Celebrating Community
Red Hook’s Community Justice Center has been an important part of the neighborhood since opening on Visitation Place in 2000. I had the opportunity to get a tour of the Center and speak to Judge Alex Calabrese, attorney Edna McGoldrick, and Director of Housing and Civil Justice, Ross Joy. I got to witness some of the housing court cases that […]
A lawsuit against NYPD Sergeant Patrick Quigley that began with the 2012 shooting of Red Hook Houses resident Tyjuan Hill ended on September 26, 2019. The NYPD will not compensate Hill’s estate for the loss of his life at age 22. The deceased’s mother, Carol Hill, filed the civil suit seven years ago after a prostitution sting operation by the […]
The legacy of harsh punishment and imprisonment of black people gives context to the outrage over the hugging of convicted murderer Amber Guyger, by Judge Tammy Kemp. Amber Guyer is the Dallas police officer who entered Botham Jean’s apartment, one floor above her apartment, and shot and killed him, believing that he was an intruder in what she thought was […]
Bridging the Gap co-leaders, Sabrina Carter and Gleacy Mejia, take the podium at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Photo by George Fiala. The woman wears a laurel crown and a long white robe. Though serene, she cradles an ax. Beneath her feet, a motto in outdated Dutch reads: Unity makes strength. This old flag commemorates Brooklyn’s stint as an independent city in the […]
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s visit to St. Francis College on February 2 provided some much needed reassurance that indeed there still are grown-ups in some of our important seats of power. Sotomayor appeared in a packed fourth floor gym composed mostly of students. The occasion was the annual Thomas J. Volpe Lecture, and the connection was Sparkle Sooknanan, St. […]
Terence Williams grew up in East New York, Brooklyn. Five years ago, Williams joined the New York Police Department, and on December 8 Officer Williams will graduate from the Red Hook Justice Center’s Peacemaking program. The Peacemaking program adapts Native American conflict resolution strategies to New York City court cases within the Justice Center’s catchment area – police precincts 72, […]
Twenty SPARK Prize finalists have been chosen among a pool of 150 applicants. Seventeen ae Brooklyn-based organizations, including three from Red Hook: Dance Theater Etcetera (DTE); Red Hook Initiative (RHI); and the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC). The SPARK Prize of $100,000 will be awarded to five of the chosen finalists from the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF). They have […]
On October 5, 2014, Howard “Tony” Sterling was murdered in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For the last two years, Bobby Boomer and Omar Gray were held in pretrial detention, only to be released this past August and September respectively. It was a Sunday morning when Sterling was fatally shot in his home. The murder of Sterling, who was known to some […]
Jaheim Smallwood, a 23-year-old resident of Red Hook, was fatally shot Tuesday, July 19 outside his home at 75 Bush Street. Smallwood was raised in the Red Hook Houses. He is survived by his mother, brother, and young son Jalyn, who was holding his father’s hand when the shooting occurred. Smallwood was attacked shortly after 8 pm after returning […]
We are thrilled to announce that Karen Gopee, Court Attorney at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, was recently appointed to serve as a NYC Criminal Court Judge. Karen served as Judge Calabrese’s Court Attorney since 2006, playing a critical role in the Court as well as the community over the past nine years. Karen brought to her work […]