Celebrating Community
“I’d never been happier in my life. I worked ninety-hour weeks, my telephone rang constantly, I was always hurrying off to interviews and checking the ten-dollar Rolex I’d bought on the street to make sure I wasn’t running late, rushing back to file my copy, and staying up until four a.m. to set type when the typesetter quit. And I […]
Samora Coles is many things. She is an executive director, a mother of two kids, a fiancé. But according to locals, this incredible woman is more than her titles imply. You wouldn’t know by looking at Samora that she has had a rough go of it. She gives off an air of happy-go-lucky optimism that few people, even those born […]
The return of summer weather brings children back onto soccer field and playgrounds. In the sunshine, the children at Carroll Park wait excitedly for Peter Waldman, known to many as Balloon Pete. Pete spends time in the park most afternoons, creating colorful latex animals and toys for the children that play there. In fact, he’s become “pretty darn famous with […]
At Wyckoff Street, on the block located between Court and Smith, Mingo Tull spent his early years hanging out with the other kids in the area. He recalls sitting on the steps of an old brownstone and listening to a late 60’s cover band “The Mudd”, playing out of the home’s living room. “As everyone was playing stickball, I […]
Nino Pantano is an 81-year-old lifelong South Brooklyn resident and a man of many passions, accomplishments and interests. He has lived much of his life in and near the Columbia Waterfront District, where his father, Sam Pantano, owned Pantano’s Shoes at 215 Columbia Street. Nino’s grandfather gave Sam the shoe store as a wedding gift during the depression. In those […]
We have heard the statistics—a shocking 50% of marriages end in divorce (though recent numbers suggest the statistic is falling). We see it in our own lives. On television. It has become commonplace to turn on a sitcom and watch as men and women complain about their long-time spouses, panic about their impending marriages, or get tangled up in messy […]
If you hate Valentine’s Day, the experience can mean anything from a simple headache to salt in the wound of recent heart break. Those lucky in love tend to spend the day with their significant others, with displays of love ranging from low-key affirmations to grand extravagant gestures. And then there are the happy singles, who might spend the day […]
Joshua Palacios first played baseball in Red Hook with his dad when he was three years old. He has recently been able to make his dream come true by being a high selection in this year’s MLB Draft. He came back to Brooklyn for the draft after his college season ended at Auburn. He yearned for the unique feeling of […]
This adventure started on a Tuesday. On the way to work, I stopped by the longshoreman’s union – catching up on waterfront news as well as enjoying coffee and donuts with my friends there. As I was was leaving the union office a little before 1 pm, I caught the tail end of a Leonard Lopate interview on the radio. […]
When seasoned dog owner Opal Dubois spotted a large stray pit bull mix wandering her neighborhood in Staten Island, she was smitten. Intent on capturing him and taking him home, Dubois ran home to get a leash – but he was already gone. Dubois discovered through panicked phone calls that authorities had taken him in, and, despite her protests, he […]