Real Journalism written by people
The plays are some of the greatest ever written in the English language. The venue is a product of necessity, opportunism, and the quirks of New York real estate. This July marks the 25th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, the annual production of the Bard’s plays that is exactly what it sounds like. Produced by local theater group […]
Question: “Where should we meet for drinks?” Answer: Gowanus Beat the heat and bask in the toxic fumes of Brooklyn’s best-kept secret. Gowanus exists right between the middle of nowhere and the middle of everything. The constant growl of the F/G train, low-to-the-ground buildings, and a general air of unfinished business has given the sprawling central Brooklyn neighborhood a bad […]
Local Brooklyn residents didn’t have to travel to Manhattan on June 14 to see quality Broadway theatre performances; Broadway came to Bed-Stuy instead. Cast members from the hit shows Hadestown and Mean Girls sang four or more songs each to kick off this year’s Broadway in the Boros concert series. Broadway in the Boros, which is in its fourth […]
I like hiking, but I’ve never been rock climbing. I’d estimate that Breakneck Ridge, a trail within Hudson Highlands State Park at the border of Putnam and Dutchess counties, occupies a rough halfway spot between the two activities. A weekends-only stop on the Hudson line of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, with a pair of small yellow platforms on either side […]
The Formula E New York City E-Prix returns to Red Hook for its third year this July 13 and 14. Previous locations this year included Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Chile, Mexico, China, Italy, France, Monaco, German and Switzerland. When Formula E comes to the Cruise Terminal in July this will be the end of their fifth season. Formula E is offering […]
It’s official – preparation is underway, beginning July 8, for remedial action that’ll address contamination related to the Citizens former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site under New York’s MGP Program. The site is six acres in size and is composed of two adjoining parcels owned by the City. The site formerly included a third parcel, located at 459 Smith Street, […]
On June 18, the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, accepted the Cause for Canonization of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn. Msgr. Quinn, a champion for racial equality, established the first church for African American Catholics – St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church – in Bedford Stuyvesant in 1922. In 1928, Msgr. Quinn established the first orphanage for African American […]
For many beer enthusiasts, the greatest adventures are bucolic escapes to farmhouse breweries in Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom or the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, where, with monastic dedication, bearded bohemian hillbillies craft organic small-batch ales of such dignity and freshness that they seem almost healthful. But you need a car to get there. Fortunately, in February, Svendale […]
Every couple weeks, City Councilmember Brad Lander experiences a spasm of guilt over what Gowanus is going to look like in 10 years, and in order to relieve this sensation, he tweets a link to an article about the importance of increasing the housing supply as a means to combat rising rents in America’s cities. It may be Farhad Manjoo’s […]
Making a living as a musician is hard enough in the USA. What’s it like in the UK? The Star got a report from anti-folk busking band Slack Mallard, who are from the region of Cornwall in southwestern England. The group consists of Aaron Barnes on Mandolin, Brian Dunbar on percussion, Ash on banjo, and Adam Whittaker on guitar. Together […]
BIG|BRAVE A Gaze Among Them (Southern Lord) Helium Horse Fly Hollowed (Dipole Experimental Records) It’s little wonder that the bone-crushing Montreal trio BIG|BRAVE attracted the attention of the dirge merchants at Southern Lord. Founded 21 years ago by Sunn O))) guitarist Greg Anderson, the label has become an emblem for the droney, doomy, stoner side of experimental metal. After […]
In 2008, a bearded and tatted up Alabama man named Jamey Hamm founded Roots Café in Brooklyn’s South Slope. The goal: bring back the grungy community center that was the typical indie coffeehouse of yesteryear. The shop still hides between a pharmacy and a cell phone store at the corner of 5th Ave and 18th street. An old-country rock’n’roller, Jamey […]
In May, Record Union released the 73% Report, so named for the 73% of surveyed musicians who reported suffering from “…negative emotions such as stress, anxiety and/or depression in relation to…music creation.” Though this number would set off alarm bells in any other industry, it does not register the same shock in the music world. Sure, we grieve the untimely […]
