I occasionally fancy myself a runner, and for whatever reason, many years ago, I decided that 3rd Street is as good a route to run as any. So my bi-monthly jogs take me from my Red Hook apartment, over the Hamilton Avenue footbridge, through Carroll Gardens and down 3rd to wherever I happen to be in Park Slope when I […]
Author: gbrook@pipeline.com
Parks presents new Valentino Pier plan, by Overand Dunwith
In late March, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation unveiled their new plan for Valentino Park, which will incorporate the $2 million dollars allotted for a comfort station that was highly disputed in the community in 2014. In a 8,455 page document, Parks details every miniscule detail of the additions to the Red Hook Waterfront Park, complete with complex renditions, […]
Coffey Park reopening delayed due to old Dutch man looking for herring, by Melvin Cowznofsky
The re-opening of Coffey Park was delayed for at least six months due to an unusual finding that occurred during renovation. The park, Red Hook’s largest, was fenced off in April 2014 for a project that involved a repaving of the paths and improvement of the barbecue and flagpole areas. The community was told at the time to expect the […]
Opposed to Move NY, by Mark Shames
I recently attended a presentation by representatives of Move NY that took place before the Brooklyn Community Board 6 transportation committee on March 19. Move NY is an umbrella organization fronted by transportation expert Sam Schwartz that is promoting a plan to toll the East River Bridges. This iteration of the “congestion pricing” plan first presented in the Bloomberg administration […]
Editorial: Is Move NY all it is cracked up to be? by George Fiala
The Transportation Committee of CB 6 tonight approved a motion to support the Move NY program that “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, former traffic commissioner who now runs a profitable traffic consulting business, has been touting for the past couple of years. This program is a redo of Mayor Bloomberg’s unsuccessful plan to institute tolls on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges, […]
Superfund project on schedule, by George Fiala
It’s been a rough winter for meetings, as the weather has cancelled quite a few, including the January meeting of the Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG). The CAG serves as a conduit between the community and the EPA and was set up to monitor the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal. The January meeting was held February 10 and featured […]
PS 15 students exhibit at Hope & Anchor, by Kimberly Gail Price
That’s so Brooklyn! Maram, grabbed my hand and led me over to her favorite photograph hanging on the walls of Hope & Anchor. “Eye Am Watching You,” the photo is entitled. She looked up at me and said, “Chocolate eyes!” She pointed at me, and repeated the phrase. Her teacher, Ms. Julie Cavanagh explained. We both have brown eyes. Maram […]
Pile Driving in Red Hook – an increasing concern, by George Fiala
A topic that the short-lived Red Hook Coalition attempted to tackle a few years ago was the many vacant lots that dot Red Hook. As the real estate market has begun to take care of that problem itself, a new problem has taken its place – pile driving. Since Red Hook is now in a FEMA designated flood zone, most […]
A New Vision for Brooklyn Bridge Park, by George Fiala
In case you haven’t noticed, a waterfront park has been taking shape just north of the Red Hook Containerport. Brooklyn Bridge Park, conceived of in the 1980’s and 90’s, and built this century, has not been without controversy. For much of Brooklyn’s history, the Fulton Ferry piers were a busy hub for loading and unloading cargo ships. By the early […]
Hoover City and Red Hook, by JJ Burkard
I recall when a very young lad around 5 years of age living at 113 Bush Street in 1934-35. It was truly a slum tenement type building, cold water, and toilets in the hallway. Heat was made by the occupants using wood fires in a cast iron kitchen stove. The people on Bush Street were tough as nails, worked at […]