News

Gowanus Canal Conservancy builds a new garden, by Brian Abate

The Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC) has moved its Lowlands Nursery from the Salt Lot to a new location next to the new Monadanck building at 25 9th St., next to the Smith and 9th Stret subway. The move was necessatied due to the construction of a sewage tank required as part of the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup. Andrea Parker, the

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Civic Association plows through important issues by Nathan Weiser

The Red Hook Civic Association completed it’s first year in its current form with the February meeting. The meeting, held at the Red Hook recreational center on the last Monday of February was attended by 11, including council woman Alexa Aviles. The meeting started with a reading of a proposed vision statement. “We see a caring and united Red Hook

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Stan the Man takes pool tournament at the 
Rec Center (and we don’t mean swimming), by George Fiala and Jamaal Lavan

As a dedication to Charles “Bo” Keen, a deceased former staff member at the Red Hook recreation center, a twelve week billiards tournament was established this year. The contest was open to all members of the Rec Center and offered a tremendous opportunity for fostering new friendships. Each participant received a medal for participating and the first and second place

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What’s next for Shore Power? by Brian Abate

S hore power was brought to City Hall on the Ides of February when council member Alexa Aviles and advocates held a press conference on its steps. The Our Air Water Act, sponsored by Aviles,  would require cruise ships to plug into shore power while berthed in New York City. A cruise ship can stay in port for a day

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Locals rally in support of Good Cause Eviction bill, by Brian Abate

Residents of 63 Tiffany Place, politicians, and members of the Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens community gathered to push for passage of the “Good Cause Eviction” in the state legislature. “Long gone will be the days of landlords doubling and tripling people’s rents just because… said John Leyva, a long-time resident. Leyva is all too familiar with the issue, as

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Feature Story

Column: Facts and Beliefs, by George Fiala

One of the great TV shows was Public TV’s Cosmos. Originally broadcast in the 1980’s, produced by scientist, astronomer and writer Carl Sagan, younger people know the successor shows, Cosmos—A Personal Voyage and Cosmos—A Spacetime Odyssey,   both created by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a Sagan devotee and astrophysicist, author and science communicator in his own right. Sagan is described in

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Red Hook businesses bring good news 
to the Red Hook Rec Center! by Nathan Weiser

On February 12, a new and improved state-of-the-art media lab opened at the Red Hook Recreation Center, home of the outdoor swimming pool and recently renovated basketball courts weight room and  a a gorgeous learning room outfitted and installed by IKEA (see next page). NYC Parks Commissioner, Amazon head of Community Affairs Carley Graham Garcia and community members celebrated the

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IKEA builds a new learning space for the Rec Center, by Brian Abate

In addition to the new gym, media center and infrastructure upgrades, the Rec Center now offers a beautiful new learning space courtesy of IKEA. The room includes a comfy lounge with nice lighting as well as a full kitchen area. The room is open to everyone with a Red Hook Recreation Center membership, which is free to those under 25.

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Response to Gaza protest create schism in Italian government by Dario Pio Muccilli, EU correspondent

As the Gaza war continues, Europe is hit by demonstrations organized by pro-Palestine activists in every town, notwithstanding its size or importance. In Pisa, a leading university city, last February 23rd, a small and peaceful demonstration organized by local students ended up with many 15-19 year olds beaten by police with truncheons. The case, starting as a local news, soon

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Pledging Allegiance, by Kelsey Sobel

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” As an educator, I’ve been saying the Pledge of Allegiance more or less every morning, five days a week for many of my thirty-four years of life. This means

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Some winners in the local sandwich derby, by Kathleen Rivard

In today’s carb-phobic society, salads are often viewed as the morally straight choice, but sandwiches remain the underdog lunch option: humble, comforting bundles of flavor and texture. But every sandwich is a gamble. Will you pay for a meal you could have easily made at home, or will you be rewarded with a combination more creative than you could’ve mustered

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WALKING WITH COFFEE: A Boomer talks with a Millennial

Boomer – R.J. Cirillo Millennial – Heather Corbo (hospital pharmacist living in Gowanus) We are at Absolut Coffee on Atlantic Avenue near Hoyt Street, sitting with coffee in ceramic cups. R.J.- “Growing up as a Boomer we always stopped and, like we are doing now, had our coffee. I see more people now, especially your generation, walking with their coffee

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Arts

Quinn on Books: Soaked in Intelligence and Wit

Review of “The Bloodied Nightgown and Other Essays,” by Joan Acocella Review by Michael Quinn When you read a newspaper or magazine for a long time, you start to recognize the bylines. Favorite writers emerge. Over time, you begin to feel like you know them. And you do. You know how they think and feel—the good ones, anyway. Joan Acocella

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Music: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

Sleep and other horrors. I don’t know what goes on within the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum after hours, and truth be told, I don’t always understand what’s happening during public viewings, either. Past exhibits have focused on Ted Kaczynski, pulmonary tuberculosis, pediatrics, cicadas and cockroaches. It’s been 17 years since their last offering, In Glorious Times and during that time they’ve

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Jazz: In Transition, by George Grella

Transitions are beguiling, that period when a thing is changing into something else. It’s part of nature, of course—it’s the story of the universe—and it’s essential in all the arts. The ephemeral, performing ones, especially dance and music, are all about movement and transitions through time. Not all music is the same, obviously, and the way transitions are handled and

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Music

Jazz: Spaces And Places, by George Grella

Music making is a social activity. Anyone with a laptop and a bedroom can make an album, but there’s limits to that, not the least how far one’s imagination can go without the stimulus of other personalities. When musicians get together to play it’s a social activity, they make something together whether or not they’re in front of an audience.

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Music: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

A step ahead at looking back. In April, I wrote about Joe Jackson’s 1981 album Jumpin’ Jive in a review of Taj Mahal’s recent album of early jazz songs. Since then, Rickie Lee Jones has issued a respectable collection of crooner tunes, and countless rockers-of-certain-ages have done so before, generally with far lesser results than Jackson, Jones and Mahal (special

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A-Zal’s Musical Journey: From the UK to New York & Marvel Movies

A-Zal, the rising musical artist who navigated NYC in pursuit of his authentic sound and success, now stands in the spotlight. Today, we dive into A-Zal’s journey from a dreamer to a dazzling star, right here in the heart of the Big Apple.   Roderick Thomas: Glad to finally speak to you A-Zal. A-Zal: Thank you, R.T. It’s a pleasure

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Wiggly Air – On Music by Kurt Gottschalk

A band everyone should like. There was a time, back in the distant 1980s and ’90s, when recording and distribution outpaced the spread of information. The post-punk DIY movement encouraged artists and fans to seize the means of production and make their own records and zines but there was no guarantee they’d end up in the same places. As a result,

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On Jazz: The State of Shipp, by George Grella

Pianist Matthew Shipp has had such a consistent, sustained career, nearly 40 years as one of the foremost free jazz players, that it’s easy to lose sight of what he’s done as a musician. His built a grand discographical forest through his own albums and those on which he’s part of another ensemble—coming up with the important David S. Ware

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When the future of rock and roll was in Windsor Terrace, by Raanan Geberer, photos by J.R. Rost

If you Google “rock clubs, Brooklyn,” you’ll see more than a dozen, most of them in Williamsburg, Bushwick, Gowanus or nearby. But before any of them were there, Lauterbach’s, at 335 Prospect Ave. in the South Slope, had a thriving scene featuring original rock bands. None of the Lauterbach’s bands – Frank’s Museum, Chemical Wedding, Cryptic Soup, Formaldehyde Blues Train,

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