Author: Josh Philip Ross

Red Hook is changing and everyone knows it. The New York Times today explores the debate over what direction the neighborhood should take in the future.

A strip of prime waterfront just on the other side of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from fast-gentrifying Carroll Gardens (where I live), Red Hook has caught the eye of artists looking for cheap spaces, of developers looking for condo spaces with great views, of blue-collar businesses that have been pushed out of other parts of the city, and of big “box stores” like Ikea, which plans to open a store there in 2007, and Fairway, which will open a large supermarket this spring.

There are a number of factors that have kept gentrification at bay in Red Hook, even as other neighborhoods like Long Island City, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, the Meatpacking District and Williamsburg have blossomed in recent decades. For one thing, it doesn’t have its own subway stop, which will put it out of reach for many. For another, it is home to the Red Hook West and Red Hook East housing projects. The latter is a sprawling 33.34-acre complex that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) describes as “the largest part of the largest development in Brooklyn.”

Together, these two projects are home to 6,518 residents, according to NYCHA, while John McGettrick, co-chair of the Red Hook Civic Association, has pegged the number of public housing residents at 7,268, and today’s Times article rounds the number to 8,000. Whatever the actual number, it’s clear that these residents make up the vast majority of those who live in the neighborhood, and they are desperate for jobs. They have thus welcomed plans to bring in the new Ikea and Fairway. But it’s far from clear that the new jobs will go to residents of the projects, and it’s also uncertain what path of development would provide the best prospects for the locals.

I have little sympathy for those who are desperate to keep (or recapture) the old character of the neighborhood. Red Hook has been moribund for decades, and I’m not sure the life of Irish stevedores back in the day was as wonderful as it might look in the rosy glow of nostalgia. For those who love the way it’s been in recent years — grotty and poor and derelict — I acknowledge the aesthetic appeal of urban decay, but I’m not sure it’s worth preserving when there’s the prospect of bringing jobs to thousands of unemployed residents. So what about condos and high-end apartments? Well, they don’t generate jobs the way that light industry does, and it looks like Red Hook is actually a viable spot for light industry again. So I’d lean towards that option, without ruling out the box stores that also bring jobs. But it’s a complex issue, and my views are by no means settled.

In the near term, I’m definitely looking forward to that Fairway opening up, especially now that I have a car. I would love to see Red Hook turn into a neighborhood worth going to.

Artist Elyse Taylor has earned my praise for, among other things, selling quality art for cheap. However, while some of her work is done quickly enough that she can afford to sell it for ludicrously low sums, there are other, more upscale works, like this elegant pencil drawing, which is available for a cool grand. How much that dress cost is anybody’s guess.

I’ve just discovered YouTube, a fantastic site of searchable videos uploaded by the general public. This is something I could so get lost in!

A few early finds:

• The video for Omoni (Mother), by the Korean hip-hop group 1Tym. This was one of our favorite videos when we were in Korea.
• An astonishing video of a Korean breakdancer at a mall. When Beck talks about pop-lockin’ beats from Korea, he’s on to something.
• Glam videos like Roxy Music doing “Ladytron” in 1972 and T-Rex lip-synching “20th Century Boy” and “Children of the Revolution”.
• Early thrash videos, like Megadeth’s “Peace Sells,” which reminds me of what it felt like to be thirteen and angry (and which is the source for the bass riff that opened MTV News for many years).
• British soldiers testing LSD.

That should be enough to get you started.

Because it still matters, watch this video of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. And as you watch, try to hear it as the people heard it then: not yet knowing what message King would deliver that day, not yet knowing that he would electrify the nation, but feeling that lightning as it struck. Try to forget that you know that “I have a dream” is coming, and then feel its power when it does.

And then, once you’ve let it wash over you, think about the text and ask yourself two questions: 1) What in the speech is true and good and just as a vision for our society? and 2) To what extent has that truth and goodness and justice been accomplished?

Let freedom ring.

Aziz Ansari: M.I.A. Story (QuickTime Movie) | Excerpt from “Invite Them Up” (via Fluxblog

Have you been looking for something that combines M.I.A., Gawker and Macintosh technical support? Then you’ll be glad to discover comedian Aziz Ansari, whose “M.I.A. Story” is genuinely funny and so very, very New York hipster-geeky. Even funnier, and a lot tighter, is his routine for Comedy Central’s Invite Them Up Compilation CD and DVD, on which he sounds a little like the late, great Mitch Hedberg, like if Hedberg had been a New York hipster from South Carolina who spoke a bit of Tamil.

You can see Ansari live for free at 11 p.m. on Monday, January 30, at Crash Test, a weekly showcase of emerging talent at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. That may be a tough time to get out to a comedy show, but remember: if you go and then Ansari gets famous, you’ll be able to say you saw him back when he was still doing free shows at 11 p.m. on Monday nights.

Palaverist with his Jewish mother

According to the New York Times, a new study of mitochondrial DNA has determined that European Jews are descended from four mothers. (No, not the Biblical Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel.)

It appears that these four women, who lived somewhere in the Middle East roughly two to three thousand years ago, are the grandmothers of some 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews, which would include moi. This is an interesting complement to the Y-chromosome research from a few years ago (also mentioned in the article) that showed many Jewish men around the world were of Middle Eastern descent.

Of course, some scientists claim that the mitochondrial evidence is not statistically significant, so who knows? What we do know is that Jewish mothers are very important, as anyone who has had one can tell you.

A 1763 copy of a 1418 map showing the Americas?

Did the Chinese reach America before Columbus? That controversial claim was made (fairly convincingly, to my mind) by Gavin Menzies in his book 1421: The Year China Discovered America. Since the book was published in November 2002, Menzies has continued to marshall evidence, but no Chinese map of the Americas predating Columbus has yet been found. In the aftermath of China’s age of exploration, there was a reactionary closing of the country, and all the ships and maps were carefully destroyed.

That’s why the BBC report on the unveiling of this new map, which its author claims was made in 1763 as a copy of a 1418 map, is so significant. Of course, even if this map does turn out to be from 1763, that’s not proof that it was really copied from a 1418 map. Nevertheless, it would certainly add an interesting new piece of evidence to the growing pile.

Ban Ki-moon, the Foreign Minister of South Korea, is coming to the United States next week for a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice (previous meeting pictured). He’ll also be swinging through New York next Tuesday and Wednesday for a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose term ends on December 31.

The race to be the next Secretary-General is on, and though Minister Ban is not yet shortlisted, he’s beginning to position himself as an alternative to the Sri Lankan and Thai frontrunners, about whom no one is especially enthusiastic. (According to the geographical rotation system, the next SG should come from Asia, though the US has suggested that the rotation is less important than finding a worthy candidate.) Earlier this week, I was asked to edit talking points for Minister Ban to use at the Davos Forum, which involved a lot of “If I were Secretary-General” hypotheticals and answers to questions about multilateralism and UN reform.

It will be interesting to see how this race plays out over the next year, and to watch what becomes of Minister Ban’s bid.