Sitting between Red Hook Park and the Brooklyn Community Farm and just steps from IKEA and the Red Hook Houses, BASIS Independent School opened its doors in Red Hook last September on the corner of Columbia and Bay Streets. BASIS, a K-12 private school, is run by a corporation that operates charter schools in the Midwest. When plans for […]
Editorials
Reporters Notebook – CB6 and the Oxford Nursing Home Saga, by George Fiala
A week has gone by and I still can’t figure out what happened at the December General Board meeting of Community Board 6. The week prior, the board’s Land Use committee met at PS 27, in Red Hook, in close proximity to the Red Hook East Houses, to discuss the possibility of approving an 8 story nursing home by Conover Street […]
Editorial: Wasting time & money
In the five years that we have been publishing the Star-Revue, we have been to countless meetings where beleaguered public housing tenants have pointed out, complained, and begged to have their living conditions improved. From mold, to poor lighting, to cracks in walls, to broken refrigerators and rotting kitchen cabinets, broken mailboxes and front door locks, we’ve heard it all. […]
Op Ed: Watching neighborhoods transform, by George Fiala
Last month I had a chance to see the corporate mind working. I was invited to take part in a weeklong public relations event held by BASF, the world’s largest chemical company. At their NYC event held as part of their 150th birthday celebration, they decided to focus on Red Hook as a city of tomorrow. BASF is very excited […]
Editorial: Is Move NY all it is cracked up to be? by George Fiala
The Transportation Committee of CB 6 tonight approved a motion to support the Move NY program that “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, former traffic commissioner who now runs a profitable traffic consulting business, has been touting for the past couple of years. This program is a redo of Mayor Bloomberg’s unsuccessful plan to institute tolls on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges, […]
Editorial: Breaking the chains of corporate interests
Speaking truth to power can involve a personal sacrifice. Getting into a position where power will listen is a big achievement. It takes courage to risk that position if the truth is not what the powers that be desire. Carlos Menchaca, our City Councilman, did just that the other week. He used the power vested in his position to refuse […]
Editorial: A good time for Red Hook
Councilman Carlos Menchaca, Commanding Officer Justin Lenz, and Water Taxi founder Tom Fox are three important assets that Red Hookers are lucky to have. Menchaca is finishing his freshman year in the City Council. The Star-Revue has watched him grow in the office as he learns on the job. There are no classes in how to be a councilman. What […]
Editorial: Elephants in the room
Over the past year, Red Hook has seen its share of controversial land-use proposals. Some of these notable controversies include: BASIS International School, a private primary school; Spacworks’ proposal to utilize half of the Red Hook Library for studio space; Urban House Recovery, an upscale detox facility; and a multitude of issues involving Valentino and Coffey Parks. Now, Red Hook […]
Editorial: This is how our governor rolls
If anyone was wondering why our mayor, who used to lead rallies across the street from Long Island College Hospital to prevent its closing, has barely said boo about it since February, one need only to look north to the governor’s mansion. You could get a clue by paying attention to Andrew Cuomo’s actions during this past primary season, when […]
Op Ed: It’s time to join the Climate Justice Movemen, t by Corbin Laedlein
On September 23rd, heads of state are convening in New York City for a United Nations Climate Summit, where they will be expected to make pledges to curb climate change. The UN Secretary General’s goal is to “build political momentum” ahead of the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, where member nations will meet to negotiate the first ever […]
Editorial: Staying vigilant on community issues
There are three neighborhood institutions in peril. One, the Long Island College Hospital is on life support, and only a miracle will save it now. Barring a major miracle, LICH is gone. The second is the Red Hook library. There is a plan to subdivide the library to provide rehearsal space for city artists. The third is our working waterfront […]
Editorial: The Red Hook Library and colonialism
The dictionary definition of colonialism is: the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. In thinking about the pros and cons of the library/Spaceworks partnership that was presented before us at the Red Hook library this week, we have come to the conclusion that colonialism is an […]
Editorial – Red Hook needs its own mayor
In this month’s story about the Red Hook Coalition, we describe the genesis of the Coalition as being a $100,000 grant offered by the Brooklyn Community Foundation, following Sandy. Some quick thinking community minded Red Hookers got together and formed an entity to accept the money and pass it on to businesses in need. Last month we spoke of the […]
