Red Hook Star-Revue, October 2015

Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com October 2015,

SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

The Red Hook StarªRevue

OCTOBER 2015 FREE

When Sandy’s historic surge hit Red Hook three years ago, Al-exandros Washburn

stayed put in his Van Brunt Street row house. He didn’t stay because of blind pride or a delusion of safety. Rather, he stayed to learn.

As he watched the storm leak through his roof and fl ood his ground fl oor with three feet of fi lthy water, he took note of the structural dynamics of his building and the street outside. At the time, Washburn was the city’s chief urban designer under Mayor Bloom-berg and had been studying “what if?” catastrophe scenarios for years. He currently works as an industry pro-fessor and Director of the Center for Coastal Resilience and Urban Xcel-lence (CRUX) at Stevens Institute of Technology. Of all people, he knew just how dangerous it was to stick around.

“If I wanted to understand the storm, there was no substitute for being there,” he said in an interview. “Th ere is so much research on storm surges, but to be able to experience it, feel it, see it - that was beyond valuable for me not just from a science perspec-tive, but from an emotional and social one.”

Ultimately, Sandy would teach Wash-burn about far more than sturdy win-dows and roof integrity. His education that day would inspire his countless lectures and projects, an acclaimed book about resilient urban design, fl ood monitoring technology, and plans for Red Hook that Washburn considers critical to its structural and cultural survival in the long term.

Moreover, he would learn that the storm response in New York is con-fusing, misguided, and broken - this coming from a man who spent much of his career in City Hall.

When we met at Fort Defi ance for our interview, Washburn was eager to sit at the restaurant’s outdoor service

window rather than indoors at the bar. Th at way, we could face the street and chat into the open air.

“Th e street needs to be embraced,” said the congenial Washburn over a Jacques & Doris cocktail. “Look how we’re sitting now. We’re part of the street. Th is is part of our domain. You have to encourage this. Th is type of set-up keeps the street safe.”

FEMA rules indicate that the only way to fl ood-proof a vulnerable residence and mitigate skyrocketing fl ood insur-ance premiums is to fi ll in the base-ment, abandon the fi rst fl oor, elevate the home, or some mix of these pricey

options.

Washburn studied the mandates carefully. He found that a homeown-er’s only viable option is to create a storage space or a parking garage on the fi rst fl oor. Th is, however, would destroy the coveted street culture of Red Hook, Washburn says.

“If we were all to follow what they wanted us to do, this neighborhood would be a parking lot,” Washburn said. “It would be horrible. Yes it would be fl ood-proof, but we have to defi ne resilience at an appropriate scale, and the appropriate scale here is a community.”

Because he refused to go along with FEMA’s model, Washburn’s home remains in a somewhat limbo state.

He hasn’t fully repaired his fi rst fl oor since Sandy engulfed it. Th ere are bare joists and walls. From the street, his Victorian storefront ground fl oor appears boarded up. Before Sandy, he had a tenant living there, but now it is unlivable. He and his wife and children now live in the stunning up-per fl oors, which were designed by Washburn. Th e sun-drenched, high-ceilinged home was actually once featured in the New York Times real estate section.

As he watched his neighbors rebuild out of necessity and lend themselves to the mercy of insurance companies, Washburn remained one of the few holdouts.

“I have many sympathizers, but I don’t think I’m the norm here,” he said.

At one point Washburn even drew up an innovative, if not downright nutty fl ood-proofi ng plan: he could attach cables to his ceiling beams, which would crank up his fl oor panel -- along with his computers, furniture, and more -- out of a storm’s clutches. He has the architectural chops to make it happen, but the zoning laws won’t allow it.

Furthermore, navigating the insur-ance plans and zoning laws has been a veritable nightmare on nearly every level.

“I go around in circles trying to under-stand the city, state and federal regu-lations that should tell me how I can rebuild. Th ey all confl ict,” he wrote in his 2013 book, Th e Nature of Urban Design: A New York Perspective on Re-silience. “I am amazed at the number of people I have to deal with.”

Washburn is no stranger to Red Hook planning controversy. Th e fi rst time he set foot in the neighborhood in 2002, he was fi ghting against one of Red Hook’s most polarizing contend-ers: IKEA. He proposed a public fi sh-ing village of sorts as an alternative to the big box furniture store. He didn’t

“He found that a homeown-

er’s only viable option is to

create a storage space or a

parking garage on the fi rst

fl oor. This, however, would

destroy the coveted street

culture of Red Hook.”

(c0ntinued on page 5)

Alexandros Washburn, Red Hook’s resiliency expert

by Halley Bondy

ALSO INSIDE

Interview with Wyckoff Gardens resident Beverly Corbin about the

city’s infi ll plan - page six

Red Hook shows up en masse at Borough Hall to give EDC some ferry suggestions - page eleven

Carlo Vogel and Ben Schneider interview themselves, pages 12-13

Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com October 2015

RELIGIOUS SERVICESChristianRiver Of God Christian Center110 Wolcott Street, 646-226-6135, Secretary, Sister Roslyn Chatman. Sunday - Family Wor-ship 11:00 - 1:00 pm Scripture, read in English and Spanish Wednesday - At The Gate 12:00 noon, Prayer 7:00 - 7:30 pm, Bible Studies 7:00 - 8:00 pm, Thursday Prayer 7:30 - 8:30pm, Friday Youth ABLAZED Ministries 6:00 - 7:30pm, Senior Pastor, Donald Gray

Visitation Church98 Richards St, (718) 624-1572. Office open Mon-Thursday9 am - 3 pm. Saturday mass 5 pm; Spanish mass at 7 pm. Sunday 10 am English, 12:30 pm Span-ish. Community Prayer Tuesday and Thursday, 8 pm. Youth Group Meetings on Friday, 4:30 - 6 pm. Baptisms are held every other month. Please call to arranged for baptisms, communions and weddings.

New Brown Memorial Baptist Church609 Clinton Street, 718 624 4780 Pastor A.R Jamal. Sunday School at 9:30 am. Sunday Worship at 11:00 am. Bible Study -Wednesday at 7:30pm. Communion every first Sunday

St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish467 Court Street. (718) 625-2270 Rectory Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am-11:30 am, 1 pm-4 pm, Friday 9 am- 12 noon. Masses: Saturday 5:30 pm, Sunday 10 am, Monday- Thursday 9:30 am. Religious Education grades 1,2, 3 -Register now for this September! Please visit our website for more information and to view our weekly bulletin www.stmarystarbrooklyn.com

Saint Paul and Saint Agnes Parish Church Office 234 Congress Street (718) 624-3425 Hours: M - F 830am-12 St. Agnes Church Office 433 Sackett Street, 718-625-1717 Hours: M-F 1pm-430pm Email: [email protected] St. Agnes: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 9 am (English), 11:30am (Spanish) St. Paul’s: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 8 am & 9:30am (English); 11am (Spanish) Monday & Tuesday 8:30am (St. Paul’s) Wednesday & Thursday 8:30am (St. Agnes) Saturday 8am (St. Paul’s)

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary - Saint Stephen Roman Catholic Church125 Summit Street at Hicks Street [email protected] Saturday Vigil Mass 5:30pm Sunday Masses: 10am & 11:45am (Italian/English) Weekdays Masses: Tuesday Through Saturday 8:30am Confessions: Saturdays 4:45pm and by appointment. Baptisms: Every Third Sun-day At 1pm. Please call the rectory one month before to make arrangements.

St. Paul’s Carroll Street 199 Carroll Street Parish Office: 718-625-4126 Sunday Mass at 10 am Weekday Morning Prayer - Mon.-Thurs. at 7:30 am Weekday masses as announced Holy Days as announced \Church open for prayer Tues. 6-8pm & Sat. 2-4pm http://stpaulscarrollst.weebly.com/

JewishKane Street Synagogue 236 Kane Street, 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet.org/ Friday night services, 6:00 PM Shabbat services, 9:15 AM Sunday Services 9:00 AM

Congregation B’nai Avraham/Chabad of Brooklyn Heights117 Remsen St., 718 596 4840 x18 www.bnaiavraham.com, www.heightschabad.com Morning Services: Sunday: 8:45am Monday - Friday: 7:45am Holidays (during the week): 8:45am Saturday: 9:45am Evening Services: Sunday: Shabbat candle lighting time Monday - Thursday: 9:00pm Fri-day: Winter: 5 minutes before Shabbat candle lighting time Summer: 7:30pm Saturday: Shabbat candle lighting time

If your religious institution isn’t listed here, let us know by emailing [email protected] Thanks!

Community Telephone Numbers:Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca ................. 718 439-9012Red Hook Assemblyman Felix Ortiz ..........................718-492-6334Red Hook State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery ....718-643-6140Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander ........................... 718 499-1090Park Slope Councilman Steve Levin .......................... 718 875-5200CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman .............. 718 643-3027

76th Police Precinct, 191 Union StreetMain phone .................................................................718-834-3211Community Affairs ..................................................... 718 834-3207Traffic Safety ............................................................... 718 834-3226

Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street ....... 718 596-1956Miccio Community Center, 110 East 9th Street ..... 718 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St. ....................... 718 852-6771Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St. ............... 718 522-3880Brownstone Republicans [email protected]

NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight StreetMain Phone ............................................................... (718) 265-7300Community Affairs ................................................... (718) 265-7313Domestic Violence ................................................... (718) 265-7310

Happenings, etc.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3really Affordable Art Show, judged by Carolyn Ramo, Executive Director, Artadia. Show opens the 3rd, continues every weekend through the 25th. BWAC, 481 Van Brunt, 1 - 6 pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4Dance on the Greenway festival, 4th Annual! at the IKEA Erie Basin Park. Showtimes are at 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 676th Precinct Community Council meeting. This is a monthly meeting where anyone can come and meet the precinct commander and listen to crime statistics. 76th Precinct, 199 Union Street, 7 pm.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and The Red Hook Film Festival present Hurricane2, a program about surviving natural disaster. Two films: Pepper and the Salt Sea and Stood for the Storm will be shown. BWAC Gallery, 499 Van Brunt Street, 3 pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11Second Sundays at Pioneer Works. A monthly series of open studios, live music, and site-specific intervention. The series showcases artists in residence along with musical performances and DJs, curated by Ol-ivier Conan. 159 Pioneer Street, 4 - 10 pm

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13Red Hook West Tenant Meeting. Tenants get to find out about issues im-portant to the community, as well as learning of new services available to NYCHA residents. A member of PSA 1 is usually present as well. Stay to the end for a hot meal. 428 Columbia Street, 1C. 6:30 pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16And When the Night Turned Black, film by Risha Gorig. Screened at Ja-lopy Theater, 315 Columbia Street 8 pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17Larry Kirwan, of Black 47 and Celtic Crush will bring his songs and sto-ries to Rocky Sullivans, 34 Van Dyke Street, 9 pm

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21This month’s Red Hook Civic Association meeting will be held one week early in October. Come listen and discuss important neighborhood events and situations. Patrick Daly School, PS 15, 7 pmRed Hook East Tenants Meeting. Learn important information for residents of Red Hook East. 167 Bush Street, 1B 6:30 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24Added Value Farms invites you to the 12th annual Red Hook Harvest Fes-tival! * Farm-fresh food * Music * Pumpkins * Goats * and more! At the Red Hook Community Farm, 580 Columbia Street 11 am - 4 pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29Ya’all ready? Start thinking of your costume, pull your chicken wire and cardboard together and grab your team to build your float! The Barnacle Parade is happening again on Thursday October 29th at 4 pm. Block party to follow!

FREE Neighborhood ServicesFrank McCrea from the NYC Department of Aging is at the Miccio Center every Monday from 10 - 2 pm. He will help you solve any problem you may have dealing with any NYC agency, such as child welfare, support groups, benefits, etc.

Free CPR Training Class at the Red Hook Public Library Help Save A Life, Learn CPR. Join us Tuesday July 14th at 6:30pm for a Free non certifying CPR Training hosted by the FDNY. Learn compression CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator. Includes hands on participation and giveaways!

Sandy Recovery Worforce1. Services for NYCHA residents include career counseling, resume editing, interview advice, job recruitment events with Build It Back contractors, Vouchers for pre-apprenticeship, construction skills and other job training programs. 1906 Mermaid Ave, 2nd Fl; Brooklyn, 11224 Tel: (646) 927-6093 Hours: 9am to 5pm. Lots more information at http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/wf1/html/sandy_recovery/home.shtml. Karen Blondel who lives in the Red Hook Houses is always available for additional guidance. Her number is 718 809-2070

Free use of computers at the Justice Center. Not everyone has access to a desktop computer, and yet many job and educational opportunities re-quire one. So the Justice Center offers its comput-ers to the community for free, every Wednesday from 10 am - 1 pm, room 101. The Justice Center is on Visitation Place between Richards and Van Brunt. For more information call Sabrina Carter 718 923-8261

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations - Certificate courses in TV/Film production, woodworking and cabinet making, cable installation as well as driving lessons are available. For information stop by 621 Degraw Street (near 4th Avenue) or call 718 237-2017. www.bwiny.org

OpportunityNYCHA - the REES program administers the “Section 3” program. This is a HUD mandate that requires employment and other economic opportunities coming from the Federal Government to be directed towards public housing residents. NYC has a similar program requiring that 15% of the labor amount of NYCHA contracts greater than $500,000 to go NYCHA residents. Eligibility requirements, according to Karen Blondell, are that you must either be 1 - on the lease, 2 - economically disadvantaged (receiving SNAP benefits), or 3 -live withing 10 blocks of a NYCHA development. To register call the REES

Hotline at (718) 289-8100. Examples of opportunities include web development, home health aide training, NYPD tutorial, NRTA Construction Training. REES conducts information sessions at the Brooklyn office every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30am. Address: 787 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238.

Red Hook Cares (Counseling and Restorative Services). Including advocacy, case management and referrals for victims of crime. Accompaniment to partner agencies and criminal justice appointments. Located at the Community Justice Center, 88 Visitation Place. To make a referrall call Laura Volz, 347 404-9910 or email [email protected]

Stronger Together services are free and prioritize Red Hook and other local NYCHA development residents. Their services include Adult Education, Job Readiness, Community Services, which include benefits counseling, legal advice, financial coaching and tax preparations. The services are free because the Red Hook Initiative, Fifth Avenue Committee, SBIDC and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations have been paid by the NY City Council to provide these services. So take advantage of them! For information call 718 858-6782 or go the the Red Hook Initiative at 767 Hicks Street (at W 9th).

The Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills provides training and employment in the unionized construction industry. CSKILLS has placed more than 1600 New Yorkers into union apprentice programs over the past 15 years. To be considered you must be 18 years or older, be a legal citizen, HS or GED, 9th grade reading and math scores and available to attend training 5 days a week 7 hours a day. Their website is www.constructionskills.org. It looks like the best way to navigate that website is to check under apprenticeship training and choose a union program, and also to go to useful links, where you can find a whole host of other opportunities, including Helmets to Hardhats - a workforce program for veterans.

The Child Place for Children with Special Needs holds a Read and Play afternoon in the Red Hook library every Monday at 1 - 2:00 pm. Kids 5 and under. Parent or guardians must accompany children, who will be able to meet, make friends and play! Red Hook Library, 7 Wolcott Street

If you have a listing that you feel appropriate for this page, email [email protected]. There is no charge, as this is a free service as well!


The Red Hook StarªRevue

481 Van Brunt Street, 8A, Brooklyn, NY 11231

FOR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING OR EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIES, email: [email protected], or call 718 624-5568

The Star-Revue is published by Kimberly G. Price & George Fiala

Halley Bondy, Nathan Weiser, Mary Ann Pietanza, Marc Jackson and Connor Gaudet, contributors

Editors Note: Rebuilding NY is a non-profit organization based in Wash-ington DC, that maintains their NYC office on the former site of the Max Pol-lack insurance agency, who left after Sandy. The following was taken from their website. While we think it’s great that they have chosen to do this work in our area, it’s also interesting to see their description of the neighborhood.

On Thursday, October 15th, Rebuild-ing Together NYC will partner with the Red Hook Community Justice Center, Carroll Gardens Association, and Wil-liam Morris Endeavor on a large-scale community revitalization project to improve a section of our shared neigh-borhood in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Red Hook section of Brooklyn is a physically isolated community, sur-rounded on three sides by water, and cut-off from the rest of Brooklyn by an elevated expressway. While the neighborhood has seen substantial economic development over the past decade, its high concentration of low-income housing developments trans-lates into pockets of economically depressed areas. The poverty rate in

Shoppers at the Gowanus Path-mark were distressed a few months ago when word of the

bankruptcy of parent company A & P was announced. At the time of the announcement, it was reported that some of the Brooklyn stores had been sold to chains such as Stop and Shop. However, there was no information given about our local store, located next to Lowes right by Hamilton Av-enue and the Gowanus Canal.

It turns out that the sale of the stores was handled in tiers. The top perform-ing stores were put in a first tier, and they went quickly. Gowanus Path-mark was not put in the first tier. In-stead, A & P decided to put up all the

Pathmark Updateby George Fiala

rest of their markets up for a sealed bid auction, taking place October 1 and 2. In total there are 128 stores to be auctioned.

Pathmark workers are unionized, and they are hoping that whoever takes over the location will also be a union shop. Pathmark workers are hoping that an operator such as Shop Rite submits a winning bid. The workers received a warn notice last month, letting them know that the last day of work for A & P would be Novem-ber 16th. Since that is right before the busy holiday season, they believe that was set up so a new supermarket would take over by then.

Red Hook is 33%, far higher than the citywide rate of 19%. Most recently, in August five young people between the ages of 19-22 were shot while sitting outside one of the Red Hook Gardens homes where they resided.

Crime, quality of life, and community cohesion in Red Hook are impacted by the disrepair of the built environ-ment. To this end, the community is joining together to improve one of the neighborhood’s blighted areas. The revitalization project will largely take place in the alleyway that extends from Richards Street, between Pio-neer Street and Visitation Place.

The partnering agencies and volun-teers from our sponsor William Mor-ris Endeavor will install solar pow-ered lights along the alley, clear the dumping and debris, paint over graf-fiti, facilitate gardening and public art projects with residents to beautify the space, and ultimately bring residents from the Visitation Street and Pioneer Street sides of the alley together to build community. Together, we can make a difference.

Red Hook blight?


[email protected].

RELIGIOUS NEWSBY LAURA ENG

(continued on page 15)

Local parishioners attend various Papal events

With the city abuzz with excitement over Pope Francis’ long anticipated visit to NYC on September 24 -25,

a number of locals were fortunate enough to participate in the various planned events.

Upon his arrival at JFK Airport, the Pope was greeted by a group of Catholic school chil-dren. SHSS parishioner, 5 year old Maria Te-resa Heyer, while lifted in her father’s arms had a kiss planted atop her head by the Holy Father.

Kimberly G. Price, Senior Editor of the Star-Revue, and I were thrilled to watch as the Pope disembarked the plane at JFK, met with digni-taries and waved to us as he boarded a heli-copter to transport him to Manhattan.

On Th ursday evening, Sr. Susana from Visita-tion Parish attended the prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, along with a visiting Sr. Máire from Ireland who was doubly excited to be in the Pope’s presence and to be at St. Patrick’s.

Monsignor Guy Massie, Pastor of SHSS, attended the Interfaith Prayer Service at the 9/11 Memorial Museum on Friday the 25th. He was most impressed by the Holy Father’s “sign of peace” with all the representatives of other faiths who were present.

Later that day, St. Mary Star of the Sea parishioner, Liz Balsamo and her young grandson, Daniel were among the throngs who lined Central Park waiting for a glimpse of the Pope while he traveled from East Harlem to Madison Square Garden on Friday afternoon; they were not disappointed.

Th e Pope’s fi rst visit to the city culminated with a Mass attended by 20,000 at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on Friday evening. Doris Palenque and Andrea Raimondi, also parish-ioners of St. Mary’s, attended the Mass. Th ey had no idea, while waiting on line, why police moved a barricade aside and they, along with approximately 12 other people, were diverted to an closer entry spot on the line. Because of that, they were able to enter the Garden rela-tively early and garnered seats in the 16th row!

Makes you want to be a better personConsidering that Doris, often assisted by An-drea, tends the altar at St. Mary’s, it was fi tting that they were seated so close to the altar at the

Papal Mass. Doris commented that being in the Holy Father’s presence, “you just think about his ways and want to change your ways, to be a better person.”

Th e highlight for Andrea was when Cardinal Dolan gave what she termed as “the most perfect speech,” telling the Holy Father that at every single Mass said in NYC, Catholics pray for him and “here you are.” Th e entire arena erupted.

For Doris, it was, also after the Cardinal’s address, when a solitary man who had chanted intermittently during the Mass led the Garden in a rousing chant of “Que Viva El Papa” (may the Pope live). Andrea went on to say that “the most human moment” was when Pope Francis asked everyone to pray for him which brought all in the Garden to tears. Th e feeling of peace and beauty is one both Doris and Andrea said they will keep for their entire lifetimes.

Teresa Delgado family of SHSS her children, Michael and Antoinetta, also at-tended the Mass at MSG, as well as Anthony and Colleen Troiano along with their daughters, Lauren and Jacqueline. Michael Delgado, a SHSS sacristan, re-marked that there is a big diff erence in seeing the Pope in person compared to watching him on TV. In person, he has a “very commanding presence.” He also said that “it was a blessing to share the experience with his sister and mother,” who is a particularly faithful woman who attends Mass daily at SHSS.

Anthony Troiano said it was “absolutely amazing” to see the Pope, but most especially moving for him to watch the faces of his children as the Mass took

NEW DATE: SUNDAY,

OCTOBER 4TH DUE TO

WEATHER!

Doris Palenque and Andrea Rai-mondi in front of MSG altar

The pope at JFK (Price photo)


win that fight (“IKEA is a bird in the hand,” he was told by City Hall), but he did fall in love with the neighbor-hood and moved there permanently in 2007.

“I’m Greek on my mom’s side, so I take it as a given that everyone lives on the sea,” he said. “My first visit to Red Hook was the first time I’d felt that sensibility in New York. I’d lived in lower Manhattan for a long time near the water, but it wasn’t the same.”

Washburn also serves as urban strate-gies director for the architecture firm NBBJ, which designed the Red Hook Innovation District project: a mas-sive 12-acre multi-use complex slated for development on the waterfront by Italian company Est4te Four. In this case, the new buildings will be base-ment-less, and will sit three feet high-er than their original levels.

We can’t stop at the odd elevation and recovery measure, however. City Hall is aware that it needs build a more resilient, comprehensively protected neighborhood in the face of climate change. Otherwise, Red Hook risks social, financial, structural destruc-tion every time a flood hits. A super-storm like Sandy may not be immi-nent, but the sea levels are rising each year. By the 2050s, some areas in New York should expect daily or weekly flooding.

“We are in the age of rising seas, and there has been no improvement at all yet,” Washburn said.

In 2013, the Bloomberg administra-

tion unveiled the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR) plan, a series of post-Sandy recom-mendations for flood-prone areas. In Red Hook, the recommendations include raised bulkheads along three miles of the waterfront, drainage im-provements, and high-deductible insurance options from FEMA. The city is accepting proposals for con-struction and hopes to break ground in 2017. Red Hook was promised $200

million for the flood protection sys-tem.

Meanwhile, Washburn has been championing a protective perimeter around Red Hook, one that is far from shores and doesn’t impede views. Within these walls and polders, he en-visions developing clean recreational water bodies over time. He recom-mends that buildings take notes from the 19th Century warehouses in Red Hook, which stand strong in the face of surges, and yet, they’re beautiful.

For the short term, Washburn started talks with the chemical juggernaut BASF in the hopes of developing sensor fabric technology. This fabric could act as a temporary perimeter and would buy Red Hook a few hours of surge protection while also moni-toring the storm’s performance.

He’s also busy researching. Wash-burn’s coastal resilience program at Stevens Institute of Technology, CRUX, is getting scientific minds around the world invested in flood-ing problems that affect their cities. He even developed a technology - through NBBJ - that allows laymen to see a storm surge’s effect on their community in real time.

Through it all, he keeps Red Hook in mind.

“Red Hook is not alone. There are a billion people around the world with-in one meter above sea level,” he said. “I’ve got students in Singapore who think they’re working on Singapore

Resiliency expert Washburn experienced Sandy first-hand(continued from page 1)

Washburn at Brooklyn Borough Hall after testifying at the recent ferry hearings. He cycles to most of his destinations. (photo by George Fiala)

problems, but they’re also working on Red Hook.”

In the end, he argues, change boils down to the residents.

“I think the Red Hook community has been very patient, which is a good thing,” he said. “But I think Red Hook has to be insistent. Because we can protect Red Hook and keep it beau-tiful. We can do it in a way that’s cost effective for the government but also improves our quality of life right here. We need to build a trust between the people who fear flooding, and the people whose job it is to propose a so-lution.”

The Gowanus Canal has been under an EPA Superfund cleanup process for the past four years. It began with a plan that underwent a commu-nity process, and the final Record Of Decision, issued on September 30, 2013, detailed a plan that involves dredging and capping of the bottom of the canal. The goal of this process is to ensure a clean canal, suitable for recreational activities as well as safe fishing. It is expected that this will contribute to a rejuvenation of the Gowanus area, with tremendous eco-nomic benefits.

An important part of the process is prevention of re-contamination. The cost of the cleanup is borne not by the Federal Government. The design and execution of the remedy is paid for by who are called the “responsible parties” - those entities who are de-termined to have caused the pollu-tion in the first place. The two largest responsible parties are National Grid (the successor company to Brooklyn Union Gas), and New York City.

In their public comments, National Grid emphasized the importance to them of ensuring the recontamina-

tion would not re-occur, otherwise it would essentially be a waste of mon-ey. In addition to toxins left in the canal from years of industrial waste, there is a huge quantity of human waste, caused by sewer overflows. For years, and still today, large rainstorms cause the sewers to become overload-ed, and so raw sewage is pumped into the canal. The solution, which NYC must pay for, is to build and maintain huge containers to pump the sewage into for the duration of the storm. The idea is that when the weather returns to normal, the sewage is put back into the system, and is then able to be sent as normal to the sewage treatment plant.

Retention tanksThere is controversy about the place-ment of one of the tanks. The EPA has identified the Thomas Greene park, also called Double D, as it sits be-tween Degraw and Douglass Streets between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, as a logical place to locate the tanks. A big reason for this thinking is that it has been determined that the ground un-der the swimming pool located in the park has the same contaminants as the canal, and would have to be dug up anyway, to ensure a safe park. In essence, the EPA’s thinking is to kill two birds with one stone.

It turns out that the city would pre-fer to use eminent domain to evict a number of businesses on a block that

sits between the canal and the pool. At this point, the EPA and the city are in negotiations about this.

In the meantime, local residents in-cluding a group called “Friends of Thomas Greene Park,” as well as the Fifth Avenue Committee, are advocat-ing for residents who fear a perma-nent loss of the swimming pool. These groups both have representatives on the Gowanus CAG, a group filled with community groups and concerned citizens responsible for communica-tion between the community and the EPA, as well as the EPA and the com-munity.

These two organizations went to con-gresswoman Nydia Velazquez and requested a meeting at EPA head-quarters in Manhattan to let everyone know about their concerns. A meeting was held last month that included all the local elected officials, Community Board 6, and some residents of the nearby public housing that would be affected by any loss of park.

The meeting went well, issues and concerns were aired, and the EPA assured everyone that any plan that would involve the closing of the pool would also include a temporary pool nearby, at locations they knew exist-ed.

However, word got out about this meeting to other CAG members, who felt it improper to invite only some

CAG members and not others. Email exchanges went back and forth, and so just about the entire regular Sep-tember meeting resembled a group therapy session with everyone ex-pressing their views on the whole process, in some cases going back through the whole history of the CAG.

Natalie Loney, EPA Community In-volvement Coordinator, who attends every CAG meeting, told the CAG that as actual work begins on the ca-nal that everyone will be able to see, the CAG’s role will become even more important. She said that more than ever, the CAG will need to be unified and strong.

Facilitator Douglas Sarno recom-mended that a future meeting should focus on the matter of trust.

Turmoil at the Gowanus CAG

by George Fiala

Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, at the recent CAG meeting. (photo by Fiala)

Washburn’s book was sitting in his window on Van Brunt Street earlier this year.


On September 9th, with the mayor

standing beside her, NYCHA Chair-

woman Shola Olatoye announced

that Wyckoff Gardens, a public housing proj-

ect in Boerum Hill, had been chosen for their

infi ll experiment called NextGen NYCHA.

A private company would build on what is

now open space available to the housing

residents, creating a six hundred unit apart-

ment tower on NYCHA property. Half the

apartments would be rented at market rate,

with the other half “aff ordable.” NYCHA will

receive money by leasing the land, some of

which will go into NYCHA’s capital budget.

What follows is a conversation with tenant ac-

tivist Beverly Corbin, a resident of Wyckoff

Gardens. She is a Resident Watch Supervisor, a

member of the Gowanus Canal Community Ad-

visory Group, and a member of Families United

for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE).

We met as Beverly was performing her watch

duties in a small offi ce in the lobby of 130

Th ird Avenue.Star-Revue (RHSR) - How did this all begin, as far as the tenants are concerned.

Beverly Corbin (BC) We didn’t know about it. We found out about it by accident. NYCHA had a meet-ing with Community Voices Heard (CVH) and they were talking about it in the NYCHA Next Genera-tion. Th ey were supposed to have been here months ago, but they never came and did their meeting, their outreach. So somebody from CVH went to a meeting where NYCHA was talking about this thing at Wyckoff and Holmes houses. Th ey called our di-rector and asked whether we knew anything about NYCHA doing robocalling, talking to people about NYCHA NexGeneration, and she said no. So she called me and asked me did I get a robocall. I didn’t, and I thought it was funny that I didn’t get one.

(RHSR) Did the robocalls go out before the an-nouncement or after?

(BC) After.

(RHSR) Do you think Charlene Nimmons (Tenant Association President) knew about this beforehand?

(BC) According to what I hear, no. Nobody knew about it except for this little enclosed meeting that they had, and they had talked to Steve Levin about it just that same day. Th ey weren’t going to have any meetings about it or talking to the public until Octo-ber 5th, but Steve said that de Blasio called him and told him about it.

(RHSR) How do you know that?

(BC) Steve told me.

(RHSR) Did he say what he thought about it?

(BC) Steve is a very good City Councilman. He is re-ally engaged with the people of Wyckoff and Gowa-nus. He said that whatever we wanted, that’s where he would lie.

(RHSR) I called NYCHA and asked whether there is an RFP to look at. I was told that once there is com-munity engagement, then the RFP’s would go out.

(BC)Th at’s what they told us as well. Th ey told us

they don’t have an RFP, they don’t have a contrac-tor - they really don’t know anything, and they are waiting to hear how the residents felt about it.

(RHSR) Well, right now there is a situation in Cobble Hill where a developer was given the right to build on the former Long Island College Hospital grounds. Th ey told Cobble Hill that they were going to build towers, take it or leave it. Some people think that this plan was all set in stone way before the battle to save the hospital, and now it’s just playing out according to some pre-determined deal. So how can NYCHA have these big ideas without having any idea about how they will go about doing it.

(BC) Th at’s the big question. Th at’s what everybody

wants to know. But they are not going to say that - they are not going to tell us that.

(RHSR) Whenever I ask NYCHA about maintenance problems in their properties, I am told that the prob-lem stems from a steady erosion of federal subsidies.

(BC)Yes, that’s the argument. Funding has dropped over the years. But, the city has not put in any more money, nor has the state. And you see the fast one that Governor Cuomo pulled. When he released money to NYCHA that the feds provided, he said that he would match it. But after he matched it, he said he doesn’t want it to go to repairs for roofs, he doesn’t want it to go for windows - all important structural repairs. He wants it to go to new stoves and refrigerators. But if your roof is caving in on top of you - what do you need a new stove and refrigera-tor for?

(RHSR) I was told that Cuomo did that to help the lo-cal politicians look good to NYCHA residents. What do you think can be done to get the correct repairs?

(BC) Residents that live in NYC Housing have to start showing their power. Do you know how many votes there are in Red Hook? Do you know how many in Wyckoff . Th ey have to start showing their electorial power. We can make or break an elec-tion, but we don’t vote. Th is is ridiculous. Residents need to step up their game. I have met with Carlos Menchaca regarding Participatory Budgeting and that is a good step. Let’s just not put this on every-body else - residents need to step up their game. Th ey need to start showing their power and their strengths. City Council and public housing meet-ings should be standing room only.

Th at’s one of the strong things about FUREE. Whose better to describe what’s going on in their neighbor-hood but people that live it.

(RHSR) How many members does FUREE have?

(BC)Give or take, about 300.

(RHSR) From just here?

(BC)In the NYC area. We also do work in these three developments, also Farragut and Ingersoll in the Fort Greene area, plus some from the general public.

Th e conversation drifted to talk about the tenant as-sociations, and how outsiders often go to the ten-

Wyckoff Gardens resident Beverly Corbin speaks about NYCHA’s NextGen experiment

ants associations and their presidents to get what they believe is the support of public housing resi-dents, when in fact many resident associations have low memberships. Charlene Nimmons is the TA head for Wyckoff Gardens, and she was a big sup-porter of Forest City Ratner, who built the Barclay Center. Th is brought the conversation back around.

(BC) I knew that when they built that Barclay Cen-ter, they were coming for us next. Right here where we are sitting at.

(RHSR) Back to NexGeneration - they say there is no RFP or any specifi c plan.

(BC) First it was going to be in the parking lots - the two back parking lots. Th en they changed it, now it will be on Th ird Avenue and Nevins Street.

(RHSR) I guess in addition to not telling you, they haven’t told the Superfund people, who think that these areas are likely areas for a temporary swim-ming pool if they have to dig up Th omas Greene Park.

(BC) Th at’s another thing, by the way. If they put new buildings here, that going to cause more problems with the drainage and the runoff . Th ere’s a prob-lem already with Warren Street with runoff . Th ere’s two apartments now that fl ood out all the time with waste and sewage. It’s going to be a mess. Th en you have to wonder whether the schools in the area are prepared. Th at’s going to be another problem, with all these new tenants. Th ere are supposed to be 300 aff ordable and 300 market rate apartments. Are the schools going to be able to handle these families?

Th e next thing is, when they start digging this ground up what are they going to dig up? What are we, as residents here, going to be breathing? How many rodent nests are they going to disturb, like when they built that building on Bergen Street. It’s going to aff ect health - the mental health, the physi-cal health, and the emotional health of the resi-dents of Wyckoff Gardens, and the residents of the surrounding area.

People that live in the area now can’t aff ord to stay here. I’m talking about those that don’t live in pub-lic housing - they can’t aff ord to stay here. Every-body’s greedy now for all that money they think they’re going to make. Th e people that move here, most of them don’t stay.

“We can make or break an

election, but we don’t vote.

This is ridiculous. Residents

need to step up their game.”

(continued on next page)

Community activist Beverly Corbin.


(RHSR) What do you mean? People in public hous-ing?

(BC)No, private housing. They move in the first of the month, by the end of the month they’re gone.

(RHSR) Because it’s too expensive?

(BC)Too expensive, yes. The turnover is very high over here. And a lot of these buildings are not filled.

(RHSR) You mean the ones on Fourth Avenue?

(BC) Fourth Avenue, and also the one on Bergen Street...

(RHSR) How do you know that?

(BC)Because you can look at the windows. There’s nobody in there.

(RHSR) Yet they keep building more buildings.

(BC) That’s my question to NYCHA. If people aren’t moving in to those buildings, what makes your building so special that people will want to move into it, at market rate. It’s too expensive. Even with two parent’s working, an average person does not make the money to live here.

We then joked around imagining a scenario where the market rate apartments can’t be sold, and so they would have to become luxury apartments for

NYCHA residents. Beverly said that the agreement is that no matter whether the apartments are rent-ed or not, the developer still will have to turn over money to NYCHA.

(BC) The concept is good. Because they are say-ing that they are going to rent these apartments or whatever, and a percentage of it will come back just to Wyckoff Gardens. So that’s good in concept. But if you build a building that nobody moves in? And then there are all those other concerns. Where are the kids going to play?

(RHSR) What do you think NYCHA means when they speak of resident engagement.

(BC) They want to pretend that they are going to al-low us to take part in this decision - that the resi-dents are going to be in charge of it. Let’s see how that works out. Knowing NYCHA though, they are going to do what they want to do - they are going to make it seem as though the residents engage - that’s how I feel. If they really follow resident engagement, I hope that they sit down and listen to the residents.

NYCHA residents will have to come out in force, and they will have to be vocal - to really stand up for what they want.

(RHSR) So when is the first meeting?

(BC) October 5th is going to be the first public meet-ing with NYCHA. It will be at the Wyckoff Gardens Community Center (272 Wyckoff Street, 6-8 pm).

(RHSR) What’s the general feeling of residents about the plan?

(BC) A lot of people are against it. They don’t feel comfortable with it. We weren’t let it on it early enough. They just made a bunch of robo-calls, many of them didn’t work or were in the wrong language - that wasn’t enough to lay the groundwork for this project. And then when they held those meetings in the hallways, they should have had answers to our questions. People thought it was a real meeting and

Existing open space at Wyckoff Gardens.

took time off from work and whatever to go to the meetings. And their questions weren’t answered. They just came out to tell people to tell people about a meeting they were going to have. That left a bad taste.

(RHSR) Has Steve Levin been here?

(BC) Yes, he’s been here twice. So has Senator Montgomery. They have both been very supportive.

(RHSR) What do you think about the plan?

(BC) I myself am on the fence. There could be some-thing good, or it could be something bad.

NYCHA will be meeting with Wyckoff Garden tenants on October 5th, to hear what they think about NextGen.

(continued from previous page)


Pumpkin Smash!Bring Pumpkins, Jack-o-Lanterns and Gourds for a Smashing Good Time!

You smash them – and the NYC Compost Project will turn them into compost for City parks and green spaces.

JOIN US FOR REFRESHMENTS, RAFFLES AND MORE!

Saturday, November 7, 10:00am–12:00pm – Rain or Shine!

RED HOOK COMMUNITY FARM103 Otsego Street (across from Ikea) • Brooklyn, NY

The NYC Compost Project works to rebuild NYC’s soil, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Find out more at nyc.gov/compostproject.

EDC still accepting proposals for Atlantic Basinby George Fiala

In the middle of all the commo-tion about EDC’s plan to forego Atlantic Basin for a planned commuter ferry in favor of Val-

entino Pier or the Beard Street Ware-house pier (see story page 11), we were alerted by Est4te Four that they submitted a proposal for the Atlantic Basin earlier this year.

Entitled “REHOP - Red Hook Piers,” the plans were prepared by RAFT Ar-chitects and submitted to EDC in Feb-ruary 2105.

According to Est4te Four spokesman Massimileo Senise, “the presentation was made based on the guidelines re-ceived by EDC that they want to see the uses of education, maritime and light manufacturing as prominent.”

As readers may know, the Durst Orga-nization and Tom Fox has been sub-mitting plans for the use of Atlantic Basin for at least ten years, most re-cently last January. It’s possible that in addition to these two proposals, other developers have submitted proposals as well.

Both the Est4te Four proposal and that of the Durst Organization accom-modate ferry terminals.

The Est4te summary of their plan fol-lows:

EST4TE FOUR is committed to the creation of richly textured, livable communities. It invests – always – in long-term viability. We are currently engaged in several projects in the Red Hook neighborhood, including

the residential conversion of the New York Dock Co. building at 160 Im-lay Street; the restoration and adap-tive re-use of 202 Coffey Street into a mixed use performance, food service and manufacture/showcase venue; and the creation of an Innovation Campus whose real estate EST4TE FOUR already owns and is beginning to develop, complete with public es-planades and accessible open space.

With the addition of Piers 11 and 12 and a re-branding of a significant New York City Waterfront, ReHoP will pro-vide a rich mix of uses – commercial, hospitality, residential, parking, retail, manufacturing, educational and pub-lic open space – that we know as New Yorkers are critical to the long-term viability of a neighborhood.

The incorporation of advanced strate-gies that protect Red Hook from surge; the doubling of the neighborhood’s accessible open space; and realizing a stretch of the Brooklyn Greenway, Re-HoP will continue to lead New York in green design, the promotion of livable cities, and natural disaster manage-ment.

In short, the City and ReHoP share development strategies for Red Hook. EST4TEFOUR is committed to be-ing a partner with the public sector through catalyzing new neighbor-hood investments that respect, cele-brate and channel the area’s rich past while delivering a 21st Century set of uses that supports New York City’s fu-ture viability.

Two views of Est4te Four’s plans for the Atlantic Basin. (courtesy Est4te Four)

Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and The Red Hook Film Festival

Present

HURRICANE210 Years Since Katrina, 3 Years Since SandyA program about surviving natural disaster

STOOD FOR THE STORM

PEPPER AND THE SALT SEA Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 @ 3PM

BWAC Gallery 499 Van Brunt St., Brooklyn, NY

&


Added Value Farms invites you to the 12th annual

RED HOOK HARVEST FESTIVAL!

Saturday, October 24

11am-4pm

* Farm-fresh food * Music * Pumpkins * Goats * and more!

At the

RED HOOK COMMUNITY FARM

580 Columbia Street (Between Sigourney & Halleck Streets)

For more info:

www.added-value.org/harvestfest2015

Work promised soon on new Senior Center

by George Fiala

NYCHA’s Coffey Street Senior Center was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and deemed unfixable. Former Red Hook City Councilwoman Sara Gonza-lez promised a new one and designat-ed about $2 million for it. It has been promised for the PAL Miccio Center, formerly home of a Headstart Program.

Last December, the seniors, who have been using the Miccio Center, 110 East 9th Street, as a temporary home, were shown plans for the new center, and it was promised to be ready Christmas.

Up until now there has been no work taking place, and the seniors have been wondering about the delay. For the past few months, Councilmember Car-los Menchaca has been instrumental in regular meetings with NYCHA and the seniors to keep everyone abreast of the situation.

NYCHA revealed that they have been having problems to find a contractor to do the work. The low bid on a recent RFP came in over $4 million.

NYCHA’s Vice President for Disaster Recovery Michael Rosen came to the Miccio on September 24 with some good news.

Using a combination of City Council

and FEMA monies, NYCHA has been able to utilize an existing contractor to make the renovations for a bit of $3 million.

Rosen said that work would probably start sometime in October, and take from six to eight months to complete.

This means that seniors can expect to move from their temporary home sometime next summer.

Questions raised at the meeting in-cluded handicap egress, utilization of the park behind the center, and park-ing. It was explained that the backyard and parking was not part of the plan, but Councilmember Menchaca said that these could be subjects of a Par-ticipatory Budgeting project.

Street ChangesCommunity Board 6 approved a

couple of one way street changes at a recent Transportation

Committee meeting.In order to facilitate present and fu-

ture traffic flow, Commerce Street, from Imlay to Van Brunt, which is currently two-way, will become a

one way street heading east.Verona Street, between Imlay and Van Brunt, which is currently one-

way heading west, will become one-way heading east.

The proposal was passed unani-mously at the meeting, which took

place at Visitation Church.

Michael Rosen speaking to the seniors at the Miccio Center. (Fiala photo)


Mark’s Corner BY MARK SHAMES

Once again the City Council Members’ participatory bud-geting season is has arrived,

and once again I turn to a discussion of local community participation in government decisions.

Th ere are more council participants in participatory budgeting than ever be-fore. Our members are beginning to amass volunteers and solicit sugges-tions for small capital projects to en-hance our neighborhoods. While our community board has always done a fi rst rate job of interacting with neigh-bors in identifying our needs, both great and small, it is the council that has money available to directly apply to projects.

If the projects are right sized and fea-sible, the community gets to vote on those that we believe will best benefi t us. We usually get useful upgrades to our schools, parks, safety and trans-portation. We not only get to play a real part in the process, better yet we get to determine its outcome. It is em-powering. Th e politicians get to tap the energy of their constituents and marshal the community’s support. Everyone benefi ts.

Even projects that aren’t funded in the current year get an airing and may get funding from an alternative source (i.e. the 7th Avenue station turnstile upgrades), or have an opportunity for approval the following year. Like chicken soup and a cold, it may not cure political apathy, but it can’t hurt.

Contrast that process with the alter-native that most often occurs on is-sues that impact our district, but are critical to the City as a whole. Here, we have a history of activists and politicians encouraging false hopes. Th ey pretend that an exclusively lo-cally driven and determined process like that for participatory budgeting will carry the day. False expectations ignite resentment. After the media fans the fl ames, we are all destined to be disappointed, and cynicism again reigns supreme. I see it all around me. I see it all the time.

Instead of headlines that scream NO and are followed by those of seeming-ly endless, costly, and almost invari-ably fruitless court actions, when will we see positive headlines about proj-ects that benefi t the city and are miti-gated in the neighborhood to include aff ordable housing, green elements, commercial protections and ameni-ties? Not anytime soon I fear.

Th is is a tough city, and we all feel put upon by signifi cant changes. Th e privileged can marshal more resourc-

es, and they are the most vocal in expressing their outrage. But every-one dreads additional burdens that the changes from development will bring. Grassroots opposition to proj-ects often obstructs and delays, while inevitably increasing the cost of de-velopment without yielding satisfac-tory results. Th e sense of impotence and disillusionment is magnifi ed on all sides.

Local views of acceptable change frequently confl ict with projects planned with the benefi t of the city as a whole. Th is is true whether the dis-cussion is in Chinatown, Cobble Hill, or Brooklyn Heights. A local NYCHA project will soon become the subject of an organized and vocal opposition. Fears of displacement may spread, causing resistance, the only means of gaining suffi cient funding to rehabili-tate deteriorating buildings.

Th ere is, however, an alternative. Brad Lander, Councilman for Dis-trict 39 - and one of the initiators of the participatory budgeting process in the city - has stuck his neck out to off er such an alternative approach. When he chooses a diff erent tem-plate to promote community input into major rezonings, it is obviously not an arbitrary choice.

Bridging Gowanus planAs much as he might want to, Lander does not singularly control citywide policy. He has devoted a great deal of time, applied years of intellectual and practical knowledge and expended a great deal of political capital to de-velop a “Bridging Gowanus” process that will not be brushed aside as mere NIMBYism. Taking into account, if not totally satisfying, concerns of all of the various constituencies, he has taken great pains to be inclusive.

Th ere are some who feel constrained by such a process and deem it inau-thentic. Th e constraints exist outside the process, and by recognizing those constraints it is far more authentic and productive than a community wide gripe session.

Our neighborhoods are changing. Th ey are becoming less aff ordable every day. Doing nothing about it doesn’t work. We cannot get the housing we need or required infu-sions of funds for infrastructure in the existing “no new taxes” environ-ment if we blocking large-scale de-velopment.

Lander’s offi ce has compiled a great deal of data and reproduced all of the comments as a result of the Bridging Gowanus exercises. Th ey are online,

as promised.

It is no accident that this is moving along in seeming coordination with the fi nal determinations of cleanup and storm water retention tank place-ment at, or near, the former Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant. A great deal more will become clear with respect to the disposition of properties in that footprint when this process is com-pleted.

In my article appearing in the August issue of the Star-Revue, I indicated that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - having ultimate juris-The importance of participation

diction - was saying that the cleanup would center on the Douglas/Degraw pool; the storm water retention tank would be placed there.

A recent EPA meeting, held with pub-lic offi cials and interested parties, confi rms that conclusion. Happily for the neighborhood, it was also in-dicated that there is likely to be a re-placement facility created during the deconstruction and reconstruction period.

Th e time to engage in detailed dis-cussions with the Department of City Planning is drawing near.

Publicity helped!On behalf of Cobble Hill Health Cen-ter and all our residents, thank you for publicizing our Adopt-a-Grandparent street carnival last Sunday. Over 300 Brooklyn neighbors attended and 100 people signed up for the Adopt-a-Grandparent program. Meeting com-munity members and watching the children enjoy the rides and other at-tractions brought the residents great joy. Th e families who attended taught their children an important lesson about giving back to some of our com-munity’s most valuable members.

Your publicity helped drive atten-dance and make our event a success. Th anks again - Andrea.

Scott Pfaffman fanGreat piece on an interesting neigh-borhood and one of its obviously very special residents. - Sally

LETTERS:

BRIEFS: Bridge closingTh e NYC Department of Transporta-tion (DOT) will partially the 9th Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal dur-ing the week of October 5. Single lane closures will be implemented for “preventative maintenence,” accord-ing to a bulletin from DOT.

Th e eastbound lane will be closed Monday, October 5 through Th urs-day, October 8 from 10 am-3 pm. Westbound closure will only be in ef-fect on Tuesday, October 6.

Fopr more information, contact Anne Koenig of DOT’s Offi ce of Community Aff airs at (212) 839-6307 or [email protected].

Different ferry newsOn September 27, the Councilman Brad Lander, NYC Economic De-velopment Corporation (EDC) and the Trust for Governor’s Island an-nounced half-hourly services for Pier 6 and Governor’s Island during peak season on “the attraction’s most visit-ed days,” according to a press release.

Th e additional ferry service will dou-ble the number of ferries between Brooklyn and Governor’s Island. Th e Trust for GI has secured funding for the second ferry, and the service will be off ered via a $62,000 increase in the 2016 city budget.

“In recent years more and more peo-ple, excited about the new opportu-nities happening on the island, have been lining up at Pier 6 to make the

trip,” Lander said. “As Governor’s Is-land becomes a destination not just for summer weekends, but for school, commercial activity, little league practice, artist space and more, we’ve got to keep pushing for expanded ser-vice.”

“Ferry service is a vital piece of our City’s transit infrastructure, and in-creasing access to the waterfront is one of our key priorities,” said EDC Chief of Staff , James Katz.

While we love paper, there are also a number of ways that we communicate electronically:

1 - Our Email Blast List - sign up for it at www.redhookstar.com

2 - Our online calendar - keep current with local events as we hear about them - at www.redhookstar.com

3 - Our newspaper blog where you can read and share selected articles - at www.star-revue.com

4 - We also have two Facebook pages and a Twitter feed

5 - Send emails to [email protected]

The Star-Revue Online


On August 20th, the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) ap-peared before Community

Board 6 to unveil their plan for a Red Hook location in an expanded com-muter ferry location, due to begin op-erations in 2017. The Red Hook com-munity was surprised by their plan to locate the terminal either off of the Beard Street Warehouse Pier, on pri-vate property at the end of Van Brunt Street, or off of Valentino Pier Park. A resolution was passed encouraging EDC to consider placing the ferry stop at the Atlantic Basin, near the Cruise Terminal. In addition, it was strongly requested that EDC institute a stop at Governors Island, which they had said they were only considering.

On September 29th, a Brooklyn scop-ing meeting was held at Brooklyn Bor-ough Hall to solicit public comments from throughout Brooklyn. In addi-tion to Red Hook, stops are planned for Bay Ridge, the Rockaways and Brooklyn Heights.

A great majority of people who filled the community meeting room came from Red Hook, and just about every-one was there to tell EDC that their proposed stops was not what the com-munity wanted. A court stenographer took down all the testimony, which will become part of the public record, and hopefully considered by the city. It was said that no answers to the comments would be provided during the evening, but would be considered as they prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, due next February. At that time they will consider addi-tional comments and release their fi-nal plan next April.

Anthony Drummond, from the Bor-ough President’s office spoke first. He welcomed the prospect of improved transportation for the borough, espe-cially at the subsidized rates, which would be held at $2.75 - same as buses and subways. He questioned why stops weren’t planned for Bush Terminal, Canarsie and Coney Island. Then he went straight to Red Hook. He made points that were repeated over and over again during the meet-ing. He called the Beard Street pier too secluded, too hard to get to, far away from the bulk of Red Hook’s population, especially those in pub-lic housing, and noted the wind and ice conditions that prevail all winter. “Valentino Pier is not a viable alterna-tive either,” he said.

David Estrada, Carlos Menchaca’s Chief of Staff spoke next. Speaking of Valentino Pier, he said that “too much foot traffic would overwhelm the park.” He called the end of Van Brunt a dead end, a cul de sac. “Weather con-ditions, including cleaning snow, plus access, make that choice problem-atic.” He urged EDC to reconsider us-ing Atlantic Basin, it being a site “well suited for maritime traffic.”

Dan Wiley, speaking for Congress-woman Nydia Velazquez, who was in Washington “trying to keep the gov-

ernment open,” as he said, echoed the remarks of the Borough President. He also wondered why the popular new Bush Terminal Park, at 43rd Street in Sunset Park, wasn’t considered. He mentioned his work with NY Rising, a group formed by the State of NY to consider community resiliency plans in the wake of Sandy. “One of the nine

final plans proposed by the NY Rising Committee was a ferry stop at Atlan-tic Basin, a protected piece of water-front. Answering EDC’s position that Atlantic Basin was precluded because of security concerns regarding the Cruise Terminal, he stated that he had a letter from the Coast Guard disput-ing those claims.

Karen Broughton, who represents As-sistant Speaker Felix Ortiz in the NY State Assembly, said that Ortiz would be submitting a written response to EDC in writing, but in the meantime EDC should really take into the con-sideration the inconveniences posed to NYCHA residents having to walk to the end of Van Brunt. She also won-dered why the community wasn’t consulted before the EDC picked their two chosen locations.

After the responses from the electeds, it was everyone else’s turn. Tim Gil-man-Sevcik, a Red Hook homeowner who suffered extensive damage from Sandy, and a member of NY Rising, said that the community was unani-mous in its displeasure of EDC’s ideas. He said that Atlantic Basin is one block from the bus and two blocks from public housing. He said that EDC’s lo-cations featured ice floes, choppy wa-ter and extreme winds. He called Pio-neer Street a logical central location for the long overdue improvement in transportation for the community. He wondered why no EIS was being done at the Basin. He said that it cost less, as the ferries could dock right by the land, eliminating the need for any gangway or floating barge.

Lou Sones, longtime resident, CB6 member and community leader, was “baffled.” Atlantic Basin is the “perfect solution,” he said, citing ease of ac-cess, especially for the handicapped, the sheltered body of water and the available parking. He then went on to describe the exact opposite of the per-fect solution, and called it the Beard Street pier.

Parks advocate Ron Buchanan re-minded everyone that a ferry stop in Valentino Pier would effectively kill the free kayaking program of the Red Hook Boaters. “Interference from wakes and chemicals would make it unsafe for kayaking,” he said. He won-dered why the environmental impact statement did not include impacts on water use.

Ray Howell, who is now the Executive Director of Portside, announced that groups support for Atlantic Basin. He called it a very underutilized area and said that he “can’t believe that EDC would even consider the other two lo-cations.”

Adam Armstrong, who writes the blog “View from the Hook,” and was in-strumental in the battle to have cruise ships use shore power rather than run diesel engines while in the cruise ter-minal, was disappointed in the whole process. He pointed out another loca-tion that should be considered - the foot of Wolcott Street, adjacent to the Cruise Terminal. “Why couldn’t EDC come to us first?” he asked. “It’s be-fuddling!”

He reminded everyone that in a previ-ous ferry study done in 2010, the end of Van Brunt was considered not vi-able for a ferry, which was the reason then for not adding Red Hook to the ferry system that currently operates in North Brooklyn.

Cheryl Stewart, famous in Red Hook for her “Where is Osama,” count-down sign in front of her Coffey Street home, said that she loved the idea of a ferry. However “in whose fantasy land did you think that it would be OK to destroy Valentino Park,” she said ad-dressing EDC’s second choice.

Other speakers included Florence Neal, Wally Bazemore, Jim Tampakas, Michelle Tampakas, Guy Eddon, Rob-in Goeman and John McGettrick.

McGettrick reminded everyone of the importance of a ferry connecting Red Hook with Governors Island. Gover-nor’s Island is a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Basin, but is only connected by a ferry from Pier 11 in Manhattan. Local residents, including student’s attending the Harbor School, have to take a bus and a subway and then the Manhattan ferry to get to a place that is actually within swimming distance.

Alexandros Washburn, a Van Brunt Street resident and professor at Ste-vens Institute, introduced the term “cross access.” This referred to the cen-tralized location of the Atlantic Basin. “We would be doing the community a great public service” by adding an-other central meeting point for all the diverse populations of Red Hook.

Catherine Despont came, represent-ing PioneerWorks, located just down the street from Atlantic Terminal. She reminded everyone of all the programs they present, many of them attended by people from all over the city. She said that there is still an impression among many that Red Hook is just about impossible to get to. Pioneer-Works has rented their own ferry occa-sionally to bring people from Manhat-tan, and people loved it, she said.

I spoke afterwards to Inna Guzenfeld, an urban historian and professor who specializes in the waterfront. She had made the comment that this program should strive to maximize ridership, and doubted that the proposed loca-

Red Hook gathers at Borough Hall for ferry hearingby George Fiala

tions would do that. I asked whether perhaps EDC has designed this pro-gram to fail. She told me probably not, but if it did fail for whatever reason, it wouldn’t be tried again for many years, if ever.

EDC is taking written comments through October 8th. John Mc-Gettrick, in an email to the com-munity writes:“in the next sev-eral days, please contact: Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Attn: Denise Pisani, Senior Project Manager, 253 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10007 [email protected] forcefully why Atlantic Basin, at the end of Pioneer Street is by far the best site for the Red Hook ferry. It is easier and safer to get to. It unites the whole neigh-borhood, etc. Especially, include your own reasons.

“In whose fantasy land did

you think that it would be OK

to destroy Valentino Park.”

Scenes from the hearing. From top to bot-tom: Adam Armstrong standing before the EDC representatives; Mickey Chirieleison, VFW Commander; EDC representative explaining their ferry ideas; Karen Brough-ton representing Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz. (photos by Fiala)


Ben Schneider (owner,

with his wife Sohui,

of Good Fork) was the

lead last year in Carlo

Vogel’s production of

Up For Anything (UFA) by Marc Spitz.

They sat down at Barry O’Meara’s

(who also appeared in UFA) Bait and

Tackle Bar to discuss Schneider’s new

restaurant and Vogel’s new production

- both slated to open this fall.

Ben Schneider: Hi Carlo.

Carlo Vogel: Hi Ben!

BS: So, you’re producing another play?

CV: Yes. Another one by Marc Spitz. It’s called P.S. It’s Poison. I’m producing but also acting in this one this time. Arthur [Aulisi - the “English” architect in UFA] is directing. But you know all this because you were supposed to be in it. You even read it with us! Out loud. You were funny! Tease.

BS: I really wanted to do it, but I’m opening a new restaurant.

CV: I know. Everyone loved you in UFA and the role in the new one was really right for you. But you have to open your stupid restaurant.

BS: And you couldn’t move your stupid play to accommodate me.

CV: The theatre waits for no one.

BS: Fine dining feeds the soul.

CV: Ok. You got me there. I suppose we can lose you for one show so that we can have a new soul feeder. We got a great guy who lives in Park Slope to play the role. And now that we have the rapt attention of our audience - the new restau-rant will be….

BS: Korean barbeque. It will be called Insa.

CV: Mmm yum. I like KBBQ. Are you going to have all those tiny dishes of stuff that they bring out before the meal?

BS: Yes.

CV: What is all that stuff?

BS: Kimchi and…uh…I have to ask my wife.

CV: Yea, it’s a lot of crazy different stuff. I like it all though.

BS: And then there will be a Tiki-ish bar…

CV: Wait! What? A Tiki bar?

BS: And Karaoke rooms…

CV: Hold the phone. Karaoke is fine, but what’s up with the Tiki bar?! Like bamboo? You’re go-

Speaking Red Hooking to have drinks in skull mugs with smoke coming out of them? Scorpion bowls with paper umbrellas stuck into pineapple? Pupu platters? The whole deal?

BS: No. No. I said “Tiki-ish.” We won’t have smoking skull mugs and I think the pupu platter got nixed.

CV: Well if it isn’t a Tiki bar, then what is it?

BS: Kind of like the cocktail lounge at an old Chi-nese restaurant.

CV: That sounds like a Tiki bar to me.

BS: Less bamboo. More red banquettes. The concept is still being refined. But we will have the classic rum drinks and serve Korean street food.

CV: I may never make it into the restaurant. I certainly won’t do Karaoke. I’m a terrible singer. But I hear the kids like it.

BS: The kids do like it, and so do many adults… especially after a few rum drinks.

CV: True that. You grew up in Manhattan. Did you ever go to the Trader Vic’s when it was in the basement of the Plaza Hotel? Before it closed? Now that was a Tiki bar!

BS: No, I never went there unfortunately. I’ve seen pictures. We’re certainly using it for some inspiration.

CV: I was lucky and made it there a few years before it closed [in 1993]. I got very drunk and shoved a skull mug down my pants so I could steal it.

BS: You didn’t?

CV: I did and as we were leaving the waiter was sort of nodding at my crotch trying to get me to cough it up. But what could he say? “Please take the skull mug out of your pants sir.”

BS: He could have called the cops.

CV: I suppose. But he didn’t, and I still have the mug.

BS: I’m certainly not letting you into my bar now.

CV: Hey if you put that much rum in your drinks,

as a restaurant owner you have to deal with the consequences. But enough about me; let’s talk about my new play. What did you think when you read it?

BS: I thought was very funny. Very, very dark. It definitely is not a slap-happy farce like the last one.

CV: I’d like to hear your summary of the action.

BS: Let’s see. Two old college couples get togeth-er after not seeing each other for a long while. They are all, or were, writers. Or something. Very liberal arts college types. Full of themselves. And it gets very messy.

CV: Yeah, that’s Act I.

BS: And then in Act II their old college professor shows up --

CV: Played by Geoff [Wiley - owner of Jalopy, with his wife Lynette].

BS: -- with his new young girlfriend. They open this mysterious package that the professor has had shipped from some far off land and --

CV: That’s enough! Don’t want to give away too much.

BS: Ok. But it goes down a rabbit hole, and not at all where I expected it to go.

CV: Yup.

BS: I think the Red Hook types will like it.

CV: As do I. Speaking of Red Hook - Insa is not going to be in Red Hook.

BS: No. We needed a big space and access to more suckers -- I mean patrons. So it is in Gowa-nus - 328 Douglass Street.

CV: That area is blowing up.

BS: Yeah. It’s cool though. Lots going on for sure.

CV: Michael [Stokes] tells me that you have a couple of special dishes planned - the street food stuff.

BS: Michael is our Chef d’Cuisine and Sohui is Executive Chef.

CV: You know Michael did the food at my wed-ding?

BS: Yes I did.

CV: He’s a great chef. He is also partially respon-sible for the name of the theater group - he came up with the “Glass Bottom” part of the Red Hook Glass Bottom Dramatical Players name.

BS: Wow. A chef and a wordsmith?

CV: And a blacksmith. So to speak. Or a con-struction guy. He’s helping build your restau-rant. I mean literally build it.

BS: That’s true, and I thank him. So Michael and Sohui put together a lot of great stuff, but the ones so far that have been hits are the Hotbar and the Sundae.

CV: Huh? What is that? Sessert? Are you a Swen-son’s too?

BS: Swenson’s?Carlo Vogel of Glass Bottom Productions


CV: Forget it. West Coast thing.

BS: No. Hotbar is kind of like a corn dog, but fish. Fish on a stick.

CV: Ok. I’d eat that.

BS: And Sundae is blood sausage. Sliced up. Finger food.

CV: That sounds like a tough sell. Good that you are calling it Sundae.

BS: It is really good.

CV: I’m sure. I love that kind of thing. And then the regular BBQ menu?

BS: You order a bunch of raw meat - beef, chick-en, fish, whatever - and you get bowls of vegeta-bles. Then there are these gas grills in the middle of each table --

CV: Sounds like an insurance adjusters night-mare.

BS: It’s fine. Anyway, you get sauces, and you cook the stuff up at your table.

CV: So we pay you for the privilege of cooking our own food?

BS: Well, no. Sort of. The waiter assists you. Basi-cally does it for you. Unless you know what you are doing. It would be a shame to mess up all those great ingredients.

CV: Alright, that’s fair. How did you come up with the name “Insa;” what does it mean?

BS: We needed something that was Korean, but easy for Americans to pronounce. It translates to “greeting.” It’s just a noun.

CV: Weird. But OK.

BS: How do you come up with the names of your plays?

CV: I don’t. Marc [Spitz] does. He used to rip them off from rock and roll lyrics, but now he ac-tually invents them.

BS: How long have you been working with Marc on his plays?

CV: Marc and I went to college together - liberal artsy college type stuff - in the early 90s. He and I are sort of stuck in that decade and so are the characters he writes. We’ve done about half doz-en plays. We are bringing back the good ones to do at Jalopy. We originally did P.S. It’s Poison a few years ago. It was disaster. The director quit, I got Lymes disease, Hurricane Andrew screwed our schedule, among other bad things.

BS: When does the new and improved version open?

CV: We open on November 6th, Friday, at the Ja-lopy Theatre. This time we’ll run over ten days - ten shows in eight days. (What Carlo means: Ten days with two days off. Two 2 show days - a mati-nee and an evening. Ten performances total.

BS: Oh, that’s better. Last time we did just the four shows, which sold out. Lots of people couldn’t get in. So we had to do it again.

CV: Yes. I hope this time we can get everyone in. Please, please tell everyone to come to an early show! Everyone always waits till the last show. It happens every time. And I can’t accommodate them.

BS: I will tell all ten people I will see in the next few months while I am trying to get my restau-rant open.

CV: So Insa opens in a “few months?”

BS: Yes. I wish I could say for sure, but while the place will be done soon, I just have no control over the New York City bureaucracy that is re-quired to open.

CV: It’s like doing theatre.

BS: No it’s not.

CV: It is. You throw all these unpredictable things at the “production” - whether it be a show or a restaurant - with a very clear goal. But you never know what is going to trip you up along the way. You never know if anyone is going to show up. You never know if you will make any money - or in the case of theatre, make enough money to break even.

BS: Except I’m not “running” for ten shows. The restaurant has got to “run” for years.

CV: I was just trying to turn the conversation back to my play so I could get more column inches.

BS: You succeeded.

CV: Did I? Oh. Look at that. Do you have a web-site?

BS: We have splash page and a Twitter feed. And a Facebook page.

www.insabrooklyn.com

twitter.com/insabrooklyn

www.facebook.com/insabrooklyn

CV: Oh man. I hate all that stuff.

BS: Your character says something like that in

the new play.

CV: Marc wrote the character for me to play be-cause I hadn’t been in a show in over ten years.

BS: That would explain that then.

CV: Yea. I’m not really acting in it. I’m just being me. But more annoying.

BS: That’s scary. How do people get tickets?

CV: I still have to learn the right lines and say them correctly! Don’t bump into the furniture! That’s acting. We’ll have tickets for sale at Bait and Tackle and Jalopy. Also there will be a link at www.jalopy.biz that will direct to an online sales portal. But it will be cheaper to buy them at the two locations - the online thing charges a fee. We’re also going to have a meal at Jalopy Tavern and ticket deals for the off nights. Look for that at their website.

BS: Jalopy Tavern has very good food.

CV: They do. Should we talk about the future? After you get your new hit restaurant off the ground?

BS: Sure. In the spring you are going to produce a play that I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

CV: Yup. Which shall remain detail-less for the moment because the author [another Red Hook local restaurateur] has yet to deliver a script to me. I feel he might be a bit shy about this.

BS: He is. But you are going to produce and it will be a huge local cast. An outdoor extravaganza. About boxing.

CV: And then you will make your triumphant return to the Red Hook Glass Bottom Dramati-cal Players in the role of Francis Ford Coppola. A new one from Spitz. Never been performed. A fantasy retelling of the making of Apocalypse Now.

BS: It needed some work.

CV: We are working on it.

BS: What’s it called again?

CV: Not sure yet. Either Breathe Dead Hippo or Up The Nung.

BS: Right. Good luck.

Ben Schneider of Good Fork in last year’s production.

(photos by Carlo Vogel)


This year’s Participatory Bud-geting (PB) cycle began in September with three neigh-borhood meetings held by

Councilmember Carlos Menchaca. PB allows the public to create their own neighborhood improvement projects and vote on them, with the winners being funded by the City Council.

Th e process of getting ideas from the public to voting on them takes about ten months. When the cycle is con-cluded, constituents will have decid-ed how to spend millions of dollars from the city budget in a construc-tive in a transparent, democratic way. A major side benefi t is that PB gives opportunities for youth to become directly involved in the democratic process, learning important skills in the process.

During these fi rst three meetings, par-ticipatory budgeting is introduced, ideas are brainstormed and delegates are selected. In October, delegates learn about the budget process and form action committees. From Octo-ber through January, these commit-tees will meet to fashion project ideas into full proposals.

Th ese volunteer delegates are helped every step of the way by the experts from the council staff and from the PBNYC city agency.

From February to March of 2016, delegates will present the proposals to the community at special fairs for feedback. In April, residents will go to various voting sites and choose their favorite projects. Anyone 16 and over is eligible to vote as long as they live in the district. All that has to be pre-sented is proof of residence, or even better, a Municipal ID card.

According to Julian Morales, Director of Organizing for Menchaca, partici-patory budgeting opens up govern-ment to hear from the district and it expands civic engagement. Previous PB project winners have brought local schools more computers, media cen-ters, a garden for the library and air conditioning improvements at PS 15.

Introductions and projectsTh e September 17th meeting began with introductions from Menchaca and Morales, a brief video explain-ing PB, all followed by an ice breaker. Once the goals for the PB process were highlighted the audience broke into two groups for project brainstorming.

Some of the ideas that came out of this initial session were:

1. Funding for RHI to build a new building on a vacant lot at 774 Hicks Street so as to expand their services.

2. New lockers and gym equipment for the Red Hook Rec Center. It was brought up that more people would use the Rec Center if it had better equipment.

3. New lighting, sports, and play-ground equipment at Flag Pole and

Bush Clinton Park (T Park).

4. Improvements to lighting and im-plementing more traffi c signs and stop signs in Red Hook for increased safety. Two intersections that need to be improved are Huntington and Co-lumbia Verona and Dwight Streets.

5. It was suggested that more keys and intercoms should be installed and given out in NYCHA because it can be hard to get a new key. However, Mo-rales added that $400 million is com-ing from FEMA to fi x the lobby and cameras in the NYCHA buildings.

6. Fixing potholes on various streets in Red Hook including near the CTOWN on 57 Mill St.

7. Th ere was a need expressed for more fresh vegetables in the area. Th e ones at CTOWN can be stale and there is not enough variety at the local farmers market in Red Hook.

8. Th e sports fi elds on Bay St. should be renovated so that more people use the fi elds, and there should be more water fountains close to those fi elds. Th ere are only water fountains in Cof-fey Park and T Park.

9. Th e new Senior Center (when it fi -nally opens) back yard should be reno-vated with more lighting and in addi-tion to putting in more benches the existing ones should be fi xed. Some benches that have been taken away due to damage have not been replaced.

10. Return of the Red Hook West Ten-ant Association offi ce to the Columbia and W. 9th St. location where it used to be. Th e current location is too small and unsafe because of scaff olding outside.

11. Renovation of park house at Cof-fey Park.

Earl Johnson, who was brainstorm-ing on one side of the room after the group had been divided, added three other ideas.

“Th e kitchen at the Miccio Center is not really in that good condition, so if we could get the kitchen fi xed up that would really be an improvement to the program,” Johnson said. He con-tinued “another idea are LED signs outside the Miccio or elsewhere in Red Hook. I proposed it for the Mic-cio to try to attract attention here. You kind of walk by and there is no indi-cation that this is even a community center.”

Johnson’s group also suggested that Harold Ickes Park should have a skate park. “It is under used, and people who live in the community don’t even know that the park is there,” Johnson said.

Kayana Slave, who summarized the fi rst groups ideas into their top three most important, thought that fi xing the Rec Center should be the fi rst pri-ority. “Th at is something I use a lot,” Slave said. “I will keep bringing it up.”

She added that the damaged exer-cise equipment that is primarily used

in the winter months is not safe and causes health hazards. Slave, who was born and raised in Red Hook, thinks more people would use the Rec Cen-ter if it had better exercise equipment. Th e facility includes a pool that is cracked, and has not been renovated in 20 years.

Th e fi nal primary project that Slave’s

PICK UP A “FINEST STAR” T-SHIRT TODAY.

Get one for $15 or make use of the great deal we offer & get

3 T-shirts for $30

Finest Star Hats are $35

order by email: [email protected] or by text 347 378-9032

Participatory Budgeting 2015 has begun!by Nathan Weiser

group deemed as being most critical: fi xing the Red Hook Senior Center on Wolcott Street, especially the back-yard space. “We want the seniors to have extra space to sit down and play cards and have fun besides inside the building,” Slave said. “Sometimes they might want to go outside and en-joy some sun.”

Ideas that come out of the discussion groups are posted to a whiteboard at the Septem-ber 17 Participatory Budgeting meeting held by Carlos Menchaca. (photo by Weiser)


place. Both the Troiano girls as well as Antoinetta Delgado are altar servers at SHSS.

Visitation Parish’s Father Claudio An-tecini and Father Eamon Murray were also at the MSG Mass. They were able to concelebrate with other priests in attendance, and Sr. Laura and Sr. Frauke. Sr. Laura commented after-ward that “serving the Lord in Brook-lyn is sometimes so hard with all the rushing around of the city and you may wish to escape.” But after hear-ing the Holy Father, she realized that she is in the place she was meant to be and his message to her was “let’s go on.”

Sr. Laura also noted a marked in-crease in Mass attendance last week by people who expressly stated that

they were there because they had been watching the Pope on TV. And at Mass on Sunday, September 27, Father Claudio preached the words of Pope Francis, elaborating on the Pope’s message that God is in the city by saying, “God is in Red Hook!”

While the events may have been dif-ferent, the reactions were mostly the same. People were visibly moved by their experiences of seeing the Holy Father. They all spoke of tears, goose bumps, goodwill, and feelings of love, peace and joy regarding their time in the presence of Pope Francis.

HAPPENINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTSSt. Mary Star of Sea officially opened their beautifully renovated Parish Center on Sunday, September 20 with a blessing from newly ordained Bishop James Massa and ribbon-cut-ting by faithful parishioner of over 85 years, Mr. John (Bob) Burke.

The 67th Annual Feast of Madonna Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows) took place on Sunday, September 13 with a neighborhood procession, fire-works and Mass at Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church.

If you are planning a party, including a graduation, wedding, baptism, or Sweet 16 celebration, please consider using the completely restored Mary’s Hall at Visitation Parish. The cost is a donation for the upkeep of the church. Call Sr. Frauke at (917) 515-4225 for more information.

UPCOMING EVENTSBlessing of God’s Creatures in Hon-or of the Feast of St. Francis of As-sisi - Sunday, October 4 at 2 pm, at the Central Monument in Carroll Park. All are invited to bring any and all pets to be blessed. The event is a collabo-

Michael Delgado, a SHSS sac-

ristan, remarked that there is

a big difference in seeing the

Pope in person compared to

watching him on TV.

ration of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul and St. Agnes R.C. Parish and Sacred Heart-St. Stephen Parish, with support from Scotto Funeral Home.

Congregation Mount Sinai250 Cadman Plaza West

Sukkot - Celebrate with a Shabbat Service and dinner on Friday, Octo-ber 2 at 6:30 pm. For information, call (718) 875-9124 or email [email protected]

Shemini Atzeret - Sunday, October 4 at 6:30 pm Services with Brooklyn Heights Synagogue: Monday, October 5 at 8 am, 11:30 am and 1:30 pm - Yiz-kor.

Simchat Torah - Join CMS and the Hebrew school for pizza, dancing with the Torahs, and reading from the Torah on Monday, October 5 at 6 pm.

Anti-Semitism by Jean-Paul Sarte - Book discussion with Dr. Monty Weinstein, on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 pm. Suggested donation $5; RSVP by Monday, October 12.

Isha L’Isha Women’s Group with Rabbi Sara Zacharia on Monday, October 19 at 7:30 pm - A monthly gathering of women to study Jewish tradition and text, to connect with the voices of women from our past and find personal meaning and relevance for today.

Interfaith Scripture Study - Wednes-day, October 21, 7-8:30 pm at Plym-outh Church, 57 Orange Street; Wednesday, November 4 , 7-8:30 pm at Dawood Mosque, 143 State Street; Wednesday, November 18, 7-8:30 pm at Congregation Mount Sinai. Free of charge.

Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen ChurchSummit & Hicks Streets

Book Club - Next meeting to discuss The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins on Monday, October 19 at 7 pm at Le Petit Cafe, 505 Court Street.

St. Agnes ChurchHoyt & DeGraw Streets

French Mass each Sunday at 11 am

“Mass Mob” will descend on Sunday, October 18 at the 9:15 am Mass. “All are welcome to come and join us in lifting our voices and spirits unto the Lord.”

Sounds on Sackett - A concert se-ries of jazz, pop, and classical per-formances kicks off its season on Sunday, October 18 at 4 pm with a performance by Karen Merchant, so-prano, who will sing selections from

the American Songbook, with piano accompaniment by Giacomo Oliva. Admission is $20 for adults (children under 12 are free) and includes a post-performance reception. Season pass-es for $75 are available before October 15. For more information and a full list of upcoming concerts, call (718) 625-1717.

St. Paul R.C. ChurchCourt and Congress Streets

Card Party on Saturday, October 3rd from 7-11 pm in the lower church hall. Admission is $15; tickets may be pur-chased at the rectory office.

St. Paul Episcopal Church 199 Carroll Street

Sunday School will resume on Oc-tober 4 at 9:45 am at the rectory at St. Andrew’s House. All children, ages 5 and up, are welcome. For more infor-mation, please contact Jean Del Col-liano at [email protected]

Cerddorian Vocal Ensemble will present Fitful Flame: Music of Love and War, directed by James John, on Friday, November 13 at 8 pm. Ad-vance tickets are $20 ($25 at the door and $15 for students). For informa-tion, visit www.cerddorian.org.

Visitation BVM Church98 Richards Street

Laura Eng’s Religious News(continued from page 4)

The Philip Course, a s p i r i t u a l w e e k e n d retreat for those look-ing for a new fresh expe-rience of faith in Jesus Christ, Octo-ber 2-4. For information, call Sr. Laura at 718-624-1572.

Friday Octo-ber 2 from 7 pm-9:30 pm

Saturday October 3 from 9 am-5 pm

Sunday October 4 from 9 am-5 pm

The Ecumenical Congress, a spiritual weekend retreat with Benjamin Berg-er and Fr. Giuseppe DeNardi from Israel, October 30-November 1. Tick-ets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door. For information, call Sr. Frauke at 917-515-4225.

Jazz Concert on Sunday, November 8 at 4 pm, featuring Alicia Rau, jazz trumpeter and her group from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Sug-gested admission of $20 (or pay what you can.)

Jenny belin’s Art

Our friend Jenny, who exhibits locally at the Brooklyn Collective, 212 Columbia Street, sends us this and tells us “The Gold painting is a portrait of Joan Collins from the 1960s.” Joan’s younger sister, the writer Jackie Collins, recently succumbed to breast cancer at the age of 77.

Jenny Belin’s website is www.jennybelin.com

Maria Teresa HeyerVisitation’s Father Claudio flanked by the Troiado and the Delgado


Star-Revue Classifi eds

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

To place an ad in this section call

718 624-5568 or email

[email protected].

Rates start at $30 per issue.

No job too big or too smallToilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, Hot Water Heaters, Pool Heaters.B & D HEATING507 Court Street 718 625-1396

PLUMBING

No job too big or too small

Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, Hot Water Heaters,

Pool Heaters.

B & D HEATING507 Court Street 718 625-1396

JABUS BUILDING CORP.Serving Red Hook for over 25 years

Specializing 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 Buscarello98 Van Dyke Street, Red Hook (718) 852-5364

Fax: (718) 935-1263www.jabusbuildingcorp.com [email protected]

HIC License #0883902 Trade Waste License #1135

EVERGREEN LIQUOR STORE INC.718 643-0739

196 Columbia Street, between Sackett & [email protected]

Mon. - Thurs. 11 am - 10:30 pm; Fri & Sat. 11 am - 11:30 pm; Sun. 1 pm - 9 pm

Contact us for a pest consultation

888-752-0584www.flashexterminating.cominfo@flashexterminating.com

WE ARE A BROOKLYN COMPANY. WE KNOW

BROOKLYN PESTS!

Quality Pro CertifiedMinority Business Certified

Dance Theatre Etcetera’s Dance Ambassador program empowers

Dance Th eatre Etcetera (DTE) is Red Hook pre-eminent dance company. Established in 1992 by Martha Bow-ers, it has empowered more than one generation of aspiring artists from the entire Red Hook community. Every June they put together a Red Hook Fest weekend, which includes community dinners and a day of art at Valentino Pier Park. Some years they even have a parade through the

streets of Red Hook

Th is year, Bowers received a grant from Dance USA to initiate the fi rst Dance Ambassador program in New York City.

Th is is an international program that aff ords youths between 11 and 25 a chance to learn about the dance world, and serve to involve audiences and performers in ways that enhance the creative process. In some ways, being a Dance Ambassador is similar to a public relations professional, as a goal is to promote events by going into the community.

Th e grant provides for a stipend, and Martha has chosen two Red Hook youths to be the fi rst of her Ambassa-dors.

We spoke to Ambassador Tyteana Griem, who lives at 817 Hicks Street. She is 21 and a student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

She has always had an interest in mu-sic, and has been active in the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) for the past eight years, and is an alumna of their Digital Boot Camp, where she helped make a short fi lm about DeFontes.

She says that having RHI in her life while she attended PS 27 and John Jay helped keep her grounded - giv-ing her a chance to pursue her artistic instincts.

At a recent Women’s Career Day held at RHI, she introduced herself to Mar-tha, who was in the audience. One thing led to another, and she became DTE’s fi rst Dance Ambassador.

Tyteana also enjoys photography, and a photo she took at last summers Night Out Against Crime in Coff ey Park was chosen by Martha to illustrate the up-coming Dance on the Greenway.

Dance on the Greenway festival on Sunday, October 4th, 2015 at the IKEA Erie Basin Park. Showtimes are at 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

It is a free festival of site-specifi c danc-es features veteran choreographer Paloma McGregor/ Angela’s Pulse, as well as emerging choreographers Audrey Elaine Hailes, Juson Williams, and Red Hook dance superstar Solo-mon Goodwin/MVP. In between per-formances at 2:30pm, we will be host-ing a DJ dance party with the artists.

Th is year we have support from Dance USA’s Engaging Dance Audiences, putting our local festival on the na-tional stage as we off er interactive, community-based programming.

Tatiema’s opportunity to take part in rehearsals, and her work in bring-ing dance to her neighbors gives her a special opportunity that parallels her RHI experience, and she is deter-mined to take advantage of it as she pursues her own career in the arts.

DTE’s Dance Ambassador Tyteana Griem with the fl yer she helped create. (Fiala photo)

Photo Ops

Joe Ward’s family was one of the fi rst to move into the Red Hook Houses. He now lives in Cleveland, but comes back to Red Hook every 9/11 and always comes to Visitation Church, his church growing up.

The rain held off and this year’s Columbia Waterfront District Festi-val was a smashing success. That’s Brad Lander speaking while CGA head Cynthia Gonzalez listens.

Red Hook Star-Revue, October 2015

Documents

Transcript of Red Hook Star-Revue, October 2015