Celebrating Community
As PS 676 continues its transformation into a maritime themed Middle School, it’s neighbor, PS 15, will become the only public school choice for kindergarten starting next September. PS 15, located at 71 Sullivan Street is a small 394 student elementary school with a progressive approach to education. They take a holistic approach to education that nurtures the child by […]
I took the opportunity to cover two events that are written about in this month’s paper. The first was the fabulous party honoring Lillie Marshall’s service to Red Hook. The second was Nydia Velazquez’s ceremony announcing federal grants that she has directed to local non-profits. Miss Marshall’s party was inside at the Miccio Center, Nydia’s outside in the PS 676 […]
On Monday, March 19, 1877, over 200 Italian immigrant laborers were laying tracks amidst the chilly woods of Flatbush, just yards beyond the southern boundary of the Village of Parkville – an old dirt trail called Foster Avenue. Many more of their crew had been left a quarter of a mile behind to dig a tunnel under the recently completed […]
Last month we did sandwiches. This month we were going to do another food item, but we decided instead, because of the tragic stuff happening in the Ukraine, we decided to take a look at what’s going on in NY’s Russian and Ukrainian neighborhoods. It’s not a perfect view, we didn’t go millions of times, we only went to three […]
You might know the whimsical artwork of Alice and Martin Provensen without even realizing it. The husband-and-wife illustration team created more than 40 children’s books in a career that spanned the mid- to late-20th century. Some of their earliest works are classics from the Little Golden Books series, such as 1949’s The Color Kittens written by Margaret Wise Brown (one […]
Portrait of a lady in a world full of dirt. In hindsight, I’m not sure why I’ve been using this space in recent months to demand a new full-length from the voice of conscience for an angry, dying world known in her current form as Shilpa Ray, but I’m willing to take at least partial credit for her crucial, vital, […]
Charles Mingus is one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz and modern music. Born 100 years ago this month (April 22) , he’s one of those few musicians who, in the mind of the public and fellow musicians goes by one name: just Mingus, like Miles and Col-trane and Ella and Monk and Duke. Even rarer, he […]
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one with the fewest Spider-Men, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken” in 1915 as a reflection on self-determination, or maybe a goof on his walking buddy. But, c’mon, he’s clearly got the multiverse on his mind. Two roads, two choices, two […]
Go to a mirror. Look into your eyes—the same ones you had as a child. When you look into them, whom do you see? Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood, DaMaris B. Hill’s new book of narrative poems, fulfills a pledge the author made to not only acknowledge the child within, but “to carry my girl self on my shoulders […]