SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER The Red Hook Star ª Revue 2ND JULY ISSUE, 2014 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: (please turn to page 3) F or 60 years, the ruckus of ma- chines and tools rang though Golten Marine’s machine shop at 160 Van Brunt. A Red Hook monument goes silent forever photos and text by Micah B. Rubin A hive of mechanics and workers toiled for long hours as they rebuilt engines and drive systems of ships and tankers stranded throughout the world. Even when it was quiet, an air compres- sor’s hiss rang through the workshop. On July 3, Goltens went silent, the building sold to LIVWRK, a developer with plans to convert the industrial space into office and creative spaces. For the employees of Goltens - many of whom spent their careers covered in the building’s grease and grime – the closing hurts. Not because on April 4th, they lost their jobs. Not because they lost their income. Because they lost their family. Since then, the same guys who spent years mending and repairing damaged ship parts have been dismantling their second home. Edik Fishman, a jack-of-all trade with 17 years of Goltens experience was decommissioning the machine shop’s electrical system. While he slowly climbed the studded, grease-caked stairs to the light-soaked second floor, the 70- year old with a grey stubbly beard and smears of grease on his cheeks paused to impart words of advice. “Have more than one child. Who does my son have after I am gone?” he la- mented. “He is alone.” Like losing a family member For the employees of Goltens, shutter- ing the facility is like losing a family member. On some nights, when 2nd shift would finish, rather than head home to their families or to the neighborhood bars, the guys would stay together at the shop. “Friday nights was poker night,” said Sandro Morelli, 66, who originally worked on the night shift. “We would wash up, have sandwiches and play poker until the morning. Just a friendly game to stay together with the people you were working with. Those [nights] I miss,” he said. For 48 years, Sandro worked for Gol- tens, He started in 1966 at Noro In- corporated, a non union shop in New Jersey. His job moved to the company’s unionized Red Hook facility on Van Brunt in 1968, where he worked until retiring in as the Machine Shop Super- visor in January 2014 but temporarily brought out of retirement to help close down the shop. Sandro remembers his first day on the job like it was yesterday. “When I first came here and walked through that door at 9:30 in the morning, everybody in the place spoke a foreign language. We thought Brooklyn was part of America, but we came over here and we couldn’t understand a damn thing. That’s how it started,” he joked. Even today the few remaining workers cleaning up the space maintain that in- ternationality. The General Manager’s originally Croatian, the Service Engi- neer from Spain, Business Development Manager from India, other workers are from Ukraine and South America. “Most of our work force was from other countries,” said Shari Umland, the Hu- man Resource manager who worked for Goltens for 25 years and from time to time brought her son to work with her.
Transcript
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
The Red Hook StarªRevue
2ND JULY ISSUE, 2014
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:(please turn to page 3)
For 60 years, the ruckus of ma-
chines and tools rang though
Golten Marine’s machine shop
at 160 Van Brunt.
A Red Hook
monument goes
silent foreverphotos and text by
Micah B. Rubin
A hive of mechanics and workers toiled for long hours as they rebuilt engines and drive systems of ships and tankers stranded throughout the world.
Even when it was quiet, an air compres-sor’s hiss rang through the workshop.
On July 3, Goltens went silent, the building sold to LIVWRK, a developer with plans to convert the industrial space into office and creative spaces.
For the employees of Goltens - many of whom spent their careers covered in the building’s grease and grime – the closing hurts. Not because on April 4th, they lost their jobs. Not because they lost their income. Because they lost their family.
Since then, the same guys who spent years mending and repairing damaged ship parts have been dismantling their
second home.
Edik Fishman, a jack-of-all trade with 17 years of Goltens experience was decommissioning the machine shop’s electrical system. While he slowly climbed the studded, grease-caked stairs to the light-soaked second floor, the 70-year old with a grey stubbly beard and smears of grease on his cheeks paused to impart words of advice.
“Have more than one child. Who does my son have after I am gone?” he la-mented. “He is alone.”
Like losing a family memberFor the employees of Goltens, shutter-ing the facility is like losing a family member.
On some nights, when 2nd shift would finish, rather than head home to their families or to the neighborhood bars,
the guys would stay together at the shop.
“Friday nights was poker night,” said Sandro Morelli, 66, who originally worked on the night shift. “We would wash up, have sandwiches and play poker until the morning. Just a friendly game to stay together with the people you were working with. Those [nights] I miss,” he said.
For 48 years, Sandro worked for Gol-tens, He started in 1966 at Noro In-corporated, a non union shop in New Jersey. His job moved to the company’s unionized Red Hook facility on Van Brunt in 1968, where he worked until retiring in as the Machine Shop Super-visor in January 2014 but temporarily brought out of retirement to help close down the shop.
Sandro remembers his first day on the
job like it was yesterday. “When I first came here and walked through that door at 9:30 in the morning, everybody in the place spoke a foreign language. We thought Brooklyn was part of America, but we came over here and we couldn’t understand a damn thing. That’s how it started,” he joked.
Even today the few remaining workers cleaning up the space maintain that in-ternationality. The General Manager’s originally Croatian, the Service Engi-neer from Spain, Business Development Manager from India, other workers are from Ukraine and South America.
“Most of our work force was from other countries,” said Shari Umland, the Hu-man Resource manager who worked for Goltens for 25 years and from time to time brought her son to work with her.
Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com July, 2014
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
The Red Hook StarªRevue
JULY 2014 VOLUME 5 NO. 9
Table of ContentsTake Back Gowanus .......... 4 Politics ........................ 9Long Term Disaster Plan... 5 Pete Morales ............. 10Sister Virginia Ingram ....... 7 Cabrini Park .............. 11Editorial & Letters ............. 8 Mary Ann Pietanza ... 14
STAFF
Kimberly G. Price ................................Publisher, Sr. Editor
George Fiala .................................Jr. Editor, Page Designer
Keith J. Klein ........................................................ Reporter
SATURDAY, JULY 12Celebrating Red Hook is a day-long trade show/arts festival taking place behind the outdoor IKEA parking lot. A chance to see the kinds of busi-nesses that reside behind the walls in Red Hook. A chance to hear music and dance that thrive in the neighborhood. All day event topped off with IKEA’S fireworks show beginning at dusk. This annual event is a joint production of IKEA and the Red Hook Star-Revue. Stage spon-sored by Fairway, Security courtesy Andy Frain Services.Urban Meadow Planting and Art Project for Kids 10 am - noon Planting in and then painting pots provided to us by Urban Meadow. Be prepared to get messy. Urban Meadow, President at Van Brunt St. Presented by Extreme Kids & Crew.Common Dances presented by Cora Dance. A collection of short works per-formed in common spaces throughout Red Hook, Brooklyn. Each work will take place in spaces where dance is not commonly seen, among people who generally lack access to live performance. Participants range in age from 8 to mid-60s,including hip hop danc-ers from Red Hook to professional dancers of Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance to Cora’s performing youth company, in work that deals with universal themes such as love, loss, forgiveness, loneliness, all in small packages.
SATURDAY, JULY 26Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition presents the opening day of COLOR, National Juried Art Show, thru August 17th, with a reception featuring really cool things. 2 pm - 6 pm, 499 Van Brunt Street across from Fair-way. Not to miss!
Mahmoud Ahmed at ISSUE Project Room & Pioneer Works Summer Concert Series A verified legend of African pop music, Mahmoud Ahmed led the wave of Ethiopian music’s ‘golden age’ in the 60s-70s with his no-toriously energetic combination of traditional Amharic music with soul, jazz & funk. His multi-octave voice made him household name in Ethio-pia, and a star since nearly the moment he started recording, though this pioneering artist is still relatively obscure in North America. ISSUE and Pioneer Works Center for Art and Innovation are pleased to pres-ent Mahmoud Ahmed live in Red Hook, Brooklyn—his first New York performance since 2008. Additional supporting acts will be announced soon for this indoor/outdoor event, which opens our summer concert series in collaboration with Pioneer Works. 159 Pioneer Street 3-8pm
Artist Reception for Viktor Valášek Artist reception for Recycled Vol.II - NYC by our artist in residence, Czech artist, Viktor Valášek in our Red Hook Studio in Brooklyn NY. The reception will exhibit Valášek’s work from his project Recycled Vol.II – NYC, an exercise in reusing, remak-ing or recycling unwanted canvases from donators. These canvases are the basis of his new work in which Valášek incorporates the donors themselves by either painting their portraits on top or using their likeli-ness in other ways that could only be specified once met in person. DE-CONSTRUKT [projekts] Studio in Red Hook 41 Seabring Street, 3rd Floor 6-9pm
Holler & Slackjaw presents Bluegrass Music. Holler & SlackJaw celebrate New York City’s waters with a mix of traditional, new and original bluegrass songs.Songs about events that occurred on these waters or events that affect them. Multi-layered harmonies are supported by bluegrass instrumentation. Rob Meador, Ian Stell and Doug Pierson. 290 Conover Street, Red Hook Pier 44 2-5 pm
TUESDAY, JULY 29Sacred Geometry and the Architecture of Well-being The Six-Sided Force Lecture Series with Ron Breland Ron’s experiments with alternative hive design for over forty years have convinced him that it’ s necessary to put the “art” back into the “art of beekeeping.” An examination into the relationship between hive structure and the bee organism Ron will discuss the use of alternative hive designs to reduce environmental stresses on bees. His own dodecahedron shaped hives are patterned after the sacred geometry of Pythagoras and the “Endless Columns” of Brancusi. A fascinating topic for artists, designers and beekeepers alike. Pioneer Works 159 Pioneer Street 7pm
Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue
June 2010
Red Hook History
A Monthly Feature of the Red Hook Star-Revue: Knowing our past is vital to knowing our future
Old South Brooklynites don’t forget
easy. To some, Columbia Street
may seem like a fairly bleak thor-
oughfare with a few nice businesses
and a lot of charmless, recent-vin-
tage, red-brick architecture (right).
But to them, it’s where they spent
the Saturday nights of their youth.
From 1900 to 1960 or so, Columbia
Street was what Court and Smith
Streets are today—the place you
bought your goods, ate out, saw
customers, or Sonny and Nancy’s
corner shop on Union, and you’ll
see old black-and-whites of the
bustling strip
in its heyday. (The
same pictures, actually.) One no-
table feature of the street back then
was a huge, standing street clock.
It was on the east side of Columbia
between President and Union. It
was well-known enough that people
would use is as a meeting place,
they way they do the information
booth in Grand Central.
It was removed sometime in the
‘70s. It may not have disappeared
altogether, however. As one old-
timer said to me, “Somebody’s got
that clock somewhere.”
movies, met friends, had fun. Push-
carts lined Union Street between
Hicks and Columbia. There were
shoe stores, movie houses, lun-
cheonettes. Absolutely nothing of
it is left today. The death of the
docks, neglect and a big dig which
caused many buildings to collapse
utterly erased the street as a life
force. But it didn’t erase memories.
Go in Two Fifteen, the newish
Italian chowhouse with the oldish
“Columbia Street Nostalgia: ‘Meet Me at the the Clock’”
by Brooks of Sheffield of Lost City, http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com
Opposite South Brooklyn is Governor’s island, between which and the
shore is Buttermilk channel, about a quarter of a mile wide, in early
times fordable by cattle, but now navigable for the largest vessels. The
portion of land between Buttermilk channel and Gowanus bay is known
as Red Hook point. Brooklyn is for the most part considerably elevated
above tide water. The S. and E. borders are occupied by a broad range
of low hills; a large portion of the S. part of the city is lo
w and level.
Along the East river S. of Fulton street is an irregular bluff, 70 ft. above
the level of the sea, known as Brooklyn Heights. It is thickly built upon,
and affords a magnificent view of the city and bay of New York. The
city embraces several districts stil
l locally known by the names which
they bore when they were distinct municipalities. Brooklyn proper
includes the older portion of the city S. of Wallabout bay, and the part of
this lying S. of Atlantic avenue is known as South Brooklyn. Williams-
burgh includes the thickly settled portions N. of Wallabout bay.
The photos to the left and just below are generously contributed by President
Street author Nino Pantano. They depict two Columbia Street shops owned
by his father, Santo Pantano. His first shop is on the left and it borders a
movie theater where if you look closely you will see that the Phantom is th
e
featured film. The street clock described above was located right in front of
the Florsheim Shoe store pictured below. The photo at the lower right depicts
Red Hook History Begins and Ends With Water
June 2010
Presorted
Standard Rate
US Postage
PAID
Brooklyn, NY
Permit 84
The Red Hook Star-Revue
Serving the Brooklyn Communities of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill Ju
ne 2010
Introducing a New Community Voice
Thank you for taking the time to pick up this, your new monthly commu-
nity newspaper. One of our goals is to serve as a vehicle to bind together the
many disparate voices that make up our cherished Brooklyn neighborhoods.
With an eye to the future grounded in the rich history of our past, we are
open to contributions from those who make up our reading audience. If there
is a neighborhood concern you wish us to explore, or if you are interested in
making a direct contribution as a writer or photographer, please feel free to
contact co-publisher George Fiala at 101 Union Street, or better yet email
Trophy Ceremony will take place on Field #9 immediately
following the Championship Game on June 30th
LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Also in This Issue:(continued on page 5)
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
The Red Hook StarªRevue
MAY 16 - 31, 2012 FREE
The Blue Pencil Lunar Revue
(continued on page 6)
Interview with the new police chiefpage 3
Red Hook Immersion brings the crowds!page 8
Spoofs page 10new original crossword puzzle page 11PLUS LOTS MORE!
Father Claudio Antecini stands atop a shaking foldout table at
the church entrance, pulling down on a jammed bolt lock which he can barely reach even with the assisted el-evation of the table. The bolt is being stubborn, and this is making it hard to open the old wooden door out onto the front steps on Verona Street. Fi-nally a younger member of Koinonia John the Baptist - the evangelical group from Italy that has lived in and run the church since 2010 - approach-es with a push broom. With practiced finesse, he hooks the broom head to the top of the bolt and pulls down on the handle, and the door swings open. “Beautiful!” Father Claudio cheers as he leaps down from the table. The Pastor, who in December was
ordained for a six-year term at the church, cannot be taller than five-foot-eight, and on this early May morning like any other, he is modestly dressed in black slacks and a beige v-neck sweater and clunky black shoes. His most distinctive feature is the pur-ple birthmark along his left jaw, which almost resembles his native country and which must have played some part in the formation of his sense of humor.
On the church steps, a contractor is measuring the height of the landing at the top step down to the ground. He shakes his head. “The ADA [Ameri-can Disabilities Act] says that I have to build one foot of ramp for every inch of height,” he informs the Pastor. “You’re looking at fifty inches, so fifty feet of ramp. It would have to be a zigzag con-struction that would take up this whole front area, and it would be at a cost.” Father Claudio stands rubbing his chin for several seconds. “This is a problem,” he says, in his grainy, me-lodic accent. An ambitious planFather Claudio is familiar with ob-
stacles and seemingly unsolvable problems. Take Visitation Church as an example. When he and his fel-low Koinonia members arrived from Italy, brought in by Bishop DiMar-
Father Claudio revives Visitation Churchby Matt Graber
zio at the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Brooklyn as a last ditch effort, a Hail
Mary, if you will (I can’t help it), the
church was presumed even within the
administration to be in its final days.
“There existed a general sense that
there were few resources to work with,”
says Robert Choiniere, Director of Pas-
toral Planning at the Diocese. “You felt
like whoever came in would be coming
to oversee the church’s decline.” Rumors floated among parishioners that
the Gothic structure would soon be
converted into luxury condominiums.
This sentiment of impending doom was
backed by convincing evidence. Mainly
that by the end of 2010, the church
debt had reached almost $150,000, plus
a $100,000 annual deficit, in addition
to deterioration of its physical structure
from water damage and general neglect.
The parish had been shrinking more or
less steadily since the closing of Visita-
tion School and the boarding up of the
Lyceum (Visitation Hall) in the 1970s.When Father Claudio submitted
his strategic plan, “Christ Jesus Our
Hope,” to the Bishop early in 2011,
Last Saturday saw an onslaught of visitors to Red Hook taking part in Brooklyn
Based’s Red Hook Immersion. We made sure they all picked up the right paper.
On May 8th, the Red Hook Communi-
ty Justice Center hosted its 3rd Annual
Youth Summer Internships and Jobs
Fair at the NYCHA Joseph A. Miccio
Center. Representatives from a variety
of organizations offering job training
and youth development programs sta-
tioned themselves at tables around the
perimeter of the gymnasium to answer
questions and hand out flyers. Among these organizations were the
Crown Heights Community Mediation
Center, offering the Youth Organizing
to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.) pro-
gram, designed to empower youths to
tackle problems such as gun violence in
their communities; Groundswell offers
75-100 seats in the Summer Leadership
Institute, which organizes young people
into mural teams that design and paint
murals in their communities; and the
National Association of Securities Pro-
fessionals New York offers the Financial
and Scholastic Training (FAST) Track
Program, a “rigorous nine-month pro-
gram that exposes talented women and
minority high school students to the fi-
nancial services industry.” A rep from the NYC Department of
Youth and Community Development
was present with applications for the
Summer Youth Employment Program
(SYEP), which “offers work experience,
Justice Center sponsors youth fairby Matt Graber
Father Claudio Antecini has made tough
choices since assuming the role of admin-
istrator in 2010 (Graber photo)
In just two short years we have grown from a novelty
to an institution.
Thank you Brooklyn!
Untitled-3 1 11/20/2013 11:38:35 AM
Help Wanted at the Red Hook Star-Revue
Reporters needed for news and arts coverage in Red Hook and her environs. Enthusiasm more important than experience. Learn on the job.
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 3
The decrease in the number of ships docking in New York coupled with newer and bigger vessels that require less maintenance meant less work for Goltens’ mechanics. In response, the company slowly trimmed their work-force down to 20 employees; the num-ber let go on April 4.
An international enterpriseNot all of Goltens’ business came from the New York Harbor. The company routinely sends crews throughout the world to repair ships. Juan Cadabel, originally from Spain, is one of the Ser-vice Engineers with experience work-ing on fishing boats, container ships, passenger ships, tankers and routinely travels to repair vessels. He knows how
tough working on ships can be. “Four days I [worked with] no sleep,” he said. “This is my record. Day and night.”
Ships still need repairs but in today’s
market but they “come in the morning and leave in the evening and [there] is no time to do anything,” Ivo said. “An owner will not repair the ship in New York. They will repair the ships in the Far East where it is much cheaper.”
Repairs cost a fraction of the price in places like Singapore and China, where Goltens also operates, Ivo said.
“We were only surviving on emergen-cy repair. If the ship cannot leave, we can repair it. That’s how we survived through the years,” Ivo said.
“It’s a sad commentary on the maritime industry. It has struggled for the last 30 years. Goltens was always a bedrock of the industry. With Goltens gone, it leaves an empty space in the New York Harbor and in the United States,” said Dean Couphos, the Operations Manag-er (#2 at the Red Hook facility) with 35 years of ship repair experience including 8 years at Goltens.
“It’s sad because this is where they started. This is where they made their money to get to where they are now,” Sandro said.
Began on Carroll StreetGoltens was founded in 1940 by Sigurd
After 60 years, Golten Marine sells out to developers
“If the old man [Sigurd Golten] knew this was going on, he
would be turning over in his grave right now,”
Golten. Their first shop was on Carroll Street. The company grew and even-tually bought the 100,000 square foot Red Hook building in 1945. As busi-ness grew, Goltens expanded and now operates in 25 cities in 15 countries and remains a family owned and operated company focusing on marine repairs, maintenance, reconditioning and engi-neering components.
“Goltens is a family business. Its roots are in Brooklyn,” said Roy Strand, the Vice President of Goltens Americas and Goltens Europe, and the grandson of the company’s founder. “We’ve been in Brooklyn almost 75 years, but when we looked at the economics and the long-term viability of where we were doing business, we decided it was time to con-solidate our operations. It was a tough decision.”
“If the old man [Sigurd Golten] knew this was going on, he would be turning over in his grave right now,” Sandro said. “But what are you going to do?”
In the United States, Goltens has facili-ties in Miami and is relocating much of the machinery to a workshop being built in Houston. Lathes, drilling machines, drills, babbit machines, even a 40- foot long grinding machine were packed up and sent to repair shops throughout the world: Rotterdam, Oslo, Singapore, Vietnam, Miami, Houston.
Everything left over was scrapped, thrown out or sold at auction.
But not Sandro’s toolbox. For a me-chanic, tools are the key to his liveli-hood, prosperity, and for Sandro, a window into the past. His toolbox was full of gifts. Tools from retired Goltens employees given to him as “something to remember me by,” he said. “A few of them I took home. A socket wrench just to remind me of the people I was associ-ated with for so many wonderful years.”
Like any family, the crew at Goltens had its share of tribulations. Taped to
the back of a door in the upstairs office are photos of downtown Manhattan taken on 9/11, moments after the tow-ers were attacked.
“On the roof we had such a beautiful view of the Twin Towers,” Shari said. “I was sitting at my desk, listening to the radio when one of the planes hit. I went out onto the roof with a colleague. We saw the buildings just falling. There were military [soldiers] outside in gas masks. It was snowing from all the de-bris from the buildings coming down. It was surreal,” she said.
The shop stayed closed for the rest of the week, but when it reopened Shari, like all New Yorkers, proved her re-silience and went back to the roof. “I couldn’t believe the buildings were not there,” she said.
Hurricane Sandy also took a toll on Goltens. “We took a beating with the storm,” Sandro said as he pointed to a
mark six-feet high on the wall. A garage full of reconditioned parts was underwa-ter as were all of their machines. Luck-ily they were able to salvage and repair most of the storm-damaged parts and machines and continue using the space.
In the past few years, the shop caught the film and music industry’s atten-tion. An episode of The Americans was filmed there, as was a Duncan Sheik video, and the movies: Analyze That and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close were both shot there. Sandro was an ex-tra in both movies.
Today, the space is empty, a few odds and ends scattered around waiting to be tossed out. A piece of paper from 2002 lists the employees and their seniority. Signs nailed to the grease-stained brick walls promote workplace safety. The machines are all gone.
“Now it’s like a cave. We had so much machinery here. [At one time] we were running 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. It was always noisy from hammering, machining. Now it is like a ghost,” Ivo said.
“I can’t believe I’m not going to be here anymore,” said Shari, the employee of 25 years. “You go through the phases of: you’re upset, you’re mad. Now I’m done. I’m happy. Change is good, but the thought of change is scary. Every-thing changes, but we had a good run.”
Dominic Rama, long-time Golten’s employee reminisces about the old days.
Ivo Sisic ponders the end of an era.
Edik Fishman takes a last walk upstairs.
Goltens back in 2010, with all their ma-chines still intact.
(continued from page 1)
Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
Lillie Marshall and Phaedra Thomas at an EPA outreach meeting at PS 15.
Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street........718 596-1956Miccio Community Center, 110 East 9th Street .......718 243-1528 Red Hook East Dev. Office, 62 Mill St. ..................718 852-6771Red Hook West Dev. Office, 55 Dwight St. ............718 522-3880
Joseph Alexiou and Sean Gannet lead the July 9th meeting at 501 Union St.
On Wednesday evening, July 9, Gowanus business owners and local residents arrived mere
steps from the pollution-ridden Ca-nal to attend “Take Back Gowanus.” The meeting was called in reaction to City Council Member Brad Lander’s “Bridging Gowanus” series. Though he claimed that his goal was to find a “shared vision” for the future of the in-dustrial neighborhood, Lander’s com-munity meetings were met with frustra-tion and skepticism from a number of locals.
Among these locals was Joseph Alex-iou, who rented the 501 Union Street space to call a meeting of his own in response. Alexiou interrupted the June 25th Bridging Gowanus meeting, argu-ing that the process and the language used by the Pratt facilitators was biased and misleading. Lander’s sessions had split up attendees into groups that could not communicate with each other, and many people found that the conversa-tions were steered towards a residential upzoning plan. Some attendees de-scribed the meetings as “rigged.”
Doors opened at 7pm, and the audience grew until the meeting was called to or-der at 7:30. With almost 100 people in the space normally used for weddings, Alexiou spoke first. He stated his ap-preciation for Lander’s efforts and made it clear that he agreed with the goal of identifying the neighborhood’s shared values. However, he spoke out against the process of Lander’s meetings, insist-ing that his own would follow “demo-cratic and transparent” proceedings.
Gowanus currently faces a turning point as established entities fight to preserve their place in a neighborhood ripe for residential development. The Gowa-
nus Canal is crucial to this defining moment. Declared a Superfund site in 2010, the Federal government has com-pleted an action plan to finally clean the canal. With the EPA plan set, Gowanus is quickly becoming a battleground for competing interests between locals and developers.
Following a presentation on the history of the canal and the timeline of cleanup by EPA Superfund representative Nata-lie Loney, Sean Gannet took over. Gan-net, who organized the TEDxGowanus talks about the Gowanus area, was the facilitator for the evening.
He explained that the night would con-sist of three parts: one in which people could come up and voice their ideas for the neighborhood’s future, a second in which these points would be discussed and debated, and a third in which these ideas could be distilled and summarized. With that, people began lining up to speak.
(continued on page 12)
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 5
On the evening of Monday, June 23, roughly 30 Red Hook resi-dents, community organizers,
and politicians met at the Miccio Cen-ter to discuss progress on the Long-Term Community Recovery Plan. This proj-ect, funded by the Red Hook Coalition, has the goal of of producing a localized strategy to be put into place for the first 72 hours of a disaster. The impetus, of course, comes from the resilience mantra that was pervasive following Sandy.
Noël Kepler, managing partner of Emer-gency Management Methodology Part-ners (EMMP) is the Red Hook Coali-tion’s hired hand. Her firm specializes in creating these plans.
Before diving into a simulation exercise, Noël summarized the progress of the past meetings: volunteers in emergen-cies would organize support groups with specific tasks depending on the situation. The tasks would emphasize communica-tion between the groups and providing both information and relief services for the residents, by the residents.
Noël introduced Readiness Day. While details have still to be worked out, on September 13th the Red Hook Coalition will hold a disaster simulation.
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez was present in a show of support and elec-tioneering. She emphasized the neces-sity of a “response from the ground up” in disastrous events, and expressed her “gratitude for all the effort, energy, com-
RED HOOK COALITION FINALIZES LONG-TERM COMMUNITY RECOVERY PLANby Harrison Neuhaus
mitment, and participation,” to ensure a plan that would leave Red Hook “built to last.”
Noël picked up off of Velazquez’s com-ments, explaining that the EMMP will
remain in Red Hook for two months to present the plan to local residents. The official document will be about 25 pages - condensed to 4 pages of practical infor-mation - and then into a “map” of the plan. This would be a single laminated page for residents to refer to, featuring “useful and legible” symbols created by local design group, Thread Collective.
The group was organized to prep a walk-through of the plan. Attendees were di-vided into six groups representing “sup-port functions” in an emergency. With animated leadership, Noël dictated a scenario of what she dubbed “Hurri-
cane Nydia,” going through the stages of weather advisory to evacuation, and 72 hours following. The idea is that for the first 3 days, little organized government assistance is available. She insisted that there be “no FEMA jokes tonight.”
At every phase of the Sandy-modeled scenario, each group announced what actions they would take, including: com-munication and coordination; logistics; utilities; public safety; medical assistance; food; and shelter. Afterwards, the groups stayed divided to work out further details and suggest more actions for their sup-port functions.
The room became alive with discussion at each table as people voiced their ideas. Proposals included reserving stocks of generators and gas tanks for the stock-pile, organizing church bell alerts, and ensuring a supply of low-tech equipment like bullhorns and banners.
Velazquez spoke up about her work bring-ing in donations from food companies like Goya and Jetro.
Assemblyman Félix Ortiz was also pres-ent. “What you’re doing is remarkable,” he said to the attendees, adding that their work “is important because you went through it.”
Ortiz also joined the practical conversa-tion, suggesting that the group contact certified Red Cross volunteers in the area. He also chimed in on the issue of public safety and welfare checks. While group addressed how to ensure that vol-
unteers would have a list of residents who had signed up for these emergency wel-fare checks, Félix explained the necessity of treating this information as sensitive personal records.
The event ran smoothly all the way through to the end, thanks in great part to Noël’s enthusiasm. As the meeting wrapped up with questions and com-ments, Noël handled each question as it came up. She explained that organi-zational concerns like the welfare check lists and involvement of new schools were already under consideration, but admired the people’s thorough attention.
With a final reminder to keep posted for
details on the September 13 Readiness Day, the meeting drew to a close. She praised the people’s work. “We have built our plan and we have said our piece,” she concluded, before adding that, “in 15 years I have never seen a community come together like this.”
On the evening of Wednesday, June 25, city officials and Red Hook locals met in P.S. 15 for a meeting on Hurri-
cane Sandy recovery progress. Sponsored by City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, the meeting was called mainly to inform citizens about the status of programs like Build it Back, and the city’s investments in future disaster prevention.
The school’s gym was filled with rep-resentatives from the NYC Housing Authority, the Office of Resiliency and Recovery, the 5th Avenue Commission, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, COJO Flatbush, South Brooklyn Legal Services, and especially the Build it Back program. A long table was set up with six comput-ers and six Build it Back advocates, ready and waiting to offer residents on-the-spot support. At the front, the stage was be-ing set with projectors and microphones while neighborhood residents filed into the auditorium seats. Frustration has been the main sentiment in Red Hook since the storm, due to mainly to disorga-nized response and relief efforts from the city. Officials have felt this, and tried to use the meeting to address this unhappy situation.
The theme of the night was progress and reassurance of the city’s commitment to the neighborhood. Though he arrived late and had to leave early to approve a new budget, councilman Carlos Mencha-
ca delivered a message of optimism to the crowd. “[Build it Back] had been failing us,” he said, “[but] as we engage, beautiful things are going to happen.” Appealing to Red Hook’s unique nature, Menchaca acknowledged that the neighborhood is different from Coney Island, Staten Island, and Rockaway; and as such, the community must get involved to make it work for them. Urging local feedback once more before he left, the councilman left the meeting with a plea: “Don’t stop connecting with us.”
As representatives from several city de-partments took turns presenting, each offered new means of improving the recovery process. Bill Goldstein, advi-sor of recovery and resiliency to Mayor de Blasio, spoke first. Goldstein proudly announced that the Mayor has made the recovery process a priority; he has assured 500 construction starts and 500 reimbursement checks to be completed by Labor Day.
Amy Peterson, head of Build it Back, also made an appearance. Build it Back has been a very troubled project since its inception, and Peterson was the first to recognize that. New York City’s answer to the major damage from Hurricane Sandy was meant to offer millions of dollars of assistance to families and busi-nesses reconstructing their homes in the aftermath of the disaster. Five pathways were made available for victims: repair,
repair and elevation, recon-struction, reimbursement, or acquisition. However, a com-bination of factors including poor public communication, confusing qualification guide-lines, and changing leader-ship neutralized the efforts of the program until recently. Amy explained that of the thousands of residents who sustained hurricane damage in Red Hook and Gowanus, only 121 had actually applied to the program. Of those, only eight had selected their assistance option.
But Amy remained optimistic, promising new measures aimed at expediting and simplifying the Build it Back process. She explained that the Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development (HUD) would be eliminating priority levels, meaning that regardless of an applicant’s income level they would receive their assistance in the same amount of time as anyone else. The program would also provide relief from water bills for those with uninhabitable homes. The problem remains, however, that the cutoff date for program registration is long gone, having passed in October 2013.
Though she spoke quickly, Amy also touched on two of the most significant topics for in the post-Sandy discussion: communication and resiliency. She
promised the appointment of borough directors to oversee progress more local-ly, as well as efforts at simplifying public access to Build it Back information and a new web portal allowing applicants to track their status in real time. On issue of rebuilding she advocated raising build-ings, skimming over new construction guidelines for base flood elevation, and explaining the option to work with a city contractor or enlisting a private business. In the end her presentation felt rushed, but Amy made herself available after the presentation to address residents’ ques-tions and concerns.
Dan Zarrilli was arguably the most im-portant guest of the night. As Director of the Office of Recovery and Resiliency, Zarrilli plays an active role in nearly all facets of post-Sandy recovery. Work-ing with his own office, the Office of
Another Town Meeting discusses Sandy recovery shortfallsby Harrison Neuhaus
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz praises the process. (photos by Fiala)
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez chatting with Martha Bowers of Dance Theatre Etcetera
Dan Wiley and John McGettrick question Dan Zarrilli, director of the new Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
(continued on page 6)
Page 6 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
JABUS BUILDING CORP.Serving Red Hook for over 25 years
Specializing in Construction and Historic Preservation• New construction
Saturday July 12th promises to be a day of fun and celebration at Red Hook’s Erie Basin. The Red
Hook Star-Revue, South Brooklyn’s community newspaper, in collabora-tion with IKEA and Fairway Mar-kets present “Celebrating Red Hook.”
The day will feature over thirty lo-cal Red Hook businesses showing off their work. In addition, there will be a stage where a full day of music and dance will be presented. Finally, at dusk, IKEA’s annual fireworks display will dazzle the Brooklyn waterfront once again.
“The idea for Celebrating Red Hook occurred to me when I was covering an Open House Red Hook event for the paper,” says George Fiala, founder of the Star-Revue. “I was amazed at the variety of businesses occupying the 18th century warehouses that ring Red Hook.”
The stage program, sponsored by Fair-way, begins at noon. Scheduled to ap-pear are Cora Dance, performing their current show “Common Dances”; Ty-quan Carter, a local rapper who pro-duced a movie about living through Hurricane Sandy; and rock, country and jazz groups including: The Paisley Fields, Running Thoughts, The Other
Long-Term Planning and Sustainability (OLTPS) and acting as city liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), he is responsible for both re-building the damaged areas of the city and preparing it for future disasters.
Zarrilli’s presentation focused on the fu-ture instead of dwelling in the past: he addressed several different strategies for making the city more resilient in the long term. Zarrilli also addressed the implica-tions of climate change on the rebuild-ing plans, taking into account the very real prospects of future weather patterns. Storms like Sandy will become more fre-quent as climate change continues, and Zarrilli claims that by 2050 sea levels will rise between 1-2 feet. For communities like Red Hook, such drastic changes would spell huge problems even beyond the scope of Sandy’s damage. “Sandy showed us our vulnerability,” he explained. But that gives us the opportunity to “build re-silience into everything we do.”
The Office of Recovery and Resiliency has drafted multiple lines of defense against future disasters. Among these are plans to strengthen coastlines, upgrade buildings, create protections around infrastructure and services, and to ul-timately make affected neighborhoods safer and more vibrant. According to Dan, the city currently has 257 initia-tives in the works, which he says “is good progress, but it’s still early.” As a tangible example, Zarrilli claims that Con Edison will be adopting information and projec-tions on climate change for their power grids, meaning that they should be able to handle storm damage better.
The centerpiece of the neighborhood defense is the proposed Integrated Flood Protection System, about which there has been some confusion. Zarrilli de-scribed a combination of temporary and permanent solutions, including improved drainage systems and deploy-able water walls. The advantage to these smaller piecemeal protections is that Red Hook waterfronts will remain open and unhindered until the arrival of a storm, at which point these walls can be deployed as a first line of defense. Such designs
are to be made in collaboration with the Army Corps of Engineers. Zarrilli’s main goal as of now is to secure funds for these protections and to expedite the ap-proval process through both FEMA and New York State. As he promised several times, “the city is absolutely committed to this project,” and Zarrilli seems intent on keeping that promise.
Last to take the stage was NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) Vice-President for Disaster Recovery, Mike Rosen. Rather than deliver excuses, Rosen made a point of sympathizing with Red Hook residents as he explained the state of recovery. Ac-cording to the NYCHA rep, Sandy af-fected over 700 buildings, including 35 developments with significant damage. NYCHA remains in negotiations with FEMA, which is why they have only managed temporary repairs as they await their funding. Rosen estimates that the recovery twice exceeds NYCHA’s entire 5-year capital plan. In short, his depart-ment is just as frustrated as the residents.
Temporary repairs are the most pressing issue as NYCHA continues waiting for federal funding, and boilers have been the subject of much debate. Rosen ad-mitted that the oil-burning boilers that many NYCHA buildings have been us-ing since Sandy were less than ideal: they are expensive, noisy, high in pollution, older, and harder to maintain. But there was positive news, too, amidst the com-miseration: Rosen announced that they would be replacing these older machines with gas boilers instead. Rather than renting them, NYCHA would be pur-chasing these boilers at favorable rates, enough that each development would get two mobile boilers to ensure proper heat-ing even if one is under maintenance.
Though permanent work remains subject to federal funding, Rosen took the opti-mistic stance: “We can leverage this di-saster to make our buildings better than they were before Sandy.” Though both the department and the neighborhood will continue playing the waiting game with federal money, improvements are already being designed. New permanent boilers will be elevated and placed out-side of basements; heat distributors will be replaced; crawl spaces and entrances will be waterproofed; exterior lighting will be upgraded; solar-powered emer-gency lighting systems will be installed; and local developments will have back-up power generators for the first time in NYC public housing history.
The official presentations ended on this positive note, and attendees were en-couraged to speak with the representa-tives stationed around the auditorium. Build it Back desks were filled with Red Hook citizens seeking guidance on their applications, while the presenters stuck around to answer questions. Not ev-eryone was impressed, however. Sheryl Braxton, one of the local attendees, was still skeptical. “People don’t know what to expect here,” she said, after expressing her disillusionment with the city’s efforts. If there are so few results, she questions, “Why are we having all these meetings?” But Dan Zarrilli remained optimistic. Echoing his earlier statements, he insists that the city is making a “meaningful commitment” to the neighborhood, and is dedicated to finishing both rebuilding and creating future protections. Only time will tell the success of these efforts, and until then Red Hook continues a slow, but hopeful recovery.
Side, Union and the Chocolate Cuckoo Clocks. All performers live or work in the Red Hook area.
Participating merchants and institu-tions include NY Water Taxi, the Car-roll Gardens Association, Red Hook Ini-tiative, Fleisher’s Pasture-Raised Meats, Leicht German Kitchen Center, Casa Kids, Art & Anvil Liberty, Fairway, Pitt Cooking Display, Red Hook Winery, and Nat Sherman tobacconists, who operate a pop up store in Red Hook every sum-mer. There will be plenty of sampling as well as items for sale.
IKEA has been a great community partner in Red Hook since opening in 2006, and is donating Erie Basin Park for this event. The stage, sponsored by Fairway will be under the large crane in back of the outdoor parking lot, next to NY Water Taxi. Security is do-nated by Andy Frain Services. Sound and stage by Mingo Tull.
For more information contact George Fiala or Kimberly Gail Price at 718 624-5568.
The Star-Revue’s website is www.star-revue.com. IKEA of course will be open during the event for furniture shopping and of course their famous Swedish meatballs!
Sandy recovery topic of community meeting at PS 15(continued from page 5)
See all Red Hook has to offer at all day art and artisan event this Saturday
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 7
Virginia Ingram’s 100th birthday was celebrated on June 28th at the Red Hook church she helped found
over fifty years ago. The New Brown Memorial Baptist Church, a block from the Clinton Street post office, was filled with family members from all over the country, and well wishers including Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.
Deaconess Ingram was born in Lynch-burg, Virginia. She grew up helping her father riding horses and chopping wood, as one speaker mentioned during the hour-long program. She came to New York in 1930, and worked in the gar-ment district.
She married in 1946 and came to the Red Hook Houses in 1951. Their first apartment was at 811 Hicks. It was there that she met Andrew McBride. She be-came part of a group that started the church. Before they acquired a building, they held services in their apartments.
The service was emceed by Lillie Mar-shall, President of the Red Hook West Tenant’s Association. “This is my church,” she confided to the Star-Revue. She introduced a slew of speakers who sang the praises of Deaconess Ingram, who sat in a wheelchair next to the front row, listening attentively and smiling throughout most of the afternoon.
A number of speakers spoke of Ms. In-gram’s persistent optimism and of the great influence she has had in their lives.
When the new pastor, Reverend Jamal, first took his position at the church, he went to visit Ms. Ingram at a nearby nursing home. He thought he was be-ing solicitous when he told her that he
came to see a beautiful woman. “Pull my stroller over there and I’ll show you where one is!” was her spirited reply.
Following Lillie’s introduction and a few speeches at the podium, four members of the church choir led the congrega-tion in a spirited gospel song - complete with claps and the accompaniment of the church organist. “Hallelujah!” they called out.
After this, one of the younger men sit-ting in the church came up to speak. Deaconess McBride was his Godmother.
He spoke of spending much time in her apartment at 811 Hicks, 5D, learn-ing at her feet. He then reminded the congregation of the continuing battle for voting rights, which started fifty years ago in Jackson, Mississippi, and unfortunately continues on today. He mentioned Fannie Lou Hamer, who was beaten in prison while working for vot-ing rights.
McBride said that unfortunately, not much has changed, as he referenced the building of a new neighborhood school not meant for the neighborhood kids. He called Red Hook a feeding ground for the prison system.
On a more positive note, he spoke of the music classes he runs at the church every Thursday. He said that the classes are open for everyone. The conservancy classes are $5 for children living in the Houses, $150 for everyone else. “One hundred fifty dollars is the going rate everywhere else,” he said. He said that music teaches a child the discipline which they can then apply to algebra and the other subjects.
“Bitterness is not the appropriate re-
sponse to evil,” McBride said. He con-tinued “I have never heard Miss Ingram say one word of bitterness - only love.”
After this stirring speech, Nydia Velazquez, obviously highly impressed, stopped McBride, saying that if there was anything she could help with, just ask. McBride is the son of the Church founder, Andrew McBride, a NY Times bestselling author of The Color of Water, and a friend and writing partner of Spike Lee. The church in Red Hook Summer was based upon New Brown Baptist.
Congresswoman Velazquez recited a history of Virginia Ingram’s life. “I come here to honor you,” she said, look-ing directly at Sister Ingram. “Because of the work you have done with the church you have made Red Hook a bet-
ter place.” She presented the Deaconess with a letter signed by President Obama and his wife, celebrating her centennial. Other speakers gushed at the podium. A colorfully dressed Barbara Bethea sang a beautiful song.
Reverend Jamal had the congregation recite Psalm 111, which includes the verse “the Lord is gracious and full of compassion,” noting that the verse fit Sister McBride perfectly.Following the ceremony, everyone made their way to the church basement, where a scrumptious buffet luncheon awaited them. Following two helpings of fried and baked chicken, collard greens, sweet potatoes (made by Miss Marshall), mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and a fresh peach cobbler, this reporter had to go home and take a nap.
New Brown Baptist celebrates Sister Ingram’s Centennialby George Fiala
“Bitterness is not the appropriate response to evil,” McBride said. “I have never heard Miss Ingram say one word
of bitterness - only love.”
Deaconess Virginia Ingram was born in 1914.
Page 8 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
Last issue we published a letter that was sent around by Mary from Dry Dock Wines & Spirits. Her letter elicited this response from Carolina Salguera of Portside.
Dear Mary, Sorry for my delay in re-sponding. I was out of NYS and then came the 4th of July weekend. Thanks for caring enough for Red Hook to write the email and to come to so many meet-ings.
I’ve heard you at several Red Hook San-dy meetings say similar things to what you wrote in your 6/20 email “we’ve heard this all before… what’s the point of this meeting… until I get money for my damages… there is no point to [whatever is going on here].
I understand your frustration. The of-ficial recovery system was terrible in many ways.
However, I disagree with your conclu-sion that meetings I know you to have criticized are all the same and all point-less. I refer to:
1. The NY Rising resiliency open house weekend at 351
2. The recent meeting convened by Scott Stringer at PS 15
3. The 6/25 meeting Jorge Muniz an-nounced, which prompted you to write the 6/20 email to which I am responding
I want to explain why I say that in an effort to help identify steps and tools to solutions and to help prevent the hope-lessness that can result from thinking there is no solution, or from thinking that there is no integrity to any process or any of the players.
I feel the need to say that I and PortSide do have Sandy damages, and we have faced and are facing the recovery bu-reaucracy. I mention that so you know we have faced the challenges too - with our real estate challenges on top of our Sandy damages. As of our last FEMA “project worksheet” a few weeks ago, our tab is up to $300,000+. More on Port-Side’s Sandy damages and paperchase at the bottom for those who want to know.
I think it is important to differentiate between meetings (and services) that are about recovery (damages) and resil-
iency (prevention).
1 - Above, NY Rising, was about resil-iency/prevention. That process was not about remuneration for your damages or anyone else’s.
That meeting pertained to money com-ing to Red Hook and how to spend it ($3MM guaranteed and more likely); and once the $200MM comprehensive flood prevention plan was announced by Cuomo and Biden, that NY Rising process was also about informing and influencing how that $200MM would be spent.
Would you like a community-informed comprehensive flood prevention plan? Or is a meeting about that pointless?
To my mind, such a meeting is impor-tant. That’s why I donated my time to be a NY Rising committee member for 8 months and why I had PortSide staff help me research and write documents, blog-posts and webpages for the community.
2 - Regarding the Stringer meeting, I think it is important to differentiate be-tween targets.
First rule of war, know your enemy and don’t shoot your allies.
When you waved at all the officials at the front of the room during the Scott Stringer meeting and blasted them for a year and a half of failures, that was shooting the wrong team. Those were the newly elected and appointed peo-ple, installed to fix the errors of the last administration.
3 - The 6/25 meeting I did not attend because I was away, but it looks like it was offering info/services of use to some people (though maybe not you), regard-less of whether the Build it Back process was improving (and I sure hope it is) The useful info/services I refer to are:
• Foreclosure prevention counseling;
• Legal and financial resources for homeowners and renters
• Temporary Disaster Assistance;
• Resiliency and Coastal Protection Updates for Red Hook & NYC
Red Hook has to get serious about the last item. A lot of Sandy damage could have been prevented, and I hope people don’t get caught to flat footed again.
I think anger in public meetings has its place, but I think it is better as one of the last arrows in the quiver to use. Anger up front, and that was Stringer
& Co’s first Red Hook meeting, can alienate the folks who can help. It can also drive away people within the com-munity who are not comfortable with that style. It also can tear apart the so-cial fabric within the neighborhood it-self, which is a big reason I think anger should be used judiciously.
To affirm another MO, negotiating and building relationships is a good way to get solutions, which I will explain with a PortSide Sandy recovery anecdote.
This afternoon I had 3 calls with 2 peo-ple about our FEMA recovery funds for Sandy damages, and had such a great experience with them.
Our NYS OEM contact said the fol-lowing about the FEMA guy who wrote our “project worksheet.” She said “he so loves what you do, he is very willing to
help you with information on the trailer refurbishers. I talked to him about that.” He’s just called offering info.
Backstory: We have 4 Sandy-damaged 53’ trailers (such as in a tractor trailer truck) we have to get out of Atlantic Basin parking lot by week of 7/28, af-ter getting rid of the marine hardware collection in three. We have no expe-rience dealing with trailer disposal and were not given much time to work this out. The FEMA team estimated costs on trailer disposal as part of their job, and they are willing to tell us how the “trailer refurbishing” industry works and even refer us to some vendors in order to help us figure out how to get rid of the things. Yes, I just got friendly customer service from FEMA, likely help beyond their normal job description. - Carolina Salguera
The Red Hook Star-Revue in-vites Mayor Bill de Blasio to a community forum to tell us in
person how he has saved healthcare in South Brooklyn.
This newspaper began publishing in 2010. By that time, Brad Lander had already succeeded de Blasio in the city council. We did not get to know him as councilman.
We did finally meet de Blasio on a hot day last summer, spotting his small en-tourage walking up Hicks Street to join a LICH rally. Frequent rallies were be-ing organized by the nurse’s union in
Tish James on NYCHA Downsizing
In an effort to keep housing in New York within the financial reach of most middle class New Yorkers, Mayor de Blasio has promised to pre-
serve and create 200,000 units of affordable hous-ing over the next ten years. In July 2013, the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) began to “downsize” ten-ants living in government-supported apartments deemed too large for that particular household’s “basic needs.” This change was due in part to $35 million in federal Section 8 cuts to the City. Un-fortunately, HPD’s current strategies to implement downsizing has, in certain circumstances, made life more difficult for seniors, people with disabilities and other vulnerable New Yorkers.
To be clear, I do not believe that the concept of downsizing is inherently unjust or unreasonable. In the face of the cuts to Section 8 funding experienced by the City, I understand that the alternative could be reducing subsidies or eliminat-ing them entirely for some tenants. But I believe we need to do better. Other local leaders, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, are raising questions about the “transparency, basic fairness and a perceived lack of unifor-mity” in the way that HPD’s downsizing process is being carried out.
Complaints of unfair treatment have resonated so much that affected tenants have recently formed the Housing Coalition Against Downsizing. Its ranks in-clude many former Mitchell-Lama program tenants who only became eligible for Section 8 when their buildings began to charge market rate rent. According to a recent Daily News article, 42% of these tenants are disabled and one-third are senior citizens. It is important to recognize that disabled tenants have a right to request a reasonable accommodation from the downsizing policy. But based on the information my office has received from impacted residents, many disabled tenants are not aware that they have a choice.
I believe that at a minimum, HPD ought to work with targeted tenants to de-termine if they qualify for any exemptions. As things stand now, elderly and disabled tenants are given only 15 days to document proof for being exempted from downsizing. And if these tenants cannot demonstrate that they meet the exemption criteria, they are often forced to pack their bags and move out in a
their fight with SUNY Downstate. We became friendly with him, his spokes-person Wiley Norvell, and his assistant, Emma Wolfe. Attending LICH rallies became part of his campaign strategy, and we followed him through his arrest, his vigil at 97 Amity and his leadership at many pro-LICH demonstrations.
The future mayor said all of the right things, until at one point he stopped using the word “hospital”, and start-ing talking about saving “healthcare.” Those paying attention noticed the subtle shift, but kept hoping that the hospital would be saved.
With the court cases now played out, re-sulting in LICH’s demise, we did not need to be reminded of the mayor’s failure.
Last week we were not only reminded, but jarred. A letter arrived in every-one’s mailbox telling us of the great job the mayor has done saving health-care. A bit of research revealed that the mailing was executed by a mayoral ad-vocacy group.
Local Assembly candidate Pete Sikora writes in Crain’s NY:
“LICH was indeed mismanaged and very poorly marketed, yet better man-agement, marketing and some collab-
orative cost-cutting with doctors and unions would have saved the institu-tion. Instead, people have already died as a result of the closure and over a thousand jobs are lost. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and SUNY were determined to sell the property to real estate develop-ers. Sadly, greed—not the public inter-est—appears to have won the day.”
Please Mr. de Blasio – come back to our neighborhood to tell us in person what a great job you have done saving our hospital. You can pick the time and place.
(continued on next page
Leticia James is NYC’s Public Advocate.
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 9
That Crazy World of Politicsby George Fiala
News from the Independent Neighborhood Democrats
by Mark Shames, President
The Independent Neighborhood Democrats do not typically meet during the summer months, so it will in one sense be quiet until September. However, individual members will be actively promot-
ing their candidates by door knocking, hosting meet and greets and fund-raisers.
Petitioning has ended and petitions have either been submitted or are in the process of being bound into volumes for submission to the board of elections. It is not unknown, but it is rare in these parts for there to be chal-lenges to remove individuals from the ballot. It is generally thought that such a challenge will put the highly prized New York Times endorsement in jeopardy.
It is still anticipated that Pete Sikora, IND’s candidate for the Assembly in the 52nd Assembly District, will be on the ballot opposed by two oth-ers, as will our judicial candidate Diana Szuchet. We still believe that it is possible that Paige Bellenbaum, our candidate for District Leader, will be unopposed. In our only other contested race, for the seat that Borough President Adams vacated, Jesse Hamilton, who has also been endorsed by the Borough President, has announced that he has submitted 8,000 peti-tion signatures.
Sunday fundraiser at Gowanus shuffleboard palace I will be attending a joint fundraiser for Paige and Pete at the Royal Palms shuffleboard center at 514 Union Street on Sunday July 13th starting at 6:30. Pete is running in a highly competitive race and needs enough money to get his message out while Paige, as a newcomer to politics, still has to introduce herself to the wider community.
This lull in our activities provides an opportunity to reflect on the successes and disappoints that we have faced as a community. Our greatest disap-pointment is the prospect of the loss of Long Island College Hospital as a full service facility. The speed with which Downstate reversed itself on its plans led many of us to believe that it was not acting in good faith with our community from the outset.
Cuomo bears the blame for LICH demise Though I still feel obligated to support IND’s endorsed candidate for Gov-ernor, Andrew Cuomo, I place the responsibility for the closing squarely at his feet; he after all appoints the entire SUNY board. I have yet to be convinced that LICH had to close, even as I tried to remain open to per-suasion. Since I am most likely to need a health care facility in an emer-gency for a heart attack or stroke, the remaining services are not of primary importance to me and that perhaps colors my feelings. We, at IND, were certainly aware of the work that Pete Sikora did leading Parents for LICH when we gave him our endorsement. We, at our annual dinner, acknowl-edged Jim Walden for his tireless efforts first as Public Advocate de Blasio’s and then as the community’s counsel advocating for the continuation of full services at LICH..
What is now promised is far better than the shutdown that we originally faced and the concerted effort by our local and city officials may be credited for the retention of some meaningful services that will at least be overseen by a top quality institution.
Some victoriesThere are, however, things for us to cheer. Through the hard work of Paige Bellenbaum and Steve Miller, and the membership of the Coalition for Carroll Gardens, a notorious landlord together with an operator of home-less shelters have been thwarted in their attempt to house 170 homeless men in a 10 unit building in Carroll Gardens. Also in an historic first the EPA has included a requirement for a reduction in combined sewer over-flows as part of its Record of Decision with regard to the Gowanus Canal Superfund remediation.
Beware the redistricting wolfOn the political reform front things remain either in doubt or bleak. There remains some renewed hope for campaign finance reform in the next ses-sion. Unfortunately our best hope with regard to redistricting isn’t progress but to avoid embedding the worst of the current system in our state consti-tution. We ought to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment with regard to redistricting this November. What reform elements called for was non-partisan redistricting. What the proposed constitutional amendment calls for is “bipartisan” redistricting. This allows the two main parties to continue to conspire to choose their voters rather than the voters being empowered to choose their representatives. If for some reason this system isn’t enough to protect our incumbents, they have written the amendment so that they may reject the “bipartisan’ proposal and do things as they have always done in the past. The proposed redistricting amendment is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
hurry. Not surprisingly, this policy invites unnecessary anxiety and bureaucratic error-making for a population that deserves to be treated with greater thought and care.
In the short run, there should be a moratorium on downsizing to allow for more appropriate procedures to be developed. Second, the downsizing program should be made entirely voluntary. As an incentive for seniors to downsize, HPD and nonprofits ought to offer money and other assistance to help make moving less burdensome.
It would be a shame if one of the unintended consequences of downsizing would be to force seniors, the disabled and other vulnerable New Yorkers to abandon their homes, neighbors, and local services to which they’ve become attached over the years. The City must exercise great caution when implementing housing policies that require people to sever long-standing ties to their com-munities. We must at all costs provide similar housing in the same neighbor-hood wherever possible.
Finally, downsizing must be evaluated as part of an overall strategy to make the city a suitable place to grow old. According to a recent report by the Depart-ment of City Planning, New York’s population aged 65 and over is expected to increase by 175,000, or 17.5 percent, between 2010 and 2020, and by an additional 187,000, or 15.9 percent, between 2020 and 2030. Given cuts to programs like Mitchell-Lama, and recent assaults on rent control and stabiliza-tion, the City must create fair and appropriate policies that protect New York-ers, not harm them.
For a sensible downsizing policy(continued from previous page
Race to replace Millman heats upJo Anne Simon has been waiting pa-tiently in the wings to replace Assem-blywoman Joan Millman. In May, Mill-man rather unexpectedly announced her retirement from the Assembly. The Simon endorsements came in as expected - Nydia Velazquez, Central Brookyn Democrats, Scott Stringer, Carlos Menchaca, Lambda Indepen-dent Democrats - all the usuals.
However, it has become far less than a shoo-in. Walking into 104 1st Place in Carroll Gardens, to the endorsement meeting of the Independent Neighbor-hood Democrats, Simon’s home club, members were greeted at the door by Pete Sikora. Sikora, who had been in-volved in the LICH fight was obviously working the race behind the scene.
The club was filled to capacity, and at the end of a long, contentious meeting, Sikora ended up winning the club’s en-dorsement by a couple of votes.
Sikora also won the endorsement of the Working Family Party (WFP), home of progressive Democrats. Topping even that is the support of a crew of our ma-
jor local politicians, including Dan-iel Squadron, Brad Lander and Steve Levin. They all came out for Pete’s of-ficial announcement which took place 8:30 in the morning on June 30th, out-side the Nevins Street subway station on Smith Street.
Mary Frost was there that morning, and wrote it up in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Her article contained a telling quote from an obviously frustrated Simon.
She was “dismayed that Brad would sup-port a paid lobbyist with such limited involvement within our district and the organizations that are its lifeblood over my proven record of community activ-ism, leadership and reform.”
If nothing else, Brad is blessed with a silver tongue. His apt comeback, also reported by Frost, was “If what lobbying means is somebody who’s lobbied to keep kids safe from lead poisoning, to protect the environment, to fight income in-equality, and for progressive issues, that’s the kind of lobbying I want to support.”
This will be a fun race to watch, and will for sure provide some good summer entertainment. The primary is sched-uled for September 9th.
Paige Bellenbaum, Brad Lander, Daniel Squadron and Steve Levin all line up to work for the tall Pete Sikora. (photo by George Fiala)
Page 10 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
The Star-Revue speaks to Pete Moralesinterview by Amanda Decker
“Back when I was a kid Red Hook was an area of rec-reation. We had a lot of
parks, and we always had the water...
As kids we were always very active on the docks. Lots of swimming, and just hanging out down there. It use to be more like a beach so that we could just walk right up to the water. It was something all the kids did.
When we weren't swimming we had a lot of other things to do too. We had a couple of theaters nearby. There was the Pioneer Theatre down on Pioneer Street, and the Happy Hour Theatre over on Columbia Street. If I remem-ber correctly, a flick would cost you about 25 cents back then.
There was also the Community Cen-ter over near where the Red Hook Houses are now. They had some-thing for everybody; they had CYO programs there, and everything was open to the public free of charge. I re-member they had a lot of after school classes for the kids. Wood shop classes and carpentry classes for the boys, and cooking classes for the girls. Then there was Visitation Hall over on Ve-rona Street that hosted dances with music and basketball games, stuff like that. In Red Hook, as a kid, you could always keep busy back then.
If you got hungry you went to Defon-te's for a sandwich, which, believe it or not, cost only about 15 cents back then. The kids would go find where the dock or factory workers were eat-ing their Defonte's sandwiches and bottle of beer for lunch. We would wait for them to finish and then take their beer bottles once they were gone so we could go cash them in for pocket money.
I remember, besides being a place of recreation, Red Hook was quite the industrial town back then. The docks were always bustling, and between those and the factories there was plen-ty of work for whoever needed it. As a kid you could always find some work to do after school, to have money for the movies or whatever.
One of my biggest memories is of playing stick ball in the streets. There were no computers or video games back then of course so the streets were always filled with kids. It seemed like there was always a game going on out-side. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood. We used to play “block against block”. Those were the teams back then. Your block against mine. Some parts of Red Hook were mostly Italian back then, but where I lived it was mixed. But if you could play good ball you could play with everybody.” Pete Morales standing with Pat Sones at this year’s opening of the Red Hook Little
league. Pete has been instrumental over the years in organizing local sports.
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 11
Presents:
LIVE AUCTION SATURDAY JULY 12, 2014
12:05 PM
AT 106 FERRIS STREET IN RED HOOK, BROOKLYN
Our Live Estate Auction will also be simulcast via Auction Zip and Invaluable with almost 200 Lots for sale!
If you see something you must have, contact us via our website at www.pier44antiques.com, visit us in person on
Saturday July 12, place a bid through our friends at Auction Zip and Invaluable or call us at 718-852-3400.
Carroll Garden’s Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen’s Church celebrated this year’s Feast of the Sacred Heart by trans-
porting their evening mass over the highway to Mother Cabrini Park. Pass-ersby were treated to a procession of al-tar boys and girls, church officials, musi-cians, choir members and neighborhood churchgoers who created a makeshift altar in front of the colorful plastic slides at the President Street kiddy playground.
The playground sits on the former build-ing of the Sacred Hearts Parish. This parish was set up by the Roman Catho-lic Church in 1885 to care for the bur-geoning Italian immigrant population. Mother Cabrini was sent here, and with the other sisters, created a school for the children of the immigrants. The school served the neighborhood for many years. Unfortunately, the mid 1970’s sewer project that undermined many homes on Columbia Street also affected Presi-dent Street. The building had to be de-molished. For many years it remained a
vacant lot, an eyesore full of junk and weeds.
Local residents including Carmine Balsamo agitated for a city park, and through the efforts of Councilman Ste-phen DiBrienza, a park was designated for the site in 1992. Carmine says that he was told there was not enough money to extend the park to Van Brunt, hence the small kids park. That part now com-prises the Urban Meadow, a community garden staffed by volunteers.
According to Balsamo, Mother Cabrini Park was meant to be blessed many years ago, but 9/11 and other events - includ-ing bad weather - put it off until this year.
The service was led by Father Massie. Looking around at the verdant setting, he called the Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen community a parish with “chutzpah.” The setting was in fact lovely for the ser-vice. It was a beautiful early summer eve-ning, cooled by a breeze from the nearby waterfront. In addition to the brightly colored children’s playthings, the park
is full of lush trees, bushes and flowers. The park is flanked on three sides by lo-cal homes, with the Urban Meadow to the west.
Father Massie spoke in front of a stylized drawing of Christ. It was drown with a red heart in the middle of his chest. He spoke of Christ as a “lover, but not in a schmalzy way - in a loving way.” He looked around and said that if Mother Cabrini were here this evening, she would have liked this. “It’s true,” nodded a churchgoer, nestled in one of the plas-tic chairs set up for the service.
At the end of the service, Massie said that going outdoors for a service was
something they should do every year. “Perhaps at Carroll Park next time,” he said. The crowd shouted out in unison “No, here - right here.”
Mother Cabrini Park receives belated blessingby George Fiala
Father Massie of St. Stevens obviously relishing his sermon in the park. (Fiala photos)
Carmine Balsamo provided us with this photo of the old church right before it was torn down.Part of the procession from Sacred Hearts/St. Stevens to Mother Cabrini Park.
Page 12 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
This month’s painting by Tashawn Davis
Tashawn Davis is a student at the Red Hook Arts Project, corner of Richards and Wolcott. He is 16 years old.
The proposals occupied the intersection of key points regarding the area’s future: zoning and rezoning, ecological cleanup, neighborhood infrastructure, and main-tenance of the mixed-use commercial-residential environment.
Zoning and rezoning concerns were mostly inspired by residential develop-ment plans currently underway. Devel-opers including Lightstone are seeking to tap into this prime real estate and gentrify it with luxury housing. Light-stone’s 700 unit project, already under construction, will tower above neigh-boring buildings and is designed to in-clude a waterfront promenade on the promised clean waterway.
Ultimately in this new Gowanus, every-thing hinges on the Canal – both in its practical uses and desirability.
One proposal was made to require a community liaison that would force developers to comply with local rules, funded by the developers but occupy-ing an independent position. Another sought to limit building heights, and others advocated for limits on new resi-dential units in the neighborhood. One resident, going by the name “Reich,” sporting a red Mohawk and a spiked leather jacket proposed to leave the canal as it is and refocus attention on maintenance of the neighborhood.
Parallel and tangential proposals fol-lowed, including ensuring public ac-cess to the future waterfront, promoting small business manufacturing with the help of an viable waterway, requiring developer-paid infrastructure improve-ments to accommodate new residents. Proposals often conflicted, as some sup-
ported further restoration of wetlands around the canal while others advo-cated bringing in more local business wherever possible.
Gannet maintained order throughout this first portion of the night. He tried his best to curb ideas to single-sentence length so that Alexiou could write them down in real time on a projector screen behind the stage. Transitioning to the discussion and debate portion proved less organized.
Organized disorderGannet and Alexiou opened the floor to each proposal in order, aiming for a de-bate-style discourse of rebuttals and de-fenses. While there was such discourse, it rarely ever stayed fully on topic. The issues facing Gowanus are all intercon-nected, so audience members found it difficult to focus on each singular objec-tive. Inevitably, discussions about one topic would slowly morph into a new issue, and the hosts did all they could to allow voices to be heard while also addressing ideas point by point.
The conversation, though lively, was filled with much debate about the de-tails as proposals were more closely examined. Almost all could agree on improving infrastructure and promoting local manufacturing, but the practical specifics of such broad concepts proved contentious. Though the process was certainly democratic, it was far from ideal. The frustration of the hosts was palpable.
Tensions rose and tempers eventually flared between audience members and the hosts themselves. As Gannet and Alexiou struggled to keep on topic, at-
tendees began to turn on them. One woman claimed that the two had been “bullying” and stifling a speaker who had gone on a tangent. Reich spoke up questioning Joseph’s own motives.
Anne Gaudet, another resident, went so far as to say that the meeting had not accomplished much more than “Bridg-ing Gowanus,” and felt that the efforts of the evening were “redundant.” She objected that the best and most practi-cal way to effect change is to go through the established routes, i.e. local repre-sentatives.
The meeting continued on, nonethe-less, as audience members began filter-ing out. Although it was scheduled to end at 9pm, the most vocal attendees were all still present by 9:45, at which
point the topic switched to whether or not the meeting should proceed.
It was ultimately decided to postpone further debate until the next meeting, between two and three weeks away, but Alexiou assured that he would be send-ing out all his notes to allow for online discussion.
By 10 pm “Take Back Gowanus” had ended on a bittersweet note. The first meeting had failed its goal of fully estab-lishing the “shared values” that many had criticized “Bridging Gowanus” for fabricating. However, it had distin-guished itself as a forum for a diverse array of voices. In the end, it could be said that a frustrating lesson was learned that night: consensus is hard to come by, and true democratic consensus is a long process even if it is worthwhile.
Neighborhood meeting looks for alternatives to “Bridging Gowanus”(continued from page 5)
A recent boatride on the Gowanus illustrates the possibilities once the sludge is gone.
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 13
Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
I was sitting in my car on the top of the Gowanus Expressway trying to decide how I was going to make it on time for an appointment I had
in the city. There was already a half-hour back up and it had already taken me an hour and a half to get to the Gowanus from my origination point. The sun was still strong and I grimly considered my options. I was too far over to get into the left lane to get to the entrance of the Battery Tunnel which was backed up as well, and the radio announcer was predicting more delays along the BQE and Brooklyn Bridge. Huge sigh. I turned and looked at the lone “R” of the old “E.J. TRUM” sign of its heyday next to the steeple of Visitation Church when suddenly a thought came to me. Why not catch the Water Taxi to Wall Street from Ikea? “Brilliant,” I thought out loud. I could leave my car in the parking lot, which was low on gas, and jump on the Water Taxi which would leave me a few mere blocks from my destination! Forty minutes later I was docking at the Wall Street Pier - I had just made the taxi and sat cooly and gratefully for the remainder of my trip. Things like this never cease to amaze me. This would never have been an op-tion in Red Hook in my youth. But I couldn’t analyze the evolution of it all, I was just happy for its convenience at a time when I needed it most. On my ride back, from the murky waters of the Buttermilk Channel, I was lucky to catch the sky as dusk cast its palette of orange, purple and blue colors across Red Hook.
A little time for nostalgiaAfter docking, I couldn’t help riding around the old neighborhood. I was, as I made my way toward Luquer St, feeling nostalgic, as I so often feel when I am in Red Hook. It’s a feeling of oneness, or being home. It’s funny how when we were here as teenagers, we couldn’t wait to get out. Now that we’ve been away, we can’t wait to come back, sort of. We hated everything about Red Hook’s demise and wanted terribly to disassoci-ate ourselves from it. As young girls I re-member my friends and I couldn’t wait until we were old enough to leave. Each one of us handled it in different ways:; some got married right away, some luck-ily moved with their families, and some just stayed and learned to drive and ex-plore life outside of Red Hook, while keeping a low profile about living there. If someone were to ask me if I grew up in Red Hook, I would have to say geo-graphically, yes. But I never felt like those of us who grew up on Luquer Street (between Columbia & Hicks) were real Red Hookers. We were neither a part of the “back” whose waterfront exposure and close-knit community sustained it-self in and around Visitation Church, or Carroll Gardens whose disconnect from us became apparent in its distinct sepa-ration from us as “the other side,” or the “shady side.” If one were to ask how different life was for us on Luquer Street, we might draw a very different picture than that of our Red Hook and Carroll Gardens’ neighbors. For starters, the mass exodus of the white flight affected us severely. Besides the
maritime job losses we suffered as a whole neighborhood, the Verrazano Bridge (completed in 1964) took many of our friend’s families to greener pastures. Be-ing the lone block that we were, isolated and remote, we suffered the greater loss of neighbors since there were so few of us on the block to begin with. In our pre-teens we watched as a size-able group of us girls dwindled down to just about four (from only two families). We clung to each other for friendship, protection and survival. We all went to different schools, but on the block we were a little Italian nucleus of magnet buddies. We had strict parents and our whereabouts were closely monitored by them as the changing demographics of our block instilled fear and suspicions of our new neighbors, just as we had instilled fear and suspicions two gen-erations before that when we embarked upon a predominantly Irish Red Hook, and were subject to name calling, abuse and prejudice of our “dago” race.We went everywhere together; we ran errands for our parents and grandpar-ents, we sun bathed on one of our roof-tops that were high enough above the other homes on the block to provide peace and privacy. We spoke of what life held in store for us, what our fears
were and who we had crushes on. We sat for hours on hot summer nights on our stoops. We talked of our hopes and dreams and how differently we would raise our kids, compared to the way we were being raised. We mourned over lost friends and the changes on our block which had be-come dismal and an embarrassing place to live. We knew we weren’t living a normal teenage life, especially when hookers worked our street, drug dealers passed through on a regular basis and police cars were an almost permanent fixture on our corner. All good reasons for our parents to keep us so strict and deprive us of some healthy socialization.There were no parties for sure, outings were infrequent and our focus became school and talking to each other. Our short time after school before dark, we were allowed to walk to Dairy Queen on Court Street. On errands to Union Street on weekends (after crossing the highway to get there safely- I know, oxymoron) we would stop by Ferdinan-do’s for panelli and eat them on the way home....together. As we neared driving age, we sometimes got permission to venture out of the neighborhood more, to walk to Brooklyn Heights or catch a bus to Sheepshead’s Bay. Sometimes we didn’t get their permission - like when criminal events were on the rise in the newspaper or stories were circulating about them from relatives in the area. At those times we “snuck out” by devis-ing a plan to get us where we so desper-ately wanted to go, greatly depending on our street smarts and numbers as a huge form of our protection.
Like the time we ab-solutely had to see the premiere of The Godfather in Bay Ridge, or when we went to Rockefeller Center and Liberty Island. One time we walked to Prospect Park and got lost. We roamed around the park for several hours until we could find our way back to 9th Street. It was dark by the time we got home, and we were swiftly punished for our deceit. This only made future escapades more difficult. Our neighbors surrounding us on the other hand, although forced to endure some restrictions, too, were attending proms and parties, having block parties and living a life much different than we were.Looking back in the rear view mirror of our teenage life on Luquer Street, crossed with a mixture of a crime-ridden neighborhood and the Italian American coping of it, we were denied
our true coming of age. Instead, we were busy creating our own emotional support system and social outlets, how-ever lame and bor-ing, believing that our friendship was our only way out
and the only way to cope with our own form of prison. We made it through our teen years as inmates of our block, rely-ing on each other’s strengths, maturity, philosophies, ideologies and, thank-fully, sense of humor, making up for life skills within limited borders and experi-ences....our way. We bonded tightly and felt we were destined to be friends forever, which we were, which we are still. But back then, one by one, as we made our way into the work force on Wall Street, and eventu-ally met our husbands, the group began to shrink from four, to three, to two.....then one. That evening I went to visit two of those friends who, by events thrust upon them, came back to Red Hook. We sat on the stoop, immediately feeling com-fortable with the act of just sitting and, as they used to say in Brooklyn, (pardon my French) “shooting the shit.”
I was filled in on the current going ons of the block. We couldn’t help but com-pare the current hipster life on Luquer Street to our life back then. Mainly, the huge sense of comfort and freedom they experience here. Like before, there’s two worlds on this block - the hipsters and, as one friend of ours says, “the left-overs.” We looked at some pictures of our youth, limited in quantity now due to our dis-combobulated lives of having moved around the New York area, not really knowing where all of our old pictures were at this point. But it was enough to get us thinking again, of those days. Those days when we hated Red Hook, but loved each other for being there for each other. When we knew we had a great neighborhood - on the other side - but we were denied full access to it. How we cheated fate so many times when we crossed the highway, and made it to the other side unharmed, or alive. It was a true love hate relationship we had with Luquer Street and Red Hook. We simultaneously laughed joyfully at memories, and complained of oth-ers, feeling a deep sense of melancholy wishing there were some way to change the past.. My mind kept thinking A Tale of Two Cities.....”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”... ?it was the spring of hope and the winter of despair?... “it was the epoch of belief, and the epoch of incredulity....” It was not the French Revolution or the Reign of Terror in Charles Dickens’ mind, it was describing, for me, Red Hook in the late sixties and early seventies, - a time of trepidation and loss. But for us it was also the fiercest of times, and the scari-est of times, it was the beginning of the end and the start of a new beginning.
“We knew we weren’t living a normal teenage
life, especially when hookers worked our
street, drug dealers passed through on a
regular basis and police cars were an almost
permanent fixture on our corner.”
You could consider this an after picture of the three of us in the snow. It’s the only one we have of the four of us presently. You could tell we’re not of the “selfie” generation.This photo is of L to R....Mary Ann, her sister Cathy. Cecilia and her sister Maria.
Taken on Luquer Street with the old Dead Man’s Curve section of the BQE in the background. L to R. Cecilia, Mary Ann and Maria. Early 1970s
Looking at our mixed up Red Hook past with today’s eyesby Mary Ann Pietanza
Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue 2014, Page 15
JABUS BUILDING
CORP.Serving Red Hook for over 25 yearsSpecializing in Construction and
Historic Preservation• New construction• Renovations, additions and extensions• Masonry specialist• Concrete floors/radiant heated• Concrete/bluestone sidewalk repair• Flue linings, chimneys and fireplaces• Demolition and waste removal• Violation removals• Landmark Preservation contractor
Our friend Jenny, who exhibits locally at the Brooklyn Collective, 212 Columbia Street, sends us this and tells us “Here is a portrait of Yoko Ono.....Such an innovate, creative and smart woman. She is an inspiration to me as an artist.Jenny’s website is www.jennybelin.com
An event conceived in a Jeru-salem pizza parlor three years ago made its way to Red
Hook on Tuesday.
Four cyclists who will bike across the country to raise money for children were given encouraging words, a Jew-ish Prayer book and American flag from last year’s trip at Investors Bank on 431 Court Street. A senior Vice President of the bank, Marc Katz, was also presented with an award from Rabbi Bentzion Groner, founder of Friendship Circle International. The bank is a major sponsor of Bike 4 Friendship, a 3,100 mile bike ride to raise funds for Friendship Circle, an organization that facilitates friend-ships between teen volunteers and children with special needs.
Their journey will begin July 6 in San Diego, with local supporters accom-panying them for that portion of their trip. The cyclists will make pit stops at some of the 92 Friendship Circle centers in the U.S. for food and ac-commodations each night on their way to New York, where they’ll arrive seven weeks later.
Friendship Circle International is a humanitarian organization that pairs teenagers and special needs children to provide them with meaningful
friendships, something not often dis-cussed in conversations about the children’s lives. “We’re strictly about friendship,” said Rabbi Groner.
Bicyclist Yitzy Smith said that in prep-aration for the arduous journey he’s been staying hydrated, eating a good diet, and has logged over 300 miles.
Last year 17-year-old Noam Katz, son of Marc Katz, biked in the an-nual event and raised $18,000. The event raised $200,000 in total. “It’s a crazy experience, riding through time zones,” said Noam, adding that the natural elements were what made the ride so difficult. The route crosses the one hundred and ten degree deserts of New Mexico, the swampy Missis-sippi river and the rough Appalachian mountains. That didn’t deter any of the bicyclists, though.
“I’m super excited,” said cyclist Nissi Andrusier. He explained that, like many other bikers involved, his main motives in riding on the 85-mile-a-day route were to experience Amer-ica’s diversity and fund Friendship Circle’s great cause.
To find more information about Bike 4 Learning and Friendship Circle, see www.bike4friendship.org or www.friendshipcircle.com.
Investors Bank sponsors fund-raising trekby Clarissa Sauter
Noam Katz and his father Mark honored by Friendship Circle in front of the bank.
www.star-revue.com
Page 16 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com 2nd July Issue, 2014
![Dead Star (Aka Supernova)(William Malone)[2nd Draft][1991][Unprod.][Scan]](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/577c7a691a28abe054951475/dead-star-aka-supernovawilliam-malone2nd-draft1991unprodscan.jpg)
