Red Hook Star-Revue, May 2015

Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com May 2015,

SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

The Red Hook StarªRevue

MAY 2015 FREE

In June, 2014, at a meeting at PS 15, Amy Peterson, Mayor de Bla-sio’s head of the Build It Back program, spoke to residents

about the Build It Back program.

We wrote at the time: “New York City’s answer to the major damage from Hur-ricane Sandy was meant to offer mil-lions of dollars of assistance to families and businesses reconstructing their homes in the aftermath of the disaster. Five pathways were made available for victims: repair, repair and eleva-tion, reconstruction, reimbursement, or acquisition.

However, a combination of factors in-cluding poor public communication, confusing qualification guidelines, and changing leadership neutralized the ef-forts of the program until recently. Amy explained that of the thousands of resi-dents who sustained hurricane damage in Red Hook and Gowanus, only 121 had actually applied to the program. Of those, only eight had selected their assistance option.

Amy was being polite. A few weeks before that meeting, City Comptrol-ler Scott Stringer held a session in the same auditorium as part of a six neighborhood tour he was making to hear firsthand the problems people were having. We wrote of that meet-ing: “Mary Kyle, from Van Brunt’s Dry Dock Wine and Spirits, found her el-ement in the audience. She regaled them, saying that having to appear

before Build-It-Back was like a trip to visit the great OZ – all smoke and no action. She almost broke into tears, saying that the alienation she feels from the city has been crippling. She was speaking both as a homeowner and business owner. “We need money – not cups of pudding!” was how she characterized the Sandy aid that she perceived since the storm.”

Stringer’s Build It Back study was is-sued March 15, and to say it is damn-ing is to put it mildly. The 87 page report, available online, is a compen-dium of mismanagement, bad deci-sion making, fraud and outright theft of city money by hired contractors.

Build It Back is a NYC program initi-ated by Mayor Bloomberg in 2013 to help owner-occupants of 1-4 fam-ily buildings that were ravaged by the Sandy floodwaters. Applicants, many from Red Hook, were initially encour-aged by the city’s commitment to help them recover and rebuild their damaged homes. But that hope soon turned to utter frustration as they were led through an interminable process of paperwork which led to nothing.

“New York City’s response to Sandy was a case study in dysfunction,” Stringer said in his press conference to introduce the study. “During the course of this audit, I went to affected communities to hear first-hand the stories of the recovery from hundreds of City residents - from the endless delays, to the lost paperwork and the maddening lack of progress. With this audit, we present a new level of detail about how the City allowed consul-tants to run amok and what must be done to make sure these mistakes are never again repeated.”

The Bloomberg administration hired Public Financial Management, (PFM) a Pennsylvania based firm that boasts municipal clients throughout the US. However, they had absolutely no ex-perience at managing disaster recov-

ery, according to a September 2014 NY Times article. PFM went on to hire various subcontractors to perform the intake work - the application pro-cess that homeowners needed to go through. Complaints about the pro-gram caused PFM to be terminated in December 2013, the last month of Bloomberg’s term, but the subcontrac-tors remained, but without contracts.

Stringer explains “If there are no valid contracts in place, the City has limited leverage over its vendors’ work and cannot hold them accountable for their performance. “

The city agency responsible for all oversight of Build It Back is the Of-fice of Housing Recovery Operations (HRO). Before they were fired, PFM was paid over $17 million for their project management work. Accord-ing to the audit, at least $6.8 million was paid for “work that did not con-form to program requirements set out in PFM’s contract.” These were pay-ments made for forms filled out by homeowners that were incomplete and useless. The incentive for all the contractors were to get paid for turn-ing in forms. Whether the applicants were instructed properly in the filling out of the forms was not checked.

The NY Times article gave a hint at how this could have happened. “PFM brought in another firm that had worked on prior disasters, URS Cor-poration, to run the intake centers, which it staffed with temporary work-ers.

The custom-made computer system, into which all applications were to be entered and stored, was supposed to be delivered two to four weeks before opening day, a person involved in set-ting up the centers said. But it did not arrive until the night before opening day, leaving no time for any familiar-ization.

“Everybody was pretty much on their own, trying to figure it out them-selves,” said a man who worked as a recovery specialist and also would only speak anonymously to protect his chances of finding a new job.

For months to come, records scanned into the computer system — proof of income, property ownership and storm damage — seemed to disappear.

“People were told to come back with the same info, and the same form,” the man said. “I apologized to them a lot, because it was frustrating for me as well.”

CITY COMPTROLLER CALLS BRING IT BACK “A CASE STUDY IN DYSFUNCTION”

by George Fiala

Stringer listening to Red Hookers tell their tales of woe last year at PS 15. (c0ntinued on page 3)

Red Hook Star-Revue www.star-revue.com May 2015

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481 Van Brunt Street, 8A

RELIGIOUS SERVICESCATHOLICVisitation 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 Spanish. 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. We will visit the sick upon notification.

Saint Paul and Saint Agnes Parish St. Paul’s Church - Rectory & 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 Sun-day 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) http://stpaul-stagnes.org/

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 Sunday At 1pm. Please call the rectory one month before to make arrangements. Sick Calls: Please call the rectory to arrange for the sacrament of anoint-ing whenever anyone is seriously ill. Marriages: Please call the rectory at least 6 months ahead for an appointment with a priest http://www.sacredhearts-ststephen.com

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

JewishKane Street Synagogue 236 Kane Street, (near Tompkins Place) 718 875-1550 http://kanestreet.org/ August 29 - 30, Shabbat Shoftim Candle Lighting 7:14 PM Shabbat ends 8:17 PMFriday night services, 6:00 PM Shabbat morning services, 9:15 AM Sunday Morning 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 Friday: 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 Senator 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, MAY 2Organizing meeting for the Friends of the Red Hook Library group. All are welcome, especially those who want to help Red Hook get a library with more books. At the library, 7 Wolcott Street, 3 - 4:30 pm

SUNDAY, MAY 3Court Street Festival, between Union and West 9th Sts. Children’s rides, ven-dors, entertainment. Noon - 6 pm. Sponsored by the Gowanus Canal CDC

TUESDAY, MAY 5Youth Summer Internship & Job Fair for youth ages 14-21+ at the Miccio Center 4-6 pm. 110 W. 9th Street

FRIDAY, MAY 8Hot Wood Arts opening reception for Jack Robinson’s Scannograms with live music and open studios for artists in residence from 6-11 pm. Show runs May 9-June 14. 481 Van Brunt, 9B

SATURDAY, MAY 9Join The Red Hook Boaters for the Its My Park Day beach cleanup with Riverkeeper May 9th from 3 - 5 on the beach at Valentino Park. If you have any questions, write [email protected]. Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) kicks off its 23rd season in Red Hook on May 9, 2015 with three dynamic shows: the Spring Pier Show Renew, and two national juried shows -Wide Open 6, and Recycle BWAC is at 499 Van Brunt Street, across from Fairway.

FRIDAY, MAY 15Waterfront Museums annual Pirate’s Ball on the barge from 6:30-10 pm a sunset reception, live music and Pirate’s punch honoring Captain Da-vid Sharps, and sisters Alice Scanlan and Josephine Myers. $75/ticket at barge100.com. 290 Conover StreetKentler International Drawing Space celebrates 25 years with their annual 150 Works on Paper Benefit. 353 Van Brunt Street

SATURDAY, MAY 16CB 6 Youth Opportunity Summit. Enjoy an afternoon of networking, job search skill building, and information about civic engagement, employ-ment and internship opportunities, and enrichment programs for young adults. 237 7th Ave. Park Slope, 1 - 5 pm

TUESDAY, MAY 26SBIDC’s Sunset Swing honors Greg O’Connell, Sr., Li-Lac Chocolates and Architectural Grille at Pioneer Works from 5:30-9 pm. 159 Pioneer Works

FRIDAY, MAY 29Lego Club at the library. Monthly get-together of Lego loving lads and lass-es who create beautiful things with Legos provided by the library. The club is open to new members. Red Hook Library, 4:30 - 6 pm, 7 Wolcott Street.

SATURDAY, MAY 30Carroll Park Fair - Meet your neighbors while browsing for housewares, books, music, clothes, jewelry, antiques and collectibles! Valentino Ball-field, Court Street between Carroll and President All proceeds benefit Friends of Carroll Park. 10 am - 5 pm

PS 15 PTA IS CELEBRATING OUR COMMUNITY SCHOOL!

PS 15 PATRICK F. DALY MAGNET SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

**VENDORS WANTED** **FOOD VENDORS WANTED**Please come out join the

PS 15 PTA SPRING FLEA ON SATURDAY MAY 2ND, 2015

10 AM TO 5 PM (RAIN DATE MAY 9TH) at the large playground.

All monies will go directly to support PTA sponsored school programs at PS 15.


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Abe Zeinali, who owns a multi-family dwelling at 187 Richards Street that is now empty of tenants except for him-self and his girlfriend, is a case study of the frustration and fraud detailed in the Stringer audit.

He points out an additional problem not mentioned in the report. The lon-ger his house stays unrepaired, the more expensive repairs become. He is worried that the structural integrity of his 1925 home has become an is-sue. After going through the familiar process of filling out forms and then refilling them as they became lost, he finally had a Build It Back supplied architect devise a repair plan - much of which Zeinali, who has engineer-ing experience, provided. However, the plan fails to address the struc-tural problems, meaning that the ex-pensive repairs could eventually lead to his house falling down - and then “who is responsible” he says.

One example he cites is the basement boiler, which he replaced at his own expense. “It’s a heavy boiler, and they want to move it to the second floor,” he explains. “Such a heavy piece of equipment would damage the integ-rity of the second floor. The answer is to replace it with lighter units - which they refuse to consider.” Another ex-ample he mentions is the placement of the electric meters. “All the other houses on the block have their meters

in the front - allowing for easy access in the event of another disaster. They insist on moving them to the back of the house. Why?”

He believes that there are no incen-

tives for honesty and frugality in the whole process. The unsupervised contractors are more interested in billing than in performing an honest job. All he would like is a chance to discuss his rebuilding ideas with an honest city official with some honesty and common sense.

Indeed, even though Stringer’s re-

port details cases of outright fraud, there is no recom-mendation for the city to ask the contractors for refunds. Stringer himself can’t be-lieve that many of the same contractors are still on the city payroll.

While Stringer acknowl-edges progress in the pro-gram since Amy Peterson was brought into it in March, 2013, he says more should be done.

Recommendations include direct supervision. “City staff should manage the program more directly to ensure responsiveness, ac-countability and efficiency. Poor supervision of con-tractors allowed problems to snowball, costing taxpay-ers millions, while delaying critical relief.”

More specifically: “The City should explore ways to maximize the use of City resources rather than out-side consultants for potential City-wide disasters. The City should have qualified and experienced staff to de-sign, manage, and assess future disas-ter recovery efforts.”

The de Blasio administration was given an opportunity to respond to the report. They basically agreed, say-

Build it Back deficiencies detailed in Stringer report(continued from page 1)

Richard Street resident Abe Zeinali’s home remains in disrepair as he awaits Build It Back assistance. (photo by George Fiala)

Indeed, even though

Stringer’s report details

cases of outright fraud,

there is no recommendation

for the city to ask the

contractors for refunds.

Stringer himself can’t

believe that many of the

same contractors are still

on the city payroll.

ing “HRO will follow an assessment process in the ordinary course of its emergency preparedness operations.”

It is now up to the City Council and the public to see that this doesn’t happen again - but that is of little consolation to the many thousands who continue to try and live in dam-aged homes.


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Senior Center updateby George Fiala

Until Sandy shut it down, the Red Hook Senior Center was located across from the li-

brary at 6 Wolcott Street. Flooding caused major damage and the senior program, operated by RAICES, was moved to the Miccio Center, where it shares space with the many programs for youth that are run by Good Shep-herd Services.

After the storm, Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez allocated $1.8 million of city funds for the renovation of the empty PAL Miccio building, located next to the Miccio at 120 West 9th Street. Th e building had been empty since a Head Start program located there was closed by the Federal government. Th e building is NYCHA property, as is 6 Wolcott.

At a public meeting last December, Sara’s successor, Carlos Menchaca affi rmed his offi ce’s commitment for the new Senior Center. NYCHA used the meeting to show off the new de-sign and promised to have the new center open by December of this year.

One other group had been lobbying for use of PAL Miccio. PAVE academy, a charter school that began life in PS 15 and then built it’s own building, with the help of $26 million from the Board of Ed., had it’s eyes on PAL Mic-cio ever since the Head Start closed. However, it was decided to move the seniors there instead. In a 2013 DNAinfo article, PAVE Director Spen-cer Robertson was quoted saying that he understood the decision and was now looking for an “alternate space.”

Evidently, the search for a free alter-nate space has yielded no fruit, and the school still seems to be lobbying for PAL Miccio.

No action, says PeteIn the meantime, the seniors, who are in the neighboring Miccio every day, are growing antsy as they fail to see any progress on the promised renova-tions.

“I saw a couple of workmen one day, but they never came back,” says long-time resident and community leader Pete Morales.

Lillie Marshall, TA President of Red Hook West, claims that there have been problems with the contrac-tors, citing an unwillingness to paint the windows. “I have a bunch of vol-unteers ready to paint the windows this summer,” she says. She has been hounding Menchaca for over a year to get the seniors their promised home.

Red Hook East says all is fi neRed Hook East TA leader Francis Brown disagrees with the above as-sessment, claiming that workmen have been busy getting PAL Miccio ready for the seniors.

Faced with delays in reopening Coff ey Park, and uncertainty about the future of the Red Hook library, Councilman Menchaca is looking to allay fears and is planning a community meet-ing with NYCHA to lay out the current situation. He also addresses the situa-tion in his column on page 9.

Seniors playing dominos at the Miccio.


Last July, the Red Hook library was filled with concerned resi-dents who came to a commu-

nity board meeting to hear about an alternate use for a part of the library.

The plan was not to the liking of most of the people who attended, and so the library has gone back to the draw-ing board.

The problem is that the amount of books checked out in Red Hook is less than at most other Brooklyn libraries.

Most people who have been to the li-brary say that the problem is a short-age of books, but the library has used a grant from the Fund for the City of NY to hire a company called NYCPub-lic.org, to see how it can better serve our neighborhood.

An event called the “Community En-gagement Lab” was scheduled for April 18, and held at PS 15. Fliers were posted around the neighborhood headlined “Dream a New Future for your Library.”

Around forty people showed up to take part in the brainstorming ses-sion, but not all stayed for the entire five hours.

About six handlers from NYCPublic.org led the group in a highly orches-trated facilitating session. People were asked to rank things they thought a library should have. Photos of other libraries were shown to see what we thought about them.

One person - Karen Blondel, became agitated upon seeing the photos of

these libraries, which seemed out of place in an urban city library. She felt that the group was being led in a direction, rather than being honestly asked about their opinion.

The handlers seemed unprepared to deal with dissension, and sim-ply wanted to move on. Blondel ex-pressed her opinion and declined to participate further.

Reg Flowers and Carlos Menchaca participated during the first hour or so, but then both left. Felix Ortiz ar-rived towards the end. Leroy Branch who works at the community board stayed for the whole session.

A lunch of pasta and salad from Mark’s Pizza, was served. The final exercise had everyone post different colored dots onto pre-written sheets of paper with library ideas written out. These ideas included things like a workshop, a teen space, book stacks, an older person’s space, and a digital hub.

The page with the most dots was the one championed by Leroy Branch - “a flexible community space.”

Naila Rosario who was there repre-senting the Brooklyn Public Library, promised that all the ideas would be presented in a report. To follow up, she welcomes emails at [email protected].

On Saturday, May 2nd there will be an organizing meeting of the Friends of the Red Hook Library, which will of-fer other ways to help our library. The meeting will take place at the library, 7 Wolcott Street, from 3 - 6 pm.

Library dreamsby George Fiala

Barbara Longobardi and Karen Brough-ton.

That’s Emma on the right, Karen Blondel on the left.

Felix Ortiz arrives to speak about the Red Hook library

The librarian attended the session!One of the wall questions.

Carlos Menchaca with Leroy Branch in the background.


Red Hook East and West hold meetings in the same weekby George Fiala

The Red Hook Houses are divid-ed into East and West sections. Red Hook East consists of 27

six story buildings. It was completed in 1939, one of the first public housing projects built by the city.

Red Hook West was built in the 1950’s, and has taller buildings, including 135 Richards Street.

Each complex has it’s own Tenant Association President, and each one holds monthly tenant meetings.

Red Hook West meets the second Tuesday of each month, and Red Hook East meets the third Wednesday. Usually these meetings are a week and a day apart, but the April calendar caused them to occur a day apart, a week that was also the voting week for Participatory Budgeting.

Councilman Carlos Menchaca attend-ed both meetings to encourage peo-ple to vote for their favorite projects. Menchaca wasn’t the only one who attended these meetings back to back.

Anna Bakis and Olivia Taussig came to both meetings to talk about a free af-

terschool program for middle school-ers. The after-school is open Monday through Fridays at the Rec Center on Bay Street.

The Justice Center, represented on Tuesday by Viviana Gordon, and on Wednesday by Amanda Berman, spoke of the services that they of-fer aside from housing court. These include social work, GED programs, peacekeeping classes and more.

Sandy Serrano from RHI promoted the upcoming Earth Day celebration,

scheduled for April 25 at the NYCHA Farm on Wolcott Street.

On Tuesday, President Lillie Marshall promoted her May 9 fundraiser at the Miccio Center. It is a dance that will go from 7 pm til midnight, and will raise money for school supplies for Red Hook children.

The next day, Frances Brown urged people to come out for her annual Mothers Against Gangs luncheon. It

will be at the Liberty Warehouse, 267 Conover Street on Friday, May 15 from noon - 3 pm.

Both meetings provided a bite to eat. Miss Marshall makes sure everyone leaves with a simple hot meal, usu-ally chicken and rice. Frances Brown made available a nice spread of tur-key and ham sandwiches.

Lillie Marshall presides over her meetings as a sometimes stern teach-

“The East meeting at times seems almost like a

religious revival, with Frances Brown exhorting

NYCHA and her tenants to do their best.”

er who will abide no nonsense, while the East meeting at times can remind one of a religious revival, with Frances Brown exhorting NYCHA and her ten-ants to do the right things.

These meetings are the one place where outside groups and local poli-ticians can consistently update the Housing community about their pro-grams. The meetings are informative and worth attending if one is to take advantage of things offered.

Councilmember Menchaca speaks before the Red Hook East meeting, taking some heat because East did not receive a grant from the Councilman’s discretionary budget last year.He promised equality this year as long as the request is made in time.

Emma Broughton, representing Felix Ortiz of the NY State Assembly, addresses the Red Hook East crowd as Councilman Menchaca listens. (photos by George Fiala)

Earth Day brings generations together at the NYCHA farm

That’s Judge Alex Calabrese from the Justice Center on the right, and his father, Alexan-der Calabrese on the left, with Ben Fuller-Googins of the Carroll Gardens Association in the middle. The Red Hook Initiative and the library were among the other groups who came out on the April 25 celebration.

City funds free after-school program at the Rec Center

by George Fiala

Mayor de Blasio came into office fighting for Universal Pre-K. He also issued a mandate for more after school programs. Money has been pro-vided through the CityParks Foundation for a free after-school program in two city neighborhoods. One of those neighborhoods is Red Hook, and the program is already underway. It is for grades 6-8, and includes free snacks, free trips and a program every day, from 3:30 - 6:30.

We stopped by last week and spoke with Anna and Olivia, who intro-duced us to the two turtles in the program, Franklin and Leroy. Anna explained that the program is focused on science, media arts, healthy living and community service. The turtles are part of the science pro-gram, where the kids explore nature, including plants, stick bugs, chin-chillas, and of course, tortoises.

The media arts portion include instruction in video making, photogra-phy, animation and film editing.

So far there is only one middle-schooler signed up for the program. The program is free and signing up is easy - just call Anna at 917 816-6990 or email her at [email protected].

Javier Ramos, Olivia Taussig and Anna Bakis run the free after-school program at the Rec Center.


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Left to right: SACS Board of Trustees member, John Bailin, CEO & President of Orbis International, Jenny Hourihan Bailin, SACS Executive Director, Natasha Campbell, SACS Board of Trustees Chair, Floyd Mitchell, and SACS Board of Trust-ees member, Michael Bernard.

Honoree and owner,Tony Kokale of Mark’s Pizza with Board of Trustees member, Mi-chael Bernard.

Carlos Menchaca, 2nd from right, with other honorees, including Pete Morales (2nd from left), Judith Dailey (center), Damien Jabar of D & H Grill (to the left of Judith), and Gene Moore of Kevins Restaurant (far left). Missing from the picture is crossing guard and Pres-ident of Red Hook East Tenants Association Frances Brown. (photos by Summit Academy)

Pete Morales, instrumental in the Red Hook Little League, the Justice Center, SNAP and the Senior Center, was joined by his family.

Summit Academy banquet a huge successby George Fiala

The Summit Academy one of Red Hook’s two local Charter Schools. Th ey work to be a col-

lege preparatory academy, teaching grades 6 - 12, including special edu-cation students. Summit was founded in 2009 by Executive Director Natasha Campbell and is located in the former PS 27 building on Huntington Street.

Th eir fi rst ever awards dinner was held on Saturday, April 25 at Fort Greene’s Masonic Temple. Council-

man Carlos Menchaca gave a keynote address, and the honorees, dubbed “Local Heroes,” were all people from Red Hook with a lifetime of service to the community.

Th e Local Heroes honored were Fran-ces Brown, Judith Dailey and Pete Mo-rales. Business Leaders were Costco, D&H Grill and Grocery, Kevins and Mark’s Pizza - the last three all busi-nesses on Van Brunt Street.

Frances Brown and her husband Hal

lead the Red Hook East Tenants Asso-ciation. Frances is also the founder of Mother’s Against Gangs.

Pete has spent a lifetime promoting sports for Red Hook’s youth as well as civic aff airs.

Judith was a PS 27 teacher for 37 years, and has co-chaired the Civic Association, among her many service achievements. She told us the food at the Masonic Lodge was outstanding!


EDITORIAL:

Community SpacesMark’s Corner BY MARK SHAMES

None of the community or po-litical things that I have been following have reached the

next milestone. I will update you anyway. The alternative is to revert to a reverie of spring and hold forth on the rebirth it represents (my wife says that’s what writers do when they have nothing to say). Anyway that’s not me. Since the recent death of a dear cousin, I have been thinking more about endings than renewal.

PoliticsOn the political front local clubs are holding their fundraising events and some folks with ambitions are pre-paring the fields for a fertile future but there is no real action. The only races are two special elections on May 5. The first is in Staten Island and part of Brooklyn to replace Mi-chael Grimm in Congress. That race pits Republican DA Dan Donovan of Eric Garner notoriety against Demo-cratic Councilman Vincent Gentile. While the grand jury may still be out it is generally assumed that Donovan will ride a tsunami from the south shore to victory. As an admirer of sci-entific method I, as always, support the Democrat. Councilman Gentile has generally run a professional cam-paign but I am disappointed in his position in support of voter (suppres-sion) ID laws.

In the 44th Assembly District race things have been entirely muddled by the failure of the local and county organizations to form a representa-tive county committee. Inexplica-bly, but par for the course in Brook-lyn politics, the gentleman who did have the few critical votes failed to timely file. There is no Democratic candidate. It seems anyone can win. District Leader Patterson running on the Independence line is the regular machine candidate. Diana Richard-son has the Working Families line with the support of many unions and the Clarkes. Geoffrey Davis has been active in the community for many years. The Republican Candi-date Menachem Raitport, although ordinarily a non-factor in the district, given the divided field could end up a one term Assemblyman with a large block vote. The biggest surprise so far is Scott Stringer’s endorsement of Richardson. That is the only clue to a result so far. The result in one truly special election probably won’t indi-cate a paradigm shift in any event.

Back to the GowanusLet us turn to the dream of a clean and safely swimmable Gowanus Ca-

nal. The important news coming out of the canal isn’t as you might think the swimmer’s aborted Earth Day swim. You surely wouldn’t know that from the comparative press coverage but you just can’t compete with a good visual.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced its proposed plan for the remediation of the Fulton Man-ufactured Gas Plant site at Sackett and Degraw Streets from the canal to Nevins Street.

The first and for now the only thing proposed is essentially the same style of winged barrier wall that is being proposed for the Public Place site which is now occupied in large part by Ferrara Concrete. The wall will be sunk to a depth of 50 to 60 feet and will prevent coal tar from entering the canal. The main dif-ference in the proposals is that the source toxins at Public Place will be removed once they get around to relocating the concrete company while at Fulton the source toxins may be left in place indefinitely. This sounds troubling to those who always sought a “comprehensive cleanup” and it may very well be a serious breach of that promise. However, development pressures make it likely that all but Thomas Greene Park will be remediated sooner rather than later. Cost con-cerns could result in the hotspot at the park being left in place.

Our concern may be short lived, if the City decides to place one of the stormwater retention tanks, that were mandated by the federal En-vironmental Protection Agency as part of its Superfund remedy, un-der the park site.

For those unfamiliar the tanks are intended to prevent sewer over-flows from recontaminating the ca-nal once it is dredged and capped.

The consensus in the community, including those who are friends of the park, is that remediation should be undertaken now and that al-ternate park and pool facilities be provided. The expense is significant but it is the logical next step along the path that was chosen.

The EPA Gowanus Community Advisory Group has asked for an extension of the DEC comment pe-riod from early May until after the location of the tanks are known while still calling for immediate and comprehensive cleanup.

Strong communities are in-volved communities. Red Hook is a strong community

if one looks at the number of town meetings that people care enough to hold here.

We have merchant meetings, Partic-ipatory Budgeting meetings, meet-ings about the library, meetings about Sandy relief, meetings about flood insurance, meetings about transportation - even meetings about smells.

On top of that, we regularly host Community Board 6 meetings, Civic Association meetings, and Tenant Association meetings.

What this means is that meeting spaces are at a premium. It is usually NYCHA’s Miccio Center, PS 15, Visi-tation Church, or the South Brooklyn HS that are gracious enough to open their doors for community meetings.

At the recent meeting about the li-brary, which we write about in this issue - the top vote getter in library ideas was a greater use as a com-munity center. While we still believe that the library is most important as a place for the discovery of great lit-erature - a community space is an-other important function.

The Oldtimer’s Committee has been able to hold it’s last two fundraising events in PAVE Academy’s gorgeous cafeteria. We applaud PAVE’s dona-tion of it’s space for the Oldtimers - one of Red Hook’s important yearly events. Oldtimers Day reunites for-mer with current residents for a fun weekend every August.

We hope that PAVE continues to make its cafeteria available for wor-thy community events, and we urge greater use of the library as a vital community resource.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

LETTERS: Votes for MoveNYIn his latest column Mr. Shames makes a sound argument in opposi-tion to “Move NY” but it did not per-suade me to vote against the plan at the Community Board 6 meeting on April 8th( the plan was passed by the board) on which he and I both sit. Make no mistake, this plan is hardly perfect.

I understand that tolls on all the bridg-es and other various costs are largely regressive. But seeking out revenue in such ways is a natural response to an underfunded transportation system that stems from a broken budgetary and political process.

So, for now, this plan should be sup-ported. However, if the state legisla-ture and governor wake up one day and realize the budget should fund transportation properly I will change my tune and sing in harmony with Mr. Shames - Michael Racioppo

From the TeamstersThe fact that the Trans-Pacific Part-nership (TPP) is being negotiated in

secret should concern every Ameri-can worker.

The entire progressive community, including UFCW Local 1500, environ-mental groups, civil rights organiza-tions and consumer advocates, has been shut out of TPP negotiations. Meanwhile, 600 corporate lawyers are advising the U.S. Trade Representa-tive. No one can reasonably expect a fair trade agreement to emerge from this undemocratic process.

Given the current struggles of work-ing families in New York, members of Congress should not be pursuing a fast track trade deal that widens the gap between the rich and the poor, threatens food safety, and gives work-ing class families even less of a chance to find personal and professional suc-cess.

Senator Schumer has recently spoken out against the TPP. If members of Congress truly care about America’s working and middle classes, they will oppose fast tracking this terrible trade agreement.

Tony Speelman is the Secretary-Trea-surer of New York’s largest grocery workers union, UFCW Local 1500 in Westbury, NY.

Brooklyn Parks Commission Kevin Jeffreys assures us that Coffey Park is expected to be completed and opened to the public in June 2015. He goes on to say that “ The project includes the installation of benches, new landscaping, new lighting, decorative paving in the main plaza area and repaving of all interior pathways, and water service.”

We actually spotted a couple of guys working in the park last week. It’s hard to understand why there haven’t been larger crews working to get the park ready much more quickly.

Coffey Park update


PLUMBING

Don’t be a fool - advertise in the Star-Revue!That Crazy World of Politicsby George Fiala

Dear Neighbor,

It has been almost 30 months since the senior center on Wolcott Street was destroyed by the waters of Super-Storm Sandy. However, the good news is the New York City Hous-ing Authority (NYCHA) is aggressively moving forward with plans to renovate the building next to the Joseph Mic-cio Community Center to serve as a fully functional senior center that will provide expanded space and additional programming for Red Hook’s seniors.

Immediately following the Storm, elected offi cials like Congresswoman Velazquez echoed our calls for a new se-nior center—a move that eventually led to securing the site next to the Miccio Center. Since 2013, local leaders from the Red Hook Houses and from across the commu-nity have continued to engage my offi ce and the NYCHA to develop a common-sense plan for the site. Additionally, the City Council allocated close to 2 million dollars to the project.

Th e community planning process incorporated many voic-es and many experiences. Th e design of the senior center was created using a public process, and in the last few months, NYCHA’s Disaster Recovery Unit has hosted ad-ditional design meetings and needs-assessment sessions to continue to best gauge any outstanding concerns. From these sessions, a solid and representative consensus plan emerged. I am proud to share that NYCHA is expected to open the Red Hook senior center in December of this year!

Th e new senior center in Red Hook speaks to our larger and ultimate goal: demanding attention from our city agencies to address the array of needs that face our community that include resilient and aff ordable housing, extracurricular programming for youth, Universal Pre-K seats, investing in our local libraries, and of course, post-Sandy infrastructure improvements to all public spaces in Red Hook.

We deserve more from our City agencies. Th e building of a senior center sends the a strong message that in Red Hook—in New York City—we take care of our own.

I invite you to join Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and other local elected offi cials, NYCHA staff , and myself for an update on the progress of the senior center’s reconstruc-tion. Together, we will address any outstanding questions, and re-affi rm our shared commitment to this important project. My offi ce will follow-up in the coming days with more information on this important meeting. I look for-ward to seeing you all there!

Visit http://redhookhub.org/ for Red Hook updates.

In solidarity,

Carlos Menchaca

NYC Council Member | District 38

I am proud to share that NYCHA is

expected to open the Red Hook senior

center in December of this year!

In Red Hook we take care of our own

There are a number of ways that we community electronically:

1 - Our Email Blast List - sign up for it at www.redhookstar.com

2 - Our online calendar - keep current with local events as we hear about them - at www.redhookstar.com

3 - Our newspaper blog where you can read and share selected articles - at www.star-revue.com

4 - We also have two Facebook pages and a Twitter feed

The Star-Revue Online

That Crazy World of Politicsby George Fiala

Since January, there have been State of the Union, State of the State and State of the City addresses. On April 12, we were invited to Carlos Mencha-ca’s fi rst State of the District Address.

We are not aware of other local politi-cos holding similar events, except for Daniel Squadron, who holds an an-nual “Community Convention.”

We heartily approve pomp and cir-cumstance in government. A cynical press, Republican propaganda, and occasional corruption has tarnished government in the eyes of many of us. Fun events like Carlos’ can return enthusiasm and pride in the workings of our country. Americans who con-demn countries like China for not be-

ing a democracy too often fail to take part in the system we have here.

Th e State of the District, free and open to the public, was a throwback to the days of an engaged citizenry. Th e Star Spangled Banner was performed by a singer from Brooklyn’s Regina Opera Company. An Italian folk-dance was performed by a petite quartet from Young Dancers in Repertory.

Carlos’ speech was preceded by acco-lades from fellow politicians and resi-dents, including a greeting from US Senator Chuck Schumer - who in fact left early to speak at Squadron’s event.

More than anything, we need to groom energetic future leaders. Th is helps.

MESSAGEMENCHACA

FROM


In his folksy 1903 memoir Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, the very skilled ring democrat George Washington Plunkitt

eloquently defended the manner in which so many politicians got rich off of taxpayer dollars.

He states, “My party's in power in the city, and it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm tipped off , say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place. I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Th en the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before. Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profi t on my investment and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft.”

It was graft to be sure - but it was hon-est graft.

While we are impatient to see the re-opening of our beloved Coff ey Park, we should at least be thankful that we don’t have to wait as long as the citi-zens of Red Hook did when the plans for the park were fi rst announced. Nearly an entire decade elapsed from the time the land for the park was purchased and when the gates fi nally opened. Th e reason for that long delay had a lot to do with its location and a simple matter of good old fashioned “honest” graft.

Michael J. Coff ey wanted a park. It was 1892 and he had been Alderman of Brooklyn’s 12th ward for about 8 years, was now President of the Board of Aldermen and a highly infl uential fi gure in Brooklyn politics. Red Hook was a busy industrial neighborhood without a public recreation area and Coff ey wanted his constituents to have a place to stroll, relax, and breathe fresh air. He told Parks Commissioner George Brower he didn’t care where it was, so long as it was in his district.

As if by coincidence, shortly after Coff ey made his intentions known to Brower (but before anything had been made public), a humble machinist by the name of Frank S. Roake began purchasing land in a very specifi c area of Red Hook, just a few square blocks in area, bounded by Dwight, Richards, Verona and King Streets. It wasn’t very desirable land - it was a swamp. Th e surface was six feet below the level of the street, frequently used as a dump-ing ground for ashes, cans, bottles, scrap metal, and other refuse. It was also fi lled with water, sometimes to a depth of fi ve feet and undoubtedly polluted with the run-off and effl uvi-um of decades of industrial waste.

He purchased as much “land” in that area he could from three diff erent property owners who had held the deed in their families for generations, not thinking it to be of much value. Because it was a swampy dumping ground, Roake got it on the cheap. In the three transactions, conducted be-tween June 10 and August 1, he pur-

chased a total of 134 lots for $56,500 or roughly $421 each - about ten dollars less per lot than the value the city put on the land for taxation purposes.

While a savvy investor may have held onto the purchase a bit long, Roake started selling it off before he even fi nished buying it. On July 10 he trans-ferred 110 lots to a widow named El-len Fullerton for $75,000, making a tidy profi t. Interestingly, that same day, the good widow sold a portion of those lots (⅛ of a block or about 12.75 lots) to a man named John O’Brien for the magnanimous price of $1.00. On August 1, Roake sold 6 lots to a wom-an named Carrie Mesick for $1.00 - the same day he purchased them for $6,000, taking a staggering loss of $5,999. Th e high stakes world of real estate investment were apparently too much for Miss Mesick though, for lat-er on that month she would sell those

6 lots to Ellen Fullerton for the same price she paid, $1.00, thus breaking even and bowing from the scene. Th e big Th ree Card Monte game ends on November 13 when Roake sells the last of his holdings to Fullerton, 18 lots purchased from the Bergen Es-tate, again for the nominal price of $1.00.

All these $1.00 transactions were sim-ply what was recorded on paper. Th is was a ploy to prevent people from knowing who really paid what to whom. It was all smoke and mirrors - using intermediaries to get the land

from the original holders to those who would ultimately reap the profi t.

Just a few days after the last transac-tion between Roake and Fullerton, the City of Brooklyn purchased 70 of Fullerton’s lots and all of O’Brien’s for a grand total of $120,166 or about $1,450 a piece - more than three times their assessed value.

Th e Brooklyn Daily Eagle broke the

story in January 1893 highlighting a number of remarkable coincidences and relationships between the buy-ers and Michael J. Coff ey. Roake and Mesick were simply dummy buyers who likely got paid off - Roake with the $18,500 profi t and Mesick with an unknown amount. Th ose who prof-ited most however, were more well connected.

John O’Brien was one of Michael Cof-

fey’s right hand men in the Twelfth Ward. He was not an elected offi cial himself, but a friend and associate who happened to be a liquor dealer. In the 19th century, barkeepers and liquor dealers were powerful politi-cal allies to have in one’s corner, par-ticularly in New York, where saloons were often political headquarters and repeat voters could be bought for the price of a few drinks.

Ellen Fullerton turned out to be the sister of P.H. Flynn, another close as-sociate and business partner of Cof-fey. In 1892, Coff ey and Flynn were managing an electric rail company together. Flynn had also previously demonstrated a remarkable talent for “guessing” where parks would be placed in other areas of Brooklyn, buying low from owners and selling high to the city. With Fullerton at the center of the Red Hook Park deal, one might argue that this talent ran in the family - but the safe money would be on her having inside information from here dear brother.

When confronted with these remark-able circumstances, the party line was to deny any w r o n g d o i n g . Parks Commis-sioner Brower, who had paid the outrageously in-fl ated price, May-or Boody who had authorized him to do so, and of course Alder-man Coff ey him-self all remained steadfast in their statements that

Roake had simply made a wise invest-ment at the right time and that they felt the city got the land for a fair price.

It was in this way that the parties in-volved got away with charging Brook-lyn $120,000 for 78 lots worth about $33,000. Unfortunately, because the land for the most part wasn’t actually land yet, it would take another $1.5-2 million and 8 years to drain, fi ll, plant and develop before the park could be

opened to the public.

At long last, on June 15, 1901, after nearly a decade of insider politics, bond sales, pork-barrel spending, and awarding nearly all work con-tracts to favored fi rms, the park was opened - a true product of honest Brooklyn graft. Park Commissioner George Brower and Former Mayor David Boody, both of whom had

been instrumental in helping Coff ey bring about the creation of the park, addressed the assembly at its open-ing. Coff ey himself however, was con-spicuously absent.

Coff ey had recently had a falling out with many of his former allies by

blocking the nomination of a candi-date for Kings County Register, caus-ing a rift in the democratic party. While the park was largely a result of his own eff orts and had been popularly called Coff ey Park by residents since it was announced, the Democratic lead-ers who had the honor of cutting the ribbon dubbed it Red Hook Park. Th e name would not be offi cially changed for decades to come.

Red Hook History: When graft was “honest” - the story of Coffey Park

by Connor Gaudet

At long last, on June 15, 1901, after nearly a decade of insider politics, bond sales, pork-barrel spending, and

awarding nearly all work contracts to favored fi rms, the park was opened -

a true product of honest Brooklyn graft.

This was Coffey Park trolley stop, across from Visitation Church

Alderman Michael J. Coffey. Image from Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Coffey “Park” at time of purchase. Image from Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Coffey Park as it looked in 1901. Image from the New-York Tribune.


Off the Hook , a youth showcase event by Falconworks, presented two nights of entertainment at PS 15 on April 24 and 25.

Th ree young people wrote, directed and starred in their original plays, each tackling a major social issue in their lives. In “Letters to Will,” Regan Hockenberry, age 13, addressed dealing with the death of a close friend. Alpha Barry, 13 years old, satirized bullying in his play, “Bad Cousins.” At age 10, Dontae McCoy’s theme in “Andre’s Misunderstood World” em-phasized that “being creative is just as important as book learning.”

Hockenberry, who played Allie, walked the audience through the dev-astating aftermath of her best friend Will. Th e play focused on inspiring hope in the world around her by approaching the Department of Trans-portation’s perspective on distracted driving. Th e play incorporated real life statistics, an imaginary cafe called “Coff ey Coff ee” and a live drummer (Mark Ehrhardt) to emphasize emotion.

“Andre’s Misunderstood World” ended with a dance number to Imagine Dragon’s “I’m on Top of the World,” which led into a fi nal curtain call for all three performances.

A talkback with the young playwrights followed the show. Reg Flowers, Senior Collaborator for the show, led a discussion on social issues. Barry said he wanted to bring attention to bullying.

Hockenberry said she feels strong about traffi c safety because she had two friends hit and killed by cars. “It was a really beautiful thing the way everybody came together [for the show],” she said. “I wanted to bring at-tention to it.”

Councilman, Carlos Menchaca spoke directly to McCoy, saying that being creative is important because “art is one of the ways people can move our hearts.”

In closing, Flowers said, “this is the end [of the show], but it’s the begin-ning of a conversation we can all continue in the world around us.”

Falconworks presents spring performances at PS 15

by Kimberly Gail Price

The Lehigh Valley Barge #79 was built in 1914, and cele-brated her 100th birthday last year. She is the last of her kind.

Th e barge was built entirely of long-leaf yellow pine, or Pinus Palustris. Boards cut from these trees are very heavy and will not rot, making them extremely suitable for shipbuilding.

Th e trees mature after 100 to 150 years and may live to be 500 years old. Vast forests of the species were once present along the southeastern Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast of the United States.

Th e long-leaf pine forests were sourced by merchants and the navy to build ships, like the Lehigh Valley #79. Due to deforestation and over-harvesting, only about 3% of original long-leaf pine forests remain, and very few are replanted. Modern shipbuilders began using steel.

Th e company that built #79 originated out of Lehigh Navigation Company. Th e company was one of 13 major rail-road companies in the Northeastern U.S. around the turn of the 20th centu-ry. Th e NY Harbor was the biggest sea-port in the world. By connecting rail-way to barges, the company was able to intersect land and water, railway to barging.

During that time, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge #79 was one of thou-sands carrying cargo through the New York Harbor. As the shipping industry modernized, and bridges and tunnels were built, these barges became obso-lete. Most were left to ruin; as of today, #79, David Sharps fl oating Waterfront Museum, is the only surviving wooden barge.

Th e Lehigh Valley Navigation Company built sturdy canal barges with a bulk-head in the center and cross-bracing frames. Th e barges were built to last. Other companies had no experience building barges, building less durable “matchbox” vessels. Sharps credits #79’s design for her survival.

Despite her strapping, well-made frame, the barge is struggling a dif-ferent battle. Boats play a game with Mother Nature and Father Time.

Natural elements deteriorate the barge on a daily basis. Rainwater, snow, ice, sunlight, fl otsam and other elements compromise the integrity of the ves-sel. Other things bumping into the boat also cause damage. “Rock, paper, scis-sors - shoot!” Sharps says. “Th at game of steel, concrete, motion, wood seems to always leave wood the loser.”

Th e barge is made of thousands of piec-es of wood and thousands of seams. While saltwater beneath the boat doesn’t harm the wood, the fresh water can have immense eff ects. One droplet of water can make its way through the cracks and create a hole in the barge. “All disaster need is a toe in the door - opportunity.” Sharps explained.

Another major concern to the barge is parasitic creatures that eat their way into the wood just below the surface of the water, turning the underside of a wooden boat into Swiss cheese. . Th ere are two main types. Th e shipworms - or teredo - are actually mollusks. Th ey can grow up to fi ve feet long and nestle themselves into the wood, devouring planks of wood throughout their lives.

Th e second threat are gribble worms, crustaceans that are about the size of a grain of rice. Th ese creatures are very mobile and can move forward and backwards, jump and swim. Th e wood provides them with both nourishment and shelter. Th ey eat out holes in the wood just under the surface of the wa-ter. Hoards of the gribbles can break off exterior layers on the ship, and dive right back in to the next layer to begin the process anew.

Despite outward appearances of the wood being intact, repeated moles-tation of the planks can cause severe damage to the structural integrity.

In 2002, Sharps was wrestling with the infestation of both of these pests. Dur-ing dry-dock repairs, that year, he dis-covered that nearly half of the wood below the waterline had been eaten away. Th e worms were blasted out with pressure washing. Vulnerable wood was ripped out, and replaced with long-leaf yellow pine from the bottom of the barge to 18 inches above the waterline. Th e fresh wood was treated with asphalt primer and roofi ng ce-ment, twelve inch wide wooden strips covered all seams, and then was treated again. Finally, the area was sheathed in a plastic material.

Th irteen years later, Sharps is going back to dry-dock to fi nd out if the ship-worms and gribbles were able to fi nd a way inside. He’ll also be looking for Mother Nature’s mark of deterioration. All of this, on top of the accelerated ef-fects of damage caused during Hurri-cane Sandy will have to be repaired.

Sharps described the barge’s encoun-ter with Sandy:

During the extreme height of the two incoming tidal surges, the vessel moved both past and above its normal rubber fender system thus damaging sacrifi cial wooden rubbing timbers. Ropes were slacked to accommodate the 13 foot storm surge which further accentuated the jostling and violent movement of the boat. Th e river was fi lled with fl ot-sam and jetsam that included dozens of dangerous 30’ wooden poles that

churned in the waters causing excess abrasion damage to the hull, especially around the vulnerable corners.

Th e fi rst high tide rose into the street equaling the height of Hurricane Irene the previous year. At this point the su-perstorm’s level of water never sub-sided. Th e river refused to ebb. Over the course of four successive tides and lasting close to 24 hours, crew with life jackets donned continually slackened lines to the west to allow for the barge to rise and tightened lines to the east in an eff ort to keep us from continually grinding into the dock.

At one point as the barge was rising like Noah’s ark...

Delicate is the dance between Sharps and Mother Nature. Father Time plays his part in the competition. But the Le-high Valley Barge #79, the lone survi-vor aims to be around in another hun-dred years.

Because he is listed with the National Registry of Historic Ships, he is required to replace like-wood with like-wood. But since the long-leaf yellow pine for-ests have been depleted, the wood can no longer be obtained. Sharps will be using plastic lumber as “fender tim-bers” for bumpers to protect the ex-terior of the barge. Depending on the damage uncovered by the inspection, Sharps says, “I need to make the best decisions I can.” But he won’t know un-til the barge is dry-docked.

Th e cost of these repairs is estimated to be approximately $192,000. To date, only $45,000 has been raised. Th e 2nd Annual Pirate’s Ball on May 15 will help fi nance the repairs and 70 hour roundtrip. Th e event will feature a sunset cocktail hour, live music, local food, and even an op-portunity to walk the plank. Tickets and more information are available at www.barge100.org , the Waterfront Museum, or by calling (718) 624-4719.

Man vs. Nature: The Life of a Bargeby Kimberly Gail Price

In 2002, a worker fi lls the seams of Lehigh Valley #79 with hemp during dry-docking. (photo by Helena Fierlinger)


Along Van Brunt street there are some interesting gallery spaces. What’s nice for Red Hook is that each one looks

and feels quite different. That should come as no small surprise since the directors of each could not be more dissimilar.

One of them, Peninsula Art Space, is the newest denizen of what was once an old foodmarket strip. It belongs to a man named Eric Fallen. “It grew out of an angry period,” he said, when he took on the teaching establishment and lost.

An essay and creative writing profes-sor at several institutions including Pratt and FIT, Eric had joined the staff of SUNY Maritime in the Bronx. He began as an adjunct, and his remark-able teaching gifts and a charismatic personality (to say the least) vaulted him to a full time instructor. This is rare but understandable if you learn a few things about this Canadian born ‘risk taker’ from Montreal.

An early underachiever“As a kid I always tried to organize my life,” he noted over a cup of coffee one late afternoon. I just waited, sus-pecting there would be a great punch line... And sure enough, “But it’s really two seconds before your death nor-mally when you accept your nature.”

This interview was getting very juicy. I thought that might not be the case for other people, why did he say that? It turns out this descendant of eastern Europeans from a tiny Jewish enclave called Chernowitz-Bucovina, is a rest-less soul, a risk taker, a natural born performer - impresario if you will. He was a terrible student throughout his schooling. Ironic isn’t it that he should be teaching college for twenty years. But there’s more irony.

“I was not a writer or reader as a child but got into theater and acting.” His parents, a medical doctor father and artistic mother with her own radio talk show in Toronto, understood this hy-per active creative child and sent him to summer theatre camps. And yes, he does write but very short plays consis-tent with this hyperactivity, plays that on average run about ten minutes in length but are not to be taken lightly.

Sure, a lot of people write. It’s very self aggrandizing is it not, seeing your name ablaze across newsprint. In some ways it’s like art, who isn’t an artist, really? But Eric paid his dues. Despite pitiful grades at high school where much time was spent posturing as the cool kid, playing hooky, telling jokes, practicing cool smoking routines in the park, he managed to finesse his way into a prestigious media studies program at Concordia University.

The application was unusual for the time, a very personal and open for-mat for a smart kid to show his stuff. Eric did just that, explaining his per-sonal response to, of all things, Aris-totle’s Poetics. The comic in the park reads Aristotle, you gotta be kidding. “I made short films and minored in creative writing.”

But he wasn’t prolific. “I managed to

progress,” despite bringing up the rear of the class. After graduating he worked on the fringes of the film in-dustry driving a prop truck and dress-ing sets until, as he says, he wondered “What the f... am I doing?”

So he sat down and wrote a play called “The Chieftain.” The play was per-formed at the Toronto International Fringe Festival under his direction.

With this fine result in hand he was ac-cepted at Brooklyn College’s Playwrit-ing Program. That program was cre-ated thirty years by Jack Gelber, whose play ‘The Connection” was the first great success of NY’s Living Theatre.

Fallen rented a room from a female Jamaican taxi driver and immediately loved it here. “You think I grew up?” he asked me. It seemed an odd ques-tion, exposing such a serious heartfelt issue across an afternoon cuppa Joe.

His Pulitzer Prize winning professor wondered why or when or even how come this obviously talented student wouldn’t produce anything. “I’m very bad at quiet work,” and luck-ily and again, ironically, all the others in his program were rather prolific. They were annoyed that none of their words saw the light of day and by the second year into the program were, “grumbling that their work needed to get produced.”

Enter Eric.

He drove to Ludlow Street on the Low-er East Side, found a tiny theatre, held auditions, and produced their plays. “I like doing risky, throwing myself into things. That’s how this gallery got going.” And it’s also how he juggled three lives; that of the college profes-sor, the writer and the business man/gallery director.

Sometimes it’s a good thing when you do an interview to get the subject to try and define themselves in a sound byte. So I asked him, “If you had to make an elevator pitch, what would you say?”

I asked this at the beginning of our discussion and half way through is when he figured it out, “I like collab-orative projects and the Gallery grew out of that sort of energy. I was angry at the way people get crushed by in-stitutions, I lived in Throg’s Neck, near the SUNY campus and a whole de-partment which was like a warm fam-ily and it ended miserably.”

By the way, he was standing up for the little guy against some untoward cro-nyism.

In all this turmoil, he was looking around, had always loved Red Hook and found a charming wonderful place right above Rocky Sullivan’s. “I responded to an ad on Craig’s List. I brought my check book and brought my soul.” Two weeks later Hurricane Sandy swept through. And in the in-terim immediately after he had been noticing on the corner of Sullivan and Van Brunt a certain glass storefront, a perfect spot for a gallery - although, “ I had no experience.” Other than confidence by way of osmosis and his family’s sensitivity to all things

creative. And with Sandy and an un-pleasant corporate fight under his belt he determined thereafter to be in tight control of his life. For the first time he did something out of character, he re-mained tight lipped and didn’t tell a soul about his plans, didn’t let anyone shoot him down. In short order, this man who had visited my first gallery with an idea to open one for photog-raphy actually did just that. Though it wasn’t really photography but rather a solo show of an artist who did black and white’s of urban landscapes.

He started meeting and talking to oth-er such entrepreneurs like Florence Neal of Kentler International Drawing Space. Florence is a trail blazer whose large and gracious space has brought art pioneers to the Hook for 25 years. And he started talking and meeting artists and young curators, realizing that his ‘real nature’ was to assemble their talents and let them run with it. So he ‘adopted’ guest curators like Rachel Valinsky, a recent Art History graduate of Columbia University who had just curated a show in Williams-burg. Along with another assistant di-rector, Marion Guiraud, the Peninsula

has been up and running, diligent, enduring, through cold, and wind and snows. Their help has allowed Eric to continue his writing - short plays, of course. He entered one of them, The Monster into Samuel French’s an-nual one act play festival’s competing against 600 other applicants and was accepted. The following year he beat the odds with a consecutive win for ‘Perfect Weather’ both of which were performed during the festival’s run. Last year, his Who’s the Boldest was produced and selected for exhibition at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Not too bad for the restless, his-trionic show off in the park.

You can meet him at 352 Van Brunt where his guest curator is none other than Florence Neal presenting 20 oth-er artists from her ‘Flat Files’ to her-ald her own visionary steadfastness in this old, cobbled fishing village. A skyline once huge now broken by the giraffe necks of yellow cranes, Kom-atsu’s and Caterpillars. The show runs through May 3rd.

Alexandra K. Corbin, is the owner and director of Gallery Small New York

The story behind Van Brunt’s Penninsula Galleryby Alexandra K. Corbin

Eric Fallen outside his Van Brunt Street gallery


On May 4th at 6:30 pm at the Miccio Center, the Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA), the Parks Depart-ment and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Carlos Menchaca will discuss the results of the March 2015 testing of the Red Hook Ball Fields and the environmental cleanup plan.

Ball fields 5-8 are now closed for the entirety of the 2015 season to address higher than expected lead levels in the surface soil. Other areas of Red Hook Park did not have those same elevated lead levels, but the EPA will continue to conduct testing alongside its remediation work.

The Red Hook Little League has been unable to begin their season on time for the second year in a row. The Star-Revue is told that the games may be relocated to Sunset Park.

EPA to hold meeting about contaminated Red Hook fields

EPA contractors were out taking ground samples from the ballfields

SBIDC reports on Red Hook BOA at CB 6 meeting

David Meade and Andrea Devening of SBIDC make their BOA presentation. CB 6 committee member Noah Berk-Rauch is on the right.

Last year the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Corp. (SBIDC) received a $106,000 NYS Brownfield Opportuni-ty Area (BOA) grant. Consultants were hired to prepare a report identifying potential sites in Red Hook that could house new industry.

SBIDC presented the report at the April 20th meeting of the CB 6 Eco-nomic/Waterfront/Community De-velopment & Housing committee.

Red Hook’s assets include re-gional connectivity; interesting buildings;,waterfront views, access and open space, and a unique iden-tity/culture, according to the report’s authors. Suggested industries are said to be Film Production and Lighting, Woodworking/Furniture Making, Clean Technology, Small Food manu-facturing and Co-packing and cold storage.

Four developmental sites were iden-tified. One of them was identified as 151 Dwight Street. The rest will be dis-cussed at a subsequent meeting.

SBIDC hopes to attract industry to these sites. It was pointed out that many local property owners are

holding on to their vacant land or buildings in hopes of a future zoning change that would allow for residen-tial development, making the proper-ties more valuable. Committee mem-ber Victoria Hagman acknowledged this and posited that a solution would be a law preventing zoning changes in IBZ zones, bringing certainty to the real estate market which would facili-tate economic development.

Seawall?

This drilling barge was seen on two separate occasions drilling for sam-ples off of 499 Van Brunt Street. The purpose is unknown to us, but per-haps this is preparatory work for the promised $200 million seawall project promised for us by Governor Cuomo.

Lobster Pound bulks up

Susan Povich at her new Lobster Pound

making sure to maintain her proper standing in it. The Lobster Pound is at 284 Van Brunt Street, next to the Wa-terfront Laundry.

Don’t forget to check out the bathrooms at the new Lobster Pound!

Botta De Vino raises money

Triciann Botta, who along with her husband Jeff run Van Brunt’s Botta De Vino wine and spirit shop, served Bellini’s on Saturday, April 25. She does this every year to raise money for Red Hook’s Dance Theater Etcetera. She does this every year as a way to give back to the neighborhood.

A Bellini is a cocktail that originated at Harry’s Bar in Venice. Customers included Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles. It is served straight up and consists of Prosecco and peach puree.

A new library?

Not a library, but a traveling art exhibit that doubles as a Hispanic bookstore. That is what has been occupying 360 Van Brunt since the departure of the Red Hook Volunteers.

It is called Libreria Donceles and is actually a work of art created by local artist Pablo Helguera.

Helguera, who also works at MOMA, bought 25,000 books on a trip to Mex-ico because he believes that there is a lack of vibrant Hispanic bookstores in the United States. All the books are for sale, with the proceeds going to non-profits.

Helguera is taking his bookstore

across the country, leaving for Seattle on May 15.

Drug use still here

We recently noticed this needle dis-posal box on the 700 block of Henry Street, off of Hamilton Avenue. We did a little checking around and found this: An ESAP registered medical pro-vider furnishes syringes in their Sun-set Park site and offsite via mobile van in Red Hook. In addition, an ESAP outreach team promotes the program to clients and distribute fitpacks to them. For additional information on where and when the ESAP provider is furnishing syringes from the mo-bile van, call: (718) 439 0077. Turning Point has placed a kiosk in the follow-ing sites: a. Turning Point Main Office 5220 4th Av-enue Brooklyn 11220

b. Turning Point 3rd Avenue 968 3rd Avenue Brooklyn 11232

c. Turning Point Red Hook 713-715 Henry Street Brooklyn 11231

On April 23, Nancy and Frank Setteca-si, lifelong Brooklynites, opened their back garden for the first time. Nancy and Frank, together with their son Vinny opened The Park Bench Café and Crèperie at 489 Court Street last August. It was an immediate hit.

During the long winter months, the Crèperie created a backyard space for their popular eating spot. Wood deck-ing was installed. Potted flowers hung from a new wooden fence.

To celebrate the occasion, the family hosted a small party. Balloons deco-rated the entrance.

Members of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Investor’s Bank, CB 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman, family friends and loyal customers at-tended. Panini’s, crepes, waffles, and a variety of beverages were served freely.

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Car-los Scissora noted the occasion with a mid-afternoon champagne toast.

An opening on Court Street

The Lobster Pound, a somewhat acci-dental business that grew into a well loved and busy enterprise, shut their Van Brunt Street restaurant for a few months this winter for renovations.

They re-opened last week and the re-sults are spectacular. They have grown from a friendly informal place to enjoy lobster rolls - somewhat reminiscent of a roadside stand - to a full service restaurant and bar which would be completely at home in upscale Prov-incetown at the tip of Cape Cod.

It’s hard to imagine that in the space of four months a nautically themed res-taurant that looks like it’s been around for decades could be built, but owner Susan Povich, with the help of local ar-chitectural firm Hecho, Inc. did it.

You can still order their famous lobster rolls, which can be augmented with a beer or cocktail. The expanded menu now also includes full entrees, such as a Blue Plate Special, Steamed Lob-ster or Fish and Chips. Soups include Bisque and Chowder, and you can even get Blueberry Funnel Cake for dessert.

Povich is not wrong to suspect that the Red Hook restaurant scene is at the beginning of a boom, and she is


Red Hook business owners gathered for a second networking event at Fort Defiance on April 14. The first was the final meeting of ReStore Red Hook back in March at Atelier Roquette.

After ReStore Red Hook completed their mission to get businesses in the neighborhood back up and running, local owners decided they wanted to continue to meet on a regular basis.

At the evening soiree, Florence Neal volunteered to hold May’s networking event in her space at Kentler, although the date hasn’t been announced yet. A representative from SBIDC also announced the closing of Van Brunt Street for a street fair on July 18, 2015.

These networking events are free and open to all Red Hook business owners.

The Gowanus Alliance (GA) is advo-cating for a pedestrian and bike-only bridge over the murky waters of the Gowanus Canal at 5th Street.

President of GA, Paul Basile believes more access is needed to the canal, especially now that the cleanup is un-derway. New developments and resi-dential units will draw thousands to the area, and Absile is working to gain community support for the project.

The bridge would connect 2nd Ave-nue to Smith Street, which would pro-vide another passage between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, which is currently a dead end at 5th Street. The bridge would pass by future develop-ment Gowanus Green and would be only a few blocks northeast of Light-stone’s residential unit.

While no design or cost estimate for the bridge has been determined, GA is working on a “practical” plan. Basile wants to include a ramp to the edge of the water for easy entry for canoes and kayaks. The bridge would also need to be high enough for barg-es and boats that serve industrial manufacturers to pass under.

Basile calls the project “feasible,” and plans on taking the idea to local offi-cials for funding. - Kimberly Price

The Carroll Gardens Association (CGA) will celebrate its 44th Anniver-sary at Marco Polo Restaurant on May 28, 2015. They will be honoring Sohne Brothers Real Estate Development; Rachel Demarest Gold, Esq., Deputy Commissioner and Special Counsel at the New York State Department of Labor; and Dog Day Cyclery, for its contribution to sustainable transpor-tation options.

Cynthia Gonzalez, CGA Board Chair, says: “Carroll Gardens Association’s 44th Anniversary Celebration gives us an occasion to celebrate leaders in the community while also furthering CGA’s mission. CGA manages a num-ber of low-income housing in Red Hook, including the two family homes across from the Justice Center.

“The annual fundraising dinner is an opportunity to strengthen commit-ments of donors and friends to the pro-grams that CGA offers. These include preserving and developing affordable housing, enforcing quality housing management practices, promoting small business economic develop-ment, and providing and linking resi-dents to social services and resources to improve the quality of their lives.”

For more information contact Vilma Heramia, Executive Director, at 718-243-9301 or via email at [email protected].

The stage is set – a massive Civil War-era building, repurposed as a gallery space, and graced by industrial ru-ins that have taken on a beauty and mystery of their own. A spectacular waterfront view that opens wide onto Buttermilk Channel with ships drift-ing off to far-away places under Lady Liberty’s watchful gaze.

The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Co-alition (BWAC) kicks off its 23rd sea-son in Red Hook on May 9, 2015 with three shows: the Spring Pier Show Renew, and two national juried shows -Wide Open 6, and Recycle.

The theme Renew signals the return of spring and the return of art to Red Hook. Show chair, Anna Hagen has urged the artists to dust off winter’s cobwebs and re-do, re-think, re-paint, re-evaluate, re-form, re-invent, re-new. The show displays work of the 200 BWAC exhibiting artists; art in every medium from the traditional to the cutting edge.

Of the 1356 submissions to BWAC’s sixth annual national juried show, Wide Open, juror Rujeko Hockley, As-sistant Curator of Contemporary Art at The Brooklyn Museum had this to say:

“It was a strong and varied selection of work, which made it very difficult to pare it down to just 100 artists! In making my selections, my goal was to pick work that spoke to me, whether because aesthetically beautiful; politi-cally resonant; unexpected or unusu-al in appearance, focus, or materials.”

Recycle, is a juried show of sophisti-cated two- and three- dimensional art crafted from cast-off, discarded and re-purposed materials. It is BWAC’s first official show in the re-use genre, where entries must incorporate at least 50 percent reused materials. It is juried by the Director of Exhibitions at the Socrates Sculpture Park Elissa Goldstone.

Special events are planned for ev-ery day of the show – including the Sunday acoustic performance series, UnPlugged in Red Hook, and a new Saturday reading series, The Myriad – with poets, performers, playwrights and storytellers. On Sunday, June 7, in keeping with the renew/recycle theme are free screenings of the acad-emy award-nominated documentary, Wasteland, about art created from the refuse of the world’s largest dump, lo-cated in Rio de Janeiro. Back by popu-lar demand are the female drummers of Batala NYC Samba Band. (This event is sponsored by the Sims Mu-nicipal Recycling Facility).

Meet the Artists at the opening recep-tion May 9, 1-6PM with music by the Run of the Mill String Band. Renew, Wide Open and Recycle run from May 9 through June 14, weekends only, from 1-6PM.

The 9th Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal will be closed nightly from April 24 through October 19 due to construction work that the MTA con-tractor has to perform on the Culver Viaduct above the bridge.

For the entirety of this closure the B61 will be detoured nightly (10pm-6am) between 2nd Avenue and Smith Street. The westbound B61 will take 2nd Avenue to Hamilton Avenue to Smith Street then rejoin the route at 9th Street. The eastbound B61 will take Smith Street to 3rd Street to 3rd Avenue then rejoin the route at 9th Street. - KP

9th Street Bridge Closure

Business After-Hoursby Kimberly Gail Price

Red Hook goes global for annual bike race

More than 300 cyclists from 29 coun-tries rode at a track laid out at the Cruise Terminal on Saturday, April 25 for the Red Hook Criterium. Riders compete on fixed-gear bikes with no brakes.

The weather was better than in years past, when the event was held on founder David Trimble’s birthday.

The Crit was featured on CBS TV news as well as GQ Magazine. Some of the for-eign visitors were spotted enjoying din-ner on Friday night at Hope & Anchor.

BWAC season opens May 9

Wants to ford the Gowanus

Carroll Gardens Dinner

Damien Nesbit getting ready to open his successful Dog Day Cyclery back in 2011.


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Good Sunday vibes at Hometown

Hometown BBQ has been serving up live music on Fri-day and Saturday evenings.

Music was presented on Sunday for the fi rst time the last week in April as local band Union took the stage for three sets beginning at 4 pm.

Union is composed of two Port Au-thority retirees, Stan Kosakowski and Tom Ramirez. Th ey worked in Red Hook since the 1980’s, repairing PA facilities and the piers. In the 1980’s the Port Authority still owned a large amount of property in Red Hook, in-cluding the Grain Terminal and the Beard Street warehouses.

Union performs mostly original mate-rial written by Kosakowski who sings and plays guitar. His songs range from country rock to pop, with an occasion-al bluegress tune thrown in. Ramirez

is the lead guitarist.

Th e band is rounded out by John Ba-diali on bass and George Fiala play-ing drums. Badiali has lived in the Monarch Luggage building, and his previous bands have played locally at Bait and Tackle and Lillie’s, a club that is now closed but was at Beard and Dwight Streets.

Th e band was formed in 2010 when the various players met at a weekly jam that was held at Fiala’s former of-fi ces at 101 Union Street - the original home of the Star-Revue. Th ey have played at various outdoor events sponsored by the newspaper, and are regulars at Rocky Sullivan’s of Red Hook.

Th eir next local performance will be at Rocky Sullivan’s, 34 Van Dyke Street, on Friday, May 8th at 9 pm.

Tom Ramirez, George Fiala, Stan Kosakowski and John Badiali rock Hometown BBQ for three sets of afternoon music on a recent Sunday. (photo by Kimberly G. Price)


Library Fun Facts

The Red Hook branch was built in 1915 on the corner of Richards Street and Visitation Place.

Richard A. Walker, architect of the library, also designed Grand Central Terminal.

The original building was the only “Mediterranean Revival Style” branch. This style was much more common for buildings in Los Angeles and Miami.

After a fire in 1946, the building was demolished. The library used rented quarters until it was rebuilt at 6 Wol-cott Street.

More than 60 branches make up BPL.

The Red Hook Library offers dozens of programs monthly, including resume building, Read and Play, and Legos in the Library.

BPL has a “floating collection.” Requested books will be sent to any branch.

Red Hook is among 21 branches in need of a roof re-placement.

In 1992, Jay and Andrea McKnight founded the first Friends of the Red Hook Library group.

In 1901, Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million to estab-lish neighborhood library locations. He believed every New Yorker should live within walking distance of a li-brary.

Free wireless internet is available at every branch via 1,100 public computers.

BPL is the 5th largest library system in the country.

I learned to read when I was 4 years old. My older sister was al-ready in school, and she would come home and teach me all of

the things she had learned at school. Thus, one of my greatest life’s passions came to life.

I was an insatiable reader. I read any-thing that had words. I read every road sign at the top of my lungs. I poured over our family phone book for hours. I perused the dictionary as if it had its own story to tell me.

When I was 8 years old, my father sat me down to explain all of the wonders of the library. My 9th birthday was just around the corner, and I was going to get a library card. I still have that li-brary card with my nine-year-old sig-nature scrawled on the back.

My first trip to the library was magical. Thousands of books piled into rooms and rooms of shelving. A never-ending world of science, fantasy, art. I checked out more than a dozen books that day. They were so tall in my little arms that I couldn’t see where I was going.

The library is not just a building of books. It’s an enormous research cen-ter. An early literacy advocate. A place of discovery. The Red Hook Library should be all of these things. With enough support, it can be.

With the support of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), I am beginning a Friends of the Red Hook Library group. There are 16 similar Friends groups throughout the borough, each dedicated to a specific library.

Friends groups help with four main functions: advocate on behalf of their local branch; community outreach and publicity; raise donations and supplies; and creating special proj-ects.

Over the past 8 years, BPL’s funding has been cut by 20%. A Friends group will help not only advocate for more public funding, but will also allow the community to decide what the library becomes.

At the April 18 charrette, members of the community sat down with rep-resentatives from BPL to discuss the possibilities of our local branch. The Friends group will help carry that con-versation forward from stakeholders directly to BPL.

In 1992, Andrea and Jay McKnight founded the original Friends of the Red Hook Library group. For more than a decade, their group lobbied for more hours, librarians, programs and books for the branch. They had not only an executive board, but also an executive youth board.

An invitation to join the Friends of the Red Hook Libraryby Kimberly Gail Price

An organizational meeting of the new Friends of the Red Hook Library

Saturday, May 2, 2015 @ 3 pm

Sandra Sutton Red Hook Library 718.935.0203 7 Wolcott Street [email protected] Brooklyn, NY 11231

Join an advocacy group as we embark on a mission to ensure the Red Hook Library remains a resource to our community.

Be a part of building a brighter future for the Red Hook Library.

Friends of Red Hook Library is supported by Brooklyn Public Library

Red Hook Star-Revue, May 2015

Documents

Transcript of Red Hook Star-Revue, May 2015