time.

MEDIA LAB

(continued from page 1)

create his own tutorial videos on how to code.

Looking ahead, Krawlzik is most excited for an upcoming field trip to the Amazon Music Studio in Williamsburg with a group of teens from the Rec Center. The trip will provide them with an inside look into careers in the music industry. “I think they will get a lot out of seeing a real studio and seeing how it compares to what they usually do at the Center. I just want them to see how things actually are; I can only give them 30% (I don’t have a background in music), and I wish I could give them more. So it will be great to be able to have a professional show them what’s up.”

The media lab is free to all Recreation Center members (Memberships are free for those under 25; $25 a year for veterans, those with disabilities, or anyone over 62; and $100 a year for everyone else). Hours are Tuesday - Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, and Mondays from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm.

The lab is generally open for adult access on weekdays from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, with additional times for one-onone help and other learning opportunities. To see the full media lab schedule, visit the www.nycgovparks.org.

Helena Krawlzik at the console. (photo by Fiala)

The Craft Corner

Turn recycled magazines into Mother's Day cards!

What you’ll need. In addition to your magazines or catalogs, you will need a pair of scissors, a glue stick, construction paper or thin cardboard, and markers, pens or crayons.

Flip through your magazines. With your scissors handy, look for anything that catches your eye, like words that describe your Mom, things she likes, or even pretty patterns. Cut them out as you find them and put them to the side.

Sort your clippings. When you feel like you have enough images to work with, sort them into categories so it’s easy for you to see all your options. Choose clippings that go together for your collage. You can always go back and pick more pieces to work with as you go along.

by Marie Hueston and Sage Hueston

Choose the base of your card. We made one card on a piece of construction paper folded in half, and one card on a flat thin piece of cardboard. Place your clippings on your card and play with placement before you glue anything down.

Start gluing! Once your card is planned out, use your glue stick to adhere everything in place. Use markers, pens or crayons to add a personal design or message. If you have left over pieces, you can ask your Mom to collage with you for a fun shared Mother’s Day activity!

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

Last Month

Zak leaves Susan Kemp's apartment and spends a little time in Manhattan before going back to Brooklyn. On his way home, he encounters a Frankie Nod and gets high with him. Talking to Frankie he realizes he left his books with Susan. He gets a slice and finally gets home and to sleep. The next day he thinks about not going back to school, but then, while feeling that something has changed within him, he heads back to the City.

10 – You talkin’ to me?

The N express was jammed during the morning rush. Zak, along with five other riders, held onto a pole in the center of the car. They swayed together as the train went through the tunnel at a good pace. People who managed to get a seat read fat paperbacks. Some of the pole grabbers read folded newspapers held in one hand. Others, like Zak, stared blankly ahead.

It felt good being in this crowd, but the strange voice in his head continued. He tried to ignore it, pretend it wasn’t there and get back on track. He was gonna go to college, stay connected.

“AND BE INHALED BY THE LIVING ORGANISM OF NEW YORK CITY.”

Fuck, there it was again! He was… “JUST A MOLECULE OF OXYGEN FEEDING THE STEEL AND GLASS TOWERS.”

“OK, I’m a molecule, I get it, now would you just SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

11 – ICH BIN, DU BIST

Herr Eizenzoph, in a corduroy jacket, glasses and jet-black hair, parted and combed severely, stood in front of the blackboard. With a yard stick he pointed at words for the class to repeat.

ICH BIN (I am) pronounced eeek bean

DU BIST (you are) pronounced doo beest

HER, SIE, ESS IST (he, she, it is) pronounced er, zee, ess eest

“Weider?” (again) sagt (said) Herr Eizenzoph.

And the lesson continued, but the voice of Zak’s, let’s call it MIND 2.0, began asking:

“WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

Mind 1.0 had no answer.

“I’m here, I’m here.”

“BUT WHY… WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“I don’t know, please shut up.”

MIND 2.0 continued “WHY

DON’T YOU LEAVE, WHY DON’T YOU LEAVE?”

Which caused Zak to stop droning along with the class.

Herr Professor noticed Zak wasn’t repeating the conjugations along with the others. He held up a hand, halting the recitation. He looked down at the attendance sheet.

“Excuse me, Herr Wozny, are you not interested in the exercise?”

Zak, not ready to be noticed, pointed to himself.

“Me?”

“Yes you, Herr Wozny, because if not, you may leave.”

“I can leave?”

“Of course you may leave – in fact, I suggest that you do.”

Despite the continued stares of the teacher and class, a sudden calm came over Zak Wozny

“You’re right, Herr Eizenzoph, I may leave.”

MIND 2.0 chimed in “SEE, I TOLD YA.”

Zak left the class, moving slowly at first, but in the empty hallway went into a fast walk, then a slow jog, and at the sight of the double exit doors, a sprint. Out on 68th Street he turned left and ran west, across Park…Madison…Fifth Avenue – into Central Park, where after almost a mile of running he stopped, asking himself: “Why am I running? Where am I running to?

12 – MISTA KURTZ, HE DEAD

There are sections of Central Park where the ancient bedrock, known as Manhattan Schist, breaks through the green designs of Olmstead and Vaux, creating small plateaus of grooved black rock. After an hour of wandering, Zak Wozny sat on one of these outcrops. The blue October sky is big, the nearest skyscraper a quarter mile away, on the park’s perimeter. Words would vanish, but visual images became stronger to Zak. From the slight elevation on the rock, he observed New Yorkers: nannies with carriages, tourists strolling with guidebooks in hand, men in suits, hippie types, cops on their beautiful horses, bums laid out on benches, private school kids in blazers and ties. He felt disconnected again, but not bothered by the disconnect. He was in the middle of the organism, but it was OK. He thought to himself, “Hey, I just dropped out of college.”

This was true, he’d never to back to Hunter. What would he do? Zak got up off the rock and headed

south toward Brooklyn. He wasn’t high but he felt high, joining the New Yorkers on the winding paths with a certain lightness in his step. Something had been dropped, or maybe it just slipped off like dead skin.

Or maybe it was Jimi singing: I’ll have to die when it’s my time to die … So let me live my life the way I want to.

Yeah, it was Hendrix, not the nuns, brothers, parents, priests – they never got through to him.

Turn off your mind

Relax and float downstream.

That was the stuff that got through. Zak was an unconscious believer in the 60’s zeitgeist. “Peace and Love,” “Right On!” etc. Next week he would turn 18, and without a college deferment be classified as A-1 for the draft. “A-1… almost like the way they rate meat in the supermarket.” Something to think about. He would think about it later.

13 – Suppertime

Zak was back at 451 by 3 pm. The apartment was empty, his father still at work, his mother out somewhere. Four plastic wrapped hamburgers were on the formica kitchen table thawing . In his room now Zak was glad to have a little time alone. He put Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow on the pull-down stereo. Hit his pillow and was asleep by the second track, Somebody to Love. Zak liked to sleep with the music on loud. It would take him deep and far away.

The album had long finished when his mother’s voice through the door awoke him.

“Zak.”

“Yeah, Mom.”

“Are you here for dinner?”

“Oh yeah, sure.”

“Havin’ hamburgers.”

“Yeah, great.”

Zak had awoken to some good news – his voice was back in his body. He wasn’t floating outside watching himself do and say things. The room was back to normal.

“Dinner’s ready” came through the door.

“Be right there.”

He got up knowing he’d have to tell his parents about dropping out. Should he do it now? Should he put it off? The kitchen was small, with an oval table set against one wall. Zak’s mom and dad were seated at each end, he took his place in the middle.

“Hey Dad.”

“Zak, how you doin’.”

“I’m good Dad.”

His father Frank was a broad shouldered, South Brooklyn native who worked on the docks of Gowanus Bay.

“How’s school?”

“Yeah, it’s… uh…”

What do they call it, “Force Majeur, Act of God…”

Just as Zak began a stumbling answer to his father’s question, the wall phone in the kitchen rang.

“Who’s calling at dinnertime?”

Helen Wozny asked as she got up.

“Hello, yeah, yeah, ok, hold on.”

“Zak, it’s for you. Some woman.”

Frank Wozny glanced up from his burger as Zak got up to take the phone.

“Hello, hello Zak, it’s Susan, Susan Kemp.”

“Oh hi.”

“Sorry to bother you, if you’re wondering how I got your number, well, there are only a dozen Woznys in the phone book – you were my fifth call.”

Zak nodded into the phone, raised a hand to his mother who was watching him. Susan continued:

“I missed you in class today.”

There was a silent pause during which Zak continued nodding.

“Zak, are you there?”

“Yes, the test will be tomorrow,” he finally said.

“Oh, you can’t talk.”

“Right, chapter 12.”

“Ok listen, here’s my number –Butterfield 8-7261. Please call me, alright?”

“Ok, no problem.”

“BU 8-7261.”

“Right, bye.”

He hung up, went back to the table repeating the number in his head.

His father poured some Coca-Cola around.

“Who was that?” asked his mother.

“A girl from geography class.”

She picked up her burger.

“Sounded like a woman.”

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.

Another music in a different chamber. The term “chamber pop” has been tossed about at least since the 1960s, when such prophetic composers as Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson—as well as producers Shadow Morton, Billy Sherrill and Phil Spector, although they tend to be left out of the story—started crafting three-minute, orchestral gems in the pop tradition. Chamber music has changed a lot in the ensuing years and pop has as well. Lines are laudably blurrier and arrangements less in-your-face symphonic. The flutist Alex Sopp is a familiar presence around the NYC contemporary music scene as a regular member of yMusic, the Knights and other new music ensembles. The Hem & the Haw (digital release last month from New Amsterdam) is her first album under her name and her first collection as a songwriter. It’s chamber pop to be certain, at least by definition. She’s assembled a group of talented compatriots, including violist Nadia Sirota, percussionist Jason Treuting and violinist Austin Wulliman of the JACK string quartet, and whistled, programmed gentle beats, played flute, piano and synth and sang her way through the lovely album. It calls to mind, at times, Björk’s brilliant 2022 release Fossora in that the arrangements can scan as electronic at first, but the richness of the chamber ensemble are there to be found upon closer listening. Sopp wrote the 10 understated songs during the pandemic lockdown, and it seems the sound of acoustic instruments submerged electronic beds might reflect her mindset at the time. “Editing the view / Reflected through / A tiny screen / My self esteem / Oscillating / It says / ‘Get your water paints / Go and translate / What you create / While you are sleeping,’” she sings on the title track. Her warm voice saves it from feeling dire, but The Hem & the Haw is still an album of quiet contemplation.

sides in a rather different chamber. Nima Aghiani and Sara Bigdeli Shamloo—both from Iran and based in Paris—make their pop orchestra with layered mandolins and violins, often tuned an octave lower than usual, along with electronics and Shamloo’s ethereal voice. The down-tuned western strings have a decidedly oudlike sound, which they work heavily in the nine songs on Horror Vacui (LP and download out last month from American Dreams). The slow pulses and suspended vocals make the duo sound something like a Middle Eastern Portishead and, as with Sopp’s Hem & Haw, it can sound more electronic than it actually is. There’s likely a fair bit of digital looping involved in creating their evocative songs, with shades of both Arabic and European folk songs from centuries ago, but it’s all very much alive.

Another kind of folk is found on Spine, the second album from Montreal’s Kee Avil (CD, LP and download from Constellation Records May 3). At least, Avil calls it folk, although it’s about as folky as PJ Harvey (which is I guess to say, a little bit). She has guests on a few tracks adding bass and strings, but most of the album is her voice and electric guitar, a fair bit of processing and some rumbling and clattering electro sound beds. It’s a heavily textured collection—Avil is even releasing a three-dimensional Dolby Atmos mix—with layered voices, ringing guitar strata and other, less certain sounds, calcifying into sedimentary stone. Where Sopp saves us from isolation with inviting vocals, Avil’s voice saves us from mechanization. Her delivery is a little more distant, not quite so welcoming, but Spine is a pretty cold world. Avil’s the only thing getting us through it.

And if it’s not too much of a stretch, Los Angelenos Tzompantli bring some intriguing native American folk into Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force (CD, LP and download from 20 Buck Spin May 17). The indigenous death doom (their genre subclassification, not mine) duo’s 2022 debut, Tlazcaltiliztli, was a massive, riff-heavy set of pounding, ceremonial drums, growling vocals and symphonic guitar. The new album expands the armaments. Brian “Itztlakamayeh” Ortiz (of death/hardcore outfit Xibabla) still leads the attack, but now there’s five more guitarists, five more singers plus added native instruments and percussion. Going full band at times makes them sound a little more rote-metal, with squiggly guitar solos and cookie monster vocals. But it also makes the record more of an onslaught than its predecessor, more exciting, more orchestral in its expansions and more overall textured and varied. “Tlaloc Icuic” begins in a slow rumble before initiating a pile-driver dirge with wooden flute accents. The eight epic minutes of “Tetzaviztli” feels like an entire album in itself. Taken together, the two records only total 75 minutes, and could have made one really great LP. That’s not what happened, but that’s OK. They’re still two metallic slabs worth checking out.

Hoofing it alone. I got my copy of We Sang, Therefore We Were, the first solo album by Deerhoof drummer and workhorse extraordinaire Greg Saunier (LP and digital from Joyful Noise Recordings) with the Red Hook StarRevue deadline breathing down my neck and while immersed in WKCR’s round-the-clock coverage of the protests on the Columbia University campus. (I’m a host of WKCR’s Afternoon New Music but was not involved in the coverage; it was the students’ story and they handled it

admirably). There’s two things I can say about the album with certainty: it’s nuts and once I listen to it enough times to get a handle on it, it’ll still be nuts. It’s a technicolor tour of Saunier’s candy-factory imagination, with the host playing all the instruments, including a string section or some smart keyboarding on the cinematic closer “Playing Tunes of Victory on the Instruments of Our Defeat.” The herky-jerky rhythms are familiar and his strained falsetto even approaches Deerhoof singer Satomi Matsuzaki’s sweet soprano, but it’s all a brilliantly rudimentary one-man band. Saunier plays guitar and bass like they’re drums, everything is choppy, with fills. He found inspiration for the dozen mostly short and speedy songs in Nirvana and René Descartes, I’ll trust him on that, as well as Captain Beefheart and plants, which makes more sense. I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time with it, but I’m already ready to declare “Yeah, You Person” the first hit of the Summer of ’24.

The duo 9T Antiope (their name borrowed from a nearby asteroid) re-

Quinn on Books

A Taste of Brooklyn for Mother’s Day

Review of “The Margaret Palca Bakes Cookbook: 80 Cakes, Cookies, Muffins and More from a Famous Brooklyn Baker,” by Margaret Palca; photography by Michael Harlan Turkell

Review by Michael Quinn

Baking enthusiasts often cherish memories of the person who first taught them how to knead dough or frost a cake.

For baker Margaret Palca, who retired last year after 40 years in the business, that person was her grandmother, who shared the secret to making perfect chocolate chip cookies.

Those cookies were the starting point for a lifelong love affair with baking, which Palca recounts in “The Margaret Palca Bakes Cookbook.”

Although this book came out in 2018, I only recently discovered it after a craving for her baked oatmeal bars led me to search for the recipe online. When I found she’d written a whole cookbook, I felt like I hit paydirt. This book is a treasure trove of time-honored recipes and personal anecdotes that will resonate with any South Brooklyn resident, baker or not.

More than just a collection of signature bakes, Palca’s cookbook is a culinary memoir, tracing her path from humble home-baker beginnings to the bustling commercial kitchen she eventually commanded. She relays her story with simplicity, humility and charm.

Selling to Dean & Deluca

Though Palca initially studied art as an undergraduate, baking was her true passion. She hustled to find places to sell her creations after college. Her father (“my champion, who believed I could do anything”) tasted many unsuccessful batches of her madeleines (“too dry, too hard, too rubbery!”) before championing her delicate cakes to the then-new Soho gourmet shop, Dean & Deluca.

Another pivotal moment came when Palca secured a job at the Upper East Side gourmet shop Fraser Morris. Impressed by her baking, the management created a professional kitchen for her. Here, she developed many of her signature recipes, including her renowned rugelach, a point of personal pride. Fraser Morris also marked the beginning of her love story with her husband, Paul.

Encouraged by a friend to explore Brooklyn for baking opportunities, Palca and her family settled on Carroll Street in 1985, where she set up her professional kitchen. Eventually, they moved farther west to a garbage-strewn, rat-infested “no-man’s land”—known today as the Columbia Waterfront District. While this new location looked less than ideal to outsiders, neighbors soon made Palca and her family feel at home, and her baking quickly gained a loyal local following.

As her reputation grew, Palca’s creations found their way onto the shelves of gourmet shops and grocery stores throughout New York City, earning accolades from prestigious places like The New York Times and WNYC. Her brownie was even dubbed “the best on the planet” by Disney in 2004. Palca ultimately moved her business to 191 Columbia Street, with a café in the front and a kitchen in the back. Hers was often a familiar and gentle presence behind the counter, clad in an apron, hair tucked under a colorful bandana.

Palca’s cookbook reflects her straightforward approach to baking, offering clear instructions and practical tips. Her recipes, which include vegan and gluten-free options, are accessible to all. While most call for common, easy-to-source ingredients, the baked oatmeal bars require ambrosia. Palca sourced this dried fruit-and-nut mix from Sahadi’s—you can get it there, too.

What shines through most in Palca’s cookbook is her unwavering commitment to her craft and her deep connection to the neighborhood. Instead of grouping her recipes by type, she organizes her creations by the places they were born and credits each person who helped develop them. In Palca’s world, there’s no distinction between employee and customer—they are all family.

Dedicated to her mother and daughters, Palca’s cookbook is a testament to the enduring legacy of family and food. With Mother’s Day on the horizon, let Palca’s culinary journey inspire you to create sweet memories in the kitchen with your loved ones.

Jazz by Grella Enemies at the Gates

By George Grella

Gatekeeping gets a bad rap— and it should! Guarding information and experiences to keep them away from people is generally bad. At the very least, it’s a petty and infantile exercising of very limited and temporary power, trying to create an artificial sense of exclusivity and prestige in a pluralistic, democratic culture—snobbery in other words. At worst, you get self-perpetuating, smug Dunning-Kruger disasters, like the American foreign policy consensus of the past sixty years, brought to you by the exclusive club of the Ivy League/centrist think tank/government axis. These are the enemies who guard the gates and exact the price of admission, something often either prohibitive to everyone not born into wealth or simply not available to what the keepers see as the wrong type of person (everyone in the streets of American in late 2002-early 2003 were right about waging war against Iraq, but were scorned by government and the media because they weren’t the right sort of people). Be clear about these enemies, though, especially because some of them might also be, as an internet wag likes to point out, your faves. What, if anything, are record labels but gatekeepers? There’s nothing pejorative about that—they should be gatekeepers. The whole point of a label is to establish a set of aesthetic values and then record and release music that represents those values. Music that was created in the 20th century, like jazz and rock, is intertwined with some of the great record labels, each of which during their respective heydays had such an identifiable style that the buyer had a good general idea of what to expect from the music even before they brought a new album home and put in on their turntable. Seeing the logo and design of an ECM album fills the mind with crystalline, exacting sound; Capital meant smart, hip adult pop; Elektra/ Asylum was the great rock singer/songwriter label; Tommy Boy was the home for pioneering New York City hip-hop.

Blue Note

Arguably the most famous and easily identifiable label of all time is Blue Note. Not only was it the home for hard-bop, the central and enduring jazz movement of the mid-20th century, but it had one of the most famous designs of any commercial product in the last hundred years. Blue Note signifies the best in modern jazz in both sound and look, and through sampling, graphic homages, and plain imitation has been one of the most influential cultural entities ever. Blue Note’s history as a gatekeeper has meant putting out dozens and dozens of albums that are foundational to jazz and essential to any music library; Thelonious Monk’s first recordings, the

bulk of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s discography—and as offshoots of that band, tremendous albums from Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, and Jackie McLean—Tony Williams’ Life Time, John Coltrane’s Blue Train, Herbie Hancock’s Empyrean Islands, Dexter Gordon’s Go, Grant Green’s Idle Moments, Hank Mobley’s Soul Station, Andrew Hill’s Judgement!, Joe Henderson’s Inner Urge, etc, ad infinitum.

They were also another kind of gatekeeper, recording albums and then, for business or other reasons, putting away the tapes and never releasing them, or doing so only after long delays. That list has substantial things on it, including Sonny Clark’s My Conception (recorded in 1957 and 1959 and released in 1979, sixteen years after Clark’s death), McLean’s Vertigo (recorded in the early ‘60s and released in 1980), and all but one album from the wonderful and doomed tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks.

Brooks recorded five separate albums for Blue Note from 1958 to 1961 (including Street Singer co-led by McLean). His True Blue, a stupendous album that could easily be presented as the single microcosm of the Blue Note sound and quality, didn’t come out until 1980, by which time Brooks had already been dead—a casualty of drugs—for six years. Brooks reputation was rescued and revived by record producer Michael Cuscuna, who in 1985 issued a 4-LP set of his complete recordings via a limited edition box set on the Mosaic Records label. Of the many great services Cuscuna, who died April 20 at age 75, that is the most emblematic. He opened up the gates and presented a great artist to the public. Though the Mosaic set by contract had a limited run, Brooks has remained (mostly) in print since then. That’s good for jazz. Cuscuna was behind so many other important archival issues, including Herbie Nichols’ Blue Note recordings (also on Mosaic) and the comprehensive Miles Davis collections from his years with Columbia, including the revelatory The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965. Because of Cuscuna, people who love and care for jazz get to experience so much music that would otherwise have been kept from them.

Collectors vs enthusiasts

While there may be people with the ability to fill the void that Cuscuna leaves, like Zev Feldman, on the business side the labels have been waging a subtle, but real gatekeeping campaign against jazz listeners (and thus indirectly against the music itself), one that seems inhospitable to openness and accessibility.

Vinyl is the fundamental problem, a medium that has been so coveted by people with the money to be collectors—not necessarily lovers—and to afford high end turntable-based audio systems that they don’t mind paying an average price of $30 per LP. That figure came from Billboard in 2022, and greed-flation has only pumped it up from there. Do you want an LP copy of True Blue? At Blue Note’s own shop, that’s $28, and his other two albums, on their Tone Poet series, are $39 each. The Tone Poet series boasts direct-from-master-tapes mastering and audiophile pressing for the extra cost, and I can say that based on the brand new reissue of Sonny Rollins’ A Night at the Village Vanguard, it is excellent. Although musically phenomenal, the recording quality of those sessions was never good, stuffy in general, flat on the low end and with occluded timbres from bass and drums. The new reissue is better than the previous CDs (and also has the interesting decision of returning to the original album sequence even after the CDs put the tracks in chronological order), there’s much more air around Sonny and when the drums or bass is soloing that sound has much more color. At 3-LPs it’s not cheap but not unreasonable and worth the cost (there’s a 2-CD version as well).

What if you want the fascinating album McLean made with Ornette Coleman, New and Old Gospel, where Ornette plays only trumpet? There’s a specific gate for that, which is the Tone Poet set Ornette Coleman: Round Trip, a box with the six albums Coleman made on the label. Those are good albums, including the live recordings from the Golden Circle in Stockholm, and the underrated, fantastic The Empty Foxhole. But that’s $230, prohibitive to have just one album and as a whole beyond the means of so many people who love this music, including your scribe.

ECM has also gotten in on the trend, with their new Luminescence series which sprinkles out vinyl reissues of their

back catalogue (this is all back catalogue stuff, so with only production costs the margins must be attractive). New ones include Jan Gabarek’s Afric Pepperbird (40€) and Keith Jarrett’s Solo-Concerts Bremen/Lausanne (89€). If ECM is seriously looking at monetizing their back catalogue, I humbly request a CD box of Jarrett’s albums as a leader and another that collects his trio recordings with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette— that would be a service to jazz. The most egregious gatekeeping comes from Vinyl Me Please, the vinyl subscription service. Now, I don’t have any of these records, and they may sound great, but I can’t afford them—they also duplicate a lot of my library and reinforce the idea that VMP is for newly minted collectors seeking hipness in vinyl. They boast high quality pressings and notes and vinyl color only available from them. A single month (one album), is $46, a year is $435, which comes out to $36.35/album—that’s not a bargain, though it may be a value for people with money because it’s exclusive and they’re willing to pay an extra gate fee for that.

VMP releases can be easy to covet. They have an 11-LP Miles Davis: The Electric Years that haunts my dreams but is also $399 (only $349 if you’ve already paid for a VMP membership) and all the music has already been released more comprehensively and economically by Cuscuna. In late summer, they’re release an 8-LP set of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, the original album plus all the outtakes, a mono mix, sextet tracks, and two live performances. All of this music has been available elsewhere (on more than one label) but not all is currently in print and it’s never been gathered together as a document. Where the Electric Miles box is pure gravy—great fucking gravy—this is an important recording for jazz as an art form. And it’s going to be available to anyone with $399 ($299 if you buy a membership). That’s one hell of a gate.

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 following a fire at Juniors Restaurant. The restaurant was rebuilt and still open today. Back issues are finally available online at HTTPS://WWW.DIGIFIND-IT.COM/PHOENIX/VIEWS/HOME.PHP