Real Journalism written by people
Like the majority of people these days, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has announced her candidacy for President of the United States in 2020. According to most polls, zero to three percent of Democratic voters would choose Gillibrand among the slate of likely primary candidates. Her unpopularity may seem strange to prognosticators who initially saw the senator as a plausible […]
On March 17, the Brooklyn branch of the Gaelic League held its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade outside Rocky Sullivan’s, with members making a short loop from the bar on Beard Street to the shoreline at Erie Basin Park with flags and signs in hand. The political concerns of the group, however, extend far beyond Red Hook. Douglas Hyde, who […]
In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that progress has stalled in the effort to end the United States’ HIV epidemic: after five years of substantially declining rates of HIV infection, the number of annual infections has stabilized. Three months earlier, The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released a study showing a similar […]
The term “Green New Deal” typically brings to mind progressive politicians on the national stage, like U.S. Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders. But thanks to Red Hook’s assemblyman, Assistant Speaker Félix Ortiz of the 51st District, New York State has a chance to craft its own climate change plan in the same vein. In February, Ortiz introduced Assembly […]
The Gowanus Landmarking Coalition wants to thwart the planned demolition of the S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse, a circa-1886 brick industrial structure at 595 Smith Street. On the morning of March 13, the preservationists held a rally on the Hamilton Avenue Bridge over the Gowanus Canal. Last year, a fire damaged the Storehouse, which the Chetrit Group, a real estate development […]
Friends of the BQX, an advocacy group backed by developers Two Trees Management and the Durst Organization, continues to push for the $2.73-billion Brooklyn-Queens Connector light rail project favored by Mayor de Blasio and local real estate interests. Most recently, the Friends held an event for small business owners at the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg on March 5. Called “BQX […]
At the start of the Red Hook Civic Association’s February meeting at P.S. 15, Neighborhood Coordination Officers Krystal Class and Vegnel Jovin from the 76th Precinct announced that they’d distributed flyers to local truck drivers to inform them of Red Hook’s designated truck routes. For large vehicles, New York City’s official truck route map limits the neighborhood’s through-traffic to Van […]
On February 13, at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) held a public hearing regarding an amendment to its annual plan for 2019. Dated December 27, 2018, the Draft Significant Amendment to the Annual PHA Plan for Fiscal Year 2019 outlines NYCHA’s approach to the new income limit requirements passed down from the […]
In 2018, when the Vietnamese noodle shop Nightingale Nine shut down with a year left on its lease at 329 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, the restaurateur Robert Newton asked a former employee, Champ Jones, if he wanted to fill the space for the remainder of the term. Since working for Newton, Jones had gone on to cook at the […]
In late January, the website StreetEasy published a study (of sorts) that determined “The 10 Healthiest Neighborhoods in NYC.” To the surprise of many, Red Hook earned the top spot on the list. StreetEasy is a real estate database that lists New York City properties for sale or rent. It is not a medical authority. Its criteria for neighborhood health […]
Inspired by Black History Month, Calvary Baptist Church staged a work of community theater, Brother to Brother, which sought to honor both African-American luminaries of the past and ordinary Brooklynites of the present. The performance took place on Sunday, February 24, at 773 Hicks Street, with a cast of 25 locals. Drama Ministry Director Betty Moorning, a deaconess at the […]
On the last Sunday of each month, at 6 p.m., a potluck for “creatives” – officially the DIN DIN Curated Community Potluck – takes place at 41 Seabring Street. The venue, DE-CONSTRUKT, is a self-described “design studio, photography darkroom, event studio, and project space,” founded by the artist Laura Arena, who has lived in Red Hook for more than a […]
Last year, in June, Ashley Taylor and Cayla Huppert leased a 2,500-square-foot disused warehouse at 22 Commerce Street. Taylor and her fiancé, the designer Tymer Tilton, refurbished the interior, which now operates as an upscale event space for birthday parties, baby showers, bar mitzvahs, and photo shoots. Amenities include a 15,000-watt QSC sound system, a projector and screen, a fog […]
