Real Journalism written by people
There was a big ceremony today at the foot of 39th Street in Sunset Park. The occasion was a press event heralding what is called the reactivation of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. In the old days in Brooklyn, most of the waterfront in this part of Brooklyn was a full of commercial activity – most of it the loading […]
When our local government works well for us, we are the first to give credit. A couple of years ago we were aghast at two looming possibilities—an out of place nursing home and a misplaced ferry stop. Despite the worst efforts of the local community board, our councilman saved us in both cases—the ferry stop ended up in the right […]
Red Hook ballfields dormant for yet another season Red Hook residents recently got some disappointing news regarding their ability to use the outdoor fields in the Red Hook ballfields complex. Ballfields 5-8, originally scheduled to be finished by the spring of 2019, will now not be ready until at least the spring of 2020. Marty Maher, the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, […]
Thor Equities and their land use lawyers and engineers held an informational meeting led by Councilman Menchaca at the Red Hook Recreation Center on April 19. Originally meant to be a private meeting at the councilman’s office, it was shifted to the Rec center as word got out to locals interested in asking questions about flooding and Thor’s piles of […]
Canadian visual artist duo Gagnon-Forest spent the last 2 months in Red Hook doing an art residency in collaboration with De Construkt Project. Mathieu Gagnon and Mathilde Forest were researching and gathering stories in order to create a body of work based on Red Hook architecture and heritage in the midst of social and economic changes. The Star Revue interviewed […]
Only Red Hook could birth a banjo throwing competition. During the 2011 Brooklyn Folk Festival, then held at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), the founders considered how to use the waterfront to draw greater crowds. “At that point (the waterfront) was pretty decayed and terrible looking,” Lynette Wiley, a co-founder of the festival said. “Eli Smith and my husband […]
There are more than 3400 local governments in New York State. The state population is about 20 million, which means one body of government for every 6,000 residents. Red Hook has twice as many people, but not much in the way of local government. Our councilman has Sunset Park to worry about, which is much larger than we are. Our […]
One of the Red Hook’s social events of the year takes place next week at Pioneer Works. The 4th Annual PS 15 Spring Celebration will be held on Thursday, March 29, at 159 Pioneer Street. Anybody who is anybody in Red Hook makes an appearance at this posh event which benefits long suffering and high achieving PS 15 – The […]
While we can’t catch everything New York throws at us, we can certainly try and enjoy the dizzying trumble. Here are some highlights around town to get you in the mood for making the most of March. Exhibitions Small Editions on Sackett Street will celebrate their past six years of existence with 27 artists previously featured at the beautiful book […]
Developer Joe Sitt continued his twelve year hate affair with Red Hook last month when a couple of his minions showed up at a committee meeting of Community Board 6. Sitt owns Thor Equities, a real estate development and investment company he started in 1986. It has grown into a $10 billion behemoth, with offices and properties all over the […]
At the end of last month, a party was held at Sunset Park’s Industry City, where AECOM, the infrastructure firm that put Red Hook subway station in the mouth of the governer, recently rented space. The party was hosted by the former Red Hook Container Terminal CEO, and former Executive Director of the Port Authority (PA), Chris Ward, and most […]
Onetime Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward, who now works for one of the largest infrastructure builders in the world, has been pushing a plan to radically change Southwest Brooklyn since last year. The plan involves replacing the Red Hook Container Terminal, and much of the rest of our working waterfront, with gleaming skyscrapers – more than tripling our local […]
SBIDC Seeks Bids for Training Program The Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC) is seeking bids in connection with its administration of the winter cohort of the RETI Construction Training Program, a resiliency-focused job training program for low-income residents of Red Hook, funded by the New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery. Services are requested for late January […]
