Celebrating Community
I was working the day shift at the bustling Star Revue offices. George was pointing his big cigar at staff demanding more copy as I feverishly surfed the wholesome parts of the Internet, desperate for a story. And suddenly there it was. A 1940 photo of an old two-story federal house at 150 Van Dyke Street. The clapboard frame building […]
She Built NYC concept She Built NYC is a public arts campaign that honors women through the installation of monuments that recognize and celebrate their historic impacts on and contributions to New York City (NYC). Former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and First Lady Chirlane McCray launched it in June 2018, after research showed that only five out of the City’s […]
In October, at PS 676, English Language Arts teacher Jen Thomas led her fifth-grade class across the Hamilton Avenue Footbridge, which spans the Gowanus Expressway between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. Directly on the other side, the students got to take a look at Brooklyn Collaborative, a school for grades six through 12 that some of them may attend next […]
In September, Naire McCormick, who grew up in the Red Hook housing projects, was killed by her spouse, who subsequently turned the gun on himself. For the people of Red Hook, this marked the second tragedy within the last year stemming from domestic abuse, where a man has taken it upon himself to claim the life of a woman as […]
Brooklyn Commons to screen anti-nuke documentary by Brett Yates The activist group Brooklyn For Peace will host a free screening of The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons at the Commons Cafe (388 Atlantic Avenue) on September 5 at 7 pm. Advocating for disarmament, the 2019 documentary, directed by Alvaro Orus, tells the history of the atomic bomb, culminating […]
The 10 worst pieces from the New York Times’ stable of regular columnists in 2018
South Brooklynites woke up on the morning of Dec. 27 to find City Councilman Carlos Menchaca’s picture on the bottom of the New York Daily News’ front page. Menchaca was reported to have let three staff members go before Christmas, according to the Daily News — who ran their exclusive article online Dec. 26 and printed the same article […]
On Friday, December 14, the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) converted the LOOK Hotel at 17 Seabring Street into a temporary homeless shelter that will offer 152 beds for “single adult males who are employed or employable.” DHS has contracted Core Services Group, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, to operate the facility. No estimate has been provided for how […]
On October 20, the Red Hook Library hosted a free performance of “Soft” by the Theater of the Liberated. Directed by Carolyn Ferguson, a resident of the Gowanus Houses, the play dramatized the administrative labyrinth that NYCHA tenants have to navigate when they request repairs for their apartments. Last year, the nonprofit Hester Street organized an arts forum called Making […]
Six years after Hurricane Sandy, Red Hook residents are wondering what happened to the city’s promises to safeguard their neighborhood from future floods. The Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System (IFPS) had its official genesis in “A Stronger, More Resilient New York,” the 438-page planning document produced by Mayor Bloomberg’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR) in 2013. “Flexible […]