Celebrating Community
On Saturday mornings, in the small basement of the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church, Damon DueWhite and James McBride sit and wait for their jazz students to arrive. It doesn’t matter if the children come with no knowledge of music, natural talent, or even special needs. All of the kids in the projects are welcome, as long as they […]
Perhaps 2 million years ago, somewhere in Africa, a hominid great ape looked down at her rough stone chopper. We’ll call her Betty. She was about 14 years old and was tired from watching all the children – including hers – running around. Her sisters were playing nursery, and she had time off. Already back then we assume that there […]
Twenty SPARK Prize finalists have been chosen among a pool of 150 applicants. Seventeen ae Brooklyn-based organizations, including three from Red Hook: Dance Theater Etcetera (DTE); Red Hook Initiative (RHI); and the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC). The SPARK Prize of $100,000 will be awarded to five of the chosen finalists from the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF). They have […]
Red Hook’s streets were quiet Wednesday morning, with the few pedestrians walking their dogs or waiting for the bus looking despondent. “It’s unsettling and confusing and I’m not really sure what’s going to happen next,” noted a man on King Street. “I think it’s embarrassing,” said a woman near Wolcott. “This is what happens when people don’t go vote. I’ve […]
Thanksgiving is arguably the most important meal Americans cook in their homes all year. It is also one of the few days that people take on an entire turkey. Needless to say, many people could use a little more practice. To offer people a little more insight into their holiday birds, Bryan Mayer, Director of Education at Fleishers Craft Butchery, […]
Are there treasures untold lying beneath the oily surface of the Gowanus canal? An organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of historical artifacts, Archeology and Historic Resource Services (AHRS), have attempted to answer this question. In a recent report they explored the identity and history of a number of large mystery items found in a 2010 sonar scan of […]
Anyone who thinks their Thanksgiving tradition of roasting a turkey and mashing potatoes is complicated should talk to Theresa “Terry” Scotto-Spinelli. This lifelong and well-known local around Carroll Gardens knows a thing or two about holiday feasts. Many days, Scotto-Spinelli can be found working in Scotto Funeral Home, which was founded by her parents in the 1920s. However, on Thanksgiving, […]
No event is complete without good food. Which is why, when it came to hosting a memorial lunch at the Joseph P. Addabbo Center, Beatrice Byrd – board member at the Addabbo Center and long-time active community member – called Chuck Cleveland. Cleveland runs a small catering business out of his Flatbush home, but he is deeply connected to the […]
Summit Academy unveiled its newly renovated College and Career Readiness Center Thursday, November 10. The renovations were designed and paid for by IKEA Brooklyn, and the grand opening was marked by an official ribbon cutting and speeches from both staff and students. “I literally burst into tears when I saw this beautiful space,” said Summit’s Principal, Cheryl Swift. “We’re […]
LICH RFP (Long Island College Hospital Request for Proposal) leads to RFP (Really Flawed Process) for LICH, you get the point. My grandfather was a proud member of the ILA (International Longshoreman’s Association). Long Island College Hospital, blocks away from the ILA health center, was my family’s go-to hospital. Now the campus of LICH is no longer a hospital, and […]