Working Red Hook

Jack Pedowitz Machinery Movers
With the right equipment, the guys at Jack Pedowitz Machinery movers could probably move mountains. As a moving company specializing in heavy machinery, the Pedowitz teams use a range of tools from crowbars and hydraulic jacks to forklifts and even helicopters to move machinery. At a recent job, a 4-man team navigated one studio apartment sized piece of machinery after another through a narrow labyrinth of equipment with less than half an inch to spare on each side and are proof that moving is an art.

Van Brunt Stillhouse
Good things come in small batches at Van Brunt Stillhouse, a Red Hook boutique distillery founded in 2012 by the husband and wife team Daric Schlesselman and Sarah Ludington. “I was an avid home brewer and distiller and my wife and I decided we wanted to own our own business,” Daric said. The Stillhouse has since expanded their production to whiskey, rum, grappa and moonshine and offers weekend tours of their Bay Street space. “I love the magic of it all,” Derek said. “I love making good things that people appreciate.”

Containerport
Chris Guerra’s office has million-dollar New York City views. As a crane operator and member of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1814, Chris’s job is to load and unload cargo from the ships docking at the Red Hook Container Terminal. Perched 120-feet above the ground in the crane’s cab, Chris has a birds-eye view of what teamwork and labor created and continues to create in New York City.

O & B Unisex
Beauty came early to Olga Ramirez, owner of O & B Unisex salon on Van Brunt.
“I love seeing people with different looks. When your hair looks nice you feel better too,” she said. Olga started doing hair when she was 10-years old and hasn’t stopped since. In 2003, Olga started working as a beautician at O & B and a year later bought the salon from her [now] former boss. Olga’s daughters work in the salon with her and ten years in, the salon’s still going strong. “I’m proud that I was able to teach my children to do hair. It’s a family business and I love to work with my children,” she said.

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