Star Revue January 2014

SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

The Red Hook StarªRevue

THRU FEB 10 2014 FREE

At a January 6 committee meeting for the Red Hook portion of NY Rising, almost 100 potential Sandy-related projects were discussed. The meeting took place at PS 15 and was attended by a host of

consultants, committee members and other interested parties. The com-mittee is headed by Gita Nandan, a local architect representing the Red Hook community, and Kate Collignon, a managing partner of HR&A con-sultants.

Collignon is heading the NY Rising Team in Red Hook. Among her vast credentials is her experience with the NYC Economic Devel-opment Corporation (EDC), where she was involved in the revital-

ization of Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The meeting began with a recapitulation of previous work and a timeline for upcoming work. NY Rising, a NY State initiative, has allocated money in Sandy impacted areas throughout the state - with $3 million set aside for Red Hook. The purpose of these meetings is to come up with one or more projects that the community agrees upon. Committee members were given a working draft containing 98 projects culled from previous committee and public meetings. The committee was given instructions on how to evaluate the projects, and using those evaluations, come up with five to ten projects for the community to choose from at a future public meeting.

After hearing from the two leaders, the committee broke down into three working groups: Infrastructure; Housing and Economic Development, and Social Resiliency. There was not enough time to go through each indi-vidual project, members were given working drafts and asked to go through them during the week and collaborate via email.

The projects were broken down by timeframe, feasibility, cost and risk re-duction. Co-benefits were looked at, as well as additional funding oppor-tunities. The day after this meeting, Governor Cuomo announced a $16.7 billion plan for Sandy related improvements, including $200 million set aside for a Red Hook flood management system, vastly increasing the possi-bilities for additional funding resources. Coordination between the city and state programs was a topic discussed at the Economic Development group.

Some of the more interesting projects included direct financial benefits for local business to help recover costs due to business closures after the storm; creating an information clearinghouse for both businesses and residents to be prepared for the next emergency event; and study of land use to see how “expansion of residential and mixed-use zones might be used to preserve,

OUR 2013 RECAP INSIDE:

LAST YEAR WASN’T ALL THAT BAD!

NY RISING PROGRESSby George Fiala

Fairway celebrates Red Hook businesses with multi-weekend event

story page 12

(continued on page 3)

Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com Jan/Feb 2014



JAN/FEB, 2013 VOLUME 5 NO. 1

Table of ContentsNY Rising ...................... 1,3 Odds & Sods ............ 12BASIS Int’l Schhol ............ 5 Cora Dance ............... 132013 Retrospective ........ 6-9 Fairway Celebrates .... 142014 Wish List ............... 11 Classifieds ................ 15

STAFF

Kimberly G. Price ......................................Editor/Publisher

George Fiala ......................................... Graphics/Publisher

Vince Musacchia/Harold Shapiro ......Cartoonists Emeritus

ContributorsJenny Belin, A.B. Decker, Stefanie Deji

Mary Ann Pietanza, Katie Schulder-BattisMax Kutner, Lesley Ware, Elizabeth Kelly

Jherelle Benn, Angela Johnson, Rich Luca

Happenings FRIDAY, JANUARY 24Jalopy presents “Double Bill Madness” with Spuytin Duyvil at 8 pm and Caravan of Thieves at 9:15 pm. Caravan offers gypsy jazz rhythms, the-atrical stories and humor. $15 cover. 315 Columbia StreetFamily Karaoke at Summit Academy Charter School is from 6:30-8:30 pm. FAC will be selling refreshments. $2 per person at the door. 27 Hunting StreetGood Shepherd Services at PS 676 presents a student production of Cinderella: A Hip Hopera at 6 pm 27 Huntington Street

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25ANTIFREEZE, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Annual Winter fundraiser, is back with live music, local catering and a silent auction featuring Brook-lyn artisans. The event will be held at Ray Smith Studio (261 Bond Street) from 7 pm-midnight. Tickets $35/adults; $20/childrenRed Hook LIVE will perform all day beginning at 2:15. The event will in-clude Youth Choreography, a one-man theater performance, a reggae/hip hop showcase and more. Tickets $10/show; $30/day pass,

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26Extreme Kids and Crew’s monthly music and art, Extreme ‘Zine and DJ Re-born!, will be a two-part Sunday with a family art workshop at noon and a dance party at 1:30. FREE, but RSVP. [email protected]

TUESDAY, JANUARY 28Red Hook Winery + Mile End are hosting a wine dinner at Mile End Deli-catessen at 53 Bond Street, NoHo. Reservations are required. (212) 529.2990 or www.mileenddeli.com. Tickets $85.

ONGOINGDoubt: A Parable opens at The Heights Players on January 31 and runs through February 16. Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets $20. 26 Williow PlaceRoots n’ Ruckus at Jalopy every Wednesday night at 9 pm. Admission is free. 315 Columbia StreetNew Brooklyn Theater has announced a three-week extension of The Death of Bessie Smith at Interfaith Medical Center through February 9. Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. FREEFairway celebrates Red Hook with food, drinks, face painting, balloon ani-mals and music from a DJ every Saturday and Sunday until February 1 from 11 am-3 pm. 480-500 Van Brunt StreetThe Fashion world of Jean Paul Gaultier: From Sidewalk to the Catwalk will be on display at the Brooklyn Museum through February 23, 2015. Admission is $15 for adults; $10 for students, seniors and members. 200 Eastern Parkway

Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue

June 2010

Red Hook History

A Monthly Feature of the Red Hook Star-Revue: Knowing our past is vital to knowing our future

Old South Brooklynites don’t forget

easy. To some, Columbia Street

may seem like a fairly bleak thor-

oughfare with a few nice businesses

and a lot of charmless, recent-vin-

tage, red-brick architecture (right).

But to them, it’s where they spent

the Saturday nights of their youth.

From 1900 to 1960 or so, Columbia

Street was what Court and Smith

Streets are today—the place you

bought your goods, ate out, saw

customers, or Sonny and Nancy’s

corner shop on Union, and you’ll

see old black-and-whites of the

bustling strip

in its heyday. (The

same pictures, actually.) One no-

table feature of the street back then

was a huge, standing street clock.

It was on the east side of Columbia

between President and Union. It

was well-known enough that people

would use is as a meeting place,

they way they do the information

booth in Grand Central.

It was removed sometime in the

‘70s. It may not have disappeared

altogether, however. As one old-

timer said to me, “Somebody’s got

that clock somewhere.”

movies, met friends, had fun. Push-

carts lined Union Street between

Hicks and Columbia. There were

shoe stores, movie houses, lun-

cheonettes. Absolutely nothing of

it is left today. The death of the

docks, neglect and a big dig which

caused many buildings to collapse

utterly erased the street as a life

force. But it didn’t erase memories.

Go in Two Fifteen, the newish

Italian chowhouse with the oldish

“Columbia Street Nostalgia: ‘Meet Me at the the Clock’”

by Brooks of Sheffield of Lost City, http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com

Opposite South Brooklyn is Governor’s island, between which and the

shore is Buttermilk channel, about a quarter of a mile wide, in early

times fordable by cattle, but now navigable for the largest vessels. The

portion of land between Buttermilk channel and Gowanus bay is known

as Red Hook point. Brooklyn is for the most part considerably elevated

above tide water. The S. and E. borders are occupied by a broad range

of low hills; a large portion of the S. part of the city is lo

w and level.

Along the East river S. of Fulton street is an irregular bluff, 70 ft. above

the level of the sea, known as Brooklyn Heights. It is thickly built upon,

and affords a magnificent view of the city and bay of New York. The

city embraces several districts stil

l locally known by the names which

they bore when they were distinct municipalities. Brooklyn proper

includes the older portion of the city S. of Wallabout bay, and the part of

this lying S. of Atlantic avenue is known as South Brooklyn. Williams-

burgh includes the thickly settled portions N. of Wallabout bay.

The photos to the left and just below are generously contributed by President

Street author Nino Pantano. They depict two Columbia Street shops owned

by his father, Santo Pantano. His first shop is on the left and it borders a

movie theater where if you look closely you will see that the Phantom is th

e

featured film. The street clock described above was located right in front of

the Florsheim Shoe store pictured below. The photo at the lower right depicts

Red Hook History Begins and Ends With Water

June 2010

Presorted

Standard Rate

US Postage

PAID

Brooklyn, NY

Permit 84

The Red Hook Star-Revue

Serving the Brooklyn Communities of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill Ju

ne 2010

Introducing a New Community Voice

Thank you for taking the time to pick up this, your new monthly commu-

nity newspaper. One of our goals is to serve as a vehicle to bind together the

many disparate voices that make up our cherished Brooklyn neighborhoods.

With an eye to the future grounded in the rich history of our past, we are

open to contributions from those who make up our reading audience. If there

is a neighborhood concern you wish us to explore, or if you are interested in

making a direct contribution as a writer or photographer, please feel free to

contact co-publisher George Fiala at 101 Union Street, or better yet email

[email protected].

Our other goal is to provide an inexpensive way for our local merchants to

spread the word about their offerings to the interested public. Co-publisher

Frank Galeano will help plan an effective campaign and can be reached at

917-365-8295, or in-person at 104 Union Street.

First Block of Union Street Host to Music & Fun

Last month saw two events that unexpectedly brought the sounds of music to Union

Street between Van Brunt and Columbia. First, the corner gallery WORK hosted an

opening replete with the requisite white wine as well as a young rock and roll band

who set up on the corner and filled the air with raucus, enjoyable sounds. A few weeks

later, their neighbor Scooter Bottega held an end-of-block party for their neighbors and

scooter friends. Refreshments, including delicious pork sandwiches were served and two

bands performed.

If there is but one good byproduct of the unfortunate closing of the Union Street bus

stops, it is that a larger block festival may be possible in the future, perhaps joined by

new neighbor Select Mail, who at 101 Union is resurrecting the old Star puppet theater

in a modest way with a performing arts area planned as part of it’s ground floor.

The following is a description of the gallery space at the end of Union Street taken from their

web site: WORK is a former mechanic’s garage turned gallery and project space on the Red

Hook waterfront specializing in the exhibition of emerging artists working across all mediums.

Since January 2007, WORK and our artists have exchanged and imparted ideas democrati-

cally, seeking to utilize the space in the dissolution of barriers. In a time and place where

many are searching for more, bigger and more expansive, WORK is committed to bringing

important matters of culture into close circles, for critical discussion and reflection.

Work is at 65 Union Street, Scooter Bottega is right next door.

The Red Hook Star-Revue

104 Union Street

Brooklyn, NY 11231



101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 718 624-5568 [email protected] www.RedHookStar.com

Page 20 Red Hook Star-Revue

www.RedHookStar.com

May 16 - 31, 2012

Southern Trucking undefeated after two weeks

of the Red Hook Youth Baseball season

by Viviana Gordon

A wet and gray Saturday, May

5th marked the official first

games of the Red Hook

Youth Baseball season. Both

games were hard-fought but in the end,

Hynes’ Heroes defeated the Defenders

and Southern Trucking triumphed over

Gibbs’ Brooklyn Youth Association

Royals, both with a score of 6-2.

The second week saw three games: a dou-

bleheader played between Hynes’ Heroes

and BYA. BYA swept the doubleheader,

by 10-0 and 14-9 scores. Southern Truck-

ing won the other game against the De-

fenders also by a 10-0 score.

Immediately following the first week’s

Red Hook StarªRevue

ers swept the competition with winners

in all three categories.

The skills workshop was led by former

professional ballplayers and current

coaching staff of The SAYO Grays

Baseball League, Richie Palacios, Ian

Younge, Darren Johnson and Darryl

Tiebout. The coaches, most of whom

have Red Hook roots, provided instruc-

tion in baseball technique and game

strategy, while imparting their philoso-

phy about the importance of education

in the life of a ballplayer.

The SAYO (Student Athlete Youth

Organization) Grays is a not-for-profit

501(c)3 organization with teams for

youth ages 13-18. The SAYO Grays

are guided by the mission that edu-

cation and athletics can provide the

stronghold to success in life. The Red

Hook Youth Baseball League and The

SAYO Grays have formed a partnership

this season to ensure that the younger

players will have the opportunity to

continue playing competitive baseball

in an organization that stresses good

citizenship in addition to good funda-

mental baseball skills.

The SAYO Grays have a proven track

record that includes 31 of their alumni

enrolling in college with athletic schol-

arships to play baseball over the past

two years.

games, the young ballplayers put aside

their differences and came together for

a baseball skills competition and work-

shop. The skills competition was led

by Liborio Hernández of the Sabatina

League and included events in base run-

ning, pitching and batting. The Defend-

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Place Team

W L

1. Southern Trucking ....................2-0

2. BYA Royals ...............................2-1

3. Hynes Heroes ............................1-2

4. Defenders .................................0-2

MAY 5TH RESULTSHynes’ Heroes 6, Defenders 2

Southern Trucking 6, BYA 2 MAY 12TH RESULTSSouthern Trucking 10, Defenders 0,

BYA 10, Southern Trucking 10 (game 1)

BYA 14 , Hynes Heroes 9, (game 2)

Week 3 Saturday, May 19

9 AM Hynes @ Southern Trucking Field #1

9 AM BYA @ Defenders

Field #9

11 AM Defenders @ BYA

Field #9

Week 4 Saturday, May 26

No Games! Memorial Day Weekend

Week 5 Saturday, June 2

9 AM BYA @ Defenders

Field #1

9 AM Hynes’ @ Southern Trucking Field #9

11 AM Southern Trucking @ Hynes’ Field #9


9 AM Southern Trucking @ BYA Field #1

9 AM Defenders @ Hynes’ Field #9

11 AM Hynes’ @ Defenders Field #9


9 AM Hynes’ @ BYA

Field #1

9 AM Southern Trucking @ Defenders Field #9

11 AM Defenders @ Southern Trucking Field #9

Week 8 Wednesday, June 20

6 PM BYA @ Southern Trucking Field #9

FIRST ROUND OF PLAYOFFS

Saturday, June 23

9 AM 3rd Place @ 2nd Place Field #1

9 AM 4th Place @ 1st Place Field #9

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (BEST OF 3)

Game #1 Wednesday, June 27

6 PM Lowest Seed @ Highest Seed Field #9

Game #2 Saturday, June 30

9 AM Highest Seed @ Lowest Seed Field #9

Game #3 (if necessary) Saturday, June 30

11 AM Lowest Seed @ Highest Seed

Third Place Game

9 AM Two losing teams from June 23 Field #1

Trophy Ceremony will take place on Field #9 immediately

following the Championship Game on June 30th

LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Also in This Issue:(continued on page 5)



MAY 16 - 31, 2012 FREE

The Blue Pencil Lunar Revue

(continued on page 6)

Interview with the new police chiefpage 3

Red Hook Immersion brings the crowds!page 8

Spoofs page 10new original crossword puzzle page 11PLUS LOTS MORE!

Father Claudio Antecini stands atop a shaking foldout table at

the church entrance, pulling down on a jammed bolt lock which he can barely reach even with the assisted el-evation of the table. The bolt is being stubborn, and this is making it hard to open the old wooden door out onto the front steps on Verona Street. Fi-nally a younger member of Koinonia John the Baptist - the evangelical group from Italy that has lived in and run the church since 2010 - approach-es with a push broom. With practiced finesse, he hooks the broom head to the top of the bolt and pulls down on the handle, and the door swings open. “Beautiful!” Father Claudio cheers as he leaps down from the table. The Pastor, who in December was

ordained for a six-year term at the church, cannot be taller than five-foot-eight, and on this early May morning like any other, he is modestly dressed in black slacks and a beige v-neck sweater and clunky black shoes. His most distinctive feature is the pur-ple birthmark along his left jaw, which almost resembles his native country and which must have played some part in the formation of his sense of humor.

On the church steps, a contractor is measuring the height of the landing at the top step down to the ground. He shakes his head. “The ADA [Ameri-can Disabilities Act] says that I have to build one foot of ramp for every inch of height,” he informs the Pastor. “You’re looking at fifty inches, so fifty feet of ramp. It would have to be a zigzag con-struction that would take up this whole front area, and it would be at a cost.” Father Claudio stands rubbing his chin for several seconds. “This is a problem,” he says, in his grainy, me-lodic accent. An ambitious planFather Claudio is familiar with ob-

stacles and seemingly unsolvable problems. Take Visitation Church as an example. When he and his fel-low Koinonia members arrived from Italy, brought in by Bishop DiMar-

Father Claudio revives Visitation Churchby Matt Graber

zio at the Roman Catholic Diocese of

Brooklyn as a last ditch effort, a Hail

Mary, if you will (I can’t help it), the

church was presumed even within the

administration to be in its final days.

“There existed a general sense that

there were few resources to work with,”

says Robert Choiniere, Director of Pas-

toral Planning at the Diocese. “You felt

like whoever came in would be coming

to oversee the church’s decline.” Rumors floated among parishioners that

the Gothic structure would soon be

converted into luxury condominiums.

This sentiment of impending doom was

backed by convincing evidence. Mainly

that by the end of 2010, the church

debt had reached almost $150,000, plus

a $100,000 annual deficit, in addition

to deterioration of its physical structure

from water damage and general neglect.

The parish had been shrinking more or

less steadily since the closing of Visita-

tion School and the boarding up of the

Lyceum (Visitation Hall) in the 1970s.When Father Claudio submitted

his strategic plan, “Christ Jesus Our

Hope,” to the Bishop early in 2011,

Last Saturday saw an onslaught of visitors to Red Hook taking part in Brooklyn

Based’s Red Hook Immersion. We made sure they all picked up the right paper.

On May 8th, the Red Hook Communi-

ty Justice Center hosted its 3rd Annual

Youth Summer Internships and Jobs

Fair at the NYCHA Joseph A. Miccio

Center. Representatives from a variety

of organizations offering job training

and youth development programs sta-

tioned themselves at tables around the

perimeter of the gymnasium to answer

questions and hand out flyers. Among these organizations were the

Crown Heights Community Mediation

Center, offering the Youth Organizing

to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.) pro-

gram, designed to empower youths to

tackle problems such as gun violence in

their communities; Groundswell offers

75-100 seats in the Summer Leadership

Institute, which organizes young people

into mural teams that design and paint

murals in their communities; and the

National Association of Securities Pro-

fessionals New York offers the Financial

and Scholastic Training (FAST) Track

Program, a “rigorous nine-month pro-

gram that exposes talented women and

minority high school students to the fi-

nancial services industry.” A rep from the NYC Department of

Youth and Community Development

was present with applications for the

Summer Youth Employment Program

(SYEP), which “offers work experience,

Justice Center sponsors youth fairby Matt Graber

Father Claudio Antecini has made tough

choices since assuming the role of admin-

istrator in 2010 (Graber photo)

In just two short years we have grown from a novelty

to an institution.

Thank you Brooklyn!

Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com Jan/Feb 2014 Page 3



@RedHookStar www.facebook.com/redhookstarrevue

member

expand, and increase resiliency of in-dustrial development.”

Land use was discussed, with particular attention on the EDC owned Atlan-tic Basin and Cruise Terminal parking lots, which are currently underutilized and largely unavailable to the Red Hook community. Under the category of regulatory reform - a plan to make recommendations to NYCHA regard-ing re-skinning of buildings, installing hallway/stairway lights with back-up battery power, providing generators for emergencies, and mold prevention.

An additional potential project falling under regulatory reform was an incen-tive program to encourage development of resilient, affordable housing on some

of the vacant residential lots, or on lots that have been rezoned residential. New waterfront construction could be required to tie into integrated coastal flood protection plans.

Another idea would be the creation of a flood-proof relief center to serve as a year-round community/cultural center. This new or revamped building would include back-up power, a community charging station, and provision of a large refrigeration facility for storage of critical food and medicines.

A mobile healthcare service provider, such as a mobile pharmacy van, to de-velop a route through Red Hook be-fore and after emergency events was suggested, as was a study of how local food supply can be made more resilient. Fairway’s resiliency improvements they have already implemented is a positive step, as opposed to the Fine Fair, which shut, never to reopen.

Many suggestions included the installa-tion of green/blue roof systems on com-mercial and residential properties to reduce storm water runoff and increase building insulation. Other infrastruc-ture topics included massive sewer up-grades, improvements to the Van Brunt pumping station and the creation of a “New Waste-water treat-ment plant, po-tentially at the mouth of the Gowanus,” to relieve pressure on the existing pumping sta-tions.

The Brooklyn Greenway Ini-tiative (BGI) has reached out to NY Rising with the idea

of creating an 8-10 foot bicycle paths along the Red Hook waterfront to serve as a permanent flood barrier. Members of BGI met with NY Rising on January 15 to exchange ideas. The areas consid-ered for this are Atlantic Basin/Ferris Street; the Beard Street corridor; the Red Hook Recreation Fields and Court-Clinton Street blocks south of Hamil-ton Avenue.

Other ideas include the creation of so-lar power generators. Locations chosen include large roof spaces on privately owned industrial properties, the Cruise Terminal, roofs over the Red Hook Houses, and roofs of some residential properties. The purchase of portable so-lar power generators is also under con-

sideration. Geothermal and wind power were also mentioned.

Some sort of coordination with Con Edison is under consideration in order to improve the existing electrical grid. Many in Red Hook complain of fre-quent power interruptions.

As far as transportation and evacuation, suggestions were made to enhance bus routes, ferry service and bicycle path-ways.

The local committee will also be spend-ing some time looking at Governor Cuomo’s recent announcement regard-ing the state’s use of federal Sandy re-covery funds. His press release stated that: “To protect the low-lying neigh-borhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, the State is developing a $200 million partnership with New York City to con-struct a comprehensive flood manage-ment system – the 1st of its kind in the nation – in the community.

According to Gita Nandan, the com-mittee is mindful of possible overlap and will take this into consideration when prioritizing the possible projects.

Over the next few weeks, all suggestions will be evaluated, and about ten will be presented to Red Hook at the next pub-lic meeting sometime in February. They

Other infrastructure topics included massive sewer upgrades,

improvements to the Van Brunt pumping station and the

creation of a “New Wastewater treatment plant, potentially at

the mouth of the Gowanus,” to relieve pressure on the existing

pumping stations.

will also be appearing at the next meet-ing of the Red Hook Civic Association, taking place at PS 15 on Wednesday, January 29.

It remains to be seen how much of the

$3 million will be spent on projects and how much on planning. In the mean-time, stakeholders, meaning anyone who lives or works in Red Hook, will help participate in the final choices.

Sandy brings state money to Red Hook for local improvements

(continued from page 1)

Members of the NY Rising committee include Dannelle Johnson and her husband Mike. (photos by George Fiala)

It was a packed house at one of the NY Rising public meetings

On Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 at 7:30 PM, the new captain of the 76th Pre-cinct Justin C. Lenz presented an award to the Cop of the Month to Officer Gonzalez.

Captain Lenz was introduced as usual by Jerry Armer, and an interested audience listened as Captain Lenz discussed vari-ous incidents that have taken place in Carroll Gardens and Red Hook over the past month, and answered questions.

These meetings are generally held the first of the month at the station house

Citizens meet with our local police officers

at 191 Union Street.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb-ruary 4 at 7:30 pm.



The initial controversy sur-rounding the BASIS Inde-pendent School stemmed

from their under-the-radar approach in entering our community. While they assured a Community Board 6 (CB6) committee that they had done sufficient groundwork, very few in the community had any idea of their plans, nor anything about them. For this reason, their initial application for approval was rejected at the December General Board Meeting.

BASIS is a charter school operator now branching out into the private school business. They were founded and are still owned by Michael and Olga Block of Tucson, Arizona. They are opening their first two private schools this year, one in Red Hook and one in Silicon Valley. For the Red Hook location they are looking to attract students from Park Slope and Downtown Brooklyn, hold-ing information sessions at a DUMBO office. BASIS is currently doing pre-construction work at a lot on Columbia and Bay Streets, across from the Red Hook Farm, between IKEA and the Red Hook West Houses.

One difference from competing private schools like Packer, St. Anns, Brook-lyn Friends and Berkeley Carroll is that as a for-profit, BASIS will not have a scholarship fund. Tuition at the other schools can top $40,000 per year, but - as with many colleges - some of that is offset by financial aid and full schol-arship. Tuition at BASIS will be a flat $23,500, with no aid offered.

BASIS began operating charter schools in 1998 with an initial school in Tuc-son, Arizona. They now run twelve charters. A recent application for a school in San Antonio, Texas raised questions about their financial transpar-ency. The applications are a public re-cord, but when released, large sections of the BASIS application were blacked out. BASIS claimed they did not want to reveal trade secrets.

The blocked out sections included questions pertaining to their internal finances. While their charter schools operate as non-profits, a managing com-pany, also owned by the Blocks, is a for-profit entity and takes large fees from the schools. This business arrangement

allows them to operate their not-for-profits as a for-profit company, allow-ing them to pay owners and managers as they wish, outside the scrutiny of any public agency.

By changing to a for-profit scheme, they are able to operate their finances as any business, outside public scrutiny. They can use their knowledge and expertise, gained from their charter school experi-ences, to create a franchise business of schools. No doubt their marketing re-search identified our part of Brooklyn as an area with a large potential popula-tion of private school enrollees.

Test scores sellCollege success is the bread and butter of all private schools. Parents who can afford the tuition may opt out of the free public school system thinking that their children will gain an edge towards fu-ture financial success. Like BASIS, most private schools have been started by ed-ucators who have their own methodol-ogy to bring to the school experience. In many cases, there is a deep human-istic streak in these philosophies. Many believe in diversity of the student body, and financial aid is their way to achieve diversity. As a for-profit school with a libertarian philosophy, BASIS will cre-ate a student body of those that can pay as well as provide them with good mar-keting materials. A criticism of charter schools, which is what the BASIS group has operated until now, is that the lesser students are weeded out and the ones that are left in high school are only the high achievers. BASIS explains their operating philosophy on their website:

“A for-profit independent school is a business. The school is owned by its in-vestors and like any business, to thrive the school must satisfy its custom-ers, our parents and grandparents, who pay the tuition. Our objective as a busi-ness is simple: to offer an international-ly-acclaimed learning experience at an exceptional value.

BASIS Independent Schools break with the traditional, elitist model of private education. There is no self-perpetuating

Board of Trustees made up of influential parents and significant donors. There will be no fund-raising whatsoever in any of our schools. The Head of School at BASIS Independent Schools is thus liberated from significant conflict-of-in-terest issues and is able to focus entirely on his or her educational mission: man-aging teachers and ensuring the quality of the learning culture.

There are other ways in which BASIS Independent Schools have disrupted the traditional private school model. Everything we do is focused on student learning. That includes aligning our teachers’ financial incentives with our educational mission: teachers are paid end-of-year bonuses based upon their student learning results on both our internal Comprehensive Exams and on the College Board Advanced Place-ment exams. It is not unusual for the best BASIS teachers to earn bonuses in excess of $25,000.”

For comparison, here is how other local private schools discuss fundraising:

St. Anns (Brooklyn Heights)“The Scholarship Fund at Saint Ann’s en-ables the school to welcome a diverse group of extraordinary students each year with varied experiences, opinions, and talents from across the socioeconomic spectrum.”

Brooklyn Friends (Downtown)“The Brooklyn Friends School mission statement emphasizes the school’s com-mitment to educate each child in a diverse community. Our financial aid program supports that mission and strives to ensure socioeconomic diversity within our student population. We work diligently to make BFS accessible to as many families of vary-ing economic backgrounds as possible.

Financial Aid (at Brooklyn Friends) is available for students from Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, and is granted on the basis of need and the availability of funds. Admissions decisions and finan-cial aid decisions are made independently. Due to limited funds, an acceptance by the Enrollment Management Office does not guarantee a grant even if need is demon-strated. On average, 25% of our students will receive more than $4,000,000 in fi-nancial aid grants. Funding for financial aid grants comes from the school’s operat-

ing budget and charitable gifts. Brooklyn Friends gives priority consideration to chil-dren of Quaker families, BFS faculty and staff, alumni/ae, and siblings.”

Packer (Brooklyn Heights)“Packer is firmly committed to making Packer a viable educational option for all eligible students, regardless of need. Finan-cial Aid is available for students from Kin-dergarten to Grade Twelve, and is given on the basis of need and the availability of funds. On average, 25% of our students will receive more than $6,000,000 in tu-ition assistance grants.

In order to continue its commitment to socioeconomic diversity, Berkeley Carroll provides need-based financial assistance to families who otherwise could not meet the financial obligations associated with enrollment. Families of children entering Kindergarten through grade 12 may apply for financial aid. While the budget is limited and cannot meet all needs, all interested families are welcome to apply.

Each application for financial assistance is handled with individual attention and com-plete confidentiality. Additionally, financial aid decisions are made independent of admis-sions decisions, and a request for aid will not have an impact on the admissions process.”

Berkeley Carroll (Park Slope)In order to continue its commitment to so-cioeconomic diversity, Berkeley Carroll provides need-based financial assistance to families who otherwise could not meet the financial obligations associated with enroll-ment. Families of children entering Kin-dergarten through grade 12 may apply for financial aid. While the budget is limited and cannot meet all needs, all interested families.

For those that can afford the tuition, and with children that are good test takers, BASIS could be a plus.

Mark Reford, CEO of Basis Indepen-dent Schools told the Star-Revue:

“Basis Independent Brooklyn is a pri-vate school that will provide an educa-tion we believe will be superior to that in private schools elsewhere in Brooklyn and in Manhattan, at a tuition cost half or less that charged by those schools.”

He continued: “We look forward to be-coming a valued neighbor in the vibrant Red Hook and Brooklyn community.”

“A for-profit independent

school is a business. The

school is owned by its

investors and like any

business, to thrive the

school must satisfy its

customers, our parents and

grandparents, who pay the

tuition.”

BASIS DIFFERS FROM OTHER PRIVATE SCHOOLS AS IT IS STRICTLY A BUSINESS

by George Fiala

Preliminary construction has already started at the future site of the BASIS Interna-tional School. The school will be located on Bay and Columbia Streets.

This sign is posted at the future site of BASIS International School in Red Hook.


Looking back at 2013

January

February

A year ago Sandy was still very fresh. The Red Hook Houses demanded answers

from NYCHA as to why the electric was out so long - and so regular meetings at Miccio were held with top NYCHA peo-

ple. The EPA was holding public meetings regarding the Gowanus Superfund plan.

There was a Red Hook option which was dependent on community approval and

which engendered local controversy. The B57 bus was brought back; long-time community activist Celia Cacace

was priced out of the neighborhood and had to move west. Nydia Velazquez was

sworn in, and a dolphin found it’s way to the Gowanus Canal to die. We started to see Carlos Menchaca around post-

Sandy, but didn’t suspect that this was the month he would decide to run for the City

Council. In the photo to the right, he is calling Brian Honan of NYCHA as some

sort of snafu resulted in an advertised NYCHA meeting, without, unfortunately,

anyone at NYCHA being notified in advace. Brian showed up and the meeting

did go on.

Things got hot and heavy with both LICH and the EPA Red Hook option. The SUNY Downstate board decided to shut LICH down. Unions, doctors and the community all decided that shutting LICH was wrong, and mobilized against the impending closure. Trucks starting appearing with mes-sages to keep LICH open, and a huge rally was scheduled for Valentines Day at the Kane Street Synagogue, which included speeches by local politicians and representatives from the two unions at the hospital as well as the Concerned Physicians of LICH. There were two more community meet-ings held by the EPA discussing the pro-posed plan for cleaning up the Gowanus. At the Carroll Gardens meeting, the head of the team, Christos Tsiamis, was met with applause as he explained exactly what was to be done. At the Red Hook meeting, held in the PS 15 gym on Ash Wednesday, a large number of Red Hook residents came out to express their displeasure with the Red Hook option. Lillie Marshall, President of the Red Hook West Tenants Associa-tion, and allied with Gowanus GBX, a beneficiary of the option, decried the flyer depicted it as a scare tactic meant to frighten the tenants into not wanting the plan, which would introduce landfill at the foot of the Gowanus, composed of some of the Gowanus sludge. .Cora Dance introduced “down home” to cheers and a benefit\dinner took place after one of the shows at the nearby home of NPR’s John Hockenberry.



March

April

May

March 1st saw the reopening of Fairway, which had been shut since the hurricane. The store was completely gutted and redone with some nice improvements.They held a big affair, bringing lots of politicians and publicity to Van Brunt Street. ReStore Red Hook was a home-grown fund to help local stores pay for their Sandy losses. The owners of Dry Dock Wines & Liquors and Fort Defiance were given the stage to thank the neigh-borhood and also Fairway for helping with the fundraising. Mayor Bloomberg spoke for a while and then went to the Lobster Pound for lunch. St. Patrick’s Day saw the closing of a Carroll Gardens institution - PJ Han-ley’s. It was later reported that the clos-ing might have been some sort of busi-ness ruse, as the bar had been recently renovated and was doing quite well.

The Smith & Ninth Street subway stop is the closest subway to Red Hook, and it was closed for repairs in 2011. After

many delays it finally reopened with a big ceremony. Both Sara Gonzalez and Carlos

Menchaca, eventual opponents in the Democratic primary showed up.

The Red Hook public library reopened, and our photo shows Felix Ortiz speaking

with Nydia Velazquez and Mary Markowitz at his side.

The public comment period that the EPA held seeking input as to their plan to clean

the Gowanus was up on the 27th.Last minute lobbying on both sides resulted in

some heated debates. No Toxic Red Hook, an ad hoc community group, sprung up and printed up bright yellow signs ex-

plaining their position. While the EPA had no more public meetings scheduled, both the GBX and Reg Flowers held their own meetings - one at the Miccio Center and

one at South Brooklyn High School.

The library at PS 15, devastated by Sandy, reopened with the help of a fun-draising campaign. Future head of the Board of Ed Carmen Farina came to help dedicate it. Local artist John Barnhart passed away suddenly and a retrospective was given at Screwball Spaces, where he painted.Dannelle Johnson worked hard to revital-ize the garden next to the Senior Center on Walcott Street. The Center was de-stroyed by Sandy, and the seniors received a new home at the PAL Miccio Center. Meanwhile, the garden grows.John McGettrick held a meeting of his Civic Association at the Justice Center.



June

July

August

Greg O’Connell Jr. was honored by the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative at an event

at the stunning Liberty Warehouse. The Red Hook Lion’s Club held their 20th An-niversary dinner and were given a special

citation by council member Sara Gonzalez. John Rea, lame duck NYCHA head, came to Red Hook for the opening of NYCHA’s

community farm on Wolcott Street and honored Lillie Marshall.

Well known local doctors John Romanelli and Toomas Sorra, head the Concerned

Physicians of LICH. They are shown speaking at a fundraiser held at an Atlantic

Avenue restaurant to raise funds for their legal battles with the hospital.

There was a joint tenant meeting of Red Hook East and West, bringing together presidents Lillie Marshall and Dorothy

Shields.Finally, June saw the first Dance Theatre

Etcetera parade at Red Hook Fest in a number of years. It included floats from the

Gowanus GBX, Carlos Menchaca, Chan-nel 12 News and the Red Hook Star-Revue.

Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill De Blasio entered the LICH con-troversy, showing up at rallies, getting himself arrested in an act of civil disobe-dience, and adding a crack legal team to the litigation.Among the many LICH rallies this month was a march over the Brooklyn Bridge which included a Red Hook contingent led by Wally Bazemore.IKEA celebrated their fifth anniversary with hot dogs and fireworks in back of their store. We said goodbye to Dean Caaselnova, who had opened a new restaurant at 215 Columbia a few years earlier.Finally, editor Kimberly Gail Price served as a judge at a Firefighter’s cook off held by Fairway. Other judges included outgoing Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Monica Byrne of Home/made.

Sunny’s reopened on Sunny’s birthday - a fabulous celebration. August is when

Coffey Park comes to life with Old Timer’s Day, Family Day and the Night Out

Against Crime. LICH rallies continued, with a signal event being a ruling by Judge Carolyn Demarest rescinding her original order transferring the hospital to SUNY Downstate. It was a fiery denunciation of SUNY’s stewardship

of the hospital, but, as with all other court action so far, was pretty much ignored by SUNY, who are still hoping to sell out to

real estate interests.The campaign for the 38th City Council

District was coming to a head, the September primary looming. A debate between Menchaca and Gonzalez was

planned in Sunset Park by UPROSE and Transportation Alternatives. Gonzalez did not accept an invitation to appear,

claiming that both were Menchaca supporters.



September

November/December

September saw the issuance of the EPA’s Record of Decision which finalized the plans for the Gowanus cleanup. A host of dignataries showed up to celebrate on September 30th, the day before the EPA was put on furlough by the government shutdown. The Red Hook option was defeated. Governor Cuomo initiated a program called NY Rising, which gave state money to different communities affected by San-dy. A local group, headed by Ian Marvy and Gita Nandan head a local committee to figure out what to do with the money.Carlos Menchaca scored an upset victory against incumbent Sara Gonzalez, who told her supporters that she was proud of the dignified manner that she ran her campaign. A longtime resident and VFW stalwart, and one of the Star-Revue’s first friends, Sal Meglio, unexpectedly passed away. The Labor Day barbecue that he helped plan went on as scheduled.Billy Durney finally opened his Home-town BBQ, by Fairway. The opening was delayed a year by Sandy - it has been an overwhelming success since.

OctoberIncoming Mayor De Blasio spoke at the Red Hook Initiative - scientists painted possible water level lines of the future throughout Red Hook, and Bait and Tackle’s Barry O’Meara organized an impromptu and thoroughly Red Hook parade throughout the neighborhood on the anniversary of Sandy.

Two controversial land use issues came before Community Board 6 this month. The first was an application to build a

private school in a lot right near the Red Hook Houses. The second was an

application to open a private detox center for the wealthy close to Fairway.

Monica Byrne spearheaded a Holiday Window contest and Van Brunt Street

storefronts responded with some beautiful displays.

Councilman Brad Lander, along with his former employer Pratt held a big event in

Gowanus to envision their future.Another Screwball Space artist, Fernand Barbot, passed away and his son held a

retrospective. The Carroll Gardens Association held their own visioning event at the offices of the Star-Revue. Their tree lighting,

held at the little park on Columbia and Sackett, was made lively by the appearance of Santa Claus, A/K/A

Carmine Balsamo of President Street.

All in all - a busy and controversial year in Red Hook as we continue to recover

from Sandy!


20 Jay Street > Suite 800A > Brooklyn > NY 11201 www.BASISindependentBrooklyn.com

An open letter to the Red Hook community from Mark Reford

CEO of BASIS Independent Schools A new year is a new opportunity for bringing a world-quality private school to Brooklyn and Red Hook. The global economy has moved forward, and BASIS Independent Brooklyn is prepared to become the school of choice in Brooklyn and beyond for the next generation of leaders. Our STEM-focused liberal arts program – centered around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – will enable our students to have choices, find fulfillment and lead in a globally competitive environment. You do not need to take my word for this: our results in national rankings speak for themselves. Our results on evaluations by the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, have shown just how successful our model is. Our students not only outperformed the typical U.S. student, they outperformed the students in countries such as Finland, South Korea and Poland, all countries which have invested heavily in raising student achievement. Our students even outperformed the average student in Shanghai, China, the area that showed the highest achievement on PISA evaluations in 2009. Students at BASIS Independent Brooklyn will join a culture of challenge and support. They will be taught by teachers who are passionate experts in their disciplines who love children, and whose goal is to inspire their students to fall in love with learning as they once did. But just as we are committed to successfully educating the leaders of tomorrow, we have undergone our own education as we faced community criticism in Red Hook, where we plan to construct our school on a parking lot between Bay and Sigourney Streets near Red Hook Park. We bear some of the blame for that criticism, in part because we were not familiar with the political environment that surrounds considerations of some land use matters in New York. We met – and actually exceeded – all requirements laid out by city rules, including posting our plans within 500 feet of the school’s site, but know now that we should have done a better job, including spreading notifications beyond what was required. We won near unanimous approval at Community Board 6’s Land Use Committee after a full presentation, but were

surprised and disappointed when we suffered a highly unusual reversal at the full Community Board meeting. That is why we want Red Hook residents and business owners to know that we intend to be good neighbors as we seek to join your vibrant community. We have already begun assisting the community through work remediating the environmentally-compromised condition of the land where the school will rise. This is work permitted even before a hearing next month before the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals, the last regulatory hurdle we must clear before proceeding to full construction. Once the BSA approves, we plan to open the school next September. We have committed to making our gym and auditorium/theater available for community use after hours. In our discussions with community leaders and residents, we are prepared to lend our voices to community improvement efforts, whether it is prodding the city to paint crosswalks at intersections near Red Hook park or ensuring that the unique combination of industrial, commercial and residential areas in the neighborhood are able to co-exist in a safe and productive manner. We have had discussions with community leaders about the school serving as a flood-proof relief center in case of a repeat of Hurricane Sandy-like flooding. We will be providing a large number of jobs for local residents, both during construction and during operation of the school. Most significantly we will offer two scholarships a year to two Kindergarten students from the Red Hook community. And since some have expressed concerns that we are trying to build a charter school, let me assure you that is not the case. BASIS Independent Brooklyn will be a private school. Our tuition is half or less than many of the elite private schools in Manhattan and Brooklyn, yet we will provide a learning culture that we believe is unsurpassed. BASIS Independent Brooklyn is dedicated to becoming a vital member of the Brooklyn and Red Hook communities. We are excited to be able to bring one of the best academic programs in the world to Red Hook. --- If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].








surprised and disappointed when we suffered a highly unusual reversal at the full Community Board meeting. That is why we want Red Hook residents and business owners to know that we intend to be good neighbors as we seek to join your vibrant community. We have already begun assisting the community through work remediating the environmentally-compromised condition of the land where the school will rise. This is work permitted even before a hearing next month before the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals, the last regulatory hurdle we must clear before proceeding to full construction. Once the BSA approves, we plan to open the school next September. We have committed to making our gym and auditorium/theater available for community use after hours. In our discussions with community leaders and residents, we are prepared to lend our voices to community improvement efforts, whether it is prodding the city to paint crosswalks at intersections near the Red Hook Ballfields or ensuring that the unique combination of industrial, commercial and residential areas in the neighborhood are able to co-exist in a safe and productive manner. We have had discussions with community leaders about the school serving as a flood-proof relief center in case of a repeat of Hurricane Sandy-like flooding. We will be providing a large number of jobs for local residents, both during construction and during operation of the school. Most significantly we will offer two scholarships a year to two Kindergarten students from the Red Hook community. And since some have expressed concerns that we are trying to build a charter school, let me assure you that is not the case. BASIS Independent Brooklyn will be a private school. Our tuition is half or less than many of the elite private schools in Manhattan and Brooklyn, yet we will provide a learning culture that we believe is unsurpassed. BASIS Independent Brooklyn is dedicated to becoming a vital member of the Brooklyn and Red Hook communities. We are excited to be able to bring one of the best academic programs in the world to Red Hook. --- If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].






The Star-Revue Wish List for 2014by George Fiala

This year marks five years of publishing the Star-Revue. I did not grow up in Red Hook, nor did I live here for years

and then decide to start a paper. It was shortly after moving my business from one side of the BQE that I realized the place I’d been avoiding for some many years is really where I should have been!

That realization came before the idea of starting a paper. But not much be-fore. I was kind of surprised that a part of Brooklyn that really is community minded didn’t seem to have it’s own community publication. Hence this was.

It is by way of that introduction that I am attempting to say that these ideas are simply those of someone who has only relatively recently gotten to know the neighborhood - and I know there’s lots more to know. These are my ideas - these pages are always open to your ideas, via letters and op-eds.

OK - here we go:

1 - Real local government (see side-bar). The closest we have to a govern-ing body is Community Board 6. While there is real local representation on the board, they also watch over Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus and Cobble Hill. They will hold hearings on local issues, but you’ve got to keep your eyes on their website (or our calendar), else you might miss something important.

The next rung of government is our lo-cal City Council member. Despite the recent fanfare, Red Hook represents only about 10% of District 38, and so by necessity, the councilmembers efforts are not solely on behalf of us. Then you have the Assembly and State Senate, Con-gress and US Senator - all covering more and more area, and less and less local.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a paid go-to person with regular hours whose job it is to see that Red Hook gets its due. A clearinghouse for city and state monies that are due us. An advocate for services. Maybe you could say that a neighborhood of 12,000 or so needs a full-time tribal leader, rather than the valiant volunteer efforts of people like Barry O’Meara and John McGettrick.

In addition to house our tribal leader, a local town hall could serve multiple needed purposes, such as our own his-torical society, a meeting place for or-ganizations such as the Lion’s Club and the Civic Association, and a tourist in-formation center.

2. A place for Carolina’s ship. We think that she has her ship berthed at the con-tainer port rent-free, however because of Homeland Security regulations, it is really hard to get to it. This is a problem when you want to run a ship museum, so could somebody berth this ship?

3. A plan for the Revere Sugar land. This is the unused land that lies between the Beard Street buildings and IKEA. It once housed a sugar business owned by friends of Ferdinand and Imelda Mar-cos. Revere went out of business in 1985, and the land was bought for what was then a real big number, around $40 million, by the rapacious Joe Sitt of Thor Equities. While Thor Equities has done real estate developments, they are

also fond of using their vast cash horde to warehouse properties and then flip them as they become more strategically valuable. This was done most famously a few years back in Coney Island. When I think of Joe Sitt, I think of the Feren-gi. Of course I have never met the man, who lives in Brooklyn and has proper-ties the world over.

In any case, the guy, who according to Wikipedia named his company Thor because he was a fan of Marvel Comics, knows how to accumulate vast fortunes. That’s good for him but bad for Red Hook. That all that land is lying unused, probably waiting for a good flip, is hold-ing back development in our little town.

What this newspaper is afraid of, how-ever, is that someday something will happen to the property that we won’t like. It is zoned ‘as of right’ which means that whoever felt like it could open a cheesy shopping mall if they felt like it.

Our wish is that a local group get to-gether and devise a real plan that would develop the area in a way that we would like. This would prepare us properly for an upcoming battle some day. A group of us could meet regularly, perhaps at our fantasy town hall, and do some ur-ban planning ourselves. The Star-Revue likes to go to City Island in the Bronx - another area that is cut off from the rest of the borough and has its own charm. It has lots of Brooklyn Crab type places, and it has shore. We’d like something like that, and the land is big enough to accommodate other ideas as well.

4. Funding for the RED HOOK sign, at Van Brunt and Hamilton Avenue. As you can tell from our cover, we ran into Pete the Balloon Man last weekend at Fairway and this is really his idea.

First of all, let me say that lots of people ask me why the sign is out, and until re-cently I had no idea why it is out, and how it got there in the first place. Pete told me that it was originally an idea of Phaedra Thomas’, back when she was with SBIDC. She had asked Pete about putting up a big sign there, with lots more verbiage than just Red Hook. He was asked to design and put them up but there was no actual budget. I think he told me that it was Jim Tampakis that donated white light bulbs, and someone else gave him $26 for coffee.

Seems that the white lights were not a hit, and so he created another sign along-side it, but this time using red bulbs. Per-haps Jim donated the red bulbs.

The last time the sign was out, Amy Haimerl started a paypal campaign and raised $600 for Pete to refurbish it. That was in 2009. John McGettrick has tak-en responsibility for the sign these days, but it’s all a volunteer effort all around.

Pete says it’s not easy to maintain that sign. I will say that way before I ever made that left on Van Brunt (going in-stead to the House of Pizza for lunch), I knew that sign - it’s kind of a landmark.

We need to pay Pete for his time and supplies, and he’ll keep it lit. He has other ideas as well, which maybe we’ll get to in another article some day. In any case, funding for the Red Hook sign is our wish. It could occur in a num-

ber of ways - a grant from SBIDC or someplace else, a Kickstarter campaign, organized fundraising along the Van Brunt retail strip. We think the best way would be for ReStore Red Hook to complete their morphology and become a Van Brunt Street merchant associa-tion, with dues and if they feel like it, continued fundraising. With a treasury, they could budget a couple thousand or so for the annual upkeep of a Red Hook icon.

5. A museum, one on land. Somewhere in Red Hook should be a museum devot-ed to our history as a maritime commu-

Red Hook is basically a small town in the middle of a vast urban metropolis. The number of voters is tiny compared to the city as a whole. In the last primary, Red Hook recorded a bit more than 800 votes in a city of almost 9 million. There is no governing body that represents just us. Our city council representative is also re-sponsible for Sunset Park, the south Slope, Sunset Park and parts of Borough Park. Our congressional district includes a huge area of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens as well. Our State Assembly and Senate districts are equally broad. Our Community Board includes Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus and areas of Park Slope.Think about what it would be like to have our own Mayor. A paid position, with a paid staff, that would advocate for all of us. Red Hook is a neat geographical area bounded by highways and the sea. A full-time person or person, chosen by our community in a local election, representing the interests of just us. One could see that person as an ombudsman - giving each of us one place to go to complain about Con Edison, or FEMA, or the Department of Environmental Protection, or the EPA, someone with the knowledge and wherewithal to act as our advocate. Someone who knows our community intimately who would be the go to person for our city and state officials and agencies when they have proposals that involve Red Hook. An office for every resident to go to when seeking permits for a block fair, or event, or parade. An office that would be responsible for promoting our business interests to the rest of the city. A place to go to when one has an idea - say for a place near NYCHA housing to have barbecues. Someone responsible for helping enforce the decisions of the one institution we can call our own, the Red Hook Justice Center. An office to bring complaints about policing - or suggestions.We have huge zoning issues in Red Hook. Large parcels remain undeveloped, constraining economic development. We have potential business incubators, in the form of boarded up shops that are part of NYCHA on Columbia Street that could be opened up for young people to hone their business skills, and at the same time offer better shopping solutions for that part of the neighborhood.These are just ideas off the top of our head. We welcome everyone else’s ideas. We have gone to countless so-called community meetings over the past three years at which the bulk of the attendees are the consultants and representa-tives of our politicians who are paid to be there. Why not pay one of our own to represent all of us, and coordinate what’s available to us, and help dictate what we all want, rather than be sliced up into groups and be separate fodder for the ideas of colleges, consultants, and political opportunists.Why not use some of this outside money to start our own little town hall. We all like to think that we are a little village in the midst of a big city. Let’s make sure it stays that way with our own mayor!

nity. There’s lots of history here, as well as maritime history in general. What we need is someone who knows all about Red Hook’s past to be the driver of a movement towards a museum. We need a place to house a museum, perhaps in the thriving commercial area we are planning after throwing Thor Equities out of Red Hook.

It turns out that City Island has such a museum as I am thinking about. No need to reinvent the wheel... http://www.cityislandmuseum.org/.

A RED HOOK MANIFESTO


He’ll be busy!Carlos Menchaca, newly elected City Council Member for District 38, cel-ebrated his swearing in at Sunset Park HS in a ceremony that featured Nydia Velazquez and Charles Schumer.

He will serve as chairman of the Immi-gration Committee, and serve as mem-ber of the following committees: Re-covery and Resiliency, Small Business, Transportation, Standard and Ethics and General Welfare.

Suing the landlordTenants of the Monarch Luggage build-ing have taken their landlord to court claiming that the building should be de-clared rent stabilized. Their reasoning is that the building was constructed prior to 1974 and no significant renovations have been made since then.

The lawsuit was spurred by 60% rent in-creases in a building without passenger ele-vators, heated hallways and safe handrails.

Too soonChris Piscitelli, well known in Red Hook for tending bar at both Bait and Tackle and Sunny’s, passed away unex-pectedly at the age of 36. He was diag-nosed with cancer after first suspecting a hernia.

An all day wake was held at Bait and Tackle on Wednesday, and freezing temperatures failed to prevent an over-flowing crowd of mourners.

He was married to Sue Williams. In lieu of flowers, friends asked mourners to consider making a donation to WFMU Radio, the American Cancer Society or Social Tees Rescue.

A benefit that was originally planned to pay for his operation will still be held at Hometown this Monday, January 27th.

Righteous ArtDeirdre Swords of the Red Hook Arts Project, which is at the corner of Lor-raine and Richards, has a few announce-ments:

The Second Generation Art Group has been such a success that they have di-vided into two groups, one for ages 8 - 10 and the other for ages 11-13. The First Generation Art Group (ages 14 and up) has begun work on college port-folio preparation.

She also tells us that they are offering piano, beat-making and voice lessons.

RHAPP is a free program. RHAP’s mis-sion is to empower young people in Red Hook to develop their self-esteem, self-expression and creativity through a

Odds & Ends mentor relationship with working art-ists, musicians and writers.

For much more information see their website, www.redhookartproject.org

NEA donates to DTEDance Theatre Etcetera announced that they have received a NEA grant for this year’s Red Hook Fest. The Fest will take place this year from June 5-7. It is a weekend full of commu-nity, dance and music and a chance to celebrate. The Star-Revue was part of their parade last year - at this point no parade is scheduled for 2014.

Hip HoperaDina Montes of Good Shepherd Ser-vices writes to let us know about a stu-dent production of “Cinderella a Hip Hopera” on Friday, January 24.It will take place at the school, located at 27 Huntington Street, not from from the Red Hook Initiative.

New writing groupMaria Burgos is beginning a Red Hook poets and writers group. The meeting will take place at 101 Union Street the second Monday of each month. The first meeting will be on Monday, Feb-ruary 10 from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Call for Submissions, all genres welcome (short stories, novels, screenplays, cre-ative nonfiction, narrative journalism, writing for children/youth, poetry).

Writers and poets - meet your fellow poets and writers. For more informa-tion email Maria at [email protected]

New Kentler showKentler has a new show with an open-ing on February 8 at 6 pm. It is called CIRCUMSTANCES: Selections from the Kentler Flatfiles, and it has a unique form of curation. The show runs through March 23, and the cura-tor will give a talk in the gallery at 4 pm on Sunday, February 23.

Join Bridging GowanusWe got this missive from Catherine Zinnel, Brad Lander’s able assistant:

“Thank you to those who joined us last week at the first set of Bridging Gowa-nus Working Group meetings, where each of the four Working Groups dis-cussed the ongoing challenges in their issue area and brainstormed innova-tive ideas to address those challenges.

The second set of Working Group meetings will take place on Monday January 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at PS 58, 330 Smith Street.

The public is invited to bring analo-gous projects to Monday’s meetings. Land use maps, income data, and school seat data will be provided.”

Cora Dance is staging a show-case of varietal talent Red Hook has to offer on Satur-day, January 25. The perfor-

mances encompass a vast array of perfor-mance art, all from local talent.

Shannon Hummel created Red Hook LIVE to intersect people and expose the breadth of talent in Red Hook. “It’s a plat-form to know each other where normally we wouldn’t,” she says. “There is a lot of diverse talent in the neighborhood.”

This is the first foray into delving into that talent. Shannon hopes that in years to come she will be able to expand the project into multiple days of showcasing local talents and artists.

Youth choreography by CYCAt 2:15 pm, the Cora Youth Company (CYC) will open the show with reper-tory.

CYC started with 13 kids in 2012. Mateo was among them. In 2013, 70 kids were signed up.

CYC pro-vides pre-professional company ex-perience to young danc-ers taught by a series of youth cho-reographers. They have a wide range of teaching c h o r e o g r a -phers, and

their work has been showcased at The Red Hook Waterfront Festival, the Cora Dance Studio, public events and schools.

Mateo Vidals, age 11, has been with Cora Dance for five years and has performed in 4 different works.

He is a member of CYC that will open the show, as well as Solomon Goodwin’s MVP closing act, “Blackout.”

Being in both performances provides a range of experiences for Mateo. He is studying ballet and hip hop among other genres. The difference, he says, is that the youth company says, “You have to get on task!” versus the easygoing nature of MVP that says, “We’re friends, but let’s get back to business.”

Performing is a little worrisome for Ma-teo before the shows. But, he added,

“When you’re on the stage, you’re not nervous because you’re confident. But before, a little.”

Mateo encourages other guys to be danc-ers because there are so many genres al-most anybody can find one they would like. “Even football players take ballet,” he explained. “Guys are scared because they don’t think it’s a cool thing. But if they’d try it, I think they’d like it.”

In MVP, Mateo is performing with six other dancers, two of them are guys.

ReadingsAt 4:15, three staged readings from Eric Fallen, Ryan F. Johnson and Shannon Hummel will be presented.

Eric Fallen is a playwright and screen-writer. His short film, “The Bravest, the Boldest” won top honors at both the 2012 Rhode Island Film Festival and the 2013 Nantucket Film Festival and is an Official Selection for Sundance’s 2014 Short Film Category.

Eric will be reading two original works, “The Perfect Storm” and “The Merry Go Round.”

Ryan F. Johnson is described as an “all around Renaissance Man.” He is an ac-tor, spoken word poet and educator.

Ryan will be performing his one-man show written about his real-life adven-tures. Through acting, spoken word po-etry and dance, Ryan’s show examines identify, race and love through a journey of heartache, anger, fear and self-growth.

Shannon will present the final reading, which will remain unannounced until the performance.

Shannon began dancing as a young girl in Virginia. Through her teachers, she says, she found “a portal toward an adult world I didn’t know existed.”

Shannon has brought national and inter-national attention to her work at Cora Dance. This year, Cora was invited to perform in Scotland. They will also be making their debut at BAM this year.

She has choreographed Common Danc-es, a series of short dances that will be performed throughout the community, incorporating average things into the dances. In total, Common Dances is fif-teen short pieces about relationships to others and the objects surrounding our lives.

“Bench,” part of the series, is a flirtatious exchange between a young couple striv-

Cora Dance’s Red Hook LIVE: by Kimberly Gail Price

Solomon Goodwin with Nadia Tykulsker in a performance last summer at Erie Basin Park, behind IKEA. (photo by Tod Seelie)

Shannon Hummel (photo by Kamau Ware)

RED HOOK LIVE SCHEDULEJanuary 25, 20142:15 pm Youth Choreography performed by the Cora Youth Com-pany4:15 pm Readings by Eric Fallen, Shannon Hummel and Ryan F. Johnson6:00 pm One Man Show, “Out of the Bag,” by Reg Flowers7:30 pm Dance, Rebekah Windmiller’s works and works in prog-ress9:30 pm Reggae/Hip Hop Showcase by Solomon Goodwin and MVP*** Tickets are $10 per show or pay-what-you-can. All day passes are $30 or pay-what you can***

All Performances will be at the Cora Studio-Theater, 201 Richards Street, Buzzer #15For more information and ticket reservations, visit www.coradance.org


ing to show their talents and boundaries. “Car,” another in the series, displays an intimate couple’s emotional progression in fast-forward while being performed inside and outside of a car on a random city block.

“Dance is a part of our lives. It’s who we are; it’s what we do,” Shannon says. Cora is like a second family to her and her son, Henry McFadden.

Henry is also taking lessons at Cora Dance for the first time this year. But he’s been hanging out around the studio since before he started school. Shannon explains that Henry is most comfortable around dancers. Henry adds, “I like to move around.”

Even though Henry is a new dancer, he has been a part of the scene all of his life. It has become second nature to him and has inspired him to learn to use his body in forms of expression. “Do I like it al-right?!? I LOVE it! It’s really, really, re-ally cool.”

Henry also has been on trips when Cora is touring. When asked what he likes best about the trips, he said, “I usually don’t do my homework.” He also enjoys going to the shows.

One Man Show Revival: Out of the BagReg Flowers will be showcasing “Out of the Bag” at 6 pm.

“[Out of the Bag] was inspired by an ar-ticle which appeared in May 1994’s New York Magazine. The play makes known the attempt to be a true story but runs with the few details known about the case weaving them into a pulp-flavored fiction of love and betrayal featuring a down-on-his-luck street hustler and a drag femme fatale in the works of the 1970s New York drag ball circuit,” Reg said.

Reg is founder and director of Falcon-works Artist Group, a non-profit theater group that uses techniques to identify and create platforms for civic engage-ment and social change.

“Out of the Bag” was originally produced in 1998 starring Reg with sound design by Robert Cotnoir, a light show by Andrea Fiegel and directed by Michael Early.

His show at Red Hook LIVE will be a bare bones version of the original pro-duction including Reg, a stool and “a stack of pages that I hope will hold the audience for 45 minutes,” he described in an email to the Star-Revue.

Reg has been a theater professional and has been teaching artists since 1987. He is a produced playwright, producer, and film and stage actor.

He shared some of his thoughts on reviv-ing “Out of the Bag” for this production. “Working on the play re-ally brings back memories if the old New York of the late seventies around the time I first started com-ing into the city,” he said. “I also knew I wanted do s o m e t h i n g for an adult

crowd and featured drag which is a big part of my Red Hook identity. Those who are Dropsy Dousman fans should get a big kick out of it.”

“Although I keep it pretty clean,” Reg advises, “it’s for mature audiences.”

DanceAt 7:30, Rebekah Windmiller takes a look back and ahead by performing work from years past and works just budding.

Rebekah has been a dancer and chore-ographer since 1984. In addition to the stage she has also performed in parks, piers and even her own bedroom. “Be-holden,” her most recent solo was per-formed at Cora in 2013.

Hip Hop/Reggae showcaseKaren and Kandice Ross, along with Sol-omon Goodwin and MVP will close out the show with selections of Reggae and Hip Hop showcases.

Karen and Kandice, sisters, grew up in Red Hook and have been dancing to-gether their whole lives. Their love for dance is reflected in the chemistry they share within their routines. They have performed in the largest Caribbean shows at CUNY and SUNY. They also perform with up and coming hip hop artists and numerous shows around the community.

Solomon grew up in the Red Hook Hous-es, where he learned his love of dance and developed his technique.

He has been dancing since he “popped out of the womb.” Movement has always been in his body, but he had to learn the techniques and skills. “Before I knew I was a dancer, I was a dancer,” he said.

He started free-styling when he was 7

even worked on a short indie film in Connecticut. His first performance with the com-pany was with Red Hook Fest at the Waterfront Festival in 2003.

Solomon was also a part of Red Hook Initiative as the first group of boys invited to join. During his time there, he tutored kids with their home-work, was a radio intern and dance specialist, and taught Taekwondo. Sheryl Nash-Chisholm first introduced Solomon to Shannon at Cora Dance.

Meanwhile, Shannon had heard much about Solomon. Finally, Jill Eisenhard, founder and executive director of RHI, gave Solomon’s phone num-ber to Shannon.

Expression through TeachingWhile dancing is still Solomon’s passion, teaching dance is second nature to him. His goal is “to be able to help somebody and make them comfortable. A lot of people feel like they can’t dance,” he said. “Everybody has movement in their bod-ies,” Shannon added. Dance is the way to help people express that movement. “Some kids, their intelligence comes out in movement.”

As part of the Cora Dance staff, Solomon gets to work with kids that are the age he was when he started dancing. “Kids have

the movement in their bodies. [They] just have it. Second nature. It’s like English,” he explained. “They can speak dance be-fore they can speak sentences.”

Solomon also uses his past experience as a guide for his lessons. “Kids are impor-tant to work with because they have a dy-namic they don’t even know about,” he said. “Kids set the bar. That’s where we need to invest our time. Build the future. The younger the kid, the greater the im-pact. I want to have the greatest impact.”

In the upcoming performance, “Black-out” by MVP, he gives his students lee-way to express their own personalities. “I want them to feel like it’s theirs too. It adds their personality and character into the mix. Solomon choreographed about 90% of the dance, but he has allowed each of his seven dancers a few seconds

An all-day extravaganza of Red Hook performances(continued from previous page)

“Working on the play really

brings back memories if the

old New York of the late

seventies around the time I

first started coming into the

city,” he said. “I also knew

I wanted do something for

an adult crowd and featured

drag which is a big part of my

Red Hook identity.”

years old. At age 9, he joined his first dance group called Final Destination. At age 11, he started his own dance group, teaching his two best friends to dance along with him.

They rehearsed in the hallways of the houses, outside, and the Red Hook Rec-reation the Miccio Centers.

The trio started holding performances wherever they could. They would per-form on the trains sans music, so Solo-mon would sing the songs, notably Mis-sy Elliot’s “Pass That Dutch.”

Solomon has also performed at the Apollo, the Lincoln Center, Coney Island festivals and block partied. He

of their own creativity. They will each have “two eight counts” - sixteen beats of music to either freestyle or choreograph their own work. He told them to “put movement together that you love,” but added, “I don’t want to see it until the performance.”

Solomon’s performances often center around the dueling of dancers. He de-scribes it as a battle and a family. “We battle each other and we go through Hell. But we love each other. That’s how most families are.”

Breaking the Stereotype; Being a male Dancer “Anybody that is not you and has an opinion about you that is not supportive needs some assistance,” Solomon says. “Don’t let anyone else squander your talent. I know who I am and love who I am.”

When he was a young boy, Solomon was told he couldn’t - or shouldn’t - be a dancer because he was a boy. But Solo-mon says, “I knew I was going to keep dancing, no matter what anybody else said.”

“It was always the people who wanted to break me down that didn’t have anything going on in their lives.” Solomon said it was easy to be motivated by people say-ing he couldn’t. “When you are doing what you’re doing, and you are succeed-ing, people will want to see you fall. But if you’re comfortable with yourself and you know who you are, nobody can argue with that.”

What made things difficult was that he “didn’t have that support my dancers have. When you’re shut down, that’s when you break.”

Solomon shared a story about choosing between a football game and a dance competition. He chose the football game because he wanted “to feel like a boy and be with the boys.” His football team lost, but his dance team won, and he wasn’t there to share victory with them. From that point on, he never looked back. “When I was a kid, I could always fall back on dance,” he said.

“No matter how old, how young, do what makes you happy. Nothing else matters.”

Reg Flowers (photo by Jordan Matter)

Kandice Ross (photo by Tod Seelie)

Rebekah Windmiller dances in “Beholden” (photo by Julie Lemberger)


Fairway is livening up January with a series of weekend events that feature local artists and businesses.

We went to opening day this past Satur-day and were treated to a different kind of shopping experience. They are cel-ebrating Red Hook in the dining area in the back of the store, where they have set up tables free of charge for locals to show their wares.

In addition, they have hired a live band to entertain, and for the kids (and will-ing adults), provided a face painter and balloonist.

It was an experience even before we got to the back, as we filled up with many free tastings of Fairway products at booths set up throughout the store. Thankfully there was still room left in our stomachs as Fairway had prepared a bountiful table full of their some of the catered foods they provide. They featured things one would order for Su-per Bowl watching, included Teriyaki chicken, Chicken wings, meaty taco filling, and nacho chips.

Brooklyn Beer provided beer samples, and Dry Dock Wines and Spirits pro-vided glasses of wine. A local Van Brunt Street printer, New York Printing and Graphics, showed their printed material at a table next to the friendly folks of Nate’s Pharmacy. She-Weld, who of-fers blacksmithing courses at their space close to Valentino Pier, showed off their iron works. At the most colorful table, Tera Peterson, presented a line of children’s T shirts that we last saw at Monica Byrne’s pre-Christmas holi-day fair. These are all made by her Red Hook company, Lunacy Design.

Longtime Red Hook glassmaker and artist Peter Piper was perhaps the most colorful participant as he happily cre-ated custom balloon animals for lots of happy children.

Fairway will be doing this for the next two weekends. It is a fine, free event, and best of all, features local talent and businesses - chosen for Fairway with the help of SBIDC, who has a local Red Hook office on Van Brunt.

Fairway celebrates Red Hook for three tasty weekends

Jackie Donovan, VP of Marketing, who put this all together

Susan Saunders, representing NYPG, a printing service.All gamblers won something, perhaps a Fairway T-Shirt or notepad.

Fairway employees dishing out free samples of their catered items. John from Van Brunt’s Dry Dock.

Kids loved Peter the balloon man.Tera Petersen of Lunacy Design Imagine - guacamole samples!

Letters to the Editor:From a fanEditor, I like your publication. The Menchaca article was outstanding.

Why the anonymous style?

Is there a writer I can contact?

John O’Hara, Sunset Park

Another SUNY stuntWhy is nobody reporting the reason why the pipes froze at LICH because SUNY had turn off the heat in the floor that are not being used and it was not one area it was in the main building from the 8th floor down and above the ER please have someone do a full story another SUNY stunt.

Josephine Navarro

DON’T BE LONELY!If you miss us between issues - check us out online: we maintain two Facebook sites, a twitter account, a web site where you can access back issues, and a Wordpress site where you can find individual articles. And our newest idea - an online community calendar, also at our website www.redhookstar.com


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Tues Jan 28: Gowanus CAG Meeting. Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street

Mon Jan 27, 6:30 pm: CB6 Environmental Protection/Permits & Licenses. 78th Police Precinct, 65 6th Avenue, 4th floor Court Room

Wed Jan 29, 7 pm: Red Hook Civic Association Meeting. PS 15 Auditorium, 71 Sullivan Street

Tues Feb 4, 7:30 pm: 76th Precinct Monthly Meeting. 191 Union Street

Tues Feb 4, 6 pm: City Planning presents draft findings on the Red Hook Study. Miccio Center, 110 W. 9th Street

Mon Feb 10, 6:30 pm: CB6 Economic/Waterfront/Community Development & Housing Location TBA

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Documents

Star Revue January 2014