A Red Hook Lion
Andrea McKnight

Andrea McKnight was originally from Clinton Hill but came to Red Hook 55 years ago after a fire forced her to move, and became a leader in the community along with her husband Jay McKnight.
“It’s hard to put into words the awesome place I’ve lived in for the past 55 years,” Andrea McKnight said. “It seems long but not really, from all the things we did together as a community, time went fast.

“Hard work brought the first financial institution – Independence Community Bank, after our being redlined; the Brooklyn Red Hook Lions Club; and Cruise ships that come to our shores for quick getaways. All of this was possible through working with each other from Clinton St. to Van Brunt St. Of course you have negative vibes, but being persistent we came up with the 197A for Red Hook.

There have also been multicultural concerts for over 15 years in Coffey Park arranged by myself and my late husband Jay, with great music of all genres.”

The Lions Club’s motto is “We Serve.” Their mission is “to foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.” John McGettrick was a fellow leader of the Lions.

“Years pass, things become less familiar as we age, some of what we did is gone. A tremendous megastorm ‘Sandy’ caused what you see now, construction to bring about a safer Red Hook in case of another storm,” McKnight said. “I can’t wait to see the finished product.”

“We said Red Hook is a gem now being processed by a younger generation, the digital world that waits for nothing. The unfair developers want nothing but skyscraper buildings with the view! We realize that change must come but use some of the people and formats that came before you, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Some of us are still here in full capacity. Listen to us.”

Van Brunt artist
Scott Pfaffman

Scott Pfaffman spoke to me about what Red Hook means to him while sitting outside of the Record Shop at 360 Van Brunt St.

“In 1984 we put together a proposal for an artist housing project at 353 Van Brunt Street,” said Pfaffman. “It produced about six citywide artist housing projects. And we were the lucky recipients of one of them.”

As we were chatting, Pfaffman saw a few neighbors and spoke with them and I saw a few familiar faces too, including Bene Coopersmith from the Record Shop and Bobby Cole, who like Coopersmith plays for the Record Shop in the Red Hook Locals Softball League.

“Red Hook has been God’s country to me for the last 35 years,” Cole said while walking towards the Red Hook ballfields for a softball game.

“The neighborhood has been changing since I got here,” Pfaffman said. “It’s hard to tell the pace of change. We all have different perceptions of what change is. There have been some milestones that stand out like when Ian built The Farm across from where IKEA stands now. Sandy stands out. Now I think one of the biggest things is the transformation of the Red Hook Houses.”

As we we continued chatting we saw a couple of people using a very impressive camera to take some pictures outside of the Record Shop. We started talking to them and learned that they had been traveling all over the world to make a film about nature and the importance of the environment and that they stopped in Red Hook to see someone they knew.

It’s amazing how much you can see and learn just by sitting outside and saying “hello” to the people walking along the street.

“I’ve raised two kids in the meantime,” Pfaffman said. “The biggest change to Red Hook is my kids are grown and have moved out of the house now!” he said, laughing.

Everybody
loves Tony

Tony Kokale, another well-known member of the Red Hook community also spoke about what the neighborhood means to him. He is the owner of Mark’s Pizza, located at 326 Van Brunt St., which opened in 1991.

“Red Hook means everything to me,” said Kokale. “Red Hook is my life. There have been some bad memories during Sandy and the pandemic. There have been lots of good memories but it’s easy to forget about them from day to day. We made it through the toughest times and now I feel like we’re unstoppable.”

Just like with Pfaffman, while speaking to Kokale people stopped by to say hello, chatted while they ordered pizza, and waived as they walked past the pizzeria.

“I think the Star-Revue has helped shape Red Hook,” Pfaffman said. “And I think Red Hook has shaped the Star-Revue.”