Shot Through The

INSIDE: GET THE RIGHT RESULTS WITH OUR CLASSIFIEDS SECTION Yo u r World — Yo u r News BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2017 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn, Williamsburg & Greenpoint AWP/10 pages • Vol. 40, No. 12 • March 24–30, 2017 • FREE PROFESSOR X MARKS THE SPOT Patrick Stewart: Revolutionary War heroes are buried under empty Gowanus lot! Take action! By Colin Mixson Brooklyn Paper Make it so! Starship Enterprise captain and Park Slope resident Sir Patrick Stewart is Archaeological dig throwing his weight behind a contro- versial theory that the bodies of hundreds of Revolutionary War heroes are buried beneath a vacant lot in Gowanus hunts for answers — and he wants a memorial placed there so that history never forgets the name “Maryland 400.” Stewart claimed in a recent GQ inter- They’ll settle it once and for all view that the empty Ninth Street site is By Colin Mixson the final resting Brooklyn Paper place of the famed Excavating news! band of soldiers Archeologists are finally — who died sav- going to dig into a vacant ing General Wash- Gowanus lot that some be- ington’s rebel army lieve to be the final resting from annihilation place of the Maryland 400 — during the Battle of thrilling news for local his- CAP’N’S Brooklyn — and said tory geeks, who are excited he has personally pe- to know once and for all if the titioned Mayor De- Revolutionary War heroes are LOG Blasio to install a buried down below. monument to them “This is one of the great there, to which Hiz- mysteries of New York his- Painting by Domenick D’Andrea zoner replied, “I’m on it.” Are the bodies of hundreds of Conti- tory that we don’t have an an- nental Army soldiers buried beneath “All it is is a concreted-over car park, but swer,” said Chris Ricciardi, Ninth Street? We’ll soon find out! underneath the concrete is the mass grave,” Park Sloper Patrick Stewart, famous for iconic roles including Star Trek’s Capt. Picard and the X-Men’s founder of Chrysalis Arche- said Stewart, whose “Star Trek” charac- Professor X, wants a memorial to the Maryland 400 at this Ninth Street lot, where he believes the war ology. ter was an archeology buff . “It’s worth heroes are buried. The city is currently in negotiations Some local historians have long making, I think, a bit of a fuss of.” to purchase the empty Ninth Street believed the location may well be on The thespian, who settled in a Brooklyn Heights historian Bob Furman , said. “I didn’t get a response.” Furman was, however, able to shed lot between Third and Fourth ave- top of a mass grave containing the $2.5-million duplex penthouse on Sev- who has been petitioning the city to per- But you can’t blame the Starfleet hero light on the idea that DeBlasio is “on it” nues, after the Council voted in De- remains of the troops who sacrificed enth Street in 2012, told the men’s fash- form a rigorous archeological dig there to for wanting to keep a low profile on this in regards to erecting a memorial — he cember to acquire the site for a 180- ion journal that the lot between Third prove once and for all what lies beneath one, Furman said — it became a hot-but- says he has asked the mayor on numer- their lives during the Battle of Brook- and Fourth avenues is home to a mass the currently undeveloped real estate. ton political issue last year when the city ous occasions for the very same thing, seat pre-kindergarten school. lyn to buy General Washington time grave for the more-than 200 slain he- Naturally, Furman sent Stewart a letter proposed building a pre-kindergarten fa- and that’s exactly what he said. But before it can start construc- to escape British forces. roes whose bodies were unceremoniously in response to the article, asking the actor cility on the site , which will be held up “Every time I raised this with DeBla- tion, the state’s historic-preservation Ricciardi points to 19th-century discarded by King George’s troops fol- to endorse his archeological endeavors — if anything of historical value is discov- sio, he would say, ‘I’m on it,’ ” Furman agency requires the city to contract journals that put the grave site around lowing a heroic rear-guard action that but he has yet to hear back. ered there, and the British knight proba- said. “The city is not interested in pre- archeologists to spend a few days ex- that location, along with maps de- bought Washington the time he needed “I was hoping he would publicly ex- bly doesn’t want to get involved. serving the site, they’re interested in the cavating the property to determine scribing that area as hilly, compared to slip across the East River. press his support and interest for doing “He’s not a political person really,” pre-K school. So I pointed that out to him its cultural value. See DIG on page 4 The theory has long been shared by proper archeology at the site,” Furman said Furman. “He’s an actor.” in the letter.” each year. “I’ve worked in some of the most marginalized communities and I can’t tell you how many par- ents, mostly people of color, have Shot through the art talked about the importance arts play in their children’s lives.” New York is hardly short of Trump’s arts-funding cuts would gut millions from Bklyn orgs deep-pocketed arts philanthropists, and the federal grants account for By Ruth Brown Diane Jacabowitz, founder of Park 2012 — and that doesn’t include last week . “The answer is no.” just a portion of many local groups’ Brooklyn Paper Slope dance school Dancewave, outfits headquartered elsewhere that Actually, you can, say local which offers discounted instruc- work in the borough or state arts arts buffs — the country’s hard- overall funds — but they often pay President Trump’s dream bud- for things that other benefactors get is a nightmare for Brooklyn tion and teaches in schools that grants, which are partially funded est-done-by are exactly the peo- won’t, administrators say. artists! don’t have arts classes of their through the federal program. ple who benefit from the publicly- The Donald’s proposal to elimi- own. “Everyone will start focus- But Trump wants to scrap the funded programs, and they really For the Brooklyn Arts Council nate federal arts funding will drain ing their clientele, which makes it scheme — along with 18 other agen- appreciate it too. in Dumbo, that’s folk art. Many millions of dollars annually from arts for the rich, which is the story cies — arguing that working fam- “It’s insulting to say that people private foundations want to see the borough’s creative organiza- we’ve known for too long. It makes ilies shouldn’t have to foot the bill of a certain economic status don’t people on stage singing and danc- tions, gutting programs that serve it divisive.” for such frivolities. have an appreciation or need for ing in exchange for their donation, Kings County’s poorest communi- In 2016, Brooklyn-based organi- “Can we really continue to ask arts,” said Robyne Walker Murphy but aren’t so enthused about pay- ties and cementing music, theater, zations collectively scored at least a coal miner in West Virginia or a of Groundswell, a Gowanus outfit ing someone to spend weeks work- Photo by Stefano Giovannini and dance as luxuries for the elite, $2.7 million in grants from the Na- single mom in Detroit to pay for that employs young adults to lead ing with an immigrant community Noor Ul Ain helps paint a mural in Bedford-Stuyvesant in a according to local arts gurus. tional Endowment for the Arts, part these programs?” his budget bigwig public-mural painting projects , and to document their basket-weaving program run by local arts organization Groundswell. “It would be devastating,” said of a whopping $13 million since Mick Mulvaney said on MSNBC receives around $70,000 in grants See ARTS on page 2 Real-estate trend: Celeb endorsements consumer advocacy group Truth in Developer pays star resident to Instagram Ft. Greene high-rise Advertising told the blog Jezebel that “#300AshlandPartner” may By Ruth Brown posts about the new tower at Flat- by New York Magazine. a month for a studio to $5,479 for a not be sufficient warning. Brooklyn Paper bush and Lafayette avenues — now Now, the developer plans on two-bedroom — but the firm also Two Trees believes they’re Forget rooftop pools and heated called “300 Ashland,” but formerly moving in additional famous res- pays her for the sponsored posts, clearly ads, according to Berk- dog runs — Brooklyn’s hottest new known as BAM South . idents — and the stars will be and it isn’t clear which dollar fig- man, although he says Gevinson “Tonight I spent a long time ad- hosting “special experiences” in ure is higher. luxury building feature is a famous is the one penning the posts. neighbor! miring/trying to understand this the property for their less-well- He also refused to say how she 3D CLOUD-SLASH-MIRROR known neighbors. ended up living and tweeting in the Celebs are hardly the building’s Developer Two Trees is paying in my new lobby #adamfrank- “We think it’s an exciting addi- building — if she was invited, or only selling point — the tower will a celebrity resident of its ritzy new inc #300AshlandPartner,” wrote tion to our marketing efforts and if the company is just taking ad- also house a cinema, an Apple store, Fort Greene high-rise to tell her Gevinson — the former wunder- a terrific amenity for tenants,” vantage of a famous tenant.

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