Remembering a Red Hook legend – Pete Morales

Red Hook lost an important leader in Pete Morales, who passed last month. He was the former commissioner of the Red Hook Little League, helped fight for the community, donated to children and those in need, remembered as a “great man.”

“Pete and I go way back from the Latino leadership, and there were so many things that we were involved in together,” said Judith Dailey, who served on many boards, including the Carroll Gardens Association, the Long Island College Hospital Board of Regents, Community Board 6, and the PCH board at District 15. “We helped bring Red Hook Initiative [RHI] into Red Hook.”

Morales was involved in the early days of RHI, which was formed in 2002 as a community health project. RHI’s Founder and Executive Director, Jill Eisenhard trained ten community residents in reproductive health. “We accomplished a lot of things, but beyond that, Pete is a great man,” Dailey said. “He’s someone who would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need.”

Civic Association
Morales was also involved in the Red Hook Civic Association, which was led by co-chair John McGettrick. He was also a key leader in Red Hook GAGS.

“Pete played a big role in unifying Red Hook and making Red Hook a better place,” McGettrick said. “He was involved in various organizations, including the Civic Association. He worked to improve bus service, and he spent a lot of time with the baseball leagues, giving young people an opportunity to play.”
Morales spent a lot of time working with Lou Sones, who became a Little League coach in Red Hook.

“We met when we started an organization called Red Hook GAGS [Groups Against Garbage Sites], and we were fighting against Mayor Giuliani’s plan to put one of the world’s largest garbage transfer stations on our waterfront,” Sones said. “I was the president, and Pete was on the board.

“He was my go-to guy for organizing with the Latino community in Red Hook. He was one of those guys who followed through 100 percent of the time when he said he was going to do something. Whenever he said he would get something done, you could take it to the bank. It was a three-year fight for us, and in the end, we won. Pete was instrumental in that victory.”

Sports
After their victory together, Sones was able to enjoy Red Hook rather than fighting against something. Morales had been very involved in the Little League, and he encouraged Sones to get involved and become a coach, which he did in the early 2000s.

“If there was ever a problem where one of the kids wasn’t listening or behaving, I would ask Pete to talk to them,” Sones said. “He was like a god. Whenever he spoke, they would listen. His other advice if the kids weren’t behaving was to threaten to tell their grandma that they were misbehaving. That always worked. Pete was the man. He was a mensch.”

Morales also got Sones’ wife, Pat, involved with the Red Hook Little League. She is a talented singer, and Morales got her to sing the National Anthem before opening days. He made the kids feel like they were big-time players.

“I had a great time coaching in the league,” Sones said. “Pete would bring gear for the kids, and he would arrange for retired major leaguers to come and give us clinics. There would be eight teams playing on the fields every Saturday, and Pete would be there going from game to game and talking to the different coaches.”

Wally remembers Pete
Morales also helped the community in other ways.

“I met Pete when the Justice Center came out here in the early ‘90s, and we were both on the board,” said Wally Bazemore, a lifelong resident and Red Hook leader who worked to remove waste transfer facilities, add banks, and bring dignity to public housing in Red Hook.

“They would always call on Pete, me, and a few others to speak to some of the dignitaries that would come from other parts of the world, and we would testify about the positive work the Center did for our community, since they were looking to get similar Justice Centers in those places.

“After that, Pete and I started taking kids out on trips to basketball games, baseball games, museums, and college trips to places like Columbia and West Point. We wanted to introduce them to a better life and show them that there was a world beyond Red Hook. We wanted to show them other cultures and teach them not to look down on anyone.”

Bazemore also remembered that later in Morales’ life, he would organize Latin shows in the summer that were sponsored by Council Member Sara Gonzalez. There were a lot of talented performers, including some who were originally from Red Hook and would come back for the shows.

Both Morales and Bazemore were involved with the Fifth Avenue Committee’s development of a 60-unit co-op in Red Hook, near P.S. 15. Two of the buildings are on Wolcott St., and one is on Coffey St. Of the 60 units, 40 were considered affordable housing, and the other 20 were middle-income.

Bazemore said that he spoke with Morales’ daughter about the possibility of having a street named after him. Given all that Morales did to help the Red Hook community, it would be a fitting tribute.

“Everyone respected Pete,” Sones said. “He didn’t always talk a lot, but when he spoke, everyone listened.”