77TH YEAR, NO. 3,969
Victoria Cambranes
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017
City Council Candidates Cambranes, Levin Face Off In First Debate Heights Press photos by Andy Katz
SEE PAGE 3
TWO SECTIONS
50 CENTS
Councilmember Stephen Levin
Photo courtesy of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Watchtower Sells Towers, Storied, Grand Heights Hotel Where Dodgers Lived Will Become Seniors Housing SEE PAGE 6
Bus Driver Charged in Death of Heights Citi Bike Rider SEE PAGE 3
Climate Change Protesters March Across Brooklyn Bridge on Sandy Anniversary Sunday Marked 5 Years Since Deadly 2012 Storm By Paula Katinas
Brooklyn Heights Press
Climate change proponents marked the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy by marching over the Brooklyn Bridge and holding a rally to demand action from the federal, state and city governments. The protest demonstration, which took place on Saturday, the day before the anniversary, drew thousands of participants, according to organizers. The protest was dubbed the #Sandy5 March. Many of the protesters came from neighborhoods heavily impacted by Sandy’s wrath five years ago, including Red Hook and Sunset Park in Brooklyn, organizers said. The storm hit New York City with a fury on Oct. 29, 2012. “Superstorm Sandy revealed the inseparable link between environmental justice and climate change,” Eddie Bautista, executive director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, said in a statement. “The low-income communities and communities of color across New York City, who are most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, have come together to demand that our elected officials take bolder, swifter action to bring about a just recovery, make our city more resilient and bring us to 100 percent renewable energy.” The protesters gathered in Cadman Plaza Park Saturday morning and marched over the Brooklyn Bridge to the Lower East Side, where they held a rally outside the Alfred E. Smith Houses. “Our family lost our home in Sandy. Five years later, my daughter still has nightmares and gets scared when it rains,” said Rachel Rivera, a Sandy survivor who now lives in Cypress Hills. Rivera, a member of New York Communities for Change, pointed a finger at climate change and said it’s time for the government to act. “All these storms are climate change, brought to us by the likes of Exxon and Trump, who are now taking the federal government backwards. Mayor [Bill] de Blasio and Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo have the power to create many good new jobs for people who need it badly by moving us now to actually solve the climate crisis,” she said. Organizers are demanding that swift and sweeping action be taken by Cuomo, de Blasio and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. Here are the demands made by the #Sandy5 March protesters: • At the city level: The protesters called on the de Blasio administration to develop a comprehensive plan to protect vulnerable communities from future flooding and to divest from using fossil fuels.
The protest march was led by children from communities hit hard by Superstorm Sandy five years ago. Photo by Erik McGregor • At the state level: The organizers are pushing Cuomo to commit to using 100 percent renewable energy in the state and to force polluters to pay for any pollution they pump into the air.
Accomplished Lawyer, Musician William G. Mead Dies at Age 84
William (“Bill”) Grimston Mead, 84, of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Stillwater, New Jersey, died peacefully Saturday, Oct. 14. Born in Brooklyn, Mead spent most of his life in Brooklyn Heights. He attended Saint Thomas Choir School and TrinityPawling School. He graduated from Amherst College and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia. He also served as a captain in the U.S. Army Rangers.
Bill Mead, who hailed from a family of musicians, playing classical guitar. Photo courtesy of the Mead family 2 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, November 2, 2017
Mr. Mead was a practicing attorney for over 35 years, working at Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens; Bristol-Myers; and Warner-Lambert during his career. Bill and his wife, Mimi, divided their time between Brooklyn and their family home in Stillwater Township, New Jersey. A great lover of history and poetry, he was known for his intelligence, kindness and terrific sense of humor. He was widely respected as a gentleman of great integrity. He was an accomplished guitarist, could speak four languages and was a valued member of the Grace Church Brooklyn Heights choir for many years. He was also a longtime member of The University Club of New York. A devoted husband, father, and grandfather, Bill was predeceased by his wife of 55 years, Mary-Chilton Winslow Mead, and his parents, Phyllis Reid and George B. Mead. He is survived by their children: George W. Mead and his wife, Jane, of Milwaukie, Oregon; Elizabeth M. Stowell and her husband, William, of Darien, Connecticut; and Malcolm G. Mead, and his wife, Kathleen, of Bainbridge Island, Washington. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Eleanor and William Mead; Carl and Timothy Stowell; and Angeline and Nathaniel Mead. A family interment service was held at Stillwater Municipal Cemetery. A memorial service in Brooklyn is being planned for a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the American Red Cross, 209 Fairfield Road, Fairfield, New Jersey 07004, Americares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, Connecticut 06902, or Grace Church Brooklyn Heights, 254 Hicks St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201. Online condolences may be offered at www.smithmccrackenfuneralhome.com. — Francesca Norsen Tate
• At the federal level: The climate change advocates said they want Schumer to ensure full funding of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), block bad energy bills and support legislation calling for the use of 100 percent renewable energy. Meanwhile, the city is still taking a long, hard look at the impact of Superstorm Sandy. Last week, the City Council unanimously approved a bill sponsored by Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Coney IslandGravesend-Bensonhurst) to create a Hurricane Sandy Recovery Task Force to analyze storm recovery efforts by city agencies and issue a report. Under the legislation, the task force would have 15 members and would require that the panel include a representative from each of the five boroughs. “It has been nearly five years since the worst storm in our city’s history devastated our coastal communities and changed the lives of thousands of New Yorkers. For many across the city, the memories of Sandy’s devastation are still fresh in our minds. This legislation will help create a comprehensive, holistic understanding of our recovery process so we can develop a blueprint to guide us and our fellow Americans in the much-needed effort to become more resilient and better prepared to face natural disasters,” Treyger said in a statement.
NY City Council District 33 Candidates Levin, Cambranes Debate in Boerum Hill Freshman Politico, Creator of ‘Progress for All’ Party Scores Against Incumbent Before Local Audience By Andy Katz
Special to Brooklyn Heights Press
A daylong, torrential downpour failed to keep Brooklynites from gathering at the Commons Cafe on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill on Sunday to witness the first debate between City Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-Downtown-HeightsWilliamsburg-Greenpoint) and challenger Victoria Cambranes. “After the last general election, when Hillary lost,” said Cambranes, “I thought it was important for me to come home [from where she had been living in England] … And when I did, I saw there were many problems. I got involved initially to improve the safety of our streets. I contacted the [Department of Transportation], City Council and state Assembly. I warned them that if they didn’t do something, somebody was going to die on those streets. And that is exactly what happened. That is what spurred me to run.” As her parents and long-term Greenpoint residents watched from one corner, Cambranes took the stage to be introduced by moderator Mitchell Cohen: “For too many years,” Cohen told the audience, “candidate debates have been a spectacle, more entertainment than information … I’m hoping we can break that mold, involve the community and the media to take part in real discussions about our concerns — a return to real grassroots, participatory democracy.” With timekeepers appointed from among the audience to keep comments from running overlong, each candidate was given the opportunity to offer some opening remarks. Incumbent Levin went first: “I am running for a third term because I think there is still important work I can do. I served two terms since 2010, and, I think this is true for most councilmembers, there is some lead in time … I’ve become a more effective councilmember than I was in the first time … I’ve passed 15 bills in this term and expect to pass five more. And these are important issues such as reforming the foster care system, addressing environmental issues [and] removing dangerous trucks from historically overburdened streets.” “I’m the daughter of two wonderful immigrants,” Cambranes said during her opening remarks. “I went to school on Dupont Street, which is now been turned into a private development. That is a very disheartening trend we’re seeing. It’s happening in Greenpoint and in Williamsburg. We’re seeing that people are being displaced, that people can’t afford their rent. We’re experiencing a lot of noise and pollution … Infrastructure isn’t keeping up with the pace of development … I believe that more can be done to negotiate balanced development. I’m not against development. We’re one of the most attractive areas in the U.S. for people to come and live and to develop. We want that … but we want people in the community to benefit from these developments.” While much of the debate focused on controversial private-public funded developments — 80 Flatbush, the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 — moderator Cohen opened questioning by asking would either candidate support Councilmember Ben Kallos’ bill
Candidate Victoria Cambranes addresses the audience during debate with opponent Stephen Levin. Heights Press photos by Andy Katz
City Councilmember Stephen Levin responds to a query from audience member.
to reduce pesticide spraying in NYC parks, which had thus far languished in Council chambers. “I’ll do it tomorrow,” Levin replied, shaking Cohen’s hand to bind the deal. “I hate mosquitoes more than anyone,”
Cambranes said. “Though they seem to like me. It’s not responsible for us to be putting poisons in our air, in our grounds, in our walls, our schools … This city is one huge, polluted city.” Before long, the topic returned to private-
publicly funded developments, and here the candidates’ differences came into sharper focus after the Boerum Hill Association’s Howard Kolins threw a question concerning the controversial 80 Flatbush into the mix. “80 Flatbush has problematic elements,” Levin began. “When you take a look, it’s really three different neighborhoods converging … You also have a school there now that’s in a building that’s not appropriate for a school.” “The Academy [Kahlil Gibran International Academy High School] isn’t going to be relocated,” Cambranes replied. “Students are going to have sit through while that construction goes on over their heads for eight to 10 years, which is completely unacceptable … I believe the dating of schools to allow a developer to come in and save the day is the wrong way to go about selling public assets.” Applause filled the room in response to Cambranes’ statement. Levin’s attempt to explain that the new plan for the Brooklyn Heights Public Library branch afforded more square feet than the original drew groans. “That’s a numbers game!” Cambranes retorted. “That’s not true! How many books will the new library hold? Will it be the same? “It’s hard not to become dependant on developers and their money,” Cambranes went on to say later in the evening, with a side glance at her opponent. “You’re questioning the integrity of the entire New York City Council,” Levin protested. “Oh, what a terrible thing to do!” Cambranes demurred.
Bus Driver Charged in Death of Heights Citi Bike Rider By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Heights Press
A coach bus driver was charged Tuesday for the death of a Brooklyn Heights father of two, the city’s first Citi Bike fatality, according to court documents. Dave Lewis, 52, was arraigned on a misdemeanor and violation, causing physical injury by failing to observe the right of way. He faces up to 30 days in jail for Dan Hanegby’s death. The Credit Suisse investment banker was biking on 26th Street near Eighth Avenue in Chelsea when Lewis allegedly honked at the cyclist who was wearing headphones. The bus driver alleged that he passed Hanegby at about 8:15 a.m. before he heard and felt something under the bus. When he looked in his side mirror, he saw Hanegby on the ground. Hanegby, an Israeli native who was once ranked No. 1 tennis player in Israel, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. Lewis’ attorney Jeremy Saland told the Brooklyn Heights Press the incident was not a crime, but an accident. “First and foremost, my client is distraught and deeply saddened for Mr. Hanegby and his family. This was a tragic accident, but an
accident nonetheless. Not a crime,” Saland wrote in an email. “Mr. Lewis was neither criminally negligent nor reckless in his driving. It is his sincere hope that over time Mr. Hanegby’s family is able to heal from this terrible accident.” Lewis was released without bail to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 9, 2018. “This sad, tragic death was absolutely preventable … the crash was not his fault,” said Paul White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit that advocates for safe bicycling. White says that protected bike lanes could have prevented the accident, in which Hanegby was squeezed for space. Hanegby lived with his wife Sasha and his two children in Brooklyn Heights on Columbia Heights. He met his wife when he was 10 years old when both were practicing tennis professionally. He then quit his tennis career to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces as a staff sergeant before he came to live in the U.S.
AT RIGHT: Brooklyn Heights father of two Dan Hanegby. Photo taken from Dan Hanegby’s Facebook page
Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 3
Atlantic Ave. Favorite, Brazen Head Celebrates Its ‘Jeopardy!’ Winner
“JEOPARDY!” CHAMP AUSTIN ROGERS (RIGHT), PICTURED WITH HOST ALEX TREBEK, HAS PROVEN HIS KNOWLEDGE OF TRIVIA. HIS 12-GAME WINNING STREAK NETTED HIM $411,000, putting him in fifth place for a "Jeopardy!" all-time champion. Rogers hosts a “Trivia Night” every Monday (except the first Monday of the month) at The Brazen Head bar at 228 Atlantic Ave. Read our interview inside this week’s edition of the Brooklyn Eagle Weekly Magazine and watch a special video of Rogers talking with the Brooklyn Eagle at www.brooklyneagle.com. Photo courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
We Can Expand Your Reach to New Customers EXPONENTIALLY Using Images and Social Media Along With Our Popular Websites and Blogs CALL US TODAY: 718-422-7400 4 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, November 2, 2017
Memorial Service Set for Rev. Dr. Donald W. McKinney, Senior Minister of First Unitarian Church for 35 Years By Francesca Norsen Tate Brooklyn Heights Press
First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn will hold a memorial service for its beloved longtime senior minister emeritus, the Rev. Dr. Donald W. McKinney, on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. Dr. McKinney, who served the landmark church of progressive religion from 1957-1992, died on Oct. 18. He was 90. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire on June 9, 1927, Donald W. McKinney was an only child whose father was a Unitarian minister and whose mother was active within the denomination, according to Olive Hoogenboom’s definitive book on the congregation’s history, titled “The First Unitarian Church: One Hundred Fifty Years.” His youth was spent surrounded with Unitarian leaders and role models. He served in the army and then earned his undergraduate and divinity degrees from Harvard. Finding Brooklyn’s diverse economic congregation more appealing to him than one in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1952 he became assistant minister in 1952 to the Rev. John Howland Lathrop (senior minister from 1911-57. Poor health had forced Lathrop’s retirement, but he lived another 10 years after McKinney succeeded him.) McKinney’s tenure was a time of innovation that not only nurtured the church’s commitment to social justice but also built and expanded its religious education program. Dr. McKinney was a widely-respected preacher. Hoogenboom in her book recalls that “in his first sermon as senior minister, McKinney likened himself to a new captain who had been trained by the old skipper. He warned his hearers that ‘new courses will have to be charted’ and ‘new horizons will appear to excite and challenge.’” Those new courses and horizons evolved into enabling his congregants to be strong and informed lay leaders. McKinney was also credited with healing division by changing the frequency in which
The Rev. Dr. Donald W. McKinney
Heights Press fiile photo by Andrea Pearl
Communion was served. Instead of celebrating Communion bi-monthly — a practice that had proven divisive — he moved the observance to the church’s annual Good Friday service. He also revived First Unitarian Church’s Flower Communion tradition — in which each member brings a flower to church and the flowers become part of a bouquet. Congregants each then leave with a different flower than the one they brought. This custom was part of a longstanding bond that First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn shared with its sister community in the Czech Republic. Longtime member Sara Faison said, “I knew Don for more than 50 years. I just remember him as being the best combination of an intellectual and a humanist and a gentle, empathic soul who was always there to help, and always knew to say the right thing. He was just a wonderful man. “He not only married Seth and me, but he married five of our children. Everybody in our family
The family of Dr. Donald W. McKinney loved Don and would not get married unless he was available. He went some distance to be sure that he was taking care of each one of them.” Mrs. Faison added that all of these marriages lasted! Mrs. Faison recalled that Seth joined in his teen years because they had a pool table at the Unitarian Church! And a couple of his other close friends were there, and he would hang out with them. But he also didn’t care much for the assistant minister at St. Ann’s who was teaching the Sunday School. “In other words, he ran away, even though his parents didn’t approve of it.” Seth Faison, who for many years served on the church’s board of trustees and on its investment committee, died in March of this year. Dr. McKinney had said of Mr. Faison (according to a Brooklyn Heights Press obit), “Having Seth as a trustee at our church has been a godsend, because he anticipated and corrected early on all of the physical plant issues that have grown into crisis
Photo courtesy of the McKinney Family
proportions for many of our neighboring churches of the same vintage.” Longtime First Unitarian member Becky Huffman said, “He loved life and was in awe of its power and beauty, and wanted all of us to live in gratitude for the miraculous gift we have been given — free.” Likewise, Narcissa Titman said of Dr. McKinney, “We were friends. He gave absolutely wonderful, brilliant sermons.” Dr. McKinney was also a member of Governor’s Task Force on Life and the Law and was a longtime advocate of end-of-life decision making. He is survived by wife Julie L. McKinney, son Bruce and daughter Barbara Sow, son-in-law Boubacar Sow and grandchildren Omar and Ada Sow. Contributions may be made to First Unitarian Church Brooklyn and First Universalist Church of Southold, N.Y.
Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 5
Here’s The Towers’ grand staircase, which echoes the grandeur of its early days as a hotel.
Photos courtesy of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Jehovah’s Witnesses Sell The Towers, A Storied Brooklyn Heights Hotel
Purchaser Will Turn 21 Clark St. Into Seniors Housing By Lore Croghan
Brooklyn Heights Press
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have sold one of the grand jewels of their real estate portfolio for about $200 million. The Towers, a former Brooklyn Heights Historic District hotel where the Dodgers lived and presidents gave speeches, will now be turned into seniors housing by its purchaser. Built in the 1920s, the Leverich Towers Hotel, as it was originally known, has colonnaded towers on its four corners like a Venetian palazzo — a really big palazzo. The 16-story, 313,768-square-foot property at 21 Clark St. played host in its heyday to the
highest-paid Brooklyn Dodgers. Only the stars of Brooklyn’s since-departed baseball team were allowed to live in its splendid suites during baseball season. Other players lived elsewhere, including the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn Heights. President Harry Truman spoke at The Towers. Advertisements called it “The Aristocrat of Brooklyn Hotels.” It was designed by Starrett & Van Vleck, the architecture firm that also designed Manhattan flagship stores for Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor. Later, the Watchtower, which owned the Towers for four decades, used the Clark Street
property as a residence and dining hall for more than 1,000 people who worked at its nearby world headquarters.
Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors Is the Purchaser The Jehovah’s Witnesses put the former hotel, which has frontage on Willow and Pineapple streets, up for sale in May 2016. The purchaser, Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors, plans to transform The Towers into seniors housing and rename it The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights. “Meticulously maintained since its inception in the late 1920s, The Watermark at
Brooklyn Heights epitomizes a Class A property with a unique redevelopment opportunity: To introduce modern, luxury living for seniors in Brooklyn and Manhattan,” Al Rabil, Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors’ managing partner and CEO, said in a press release. The new owner is “committed to upholding the property’s unique legacy,” Rabil said. The Boca Raton-based investment firm is the real-estate private equity arm of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. Watermark Retirement Communities, a nationwide operator of seniors’ housing communities, is partnering with Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors on The Towers’ redevelopment. The sale deed for the Towers has not yet appeared in city Finance Department records. But according to the Wall Street Journal — which was the first to report The Towers’ sale — the price was about $200 million. The Watchtower paid $1,992,229.08 for The Towers in 1975, Finance Department records indicate.
Watchtower Property Sell-Off Moves Closer to Finish Line
The Towers’ rooftop terrace has views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline. 6 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, November 2, 2017
The sale of The Towers brings the Jehovah’s Witnesses a big step closer to completing their years-long effort to liquidate their once-vast property portfolio in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. The sell-off was precipitated by their decision to move their world headquarters to the upstate New York town of Warwick. “For those of us who lived in Brooklyn Heights, we’ll remember The Towers not just as a landmark building but as a beautiful and comfortable home,” Watchtower spokesman David Semonian said in a statement. “With this most recent transaction, we close another chapter of our history in Brooklyn,” he said. Other buyers of the religious organization’s properties include the Kushner Cos., which spent about $1 billion with investor partners on Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO Watchtower purchases. The firm was headed by Jared Kushner until he stepped aside to serve as senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump.
Third Graders Bring Beautiful Flowers To Cobble Hill Health Center Residents Brooklyn Heights Press
BloomAgainBklyn teamed up with P.S. 29 and the Cobble Hill Health Center to bring a day of cards and smiles to the residents of Cobble Hill. The event was held on Wednesday, Oct. 25 and Thursday, Oct. 26. BloomAgainBklyn is a community-based, nonprofit organization that takes unsold or once-used flowers destined for the trash and refurbishes them into new arrangements that are then distributed by volunteers to homebound seniors, local nursing home residents and others in need. Third graders from P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill, along with their teacher Lynn Manna, volunteered to help create arrangements and write cards for residents of the Cobble Hill Health Center.
A student creates a flower display.
P.S. 29 students design cards to go along with their flower arrangements.
A flower bouquet is presented to a resident of the Cobble Hill Health Center.
Third graders from P.S. 29 created beautiful flower displays for residents of Cobble Hill Health Care Center.
Photos courtesy of BloomAgainBklyn
Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 7
Stop Housing On Pier 6
Rendering courtesy of ODA-RAL Development Services-Oliver’s Realty Group
On Thursday, November 2, 2017 at 9:30am, a new judge will hear arguments regarding the 30 story and 15 story towers planned inside of Brooklyn Bridge Park at Pier 6 (the Atlantic Ave entrance to the park). The public is encouraged to attend. Why is this significant? • 1. The Park does not need to funding from these buildings to support its maintenance and operations. This violates over a decade of promises our elected officials have made about the draconian choice to privatize park lands in the first place! • 2. The Park is overcrowded on most peak usage days, and these last remaining 3 acres are necessary for their intended use: as park lands, not as private dwellings or roads to support housing. • 3. There have been no new parks created, and only a scant 1/2 acre currently planned (incredibly, inside Fulton Mall), since the park’s 2005 Environmental Impact Study, despite the 16,000 new apartments (never even imagined back then). • 4. Over 2000 more people will soon be living in buildings a mere 500 feet away from this park entrance in the old hospital’s footprint- also unplanned in 2004- and there is not one more foot of park land planned for these new residents, either. • 5. This is the entrance to the park for Brooklynites and should be welcoming without the encumbrances of private dwellings and retail shops. A park is a park for all and not the precious few, lucky enough to live in one. • 6. The park administrators have broken the law by allowing buildings that do not pay into the park. The park needed to secure permission from the State in order to revise the General Project Plan, to remove the critical stipulation of housing only “for financial need”. The State was unwilling to agree to this change so the deBlasio administration decided to forge ahead without the State (UDC) vote to modify the GPP. We believe the State understands the profound change - removing the very thing that set the privatization scheme in motion - the Hobson Choice that looks really bad today, with no new park lands planned for all these new residents. (We appreciate the Governor’s holding the line on this issue as it is a big one and has far ranging implications for parks in the future, too.) The Mayor said, in his own testimony back in the 2005 EIS as a city councilman for South Brooklyn, that the park should “build only so much housing as necessary to fund the park”. Knowing (and admitting as he does today) that the funds are not needed, and even if the budget was inflated (as it was recently with the totality of pier pilings planned for replacement ignoring the recommended, time honored, and financially prudent pay-as-you- go model, which extends the life of the pilings), these buildings are still not needed to support the park. We need our parklands now more than ever. And as the funds are also not needed now (and we project, will never be as they will have a $300 million surplus in the coming years), why not simply wait to build anything until funds could ever be needed? The value of this land will only grow, so selling now to developers when the money is not needed, is also financially imprudent. Again, this speaks to the lack of fiscal responsibility and may be another reason the Cuomo administration failed to endorse this move. We ask all who care about open space, about the rule of law, about making our politicians stick to their commitments, to come on Thursday. Our excellent pro-bono team of attorneys from Jenner Block LLC, led by Richard Zeigler, are inspiring to watch. And you should witness the attorneys for the City - your tax dollars pay thousands per hour for these showmen to justify their abuse of the lands that you, as citizens, own. Thank you for coming.
Court hearing will be held at 80 Centre Street, Room 308 Thursday, Nov. 2nd at 9:30 AM Submitted by BBP DEFENSE FUND, BHA Sierra PPS and nys park advocates A 501(c) 3 park advocacy coalition of 11 community associations 8 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, November 2, 2017
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BROOKLYN EAGLE
Volume 18, No. 12
Two Sections
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017
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iPhones Down, Please
Brooklyn’s Newest Hit Has No Screens, Apps, Plugs or Power
JOHN FAYOLLE IS TURNING TABLE HOCKEY INTO A MAJOR SPORT. IN A DUSTY WORKSHOP IN BROOKLYN, THE MONTREAL NATIVE IS REVITALIZING AN ANTIquated game for the modern era. Here Fayolle displays one of his table hockey boards with an Islanders decal at center ice. See pages 2-3. Eagle photo by Cody Brooks
Brooklyn’s Amazing Revival Of Independent Bookstores SEE PAGES 4-5
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Apps, Plugs or Power By Scott Enman Brooklyn Eagle
There’s Gary Bettman, and then there’s John Fayolle. What do they have in common? One would never guess. Bettman is the commissioner of the National Hockey League. Fayolle is turning table hockey into a major sport. In a dusty workshop in Brooklyn, the Montreal native is revitalizing an antiquated game for the modern era. “I’ve revolutionized the game by adding all these different components to it,” Fayolle tells the Brooklyn Eagle. “I’m a hockey guy. Brooklyn was my first stop in the United States. I lived on President Street in Crown Heights.” Once immensely popular, table hockey went dormant in the late ’80s with the collapse of the game’s main distributor Coleco. More than three decades later, Fayolle is streamlining a forgotten pastime to play faster, last longer and look better. Popular among a host of celebrities, Fayolle’s tables have been used by NHL great Wayne Gretzky, Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan and former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Players on the Islanders, Rangers and Devils are also fans of Fayolle’s creations. In fact, Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky described the boards as “works of art” and is in the process of purchasing 2,200 of them. His mother an artist, his father an actuary, Fayolle incorporates both sides into his work. Based in Bushwick, but initially located in Industry City, Fayolle is creating an industry of his own. His company operates out of two small studios near a public housing complex. Across the street, men sit on milk crates, play dice and surreptitiously drink beer from brown bags. Dogs bark incessantly in a pound below. The first room has frosted windows, tin ceilings and exposed radiators. This space is reserved for the finished products: beautifully crafted table hockey boards lined up one after the other. Fayolle’s face lights up and a smile emerges at the corner of his mouth as he alternates between each board like a Rolodex, his fingers
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because they’re not going to warp, nothing is going to degrade them. [Players] call them heirlooms.” The “secret sauce” of his game, however, is the energy-absorbing walls that allow the puck to smoothly bounce off the edges. Fayolle uses music wire and a lighter more durable material called oil-
Everything Old Is New Again
Fayolle still has some of the original table hockey models — classics, but timeworn toys with thousands of games played on them. “In the old days, they were made out of pretty much tin and they were flimsy,” he says. “Most importantly was the surface, which was only one-eighth of an inch thick, so the games would warp. Now I use 3/4 of an inch, it’s super enhanced. You could walk on these games.” In an adjacent room, three diligent young men work as carpenters. Sawdust lines the floor. Sounds of machinery fill the air. “Hey fellas,” says Fayolle. They nod without making eye contact, too engrossed in their work. Fayolle’s attention to detail is obsessive. He is always looking for ways to improve his creations: “People tell me, ‘You’re going crazy here.’ I say, ‘No I’m not.’” At $895 each, the games are waterproof and micropufrated, which means there’s air under the puck that allows it to glide across the board like it’s on ice. The surface is made from subway mark, a type of vinyl that the city’s subway cars are wrapped in. “In the old days, as soon as it came out of the box, it was the best it was ever going to be,” Fayolle says. “The rods were always bent, the puck would always leave the ice, the surface was almost never level. “My games, they actually play better the more you play with them
Former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper signed one of Fayolle’s games. Eagle photo by Cody Brooks
dipped chrome silicon, a high-tensile steel that bends back into its original shape. “I always push to the nth degree,” he says. “I’m always thinking, but I’m almost maxed out as far as technology for this game. These are low-tech games put together in a high-tech way.” Fayolle’s business is constantly growing with new orders arriving from every corner of the country. His boards are used in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto for the National Table Hockey League. Continued on page 3
Publisher - J.D. Hasty: jdh@brooklyneagle.com Exec. Consulting Editor — Charles F. Otey: coteyesq@aol.com Managing Editor — Paula Katinas: paula@brooklyneagle.com Business Manager — Alice Peters: alice@brooklyneagle.com
BAY RIDGE EAGLE (USPS 5170) is published weekly except first week of January, first week of July, last week of August, last week of December for $35.00 per year by EBrooklyn Media, 16 Court Street, 30th FL, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Periodicals Postage paid in Brooklyn, NY. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Bay Ridge Eagle, 16 Court St., 30th FL, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Telephone: 718-643-9099, 103, E-mail: JohnExt. Fayolle (center)news@brooklyneagle.com. drops the puck in a game between NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman (right) and famed sports journalist
Stan F ischler. 2 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, November 2, 2017
Photo courtesy of John Fayolle
tracing along the edges. His passion is contagious. “I became an expert with exotic wood,” says Fayolle. “This is a red heart for the Montreal Canadians, and zebrawood works with a lot of teams because it’s black and white. This is a Canadian black walnut for the Blackhawks. “That’s a cherry wood, padauk, bird’s-eye maple. I use the most exotic wood in the world for the games, almost to put them on a pedestal.”
It’s Table Hockey, Unlikely Remedy For Autistic Kids
Founded in 1841 by Isaac Van Anden
Fayolle’s games are used in several competitions, including the National Table Hockey League and the New York City Table Hockey League.
Photo courtesy of John Fayolle
Fayolle shows off one of his table hockey games. Eagle photo by Cody Brooks
One of Fayolle’s carpenters w orks diligently on a table hockey board.
Eagle photo by Cody Brooks
Continued from page 2
is not electronic?” The boards, according to Fayolle, act as a therapeu“It’s really coming back, and that’s why I’m trying tic activity for children with disabilities by helping them to gear up production,” he says. “I haven’t even really communicate with their teachers and peers. At Ecole Primaire Ste-sophie, a school for autistic and advertised because I can’t meet the demand right now.” He adds, “This didn’t happen overnight. This took a troubled kids in Sainte-Sophie, Quebec, there has been lot of time, effort and money. I’m lucky it’s going to be a a 3 1/2 year increase in enrollment since the institution business, but it never started out that way. It started pure- implemented Fayolle’s table hockey boards into its curriculum. ly out of the love and joy I had playing the game.” “The teachers say the students talk to each other now,” Although he’s Canadian, Fayolle credits his Brooklyn says Fayolle. “They’ve done interviews where they just roots for much of his success. wax nostalgia about “It kept me close to table hockey, how it the street, to keep my has changed the enear to the ground, to be tire school. This is very aware of things,” what it’s all about: Fayolle says of his real games, real acBrooklyn upbringing. tivities, getting the “I’m just very aware kids back. of trends. I wanted to “The games make games that met have taken me to a demand that really places I’ve never wasn’t verbalized.” dreamt of. In many Fayolle’s company ways, I feel like I’ve is called SoHo Hockey, won the lottery withbut he regrets not using out even buying a the Brooklyn brand, ticket. This is real a knowing that the borlabor of love.” ough has become synFayolle’s taonymous with all things classic table hockey model. Eagle photo by Cody Brooks bles have also had a hip. profound influence on His clients have an extreme obsession with his games, viewing them not as programs in America, including Ice Hockey in Harlem, an organization founded in 1987 that helps disadvantaged toys, but rather a lifestyle. “Some of the guys say, ‘If there’s a fire in the house, kids learn hockey while also creating academic opportuI’m grabbing my baby and I’m grabbing my game.’ nities for them through the sport. “Having grown up myself playing a form of table Watching these guys play, it’s played like a sport,” he hockey, it was important for me in creating friendships says. and learning more about the game,” Executive Director More Than a Game of IHIH John Sanful tells the Eagle. “We introduced the When Fayolle speaks about his emerging enterprise, game and the kids really took to it.” he is most excited not by his potential financial gain, but Sanful asserts that, in addition to helping children unrather by what the games do for children. derstand the sport better, table hockey builds stronger In an era where toddlers are more apt to be us- motor skills and coordination. ing iPads than reading books, Fayolle praises his “For our kids to come in with their parents and have games for helping children socialize and for being access to these games, it adds a unique wrinkle onto what we do,” says Sanful. “We’re trying to point our students unplugged: no electricity and no screens. “Kids become bullies behind screens,” says Fayolle. to opportunities in hockey that don’t only exist on the “You can’t say what you’re going to say to somebody ice.” Sanful hopes to have Fayolle come speak with the behind a screen in person because you’ll get your ass kids about SoHo Hockey and the tightly knit commukicked. “Who would think that it would all come back, so that nity that surrounds the sport. Sanful believes it’s important for his students to have people want to play real games where everything you do someone like Fayolle around “who has this great idea that doesn’t involve being on the ice, but encourages a love of the sport, an interest in the sport and gets our kids excited about it.” Fayolle cites countless parents who thank him for revitalizing their relationships with their kids. “They say the greatest job in the world anybody can have is the toymaker because the toymaker brings joy to everybody and is loved by everybody,” Fayolle says. “I didn’t know until I started this how much joy it really brought me. “When you see the kids play, I can’t even watch because it brings me to tears, the joy that these kids have.” He pauses for a moment, overcome with emotion. His eyes become glossy, and a F ayolle donated sev eral table hockey gam es to I ce Hockey in lump forms in his throat. Harlem, an organization that helps underprivileged kids learn “Truly, there is nothing that I could ever hockey while also creating academic opportunities for them do in my life that is going to be more imthrough the sport. Eagle photo by Cody Brooks portant than this — nothing.”
Sports journalist Stan Fischler (right) plays table hockey with his late wife Shirley circa 1970.
Photo courtesy of Stan Fischler
A game takes place at the first Professional Table Hockey Tournament at the George Washington Hotel in March 1971.
Photo courtesy of Stan Fischler
The T.J. Rugg Trophy, which is older than the Stanley Cup, was awarded to the winner of the first professional table hockey tournament in 1971. Photo courtesy of Stan Fischler
Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 3
The Independent Bookstore Revival in Brooklyn
Hannah Oliv er D epp and L auren Paris in front of the staff curated poetry section at W ord Bookstore.
Eagle photo by Natasha Soto
Inside of B ooks Are Magic in C obble Hill.
Photo courtesy of B ooks Are Magic
B ook stacks in the back of Here’s a B ookstore in Sheepshead B ay.
Eagle photo by Natasha Soto
4 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, November 2, 2017
By Natasha Soto Special to the Brooklyn Eagle
If forecasts had been correct, the independent bookstore would have been dead by now. First, they were supposed to be out-competed by large commercial retailers like Barnes and Noble, then made obsolete by e-books and finally dealt a deathblow by Amazon and other e-commerce sites. Instead, since 2009, the number of independent bookstores has grown by more than 30 percent, according to the American Bookseller’s Association. In New York City, Brooklyn may be the borough that has felt this independent bookstore mini-boom most profoundly. A New York Times article titled “Literary City, Bookstore Desert” chronicled the shuttering of Manhattan bookstores due to rising rents. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Greenlight Bookstore has opened a second location, Word Bookstore is set to open up a children’s bookstore, McNally Jackson has opened an offshoot in Williamsburg and Books Are Magic has set up shop in Cobble Hill. Even if it is impossible for independent bookstores to compete with the marked-down prices of Amazon, these brick-and-mortar stores offer a sense of connectivity that online retailers cannot. While reading seems like a solitary experience on the surface, it actually involves completely opening yourself up to another person’s mind. If reading is ultimately about seeking connection, a bookstore’s job is to extend that impulse. Successful independent bookstores under understand that their business is not just to sell books. “If you’re doing it right, every single bookstore should be unique to its neighborhood,” says Hannah Oliver Depp, manager of Word Bookstore in Greenpoint. Depp believes a bookstore must exist in relation to its community. One of the ways Word foments a connection to the community is through extensive events and programming. Word hires educated staff that is knowledgeable about specific subject areas. For example, Lauren Paris, a poet and employee at Word, has worked on expanding the store’s poetry section and
facilitates a free poetry workshop for the public. In this way, Word provides a curated and personal touch, as well as a meeting ground for community members’ distinct talents and passions. Christine Flagette, owner of The Bookmark Shoppe in Bay Ridge, has a very personal approach to connecting visitors to books. She says that she loves handpicking books for people who stop by: “Once we are familiar with our costumers, our recommendations can go a long way.” One of the biggest functions of the modern bookstores seems to be a gathering space for community. “We knew we couldn’t have a bookstore that wasn’t in some way a community space,” noted Michael Fusco-Straub, co-owner of the recently opened Books Are Magic. Books Are Magic is open every day, and hosts an event every evening. “It’s been bonkers!” he exclaimed excitedly, “hundreds of people show up to the events, and authors are even specifically asking to come to our store.” According to Fusco-Straub, an unexpected but welcome challenge has been keeping inventory stocked, as people were so excited about the store’s opening in May that books moved quickly. Continued on page 5
Sylv ia and D oran L ev y, mother and son owners of Here’s a B ookstore. Eagle photo by Natasha Soto
A Special Section of BROOKLYN EAGLE Publications
INBrooklyn photo by Lore Croghan
November 2-8, 2017
Come See Bushwick’s Glamour and Grit
THERE’S ARCHITECTURAL EYE CANDY AT EVERY TURN IN BUSHWICK — FROM the graffiti-laden art space Silent Barn, shown here, to landmarks that are getting fix-ups like St. Barbara’s Roman Catholic Church. Read all about the Instagram-worthy neighborhood in EYE ON REAL ESTATE, page 18INB.
H EALTH & WELLNESS AS S M F B ’P S PECIAL ECTION ON EDICINE ROM ROOKLYN S RIMARY OURCES SEE PAGE 9INB
FACES B T F D EHIND
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By John Alexander INBrooklyn
BAREBURGER prides itself on the healthy organic options it features along with a nice selection of game meats for your dining pleasure. That’s right, if you are craving a delicious duck entrée or have a hankering for elk or bison, you’ve come to the right place. From its renowned “Son of a Lamb” selection to its mouth-watering Mammer Jammer (smoked brisket, pepper jack, pickled jalapenos, paprika mayo), there’s truly something for everybody at
Bareburger. Oh, and the Blue Elk entrée is hard to beat — elk, Amish blue cheese, Black Forest bacon, caramelized onions, tomato fig jam on a sprout bun — Yum!!! If you’re searching for healthy, homemade products that are now featured at Whole Foods, then DAMASCUS BAKERY is your go-to place. The iconic store at 195 Atlantic Ave. is where it all started 84 years ago. With ED and DAVID MAFOUD at the helm, old-world traditions and new-world technology provide the perfect recipe for their extensive line of pitas, lahvash wraps, paninis, flat bread roll-ups and pizza crusts. Overheard at NANATORI: “I love this sushi! The fish is fresh, the place looks great and the price is right. What more can you ask from the perfect Japanese restaurant?” Dine in or order out; either way, you know you’re enjoying some of the finest seafood in the borough. Nanatori is just one block away from the Brooklyn Historical Society and it’s making its own culinary history on Montague Street. Overheard at CAFÉ CHILI: “Last time I had this at home, the delivery was shockingly fast — to the point that I wondered how it’s physically possible for them to make the food and send it out so quickly.” Online, commenters are raving about “mouth-watering appetizers and their explosive volcano chicken.” Continued on page 3INB
Eddie the Eagle swooped in for some delicious nachos at Rocco’s Tacos. INBrooklyn file photo by Bonnie Meeg
2INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
FACES B T F D EHIND
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Continued from page 2INB CHADWICK’S restaurant in Bay Ridge just celebrated its 30th anniversary! That’s right, 30 years of serving some of the finest food in Brooklyn. And on the very day of its anniversary, the Zagat-rated eatery welcomed a country singer, who calls himself Loren, back to perform for the evening. Owner STEVEN OLIVER first met Loren at the Colonia Country Club in New Jersey, where the performer has worked as a golf caddy master for more than 30 years. After Oliver listened to Loren’s music and watched his videos on YouTube, he was so impressed by what he heard that he and co-owner GERRY MORRIS immediately booked the singer to play at the restaurant on special occasions. Loren has proven be a popular favorite from his appearances at Chadwick’s. Who would have thought that Chadwick’s would bring country music to Bay Ridge? The folks at KINGS BEER HALL (KBH) say they have a lot to be thankful for and they’re sharing the love throughout the month of November. In fact, they have given it a name and are calling it a “Month of Thanks and Giving.” “We have so much to be thankful for and we’d like to help give back,” said KBH’s own MIRANDA. “This entire month, we are donating 10 percent of sales to a different charity every week. We will be supporting Pirate Surf Club Puerto Rico Relief (Nov. 1-5), Planned Parenthood NYC (Nov. 6-11), Beat Stage 3 (Nov. 12-18), National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nov. 19-25) and Limbs for Life (Nov. 24-Dec. 2).” Each organization will be hosting its own events. Did you hear about THE BRAZEN HEAD’S very own “Jeopardy” champ? AUSTIN ROGERS, who hosts “Trivia Night” at the popular Brooklyn eatery most Monday evenings, recently amassed an incredible $411,000 on the game show, putting him in fifth place for a “Jeopardy” alltime regular season run. Owners SASHA and BARBARA encourage patrons to come on in and congratulate Rogers at the next “Trivia Night” and try to impress their very own “Jeopardy” champion!
Damascus Bakeries makes the perfect pita! INBrooklyn photo by Bonnie Meeg
The Brazen Head owners Barbara (left) and Sasha
Photo courtesy of The Brazen Head
Singer Jamie Lynn, disc jockey Chris Van Zant and entertainer Loren (left to right) are pictured during a performance at Chadwick’s in 2016. Photo by Vincent Rohan Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 3INB
A LOOK INSIDE ... CAFE CHILI 172 COURT ST. | WWW.CAFECHILINY.COM
4INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
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MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Talk: On Camus and Totalitarianism With Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota. When: Friday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/Wendy's Subway Reading Room (379 Bushwick Ave.)
Calendar Events November 2-8
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Kids and teens can earn free books by borrowing and returning books with their library cards. When: Saturday, Nov. 4, 10:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Where: Cobble Hill/Books Are Magic (225 Smith St.)
Arts
Unbound: Dan Rather The exclusive New York launch of “What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism.” When: Tuesday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAM Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave.) Continued on page 6INB
In & Out A pairing of Kate Teale and Marcy Rosewater paintings curated by Brittany Prater. When: Thursday-Sunday, through Nov. 5, 1-6 p.m. Where: Bushwick/Studio 10 (56 Bogart St.) Beyond-Beyond Ron Baron’s expansive installation of nearly 100 pairs of life-size cast ceramic shoes. Although each pair is small in comparison to the gallery’s vast space, their combined poetic and ghostly presences fill the significant void and evoke all that is missing. When: Wednesday-Sunday, through Nov. 5, 12-6 p.m. Where: DUMBO/Smack Mellon (92 Plymouth St.) Reconceived Notions “Reconceived Notions” is an exhibit and programming that includes the work of artists, makers and writers who are exploring, questioning and challenging existing systems. When: Friday-Sunday, through Nov. 19; Fridays, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Where: Bay Ridge/Stand 4 (414 78th St.) My Shot: Portraits from Hamilton “Hamilton” features a cast of revolutionaries. Night after night, this band of young rebels raise their voices to the darkness in an inspiring uprising of song and spirit. They are at once our history and our future, inciting rebellion and leading the way to change. Josh Lehrer captured their portraits using antique cameras and lenses. When: Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 22 (Tuesday-Friday, 126 p.m.; Saturday, 12-4 p.m.) Where: DUMBO/United Photo Industries Gallery (16 Main St., Gallery B) Kimberly Mayhorn: Transcend Humans are made of energy that is emitted every day, affecting not only ourselves, but those around us. Mayhorn views energy that settles on the body over time as data. Whether interpersonal, political, historical or cultural, this data creates invisible scars. Mayhorn views the body as a delicate organ that has the capacity to store energy frequencies of everyday experiences, systemic racism, inequality and generational trauma and is interested in how individuals recalibrate themselves. Within the narratives presented in “Transcend,” Mayhorn explores how individuals heal, discharge negative data and carve out a space for themselves amid the noise. When: Wednesday-Saturday, through Nov. 25, 12-7 p.m. Where: Park Slope/Open Source Gallery (306 17th St.)
“Loss for Words” will be on exhibit at BAM through Dec. 16. Image courtesy of BAM and the artist Bête Noire This group show features 12 artists. The paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures featured in this exhibition illuminate the conceit by embodying forms, narratives and frames of mind that pique and, perhaps, consternate the eye, haunting it in ways that refuse ready interpretations. When: Thursday-Sunday, through Dec. 10, 1-6 p.m. Where: Crown Heights/Five Myles (558 St. John's Place) Alfred Leslie: The World Is Charged with the Grandeur of God Known since the 1950s for his abstract and figurative painting, Alfred Leslie has embraced technology and new techniques, thus updating his craft for the contemporary age. Here he composes the image on the computer, using a dactyl to draw on the computer itself. That file is then digitally printed, using dye sublimation. It's a hybrid art. When: Tuesday-Sunday, through Dec. 20, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Where: DUMBO/Janet Borden Inc. (91 Water St.) Loss for Words The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s annual fall exhibition series returns for its 16th season with this group exhibition that examines a basic shift in our culture, from one in which we communicate with text-based language to one in which the image is the dominant tool of expression. “Loss for Words” features work by Corey Escoto, Andy Meerow, Siebren Versteeg, Hayal Pozanti, Sara Greenberger Rafferty and Kim Schoen When: Through Dec, 16, 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/Peter Jay Sharp Building (30 Lafayette Ave.) Proof: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo At particular moments in history, artists use their artwork to reveal social, cultural and political complexities, responding to the times in which they live. Bringing together the work of three innovative chroniclers, “Proof: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo” offers insight into the energy, empathy and creativity with which these artists recounted and reimagined their realities. When: Wednesday-Sunday, through January, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: Crown Heights/Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway)
Books & Readings Image courtesy of Janet Borden Inc. and the artist
Book Talk — The Soviet-Israeli War, 1967-1973 Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez discuss their new book, which presents a a dramatic reassessment of an epochal chapter in Middle Eastern history. From the Six-Day War (1967) through the War of Attrition (1969-1970) to the Yom Kippur War (1973), 50,000 Soviet “internationalist soldiers” combated Israeli forces on the Egyptian front, turning the Suez Canal into the hottest arena of the Cold War. The full extent of this clash is revealed from newly accessible sources, such as the Soviet veterans’ own accounts. Russia’s present forceful reentry into the region highlights the book’s topical timeliness. When: Thursday, Nov. 2, 6:30-8 p.m. Where: Downtown Brooklyn/New York City of Technology (300 Jay St.)
Janet Borden Inc. presents “Alfred Leslie: The World is Charged with the Grandeur of God” through Dec. 20.
Book Talk — Death: A Graveside Companion In her latest work, author and co-founder of the Morbid Anatomy Museum Joanna Ebenstein curates an encyclopedic chronicle of rituals, beliefs and artistic traditions surrounding death from around the world and throughout time, from medieval Europe's memento mori to Mexico's Día de Muertos. When: Thursday, Nov. 2, 6:30-8 p.m. Where: Brooklyn Heights/Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont St.)
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 5INB
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MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Continued from page 5INB Lauren Sanders and JT Rogers Espionage, a missing father, and Olympic speed skating: author Lauren Sanders’ latest novel “The Book of Love and Hate” has it all. Sanders will present the book and converse with playwright J.T. Rogers at this star-studded event. When: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BRIC House (647 Fulton St.)
Educational Women’s Suffrage Turns 100 Part 2: Reshaping Politics In 2017, women make up less than 20 percent of Congress, even though they constitute more than 50 percent of the American population. As more women take seats in elected offices, are priorities shifting? Are conversations evolving? Brooklyn Historical Society Director of Public History Julie Golia leads this discussion with Christine Quinn, the first female speaker of the New York City Council and former mayoral candidate, and A'Shanti F. Gholar, political director for Emerge America, the only organization dedicated to recruiting, training and empowering Democratic women to run for public office. When: Monday, Nov. 6, 6:30-8 p.m. Where: Brooklyn Heights/Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont St.)
Family Fun
Join the Brooklyn Historical Society for “Book Talk – ‘Death: A Graveside Companion’” on Thursday, Nov. 2.
Family Shabbat Service and Veterans-Themed Dinner Welcome in Shabbat with singing, storytelling and dancing, followed by a delicious themed dinner open to people of all ages — toddlers to seniors — to socialize and form friendships. When: Friday, Nov. 3, 6:30-9 p.m. Where: Bay Ridge/Bay Ridge Jewish Center (405 81st St.)
this much-loved weekday market is where South Slope and Windsor Terrace residents stock up on locally grown staples. The offerings range from a selection of vegetables, fruits, baked goods, plants and flowers to fresh-caught fish and organic baked goods. When: Wednesday, Nov. 8, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Where: Prospect Park/Bartel-Pritchard Square
Family Fun: African Dance Explore traditional African folklore and rhythms through movement and music. When: Saturday, Nov. 4, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/Mark Morris Dance Center (3 Lafayette Ave.)
Film Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival This film festival is showcasing the work of female storytellers from around the world, bringing the filmmakers and community together for a rich experience. The two-day event will feature 46 films, open bar opening night networking and an open bar award ceremony. For the most current festival information, go to www.imaginethisprods.com. When: Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 4-5, 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Where: Williamsburg/Wythe Hotel (80 Wythe Ave.)
Food & Drink Chili Cook-Off Come enjoy a wonderful variety of chili and help decide the winner of the People’s Choice Chili Cook-Off, taking place during the New York City Marathon Fun Day. It’s prime location for viewing the marathon. Each chili taster is automatically entered into a chili cook-off giveaway. When: Sunday, Nov. 5, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Where: Park Slope/P.S. 118 (Fourth Avenue and Seventh Street)
FALL SPECIALS on Windows • Gutters/Leaders Siding
Image courtesy of the author
Little Scientists: Science Baby Join the Washington Irving Library for this special eight-week series for babies and toddlers exploring STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. “Science Baby” is a creative science program for 0-3-year-olds led by teaching artist Emma Gordon. The heart of “Science Baby” is exploring the wonder of science through story, repetition and play. Explore gravity, motion, magnets, chemical reactions, light, water, bubbles, sound and more. When: Wednesdays, through Dec. 20, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Where: Highland Park/Washington Irving Library (380 Washington Ave.)
Smorgasburg Prospect Park More than 100 local and regional food purveyors will gather on Breeze Hill to offer a range of cuisines. When: Sunday, Nov. 4, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: Prospect Park/Breeze Hill Bartel-Pritchard Square Greenmarket Nestled inside Prospect Park’s tree-shaded southwest corner,
Health Positive Aging: My Yoga Community Join Marja, the guide to integrating body, mind and spirit, in this chair yoga program. When: Thursday, Nov. 2, 10:15-11:15 a.m. Where: Dyker Heights/Dyker Library (8202 13th Ave.) Shape Up: Cardio Sculpt Cardio Sculpt has returned after a brief hiatus. Come exercise with a popular local volunteer! No registration is needed. When: Saturday, Nov. 4, 10-11 a.m. Where: Clinton Hill/Clinton Hill Library (380 Washington Ave.)
Theatre & Music Buffer “Buffer” is a live performance piece combining theater, dance and opera that seeks to represent the phenomena of consuming digital content through purely analog form. Without the use of projections, video, or digital screens of any kind, “Buffer” deconstructs the formal elements and psychological dimensions of acting and media production through the physical replication of digital effects. When: Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 1-4, 7:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAM Fishman Space (321 Ashland Place) State of Siege The Brooklyn Academy of Music presents Albert Camus’ rarely staged but increasingly relevant political allegory “State of Siege.” Camus wrote the play in 1948, when Europe lay in postwar rubble. In “State of Siege,” a symbolic character named The Plague arrives in town after a catastrophic event and gradually assumes totalitarian power. When: Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 1-4, 7:30 p.m. Continued on page 7INB
6INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
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MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Week of November 2-8, 2017 ARIES — Mar 21/Apr 20 You will welcome this week as a time for renewal, Aries. That means surrounding yourself with easygoing people and engaging in various relaxing activities. TAURUS — Apr 21/May 21 Taurus, no matter the demands that are put on your time right now, you must take some time to retreat and focus on your well-being. This may mean staying out of the limelight. GEMINI — May 22/Jun 21 Gemini, if you’ve felt misunderstood recently, do not worry. Things will finally be righted, and you will be able to smooth over any miscommunications with others.
The Bell House presents Hoops with The Clientele on Sunday, Nov. 5. Continued from page 6INB Where: Fort Greene/BAM Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave.) A Dark Skinned Woman’s Revenge For Djoma Legend, its always been hell being dark-skinned. Fed up, she decides “somebody gotta pay.” Based on a true story, this play, which has a book version, was written, produced and performed by Rashida Strober. When: Friday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m. Where: Prospect Heights/Respect for Life, Books and Things (527 Nostrand Ave.) BAMkids Music Series — Jojo & the Pinecones Joelle Lurie and ensemble bring their distinctive “jazzed-up pop and popped-up jazz” style to family audiences, showcasing playful, swinging tunes centered around Lurie's bold, smooth vocals. The band performs selections from their first kidfocused album, “Night and Day,” which is composed of original songs and reimagined jazz standards structured around the course of a day. When: Saturday, Nov. 4, 10:30 a.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAMcafe Live (30 Lafayette Ave.)
Image courtesy of the Bell House
CANCER — Jun 22/Jul 22 This is a week of activity directly related to your earning potential, Cancer. It is time to get your financial house in order, devoting your time to budgets.
Hoops with The Clientele Bloomington, Indiana’s Hoops released their critically acclaimed debut album “Routines” earlier this year. The Clientele’s new studio album was released in September and is called “Music For the Age of Miracles.” Don't miss these amazing bands. When: Sunday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m. Where: Gowanus/The Bell House (149 Seventh St.)
LEO — Jul 23/Aug 23 You are proud of new plans and are now feeling invincible, Leo. There is so much potential coming your way that it may be slightly overwhelming processing it all.
Petra and the Wolf Inspired by the Prokofiev classic “Peter and the Wolf,” with captivating large-scale puppetry and live music, this original work introduces the mischievous but fearless Petra, the granddaughter of the fabled Peter. When a wolf threatens her home and animal friends, her adventures become a showcase of bravery Continued on page 8INB
VIRGO — Aug 24/Sept 22 Virgo, you may have been quietly working on a project that no one has had a clue about. This endeavor will soon be revealed to everyone close to you, showcasing your creativity. LIBRA — Sept 23/Oct 23 Libra, you might feel like you have lost a bit of your relationship magic, but in the department of winning friends, you can’t be beat. People are lining up to know you. SCORPIO — Oct 24/Nov 22 You are not going to do anything halfway this week, Scorpio. Come to think of it, you never do things halfway. Nevertheless, be cautious and considerate with your pursuits. SAGITTARIUS — Nov 23/Dec 21 Sagittarius, you are not the type of person who is willing to settle. This week, in regard to your career, you will demonstrate just how eager you are to get ahead. CAPRICORN — Dec 22/Jan 20 Capricorn, the greatest asset you can have this week is the capacity to communicate. Always express your feelings clearly so that nothing can be misconstrued. AQUARIUS — Jan 21/Feb 18 Relationship matters are on the mend, Aquarius. You couldn’t be happier with the changes. You’re not prone to going it alone, and having a mate at your side is key. PISCES — Feb 19/Mar 20 Pisces, associates and friends have been cautious and guarded, leading you to believe you should act the same way. Don’t follow the crowd.
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 7INB
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
MYBROOKLYNCALENDAR.COM Continued from page 7INB and compassion. When: Sunday, Nov. 5, 2 p.m. Where: Manhattan Beach/On Stage at Kingsborough (2001 Oriental Blvd.)
try. In this new English adaptation by Alexandra Wood, directors Bruce Guthrie and Scott Graham create a world of shape-shifting shadows, transporting the audience from one memory to
another. When: Tuesday-Saturday, Nov. 7-11, 7:30 p.m. Where: Fort Greene/BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Place)
Macbeth No Name Collective, an emerging classics troupe, will present a novel interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” When: Daily, through Nov. 5 (weekday performances, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday perfromances, 2 p.m. matinee showings) Where: Clinton Hill/The Yard (16 Waverly Ave.) Pinnochio Adapted by Puppetworks Artistic Director Nicolas Coppola, “Pinocchio” features traditional hand-carved wooden marionettes, an original song score, the Blue Fairy and a live actor as Stromboli the Puppet Master. Six colorful scenes range from the excitement of Boobyland with its Donkey Machine to the eerie glow of undersea where the Whale lives. For ages 3 and older. When: Saturday-Sunday, through Dec. 17, 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Where: Park Slope/Puppet Works (338 Sixth Ave.) Man to Man This one-woman play tells the story of Ella, a working-class woman who is forced to adopt the identity of her dead husband in order to survive in Weimar, Germany. Scottish actress Margaret Ann Bain stars as the resourceful widow (incidentally, a role that launched the career of actress Tilda Swinton). Suppressing her own identity for survival, Ella is plunged into an unfamiliar world of factory work, machismo and burgeoning militancy; a claustrophobic existence dominated by the fear of discovery and the changing face of authority in a volatile coun-
No Name Collective presents “Macbeth” at The Yard, through Nov. 5.
Image courtesy of No Name Collective
We Can Expand Your Reach to New Customers EXPONENTIALLY Using Images and Social Media Along With Our Popular Websites and Blogs CALL US TODAY: 718-422-7400
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718-422-7400 8INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
HEALTH & WELLNESS
A Special Section on Medicine From Brooklyn’s Primary Sources Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 9INB
10INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
Louis Peters Offers Timely Talk About Health Care
United HealthCare Rep Explains Medicare Benefits at Luncheon By John Alexander INBrooklyn
AT RIGHT: Louis J. Peters (left) is pictured with his administrative assistant, Samantha August.
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 11INB
INBrooklyn photo by John Alexander
Louis J. Peters of AMP Insurance Brokerage on 7709 Fifth Ave. gave a well-received talk to the Colonial Club of Bay Ridge about United Healthcare Medicare solutions and the various plans available to enrollees. He was joined at the luncheon by his administrative assistant Samantha August. Peters has been involved in health care for over 35 years. He discussed the 2018 Medicare plans for those 65 or over in detail, as well as the various changes to the prescription drug plans. He informed the club that new Medicare cards will be issued in April without Social Security numbers in order to cut down on identity theft and fraud. The cards will be distributed starting April 2018 through March 2019 and will feature a new ID number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), that will appear on the card, replacing the Social Security number. Peters explained that the impetus for this was the enactment of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in 2015, that directed the removal of Social Security numbers from all Medicare cards by April 2019. “You have many choices when you have Medicare,” Peters said. “You can absolutely go to any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare.” He further explained that Medicare does not cover dental or vision, but you can go to some of the best hospitals, including Memorial Sloan Kettering, as long as they accept the plan. He did caution that Medicare does not cover prescription drugs. “So the thing that people will do,” Peters said, “is that they will have Medicare as their primary and also purchase a supplement plan.” He added that a Medicare Complete Plan is also available that does cover prescription drugs, keeps you in the network of hospitals and doctors and sometimes includes ancillary options like dental and vision plans. Peters said he was very proud to represent United Healthcare. “United Healthcare’s mission is to help people live healthier lives and we have been in New York for over 30 years. We offer a full portfolio of products to help seniors from all walks of life,” Peters added.
12INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 13INB
14INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Brooklyn Nurses Win Praise For Providing Special Care By Paula Katinas INBrooklyn
Two compassionate nurses working in Brooklyn hospitals were among the health care providers willing praise and awards at a celebration held on Oct. 24 by NYC Health + Hospitals, the agency that runs the city’s hospitals. NYC Health + Hospitals named several Nursing Excellence Award winners from across the city for going above and beyond their professional duties to help patients, families and health professionals. Sabina Wood, assistant director of nursing education and research at Woodhull Hospital, won the award for Excellence in Education and Mentorship. She was cited for her “clear communication, compassion and attention to new assistants,” according to a press release issued by NYC Health + Hospitals. Wood, an oncology and chemotherapy nurse, revamped Woodhull’s orientation program so that it could better meet the needs of the hospital and its staff, officials said. She is highly respected for her expertise and has served as a guest lecturer at Woodhull’s Caring and Empathy Communication and Preceptor courses, according to officials. Woodhull Hospital is located at 760 Broadway in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Coney Island Hospital nurse John Huaylinos was presented with the award for Excellence in Volunteerism and Service. He serves as an integrative nurse coach and works with patients dealing with substance abuse, depression and anxiety. Huaylinos is a fixture at the New York City Marathon’s starting point at Fort
Coney Island Hospital nurse John Huaylinos was presented with the award for Excellence in Volunteerism and Service.
Sabina Wood won praise for revamping the nursing orientation program at Woodhull Hospital. Photos courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals
Wadsworth on Staten Island, where he and other nurse volunteers talk to runners about the importance of staying hydrated during the
long race. He also recruits volunteers to provide assistance at the Tunnel to Towers run each year.
ER Nurses Are Unsung Heroes
• Suturing • Intubation • Bag valve mask ventilation • Administering medicine • Basic life support • Advance cardiac life support • Transfusing blood Prospective ER nurses must complete a nursing degree or diploma program. In Canada, since the late 1990s, the provinces and territories have moved from diploma entry level to baccalaureate entry level for RNs, says the Canadian Nurses Association. Both the United States and Canada require prospective ER nurses to pass the NCLEX-RN exam, which is administered by the National Council of State Boards. RNs receive state licensing in the United States. In Canada there is no national license; each province or territory licenses individually based on jurisdiction. According to Johnson & Johnson’s Discover Nursing, ER nurses are increasingly learning about tech, thanks to electronic medical records and point-of-care barcoding. ER nurses have more responsibility than ever because of nursing shortages. That means there are plenty of opportunities to become leaders in the field. ER nurses and other nurses fill a much-needed responsibility in the medical field. A career as an ER nurse can be challenging but very rewarding.
— Metro Services
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 15INB
Image courtesy of Metro Services
No one wants to see the inside of an emergency room or medical center, but few people avoid occasional visits to the ER. When such situations arise, a top-notch trauma team can make all the difference. One of the first people patients encounter inside an ER are the nurses who quickly assess life-threatening problems and begin to solve them on the spot. Although nurses can work in hospital emergency rooms, emergency nurses also may work in ambulances, urgent care centers, sports arenas, and other high-stress situations. ER nurses are registered nurses who work closely with doctors to help diagnose, stabilize and manage conditions. They also liaise between family members and other medical staff and educate patients about their conditions once an emergency situation is addressed. Because ER nurses specialize in treating severely ill or injured patients or those in life-threatening situations, those considering a career in this field must be ready to adapt to many different situations. In a single day, ER nurses may encounter children with broken bones, patients with acute stomach pains and people injured in motor vehicle accidents, among many other potential situations. Patients of all ages come through trauma centers, and prioritizing emergencies can be part of the job description. An ER nurse’s day is frequently stressful and fast-paced. Some of the tasks to be expected, according to the nursing career resource Nurse Frontier, include: • First aid
Huaylinos, a veteran of the Iraq War, is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve Nurse Corps. Much of his volunteerism springs from his military service, according to officials. Coney Island Hospital is located at 2601 Ocean Parkway in Coney Island. Stanley Brezenoff, interim president and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals, said in a statement that the winners are an integral part of the city’s health care system. “Today NYC Health + Hospitals celebrates the Nursing Excellence winners and nominees who show unwavering dedication to our patients, countless times each day, in every corner of our essential health care system,” Brezenoff stated. “Our annual awards recognize a small group of nurses who represent thousands within our health system at the frontlines of delivering patient-centered care, with skill and compassion.” The winners were selected from more than 150 nurses nominated by their colleagues. There are more than 8,000 nurses currently working in medical facilities operated by NYC Health + Hospitals. “Nurses across NYC Health + Hospitals are devoted to providing outstanding care to our many patients, and it is my honor to celebrate today’s winners,” said nurse Kim Mendez, system chief nurse executive and senior vice president of patient centered care at NYC Health + Hospitals. “By celebrating today’s winners, we hope to illuminate the talent and passion we see in action every day across our health system,” Mendez added. For more information on the 2017 Nursing Excellence Awards, visit: www.nychealthandhospitals.org/nursing-excellence-awards-2017.
--- CROSSWORD ---
(See answers on page 19.)
HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, every colmn, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once. Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started. Remember: You must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column, or 3x3 box.
See answers on page 19. 16INB • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • Week of November 2-8, 2017
Calvin Smith loves to take a Sunday drive with his pal Penopoly!
Photo by Calvin Smith
Week of November 2-8, 2017 • INBROOKLYN — A Special Section of Brooklyn Daily Eagle/Brooklyn Eagle/Heights Press/Brooklyn Record/Bay Ridge Eagle/Greenpoint Gazette • 17INB
Wildenstein & Co. Buys the Saint Marks in Bushwick
International Art Dealership Pays $51 Million for Former Church By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn
Welcome to Bushwick, David Wildenstein. The high-profile international art dealership he runs, Wildenstein & Co. Inc., has purchased the Saint Marks for $51 million, city Finance Department records indicate. The rental-apartment complex at 626 Bushwick Ave. has a historic pedigree. Originally, it was St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church and School.
The Victorian Gothic-style red-brick house of worship and school building were designed by Theobald Engelhardt, a prominent late 19th-century architect. They were constructed in the 1890s. The residential complex also includes a new building. Wildenstein is the fifth-generation member of his family to run its high-profile art dealership. In recent years, he has started to expand it into real-estate development. The entity that bought the Saint Marks in September is called 618 Bushwick Owner LLC.
Wildenstein signed a mortgage used in the purchase. The document identifies him as the vice president of Wildenstein & Co. Inc. and says the company is the sole member of 618 Bushwick Owner LLC. The seller was an LLC with Jacob Sacks as manager, Finance Department records show. Sacks is a principal of Cayuga Capital Management, which carried out the church and school's residential conversion. For more “Eye on Real Estate,” see brooklyneagle.com.
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SUDOKU ANSWERS Continued from page 16
In New York Metropolitan Region: 62 Community Newspapers — 2,326,165 Readers
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The Independent Bookstore Revival in Brooklyn
Outside of Books Are Magic in Cobble Hill. Photo courtesy of Books Are Magic
Continued from page 4
Another store, Powerhouse Arena, gained notoriety through its sleek, industrial and large space as well as the big names it attracted, such as Al Gore and Salman Rushdie. Even after moving to a smaller space in DUMBO, events at this store can still attract crowds of around 150 people. Community members have also flocked to independent bookstores to share their fears. “The day after the election, this was the first place people thought to go. They came in and said, ‘I know I’m safe here,’” explained Hannah of Word Bookstore. Susanne Konig, founder of Powerhouse Arena, says she saw a similar occurrence at her bookstore after the election, and again after the Charlottesville protest. “The independent bookstore was re-
vived as a place of refuge or a safe haven … You bookstores. Exterior of Here’s a Bookstore could literally see [people’s] shoulders relax. They “Many people now underin Sheepshead Bay. Eagle photo by Natasha Soto came in to look for answers, to talk, to feel safe.” stand that shopping local is According to Konig, costumers were seeking a political act,” says Stephly service.” out books about the political climate, white rage, anie Valdez, co-owner of People think of bookstores differently than they racism and diversity so much that the bookstore Community Bookstore. “By shopping local, you do other commercial spaces. In 2008, the Fort curated an entire section called “Books to Resist.” keep dollars in your neighborhood.” Fusco-Straub said the election re-invigorated Here’s a Bookstore, the delightfully cluttered Greene Association commissioned a survey to his and Emma Straub’s dream to open a bookstore. antiquarian’s dream on Coney Island Avenue in find out what kind of retail options they thought “When it happened, we were in shock. We thought, Sheepshead Bay, has been open since 1976. Moth- were missing from Fort Greene. The No. 1 answer for maybe a day, that this might not be the right er and son Sylvia and Doron Levy opened the store across income and ethnicity was “a bookstore.” According to Konig, when she is traveling and time to open a bookstore. But then we realized when rent was $400 a month, and it has increased how important it was that we were going to at this by 10 times since then. Still, they have out-com- tells people she owns a bookstore, no matter who time.” peted five other bookstores and been named to she is speaking to, they usually respond with awe, Not only do independent bookstores go out of the “Best Bookstore in New York” by the Daily positivity, maybe even a gentle sigh. “It’s a bit rotheir way to foster community, consumers also go News. The secret to their success? “We are a fami- mantic,” she says, “but people love to be surroundT:10” out of their way to support their local independent ly-owned business, and people come for the friend- ed by books.”
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Call Today! 718-422-7400 We Can Expand Your Reach To New Customers EXPONENTIALLY Using Images and Social Media Along With Our Popular Websites and Blogs 6 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, November 2, 2017
‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Discusses Win and Brazen Head Bar Trivia Night By John Alexander Brooklyn Eagle
Austin Rogers recently proved himself a “Jeopardy!” phenomenon. His 12-game winning streak netted him $411,000, putting him in fifth place for a “Jeopardy!” all-time regular season run. The 38-year-old New York native lives in Hell’s Kitchen and hosts trivia night at Brooklyn’s Brazen Head bar at 228 Atlantic Ave. America fell in love with the quirky bartender, who spoke with the Brooklyn Eagle about his fascinating journey on “Jeopardy!” He opened up about his life since becoming champion, his signature drink as a bartender, his future plans and what Alex Trebek is really like. Brooklyn Eagle: First of all, congratulations on your incredible run on “Jeopardy!” What made you decide to audition for the show and how did you go about it? Austin Rogers: Thank you very much. I applied every year but wasn’t hungry for it like so many other people. It was just like, “Hey, ‘Jeopardy!’ auditions are online again. Let me try it and see what happens.” You take that online test and then you pretty much forget about it. Then the next year you take the test again and get a call to audition and you forget about it. This time I got a call saying, “L.A. in three weeks.” And I said, “Cool, L.A. in three weeks. Let’s do this.” Eagle: Did you ever think you would do so well and become one of the show’s most beloved contestants? Rogers: I was confident that I’d win a game and that was pretty much my goal. I just wanted to win one to prove I could do it and I would be happy. And then I won two, then I won four, then I won seven, then I won nine, then I won 11. So I was like, “Wow, this is disturbingly easy for me.” Eagle: You know you made it fun. You made the whole process entertaining. The audience was as interested in the questions and answers as they were about watching you. You had a lot of charisma. Rogers: Thank you. I don’t get why no one else made it fun. I mean, is it the reputation of “Jeopardy!” or is it that I’m not the typical “Jeopardy!” contestant? Eagle: I think most people who watch “Jeopardy!” think that every contestant has to be so serious about it. And there you go proving that you can have fun, enjoy the process and succeed in the game. Rogers: You know how on “The Price is Right” contestants flip out when they get a new car? Well I flip out knowing about obscure French cathedrals. The typical “Jeopardy!” viewer and the typical “Jeopardy!” contestant may lack that spark. You can be smart and fun too. It doesn’t have to be so staid and buttoned-up. Eagle: How has life changed for you since your win on “Jeopardy!”? Rogers: It’s changed in such a multitude of ways (laughs). Every ex-girlfriend has reconnected with me. No, actually you expect the lottery syndrome to kick in where people come out of the woodwork. But everyone has come out of the woodwork in just the most joyous and supportive way. There have been little to no awkward invites to letch off of me for either money or popularity or whatever (laughs). And then bizarrely everyone says, “You deserve this.” And I’m wondering what kind of charity case I was before this happened. I wasn’t dying. I was pretty happy (laughs). I’m like, “Did my dog die?” I don’t even have a dog! Eagle: What is Alex Trebek really like and was he what you thought he would be like? Rogers: The interaction you’ve seen between us is the interaction we had. He does not interact with the guests outside of the stage. During commercial breaks he takes Q&As with the audience, while the contestants have other things to do: makeup touch-ups, new batteries in your microphone, for example. And he’s got stuff to do as well like punch in a new line that he misspoke and do a hot edit right there in the studio so the episode will be complete when they’re done with it. So he has things to do, you have things to do,
so the interaction is basically only what occurs in front of the camera. Afterwards there’s some brief chit-chat, but the second those lights go off he is backstage changing his suit to come back out again in 10 minutes. It is a rigorous, relentless, grueling schedule run with military precision. Eagle: Were you born and raised in New York? Rogers: I’m from Westchester originally. And I’ve lived in Manhattan for 18 years. Eagle: After such an amazing winning streak, was it frustrating to lose to Tennessee stay-athome mom Scarlett Sims by such a small margin ($33,201 to $33.150)? Rogers: I left $50 on the board in case she went all-in. She did not go all-in. I think she had $250 more than me. If I had gotten just one more question right or one less question wrong, I would have won that game. But you can’t Monday morning quarterback, you know. She beat me fair and square. Eagle: You have said that your demeanor on the show was not an act, that it was really you, correct? Rogers: Yep, unfortunately that’s me and you are stuck with it. Eagle: Why do you think people responded so well to you? Rogers: I had an inkling that what I did would resonate but not to the extent that it did. I mean, the staff and team and crew at “Jeopardy!” would say, “Your life is gonna change, buddy.” I’d just laugh at them, but they were 100 percent right. They knew that there was some sort of lightning in a bottle, or genie in a bottle to quote Christina Aguilera (laughs). I didn’t know I was this likeable! Eagle: The answer to one question was: “Once its own city, it joined with a neighbor in 1898; today on its own it would be the fourth most populous city in the U.S.” And the answer is? Rogers: (Laughs) Brooklyn! Hey, I’m talking with Walt Whitman’s newspaper [Whitman was editor of the Brooklyn Eagle from 1846-1848]. Oh, my God that was so easy. How could they even ask me that one? My favorite book is literally “Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898,” when consolidation happened. I’ve read that book four times and I have three copies of it. I just keep giving them away.
Austin R ogers ( left) during one of his appearances on “ J eopardy! ”
Photo courtesy of J eopardy Productions, I nc.
and get to know people who’ve done it before, so it’s looser, more energetic because everyone’s been through the ringer and now you can let some steam off. It raises the entire caliber of the game. Eagle: Tell me about the trivia nights you host at the Brazen Head? Rogers: I’ve been doing trivia nights at the Brazen Head for about a year and half now. Every Monday except the first Monday of each month. I love the Brazen Head because it is a local’s bar. It is a neighborhood bar that doesn’t have any pretense about what it is. You see the same faces all the time. Everyone is super friendly and the staff and the owners are really cool. I mean, it’s my kind of bar! Eagle: Other than the Brazen Head, what
are some of your favorite things about Brooklyn? Rogers: I got this sibling rivalry with Brooklyn. I do enjoy Brooklyn and there’s so “ J eopardy! ” host Alex T remuch history bek with 1 time champiand so many on ustin Rogers cool places. I love going to Coney Island and Brighton Beach and I love going to Cyclones games. I think the Brooklyn Bridge is the most awesome bridge ever made in the history of mankind, both by historical importance and by aesthetics.
Eagle: Is it really all about the buzzer? Rogers: The way I’ve broken the game down mentally is: One, you have to know everything; two, you have to assume that your opponents knows the same 85-90 percent; three, you have to know that extra 10 or 15 percent so that you can ring in unopposed; four, if everyone knows the same 85 percent then you have to beat them on the buzzer; and five, you got to be unshaken by the intangible, the lights, the cameras, the audience, Alex Trebek, the stage and the microphone. Eagle: Where do you bartend, and what is your signature drink? Rogers: I bartend at Gaf West at 48th St. and Ninth Ave. in Manhattan (laughs). And my signature drink is Guinness! I am just a bartender. I am not a Williamsburg hipster. I do not do artisanal chip ice blocks. I do not mix chartreuse with lemon-infused gin. I pour beer and I pour whiskey (laughs). And if you’re asking me for something more complex, go to a different bar! Eagle: What’s ahead for you? I know that you will be participating in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions. Rogers: Yes. I’ve already taped the Tournament of Champions. It begins on Nov. 6 and lasts for 10 consecutive days. There are three rounds and I can’t tell you how well I did, but I can tell you it’s really a lot more fun than the regular-season game because you’re playing with and against other veterans who have amassed multiple wins. So, when you’re on the regular-season game, it’s just a rotating cast of characters that pop in and pop out. And you don’t really get to spend a lot of time with anyone because of all the preparation, getting to know the buzzers, signing paperwork and getting legal briefings. Now, you’ve done all that Thursday, November 2, 2017 • Brooklyn Eagle • 7
8 • Brooklyn Eagle • Thursday, November 2, 2017