It has been difficult selling advertising for the paper, which is my regular job, so I was asked to keep a diary of the past few weeks as I walk around the neighborhood. I also have no sports to watch which has given me a lot of extra time. Day 1: Wednesday, March 18 My first day of keeping track […]
Red Hook News
Coronavirus cuts short successful Summit basketball season
After undefeated regular season, Summit Academy Charter School’s boys basketball team easily won their first two playoff games, both of which took place at home in Red Hook, and notched an impressive victory against South Bronx Preparatory. The Eagles were on a roll – until the coronavirus canceled the final games of the postseason. In their first playoff game, Summit […]
Dispatches from the old country, by Dario Pio Muccilli
Giorgio (the name is fictitious for his privacy) is a nurse who works for a hospital in northern Italy, and last week he got infected. He is now one of the 69,176 coronavirus cases in the country. He probably got infected while he was working, and he knew it after the swab he did tested positive. “They called me the […]
Red Hook’s elected officials respond to pandemic
Across the nation, federal, state, and city officials spent the month of March scrambling to prepare their constituencies for an unprecedented public health crisis, advocating for various policies to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to mitigate the impact of the resulting economic shutdown upon business owners, laid-off workers, and other affected populations. Between campaigns to encourage self-isolation and debates […]
Red Hook parents adjust to homeschooling
Parenting, as anyone who’s had a kid or been a kid knows, is a complicated job under the best of circumstances. During a pandemic, it’s a whole new ballgame. On March 14, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City’s public schools would close until at least April 20 to limit the spread of the coronavirus. After three days […]
An anxious intermission for cinema workers
Before I moved to New York, I worked for four years as a movie theater employee. My coworkers and I made minimum wage or a little more, and many could barely afford their rent during the best of times. For some, the lack of disposable income was tolerable only because their favorite recreational activity, by far, was watching movies, and […]
Local bartenders face life after nightlife
It’s no secret that the hospitality industry is in trouble right now. While New York City’s restaurants have pivoted to takeout and delivery during the coronavirus shutdown, drinking establishments that don’t serve food have closed altogether. In Red Hook, Seaborne, at 228 Van Brunt Street, has taken to delivering cocktails, but two beloved local watering holes have temporarily disappeared from […]
Chase Bank branch to close in June
Chase Bank has announced that its branch at 79 Hamilton Avenue will close on June 2. According to Chase’s Carolyn Evert, Vice President of Northeast Regional Communications, the bank “is being consolidated to our 360 Court Street branch in Brooklyn, which is 0.6 miles away.” She noted that Chase will transfer “all customer accounts” to the Carroll Gardens location. A […]
Covid-19 journal, by Alex Rodriguez
March 20 2020 A week ago about 10% of the people on the trains were wearing masks. Now,10% aren’t wearing masks , and the other 90% are. I’m not sure if the media is having a field day and fear mongering, as they do so well, or if this is indeed a legit reason for us to run inside our […]
Amidst this chaos, freelancers need a lifeline and a true home in this country, by Halley Bondy
It’s hard to breathe right now. This is not what one expected out of a doomsday. Many of us are facing abject boredom punctuated by panic attacks, hours on hold calling various government agencies that are way out of their depth, ever-bloating undereye bags, close quarters, piling laundry and children begging to see their friends. These are the lucky folks […]
‘Do I stay or go?’ One New Yorker’s decision-making process during COVID-19
Williamsburg resident , 24, has been feeling socially anxious over the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of March – before New York City saw a steady increase of COVID-19 cases and deaths. While she is a freelance writer here in the Big Apple, she has family and friends who live on the West Coast and in Australia. immediate family lives […]
Justice Center becomes coronavirus emergency court
The coronavirus has changed everything in New York City. The Red Hook Community Justice Center and the court system are one example. The city has asked the staff at the Red Hook Community Justice Center to vacate their building at 88 Visitation Place, which it will utilize for emergency court operations, according to Red Hook Community Justice Center Project Director […]
Mayor de Blasio holds COVID-19 press conference
Mayor de Blasio along with Dr. Oxiris Barbot (Commissioner of Health of City of New York), Raul Perea-Henze (Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services) and Marco Carrion (Commissioner of the Community Affairs Unit) held a press conference and Q&A on March 11 for community media on the emerging coronavirus. They emphasized that anyone who asks for health care and […]
