Celebrating Community
Brooklyn is known for many things – its famous wooden roller coaster in Coney Island, its cheesecake from Flatbush Avenue, and its one-time-World Series-winning baseball team, to name a few. However, what many may not know is that it is also home to the country’s fourth oldest military installation and the city’s last active military installation for the past 26 […]
The Monday following a week-long school break may not be the first thing students look forward to, but five seniors in Fort Hamilton High School’s Tiger Battalion Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) were ready early in the morning to speak with me about what it’s been like to be in the program. All five have been part of JROTC […]
The Tiger Battalion at Fort Hamilton High School – not affiliated with the nearby army base – is celebrating its 27th anniversary this year. The Tiger Battalion was the first Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) in the New York City public school system. At Fort Hamilton High School, JROTC can be taken as an elective for one to […]
The first step to take for those who are interested in enlisting in the United States Army – whether it’s active duty or Army Reserve – is to meet with a recruiter at their local recruiting station. Recruiters help people better understand the Army and help them figure out if it is the right fit for them. During a meeting […]
It’s not the sexiest subject, but Red Hook’s ongoing reinvention as an e-commerce shipping hub has for me piqued an interest in logistics. For all their expected negative environmental externalities, the forthcoming last-mile distribution centers on Columbia Street, along with the planned UPS complex near Valentino Pier, at least offer a measure of historical continuity in a neighborhood that once […]
You’ve probably watched the annual spectacle on the local TV new stations or maybe have even participated in it yourself, dressing up in costume and walking the mile-long route in Lower Manhattan. New York City’s Village Halloween Parade is just one of those city-specific events that you can only experience here, much like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the […]
Media, Literally The Human Rights Watch Film Festival comes to New York once a year. So when the director of the film ‘Bellingcat’ — a documentary about a popular European ‘citizen journalism’ site — strongly recommended it, we booked a seat. Citizen Journalism is widely believed to provide a cure for the corporate media model. The concept quite rightly implies […]
Since I live in a very small and ugly apartment, one of my favorite activities when I’m a tourist (in my own city or elsewhere) is to visit historic homes that’ve opened themselves to the public. Different houses serve different purposes. Some – like the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park or Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island, famous primarily for […]
“Where is your bike Robbie?” I heard a very recognizable, somewhat Americanized, across the pond, accent. It was my good friend Gary. I told him that my bicycle got jacked about a week before, from in front of my house. Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. “Here, take this one,” he said, pointing to a bike […]
When the Queen Mary 2 was docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, on May 17, Red Hook took notice. Mark’s Pizzeria put out a sign welcoming the ocean liner that temporarily reconverted the skyline. “I have noticed the QM2 a few times,” Christina Daniels at Pioneer Works wrote in an email. “It always takes me a minute to realize it’s there because it’s […]