Usually I spend a month trying to figure out what momentous topic I will be making pronouncement about in this column. But for this month at least, I’m going to tackle a bunch of possibly less momentous issues that have been on my mind. Law and Order My office is inside the warehouses on Van Brunt Street across from Food […]
Day: April 8, 2024
Elmo inspires mental health concerns, by Nathan Weiser
On January 29, the Elmo account posted a simple tweet that said, “”Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” and nobody could have predicted the response this would get. There was a wide range of responses with people revealing how mental health is very much an issue. “I’m at my lowest. Thanks for asking,” one person replied. “Elmo, […]
Alexa Aviles joins family of police victim asking for accountability, by Brian Abate
On March 2, the family of Allan Feliz and politicians including District 38 Council Member Alexa Aviles gathered outside of City Hall despite pouring rain to demand that Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban fire police officer Jonathan Rivera. The officer shot and killed Feliz six years ago after stopping him because he thought he was not wearing […]
A Swedish Baedekar, by Dario Pio Muccilli, Star-Revue EU correspondent
Sweden is to Europe like the Amazon is to South America. It is a land full of lakes and forests that hug you the very moment of your arrival. Getting on the bus to leave the airport you are driven through a nature scenario, with snowy trees extending miles. If you were sweating in the plane because of your ski […]
The Things They Carried – The Trials of Teaching War in 2024 , by Kelsey Sobel
Tim O’Brien’s 1990 auto fictional novel based on his time as a young soldier in Vietnam remains a popular choice in high school curriculum across the country. Teaching at a rural school in northern New Hampshire, the average student is removed from the horrors of war and mostly, blessedly, from extreme levels of violence. Although some students do have grandparents […]
Making a dense city more livable, by Brian Abate
Old timers might remember an urban gardener from the last century. Adam Purple, who dressed in purple and drove a purple bike, created a large spiraling garden on the lower East Side which became famous as it was threatened and eventually destroyed by real estate developers. These days, many community gardens in the city are safe from development due to […]
Why did it take me 54 years to go hear the Regina Opera Company? by George Fiala
I happen to love adventures, and unexpected treats are always a highlight of life. However, being surprised at discovering a great evening at the Regina Opera is akin to kids from Manhattan attending an event at the Kings Theater and telling their friend’ parents, who grew up watching baseball at Ebbets Field, that they’ve “discovered” Flatbush. I’m probably the last […]
Quinn on Books: Voices Carry Review of “The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture,” by Tricia Romano
You’re reading this right now, so you likely recognize the importance of the Red Hook Star-Revue. Do you know how lucky we are to have a neighborhood newspaper? It reports on local events, holds our elected officials accountable to their campaign promises and supports our neighborhood businesses through advertising. Who else looks out for us like this? This paper is […]
Music: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk
Are you ready for the country? Cowboy Carter, the latest epochal event from Beyoncé, is a culturally defining moment if only because making culturally defining moments is what Beyoncé does. She’s hardly the first Black singer to venture into country music. DeFord Bailey, Ray Charles and Charley Pride were there decades ago. The underrecognized Linda Martell appeared on the country […]
Jazz: The Mind-Body Problem, by George Grella
Call it “Rhythm Prejudice,” and blame it on Bach. His genius with harmony and forms like canon and fugue set the foundation of modern Western music and established the keyboard as the basis for both composition and analysis. That has meant that vertical harmony—chords—has been privileged across the board, from garage band rock to academic musicology. It wasn’t always this […]