Celebrating Community
Back in June 2010, when I started this paper, I didn’t have any experience with politicians. I didn’t even think I’d ever report on politics. I kind of thought local politics was boring. However, after Carlos Menchaca became our unexpected councilman, I realized that it was my responsibility as a publisher to take it all seriously. So I began paying […]
Approximately 15 local residents met with local leaders and officers of the 76th Precinct at 191 Union St., where they voiced their frustration over a lack of parking spaces–especially regarding the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Carshare program—and what they considered to be the reckless use of Tesla cars. Locals meet the police the first Wednesday of every month at the […]
Sarah Matusek and Emily Kluver walked off with the top prizes for feature writing, in the 2017 NY State Press Association Better Newspaper contest. The winners were announced at their spring convention in Albany. Sarah won top honors for her front page story about Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle. Wall’s began her professional writing career in the 1970’s […]
There was a big ceremony today at the foot of 39th Street in Sunset Park. The occasion was a press event heralding what is called the reactivation of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. In the old days in Brooklyn, most of the waterfront in this part of Brooklyn was a full of commercial activity – most of it the loading […]
When our local government works well for us, we are the first to give credit. A couple of years ago we were aghast at two looming possibilities—an out of place nursing home and a misplaced ferry stop. Despite the worst efforts of the local community board, our councilman saved us in both cases—the ferry stop ended up in the right […]
Red Hook ballfields dormant for yet another season Red Hook residents recently got some disappointing news regarding their ability to use the outdoor fields in the Red Hook ballfields complex. Ballfields 5-8, originally scheduled to be finished by the spring of 2019, will now not be ready until at least the spring of 2020. Marty Maher, the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, […]
Thor Equities and their land use lawyers and engineers held an informational meeting led by Councilman Menchaca at the Red Hook Recreation Center on April 19. Originally meant to be a private meeting at the councilman’s office, it was shifted to the Rec center as word got out to locals interested in asking questions about flooding and Thor’s piles of […]
Canadian visual artist duo Gagnon-Forest spent the last 2 months in Red Hook doing an art residency in collaboration with De Construkt Project. Mathieu Gagnon and Mathilde Forest were researching and gathering stories in order to create a body of work based on Red Hook architecture and heritage in the midst of social and economic changes. The Star Revue interviewed […]
Only Red Hook could birth a banjo throwing competition. During the 2011 Brooklyn Folk Festival, then held at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), the founders considered how to use the waterfront to draw greater crowds. “At that point (the waterfront) was pretty decayed and terrible looking,” Lynette Wiley, a co-founder of the festival said. “Eli Smith and my husband […]
There are more than 3400 local governments in New York State. The state population is about 20 million, which means one body of government for every 6,000 residents. Red Hook has twice as many people, but not much in the way of local government. Our councilman has Sunset Park to worry about, which is much larger than we are. Our […]