Summer 2006 - Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz

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MESSAGE
from
MARTY
There are a million reasons to summer
in Brooklyn, like I do. Now, in Coney Island after Cyclones
games the fireworks that light up the sky every Friday at 9:30
p.m. will be joined by the Parachute Jump! Don’t miss favorites
like the 105th annual Festa del Giglio in Williamsburg (July 16)
and the Atlantic Antic (Sept.17).Outdoor films are everywhere,
from Brooklyn Bridge Park Thursday nights to Rooftop Films
Fridays in Williamsburg and Saturdays in Park Slope to
Thursdays at Celebrate Brooklyn! in Prospect Park.Free summer
concerts are music to Brooklynites’ ears: Celebrate Brooklyn! is
underway, the New York Philharmonic plays Prospect Park (July
11), the Metropolitan Opera performs La Traviata at Marine
Park (Aug. 25), BAM’s lunchtime Metrotech concerts
Thursdays at noon, free theater, dance, and music in our parks
(www.cityparksfoundation.org), and McCarren Park Pool concerts
begin July 29 with me introducing Bloc Party! As always,
please send any correspondence, including suggestions for
future Brooklyn!! articles, to askmarty@brooklynbp.nyc.gov or
call 718-802-3700.
BROOKLYN U.S.A.
CONCERT CAPITAL!
(FULL SCHEDULE ON PAGE 16)
LIZA MINNELLI
LL COOL J JULIO IGLESIAS
BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL
209 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
BROOKLYN, N.Y.
Permit No. 2350
BROOKLYN’S EIFFEL TOWER
THE PARACHUTE JUMP IS DE-LIGHT-FUL!
photo by ArchPhoto, lighting by Leni Schwendinger Light Projects LTD
We call it the Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn—the Parachute Jump, that
iconic, parasol-shaped landmark reaching toward the sky from
Steeplechase Park. It may have stopped spinning in 1968, but it
hasn’t lost its luster. On the contrary, it’s only beginning to shine. On
Friday, July 7, at 9 p.m., the Parachute Jump will twinkle back to life, surrounded
by hundreds of lights that will be visible from miles around.
A Courier-Life Publication
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 2

photo by K. Kirk
BROOKLYN’S EIFFEL TOWER
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)
It will be the beacon of the boardwalk, a sight to behold for residents of Brooklyn and
beyond as it shimmers and glimmers, signaling the return of Coney Island as a destination
365 days a year.
Coney Island is the classic symbol of summer: the Mermaid Parade, the beach, the
Cyclone and Cyclones, the Wonder Wheel, the hot dogs, the character and characters.
But Marty conceived of the lighting of the Parachute Jump because it heralds the
Ever since
Walt Whitman
self-published
Leaves of Grass
in 1855,
Brooklyn has
been adding
stars to the literary
universe.
“It’s pretty
obvious that
Brooklyn is the
literary epicenter
of New York
City now,” said
B r o o k l y n i t e
author Rick
Moody (Garden
State, The Ice
Storm). To celebrate yet another #1 ranking, Marty
and the Brooklyn Literary Council have organized
the first-ever Brooklyn Book Festival, which will
take place Saturday, September 16, from 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. at Borough Hall.
Brooklyn’s cutting-edge literary output takes as
many forms and styles as language itself, which is
why the festival’s motto is “smart, hip, and
diverse.” Major authors taking part include
Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress
4 Book Festival author Rick Moody
of Solitude), Colson Whitehead (Apex Hides the
Hurt, The Colossus of New York), and Philip Lopate
(Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan);
Caribbean-American authors Elizabeth Nunez
and Nelly Rosario; and Brooklyn poets Stacyann
Chin and Sekou Sundiata. “The range of programming
reflects the borough’s tremendous diversity
of ages and ethnicities,” said Literary Council
Chair Johnny Temple, editor-in-chief of
Brooklyn-based Akashic Books. Many of the writers
who help make Brooklyn the children’s literature
capital of America will also take part.
Attractions will include three outdoor stages in
Borough Hall Plaza featuring readings by top
Brooklyn authors, innovative panels covering
everything from children’s books to poetry to cookbooks
to the local literary scene, and workshops for
aspiring writers. The event will also help promote
literacy in Brooklyn, including the “Secrets of the
Street” contest for young Brooklyn authors ages
14-19. “The festival will highlight the fact,” said
Temple, “that we don’t need to cross the bridge to
experience the very best writers of our day.”
Borough Hall is located on Joralemon St. btw. Court
and Adams St. in Downtown Brooklyn. For more
information about the Brooklyn Book Festival, visit
www.visitbrooklyn.org. To enter the “Secrets of the
Street” contest, email entries to briggshatton@
brooklynbp.nyc.gov.
return of Coney Island as America’s Favorite Playground, a 24/7 year-round destination
for families from all over the world to return to or enjoy for the first time. “Rather
than leave it barren,” said Marty, “I thought, Let’s flip the switch and make the
Parachute Jump a landmark again for the City of Brooklyn.”
Marty, with support from Mayor Bloomberg, Council Member Domenic
Recchia, the Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Parks &
Recreation, and the local community, was inspired by both the other Eiffel Tower—
the one over in Paris—and the Empire State Building, to use lighting to transform
this attraction into a beacon signaling the pathway to the legendary Coney Island.
The Parachute Jump was designed for the 1939 World’s Fair, and it was moved from
Flushing Meadows Park to Coney Island in 1940. It was declared a landmark in 1977,
long after the chutes stopped falling, but repair costs were too steep to make it operational
again, in the traditional sense—until now.
Beginning July 7, every night of the year the 250-foot tower will glow brilliantly in
one of six lighting scenarios that represent the seasons of Coney Island, holidays, and
even lunar cycles. (A whitish light will shine the day before, of, and after each full
moon.) The lighting system was designed by Leni Schwendinger, of Light Projects
Ltd., who selected colors and movement to evoke the rise and fall of the parachutes.
In season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the tower will be awash in vibrant reds
and hot pinks; “off-season,” cooler colors will take over. “Even though the Parachute
Jump won’t be an amusement ride, it can continue to be a source of delight,” said
Schwendinger, who recognizes both the jump’s nostalgic value and its contemporary
importance. She picked up a little Brooklyn attitude working on the project, too: “The
colors,” she said, “are as diverse and animated as the people of Brooklyn.” Brilliant!
Marty will flip the switch on the Parachute Jump for the first time Friday, July 7, at 9 p.m.
The event will also be broadcast live on BCAT (Time Warner Cable Channel 34 and
Cablevision Channel 67.) May-October, the lights will be on dusk-midnight; off-season, they
WRITE ON, BROOKLYN! JEWISH COMICS
Comic book franchises like
Superman, Spider-Man, and
The X-Men have scads of
devotees, including some of
Brooklyn’s hottest authors, like
Jonathan Lethem. But not all
fans are aware of the links
between their favorite superheroes
and Jewish myth.
Luckily, Brooklyn’s Simcha
Weinstein, staff rabbi at the
Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, has penned a primer on
the subject, brilliantly titled Up, Up and Oy Vey: How
Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book
Superhero. At the Brooklyn Book Festival (see story at left),
Weinstein will discuss how traditional Jewish stories from
Samson to Golem worked their way into the pages of
iconic comics’ storylines.
Weinstein, a native of England, teaches many Jewish
artists at Pratt who started out drawing cartoons with no
idea how influential an earlier generation of Jews, many
from Brooklyn, was on their own work. Like Jack Kirby,
legendary illustrator of Captain America and The Avengers,
who lived in Brighton Beach and attended Pratt, and
comic guru Will Eisner, whose influential career lasted
nearly 60 years, who was born and raised in Bensonhurst.
By highlighting all these mensches, Rabbi Weinstein has
truly done a mitzvah for Brooklyn! For more information,
visit www.rabbisimcha.com.
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KINGS COUNTY PRINCESS
Following the April opening of the
state-of-the-art Brooklyn Cruise
Terminal in Red Hook and the arrival
of the Queen Mary 2, the equally
stunning new Crown Princess proved
that Brooklyn’s ship truly has come
in. The Princess was champagnechristened
on June 14 by none other
than Martha Stewart, who was
joined by ship captain Andy Proctor
and Marty. Like the Princess, the
Brooklyn renaissance cruises on, full
steam ahead!
SET, SPIKE, BROOKLYN!
Who says volleyball is a West Coast sport? For 10 years, volleyball beginners as
well as old hands have streamed onto the beach at Coney Island for the annual
NYC Beach Volleyball Tournament—the largest free tournament on the East
Coast, with as many as half a million spectators. But two days of volleyball are no
longer enough, so this year Brooklyn will welcome Volleyball Week, with bumping,
setting, and spiking Brooklyn-style from August 12 to 20.
Along with the pro-amateur and novice events, Coney Island will host the firstever
Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Brooklyn Open, a pro tournament
which will also be broadcast on NBC. Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment
will build a 4,000-seat temporary stadium and 12 courts on the beach at Coney Island
specifically for the event, which will feature both free and ticketed matches
and could become a permanent stop on the AVP tour.
The amateur tournament, sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation
and set for August 12 and 13, begins with more than 150 teams with players ages 18
to 35, as well as some junior competitors. Winners get bragging rights and, yes, a little
cash. For the pro tournament, August 17 to 20, audiences from Brooklyn and beyond
will have a chance to watch AVP stars like Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh or
Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers in action—and take a ride on the Cyclone—on
America’s most famous beach. In the old days, getting sand kicked in your face was an
insult. Today, with beach volleyball at Coney Island, it’s cause for celebration.
For information, visit www.brooklynavp.com or call 201-635-3304. Tickets can be purchased
at www.ticketmaster.com. For the amateur tournament, visit www.nycgovparks.org.
GENTLEMAN GEORGE
Seven nights a week, you can find George Sarantakos
singing “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”—not
the most common of songs for a Park Slope native—
while he serves up burgers or broiled fish. For 10 years,
he’s been the favored waiter at the Kings Plaza Diner
in Marine Park, one of the city’s finest diners. Why?
“I love what I do,” said the 42-year-old, who gave up a
career on Wall Street to wait tables. “I’m always
singing. I smile all the time. And I never complain.”
Whereas the long hours and physical demands might scare off some, Sarantakos runs seven
miles every morning—no matter how busy it gets, he’s always happy to be on his feet. Three
times, he’s rescued choking customers with the Heimlich maneuver, but he also saves them in
smaller ways on a daily basis. “They come in when they have a bad day and say, ‘I didn’t even
come here to eat—I just want you to cheer me up.’”
Kings Plaza Diner, 4124 Avenue U (btw. Hendrickson and Coleman St.), 718-951-6700.
WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE WAITPERSON?
Brooklyn has its fair share of legendary eateries and trademark dishes, from the
fabled cheesecake at Junior’s in Downtown Brooklyn to the cherry lime rickeys at
Tom’s Luncheonette in Prospect Heights to the crab cakes at Lundy’s in
Sheepshead Bay to the beet and ricotta ravioli at Al Di La in Park Slope. Truthfully,
food is just one factor in distinguishing a legend from a restaurant or diner.
You know, the waiter who remembers your name or your preferred table, the waitress
who remembers just how you like your eggs or that you prefer decaf to regular.
If you have a favorite waitperson at any restaurant or diner or cafe, we want to
know about it. Send his or her name, where he or she works, and what makes this
waitperson special to askmarty@brooklynbp.nyc.gov. Results will be published in
the Fall/Winter edition of Brooklyn!! Stay tuned!
SWEET T&T SOCA WARRIORS!
Trinidad & Tobago, the smallest country ever to play in the World Cup (pop. 1.3 million)
gets plenty of support from Brooklyn, the Caribbean-American capital of the
nation. Marty calls himself an “adopted Trini from Tunapuna,” and he joined cheering
Soca Warriors fans at Reign in Clinton Hill and Tropical Paradise on Utica Avenue
in East Flatbush for the team’s first match, which ended in a hard-fought
0-0 draw against Sweden. Go sweet T&T!
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WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS

It ain’t the swamp it used to be. Long the butt of many a Brooklyn joke (and the
source of many a malodorous moment), the neighborhoods around the Gowanus
Canal are now fertile ground for both natural and creative life, including a number of
new venues for innovative performances and art.
One is Issue Project Room (400 Carroll St. btw. Bond and Nevins St., 718-330-
0313), which set up shop in an old storage silo right along the canal in June 2005, and
has since established itself as a premiere venue for cutting-edge electronic music and
jazz. In one week, you might catch a chamber music concert, an opera based on Virginia
Woolf, or a collaboration between poets and DJs, all in the venue’s dramatic
round room. Issue Project Room co-founder Suzanne Fiol, talking about both the
space and the neighborhood, said, “Acoustically, and from a creative point of view,
there’s a lot of inspiration here for the artists we work with.”
Nestled nearby in a former box factory built in 1900 that is now home to artist studios
and other creative endeavors, Proteus Gowanus (543 Union St. at Nevins St.,
718-243-1572) is an interdisciplinary gallery space and reading room that curates exhibits
around a yearly theme: this year, it’s travel. Named after the Greek sea god who
could change form, Proteus’ intriguing exhibits include a Cornell University mathematician’s
crocheted models of hyperbolic space, and America’s only Museum of Matches.
Perhaps the most surprising (although also logical in a sense) new Gowanus space
is the Empty Vessel Project, a salvaged World War II rescue boat anchored in the
Canal near Carroll Street that hosts parties, movie nights, and barbeques literally on
the water. In addition to a recent rock show, poetry readings, and foreign-language
classes, plans are underway to convert the EV into an educational center focused on
urban sustainable living, according to the boat’s website.
For more information, visit www.issueprojectroom.org, www.proteusgowanus.com, or
www.emptyvesselproject.org.
BELLA BORICUA!
Born in Sunset Park and raised since age nine in Puerto Rico, 21-year-old Lorraine
Lara did Brooklyn proud on June 11 when she became Miss National Puerto Rican Day
Parade Queen 2006. Lara is a pageant veteran, ever since a recruiter at her high school
graduation asked for her height—5’8”—and invited her to run for Ms. Moca Universe in
Puerto Rico (she won).
But she’s not just a pretty face. Lara is also a broadcasting major at Brooklyn College
with big dreams, and plans to
use her platform to encourage
young Puerto Ricans to vote.
Anyone from the 50 states
and Puerto Rico can become
Parade Queen, as long as you’re
18 to 25, of Puerto Rican descent,
and never married—
though it doesn’t hurt to be a
bella chica. Unlike most beauty
pageants, said Lara, “It’s not so
much about your physical appearance.
It’s about being
proud to be Puerto Rican.”
Sure, you have to pass the
swimsuit, eveningwear and
talent competition to become
Queen. But 40% of your score
comes from private interviews
with seven judges who quiz contestants on all things Puerto Rican: How does it feel to
be a Puerto Rican woman? What do you think of the state of education, or what’s going
on in Vieques?
At this year’s parade, Ms. Lara was leading the way. “There were so many people there
shouting out for Puerto Rico—I think people all the way on the island could hear us.” For
more information and more photos of the Parade Queen, visit
www.nationalpuertoricandayparade.org/queen06.html.
THE CULTURAL CANAL
4 Music in the round at Issue Project Room
(above); the Empty Vessel houseboat (right)
photo by Todd Nau
FORT GREENE’S NEW SOX
After years of housing
the South Oxford Tennis
Club, the lot between the
Atlantic Commons and
Cumberland and South
Oxford Streets in Fort
Greene had deteriorated
into weeds and garbage.
“Everybody in Brooklyn
came here to dump on us,”
said local resident Todd
Nau.
Now it’s been reborn as
South Oxford Park
4 South Oxford Park’s green acre (and a half)
(known as Sox Park to
some), a plot of an acre and a half that includes tennis courts, playgrounds, fields, flowers,
and even a stage area for arts and entertainment, which is certainly good news for
Brooklyn, which has less open space per capita than any county in the state. (There are
also plans for youth tennis and theater programs at Sox Park.)
Truly a community effort, the reconstruction effort was led by neighborhood residents
Nau and Andrew Marshall, co-chairs of Friends of South Oxford Park. Along
with neighbors and the Fort Greene Association—and of course some Brooklyn chutzpah—the
group secured funding from the Borough President’s office, the City Council
and Council Member Letitia James, and the Parks Department, and also gathered
grants and donations. The Pratt School of Architecture helped design the layout, based
on a questionnaire distributed to neighbors. The most consistent request? “Everybody
wanted green space,” said Nau. “They didn’t want an asphalt jungle.”
Some dedicated community leadership, some grit, and, of course, a vision, and voila!
Now more than 3,000 bulbs, cherry trees, rhododendrons, burning bushes, and butterfly
bushes grace the lot. While Friends of South Oxford Park has realized most of its
vision, two elements remain unbuilt, the community center and the comfort station.
(Said Nau, “We’ll have to do a little more fundraising to get a bathroom.”) Either way,
Fort Greene just got a little greener. For more information, visit www.nycgovparks.org.
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Tillamook Cheddar is a true
Brooklyn artist. She cut her teeth in the
Williamsburg arts community, shows
her work at galleries around the world,
hangs with hip artsy types, and lives in
a crowded two-room Prospect Heights
flat. The thing is—she’s a dog.
Tillamook (Tillie for short), a sevenyear-old
Jack Russell terrier and mother
of six healthy puppies, had her first
exhibition when she was just 9 months
old. She’s since had 14 solo exhibitions,
shown alongside work by reputable
human artists, and sold paintings for
more than $2000. (Her biography,
Portrait of the Dog as a Young Artist,
4 Tillie makes art from scratch comes out in October.)
Tillie’s creative process is unique.
First, her self-professed “owner-assistant,” Bowman Hastie, prepares a canvas—a contraption
involving watercolor paper and vellum coated with a non-toxic oil stick; it
works like carbon paper. The instant Hastie gives the signal, Tillie goes at it. She claws
and scratches, bites and licks, making her way around the work’s four corners.
Whatever she’s doing—whether you think it’s art or a Brooklyn dog’s alternative to
digging up lawns—there’s no interfering. Not even the sound of kibble in a dog bowl
can tear her away. When she’s done, Hastie removes the vellum to unveil her latest
work: an intriguing, colorful grid of intersecting lines and empty space. It’s certainly
abstract, questionably conceptual, and surprisingly pretty.
Then, Tillie celebrates the completion of her latest work like any hard-working
Brooklyn artist: with a head-clearing, invigorating walk in Prospect Park—a little furry,
leashed Picasso pup, taking it all in.
For more information, visit www.tillamookcheddar.com.
PUP ART
YELLOW (CAB) JOURNALISM
Melissa Plaut started her blog,
or online journal, about life as a
New York City taxi driver just for
her friends. “I didn’t want to tell
the same stories over and over
again,” said the 30-year-old
Bushwick resident. On the blog,
titled “New York Hack,” she
recounts with typically Brooklyn
attitude her misadventures, gripes,
grievances, and, occasionally,
heartwarming incidents as a
woman in the driver’s seat of the
most famous New York vehicle.
4 No hack: cabbie blogger Melissa Plaut
Traffic, dangerous drivers, the
need for bathroom breaks, mean customers who don’t want to pay-even tales of kind
customers (including Jon Stewart from The Daily Show) pepper Plaut’s journal. “It was
late and we had been stuck in Brooklyn Bridge traffic and I guess I had been yawning,”
she wrote of one passenger, “so he bought me a cup of tea as a nice little pick-me-up.”
The word “hack” has many meanings: taxi cab, government official, horse, hireling,
and, well, bad writer. “Here I was hack writing about hack driving,” Plaut explained.
But not everybody thinks she’s a hack. After the online magazine Gothamist linked to
her blog one day, “New York Hack” received 1,200 hits. “I was a little freaked out,” she
said. “I don’t have 1,200 friends!”
Now that number is more like 4,000 per day, and next year a memoir of Plaut’s hack
adventures will appear in print, published by Villard Press. “It’s so strange,” she said. “I
went from starting a blog so that I didn’t have to talk about work all the time, to having
it take over my life. But I’m trying to enjoy the attention while it lasts.”
To read Melissa’s blog, visit www.newyorkhack.blogspot.com.
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WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
Under the leadership of Council Member
Vincent Gentile, State Senator Marty
Golden, and community leader Basil
Capetanakis, Marty supported their efforts
to extend the life of Bay Ridge’s Alpine
Cinema, a longtime movie house that
serves the unique needs and tastes of
Ridge residents. The Alpine, which first
opened on June 6, 1921, will get some
snazzy renovations as new owner Nicolas
Nicolaou transforms its faded glory into a
remarkable independent cinema and small
theater worthy of its classy neighborhood.
CHICKEN RUN
Vinnie Mazzone grew up on Duffield Street, jogging by the Brooklyn Bridge as
a kid—although he never imagined he’d be running in the very same spot as an
Olympic torchbearer some day. But in 2004, at the tender age of 53, Mazzone, who
owns Sheepshead Bay’s Chicken Masters restaurant, was chosen to usher the
Olympic torch out of Brooklyn.
“My sister nominated me without even telling me,” Mazzone said. “I sent in all
those forms and then I forgot about it.” Weeks later, a letter arrived saying he’d
been chosen to run: a quarter of a mile to the center of the Brooklyn Bridge. “Anything
more than that and I would have needed an oxygen tank,” he said.
Bearing the torch was the crowning achievement on Mazzone’s decade-plus personal
journey back from alcoholism and drug addiction, which began with a selfdescribed
“moment of clarity” on, fittingly, Easter Sunday 1988. “I knew I was
blowing my life,” Mazzone recalled, “and I realized that within myself I had a wellspring
of goodness.” He’s been sober ever since, 18 years and counting.
Mazzone’s experience is a quintessential Brooklyn tale of resilience and the power
of the human spirit. Now he focuses his positive energy on making Chicken
Masters’ “Brooklyn Fried Chicken” the best in the borough. (He also serves
scrumptious baby-back ribs, corn and apple nuggets, and sweet potato fries.)
Mazzone runs the restaurant “the way business was in Brooklyn 40 years ago.”
Doo-wop music lilts from the radio; Mazzone knows his customers’ names; and the
place sparkles like a cathedral. “It’s run like a spiritual entity.” And the Olympic
Committee couldn’t have found a more enthusiastic cheerleader. “Brooklyn,” he
said, “is the capital of the world.”
Chicken Masters, 1204 Ave. Z (btw. E. 12th St. and Homecrest Ave.), 718-648-3966.
For more information, visit www.chickenmasters.com.

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WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
AUTO INSURANCE FRAUD BILL SIGNED!
On May 11, Marty joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg for
the bill-signing ceremony of the Motor Vehicle Insurance
Fraud Reduction Act, which will help identify and shut down
fraudulent “medical mills” that have driven up auto-insurance
rates for Brooklyn and New York City drivers to be among the
highest in the nation. Council Member David Yassky introduced
the bill at Marty’s request, and it passed the council
unanimously on April 26.
Brooklyn Assembly Member Jim Brennan provided the
leadership, co-authoring with Marty’s office the 2004 report
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
“Putting the Breaks on Out of Control Auto Insurance Rates”
that was the original inspiration for the law. It requires “medical
mills”—clinics that process high volumes of no-fault
insurance claims that are primarily responsible for the fraud
that increases auto-insurance rates for law-abiding New
Yorkers—that bill 50% or more in no-fault claims to report to
the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs.
The cost of fraudulent no-fault personal injury claims in
Brooklyn alone is estimated at nearly $500 million annually.
But now that the city will be able to better identify these medical
mills, we can start to build on the positive results of investigations
and successful prosecutions we’ve already seen. The
law also encourages insurance companies to partner in this
effort, because when fraud is wiped out, consumers get lower
premiums, and insurers have fewer claims.
“This law represents a crucial first step toward ending the
scams that have been car-jacking insurance rates for safe, lawabiding
drivers for too long,” said Marty. “I’m confident that
by continuing to work together to defend our drivers, we will
put the days of Brooklyn and New York City’s sky high car
insurance rates where they belong: in the rearview mirror!”
WHEN WOMEN LEAD,
COMMUNITIES GROW
4 Valerie Oliver-Durrah and Deputy BP Yvonne Graham
This spring, Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham
launched the Brooklyn Women’s Leadership Initiative to promote
and sustain women’s activism, leadership, and civic service
in Brooklyn. The Initiative will enlist the help of accomplished
Brooklyn women to create the next generation of women leaders.
Its goal is to advance women’s leadership in all sectors—
public policy, education, advocacy, citizen participation—and to
channel a diverse group of women into the leadership pipeline.
“The Initiative will enhance the perception of women as
leaders, and honor those who have worked so hard to advance
the way women are perceived,” said Yvonne. “Through the
lenses of perception and platform, the Initiative will create a culture
where even more Brooklyn women will have the chance to
be active and lead.”
At the Initiative’s May launch, Marty announced, “There is
only one majority in Brooklyn, and that’s women. And the fact
is, many of the civic organizations that Brooklynites hold most
dear—from schools and business groups to churches, medical
and legal organizations and arts advocacy groups—are run by
women.”
Yvonne also announced plans to partner with Brooklyn’s colleges
and universities, women’s studies departments, and campusbased
women’s groups, as well as community-based women’s networks,
to host networking receptions and lectures.
For more information, visit www.brooklyn-usa.org.

DRUMMERS GROVE GROOVES
On Sundays in Prospect Park, you can hear a rumble coming from the Parkside and
Ocean Avenue entrance in Flatbush. No, it’s not traffic, or a church revival, or a wheezing
B train—it’s percussionists, dancers, and rhythm-lovers of all ages and ethnicities who have
been gathering in this park glade—now officially named “Drummers Grove”—since 1968.
Back then, a group called the Congo Square Drummers began to gather informally beneath
a maple tree in the southeast corner of Prospect Park. Over the years, more and more
Brooklynites attended the weekly drum circle—so many, in fact, that the Prospect Park Alliance
added 18 benches in 1998, to keep drummers and observers from spilling out onto
the road. If you’re looking for a free, only in Brooklyn experience, look no further!
The crowd at the Grove is as diverse as any in Brooklyn, with young folks and old,
Hasidic Jews, West Indians, Africans, and hipsters all dancing, singing, and drumming
together in musical and social harmony. Some 35 vendors form an international marketplace
surrounding the action: West Indian rotis, rice and peas, and coco bread, handcarved
wooden vases, handcrafted sandals,
and even personalized poetry by
Sister FreeSpirit can be purchased there.
While some professional musicians
attend—flutes and saxophones often accompany
the percussion—neophytes are
also welcome. Many drummers are willing
to teach interested folks, to ensure
that generations of drummers return.
The only requirement: you have to be
able to keep a beat, which we know isn’t
a problem for the average Brooklynite.
Drummers Grove is located just inside
the Parkside/Ocean Ave. Prospect Park
entrance, and meets every Sunday from
approximately 2 p.m. until dusk, April-
October. For more information, visit
4 Brooklyn’s beat street
www.prospectpark.org.
GOING, GOING...GREEN!
After centuries as an industrial center Brooklyn is still proud home to a thriving manufacturing
sector, and those businesses are helping usher in a new era of production that is making
21st century America green with envy. “The state of manufacturing in Brooklyn is very
healthy, but we’re carving out a niche for ourselves with environmentally-sound industry,”
said Adam Friedman, Executive Director of the New York Industrial Retention Network
(NYIRN), which works to strengthen
the city’s manufacturing sector.
The range of “green” products produced
in Brooklyn is incredibly broad.
Red Hook-based Uhuru Design (160
Van Brunt St., 718-855-6519) crafts
furniture out of discarded lumber and
metal; Scrapile (70 N. 6 St., 718-218-
6737), in Williamsburg, makes tables,
chairs, and shelves from strips of reclaimed
wood; Ice Stone (63 Flushing
Ave., 718-624-4900) makes a Formicalike
surface from recycled glass and concrete
in the Brooklyn Navy Yard; and
3R Living features products made by
sustainable manufacturing processes
(276L Fifth Avenue, 718-832-0951), in
Park Slope.
4 Uhuru Design turns old into new
Veteran Brooklyn manufacturers are
also adapting to the call for eco-conscious products, such as East Flatbush’s Mercury Paint
(4808 Farragut Rd., 718-469-8787), which now makes non-toxic paints, and Legion Lighting
(221 Glenmore Ave., 718-498-1770), in East New York, which creates energy-efficient lighting
systems and cleaner manufacturing technologies. Whether it’s old or new, recycled or refurbished,
Brooklyn knows where to invest its energy: in a brighter future!
For more information visit www.nyirn.org or www.madeinnyc.org/buildinggreenpage.cfm.
MR. TELEPHONE MAN EXPORTING BROOKLYN—TO MANHAT-
“I’m surrounded by history you couldn’t even
guess at,” said Chris Murray, sitting in his Fort
Greene apartment, though he didn’t mean the
kind in an encyclopedia. “I wonder how many
people got great news over this phone, that’s the
history.” The phone he referred to is a “tricked
out” Western Electric 500-modified with a
black base, red receiver, mute button, and flashing
ring indicator, it is one of the more than 150
antique and retro phones in his collection.
“At this point my apartment looks like a
phone museum, they’re all over the shelves and
under the bed,” said Murray, who’s 37. Truthfully,
he’s less curator and more handyman—a
man with a passion for restoring antique phones. In his spare time, Murray scours flea
markets and thrift stores in search of the antique phones he repairs, refurbishes, and on
sunny Saturday afternoons sells on the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in
Fort Greene, “for one-third of the price you’d pay in Manhattan.”
The call to restore the relics of the pre-digital age came when Mr. Murray found a
rotary phone identical to one that hung in the kitchen of his parents’ home. “I just
started tinkering with it,” he said. A year and a half later the self-taught telephone man
is still tinkering and doing his part to preserve pieces of communication history.
“Blackberrys aren’t the only way to communicate,” he said. “Don’t be so quick to disregard
these phones for something new and flashy, because a lot of beauty and ingenuity
went into putting them together.”
For more information, call Chris on one of his five restored phones at 718-522-0898.
In recent years, the first place Manhattanbased
companies look to expand or move is, of
course, Brooklyn, from Blue Ribbon, Miracle
Grill, and Mary’s Fish Camp restaurants in Park
Slope to technology firm Wireless Generation
in DUMBO to Fairway in Red Hook.
But now, local businesses are swimming
against the tide by exporting the Brooklyn attitude
across the East River. The gift and apparel
shop The Yellow Door, a fixture on Avenue
M at E. 13th Street in Midwood for more than
40 years, recently opened a satellite store on
4 Inside the Yellow Door
Prince Street in Soho. They’re not alone. After
56 years in Downtown Brooklyn, the legendary
Junior’s just opened an enormous outpost in Times Square. And in 2003, the
Brooklyn Industries clothing store added a Soho shop to its five Brooklyn locations.
Yellow Door owner Jonathan Zemmol said he finds doing business in Manhattan
a little different—for one, they only have 1,000 square feet on Prince Street compared
with 6,000 in Brooklyn. “We’ve had to think very hard about what to include,”
said Zemmol. Their Midwood clientele consists of roughly 70% neighborhood folks,
whose families have shopped there for generations. “The other 30% are people
who’ve left Midwood and come back to the shop because it’s a destination,” he said.
At their Prince Street store, patrons are largely tourists and what Zemmol called
“self-shoppers.” While business is grand, Zemmol admitted, “No one shops like people
in Brooklyn.” Every business wants to expand, but Zemmol—like Kleinfeld’s,
which is probably already homesick—knows where his roots are: “Brooklyn will
always be our flagship store.” For more information, visit www.theyellowdoor.com,
www.juniorscheesecake.com, or www.brooklynindustries.com.
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG

RESPECT ON THE ROAD
Everybody aims to be a good Brooklynite, but sometimes we get a little sidetracked,
especially when driving. As summer heats up, so do tempers, which
makes it doubly important to make respect your driving attitude. We can get
cranky in traffic, or carried away when the roads are clear, so please remember
these Brooklyn rules of the road, and especially at traffic spots like bridge entrances
or Grand Army Plaza—when in doubt drive defensively not aggressively.
1. Rock out…quietly. Brooklynites are fed up, and we’re not gonna take it anymore!
As cool as it sounds, we don’t want to share your music, and we’re not
impressed by your booming sound system. It’s simple: turn down the music
in your car so only you can hear it, and if you want to blast your brains out,
roll up those windows.
2. Slow down. A recent study found that 92% of Brooklyn motorists speed-and
that’s just in Prospect Park! Respect the speed limit, and don’t forget: the
yellow light means slow down, not speed up!
3. In Emergencies, Do the Right Thing. When the sirens of ambulances or police
cars blare behind you, pull over to the right side of the road and let them
pass. It’s not only the right thing to do—it’s the law.
4. Share the road. Brooklyn has 40,000 bicyclists on the streets every day—
keep your eyes open for them. The most dangerous intersection for bikes in
Brooklyn is the corner of Tillary and Adams Streets, at the entrance to the
Brooklyn Bridge and its popular bike path.
5. Honk if you love…silence. Use your horn only in the face of danger, and try
to avoid honking late at night. Imagine the block you’re driving on is your
own, and remember that every Brooklyn resident is your neighbor. In general,
lean toward silence, not on your horn.
BROOKLYN LOVEBIRDS: BUONA FORTUNA!
Bensonhurst resident and Brooklyn Federation of Italian-American Organizations
member Filippo Suffia and his new wife, Edyta, proved that springtime is
for lovers, whether you’re young or younger, when they got married in April at
the Brooklyn Municipal Building, across the street from Borough Hall. They
stopped by to share the good news with Marty, and he recognized how their
youthful adventurism demonstrates that love is ageless.
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
PAINTING THE TOWN CLEAN
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
In 2004, when President George Frenzel told the members of the West 11th
Street Block Association they were going to eradicate graffiti in their neighborhood,
nobody believed him. But with
the help of Marty’s Graffiti-Free
Brooklyn program and the 62nd
Precinct, this Gravesend community
has literally cleaned up its act.
All it takes is permission from the
building owner or manager and a
phone call to the Graffiti-Free hotline,
718-802-3875, and a team will powerwash
graffiti from pull-down gates or
paint over defaced walls—absolutely
free of charge. Trucks are equipped to
match the original color on the spot.
4 Before and after Graffiti-Free Brooklyn
Armed with this knowledge, George Frenzel and his wife Dolores spearheaded
a door-to-door effort to collect signatures from building owners and
managers to wipe out local graffiti. (Once information is entered into the program’s
system, Graffiti-Free can clean off all future vandalism as well, foiling
repeat offenders.)
A key factor in the program’s success is discouraging vandals from re-tagging
hotspots. When the Frenzels began their anti-graffiti effort, some merchants
said, “They’ll only come back again—what’s the use?” But the West 11th Street
Block Association’s coordinated operation, including sting operations with the
62nd Precinct to catch vandals in the act, proved the skeptics wrong. “Once it’s
cleaned up,” Dolores said, “you see how much pride everyone takes in the neighborhood.”
In Brooklyn, that’s the best kind of deterrent! To report graffiti in your
neighborhood, call 718-802-3875.
KIDNEY MITZVAH
Chaya Lipschutz was leafing
through the Jewish Press last year
when she saw a series of similar ads
from people pleading for kidney
transplants. “I felt like I had to do
something to help these people,”
she said.
So Lipschutz, a Borough Park
resident, donated a kidney to a
complete stranger from Ocean,
New Jersey, and since then she’s
been on a mission to recruit other
donors. “One of the reasons I’m so
passionate about this is because I
know that a lot of people can do
it,” she explained. “When I came
home after donating a kidney, it
4 Chaya Lipschutz’s good deed
was business as usual. I took out
the garbage, I went shopping, I took a long walk.” She added, “If people only knew
how easy it was to donate a kidney, and how it would change their lives and the recipient’s
life, more people would do it.”
Lipschutz was so moved by her donation experience that she laid out $2000 of
her own money to rent a booth to raise awareness at the Javits Center’s Jewish Marketplace.
She made flyers and kits, contacted donation centers and found other
donors to testify. In fact, Lipschutz said, “Every kidney donor I talked to would do it
again.” Unfortunately, you can only donate once, and that’s why Lipschutz tries so
hard to enlist others. “My goal is to try to find kidney donors—whatever it takes.”
For more information, call Chaya Lipschutz at 917.627.8336 or email to
kidneymitzvah@aol.com.

ASSER LEVY PARK, EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT @ WHERE 7:30 NEW P.M. YORK ALL CITY SHOWS BEGINS FREE!
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
28TH ANNUAL SEASIDE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
WEST 5TH STREET & SURF AVENUE – OPPOSITE THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM
SWEET SOUNDS OF SOUL
AL GREEN
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
FUNK BROTHER JACK ASHFORD &
THE ORIGINAL MOTOWN SOUND
THE BEST OF OLDIES BUT GOODIES
FRANKIE VALLI AND THE FOUR SEASONS
AND
STEWIE STONE
AN EVENING WITH
JULIO IGLESIAS
HIPPIEFEST
DR. HOOK
COUNTRY JOE MCDONALD
RARE EARTH
TERRY SYLVESTER
MITCH RYDER
JOEY MOLLAND
MOUNTAIN FEATURING LESLIE WEST AND CORKY LAING
THE WORLD’S GREATEST PARTY BAND
THE B-52’S
AN EVENING WITH
LIZA MINNELLI
SALSA BY THE SEA
TBA
JULY
13
JULY
20
JULY
27
AUG
3
AUG
10
AUG
17
AUG
24
The 28th Annual Seaside Summer Concerts are every Thursday Night at 7:30pm at Asser Levy Park at West 5th Street and Surf Avenue in
Brighton Beach, across the street from the New York Aquarium. The public can bring their own chairs, or they can be rented for $5 per chair
in a specially designated area ($10 on 7/13, 7/27, 8/10 & 8/17). Performers are subject to change without notice.
General Rules: NO cameras, NO alcohol, NO pets, NO bottles, NO smoking. All persons and packages are subject to search prior to entry.
Call the concert hotline for updates at 718-469-1912 or visit www.brooklynconcerts.com.

24TH ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CONCERT SERIES
WINGATE FIELD, EVERY MONDAY NIGHT @ 7:30 P.M. ALL SHOWS FREE!
WINTHROP ST. BETWEEN BROOKLYN & KINGSTON AVES. – OPPOSITE KINGS COUNTY HOSPI-
R&B CELEBRATION
ANTHONY HAMILTON
ANGIE STONE
STEPHANIE MILLS
THE WHISPERS
MELBA MOORE
ANNUAL GOSPEL NIGHT
MIGHTY CLOUDS OF JOY
TYE TRIBBETT AND GREATER ANOINTING
LEXI
CLASSIC SOUL NIGHT
ROBERTA FLACK
JAMES INGRAM
HIP HOP LEGEND
THE CARLOS LEZAMA CARIBBEAN MUSIC CARNIVAL
THE MIGHTY SPARROW - THE KING OF CALYPSO
REGGAE SUNSPLASH:
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS
MAXI PRIEST
THE TEMPTATIONS REVIEW
FEATURING DENNIS EDWARDS
FUNK BROTHER JACK ASHFORD &
THE ORIGINAL MOTOWN SOUND
THE CONTOURS
THIRD WORLD
RIK ROK
The 24th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series are every Monday at 7:30pm at Wingate Field, which is located on Winthrop
Street, between Brooklyn and Kingston Avenues, opposite Kings County Hospital. Possible rain date on Tuesday night. The public is
encouraged to bring their own chairs because seating is limited. Performers are subject to change without notice.
Call the concert hotline for updates at 718-469-1912 or visit www.brooklynconcerts.com. Also listen to WBLS-FM 107.5
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
JULY
10
JULY
17
JULY
24
JULY
31
AUG
7
AUG
14
AUG
21
General Rules: NO cameras, NO alcohol, NO pets, NO bottles, NO smoking. All persons and packages are subject to search prior to entry.

4 After a long winter of waiting, the first Cyclone ride of the
season always has special meaning. Marty joins the thrillseekers
brave enough to take the first plunge in May at
Astroland, in the heart of America’s Favorite Playground.
Marty’s
4 How’s the weather up there? Marty discusses basketball and the
Brooklyn renaissance with NBA star-turned-developer Earvin “Magic”
Johnson, a partner in One Hanson Place, the new residential identity of
the 77-year-old landmark Williamsburg Savings Bank building.
4 Marty shows solidarity with former Polish President and Nobel
Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa at the grand opening of a
Greenpoint HSBC bank branch on April 26, declaring him
“Champion of the Solidarity Era.”
4 Marty joined School District 21’s Project LEARN (Let’s End All
Racism Now) ceremony to honor the winners of the group’s oratorical contest.
Marty, Citibank Vice President Anthony Sinnona, and Project
LEARN founder Carmine Santamaria congratulate one of the contest’s
winners, Sean Patel, from Bay Academy IS 98.
ON THE BLOCK
4 Dorothy Shields, longtime Red Hook East Tenants Association president
and advocate for tenants rights, was honored May 24 as a “Local Hero” by
the Miccio Center, the Police Athletic League, and the New York City Housing
Authority. Marty was on hand to commend her commitment to the residents
of Red Hook and Brooklyn.
4In commemoration of the life of Lenny Assante, known in
his Windsor Terrace neighborhood as “Mr. Fix-It of Fuller
Place,” the Fuller Place Block Association dedicated a Parks
Department tree in his honor in front of #39 Fuller Place.
Marty joined the group in celebrating Lenny’s life on the first
anniversary of his passing, May 13th.
4 Fairway is here, long live Fairway! Marty joined Sen. Charles
Schumer, developer Greg O’Connell, Fairway co-owners David
Sneddon, Howard Glickberg, and Harold Seybert, and Mayor
Bloomberg on May 22 to officially open the new Fairway Market
in Red Hook.
4 Marty joined Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion, Manhattan BP Scott
Stringer, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Members
Robert Jackson and David Weprin, and actress-activist Cynthia
Nixon on the City Hall steps to call for funding City schools per
the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court order. “Equality deferred is
equality denied,” said Marty.
4 On June 1, Marty inducted three new legends into the
“Celebrity Path” in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Japanese
Garden: actor/director Steve Buscemi, Empire State
Development Corp. Chair Charles A. Gargano, and playwright/author
Wendy Wasserstein, of blessed memory, represented
by her niece, Pamela Wasserstein. Keyspan’s Bob Catell
and Bob Fani were also on-hand. Each honoree will have a
bronze leaf on the prestigious path—more proof that nowhere
boasts more character, or characters, than Brooklyn!
4 In celebration of “Bike Month” (in May), Marty welcomes
Transportation Alternatives Projects Manager Noah Budnick, representatives
from the city’s Departments of Transportation and Health,
and a brigade of Brooklyn bicyclists on their way over our Brooklyn
Bridge. Ride on, Brooklyn!
4 Marty joined Clinton Hill Co-op Apartments President
John Dew, Co-op tenants, and representatives from Clean Air
Communities, the NY State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA), Con Edison, and Energy Spectrum to
launch the city’s first large-scale residential clean-energy cogeneration
facility. If your building is interested in going green,
contact NYSERDA: 866-NYSERDA; www.nyserda.org.
4 After a four-decade career as a master tailor, Bensonhurst’s
Ambrogio Picone is planning to retire. At his shop, Ambrogio’s, he
served generations of Brooklynites, hemming their cuffs and taking
in their waistlines—or in Marty’s case, letting them out—and
for that we wish Ambrogio and his wife Giuseppina all the best
as they embark on their well-deserved next adventure.
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG

WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
GRAND REBBE
MOSES TEITELBAUM,
1914-2006
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
Brooklyn mourns the passing of one of the great religious leaders
that Brooklyn and the world has known: Grand Rebbe Moses
Teitelbaum. After escaping the atrocity of the Holocaust, Grand
Rebbe Teitelbaum emerged as a powerful spiritual leader who
cherished the value of unity and identity, and he and his family
transformed their Williamsburg community into the largest
Hasidic population in Brooklyn and the national and international
center of Satmar Hasidic life. After escaping Nazi oppression
in Romania during World War II, he went on to lead the
120,000 member Satmar sect founded by his uncle—who survived
imprisonment at Bergen-Belsen—for more than a quartercentury.
In spite of the atrocities they have experienced, Jews
everywhere have found the strength to continue the fight for
peace, for basic human respect, and for the universal principles of
justice. Grand Rebbe Teitelbaum embodied all those hopes and
dreams, and he will be dearly missed.
BROOKLYN MOURNS
Dolores Barbieri, Assistant Commissioner of the New York
City Department of Transportation, and former Director of
Community Boards for the Brooklyn Borough President’s
Office; Kevin Breslin, longtime Brownstone Republican and
Cobble Hill resident; Ed Cush, longtime chair of the Kings
County Veterans Memorial Day Parade; First Sgt. Bobby
Mendez, U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad; Ella Minton, longtime
president of the Ebbetts Field Residents Association;
Floyd Patterson, heavyweight boxing champion and
Brownsville native; Fred Rand, of Rand’s Liquors on Bedford
Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant; Bishop Heron Sam, founder
of the People’s Cathedral of St. Michael’s and All Angels and
the Cathedral School on Union Street; Margaret Vinson, former
president of the 77th Precinct Community Council;
William S. (Bill) Wyckoff, who dedicated his life to the landmark
Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum and Association.

THIS FINDER’S A KEEPER
Although looking for a sign, checking the Yellow Pages, or even Google won’t lead
you there, it’s a cinch to know if Eddie Hibbert’s shop is open for business. Just check
in front of 224 Greene Avenue in Clinton Hill for the rows of banged-up wooden
doors, carved banisters, the odd claw-foot tub, and throngs of locals snapping up discarded
architectural gems for their brownstones and townhouses.
A former New York City firefighter who opened for business seven years ago,
Hibbert has been busy ever since, cleaning out buildings for contractors and architects,
and salvaging 18th and 19th century mantelpieces, bathroom fixtures, and
doors—stacks and stacks of doors—for resale. “I don’t advertise because I don’t have
to,” Hibbert said. “If you treat people like you want to be treated, they’ll come back.”
And come they do,
spurred on by the fact
that Hibbert seems to
know everybody, calling
out frequent “hellos”
to neighbors and
passersby, even some
on bicycle. In front of
his ramshackle shop,
customers wait to wander,
single-file, through
his (literally) floor-toceiling
assemblage of
artifacts, some awaiting refurbishing, others just hoping to catch a wanderer’s eye.
So whether you’re looking for a pocket door, French doors, a parlor door, or
the old screen door your grandmother warned you not to slam, the door to
Eddie Hibbert’s shop is always open. Just don’t look for a sign. Eddie’s Furniture,
224 Greene Ave. (btw. Grand and Classon Ave.), 917-627-3170. Open Tues.-Sat.,
Noon-6 p.m.
FRANK CASA’S LOVIN’ SPOONFULS
Brooklyn loves being
number one. But did you
know that we are home to
the Guinness Book of
World Records holder for
owning the most spoonrests?
That’s right, spoonrests—the
household items
that keep marinara sauce
from dribbling from your
wooden spoon onto your
counter-top while cooking.
You may own one. But 89year-old
Frank Casa of Clinton Hill has more than 800!
Casa and his late wife, Catherine, who met in 1938 in Fort Greene Park, started collecting
spoon-rests on a Caribbean cruise. The two shared a lifelong love for island culture.
Catherine passed away in 1992, and Casa honors her memory by adding to their collection.
“I’ve got friends all over the world,” said the retired Acme Brush salesman. The collection,
which includes state souvenirs, wooden carvings, and ornate ceramics, is valued at $2 million.
It has grown with help from family as well as a local artist, who made Casa a marble spoonrest
mold when the collection hit 600.
As you might imagine, this Italian-American son of Brooklyn enjoys a good red sauce, but
Casa says he’s never liked pasta. As a ten-year-old, he says a local gangster once offered him
a C-note to eat macaroni. Casa’s godfather set the guy straight: “The boy says he doesn’t like
pasta, he doesn’t like pasta!” Little did that Coney Island heavy know he was hassling a future
world record-holder.
Casa may dislike pasta, but he sure loves Brooklyn. Although some of his friends have
retired to Florida, Casa says he’d never do it. His heart is with his spoon-rests, right here in
what he calls “good old Brooklyn.”
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG

IN EAST NY, A REAL STAND-UP GUY
Didn’t laugh at the last movie you went
to? Don’t blame the theater! East New York
native and stand-up comedian A.G. White is
bringing laughter back into the auditorium
with “Live Stand-Up Comedy at the
Movies,” held on the last Thursday of every
month at Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas.
“Stand-Up” has featured veteran comedians
such as Paul Mooney, David Alan Grier,
and Sommore, along with one of our
funniest locals, Brooklyn Mike, who attempt
to follow in the hilarious footsteps of Brooklyn
comedy legends such as Mel Brooks,
Woody Allen, and Chris Rock.
White started the event just nine days af-
4 Funny guy A.G. White
ter 9/11, and it met with immediate success.
“People wanted some comic relief,” he said. “Laughter is the best medicine.” He also said the
cinema is an ideal spot for stand-up, despite our preconceptions. “When people think of a
movie theater, they think of the three D’s: deep, dark, and dismal,” White explained. But folks
brighten when they realize what a bargain “Stand-Up” is: $20 and maybe a little popcorn.
The venue works well for comics, too. “It’s a captive audience, everybody’s facing forward,”
White said. The entrepreneur also recognizes that success relies on tickling the funny bones of
audiences from every corner of the globe, like a recent show with talent from Trinidad & Tobago,
Haiti, and Barbados. That way, Brooklynites always get the last laugh.
For more information or to participate in “Stand-Up,” visit www.agwhite.com or call 718-791-
2469.Linden Blvd. Multiplex Cinemas is located at 2784 Linden Blvd. (btw. Eldert Lane and
Drew St.), 718-277-0606
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
EAST NEW YORK’S ART START
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
East New York hasn’t always been famous for its art scene, but that’s about
to change. Later this year, Rush Philanthropic, an arts-education organization
for disadvantaged youth founded by Def Jam Records honcho Russell Simmons,
will open an enormous, multi-purpose arts center in the heart of the
community, at 2590 Atlantic Avenue between Georgia and Alabama Avenue.
The project will include galleries for art by students, teachers, and local residents,
plus classrooms, offices (for both Rush and local non-profits), and four
studios for teaching artists.
“Because of gentrification, a lot of artists are being moved out of their spaces
or can’t afford them,” said Danny Simmons, Rush’s vice chairman and Russell’s
brother. Fortunately for Brooklyn’s creative community, in a move that hopefully
becomes a trend, the center’s building was generously donated by Brooklyn
developer Ron Hershco, president of United Homes, who recognizes that
development doesn’t just mean adding buildings to a neighborhood, it means
building culture and life into a community. Even better, artists who teach or
work with local youth will receive free studio space at the center for one year.
“The center is vitally important to the cultural life of East New York,” said
Simmons, a Brooklyn native who is an abstract painter in his own right as well
as the owner of Corridor Gallery on Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill. Especially
as crime rates decline and housing prices increase, now is the time for East
New York to help solidify Brooklyn’s status as the creative capital of New York
City. “Art allows you to see things not as they are, but as they could be,” said
Simmons. Could be that East New York is about to get more beautiful in the
eye of any beholder! The center is scheduled to open this fall. For more information,
visit www.rushphilanthropic.org.

The most recent U.S. Census revealed that Brooklyn is
blessed with more senior citizens than any other borough. Unfortunately,
Brooklyn’s seniors are not exempt from the city’s
affordable housing crisis. That’s where the New York Foundation
for Senior Citizens comes in.
Since 1985, the foundation has provided a home-sharing
“matchmaking” service for Brooklyn residents. Home sharing
can be a wonderful alternative to living alone or in a nursing
home. The foundation helps match elder “hosts” with extra
room in their house or apartment with appropriate “guests” to
share their space. The foundation screens both parties, makes
the introductions, and helps prospective matches gauge their
compatibility. Both host and guest enjoy the benefits of reduced
housing costs and the added bonus of companionship.
One match the foundation facilitated is between 66 year-old
Myrtle Wilks and Johanne Jean-Joseph, a student in her early
30s. Myrtle applied for the home sharing program a little over
two years ago, after learning about it from a friend at church.
Johanne was the first person the foundation sent her, and the
two got along immediately.
The relationship between Myrtle, Johanne, and Myrtle’s
daughter Ivy, who also lives with them, has grown from a mere
financial arrangement into a family. Myrtle says she and Johanne
“get along like a mother and daughter,” while Johanne
says Myrtle “treats me like a daughter and respects me like an
adult.” “Ivy,” Johanne added, “is like the sister I never had.”
For more information on the foundation, call 212-962-7559.
WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
SENIORS SHARE HOUSES, CREATE HOMES COMPLETE SENTENCE
WHERE NEW YORK CITY BEGINS
On Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of this year, a 17-year-old girl painted swastikas and other
profanities on a private apartment building in southern Brooklyn. Three others, including her
sister, were under 16 and prosecuted as juveniles. But instead of facing adult charges, the 17year-old
became the first case referred to a new alternative sentencing program created by the
Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes.
After noticing an increase in bias crimes committed by young adults in the past year, DA
Hynes started exploring new avenues for rehabilitation by reaching out to community organizations,
among them the Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay. Under the supervision
of Memorial co-founder Pauline Bilus, the young woman performed her community service at
the park, and also visited with a Holocaust survivor in Brooklyn, who told her his family’s story
and showed her his father’s marker.
“I’m very pleased that the leadership of the Holocaust Memorial Park worked with my office
to help save a troubled young woman, and by all accounts, that’s what they did,” said DA
Charles Hynes. “This should serve as an example for young people.”
The DA’s office hopes to continue building the program on the basis of this success. “I saw
a major change in her in the period we worked with her, and it was only about a month,” said
Bilus. That change was learning to celebrate our differences and respect the fact that Brooklyn
is proud home to thousands of Holocaust survivors. In short, she recognized that knowledge
and sensitivity is redemption. Holocaust Memorial Park, 60 West End Ave. (btw. Shore Blvd. and
Emmons Ave.), Sheepshead Bay, 718-743-3636. For more information, visit www.thmc.org.