Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez has telling people that she is endorsing incumbent Felix Ortiz for the 51st district Assembly seat. He is being challenged by Community Board 7 member Cesar Zuniga. Up until today, Velazquez’s endorsement was simply oral. Today, she gave Ortiz a written statement that he can use in the campaign. Today, they met in Sunset Park and Nydia […]
Author: gbrook@pipeline.com
Go To Marietta’s to See How It Used to be Around Here, by Elizabeth Graham
This article ran in the August 2011 edition of the Red Hook Star-Revue. We reprint it today as a tribute to younger brother Mat, whose funeral is this Saturday in Howard Beach. Floor to ceiling, he’s surrounded by racks, shelves and boxes full of clothing. But Joe Chirico goes straight to the spot behind a cluttered display stand where […]
Sad news, death of Matty Chirico of Marietta’s
From today’s NY Daily News: CHIRICO-Matthew V. Dedicated co-owner of Marietta’s on Court Street, Brooklyn. Mass of Christian Burial, Saturday, 11:45 AM, St. Helen R.C. Church, Howard Beach. Visiting Thursday & Friday, 2-5 & 7-9 P.M. at Scotto Funeral Home, 106 First Place, near Court St., Bklyn, 718-875-2515. Scotto Funeral Home Inc106 1St Pl Brooklyn, NY 11231(718) 875-2515
Garbage truck update
Last week we reported that a fleet of garbage trucks was rented space inside of the Red Hook Containerport alongside Degraw Street between Columbia and Van Brunt Streets. Neighbors were complaining because of the stench that was emanating through the fence as the hot sun was heating up garbage left in the trucks after their nightime pickups. Last Saturday, neighbors […]
Tony the Sculptor, by Alexandra Corbin
Tony walks with a gait that is unique in this neck of the woods. No slouching stroll to buy a slab of Blueberry Buckle at Baked. Even though his property is next door and even if he has fifty feet to cover between there and his sculpture garden named the ‘Golden Anvil’ – he hurries. In September Antonio Cuonzo will […]
Red Hook Library plan shelved, by George Fiala
According to today’s Daily News, the plan to split the Red Hook Library into a library and a rehearsal space has squashed. Library spokesperson Emma Woods is quoted as saying “We heard the community’s concerns and are going to have a robust dialogue with Red Hook residents, community leaders adn elected officials before moving forward with any project.” At the […]
Red Hook’s Night Out Against Crime, by George Fiala
The first time I heard about “Night Out Against Crime,” back in the 1980’s I didn’t take it seriously at all. I really didn’t know what it was about, I thought it was some kind of feelgood event that did nothing to cut down on the rampant crime that was plaguing America’s cities. I left tonight’s celebration at Coffey Park […]
Politics: Marks Corner, by Mark Shames
I have been offered and accepted an opportunity to continue writing about the political scene in Brownstone Brooklyn, even though I will be stepping aside as the president of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats while I remain a general and executive board come September. In New York City politics it is close to impossible to unseat an incumbent elected office holder […]
More on the Pier 9 Rockfest, by George Fiala
Online readers may have seen a story we put up about an advertised music festival to take place on Pier 9A October 11 and 12. The promoters sent out a press release at the end of July, and various bloggers and news outlets previewed the event as if it were a done deal. In fact, the promoters are right now […]
The story behind the Clement Garage, by Clarissa Sauter
Walking or driving past Rapelye and Hamilton, one might never give the corner adjacent to the BQE a second glance. What most don’t know is that it was once home to Salvatore “Buddy” Scotto’s grandfather, his three garages, and his eight family building, many years before the BQE was constructed. Don Vincence Clementi, known later as Vincent, arrived in America […]