Red Hook Star-Revue, November 2015

Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com November 2015, Page 1

SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

The Red Hook StarªRevue

NOVEMBER 2015 FREE

ALSO INSIDE

Except for a brief spell as a Papa John’s pizzeria, a vacant store-front lay rotting under the

BQE - nestled between a scaffolding company and a car wash. To get there from the Smith and 9th Street subway station, several blocks out of the way had to be crossed, or risk life and limb crossing Hamilton Avenue.

This seemed an unlikely spot for two renaissance entrepreneurs to create a gourmet, wood-fired oven pizza restaurant and bar. It seemed even less likely that the food would be out-standing, and that the scenery would be welcoming.

Yet, after opening their doors Octo-ber 20, the impressive and cozy new restaurant Pizza Moto meets all the marks, hailing a new dawn for the in-dustrial block while somehow making you feel like it’s been there all along.

The decor is eclectic yet harmoni-ous, combining everything from deco fonts to turn-of-the-century industrial elements. Almost everything is made from recycled materials and built up by executive chef Dave Sclarow. Even the chrome bar stool stands are made from the discarded desks of a local Red Hook school.

The real love is in the details however, like when you spot a pair of old skates hanging on the wall, or the face of an old timey pinball machine, or a tax photo of 338 Hamilton Avenue from the 1940s.

“We’ve been able to warm up the room and the block in a way that feels really positive,” says General Manager Anna Viertel. “The feedback we’ve gotten is that people find it very thrilling and cozy to be tucked away here under the BQE. People feel like they’re discover-ing something when they come here.”

Then there’s the delicious food. Ev-erything is made on premises - from pizza dough to ricotta, to jams and cocktail bitters. Other ingredients are farm-to-table, including the wine.

Gourmet toppingsPizza Moto’s thin crust personal Neapolitan-style pizzas come with a wide range of adventurous toppings, including eggs, clams, and bacon fat. Luckily, Scarlow, a chef who has worked everywhere from Mario Bata-li’s Esca to Franny’s in Park Slope, has the chops and the excellent sous chef Joe Bliffen to make it work. I strongly recommend the pizza with clams, cream, roasted garlic, bacon, potato,

parsley, and fresh mozzarella. Yes, you read that all correctly.

Besides pizza, the menu offers un-common appetizers, including a fried broccoli with yuzu-kosho lemon curd, and a smoked trout caesar salad.

The drinks are special, too. Harry’s Bouquet, Pizza Moto’s signature cock-tail, is a must-try concoction made from gin, aperol, anise rinse, lemon bitters, and the pièce de résistance -

Hamilton Avenue turns chic!by Halley Bondy

When Michelle Tampakis was diagnosed with Ce-liac disease in 2007, she was convinced her bak-

ing career was over. No longer able to eat gluten - a key ingredient in most pastries, cookies and cakes - her suc-cessful livelihood as an independent baker and instructor seemed to be facing extinction.

Instead, the diagnosis would mark the beginning of a whole new era - not only for Tampakis’ career - but for all the gluten free, nut-free, egg-free, soy free, and vegan dieters who needed her.

In 2013, she launched her whole-sale bakery Whipped on 37 Richards Street, where she indulges the fringe eaters of the world with specialty brownies, wedding cakes, macaroons, pies, and all the goodies they never thought they’d enjoy again. “Enjoy” being the operative word: for Tam-pakis, the cookies must taste like real cookies, the lemon meringue like lemon meringue.

Each pastry is a compli-cated problem, which is why many gluten-free items on the market don’t cut it. A less patient baker may wind up using too many thickening agents like xanthan gum, which creates a “bad mouth feel,” Tampakis says.

But Tampakis’ patience seems to know no bounds. She uses trial and error to devise a new product. She bakes it, tests it, then - for lack of an appetizing metaphor - she rinses and repeats until it’s perfect. She’ll use six or seven flours in a blend. She favors endless hours of mixing over xanthan gum. In fact, she once spent two whole years concocting the perfect gluten-free éclair.

“For me it’s not some hobby; it truly interests me,” she said. “I like baking. I like reading about baking, talking

about it, and I even think about bak-ing when I’m not baking.”

Part-time baker pre-diagnosisFor 20 years, Tampakis baked and sold cakes from her Bay Ridge home, split-ting her time as a mom, a wife, and a

Lemon becomes lemonadeby Halley Bondy

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A Court Street Italian social club seeks to modernize - pages 12-13

Carlos Menchaca and the Red Hook Initiative team make government participation fun! - page 9

A full page of photos from Red Hook’s Barnacle Parade - page 6

Michelle Tampakis preparing her family’s 2014 gluten-free Thanksgiving feast. (photo courtesy Tampakis)

Pizza Moto stores wood for their oven in front of their restaurant. (photo by Fiala)

Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com November 2015

RELIGIOUS SERVICESChristianRiver Of God Christian Center110 Wolcott Street, 646-226-6135, Secretary, Sister Roslyn Chatman. Sunday - Family Wor-ship 11:00 - 1:00 pm Scripture, read in English and Spanish Wednesday - At The Gate 12:00 noon, Prayer 7:00 - 7:30 pm, Bible Studies 7:00 - 8:00 pm, Thursday Prayer 7:30 - 8:30pm, Friday Youth ABLAZED Ministries 6:00 - 7:30pm, Senior Pastor, Donald Gray

Visitation Church98 Richards St, (718) 624-1572. Office open Mon-Thursday9 am - 3 pm. Saturday mass 5 pm; Spanish mass at 7 pm. Sunday 10 am English, 12:30 pm Span-ish. Community Prayer Tuesday and Thursday, 8 pm. Youth Group Meetings on Friday, 4:30 - 6 pm. Baptisms are held every other month. Please call to arranged for baptisms, communions and weddings.

New Brown Memorial Baptist Church609 Clinton Street, 718 624 4780 Pastor A.R Jamal. Sunday School at 9:30 am. Sunday Worship at 11:00 am. Bible Study -Wednesday at 7:30pm. Communion every first Sunday

St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish467 Court Street. (718) 625-2270 Rectory Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 am-11:30 am, 1 pm-4 pm, Friday 9 am- 12 noon. Masses: Saturday 5:30 pm, Sunday 10 am, Monday- Thursday 9:30 am. Religious Education grades 1,2, 3 -Register now for this September! Please visit our website for more information and to view our weekly bulletin www.stmarystarbrooklyn.com

Saint Paul and Saint Agnes Parish Church Office 234 Congress Street (718) 624-3425 Hours: M - F 830am-12 St. Agnes Church Office 433 Sackett Street, 718-625-1717 Hours: M-F 1pm-430pm Email: [email protected] St. Agnes: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 9 am (English), 11:30am (Spanish) St. Paul’s: Saturday 5pm Vigil Mass Sunday 8 am & 9:30am (English); 11am (Spanish) Monday & Tuesday 8:30am (St. Paul’s) Wednesday & Thursday 8:30am (St. Agnes) Saturday 8am (St. Paul’s)

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary - Saint Stephen Roman Catholic Church125 Summit Street at Hicks Street [email protected] Saturday Vigil Mass 5:30pm Sunday Masses: 10am & 11:45am (Italian/English) Weekdays Masses: Tuesday Through Saturday 8:30am Confessions: Saturdays 4:45pm and by appointment. Baptisms: Every Third Sun-day At 1pm. Please call the rectory one month before to make arrangements.

St. Paul’s Carroll Street 199 Carroll Street Parish Office: 718-625-4126 Sunday Mass at 10 am Weekday Morning Prayer - Mon.-Thurs. at 7:30 am Weekday masses as announced Holy Days as announced \Church open for prayer Tues. 6-8pm & Sat. 2-4pm http://stpaulscarrollst.weebly.com/

JewishKane Street Synagogue 236 Kane Street, 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet.org/ Friday night services, 6:00 PM Shabbat services, 9:15 AM Sunday Services 9:00 AM

Congregation B’nai Avraham/Chabad of Brooklyn Heights117 Remsen St., 718 596 4840 x18 www.bnaiavraham.com, www.heightschabad.com Morning Services: Sunday: 8:45am Monday - Friday: 7:45am Holidays (during the week): 8:45am Saturday: 9:45am Evening Services: Sunday: Shabbat candle lighting time Monday - Thursday: 9:00pm Fri-day: Winter: 5 minutes before Shabbat candle lighting time Summer: 7:30pm Saturday: Shabbat candle lighting time

If your religious institution isn’t listed here, let us know by emailing [email protected] Thanks!

Community Telephone Numbers:Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca ................. 718 439-9012Red Hook Assemblyman Felix Ortiz ..........................718-492-6334Red Hook State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery ....718-643-6140Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander ........................... 718 499-1090Park Slope Councilman Steve Levin .......................... 718 875-5200CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman .............. 718 643-3027

76th Police Precinct, 191 Union StreetMain phone .................................................................718-834-3211Community Affairs ..................................................... 718 834-3207Traffic Safety ............................................................... 718 834-3226

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. ............... 718 522-3880Brownstone Republicans [email protected]

NYCHA Satellite Police Precinct, 80 Dwight StreetMain Phone ............................................................... (718) 265-7300Community Affairs ................................................... (718) 265-7313Domestic Violence ................................................... (718) 265-7310

Happenings, etc.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 753rd Annual Scotto Funeral Home Memorial Mass, Sacred Hearts-St. Ste-phen RC Church, 125 Summit Street. Reception to follow. 12 pmPumpkin Smash at Red Hook Community Farms. Bring pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and gourds to Pumpkin Smash 2015. 3-49 Halleck Street

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8Pioneer Works Second Sundays from 4-8 pm, a monthly series of open stu-dios, live music, and site-specific interventions. Live music by Yowana Sari (6:30 pm), and Breakdown Brass (8 pm). Art on display by Louise Foo and Martha Skou, Format No. 1; and Guía de campo by Benjamín Torres. Suggested donation $10. 159 Pioneer StreetRed Hook Open Studios from 11-5 pm. Spaces include Realty Collective (351 Van Brunt); Hot Wood Arts (481 Van Brunt); Rose Studio (201 Rich-ards Street); and Door 14 (461 Van Brunt Street. For a complete list of studios and artists, visit facebook.com/RedHookOpenStudiosJazz Fest with Alicia Rau and aRauz Quartetat Visitation Church at 4 pm. $20 or pay what you can. 98 Visitation ChurchDE-CONSTRUKT [projekts] last event of the year, Transitioners: Project Red Hook from 6-9 pm. a perception changing interrogation into Red Hook’s visuality and current state of its urbanistic function. 41 Seabring StreetSix Brooklyn artisans will celebrate their creativity and artistry with 84 other exhibitors at the American Fine Craft Show at Brooklyn Museum No-vember 21-22, 2015. 200 Eastern Parkway, 11 am – 6 pm.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10“The Changing Faces of Red Hook,” a documentary by local filmmaker, Risha Gorig at Sunny’s Bar at 8 pm. 253 Conover Street

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11Happy Veteran’s Day to all service men and women and their families.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 Pioneer Works presents “Scientific Controversies #6. A One-Way Ticket to Mars NASA or private agencies like Space-X could undoubtedly rise to the technological challenge and send an astronaut to Mars. But could we bring him/her back? Pioneer Works Scientist-in-Residence Janna Levin invites former astronaut and Columbia Professor Mike Massimi-no and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss to consider the brazen implications of a one-way ticket to Mars. 7:30 p.m., 159 Pioneer St.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble!!!

FREE Neighborhood ServicesFrank McCrea from the NYC Department of Aging is at the Miccio Center every Monday from 10 - 2 pm. He will help you solve any problem you may have dealing with any NYC agency, such as child welfare, support groups, benefits, etc.

Free CPR Training Class at the Red Hook Public Library Help Save A Life, Learn CPR. Join us Tuesday July 14th at 6:30pm for a Free non certifying CPR Training hosted by the FDNY. Learn compression CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator. Includes hands on participation and giveaways!

Sandy Recovery Worforce1. Services for NYCHA residents include career counseling, resume editing, interview advice, job recruitment events with Build It Back contractors, Vouchers for pre-apprenticeship, construction skills and other job training programs. 1906 Mermaid Ave, 2nd Fl; Brooklyn, 11224 Tel: (646) 927-6093 Hours: 9am to 5pm. Lots more information at http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/wf1/html/sandy_recovery/home.shtml. Karen Blondel who lives in the Red Hook Houses is always available for additional guidance. Her number is 718 809-2070

Free use of computers at the Justice Center. Not everyone has access to a desktop computer, and yet many job and educational opportunities re-quire one. So the Justice Center offers its comput-ers to the community for free, every Wednesday from 10 am - 1 pm, room 101. The Justice Center is on Visitation Place between Richards and Van Brunt. For more information call Sabrina Carter 718 923-8261

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations - Certificate courses in TV/Film production, woodworking and cabinet making, cable installation as well as driving lessons are available. For information stop by 621 Degraw Street (near 4th Avenue) or call 718 237-2017. www.bwiny.org

OpportunityNYCHA - the REES program administers the “Section 3” program. This is a HUD mandate that requires employment and other economic opportunities coming from the Federal Government to be directed towards public housing residents. NYC has a similar program requiring that 15% of the labor amount of NYCHA contracts greater than $500,000 to go NYCHA residents. Eligibility requirements, according to Karen Blondell, are that you must either be 1 - on the lease, 2 - economically disadvantaged (receiving SNAP benefits), or 3 -live withing 10 blocks of a NYCHA development. To register call the REES

Hotline at (718) 289-8100. Examples of opportunities include web development, home health aide training, NYPD tutorial, NRTA Construction Training. REES conducts information sessions at the Brooklyn office every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30am. Address: 787 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238.

Red Hook Cares (Counseling and Restorative Services). Including advocacy, case management and referrals for victims of crime. Accompaniment to partner agencies and criminal justice appointments. Located at the Community Justice Center, 88 Visitation Place. To make a referrall call Laura Volz, 347 404-9910 or email [email protected]

Stronger Together services are free and prioritize Red Hook and other local NYCHA development residents. Their services include Adult Education, Job Readiness, Community Services, which include benefits counseling, legal advice, financial coaching and tax preparations. The services are free because the Red Hook Initiative, Fifth Avenue Committee, SBIDC and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations have been paid by the NY City Council to provide these services. So take advantage of them! For information call 718 858-6782 or go the the Red Hook Initiative at 767 Hicks Street (at W 9th).

The Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills provides training and employment in the unionized construction industry. CSKILLS has placed more than 1600 New Yorkers into union apprentice programs over the past 15 years. To be considered you must be 18 years or older, be a legal citizen, HS or GED, 9th grade reading and math scores and available to attend training 5 days a week 7 hours a day. Their website is www.constructionskills.org. It looks like the best way to navigate that website is to check under apprenticeship training and choose a union program, and also to go to useful links, where you can find a whole host of other opportunities, including Helmets to Hardhats - a workforce program for veterans.

The Child Place for Children with Special Needs holds a Read and Play afternoon in the Red Hook library every Monday at 1 - 2:00 pm. Kids 5 and under. Parent or guardians must accompany children, who will be able to meet, make friends and play! Red Hook Library, 7 Wolcott Street

If you have a listing that you feel appropriate for this page, email [email protected]. There is no charge, as this is a free service as well!


The Red Hook StarªRevue

481 Van Brunt Street, 8A, Brooklyn, NY 11231

FOR EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING OR EMPLOYMENT INQUIRIES, email: [email protected], or call 718 624-5568

The Star-Revue is published by Kimberly G. Price & George Fiala

Halley Bondy, Nathan Weiser, Mary Ann Pietanza, Marc Jackson and Connor Gaudet, contributors

The author on the morning of October 30, 2012 (photo by Fiala)

SANDIVERSARY: Three years beyond

by Kimberly Gail Price

Three years after Hurricane San-dy swept onto our shores, there is much left unsettled. Many

pieces of the puzzle have yet to fall into place; some may never come to fruition.

But one fact lingers. As consistent as the hours, days and weeks following the storm, Red Hook survives by their own hands.

I remember the dawn of October 30, 2012. I remember as people slowly emerged with defeat in their eyes. I re-member the shocking result of some-thing few of us had ever seen unfold-ing into reality, each of us engulfed in our own personal nightmare.

I am no stranger to the lasting impacts of a hurricane’s destruction. I vividly recall the horror and tragedy that first morning. It was the first and last time I felt hopelessness for the Red Hook community.

What happened next is something I could have never imagined. The fight and heart of the community that was born that day still astounds me. We took on the same battles, provided for one and all. The kindness and com-passion dissipated the fear. The many of Red Hook became one.

As we march forward to whatever comes next, Hookers do it - not as independent residents and entrepre-neurs - but as the community that proved to be the most resilient of all.

In many ways, the isolated neighbor-hood could be considered one of the most vulnerable. Isolation, neglect and unfulfilled promises leave us feel-ing hanging in the balance and ex-posed to the elements - both natural and bureaucratic.

We are awaiting an Integrated Flood Protection System (IFPS), but when or even what this will be is still unclear. Paperwork is still being filed for grant monies; others have simply moved forward, not willing to be hassled any further. Temporary boilers, FEMA disputes, the Senior Center in pieces. Repairs are unfinished, scars are still visible, and so many of us remain ut-terly frustrated.

The first moments of the aftermath seemed to be the longest. Each day since has picked up speed until the weeks began to swiftly fly by. Now we count years beyond the moments that felt the darkest. Three.

American novelist, Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spread-ing light: to be the candle or the mir-ror that reflects it.” Red Hook has captured elements of both - being ev-erything we needed as we needed and beyond. When the darkness loomed, light shone through us; light reflects off of us.

Red Hook did not merely take notice of the occasion of the third anniver-sary of Sandy. We made it a holiday. With parades, costumes, floats, a block party, feasting and frolicking through our streets, we heralded the world of our enthusiastic survival. We took to the streets as pirates, sea mon-sters, mermaids and Barnacles. We rejoiced and made our voices heard.

Words matter. Our stories have im-pact. The wellbeing of a neighbor-hood survives because we made it so. The progress of Red Hook was put directly in our hands. And we han-dled it masterfully and magically. We mustn’t let our voices fade; we must keep our vigilance by our words. Even after complete resolution of Sandy’s devastation, we must march onward with the narrative of Red Hook.

Kimberly G. Price is the Co-publisher and Senior Editor of the Star-Revue


[email protected].

RELIGIOUS NEWSBY LAURA ENG

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Kevin Scanlan with prototype of sculpture given to Pope Francis

Most of Kevin Scanlan’s studio glass business at Scanlan Glass

in Red Hook comes from commis-sions from artists, lighting design-ers, and private individuals. But last month, he received a very different kind of request.

With less than a week and a half be-fore the Pope’s visit to New York, Kevin got a call from John Heyer, Jr., Development Officer of the Diocese of Brooklyn, asking him to create a gift to be presented to Pope Francis from the Diocese. Kevin described himself as feeling honored to be given such a commission for the Holy Father.

Very few guidelines came with the request other than it had to include the logo of the Catholic Foundation of Brooklyn and Queens, which consists of a globe with the Brooklyn Bridge and a cross in the foreground.

Kevin decided to create a glass sculp-ture in a “free-flame” shape. The first step was liquefying the glass in a 2000 degree glass furnace and forming the molten substance into the desired shape. This step took about an hour.

The sculpture was then placed in an annealing oven to slowly and com-pletely cool so that it wouldn’t crack. It was then cut off at the bottom, ground down and polished, and inserted into a wooden base that Kevin also made.

The logo and the cross etchings were taken from a photographically-made masking that was ordered and sand-blasted onto the sculpture. Kevin’s stu-dio-mate, Mary Ellen Buxton-Kutch, then applied gold-leaf to the cross. The Diocese provided an engraved plaque that was affixed to the base.

So on the afternoon of September 24, shortly after the papal plane touched down at JFK, seventh grader Ray-mond Rico, 12 - one of the five Catho-lic School children on hand to greet the Pope - presented the unique and specially-crafted sculpture to the Holy Father. As he received it, Pope Francis carefully studied the gift with a broad smile on his face.

Kevin became interested in working with glass when he was a kid attending art school in Detroit. He has lived in New York for the past thirty years and relocated his business from Gowanus to Red Hook five years ago. In addi-tion to producing functional, abstract, and conceptual pieces, Scanlan Glass also offers glassblowing classes for beginner and intermediate students. If you are interested in taking classes or would like to view Kevin’s beauti-ful work, some of which has been fea-tured at The Museum of Modern Art Store, The American Craft Museum, and The Corning Museum of Glass, visit www.scanlanglass.com.

Upcoming EventsAnnual Catholic Charities Bereave-

ment Conference - On Saturday, No-vember 7 from 1-3:30 pm at St. Francis College (180 Remsen Street), Catholic Charities will host its annual Journey to Healing Bereavement Conference. This year’s theme is “End of Life Conversa-tions and the Catholic Perspective.”

Participants are invited to listen to compassionate professionals discuss losing a loved one or nearing the end of life and will receive a Conversa-tion Starter Kit that can help prepare for decisions about healthcare proxy, end of life wishes and more. The con-ference is free but registration is re-quired. For more information and to register, call (718) 722-6214, email [email protected], or visit www.ccbq.org.

The 55th Annual Scotto Funeral Home Mass in memory of all our departed loved ones. On Saturday, November 7 at 12 pm at Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church. Light refreshments to follow in Cabrini Hall.

Congregation Mount Sinai, 250 Cadman Plaza West• Isha L’Isha Women’s Group with Rabbi Sara Zacharia on Monday. A monthly gathering of women to study Jewish tradition and text, to connect with the voices of women from our past and find personal meaning and relevance for today.

• Interfaith Scripture Study - Wednes-day, November 4 , 7-8:30 pm at Da-wood Mosque, 143 State Street; Wednesday, November 18, 7-8:30 pm at Congregation Mount Sinai. Free. Kane Street Synagogue, 236 Kane Street

• Open Beit Midrash, a creative, infor-mal learning academy each Tuesday evening from October 20, 2015-April 12, 2016 kicks off with “The Torah of Music.” Dinner at 6:45 pm and class from 7:30-9 pm. Cost is $40 per each three-week course, or subscriptions are available for $189 for all eight courses. Visit kanestreet.org or con-

Scanlan Glass Commissioned to Make Gift for Pope Francis


tact Joy Fallek at [email protected] for information and registration.

The Oratory Church of St. Bon-iface, 109 Willoughby Street• Announcing Beyond Sunday at the Oratory. For 20 or 30 somethings looking for a group of fellow Catholic young adults to share spiritual, ser-vice, and social activities. Email Em-ily Mathis at [email protected] to be added to the weekly newsletter list and to find out about upcoming events.

• Ben Niemczyk, Music Director of St. Boniface, will be conducting a con-cert with the New York Session Sym-phony on Saturday, November 7 at 7:30 pm at the Broadway Presbyterian Church, 114 Street and Broadwayin Manhattan. It will include works such as Mozart’s Sonatas K.329, 336, 278 with Anthony Newman on organ, and other works.

• Advent Vespers 2015 - Theme: “My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless con-duct you may learn to value the things that really matter...” Philippians 1, 9-11. At 4 pm on November 29: Bren-dan Coburn, Founder of CWB Archi-tects; December 6: Stephen Perkins, Engineer at BurroHappold; December 13: Sister Margaret Ormond, OP, Pres-ident of Dominican Academy in Man-hattan; December 20: Mary Hiebert, Research Foundation of CUNY.

River of God Christian Center, 110 Wolcott Street• Thanksgiving Day, November 26 - The Saints at ROGCC will be feeding the Thanksgiving dinner to the neigh-borhood.

Sacred Hearts/St. Stephen Church, Summit & Hicks• All Souls Day Memorial Mass remem-bering all who died and were buried from SHSS on November 2 at 7pm.

• The Ghostlight Chorus, under the di-rection of Evelyn Troester, will present a Concert of Sacred Choral Works, on Friday, November 6 at 7pm. Free will offering with all proceeds to benefit the Music Ministry at SHSS.

• Thanksgiving Mass on Wednesday, November 25, at 7 pm featuring the Children’s Choir.

• Reading with an Author featuring Carroll Gardens’ native son, Vito Gen-tile, author of Little Christmas, read-ing his Christmas poetry and stories on Sunday, December 6 from 2-4 pm. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

• The Year of Mercy begins on Decem-ber 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with Father Ugo Nac-ciarone, SJ preaching about the con-cept of mercy at all Masses.

St. Agnes Church, Hoyt & DeGraw • French Mass each Sunday at 11 am

• Sounds on Sackett - A concert series of jazz, pop, and classical performanc-es continues on Saturday, November 14 at 7 pm with Grammy Award-nom-inated David Smith and his quartet performing American jazz standards, original compositions, and arrange-

ments inspired by church hymns. Admission is $20 for adults (children under 12 are free) and includes a post-performance reception. For more in-formation and a full list of upcoming concerts, call (718) 625-1717.

• Thanksgiving Day Mass at 9:15 am on November 26. Please bake a cake or pie and bring it to Mass. All desserts will be transported to Our Father’s House in Bedford Stuyvesant to feed those in need.

St. Mary Star of the Sea, 467 Court• Parish Mass of Thanksgiving on No-vember 26th at 9 am. All are welcome!

• Advent Celebrations - For infor-mation on Advent and the upcom-ing Children’s Christmas Party, visit www.stmarystarbrooklyn.com and on Facebook.

St. Paul Episcopal Church, 199 Carroll• St. Paul’s 27th Annual Auction - Sat-urday, November 7 beginning at 5pm. An evening of competitive bidding, delicious supper and wine during the silent auction with the live auction following coffee and dessert. Raffles for $2 and $5 Treasure Chest raffles will be sold. The evening will end with the drawing for the Quilt Raffle. Admission for adults is $30. Adults only event with childcare available. Contact St. Paul’s office for tickets at (718) 625-4126 or email [email protected]. The BIN (Buy It Now) Online Auction for such items as fine dining, museum passes and gift certificates to local merchants. Go to biddingowl.com/Auction/home.cfm?auctionID=4845

• Cerddorian Vocal Ensemble will

present Fitful Flame: Music of Love and War, directed by James John, on Friday, November 13 at 8 pm. Ad-vance tickets are $20 ($25 at the door; $15 for students). For information, visit www.cerddorian.org.

• Bring a Friend to Church Day - Sun-day, November 22.

Visitation, 98 Richards Street• Jazz Concert on Sunday, November 8 at 4 pm, featuring Alicia Rau, jazz trumpeter and her group from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Sug-gested admission of $20

• Mass of Prayer for Healing - Friday, November 27 at 7 pm.

Religion(continued from previous page)


A decade after Anne O’Neil imag-ined a Red Hook Barnacle Pa-rade, the streets of the neighbor-hood filled with sea creatures of

every kind.

To celebrate what Red Hookers have dubbed as “Sandiversary” her vision has become reality. Starting in 2013, the an-niversary day of Hurricane Sandy, Octo-ber 29, has been celebrated by costumed barnacles marching merrily through the neighborhood.

A motley crew Barnacle brass band led the parade. One musician had fashioned a shell around his instrument.

A ship was constructed from green ply-wood usually designated for construction site. A NYC Buildings work permit was is-sued to “The Department of Barnacles.” Egg carton and Styrofoam barnacles were attached to the outside. A crane inside the float lifted a three story luxury condo at various times throughout the route. The crowd would cheer when the buildings were lowered.

A three person walking float of a whale marched along with the float. The belly of the beast was made from a wooden inte-rior with cloth covering the shell.

Another float represented the Integrated

Flood Protection System (IFPS) that has been promised to the neighborhood, but thus far, no signs of its existence are apparent, except in the mouths of local and state officials.

A huge fluffy Red Hook was mounted to the top, and a sign that read “I.F.P.S. Where are you?” was mounted to the back.

Under the burden of over a dozen children, all four tires blew out. However, after a quick stop at Fort Defiance, quick thinking organiz-ers repaired the broken vessel with a few cans of Fix-A-Flat.

The blue tarp symbolizing the rising flood waters of the storm trailed the parade. In the hands of taller Barnacles, the water was un-dulating while the littlest Barnacles ran be-neath it. The wind became so fierce that the managing the motion became difficult. The tarp folded and put away half way through the route. The little ones were more than happy to roll around on it to smother the gales from be-tween the folds.

After two hours of marching, Barnacles re-turned to the starting point for a block party. The Barnacle Feast was provided by the Ice House, Hometown and local residents who cooked in a wooden box on the street. Baked provided a 3rd Sandiversary cake. Meanwhile, music arranged by the Jalopy Theater accom-panied the dancing Barnacles.

Red Hook’s Barnacle parade remembers SandyWords and photos by Kimberly Gail Price

A little Barnacle catches hold of the water, but the wind proves too much.

St. John Frizell - owner of Fort Defiance, leader of the floats, Barnacle with a whistle.

A wee Barnacle disguised as a shark.

A musical sailor Barnacle dress-es up his brass with a maritime theme.

A beautiful Barnacle offers soup outside of Fort Defiance.

A little Barnacle and big Barnacle duet Hidden Barnacles inside the float create the magic of real estate blasphemy

Greg O’Connell, Sr. greets Barnacles as they pass by.

Hometown Bar-B-Que, one of several stops along the route


old fashioned celery soda.

“We’re really proud of our pizza, but we want people to know that we’re not just pizza,” Viertel says. There’s a full menu of vegetables, whole fishes, roasts...we’re really trying to stretch our shelves.”

If that isn’t enough motivation to cross Hamilton Avenue, there’s even a new crosswalk leading right to Pizza Moto’s upcycled doors, which came as a huge relief to Viertel and Scarlow while they were renovating.

The journey started three years ago when the pair began searching for a year-round destination for their suc-cessful seasonal mobile oven pizza business. After scouting several store-fronts and feeling unsatisfied, Red Hook realtor Frank Galeano directed them to 338 Hamilton Avenue. While the location seemed challenging, to say the least, the pair was seduced by one crucial structure tucked away behind a wall: a centuries-old, enor-mous Scotch coal oven in shockingly good condition.

Sclarow - a self taught builder with a background in boats and plumbing - built four mobile pizza ovens out of steel and stone and launched Pizza Moto in 2008. In the warmer months, Pizza Moto famously tows the ov-ens to events like SummerStage and

South Street Seaport Smorgasburg to serve up wood-fired pizza to the masses. The ovens aren’t just a means to an end, they are the essence of Pizza Moto’s business identity and industrial aesthetic.

“We realized what they were miss-ing was an oven project,” said Viertel, who joined Pizza Moto in 2011. His background is in sustainable agricul-ture. “The idea of buying an oven off the rack and sticking it in a white box restaurant didn’t sit right with us. We loved the challenge of bringing this oven back to life.”

Two years of researchIt took them two years to bring the monstrous 14 by 12 foot oven to a functional condition. They shrank it a bit, converted it from coal-burning to wood-burning, and built a new chimney. However, the oven retains all the original cast iron from centu-ries ago.

The remainder of the restaurant was in rough shape when they arrived. Viertel describes “horrible drop ceil-ings and ducts” and fiber-reinforced plastic on the walls. Even worse, a wall had been installed in front of the oven at some point, obscuring it completely. They tore it all apart and discovered some of the building’s oldest brick walls, which are now partially exposed.

In the process, Viertel began dig-ging through records to find out why 338 Hamilton Avenue was so utterly

anomalous.

She found that the building had been operational as a bakery as early as 1840. Most of the records are from police reports about fights and thefts in and around the business. “It was a harsh place in a harsh time,” Viertel said.

Around 1895, a Prussian immigrant named Henry Jankowski rebuilt the space into a cigar shop, where he probably used the oven to dry to-bacco leaves. His most famous blend was called Harry’s Bouquet - the namesake for Pizza Moto’s afore-mentioned cocktail. Jankowski also built apartments above the shop so he could live there with his family.

After Jankowski died, the records got a little fuzzy. The Hamilton Avenue location would become a sandwich shop, a coal-oven pizzeria, an early-era bodega, and most recently - well, after the street became engulfed by the BQE - a Papa John’s. No one seems to know who covered the oven, or why.“[Papa John’s] used a conveyer belt oven. They didn’t even know the oven was here!” Viertel said.

When Papa John’s closed, the proper-ty was left abandoned and wrecked. Galeano knew that the oven existed, but when Viertel and Scarlow came to see it three years ago, they had to cut a hole through the wall and peer in with a flashlight just to make sure.To take on the colossal project, Vi-ertel and Scarlow moved from Bed-

Pizza Moto(continued from page 1)

Stuy to Red Hook. In fact, Viertel lives right upstairs in Henry Jankowski’s old digs. She had fallen in love with the oven, but then, she fell in love with Red Hook.

“It has been exiting connect to this whole community of makers and en-trepreneurs,” she says. “I think about the relationship between this his-toric oven and the story it tells, and the BQE as this iconic structure. They have this conversation that’s been going on for half a century. I find it all quite moving.”

Pizza Moto is open for dinner at 5:30 pm, Tuesday through Sunday. 338 Hamilton Avenue, (773) 931-7900.

The mushroom pizza features both fresh and canned mushrooms, and is filled with wonderful flavors and textures. (photo by George Fiala)


On Friday, October 23, at the second participatory bud-geting (PB) meeting in the 2015-2016 cycle, the Red

Hook community packed into a room at Red Hook Initiative (RHI). The final opportunity for ideas was submitted for group discussion before delegates are chosen to transform concepts into concrete proposals. Ideas can still be texted to (646)-693-3147.

Leaders of the meeting included: Ju-lian Morales, Director of Organizing for Councilmember Carlos Mencha-ca; Catherine McBride, Program Manager at RHI; and Kiyana Slade, Community Organizer at RHI.

PB is a process by which District 39 - including Red Hook - can decide how to spend $2 million that has been al-located. It’s an opportunity for the community to change who makes the decisions by having their hands in it.

“The next phase is when you become a budget delegate, and basically, that is taking this idea and creating a proj-ect proposal from that,” Menchaca said. “Our staff is going to meet - me included - and all the facilitators will help the delegates take these ideas and develop proposals.”

During last year’s cycle, 274 Red Hookers voted on projects they want-ed improved and, according to Mo-rales, the goal is to have even more people make their voices heard this year to increase the chance at proj-ect completion. One must only live in Red Hook and be 14 or older to vote.

After a summary of what PB is, brain-storming and sharing ideas, the Red Hook residents devoured dinner pro-vided by RHI. They then played an en-thusiastic game of bingo with prizes organized by McBride.

many more people attended this PB meeting - which featured bingo and baked chicken - than at the previous one in September.

Yolanda Diaz, who was playing bingo for only her fourth time, was excited to be one of the winners. She came to the meeting because she wanted to

give ideas about how to help the com-munity.

“We want to fix the yard [at the Senior Center] so that we can use it,” Diaz said. “We know as seniors we can use it. We can plant and grow our vegeta-bles.” She also wants cars to go slower on the 9th Street and Hamilton Ave-nue intersection to prevent accidents.

Beatrice Byrd, who is the president of the Red Hook West Tenant Asso-ciation (TA), was also one of the bingo winners. Like Diaz, she thinks that money should be spent on fixing the Senior Center on West 9th Street.

“It was a daycare and now it is a senior citizens center, so they should have tables for dominoes or a garden,” Byrd added. “You don’t want the seniors play-ing on the monkey bars and the slides.”

The Senior Center in Red Hook used to be on Wolcott Street across from the library but it was ruined as a result of Sandy. The equipment for kids is still in the yard outside; the seniors want it so that the area is entirely dedicated for them.

“Everything has to be upgraded for se-niors,” Byrd said.

Wally Bazemore, who was raised in Red Hook, has strong feelings about refurbishing Coffey Park since the softball field that is currently there is under utilized. He also noted that basketball and baseball are popular in Red Hook, but not softball.

Bazemore has a background as a tennis coach and wants a court at Coffey Park

for the Red Hook community to be able to use the space productively. He wants to set up a league that will include kids from ages 8 through 17 so that he can promote leadership, academ-ics, awareness, good health and qual-ity eating because “we have an obesity problem that is off the chain,” he said.

He wants to have local, state and na-tional tennis tournaments at Coffey Park where kids can be exposed to dif-ferent lifestyles. Bazemore thinks it’s a good possibility that the next Serena Williams or Arthur Ashe could be in Red Hook and it will not be known unless something productive can be done at Coffey Park.

This tennis league at Coffey Park can give these kids an opportunity to get into better high schools. “Maybe they can obtain a scholarship to get into a better college,” Bazemore said. “It broadens their horizons. It gives them better discipline, it organizes them and it teaches them teamwork.”

To be eligible for funding from PB, the project idea must be capital and not expense. According to Morales, a capital project is brick and mortar, not an after school program or salary for a non-profit. It has to be something that the community can see and take advantage of, and these projects must cost at least $35,000.

These were some of the ideas that were presented after the four groups

Menchaca adds fun to government with dinner and bingoby Nathan Weiser

had brainstorming sessions:

1. A stage inside the Red Hook rec-reational area on Bay Street for live bands and events

2. More lighting around the perim-eter of Red Hook Houses. Fiber optic lighting with solar power backup is preferred.

3. Renovate the Red Hook Rec Center, as well as an equipment upgrade at T Park

4. New benches for all of Red Hook, including additional seating at bus stops

5. Install stoplights on Lorraine, Hicks, Clinton and Bush Streets. More stop-lights would increase the safety of the school children as they go home.

6. More lights at the bus stops - es-pecially for the winter - since people cannot see when it is dark outside.

7. More signs at Hamilton and Lor-raine to increase safety at that inter-section.

8.Permanent outside lighting through-out Red Hook. Sandy knocked out all of the lighting, and the residents want to get rid of the police lights.

9. Coffey Park needs its restroom fa-cility repaired and T Park is in need of bathrooms. Something portable on the premises at these parks is requested.

10. Spraying the streets to help allevi-ate allergies.

Carlos Menchaca holds up his bingo card, which includes the number of his Council district. (photos by Fiala)

It was a packed house at the Red Hook Initiative for Participatory Budgeting and Bingo.

“Wally Bazemore, who was raised in Red Hook, has strong

feelings about refurbishing Coffey Park since the softball field that is currently there is under utilized. He also noted that basketball and baseball are popular in Red Hook, but

not softball.”


Commanding Officer (CO) El-liot Colon led the 76th Precinct Community Council meeting

at a packed house at 191 Union Street on Tuesday, October 6th. Community Affairs and Crime Prevention officers joined members from government agencies, the Red Hook Justice Center and Visitation Church with news for the community.

Colon’s reported that year-to-date to-tal crime is down 2% and the most re-cent 28-day data showed a 21% drop. Much of the drop was due to the arrest of one high profile burglar. The man - identified as a Staten Island resident who frequents a local methadone clinic - was arrested earlier this sum-mer, which coincided with a previous decline. The burglar was caught on camera this time, leading to an indict-ment and keeping him off the streets.

Colon was proud of a bust involving a perpetrator who had 50 decks of hero-in, 2 rocks of crack-cocaine as well as cocaine and marijuana. A .40 caliber weapon was also taken off the street. The arrest was made in the vicinity of the Red Hook East houses.

Council Leader, Jerry Armer opened the floor for questions and comments. Robert Berrios from the Visitation Church mentioned a continued issue of cars driving too fast on Van Brunt Street. He next complained about a disengaged crossing guard, unruly kids in Coffey Park and loitering in front of St. Paul’s Church at Court and Congress Streets.

Others complained about illegal parking. The area around Success Academy of Cobble Hill at Baltic be-tween Smith and Hoyt was cited by Margie Fuerst. When parents pick up their children, traffic chokes up the block. Cars are sometimes even triple parked, blocking emergency vehicles. “Summonses need to be issued,” she said. Others in the audience agreed. Colon said he would follow up with enhanced patrols.

Martin Haber brought up illegally double parked cars on Sackett Street during alternate side parking. When al-ternate side parking (ASP) rules are in effect, the narrower blocks in the area become dangerous and unpassable when an entire block is double parked. The Captain said “while double park-ing is illegal, it is an extended courtesy.”

The reason for Haber’s annoyance be-

came evident when he revealed that he was ticketed. “It should be all or nothing,” he said. Armer suggesting contacting the local city councilman.

Local representatives took the floor next. Councilman Carlos Menchaca spoke about Red Hook, saying the area “is experiencing a lot of energy right now.” He invited community members to take an active role in his participatory budgeting (PB) pro-gram, and distributed flyers.

Henrietta Perkins wanted to know how much PB money is being budgeted for Red Hook, and what projects have been done in previous years. Mencha-ca explained that $2 million is budget-ed for the district, which includes Sun-set Park as well as Red Hook. Projects approved in previous years include upgraded air conditioning some local schools, and a technology room and garden at the Red Hook library.

A representative from the Red Hook Community Justice Center spoke about their Peacemaking Program. Peacemaking is a traditional Native American method of practicing jus-tice that focuses on healing rather than punishment. Peacemakers go through free training, which includes meeting members from the Native American Cayuga Nation. The goal is to help young people resolve con-flicts, restore relationships and pre-vent violence. The center is currently recruiting with training sessions tak-ing place in November.

Allen Bucy, Outreach Coordinator for Public Advocate Letitia James, provid-ed an update on a program to monitor air quality at nail salons. James’s office issued a report highlighting the haz-ardous health conditions in salons.

The meeting concluded shortly after the very late arrival of the Mayor’s representative, Daniel Abramson, with many in the room remarking, “Isn’t that typical of the Mayor’s of-fice,” referring to his tardiness.

Community Council meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm and community members are invited to attend. Com-munity Officers Paul Grudzinski and Vincent Marrone reminded everyone to call 911 if there is an emergency or crime in progress. For non-emer-gencies and issues regarding quality of life they may be contacted at (718) 834-3207.

76th Precinct Newsby Keith Klein

City Councilman Carlos Menchaca explains Participatory Budgeting as Jerry Armer and Commanding Officer Elliot Colon listen. (photo by Klein)


Mark’s Corner BY MARK SHAMES

Once upon a time I had the privi-lege of chairing of the Board of the local Independent Neigh-

borhood Democratic (IND) club. After a brief hiatus from club leadership, I became its President. The primary identity of the club was and, I assume, remains that of a “reform” club.As a liberal who has always had an ideologically diverse group of friends, I felt comfortable with the challenge of trying to lead a club with a mix of progressive, moderate and even conservative members. What mostly united us was our dissatisfaction with the ascendency of pay-to-play politics.The concept of reform means differ-ent things to different people. I am a strong supporter of the strain of re-form politics that seeks to curb gerry-mandering and the influence of mon-ey on election results, which demands a periodic turnover of elected officials. I view these reforms as the best check on oligarchy and corruption. I do not, however, share the passion of many of my friends for decentral-ization of the party structure. I view a strong party as another check on in-dividual wealth and privilege. I was at odds with the majority of the most ac-tivist club members in this regard and also with regard to term limits. What troubled me most was that the club did not live up to its principles with regard to redistricting reform. Having been on the losing side in an attempt to take the Assembly District in a new direction, I bowed out while wishing my friends who remained all the best.My experience is that while we say the ends don’t justify the means, in politics, all becomes a means to a de-sired end. Therefore, process issues most often take a back seat to the substantive policies being promoted at the moment. Few people outside of academia care about process in a seri-ous way. Even fewer care about it in a nonpartisan way, and hardly anyone will cast a vote for a candidate based on it. Unfortunately, reform at its best is advanced in the service of power and policy objectives rather than even-handedly. At its worst, it is a talk-ing point for personal advancement. When power has been obtained or policy objectives achieved, the ur-gency to effectuate the originally pro-moted procedural change dissipates. The prime directive of most of those in power is to retain that power. After all, nobody wants to be unemployed. Reform becomes the province of the

insurgent; the insurgency had best accomplish its ends early on before settling in.In the creation of legislative districts, we see the self-interest of legislators consistently trumping the public in-terest. Why else - despite popular appeal and repeated promises of its creation - don’t we have an indepen-dent redistricting commission? Why have we exhausted ourselves in or-der to concoct a complex new system still under the unquestioned control of incumbent legislators?There are numerous examples of manipulation of the system to insure friendly electorates or to exclude a significant challenger. Ask Chris Ow-ens or Hakeem Jefferies, each first complaining victims, then silent ben-eficiaries. There are others. Agree-ments to craft safe districts are not just interparty arrangements. They are intraparty arrangements as well. Every principle for the creation of representational districts that we es-pouse is paid lip service, but ignored when convenient.It is no wonder that the Senate Re-publicans and the Assembly Demo-crats have reneged on their promise of reform. It is no wonder that the governor got major policy victories in exchange for backing off of the reforms that might have threatened incumbency. It would be karmic if any of them would pay a price for misleading the voters about reform. But having used gerrymandering to pick their vot-ers, they don’t suffer negative conse-quences. A constitutional convention would offer new opportunity for con-structive change; I have heard little optimism that a consensus could be achieved even in such a forum.We agonize over the influence of money and the moneyed class in elec-tions and the corrupting influences of pay-to-play on our politicians. However, as the law stands now, the best we can hope for is public financ-ing of campaigns and the imposition of term limits.I would love to see the state system mimic the city system in all regards. A combination of a single house leg-islature, four-year terms, and raises in pay for legislators, public cam-paign finance and term limits would be beneficial. The prospects for such change remain remote; instead of ef-fective procedural reform, we will continue to rely on criminal prosecu-tions as the primary check on self-interest and avarice.

Self Interest and Avarice

Dear George and Halley,

I just went to Fairway and saw your ar-ticle. Wow! it is beautifully written and makes complex issues personal and relevant to the community. Like the article on the ferry stop did as well. This underlines that the Red Hook Star Revue is practicing a kind of informed and informing journalism that is rare today but absolutely necessary.

Thanks! It’s an honor to be a part of it! - Alexandros Washburn.

LETTER:

Former Assemblywoman Joan Mill-man, who served the 52nd District following the untimely death of Ei-leen Dugan, was honored recently at the Eileen Dugan Senior Center, 380 Court Street. Jo Ann Simon, who was endorsed by Millman, succeeded the Assemblywoman after winning a con-test election last year.

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron, City Coun-cilman Steve Levin, and representa-tives from State Senator Velmanette Montgomery’s office, as well as the District Managers of Community Boards (CB) 2 and 6 all showed up to offer tributes. Many of these lumi-naries worked hard with Millman in crafting and enacting legislation.

Buddy Scotto, the elder statesman who founded the Senior Center, Dr. Joan Pastore, its director, and a room-ful of interested seniors were also in the audience as they awaited lunch.

Squadron, Millman’s counterpart in the NYS Senate, served as Master of Ceremonies. He began by joking that this was not a roast. Millman, looking resplendent in a powder blue blaz-er, was the recipient of only sincere words of praise and appreciation.

Scott Stringer was the only citywide official present. He served with Joan in the Assembly before his election as Manhattan Borough President in 2006. What he remembered most about Joan was the valuable opportu-nity she gave to many who served in her office, calling her a great mentor. He also said that “she has been able to keep to her principles while serving the district.”

Simon said that she hears of the great things Joan did every day. That may be because she kept Joan’s Smith Street office and meets many of the same constituents. Simon commented on how much she appreciates the con-tinuing opportunity of being able to “pick Joan’s brain.”

Steve Levin, whose council district is adjacent to much of the 51st Assem-bly District, laid out three important attributes of Millman: first - her com-passion and sense of decency; sec-ond, she always does the right thing, even its not the easy thing; thirdly, her toughness. “Joan was always a fierce advocate for her district.”

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez showed up a touch late but in plenty of time to add her accolades. Velazquez stressed Millman’s strict attention to education, seniors and economic de-velopment. She called Millman a re-former and thanked her for nurturing her successor, Jo Ann Simon.

Craig Hammerman and Rob Perris, the Community Board District Man-agers also spoke. Hammerman of CB 6 reminded the audience of how Joan stood up to “bullies and bigots” back in 2003 when a segment of the Carroll Gardens community fought against the placement of a home for battered woman. Joan, along with then Coun-cilman Bill de Blasio and Borough President Marty Markowitz fought on behalf of the Rose House, which pro-vided temporary living quarters for woman in fear.

Joan spoke last. “It’s great to hear all this stuff while I’m still alive!” she joked. Referring to the proclamations that each speaker presented, she said that she’d have to get a bigger apart-ment “with more wall space.”

She thanked everyone present for al-lowing her the opportunity to serve.She said that everyone that she faced election every two years for two de-cades. She praised the high voter turnout in her district, saying that even an election on what kind of frost-ing to use on cupcakes served at a PTA dinner would bring out tons of votes.

Then everyone got up and posed for photos. Not often are so many local officials are available to get together at lunchtime on any given day. But for Joan, they showed up.

Pols come together to honor Joan Millman

by George Fiala


In Loving Memory of Vinny Musacchiaby George Fiala

Vinny and I were both born under the sign of Taurus. We were both drummers. I worked with him in the production de-partment of the Phoenix newspaper back

in the 1970’s. Th e Phoenix, on Atlantic Avenue, could be a stressful place to work. But despite ex-treme deadline pressures, Vince made those pro-duction nights a delight; he made us feel part of a great team with his wisecracks and obvious com-passion for all of us - including our curmudgeonly publisher, Mike Armstrong.

I missed Vinny when he left but never dreamt that we would again be part of a team - this time in my own space - a production room of great musicians who congregated every Th ursday night for almost four years. He fi lled the cavernous space at 101 Union Street with the same sense of mission and fun, teamwork and love.

Vince Musacchia lived in Carroll Gardens for all of his 63 years, except for a period starting in the mid 1990s when he and his wife Roz moved to Califor-nia to work for Warner Brothers. In addition to his drumming and singing, he was a wonderful cartoon-ist who worked on comic books. I myself was a mem-ber of the Merry Marvel Marching society in high school and once fashioned myself as a comic artist.

After creating art and managing projects at Warner Brothers, he worked for Walt Disney from 2001 to 2010. While he and Roz loved the neighborhood, I could tell that he never stopped missing his Cali-fornia life. In some ways was hoping to one day go back. I believe that he and Roz made a visit earlier this year, which I’m sure was wonderful for them.

As well as being a lifelong graphic artist, he was also a lifelong musician. My fi rst trip ever to Park Slope was sometime around 1979 to see his

band, Chazz.

I lost track of Vince after he left the Phoenix. When the internet came in, I looked him up and found that he and some partners bought the rights to “Th e Honeymooners,” and came out with their own Ralph and Norton comic books.

I stayed in the neighborhood and began a mailing company in the mid 1980s. Th e company moved around, and in 2010 settled in a warehouse space on Union Street, in the Columbia Waterfront District.

Th e space was so large that in addition to fi tting the mailing company, I was able to build a stage with a cafe area. It changed my life - the newspaper you have in your hands is one result, and the other was to become the proprietor of a magical place where musicians would simply show up every Th ursday night. All I did was put up a few fl yers advertising a free jam.

One night while the music was going on, I was busy over the stove cooking hot dogs for everyone. All of a sudden I heard a once familiar voice call out my name. Without even looking I shouted out “Vinny!”

He had no idea that I was hosting the jams; he sim-ply heard about it and decided to check it out.

We immediately reestablished our friendship. He used to kiss me and tell everyone that we know each other for thirty years and tell me he loved me, some-thing I was kind of not used to from a man.

I had recently begun the Star-Revue and talked him into drawing a strip for us. Some samples are below.

He decided to get his old band together, this time calling it “Th e Other Side,” and they would come every Wednesday to practice. I put together holiday concerts with his band and ours. My band never gets a good crowd, but everybody knew Vinnie so

we would get the benefi t of his audience.

Th e Other Side was supposed to play at this sum-mer’s Celebrating Red Hook, which the paper spon-sors. As late as June 7 he confi rmed the date, writing me that they would play “Come Hell or High Water!”

However, shortly thereafter, he received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and passed away October 14.

I didn’t realize how much I will miss him until just now. As Vince would say, “scaaaryyyyyy.”

Vince will always be alive in our memories - he was such a vibrant person, with a joke and a kind word for everyone.

I hope you knew I was thinking of you and am still talking to you and driving you home after a late night of music. I’ll be cooking hot dogs for you and Harold again once I get to join you on a Th ursday night in that 101 in the sky.

I love you Vinny.

Vincent and Roz Musacchia (photo by Fiala)


Vito Parente has good reason to be celebrating these days. The president of Carroll Gar-den’s Van Westerhout Citti-

dini Molesi Cultural and Social Club is breathing new life into the organization.

He is navigating the Italian social club scene onto new turf at a time when change is not just inevitable, but al-most necessary as it faces an aging membership.

Parente, who is 48, has a presence that commands attention. Blue-eyed with white, wavy hair, he is wired to ener-gize and please those around him.

His excitement resonates when he speaks of his plans to combine ac-tivities with his Molese members with that of the Carinesi (Sicilian) Club in Bensonhurst, of which he is also a member. “This has never been done before,” he proudly boasts, “but it’s time that as Italians living in America who belong to social clubs.... that we are friends first, and Italians second.”

Historically, Italian social clubs are male only and independent reflec-tions of their home towns. They are social outlets. In the past, hardwork-ing immigrants such as Red Hook’s longshoremen could hang out with their “paisani,” play cards, or just pass time away. As Parente pointed out, there was a time when most women stayed home, men worked, and after dinner with the family, they would go to the club to unwind with the guys.

That simplicity no longer exists. Times have changed, he emphasized. “Now men come home and help with din-ner, put up a wash and do homework with the kids, because some wives are out working, too.” He would like to see more social events involving women and grown children.

Though he was born in Mola, but lived his whole life in Brooklyn and Staten Island, Parente sets himself apart from the Italian-born members who have clung to their Molese identities in their adopted homeland.

He grew up on 3rd Place and Court Street by the statue of St. Lucy. His older sister married the owner of the nearby Mola Pizzeria. When he was eight, the family moved to Benson-hurst. American friends and culture suited his fancy just fine.

Marriage, a family and the loss of his father brought him full circle to the ballad to his Molese roots. Today, his home has the European touches of a villa in Italy - a backyard that could be overlooking the Amalfi coast.

While Parente is a soccer fan, as most of the senior members of the club are, he believes that may not be true for some of the younger members he is trying to recruit. In a recent renova-tion, he made sure there were two big screens: one for members who watch soccer; the other for those who don’t. He wants newer members to feel that they can stop by for a drink and catch

up with friends without imposing on the older members, whom whole-heartedly enjoy their soccer matches as well as their sometimes heated, mostly political, discussions.

It’s a new generationParente wants to provide an environ-ment that matches the lifestyle of the younger generation. The hard working men of their grandparents era who, in addition to their jobs, worked in their gardens to provide food at relatively little cost throughout the winters.

The next generation is more likely to have been formally educated and reared as intellectuals, educators, fi-nanciers, lawyers, businessmen and even musicians. They sport tablets, iPads and smart phones while still liv-ing their parent’s culture, and some-times, speaking their dialects.

While many of their parents were longshoremen and other blue-collar workers, many were able to seek for-mal education and moved into roles as business and store owners, and other areas of prestige, such as Mi-chael Pesce, a neighborhood youth who became a U.S. Appellate Court Judge. Their business presence and prominence was greatly felt in the neighborhood and gave it the commu-nity appeal it has maintained through the years. Newer members face a dif-ferent challenge particularly because their connection to Red Hook is not as rooted as their parents’.

The Van Westerhout Club (named for a 19th century musician who was born in Mola to a Molese mother and a Dutch father) was formed in 1960 by 14 mostly youthful immigrant men from Mola di Bari. They preferred starting their own club, rather than joining other Molese Clubs in the neighborhood whose memberships were older. The Mola Social Club on Columbia Street had a soccer team that was in the Eastern District Soccer League. They played their games at Red Hook Park.

Members of the Circolo Cittadini Mo-lese Club on Smith Streetoriginated the Miss Mola contest and dinner

dance.

The Van Westerhout found-ers were students with part time jobs in printing shops, factories and food stores. They rented basement space on Summit Street, across from St. Stephen’s Church. Unofficially, they formed a soccer team and played behind 142’s, jok-ingly naming their teams “Team Mozzarella” and “Team Pizzeria.” They played with members of the Pozzallo Sicilian Club that is still on Henry Street.

In 1976, they merged with the Circolo Cittadini Molesi Club and continued the tradition of the annual Miss Mola dinner dance. In 1978, the founders collectively purchased a building on 4th Place and Court Street. Their colorful garden and the patron-saint statue of the Addo-lorata, nestled in a small gazebo-like shrine has quietly stood since. Many things have changed in the neighbor-hood, but one could depend on the tolerance and endurance of the Van Westerhout Club to remain intact.

According to a club member, in 1955 alone, 200 male teens emigrated from Mola di Bari to Red Hook seeking op-portunity in a place becoming more like Mola. The support of a social club was important for these immigrants to adjust to their new country, over-come language barriers, and plan their careers.

When they arrived at our shores, they witnessed the harsh realities of undis-puted waterfront crime. In the 1960s, they watched as drug wars began to occupy the streets they planted their hardworking roots in. In the 1970s they saw family and loved ones make a slow but deliberate exodus to neigh-boring areas, suburbs and other states to flee the uncertainty of Red Hook’s survival.

In the 1980s they contended with their neighborhood being renamed - from Red Hook to Carroll Gardens - never anticipating the impact of its economical gain - or loss - for those who stayed or for those who left.

This led to the nineties and hipster gentrification, who brought along their myriad dogs, restaurants and bars, and greater real estate values.

Those who stayed, watched their homes become more valuable than they ever imagined. Those who left suffered the jabbing pain of hindsight.

Most recently came the particularly touchy territorial conflict between the newcomers, and the aficionados and old-timers of Red Hook.

Through wise and aging eyes, Molesi members witnessed this evolution from their chairs outside the club.

They talked; they sighed. They played more cards and cheered more soccer.

Their sidewalk existence got to the curiosity of some of the new neigh-bors. Many of them often associated them with the mob. This is an unfor-tunate but all-too-real stereotyping that plagues Italians. Those vibrant, opportunistic members remained steadfast creatures of habit.

Faithful to MolaInside, while membership rose and fell through the years, they remained the pillars of their Molese ancestry, providing male devotees and carriers for the Procession of the Addolorata, hosting the annual dinner dance that celebrates the selection of Miss Mola, and kept alive one of the most sacred and crucial customs of all - the Mo-lese dialect.

This dialect has not been spoken in Mola since Italy’s educational system instituted Dante’s spoken word as the official, unified language. Children in Mola were being taught Italian, while many of their parents or grandpar-ents, who had emigrated to America, were still speaking Molese.

In fact, Molese visitors who come to America now are quite impressed that these Molese Americans - often friends and relatives - are fluently speaking the ancestral tongue. They are also acutely aware that the Molese ancestry and solidarity is preserved here more so than in Mola.

I was invited to several of the club’s celebratory events over the past sev-eral months. I was not surprised by the friendliness, caliber and conge-niality of the members. There was no evidence of rank among them, wheth-er they were cooking, playing cards or debating issues. There was no telling who was the retired longshoreman or who was the judge.

I connected with some members on Club member Vito Gentile, a retired long-shoreman, maintains quite an impressive garden at his home.

This is the club’s garden, at the corner of Court Street and Fourth Place, next to the clubhouse.

Keeping a Carroll Gardens tradition aliveby Mary Ann Pietanza

(continued on next page)


Mola (in the province of Bari, region of Apulia) is a large fishing village on the Adriatic Sea with a population of approximately 27,000 people. It is noted for it’s whitewashed buildings. In 1276, a feud between the Normans and Anglo Saxons destroyed the town. In 1279 King Carlo I D’Angio, in his restoration efforts, designed and built a castle with high walls in order to protect Mola’s citizens. He placed 400 people there and 140 soldiers to protect them from the pirates who routinely navigated the Adriatic looking for coastal towns to raid and kill people. The castle still remains, simply referred to as Castello Angioino and is open for cultural events. In the past, Mola, in addition to their popular fishing industry, was primarily noted for its agricultural production - mainly artichokes, tomatoes, table grapes and even arugula. The patron saint of the town is Our Lady of Sorrows (SS Maria Addolorata). It is said that in 1948, a replica was built to voyage the Atlantic from Mola to Red Hook to double in her role, in a new homeland and a new church, St. Stephen’s. She is processed on her namesake day each September and on Good Friday before Easter. The famous composer Niccolo Van Westehout, a musician and composer was born in Mola in the 19th century to a Molese mother and Dutch father. He died in 1898, just two years after his opera, Dona Flor performed to great acclaim in his home town. (The play eventually was staged in New York City in 2010.). The Van Westerhout Theatre in Mola was built in his honor. Mola is noted for their bakeries and some of the finest focaccia and panzerotti (calzones) in Italy. It has been observed that Mola has more chefs per capita for similar type cities in Italy. You-tuber and blogger Rosella Rago is noted for her cooking demonstrations of Molese cuisine in her show “Cooking with Nonna.” (Cookingwithnonna.com). She is oftentimes in Mola during festivities shooting on location for her you tube shows and website. The Van Westerhout Club was honored with the re-naming of 4th Place and Court Street as “Citizens of Mola di Bari Way” in October of 2011.

a more personal level when I became involved with a garden project that allowed me to visit some members homes. This was especially meaning-ful since my own father was a gardener and a farmer. Here is where I was able to get a glimpse into the modest yet ac-complished lives of these life-loving immigrants whose generosity to their families and friends was overwhelming.

As a native of Red Hook, I was guilty myself of not understanding the mys-teries of the club’s mysterious facade. Despite having half Molese bloodline, spending every summer’s end at the

Festa della Madonna as a child, at-tending St. Stephen’s Church and even attending one or two Miss Mola dances with my Molese friends, the nameless men whom I passed by for years as I walked on Court Street re-mained elusive to me.

But thinking about it, many of the establishments that as Red Hookers came to love, were owned by these members. The House of Pizza and Calzone on Union Street and deep fried until golden brown, was owned by members Onofrio Gaudioso and John Teutonico.

We were heartbroken as a neighbor-hood to see them go, but thankfully, all the recipes were handed down to the new owner, Paul D’Agostino.

Many new to the neighborhood may not recall Latticini Baresi, on Union Street just a few storefronts from the House of Pizza. Owned by member Joe Balzano, his freshly made cheeses were reminiscent of Mola. I remem-ber going there each Saturday to buy basket cheese for my grandmother,

and at Easter time, the soaked grain we needed to make the traditional grain pie with ricotta, orange rind, and sugar (pasteria di grano.)

Members Allegrino and Michael Sale owned Good Food Supermarket on Court Street by Third Place, which is now Investors Bank - whose COO is a newer Van Westerhout member, Do-menick Cama.

There was John and Frank’s Hero Shop on Columbia between Coles and Lu-quer Streets. Owners John Verna and Frank Rotondi may not have been in business as long as Defonte’s on the next corner, but they were a staple in the area. Frank’s Luncheonette at 365 Smith Street is still owned by member Frank Martino.

The members are not all as well

known or even high profiled as Judge Michael Pesce, whose own career was greatly supported by members of the Van Westerhout Club.

Pesce was a young lawyer at the Le-gal Aid Society active in Buddy Scot-to’s Independent Democratic club of South Brooklyn. His gained election to the NY State Assembly in 1973 with the help of his fellow club members.

Other members or officers such as Vito Parente and Vito Pietanza, while not professionally visible in the area, are owners of businesses outside of Red Hook/Carroll Gardens. They and those like them, still contribute to the prosperity, diversity and overall tal-ents and successes of the club’s ac-complished member base.

Last summer I was able to talk to some of the new members, including Frank Sale, Richard Battista, Nick Pesce and Peter Mancini. While all are related to existing members, they did not know each other before joining.

Getting to know one another, they have discovered a common bond.

Vito Parente, President of Mola Club (3rd left) and President Tony Troia (2nd left) enjoying a recent social event with live music at the Carini Social Club in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, with their members.

They share many of the same views. Some visit Mola yearly, others spo-radically. But they each value their ancestry and the club’s role in main-taining that brotherhood.

They are honored to be receiving the torch being passed onto them and look forward to meeting new friends, to have a place to network, and enjoy the social pastime of sports and other gatherings where the meals (incred-ible Molese dishes cooked by mem-bers) take center stage.

The younger members understand that some of the older members are resistant to change. They wholeheart-

edly understand where the senior members are coming from. This 55 year-old sanctuary has stood the test of time - their way. “We’re not here to take over,” said Frank Sale, “we’re here to carry on.”

When I asked them about the gen-trification of Carroll Gardens, they seemed to unanimously agree that they recognize the hipsters as artists and entrepreneurs. They believe in time, with more of their own public events, neighbors will come to appre-ciate them for their worth as a culture who has remained steadfast and tra-ditionally loyal to their roots.

Rejuvention of a Court Street shrine(continued from previous page)

by Mary Ann Pietanza

ABOUT MOLA DI BARI:

Castello di Angioino built around 1279 sits on the seashore of Mola

“Many of the establishments that as Red Hookers came to love, were owned by these members. The House of Pizza and Calzone on Union Street and deep fried until golden brown, was owned by members Onofrio Gaudioso and John Teuto-nico. We were heartbroken as a neighborhood to see them go, but thankfully, all the recipes were handed down to the new owner, Paul D’Agostino. Many new to the neighborhood may not recall Latticini Baresi, on Union Street just a few storefronts from the House of Pizza. Owned by member Joe Balzano, his freshly made cheeses were reminiscent of Mola.”


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director of continuing education at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan.

Diagnosis scary at fi rstBut underneath a fl ourishing career, Tampakis was suff ering from myste-rious symptoms. She had already ex-perienced migraines throughout her life. When she hit her 40s, they grew unbearable. Suddenly, she was also experiencing extreme fatigue, painful leg cramps and digestive issues. Doc-tor after doctor chalked it up to stress or hormonal changes. But when a gastroenterologist fi nally took a biop-sy, she learned the awful truth.

“I had never even heard of Celiac before,” she said. “It wasn’t even in my lexicon!”

Celiac disease is an autoimmune dis-order in which a gluten intolerance causes damage to the intestinal wall. It aff ects 1% of the population, or 1 out of 133 Americans. Tampakis, who depended on her taste buds to do her job, felt doomed.

“My initial reaction was very hostile,” she said. “I was only doing wheat-based cakes. I was worried about my career. I felt like my whole adult iden-tity revolved around being an instruc-tor in the school, and that was all sud-denly being taken away from me.”

Luckily, encouragement from friends, colleagues, and family pulled her out of her post-diagnosis funk. As her symptoms began to wane months after she’d given up gluten, she dreamed of opening a business that would serve people like her.

“I didn’t know anyone with a food allergy growing up, and suddenly I’m surrounded,” she said. “Once I got the idea in my head to open a

business, I had to do it while I still had the energy.”

She knew the risks. She’d watched her husband Jim Tampakis deal with the ups and downs of owning a business - Marine Spares International, a Red Hook supply company - for 30 years.

But her dream wouldn’t die, and it just so happened that Jim had some warehouse space to spare on Richards Street. In 2012, she quit her job at the International Culinary Institute and took the plunge.

Perfect Red Hook combinationWhipped Pastry Boutique now lies behind an enormous storage room fi lled fl oor to ceiling in historic marine equipment collected throughout Jim’s career - or “junk,” as Michelle puts it playfully. It’s a perfect Red Hook com-bination.

Whipped launched with only one client, but now Michelle’s products are avail-able in stores, hotels, and restaurants throughout NYC, including the chain Juice Generation, and most recently, Fairway in Red Hook. Individuals can also order specialty cakes online.

As her business expanded, Tampa-kis grew sympathetic to food allergies and choices beyond gluten. Her or-ders now extend to nut-free, egg-free, soy free, and vegan dieters too. She sometimes has to defl ect non-allergic people who don’t understand that most of these diets aren’t a choice.

“A lot of people use these diets to lose weight or because it’s the latest craze,” she said. “But I think for gluten-free especially, medical science will con-tinue to sift away the ‘fad’ aspect of it, and it will be seen as more and more legitimate.

“Already, every store in a metropoli-tan area has at least some gluten-free products, if not sections,” she contin-ued. “I think that unfortunately as we see more allergic people, that trend will grow.”

For those with Celiac or restrictive di-ets, Michelle Tampakis recommends the following Th anksgiving recipes:

GLUTEN FREE STUFFING

Ingredients:1 recipe Gluten Free Cornbread½ lb. Italian sausage2 tbsp vegetable oil1 ½ cups turkey or chicken stock½ cup grated Parmesan cheese½ lb. white mushrooms4 tbsp vegetable oilSalt/pepper¼ cup white wine½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Chop or crumble the sausages, and sauté them in a frying pan with the veg-etable oil until fully cooked.

2. Cut cornbread into small 1 inch cubes, and set aside

3. Wash and slice the mushrooms, and sauté them in the vegetable oil.

4. Once they are browned add the wine, allow wine to cook off. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add mushrooms, sausage, cheese and stock to the cubed cornbread and stir together. Mixture should hold to-gether. Add more stock if necessary.

6. Bake stuffing in a lightly greased 4qt baking dish, in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until firm.

7. Serve stuffing warm.

Gluten Free Cornbread

Ingredients:1 ½ cups buttermilk4 eggs¾ cup vegetable oil¾ cup white rice flour1 cup minus 1 tbsp tapioca starch1 1/8 cup soy flour2/3 cup yellow cornmeal¾ cup sugar2 tsp salt1 tbsp baking powderOptional ingredients: 4 strips bacon (cooked and crumbled)½ cup grated cheese4 seeded and chopped jalapeno peppers

Directions:

1. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs and oil in a mixing bowl.

2. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients to make a batter.

4. Add optional ingredients, if using them.

5. Pour onto a lightly greased and pa-per lined rimmed baking sheet, mea-suring 12 x 18 inches.

6. Bake at 350 degrees until corn-bread is golden and springs back to the touch.

Pumpkin Pie

Dough:1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour 1/4 cup brown sugar1/4 tsp cinnamon1/4 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp baking soda1/3 tsp salt1/4 cup butter1 tbsp water1 egg1/3 vanilla extractFilling:1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree2 eggs1/2 tsp salt1/3 tsp cinnamon1/4 tsp nutmeg1/4 tspginger14 oz sweetened condensed milkDirections:

1. Make the dough by combining all dry ingredients in the3 bowl of an elec-tric mixer.

2. Add butter and mix briefly, very small bits of butter may still be visible.

3. Combine egg, water and vanilla in a small bowl and add to mixer, scrape sides of bowl.

4. Scrape dough into plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the filling.

5. For the filling, combine all ingredi-ents in a bowl with a whisk.

6. Roll dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to a circle big enough to line a 9 inch pie pan.

7. Place dough in pan, and crimp edge.

8. Pour in filling and bake pie in a 325°F preheated oven, for 50-60 min-utes, or until filling is set.

9. Allow to cool fully before cutting.

It’s a gluten-free world at Whipped Pastry Boutique(continued from page 1)

Michelle Tampakis (left) with her Whipped Pastry Boutique staff. (photo by Fiala)


Taking in the view of south Brooklyn from the Third Av-enue Whole Foods, one may not realize that the waterway

that flanks the grocery store on two sides was the pre-eminent economic engine of the city of Brooklyn for over two hundred years.

Development has obscured its his-tory; all everyone talks about is the smell and what to do about the layers of built up scum and trash. But, just as any landmark has its dedicated schol-ars, so too does this one. There’s al-ways someone who knows what hides in plain sight.

For the Gowanus Canal, that some-one is Joseph Alexiou: an author, ac-tivist and tour guide who’s second book Gowanus: Brooklyn’s Curious Canal was released October 9, 2015 on NYU Press.

From the Dutch to the British to mod-ern industrial use to even more recent still post-industrial use, Alexiou uses meticulously culled historical re-cords, community testimony, and his own experiences, to chronicle the rise and fall of a waterway that went from boom to blight in New York’s Robert Moses highway era.

Alexiou, a dark haired man with small features, light scruff, and a casual-yet-stylish fashion sense, moved to Gowa-nus “by accident” in 2006. “It was a lot quieter then, but mostly the same,” he said of his first years there. The hous-ing bust in 2009 has since given way to another boom in recent years, but the issue of the canal still weighs on the neighborhood’s shoulders.

Gowanus, like many New York neigh-borhoods today, exhibits a tension between upscale real estate develop-

ment and the indigenous working class. There is an entrenched indus-trial base, which includes warehouses and body shops alongside new resi-dential development, including the 700 unit Lightstone project rising on Gowanus’ banks.

Historic problemThe neighborhood’s sewer system dates back to the 19th century and it overflows into the canal whenever there is too much rain. According to the New York Times, when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, sewage water raised the canal’s water level so much that the canal flowed into basements all over south Brooklyn and completely cut off entire streets from traffic.

As neighborhoods grow, already over-burdened sewage system become more inadequate. Budgets and the

political will - to raise fees and taxes - are often lacking when it comes to upgrades.

The Star-Revue spoke to Alexiou, in Gowanus, prior to the book’s release. “New York’s story and history is a real estate story. Those developers in charge of that development over there,” he says, pointing, “the Light-stone group, promise mixed-use rent-als. Whatever that means. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

According to Alexiou, developers often take advantage of “variances,” or excep-tions, to zoning laws, in order to use cheaper industrially zoning for residen-tial development. They cater to wealthy renters while ignoring impacts to area infrastructure, including sewage.

Alexiou is an effusive speaker. Taking photos of a garish plastic coated wood façade on a condo building near the Lightstone project, he gets the atten-tion of a few shipping workers. He strikes up a conversation about the Gowanus and the politics surround-ing local real estate development.

“Bloomberg didn’t care about the Gowanus,” Alexiou says, speaking of the previous Mayor. The workers agree, but don’t see today as much different. They are worried about be-ing pushed out of their neighborhood changing.

“Neither does de Blasio, and he doesn’t do a thing about the Chinese investors who have put their money in [but] don’t care about the neighbor-hood,” one of them says.

Though Alexiou primarily cares about sustainable community development and the workers their employment prospects and rent prices, it’s easy

Gowanus activist publishes Canal historyby Carson Behre

to see that they both have a shared vision of the canal and Gowanus: a neighborhood that can cater to vastly different types of people.

Alexiou is well known locally for his community organizing revolving around the Gowanus cleanup. He is a licensed Brooklyn tour guide and leader of “Take Back Gowanus,” which aims to wrest back the cleanup pro-cess of the canal from the city govern-ment. In Alexiou’s view, a 2014 event series called “Bridging Gowanus” hosted by City Councilman Brad Lander, fo-cused too much on residential upzon-ing and not enough on sustainable development.

“It’s not all bad, this development. The Whole Foods site was an unused warehouse for years,” Alexiou says of the store built this century that abuts a portion of the canal. But there’s still a lot of work to be done. The canal has been an EPA Superfund site since 2009. The EPA has developed a plan to rid the canal of both toxins and sew-age, but it will be at least a decade un-til is completed.

Alexiou’s book is, despite its histori-cal angle, a forward looking book, and Alexiou ends it with a call to arms: “We should honor and protect [the canal’s] monuments and memories, and also clean up the pollution already – if not for history’s sake, then for our own.” Even if the Gowanus never returns to its former glory, it still deserves more attention and money than it gets – not just from the city, not just from the EPA - but from everybody.

Gowanus, Brooklyn’s Curious Canal, is available at local book stores as well as at Amazon and other online retailers.

The Red Hook Glass Bottom Dramatical Players are pre-senting another play by Marc

Spitz - P.S. It’s Poison. It teeters on the edge of comedy (dark comedy) and sometimes slips into something else entirely that isn’t exactly funny. It’s a tightrope. It is definitely a departure from our last one (Up For Anything) and by no means is a farce.

Returning from the cast of Up For Any-thing is Geoff Wiley as John Gregory “Birdy” Bacon - the beloved professor. Also returning are Arthur Aulisi and Carlo Vogel, but they have swapped jobs - Aulisi directs and Vogel acts.

Joining the troupe are Josh Marcan-tel and Gina LeMoine, both accom-plished actors who live just over the BQE on Henry Street. Also joining are Rebecca Spiro (equally accomplished actor and former bartender at Moon-shine before it became Jalopy Tavern) and Camille Habacker (a long, long time veteran of Spitz plays).

Camille and Carlo play a couple - she’s

Helena Perkins an “erstwhile chan-teuse” and he’s Ozone Perkins, a day trader and “former aspiring writer.” Josh and Gina play a couple of writers (one obscure and one newly famous) - Roth and March Speigel. Rebecca plays Geneivieve Bilderback, a strug-gling actress and the latest girlfriend of Birdy.

Spitz describes his effort thusly: P.S. It’s Poison was originally going to be called Our Little Group. It’s a sort of Big Chill with harder drugs. Four col-lege mates reunited in person in the age of Facebook which neatly dis-penses with all the dirty bits of recon-necting. This = dirty bits. My mother, who has attended every single play and finds the dirtiest ones to be the funniest, said this was my most “so-phisticated.” I find it the most sad and

angry but probably because it’s my first about getting old. Structurally, it’s got grace.

We only did six shows of this at the Red Room Theater [in 2011], a little 30 seat black box above the Kraine [The-ater and KGB Bar on East 4th Street in Manhattan] but it certainly has a few more shows in it. The title is one of the very few that isn’t cribbed from a pop lyric. It just came to me one day. Carlo Vogel, the co-producer, said it was the best yet and even did a Google search to see if it was taken. - Marc Spitz

Tickets on sale nowWe hope you will join us for this one. Tickets can be had by going to Jalopy.biz and clicking the show poster at the home page. There are also tickets for sale for select nights a Bait & Tackle Bar on Van Brunt and Pioneer.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Playing at The Fabulous Jalopy Theatre, 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn. Seating is limited - only 50 per show.

DATES & TIMES

Nov. 6th, Friday at 8PM

Nov. 7th, Saturday at 6PM (SIX PM)

Nov. 8th, Sunday at 8PM

Nov. 9th, Monday at 8PM

Nov. 12th, Thursday at 8PM

Nov. 13th, Friday at 8PM

Nov. 14th, Saturday at 3PM

Nov. 15th,Sunday at 3PM

Nov. 15th, Sunday at 8PM

A scene from rehearsal: from left to right: Camille Habacker josh Marcantel Gina LeMoine and Arthur Aulisi. (photo by Vogel)

A new production from Red Hook’s local playersby Carlo Vogel

“It’s a sort of Big Chill with harder drugs.”

Joseph Alexiou at a recent Community Board 6 meeting. (photo by Fiala)


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The Pathmark supermarket, which opened in Gowanus in 1992, is now in the midst of a

fi nal closing sale. Th e Pathmark chain was bought by A & P in 2007, which declared bankruptcy earlier this year.

Over the past few months, A & P put all of its stores and store leases up for auc-tion in a bankruptcy sale. Many of the stores were sold to other chains, such as Stop and Shop and Acme Super-markets. Th e Gowanus store was pur-chased at auction by Joyland Group, LLC, a Borough Park real estate com-pany headed by Joel Wertzberger. Th e purchase price was $6.2 million, over $2 million more than the next highest bidder, Acme Supermarkets.

Th e auction result was disclosed at the beginning of October, and many in the community were dismayed. Shoppers who depended on Pathmark as a con-venient and easy alternative to other higher priced area supermarkets felt they had lost an important neighbor-hood resource.

Th e unionized workers, many of whom were Pathmark employees since the beginning, were faced with the loss of good-paying jobs. City Council-

man Brad Lander sent a letter to the bankruptcy judge, Robert Drain, urg-ing the continuance of a reasonably priced supermarket. Th e owner of the property, Hamilton Plaza Associates, based in New Jersey, echoed those

sentiments, also objecting to the sale in a letter to Judge Drain. A Facebook page, Save Pathmark Gowanus, was set up and solicited signatures for a grassroots petition.

Despite these objections, Judge Drain approved the sale, making Pathmark’s closing imminent and leaving the fu-ture of the location in doubt.

Pathmark sits in an M2-1 zoning dis-trict, which precludes residential de-velopment. Wertzberger, who fi rst was quoted by DNAinfo as saying that his company “has desire to operate a su-

permarket.” In a later story, he says that he hasn’t ruled out leasing to a grocery store, but that he is considering off ers from a shipping company, an “interna-tional clothing brand,” a wedding hall operator and several retailers.

Supermarkets are a low-margin busi-ness , highly dependent on cost and volume. People familiar with the in-

dustry speculate that a low margin business would have diffi culty oper-ating with the rent needed to make this $6.2 million deal work for the purchaser.

Th e possibility of a high margin oper-ator such as an international clothing brand seems more likely than a super-market.

Gowanus Pathmark a victim of gentrifi cationby George Fiala

“The possibility of a high margin

operator such as an internation-

al clothing brand seems more

likely than a supermarket.”

Documents

Red Hook Star-Revue, November 2015