Celebrating Community
Searching for a topic for this month’s column, I realized I had forgotten what most New Yorkers never knew, which is that we had an election coming up. The menu Brownstone voters are being presented with consists of barely contested City Council and Supreme Court races, and an uncontested Countywide Civil Court race. Much of the area also has an […]
I was working at the Phoenix, a community newspaper headquartered in Boerum Hill that was known as the newspaper for Brownstone Brooklyn, when a funny term started floating around the office. This was in the late 1970’s, when formerly industrial neighborhoods in lower Manhattan began changing their names to SoHo, Noho, TriBeca, even LoLita. These terms were understood to be […]
Bait & Tackle capped off an improbable run to win the championship of the Red Hook Locals Softball League on August 17. The league, which has been around since the 2000s, resumed play last year after a long hiatus while waiting for construction at the Red Hook ballfields to be completed. Fields 5-8 were closed in 2015 after toxins were […]
The QVNYC Film Festival’s Opening Party set the stage for a remarkable showcase of diverse stories to come, shedding light on the lives and struggles of marginalized communities. One film, Vice’s series Transnational, brought attention to the devastating murder of Kelly Stough, a Black trans woman in Detroit by pastor Albert Weathers. Through the eyes of journalist Eva Rayne, who […]
By the time August rolled around and I hadn’t seen Barbie yet I was beginning to feel I was on an island far far away from womankind. Along with the rest of humanity living in the developed western world, the summer had turned pink. Like many, I had Barbies growing up and cherished looking at mom’s dolls who lived in their original […]
I have never been one to hanker for a beer, but recently, late on a hot, summer afternoon, my boyfriend called me to meet him out for a pint. While Brooklyn has no dearth of spots to grab a drink, finding the right atmosphere, and particularly the right drink, can prove a bit more challenging. In search of something with […]
There has been a bit of hue and cry lately concerning the fact that the Brooklyn Dems have nominated a candidate for Supreme Court who, as a law student, once questioned Roe v. Wade, and later chose to write about it in a smug, self-satisfied manner. This was hiding in plain sight, on a link on the candidate’s own Wikipedia […]
Upon entering Brooklyn Bridge Park, there is a big, gray building off to one side that says Iris Cafe Town Market at 125 Bridge Park Drive. Inside there is a restaurant with wooden walls and a great view of the waterfront, and a market in the back. The owners of the Iris Cafe, Radi, and Beatriz Hamdan were kind enough […]
The Red Hook Locals Softball League is back for the second season in a row after a long hiatus while waiting for the ballfields in the neighborhood to re-open. The Wobblies, Bait & Tackle, the Record Shop, and B61 have all returned this season, and Hometown has joined as an expansion team. Greg “Greggles” Fischer, who plays for Bait & […]
On a quiet July afternoon on Verona Street, near the corner of Van Brunt, Ken Marcelle sweeps hair from the floor before his next appointment. The incoming client is Keaton Tips, formally a resident of Red Hook. A 34-year-old animator and motion designer, Tips moved from Dikeman Street to an apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, in 2020. That year, many of […]