Feb . 1, 2012 issue

The Red Hook Star-RevueSOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

Feb 1 - 15, 2012 FREE

Also In This Issue:

With a number of states recently overturning standing requirements on fingerprinting food stamp applicants, the pressure has been growing in the city and Albany for Mayor Michael Bloomberg to follow suit.

Opponents contend that fingerprint-ing food stamp applicants is a stigma that deters qualifying individuals and families from receiving the assistance they need. Some, like Governor An-drew Cuomo, estimate that 30% of those who qualify for assistance simply do not apply due to the degradation of fingerprinting.

Cosily ensconced in the glass bricked corner, Pilar Montero held court at Montero’s Bar and Grill, (located at Atlantic Avenue & Hicks Street), for 65 years. She and her

husband, Joe, served and cared for the dock commu-nity of Brooklyn for that long. When the ships came in, the seamen came in droves for drinks, food, mail and, sometimes, a loan. The Monteros acted as a post office, a bank and a community bulletin board for the many sailors who streamed from their ships to the bar. She was there every day.

Immigrating from Livas, Spain, in the province of Galicia, Pilar’s parents, Francisco and Rita Rivas, settled on the Lower East Side in the early winter of 1921. Her mother was pregnant with her during the crossing and Maria Pilar Rivas came into the world on December 2, 1921.

Her father, who made his living from the sea, found employment as a dock worker and deckhand on the ferry boats. He grew tired of family life and left Rita and her three children to fend for themselves. Rita opened a boarding house in Manhattan and that was their mainstay throughout Pilar’s early life.

In the early forties, Pilar met a dashing young seaman whose family was also from Galicia, Joseph Montero. They married in 1943. In the ensuing fifty-six years, she bore him three sons, Joseph, (also known as Pepe), Frank, and Ramon as well as a daughter, Josephine. In turn, they provided her with the delights of her life: seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

In 1947, the Monteros opened what would become the center of her life: Montero’s Bar & Grill. While her husband, Joe, pursued a career in shipping, rising to the rank of Chief Engineer, Pilar concentrated on raising a family and running the bar. It soon became the hub for news, work and gossip, attracting the Irish and Italian longshoremen as well as sailors of all nationalities. They were as much her family as her husband and children. Indeed, she was the heart and soul of the dockyards.

In return, their customers brought them the gifts and treasures of their ocean going lives. Cork life-saver rings drip from the ceiling. Portholes, photos, model ships and cautionary signs, (“Company and Fish Stink after Three Days”), festoon the walls and shelves of this mini-marine museum. A particular favorite is the 18 inch by 24 inch iridescent Montero’s Bar sign made of butterfly wings hanging over the cash register.

Pilar Montero, The Doyenne of the Dock, passes at 90

by Eric Ruff

Upon entering, on the right is a framed arti-cle about the Danish seaman who, stranded in New York City, turned to the Montero’s for help. They gave him light bar duties to keep him in pin money until, finally, they found him a ship to sail out on. Included in the framed article is his heart felt thank-you note. Montero’s is a look into Red Hook’s rough and ready past.

In her last days, she never missed a beat. With clear mind and acerbic wit she gos-siped, reminisced and followed the three subjects she held dear: politics, sports, and the stock market. She could talk endlessly of the politicians, old and new, good and bad, who ran this city and this country. Of sports, she was an ardent follower of all New York teams, without prejudice, preferring neither the Mets nor the Yanks, the Jets or the Giants. She followed the stock market every day, and over the years she made sev-eral small fortunes, turning her into a mini-mogul.

She died on Saturday, January 14 of this year at Suny Downstate Medical Center (LICH), across the street from her beloved bar, during a routine procedure, of

age complicated cardiac arrest. Her last wish was to make it home the following day to watch the Giants/Packers game and root on her Giants. She would have been ecstatic at the outcome. One can only hope they have box seats in heaven.

“One of the things that we do now, which makes the stigma actually worse and creates a bar-rier for families coming forward to get food stamps, is we require fingerprinting,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo in the state of the state address earlier this month.

And since 40% of Brooklyn’s over 650,000 food stamp recipi-ents are under the age of 18, ac-cording to statistics obtained from the Human Resources Ad-ministration, it seems likely that

many more children are not re-ceiving the aid they need.

“Don’t make a child go to bed hungry because your govern-ment wants to come up with a fraud program that requires fin-gerprinting,” said Cuomo.

Supporters argue conversely that requiring such thorough identi-fication deters fraud in the sys-tem and is better for the city as a whole.

“Good fences make good neigh-bors,” said Bloomberg. “There’s

Pressure on Bloomberg to ease up on fingerprinting food stamp recipients

by Curtis Skinner

(continued on page 3)

Star-Revue Lover’s Scavenger Hunt

The Rules

1. You cannot con

tact George o

r Kimberly.

2. You must have at l

east one pictu

re with both of y

ou in it.

3. You are allow

ed to ask oth

ers for help

with the clues.

4. The hunt has

been timed out

, and while yo

u should hav

e ample

time for e

ach adventur

e, you must sta

y on schedul

e.

5. Present your n

ame to someone a

t each venue

as they are

in

volved

. They will be guidin

g you.

6. Do not worry a

bout keeping

notes during

the evening.

The

writing

should be fro

m an overall e

nd experience

.

7. GPS, googling a

nd other inte

rnet options a

re forbidden!

!!

8. Have fun and

enjoy your

evening.

In an extrem

e emergency, text

ing Kimberly i

s an option.

But only

after you hav

e exhausted

all other reso

urces. (501) 231-4098

We certainly hope you have enjoyed your evening. Have a

great night and a safe trip home whenever you are ready. Love,Kimberly & George

Pilar Montero, photo courtesy of Montero Bar

Red Hook Star-Revue February 1-15, 2012

The Red Hook Star-RevueThe News of South Brooklyn Volume 3 No. 3, February 1-15, 2012

Founded in 2010 by Frank Galeano and George Fiala

Welcome to YOUR community newspaper!

Staff Reporters ........................... Elizabeth Graham, Matt Graber, Curtis SkinnerStaff Photographer .............................................................. Elizabeth GrahamCartoons ...................................................... Vince Musacchia, Harold ShapiroHistorian ....................................................................................John BurkardContributors ....................Mary Anne Massaro, Danette Vigilante, Robert Geelan .......................Reg Flowers, Michael Racioppo, Mary Ann Pietanza, Bill GonzalezCalendar Editor ............................................................................... Eric RuffRestaurant Critic ......................................................................... Erik PenneyCo-Publisher and Editor ........................................................ Kimberly G. PriceCo-Publisher and Graphics .......................................................... George Fiala

The Red Hook Star-Revue is published twice a month by Red Hook Publishing

We need letters to the editor as well as press advisories which can be mailed to:

Red Hook STaR-ReVue, 101 union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231718 624-5568 - news tip line 917-652-9128 or emailed to [email protected]

TaLk To uS oNLiNe- We aRe oN FaceBook our websITe: www.redhookstar.com

Growing Up Red Hook

Love Meant to Beby Danette Vigilante

Since Valentine’s Day is upon us and love will be on the minds of most everyone, I’d like to share with you the following tale.

Some years ago, two Brooklyn women with the same first name, went into labor around the same time. They both wound up in Methodist Hospital where one gives birth to a boy, and the other, a girl. The two babies share the same nursery where one,

most likely the boy, (based on his future loudness levels), keeps all the other babies awake, including the girl baby.

Both babies go on with their lives growing into curly headed kids. Both are string bean skinny and share a love of pizza.

When it comes time for High School, both babies attend the same school. This is when worlds begin to collide for the second time. The babies, now teenagers, find their way to each other and begin to date. It doesn’t last long. Just enough time to spark something in their worlds. Again, they go on with their lives until years later, when they meet again. The boy asks the girl for a date; she agrees. Later, the boy thinks about canceling but doesn’t. The date goes on as planned though the girl has a hard time keeping her mouth closed. She talks and talks and talks. He listens. And listens some more. All the while, he’s thinking yes, she’s got the gift of gab but somehow, I like all she has to say. Her thoughts are on his handsomeness and how she wishes she could stop her uncontrollable … blabbing. But, try as she might, it was no use. It was as though she’d been silent for years only now allowed to speak.

Two years go by when, on a Brooklyn beach, he asked her to marry him by way of an airplane. The banner waved for all to see: “Danette, will you marry me?”

The baby boy had always been mine, and I, his. All those years ago, when we first breathed life, it was meant to be.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! May you treasure the love you have or find the love that puts a spark in your world.

Danette Vigilante is a children’s author living in New York City with one husband, two daughters, Mr. Noodle, her love hog Yorkshire terrier and Daisy, a cat with a seriously bad attitude. Her newest book, The Trouble with Half a Moon, is in local bookstores and available for purchase online at Amazon and other booksellers.


just no reason that I know of why you shouldn’t […] to en-sure the public that the only people who are getting benefits that the public are paying for are those that deserve it.”

Human Resources Adminis-tration Commissioner Robert Doar has stated that the pro-cedure saves New York City taxpayers about $5 million in otherwise defrauded and wast-ed government spending while costing short of $200,000 a year to operate and maintain. All costs which ultimately come out of the taxpayer’s pocket.

Good results in CaliforniaBut that has not followed for some of the 48 states that re-cently eliminated the policy. California was the most recent state to stop the practice and anticipates $850 million more federal aid due to increased membership in the program. Furthermore, food stamps pur-chases are projected to gener-ate $1.5 billion for the State’s heavily indebted economy, ac-cording to the spokesperson for the lead sponsor of the bill.

But underneath the political crossfire, food stamp recipi-ents at the 257 Bergen Street center—across the street from

Focus on Education:

Mikayla Greene can explain why magnetic forces work like they do, and she understands

how electricity powers light bulbs. The fourth-grader loves science, especially the hands-on experiments she and her classmates get to do at PAVE Academy in Red Hook.

Mikayla, who lives in Red Hook, en-rolled at PAVE in first grade, and plans to return next year when the charter school expands to include fifth grade.

The curriculum’s focus on higher educa-tion – each classroom bears the name of a college and its mascot – has already in-spired Mikayla to set her sights on Har-vard. The 9-year-old wants to study sci-ence, medicine, singing and dance, and says that she loves to learn because of the way her teachers run their classrooms.

“I like that we learn a lot, and we get to have a lot of time to understand it,” she said. The teachers “help us when we need help, but they tell us to try it out first and think about it before we ask for help.”

Another of Mikayla’s favorites is Fri-day activities, with programs like step dancing, rap, cooking, science, arts and crafts, checkers, bucket drumming and theater. The programs are offered as re-wards to students who earn points for good behavior during the week.

About 70 percent of the academy’s 230 students are from Red Hook, develop-ment and recruitment manager Ali Donovan said. Kids at PAVE are in school for 202 days a year, and spend more hours in the classroom each week than students in regular public schools.

Each classroom is staffed by two teach-ers, who divide kids into groups to focus on lessons like phonics, sentence con-struction and math problems.

On a recent visit to a second-grade classroom, students wait for their teach-er’s cue to get up from their desks and sit on a rug on the floor in rows. They pass out whiteboards and talk about phonics and spelling, discussing the sound “ive.”

The school, which has been housed on the second floor of P.S. 15 on Sullivan Street since it opened in 2008, will move to a new building on the corner of Henry and Mill streets in about a year and a half.

PAVE bought the property, the former site of an old furniture warehouse, in Oc-tober 2010. Construction is underway, and is expected to be complete by the fall of 2013. The new 40,000 square foot building will accommodate 370 students as the school adds a grade each year until

it includes eighth grade. The $39 million project will feature art and music rooms, a science lab, playground and gym.

PAVE founder and executive direc-tor Spencer Robertson believes it will be the first elementary school built in Red Hook in more than 60 years. The new building, he says, will represent a chance to expand not only the stu-dent body, but also a rigorous curricu-lum that’s designed to prepare students for admission into competitive high schools and colleges.

“We founded PAVE… after two years of studying top public and public charter

Two teachers per class at Red Hook’s PAVE AcademyBy Elizabeth Graham

PAVE Academy kindergartner Jakhai Harden does his work in the Syracuse Orange classroom. (photo by Elizabeth Graham)

schools in the northeast. We’ve aggre-gated some of the best practices across those schools and have incorporated them into our model,” Robertson said.

The school’s core standards - persever-ance, achievement, vibrancy and ex-cellent character – define its academics and general rules of the road, principal Jeremy Abarno said.

“PAVE teachers expect all of our stu-dents to be successful and do everything they can to ensure it. We have two ded-icated teachers in every classroom who work tirelessly to make each scholar reach their full potential,” he said.

the Wyckoff Gardens Houses and across town from the Red Hook Houses—worried less about stigma and fraud than about feeding their families. Many said that they had wait-ed hours to be seen, only to find that their cases had been closed, or that they had not ap-plied properly or any number of other problems barred them from receiving aid.

After two hours of interviews, most refused to offer comment and the dozen that did refused to reveal their names. Fin-gerprinting or not, receiving public assistance is a difficult subject to talk about openly es-pecially in a country that pro-motes the idea that everyone can be successful with enough work. After years of living be-low poverty, most seemed sim-ply inured.

“It’s the law,” said a Creole woman from nearby Flatbush walking with her son. She would not give her name and spoke in a rushed tone. “They won and it’s the law.”

Fingerprinting(continued from cover)

Read it in the Star-Revue before

you read it in the Times.

Available for free at select locations throughout

South Brooklyn.

The auditorium of Carroll Gar-den’s PS 58 was full of con-cerned citizens, local business owners and avid politicians on Tuesday, January 17th to listen to the EPA’s Walter Mugdan, the director of the Superfund program and Chris-tos Tsiamis, the project man-ager supervising the Gowanus Canal cleanup project. The Gowanus was declared a feder-al Superfund site in May 2010, the EPA declaring it among the most highly contaminated sites in the country, making it eligible for federal funds to study and enact a cleanup pro-gram. This designation was made against the wishes of the Bloomberg administration, which had hoped to affect their own cleanup making the site available to the Toll Brothers to build luxury condos on the site. Toll Brothers forfeited a $5 million deposit and then walked away from the condo project. The city’s position was that the Superfund designation was a “stigma.” CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman disputed that statement, saying ‘everybody knows the Gowa-nus is contaminated.’

Prior to the opening of the

Gowanus Canal in 1868, the area was home to the Gowanus Creek and surrounding marsh-land. The canal was completed in 1869 and became a major transport in New York and Brooklyn. As Brooklyn was undergoing rapid industrializa-tion at the time, the marshland was considered a hindrance to commercial development. The Canal enabled barges to operation, and removed much of the marshland providing land for factories to operate. At the same time, however, these same companies began dump-ing industrial wastes into the canal, one source of today’s problems. In addition, sewage from nearby housing devel-opments, storm water runoff, non-permitted pipes, damaged bulkheads and discharge were released into the canal.

101 years of frustration

The pollution problem soon be-came evident, and many meth-ods were attempted to clean up the canal, the 1911 flushing tun-nel being the most ambitious. However, a series of miscalcula-tions and lack of proper fund-ing prevented the tunnel from being very effective. The canal remains contaminated with sev-

eral extremely toxic chemicals including polychlorinated bi-phenyls, (PCBs), polycyclic aro-matic hydrocarbons, (PAHs), coal waste and non-aqueous-phase liquids, (NAPLs). The Gowanus Canal is considered to be one of the country’s most highly polluted bodies of wa-ter, and on March 2, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added it to the Super-fund National Priorities List.

The Feasibility Study, (FS), set three main objectives for the cleanup. First, the canal must become ecologically safe by re-ducing toxicity to acceptable levels and protect herbivorous birds from dietary exposure. EPA also aims to protect hu-man health from “incidental ingestion” and “dermal con-tact”. Lastly, steps must be tak-en to prevent recontamination after the cleanup is complete and to prevent the surrounding landmasses from being contam-inated in the process.

In order to put together an ef-fective plan for the cleanup, the EPA screened potential re-medial processes in accordance with effectiveness, the capacity to execute and cost. Any op-

EPA presents Gowanus Canal cleanup study to PS 58 audience

by Kimberly Gail Price



News From the Streetwritten and collected by the Star-Revue editorial staff

B61 MovementBrad Lander presented his B61 study at the January 19th meeting of CB 6’s Transportation committee meeting. At the meeting he stressed that the hold-up to any improvements on the beleaguered line - the only one serving Red Hook proper, was the upcoming decision of the MTA at an upcoming board meeting. The committee, which met in a crowded first floor room un-der the stairs at the community center at 250 Baltic Street, approved the re-port unanimously.

Over the summer Lander and Nydia Velaszquez’s office coordinated volun-teers who kept track of the on-time re-cord of the bus line along Van Brunt Street. They found that the buses kept to the written schedule only 43% of the time during rush hours. In addition, over-crowding of many of the buses was report.

The report, well reported in the press, spurred the MTA to make their own study, which verified these numbers, and at a board meeting the following

Biting and Punching at CVSA 29-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly biting and punching a cus-tomer inside CVS on Court Street, making off with $79 worth of merchan-dise that the 33-year-old victim had just purchased. Police arrested Iris Chico of Brownsville shortly after she attacked the man, taking his bags filled with items including baby shampoo, lotion and baby powder. Chico was charged with robbery, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana and criminal possession of stolen property.

Overnight RobberyA woman woke up in a room in the Brooklyn Motor Inn on Hamilton Av-enue and noticed she was missing a few things, including her engagement and wedding rings. The 50-year-old woman told cops she agreed to go to a bar for a drink with a man she did not know, and woke up the next morning with no memory of the rest of the night. Her credit card and a necklace worth $500 were missing, along with her engage-ment ring worth $1,000 and wedding ring worth $1,800. She described the man as white, about 31 years old, 5’6” with brown eyes.

Wide openSomeone entered L&K Distributors on Dykeman Street sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 a.m. the next day and made off with thousands in cash. No sign of forced entry was found, leading police

Monday voted to increase the number of buses running during evening rush hour. The new buses are scheduled to be added in April.

The complete report, which includes ad-ditional recommendation can be viewed online at http://bradlander.com/b61.

Carey Monserrate RememberedCarey Monserrate, Red Hook resident, was well known in the community for his work at the Red Hook Community Farm, the Wobblies softball forays and his work to bring the excessive heli-copter noise to the notice of the city. He was memorialized January 17th at Fort Defiance, which closed for busi-ness that the evening to host a packed house of mourners.

It was a somber and emotional evening, as a series of friends and acquaintances testified to Carey’s depth of character, humor, and occasionally his personal demons. A man who introduced himself simply as Wilson broke down during a description of how Carey had helped

pull him out of a personal crisis. The room was silent for almost five minutes as the speaker composed himself and continued.

Carey Monserrate took his own life De-cember 28, 2011, at the age of 42.

Lifeguards WantedThe city is now looking for lifeguards for the upcoming swimming season at pools and beaches through the NYC area. The Red Hook Recreation Cen-ter currently has openings for some of these positions. The season will start in late June and the lifeguard position will include a 48-hour work week, with a weekly salary starting at $650.

Applicants must be at least 16 years of age, pass a qualifying swim and vision test, and if accepted, attend a 40-hour training program as well as passing a final swim test.

More information can be found at the Parks Department website at: http://www.nycgovparks.org/opportunities/jobs/lifeguards.

Outlandish SpikeSpike Lee marked his return to indepen-dent film in January with Red Hook Sum-mer, which was shot in and around Red Hook Houses last year. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where it received mixed reviews. During the Q&A session following the premier, Lee, who funded the film on his own dime, was his normal provocative self.

“I didn’t need a motherf*cking studio telling me about Red Hook!” he told Chris Rock who asked about the self-financing. “They know nothing about black people! And they’re gonna give me notes about what a 13-year-old black boy and girl do in Red Hook? F*ck no!”

Red Hook Summer tells the story of a young boy who is brought from his home in Atlanta to Brooklyn to spend the summer with his grandfather in the Red Hook Houses.The film is scheduled to open for nationwide release this sum-mer. Spike Lee is a native of Atlanta but grew up in Brooklyn and attended St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights.

Criminal Activities

written and collected by Elizabeth Graham

to believe that the thief climbed into the building through an unlocked window in the financial office. An envelope con-taining $4,800 was taken from a drawer, and the window was left wide open.

Luquer AgainAn assault in the 100 block of Luquer Street resulted in the arrest of Chris-topher Dibendetto, 19, who lives on the street. Police say at 6:15 p.m., Dibendetto and another person alleg-edly punched the victim in the face and body. The victim identified Dibendetto as one of the attackers, and he was ar-rested a short time later on the corner of Henry and W. 9th streets.

More BitingTwo men got into an argument in an apartment building on the 100 block of Columbia Street at 4:35 a.m., when one of the men punched and bit the 54-year-old victim on his hands, cops say. Irving Miles, 41, was arrested on January 23 for the attack.

He wanted moreA woman was grabbed by a thug who demanded money on the corner of Fourth Place and Court Street at 6 a.m. as she was walking from the Carroll Street subway station. Police say the robber grabbed her by the neck, forcing the woman to hand over $20, then held onto her hand, walked her to an ATM machine, and forced the victim, 20, to withdraw another $60. The assail-ant is described as a black man, 6 feet tall, about 180 pounds, wearing a black jacket with a hood and a black skullcap.

Hold onto your bag A woman, 40, who left her purse unat-tended in a classroom about 12:30 p.m. at a school on Henry Street says her wallet containing her driver’s license and credit cards was taken.

Foot fetishSomeone spray painted the word “foot” and a drawing of a foot on the side of a grocery store at 52 Lorraine St. between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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Roughly 20 people made it to the auditorium at Patrick Daly School on a cold and windy Wednesday night for the end-of-month Red Hook Civic Asso-ciation meeting headed by John McGettrick, president of the neighborhood group. The topic that seemed to be on everybody’s mind: lousy traffic conditions.

“We need a better coordinated truck route in the community,” McGettrick said. “We have to alleviate truck traffic in order to facilitate better movement of the buses.” One idea that McGettrick plans to propose to the NYC Department of Transporta-tion at the upcoming February meeting, which several mem-bers of the DOT are expected to attend, is to reroute much of the car traffic to Richards Street and much of the truck traffic to Conover Street. The fence that dead-ends Conover Street at the corner of Pioneer Street should be torn down, he said, allowing easier passage to-ward Hamilton Street.

Several of the people in atten-

Brooklyn Dockworkers applaud the hard work of our elected officials in suspending the decision of U.S. Customs to relocate from Red Hook to Staten Island, imperiling jobs on the Brooklyn Waterfront.

Thanks to:Peter King

Jerrold NadlerCharles SchumerMichael GrimmMarty Golden

Nydia Velazquez

Civic Association talks trafficby Matt Graber

dance came specifically to vent about the volume of trucks pass-ing through the neighborhood. “There has got to be some way to relieve Van Brunt Street!” said a woman who claimed to have lived on the street for more than 50 years. “You can’t have so many trucks going both ways so close to parked cars!”

“Some of us have cars being banged up badly,” she went on. “Sullivan Street is supposed to be ‘Delivery Only’ but trucks drive up that street all the time.”

“Beard and Van Brunt Street has become this confluence of trucks, buses and people coming to and from Fairway,” another woman added. “My car got $5,000 worth of damage from a truck while it was parked.”

Red Hook tradition On a positive note, McGettrick pointed out that the a traffic light is finally getting installed at the corner of Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets. “In the tra-dition of how Red Hook gets things done: slowly.” Other ideas thrown around were lowering the speed limit on Van Brunt Street to 20 miles per hour as well as putting in cross-walk near the entrance to Valentino Park and at the intersection at Van Brunt and Pioneer.

(The Red Hook Civic Associa-tion meets on the last Wednesday of every month, at PS 15.)

Council Members Levin and Ignizio look to remediate dangerous PCB’s in

city schools by Curtis Skinner

Keeping the lights on in Red Hook’s public schools might be making the students sick, and one Brooklyn councilman is helping to turn them off.

Decades-old lighting fixtures found in over 700 New York schools are suspected of leak-ing polychlorinated biphenyls, (PCBs), according to studies by various city agencies. These compounds are carcinogenic, (any substance directly involved in causing cancer), and their production was banned in the United States over 30 years ago. While scientific studies have yet to conclude exactly how dan-gerous PCBs are to children, preliminary studies show that they likely disrupt proper im-mune and nervous system func-tioning and pollute the blood with prolonged exposure.

In a bi-partisan effort, Brook-lyn Councilman Steve Levin, (D—district 33), and Staten

Island Councilman Vincent Ignizio, (R—district 51), pro-duced two successful bills to remedy this issue. The first requires the New York City Department of Education to investigate and report leaks on a publicly available online da-tabase. The second requires the department to submit quarterly timetables to the City Council detailing cleanup efforts. May-or Michael Bloomberg signed both bills last December, but they will not go into effect un-til April 12th of this year.

“We support these bills as an important first step,” said Dave Newman, an industrial hygien-ist at New York City Occupa-tional Safety and Hazard. The group testified at the December hearing in support of the bills.

Needed immediatelyLast summer the city approved a 10-year plan to reduce PCBs in schools, granting the DoE $708 million to investigate and remove the compound. Shortly after, advocacy group New York Lawyers for the Public Interest filed suits against both the De-partment of Education and the School Construction Author-ity. Citing federal mandate, the group demanded that the de-cade-long effort be streamlined for immediate implementation.

“The gravity of health risks as-sociated with PCB exposure […] and the plain illegality of the current situation prompt the filing of this suit,” reads part of the group’s lawsuit against

the city. Both cases are still pending decision.

The DoE maintains conversely that the measures are sufficient.

“As part of our comprehensive plan to replace all lighting fix-tures in more than 700 school buildings within 10 years, we notify parents and the school communities where we have ob-served leaks and about the prog-ress in removing the fixtures,” said Marge Feinberg, a DoE spokeswoman. “We are commit-ted to updating this material on the DoE website and keeping parents and school communities informed about this issue.”

Both bills were included as part of the “NYC Schools Comprehensive Plan: Greener, Healthier Schools for the 21st Century”, which would remove the hazardous lights and replace them with safer and more efficient fixtures. The city proj-ects that the more efficient lights will save nearly $100 million a year in energy costs.

School District 15 hosts dozens of potentially contaminated schools that are attended by over 12,000 students daily. But until the DoE or Environmen-tal Protection Agency takes more comprehensive action, the school district’s hundreds of teachers and thousands of stu-dents will have little recourse.

“I’m not aware of any particu-lar situation that warrants im-mediate removal of kids from schools,” said Newman from the health and safety group. “But the risks are cumulative.”

Guidance counselor Susan MacDonald of Patrick Daly School highlighting up-coming events at PS 15 (Graber photo).


Reg Flowers

Occupy the Hook

Reg Flowers

The Red Hook Star-RevueWe are now accepting ongoing artwork

submissions to be published in the paper.

Please submit your drawing, painting or any other creation to:

Ages 5-17 only. All artwork will be returned upon request. For more information, call (718) 624-5568 and ask for Kimberly or George. You may also email [email protected]

Salutes Red Hook Youth!

The Red Hook Star-Revue101 Union Street

Brooklyn, NY 112321

Radical as Apple PieA block party is a radical act. It is. It

requires organizing neighbors, going door-to-door and building a base of sup-port. It involves volunteers, coordinated resources, setting dates and permits. Most impressively a block party confronts the status quo which says that streets are for driving and for parking cars—not for peo-ple and festivals. Streets get you quickly from where you are to where you need to be—not provide neighbors a place to listen to music and eat together. A block party challenges perceptions, reclaiming the community for the people who live

there. That’s a pretty radical idea.

Community gardens are another example of taking radical action. Unused lots are a signal of urban decay. Abandoned property can send a message that no one cares what happens in an area. Radically transforming a ne-glected space into living gardens secures the community. It may mean chal-lenging a property owner who is just as happy leaving the lots vacant, but it is everyday people who have taken on that fight with positive results. Like the block party it only takes one person to get it started.

Radical is, essentially, growing from the root. It means radiating from the base. Democracy is radical because it means power from the people. It could be a very cool thing, but it’s become a bad word, or at least a controversial idea. It has come to mean the type of people who want to change everything simply for the sake of change. It’s a word that frightens some people and I do not blame them when many radicals seem to have forgotten where the word comes from. Today’s radical seems to come from the fringe rather than from the base. That’s a shame because the political use of the word radical ties back to the struggle between the American colonies and Great Britain. This radicalism eventually led to the founding of our country.

We need more radicals. We need more citizens who understand that change happens because everyday people get involved in the process and make it happen. Being radial does not have to be a scary thing or require violent acts. You can be radical without leaving your house. You can write a letter to a public official letting them know your thoughts on a certain issue; sign an on-line petition; or educate yourself about something that could affect your community. Even conserving energy can be considered a radical act since it is accepting the average person’s role in the environment. It is up to us to cre-ate the vision for the world we want to live in and to take measures to make that vision a reality. We do that in community meetings. We do it when we invite the neighbor over for dinner. We do it when we throw a block party.

“The Citizen’s Handbook” (http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/) is a how-to for people who want to see change in their community but do not know how to start. It explains how one person or a handful can take small steps that lead to major transformation. If starting on your own seems in-timidating you can bring your idea to one of the regular Occupy Red Hook meetings. These meetings are structured so that anyone can make a pro-posal and we practice a form of direct democracy that allows everyone an opportunity to be heard. American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Consider this your official invitation to the future of Red Hook. Do something radical.

Some people think that most politicians do nothing but serve their own interests and that a lot of what they do can easily be described as “useless”. Others believe politicians, for the most part, go in to public office and try

to do what they can for their constituents and would likely see what they do as “useful”. Both perspectives are right, and the previous edition of this paper of-fered two excellent examples of just that.

Kimberly G. Price’s cover story “Local politicians keep container terminal viable by staying Federal budget cuts” highlighted what can be done, even in a partisan and cynical environment, by politicians looking to serve their constituents. The potential of deep cuts in the funding to the Red Hook Container Terminal funds in the name of efficiency, as the article shows, represent a threat to the economic health and safety of the Brooklyn Waterfront.

But thanks to the efforts of members of congress these cuts, and the negative effects that would soon follow, have been averted for now. It was even done in the increasingly rare bipartisan fashion that everyone seems to want, but nobody knows how to get. Democratic Representatives such as Nydia Velasquez, Jerome Nadler, Senator Chuck Schumer along with Republicans Peter King and Mi-chael Grimm pushed back hard against these cuts and insist they will continue to do so. Sure, part of every politicians thought process relates to how things will be portrayed in public and this would be no exception. Regardless of the reason-ing, protecting the economic health and safety of a community is always “useful”.

Curtis Skinner’s “On Politics” segment ended with a mention of City Council Members sending out a press releases concerning the council’s attitudes toward the Supreme Court decision known as “Citizens United”. What this Supreme Court decision did was grant personhood to corporations by allowing them to spend unlimited sums of money on political campaigns. What the City Council did was vote to oppose, (by a tally of 41 to 5), the Supreme Court’s decision. It was even covered by some national media, (NY Times, Huffington Post), and scored some points with the large majority that oppose the court’s decision.

This then begs the question - should a vote to oppose something the City Coun-cil can do nothing about be on its agenda? The answer is no. Even if the people of the city were not suffering from an 8% percent unemployment the place of the city council is not the Federal Government and there are more important things to do besides hold protest vote. When the people of New York City vote for its Council representatives, they are voting with the hope that they will serve the interests of the district and city they represent. If serving these interests requires standing up to the Federal Government, it means implementing legislation that can circumvent the Federal Government, not protesting a court above their reach. A great example would be the way New York City has more restrictive gun laws then the federal government requires or maybe someday in the future raising the minimum wage. The council vote against the Supreme Court was a “formal disapproval”. It can also be considered a “formal” act of useless.

Michael Racioppo teaches Political Science at Brooklyn College.

OpiniOn:

Two Usesby Michael Racioppo

Notice:Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association seeks nominations for the following executive positions in our organization: President, Vice President, Secretary. Please submit an email or letter of interest with a short, one-paragraph bio and statement of interest. We will hold elections at a general meeting to be scheduled for spring 2012. For submittal or more information:

[email protected] Waterfront Neighborhood Association

c/o Norman Cox135 Columbia StreetBrooklyn, NY 11231


the Red hook StaR-Revue haS a WebSite!Where you can subscribe, place a classified ad, submit a press release, get

advertising information, write a letter to the editor and view all our back issues!

www.RedHookStar.com

curtis Skinner

On Politicsovercrowding to release grip on B61 bus line:The MTA approved sweeping changes to 82 schedules on 63 routes to reduce over-crowding on busy lines earlier this month. Most notably Red Hook’s B61 line will receive additional service. The changes are predicted to reduce evening traffic on the line by 15% and reduce the average time between buses by a minute on average by re-routing buses from less traveled lines, according to the minutes of the MTA meeting.

The policy was approved following a report on bus inefficiency produced by Coun-cilman Brad Lander, (D—district 39), and supported by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, (D—NY), and Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, (D—district 38). The re-port highlighted the B61’s regular tardiness and overcrowding, stating that only 43% of peak hour buses arrived on time and that certain stops were routinely skipped.

The agency projects that new routes will save $700,000 annually, funds which will be added to the 2012 operating budget. The changes are scheduled to be imple-mented this April.

Redistricting woes in albanyFollowing legislation that barred prisoners from being counted as natives of upstate prison counties rather than from their home neighborhoods, certain Republican districts have fallen beneath the population requirement for congressional dis-tricts. In response, Republican state legislators have proposed adding an extra seat to the state’s existing 62 and rearranging others to maintain the slight Republican majority in Albany. In a GOP plan published earlier this month for instance, ex-state senator Carl Kruger’s (D—NY) seat was simply erased.

Governor Andrew Cuomo recently vowed to veto any proposal based on partisan agendas; a practice also known as gerrymandering. But this could prove impos-sible as redistricting—no matter how noble the intent—invariably devolves into political bickering. In New York, the process occurs every 10 years as either a way to more accurately account for communities, (which one contends if they are in the majority), or to draw lines that favor incumbents, (which one argues if they are in the minority). Despite campaign promises over the years from both sides, no independent commission has been established to oversee the process.

More problems for School of Global StudiesDespite the receiving a B grade on the most recent city-issued progress report card, the School for Global Studies in Cobble Hill is slated for “transformation” under orders from the New York State Education Department. Transformation requires the school to replace its principal, reform its curriculum and subject teachers to evaluations, according to the New York State Education Department website. This after Eva Moskowitz’s proposal to co-locate Success Academy Cobble Hill into the same building was approved unanimously by the SUNY board of trustees despite vehement public outrage.

As I grew up in Red Hook, mu-sic was a big part of my life. On any given summer afternoon,

my friends and I were out on the stoop listening to the old 45’s on the old record player. As soon as we got the latest Billboard list of number one re-cords, we were off! Onto the B77 bus to 5th Avenue and 9th street to Tony The Record Man’s store. Tony Mignone, known to all as “The Record Man,” hails from Red Hook and has been selling records from his little shop for over 42 years now. Tony has seen so many changes in music over the years and has been around since I used to buy the latest releases from the Jackson 5 and the Os-mond Brothers. Even today you can still see Tony in his shop where he works with his son, Benji, selling old school music in the form of vinyls, LPs and CDs. His store is also loaded with VHS tapes and music from the days of clas-sic rock, hip hop, R&B, salsa and many other music genres. Tony and his son still buy and trade old music. They also put old music onto CDs and old VHS movies onto DVDs. For me it is like a trip down old school lane whenever I walk into To-ny’s shop. The walls are lined with old school music and movie memo-rabilia. The records are stacked in cardboard boxes, ready for visitors to flip through, pick up, and of course read the back cover. It’s so good to find something that hasn’t changed!

The Record Man Of Red Hook By Mary Anne Massaro

We have been serving Brooklyn Businesses since 1988. Our clients include: St. Ann’s Warehouse, East-ern Athletic Club, Brooklyn Friends School, BWAC & St. Francis College Services Include: • Lettershop• BulkMailing• Non-ProfitAppeal

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Millions of people worldwide celebrate Valentine’s Day with chocolate, flowers and other loving presents, all indulgences of romance. Lovers express them-selves through tokens of admiration, while singles hope that Cupid has his bow strung for them. Where did this tradition come from? Who inspired such a day of adoration and remembrance? And why do we carry on his tradition

centuries beyond his existence?

“Valentine” is a name derived from the word valens, meaning powerful, strong and worthy. Saint Valentine was a Roman priest of whom very little is known. He fell under persecution around 270 A.D. and was put to death for his crime. His existence was proven when arche-ologists unearthed a Roman tomb as well as an ancient tomb dedicated to him. Writings found there indicate he became a martyr at the hands of Claudius Gothicus.

There is great mystery surrounding the reason for his execution. He may have been marry-ing Christian couples at a time when aiding Christians was a crime. Others believe he was imprisoned for refusing to deny his Christian faith. Another story says Saint Valentine was killed for helping Christians escape torturous Roman prisons.

Saint Valentine was born on April 16th and was executed on February 14th. This day in Febru-ary became the feast of Saint Valentine in 496 A.D. when Pope Gelasius I dedicated a cel-ebration in his honor. Two Roman churches were dedicated to him in the Middle Ages. He became the patron saint of love, lovers, bee keepers, happy marriages, epilepsy, greetings, plagues and travelers. Pictures of him depict roses and birds. His feast day first became associated with romantic love in England in the fourteenth century when Geoffrey Chaucer perpetuated the legends in Parliament of Foules. February has since become a month known for romance.

Saint Valentine is said to have sent the very first “valentine.” According to legend, he fell in love with his jailor’s daughter and restored her sight. She began visiting him while he was imprisoned. On the eve of his death, Saint Valentine wrote her a farewell letter, signed “From your Valentine.” Thus beginning the tradition of notes passed between lovers on this day. Al-though the actual truth is unknown, the stories of Saint Valentine create an image of heroism, valor and romance.

The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are traded each year, topped only by Christmas when 2.6 billion cards are sent out. Women purchase 85% of all valentines. The oldest known valentine, written by Charles, Duke of Orleans for his wife during his imprisonment in the Tower of London, is on display in the British Museum.

by Kimberly G. Price,

George Fiala

&

Elizabeth Graham

Photos on this page were taken in front of 239 Sackett Street

The Rules1. You cannot contact the Red hook

star-Revue2. You must have at least one

picture with both of you in it.3. You are allowed to ask others for

help with the clues.4. The hunt has been timed out, and

while you should have ample time for each adventure, you must stay on schedule.

5. Present your name to someone at each venue as they are involved. They will be guiding you.

6. GPs, Google and other internet options are forbidden!!!

7 have fun and enjoy your evening.


Welcome to your Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt. The Star-Revue hopes you enjoy your Romantic Red Hook evening we have designed for you.

The star-Revue wanted to take a different approach to Valentine’s Day other than sending out well wishes and fancily flourished cards. A lover’s scavenger hunt was set up and elizabeth Graham, along with her husband, Craig, agreed to participate. A very special night was set up with specific guidelines. special sights were chosen for their romantic qualities and lover’s appeal. laid out in this section is a step-by-step guide to treat that special someone with surprises and wonder while remaining in your own backyard.

Clue 2: Nearer to the Star Theater, an adorable eatery sits on Hicks Street faces the highway. Locate the "small shrimp", and Ulli will be waiting for you. Be sure to ask about their vegetarian options.

Time Frame: 8:30-9:30

Clue 3: Known for its romantic ambience, this little cafe is located near Star of the Sea and Buttermilk Channel. you will know you have found the perfect spot when you encounter Buddha and the laughing fountain in the back.

Time frame: 9:45-10:15


We certainly hope you have enjoyed your evening. Have a great night and a safe trip home whenever you are ready. With no idea of what the night would hold, we’d made flash visits to some of the cutest, sweetest and most beautiful local spots to spend a special date. The exploratory experience was not only palate-pleasing, it was proof that this area is scattered with gems tucked into street corners, industrial avenues and down dead-end cobblestone streets. We at the Red Hook Star-Revue hope that you will be as adventurous as Elizabeth

and her husband. Follow our scavenger hunt through the lovely neighborhoods that lie just beneath your feet for a rich experience awaiting in your own backyard. Please share your experience with us: [email protected]

Since our 21-month-old son’s arrival, Valentine’s Day has been a non-event for my husband and I, mostly due to the fact that we tend to let things like significant dates sneak up on us now. Since our move to Brooklyn, we’ve had a lot of nights in, and by a lot I mean all but one of them. Really. Accordingly, the Star-Revue Co-Publisher Kimberly recruited Craig and I for an early Valentine’s Day date around South Brooklyn. In an effort to reintroduce us to society and familiarize us with the nooks and crannies of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, she created a romantic scavenger hunt

with clues leading us to food, drink and dessert, spiced up with a few surprises. The night started with the George from the paper appearing on our stoop, ready to babysit. The rules of the hunt forbid him to speak with us, so he handed over the first clue and we headed out into the icy darkness.

Clue 1: Your first stop is named for something you eat, but actually something you wear. Find Rae, but go next door.

Olives Very Vintage lies on the well known strip of Court Street offering pieces from the late 1800s through the 1980s. Store owner, Jennifer McCulloch, says “vintage fashion offers limitless potential for creativity and has a great sense of sustainability. Olives was chosen for its uniqueness in inventory and a perfect little surprise for Elizabeth to start her night with.

This one was easy – Rae, as in Try Rae’s First, was a dead giveaway.

On Court Street, we pulled up in front of Olive’s, a cozy, quirky vintage boutique. Inside, Ricky was waiting behind the counter. He handed me a bag containing a beautiful beige silk scarf, and our next clue. More than a few colorful items in the store caught my eye, but the night’s rules included a strict timetable, and we had to leave without browsing.

Clue 2: Nearer to the Star Theater, an adorable eatery sits on Hicks Street facing the highway.

Locate the “small shrimp.”Petite Crevette translates in French to “little shrimp.” They are well known for a variety of fresh fish and exquisite service. The menu changes daily and much thought and care are put into the day’s se-lection. The space is small, but well planned out to create a lovely dining atmosphere. Petite Crevette was extremely flexible with their menu and were so eager to be involved.

A rich bottle of wine was provided from around the corner at Old Brooklyn Wine and Liquor.

After a series of wrong turns and Craig’s realization that Hicks Street runs both ways along the BQE trench in Carroll Gardens, we walked into the cozy candlelit atmosphere at Petite Crevette on Union Street and immediately knew that dinner was going to be amazing.

We sat at a table for two in the corner, next to the menu, which was written on brown paper and pinned to the wall. We didn’t even bother reading it, though, because our waitress Ulli sold Craig on the swordfish, and offered me a vegetarian plate that included mashed potatoes, roasted mushrooms, salad, and green beans and carrots.

The small candlelit dining room, with its eclectic antique and nautical décor, created the feeling of a shared experience with other diners, but our cozy corner table for two was the perfect little enclave for sharing conversation and wine. The restaurant is BYOB, but as part of our adventure, there was a bottle of red awaiting our arrival.

At the end of the meal, Ulli tempted us with the restaurant’s flourless chocolate cake, but it was time to head to our third destination.

Clue 3: Known for its romantic ambience, this little cafe is located near Star of the Sea and Butter-milk Channel. you will know you have found the perfect spot when you encounter Buddha and the

laughing fountain in the back.Le Petit Café was chosen for its interesting décor and their roman-tic ambience. A quiet little table in the back garden sits beside an intoxicating fountain adorned with a peaceful Buddha statue. Serenity is the tone; dessert is the objective. Charming and peace-ful, the space provides opportunity for lovers to engage in quiet conversation and loving gazes.

Floral Heights owner, Charlotte D’Costa Taylor, helped select a beautiful rose, called “free spirit” to accompany dessert. Free

spirit roses are multi-colored varietal with an unusual blend of red, yellow, pink, peach and fuchsia.

The spires of St. Mary Star of the Sea pointed us to Le Petit, an inviting, intimate café serving dinner, dessert, coffee and wine in the evening. Our waitress presented us with a sweet-smelling flower as she led us to the candlelit dining room, where fountains trickling down stone walls flank an old brick chimney that’s been reworked to hold candles and Buddha statues.

It was nearly impossible to choose from the list of homemade desserts, which included apple pie, crème brulee and cheesecake. Equally difficult was deciding whether to order coffee or wine from the café’s extensive list.

Finally, I settled on cheesecake and a cappuccino and Craig opted for apple pie with a chai latte. Clue 4: Named for a fallen firefighter, this

romantic Red Hook spot is a lovely night view of the Statue of Liberty, the Verazzano

Bridge, as well as the Manhattan skyline. Follow Coffey Street, (aka Red Hook

Lane), until you find the clover leaf.Louis J. Valentino, Jr. is honored at this small isolated pier behind Red Hook’s industrial buildings. He joined the New York City Fire Department in 1984 serving Engine 281 and later Ladder Company 147. In 1993 he was accepted into Rescue Company 2 until 1996 when he was killed in the line of duty. He was honored twice for his bravery in 1987 and 1990. The pier “preserves the memory of a man who dem-onstrated selfless devotion to fighting fires and saving lives.”

Clue 5: Take a lover’s stroll down the end of the pier. Under a bench, on your way down, your next clue is waiting.

Valentino Pier shows a remarkable view of several of New York’s most beauti-ful landmarks. Tucked behind industrial work areas, the water lies just be-neath, erasing the hustle and bustle of the active community behind it. The view remains remarkable no matter the season or time of day. This secluded Red Hook novelty is a must-see.

Fortified by sugar and caffeine, we crossed back into Red Hook, finding our fourth destination at the end of Cof-fey Street. Somehow, I’d never known about Valentino Pier, with its views of the Verazzano Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. It’s a lovely, quiet spot, especially at night, with the city lights gleaming on the water and sleepy Red Hook in the background. On this 14-degree night, however, Craig and I traded a lover’s stroll for a frigid sprint to the end of the pier and hasty agreement that the view was beautiful and we should come back when it’s warmer. I snatched the envelope waiting for us under a bench by the water and we were back on our way.

Clue 6: Your next stop is one of distinction and loved by Oprah. One might overlook this tempting threat on his way to the movies.

Look for this sweet treat between a well known abolitionist and Mr. Belvedere’s profession.

Jon Payson and Naomi Josepher, owners of the Chocolate Room, have created a haven for chocolate and coffee lovers. The couple moved to Park Slope in 2003 and opened their Fifth Avenue location in 2005. Three years later, they added a second location in Cobble Hill. Although this aromatic store specializes in chocolate, coffee, desserts, wine and beer from around the globe and ice cream, their success lies in their customer service. “We have a passion for people. We enjoy seeing people happy.”

The extremely helpful and incredibly patient staff of the Chocolate Room crafted an entire basket of goodies for the Scavenger Hunt.

This one was a stumper, mostly because I was mistakenly sure that the Cobble Hill Movie Theater was on Smith Street. We also failed to remember that Frederick Douglass was a famous abolitionist. We got stuck at Smith and Butler, (Mr. Belvedere’s profession), and as the minutes ticked by, gradually got our bearings thanks to a few people on the street who were familiar with American history and a helpful bartender and patron at Angry Wade’s.

Finally headed in the right direction, we arrived at The Chocolate Room just before closing time. The smell of the sweet confection enveloped us as we hastened inside, and I was immediately dis-tracted by the little pieces of chocolate heaven in the display case. Turkish coffee ganache wrapped in white chocolate, burnt caramel and Hawaiian sea salt in dark chocolate, and dark rum, honey and orange ganache stared back at me, daring me to find room in my overfull stomach for a midnight indulgence.

It was a quick stop, but a rich one. Although there was a gift basket waiting for us filled with truffles, coffee and various other chocolate treats, I couldn’t resist one of the café’s dense brownies, and the Antoi-nette, a heart-shaped truffle filled with rose water ganache, was also too much of a temptation. Craig was eyeing the chocolate layer cake, but decided on a brownie and a piece of dark chocolate almond bark.

Clue 7: Let’s test your math skills:AVENUE: Avenue2 + 10 = 19 STREET: Street + Avenue = 4 Avenue

A lovely place, we think, to have a nightcap is one of Gowanus’s first upscale establishments. Bar Tano has become a place of distinction in the Cobble Hill area. Their bar selection includes ten different beers on tap, a large variety of wine by the glass specialty house cocktails and an enormous selection of spirits. The menu is light, a perfect spot for a late night cocktail accompanied by a midnight snack. This is a perfect spot to end the evening with a glass of bubbly and idle reminiscences of a romantic evening.

Metal and Thread is owned by Denise Carbonell and Derek Dominy. All of their inventory is handmade either by them-selves or other Brooklyn designers. “The sometimes awkwardness of a stitch that is slightly crooked…a weld on an iron shelf that lets you see a bit of the person who forged it. All of the goods could be made somewhere else for far less money. And far less sweat and tears.”

Craig’s calculations brought us to our final stop, Bar Tano on Third Avenue at 9th Street in Gowanus.

A surprise awaited me here – a sleek pair of handmade teardrop earrings from Metal and Thread. They shone in the warm light of the charming old-world retreat we’d just walked into, which offered the perfect ending to a wonderful night.

A peek at Bar Tano’s Italian menu was incentive to return hungry another time, and my attention soon turned to the bottles behind the bar. The bartender, RJ, poured us a lovely champagne, and our toast was to the romance that we’d found in South Brooklyn.


Love On A Two Way Street In Red Hook

Back in the 1960’s and 70’s Van Brunt Street was the main street of Red Hook. It was always hustling and bustling with busy shops like bakers, grocers, butchers, and other family owned businesses. Now, above most of those shops were apartments where families lived, played, learned and loved. One family I had the privilege of growing up with was the Palacios family that lived above a shop on Van Brunt Street. It was there that Mr. and Mrs. Palacios raised their 7 children. Diana was their second born daughter.

While in school her parents felt she needed a little help with her math and so along came Gary Burkhard who grew up on Coffey Street. He became Diana’s math tutor and soon they became friends. The after passing her state ex-ams, Diana agreed to go out on a first date with Gary. And so off Diana and Gary went on their first date to Coney Is-land with the rest of the Palacios family as chaperones, and of course the rest is history. Gary and Diana became one of Red Hook’s greatest love stories.

Today you can find Gary and Diana happily married after 34 years with five daughters. And though they do not live in Red Hook anymore, they still come in every now and then to see family. And if you ask them how they met, I am sure they will tell you just as the famous song goes, “It was love on a two-way street.”— Mary Ann Massaro

Hello Dearie, Happy Valentine’s Day from your secret lover. Love, Greta

To the 68 staff members of the Red Hook Initiative- Thank you for the LOVE that you give to our participants and show for your community 365 days

per year. You’re all the perfect Valentine for me! With love, respect, and appreciation,

Jill Eisenhard, Executive Director

Dear Joe, Happy Valentine’s Day! Love you bunches you sweet thang.

XoXo, Jana

To my sweetest, darling boy, Sasha. All my love on this day, Mimi.

“If from my side one hundred times you run, May you return to me one hundred

and one.” I will, Folkhero, I will. Jezibelle Grace

Trouble, though you’re so far away, I dream of the next time I can put my arms around you and make you feel

adored. Happy Valentine’s Day! xo Jack

For Grandpa Phil, on our 30th Valentine’s Day together: You are the

love of my life and the music in my heart! Grandma Beth

Happy Valentine’s Day to Ian Savage from your wife, little girl and #2! We

love you to bits this Valentine’s Day and the other 364 days of the year!

Dearest Beth, Here’s to our 30th Valentines Day together!!!

I love you madly, Phil.

Reader ValentinesOn our Facebook we asked our readers to send us Valentine messages

that we would print for free. Here is what you came up with....

Ricky,Dom,John and Jay Jay, where would I be without all of the men in my life?

Happy valentine’s Day to you all!

To Daniele - I love you Mucho, Be my Valentine, Rich.

Sylvie - I’m so glad that we have Columbia Street together. - Michael

Will, Thank you for being you; generous, funny, supportive, and above all, loving. From Boston to

Detroit to Brooklyn--you’ve always been there and I hope you always

will be. Love, Adrienne

Dear Mykel,Love is like a golden chain

That links our hearts togetherAnd if you ever break that chain

You’ll break my heart foreverLove is like a cloudLove is like a dream

Love is one wordAnd everything in betweenLove is a fairytale come true

I found love when I found you!Happy Valentine’s Day,

TARA RENEE

My Dearest Moonshine, Our love will never die-Jay Danger

Trixie~There is such a gentle kindness

Glowing behind your eyes.I feel your intoxicating warmth

Flowing into me when you are near. ~The Kidd

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Red Hook Star-Revue Page 13February 1-15, 2012

Dear readers, this is an impor-tant message to all parents who may have children who suffer from some form of ad-

diction. The message conveyed here is a strong one, and it comes from my heart as a saddened father. I urge every one of you fathers and mothers to never give up on your child.

Because my son Richard passed away on January 6 after suffering a heart at-tack, I had no time to prepare my usual column. Instead I will report on the spectacular display at Raccuglia Funeral Home on Court Street and a repeat of this display at Visitation Church at the next day’s 10 a.m. funeral Mass.

I have learned a magnificent lesson as a result of his untimely demise. My wife, who is also Richard’s mom, and I were overwhelmed by the outpouring of tes-timony, love and affection, and admira-tion, for Richard that had grown over the past three to four years after a complete transformation in his self confidence.

It was standing room only at Raccug-lia Funeral home when the Tabernacle people arrived Thursday evening, and it did not take very long for every chair in the funeral home to be occupied.

To fully understand his transformation, I must reveal some family history relat-ing to Richard. In the 1970’s, my son as a youngster fell victim to the devilish scourge that afflicted Red Hook: drug addiction. It started in grade school with

him using marijuana, followed by a long series of denials whenever he was con-fronted with evidence of his misdeeds.

These denials are a surefire symptom of any addict’s guilt, and they increase in intensity as the addiction becomes more powerful. They reach a point whereby a parent or sibling cannot trust the addict to speak honestly about any topic that would arise.

Strange occurrences began to happen in our home. I would find the front en-trance door with markings on the lock indicating attempts to open it. I found his school hours did not jive with his real hours off. When I took him to school again to question school offi-cials, they told me he had not attended classes since school first opened for the semester and that they had been send-ing official notices to my home which I never received.

It certainly was time for some tough love. Tough love is a phrase coined by some which supposedly instills a bet-ter sense of responsibility. It supposedly makes the addict afraid of the conse-quences they may suffer as a result of their addiction. Unfortunately, tough love does none of these things. In actual fact, the only ones who suffer as a result of tough love are the parents who are determined enough to try it. The addict could not care less while the parents suffer the pain of guilt for rendering this form of punishment.

I tried regular love, slightly tougher love, and really tough love until I was fearful I may inflict permanent mental or physical damage on my son Richard.

I had to discontinue this method. Each time he was punished, he would become more daring, and each time he became daring, I came down harder. It just was not working. Richard was not the apple of his father’s eye during those trying times. It could be truthfully said he was a parent’s worst nightmare.

I began to give up my attempts and just accept that nothing would save Richard after all the wasted energy and failures through his childhood and teenage years into adulthood. The frustration was taking its toll on me. It was then I realized that I did not really know my own son. Oh, I certainly loved him, and surely wanted to see him live a normal life, and I would financially help him occasionally, as did some of his siblings, especially his sister Lori. My biggest re-alization was Richard was feeling the same frustrations. He was ashamed to be a drug addict. We could have claim to the best drug rehabilitation center in New York City right here in Red Hook, and Richard would not have gone be-cause he was too ashamed.

Then, the transformation began that would bring my son Richard to back to myself, his mom, his sister, his brothers and the rest of society. While at the Red Hook Methadone Center he met Lor-

raine, a spunky girl with a childhood so miserable, one would wonder why she was still alive. She was hopelessly infected with HIV, and there was no cure in sight. Her mother was murdered while she stood and watched. Her im-mediate family was decimated with drug addiction and involvement in unlawful and dangerous activities. She wanted, as did Rich, to leave the methadone treatment center. They made a pact, they would live together and help each other.

Eventually we accepted them into our family, and she showed remarkable prog-ress with her treatments. She related to me, and for the first time in her life she felt like a human being. For 12 years, when Richy showed signs of going astray, Lorraine would step in and steer him right. The same would happen if she was tempted and began to weaken. They lived in an immaculately clean apartment.

But this was not to last. Sadly, after 12 years, Lorraine succumbed to an AIDS-related illness.

This event devastated Richard, leaving him despondent. Lorraine and Richard had agreed on cremation and the urn was kept in his apartment. But that did not ease his pain. A friend brought him to the Gospel Tabernacle Church on Fulton Street downtown Brooklyn. It was there that my son Richard began to re-enter the world once more. He met

Noted downtown brooklyn Tabernacle Church Pays Tribute To Red Hook Resident.

By John Burkard



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Good Story!Hey George, I thought you’d want to know I really enjoyed the article on the Justice Center initiative in the recent issue of the RHSR. Regards, Rob Good-man, Columbia Street

Good Coverage!To the Editor:

Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association wants to thank you for the timely and detailed coverage your paper has given to events at the Red Hook Container Terminal. We believe it has helped raise awareness among our many new residents about the potential critical changes taking place on the edge our neighborhood. We look forward to more reporting as the story unfolds. Nor-man Cox Columbia Waterfront Neighbor-hood Association [email protected]

Editors Note - COWNA together with Brad Lander is hosting a community meeting on the waterfront on Febru-ary 9th. See the Public Meeting sec-tion of the calendar on the back page for details.

Editorial: A bonehead decision revealed

Letters:

(send yours to [email protected])

As recounted two weeks ago in this paper, Bay Ridge’s Home Reporter, and last week in

the NY Times, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, (CBP), of the fed-eral government decided to close their facility at the Red Hook Container Terminal, (RHCT). This decision was ostensibly made after over a year of careful research by what they called a ‘stakeholder’ committee including representatives of the trade. The rea-son for their research was to find ways to cut down on government spending.

This newspaper has learned that the ‘representatives of the trade’ consisted solely of two low-level employees of the now defunct American Stevedor-ing company, which until late last year was operating the container terminal. However, over the last year of their ex-istence they were frantically negotiat-ing the best deal possible with the Port Authority before their eventual evic-tion. The future of the RHCT was ob-viously the last thing on their minds.

Politicians get involvedAs word of this committee’s exis-tence slowly leaked out, probably dur-ing regular hearings of congressional committees, two Congressmen, Jerry Nadler, (who has been involved in NY waterfront issues for more than 30 years), and Michael Grimm, (rep-resentative from Bay Ridge), asked to be involved with this committee, and were barred. Barring a congressman from issues involving their constitu-encies is not something these politi-cians take easily, and they pushed to find out what their decision would be.

It turned out that they decided that since the percentage of business done in Red Hook is tiny, compared to hubs such as San Diego and Newark, the small amount of money spent in Red Hook could be done away with, and the containers needing inspec-tion could be hauled to Staten Island where another station is maintained.

Looking at such a situation from an office armed with spreadsheets, one might understand this decision. How-ever, the fact is that losing the ability

Ab o u t a year

and a half ago, the MTA, fac-ing deficits in an era where defi-cits are now a politically charged is-sue, thanks in part to the loud-m o u t h e d

Tea Partiers, cut bus service citywide. One of the easy ways to get to Park Slope, the B 77 bus, was completely closed down. And B61 service, the only piece of the public transporta-tion system that reaches into the ne-glected area of Red Hook, specifically by the Red Hook Houses suffered from the lack of new buses available, as the

to quickly inspect these containers, some of them possibly containing il-legal drugs, laundered cash or even terrorist weapons threatens the vi-ability of the whole Red Hook opera-tion. Our container terminal, the only in Brooklyn, exists for three reasons. One is the fact that the whole reason the NYC Economic Development Corporation was able to convince Phoenix Beverage to remain in New York, as well as investing in the city, was a 20 year lease at a facility where they could receive their shipments. The second is that the International Longshoreman’s Association, (ILA), is able to offer excellent loading and unloading services, most importantly quick service. The longer a ship has to stay in port the more costly it is for them. Higher labor costs are off-set by the quicker service. Finally, the Staten Island and New Jersey ports are running to capacity, and the barging of goods back and forth to Brooklyn is a big advantage for carriers.

Losing Customs would imperil the Container TerminalLosing the customs service would greatly affect the ability of the dock-workers to provide this efficient ser-vice. Trailers would back up, and the cost of shipping trailers back and forth to Staten Island would make the shippers have second thoughts about coming to Brooklyn. Adding to this the sensational aspect to the public of having ‘dirty boxes’ meaning con-tainers possibly containing bombs and such, as well as the supposedly higher cost of bananas and beer to the public, as humorously reported in the Times article makes the closed decision of Customs untenable.

The decision was made sometime in December to close Customs on Janu-ary 6th. Nadler and Grimm, along with other local politicians, including Nydia Velazquez, Marty Connor, Charles Schumer and Peter King, began writing letters to the bureau. Probably when they realized what a short-sighted and politically damaging decision they had made, a 90 day moratorium on the clos-ing was quickly decided upon.

Customs is meeting with these politi-cians on Friday in D.C. We can only assume that the reason for this meet-ing is to figure out a way for Customs to graceful bow out of their bonehead decision. At least we hope so.

B61 gets a bit of help, hopefully

older ones suffered breakdowns and Red Hook was left with terrible rush hour bus service, as many of our read-ers know from personal experience.

It has been only through the mildly ex-traordinary efforts of Nydia Velazquez and Brad Lander, with an assist from Christopher Hrones of the Depart-ment of Transportation that we are fi-nally receiving some recognition from the MTA. And that is but a pittance - a promise of some more buses added to the route, not now, but in April.

We hope that is merely the beginning of better city services in Red Hook.


This angry face is an example of Inuit sculpture (photo by Graham).

We are across from Coffey Park(718) 923-9880

February 2, 2012: Groundhog Day, An American Tradition

Groundhog Day is recognized across the country as an avid forecast of how the remainder

of winter will shape up. Many believe it to be a superstition. However, there are those who put much stock in this spe-cial critter’s prediction.

Every year on February 2, in Punx-sutawney, Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow. Original-ly named Br’er Groundhog, he was later named Phil after King Philip. If he sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter are expected. If not, spring is sure to begin quickly and Phil stays above ground. It is said that Phil is the only real weather forecasting groundhog, while the others are merely “imposters.” It is also be-lieved that Phil’s prediction has never been wrong.

Religious originsThe tradition of Groundhog Day dates back to early Christianity in Europe known as Candlemas Day. Clergy would bless candles and distribute them to the people. On that day, the weather was important. An old English song says:

If Candlemans be fair and bright,Come, Winter, have another flight;If Candlemans brings clouds and rain,Go Winter, and come not again.

American farmers in the late 19th cen-tury also had a February superstition,

shadow. He then speaks his response in “groundhogese” to Groundhog presi-dent of the Inner Circle. The president, who is the only person who can under-stand this language, then announces the translation to the world.

An average groundhog is 20 inches long and weighs approximately 12 to 15 pounds. They are covered with course gray fur with brown tips. Their ears, tail and legs are all short, but they are surprisingly quick. Groundhogs eat greens, fruits and vegetable. Most of their liquid comes from water-enriched leaves. Groundhogs whistle when they are alarmed and also in the spring dur-ing mating season.

Kits or cubs, as they are called, are born in April and May and are mature enough to go out on their own by July. There are generally four to nine kits per litter. They live to be six to eight years old. Groundhogs are also one of the only animals to truly hibernate, estab-lishing a coma-like sleep in which their body temperatures drop significantly, their hearts beat very infrequently and breathing slows drastically.

Long lifePunxsutawney Phil is 22 inches long and weighs 20 pounds. He is said to be 125 years old, being the only Phil ever. His longevity is credited to the “elixir of life,” which he takes a sip of at the Groundhog Picnic every summer. This one sip gives him seven more years of life.

Over the years, Phil has had several

known as “Groundhog Day-half your hay.” In the coldest part of winter, farmers knew they should have at least half of their hay remaining; if not, lean times for the livestock were ahead be-fore spring replenished their supply.

Germans, then known as Teutons, learned of the tradition from Roman le-gions during the conquest of the northern country. The Germans decided that if the sun shone on Candlemas Day, a hedge-hog would predict the “Second Winter,” or six more weeks of dreadful weather.

For as the sun shines on Candlemas day,So far will the snow swirl until the end of May.

The celebration was brought over to Pennsylvania by the Germans who first settled there. They exchanged ground-hogs for hedge hogs. The animals were considered to be far superior because of their intelligence and sensibility. Thus began the ritual in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in the 1800’s.

Gobblers Knob is the placeThe first official observance was made in 1886, though the meetings were held in secret until 1966. The early ceremonies were held secretly in a wooded knoll at Gobbler’s Knob near Punxsutawney. The first recorded journey to Gobbler’s Knob was made on February 2, 1887. Though the early observations of Phil’s forecast were originally private, thousands now gather to await the famed prediction.

Today, Phil comes out of his electroni-cally heated burrow and looks for his

Holidays Explained Department:by Kimberly Gail Price

noteworthy appearances. He threat-ened to create sixty weeks of winter dur-ing Prohibition if not allowed a drink. He dubbed the name “United States Chucknik” for the first man-made satel-lite to orbit the Earth instead of Soviet Sputnik in 1958. In 1981, he honored the American hostages in Iran by wear-ing a yellow ribbon. He met President Reagan in 1986. In 1995 Phil was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show. His prediction was shown live in Times Square in 2001.

On Punxsutawney Phil’s Facebook page he lists his personal interests as, “I like eating, sleeping, climbing and making appearances.”

Phil will ascend from his dark winter chamber of dirt on the morn of Thurs-day, February 2, 2012 at exactly 7:20 a.m. At that time, the fortune of the following six weeks will be revealed depending on the arrangements of the clouds and the brightness of the sun.


Art: Mark Premo turns unfortunate situation into an artistic statement

photo and story by Elizabeth Graham

“People come in here and they all find something to relate to… it’s a portrait of an existence, it just happens to be mine,” he said. “This is not a concept unique to me, but this is a process unique to me.”

The project debuted at the DUMBO Arts Festival, spent some time at the DeKalb Market and was shipped to Miami for the Pulse Art Fair before it landed in the lot next to the Invisible Dog. It will remain in Cobble Hill until mid-March.

Premo, who lives in Park Slope with his wife and two young daughters, is steadily photographing and cataloguing each ob-ject in the dumpster on thedumpsterpro-ject.com.

Faced with the prospect of downsizing, a wrenching task for a collage artist whose cre-ative process revolves around the use of objects, Mac Premo

created a self portrait of sorts, and put it in a dumpster.

Carefully arranged and mounted, objects that were piled in his studio now form a confetti landscape of weird, old and interesting things that share no connec-tion other than they represent slivers of Premo’s life, tangible reminders of time periods, events and people.

“It’s basically a taxonomy of my exis-tence,” Premo said.

The project sprang from practical roots. The 467 numbered objects in the dump-ster are there because Premo no longer had room for them after moving out of a shared 2,000-square-foot studio and into a 200-square-foot space at The Invisible Dog in Cobble Hill last spring. Inevita-bly, a lot of his stuff was headed for the trash, so Premo decided to put it there on his own terms.

He purchased a dumpster with the help of Frank Collective, a Brooklyn-based creative production company, and got advice and a place to store the giant re-ceptacle from David Belt, the creator of the dumpster pools in Gowanus.

A tongue and groove wood floor that Pre-mo, 38, created from scrap pieces covers the floor of the 22-foot long dumpster. Objects are mounted in various angles from a framework of studs covering the walls. Even the bones of the project bear

the stamp of his experiences. A piece of the stage he got married on forms part of the floor, and shelves he built for the Brooklyn Circus now hold objects inside the dumpster.

Almost overwhelmingThe hodge podge plastering the walls is too much to take in quickly. There is an array of old cell phones, a series of wal-lets, empty seafood cans, baseball cards, tools, belts, pants and T-shirts folded into frames. A bandage from a drunken night in college when he rode a shopping cart down a steep hill is mounted near a Redskins patch from a hat Premo wore when he was three years old. School IDs from middle and high school document his experiments with hair styles, and a bag of salt and vinegar “Tayto” chips is a memento from the night he first told his wife that he loved her.

There are Premo’s daughter’s baby shoes sitting under an image of Mao Zedong, and several rotary phones tucked onto a bottom shelf. In another corner hangs a keychain from Beer World, an artifact from the summer he and a friend painted an old Victorian mansion during the day and spent their nights drinking beer from Beer World on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Even wisdom teethA ticket stub for a Yankees game against the White Sox on 9/11 that never took place sits near a Yankees yearbook from 1983. Across the space, the wisdom teeth from a friend who had them pulled gleam in a plastic box.

“I’m kind of a repository for weird

things,” Premo said.

Mounted on the opposite wall is a tiny skateboard made from a ruler by one of his friends in seventh grade. Premo kept the metal shape, which became imbued with a deeper meaning when that friend died at age 19.

A collector“I’ve always collected stuff. Things help me think,” he said. “Collecting is when you keep stuff for a reason. Reason is at the crux of it.”

The project, which began as an extreme-ly personal display of things that only meant something to Premo, becomes almost anonymous at times as he sees visitors explore the dumpster’s contents.

Collage artist Mac Premo inside The Dumpster Project , which sits next door to the Invisible Dog in Cobble Hill.

A life remembered(continued from page 13)

tions that did not meet this criteria were eliminated; technologies that did were carried on for further development as possible alternatives.

At the Tuesday meeting a long series of slides presenting statistical facts and seven possible remediation methods were presented. From those seven al-ternatives, three have been retained for further development and detailed evalu-ation. The fist is Alternative 1 - No Ac-tion, scoring high on the charts for easily implementable, short term effectiveness, (meaning if nothing is done, nothing will change), and cost effective. The second is Alternative 5 - dredging all of the soft sediment and applying treatment, isola-tion and armor layers in the canal. The third is Alternative 7 - employing Alter-nate 5 plus solidifying the top three to five feet of native sediment in specific areas.

Disposal options for the toxins was also evaluated. The EPA is considering several beneficial uses for the toxins and dredged sediments. Among the possibilities are off-site disposal, (landfills), mixing the sediment with fuels to produce electricity, mixing the chemicals with concrete for sta-bilization and creating a confined disposal facility, (CDF), to contain chemicals.

The presentation was concluded with EPA’s next steps are moving forward with treatment studies/pilot testing. They are

involved in ongoing conversations with NYCDEP, NYSDEC, National Grid as well as other responsible parties . EPA is meeting with the city on February 2 to discuss solutions to the combined sewer overflow and ground wter overflow, which the city has proposed to take ac-tion on beginning in April. Of the over 200 unpermitted pipes, only a dozen or so still must be dealt with, and EPA will be taking a second look at those. EPA will be proposing a plan by late mid-sum-mer and should begin working towards that by the end of the year.

After the presentation, Mugdan led a lengthy questions and answers section voiced by the attendees. Many concerns were expressed and EPA answered each with a knowledgeable statement. Top-ics the community brought up were the effectiveness of the project, the proposed versus the actual time schedule, total costs, employment within the communi-ty for the cleanup and the overall goals. Among those asking questions were City Councilmen Brad Landers and Steve Levin.

This was the first in a series of public meetings discussing the future of the Gowanus Canal. Years of cleanup fol-lowed by years of overseeing long-term effectiveness may follow in the next de-cade. Or, if proposed Alternative 1 is enforced, Brooklyn may have front row seats to the second Love Canal Disaster.

Gowanus (cont. from page 3)

so many fine people who cared for him. The children called him Uncle Richy, and the others even sought him out for spiritual advice. He would challenge the Bible class teacher. He asked hard questions, according to the pastor of the church. But he was loved and respected, and seemed to have found a replacement for Lorraine in these wonderful, friendly, holy people.

A few months ago I asked Richard if he would help me with some necessary work around the house. I said I would compensate him since his work was slow at the time. He agreed. These past few months were truly a bonding experience for both of us. We laughed about the past, his lost childhood, and I was just amazed at this complete turnaround.

These same people from the Tabernacle Gospel Church came in droves to the wake on January 12, and testified to their love for Richard. His mother Lucille and myself, and each and every member of the family, could not have been proud-er. The Mass at Visitation Church was beautifully performed. Visitation’s new Pastor Fr. Claudio Antecini, who was away on Mission in Mexico, sent a letter to be read at the service. He addressed

Richard, asking him to embrace God for him and to pray for him to make him a better pastor. Then after I made some re-marks, Fr. Johannes Siegert invited oth-ers who desired to say a few words.

One by one, starting with the Gospel Tabernacle Church pastor, they mount-ed the pulpit to express their gratitude for Richard’s presence among them these past three years and to bear witness to how much their brother Richard’s un-timely loss affected them.

Parents, remember, get to know your children. Not from your viewpoint, but from your children’s. Study their per-sonality, find out what makes them tick. The more you know them, the more you will love them and the less chance of them being caught up in some crazy fad or addiction that may be going around.

Richard truly went home to his Father. He did not have too much time for ac-complishments, because of the difficul-ties in his life. But what time he did have was certainly used wisely. Happily, his family remembered Lorraine and saw fit to enclose her ashes in the coffin that they may be peacefully together until God sees fit to end our world as we know it.

I am indeed a blessed man and a lucky man who finally met my son


Dining: A meat eater’s heaven at Court Street’s German-style Buschenschank

by Erik Penney

It is a little dark inside Buschen-schank, and a little medieval, like eating inside a dungeon, (the castle kind, not the bond-age kind), or possibly somewhere

from the Lord of the Rings. This new German, Austrian, Italian hybrid on Court Street in Cobble Hill has big, heavy stone walls and arched passage-ways that open into its bright kitchen, and a large dining room with both small tables and Hofbrau Haus-style picnic tables where a couple or small group might be seated next to each other in friendly, Germanic camaraderie. The focal point of the room is, however, the horseshoe-shaped bar that greets you as you enter, and more specifically, the roaring fireplace built into one of the stone walls opposite the bar that under-standably had a crowd around it each time I went.

Officially, the restaurant is Italian, but from a politically autonomous region of Italy at the northernmost tip on the Austrian border, a region that seems vi-sually, culturally and even linguistically more German than Italian, and the food is reflective of this as well. So pic-ture this: it is cold outside, but warm in here. The fireplace makes it seem warm-er, and the flames flicker their light and shadows off the stone walls. The blond wood frames the windows. There are great mugs of cold German beer and heaping plates of sausages and kraut in front of you. There might even be some David Hasselhoff euro-cheese-pop on the stereo. That’s Buschenschank.

They have a wonderful beer selection. Fifteen or so on tap, priced for either half- or full-liter sizes, and spanning the full spectrum from Pilsener to Doppel-bock with a healthy representation of all major German styles. Half liters are either $6 or $7, and full liter maß sizes are $11 or $12. Though not listed on the menu, Buschenschank will also sell three liters of beer in a massive boot-shaped glass for $30, something that should only be done either with lots of friends or if you are answering some kind of drinking challenge, and only then if your calendar has been cleared of any obligations for the next couple of days. There are many more beers in

bottles, and wines tend to come from far northern Italy and Rhineland Ger-many. All of these continental options make this an interesting place to drink, and the sturdy, stick-to-your-ribs menu makes it a great place to eat as well.

I was steered towards their house-made

pretzel as a bar snack each time I visited, and with good reason. Made to order from the same dough that they make pizza from, these arrive piping hot, chewy and salty, and come with a small dish of mustard that is so spicy each bite seems to explode through your si-nuses in a slow-building mushroom cloud of horseradish in a way that is oddly addicting. For a little extra you can get a bowl of bier cheese dip, which we were told is a creamy amalgam of brie, cream cheese and good German beer and acts as a welcome, cooling counterpoint to the napalm mustard. Another excellent salty bar snack are the homemade potato chips. Also made in-house, they have been drizzled with truffle oil and shaved grana padano cheese. Come to the bar with your group, try to snag a spot close to the fire and order these two with a few beers, and you will realize why the Germans have this beer-drinking thing down to a science.

A meat and cheese plate is Buschen-schank’s version of a rotating charcute-rie platter. On my visits, I had sorpres-sata, Wesphalian ham (which is akin to proscuitto), Chiantino and hiber käse, both of which are regional Ger-man cheeses that are not often found in restaurants, and which makes experi-menting with the meat and cheese plate interesting here. There is also fondue, made from Tyrolean cheese and paired with pieces of bread, fruits and vegeta-bles with steak tips or farmhouse brat-wurst for a modest upsell. A chocolate version is available for dessert.

Entrees ruleSnacks, however, will only get you so far at Buschenschank. While all of these are very delicious, the really good stuff comes as you move up the food chain into the main courses – the meats. They have several different types of sausages, and the best way to sample them is to simply sample them all. There is a würst platter, with one each of Bratwurst, farmhouse smoked Bratwurst, Bock-wurst and Weisswurst, the last comes floating properly in warm broth. Weiss-wurst is the mildest of all German sau-

sages, made of veal and gen-erally with no preservatives added. They are histori-cally made each morn-ing and eaten for lunch that same day and cooked by letting them

steep in warm water or broth for just a few minutes before serving. This sausage is rarely seen in restaurants because of this, and rarer still is seeing them served correctly. All of the sausages on the platter were delicious, but the Weiss-wurst was special, delicate, and kudos to

Buschenschank for staying true to form on this one.

Wiener Rindgulasch is a fortifying bowl of oxtail stew with German-style po-tato dumplings called “Knödel”. The stew was rich, and I could taste the contribution that was being made by the oxtail, particularly the slick mouth-feel from the marrow that obviously made its way into the soup, though I left wishing there was more meat, that this resembled more of a chunky stew than a stew-flavored soup. The Knödel are tennis ball-sized dumplings made of potato flour and water and left to steam in the stew; they go a long way towards stretching this into a satisfying meal. You can get these dumplings as a side dish as well, including one with bits of speck, (a kind of Austrian cured ham, again, not unlike prosciutto). They make for a very authentically regional, Germanic carb-dish and are great for sopping up gravies.

It’s the drippings!There is a terrific roasted chicken en-trée, cooked to a perfect juicy tender-ness and served with pureed parsnips and incredibly good wilted kale. This chicken was so tender and juicy that we felt something must be up, some further explanation was required, some-thing was going on here that we were not seeing. After voicing our concerns to our server she let us in on the secret to Buschenschank’s success with their chicken (and, as it turns out, several other things as well), - drippings. In the same way that French chefs have “cheated” for years, making food taste better by adding butter to nearly ev-erything that leaves the kitchen, so have German cooks by adding pork drippings. In this case, speck and other kinds of pork are rendered and the fat is used as a cooking medium and flavoring agent in a lot of what Buschenschank serves, usually with spectacular results. The food tastes better, richer, rounder and leaves you feeling more satisfied than without. So there’s your lesson: if you want your food to taste better, add some pork fat.

There is a burger on the menu that de-serves mention, if for no other reason than it is so over-the-top that I simply could not remain silent. It is called the Buschenschank burger, and like the beer boot, I recommend it only if you have someone to share it with or if honor re-quires you to eat it all on a dare or a bet. The meat is hand-ground dry-aged ribeye and bison. It comes topped with foie gras, shaved black truffles, pickled vegetables, (so all four food groups are represented, apparently), and a fried egg. At $35 I will leave it to you to decide if this is a good deal or not, but I can tell you that it is eas-ily the richest, most decadent hamburger I have ever set my lips upon. Absurdly so. Who would conceive of a burger like this? Dennis Kozlowski, the jailed former CEO of Tyco International who gained fame both for using his company’s treasury as a personal slush fund and for spending $6,000 on a shower curtain. He would or-der this burger. Or Siegfried and Roy. Or a butch version of Liberace. I think the best way to handle this burger is to order it for a table of four people and divide it. That way you can all enjoy a taste with-out being overwhelmed by the richness.

This type of food is admittedly a bit heavy, what with all the drippings and starchy sides. But if you are into an oc-casional meat ‘n’ potatoes meal in the German style all washed down with great mugs of cold beer, then this might be the place for you. It will be interest-ing to see whether their food is as ap-pealing in the summer, when its 90 de-grees and humid outside, and whether under those conditions the idea of pork drippings on everything will sound as appealing as it does now. It might not, but we have a long way to go until we reach that point. Until then you are likely to find me by the fireplace with a big beer and lots of good food.

Buschenschank, 320 Court Street (corner of Sackett Street)

www.brooklynbuschenschank.com

Recommended dishes: house-made pretzel, potato chips, Würst platter, roasted chick-en, Buschenschank burger

Bartender Carrie Jordan with mugs of Paulaner Salvator (photo by Elizabeth Graham).

The dining room at Buschenschank is family-friendly without losing any character (photo by Elizabeth Graham).


Hours: Noon to 10:30 pm Tues. to Thurs. Noon to 11pm Friday. 4pm to 11pm Saturday & 4pm to 10:30pm Sunday.

Star-Revue Restaurant GuideRed HookBAKED 359 Van Brunt St., (718)222-0345.

THE BROOKLYN ICE HOUSE 318 Van Brunt St., (718) 222-1865.

BOTANICA 220 Conover St (at Coffey St), (347) 225-0147.

DEFONTE’S SANDWICH SHOP 379 Columbia St., (718) 855-6982.

DIEGO’S RESTAURANT 116 Sullivan St., (718) 625-1616.

F&M BAGELS 383 Van Brunt St., (718) 855-2623.

FORT DEFIANCE 365 Van Brunt St., (347) 453-6672.

THE GOOD FORK 391 Van Brunt St., (718) 643-6636.

HOME/MADE 293 Van Brunt St., (347) 223-4135.

HOPE & ANCHOR 347 Van Brunt St., (718) 237-0276.

IKEA One Beard St., (718) 246-4532.

JOHN & FRANKS, 367 Columbia Street, (718) 797-4467

KEVIN’S 277 Van Brunt St., (718) 596-8335.

MARK’S PIZZA 326 Van Brunt St., (718) 624-0690.

NEW LIN’S GARDEN RESTAURANT 590 Clinton Street, (718) 399-1166

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND 284 Van Brunt St., (646) 326-7650.

ROCKY SULLIVAN’S 34 Van Dyke St., (718) 246-8050.

STEVE’S AUTHENTIC KEY LIME PIE, 204 Van Dyke St, (718) 852-6018

SUNNY’S BAR IN RED HOOK, 253 Conover Street, (718) 625-8211

Columbia Waterfront DistrictALMA 187 Columbia St., (718) 643-5400.

CALEXICO CARNE ASADA 122 Union St., (718) 488-8226.

CASA DI CAMPAGNA 117 Columbia Street (718) 237-4300.

CASELNOVA 214 Columbia St., (718) 522-7500.

FERNANDO’S FOCACCERIA RES-TAURANT 151 Union St., (718)855-1545.

HOUSE OF PIZZA & CALZONES 132 Union St., (718) 624-9107.

JAKE’S BAR-B-QUE RESTAURANT 189 Columbia St., (718) 522-4531.

KOTOBUKI BISTRO 192 Columbia St., (718) 246-7980.

LILLA CAFE 126 Union St., (718) 855-5700.

MAZZAT 208 Columbia St., (718) 852-1652.

PETITE CREVETTE 144 Union St., (718) 855-2632.

SOUTH BROOKLYN BAGELS 75 Ham-ilton Ave - next to Chase, (718) 855-0500.

SUGAR LOUNGE, 147 Columbia Street, 718 643-2880

TEEDA THAI CUISINE 218 Columbia St., (718) 643-2737.

Carroll Gardens/Cobble HillABILENE, 442 Court Street, 718-522-6900,

ANGRY WADES, 222 Smith Street, (718) 488-7253

BAR BRUNO, 520 Henry St., 347-763-0850,

BAGELS BY THE PARK, 323 Smith Street, (718) 246-1321

BAR GREAT HARRY, 280 Smith Street (718) 222-1103

BOMBAY DREAM, 257 Smith Street (718) 237-6490

BROOKLYN BREAD CAFE, 436 Court Street (718) 403-0234

BUDDY’S BURRITO & TACO BAR, 260 Court Street, 718-488-8695,

BUTTERMILK CHANNEL, 524 Court Street (718) 852-8490

CASA ROSA, 384 Court Street, 718-797-1907

CHESTNUT, 271 Smith St., (718) 243-0049

COBBLE GRILL, 212 Degraw Street, (718) 422-0099

COBBLE HILL COFFEE SHOP, 314 Court Street, (718) 852-1162

CODY’S ALE HOUSE GRILL, 154 Court Street, 718-852,6115

CRAVE, 570 Henry Street, (718) 643-0361

CUBANA CAFE, 272 Smith Street (718) 718-858-398

DOWNTOWN BAR & GRILL, 160 Court street, 718-625-2835

EM THAI KITCHEN, 278 Smith Street, (718) 834-0511

ENOTICA ON COURT, 347 Court Street, (718) 243-1000

F LINE BAGELS, 476 Smith Street (718) 422-0001

FALL CAFE, 307 Smith Street, (718) 403-0230

FIVE GUYS, 266 Court St., 347-799-2902

FRAGOLE, 394 Court Street, (718) 622-7133

FRANCESCO’S RESTAURANT, 531 Henry Street, (718) 834-0863

FRANK’S LUNCHEONETTE, 365 Smith Street, (718) 875-5449

GHANG, 229 Court Street, 718-875-1369

GOWANUS YACHT CLUB, 323 Smith Street, (718) 246-132,Closed til spring

HANA CAFE, 235 Smith Street, (718) 643-1963

LE PETITE CAFE, 502 Court street, 718-596-7060

LING LING YOUNG, 508 Henry Street, 260-9095

MARCO POLO RISTORANTE, 345 Court Street, 718 852-5015

MAMA MARIA’S RESTAURANT, 307 Court Street, (718) 246-2601

MEZCALS Restaurant, 522 Court Street, 718-783-3276

NATURES GRILL, 138 Court street, 718-852,5100,

NINE-D, 462 Court Street, 718-488-8998,

OAXACA TACOS, 251 Smith Street (718) 222-1122

OSACA RESTAURANT, 272 Court Street (718) 643-0055

P J HANLEYS, 520 Court St, 718- 834-8223

PALO CORTADO, 449 Court St, 718-407-0047

PRIME MEATS, 465 Court Street, 718-254-0327 or 0345,

PALMYRA, 316 Court street, 718-797-1110

RED ROSE RESTAURANT, 315 Smith Street, (718) 625-0963

SALS PIZZA, 305 Court Street, (718) 852-6890

SAVOIA, 277 Smith Street, 718-797-2727

SEERSUCKER RESTAURANT, 329 Smith Street, (718) 422-0444

SMITH & VINE, 268 Smith Street (718) 243-2864

SOUTH BROOKLYN PIZZA, 451 Court Street, 718 852-6018

STINKY BROOKLYN, 261 Smith Street, 718 522-7425

SWEET MELISSA, 276 Court Street, (718) 855-3410

VINNY’S OF CARROLL GARDENS, 295 Smith Street, 718 875-5600

VINNY’S PIZZERIA, 455 Court Street, 718 596-9342

VINO Y TAPAS, 520 Court Street, 718-407-0047

VINZEE’S, 412 Court Street, 718 855 1401

ZAYTOONS, 283 Smith Street, 718 875-1880

GowanusMICHAEL AND PINGS, 437 Third Av-enue, (718) 788-0017

We, at the Red Hook Star-Revue are working very hard to keep our restaurant guide up-to-date. If your restaurant is not listed or is listed incorrectly, please contact us at [email protected]

Now opeN MoNdAys 5-10:30!

CASELNOVA-the neighborhood trattoria-

NEW GLUTEN FREE MENUThis Menu contains items that are traditionally not Gluten Free. Items on our regular menu may be gluten free options as well.

215 Columbia Street caselnova.com (718) 522-7500

We Also have a NEW LUNCH MENU Come’n get some!!!

Free Delivery/Take Out

Price Fix, Shmice Fix

Lovers & Lonely Hearts NightCome and eat what you’d like

We’ll make some awesome specials and maybe even some heart shaped ravioli for ya!

Complimentary Glass of Prosecco for all DinersSuperBowl Catering Available, so much better than wings!

For Valentines Day, Tuesday, February 14


Star-revue ClaSSifiedSHelp Wanted

Freelance Writers: The Red Hook Star-Revue is looking for freelance writers for both the arts and news sections. We want to buttress our news as well as local theater and arts coverage. Email [email protected]

Outside Salesperson: The Red Hook Star-Revue seeks an ambitious person who likes to walk, talk and make friends in the neighborhood to sell display advertising. Commission to start - work around your hours, no pressure. Call 718 624-5568 and speak to Kimberly or George.

neighborhood ServicesClasses/WorkshopsGlass Art of Brooklyn www.ernestporcelli.com 718-596-4353 Glass Fusing Workshop every Wednes-day Evening 7 -9 Beginners to Advanced Students welcome. Maximum 6 students per class. Classes are ongoing. Monthly fee $175, includes most ma-terials, and firings.

laundry Service

MoversCOOL HAND MOVERS Friendly local guys that can relocate your life, or just shlep your new couch from Ikea. We’ll show up on time, in a truck or van if necessary, and basically kick ass -- you might even have a good time! Call for a free estimate at (917) 584-0334 or email at [email protected] Customer reviews on YELP.COM

The Red Hook Star-Revue now publish-es twice a month - classified advertis-ing is one of the best and least expen-sive ways to get your message across. Special yearly contracts available for service businesses such as plumbers, electricians for as little as $500 annu-ally. Email Kimberly at [email protected] or call 718 624-5568

Licensed Electrical ContractorsCommercial • Residential • Industrial

Free Estimates

Violations RemovedAll Types of WiringEmergency Service

Vito Liotine(718) 625-1995(718) 625-0867

[email protected]

137 King StreetBrooklyn, NY 11231Fax: (718) 935-0887

EMERGENCYSERVICE

No job too big or too small

Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Fau-cets, Hot Water Heaters, Pool

Heaters.

B & D Heating507 Court Street 718 625-1396

R&R REALTY – THE BROOKLYN ADVANTAGEWhen looking for Brooklyn commercial or residential real estate, you need expert advice. Brooklyn has become New York’s art hub – home to musicians, artists and a host of emerging galleries. R&R has over 25 years specialized experience in the ever-growing and exciting landscape of Brooklyn. Whether you are seeking the best fit to house your business or looking to live in the next New York hotspot, R&R Realty is there with the answers you need. R&R can also handle all of your building management needs.

Property Management of Commercial/Residential Rentals Music/Art Studio Spaces386 Third Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215

Phone: (718) 858-5555 Fax: (718) 858-5838Website: www.2rrealty.com

R & R RealtY

DELVAN DROP-OFF SERVICE

289 Columbia St. (at Summit) 718 797-1600• Laundry, Dry Cleaning & Alterations• Laundry done same day!! • Regular Dry Cleaning in 2 days!!

FREE Pick-up and Delivery www.delvandropoff.com

JOE JEROMEAssociate BrokerDirect: 718-361-9304Main: 718-786-5050 x [email protected]

For Expert Real Estate Advice in Red Hook, Sunset Park and Carroll Gardens.

Construction/Home Improvement

New HeigHts CoNstruCtioN LLC

Visit our online showroom www.newheightsConstructionny.com

siding • Windows • Roofing • Fences • Kitchens • Painting • Baths • Basements • Decks

• Doors • Awnings • Patio Enclosures • Brick Pointing

• Concrete StuccoNYC Licence# 1191201

800-525-5102718-767-0044

Free EstimatesAsk about

our Window Specials!

JABUS BUILDING

CORP.Serving Red Hook for over 25 yearsSpecializing in Construction and

Historic Preservation• New construction• Renovations, additions and extensions• Masonry specialist• Concrete floors/radiant heated• Concrete/bluestone sidewalk repair• Flue linings, chimneys and fireplaces• Demolition and waste removal• Violation removals• Landmark Preservation contractor

Jim & Debbie BuscarelloPHONE: (718) 852-5364

Fax: (347) 935-1263 www.jabusbuildingcorp.com

[email protected] License #0883902

Trade Waste License #1135


Things To Do Feb 1 - 15If you have an event you would like listed in the Red Hook Star-Revue calendar, please email [email protected].

CHURCH/SYNAGOGUEKane St. Synagogue 236 Kane St. (718) 875-1530 kanestreet.org Annual Auction “Midnight at the Oasis” 5pm On-line tickets $60/Family, $30/Ind. Torah Study every 2nd Shabbat of the Month 11am-Noon

St. Stephen’s R.C. 108 Carroll St. (718) 596-7750 delvecchiorc.com & brook-lyncatholic.blogspot.com Every Wed. 6:30pm Choir rehearsal, if interested contact [email protected] or [email protected] Fri. 2/3 8:30pm Feast of St. Blaise, Blessing of the Throat after Mass

Visitation of Our Blessed Virgin Mary R.C. 98 Richards @Verona (718) 624-1572 Every Thurs. 6pm Choir Practice w/ Emiliana Fri 2/3 7-9:30pm, Sat. 2/4 & Sun. 2/5 9am - 5pm Introduction to Per-sonal Prayer @ Holy Family Rectory, 205 14th St., Park Slope. In-Home Blessings and Masses, by appointment. Lan-guages available: English, Spanish, Italian, German.

CLASSES/WORKSHOPSBrooklyn General—128 Union St. (718) 237-7753 brooklyngeneral.com Classes and Workshops for all things Sewing. Call or contact their website for more info.

Cora Dance 201 Richards St. (Cof-fey St./Van Dyke St.) #15 (718) 858-2520 coradance.org New Adult Classes. Every Sun: 5:30-6:45pm Restorative Yoga w/Jolene Festa (child care available); Every Mon: 10-11am Yoga w/Tessa Wright 6:30-7:45pm, Yoga w/Jolene Festa (childcare available). Every Tues: 5-6:30 pm Company Class (rotating teachers). Every Sat: 10:30-11:30 Zumba w/Sarah Folland. Classes are pay-what-you-can. (Suggested donation: $10 per class, $15 per class w/child care.)

Fitness Collective 278 Court St (718) 971-6178 www.fitnesscollec-tive.com Love Your Body: A Pre-Valentine’s Day Wellness Event. Sat 2/11 Noon-2pm. An event that will allow men and women to cele-brate self-acceptance and promote a healthy and positive body image, both inside and out. FREE and open to the public. For more info, contact Dawn (917) 306-5056

Jalopy School of Music 315 Co-lumbia St. (Hamilton Ave/Wood-hull St.) (718) 395-3214 jalopy.biz Class schedules: Mon. 2/6-3/26: 7pm Country Harmony Singing I, 8pm Country Harmony II, 7pm Banjo III-Fingerpicking. Tues 2/7-3/27: 7pm Mandolin I, 7pm Banjo I, 8pm Banjo II, 7pm Ensemble 1 Class, 8pm Ensemble 1 Class. Wed 2/8-3/28: 7pm Exploring Your Voice, 7pm Fiddle III, 8pm Banjo I, 8pm Banjo III - Clawhammer, 8pm Guitar III, 8pm Clogging Class. Thurs 2/9-3/29: 7pm Mandolin II, 7pm Fiddle I, 8pm Fiddle II, 8pm Nuts & Bolts Mu-sic Theory. Fri 2/10-3/30: 7pm Ukelele I, 8pm Ukelele II. Sat 2/11-3/31: 1pm Guitar I, 2pm Guitar II, 3pm Finger Style Guitar I, 4pm Guitar Finger Style II, 5pm Guitar Finger Style III. $225 for 8 weeks. $275 w/intrument rental. Register for 2 classes for $50 discount. Call to confirm. In addition to the above: Sat. 2/4: 1pm Shaky Dave’s Harmonica for Beginners, $20; 2pm Pat Conte’s Kentucky Fiddle Part 2 Workshop, $25. Sat. 2/11: 2pm Pat Conte’s Old Masters: Banjo Stylings of Uncle Dave Macon Part 1, $25. Sun. 2/12: Noon Vocal Harmony Basics $20; 2pm Vocal Harmony Duos & Trios, $25 ($40 total if you attend both workshops).

Prema Yoga 236 Carroll St. #1F Brook-lyn 11231 .premayoganyc.com Check Website for full schedule and special programs

Yoga Classes 201 Richards St. #15 www.tessamwright.com/yoga. Join Tessa with morning yoga for every one! Hatha style style for all levels. Mondays @10am. Suggested donation - $10.

COMEDYLittlefield—622 Degraw St., littlefield-nyc.com. Every Mon 7:30pm Hot Tub w/Kurt &Kristen $5-8 Please check website

for weekly listings.

EXHIBITIONS440 Gallery 440 6th Ave. (Park Slope) (718) 499-3844, 440gallery.com

Gallery hrs. - Thurs., Fri. 4-7pm, Sat., Sun. 11am - 7pm, or by appointment. Through 2/19 Imagined Light: the Paint-ings of Ellen Chuse.

Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition 499 Van Brunt St. (718) 596-2506 bwac.org Spring of ‘12 “Wide Open 3” TBA

Gallery Small New York---416 Van Brunt, (347) 782-3729 smallnewyork.com Feb.15 Opening “Smalls: Fine 19th Centurty European and American Oils and Drawings”.

Invisible Dog---51 Bergen Street, the-invisibledog.org (347) 560-3641 Wed. 2/1 7pm Why I make Live Art. Mulime-dia artist makle prepared statements and manifestos followed by discussion moderated by Jess Barbagallo. Thurs. 2/2 6:30pm A Night Of Mash-Ups, Old music, new word featuring Sonambula, composer Elizabeth Weinfield’s viol con-sort. Joined by poet Adam Fitzgerald,

and soul/rock singer Liza Colby. Sat. 02/4 Noon - 8pm, American Realism. An investigation of the American worker through the medium of theater. Directed by Katherine Brooks. Thurs. 2/9 8pm Rehearsal: Works in Progress, a short piece by choreographer/dancer Tara Willis, followed by discussion w/ Tara Willis. Sat. 2/11 8pm, Catch 49: a multi-disciplinary, rough & ready performance series hosted by Jeff Larson & Andrew Dinwiddie.

Kentler International Drawing Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 875-2098, kentlergallery.org. 2/3 - 3/25: The Influential Female, drawings inspired by Women in History 2/3 6 - 8pm Opening 2/19 4pm TIF Curator’s Talk

Look North Inuit Art Gallery—275 Conover Street, Suite 4E, (347) 721-3995, looknorthny.com. Polar Light: Greenland. The Greenland photography of Rena Bass Forman and the Green-land drawings of Zaria Forman. A climate change awareness exhibition held in conjunction with Al Gore’s ‘The Climate Project’.

FILMSYWCA Brooklyn 30 3rd Ave (Atlantic Ave/State St). (718) 488-1624 ywcabk-lyn.org Thurs. 2/2 6:30pm Screening: More Than A Month by Shukree Hassan

Tilghman. A tongue-in-cheek journey through America on a campaign to end Black History Month. Presented @ LIU Kumble Theater Flatbush, Dekalb/Wil-loughby.

FOOD/DRINKBotta di Vino—357 Van Brunt St., (347) 689-3664. Friday night candle light blind tasting. “Discuss what you smell, taste and feel with your own palate. a group forum for wanna be wine geeks” Admis-sion requires one purchase.

Botanica—220 Conover St (at Coffey St), 347-225-0147. Fine cocktails, spe-cialty liquors & Cacao Prieto Chocolate. Tue: Film screenings, Wed: Board game night, Thu: Poker night, Sat-Sun: After-noon cocktails.

Dry Dock Wine+Spirits---424 Van Brunt St., (718) 852-3625, drydockny.com Fri. 2/3 5:30-8:30pm red green & white: organic Italian wines, FREE. Sat. 2/4 4-7pm ooh la la: wines from France, FREE. Sun. 2/5 3-6pm Hooker’s Choice, FREE. Fri. 2/10 5:30-8:30pm A Sip of the South: Bourbon Tasting, FREE. Sat. 2/11 4-7pm Ooh La La: Aya-la Champagne FREE. Sun. 2/12 3-6pm

Hooker’s Choice. FREE

MikNik Lounge 200 Columbia St. (917) 770-1984 ‘Rebel! Rebel!’ (Gay Night) ev-ery first & third Thurs. 9pm - 2am Cheap Beer, $6 well drinks, friendly crowd.

FUNDRAISERS/PARTIESBrooklyn Collective Gallery 212 Co-lumbia St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 596-6231 brooklyncollective.com Fri. 2/10 6-10pm, Valentine’s Showcase! 30 new collections by local artists and designers Live Music & Cocktails! Raffles & Prizes!

Park Slope Flea Market---Between 1st & 2nd street on 7th avenue, Brooklyn. “An urban adventure exploring diverse people’s crafts and collectibles, fabrics and fashions, notes and notables, all at bargain prices” Every Saturday and Sun-day. All through the winter.

MUSEUMSMicro Museum—123 Smith Street,(718) 797-3116 micromuseum.com . Above and Beyond, a three-year retrospec-tive of the art of William and Kathleen Laziza, every Saturday from 12-7pm, refreshments from 5-7pm,. See their original interactive, media and visual art works. Sat. Feb. 11, 18, 25 5-7pm Lovey + Dovey = Forever & The Kissing Instal-

lation, Tributes to St. Valentine’s Day. Admission by donation, suggested do-nation $2. Say you like “Red-Hook Star Revue” and get a free gift bag.

The Waterfront Museum Lehigh Valley Barge No.79, 290 Conover Street. (718) 624-4719 ext. 11 www.waterfrontmu-seum.org. Free boat tours & open hours all through the year. Thursdays 4 - 8 pm and Saturdays 1 - 5 pm in Red Hook.

MUSICBait & Tackle 320 Van Brunt Street (718) 451-4665 redhookbaitnadtackle.com Fri 2/10 9pm The 41 Players, Sat. 2/11 9pm The Flanks, Sun 2/12 4pm Matt Parker & Max Johnson, 9pm Jim McCray & Joe Cantor.

Bargemusic Fulton Ferry Landing, 2 Old Fulton St., (718) 624-2083, barge-music.org Fri. 2/3 8pm Masterwork Se-ries; Sat. 2/4 8pm Masterworks Series $40, ($35 Senior, $15 Student); Sun. 2/5 3pm Masterworks Series $40, ($35 Se-nior, $15 Student); Fri. 2/10 8pm Here & Now Series; Sat. 2/11 8pm Masterworks Series; Sun. 2/12 3pm Masterworks Series.Unless otherwise noted, all per-formances are $35, ($30 Seniors,$15

Students).

The Bell House 149 7th St, (718) 643-6510, thebellhouseny.com. The Bell House has a full calendar of mu-sic, comedy and film events. Please check website.

Hope & Anchor 347 Van Brunt St, (718) 237-0276. Karaoke, Thursdays through Saturdays from 9pm-1am.

Issue Project Room @110 Livings-ton St. (718) 330-0313 issueprojec-troom.org Fri. 2/3 8pm Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch: Concern-ing the Entrance into Eternity, (Re-cord Release Party); Sat. 2/4 Spe-cies of Spaces, a multi-course feast exploring the unique foods of Brook-lyn. Call for reservatuions. Fri. 2/10 8pm Composer Anthony Coleman performing original works; Sat 2/11 8pm Title TK & Architeuthis Walks on Land. Doors open a half hour before performance.

Jalopy Theatre and School of Music 315 Columbia St., (718) 395-3214, jalopy.biz. Every Wed. 9pm Roots & Ruckus, FREE. JTSM has an extensive calendar of live, eclec-tic roots music. Please go to website or call for more info. Also check CLASSES/WORKSHOP in this cal-endar.

Montero’s Bar 73 Atlantic Ave. @ Hicks St. (718) 534-6399 [email protected] Karaoke w/Andy & Amber every Fri. & Sat. 10pm; Wed. 2/8 & every Wed. after 8pm - Midnight. The raucous musical con-coctions of The Red Hook Irregulars, all acoustic, guest players invited.

The Rock Shop—249 Fourth Ave. (President St./Carroll St.) (718) 230-5740 therockshopny.com Thurs 2/2 8pm Larkin Grimm, Cuddle Magic, Tall Tall Trees, $8, Sat. 2/4 8pm, Jenny Owen Youngs $12/14 Fri.

2/10 7:30pm Victor Villareal, Meryll, Matt LeMay $10 Sat. 2/11 8pm Medio, Lost Coves, Tenrec, Michael Edward Ross, $8.

Rocky Sullivan’s—34 Van Dyke St., (718) 246-8050. Every Mon, Tues, Wed 8pm Live Irish Music; Every Last Wed 8pm Readings By Authors; Every Thurs. 9pm Rocky’s World Famous Pub Quiz; Every Sat Live Rock ‘n Roll, Friday, Feb-ruary 3rd - Union, original Red Hook rock and country, 9 pm

The Star Theater Acoustic Jam 101 Union St. btwn Columbia and Van Brunt (718) 624-5568 Every Monday Night 8pm. C&W to Jazz (with a healthy dose of Blues in the middle). Full back line. Bring your Axe & Your Favorite Bever-age!

The Star Theater Electric Jam 101 Union St. btwn Columbia & Van Brunt (718) 624-5568 Every Thursday Night 8pm. Rock, Blues & Jazz Madness. Re-freshments served and Donations Gra-ciously Accepted. Full back line. Bring your Axe!

Union Hall---702 Union Street @5th Ave (718) 638-4400 unionhallny.com Union Hall has music, film, and comedy 7 nights a week. Please check website.

PUBLIC MEETINGS Brooklyn Public Library - Carroll Gar-dens 396 Clinton St. @ Union St. (718) 596-6972 brooklynpubliclibrary.org/locations/carroll-gardens Knitting Club (all ages) Every Tues 4pm, mezzanine; Memoir Writing (adult) Every Wed. 6pm; Chess Club every Wed 6:15 pm (all ages). Play and improve your game. Bring your own clock.

CoWNA (Columbia Waterfront Neigh-borhood Asso.) & Brad Lander @ The Postgraduate Center, 177 Columbia St Thurs, 2/9 6:30pm. “An Overview of Port Changes”. A meeting of residents and concerned other covering the departure of American Stevedoring as operator, the possibility of the U.S. Customs refusal to serve the docks among other thing. All residents welcome.

Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Devel-opment Corporation (SBDIC) 241 41st St., 2nd fl. Brklyn. (718) 965-3100 Tues, 2/7 9:30am SBIDC Orientation Session. Learn about the agency, staff & employ-ment opportunities. 3 copies of updated resume, photo ID & proper business at-tire required. RSVP Required.

YWCA Brooklyn 30 3rd Ave (Atlantic Ave/State St) (718) 488-1624 Thurs. 2/2 6:30pm Screening: More Than A Month by Shukree Hassan Tilghman. A tongue-in-cheek journey through Ameri-ca on a campaign to end Black History Month. Presented @ LIU Kumble The-ater Flatbush, Dekalb/Willoughby.

READING & LITER-ARY EVENTSThe Gowanus Studio Space 166 7th Street (347) 948-5753 www.gowanusstu-dio.org

SCHOOLSPS 15 71 Sullivan St. (Columbia/Van Brunt Sts.) (718)330-9280 schools.nyc.gov 1/20 (& every Fri.) 11am - Noon Toddler Time Programs: 1 hr of playtime & storytelling. Open to everyone. Mon. 2/13 10:30am-Noon The Market Place Project Fair. Products from student Afri-can micro-loans project. FREE

Summit Academy NY 27 Huntington St. (718) 875-1403) summitacademychar-terschool.org 2/1 - 2/17 Sharing The Love ONLINE BENEFIT AUCTION Exotic vacations, dance classes, luxury dining and more at biddingforgood.com/summitacademyny Proceeds go to sup-port Summit’s groundbreaking programs and work.

THEATER The Heights Players 26 Willow Place, heightsplayers.org (718) 237-2752 Fri. & Sat. 2/3-4, 2/10-11, 2/17-18 8pm, Sun. 02/5, 2/12, 2/19 2pm. The Foreigner. A comedy written by Larry Shue, Directed by Noel MacDuffie. $15 adults, $13 se-niors & children. Mon./Tues. 2/6-7 7pm Auditions: Sunrise at Campobello.

The Clockworks Puppet Theater 196 Columbia St (212) 614-0001 cosmicbi-cycle.com Sat. & Sun. through 2/26 2&4pm KIDz Matinee Series - A different show each week! Mon - Fri. 1-4pm Ju-nior Puppet Master Workshops: A week long day campfor kids ages 7-15 yrs. culminating in a performance. Mon- Fri 2/20-2/2410-11am KIDz Puppet Craft! Learn to build Puppets. w/puppets and songs thrown in! Ages 3-6 yrs.

WALKING TOURSA Tour grows in Brooklyn 1212 64th St.(212) 209-3370 brooklynwalkingtour.com A historical walking tour of Brown-stone Brooklyn featuring the childhood home of Al Capone, the history of the Williamsburg Bank, and the Revolution-ary War battle site The Old Stone House. Real Brooklyn Pizza Lunch included. Daily 10am-1pm, $40

Urban Oyster (347) 618-TOUR (8687) urbanoyster.com Sat. 2/4, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25 Noon-3:30, Brewed in Brooklyn Tour (Williamsburg) Brewing, Bottling, & bootlegging in historic Williamsburg. Samples, pizza and fresh lager lunch included. $60

The Chassidic Discovery Welcome Center 305 Kingston Ave. (718) 953-5244 jewishtour.com The Daily Has-sidic Walking Tour. Sun-Fri 10am-1pm (Except Jewish Holidays). An intimate tour through the not often seen aspects Hassidic life & culture. Kosher NY Deli lunch & vendor discounts included. $42, Advance purchase required. Call or e-mail for availability.

The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy ENVIROMEDIA MOBILE celebrates Black History Month with an annual trav-eling nautical exhibition “History of the Afro-American Sea-farer”. This year, The Urban Divers (UDEC) in collaboration with CHE Nautical & Enviro Edutainment are presenting a unique and spectacular nautical exhibitions featuring a state of the art living history display that encompasses, nautical re-enactor (s), with an impressive collection of artifacts, nautical props, historic naval armament, costumes, promising an en-riching, entertaining, and interactive cultural & educational exhibit for children and parents to enjoy. The Afro-American Seafarer Living History Exhibit will be presented as an inter-active public art installation with exhibit as a day long pro-gram at various public institutions and public buildings in the Borough of Brooklyn though out the month of February.NATIONAL GRID GALLERY, 2nd Fl, 1 Metrotech CenterWall Exhibit- Run thru the Month of February, Living His-tory Exposition- , Wednesday Feb 15th-10am-4pm, (Made possible with the support of National Grid)The BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 128 Pierremont Street Living History Exposition- Sunday Feb 19th-1pm-4pmThe OLD AMERICAN CAN FACTORY, 232 Third Avenue Living History Exposition

Feb . 1, 2012 issue

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Transcript of Feb . 1, 2012 issue