May 15–21, 2015 Including Canarsie Digest FREE SERVING BERGEN BEACH, CANARSIE, GEORGETOWN, MARINE PARK & MILL BASIN Old guys get new WOOD WORK prez Marine Park BY MAX JAEGER Meet the new boss of the old crafters hew Brooklynites. The Society of Old Brook- lynites elected Gerritsen local timber Beacher George Broadhead its new president on May 7. BY VANESSA OGLE Broadhead remained hum- Wood you look at that! ble about becoming the 49th Five hometown handy men head of the 135-year-old soci- and women meet once a week ety, whose members include to make artwork, furniture, the former mayor of the for- and toys for the community — mer City of Brooklyn (peace all made from wood collected be upon it) Seth Low, and the almost exclusively from Ma- so-called father of baseball, rine Park. Henry Chadwick. The creative class gives the “I’m honored,” said George group a chance to turn a piece Broadhead. “To think that of timber into something time- Walt Whitman was a mem- less, according to one of the ber — and of the many pres- community craftsmen. tigious past presidents — I’m “What you start out with probably least distinguished and what you end up with are of them all.” two different things,” said Bob The retired Newhouse Kaplan, who holds the wood- newspaper chain publisher working sessions in his ga- joined the society in 2007, but rage and displays some of his the Brooklyn native’s roots pieces at a gallery in Brooklyn run so deep they practically Heights. hit China. His maternal an- The woodworking classes cestors were among the Quak- began at the Salt Marsh Na- ers who lobbied Peter Stuyve- ture Center 10 years ago — but sant to allow New York’s fi rst Kaplan found it too time-con- Jewish immigrants to settle Branches biked suming to set up his equip- on Manhattan. And British ment at the center each week, Mary Ann Thomas and Michelle Pakonis, from Bedford-Stuyvesant, hit 25 libraries during the Brook- forbearers on his father’s side so he decided to go out on a landed in Gravesend during lyn Public Library’s annual Bike the Branches event on May 9. For more, see page 22. limb and hold the classes at the Revolutionary War’s Bat- Photo by Jason Speakman his home, opening his garage- Continued on page 14 Continued on page 14 A CNG Publication Vol. 70 No. 20 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT BROOKLYNDAILY.COM THE KINGS COUNTY F IR MAY 14TH - 25TH AVIATOR SPORTS AND EVENTS CENTER, 3159 FLATBUSH AVE., BROOKLYN PAY-ONE-PRICE FOR RIDES ★ #THEKINGSCOUNTYFAIR INSIDE NNN%9IFFBCPE;8@CP%:FD GL9C@J?<;9P:E>(D<KIFK<:?:<EK<IEFIK?('K?=CFFI9IFFBCPE#EP(()'( PURRFECT ENDING Feral cats rescued from subway station after our article BY MAX JAEGER Nine lives spared! Cubism: “Bintou #2, Or series” by French artist Vincent Michéa is a collage made of stock cube packets. Galerie Cécile Fakhoury The feral cats who Bensonhursters Out of Africa said were being systematically starved Top contemporary art fair comes to Red Hook by the Metropolitan Transportation Au- By Claire McCartney one participating Brooklyn artist said the constantly expanding its global reach.” as the conversations that continue and ive Frieze the freeze! timing and location couldn’t be better. 1:54 — named for the 54 countries that unfold over time,” said 1:54 founder Touria Manhattan’s fancy contempo- “There’s a buzzing conversation around make up the African continent — will El Glaoui. “I think that it will be a lot of Grary art fair Frieze is this week- contemporary art by artists of African feature works from more than 60 artists, fun, and hope that it will prove insightful, end, but you can save the ferry fare, descent … like, everyone is watching with including paintings, drawings, mixed- as well as contain a few surprises — as any thority are free, thanks to some vigilant because Brooklyn is having its own fancy intrigue,” said artist Ruby Onyinyechi media works, sculpture, photography and good experience should.” contemporary art fair. The organizers of Amanze, who hails from Nigeria and lives in video — plus a program of panels, lec- 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at England’s 1:54 Contemporary African Art Bedford–Stuyvesant. “Brooklyn is an ideal tures, and question and answer sessions. Pioneer Works [159 Pioneer St. between Fair, a two-year-old festival featuring top place for 1:54’s debut to a New York audi- The relatively small size of the fair should Van Brunt and Conover streets in Red artists from Africa and the African diaspo- ence — not just as a city with one of the larg- make for an intimate, social experience, Hook, (718) 596–3001, www.1-54.com/new- ra, are bringing their exhibition to Pioneer est populations of people of African descent, said the festival’s founder york]. May 15–16 at noon–8 pm, May 17 at Works in Red Hook from May 15–17, and but also as a cultural and creative hub that is “It’s about new conversations, as well noon–6 pm. $10 ($5 students). cat-lovers and the power of the press. Kitty caretakers feared a few furballs Your entertainment living in the N train’s Bay Parkway sta- guide Page 57 tion were doomed when the authority sealed walls and cracks through which the cat-lovers were rescuing kittens and Police Blotter ..........................8 feeding adults . Tom Allon ..............................30 Amateur animal trappers had been of- Letters ....................................50 fering to remove the cats from the station Rhymes With Crazy .............51 property for years, they said, but the au- thority ignored their pleas. But after they It’s Only My Opinion ...........52 contacted this paper, and the article cre- A Britisher’s View ...............52 ated some fuzzy buzz, the authority’s ears Not For Nuthin’ ....................52 pricked up, one rescuer said. Big Screecher ......................56 “The article generated a lot of power Sports ..................................... 67 and, to make it short, I just came home with the last cat from the station today,” said dogged cat-rescuer Jose Hidalgo. “The MTA came through, and they were very nice about it. They removed one Graham Elizabeth by Photo panel there, we put the traps, and one by FIX AND FORTIFY: (Above) Left, Peter Szalaiko, HOW TO REACH US one we pulled [the cats] out.” who heads cat rescue group Ferals in Peril, Hidalgo met with transportation au- helped fi x and inoculate Lily, a cat that Benson- Mail: thority big wigs, animal control, and Ben- Courier Life sonhurst trap-neuter-and-release mavens hurster Jose Hidalgo helped rescue from the N Publications, Inc., Ferals in Peril in the days following the train’s Bay Parkway station last week. (Right) This April 24 article convinced the Metropolitan 1 Metrotech Center North article’s publication, and got the wheels Transportation Authority to allow Jose Hidalgo 10th Floor, Brooklyn, turning an extraction plan, he said. “We had a big-deal meeting with the to rescue several feral cats living in the right-of- N.Y. 11201 MTA,” Hidalgo said. “They were very ac- way at the N train’s Bay Parkway Station. (Bot- General Phone: commodating. Then boom — on Wednes- tom right) Feral feline Lily may not look happy (718) 260-2500 day, we started the trapping.” in a cage at the vet’s offi ce, but at least now she News Fax: Two days later, four cats that had been can be reunited with her kittens, which area cat (718) 260-2592 living in the station were liberated, he lovers had rescued from the train station over said. Now vets are giving the cats the full News E-Mail: the last several years. But fi rst she has to get work-over at a Bath Beach limo dispatch her shots. [email protected] that doubles as a trap-neuter-and-release Display Ad Phone: clinic and half-way house for wild cats . (718) 260-8302 There may be two more mousers still dard policy for handling animals that Display Ad E-Mail: in the station, and the Metropolitan wander into stations and onto tracks, but [email protected] Transportation Authority will continue it does its best to remove animals with- to work with experienced rescuers to out injury, she said. In 2013, the author- Display Ad Fax: make sure all the animals are removed ity halted service along the B and Q lines (718) 260-2579 safely, a spokeswoman said. But she in Brooklyn when two adorable kittens Classified Phone: warned against other feline fans trying found their way onto the Church Avenue (718) 260-2555 to speed the process along. station’s tracks . Classified Fax: “We strongly advise against attempts Hidalgo already has homes for the (718) 260-2549 by members of the public to catch or res- freed foursome. Many feral cats are not cue these cats on our property because of given to the domesticated life, but these Classified E-Mail: the potential dangers involved,” said au- felines are friendly, he said. [email protected] thority spokeswoman Marisa Baldeo. “They’re tame!” Hidalgo said. “We’re The authority does not have a stan- petting them and everything.” :FLI@<IC@=<GL9C@:8K@FEJ FEC@E<8K1 98PE<NJB@E>J:FLI@<I98PI@;><:FLI@<ID@CCD8I@E<:FLI@<I9IFFBCPE>I8G?@: ><E<I8C@E=FID8K@FE.(/ )-'$),'':C8JJ@=@<;@E=FID8K@FE.(/ )-'$),,, GL9C@J?<I1:c`]]fi[Cljk\iM%G%F=8;M<IK@J@E>1IXcg_;ËFef]i`f:C8JJ@=@<;;@I<:KFI18dXe[XKXic\p D<D9<I1 <;@KFI1M`eZ\;`D`Z\c`;<GLKP<;@KFI19`cc<^Y\ik8JJ@>ED<EK<;@KFI1:flike\p;feX_l\8IKJ<;@KFI1Ilk_9ifne I<GFIK<IJ1DXoAX\^\i#MXe\jjXF^c\<;@KFI@8C8JJ@JK8EKJ1J_XmXeX8Yilqqf#AfXeeX;\c9lfef 8IK;@I<:KFI1C\X_D`kZ_8JJ@JK8EKC8PFLKD8E8><I1Pmfee\=Xic\pN<9;<J@>E<I1JpcmXeD`^[Xc :<F1C\j>ff[jk\`e GIF;L:K@FE8IK@JKJ18ik_li8ilkplefm#>Xi[p:_Xic\j#<Xic=\ii\i#Af_eEXgfc`#:fee`\Jlcj\ek`#A\XeNXcj_ This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error.