Celebrating Community
On October 21st, almost 150 (mostly Ukrainian) intellectuals signed an open letter to Unesco encouraging the international organization to ask President Zelensky to defer some decisions about Odessa’s World Heritage sites until the end of the war. Odessa, in southern Ukraine, is a multicultural city with a strong Russian-speaking component. There has been pressure to remove historical sites connected to […]
On Sept. 15, a driver in Brooklyn was stopped by the New York Police Department after running a red light. In an unexpected turn of events, the officers found 29 Chinese mitten crabs, a crustacean considered one of the world’s most invasive species (it’s number 34 on the Global Invasive Species Database), while searching the vehicle. Environmental Conservation Police Officers […]
Sweden is a place of plenty of holiday celebrations. My American friends usually say midsummer with the fertility pole and the wacky dances when I tell them about Swedish holidays, but to me — and I’d wager few Swedes would argue against this — no holiday is as anticipated as Christmas. Further, I would argue that Swedish Christmas is unlike […]
My son, Baker, was born on October 17th, 2024 at 4:02 am. He cried for the first hour and a half of his life, clearing his lungs, held firmly and safely against my chest. When I first saw him, I recognized him immediately. I’d dreamed of being a mother since I turned thirty, and five years later, becoming a parent […]
On Nov. 14, the Gowanus Oversight Task Force — a community-based group tracking the 56 commitments that were part of the Gowanus rezoning — convened for the fourth time this year, this time to share with the public information about the Gowanus Business Improvement District (BID) and the city’s plans for green spaces in the neighborhood. The Gowanus Rezoning Points […]
The Red Hook Holiday Market will take place on December 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, and 22 from 1-6 pm. The Holiday Market is presented by the Red Hook Business Alliance and Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) and will take place at BWAC, 481 Van Brunt St. Door #7A. The Red Hook Business Alliance was founded in 2019 by Susan […]
Review of “New York Nico’s Guide to NYC,” by Nicolas Heller, with Jason Diamond; photography by Jeremy Cohen Review by Michael Quinn For nearly a decade, I managed a Brooklyn mannequin factory. Everything was made by hand. The work was messy, and the tools were loud. The process demanded precision and speed. My job was to oversee production and act […]
Ah, December is upon us and with it, colder winds, warm fireplace cuddles, and lots of festive gatherings. Starting off this season of joy was Smudgefest 2024 on November 23rd at Sunset Stoop, put on by a brand spanking new collaborative – The BK MUSES! So, before we delve deep into Smudgefest, let’s talk about these magical muses. BK Muses […]
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 […]
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. […]