Real Journalism written by people
Stay in the neighborhood. Red Hook & Gowanus Subscribe to get news from the Star-Revue throughout the month. No spam · Unsubscribe anytime · Privacy policy People who know their history will tell you that April 20 is the birthday of a very bad man, who I will only describe as the Number One Nazi. But coincidentally, back in the […]
Stay in the neighborhood. Red Hook & Gowanus Independent, uncensored local journalism — free to your inbox. No spam · Unsubscribe anytime · Privacy policy I attended the March 11 meeting at Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church about the bogus environmental review process sprouting from the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s “Vision Plan” for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal that they […]
For this month I decided to pay a visit to Red Hook West and ask what improvements they wanted to see inside and outside their homes in 2026. Not many of my interviewees knew about PACT program, which is likely to convert their public housing complex into a weird hybrid Section 8 development partially run by private companies (see story […]
The day after the televised debate with New York City mayoral hopefuls Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo Curtis Sliwa, (this of course was before Mamdani’s victory), it seemed logical to ask people for their thoughts about the candidates. Strangely, it was like pulling teeth, getting people to talk about these guys. “This is a very contentious race and I don’t want […]
I’m standing on Columbia Street with my hundred-yard stare that overtakes me when I’m scanning the area for my first interviewee. A woman calls out to me – “Are you okay? You look like you might be lost.” I tell her I’m not lost, I’m a writer for the Red Hook Star Revue and I’m just looking for someone to […]
I live in Red Hook, a couple blocks from the water, in one of those mammoth brick buildings that used to be a school. When I lie in bed I can gaze at the World Trade Center spire’s LED light display until it vanishes into the dark sky at precisely 2 am. I love my neighborhood with a passion. I […]
I walked all over Red Hook on a warm, windy day, and asked: What pisses you off? Amy Dench: Inequality. Anything from racial to economic inequality makes me angry. There’s so much downward pressure on people who don’t have as much as others. There’s a lot of discrimination (concerning) issues that really affect their lives on a day-to-day basis. And […]
Dave Lutz and Imre (pronounced Eem-reh) Kovacs are two old friends – senior citizen old – who run around Red Hook like a couple of teenagers. After more than a half century of New York City life, people get tired. Not Dave and Imre. Both of them have been advocates for community gardening in public and private spaces all over […]
By now, the community meeting on the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the 122-acre waterfront property running from Atlantic Avenue to Wolcott Street has taken place. There is more about this meeting and the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) process inside these pages. As my publisher has pointed out in his column last month, this decision made by the […]
I’ve been going to bars lately because it’s cold outside, people in bars have loose tongues, and it’s easy to talk to them. Today I went into the Strong Rope Brewery on the waterfront and asked customers and bartenders a provocative question for the January issue: What are your feelings about the Luigi Mangione phenomenon? For those of you who […]
The question this month was to recall an experience in which they were discriminated against or treated unfairly. James “Papa” Johnson – One time me and my brother and my homeboys were at my uncle’s crib in East New York…and it was time for us to go home. I forgot something upstairs, and when we came back down, the five-oh […]
I didn’t want to ruin a beautiful day at the harbor for people hanging out at Food Bazaar’s outdoor lounge, but it was the day after the Biden – Trump debate and I felt compelled to ask: What are your thoughts about the upcoming election? Karen Curley – I was saddened (during the debate) by Biden’s inability to express himself […]
When I was fourteen and already in love with New York City, where I spent vacations with my cousins in Queens, I got hold of a book called The Shook-up Generation, which was about New York street gangs. I had been fascinated with New York street gangs since I was 10 years old and read a magazine article about a […]
