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PS 676 / Harbor Middle School had another family fun night on January 28 after school in their cafeteria. The theme was Lunar New Year.

February 19, 2025 No Comments

There was no school the next day for Lunar New Year. The festivities for Lunar New Year begin on January 29, which mark the arrival of the year of the snake. The Lion Dance is usually performed during Lunar New Year as well as the iconic firecracker ceremony. There was Chinese food as well as snake and lantern themed activities

Since the community doesn’t seem to have much sway on our shore, the courts beckon, by George Fiala

February 19, 2025 No Comments

Money and politics often get in the way of what economists call “The Public Good.” Here is Wikipedia’s definition: “In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good) is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Use by one person neither prevents access by other people, nor does it reduce availability to others.

Carroll Gardens Association empowers Nannys, by Brian Abate

February 19, 2025 No Comments

The Carroll Gardens Nanny Association (CGNA) is working to raise the standards in the domestic work industry. Rosemary Martinez, Wendy Guerrero, and Charon Best are all a part of the CGNA with Martinez working as a domestic worker organizer and Guerrero working as a program coordinator. All three have in common that they all did domestic work after moving to

Spring Bank officially opens on Van Brunt, by Brian Abate

February 18, 2025 No Comments

After years without a bank, Red Hook celebrated the opening of Spring Bank at 356 Van Brunt St. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 23. Despite cold weather, more than 50 people attended the celebration including Senator Andrew Gounardes, Akbar Rizvi, the Chief Lending Officer (CLO) and president of Spring Bank, ReyJane Gaudin, the branch manager, Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes,

From opportunity to requirement: How the EDC is shoehorning thousands of apartments into the “Vision for Brooklyn Marine Terminal,” by Oscar Fock

February 5, 2025 2 Comments

It’s the evening of Dec. 18, 2024. The Brooklyn Marine Terminal task force is meeting for the fourth time, just before the winter holidays. Alexa Avilés, council member for District 38 and vice-chair of the task force, is late and arrives with about 30 minutes left of the two-hour meeting. “I walked into chaos,” she said. “People immediately started beelining

Gilbert Gonzalez honored at Rec Center Christmas event, by Nathan Weiser

January 11, 2025 No Comments

The Red Hook Rec Center was in the spirit of giving last month, hosting their annual holiday bash with food, music and presents for children. It was organized by Isiah Forde of the Center and Andre Richey of New Leader Hoops. The first holiday party hosted by the Rec Center in 2015. There was pizza from Mark’s on Van Brunt

Walking With Coffee, by R.J. Cirillo

February 19, 2025

A descent into the maelstrom There is a short story written in 1841 by Edgar Allen Poe called “A Descent into the Maelstrom.” It tells the tale of a mariner at sea caught in a giant whirlpool. IMHO we ourselves are currently spiraling downward in a similar predicament. Hard to say when this malevolent spin of events began.

David Lynch: Memorializing the Mysteries, by Kurt Gottschalk

February 19, 2025

David Lynch sat in a strange seat of power during the 1990s. He had put a tale of psychic terror about a victimized cheerleader addicted to cocaine on network television. He then retconned the notion of Elvis Presley movies to include shocking levels of physical and sexual violence and took it to Cannes. And he syndicated a comic strip that

A Year in Books by Kelsey Sobel

February 19, 2025

Each year, I meticulously keep track of every book I read, writing a short blurb to capture my primary feelings and responses to each book. I do this for many reasons, but mostly because my short term memory is so faulty. I also do this so I have recommendations at the ready when asked the loaded question: “What have you

France in Flux, by Dario Pio Muccilli, Star-Revue EU correspondent

February 18, 2025

2024 has seen a high degree of political instability in France, with four different prime ministers, the rise of the far-right, a snap election called by Macron in June, and a successful no-confidence vote passed in December by the left- and right-wings together. The political impasse led France not to pass a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which has

The place to go in Red Hook for good food served late, by Brian Abate

February 18, 2025

Wraptor Restaurant and Bar, 358 Columbia St., is located right on the street corner where Seabring Street. becomes Coles Street. in Red Hook. One of the things that stands out about Wraptor is that while most of the options for food in the area are closed at night, this restaurant is open from 10 am to 2 am seven days

Books: A Valentine for New York

February 18, 2025

Review of “Days Without Number, New York City,” photographs by Giovanna Silva, with a text by Sasha Frere-Jones Review by Michael Quinn You hardly know anyone, and there’s no place you need to be, so you walk around to get your bearings. You snap pictures of whatever catches your eye. You’re trying to capture a feeling—not just the place but

MUSIC: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

February 18, 2025

Ghosts in the guitar. The wonderfully inventive Jules Reidy has been going through a period of transition of late. Affairs of the heart, a change in gender identity and a renewed interest in mysticism have all, it seems, led to Ghost/Spirit (CD, LP, download out Feb. 21 from Thrill Jockey). While they’re often heard in more experimental and freeform settings,

JAZZ: ”Evil is Always a Bad Stylist” by George Grella

February 18, 2025

Spend time on social media, especially text-based sites like Bluesky (that’s what I use—and enjoy—now after deleting my account at the neo-Nazi’s site) and you eventually find people decrying a lack of media literacy. What they mean by that is the ability to see the difference between assertion and fact, to know what’s reporting and what’s stenography, to tell when

Medea Hoar enjoys some hot music in a cold january

February 18, 2025

Hello my lovelies and welcome to February’s “Tits Up Brooklyn”. February brings us valentines, candy, flowers, lovers and oh, so much more. Do you know what this muse-y gal craves to satisfy her needs? My goal for February is to pursue a celebration of “New love for new music!” For me that’s the best way to celebrate the month of

MUSIC: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

December 17, 2024 No Comments

Smart, simple pleasures. On Only the Void Stands Between Us (LP and download released last month by Silver Current Records), Julie Beth Napolin sings of distance and intimacy. She sings quizzically of a fire coming to burn, it seems, those who don’t deserve to survive, and she sings very directly about praying for the living and the dead. In other

Regina’s community opera is the cats meow, by George Fiala

December 17, 2024 No Comments

Last spring I wrote in these pages about my discovery of Bay Ridge’s Regina Opera Company. While I did grow up in a house where the Metropolitan Opera was on the radio every Saturday, that was not my cup of tea. The idea of dressing up and paying lots of money to hear a musical show was not my scene.

Best Jazz Albums 2024, by George Grella

December 17, 2024 No Comments

This is just one calendar year, which may be sufficient time in the pop music manufacturing industry to spot a trend, but is a far less meaningful span in music that wrestles with its own history—the old is constantly being renewed and incorporated with ideas from other genres—as jazz does, and that is so free of commercial pressures (unfortunately) that

MUSIC: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

November 18, 2024 No Comments

Mothers of reinvention. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been,” according to writer George Eliot, who spoke from experience. Born in the UK in 1819, Mary Ann Evans found her audience using the masculine pen name in order to avoid the scrutiny of the patriarchal literati. Reinvention, of style if not self, is in the air

Kaizers Orchestra Returns to Conquer the US

October 7, 2024 No Comments

Kaizers Return Kaizers Orchestra has always marched to the beat of their own drum. Now, after their first U.S. performance in years, the legendary Norwegian rock band made it clear they haven’t missed a step. Fresh off a triumphant show at Sony Hall, where their theatrical mix of rock, folk, and energy electrified the crowd, I had the chance to

Afrobeats vs. Amapiano Takeover: For the Culture and Social Justice

August 9, 2024 No Comments

Afrobeats vs. Amapiano Takeover at Barclays Center On Sunday, August 4, the plaza at Barclays Center echoed with the sounds of Afrobeats and Amapiano as the two genres took center stage at the third annual Africa Everything: Afrobeats vs. Amapiano Takeover. From 12:00 to 6:00 PM, music lovers, undeterred by the cloudy weather, gathered to experience the best of these