Imagine not hearing the majestic sounds produced by thousands of metal or wooden organ pipes echoing around you during a wedding, funeral, or Mass. That’s the reality some houses of worship are facing as an organist shortage unfolds nationwide, on the heels of a pandemic that brought in-person services to a screeching halt for months and has since affected attendance. […]
Feature Story
Kitchen designers open Dumbo showroom, by Brian Abate
Reform, a Danish Kitchen company formed by Michael Andersen and Jeppe Christensen, celebrated the grand opening of their flagship kitchen showroom in Dumbo this November. The address is 39 Main St. The new location in Dumbo is Reform’s largest showroom investment ever and marks the beginning of the brand’s expansion into the United States market with three more showroom openings […]
Meet Brooklyn’s own homeboy! Jean-Michel Basquiat, by Blake Sandberg
The King Pleasure show organized by his family, an intimate portrait of a local artist who took the downtown New York art scene by storm. Then he took his artwork across the globe. Jean-Michel Basquiat was born right here in Park Slope Brooklyn. To Matilde and Gerard Basquiat. Later they settled in Boerum Hill. His mother noticed his interest in […]
How to find yourself: Music and mental health, interview with Dylan Owen, by Roderick Thomas
Mental health has often been a topic discussed in hindsight. One musician is tackling the topic in a creative way with the release of his new short film and album. My interview with musician Dylan Owen below. Roderick Thomas: Glad to speak with you, how are you? Dylan Owen: Doing well, thank you! RT: Where are you from? Dylan Owen: […]
Thanksgiving Story by Brian Abate
There are three things that I associate with Thanksgiving: family, food, and football. I love all three of them so it’s one of my favorite holidays. My family does not have many traditions but we have always gotten together at my aunt and uncle’s house on Thanksgiving and when I was little and they lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, I would […]
New right-wing Italian government faces familiar challenges, by Dario Pio Muccilli, Star-Revue overseas correspondent
Italy’s new right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has appointed her cabinet and immediately they are faced with problem. Not from the opposition, whose divisions and confusion helps indeed Meloni’s power, but from the gas crisis and from her own allies. Energy Crisis and the need of France Italy, like all the countries in Europe, is in the middle of an […]
Big Peach, by Joe Enright
It was Junior year Physics class in St. Augustan Diocesan High School, in a Park Slope that had seen better days and would again someday but not in 1963. I had just written a novelty song about Nicholas Piccione, our math teacher, who I actually liked. The song sprang to life after I dozed off in his class while he […]
13,000 Brooklynites get Spidey library cards, by Erin DeGregorio
Last month, The New York Public Library (NYPL) and Marvel Entertainment released a special, limited-edition Spider-Man library card, inspiring new and existing patrons to explore a multitude of free resources, programs, and books at the Library—including Marvel graphic novels. This dynamic collaboration marked the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man’s first comic book appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 and emphasizes the importance […]
Steve Keene, by Blake Sandberg
Walking on the street in New York City. Occasionally I would see a painting. Maybe two or three. Paintings on wood. Bright. Colorful. Leaning against a dumpster. Or against a wall near an alley in the sun. Immediately recognizable at Steve Keene paintings. I knew of him from Lakeside Lounge on Ave B. The walls of the place were covered […]
Highways: How Denitia is changing country music
Singer and songwriter Denitia is a talented singer who has been opening doors for country music, while identity politics and barriers could be an easy landing for any story about the talented country and folk singer songwriter, the real story is that she’s simply one hell of a musician. My interview with Denitia below. Roderick Thomas: Hi Denitia, so happy […]