Justice Center Meeting Abruptly Cancelled - the Red Hook Star-Revue

The Red Hook StarªRevue 

MAY 1 - 15, 2012 SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 

FREE 

Star-Revue photo by Elizabeth Graham 

While the Knicks struggle in the post-season, two aspiring 

Red Hook youths emulate their heroes in Bush/Clinton Park. 

The Star-Revue Gumshoe Reporters 

Visit the Waterfront Museum 

By: Jaquan Dure, Cheyenne Lanae Roberts, Kashief Scott and Jaylene Torrellas 

The article below was written by four students at Patrick Daly School 

P.S. 15 under the guidance of myself and 4th grade teacher, Livia Pantuliano. 

While Ms. Pantuliano and I directed these kids at every step 

in the process, it was they who picked the topic, did the research, asked 

the questions, picked which quotes to use and how to present the story. 

They collaborated on every sentence, looking for the best words and the 

best ways to organize the material, and of course wrote the lead. It was a 

gradual and sometimes painful process, as writing often is, but I imagine 

it was a nice break from the relentless test-prepping which takes up so 

much of their class time these days, and which passionate teachers like 

Ms. Pantuliano have to reluctantly subject them to. The good news is 

that they have plenty of energy and creativity to go around. Enjoy. - 

Matt Graber 

David Sharps takes care of his boat as 

if it was his own child. But the funny 

thing is, his boat is almost twice as old 

as him. 

Before Sharps, President of the Waterfront Museum, 

bought his own barge, he was a professional 

juggler. He also did shows on cruise ships. “I liked 

it,” he said. “But after a couple of years I started 

thinking about doing something different.” 

A great 

opening 

day for 

the 

Red Hook 

Little 

League 

page 11 

Then he moved to Paris to study, where he 

was a caretaker of a friend’s boat. He thought 

it was enjoyable. After he finished his studies, 

he came back to the United States, and 

bought his own boat - a barge called the Lehigh 

Valley #79 - for a dollar. 

“When I got this boat, it was full of mud,” he 

said. “Eight feet of mud was down at the bottom 

of the boat. It hadn’t floated in seven years.” 

(continued on page 8) 

Inside This Issue: 

The 

Blue Pencil Lunar Revue 

Our Spoof Page returns yet again, page 14, 

our original crossword puzzle on page 15 

plus lots more! 

Justice 

Center Meeting 

Abruptly Cancelled 

by Matt Graber 

The new 76th Precinct Commanding Officer Jeffrey 

Schiff wasn’t keen on the idea of his first public meeting 

with the Red Hook community devolving into an 

anti-stop-and-frisk demonstration. 

Nor were the other organizers of the public education workshop, 

which had been designed to be a next step in the continuing 

dialogue between local police and residents over practices such 

as - but not limited to - the stop-and-frisk. 

The workshop was initiated by the Red Hook Community Justice 

Center and the Red Hook Civic Association, and scheduled to 

take place in the P.S.15 auditorium on the evening April 25th. 

It was abruptly cancelled that same day. The cancellation came 

as the result of an email circulated by an affiliate of Occupy Red 

Hook, which suggested that the meeting could wind up looking 

more like a protest. 

In the email, the meeting is framed as being about “stopping-stop 

and frisk, police brutality and other related issues.” It was sent 

to other Occupy groups and organizations, calling for as many 

people as possible to “attend in solidarity.” 

But that wasn’t what the 76th Precinct 

or any of the other facilitators 

had signed up for. 

Naureen Rashid, Director of Court 

Operations at the Justice Center, announced 

the time and place of the 

upcoming workshop during the 76th 

Precinct Community Council meeting 

in early April. In her announcement, 

Rashid mentioned that a speaker 

from the New York Civil Liberties 

Union would attend to talk about the 

rights of citizens when stopped by the 

police, with advice on how to conduct 

yourself when stopped. These kinds 

of training sessions are becoming increasingly 

common throughout the 

city as stop-and-frisks rise in volume 

each year. 

Planned meeting was supposed 

to help our police work closer 

with the community 

Naureen Rashid of the 

Justice Center announcing 

the meeting 

last month at the 76th 

Precinct Community 

Council meeting attended 

by many members of 

Occupy Red Hook. 

“The idea of these workshops is one step of many to get police 

and courts together with the community and work some of these 

things out,” said Community Affairs Detective Paul Grudzinski 

at the council meeting. It was the second meeting in a row in 

which Occupy Red Hook came in numbers to confront the police 

about alleged patterns of misconduct. 

In the March meeting, Captain Lewis was more empathetic to 

the many stories that were told of disrespectful treatment, and 

sometimes illegal actions taken by officers of the 76th Precinct. 

Nydia 

faces real 

challenge in 

June primary 

page 3 

(continued on page 3)


MAY 1 - 15 2012 SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 

VOLUME 3 NO. 9 

Table of Contents 

Calendar .........................20 Newsbriefs ...................3 

Classifieds ......................19 On Politics ...................6 

Crossword ......................15 Police Report ...............7 

Dining Out Guide ............18 Satire page .................14 

Letters ............................15 Restaurant revue ........17 

Staff 

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

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

Matt Graber ...........................................Senior Reporter 

Elizabeth Graham .......................Reporter/Photographer 

Curtis Skinner .....................................Political Reporter 

Vince Musacchia ........................................... Cartoonist 

Eric Ruff .................................................Calendar Editor 

Erik Penney ........................................ Restaurant Writer 

Angelika Mitchell ..........................Advertising Specialist 

Contributors 

John Burkard, Mary Anne Massaro, Mary Ann Pietanza, 

Danette Vigilante, Michael Racioppo, Reg Flowers 

@RedHookStar 

Member 

www.facebook.com/ 

redhookstarrevue 

718.624.5568 - Editorial & Advertising 917.652.9128 News Tips 

101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 editor@redhookstar.com 

PS 15 PTA 

PRESENTS 

THE RED HOOK 

SPRING FLEA 

Saturday May 5 th , 2012, 10am to 5pm 

Located in the PS 15 School Yard 

on Van Brunt Street 

between Wolcott & Sullivan 

After the successful Fall Flea, Red Hook’s local community 

school PS 15’s PTA will be hosting the “Spring Flea” flea market. 

Come and find that missing treasure, browse, chat, eat, 

and enjoy the many activities available. The day promises 

to be a joy-filled celebration of the unique community of 

Red Hook. 

Sellers of all stripes include: VINTAGE, NEW AND USED 

CLOTHING & FURNITURE, JEWELRY, HAND CRAFTS, BOOKS, 

DVDS, TOYS AND LOTS OF LOCAL EATS AND SWEETS! 

Activities for the whole family throughout the day include: 

Yoga & Swing Dancing by Cora Dance, Triomph Fitness 

Kick Boxing, ZumbAtomic Zumba Dancing, as well as Art 

Projects, Robot Making, Music, a Bouncy House, “NEEDS 

Fitness” by Sessions Fit and More! 

Growing Up Red Hook 

Mother Nature’s got nothing on me! 

by Danette Vigilante 

So, dear readers, how is your skin feeling after last month’s 

… ahem, facial tip? 

Now, on to this month’s revelation. 

Recently, I’ve discovered that I possess a mighty power. One 

which, not only I enjoy, but one you can, and have, enjoyed as 

well. 

I’m quite excited to say the least. It’s not every day that a person 

realizes they can out smart Mother Nature herself. 

Last winter, while we were being battered snowstorm after snowstorm, I, along with 

probably every other New Yorker, grew weary of shoveling the walkways outside 

our house. The only way I knew how to fight back was to buy a snow blower. Expensive, 

yes but I was willing to haul our pennies to the nearest hardware store, plop 

our cash down on the counter like an old time saloon patron and wait patiently 

while the good proprietor supplied my husband and I with our wares. Only, said 

proprietor was not so good. In fact, he just about busted a gut with laughter. Snow 

blowers had sold out FOUR or FIVE storms ago. 

We were too determined to let some lame, unprepared hardware store deter us from 

our mission. With a huff on our lips and determination in our hearts, we retrieved 

our cash and continued on. After all, New York isn’t exactly a one hardware store 

kind of town. 

But store after store held the very same disappointment for us until finally, a sympathetic 

store owner offered to order us one. He couldn’t promise us a delivery date 

and it certainly wasn’t the success we had imagined but it was the success we had 

to accept. 

A few storms and a couple of weeks later, we got THE call. Our snow blower was 

awaiting us. We oohed and aahed over it admiring its gleaming parts. Parts that 

would save our aching arms. 

Then, we watched the skies and gleefully waited. And waited. And waited. To our 

disappointment, we had seen our last storm. 

This year, I set my sights on having a fireplace installed. How I loved the thought 

of cuddling up in front of it with a good book while listening to the cold wind 

howling outside. I impatiently watched the installation progress hoping it would be 

complete before the icy winter gripped us in its cruel hand. 

When the last piece was in place, I waited for winter to get started. For Old Man 

Winter to really show us what he had. But again, I waited and waited but the only 

thing that happened was my flower bed began to awaken after too short of a winter’s 

nap. Apparently Old Man Winter went on vacation. 

With this realization in mind, I’m heavily weighing what next winter’s project 

should be. Any suggestions? 

Danette Vigilante is a children’s author living in New York City with one husband, 

two daughters, Mr. Noodle, her love hog Yorkshire terrier and Daisy, a cat with a 

seriously bad attitude. Her newest book, The Trouble with Half a Moon, is in local 

bookstores and available for purchase online at Amazon and other booksellers. 

Page 2 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com May 1 - 15, 2012

Bushwick City Councilman Erik Dilan will give 

Nydia Velazquez a real primary challenge June 26th 

Money and race promise to be 

two dominant themes in Red 

Hook Representative Nydia 

Velazquez’s upcoming reelection battle 

for New York’s 12th Congressional District—likely 

to be the toughest in her 

20-year career in the House of Representatives. 

Puerto Rican City Councilmember Erik 

Martin Dilan, (D—Bushwick), announced 

his bid for the seat against the 

10-term Puerto Rican Congresswoman 

in March and has begun setting up his 

campaign’s infrastructure for the June primaries. 

According to 2010 Census data, 

about half of the district’s 672,000 residents 

identify as Hispanic or Latino, and 

a quarter of the population listed themselves 

as Puerto Rican. The gloves were 

quick to come off in an interview with Dilan’s 

campaign manager, Michael Olmeda. 

“She is supposed to be a flag-bearer for 

the Latino community,” Olmeda said 

over the phone. “[But] many people were 

complaining that they felt disenfranchised 

and that there’s no connection 

with their congressional representative.” 

That said Velazquez has strong ties to 

Hispanic groups in both Brooklyn and 

Capitol Hill. She chairs the House Hispanic 

Caucus and shares a long history 

with the Latino community organization, 

Make the Road New York, and the 

Brooklyn Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 

to name a couple. 

But many of the complaints brought to 

the captain in April were about citywide 

policies, such as stop-and-frisks 

and bike safety laws, which local police 

have no control over. 

Jessica Colon, Deputy Project Director 

at the Justice Center, cited these issues 

when explaining the cancellation of the 

workshop. “Nothing would have been 

accomplished,” she said. “The point of 

the meeting was not to discuss policy, 

but to discuss procedure.” She went on 

to add that the email inviting outside 

groups “gave a different vibe and agenda” 

than the original understanding that 

everyone had of what the workshop was 

supposed to be. 

Many Occupy Red Hook activists expressed 

doubts about the workshop 

upon learning about it, especially after 

the April Community Council meeting, 

where many felt that their concerns 

about police misconduct were not taken 

seriously by then-Captain John Lewis. 

The day after the workshop was cancelled, 

Detective Grudzinski maintained 

that the decision was mutual 

among the event’s facilitators, including 

the Justice Center and the Civic 

Association. “The parameters of the 

meeting had been discussed and agreed 

upon prior,” Grudzinski said. “We all 

Dilan is no neophyte politician—he 

has represented the 37 th City Council 

district for a decade—but Velazquez’s 

nearly quarter century in national office 

has secured her plenty of donors. 

So far, Dilan has raised more than all 

of Velazquez’s opponents for the past 

10 years combined, according to data 

provided on OpenSecrets.org. But that 

sum of $132,000 is still dwarfed by the 

$300,000 Velazquez has raised for this 

election—let alone the nearly three 

quarters of a million dollars sitting in 

her campaign coffers. 

In the face of such a stark disadvantage, 

Olmeda said that totals weren’t as important 

as the sources. 

“All of her contributions are from 

‘1-percenters’,” Olmeda said. According 

to campaign finance data, 9 out of 

every 10 dollars raised by the Velazquez 

campaign came from political action 

committees—large and well-funded 

political interest groups and unions— 

whereas Dilan received almost all of his 

funds from individual contributions. 

by Curtis Skinner 

In response, a spokesperson for 

Velazquez’s office said, “Many of the 

contributions come from working families 

and entrepreneurs who have limited 

resources and choose to show their support 

through their union or small business 

organizations.” 

Though it should be noted that her positions 

on both the financial services 

“So far, Dilan has raised more than 

all of Velazquez’s opponents for 

the past 10 years combined.” 

agreed on the forum and that [having 

outside groups come in] would change 

the direction of the forum.” 

Occupy Red Hook met at their usual 

location at Added Value after word got 

around that the meeting was cancelled. 

During general assembly, the gentleman 

responsible for the email apologized, 

and everyone seemed to agree on 

establishing more of a group consensus 

before emails or any communication 

on behalf of Occupy Red Hook goes 

out in the future. 

The workshop would have been the 

first contact between the 76th Pre- 

and small businesses committees have 

attracted financial giants like Goldman 

Sachs, Bank of America and American 

Express to contribute large sums of 

money through their respective PACs. 

Not only does Velazquez enjoy an appreciable 

financial lead, but considerable 

political clout as well. A spokesperson 

from Velazquez’s press office 

rattled off a list of her endorsements in 

an email: Coalition for a District Alternative; 

Central Brooklyn Independent 

Democrats; Working Families Party; 

New Kings Democrats and the Independent 

Neighborhood Democrats. 

Dilan has ties to Brooklyn power-broker 

Vito Lopez and can expect support from 

Nydia Velazquez speaking to reporters 

last December about the B61 bus. 

his father, State Senator Martin Dilan 

(D—Bushwick), who represented the 

37th district until he left to run for the 

state senate. But Dilan has a long way 

to go before the June primary. 

“The difference between her and him 

being on a national level is she brings 

Washington to the community,” said 

Dilan’s campaign manager Michael Olmeda. 

“Whereas Erik would bring the 

community to Washington.” 

Occupy Red Hook email causes cancellation of 

Justice Center public meeting at PS 15 

(continued from page 1) 

A scene from the April meeting of the 76th Precinct Community Council. A majority of 

the attendees that night were members of the Occupy Red Hook group. 

cinct’s new C.O. and the community in 

a public venue. Captain Schiff started 

his post in Red Hook in mid-April, 

when John Lewis was reassigned to 

Crown Heights. (The NYPD has a policy 

of keeping C.O.s in one precinct for 

18-24 months at a time.) 

According to Detective Grudzinski, 

Captain Schiff is still willing to meet 

with the community to discuss local issues, 

but not to engage in a tit-for-tat 

over city policy. Schiff may have been 

instructed from his superiors to call the 

meeting off when it began to look like a 

demonstration, as the issue of stop-and- 

“Many Occupy Red Hook 

activists expressed doubts 

about the workshop, 

especially after the April 

Community Council meeting, 

where many felt that their 

concerns about police 

misconduct were not taken 

seriously by then-Captain John 

Lewis.” 

frisks has been heating up throughout 

the city. 

As this article is being written, demonstrators 

are getting ready to make 

a strong statement on Monday, April 

30th, when 20 people who were arrested 

in October for demonstrating in 

Harlem’s 28th Precinct against stopand-frisks 

will be brought to trial at 

Manhattan Criminal Court. 

(The 76th Precinct Community Council 

meeting is held on the first Tuesday of every 

month at the station house on Union 

Street between Hicks and Henry Street. 

This month’s meeting fell on May 1st, so if 

you are reading this, you probably missed 

it. Look out for our coverage in the mid- 

May issue of the Star-Revue.) 

Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com May 1 - 15, 2012 Page 3

Pok Pok and Milk 

These two highly anticipated entrants 

to the restaurant scene have arrived to 

widely differing reviews, at least according 

to their Yelp pages. Pok Pok, which 

last month took over the old Pitstop/5 

Burro location at 127 Columbia Street 

has been doing bang-up business. Yelp 

shows them with 15 reviews - 12 great 

and 3 terrible. One contributor wrote 

“What I particularly liked was how the 

flavor of every dish surprised my palate 

and everything tasted ‘new’ and each 

dish had unfamiliar flavors that were 

absolutely delicious. “ 

On the other hand, Milk, operated by 

the Momofuko chain, has garnered 16 

reviews thus far, and all but one are 

negative. Milk recently opened near 

the Carroll Street subway station. 

Comments include: “If we are going 

to live with the complete and overall 

gentrification of this neighborhood at 

least serve us food that fits the prices!” 

Another: “big question: why is there 

no actual food? They only serve like 

3 things, none of which are especially 

fresh or good. “ And finally: “overpriced, 

$8 pork bun was dry and cold, 

with no flavor. I had to find out for 

myself if it was going to be as bad as I 

was expecting it to be, and it was. The 

sad ballad of Smith/Court Street: food 

prices go up, the food is awful, rents go 

up.” 

Wine Tasting 

A party to taste wines made by Abe 

Schoener, who runs the Scholium Project, 

a beacon of nontraditional winemaking 

in California and Red Hook, 

Brooklyn, is scheduled for May 2 from 7 

pm to midnight at Jakewalk, 282 Smith 

Street (Sackett Street), Carroll Gardens; 

$40 from events@thejakewalk. 

com, $50 at the door. 

Buschenschank turned down 

On Monday, April 23rd the CB6 permit 

and licensing committee had an 

unusually large number of sidewalk 

cafe and liquor applications to consider. 

Bar Bruno, (Henry and Union 

Streets), had their sidewalk cafe application 

approved on the condition 

that they maintain at least eight feet of 

sidewalk space, the legal requirement. 

Marco Polo, who had their cafe permit 

renewed - one of only two enclosed 

sidewalk cafes in the CB6 area. Barclay’s 

Center was approved for a liquor 

license on the stipulation that they 

set up a community advisory board to 

monitor ongoing conditions at their 

new sports and entertainment venue 

being constructed on Flatbush Avenue. 

Buschenschank, the new German bistro 

on Court and Sackett Streets, was 

not approved. There have been neighborhood 

complaints about noise coming 

from their windows, which have 

been kept completely open during the 

warmer weather. 

PS 15 Spring Events 

On Saturday May 5th, the PS 15 PTA 

will be hosting their annual Spring Flea. 

our 

Local Beat 

news items written and collected by the Star-Revue editorial staff 

As well as the usual odds and ends and 

found at the flea market, other treasures 

there will include activities presented 

by Cora Dance, Triomph Fitness Kick 

Boxing, ZumbAtomic Zumba Dancing, 

as well as many arts, crafts and fitness 

activities for the children. 

The Red Hook Spring Flea will take 

place in the PS 15 schoolyard on Van 

BruntStreet between Wolcott and Sullivan 

Streets. It will operate from 10 am 

until 5 pm. 

Falconworks will be presenting three 

original plays by three Red Hook students 

in the PS 15 auditorium the first 

weekend in May. Falconworks has been 

presenting “Off The Hook” twice every 

year since 2004. It is a free program for 

youths between 11 and 14 who want to 

write and act in their own plays. 

The writers are Jasper Ehrhardt, Hannah 

Serrano and Triston Stewart. Performances 

are Friday, May 4th at 7 pm 

and Saturday May 5th at 3 pm and are 

free. For reservations call 718 395-3218. 

More information can be found at www. 

redhooktheater.org. Falconworks is now 

taking applications for their fall program. 

Mark your calendars for the 3rd Annual 

Red Hook Family Festival on Saturday 

May 19th from 12pm-3pm hosted by 

Puppetry Arts in the PS 15 schoolyard. 

The event is free and open to the public. 

Free Gift Bags will be handed out to the 

first 100 kids. There will be $1 crafts and 

activities, $2 bounce house, $1 snacks, 

as well as Shoot the Trooper with Star 

Wars Storm Troopers as well as many 

other events, activities and food. 

Partners in Preservation 

New York City has been selected as the 

location of the 2012 Partners in Preservation 

program. Tug Pegasus and the 

Waterfront Museum Barge have been 

selected as two of the 40 NYC finalists 

in line for preservation grants in a 

program. 

Through this partnership, American 

Express and the National Trust for Historic 

Preservation seek to increase the 

public’s awareness of the importance 

of historic preservation in the United 

States and to preserve America’s historic 

and cultural places. From April 26- 

May 21 votes can be cast at http://www. 

partnersinpreservation.com. The three 

organizations with the most votes will 

receive grants of $250,000 each. 

The Tug Pegasus and the Waterfront 

Museum Barge urge you to vote for the 

continued preservation of these historic 

vessels. Go to either www.waterfrontmuseum.org 

or www.tugpegasus.org, 

enter the “Tug & Barge Raffle,” and receive 

a daily reminder to vote and the 

chance to win a tugboat trip for two 

aboard the PEGASUS to view the spectacular 

July 4th fireworks. Come visit 

Tug Pegasus and the Waterfront Museum 

Barge at Partners in Preservation’s 

Open House Weekend Saturday, May 5 

and Sunday, May 6 from 1 to 5 pm at 

Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 in Tribeca. 

In addition to writing and directing the B61 short, Michael Buscemi (r) also stars in it. 

Movie News 

Spike Lee’s independently shot and 

controversial film Red Hook Summer 

will hit “as many as 30 markets” 

beginning August 10, as reported by the 

L.A. Times. Variance Films will distribute 

the picture, which Lee shot in Red 

Hook over 19 days last summer. When 

asked if Summer would lose any of its 

more eyebrow-raising material Variance 

president Dylan Marchetti says 

the film has “been tightened up a bit 

since the Sundance showing, but no key 

scenes have been removed. It’s still as 

powerful and controversial as what you 

saw at Sundance, if not more so.” Along 

those lines, Marchetti says the film may 

bypass the MPAA and roll out unrated, 

but with a warning about content. 

Paul Bracco is a Red Hook native and 

founder of Red Hook Films. His movies 

can be seen at vimeo.com/channels/redhookfilms. 

The web site is now featuring 

“Lovers in London,” a movie video 

for an upcoming artist, as well as various 

shorts and trailers. Bracco is an award 

winning actor and director with much 

of his company’s work also featured online 

at redhookfilms.com. Red Hook 

Films is located on Sackett Street. 

Among the films featured this year 

at the Tribeca Film Festival is a short 

written and produced by Michael Buscemi, 

Red Hook resident and brother 

of Steve Buscemi. “B61” is a 16 minute 

short about three commuters who travel 

daily on our bus and strike up a tentative 

friendship reinforced by the trials 

and tribulations that Buscemi himself 

has endured as he is a daily commuter. 

For the film, Buscemi created a fake bus 

stop by Steve’s Key Lime Pie because 

renting a real one from the city proved 

to be too costly. The film has received a 

positive review from Hollywood Soapbox. 

Buscemi is hoping to expand the 

short into a feature length film someday. 

According to John McGettrick, 

the movie will be shown at least once 

during the summer film series at Valentino 

Pier. 


SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 

@RedHookStar www.facebook.com/redhookstarrevue 

Page 4 Red Hook Star-Revue www.RedHookStar.com May 1 - 15, 2012 

member

Help Protect 

Your Beach 

from Closing 

This Summer 

You Can Help Prevent Beach Closures 

Monitor your Near and Offshore Waters 

Help Develop an Early Warning Reporting 

System 

Be Part of the Program 

Time: 1 to 2 hours after high tide - 20 

minutes per week 

The New York City Department of 

Environmental Protection Marine Sciences 

Section is sponsoring Volunteer 

Floatables Beach Surveillance for the 

summer of 2012. 

What are floatables? 

Floatables are waterborne waste materials 

that as the name suggests, float. 

Styrofoam, balloons and fishing line 

are considered floatables. Raw sewage is 

floatables. Medical Waste is floatables. 

Help save turtles, birds, fish, and other 

marine life from ingesting these items 

or from being entangled in fishing lines 

and other assorted litter. 

You do not have to pick up or touch 

anything. To become a monitor, you 

just need to record the various types 

of debris on your favorite beach and/ 

or surrounding waters, once each week 

during the season. 

The New York City Department of Environmental 

Protection has contracted 

us to continue to lead this effort and we 

need your help in order to be aware of 

potential floatable problems as early as 

possible. 

Volunteers will receive all materials 

necessary for the monitoring. This includes 

letters of authorization and acknowledgement. 

For information call (212) 889-4216, 

email ozonelayerllc@rcn.com 

PortSide not done yet 

The Star-Revue received this email at 

presstime: “Thank you for your continued 

support and interest in PortSide 

and our programs. We have reason to 

extend our efforts for a short time beyond 

our declared April 30th deadline. 

More info soon.” 

PortSide began a public relations campaign 

last February to bring awareness to 

their situation of having a ship berthed 

within the Red Hook Container Terminal 

which limited their success at 

being a public museum. This was because 

to gain access to the ship, located 

within a high security zone protected 

by Homeland Security, the public was 

only allowed access of accompanied by 

a member of the PortSide staff. 

This campaign, consisting of press releases, 

invitations to the press and a 

public meeting, as well as personal 

visits from the PortSide director to a 

host of community group meetings and 

events, has resulted in newspaper and 

print media articles, as well as the donation 

of a Columbia Street office for 

the purpose of administration as well as 

the sale of ship mementos. 

In addition, a fundraising campaign to 

help pay PortSide expenses was begun. 

Originally it was announced that by 

April 30th, 2012, the Mary A. Whalen, 

once an oil tanker and now the museum 

in question, would be shuttered and 

sold for scrap material were not another 

location found for it. 

The Red Hook Star-Revue will report 

on future developments as we learn 

of them. 


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Select 

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Brooklyn, NY NY 11231 11231 

718 624-5568 

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On Politics 

Live from New York, It’s the City Council: 

For the first time in the city’s history, City Council hearings will be broadcast live both 

on TV and the web, according to NYC Media—an arm of the Mayor’s office of Media 

and Entertainment. The meetings will be shown on the city’s government television 

station, NYC gov, and online at council.nyc.gov starting the first of this month. 

“Live coverage of City Council hearings is a step in the right direction towards 

increasing government transparency,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn 

in a statement. “By bringing government directly to the people, we are encouraging 

greater participation by New Yorkers in city government. 

This will make New York City the largest municipality to air the hearings live. 

The announcement comes a few months after the open government bill Intro 29A 

that required all city agencies to make publicly available all of their data in an accessible 

format was passed by the Council. 

Blue Alert! 

Earlier last week, New York Representative Michael Grimm’s, (R—Staten Island 

and Brooklyn), national law enforcement bill unanimously passed the judiciary 

committee. The National Blue-Alert Act, as it is called, would establish a federal 

system for local and state law enforcement to communicate with related agencies 

about violent or fatal attacks against police officers. 

The bill aims to increase response times in apprehending violent criminals and 

was considered a longshot early on. Before clearing this key hurdle, Congress’ 

govtrack.us website gave the bill a 9 percent chance of passage. It was not updated 

before this paper went to print. 

New York State Senator Marty Golden, (R—Bay Ridge), introduced a similar bill 

in the state’s legislature. 

“Based upon the success of the Amber Alert for missing children […] the Blue 

Alert will provide the means to speed the apprehension of violent criminals who 

kill or seriously wound local, state or federal law enforcement officers,” the bill 

reads in part. Currently, legislatures around the country are signing similar acts for 

their respective states. 

The New York version hasn’t moved from the Finance committee since being referred 

there in January of this year. But recent attacks against NYPD officers, like 

the nearly fatal stabbing of an officer in East Harlem, and the success of the national 

Blue Alert bill may have given the state’s version the firepower it needs to pass. 

Mayoral Control Increasingly under Fire: 

The Panel for Educational Policy recently passed the turnaround, (closure, reorganizing 

of staff and reopening), of 24 schools and 12 co-locations of facilities around 

the city late last month. And critics from City Hall to Albany have charged that 

“Mayoral control” of the city schools is a failed policy. 

At the public meeting last month, Councilmember Juumane Williams (D—Flatbush) 

railed against the city’s Department of Education, the PEP and the Mayor 

for steamrolling community opposition to school closures. 

“I’m a public school baby,” he said, echoed by applause from the hundreds of parents, 

teachers and students that packed the Prospect Heights Campus auditorium. 

“I went to Brooklyn public schools from pre-school to masters. [Michael Bloomberg] 

is Mayor Failure on education.” 

Visit us online 

Catch breaking news, read our archives and more at 

www.RedHookstar.com 




Journalism that’s 

ahead of The Times. 

US Customs Decision Threatens 

our Working Port. 

January 16,2012 

NY Times reports the same 

story over a week later... 

January 25,2012 

Published Twice Monthly and Available throughout 

Red Hook, The Columbia Waterfront District, Carroll Gardens and Gowanus. 

101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 718 624-5568 

Kimberly@redhookstar.com www.RedHookStar.com 

101 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 718 624-5568 

Angelika@redhookstar.com www.RedHookStar.com 

twitter@RedHookStar www.facebook.com/redhookstarrevue 

Pursesnatching at Trader Joe’s 

A pickpocket made off with a woman’s 

wallet at Trader Joe’s on Court Street. 

The woman, 33, told cops that while she 

was inside the store, someone opened 

her purse and lifted the wallet, which 

had credit cards and $60 in cash inside. 

Can of beer causes arrest 

It was the open can of beer that a Red 

Hook man was holding that first caught 

the cops’ attention, but the gun tucked 

into his waistband was what really got 

him into trouble. Police say Rolando 

Vazquez was outside in the 300 block of 

Van Brunt Street about 8:50 p.m. when 

officers noticed he was holding a beer. 

When they saw the loaded 9 mm semiautomatic 

handgun he was wearing, 

Vazquez was arrested and charged with 

criminal possession of a handgun. 

Shot in the stomach 

A man was shot in the abdomen by an 

unknown attacker while standing in the 

lobby of a building at 241 Hoyt St. The 

victim, 39, told police he heard several 

shots fired outside at 1:30 a.m., then 

Criminal 

Activities 

written and collected by Elizabeth Graham 

April 14 - 25 

looked down and saw he’d been hit. 

The man was taken to Lutheran Hospital 

with non-life threatening injuries. 

Cash register gone 

Someone forced their way into Bocca 

Luop in the 300 block of Henry Street 

around midnight and made off with a 

cash register containing $250. 

Cash register broken 

A nervous would-be burglar climbed 

into Sadie’s Kitchen at 243 Degraw 

St., damaged the cash register, and fled 

when they discovered it was empty. 

Nothing was stolen from the restaurant. 

Bicycle highwayman 

A teenager who was walking to his 

grandmother’s home around 10:30 p.m. 

told police that another teen rode up 

to him on a bicycle in front of 85 Lorraine 

St., pulled out a gun, yelled “Remember 

me, what’s up now” and fired 

several rounds before riding away. The 

15-year-old gunman was arrested on 

Baltic Street and charged with intent to 

cause injury with a weapon and reckless 

endangerment with a weapon. 


(continued from page 1) 

He didn’t have any experience with 

boats or even with power tools. But 

that didn’t stop him from putting up 

his museum. 

He cleaned out his barge and then filled 

a section of it with furniture. He moved 

in with his family and started collecting 

old tools and treasures. He began to 

put on shows because it was “a chance 

to have my own venue: a museum by 

day and a show boat by night,” he said. 

“That way I could combine my love of 

history with my love of the arts.” 

David Sharps bought the Lehigh Valley 

#79 in 1985. The barge was docked in 

New Jersey. He was 27 at that time, and 

was struggling to find a place that was 

willing to let him have his programs. 

“Some places love to have programs 

in the summertime, but then when it 

got to be winter, they’d say ‘Hey, you’re 

not doing programs. We need you to 

go away.’ And my only problem was – 

where?” 

Sharps found himself in a difficult, “precarious, 

tenuous, shifty” situation where 

he didn’t have a place to put his boat. 

In 1994, Sharps found an available 

space on a dock near the present location 

of Fairway in Red Hook. The 

O’Connell Organization let him stay. 

After years of searching for a home for 

his barge, Sharps found a perfect spot to 

start a new chapter in his life. 

Our Visit 

On March 1st, we went to the Lehigh 

Valley #79 and we interviewed Sharps. 

When we met him on the gangway, one of 

us noticed long pieces of wood with black 

rubbery wheel-shaped objects attached to 

them, and asked, “What are these things 

that look like tires?” He described that the 

“fenders” protect boats from bumping into 

the docks. When we entered the barge, we 

The Star-Revue Gumshoe Reporters 

Visit the Waterfront Museum 

Add local media to your marketing plan. 

Angelika Mitchell will show you how The Red 

Hook Star-Revue can lead to increased profits. 

718 624-5568 

angelika@redhookstar.com 

discovered all the tools and treasures that 

he had inside. Hanging from the ceiling 

there was a 12-foot spoon. We saw miniature 

models of boats and barges. Sharps 

showed us all of these different types of 

tools that he had in his barge, including 

three pieces of wood that looked like baseball 

bats and they were called “fids,” used 

for unraveling three strong strands of rope. 

He also showed us different knots, including 

the “granny knot.” After that we all 

tried and made a granny knot out of two 

lines of rope. “It’s very important to be 

able to untie a knot easily,” he said. “Especially 

in cold weather.” 

Do you know what “batten down the 

hatches” means? It means to tie down a 

“In 1994, Sharps found an 

available space on a dock 

near the present location 

of Fairway in Red Hook. 

The O’Connell Organization 

let him stay. After years of 

searching for a home for his 

barge, Sharps found a perfect 

spot to start a new chapter in 

his life. “ 

bundle of cargo to the wall on the inside 

of a boat so the cargo does not fall off or 

move. According to Chambers Concise 

Dictionary, a batten is “a piece of sawn 

timber” used to “fasten down hatches 

on ships.” 

“The big cargo door along the side of the 

boat slides opened and closed,” Sharps 

said. “If you had a big bundle you could 

swing it in. And you could batten down 

the cargo and take big rope and tie it to 

The Gumshoe Reporters, Kashief Scott, Cheyenne Lanae Roberts, Jaylene Torrellas 

and Jaquan Dure with David Sharp outside his Waterfront Museum, across from 

Fairway. 

the wall so it doesn’t shift around. That’s 

why they say ‘Batten down the hatches!’” 

We were observing the inside of the 

barge, and one of us noticed a long, 

12-foot wooden stick and asked what it 

was. Sharps said it was a “Mark Twain 

stick.” He told us about Mark Twain, 

who wrote the book, “The Adventures 

of Tom Sawyer.” Back when Twain 

was a young man, his name was Samuel 

Clemons. His job was to measure in 

fathoms how deep the water was in the 

Mississippi River. A fathom is six feet, 

and there are two fathoms in one Mark 

Twain stick. The meaning of “Mark 

Twain” was to measure two fathoms. 

His boss used to call out, “Mark Twain!” 

and it inspired him to change his name. 

David Sharps’ friend, Captain Pam, 

takes David with his barge to where he 

needs to go. The barge does not have a 

motor because a motor would be too big 



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member 

to fit in the barge. So the barge moves 

by Captain Pam coming to tug the boat 

with her tugboat, Tug Pegasis. 

During Hurricane Irene, David Sharps 

stayed on the barge while his family left 

the boat and went somewhere safer. 

“The water came way up the rock and 

the boat was way up high,” he said. 

His original opinion was that “the best 

thing to do is not have a boat. It is to have 

a friend with a boat.” Today his opinion is 

that having his own barge is a good thing 

because he can do his own thing. 

When Mr. Sharps started his programs, 

it was hard for him to raise money. Then 

he was determined and persevered and 

said: “You know what happens in the 

early days? You have an idea, and you’re 

so sure that it’s a good idea that you’re 

willing to say, ‘You know what? I’m going 

to put my money in it. I’m going to 

make this work.’”

Mercedes Benz burns up 

one night in Red Hook 

by Matt Graber 

When firefighters left the scene, the black Mercedes Benz 

looked and smelled like a charred hunk of meat. Under the 

hood, what had been an engine an hour earlier was literally 

melted. But perhaps most impressive was the placement of the car, 

on the Southwest corner of Dikeman and Conover Street outside of a 

nearly empty lot - it couldn’t have been placed more tactfully to avoid 

injury or damage to property. 

Pat Weber Sones lives near the Northwest corner of the intersection 

and called 911 when the fire broke out on the evening of Wednesday, 

April 18th. Sones had just stepped out into her backyard to let her cat 

out when she heard an explosion, followed by “several booms.” 

“It was amazing,” she said. “I mean the fire was way up by the telephone 

wires, shooting high up.” 

According to FDNY Spokesperson Frank Dwyer, the call came in reporting 

a car fire at 9:21 p.m. Red Hook Raiders Engine 202 arrived 

three minutes and eight seconds later. “Within less than a half hour 

the situation was brought under control,” Dwyer said. 

The Fire Department’s Bureau of Fire Investigation is still looking into 

the possible causes of the auto blaze. “I think somebody blew the car 

up,” Sones said. “They don’t just spontaneously combust.” 

We are across from Coffey Park 

(718) 923-9880 

OpiniOn: 

Too Corrupt To Fail 

by Michael Racioppo 

A problem that manifests itself in the media and throughout society is a need 

to personalize things and a refusal to look at structural issues and causes. For 

the media it literally costs more, and often too much money, to dig deep into 

an issue. For society and the general citizenry it may be far too emotionally and 

intellectually exhausting to face up to the harsh truths. 

Americans know corruption occurs at many levels of our most important institutions 

but see it as more of an individual occurrence as opposed to a widespread 

and structural problem. This has led to these institutions becoming “too 

big to fail.” Take for instance that Bovis Lend Leasing admitted to routinely 

over-billing clients for millions of dollars, as reported in the NY Daily News 

just this week. It also evaded government rules regarding the hiring of women 

and minority-owned firms. The company has been involved with projects such 

as Citi Field, Grand Central Station and locally the Cadman Plaza Post Office. 

Such crimes occurred for over ten years. 

What was the penalty for these crimes? A $54 million fine and a non-prosecution 

deal. In the scheme of things for a company like this, $54 million is little 

more than the usual cost of doing business. Bovis keeps its record clean and 

will continue to qualify for government work. According to the News article 

this was done to protect the thousands of jobs? But with this outcome, what 

is the preventing this kind of corruption from continuing throughout the industry. 

The reason for the overbilling was to give their top foreman extra pay, 

which probably under the terms of the contract that they won through lowbid, 

they wouldn’t have been able to afford. 

Examples like this encourage companies and people to get as successful as 

possible by any means necessary. Because once you reach that level, we won’t 

penalize you for wrongdoing anyway. Heck, look back at the frauds perpetrated 

in recent history. 

Fortune magazine named Enron as America’s Most Innovative Company six 

years in a row. Over 70 percent of people accepted one, or both, of the two illusions 

marketed to us on the way to Iraq — that Saddam Hussein had weapons 

of mass destruction and some link to Al Qaeda. Too big to fail is why Citibank 

and Bank of America are still doing business, not to mention General Motors. 

We don’t want to see big job providing corporations to fail. But the capitalist 

system has got to do better in making sure that good paying jobs can exist for 

the great majority of citizens without having to resort to fraud. 

Michael Racioppo teaches Political Science at Brooklyn College. 


Mother’s Day Dining 

Mother’s Day Pre-Fix Menu 

May 13th 2012 

APPETIZER: 

Caprese: Homemade mozzarella, 

sliced tomatoes, basil, olive oil & oregano 

PASTA (choice of ) 

Rigatoni Filetto Di Pomodoro 

Tri-color Spaghetti 

ENTREE (choice of ) 

Salmon Cartoccio @$31.95 

Veal Rollatini @2 $31.95 

Pork chop Pizzaiola @30.95 

All entrees served with mixed vegetables and potatoes 

DESSERT (choice of ) 

Spumoni, Tortoni or Cheesecake 

Includes: Soda, Coffee or Tea 

Price doesn’t include alcohol. 

Please inquire about party wine selections, champagne toasts 

or other details you wish to add to your party 

117 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 

Phone: (718) 237-4300 

Email: 117casadicampagna@gmail.com Web-Site: www.casadicampagnabk.com 

Mazzat 

On the corner of Sackett and Columbia Streets lies a 

lovely little restaurant with lo lit booths and a relaxed 

ambiance. A quiet man known as “Jimmy” says hello 

as you walk in the door. The food is inspired by rich 

culinary traditions of Egypt ant Lebanon, creating a 

diverse Mediterranean cuisine. Mazzat can accommodate 

parties of all sizes, from a romantic date for 

Mom or hosting the entire family. Their friendly staff 

will cater to all of your mother’s needs. 

Caselnova 

At this neighborhood trattoria, Dean Caselnova invites 

your family to dine at his family inspired restaurant. 

“I grew up in a tradition Italian-American 

home where our dinner table was the center of our 

family gatherings. Sharing a meal was more than 

just eating; it was sharing joy, laughter and love 

with each other.” Caselnova offers all family-inspired 

recipes and offers a kid friendly menu as well as an 

Italian inspired gluten free menu. They are people 

who know how to make your mom feel special. And 

Dean is sure to shake your hand and remember your name. For more information about 

Caselnovas’s mother’s day offerings please turn to their ad on page 18. 

Casa di Campagna 

A charming rustic restaurant presents a roadside 

restaurant in southern Italy. Casa di Campagna is 

an enchanting evening out for Mom. With an authentic 

Italian fare, they will sweep you off your feet 

with their top class service and lovingly prepared 

meals. With their generous size portions, there is 

always plenty to pass around the table. Dine for 

brunch this Mother’s Day in their beautiful outdoor 

seating area or stop in later in the evening for a 

bottle of wine and a superb meal. 

Doesn’t your Mom 

deserve the best? 

Show her how much you appreciate her this Mother’s Day 

by treating her to a fabulous Mediterranean meal at Mazzat! 

We can help you celebrate your Mother with a festive brunch! 

Offering a special brunch menu from noon - 4 pm, 

including complimentary glass of champagne. 

à à à 

Special 4 course dinners served from 5 pm - 11:30 pm 

208 Columbia Street (corner of Sackett St.) (718) 852-1652 

Our kitchen is open everyday from 11:30am to 11:30pm Catering, private parties available for all occasions 


$25 

Make your reservations early!

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes throws out the first pitch as 

John McGettrick stands watch. 

Felix Palacios, Community Liaison for Speaker Christine 

Quinn, makes a point as McGettrick and Hynes listen. 

New Police Captain Jeffrey 

Schiff threw a pretty impressive 

fastball. 

Two members of Southern 

Trucking are eager to get 

started with the season. 

On the right is League Commissioner Ian Younge. 

GET THE LEAD OUT! 

Red Hook Little League 

starts on schedule 

despite problems with 

contaminated ballfields 

photos and story by George Fiala 

Saturday, April 28 marked the opening of 

the Red Hook Little League baseball and 

food vendor season. The beautiful spring 

morning began with a ceremony o f introductions, 

short speeches and traditional first pitches. 

The national anthem was sung,, the umpires 

roared “Play BALL!” and the two exhibition 

games commenced. 

The ceremonial pitches were thrown by new 76th 

Precinct Captain Jeffrey Schiff, John McGettrick 

of the Civic Association, Judge Alex Calabrese 

of the Justice Center, and Brooklyn DA Charles 

Hynes. Pat Sones then sang the traditional national 

anthem . 

Judge Alex Calabrese, of the Red Hook Justice 

Center, was present, conversing with the crowd. 

The Justice Center is responsible for this league’s 

existence. 

Viviana Gordon, the NY Juvenile Justice Corp. 

Coordinator, serves as the League Coordinator. 

She has worked closely with the teams to organize 

the opening of the season. 

Ian Younge, President of the Sayo Grays and 

League Commissioner, spoke of his pride in having 

thirty one of his players attend college as a 

result of their sports involvement. “Going to college 

is much more important to me than having 

one of my players play professional baseball,” he 

said. 

District Attorney Charles Hynes met with the 

youth of America. He noted that at one time he 

was not a bad player. He works closely with the 

Justice Center, as does his Bureau Chief Gerianne 

Abriano, who was also in attendance. 

Julian Adler, is Project Director at the Justice 

Center and is part of the experimental Adolescent 

Diversion Parts (ADP) pilot program which 

works to rehabilitate young offenders instead of 

sending them to prison, enjoyed the proceedings. 

Felix Palacios, the Community Liaison for City 

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, spoke of his 

Red Hook roots. He spoke movingly of his love 

for the neighborhood and how he has seen the 

area really improve for children growing up in the 

Red Hook Houses. 

The baseball season had been in jeopardy four of 

the Red Hook fields were discovered to be contaminated 

with lead from a smelter that once 

occupied the site. Those fields were closed and 

are in the process of being cleaned. Through 

the hard work of the Parks Department and the 

Justice Center, schedules were juggled and the 

league started on time. 

In the two exhibition games played Saturday, 

Hynes’ Heroes beat the Defenders and Southern 

Trucking beat Gibbs’ Brooklyn Youth Association 

Royals. The Star-Revue will be keeping readers 

updated as the season progresses. 

On the left Pat Sones finishes up the National Anthem, after which the first batter 

strikes out, and Charles Hynes makes new fans on the right. 

“Play Ball” is what the 

ump is saying here. 

Julian Adler of the Justice 

Center applauds a speech. 

League Coordinator Viviana Gordon and DA Charles 

Hynes show that they read the right stuff! 

Defenders coach and sponsor Lou Sones watches as his 

wife Pat belts out the National Anthem. Also present were 

team sponsors Chris Hanson from the Southern Trucking 

Co. and Romles Gibbs of the Criminal Justice Agency. 


Brooklyn Studio Tours is holding their 

4th annual ARToberfest May 19th an 

20th. More than twenty five artists are 

opening their doors to showcase their 

work. ARToberfest spotlights sculptors, 

painters and photographers in Red 

Hook and Carroll Gardens. 

Brooklyn Studio Tours is an organization 

that coordinates art studio and community 

events to expose the public to new 

artists. They also introduce and update 

the communities in Brooklyn about who 

these artists are and where they live. 

Star-Revue Moms 

In the annals of the written word, there is not that much that hasn’t 

been written in the praise of mom. Without our own moms, the 

paper you hold in your hands wouldn’t even exist. To honor this 

holiday we are happy to reprint photos of a few of the mothers 

that have made our pages the past couple of years. 

Moms give us the support and the backbone we need to deal with 

life’s trials and tribulations, as well as someone with whom to share 

it’s joy and triumphs. 

Mel Brooks once played in a skit as Moses. He was asked what he 

did with the Ten Commandments. Brooks answered that he, like any 

good boy, brought them home for his mother to hang over the mantelpiece. 

That of course is a bit extreme in the name of comedy, but 

Mom will always tell you how proud she is, whether it’s for getting the 

Ten Commandments, or just winning a tennis match. 

So for this once-a-year holiday in tribute of the one who bore us, we 

give thanks, tribute, and maybe if mom is lucky, breakfast in bed. 

We promise not to make a mess! 

Brooklyn Studio Tours 

announces ARToberfest 

photo by James 

Monroe Adams 

Dan Marino, founder of Brooklyn Studio Tours, is producing AR- 

Toberfest for its fifth year. He has roots in Red Hook and often 

finds himself shooting in and around Red Hook. “A lot of the 

opportunities where I get involved happen to be down in this 

neighborhood, so it’s kind of nostalgic for me,” he says. 

In addition to organizing these tours, he also owns his own 

company called Marino Photography. He specializes in “highlighting 

your spunkiness, quirkiness, intelligence, spontaneity.” 

He works all over NYC photographing landscapes, events 

and portraits. 

The tour also incorporates restaurants and galleries into the 

tour. Plus, there are great views at the waterfront including the 

Verrazano Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and Governor’s Island. 

“People can make a whole day of it,” Marino says. 

ARToberfest is being sponsored by BWAC, Farmacy, The Skint, 

Frame It Brooklyn, PennBrook Enterprises, Art Mix, Bococa Arts 

Festival, Giardini Pizzeria and Margaret Palca Bakes. 

An full tour map will be available on the Brooklyn Studio 

Tours website in early May as well as in the Star-Revue’s May 

15th publication. For more information and updates, visit 

www,brooklynstudiotours.com 


Local History Department 

Growing up poor in Red Hook 

Let me take you back a few years 

to 1945, the final year of WW 

II. This was a time in Red Hook 

Village when it was virtually impossible 

to find a parking place. Even more 

startling, hardly anyone in Red Hook 

owned an automobile. 

These cars belonged to the hundreds of 

dockworkers that entered Red Hook to 

work in the ship repair yards that sprung 

up along the waterfront. Don’t confuse 

these workers with the locals who 

workded on the piers. Our locals were 

hardworking union members who were 

the heart on soul of our Red Hook community. 

Most walked to work, not many 

owned automobiles. 

The car owners came from elsewhere, 

drawn to the Red Hook to work on the 

shipyards that were busy filling government 

orders to replace ships that were 

destroyed fighting the enemy overseas. 

Many of us kids were a little mischievious 

when it came to these cars. We played 

a game with them that I called “Shuffle 

the Cars.” What we did was to take a 

car parked on one street and relocating 

it. When the owner returned ready to 

drive home, of course he couldn’t find 

his car. The police would locate the reparked 

vehicle and advise the owner 

where he could find it. Many times the 

owner’s anger was calmed when he discovered 

someone had replaced his worn 

out tire with a brand new tire taken 

from another poor unsuspecting motorist. 

While one motorist was calmed, another 

would be incensed. 

Quite a few of these offenders were 

caught in the act, for as the car shuffling 

increased, so did the police surveillance. 

The offenders were taken to Juvenile 

Court, processed and served one to two 

years at West Coxackie Reform School 

in upstate New York. They inherited 

a criminal record for life for a stupid 

senseless act. My older brother served 

18 months at there. When the Korean 

War broke out, he and I were drafted, 

but at examining time, he was quickly 

rejected because of that blot on his record 

when he was 15 years old. He was 

devastated. 

Poor and hungry 

I recall as a youngster being always hungry, 

as were many of my friends. Most of 

us did not have the luxury of an electric 

refrigerator, instead we still had the old 

fashioned ice-box. These ice boxes usually 

served no purpose because much of 

the time we couldn’t afford the ice that 

was needed to keep any perishables cool 

enough to prevent spoiling. 

We would take turns swiping mickeys 

from local supermarkets. Mickeys were 

what we called potatoes, of course you 

can see the Irish connection there. 

Then we would gather at a place called 

the Trees, two huge vacant lots loaded 

with trees and foliage. There, we built 

by John Burkard 

fires to cook the potatoes. How we ate 

them I’ll never know; usually they ended 

up burned to a crisp. 

We needed something to wash down 

these succulent delicacies. This involved 

an evening jaunt over to Morgan 

Beverages. We would boost one another 

through a window and come out 

with a few cases of Sarsaparilla, return 

to our campfire and often stay the night, 

stoking the fire to remain warm through 

the chilly evenings. 

It wasn’t all that easy as a youngster 

growing up in Red Hook, but we knew 

where to find the vittles when we were 

hungry. One evening while stocking 

up on our soft drinks for a Friday night 

cookout, we were caught red handed by 

a rough looking man who turned out to 

be Morgan’s General Manager. We all 

thought for sure he would call the police. 

Instead, he surprised us by asking if 

we wanted to work Saturday on the four 

to twelve shift. All hands replied with a 

resounding “YES!!!” He told us to come 

by at 3:30 the next day and he would 

put us to work. 

We were unwitting scabs 

Little did we know we were strikebreakers. 

The union refused to work the extra 

shift, so unintentionally we became 

scabs. The following week, we were 

kept on the four to twelve permanently. 

We started to receive threats from the 

regular workers. We were told they were 

In the old days one had to refill the icebox 

with ice from the ice man, but only when 

you could afford it. 

going to wait outside at midnight and 

waylay us. Most of the guys who had 

started work decided it wasn’t worth the 

trouble. All except one—I always was a 

glutton for punishment. 

I called my brother who just got out of 

reform school. He arrived at midnight 

with five or six other toughs that hung 

out in the 13 Corners Bar. The threatening 

workers never showed up, and I 

was good for the entire summer. 

We also had variety in our sparse diet 

on Coffey Street where Valentino Park 

is now. The big grassy area just before 

the entrance was a storage location for 

huge hogsheads. We soon discovered 

they were full of green olives. It didn’t 

take us long for us to add these yummies 

to our cookouts in the trees. 

All in all, we didn’t do bad for a bunch of 

kids brought up in the slums of Red Hook. 


The 

Blue Pencil Lunar Revue 

A spoof publication of the Red Hook Star-Revue, no information below is meant to be true or offensive. 

HOROSCOPES 

Taurus 

[April 20–MAy 20] 

When you were growing up, your parents 

and your teachers and every adult figure in 

your life told you to always look both ways 

before crossing the street. And this is still 

true. you have got to be careful in choosing 

which direction to take, and at which intersection 

to cross. Especially now that we 

have all of these damn cyclists riding their 

bikes on the wrong side of the road and on 

the sidewalks. plus we have the terrorists 

to worry about. 

Gemini 

[MAy 21–JunE 20] 

A dear friend recently asked me for advice. 

Her high school reunion was coming up, 

and it was located near her knife-sharpener. 

She wanted to know if it was weird 

for her to go to the reunion with an 8-inch 

knife in her purse. i told her that it was only 

weird if she kept it concealed, that she 

should carry it in public view, or at least let 

everyone know she had it. And that’s what 

you need to do in this cycle, dear Gemini. 

Carry an 8-inch blade wherever you go. 

people will respect your boldness and, if 

they don’t, you’ve still got an 8-inch blade 

and they don’t. 

Cancer 

[JunE 21–July 22] 

When Scorpio rises, a sun sets in the heart 

of every amorous soul, and when that sun 

goes down, the waters of love rise like the 

tides of Alexandria, and that’s where real 

insight begins. it was once said that the 

solution to pollution is dilution. And that’s 

what you need to do in the coming weeks, 

Cancer. Dilute your polluted heart with the 

cleansing waters of love. These waters are 

symbolic of course, but there are catalysts 

that you can find in almost every local 

grocery store, supermarket or pharmacy. 

Sometimes when you combine these substances, 

the effect is even greater. 

Leo 

[July 23–AuGuST 22] 

Spring is the perfect time of the year to try 

new things, leo. new passions can bloom 

where you least expected, new people can 

come into your life, new opportunities must 

be seized like the bee seizes the flower before 

rubbing its pollen-soaked butt all over 

the petals and, as nature would have it, 

into the stamen. perhaps the most beautiful 

thing about this magical event is that 

the bee has no consciousness of what it is 

helping to create. Take heed in this. Don’t 

be afraid to rub your butt against any surface 

or object if your heart moves you to 

do so. 

Virgo 

[AuGuST 23–SEpTEMbEr 22] 

in the book of Ecclesiastes, it is written 

that there is a time for everything. There is 

a time for war and peace, joy and grief, and 

all that jazz. but take note, Virgo, that the 

bible doesn’t say anything about there being 

a time for lArping. That’s because it is 

an idiotic pastime. 

Libra 

[SEpTEMbEr 23–OCTObEr 22] 

“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” 

So said robert Deniro’s character in 

“A bronx Tale.” in the movie, Deniro plays 

a bus driver who is desperately trying to 

keep his son on the right track. ironically, 

the actor playing the son, lillo brancato Jr., 

has been in and out of jail for years and his 

acting career is shot. beware of the cruel 

irony of life, sweet libra. And also beware 

of movies directed by robert Deniro. They 

are as bad as Eddie Murphy’s singing, as 

demonstrated in the ghastly album, “How 

Could it be,” released in 1985. 

Scorpio 

[OCTObEr 23–nOVEMbEr 21] 

The most flavorful part of the fish, as only 

some people know, is the cheek. you can 

scoop the small chunk of flesh out with a 

spoon. This is a good thing to know on a 

first date, Scorpio. Women and men alike 

Branch Dickey 

If it’s your birthday 

Shoving your chocolate cake into 

your pointy hat may not be the best 

approach today. Follow the lead of 

DiVinci and Muir by evoking art and 

nature into that thin layer of raspberry 

jelly that ruined your birthday party 

last night. This next year, beware the 

rising moon in your bejeweled pantaloons. 

The plunger may have a red 

bow tied around it’s handle, but that 

will not protect you from the doom of 

losing all of those beloved sequins. 

My advice, sweet birthday child: hire a 

reliable seamstress. 

are attracted to such tidbits of worldly 

knowledge. And if your date is not into 

it, that just means you get to have both 

fish cheeks to yourself. Just remember to 

cleanse your palate before going in for the 

first kiss. 

Sagittarius 

[nOVEMbEr 22–DECEMbEr 21] 

A good mechanic is hard to find, Sagittarius, 

and you need one desperately. your 

rotors are ground down to the thickness 

of cardboard; your exhaust pipe is leaking 

and your gas gage is telling you lies. 

you need a tune-up, an inspection, and a 

thorough lube-job. May i recommend the 

Jiffy-lube, on Coney island Avenue? Free 

car wash thrown in. 

Capricorn 

[DECEMbEr 22–JAnuAry 19] 

in the vast mountains and valleys of 

Montana, where cowboys still drive cattle 

even in the year 2012, they have a saying: 

“if you can whittle, you can do it.” 

What exactly “it” is that you can do is never 

specified, but that’s part of the wisdom 

behind the old trope. Capricorn, you need 

to figure out what “it” is that you want to 

do. And then, you need to learn to whittle. 

Aquarius 

[JAnuAry 20–FEbruAry 18] 

in a past life, you were a holy fool. like the 

gravedigger in Hamlet, you uttered profound 

phrases in the voice of the commoner. And 

you were modest, humble, despite being 

wiser than anyone who wore the cloth of the 

kingdom. And you were even funny! So what 

happened, Aquarius? Where did all those 

endearing qualities go, all those virtues? To 

some centipede that now lives under your 

bed, feasting on the crumbs of the crackers 

that you ate last night while you were 

watching episode after episode of Grey’s 

Anatomy? At least they were put to some 

good use, which is more than i can say for 

your sorry ass. 

Pisces 

[FEbruAry 19–MArCH 20] 

There are classes for lots of things best 

learned by simply doing, pisces. And yet, 

entire industries thrive on the gullibility 

of the complacent masses, who have no 

awareness of their own power. but there 

is also vast potential at these classes and 

workshops for conquest of the carnal variety, 

and this should not be overlooked 

as you head into the mating season. 

Aries 

[MArCH 21–April 19] 

you have been struggling in your relationships 

as of late, and this is normal for this 

time of year. but please remember that every 

human relationship is unique as every 

snowflake is unique. And there are probably, 

like, billions of snowflakes in the world 

right now. And there are billions of people. 

So that means that there are, like, even 

more relationships which are in a constant 

flux and flurry which some have called the 

cosmic consciousness. your homework, 

darling Aries? build a snowman. 

The America’s Cup Moves 

to the Gowanus Canal 

The most prestigious yacht race in the world, The America›s Cup, 

has decided to move from the planned location of San Francisco 

to the “always clean, and always green” Gowanus Canal. According 

to Events Director, Richard Bumblebiff the choice was an easy when 

they realized how fast the cleanup of the previously polluted canal was 

performed. “We were so taken by the essence of the murky water and hungered 

by the reeking smell of dirty, rotten fish remains,” Bumblebiff said. 

“We wanted to spotlight the location for all the world to see. A miraculous 

endeavor happened right before our eyes.” He went on to liken the 

cleanup with Mary Poppins snapping her fingers and singing a song. At the 

conclusion of the Star-Revue interview, Bumblebiff merrily skipped away 

humming “Spoon Full of Sugar” and swinging his arms happily. 

The size of the canal is of some concern, but the America’s Cup will adjust, 

allowing only smaller yachts than the boats of years past. The race released 

a statement saying “with beautiful waters like this, the adjustments 

will be worth it”. 

The race will take place June 30th beginning at the 2nd Avenue entrance 

near 5th Street in Gowanus. Although the race begins at 6 am, spectators are 

advised to arrive days early to secure seats at the rare and spectacular event. 

Blue Pencil Classifed Ads 

To place your own ad in our next issue, please go see a 

shrink because you are obviously out of your mind. 

Missing: 

Blubber whale. Has smooth skin and curly eyelashes. 

If found please return to Gowanus Canal. 

Set of green marbles. Also assistance to tighten a 

loose screw. Contact George at 718.624.5568 

93 year old ghost. Has been haunting Columbia 

Street since 1973. Last seen on April 1, 2012. Answers 

to the name “Lassie”. For further inquiries, 

contact Greenwood Cemetery. 

Wanted: 

Samples of dry dirt from all states and countries. 

Moon samples also requested. Mail submissions to 

Red Hook Star-Revue, Attn: Matt Graber, 101 Union 

St.,Brooklyn, NY 11231. 

Trained artist to draw 3-D stick figures. Must 

be comfortable with protractor style art and proficient 

in sketching smiley faces. Submit portfolios to 

iheart80scartoons@redhookstar.com 

For Sale: 

Cubic Zirconium engagement ring. Resizable, 

but fake all the same. Email: 

myhusbandisacheatingb*stard@redhookstar.com 

1973 Ford Mustang. In good condition, but 

all of the windows are smashed. You can 

have his baseball bat too. $3 OBO. Contact: 

myhusbandisacheatingb*stard@redhookstar.com 

Mother-in-law. Intrusive,obnoxious and ill-mannered. 

Will pay new owner to take her away. Email: 

myhusbandisSTILLacheatingb*stard@redhookstar. 

com 

Rainy day for sale. Will negotiate for blue skies, 

spring warmth and tan lines. Call John Denver: 

718.624.5568; or email sunshineonmyshoulders@ 

redhookstar.com 

Announcements: 

Moulon Rouge challenges Chicago to a singing 

duel. Will be held at Grand Ole Opry and will 

consisit of only Conway Twitty songs. Wednesday 

May 9, 7pm-till. 

Creamer outranks 2% milk 3 to 1 as America’s 

favorite coffee condiment. 

I have exhausted my chocolate supply. The 

Easter Bunny ruined Christmas. 

World’s largest collection of crap discovered 

last week in Star-Revue filing cabinet. Among 

the collection: Spandex from the 80s, corroded 

batteries, hundreds of psychiatrists’ business 

cards, half eaten moldy cookies, lady things and 

wooden dentures. 

In a unilateral decision, vodka and tequila 

have decided to join forces due to an overwhelming 

economical decline. The merged liquor 

will forever be called Vodquila & 3/4. 

Help Wanted: 

Bounty hunters to track missing gorilla from Star- 

Revue zoo. Must own net and tranquilizer gun. If 

interested, please consult Select Mail Oracle. 

Professional glue-smith to repair enlarged 

shell. Send resume to Humpty-Dumptyis- 

Clutsy@redhookstar.com. 

Undercover lifeguards to watch over unwitting 

blonde. Must be able to be able to remove 

scratch-n-sniff stickers from bottom of 

pool at any depth while distracting attractive 

lady. Email references to: that’snotfunny@ 


All email addresses are valid. BP lunatics encourage 

your responses. 


Letter : 

“Private” Parks a Disgrace 

Since New York City walked away from its 

parks with these self appointed alliances, 

our parks are suffering. The hundreds of 

parks not on the hip list suffer neglect and 

are understaffed. 

Our parks deserve better or the city deserves 

better. Civil service was once the 

backbone of our city; now it is left to these 

well meaning ne’er-do-wells who have 

abandoned the parks. I say that because 

all of the parks make NYC—not the few 

special parks. Wi-Fi and condos, contrasted 

with the pure neglect of other local parks is 

not good policy. 

Now what do I say? Hmm. Look at the millions 

spent on 311 web sites for agencies. I 

wonder if all the web designers are out of 

work kids or friends of the politicians. If you 

visit the facilities of Red Hook you will see 

high school players on the fields, not locals. 

There is a multi tier of city services. 

This goes across the board to schools. If the 

Gowanus Canal was on the west side the 

people would be evacuated and the area 

cleaned up, but here in Red Hook they wait. 

As a kid, I remember when a stone was not 

out of place in Prospect Park. My neighbor, 

Mr. Seminara was in change a civil 

servant. Now neglect is a return to nature. 

Our parks need to be accessible to all and 

maintained, but this with never happen 

without workers. Full time workers are 

taboo, so most parks are in ruins. Robert 

“Moe” Maloney, Park Slope 

Last Issue Answers 

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P I E R E N P T S M I L E 

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O K R A 

15 11 12 13 14 

D O H A 

16 

O A S E S 

17 2 3 4 5 

L E A D 

18 7 17 9 19 

I R O N S 

11 20 13 14 15 

V A S T 

21 2 3 4 22 6 20 8 9 

L A S D S C A T 

23 11 12 13 22 

I W I S H 

15 

23 2 24 4 5 24 7 8 25 10 26 12 13 14 15 

E A S T H O U S E S 

1 2 3 26 28 6 

O K R I T 

7 8 9 10 

T 

11 12 27 28 29 

H F C 

30 31 32 4 5 

F A R M 

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T A S E R 

34 37 36 37 

O A R 

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A P E D N O S T R U M 

41 14 15 

M I A 

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R E D H O O K R I S E 

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E L I 

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C R Y E R 

46 8 9 10 11 12 

S A N E R 

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M S N 

48 2 3 4 5 

E Y E S 

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P E S E T A S 

1 51 53 52 53 51 52 8 

S Y T A 

54 10 11 53 13 54 15 

A K A D 

55 56 57 4 

N E H I 

5 58 59 60 10 61 57 13 14 15 

W E A K N S P E C 

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U R E A 

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I R I S 

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M A R E 

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B A R N S T O R M 

66 11 12 13 14 15 

U S S R 

What I Remember About Red Hook 

by Mary Anne Massaro 

I remember red hooks and white rocks, 

An old drafty house where I slept in my 

socks. 

Hot summer nights with friends on the 

stoop 

Watching the pigeons take flight from 

dad’s coop 

Crossing the tracks of the trolley cars 

Cold beer and pretzels at the corner bar. 

Lunch time pizza sold by the slice 

Coke in a bottle with a fresh lemon ice. 

Lazy Sundays down on the pier 

Bumpy bike rides on cobblestones leading 

there. 

A new pair of Converse or PF Fliers 

Stringing my old pair on the telephone 

wires. 

Ice cream parlors and candy stores 

Playing in aerie ways on cellar doors. 

The banging of the pipes at PS 15 

The smell of the old rexograph machine. 

Out on the street with friends playing 

games 

I remember when everyone knew 

everyone’s names. 

That’s what I remember about Red Hook! 

In the Nabe 

by Vince Musacchia 

Ten by George 

ACROSS 

1. Eat 

5. Could contain wheat or a missile 

9. Sarah (Palin)’s double 

13. What a volcano does 

15. Not closed 

16. Wild goat 

17. Obsolete Arabian form of money 

18.` Next ________ (BAM festival) 

19. Write a bad check 

20. Gowanus before it was a channel 

21. Creative type 

23. Hunter in the sky 

27. What to say to Irene 

31. Artists paint these 

36. Hawaiian party 

37. Limb 

38. Most extreme 

39. Memo wd. 

40. Dodgers moved there in 1957 

41. Stocks 

42. Look for 

43. It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’_ ____ 

46. Spiegelman 

47. Seratonin (abbr) 

48. Life’s work 

50. Opposite of yesses 

51. Ryan and Thatcher 

52. Short for Rupert 

54. His day is in June 

56. You could be behind them or 

sitting at them 

57. Answer is ENH 

58. Grand party 

59. ____ Maria, a drink 

61. Worn on Wall Street 

62. Kinds of beers 

63. What was said when the ‘Iron Man’ 

finally was benched 

65. Charged atom 

66. Wealthy 

67. A pretty flower 

68. Opposite of ques. 

DOWN 

1. Place to get a ruben sandwich 

2. A boycotted country 

3. Cut the edge of a coin 

4. Fencing sword 

5. A piglet’s mom 

6. Served at Rocky Sullivan’s 

7. Ancient name for Middle East 

8. One fifth of a ‘fiver’ 

1 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 10 9 10 11 12 

13 5 6 7 14 9 15 11 12 13 14 16 

17 2 3 4 5 6 18 17 9 10 11 19 13 14 15 

20 2 3 4 19 6 20 8 21 21 22 12 13 22 15 

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27 28 29 30 5 6 7 8 9 10 31 32 33 34 35 

36 2 3 4 5 37 7 8 28 38 11 29 13 14 15 

39 2 3 4 5 40 7 31 9 41 11 32 13 14 15 

42 2 3 4 5 43 7 44 45 10 11 35 46 14 15 

47 7 8 9 48 11 12 13 14 49 

1 2 3 50 7 51 9 10 38 12 52 53 41 

1 54 55 4 5 6 7 56 43 10 11 12 57 14 15 

58 44 3 4 5 59 60 8 9 10 11 45 61 14 15 

62 46 3 4 63 7 8 64 10 11 48 65 14 15 

66 49 2 3 4 67 6 7 8 9 10 11 68 13 14 15 

9. Exotic bar 

10. Bird known for a long beak 

11. Accounting term for money left after 

expenses (variation) 

12. Hatchet 

14. Grand ______ National Park 

22. This Amendment gave states all 

power not specifically granted to the 

federal government 

24. Movie theaters 

25. How do _ _____ cheese? (2 words) 

26. Electrical measure 

27. Mirror 

28. _______ Banks 

29. Made of oats 

30. Donut chain sponsors this race 

32. Actress Thurman 

33. The Explorer (cartoon character) 

34. Number 10 in Hebrew 

35. Carroll Gardens church 

38. Computer club 

44. Candy with alcohol in it 

45. Part of the eye 

49. ___-A-Bagel (chain) 

52. Plural of rete 

53. Labor group 

54. Surrealistic painter 

55. Guinness (actor) 

58. Needlefish 

59. Explosive 

60. A document acknowledging debt 

64. An interjection, often with ! 


Club Scene: 

I showed 

up to SRB, short for “Soul, 

Rhythm and Blues,” around eight before 

the doors were even open. SRB 

opened in January on Second Avenue 

at 14th Street in Brooklyn. I chatted 

with the black-clad, muscle-bound bouncers 

while I waited; beside the velvet ropes was 

a sort of mini-furnace that burned brightly 

and provides welcome relief for those 

waiting in line during the winter months. 

Though the velvet ropes and uniformed 

bouncers should have tipped me off, as I 

went through doors and into the main space 

I realized that this was a real club, not just 

another dive bar with a stage. It soon occurred 

to me that this place might be a suitable 

replacement for Southpaw - a large 

music venue on Fifth Avenue that recently 

closed. Given its size, SRB is a fine alternative 

to the Bell House, (7th Street and 2nd 

Avenue), which has been probably the largest 

venue in the area for a few years now. 

What I’m saying is SRB is big. The floor 

legally accommodates four hundred, but 

vastly more could be packed in, probably 

close to a thousand. The place is a full 

five-thousand square feet and the stage is 

sizable enough to house any act you care 

to mention, no matter how big the horn 

section is or how many dancers there 

are. This is a nice change from many 

NYC clubs with their cramped stages 

and low ceilings that can make one 

feel as though he is playing in a musky 

cave. Two long bars lit in an eerie red 

glow parallel each other across the huge 

floor space in front of the stage. A discoball 

slowly revolves above, sending delicate 

shimmers of light across the room. 

The place is supposed to be a throwback 

to the old nightclubs of the ‘60’s and 

‘70’s. The ceilings are as cavernously 

high as an old warehouse space. 

The owner, who goes only by “Doc,” is 

a NYC native, probably in his early fifties, 

and has a noticeable nervous energy 

as he led me around SRB. First, he 

showed the main floor level. The first 

VIP section is black-leather clad and 

set back in the corner of the club on the 

right near the entrance. The second 

VIP section is located above and behind 

the stage for a unique view of both the 

audience and the performers. I imagine 

it makes one feel a little like a roman 

emperor at the gladiatorial arena. 

Doc started extensive renovations in 

2008 that took a full three years, changing 

the building from a marble and tile 

warehouse into a state-of-the-art perfor- 

mance venue. I could tell that “Doc” 

is a real music geek and takes a genuine 

pleasure in what he has created. I 

was so impressed with the place that 

I not so subtly mentioned to him that 

my own band, “The False Alarms,” is 

planning a record release this summer. 

Then Doc showed me the green room 

where the bands hang out before their 

set. It is sizable, full of beanbag chairs 

and even boasts microwaves and a 

shower. This is all on the third floor, the 

top level of SRB. When compared to 

other green rooms, often nothing more 

than a glorified closets, one can appreciate 

the lengths to which Doc has gone 

to provide comfort for not only for the 

guests, but his performers as well. 

The sound booth is top notch. Equipped 

with Pro-tools, it can do live recording 

of as many tracks as anyone could 

need; they will be live streaming the 

“SRB does not really feel 

like that. It has more of a 

Manhattan feel, not really the 

local hangout vibe that you 

often get in Brooklyn.” 

big events online in six months. The 

back line on stage is also extensive 

and as a guitar player, I was impressed 

with the choices in amps and just how 

shiny and new everything is--especially 

the drum set up. There is no need for 

lugging cumbersome amps and drums 

on the subway to this place, they have 

you covered. There are even giant subwoofers 

under the stage. The sound was 

every bit as good as I hoped it would be. 

To wrap up the tour, I must mention that 

the art at SRB was done by graff-artist 

Keo, and the walls feature portraits of 

soul singers in blacks and whites. Barry 

White, James Brown, Marvin Gayethey 

were all there. The mini-gallery 

fits well with the retro 60s, 70s club vibe 

that Doc is going for. Altogether the décor 

was nothing unique, it was certainly 

tasteful. There is no kitchen. The drink 

menu seemed pretty standard. 

The place does not have a hipster vibe 

like so many new spots in Brooklyn; it’s 

too fancy. The drinks were not really 

that cheap--a tap beer was seven dollars. 

It just wasn’t “divey” enough for the 

SRB seems to have spared no expense at recreating the garish disco style of the first 

disco era, albeit with the better sound systems available today. Photos on this page by 

Matt Degrosa 

Huge Manhattan-style disco now 

open in Gowanus 

by Ethan Donway 

The retro-looking crowd kind of goes along with the ambiance and music that SRB has 

been presenting. Many of these people danced in discos back in the 1970’s. 

bearded, PBR crowd. It is a big spot that 

will attract some big acts, which means 

it will probably draw a diverse mix of 

people from around the area and may not 

really end up catering specifically to one 

genre, style or specific scene. Southpaw 

had a very relaxed, sort of neighborhood 

atmosphere. I remember the owner even 

had his massive, friendly dog lounging 

about on the floor and the bartenders 

were guys I knew from the neighborhood. 

SRB does not really feel like that. It has 

more of a Manhattan feel, not really the 

local hangout vibe that you often get 

in Brooklyn. You wouldn’t just drop by 

there for one drink. You’d plan to go see 

a show there. You’d make an evening of 

it. That is not to say however that SRB is 

not making contact with the locals. 

Nearby rehearsal space, King Killer Stu- 

dios, (69 Second Avenue at 9th Street), 

had a handful of the bands that rehearse 

there playing together at SRB when I 

stopped by on Friday night. “Laserbrain” 

(jazz, funk, indie); “Scrapers” (hardcore); 

“Generation Ohm,” (a hard rock band 

who’s front-man I recognized from his 

old band “Chewing Pics”); “Tin Vulva” 

(a sort of experimental, alt rock band); 

“Less Magnetic” (jazz). I was there for 

part of the night and though it was not 

especially well attended given the size of 

the venue, it was a friendly, fun atmosphere. 

It’s still too early to tell exactly 

what role this place will fill, but there are 

certainly things to like about the place. 

If you see show there that piques your interest, 

SRB is well worth checking out. 

SRB, 177 2nd Avenue, Brooklyn (718) 

499-1700; www.srbbrooklyn.com 


Art: Red 

The sights of Paris are 

on display at a Van 

Brunt Street gallery, 

but although visitors 

will find representations of the 

Eiffel Tower and other iconic 

Parisian attractions at Gallery 

Small New York, what they 

won’t find is typical postcard 

images of the French city. 

“American in Paris” is a collection 

of work created by a group of 

artists, all of whom are from New 

York, in reaction to time spend 

in the City of Light. What binds 

457 continues to shine on Court Street 

Dining:Frankie’s 

by Erik Penney 

Legend has it that the 

two Frankie’s who own 

Frankie’s 457 Spuntino 

on lower Court 

Street met - or reunited - after 

losing touch for 18 years while 

fighting over a parking spot in 

Manhattan. After recognizing 

each other, I can imagine they 

embraced and in true Italian- 

American style insisted on sharing 

an enormous meal together. 

Both chefs by trade, they quickly 

realized that they shared the 

same passion for the same foods 

from their childhood. They decided 

that they should open a 

restaurant together that served 

the best of what they remembered 

eating as kids, and thus 

Frankie’s was born. 

I have to believe that a restaurant 

as good as Frankie’s must 

have sprung from a beautiful 

coincidence such as this one, 

and we are all the better for it. 

My first visit to Frankie’s actually 

came after a failed attempt at 

a table at Prime Meats, a nearby 

restaurant that they also own. 

The room is small, casual and 

almost always full. Classic rock 

pipes through the house system. 

What they are doing here with 

the menu is simple and seems 

obvious, but it is something 

that’s surprisingly rare in restaurants 

today – staying true to 

the classic recipes of the past 

while improving them with all 

of the exceptional ingredients 

that are easily available today. 

Hook’s Gallery Small presents “American in Paris” 

the show is a shared perspective. 

Each artist captures moments 

that are often overlooked or ignored 

through different styles 

and mediums in a city where 

tourist attractions monopolize 

landscape and the attention. 

“In each case it’s trying to take 

the icon out of Paris, each one 

of those artists is responding to 

Paris non-iconically,” said Alexandra 

Mondschein, the gallery’s 

director and owner. 

A lithograph by Frederick 

Dickinson Williams is a classical 

representation 

of the Parisian landscape, 

while the rest 

of the show ranges 

from dark and moody 

to sunny pieces. AK 

Corbin’s architectural 

drawings of places 

like the Eiffel Tower, 

done on black paper, 

evoke mystery and a 

The great thing about Frankie’s 

is that they do not try to reinvent 

the wheel or deconstruct 

the beloved Italian-American 

dishes so many of us, Italian or 

not, grew up on. The menu is, 

therefore, entirely recognizable. 

Intelligent, creative ingredient 

sourcing and top-notch culinary 

expertise take these dishes 

to their apotheosis. 

The first dish I had at Frankie’s 

was a house-made cavatelli 

pasta with Faicco’s hot Italian 

sausage and marinara sauce. 

Faicco’s, has been sating New 

Yorkers’ Italian sausage and 

meat cravings for generations. 

That Frankie’s chose to use 

their product speaks to my 

point about ingredient sourcing. 

In this dish the use of exceptional 

sausage pushes it over 

the edge for me. The pork is fattier 

and more flavorful, the fennel 

taste and aroma are deeper 

and fresher. Perfectly al dente 

pasta, a wonderful, light marinara 

and a grate of fresh Paramgiano 

Reggiano round it out 

and I defy you to find a better 

plate of pasta anywhere. 

Linguini with fava beans and 

toasted breadcrumbs is also an 

astonishingly good dish. That’s 

all it is, except maybe with a 

good glug of excellent extra virgin 

olive oil. Simple and beautiful, 

the contrasting textures 

are perfect and just delicious. 

Faicco’s again appears in the 

sausage, peppers and creamy po- 

by Elizabeth Graham 

sense of loneliness. Her work 

hangs alongside that of her father, 

Leonard Corbin, whose 

landscapes and loose, almost 

impressionistic style seems to 

offer a peek into quiet corners 

of the Old World. 

The show follows “French,” a 

collection of drawings and illustrations 

from France dating 

back to 1840 to 1940. 

The gallery’s street-level location 

in a former liquor store, where 

the door is usually propped open 

as in invitation to passersby, 

represents its aim to appeal to a 

wide-ranging audience. 

“We like people to come in, we 

want to be street level, nothing 

hoity-toity,” Mondschein 

said. “We want people to come 

in and react” to the art, all of 

which bears some connection 

to New York or Paris. The gallery 

seeks out work that represents 

“the small side of it, an- 

lenta, and a light tomato sauce 

ties together this rich plate. All 

of these things are the very best 

of their kind. 

Some small plates are available 

at the bar. They have a list of 

crostini. One night we shared 4: 

sweet eggplant caponata; fresh, 

milky ricotta and speck; canellini 

beans with lemon, capers 

and anchovy; and cece beans 

with guancale. The whole list 

is delicious and interesting and 

also fun to share. They have a 

form of charcuterie menu. From 

there you can get ribbons of prosciutto, 

capicola, and sorpressata, 

all of which I am sure come 

from a carefully chosen artisan 

who takes enormous pride in 

producing the best of what he 

can. And now Frankie’s has it. 

Pork braciole marinara has been 

braising slowly for eternity until 

it reaches the apex of tenderness. 

The sauce has taken on a 

remarkable meaty, silky weight. 

Meatballs are made with pignoli 

nuts and raisins in a welcome 

nod to the deep Southern tip of 

Italy, if not Sicily. Also braised 

in their marinara, these are intense 

and highly textural. They 

are authentic and utterly true 

to their Southern roots, but 

also unique to the American 

palate, where putting raisins in 

your meatballs might otherwise 

elicit scrunched noses from the 

kids at the table. The sweetness 

permeates through the meat 

Above: Resting Mid Bridge, Paris - AK Corbin; lower left: Afternoon 

Break - Madeleine Kraeler 

other way to look at the city 

which you take for granted.” 

The gallery hosts several shows 

a year, with a focus on emerging 

artists. Soon, submissions will 

be accepted for a show spotlighting 

illustrators, along with 

one titled “Beautiful Junk,” 

which, Mondschein says, will 

be a collection of eye-catching 

and into the sauce. While it is 

clearly Italian it is also different 

and fascinating to eat. Again, 

top quality meats in both make 

them spectacular. 

The sandwiches on the menu, 

again, are mostly typical, Italian-American 

“heroes” that 

I have gotten in delis and at 

street fairs all my life, but these 

are something different. Faicco’s 

sausage and broccoli rabe. 

Fresh mozzarella, tomato and 

roasted red peppers. Meatball 

parmagiana. And finally Sicilian 

tuna with tomato, red onion 

and arugula. All are made 

with superlative ingredients. 

The tuna is imported and is 

likely caught on small boats, 

the tuna herded into enormous 

hand-nets by old Sicilian fishermen 

in the same way as has 

been done for centuries. You 

think I’m being sarcastic but 

this is entirely true. The process 

is regulated and sanctioned by 

the Sicilian government to protect 

both the Mediterranean 

tuna populations and the local 

fishing industry, and it produces 

some of the most incredible 

tuna you will ever taste. After 

trying it you will be ruined for 

anything in a can with a pulltab 

for the rest of your life. It is 

fishier, fattier, oilier and saltier. 

This is truly the prized ingredient 

that causes a whole linecaught 

tuna to sell for tens and 

even hundreds of thousands of 

dollars in some markets. It also 

makes for one of the best $12 

sandwiches I can think of. 

castoffs and trash. 

“American in Paris” is on display 

through the end of May at Gallery 

Small New York, 416 Van 

Brunt Street. Their hours are 

Thursdays 1 – 5 pm, Friday and 

Saturday 12 – 6 pm and Sunday 

from 12 – 5 pm Smallnewyork. 

com, smallnewyorkcity@yahoo. 

com, (347) 782-3729. 

The wine list is also intelligently 

crafted, and starts with 

a perfectly good $6 glass of the 

house red, currently a Montpulciano 

d’Abruzzo. A rotating 

list of regional options includes 

an excellent Nebbiolo and an 

equally good Morellino. The 

selection pairs well with the 

simple, almost rustic menu. 

I do love Italian food. But maybe 

what I really love is what it 

represents, which to me is big 

dinners at big tables with parents, 

brothers, sisters, cousins, 

uncles, nieces, nephews and 

loved ones. And the food - big 

steaming bowls of pasta and 

sauce, flavorful roasted and simmering 

meats and fish, huge 

loaves of crusty bread and olive 

oil and cheese, and lots of wine. 

The food here at Frankie’s is 

genius, but equally genius is 

that they manage to make you 

feel like you are at a table like 

this, everyone brought together 

by their love of food and each 

other. And the Led Zeppelin 

coming through the speakers 

doesn’t hurt either. 

Frankie’s 457 Spuntino, 457 

Court Street (corner of Luquer) 

www.frankiesspuntino.com 

Recommended dishes: Braised octopus 

with Dandelion Greens and 

Castelvetrano vinaigrette; crostinis; 

cured meats; linguini with fava 

beans and toasted breadcrumbs; 

Faicco’s sweet sausage with roasted 

red peppers and onions over creamy 

polenta; meatballs; red wine prunes 

and mascarpone 


Star-Revue Guide to area restaurants 

Red Hook 

BAKED 359 Van Brunt St., (718)222-0345. 

THE BROOKLYN ICE HOUSE 318 Van 

Brunt St., (718) 222-1865. 

BOTANICA 220 Conover St (at Coffey St), 

(347) 225-0147. 

DEFONTE’S SANDWICH SHOP 379 

Columbia St., (718) 855-6982. 

DIEGO’S RESTAURANT 116 Sullivan 

St., (718) 625-1616. 

F&M BAGELS 383 Van Brunt St., (718) 

855-2623. 

FORT DEFIANCE 365 Van Brunt St., 

(347) 453-6672. 

THE GOOD FORK 391 Van Brunt St., 

(718) 643-6636. 

HOME/MADE 293 Van Brunt St., (347) 

223-4135. 

HOPE & ANCHOR 347 Van Brunt St., 

(718) 237-0276. 

IKEA One Beard St., (718) 246-4532. 

JOHN & FRANKS, 367 Columbia 

Street, (718) 797-4467 

KEVIN’S 277 Van Brunt St., (718) 596- 

8335. 

MARK’S PIZZA 326 Van Brunt St., 

(718) 624-0690. 

NEW LIN’S GARDEN RESTAURANT 

590 Clinton Street, (718) 399-1166 

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND 284 

Van Brunt St., (646) 326-7650. 

ROCKY SULLIVAN’S 34 Van Dyke St., 

(718) 246-8050. 

STEVE’S AUTHENTIC KEY LIME 

PIE, 204 Van Dyke St, (718) 852-6018 

SUNNY’S BAR IN RED HOOK, 253 

Conover Street, (718) 625-8211 

Columbia 

Waterfront 

District 

ALMA 187 Columbia St., (718) 643-5400. 

BAGEL BOY CAFE 75 Hamilton Avenext 

to Chase, (718) 855-0500. 

CALEXICO CARNE ASADA 122 

Union St., (718) 488-8226. 

CASA DI CAMPAGNA 117 Columbia 

Street (718) 237-4300. 

CASELNOVA 214 Columbia St., (718) 

522-7500. 

FERNANDO’S FOCACCERIA RES- 

TAURANT 151 Union St., (718)855-1545. 

HOUSE OF PIZZA & CALZONES 

132 Union St., (718) 624-9107. 

JAKE’S BAR-B-QUE RESTAURANT 

189 Columbia St., (718) 522-4531. 

KOTOBUKI BISTRO 192 Columbia St., 

(718) 246-7980. 

LILLA CAFE 126 Union St., (718) 855- 

5700. 

MAZZAT 208 Columbia St., (718) 852- 

1652. 

PETITE CREVETTE 144 Union St., (718) 

855-2632. 

SUGAR LOUNGE, 147 Columbia Street, 

718 643-2880 

TEEDA THAI CUISINE 218 Columbia 

St., (718) 643-2737. 

Carroll Gardens/ 

Cobble Hill 

ABILENE, 442 Court Street, 718-522- 

6900, 

ANGRY WADES, 222 Smith Street, (718) 

488-7253 

BACCHUS, 409 Atlantic, (718) 852-1572 

BAR BRUNO, 520 Henry St., 347-763- 

0850, 

BAGELS BY THE PARK, 323 Smith 

Street, (718) 246-1321 

BAR GREAT HARRY, 280 Smith Street 

(718) 222-1103 

BOMBAY DREAM, 257 Smith Street 

(718) 237-6490 

BOURGEOIS PIG, 387 Court Street, 

(718) 858-5483 

BROOKLYN BREAD CAFE, 436 Court 

Street (718) 403-0234 

BUDDY’S BURRITO & TACO BAR, 

260 Court Street, 718-488-8695, 

BUTTERMILK CHANNEL, 524 Court 

Street (718) 852-8490 

CASA ROSA, 384 Court Street, 718-797- 

1907 

CHESTNUT, 271 Smith St., (718) 243- 

0049 

COBBLE GRILL, 212 Degraw Street, 

(718) 422-0099 

COBBLE HILL COFFEE SHOP, 314 

Court Street, (718) 852-1162 

CODY’S ALE HOUSE GRILL, 154 

Court Street, 718-852,6115 

COURT STREET GROCERS, 485 Court 

Street, (718) 722-7229 

CRAVE, 570 Henry Street, (718) 643-0361 

CUBANA CAFE, 272 Smith Street (718) 

718-858-3980 

DOWNTOWN BAR & GRILL, 160 

Court street, 718-625-2835 

DUBUQUE, 548 Court Street, (718) 596- 

3248 

EM THAI KITCHEN, 278 Smith Street, 

(718) 834-0511 

ENOTICA ON COURT, 347 Court Street, 

(718) 243-1000 

F LINE BAGELS, 476 Smith Street (718) 

422-0001 

FIVE GUYS, 266 Court St., 347-799-2902 

FRAGOLE, 394 Court Street, (718) 622- 

7133 

FRANCESCO’S RESTAURANT, 531 

Henry Street, (718) 834-0863 

FRANK’S LUNCHEONETTE, 365 

Smith Street, (718) 875-5449 

NOw OPEN MONDAyS 5-10:30! 

Hours: Noon to 10:30 pm Tues. to Thurs. Noon to 11pm Friday. 

4pm to 11pm Saturday & 4pm to 10:30pm Sunday. 

GHANG, 229 Court Street, 718-875-1369 

GOWANUS YACHT CLUB, 323 Smith 

Street, (718) 246-132,Closed til spring 

HANA CAFE, 235 Smith Street, (718) 

643-1963 

LE PETITE CAFE, 502 Court street, 718- 

596-7060 

LING LING YOUNG, 508 Henry Street, 

(718) 260-9095 

MARCO POLO RISTORANTE, 345 

Court Street, 718 852-5015 

MAMA MARIA’S RESTAURANT, 

307 Court Street, (718) 246-2601 

MEZCALS Restaurant, 522 Court Street, 

718-783-3276 

NATURES GRILL, 138 Court street, 718- 

852,5100, 

NINE-D, 462 Court Street, 718-488-8998, 

OAXACA TACOS, 251 Smith Street (718) 

222-1122 

OSACA RESTAURANT, 272 Court 

Street (718) 643-0055 

P J HANLEYS, 449 Court St, 718- 843-8223 

PALO CORTADO, 520 Court St, 718- 

407-0047 

PRIME MEATS, 465 Court Street, 718- 

254-0327 or 0345, 

PALMYRA, 316 Court street, 718-797- 

1110 

RED ROSE RESTAURANT, 315 Smith 

Street, (718) 625-0963 

SALS PIZZA, 305 Court Street, (718) 

852-6890 

SAM’S RESTAURANT, 238 Court 

Street, 718-596-3458 

SOUL SPOT 302 Atlantic Ave 718 596- 

9933 

SAVOIA, 277 Smith Street, 718-797-2727 

SEERSUCKER RESTAURANT, 329 

Smith Street, (718) 422-0444 

SMITH & VINE, 268 Smith Street (718) 

243-2864 

SOUTH BROOKLYN PIZZA, 451 

Court Street, 718 852-6018 

STINKY BROOKLYN, 261 Smith Street, 

718 522-7425 

SWEET MELISSA, 276 Court Street, (718) 

855-3410 

TRIPOLI, 156 Atlantic Ave, 718 596-5800 

VINNY’S OF CARROLL GARDENS, 

295 Smith Street, 718 875-5600 

VINNY’S PIZZERIA, 455 Court Street, 

718 596-9342 

VINO Y TAPAS, 520 Court Street, 718- 

407-0047 

VINZEE’S, 412 Court Street, 718 855 

1401 

ZAYTOONS, 283 Smith Street, 718 875-1880 

Gowanus 

MICHAEL AND PINGS, 437 Third Avenue, 

(718) 788-0017 

COTTA BENE PIZZA, 291 3rd Ave, 718 

722-7200 

LITTLENECKS, 288 3rd Ave., (718) 522-1921 

CANAL BAR, 270 3rd Ave, (718) 246-0011 

CASELNOVA 

-the neighborhood trattoria- 

MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH 

Sunday May 12th, 2012 

3 COURSES $25 

Complimentary Brunch Cocktail for MOM. 

Follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook 

and check out our menu. 

Join us Sunday Evening for a Traditional 

Italian Sunday Supper 

$20/pp 

Reservations Recommended www.caselnova.com 

WE FEATURE A GLUTEN FREE ITALIAN MENU! 

Home of the Carbonara Pizza 

Come check out our amazing brick oven pizzas 

and homemade pastas 

• Mon buy a pizza get a beer for $1 

• Tues 2 for 1 pizza 

• Wed 1/2 price bottles of wine 

• Thursday Kids eat free off the Kid’s Menu 

Free Delivery/Take Out 

215 Columbia Street (718) 522-7500 


Help WAnted 

Freelance Writers: The Red Hook Star-Revue is 

looking for freelance writers for both the arts and 

news sections. We want to buttress our news as well 

as local theater and arts coverage. Email Kimberly @ 


Outside Salesperson: The Red Hook Star-Revue 

seeks an ambitious person who likes to walk, talk 

and make friends in the neighborhood to sell display 

advertising. Commission to start - work around your 

hours, no pressure. Call 718 624-5568 and speak to 

Kimberly or George. 

Hair Dresser with Following. Licensed hairdresser 

needed for huge opportunity in very modern 

and elegant Van Brunt Street Salon. Opposite PS 15. 

Call Nayda at 718 935-0596 for more details. 

neighborhood 

Services 

laundry Service 

DELVAN 

DROP-OFF 

SERVICE 

289 Columbia St. (at Summit) 718 797-1600 

• Laundry, Dry Cleaning & Alterations 

• Laundry done same day!! 

• Regular Dry Cleaning in 2 days!! 

FREE Pick-up and Delivery 

www.delvandropoff.com 

Licensed Electrical Contractors 

Commercial • Residential • Industrial 

Free Estimates 

Violations Removed 

All Types of Wiring 

Emergency Service 

137 King Street 

Brooklyn, NY 11231 

Fax: (718) 935-0887 

EMERGENCY 

SERVICE 

Vito Liotine 

(718) 625-1995 

(718) 625-0867 

aliotine@aol.com 

Star-Revue Classifieds 

Space Available 

Warehousing and office space available in Brooklyn, 

Sunset park area, anywhere from 1,000 to 

7,000 sq. ft @ $8.00 per sq. foot. Please call Frank 

Monday through Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm at 718- 

260-9440 or 718-797-4000. 

Movers 

COOL HAND MOVERS Friendly local guys that 

can relocate your life, or just shlep your new 

couch from Ikea. We’ll show up on time, in a truck 

or van if necessary, and basically kick ass -- you 

might even have a good time! Call for a free estimate 

at (917) 584-0334 or email at coolhandmovers@gmail.com 

Customer reviews on YELP.COM 

The Red Hook Star-Revue now publishes 

twice a month - classified advertising 

is one of the best and least expensive 

ways to get your message across. 

Special yearly contracts available for 

service businesses such as plumbers, 

electricians for as little as $500 annually. 

Email Kimberly at Kimberly @redhookstar.com 

or call 718 624-5568 

No job too big or too 

small 

Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, 

Hot Water Heaters, 

Pool Heaters. 

B & D Heating 

507 Court Street 

718 625-1396 

New HeigHts CoNstruCtioN LLC 

NYC Licence 

# 1191201 

Free Estimates 

Ask about 

our Window 

Specials! 

siding • Windows • Roofing 

• Fences • Kitchens • Painting 

• Baths • Basements • Decks 

• Doors • Awnings • Patio 

Enclosures • Brick Pointing 

• Concrete Stucco 

Visit our online showroom 

www.newheightsConstructionny.com 

800-525-5102 

718-767-0044 

Introducing Business Card Classifieds in the Star-Revue. Your card categorized as below. 

The Star-Revue is read by over 10,000 individuals in zip code 11231 every two weeks, as it is the leading source 

of community news. We offer highly affordable rates - contact Angelika Mitchell at 718.624.5568 or Angelika@ 

redhookstar.com to get your card in our next issue. 

Your Cost: 2 months $400; 4 months $750; 6 months $1000; one year $1750. 

Take an extra 5% off if paid all in advance. We take all charge cards. 

moverS 

Car ServiCe LeaSing 

Here’s My Card 

BuSineSS groupS 

JABUS 

BUILDING 

CORP. 

Serving Red Hook for over 25 years 

Specializing in Construction and 

Historic Preservation 

• New construction 

• Renovations, additions and extensions 

• Masonry specialist 

• Concrete floors/radiant heated 

• Concrete/bluestone sidewalk repair 

• Flue linings, chimneys and fireplaces 

• Demolition and waste removal 

• Violation removals 

• Landmark Preservation contractor 

Jim & Debbie Buscarello 

PHONE: (718) 852-5364 

Fax: (347) 935-1263 

www.jabusbuildingcorp.com 

jabusbuildingcorp@gmail.com 

HIC License #0883902 

Trade Waste License #1135 

Put Your Ad Right Here by 

Calling Angelika at 

718 624-5568 

CALL RIGHT NOW 

Don’t Miss Out!!!!!!!!! 

Framing 

Spoil yourself in 

a fresh and modern 

salon. Expert 

in color, chemical 

service and 

organic products 

for all types of hair. 

Customized cuts for 

your lifestyle and 

personality. 

Walk-ins welcome. 

Open Tuesday - Friday 11 - 8, 

Saturday 10:30 - 6. 

352 Van Brunt Street 718 935-0596 


If you have an event you would like listed 

in the Red Hook Star-Revue calendar, 

please email redhookstarcalendar@ 

gmail.com. 

CHILDREN 

Bethel Baptist Day Care Center 242 

Hoyt St. (718) 834-9292 ACD funded 

Early Childhood Education Programs, 

Family Services, and Day Care Services 

for the Gowanus Community. Call for 

more info. 

Kentler International Drawing Space 

—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 875-2098, 

kentlergallery.org FREE Weekend Art 

Workshops for Families. Every 1st & 

3rd Sat. Sat. 5/5 10-11:30am Drawing 

Together Family Art Workshop. FREE. 

Register in advance @ sallie@kentlergallery.org 

CHURCH/ 

SYNAGOGUE 

Kane St. Synagogue 236 Kane St. 

(718) 875-1530 kanestreet.org Torah 

Study every 2nd Shabbat of the Month 

11am-Noon. Every Fri. &/or Tues. 

St. Stephen’s R.C. 108 Carroll St. (718) 

596-7750 delvecchiorc.com & brooklyncatholic.blogspot.com 

Every Wed. 

6:30pm Choir rehearsal, if interested 

contact jlake@delvechiorc.com or evelyntroester@gmx.net 

Visitation of Our Blessed Virgin Mary 

R.C. 98 Richards @Verona (718) 624- 

1572 Every Thurs. 6pm Choir Practice 

w/ Emiliana In-Home Blessings and 

Masses, by appointment. Languages 

available: English, Spanish, Italian, German. 

Contact: Lori Burkhard at (917) 

971-5522 

CLASSES/ 

WORKSHOPS 

Brooklyn Collective Gallery 212 

Columbia St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 

596-6231brooklyncollective.com. Gallery 

Hours: Thur.- Sun. 11am-8pm Over 

40 Artists on Exhibit through May. 

Brooklyn General—128 Union St. 

(718) 237-7753 brooklyngeneral.com 

Classes and Workshops for all things 

Sewing. Call or contact their website for 

more info. 

Carroll Gardens Association 201 Columbia 

St, Sackett/Degraw (718) 243- 

9301 carrollgardensassociation.com 

Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association 

(718 858-4699 carrollgardensbrooklyn.org 

Every 1st Wed. General 

Meeting. Wed. 5/2 7-9pm @ Hannah 

Senesh Community Day School 342 

Smith St. 

The Gowanus Studio Space 166 7th 

Street (347) 948-5753 www.gowanusstudio.org 

. 

Cora Dance 201 Richards St. (Coffey 

St./Van Dyke St.) #15 (718) 858-2520 

coradance.org New Adult Classes. Every 

Sun.5:30 - 6:45pm, Restorative Yoga 

w/Jolene Festa (child care available) 

Every Monday 10-11am Yoga w/Tessa 

Wright, 6:30-7:45pm Yoga w/Jolene 

Festa (childcare available)Every Tues 

5-6:30 pm Company Class (rotating 

teachers) Every Sat. 10:30-11:30 Zumba 

w/Sarah Folland. Classes are pay-whatyou-can. 

(Suggested donation: $10 per 

class, $15 per class w/child care.) Sat. 

5/19 7pm Cora’s Spring Swing Benefit 

Gala & Silent Auction @ Rocky Sullivan’s 

Roof 34 Van Dyke St. 

Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center 540 

President St, (3rd/4th Ave.) (347) 422- 

0337 ger-nis.com Thur. 5/3 6:30-9pm 

Animal Poaching: Techniques of the 

Season $65. Sat. 5/5 11am-1pm World 

Cuisine Series (Breakfast Edition) The 

Brits $65. Tue. 5/8 6:30-9pm $20 Family 

of Four Dinners $50 adult $20 child. 

Fri. 5/11 6:30-9pm Herbivoracious: A 

Class w/author Michael Natkin $75. Sun. 

5/13 12-3pm Mother’s Day Champagne 

Brunch w/Sustainable Flowers $65 adult 

$20 child. 

Jalopy School of Music 315 Columbia 

St. (Hamilton Ave/Woodhull St.) 

(718) 395-3214 jalopy.biz Sun. 5/6 

2pm Intermediate Keyboard Accordion 

w/Hannah Temple $25. 3pm Roots & 

Blues Fingerstyle Guitar: Open and 

Alternate Tunings Wrkshp w/Steve 

James $35. Fri 5/11 5pm Creole-Cajun 

Fiddle Wrkshp w/Cedric Watson 

$25. Sat 5/12 Noon Cajun Fiddle Wrkshp 

w/Al Berard $25. Sun 5/13 11am 

I Love Cajun Fiddle - Kids Wrkshp 

$20. Noon Traditional Music from the 

Heart: Fiddle, Guitar & Song w/ Buffy 

Art & Community Calendar 

Lewis & Roger Weiss of Cleoma’s 

Ghost $25. 

Yoga Classes 201 Richards St. #15 

www.tessamwright.com /yoga. Join 

Tessa with morning yoga for every one! 

Hatha style style for all levels. Mondays 

@10am. Suggested donation - $10. 

YWCA Brooklyn 30 3rd Ave (Atlantic 

Ave/State St.): (718) 488-1624 ywcabklyn.org 

COMEDY 

Littlefield—622 Degraw St littlefieldny. 

com Every Monday 8pm: Hot Tub w/ 

Kurt & Kristen $5 adv. $8 dos. Wed. 5/2 

8pm GLOC LIVE: The Relaunch Party $8 

adv. $10 dos. Sat. 5/4 7:30pm The Old 

Ceremony $12. 11pm DIRTYWERK $6. 

Sat. 5/5 11am 4th Annual Spring Handmade 

An FOR ALL AGES FREE. 7pm 

Megan Berk: Art Reception FREE. Sun 

5/6 1pm Gowanus Music Club FOR ALL 

AGES $5 adv $10dos. 7pm The Conceit 

of My Pants: A One man show. FREE. 

Tue. 5/8 7pm The Big Quiz Thing $10. 

Fri 5/11 7pm Cardinal (Richard Davies of 

The Moles) $10 adv $12 dos. 

EXHIBITIONS 

440 Gallery 440 6th Ave. (Park Slope) 

(718) 499-3844, 440gallery.com Gallery 

hrs. - Thurs., Fri. 4-7pm, Sat., Sun. 11am 

- 7pm, or by appointment. Through 5/20 

Recent Work by Vicki Behm. 

Brooklyn Collective Gallery 212 Columbia 

St. (Union/Sackett) (718) 596-6231 

brooklyncollective.com Gallery hrs. Thur. 

- Sun 1pm-8pm Through 5/31 30 New 

Collections of Local Artists FREE. 

Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition 

499 Van Brunt St. (718) 596-2506 bwac. 

org Through April: Wide Open 3: A Juried 

Art Show. Final Artist submissions: 6/14. 

Falconworks Kidd Studio 133 Imlay 

St. (718) 395-3218 falconworks.com - 

redhooktheater.org Fri. 5/4 7pm, Sat. 

5/5 3pm Off The Hook:: 3 original plays 

by Red Hook Youths, Jasper Ehrhardt, 

Hannah Serrano, Triston Stewart FREE 

@ The Patrick F. Daley School-P.S. 15 

71 Sullivan St. 

Gallery Small New York---416 Van 

Brunt, (347) 782-3729 smallnewyork. 

com Gallery hours are Thurs. - Sun. 

11am - 6pm. Through 5/30 American 

in Paris w/ Leonard Corbin, Madeleine 

Kraeler, AK Corbin. 

Invisible Dog---51 Bergen Street, theinvisibledog.org 

(347) 560-3641 Through 

5/5 Distorting (A Messiah Project, 13C), 

The Artists of The Invisible Dog Sat. 

5/5 8pm Pen World Voices: Messiah in 

Brooklyn. Writers interact with sculpture. 

Wed. 5/12-27 Holy River. 5/12 6-10pm 

Opening & Reception 

Kentler International Drawing 

Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 875- 

2098, kentlergallery.org 10th Annual 

Benefit: 100 Hundred Artists donate original 

drawing & works on paper. Through 

5/13 Thur.-Sun. 12-5pm. FREE Benefit 

Event 5/19 6pm (ticket holders only). 

$200 per ticket. 

Look North Inuit Art Gallery—275 

Conover Street, Suite 4E, (347) 721- 

3995, looknorthny.com Polar Light: 

Greenland. The Greenland photography 

of Rena Bass Forman and the Greenland 

drawings of Zaria Forman. A climate 

change awareness exhibition held in 

conjunction with Al Gore’s ‘The Climate 

Project’. 

Sunny’s Bar Backroom 253 Conover 

St. (Beard/Reed St.s) (718) 625-8211 

sunnysredhook.com & Sunny’s Bar on 

facebook. Open Wed. Fri. Sat 8pm-4am. 

FUNDRAISERS/ 

PARTIES 

Kentler International Drawing 

Space—353 Van Brunt St. (718) 875- 

2098, kentlergallery.org 10th Annual 

Benefit: 100 Hundred Artists donate 

original drawing & works on paper. Exhibition 

viewing through 5/13 Thur.-Sun. 

12-5pm. FREE. Benefit Event 5/19 6pm 

(ticket holders only). $200 per ticket. 

MUSEUMS 

Micro Museum—123 Smith Street, 

(718) 797-3116 micromuseum.com . 

Above and Beyond, a three-year retrospective 

of the art of William and 

Kathleen Laziza, every Saturday from 

12-7pm, refreshments from 5-7pm,. Admission 

by donation, suggested donation 

$2. Say you like “Red-Hook Star Revue” 

and get a free gift bag. Sat. Noon - 7pm 

Through 9/14 Lovey + Dovey = Forever 

$2 Sat 5/5 5-7pm Cinco De Mayo Cocktail 

& Raffle. Admission: $2 Raffle Ticket. 

The Waterfront Museum Lehigh Valley 

Barge No.79, 290 Conover Street. (718) 

624-4719 ext. 11 www.waterfrontmuseum.org. 

Free boat tours & open hours 

all through the year. Thursdays 4 - 8 

pm and Saturdays 1 - 5 pm. Thur. 5/3 

through Sat. 5/13 Waterfront Museum 

moves to Hudson River Park Pier 25 

Free open boat tours 5/5,6.13 1-5pm. 

Fri. 5/11 4-8pm. 7-10pm Book Launch: 

Teen Boat. Sat. 5/12 1 & 4pm Pirate 

School w/Billy Bones. 

MUSIC 

Bait & Tackle 320 Van Brunt Street 

(718) 451-4665 redhookbaitandtackle. 

com Wed. 5/2 8pm Smitty on Steel. 

Thur. 5/3 9pm Jan Bell & Will Scott. Fri. 

5/4 9pm Byron Kelsey. Fri. 5/11 9pm Two 

Tears. Sat. 5/12 9pm The Curleys. 

Hope & Anchor 347 Van Brunt St., (718) 

237-0276. Every Wed. 7pm, Jazz Jam. 

Every Thurs. through Sat. from 9pm-1am 

Karaoke. 

Issue Project Room @110 Livingston 

St. (718) 330-0313 issueprojectroom.org 

Fri. 5/4 8pm Littoral: Poetry Out Loud 

FREE. Fri. 5/11 8pm Emerging Artists 

Commission: Jen Rosenbilt & Jules Gimbone. 

Suggested donation for both - $10. 

Jalopy Theatre and School of Music 

315 Columbia St., (718) 395-3214, jalopy.biz. 

Every Wed. 9pm Roots & Ruckus 

FREE. Thur. 5/3 8:30pm Nightsongs 

from a Neighboring Village w/Michael 

Alpert & Julian Kytasty $10. 10pm Eva 

Salina: Songs from the Balkans $10. Fri. 

5/4 8pm Steve James $10 adv. $12 dos. 

Sat 5/5 9pm Uncle Monk & M Shanghai 

Express $10. Sun 5/6 7:30pm Dance & 

Music Duets $10. Thur. 5/10 7:30 High 

Strung Women - Brooklyn Arts Council 

$7. 9pm The TIna Richardson Band $10. 

10pm Veveriste Brass Band $10. Fri 

5/11 8pm 2nd Annual Bayou’N Brooklyn 

Music Fest Day I $15. Sat 5/12 Noon 

2nd Annual Bayou ‘N Bayou Music Fest 

Day II $15. Sun 5/12 11am Brooklyn ‘N 

Bayou Music Fest Day III $15. 

Montero’s Bar 73 Atlantic Ave. @ Hicks 

St. (718) 534-6399 monteros-bar@facebook.com 

Karaoke w/Amethyst every Fri. & Sat. 

10pm. Every Wed. after. 8pm - Midnight. 

The raucous musical concoctions of The 

Red Hook Irregulars. All Acoustic. Guest 

Players invited. 

The Rock Shop—249 Fourth Ave. 

(President St./Carroll St.) (718) 230- 

5740 therockshopny.com Thur. 

5/3,10,17,24 7:30pm The Spinto Band 

$20 ticket good for all four shows or 

$10 per show. Fri. 5/4 7:30 Gospel 

Music, Kleenex Girl Wonder, The 

Randy Bandits, Parade Grounds $8. 

Sat 5/5 7:30pm Prowler, Nico’s Gun, 

Sky-Pony $8 adv. $10 dos.Tue. ⅝ 8pm 

Races, Sean Bones, Right On Dynamite 

$10. Wed. 5/9 7:30pm Amanda 

Shires, Doug Keith, Heather Broderick 

$10. thur 5/10 8pm The Spinto Band, 

Backwords, The Purples $10. Fri 5/11 

8pm Higgins: Record Release w/ Yellowbird 

The well Informed $8. Sat. 

5/12 7:30 R. Ring, Hawk & Dove, Cuff 

the Duke $10 adv. $12 dos. Tue 5/15 

7:30 Lily Virginia, Young & Wilder $7. 

Rocky Sullivan’s—34 Van Dyke St., 

(718) 246-8050. Every Mon, Tues, Wed 

8pm Live Irish Music Every Last Wed 

8pm Readings By Authors.Every. Thurs. 

9pm Rocky’s World Famous Pub Quiz, 

Every Fri./Sat Live Rock ‘n Roll. 

The Star Theater Acoustic Jam & Hootenanny 

101 Union St. btwn Columbia 

and Van Brunt (718) 624-5568 Every 

Monday Night 8pm. C&W to Jazz (with 

a healthy dose of Blues in the middle). 

Bring your Axe & Your Favorite Beverage! 

The Star Theater Electric Jam 101 

Union St., Columbia / Van Brunt Every 

Thur. Night 8pm Hard rock, Jazz, Blues. 

Full Back Line. Refreshments provided. 

Donations accepted. 

Sunny’s Bar 253 Conover St. (Beard/ 

Reed St.s) (718) 625-8211 sunnysredhook.com 

& Sunny’s Bar on Facebook. 

Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 

live local roots music.. Every Sat. 10pm 

Bluegrass/Folk Country Jam. Wed 5/2 

10pm Smokey’s Roundup. Sat. 5/5 8pm 

Janine Nichol’s SEMI FREE w/ Brandon 

Ross & Charlie Burnham. Wed. 5/9 

10pm Smokey’s Roundup. 

Union Hall 702 Union Street @5th Ave 

(718) 638-4400 unionhallny.com Every 

Sun. 7:30pm Pretty Good Friends. Comedy 

host by Eugene Mirman $7. Every 

Fri. Midnight Karaoke Killed The Cat 

FREE. Every Sat. 11pm CRAZY $INCE 

DA 90$ FREE. 

PUBLIC MEETINGS 

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative 153 Columbia 

St., Kane/Degraw St. (718) 522- 

0913 brooklyngreenway.org Through 

5/25 The Ceramic Arts of Kathryn Robinson-Miller. 

30% of the proceeds will 

go to support BGI’s work. Special Thur 

hours 5/3,17,6/7,6/21 5-8pm. Sat. 5/12 

10am-Noon Greenway Clean-ups: tools 

& gloves provided. 

Brooklyn Public Library - Carroll Gardens 

396 Clinton St. @ Union St. (718) 

596-6972 brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ 

locations/carroll-gardens Knitting Club 

(all ages) Every Tues 4pm mezzanine. 

Memoir Writing (adult) Every Wed. 6pm 

Chess Club (all ages) Play and improve 

your game. Bring your own clock. Mon 

4/16,23,30 11:30am-12:15pm Babies 

and Books (RIF) Tickets required. Pick 

up ticket day of progam. Fri. 4/20,27 

4-5pm Storycraft Listen to book being 

read and create art related to book. Tue. 

4/17,24 3-5pm English Conersation: 

English for ESOL students 

Community Board 6 250 Baltic St. 

(718) 643-3027 brooklyncb6.org Wed. 

5/2 6:30pm @ 5th Ave, Committee 

Conference Rm 621 Degraw St. Youth/ 

Human Services/Education Committee 

Meeting. Wed. 5/9 6:30pm @ Brooklyn 

Burrough Hall 209 Joralemon St. Court 

Rm. General Board Metting. 

American In Paris 

CoWNA (Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood 

Asso.) cowna.blogspot.com 

READING & 

LITERARY EVENTS 

The Gowanus Studio Space 166 7th 

Street (347) 948-5753 www.gowanusstudio.org 

The Community Bookstore 143 7th 

Ave. (718) 783-3075 communitybookstore.net 

Wed. 4/18 7pm Author Reading: 

Anne Korkeakivi/An Unexpected 

Guest. Wed. 4/18 7pm World Book Night 

w/Nicole Krauss. Mon. 4/23 7pm World 

Book Night. 

SCHOOLS 

PS 15 71 Sullivan St. (Columbia/Van 

Brunt Sts.) (718)330-9280 schools. 

nyc.gov 11am - noon Toddler Time Programs: 

1 hr of playtime & storytelling. 

Open to everyone. . 

PS 29 425 Henry St. (718) 330-9277 ps- 

29brooklyn.org 

Summit Academy NY 27 Huntington St. 

(718) 875-1403) summitacademycharterschool.org 

TASTINGS 

Dry Dock Wine + Spirits---424 Van 

Brunt St., (718) 852-3625, drydockny. 

com Tastings of the exotic every Fri. 

6:30pm, Sat. 4pm, Sun 3pm. FREE 

MikNik Lounge 200 Columbia St. (917) 

770-1984 ‘Rebel! Rebel!’ (Gay Night) 

every First & Third Thurs. 9pm - 2am 

Cheap Beer, $6 well drinks, friendly 

crowd. 

THEATER 

The Heights Players 26 Willow Place, 

heightsplayers.org (718) 237-2752 

The Clockworks Puppet Theater 196 

Columbia St (212) 614-0001 cosmicbicycle.com 

WALKING TOURS 

A Tour grows in Brooklyn 1212 64th 

St.(212) 209-3370 brooklynwalkingtour. 

com A historical walking tour of Brownstone 

Brooklyn featuring the childhood 

home of Al Capone, the history of the 

Williamsburg Bank, and the Revolutionary 

War battle site The Old Stone House. 

Real Brooklyn Pizza Lunch included. 

Daily 10am-1pm, $40 

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative 153 

Columbia St., Kane/Degraw St. (718) 

522-0913 brooklyngreenway.org Sat. 

5/5 12:30-2:30pm Brooklyn Navy Yard 

Bicycle Tour $24 advance purchase required 

@ urbanoyster.com or call (347) 

618-8687. 

Urban Oyster (347) 618-TOUR (8687) 

urbanoyster.com Sat. 2/4,11,18,25 

Noon-3:30, Brewed in Brooklyn Tour 

(Williamsburg) Brewing, Bottling, & 

bootlegging in historic Williamsburg. 

Samples, pizza and fresh lager lunch 

included. $60 

Haystacks of Harquency by Leonard Corbin. Part of the current exhibition at Gallery Small,416 Van 

Brunt Street

Justice Center Meeting Abruptly Cancelled - the Red Hook Star-Revue

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