After a decade in the classroom, I’ve accepted my first non teaching job since starting my graduate degree in 2014. Even though the position is for an educational nonprofit, and I’ll be working in a school twice a week, it’s the first fall in many years I won’t be returning to a classroom. There will be no dusting off the […]
Feature Story
Looking for The Remote: Roaming Mass Media, by Joe Enright
For the first in an ongoing series, let’s start at the beginning…Before color screens, before video cassettes, before DVDs, before cable, before Wi-Fi, before Smart TVs – and the thousands of viewing options very few older Brooklynites know how to locate – television programming was sparse. Especially in 1948, when WNET (today’s Channel 13) made its debut with only one […]
Red Hook Softball: No change at the top of the standings, by Brian Abate
June 6, B61 jumped out to a 7-0 lead on MiniBar and cruised to a 17-6 victory. Across the street on Dovey Diamond, Bait & Tackle took an early 4-2 lead but the Record Shop scored seven in a row and won the game 13-5. The Soft Ballers jumped out to a 4-1 lead after 1, before the visiting RecKids’ […]
Audubon Society supports Red Hook Conservancy with a beautiful Bay Street mural, by Brian Abate
It seems like this is the summer of murals in Red Hook. The newest will border some of our new ballfields. It will feature eight at-risk birds that are native to New York. It was made possible thanks to the work of Marlene Pantin, the founder and executive of Red Hook Conservancy who is also involved with the National Audubon […]
Visiting a green space under the subway, by Brian Abate
I attended a tour of the new Lowlands Nursery, located by the Smith and 9th Street subway given last month by the Garden Train, a District 15 volunteer organization that was founded in 2017 and is made up of public school parents, school staff, and community partners They believe that all students deserve a school garden and advocate for school […]
History: It happened in Red Hook, by Brian Abate
While many Brooklynites associate Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest or fireworks with the Fourth of July, the holiday is also an opportunity to celebrate Fort Defiance. The solid land we know as Red Hook was once pretty much a swamp. In the 1630s Dutch settled in the area and began to turn the marshes into farmland. When the Revolutionary War […]
BASIS seniors present projects, by Brian Abate
Red Hook’s BASIS Independent Brooklyn seniors gave presentations on their projects last month in the school auditorium. A wide variety of subjects were chosen by the students. Students worked independently as they finished normal classes in mid-March. The requirement was to work at least 15 hours per week on their projects in the lead-up to their final presentations. In addition […]
Canonizing the Ordinary and Fantastical of “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”, by Dante A. Ciampaglia
There is nothing the least bit remarkable about Rita, the protagonist of Chronicles of a Wandering Saint. She lives in a desperately rural Argentinian town. Her job, as a cleaning lady in the desperately old church, is, like, her marriage, desperately mundane. As if to prove that cameras do capture souls, her Facebook profile photos are either underlit smears or […]
A Red Hook icon is gone, by John McGettrick
Jay McKnight’s recent death was a loss for all of Red Hook. Relativity few people in the community knew of Jay as a highly talented musician whose incredible career spanned over half a century. His vocal talents enhanced the creations of The Dubs and other popular groups. Some of his works are preserved in the Library of Congress. This is […]
The Craft Corner By Marie Hueston and Sage Hueston
Turn worn-out jeans into cute Father’s Day keychains! Father’s Day is right around the corner and if you still need a present for Dad, this is the craft for you. Let’s get started! What you’ll need. Find a pair of old, worn-out, or ripped jeans. If you don’t have any, ask a friend or family member. In addition to your […]