The AUGUST, 2014
Red Hook StarªRevue SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
RED HOOK LIBRARY BATTLE by George Fiala
A
plan to divide the Red Hook library that has been in the works for two years has finally come out in the
open.
A committee meeting of Community Board 6 (CB6) was held at the library on July 24th to discuss a Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)/Spaceworks proposal to take what is claimed to be underutilized space from the book area, and turn it into rehearsal space for dancers and other creative artists, who would pay $12 per hour for the privilege. Alerted by this newspaper and other members of the community, a crowd that included many local residents, came out to hear the proposal and voice their opinion. In addition, many elected officials were present and some spoke, including Velmanette Montgomery, Carlos Menchaca and Felix Ortiz. In addition, Josh Levin from the NYC Comptroller’s office, and Dan Wiley, representing Nydia
Velazquez participated. The stormy meeting began with the library’s presentation. This presentation had been given to the same committee, CB6’s Land Use committee, last month. It had been passed by the committee, but enough complaints came from Red Hook, that CB6’s Executive Board tabled the application instead of approving it. It was sent back to committee, and a meeting in the library was scheduled where locals could hear the plan and voice opinions. Land use ended up tabling the motion again, but it was a steamy three hour process that included cheering, razzing, clapping, yelling, heartfelt pleas and utter shock on the part of the community. The Red Hook library was renovated after Sandy, but problems remained, making the need for building improvements critical. For example, there is no Khadijah James objects to the proposal to use part of the library for a rehearsal space air conditioning. The City Council has for artists as Henrietta Perkins listens. (photos by George Fiala) budgeted money for improvements. A of Participatory Budgeting. Yet still the at home in their air conditioned offices, library garden will be created as a result library executives sought more and thus cooking up deals in overstuffed charis. began the Spaceworks relationship. They seemed to wither before the onSpaceworks describes themselves as a slaught of questioning they faced from “nonprofit cultural community develop- the riled-up Red Hook crowd.
BWAC opens two summer shows STORY PAGE 14
A gallery visitor explores John Strohbeen’s “…And There Was Light.” Inside a peep hole in the orb’s center is a tesla coil.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
ment organization dedicated to expand- An unfortunate part of this evenings ing the supply of long-term, affordable proceedings was a valiant but obvirehearsal and studio space for artists ously stressed Shannon Hummel, who in New York City.” Their partnership leads the beloved neighborhood dance with the Red Hook Library would add troupe Cora. Spaceworks has obviously $650,000 in capital improvement mon- made many promises to Cora and has ey. What the library would give up is a significant portion of its ground floor space in order to create rental space for performing arts groups. It was unclear how much of the $650,000 would go for the construction of this new space. They also plan to redo the front door, and create a Library executives and Spaceworks’ chief present the private back door for the art- public/private partnership idea. ists, as the new space would have differ- involved them in their plans. ent hours than the library. Hummel kept pleading her case by Representing the library were executives from the main Grand Army Plaza branch - David Woloch, Executive Vice President, and Noila Rosario, Government Relations and Advocacy Manager. Representing Spaceworks was their executive director, Paul Parkhill. These three were obviously much more
stressing the good she has done for the community. She didn’t seem to understand that nobody in the audience was disputing her - in fact she received many accolades. But the point in many of the mother’s minds was not to hurt Cora, but to keep the library devoted (please turn to page 5)
The
Red Hook Star Revue ª
proudly introduces our new website
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Happenings, etc. SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
FREE family friendly fun celebrating Brooklyn’s diversity at the International Day of Friendship. Unity parade, cultural performances, continental cuisine and giveaways. For more information: www.brooklyn-usa. org ., Brooklyn Borough Hall ,209 Joralemon Street.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5
daily updates archives comments
Help Wanted at the Red Hook Star-Revue Reporters needed for news and arts coverage in Red Hook and her environs. Enthusiasm more important than experience. Learn on the job. Full and part-time positions available. Call us
718 624-5568
or email: info@redhookstar.com
The annual Night Out Against Crime will be held on the south side of Coffey Park, which is still open. There will be a barbecue, community resource fair, arts and crafts and more. Everybody who is anybody in Red Hook attends this, especially our law enforcement leaders. From 4 - 7 pm in the afternoon.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8
LAVA on the Barge. Come see LAVA on the Barge! All-women troupe featuring music, dance, aerial, acrobatics and more. 8pm. The Waterfront Museum, 290 Conover Street, Pier 44. Tickets at the door. $10$20 sliding scale.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9
The Sacred Hearts of Saint Mary - Saint Stephen Roman Catholic Church presents “Mass and a Movie”, this time with a screening of “Frozen”. Food and drink will be sold. Admission is free. Mass begins at 5:30 pm, and the movie begins at 7:30 sharp.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 10
The 30th annual Red Hook Old Timers Day event will take place around noon. The weekend will kick off with an Old TImes Day Gala at SRB Brooklyn, 2nd Avenue and 14th Street near the Pathmark. This DJ Dance get-together runs from 10 pm to 4 am, and is only $15 per person. Because of the Coffey Park construction, the main affair will take place atr T-Park, between Bush and Clinton Streets.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16
Barbecuing in Red Hook Houses property will be permitted at this years Family Day. Because Coffey Park is closed, East and West will hold separate events, with West holding a party outside Lillie Marshall’s office at 428 Columbia Street. East’s affair will take place in Centre Mall. There will be food and exhibits from neighborhood institutions.
EVERY MONDAY
The Red Hook Star-Revue holds its community music jam at Rocky Sullivan’s, 34 Van Dyke Street.There will be food and exhibits from neighborhood institutions. Bring your instrument or just come and listen and maybe have dinner. No admission, jazz, blues, rock and soul are the usual fare - bring a fiddle or mandolin and we’ll even try bluegrass. 8 pm to midnight.
PS 15 PTA PRESENTS
THE RED HOOK FALL FLEA Saturday October 4th, 2014, 10am to 5pm Located in the PS 15 School Yard on Van Brunt Street between Wolcott & Sullivan Red Hook’s local community school PS 15’s PTA will be hosting our annual flea market. Come and find that missing treasure, browse, chat, eat, and enjoy the many activities available. The day promises to be a joy-filled celebration of the unique community of Red Hook. Sellers of all stripes include: VINTAGE, NEW AND USED CLOTHING & FURNITURE, JEWELRY, HAND CRAFTS, BOOKS, DVDS, TOYS AND LOTS OF LOCAL EATS AND SWEETS!
Activities for the whole family throughout the day. Enjoy the popular PTA POT LUCK and TREATS! Bounce House, Arts and MORE! ALL VENDOR APPLICATIONS MUST BE PAID BY AUGUST 31. for applications please email: ps15flea@gmail.com Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue
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August, 2014
In Dynamic Neighborhood, Conservancy’s Mission Remains Unchanged
G
owanus means many things to the community. For most it is a neighborhood, to others a polluted canal, but to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC), it represents more. To the GCC, Gowanus is a watershed. A watershed, also known as a drainage basin is an area where water from rain and melting snow or ice converge to a single point at a lower elevation then join another body of water, such as a river, bay or ocean. The neighborhoods that are within the watershed include not just Gowanus, but Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and Red Hook.
by Keith J. Klein
Hesselein started his tenure with the conservancy as a volunteer, then quickly rose through the ranks from Director of Special Projects to become the Executive Director. Recently, on July 16th on the banks of the canal at popular watering hole, Lavender Lake, Hesselein received an honor from Councilmember Brad Lander, recognizing his efforts as well as those of the conservancy.
How it all gets done While the GCC has a list of corporate and local sponsors and receives help from elected officials such as Councilman Lander, the brunt of the work is accomplished by staff, board members, volunteers and interns.
The GCC is a community-based nonprofit organization that serves as an environmental steward for the area with the mission of creating green spaces and parks along the shores, cleaning up the canal and improving the water, soil and air quality within the watershed area.
Volunteer and member events hosted at the “Salt Lot” on 2nd Ave provide a hub for cutting edge and traditional ecological improvement tactics. It’s not just how and what the conservancy does that’s impressive, but the massive scale. The Composting Gowanus project is an example.
The Gowanus neighborhood has undergone controversial changes recently, most notable being large-scale building and proposed re-zoning laws which govern development. There are a myriad of groups, organizations and agencies advocating for various causes. According to GCC board member Ben Jones, “Gowanus is a dynamic neighborhood and there are lots of groups that are a part of the dialogue, including the Gowanus Preservation Society”. Mr. Jones also mentions the “Conservancy’s role is to help build consensus around key initiatives and priorities that will make the canal and its environs clean, vibrant and resilient”.
Some of the conservancy’s most frequent and best known activities include the monthly compost windrow build
The three biggest forces the GCC battle are pollutants from nearby industrial sites and combined sewer overflow and surface run-off from heavy rains. Initiatives and projects the conservancy organize on a regular basis combat such forces. One such example is the planting of trees and native flora to retain storm water run-off. Working with an amazing pool of talent, Executive Director Hans Hesselein has taken the conservancy to the next level.
Composting Gowanus
“We want to make sure there’s not only a holistic plan for cleaning the canal, but also a long term plan for keeping it clean and healthy for generations to come and various clean & green events. Windrow composting is common on large farms and based on organizing materials in long rows. As this method is suited to producing large volumes of compost, it’s much different than bin composting in local community gardens. On a regular basis, volunteers and staff turn the windrow to improve breathability and oxygen content, mix in or remove moisture, and redistribute cooler and hotter portions of the pile. Other factors given attention include the ratio
These are the windrows, or wind-rows, built at the Salt Lot on 5th Street
of carbon and nitrogen rich materials. The temperature of the windrows must be measured and logged regularly to determine the optimum time to turn them for quicker compost production.
pants visit historical sites, discuss sustainability, conservation projects, and local urban plants and wildlife.
Composting Gowanus has been an ongoing project of great scale. While a community garden may compost food scraps for a 2-3 block radius into a bin, the GCC collects monthly, on average of 5 tons of “green” nitrogen based food scraps. These are combined with “brown” carbon based compostable items such as leaves, twigs, bark, etc. until the ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio is reached.
In 2010 the canal was granted Superfund status meaning the federal government has designated the Gowanus Canal contaminated with hazardous substances as well harmful pollutants or contaminants. The GCC goes one step further recognizing it’s not just the canal that’s the issue but all ecological processes within the watershed. The GCC will continue to work with with the superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) as well as other key partners.
The finished product is used in re-invigorating areas along the canal to form a nutrient rich soil. Trees, shrubs and reintroduced native vegetation planted in the soil plays a role in absorbing surface run-off, acting as a barrier preventing pollution from entering the waterway. Additional compost is also distributed in other areas including community gardens.
Clean & Greens and Tree Mapping In addition to composting, monthly Clean & Greens are a great opportunity for first time and experienced volunteers to make a difference in the community and meet their neighbors. Anyone can join in to help with weeding, building vertical planters and even watch canoes paddle into the canal to strategically place floating gardens. Each summer the GCC also partners with the Gowanus Alliance helping to keep Ennis Playground looking great, providing a safe haven for residents to enjoy and a place for children to play. At the conclusion of some work days there is a gathering and BBQ for all participants to reward everyone’s hard work. Tree-Mapping, yet another initiative on plate of the GCC consists of logging tree species, sizes and health. Last summer, an inventory over 1,000 trees within a 2-blocks of the canal was recorded.
Whole Foods built a small but charming park facing the still polluted Gowanus Canal (photos by Klein)
Red Hook Star-Revue
Other community programs include the Urban Ecology Lecture Series, K-12 Public School Education and Canal Walking Tours. During tours partici-
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The Next Phase
Hesselein steps down It was recently announced that after 5 years of service, Executive Director, Hans Hesselein will be stepping down at the end of July to pursue a career in landscape architecture. However, one person or organization cannot hold the responsibility of re-vitalizing a sustainable and healthy watershed on their own. Only when there is true collaboration with elected officials, an open dialogue with groups and agencies such as the DEP, Build It Green NYC, The Superfund CAG, The Gowanus Alliance and the Gowanus Preservation Society, can a consensus and plan-of-action be implemented. Regarding the future of the GCC and the neighborhoods served, board member Ben Jones commented, “We want to make sure there’s not only a holistic plan for cleaning the canal, but also a long term plan for keeping it clean and healthy for generations to come”. Jones also points out that “The future is very bright. We have an amazing and growing group of volunteers who are the engine behind our work, making a visible, direct impact on the health, beauty and resilience of the watershed”. Upcoming events include the Compost Windrow Build and Clean & Green on Sunday, August 17th, 11am-3pm. Those wishing to volunteer or to become a member should contact info@ gowanuscanalconservancy.org or refer to their website for more information.
August 2014, Page 3
The story behind the Clement Garage by Clarissa Sauter
W
alking or driving past Rapelye and Hamilton, one might never give the corner adjacent to the BQE a second glance. What most don’t know is that it was once home to Salvatore “Buddy” Scotto’s grandfather, his three garages, and his eight family building, many years before the BQE was constructed. Don Vincence Clementi, known later as Vincent, arrived in America in 1898. Soon after he bought a garage and the floor above it. Named Clement’s garage due to the hostile environment for immigrants, it was one of the few in Brooklyn at the time. Clementi would expand the business in the coming years by purchasing two garages across the street, where a gas station is now located. Four of Vincent’s thirteen siblings had also come to the States, and he insisted that the entire family meet at two every afternoon for lunch and for dinner on Sundays in the apartment above the garage, described by Buddy as meticulously maintained by his grandmother. Buddy Scotto, Clementi’s 85-year-old grandson, a Korean war veteran and a community activist for over fifty years, was born in 1928. One of his first memories, he told me, was an argument about Mussolini during a meal. He said the the older family members, first generation immigrants from Sicily, thought he
unified the country at a time when most Italians rejected patriotism and instead had strong emotional ties to their home cities or provinces. Their Americanborn children, however, viewed Mussolini as a corrupt dictator who had committed unforgivable atrocities. Relations in Carroll Gardens were also tense, especially between different demographics like the Irish and Italians, or the dominant WASPs and new Americans, but nowhere did tensions run higher than in the Italian Mafia. Codes of silence, or Omerta, threatened the lives of many Italian-Americans along the Brooklyn waterfront. Many Mafia bosses and underbosses also held senior positions in the Longshoreman’s Union. “You said ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’”, said Buddy, referencing the tactic his parents taught him to use to avoid trouble. Later, he said he felt that “as an Italian American, organized crime was a big embarrassment.” Papa Clement, as his grandchildren affectionately called Vincent, knew that Buddy and his siblings and cousins were kept busy working during the school year. His daughter and Buddy’s mother, Rose, had married Patrick “Patsy” Scotto, and at different points over the years the family ran an imported wine store, a funeral home, and four movie theaters
Community Telephone Numbers: Red Hook Councilman Menchaca..........................718 439-9012 Gowanus Councilman Lander...............................718 499-1090 Park Slope Councilman Levin................................718 875-5200 CB6 District Manager Hammerman ......................718 643-3027 76th Police Precinct, 191 Union Street Main phone .....................................................718-834-3211 Community Affairs............................................718 834-3207 Traffic Safety.....................................................718 834-3226 Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street........718 596-1956 Miccio Community Center, 110 East 9th Street........718 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St....................718 852-6771 Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St..............718 522-3880 NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight Street Main Phone....................................................(718) 265-7300 Community Affairs...........................................(718) 265-7313 Domestic Violence...........................................(718) 265-7310 Youth Officer...................................................(718) 265-7314 Auxiliary/Law Enforcement Explorer Coordinator .(718) 265-7378 Detective Squad...............................................(718) 265-7327 Lillie Marshall and Phaedra Thomas at an EPA outreach meeting at PS 15.
Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue
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August, 2014
Neighborhood wants different location for artist rehearsal space (continued from page 1)
to books and reading, which is part of the NYC Library charter, and has been since 1902. A major point of contention was the feeling of many that they were being presented with a done deal. It was acknowledged that this has been in the works for two years. It was acknowledged that little public outreach had been done, as Woloch meekly admitted. However, it is not as if nobody in Red Hook knew about this. A powerpoint slide indicated that Spaceworks had been in discussion with many other groups besides Cora Dance. These were Falconworks, Red Hook East and West Tenant Associations, Red Hook Initiative, Good Shepherd Services, Pioneer Works, Red Hook Rise, Red Hook Civic Association, Screwball Studios and Dance Theatre Etcetera. Unfortunately, not one of these groups,
consisting for the most part of organizations who might appreciate $12 per hour studio space, thought it important enough to bring this plan to the attention of the general community, or for that matter its community newspaper. Only Reg Flowers, of Falconworks, thought it even important enough to come before the library crowd and apologize for not doing a good job of communication. He poignantly said in public that “I failed by not telling others. We all have big mouths, but we didn’t open them wide enough.” Roy Sloane, member of the Land Use committee, was outraged by the shoddy presentation made by the library and Spaceworks. He questioned whether Spaceworks was necessary to help the library. “You brought us no numbers... I don’t believe you at all,” he screamed at Woloch. He asked whether the Grand Army Plaza people had any vision for the library. In the beginning, Woloch indeed spoke as if this were a done deal. He said that the renovation would begin within six months, and that the library would be closed for eight months. He said the work would not affect the outside look of the library. He did acknowledge that dialogue with the community had to be more “robust,” and that it would be from here on as the project progressed.
History of Spaceworks Spaceworks was spawned during the Bloomberg administration by the Department of Cultural Affairs. Mayor Bloomberg, always a paragon of efficiency and good business practices, had the idea that better use could be made of some of the city’s public buildings. He was always a fan of public/private partnerships, as practiced in Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Highline. Spaceworks mission is to use city money to be managed privately. Parkhill, who once worked in the Manhattan DA’s office as an investigative analyst in the labor racketeering unit, is not a public employee, but the organization receives all kinds of funding, including public. They were recently the subject of an investigative article by Michael White, in his blog Noticing New York. He was present at the meeting and questioned the legality of Spaceworks, and demanded to know how many more libraries they are planning to privatize. The current Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Tom Finkelpearl was at the meeting and spoke early. He said he had to leave to pick up his son. He professed his love for libraries, admitted to have had his house flooded during Sandy, and affirmed the fact that artists need affordable workspace in a city whose real estate values continue to jump by leaps and bounds.
Velmanette calls library a safe haven Assemblywoman Velmanette Montgomery, impeccably and creatively dressed as usual, spoke next and stayed for the whole long affair. “I am very concerned about what is happening to our libraries,” she began. She told the crowd that libraries have served as safe havens for children, especially in troubled neighborhoods like the ones she has represented. She pointed out that funding of libraries is a choice. She was troubled that the city has decided to spend $12 million to keep David Letterman in New York, while at the same time seeking to sell or bargain away their assets, including libraries. “Yet the city says it has no money. We make choices, and it troubles me greatly to see the city forcing libraries to create some revenue.” She finished by saying that she had no specific opinion on the proposed plan, that she showed up to get more information. She was true to her word. Fans had to be turned off in able to hear the speakers, and she sat in the hot library right through to the end.
Menchaca looking for ideas Councilman Carlos Menchaca gave Cora Dance a big plug, but did not commit one way or the other. He stressed the need for more communication and transparency on the library’s part.
CB 6 Land Use committee member Roy Sloane speaks to Assemblymembers Velmanette Montgomery and Felix Ortiz after the meeting.
Red Hook Star-Revue
RHI’s Sheryl Nash-Chisholm had definite views
Cora Dance’s Shannon Hummel pitches the Spacework plan to a questioning crowd. (photos by George Fiala)
on the subject. “We must find another building - the library is the library!” she exclaimed. Khadijah James, who has lived in Red Hook over twenty years, recalled the days when she couldn’t even get a cab to take her home. “Now it’s become tony. People who never would visit me are dying to come over. I don’t want to lose my community, and I don’t want to lose my library.” A woman sitting on the aisle named Yasmine Rahman had trouble keeping quiet, she was so exorcised. “Where are the books in this plan?” she exclaimed. The audience roared approval to this statement.
ter Fleming stopped pointing at people and had questioners line up in two rows. The back and forth went on and on. Lucy Koteen made an impassioned plea for sanity. The plan calls for library users to have ten hours per week in the space that would be occupied by Spaceworks. “Ten hours a week is absurd,” she shouted. Wally Bazemore kept pointing to the ceiling saying that in his opinion, if Spaceworks wanted part of the library,
Karen Broughton, who is working for Felix Ortiz, wondered how this plan could be in development for two years without anyone coming to the community before this. The fact is that the only reason that this was coming to the community at all was because Craig Hammerman and CB6 forced the library’s hand. Normally, committee decisions are rubber stamped by the board. But not in this case. Jerry Armer former CB6 chair recently reappointed to the board chided the library officials, saying that their presentation was lazy. “How can we make a
Cheryl Braxton listens to the pointed comments.
just build a second floor. This idea was also mentioned by John McGettrick. However, others cautioned, pointing the danger of losing the library entirely were the building made bigger. Bazemore also said that bookshelves and furniture, which the renovation plan included, could be gotten for free from IKEA, were they asked. He claimed that such donations were part of a community benefits agreement that was negotiated when they opened in Red Hook. Chris Hammett, Executive Director of Falconworks, was the only resident who seemed to think that private use of public space was a good idea. He pointed to Added Value and charter schools as examples of good privatization. He did say that he had no strong feelings about the Spaceworks plan, however.
Lydia Bellahcene speaks for PS 15 parents.
decision if the information is not here. I can’t believe that there isn’t a signed agreement with Spaceworks. What does it say?” He and others couldn’t believe that there was not a better representation of the plans. Basically, the library/ Spaceworks trio kept pointing around the room, saying this would be here and that there. Armer said they had to do better than that.
Lined up to ask questions There were so many people who wanted to speak that the committee chair Pe-
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As the clocked ticked towards 9 pm, Fleming decided it was time to decide what to do. A motion was made to ask the library and Spaceworks people to return to at least one or possibly two future committee meetings, bringing some more information, including real numbers, about their plan. No vote was taken this evening, and the previous approval was nullified. Glancing over at Parkhill, Fleming was quick to add that in the event that the library were to go ahead with their plans before coming back to the board, they would automatically go on record as not in favor of it.
August 2014, Page 5
Menchaca, NYCHA Promise Asbestos Safety in Public Housing Construction by Harrison Neuhaus
A
mid construction on Red Hook’s public housing developments, questions about asbestos have been circulating throughout the neighborhood. Resulting from an influx of calls, residents succeeded in grabbing the attention of their elected officials, as New York City Councilman Carlos Menchaca called a meeting to update locals on this process. This evening, Monday July 28, several officials from NYCHA and their affiliated construction management companies joined Menchaca at the Miccio Community Center to give a brief synopsis of their work, ensure safety, and address concerns. With a casually dressed Menchaca taking on the role of meeting moderator, the officials took the lead in explaining their work in the area. Brian Honan, director of NYCHA State and City Legislative Affairs, began first by hailing the positive direction of the construction. As many residents already know, Honan explained that Red Hook had not been receiving its fair share of state funding for a long time. Because of this he lauded the work as a good sign, proving that Red Hook is a vital city neighborhood receiving the support it deserves. In acknowledgement of the storm that has left its mark on so many Red Hook residents, Honan emphasized the importance of the work as part resiliency efforts in the post-Sandy neighborhood. Honan also mentioned the city’s commitment to Red Hook. He described a recent walking tour of the neighborhood with representatives including Menchaca, extolling it as an “unprecedented dialogue between NYCHA and elected officials.” Moving onto the practical issues of construction, the director briefly assured the room that all work was being done under state regulation. That said, he handed off to NYCHA’s construction management team. Steven McGrath of TDX Construction Corp. took over next. His company is contracted by NYCHA throughout the city as a third party construction management group. As a result, he oversees the construction on Red Hook’s houses on a day-to-day basis.
McGrath wasted no time in explaining the reason for the sudden work; the Department of Buildings requires that public housing facades be inspected and reported, and Red Hook’s houses needed to correct issues with exterior brickwork. Therefore, construction is relegated only to exterior work and roof repair. That said, McGrath began to answer the main question on everyone’s minds: asbestos. Asbestos has been in brickwork and housing construction since the 70s, offering insulation and fire retardation. Products containing the substance were only outlawed in the 90s, so many buildings in Red Hook do contain it today.
Dangerous when airborne Asbestos, McGrath assured, is only dangerous when airborne, and poses no threat to health and safety when sealed. However, the use of certain machinery in construction work releases particles into the air. Because of the danger that this may pose, NYCHA and the EPA
NYCHA’s Brian Honan, contractor Steven McGrath and Carlos Menchaca listen to NYCHA tenants at a community meeting in the cafeteria of the Miccio Center.
Several audience members criticized the lack of initial communication on the city’s part, but also offered a number of means of improving it. Suggestions included a door-to-door policy for tenants
“As many residents already know, Honan explained that Red Hook had not been receiving its fair share of state funding for a long time.” have strict guidelines for the removal of this material. Workers are required to put the products in containment units, seal them in plastic, and ship them away from the area each day. They are also required to monitor the quality of the air. McGrath even affirmed that all substances with unknown levels of the product are treated with caution as ‘ACM’ (asbestos-containing material). Having said their piece, the construction representatives opened the floor to questions under the direction of the councilman. Some of the first issues to arise regarded questions about construction oversight and concerns about communication. McGrath stated that several companies were overseeing the physical work, and encouraged tenants to speak to him or the superintendents with questions and problems.
who would be affected by the work, more flyers and posters in each building, and the selection of a neighborhood liaison to facilitate the spread of information.
Scaffolding Scaffolding was also a hot topic for several reasons. At first, the question was simply why it took so long for scaffolding to come down after work had been completed. Brian Honon stepped in to offer an answer, explaining the fact that work must be reviewed by the Department of Buildings before the project can be officially completed and the structures can come down. The workers occupying the scaffolding were also brought to attention; one resident found workers waking her up with talk of breakfast, staring into her home, and even watching her in bathroom on multiple occasions. While McGrath promised to investigate the matter and offered
his apologies, she lightened the mood with a request to “tell them that Ramadan is over, and they can bring me breakfast now if they’re looking through my window.” The night soon turned to a forum for more personal grievances, with representatives offering all the support they could. For every complaint about fencing off trash cans, the disturbing noises of construction, reported leaks roof leaks, and the entrance of dust into homes, NYCHA and TDX took down names and addresses with the promise to look into their troubles. While the asbestos point reemerged at several points throughout the meeting, McGrath reiterated his main points: asbestos is not harmful while it is sealed and, since work is only being done on the exteriors of the houses, all worries and questions about interior asbestos should go through the usual channel of building management. The meeting ended in frustration for some, and relief for many others. Some residents remained frustrated by the lack of communication preceding the meeting and some were still bitter about the inconveniences that the rebuilding was causing them. Still, fears about airborne asbestos were mostly assuaged, and the meeting did open the door for further communication and cooperation between NYCHA and its residents. As Councilman Menchaca concluded, “This is the beginning of a lot more.”
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August, 2014
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August 2014, Page 7
EDITORIAL:
For a better library, not a smaller one
T
he dictionary definition of colonialism is: the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
out a full knowledge of the community it believes they are helping.
In thinking about the pros and cons of the library/Spaceworks partnership that was presented before us at the Red Hook library this week, we have come to the conclusion that colonialism is an apt description of this plan.
Spaceworks has spent the last two Let’s concentrate on making our library a years grooming our acclaimed local world class institution. More books and library dance troupe, Cora Dance, to be a supactivities would make it more desirable. The porter of their plan. founder, better it is, the more utilized it will become. Cora’s Shannon Hummel, spoke before the lem. One result of this propaganda cam- public meeting. She framed this situation paign that took root in the Reagan era is as their seeking of community support that wealth is not taxed as it used to be. for Cora Dance, allowing Cora Dance to The idea of a Great Society has been re- better support the community. placed by Compassionate Conservatism. That is a false argument. This commu-
One one side is an economically disadvantaged neighborhood surrounded by economically advantaged neighbors. Red Hook has a history of being underserved by city government, and has had to fight to obtain relief from waste transfer stations, poor schools, bad policing and general indifference from the rest of the city. One remnant of those days is a library starved of books and operating hours.
The real villain is our tax policies. We live in an age where the superwealthy have gamed the system by convincing the masses that government is the prob-
On the other side is a public library system starved of funds, possibly mismanaged, attempting to maintain a boroughwide infrastructure of buildings housing books.
Faced with a shrinking budget, city agencies including Libraries, Parks and even the Housing Authority are forced to accede to the neoliberal idea of public/private partnerships.
There is now a third side - a private, nonprofit entity, composed of people who believe themselves to be do-gooders, looking to impose its vision of good with-
Spaceworks was set up with the mission of converting what they decide to be underutilized space in city properties into affordable practice space for artists.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
other RHSR staffers) at The 2013 Red Hook Prom.
(send yours to editor@redhookstar.com)
Quick reporting
Thank you for your quick coverage and for being there to report. To say that NOT ONE of the groups Spaceworks reached out to reported this to the general community is grossly false. Cora reported it over and over and only took the partnership because of community response. Cora has gone to great time and expense to let the entire community know and many of the people in the room last night who claimed they did not had been repeatedly communicated with by Cora about this possible partnership (including you and the Red Hook Star Revue) over the last two years. Every person on Cora’s email list of over 3000 people, Facebook page (nearly 5000 people) and other online media have received 6 specific announcements over the past two years describing Spaceworks, their mission, their leadership, and how Cora’s involvement would affect the library by taking space but significantly increasing its use and providing over 100 hours of free library programming. Secondly, Cora sent a full color, snail mail, hard copy letter announcing and describing our intended partnership with Spaceworks and plan to offer walkover to additional schools because of their support to our entire community mailing list of 2500 people (including you and Red Hook Star Revue) in December 2012 and October 2013. Thirdly, Cora publicly announced the library’s plans for the space and introduced Paul Parkhill to an audience of over 200 people (including you and
Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue
Fourthly, Cora announced and described the project publicly at ALL of our student concerts, open house events, performances and shows where many of the parents who spoke out against this last night and claimed not to know about this had earlier expressed to me excitement and their support of us taking on new spaces in the library, some had even donated money to make it happen, and many have repeatedly asked when it was going to happen, how they could be involved and why it was so repeatedly delayed. Some of these are individuals who were in the audience last night who claimed this was a surprise. In general, it was disappointing to have anyone who has ever been a part of Cora say they were not asked their opinion or notified. These are just some of the steps we have taken to involve this community we love and serve. And it is through these measures that we AGREED to the partnership because we were ENCOURAGED by our community members to do so, many of the same individuals who fought this last night. I agree that more work needed and needs to be done by Spaceworks to talk with my neighbors but for our part, we moved forward on this because we DID ask. Perhaps people were not always carefully listening when we did. Life is busy and we miss things sometimes but on our part at least we really did make our best effort to ask for opinions before moving forward and let people know along the way as plans grew. Thank you for documenting what happens in Red Hook. I invite you to cover any and all things we do in the future and wish you, the Red Hook Community and the RHSR well. - Shannon Hummel, Artistic Director of Cora Dance
They are basically a real estate company which uses a mix of public and private funds to manage public spaces. They are headquartered in a renovated building in Gowanus, and no doubt view Red Hook as a gentrifying area to exploit.
it’s practice space for $9 per hour, and is not privy to the NYC capital budget, as is Spaceworks, whose bribe to the library is $650,000 of NYC capital funds. The Red Hook Library already has over a million dollars allocated to it for renovations. Spaceworks’ supporters claim that the library is underutilized so it should be downsized, and receive rental income for half it’s space. We believe that the Brooklyn Public Library system should do a better job at its mission, which is “to ensure the preservation and transmission of society’s knowledge, history and culture. “ Nowhere in this mission statement does it say that they should rent out space to anyone. Let’s concentrate on making our library a world class institution. More books and library activities would make it more desirable. The better it is, the more utilized it will become.
nity loves Cora Dance, and wants it to remain in Red Hook and continue to provide a platform for local children to excel. But this community also wants, and deserves, a world class public library. The Spaceworks plan would diminish the library footprint, replace almost half of it with a practice space renting for $12 per hour. Cora Dance, by the way, rents out
This is not to say that Cora Dance is unworthy of our support. Real estate developers will become rich exploiting the now desirable Red Hook real estate market. That is where Cora and other arts organizations should seek additional support. It should not be at the expense of helping a lazy library system to achieve quick and easy answers to their problems.
Taking Back also productive
their contact information will be invited to partake in continued discussions in an online forum and a follow-up meeting for more face-to-face discussion will be scheduled later this month. It was interesting to see how non-planning people took up the task of community planning and this night did present an approach that was far more real than the typical schoolish-styled game-like tasks planning folks typically ask community participants to take part in. And given that we just celebrated the 4th, I imagine the first meeting of the Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia probably went a lot like this one. - website comment by attendee.
I have attended all Bridging Gowanus meetings including the more intimate group discussions centered around the “shared values.” While there was significant overlap in attendees of both Bridging Gowanus and Take Back Gowanus there were some new faces and new voices. Something that I hadn’t heard raised at the Bridging meetings was public safety. This is a critical question given that not only out hospital but our firehouse have closed. I think being able to hear what everyone had to say was productive and worthwhile. I found it much better than being forced to sit at assigned tables in acoustically challenged rooms. It is disappointing that our council member is unwilling to engage in this type of open dialogue with his constituents. Had he done so it would have gone a long to fostering goodwill with the community. - comment by lngowanus on our website, www.star-revue.com
Reminiscent of Philadelphia
Common Ground can only be reached by first putting all the issues on the table; that in itself is an ambitious task for a 100+ people to do in one evening, and the meeting did accomplish that. Time did not permit discussion of all the issues collected under the first portion of the meeting, because there simply are a lot of issues. Time ran short before most of the enumerated issues could be discussed, and the meeting wrapped up in how to proceed given that there was not time for the third part of the meeting. But one of the ideas you could hear from many speakers in the group was that dynamic manufacturing and commercial activities going on in the Gowanus presently is very good and should be allowed to continue to prosper, and that insufficient infrastructure is presently a problem which should not be made any worst with new zoning allowances. I understand that participants who left
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Downright insulting
Nice write up, however, I don’t feel it accurately represented what happened last night. In particular, the following statement: “Tensions rose and tempers eventually flared between audience members and the hosts themselves. As Gannet and Alexiou struggled to keep on topic, attendees began to turn on them.” The real takeaway was the amount of agreement in the room. What happened was that almost all participants were in agreement on a few points: No re-zoning for high-rise luxury condo development along the Gowanus; more studies and investigations are needed before any rezoning should proceed; manufacturing and industrial uses should be preserved and encouraged to grow; and the community must continue having access to the canal. Most commendably, Joseph is committed to an open and transparent process, which he knew could get a little messy. But it’s definitely preferable to the closed and opaque process of Bridging Gowanus, which seems to have attempted to neatly drive the community’s consensus to a pre-determined outcome. It was, unfortunately, a manipulative and downright insulting process. website comment from Brooklyn Bob.
August, 2014
Mark’s
Corne r That Crazy World of Politics
I have been offered and accepted an opportunity to continue writing about the political scene in Brownstone Brooklyn, even though I will be stepping aside as the president of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats while I remain a general and executive board come September.
by George Fiala
Bad filing
Paige Bellenbaum, who was running unnoposed as female district leader in the 52nd Assembly District, has been tossed off the ballot because of a technicality. The people who filed her forms neglected to attached a required cover sheet. Paige is a member of Community Board six and also the Independent Neighborhood Democrats. We have always been impressed by her public utterances, and our political process would be better with her. Hopefully, the powers that be will pick her for the seat, as nobody else has chosen to run.
Assembly races
The big elections in local politics is the September primary, not the November election. That is because it is generally a given that the Democrat who wins the primary in September will win the general election, as Republicans are still weak locally. The national Republican party seems determined to preserve this, as what flies in much of the country flops in our more liberal city. There are two local NY State Assembly races going on. The 51st AD, which includes Red Hook and Sunset Park, has been represented by Felix Ortiz for over twenty years. This year’s race is reminiscent of last year’s City Council race in which incumbent Sara Gonzalez was blindsided by newcomer Carlos Menchaca. Menchaca won with not only the support, but the mentoring and campaign savvy of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Velazquez must feel frustrated with the impotence of Democrats in Washington. Over two years ago she proudly proclaimed immigration reform her major priority. Unfortunately, there’s not much she can do about it as long as the Republic majority prevails. One thinks she might be enlisted to help Democrats around the country win seats in Congress, but instead she has been concentrating on making her presence felt locally. Ortiz is opposed by a relatively unknown member of Sunset Park’s Community Board 7, Caesar Zuniga, who like Menchaca is a Mexican-American. He is a former member of the Passaic Board of Education. He has raised over $50,000 thus far, with over $17,000 coming from New Jersey. Velazquez says that she is supporting Ortiz, however, she has campaigned with him so far, and has not put her support in writing. Menchaca tells everyone that being a newcomer, he is remaining neutral in this race. People tell this paper that in fact Menchaca and Velazquez are working
Red Hook Star-Revue
for Zuniga behind the scenes. We’ll see what happens as the campaign heats up this month. The other Assembly race is the 52nd, which includes Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and parts of Gowanus and Park Slope. Jo Ann Simon, Boerum Hill activist, lawyer, and female District Leader since 2004, is outgoing assembly member Joan Millman’s choice for her job. Pete Sikora is a union lobbyist who has spent a lot of time in Albany. He has worked for NYPIRG and Consumer Reports. A DeGraw Street resident, he is friends with Brad Lander, Daniel Squadron and Steve Levin, who have become his main supporters in the race. Simon touts her opposition to former Democratic boss Vito Lopez, which was no doubt helpful in getting the enthusiastic support of Nydia Velazquez. She also lists Carlos Menchaca among her long list of endorsers, despite the fact that in the other assembly race, Menchaca claims he is too new to make endorsements. Sikora shows contributions of almost $100,000. The list is peppered with large union contributions, which is expected due to his profession. Simon’s filing shows a little less than $75,000. Her two largest contributions are from Nydia Velazquez and Joan Millman. Both candidates share similar views on local and national issues, both being progressive Democrats. It will be interesting to see their contrasts in campaigning. We are expecting campaign appearances and hopefully some debates. While good for the post office, local mailings, which both candidates have started, are usually prepared by professional PR companies, and don’t necessarily tell the voter how effective the candidate might be.
I
n New York City politics it is close to impossible to unseat an incumbent elected office holder and that is particularly true with respect those state officeholder’s who haven’t yet been indicted. An incumbent has the advantage of name recognition, a staff singing her virtues, free mailings, and better funding. When you add to that a redistricting process where the incumbent has selected an electorate predisposed to her, well it just isn’t a level playing field. When it comes to City Council races at least there are term limits and matching funds for campaign contributions. There are no such countervailing factors at the state level, yet. That leaves us to look at the non-incumbent race that touches upon the area where I have a passing familiarity. In the 52nd Assembly District where Pete Sikora takes on JoAnne Simon and the other perennial candidate, Doug Biviano (the potential spoiler in the race). Among the consultants and the politically experienced people with whom I speak Doug’s appearance on the ballot will be of some limited help to Simon. JoAnne Simon, although not technically an incumbent, has some of those advantages. She is a party functionary, as a district leader, and as such is endorsed by the head of the county organization. She also has name recognition from her previous runs for a city council seat and for district leader. As a largely self-financed candidate, having lent her campaign $100,000.00, JoAnne Simon has a substantial war chest. Pete Sikora has raised substantial sums with much of his money coming from the Communication Workers Union and its members. This isn’t a surprise given that Pete is an economist for the CWA. JoAnne Simon is a practicing attorney. Pete Sikora, who I continue to strongly support, must be viewed as a formidable but underdog candidate in the race. Councilmembers Lander and Levin, State Senator Squadron, the Working Families Party, along with IND and a number of labor unions, have now endorsed Pete Sikora. Congresswoman Velasquez, Assemblywoman Millman, and State Senator Montgomery along with LID and CBID have endorsed Simon. On the surface it looks like the guys against the girls, but at a less superficial level, it is the newer elected officials versus the party establishment. I am particularly supportive of the WFP and its endorsed candidates at this juncture because WTP refused to rubber stamp the endorsement of the Governor and got a pledge to push for Democratic Party control of the State Senate. On the heels of Democratic control there will likely be passage of the women’s rights agenda and campaign finance reform that have been languishing until now. Sikora is expected to do well in Park Slope while Simon is expected to well in the Heights with the other neighborhoods up for grabs. Simon and Sikora have each sent out their first pieces of campaign literature with Pete emphasizing things he has done and JoAnne emphasizing a testimonial. Our mailboxes should be full from now until early September.
Dealing with the entrenched power bases in Albany is dependent on the political acumen and personal style, which can best be judged in person. All these candidates should be asked why they desire membership in a group that only receives 25% approval from voters and is generally perceived as corrupt and ineffectual.
LICH De Blasio update
Last issue we issued a challenge to Bill de Blasio. His pr people circulated a letter to the community touting his positive efforts to preserve healthcare at the LICH campus. So far we haven’t heard back, but maybe it was because he was on vacation. The hospital is still closed. We miss it and wish our politicians would do something to at least keep hope alive.
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August 2014, Page 9
“Celebrating Red Hook” brings out commmunity’s best by George Fiala
T
he first time that the Red Hook Star-Revue attempted a festival, in 2011, Hurricane Irene interceded. The weather could not have been more perfect on July 12th of this year as the first annual Celebrating Red Hook festival brought everyone together for a great community celebration. Produced by the Star-Revue’s Kimberly Gail Price, IKEA’s Erie Basin Park was transformed into a trade show showing off the talents of local craftspeople - a full day of music and dance on a Fairway sponsored stage, speeches from local politicians Carlos Menchaca, Felix Ortiz and Nydia Velazquez, all topped off with IKEA’s annual fireworks. Browsing through the vendor tables lining the park, one could find natural homemade jams, handmade knives crafted from antique wood files, locally
produced wines (featuring a free taste), body oils, jewelry, printing, homemade treats for your pet, local artists displaying their paintings, handmade glass objects and much more. Some of the vendors included All Natural Dog Treats, Alexander Masyk, Art & Anvil Liberty, Inc., Cora Dance, Ethan Rosenduft, Fairway, Gerard Barbot, I’m so Brooklyn, Jacob Mann, Jewelry by Joyce, Nat Sherman, Pier Glass, Pitt Cooking Display, Ready Corner, Red Hook Winery, RHAP, Made with Love Oils, Elite Fitness, Sheweld, Quinn Corbin, and Theo Nazz. Because of the generosity of IKEA in donating the space, there was no charge for a table. Additional generosity was provided by all the local musicians, who provided their music free of charge. And much needed cold water, juices and lemonade were donated by Fairway. While none of the bands that performed are world famous, the music was world class. The music started a bit after 12 noon, and continued until dark. Many of the performers this afternoon are regulars at the Star-Revue weekly jams, Monday nights at Rocky Sullivans, 34 Van Dyke Street.
way musician. Their music brought to mind Weather Report and Earth Wind and Fire, and mesmerized the audience. John Baab is a Carroll Gardens native who tours the country with the band Reign of Kindo. His own trio performs a mix of funk and rock. “They wrecked the place,” exclaimed Khadija James. Cora Dance is Red Hook’s local dance troupe. They performed a dance in front of the stage. Happs is local performer Tyquan Carter, who raps to prerecorded music which he composes and records. In addition, he served as the soundman for Celebrating Red Hook. Congresswoman Nydia The country rock band Union closed the daylong Velazquez enjoyed meeting musical program. the musicians and vendors, Onstage, she said that Celebrating Red and remarked that the day was reminis- Hook demonstrated what our watercent of what she saw on a recent trip front should be like all the time. She to Amsterdam. “Their whole water- hoped that this would become an annufront was filled with music,” she said. al event, something that was confirmed later by IKEA’s Lorna Montalvo. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, fresh from playing baseball with the Wounded Warriers that morning in Bay Ridge, and Councilman Carlos Menchaca also spoke to the crowds at Celebrating Red Hook.
Running Thoughts is a punk-styled band headed by drummer Ozzie Martinez. They played a Ramones tribute, inspried by the recent death of Tommy Ramone, the band’s last surviving member. Tynisha Cruz sold her homemade jams, helped here by her aunt, Khadija.James.
Berst is a jazz ensemble performing original music of Robert Barnes, a veteran of touring jazz groups and a former Broad-
IKEA fireworks oohed and aahed
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The event was free to the public. It was promoted by a segment on NBC News 4, and Channel 12, who reported on the event as it occurred.
Outdoor Seating
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August, 2014
Red Hook Park: A world-class recreation area by Peter Axtman
O
n a humid, overcast midsummer Saturday late morning, Red Hook Recreation Area is quiet except for the bookends on the East and West sides where the old and the young of the neighborhood play.
A mania for racquetball
with a partner. Instead, he and all players simply look out for which court has the shortest wait, call next and play with whoever else is up. With about 30 players and 24 active spots, down time is short – only long enough to shake off the most recent loss before bouncing back on another court.
Where Bay and Columbia Streets meet to form the park’s elbow, a few longtimers are playing their first games of racquetball – getting in their warm-up games before the rest of the crew fills up the courts.
The players look like their birthdays span from the 1960s to 1980s. The roster of players are all male, save one woman, who takes as much gruff as her counterparts and keeps them on their toes on the court.
A few hours later, a regular player who goes by Sal will explain that the early risers begin playing at 8 a.m. and the games will last until 4 p.m.
At the other end of the park, connected by a sleepy stretch of picnics being set up and a summer league high school baseball game, is perhaps a more crowded scene composed of young 9-, 10- and 11-year old soccer players. Though a large crowd orbits the two games playing on a split pitch, the scene doesn’t have the vibrancy or camaraderie that ooze from the racquetball courts.
If they weren’t tucked into a small corner of an 58 acre park, the trash-talk, dance music and the speed of the games could draw a bigger crowd from curious onlookers in the park. Situated as it is, the most lively and competitive – even if the only stakes are pride – activity is a hidden gem, watched only by peers who have been playing for years. The games are a whir of racquets twapping the tiny ball, music that brings to mind a roller skating party and players hollering simultaneously on six different courts. Seated on the proper bench, visitors can keep and eye on at least four, while catching glimpses of a fifth game. Sal, like most players, doesn’t come
Where the racquetball games were a cohesive set made up of six interlocking games, the soccer fields have the feel of a carnival – so many attractions fill the periphery that the central entertainment is almost unnoticed.
It’s not FIFA but its fun The crowds on the edge float in their smaller territories, filling the time in between games with laughter, soccer practice and eating. In one corner, Brooklyn
port stations will keep them comfortable and provide a base camp with their little athletes compete on the fields. The rest of the field fringe is replete with coaches holding pre-game team, players marching to the food trucks after a game and countless people wearing jerseys of the most famous teams in the world from Real Madrid to Barcelona, Manchester United, Argentina and more. The chances of any of the players in Red Hook going on to wear professional jerseys are slim, but for at least four mornings, the players can dream while waiting for the next game. Across the street from the “Kids World Cup of Red Hook,” the neighborhood pool is open. The Sol Goldman Pool, which first opened in the 1930s, offers plenty of space on this morning. In the lap lanes, which are separated from the open swimming area, a handful of heads bob up and down, while most of the swimmers splash around in the 4’ foot deep open swim area.
A couple of local racquetball aficionados.
Italian youth team players are working through a series of dynamic stretches in a back-and-forth line, while the New York Lions gather round to prepare for an upcoming game a few feet away. Behind the goal of one of the two games, a handful of young kids on the same team practice their penalty kicks into the back of an in-play nets. After about 20 minutes of the kids pretending to be international stars Neymar Jr., Gareth Bale, Ronaldo and the like, they surprise no one but themselves as they start to sail the balls over the goals and into the field of play. Families, meanwhile, line the sides of the fields with their day stations of blankets, umbrellas and snacks. Their sup-
Practicing penalty kicks. (photos by George Fiala)
Buddy Scotto learned driving at the Clement Garage (continued from page 4)
on Court Street. To keep them safe and off the streets during summer vacation, all of the children stayed with him at his summer home on Long Island. There Buddy Scotto, swam, played, and caught frogs until school began again. Back at the garage, Vincent mediated disputes among his family and customers. “I grew up being taught to help people in the neighborhood,” said Buddy. Vincent also let his grandson learn to drive in his car, since Buddy was strictly prohibited from using his father Patsy’s 1936 Oldsmobile. Buddy described the experience as “learning how to drive and then thinking I was a grown-up because I knew how to drive a car.” He said the purchase of the garage had a major impact on his life.
instrumental support in garnering funds for the treatment of the Gowanus Canal and construction of Fulton Buddy today Mall. He was also a founding member of the Carroll Gardens Civic Association, and his activism took him to the 1976 Republican National Convention and Ford’s White House. He remains a controversial figure for many, but there is no question of whether Carroll Gardens would be the same without him.
The staff are helpful and plenty. They say the more intimate crowd this particular morning is a nice respite from the busy days that they say can fill the pool during its open time, from June 27-Labor Day.
Adults reign in the afternoon By mid afternoon, the park’s balance will shift. Adult soccer weekend warriors have replaced the kids on the eastern fields, restoring the standard sized field from its dissected morning edition. The picnic tables lining Bay Street have transformed from a few people stringing decorations and lighting the grill, to clans of family and friends celebrating birthdays over the barbecue. The one constant is racquetball, which continues to bring energy, friendship, competition and some good-natured ribbing to a small nook of the park, weekend after weekend, year after year.
New NYCHA head tours Red Hook Houses photos by Dan Wiley
In an event closed to the press, new NYCHA head Shola Olatoye took a walking tour of the Houses accompanied by local pols, NYCHA officials Brian Honan and Cecil House, and East and West Tenant Presidents. They discussed boilers, asbestos and the NYCHA farm.
After Vincent Clementi died, the property was sold and split up among his children. The building, from which hangs a sign with the logo of Aggressive Energy & Mechanical Group, is now used for office space and apartments. For his family, “There’s no way that I could have done though, the Clement garage will be reall this,” Buddy said, alluding to his membered as the place where it all began.
Red Hook Star-Revue
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August 2014, Page 11
RHI jumps on the disaster preparedness bandwagon
by Clarissa Sauter fter hurricane Sandy, the Red will “knock on doors” and collect inforHook Houses were left devas- mation from their respective residents tated. Many elderly and dis- and assess their needs before and after a abled residents struggled to survive in crisis occurs. The fate of the plan is up abysmal conditions without basic ne- to NYCHA residents themselves. All cessities like electricity, heat and hot members will have a role in a crisis situwater for four weeks, said Alisa Pizarro, ation. “Every person has something to Lead Community Organizer with the bring to this group,” said Pizarro. Red Hook Coalition. Childcare was provided for those with I spoke with Pizarro and her colleague, children, as was a translator for fifteen Community Building Coordinator Spanish speakers who attended the Catherine McBride, last week. They’ve meeting last week. spearheaded an effort to improve com- News of the group’s formation spread munity preparedness and safety in the by word of mouth, and the prominent Red Hook Houses by creating a ten leaders in the houses spread it quickly. week program to organize a group of lo- It also certainly didn’t hurt that councal leaders under the Long-Term Com- cilmember Felix Ortiz came to the regismunity Recovery Plan. The program is tration event. “The work did itself,” the supported by grants to the Red Hook activists said. Coalition from the American Red Cross McBride holds a Master’s degree from and the Brooklyn Community Founda- Hunter. She started her work with the tion, and began last Wednesday with an RHC as an intern and when Sandy hit event attended by ninety-one people, she became part of the recovery effort. 95% of them residents of the Houses. She returned a few months ago and has The latest session included the Office been putting the program together with of Emergency Management and was fo- Pizarro since she returned. cused on assisting individuals in creat- Pizarro, who also worked with the Soing their own preparedness plans. Next cial Justice Fellows, is a resident of the week’s will be conducted in association Houses. Her interest in the organization with the Department of Health. Each began when two of her children became meeting will focus on a different topic. some of RHI’s first peer educators, and “We want to have our own plan,” said now she has worked there for two years. McBride. The primary driving force of The ten week program is not open to the group is self determination. So far, new members, but an interest list has the group has decided that each build- been created and anyone interested can ing in the housing complex is to have ask to be put on that list by calling the its own representative, someone who Red Hook Initiative at (718) 858 6782 .
A
YOUTH BASEBALL LEAGUE FINISHES FIRST SEASON UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF SAYO’S IAN YOUNGE The Red Hook Youth Baseball League concluded another season this past July 19 with its annual trophy day and barbecue. In addition to the young ballplayers in attendance, State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and City Councilman Carlos Menchaca were present for the ceremonies. Assemblyman Ortiz is a longtime supporter of the league and the newly elected Councilman Menchaca has pledged to support the league as well. The local Fairway supermarket donated the food and beverages for the BBQ portion of the celebration. The league was run this year in a partnership between the Red Hook Community Justice Center and the SAYO (Student Athlete Youth Organization) Grays, under the leadership of Ian Younge. This partnership focuses on combining sports and education to help area youth achieve their goals. SAYO has helped over Felix Ortiz stands with two champi40 young ballplayers get into college ons at the trophy table. on baseball scholarships in recent years. Over 150 area youth from ages 6-12 signed up for the Red Hook Youth Baseball League this year and SAYO president Ian Younge intends on keeping the players active with winter practices leading up to next year’s season in order to continue refining skills. For more information on signing up for the league, please contact Luz Gonzalez at the Red Hook Community Justice Center on Visitation place or email her at: lugonzal@nycourts.gov
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Dikeman Street sculpture garden will open to the public this September
T
ony walks with a gait that is unique in this neck of the woods. No slouching stroll to buy a slab of Blueberry Buckle at Baked. Even though his property is next door and even if he has fifty feet to cover between there and his sculpture garden named the ‘Golden Anvil’ - he hurries. In September Antonio Cuonzo will open his Italian Sculpture Garden with an entrance on Dikeman right behind 361 Van Brunt. Tony was 18 when he came over from the little ancient stone compound of Palo de Colle just outside the Apulian city of Bari and he had no time for cards. “You don’t look Italian.” I brazenly noted during our interview, “Are you really, I mean really Italian Italian?” He is fair, white haired, blue eyes, sharp nose, and that wonderful purposeful chin. “Well, you know, Italians can be fair,” he noted. “My town goes back further than the Greeks” Tony said. “But we still have named streets for them anyway.” This too is true. Southern Italy was restive, overrun, overruled, ransacked and helpless against the Greeks, the French, the Spanish even the Moors, for years and years. Tony, one of seven childre, needed to work from the time he was 16. His family lived in a three storied stone house with a water cistern in the basement called, “la piscina’ to collect the rain water. It was ancient and an ancient idea, and not just a simple hole dug in the ground like we might do here in Red Hook, today, but a small architectural masterpiece of arched vaulting and masonry lined receptacles. The ground floor was rented out to a clothing store and the second floor was his mother’s kitchen, “Old fashioned with enormous cauldrons and wood burning under them. We ate orecchete with broccoli rabe. Meat was expensive so we had mostly vegetables, lots of them brought to my father, who was the blacksmith. They offered this to make him charge them less or to settle bills.” He lived to be 94.” And Dad ruled. He sent his older son Gaetano to Venezuela for black-smithing when that country opened its doors to Italian immigrants. He apprenticed Tony to a truck mechanic in Bari. Two years later, Tony emigrated. “If you wanted to come over, you had to be vouched for. You had to prove that there was either a job waiting or
by Alexandra Corbin that someone would support you. You needed the papers to prove it. That’s why we all went to live with my sister in Bensonhurst. She had married an Italian American and for five thousand dollars they built them a big house.” The weekend before Tony arrived his brother hustled a job for him on Van Brunt Street. He worked at a German owned diesel mechanic shop. This was over fifty years ago. I had to interrupt again. It’s a bad habit in general but pretty good if you want to squeeze the last drop of memory out of your subject. I needed to know why he made the fifty enormous welded bigger than life statues, some of them sitting behind Botta Di Vino, Baked and Gallery Small New York. You can peer through the painted railing on Dikeman Street and see the twenty foot dinosaur and the emblematic skyline of New York forged out of steel and copper. “I never think of myself as an artist but I couldn’t help myself. I get pulled to it.” “I forged the first pieces maybe fifteen twenty years ago in my Ironsmith shop on 20th Street and Third Avenue. First a sombrero shaped metal table with a wood top. I loved to watch the kids come by and look at them. That made me feel good. Then the inspectors ‘come by and tell me’ I can’t do it. It’s a fire hazard. So I move everything to my big barn in Bloomfied just outside Oneonta. Then I realize, ‘Tony, you an idiot. Who can see it here. All the trucks zip by, the farmers don’t care. And that’s why it’s here.” Tony is a man on a mission. A widower, he moves like the diesel trucks he first fixed on Van Brunt, purposefully and straight ahead. Some of his work is in stainless steel and iron and requires protection from the elements. He has meticulously forged a seamless six foot statue of the Saint which stands behind Botta di Vino as we speak. I wanted to know why he sculpted the modern saint, a Neopolitan himself, born in nearby Pietrelcina in 1887. A Capuchin monk clearly modeling himself after Saint Francis including the stigmata, Pio spent most of his time healing and soothing the Apulians in and around Bari. “I don’t believe in that stuff about miracles and superstitions.” Then Tony told me this story. First he asked me not to tell too much about him, he’s a private and very circumspect man. I hope I have honored that to some extent. Fame for him is having a child briefly enjoy his work. Actually, fame is not on his to do list. He and his wife Rosemarie lived for fifty years in the same house in Brooklyn. They worked together, up every morning at 7 and to the Iron shop by 7:30. She kept the books. One day she asked Tony to turn on the lights. “But the lights were all on.” He took her to every specialist he could. Work suffered and he didn’t care. She became despondent, “Tony, could you live this way?” she asked. One fancy doctor in Manhattan said to her face, “If I can’t cure my own brother
Red Hook Star-Revue
These are some of the pieces that will be part of the garden for public enjoyment.
of blindness what makes you think I can do it for you?” Imagine, he said, a doctor saying that to her face? A friend of his told him that someone’s son in the welding business a few years back had tossed some acid in the garbage and sustained injures from the explosion. He had lost his vision and his hearing. They took him all the way back to Foggia and the mountain top retreat where Padre Pio lived to have the holy man lay his hands on the teen’s head, “You will see again.” Upon their egress out of the sanctuary, the young man began to sense light. Little by little even his hearing came back. Tony never believed in this. He was, after all, American by now. Then a friend told him there was a new shrine to the recently deceased Padre Pio in of all places Barto, Pennsylvania. Off they went, to a reliquary of Pio’s glove - nee Francesco - encased in glass. You pay some money and kiss the glass. They swoop down, Windex it off and up comes another supplicant. “When I get back and walk in the door the phone is ringing. I don’t want to pick it up. I’m tired. ‘No, pick it up it could be one of the kids,’ she says.” So he picked it up. It was a friend with yet another recommendation for another expert doctor in Manhattan. ‘Why bother?’ he thought. But his wife newly hopeful became insistent. When they finally went it was stacked high with all the x-rays and comments of previous geniuses.
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“What’s all that?” “What other doctors say,” Tony answered. “I do my own work. Let’s take a look.” Then after tests, “A little spot here.” A small blood flow anomaly. Tiny. He fixed it. One day not long after the operation on the one eye that could be saved, she saw light at her son’s house over Easter Dinner. She waited several hours to tell Tony because she couldn’t believe it for certain. Then little by little day following day, her sight pushed back. “So that’s why you made the statue. Because you believe in him now?” “No, Sandy, I still don’t. But the coincidence, ya know, the coincidence....” His face was remembering, there’s no telling how his heart was feeling. Come September, you too can visit Padre Pio, The Dinosaur, Faces, the Manhattan skyline and his personal favorite. An enormous twenty foot twisted stainless knot with a face atop. It took him three tries to get the sculpture right. “You think it’s easy twisting stainless steel?” That’s all he really needed to say about his work of art. And it’s enough.
No job too big or too small
Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, Hot Water Heaters,
Pool Heaters.
B & D HEATING 507 Court Street 718 625-1396 August 2014, Page 13
BWAC’s two current shows draw big crowds and sales Photos and text by Micah B. Rubin
A
rt is an endless conversation and the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition’s two summer shows seek to spur dialogue and challenge visitors to ask themselves: “What is Color” and explore the theme of a world “Out of Order.” The Summer Group Art Show features more than 800 BWAC member’s photographs, sculptures, paintings and a variety of other medium with many exploring themes relating to a world “Out of Order.” “There are just so many ways the world is out of order. We though it was a good theme because there are so many ways it can be addressed,” says Judith Eloise Hooper, the BWAC gallery manager.
prove the Red Hook community. Not all works are heavy though. In John Strohbeen’s “…And There Was Light” a mirrored orb reflects time and space while a viewing hole in its center hides a Tesla coil’s spindly fingers. One of my favorites is a series of wood panels by Bernette Rudolph that uses small twigs and wood discs to blend fluid patterns and shapes into rustic, postmodern mosaics.
Rockwell subverted
Another favorite are Beth Costello’s Norman Rockwellesque paintings that Ian Trask’s “Fabric of the Cosmos” received Honorable Mention in BWAC’s National Juried Art Show subvert Rockwell’s wholesome idealized purchase and sales were strong on the opened on July 26 and runs until August “Art is a language that is powerful be- Americana scenes with big guns (ex.: show’s opening day, Judith says. “In this 17th. Gallery hours are Saturdays and cause it can reach inside and pull out a gun-toting teacher, a father and son economy you have to be able to reach Sundays from 2:00-6:00pm. Brooklyn of you what you need to make change,” shooting an assault rifle and even Santa everyone and give everyone the possi- Waterfront Artist Coalition 499 Van Brunt with a sidearm nestled in his belt). she says. bility of owning art,” she says. Street, 718.596.2506, www.bwac.org What is Color? Hazmat isolation unit “The most important thing BWAC’s is to give artists the ability to s e c o n d show their work and sell,” Jushow, the dith says. “A couple of times National I’ve had artists come up to me Juried Art and say: ‘You don’t know how Show, cuimportant it is to me that this rated by the exists so I can show what it is Solomon I do.’ ” R. Gugg e n h e i m BWAC’s Group Art Show April Johnson stands before her piece Tryponosomiasis I, part of BWAC’s National Juried Art Show. M u s e u m ’ s and National Juried Art Show Assistant Curator, DON’T MISS A SPECIAL MULTI Lauren Hinkson MEDIA SCREENING OF SWEET features 100 DREAMS ON AUGUST 9 pieces from Michelle Hartney “Sylvia Plath” - part of the National Juried Art Show a national The artist Sylvia Nagy’s Agent Orange pool of artists that ask the question: series casts a wide net to address many of “What is Color?” societal issues. Her work is housed in a A riot of color literally and figuratively blacked out room made of garbage bags floods of the canvas while wearing the and feels like a hazmat isolation unit. 3D glasses that are part of Steve MaUltraviolet lights illuminate the mixed son’s brightly colored camouflage work media canvases and sculptures made of “Canyon long 5d”. metal, porcelain and dayglo paints that Michelle Hartney seems to mock the pop off the canvas like a Gowanus oil military in “Sylvia Plath”, a work that slick on water. The works explore enuses military service awards in pink and vironmental poisons like pollution, cell red tones and gold, silver and bronze phone microwaves and the radioactive medals to create an almost pixelized water pouring into the Pacific Ocean in flag. itness the power of music and ice cream in a BWAC presented Fukushima, Japan, she says. screening of Sweet Dreams, a documentary telling the story of And Harry Greenwald’s “Cowboy” Local fundraising aspect Rwanda’s first and only women’s drum troupe, Ignoma Nshya. turns pill bottles into a cowboy sculpFor the works in the juried “Out of Orture seemingly ready to pounce on his The documentary follows the troupe, whose members left behind the culder” section, 25% of sales will be donatimaginary trusty steed if only not burtural divisions that led to Rwanda’s genocide and joined together in the ed to the Red Hook Community Farm dened by its weighty pill regimen. spirit of creation and collaboration. and the Red Hook Community Justice All works on display are available for Founded by Kiki Katese, Kiki decided she could do more to aid reconciliCenter, organizations working to imation and with the aid of troupe members and Brooklyn’s Blue Marble Ice Cream, who traveled to Rwanda to help get the business running, created Rwanda’s first and only ice cream shop. Outdoor Movie Night on The whole community is invited, adThe documentary illustrates the power of music and ice cream as the Lorraine Street mission is free, and viewers can bring women work to create a new future. There will be free showing of the Dis- their own blankets and chairs. Children ney movie Frozen at BumblebeesRus, a must be accompanied by an adult. The screenings are on August 9th 2014 at 11:00am, 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. daycare facility at 76 Lorraine Street. The film’s directors, Lisa and Rob Fruchtman will be interviewed at 12:30 Frozen is a 2013 3D computer-animatpm followed by a drum performance by Michael Markus & Batala. At 3:30 The movie will be shown in their back- ed musical fantasy-comedy film. The pm, Yogui Rosairo & Jason Spirit will perform at BWAC – 499 Van Brunt yard at 6:00 pm on Friday, August 15. movie was inspired by Hans Christian Street - Micah B. Rubin Entrance is through the front door. Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen. The show’s works delve into homelessness, poverty, hunger and many pressing local and global problems.
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August, 2014
Head Start Program Returns to Red Hook
September 1st, 2014 will mark the return of Head Start to the Red Hook Brooklyn Community. Head Start was having a huge impact on Pre School education until Super Storm Sandy devastated the neighborhood causing the program to close. Project Social Care Head Start recognizes the need for the well-funded Federal Head Start program to be brought back to the community and with the help of neighborhood groups and local politicians including Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez we are happy to announce that we will be able to bring back the Crown Jewel of Pre School Education to the deserving Red Hook Community. The Head Start program will operate out of the BumbleBeesRus pre-school building located at 76 Lorraine Street and will welcome children 3-5 years of age. Within the family oriented setting the emphasis will be on Education, Physical Development, Nutrition, Health & Safety and Services for Children with Disabilities. We encourage every member of the community to visit our building to apply. Open Houses will begin in August; check future issues of the Red Hook Star for upcoming dates and times.
Volunteers out of funds In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Red Hook Volunteers or RHV was formed to provide disaster relief to the Red Hook Community. Directly following the storm, RHV mobilized over 4,000 volunteers to homes, businesses and rescue operations throughout the city. Additionally, they have helped to
rebuild and restore some 1,300 homes and businesses. As we approach the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, RHV continues its disaster recovery efforts with initiatives such as the Materials Purchase Program. This program provides free supplies and skilled volunteer labor for Sandy related repairs. Red Hook residents are still plagued by flood damage, electrical disruptions and recurring mold. RHV’s work is far from done.
Jenny belin’s Art
Original funding for the Volunteers came through the Red Hook Coalition. This funding has run out. In order to continue its work with Sandy survivors, RHV is in need of sustainable funding and donations. Without the financial support of generous donors RHV will close. One way to help is to donate directly through their Indiegogo campaign which can be accessed at http:// tinyurl.com/ld8qdxp
Camp Restore More than 70 Brooklyn middle school students became environmental stewards this summer through Camp RESTORE. The camp, is a joint partnership between Good Shepherd Services, The Urban Assembly of New York Harbor School and the New York Harbor Foundation, and supported by Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds initiative. Based at the Harbor School on Governor’s Island, Camp RESTORE offeredhands-on lessons in marine biology and ocean engineering, as well as water activities like kayaking. In addition, students participated in the Billion Oyster Project, a large-scale environmental initiative that aims to protect the New York Harbor by restoring one-billion
Our friend Jenny, who exhibits locally at the Brooklyn Collective, 212 Columbia Street, sends us this and tells us “Here are some vintage Bathing Beauties! This painting was inspired by a nostalgia and retro swimwear.” Jenny’s website is www. jennybelin.com
oysters, which naturally provide continuous water filtration and habitat.
Engineering and Math) subjects in a fun, engaging way.”
“Our students love the hand-on lessons and projects, and the outdoor activities,” said Jennifer Zanger, Division Director for South Brooklyn After-School Programs. “The best part is that they are learning STEM (Science, Technology,
There will be a Community Outreach Day on August 1st, from 530 to 730 pm, at the Miccio Community Center, where kids will make presentations to their friends and families on what they have learned.
Presents:
LIVE AUCTION
SATURDAY AUGUST 16, 2014
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
PREVIEWS NOON TO 1:00 PM
106 FERRIS STREET, (Across from Steve’s Key Lime), RED HOOK
Our Live Estate Auction will also be simulcast via Auction Zip and Invaluable with almost 200 Lots for sale! If you see something you must have, contact us via our website at www.pier44antiques.com, visit us in person on August 16, place a bid through our friends at Auction Zip and Invaluable or call us at 718-852-3400. Red Hook Star-Revue
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August 2014, Page 15
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August, 2014